Summary
Rep. Dan Crenshaw criticized Apple Maps for not renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, as mandated by Trump’s recent executive order titled “Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness.”
Crenshaw’s complaint reflects broader conservative frustration, as tech platforms and the global community continue to use the original name.
Critics compare the move to past nationalist gestures like renaming french fries “freedom fries,” accusing conservatives of embracing identity politics and culture wars despite their political dominance.
The name change is unlikely to gain international traction.
Pretty sure it’s called “Gulf of How The Fuck Does This Lower Grocery Prices”
There is no gulf with that name anywhere in the world.
You’ll have to go back and figure out what you mean. Feel free to let us know once you find the name of a real gulf.
Who’s gonna tell him?
The earliest known use of the name America dates to April 25, 1507, when it was applied to what is now known as South America. It is generally accepted that the name derives from Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer, who explored the new continents in the following years on behalf of Spain and Portugal, with the name given by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller.
That’s a whole debate people from the US are not ready for
Fuck Gizmodo, making trans insults into a joke with that headline.
I’m trans myself and I kinda like it, flip the script, use the Right’s own spells and logic against them! Make THEM the libs who get owned.
Yeah? I can see that… thanks
Personally lately I’ve been posting explanations of the science of gender, intersexed people, gender dysphoria, and studies back them up to transphobes and following them up with a “Facts don’t care about your feelings!”
I can’t with these neogulfnouns
Anyone else remember “freedom fries”? That’s what we were supposed to call french fries when conservatives were upset that the French were not supporting the US invasion of Iraq.
It’s even stupider when you remember that fries are from Belgium.
Yeah, it started in WWI.
From a 1976 interview with German-American T. Max Kniesche, who moved to San Francisco in 1907, and worked in restaurants and cafes there:
Teiser: What was it like in San Francisco for Germans during the first world war? You were working at a clearly German restaurant. […]
Teiser: Did you change the kind of food that you served, or the decorations?
Kniesche: Well, the hamburger steak was Liberty Steak. French-fried potatoes were Liberty Potatoes. [laughter] We called it Liberty, but the liberty wasn’t there. Anyhow, everything went to “Liberty.” [laughter]
Yes, and sauerkraut was “liberty cabbage” before that.
“Liberty cabbage” sounds very Orwellian. I guess “freedom fries” does too.
It predates 1984 by over 30 years!
“Mission Accomplished” might be one of the greatest all time. And to think I thought that would be as low as it could get for our country.
Holy shit yes. I remember making fun of the doofus Bush Jr. But holy fuck do I wish him back compared to the current shit show.
Remember all the white flag and surrender jokes? Yep, the exact same starting point.
Should rename it the Persian gulf or the Arab gulf and watch as people get even more confused.
Should list it as “Gulf of Cuba” and watch their heads explode.
Alternatively, call it the Gulf of Texas and grab some popcorn for the infighting.
Honestly that makes more sense than Gulf of America because at least it is a bit more descriptive. Looking forward to Mexico renaming Gulf of California next.
It’s also known as the Sea of Cortez
Wait, that really happened? I thought the gulf of Mexico renamed shit was just memeing. Google maps still shows the proper name instead of the tantrum name.
It never will happen. We all keep calling it what it is, the gulf of Mexico. Easy.
It will be interesting to see what openstreetmap do - they have an “on the ground principle” that says to look at what the local signs say when naming something, but the data is tagged with a load of references to NOAA pages on historical treaties that the US signed (which obviously used the normal name for that area)
Fuck, is he actually trying to null out some treaties?
Pretty sure he’s going after all of them.
The president ordered it. There is no legal mechanism to compel private companies to use the new name.
There is no legal mechanism to compel private companies to use the new name.
There is also no legal mechanism to require any other country on the planet to pay attention to Trump’s stupid and pointless attempt at renaming it.
If anything they’ll just show the new name to people in the US.
Google Maps does a lot of regional fuckery to comply with local lunatics. Indians see Kashmir as part of India, for example.
I mean, that’s every multinational company.
My job has international offices and during stand-ups, we get things like “Hey EU needs this thing. So figure it out engineers.” And we do the bare minimum to meet the requirements because bro I’m just trying to code and make a paycheck.
Have u ever been to Kashmir?
Nope.
I do vaguely remember seeing the bonkers border ceremony in a Michael Palin travel show from about 30 years ago. Seemed competitive, yet oddly friendly.
Not familiar with the show but that was definitely the Atari border ceremony at wagah in Amritsar, Punjab and not Kashmir.
Either way, don’t try to equate anything happening near Kashmir to what is happening here. Those are land borders with people living on either side with very real tangible “everyday” problems to whatever pax Americana you have going on in the US.
Technically can I name it Gulf of Trump can kiss my ass?
I’ll cosign
Edit: co-sign? Fuck it…I’m going to bed
I thought the gulf of Mexico renamed shit was just memeing.
I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot of “I didn’t think he would really do ____” in the coming weeks and months.
I was under no such illusions. He has no one to stop him this time around.
I mean, in this case, he has the rest of the English-speaking world to stop him with stupid renaming. If everyone just refuses to call it anything other than the Gulf of Mexico, it’s not like he can do anything about it, especially if they’re outside of the US.
I thought “we’ll build a wall and have Mexico pay for it” was just shit-talking, too.
Trump has the habit of saying shit like this. His opponents will say “Oh god the cringe, it hurts”. His supporters will say “Oh shit, I didn’t think that we have to actually implement this? This will cause all sorts of expensive problems.”
To be fair, that was just shit talking. He may have started building the wall, but Mexico didn’t pay for it
Can the president unilaterally change the names of anything he wants? Seems like there at least needs to be a vote on this.
Can the president unilaterally change the names of anything he wants?
Maybe for things inside his own country. Though the affected local governments may object.
But for bodies of water that contain international waters, and that border other countries? Fuck no he doesn’t.
Sure. There’s no need for anybody else to pander to it though.
That’s what an executive order is isn’t it? The pres just saying this is how something is without challenge
An executive order is just official instructions to a lower office on how they are to operate. They have no legal authority outside of that purpose. They are not laws. They do not apply to the public or other businesses.
It’s the equivalent of a supervisor writing memo to the staff that the department break room should have tea instead of coffee. No one outside the company, or even the department, has to obey it
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico#Maritime_boundary_delimitation_agreements
Some of the gulf is international waters, and some is owned by Mexico/Cuba. But that was in a world where agreements mattered.
Ahem. Umm, conservatives are angry that others are not calling something what THEY want it to be called?
Hmm. So… I just feel like… perhaps, there’s a similarity here. Some people… want to be referred to a specific way… but usually conservatives have a problem with that.
So, the Gulf of They/Them is what the rest of the world should call it? I can get behind that.
How about the rest of the world rename it to the “Gulf of Snowflakes” and see what America does
Well that just wouldn’t make any sense, they hardly get any snow down there!
The three foot snow drift against my back door here in New Orleans would beg to differ.
Tbf, nothing like that has ever happened here before. I wonder if any kind of change is causing this? Hmmm.
What are the odds that a snowflake would rename the Gulf of Mexico and then it immediately actually snows on the Gulf of Mexico?!
On a serious note, hope you all are doing OK down there and it will melt ASAP.
Thanks, I think everything will be alright if people just stay off the roads for a few days. We’re used to driving through water but not on ice.
New Orleans, Louisiana is currently covered in snow, I think Gulf of Snowflakes might actually be accurate right now.
I stand corrected
They currently have blizzard warnings, or they did yesterday.
We need to ask them what the Gulf’s pronouns are.
That’s literally what the headline is. “Deadnaming” is a term for referring to transgender people by their previous names, rather than their current names.
Republicans upset that nobody respects their name change? Huh. Snowflakes.
Apple is not beholden to executive orders… No private company is.
I mean yes they could be if the order affected them. I mean as everyone famously says they are beholden to the rules of the country they are in.
EOs are not laws and can only direct the federal government’s actions. The President has no authority to unilaterally control a company, except for scenarios where it is interacting with the federal government. Just like the “two genders” EO, it only applies to the federal government. States and companies can continue to support non-binary and other options for sex and gender identity.
One can more or less envision the President as the CEO of Federal Government, Inc. and executive orders as internal memos to the employees.
If you don’t work there, following the memo is not your problem.
But if you do any kind of business with someone who does work there, you can be hit by the secondhand effects.
No, executive orders are not laws, and they apply only to the federal government. The reason for that is the president is not a king, and so their word cannot be law. That requires congress to make the law, and the Supreme Court to uphold it, if that law is challenged.
LMAO at title
I know this has been said a lot, especially lately, but I think this is the true death knell of satire.
:(
