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.

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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    16 minutes ago

    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.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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    4 hours ago

    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.

      • olympicyes@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        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.

  • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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    6 hours ago

    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.

    • perviouslyiner@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      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)

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        3 hours ago

        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.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        4 hours ago

        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.

        • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net
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          3 hours ago

          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.

          • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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            3 hours ago

            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.

            • bomibantai@lemmy.world
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              2 hours ago

              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.

    • umbraroze@lemmy.world
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      2 hours ago

      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.”

      • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        To be fair, that was just shit talking. He may have started building the wall, but Mexico didn’t pay for it

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      4 hours ago

      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.

  • danc4498@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Can the president unilaterally change the names of anything he wants? Seems like there at least needs to be a vote on this.

    • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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      3 hours ago

      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.

    • Weslee@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      That’s what an executive order is isn’t it? The pres just saying this is how something is without challenge

      • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        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

  • callouscomic@lemm.ee
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    8 hours ago

    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.

    • dellish@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      So, the Gulf of They/Them is what the rest of the world should call it? I can get behind that.

    • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
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      7 hours ago

      How about the rest of the world rename it to the “Gulf of Snowflakes” and see what America does

        • sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works
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          3 hours ago

          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.

          • leadore@lemmy.world
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            1 hour ago

            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.

            • sangriaferret@sh.itjust.works
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              56 minutes ago

              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.

    • exasperation@lemm.ee
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      7 hours ago

      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.

    • Auli@lemmy.ca
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      8 hours ago

      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.

      • AstridWipenaugh@lemmy.world
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        8 hours ago

        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.

        • pixelscript@lemm.ee
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          3 hours ago

          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.

      • _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        7 hours ago

        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.

  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Executive orders have no control over non-government entities. They are just official instructions given to lower executive office departments on how to operate.

    • Saleh@feddit.org
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      7 hours ago

      President just orders the police to kill everyone, who names it wrongly…

      Now private business can decide if they want to comply or not.