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gurragadon posted:I'm not saying that its an A to B kind of thing in logic. My point is coming from my misreading on the discussion of part time workers. I believe that a Senator who performs there job full time has more experience and knowledge of being a Senator than one who does it part time. It's not clear to me how I benefit from senators being better at their jobs or taking their jobs more seriously, because a senator's job is to vote in a way that facilitates fundraising for their next campaign and their political party. quote:I want them to listen to people. Thats there job It's their nominal responsibility but it's not what they're actually incentivized to do, so more experience/more time at the office won't make them do it more or do it better.
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Apr 17, 2023 17:37
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Mellow Seas posted:^^^ I... really don't think that's what they're saying, but I'll let them answer. They absolutely do want those antiabortion bans. quote:Since Trump became president, a small group of executives, their nonprofit organizations and affiliated outside groups, have formed a little-known multimillion-dollar fundraising operation to back groups who have lobbied and campaigned against abortion rights, according to over 30 Federal Election Commission filings and nonprofit tax filings. The web of business leaders and their affiliated organizations have raised over $40 million, with big money going to groups such as Susan B. Anthony List and its affiliated organizations.
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Apr 17, 2023 17:40
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The way I've always understood it is that a congressperson holding a job while holding office opens the door to conflicts of interest. If I were a senator and I worked for Raytheon, guess who would always be supporting military funding, even if was elected by a state of people who believe we should cut funding. Additionally, the common argument thrown around in the USCE threads is that senators and reps are paid so well (at the federal level, the salaries for state's reps are surprising to me) so that they didn't need to seek additional employment, and so that anyone (not just rich people with money to sit on) can serve in office.
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Apr 17, 2023 17:43
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Civilized Fishbot posted:It's not clear to me how I benefit from senators being better at their jobs or taking their jobs more seriously, because a senator's job is to vote in a way that facilitates fundraising for their next campaign and their political party. That's where I was coming from when I meant some donors (who they do listen to) are more aligned with my interests. It sucks, but sometimes that fundraising effort ends up with some group getting an interest passed that kind of aligns with mine. I dunno, I don't want to have to end up trying to defend the importance of donors or some other nonsense like that. The money is the real issue in the whole conversation. I would rather a politician work part time and not take any donations above $20 than a politician who works full time but takes megadonors money.
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Apr 17, 2023 17:47
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gurragadon posted:That's where I was coming from when I meant some donors (who they do listen to) are more aligned with my interests. It sucks, but sometimes that fundraising effort ends up with some group getting an interest passed that kind of aligns with mine. Do you not get how part-time politicians essentially lock out everyone who isn’t independently wealthy or connected from even trying?
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Apr 17, 2023 17:56
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Edgar Allen Ho posted:Do you not get how part-time politicians essentially lock out everyone who isn’t independently wealthy or connected from even trying? Yeah, I get it, how could you work a full-time job to support yourself and then also do the job of a politician well. Plus, are you just gonna keep it secret from your boss and they can never know you're a politician? It could lead to any amounts of conflicts of interest. Thats setting somebody up for failure. But I was just stating a preference. The best situation in my opinion would be full time politicians with a very low donation limit. Second it would be part time politicians with a very low donation limit. Third would be full time politicians with no donation limit. And last would be part time politicians with no donation limit. Edit: And I think the lawmakers should be paid so they don't have to worry about keeping multiple jobs.
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Apr 17, 2023 18:04
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F.B.I. Arrests Two on Charges Tied to Chinese Police Outpost in New York Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn charged the men with conspiring with the People’s Republic of China and destroying evidence in connection with a Chinese police outpost in Lower Manhattan. quote:Two men were arrested early Monday on federal charges accusing them of conspiring to act as agents of the People’s Republic of China in connection with a police outpost it operated in Manhattan’s Chinatown, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The org's actually referred to as America ChangLe Association, and it was raided in January. All their online materials are already scrubbed. Major initial coverage was a December 2022 report by the Spain-located org Safeguard Defenders, who I can't immediately find enough information about but who may be a proxy for Falun Gong. These outposts are very straightforwardly clandestine international military/intelligence offices and a disturbing problem, despite the fact that the main source of attention has often been the right wing press for various lovely reasons. Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Apr 17, 2023 |
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Apr 17, 2023 18:21
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Vahakyla posted:If you as a legislator are unable to make it to the chamber due to debilitating injury or illness, you should be replaced. So Fetterman needs to go, huh.
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Apr 17, 2023 18:35
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TheDisreputableDog posted:So Fetterman needs to go, huh. do we really need to specify that its long term debilitation thats the problem
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Apr 17, 2023 18:36
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Discendo Vox posted:F.B.I. Arrests Two on Charges Tied to Chinese Police Outpost in New York I'm not clear on what they mean by "police outpost", is it actual Chinese cops policing Chinatown for political impurity or is it more of a local gang? VVV thanks for the clarification, and I meant this specific "outpost". CuddleCryptid fucked around with this message at 18:48 on Apr 17, 2023 |
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Apr 17, 2023 18:42
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CuddleCryptid posted:I'm not clear on what they mean by "police outpost", is it actual Chinese cops policing Chinatown for political impurity or is it more of a local gang? The former, and it's not Chinatown, it's the world. vvv yeah, it's probable that a lot of it is oriented toward monitoring expats and their families, including using them as collateral for the compliance of relatives back home (and vice versa). Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 18:58 on Apr 17, 2023 |
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Apr 17, 2023 18:46
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There was one set up in Vancouver, Canada and the theory is that it's set up to spy on Chinese citizens living abroad.
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Apr 17, 2023 18:56
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TheDeadlyShoe posted:this is so weird. do you *actually* prefer the alternative of Feinstein('s aides) continuing to vote for her remotely? They had remote voting in the House. You just appear on video or designate another member of congress to vote on your behalf. There's no real scenario (outside of a Senatorial Misery situation) where her aides can hijack all of her votes for years until her term ends.
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Apr 17, 2023 19:13
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Discendo Vox posted:F.B.I. Arrests Two on Charges Tied to Chinese Police Outpost in New York New York FBI and DA has been busy the past few days. They stopped someone who was allegedly planning a mass shooting at a bar in New York hours before they were going to do it on Saturday. https://twitter.com/SDNYnews/status/1648007479706411008 Plus, the charges against El Chapo's kids from a few days ago.
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Apr 17, 2023 19:22
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cr0y posted:Saying that we need to let people do everything remotely is basically saying "well if we make them come in then it will just be a tool to obstruct". The problem is they will do that anyways, oops I don't have cell coverage, sorry I didn't know the vote was taking place, etc etc. ...it really does not seem to make it hard in the slightest and politics being a side hustle seems to be more a rule than a exception. Personally I like living close to the politicians I vote for from an influence standpoint, and I don't see why that should be the case for only those living in the capital. If a politician wants to benefit from their office, they do it regardless of the method of voting. Their success in that depends on the levels of corruption in the country in question. I'm not sure if there is any country where you can vote without being present so it is But it really does not seem to preclude any of the things people say it precludes. Like the corruption in United States is pretty drat open regardless of them having a second home in Washington D.C.
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Apr 17, 2023 19:36
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Biden's recently announced new emissions standards, which would effectively ban about 2/3 of ICE vehicles in the U.S. by 2032 (and starts kicking in effective all 2027 models of cars and trucks), is being challenged by a national Long-haul Truckers union/trade association called the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. They are specifically challenging the part of the rules that mandate the inclusion of short and long-haul freight trucks in the regulations. They argue that most truckers who own their own vehicles will not be able to meet the current standards. They claim this will result in roughly 1/3 of truckers being required to buy new trucks in the next 5 years to be compliant and represents an undue burden on truckers. https://twitter.com/FoxBusiness/status/1647978700552503297 quote:The trucking industry is sounding the alarm on consequential ripple effects of the Biden administration's latest move in the electric vehicle push.
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Apr 17, 2023 19:49
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Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:Biden's recently announced new emissions standards, which would effectively ban about 2/3 of ICE vehicles in the U.S. by 2032 (and starts kicking in effective all 2027 models of cars and trucks), is being challenged by a national Long-haul Truckers union/trade association called the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association. They are specifically challenging the part of the rules that mandate the inclusion of short and long-haul freight trucks in the regulations. What are the stats on truckers who own their own vehicles vs. companies owning them and hiring out bodies to operate them? And how many of those independent truckers are long haulers vs. shorter trips in more local environs? Does any one know that info or of any good resources to look into it? It's definitely a move that needs to happen, and probably sooner rather than later, but if it's tens of thousands of people being affected then I don't know if they'll be able to keep that particular mandate in. (Other option would be for more trucking/hauling companies to invest in their fleets and switch the independents to dedicated employees, I suppose, but even in those cases I can't see how you'd avoid creating random holes where an independent trucker used to be available and isn't anymore.)
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Apr 17, 2023 20:27
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Apparently there are 350,000-400,000 independent truckers in the US+Canada. An electric semi is apparently $400,000-$500,000 so that is a really big chunk of capital investment that needs to happen (over a hundred billion). I imagine some form of subsidy will probably come into shape over the next couple of years - I hope it's not too generous, e.g. that it considers the fact that owner-operators will have lower operating costs with EVs and shouldn't just be getting these things for free. Commercial trucks and busses are responsible for 25% of emissions in the US. Owner-operated freight trucks appear to be about 10% of the total fleet.
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Apr 17, 2023 20:37
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Mellow Seas posted:Apparently there are 350,000-400,000 independent truckers in the US+Canada. An electric semi is apparently $400,000-$500,000 so that is a really big chunk of capital investment that needs to happen (over a hundred billion). I imagine some form of subsidy will probably come into shape over the next couple of years - I hope it's not too generous, e.g. that it considers the fact that owner-operators will have lower operating costs with EVs and shouldn't just be getting these things for free. Thanks for the info. Can you elaborate on the bolded above, though? If the commercial trucking industry contributes that much to the overall emissions, and if switching to EVs would take a substantial bite out of that number (big if, I'll grant you), then I guess I see it as a worthwhile expenditure, and a worthwhile public/private venture, for the US government to essentially pay for that switchover.
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Apr 17, 2023 20:48
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Class3KillStorm posted:Thanks for the info. I imagine the government has other incentives they can use to pressure larger carriers to switch over (anybody know about that?) If they could get the other 90% of the fleet switched over to electric and grandfather in independently owned ICE vehicles, while offering reasonable subsidies to replace them within 5 or 10 years, maybe we could live with that. Perhaps emissions standards on ICE trucks could also be tightened to get them off the road faster.
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Apr 17, 2023 20:58
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Class3KillStorm posted:Can you elaborate on the bolded above, though? Electricity costs are lower than fuel costs. So we should not subsidize new ev trucks to be the same price as diesel trucks. And the thing here is this is all new sales. They’re complaining about it as if it were a requirement for existing vehicles. That said their margins are actually quite thin, that’s real and higher upfront capital will really drive some of them out of business. So something should happen, but they want to make it seem as bad for them as possibly they can to try to make that help bigger than it should be.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:07
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Pete expressed interest in a "pack the courts" strategy. His proposal was laughably bad, but it was never anything more than a signal. These discoveries and disclosures allow dems room to pursue packing the courts. Must broadcast and print media will be more amenible to such a strategy*. Voting attitudes shift slightly too - each of which makes it a slightly more viable path, and slightly more likely, and that incremental bit more worth pursuing. *and the fascist cable, radio and meme media is not doing well at this point in the cycle
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Apr 17, 2023 21:26
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Bar Ran Dun posted:Electricity costs are lower than fuel costs. So we should not subsidize new ev trucks to be the same price as diesel trucks. I don't understand this position, either - if electricity costs are lower than regular diesel fuel costs, then why wouldn't we want to subsidize the new EV trucks being built? If we can artificially lower the more expensive EV production so that they line up alongside their diesel counterparts, then theoretically the longer-term savings of electricity over diesel would be the tipping point for buying the EV. (Yes, it's a perfectly spherical truck in a vacuum, considering the decades of marketing and propaganda for the non-electric vehicles, but you get my point.)
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Apr 17, 2023 21:27
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Just buying everybody who is currently driving a semi a brand new electric one is actually probably the least problematic outcome. These are big expensive items and anybody who doesn't have that kind of money up front, which is most truckers, is financing them through what are basically legal scams. If someone who wanted to haul stuff just got a truck to do it with, a lot of really lovely players would be driven out of the industry. This is something that is so obviously not going to last the next Republican that gets on the throne that anybody getting angry about it now just smacks of asking for payment in advance for a job you know is going to get cancelled. EV trucking within 9 years is probably possible for drayage but good luck finding someone who'll stick their necks out for those drivers. For long haul, I've seen nothing that convinces me we'll be replacing every hydrocarbon joule burnt with anything cleaner and even "stations with a big diesel generator that's used to charge the trucks" is both insufficient and too weak to stand on its own. This isn't even the foremost of my infrastructure concerns, after all how much does an EV semi weigh? Freightliner seems to have the most serious contender that isn't in production yet (though Tesla seems to be better at SEO) but the listed weight is so much higher than just what I'd expect a cab to be that I think it's not what I'm looking for.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:35
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My guess is will start seeing a lot of the overhead power trucks like those being tested at scale in Germany. Electrification of our highways to allow trolley buses and trucks isn't the worst thing.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:42
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Relating to the earlier arrests in New York, DoJ has announced charges against another 40 or so individuals in the Chinese state police and Cyberspace Administration for coordinated campaigns to harass, repress, sabotage and target dissidents, as well as subvert social media platforms and recruit unwitting proxies. This, too, builds upon earlier investigations.quote:United States v. Julien Jin, et al. The other complaint, United States v. Yunpeng Bai, et al., basically points to an entire troll farm operation targeting dissidents specifically and including threat and harassment campaigns.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:47
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I'm not actually convinced that the average semi-cab will be much heavier than its ICE counterpart, batteries are heavy but there's a lot of really heavy poo poo that is required to make a big engine move a load like that, that isn't necessary for electric. The average consumer car doubling in weight to 8,000 pounds is going to do far, far more damage to stuff and the 20% heavier semi's are going to be the final straw or bridges and roads alike. Blindeye posted:My guess is will start seeing a lot of the overhead power trucks like those being tested at scale in Germany. Electrification of our highways to allow trolley buses and trucks isn't the worst thing. It's a beautiful dream but unlikely, a lot of cities used to have this and held ceremonies to rip it out and those same people and their fellow travelers in ideology are still in charge. If you've already got wires overhead so things can operate without gas or batteries, why then people will demand trams and trolleys and more buses because they'd just slot right in at that point.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:48
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Epic High Five posted:This isn't even the foremost of my infrastructure concerns, after all how much does an EV semi weigh? Freightliner seems to have the most serious contender that isn't in production yet (though Tesla seems to be better at SEO) but the listed weight is so much higher than just what I'd expect a cab to be that I think it's not what I'm looking for. The whole situation really highlights the need for a replacement of the gasoline tax as a mechanism for funding highway repairs ASAP.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:51
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I wanna thank Mellow Seas and Epic High Five for piping up since that article was posted - I feel like I'm learning so much more about commercial trucking and its implications than I ever would have expected to in my lifetime.
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Apr 17, 2023 22:13
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These issues are only really for long haul trucks, right? Short haul trucks - also in the bill - seem like they can convert to EV without nearly as many issues.
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Apr 17, 2023 22:17
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Class3KillStorm posted:I wanna thank Mellow Seas and Epic High Five for piping up since that article was posted - I feel like I'm learning so much more about commercial trucking and its implications than I ever would have expected to in my lifetime. I can't speak for Mellow but everything I know is picked up from Bar Ran Dan and a few other spots on these forums, it's a real education sometimes. edit - and a few years working in a diner with some truckers but all I can say for certain as a result of those conversations is that build quality is garbage now and even brand new engines are held together with spit and string TheDeadlyShoe posted:These issues are only really for long haul trucks, right? Short haul trucks - also in the bill - seem like they can convert to EV without nearly as many issues. I don't think there's any issues that one will have but the other won't. I think the short haul (drayage) sector is the easiest to fix in theory but that's not going to be the same as practice, but it is certainly more focused than the broader issues long haul face in electrification which are less fine details and more "is this sort of project even something we, as a society, are capable of anymore" I was being a bit tongue in cheek but I do expect traditional car companies to oppose overhead or non-battery electrification specifically because that'd be the exact same system that would make replacing cars entirely much easier.
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Apr 17, 2023 22:22
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Discendo Vox posted:Missouri's a castle doctrine state, so there's room for any proceeding to go very badly. There is no doubt that any jury trial involving white man shooting a black kid has potential to go badly, but I think even castle doctrine laws require the victim to actually be attempting to enter a residence. If walking on to a porch and/or ringing a doorbell counts, that's free license to shoot any salesperson or package delivery person in the state. Not that there aren't law-makers in Missouri who would undoubtedly see that as a positive.
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Apr 17, 2023 22:58
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Blind Pineapple posted:There is no doubt that any jury trial involving white man shooting a black kid has potential to go badly, but I think even castle doctrine laws require the victim to actually be attempting to enter a residence. If walking on to a porch and/or ringing a doorbell counts, that's free license to shoot any salesperson or package delivery person in the state. Not that there aren't law-makers in Missouri who would undoubtedly see that as a positive. Trayvon Martin was confronting a person following him in a public area.
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Apr 17, 2023 23:08
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It's. Always. Projection. https://twitter.com/EdKrassen/status/1648070921528147968?t=6kYF15KfydwbV1EfUNuQJA&s=19
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Apr 17, 2023 23:09
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cr0y posted:It's. Always. Projection. What I believe is the non-Krassenstein source:  just in casehttps://twitter.com/willsommer/status/1648026562422272006 Fuentes is tied up in it too apparently to the surprise of nobody.
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Apr 17, 2023 23:12
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Uglycat posted:Pete expressed interest in a "pack the courts" strategy. His proposal was laughably bad, but it was never anything more than a signal. It’s probably a thing that has to happen, or the stop anything good ever strategy will continue to work. My understanding is that positions like this that start on the outside can flip rather suddenly after about a quarter of the relevant group supports them. What’s dem support on packing the courts at?
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Apr 17, 2023 23:23
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DarkCrawler posted:I'm not sure if there is any country where you can vote without being present so it is Sorry if late but the United States, for example? The first vote I ever was old enough to cast was 2012, yet 2020 was the first time I voted while inside the US
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Apr 18, 2023 00:21
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Push El Burrito posted:Trayvon Martin was confronting a person following him in a public area. I think that was "stand your ground," which is a slightly different stupid law that encourages gun degeneracy in the US. To follow up on the Ralph Yarl story, they filed charges today. The shooter was an 84-year-old white man named Andrew Lester. The charges are first degree assault and armed criminal action which don't sound like much, but apparently the first degree assault charge alone carries a max sentence of life in prison. The armed criminal action charge carries a sentence of 3-15 years, which may as well be life for an 84yo. There's a pretty good chance the old bastard won't live through the trial, but at least there was some reasonably quick and meaningful action.
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Apr 18, 2023 00:55
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Blind Pineapple posted:I think that was "stand your ground," which is a slightly different stupid law that encourages gun degeneracy in the US. Yeah. I think the very reductionist barebones definitions are: Castle Doctrine: If they're in your house and you didn't invite them, they're fair game. Stand Your Ground: You are under no obligation to attempt to disengage from a conflict.
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Apr 18, 2023 01:14
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the_steve posted:Yeah. I think the very reductionist barebones definitions are: SYG is worse because you can just vaguely state that your life was in danger in pretty much any situation and it has to be taken seriously. Self-defense usually requires that you not escalate a situation and in some states, you have a duty to retreat. Of course a place like Florida basically says, he looked at me funny I feared for my life on my Sunday stroll through gated suburbia and that's what I had to take your life.
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Apr 18, 2023 01:37
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