eudemonist
23d ago
An hour after I wrote this, /u/SomethingMusic linked to reports of what appears to be Bad Idea #2 in action.
I think most of these would be tough to pull off in a week though, with the possible exception of jammers.
(Hi feds! I'm a good guy, promise.)
eudemonist
23d ago
Wowza. Faked registration forms had correct names,addresses, DOBs, SSNs, Driver's License numbers, and phone numbers, but told detectives they didn't send it and that wasn't their signature. Detectives aren't usually coming around and asking about registration forms.
Also, they notified two other counties, who then both found forms with similar issues? Did they maybe then notify the rest of the counties, one would hope? And did the two counties catch the fakes on their own, or only after being notified? I'm curious...
Either way, scary. Even scarier that I suggested this in a comment here earlier asking about how to create disruptions.
eudemonist
23d ago
I mean, yeah, those couple of oopsies did kinda cast fascist dictatorships in a negative light for a lot of people, I think.
eudemonist
24d ago
A few off the top of my head:
Power substation attacks on Election Day, killing power to polling stations in a major metro for an extended period, say a few days.
A flood of mail-in ballots using the names of registered voters and info gleaned from credit agency data leaks, not necessarily with the intention of having them counted but to overwhelm the various crosscheck and verification systems. Bonus if lots of voters get to the polls on election day only to learn a ballot has already been submitted in their name.
Theft of a significant proportion of a large jurisdiction's paper ballot supply. Again, bonus if not discovered until late. Alternatively, a supply chain attack causing a significant fraction of ballots mixed into the overall supply to be slightly misprinted, requiring checking each blank manually to ensure it is correct.
Radio/cellular signal jammers covering polling places: as I understand it, the vast majority of machines use some type of communications signal to report results at the very least.
Exposure of a poorly concealed scheme to outright buy votes for cash (false flag, of course).
eudemonist
10mo ago
Interesting take. Nonetheless, we should acknowledge that the letter of the law prohibits implied insults, does it not? One such insult is illustrated, but it seems obvious there are innumerable forms such an insult could take. So we are left with two propositions: either the clause applies to all such implications, or it applies specifically and only to compliments given directly to an individual directly and exempts other forms of breach not specifically mentioned. The latter would support your premise of "secretly evil", I suppose, but it makes me wonder why outlaw backhanded compliments in one specific use case, and not outlaw, for example, complimenting the horse fatty rides riding for its perseverance? Is it that complimenting the mount is less obvious somehow? I think not. Thus I'm forced to believe implied insults, of whatever form, are prohibited by the letter of the law.
Although the question of the spirit of the law seems moot, given the explicit callouts in the text, I'm curious if there are other laws which you believe have a spirit diametrically opposed to their text? If we want people to stop at a given intersection, should we install Yield signs, or no signs? I don't quite understand how this works.
eudemonist
10mo ago
Wow. That's a heck of a story, bud. Thank you for sharing.
eudemonist
10mo ago
Generally don't smoke leaves, mate. The good stuff concentrates in the flowering portion, the female sex organs specifically.
eudemonist
10mo ago
I think it's important to make a distinction between "supplying information (especially when clearly lacking)" and "opining on a course of action". The difficulty is often in evaluating what information others do and don't have, as repeating already-known information borders on emphasizing it and thus suggesting a course of action.
eudemonist
10mo ago
No law is perfect to the letter. The spirit of the rules would certainly prohibit backhanded insinuations via second helpings just as it prevents backhanded compliments--in fact I'd argue that clause does cover such a situation in letter, but that is debatable. Nonetheless, calling someone fat isn't okay just because you don't use the word fat.
eudemonist
10mo ago
This is well put.
It seems like most of the responses you've gotten are questioning the severity of the events rather than occurrence, which seems to be "non-news" to most. Maybe it's just understood they're cheaty mfers and just don't put such a fine point on it?
eudemonist
10mo ago
Increased ethnic diversity is ruinous for popular support of redistributive social programs
I really think the key here is cultural diversity rather than racial/ethnic (though of course the two correlate strongly).
If we imagine Protestants and Catholics, or assistance going to the Irish or Italians (yes, different ethnicity, but still pretty white), or French and Spaniards, or squares and potheads, or broad-brush USA history and "approved work ethic" Jesús-loving Asians, I think only the last group is gonna get the government cheese.
eudemonist
11mo ago
For a partial example, you can look at the Texas electrical grid...
I live just outside Houston, so I don't need to look very far. Unfortunately the Valentine Vortex would absolutely pale in comparison, I'm afraid.
Much overlooked in the interconnect and renewables conversation is the systemic nature of certain failure modes of solar, I feel like. Much like the 2008 financial crisis, where the odds of one mortgage failing were slim, but if it happened no big deal, one wind or solar farm underproducing or going offline is no big deal--but each one that is offline increases the chances of another being offline. If, say, all the solar in Texas suddenly has difficulty producing, it's highly likely that whatever the cause is stretches beyond Texas borders, be it weather pattern disturbances or atmospheric conditions or whatever, which sets up catastrophic and cascading failures. Interconnection advocates discussing the VV often gloss over the fact that neighbor grids didn't have power to spare either.
eudemonist
11mo ago
"Price tag attacks" seem to be a similar herring:
Such vandalism also embraces damaging the property, or injuring members of the Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces....
The "price tag" concept and violence have been publicly rejected by Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,[21][22] who have demanded that those responsible be brought to justice.
The settler leadership have "fiercely condemned" the price tag policy,[27] and the vast majority of Yesha rabbis have expressed their reservations about it.[28] According to Shin Bet, the vast majority of the settlers also reject such actions.
estimates of the extent of the perpetrator group vary: one figure calculates that from several hundred to about 3,000 people implement the price tag policy,[15] while a recent analysis sets the figure at a few dozen individuals, organized in small close-knit and well-organised cells[16] and backed by a few hundred right-wing activists.
eudemonist
1yr ago
I'm curious about the effects of a 536-like event once 40% of the world's energy production is solar.
eudemonist
1yr ago
It actually pertains to restricting the zoning ability of municipalities: the impetus is that Bob the Farmer, who's been in the country his whole life, has suburbs expanding around him, and all the dang suburbanites want to rezone his place so he can't keep a chicken coop.
eudemonist
1yr ago
My revelatory moment about God-as-reality came while thinking through the implications of the Trinity and the multi-omni-ness of God
SAME. More specifically, it was the realization that the term in the original text, Elohim, is plural.
therefore causal sequence must either be a creation or an inseparable attribute of God
Nail on head.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Okay, not missing one then. I suppose I just don't know Hobbes well enough to understand what hole in the discourse you're referring to.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Beg pardon? I'm missing a reference I believe.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Doin' a fkn bang-up job, yo. Thank you.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Sure, and many of the early Levittown suburbs were built this way, effectively on a production line. Why did we stop doing it?
We didn't, really. We upgraded a bit to where there are a handful of floor plans and some modularity, but the vast majority of new developments are cookie-cutter repetitions of their neighbors, pre-cut and packaged, to be assembled simply.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Is there any reason to think one of the numbers is more accurate than the other?
Absolutely! They can't both be accurate, and the odds of them being equally inaccurate are small, s it seems likely one is more accurate than the other.
Which is which, now, that's a toughie.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Industrialization of marijuana production has resulted in steroid-bulked flowers that bear little resemblance to pot, which are subsequently relieved of much of what THC they do sprout before being shipped.
I used to smoke a LOT more than I do now, and so had a much higher tolerance, but killer buds would take maybe three hits and be wrecked. Now we pass around blunts of what looks like it should be as good or better--but it ain't.
Despite being so theoretically awesome, stuff usually doesn't even leave my fingers sticky these days. Hell, my roaches fall apart because they're so not-sticky, even after burning through 'em. They ain't s'posta do that.
eudemonist
1yr ago
Please give the Urban Pioneers a spin: https://youtube.com/watch?v=exykZ5Cfuso
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_md8hhW9khqUen3RVFkurQfLJO01d2CQoI
eudemonist
1yr ago
Music fest is a good choice.
Sand and salt water.
Morning sun on fresh powder.
So, I had suggested this in response to someone asking about ways to disrupt the process rather than accomplish actual fraud, and so I tossed it out there with that in mind, thinking that the investigations and sorting of good from bad ballots post-hoc would be a wrench in the gears to sow discord. Application to successful fraud with this method would be somewhat limited.
However, in Pennsylvania any registered voter can "Vote In Person By Mail Before Election Day" by providing a valid Penn driver's license number--not a license, but a number--in person at a designated location, and apply for, receive, complete, and submit a ballot all at one time. Problems with this approach are that 1) in-person limits the number you can crank out to one per visit; 2) employees at the designated locations are finite in number, so while you could maybe get away with a couple visits depending on the size of the office, even that would be pushing it, and 3) if those voters ended up trying to vote on Election Day, they wouldn't be able to because a ballot had already been submitted in their name--which is fine for chaos, but not good for successful fraud. The latter of those could perhaps be gotten around if the fraudster limits themselves to inactive voters, but would require eithier getting really lucky none of them pick this year to become active or somehow having knowledge they won't, like perhaps knowing they're dead or have moved states. Alternatively, an associate in the Clerk's office would make things a lot easier.
Generally speaking, though, I think for successful fraud you'd be almost better inventing voters from whole cloth.
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