jfengel

32 ms·

691.
by jfengel 8mo ago
There have been numerous efforts to scrutinize the voting. In 2020 there were 62 lawsuits; none of them succeeded. Tax evasion is rarely prosecuted because nobody is looking very hard. People looked very, very, very hard for fraud in 2020 a
692.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Sure. And the weak evidence still isn't powerful, because so much effort had to be expended to gain it. If cheating were widespread it would have been detected much more easily. Instead, efforts to clean up the voter rolls never cause
693.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Same in the US. You can try voting again at other stations, especially since they don't require ID. You just need the name of somebody assigned to that station, who hasn't already voted. There is a signature check if there is a su
694.
by jfengel 8mo ago
And in Russia, it is. That's why they call it "карусель". In the United States, it hasn't been. The article you link to doesn't even mention the United States. To do it on a large scale requires cooperation from the
695.
by jfengel 8mo ago
The USA threads the needle by simply not having verifiable voting. And it turns out it works pretty well. Despite countless hours and lawsuits dedicated to finding people who voted more than once, only a handful of cases have actually turne
696.
by jfengel 8mo ago
We pay it back all the time. Our debt exists in the form of Treasury bills and bonds, which are dutifully paid when they mature (anywhere from a month to 30 years later). The total debt goes up because we keep issuing new bonds. But bondhol
697.
by jfengel 8mo ago
But they never did starve anything. Even DOGE didn't cut a significant fraction of the budget. They just eliminated a bunch of ideological enemies and quit early. They didn't even pretend to reduce the entitlement programs that th
698.
by jfengel 8mo ago
The US doesn't want to invade North Korea. North Korea is a Chinese ally. China doesn't want the US on its border. North Korea doesn't need its own nukes to keep the US out. At least, that was true. Here in 2026, nobody can s
699.
by jfengel 8mo ago
There are limits on pardon power. If a politician gives pardons that the public doesn't like, they lose their job. It takes a few years, but finer-grained controls really won't help. In this case we elected a President who categor
700.
by jfengel 8mo ago
I don't see how. He himself will eventually go away, but his supporters are a renewable resource. They will seek somebody similar. And somebody will create themselves to be similar, because that's the model that works.
701.
by jfengel 8mo ago
They're pushing because the loonies are pushing. The loonies are passing age verification laws and big businesses don't want the responsibility. Now... it just so happens that the loonies and big business are connected another way
702.
by jfengel 8mo ago
It is a sentiment I have heard before, so I made the inference. If that is not their intention, then there is no problem.
703.
by jfengel 8mo ago
I know you're not being serious, but "animation" and "live action with CGI" are different filmmaking styles. They live on opposite sides of the uncanny valley. One is meant to appear completely realistic. The other
704.
by jfengel 8mo ago
We should indeed make conscription equal. In the US, that means eliminating it. We have no use for conscripted soldiers. Or we could make women sign up for the Selective Service. That would be a small waste of time for both men and women, s
705.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Just to be pedantic: I think you mean hydrocarbons (just carbon and hydrogen) rather than carbohydrates (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen). You could probably do it with carbohydrates (starches, sugars) or related molecules (wood, alcohol). But
706.
by jfengel 8mo ago
I'll admit I don't understand the situation in Afghanistan. Rejecting liberal democracy isn't surprising, but the Taliban sucks and it's hard to imagine that it's actually popular. Obviously it's not up to me t
707.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Cool, but why does feedback come in the form of a spreadsheet at all?
708.
by jfengel 8mo ago
They're not popular, but going outside in a flurry of missiles isn't good for your health. It's not like the US has coordinated with anyone on the ground to plan a revolt. They seem to have just imagined one will materialize.
709.
by jfengel 8mo ago
The wire services are the source of practically all news. There are vanishingly few other actual news-gathering organizations. (One fewer with the Washington Post deciding that they don't want to be one, either.) That's the news.
710.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Like anyone is going to listen to anything for 20 minutes.
711.
by jfengel 8mo ago
“But we need it really for international, for world security, and I think we’re going to get it. One way or the other, we’re going to get it,” -- Donald Trump, March 4, 2025
712.
by jfengel 8mo ago
It's not practical for every user to choose each individual message to read. We allow others to help us filter. If you want the unfiltered version you go get it (and then try to find something under the torrent of spam). The right to s
713.
by jfengel 8mo ago
I'd say that for a non-scientist, you should treat it as a non-event -- a paper that hasn't happened yet. The climate is not something for which you need daily, weekly, or even monthly updates. Rather, this paper is just one more
714.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Even "democratic elections" give a heavy thumb to those organizing the elections. If the US is helping design and implement the process, it means we're helping pick the winner. I suppose we're just as likely to leave it
715.
by jfengel 8mo ago
That's a remarkable statistic. Because from my Democratic perception, Republicans are more likely to say, out loud, that Democrats are morally bad. I wonder if it's a difference in the way they interpret the question, which is abo
716.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Yeah. It's not an "official" anything. It's just a web site.
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by jfengel 8mo ago
> Israeli and U.S. leaders have voiced hopes they would trigger an uprising, but Reuters found no evidence one was imminent I cannot imagine where they thought this uprising was supposed to come from. Plenty of Iranians are unhappy about
718.
by jfengel 8mo ago
(2010)
719.
by jfengel 8mo ago
Because we started a war of our own, sending oil prices up. So we let Russia back in to the oil market, lowering oil prices. And they use that money to bomb Ukraine some more.
720.
by jfengel 8mo ago
the 7 Oct 2023 Hamas massacre turned out to be the most catastrophic miscalculation in modern military history. I'm genuinely unclear on what the calculation was supposed to reveal. What did they think the outcome was going to be? I&

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