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2
DnD Central / Re: Return of the Grammar Nazis!
Last post by ersi -
Travelling provides a broader picture of the world and so do language skills. Both moderate the kind of nonsense one is able to spew, if one is in the habit of spewing nonsense.

In my team at the job we have an American, who lived a few years in Sweden before moving to Estonia. Different from ordinary Americans, he is very good at history and geography, a valuable teammate in pub quizzes.

Here are two Americans discussing fascism in front of an audience in Austria in German.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCbKnRgeU8M

For Europeans a broader world view and being considerate of different perspectives in different languages is very common, so common that savagely bone-headed redneckery is hard to grasp. Luckily we have solid contribution of savagely bone-headed redneckery on this forum and can gear up our coping mechanisms.
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DnD Central / Re: Everything Trump…
Last post by ersi -
Quoting somebody else's wrong opinion won't help you out. You remain wrong about everything.

The reality:
- It was not Judge Cannon's decision. It was Justice Thomas's opinion that Cannon relies on. You know, Clarence Thomas the supreme corruptant in SCOTUS.
- Justice Thomas's opinion would dismiss all special counsels appointed by DOJ Attorney Generals, such as Robert Mueller of Mueller Report or Archibald Cox of Watergate.
- The partisan intent is all on Cannon's and Thomas's side. Trump stole documents designated as federal secret. He boasted around with them liberally and refuses to return them. Based on the facts it is a very easy open-and-shut case that requires a hyperpartisan hypocrite to disagree.

"The President has the authority to declassify documents!" you say? :lol: He is on public record boasting to his guests about the documents exactly as secret documents!

You are always wrong about everything. This should not be hard for you to learn.

The 11th District will more likely make the right decision: Replace Judge Cannon for her third egregious mistake in this case (judges are allowed up to three egregious mistakes, I hear) so the case can proceed. When appealed to SCOTUS, SCOTUS is likely to make the wrong decision again, because for SCOTUS there is no law and order, no justice, no checks and balances. SCOTUS is on board with the plan to secure the creation of Unified Reich as promised in Trump's campaign ad.
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DnD Central / Re: Everything Trump…
Last post by OakdaleFTL -
Consider:
Quote
Despite all the faux outrage over Judge Cannon's decision, she disqualified only one person from pursuing this case: Jack Smith. Cannon did not grant Trump any immunity for his actions during or after he left office. The United States attorney for the southern district of Florida is fully capable of prosecuting Trump. To be sure, Attorney General Merrick Garland does not want his Justice Department to take the heat for prosecuting his boss's political rival, but that is a political problem for Garland and the administration and not a legal problem for the judiciary. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has no reason to accommodate politically motivated efforts to convict Trump before the election or inauguration. Trump should be treated like any other defendant.
(source)
Of course, YMMV!! :)
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DnD Central / Re: Philosophy, Logic, Formal Systems
Last post by OakdaleFTL -
What I said was:
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
If someone I knew didn't revile it, I'd be very concerned!

Apparently, you don't understand the function of a conditional... I don't know anyone who is pro-Nazi. (Present company excepted? Do I need to convince you that Nazi ideology is bad, ersi?)

Somehow being called pro-Nazi or anti-Nazi has some magical connection to philosophy, logic, and formal systems?!
To use a term favored by you: Doofus!
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DnD Central / Re: Immigrants
Last post by ersi -
To reiterate the basics that probably apply everywhere in the world:
- Citizenship is required for voting
- When you vote non-locally (somewhere else than where you live), there is paperwork involved

As an additional complexity in Estonia and Latvia at least, mere residents (i.e. foreigners or stateless people with residence permit) can vote in municipal elections. Municipal elections are particular to your place of residence. And instead of registration to vote, all citizens/residents receive an invitation to vote to their mailbox. The authorities know who their citizens and residents are.

In USA there are some differences between states. In most states:
- To be able to vote, you need to pro-actively register to vote by a deadline ahead of every elections. The procedure involves ID-ing paperwork
- You often register to vote with a particular party, which essentially makes you a delegate for the party, not an impartial voter the way it is in mainland Europe

Complete freedom to vote as understood in Europe, i.e. no prior registration to become eligible to vote, applies, according to Wikipedia, only in North Dakota, but there you "must provide identification and proof of entitlement to vote". (Question: Will "entitlement to vote" automatically arrive to state residents' mailbox ahead of elections or do you have to get busy to obtain it?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_registration_in_the_United_States

Taking a look at the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, it can be seen that it is stupid:
- Current safeguards against illegal voting have been examined and found sufficient already, i.e. the problem it proposes to solve does not exist.
- The proposed safeguards are already in place in at least 36 states
- The regulation can be overinterpreted to drown particular voter types with additional documentation requirements in order to prevent them from voting, which is also already in effect in a good number of jurisdictions
- No state constitution or law allows non-citizens to vote in federal elections. Some states (notably DC) allow non-citizens to vote in municipal elections.

The SAVE Act may conceivably provide federal uniformity in federal elections, but the problem is that that's regulation and Republicans normally hate regulation, so it is easy to see that there are ulterior motives with the Act. Usually Republicans advocate state rights instead of more rigorous federal regulation.

Clearly, Republicans rely heavily on their voters being total doofuses.
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DnD Central / Re: Immigrants
Last post by Frenzie -
Quote from: ersi on
However, Republicans assume there to be impunity in illegal voting and therefore they often register themselves in multiple jurisdictions in order to attempt voting multiple times and it does not deter them that they are found out
Right, that's similar to how I can decide whether I register to vote for the European elections in Belgium or the Netherlands. If I did it in both countries it might potentially "work out" for a few weeks until one or both of them got mad at me after comparing registries. If I weren't a citizen of an EU country but merely a resident I wouldn't be able to do any such thing in the first place.
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DnD Central / Re: Immigrants
Last post by ersi -
Quote from: OakdaleFTL on
Since the "Motor Voter" Act (a federal mandate) passed, DMVs (and all state social services applications) must include the option to register to vote...
Currently, a mere check box mark affirming one is a citizen is all that's required for the registration to proceed.
No documentation is required.
The hidden assumption here is that non-citizens can register to vote and cast their vote with impunity. This assumption is false. In reality, the right to vote is checked against other records when you register to vote — registration to vote is an application that may be granted or denied —, and registration to vote may be checked in connection with other procedures, so there is no voting without registration.

However, Republicans assume there to be impunity in illegal voting and therefore they often register themselves in multiple jurisdictions in order to attempt voting multiple times and it does not deter them that they are found out https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-trump-aide-meadows-registered-vote-three-states-simultaneously-washpost-2022-04-22/