My GF worked for a thrift shop, and when I picked her up after work she was admiring a 2 foot statue of Venus that had just been donated. So I bought it for her. That evening she was cleaning it up and noticed the wooden box at the foot of the figurine was hinged, but locked. I opened it with a bent paper clip and inside was a bag containing - a butt plug and anal beads. Then we figured out that if you twisted the head, it pulled a dildo out of the body.
When video or audio evidence is submitted, it will be questioned as to its authenticity. Who recorded it? On what device? Then we’ll look for other corroborating evidence. Are there other videos that captured the events in the background of the evidence video? Are there witnesses? Is there contradictory evidence?
Say there’s a video depicting a person committing murder in an alley. The defense will look for video from the adjoining streets that show the presence or absence of the murderer before or after. If those videos show cars driving by with headlights on, they will look for corresponding changes in the luminosity of the crime video. If the crime happened in the daytime, they will check that the shadows correspond to Sun’s position at that moment. They’ll see if the reflections of objects match the scene. They’ll look for evidence that the murderer was not at the scene. Perhaps a neighbor’s surveillance camera shows they were at home or their cell phone indicated they were someplace else.
But if all these things indicate the suspect was in the alley and the video is legitimate, that’s powerful evidence toward a conviction.
There’s no doubt that US sizes have become more generous. Size measurements have increased over the years by about 2 inches. A size 10 from the 50’s fits like a size 8 today. A medium shirt is closer to a large from 70 years ago.
We won’t have a clear winner. No matter which candidate “wins”, there will be widespread allegations of voter fraud. There will be protests. Biden will declare a national emergency. What happens after that? I don’t know. But I am prepared for major social unrest.
A large number of people from both major parties are absolutely unwilling to accept a win by the opposing candidate. I’ve never seen the country so divided.
There are plenty of companies that will sell your name, email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses, marital status, and relative’s names. They obtain the information from publicly sold databases. I had access to one that had all that, plus the registration info for the car I drive, my estimated income, my military record, my driving record, my political party preference, and pictures of my home that had been on the realtor’s website.
The scary one was when a phone center employee in the Philippines stole my wife’s debit card number and then did two big Western Union MoneyGram transfers to a couple of Filipino men. That means bad actors have access to the credit companies’ databases from which Western Union draws their proof of identity questions, like who holds your mortgage, where you lived when you were 10, and the make/model of your first vehicle.
If you’re well-off enough to be a financial fraud target, paying a company for identity theft protection is probably well worth it. Put fraud alerts in with all the major credit bureaus too. That usually stops identity thieves from accessing your credit. If you use 2FA with your phone, make sure your telecom provider will not transfer your number to a new device without in-person authorization and authentication.
Absentee ballot. Always worked for me in the Navy.
When you shop for a place to live, do you buy/rent nothing because nothing is “perfect”? Or do you weigh the benefits and detriments of each available option and choose the best one?
There’s a clear choice, and if you need to see what voter apathy gets you, look at Venezuela. We got a second chance because the Jan 6 attempt failed. If you don’t vote, the usurper might win.
I don’t expect that I will need a gun to defend myself, but I also don’t discount the possibility. I’m simply prepared if it happens. We -do- have illegal pot grows, drug addicts, openly racist folks, and Proud Boys. Would you feel vulnerable if you called for help and were told it’s 20 minutes away, with no ability to defend yourself?
I sincerely hope I never have to use any weapon against another human, but I’m also a realist. I’m a minority in a mixed marriage. I’m pretty vocal on the local social media where I use my real name. I never confront - I post the counterpoint. Still, I have been threatened. Thankfully, nobody followed through on the threats.
We haven’t had a lot of animal attacks on humans. There was a fatal one a few months ago when two brothers were attacked by a mountain lion. One died. They weren’t armed.
We do have lots of attacks on livestock. A lion took my neighbor’s goats. She’s one of the few who don’t have a gun in the house. Called 911 when the attack started. It took almost 30 minutes for the sheriff to respond. By then the lion was gone and her 4 goats were dead. Another neighbor shot two coyotes that were attacking his chickens. Still another a mile down the road confronted a lion attacking her llama. She shot near it to scare it off, but her llama died from its injuries. Can’t forget the guy who shot a rabid skunk that was chasing him a few years back. He used two magazines before he hit it. I don’t live near the ranchers - they don’t tend to advertise depredation incidents. But I never hear any of their neighbors complain about predators.
Democrats certainly do want to remove guns from the public. Every attempt at a handgun ban was a Democrat sponsored bill. Never saw such legislation with an exception for “real needs”.
You preach to the choir. Did you read my disclaimer? This is what I confront every day. It’s what the Trump supporters say. I posted a few of your comments to the local social media. Wow. What a shitstorm. These are some of the replies:
Free Needles: “Let the f***** die then. Good riddance.” (Yep, sounds like what Trump allegedly said)
Shoplifting: “Did you see the video of the Nordstrom robbery? Poor people don’t drive nice cars.” “…bring back the poorhouse” [this is a 19th century workhouse or farm where indigents were required to work] “I work at Sephora. It’s entitled teenagers who steal and they are not poor.” “I work the door at Walmart. People are stealing necessities. They’re stealing things they can trade for drugs.”
Catalytic Converter Theft: “Dude, I run [the local salvage yard]. Guy showed up last month trying to sell me a trunk load of catalytic converters. Called the cops, and they arrested him. He lives on ****** in a big house. Yeah, it’s his.” (I checked this against local arrest records. A man was arrested at the location of the yard for felony theft. Looking up his name in the county property records which indicate he does indeed own a house at the address given.)
Guns (this was the biggest response): “Bet this guy never lived in the country.” “…he probably thinks it only takes one shot to put down a bear. LOL” “You’ve read about my neighbor. Got in a gunfight with two guys trying to steal his cattle. Good thing he packs an AR.” “Who the heck is this guy? I can tell you one thing. He’s never served on active duty in a warzone. In Afghanistan it took over 300 rounds to put down two bad guys.”
There are a lot more, but my fingers are getting tired. You can see what I’m up against. Can’t say that I’m against the gun comments. I’ve had to track a deer almost 2 miles after I shot it. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug. Go watch some of those Brazilian shooting videos. Guy getting plowed by pistol shots, his severed carotid artery is decorating the walls, and he still manages to kill the security guard and run out of the bank before dropping dead in the street. There’s a reason the cops shoot until the suspect stops moving. Armed people are dangerous until you hit something vital, like the brain or heart. Also, you can be a great target shooter until the target starts shooting back. Learned that’s true from playing paintball with only eye protection. When pain avoidance kicks in, aim goes out the window.
But I’m sure you’ve heard all the justifications for gun ownership. Personally, I think we have a long way to go before any bans. How about mandatory psychiatric testing, particularly anger management? Release of all prior medical history, including psychiatric episodes? Making owners responsible for crimes committed by their unsecured guns? But the biggest one to prevent mass shootings - gotta prove you have at least 3 others who call you “friend”. Almost every mass shooter was a loner. Don’t hit us gun owners with another “one-size-fits-all”. Because if Trump is assassinated, I need my gun for the civil unrest (maybe war) that will shortly follow. Laws mean nothing under those conditions, and I’m a marked man.
I live in a county that covers 80 miles from end to end. A lot of it is single lane roads with 25 mph speed limits - not because it’s residential, but because the roads are windy roads through the mountains. From the highway, it takes me 10 minutes to drive to my home. There are other homes further down the dead end road that would easily take 20 minutes to get to. Some homes in the remote areas take 40 minutes to reach. Our deputies aren’t lazy. They’re limited by their number (about 20 per shift) and the topography.
The official homeless site is a vacant field next to the county offices and shelters at either end of the county. The homeless don’t like it there because it’s right down the street from the Sheriff’s office and the Highway Patrol. There was a plan to turn a nearly vacant strip mall next to one of the unofficial homeless sites into a shelter, but it turned out to be cheaper to raze the old building and build a new one specifically designed as a residential shelter. Evidently, old stores don’t have the infrastructure to support living accommodations, like showers and toilets. But there was a huge NIMBY opposition from the homeowners behind the mall. There were claims that other towns were giving one-way tickets to their homeless with the county seat as their destination. A lot of it was BS - most of the homeless are locals. There was an article citing the guy who was “mayor” of the unofficial campsite, calling out the local families who had abandoned a member to the streets. But the opposition was enough to defeat the measure. So we still have the vacant lot that many homeless refuse to use, and they get moved from campsite to campsite when there are too many complaints.
We have plenty of water. That’s not the problem. The rest of the state is hurting for water and wants to take ours. We have huge reservoirs paid for by county taxes that full of snow melt. The state wants us to give up that water “for the good of the state”. Nobody is sure how they’re going to transport that water, but again, it’s the “one-size-fits-all” thinking that people here hate.
One person I talked to put it this way: “Trump pisses off the Democrats, and that makes me happy!” There’s a lot of Democrat hate here. I warn them about cutting off their nose to spite their face, and weighing the lesser of two evils. The only thing that seems to be getting some traction is that Trump says he’s for gun rights - now. But if a few more people take pot shots at him, he may change his mind. Reagan did. He ended up backing the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapons Ban. It didn’t happen until well after his presidency, but then he only got shot once.
What do you propose that would solve poverty? Don’t say, “entitlement programs”, because that’s a non-starter here. I’ve argued the benefits of universal income - crime reduction, reduced homelessness, tiding over normally productive people through hard times - but most people here believe entitlements breed laziness and will cause higher taxes.
This probably will not be a popular post, but it needs to be said if you want to understand why people want to vote for Trump. You may not agree with it, but this is reality. Just to be clear, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I’M VOTING FOR THAT NARCISIST, NEPOTISTIC, DECEITFUL USURPER. I can make a few sacrifices for the good of the country - and the world.
I live in the midst of Trump supporters and I often talk to them about why they support him. It comes down to being adversely affected by Democrat policies. They see Trump as being a champion against these policies. Some of what follows are their arguments. Some are my own experience.
Almost every neighbor around me has at least one gun. We are expected to defend ourselves for at least 20 minutes, because that’s how long it can take law enforcement to show up when we call 911. We see the state telling us that, “10 rounds is enough for a magazine.” “You need a special tool to swap magazines.” “You can’t buy the kind of gun that is designed to fend off an assault.” We don’t have any problems with mass shootings. We have very low levels of gun-related crime. Most people here are comfortable seeing someone open carry. We have bears and mountain lions roaming our properties. People use guns to defend their livestock against bears, coyotes, and feral dogs. And nearby, a guy was killed by a mountain lion. In the past year I’ve sighted mountain lions on my cameras 6 times. That’s more than the previous 15 years I’ve had cameras installed. State wildlife people are doing nothing to address the issue. That’s another policy attributed to Democrats. People are worried that kids will turn up missing, victims of mountain lion attacks.
We all see homelessness and the associated drug addiction when we go into town. Addiction that is supported by the Democrat’s free needle program. Homeless camps that, until this week, were supported by Democrats. We see the effect it’s had on nearby businesses (shuttered). We see the illegal pot grows that pop up on undefended land, then the crazy cost of cleaning them up when the owner gets the bill (one guy two miles up the road from me got billed $14,000). We see increasing levels of government intervention. Want to build a house? That will be $65,000 in fees. Put in solar? $1500 for the permit. A chicken coop? Thank you for your $300 contribution. Need a chainsaw to maintain your forested land? Sure, as long as it’s battery-powered (underpowered, taking 50% more time, and you need multiple batteries to limb a tree). The latest is water restrictions - we have lots of water, but “they” want us to cut back to give it to those city people.
About 80% of the people here have propane service. They worry about whether they’ll be able to buy a new propane appliance in the future, or be forced into an expensive conversion to an electric appliance (it costs over $1000 to have an electrician put in a new 240V outlet). They see Democrat-led efforts to ban natural gas appliances. They see EVs being pushed, but there are maybe 20 public charging station within 20 miles. Many of those are out of service due to vandalism (copper theft is rampant).
Then we get to the shoplifting and the apparent lack of enforcement. We all see stores locking up whole aisles of stock to stave off the shoplifters. Talking with the owners of the stores, there’s not a lot else they can do. The sheriff won’t detain the criminals, so they’re back in the store the next day. People are upset with package theft from their doorstep. They’re screaming about the rash of vehicle break-ins and gasoline theft. Someone drilled a hole in my neighbor’s gas tank to steal $30 worth of gas. It cost him $500 (his insurance deductible) to fix it. Another neighbor had his catalytic converter stolen. Talking to the sheriff, the lack of enforcement is a jail capacity issue. Our jail is always full because what used to be a felony is now only a misdemeanor. Misdemeanors are served in county jails, not state penitentiaries. How do I make an argument that this is not due to the policies of Democrats, when the Democrat Governor is against the repeal of the measure that created this situation?
That’s why -my- rural area is red. It will continue to be red until the Democrats figure out that “one-size-fits-all” legislation alienates the rural population. What makes sense for urban areas is a real burden in rural areas. Meanwhile, Trump tells people that he will reverse a lot of these onerous laws. You and I know he’s lying, because the Federal Government can’t interfere with State’s Rights. But that does little good when trying to tell folks in my area that they should vote for the Democrat who represents the things that are adversely affecting their daily lives. People here want guns, gas-powered chainsaws, ICE vehicles, propane appliances, zero-drug tolerance, less government, and effective law enforcement. That’s why they support Trump. Unlike me, they can’t see any farther than what is impacting their personal lives. They can care less about what a Trump presidency means to the global community. They don’t care that he’s a convicted felon. They don’t mind his infidelity, and they overlook his deceit. How do I convince people like that to vote against the candidate who promises them what they want?
How do earth-sheltered homes comply? I’ve seen a few, and they have no windows in most of the rooms, including bedrooms. And there’s a few who’ve taken to living in caves, old mines, and decommissioned missile silos. There must be an exception to this code.
Not recommended for lycra or spandex suits, or any suit that has elastic closures, particularly during the summer months. They will rapidly degrade in the heat of the car. My wife left hers in the car after a vacation (never used it). It was tucked in the trunk. Found it a month later and it disintegrated in the wash.
It wasn’t any particular scientific discovery that weakened religion. It was the popularity of science fiction that did it. As Arthur C. Clarke put it, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” People can now imagine how miracles are done without invoking anything supernatural. We might not have the tech to do it yet, but we have a pretty good idea of potential methods. That has placed a lot of “creator god” religions under pressure. Create life? Tech will eventually do it. Create a world? Sure, tech again. Given enough tech, a solar system can be spawned. Water into wine? We’re halfway there with Kool-Aid. We already have vimanas (those ancient Hindu flying vehicles). We call them airplanes or helicopters. We can destroy a whole city with a single weapon. So why should we worship a supreme being who supposedly did those things?
Assuming we can conquer poverty, religions that survive will be centered around improving the human condition. Worshipping dieties will eventually fall by the wayside. It will still be a long process. You can’t dispel faith with reason and facts. And people in poverty tend to embrace religion because it gives them comfort and hope that things will be better in the afterlife.
Animals were doing it long before humans even existed. Some birds will “bathe” in an ant nest because the formic acid excreted by the ants rids them of parasites. There’s even a word for it - zoopharmacognosy.
Long before recorded history, people knew what plants were helpful to treat or cure various maladies. Who knows what possessed the first human to chew on willow bark to relieve pain or reduce a fever? The earliest documentation of it was 400 BCE by Hippocrates, but it was probably common knowledge for much longer than that. The Chinese have been using various herbs to treat disease for at least 3000 years.
Every time I do a search, the bot usually provides enough info. The problem is that I don’t trust the bot because it’s been wrong before. So I still need to continue the search to find an authoritative answer.
That’s the problem with bots. If you trust their answers and they’re wrong, it can be a real problem. There was a story a while ago about an Air Canada customer service bot that was giving out bad info about bereavement travel. When a customer tried to get the promised refund, the airline admitted the advice was wrong, but claimed the bot was a separate legal entity, therefore they were not responsible for the advice it gave.
Critical Thinking skills. Imagine a world where everyone is able to sus out the lies, separate fact from fiction, and not fall into pitfalls of illogical thinking.
Damn. That would be me!