BernardoVerda 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Michigan Lawmakers Want To Ban Chinese-Tagged Vehicles From Even Visiting The State. You Know, For Privacy.

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2026 @ 02:04pm

    It seems that these days (especially on the so-called "Right" or "conservative" side of the spectrum) most politicians spend very little time becoming properly informed on issues, or in "governing" as legislators in theory are supposed to do. Most politicians appear much too busily engaged in kowtowing to powerful (or wealthy) lobbies while performatively acting out rituals of legislative procedure for public consumption, to actually focus on substantive and meaningful "governing".

  • On the post: RFK Jr. Talks About How Great A Job He’s Doing Managing The Measles Outbreak

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 12 Jun, 2026 @ 12:39pm

    Probably. Though maybe it might have been the mother's decision?

  • On the post: RFK Jr. Talks About How Great A Job He’s Doing Managing The Measles Outbreak

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2026 @ 12:55pm

    Bobby lies; children die.

  • On the post: Bari Weiss Asked 60 Minutes To Lie. Scott Pelley Had Already Done Plenty On His Own.

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 09 Jun, 2026 @ 05:18pm

    Oh Lord... You didn't notice that one of Pelley's chief points was that video clearly showed otherwise? That in fact it's clearly visible in the video that ICE agent Ross was actually not directly in front of Good's vehicle, and furthermore that Good's front tires were cranked hard over to the right, away from Ross, to drive past him? Or maybe, you're the one who has trouble with telling the truth? (To be fair, there's a small chance that possibly you have trouble even perceiving the truth, when plain, clear evidence happens to conflict with the political narrative you've committed yourself to)? . Aside: You also need to learn not just what 'left' means, but what 'leftist" means. The United States hasn't had left-leaning broadcast media or mass media since before I was born (and I'm evidently much older than you).

  • On the post: Bari Weiss Asked 60 Minutes To Lie. Scott Pelley Had Already Done Plenty On His Own.

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 08 Jun, 2026 @ 06:13pm

    False equivilence is not "showing both sides

    Portraying "violence" only by stretching the description of "violence" beyond credible congruence the actual, on-the-ground reality, is journalistic dishonesty. Things like snowballs and chest-bumps really, quite simply, can't legitimately be compared to:

    • creating ground fog from prodigious amounts of tear gas and CS gas
    • pumping tear gas/CS gas directly into protester's inflatable costumes,
    • shooting pepper ball and more dangerous "less-than-lethal" ammunition from unsafe (much too close) range, (even at journalists, facing away and reporting live on camera),
    • aiming plastic bullets high and at heads, (rather than at the ground ahead, as designed),
    • body slamming quietly standing protestors to the ground,
    • "kettling" tactics against crowds doing nothing wrong except being present,
    • destroying first-aid stations,
    • not to mention several shootings -- including several fatal and clearly unjustified homicides, of which Pretti and Good were merely the ones caught in full, clear video.
    • etc.
    The "news from nowhere" false equivalence ends up being propaganda, effectively favoring the side that needs to be held to account. It's worth noting that press coverage from news organizations based outside the USA (Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Spain, Scandinavia... take your pick) seem to have no trouble keeping this balance in line with reality.

  • On the post: The California Primary And The Frustrating Absence Of Ranked Choice Voting

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 27 May, 2026 @ 04:49pm

    In Canada, we still use "First Past the Post" for national and provincial elections. But oddly enough, the political parties don't use FPtP for their own, internal leadership contests -- not even the political party that most sternly opposes replacing FPtP with other voting method that produces more representative results. Quelle surprise! (Not.)

  • On the post: The California Primary And The Frustrating Absence Of Ranked Choice Voting

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 27 May, 2026 @ 04:43pm

    I can't agree with that. I don't even see the logic. "First Past the Post" is how fascists take over a Big Tent/mainstream party. They don't need a majority, just the biggest cohesive gang. Ranked Choice voting allows voters to choose the representative with the broadest actual support -- the winning candidate is the one for whom an actual majority agrees is "well, not necessarily my very favorite candidate, but still good enough to deserve my support." In a field with multiple (more than just two) candidates, so-called "First Past the Post" only leads to a winner with a plurality of support. Which may be significantly less than a true majority. (But they still get to run the show.) Trivial, oversimplified, example: My local chess club holds a FPtP vote on which kind of pizza to order in. The vote splits like so:

    • Hawaiian pizza (30%),
    • Spinach pizza (27%),
    • Pepperoni pizza (24%),
    • Vegetarian pizza (19%)
    Then Hawaiian pizza "wins" -- even if well over 50% of the club members are firmly against Hawaiian pizza, whether because they simply detest Hawaiian pizza, or are practicing Muslims, and/or are allergic to pineapple. But with Ranked Choice, (in this example) if approximately half the "losing" voters were satisfied to accept Pepperoni or Spinach pizza as a "good enough/worth supporting" fall-back choice (a "unity" candidate), they can surpass the Hawaiian gang, and readily pass a "true majority" threshold -- as in over two-thirds of the voters prefer what they got, to being stuck with ham and pineapple (rather than 70% being told "Well, we had a vote, and we got what we voted for.")

  • On the post: My Kid Vibe Coded Their Way To Actually Learning Math

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 27 May, 2026 @ 01:51pm

    This is (in my opinion) a fair and constructive criticism.

  • On the post: Judge Dismisses Charges Against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Says Gov’t Engaged In Vindictive Prosecution

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 27 May, 2026 @ 01:40pm

    Of course not. Which isn't the least surprising. Because despite being called an "anti-weaponization fund" to compensate those improperly subjected to government legal persecution, it's nothing of the sort.

  • On the post: Super Meth Isn’t The Hero We Want, But It’s The Hero We Deserve

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 27 May, 2026 @ 01:32pm

    And...?

  • On the post: Super Meth Isn’t The Hero We Want, But It’s The Hero We Deserve

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 27 May, 2026 @ 01:31pm

    • ego strokes

  • On the post: The Science Is Not Settled: How Weak Evidence Is Fueling A National Push To Ban Social Media For Youth

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 21 May, 2026 @ 02:54pm

    Just submitted a test message

    Form does appear to be working again. Received a confirmation message "Thank you for your response. ✨ Thank you for your submission!"

  • On the post: The Science Is Not Settled: How Weak Evidence Is Fueling A National Push To Ban Social Media For Youth

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 21 May, 2026 @ 02:49pm

    I filled out name, email, subject, and a brief description of the issue. Everything seemed fine, until I tried to submit the form (first under Bug Reports, then under General Feedback), at which point the form displayed a red and white error message that there was some sort of connectivity problem.

  • On the post: The Science Is Not Settled: How Weak Evidence Is Fueling A National Push To Ban Social Media For Youth

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 21 May, 2026 @ 01:27pm

    Bluesky feed (@techdirt.com) appears to be down since Monday afternoon (Last post: "DC Court Orders ICE To Stop Engaging In Warrantless Arrests"). "Contact Techdirt" form not submitting messages either.

  • On the post: John Roberts Is The Driver Who Wants Credit For All The People He Didn’t Run Over

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 15 May, 2026 @ 12:14pm

    "suing over literally anything"

    Unhinged liberals are suing over literally anything... and forum shopping, and activist judges are making crazy rulings ignore the law, jurisdiction, and SCOTUS direction/precedent.
    Do you mean like making a Supreme Court case out of someone being forced to create a wedding web-site for a gay couple... when - they didn't have an actual web-design business, - were never asked nor approached to make any such website, - by a gay couple who never asked to have anyone to make such a website - (in fact one of them was an actual web designer himself) - in another state - and the first the gay couple allegedly at the root of this complaint ever knew anything about this alleged imposition on a poor, well-meaning poor, besieged christian web-designer's 1st Amendment rights, or even about this aggrieved web-designer at all... was when they saw the news coverage of the SCOTUS case? You mean like that? Yeah, we all agree -- stunts like that are definitely something to be concerned about. NEWSFLASH! That wasn't any "unhinged liberals" doing that -- that was unhinged "conservatives" pulling that crazy shit.

  • On the post: Trump Administration: Anti-Fascists, Drug Dealers, And Trans People Are Terrorists

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 15 May, 2026 @ 11:16am

    Ironically (but not surprisingly) true.

  • On the post: ‘Christian’ Wireless Provider Promises To Censor All LGBTQ Content

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 14 May, 2026 @ 02:00pm

    It's weird, but I can't recall in what part of the Gospels Jesus even mentioned, let alone expressed any concern or prohibitions against, any of those things that this "Jesus-centric" service is promising to block.

  • On the post: Trump Administration: Anti-Fascists, Drug Dealers, And Trans People Are Terrorists

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 14 May, 2026 @ 01:14pm

    "I'll take delusional bullshit for $200, Alex."

  • On the post: John Roberts Is The Driver Who Wants Credit For All The People He Didn’t Run Over

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 13 May, 2026 @ 04:46pm

    I'm not familiar with this series. What network is it on? If it's really as disjointed, stupid, and incoherent as you make it sound, I don't want to waste my limited viewing time even checking out such trash, when there's much more believable and realistic series out there like Andor, Severance, and Game of Thrones -- all of which I'm already behind on.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Breaks Another Election To Make Sure Black Voters Are Disenfranchised

    BernardoVerda ( profile ), 13 May, 2026 @ 10:21am

    It’s not like the facts he cited are just magically made false
    It is, actually, for legal purposes.
    This is an open admission you don't care about the facts, nor about the truth, but only about your side winning -- even though your side had to cheat to "win".

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