Relatively recently, Hearst newspapers without explanation ditched online comments on articles. The paper that I was subscribing to at the time, the Houston Chronicle, had far more constructive comments than otherwise, including corrections that the writers incorporated before the article appeared in the print version. I switched to the Austin American-Statesman after it was acquired by Hearst to find that they were only going to print letters to the editor two days a week! (Before Hearst acquired the paper, it was owned by USA Today, Inc., was thus brain dead, and only printed letters on Sunday.) At least at the Chronicle letters were printed every day and they would actually print my letters, albeit with excessive editing.
While the tales of Robin Hood are fiction possibly based on folk tales of one or more actual historical characters, nothing in any of the folk tales or classic fiction indicates that what you have said about Robin Hood being a traitor is true. Indeed, the classic fictional tales all show Robin Hood being a supporter of the rightful king gathering money for the king's ransom. As the Robin Hood story is non-copyrighted and open to retelling, it has been retold in many forms across the years and there may exist a story in which what you said about Robin Hood being a traitor was true. It does not make it the dominant form of the Robin Hood mythos and should not be represented as such.
The sign "Everyone is Welcome" was inside a classroom, not on the school, an important distinction. Also important is the variety of colors of the arms. While there are many people who have no business inside a children's school, age-appropriate children, regardless of their appearance, should be welcome and feel welcome.
I was fully expecting to read that the sign was considered inappropriate due to the little hearts that indicated love, which is an emotion, and therefore prohibited by the Idaho AG's guidance.
Severe storms and river flooding in Iowa. Severe storms with tornadoes and flash flooding across all of the middle of the USA east of the Rockies. Flash floods along the Appalachians. Water shortages in the desert southwest. Forest fires in the Colorado mountains.
Maybe everyone can move to Idaho. I hear it may be vacant soon.
The judge in this case, who has been confusingly referred to as a County Judge, is a District Court Judge. District Courts are responsible for felony criminal law, family law, tort law other than small claims, and other civil law not expressly assigned to county courts. Districts drawn by counties, but a district made include more than one county with a small population or a county with a large population may include several districts. When a county includes more than one district court court, the courts may specialize and the districts overlap.
County Judges in Texas usually have very limited formal legal legal responsibility, normally limited to things like probating wills and committing people to institutions. Their main duty is to act as the CEO of the county and to preside over the County Commissioners' Court, which makes policy and sets budgets for the county in those few areas a county has discretion in Texas.
Understanding the truth and voting are what citizens can best do to end fascist practices in government, not taking up guns. Fascist control of information as in Fox, Newsmax, Newcorp. X, etc. is much more concerning than what kind of guns private citizens can own. No small arms can stand up to armor, artillery, and air power.
"punishing the innocent is considered much worse than an occasional criminal evading punishment"
This is a concept that most prosecuting attorneys find hard to grasp, along with many law enforcement agents (who probably are sure that everyone is guilty of something, anyway) and some judges. Many prosecutors, sheriffs, and others in the law enforcement business who are elected or are answerable to elected officials find that the citizens are happier and their jobs are safer if crimes are successfully "cleared," whether the person that was convicted was actually guilty or not.
In more than fifty years of seeing people get arrested on an arrest warrant, including out of the same house in which I was living, the standard practice in Texas has always been to make arrests about midnight or about 6 a.m. for the very reason that those are the times that people are most likely to be home and not alert. The use of no-knock warrants and resulting gunplay has gotten so bad in Texas that the State legislature took some baby steps toward addressing the issue, such as slightly restricting the number of magistrates that can issue no-knock warrants and requiring that law enforcement agents wear something that clearly identifies them as such, albeit little more than a cosplay outfit. In the past law officers could bust through the door in plain clothes or with any uniforms covered by coveralls in cold weather. Any armed citizen that responded as they would to any other home invader would be killed or sent to prison.
I am always annoyed when commenters or article writers include links to articles that are trapped behind paywalls. I am not going to subscribe to any publication in order to read one article. I can see the benefit to the small subset of readers who may actually subscribe to whatever the publication may be. For the rest of us, it seems that you are acting as a shill for the publication in question. Want more? Go here, but you have to pay.
"...we regularly watch cops murder people and can’t figure out if it was actually a crime." This makes me crazy.
Like too many other Americans, my own daughter thinks that running away from a cop is a capital offense for which it is OK to administer execution on the spot. She grew up cute and blonde and never had a cop touch her in an unfriendly way. She never got stopped and hassled by the cops while minding her own business because they didn't like the length of her hair or the color of her skin. She never saw a peaceful friend of color set up by the cops to fall forward while being handcuffed so the cops could yell "resisting arrest!" and beat the crap out of him just for grins. She thinks that running from a cop means that you have done something really bad, not just that you don't want to be beat up that day.
If you are indeed a "pig farmer," although all hog raisers that I have ever known--and I have known a good many, including one of my brothers--call themselves hog raisers or hog farmers, then you would know that big pigs, i.e., hogs, are thugs indeed. Unneutered males and even females who aren't given careful individual attention tend to be mean, aggressive to the point of being dangerous, destructive, and generally poor neighbors. Arnold Ziffel of Green Acres TV fame they are not.
If HART’s general counsel stated the ad "might be ok once the menorah was removed" that clearly illustrates how badly the policy was written and applied. The ad had the icon of the menorah and the word "menorah" all throughout it. But the menorah wasn't the issue as far as the wording of the policy was concerned, Young Israel of Tampa was. Young Israel was a religious organization, a Jewish synagogue, that was promoting its religious activity, Chanukah (Jewish religious and historical holiday) on Ice. Removing an icon would not change that fact. If HART's general counsel couldn't come up with a reasonable way to apply the policy, how could other employees or those wishing to place ads?
The case in question is about freedom of speech not about the First Amendment protections for religion as some commenters seem to be thinking in their comments. Government entities that deal with placing restrictions on speech, even commercial speech that they themselves license, must be very careful to stay within the boundaries that have been defined over the years by the courts. One of requirements, as with any law, is that the language be clear enough to be interpreted and enforced in a consistent manner. The policy in question can be fixed by defining terms as required by the ruling and providing additional guidance.
And, yes, I am putting the camera lens right on the glass. It only works if I do it in selfie mode with both the camera and me inside the car. I can see through the tint on the front side windows OK but I can see through them without the camera by putting by face close to the window and shading my eyes. The issue here seems to be that the eejit has the stuff in the front seat where things can be seen by the apparently little known technique of "looking through the windshield" which may not be legally tinted very dark in any state that I know about. I really don't think the stupid iPhone played a serious part in the matter. You park a car on a public street, leave your stuff in the front seat where anyone can see, maybe not by just casually strolling by, but by stopping and peering through the windows, no gadgets needed. What do you expect? I would not leave anything valuable, much less incriminating, in such a place.
Remember the case from England back in 2011 when the police raided a respectable woman's house looking for a marijuana growing business only to find guinea pigs? "The officers had been alerted when a police helicopter picked up a hotspot on the roof of Pam's garage and assumed it was a drug den, when in fact it was a cosy home for her loveable pets."
I use DuckDuckGo regularly and have never had a problem with TechDirt not showing up. I checked it just now about 2 p.m. CDST, July 29, 2023, and the site showed up with a link that took me right into the main site as well as with other second party references. I don't know what other people's issues are, but I don't have any with DDG.
98% of people do not own an iPhone. I can't see through my tinted windows with the camera on my Pixel 6. I do not think that merely because a large number of people own a particular brand of electronic device constitutes that device as being in "general use" when users of other brands would not be aware that police, or nosy iPhone owners, would have this capability. I was unaware of it until just now. This is another terrible and ridiculous antiprivacy, pro-police piece of judicial misfeasance.
"If I find myself forced into a contrived and unjust situation where my tormentors make the rules, ...then whatever options I “choose” are options that have been forced upon me." Sounds like most of the recent elections.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Out of Order.
Hearst newspapers
Relatively recently, Hearst newspapers without explanation ditched online comments on articles. The paper that I was subscribing to at the time, the Houston Chronicle, had far more constructive comments than otherwise, including corrections that the writers incorporated before the article appeared in the print version. I switched to the Austin American-Statesman after it was acquired by Hearst to find that they were only going to print letters to the editor two days a week! (Before Hearst acquired the paper, it was owned by USA Today, Inc., was thus brain dead, and only printed letters on Sunday.) At least at the Chronicle letters were printed every day and they would actually print my letters, albeit with excessive editing.
Robin Hood wasn't malicious
While the tales of Robin Hood are fiction possibly based on folk tales of one or more actual historical characters, nothing in any of the folk tales or classic fiction indicates that what you have said about Robin Hood being a traitor is true. Indeed, the classic fictional tales all show Robin Hood being a supporter of the rightful king gathering money for the king's ransom. As the Robin Hood story is non-copyrighted and open to retelling, it has been retold in many forms across the years and there may exist a story in which what you said about Robin Hood being a traitor was true. It does not make it the dominant form of the Robin Hood mythos and should not be represented as such.
In vs. On
The sign "Everyone is Welcome" was inside a classroom, not on the school, an important distinction. Also important is the variety of colors of the arms. While there are many people who have no business inside a children's school, age-appropriate children, regardless of their appearance, should be welcome and feel welcome. I was fully expecting to read that the sign was considered inappropriate due to the little hearts that indicated love, which is an emotion, and therefore prohibited by the Idaho AG's guidance.
ANY problems with IOWA???
Severe storms and river flooding in Iowa. Severe storms with tornadoes and flash flooding across all of the middle of the USA east of the Rockies. Flash floods along the Appalachians. Water shortages in the desert southwest. Forest fires in the Colorado mountains. Maybe everyone can move to Idaho. I hear it may be vacant soon.
Not a County Judge
The judge in this case, who has been confusingly referred to as a County Judge, is a District Court Judge. District Courts are responsible for felony criminal law, family law, tort law other than small claims, and other civil law not expressly assigned to county courts. Districts drawn by counties, but a district made include more than one county with a small population or a county with a large population may include several districts. When a county includes more than one district court court, the courts may specialize and the districts overlap. County Judges in Texas usually have very limited formal legal legal responsibility, normally limited to things like probating wills and committing people to institutions. Their main duty is to act as the CEO of the county and to preside over the County Commissioners' Court, which makes policy and sets budgets for the county in those few areas a county has discretion in Texas.
Guns
Understanding the truth and voting are what citizens can best do to end fascist practices in government, not taking up guns. Fascist control of information as in Fox, Newsmax, Newcorp. X, etc. is much more concerning than what kind of guns private citizens can own. No small arms can stand up to armor, artillery, and air power.
Punishing the Innocent
"punishing the innocent is considered much worse than an occasional criminal evading punishment" This is a concept that most prosecuting attorneys find hard to grasp, along with many law enforcement agents (who probably are sure that everyone is guilty of something, anyway) and some judges. Many prosecutors, sheriffs, and others in the law enforcement business who are elected or are answerable to elected officials find that the citizens are happier and their jobs are safer if crimes are successfully "cleared," whether the person that was convicted was actually guilty or not.
Standard arrest times
In more than fifty years of seeing people get arrested on an arrest warrant, including out of the same house in which I was living, the standard practice in Texas has always been to make arrests about midnight or about 6 a.m. for the very reason that those are the times that people are most likely to be home and not alert. The use of no-knock warrants and resulting gunplay has gotten so bad in Texas that the State legislature took some baby steps toward addressing the issue, such as slightly restricting the number of magistrates that can issue no-knock warrants and requiring that law enforcement agents wear something that clearly identifies them as such, albeit little more than a cosplay outfit. In the past law officers could bust through the door in plain clothes or with any uniforms covered by coveralls in cold weather. Any armed citizen that responded as they would to any other home invader would be killed or sent to prison.
LA Times links
I am always annoyed when commenters or article writers include links to articles that are trapped behind paywalls. I am not going to subscribe to any publication in order to read one article. I can see the benefit to the small subset of readers who may actually subscribe to whatever the publication may be. For the rest of us, it seems that you are acting as a shill for the publication in question. Want more? Go here, but you have to pay.
Police murdering people
"...we regularly watch cops murder people and can’t figure out if it was actually a crime." This makes me crazy. Like too many other Americans, my own daughter thinks that running away from a cop is a capital offense for which it is OK to administer execution on the spot. She grew up cute and blonde and never had a cop touch her in an unfriendly way. She never got stopped and hassled by the cops while minding her own business because they didn't like the length of her hair or the color of her skin. She never saw a peaceful friend of color set up by the cops to fall forward while being handcuffed so the cops could yell "resisting arrest!" and beat the crap out of him just for grins. She thinks that running from a cop means that you have done something really bad, not just that you don't want to be beat up that day.
pigs are thugs
If you are indeed a "pig farmer," although all hog raisers that I have ever known--and I have known a good many, including one of my brothers--call themselves hog raisers or hog farmers, then you would know that big pigs, i.e., hogs, are thugs indeed. Unneutered males and even females who aren't given careful individual attention tend to be mean, aggressive to the point of being dangerous, destructive, and generally poor neighbors. Arnold Ziffel of Green Acres TV fame they are not.
HART’s general counsel stating the ad might be ok once the menorah was removed
If HART’s general counsel stated the ad "might be ok once the menorah was removed" that clearly illustrates how badly the policy was written and applied. The ad had the icon of the menorah and the word "menorah" all throughout it. But the menorah wasn't the issue as far as the wording of the policy was concerned, Young Israel of Tampa was. Young Israel was a religious organization, a Jewish synagogue, that was promoting its religious activity, Chanukah (Jewish religious and historical holiday) on Ice. Removing an icon would not change that fact. If HART's general counsel couldn't come up with a reasonable way to apply the policy, how could other employees or those wishing to place ads?
“Appeals Court: Ban On Religious Ads Is Unconstitutional Because It’s Pretty Much Impossible To Define ‘Religion’”
The case in question is about freedom of speech not about the First Amendment protections for religion as some commenters seem to be thinking in their comments. Government entities that deal with placing restrictions on speech, even commercial speech that they themselves license, must be very careful to stay within the boundaries that have been defined over the years by the courts. One of requirements, as with any law, is that the language be clear enough to be interpreted and enforced in a consistent manner. The policy in question can be fixed by defining terms as required by the ruling and providing additional guidance.
Pixel 6 doesn't peek, et al.
And, yes, I am putting the camera lens right on the glass. It only works if I do it in selfie mode with both the camera and me inside the car. I can see through the tint on the front side windows OK but I can see through them without the camera by putting by face close to the window and shading my eyes. The issue here seems to be that the eejit has the stuff in the front seat where things can be seen by the apparently little known technique of "looking through the windshield" which may not be legally tinted very dark in any state that I know about. I really don't think the stupid iPhone played a serious part in the matter. You park a car on a public street, leave your stuff in the front seat where anyone can see, maybe not by just casually strolling by, but by stopping and peering through the windows, no gadgets needed. What do you expect? I would not leave anything valuable, much less incriminating, in such a place.
Thermal scans
Remember the case from England back in 2011 when the police raided a respectable woman's house looking for a marijuana growing business only to find guinea pigs? "The officers had been alerted when a police helicopter picked up a hotspot on the roof of Pam's garage and assumed it was a drug den, when in fact it was a cosy home for her loveable pets."
Pixel 6 doesn't peek
I can't see inside my Audi with stock dark tint with my Pixel 6. This is all news to me. WTF?
TechDirt Shows Up on DuckDuckGo
I use DuckDuckGo regularly and have never had a problem with TechDirt not showing up. I checked it just now about 2 p.m. CDST, July 29, 2023, and the site showed up with a link that took me right into the main site as well as with other second party references. I don't know what other people's issues are, but I don't have any with DDG.
Re:3 Or, to simplify
98% of people do not own an iPhone. I can't see through my tinted windows with the camera on my Pixel 6. I do not think that merely because a large number of people own a particular brand of electronic device constitutes that device as being in "general use" when users of other brands would not be aware that police, or nosy iPhone owners, would have this capability. I was unaware of it until just now. This is another terrible and ridiculous antiprivacy, pro-police piece of judicial misfeasance.
Re:3 Or, to simplify
"If I find myself forced into a contrived and unjust situation where my tormentors make the rules, ...then whatever options I “choose” are options that have been forced upon me." Sounds like most of the recent elections.