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  • On the post: Because Of Course: Trump's SPAC Deal May Have Broken The Law

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2021 @ 02:28am

    Re: of -course- it's a scam...

    "Any prudent investor who is considering putting out significant sums of money probably should know better than to buy a 'pig in a poke'." "Prudent" does not seem to be a word applicable to the republican base to whom endangering themselves and their families by not getting vaccinated against the current pandemic has become a statement of loyalty. First, these are the people gullible enough to fall for the hogwash peddled by an infamous con man who spent 40 years turning the business empire he inherited from his father into such a scandal-riddled bankrupt mess he ended up unable to get any bank to extend him a loan - except that one time the russian state bank saw fit to give Mr. Putin's good friend benefit of doubt, that is. Secondly these are also people willing to shoot themselves in their own crotch if it means some bleeding-heart liberal ends up inconvenienced over it. As long as Trump can say "The liberals will hate this" his base will spend the lunch money of their own children even if they know it means they're throwing that money down the toilet.

  • On the post: Because Of Course: Trump's SPAC Deal May Have Broken The Law

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2021 @ 02:22am

    Re:

    I'd advise googling "My dark prediction for the 2024 US presidential elections" by Bill Maher. Trump has been busy replacing every part of the state machinery which failed him in 2020. Next time around those republican poll watchers, those republican governors, those republican electors...any part of that party which had to bend to election law and their own conscience...won't be there. Instead there'll be those who get installed 2022 where it's currently expected the republicans will be taking back a lot of lost ground. Jan 6 was Trump's beer hall coup. Next time around won't be as ineffective. The one saving grace right now is that those republicans supporting the coup from their office in congress are all busy throwing their base under the bus to rid themselves of federal charges. That'll at least spike the wheels of the next coup attempt.

  • On the post: Hawaii School, Police Department On The Verge Of Being Sued For Arresting A Ten-Year-Old Girl Over A Drawing

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2021 @ 02:04am

    Re: Re: Re:

    "Oh, they'll care alright. Once their local school tax needs to increase multiple percentage points to make up the difference." ...at which point some dipshit con man in politics will try to earn some votes by blaming it all on "the libs" - because sure as shit, lookit the school goin' downhil now that the po-lice ain't there to keep the little hellions in line no mo... "Know when they won't care? When the next school board meeting comes."

    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."
    • Plato.

  • On the post: Lessons From The First Internet Ages

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2021 @ 01:59am

    Re: When you assumed things went online instead of assuming cens

    You keep saying "real internet" while somehow missing the point that the actual internet was always designed around convenience and utility. Trolls and wankers, as it were, are weeds. You are claiming that the purpose of the garden people built is expressly for the purpose of the swarm of locusts descending on it, the vandals setting fire to the benches and the dogs pooping everywhere because their handlers can't be arsed to clean up after their pets. So, uh, nice wordwall but with every stated assumption being a false premise I'm not sure it's useful as an argument. In real life, as on the internet, trolls and wankers are the undesirable opportunists seeing a good thing and trying to take a dump on it. They always were. They are not, as you imply, the origin and motive force of the internet anymore than the glue-sniffing malicious hobo is the guy responsible for the mall he squats against.

  • On the post: Publishers Want To Make Ebooks More Expensive And Harder To Lend For Libraries; Ron Wyden And Anna Eshoo Have Questions

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2021 @ 01:52am

    Re: Isn't it remarkable ...

    "While at the same time, we specifically create such monopolies for rightsholders on the grounds that only strong copyright (monopolies) will lead to cheap, diverse content? All this, remember, without any safeguards for publishers to exploit their position?" It is indeed. Back in the 1700's publishers had to push their statute past a sceptic parliament multiple times until they finally got their wish. Copyright was always about establishing gatekeeper monopolies for the vested interests, a red flag act of information control. Eventually, like every other protectionist legislation meant to stifle competition, copyright will be abolished. But not before, I'm afraid, most legitimate businesses have been forced to join the drug dealers, pedophiles and Really Bad People on the deep darknets - because copyright enforcement, to stifle piracy, will be restricting everything else far worse. We see a parallell to this mechanism in the way many Museums today have had to go to OnlyFans, infamous for porn, simply because the works of many famous masters get stuck in filters designed to weed out erotic imagery and CP, because, you know, cherubs from the 15th century and depictions of 16th century family life etc. Statues in churches with bared breasts. Lady fscking Justice standing smack dab right in front of the supreme court... If copyright, like most 'decency' laws, ever had a valid purpose (which I seriously doubt), that time is long gone.

  • On the post: Publishers Want To Make Ebooks More Expensive And Harder To Lend For Libraries; Ron Wyden And Anna Eshoo Have Questions

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 02 Nov, 2021 @ 01:44am

    Re:

    And every now and then I get asked what possible incentive for piracy exists in the modern world. Once I stop guffawing I have to carefully explain that between major publishers doing their best to abolish libraries, streaming companies doing their best to reintroduce the walled garden, and asshats like Elsevier the real world under copyright couldn't even function without massive piracy. Where libraries specifically are concerned at least in Sweden we have the very real example where a physical book costs the library 1 crown every time it lends one out...but upwards of 20 if what is to be lent is digital. Sure, every corporation is profit-driven but capitalism only works if the consumer actively disincentivizes corporations from pushing their margins beyond the markets willingness to pay. And given that copyright effectively presents a monopoly situation with no competition possible, piracy is that one option the consumer even has to be that opposing weight on the scale.

  • On the post: Judge Dumps Felony Manslaughter Charges Brought Against An Arrestee After A Deputy Ran Over Another Deputy

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 09:07am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "Conservatives created that law. Surely you're not saying they don't know what they are doing?" Oh, I'm sure they don't know what they're doing. Most of them aren't exactly legal eagles or have the imagination to realize they may be hoisting themselves with that petard. That said I'm also for real sure at least a few of them are hoping that law can be used against the jan 6th demonstrators just so they can fake a bit of outrage and tell their base it's all the libs going on a crusade against truth and justice. Not like the average benighted moron in the alt-right will believe differently.

  • On the post: Judge Dumps Felony Manslaughter Charges Brought Against An Arrestee After A Deputy Ran Over Another Deputy

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 09:04am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Wut?

    "But that's a problem with the legal system writ large, a prosecutor and LEA can basically do whatever they want until they hit a courtroom." That is correct but the conclusion isn't constructive. One facet of law Felony Murder sets aside completely is mens rea. If you can be hit with a murder charge without murdering anyone, without even knowing someone was murdered, and without the intent to murder someone...then that is a tool which enables the prosecutor to walk into a jail cell and tell some guy picked up on the most flimsy of excuses and the following happens; Prosecutor: "Here's the deal. You confess to felony murder, we hit you with ten years, you'll be out in three on good behavior." Suspect: "But I didn't do anything! Mike just asked me if he could have a package delivered to my garage and leave it there for two days until he picked it up!" Prosecutor: "Yeah, well, he killed someone over that and you can play ball or we hit you with twenty to life with no parole instead. Your call!" Suspect (whispering): "...I'll confess..." Prosecutor: "One more sweet collar for the books! Righteous!"

  • On the post: Judge Dumps Felony Manslaughter Charges Brought Against An Arrestee After A Deputy Ran Over Another Deputy

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 08:55am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Wut?

    "The only thing I care about is that the discussion surrounding it is accurate, rather than hyperbolic and misleading rhetoric that makes it sound worse than it is." You may want to spend a minute or two thinking about how horrifying it is to remove mens rea from the equation of criminal law. You really can't hyperbole that.

  • On the post: Interpol Has Been Weaponized By Governments Seeking To Hunt Down Critics And Activists

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 08:51am

    Re: Re:

    "How does it make sense for Turkey to arrest people based on behalf of USA (let's assume reason for arrest is murder or large-scale theft) if Turkey knew they requests for same things wont't be honored?" Simple. It costs Turkey absolutely nothing to incarcerate and/or ship off its citizens or foreigners on behalf of Uncle Sam. It's not as if Erdogan gives a rat's ass about his people in the first place.
    And they know damn well Uncle Sam won't reciprocate in the same manner. But they'll be able to ask for other considerations instead. Like, for instance, having the US pull it's troops right out of harms way so the turkish army can go after the kurds. Realpolitik.

  • On the post: Interpol Has Been Weaponized By Governments Seeking To Hunt Down Critics And Activists

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 08:29am

    Re: Re: Re:

    US, Russia and China are more or less the same in this regard. Russia is simply a lot more secretive about some parts of it and incredibly open about others whereas China won't allow a single whisper potentially costing it face to emerge. But the US is a great example because we have a great many verified examples of this shit happening whereas most of what we have on Russia is from way back when it was the soviet union or murky half-guesses as to just how sinister the russian spymaster's been.

  • On the post: Everything You Know About Section 230 Is Wrong (But Why?)

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 08:17am

    Re:

    "The answer in both cases is "no, that's dumb," and I think most people would agree." Yup. And while we're at that subject, let me introduce you to US tort law. Section 230 needs to exist because it really doesn't matter whether you have a case or not when you can swamp entity X with lawsuits against which entity X then needs to defend itself. I think both cases you reference actually have happened. I mean I'd be surprised if they hadn't. It's just that Wal-mart has the legal muscle to defend itself. Online, so does Facebook and...few other social media networks. One guess as to why Facebook is in favor of changing 230 these days. If you're the only one with shark repellant it's just considered good business to pour blood in the water.

  • On the post: Everything You Know About Section 230 Is Wrong (But Why?)

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 08:10am

    Re: Re:

    At some point I just wish that one, just one of the alt-right trolls squeaking about being "censored" would have the bravery they usually display when anonymously posting in the far-right echo chambers. "They dun bannt meh fer yusin the N-word!! Whut kinda nashun is we livin in where a red-blooded 'murican caint say a <N-word>'s a <N-word>?!"

  • On the post: RFK Jr. Abusing The Courts To Harass Pseudonymous Blogger For Pointing Out RFK Spoke At German Event Organized By Far Right Extremists

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:59am

    Re:

    Can't really decide if Restless94110 is a russian troll paid to inflame the alt-right base and/or make them look completely deranged. If he is then he's literally being paid to make the village idiots screaming deranged nonsense in the town square seem as dumb as they are. If I were Putin I'd torch his paycheck.

  • On the post: RFK Jr. Abusing The Courts To Harass Pseudonymous Blogger For Pointing Out RFK Spoke At German Event Organized By Far Right Extremists

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:54am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Someone doth protest too much..

    I think social media has the same policy all over.
    No one wants to see John Q Doe taking a dump but if some guy from the Kennedy Clan starts calling long-distance on the porcelain throne they bet it'll draw the traffic. It's why Trump had to go that far before Twitter and FB decided they couldn't afford to host him any longer.

  • On the post: Why Falsely Claiming It's Illegal To Shout Fire In A Crowded Theater Distorts Any Conversation About Online Speech

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:48am

    Re:

    "But causing a panic when there is no fire for malicious reasons, does deserve to be stomped on, hard." Well, the theatre owner can sue, of course, and if intent can be proven there's a case for reckless endangerment or incitement. But if you're in a theatre and smell smoke I'm pretty sure the last thing anyone wants is for people to stay silent because if they're wrong they'd face charges.

  • On the post: Why Falsely Claiming It's Illegal To Shout Fire In A Crowded Theater Distorts Any Conversation About Online Speech

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:43am

    Re:

    "I can't say I've heard of that phrase, maybe it's an American thing. I would have thought it was a given that if there was a real fire or the person believed wrongly there was a fire, there wouldn't be an issue." Definitely an american thing. Judge Holmes used the phrase in a case related to something completely different and ever since a number of morons keep using it to push arguments it doesn't back. The US has the same legislation, more or less, around public safety which everyone else does. If you can show that someone has with intent incited violence or with intent caused unreasonable panic then there's a plethora of charges you can use. Incitement. Reckless Endangerment. Etc.

  • On the post: Why Falsely Claiming It's Illegal To Shout Fire In A Crowded Theater Distorts Any Conversation About Online Speech

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:35am

    Re: Re: Re: LOLOL

    "You'd think a certain zombie hunter would be all over his ass, but I guess the observer gets a pass because he vaguely rants about something agreeable to the blue one." Considering that old Baghdad Bob/Blue is the one guy with a demonstrated history of sock puppeting and zombie posting I've always been confused why he'd keep pulling attention to it. I guess some children just never manage to realize that standing with your hand in the cookie jar and screaming that your brother ate all the cookies never worked.

  • On the post: Why Falsely Claiming It's Illegal To Shout Fire In A Crowded Theater Distorts Any Conversation About Online Speech

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:33am

    Re: Re: Re: Why should triggering a panic be legal?

    "Mind you though… not all theatres have fire alarms. I’m a huge fan of independent film." I don't think there's any building which can legally run away from basic fire safety codes. The idea of a building meant to house a business where fire alarms don't exist is as incomprehensible as stating that they drench every seat in gasoline before every performance and illuminate the room with open bonfires. Even if, by some miraculous legalese loophole a building where a business is to be run could avoid installing a basic fire alarm I'm for real sure no one in the US would dare not to. The insurance premiums skyrocketing and possible litigation costs would outpace the cost of having live firefighters suspended from the rafters 24/7. It's not the best way of saving 50 bucks.

  • On the post: Why Falsely Claiming It's Illegal To Shout Fire In A Crowded Theater Distorts Any Conversation About Online Speech

    Scary Devil Monastery ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2021 @ 07:25am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    "In my opinion, those laws should be expanded to include Social Media companies, as their primary source of content is third parties." Ah, so the bar owner either needs to shoulder the responsibility of what their patrons do in their pub or must ignore the behavior of the patrons in their pub? Know how we can tell exactly where you're coming from? Here's a hint. It doesn't matter how much wordwall you wrap around the turd sandwich because that logic won't get less broken no matter how well you package it. Because people on this site are largely literate and well used to trolls showing up trying to peddle false assumptions. "What you are advocating is a one size fits all approach that allows a Telecommunications service to deny third parties the ability to communicate with each other, so you as a publisher can ban conversations you disagree with under the same legal framework." Bullshit. Literally no one ever said that or anything to that effect. The only one conflating basic infrastructure with publishing would be the alt-right morons who keep pushing for a paradigm where allowing a property owner to set their own rules of behavior is illegal. telecommunications services are another deal entirely. A car is not a road.

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