TaboToka 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: ICE Boss Thinks Journalists Shouldn’t Be Asking About Masked Officers Disappearing People

    TaboToka ( profile ), 21 May, 2025 @ 04:38pm

    Correction

    Being America, sooner or later a MASKED, armed ice agent in plain cloth[e]s is going to run into a good guy with a gun...
    FTFY

  • On the post: Hasan Piker Just Gave His Millions Of Followers A Masterclass In What Not To Do When Detained By CBP

    TaboToka ( profile ), 13 May, 2025 @ 04:22pm

    *cough* Berghuis

    James Duane's video came out prior to Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370 (2010), so there's a bit more you have to do:

    • You have to (a) specifically state you are invoking your right to remain silent and then (b) STFU.
    Thanks to the corrupt LEO bootlicking conservative members of SCOTUS, just remaining silent doesn't invoke your 5th Amendment right. A swim through vast dregs of YouTube police encounter videos will show you a fair number of folks know about (a), but almost all of them fail (b). A pretty good series of videos is by Andrew Flusche, such as his Don't talk to police.

  • On the post: Hasan Piker Just Gave His Millions Of Followers A Masterclass In What Not To Do When Detained By CBP

    TaboToka ( profile ), 13 May, 2025 @ 04:07pm

    "Influencers"

    Is the type of person who tends to be an influencer have a underdeveloped prefrontal lobe (e.g., cis-male brain damage syndrome), or vice-versa? Case in point: Johnny Somali now faces 31 years in S. Korean prison for his streaming pranks.

  • On the post: Garmin CEO Hints More Paywalls And Enshittification Are Coming, Falsely Claims Users Love It

    TaboToka ( profile ), 12 May, 2025 @ 01:46pm

    Simple

    If you don't want a service/product that will eventually end up down the drain of enshittification, don't go public with your company, or instead incorporate as a B-Corp.

  • On the post: With Courts Repeatedly Telling Trump Migrants Have Rights, Stephen Miller Suggests It’s Time To Suspend Habeas Corpus

    TaboToka ( profile ), 12 May, 2025 @ 01:40pm

    Learn from the past

    If we get out of this without a civil war ~ we need to do an immense amount of restoration of public rights and governmental checks or expect a new would-be dictator in months.
    If Congress doesn't codify in law criminal penalties for government actors acting criminally (to include, I would argue, Congress failing to act), we are destined to do this dance again. A little history lesson: long ago, shortly after Roe v. Wade was decided, some brave and smart congresscritters tried to codify the rights granted in law. It failed, as the prevailing sentiment in the Senate was passing a law was overkill. And here we are.

  • On the post: Gavin Newsom Is Normalizing Trump’s Constitutional Violations

    TaboToka ( profile ), 09 May, 2025 @ 03:43pm

    New bottle of wine from the same old vine.

    If Democrats adopt Trump’s rhetoric ... what alternative do they actually offer? They become not an opposition but an echo. Not a choice, but a counterfeit.
    This has been the first page of the DNC playbook since perhaps Carter's thrashing, and for some twisted reason, they think they get more money by being MAGA-lite and losing all the time. TFG won not because of the minuscule extra votes he picked up this time around. He won because millions of Dems sat on their dead asses instead of voting. While there was some excitement for Harris, there wasn't enough to get folks up and into the voting booth. As long as Dems refuse to offer a clear benefit and show they are willing to fight for us, they are just losers. Jasmine Crockett, AOC and Jared Moskowitz regularly run rings around their MAGA counterparts. They fight. This is what the Dems need. Not more milquetoast placeholders like Pelosi and Schumer.

  • On the post: RFK Jr. Wants You To Know HHS Is Committed To Stopping Chemtrails From Poisoning You

    TaboToka ( profile ), 02 May, 2025 @ 02:00pm

    A government job, you say? I'll take it!

    He hires someone to think about chem trails full time.
    I hereby throw my hat into the ring for this position, which shall have the title: Director Investigating Chemtrails Knowingly Released Under Biden I will need an office with a very large flatscreen, surround sound and a comfortable couch. I will also need a bar with a tap, maybe a food warmer for dogs, burgers and nachos... aww hell, just rent me a permanent box at the local sportsball stadium. I promise to work harder than anyone else on this pressing issue, and will provide a comprehensive report of no less than 5,000 pages: 4,990 of them marked "This page intentionally left blank", the rest including the title, index, content, glossary, about the author, etc. within 3-5 years.

  • On the post: Trump Admits He Could Get Abrego Garcia Back, But Angrily Insists Non-Existent Tattoos Are The Reason He Won’t

    TaboToka ( profile ), 02 May, 2025 @ 01:45pm

    Excellent!

    And since Koby is not a citizen†, we don't need due process to deport him to El Salvador! Win-win! † Even if he is, it doesn't matter: we declared him an uncitizen, therefore he has no right to contest our assertion.

  • On the post: Colorado’s Social Media Moral Panic Bill Dies After Governor’s Thoughtful Veto

    TaboToka ( profile ), 01 May, 2025 @ 04:24pm

    Yeah

    Ban guns
    Not sure if serious or just troll. Assuming the former, we can vastly improve the situation by:
    1. Providing grants to scientists (and requiring HHS) to study and report on the effects, causes and pervasiveness of gun violence.
    2. Requiring the FBI's background check to complete before the purchase can go forward, i.e., the BG check doesn't "time out" and default to pass.
    3. Requiring purchasers to hold appropriate liability insurance and pass a quadrennial safety test, carrying proof of both with their firearm(s).

  • On the post: DOGE Aide Involved In Dismantling Consumer Bureau Owns Stock In Companies That Could Benefit From the Cuts

    TaboToka ( profile ), 01 May, 2025 @ 04:12pm

    Sigh, this is already a 'solved' problem.

    When I worked for [large financial firm], there was a regularly-distributed list of stocks we weren't allowed to trade, due to deals or info that the firm had. The list would change periodically, easily once a month as new deals/info were made. It was too much trouble to bother keeping up with the changes, thus I can't recall anyone who traded individual stocks. Everyone just bought shares of mutual funds and called it good. As part of the hypothetical Project 2028, I'd like to see this same provision extended to elected members of the federal government, and to any federal employees/contractors that might have non-pubic knowledge† or potential influence over a stock or sector. † Insider trading is of course illegal, but in this case the corruption is so rampant it needs to be ripped out by the roots. Want to trade stocks? Get a private-sector job.

  • On the post: Elon Musk Pretends He’s Leaving The Job He Supposedly Doesn’t Have To Not Return To The Job He Supposedly Never Left

    TaboToka ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2025 @ 05:08pm

    No

    He was never "sworn in". He didn't go through the confirmation process.

  • On the post: Elon Musk Pretends He’s Leaving The Job He Supposedly Doesn’t Have To Not Return To The Job He Supposedly Never Left

    TaboToka ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2025 @ 05:07pm

    Project 2028

    Indict all the minions, including Felon Musk. If TFG issues a blanket pardon, a future administration need only blacklist Tesla (and Xitter, and all the other ones) from government contracts, then auditing the hell out of them, will do the same thing.

  • On the post: Federal Prosecutor Fires Off Letter To Medical Journals Asking About Their Policies On ‘Competing Viewpoints’

    TaboToka ( profile ), 24 Apr, 2025 @ 05:02pm

    Happy to help

    How do you assess your responsibilities to protect the public from misinformation?
    Our responsibilities are to accept only peer-reviewed articles from practitioners in the field, who have demonstrated academic training and knowledge in the field sufficient to earn one or more advanced degree(s) from reputable institutions. When credible and articulate issues are raised by knowledgeable persons (see above) to our attention, our panel of experts may review the issue and we will handle the results appropriately.
    How do you clearly articulate to the public when you have certain viewpoints that are influenced by your ongoing relationships with supporters, funders, advertisers, and others?
    Our viewpoints are irrelevant. We publish on-topic submissions that—again—have gone through the peer-review process.
    Do you accept articles or essays from competing viewpoints?
    See the first answer. We welcome academically-rigorous submissions. Submissions from laypersons, those that have no advanced degrees in the article's subject field and those that have not been peer-reviewed are welcome to submit their articles to 4chan. Oh, sorry, too soon?
    How do you assess the role played by government officials and funding organizations like the National Insitutes [sic] of Health in the development of submitted articles?
    Subjects and topics are beneficial to the public rit large, and which may require resources only available from the government are important beneficiaries of government funding. If you happen to be confused as to whether "the government" can influence the publication of articles that serve some sort of "deep state" interests, please read our first answer, or seek out someone with a command of English reading comprehension to explain it to you.
    How do you handle allegations that authors of your work in your journals may have misled their readers?
    If the allegation is from a recognized expert in the subject, and they present evidence supporting their allegations, we will take it seriously.
    I am also interested to now if publishers, journals, and organizations with which you work are adjusting their method of acceptance of competing viewpoints. Are there new norms being developed or authored?
    You might, perhaps, educate yourself on the scientific method, as your utter and total lack of knowledge is apparent and—frankly—embarrassing. We expect them to adjusting nothing and continue to use the scientific method. Again, 4chan or perhaps Trump University would be more appropriate for your views and "theories".

  • On the post: 5th Circuit Obediently Lets AT&T Off The Hook For Major Location Data Privacy Violations

    TaboToka ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2025 @ 08:52am

    A thousand cuts

    Since the arbitration clauses lock consumers out of courts, does this mean the way to kill them is to have massive numbers of people force them into arbitration? After all, class-action lawsuits are designed to enrich lawyers, give the common people a few crumbs in exchange and prevent companies and courts from being overwhelmed by innumerable, identical lawsuits. If they don't want to use the court system, then let's hoist them by their own petard.

  • On the post: Federal COVID-19 Resource Site Now Redirects To A White House Vendetta Blog & Conspiracy Site

    TaboToka ( profile ), 23 Apr, 2025 @ 08:46am

    WTF

    Ok, great, we now "know" and have "proof" that SARS-COVID-19 was the result of an intentional lab leak from China. How the flipping fsck does that help ANYONE? Does it mean we will now have a better vaccine? Does it mean we won't now have several deaths a day? Does it mean the current variant won't mutate into a version with a higher morbidity? Like most things with the smooth-brained MAGArbage idiots (e.g., Trans === men wearing dresses, tariffs lower prices), they are playing 1-D checkers.

  • On the post: Judge To DOJ: No, ‘Facilitate’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Do Nothing’ In Abrego Garcia Case

    TaboToka ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2025 @ 01:39pm

    Lewis Caroll, prognosticator

    Judge:

    Notably, to “facilitate” means “to make the occurrence of (something) easier; to render less difficult.”
    We are through the looking glass, people. I expect Legal Barbie to respond with logic such as this:
    “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” “The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master—that’s all.”

  • On the post: Enshittification King David Zaslav Continues To Fail Upward With Yet Another Pay Raise

    TaboToka ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2025 @ 01:30pm

    The golden rule

    If only there were some kind of law(s) that prevented the massive inbreeding that exists between board members and CEOs (they all often serve on each other's boards), so there was less pressure for quid-pro-quo.

  • On the post: US Government Almost Kills Critical Cybersecurity Database

    TaboToka ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2025 @ 01:26pm

    An unwritten sequel

    when you only care about yourself
    The final disposition of Galt's Gulch is all the makers die of infighting and cholera, because not only do they not trust each other, but no one is willing to help anyone else.

  • On the post: US Government Almost Kills Critical Cybersecurity Database

    TaboToka ( profile ), 16 Apr, 2025 @ 01:22pm

    Future-proof, or at least USA-proof

    Seems like the US Government is no longer a reliable guardian of vital global services. We kinda have the tech to be able to mitigate this somewhat (distributed systems/blockchain are a portion of the solution, but there are a lot of moving parts and questions that would need to be answered first). As flawed as they are, perhaps the model of ICANN would be the way to go as a governing body for the CVE system, with no one government controlling it, and a diversity of members? If a rogue nation (USA-MAGA) decided to shit the bed and withdraw, at least the other member nations could pick up the slack.

  • On the post: Supreme Court Not Ready to Blow Up Free Speech… Yet

    TaboToka ( profile ), 08 Apr, 2025 @ 08:40am

    FAFO

    "Be careful what you wish for" because it will be used against you one day. Although it would be delicious to see Fox "News" get sued into oblivion by every Dem politician. They could basically have no content except 24/7 tiny orange mushroom fellatio.

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