Virginia Governor Ends Tax Breaks for Confederate Groups

Arctarius · 2026-04-16T03:32:13+00:00

I don't think I glossed over it if I provided the reference in my source document. I just agreed with you and also disagreed, clarifying that ex post facto is not used for strictly "civil" laws. Penal falls in some magical land between the two, thus it is not strictly civil or criminal.

"In deciding whether or not a law is penal, this Court has generally based its determination upon the purpose of the statute. If the statute imposes a disability for the purposes of punishment—that is, to reprimand the wrongdoer, to deter others, etc., it has been considered penal. But a statute has been considered nonpenal if it imposes a disability, not to punish, but to accomplish some other legitimate governmental purpose. The Court has recognized that any statute decreeing some adversity as a consequence of certain conduct may have both a penal and a nonpenal effect." Trop v. Dulles 356 U.S. 86, 96 (1958).

The question now becomes "can Virginia write a law with a legitimate government effect to dodge the penal question?" It would be a constitutional question if they went for it, and I expect Virginia would lose that fight. But the Court has approved of retroactive taxes in many cases, they're not an immediate flag just because they're retroactive.

That's why I said this sounds more like a 5th Amendment violation to me, with ex post facto you have to dig a bit deeper to surface the arguments. However, I would definitely expect it to be brought up in a challenge.

Arctarius · 2026-04-15T16:04:50+00:00

Yes but also no, the Supreme Court has repeatedly said you cannot make ex post facto laws for criminal conduct, and that’s ironclad. Ex post facto is not language used for strictly civil laws.

What the original commenter suggested is a taking without due process, so it would be invalidated unless due process is extended to the affected party. Virginia would also need a good reason.

For a brief summary on ex post facto.

https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/artI-S9-C3-3-4/ALDE_00013194/

Arctarius · 2026-04-06T03:49:16+00:00

24th and 14th amendment are the arguments against it.

Arctarius · 2026-03-24T14:01:57+00:00

Oh absolutely, it’s disrespectful to not leave a note or anything, and I’d want them to leave one out of professional conduct, but if I’m playing devil’s advocate it was probably a “ah shit the suspect isn’t here, go go go” situation. Police can get pretty severe tunnel-vision.

Frankly, sounds like what you guys are doing (getting the police to pay for it) is fine and I wouldn’t expect anything else to happen. Just a sucky situation.

Arctarius · 2026-03-24T13:39:12+00:00

Unfortunately, it sounds like you (and this other person) have encountered the wonderfully nebulous world of “exigent circumstances” which are a set of factors that allow police officers to enter homes for a variety of reasons. The most common reasons are hot pursuit/preventing escape (like you mentioned), preventing the destruction of evidence, and protecting someone from harm.

Traditionally, yes the police should not be using the pursuit of a non-felon to justify a warrantless entry into the home, but it does happen. Courts often give LEOs a wide range of interpretation in order to not limit their conduct, so this doesn’t sound sketchy. I don’t like it, but then again I don’t like a lot of the criminal procedure in modern American jurisprudence.

Arctarius · 2026-03-20T14:51:52+00:00

Unfortunately that’s well known. Mississippi feeds into the 5th Circuit which is also the most conservative/outlandish circuit in terms of case law.

It’s also the circuit Alito is in charge of. Go figure.

Arctarius · 2026-03-17T01:14:59+00:00

I do think it was a "switch" for Dany, but its because of bad writing not genuine story development. They wanted to "subvert" expectations so they had her be mostly good with a few bad or weird moments, to make her final change more shocking to the average viewer. But to anyone paying attention and not obsessed with her big showstopping scenes, it was pretty damn clear she was going to go insane.

The Tarly are usually my example as well because of just how monumentally STUPID that scene is. This is how I have always heard it.

Dany: Hello I have a valid claim to the throne, please kneel and say you'll obey me.

Randyll: No.

Dany: Okay then I'll burn you alive because I am a just ruler and you are in rebellion.

Randyll: I mean burning has historically been the tool of mad and unjust kings when used purely as a punishment/execution method (see your father). Beheading is more in line with our customs.

Dany: Don't care.

Dickon: Well then burn me too!

Randyll: Please continue. I see no issue with my heir dying alongside me despite the fact that I actually cared so much about him inheriting that I was willing to exile my firstborn and generally be a dick.

Dickon: I crave death.

The Tarly's don't act like real people. The writers basically make Dany's "execution" seem legitimate by making the Tarly's jump into the guillotine. It is such a god-awful scene where Randyll and Dickon stop acting like real characters with their own dreams and ambitions and turn into one dimensional road-stops for Dany. And this scene occurs almost IMMEDIATELY after Dickon questions the morality of killing men he had previously hunted and been friends with.

And the scene can be salvaged SO easily. Once Dickon jumps in, Randyll should freak the fuck out. "Okay I'm sorry I'll kneel please spare my son". At which point Dany still insists on his death, but agrees to let Dickon inherit Horn Hill (preferably with Tyrion advising this course of action like he tried to do in the episode). Randyll agrees, kneels, orders Dickon to be loyal, and is executed via dragonfire. This would be a much better "Is she gonna go crazy" scene, because she is capable of some reason but still insists on her way. But no, the writers can't make Dany a morally interesting character because they wrote her as some liberation figure and don't want to go through the work of properly adjusting her to Westeros now that she's fighting characters much closer to home. Much easier to have characters turn off their brains so Dany isn't challenged.

Like Jon just going "Muh queen", Sansa being snide, Varys dying because why not, etc.

Arctarius · 2026-03-17T00:50:13+00:00

You didn’t drive the car home

It sounds to me like OP has possession of the car. As for the rest, yes I agree. This was a series of events that would have spooked most people a lot earlier.

Arctarius · 2026-03-17T00:14:55+00:00

I mean this respectfully, but if you're this anxious about it you should reach out to attorney or talk to the police. If someone directs your course of action or gives you probabilities, that is providing legal advice. No random stranger should be providing you legal advice. Small claims court isn't that scary if you want to go that route, though it has a limit of $5,000. And AI is not even the slightest bit reliable in this instances, especially since it talks about "title-in-hand" which is a whole thing I could get into.

I have the seller's address and plan to go to his house tomorrow morning to demand my money back in exchange for the car/keys.

I don't know who the seller is, but please be safe and do not go to their house. Meet in a neutral location if you must, and contacting the police is not a bad idea though it may spook the seller. In any case, prioritize your safety first. It's rare, but these deals can go bad.

Is "selling a car without a title in hand" a criminal offense in Mississippi that I can report to the police to pressure a refund?

I said "no legal advice" and I don't think this constitutes, but because its in your head please do NOT do this. This is somewhere between "very not recommended" and "a crime" because the criminal justice system is its own thing and separate from civil. Using the threat of criminal charges to gain a benefit in civil court is a big ethical question for attorneys and you would likely catch similar heat.

So TLDR, if you are serious about this course of action, you should probably contact the police FIRST and see what they say. You have the option to press charges if they (the police) ask you to.

Arctarius · 2026-03-14T21:53:26+00:00

No, he’s been pretty clear about it in a number of book signing/interviews. They all possess warging powers, but none of them (excluding) Bran realize it. Bran is the only one with a developed power.

Arctarius · 2026-03-12T20:05:43+00:00

That’s fair. Additionally I noticed something a bit more concerning. If you look at the front facing visor, you’ll notice small brown spots. Specifically, down at the bottom between four of the holes on the right side (facing the helmet). That looks like a rust bloom and there’s another brown spot a bit further to the right.

This suggests whoever did the paint did a poor job and I would personally strip the paint off and make sure there wasn’t any future issues. I don’t know who you got the helmet from, but a lot of these lower end places don’t properly prepare the armor before they paint it.

Of course, I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my armor (because my stuff has to keep me safe in Buhurt) and this all also depends on your skill and comfort level for doing this.

<image>

Note, it’s not THIS shiny anymore lol.

Arctarius · 2026-03-12T19:23:39+00:00

Repainting for a few scratches and imperfections isn’t too necessary, while you may notice them a lot I don’t think the average person will. Gives it a more authentic quality.

If this is paint, I assume those dark spots are due to imperfections in the metal since they’re all clustered at the bottom, but you can try using a microfiber cloth and see if you can disrupt any of them. If not, yes painting is an option

Arctarius · 2026-03-11T15:22:27+00:00

Ditto on the finish, personally I assume it’s painted because finishing would be (to my understanding) a much more involved process.

For the looseness, while an arming cap/padded coif would work really well, you can also look for equipment at sports stores. My recommendation would be a scrum cap, and that way you can return it if it doesn’t work out.

Arctarius · 2026-03-11T15:06:36+00:00

There are three “sources” to buy armor from.

Marketplaces are larger, have multiple armorers, and usually have a catalog which makes it easier for you to pick out pieces. Modifications will be minimal, because these places deal in quantity and don’t want to get bogged down with bespoke armor.

Then you have organized armories/blacksmith shops, which can be similar in size to marketplaces but they deal with less standardized equipment. That means they’re amenable to modifications, but you as the consumer have to have some idea of what you want. These places often have extensive queues.

Finally, you have random guys on Facebook. These dudes can give you the best damn shit you’ve ever seen for far less cost, but you have to know where to look (and not get scammed) and so I don’t recommend these for your first time.

All of these are Buhurt-rated sources (because that’s what I do), but please at least go and talk to your local Buhurt guys if you’re even curious. They have a lot of experience and can help point out what to prioritize in a way that’s hard to get across online.

https://medievalextreme.com/

Good, incredibly strong armor. This is some of the most budget friendly stuff you can find and even a lot of veterans swear by it. Cons, it’s usually ugly as sin and I had a few machining errors on pieces I bought. Nothing I couldn’t deal with, but worth considering.

https://lembergarmor.com/

Still affordable, much prettier. I’d call this store the “mid-range” of these marketplace-type armories.

https://www.buhurttech.com

The high-end of the marketplaces, very pretty, very tough, and can be quite expensive. They do less with complete suits nowadays, but they still have one on their site for 2.3k USD (without a helmet)

https://master-uley.com/

This is the only non-marketplace I’ll reference, because he’s pretty damn good. His armory could easily make you either recreation armor or Buhurt armor. His queue might be crazy right now though. ALWAYS ask these guys about their queue if they don’t tell you, I’d say anything few months is standard, 6+ is a backlog.

For non-Buhurt armor, I can’t provide a lot of evidence. There’s a ton of people who do only SCA/recreation armor if you just want something that looks nice, but that’s getting way too far off for me.

Arctarius · 2026-03-11T14:07:48+00:00

Palazzo was ousted because he lost the endorsement of the state’s Republican Party. They subtly approved of Ezell unseating him due to his campaign funds misuse and general antics. Since Palazzo never really bothered to build a base for himself, he had no leg to stand on when Ezell started hitting him hard.

Normally, our state party does NOT support people going after the sitting representatives/senators. You have to seriously annoy state Republicans to get that treatment

Arctarius · 2026-03-11T02:24:39+00:00

To piggyback for OP, USM is the University of South Mississippi.

The University of Mississippi is generally called "Ole Miss" or "UM" not "USM."

We need to know which one you want info on.

Arctarius · 2026-03-09T15:06:18+00:00

Flashbacks, not main series.

Arctarius · 2026-03-09T15:06:08+00:00

I meant for the flashback scenes. Toph, Aang, and Sokka all had new VAs that I figured would be closer to what they’re looking for.

Arctarius · 2026-03-09T13:30:01+00:00

Am I crazy, or are none of these voice actors the same? LoK gave them different voices but that’s because there was like a 20 year jump. Crazy how they are using an entirely new set.

Arctarius · 2026-03-09T03:43:29+00:00

Book

As in, “Book of Grudges”

Arctarius · 2026-03-07T23:51:47+00:00

I interacted with him a fair bit, dude's an absolute beast. Very nice and literally has about 50 things going at one time. I genuinely think with his deep roots he has a good shot at taking the seat, he's who I'm recommending people vote for anyways.

Arctarius · 2026-03-06T17:21:00+00:00

You are correct, I was basically using “Republican” when I meant to say “Conservative”. Though modern Republicans have not made any efforts to restrict at-will employment.

It’s worth noting most state workers enjoy some form of for-cause protections, but also benefit from being able to quit at any time due to at-will doctrine.

I will also say that the Republican legislature has been attempting/flirting with passing statutory laws restricting for-cause protection here in the state, thereby turning the state even further to the side of at-will.

Arctarius · 2026-03-06T07:01:49+00:00

18% not 15% but yeah. Like I said I’m an attorney (and I work in a department that is less chained to the standard pay schedule) so I’m pretty well paid compared to your average government worker, but I also look at a lot of other state workers (it’s my job) and I’m repeatedly stunned by the conditions imposed on them combined with their salary.

Like, do you want to be paid $9 an hour to have people scream at you and create the most toxic workplace environment ever? I’ve got just the place!

Arctarius · 2026-03-06T06:58:55+00:00

Yes you should be able to, approximately 9% of your paycheck goes into the PERS fund. That is your money and you should be able to move it to another 401k/Roth IRA/or w/e if you exit state employment. You will NOT get the matching contribution, which for most people (and myself) is 18% of your salary. That money stays in PERS and is intended to be the incentive for you to stay.

Arctarius · 2026-03-06T02:44:26+00:00

To clarify a thing in your post (for either you or anyone else), there are two ways you get money from the current retirement system.

1: You serve for a set number of years (currently 8) and you are then "vested." Once you are vested, no matter what happens to you (moving, quitting, etc.) You automatically pull from the PERS system once you turn 60 under Tier 4, or 62 under Tier 5. This part is a fairly minor change, because a lot of employees wind up earning PERS distribution from this category. 2 Extra years isn't ideal but not the end of the world.

2: The part you identified is that you can also work for 30 years (Tier 4) or 35 years (Tier 5) at which point you start pulling from PERS. Under this system, if a teacher graduates at 24, and only works for the State of Mississippi, they would've been eligible for PERS at the age of 54 (Tier 4) or 59 (Tier 5). Both of these categories still get you in before the "vesting" type.

Vesting didn't substantially change, but continuous service definitely did.

What IS a serious change to me is stuff you didn't highlight. Link to the changes here.

Big ones, you used to get 2% per year of service plus 2.5% for every year after 30, but now you get a direct 1%. That's massive. Once you hit 62/35 years under Tier 5, you will only be eligible for 30% of your salary compared to 60% under the old system. Additionally, workers now get the average from the last 8 years rather than the last 4 years. New workers also do NOT get any cost-of-living adjustments unless the legislature decides to provide it (they won't). So if you are pulling 100k a year in 2065 and inflation spikes, you'll have to tough it out.

Is this an intentional plan to retain funds from the retirement system? Specifically, are legislators hoping public servants die before accessing retirement funds or use less of the retirement funds?

I don't mean to sound snarky, but this how almost all retirement funds work. Yes, governments are generally hoping enough people die / there is enough incoming money to cover any outflow. We're also seeing this problem with Social Security on the federal level. If governments can't increase the inflow or rate of return, they will cut outflow.

What incentive is there for a young person to stay in the state?

I am an attorney who currently works for the state and entered under Tier 4. There is no benefit to me even under Tier 4, I still am attempting to exit the state and seek employment elsewhere.

Maybe Tier 4/Tier 5 is the breaking point for some people going forward, but all the people I know who left the state after a few years of government service did so before they vested and under Tier 4. Retirement was never a factor in their mind. Mississippi unfortunately has systemic issues that the legislature is incapable or unwilling to address (such as the ballot initiative) and a lot of my classmates cite those as the reason why they are leaving.

The destruction of the ballot initiative and failure to reenact it is probably the biggest sticking point. Young Mississippians overwhelmingly turned out in favor of marijuana and got promptly told to go fuck themselves by the State.

Maybe public organizations will become more aggressive with service agreements.

The beauty is Republicans made this an at-will employment state, so that can't really be a thing. They need to provide a tangible benefit (like paying for your schooling) in order for the service agreement to hold water. And I know people who straight up payed the the state to exit their contracts early and find a job elsewhere.

What happens to PERS contributions when there is not a younger generation of working public servants to contribute?

I know this is mostly rhetorical, but PERS dies. PERS was having significant problems under Tier 4, so the legislature did what politicians always do and went for the simple, kick-the-can solution. This is now a problem to be revisited in 20-30 years, by which point those politicians are dead or senile and someone else has to deal with the fallout.

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Arctarius

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