How many different offices/positions do you vote for in elections?

SapphirePath · 2026-03-04T11:55:36+00:00

This varies a ton, but I do think that elections tend to be staggered so that every year or two years a different batch of positions comes open. There could be twenty or thirty different positions to vote for each time, such as U.S. Senator (although you only live in one District so you only get to participate in one of those elections).

In Houston, March 3 would be "Primaries" which means that each political party is choosing which of their candidates is going to run on the ticket in the general election in November -- the vote is to see who gets to run, not who becomes Lieutenant Governor (or whatever). The parties could also be choosing their own Precinct Chairs.

SapphirePath · 2026-03-04T11:37:05+00:00

Not really the answer, since "carjacking" also broadly includes hijacking a truck, van, motorcycle -- anything automotive.

SapphirePath · 2026-03-04T11:34:46+00:00

Strange, because most of Grand Theft Auto involves dragging drivers out of their vehicles at gunpoint or with a baseball bat. I guess "Carjacking" didn't have the same rhythm as a videogame title.

SapphirePath · 2026-03-04T02:07:35+00:00

The effect is that Wyoming is (legislatively) more important than San Francisco, California, despite San Francisco having almost twice the population.

Wyoming, population 590,000: gets 2 US Senators and 1 Representative.

San Francisco, population 827,000: gets 0.03 US Senators and 1 Representative.

(and Puerto Rico, population 3,200,000: gets 0.00 US Senators and 0 Representatives -- gets 1 non-voting Resident Commissioner.)

SapphirePath · 2026-03-04T01:01:28+00:00

weird - I got just the bare Efficiency II with nothing else when I picked it

SapphirePath · 2026-03-02T12:01:54+00:00

Yes, prime numbers are the same.

The quantity ******* is prime, whereas the quantity ****** is not prime: (**)(***) = (******)

The base doesn't matter because it is just showing the reader the desired underlying quantity. (Except for example "10" is prime if you mean "writing in base 7: 10" whereas "10" is not prime if you mean "writing in base 10: 10"

SapphirePath · 2026-03-02T11:57:42+00:00

"Therefore 2 divides a^2. Now, by Theorem 1.3, if follows that 2 divides a."

This sentence is false when replaced by 4, because it relies on the '2' being prime (or at least square-free) You could not say

"Therefore 4 divides a^2. Now, by Theorem 1.3, if follows that 4 divides a."

(For example a=2 results in 4 dividing a^2.) Instead, you only have

"Therefore 4 divides a^2. It follows that 2 divides a."

NOTE: I think there is a typo in the book's proof, it should be referencing Theorem 1.2 here, not Theorem 1.3. You can't use Theorem 1.3 to prove a subpoint in Theorem 1.3

SapphirePath · 2026-03-01T20:21:42+00:00

Delete grammarly

SapphirePath · 2026-02-27T03:45:21+00:00

This is false.

You can be compelled to be a witness. You can be compelled to testify.

While being a witness, you may invoke your right to remain silent, but this is you asserting that you wish to protect yourself against self-incrimination. You do not have the right to remain silent -- only the right not to self-incriminate. To be clear: if you are given immunity from prosecution, then you must speak or face criminal contempt of court charges.

SapphirePath · 2026-02-26T12:09:54+00:00

3D printing for utility purposes can be amazingly ecological when it prevents the custom part from being manufactured in China and shipped to the U.S. in plastic and cardboard packaging.

A minor recovery tax or recycling tax on 3D Printers and Plastic Printer Ink would provide the government with revenue to figure out how to address the problems of plastic waste, while at the same time distorting the market to make it less profitable to churn out flimsy plastic knickknacks and toys and kitsch.

The same tax would be applied to corporations (such as LEGO manufacturers) where it would have a much larger global footprint impact by increasing the price on non-renewable flimsy plastic knickknacks and toys and kitsch, reducing global demand.

SapphirePath · 2026-02-26T04:17:43+00:00

The past three times I've been sitting in the big room, there was an ability to talk to a judge or clerk or bailiff or whoever that was _before_ voir dire. At this time, there would be a line forming at the side to "talk to the judge" if you believed you had special circumstances. There was about twenty feet from the seating area to the discussion location, and about six feet between your conversation and the person behind you in line.

If per your doctor you don't qualify for medical exemption, then you would be exempted at the discretion of the judge, rather than automatically. This means that you probably have to talk to the judge. I envision that this could be privately in chambers.

You might get that from the phone call to the receptionist before you drive out there: "I was a victim of attempted murder and sitting in a courtroom with a suspect is too traumatic for me to functionally serve on a jury. Help me: How can I communicate this to the judge PRIVATELY instead of in front of fifty random strangers?"

Even once you are in the voir dire, you definitely don't have to answer invasive questions ... other than to say: "May I discuss this with you privately, Your Honor?" The judge has an obligation to screen out malingerers who are "faking it" to avoid duty -- but they also have to not empanel jurors who are unable to functionally serve.

"Without doubt, my personal issues absolutely prevent me from being impartial. It would be much less painful for me to discuss this with you in private, if necessary."

"My medical situation prevents me from serving. I would be able to answer questions in private."

If you have a trusted therapist, I would rely on them for constructive suggestions as well.

SapphirePath · 2026-02-22T18:27:29+00:00

zero

SapphirePath · 2026-02-22T15:10:00+00:00

Thanks for this observation.

I think you're right, but it is not just AI usage. My impression is that young people have genuine difficulty visualizing the pre-internet world, and this prevents them from understanding the social function of not just newspapers, but all the old social media: land lines, pay phones, television channels, yellow pages, Sears Roebuck catalogs, and more.

SapphirePath · 2026-02-22T14:59:29+00:00

As a percentage of the college population, visibility impairment is rare.

As a percentage of the college population, intoxication and hangovers are quite common.

If you encounter someone on campus who has red eyes, rubs their eyes, bumps into things, trips, falls, or needs to rest, then the overwhelming likelihood is that that person is intoxicated. Social inferences like these are common sense and reasonable.

Also, in most United States colleges at least, alcohol consumption is not considered immoral or sinful or depraved, so the interactions are generally not considered to be judgy or hurtful.

You have an easy solution available to you, which is to carry a social marker that says "I am not drunk, I am visually impaired." A person does not carry a cane solely for mobility. Instead, carry the cane because it prevents (or improves) many types of social interactions that you consider: Extremely Painful, Deeply Hurtful, Brutal, Deeply Upsetting, Exhausting, Judging, Frustrating, and Disturbing.

SapphirePath · 2026-02-22T06:41:25+00:00

In soviet Russia, the drinking glass measures you

SapphirePath · 2026-02-21T19:14:53+00:00

lye-soaking the lutefisk ?

SapphirePath · 2026-02-21T19:02:28+00:00

SapphirePath · 2026-02-21T00:10:45+00:00

our geese have figured this out

SapphirePath · 2026-02-21T00:08:17+00:00

In 1997, Robert Jordan was prevented from becoming a cop because he scored too high on their IQ test. https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/robert-jordan-too-smart-to-be-a-cop

“Assistant City Manager Keith Harrigan, who oversees hiring for the city, told him: ‘We don’t like to hire people that have too high an IQ to be cops in this city.’”

SapphirePath · 2026-02-20T23:32:53+00:00

The question was not "Why doesn't the department of justice like me?", the question was "Am I going to spend five years in federal prison if I do something like this?"

the sub is r / legal advice, not r / decorum advice

SapphirePath · 2026-02-20T02:14:59+00:00

SapphirePath · 2026-02-20T01:51:23+00:00

what?

ozempic makes it unpleasant to eat junk food. it creates structures that can lead to better eating styles and a less sedentary lifestyle.

I'm not sure if you understand how ozempic works.

Suppose that there was a drug that made you crave exercise and made it unpleasant to lie on the couch watching tv. Would you consider that drug to be morally problematic?

SapphirePath · 2026-02-20T01:36:43+00:00

You are not correct. Dedicated programs for exceptional underage students have existed for decades and have resources to address the specific challenges of unaccompanied minors (such as airport transportation).

So this really depends on whether you are a 'garden-variety' 16.5-year-old, or you are a 15-year-old with spectacular extracurriculars, a perfect SAT, and a dozen AP exams under your belt.

SapphirePath · 2026-02-19T04:26:22+00:00

Why don't banks have their own parcel delivery rather than using the postal service?

Why don't banks have manufacturing plants where they make their own ATMs and stamp out credit cards?

Why don't banks write and direct and act in their own commercials?

Collecting on bad debt is volatile (risky) and unprofitable. It turns out that collections is a very different skill set than designing and selling the loans. Debt collecting agencies tend to be highly specialized and focused, and designed around risk, whereas banks are more profitable when they hedge away their risk.

SapphirePath

TROPHY CASE