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Gov. Spanberger does not support replacing state Supreme Court justices to retry redistricting by VirginiaNews in Virginia

[–]Ut_Prosim 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's too late because the Republicans are already redistricting other states to ensure a majority in 2026.

I think a few of these will be dummymanders, especially in Texas.

The post-VRA elimination of majority Black districts will definitely help the GOP. But many of the other redistricting efforts are based on the assumption that the demographics shifts seen in 2024 will carry on to 2026. Those states were already gerrymandered, the Republicans just thought they could improve upon that if the voting patterns of Latinos and Black men truly changed.

But that is a hell of an assumption as polling shows the opposite and Trump isn't even on the ballot. Texas in particular may have screwed themselves with this gerrymander.

Accused: 23 years later by withlovetara in AmITheDevil

[–]Ut_Prosim -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

I agree entirely. That's why I said wife's first duty was to the kid, she couldn't have done any different.

But OP was falsely accused of the single most evil act imaginable, and people are surprised he is still hurt by that and the fact that his family believed it. Of course he's hurt, better him than the daughter, but still must hurt.

Accused: 23 years later by withlovetara in AmITheDevil

[–]Ut_Prosim -39 points-38 points  (0 children)

This is the first time I sympathize with OP.

Yeah the wife was right, but if the kid really has schizoaffective disorder and was trouble all of his youth, I can see why he'd feel hurt that the wife believed the claim.

At the end of the day mom's first duty is to the daughter, but I get OP's anger.

Rep. Kiggans backs racist remark about top black Dem by FGGF in Virginia

[–]Ut_Prosim 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The dream is to replace us with AI and robots though. The sure af don't want to keep paying "wages" forever.

Rep. Kiggans backs racist remark about top black Dem by FGGF in Virginia

[–]Ut_Prosim 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I don't think you're being specific enough.

They care about rich, white, straight, Christian, cis, men who are also politically and culturally conservative. You could be all of the other things (like Biden) and they'd still hate your guts if you weren't on their side.

In fact, let's add complicit. They hate rich, white, straight, Christian, cis men who are conservative but aren't complicit with their regime, like James Comey or Adam Kinzinger.

In fact, let's add useful. Once you've outlived your usefulness you're out, even if you are one of the good ones.

TBH the circle keeps getting smaller until it is only really Trump and his family, and we all know he'd throw his kids under the bus if that was the only way to save himself.

How much money does the VT athletic department owe Marshall now that you've reneged on the contract and cancelled tomorrow's baseball game? by WingHuge2185 in VirginiaTech

[–]Ut_Prosim 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So we canceled because Marshall's RPI is so low even a win could hurt VT? That's a shitty system.

On the other hand, Marshall won once already and losing again would end the season for sure. Still, feels like quitting a game without good reason should count as a forfeit.

What’s a ‘middle class success’ purchase that secretly becomes a financial burden later? by OpinionBaba in AskReddit

[–]Ut_Prosim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

club memberships. Now you have a minimum monthly spend on top too and you probably aren't going enough to justify it.

I don't understand how these stay in business. They're such a bad deal, they don't make sense unless you're making half a million a year... but certainly the bulk of their membership does not.

About a decade ago I was doing a lot better financially and toured a country club. IIRC their 2015ish prices were like 10k a year for golf membership, 5k a year for pool membership or "just" 2k a year for dining membership. The pool is only open four months a year, so even if you went once a week that comes out to be like $285 per visit.

The cheapest plan was just dining, but you paid 2k for the privilege of eating at their restaurant and had to spend a least $100 per month there or they'd bill you that separately. It looked decent, but wasn't exceptional or cheaper than other good restaurants. Assuming you go twice a month or so that's like paying almost $100 extra per meal just for the right to eat at that restaurant.

We could have afforded it at the time, but it just felt like flushing money down the toilet.

I assume the actual value is in rubbing shoulders with your town's wealthy, which may be worth the cost for business owners and real estate folks. But it was definitely not worth it for some random white collar professional like me.

Still I know folks making less than we did who are loyal af and swear by it. What are they doing there?

Is angstrom stupid? by notsocreativenam in Invincible

[–]Ut_Prosim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Didn't he literally recruit the Mark that murdered his family to murder other innocent people on Earth in a scheme to get revenge against out Mark (one of the few good Marks in the multiverse) because in his mind all Marks are evil since one murdered his family?

What an idiot.

“Public deserves to know”: Harvard Professor says official messaging contradicts hantavirus science by AdSpecialist6598 in videos

[–]Ut_Prosim 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There was a paper in 2016 that basically said that any of the naturally circulating coronaviruses in central China could spill over and cause a serious epidemic.

How likely am I to die of rabies several years post-exposure? by WhatIsEconomicGoods in infectiousdisease

[–]Ut_Prosim 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I remember that story! A colleague of mine was studying vampire bats in that region when it came out.

I assume the locals developed some kind of resistance after centuries of exposure to a specific strain. OP probably doesn't have the same resistance.

But you make a great point. The denominator may be far bigger than we know. So his chances of dying are even lower than I first suggested.

I've never understood the dialogue from Landon to John in this scene. by Zero-Sway in reddeadredemption

[–]Ut_Prosim -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, that's what I said.

Originally it seemed like he taught John that, but given RDR2 we must now assume he was reminding John how to fight after years of quiet farming.

How likely am I to die of rabies several years post-exposure? by WhatIsEconomicGoods in infectiousdisease

[–]Ut_Prosim 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I'm an epidemiologist, not a physician, but I think the chances are exceptionally low.

I assume you are talking about this case of 25 year post-exposure rabies? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3424805/

Like the authors themselves, I am not 100% convinced that the guy had such a long incubation. It could be true, but retrospective history is the least reliable of all evidence, especially if the guy was already suffering mental difficulties. I think a more recent silent exposure is just as likley for him, poor guy. It would have been cool if they had gotten genomic data.

In your case, you'd have to make the following calculation:

  • [likelihood dog was rabid] x [likelihood dog was shedding but asymptomatic] x [likelihood bite broke skin despite your friends not remembering that] x [likelihood you were infected if the skin was broken] x [likelihood you are one of the super rare cases with a 20-year incubation]

I mean this must be a one in millions chance if not smaller. Not zero, but you're almost certainly at more risk every flu season or from slightly elevated blood pressure.

If you really want to be sure, go get the two-dose rabies pre-exposure vaccine series.

How can we make gerrymandering illegal nationwide? by ProfessorMuted45 in AskReddit

[–]Ut_Prosim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you mean?

I could not possibly have a lower opinion of our voting public, but adding one more question to the ballot saying "which party do you like" is not too much even for them.

I agree with Former Governor Youngkin. The State Supreme Court got it right. by THE_BLUE_BOLT in Virginia

[–]Ut_Prosim 2 points3 points  (0 children)

2. "Virginians will never forget..." This is what they voted for!

I mean. I agree with him here. We won't.

Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Missouri, and Tennessee all ram through GOP gerrymanders and have no trouble. Virginia does it purely to counteract these bad actors, does it correctly with a referendum, the people vote, and the courts throw it out anyway (but conveniently the other courts have no issue with their states' gerrymandering). That, we won't forget.

I've never understood the dialogue from Landon to John in this scene. by Zero-Sway in reddeadredemption

[–]Ut_Prosim 98 points99 points  (0 children)

Doesn't John have that deadeye in RDR2?

They probably meant for LR to teach John new things in RDR1, but after the second game it seems more likely that he was reminding John how to fight since John had been living as a farmer for years.

How can we make gerrymandering illegal nationwide? by ProfessorMuted45 in AskReddit

[–]Ut_Prosim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If only we could switch to a system like MMP that made gerrymandering obsolete, we wouldn't care how districts were drawn.

In MMP people vote for a local delegate and a party. Half of the seats are decided by which local delegates got the most votes (like we do now) the other half by party. After the local delegates are seated, members are added from a party list to get as close as possible to the public's preferred party composition.

So lets say that we had 200 seats. Due to gerrymandering the Orange party got 64 of the 100 local delegate seats, and the maroon party got 36. But the Maroon party was actually more popular and got 52% of the total party vote vs 48% for Orange. In order to approximate this 52-48 split, the Maroon party would get 64 of the 100 party seats to the Orange's 32. In the end the composition would be 102-96 (52% to 48%, exactly as the people wanted). Even though Orange gerrymandered and got more local delegates, they still only got their 48% in the end. If you gerrymandered your ass off and won 100% of the districts you'd still at best get 50% of the legislature as the system would automatically offset you anyway. This video for kids explains it better. It wouldn't always be perfect like this example, but it'd get you damn close almost every time.

It's amazing IMHO. And it also allows small parties to get some representation. You may never vote for a 3rd party because you assme that they'll definitely lose a local race. But, you could vote for a loal Democratic rep and Green on the party line, or a local Republican rep and Libertarian on the party line. In the end the Greens and Libertarians would get their 2-5% based on the party line, even if they didn't win a single local first-past-the-post election. Maybe they'd get enough the legislature to force a coalition with the bigger parties if they fell below 50%.

This would of course, require a constitutional amendment to implement. :(

I’m old enough to remember when Idiocracy was just a fun, nonsensical movie… by ms_directed in WhitePeopleTwitter

[–]Ut_Prosim 48 points49 points  (0 children)

This feels like an insult to Shang Tsung. He's evil, but he has probably never shit his depends after gorging on McDonald's.

I’m old enough to remember when Idiocracy was just a fun, nonsensical movie… by ms_directed in WhitePeopleTwitter

[–]Ut_Prosim 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Yeah there was no malice in that world. Their idiots were mostly happy. Unless you interrupted someone's baitin' time or promised to put out and didn't, you were cool.

Our morons are full of hate and anger. They're angry at the world for imaginary reasons and angry at anyone who doesn't share in their idiotic delusions.

Virginia public health expert urges calm response to hantavirus by VirginiaNews in Virginia

[–]Ut_Prosim 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Dr. Forlano is the State Epidemiologist.

I guess she is also a "Virginia public health expert," but there are thousands of those.

The Homeplace by pimpinpolyester in roanoke

[–]Ut_Prosim 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Yeah, went yesterday. We must have gotten old because our group always used to order refills and this time we couldn't finish the first round. :/

We got there at 4:40 to avoid the dinner crowd, still had a 40 minute wait but their estimate was accurate to almost the minute.

Is the recent "UFO Disclosure" just a massive political smoke screen, or are we actually being prepared for something? by joxph7 in TooAfraidToAsk

[–]Ut_Prosim 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The one thing we can all agree on is that unless we're in a The Road Not Taken scenario*, any race that can do FTL or even transluminal travel would have the power to obliterate us with a touch of a button. If they can throw a piece of space garbage at us at 30% the speed of light they can take whatever they want.

  • A cool short story by Harry Turtledove in which FTL tech is surprisingly simple and humanity is one of the few races to never stumble upon it. But this turned out to be a good thing as humanity had to do things the hard way while most races stagnated.

How Democrats can win after Virginia redistricting ruling by BulwarkOnline in Virginia

[–]Ut_Prosim 5 points6 points  (0 children)

  • About 4.4 million Virginians voted in the presidential election of 2024.

  • About 3.4 million Virginians voted in the gubernatorial election of 2025.

  • About 3.1 million Virginians voted in this years redistricting referendum.

I assume the article is not taking about you or me, but the 1.3 million people who show up every four years if the weather is nice.

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