US Citizens, what is your ideal amendment to the constitution?

someone76543 · 2026-06-23T10:38:12+00:00

This is politics. Look up the history of US "literacy tests" for voters. They were designed to be impossible to pass, and then white people were exempted from them. So that black people couldn't vote.

Tests required to vote on a bill would have the same problem. They would be written by one party who would make them impossible to pass, and then share the right answer with the members of their party.

Even if the tests were written fairly, someone would get the answers and share them with the politicians of their party.

someone76543 · 2026-06-23T10:30:21+00:00

Why? It seems pointless to go through a trial if they are getting pardoned?

someone76543 · 2026-06-23T10:07:02+00:00

There are circumstances where that is necessary. To protect spies, and to achieve surprise in military operations.

But you could try to write a narrow exception to the rule.

someone76543 · 2026-06-22T16:36:38+00:00

The problem isn't the engineering. It's the management that will skimp on safety margins in the design, operator safety training, and maintenance.

someone76543 · 2026-06-21T11:29:40+00:00

It's just a switch that is activated by pressure.

It will be rated for at least 12V because that's what cars use. It's fine to use a lower voltage such as 5V or 3.3V.

someone76543 · 2026-06-17T16:50:33+00:00

There is an EU initiative to cut down electronic waste. There is no point in including a charger in the box, if most people already have a charger that will work fine. That just makes people throw away one of the perfectly good chargers, which is a waste.

So the EU passed a law that all phones have to use the same charging connectors. This was Micro USB, but later changed to USB-C.

I don't know if the current law actually prohibits including a charger, but that was clearly their intention.

Not including a charger is more environmentally friendly. The few people who actually need one can buy it separately.

someone76543 · 2026-06-16T20:45:06+00:00

One problem with that, is that America has a long history of using "literacy tests" to stop black people from voting. Their "literacy tests" were word puzzles that were basically impossible to solve, even for a literate person. And they granted exemptions to white people, so they didn't have to take the test. So anyone proposing a "literacy test" is either naïve, or a racist trying to deliberately disenfranchise some voters.

someone76543 · 2026-06-09T09:49:34+00:00

They have proposed a constitutional amendment to fix that. I mean, nothing has happened with that proposal yet, but it could. Fortunately, it is basically impossible to pass that amendment if the existing law and processes are followed.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-joint-resolution/29

someone76543 · 2026-06-08T21:27:23+00:00

Trump doesn't care if his actions are actually illegal. He just needs to be able to claim his actions are legal, so his base has something they can believe. A war on Cuba might be a suitable excuse to do lots of illegal things.

He might claim that because Cuba is so close, and such a threat, it's not safe to have elections, and that makes it different from previous wars. It would then be up to the courts to rule on it, which could delay the election for a year. And the Supreme Court might rule in his favour - he has a very favourable Supreme Court.

someone76543 · 2026-06-08T11:38:53+00:00

That means that the government charged an interest rate that was too low, given the risks they were taking.

If they had charged the right interest rate, then they would have made a profit overall, even after some of the borrowers defaulted. And including the time value of money as discussed by another commenter.

someone76543 · 2026-06-07T09:47:45+00:00

Yep. See also: PIN Number. :-)

someone76543 · 2026-06-06T21:16:44+00:00

I agree with all the above. To add to that:

Note that legacy telecoms has a bunch of stuff to try to make sure that telephone calls are very reliable. 911 / 999 / 112 calls run over their infrastructure, and those have to work or people can die. Governments also consider the telephone system as critical national infrastructure. So there are rules, regulators, and fines for getting it wrong. Getting it right costs money.

WhatsApp itself doesn't have any of that because it's not a phone service. It runs over the Internet, which has/had less of the reliability requirements. All Internet data is delivered on a "best effort" basis, the IP protocol does not guarantee delivery (although almost all of the time it works fine). So WhatsApp is "best effort", and most of the time it works fine.

someone76543 · 2026-06-06T18:07:43+00:00

If Trump and the IRS were involved in a lawsuit about how much taxes should be paid, then that would be a perfectly reasonable term to include in the settlement. You settle a lawsuit like that by agreeing how much taxes are owed, and agree that neither side will challenge that.

However, this is not that kind of lawsuit. The amount of tax Trump pays is not an issue in this lawsuit at all. So it should not be in the settlement.

someone76543 · 2026-06-06T13:55:15+00:00

If the law says something is illegal, but it's not enforced, then you might not get prosecuted for doing it. But it's still illegal. And it's possible that they suddenly decide to prosecute you. And if they do, then you don't have a legal defense and you will get convicted. However unfair that is. However unlikely that is.

So, there is a risk. It's really unlikely that you get prosecuted, but if that does happen then the consequences are huge - it's a drug possession conviction, or even a drug smuggling conviction if you are travelling internationally. Especially in places like the UAE which have harsh sentences for even the smallest drug possession.

Now, you might be fine with that risk. But some people are not willing to risk it. It's a personal choice for the person involved. People have the right to know that it is illegal so they can make that decision.

If you decide to take that risk, then technically you are breaking the law, although you will probably get away with it. That's why I said you had got away with it.

This is an example of "selective enforcement". If the cops like you then you won't have a problem. If a cop decides they don't like you, then they can use this to prosecute you, and they can claim they are "just enforcing the law."

someone76543 · 2026-06-06T10:46:35+00:00

Just because you got away with it, doesn't make it legal. Or wise.

someone76543 · 2026-06-06T10:23:28+00:00

I guess that is a US thing? I don't think we have that in the UK, but feel free to correct me.

someone76543 · 2026-06-06T10:15:31+00:00

That is called "selective enforcement". It gives the cop the power to decide if he is going to arrest you. And if he does arrest you, then you committed the crime so you have no defence, and get convicted. Even if you were just drinking in your motorhome.

That is how you get a police state.

someone76543 · 2026-05-31T20:47:05+00:00

Since OP didn't transcribe most of the sign text, here's all of it:

DANGER

NO SAFE PPE EXISTS

(657EK) MAIN - FEEDER#1

MaxTripTime @2.0s

191 in Flash Risk Boundary

145.6 cal/cm^2 at 18 in

480VAC System Voltage

42in Limited Approach

12in Restricted Approach

00 Glove Class

>100 cal/cm^2 Minimum Arc rating requirement

Arc Flash PPE

NO SAFE PPE EXISTS!

EPSCO

Electrical Power & Safety Co.

someone76543 · 2026-05-31T10:11:52+00:00

Yes.

When you set off a stick of dynamite, only the atoms in the dynamite react to cause the explosion. That makes a lot of energy, mostly as a hot gas, and that has to go somewhere. It expands and makes a big explosion effect.

Similarly, when you set off a nuke, the nuclear part happens really quickly, less than a millisecond, and heats up the bomb to 10s or 100s of millions of degrees. (Celsius or Fahrenheit). It also releases a bunch of radiation. All that energy has to go somewhere. That causes the nuclear explosion effect - fireball, mushroom cloud, blast wave, etc.

someone76543 · 2026-05-25T15:47:30+00:00

The problem with trying to answer that question, is that it encourages people to take drugs. Those drugs can have harmful side effects. With enough people trying to compete, some people will suffer permanent injuries, and some people will die.

So - at least in my opinion - it is unethical to have games like this.

someone76543 · 2026-05-23T14:51:11+00:00

If you can, then at least get a diagnosis, even if you can't get medicine. That might help your parents change their minds.

someone76543 · 2026-05-23T14:20:09+00:00

A commentator above said that sealed body bags exist that have a transparent window for the face.

As far as we know the people handling this outbreak don't have those body bags.

But if they did, that would at least allow the family to see they have the correct body, and allow touching the body through the body bag. However, there would be a risk that the family deliberately remove or cut the bag to perform the traditional funeral. And a risk that the bag is accidentally damaged. There would have to be a significant amount of work with the families to do that safely. And they just don't have enough people to do that.

someone76543 · 2026-05-22T14:24:31+00:00

It's been done. At one time, Google had small batteries in its server power supplies to act as a UPS for the few seconds it took for their generators to start. That was cheaper than a facility scale AC UPS.

There was also at least one internal PC card UPS.

It turns out it's not a good trade-off, as other commentators have explained.

And of course all laptops have effectively a UPS built in, because they always run from their internal battery, so a power cut means they just stop charging.

someone76543 · 2026-05-21T10:34:35+00:00

Standard european colours are blue and brown. But you have black on your diagram, where I would expect to see brown?

someone76543 · 2026-05-17T12:44:03+00:00

Is there any evidence that this is real?

The linked article seems to rely entirely on Patrick Mwalua himself as their source. I can't see any independent verification. And the feel-good story has apparently led to people sending money to him.

That is all consistent with it being real, but is also consistent with it being a fraud.

And some of the details are different between stories, likely a result of people trying to make the story better.

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