Replacing a toilet requires a permit??? How about just starting with that very basic, and stupid, requirement.

This is correct. I was very strongly isolationist 3-5 years ago. But it turns out the neocons understood how the American empire works better than me. The neocons are a transnational caste of imperial vampires who need to be purged because they use American power at the expense of the American heartland. We need a better set of elites running the machine. But they were basically correct on foreign policy, and how to project global power.

Some final thoughts on the blog about Cornell, and what happens when sexy cinematic fantasy meets flaccid, puking reality

So here’s how this plays out: A.) NYAG is going to charge this in such a way that risking trial means a 20+ prison sentence if the defendants are found guilty. She’s going to charge more than the original 7, and hope she gets an “insider” to testify against the holdouts in return for leniency. B.) Then, if the case goes to trial, the accuser is going to endure not one, but multiple cross-examinations (that will take days) in the hope of destroying her credibility and memory of what happened. This will require inhuman stamina by the accuser, and the defendants have every right to test her testimony. C.) All of this only works if there is a guilty verdict. D.) If the verdict is not guilty, the woman will be a broken human being, and neither the NY Governor or the NYAG will face any consequences. E.) If the jury hangs — wash, rinse, repeat.

I have a feeling that Jane Doe v. the Cornell 7 will go to trial and generate months of national drama. The jury will include at least six New Yorkers whose minds are already made up, no verdict will be reached, and both sides will consider the process and outcome scandalous. The trial will deal another blow to trust in the U.S. jury system. Coverage will maintain, if not accentuate, political polarization. With 2028 approaching, all this will be a gift to Republicans.

When you think tough hard nosed just the facts ma’am career prosecutor who pursues the law without bias fear or favor you think of Letitia James, who, I want to be clear, is not I repeat NOT a hysterical laughably partisan media driven hack. This case is in good hands.

Can we have politicians with a basic civics education? You cannot ban, by statute, a constitutional power.

if our methods to execute criminals don't work well why don't we just ask Canada what they use on mildly depressed people

As a journalist, these kinds of programs strike me as borderline predatory. It costs $120,000 to complete Columbia's 9-month MA in journalism. For a career where the starting salary is often as low as $40,000. We need to normalize learning on the job.

The best idea for a war movie that has not yet been made is the fate of the 30,000 Christian samurai who fled Japan when their religion was outlawed in the early 1600s. The Spanish embarked them on ships and took them away to the Philippines, where they fought alongside the Spanish against the Moros. After the Moros were subdued (for that time), the samurai settled down with Christian Filipinas and vanished. Imagine the film - legitimate samurai alongside real conquistators fighting Moro headhunters. Wow!

we are reinventing apprenticeship from first principles

🚨 BREAKING: Claude can now map out your retirement better than most people charging $2,000 ever will. Here are 10 prompts to figure out exactly when and how you can retire. (Save this before it disappears).

I'm a former writer. Professors aren't as important as we think.

1800s X-Men Galla Masquerade Party! Looking badass in my opinion.

No statute in New York requires a prosecutor to review the raw interview transcript before deciding whether to charge. The signed statement is the document police typically forward and the one prosecutors use for the initial legal review. Cornell University Police conducted a two-day interview, typed a six-page narrative from it, read the draft back to Jane Doe, allowed her to make handwritten corrections, and obtained her signature under a perjury warning. That signed document is what the department sent the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office with a request to determine whether the facts alleged a crime. Van Houten’s office treated the signed statement as the operative account, the same way most New York prosecutors treat a supporting deposition or sworn victim statement when a police agency refers a case. Later, if the case proceeds to grand jury or trial, any prior statements (including the full transcript) become Rosario material that must be disclosed to the defense. That disclosure obligation does not apply at the charging-decision stage. In short, the signed affidavit was legally enough for the 2024 no-charge decision.

One of the best things I decided to do in my life was go to an affordable public university to get my engineering degree instead of going to an expensive private university. No one cares where you went to school 5 years after you’ve been in the profession.

The rise of socialism in my generation is, in no small part, due to the gap between the promises of college education and the diminishing professional returns.