81–90 of 96 posts
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The "magic" is that they have it all joined with the database that tells them who crossed the other way recently, the flight database or the cruise ship database so it's not searching through millions of passport photos every time. They have a pretty good idea of the search space.
It's weaponized pivot tables all the way down.
> The app represents an unprecedented linking of government databases into a single tool, including from the State Department, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the FBI, and state records I think we're well past the point of stopping these dystopian practices given the government has already collected this data. They're merely using it how they want. If you go through customs as a US citizen, you don't even need t…
Hm. No, I think the practice of using a capability for a bad goal is inherently worse than merely having a capability that can be used for a bad goal. (The whole principle behind the second amendment, after all!) And we should condemn the overreach on its own terms and by its own moral failings and not just wave it away with a both-sides-ist "They're merely using it how they want". Bad things are bad and we should sa…
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Imagine if we had more than two choices. I have no idea how to make that happen, but it seems like it needs to.
We have (many) more than two choices in most general elections (except for seats where state law involves something like California's "jungle primary", but then the primary is, not a "primary" in the usual sense (an election in which party nominees for the general election are chosen) but the first round of a two-round general election, where only the top two candidates from the first round advance to the second roun…
1. https://missouriindependent.com/2024/11/05/missouri-voters-a...
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> sweeping away due process for mass deportation…> This is pretty off topic obviously but I see this due process claim a lot and I am assuming I’m missing some kind of fundamental legal concepts. And that wouldn’t be surprising because I have no legal background. If a person is not a citizen, and they’ve overstayed whatever limit there is to staying while not being a citizen, and if the action taken is to remove the…
I think there are 3 fundamental misapprehensions that someone who thinks in abstract systems (like software) tends to make when considering about a human system (like the law). 1. The system doesn't make mistakes 2. The system represents the underlying reality 3. The system can be implemented Let's see how that plays out here: 1. You're a US citizen. While returning from an overseas trip, a border agent thinks it's a…
5. The new administration is seeking to deny the validity of birthright citizenship. The implication of that would be that you are now required to have one or more parent's birth certificates in addition to your own, and probably several other documents.
5a. How many people carry their birth certificate around with them? 5b. What happens if the ICE agent conveniently loses your papers? Ooops.
As a former MAGA it's just mind boggling to watch all the supposedly freedom loving GOP base clamor for mass digital surveillance and gestapo immigration raids. These same tools and policies will just be used against them in the future. Makes me question democracy.
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No mass surveillance needed.
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I keep trying to tell people that the US is over when JD Vance becomes POTUS next year because they will attempt to get him behind the desk before the election.
Why would they do that? And why would it be the end of the US?
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Hm. No, I think the practice of using a capability for a bad goal is inherently worse than merely having a capability that can be used for a bad goal. (The whole principle behind the second amendment, after all!) And we should condemn the overreach on its own terms and by its own moral failings and not just wave it away with a both-sides-ist "They're merely using it how they want". Bad things are bad and we should sa…
The point of my comment was to say: you don't choose how the government uses this data against you. Yes, it's bad and should be condemned. But, to completely eliminate this "avenue" of attack then we should've stopped all this data collection in the first place.
The Godwin equivalent would be discussing the holocaust and replying "Well, if Germany didn't want that they shouldn't have elected the Nazis in 1933." It's true! But unhelpful in context.
If they are going to do this, they really ought to corroborate the face recognition with fingerprints. Many people have unrelated doppelgangers, even if an AI algorithm was near perfect: https://twinstrangers.net/
Identical twins are a thing as well.
> The app represents an unprecedented linking of government databases into a single tool, including from the State Department, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the FBI, and state records I think we're well past the point of stopping these dystopian practices given the government has already collected this data. They're merely using it how they want. If you go through customs as a US citizen, you don't even need t…
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Why would they do that? And why would it be the end of the US?
JD Vance and Peter Thiel are followers of Curtis Yarvin who ultimately wants the end of democracy and freedom of speech to create a "CEO for America" who can make decrees at will. JD Vance is Thiel's protege and the reason JD Vance is VP is because of Thiel's support.