I'm a neuroscientist and cat enthusiast.
This is my "non-professional" account for stupid jokes, crotchety ranting, and photos of my cats. For slightly more professional behavior, see my other account @biogeo.
Someone just told me (via email) that it's "unbecoming for a professor" to use language like "bullshit".
Now that's some bullshit right there.
This is a great read. https://thingofthings.substack.com/p/i-was-a-juror-on-a-murder-trial
> So you say here on your jury questionnaire that a police officer once stole your car, ran over your cat, and crashed it into your living room, while singing a song of her own invention, You Are Stupid And Ugly And That’s Why I’m Doing This, Also, I Can Get Away With It Because I’m A Cop.
> Random people in Alameda County are also fully based and ACABpilled. I think probably a third of the people questioned were asked something like “you said in your jury questionnaire that ‘all cops are lying bastards and I hate them.’ Can you elaborate for us on what that means?”
> In an act of sheer writerphobia and systematic oppression of bloggers, you’re not allowed to remove your notes on a jury case from the courtroom... So every break, I rushed to my laptop—mind full of contraband knowledge—and scribbled down as much as I could remember.
Last January, I was on a jury for a murder trial: it was my job to determine if Bomani Hairston-Bassette murdered Charles Wright. You’re not supposed to sell your story for money for 90 days after the trial is over, but it’s been more than 90 days, so now I can tell you all about it. I’m going to first talk about the case, then about what it was like, then about how the experience affected my views about the justice system.
The more I learn about the on-the-ground mechanics of US elections, the more I trust that the counts reported are accurate reflections of the ballots cast¹ You should read this thread by @paco
https://infosec.exchange/@paco/114698534890877836
¹ This is of course separate from the issues of who was allowed to cast ballots, what obstacles have been put in the way of people who should be able to cast them, how districts are drawn, who gets to run, undue influence, misinformation, etc. - the point is, the flaws with our democracy are just about everywhere *except* how ballots are handled and counted
It’s democratic primary #election day in #virginia. Just 2 races on the ballot. Picking the Democratic Party candidate for lieutenant governor and attorney general. It’s sleepy. We do the full thing l: all the same procedures and all the full security, but for a fraction of the voters. Polls opened at 6am. At 7:45 we checked in our 7th voter. We finally have had more voters than election officers. I’ll do a thread here during the day about #elections and #electionsecurity and all the humdrum ordinary things of helping people vote. 1/
indi 🪡
Rob Ricci
abadidea
Tomas Ekeli
Pam C
Pottery by Osa
kawoua
Matt Blaze
Tehhund