Molitor5901 (u/Molitor5901)

Molitor5901 commented on Thomas Piketty: 'The reality is the US is losing control of the world' lemonde.fr/en/opinion/art... · Posted by u/robtherobber

mrweasel · 19 hours ago

Largely the US isn't losing control, it's giving it up willingly. For what reason, no one knows yet.

Molitor5901 · 19 hours ago

I think the US is giving up control willingly and turning more isolationist. It has been building for some time but I do not thing it is forced. It is a deliberate policy shift turning away from trying to control and police the world. America is pushed in and on to other countries and societies that a retraction might be the best thing

Molitor5901 commented on The Lost Machine Automats and Self-Service Cafeterias of NYC (2023) untappedcities.com/automa... · Posted by u/walterbell

Molitor5901 · 8 days ago

This is so interesting. I remember as a child my family would go to S&S Cafeterias, and Piccadilly. It was like the lunch line at school. Regrettably the closest I've gotten to an automat was when I taught in a prison, the classroom had vending machines of sandwiches, desserts, etc.

I think we still have automats. Ikea cafe for example, the cafeteria in the basement of the Natural History and Science Museum in Washington, D.C., any number of places where you get food, checkout, sit, eat, leave without interacting with anyone.

Molitor5901 commented on Chernobyl protective shield can no longer confine radiation after drone strike cnn.com/2025/12/06/europe... · Posted by u/vinnyglennon

Molitor5901 · 10 days ago

This is deeply worrisome and brings to mind when Russia attacked Chernobyl, and then their soldiers got radiation poison digging latrine trenches etc. Let us dangerously hypothesize that if Confinement begins to fail catastrophically, who will step in to fix it? Russia? Is it.. possible Russia will allow the leak as a form of weapon?

Molitor5901 commented on UK intends to scrap jury trials for majority of court cases gbnews.com/politics/uk/da... · Posted by u/cbeach

dmitrygr · 21 days ago

On one hand, Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs are clear on why jury trials work poorly in multicultural societies. On the other hand, UK judges do not exactly have the best reputation recently, especially on matters of ... criticizing the UK. So ... yeah ... no good options here

Molitor5901 · 21 days ago

I found the recent Banksy work to be very .. illuminating.

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/new-banksy-mural-londons-hi...

Molitor5901 commented on UK intends to scrap jury trials for majority of court cases gbnews.com/politics/uk/da... · Posted by u/cbeach

poplarsol · 21 days ago

The UK is best understood as a "managed democracy" where there are nominally elections, but the government decides who will constitute its voting population, what they are allowed to say, and now whether they will be allowed to acquit people the government decides it would prefer to punish.

Molitor5901 · 21 days ago

Agreed, and I am reminded that Putin once called Russia a "managed democracy." I may not always agree, but I am very glad America has the first, fifth, sixth, and seventh amendments, among others. This tactic by the British government is absurd and offensive to freedom. What I find more baffling, but perhaps I am narrowly thinking about it, is how much the British people are letting it happen. I am not political, but if anyone tried to take our rights under the Bill of Rights, or declared an emergency to cancel elections, I will be in the streets with, I hope, literally every one else.

Some things are just too critical to a free and fair nation, and jury trials are right up there.

Molitor5901 commented on Refund requests flood Microsoft after tricking users into AI upgrades afr.com/technology/micros... · Posted by u/speckx

Molitor5901 · a month ago

I loathe copilot and have reverted to using an old version of Outlook desktop, which I then had to regedit to remove copilot buttons etc. It's a horrible product being shoved down our throats.

Molitor5901 commented on ICE and CBP agents are scanning faces on the street to verify citizenship 404media.co/ice-and-cbp-a... · Posted by u/samfriedman

mc32 · 2 months ago

Those systems depend on enforcement. If a private system keeps score and gate keeps you usually have alternatives (utilities excluded), if it’s the gov and they decide to enforce it, then things get dire…

Molitor5901 · 2 months ago

But what if Target security cooperates with the government, and they share capabilities, so that a facial recognition inside of a Target location would notify law enforcement who also has an interest in that person? In such a scenario.. Target would freely give its data but not necessarily acting an agent of the government.

Molitor5901 commented on ICE and CBP agents are scanning faces on the street to verify citizenship 404media.co/ice-and-cbp-a... · Posted by u/samfriedman

Molitor5901 · 2 months ago

I wonder if this is a portend to an American social credit score, like where China uses facial recognition to identify criminals at concerts[1], and jaywalkers, etc. which severely impacts a person's ability to get a job, housing, etc.

I can't help but assume this is already being used at retail establishments, but now it could be tied into law enforcement databases, and .. communicate..

Molitor5901 commented on Secret diplomatic message deciphered after 350 years nationalarchives.gov.uk/e... · Posted by u/robin_reala

Molitor5901 · 2 months ago

I sat through a briefing last week about quantum encryption and the threat that quantum computing poses to encryption in use today. It was stressed that nation states are hoovering up encrypted data now in order to decrypt later with quantum computing. Much the same way America decrypted old soviet encrypted data. I wonder if it will take as long and if anyone will still be alive to make use of that data.