The Off Topic Topic

[alfred russel]

You seem to be confusing the words "number" and "percentage."  Look it up, and you will see that the idea that the polls could predict quite accurately the number of Lula voters but not get the percentages correct.

That is really dumb.

Are you basing that on analysis out of brazil or just talking out of your ass?

I've been following the run up to this election closely since Lula got let out of prison and i started gambling on the race. I have been reading Brazilian sources.

[Admiral Yi]

The pro se defendent I mentioned earlier is popping up frequently on my feed.  Anyone else following this?

Context: dude plows his car into a gay pride parade in Wisconsin, kills six, injures more.  Judge grants his motion to represent himself.  He constantly interrupts the judge with meaningless stuff, the judge has removed him from the court room several times.  Tangentially, the defendent is a self described Sovereign Citizen.

Seems to me like a true conundrum.  The judge could cite him for contempt, but he's already looking at life or the needle (don't know if Wisconsin has capital punishment) and he doesn't seem to give a shit.  Why worry about 30 days in the can if you're facing life.  And whereas you can gag a defendant you can't conduct a trial without the defense attorney (i.e. the defendant) present.

I don't know how they're going to finish this trial.

Correction: Christmas parade, not gay pride.

[grumbler]

The pro se defendent I mentioned earlier is popping up frequently on my feed.  Anyone else following this?

Context: dude plows his car into a gay pride parade in Wisconsin, kills six, injures more.  Judge grants his motion to represent himself.  He constantly interrupts the judge with meaningless stuff, the judge has removed him from the court room several times.  Tangentially, the defendent is a self described Sovereign Citizen.

Seems to me like a true conundrum.  The judge could cite him for contempt, but he's already looking at life or the needle (don't know if Wisconsin has capital punishment) and he doesn't seem to give a shit.  Why worry about 30 days in the can if you're facing life.  And whereas you can gag a defendant you can't conduct a trial without the defense attorney (i.e. the defendant) present.

I don't know how they're going to finish this trial.

The judge can revoke his right to represent himself due to incompetence.  The right to effective counsel is an actual right, unlike the power to represent one's self, which is only a right in civil cases, and is deniable in criminal cases for, for instance, disruptive behavior or incompetence.

[The Minsky Moment]

Yes the judge has options to address this.  A criminal defendant can be physically restrained or even removed if circumstances warrant.  A typical provision is found in Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 43(c), which states that a defendant is deemed to have waived the right to be present "when the court warns the defendant that it will remove the defendant from the courtroom for disruptive behavior, but the defendant persists in conduct that justifies removal from the courtroom."  Despite the apparently absolutist language of the Confrontation Clause of the 6th Amendment, this procedure has been upheld as constitutional by the Supreme Court.  The extreme behavior is viewed as a form of waiver of the right.

Of course, good and smart judges are careful to give the defendant every opportunity to comply and provide multiple warnings.  That's probably what you are seeing now.

There is also the wrinkle of self-representation, but as grumbler pointed out, that is also a right waivable by conduct.

[Barrister]

Okay, in order to solve a 2019 cold case, Edmonton Police sent a DNA sample of the rapist to a DNA phenotype company and released the results.

https://www.edmontonpolice.ca/News/MediaReleases/DNAPhenotypeOct4

Edmonton Police apologize for releasing this.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/edmonton-police-issue-apology-for-controversial-use-of-dna-phenotyping-1.6608457

Cuz hey - I'm pretty pro-police.  Comes with the job.  But if all the DNA can tell you is the suspect is black I don't see how that helps much, versus how it looks when you say "the suspect is black, repeat black".

[Legbiter]

Russian history for the last 1000 years in 50 seconds.   

[Valmy]

Holy shit 

There is so much stuff going on in that.

[Legbiter]

Russian version of the Simpsons is excellent as well.

Lisa never even actually gets home...

[DGuller]

The one good thing coming from the war is that the view of Russian culture has become more accurate.  It always made my eyes roll when people extolled the virtues of the beautiful Russian culture, because of some ballet or shit. 

The bleak dog eat dog environment where the strong torment the weak, to take frustration out of being tormented themselves by those stronger than them, has always been the real Russian culture, in all walks of life.  This culture also perfectly explains the behavior of Russians in Ukraine.

[The Brain]

Yes, Russian (Muscovite) culture is extremely fucked up and always has been.

[Sheilbh]

Wasn't sure where to post this - here or Gaming forum - but enjoyed this piece on people who play simulators of their real jobs:
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/oct/12/a-busmans-video-game-meet-the-people-who-play-job-sims-of-their-own-careers

[Grey Fox]

My cousin does that. He's not a serious gamer; the only game he plays is Farming Simulator. He's a farm worker (drives the tractors & other giant machinery for his father-in-law's farm.)

[Jacob]

It kind of makes sense... games are designed to emphasize the cool and satisfying parts of a job, while deemphasizing the tedious and annoying parts.

[Barrister]

It kind of makes sense... games are designed to emphasize the cool and satisfying parts of a job, while deemphasizing the tedious and annoying parts.

I would play a courtroom simulator.

[The Brain]

It kind of makes sense... games are designed to emphasize the cool and satisfying parts of a job, while deemphasizing the tedious and annoying parts.

I would play a courtroom simulator.

I assume you burned through the Ace Attorney games?