splinter

Yeah, that seems like a reasonable approach.

By comparison, North Carolina attempted to implement a voter ID law in 2016 that was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court because it deliberately targeted black voters.

No, this article is talking about things like rejecting registration based on minor clerical errors like ink color, rejecting provisional ballots arbitrarily, and restricting the availability of ballot boxes. That sort of thing.

On the voter id question, by the way, the argument isn’t about whether or not you should have ID to vote, it’s about whether you can get ID in the first place.

Most countries in the world either issue IDs to everyone or allow you to prove your identity with things like bank statements and utility bills, or just somebody else who can vouch for you. The problem with US voter ID laws is that they only give you a few options for acceptable documents, and then make it hard to get those documents.

Pay someone who knows what they are getting into and can quit whenever they feel like it.

How do you think these young women would appear on the show? This may come as a surprise, but despite the 3 letter name, MTV lacks widespread intelligence gathering capacity and definitely can’t read your text messages without your consent.

I’m fairly confident that anybody appearing on this show would have sent in an application to the company, and signed a non-indentured contract.

The average tip at most fine dining restaurants in American cities is between 18-25%, so a fixed 23% service charge instead comes out about even on cost.

I don’t know what it’s like at this restaurant, but most places that have a fixed gratuity make it fairly obvious, to avoid exactly the situation you raise.

No, it is instead of tipping. That’s what they mean by “in lieu of”.

The question about prices is a good one, and the answer is that you can’t just raise prices when most other restaurants don’t include gratuity. It would just seem like your restaurant is much more expensive than everyone else.

You did not. You hinted at a point without stating it directly.

Are you saying that this corruption charge is disingenuous and intended to redirect attention from other issues? Because if so you need to make that explicit and then support it with evidence. Otherwise it sounds like you’re parroting known disinformation.

Ukraine is actively trying to battle their corruption, with this being a step towards that end, however small.

Meanwhile Russia is famously more corrupt than Ukraine, has been since long before Maidan, attempted to pervert Ukraine’s elections to install a corrupt leader under their control, and then invaded in an attempt to expropriate Ukrainian land and resources when that attempt failed.

What point are you trying to make here?

I see why you’re getting at, but I think you’re mistaken.

Rage-bait works by evoking a reaction. It spreads because people become incensed and then feel the need to share the reason for their anger.

This is the opposite of reaction. It is a calm response to the OP explaining why they are reacting to rage-bait and inviting them to reconsider their posting.

Maybe we shouldn’t be letting them off so easy.

This is the tragic truth.

The most frustrating part about it is that withholding votes was framed as a principled position. And I’m sorry, but that’s asinine. How many of those people who declared that they wouldn’t vote for the democratic ticket because of their action/inaction on Gaza actually did anything more than posting rants on social media? How many raised funds for aid? How many organized rallies, protests, or educational outreach? How many even so much as contacted their representatives?

It is either naivety or complacency to believe that national policy should change just because you and your friends sent around some memes. And it is callous indifference to base your vote on a single issue and then claim that you’re inhabiting the moral high ground.

If you yell into the void, you shouldn’t expect a response. And if you believe in an issue, either take action or acknowledge that it would be staggeringly arrogant to expect other people to put in work that you yourself won’t do.

This a good reminder that not voting is also a political position.

I think your math is a little bit off though.

There were ~244 million eligible voters in 2024. 75,017,613 voted for Harris*, which gives us ~169 million that allowed this to happen.

*The only other viable candidate, like it or not.

This is not a free speech issue. The commenter makes a worthwhile point, and your point meanwhile is incorrect. Critique is not the same as reaction.