In Thai, the number ‘5’ is pronounced like “haa”, so Thai people write 555 to signify laughter, similar to ‘lol’.

The FBI is never going to save you from rightwing violence.

We all hope it doesn’t come to that, but please arm yourselves and train with your weapons. Get a cheap AR in 5.56/.223, and a pistol in 9mm. These are very common calibers. At least as important as that, make sure you know some people you can trust in your community. Do it now while you can. Guns and ammo will get more expensive as we get closer to the election.

I take the same precautions crossing a Chinese border as I do crossing a US one.

Your credit will eventually recover, and you already have a house!

This right here is what keeps me from charging for Jellyfin access.

Thanks for the links. There’s some new information in there that I’ll have to look further into. For one, I’ve never heard of security concerns about 5G versus 4G.

I also wasn’t aware of the TMSI at all. I still don’t fully understand some things about it which would be important considerations:

How is this randomized number assigned/correlated to the IMSI? Is it done by the tower?

It seems like the carrier can request the actual IMSI at any time. Can these CSS also do that? TMSI is supposed to protect against ‘eavesdroppers’ but these industrial a grade CSS might have greater capabilities than passive eavesdropping.

I am unsure if or how disabling roaming would protect you from CSS. For one, the spoofing might make your device think it isn’t roaming. Secondly, the CSS might still be aware of your device anyway, even if it doesn’t establish an open connection to it. The phone and the tower need some minimum communication to even determine if you’re roaming or not.

I love the idea of an unaccountable spy agency using alpha technology that hallucinates answers with complete confidence /s

These devices (CSS/Stingray) are going to see both your SIM IMSI number, and your device IMEI number. AFAIK, the MAC randomization that most modern phones do, is with your WiFi modem so that WiFi routers can’t track you.

If you put your SIM card into a new phone, and then login to your cell service provider portal with a computer or other device, you will observe that they know the model of phone you are using. They get this info from the IMEI when your phone talks to the tower. Since the CSS is a rogue tower, they get the same info.

My wife has a trunk full of these and has one for lunch every weekday.

The guy getting raided has a shirt that says DPR. It says Dept of Parks and Recreation underneath, but we know it’s really for Dread Pirate Roberts, given the circumstances of his arrest.

JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC JFC

I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t understand you. What strawman? I’m assuming that you’re happy in the center because that’s kind of how you’re talking. If you’re not happy in the center then ok. You and me consistently voting for centrists is not going to pull the democrats left.

The money (and the swing voter, apparently) is happiest with center-right policies, and if we vote “blue no matter who” that’s all we’ll get. So if the center (and the money) decide the elections, how will things ever move left? The minute some future dems start going left, they’ll lose the center, and with it the election.

There’s no way out of that dynamic without a lot of new voters to ensure victory for left policies, which I’m saying, dems are unlikely to attract with their center-right candidates and policy. Is this a chicken and the egg problem? Maybe, but it also seems like a lot of people are perfectly happy the way it is.

You probably shouldn’t respond anymore, since we are never going to understand each other. I assume that you are basically happy with the center and the political status quo.

Stab a Nazi with it.

Goddam. I am saying the fantasy is that this system of winning elections by fighting over the center doesn’t really lead anywhere good. You talked about how the dems haven’t had solid power for decades. So yes, they “win” elections sometimes, but then what? They haven’t won enough to get much done. The fantasy is that they ever will. Blame whoever you want for that, but it is what it is. I might blame the people who do politics professionally for not being good enough at it. You like to think that I don’t vote, but I have never said that, so you are just assuming.

You have this garbage system, and yet you totally write off disengaged voters as totally unworthy of any political attention. Don’t you think that just maybe, it is possible that a lot of people look at a system that just seems like bullshit to make rich richer and otherwise cause misery, and they just don’t see the point?

I’m saying we’re both fantasizing. You keep talking about winning elections from the center, but it keeps resulting in gridlock and inability to deliver even on tepid, centrist policies. Yay. Also, there’s no way that most non voters are on the fringes lol. Most of them are absolutely disengaged from politics almost entirely.

And I’m saying, that it’s a shitty system. You described how this very system has kept the democrats from getting anything done for decades. There are not enough swing voters to give them sustained control over those institutions. You also make an error in assuming that every non-voter you energize would mean losing one swing voter. There are also more than double the non-voters as there are swing voters.

So we’re back to the point where the system is hopelessly broken? Because what you just described is the system. You want to fantasize about non-voters just suddenly deciding to vote blue in overwhelming numbers. I fantasize about genuine, inspiring leaders and policies bringing more participation to the process. They’re both just fantasies though.

What about the ones that vote every single time, and still never get what they wanted?