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Cake day: August 4th, 2023

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  • By the earliest accounts, McGinness (and the original “kids”) gave up after digging 30 feet. It wasn’t until the Onslow group that they excavated down to 90 feet.

    I would accept that the original pit was a natural sinkhole except for the coconut fiber evidence. As we all know, palm trees don’t grow in that region. Coconut fiber, called coir, was a common trade item because it was used like hemp. Common applications were rope, mattress stuffing, and matting. It can also be mixed with pitch to make a substitute for oakum - a common material used to waterproof ships hulls.





  • When video or audio evidence is submitted, it will be questioned as to its authenticity. Who recorded it? On what device? Then we’ll look for other corroborating evidence. Are there other videos that captured the events in the background of the evidence video? Are there witnesses? Is there contradictory evidence?

    Say there’s a video depicting a person committing murder in an alley. The defense will look for video from the adjoining streets that show the presence or absence of the murderer before or after. If those videos show cars driving by with headlights on, they will look for corresponding changes in the luminosity of the crime video. If the crime happened in the daytime, they will check that the shadows correspond to Sun’s position at that moment. They’ll see if the reflections of objects match the scene. They’ll look for evidence that the murderer was not at the scene. Perhaps a neighbor’s surveillance camera shows they were at home or their cell phone indicated they were someplace else.

    But if all these things indicate the suspect was in the alley and the video is legitimate, that’s powerful evidence toward a conviction.




  • We won’t have a clear winner. No matter which candidate “wins”, there will be widespread allegations of voter fraud. There will be protests. Biden will declare a national emergency. What happens after that? I don’t know. But I am prepared for major social unrest.

    A large number of people from both major parties are absolutely unwilling to accept a win by the opposing candidate. I’ve never seen the country so divided.


  • Aircraft are generally not required to accept surrender unless it is apparent that the surrendering soldiers have removed themselves from the conflict (disarmed) and are headed toward your lines (intent to give up). Even then it’s a judgment call if the aircraft is incapable of escorting them to nearby ground troops who can accept their surrender and take them into custody. That’s why you see videos of unarmed soldiers making the surrender gestures and they still get taken out by the drone. They’re too far behind enemy lines to facilitate taking them prisoner.







  • Don’t know what’s up with lemmy.world not showing all the comments, so I hope it’s not a big deal that I’m not replying to each comment.

    The federal government has a tax credit for 30% of the cost of a heat pump water heater or heat pump A/C. These mostly run on 120v, because 1200W of power consumption yields about the equivalent of a 4000W resistive element heater. The drawback is that in a lot of homes, the 120v powering the gas heater is not a separate circuit. In my mom’s house it comes off a wall outlet that also power the kitchen. So if she makes coffee when the water heater is operating it pops the circuit breaker.

    Most homes with gas appliances would require new wiring to use electric equivalents. Hiring an electrician for that job can easily top $2000. People on fixed incomes will have a rough time making this change. Those in rural areas are particularly impacted because they typically rely on propane or they’re off-grid.

    Let folks replace what they already have. Updates should only be required when the property changes hands. Otherwise it creates a lot of resentment and often financial hardship. And the legislation is easy to defeat if you live next to the border. Buy your replacement gas appliance in Nevada or Arizona. This kind of legislation is exactly why people are willing to set aside all the negatives of Trump and vote for him.



  • There are plenty of companies that will sell your name, email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses, marital status, and relative’s names. They obtain the information from publicly sold databases. I had access to one that had all that, plus the registration info for the car I drive, my estimated income, my military record, my driving record, my political party preference, and pictures of my home that had been on the realtor’s website.

    The scary one was when a phone center employee in the Philippines stole my wife’s debit card number and then did two big Western Union MoneyGram transfers to a couple of Filipino men. That means bad actors have access to the credit companies’ databases from which Western Union draws their proof of identity questions, like who holds your mortgage, where you lived when you were 10, and the make/model of your first vehicle.

    If you’re well-off enough to be a financial fraud target, paying a company for identity theft protection is probably well worth it. Put fraud alerts in with all the major credit bureaus too. That usually stops identity thieves from accessing your credit. If you use 2FA with your phone, make sure your telecom provider will not transfer your number to a new device without in-person authorization and authentication.