The Feds have terrorized small states into making driver's licenses and ID's less accessible

If you're living in one of the four largest states -- California, Texas, Florida or New York -- you probably haven't noticed much in the way of changes since they introduced the Real ID requirements. You can have your ID or driver's license mailed to you, or, you can pick it up on site, right? Usually you can pick it up on the same day, if you're willing to wait around a while. And, that's very convenient sometimes, right? However, if you're living in many of the smaller states, things have changed a great deal. Whereas, previously, you could pick your license or ID up very conveniently and very quickly at any of perhaps hundreds of locations, now, you may well have to wait a couple of months or more to get your license or ID, if you get it at all, by mail. And, of course, the mails have no accountability whatsoever. Most inconvenient. Now, what's happened, is that the U.S. federal government has threatened to cut funding to states that aren't in compliance with Real ID security requirements. In the case of very large states, of course, this is no threat at all, since they can do as much damage to the Feds as the Feds can do to them -- bring it on, guys! However, in the case of not so big states, particularly states like, say, Virginia, which are massively dependent on federal funding and investment, this is a very compelling threat. So, in Virginia, Illinois and Indiana, for example, Real ID's are now produced at a single in-state facility, secret, and heavily guarded, and totally inaccessible. And, residents have to depend on the uncertainties and lack of accountability of the mail services to get their credentials, because the state is too frightened of the possibility of federal sanctions to provide a convenient service. You don't get them when you need them, your problem! In other states like Washington, Oregon, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico, the states are subcontracting to other states to have their credentials mailed in from these states, making the process even more time consuming and unpredictable. In Oklahoma they went from having 300 fully equipped license production facilities to having none at all, almost overnight, in November 2022. Now, Oklahomans have to get their credentials imported from Indiana at their own risk. Boy, the Feds must have really put the fear of God into Governor Stitt of Oklahoma, right guys! Of course, some small states are sticking up to the Feds quite well. In Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky, for example, people can pick up their licenses at any dmv facility, just like before. Apparently, this isn't really so hard to do, if the state governments have the guts and the brains to do it! Unfortunately, quite a few have neither the one, nor the other!

How can we persuade Oklahoma to make driver's licenses and State ID's available for pickup in state again?

In November of 2022, the DL equipment was removed from all 300 tag agencies in the state of Oklahoma, and the production of Oklahoma credentials -- driver's licenses, State ID's -- was out-sourced to the state of Indiana. The reason? According to Service Oklahoma, the purpose was to conform to the Real ID federal regulations. This is total nonsense of course. Perhaps half the states in the Union produce their own Real ID's at a large number of locations, while perhaps half subcontract their production to other states. This process of mailing credentials in from other states causes inconvenience and confusion, and is generally considered to be bad service. Many states, including California, Texas and Florida make driver's license and ID pickup available same day, on site. So, why is Oklahoma, in particular, really outsourcing the production of credentials to Indiana? The reason is likely associated with Oklahoma government policy of minimizing the number of government employees, and government responsibilities. Given the hundreds of private tag agencies in the state, it was deemed impractical to effectively arrange for their low-paid, uneducated and untrained employees to consistently follow the new federal security regulations for Real ID's. So, rather than hire new government employees to administer the Real ID production process in State, the State of Oklahoma elected to sub-contract the process to the State of Indiana. This probably isn't saving money, since, no doubt, Indiana is profiting very well from this arrangement. It's simply a matter of following Oklahoma government policies of "reducing state government", even when this costs more money than it saves, and inconveniences the good citizens of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma State government needs to recognize its error here. They need to arrange to hire enough properly trained employees to actually manufacture Oklahoma credentials in state. And, they need to give Oklahomans the right to pick up their credentials on site, when needed, and not have to depend on the uncertainties and lack of accountability of the mail services. Well, they could just put the DL equipment back into the DPS office in OKC, for starters. Those are government workers in there, and it's a very secure location. As for the rest of the state, they could hire a dozen or so state workers, one to supervise each of the dozen or so largest and most secure tag agencies in the state. That would solve the problem, and it would be cheaper than having to subcontract the entire Indiana government.

A satirical, humorous Russian anticipation of the current Russo-Ukrainian war

Produced in 2021, just before the current Russo-Ukrainian War, Once upon a time in Odessa -- the brilliant history of the Thief of Odessa, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iJHw87vlv8 is a charming and elegant treatment of the Russian civil war in Ukraine, focused on the escapades of a gang of Jewish hoodlums in Odessa, who largely take over the city during this period of instability in Russia's history, during the Russian Civil War following the Russian Revolution. Their leader, the Thief of Odessa -- a short, elegant, mustachioed young Jewish man, with a violent streak -- perhaps not surprisingly, bears a certain resemblance to President Zelensky of Ukraine, elected in 2019. Much of the action takes place in a cabaret in Odessa featuring Yiddish-American tunes like "Bei mir bist du schön" -- a bit of an anachronism, of course, since it didn't become a hit until 1937. The Jewish gang both terrorizes and charms the city, robbing, intimidating, seducing and extorting at will. They import advanced weaponry like a Maxim Machine Gun from the West, and, are effectively invincible, and have a great time, even defeating Russian military forces at times, in their reign of lawlessness throughout Odessa. Finally, a Russian general takes a firm hand in Odessa, and puts the Thief of Odessa and the key leaders of his Jewish gang into prison. Order and lawfulness are once more restored to Odessa, and to Ukraine. I'm not reading too much into this, to see this series as an anticipation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, am I?

Prophetic dreams and "quantum entanglement"

I think all of us have had, at times, the sense of "prophetic dreams", where real life events seemed to eerily coincide to something we actually experience shortly after the dream in question. Of course, it might just be coincidence, but, sometimes this seems unlikely from a probabalistic point of view. I was wondering if the physical concept of quantum entanglement https://news.yahoo.com/physicists-simulate-time-travel-using-120000565.html might possibly be an explanation for this phenomenon of prophetic dreams. That, through the principle of quantum entanglement, we actually are experiencing the future in our dreams.

I've just posted to R/North Carolina, and they're telling me it's much better NOT to have the option of picking up their driver's licenses on site. Are they pulling my leg?

https://www.reddit.com/r/NorthCarolina/comments/17hoklc/how_can_north_carolina_be_persuaded_to_allow/ I'm being told by Redditors from North Carolina that they much prefer NOT having the option of picking up their driver's licenses on site, but would rather have no choice but having the license mailed to them. And, that it's incredibly stupid of me to suggest that it might be a good idea for people to have the option of picking up the driver's licenses on site, and having them available immediately. Are they pulling my leg? Are they just being typical redditor A-holes and trashing anything reasonable posted on their subreddit? Does their position make some kind of sense that eludes me?

How can North Carolina be persuaded to allow people to pick up their driver's licenses at the dmv offices again?

Since the introduction of Real ID over the past few years, states have taken different approaches to conforming with the new federal security regulations on state driver's licenses. Some, like California, Texas and Florida, have simply had their state employees learn and apply the new federal security regulations on site. Others, perhaps panicked a bit by the new rules, have sub-contracted other states to produce the driver's licenses for them, and have them mailed back in state, to some extent inconveniencing their residents at times, and adding to their expenses. The state of North Carolina appears to have taken a somewhat unique approach. They are indeed producing the driver's licenses in state with state employees, but, in an effort to improve "security", they are refusing to allow their residents to actually pick up their driver's licenses at the dmv offices, but are having them mailed to them, instead, in "unmarked envelopes". Supposedly, this is supposed to provide a greater guarantee that they actually have the right person. I have yet to encounter anyone who actually understands why mailing the drivers licenses to a specified address actually guarantees who the person is more than the identification papers presented at the dmv office. After all, they can put any address they want down there. Or, simply use a post office box. On the other hand, this does mean that the person doesn't get their driver's license for some unspecified time, which can cause inconvenience. Is that the idea perhaps, that "security" and "inconvenience for citizens" are the same thing, from the state of North Carolina's point of view? So, is it possible by some means, by some contact with state representatives or administrators, to persuade the state that "security" and "inconvenience for citizens" are not the same thing? By the way, there's nothing in the Federal Law that requires that ID's be mailed. Many states, like California, Texas and Florida still allow people to pick up their Real ID's on site. Indeed, in some states you can only pick them up on site, since this is considered more secure than the mails!

What if Louis XVI of France, had been executed in exactly the same way as Robert-François Damiens, the man who had tried to assassinate his father, Louis XV?

In 1793, the French King Louis XVI was guillotined by the French Revolutionary Tribunal. A relatively quick, and painless death. This was quite a contrast to the death of the menial who had tried to assassinate his father, Louis XV. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens "Fetched from his prison cell on the morning of 28 March 1757, Damiens allegedly said "La journée sera rude" ("The day will be hard").[9] He was first subjected to a torture in which his legs were painfully compressed by devices called "boots".[10][11] He was then tortured with red-hot pincers; the hand with which he had held the knife during the attempted assassination was burned using sulphur; molten wax, molten lead, and boiling oil were poured into his wounds.[1] He was then remanded to the royal executioner Charles-Henri Sanson (who would ironically later go on to execute King Louis XVI) who, after emasculating Damiens, harnessed horses to his arms and legs to be dismembered. But Damiens's limbs did not separate easily: the officiants ordered Sanson to cut Damiens's tendons, and once that was done the horses were able to perform the dismemberment.[10][11][12] Once Damiens was dismembered, to the applause of the crowd, his reportedly still-living torso was burnt at the stake.[13][page needed] (Some accounts say he died when his last remaining arm was removed.)[10][11] Damiens’s final words are uncertain. Some sources[14] attribute to him "O death, why art thou so long in coming?"; others[15] claim Damiens' last words consisted mainly of various effusions for mercy from God." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, it's true, that some of the French aristocrats were tortured and killed by the mob during the French Revolution, but, these were extra-legal procedures, and rather crude, rather than public spectacles of legal torture. So, let's suppose that Louis the XVI, King of France, had been executed by exactly the same extensive public tortures employed on the man who attempted to assassinate his father, Louis XV. What effects will this have, exactly? Well, I think it might give the other crowned heads of Europe a bit of a pause, actually. Like, "Do we really want to mess with these French lunatics, at all?" Possibly, they would have thought twice about attempting to invade France, given this public demonstration. I also think it might have made the reestablishment of the monarchy in France a literal impossibility. After all, who would want the job, given the risks? It probably would have led to comparable public torture executions of leaders like Danton, Robespierre and maybe even Napoleon, once he started losing. Would such a public demonstration of legal torture and brutality have reduced support for the French Revolutionaries, or would it have increased it? It should be borne in mind that in Ireland, Irish patriots were being publicly drawn and quartered by the British until well into the nineteenth century. But, the social implications of this are rather different than the consequences of torturing Kings in public, aren't they? Kings represent a massive public and social investment, far more than the average person. And, publicly torturing and humiliating Kings tends to undermine all the social institutions they may be associated with, doesn't it? So, effectively, is it simply a social impossibility to torture publicly even discredited Kings, because society has such a great investment in them, even after they and their regimes have failed completely?

Will there will be U.N. peacekeepers in Gaza again?

As we're seeing Israel's revenge reprisals ongoing against the Gaza strip, the pattern, as usual, is quite clear. Israel, in an effort at "behavior modification" will inflict casualties at a 10:1 ratio on the Palestinians, for the casualties inflicted on the Israelis. The notion that the Israelis will "destroy" Hamas is, of course, ridiculous, since Hamas is just a general pattern of resistance by the Muslims to Israeli occupation, which, obviously, is not going to change. Ever. On the other hand, the notion that a two state solution is the answer is equally ridiculous, since a two state solution is a no state solution. Neither the Jews nor the Muslims would have a secure territory with an adequate military to defend itself, they would simply be distinct ethnic groups in an Arab sea rather like they were under the Ottomans. And, under those circumstances, there would be no good reason for Jews to be there, at all, would there? It seems unlikely that there will be a full scale invasion of Gaza this time. It doesn't look like the U.S. will permit it, it would accomplish nothing, and might subject the Israelis to far more military casualties than they wish to have. So, what is the way forward here? While a two state solution is not a meaningful or practical possibility, there is a kind of compromise that might, possibly be acceptable at this time. How about a kind of super-Ghetto for Palestinians in Gaza -- peaceful, secure and policed by the U.N. In the past, U.N. peacekeepers have been tried between the Arabs and the Israelis, but, the fact is, these two groups just enjoy killing each other too bloody much for that to work very well. However, with both Israel and Iran being nuclear powers now, with an increasingly unstable world situation, and with new technologies making the results of military confrontations more and more unpredictable, it may be that the Palestinians and Israelis might actually be willing to accept some kind of impartial referee between them for a time. Maybe. These two groups may actually grasp that their four thousand year old fight to the death is no longer a practical possibility in our modern world, and they'll just have to settle down a bit. If U.N. peacekeepers didn't have to worry about getting shot up all the time, they might actually do a good job in Gaza. And, up to a point anyway, both the Palestinians and the Israelis could live in peace in this region. And, if the Palestinians got tired of their "super-ghetto", well, they could always filter their way into Egypt, or Jordan or Syria or Lebanon. And, ultimately, we might actually have peace in this part of the world.

The FAA is humoring Elon Musk like a lunatic in a padded cell

"OK,Elon, OK, we understand...yes,yes, Elon, we know, you want to play with your "Starship"...yes, yes, of course you'll be able to take people safely to your Martian colony for the price of a trip to Europe...yes, yes, of course, Elon, all we have to do is give you permission to play with your "Starship" and U.S. world military supremacy is assured forever...yes, of course...but, wouldn't you like to make some nice baskets before naptime, hmmmm? Or perhaps play bouncy ball, by the padded wall over there? You know, Elon, you remember what happened the last time you played with your "Starship"? How it blew up half the hospital prison yard out there. You remember that don't you Elon? Yes, Elon, you said it would be safe that time, too....yes, we know, Elon, even if we blow up the entire hospital it's worth it...yes, indeed, just a small price to pay for progress...hmmmm...yes, Elon..."

A perspective on the Russian point of view

I would recommend the following film, much of it in English, although there are no subtitles, as a good perspective on the Russian point of view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uONM3UvntY4 It's called "war", but there actually is no literal war, in the normal sense of the term in it. It was made in 2012, in Russia, and is about some Russian soldiers and English tourists taken hostage by Chechens, in Russia. Some are beheaded, some are held for ransom. Two are released to attempt to obtain a ransom for the others. They come back, and basically kill all the Chechen hostage takers in order to rescue the Russians and an Englishwoman. I believe this film may have been a bit of a message to the West, from Russia, about what to expect from them. At one point as the Russian soldier and the Englishman, John, are on the route to rescue the others, they have to kill some tribesmen on the road. John is terribly upset, and says he can't do this, he can't shoot and kill people. The Russian soldier starts yelling at him: "It's not about killing and shooting John. It's about blood! It's blood!" In other words, the Russian perspective on life is, if I can make you bleed more than you can make me bleed, I win. I think if you look closely at what's currently happening in Ukraine and Israel these days, you can kind of see what the Russians mean, can't you?

Why exactly is Oklahoma producing all their driver's licenses in Indiana?

I'm just curious about this. Since last year, all driver's licenses and state ID's in Oklahoma have been mailed from a facility in the State of Indiana. I had to get the Attorney General to force Service Oklahoma to provide me with this information, actually. They were just saying the credentials were produced "out of state", and they ignored my requests for further information about the location. I tried to get them to explain to me why, exactly, they have to produce and mail these credentials from 1,200 miles away now, but, I guess existential questions like "why" don't come under freedom of information requirements, since they just ignored my question. I suppose it's related to the Real ID requirements. Is it terribly more expensive to produce Real ID versus conventional ID, like, hundreds of times more expensive, so, they can't afford even a single facility in the State of Oklahoma to produce them? They actually pulled the DL equipment out of all 300 private tag agencies in the state of Oklahoma last November 2022. Did they do some kind of bidding war with all states in the Union about which state could provide the cheapest rates for leasing out a Real ID factory to Oklahoma, and Indiana won? Does the Oklahoma Governor have some college buddy in Indiana who now owns a Real ID factory, and he owed him a favor, perhaps? Did they just want to inconvenience Oklahoma residents as much as possible, particularly around Christmastime, when the mails are particularly slow? Did they want to make it impossible for the homeless to get Oklahoma ID's at all, since they have no mailing address? Any thoughts?

Israel = Russia ; Hamas = Ukraine : This is how to understand the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Historically, the more organized and disciplined world powers have always had an advantage over their less disciplined adversaries. The Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Mongols, Russians, British, Americans all relied on an immensely disciplined military-industrial organization to crush their enemies. And, nothing has really changed, for thousands of years. In some sense, might does, indeed, make right. So, the Russians always defeat the Ukrainians, and Israel always defeats Hamas. Is the stronger power always in the right? Well, maybe. And, maybe not. Morality is a tricky thing to define, particularly when self-interest is involved, as it usually is. As we see in the new conflict between Israel and Hamas, Hamas has indeed learned much from the Russo-Ukrainian War. They have learned that air defenses are virtually worthless, even the much vaunted "Iron Dome" defense of Israel. No air defense system on the planet is even remotely effective when really tested, and none ever will be. So, Hamas was able to do massive damage against the state of Israel -- far more than the Ukrainians have ever managed to do against Russian defenses, actually -- with crude and inexpensive weapons systems. And Hamas was able to mobilize quickly to inflict considerable damage, for a time anyway, even against the vaunted Israeli army. As the Ukrainians prevailed briefly against the Russians. Now, of course, Hamas has no chance whatsoever long term against the Israelis. Anymore than Ukraine has any chance at all against the Russians. The better organized power always wins, in the long run. Where, exactly does this superior organization come from? Well, in the case of the Russians, it came from exposure to the Mongol Golden Horde. The rise of Muscovy corresponds precisely with the arrival of the Golden Horde, and the Russians adopted their organizational principles with great enthusiasm. The Russians have never looked back, and have been a great empire ever since. In the case of Israel, the need for organization was implicit in their chronic situation of total siege on all sides by hostile enemies. The Israelis are formidably organized out of necessity, and they always will be. It's built into the culture, and they know they have no choice in this. So, we already knew in advance the outcome of both of these conflicts. So, why do their opponents even attempt to fight Israel and Russia? Probably just a lack of discipline. They certainly know better, don't they?

Saidit.net has blocked the entire Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library System!

Yes, I've confirmed it with the IT people there. The supposedly open and easy going reddit alternative, Saidit.net, where you can't even vote "thumbs down" on posts, only thumbs up for "insightful" or "fun", has blocked the entire OKC Metro Library system from accessing its site in any way. Do you think it could be me? I've been posting there for a month or two, got a fair number of thumbs up, and had some fairly amicable discussions, nothing deleted. Maybe it's a technical security glitch? Any thoughts? Maybe the people in Oklahoma City aren't right wing enough for them? Surely, no!

What if JFK hadn't published "Profiles in Courage" in 1956?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiles_in_Courage JFK's Pulitzer prize winning book "Profiles in Courage" was, apparently not his work at all, but, primarily the work of his brilliant speechwriter, Ted Sorenson. The book is largely a defense of Southern "moderates" -- pro-slavery and pro-union -- in the period leading up to and immediately following the U.S. Civil War. It is well written and researched, and, no doubt, was quite useful in establishing Kennedy's credentials, quite mistakenly, as an "intellectual". While only a small proportion of American voters would have read this book in 1960, undoubtedly virtually all the reporters and talking heads on television on radio would have read it, and seen it as representing Kennedy's abilities and views. So, Kennedy, although a Senator from the fountainhead of abolitionism -- Massachusetts -- might be seen as trying to present himself as sympathetic to southern segregationists, an essential group to maintaining the "solid south" so necessary to the Democratic Party at the time. So, let's suppose that Kennedy had never published this particular book. So, he isn't a Pulitzer Prize winner, and, he hasn't published a book suggesting that he has no problem with slavery, per se, and that he has deep and profound sympathies for the South, despite being an Irishman from Massachusetts. How exactly does this affect his chances of being elected President, or, for that matter, even getting the Democratic nomination, in 1960? I would say, that Kennedy has rather less chance of getting the nomination, and, given how close the election was, that he is very unlikely to defeat Richard Nixon in the Presidential election, in 1960, without this book having given him a patina of respectability for the Southern Segregationists. After all, in South Carolina, for example, Kennedy only defeated Nixon by 10,000 votes. Without his book, Kennedy might have been seen as an abolitionist carpetbagger, and lost this, and other southern states, to Richard Nixon.

The story of the good Dutchman

Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" He answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." He said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live." But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus replies with a story: Jesus answered, "A certain man was going down from Queens to the Bronx, in New York City, and he fell amongst city officials, firemen, and tax collectors, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Dutchman, Dutch Schultz, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and he then approached the firemen. And, the fireman said to the Dutchman -- 'Mr. Shultz, I'm afraid you owe us ten bucks.' And then the Dutchman, moved with righteous anger, beat the fire inspector to death. And, from that day, the fire inspectors of New York were much more circumspect about who they fined. Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?" He said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."