Hacker News: markoman

New comment by markoman in "A whole civilization might die tonight"

markoman — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 20:13:39 +0000

What's truly shocking is that a large part of what got Trump elected in 2024 (and the world in this mess now) was that the GOP cleverly stoked the fears of transgenderism via local-market ad buys during the election. This very play was the reason for much of Trump's gains with various demo's such as black males and hispanics/latinos. So many of these folks were completely triggered by 'grooming' and the ideas that girls are having to compete against transgender girls in their sports. The fact that folks were willing to elect Trump so that a very small number of women wouldn't have to compete against transgenders, is sad beyond words. Perhaps this (will turn into) a lesson well learned, although voters have notoriously short memories. Sophistication of this type among the masses is sorely lacking.

The ruling class has us just where they want us -- so focused on & fearful of losing our little jobs that we don't have context around much else so that we can do a thoughtful job of performing as an electorate. This is how you elect a Donald Trump, as THEY have now learned.

New comment by markoman in "Fastmail Donates USD 10k to the Perl and Raku Foundation"

markoman — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 23:19:23 +0000

Were these (bank) applications focused on text-processing or web applications? If they were web applications, I assume they weren't CGIs...

New comment by markoman in "Is liberal democracy in terminal decline?"

markoman — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 21:59:31 +0000

I really wonder how history will view DJT -- surely one of the most flawed yet consequential figures in American history -- who nonetheless had the good fortune of two untimely deaths (Scalia & Ginsburg) and some arm-twisting (Kennedy) which he parlayed into fantastic 'success' in the SCOTUS. This includes primarily the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and the incredible Presidential Immunity doctrine, which is essentially legislation via judicial decision.

The falsity of how the SCOTUS was captured by the executive branch was ultimately rooted in lies. Trump's three nominees all lied about their position on Roe v. Wade during their confirmations.

As a case in point, consider Justice Brett Kavanaugh who wrote that Roe was "wrongly decided" in a concurring opinion on Dobbs (2022). Yet in his 2018 confirmation hearing he testified that Roe v. Wade was "important precedent of the Supreme Court that has been reaffirmed many times" and went on to discuss the importance of judicial precedent. Of course the Kavanaugh hearing was an utter circus in every sense, but it was obvious that he had lied during a number of exchanges with senators.

Let's not forget that just a few months ago in a decision, it was Kavanaugh who gave us the 'Kavanaugh stop' which is a law enforcement practice in the United States in which federal agents can stop and detain a person based on their perceived ethnicity, spoken language, and occupation. This doctrine reset what constituted 'reasonable suspicion' for any police stop.

New comment by markoman in "Washington National Opera Is Leaving the Kennedy Center"

markoman — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 19:08:47 +0000

No other American president at least, felt that they had to tack their name in front of JFK's name. They likely didn't even think of it. They were too busy actually doing the job of POTUS.

New comment by markoman in "Video filmed by ICE agent who shot Minneapolis woman emerges"

markoman — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 09:08:03 +0000

She backed up & pointed her vehicle to go right & then turned her wheels rightward. What did he do (while holding a cell phone & drawing his weapon)? Re-position in front of her car. If her intention was to 'run him over', she didn't act that way.

New comment by markoman in "Japanese electronics store pleads for old PCs amid ongoing hardware shortage"

markoman — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 01:14:51 +0000

well played!

New comment by markoman in "RI judge intervenes after ICE mistakenly detains Superior Court intern"

markoman — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 14:02:24 +0000

Do you mean we're NOT the greatest country in the world anymore?

New comment by markoman in "Anxiety disorders tied to low levels of choline in the brain"

markoman — Wed, 12 Nov 2025 20:37:01 +0000

Thanks for commenting on this supplement. What reactions or symptoms should we look for in order to suggest that we're ramping up too quickly on it? Are we talking gastrointestinal effects or something else?

CISA Personnel Forcibly Reassigned to Deportation Force

markoman — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 20:02:36 +0000

Article URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-08/homeland-security-cyber-personnel-reassigned-to-jobs-in-trump-s-deportation-push

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45561354

Points: 4

# Comments: 0

New comment by markoman in "ABC yanks Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after threat from FCC chair"

markoman — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 00:58:34 +0000

Except that Kimmel's job was speech. He had a microphone -- and depended upon that (supposedly God-given) freedom of speech to perform that job. If he lost that job due to something that right didn't guarantee, then I'd understand. His dismissal's cause had nothing to do with a failure on his part. Instead we now have the government, specifically concerned with his criticisms of it, effectuating this block of Kimmel's speech and thereby ending his job. The government is supposed to guarantee your right to criticize it. What happened here?

New comment by markoman in "The 'self-inflicted injury' to US tourism making Americans angry, disappointed"

markoman — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 20:12:12 +0000

FDR? FDR did spawn many (controversial) programs/agencies but he also got (the world) through WW2. There's something to be said for that. He also picked a pretty good VP. Yes, he overstayed his welcome, but his death in office wasn't something that people were necessarily looking forward to & his funeral was a very somber affair. Can we say the same thing about the Imperial Cheeto in Chief?

New comment by markoman in "Proxmox Donates €10k to the Perl and Raku Foundation"

markoman — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 16:08:03 +0000

Shouldn't their donation be weighed against the revenues they enjoy using the Foundation's labors? Is Proxmox enjoying particularly strong revenues, and doesn't their product involve much more than what Perl provides? I think the donation is pretty fair. Their success certainly owes more to things beyond Perl itself.

New comment by markoman in "We are no longer a serious country"

markoman — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 20:29:32 +0000

How about the concealment of drug use? Just now we're finding about the how Musk used so much Ketamine to get thru the nights at the White House that his urine turned bloody. Does anyone doubt that Trump snorts Adderall? That's just so he can sound coherent in public settings. That story has been repeated over & over by those who know but aren't able to survive the storm that Trump would levy in order to go public.

https://uinterview.com/news/joe-rogan-mocks-man-baby-donald-... https://www.drjohnkruse.com/trump-nose-best-adderall-use-is-...

New comment by markoman in "Revisiting the algorithm that changed horse race betting (2023)"

markoman — Wed, 28 May 2025 03:54:03 +0000

Nice work. Have you made available the CSV of this data, or is it easily obtainable using horse racing information online? I didn't see how that HKJC site offered it in CSV format. Perhaps you scraped the data to generate your CSV? Thank you.

New comment by markoman in "High Levels of Arsenic Found in Rice Sold Across the U.S."

markoman — Wed, 21 May 2025 15:06:14 +0000

I'm pretty sure this would remove (i.e., nullify) the majority of its nutrients & value to consumption to begin with. We need to find ways to cleanly grow rice, on lands that aren't already contaminated with arsenic.

New comment by markoman in "Federal agencies continue terminating all funding to Harvard"

markoman — Sun, 18 May 2025 00:04:07 +0000

What exactly are the 'unsafe anti-Semitic actions' that Harvard Univ has committed? Is this whole thing about how Harvard hasn't suppressed the free speech rights of its students as they protested the wholesale bombing of Gaza? Its not like Harvard is rife with far-right activists denying the Holocaust and such. I can't imagine that Harvard wouldn't win their case quite roundly. Law firms & universities have to stop bowing to the wanna-be dictator.

New comment by markoman in "USDA Inspector General Who Refused to Leave Escorted from Office by Security"

markoman — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 11:37:13 +0000

Hard disagree on 'forever be an asterisk', if you're referring to the 2020 election itself. You really think a 7 million vote margin leaves room to question this election yet another time after all the audits and Krakens, etc.? Negative sentiment on Trump was strong going into the election, especially considering the economic conditions brought on by COVID. This, being the COVID that he was seen to have mishandled, largely with his own concern at heart, wanting testing curtailed so that ever-higher cases wouldn't hurt his election chances. I guess he loved America so much that he just didn't know how to express it.

Why Trump lost in 2020 and then won in 2024 is clear. Biden's election win was no fluke. The 2024 election was about going with the devil-that-you-know, hoping that kitchen table concerns could be alleviated, and still delivered no landslide (unless you're Stephen Miller).

Just wait until all these Trump voters have to swallow the totality of merely the last 2 weeks of changes (and recissions, in some cases), and they'll find that wanting a bull in a China shop has severe consequences. After 100 days, when actual results will be expected, all the fun Trump & Musk had as they had their way uprooting bureaucrats will be over. As recriminations flow, whether Trump can hold together the crew he started with will be a major question. Interesting times.

New comment by markoman in "Air traffic controller 'left work early', one was left to handle the air traffic"

markoman — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 10:21:08 +0000

Yes, the helo pilot accepted responsibility for tracking the 'CRJ' traffic via the visual separation callout, but unfortunately identifying AA 5342 in this way is not a clear or unique way to do so. They are a common plane type and come in several sizes/configurations.

That last second call from ATC should have been more than a confirmation that they had the traffic in sight. They were less than 1000ft apart in that moment. It should have been to tell them that the Collision Avoidance ('CA') system was alerting and that they had to "pull up". Even if 'pull up' was all that was said, it would have been better than asking for a confirmation of visual separation.

New comment by markoman in "Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed ""

markoman — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 10:07:08 +0000

Not a mention of 'COVID' anywhere on this page (thank you Ctrl+F). Surely, it had a role in how we got here, at least inflation-wise?

Has it slipped so easily from the face of History? Let's just hope its not a new pandemic that provides that final false-flag style push into fascism, as an excuse for suspending democracy. Those Republicans who will say one final time that we aren't a democracy ("we're a republic!") will be sorry for the seeds they have sown.

New comment by markoman in "Phyllis Fong, who was investigating Neuralink, "forcefully removed ""

markoman — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 09:57:12 +0000

So, you're saying you can recall a 2 week period in executive branch history that could hold a candle to what we've just witnessed? This idea of just keeping track of it all is real.

I marvel at the project management task that Trump & crew are maintaining in this flood-the-zone period, just to prevent duplication of effort and running into each other. There's already been a lot done to the DoJ, but its just started at the FBI.

Follow the firings -- and just hope you can keep up with who they're being replaced with. That's the real encroachment. We could be on the edge of real abuse when our law enforcement agencies fall under fascist control like this.