Ah, we call that a “state ID.” I can use it to travel between states in the US, but I can’t use it to travel outside the country. Most people just have a driver’s license, which is a state ID + driving endorsement. I didn’t get a state ID until I got my driver’s license, but I definitely had a library card before then (I think I used my school ID).

A passport, however, is issued by the federal government, is used almost exclusively for international travel, and must be renewed every 10 years (5 if you’re under 18).

Even then, most libraries don’t need a government issued ID, they just need picture ID and an address, and they don’t record it anywhere, they just want to make sure you do, in fact, live in the city you’re applying for a library card in (i.e. you didn’t just steal someone else’s mail).

I think there’s a good chance the whole “MAGA” movement dies out in a few elections if Trump loses this round. It’s not particularly popular in my area at least, and “MAGA” candidates have consistently lost the nomination for local elections because people are tired of all the BS (Trump will still win my state though because of the R). If he loses, I think it’ll peter out a bit unless someone with Trump’s charisma gets the nomination in 2028.

they do want your passport to sign you up for the library system

Interesting. Here, a lot (most?) people don’t have passports, so they don’t even mention that as a valid form of ID to get a library card. All they want here is two proofs of address (utility bills work) so they know you live in the library’s jurisdiction, and they don’t record that anywhere AFAIK. In fact, if you have a library card from a different jurisdiction, you can generally continue using it, and if it expires, you generally just need to go in and ask them to renew (no proof of current residency needed in most libraries).

I guess libraries work a bit different here vs where you live.

Sure, but none of that has anything to do with policy, nor do I think him wearing a mask would do all that much to get his base on board.

Basically, he was against masks, in favor of social distancing, and urged rapid development of vaccines (Pfizer vaccine was available around the end of 2020). He took and recommended others take the vaccine as well.

It’s impossible to know exactly how Clinton would’ve responded, but I imagine it would be quite similar, with a bit less rhetoric and perhaps a little more distancing at rallies, just given what Biden did (but it’s hard to say exactly, since mask-wearing became a form of speech).

So the main difference I see between Trump and Clinton/Biden is optics, not policy. And given the death rates between states (e.g. Florida vs California), there isn’t a clear difference based on the party that was in power, and differences are more easily explained by climate, population density, and demographics. So sure, you can probably point to cases where people contracted COVID at a rally or something, but in terms of policy, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between left and right on the COVID response outcomes.

So all in all, I think Trump’s rhetoric around COVID was terrible, but I don’t think it’s fair to pin those deaths on him because they likely would’ve happened had he lost in 2016.

I’m having trouble following. If you check a book out at the library, the library has a record that you checked it out, no? So the only real difference w/ you stripping the DRM is that they won’t know how much of it you read (if that’s even tracked) or if you read it at all. And I also highly doubt the DRM check shares any of your personal data (esp. if you live in the EU, as your instance would suggest), so the publisher would only know that this specific license is in-use, and the only way to connect that to you is by talking to the library.

Also, how is it tied to your passport? Mine is tied to my name and address, which my passport is also tied to, but the library system is local (US city and state) and therefore would require a fair amount of extra work to link (i.e. legal subpoena). So the only way the two would ever be connected is if I’m being investigated for a crime and they’re looking for motive, which I’m sure they could come up with any number of ways. Granted, w/ the NSA revelations, the barrier for “legal subpoena” could be quite low and the lookup nearly instantaneous, but the only way they’re looking at it is if I’m already suspected of a crime (otherwise, why bother?).

You do you of course, I just don’t see how stripping DRM from a library book really protects you, the interesting data is already present just by checking the book out. You might as well just pirate from the internet directly and skip the library entirely…

Huh, both my cars are just before 2008 (2007 and 2006), and base models so they don’t have any fancy features like satellite radio.

Replacing those two is going to suck…

And for me, I honestly don’t care too much if Libby knows what I read. If I did care, I’d just get DRM-free books, either legally or not, and bypass the library entirely.

Yup, but that would require more effort (I.e. interacting w/ network operator). Tracking someone by Bluetooth can be done passively, as evidenced by services like “Find my Droid” or “Find my iPhone” or whatever.

Blocking my cell radios eliminates the entire point of the phone for me, so the tradeoff is too steep. That said, airplane mode is right over there if you need it temporarily.

COVID

It probably would’ve been the same had Clinton been President. He wasn’t a vaccine skeptic like much of his base, but he certainly played up the rhetoric a bit, while pushing for a rapid rollout of the vaccine.

Anyone who thought Trump wouldn’t run again completely misunderstands what motivates him. And anyone who thinks Trump will run again also misunderstands what motivates him. Trump’s whole schtick is that he was cheated out of the election, but losing twice in a row sends a pretty clear message, and he’ll lose the support of the party. Also, he’ll be 82, and likely won’t have the same fire he has today.

He’s a complete narcissist, and I don’t think he’ll risk losing three times in a row. The next election, if it happens, would likely be a landslide (who wants to vote for a loser three times in a row?) and a massive hit to his ego. A close election gives him the opportunity to claim the election was rigged, and being able to pull that off twice is probably enough for him to save face.

I think it would work reasonably well, because losing twice in a row sends a pretty clear message.

Someone younger than him will pick up the torch though, so his ideas will unfortunately live on.

Yeah, he’s 78, and I doubt he’ll hold up at 82.

Yup, ProtonVPN is free, and there are covert ways to purchase other VPNs (i.e. cash in an envelope).

All this would do is make it much harder for their parents to figure out what their kids are doing. If they can access it w/o a VPN, a regular internet logger can help inform parents of their traffic.

I prefer weak enforcement every time. It’s effective for kids who would follow the law anyway, and it doesn’t push the kids to use more covert means if they wouldn’t follow the law anyway. The latter group is therefore much easier to monitor using standard tools, and good parents with deviant children can use that effectively to help solve their problems before they become more serious.

Hey, you never know, maybe you’ll get a response with some recommendations. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, after all.

Would you take away the rights of someone with an intellectual disability from watching porn or smoking?

I think the idea is that kids brains are still developing, so their decision-making should be considered temporarily impaired. If their brains won’t develop further, then there’s not really any reason to restrict them from things that only harm themselves (e.g. smoking and drinking), though they should potentially have some guardrails around other people harming them (e.g. scams and other forms of fraud).

That said, I’m against this law. I think parents should be responsible for what media their children consume, and this law could conceivably be used against parents who make sure their kids are safely interacting w/ social media, and it could motivate the kids who need the supervision to be more discrete (i.e. use a VPN).

An age limit on alcohol

This has a very clear means of enforcement, since you can require age checks at the point of purchase and revoke licenses if someone violates that.

This law is a lot harder to enforce, because what exactly is “social media”? If the kids are all blocked from Facebook and whatnot, they could rally around the comments section of a local newspaper or something (or even something like Lemmy, which isn’t large enough to properly regulate). Kids are creative, and a lot of parents (at least here) are pretty oblivious to what they actually do on their devices.

So I’m skeptical of this law, but we’ll see how it plays out.

Yup. The only app I have that always has location access is Organic Maps. Other than that, apps need to ask for access, and most have it completely disabled.

I’m pretty sure my car doesn’t have tracking, and it’s from the mid 2000s. Phoning home wasn’t standard until relatively recent car models. I could absolutely be wrong though, but my understanding is that any wireless capabilities it has are limited to close proximity (i.e. tire pressure sensors and the like).

And this is why my GPS and Bluetooth are disabled 99% of the time unless I’m actually using them. It cuts down on a lot of potential data leakage.