Line Goes Up – The Problem With NFTs

If someone pitches you on a “great” Web3 project, ask them if it requires buying or selling crypto to do what they say it does.

Sources and Further Reading
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https://ift.tt/lPkuohq
https://ift.tt/mXcFghq
https://twitter.com/davetroy/status/1478017698676228099?s=20
https://ift.tt/LbDGWPA
https://ift.tt/rbmMdRQ
https://ift.tt/QG14ajk
https://ift.tt/KvS1ZXJ
https://twitter.com/NFTtheft
https://ift.tt/ThOrjNg
https://ift.tt/51f62zL
https://ift.tt/zIltuBa
https://ift.tt/TIwoulx
https://twitter.com/Bitfinexed

Written and performed by Dan Olson

Crowdfunding: https://ift.tt/hdGxPWc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FoldableHuman
00:00:00 Preface
00:01:12 0. In 2008 The Economy Collapsed
00:07:09 1. Bitcoin
00:18:18 2. Ethereum
00:24:34 3. The Machine
00:39:07 4. NFTs Exist To Get You To Buy Crypto
00:57:54 5. The Unbearable Cringe Of Crypto
01:11:46 6. A Self-Organizing High Control Group
01:16:57 7. Crypto Reality
01:25:36 8. There Is No Privacy On The Chain
01:32:52 9. If This “Looks Like Scam” Then Every NFT Room I’m In Looks Like Scam LOL
01:38:29 10. Play To Earn Exists To Get You To Buy Crypto
01:46:39 11. We’re All Gonna Make It And By “We” I Mean “Us” Not You
01:56:08 12. DAOs Exist To Get You To Buy Crypto
02:13:21 13. I Know It’s Rigged, But It’s The Only Game In Town

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The Prancing Elites & Milk Mafia | The Order of Butterfly Maidens Mardi Gras Parade | Mobile, AL

The Prancing Elites and Milk Mafia performing at The Order of Butterfly Maidens Mardi Gras Parade in Mobile, Alabama

*I do not own the rights to the music. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT.
No Copyright Infringement intended. I do not own this music. 
“Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.”
This video uses copyrighted material in a manmer that does not require approval of the copyright holder. It is a fair use under copyright law*

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Why Georgia Needs a Free Elections Amendment

I’m writing this in light of the North Carolina Supreme Court again using that state’s free elections clause to strike down GOP gerrymanders of congressional and legislative maps just a few hours ago.

Someday, I hope that Georgia adopts the free elections clause into our state constitution, something like this draft I wrote up.

Around 30-31 states have this “free elections” provision in their state constitutions, usually within their respective bills of rights. They are most often written in the following way: “All elections shall be free and equal, and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage”:

This is not the same as the right to vote, which is usually detailed in a separate portion of a state constitution’s bill of rights (which we already have) as a declaration of who has the right and freedom to register and cast ballots. The right to free and equal elections, on the other hand, usually applies to the right to an election which is conducted without forced compulsion or constraints against voters, candidates or election officials in their participation in elections. In the past, this was more often applied against allegations of bribery, ballot tampering and other unlawful attempts to curtail the choices of voters.

In three of these states (Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina), courts have determined that partisan gerrymandering is a violation of their respective states’ right to free elections (among other state constitutional violations, such as freedom of speech and equal protection), resulting in more proportionate maps being drawn by either their respective legislatures or by court-appointed cartographers.

It’s a shame that Georgia, which has the youngest constitution of the 50 states, does not have a free elections clause which helps to protect our right to free and fair elections. It is not detailed in Article I, Section I (Bill of Rights), nor in Article II, Section I (Method of Voting, Right to Register and Vote), the latter of which at least affirmatively details the right to vote.

The Trumpists who have wailed about how the 2020 election was not fair to them do not have a provision in the state constitution which backs up their claim. Furthermore, the United States Constitution neither positively details the right to vote nor details any right to free elections, and the U.S. Supreme Court in Rucho v. Common Cause has ruled out any future intervention by the federal judiciary in cases regarding partisan gerrymandering, mandating that only state courts could possibly decide such cases.

Meanwhile, the 1868 South Carolina Constitutional Convention, which was arguably predominantly-Black in membership, managed to introduce a free elections clause to the South Carolina State Constitution, where it remains to this day. The crafters of our past state constitutions (namely the 1867-1868 convention) seemed to have missed this, badly.

This is why I hope that Georgia can catch up to these other states in adding this provision to our state constitution, so that we have fairly-drawn district lines and better state constitutional guardrails against voter suppression.

Recent Notable Voting Rights Act-related Actions in Federal Court

Two federal VRA cases of note:

  1. Georgia Public Service Commission election case, arguing that the at-large election method in the state constitution for the Public Service Commission violates the Voting Rights Act. Federal judge just ruled (1/24) against the state’s motion for a summary judgment, in favor of plaintiffs’ request for partial summary judgment. Georgia law holds that candidates for PSC run statewide but must live in their home districts.
  2. Alabama congressional map struck down (1/24) by federal court (surprisingly consisting of two Trump and 1 Reagan/Clinton appointees) due to packing Black-majority areas into one district, ruling that Alabama could create two Black-majority districts (ruling in PDF). Huge implications for in-process Louisiana congressional map as well (maybe even South Carolina?). Alabama AG announced an appeal to SCOTUS on the ruling.

VRA Implications for Alabama, etc

It is already well-documented that Republicans and their judicial sycophants like John Roberts despise the Voting Rights Act when it comes to its pre-Shelby federal intervention powers, i.e., U.S. DOJ preclearance of legislative and congressional maps. What is less well-known is how Republicans see the VRA’s insistence on majority-minority representation in redistricting as a tool for packing and cracking districts to minimize Democratic-preference representation and protect Republican incumbents.

I’m not prepared to say what implications could arise if SCOTUS reverses the Northern District of Alabama ruling.

VRA Implications for Georgia PSC

On the PSC issue, if the court rules for the plaintiffs (and the decision survives SCOTUS), Georgia would join Mississippi, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico in holding elections for PSC from voters of individual districts rather than statewide. Alabama, Arizona, Illinois, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota all hold statewide elections, but seats do not represent districts. All other PSCs in other states are appointed, usually by the governor.

A victory for the plaintiff would likely recommend that Georgia changes either Article IV, Section I of the state constitution and/or O.C.G.A. 46-2-1(a) to clarify how PSC members are elected, either removing any mention of the five PSC districts or removing any mention of statewide election for PSC members. It would also mean the return of Democratic Party representation to the PSC for the first time since 2006, when David Burgess was defeated in his re-election bid. Notably, out of those PSCs which are currently elected by district, only Montana lacks any Democrats among their membership (since 2012).

What may become an issue is if the districts of the PSC, currently based around counties, are subsequently redrawn further for Republicans’ base benefit, even though the current map would likely go 4R-1D anyway (which would be an improvement).

Or is there a further opportunity to redraw this map for VRA compliance? But then would the basis exclusively around multiple counties rather than around equal population get in the way?

District 2 is easily the most competitive district on this map, having voted 51% Trump-46% Biden. The current District 2 is also a minority opportunity district which is 51% minority (30.25% Black, 11.94% Hispanic), anchored between Athens, Macon, Warner Robins and the eastern Metro Atlanta counties.

Richmond County being moved from District 4 to District 2 would make District 2 knife’s-edge, easily flippable for either party depending on the year.

District 5 is not as competitive, having voted 54% Trump-43% Biden, but moving Muscogee County from out of District 1 would make District 5 a little bit more competitive, shifting to 53% Trump-44% Biden.

State supreme courts

Somewhat related: I did research on state supreme courts and how they are elected. Only Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi and Louisiana hold district elections for state supreme court justices; all others, including Georgia, are either elected statewide or appointed/nominated by the governor. Recent actions by Republicans regarding elections of state supreme courts: November ballot question in Montana to elect justices by district rather than statewide, and a new law in Ohio to hold partisan elections for justices.

The idea of having justices represent districts may conflict with the fact that state supreme courts usually take cases from, and deliver interpretations of the law which impact, all areas of their states. This is in contrast to legislatures and commission bodies like PSCs, which enact new policies.

Protected Bike Lanes & More

Paint is not protection! That is why safe street design – in the form of new and innovative #protectedbikelanes and #protectedintersections – are becoming the new gold standards to greatly improve safety for bicycle riders of all ages and abilities.

There are MANY new designs out there, some better than others. What are their pluses and minuses? Well, watch the video to find out.

Chapters:
0:00 – Opening Titles
0:10 – If paint is not protection, what is?
0:32 – All those new designs!
0:38 – Green bike lanes
0:57 – Advisory bike lanes
1:21 – Buffered bike lanes
1:57 – Protected bike lanes
3:17 – Cycletracks
3:55 – Bike boxes
4:43 – Turn boxes
5:12 – Bike bays
5:30 – Center left turns
5:45 – Protected intersections
6:12 – Dutch roundabouts
6:24 – Ending
6:44 – Credits

The BikeSafe Program is a 501(c)(3) non-profit at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Learn more about BikeSafe at https://www.iBikeSafe.org​.

If you liked this video, please consider a small donation: kidznc.org/donate

This video was produced under a grant from the FHWA Transportation Alternatives Program.
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Copyright ©2021 University of Miami BikeSafe Program

***This video is for informational purposes only. Use this infrastructure at your own risk and always ride within your abilities.***

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Black Hot Soup (DJ Shadow “My Own Reality” Re-Write)

Performed by John Safran
Featuring Alkiviadis Grapsas, John Dimoulas and Francis Vo

Shot, edited and directed by John Angus Stewart –
https://ift.tt/2KKBD8b / https://phcfilms.com/

Produced by Max Coles –
https://phcfilms.com/

Co-Producer – Euan Kelly
1st Assistant Camera – Shawkat Husseini
Grip – Finn Stewart
Clapper Loader – Maree Prokos
Makeup – Emily Stacey
Stills – Jamie Wdziekonski
Colourist – Ted Deacey
Title drawn by Lushsux
Title design by Jason Galea

Messenger bag made by Crumpler –
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Costume provided by Sucker.

Special thanks to Crumpler, James Thompson, Jet Theodore, The Bottom End and Mitchell House.

Processed by Kodak Film Lab London. Scanned by Digital Orchard.

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The Most Radical Speech in Presidential History

In 1944, an American president proposed a sweeping reorganization of American life: a “second Bill of Rights” that recognized not only political rights, but economic rights as well. Franklin Roosevelt’s speech would today be regarded as far outside the political mainstream: but when it was proposed, it was overwhelmingly popular with ordinary Americans. Harvey Kaye, historian of the American left, explains.

Citations: https://bit.ly/3K1AZjk

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0:00 The New Deal
1:55 Roosevelt’s Speech
4:10 A Second Bill of Rights?
6:35 Conservative Reaction
7:40 Credits

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