IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol

Military, Militia, whatever the word it is, any society need a force to defend against external threats. I'm not sure how co-ordiantion would work while not being authoritarian and thus inadvetently create a state.

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I mean, it could also stop impersonation...

I mean, its not like not having an account is gonna stop them from collecting data. I mean, if I just have one and post cat photos, and some non-controvertial stuff like "omg look at this cool phone that Apple/Samsung just released", there's really nothing they could use against me. I can still have secret Lemmy accounts.

These days, if you don't have a social media account, you get marked as "suspicious" for some reason. I mean... ahem USA ahem.

I don't wanna end up tortured in some CIA blacksite because I legitimately don't have a (mainstream) social media account lol.

Am I crazy to want to have a mainstream social media account?

Its a space of 1meter×1meterx1meter, basically a cubic meter where the matter replicator works on. (So, no replicating cars, since its too big)

How do you min-max this?

Their family who were held hostage were unharmed btw. (Probably a lot of PTSD tho)

Excerpt:

On the night of Sunday 19 December 2004, groups of armed men arrived at the homes of two employees of Northern Bank, one in Downpatrick, County Down, the other in Poleglass, west Belfast. Chris Ward was taken from his house in County Down and driven to Poleglass, where Kevin McMullan (his supervisor at the bank) had been tied up by men disguised as officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Gunmen remained at Ward's home, keeping his family hostage. McMullan's wife was taken from her home and held at an unknown location. The criminals left at 06:00 on Monday morning, 20 December, having instructed the two workers to report for work as normal at the bank's headquarters.

The gang constantly kept in touch with McMullan and Ward using mobile telephones it had given them. The two men were ordered to tell staff to go home early and to fill a bag with £1 million in £50 and £100 notes. Ward was then instructed to leave the bank carrying the bag and go to a bus stop in nearby Upper Queen Street, where one of the robbers picked it up. This was later regarded as being a test run for the main theft in the evening. McMullan and Ward remained at work after the close of business and were instructed to load crates of banknotes onto trolleys. Having told the security staff they would be wheeling out rubbish for collection, they made four trips to move the trolleys from the basement to the bullion bay, where money was normally picked up and dropped off. They covered the crates with office furniture and empty cardboard boxes to disguise them. After Ward called the gang, a white van came to the headquarters and was permitted by security to enter the bay, where it took the two bank employees 15 minutes to load everything in.  The criminals said they would come back to pick up more trolleys, ordering Ward and McMullan to fill up as many as possible. By the time the van returned, the workers had only filled two more, which were again wheeled up from basement to the van. They then locked up the bank, setting alarms and leaving as usual; they drove to Ward's house, where the masked men were still guarding his family. At around 21:00, the criminals left, carefully erasing any forensic trace of their presence by scrubbing surfaces down and taking away cups they had used. After twenty minutes, McMullan left and drove back to his house. Around this time, McMullan's wife was driven to Drumkeeragh Forest near Ballynahinch and released. She found her way to a house to raise the alarm and was treated for hypothermia. At 23:00, following his final instructions, Ward called the police to inform them the robbery had taken place.

As of 2023, the robbery remained one of the largest in the history of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and nobody had been held directly responsible. It was the largest cash theft in the UK until the Securitas depot robbery in 2006, when almost £53 million was stolen.

More useless historical facts... One day I will fill up my entire brain of these "cool facts" that is probably not useful in life.

The White Rose (German: Weiße Rose, pronounced [ˈvaɪsə ˈʁoːzə] ⓘ) was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the University of Munich: Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl and Sophie Scholl. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime. Their activities started in Munich on 27 June 1942; they ended with the arrest of the core group by the Gestapo on 18 February 1943. They, as well as other members and supporters of the group who carried on distributing the pamphlets, faced show trials by the Nazi People's Court (Volksgerichtshof); many of them were imprisoned and executed.

History Rhymes... 👀

The state secrets privilege is an evidentiary rule created by United States legal precedent. Application of the privilege results in exclusion of evidence from a legal case based solely on affidavits submitted by the government stating that court proceedings might disclose sensitive information which might endanger national security. United States v. Reynolds, which involved alleged military secrets, was the first case that saw formal recognition of the privilege.

Following a claim of "state secrets privilege", the court rarely conducts an in camera [in camera (/ɪŋˈkɑːmɛrɑː/; Latin: "in a chamber") is a legal term that means in private.] examination of the evidence to evaluate whether there is sufficient cause to support the use of this doctrine. This results in court rulings in which even the judge has not verified the veracity of the assertion. The privileged material is completely removed from the litigation, and the court must determine how the unavailability of the privileged information affects the case.

US Justice Department officials told a federal judge on 24 March 2025 that the Trump administration was invoking the state secrets privilege to avoid giving him information about deportation flights from earlier this month that are at the center of a legal dispute over whether the government flouted his judicial commands.

More Shenanigans... 👀

Denaturalization goes through civil courts and requires only "Clear and convincing evidence" which is a lower standard than "Beyond reasonable doubt"

Excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_nationality_law#Loss_of_nationality

The process of denaturalization is a legal procedure which results in nullifying nationality. Based upon the 1943 Supreme Court decision of Schneiderman v. United States, clear and convincing evidence must be evaluated in processing a denaturalization action. United States Attorneys for the district in which a defendant resides bring suit in the jurisdiction's Federal District Court. Juries are typically not present and the defendant may be compelled to testify. Failure to testify may result in a presumption of guilt, though defendants can plead against self-incrimination. The standard of proof is not reasonable doubt, but rather clear, convincing, and unequivocal evidence. Decisions may be appealed in federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court. Once the legal process has concluded, the Department of State issues a Certificate of Loss of Nationality.

Standards of Proof in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_proof_(law)#Clear_and_convincing_evidence

Excerpt:

Clear and convincing proof means that the evidence presented by a party during the trial must be highly and substantially more probable to be true than not and the trier of fact must have a firm belief or conviction in its factuality. In this standard, a greater degree of believability must be met than the common standard of proof in civil actions (i.e. preponderance of the evidence), which only requires that the facts as a threshold be more likely than not to prove the issue for which they are asserted.

Why YSK: If you are a naturalized US citizen, you might want to reconsider if you want to protest and ending up being another Mahmoud Khalil. (Not saying to not protest, just informing you of the risks so you can decide for youself if its worth it or not).

And if you aren't a naturalized US citizen; Why YSK: So you understand that the risks of protesting is higher than the risks of natural-born US Citizens protesting, so I hope you don't judge them too harshly for not protesting.