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Alaska Seized a $95,000 Plane over Illicit Cargo: A Six-Pack of Beer

(www.nytimes.com)
67 points ceejayoz | 5 comments | 29 Sep 25 15:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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SilverElfin ◴[29 Sep 25 15:41 UTC] No.45415187[source]▶
Civil forfeiture is something both sides agree is unconstitutional and wrong. Why has it taken so long to ban it and hold people accountable?
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mrguyorama ◴[29 Sep 25 17:05 UTC] No.45416144[source]▶
The problem is that voters will say "I care about X" in a poll, and even while talking to family members, but they refuse to break rank when filling out a ballot.

It doesn't matter how many Republican voters say they want weed to be legal or want to end civil asset forfeiture, as long as they keep voting for people who back the blue, it doesn't matter what they want, it matters what they vote for

America's terrible political funding system and two parties mean that breaking ranks for a "small" thing like ending civil asset forfeiture would guarantee you end up getting the "other" guy, so people don't.

Then our primary system has such little engagement from the average voter that it only serves to make politicians more extreme, not more representative.

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1. nerdsniper ◴[29 Sep 25 21:15 UTC] No.45418850[source]▶
The problem is that I care about X, but I also care about Y and Z. And there are only two candidates.

If we switched to approval voting (a checkbox next to each candidate, can check multiple candidates, whoever gets the most checks wins)...then we wouldn't need primaries and I'd be able to vote for anyone I'm "okay" with. Then my vote for X would still count.

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2. mrguyorama ◴[29 Sep 25 21:50 UTC] No.45419206[source]▶
Here in Maine we have Ranked Choice and despite the complaints of voting theory diehards, it I think is a good first step.

However, the problem is that Republicans immediately latched on that this would erode their power base, when the fairly disparate opinions of Maine conservatives and non-liberals are actually able to choose what they want.

So now changes to voting are part of the culture war. Republicans were vocally against ranked choice voting, and stonewalled it in the courts after it was passed. Their primary call to action was "One person, one vote", and no, they do not care that that doesn't make any fucking sense as an actual complaint against RCV.

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3. metalman ◴[29 Sep 25 23:24 UTC] No.45420117[source]▶
Here in Nova Scotia our worst police and government excesses now seem quaint by comparison. The unhinged violence, bieng directed by police at people who pose no possible threat shown in videos every single day and The six pack confescation of someones plane which is absolute proof of racketiering and thuggery makes almost any other country in the world look better, or if not better, not worse. Realy find what is happening hard to process and wonder where it goes next. If things get realy bad, you guys(Mainers) can take the border signs for Canada and move them to your southern border, well unless Mass wants them.
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4. nerdsniper ◴[29 Sep 25 23:31 UTC] No.45420166{3}[source]▶
Change your voting system to something other than FPTP while you still can, or suffer a similar fate one day.
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5. metalman ◴[30 Sep 25 11:20 UTC] No.45424161{4}[source]▶
Canada is different, we are still a consitutiinal monarchy, and are unlikely to change, then there is "Kaybek" or "Qbek" which just sits there bieng french, there whole attitude to the rest of Canada can be summed up as a fiegned surprise of "oh your still here", and then there is our semi autonomous Inuit territory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavut and we have this very strange habit of splitting the vote and giving our governments teater totter mandates. Today is a Canadian national holliday of the sort the US is devoid of: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/nationa...