Some criminals are really that stupid,

A lot of criminals are remarkably stupid. It’s fun to imagine criminal masterminds making up a lot of their plans with meticulous planning only to be foiled by the heroes. But in real life most crooks are fairly dumb. Even intelligent people who do crimes can make mistakes that come off as remarkably stupid to people learning about them.

I watched a lot of episode of Forensics Files and other shows that document cases that were solved by slim margins. Some criminals on the show really did almost get away with it if it wasn`t for one tiny mistake. In other cases, however, they got caught ultimately because they left behind something that absolutely would have lead to their capture.

Like in one case there was a mugger who killed a college girl while she walking home. The area she walked through was wooded and dark. The episode documents how DNA was used after it had advanced sufficiently to get him and they had to track him down to get a good sample. But there is something absolutely critical that the show didn’t point out: He got on police radar because he dropped a bag of his that had a medicine bottle with his name on it. If he just picked up his bag the police would have had nothing to go by at all.

The other problem is that planning a murder like the one for Brian Thompson and getting away with it is hard as balls. Other than the fact that there are cameras everywhere. The guy needed to be at the right place and the right time and be there for only a minimal amount of time (to not draw undue attention) and he also had to be sure that there weren’t that many police around so police response times would be extended. I think he did it at the time because he also knew that the police change shifts so there are fewer beat cops around.

Also the silencer obviously doesn’t make the gun 100% quiet, but it was done to make it quiet enough to not set off the shotspotter towers. Those towers are more and more common in many cities so that when a criminal fires a gun, they can quickly triangulate where the shot was fired from. This would give away his location very quickly and minimize police response time.

It is meticulously planned. But there could be any number of things that could have gone wrong. The gun could have simply not fired at all. There could have been a few cops working extra hours nearby and ran after him quickly. Someone could have jumped at him to stop him right away. Lots and lots of factors go into it.

Even some people said that why was he using a hostel (which has security cameras and other witnesses) when he could have rented an AirBnB apartment. Some places rent rooms and apartments for people and those people never actually meet the host, meaning there is no one who would see you.

As for how to pay for them… the guy could have used a prepaid cash card, one bought and charged with cash. It cannot be traced back to you easily, if at all.

Maybe he found the gun lying around and decided to keep it. If I found a fully functional pistol I might do that…

If the brows don’t quit, you must acquit!

I really hope that Luigi does get acquitted. I mean if it is factual that he didn’t do it and the real killer is out there… well then, I guess Luigi still got lots of fame, but at the same time we will also be happy that the real guy is not only free, but the mystery of who he is will make him cooler.

And so is chocolate. Damn man, why can’t animals have nice things like we do.

Some companies have already backed away from some of their more predatory stuff… so it did have an effect.

For me, it is just that the game never ran. To make it clear, I don’t think I ever had the WC2 full game, but the demo, but that didn’t do much either. I remember being at a cousin’s place who seemed like he had it, but again… it just didn’t run. It seems like all the forces that be in the 90s just didn’t want me to play that game.

I did not lose interest in 2. I simply couldn’t get it. I think we had some demo versions but they just… didn’t work. I have a functioning copy now, but I haven’t played it much. It is a fantastic game.

I never got into WOW. As a 90s kid Warcraft was always the FIRST game in the series. I couldn’t get the 2nd one as a kid (and only played part of it a few years ago to get it out of my system).

This hatred for old games makes me want to take a shit outside their offices.

Happened to me more than once…

So… a hacker CAN make the cyberpunk 2077 quickhack Emergency Break a reality? Well fuck me sideways!

I just looked up Michael Hastings on Wikipedia and I find his ‘car accident’ to be a little too damn suspicious.

Not just hearing loss, your sense of balance will be fucked. So it’s double whammy.

This is true. Always has been, always will be. Many Trump voters are already regretting their decision after seeing the early consequences of Trump’s statements. But that won’t be permanent. Many will likely be duped again by another conman using the same tactics.

I need to mention that old school ‘patent medicine’ (ex: snake oil) in the 19th to very early 20th was not destroyed by advancements in actual medicine and education and awareness… it was done by simply banning the patent medicines and forcing others to disclose their ingredients. When buyers of said medicine were aware of the bullshit of old snake oil, they just moved onto another brand of snake oil (which may or may not have been made and sold by the same guy).

If they removed regulations on medicine and legalized many of the old hard drugs we would see a resurgence in patent medicine that caused so many problems in times past. There was actually a reason why people who avoided all medication in the 19th century actually had a longer than average life expectancy.

Israeli terrorism with their pager bombs is something that is already happening, but with those they had some explosive material planted. The thing you are mentioning doesn’t require anything dubious to be added and they can work as is. This shit is just scary as hell.

I played Cyberpunk 2077 many times and in the game they have vehicle quickhacks that allow you to stop a car temporarily (emergency break), force the car to full throttle (Floor it), taking control of the car… or making the car blow up with self-destruct.

Now it’s just a game and this can be excused, but at the same time I wondered how the hell could you make a car blow up? Then I realize Tesla cars can burn quite viciously, and the mechanisms of opening the door CAN be jammed. The other shit is probably going to be quite possible soon if not already. Meaning we could see high-tech murders happen by people who find weaknesses in car cybersecurity and exploit it to kill their target, and if they cannot trace where the hacker was or how it would be an unsolvable murder…

But that’s only if a random ass murderer does it. It wouldn’t surprise me if corporations wanted to off someone they didn’t like for any reason and that person was driving one of their cars then… yeah, it doesn’t take much imagination there, does it?

Maybe it’s because I am an elder millenial who never owned a car, but only rented cars when I need them, The most I ever used is google maps (now Osmand… which is the superior Open source option!) to find my way. But I never felt the need for anything else other than blindspot detectors (which don’t need to be connected to anything!) to help in lane changing since it makes that task easier. I listen to all my music and stuff on my phone (which is another tracking device I fucking hate) so I don’t even bother with the radio.

In short. I would like my automobile to be like what automobiles were… a hunk of metal that is used to travel from point A to point B. This is coming from someone who LOVES technology and I recently took the time to buy a 6000$ desktop because I fucking wanted the most high end machine I could get and I love it. But even I have my limits.

I also remember an article that pointed out that they considered automotive travel to be Jewish (I guess that meant Woke back then) and preferred traditional modes of transport…

The one thing I also find really fucked is how the r/Austrian_economics on reddit even genuinely believe the quote by Thomas Sowell that just because businesses fail at shit, doesn’t mean the government will do a better job…

Like fucking hell! Even when governments fail at doing stuff (and not all government programs are successful, I know) their failures are accountable to the public. If a private health insurance agency has their death panels (and I mean ACTUAL death panels. They exist in the private sector FAR MORE than any public health agency ever) end up never paying out or delaying payouts until the claimant is dead (and thus doesn’t need the money anymore… so why give it out?) This is somehow OK… and the company will never be forced to answer for why their system sucks so hard at providing healthcare.

I live in Canada and we have an increasingly privatized system. I had to go on sick leave and I needed at least 6 months to recover. I got a doctor’s note who never signed anything like what I was asking for and simply thought that he could sign in for a month and then it can be renewed every month. Guess what? My company used a private healthcare insurance for handling stuff like this. When I got renewals they didn’t care. They said that because my first doctor did not word his statement correctly they would support only one month, and any time I spend on sick leave beyond that is entirely unpaid. The amount of shit and paperwork they asked for absolutely shocked all the doctors I worked with and they outright said that what they were doing was outright illegal and a major human rights violation… but they went on anyone with their shit, asking for more and more private information solely so they can find stuff to deny. Claiming I do not have the conditions I claim I have despite multiple confirmations from multiple independent medical professionals.

That experience filled me with an undying hatred of private healthcare and private healthcare insurance.

He DID NOT MAKE THE AUTOBAHN!

Holy shit, The Nazis did NOT have anything to do with its original conception and building. They even hated it and didn’t care much for actually doing much of it. There are more links from articles posted online as early as 1995, but I cannot find them right now.

Askhistorians is king.