Unofficial Off Topic Thread

[sk47]

TikToker goes viral warning her new Toyota requires a paid subscription to use basic features — is she right and are these services worth it?
Hello; I suppose we each have an opinion on these subscription fees. A thing stood out to me. That being a section of the link when a writer states something like the fees do not stop us from using such as navigation because we can use our smart phones anyway.
I do not have, nor do I want a smart phone. I have a dumb TracFone which makes calls and gets basic texts. All I want when away from home.

Sponsored

 

[sk47]

USDA worker who faced 75 years gets 24 months for $66M SNAP fraud scheme

Hello; I get the person was caught and maybe the fraud stopped. The sentence seems light in relation to the amount of fraud involved. I also get there is a guilty plea which makes life simpler for the courts.
Not clear how much this individual got from the scheme. Not clear if she tattled on the others named to get a lighter sentence. Gotta figure she will not be paying back the 32 million dollars.

 

[sk47]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/ani...1&cvid=694f57b31bc7419b8bb9b1e89883cc1d&ei=20

Hello; Not sure how much of the video is real but short and fun to watch. Cats have good reflexes.

 

[sk47]

Hello; I imagine most have had the chance to hear about the huge fraud in Minesota by now. If not presented on your common news sources the information can be had online. Too much political crud for posting links right now but there are at least two topics we can discuss.

One is how a couple of ordinary citizens seem to have done some legwork and uncovered the sites of part of the fraud. At least one man when to a building which is supposed to be a child services day care. But one was an empty building and another is a place with no children. So my first question is why the media missed these things and apparently did not make an effort?

The other topic is how widespread can this sort of fraud be. Fraudsters catch onto these things pretty quick. I wonder if it is in TN?

I have and associated question. My WAG is for the government to spend one dollar it must use some number of tax dollars to do so. Even the simplest way to do it would require some office workers to take in the tax money and then hand it out. That simplest method would require a building and employes which would cost something. The real situation is likely more complex. There would be layers, and other agencies such as the EPA, HUD, and other alphabet types taking a cut. In my mind I have been figuring the government must take in $4 in order to spend $1 on anything. So, if the fraud in the news amounts to one billion dollars, then something like four billion tax dollars likely were used. I begin to wonder if my 4 to 1 ratio is too small ?

 

[sk47]

Automakers push 3 to 5 years in prison for accessing your car data

Hello; Likely not news to many, but disturbing. No more tuning plus no more looking up trouble codes to DIY repairs is my take. Been seeing this trend for farmers machinery.
Saw but did not read a story of how BMW has come up with a fastener no common wrench or socket we DIY'ers have. (yet)

 

[sk47]

MSN
Hello; I feel vindicated. Since 1965 or so I have been changing oil in my vehicles on a 3000 mile schedule. In my retirement years it often becomes once a year as i do not put 3000 miles on in a year. From time to time someone says the mfg. allows for up to 10,000 mile oil change intervals.

Some visual evidence more frequent oil change is worth it.

Now I need to find some similar evidence about what i consider "break in" oil changes. I do not buy too many new cars because i tend to keep a vehicle a lng time. My habit with the few new cars has been to change the oil at between 500 to 1000 miles. Usually at 500 miles. I think mfg. did use a specific "break-in" oil back in the day. Not anymore. I suspect for the same reason stated in the link. Gives selling dealers bragging ammo for claiming reduced operating costs. Admittedly a decent sales tactic, but questionable long term ownership tactic.

Please do not ask me for an opinion about new cars without a dipstick on the automatic transmissions nor a way to add fluid.

 

[sk47]

Police department uses AI to write reports, only to have it claim one of the officers was turned into a frog
Hello; I am among those who seriously question the use of Ai. There were the Ai generated historical images a while back where the Ai refused to use Caucasian images in events where the people were known to be Caucasian (white). Clear evidence the Ai is not intelligent but a reflection of those who program the computer chips.

Yet for some reason people want desperately want to incorporate Ai and other computer programs into our lives. The link tells that an Ai decided an officer was turned into a frog. time to unplug that machine.

 

[sk47]

Hello; I have been trying to understand/follow the reported fraud in Minnesota. The scale is one part. That a people receiving refuge would steal from those who granted that refuge is another part. I ran across the following story. One of the few not focused on the politics. The focus is on “the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a concept from game theory that explains how cooperation and trust either compound or collapse.”

Two societies with very different world views. I copied the entire story along with the link. It follows.

Opinion: Somalia and the high cost of low trust

When news broke of the massive child nutrition fraud in Minnesota, many Americans reacted with disbelief. During the pandemic, roughly $250 million intended to feed hungry children was siphoned off, prosecutors say, and spent on luxury cars, real estate, and other indulgences. To most people, it appeared to be a shocking betrayal of public trust. To me, it felt unsettlingly familiar.

Decades ago, long before Minnesota became synonymous with one of the largest fraud cases in U.S. history, I had an experience in Somalia that permanently altered my perspective on aid, trust, and good intentions. It is why I read the indictments differently, not with surprise so much as recognition.

What struck me most about the Minnesota case was not only the scale of the theft but the silence surrounding it. The fraud appears to have operated in plain sight within tightly knit circles, yet few people spoke out.

More than 40 years ago, when I was a rice farmer in California, American rice growers learned of famine conditions in Somalia. Competitors set aside their rivalry and donated an entire shipload of rice for humanitarian relief. I later traveled to Somalia, expecting to see that food had reached people on the brink of starvation. It had not.

A powerful clan had taken control of the shipment. Once its own members’ needs were met, the remaining rice did not go to feed other Somalis. Instead, it was used to feed animals, while those outside the clan continued to go hungry.

At the time, I tried to explain what I had seen by blaming corruption, weak oversight, or a few bad actors. None of those explanations captured the deeper pattern. The behavior made sense only when I began to understand how differently trust and obligation were organized.

That realization came rushing back as I read about the Minnesota fraud.

According to federal indictments, the stolen money flowed through networks bound by kinship and loyalty. The theft was large, coordinated, and sustained. What stood out was not only who took the money, but who stayed silent. In societies with strong civic norms, whistleblowing is often praised, or at least protected. In tightly bound clan systems, speaking out can mean punishment.

Over time, I found language for what I had observed: the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a concept from game theory that explains how cooperation and trust either compound or collapse. When two parties cooperate, both benefit and trust grows. When one cheats while the other cooperates, the cheater prospers and the cooperator becomes the loser. When both are defective, everyone loses.

High-trust societies solve this dilemma by extending cooperation beyond family and tribe. Laws, institutions, and norms reinforce the idea that cheating ultimately harms everyone, including oneself. Low-trust societies work differently. Trust is reserved for kin. Outsiders are assumed to cheat. In that environment, cheating is not necessarily immoral. It is often rational, expected, and even applauded.

Seen through this lens, both my experience in Somalia and the Minnesota scandal follow the same pattern. Institutions cooperated in good faith. Clan-based networks exploited that trust. Children and taxpayers paid the price.

Somalia represents the most destructive version of this equilibrium. When trust does not extend beyond blood ties, cooperation cannot scale. Investment dries up. Contracts mean little without enforcement beyond kinship. When everyone expects everyone else to cheat, no one can afford to cooperate.

In that context, Somalia’s ranking of 213th out of 215 countries in per-capita income is not shocking. It is almost inevitable. This is not an indictment of individual Somalis. We know that many, many Somalis live honest, productive lives, raise families, and contribute positively wherever they reside. Individuals can transcend the cultures they are born into. Social systems, however, change slowly and are likely to shape behavior.

Somalia sits at the end of a continuum, but the underlying dynamic is not unique to it. Whenever loyalty to the group eclipses loyalty to shared rules, corruption flourishes. The Minnesota scandal was not an aberration so much as a warning: When institutions assume trust without enforcing it, low-trust behavior fills the vacuum. Somalia shows what happens when that low-trust approach is entrenched.

 

[CrazyHippie]

Hello; I have been trying to understand/follow the reported fraud in Minnesota. The scale is one part. That a people receiving refuge would steal from those who granted that refuge is another part. I ran across the following story. One of the few not focused on the politics. The focus is on “the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a concept from game theory that explains how cooperation and trust either compound or collapse.”

Two societies with very different world views. I copied the entire story along with the link. It follows.

Opinion: Somalia and the high cost of low trust

When news broke of the massive child nutrition fraud in Minnesota, many Americans reacted with disbelief. During the pandemic, roughly $250 million intended to feed hungry children was siphoned off, prosecutors say, and spent on luxury cars, real estate, and other indulgences. To most people, it appeared to be a shocking betrayal of public trust. To me, it felt unsettlingly familiar.

Decades ago, long before Minnesota became synonymous with one of the largest fraud cases in U.S. history, I had an experience in Somalia that permanently altered my perspective on aid, trust, and good intentions. It is why I read the indictments differently, not with surprise so much as recognition.

What struck me most about the Minnesota case was not only the scale of the theft but the silence surrounding it. The fraud appears to have operated in plain sight within tightly knit circles, yet few people spoke out.

More than 40 years ago, when I was a rice farmer in California, American rice growers learned of famine conditions in Somalia. Competitors set aside their rivalry and donated an entire shipload of rice for humanitarian relief. I later traveled to Somalia, expecting to see that food had reached people on the brink of starvation. It had not.

A powerful clan had taken control of the shipment. Once its own members’ needs were met, the remaining rice did not go to feed other Somalis. Instead, it was used to feed animals, while those outside the clan continued to go hungry.

At the time, I tried to explain what I had seen by blaming corruption, weak oversight, or a few bad actors. None of those explanations captured the deeper pattern. The behavior made sense only when I began to understand how differently trust and obligation were organized.

That realization came rushing back as I read about the Minnesota fraud.

According to federal indictments, the stolen money flowed through networks bound by kinship and loyalty. The theft was large, coordinated, and sustained. What stood out was not only who took the money, but who stayed silent. In societies with strong civic norms, whistleblowing is often praised, or at least protected. In tightly bound clan systems, speaking out can mean punishment.

Over time, I found language for what I had observed: the Prisoner’s Dilemma, a concept from game theory that explains how cooperation and trust either compound or collapse. When two parties cooperate, both benefit and trust grows. When one cheats while the other cooperates, the cheater prospers and the cooperator becomes the loser. When both are defective, everyone loses.

High-trust societies solve this dilemma by extending cooperation beyond family and tribe. Laws, institutions, and norms reinforce the idea that cheating ultimately harms everyone, including oneself. Low-trust societies work differently. Trust is reserved for kin. Outsiders are assumed to cheat. In that environment, cheating is not necessarily immoral. It is often rational, expected, and even applauded.

Seen through this lens, both my experience in Somalia and the Minnesota scandal follow the same pattern. Institutions cooperated in good faith. Clan-based networks exploited that trust. Children and taxpayers paid the price.

Somalia represents the most destructive version of this equilibrium. When trust does not extend beyond blood ties, cooperation cannot scale. Investment dries up. Contracts mean little without enforcement beyond kinship. When everyone expects everyone else to cheat, no one can afford to cooperate.

In that context, Somalia’s ranking of 213th out of 215 countries in per-capita income is not shocking. It is almost inevitable. This is not an indictment of individual Somalis. We know that many, many Somalis live honest, productive lives, raise families, and contribute positively wherever they reside. Individuals can transcend the cultures they are born into. Social systems, however, change slowly and are likely to shape behavior.

Somalia sits at the end of a continuum, but the underlying dynamic is not unique to it. Whenever loyalty to the group eclipses loyalty to shared rules, corruption flourishes. The Minnesota scandal was not an aberration so much as a warning: When institutions assume trust without enforcing it, low-trust behavior fills the vacuum. Somalia shows what happens when that low-trust approach is entrenched.

You're touching on a subject (Minnesota) that may develop into the biggest crisis to ever happen in US history. We're moving ever closer towards a civil war than I've ever seen. Let's all pray that our federal and state leaders figure out how to stop the freight train before things get any worse. So far I see the opposite, primarily on the part of Minnesota government leaders. It's quite frightening at the moment.

 

[sk47]

You're touching on a subject (Minnesota) that may develop into the biggest crisis to ever happen in US history. We're moving ever closer towards a civil war than I've ever seen. Let's all pray that our federal and state leaders figure out how to stop the freight train before things get any worse. So far I see the opposite, primarily on the part of Minnesota government leaders. It's quite frightening at the moment.

Hello; Yes, it is very concerning.
Yes, it is fleshing out to be a divide which could lead to civil war type stands. I do not fully understand the folks who take an opposite view on some subjects.

The recent link I posted today put into words what I had already developed a gut feeling about. The Somalis come from a clan culture in which only clan insiders are trusted and accepted. Everyone else is a sucker to be fleeced and taken advantage of. Makes me think of a song about an old woman who saves a freezing snake by bringing it into her home to warm up. Soon enough the snake bites the woman and tells her you knew I was a snake when you took me in. OK I get that part. That's the way they were raised. I imagine we Americans are the butt of cruel jokes when Somalis are having meetings.

I have not fully figured the why state and local American leaders are so willing to work so hard against the interest of Americans. The simplest thing is follow the money. That could work. There certainly seems to have been enough money scammed in recent years to decades. We could take lessons on how to scam.
Another simplistic thing could be campaign contributions galore. That also fits as well. I have heard a rumor a recent person who became a candidate brought with him well over $30 millions of scam money.

A thing I fear is a conflict between federal and state or local officers. Such would pretty much tear things apart. I get why some top city or state officials may be desperate enough to try to cover their guilt. If the level and breath of reported fraud is correct, then those in power had to know or be incompetent. Those officials might be feeling the walls of crimes closing in on them. Wish I knew for sure.

I have not yet come to an occlusion as to why there are riots by what appear to be ordinary people. Are they devoted to a cause I cannot fathom or support? Are they in some way getting a share of the fraud monies and are fighting to keep the scams going? Are they getting paid by outside agents who hope to benefit? I do not know. Only have guesses for now.

I live in TN and so far, have not seen any reporting of anti-ICE protests. Could it simply be that local police are peacefully turning over arrested criminals who turn out to be in the country illegally? Maybe a video of that process might be useful. The person commits a crime and is arrested for that crime or perhaps an existing warrant. While in jail they get checked out.
If they are illegally in the country ICE gets a call. ICE comes to get the person in a controlled manner without tear gas, nor car chases. Likely transferred the same as any other prisoner has been for ages.

 

[Balr14]

Why does a similar scam of far greater scale in Mississippi receive no attention from the current administration? Why is the government of Minnesota being blamed when the federal government is the entity that administrate and controls the funds that were scammed?

 

[sk47]

Why does a similar scam of far greater scale in Mississippi receive no attention from the current administration? Why is the government of Minnesota being blamed when the federal government is the entity that administrate and controls the funds that were scammed?

Hello; I can only address one of your questions. The way federal and some state programs are often set up is the feds send the money to the states and then the state actually run the program.
The state of KY did same with regard to monies for school districts. The monies were sent to the local school systems. The school systems administered the programs. There was an incident during my time as a teacher in KY. The State legislature normally sent money to the county school system in which I worked and the local system determined how the money would be spent. The state would have suggested guidelines but not details.
One year the legislature specifically and clearly stated funds were to be used for teacher pay. The local board and central office was in a quandary. Normally the monies for teacher pay was also divided among all the employees of the county. As time went buy there were lots and lots of non-teacher employees.
So the central office came up with a plan. Gathered all of us teachers in a gym and explained as to how all the other folks were not getting part of the money. Thet we were to go back to our schools and vote if we wanted to share our long overdue raise.
So, we have a vote in each school the next day and the ballots were totaled at individual schools. Only the schools totals were sent in. Next day were told something was not right. The vote had not gone to share the pay. So, we voted again and the ballots were sent to the central office to be counted. That time the vote was to share our pay and the central office ended the voting.

I do not know about the other fraud you mentioned. Tell us more later. but regardless this seems like a "whatabout" tactic. That other thing may be worth a discussion but let's stay on one at a time for a while. There is plenty of stuff within the current one to go around.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Why does a similar scam of far greater scale in Mississippi receive no attention from the current administration?

I wonder if you ask a cop writing you a speeding ticket, why he isn't instead writing one for another of the 10 cars in front, behind or beside you who were also speeding OR when one of them is getting written, do you circle back around and ask the cop: what about me?

I hear cops love to pose the "have you ever gone fishing" question.

 

[sk47]

I wonder if you ask a cop writing you a speeding ticket, why he isn't instead writing one for another of the 10 cars in front, behind or beside you who were also speeding OR when one of them is getting written, do you circle back around and ask the cop: what about me?

I hear cops love to pose the "have you ever gone fishing" question.

Hello; Yes, the last ticket I got was back in year 2000. I was speeding along with a guy in a Mustang. I got pulled over. He did not. I kept my mouth shut and was polite. The trooper at least wrote me up for some less than my actual speed. Saved me a worse ticket.

I do not exactly know what Blair14 is referring to about something in Mississippi. May be truly something worse. A person I know suggested something a few weeks ago. The idea is the loopholes that can be used to commit fraud may not be accidents. That fraud is perhaps intended or if not directly intended, at least part of the way the laws are written.
Put another way those actually writing the laws are not necessarily inept or just sloppy with words. I have often wondered why a new law can be so convoluted. I am not quite ready to say I think our elected leaders do such deliberately.

A thing is scammers and crooks from most anywhere know how to game the system. Likely will not be isolated in Minnesota. I guess one thing about the fraud in MN is that they were so brazen about it. Just a wink & a nod at the attempt. The LEARING CENTER. No children in the building. No tracks in the snow. Cannot register a child and so on.

I have a new joke which has gotten a chuckle or two. I say Superbowl tickets cost so much only a childcare center operator can afford one.

 

[Balr14]

My point was the fraud in Minnesota was identified about 3 years ago. The ring leader was a white woman. This seems to have been made a huge right wing issue solely for the purpose of creating more conflict and as a pretext for more federal police action. ICE tactics are clearly well beyond normal police procedures. For example, standing in front of, or behind a vehicle is nothing more than an attempt to provoke action that allows deadly force to be used. Ask any real police trainer. Their actions are entirely attempts to incite the people to justify more police actions.

Making an issue of the fraud in Mississippi would not have the desired effect.

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