Yes, but in this case a different (much dumber) system had been established for decades without objection it seems. That’s different than just having regular, official elections with just one candidate, which is what they should have done in the first place. We don’t know who would have won if it was a normal, two-candidate election.

This going to court is a good thing because a) anyone could have filed the paperwork and won by default, including someone who would abuse the position and be really terrible for the town and b) this is certainly the end of the unofficial-official system they’ve had and might bring bad stuff to light. But keep in mind that the article’s coming on very strong because they mostly cite the prosecution.

Legally yes, but part of the article makes it sound like there was a regular election between two candidates with everything you expect and the winner is being denied. That’s not the case and we don’t know how the citizens actually feel about this. It did, after all, take decades for someone to do this.

Not that any of this should have ever happened in the first place, they should have just run the elections normally.

Braxton was allegedly the only person who qualified for the position of mayor, according to the lawsuit. Stokes “did not bother to qualify as a candidate,” the lawsuit said, even though he knew Braxton was planning to run. No candidates qualified for town council positions, either.

Braxton was elected mayor by default, making him the first Black mayor of Newbern in the 165 years since the town was founded.

That’s an important bit of context, they still didn’t have a proper election.

Funny, that’s actually the argument most often heard in Germany when people want to bring back mandatory military/civil service. Yes, it’s slavery, but it’ll teach you stuff!

If you have one nearby then maybe, but I bet you even they don’t want that slightly water damaged, smelly copy of some cheapo 80s encyclopedia.

Around here it’s also relatively common to sell old books by weight/volume, either on flea markets or classifieds/Ebay. But sometimes it literally isn’t worth the effort.

it’s bad juju to throw books in the trash right?

The books you are talking about are mass produced commodity items, right? If you don’t want them anymore and don’t know anyone else who does just treat them like any other print product and toss 'em out. They weren’t painstakingly copied by monks, the knowledge inside will not be lost, just being a book doesn’t make them special.

Signed, someone who had to deal with a slew of outdated guidebooks, encyclopedias, cookbooks, reader’s digest issues, never-read novels and whatever else from a deceased relative because they just couldn’t bring themselves to put them in the recycling bin.

Yes, I’d rather fuck around with custom ROMs than endure the user-hostile crapware that most vendors bundle. I’d also rather try to make an app work despite safety net or whatever not passing out of the box than not have any defenses against the dumb bullshit software vendors put in their apps. I’d rather go back to a feature phone than live with a walled garden full of spyware and ads.

Some background: https://www.theregister.com/2018/10/22/sqlite_code_of_conduct/

Wait, what’s wrong with being an anteater?

Asking for a friend.