Links are early today because I have to head to the track in Pittsburgh to race a car. And I don’t trust the scheduler. Your welcome.
Justin Rose lit up the scoreboard at Augusta, but he’s got Scottie, Aberg, and a gaggle of have hitters nipping at his heels. Let’s see if his nerves can hold up. The Stanley Cup playoffs are almost here. There’s a couple Canadian teams that might be able to win it all. Which is worrisome. Man United got some of their normal goalkeeping yesterday, which their fans won’t like. Mo Salah has signed his extension, and Virgil should do the same shortly. And F1 is in the Middle East this weekend. Hopefully they’ll find a way to pass people. And that’s it for sports.
The lede is buried in this story. The real kicker is the prior admin letting 900,000 people who would otherwise be considered illegal register an asylum claim on an app they created. And then use money the government sent to NGOs for migrant services to get here and set up shop. But they treated that as a throwaway line.
The sudden interest the media has for congressional stock trading is interesting. I guess all the past dealings were (D)ifferent somehow.
Actions have consequences. Sorry for your luck, dipshits.
Say It Ain’t So. Jeez, lady. Relax.
Actions have consequences (Part 2). The “what about free speech?” people are gonna be out in force on the left with this one.
Good! Now go after CARB next.
Wait, what was it before? Because whatever it was designated was wrong.
Wait, is this supposed to punish Trump? Or are they offering it as some sort of concession? Because I doubt he’s gonna care if his most vocal opponents have their film releases limited in China.
The rats are taking over! Gross, but probably more common that you’d think.
Well, that sure looks like a motive. But it’s all taxpayer money, which is why they didn’t care or even notice for so long.
Love these guys. Sad that Ric is gone. And this track might be my favorite of theirs. Enjoy them both.
And enjoy this lovely Friday and weekend, dear friends.
Actions have consequences. Sorry for your luck, dipshits.
Say It Ain’t So. Jeez, lady. Relax.
Two links to the same article.
Serves me right for going over the links before seeing all the responses. Ah well.
And Sloopy is racing away from his responsibilities!
Did Greene trade before or after the tariff announcements?
Looks like after the initial announcement, but prior to the decision to drop the rates back down.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, an avid supporter of the Trump administration’s trade policies, not only bought stocks last week as others dumped them in a panic — she scooped up some of the biggest losers.
Also, Trump gave the signal:
Hours before halting most of the tariffs Wednesday, Mr. Trump steered his supporters to the markets, writing on his Truth Social platform, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”
Investors are not completely convinced.
They will probably try to impeach Trump for that “truth” post.
He will hang the impeachment papers on his bathroom wall next to the others.
The left will make up shit no matter how obvious it is, because they do not care anymore that the serfs realize how evil they are. Enough people are stupid enough to cheer for the criminality and abuse anyway,
Somehow, I don’t put much confidence in Trump’s economic advice.
What I’m entertained by is the night of April 9th, I made a joke:
Be careful before I make another off hand joke and change the news cycle again!
He will hang the impeachment papers on his bathroom wall next to the others.
Is that over or under?
I have a friend who was interested in beginning to invest on his own but felt the market was overheated, and I also gave him that same advice around the same time. I said “When everybody else is selling, it’s time to buy.”
So buy he did, in fact he still owns nearly 50 percent of an entire dot com company. That company is pets.com. The year, dear listener was 2000, and the cost of shipping dog food to your house was too high. And that, my friends, is the rest of the story.
Goodday!
Lululemon, Dell Computer, Amazon, the parent of Restoration Hardware and a few others hit hard by President Trump’s tariff threats were down 40% on average late last week when the Georgia Republican pounced.
She bought when shit dropped 40%. She’s not quite at Pelosi’s level yet.
I’m not opposed to banning congress from trading stocks, but not convinced it will solve anything either.
Republicans pounce!
Because no one in their late 30s and above has ever seen the market do a stupid panic when it is spooked then bounce right back for stocks that at least have some inherent value (if it were a crash in Robot Dog Food Delivery Services or something like the 2k crash then it would be less wise…)
Why would robots need to eat dog food? Any idiot could see that product isn’t viable.
Inorite? Everyone knows robots run on beer!
“The lede is buried in this story. The real kicker is the prior admin letting 900,000 people who would otherwise be considered illegal register an asylum claim on an app they created. And then use money the government sent to NGOs for migrant services to get here and set up shop. But they treated that as a throwaway line.”
So we went from “That ain’t happening, you Nazi!”, to “That happened and it was a great thing, you Nazi!” in a matter of months?
The best part was the lie that these were legal SSNs. No, the previous administration was violating the law. Imagine that!
Next you’ll tell me they were doing selective enforcement and outlandish legal theories to invent new programs and spending out of whole cloth or something, JI. Can you just imagine how wacky that would be?
“Actions have consequences (Part 2). The “what about free speech?” people are gonna be out in force on the left with this one.”
There is no free speech in the military chain of command. Zero. Everyone that serves gets told this shit. Obama’s weaponization created these morons that forgot they were told never to do this shit, or else.
There must be a “Status of Forces Agreement”. If Trump wants changes it needs to be within the context of the present contract.
Seems like there’s something missing. Being relieved of command is career ending.
You can be relieved of command for any reason- or no reason at all. Your superior just needs to use the magic phrase “lost confidence” as the reason and you are out with no way to appeal.
What she did was egregious and I would have done the same as her chain of command.
Yep, she is done. But the retirement for a Colonel isn’t bad so I am sure she will be fine. Plus, she can try for a sweet sweet position with an OMB BAD organization for a few years to increase the kitty.
I regularly get emails from my project manager saying statements from the C-suite do not reflect our values …
What branch of the service has a C suite?
Daily Ray of Sunshine
Wait a minute! So the black cat gets to wear a disguise?
The fact that it accepts it so easily suggests to me that Batcat is…unnaturally docile. I suspect Batcat has a serious ‘nip habit.
“I’m catman”.
“I’m mancat.”
From the JGA?
I have never cared much about business insiders trading stock. Frankly I think the regulations preventing that do more harm than good. Political insiders are an entirely different animal. Congresscritters getting rich based on inside knowledge they acquire while supposedly representing us, or worse yet create by their own actions interfering with the market is vile whether the critter in question is a D or an R. Also MTG is just a right facing version of the same mental capacity and decency displayed by the squad, that is to say none.
It would probably fall apart in the details, but I’d like to see a requirement that holding an elected office means you, and your immediate family, can only have publicly traded securities via a broad balanced portfolio of stocks – basically index funds and bond funds.
What if you are a trader and someone in your immediate family runs for office?
By “trader”, do you mean broker, mutual fund manager, that kind of thing? I wouldn’t have a problem saying the requirement would apply only to what is held on your account/for your benefit.
Now, if you mean someone who buys and sells stock all the time for their own account, that is exactly who the requirement is intended to apply to. If you’ve got family who trades and would get their nose out of joint if you won an election, then don’t fucking run.
RC – the way it usually works on the street is “beneficial interest” or support. So, for example, even though my wife’s IRA is hers alone I have a contingent beneficial interest and hence I need to report any activity in that account.
Support is loosely defined. So if my son lives with us and is employed and completely self sufficient that still counts as “support” as I’m providing a roof. I never looked into some fiction such as charging him “rent” and seeing if that would negate the “support”.
The crap that we plebs have to go through in financial services compared to FedGov is amazing.
Many fund managers make more money when the fund makes more money.
“If you’ve got family who trades and would get their nose out of joint if you won an election, then don’t fucking run.”
That would be good advice, but if you are a day trader and your asshole brother decides to run? It’s not like you could stop him.
All of these are arguments for getting rid of insider trading rules across the board, not arguments for keeping the rules for private individuals and keeping the exemption from the rules for Congress. The rules as they currently exist already criminalize ordinarily legal conduct for people who, through no fault of their own, end up categorized as insiders because a relative takes a particular job, or client. I think insider trading which violates a fiduciary duty should be at least a civil cause of action, and probably a crime, but other than that I think the issue is best handled by requiring insiders to trade publicly, and leaving it at that.
Pump and dump baby!
I hope you’re going to have a fun weekend with your racing, Sloopy. Thanks for the links.
Re: Rick Ocasek, which musicians death did the most damage to the history and advancement of music, and why was it Randy Rhoads?
Mozart?
…maybe. But I think Beethoven took the field in the direction Mozart would have gone.
I saw Randy Rhoads with Ozzy a month before he died, it was a definitely a hard hit to the music world to lose such a great up and coming talent. Tom Petty’s death felt like I lost a friend I could hang out with. Neal Peart’s death felt like a brother that had been there for me growing up. Of course Tom and Neal had extensive catalogs over their life time that Randy did have the chance to create – so yeah, probably Randy. I usually don’t put much investment in the lives of famous people I don’t personally know, but all three of these hit me harder than I expected.
*did NOT have the chance…
So far as rock music goes, I will say Hendrix. Just imagine the collaborations that could have happened later in life with that guy.
The music on his last album showed he was already starting to go in another direction.
Well they already passed over poor Lawson… 😉
More seriously — yeah… at least Bahrain typically has some good opportunities. If Max doesn’t get pole and just pull a 2 second gap and hold it at least… but even if he does, there should be some action in the midpack. And if nothing else, at least there’s F2 and F3 (someone [yesterday?] mentioned the F1 streaming while I was working… this is frankly most of what I pay for the service for nowadays… the junior races usually have more competition and risk taking) this weekend too.
We are legion. Also, hey!
“Life… um…. finds a way!”
Like viruses — I don’t think we’ll ever win the perpetual arms race against small critters who can sneak through cracks we’d never expect, are great at hiding and love the food and water we provide. Like the ocean ships of old — we’ll be carrying them wherever we manage to go.
If they were all as spiffy as NA or RoaT we wouldn’t mind as much, of course.
I’d need to hunt for it, but there was a piece I read years back talking about how the weevil had specifically evolved alongside humanity. Same as we can’t get rid of them, they would likely die when humanity does.
Who you calling spiffy?
I remember noticing all the stores with cats the first time I went downtown. Where are the robotic cats (Mechano?) for food establishments?
“Same as we can’t get rid of them, they would likely die when humanity does.”
The lesser of two weevils?
Now you’ve done it, you’ve chosen your cake, now you’ll have to lie in it.
Let he who is without sin be the rolling stone.
Country of Men not Laws… yay…
Luck? Can’t must much sympathy at all for planning and executive felony scale property destruction…. Protest all you want. Probably even some leeway for not cleaning up properly after your stupid marches (because they never do… and a bunch of college students aren’t always the most fastidious of sorts…) — start tearing up stuff you don’t own… ton of bricks time.
You’re probably already on your way to the Pitt… but you duped the link with the idiot students “Actions have Consequences” one above here…
Ah — I read an article earlier on that before she was actually fired. Had to wonder if she was literally trying to be — you don’t send an email saying you disagree with the VP and the Administration in general as a base commander… but especially not including members of a foreign military. Even a dummy civilian like me knows that’s going to get you in “disrespecting the civilian authority and the chain of command” big sheepherder hook from off stage… she had to be doing it on purpose. Making bad press for La Resistance?
Related rant: I am tired of receiving emails from corporate for every major news item.
Damn skippy. Then if you can find a good legal reason to take down the insurance commission, the utility commission and the coastal commission, I would not shed a single tear. Sacramento Soviet Republic…
Tragic end for America’s first nonbinary person
died by suicide
I would have guessed eaten by a shark.
By 2016, Shupe became the first person in the United States to be legally recognized as nonbinary, marking a landmark court victory that was widely celebrated by the LGBTQI community.
The court victory came about after Shupe applied to the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, requesting to be listed as ‘nonbinary.’
How nonbinary are you?
But just three years later in 2019, she released a statement revealing she had returned to her ‘male birth sex.’
…
Three years later again, Shupe reclaimed her trans identity.
“Shupe’s death came amid President Trump signing a swathe of executive orders recognizing two genders and banning transgender people from serving in the military.”
I severely doubt that had anything to with it.
—“Shupe’s death came amid President Trump signing a swathe of executive orders recognizing two genders and banning transgender people from serving in the military.”—
Found dead 27 January, 7 days into Trump’s term. It only took him a week to start killing people. Hitler something, something.
“became the first person in the United States to be legally recognized as nonbinary”
“had returned to her ‘male birth sex.’”
“Three years later again, Shupe reclaimed her trans identity.”
“died by suicide”
I think I figured this one out.
Would’ve committed suicide sooner and more often if not allowed to be recognized as an official attention whore.
I kind of think that the suicide argues against him being in it for the attention. One of the evils I see in this whole ‘movement’ is that it attracts mentally unbalanced people and locks them into the trap of seeking external validation for their illness rather than healing or internal accommodation.
@Jarflax, that’s what I was going for. Body dysmorphia is a mental health issue and here’s your proof.
argues against him being in it for the attention
Well, the “more often” was intended to convey the somewhat satirical nature of my comment. That said, when the attention diminished, out went the lights.
I know there is a First Amendment issue, but I don’t think protestors should be allowed to wear masks.
The masks aren’t the problem, the prosecutors letting the violent protestors walk is the problem.
They are part of the problem. You have to be able to identify who was violent in order to prosecute them.
I don’t really see much of a 1A issue with banning masks. Such bans were adopted in a number of places as an anti-KKK measure and not struck down (for what that’s worth), and are probably still on the books. From a more principled perspective, I’m not sure what “expressive activity” wearing a mask is.
I see it sort of like immigration. Immigration is fine, but combine immigration with a free shit gravy train and it becomes a disaster.
Combine masked protest with the lack of will to severely crack down on law breaking, and you have a disaster.
Muzzled Woodchipper beat me to it.
I’d be okay with: Go ahead and wear a mask, but don’t do violent/destructive/illegal shit. Anonymous speech has a long tradition in the U.S., including some pretty persuasive pamphleteering during the American Revolution.
“Bloomberg reports that Beijing officials will “moderately reduce” the number of U.S. movies allowed into China—the second-largest film market globally, which has been crucial to Hollywood’s survival.”
How about not making such expensive movies?
Sad that Ric is gone
Wait, Ric Ocasec is dead? Does that mean Paulina is a grieving widow? ‘Scuse me, I gots some condoling do to.
“I gots some condoling do to.”
Condoling? Is that some sekshual term I am unaware of?
“consoling” + “canoodling”?
Just be careful to get Paulina Porizkova and not Paula Poundstone, Grummun….
Does this mean that we might get a movie with communist and / or Chinese bad guys?
With Hollywood in it’s current state, the best you get is a remake of Big Trouble in Little China – for Modern Audiences.
You are evil, bro…
Wait, so the Asians will be hypercompetent and the white guy will be a bumbling moron?
Don’t even fucking joke about that, man…
@Neph…well played
Lo Pan seeks a genderfluid otherkin with Green Hair.
otherkin with Green Hair
Lena Dunham’s big comeback role!
https://www.thedrive.com/news/bmws-new-tire-kit-fills-up-your-flat-while-you-drive
That’s pretty cool.
So three years from now when the lithium battery has been cooked in the trunk I’m sure it will work perfectly. Just like all modern BMW electronics.
I loved BMW until the mid 2000s.
I had a BMW 330i rental last week that we drove from New Orleans to Pensacola.
I would never spend that much money on a car and I don’t know the long term costs, but for a week with a long drive, it was fantastic.
Only gripe was that it was an automatic.
The perfect car to lease. They moved with the times. Styling caters to Asia and the tech and luxury heavy focus is what a large part of the market now demands.
I’m not happy about it, but I understand it. Most modern luxury cars are rather nice to drive regardless of brand. It’s a very competitive market.
One of my recurring dreams is to stumble across a low-mileage ’06 BMW M3 in that electric violet color they did.
Heh. I stopped loving BMW as soon as Chris Bangle took over!
/hipster
I had a 4 series convertible as a rental for a week once. Total blast the whole time. Put on a lot of miles for a local rental.
I have a feeling this also would have left me as stranded as the electric compressor and can of fix-a-flat that Cadillac gave me when I had a sidewall blowout thanks to a pothole strike. Just give me a gotdamn spare already.
Both of my cars have real spares. The Jeep is even a full size.
That gizmo is not a replacement, IMO, but it is cool AF.
“Lauren Boebert shocks MAGA with ‘inappropriate’ minidress at Trump dinner”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14597917/lauren-boebert-shocks-dress-nrcc-trump-dinner.html
It’s not a great dress, but this is a nothing burger.
She’s showing knee!
Jeez, I was expecting far worse. That’s just a basic dress. Not even a true mini.
She needs to eat more though. She is hollowing out.
Yeah — I can only assume the complaining reports are from the Salem Witch Trial Stenographers and the Hijab Daily or something. I wouldn’t blink at a kindergarten teacher wearing that dress, frankly.
Coke binges with Kid Rock.
Yes, that was nowhere near as inappropriate as I’d hoped.
It was inappropriate because it was appropriate. Im not sure id even classify that as a minidress…maybe cocktail dress?
Isnt she the one where her tits were popping out and Zuck got caught being a man?
No, she was the one having her tits played with in the dark at a theater.
While giving the guy an outside the pants handy.
MAGA is not a person, nor even a homogenous group, you morons.
“As Statista’s Felix Richter reports, according to Statista Consumer Insights, Americans’ favorite beer brand is American again, as Bud Light re-claimed the top spot from Corona Extra – the leader in last year’s edition of the same survey.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/bud-light-reclaims-top-spot-americas-favorite-beer
It’s also crap.
Is it any wonder we have the politicians we do when voters are so willing to swill down crap?
Very true. And yes, that is bland, headache inducing swill. Not even good for hot days.
“The victims of an Instagram swindler have shared the stories of how they were tricked into moving to the US, only to became enslaved and forced into prostitution by a cash-hungry spiritualist.
Katiuscia Torres, a Brazilian wellness influencer and spiritual life coach, was sentenced to eight years in prison last year for human trafficking and slavery after luring multiple women to live with her in Texas and and coercing them into sex work.
Described as a ‘master manipulator’ by those close to her, Kat, who previously claimed to have enjoyed a romance with Hollywood heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio, was known for her obsession with witchcraft and for presenting herself as a spiritual messiah – claiming she had precognition and even comparing herself to Jesus.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14591133/Instagrams-dangerous-woman-Influencer-ex-Leonardo-DiCaprio-scammed-millions-followers-rags-riches-story-luring-live-forcing-prostitution-slavery.html
I’m not seeing how they were “enslaved” or “forced”.
Have you ever heard of “Don Juan del Tolete”?
Breakdown of Santeria practices..
“Don Juan is a legendary Spanish character, a symbol of a libertine who seduces many women. He’s a fictional figure who originated in Spanish folklore and was popularized in literature, opera, and other art forms.
The Spanish word “tolete” has several meanings depending on context
Latin America: Tolete = short club, stick, cudgel. ‘
That fella heals by banging the ladies…
Now that’s a racket to have..
So, she was a madame is what I gathered from the article. They just gussy it up some.
In a few weeks, when first agencies begin axing regulations overnight, watch heads explode. No word yet on which rules are up for kill shots, but there’s little reason to think this administration will hold back. It looks intent on riding recent Supreme Court doctrines to their fullest and most robust conclusions, then challenging the court to explain why it shouldn’t.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-triple-dog-supreme-court-dare-regulation-order-politics-7370b1ee?st=xJRBeG&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
A little good to go with the tariff fiasco.
The fact that luxury handbags are the concern of the FTC says everything you need to know about it.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/prada-versace-deal-capri-tapestry-ftc-lina-khan-andrew-ferguson-antitrust-eaf0ad50?st=csFcGH&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Wow. More about the family that died in that NYC helicopter crash yesterda.
Agustín Escobar was the chief executive of a Siemens division in the country and his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, was a global marketing manager for Siemens Energy and the granddaughter of a former president of FC Barcelona, the powerhouse soccer team. Their three children were 4, 5, and 11.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/spanish-siemens-executive-killed-alongside-family-in-hudson-river-helicopter-crash-9b47f1f6?st=RSwSvF&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Yeah, you couldn’t pay me to go on one of those helicopter tours of the city. Accidents are not uncommon.
“The sudden interest the media has for congressional stock trading is interesting.”
Whatever. The market went down and people bought low. My brother, not exactly a financial wizard, bought stocks during the dip this week and it went well for him. It’s a lot different than mysteriously buying and selling a single stock right before a regulation or legislation is announced.
Yeah, buying when the market crashes is the least suspicious thing I can imagine.
Also, the people they are accusing are Trump supporters who think he is gonna make the economy better.
Seems… normal.
https://x.com/AlecStapp/status/1909597053530845588
Ignore the horrible typo in step 3.
Its terrible …
“Hakeem Jeffries now claims Dems want to ‘secure the border’
“We believe that we need to secure the border. Make sure that it is safe, and strong, that the rule of law consistent with America as a country of a nation of laws is fully and completely implemented at the border.”
https://thepostmillennial.com/hakeem-jeffries-now-claims-dems-want-to-secure-the-border
CWAA
At some point he will get struck by lightning or swallowed up by the earth.
They’re kind of dancing around saying they wanted to do these things all along, but Biden wouldn’t let them.
It is all lies with these people intended to permanently cancel the will of the people (see every west coast state, NY, and most of new England). That is why their argument continuously is that they need a better delivery of the narrative -their own Joe Rogan instead of the heifers in the View, I guess – and to punish those others telling the rubes the truth of what they are actually doing, instead of accepting that the people don’t want what they want.
If that were the case, they could have drafted legislation to do it and let Biden veto the bill.
the will of the people
Yeah, all of the Bud Light and Corona Extra drinkers.
While I think people drinking beer are weak – a real drink involves bourbon, gin, or whiskey – and that those drinking light anything are light themselves, I reserve their right to do as they please. As long as they don’t tell me I have to like what they do..
Come at me bros..
AlexInCT:
Challenge accepted.
I mean, I could just point at the old demon series from Avery, or the Caution Cap series from Dogfish Head as well.
My bet is that they have decided they need to lie about their intentions here so they can get stupid people to help them over the finish line with the usual fortification effort, at which point they will go right back to importing a new voter class while crushing anyone that tries to show the populous that is happening.
As DOGE identifies illegally issued SocSec numbers, I’m hoping DOJ sends a list of them to every state saying “These are invalid numbers. Please check your voter rolls and (1) inform us of any registrations using these numbers and (2) remove those registrations. Failure to do so will be considered aiding and abetting and/or conspiring to commit voter fraud. Please confirm your full compliance with this directive in writing within 30 days.”
Where do you need a SS# to register to vote?
As far as I can remember, I had to prove my address, and sign that I was a citizen.
They can start with Oregon that admitted illegals were both registered to vote and did vote. And nothing else happened.
An SS allows you to get a bank account, and other proof of identity docs…
Where do you need a SS# to register to vote?
As far as I can remember, I had to prove my address, and sign that I was a citizen.
I don’t remember what I had to do to register to vote in PA.
When I moved to NH, I did not have to provide a SS number to register to vote. I had to prove I was a citizen, my birth certificate counted. I don’t think I needed a SS number in order to get any of the documents I had to provide.
When I moved within NH and had to re-register, SS number never came up.
NH has since changed its documentation rules for voter registration, and while I think the most recent change will be challenged, I think it does not require showing a SS number at all.
Social Security numbers are not unique.. The SSA has changed how it generates SS numbers since that article came out, but there are still non-unique numbers out there. You need more than the number to uniquely identify someone.
He is banking on news media to carry the torch
“I was for it before I was against it.”
And after briefly opening up the market is down slightly with the VIX up 9%. Way go to go OMB. Way to go.
So I guess when the government is inflating the market by suppressing interest rates and flooding the capital markets with cheap credit, we should cheer that on?
I’m not sure I get it. If snark sure. But it’s the two wrongs don’t make a right thing. That was stupid. This chaos is stupid.
Snarkish, yes. I don’t recall a lot of complaining when government distortion caused markets to go up. Especially compared to the amount of complaining when government distortion causes markets to go down.
I can only speak for myself. I called them out for their cheap money. I’ll call them out for making it impossible for businesses to plan.
OTH – I’m sure these are made in China and inane stuff like this less likely to make it to our shores.
Hands-on: Handwriting recognition app brings sticky notes into the 21st century
Rocketbook Reusable Sticky Notes are an excessive solution for too many sticky notes.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/hands-on-handwriting-recognition-app-brings-sticky-notes-into-the-21st-century/
What VC is funding this?
Since the Western world seems to be coming to the table to discuss trade deals, general market uncertainty aside, is the market still roiling because China says they’re increasing their tariffs from 84% to 125% on American-made goods? I’ve never been to China, but does anyone there tool around in an American-made car, use American products, etc? I just assumed they use Chinese-made knockoffs over there.
And no, I’m not a big fan of market schizophrenia. I’ve got planning to do, too.
Speaking of tracks… apparently Willow Springs has been bought by somebody who will make improvements nd keep it in operation.
VIX up 9%.
Volatility is where the money is, if you’ve got the stomach for it.
After years of riding a motorcycle I always assume everyone is going to do the dumbest thing possible. This accident was likely unavoidable, but I don’t understand the utter lack of braking until the end (if at all).
https://www.reddit.com/r/IdiotsInCars/comments/1jwfqik/oc_i_still_dont_know_what_she_was_thinking/
Had to be daydreaming. Hard to watch. Makes my right foot jump out to hit an imaginary brake.
I mean, it actually looks like he accelerates a little as she starts pulling out, then maybe hits the brakes an instant before contact.
In the comments:
I wondered that as well, then I rewatched with the assumption of “I’m looking at this as a driver” and realized up until the moment OP hit the brakes my brain thought Range Rover was turning right, then realized she was going straight, then hit the brakes.
That does make a bit of sense.
So I guess when the government is inflating the market by suppressing interest rates and flooding the capital markets with cheap credit, we should cheer that on?
That’s just good solid economic stewardship.
The good old days
The problem is: those who credit manufacturing jobs for a glorious past America mistake correlation for causation. They think their parents and grandparents had the “good life” because of jobs in manufacturing. In reality, their parents and grandparents had that life because of unions, pensions, high marginal tax rates, and strong social policies — with a little post-war exceptionalism and a lot of racism and sexism thrown in.
——-
As unions fought to protect workers from falling at the bottom, policymakers also moved to prevent runaway wealth at the top. At the federal level, the highest marginal tax rate increased rapidly after World War II, peaked at 92% in 1953, and remained above 70% until the early 1980s, after which it fell dramatically to just 37% today.
Those high taxes helped subsidize the “good life” for American families (especially white families) who couldn’t have afforded that life on their own. That money fueled innovations that increased lifespans and standards of those lives (including by allowing Americans to buy cheap goods produced in countries with laxer labor protections). That money also expanded access to education, making it possible for the children of factory workers to go to college and avoid the physical pain that their fathers suffered from manufacturing work.
Bring back Eisenhower. But without the structural racism and misogyny.
These assholes are so tiring.
They had it good because the rest of the industrial world was wrecked. Maybe if the US bombs enough countries it can be dominant again.
Weren’t the Germans and Japanese doing well by the 60’s? By the 80’s you couldn’t buy a TV or VCR that was made in the U.S.
Yes. Once the Japanese rebuilt they ate our lunch.
“By Jessica Calarco, sociologist”
And I’m out.
Clearly someone with extensive knowledge of modern manufacturing work…
WWII – it was so good for our unity!
Imagine the GDP boost of another world war.
The real reason the US was prosperous in the 1950s is that it was pretty much the only country with significant surviving industrial capacity after WW2.
NO! It was union membership and high income taxes!!! /very loud retards
It’s waaaay more prosperous now.
As old as I get, I’m still happy that I can have a little jolt of happiness when I find a local venue has been brought back (usually under a different name) and is booking bands I like. Found an old place has reopened and has shows such as the Damned, Mushroomhead, Lords of Acid, the Aquabats, and the like.
Essentially, the nostalgia that some Americans feel for the factory is just misplaced frustration with the way they’ve been forced to live in a DIY society: to protect themselves and their families from the risk of precarity with fewer unions and hollowed-out government supports.
Those who are betting on Trump and his promise to bring back manufacturing risk putting us all in a more precarious position—pushing us back to Gilded Age levels of inequality, and to a time when the “good life” was accessible only to the robber barons, while the rest of America struggled to get by.
1896, here we come.
The unions didn’t protect those jobs very well.
In some cases they literally priced themselves out of the market. Through featherbedding, constant demands for wage increases often above and beyond inflation, and strikes. Back in the 1970’s a struggling steel mill near me (Allen Wood Steel) told the union that unless the workers took a pay cut the mill would have to close. Union leadership laughed and said no, we ain’t taking no pay cut.
The mill closed closed. And I’m sure that situation was repeated throughout the country.
BTW, when were the private sector unions strongest? When we had a restrictive immigration policy.
SarumanTheGreat:
Allow me to look around the abandoned plants all through the region here…
Forget manufacturing. We just need to unionize baristas and raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to $30 an hour and everything will be fine.
Every one deserves the ability to support a family of fourteen in a middle class lifestyle with part time work.
Aiding and abetting
New York state’s top financial regulator struck a $40 million settlement Thursday with Block Inc., the parent of Cash App, the popular money transmission service, after having found the company had “serious compliance deficiencies” related to its anti-money laundering program and transaction monitoring processes.
The deficiencies at Block, some involving cryptocurrencies, “created a high-risk environment vulnerable to exploitation by criminal actors,” the New York State Department of Financial Services said in the consent order, noting, for example, that Block’s system did not trigger alarms on bitcoin transactions involving terrorism-connected wallets until that exposure exceeded 10%.
Any exposure to terrorism-connected wallets is illegal, the department said.
——-
Under the terms of the settlement, Block agreed to bring on an independent monitor for a year, selected by the New York regulator, to conduct a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering and sanctions programs. The monitor will oversee remedial measures as needed, the consent order said, and report its findings to the regulators.
You wouldn’t want to pretend private transactions are none of the government’s goddam business. That’s crazy.
Supervisory services will be provided by a hand picked “public interest group” no doubt.
Update:
“NYC woman who sucker-punched pro-life activist during street interview is arrested: NYPD”
https://nypost.com/2025/04/11/us-news/brute-who-sucker-punched-pro-life-activist-during-street-interview-arrested-nypd/
What if we just pay people to not work?
Other countries have had better short-term solutions for those workers, such as paid vocational training and “more generous” unemployment options to help them transition to their new economies, according to Mosley.
“This is a massive political problem. The transition is not easy to make,” she said.
Long term, Wolfers said the U.S. can increase its investment into preparing and training younger generations into the economic sectors that are showing growth, such as tech, and making the country a worldwide leader.
“It’s bizarre to me we are trying to revive the economy of the 1950s when we are on the cusp of a major economic technical revolution,” he said.
We can always use more social workers.
If we make employing people more costly we can provide more benefits to the unemployed.
I seriously think both leftists and MAGA need to look at a graph or two and realize how much the US is kicking the living shit out of other western economies.
I am really curious how the practiscore algorithm works.
Some clubs I’ve been to once, and it recommends all of their matches. Some clubs I’m specifically following and often register for, but not all of their matches get suggested.
Today it pushed an IPSC RO course in Mesa AZ at me.
I don’t understand how NPR, the US’s version of the USSR’s Pravda, decided on this particular headline.
Chai Jing: China’s Lesley Stahl returns to spotlight on YouTube
Does anyone under 40 know who the heck Lesley Stahl is?
They had a story about 1A at universities, closing with an interview with Ibram X Kendi lamenting the fascist trump misleading people into thinking DEI was divisive.
Trump didn’t do that.
Kendi did.
“Florida teacher is first known to be fired for using student’s preferred name without parents’ consent”
https://nypost.com/2025/04/11/us-news/florida-teacher-becomes-first-to-be-fired-for-using-students-preferred-name-without-parents-consent/
“For example, a student named “Robert” would need a parent’s permission to be called “Rob” in the classroom. A copy of that form in Orange County can be found here.”
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2025/04/10/can-florida-teachers-be-fired-over-preferred-names-heres-what-the-law-says/
Terribly written article, but also terrible law if it can’t distinguish between nick names and gender transition.
Uh oh! My high school French teacher addressed us using Frenchified names… without my parents’ permission! 😳
Just call all of them assholes and bring Spaceballs to life.
While keeping an eye on the neighbor’s house while she’s away at her husband’s funeral, I get to witness the weekly competition among the other guys in the neighborhood to bring the trash and recycle bins back up to each other’s houses after they’ve been emptied. 😄 (It’s pretty cutthroat!)
no video?
Well, it’s slightly less action-packed than golf, so…
4x speed and Yakkety Sax should work for that GT.
Ha! I just did that. Trash was emptied, I was out there bringing the bin back inside of 2 minutes.
Free trade is for chumps
“Free trade has been the most harmful government policy of my entire work life — and most all of our entire work lives,” Fain told UAW members in a livestreamed address on Thursday evening. “We have to end this free trade disaster.”
Nationalize the car companies.
No one ever said you have to be smart to be a union boss.
Fain said it is this type of rapid scaling up of production that the UAW is pushing for in the near term as a response to the auto tariffs. He said that a decade ago, a dozen Detroit Three plants that are still in operation were making over 2 million additional vehicles annually than they are now.
“These plants still have that capacity right now,” Fain said. “That’s tens of thousands of jobs that we could bring back right now. Our research tells us that if the Big Three alone just got their currently active plants up to 100% capacity, they could add 50,000 jobs.”
Does your model say whether anybody actually wants to buy those shitboxes?
“We’re ready to ruin them again.”
Note that Germany, South Korea, Japan have no tariffs on US cars whatsoever.
Now I think there are regulations here that need to be killed to make it easier to make cars that actually sell.
But, the history of protecting companies that make an inferior product has always been a disaster. In response to shielding from competition, American cars will only get worse.
There was an Italian film back in the 1970’s or 1980’s about a furniture company whose product wasn’t moving. To keep everybody employed they resorted to bank robbery to satisfy payroll.
Private industry isn’t a jobs program. Public industry is. That’s what Fain is pushing for.
Gov Gretchen Whitmer was in DC yesterday promoting Trump’s tariffs and Trump was calling her smart and a great governor.
It isn’t difficult to see why Whitmer might suddenly find herself allied with Trump on this particular thing.
If you like insufferable gay men, then you might like the Rogan episode where Douglas Murray is debating Dave Smith. Otherwise, you should skip it.
*forgot British