If you’ve been paying attention to what hasn’t been in the news. A Federal Equity Stake. As that is essentially what the proposals boils down to. Regardless of the window dressing. Seems to be a reoccurring trend.
The Feds at Trumps direction have taken 10% stakes in Intel and at least 9 other resource and infrastructure companies. With indications they’d seek to acquire more stakes in more companies. Mostly Defense/Security related at the moment but that could easily expand. It probably would behoove us to at least for the moment. Throw traditional economic strategy and analysis out the window. Whether it’s Keynesian or Austrian School. As clearly something transcending Economic policy is going on in the background.
For the most part that is a Journalists job. Being a professional liar and misrepresenting and or selectively omitting facts. Based off of who’s paying.
The Truth rarely sells as well as a lie meant to stoke the flames and create outrage
Maybe Computer Hardware will get cheaper
In case anyone is curious. They’re keeping codes for the major Christian Denominations and Major non-Christian Denominations.
They’re axing the codes for Atheism, New Age stuff, obscure pagan/wiccan religions etc.
The NBA is literally the only thing keeping the WNBA going with periodic cash infusions because the WNBA can’t put asses in seats or get people to tune in on streaming services or T.V
People on the right seem to conflate their hometown Hardware Store, Local Mechanic or Grocer. With the Corporations and Conglomerates that so characterize most peoples idea of “The Free Market”.
The fact remains the model of the “Free Market” as reliant on the Corporations has ultimately proven it will turn on the people if left unrestrained. As It’s only guiding principles are the accruing of money and power above all else. And it’s created a significant group of people whose only real allegiance is money and power.
The Corporations and the Corporate Class must be brought to heel. Or they will damn us all in the name of money.
U-505 really was cursed. Her crew were right. She ended up permanently in Chicago of all places. At least humans have the option of leaving.
So an illegal snapped and murdered his child, girlfriend, and her mother.
The ironic part is if the Sheriff’s office held him for ICE. The Girlfriend he murdered would have been demanding his release.
The motive remains unclear, according to authorities.
TBH. Often enough in sudden cases like this. It’s a spur of the moment thing they do while drunk, Angry, and or high. So there very may not be any particular motive beyond impulsive anger.
Strictly speaking most people today who identify as Conservative today. Would have been centrists and or in the left-wing 200 years ago. If you classified them according to the original political dichotomy and division of ideas. The original right-wing by and large no longer exists. Even traditional age old right-wing ideas. Or at least Right-Wing from when the idea originally entered our lexicon in the late 1700s. Such as Monarchism. Doesn’t really exist today outside of fringe of fringe blogs. By Monarchism of course I mean the traditional notion where a Monarch ultimately decides policy and participates in ruling the nation. Not the modern version which is mostly just representative democracy with a different paint job and all power resting with an elected parliament.
In part because Modern post-enlightenment Western Politics was conceived as fundamentally progressive. Its animating principles weren’t conceived with any limits. A point where someone could decisively point to and say “The Cause of Liberty has advanced far enough.” As according to the writings of many enlightenment scholars. The general expectation was religion or other similar ideas. Would ultimately serve as the check on the inherent corrosive nature of the underlying philosophy. When history would tell us humans are quite adept at rewriting, reinterpreting, and omitting what we find inconvenient to what we Want to do. Even if it is the word of our God.
Essentially it’s impossible to conserve anything. When the animating principles undergirding the society are predisposed by their very nature. To erode the base on which you try to build.
Expectations of a bare minimum of socially/societally acceptable behavior for instance can with little effort be recast as an infringement on personal liberty and freedom of expression.
Expectations of at the very least maintaining your property in at the very least a moderately safe state. IE not covered in trash, needles, rusting metal etc. Can be cast as yet more infringements on liberty and Freedom. Who are you to tell me how to keep my property? Sure it’s an eyesore and glorified biohazard. But I have the right to live in trash if I so choose.
The idea of there being unchosen and involuntary obligations or duties a man may have to his family, community, and culture. Can also with very little effort. Be recast as Tyranny and intolerable assault on one’s personal sovereignty, freedom and liberty.
The only real ideology that’s shown any evolution whatsoever has generally been the left. The Left drags the center leftward. The right follows along behind picking up various cast off ideas and beliefs of the left and former center. And begins treating that as the new things they’re trying to conserve.
Trump is the most pertinent example of this. He’s by and large not exceptionally conservative in many respects. He’s largely Centrist by modern standards. Though if you keep track of other things he’s doing that don’t get highlighted by himself or others. He occasionally does exceptionally traditional old school conservative stuff with a modern twist in the background. He currently seems to be reverse engineering the incentive structure of feudalism in the background. And once again tying the interests of Americas wealthy Elite back to mainstream America. By acquiring significant Federal equity stakes in major companies. Inexorably tying the financial interests of those Companies and CEOs to broader American interests. As opposed to solely their personal financial self-interest.
I remember when they were predicting large scale death of the jabbed. Cancer Rates and general overall attrition are definitely elevated.
But Certainly not at the point of mass death, bodies being left in the streets and the doom and gloom suffering people online and various health influencers were predicting.
Granted coincidentally some of the same influencers were also selling various vitamins, supplements, and Regimens that they swore would detox you of spike proteins. So me thinks they didn’t have the financial incentive to be entirely truthful with their predictions and audiences.
Fun fact. One of the sole reasons Canada exists. Was because the British were beyond paranoid and afraid of a rail line linking the United States and Russia. Not to mention the U.S having a direct land route to Alaska.
Fraud is a possibility. Though it’s worth asking whether they’re fresh off the lot new. Or a few years old. As lots of people have been selling off their nicer vehicles for cheaper options. Economically a lot of folks can’t afford the car payments on the nicer shit they used to drive.
So the ‘Luxury’ cars end up on used car lots. Where hood rats and wannabe Gangsters can pick them up for a Song. So they can show off to Friends and or opponents in exchange for street cred.
Likely the Chinese are indeed pushing things along. In part because if people get hooked on Chinese versions first. It’s going to make it exceptionally difficult for anyone else to get off the ground.
One of biggest challenges we’re ultimately probably going to have to deal with going forward is ultimately dealing with the consequences of the past century of blind worship of the Markets and Business as being inherent moral goods in of themselves. And it’s subsequent consequences of creating a significant class of people whose only real loyalty is to money and profit.
Though it looks like Trump is taking steps to ultimately confront that. Which have largely flown under the radar. But since the Intel company bailout. The Feds via various means have begun acquiring equity stakes in various companies and resource operations. Up to 10% in most cases. Most are focused around resource development and critical infrastructure.
Last I saw they hit 10 companies. With potential plans to acquire stakes elsewhere. I think he’s largely leaving that part of the equation up to Lutnick and the Treasury though. With probably the War Department advising. As their acquisitions thus far have been primarily security related.
But it would begin tying the hands of the Corporate Elite that have been so eager to sell us out as parts of their wealth, fortunes, annd companies ultimately become linked to the welfare of the U.S.
Ironically almost a reverse engineering of the incentive structure of Medieval Nobility.
it does not appear to serve any useful purpose.
You can say that about most Congressmen
Mostly money. Partly control.
The unspoken side effect of treating absolutely everything as a Business/commercial opportunity or something to be monetized. Is it Ultimately can and frequently does generate counterproductive and counter-intuitive outcomes and behaviors as often as it does beneficial ones. Contrary to societal expectations.
One of the objectives most people have with starting a Business is to ultimately generate tons of money and profit. Along with consistent repeat customers. In many places this ultimately isn’t a problem.
But it certainly fields such as Medicine. The goal and purpose of starting a Business, IE generating as much profit as you can reasonably extract, runs contrary to the popular expectation of Medicine. Which is ultimately curing and treating illness. But if you consistently cure people and develop successful treatments. They no longer need your products. Which harms your bottomline and your whole purpose for starting a business in the first place.
So you either need to create more problems and illnesses to manage, cure, and treat. Or focus on treating/managing symptoms rather than developing cures.
More competition won’t change the fact that fundamentally the incentive structure that spawns from treating Medicine as a Business is part of the modern problem in medicine.
There’s also the incentive in other industries such as energy to actively hamstring Technological Development if it’ll harm your bottomline as well. Of which the Fossil Fuel and Energy Companies are more than acquainted with. Who do you think threw all the money at the Anti-Nuclear groups and NGOs?
I’d imagine there’s also more than one tech company has ultimately buried or destroyed promising research and prototypes because it ultimately threatened their financial interests.
Seems like it was more a way to get the fringes of society, IE organized crime and political fringes, who were critical of banks and other financial systems to invest their wealth into another financial system. Tying it up in a speculative system that makes the stock market look more stable.
So the suspect was a Sex Offender and for all practicality a Military Deserter. Who ultimately didn’t even have any particular beef with the bank or any of the employees or customers. He was just pissed about a previous legal case.
Well at the very least it had a happy ending and the only person who permanently hurt was the suspect and we aren’t stuck supporting his worthless ass in prison with our tax dollars
TBH. Major overdue reforms for the Judiciary would probably be more in order first. Before tossing more money at local governments and municipalities. Many of whom are liable to blow it. Because local and State Governments can often make the Federal Government look fast, responsive and competent in comparison.
And often enough the issue isn’t the Police or their equipment/training. It’s the fact Judges keep letting violent offenders, thieves, and other assorted Human detritus go with slaps on the wrist and no meaningful punishment.
That and we made it damn near impossible without a million legal hoops to jump through to force the crazy and mentally unstable into treatment. Or at the very least containment away from the rest of society. And have deemed being crazy to be a legal excuse for absolutely heinous crimes and or just being a general menace.
There’s something ironic about a Congressman accusing someone else of being corrupt or working for someone corrupt.
When it’s a running joke and default assumption among most Americans that Congress and the Legislative branch of government regardless of party is one of the most corrupt bodies in American Government.
Not exactly surprising. A Celebration like that ultimately requires both extreme Energy as well as Hope.
Significant portions of the population on both sides of the aisle is exhausted spiritually and physically not to mention don’t exactly have hope for the future available in spades. There’s a billion and a half problems requiring attention. No one can agree on anything. Let alone solutions for the problems. The Left for obvious reasons. While segments of the Right are feuding over legal definitions and subjecting each other to purity tests. As well as cope posting about the state of society. While simultaneously screaming about the Constitution any time anyone actually wants to do something about it.
American Businesses are content to treat the U.S as economic zone instead of a country. And Americans as interchangeable pawns with foreigners. With no sign of that changing in the near future.
We also don’t really build anything beautiful anymore. As prevailing standards are usually based around how cheap something is to build and maintain. Not to mention how easy it is to flip the property. Generic Concrete and or Wooden Boxes aren’t exactly inspiring or invigorating.
People are tired. While at the same time being afraid of change. The rhetoric and justification changes with the political ideology but the fact remains it’s ultimately used to justify the dysfunctional and declining status quo. Because any change may serve to discredit someone’s pet ideology and preferred way of viewing the world.
The real news is the seeming attempt to buyout EBay. Sounds like they might be trying to make an Amazon competitor
Gunports and Firing Slits have been around for decades on Armored vehicles. I’d imagine Though the primary market is going to be Private Security, and High Value Transport Companies. IE cash. S. Africa has a nasty problem with Armored cars being held up. Though I’d imagine you’ll get Farmers and others having them installed on their up armored vehicles too
It seems the appeal on this one is it’s mounted directly on the Window which is presumably the bullet proof kind. So you’re protected from return fire but can still shoot through the Window.
Paint or the cracks from taking fire though will render the advantage of it moot though in short order. Though I’d imagine the objective is to buy the vehicle occupants the couple minutes to roll through the ambush. Rather than fight it out in a protracted engagement
These are mostly being marketed for Private Security Vehicles and Uparmored Transports. Like Bank Cars. Not exactly things you can casually roll the Windows down on.
Strictly speaking biologically we’re hardwired with a tendency towards overeating. As food for significant portions of our history was far from being consistent. Everyone also did far more manual labor. So you got used to eating heartily when you were able to. As there was no guarantee you could later. If the Harvests failed, herds moved, ships never arrived etc. You starved. But you also still had work to do often enough.
The tendency towards overeating isn’t helped by the fact that processed foods is deliberately engineered to be addictive at a biological level and hyper palatable to boot. With them going a step further and using psychological tricks and conditioning with the advertising and packaging. One of the biggest employers of chemists, and Psychologists outside of Medicine. Is the Food industry. With their main goals being engineering food that is even more addictive and hyper palatable than it is already. And discovering new psychological techniques for use in advertising. Significant portions of the Food in this country is quite literally the product of Frankenstein science experiments.
It’s also been only been comparatively recently historically speaking that food, processed or otherwise, has been plentiful enough. That being fat has become an issue for every level of the economic hierarchy and not just the Rich. The Body hasn’t quite caught up to the physical reality. Which is even poor people can afford to be walking around looking like Beachballs these days. And often enough even the people doing back breaking labor for a living are sporting impressive guts.
The fact he’s allowed to run period is a stinging indictment in of itself