168 Comments

  1. SDF-7

    Elon Musk combats anti-immigration sentiment in posts decrying ‘dire shortage’ of tech talent

    From said article:

    Musk replied. “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.”

    I don’t doubt that’s true from Elon’s perspective (especially the “super motivated”… i.e. will work incredibly long hours and all). The overall percentage of such people in the world is likely low, and sure — streamlining the immigration process for those who seriously want to come here and work such jobs makes sense.

    But don’t ignore the abuse of the H1B program for decades now Elon and tell me it is raining. Silly Valley has been importing especially low level roles as indentured servants for some time and always wants more so they can depress wages (while firing US workers… IBM, Red Hat… looking at you especially). Adding to that the DEI stuff (“white males are icky”) and the decided tendency of some managers once they get in to hire like folks that’s been documented over the years — and you can’t blame folks for being a little antsy when it comes to US tech jobs.

    Lot of ramble — no real answers, I know… good morning anyway, all. Stay frosty!

    • Nephilium

      I have lots of issues with the H1-B program. Mainly focused on how it works as a form of indentured servitude for the workers.

    • UnCivilServant

      How about a tech apprensiceship system for citizens?

      I know I don’t use a damn thing I learned in College and most of the tech we use is taught on the job.

      • juris imprudent

        Will there be a federal subsidy for that???

      • UnCivilServant

        Why? There’s no need. Companies bitching about a lack of tech people can start their own. A contract of “will not jump ship for X months” would be justified.

      • Pat

        Companies bitching about a lack of tech people can start their own.

        Lol. Lmao even.

      • juris imprudent

        Why? There’s no need.

        Well of course there is no need, but is that really sufficient to rule out a subsidy? Politics my man, politics!

    • Mojeaux

      I’ve always taken H1B visas on their face and it didn’t bother me. I bought that Indians are supersmart tech people who have problems assimilating/socializing in the west.

      Between this and that Twitter thread yesterday (it’s nice when the guy who owns the thing doesn’t ban you when you’re in his face), I’m starting to think that “Andrew” from a spam call center may not be the exception to my belief.

      Lots of good points have been brought up and I’m annoyed Fox called them “immigration restrictionists.” Like, really? People are mad about being replaced with low-skilled workers whose contract owners have given them 3 months of rudimentary coding training and padded their resumes, and you tell them they’re wrong to feel that way?

      Elon let the techbros off their leash and they are not going to waste the opportunity.

    • Drake

      There are a whole lot of recent Computer Science grads still looking for jobs or sales jobs because nobody’s hiring at decent pay. My son got out of the field convinced that AI will wipe out everyone at his level.

      • rhywun

        Unciv brings up apprenticeships.

        This is how it works in countries that are serious.

        We are not a serious country. We throw kids in college where they get drunk for four years and expect them to know how to function in a job when they come out? It doesn’t work that way.

      • Common Tater

        They also get government money to major in things that can’t get a job.

      • Fourscore

        The striking workers at Amazon and Starbucks need to be careful, there’s a whole new crop of college grads coming soon

    • rhywun

      Yep there’s a whole lot of suck all around this situation. There is no single answer.

      I would start with educating some Americans first. Stop paying them to sit on their ass and do nothing but have kids. Kill DEI bullshit. Then we can figure out how many Indians to import.

    • RAHeinlein

      Watching Fox Business a few minutes ago – they made a special point of letting the viewers know that H1B visas are about brining-in experts and this shouldn’t be confused with ILLEGAL immigration. This view was seconded by a member of the panel who said these “experts” will help our country grow.

      • rhywun

        Sigh. Yeah, I have to agree with the X link Moj added. I’ve tried to half-ass interview a bunch of these types (not part of my job, just to sort of vet them) and you can tell a lot of them have no idea what they’re talking about. I finally gave up and just said to myself, “can I understand their English”.

    • invisible finger

      The visas were abused to the point where contracts were limited to 18 months and could not be renewed until 6 months after expiration.

      Then the tech industry decided to apply those same terms to all contracts- even for citizens. Meaning you can’t work for Company A for six months after your contract expires but maybe company B will give you an 18-month contract.

      Of course the real culprit is Obamacare and not wanting “employees “ – cheaper to just have consultants on contracts that run out. The labor laws put the US citizen at a disadvantage in the global economy. Probably by design.

  2. cavalier973

    “Few seem to care” about Social Security going bankrupt because everybody has been hearing for decades how Social Security is going bankrupt, but somehow never does.

    • juris imprudent

      Like immigration this is a topic that repels honesty.

  3. LCDR_Fish

    The social security bill is just nuts considering that all those impacted had originally voluntarily opted out of the plan to their own benefit – and now they want to double-dip. NRO had a few pieces on it in detail.

    https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/12/a-washington-giveaway-to-government-workers/

    ….The bill repeals two amendments to the Social Security Act that sought to prevent windfall benefits for government employees with pensions. Their income is excluded from Social Security taxes since they receive government pensions, but when it comes time to calculate retirement benefits, their incomes look much lower than they actually were. Because Social Security benefits are supposed to be progressive, they then receive excessive Social Security payments on top of their government pensions.

    Congress made the two amendments to address this issue more than 40 years ago, when data quality was much lower than it is today. There’s a case for reforming them to better match modern data, and Representative Jodey Arrington (R., Texas) introduced a bill to do that, at a ten-year cost of $24 billion.

    Instead, Congress has passed the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal the amendments entirely, reverting to the same windfall benefits problem. That will cost almost ten times as much as Arrington’s bill, nearly $200 billion over ten years. And it will bring the insolvency date for the Social Security trust fund, currently in 2033, six months closer, at which point beneficiaries will receive an automatic benefits cut of about 25 percent under current law.

    It’s bad enough that both parties have promised to not address the country’s entitlements problem. They don’t have to also work together to make it worse. But while everyone was obsessing over Elon Musk’s posts about continuing resolutions, that’s exactly what happened. In the House, 191 Democrats and 136 Republicans voted for the Social Security Fairness Act. In the Senate, 46 Democrats and 24 Republicans voted to advance the bill, with final passage and the president’s signature all but certain.

    Entitlements spending happens on autopilot, outside the normal appropriations process that consumes so much of Congress’s energy. Members aren’t voting on it annually, and when they get a one-off chance to cast a vote, such as on the Social Security Fairness Act, they stumble over each other to be the first to say how much they love Social Security and want to expand it.

    We wish the best to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Because we want to see it succeed, we’re disappointed that Musk, whose enmity for government employees is palpable, and Trump, whose support for the DOGE has been strong, didn’t exert effort to stop this bill giving away more money to retired government employees. It’s hard to envision Republicans who can’t even be counted on to oppose this bill overseeing mass dismissals of government employees next year.

    While the teachers’ unions, the postal unions, and the bureaucrats’ unions thank their lobbyists for a job well done extracting even more money from taxpayers, Congress can go on Christmas break knowing it made an already bad problem even worse. And that’s before even taking into account the government-funding package……

    • R C Dean

      Fucking useless Republicans.

      • juris imprudent

        Yep. I love how they were willing to undo two Democratic initiatives to reduce undue benefits to govt workers.

      • Ed Wuncler

        My favorite party trick is always telling people that our three major entitlements, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid unfunded liabilities equals the world’s GDP. That train is getting closer and closer but no one including the voters want to try and stop the train nor move out of it’s way.

        DOGE is great and all but if we don’t tackle our out of control entitlement system which produces nothing and is broke as a joke, DOGE will be nothing more than a gimmick.

      • ron73440

        Can we give them a break on their mortgages also?

        Poor under paid public “servants”.

      • Fourscore

        “useless Republicans” is redundant.

        /Not Ted S’

      • EvilSheldon

        Mom and Dad are gonna love this. I’ll have to call and congratulate them.

    • Rat on a train

      Their income is excluded from Social Security taxes since they receive government pensions
      Some are more equal than others.

    • rhywun

      ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      So it all goes under even faster. I may even live to see it and laugh my fucking ass off.

    • invisible finger

      Data quality? What bullshit.

  4. rhywun

    The resolution calls on San Diego County to no longer allow ICE agents use of county facilities for any purposes, no longer respond to ICE inquiries, or otherwise assist in any civil immigration enforcement matter.

    Look, the Trump Resistance requires breaking a few eggs. You don’t want Trump to win, do you?

  5. Not Adahn

    Good morning!

    I made my official Christmas dinner mid-day, so it was kind of nice to be able to accept the offer from the non-Christian bloc at the dog park to go with them for Indian food last evening. I think the Hindu chick is into me.

    • Fourscore

      ” I think the Hindu chick is into me.”

      Why not both?

    • EvilSheldon

      I had Indian food for Christmas myself. I think I like it better than the Chinese takeout trope.

    • Pat

      The only Indian food I’ve ever had is very Americanized tikka masala, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

      I have heard it reported that Indian women generally won’t stick around long-term with a white guy due to family pressure. But of course, generalizations are general, and not everyone is after a long-term relationship.

      • Not Adahn

        She is too proggie to be a long-term partner, and too popular at the dog park to treat badly.

      • Sensei

        Indian food is great. And available in various heat levels.

      • juris imprudent

        What happened to your partner in weight loss?

      • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

        The spiciest meal I have ever had, bar none, was an Indian meal in London.

        Hoe Lee Kow!

        Also the meal were I have drank the most beer without getting tipsy.

      • Not Adahn

        Decided to start stalking her ex. Got arrested.

      • juris imprudent

        Decided to start stalking her ex. Got arrested.

        Spicy. So you didn’t catch sooner where she was on the hot-crazy matrix.

      • R C Dean

        Ah. A bunny boiler. Run, NA, run!

      • Sean

        Decided to start stalking her ex. Got arrested.

        Dude!

        L O L

      • ron73440

        Decided to start stalking her ex. Got arrested.

        I heard my ex had a stalker, but I’ve been hiding in her bushes for a week, and I haven’t seen anyone!

        I googled the above joke because I can’t remember where I heard it and got this amazing AI overview:

        AI Overview
        Learn more
        If you’ve been hiding in your ex’s bushes for a week without seeing a stalker, it’s highly likely that the information you heard about a stalker was inaccurate or that the stalker is not actively targeting her at the moment, making your actions unnecessary and potentially concerning. It’s crucial to stop this behavior immediately as it could be considered stalking itself and could have legal repercussions.

        That’s hilarious.

    • Not Adahn

      If anyone can get legislation put through the five-hole, it’s him.

      • Common Tater

        They’ll have to put a net in front of the PM’s office.

    • Common Tater

      To be fair, Gordy Howe died eight years ago.

      • R.J.

        I bet he still votes for Justin!

        *Ba Dum – Tshhhh!

        These are the jokes folks!

  6. ron73440

    I did find my wife a car this weekend, went with a 2011 Camry.

    It only has 89,000 miles on it and seems to have been well maintained.

    Only issue is the paint, clear coat is faded and stating to peel.

    We loved an Infiniti G37 we tested, but were worried about long term costs.

    • Pat

      I need to get my 2006 Elantra repainted at some point. I can’t afford to replace it with anything close to its current mileage at ~91k, so I have to bite the bullet on some maintenance. I hate this stage of vehicle ownership where they start nickle and diming you for age-related upkeep, but no single repair is quite enough to justify replacement.

      Anybody know what an el-cheapo one-color-coat-two-top-coat job like the sons of bitches Maaco used to is running nowadays?

      • Sensei

        Talk to some local places and ask if they will cut you a break if you pull the trim yourself.

        If you are chasing a cheap job you will likely do a better job there.

        Personally I hate looking at poor paint jobs. I’d suck it up and pay for a professional, but not high end job.

      • Common Tater

        Does it need to get repainted?

      • Pat

        Does it need to get repainted?

        Oh shit yeah. The clear coat was failing when I bought it 11 years ago, and the subsequent decade sitting uncovered under the southern Nevada sun took its toll.

        Talk to some local places and ask if they will cut you a break if you pull the trim yourself.

        Worth checking out. This being a relatively small town, but only a 40 minute drive to a bigger city, they might cut a local a break as well.

    • Sensei

      Looks around, doesn’t see kinnath, plus it’s a Nissan…

      • kinnath

        Just getting here this morning.

        Classic Camry seems like a solid choice.

        Nissans are good enough. My local dealer is outstanding and has been for approaching 30 years. Thus, I buy Nissans pretty much exclusively and get them serviced at the dealer.

    • PieInTheSky

      I thought you Americans had lots of money unlike is lazy Europeans. Buy a new car, one with many electronics.

      • UnCivilServant

        One of the reasons we have more money is knowing when not to waste it.

      • PieInTheSky

        stop being selfish and think of Pie’s bonus !!!

      • ron73440

        I hate spending money on cars.

        The only new car I ever bought was the 2009 Corolla that got wrecked in October.

        My daily driver is a 2005 Saab, remember?

      • PieInTheSky

        Buy a new car – let me rephrase buy two new cars

      • Sean

        Buy a new car – let me rephrase buy two new cars

        I’m good on vehicles for a bit and my GF intends to drive her Escape until it falls apart.

    • ZWAK, doktor of BRAIN SCIENCE!

      That is a solid vintage of Camry, my friend Brian as 300K + on his. The G37 is like all used luxury cars: good bones, but are single owner cars unless you do all the maintenance on the them yourself.

      When I worked at the auto electrician, we would see a lot of that type. Jags, Cadillacs, mercs, and so on. First owners always take them to the dealer, second owners came to a shop like ours (not cheap, but knew exactly what was going on in our field, dealers would send problem cars to us) and third owners neglected everything.

      • DrOtto

        My daughter has a 2009 G37 base model I bought from the 2nd owner. No frills (for a luxury car) other than a very dependable V6 and 7 speed conventional auto (pretty sure it’s an Aisin) RWD drive train. If it was loaded, I wouldn’t have been excited for the purchase. There are no cameras, screens or auto adjusting suspension (these are the options that get a used car owner in trouble) in her car. Just steel springs and a radio with an info screen for radio inputs and lots of real buttons and dials. She is the 3rd owner though, so yes, neglect is on the menu.

      • ron73440

        My daughter has a 2009 G37 base model I bought from the 2nd owner. No frills (for a luxury car) other than a very dependable V6 and 7 speed conventional auto (pretty sure it’s an Aisin) RWD drive train. If it was loaded, I wouldn’t have been excited for the purchase. There are no cameras, screens or auto adjusting suspension (these are the options that get a used car owner in trouble) in her car. Just steel springs and a radio with an info screen for radio inputs and lots of real buttons and dials. She is the 3rd owner though, so yes, neglect is on the menu.

        We were really close to picking it, but my wife wants something she will have forever, so the Toyota seemed more likely to fulfill that.

        It was close though.

        I also think she was worried I would end up stealing it and leave her with my old Saab. (she might not have been wrong about that)

      • DrOtto

        Hard to argue against the practicalities of the Toyota.

    • ron73440

      I will be looking at paint correction to see if that’s an option.

  7. Mojeaux

    Okay, wow. I always thought I wanted a soft mattress.

    Until the Days Inn in Kearney, NE. It would have been lovely 10 years ago. Now my back took exception.

    • PieInTheSky

      have you considered deadlifting 400 pounds to improve your back?

    • DrOtto

      Soft mattresses are da debil

      • Fourscore

        Firm/extra firm

  8. Pat

    DOGE to Take on Pentagon’s $895.2 Billion Budget

    Sounds like a bunch of pinko gut-the-military rhetoric to me. Everybody knows that the DOD needs to spend 3x more than it did during the height of our 5 or 6 front wars in the middle east, even after we’ve wound down Iraq and Afghanistan, lets the turrorists win.

    • Rat on a train

      With a big enough increase, the US can finally give Ukraine everything it needs to defeat that dastardly Putin.

      • SDF-7

        Certainly the Pentagon is going to be pissed if the FBI has a bigger building. They’ll want more sides for more rear echelon… staff support roles!

      • rhywun

        if the FBI has a bigger building

        Jeebus I hope Trump kills that fucking thing.

      • juris imprudent

        The first six months of the upcoming admin is going to be interesting. Patel will want no part of a new HQ.

      • R C Dean

        While ultimately Congress needs to put the stake in its heart, I think there is an enormous amount of potential to be harnessed in the core competency of any bureaucracy – delay. And this can be used to hobble the agencies across the board, from de facto/de jure repealing of regulations to reducing their actual size.

        I’m not sure how the non-impoundment act is even supposed to be enforced, for example. By the time you get a trial court ruling ordering the executive to spend the money, some chunk of the fiscal year that it is appropriated for has run, maybe the entire year. And then you have appeals, which would certainly not be resolved before the fiscal year is over. There is also, of course, the question of standing, and what would even trigger the case – if the money just isn’t being spent, what exactly is the (judicial) cause of action?

      • Rat on a train

        Move the FBI HQ to Detroit.

    • R C Dean

      While I am sure there are vast savings to be found in the Pentagon’s budget, I still think the first thing we need to do is take a hard look at what the US military should be sized for, what its purpose should be. I, for one, would argue that the kind of brainless “project power in arbitrary amounts anywhere on the planet” mode we seem to be in is not the right purpose.

      • juris imprudent

        No one wants to have that kind of conversation. Fucking Graham will lead the charge to save the Pentagon from all scrutiny.

      • Pat

        Fortress American is my ideal. The only form of power projection should be a strong navy to secure commercial shipping from piracy and foreign interference. We’ve got sufficient ranged weapons to rattle our saber at anybody that wants to push their luck. Other than that, keep a strictly defensive force.

      • Ed Wuncler

        Pat:

        That’s kind of my way of thinking too. When you start building bases all over the world, you’re easily tempted to start projecting your nose into every conflict on the globe. But that would require us to change the way we think about our military power, and it won’t happen because Lockheed, Boeing, and Raytheon would probably throw a huge bitchfit and their Congressional patrons will fight it tooth and nail.

      • rhywun

        With China throwing its weight around everywhere now, I don’t see any chance the U.S. will ease off on sticking our dick everywhere one bit.

      • Fourscore

        Ships are a slow moving target these days…

        FBI needs a Hexagon ’cause it’s 1 bigger…

      • Ed Wuncler

        Rhywun:

        I read an article where China is building roads in Jamaica (using their businesses as proxies) and the Jamaicans are already seeing the ill effects of having them in their country. The play patron of infrastructure, create terms for desperate countries that only benefits the Chinese businesses ( i.e. government), and then load the countries up on debt where when they do eventually default, the Chinese can dictate the way their country is ran.

        The Libertarian in me is like….. it’s the Jamaican’s problem and it’s not our business to interfere, but at the same time not super comfortable with China being so close in our backyard and loading the Caribbean countries up on debt.

      • rhywun

        China is building roads in Jamaica

        Yeah, Belt ‘n’ Road. They’re doing the same in countries around the world. I’m hoping the CCP house of cards falls apart before too much damage is done.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Force a real audit through to completion. Without a proper accounting of assets you can’t do shit properly. There are tons of legacy buildings on bases that could either be disposed of or shuttered permanently – and assets re-shifted to newer buildings properly (esp re: barracks and safety/health issues). Absolutely need a new round of BRAC to reassess best locations and cut redundancy. Especially if states like CA decide that they can throw their weight around re: national assets like rocket launches, etc.

        Joint bases are a good option for cost savings – even better if it makes the services compete for discounts.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Get rid of all the stupid green shit – especially re: fuels.

        That said…given the massive parking lots in Norfolk, San Diego, and other bases, I would absolutely support more shaded parking areas with solar panel roofs – to save power for base usage. That or building proper multi-level parking garages for efficiency. Far more useful than wasting acreage of normal fields/forests/etc for solar panels.

      • juris imprudent

        start projecting your nose into every conflict on the globe

        But Ed, we KNOOooooowww what is bessssst for evvvvvveryone. /Hahvahd accent

        Our hubris is only planetary, at the moment. Elon gets us off this rock – we will impose our glorious stupidity on the entire universe!

  9. The Late P Brooks

    Anybody know what an el-cheapo one-color-coat-two-top-coat job like the sons of bitches Maaco used to is running nowadays?

    This guy

  10. The Late P Brooks

    Those dedicated public servants slave their fingers to the bone for a pittance. They make far less than they could in the private market, but their love of service makes up for it. Don’t begrudge them an affordable retirement.

  11. Pat

    A group of banks and business groups are suing the Federal Reserve over the annual bank stress tests.
    _
    The Bank Policy Institute, which represents big banks like JPMorgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, is joining the American Bankers Association, the Ohio Bankers League, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to file the suit, which they said aims to “resolve longstanding legal violations by subjecting the stress test process to public input as required by federal law.”
    _
    The groups said they don’t oppose stress testing, but that the current process falls short and “produces vacillating and unexplained requirements and restrictions on bank capital.”

    Tough shit. You should have considered that when you decided to use the federal treasury as a backup capital source the last time you ran your companies into the ground. If you want to effectively be NGOs under a “too big to fail” legal framework where your losses are socialized, the price you pay for being a cuck is that somebody else gets to fuck your wife.

    • Sensei

      You mean when in 2007 FedGov said you must register as a bank and you must take TARP money despite none of them wanting to do so.

      To which FedGov said too bad you have to take it so the banks that need it aren’t stigmatized?

      I hate Goldman with a passion, but this ain’t why.

      • Pat

        All true. What happened then was a travesty. But why do you suppose they didn’t put up this sort of a stink and launch lawsuits at the time? “Oh please Mr. Federal Reserve Chairman, don’t throw me in that briar patch!” These sacks of donkey shit love their incestuous relationship with fedgov right up until they don’t. I’d have a modicum of sympathy for them if they stood on principle and got railroaded anyway, but it pretty much evaporated when they happily participated in order to save their own asses at the expense of everyone else.

    • R C Dean

      I’d be curious to know what public input is required for the Fed. It isn’t an administrative agency, as far as I know, so what it does probably(?) isn’t subject to the Administrative Procedures Act.

      • juris imprudent

        Now you know why Lizzie Warren had the hots for that for CFPB.

  12. juris imprudent

    First Boxing Day match in the books, Man City still can’t find a win.

    • rhywun

      🙂

  13. The Late P Brooks

    Paging Spud

    For the first time in over 30 years, Amtrak will count someone from the Pacific Northwest on its board — a longtime Boise City Council member-turned-transit-leader. Showing continued bipartisan support for passenger rail, a U.S. Senate committee unanimously confirmed Elaine Clegg, CEO of Valley Regional Transit, to the national post. President Joe Biden tapped Clegg for the role in May, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. Over the weekend, she got the final nod for the appointment from a mix of Democrats and Republicans who steer the Senate’s transportation committee, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX.

    ——-

    Clegg served on the Boise City Council for almost 20 years before announcing in November 2023 that she would step down to take on the leading role at Valley Regional Transit. The move came out of Clegg’s desire to focus more on transportation, including to expand bus services in the Treasure Valley, she told the Statesman. Since taking on the position just over a year ago, Clegg has also spurred conversations about restoring Amtrak service in the Treasure Valley. Passenger trains haven’t run through Boise and the surrounding area since 1997.

    But will they be electric trains?

    • R C Dean

      Most trains are electric now. True, they burn diesel to run on-board generators, but the motors turning the wheels are electric. Plug-in electric trains would be such a colossally stupid I can’t believe anybody would even try to develop . . . .

      OK, there’s probably a 9 figure subsidy program for plug-in electric trains manufacturers.

      • Sensei

        Ahh… for high traffic passenger fully electric with a catenary is more cost effective.

        So you know like less than 10% of the tracks in the U.S.

      • Rat on a train

        Trainbrains lament that railroads don’t like catenaries over their freight lines.

    • Plinker762

      All the new democrats in Boise want their trains?

    • Ted S.

      Nope. Only acoustic trains.

    • creech

      “Passenger trains haven’t run through Boise and the surrounding area since 1997.”
      Get in line, lady; passenger trains haven’t run thru my town since 1986.

      • rhywun

        I think it was the ’50s in my (new) town.

        But yeah while I like trainzzz we can’t have a rational conversation about transportation in this country because it’s infected by politics. MAGA Montanan pols turn on a dime when you suggest pulling the ridiculously oversubsidized service.

      • Pat

        Love that episode.

    • Pat

      First link has some retreads, #34 included, but certain things you don’t mind seeing twice… That said, I don’t think #16 is dressed appropriately for the office, and I suspect #62 may not be a real pilot.

      Second link, I don’t know what #8 is cosplaying, but I wouldn’t be opposed to finding out. #20 seems like a highly competent custodial professional. If only I had the money to hire that kind of talent…

  14. PieInTheSky

    Even though the US receives fewer international tourists than France and Spain (66.5 million as opposed to Spain’s 85.2M and France’s 100M), tourists to the US *spend* far more, resulting in a large gap in terms of total value.

    https://x.com/StatisticUrban/status/1871498768383959097

    AMERICANS ARE ROBBING TOURISTS BLIND !!!!!11!!!1!

    • Sensei

      Aren’t a god chunk of the tourists from the UK?

      • creech

        I remember, decades ago, when our business visitors from UK would bring an extra empty suitcase to haul home the linens, towels, and other dry goods they purchased at the local mall.

      • Jarflax

        Based on my highly scientific method of noticing tourists in various National Parks, I’d say most are Japanese and German. Axis Powers tourism so to speak.

    • Q Continuum

      They aren’t sending us their best.

    • UnCivilServant

      Think about it for a second.

      When you have more foreign countries in close proximity, you can get more tourists with less money.

      It already costs most tourists to the US a good chunk to get here, so they’re going to be brining more disposable funds per capita.

      The only exception is Canukistanis, who can still do the low income tourist thing, but there are few Canukistanis in total.

  15. Sensei

    This morning I learned Honda had 1.0L 3 cylinder wet belt turbo motor used in China and the UK Civics.

    As expected it was a POS.

  16. Q Continuum

    The H1B stuff has been a scam for years, Silicon Valley just exploits mediocre foreign programmers for the jobs that aren’t too complicated and could easily be done by new American grads, but for pennies on the dollar.

    It’s the same model that academia has been using in the hard sciences for decades. University science departments flood the zone with (extremely) low paid postdocs on year-to-year contracts that the vast majority of Americans won’t take simply because making $30K/year with no benefits as a physics PhD is still much better than what they can get at home. So the vast majority of real work in science is done by foreigners making barely above minimum wage while a handful of tenured faculty take all the credit and sit comfortable in their sinecures until death.

    • Ed Wuncler

      One of my first jobs out of school, was a staff accountant for a cyber security company. After two years of being there, they figured that they could outsource 90 percent of accounting out to Poland where you can pay the accountants there cheaper than you can here in the states.

      I knew the jig was up when one day the controller and managers asked us to train our Polish accountants our tasks (just in case we got sick) and someone could fill in the gap. The second indicator was when they started writing people up for anything and everything. I got written up for stuff that my previous senior and manager signed off on (they were at different jobs by then) and when I called them out on it, they basically said that someone has to take the blame for the shit from the past and you’re here. That day forwards, I updated LinkedIn, did the bare minimum and didn’t work a minute after 5 PM, and found a much better role that paid more.

      • rhywun

        I can’t imagine how rough it is these days just out of school.

        I’m near the tail end so I like to think I have the experience to keep my job but kids these days… they have no idea what they’re getting into and companies don’t give a shit about that either.

      • Ed Wuncler

        I can’t speak for other industries, but I know accounting is having a hiring problem especially with the CPA’s retiring at a crazy rate. I recently got out of accounting and went to FP&A because I couldn’t take the long hours, the managers, or the work anymore after nearly a decade of doing it.

  17. Q Continuum

    “Section 5 would permit, if not encourage, library committees and local governmental bodies to make censorship decisions based on content or viewpoint, which would violate the First Amendment”

    I know I’m gonna get rotten tomatoes thrown at me here, but I can kind of see the judge’s point here. All that said, aren’t there obscenity laws already on the books that can be enforced?

    • rhywun

      I agree. They need to find another way.

      Everybody except the extreme radicals that have captured the Democratic party knows that kids should not be fed porn in school libraries – the question is how to go about it.

      • R C Dean

        So I guess hard core pornography in elementary schools it is, then.

      • R C Dean

        Meant as a reply to Q. Oh, and obscenity laws themselves are a form of censorship based on content, are they not?

    • Ted S.

      Make all school libraries keep a copy of The Turner Diaries on the shelves.

    • Common Tater

      That’s a stupid argument. All libraries are curated, because it’s impossible to have every book ever published.

      Another way to look at it is that’s compelled speech, not free speech.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    We took some numbers to the dungeon and tortured them

    “EV sales overall are incredibly strong,” says Albert Gore, director of the nonprofit Zero Emissions Transportation Association (ZETA). Though the numbers aren’t yet out for the fourth quarter of the year, Q3 was “recording setting” for both sales volume and market share, he noted.

    Reports of an EV slowdown aren’t talking about the volume of vehicles sold, but the growth rate. For several years, EV sales saw 50% growth year over year. Now, it’s closer to 20%. That may look like sales are slumping, but they’re still increasing—just at a slower rate. The early adopters eager to buy EVs drove the early growth, and after that rush of enthusiasm, the industry is now working to attract mainstream buyers.

    A 20% growth rate is “still a really compelling market for any manufacturer that wants to get into it,” Gore notes. He expects EV sales to keep growing, especially as more affordable options continue to become available: three of the top five most popular EVs on the market, he says, are under $45,000 before federal tax credits. That’s below the average transaction price for a new vehicle, which is closer to $48,000.

    ——-

    Separate from ZETA’s analyses, market research groups like Cox Automotive are pointing to the potential for EV growth. One Cox Automotive EV adoption study found that currently, 45% of consumers who want to buy a vehicle in the next year say they’re considering an EV—but 79% of shoppers will be considering an electric vehicle between 2026 to 2028. By 2033, that’s estimated to hit 90%.

    Don’t worry, consumers are clamoring desperately for a chance to buy one.

    • Pat

      “EV sales overall are incredibly strong,” says Albert Gore

      Would a guy with a name like Albert Gore ever lie to you about electric vehicles?

      • Gustave Lytton

        That’s Albert Gore III. Funny how he doesn’t use that or go by Al.

        ZETA claims to represent the entire EV industry, whatever that is. But their backing members are basically electric utilities and battery/charging related companies. Who all want a national 100% EV mandate.

    • R C Dean

      “Reports of an EV slowdown aren’t talking about the volume of vehicles sold, but the growth rate.”

      Well, that’s kind of what a slow down is – a reduction in the growth rate.

      “That may look like sales are slumping, but they’re still increasing—just at a slower rate.”

      Now do prices and inflation.

  19. Ed Wuncler

    Local as Fuck: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2024/12/cleveland-heights-council-passes-temporary-25-budget-over-objections-from-mayor-city-workers.html

    “With a 6-1 council majority set to vote in favor of the temporary budget — as well as hiring an independent accounting firm to assist in drafting a full-year budget by March 31 — Seren urged city employees to attend the meeting.”

    Basically, the Mayor is a dye in a wool Progressive, who submitted a budget to the city council a couple of weeks ago, and with the exception of one council member, they all smacked it down. The council said that the projections were a little too rosy for their tastes, spends too much considering that our tax base isn’t as strong as it used to be, received the budget at the last minute from the mayor (sounds familiar), and that the village hasn’t had a financial director nor a fully staffed accounting department for a while and thus may not even be accurately be presenting the right information.

    The mayor being the piece of shit that he is, asked the city workers to come in and bring their kids (because dinner would be served) to express their objections to the council’s vote, which made the council more resolute to tell the mayor to go fuck himself, and voted to fund the village government for a couple of months until an audit and consulting firm can come in and give them some real numbers.

    • Ed Wuncler

      Heights is a pretty liberal town but it’s pretty encouraging that the city council aren’t willing to rubber stamp his progressive wet dream of a budget and understands the value of keeping spending and budgets under control and within reality.

      • rhywun

        In my college town the fantasies – mostly around green horseshit – will continue until reality comes crashing down.

        You would think the pathetic state of the roads, among other problems, might give some pause but nope.

    • LCDR_Fish

      Chicago vibes.

      https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/brandon-johnson-gets-his-way-with-chicagos-public-schools/

      …When the current CEO of the Chicago Public School system, Pedro Martinez, refused to take out an incredibly risky high-interest payday loan to fund his giveaway to the CTU, Johnson all but ordered his handpicked slate of school board members to fire him. Instead of publicly buckle to such vulgar pressure, they resigned as a group. Johnson immediately appointed a second, more loyal interim slate of school board members, right before his CTU-backed candidates surprisingly got pasted in November’s first-ever elections for the position.

      So before the new school board members take office in January, Brandon Johnson ordered them to vote on Martinez Friday. The outcome was guaranteed: In a unanimous vote, Johnson’s handpicked school board fired him. A new, and compliant, schools CEO will be installed, Johnson will get his budget-destroying loan, the teacher’s union will get what it wants, and everybody else in the city of Chicago loses. Happy holidays.

      • rhywun

        I never expected the voters would replace Beetlejuice with somebody exponentially worse but there you go.

      • Ed Wuncler

        My parents and siblings are still in Chicago, and they send me articles like this every day. You thought that you couldn’t possibly get any worse than Lightfoot, but Brandon Johnson took it to a whole new level. Like Lightfoot was arrogant and an authoritarian but there was some competence whereas Johnson is a fucking idiot who doesn’t know he’s an idiot and a destructive one at that.

        The recently ousted CEO of CPS just launched a lawsuit against his removal so now the city will be on the hook for this court battle which will most likely be ruled in Martinez’s favor.

      • juris imprudent

        As if we needed further proof that Democratic politics do not select for competence.

      • Q Continuum

        Well when you elect an incompetent union tool, don’t be surprised if his main priorities are kickbacks to his fellow union tools.

      • Ed Wuncler

        And the moderate liberals and his opponent Paul Vallas warned that this shit would happen, and he still won anyway, because the voters where to0 apathetic to vote and the CTU and progressives where much better funded and mobilized. If it was up to me, the Chicago Mayor’s race would be in November during an election year, but they put it in February to stifle voter turnout.

        On a side note, the Obama’s and Bernie Sanders came to Chicago to campaign for this guy.

    • Nephilium

      Welcome to the Heights. They’ve been doing shit like that for years.

      • Ed Wuncler

        From what I understand up until 2019, the city had some sort of council-manager form of government, with seven members of council elected to four-year terms. Then the city adopted a new charter that created the Mayor Council form of government which has kind of been a disaster. The first and current mayor has been in politics in some form since college and so he doesn’t quite understand that budgets and spending especially in a suburb that doesn’t have a strong tax or expanding base like CH needs to be in line with reality or else you’ll end up like a Diet Coke version of East Cleveland.

      • Nephilium

        Ed:

        I’m sure they’re expecting marijuana taxes to cover their shortfalls.

      • Ed Wuncler

        They all do. I’m all for legalization but for fuck’s sake, weed is not going to fix the city’s budget. The mantra, “Fuck you, cut spending,” will.

      • rhywun

        new charter that created the Mayor Council form of government

        My town went in the opposite direction this year.

        I didn’t vote for any of them (I just moved here) because they’re all socialists running unopposed. There’s been a lot of growth in recent years so I fear that they will remain blind to reality too long.

      • Nephilium

        Ed:

        Over here, most of the cities are getting jealous and removing their moratoriums on recreational sales. I saw that the library down in Coventry was closing the PEACE building… which they were renting out to tenants and running a loss on it due to maintenance.

        I’ll spare you from the sob stories of the tenants getting “kicked out” (with 6 months notice).

  20. Gustave Lytton

    Musk decried a “permanent shortage of excellent engineering talent” in America

    “What we really need is unlimited H1B. And fives days in office. Maybe six. Americans are pussies.”

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Slanderous poppycock

    A BYD spokesperson, Li Yunfei, vehemently objected in a statement posted Thursday on his Weibo social media site.

    “In the matter of smearing Chinese brands, smearing China, and attempting to undermine the friendship between China and Brazil, we have seen how relevant foreign forces maliciously associate and deliberately smear,” it said, also criticizing media reports about the situation.

    BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, is one of the world’s largest producers of electric cars. The company said on Monday night that it would “immediately terminate the contract” with a contractor building the factory, the Jinjiang Group, and was “studying other appropriate measures.”

    It’s not slavery. It’s the natural state of the Chinese peasant.

    • rhywun

      Jobs Brazilians won’t do, I suppose.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    Random comment on cars: you can do a lot of maintenance, upkeep and even modification on an old(er) car for what the payments would be on a new one.

    Even paint- I have no idea what it costs to have a car painted (serviceable, not show car); $2500? more? That’s still about half a year’s worth of car payments. The real test- if it’s worth it to you, it’s worth it.

    • Tundra

      Agree 100 percent. Even the sales tax on a new car is absurd. If the average transaction is $50K, that can easily be $3500. You can do a lot of stuff to an old car for that.

      I hope we see some regulation relief. All the options that are available in Mexico are pretty depressing. You can buy a brand new VW mini pickup for $16K, but since it doesn’t meet our magical standards – no cheap truck for you!

    • ron73440

      That’s my thought process with my old vehicles.

      It hurt to spend $2600 on a new clutch for the Saab, but replacement would have been way more.

  23. Beau Knott

    Health update: cardioversion was entirely successful [but for how long?] in restoring me to normal heart rate & rhythm this morning. Barely 3 hours from arrival to departure(!!) and a pleasant, efficient, and highly professional team.
    Now fora day of rest to flush out the propofol 😉

    • The Other Kevin

      Good to hear you’re ok! Cardioversion sounds like a class at the gym, or maybe something you do to change a car from gas to electric. Was it that thing where they shock your heart?

      • Beau Knott

        Yup, it’s a ‘short sharp shock’ to the heart. It only took one, which is good. My youngest brother has had it done several times. First one lasted 6-ish years or so.
        Personally, I think of it as “we go in & torture your heart with electricity until it confesses and promises to behave in the future” lol

    • Gender Traitor

      😃👍

    • ron73440

      Sounds great, hope it holds.

    • Sean

      Good news!

    • Common Tater

      Go you! 🙂

  24. The Other Kevin

    Hope everyone is doing well mid-holidays. For now the news is pretty slow and I hope it stays that way well into January. We’re in for an interesting year, thankfully “interesting” should not involve us being spied on and rounded up by another Dem president.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Imaginary solutions for imaginary problems

    Japan’s environment and industry ministries on Tuesday finalised a plan to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 60% from 2013 levels by 2035, up from its 2030 goal of a 46% cut.
    The move follows the Biden administration’s new U.S. target under the Paris climate agreement to slash GHG emissions by 61%-66% below 2005 levels by 2035, a goal officials called achievable by states even if President-elect Donald Trump reverses federal policies.
    In November, Japanese ministries unveiled a draft plan aiming for a 60% GHG reduction by fiscal 2035 and 73% by 2040, based on a linear trajectory between Japan’s current target of a 46% reduction by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2050.
    The proposed target sparked calls for deeper cuts from environmentalists and politicians, who argue it is insufficient for the world’s fifth-biggest carbon emitter, which remains heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
    Climate activists say the target falls short of the reduction recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The IPCC states that global emissions must drop by 60% from 2019 levels by 2035, equivalent to a 66% cut from 2013 levels for Japan.

    Life was so much better in the feudal warlord days.

    • Sean

      If that’s real, it’s fucking tragic.