Good morning one and all to another glorious day!
Put This One in the Thomas Massie was Right Column
Federal budget deficit hits record $1.1T in first 5 months of fiscal year
Immigration accounted for all U.S. population growth in 2022-23, first time since 1850
Trump Set to Invoke Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to Facilitate Mass Deportations
Newsom’s seeks $3.4B bailout for Medi-Cal after spending $9.5B on noncitizens
Several states seek end to property taxes: Shouldn’t have to ‘rent from the government’
Egg prices are rapidly falling so far in March
12 People With Minor Injuries After American Airlines Plane Catches Fire at Denver Airport
Michelle Obama’s New Podcast Flops: First 3 Episodes Fails to Clear 20,000 Views on YouTube
That’s all I got for today. I’ll leave you with a song and move along with my day.
Frist!
Good Morning, Banjos.
About the shutdown thing. Yeah, that was brilliant. It would have been more fun had they dug in and actually allowed a shutdown, but unlike Admiral Ackbar, Schumer saw the trap.
Unfortunately, we get another CR and no spending control.
Yeah — I think Massie put it well. Why would Schumer fight that hard against continuing the Biden spending levels another 9 months? Sheesh….
And Charlie Kirk and others crowing about how Schumer caved!!! Stupid, useless twits.
Yes, they are stupid, useless twats. What’s that? Twits? Yeah, they’re that too.
The idea that passing yet another unexamined continuing resolution kicking the can of congressional responsibility down the road is a ‘win’ is insanity. We don’t have a legislature; we have a nomenklatura. They don’t do their jobs, they just enjoy the perks.
Jarflax: They’ve become the Roman Senate under Augustus, with their titles and perks but little meaningful power. From what I understand the Romans of the day didn’t realize they weren’t living in a republic either.
Eh, dunking on Moobs is always appropriate.
Yes JI. The team player gamesmanship crap is beyond tiresome to me.
While the bill itself is not great, it is interesting that Team Red captured the narrative and painted the Donks as the obstructionists this time. I guess they learned after stepping on that particular rake a thousand times.
I’m surprised Google didn’t misreport the views on Michelle Obama’s podcast.
Are you saying they didn’t?
Massie is right, but for the wrong reason. Of course Schumer is going to feed the gov’t, it is the Dems whole raison d’etre. Backing away from it would be falling right into the trap of “we don’t really need this crap, do we?” And that would kill their whole brand.
The monstrosity should be vetoed anyway.
Yep. If shutdown happened, Trump et al orders all necessary functions of the govenrment as prescribed by law remain in full effect with large swaths of ‘non essential’ employees at home.
Optic win if it were to have gone that way. Plus can weed out the malicious compliance type folks who are ‘essential’ but big mad at Trump and team.
Especially with Republicans in charge of the organizations, I doubt the Trump admin would be closing National Parks while keeping the IRS drones in the office. I’d also think there’s a chance (how sad is it that I only think there’s a chance) that there wouldn’t be back pay given to workers who didn’t work during the shutdown.
But there is a difference between funding and spending. The CR merely directs the Treasury Dept to allocate the money and to dispense it to the agencies on whatever schedule they do. If the agency has been RIF’d by the executive, if they are not giving out grants and contracts, that money remains unspent and can later be directed to debt relief or something.
The whole back pay question is vexing. Wouldn’t surprise me if a federal district judge in Hawaii directed that to be enacted. But ultimately all these questions will probably end up before SCOTUS, and hopefully the game of lawfare wac-a-mole will stop then.
But ultimately all these questions will probably end up before SCOTUS, and hopefully the game of lawfare wac-a-mole will stop then.
Not with ACB aligning with Roberts and the three stooges.
From what I gather ACB and Roberts are keeping to strict protocol. Their previous denial of Trump relief was pretty much a trap for the district court judge that pushed him in a particular direction, and he backed down and ruled in Trump’s favor.
I think there are far too many quick rushes to judgment. There’s a lot of legal gamesmanship happening.
Sigh.
This would feel less like a kick in the gut if (despite DOGE and all) I didn’t think that Trump never met a pandering “tax cut” he didn’t like, wasn’t responsible for a huge jump in spending “emergency COVID”… sure buddy… and now it is locked in and everyone knew it would be, and honestly — I don’t think he cares. Elon does — but Trump will happily keep a lot of the pork flowing as long as it is flowing away from people/groups who have wronged him.
Yeah, I knew this going into the election — yeah, just not making it worse (like whoever puppeteered Biden and would have done so for Harris) is an improvement… but gorram it… this has to stop. And conceptually, just using a 2019 budget as a baseline (have to update post-DOGE a bit) would be a good start. No, my desire isn’t going to change the minds of voters around me (look where I live at the moment.. and even back in GA, ATL dominates)… but venting the spleen on the topic is needed and this is the place… so here I am.
Morning in any event, Banjos.
Yeah — I was hoping you’d have this one in the links this morning. The article I read on the subject also noted that a couple of the sparse Republicans in the State Legislature tried to speak up about it over the last year — and the Dems promptly removed them from the budgetary committees in retaliation. Corruptafornia indeed. Have to wonder what will happen when no one will loan the state money anymore, the LA folks dehoused in the fire give up trying to fight the red tape to rebuild and move out of state and there’s no friendly FedGov to bail them out…. because that looks looming to me…. First in the nation! Ahead of NY and Illinois! Gavin’s a real leader (into Hades)!
How much did they spend on a high speed rail, and other completely useless shit?
If we can believe the ones doing the spending, looks like $13.2 billion so far (Fed+State). $10.7 billion just state. That’s over several years since I believe that’s “project to date”
So Medical just blew almost that much in one year. And will doubtless only go up — their only saving grace ironically would be if OMB does throw out all the illegal aliens over Sacramento’s objections — because that at least would get enrollment back down. If they stay sanctuary and keep fighting him — it will doubtless get worse as they’ll be a prime location for ones in other states that are cooperating with deportation. Yay.
He is just copying NYC mayor Eric Adams who is demanding repayment for the city’s efforts in feeding, clothing, and housing the “refugees” he welcomed. And maybe a little extra to repair all the hotels they trashed.
I recall sanctuary states demanding federal funds to care for illegals because immigration is under federal control.
Yeah; Andrew Cuomo kept the covid panic going to try to drag Biden over the line and get the states bailed out.
A few years later, the same states are bankrupt again.
I’m almost at the point where I wouldn’t care if govsec workers wound up literally homeless under bridges and starving.
I have savings and transferrable skills. I’ll be fine.
Someone has to be able to talk to the engineers.
Given it is an invasion, I don’t find this unreasonable. There’s also a strong case to be made against the assisting NGOs (and frankly, several government officials at multiple levels) for assisting said invasion…. I try not to throw the “treason” word around lightly… but if assisting the take over of your nation by foreign nationals because you think it will help you keep power in their new power structure doesn’t qualify… well, Quisling would like a historical apology.
Not really an invasion when you didn’t have to force your way in. Like the J6 people that the cops opened the doors for?
Storming the border forts is not a requisite for invasion.
Entering a country you have no right to be in and making yourself at home is sufficient.
Trespass is the legal term.
But I see we want to be in high dudgeon about this – just like the Dems about J6.
When you tresspass on a foreign country, that’s called an invasion, especially when done en masse.
But I see you just want to be a smug denialist about this.
I think we can draw a distinction between (almost all) J6 protesters, and, say, MS-13.
Being “allowed” to enter, in violation of the law, by a corrupt administration, does not mitigate the violation of the law.
Pretty sure dismantling and crashing through barriers and bum-rushing border patrol and National Guard to get through counts as forcing your way. And if foreign troops enter another country without invitation that’s still an invasion even if they entered at a spot where the border was unprotected so they didn’t technically ‘force’ their way in.
Being “allowed” to enter, in violation of the law, by a corrupt administration, does not mitigate the violation of the law.
Exactly. The real problem was on this side of the border, as is amply clear since the change in administrations.
I don’t blame any of the people that came here under the fucking pretenses of the previous admin, they were essentially invited. Please direct your wrath to the people responsible for THAT.
I agree with you JI, that is the tricky part. I can’t blame any of these people for entering when the US President said “all are welcome”, and just waved people in, or told them to download and app and then get on a plane. And once they were here, gave them free housing and prepaid debit cards.
Exactly. The real problem was on this side of the border, as is amply clear since the change in administrations.
I don’t blame any of the people that came here under the fucking pretenses of the previous admin, they were essentially invited. Please direct your wrath to the people responsible for THAT.
My point was that to consider the mass illegal immigration an “invasion” we have to consider the nature of the invaders in question. You want to cut the poor economic migrants some slack (boo hoo), I don’t. Whether or not they are consciously thinking of it that way, they have come to weaken our economy.
The invaders I’m really concerned with, and the invaders (according to the article) that Trump is considering applying the Alien Enemies Act to, are explicitly malicious: Central and South American gangs. The fact that they were allowed to enter by the Biden administration does not change who they are or why they are here.
And we haven’t even gotten to the illegal immigrants from Northern Africa, the Middle East and Asia, many of whom may be actual agents of foreign militaries, whether or not those militaries are sponsored by recognized states.
Grummun, oh I’m not for letting any of them stay; I just don’t blame them for coming. Fuck the whole scam of asylum.
It will be interesting to see where the revenue stream shifts if any succeeds.
My somewhat libertarian side says that shifting government to a “as a Service” model where you literally get charged for what you use should be a goal — but there are definitely problems there (young parents using the schools are often near the bottom rung financially if they’ve having kids early [which is better for the kids] — so you want to spread that cost if you can… but also don’t want to charge retirees for 50 years for it like a lot of places do now…. roads being all toll are annoying — certainly don’t want to get into mileage and location tracking, etc.)
Shifting it all to income taxes would suck. Corporate is just delayed taxation on your citizens… no good answers, just concerns and an appreciation of our federal system so different localities can try different things and we can see what ends up actually working out.
With property taxes, nearly 50-65 percent of ours in the Heights goes to the schools. I remember making a proposal to one of my teacher friends that as a compromise you should only pay half of what you would have originally been taxed on for the local school district, if you don’t have any kids in the school system. Why should you pay for a service you’re not using anyway?
My teacher friend went apeshit at that comment and went on this tirade about how education is a right and benefit that helps the community and society as a whole. And that we should all be willing t pay the high taxes because it’s beneficial towards society.
I’d believe that rhetoric more if they weren’t so adamantly against vouchers so parents could at least introduce some market forces in the school choice and force incompetent ones out of “business”.
I am sympathetic to the argument up to a point as mentioned… I do think some sort of assistance for parents is probably needed given reality — but what we have now is the worst of both worlds… everyone pays up the nose for increasingly terrible results.
As a victim of the public schools, I say shut them down, they’re a disservice to society.
Fifty percent or so going to schools is very common, and public schools have little incentive to cut costs.
Many cities give a significant discount on property taxes to seniors who own homes, so they don’t move out and get replaced with people with kids.
And that reminds me of what annoys me about local ballots.
Every.
Single.
Time.
— there’s always at least one new school bond measure (the sneaky way to raise property taxes… the default rates don’t change… we just add all the bond repayments on you forgot after election day, tax chattel!). And they almost always pass (and when they don’t, the school just tries again, preferably during a primary or other relatively low participation election… which is somehow allowed to count the same regardless…).
So I can bewail the current system as much as I like — JI would correctly step in at this point and say it is perfectly evident that my fellow voters disagree based on their consistent actions.
SDF-7:
Ohio has been expanding their voucher program for a while now. I would also posit that an alternate headline to this one is: “Engaged parents more likely to get vouchers for their kids.”
education is a right and benefit that helps the community and society as a whole
Not so much in places like Baltimore where graduates are often illiterate.
All of this is evidence of who really runs the show in most localities – the teacher’s union.
I am against Fee For Service, as gov’t should be absolutely free for all citizens, at all times. We have too much of it anyway, and that needs to be cut down to size so current revenue systems work.
Of course — the Easter Bunny factory has got all the incoming it can handle to get them out and distributed in time so demand is going to fall for a bit. Plus he lost his in with the Biden White House so can’t manipulate the market as well anymore….
So, what other disaster will they cook up to replace the egg famine?
Right now it’s spontaneous combustion of Tesla’s and Tesla dealerships.
Measles.
Some days it really starts to feel like this…. Infrastructure has been neglected too long, industries ate all the seed corn and stop caring about actually developing employees (just fire them and hire folks others trained!)… I suspect that is all playing in and now playing out.
No one really cared to be on the Mike, hmm?
Did you see that Gavin Newsom has interviewed Steve Bannon? That’s a big start to his podcast.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3mvMP8uTgnU
Bannon’s nothing if not interesting but why’s Newsome platforming Nazis? It’s almost like all the garment rending was contrived bullshit.
Newsom’s podcast is on fire.
A grease fire CPA?
The comments were delicious.
“The furious crowd of about 150 demonstrators — who were from the Palestinian support group “Jewish Voice for Peace” — wore red shirts emblazoned with the message, “Jews Say Stop Arming Israel” as they gathered at about noon in a public, downstairs atrium filled with dining tables outside the Trump Grill restaurant.”
Are any of them Jewish?
At least they weren’t wearing masks like the Columbia protesters. Many of whom might not have been students.
The left loves the irony of forming pro-terrorist groups comprised of lefty Jews whose brains they’ve turned to mush, so sure they are probably all Jews.
(((They))) have been a reliable Dem voting bloc for decades, after all.
I would guess that most of my Jewish family members at least tacitly support them.
Even the Kibbutzim.
Are any of them Jewish?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_Now
On the topic of wasteful government spending, the contract I work under changed how longevity pay is handled. Previously it was an annual lump sum if you’d been in title at top of grade for 5, 10, or 15 years ($500, $1k, $1.5k if you meet each threshold), but now it’s if you’ve been employed by the state for 12, 17, or 22 years (it takes 7 years to reach top of grade normally, so if you never got promoted you’d get it at those times).
I’d been using “eligable for logevity pay” as a criteria for failure as it meant I’d been stuck in title for too long. So I’m annoyed at that, and at how many other people are now getting those payments we can’t afford.
I’m also annoyed that once again having a start date of April 17 has cost me money. When they calculate it I’ll have 16 years 348 days and this be in the $500 bracket. (Step increases to top of grade are also calculated on April 1st, and not having a full year meant I didn’t get one until October 1st, because those are the only two days they will do step increases). So from an economic self-interest perspective, I’m annoyed at that.
Lastly, there are just too many people working here. We can close agencies left, right, and center and still not be down to a reasonable size.
Old business, from the deadthread last night. Thanks for all the love MLW, RJ, Spud, and OBE.
Glibs After Dark… bow chick a wow wow apparently…
We are the night crew!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G4ApQrbhQp8
Yes, you are the night crew:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6shfv3B3w7E
A different link I was half-expecting for today. I hope they find these people. I hope they charge them with attempted murder and imprison them. This crap absolutely must stop and it must be universally recognized as the evil, stupid idea that it is. Infuriating.
Hard to disagree.
Even easier, take away the tool they use for this. Shut down the SWAT responses entirely, or ONLY call them after police on scene have determined they are needed.
Giving police military equipment is stupid.
Thanks, Obama.
Thanks, Obama
Don’t infringe on Alex’s turf of blindly blaming Obama for everything.
— wiki
It’s not like Connon Tater called them a globalist cabal.
Obama killed late night comedy. Fite me.
What? There are still places that deliver COD?
I thought they all switched to delivering TUNA.
KNEEL BEFORE COD!
(The very much lesser known Aquaman / Superman crossover…)
Not a Superman/SEA SMITH crossover?
Lay down on your backs before Zod …
Thanks for putting that back in my head, RoaT.
It is terrorism. It could be considered attempted murder but the courts will never recognize that. That would be an admission that swat teams are execution squads. Not gonna happen.
Yes, take the military crap away from the cops. I have no problem with shields, batons, pistols, rifles and bullet protection clothing. Armored vehicles? No.
https://x.com/FBIDirectorKash/status/1900536072871768094
Let’s hope we see some for real arrests and prosecutions.
I doubt anything will happen.
Nobody’s been prosecuted so far, I’m not getting my hopes up.
Darn. I was hoping this was going to be some real Epstein stuff.
You may say I’m a dreamer.
Every time he posts one of these, me and a bunch of other shitposters reply with “Great, now where are the files” or something to that effect.
“The Department of Education’s mammoth $41.2 billion budget plan for next year is a whopping third of the entire city’s — but it still won’t be enough, school officials claimed Thursday.
Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos told the City Council that the DOE still needs “hundreds of millions more” to enact a controversial new class size law, plus additional bucks for Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pending phone ban…
The city will need to hire 4,000 more educators to deal with the new United Federation of Teachers-backed requirement that classroom sizes max out at 20 students for early childhood grades and up to 25 for high school, the chancellor said.
The gobsmacking, arguably vague cash plea comes as New York City schools — the largest district in the nation — faces years of declining enrollment, middling test scores and chronic absenteeism, despite raking in ever-increasing mountains of dough.”
https://nypost.com/2025/03/13/us-news/nyc-public-schools-boss-says-mammoth-41-2b-budget-ask-still-isnt-enough-wants-hundreds-of-millions-more/
$33K per student?
Teachers unions should be banned.
“We will no longer be recognizing NYSUT, nor employing any person represented by any member of any branch of the NFT.”
-Only appropriate response.
*UFT, whatever their shitstain calls itself.
LOL.
The teachers’ unions laugh at your insolence. All the way to the bank.
Please don’t rub it in on the same month I had to pay local taxes.
The city will need to hire 4,000 more educators to deal with the new United Federation of Teachers-backed requirement that classroom sizes max out at 20 students for early childhood grades and up to 25 for high school, the chancellor said.
Because all teachers are good, and they only become bad when the class size gets too big.
I’ve been hearing about this “new” requirement for a couple decades now.
I suspect they’re making shit up again.
Leftie: The Republicans have gutted education!
Get rid of public employee unions. That is all.
“Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Yachty’s claims with strong words for the rapper: “It’s clear Lil Yachty has been drinking the white supremacist ideology Kool-Aid. His comments are wrong. They are misinformed, unoriginal, and crafted to please the same people who profit from Black suffering.””
https://nypost.com/2025/03/13/media/rapper-lil-yachty-calls-black-lives-matter-a-scam-and-org-hits-back/
I love how black people can be white supremacists.
The correct term is “White supremacist”.
I can’t believe people are still pushing the fantasy that BLM isn’t a communist front group. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I can’t believe there are people that don’t realize BLM is a grift, but there they are.
They are? I thought the BLM website stated plainly and loudly that they are communists. And yes…Marxist, socialist, grifter, confidence man….they are all synonymous.
“But advocates for the prostitutes say naming the men can help shame them and others into not paying for sex and lower the demand for sex workers, many of whom are trafficked.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14499047/brothel-users-rich-powerful-named-today.html
Does “trafficked” even have a definition?
Ok… now do fucking OnlyFans, assholes. Then talk about “lowering the demand for sex workers”.
I don’t want to know what sort of VD I’d get from doing fucking OnlyFans.
Talk about disparities in sex drive between men and women, and then you can start having a conversation about sex workers.
Does “trafficked” even have a definition?
Here’s a whole case of silly putty – see how far you can stretch it!
It means that our Puritan streak is alive and well, and adapting to more modern tastes in branding.
If the hooker’s boyfriend gives her a ride to her appointment, then she’s been trafficked.
Does it involved orange cones?
They’re call girls, they’re only hookers once they’re dead.
Appropriate background music
I have said it before a number of times…separately but I see the ideas are getting legs so I will say it again.
End the income tax. Codify allodial title into law. Stop birthing our children into bondage. We have a medieval system of funding government. Stop doing that. Free people have an inalienable right to self ownership. Self ownership means every person’s mind, conscience and body are exclusively their own property. That ownership necessarily extends to the fruit of their labor. Free people do now owe anyone a tribute to have access to their own property.
Limit total taxes to 15% by sales tax. That is as voluntary as a tax can get. By total taxes I mean the sum of all taxation by all taxing bodies. Get the 15% sales tax and they can divvy it up how they like. Cant make it on 15%? Tough shit.
While I am at it….every single law, regulation, permitting requirement etc regarding the second amendment are infringements, major or minor it does not matter. They are crimes being committed by the state. Get rid of all of them. If someone should not be armed, and there are lots of such people, do it legally through due process as our constitution allows for.
I have more ‘you own yourself’ screed but I will give it a break long enough to get more coffee.
If govt exists for any purpose, it is to secure property rights. There is no other source of property rights, and there is no better justification for taxation than paying for that function.
If property rights exist outside of govt, on what [not quite literal] grounds? If you are basing off of Locke, then you are on the side of govt being there to secure it.
“If govt exists for any purpose, it is to secure property rights. ”
In my view that is the only legitimate purpose of government. All inalienable rights are property rights. All crimes are trespasses. If government is not there to defend property rights what the hell would we need them for?
Because as bad as they are, the other governments, like MS-13, the Crips, or the Cosa Nostra – are worse.
Unfortunately, your dream is only shared by less than 1% of Americans. And that’s why Johnson/Schumer spending deals are made and will continue to be made until U.S.A. collapses from the sheer weight of debt. Half the country is fine with “non-violent” communism, and a good bit of the rest are o.k. with whiffs of fascism and crony capitalism as long as they get their share of the loot. The 2026 elections will be instructive. I just overheard two women in the Shoprite supermarket discussing their 401Ks and it was clear that one of them, a hard-core Trump supporter she claimed, was scared to look at her balance. I heard her remark that “Vance better put an end to this tariff war nonsense or I’m not voting for him for President.” All it takes is about 5% of Trump voters to flip and we will be saddled with whatever creature the Democrats vomit up in 2028.
Where’s Pie? I heard it is his day.
“Put This One in the Thomas Massie was Right Column”
Good to see I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Massie has been saying all week they had a deal in the Senate and the Dems were completely on board.
It’s like pointing out the structure of a kabuki.
More like Kayfabe, but close enough.
I was touring the Capitol (as a tourist, not as some kind of J6 protester) in December on the day of the last shutdown threats. Not sure what I expected, but everything seemed fine other than a lot of press in front of Mike Johnson’s office. Vibe just seemed to be that the same shit was going to happen, nothing was actually going to change.
Also, DC was practically a ghost town in general that week. I’m sure the bureaucrats were all working hard the last week before Christmas.
Oh dear…
Dr. Oz Is About to Take Over Medicare. Expect a Show.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/who-is-mehmet-oz-trump-cms-f82c55ac?st=Sk4num&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV0sAO_CCc0
Good morning, Sensei!
I heard a report this morning that made me think of Japanophiles like you:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250314_03/
Japan does love Mt Fuji!
Huh, Fuji-san has an extra 5cm in the morning.
Yeah? Well, I hate to break it to them but Mt. Fuji does not love them. One of these days…..
You think morning wood can be uncomfortable… try morning stone!
A mountain’s love is different from that of a plateau….
You think morning wood can be uncomfortable… try morning stone!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BDhJU_cNCZE
I am just going to leave this here because
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe6X_Vn87Do
Damn, that is some pretty wood.
Daniel Frasier. One of the two good things that have come out of Scotland.
They are still available. I will take a dozen, please. I will list the calibers…
http://www.steveearleproducts.com/fraser.html
I have “London’s Best” falling block, albeit not a Frasier, but a Martini stalking rifle from Thomas Bland and Sons. God, do I love that thing.
Yeah Zwak, I am lusting for some martini action mightily myself. That is not a falling block though, it is a tipping block and arguably a teensy bit stronger than the falling block action.
Edward Leamer, Economist Who Said Economists Were Doing it Wrong, Dies at 80
https://www.wsj.com/economy/edward-leamer-economist-dead-0b57e9c6?st=MbBrye&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
His approach really pushed statistics into the forefront of economics. In itself this wasn’t a bad thing, but during my time in school it caused this great “mathification” of the whole subject. So nobody cared about basic economics anymore and instead if you could statistically prove some tiny economic issue you got funded and a PhD thesis. Usefulness was completely irrelevant.
It’s a large part of the reason I despised macroeconomics at school.
This is a problem in more fields than economics. One might say every field. As problems go it is one I can live with as long as there are still people out there doing useful things.
What has happened with the climate scam is the worst thing that has happened in intellectual pursuit since….ever.
Pushing math to the forefront has been the ruin of many fields. Polisci and sociology are also affected, as it takes away the “art” of the field, which is every bit as important in it’s study. Indeed, those three field are deeply intertwined, and when your study and application goes down the wrong rabbit hole, you end up like the Dems, as this is the root of their problems.
This is 97.34% accurate
Can you say market distortion?
“We’re just in such a state of shock. We just don’t really even know how to respond to all this. We thought that this was sacred and really untouchable,” Gilkerson said. “Everyone thinks all farmers voted for this, but we did not vote for this.”
From funding cuts to tariffs, farmers have found themselves caught in the middle of President Donald Trump’s escalation of trade wars and efforts to slash billions of dollars in spending, leaving a growing number now struggling to find markets for their products and facing the risk of steep losses for the year ahead.
The Nanny giveth, the Nanny taketh away.
I remember my Econ asking us who are the biggest welfare queens. None of us were crazy to answer that so he answered with farmers.
There is a fairly good reason for that. On the other hand the midwest farmer culture was highly predisposed to socialism. What we have now is an inevitable shitty outcome.
That doesnt mean we cant fix it.
And U.S. farmers aren’t even a patch on Euro, especially French, farmers.
You could have just stopped at ‘French’ but yeah, French farmers. Jesus.
Europe in general has a shortage of everything except arrogance and entitlement. Those two are their biggest exports.
“I think any farmer will tell you that we will take some short-term pain, but do not make this a long-term extended trade war, because that just won’t be good for agriculture or for the country in general,” said Bob Hemesath, an Iowa farmer who grows corn and raises hogs. “I know that this is the way President Trump believes he’s going to create better markets long term. I hope he’s correct. But my fear is that once you lose those markets to other suppliers, it’s very hard to get them back.”
U.S. farmers depend on exporting their products because for many products, like corn, the country produces more than it is able to consume. Foreign buyers are also more willing to buy agricultural products people in the United States don’t want, like chicken feet or cow tongues.
Next thing you know, they’ll be dumping
milkhigh fructose corn syrup into storm drains.There is not going to be a long term trade war.
Trump is using reciprocity as an incentive for other countries to lower their tariffs…to open up markets and bring down prices.
Pre-Trump what are the tariffs in Europe for american alcohol drinks? In america for European alcohol drinks? Dont want to pay 200% tariffs to access our market? Then lower your tarriffs. We will lower ours.
It is a simple strategy and long overdue. It will facilitate more open trade and put a stop to other countries ripping us off.
I think we should also stop dumping commodities all over the undeveloped world. It stymies development. Also, get rid of the goddamned peace corps.
other countries ripping us off
This is just horseshit. No one in this country is forced to buy anything from overseas. You should remember the hysterics about Japan Inc. – tell me how that ended up?
Our being world police is the goddam rip-off – all expense on us, almost all benefits to others.
“once you lose those markets to other suppliers, it’s very hard to get them back”
Exactly. The CEO of my company is convinced the foolish tariff war with Canada will end shortly. In the meantime, the customers for our Canadian sourced product will shift to competitors if we raise the prices due to the tariffs. Some will never return, because they will get used to buying from the competitors and their salesmen. So we eat the price increases for now; it remains to be seen how long we can hold out as the profit margin has gone from 10% pretax to zero. Meanwhile, salaries and dividends are frozen. Our top salesman is rumored to be looking elsewhere.
You know what else Hugo Boss was involved with that caused lingering uncertainty and weak consumer sentiment?
Hugo Boss Warns of Lingering Uncertainty Amid Weak Consumer Sentiment
The company expects sales for 2025 in line with last year’s at between €4.2 billion and €4.4 billion
https://www.wsj.com/business/earnings/hugo-boss-warns-of-lingering-uncertainty-amid-weak-consumer-sentiment-9b3c1d96?st=xTwr45&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Snowing this morning. Won’t last once the daytime temperature warns up.
“It’s planting season, and there’s a cloud of uncertainty among the agriculture industry with this president,” said Boyd, who is president of the National Black Farmers Association. “I’ve got real debt; I’ve got real expenses. But I also have the will to farm in some sort of way. I can’t tell you how, but I am making calls and trying to put some things in place to get through this crisis the president has put us in.”
Trump has destroyed the free market with his tariffs and anti government mayhem.
Old man yells at clouds part 1,001.
Carmakers Are Reinventing the Gear Shifter and Drivers Are Lost
https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/cars/autos-technology-gear-shifter-design-tesla-44d79694?st=JLXDb8&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Since the stupid shifter has become nothing but an electronic switch this was preordained. Bonus for the antics that are now required to tow or move a vehicle with a dead 12V battery.
Obligatory. Only reinforces my desire to drive my current car until one of us dies.
I hate it.
New GTIs get a toggle switch looking thing. 🙁
https://www.motor1.com/news/703656/facelifted-vw-gti-interior-buttons/
I have a Range Rover 2017 which has the JLR “puck” selector that was much reviled.. I actually prefer it to the newer one. I can flick the system into reverse or the selected gear by touch, the “new” system requires you to push the button and then forward and back.. a step backwards.
the 2007 Rover physical linkage system would gum up and pop out or drive, but you could select sport mode and it would stay in gear until you could lube the pivot point.
Farmers have been through Trump’s trade wars before in 2018 and 2019, when he imposed tariffs on China, which retaliated with its own tariffs on U.S. farm products, sending sales tumbling. In response, Trump set up a payment program during his first term to compensate some of the affected farmers. The amount of payments doled out was about equivalent to the revenue the United States collected from the tariffs on Chinese imports.
Trump hasn’t said whether he will implement a similar payment plan again. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump’s moves are intended to improve the longer-term picture for farmers by ultimately creating a more level playing field overseas.
Farms are bad for the environment, and use too much water. We should offshore food production to China and Brazil.
I have to say we took a big hit from the China tariff thing. Hardwood prices had exceeded pine for a short time because of China’s demand for hardwood. That came to an abrupt end.
I didnt complain because it was necessary and them’s the breaks. I still planted hardwood.
O’Malley, senior test coordinator at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and his colleagues couldn’t find the gear shifter in the Ioniq 5 sport-utility vehicle. One of them finally spotted it tucked away behind the car’s steering wheel.
Like an old timey three-on-the-tree? No wonder they were baffled.
Pushing math to the forefront has been the ruin of many fields. Polisci and sociology are also affected, as it takes away the “art” of the field, which is every bit as important in it’s study. Indeed, those three field are deeply intertwined, and when your study and application goes down the wrong rabbit hole, you end up like the Dems, as this is the root of their problems.
But according to my model, my model is correct.
You joke about that, but math is the God of all secular/scientific endeavors. If the math says so, it is so – according to the high priests of math.
“Once you eliminate that mechanical linkage, then anything goes,” said Paul Snyder, a former Ford designer who’s now chair of the College for Creative Studies’ transportation design program.
——
On a trip to California, Linda Hoff, 65, rented a Nissan Rogue SUV that had a joystick-like gear selector. Hoff frequently rents different car brands but nonetheless couldn’t figure out how to reverse the car out of its spot.
“I didn’t even know how to drive this damn car,” she said. “So I had to go back to the rental agency and say, ‘Is there a trick here?’” She was soon on her way after a tutorial.
Systems don’t become utterly counterintuitive by accident.
RIP, Anton Yelchin.
If the math says so, it is so – according to the high priests of math.
Reality is defective.
As JI says “You joke but…”
Battling tranny from the bench
Judges have used nationwide injunctions to hobble many of Trump’s early moves, from his bid to end “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” programs to his cuts to federal medical research.
But Trump’s acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, argued to the Supreme Court that federal district judges have no authority to issue sweeping orders that block policies nationwide. Instead, Harris suggested, an injunction should apply only in the geographic district where the judge is located — or only to the specific individuals or groups that sued.
“Years of experience have shown that the Executive Branch cannot properly perform its functions if any judge anywhere can enjoin every presidential action everywhere,” Harris wrote, contending that while administrations of both parties have lamented the practice, it has reached “epidemic proportions” during Trump’s current term.
That’s the point. Judges are all that stand between us as Trumpzilla Rex.
Isn’t that what Hochul said? “Dont worry, this law only applies to Trump”