Reasonable in many respects, including what it is to be a real man. Trump is a third grader who has been held back several times.
Political Discussion
- Thread starter David A.
- Start date
threesunrises
Well-Known Member
Here in NJ, if you are unaffiliated, you can vote in either primary, but you need to declare at the polls. I was always unaffiliated, and always voted in the dem primary, so I'd become a registered Dem, and would re-register as unaffiliated every election. When covid hit, it was too much of a hassle to do so, thus I am still a registered Dem. I fully expect the noms will be settled by the time our primary rolls around in June.
Which, also raises the point that my vote in the primary usually doesn't count. I really think the current schedule needs to change - perhaps they can split the states up by population and rotate who goes first each time. It's utterly unfair that two small states can eliminate candidates so quickly.
threesunrises
Well-Known Member
Both of my daughters are doing very well, I'm incredibly proud of them. That said, I still had to sign as guarantor for my oldest's studio apartment in Manhattan. Her rent is obscene, she can cover it, but does not own enough assets to qualify without our help.
My other daughter and her BF are talking about moving in together - each of them wfh and have a dog, so they'd love a little house with a fenced yard. Prices in this area are out of reach. It's so discouraging.
Both of them still have student loans to pay off.
State inspectors denied entry to privately-run immigration detention center in Tacoma
Washington state health and workplace inspectors have repeatedly been denied entry to a for-profit federal immigration detention center in Tacoma, where detainees have filed hundreds of complaints ove
www.columbian.com
Should the NSA be allowed to do this?
Going to reply to this in the political thread, as to not derail the Video Game thread.
But the economy and job market is funky right now. We keep hearing about how great the economy is, how strong it is, how it is doing better right now than all the experts predicted and yada yada.
But despite the economy being strong, many business are operating like a recession is imminent. I have been following a discussion about this. Layoffs are happening in larger numbers across the board in most industries, hiring has slowed down, raises have slowed down and in some cases people are actually seeing pay cuts. Everyone seems to know someone who has been laid off and is unemployed at this time.
But despite all this, the unemployment numbers are still at historical low numbers. And this is because a lot of the job losses have been for the middle and upper middle class, who typically don't bother with filing for unemployment. They take their severance package and usually have another job lined up before they would need to unemployment to get by. Thus skewing the unemployment metric.
My aunt is one of those people who got a pay cut this past December. Just in time for Christmas. She works for a global shipping company, and is the head of safety / oversees safety at a massive regional distribution center in the south east. She was given the option of a 1/3 pay reduction or being laid off. She chose the pay reduction because she said the severance package they offered her was complete shit. She would keep her job until she found something else. In addition to taking the pay cut, she has to take on addition work because several people under her were let go, and they expanded her responsibilities to include other DC's she has to oversee.
My mothers company had another reorganization earlier this month, only 9 months after their last one. And once again it included a massive round of layoffs. The holding company is consolidating all the brands / companies they own to operate out of a single massive DC, corporate office and spread peoples job responsibilities across multiple brands instead of just the one they came from in order to optimize cost structures.
It was also just in the news that Wayfair, which is Massachusetts based just had another massive round of layoffs of 1600+ people.
DownIsTheNewUp
Well-Known Member
I de-added the Daily after years of listening because they spent two podcasts in roughly a week span propagandizing over the economy (before I was laid off) and capped it with an episode about how its actually the better financial decision to rent.
DownIsTheNewUp
Well-Known Member
I always thought if LA (lived there 15 years after college minus the height of the recession) got too expensive, I would move back to Denver which is where I grew up.
In 2012, Blackstone started buying up all the rental properties in the city. Between 2016 and 2021, rent in the city doubled and suddenly Blackstone owned 2/3's of the available units in LA. Denver, meanwhile, had also gone haywire. My parents house, purchased in 1990 for 120k and worth 320k in 2012 is now close to a million dollars. Studios in Denver often go for 2k, 1 bedrooms certainly do. For contrast, a friend and I were splitting a tiny 2 bedroom in my favorite part of Denver for $750 in 2011.
Seeing all of this, and knowing I would be fucked if I lost my rent controlled apartment in LA, I pro-actively moved to Chicago. Part of Denver and LA's problems are that they are cities that actively fight verticality. People want their views and prefer sprawl to density. The zoning laws are batshit and Nimby's run everything. Chicago doesn't have that problem. It is one of the most stable housing markets in the US (the other I believe is Philly) specifically because it's built vertically and because the weather and crime play gatekeeper. 3% increases or decreases in property value year over year is the historic norm.
Moved here in January 2022 and got a sweet deal on a 1940's 1 bedroom, 850 square foot apartment 3 miles west of Wrigley. $1300 my first year seemed like a steal. And I know all these people who bought 2 bedroom, 1200 ft condos for 200-225k between 2018-2020. Only problem? Since I moved here those prices have sky rocketed. My theory, considering how many of my female friends here are from the south, is that people are suddenly pouring in from red states. Add that to building having slowed to a crawl due to high interest rates and a state that has obscene property taxes and you have a situation where people are clinging to their cheap mortgages and the inventory has become non-existent.
Either way, I'm now looking at 300k for more run down versions of the same type of units my friends bought for 2/3's the price. And rent is also spiraling.
That's where I'm hoping that getting laid off winds up a blessing in disguise. My company was paying me $65k for a job that typically earns 80-90k. And in order to take on a $2100 mortgage (which is what it's gonna take with current prices and interest rates), I need to be making 85k at minimum. And considering my student loans, it should really probably be closer to 100k. Cause 10% of my income until I die will be going to student loans.
All of the above is fucking insane. I have friends who were raised in two kid households in the nicer burbs of Colorado by parents who made a combined 100k. They were house poor, but the house was fucking nice and they were in a great school district. My parents probably made a combined $150k until my mom went back to school after which is was probably 160k (with my mom's income going up and my dad's down due to his working in high end stereo equipment and the price reductions in that realm). They raised two kids and were both retired by 65. Or course, my dad also went to Stanford for 4k a year in the late 60's which probably helped.
The saving grace for millennials is that most of us will be seeing some type of inheritance even if it's coming through a house. But those who don't are fucked.
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Researchers Say the Deepfake Biden Robocall Was Likely Made With Tools From AI Startup ElevenLabs
Two fake-audio experts say that the deepfake robocall of President Biden received by some voters last week was likely created with technology from Silicon Valley’s favorite voice cloning startup.
This is really scary when you think about it and could be weaponized to influence elections.
Indymisanthrope
Well-Known Member
It was deepfake advice telling people not to vote. What sort of election influencing are you bracing for that isn’t already happening?Researchers Say the Deepfake Biden Robocall Was Likely Made With Tools From AI Startup ElevenLabs
Two fake-audio experts say that the deepfake robocall of President Biden received by some voters last week was likely created with technology from Silicon Valley’s favorite voice cloning startup.www.wired.com
This is really scary when you think about it and could be weaponized to influence elections.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
$83.3 Million!!
Damn.
Damn.
Bull Shannon
Well-Known Member
You can be fined any amount when your net worth is a made-up figure tied up in speculations.
Pergo
Active Member
I assume like with most everything else he'll never end up paying any of it, right?
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
Oh, I'm sure he'll find some way to weasel out of it, I'm just surprised the jury came back with more than 3 times what the prosecution asked.
Hemotep
Well-Known Member
When you're a rapist juries will move on you like a bitch.
avecigrec
Well-Known Member
And so they should!
threesunrises
Well-Known Member
I believe he has to put up a bond to cover the amount of the judgment in order to appeal. (Maybe only a percentage of it?) Regardless, he will undoubtedly do whatever he can in order to delay and avoid paying.
ETA:
Would have been awesome if Judge Engoron had issued his ruling on damages today in the Tish James NYC trial as well. There was talk that it could be up to $350M
Opinion | Trump’s Supreme Court Justices Must Kick Him Off the Ballot
It’s their only choice if they want to maintain their commitment to originalism.
www.politico.com
Something tells me ‘situational consistency’ aka hypocrisy will carry the day.Opinion | Trump’s Supreme Court Justices Must Kick Him Off the Ballot
It’s their only choice if they want to maintain their commitment to originalism.