The New Coffee Room

@jon-nyc said in Want an 80 hour a week job?:

Eliminating the cap wouldn’t be a big deal at the ballot box but it would be hard to get through congress.

You have to put it through simply by itself. A one paragraph bill. No tie ins to energy/defense/Trans bathrooms…

Everyone knows it’s the next step and doing it earlier will be better than later. You can offset a little of it by raising the maximum benefits.

I actually think the immediate fix for Social Security isn’t really that politically onerous.

Yeah, 8 was where I was leaning.

@George-K said in Dune Prophecy:

@89th also, I've read that this series on HBO explains why there are no real computers in Dune, why fighting is done with swords, and the reason shields are the way they are.

Remember, the Harkonnens were the good guys at one time.

@89th not only were the Harkonnens good guys once upon a time, but one of Paul’s distant ancestors was one of the worst threats humanity ever faced.

@George-K said in Dune Prophecy:

Haven't watched it yet. One review says that the TV series really combines the narratives in "Sisterhood of Dune" and "Navigators of Dune."

Unlike many, I enjoyed the prequel books - though I haven't read them all. It's been a while, so much of the narrative is a distant memory.

Have you watched it?

No. I think the premier is Sunday, and we will probably let them accumulate so we can binge through rather than watch week by week.

Like you, I liked the prequels very much. Far better than I liked God Emperor through Chapterhouse, but I particularly liked the Butlerian Jihad through The Battle of Corrin. I particularly liked how different they were from Dune and how they set the stage for Dune.

Premiers Sunday -

Looks to me like they’re playing a little fast and loose with the timeline. This looks to be based loosely on Sisterhood of Dune, but I wish they would have run with the Butlerian Jihad. This runs too stylistically close to Dune. I liked how how the Jihad looked more like traditional sci-fi and was recognizable to us, but over the course of the series you see perks and glimpses of the what will eventually be the very different universe of Paul Atreides…

Both Mik and Nate Silver nailed it. Lichtman’s keys were actually correct, he just misapplied them.

Seriously. You don’t need to keep living in past wrongs that were settled and paid for generations ago.

@George-K said in Bluesky:

Exactly. The image of Bluesky being a heavily moderated haven where no negativity, insults, or threats are allowed is absolutely bullshit.

It’s irrelevant.

@George-K said in "Copy Nothing":

Trump actually likes gay and retarded.

And again, the official population of the United States in 2019 was 328M. There were plenty of low income agricultural workers and restaurant workers keeping prices and wages low. Today, there are 343M. At least 10M of the 15M increase are undocumented migrants that came to the US since 2019. If you deported every single one of those illegal aliens, you still have all of the low cost labor pool that you had in 2019. There would be minimal cost increases due to labor shortages.

@taiwan_girl said in Using the Military for Mass Deportations:

Well, we may find out. I would still estimate that more than 50% of people who hand pick crops in the field are illegal.

I would also estimate that greater than 50% of the typical Chinese buffet restaurant staff, which you see in pretty much every US town, is staffed by illegals. I also estimate that a lot of the waitstaff and servers do not work for any salary but just make their money in tips. The owner has a house nearby with multiple bedrooms where the staff stays. Usually 12 hour shifts, with one day off per week.

And you don’t see the very real problem with that?

She’s actually an NFL correspondent, and has been doing these NFL weekly meetings all season (maybe longer). There’s some great one liners in there, but you have to listen closely as she moves quickly.

I thought so, too. I’ve always wondered about the “filmed live before a studio audience” sitcoms about how much the cameras and crew interfere with the visibility. Anybody here ever sit in one of those audiences?

@Doctor-Phibes said in "Copy Nothing":

@George-K said in "Copy Nothing":

But, you'll never hear me saying that the Cybertruck is attractive.

I had one come up behind me on my drive into work. It was still dark, and I couldn't figure out what the hell the lights were from as they were in such a weird configuration. Then it passed me, and all was made vomit-inducingly clear.

Yeah, with jags it’s normally just the drivers that make you nauseous.

@Doctor-Phibes said in "Copy Nothing":

@LuFins-Dad said in "Copy Nothing":

Jaguar sales in the US have dropped from 40K in 2017 to about 8K last year. So the answer to Elon’s question would be “no, not really”…

In all fairness, the Land Rover does really well internationally.

You see a lot of Jags in the UK, at least relatively.

I can’t find UK specific data, but the Europe numbers dropped from 80K in 2018-19 to 23K last year, and I believe that includes Land Rover. They are not in a good place right now.

Jaguar sales in the US have dropped from 40K in 2017 to about 8K last year. So the answer to Elon’s question would be “no, not really”…

In all fairness, the Land Rover does really well internationally.

But the whole “youngest representative ever elected by NJ” through “the rep from Washington who has a horrible secret”? Hilarious.