Don't know if you've considered this, but you an take a cruise ship from SF to Hawaii. Neatly dodges that "flying" bullet! Plenty of luggage space, and you can carry your camera equipment on and off.

Really? Prohibition - a constitutional amendment - was rolled back. It's rare, but it can happen, wizards notwithstanding.

There is also a huge population in the US that ONLY buy used cars. Never look at a new car. Until EVs trickle down into the used car dealerships in significant numbers...they don't get considered.

Like you said, the people that buy new cars, and that wanted an EV, have them now. And won't be looking for another new car for years.

Maybe another 3 years until they really get into the resale market. Then we'll really know if EVs sell.

I'd have to agree, based on just a single anecdote - my own daughter. I had never heard of remedial classes for college students in my day. Just didn't exist. But my daughter ended up *teaching* them (kind of like a TA) while she was going to college. And teaching them in High School [she went to Derryfield, a private HS, that was basically a junior college more than a HS. Great folks there BTW and excellent school].

How big a sh**show does it have to be to need remedial classes for incoming freshmen?

Computers talking to you started with the Amigas. That was 40 years ago. No one locked us up back then.

Yeah, that's not grift. That is the CEO making use of his right to petition the government for redress of grievances. In this case that houses without hurricane (or typhoon) securing ties are not safe. Governor listened, agreed with the CEO, and decided to update the building codes on new construction accordingly.

Happens all the time - no grift involved. California itself is not buying the ties, there are other manufacturers for them (they may have patents on their ties, but there are others that look different and aren't being blocked by them), and the cost is minimal. I have a big shed that was built for us a few years ago now. Has those type of ties. Looks like it added about $20 to the $25K cost of the whole thing. And I don't have to worry, ever, that the shed will get ripped off the pad, or the roof off the shed, in a hurricane. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

To a massive degree, that is exactly correct. The US is doing the rest of the world a HUGE favor by making room for them.

Since WWII, the US Navy has enforced open navigation of the seas - free trade for all in effect. This has allowed any and all "new world powers" to exist, grow, and have influence. As you say, "They're coming, like it or not". Well, if the US does not "like it" they have a very simple counter.

If the US were to ever withdraw the Navy and no longer patrol the seas of the world, the entire world economy would collapse - large scale trade could no longer happen over oceans. No other nation in the world is able to step in and protect all of their shipping.

Trade would still happen overland, but that is way more expensive than by ship. Most nations would collapse, chaos ensue, and waves of barbarism that would make the Middle Ages look like a backyard BBQ.

And before anyone chimes in - no, China cannot do it. They do have more ships than the US Navy, but cannot project power. They have never been and never will be a Naval Power, and cannot protect all of their shipping around the globe. On top of that, no one on Earth would think that China would ever equally protect everyone's shipping.

So, yeah, accommodation about covers it.

I don't think so - nobody hires fresh-outs for $150,00-$200,00.

Unless this is all a sham for hiring the fresh-out children of those whose loyalty needs to be purchased, at pretty inflated rates.

Then further pressuring the private-sector companies to voluntarily "contribute" to this loyalty program after the 2 years is up by hiring the now available "engineers".

All of which seems to be right around the time of the next presidential election. Imagine that.

Absolutely! The Federal Consumer Protection Burrough will protect us customers ^h^h^h^h^h consumers. I'll just call them up.... Hey, what d you mean "This number has been disconnected"?

Residential rooftop solar is not, and cannot ever be, the most economical way to generate electricity. But why does it have to be? Seems like it's a point, but also a non-sequitur. Rooftop solar only needs to have a positive ROI to make sense. Does not need to be the most economical.

Is your car / truck the MOST economical way to get around? Probably not. Mine isn't. And that's OK. Works for me, right now.

I suspect this as well. I would not touch blockchains for stocks with a 10' pole. I think it is just another way to disconnect the stocks from actual stock certificates.

Consider - for years now the SEC has allowed brokers to get away from reality with shorting stocks. Many times I have seen aggregate short volume that exceeds the *entire existing number of shares*. That used to be impossible.

Originally, the brokers had to literally track down someone who owned shares and agreed to "rent them out" for a short seller to sell on the market and perform a short sell.

Now? The brokers just act like bookies, take the 'bet' from the short seller, and "we'll settle it all up in a few days or so".

This tokenizing is ultimately just another way to *tell* people they have shares in a company. Supposedly it is backed by actual shares, until we find out one day it was all spent on hookers and blow. Regulations and safeguards have been stripped away every year - it's getting back to a wild west mentality - no one is keeping everyone honest. Same people who idolize the characters from "The Wolf of Wall Street" are behind all this. I will stay far away.

I imagine the installment payment companies pay Temu, or whoever, 90% (so at a discount) and collect the whole price from the customer over time. Similar to the merchant paying a CC fee (they get less there too). Klarna or whoever market it as making big sales more likely for the merchant, so they make the discounts up in volume?

Proof positive we elected an idiot. Smart play is to ban drilling, shut down all oil production, and sit on our reserves. Let the rest of the world drain all its oil supplies, in competition with each other. THEN, when everyone else is tapped out, OWN the worlds petroleum markets as a monopoly.

Logistics mark ups as in it costs you $4.37 to ship out and you charged the customer $7.99 for shipping? I could see that being a revenue stream.

A free toy that was popular for a summer and a financial product held by major investment firms (in single digit percentages mostly, just so they may not be left behind in case something good happens) have one thing in common - both have ZERO intrinsic value. They may both be "up" at some point in time, but there is nothing keeping them up but shared belief.