Note: referencing the case of Abrego Garcia who was accidentally sent to El Salvador -the US government has admitted in court that it was an "administrative error", but said "it's not like we can get him back".
So far El Salvador has been pretty accommodating to this Administration. I imagine if the U.S. simply asked, El Salvador would return him -- but that would require slightly more effort than shrugging it off.
The damage the tariffs are doing is going to be immeasurable. We are too heavily interconnected with the rest of the world at this point. And there's too much automation so we're not going to be bringing back those manufacturing jobs even if we managed to bring back the factories.
Even then, companies can't standup local manufacturing overnight and they're going to be wary of relying on tariffs for that motivation when they could be removed on a whim because someone said something nice to Trump or gave him money in some fashion -- the ways are too numerous to list -- or simply removed in 3.75 years by the next administration, which, if things keep going like this, won't be Republican...
Even now, for example, while ostensibly targeting imported autos and many imported parts, most U.S. made autos reply on a LOT of imported parts and those can't be on-shored quickly either. Trump said he doesn't care if imported auto prices go up 'cause that'll force people to buy U.S. autos. but domestic prices are certainly going to rise as well.
The Administration wants to on-shore most, if not all, manufacturing, but a LOT of things simply can't be made domestically for less, especially given wage pressures, and I imagine some can't be made here at all given other pressures, like raw materials. If he tries to push things too far, other countries may simply abandon the U.S. markets and trade among themselves.
I think the thing that bothers people most is that these tariffs don't make any sense. Punish Canada because of fentanyl crossing the border? It was like literally 47 pounds in total last year -- a suitcase full. Waiting to see when the 48.9% of voters who voted for him wake up (so to speak).
President Trumpelon will have it down to zero so fast you won't believe it
Republicans are working on that -- or, at least, hiding increases to start
The Budget Trick the G.O.P. Might Use to Make a $4 Trillion Tax Cut Look Free
Republicans in Congress trying to advance a giant bill that includes $4 trillion in tax cut extensions are considering a novel strategy that would make the extension appear to be free. The trick: budgeting with the assumption that current policies extend indefinitely into the future — even those with an expiration date, like the 2017 tax cuts set to end next year. It’s the difference between making the extension appear to cost $4 trillion or zero.
Google: gop budget trick
No Longer Think You Should Learn To Code
Amodei predicted AI could generate up to 90% of all code within six months.
Who will understand it, or peer review it, or ensure it does what it's suppose to do, or fix it if it doesn't -- 'cause the AI didn't "get it" or do it correctly in the first place. You still need people who can code, and code well, not only to understand whatever is generated, but to do the inevitable work that AI can't do.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently revealed that 25% of new code at the tech giant is AI-generated, though still reviewed by engineers.
To my point
unexpected restarts
Like SpaceX and their "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly".
(Cute names don't make things better.)
Windows BSOD And It Might Change To Black
Blue or black, it'll still be BSOD
Microsoft cites security as one reason it's making this change.
["This change ensures that all users exit setup with internet connectivity and a Microsoft Account."]
Only Microsoft would espouse that Internet connectivity and an additional, completely unnecessary, online presence *increases* your security.
it's just
And spy on what products you buy to report back to advertisers.
Samsung teased its "AI Vision Inside" refrigerators
Mutually Assured Destruction Mobile?
(Note: The company site, and Google, show it as "Mad Mobile" not an acronym.)
Meanwhile the cost of living has skyrocketed, the article points out — even while Gen X-ers "are less secure financially than baby boomers and lack sufficient retirement savings, according to recent surveys..."
It's going to be hard for Gex X-ers to handle the costs of living, and taxes, get/be financially secure and plan for retirement at $500 a pop, unless they work themselves to an early death or keep living at home -- taking advantage of their grand/parents
Why XMPP?
[raises hand] Ooo, Ooo... 'Cause it has an "X" in the name?
As the Arctic's Winter Sea Ice Hits a New Record Low - What Happens Next?
<sarcasm>
The current U.S. administration will disband whichever agency monitors/studies this, and stop funding to any universities that do, 'cause if we don't know about it it doesn't happen -- like how during the first term we wouldn't have had any COVID cases if the testing stopped (Trump on coronavirus: ‘If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any’ )and how we won't have climate change w/o NOAA, or fewer tornadoes, hurricanes, etc... w/o the National Weather Service (maybe not even weather!).
</sarcasm>
Anyone want to weigh in on how this carbon "sandwich" experiment producing berkelocene will help anyone store nuclear waste in the future?
On it... According to Berkeley Lab’s 48-Hour race against time with new molecule berkelocene: A step toward safer nuclear waste management? it has to do with studying how container materials interact with nuclear waste, which contains problematic minor actinides like americium and curium:
While berkelocene itself won’t be directly used in nuclear waste management, the research holds clues for safer approaches. Nuclear waste contains problematic “minor actinides” like americium and curium; studying related elements such as berkelium helps understand this group, which contributes significantly to long-term radioactivity and heat generation. Scientists need accurate predictive models for these elements to design safe storage strategies and effective treatment processes.
Such models rely partly on understanding how these elements might interact with container materials, surrounding rock, or groundwater, and whether they can be selectively removed from waste. Current theoretical models have limitations, especially for elements heavier than plutonium, because they rely on experimental data that remains scarce for these rare, difficult-to-handle elements. The berkelocene research provides experimental data to test and refine these models. For instance, the study revealed that berkelium could be stabilized in the +4 oxidation state with significant covalent bonding, a finding not necessarily predicted by simpler models. Berkelium-249 has a half-life of only 330 days and decays into californium-249.
Given that DOGE is going to use AI to rewrite the thing anyway, why not just leave the thing in place? If they port it to a modern language it is just another step with the risk of introducing errors
Good point although there's also a decreasing number of experienced COBOL programmers, but that could be addressed with incentives for current/new people with good salaries, etc...
DOGE To Rewrite SSA Codebase In 'Months'
Good, Fast, Cheap
They've already specified "fast" so we're stuck with "good" and "cheap".
One of those is really great for them financially and the other is disastrous for us results-wise.
Which do you think they'll pick?
Well, as long as the FDIC "expects" banks to be good, I guess they always will. 'Cause that's never gone wrong. Problem solved. Good thing Crypto is super simple and super low-risk.
COMPASS [for the CDC-6000 series] is the sort of assembler one expects from a corporation whose president codes in octal. -- J.N. Gray
