Check if it is a SEP. I did one eons ago and the limits are 25% of salary up to the specified limit of 72K. I don't remember it being called a 401K back when I did it. There are some rules, but they usually work great for freelancers. I had some good years where I put away a decent amount and other years that were quite sparse. Like most retirement things easy to raise/lower contribution depending on how good a year you have, which for freelancers tends to be volatile.

I sort of lump all of SoCal together (add SD). With that the number rises to 1/3rd. https://coloradosun.com/2025/0...

No the distribution overhead still exists unless you want to drive over to the desal plant with a water truck to pick it up. My local water co pays a fraction of the price for water that they charge, 48c/1000 gal. I pay anywhere from 3.50 to 10, excluding the connect charge. They have an aggressive rate structure to discourage usage.

Unfortunately as we had down the path to dictatorship, the R's have learned don't screw with him. Marjorie is a clear example. She didn't fall in line, so she is out. I expect part of it is re-election (and party needed to get there) over country. They are all breaking their oath to the country. All of them.

Agree, although I think Micron has recently added a layer or two using ASML EUV litho. Not positive though. Samsung is using some EUV in their memory. By far though the consumers of the latest equip is TSMC/Samsung. ASML I expect is also the leader in DUV litho and I would expect the ADI's and TI's to be using those.

Cough Musk Cough.

And lately, horrendous product. I saw outlook had another bad day. https://www.tomsguide.com/news... Email, not AI, email. Something that has been around since what the 70's or maybe even 60's when SMTP was developed. And they had some out of band fix for something cockup in the last few days. Thank god I don't use any of it.

I've also been thinking lately about how similar Trump's behavior to EU and really any other person/entity is much like a husband who abuses his wife. First he smacks her around (physically or verbally) and then after he settles down apologies, pinky swears I'll be better, and then repeats over and over again. I also recall the numerous times I've seen Melania with big dark sunglasses.

So if I were EU/Japan/GB/AUS/... I'd be thinking of getting out of the relationship permanently sooner rather than later. That cat is not going to change his stripes. Part of that is decoupling from US big Tech. And I wouldn't be averse to using that ASML card either. Maybe sell the next EUV machine to China as a reminder EU is not the US whipping boy.

About 10X. https://wrrc.arizona.edu/news/...

Is the worst one I am aware of. https://mexicocitywater.longle... Serious shortages.

LA is looking at a medium term issue. Once the level of Lake Meade drops to the "critical" level drastic curtailment happens. Not sure exactly how long before that happens.

Another issue at least with Mexico City and Tokyo has been sinking due to underground water use. As to how much should an average urban dweller get is up for grabs. Here is a old study (pre gaza war) of what a Palestinian might get. (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/dplc/dv/dplc20091110amnesty_/dplc20091110amnesty_en.pdf 20-70L/day) Los Angeles runs around 65g/day https://projects.scpr.org/appl... or around 250L/day.

Neither would I say is very much. Average across the US is around 100G/day. https://www.usgs.gov/water-sci... And note both the US numbers are excluding office/gym/? use. Which for some could be high. I recall one period where people were showering at the gym to cut home usage. I don't think people in Mexico city have that option.

While applicable to lower courts, precedent doesn't seem to be a thing with this current supreme court. They have routinely ripped it up.

I'll occasionally watch fox news. The tilt of even evening news is so far right the ship would sink. I get the "talk" show news is going to be tilted, but straight up evening news should be fact based dry stuff. So I get how the fox news crowd is completely misinformed. I've neighbors that I just walk away from if the discussion even begins to tilt towards anything past the weather. They clearly *only* watch fox.

I've followed this and yes it does appear as if the supremes are dubious of his argument. Finally, maybe sanity is starting to creep back. It also bodes well for Powell. What drumpf may have done is enamored the fed to NOT drop rates out of spite. That might be an interesting twist. Not sure when the next real appointment comes up on the fed, but Powell even though his term as chairman is up soon, his term as a governor is not. I think he had planned on retiring, but a nice FU would be to remain and be a governor until trump dies.

That may have been reasonable after one term of trump. But after re-electing him again, I imagine everyone is assuming the US is not a trustworthy ally. Frankly I expect the EU trusts China now more than the US. And trust may be the wrong word. The behavior of China is more reliable. Schizo US, I mean what do you do with a partner that may slap you one minute and kiss you the next? In a word, divorce.

Agree up to "survive better than the opponent". Nope Donald is all about Donald. Specifically Donald. He couldn't give a rats ass about any other US citizen, well except maybe his own offspring. Maybe. Donald even said it with regard to the Nobel. He was getting even with the Scandinavians. Pure and simple revenge. If you frame all his actions revenge fits nearly everything.

Much like roomba for the house. Half the job. I had to pick everything up make sure no cords to entangle it. I imagine the lawn bots suffer a range of issues that make them near useless. We are a long way from the Jetson's maid Rosey.