fredzannarbor.bsky.social
43 posts
191 followers
99 following
Regular Contributor
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I don't usually like comment-policing policies, but this is a good rule.
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We need to be thinking about much more effective countermeasures. To respond to this new world we need:
1) Data liberation. Everyone has access to the same data that DOGE has.
2) Unfettered open-platform edge AI
3) A big AI company on Team Blue.
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At best that moves all the politicking to off stage behind the remaining committee members.
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+1 for local knowledge
-1 for "AI images of something" locution, no credit unless you run the image
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#savethepenny
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Say one specific thing that you don't like.
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Would these wealthy people burn more in services than they bring in revenue? (cue tax research).
Would it be a giant disaster if these 7 million people make high-end housing more expensive for the current top 2%? well, not for me, it wouldn't....
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Can the US accommodate an influx of 7 million wealthy people? Well, yes, we already generate hundreds of thousands of new millionaires every year. (cue research).
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Let's try "free yacht parking in US ports for a million, Alex" and "deferred taxation on luxury goods for ten million, Ken". Let's try "government Wordle" and "IRS Prime".
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And fortunately, since the government makes and enforces the laws, and prints the money, the answer is "it probably wouldn't cost the government very much at all."
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Are there 7 million high-net-worth individuals in the world who might be willing to pay $5M for a "golden visa"?
Well, another way of asking the same thing is, "how much would it cost the US government to create $5M worth of 'features' that would justify that purchase?"
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The reason is simple: amazingly (especially for an idea emanating from the mind of Donald Trump), the numbers work. If we (the USG) "sold" 7 million golden visas for $5M USD each, that would offset the national debt. 7 x 10^6 x 5 x 10^6 = 35 x 10^12, or 35 TRILLION. (The debt is around 36T).
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That is completely irrelevant.
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4) Every President fires flag officers during wartime.
5) It's stupid to wait to be defeated to get rid of the dead wood.
Now, this may or may not be the right list of flags to fire, but there's nothing wrong with the basic idea.
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There's a lot of context being omitted here.
1) The US military has too many flag officers.
2) They are not doing a great job. Just look at the news.
3) If we get in a major war with the leaders and the forces we have now, there is a good chance we lose, catastrophically.
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As a result of GOP electoral victories, Trump has the authority to create DOGE. The secretary of the Treasury has the authority to use contractors from DOGE to do audits. Now, I don't think that DOGE can or should just fly around zeroing stuff out, but it is performing a legitimate function.
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The wins aren't coming because DOGE is illegal. To the contrary, the TRO specifically allows DOGE employees read/only access. The debates are about what DOGE can be authorized to do.
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/...
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Not what it says.
constitutioncenter.org/the-constitu....
It's immaterial, in any event, because if it's not a department, it's an agency, and its staff are operating as "special government employees"--expensive contractors--for the Secretary of Treasury. Not a winning angle of attack.
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www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
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We probably both understand that a 1-day pause has very different implications than a 30, 60, or 90-day pause. I get that you are opposed to all flavors of pause, but in reality the length of the pause has a big impact on how important this is.
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It's just a pause.
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It also is an effective way of communicating how tiny is the group of people who actually think Musk was calling back to Nazi Germany.
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Have you never watched a WW2 movie? The Nazi salute is straight forward.
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To be clear, the German Hitler salute was performed arm going forward, not to the side. A Nazi performing that salute would have been given the side eye.
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Waste of time now that you have leaked your highly adversary appreciation of the incoming administration. Remember you are the ambassador to the whole country which is far more diverse and resilient than this alarmist take. www.reuters.com/world/us/ger...
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We propose reorganizing the interior and focussing, not on selling subsidized grazing, logging and mining permits, but on removing abandoned barbed wire (600,000 miles of it) opening migration corridors and building thousands of wildlife overpasses and miles of wildlife safe guide fencing.
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By "rocky planets" do they mean "like ours"?
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I'll try it
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Cal Ripken.
Earl Weaver.
Brooks Robinson.
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Any insult with sexual meaning is sexually abusive. ;-)
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OK Boomer! If you don't know where you got your information, you don't know the information.
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A purely #editorial observation: indents were wider in those days.
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Careful what you wish for. Terrified billionaires is Putin's Russia.
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My dream is a "perpetual Linux" that will work forever without updates.
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Block culture is a big turn-off.
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3/ My rules of engagement:
- I am always civil.
- I am willing to engage with people who disagree with me and will not block anyone just for that.
- I do autoblock name-callers: one strike and you're out.
- I am perhaps overly willing to engage in extended debate on a topic.
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2/ I post a lot about politics, science, and culture. I am a split-ticket voter in a swing state, so about 97% of the population thinks I am frequently wrong.
I have a substack on the role of mindful social media consumption in a full and healthy life.
replacethenews.substack.com