vxbush 2/7/2025 5:21:46 AM

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vxbush 2/7/2025 5:25:25 AM

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How dare a foreigner, now citizen, make a comment in a tweet! I mean, he says one word in a tweet, and Liz goes absolutely nuts: Former USAID Official Liz Cheney Rips Elon Musk for Being a... Foreigner

Man, she has the thinnest skin.

vxbush 2/7/2025 5:41:09 AM

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vxbush 2/7/2025 5:41:39 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 3:

Helps if you include the link: 

DOGE Is Coming for the Bureau of Labor Statistics - Knees Are Already Knockin'

The amount of data fraud in this area is going to be ginormous. 

vxbush 2/7/2025 5:49:42 AM

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vxbush 2/7/2025 5:52:53 AM

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I haven't linked to Gizmodo in ages, but this is noteworthy;

Google Lifts Self-Imposed Ban on Using AI for Weapons and Surveillance

vxbush 2/7/2025 5:56:06 AM

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You knew some of the USAID money had to end up in helping a Soros initiative: 

Before it was shuttered, USAID routed funds to Soros-aligned causes, terrorists and drag queens

Article says more than $260 million went to the East-West Institute, which is backed by Soros' Open Society Foundation.

vxbush 2/7/2025 5:57:25 AM

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vxbush 2/7/2025 6:08:02 AM

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BREAKING: Trump Buyout Offer for Federal Workers PAUSED by Federal Judge Just Hours Before the Deadline

With the number of unions involved, the details of this are probably more complicated than are being presented here. 

JCM 2/7/2025 8:34:27 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 2:

I guess African American immigrants aren't so special.

JCM 2/7/2025 8:43:41 AM

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Occasional Reader 2/7/2025 9:53:13 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 1:

no self driving, but the amount of electronic gizmo overload is a little bit dizzying. I feel like I have to get a graduate degree to figure out how to operate everything on the car.

for now, I’m experimenting with opting into all of the “tracking“-related stuff to see what it feels like. I will likely opt back out of it within the next month, unless I find it fantastically useful.

If I had really, really wanted to take my time about this, I’ve ordered this car from the factory in Germany, and tailor made it to take out all the electronic googaws that I don’t want.  But although I wasn’t in a huge hurry to switch cars, I didn’t want to take that much time about it either. And I did manage to negotiate enough to get about 12 grand knocked off the MSRP, so I think that’s not bad.

Occasional Reader 2/7/2025 9:54:53 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 8:

I really have mixed feelings about all of this. It’s certainly true that a lot of breathtaking waste is being uncovered, but I also know from professional experience that USAID actually does a lot of good things.  No, one could argue of course that a lot of those good things should not really be paid for by the US taxpayer either.

JCM 2/7/2025 10:02:25 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 13:

I don't mind foreign aid, IF it is in the best interest of the US.

But there also needs to be some quid pro quo for the aid, it doesn't have to be 1:1. Even it is intangible things that support the US globally. Humanitarian aid is one, but even that we have to be careful. Funds are fungible, and be used so unfriendly regimes can fund other things we wouldn't like.

So much of what we are seeing is pure garbage with no strings attached.

vxbush 2/7/2025 10:31:09 AM

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In #12 Occasional Reader said: no self driving, but the amount of electronic gizmo overload is a little bit dizzying. I feel like I have to get a graduate degree to figure out how to operate everything on the car.

I want to focus on this for a minute, because this actually is becoming a safety hazard. 

I had a loaner vehicle while mine was in the shop recently, and it was a 2024 Subaru. And the number of switches and levers on the steering column was actually scary. This model had automatic or manual transmission, meaning you could switch gears accidentally if you weren't careful. It was kind of terrifying. I didn't mind the lane assist or buffer zone settings; those had a useful purpose, being LIDAR and all, but the ability to manually shift gears when I had been in the middle of automatic mode? That was bizarre. Maybe it's safer to do that in the midst of driving so you don't have to pull off the road to switch modes, but not having driven such a car before made me so very leery of this setting. 

Multiple people have noted that having physical knobs and levers is actually safer than having digital displays that you have to manipulate, and this Subaru had physical settings for volume and ice defrost on the front and back windows, but digital display buttons for temperature, fan speed, air settings, etc. It was kind of slapdash. 

My biggest beef, though, was the security system that wasn't a nice green checkmark to indicate that all safety systems were engaged, but a BLINKING RED SENSOR that looked like there was an error that had to be cleared before you could lock the car. I had to break open the documentation in the car to confirm that it wasn't an error because the icon was so poorly designed--it wasn't clear what it stood for.

JCM 2/7/2025 11:13:11 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 15:

One of my numerous pet peeves. The current Human Interface Design. When Star Trek NG debued in '87 David Gelertner, worte an article about all the touch screens in the show and how impractical they are for mission critical design.

A touch screen requires you to take your eyes off the road to see what you are touch. In critical task that is distracting. What is needed is a physical switch with tactical feedback. Something you can reach without looking and know its position then actuate it without look and get the physical feedback that it was moved. Switch can also be quickly scanned or touch to verify position.

In this touch screen era you have to look at the touch screen navigate menus to check a setting, that takes time and attention away from the primary task.

vxbush 2/7/2025 11:51:41 AM

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In #16 JCM said: In this touch screen era you have to look at the touch screen navigate menus to check a setting, that takes time and attention away from the primary task.

And that's not even addressing one silly aspect: how bright is the touch screen? Is the resolution on the display high quality so it doesn't strain the eyes? Are you blinded by the display? Do you have to dig into a screen to change that display setting? And on and on it goes.

Occasional Reader 2/7/2025 11:57:57 AM

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Reply to JCM in 14:

“So much of what we are seeing is pure garbage with no strings attached.”

not to mention, the garbage that has absolutely nothing to do with foreign aid, but is rather money being settled back to Democratic Party propaganda, etc.

Occasional Reader 2/7/2025 12:00:52 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 15:

well, you have to understand, the Subaru was not designed for you, because you’re not a lesbian.

/

I agree with your overall point. The car I bought has a decent number of physical switches for the important things, but still more screen stuff than I would care for. In contrast, I drove a Lexus as a possible alternative prior to deciding on the one I bought, and while at first, I liked the “clean“ look at the dashboard, I quickly realized that was because pretty much everything was embedded in the touchscreen. Not a fan.

Occasional Reader 2/7/2025 12:03:02 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 17:

“Are you blinded by the display? ”

Or even worse, wrapped up like a douche, another roamer in the night?

/to cite the misheard lyrics version

JCM 2/7/2025 12:24:01 PM

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Display brightness, I see so many people driving around with their dash and display brightness turned way up at night.

I'm thinking how can see outside what's in the dark? Bright lights destroy night vision. I turn down the dash lights as low as I can get them and can turn the infotainment system display off.

vxbush 2/7/2025 12:40:27 PM

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In #21 JCM said: I'm thinking how can see outside what's in the dark? Bright lights destroy night vision. I turn down the dash lights as low as I can get them and can turn the infotainment system display off.

Why don't they have a red mode like astronomers use to protect night vision? 

JCM 2/7/2025 1:39:12 PM

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Reply to vxbush in 22:

Very good question and I've wondered about that.