Forestdweller
3.5K posts
@mikjcal It’s because the constitution states that there is no state religion, so holidays may happen, but generally not mandated country-wide. A funny time here in WI whe the legislature made Good Friday NOT a state holiday, and the gov objected because “it wasn’t a religious holiday”.
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I’m actually really surprised to learn that for the United States that bangs on so much about Christianity that Good Friday and Easter Monday are not federally mandated public holidays for the whole country 🤔
Here in Australia the whole country gets a 4 day long weekend, and those who have to work get paid penalty rates for it.
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Forestdweller retweetledi
SOURCE: CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott "gave Bovino a direct order to return the pages/accounts names to reflect El Centro Sector."
"Bovino refused...he said he earned the followers and that his followers expected him to post from new cities. It was all about Greg Bovino getting attention and nothing else."
washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-hou…
Anna Giaritelli@Anna_Giaritelli
🚨SCOOP: The Trump administration has locked out Greg Bovino from all government-owned social media accounts after he refused to return three accounts to CBP upon retirement. washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-hou…
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Forestdweller retweetledi
It has been 10 days since Hegseth and Caine last briefed on Iran. No CENTCOM briefing since 3/10, and no Pentagon daily press briefing at all. We learn more of what the U.S. military has been doing from bystander videos than DoD. Historic lack of transparency and accountability.
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@conorsen @DavidBottomley2 Israel doesn't play by the rules that any other nation does, and Trump knows it. If they are committed, they will not hesitate to press on Trump personally.
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@DavidBottomley2 Trump could squeeze Israel the way he has squeezed Canada, Denmark, and the rest of the EU if he wanted. He could inflict tremendous pain on them or any other ally, as he has demonstrated.
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The Trump FCC sees its job quite explicitly as the destruction of all opposition.
There’s no principle or virtue here. What’s being celebrated is the destruction of any liberal principle or shared value.
MAGA folks can say “well we kind of feel like you did this to us, or want to do this to us” but notice that’s not a principle. “We’re violating this rule bc we think you did” is the opposite of virtue. It’s a justification for why you can violate a virtue that you still believe should apply when the shoe is on the other foot.
Virtue signaling can be annoying. But it’s being replaced with the open celebration of vice and authoritarianism. Which is so much worse.
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The uniparty in action
🪶Native Patriot 🇺🇸@LaNativePatriot
“The Republicans will fix it this time” “The Democrats will fix it this time”
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Forestdweller retweetledi
One of the animating ideas behind Techs support of Trump was the perceived overreach on content policy. Some Biden comms folks used brusque language when asking meta to takedown Covid disinformation.
But here you’ve got Zuck telling Musk in his capacity as DOGEmaster: we’re ready to censor to protect your young chuds. Lest anyone find out the names of those government employees working for tax payers.
Wild shit.
Internal Tech Emails@TechEmails
Mark Zuckerberg texts Elon Musk February 3, 2025
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Forestdweller retweetledi
My latest contribution to @TheDispatch is a primer on why the Iran War and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the potential to spiral further into by far the biggest energy shock in history.
And markets are sleepwalking into it.
thedispatch.com/newsletter/dis…
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@icxcnika7 @rhcm123 COVID shifted my understanding of the rationality of markets dramatically. Markets holding steady until the US shutdown in mid March when the virus was already worldwide and we had video of the impacts in Asia and Europe was insane.
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@rhcm123 This is a COVID style situation. The predictable outcome becomes obvious to anyone paying attention, yet markets ignore the risk until the media presses the "everyone panic!" Button. I think we have 2 or 3 more weeks to go.
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>hormuz shut for a month now
>ukraine blows up 40% of russia's oil export capacity
>wti $90
i don't get it.
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Forestdweller retweetledi
6:49am: sudden spike in oil futures trading. no news. no announcement. nothing public.
7:05am: trump announces a pause on iran strikes. markets move.
someone knew. 16 minutes early. $580 million in contracts. the corruption is staggering.
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Forestdweller retweetledi
Trump is at 4 trillion US debt in a little over a year. He is on track to hit 50 trillion before he leaves office which I stated he would do last suumer. He had 7.8 trillion his first term. That means he would have just about 23 trillion of the 50 trillion in debt, which is 46 percent of our nations debt in 8 years in office. When you see how rapidly the net worth of billionaires has escalated during his time in office, including his and his families, you can only conclude that we have been robbed. Our kids future destroyed and not a single piece of new infrastructure. America is being bankrupted on purpose.
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America’s foreign policy toward Southeast Asia under Trump has been:
1. Slap them with the some of the highest tariff rates in the world
2. Launch Section 301 investigations of their trade practices
3. Create a global energy and commodities crisis that singles them out for special pain bc of the region’s reliance on Strait of Hormuz
The scenario below is dark, dark, dark … but we have basically waged slow-motion economic warfare against our allies in one of the most important regions in the world.
(via @alexbhturnbull)
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@_Zer0_C00L__ @rationalaussie It's also a mistake to assume that a worldwide war would involve only two sides. A multipolar conflict is entirely plausible with varying interests and coalitions involved.
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@rationalaussie You’re such an idiot. Ok, so who is siding with Iran for WW3? Russia can’t even stabilise Ukraine. China secretly hates Muslims- has rounded them up into concentration camps. Lebanon and Syria already decimated. So which part of the world is fighting US and NATO?
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I hate to break it to you, but what is about to happen with this energy crisis is the exact type of reason why world wars actually start.
If you don't have enough energy for your economy to run, nor enough food to feed your population, you will fight to fix that out of sheer necessity.
This entire situation with the Iran War is a mess, and extremely dangerous.
Nina Schick@NinaDSchick
Very bad for Britain, which is uniquely susceptible. 1/ The Iran war sent British wholesale gas prices surging — up nearly 90% in a month. This hits Britain with unique force because the nation remains 75% dependent on fossil fuels for its primary energy needs. 2/ As gas sets the marginal price for all electricity, a spike in the Middle East becomes an immediate, unavoidable tax on every British business and household. 3/ The reality is crushing. Analysts warn of household bills hitting £2,500 if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for more than six weeks. 4/ As energy-driven inflation surges, hopes for interest rate cuts have vanished. Britain is now servicing a £2.9 trillion debt mountain with £114 billion of interest expected to be paid this year. That’s nearly double the nation’s entire core defense budget. 5/To make matters worse, Britain has no supply buffer. Westminster based its storage needs on optimistic assumptions of frictionless global markets. It has a maximum gas storage capacity of just twelve days. Compare that to Germany’s 89 days, France’s 103, or the Netherlands’ 123. 6/ Unable to stockpile, Britain is forced to buy gas at the worst possible moment. European gas futures have already surged above €60 per megawatt-hour, roughly six times the US price. 7/Britain’s main gas provider, Norway, is at maximum capacity, and Qatar (the UK’s swing supplier) had already declared force majeure, halting shipping after the unprecedented shutdown at Ras Laffan. Now, missile attacks on Ras Laffan, and threats by Trump to pull out of the Strait of Hormuz.
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@AnneAmbroseLMT @KurtSupeCPA It may be hard to grasp but a lot of decent people consider it a grave responsibility to ensure their children, regardless of age, can live a life at least commensurate with their own.
We used to leave the world a better place than we found it, mostly through our kids.
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Forestdweller retweetledi
Couple comes in for their annual review.
$2.8 million. Well invested. Solid Pension. Completely on track.
I ask the question I ask everyone.
"How is your daughter doing?"
Mom's face changed first.
Their daughter is 39. Hasn't asked for anything. Never complained.
But she's been in the same apartment for six years.
Daycare alone is $1,800 a month. Down payment feels impossible.
Dad said "we always figured she'd get it eventually."
I pulled up a simple chart.
Statistically they live to 88. She inherits at 56. Maybe 60.
At 60 her own retirement is eight years away.
The money that could change everything at 39 arrives when her finish line is already close.
Neither of them had ever seen it framed that way.
The annual gift exclusion is $19,000 per parent per child.
They can move $38,000 a year to her. No gift tax. No estate implications.
Over ten years that's $380,000 transferred while they're healthy enough to watch it matter.
Dad looked at his wife.
"Why are we waiting?"
Most families leave everything at death because nobody showed them the math of giving it while they're alive.
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Forestdweller retweetledi
@CameronCorduroy I had a $600,000 over 5 years NSF Physics grant terminated last year because our grant mentioned "polarization" which was included in the banned terms list. We were discussing the polarization of light. We never got the grant reinstated.
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@itsmichaelnorth @Ferncreeklodge @heavensbvnny Past versions were not yearly, and unless you had an insanely old copy I cannot recall ever having issues opening or converting files made with newer versions. That would have made them less useful even for the most current users!
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@Ferncreeklodge @heavensbvnny Who said anything about a monthly fee? Literally google it. You pay once a year. Always have. Since they created it.
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You know what really bugs me these days? We can't own anything. Everything is a subscription service, like literally everything. You can't buy Microsoft Office, you have to purchase a subscription for a year. You literally have to pay for everything FOREVER. Isn't anyone else bothered by this?
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@rinsana @mattyglesias The US Navy is many times larger and more advanced than most other nations combined. Some magic coalition is nonsense.
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@mattyglesias If there is a coalition forming to open the Strait, you might be surprised by the action in crude. If no one believes it, oil goes higher.
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@patriot_mama_TX @WhiskeyMD247365 @JenniferJJacobs @CBSNews We don't need to know about the Epstein Files either I guess
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@WhiskeyMD247365 @JenniferJJacobs @CBSNews This involves sensitive, ongoing operational security concerns in a conflict zone, where the administration can and will rightfully withhold details to protect troops and missions. You’re on a need-to-know basis and just don’t need to know.
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Breaking via @CBSNews: There was another U.S. military medical evacuation flight today. It flew from Saudi Arabia to a U.S. base in Germany with about 19 injured service members on board. Among them were two military members injured when a drone exploded next to their vehicle, sources told me.
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@JenniferJJacobs @CBSNews So apparently we aren’t hearing the full story from the administration.
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