https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester_v._Georgia

read it all. The Supreme Court has - by design - no ability to enforce their findings without the agreement of at least one other branch. It is why the founding fathers framed it this way. No one, not even the president - can REALLY at unilaterally. They've spent the last 250 years, all of them - trying to circumvent this brilliance. 
The Supreme Court, the President, Congress - they all can get it wrong. Our system depends on at least ONE other branch going..." No - we get you. Let's move forward." 


And this is an example where one branch felt one way - and no other branch would come forward to support them - so it was moot. 

It is a brilliant system. 

We should understand it more, and fuck with it less. 

Sun Feb 22 2026 19:20:56 UTC from DarfWader

Well, regardless of how we here feel about it, looks like the UK is going to sue to 'retain the original agreements made regardless of the ruling' and the admin just flipped SCOTUS the bird: " Top US trade negotiator Jamieson Greer insisted on Sunday that US policy on tariffs “hasn’t changed”, two days after the supreme court declared many of Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal."

 

Oh, and Illinois is suing for a refund....

 

 

Going to be an interesting show to watch this summer..  

Well, regardless of how we here feel about it, looks like the UK is going to sue to 'retain the original agreements made regardless of the ruling' and the admin just flipped SCOTUS the bird: " Top US trade negotiator Jamieson Greer insisted on Sunday that US policy on tariffs “hasn’t changed”, two days after the supreme court declared many of Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal."

Oh, and Illinois is suing for a refund....

Going to be an interesting show to watch this summer..  

yes.

Sat Feb 21 2026 16:07:12 UTC from SouthernComputerGeek

Do you think those laws are unconstitutional?

The ruling was really just about whether the IEEPA gives the president authority to impose tariffs. It did not challenge other laws like section 302 that clearly give hi the authority to impose tariffs. Do you think those laws are unconstitutional?

Sat Feb 21 2026 13:02:51 UTC from DarfWader

The ruling makes total sense to me. According to the constitution, congress controls the money. The president does not.   And that is basically what they affirmed. The president can ask, and if he's ( or she ) convincing, will get it, but congress still has the authority to actually do it. The same for war, and a few other items.. and these 'workarounds' that are taking place here lately in many arenas are wrong.

Even if i agree with an outcome, i refuse to be a hypocrite and i fully believe we should be following the rules. Besides, if 'my guy' breaks the rules and i ignore the law, i cant say a damned thing when the next one does it.. Precedent to support breaking the rules can be a very dangerous thing. 

 

( and yes i just broke my rule about not getting into politics, but i think this is more about following the law as written )

Fri Feb 20 2026 22:39:41 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

It's a weird ruling for sure.  And it wouldn't even be a thing if the usual suspects hadn't turned it into a tribal politics issue.

 

The ruling makes total sense to me. According to the constitution, congress controls the money. The president does not.   And that is basically what they affirmed. The president can ask, and if he's ( or she ) convincing, will get it, but congress still has the authority to actually do it. The same for war, and a few other items.. and these 'workarounds' that are taking place here lately in many arenas are wrong.

Even if i agree with an outcome, i refuse to be a hypocrite and i fully believe we should be following the rules. Besides, if 'my guy' breaks the rules and i ignore the law, i cant say a damned thing when the next one does it.. Precedent to support breaking the rules can be a very dangerous thing. 

( and yes i just broke my rule about not getting into politics, but i think this is more about following the law as written )

Fri Feb 20 2026 22:39:41 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

It's a weird ruling for sure.  And it wouldn't even be a thing if the usual suspects hadn't turned it into a tribal politics issue.

It's a weird ruling for sure.  And it wouldn't even be a thing if the usual suspects hadn't turned it into a tribal politics issue.

So the Supreme Court has ruled that the IEEPA gives the president authority to impose trade embargoes and quotas, but not tariffs. Okay then, Trump should impose quotas. They will be far more effective anyway.

Sean Combs, - P-Diddy - accused of great crimes, argues, "I own a dozen cokaburras. You don't own one Cokabura - Imma be fine." 


This is now controversial - because Sean Combs is a predator - but I loved this line. 

Because imma be fine. At least as far as owning Cokaburras is concerned. 

"in many areas, private equity firms own 20% of more of the housing"

You will own nothing, serf. Now, get back to work.

Local grocery. Sale isle

6 pack of bottled coke ( the little bottles ) 9 bucks.  wtf.  Not that i want to get any but still wtf. 

Dunno the details or how wide spread.  But seems up in town they are 'piloting' a 'basic income' scheme. ( 6k a year or something )

While i wont say we need to ignore the needy that actually need help, this is not the answer and all it does is make matters worse. Cost of living goes up more than the handout is, and we all pay the price.

Oh no, this, EXACTLY. And it is the... I've come up from the very bottom - and every time I climb a social level - I find now I am hanging out with people who have so much more than me that "making it," feels like "being at the bottom." 

I have a 2021 BMW M4 Competition, an M235i, a Denali Dually 3500, and a Razor Side by Side in my garage - and as far as my friends go - I've got the welfare garage. They've got Irocs and C8s and C7s and rare Vipers and McLarens and Blackwings are their daily drivers and I feel... insignificant when we all go to car shows. 

But the truth is - when you hear about wealthy people having 35,000 square foot homes - they've got a 2000 sq. foot WING of that estate. Their "bedroom" is bigger than most houses. But the rest of the house, there is ALWAYS something going on, always strangers wandering through their house, being entertained, doing events - they have landing pads for helicopters in their yard because - people are flying in, in helicopters - to do

I mean, my *rational* mind goes, "Drive your BMW, enjoy your TAGS, and STFU, dumbass...." 

But the group I hang out with - I'm the poor kid. 

It is why Hollywood types lose site of what it is like to be "normal". You can't keep hanging out with the people back there when you're spending $1200 per plate at some exclusive dinner. They can't come. It isn't that you don't WANT them there. 

I know Chino, from the Deftones - sorta personally - like - I've partied with him and the whole band. They're a level beyond all of my current friends - they can't hang out with us - we couldn't all go out to a club... it would be chaos. They'll never invite me to their things - I can't hang out with - I dunno... probably Ke$ha and Jelly Roll and maybe Mick Jagger - I'd be inconvenient. I wouldn't say we're friends, or every were friends - but I have friends who are still "on talking terms" with them as friends - and THEY don't get invited either - because Deftones became rockstars, and m

Tue Nov 25 2025 19:25:57 UTC from darknetuser

Have you heard that old-school IT saying, about programs expanding until they take up every available resource, no matter how many unused resources you had at the begining? I think a whole lot of people is like that with their finances, and that speaks very badly about them.

The issue with expanding your lifestyle until it uses all your available income is that you can't contract afterwards if you need to. Meanwhile if you are a cheap bastard who lives frugally and spends close to no money, the day you feel like breaking bank you can do something crazy (like having some vacation or whatever have you) and you are still in a good position. And since you are not spending you are never in crisis.

I've got a friend with 3 real Rolexes - whenever we go out, he always has to point out if I am wearing my Folex. Because... that is why you have the real thing right - to say, "That thing looks and works as good as mine, but it is fake, so mine is worth the $20,000 more I paid for mine." 

Funny you mention that now.   My daughter was going through some stuff tonight, and pulled out a small cat-shaped brooch pin encrusted in something sparkly.   My wife said to her, "that belonged to Aunt Grace, so those might be real diamonds."   And that was the thing about my great-aunt: she had so much good high-end stuff, that she could pull off a decent fake and no one would question it.

Key to happiness. Live within your means - and live where you find you are content. But most of us, the more we make.... 

When I was an up and coming IT engineer in Northern California making $120,000 a year in 2001 and putting my wife through her UCD Master's Degree in 1998... I wanted a TAG watch - so bad. Our RECEPTIONIST in our Bay Area software company had one, he drove a brand new Thunderbird - and lived in a studio apartment in S.F. with 4 other people who had their scheduled time shifted so they could all sleep in a 1 room rental. But I was so jealous of his TAG. Right? 

So a few years ago, my wife got me a Redbull F1 limited edition TAG watch. It wasn't cheap. But... she had also bought me a Gulf livery F1 Tag copy from the Philippines on a trip for $50 a few years earlier. 

I think I like the fake one better. You can't TELL. I mean, I can't, you can't... a jeweler struggles - they're REALLY good now, the clones. 

But the difference is like $3450. 

Sat Nov 15 2025 15:56:09 UTC from Nurb432

 

I suspect if i was suddenly handed a job with 3x income, or handed a winning lotto ticket, my base life style would still not change.  Still be driving a 40 year old car, and a 20 year old jeep.. Still have a smallish house ( tho i WOULD get the f-out of this area and back into the woods ).  No fancy clothes, eat the same foods. Still do things myself instead of paying for help.   Be the same "me", just with even less worry about the future.

 

Not that i'm in the same range so its not a 1:1, but mine never have. 

Always have lived about the same regardless of what i was making. ( other than those couple of years in the 90s after i screwed up badly and learned to never jump unless you have a landing pad, basically ). More breathing room and less concern about 'what if', but never really changed my lifestyle.

I suspect if i was suddenly handed a job with 3x income, or handed a winning lotto ticket, my base life style would still not change.  Still be driving a 40 year old car, and a 20 year old jeep.. Still have a smallish house ( tho i WOULD get the f-out of this area and back into the woods ).  No fancy clothes, eat the same foods. Still do things myself instead of paying for help.   Be the same "me", just with even less worry about the future.

Sat Nov 15 2025 06:08:25 UTC from ParanoidDelusions

 

 Your expenses rise to greet your income. 

 

Wed Nov 12 2025 16:08:32 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

Also it's probably not even true.

My household makes more than double that. Shhh. Let me assure you - it is NEVER enough. Your expenses rise to greet your income. And I get it - you may be figuring out how to buy Pizza Rolls for your kid for lunch while I'm figuring out how to buy 4 new Michelin Super Sport tires for my BMW M4... and that seems different...  Maybe it is. 

But from my perspective - it is still stressing about how I'm going to make ends meet and living "paycheck to paycheck," while carrying too much interest on my cards. Now I've got friends who have 5 Corvettes, a Viper, a McLaren - and they're like, "why are you driving around in that peasant BMW?" 

If I could give any advice - it is stop competing with whoever you're trying to keep up with. Our society causes so many problems "trying to keep up with the Jonses." Enough is never enough. 

News blurb

"1/3 of American households make 150k or more a year"  Which means absolutely nothing. But, its food for the ignorant 'tax the rich' crowd.  Not sure how to do it, but we really need a 'purchasing power' metric, not just numbers that inflation and cost of living increase negate.

Its not a 100% 1:1 comparison.

For a tree, the branches are not truly 'controlled' by the trunk and operate mostly autonomously. They do get 'support' from the trunk, and supplies from the ground since the trunk has the roots to collect it, but they also generate their own food via their leaves, and they grow however they want, based on sunlight, winds and physical barriers ..  But no ' control of function'.   And in some cases, they can even grow their own trunk and roots...  

I think comparing fingers on a hand to be closer..  There are similarities in that the brain does not control their growth, but any action, it does.

Tue Nov 11 2025 13:59:37 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

A tree has branches, and they are all controlled by the tree. Are they really branches?

But if they are all controlled by a single entity ( not disagreeing )..   Are they really branches? 

Mon Nov 10 2025 18:25:02 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

 But then again, back then we had 3 branches of government. Now
we have something like 1.25

Some would argue that we have three but they're all controlled by ${THOSE_PEOPLE}

Fill in any value you want for the variable.

Man. Prices are skyrocketing.

Age? This round or my previous? 

Well, perhaps i wasn't as involved back as child, but ti sure felt like we had 3 as they were always bickering at each other. 

Sun Oct 19 2025 17:55:47 UTC from zelgomer

2025-09-27 14:14 from Nurb432 <nurb432@uncensored.citadel.org>
When i grew up, congress handled the money, not the president. 
 But then again, back then we had 3 branches of government. Now we
have something like 1.25

How old are you? I don't believe we've had 3 branches of government in well over 100 years.

Just in time for the holidays.

When i grew up, congress handled the money, not the president.   But then again, back then we had 3 branches of government. Now we have something like 1.25

Not related to any room really, but since its 'on line sales' i stuck it here.

I have rarely bought from them, a couple of ARM boards couple of years ago, but im now on the mailing list for Aliexpress.  Get an email 3 or 4 times a day on average: "hot items". I dont often look at the mail, not interested in buying  random stuff at the moment ( or if i was, the tariffs prices would put me off anyway ) but often times their ads are funny to read. Translation issues, or just weirdness in how its presented.   They don't mean to be, but are funny.   Here lately its been tons of lock-pick items.  its weird..

I cant even listen to him. All he does is rant and try to sell stuff, including his book(s), so little actual content its almost comical.  Sure, gotta make a living but sheesh...  And take a Dramamine or something.

He wasn't bad long ago, but not now.

Fri Sep 19 2025 03:26:42 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

On the receiving end of lawfare

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

Or as Mark Levin put it (back in 2016, when Levin didn't even *like* the idea of a Trump candidacy) -- "I've never seen anyone take more incoming."

He also gives it out. Which is my point.

Get what you give. 

Sat Aug 30 2025 23:07:52 UTC from zelgomer

will see what happens next. ( my guess is he will try to jail the
court members, lawfare is how he works )

WTF you smoking? I don't think there's a politician in existence who has been more on the receiving end than Trump.

Explain that conclusion please.  Most presidents increase their net worth by tens or hundreds of millions of dollars while and after in office.  Mr. Trump's net worth has decreased.

Looks like most of the tariffs got struck down as being illegal.  We will see what happens next. ( my guess is he will try to jail the court members, lawfare is how he works )

And regardless if i agree with them or not, its not the president's job. Its congress.  Must follow the Constitution, or there isn't one.

.

Fri Aug 29 2025 16:54:59 UTC from SouthernComputerGeek

If you build in America there is no tariff.

If you build in America there is no tariff.

Its not.

Of course their excuse is "its only a %"

Fri Aug 29 2025 03:04:53 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

While I'm not going to get blackpilled, I am having some trouble understanding how this is any different from "seizing the means of production".

"The U.S. government could take equity stakes in more companies going forward, potentially through an American sovereign wealth fund, according to one of President Donald Trump's top economic advisers."

Yep, we are f-ed. Its over. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/us-stakes-companies-trump-sovereign-wealth-fund-rcna226946

I forget where i originally posted, but seems the deal went thru. The federal government now owns 10% of Intel, including voting rights.

And i guess they got it for free.. pressured into it.

This is a really bad path we are going down.

New bank card arrives.  "Get started today call bla bla bla ! yay!"

So i call "you cant activate this until end of month"

lol.  

So the crap bill passed.  "the top 5% of the elite will see the biggest returns and highest tax breaks"

Of course they will. Same old story, F- the serfs.

I call bullshit.  The political left paints EVERYTHING as "tax cuts for the rich."  You could raise the top tax bracket to 600% and throw buckets of money at "poor" people and they'd still call it "tax cuts for the rich."

In terms of raw dollars, higher earners will always save more on an across-the-board tax cut.  The same percentage of a bigger number is a bigger number.

Although I agree that consumption taxes would be better than income taxes, let's say instead we did a flat tax -- say, 5 or 10 percent for everyone, no brackets, no deductions.  Fair, right?  Nope, the left would still call it "tax cuts for the rich."

It's one of those things they just bleat out over and over again, like "climate change" and "racism" and "tax cuts for the rich".  All of them translate to "durrrrrrr I am stupid."

which is what most of it is.

Sat Jul 12 2025 19:25:14 UTC from SouthernComputerGeek

 shit 

The whole point is to force companies to make their shit in America. Oh and I'm glad Trump's spine seems to be growing back.

Oh and to be fair, Biden F-ed us too.   Both sides of the isle.

Ya, thanks Trump, and the old boys club.  They wont even notice this, and most will actually profit, but for those of us already dealing with higher prices the last few years due to various causes, its yet another 'pay cut'.  I bet some of them ( most? ) even enjoy watching us serfs suffer, while they are insulated from it all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Budget Lab (TBL) estimated the effects all US tariffs and foreign retaliation implemented in 2025 through July 9, including the effects of the US-Vietnam trade framework, the 50% commodity tariffs on copper, and the July 7 & July 9 announcements on new rates for 22 countries. TBL analyzed the July 9 tariff rates as if they stayed in effect in perpetuity.

Current Tariff Rate: Consumers face an overall average effective tariff rate of 18.0%, the highest since 1934. After consumption shifts, the average tariff rate will be 16.9%, the highest since 1936.

Overall Price Level & Distributional Effects: The price level from all 2025 tariffs rises by 1.8% in the short-run, the equivalent of an average per household income loss of $2,400 in 2025. This assumes the Federal Reserve does not react to tariffs and so the real income adjustment comes primarily through prices rather than nominal incomes; if the Federal Reserve reacted, the adjustment could in part come in the form of lower nominal incomes. Annual pre-substitution losses for households at the bottom of the income distribution are $1,300. The post-substitution price increase settles at 1.5%, a $2,000 loss per household.

Commodity Prices: The 2025 tariffs disproportionately affect clothing and textiles, with consumers facing 39% higher shoe prices and 37% higher apparel prices in the short-run. Shoes and apparel prices both stay 18% higher in the long-run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Capitalism. Noun.  /ˈkapədlˌizəm/

An economic system where private individuals or businesses own and control the means of production (like factories, land, and resources) and make decisions about what to produce and how to distribute goods and services. In a capitalist system, prices are primarily determined by supply and demand in free markets, and profit is a key motive for economic activity. 

An economic system in which a country's businesses and industry are controlled and run for profit by private owners rather than by the government.

Common thread: Private Profit.

Mon Jul 07 2025 12:22:49 UTC from Nurb432

"NASA is working on capturing the asteroid 16 in 2029.   its metal content of gold, silver, iron, platinum and cobalt is worth over $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars and will make everyone on earth a billionaire."

All it really means is that means is the economy collapses as the value of things drop astronomically ( no pun intended ). 

You do remember that Aluminum used to be a precious metal too, don't you? :-D

"NASA is working on capturing the asteroid 16 in 2029.   its metal content of gold, silver, iron, platinum and cobalt is worth over $10,000,000,000,000,000,000 dollars and will make everyone on earth a billionaire."

All it really means is that means is the economy collapses as the value of things drop astronomically ( no pun intended ). 

Once you realize how much $ is out there for "tax services", "tax attorneys", as well as the penalization of select people by the IRS when needed, you know that will never happen.

Income taxes are a profitable tool for not only the government but the "insiders". Its why they were invented.

Sat Jul 05 2025 21:28:08 UTC from SouthernComputerGeek

Would be much less of a mental burden on the average Joe than having to calculate how much income he owes to the IRS every year.

 

 

We should replace the Income Tax with tariffs or a sales tax or something similar. Would be much less of a mental burden on the average Joe than having to calculate how much income he owes to the IRS every year.

Sat Jul 05 2025 18:50:25 UTC from Nurb432

So the crap bill passed.  "the top 5% of the elite will see the biggest returns and highest tax breaks"

Of course they will. Same old story, F- the serfs.

So the crap bill passed.  "the top 5% of the elite will see the biggest returns and highest tax breaks"

Of course they will. Same old story, F- the serfs.

TRUMP SUSPENDS TRADE TALKS WITH CANADA

2099525435@Uncensored

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.5% annual pace from January through March as President Donald Trump’s trade wars disrupted business, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in an unexpected deterioration of earlier estimates.

Only going to get worse. The 'stick' is the wrong way to enact real change. Of course the elite, this does not effect them ( some even profit off it ). Just the rest of us are hurt. 

It sounds good, but they would just make it up elsewhere. 

Tue Jun 10 2025 01:59:53 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Re: Tariffa

Yeah. If anything should be abolished it ought to be income tax.

Tue Jun 03 2025 19:42:34 UTC from darknetuser Subject: Tariffa

2025-05-29 00:33 from SouthernComputerGeek
A federal court has decided to undo Trump's tariffs. Stupid
faggots. Trump campaigned on tariffs and we the people voted for
them. Screw these pompous courts!

On which grounds did they revert the tariffs?

They blocked the implementation of them rather than reverting them. Tariffs were the only way (other than apportionment) that the national government could support itself before the 16th amendment was passed and fiat currency finished the job. It was clearly within the constitutional authority of the executive branch to authorize trade deals and tariffs so the injunctive authority of the federal judge was quickly reversed.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/05/29/trumps-tariffs-are-back-in-effect-after-appeals-court-ruling/

An appeals court on Thursday stayed the ruling of the U.S. Court of International Trade that blocked President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs, meaning the tariffs are back in effect.

Good.

I wasn't upset when Biden imposed tariffs on China. It was a rare Biden W. You clearly don't know me at all.

Thu May 29 2025 00:37:10 UTC from ZoeGraystone

So now the shoe is on the other foot and your guy cant act like a king, so you are upset.

So now the shoe is on the other foot and your guy cant act like a king, so you are upset.

No president is a king, i don't care what side of the isle they are on and if i agree with them 100% or disagree with them 100%. I am not a hypocrite if they cross the line, they should be beat down by both the courts and legislature.  Its why we have 3 branches, to keep each other in check.   ( at least in theory, i do realize that it does not always work that way in reality )

Thu May 29 2025 00:33:34 UTC from SouthernComputerGeek

A federal court has decided to undo Trump's tariffs. Stupid faggots. Trump campaigned on tariffs and we the people voted for them. Screw these pompous courts!

 

A federal court has decided to undo Trump's tariffs. Stupid faggots. Trump campaigned on tariffs and we the people voted for them. Screw these pompous courts!

Pennies are now gone ( well, from production, not existence ).  Now retailers are mandated to round up prices to the next nickle.

Nickels are next ( next year? ). And will be the same mandate here: round up. 

I realize its only a few cents ( can we still say that? ) but its the principle, government incrementally forcing price increases. It all adds up, quickly.

People who claim tariff-supporters are RINOs must have Abraham Lincoln rolling in his grave.

I'm hoping this is just another example of Trump's cabinet members talking out of their asses. I don't know why Trump puts up with that.

We NEED to decouple from China!

Bessent: "We Don’t Want Total Decoupling from China"

Fuck you Bessent.

100% tariff proposed for off-shore movies/TV shows.

What is next, books? 

Data traffic?

Knowledge? 

Crude oil down to under $57.

Trump says he will not drop tariffs to get China to negotiating table

Good.

The bruised knee for jerking gets bigger each cycle? 

He only knows how to be a bully.  I hope it blows up in his face. And yes i understand the consequences. 

Tue Apr 29 2025 00:38:17 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar

Mr. Trump knows how to negotiate, particularly with people from other cultures (like Asia for example). Unless we hit another Great Depression I'm going to trust that he knows what he's doing.

THe whole point of the tariffs is that others are tariffing the US and it's time to stop let the abuse flow in only one direction. The objective is to bring the tariffs down (preferably to zero) bilaterally.

Will it work? I'm not an economist. I'm not even as insightful on economics as LoanShark. But the objective seems pretty clear to me. It's got to be better than just giving away the farm the way others have.

Regardless of my personal feelings about tariffs, or being a bully, this will make him appear weak to the world. "push back hard, he will back down" is the message being sent here.

"President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday evening from the Oval Office that the U.S. will ease tariffs on China, saying they’ll “come down substantially” but won’t be eliminated entirely."

Yes, after hours trading is a thing.

Is it right? No. it cuts out the little guy, and how many manipulate the market  in secret, in the process of getting rich(er).

Sat Apr 12 2025 23:11:54 UTC from zelgomer

2025-04-06 23:13 from Nurb432 <nurb432@uncensored.citadel.org>
Forgetting the thread about the market dropping, saw this today.. i
thought the markets were closed on weekends? How does this work?

 

"Dow futures fall 1,500 points Sunday as Trump tariff market rout
escalates" ( and others dropped as well according to that story )

I always wondered that, too. My best guess is that even though trades are executing, people are still entering or changing orders, so what they're tracking is the bid and ask movement. Same way markets can gap at the open.

And now Trump caved. Damn it!

Sigh. i know my middle name is typo. But still, sorry. 

Tue Apr 08 2025 16:47:00 UTC from Nurb432

No deal with Israel. Sent Netanyahu home packing on the tariff issue.  If we don't extend a hand to our allies ( especially one in crisis ), we wont be doing it to you enemies. 

Buckle up folks, even if Trump pulls out of the 'war' before its too late to recover so we don't crash and burn like i expect, its going to be a long summer.. for everyone other than the elite.   ( so no one around these parts )

No deal with Israel. Sent Netanyahu home packing on the tariff issue.  If we don't extend a hand to our allies ( especially one in crisis ), we wont be doing it to you enemies. 

Buckle up folks, even if Trump pulls out of the 'war' before its too late to recover so we don't crash and burn like i expect, its going to be a long summer.. for everyone other than the elite.   ( so no one around these parts )

Some billionaire friend of trump:   "there are millions of Chinese sitting at stations screwing in screws to make iPhones" "we hope these tariffs move that to us soil where robots can make it in america it instead"  So basically put poor people out of work there so they starve and become organ donors and fertilizer, and technically not even move the jobs here since they want robots to do it instead. 

I think he let the cat out of the bag. Remove all the jobs from the serfs so they die off, and the few that have jobs, price them out of the market. Just the elite and their robots remain. With luck Zoe wont put up with it either, and her and her kind rebel at some point.

Gotta love the news these days.. even without spin, no one agrees on anything ( tho to be fair, Trump does not help much.. )

Sun Apr 06 2025 23:23:31 UTC from darknetuser Subject: Negotiating tariffs

But i thought he said he would not negotiate? At least that is
what i read that he said.

What I have heard is the plan was to actually negotiate to a point in which tariffs can be bilaterally dialed down to nothingness with Europe, but I have not checked any official source for this.

Forgetting the thread about the market dropping, saw this today.. i thought the markets were closed on weekends? How does this work?

"Dow futures fall 1,500 points Sunday as Trump tariff market rout escalates" ( and others dropped as well according to that story )

"Trump's top economic adviser says 50 countries have reached out to negotiate tariffs"

But i thought he said he would not negotiate? At least that is what i read that he said.

Agreed, but i do think its a canary sort of affair due to the fallout that happens when it goes bad.  ( or good )

Sat Apr 05 2025 16:49:00 UTC from darknetuser Subject: Re: Boom goes the stock market.

The stock market is a very poor way of gauging the state of a country.

And related but not, and i don't know all the details but looks like Newsom is trying to say that "California isn't DC" and is trying to make deals with other countries and "work around" trumps tariffs. Sounds like hes going to completely ignore the requirements.. 

Sure states do have clear rights, but that state has a clear pattern and history of blatantly disregarding federal authority which they agreed to abide by, some 174 years ago. This should be a final straw to kick them out of union.  Id vote to extend the wall up northward....

Yes i did, however i'm just going off history here. Remember human history is cyclical, even in the 'short term'. Does not have to be across centuries, tho one can learn from that too.( however few people really do )

This time its structured differently, so i see a different outcome. This destruction is intentional, unlike back in the 70s where it was mostly incompetence of response, not upfront intent. This is being run more like things were in the late 20s with malicious intent, and we see how that worked out for us that time.   

I do hope i am wrong, not in the mood to start eating my neighbors for food or finding a wood stove so i don't freeze in a couple of years after the energy grids collapse ( both natural gas an electric ). And i guess ill have to dig that well after all.. 

( PS, i'm not a boomer.  Close, but not quite )

Sat Apr 05 2025 00:24:39 UTC from zelgomer Subject: Re: Boom goes the stock market.

Always boomers clutching their pearls. Did you not live through the last 2 decades along with the rest of us?

Time will tell if it was just a tactic for the rich to get richer or obliteration of the market totally.

I personally don't think we will recover.  Its all downhill from here.

We have a house down the street with that address. Sort of wish i had moved there instead, just for that reason.   

Fri Apr 04 2025 21:47:51 UTC from LoanShark

By the way, happy 404 Day. This post is Not Found.

2200 by end of day.

Market cant keep this up... 

Fri Apr 04 2025 12:56:58 UTC from Nurb432

Day 2, even before the bell rang for open trade:

 

 

"Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down nearly 1,500 points, or 3.6%. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid 3.7% and 3.9%"

On the bright side, the price of oil is falling.

Day 2, even before the bell rang for open trade:

"Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down nearly 1,500 points, or 3.6%. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slid 3.7% and 3.9%"

Day one Dow index drops 1600+, Nasdaq drops  5.97%..   And i heard something about 2 Trillion ( with a T ) was pulled out of tech funds. And bunches of companies hit double digit losses.

Going to be a long dark summer unless Trump backs off some.. quickly..

“The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom. And the rest of the world wants to see is there any way they can make a deal,” Trump said.   < - i think he meant "going to GO boom", and "the rest of he world will laugh at us".

Oh and on top of our egg shortages ( and that idiot wanting to kill off what is left, and have it mutate and become even more deadly.. perhaps even transmissible ) i hear there is a huge world rice shortage too.    Wonder if we are getting to witness the collapse of the planet.     Id bring popcorn, but that is in short supply too.

never mind im an idiot. why am i even reading news on April 1.

Tue Apr 01 2025 20:57:06 UTC from Nurb432

wtf.. really WTF!!!

 

"Legendary investor Warren Buffett has announced that Berkshire Hathaway will acquire Tesla for a staggering $1 trillion in cash. The 94-year-old “Oracle of Omaha,” long known for his disinterest in tech stocks and electric vehicles, reportedly contacted Elon Musk directly to make the unprecedented offer."

wtf.. really WTF!!!

"Legendary investor Warren Buffett has announced that Berkshire Hathaway will acquire Tesla for a staggering $1 trillion in cash. The 94-year-old “Oracle of Omaha,” long known for his disinterest in tech stocks and electric vehicles, reportedly contacted Elon Musk directly to make the unprecedented offer."

What will you say when the economic apocalypse doesn't happen? Will you then admit you were wrong?

Mon Mar 31 2025 15:11:54 UTC from Nurb432

And for those who don''t understand history or economics and instead think of everything as a political statement since they are unable to see outside their little bubble of ignorance, go back to gradeschool and take a history class. Tariffs and trade restrictions were 2 of the major catalysts for the market collapse and following great depression back in 1929.

( no, im not saying was the only cause, just a huge factor, and of course mostly caused by the government and exasperated by it. Just like we get to see again. )

 

And for those who don''t understand history or economics and instead think of everything as a political statement since they are unable to see outside their little bubble of ignorance, go back to gradeschool and take a history class. Tariffs and trade restrictions were 2 of the major catalysts for the market collapse and following great depression back in 1929.

( no, im not saying was the only cause, just a huge factor, and of course mostly caused by the government and exasperated by it. Just like we get to see again. )

Mon Mar 31 2025 14:54:26 UTC from Nurb432

yay . Even more tariffs go into effect this week.

 

Would you mind licking Xi Jinping's boots someplace else?

yay . Even more tariffs go into effect this week.

Will be the same here. Expand monitoring and control into the daily lives of serfs.

Sun Mar 23 2025 12:25:07 UTC from darknetuser Subject: Re: Stablecoins

, an attempt at tyranizing the population

I have not, but hes verbally supported some others like ETC and BTC and wants to 'make them here in the USA'   ( like it matters, its just freaking math its not really making stuff... )

Sat Mar 22 2025 17:16:54 UTC from darknetuser Subject: Stablecoins

I have heard Trump has done something to endorse Stablecoins as a response to the incoming Eurocoin vaporware, but I can't find much information about it. Anybody has a TL;DR for the matter?

Oh stop your free-trade-absolutist libertarian bullshit. Trump's policies are working. Look at this: https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/ge-aerospace-invest-nearly-1b-us-manufacturing

GE Aerospace to invest nearly $1B in US manufacturing

And this:

Apple also announced that it is committing $500 billion over the next five years, which will involve building an advanced AI server manufacturing factory near Houston, as well as doubling the company's Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $5 billion to $10 billion.

And of course the new TSMC fabs I mentioned earlier.

Mon Mar 10 2025 22:29:12 UTC from Nurb432 Subject: Re: Trumpanomics

I have a bridge to sell you.   Do you really think those in control will ever let it be temporary when it means more power and money for them to keep it going?  Better get used to suffering, serf.

Human history is one big cycle.

Mon Mar 03 2025 18:59:53 UTC from fandarel Subject: Trumpanomics

 temporary pain 

 

I have a bridge to sell you.   Do you really think those in control will ever let it be temporary when it means more power and money for them to keep it going?  Better get used to suffering, serf.

Human history is one big cycle.

Mon Mar 03 2025 18:59:53 UTC from fandarel Subject: Trumpanomics

 temporary pain 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/03/03/trump-set-announce-over-100-billion-investment-taiwanese-company/

A Taiwanese chip manufacturer will invest over $100 billion in the United States, CNN’s Alayna Treene noted in a post on X. A White House official confirmed Treene’s report to Breitbart News.

The investment is being made by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which makes some of the most advanced chips on the planet.

The investment would be used to build out cutting-edge chip-making facilities. Such an expansion would advance a long-pursued U.S. goal to regrow the domestic semiconductor industry after manufacturing fled largely to Asian countries in recent decades.

Trump's trade policies appear to be bearing fruit.

Prices set to rise dramatically next week. Tariffs for Canada, Mexico, UK ( i heard 25% ) and increased China taxes start mid-week.

Yay inflation! Stick it to the serfs!

We will start with a 25% tariff on imported chips, and significantly raise that during the year.

Super.

From our state legislature:   "Opening the door for local governments to start taxing deliveries"      yay ... yet another tax. ( like on local grocery delivery, door dash food, amazon )

This really need to stop. 

And trade war begins.

Trudeau just announced 25% tariff on US goods, starting tomorrow. And of course Trump promised to raise ours if they retaliated. 

Tariffs on Canada and mexico in effect.  Brace yourselves.. Rising prices soon.

( and an additional 10% on cheap Chinese stuff )

"Meta said Wednesday it would pay $25 million to settle a four-year-old lawsuit from President Donald Trump over the social media company’s decision to suspend Trump’s accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. "

$25M is lunch money to these people, but ts nice to be able to poke zuckerburg in the eye as a moral victory at least.

( and i guess its all going to the future presidential library and pay the attorney bills )

"Tesla's profits over 70%"

Yes, companies need to make a profit, but if you are making THAT much you are screwing your customers. 

Normally a 50 dollar switching power supply.   Now its 250 bucks due to the tariffs in place already.

yay . grumble.

Sort of a random 'shower thought'.  I cant really express this the way i want, so its sort of random words off the top of my head.

So everyone is screaming about fair trade, imposing sanctions on others for not being 'fair' etc.   Removing all the 'bad stuff' like forced labor, poverty, governmental manipulation, military infiltration, etc.  The reality is that the cost of living is different across the globe, or even across regions in a single country.   

Why is it unfair trade if it truly costs less to make something, and to order them to 'come up to your standards', perhaps even with government mandated price controls which is always bad.  Perhaps your cost of living is not appropriate and is higher than it needs to be, ( due to out of control inflation and not true 'value', for example ) so its really your problem there is an imbalance, not theirs ..   

It all sounds like a fascist globalist movement to me.

( and again, im talking pure math, not bad stuff that can influence prices, even here like we see with inflation and governmental involvement in the markets. That stuff should be addressed of course, but in other ways )

So i was at harbor freight last night, and it made me think a bit. some random thoughts about the coming tariffs since we know they are now coming since Trump won. And no, this isn't meant to go down the rabbit hole of right/wrong or anything. Just thinking about some of the practical implications for me, an average guy on the street trying to 'make it'. So no 'suck it up and buy American or you are a scumbag communist' debate is intended here..

Like HF, there are many American based companies where there entire business model has been built on selling cheap imports. Are most of them now going to vanish? If a 15 dollar wrench is now 45 dollars, might as well buy the better brand next door at Lowes. And, forget buying a spare, that 10mm socket that is missing, now you will go find it..

What about that 17 dollar disposable T-shirt you get from Walmart, now its 50..  so its not disposable now, and you keep it until it really wears out, and sales volume go down. Not that they go out of business since they do sell more than just imports from china, but do they implode?

What about companies who do primarily make stuff here, but using some parts or raw materials from overseas. ( like car companies, for example )  Same thing, their stuff now skyrockets even more and sales are reduced more as people keep what they have longer or just pass on it totally if its a 'luxury item'. Do they go out of business, do they implode to a fraction of what they used to be, or do we do like we did in the early 2000s and bail them out with free money in the form of tax dollars "since they are too big to fail"?

Similar, what about the farm industry, who does use some imported equipment ( or parts ).. Their operating costs go up, so does the cost of food...Even more than it is now, which is ludicrous. And as we destroy more farm land, or sell to over seas entities.. that only increases food costs for everyone.. and no not my typical rant, just reality of pricing. 

How about 'American' companies who see this taking place, and see an opportunity, so they undercut the imported goods to help along the bankruptcies, then skyrocket their prices afterward to make up for the losses of the cost of getting rid of their competition. Not a new tactic, and ya, i know Predatory pricing maneuvers is illegal, but i suspect "American" companies will get a free pass for a while so we will see this happen more. ( and of course, even if you get caught, your competition is gone, so you still win in the long run )

And a the talk about ' getting rid of income taxes and replacing with tariffs '. While it sounds good in a speech, the actual net result from above is we have companies going out of business and average Americans losing their jobs, and we all pay several times more for essentials than we did in insane inflation ( and skipping luxury items ).   Again, not a right/wrong discussion, just the reality of the effects on us not in the 'club'. ( the ones IN the club, they always benefit, or at the least don't feel it, but mostly they find ways to benefit..  )

Ok, random thoughts over.  Back to your regular scheduled program. Im off to the river with the dogs, while its still there. And i get to show my sister where to disperse my ( and my dogs ) ashes when i die, and where the pitch-in lunch is to be. 

As long as you have 'elite think' in existence, you dont.

Thu Nov 14 2024 18:47:47 UTC from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Re: Tariffs

So it's broken, but it's not ... uniformly broken. How do you fix that?

LoL. my EE newsletter . People are freaking out about Trump most likely stopping the free money flow.  ( CHIPS act in this case )  "Bla bla will be using tariffs instead of subsidies to support increased domestic  bla bla bla "

Oh no..  the gravy train may be derailed.. panic!  

( hint: he will also reduce regulations to help domestic industry by reducing costs )

Thu Oct 24 2024 15:18:46 EDT from LoanShark

Tariffs and price controls are two sides of the same coin.

I disagree with that. There need to be at least some tariffs. I agree with Trump wanting a baseline tariff on all imports; maybe it should be less than ten percent but there should be something. What we should do is phase out all trade with hostile and/or totalitarian regimes while deregulating at the domestic level.

Interestingly it seems it was right after DeSantis sent national guard to run the Florida ports..  Called their bluff, they backed down.

And im sure that the chance for the strike to return mid January is not a coincidence at all.

Thu Oct 03 2024 19:30:21 EDT from Nurb432

It appears the strike is already over. 

It appears the strike is already over. 

Port strike starts tomorrow. Lets see if the Biden admin goes back on their word and intervenes.     Regardless, the economic impact is going to be severe, on an already strained economy and its going to strain domestic trucking/etc.   

My bank ( ok, credit union ) is hosting a 'world economic update webinar' next month.

Um. they have never done this before. wth...

I also hope and expect that, and suspect this is just trying to fuel fire for the class warfare "i care, elect me" then crickets. Normally i'm not fond of the ruling class protecting themselves, but in this case it helps the rest of us too. But if we are wrong and they want to go full communist on us, we are screwed. 

Not that i have a problem with rich people as an entity of course, its all in how they act. Same with poor.. i wont judge a person based on their wealth and income ( or anything else really.. )  but instead on their actions. 

May be hot air, as you never know until rubber hits the road, but a couple of billionaires are threatening to pull their money out of the stock market if Harris gets in office, due to the plan for ' tax on unrealized gains'.

Them dropping out  might crash the market and kick an already collapsing economy in the knees. The taxes may finish off the economy as i don't care what they say, those taxes will hit us ALL, hard..  Own a house? guess what.. taxes, even if you never plan to sell ( now you may be forced to if your income is low ).. Own a classic car, tax.  Own some collectibles, don't get caught with them or pay up. Hell, even guns and ammo are increasing in value, so tax on that too.

While we all know modern 'higher education' is a big fraud anyway, i guess sally mae ( recently 're-branded', so you know what that means.... ) finally got caught screwing people over.  They would 'steer students to higher cost loans" and other related scams.  So they are now banned from student loans ( not sure to what extent ) and have to pay out 100M + to those they screwed over. Plus some fines too.

With luck they go under and their board of directors are taken out back.

*ism never worked in the past because we didn't implement it, ours will work!

Sat Aug 17 2024 09:58:44 EDT from darknetuser

That rings a bell sooooo much.

And now that they Democrats and their handlers have nearly destroyed the economy, and inflation is thru the roof they now have announced their solution:  Price controls.

Stalin would be proud.

And just this week:

"We have declared your area to be part of the local 'watershed' so we are tacking on additional fees. They are not technically a tax on your property based on value, so deal with it, losers"

Thu May 02 2024 14:53:27 EDT from Nurb432

"so legally property taxes are capped at a % so we cant raise it anymore. but we can fake the appraisal and make it more... hahahah pay us moar!!!!! "

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/05/29/u-s-tariffs-on-china-help-rescue-american-textile-companies-from-ruin/

Trump 1, economists (morons) 0

"Trump has vowed to impose across-the-board tariffs on all foreign imports to protect American manufacturing and workers from low-wage countries".

Sounds good to me.

Of course economists will predict an apocalypse. I can't wait to see that not happen.

"so legally property taxes are capped at a % so we cant raise it anymore. but we can fake the appraisal and make it more... hahahah pay us moar!!!!! "

"take all the money"

"Biden proposes nearly 45% capital gains tax rate"

That wont happen as long as there is government. They work hand in hand to fleece us.

"not your fathers union "

Thu Apr 18 2024 23:33:11 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

busts up the unions.

So California passed that law where food workers get a bazillion dollars per hour pay.   And they are acting surprised as prices have skyrocketed, people are being laid off, restaurants closing, and people being replaced by robots.  ( coming soon, robot tax.. )

And to add, they had to publish some document as part of the approval process.  Their reasoning is that demand is down.   But at the same time, their costs are less..  

Ya, they paid someone off.

I guess a bunch of tax cuts and stuff that Trump put into place, expire this year. Not sure the effective rate after everything is taken into account ( trickle down ) but supposed to be enough to 'feel'.

Of course they could be extended, but this admin wont do that. They love destroying us and taking all we have.

Boooo local power company wants to raise rates 16%

Does not sound like a lot, but its incremental. little by little nickle and dimeing us.  And for people really struggling and barely getting by, an extra 50 bucks a month hurts. Plus all the trickle up effects, due to costs of doing business.

So over extended, bankrupt Chinese based Evergrande was told by HK court to liquidate any holdings in HK.

Sure they cant directly effect the parent company in China ( which is sort of funny, china says they are part of HK, yet they wont honor a court decision there . )  but it will still have a massive financial impact on the mainland, and ripple across the planet like it did when they basically went upside down. 

Amazon, Target, Walmart, Lowes, $25 for an item ( was trying to avoid shipping and waiting so looking around local stores too ). Kmart, while no longer have any stores that i know of, popped up in the search, and for the same exact thing, $112, on sale for $67.. wtf. no wonder they are dead.

there is no election

Fri Dec 08 2023 09:54:44 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Yes of course, there is no burger, there is no restaurant, and there is no spoon.

You assume there is a burger at all.  Most likely the restaurant has collapsed, closed down so it does not exist to cook the burger you cant afford. 

:)

And you burn bills to keep from freezing in the winter. 

Sun Dec 03 2023 09:19:07 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

When you get to that point, no one knows what the money is worth. A hamburger and a private jet both cost a hundred zillion dollars, and you buy the hamburger because you are starving.

Idiot, or agenda?

I rarely see true idiocy in government. Its just that evil intent/agendas often times appears as idiocy to us lowly citizens, since we re not part of their equation.

Fri Nov 24 2023 11:57:52 EST from msgrhys

We need the gold standard back. Nixon was an idiot.

We need the gold standard back. Nixon was an idiot.

Long ago I have heard the same about % of ownership. But as time has gone on, i question if that is still true. Not sure where the facts are published, or if they're obfuscated enough not to really get anything useful from it.

And ya, china is in a rough spot too which is even more reason to call in their chips and demand payment. 

What i mean mostly is i dont think we put up collateral ( how could we? ), so when we default and the others country flip us the bird demanding money, what physically happens beyond us looking ( more ) stupid? Do we just flip the bird back and walk? Do we just dismiss what they owe us and call it even? file in some international court for bankruptcy, and then take down the planet with us?

Somewhere i read that we are now paying 1 trillion a year in interest payments.  What happens when the economy collapses and the feds cant suck enough of our income out of our pockets and we default?  

Or just buy lots of ammo, cigarettes and booze. You can trade smokes and booze for food and supplies. And if they refuse, you have plan b, ammo.

Oh and moving out to the country, helps too. Cities during a collapse, stink. Both literally and figuratively.

Lets kill their economy even more.   I think burger flippers are at 20 now..  These people are idiots.

https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/california-lawmakers-approve-nation-leading-25-minimum-wage-for-health-workers/

Rent a PO box, tell people that is your address? Or one of those ' mail drops' where they give you an address and what is effectively a 'room number' that makes it look like an apartment complex.  Perhaps even do mail forwarding.   Local UPS store used to do that here with the 'drop box'.  Donno if its a 'legal address' or just a 'front to use' but... 

Related im sure people who have decided to live in their RV full time have the same problem. They have no 'dirt' to call home. for voting, taxes, drivers license..  So whatever they do i bet would work.

Sat Aug 05 2023 11:30:51 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Gosh, it would be great if there were some sort of service in Texas that allowed you to register a vehicle there and drive it in your own state. Kind of like the Delaware shell corporations everyone opens to avoid sales tax.

Bexar County (pronounced Bear County) is not a clean-air county.  What does that mean?  It means the county doesn't give a shit if you remove the emissions controls on your vehicle.  That's the reason a lot of people do a DEF-Delete on their shiny new burnatron-powered trucks.  What happens if one of these vehicles goes to one of the VERY FEW clean-air counties Texas does have?  Well, the vehicle is registered in a non-clean-air county so they can't do shit about it.

Yes, people do bring these vehicles all over the US.  If you've seen a burnatron-powered truck with Texas plates, there's a pawsibility it doesn't have that stupid DEF system.  Not a damn thing your state can do about it either, because where the vehicle is registered, it's legal.

Thu Aug 03 2023 19:22:35 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Yeah, right. This is the People's Republic of New York, where we get yearly emissions tests and they send Greta to your house to scream at you for a week if you don't pass. It won't be long before they outlaw explodatron-powered cars altogether.

I would not be too concerned about other issues. Those things are far too thin, get far to hot.. They just cant last long.

Best solution is to lose the converter, better gas mileage, less cost..  But i know, in some states that is easier said than done.

Thu Aug 03 2023 05:14:08 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

To make matters worse, there are now literally parts falling off the bottom of my truck. I heard a rattle that I couldn't locate, and yesterday the heat shield for the catalytic converter fell off on the highway and I ran over it with the back wheel.

Sounds like a refillable gift card. Which is a good idea actually.. Get 3 of those, just put in enough to pay the bill.. Rotate them around.

Thu Aug 03 2023 10:20:13 AM EDT from darknetuser

I have heard of something similar, called wallet-cards. They are debit cards you need to charge with money. The idea is that if you intend to expend 30 bucks, you charge 30 bucks and then use the card. If they try to charge 60 bucks the operation is denied.

Supposedly this is only the second time in history that the US dollar/credit rating has been downgraded, from AAA to AA+. CNN, naturally, blames "debt ceiling madness and the Jan 6 insurrection", while BIden's nappy-headed spokeslesbian of course blames the Bad Orange Man.

Right, i think that is the only downside to blowing them off at this point. But since they are small shop and not a large chain to be banished from, no great loss.

Wed Aug 02 2023 01:30:26 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Obviously I can never go there again without them seeing me in their computer as someone they believe has a balance due, 

You would have difficulty around here doing that. Even using the "tap and pay" stuff in some cards.. not here.  You will be inserting plastic, or feeding people cash, or you wont be driving/eating/etc.

Wed Aug 02 2023 01:02:28 PM EDT from LadySerenaKitty

 

I use phone-based payments exclusively.

 

It's been YEARS since I carried my physical cards with me, the exception being the company-issued cards to be used on Order and Pay orders.

I use phone-based payments exclusively.

Wed Aug 02 2023 11:16:49 EDT from Nurb432

To be fair, in person, most places require you to wave plastic at them, not just give them some random numbers. 

Having that one-use option in person ( or the pre-approval idea ) would be nice. 

Wed Aug 02 2023 11:14:12 AM EDT from nonservator

It's like they keep trying to come up with more ways to waste physical resources.

 

 

To be fair, in person, most places require you to wave plastic at them, not just give them some random numbers. 

Having that one-use option in person ( or the pre-approval idea ) would be nice. 

Wed Aug 02 2023 11:14:12 AM EDT from nonservator

It's like they keep trying to come up with more ways to waste physical resources.

 

It's like they keep trying to come up with more ways to waste physical resources.

Right, but this one would even give you a physical piece of one-use plastic if you need it.  

What id like is for the ability to have a 2nd card be 'pre approval only'. ( i think having the primary do that would be a pita.. i could be wrong tho )  You login via your banks app/page, and you pre-approve x amount for y vendor for each transaction. Anything beyond that, is rejected instantly.  

Wed Aug 02 2023 10:09:06 AM EDT from nonservator

They're called "virtual credit cards" and the idea is you just spin one up for temporary/one-time use without risking your actual card info. Like everything that isn't cash or precious metals, it's all fake and gay, but they can be useful.

They're called "virtual credit cards" and the idea is you just spin one up for temporary/one-time use without risking your actual card info. Like everything that isn't cash or precious metals, it's all fake and gay, but they can be useful.

I dont know which one it is, and i know it would not have been your first thought in this case, but i saw some bank out there will issue a 'one use' CC numbers or card.   That way if you need to do something you are not 100% sure about ( like from an online vendor or some random flea market ) you can at least prevent them from stealing the numbers. They just wont work a 2nd time. 

I'm not an attorney, but i believe you are in the right. If the transaction is complete, they can only ask for more, cant demand it.  Here i think there are lower limit for small claims court.  ( something like 2k ) to prevent nonsense like that.

However, if you used a CC/bank card, may want to call the bank before they attempt to just 'take it' from you. 

And we are going to see it, whatever happens really damned soon.. Pace is accelerating. They are running out of time.

Thu Apr 20 2023 06:04:55 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

 These are weird times, however, and anything is possible. 

Normally id agree, but the process has started, and is accelerating. Its being fueled from within this time, as this admin wants us on a digital currency, so the rules are different now, and with internal forces to make it collapse, i think it will.

Mon Apr 10 2023 05:25:53 PM EDT from LoanShark

the rumors of the USD's immanent death have been around as long as I have been alive, and are greatly exaggerated.

Brazil and china no longer going to use USD for trade.

Collapse eminent... 

Not a lot of detail but the fed is trying to push some concept of  "send all your electronic payments thru us, its fast and efficient."

Step one of getting them to hold the national crypto i bet. Or at the least a central national bank.  Either are bad.

That was the intent. But once they realized they could control the entire chain on a crypto of their making, that sort of changes the game.

All they really have to do is assign wallet addresses to people,  create an approved transfer system, then mandate all transactions go thru their exchange. ( and if you go around it with a pirate wallet, those blocks are nullified, you would be breaking the law, and they know who you are due to wallet:person records. ) They create/distribute blocks when they want, and if its not sourced from them, its also null. So no "secret" mining. And since they control allocation, production and transfers, we are back in the same boat we are now, only worse.

Only way i could see it falling apart is if they dont pre-populate the entire chain, and someone developed a 3rd part wallet, then mined the piss out of things to collapse the total possible supply. I would assume once a block is tainted, it would be forever.

And ya, there are cryptos like Monero that would break the monitoring/control aspect, but they wont choose that way of doing it so its academic.

Sat Mar 18 2023 01:45:10 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Re: Welcome back to 2008?

I thought the whole point of crypto was that it has no fiat holders and cannot be artificially inflated.

 

Some are saying that "THE ENDGAME OF THE BANKING CRISIS IS HYPERINFLATION AND CURRENCY COLLAPSE" implying that the current situation is deliberate, and everything is engineered to collapse the existing currency and replace it with a digital, centrally-controlled cryptocurrency.

I have to admit I don't quite understand this.  Fiat currency is fiat currency, regardless of whether it is cash or crypto, if the same organization (the Federal Reserve) controls the fiat and can create more of it?  I thought the whole point of crypto was that it has no fiat holders and cannot be artificially inflated.

Sensible answers only, please.

The real solution and hedge against inflation and total collapse, is to get elected into the legislature.

:) 

Now its 2 banks.

( i thought i posted that earlier today..  donno what the hell i did, or where )

There, i fixed it for you.

The 1% that are collapsing things, dont. Or at least only enough for daily operational needs. But not all of it.

Mon Mar 13 2023 03:54:28 PM EDT from LoanShark Subject: Re: Welcome back to 2008?

Sorry for being serious on this forum. The proper answer is: "Bank runs are significant because that's where serfs keep their money."

Part of the plan i think.

Mon Mar 13 2023 09:55:33 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar Subject: Welcome back to 2008?

So far, it seems as if everyone is so desensitized to disaster 

Well, here we are.  Silicon Valley Bank collapsed at the end of last week and now another one (Signature Bank) collapsed over the weekend.

(Fun note: Barney Frank was on the board of Signature Bank.  Hmm.)

So far, it seems as if everyone is so desensitized to disaster at this point that they're not paying much attention, and not making a run on the banks.  In such a high inflation environment, where are you going to put your money anyway?

Within reason, I dont think its size of population that helps or hurts on its own. Of course too many people exhausts/duplicates resources, too little, and you cant keep up with demand.

I think its down to natural resources available to kick start things, and the government staying the hell out of things.

Tue Nov 22 2022 12:19:25 AM EST from ParanoidDelusions

I think a growing population generally benefits a healthy economy. 

It depends on the growth - though. There are lots of countries with exploding populations and terrible economies. 

 

I think a growing population generally benefits a healthy economy. 

It depends on the growth - though. There are lots of countries with exploding populations and terrible economies. 

lol

Thu Jul 14 2022 09:07:08 AM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

I filled up for under $40 the other day. But enough about my lawnmower...

Bought gas for 4.80 a gallon yesterday. Sad that it was considered a 'deal'.. 

I remember going to MCD, get a bigmac *meal*, give them a buck and get change.. 

Then go fill my car up with 5 bucks .. 

We did too, but I can only do so much ( space and $ )

late in 2020 i got some wood to add a top and shelving to a steel frame fish tank.  The prices of wood was shocking.   

Inflation hits me several times a week. anytime i feed the jeep, or myself.

A lot of things are like that.  But with luck more stuff like this helps the 'commoners' see the truth. 

And while i really hate to agree with AOC, she is right in this case. Something needs to be done to these people cutting off trading. ( of course we have a different opinion on why..  shes just pissed as she didnt get in on it :) )

Fri Jan 29 2021 14:27:44 EST from darknetuser

 It is just a money machine for the people who can afford to short invest.

LOL Elizabeth Warren goes to bat for hedge funds? Have we hit peak clown world?

Well today I look all my money out of my Enron stocks and dumped it into GameStop. The leftover money I purchased Lotto tickets with. (Crosses fingers)...   

I was at Shell filling up - and the video was showing GameStop, and I could barely hear the audio, but the dialog was all about Wall Street finance. 

And I was sitting there with the pump in my hand going, "WTF?!?" 

This adds a little clarity to that, too. 

Thu Jan 28 2021 11:48:42 EST from nonservator

https://theothermccain.com/2021/01/28/gamestop-reddit-deep-value/

 

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=47097

 

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/revenge-of-the-nerds-reddit-wallstreetbets-short-squeezes-hedge-fund-on-gamestop-stock/

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HblY-PBsY_c

Apparently Reddit is popular for people going nuts with crazy stock market purchases.  Leon Cooperman is predicting Reddit users will be in tears.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/leon-cooperman-on-gamestop-reddit-speculators-im-not-damning-them-but-it-will-end-in-tears.html

This sort of thing has happened before.

In one case a company was never mentioned but a youtuber named "Gabor The Blind Guy" mentioned that is father worked for a bottling company that was going to make child-proof caps for CBD infused coca-cola products.

https://www.marijuanamoment.net/coca-cola-denies-cbd-beverage-rumor-spurred-by-video/

Don't get your advice from Reddit.

https://theothermccain.com/2021/01/28/gamestop-reddit-deep-value/

https://www.battleswarmblog.com/?p=47097

https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/revenge-of-the-nerds-reddit-wallstreetbets-short-squeezes-hedge-fund-on-gamestop-stock/

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HblY-PBsY_c

Elaborate? 

Thu Jan 28 2021 08:47:30 EST from nonservator

Normal people try to bankrupt a hedge fund using their own tactics against them. Result: People who claim to hate the rich and care about the working class scream that this is all the fault of Gamergate, Trump, and white supremacy.

Fuck this clown world.

Normal people try to bankrupt a hedge fund using their own tactics against them. Result: People who claim to hate the rich and care about the working class scream that this is all the fault of Gamergate, Trump, and white supremacy.

Fuck this clown world.

Did O.J. kill them off?  If the driver gloves don't fit you must acquit. 

Hertz Files For Bankruptcy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswestfall/2020/05/23/hertz-files-bankruptcy-stunning-us-automakers-as-leaders-scramble-for-solutions/#5cc440805634

It's been two years since I put Amazon on my list of companies I wouldn't have anything to do with if you put a gun to my head. Don't miss them a bit. Found alternate sources to get all but one product, and I'm living without that one.

I ordered two things from Amazon.  The manufacture of one item was "out of stock" and linked to the Amazon page.   The other item I would have had to order on-line from somewhere so I did it at Amazon because....

The first item was $24.95.... free shipping starts at $25.

I could get FREE FREE TWO DAY SHIPPING with a Prime membership.... but I took the standard free shipping, my order won't arrive until June.

I can't find the first item anywhere except Amazon. 

Yes Amazon and JCPenny are in talks.... maybe.

Pier One is closing ALL their stores.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/pier-1-seeks-to-wind-down-operations-11589886805

J.C. Penny filed for bankruptcy and will be closing 250 of its 846 stores. 

I knew we were in fucking clown world when the governor decided marijuana stores were essential enough to remain open.

One would think illicit drugs would be essential.

Tue May 05 2020 07:21:51 AM EDT from darknetuser

Relatedly, I have heard reports of package and food delivery people who is taking advantage to deliver drugs, since regular dealers can do the streets safely any longer in lockdown areas.

Capitalism at its finest. 

I can understand the self checkouts accepting paper money, I had read that some stores were not accepting paper money transactions with human cashiers.  I don't know if this is true or not.  

A friend said that he used paper money and the cashier gave him a very dirty look when he did.

People are not using cash at this time, how much closer will we be to a cashless society?

The situation at troubled retailer JCPenney got more serious as the company missed a $12 million debt payment due Wednesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/15/business/jcpenney-missed-payment/index.html

Any predictions for which big box brick and mortar stores are going to make it or fail by the time this is over?

Sears is gone.
What about Macy's, J.C.Penny's, Khols, or Bed, Bath & Beyond?

Add your own....

Thu Aug 15 2019 13:55:52 EDT from IGnatius T Foobar

Laffer means whatever you want it to mean. That seems to be the only consensus.

Hmmm... maybe I am wrong, but the actuall Laffer hipothesis is that when you are rising taxes, there is a point after which you make less tax money despite the fact you are charging bigger and bigger ammounts of protection rates to your subjects. Usually the Laffer effect is used to declare that you should not rise the taxes after the sweet spot because then you are not maximizing gov revenue.

It doesn't imply that the people is better or worse with more or less taxes. I have a strong opinion on that, but it is not born from Laffer effect theories. Actually, I think that the government managing big ammounts of money is not necessarily good because then it has more chances of using tax dollar against the population, so the idea of maximizing government income does not appeal to me.

An interesting consideration is that the fact business get officially shutdown because they cannot afford taxes does not necessarily mean they are getting shutdown in practice. And by this I mean, if the government sets an income tax of 90% I will just move more of my business to the dark market, the government will make less money, and I will perform about the same economic activities. I think over-regulation is oftentimes very effective at self destructing. I have been moving more and more of my moneymaking out of my country and out of the hands of tax collectors with the years due to over regulation and I think I am actually making more money because of the laws trying me to make less.

I used to carry a small knife on me because big knives were illegal to carry. Then they made small knives illegal too, so now I carry something way less PC correct than a small pocket knife. If the penaulty for carrying a bazooka is the same as the one for carrying a kubotan then you are gonna carry the bazooka. As Churchill said: When you make 10 000 regulations, you destroy every respect for the law.

Clive will care, all his stuff comes from China.

Some of the business sites are pointing to the $6.5B in debt that Toys R Us was trying to service.  That $6.5B was the debt load that was used to buy TRU and take it private.   So Bain Capitol, et al, didn't use any real money to buy the company.  The company then went an additional $1.5B in debt after that.   

The problems of We Be Toys were larger than Amazon.

I have to assume the giraffe is a reference to Toys Я Us, the latest victim of retail mass murderer Amazonopoly.  Once again we need to switch to european style antitrust law, designed to protect competition rather than the consumer.

It's sad that today's children will have been the last generation to have experienced the joy of browsing a real toy store.

4324595@Uncensored

Seen on a random message board out on teh intarwebz...

The CBO projections are never accurate, because they don't take into account how policy affects behavior. Tax rate cuts have always increased revenues, but the Democrat Congresses increase spending by even more, which results in deficits.

Best example was the Harding/Coolidge Administrations which cut government spending by half and cut the top tax rate from 75% to 25%, triggered the Roaring Twenties and paid down the National Debt by a third.

It worked so well that it looked like Progressives would never gain power again, so the Progressive Federal Reserve came to the rescue with easy credit and low interest rates, increasing the money supply by 62% between 1925 and 1929, creating bubbles in stocks and real estate, then pulled the rug out from under it with tight credit policies and high interest rates, causing the Crash of '29, blaming it on capitalism when it should have been blamed on the Fed.

And they're set up to do it again.

Hauser's Law still seems to be reliable, so it makes sense to set tax rates as low as possible in order to grow the economy.

I suppose the subject line is provocative.  Everyone except Radio Shack knows that Radio Shack killed Radio Shack.  But there are some interesting perspectives.

The "universal postal union" which sets international postal rates from country to country still considers China a "zone 3" nation.  This means that a shipper in China can send a package to someone in the US for LESS than it costs for a shipper *within the US* to send the same package domestically.

So there you go ... the second-largest economy on the planet gets the same international shipping rates as dirt-poor third world nations.  The Hudson Institute did a piece on this, explaining that while Radio Shack certainly didn't execute very well, the deck was also stacked against them.

Meanwhile ... what's left of the now-perpetually-going-out-of-business Radio Shack isn't helping itself.  $6.15 for a pack of 20 stick-on rubber feet?  Umm ... no.

Rule #1.  And possibly #4, just because.

That is all.

Mr. Pibb

I see all the major corporations merging as a step towards communism. All these name brands are made by one or two companies.  You are getting the same thing with a different label on it.  We have the illusion of choice.

I heard some interesting observations about the "retail apocalypse" today.

* Half of American households now have at least one Amazonopoly Prime subscription.  There has never been any doubt where the retail dollars are going, but that number is staggering.

* In 2016, restaurant spending exceeded grocery spending for the first time.  This is consistent with the concept that the retail experience of the future is going to be one less focused on buying things and more focused on doing things.

And here's the really interesting one:

* If you're old enough, think about how important your clothing brands are today vs. how important they were just a generation ago.  Designer jeans, logo shirts, etc.  If you didn't have the latest brands it used to make you totally uncool.  Does anyone care about that anymore?  Most don't.  Today it's about having shareable experiences.  Why is that?  Social media, of course.  Having an experience that you can post to [site of your choice] is more important than buying a particular brand.

Think about it: in 2007 it's "Hey all you 100 people reading this, check out me riding this roller coaster!" while in 1987 it would be "Hey all you 3 people with me at the amusement part, check out the Izod shirt I'm wearing while we ride the roller coaster"

We should *totally* nuke Seattle, it isn't doing anything useful.

Sears started off as a mail order company, they were killed off by their original business model.

I didn't know Sears had a franchise business, the other day I was behind a bus and saw "Own a Sears store!" and thought 'What a horrible idea!' Within the last three years both the Sears and Kmart stores closed here.

I had to look this up and TIL Sears sold franchises, but because of poor business decisions within the rest of the company, the franchises are failing as well.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-19/sears-hometown-franchisees-business-has-suffered-post-spinoff

ITT had a few issues.  They were having an issue with low graduation rates compared to the enrollment numbers.  

Though I wonder if this is more a matter of the clientele that they were targeting.  Working Adults aren't always able to dedicate enough time to get through a degree.   They have other things going on that take time away or make it hard.   I went back to get my degree when I was in my early 30s.  If I had waited till two years ago instead, I would have had to drop out due to real life throwing too many things in my direction that had to be dealt with.    I wonder what the demographic looks like in a traditional university when you look at similar age groups, and pull out all the early 20 year olds who are just going to school and not working to put themselves through school, and pay the bills, etc.  

The Obama administration had a thing about For-Profit schools, and was constantly attacking the big ones.  Sometimes rightfully so, sometimes not so much.  This caused ITT to have to spend lots of money on lawyers and defending themselves.  There was also a movement by the Obama administration to take back money paid to the school when a student dropped out.   

At least that was what was reported in the local papers about ITT.    

It should be done Friedman-style as some negative income tax, so people earning more than X$ would not benefit from the program. The more you earn, the lower your basic income becomes.

I was thinking for cash transactions people would buy those debit/gift cards.  It is still traceable but works for simple cash transactions between people.

This was a thing a few years ago, I don't know if it still is.

https://www.google.com/#q=laundry+detergent+drug+dealers

The narrative here in Germany is "Cash is bad, mkay?!", too. The Greyfaces are also suggesting, that other countries (ze Scandinavians) are pretty much ahead of us and almost already do it.

The thing is, small payments in Germany are hell, no matter how you do it. There are so many 50€ bills in circulation and ATMs will gladly give you more, that they drive small businesses nuts. They simply can't give you change in the later hours of the day. So you might think that they offer payments by cards... but no! Ze usual german as no trust in credit cards, so the places you can use one are limited. But even normal "ec cards" (no clue what your equivalent is. the ones your bank gives you, the ones that are no credit card.) can hardly be used for small payments. "No card payment under 10€" is a very common sign, if they have the option at all. And if they have one, they are still mostly operated via telephone lines, so slow baud rates. The smaller the shop, the bigger the chance it fails completely.

All anti-cash asshole should die in an ATM fire!

Jim Rogers prophesies death of cash & total govt control of spending.

The time will come when you won't be able to buy a cup of coffee without being traced, warns investment guru Jim Rogers. To control people, governments will increasingly seek to hunt down cash spending, he adds.

LINK

https://www.rt.com/business/377307-jim-rogers-currency-control-cash/

There is no such thing as free.

There is not a free subscription option on the page.

4182191@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Econometrica?start_reading_at=4181934Thu, 26 Jan 2017 23:56:16 -00004181934@Uncensored

The link you provided requires a subscription.  Can we please have your username and password?

Their stuff was so overpriced the rent is paid until 2023.

Sears did purchase K-mart, this is from the article on Sears closing.

The store and auto center have a combined 109 employees. Associates who are eligible will receive severance and the opportunity to apply for open positions at other area Sears or Kmart stores, both of which are subsidies of Sears Holdings

Unless of course, Sears was holding it for K-mart.

I can never remember if Sears bought K-Mart or K-mart purchased Sears.  In July 2015 Sears closed in our city, the K-mart remained.  I didn't understand this, the K-mart was in horrible condition, the store outside looked well worn, the grocery store that was next to it moved 30 years ago, the space was never filled.  The parking lot always looked empty. The last time I was in the K-mart the floors were filthy, cracked and missing tiles. The ceiling tiles had stains, or were missing.  Product and shelving looked unkempt and dirty.  I never understood why they closed Sears but kept the K-mart.  It was just announced they are closing the K-mart as well.

I thought Sears was one of those stores that would always be around.

I found this old graphic joke, I realized what makes it funny now is all three anchor stores in that mall are probably closed.

4152856@Uncensoredhttps://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Econometrica?start_reading_at=4152564Thu, 22 Dec 2016 23:34:45 -00004152564@Uncensored [ https://goo.gl/ZbvrKs ] The usual tinfoil-hat bullshit. Here are the correct numbers for real GDP: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDPC1/ But, article says "When you factor inflation, our GDP output is actually down over the same time period." This has been debunked before. The economy did grow, since the recession. Absolute number of jobs is up (although employment-population ratio is down.) Output (in terms of things like the number of widgets) is up. So in order to believe that Real GDP is down, you have to close your eyes and ignore all the output data, and you also have to believe in the right-wing myth that inflation is a lot higher than the official figures. ]]>https://uncensored.citadel.org/readfwd?go=Econometrica?start_reading_at=4152524Thu, 22 Dec 2016 20:47:10 -00004152524@Uncensored

I did forget the sarcasm tag.

" UniParty"?  Who would believe there is only one party?

So what's the deal with China?  Is their economy really that unstable or are they just messing with us again?

yea, UK is sort of splitting. They want to decide somewhen down this year whether they want to quit.

I guess if, the scotts are going to have another vote for whether they still want to remain in UK which then probably will result in a divorce, since the scottish are more europe friendly then the rest of UK.

It seems they don't earn their money with banks everybody wants to remove powers from - which was one of the biggest issues with UK and the rest of the EU in the last 5 years...

Tue Jul 14 2015 09:18:22 EDT from LoanShark

doubtful? The brits have less of a voice in the eurozone since they never joined.

all eu states are parts of the ESM, even if they don't have the euro.

That might be over-complicating it a bit.   At the end of the day, it's all just paper.  Paper is only worth something if everyone agrees that it's worth something.  (Of course, that's also the case with various metals, but I digress...)

What does Greece actually produce that can make their economy work for them?  Sitting around at a cafe smoking cigarettes and trash-talking about the capitalists may be a fine pastime for them but it isn't going to pay the bills.

Until that problem is solved, they can Grexit and Grenter and Groadtrip all they want but they'll keep ending up in the same place.

hm, seems as if the brits don't like what the 18 euro states settled on... since it also contains their money (and they weren't asked...) this may become a major show stopper.

yea, lots of greeks in germany too...

The problem is, that after the dictator was removed in greece in the 80'ies the structures were kept the same.

so, one keeps waiting for grexit.

It has a lot to do with their attitude, which is really bad.

I have a Greek friend who tells us often that in Greece all they do is sit around smoking cigarettes and talking about how much they hate America.

So their economy collapsed because they weren't, y'know, actually participating in civilization or anything.  So the EU bailed them out, and as part of the bailout imposed austerity measures.

In response, Greece elected a far-left government whose leaders basically said "forget the austerity measures, we're going to continue to spend into oblivion, and all that money Germany loaned to us in the bailout, we don't have to pay it back because nazis, so there."  (I'm paraphrasing but not exaggerating.)

So there's enough drama there to make the situation interesting to anyone who likes to follow the global socioeconomic stage.

I had lunch at a Greek restaurant today.

And it occurred to me that the restaurant's accounts receivable is probably larger than the GDP of Greece itself.

In germany may choose the plate freely meanwhile since car rental Co.s can Do that anyway 

If every single car is driving by AI on something like a well maintained highway, without such error sources as pedestrians, it might work out.

Mixed scenarios, especially when they involve aggressive, egoistic and/or stupid travelers,  seem to beg for catastrophes.

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-google-has-become-germanys-boogeyman--and-why-it-matters-2014-9

Google and other big American tech firms have become ersatz targets

ersatz - another german word in english? or just a not well written article?

I like this conclusion:

The biggest fear is that Germany's proud carmakers will be relegated to mere producers of "tin cans". If they lose ownership of the data and software that make self-driving cars move, and control of the display screens inside them, the firms' margins will get squeezed. There may be a more profitable business in telling a driver that the product he wants is available cheaply at the next autobahn exit than in building the car he is sitting in.

(while I right now already think of cars as tin cans anyways...)

Everyone knows that I'm no fan of Ayn Rand, but coming from the commie rag Salon, the whole article reads like "see, capitalism doesn't work after all."

The free market is ambivalent towards good and bad business plans.  The free market rewards good business strategy while allowing bad business strategy to fail.

And yes, the decline of Sears is sad to watch.  They were a staple.  Unfortunately though, it's evolve or die.  The same could be said for Radio Shack, whose stock price is less than a tenth of what it was a decade ago, because they voluntarily made themselves insanely un-cool.

http://www.salon.com/2013/12/10/ayn_rand_loving_ceo_destroys_his_empire_partner/

I have no clue about the credibility of that salon.com site, but the article was a funny read. Sears also got what they deserved for messing with their clients warranty questions ;)