Link200

22 minutes ago, Subzwari1987 said:

Live updates: Court rules Trump does not have immunity from prosecution

WWW.CNN.COM

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Donald Trump is not immune from prosecution for alleged crimes he committed during his presidency to reverse the 2020 election results, a federal appeals court said Tuesday.

The Idiot’s gonna appeal this to the SC, but this was unanimous in the appeals court. 

His game here is primarily to delay. He will most certainly ask the entire DC Circuit to look at the case first.

Hopefully SCOTUS won't take the case so the delays will end.

I ended up getting the Secret Lab desk. Seems good so far! Very clean as far as wires are concerned.

I do find it funny how some people complained about it being very wobbly at standing height. They must be having sex on it or something because the only way to get it to move is by being much more aggressive than normal every day work.

I would say the worst part about the build was the desk mat. Getting it to line up was annoying.

I didn't look at the Jarvis since I thought it would be $3000 at a minimum. I already have a $1200 chair from Herman Miller 🤣

In the world of nearly $1 billion defamation lawsuits I am surprised Trump is only liable for $83.3 million. Especially since he continued his defamation during the trial.

While what Alex Jones did could easily be argued as being worse (defamation wise) Trump has had a much much larger platform to make his false claims. I honestly expected $200+ million.

I expect another lawsuit anyway. Trump obviously won't shut up.

@AbsolutSurgen How deep does the channel go? I know monitor arms can be a pain to install with it and the one I have has a big knob on the bottom. I would buy their monitor arm but its max weight is only 8kg. My current monitor weighs more than that so that kind of sucks.

The smart move would be to make swing states the first state in your primary process. SC is not one of those states. Georgia certainly would have been a great option.

Anyone have any standing desk recommendations?

I'm looking to update my office and I was thinking about grabbing one. I honestly kind of like the Secret Lab one since it has a great way for doing cabling. Most standing desks seems to suck with cabling from what I can tell.

I made a spreadsheet a while ago to compare housing payments from the past with today. When you adjust for inflation the payments we make today aren't significantly different. This is something that does matter. Yes house prices skyrocketed but what we consider as "high" interest rates today was considered low a couple of decades ago. Housing payments recently have gotten more expensive since interest rates went up without a corresponding drop in prices but that currently is just a small blip in the data at this point rather than a long term trend. Especially since rates have been dropping recently.

As far as the article is concerned it lacks the proper information to know if this family's woes are due to their own doing or something else. People have a tendency to pay for things they don't need. A vast majority of people don't need an F-150 or big SUV but they suck up the $800/month payment so they can have one. A cheap car with a $300/month payment is enough to cover over 95% percent of what people do with cars. The money saved can easily pay for rentals when needed.

Yes I do realize some people actually use their trucks and SUVs for good reasons. Most people do not.

I saw something with a congressman complaining about how they wont be able to pass legislation to address this practice because of how jacked up congress is.

While he is correct about congress I see no way legislation would ever be able to prevent this crap. It hasn't stopped spam and scam phone calls. Why the hell do they believe it would stop this? Especially since it mostly originates out of the country.

Honestly the only way to prevent this stuff would be by finally abandoning our antiquated telephone technology in favor of other communication methods. Being able to spoof phone numbers as such makes these scams way too easy.

5 hours ago, Chris- said:

 

So like, how much of this could theoretically be streamlined? Obviously airplanes are complex engineering systems, but computers and industrial design is pretty advanced in this day and age...If we threw all notions of safety or security out the window (including to the public writ large), could it be simplified to the point that literally anyone could fly it? 

If you throw everything out the window I am sure you could train an AI model to fly the plane. Would it be logical or safe? Not yet.

I really don't see the current versions of AI taking over though. I have no idea how you could train an AI to deal with new scenarios and such. It would work for normal flight but every abnormal event is different to some extent.

4 hours ago, Jason said:

 

I think there's some smaller private planes with automatic takeoff and landing systems floating around.

Planes have had auto-land for a long time now. The system is prone to breaking and requires a ton of inputs to work at a safe level. It is actually one of the big reasons the 5G thing was such a big deal.

I think auto-takeoff has been developed by Airbus but it still requires a pilot to make safety decisions. Also It really would just enable a very low visibility take-off which doesn't happen very often.

Eh, not exactly surprised. If you can't keep up to technology by transitioning to more popular forms of media then you deserve to die.

It does suck for the employees.

Of course. That is why it is a "general rule." My problem is that the article set it as the standard and then failed at doing the actual math with that standard.

EDIT: Now that I think about it most general large investment guidelines go by percentages. For example 25-30% for a house. You could move the percentages around if in a high cost of living area but the percentage guides would apply regardless. If you pay more than 30% of your salary for a home then you may be in an area that is out of your budget to begin with. Obviously these rules only apply to the lower and middle class salaries.

On 1/17/2024 at 11:29 PM, Ghost_MH said:

 

I mean, yes. The numbers cited are you need to make a minimum of $100k to buy new these days, but if that's the minimum then I've got you assume that also means the cheapest new car model. Neither of those is happening right now. 1.5m repossessed cars last year? That obviously di6dn't include only new cars, but it certainly means millions of people that are buying are buying more car than they can afford.

They are using the 10% rule. 10% for a $100k income would mean a $833 payment each month assuming they use pre-tax income. The monthly payment would be $625 with 25% in taxes on a $100k salary.

There are ton of cars under both of those values. A new Toyota Corolla can be had for $24,000. That is essentially a $300/month payment.

Working backwards from $300/month would mean you would need a salary of 36,000 pre tax or 48,000 if using after tax numbers.

Honestly, I have no idea how the article came up with $100,000 as a minimum salary using the 10% rule. It most definitely  was designed for click bait.

The problem is that people tend to buy the cars they want rather than what they can afford or need. By no means is a Toyota Corolla a sexy car but it gets 99.99% of the job done. The only mission it won't do well is haul a lot of stuff but that is an edge case rentals can cover when needed for a vast amount of people.

Most people don't need an overpriced F150.

14 minutes ago, Ghost_MH said:

 

There's are 130-something million households in the US and the numbers there say 40% of them can afford a new car. That includes the 37m individuals that can afford a new car with their income, alone. Obviously, there are still people buying new cars. It's just that the vast majority of Americans can no longer afford to.

I was going to say this is a good thing except many people don't understand what they can afford so they buy new anyway and get themselves into a hole full of depreciation hell.

Can't wait for them to fly into the side of my head on a regular basis again. Should be great.

15 hours ago, TUFKAK said:

Subarus tend to hold their value well that’s probably the reason for that. Cause my car drops value like a rock within two years.
 

I plan to drive my car into the ground and replace with the car I want towards the bottom of the depreciation curve. Or just buy a Toyota and run that for 15 years.

My WRX is still worth around $24k. It originally was a tad over $30k. That said, it is a 2016 with only 35,000 miles. The low mileage helps a lot. It also makes it hard to get a new car. I would love to have all the new crap cars have these days but as long as phones connect via Bluetooth to my car I can't justify buying a new car.

I am thinking about getting a new radio for the car so I can have android auto. That may work

On 1/16/2024 at 2:32 PM, Ricofoley said:

Surely a huge part of this is the fact that fuckin' everything is a truck or an SUV now, through a combination of drivers thinking those are the only safe cars and manufacturers using the fact that SUVs count as light trucks to game their CAFE numbers

You are correct. Ford doesn't even sell cars anymore beyond the mustang and expensive track cars in the US.

They took Jacksonville as well?

How long till Republicans start complaining about the homeless problem there?

53 minutes ago, Remarkableriots said:

When Israel is caught committing horrific sexual violence against Palastian women.

So the deaths of thousands of Palestinian women and children isn't enough? They need to first rape them?

Interesting position to take.

Out of curiosity, at what point will people on this forum believe Israel has gone too far? Where exactly is that line?

43 minutes ago, CayceG said:

The 757 was a great airplane. 

 

 

RETVRN

It still is dammit!

Except the -300. That is a pig. Then again, it carries a crap ton of people compared to other aircraft

The -200 was built for me to fly. Boeing just didn't know it at the time.

Is it not possible that the reaction of some on the left is a result to the complete lack of of empathy shown by many pro-israel people? A ton of nuance is left out on both sides of the matter.

I personally am against what Israel has been doing in Gaza. It only has one result and that is the deaths of thousands of innocents while pursuing the few. It wont ultimately fix anything. Bombing ideologies clearly does not fix anything. One would think people would have figured that out after Iraq and Afghanistan.

The only way to improve Gaza and get Hamas kicked out or tamed is via education and an improved economic situation. Both of which has been repressed by Israel and Egypt for over a decade via their blockades. Hell, Hamas has at this point been in control of schools in Gaza for a long time which has only allowed them to spread their propaganda. If this bombing had an actual end goal beyond turning the Gaza Strip to rubble it may be justified but at this point Israel has gone way too far.

Oddly enough to keep this mess from possibly spreading I would be in support of passing aid to Israel that only is released upon a larger conflict occurring with say Hezbollah or Iran. Israel doesn't need help with the Gaza Strip.

BTW economic prosperity matters a crap ton. Just look at the Mexican states where factories have moved in with better paying jobs and such. Far less corruption and nearly zero cartel activity. When people have their basic needs met they are far less likely to take drastic measures.

On 1/6/2024 at 9:47 AM, CayceG said:

2. What Alice is tweeting about in the first article is something different. The issue here is a problem with the engine cowling deicing on the Max 7 and Max 10. The problem is that when the deicing is turned on during dry and non-icing conditions  there can be higher than normal temperatures in the cowling. The worry is that these temps could cause material failure and potentially lead to pieces detaching. This has not been observed to have happened. 

 

3. Boeing is working on a permanent fix to this but it will take time. In the interim is also proposing to the FAA a temporary change in operations to allow them to keep operating planes and provide a layer of safety to avoid high temps when the deicing system is operated in the wrong conditions.

IMO what I find funny is that an easy fix is to automate the system to make such a failure less likely. Anti-ice is not automated at all on the 737 like it is in other aircraft. Even though the 737-MAX is "new" they do everything they can to standardize the aircraft with past versions. Walking into a brand new 737 is eerily similar to walking into one from the 1960s.

Feel free to take a look at the differences. There is a lot of carry over. Time has allowed for some changes to the flight deck but they do everything they can to keep the flight deck the same.

Boeing 737-100/200 "Original" Cockpit Poster - Printed

COCKPITREVOLUTION.ECWID.COM

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This cockpit poster is of the Boeing 737-100/200 "Original" aircraft. Available as both printed and digital download versions.

Boeing 737-7/8/9/10 MAX Cockpit Poster - Printed

COCKPITREVOLUTION.ECWID.COM

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This cockpit poster is of the Boeing 737-7/8/9/10 MAX aircraft. Available as both printed and digital download versions.

What is sad is that the 757/767 in many ways are more modern than a 737-Max.

On 1/6/2024 at 10:11 AM, Kal-El814 said:

@Link200 have you ever flown a convertible?

Not yet. I hope to keep it that way. Currently sticking with old Boeing products from when they were awesome.

I honestly have zero desire to fly a 737. They should have been retired years ago but airlines like Southwest and Alaska push Boeing to just update them for their convenience and money savings.

22 hours ago, Jwheel86 said:

 

Mobilization of the reserves is a big deal in Israel. Calling up 300,000 is the equivalent of the US calling up 11 million troops over the weekend and removing them from the economy for 2 months and counting. It's mostly an economic problem for them, US military aid means domestic funds can be shifted to offset mobilization costs and US funds can used to fund their US military imports (155mm shells, F-35, Iron Dome).

22 hours ago, Signifyin(g)Monkey said:

They probably don’t to fight Hamas, but I’ll bet the realpolitik calculus is that promises of aid by the West are needed to prevent the Israelis from being gobbled up by regional foes.  The Jewish state isn’t exactly surrounded by trusty comrades.  Organizations like Hezbollah in countries like Lebanon might be more adventurous in their military aggressions against Israel if they didn’t think they’d have to take on the US and friends in addition to the IDF.  Or so the thinking of the military establishment goes.

To an extent sure, but the aid they are getting is specifically military aid. I wouldn't say that is a large economic benefit. The aid certainly would help them resupply their military but I'm not exactly convinced that is necessary at this point. Hell, it would be pretty embarrassing if they are critically low any any of their military supplies. Going after a poorly equipped terrorist group on a small stretch of land would be nothing compared to an actual attack from their neighbors.

I'm just curious. Does Israel actually need aid? Compared to the Gaza Strip, Israel has a huge economy that would support their war efforts. I would understand giving them aid if they were actually attacked by their surrounding countries but we are talking about an oppressed small stretch of people they could have literally bulldozed at any moment over the last several decades.

I only ask since aid to Israel and aid to Ukraine seems to have different priorities in congress yet Israel certainly has the upper hand and has had it for a long long time.