I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Friday, January 19, 2018

Linkee-poo clears out for the weekend.

I'm going to be offline for most of the weekend, so don't expect updates until Monday. I'll be enjoying the wilds of Detroit in the middle of January. Actually it'll be pretty fun. I'll be at Confusion. I only have 1 panel this weekend, Saturday at 6. Come and see us, come and hang in the bar.

"Less than two months after President Donald Trump tapped his budget director to run the independent federal agency tasked with protecting U.S. consumers from harmful and predatory financial practices, the agency has moved to undo a rule intended to prevent payday lenders from preying on low-income Americans. The reversal — which follows recent congressional proposals with the same objective — is a major win for the $40 billion payday lending industry, which has recently started delivering big money to Trump and to congressional critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)." We're getting screwed. (grokked form Michele)

So how's the tax cuts working out for increasing pay for rank-and-file employees? "So far, however, those pay increases have been few and far between. With a few exceptions, companies that have announced specific plans are offering one-time bonuses in place of permanent wage increases." Okay, to be fair there's a lot of companies that just didn't respond or say anything. But then most of those few companies that are increasing pay are only offering one time $1000 bonuses. (Grokked from Christopher Moore)

"Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | Los Angeles County) released the following letter from Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, the former Deputy Commander of US Forces Korea, outlining the operational challenges of a war with North Korea." The forces in theater are cannon fodder. They're basically there to slow N Korean advance until we can get more troops on the way. That was the thinking in the 1960s. N Korea has advanced in technology and military staffing. Most likely they won't survive until reinforcements arrive. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)

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