I can relate to the "can't go home again" simply because California has grown so dramatically since I was young. I grew up on a ranch 5 miles out of town. Now, that ranch, and everything for an additional 5 miles, is all houses.
It's not that I physically can't go there. I can. It's not just that the specific house we live in is no longer there, although it's not. It's that the open space that was all around is no longer anything like open.
I expect that the situation for people who can't even get back to the physical location, and the culture that was there, is far worse. But I at least have a glimmer.
At this point, the best hope for anyone with a small boat in the southern Caribbean is probably the short attention spans of the people in this administration. They'll likely move on to the next shiny thing soon. Especially since, after they first couple of outrageous instances, it will no longer be generating the media attention they crave.
At some point, with any luck at all, an administration which actually believes in the law may try to arrest and try those responsible. Not holding my breath, especially given the statute of limitations. But as I recall (IANAL either), there is no limitation on murder, so....
From the Ministry of Truth link: "the Secretary of Labor will personally certify the initiation of investigations for the first time in the department’s history."
This could only seem like a good idea to someone who had never worked in an organization with more than a dozen people.
Governments, at least successful ones, all run bureaucracies. Big bureaucracies. Everybody loves to trash bureaucracy. But the reason that they are pervasive is that they are the best solution mankind has so far developed to manage large groups of people. And there are narrow limits on how much you can accomplish without involving large groups of people.
To put it bluntly, if the Secretary of Labor really is personally certifying the starting of every investigation then either 1) he doesn't have time left to do his actual job, or 2) there are only going to be a handful of (no doubt extravagantly publicized) investigations. Or, considering this administration, probably both.
lj, I rather doubt that there would be an amendment about tariffs. The Constitution already gives power over them exclusively to Congress. The problem we face is that we have an administr3which cares not at all about what the law or the Constitution says. Well, except when it is convenient to use as a cudgel. Otherwise, they just do as they please, confident that neither the Supreme Court nore the Congress will try to stop them -- nor could do so if they tried.
Just as we see with "Originalism", if you don't care what they explicit constraints on you are, and if nobody has the power (or perhaps the willingness) to stop you, then anything goes.
real St.Ronnie (as vile as many of his policies were) would be hunted out of the party these days as a RINO
Or, given half a chance, purge most of the "Christian nationalists" (and pretty much all of the Trumpys) from the party. The left has demonized Reagan so long** that it's easy to lose track of the fact that he actually cared about this country. And not just some delusional image of what it actually never was. Also, when some piece of ideology turned out to work in the real world, he would accept that reality and change. Something the current Republican Party is either unwilling or flat unable to do.
** Mind, I had little use for him. Not as President. Not when he was Governor here.
Massively competent execution, just as one would expect.
-- Scouting out the target, so as to know how many targets, what type (i.e. nationality) of targets, etc.? Check
-- Briefing the agents involved, so that they were clear on what types of visas were applicable/valid to foreign workers at this site? Check
-- Employing agents who have a clue about the nation from which the targets come? Check
-- Preparation to handle the detainees expeditiously? Check
-- Careful consideration of the impact of the raid on the administration's efforts to get foreign firms to site plants in the US? Check
And if you believe all any of that, I've got some premium beach front property in Afghanistan that I will make you a great price on.
The only obvious fail was in not getting the detainees onto planes and off to Sudan or El Salvador or some other garden spot before anybody could react. Better luck next time.
My bet is that Hyundai scraps plans for this plant. Not least because they will have no workers who are willing to go. Indeed, I will be unsurprised if NO Korean companies are willing to consider new facilities in the US. For that matter, any foreign company considering doing anything here has got to be doing a serious re-think.
Free speech absolutism requires supporting someone's "right" to, as the classic example has it, "falsely shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theater.". Because that's what inciting violence, whether it is done explicitly or implicitly, amounts to.
Once you recognize how nonsensical that is, people like Kirk or Limbaugh are seen to be the sociopaths that they are.
the idea that the algorithm made him is not an argument I want to make,
I get really tired of the suggestions that people have no agency. Sure, if you immerse yourself in crazy, it may make you crazy (or crazier). But nobody forced you to go there. And nobody forced you to play out computer games in the real world on real people.
One could as well argue that Kavanaugh raped a girl while he was in college because he was immersed in a frat boy culture which encouraged that kind of behavior.
None of which is to suggest that the algorithms used by web browsers and search engines are not deeply problematic. But you're still responsible for your own actions.
Barely on topic:
I have been remiss. I just went and discovered that we had stuff in the Spam folder dating back to June! I have, for what little it is worth, cleared that up. Apologies to Charles, russell, Hartmut, GftNC, etc.
Hoping to do better going forward (wherever we go)
First up: What alternative platforms are there? What are their strengths and weaknesses? FYI, both obsidianwings.org and obsidianwings.com appear to be available. So, if we get some blogging software, we can create our own website and run it there. Just a thought.
Second: how do we migrate to whatever new platform we (probably meaning lj) decide on? I believe Michael Cain has already worked out how to back up our past posts and comments. Perhaps he has some insights and advice on the transition.
Third: Is there anything we can do to alert long time but infrequent users as to what is happening and where we are going? Maybe a way to strip email addresses from a couple of decades of comments? Granted, it's a "nice to have" but it would be nice.
If whatever new platform we end up on charges, who pays for it? If we create our own site, the annual registration isn't that much. But if we go again with a commercial platform it might be.
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
Seems like Trump could be replaced with that one, with little observable difference.
Au contraire, it would definitely be easier on the eyes. "Observable" in the literal meaning of the word.
It's amazing that the expenditures on AI may be propping up the economy in the face of Trump's policies on trade and the cratering of tourism to the US.
It somewhat depends on where you are. I've been seeing stories of people using local electric grids being overwhelmed because someone set up an AI (LLM) data center in the area. They are incredible users of electricity. Can be a real issue if your power goes out as a result of the extra load.
That is the upside (such as it is) of Vance replacing Trump at some point. While he would eventually install more competent people in service to a vile agenda, he doesn't have the leverage of being able to threaten Republican politicians with the supporters of the god-king. So he will face serious resistance from those with something resembling principles but no courage.
I suspect that the MAGA true believers will reflexively turn to the approach of the religion they were (mostly) raised in. Turn away from politics and await the second coming of their messiah. The Church of Trump** may get organized as a proper religion by a new leader. But he won't be worshipped. And he won't be Vance.
** Will the Church of Trump replace the Latter Day Saints as America's most successful cult? Hard to say at this point. I'm not seeing a Brigham Young type figure, but there might be one out there.
And where does it say that they have to be legal residents let alone citizens?
Oh, it doesn't. (Just as you don't have to be a citizen to be in the US military.)
The thing is, if they can't prove that they are, clearly they must detain, and eventually deport, each other.
The ICE is arresting and deporting far too many low-priority illegal immigrants.
Not to mention legal immigrants. Not to mention US citizens.
I would love to see some of those ICE thugs confronted and accused of being illegal themselves. "Are you an illegal immigrant? Can you prove you are here legally? Right now! Papers!"
I'm reasonably certain they can't prove they are. For that matter, I don't routinely carry proof of citizenship with me. Do you?
The nice part of my job was that it was in the position to tell the owners of the batch jobs, i.e. the application programmers, to actually fix the damn things, so the ops folks didn't have to keep dealing with problems. Ah, the power!
Dubai is popular, and Türkiye is possible, though a stretch.
Note, however, that Dubai (like all of the parts of the U.A.E.) is an absolute monarchy. Whereas Turkiye is merely a wannabe autocracy.
What russell said.
Plus, some people are sufficiently insecure that they are afraid not to flaunt their nominal superiority (or at least superior position) by being obnoxious to everybody else. Remind you of any current Presidents?
The thing is, Powell is merely not doing something that Trump wants done. Whereas Bolton has been actively slamming Trump on social media. That's a lot harder for Trump's fragile ego to deal with.
It won't be a surprise if he has one of his minion officials go after Powell eventually. But . . . priorities. Powell isn't one. Yet. If/when the economy tanks to the point where it can't be ignored, then Powell moves into the cross hairs.
these structures often evolved and were negotiated among people, rather than being carefully designed and well-recorded.
Being nice to (not just junior) administrative staff is the right thing to do. Assuming one is, or aspires to be, a decent human being.
But this is why it is also a useful thing to do. Those administrative staff are the ones who know how to navigate the system in order to get things done. Including the back channels that can dramatically reduce the time and effort required. Or get something done at all.
I would hope that anyone who has worked in a large organization would know that. But experience shows that remarkably few do. Including at the senior levels, where it is not obvious how they get their jobs done without knowing. (Perhaps theur Administrative Assistants grease the wheels for them...? That would explain why such staff frequently follow the executive from job to job, rather than remaining where they are to work for the new guy.)
Always be polite and considerate to the lower level administrative/service people. It costs you nothing and can make someone's day.
As Marty suggests, it can have big benefits for you, too. And not just admin folks. Perhaps the best thing I did, as someone (at least nominally) in Systems Programming, was to spend time with the computer operations people and listen to them.**
Operation folks get no respect. Even if the Systems Programmers are polite enough to them in passing, it's strictly superficial. But I found that they knew far more about the state of the systems than any monitor could tell me.
As an early warning system, they were unbeatable.
All it took was spending some time occasionally hanging out in Operations. Not only would they tell me, and show me, where things were deteriorating, after a while they would reach out when something didn't look right. Made my job a lot easier, and improved my performance too. I kept doing it, every place I ever worked.
It was helpful enough that my boss push the other members of our team to do the same. Pushed pretty hard. But they just couldn't be bothered to walk ten yards, go thru a door, and visit. I never understood it. I was willing to fly from San Francisco to Phoenix and spend a couple of days talking to all three shifts. But they just wouldn't budge.
** I still remember the first time that, as a very junior Systems Programmer at Bank of America in the mid-70s, I happened to be passing thru Operations and overheard somebody griping about something which was making their job difficult.
I did a little digging when I got back to my desk, found they were right, wrote it up, and got it fixed. Because, after all, I was in a position to get something done. Next time I was in Operations they were waiting for me. With lists! Because they'd found a channel where their problems would get addressed.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Rule Six, there is NO … Rule Six!…”
Bruce (Pete): "I vaguely recall a conversation a while back about relocating Israel to a carve-out in Baja California."
You would probably have a better (nothing like good, but better) chance selling it as a relocated Palestine.
"
I can relate to the "can't go home again" simply because California has grown so dramatically since I was young. I grew up on a ranch 5 miles out of town. Now, that ranch, and everything for an additional 5 miles, is all houses.
It's not that I physically can't go there. I can. It's not just that the specific house we live in is no longer there, although it's not. It's that the open space that was all around is no longer anything like open.
I expect that the situation for people who can't even get back to the physical location, and the culture that was there, is far worse. But I at least have a glimmer.
On “IANAL, but…”
At this point, the best hope for anyone with a small boat in the southern Caribbean is probably the short attention spans of the people in this administration. They'll likely move on to the next shiny thing soon. Especially since, after they first couple of outrageous instances, it will no longer be generating the media attention they crave.
At some point, with any luck at all, an administration which actually believes in the law may try to arrest and try those responsible. Not holding my breath, especially given the statute of limitations. But as I recall (IANAL either), there is no limitation on murder, so....
On “To H-1B or not to H-1B (or leopards eating multiple faces)”
From the Ministry of Truth link: "the Secretary of Labor will personally certify the initiation of investigations for the first time in the department’s history."
This could only seem like a good idea to someone who had never worked in an organization with more than a dozen people.
Governments, at least successful ones, all run bureaucracies. Big bureaucracies. Everybody loves to trash bureaucracy. But the reason that they are pervasive is that they are the best solution mankind has so far developed to manage large groups of people. And there are narrow limits on how much you can accomplish without involving large groups of people.
To put it bluntly, if the Secretary of Labor really is personally certifying the starting of every investigation then either 1) he doesn't have time left to do his actual job, or 2) there are only going to be a handful of (no doubt extravagantly publicized) investigations. Or, considering this administration, probably both.
On “An experimental first post”
lj, I rather doubt that there would be an amendment about tariffs. The Constitution already gives power over them exclusively to Congress. The problem we face is that we have an administr3which cares not at all about what the law or the Constitution says. Well, except when it is convenient to use as a cudgel. Otherwise, they just do as they please, confident that neither the Supreme Court nore the Congress will try to stop them -- nor could do so if they tried.
Just as we see with "Originalism", if you don't care what they explicit constraints on you are, and if nobody has the power (or perhaps the willingness) to stop you, then anything goes.
On “Precursors”
real St.Ronnie (as vile as many of his policies were) would be hunted out of the party these days as a RINO
Or, given half a chance, purge most of the "Christian nationalists" (and pretty much all of the Trumpys) from the party. The left has demonized Reagan so long** that it's easy to lose track of the fact that he actually cared about this country. And not just some delusional image of what it actually never was. Also, when some piece of ideology turned out to work in the real world, he would accept that reality and change. Something the current Republican Party is either unwilling or flat unable to do.
** Mind, I had little use for him. Not as President. Not when he was Governor here.
On “Hyudai, meet ICE”
Massively competent execution, just as one would expect.
-- Scouting out the target, so as to know how many targets, what type (i.e. nationality) of targets, etc.? Check
-- Briefing the agents involved, so that they were clear on what types of visas were applicable/valid to foreign workers at this site? Check
-- Employing agents who have a clue about the nation from which the targets come? Check
-- Preparation to handle the detainees expeditiously? Check
-- Careful consideration of the impact of the raid on the administration's efforts to get foreign firms to site plants in the US? Check
And if you believe
allany of that, I've got some premium beach front property in Afghanistan that I will make you a great price on.The only obvious fail was in not getting the detainees onto planes and off to Sudan or El Salvador or some other garden spot before anybody could react. Better luck next time.
My bet is that Hyundai scraps plans for this plant. Not least because they will have no workers who are willing to go. Indeed, I will be unsurprised if NO Korean companies are willing to consider new facilities in the US. For that matter, any foreign company considering doing anything here has got to be doing a serious re-think.
On “Kuzushi and Charlie Kirk”
Free speech absolutism requires supporting someone's "right" to, as the classic example has it, "falsely shout 'Fire!' in a crowded theater.". Because that's what inciting violence, whether it is done explicitly or implicitly, amounts to.
Once you recognize how nonsensical that is, people like Kirk or Limbaugh are seen to be the sociopaths that they are.
"
Partly checking on how things work here.
the idea that the algorithm made him is not an argument I want to make,
I get really tired of the suggestions that people have no agency. Sure, if you immerse yourself in crazy, it may make you crazy (or crazier). But nobody forced you to go there. And nobody forced you to play out computer games in the real world on real people.
One could as well argue that Kavanaugh raped a girl while he was in college because he was immersed in a frat boy culture which encouraged that kind of behavior.
None of which is to suggest that the algorithms used by web browsers and search engines are not deeply problematic. But you're still responsible for your own actions.
On “What to do?”
If AI was real and ready for prime time, spam filters would work a whole lot better than they demonstrably do.
"
Barely on topic:
I have been remiss. I just went and discovered that we had stuff in the Spam folder dating back to June! I have, for what little it is worth, cleared that up. Apologies to Charles, russell, Hartmut, GftNC, etc.
Hoping to do better going forward (wherever we go)
"
First up: What alternative platforms are there? What are their strengths and weaknesses? FYI, both obsidianwings.org and obsidianwings.com appear to be available. So, if we get some blogging software, we can create our own website and run it there. Just a thought.
Second: how do we migrate to whatever new platform we (probably meaning lj) decide on? I believe Michael Cain has already worked out how to back up our past posts and comments. Perhaps he has some insights and advice on the transition.
Third: Is there anything we can do to alert long time but infrequent users as to what is happening and where we are going? Maybe a way to strip email addresses from a couple of decades of comments? Granted, it's a "nice to have" but it would be nice.
If whatever new platform we end up on charges, who pays for it? If we create our own site, the annual registration isn't that much. But if we go again with a commercial platform it might be.
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
On “I’m forever blowing bubbles”
Seems like Trump could be replaced with that one, with little observable difference.
Au contraire, it would definitely be easier on the eyes. "Observable" in the literal meaning of the word.
"
It's amazing that the expenditures on AI may be propping up the economy in the face of Trump's policies on trade and the cratering of tourism to the US.
It somewhat depends on where you are. I've been seeing stories of people using local electric grids being overwhelmed because someone set up an AI (LLM) data center in the area. They are incredible users of electricity. Can be a real issue if your power goes out as a result of the extra load.
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
I wonder if Trump going after Fed governor Lisa Cook is an indication that he was having trouble finding even a fig leaf for an attack on Powell.
"
That is the upside (such as it is) of Vance replacing Trump at some point. While he would eventually install more competent people in service to a vile agenda, he doesn't have the leverage of being able to threaten Republican politicians with the supporters of the god-king. So he will face serious resistance from those with something resembling principles but no courage.
I suspect that the MAGA true believers will reflexively turn to the approach of the religion they were (mostly) raised in. Turn away from politics and await the second coming of their messiah. The Church of Trump** may get organized as a proper religion by a new leader. But he won't be worshipped. And he won't be Vance.
** Will the Church of Trump replace the Latter Day Saints as America's most successful cult? Hard to say at this point. I'm not seeing a Brigham Young type figure, but there might be one out there.
"
And where does it say that they have to be legal residents let alone citizens?
Oh, it doesn't. (Just as you don't have to be a citizen to be in the US military.)
The thing is, if they can't prove that they are, clearly they must detain, and eventually deport, each other.
"
He can't be wrong about everything all the time... :)
Surely you can give him credit for a valiant effort in that regard.
"
The ICE is arresting and deporting far too many low-priority illegal immigrants.
Not to mention legal immigrants. Not to mention US citizens.
I would love to see some of those ICE thugs confronted and accused of being illegal themselves. "Are you an illegal immigrant? Can you prove you are here legally? Right now! Papers!"
I'm reasonably certain they can't prove they are. For that matter, I don't routinely carry proof of citizenship with me. Do you?
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
The nice part of my job was that it was in the position to tell the owners of the batch jobs, i.e. the application programmers, to actually fix the damn things, so the ops folks didn't have to keep dealing with problems. Ah, the power!
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
Dubai is popular, and Türkiye is possible, though a stretch.
Note, however, that Dubai (like all of the parts of the U.A.E.) is an absolute monarchy. Whereas Turkiye is merely a wannabe autocracy.
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
What russell said.
Plus, some people are sufficiently insecure that they are afraid not to flaunt their nominal superiority (or at least superior position) by being obnoxious to everybody else. Remind you of any current Presidents?
On “The Schadenfreude Express”
The thing is, Powell is merely not doing something that Trump wants done. Whereas Bolton has been actively slamming Trump on social media. That's a lot harder for Trump's fragile ego to deal with.
It won't be a surprise if he has one of his minion officials go after Powell eventually. But . . . priorities. Powell isn't one. Yet. If/when the economy tanks to the point where it can't be ignored, then Powell moves into the cross hairs.
On “David Brooks in Laodicea”
these structures often evolved and were negotiated among people, rather than being carefully designed and well-recorded.
Being nice to (not just junior) administrative staff is the right thing to do. Assuming one is, or aspires to be, a decent human being.
But this is why it is also a useful thing to do. Those administrative staff are the ones who know how to navigate the system in order to get things done. Including the back channels that can dramatically reduce the time and effort required. Or get something done at all.
I would hope that anyone who has worked in a large organization would know that. But experience shows that remarkably few do. Including at the senior levels, where it is not obvious how they get their jobs done without knowing. (Perhaps theur Administrative Assistants grease the wheels for them...? That would explain why such staff frequently follow the executive from job to job, rather than remaining where they are to work for the new guy.)
"
Always be polite and considerate to the lower level administrative/service people. It costs you nothing and can make someone's day.
As Marty suggests, it can have big benefits for you, too. And not just admin folks. Perhaps the best thing I did, as someone (at least nominally) in Systems Programming, was to spend time with the computer operations people and listen to them.**
Operation folks get no respect. Even if the Systems Programmers are polite enough to them in passing, it's strictly superficial. But I found that they knew far more about the state of the systems than any monitor could tell me.
As an early warning system, they were unbeatable.
All it took was spending some time occasionally hanging out in Operations. Not only would they tell me, and show me, where things were deteriorating, after a while they would reach out when something didn't look right. Made my job a lot easier, and improved my performance too. I kept doing it, every place I ever worked.
It was helpful enough that my boss push the other members of our team to do the same. Pushed pretty hard. But they just couldn't be bothered to walk ten yards, go thru a door, and visit. I never understood it. I was willing to fly from San Francisco to Phoenix and spend a couple of days talking to all three shifts. But they just wouldn't budge.
** I still remember the first time that, as a very junior Systems Programmer at Bank of America in the mid-70s, I happened to be passing thru Operations and overheard somebody griping about something which was making their job difficult.
I did a little digging when I got back to my desk, found they were right, wrote it up, and got it fixed. Because, after all, I was in a position to get something done. Next time I was in Operations they were waiting for me. With lists! Because they'd found a channel where their problems would get addressed.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.