Althouse: Sunrise.

25 మే, 2026

Sunrise.

Write about whatever you want in the comments.

92 కామెంట్‌లు:

Aggie చెప్పారు...: If Trump manages to get a signed diplomatic deal that is reasonably well-respected enough to end the war in Iran and open up the Strait, accepting that there will be skirmishing that goes on for at least a few months - what happens next?

The price of oil will surely fall. The economies will rebalance. What a nice lead-in to midterms. I am thinking Trump will do something with the banks to ease the pressure on student debt, a lot of which is going toxic now, defaulting, affecting a lot of people. The debt was borderline predatory to begin with, the way it was structured to being accruing interest charges immediately, so I can see a jawboning, followed by a 'deal' to mitigate the pain without erasing the obligation. Wouldn't that be a kick in the head for all those affected?; 25-05-26 6:09 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Student debt is mostly incurred by better-off people. The main argument against Biden's student debt project is that blue collar workers would have to pay off the debts of blue haired wokies. I don't see how any possible Trump solution would avoid that central problem. CC, JSM; 25-05-26 6:15 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: No 2 and 4; 25-05-26 6:16 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: All those who were freaking out over tariffs six months ago hace to find something else (theyll make up something); 25-05-26 6:17 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: "followed by a 'deal' to mitigate the pain without erasing the obligation. "

That's fine as long as it's not funded with tax dollars paid by people who didn't take out loans.; 25-05-26 6:19 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: So a pluto airing of a classic dr who episode the talons of wang chiang (which is about a robot villain) has a culturally sensitive tag; 25-05-26 6:23 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 25-05-26 6:23 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: The Enormous Blast Radius of the NYT's Dog-Rape Debacle.; 25-05-26 6:24 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Of course its set around the time of the sherlock holmes era

So were expected to have 21st sensitivities; 25-05-26 6:31 PM
imTay చెప్పారు...: Three refueling tankers just took off in the last half an hour from Israel, so we will see if the balloon went up for another try. I guess that Trump called his boss in Tel Aviv, and was told "No deal!"; 25-05-26 6:35 PM
imTay చెప్పారు...: Imagine buying control of a trillion dollar military for just a couple of billion dollars invested in manipulating our elections. Israel donates to 90+% of Congress, and at leas a quart of a billion to Trump. There is a story out there that Trump told his old supporters, like Tucker, and his crowd, the ones that he has kicked to the curb, that he was going to take the Israeli money and screw them over, and two or three weeks later, his ear gets shot off.; 25-05-26 6:38 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: It would be amazing if Trump could get Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab states to abandon Hamas. We'll see how Iran's neighbors respond to Trump's tweet. He had multiple diplomatic discussions before the tweet. Already several states have signed the Abraham Accords.

Interestingly, the newest round of negotiations took place in Qatar. Last time, Iran went completely out of the Middle East to meet. Trump dangles normalisation amid pro-Israel criticism of possible Iran deal.

Do you want peace, is the question.

Iran and U.S. agree deal to end war is taking shape, but Iran says obstacles remain

Explosions heard in Iran's Bandar Abbas.; 25-05-26 6:40 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Certainly tom baker could have doubled as sherlock holmes manque; 25-05-26 6:41 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Basically the Turks and Iran; are the only one officially supporting hamas there might be some saudi or gulf royals kicking in some coin; 25-05-26 6:43 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: Iran’s Mehr news agency says the situation in Bandar Abbas is under control and there is no cause for concern after the explosions were heard east of the city. It says official sources have not yet commented.

The Tasnim news agency says three explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas, while the Fars news agency says similar sounds were heard close to Sirik and Jask near the strategic waterway.; 25-05-26 6:43 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: He was the villain in one of the sinbad; 25-05-26 6:46 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 25-05-26 6:46 PM
Jim at చెప్పారు...: The main argument against Biden's student debt project is that blue collar workers would have to pay off the debts of blue haired wokies.

Not just blue-collar workers but anybody who had to bust his or her ass to pay off their students loans.

In no way should I be responsible for idiots who took out massive loans for worthless college degrees.; 25-05-26 6:51 PM
Eva Marie చెప్పారు...: “Imagine buying control of a trillion dollar military for just a couple of billion dollars invested in manipulating our elections.”
How do you explain:
1. Mamdani
2. Analilia Mejia - Won the February 2026 Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 11th congressional district. She declared Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
3. Daniel Biss - Won the March 2026 Democratic primary in Illinois’s 9th congressional district. He wants the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state.
How do you explain the generally anti Israel sentiment controlling the Democrat Party?; 25-05-26 6:55 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: In so far, as elon was probably the largest single donor; 25-05-26 7:00 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 25-05-26 7:00 PM
Aggie చెప్పారు...: What do you do when a debt becomes unmanageable? You re-structure it. The mechanism is usually put together by a panel or team of financial experts. As i understand it (not an expert), a lot of the debt came from financial institutions with no federal backing. The for-profit colleges were the most predatory lenders, I've heard. So they deserve to take the biggest hit, and maybe some of them will fail. Maybe some of them ought to. Re-structuring the debts along the lines of more historical lending and grant structures would mean that the institutions that did the lending, will take a haircut. So what? What kind of bank lends money to a kid that won't start earning for years, and starts charging interest right away? That bank needs a lesson, and a haircut. What kind of kid takes a loan, and then spends it on spring break, Cancun Yeah baby!' The kind of kid that needs a lesson, too, in meeting obligations.

It can be done.; 25-05-26 7:03 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: imTay said...

Imagine buying control of a trillion dollar military for just a couple of billion dollars invested in manipulating our elections. Israel donates to 90+% of Congress, and at leas a quart of a billion to Trump. There is a story out there that Trump told his old supporters, like Tucker, and his crowd, the ones that he has kicked to the curb, that he was going to take the Israeli money and screw them over, and two or three weeks later, his ear gets shot off.

People this stupid are why the NYTs runs stories about dogs trained to rape prisoners and russian collusion and hunter biden's laptop being russian disinformation.; 25-05-26 7:04 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: john mosby said...

Student debt is mostly incurred by better-off people. The main argument against Biden's student debt project is that blue collar workers would have to pay off the debts of blue haired wokies. I don't see how any possible Trump solution would avoid that central problem. CC, JSM

Agreed that trying to make taxpayers pay for it is obviously wrong.

They need to go after University endowments and University pensions.; 25-05-26 7:07 PM
Achilles చెప్పారు...: Aggie said...

If Trump manages to get a signed diplomatic deal that is reasonably well-respected enough to end the war in Iran and open up the Strait, accepting that there will be skirmishing that goes on for at least a few months - what happens next?

The price of oil will surely fall. The economies will rebalance. What a nice lead-in to midterms.

China is paying dollars for oil now.

The US produces near infinite amounts of oil relative to world demand at ~55-60$ a barrel.

This just means the price of oil will approach 60$ one way or another now that the worlds biggest importer is part of the demand curve and the worlds largest producer sets the floor.; 25-05-26 7:11 PM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: imTay (6:38pm):
"There is a story out there that Trump . . ." Really? A story is out there? Where did you read this story? Why don't you provide a link to it? Or at least tell us who is telling this story? It's obvious why: you know that the source of the story is an obvious lying shill, so naming the source will entirely discredit it. As with the last time you did something like this, I have my suspicions as to your source. Is it twice-convicted pedophile Scott Ritter? Or morbidly obese fugitive-from-American-justice Kim Dotcom? Or Crowleyite Satanist Aleksandr Dugin? Or was the story e-mailed to you as recommended talking points by someone who may or may not be in Moscow?; 25-05-26 7:13 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: Open up the bankruptcy courts, and allow the kids to declare bankruptcy. That's a lesson, both for the banks and the kid.; 25-05-26 7:16 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: " The for-profit colleges were the most predatory lenders, I've heard. So they deserve to take the biggest hit, and maybe some of them will fail. Maybe some of them ought to."

Any way you slice it, people who didn't borrow the money or benefit from receiving the borrowed money need to absolutely NOT be paying to ease pressure on that debt.; 25-05-26 7:18 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Ciso, I remember the Talons of Weng Chiang. I watched it in about 1980 on WTTW - Channel 11, Chicago PBS. They showed Dr Who just before dinner on weekdays, with half-hour episodes as was done in UK. I was thrilled thirty-some years later when the red letters on a Cumberbatch Sherlock episode spelled Weng Chiang. CC, JSM; 25-05-26 7:24 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: It never seems to occur to most people to ask: "Why is college so Goddamn expensive?". No they assume "Thats the way it is" and then go and debate Student loans. I was able to pay off my Student loan in the 1980s. It wasn't because I was frugal. Or had a killer high paying job. Its because college cost a fraction of what it does now. Why?

but lets not go into that. Lets just assume if colleges are charging zillions for tution or room/board its all A-OK. Its the "free market" or something.; 25-05-26 7:24 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Enormous Dog Rape Blast Radius would be a great name for a punk band. CC, JSM; 25-05-26 7:25 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: A lot of this talk is just old people wanting to wag their finger at young people and say "Why in my day....".; 25-05-26 7:25 PM
RCOCEAN II చెప్పారు...: I think picture 4 is the best. Ducks add a lot.; 25-05-26 7:26 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: I'm seeing reports that the Supreme Leader is still alive, and he's in a bunker, and nobody knows where he is, including the Iranians.

At this point, most Iranian leaders don't see daylight, spending weeks inside highly fortified bunkers and avoiding speaking to each other unless absolutely necessary, the sources said.

"Watching them try to figure out how to talk to each other is almost like watching a sitcom. They are completely exasperated," one official said.

The most cautious measures are being taken by the supreme leader.

By design, even officials at the highest levels of the Iranian government don't know where he is and have no way to contact him directly.

Instead, messages are passed through a network of couriers created to obscure the supreme leader's location.

"This is why you see people saying things like, 'The supreme leader has agreed to the framework,' or 'We're waiting to hear back on the final deal points.' Every piece of information he receives is dated and there's a lot of latency to his responses," one official said.

Pro-tip: Don't hide with the uranium. You want a separate bunker, definitely. Also, add iodine before you drink out of the creek.; 25-05-26 7:27 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: He might as well be the nose leader in sleeper; 25-05-26 7:30 PM
Leland చెప్పారు...: I don't know how it could be done, but if schools were on the hook for student loan debt; then I might be interested in that discussion. Banks and businesses that make loans are usually on the hook in a default.; 25-05-26 7:31 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Or john gill with vahidi playing malakon; 25-05-26 7:31 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: Enormous Dog Rape Blast Radius would be a great name for a punk band.

I would shrink it to

Dog Rape Blast Radius. DRBR.

song list

Shedding
Humping
Scratching
Licking
Pink Lipstick
I Will Hump You
We Love the Jews
No Collar For Me
Free Dog; 25-05-26 7:34 PM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Ha! "and this dog you cannot chaaaaaaaaange!!!" Get the lighters out! CC, JSM; 25-05-26 7:35 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: Subterranean Homesick Blues; 25-05-26 7:41 PM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: ha ha ha; 25-05-26 7:41 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: So guy ritchies mobland has fired tom hardy who is one of the key players; 25-05-26 7:54 PM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: There's a reason college loans aren't dischargeable in bankruptcy. They used to be, and people were taking gross advantage of that. Someone a year ahead of me in college (I graduated in 1975) went off to medical school at Penn, ran up hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and high living, including eating in fine restaurants while in med school, got a job in a hospital paying $100,000 a year, I think it was (remember: these are ~1978 dollars), quit that job, went bankrupt pleading zero income and massive debts, got them wiped out, went across town and got an equally good job at another hospital. It was disgusting scammers like him who induced Congress to make college loans undischargeable a few years later.; 25-05-26 8:08 PM
narciso చెప్పారు...: Perhaps but joe biden made it as a favor to the big banks like mbnw; 25-05-26 8:10 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: " It was disgusting scammers like him who induced Congress to make college loans undischargeable a few years later."

The proper response would have been for the government to stop making student loans.; 25-05-26 8:19 PM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: The proper response in the case I mentioned would have been for the bankruptcy judge to tell the guy to get off his ass, go get a job, and pay back his loans. Perhaps the bankruptcy laws were written in such a way that he couldn't do that. But medical-school tuition would presumably have been the largest item on his list of debts, so the solution should have been obvious.; 25-05-26 8:27 PM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: ఈ కామెంట్‌ను రచయిత తీసివేశారు.; 25-05-26 8:29 PM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: Another possible solution would be to make a law that going bankrupt to avoid paying for your college degree means that you are in possession of something that you cannot pay for, and the college needs to repossess it, like a car dealer repossessing a car. If there had been any chance that this guy's lucrative M.D. would be cancelled for non-payment, he wouldn't have been able to do what he did.; 25-05-26 8:32 PM
Bruce Hayden చెప్పారు...: “ There's a reason college loans aren't dischargeable in bankruptcy. They used to be, and people were taking gross advantage of that.”

Maybe more egregious than your example. Bankruptcy classes in LS were a land office class. Learn to file in a class that the student loans paid for, then file right after graduation.; 25-05-26 8:33 PM
Dave Begley చెప్పారు...: Today we toured the University of Alabama campus. Two high lights. We saw the place where Gov. Wallace tried to stop Black students from enrolling in the university. Today it is used for women’s volleyball and basketball. There is a plaque at the spot and a nice monument to the two students about 30 yards away.

We then ran into a retired state trial court judge who was the emeritus director of Boys’ State. He was with Bill Clinton when Bill shook JFK’s hand at the WH. Clinton was taller than him and got blocked in the picture. The judge started the drug court in Birmingham. Big success with over 5,000 graduates.; 25-05-26 8:44 PM
Mark చెప్పారు...: "What kind of bank lends money to a kid that won't start earning for years, and starts charging interest right away?"

When we got our FAFSA paperwork back, I was surprised at how much money they were willing to loan my 18 year old. All with interest due to parental income.

Thankfully the market has been great to their 529 in the last 20 years and there will be leftovers.; 25-05-26 8:46 PM
Dave Begley చెప్పారు...: Addendum. The judge we met dad went to the University of Nebraska because he wanted to attend “the best agriculture school.” His mom was a native Nebraskan.; 25-05-26 8:54 PM
Dr Weevil చెప్పారు...: I was teaching at Alabama when they comemorated the 20th? 25th? 30th anniversary of the "stand in the schoolhouse door". I worked in the building that also contained the power plant heating the entire campus, which had a huge pile of coal behind it, surrounded by a chain-link fence. The campus newspaper said that the day before the big anniversary was the anniversary of a Buildings and Grounds crew going out after midnight and putting up that chain-link fence around the coal pile to reduce the amount of readily-available ammunition for rioters while Wallace was there. They also said, rather plausibly, that ~10% of the previous students supported Wallace, ~10% opposed him and supported integration, and the other ~80% didn't care much one way or the other.; 25-05-26 9:03 PM
boatbuilder చెప్పారు...: I don't think Trump can do anything about forgiving or restructuring student loans, without Congressional authorization--wasn't that the Supreme Court's holding regarding Biden's loan forgiveness EO? (Biden v. Nebraska).; 25-05-26 9:07 PM
Mason G చెప్పారు...: "The proper response in the case I mentioned would have been for the bankruptcy judge to tell the guy to get off his ass, go get a job, and pay back his loans."

I'm okay with that.

"Another possible solution would be to make a law that going bankrupt to avoid paying for your college degree means that you are in possession of something that you cannot pay for, and the college needs to repossess it, like a car dealer repossessing a car."

I'm okay with that, too.; 25-05-26 9:12 PM
Ampersand చెప్పారు...: Posting on websites such as this has a clarifying effect for people like me. It gives me a chance to think about the AA post and figure out what my reaction is. I despair of persuading all but the tiny fraction of people that were.on the knife edge of indecision.
All of us have predispositions that are the result of decades of life. I can't give anyone the sum of my experiences, and they can't give me theirs.; 25-05-26 9:29 PM
Prof. M. Drout చెప్పారు...: We allow bankruptcy for ALL other debts. The reason student loans weren't dischargeable is that people assumed that many people would just immediately declare bankruptcy because the 7 years of not getting credit wouldn't really matter to them because they were in the low-earning years of 22-29. But even if it was true in 1986 that low-earning new college grads could easily live 7 years without credit, that is no longer the case, so we can probably drop the idea that people will frivolously declare bankruptcy for student loans any more than we believe that people will frivolously declare bankruptcy for business start-up loans, or any other kind.

I don't see how you put the colleges back on the hook for this money now, though they deserve to be. You could make colleges be tied to loan repayment in the future. But think through the second-order effects, and realize you're giving college administrators power to determine course offering, majors, etc., based on their GUESSES about what will be sufficiently remunerative. How's the working out with all the people with Computer Science degrees whose employment is currently lower than that of recent grads with English or Art History degrees?

Treat student loan debt the same as we treat credit card, mortgage, vehicle, small business loans, and all other forms of debt. No tax dollars involved, and no people who didn't go to college--or who went to cheaper colleges--having to subsidize people who didn't economize.

And then put real effort into lowering the cost of tuition. Not just slowing the increase or even freezing it, but rolling it back until it is less than 50% of what it is now.; 25-05-26 11:32 PM
Prof. M. Drout చెప్పారు...: Like everyone who opines about this issue, I am going to pull a number out of my butt and say that colleges should not be permitted to spend more than 15% of their total REVENUE (endowment income, donations, and tuition) on administration, and there should be caps on the salaries of administrators.
Additionally, a large fraction of the remaining money, say 50% of total revenue, should be required to be spent only on FRONT-LINE teaching (that is, teachers who interact directly with students--this would include Librarians as well as professors). These people should be paid for full-time work and therefore required to be on campus and available for reasonable full-time hours (no more "I am only on campus Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.").
The remaining 35% can be used for any new buildings, full-time researchers without teaching responsibilities if it's important to have those, maintenance, dorms and cafeterias, campus police, health center, etc., etc.; 25-05-26 11:44 PM
wendybar చెప్పారు...: Gunther Eagleman™
@GuntherEagleman
·
6h
Crazy that we have a Pride “Month”

and just a Memorial “Day” for our fallen heroes.

Not right.

https://x.com/GuntherEagleman/status/2059084668507435311?s=20; 26-05-26 3:26 AM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: Listen guys, I want to apologize that this is taking so long. As you know (I might have forgotten to mention this), I volunteered to be a cut-out for the Iranian Courier Dance to the Supreme Leader. They wanted somebody in the Big Satan to help out, you know. And I didn't think they'd pick me, but they did. I was like, "I'm in Charlotte, you know." And they said some shit in Farsi. And I said, "Sure." Even though I don't speak Farsi. And they said some more shit in Farsi. And I said, "Right." And they gave me this ugly Ayatollah doll with a screw-top head. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" I asked. And he started yodeling in my apartment. I know that's not the word, but that's what it sounded like. Anyway, with a lot of hand gestures and yodeling, we decided that I would keep the Ayatollah doll in my walk-in closet, in the corner, on the floor, hidden under a bunch of dirty clothes and bedsheets and stuff.

And I'm supposed to stay out of my walk-in closet on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays. I'm like, "What the fuck, man, I can't remember that." And he said some shit in Farsi. You know how that goes. So I've got a whole pile of dirty white bedsheets on top of the Ayatollah doll with the screw-top head.

Anyway, I need to do some laundry. I'm getting kind of desperate. I'm not sleeping right. I think my dog is sneaking into my bed. I've got dog hair on my bedsheets. It's waking me up in the middle of the night.

So I was doing laundry on Sunday. And I totally forgot that all my bedsheets were in the washer. Blame that cafe post on the Althouse blog. I was like, "It's so beautiful," and I kept staring at it. "Why does my post about Yves Klein and the naked girls pressing their blue tits into the canvas keep disappearing?" I had shit going on in my mind. And I forgot about my laundry, and my mission. I got sidetracked.

Of course, that's when the courier showed up. And I was like, "Oh shit, man, I am doing my laundry, and I forgot." And my dog's barking. And the courier's scared of my dog. "Get your dog phobia under control, man, this is important." And he's shaking in his shoes. Yodeling at my dog. "I got neighbors, man. They're going to call the landlord."

The way we translate, we use duolingo. And we go from English to Spanish to Farsi, and then from Farsi to Spanish to English. It takes a while, you know.

Anyway, I got my dog in the bathroom. She's still barking. And the courier is on my couch, drinking an illegal Pabst Blue Ribbon. We kind of bonded over PBR. And I said, "I need to do some laundry," which became the Spanish phrase, "Necesito lavar la ropa." And that was translated into, "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." And the courier's eyes got big. And I was like, "Holy shit, that's not right." And Duo said, "Mierda, eso no esta bien." But the courier was already on his feet and running out of my apartment.

So that was my bad, probably. Sorry, NYT. That was a total courier screw up on my part. Or the software. By the way, I don't know where you got that dog raping story, but it did not come from Iran. At least, it did not come from my network. I hope the CIA doesn't arrest me for that shit. Or Mossad takes me out. I like Jews and dogs. I want everybody to be happy.

Obviously, we are a couple of messages behind. I keep asking, "Donde esta el uranio?" Which is some kind of insult in Farsi, apparently. This is going to take a while. Maybe Friday. Or next week.; 26-05-26 3:31 AM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: RIP Sonny Rollins

Saxophone Colossus; 26-05-26 4:20 AM
Quayle చెప్పారు...: The universities should take the haircut for student loan debt. They were the ones that saddled the students up with no possible repercussions to themselves. it was a moral hazard all the universities used the money to bloat themselves with buildings and administrators. They are absolutely a fault for this. This is another example of the boomers transferring wealth away from their children and grandchildren; 26-05-26 5:17 AM
Saint Croix చెప్పారు...: Stanley Crouch on The Colossus; 26-05-26 5:22 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) చెప్పారు...: This belongs here more than in the “no war” post:

Why should I thank her?” is classic Freder! Before she (rightly) called you an asshole, before you actually wrote assholery on here, before you ever started spouting your weird ahistorical nonsense (“Every war since 1945 has been illegal!”) there was a law professor who used her own money and time and talent to build a blog to which people found and read and shared with friends. Her writing was so fresh that even Rush Limbaugh took to quoting her blog.

She built this. She allowed an outpost for free speech even as Twitter and FB were actively censoring conservative voices and vaccine skeptics Althouse kept her site free and open. Thank you Althouse and Meade for hosting this unique and special forum. It’s a wonderful place. Even a thorough ingrate and asshole like me can still express himself and the worst thing that has happened is being called out for assholery.

What a wonderful world.; 26-05-26 5:36 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: Yes government writing a blank check for higher education is gasoline on a fire for a market with little price competition…; 26-05-26 5:38 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: …an interesting observation from boston last week- unlike six months ago the early trains into South Station and Back Bay are full. Not only full of people but people heading to offices to work. Six months, a year ago the few people coming in were a strange crew, a weird mix of what looked to be old students and people that my suspicious mind would conclude are NGO funded trouble makers. Example- waiting in Tatte for a coffee a group of maybe twenty people- one or two ngo types learing a pack of people not out of place in the cast of Cuckoo’s Nest. Each of them with a pen and a shiny new notebook. Nobody really doing anything but standing around talking to one another, except ons ngo type asking the tatte manager where the property line was out on the sidewalk. Why?.

…now, Fidelity and the other banks are requiring five days a week in the office. Publicly because it will foster employee growth begat from relationships and productivity. Privately it is to cull the herd of the unproductive youngsters that will never come to the office five days a week.; 26-05-26 5:50 AM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: I would not draw a bright line saying in person work is productive and remote work not. Nor would I draw one saying oldsters are productive and youngsters not.

For one thing, the oldsters who value in person interaction very often value it at the expense of productivity. I well remember being a young Xer in an office full of boomers who would just not stop talking. And don’t get me started on office parties and lunches for birthdays, transfers, retirements, etc.

Youngsters just got out of college, where they were working remotely nearly all the time. They can be efficient doing real work remotely. Oldsters with family commitments are going to be tempted to push the envelope of doing housework, childcare, elder care, etc, during time they’re getting paid for.

It is going to be moot very soon. If the work can be done remotely, an AI can do it. At least there will be a few years before we have robots who can hang drywall or wipe an old person’s butt. Those in person jobs will be safe for a little while. CC, JSM; 26-05-26 6:00 AM
Ann Althouse చెప్పారు...: Thanks, Mike!; 26-05-26 6:08 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: I would not draw a bright line saying in person work is productive and remote work not. Nor would I draw one saying oldsters are productive and youngsters not.

The banks, plural, track their employees at home. They say they have the data and to your point they are focusing specifically on recent hires, young hires. so aren’t acting in a general ageist way as you’re pointing out. Of that group the staff that struggles to get things done, the ones not fostering the connections with their peers and the clients, they’re the ones not coming to the office under optional rules. So the strategy is the five day office will sort out the good ones from the bad…; 26-05-26 6:17 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: beetlejuice; 26-05-26 6:18 AM
Humperdink చెప్పారు...: Before each home playoff game, the Montreal Canadians trot out one of their retired stars, of which they are legion, to carry the torch. It is a complete mystery why they chose Claude Lemieux for last night’s game. He noted for one thing - being the dirtiest player in the league throughout his career. Glad they lost.

Keep the Stanley Cup in the US!; 26-05-26 6:18 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: off off; 26-05-26 6:26 AM
Humperdink చెప్పారు...: Funniest line I read this morning: “American values give Euros hives”.

Benadryl not available?; 26-05-26 6:29 AM
Ann Althouse చెప్పారు...: "For one thing, the oldsters who value in person interaction very often value it at the expense of productivity. I well remember being a young Xer in an office full of boomers who would just not stop talking. And don’t get me started on office parties and lunches for birthdays, transfers, retirements, etc."

I remember being a young boomer in a workplace with Silent Generation people who expected to find conversation everywhere. Silent Generation indeed!; 26-05-26 6:33 AM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Rehajm , that’s interesting. So the bank figured out it needs in-office work - by statistically analyzing its employees’ performance. Which analysis was done remotely.

The “problem” with the youngsters may be that the managers don’t know how to manage remotely.

Or is it that the clients don’t want to be handled remotely? Then that’s not a problem. You have to do what the client wants. But who made the decision to work the clients remotely? The oldster managers.

But it’s all academic. In a couple of years my personal AI will interact with the AIs of various banks until it finds the best deal for me. No more salesmen (which bankers are, no matter what they call themselves).

PS: Rush (the band) hate salesmen, but they also hate oppressive technology. Huh?

CC, JSM; 26-05-26 6:38 AM
Iman చెప్పారు...: 👆That👆was a different time, professor and it’s a memory I share. The change in atmosphere from a real “we’re family” feel when I started in the early 70s to the way it was when I retired was like night and day.

And I wouldn’t call that progress, I’d call it less human.; 26-05-26 6:42 AM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: Iman, I get that, but how much of the family feel was making the best of things because you had to be there? And if tech makes it so that you don’t have to be there, and can spend more time with your actual family, why not?

Also I would submit that a lot of the workplace changes had nothing to do with technology, but with the labor law developed in the stubby-pencil-and-mainframe 1960s, that turned the workplace into an eggshell- carpeted discrimination hunting ground. CC, JSM; 26-05-26 6:51 AM
rehajm చెప్పారు...: Yah john, I get the impression this is a specific strategy designed to clean up the dei and/or Wayfair Rebellion era workforce, and it isn’t unique to a couple banks..:; 26-05-26 7:45 AM
Ann Althouse చెప్పారు...: "And I wouldn’t call that progress, I’d call it less human."

I think part of what made the Silent Generation more conversational in the workplace was that the professional level was nearly all men and the women were set apart, working with typewriters and file cabinets. There was a sex-segregated social life that was enjoyed by many men whose wives were at home.; 26-05-26 7:52 AM
planetgeo చెప్పారు...: I submit that the problem of overpriced colleges saddling students and their parents with massive loans will soon be taken care of without any help from the government because most of them will themselves go out of business. It will happen because people will realize that AI can already do the job better for the price of just a couple of burgers per month.

I'm not joking. I expect to see a growing variety of independently created and curated curriculum offerings by specialists in various fields who put up their own websites and agentic apps that will be at least as good if not superior to the current offerings at overpriced institutions. In fact, I'm already seeing a number of boutique online colleges springing up, assembled by small groups of professors and other educational specialists. The "university of one" isn't as far off as you might think.

The cultural imperative for a degree from a prestigious and very expensive school is already toppling. It's just a matter of time before it's rendered irrelevant.; 26-05-26 8:15 AM
Quayle చెప్పారు...: The workers have to have personal contact!!! The customers? Nope. Let the customers carry the cost-savings automated burden and never interact with a person at the company ever.

I’m sick of supposed good companies making me interact either their crap systems that are filled with their crap pop-ups.; 26-05-26 8:19 AM
Aggie చెప్పారు...: Google is making a move, aren't they? All of a sudden, VPNs are awkward to be using, Google is demanding multiple logins to 'prove' you're not a robot. Of course, it's a robot demanding the proof.

I use a fitbit. Now, suddenly, fitbit no longer supports the app that drives their own product. But seamlessly - after the popup that informs you that your device no longer communicates with you - there's Google, ready to step in with no hitches and install their new app, even replacing the logo in the same place.

Even on my cell phone, that cursed brick, the texting app that used to be supported by the phone manufacturer, is now going to be replaced by Google's app. No choice involved, other than to say 'Yes'. And you'll get a helpful reminder of the approaching dead end, with a 'Yes' button displayed front and center.

Yes, Google is making a move.; 26-05-26 8:27 AM
boatbuilder చెప్పారు...: Mike (MJB Wolf) at 5:36---Hear, hear!; 26-05-26 8:39 AM
boatbuilder చెప్పారు...: Aggie--my VPN used a London address this morning (usually VA), and Google gave me a message on this blog saying that they track IP addresses and other data, and when I tried to access the Saxophone Colossus link I got a message saying that there was "unusual activity" from my address (?).
Yes, something is up.
I haven't even put my tinfoil hat on yet today.; 26-05-26 8:45 AM
Kai Akker చెప్పారు...: Stocks pop on our 12th consecutive victory over Iran. What a time to be a seller.; 26-05-26 8:50 AM
Michael McNeil చెప్పారు...: Talons of Weng Chiang is pretty good Dr. Who actually. It not only takes place in the Sherlock Holmes-ian age, but Tom Baker is basically playing Sherlock Holmes (or that kind of personality) in the guise of Dr. Who. As I say, I liked it. But Tom Baker portrayed Sherlock Holmes for real once—in The Hound of the Baskervilles—and (though I'm a fan of Tom Baker) I thought it was pretty sad, compared with Jeremy Brett, say, as Sherlock Holmes.; 26-05-26 8:54 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ along with $1.8bn of Kleptocracy చెప్పారు...: The world is being held to ransom by at least three men in their 70s using war to avoid legal ramifications and attempt to create a legacy. With Trump, Netanyahu and Putin overestimating their ability and underestimating their opponents.

The lesson seems to be that a reasonably prepared middle-sized country can impose immense asymmetric costs on any attacker.; 26-05-26 8:59 AM
john mosby చెప్పారు...: The Russian-language Lenfilm Sherlock Holmes shows are arguably the best. Proof that communism works! If by "work" you mean "take one thing that nobody much cares about and do it really really well while entire sectors of your civilization suck blue whale." CC, JSM; 26-05-26 9:14 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ along with $1.8bn of Kleptocracy చెప్పారు...: Kai Akker writes: "Stocks pop on our 12th consecutive victory over Iran. What a time to be a seller."

The SpaceX IPO will be the final straw...Great company, bonkers price that is literally out of this world. And special rules to over exaggerate the index weightings, and to allow the founders to exit in only 15 days post launch, instead of the usual 6 or 12 months. Talk about Pump and Dump……

I’m going to sit this one out. Oh wait, I own shares in the S&P 500.

This is a manipulation of passive index funds. They don't care about fundamentals.

The huge market capitalization will mean that Space X will be over 2.5% of the total S&P 500. So index funds will be obligated to buy.

Passive Index funds hold roughly 25% of all equity in the S&P 500. So logically they will be attempting to buy 25% of the shares.

However, only 4% of shares are "available" and out of that we know a significant chunk are being bought by hedge funds.

Overall this means demand from passive index funds alone will buoy it up.

This will allow the price to settle before the current shareholders begin to offload to the indexes.
.
Space X has been lobbying the indexes to remove the guardrails that were in place.

Nasdaq has just reduce the waiting time for inclusion in the index to just 15 days.

S&P 500 have reduced the timeline for Space X from 12 months to 6 months. They have also removed the profitability requirement.

The master stroke is that although everyone can see it is spectacularly over priced, you'd be a fool to short it. Much like GameStop, with such a small free float and shareholders who will HODL (particularly the index funds). Any large short position will cause the Mother of All Short Squeezes. SpaceX will then be going to the moon.

Would love the FT, WSJ or Bloomberg to do a piece on this and whether it’s pure financial engineering?; 26-05-26 9:20 AM
Leland చెప్పారు...: SpaceX, with just the retiring Falcon 9, lifts 90% of the world’s payloads to space. SpaceX has orbited as many satellites as the rest of the world combined starting with Sputnik. A single Raptor 3 engine produces 50% more thrust than a Space Shuttle Main Engine (4 of which are used and destroyed with each Artemis flight). The original purchase order for SSME’s for NASA was 46 engines (42 more were later ordered, and 16 were on hand to support Artemis). SpaceX flew 39 variants of the Raptor 3 last Friday. A Raptor 3 cost as much as $350,000 new, while an SSME (RS-25) costs $145 million (Blue Origin/ULA B-4 engine low cost estimate is $7 million, high-end $20m).

If all SpaceX did from now on is build and sale Raptor 3’s for the global spaceflight market, it would improve the rest of the industry and therefore be a very successful business.; 26-05-26 11:38 AM
Leland చెప్పారు...: How did you guys do on the selling? I see the DJIA is down 118 points for the day, now slightly up 750 points over the last 5 days. Well, maybe S&P, since you guys mentioned it? Up 45 points to a record close today, up 2% over the last 5 days. Hmm... Nasdaq? Up 1.76% on the day to a record close.

If they had fire sales like this in California, the Palisades would be fine and none of us would remember Spencer Pratt.; 26-05-26 3:27 PM
DINKY DAU 45 చెప్పారు...: Pallets of cash,keep the uranium and weget tolls going thu THE STREIT? Sounds worse then the one ripped up?Iran has demanded Donald Trump release $24 billion in frozen funds to end the war after the President launched new strikes on Tehran. Iranian negotiators made the brazen request while meeting with officials in Qatar on Monday, according to state media. Iran wants at least half of the funds made immediately available upon signing a memorandum of understanding to end the war with the US. The remainder would have to be transferred within a two-month period. It comes after Washington unleashed a barrage of strikes in southern Iran , targeting regime missile launch sites and boats that US Central Command said were attempting to lay mines in the Strait of Hormuz.Iran also said US needs to have regime change and they don't trust trump( thats rich) because he says one thing in AM and another in the PM)now where did they ever get that thought? no more blood for gold!; 26-05-26 5:03 PM

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