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LonelyAs tempted as I am I’m not risking it with puts. Feels like there’s a good chance that it’s not 25%, but also not nothing at all so it just ends up dropping a bit and then trades sideways.
As is usually the case I’ll probably feel like a dumbass and/or like I missed out on a big win either way
SSteezleSo more people dying on both sides. You realize how big Russias army is right?
VTshredder69Yea my buddy has a 5K put on Costco expiring April 1 and he's a nervous wreck about it. Too much stress for me.
Missing out is the story of my life. Imagine having 88 Bitcoin @$3.75 I bought on the dark web and using it for drugs in 2013. FML
SSteezleSign up bitch boys! Ukraine needs you! Zelensky didn't want the deal signed and he's looking for people to fight.
snowfinderhttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-orders-halt-offensive-cyber-operations-rcna194435
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/28/trump-russia-hacking-cyber-security
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/us/politics/hegseth-cyber-russia-trump-putin.html
I tried finding articles from right leaning media outlets but there isn't any.
Trump and Republicans are Putin's bitch.
LonelyWanna hear a sad story?
I bought 10k dogecoin (for like 25 cents which is honestly more than it was worth) when I was a kid. Got it through eBay, super sketchy but actually did get it into a wallet.
Since it was just a passing fascination, and I was a dumb kid, I didn’t make an ACTUAL wallet but used an, at the time, relatively reliable wallet hosting site.
Many many years pass and the silly South African makes dogecoin shoot up after SNL. I got very excited but couldn’t figure out where it was. After about a week of digging through old drives I finally figured out where it was supposed to be…just to discover that that company/site is gone.
An important lesson in “if you don’t hold it you don’t own it”
.MASSHOLE.Womp womp.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has deleted hundreds more claims from its mistake-plagued “wall of receipts,” erasing $4 billion in additional savings that the group said it had made for U.S. taxpayers.
Late Sunday night, the group erased or altered more than 1,000 contracts it had claimed to cancel, representing more than 40 percent of all the contracts listed on its site last week. The deleted items included five of the seven largest savings that it had claimed credit for just last week. At the same time, the group added about 1,000 additional canceled contracts, worth smaller total savings.
VTshredder69I've perused DOGE.GOV and the shit the government is paying for is insane. It's actually a joke what we waste money on.
Cutting expenses is partially what i do for my job and what the gov wastes money on is mind boggling.
VTshredder69I've perused DOGE.GOV and the shit the government is paying for is insane. It's actually a joke what we waste money on.
Cutting expenses is partially what i do for my job and what the gov wastes money on is mind boggling.
.MASSHOLE.A lot of it is for soft power.
Want to curry favor through non-coercive channels? This is how you do it.
If you want to garner favor with a particular country but face an antagonistic government? Soft power to get popular support.
Want to promote your world view (e.g. capitalism and democracy)? Soft power.
Want to combat the reach of foreign adversaries (e.g. China, Russia, Iran, etc.)? Soft power.
China is going to move into these gaps with their foreign aid and completely overtake the US in this realm.
Losing our soft power in the ASEAN region is going to let China dominate the region.
Same goes for Africa. Losing USAID in Africa means that China is going to move in and gain access to the resources that we covet.
The problem is, most American's do not understand this. They see it as waste.
For example, most people do not know that Sub-Saharan Africa yields more crude than the Middle East. But given the volatility in the region, having a favorable opinion with the locals means our interests will not be ignored regardless of who is in power.
Looking to the future, Africa is an untapped gem source of rare minerals. But we'll likely miss out on first mover rights with this lack of aid.
But hey, short term "gains" right?
Sno.Curious what examples stood out to you?
VTshredder69Just off the top of my head we had close to 40 subscriptions @$50,000 each to the same Translation & Interpretation software all being subscribed for by different groups of government that had unlimited licenses to it... so instead of 38 subscriptions we only needed one.
VTshredder69Just off the top of my head we had close to 40 subscriptions @$50,000 each to the same Translation & Interpretation software all being subscribed for by different groups of government that had unlimited licenses to it... so instead of 38 subscriptions we only needed one.
BradFiAusNzCoCaI’ve seen that in the corporate world. The different departments don’t communicate and it’s in the providers best interest to keep in that way/play dumb. Or sometimes even they don’t realize. The end result is this.
Sno.I want to believe you aren’t just a troll, so let me ask you a genuine question hoping for a straight answer.
Zelensky said that in exchange for signing the mineral deal he wanted assurances that Ukraine would have U.S. protection if Russia violated a ceasefire agreement as they have done in the past.
In the Oval Office meeting a reporter asked of Trump “what if Russia violates the ceasefire agreement that you’re claiming you will assist in securing?” In other words “what will America do if this happens?” To which Trump said “what if a bomb falls on your head?”
So here’s my question— can you blame Zelensky for wanting an actual answer to that question prior to signing the deal?
If you were in his position, wouldn’t you want to know the details of a contract that you’re signing as the representative of the millions of people you are signing it on behalf of? Isn’t being informed about the contract you’re signing and the potential outcomes just being a responsible person?
Please don’t deflect and not address the question, as this is the reason Zelensky didn’t sign. Again, the question is: can you blame him for not signing when he didn’t have an answer to this or other questions he felt were necessary to fully understand the contract and what he was agreeing to?
**This post was edited on Mar 3rd 2025 at 4:01:05pm
Sno.Not every draft dodger has the luxury of bone spurs, snowflake. War isn’t pretty.
Sno.Well yeah because why would the Seattle Housing Authority IT Department be coordinating with the IT Departments of every other housing authority across the Country when they don’t have shared budgets, they have nothing to do with one another, and they don’t have HUD providing a centralized IT department to manage and coordinate? It would cost them all more than $50,000 to do it. You have to create the infrastructure to reduce redundancy in a planned and coordinated way it doesn’t just happen.
SSteezleWhy aren't you going to fight? snowflake.
Sno.Ok, so, without knowing the details of this specific translation software, think about what you’re saying.
Let’s say an office for granting public housing in Seattle has a subscription to this software as part of their annual budget and an IT admin that oversees licensing and helpdesk support for the application. Now let’s say another organization that offers grants to schools in Washington DC also has this software in their annual budget which is supported by their small IT department or an admin. Technically both agencies are “Federal Government,” and both are paying for this software with unlimited licenses. But…the two agencies don’t intermingle and they have individual budgets.
So on paper, in the most simple of terms… you’d think that one software subscription is all you would need for the Federal Government in its entirety, but that would actually require the creation of a centralized Federal IT Department that every agency works with and has access to, and does business analysis across the Federal Government with use-case and persona analysis, RFPs, RFIs, vendor interviews and selection, then testing and security analysis, implementation then end user testing and change management, and then someone to manage that contract at large for the Federal Government. Sometimes redundancy isn’t as easy to fix as simply cancelling all but one subscription. Is it even cloud-based?
So I mean as great as these sensationalized headlines are, it’s pretty reckless to look at something and cry “foul!” Without the analysis of “why?”
I work for the government and there are a ton of things I see that are inefficient. But we don’t have the staff or budget to address the inefficiencies and fix them properly. It’s not as easy as flipping a light switch.
I find this whole thing to be very strange. We’ve have plenty of Presidents, both democrat and republican. Federal employees, programs, services and requirements are not just “all democrat” employees and expenses. So why are Trump and his supporters acting like everyone who works for the government and everything that money is spent on is some sort of “democrat expense,” that he’s going in and fixing?
I think everyone would agree that the government could be more efficient and save money. But, you’ll likely need to invest in resources to actually investigate and analyze where expenses can be reduced, and then invest in the centralized personnel and infrastructure to reduce redundancy. Just axing things first for the sake of a sensationalized headline… why is that good business management?
Let me ask you this— wouldn’t leases for the buildings that house all of the federal offices and cubicles of staff that could be working from home point to potential for significant cost reduction? But return-to-office gets cheers because “fuck yeah! Get those lazy fuckers into their seats!”
There’s a lot of fluff here with little (that I’ve seen) analysis of actual facts and data and genuine improved efficiency. Hopefully we will get there.
BradFiAusNzCoCaI’ve seen that in the corporate world. The different departments don’t communicate and it’s in the providers best interest to keep in that way/play dumb. Or sometimes even they don’t realize. The end result is this.
BradFiAusNzCoCaI don’t know why you’re directing this at me tbh I never said anything opposite what you’re saying. Yes, the lack of infrastructure is a given in that scenario and the costs to build would cost more to overhaul than just to pay.
Sno.Well for one I don’t live in Ukraine. For two the U.S. isn’t sending troops and even if they were I’m not in the military. And if that isn’t enough I’m a pussy.
SSteezleOf course I'd want to understand the details, but also Trump doesn't want the USA to go to war. By offering a security guarantee, that is one step closer to us going to war. He wants to negotiate this in a way that people stop dying. What Biden has done clearly has not worked, he's trying a different approach, by being a mediator. Zelensky showed up and demanded a security guarantee. Guess what? Zelensky is in no position to demand anything. Ukraine is HIS country.
The reason this war exists is because of Biden's weakness, let's not forget that. Trump is attempting to stop people from dying, and somehow the democrats are upset about that.
Just remember, Trump got voted in BY THE PEOPLE. He is very much aligned with the majority of Americans. So all of these downvotes mean nothing. If you're so pro-ukraine, go there and fight. They need people to fight. Just don't make the MAJORITY of Americans fight for you. Liberals do this best, you pretend you care, but there's never any action. You want EVERY American to fund your bull shit. Guess what, America's done with it, and all of you can continue to cry and not do shit about Ukraine.
Common, someone prove me wrong, send me a receipt of a donation to Ukraine. Show me that you're on your way to fight.
Truth is, you won't. You just hate TRUMP, you don't give a shit about Ukraine.
Bitches.
Sno.Well for one I don’t live in Ukraine. For two the U.S. isn’t sending troops and even if they were I’m not in the military. And if that isn’t enough I’m a pussy.
Sno.People hate Trump because of the things he says and does. They don’t hate the things he says and does because they hate him. That’s illogical.
VTshredder69THey've cut quite a bit of real estate leases as well.
THe fact that you're trying to justify a 1.8 trillion defecit just amuses me. I have 2 friends who both graduated with me in accounting. Both are dumb as rocks... funny how they coudln't find a job except to work for the gov. I know for a fact they don't do much work because they brag about it constantly.
WHen my taxes go to this waste and BS it pisses me off.
SSteezleDo you not hear yourself? Ukraine needs soldiers, and you value your life more than a US soldier. It's disgusting. This comment just pisses me off.
Sno.When did I justify a 1.8 trillion dollar deficit? Huh? I didn’t do anything of the sort. I said you’re not going to fix it overnight by cancelling contracts and firing people. Further inefficiencies in our federal government is not what caused a 2 trillion deficit, despite your implying so here.
VTshredder69Well gotta start somewhere
Last I checked overspending is exactly what causes a deficit. I'd be curious then what your take is.
Sno.Isn’t it your own party that thinks women shouldn’t be in combat?
SSteezleOh you're a female? Why don't you step up and show us! Oh wait that's what feminist do, demand equality than bitch when they have to do the dishes 50/50 with their husband after working all day. You asked for it!
The feminist movement is broken and you're the reason why. You already admitted you're too much of a pussy to actually go and fight, and now you say the republicans are to blame. Listen to yourself. Blame game, with no accountability. I don't understand how there's so many braindead people like you.
Ukraine is looking for people to fight, step up FEMINIST. Go fight, bitch.
Sno.Look at this shit salad. Would you just look at it. Look at it. I’m not brain dead because I’m not hopping on a plane to go to Ukraine. Do you even read what you post? I said I was a pussy. As in a woman. And it wouldn’t make a lick of sense for me to fly to Ukraine and fight. Your strawman arguments are exhausting.
**This post was edited on Mar 3rd 2025 at 7:50:27pm
SSteezleYet you just referred to Republicans as antifeminists.
- You're pro Ukraine
- You don't like Republicans because they're antifeminists.
- You said yourself you are a pussy
So you value your life more than soldiers lives. You're a terrible person. I want this war to END. You don't give a shit about people losing their lives, you've made that perfectly clear, as you're not WOMEN enough to go fight yourself.
SSteezle@Sno. You know people are dying as we type this right? You're pro Ukraine, you want US support. You want US/Ukraine soldiers to fight for their country right. Why the fuck don't you go and fight yourself if you care so much.
It's because you TRULY DON'T.
SSteezleOh you're a female? Why don't you step up and show us! Oh wait that's what feminist do, demand equality than bitch when they have to do the dishes 50/50 with their husband after working all day. You asked for it!
The feminist movement is broken and you're the reason why. You already admitted you're too much of a pussy to actually go and fight, and now you say the republicans are to blame. Listen to yourself. Blame game, with no accountability. I don't understand how there's so many braindead people like you.
Ukraine is looking for people to fight, step up FEMINIST. Go fight, bitch.
Sno.You’re really annoying. We’ve gone over time and time again that US troops are not being sent to Ukraine. Ukraine doesn’t even accept volunteers without military service of which I have none. It would make no sense for me to abandon my job, kids and family to fly to a country to fight as a solider when I am not one. Am I pro-Ally and pro-democracy over Russia? Yes. I’m sorry that you aren’t and that you’re a traitor to the U.S. but what can you do. If you want to end the war so badly why don’t you go and volunteer for Russia if you love Putin so much?