for data brokers to harvest data that is considered protected, but nobody will ever be held liable for losing control of it, which WILL happen, because of some clause buried in an updated version of the tech companies' 50 page EULAs.

Oh, so not free, either in terms of money spent or time spent to send that thing off. If you're like most working people, time and money are both at a premium.

It being 2025, I don't have any envelopes, stamps, or buggy whips around my house ready to put into use at a moment's notice. Additionally, anything that requires actual mail typically also requires tracking and/or a signature on receipt so I can prove that it was sent and received...your $0.48 isn't going to cover that, and the time taken out of my day to run down to my local USPS to make that happen.

Going back to paper filing as a default is regressive, and involves more expense, labor, and time on both sides to make it happen.

By ending the Direct File program, the IRS is saying that paper forms are THE standard way to file. If the IRS isn't prepared to process these filings, then perhaps they shouldn't be throwing away the millions spent on a perfectly good, and well-received application that greatly streamlines the filing process for the average filer.

Ending Direct File hurts people who are required by law to file their taxes, but it's also a self-inflicted wound to the IRS, because they're likely to be dealing with more paper filings than the pared down version (versus the previous administration) will be able to process in a timely manner.

How do you mail the paper forms for free?

It's nice of you guys to allow everyone else to do the job you're not allowed to do anymore as a result of some political hack deciding he wanted to give Putin the best BJ of his entire life.

Cool, cool. Juuuust checkin'.

I used to work for a company that provided engineering services for various nuclear power produces. Somewhere along the way the licensing documents were described to me. The license for a nuke plant is contained in many binders (most nuke plants are older than most people), and contains every single item that was used to construct the plant, the plant blueprints, highly detailed instructions for replacing any item that may need replacing, and the expected lifetime and maintenance checks and services to ensure that there isn't the equivalent of a dirty bomb dropped in PA, TX, IL, or wherever.

There's other stuff, like the explanation for the process to replace some valve that hasn't been manufactured in 50 years with some other valve that both meets or exceeds the original specifications, and is available...which is a continual process because most plants are older than most people.

I'm all for the move fast and break stuff approach when it's not going to be a mass casualty event that just keeps on giving.

Nuke plants are the most highly regulated thing in the US. Given the consequences of a catastrophic failure, they should be.

This makes sense for ISPs, where the data is the service, and they have safe harbor laws that protect them in they just move bits around with minimal fuckery. It doesn't make sense for payment processors who would be staring down both the distinct possibility of significant losses due to various forms of fraud and legal liability for processing payments for illegal goods and services.

Are there safe harbor laws to protect payment processors in the event they have facilitated payment for illegal goods or services?

Regardless of any safe harbor laws that may exist, should a business be required to perform high risk services that are likely to result in net losses? How can a business stay solvent with a requirement like that?

What year do you think this is?

My work computer boasts a customized version of Windows 11 Enterprise, and I have no ability to turn off all the clickbait on the start menu that will persist across logins. Additionally, I can't click on said clickbait without running afoul of company computer usage policies.

Thanks, Microsoft.

To say that burning jet fuel can't melt steel, and therefore some conspiracy is afoot, is to advertise that you don't have the ability to discern real information from bullshit.

Any idiot can look up "structural steel temperature" and find tons of results on engineering specific sites describing what happens to steel at elevated temperatures. That idiot would then be able to read words to the effect that steel's yield strength drops by half around 1000Â F, and drops by around two thirds at 1100Â F.

Accepting that fact in conjunction with the fact that jet fuel burns much hotter than 1000Â F, and the fact that no engineer ever has designed a building to resist the impact of a passenger jet, and the reasonable conclusion that a building with structural member strength reduced by greater than 70Â isn't likely to be standing for very long would cause in that idiot's brain a transition from idiot to not as much of an idiot.

Somehow formed into the shape of muscles located in the legs of the cyclist?

Recognizing good performance and steering assets to those who perform better is good business.

Could we get those previous numbers adjusted for inflation?

He made Trump mad somehow. Biden preemptively pardoned a bunch of people Trump explicitly said he'd be targeting.