Yep, plain as day. And anyone with two neurons to synapse knew it. In fact, it's legally required: publicly traded companies have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder value. Anyone who didn't see this coming is so breathtakingly stupid... well, unfortunately, this subset of people contains most progressive fools and most of our (D) elected officials.

But enough stating the obvious: what concerns me now is that we will have significant numbers of people (we're not just talking about McD's here) that aren't capable of getting another/better job. Sadly, in keeping with the progressive philosophy of stifling personal growth by eliminating the painful part of stupid, they'll want to replace it with UBI or some equally stupid and poorly run government handout program, keeping the clown car rolling down the road to US insolvency.

Congratulations. You made robots cost-effective. The outcome was obvious.

As to the employees: flipping burgers was never intended to be a living wage job. As an old and wise boss of mine used to say, "People rarely change (grow) until it becomes more uncomfortable not to."

You're a blithering idiot.

1. The gun cat is out of the bag. It's not as much of a problem overseas because occasionally they actually enforce their laws and their culture is different. I can make a double-barreled shotgun with a hardware store and $50. Maybe (and I'm fairly certain) you can't, but even if I don't, there will be plenty of people to ploy their talents to make cash doing exactly that.
2. All these laws worked so well for drugs, which are consumable (have a shelf life) they'll surely work for guns, right?
3. "Yes, the violent crime rate will still climb". Well, goddamn.
4. The Biathlon is an Olympic Sport, you fool. I live near WV where some people literally have to hunt to eat. You'll never know, but plinking is a lot more fun than golfing.
5. Are you a goddamned NFL linebacker? I'll guess not. When one gets hopped up on PCP and rapes someone you care about, I hope you'll remember this conversation.

Fuck you, you racist cocksucker. It means people want to live where they feel safe and comfortable. It has nothing intrinsically to do with skin tone.

Please comment on why "White Flight" results in crime-ridden shitholes. Hint: it overwhelmingly happens in (D)/minority controlled areas- funding isn't withheld from neighborhoods because whitey left the building.

"Novice investors are learning about investing not through fundamental rules of the road (study the company and its leadership, read its filings, study its markets, consider its price-to-earnings ratios, evaluate its cash generation versus its debt load, review its earnings expectations versus reality, etc.) but rather through a casino-like focus on ticker symbols alone. It's quite common for novice investors on day-trading platforms to buy a stock for the same reason they might choose a specific color of sweater -- for aesthetic purposes only."

So, so, so glad Bloomberg is looking out for me. Why on Earth would I doubt their sincerity? Newsflash: the novice investors just kicked your ass to the tune of several billion dollars.

"WH Press Secretary said moments ago at a briefing that Biden team is "monitoring the situation" around GameStop."

Oh? And why is this? Everything was above board and within the rules. So what could they possibly propose to "fix" it? Besides, the "Biden Team" has their hands full keeping the paste off Joey's tie.

Yeah, this is the same SEC that ignored *multiple* demands, backed by sound mathematical analysis, for investigation of Madoff's Ponzi scheme? You know, the LARGEST ONE IN HISTORY? Seriously, motherfuck the SEC. They are so blitheringly incompetent they typify most of the US Government's ineptitude.

60 Minutes interview with the Math PhD that broke the Madoff thing: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Ds68FR1MXT8Q
It's very worth it if you haven't seen it.

Honestly, if I want to trade securities based on the shape of my dog's morning shit, that's my business. Go fuck yourself, you worthless pricks. You're just pissed because a bunch of people got together and bested you with your own rules.

...this will be a complete load of ass. The WalMart ecommerce website is the worst piece of shit I've ever seen.

I was thinking about Cory Doctorow's comment about this whole thing (if you missed it: "They should remove it, and tell users, "We removed Parler because we think it is a politically odious attempt to foment violence. Our judgment is subjective and may be wielded against others in future. If you don't like our judgment, you shouldn't use our app store." I'm 100% OK with that: first, because it is honest; and second, because it invites the question, "How do we switch app stores?"). Which I think is the most accurate assessment I've read to date. I'm past Biden/Trump, this squelching of viewpoints is far more frightening.

A couple of things occurred to me, now that they've started deplatforming Second Amendment groups and the like: 1. The takedown of Parler required the collusion of six (Six!)- if not more- Big Tech firms acting together very quickly: Apple, Google, FB, Twitter, Amazon, and GoDaddy. I can't imagine they could all together agree on *anything* without a year of legal wrangling and several hundred million dollars in expenses. This happened way, way too fast; which I'll take to mean it's been planned for a while. Let's not forget, after all, all the complaints over the last few years about Google's reproduceable downweighting of conservative search results- often discussed here in Slashdot.

2. This is the important part: (And NOTE: I'm NOT making a call about the issue, it's just an example of a legal, but very hot button issue strongly supported by the Left.)

Suppose Jack, Tim, and Dr. Evil woke up tomorrow and decided abortion was, I don't know, disproportionately used by poor minorities and therefore really a stealth eugenics program that has no place in a modern society... and deplatformed Planned Parenthood.

Can you *imagine*- I mean, really think about what would happen- the absolute shitstorm that would result? Actually, firestorm would probably be more accurate; it would make the last ten months look like a marshmallow bonfire. I'm also sure that the media coverage would be... plentiful. ...and then they came for me...

Seriously, why is this exceptional? It's no different from restoring old cars... the stink of the vinyl, the smell of exhaust from a low efficiency carbureted engine, etc. are just as valid as the feel of an Apple ][ keyboard, chutter of a 8" floppy, etc. It's nostalgia. It's when your machine came with a full schematic because good luck finding someone to fix it when it broke.

Personally, a few minutes with an emulator is enough to remind me what a pain in the ass it was to get anything done on the old platforms... so I'll shut it off and build, I don't know, a wearable location monitor for my dog for $30 worth of parts bin.

But yeah, anyone who didn't live through that stuff is just a poseur.

It refs unpersons, after all.

But really, what's the motivation? I'm guessing:

1. Petty vindictiveness. I don't have any doubt about this one: I've been in IT for 40 years, and I've never seen such an assortment of entitled, self righteous, and utterly uninformed little shits. I and my cohorts took pride in the fact that we were building something that could be deployed unstoppably under the noses of oppressive governments, especially ours. (This predated the TIS FW toolkit). The whole thing was SUPPOSED to be the Wild West, that's what made it beautiful.
2. Money. Big Tech is bending over for the new administration and all those delicious dollars to be coaxed out of China.
3. Arrogance. Why is it such a common theme that Progressives seem to feel the need to tell others what to do? Or, said differently, protect people from themselves? I'd like to see a little more culling of the gene pool- stupid persists if it's not painful.
.
.
98. I think some noble aspirations about "Democracy" and "violence" are far, far down on the list.

I know some people personally that work at FB, and by extension, some of their FB social circle- also personally. I realize this is anecdotal, but it's been consistent so far: they are absolutely over-the-top clinically batshit crazy. I say this with neither hyperbole or humor. They've been raised in an echo chamber and told that they're the coolest, smartest thought-leaders ever... and while they can sling Ajax or whatever they're using now far better than I, they're actually completely introspectively, emotionally, and intellectually stunted. It's like Ellen Degeneres or Streisand in tech. In their mind, you're not even allowed to look at them.

A constant source of sadness to me is that (as a tech person, CS to be exact) is that very, very few smart, reasonable people will ever be attracted to politics because of the insufferable volume of backslapping, schmoozing, and complete horseshit our elected officials push around on a daily basis. Mr. Smith is long gone, never to return.

I know that I- while relatively quiet and pensive, but far from an introvert- can think of no greater hell than having to deal with frat-boy personality types all. damn. day.

I think I speak for everyone involved when I say that good, cheap, competitive RF broadband can't come soon enough after spending years getting ass-pounded and treated like complete crap by cable companies.

It will happen, and when it does, I'm going to make a big bucket of popcorn with extra butter and laugh satanically as they go down the drain. Hopefully while making a lot of money from shorting their stock.

I hate stats junkies and fantasy leagues. I do get that other people enjoy it. To each their own.

However, what I do really enjoy is the strategy of the game and the physical ability of the players. I can't name our quarterback, believe it or not, but I love sitting by the fire on a crisp Fall afternoon with my dog and a strong drink and watching two groups of muscleheads controlled by a master tactician destroying their bodies for my pleasure. Makes me feel like Caesar.

I enjoy gambling; it's an entertainment expense. You don't, that's fine. But, you're wrong- and yes, I. know a great deal about game theory.

Poker is a game of skill, and as such, can be won.
Counting cards at Blackjack yields a positive expectation.
Typically in a given casino you can find at least one video poker terminal configured for positive expectation.

The rest, yes, are statistically negative expectation. However, played correctly and factoring in comps, that can be addressed. Indeed, part of what I find enjoyable about the whole thing is seeing if I can get an edge on the casino.

Stop bloviating about topics in which you're obviously untutored.

I was about to make a snarky comment about being glad DK had their priorities in line, but thanks for clarifying that. That's a huge difference.

Here in the US- although it sounds like you may already know this- our ROI on social programs is abysmal. I'd *love* for my taxes to go towards cool projects that you see in Europe. However, in addition to being far more sparsely populated, our government manages tax spending pathetically and places no real demands on metrics showing results. Couple that with the fact that most of us live more than 20 miles from a city (me) and don't really get anything out of the deal besides schools, roads, and first responders (I even have my own well/septic, for example) and it's easy to get pissed watching my ample taxes propping up Baltimore, a place I won't even go to anymore, again. And again.

And this behavior doesn't surprise me in the least. It's well known that Indian and Western business cultures don't mesh well. That job pissed me off because they were basically using the place as a sponsorship factory for would-be immigrants to the US, but I needed the job at the time. If you weren't Indian you weren't shit, and there was zero thought of teamwork or "the best solution", just one after another dick-waving argumentative meeting where everyone was jamming their own solution through no matter how bad it was.

But, sorry about the rant. There's a reason India is largely a third-world shithole, and unacceptable crap like this has a lot to do with it.