Brian Plautz

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

Dave, thank you.
I learned programming on punchcard, Fortran, mid 70’s Northwestern University as a kid at computer summer camp.
I wrote my own COGO programs for land surveying until the mid 90s – I’m professional land surveyor. I am so sick of this exploded slow software. Not the way I was taught. But I prefer to be outside walking the land. I love your vintage cars.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@LauraLoomer Easy - machines (rocket) versus humans.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@KimDotcom Kim look up the laws/rules for congressmen & women in the USA. You would be surprised at what they can say and have immunity to provided they do it carefully. I’m sure Rep Ted Lieu was smart and has no worries of being sued for libel.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@greta Greta, thank you for posting it. And thank your husband for serving the country.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@greta @johnpcoale @NEWSMAX I don’t have Newsmax. Hope you post a link afterwards. Go Pack Go

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@alexnyandwii @grok can a jet plane fly on regular petrol?

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

WOW! None of the responses so far mentioned plumbers. We need plumbing to get to water treatment plants. Also septic tanks. When responsibly use septic tanks return water to the ground, granted it may be 50 or hundred years, but the water will go back on through Wells to be used again.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@DataRepublican

[Ms.Behaving 𝕏 😎 @crystallakejail]

@kim_chee27 @Rstowitts @WGNNews @TedForIllinois @themodpun These local stations get their info from the AP.
Associated Press is an American nonprofit.
@DataRepublican It’s time to find out who’s behind America’s propaganda machine.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@RapidResponse47

[Sean Davis @seanmdav]

If you really want to spice up the SAVE America Act debate and the talking filibuster, have Trump exercise his rights under Rule XIX(8) of the Standing Rules of the Senate, which requires the Senate to let all former presidents address the Senate upon demand (yes, he is currently president, but remember he is also a former president).

Imagine Trump rolling into the Senate mid-Democrat filibuster and taking over the whole place. Must-see TV.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@RapidResponse47

[John Ʌ Konrad V @johnkonrad]

In truth this is *supposed* to be the largest shipowner conference in North America.

Once it was. Just five or six years ago maritime companies used to buy out every billboard along I-95. Every hotel within 20 miles sold out months in advance.

Now it’s a ghost town. I booked a room at the host Hilton near Greenwich, CT this morning for $195. Just before COVID, rooms for next year’s event would already be gone. They just announced the conference is shutting down.

Why?

If you ask shipowners, they’ll tell you the United States is no longer relevant to global shipping. But there’s more to the story.

Shipping started strong under Trump 1.0 until NYTimes did an expose on Elaine Chao, and her husband Mitch McConnel’s, close ties to Chinese shipping… so they turned their backs on the industry.

Attendance stopped growing but remained steady.

Then@PeteButtigieg absolutely refused to send anyone from DOT for four long years. Shipowners grew frustrated with Biden’s non-response in the Red and Black Seas.

Then, roughly two years ago, word spread that China was tracking which owners attended shipping events in the United States. I could never fully confirm it, but the rumor was widespread and it changed behavior.

Last year, European shipping agencies and owners started declining because they hate Trump. This year it’s full-blown TDS.

Meanwhile, at a similar event I attended in Hamburg last year, 48,000 visitors attended with over 2,200 exhibitor booths. Shipping events around the world are setting records.

And here in the United States we can’t fill an average-sized Hilton.

But is America actually irrelevant to shipping?

It’s true have only 82 🇺🇸 ships in international trade while China has thousands and Europeans have tens of thousands.

But Wall Street is the number one source of ship finance in the world. The United States is the largest importer on Earth. We have more diplomatic leverage than any nation, as Trump just demonstrated by killing the UN @IMOHQ carbon tax. Our maritime sanctions enforcement is the strongest in the world.

And our Navy is the only one capable of protecting international shipping lanes.

Right now, shipowners are screaming bloody murder for U.S. Navy escorts in the Red Sea. They want the Navy to reopen the Black Sea. They want more capital from Wall Street and U.S. private equity. They want to flood American stores with imports. They want handouts from the Trump Maritime Action Plan and the SHIPS Act. They want our military to keep shipping supplies to Ukraine.

And now they want us to clear mines in the Strait of Hormuz… a very dangerous job.

They want all of this from the United States. But they refuse to participate. The major shipowners and CEOs won’t even take a single day to visit and hear our perspective or visit DC.

The Europeans who did show up (presumably far more pro-American than those who didn’t) are mostly consumed by TDS and anti-American sentiment.

They want our money. They want our service members to risk their lives in the Red Sea. But they won’t engage with us.

They refuse to even show up.

And the most arrogant part? I have heard repeatedly: “If Trump wants us to transit Hormuz, he should fly to London and engage with us there. We are the center of shipping, not him.”

Here is reality. Yes, we hit Iran. But we don’t need their oil. We don’t need the fertilizer, the food, or the cheap Chinese products transiting those straits.

America has enough wealth and resources to sustain itself. Cutting off world trade would hurt the average American. It would absolutely devastate Europe.

If I were Trump, I’d keep the Strait of Hormuz closed until the CEOs of the major shipping and oil companies come to Washington. You want American escorts? You want American capital? You want American military power clearing your sea lanes?

Then show up. Or stay home and explain to your shareholders why you didn’t.

I’ve had enough of their arrogance. And I pray the President has too.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@AmyCPV @girdley Title insurance is like a 1 in a million payout. Title examiner is invaluable to solving many boundary issues prior to closing/issuing. Then consider they have to pay out decades down the road the full value of the property.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@Mr_Husky1 @GallagherShow @Grok Is this a true story or not? Can you site school, community where this happened?

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@mcuban @mcuban probably the only way for you to find out is to buy a ‘private equity’ hospital. Run it for a year or so and attempt to figure it out. Of course don’t let anyone know you’re the one buying it or you’ll blocked somehow.

[Brian Plautz @Brian_Pla]

@mcuban your thoughts on https://t.co/yZscZEmdl9

[Jared Cornutt @jaredcornutt]

I had an 84-year-old church member call me today. She was concerned because she wasn’t sure she had ever really “felt” the Holy Spirit. She told me her sister spoke in tongues, and it left her worried.

So I asked her a few questions.

“Have you ever felt conviction over your sin?” She said yes.

“Have some of your old, worldly desires been replaced with godly ones since you trusted Christ?” Again, yes.

“Have you ever been anxious about something, prayed about it, and then experienced peace?” Yes.

“Have you ever felt joy when sharing Jesus or serving others?” Yes.

I reassured her that she had certainly experienced the Holy Spirit at work in her life.

Some grouos often over emphasize the extraordinary in regard to the work of the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit is very present in the ordinary of our lives. He is producing fruit in ways we can easily overlook. He is with us.

She needed to hear that today. Maybe you do too.

[dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ @DahliaKurtz]

The entire message I received out of Tehran is too gruesome. But I'll share this:

Three brothers — protesting for freedom — were set on fire by the Regime's forces.

Don't just read that over and over. Share it over and over.

[Sana Ebrahimi Ledene @__Injaneb96]

🚨Horrifying reports from Iran⚠️

“ The bodies are being taken to Kahrizak Forensic Medicine from everywhere. The volume of bodies is so high that they've lined them up in the courtyard.

A very large number of refrigerated containers have been brought in for the bodies. People come to identify them among the bodies; they place the national ID card on the body, take a photo, and assign a code. There's no permission for burial either. They themselves take them away in groups and bury them.

They said that until this situation is over, they have no right to a subsequent visit. If families raise their voices, they won't tell them the visit time or the burial location code.”

[Mosh @moshhamedani]

To all my dear students,

You’ve probably heard what’s happening in my country, Iran. For 47 years, we’ve fought this brutal regime for basic human rights, freedom, and dignity. This same regime spreads terrorism worldwide, making your cities less safe too, and now it’s slaughtering its own people on the streets.

Protests exploded over the collapsing economy, but the regime has completely cut off the internet and phone lines to stop the world see its massacre (at least 217 confirmed dead). The judiciary chief just threatened the protestors that there’s no pardon this time. Last time, they executed thousands despite the so called pardons! If they’re not stopped, they’ll kill and execute tens of thousands of innocent people fighting for a normal life.

President Trump has warned them that if they keep killing people, the US will intervene and hit them hard.

Under international law like the UN’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P), when a regime massacres its own civilians, the world is allowed (even obligated) to step in to save lives.

I’m begging you from the bottom of my heart: Can you please do me a huge favor? Retweet this right now and tag @POTUS and @realDonaldTrump so he hears us and steps in to stop the bloodshed before more lives are lost.

We need the world, and America, to stand with us.

Thank you… I’m scared for my people. Please help us. ❤️

[Larry Goldberg @TeslaLarry]

Lot of posts copying the likes of @BernieSanders @SenWarren and @AOC calling for more taxes on Billionaire @elonmusk, forgetting that in 2021 he paid a 53% rate of tax totaling $11b. They all repeat the claim that his company has received benefits of $38b from the US Government.
Let's look at his REAL economic impact to the U.S. It's mind blowing.
Musk’s ventures currently contribute $100–140B in annual GDP impact, or roughly 0.4% of total U.S. GDP. And growing faster – considerably faster – than the US economy, promising even greater contributions in the future.
That’s more annual contribution to US GDP than entire annual GDP of smaller U.S. states, like West Virginia (~$108 billion, 0.37%) or Hawaii (~$116 billion, 0.40%). And growing faster.
On top of that NASA and US Department of War have cumulatively saved over $40 billion as a direct result of SpaceX delivering a reduction in the cost of delivery of launch and communication services over traditional vendors. SO much for Musk Companies having "received" $38b. In other words, had the U.S. not paid Musk companies $38b, then the US would have had to spend $78b with competitors (and possibly then not received a delivery of the goods ordered! Boeing, looking at you.) Not to mention that Starlink practically saved Ukraine from being overrun in the early days of the Russian invasion.
Seems we are all, all Americans - and citizens of the world in fact - benefiting from the growth of Musk’s net worth. Here are the numbers:
Please post this in response to every post you see bleating about Musk being a billionaire or trillionaire and how its so terrible.

[Renee @eeners]

Well done statement from @DavidHochberg to the Cook County Board and President @ToniPreckwinkle:

“Yesterday, I attended the Cook County Board Meeting to address Toni Preckwinkle and the Board and to ask for an apology to the people of Cook County for the delayed tax bills.

Because of this delay, real people were hurt. Newlyweds Tom and Beth need an apology! They were forced to take out a short-term, high-interest consumer loan to cover an unexpected $2,600 tax hit just 30 days before Christmas. The sellers of their home had a Senior Exemption on their tax bill, and Fidelity failed to hold the proper tax indemnity for Tom and Beth.

Where is the apology for Sam and Cindy, who refinanced their home and were suddenly hit with a $7,000 tax indemnification, forcing them to sell stock just to pay the bill?

Or the apology for Martha, who had to borrow $10,000 from her 401(k) to cover her tax indemnification?

These are not isolated incidents. They are the result of a failure that directly impacted families across Cook County.

Cook County deserves better—and in 89 days, you can help make that difference. Make sure to vote.”