ceblanco

I work on software for animation in the games industry. I speak only for myself - not my employer, family or friends. They all have their own social media :-)

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

USPS proposed a rule that could allow it to stop delivering mail ballots in states that do not provide voter lists to the federal government. Urge USPS to withdraw this harmful proposal -- make your voice heard by July 2! https://t.co/OUZ8YcAnM2

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

While @UCLA protects its faculty, students, and staff from a $1B federal attack, I’m joining our UC alumni community to safeguard research, healthcare, and the public university system that's shaped my life and the lives of many I know. 
#StandUpForUC https://t.co/3Uc7FfAQIN

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

@LORWEN108 @threadreaderapp unroll

[Jeremy Keeshin @jkeesh]

In 1945, six women pulled off a computing miracle.

They programmed the world’s first computer—with no manuals, no training.

Then, a SINGLE assumption erased them from tech history for decades.

The story of how ONE photo nearly deleted computing’s female founders: 🧵

[Alex Raufoglu @ralexdc]

READ full McConnell on Ukraine peace talks 👇

"My views on America’s interest in Ukraine are well-known. I spent the better part of the past three years here on this floor pointing out the glaring connections between European security and the security of America’s interests across the globe – core national security interests that determine our prosperity.

“Ukraine’s victory and stability in Europe is squarely in the interest of the United States. Europe is our largest trading partner. Russia is a thuggish autocracy with an economy smaller than Italy’s. There is simply no equivalence. There is no grand realignment opportunity that has gone unnoticed.

“So let me start with this: the most harmful possible outcome of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – for U.S. interests – is a single headline: ‘Russia wins, America loses’. We can’t let that be how this ends. But look at where we are right now: On one side, fellow members of the most successful military alliance in world history – with a combined GDP of more than $17 trillion dollars – are openly planning for a world in which America does not call the shots, and where our word no longer carries weight. These are the very closest allies and partners who have worked hand-in-glove with America, bought American equipment, and taken America’s lead. But if America turns its back on them, they will look elsewhere for guidance, for coordination, for weapons, and even for trade. On the other side, Putin’s Russia and its $2 trillion GDP, where Kremlin officials now say that America’s current ‘foreign policy configurations’ now ‘largely align with our vision’… and that hiccups in U.S-Ukraine relations are ‘useful' because they drive a wedge between America and our European allies. Well, it’s not hard to imagine why.

“Freezing lethal assistance and intelligence support to Ukraine made Russia’s job easier. It was easier to hit Ukraine’s defenders – along with its schools, hospitals, and nurseries. And after three years of immense progress toward a stronger and more capable trans-Atlantic alliance – with greater commitments to burden sharing and European leadership – the West that had resolved to check Putin’s neo-Soviet ambitions is now in danger of being consumed by internal recrimination. What welcome news for an autocrat whose grip on power depends on the endurance of a wartime economy!

“The will to force Putin to make serious concessions in the interests of lasting peace is fragmented. And too many on this side of the Atlantic seem to believe, foolishly, that his appetite will be satisfied in eastern Ukraine. This is the same mistake made by the architects of the Minsk One and Minsk Two agreements. Circumstances are not crying out for a Minsk Three. Somehow, this doesn’t sound like the makings of a successful deal for America. Somehow, these don’t seem like the conditions for advancing America’s interests in European peace and security… let alone pretending to mediate a dispute between equals.

“‘Russia wins, America loses’. It’s not too late to avoid this outcome. But it’ll require that America and our allies operate from the same set of facts.

“First, the dollars and cents. America’s total Ukraine-related spending comes in at $175 billion. Not $350 billion, but half that much. As a share of GDP, eleven European countries have allocated more Ukraine-related spending than the United States. In real terms, total European aid is double U.S. spending. More military aid than America. More budgetary assistance than America. Period.

“And our allies’ increasing investments have been good news for American security and the strength of our alliance. They’ve meant expanding arsenals and industrial capacity… along with bigger defense budgets for buying American. For now. But what if – even having established the correct math – you think it’s still too much to spend on helping to degrade a major American adversary without putting a single American servicemember in harm’s way? What if you still think we’re getting a raw deal?

“Consider where most of that Ukraine-related spending – $120 billion – has gone: To investing in U.S. capabilities and expanding our own defense industrial capacity! We’re already $120 billion closer to restoring the sort of forces and capacity we’ll need to deter conflict in the Indo-Pacific than we were three years ago. Or consider the value of the operational and tactical lessons the U.S. and our allies are drawing from Ukraine’s battlefield experience.

“The conflict in Ukraine is a battle lab, a glimpse at the future of warfare, and our Ukrainian partners are innovating faster than American industry is often able. Concerned about the next major conflict? We’re learning how to prepare better for it. U.S.-made systems are literally feeding performance data back to us.

“The American people are not getting fleeced. Far from it. But if we mistake surrender for peace, we’ll be risking far worse. China is watching what we do. So are America’s allies and partners in Asia.

“To believe that we can torch our credibility in one region and not tarnish it in another is foolish. When we treat withholding assistance to Ukraine like a cudgel… And insist that the victim of aggression is the side that has to make concessions… What should we expect other partners to conclude?

“I’ve heard that Ukraine needs to be prepared to ‘do difficult things’. I’m curious which difficult things our frontline partners haven’t been doing for the past three years… Like defending besieged towns and cities. Like burying their sons and daughters. Will Russia be expected to do difficult things, too, like ending its onslaught? By what means are we prepared to compel them?

“War is hell. And the worst consequences are always borne by innocent civilians in flight and by brave soldiers holding the line. Ending the war in Ukraine is a noble aim. Preventing war, even more so. But peace is different than surrender. And being honest about who’s to blame doesn’t hinder lasting peace – it enables it.

“Why should we be less willing to call Russia out for its brutal aggression than we are to call Hamas or Hizballah out for theirs? Would we be afraid to call Iran out if it had nuclear weapons? Is that the lesson we want the world to draw from this conflict?

“Ronald Reagan epitomized peace through strength – by words and actions. He called the Soviet Union an ‘evil empire’ at the same time as he dealt productively with Gorbachev. In July of 1983, he spoke to the people of the captive nations of the Soviet Union and communist regimes. He said: ‘…to every person trapped in tyranny, whether in the Ukraine, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, or Vietnam, we send our love and support and tell them they are not alone. Our message must be: Your struggle is our struggle, your dream is our dream, and someday, you, too, will be free.’

“In the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine got its chance at freedom. Putin intends to extinguish it. Ukraine is serious about a just and stable peace. How do we know? The Ukrainians preferred it overwhelmingly until their neighbor chose war, instead. Again. And Again.

“I’ll reserve my skepticism, my disdain, and my condescension for the authoritarian thug who treats the slaughter of innocent children like a sport. And anyone who cares about not getting played for a sucker should do the same. In the face of our hesitation, Putin has escalated. He’s insulted the sincere pursuit of peace. It’s a crystal-clear reminder that what he’s after isn’t an end to the bloodshed.

“America cannot afford to get played. So let’s not.”

[Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney]

Trump - with his devotion to Putin, abandonment of Ukraine, and lies about history- is the antithesis of everything Ronald Reagan stood for. He is aligning America with the enemies of the very freedom that generations have fought and died to defend. History will not be kind to those who are helping him, especially those who call themselves Reagan Republicans while they pretend not to see what’s happening.

[Sandi Bachom 📹 @sandibachom]

Read/copy/repost if you can
From an anonymous OPM employee on Reddit. submitted 3 hours ago by Throwaway918284: "I'm a current employee at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). This is a throwaway account for obvious reasons. I’m posting this because people need to know what’s going on at OPM. I’ve been an OPM employee for nearly a decade and a Federal Employee for almost 20 years. I’ve never witnessed anything even remotely close to what’s happening right now. In short, there's a hostile takeover of the federal civil service.
Let me say this in no uncertain terms — OPM has been compromised and taken over. The very backbone of American Government, the HR of all HR in the U.S. Government has been taken over by outside politicals. In just five days, they managed to push aside dozens of non-political, career civil servants who were there specifically to prevent the civil service from becoming the President's henchmen.
The current Acting Director, Charles (Chuck) Ezell is a low-level branch chief. He's the friendliest “yes man” you'll ever meet. He never says no. It’s clear they pushed aside all the high-level non political civil servants who refused to do Donald Trump's bidding, until they found Chuck.
Under his name, they’ve sent numerous requests to all the agencies to collect information on gov't employees that they see as a threat to their agenda. Instructions say to send these lists to Amanda Scales. But Amanda is not actually an OPM employee, she works for Elon Musk. She wasn’t even properly cleared by OPM Personnel Security.
Our CIO, Melvin Brown, (also a non political career public servant) was pushed aside just one week into his tenure because he refused to setup email lists to send out direct communications to all career civil servants. Such communications are normally left up to each agency.
Instead, an on-prem (on-site) email server was setup. Someone literally walked into our building and plugged in an email server to our network to make it appear that emails were coming from OPM. It's been the one sending those various “test” message you've all seen. We think they're building a massive email list of all federal employees to generate mass RIF notices down the road.
The non-political civil servants here at OPM are watching helplessly as our government is being systematically dismantled bit by bit. Even the IGs are being fired to prevent them from investigating the numerous whistleblower complaints we've filed.
Please share this and tell the world that OPM is not the bad guy. We're just as helpless to stop this as the rest of our fellow public servants. Hopefully someone out there can help us, but it’s looking pretty grim."

[Brandon Richards 🐻 @BrandonRichards]

As we end the week, I wanted to share some really good local reporting on how President Trump's water actions in California are being received by locals...

THREAD ⬇️

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

Sign the petition to urge President Biden to act NOW for publication of the Equal Rights Amendment. #ERANow #PublishERA https://t.co/hSbyJ2dVnN

[Los Angeles Dodgers @Dodgers]

THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS ARE THE 2024 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS! 🏆

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

Last night's frank discussion between Charlamagne the God, Angela Rye and Anderson Cooper was a perfect distillation of the Trump coverage conundrum. Here's the transcript:

COOPER: You know, Donald Trump, he, you know, for any -- for whatever you think about him, if you like him, if you hate him, he is certainly who he is. He's shown us who he is every single day.

THA GOD: Yes, which is a fascist and it's crazy because you still don't have news networks having that conversation.

RYE: Yes.

THA GOD: Like when somebody says -- when somebody questions Kamala Harris' blackness, or is he a DEI hire, you all will have roundtable discussions about that, asking that question. How come you're not having roundtable discussions asking, is Donald Trump a fascist? Actually, not even asking it, stating it.

I mean, when you look at the things that he's talking about doing, jailing journalists -- journalists, jailing his political opponents, turning the military on American citizens. The guy said he wanted to terminate the constitution to overthrow the results of an election. How come that is not the topic of discussion on networks like CNN every day?

[20:40:00]

COOPER: But do you think that, I mean, you were raising this with Kamala Harris about her own authenticity, about her own willingness to -- to just, you know, say things that aren't, you know, crafted. Do you think she needs to do more of that? You know, Trump is going to go --

THA GOD: Do I think she needs to keep calling Trump a fascist?

COOPER: Apparently --

THA GOD: Yes.

COOPER: -- apparently Trump's going on, is going to tape a thing with -- with Joe Rogan. Do you think she should -- should do that? THA GOD: I think that she should keep calling Donald Trump a fascist. And I think that Americans need to keep looking at the rhetoric of Donald Trump, because I don't know why we're even thinking about electing somebody who's talking about putting people in camps. I don't know why we're talking -- why we want to elect somebody who's talking about mass deportation.

I don't know why we're having this conversation about somebody who wants to terminate the constitution to overthrow the results of an election. Aren't we supposed to be a patriotic country? Whenever somebody like Colin Kaepernick takes a knee in this country, everybody talks about, oh, that's so unpatriotic. But a guy can say he wants to terminate the constitution to overthrow the results of an election and nobody cares.

Like even -- even -- even me bringing it up now, you -- you brought it back to Kamala and Joe Rogan, Anderson, who gives a damn?

COOPER: Well, I mean, I think you give damn who's elected president. And --

THA GOD: Yes, especially if that president is a fascist that's talking about putting people in camps. That's talking about, once again, terminating the constitution to overthrow the results of an election. That's talking about, you know, jailing his political opponents. Like that rhetoric doesn't scare people?

COOPER: We -- we talk about this every single, this is what, I -- I've been talking about this every -- every night.

THA GOD: I don't think y'all have enough conversations about it. I feel like I heard more on this network about, is Kamala Harris black than I do about, you know, Donald Trump being a fascist. Am I -- Am I wrong, Angela?

COOPER: Honestly, that's bullshit. I'm sorry.

THA GOD: Oh, I like that.

RYE: Go ahead, Anderson.

COOPER: No, no, I'm not -- I'm not, look, I'm a huge fan of yours.

THA GOD: OK.

COOPER: But to say that we're sitting around talk -- discussing, is Kamala Harris black, like, I -- I mean, that's --

THA GOD: Oh, I've seen that. I've seen folks around table discussions a lot. Now, that's bullshit, Anderson, for you to say that you all don't have those conversations.

COOPER: I -- I've never asked somebody, is Kamala Harris is black?

THA GOD: Oh, I'm not saying you. I said the network.

RYE: Not you. He said the network. He did say the network.

COOPER: I don't think anyone -- I don't -- I don't think any anchor on this network has been going around saying, is -- is she black?

THA GOD: You all never have never had a --

RYE: It's definitely -- it's definitely been --

COOPER: We -- we have been -- look, I'm sure we have had, you know, nutty people or -- or people who have strongly held beliefs who I may disagree with, who somewhere on some panel have said something.

RYE: Yes.

COOPER: But I, you know, I will just speak up for -- for what I do on the show. I do believe it's important to get people different viewpoints, as long as they're willing to have a legitimate conversation. And so -- so what I don't like are surrogates who come out and spout talking points that they don't even believe, and those are people I try to eliminate from having ever on the air again.

THA GOD: I think no network has honest conversations about Donald Trump. You haven't had -- nobody's had honest conversations about Donald Trump since 2016. I saw last night, they were talking about, you know, the double standard that exists between Donald Trump and the vice president.

But it's always a double standard with Trump, whether it's with Hillary, whether it's, you know, against Biden, now with -- with Kamala. We talk about him being a threat to democracy, but we don't treat him like one.

COOPER: I mean I don't know what you've been watching, but like I don't know of any Trump supporters out there or people like him who are tuning in to me every night to try to get, you know, to -- to be validated in their opinions. Like I -- I don't know I -- I -- I don't know. I disagree with --

THA GOD: I don't think -- I don't think it's about validating. What do you mean, validating the Trump?

COOPER: Well, you're saying like that we're not, that -- that I guess you're saying I'm not discussing all the things he is saying and doing and pointing it out and talking to, you know, what John Kelly. I mean, this is what -- this has been discussed. There's nobody --

RYE: Anderson --

COOPER: Let me just say, there is nobody on the planet who does not -- has not heard and seen pretty much everything Donald Trump has said and knows --

THA GOD: I don't believe that. I don't believe that.

COOPER: -- knows who he is, whether they believe it or not, whether they care of it. THA GOD: When the Vice President said that to you last night, she said, I don't think enough people know. I -- I 100 percent believe enough people have not heard his rhetoric. What do you think, Angela?

RYE: I was just about to say, can you all tag me in? I'm never doing this --

COOPER: So I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

RYE: -- ever again.

COOPER: Angela, yes. It's -- it's the problem of being on satellite. Yes. Talk, please.

RYE: I know. It's the problem. No, I was just going to say, you know, I think what you're saying is fair that there have been round table discussions where you all raise this. I think the problem is it would be nice for, you know, you to cut the camera and say, I'm looking right here right now. You all Kamala Harris is a black woman. Let's move right along.

COOPER: Yes, yes.

RYE: But -- but -- but I was going to say to your -- your colleague's credit, Jake, right after the town hall yesterday, he said that you all had the opportunity to critique what Kamala Harris policy proposals were, what her positions were, what her recommendations were, whether or not she answered her question fair enough, because ta-da, she's the only one that showed up for the town hall. It was supposed to be a debate. He said that.

I think that the point is we don't hear those things enough. And it has been a threat. We cannot say, oh, you know, Kamala is going on with Joe Rogan or no, I'm sorry. Donald Trump is going on with Joe Rogan, but Kamala's choosing Club Shay Shay debated. Like it -- it's like, what is he going to say when he goes on?

COOPER: I know. Here -- here's but -- here's -- here's what -- here's what I've been saying --

RYE: Yes, yes.

COOPER: -- which is it is a double standard because Kamala Harris has policies and she talks about her policies. And you may think she doesn't talk in detail enough about her policies and plenty do. And I -- I pushed her on that last night. I quiz. I try to look at the policies from different, but she's got stated policies and you can look them up. Donald Trump does not have policies.

[20:45:14]

THA GOD: There you go. That's what I'm talking about.

COOPER: Yes. And we say, I mean, this is nothing new. We talk about this all the time. He doesn't have --

THA GOD: I agree with you.

COOPER: -- he does not have his policy -- in the 2016, his policy for Iraq was taking Iraq's oil by using U.S. soldiers to surround the oil fields --

RYE: That's right.

COOPER: -- and extract the oil somehow and bring it to America. I mean, literally. And I was like, that's not a thing. So that's been going on now. That's what --

THA GOD: What you just did -- what you just did what I would like to hear more pundits do, because a lot of times we ask --

COOPER: But -- but --

THA GOD: -- we ask answers.

RYE: He is the host.

COOPER: All right. But -- but let me -- right.

THA GOD: We say things -- we say things like --

COOPER: But -- but let me tell you.

THA GOD: Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist like, we -- I think we kind of --

COOPER: But -- but, you know what, I don't -- I'm not a pundit.

THA GOD: OK.

COOPER: I -- I'm not interested.

RYE: He's the host.

COOPER: I don't think my opinion is particularly interesting -- interesting for viewers out there. I'm interested in --

THA GOD: I disagree.

COOPER: OK. I quiver with it.

RYE: I disagree with that too, Anderson.

COOPER: You can quiver with it. But I believe in asking questions and probing people's arguments and trying to reveal people's arguments, what's true and what's not. And I like -- I'm not on MSNBC for a reason. I'm not on some other network for a reason, on CNN, because I want to talk to Republicans. I want to talk to Democrats. And I want to learn from them. I don't think I have the answers. I'm willing to change my mind. People can convince me of stuff all the time. I -- I -- like, I'm not a -- I don't even know why I'm talking about myself. I don't know why I'm talking about myself.

RYE: No. But -- but Anderson I want to -- I want to tell you this --

COOPER: But -- but my point is, I think what we're doing here is important because I do think in this country where, you know what, I got so many, I don't look at comments about myself, but I -- I was looking up some co -- comments about my grief podcast and I came across this whole inundation from people who are Harris supporters saying to me online today, like, how dare you? What a betrayal that you would ask her these questions. And I'm like --

THA GOD: No. You did your job.

COOPER: -- you misunderstand what my job is. I'm not on MSNBC or I'm no disrespect. They -- what they do is they're very talented, but it's -- I don't watch it. I'm not interested in watching what these overpaid blow dried anchors think. And I include myself in that overpaid blow dried, although I don't blow dry. I am overpaid. But I don't want the -- I'm not interested in the anchors opinion. I'm interested in facts and letting the viewers' make up their own mind. So anyway, I'm sorry this devolved. It's something that's been successful.

RYE: I -- I like that you said that, but I will just say in this moment, some of what we're talking about tonight, Anderson, is not actually an opinion at all. It is just the facts. And you are one of the most trusted voices on television. And it is important in those moments where, you know, those conversations devolve into nonsense, particularly on the other side of the aisle, their conspiracy theory, they won't even say her name right.

That has to be checked in the moment because that is what fascism looks like. That is how we start sliding down a very slippery slope. And we cannot afford to be here. The election is 12 days away and this should not be even what is on the ballot, but democracies on the line. That is not a partisan issue. It is the truth. And I think that's, what's important for cable news networks in particular to be saying, whether you're on "Fox," you're on CNN or you're "MSNBC." For all of us, that is our responsibility and our patriotic duty.

THA GOD: And now that I know you can literally call bullshit, I want to hear it --

RYE: Literally.

THA GOD: -- I want to hear it more.

COOPER: Charlamagne tha God, thank you. Angela Rye, thank you so much.

[Dimko Zhluktenko 🇺🇦⚔️ @dim0kq]

I just finished my basic training course in the Ukrainian Army!

That was an adventure, however it prepared me for the real fight against r*ssian invasion.

This is how Ukraine trains its soldiers 🧵

[Liz Cheney @Liz_Cheney]

Let’s be clear: This is illegal and unconstitutional. The American people had voted. The courts had ruled. The Electoral College had met and voted. The Governor in every state had certified the results and sent a legal slate of electors to the Congress to be counted. The Vice President has no constitutional authority to tell states to submit alternative slates of electors because his candidate lost. That is tyranny. Our institutions held on Jan 6 because Mike Pence refused to violate his oath to the Constitution. Trump picked JD Vance because Vance will do whatever Trump wants, including violating the Constitution. They are both far too dangerous to serve. It’s our duty to stop them.

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

@gtconway3d I'm struck by the internalized misogyny of that remark. Is there a woman alive who hasn't been told by some guy whose unwanted flirting she ignored that she needs to lighten up and smile more? So now women are doing that to each other? Sheesh.

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

Looks like history is repeating (or at least rhyming) again

[Suspiciously Fluffy Fella 🐶 @frances94354144]

1/ Short 🧵 on elections and felon candidates for all my American fellas.

I am Italian and I lived through the Berlusconi era. In a lot of ways Berlusconi was to Italy what Trump is to the USA.
If you want to know what will happen, look at Italy 20 years ago.

[Team17 @Team17]

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[Anton Gerashchenko @Gerashchenko_en]

The Russian strike on Kyiv's hospitals was precisely calculated. The Kremlin deliberately targeted Kyiv's crucial children's hospital. This is an intentional war crime.

Its timing was calculated and it was Putin's "message" to the world.

◾️ First of all, this is a message to China (Putin communicated with Xi Jinping just the other day in Astana), to India (Narendra Modi was in Moscow at that moment) and to the rest of the "non-Western" countries. The message is along the following lines:
It is necessary to make friends with the strong. The strong is the one who can violate any rules and remain unpunished. The current world order is already dead and we need to negotiate anew, from the position of real power. Putin really believes that Russia is stronger than NATO - because NATO is afraid of Russia, not vice versa.

Putin says: I broke the existing system, a new world order will be established, let's discuss this.

◾️ Message to Ukrainians:
Capitulate, no one will protect you, there is nothing but suffering and death waiting for you outside Russia.

◾️ Message to the West:
Putin hits children with a missile while presiding over the UN Security Council. It is hard to think of a more eloquent desecration of the international security system on the eve of the NATO summit.

Putin says: your leaders are weak, they can do nothing, you can end up as bad as Ukraine. The NATO summit will not change anything. The U.S. has lost its leadership. I broke the system of international law and introduced the law of force.

Today it is very clear that there is very little time left to stop Putin. If this does not happen, there will be completely new rules in the world. The ones by which Ukraine is now surviving and dying.
Russia demonstrates these "new rules of the world order" in Ukraine - obey or die.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Today and in the coming days, we will be working at the NATO Summit in the United States, beginning in Washington by honoring the victims of the 1932-1933 Holodomor at the Memorial near the US Capitol.

The inscription reads: “The Holodomor of 1932-1933. In memory of the millions of innocent victims of a man-made famine in Ukraine, engineered and implemented by Stalin’s totalitarian regime.”

Today, when another Russian empire tries to destroy Ukrainians, it is crucial to remember their previous attempts. Because Ukraine is now defending not only the present but also historical justice.

[ceblanco @ceblanco]

Proud to be the 1,881st 😎 on @BackerKit for Stewpot: Tales from a Fantasy Tavern. Thanks @EvilHatOfficial https://t.co/gnzXmm7h8k

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

Collin, let me give you a different POV. When someone is not paid enough to live, they use more government services. Housing, Care, Food, etc.

I can’t tell you what the equilibrium is for a minimum wage for any given state.

When I can tell you is when companies pay less than what someone needs to live a basic life, it’s often the taxpayers that subsidize the difference

Do you really want to subsidize, with your tax dollars, any employer ?

Personally, as an employer, I would rather pay a higher wage and figure out how to be more productive and profitable to balance it out.

I literally gave raises to employees a few years ago because it was embarrassing to me that taxpayers might be subsidizing people who work for me.

It’s the same reasons I kept paying everyone during COVID and I didnt take PPP money.

The last thing I want is your tax dollars, Collin, subsidizing my employees

The other thing about increasing the minimum wage, again, IMO, everyone else faces the same rules. Their costs go up in the same manner.

Be the better entrepreneur in your segment and your business will be just fine