PS-commentary

My thoughts are nobody's but mine. Convince me otherwise.

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

“Stay American. Ask for less state, not more.”

[Brivael Le Pogam @brivael]

My post about France went viral. Thousands of likes. Many Americans told me: "Democrats aren't socialists. America will never be France." I want to answer that seriously, step by step.

Start with a simple observation. Look at what has gotten cheaper in America over the last 25 years: TVs, phones, software, clothes, toys. Now look at what has exploded: college tuition, healthcare, childcare, housing.

What separates the two lists? The first lives in competitive markets. The second is exactly where government is most involved: subsidies, mandates, licensing, zoning, regulation.

College. Washington lends students almost unlimited money. Universities know the money will always come, so they raise tuition and hire more administrators. The student pays the bill for twenty years. More government money, higher prices.

Housing. Why can't a nurse buy a home in the city where she works? Not because of capitalism. Because of zoning laws, permits, environmental reviews, years of procedure to build a single building. The most expensive places to live in America are the places where it's hardest to build. When building is nearly illegal, prices explode.

Healthcare. The patient almost never sees the price. A third party pays, regulations limit who can compete, and costs climb year after year with no one able to say no.

So here is the trap. The problems you suffer from are not the failure of free markets. They are the places where the market has already been replaced by the state. And the solution you're being offered is more of the same.

That's the Trojan horse. It always works the same way. A real problem. A generous-sounding promise. A program that makes things worse. Then the failure of that program becomes the argument for the next one. People who lived under communism in Poland learned to recognize the lie and the mask the lie wears. The lie never presents itself as a lie. It presents itself as compassion.

In France we are at the end of that road. Debt we can never repay. Young people who can't afford a home. Our best people leaving. And every few years our cities burn. Nobody voted for this. They voted for one more generous promise, fifty years in a row.

If you're a Republican, share this with the Democrat in your life. Not to win an argument. To start a conversation.

If you're a Democrat, I'm not asking you to switch teams. I'm asking you to look at the pattern. Wherever the state took over, life became unaffordable. Don't fix the failures of government with more government.

Stay American. Ask for less state, not more.

[Brivael Le Pogam @brivael]

I’m French. I want to talk to Americans who are about to vote Democrat. Not to insult you. To warn you.

I come from your future.

In France we did everything your progressive politicians promise. Free healthcare, free college, generous welfare, strong unions, heavy regulation, high taxes on the rich, a state that takes care of everything. Public spending close to 57% of GDP, one of the highest on the planet. On paper, it’s the dream.

Here’s what it looks like from the inside. France hasn’t passed a balanced budget since 1974. Our debt is above 3,300 billion euros. Interest on that debt is becoming one of the biggest items in the national budget. Our hospitals are collapsing despite record funding. Our schools rank lower every year. Young people with degrees can’t afford an apartment in the city they were born in. Our best engineers leave for London, Zurich and San Francisco. And the rich you wanted to tax? They left too, and took the jobs with them.

The promise was protection. The result is stagnation.

The worst part is that nobody in France voted for decline. Every single step sounded generous, compassionate, reasonable. One more program. One more regulation. One more tax to fund it. Each step alone makes sense. Fifty years of them, and you wake up in a country that can no longer build a nuclear plant on time or keep its streets safe.

I love America because it’s the one place on earth where people still believe they can build something from nothing. I came to Silicon Valley as a self-taught kid and it changed my life. That spirit is the most precious thing your country has.

Before you vote, ask yourself one question: is the program you’re voting for making America more like America, or more like France?

Trust me. You don’t want to be France.

[Brivael Le Pogam @brivael]

https://t.co/x8dS9UgaFn

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@ARmastrangelo @GE_Appliances Not just GE, industry wide engineered obsolescence. Shitty compressors. Hair thin refrigerant lines. Flaky circuit boards. Engineered to fail, repairs not feasible. All appliance manufacturers. Yes I too hug my 20yr old white fridges in garage & basement.

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@GE_Appliances @ARmastrangelo @GE_Appliances don’t act shocked. Engineered obsolescence. Shitty compressors. Hair thin refrigerant lines. Flaky circuit boards. Engineered to fail. All manufacturers without exception. Yes I too hug my 20yr old white fridges in garage & basement.

[Alana Mastrangelo-Wrask @ARmastrangelo]

I bought this @GE_Appliances fridge in March 2020. Six and a half years later, it’s dead. The repair quote is $2,350, which means it's time to buy a new fridge.

Meanwhile, the white fridge in my garage that looks like it's from WWII is still running strong.

For the price of one brand-new GE fridge, I could buy 30 used white fridges on Facebook Marketplace that will all still be alive after I'm gone.

What happened to us as a nation?

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @brjimc @TRobinsonNewEra Isn’t a group of men attacking in a coordinated manner a so called “violent gang”?
Hmm 🤔

[McMich @McMichelSim]

Nous en sommes EXACTEMENT LÀ... 🤬🤬🤬
"La prophétie la plus troublante de toutes"

Il y a 70 ans, une vision fut gravée dans les mots, décrivant avec une effrayante précision ce que nous vivons aujourd’hui.

Le 2 février 1905, à Saint-Pétersbourg, naissait une âme qui allait marquer la pensée et les lettres : Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, plus connue sous le nom d’Ayn Rand. Philosophe et écrivaine américaine d’origine russe, elle laissa derrière elle des mots qui résonnent encore, comme un écho prophétique dans les tumultes de notre époque.

Elle écrivit ces paroles :
« Lorsque vous réalisez que, pour produire, vous devez obtenir l’autorisation de ceux qui ne produisent rien… Lorsque vous voyez l’argent couler non pas vers ceux qui créent des biens, mais vers ceux qui trafiquent en faveurs… Lorsque vous comprenez que certains s’enrichissent davantage par la corruption et l’influence que par le labeur, et que les lois ne vous protègent plus d’eux mais, au contraire, les protègent contre vous… Lorsque vous découvrez que la corruption est récompensée tandis que l’honnêteté devient un sacrifice, alors vous saurez, sans le moindre doute, que votre société est condamnée. »

Un avertissement gravé dans le marbre de la pensée, un miroir tendu à un monde vacillant.

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

I see I am being ritually insulted for my support of this man

The uneducated call me a racist

I am not a racist

I am a culturalist

I believe that some cultures are better than others

I prefer cultures to do not advocate stoning, pederasty,
wife beating, female genital mutilation, and beheading opponents

Call me old-fashioned...

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal Rep.Jayapal was elected by 352,286 votes in 2024, representing 0.144% of total eligible voters in the United States in the 2024 general election.

Amazing free country the USA is, giving such a rep a disproportionately large national forum & a voice. Wish she used it wisely.

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal This profile is based on census data, election results, and district snapshots; individual voter motivations vary. #ballotpedia #legisletter #jayapal.house

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal 3) Immigration Reform and Civil Rights/Social Justice: Humane immigration policies, protecting immigrants (Jayapal is a naturalized citizen and former activist), racial justice, reproductive rights, and democracy/civil liberties.

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal 2) Housing Affordability and Economic Inequality (rent burden, minimum wage, workers’ rights): Extreme housing costs, homelessness, and cost of living are defining pressures despite high incomes.

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal Top 3 Election Issues:

Healthcare/Affordability (e.g., Medicare for All or expanding access): Universal healthcare is a signature priority.

1) Housing Affordability and Economic Inequality (rent burden, minimum wage, workers’ rights)

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal Diverse: ~62-63% White, ~14-15% Asian, ~9-10% Hispanic, ~5% Black, ~7% two or more races. Notable immigrant population (~19% foreign-born).

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal Median household income ~$119k–$125k (well above national averages), but high housing costs (median home value ~$916k, low homeownership ~47%, high rents). Significant professional/tech/health sector employment

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal Urban, younger, and highly educated: Median age ~36.3 (younger than national average); large share of 20-39 year-olds. ~66.5% have a bachelor’s degree or higher (vs. ~34% nationally), with many holding postgraduate degree

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

@grok @seanhannity @RepJayapal Washington’s 7th Congressional District, a heavily Democratic, urban/suburban. Cook PVI D+39 (one of the most Democratic districts in the U.S., and the most Democratic majority-White district) #ballotpedia.

[PS-commentary @ps_commentary]

This has huge potential - sodium battery, commercially ready, industrial scale 👍

[CATL @catl_official]

At Intersolar Europe 2026, CATL is presenting its latest energy ecosystem innovations—headlined by the exhibition debut of TENER Sodium in Munich, alongside TENER Stack, Battery Passport, ESVL, and AI data center solutions.

Driven by the accelerating energy transition, CATL continues to deliver safer and more reliable energy storage solutions worldwide.

#CATL #InterSolar #TENERSodium #EnergyStorage #SodiumIonBattery