u/lji-1

AI companies are now starting to say that their products will replace middle managers, not just low skilled workers doing menial tasks like data entry, fact-checking, and basic research. They promise immense cost savings. But the thing is ... these AI companies, they're going to have to start charging REAL MONEY for their services at some point very soon. So much money is being invested and spent on artificial intelligence, with the promise that there are immense profits on the other side of the spend. Therefore, AI companies cannot use the freemium model forever. Or even the low cost model they're using right now. They're going to have to start charging real money, real fees, real licensing fees, very soon. And I'm predicting that those fees will be really high, and that they will be about 75% of the cost of an employee that one AI license will replace. And I think a lot of companies are going to say, "it's not worth it, yeah it'd be great to save 25%, but if it's going to take an entire structural redesign of my entire business to adopt AI technologies that will save me 25% at scale, only to save 25% or so, it's simply not worth the risk".

I think a lot of companies will see it as not worth the time, money, or effort. Because if you change a company that radically, there's always the risk that it will end a good thing. That it will have a negative effect on business, on actual sales, on actual relationships between customers, clients, vendors, suppliers, and marketers. I think most businesses will say that rebuilding the airplane while they're flying the airplane is simply not a risk worth taking -- especially if the airplane is flying perfectly well already!

I own a 2019 Kia Niro hybrid with about 140,000 miles on it. At about 100,000 miles I took it to a mechanic who said the front and back brakes were fine, the pads weren't worn to the point of needing replacement. About a week ago, I brought the car to have the front brakes checked, and the mechanic said that the pads were worn and needed to be replaced but the rotors were okay. Today I checked the front brake pads myself, and they look fine to me: I compared them to a brand new set of pads, and there's about 4 mm maybe 5 mm of material left on the brake pads that are on the car. These are the original brake pads that came with the car at 0 miles. Has anyone else had a similar experience where their front brake pads were still good at 140,000 miles? Thanks in advance! EDIT: thank you all for the informative comments. Bravo!

I own a 2019 Kia Niro hybrid with about 140,000 miles on it. At about 100,000 miles I took it to a mechanic who said the front and back brakes were fine, the pads weren't worn to the point of needing replacement. About a week ago, I brought the car to have the front brakes checked, and the mechanic said that the pads were worn and needed to be replaced but the rotors were okay. Today I checked the front brake pads myself, and they look fine to me: I compared them to a brand new set of pads, and there's about 4 mm maybe 5 mm of material left on the brake pads that are on the car. These are the original brake pads that came with the car at 0 miles. Has anyone else had a similar experience where their front brake pads were still good at 140,000 miles? Thanks in advance!

In social media posts, U.S. President Donald Trump says the U.S. military will hit Iran “very hard tonight”, and he also threatened to take control of Iran’s oil industry. Trump said the US would assume total control of Iran’s oil and gas industries in the not too distant future. The posts also included a threat made to the strategically vital Kharg Island oil terminal. On Fox News, Trump said, “my preference has always been to take Kharg Island; I don’t know that America has the stomach for it to be honest.” Taking it will require a significant military operation by the U.S. There’s no way to do so successfully without a major deployment of ground troops.

If I were an election official and Bill Pulte or anybody else came before me and demanded that I turn over ballots, I would tell them that the ballots have a chain of custody and they cannot be given to just anyone. If the ballots leave the chain of custody, then they become invalid and are suspect from that point forward. The scenario is this: warranty void if seal is broken.

Iran Demands:

1. End the blockade of Iranian shipping in the Gulf of Oman.
2. Marco Rubio has to wear a keffiyeh for 60 days.
3. McDonald's will serve Chelow Kebab.
4. No season 3 of "Landman".
5. 12 Famous Rays.

U.S. Demands:

1. Open the Strait of Hormuz without tolls.
2. Hezbollah has to leave Southern Lebanon AND Southern California.
3. Quit it with those Lego videos, inshallah.
4. Women get to drive in Iran (if we have to deal with lady road rage, so should they).
5. Trump gets a ballroom in Tehran!

Trump severely underestimated Iran as an enemy. He thought it was a house of cards, where if you pull out one card. the whole thing collapses. But the Iranian government is resilient, it's been planning for an American and/or Israeli attack for decades. It dug in, and it advised its proxy forces, Hamas and Hezbollah, to dig in too. And for every member of the Iranian government and the IRGC, there's a line of succession that goes at least five or six people deep. Iranians are not stupid. Persian culture is one of the oldest and most sophisticated cultures in world history. Any country that can enrich uranium is sophisticated. Yet Trump treats Iran like it's one bad day away from being the next Libya, Somalia, or Haiti.

I tend to complain a lot about the government, but I actually have some constructive ideas about how we can improve America. In my opinion, the balance of power in the US has to be reset to give individuals more wealth and agency, and to temper the agency, power, and wealth of corporations and wealthy individuals. Which doesn’t mean we should adopt socialism, communism, or Marxism, it simply means capitalism needs to be regulated and taxed better. Ever since the 1990s or so, the US has been very, very, pro corporation. And that’s fine, we should not be anti-corporation, but I feel we went too far with our pro-corporation attitude, at the expense of our pro-individual attitude. We need a reset to a place that’s a lot more humanist, that puts the rights, and the health and welfare of individuals on a stronger foundation.

Trump famously deploys a strategy of “FLOOD THE ZONE” with information and activity and with the decisions that he makes. It's the concept of trying to drink from the fire hose, which is impossible. And a lot of people think that this is a great strategy, that it puts the media and the opposition, namely Democrats, in a difficult position, where they are paralyzed and unable to react. And that may or may not be true, but there's another component to this that I think isn't getting discussed. And that component is this: it's exhausting. It's exhausting for the average American. It's exhausting for the average American voter to be overwhelmed with all of this activity and change from Trump.

Trump is not a humanist. MAGA isn't humanist either. The Republican Party no longer believes in humanism. Humanism is a belief system that focuses on the innate value of human beings. It accepts that every human being has value and worth. Humanism recognizes that every human being has human rights, and that governments, communities, and nations preserve and protect these rights. Humanism recognizes that every human being has common needs that we all share. And that, as social animals, humans meet those needs together as a community, large or small. Humanism believes that humans can improve the material conditions of human life, that we do not need to look to the metaphysical or the divine to solve our problems. Which isn't to say we shouldn't be spiritual or religious, it simply means that human beings themselves have agency and autonomy, given to them by their maker, to make their lives better. Which is to say we don't have to pray for change, we can make change, which is the way our maker wants it.

In looking at the geopolitical climate on planet earth right now, things are not looking so good for the United States of America. We are isolating ourselves, we are self-isolating. It turns out this is the doctrine of Trumpism: American First means America Alone. America is a strong and wealthy nation, and we got here by forming partnerships and allies, and by global trade. If we cut off these relationships and this trade, we won’t be as strong or wealthy.

Criticizing U.S. president Donald Trump for being hypocritical doesn't work. Because hypocrisy is the point. Just as people say that Trump’s cruelty is the point, his hypocrisy is the point too. Trump and his administration are not interested in equality or fair play. They’re trying to create an elite aristocracy of white men to rule America. They’re trying to make a two-tiered system where white men have superior rights, privileges, and protections than everyone else. Therefore, when you point out that they're contradicting themselves and they're not offering the same consideration to people who aren't them, they simply don't care. The hypocrisy is the point. The double standard is the point. The discrimination is the point, despite what it might say in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The cruelty and the hypocrisy are the point, because Trump and MAGA are all about power and using power. Powerful, is what they want to be, and they don't care if it's hypocritical or sadistic.