TMWNN
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Comment · 1 day ago
> Also, I don't know if that is true in this case, but these numbers will often omit state taxes for the US and only like at federal taxes.
From the article:
>Total tax revenues (federal, state, and local) as a percentage of GDP for OECD countries.
>If you graph these values over the 20th century you should become quite worried.
I agree that US debt is a real issue. But:
* The data indicates that, if necessary, the US has a (lot) more room to raise taxes.
* US GDP grew by 3.4% <https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/29/business/economy/us-econo...> in 3Q2026, beating estimates. French GDP shrank by 0.1% <https://www.france24.com/en/business/20261030-french-economy...> in 3Q2026, worse than estimates.
* Put another way, it is possible to grow out of debt. The US is the only member of the $40 trillion debt club, but is also the only member of the $32 trillion GDP club. Scott Bessent has been talking since before being named Treasury Secretary about 3/3/3. <https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/treasury-secretary-nomi...>
* Put yet another way, if you are so worried about the US, you should be sounding a five-alarm bell for France and Italy, and three alarms for most of the rest of the developed world.
Comment · 1 day ago
>Does the French state believe that its sole purpose is to extract money from any possible source for the sake of it?
Yes. French taxes are 43.5% of GDP in 2024, the second highest among OECD countries. <https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/oecd-taxes-share-gdp> US is 25.6%; Germany is 38%; Britain is 34.4%; Canada is 34.9%.
Comment · 1 day ago
Context: French taxes are 43.5% of GDP in 2024, the second highest among OECD countries. <https://taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/oecd-taxes-share-gdp> US is 25.6%; Germany is 38%; Britain is 34.4%.
Comment · 1 day ago
During a discussion of the recent shutdown by EA of Bioware, the famous studio behind game franchises like Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age (and, more relevant, three huge bombs over the past decade in the latter two), Jason Schreier of Bloomberg states that
* Gears of War: E-Day, the newest entry in Xbox's also famous franchise, cost Microsoft $500 million dollars to develop
* "that is a real number, it's real". There had been a lot of talk, mostly by fans of the franchise (of which I would include myself), that the rumored $400 million+ figure for the game was greatly exaggerated. Apparently not.
E-Day has had laughably low player count figures on Steam. <https://steamdb.info/app/3010850/charts/> While it is true that most players are going to play via Xbox Game Pass on console or PC, for such an expensive game to develop, the player count still implies catastrophically disappointing customer reception.
Comment · 2 days ago
>From their current position, it would be genuinely difficult to find ways to piss off more of their customers.
Tesla Model Y was the world's best-selling car in 2024 <https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-market-2024/> and 2025 <https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-market-2025/>, and has gained share in 2026 YTD. <https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-market/>
Comment · 2 days ago
>When GPT-3 became available, and I did not have to learn Elisp (another f%^&*n computer language - with no other use)
DHH recently said that despite hating Rust, he recently wrote a program he needed in Rust by handing the task to AI, and that the alternative was him having to spend nine months to learn the language.
Comment · 2 days ago
>Lots of recent Linux and neovim users due to how easy it is to debug an issue or edit a config now.
DHH made the interesting point that the Unix standard of plaintext dotfiles and such are as if designed for AI.
Comment · 2 days ago
> It says Tesla registrations increase
You and I both know that registrations are a proxy for car purchases. (The article even says so.)
>and I believe this may be a trend accross all EV brands with the influence of the Iran/US conflict on the price of gas.
Again from the article:
>According to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, Tesla registrations across the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association leaped 43.3% between January and August, outpacing the broader battery-electric vehicle market's 38.8% growth over the same period.
So tell me, again, what about my statement "Tesla is gaining share in Europe despite Chinese EVs" do you disagree with?
Comment · 2 days ago
>That only says they are improving relative to last year, not their heyday.
Yes, but the Chinese EVs are a very recent thing in Europe, so Tesla is (re)gaining share versus both existing domestic and new foreign competition.
Tesla still does quite well in China.
>Where I am it is Kia that has taken Tesla’s place as the go-to EV brand.
Tesla Model Y was the world's best-selling car in 2025, <https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-market-2025/> and has gained share in 2026 YTD. <https://www.focus2move.com/world-car-market/>
Comment · 2 days ago
"Hey, why are activity rates up 2000%?" —Tumblr executive
Comment · 2 days ago
... while Europe did not allow the Ukraine War to interrupt its longstanding massive purchase contracts for gas from Russia.
The United States is, contrary to what many subreddits' denizens seem to believe, not actually at war with Russia. Ukraine is not a member of NATO. Anything the US does, or does not, regarding sanctions on Russia is up to the US to decide.