Business, Economics, and Taxes: Eat Cereal for Dinner

[Handyman]

My god. Think about the assumptions behind that.

It reminds me of a documentary I was watching once about the first roller coaster. "So they tested it, first with a monkey and then with a worker."

Its not an assumption...

 

[Handyman]

In case you're tracking at home, there were 4.3M births in the US in 2007. Assuming equal distribution, that's 365,200 people who turned 18 last month (you know, plus or minus a few hundred school shootings) who would probably like a job.

Last I saw the UE # for recent grads is 10+%.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

It is not. There are graphs to show it I just dont feel like finding them right now.

Blacks take up the jobs that are too high for immigrants but too low for White People.

(I feel skeevy saying it this way but it is true)

We don't use them much anymore, but I can't remember the last time I saw a white person driving for one of the delivery apps. But we will occasionally do it when we're too tired to cook, and I literally transacted in Spanish with one driver last week.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Last I saw the UE # for recent grads is 10+%.

That's just starting to creep up into 2008/2009 numbers, and is sure to get much worse. I graduated from MTU in 09, and I remember that job market all too well. That was the salad days of ATS, where you'd be asked to upload a resume, then 80% of the time you'd have to re-enter everything line-by-line into your application anyway. And god forbid if you didn't have a cover letter. Not that mattered anyway, because if you didn't have at least 2-3 years FTE experience, you were lucky to be offered a short-term contract or C2H role.

 

[Kepler]

I thought black unemployment being twice the unemployment rate was basically a given, no matter what the unemployment rate was. Like that's been measured over decades now, regardless of which party is in office.

Correct.

The crisis in 2020 was white unemployment started to get up to the rate of black unemployment. CAN'T HAVE THAT!

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

That's just starting to creep up into 2008/2009 numbers, and is sure to get much worse. I graduated from MTU in 09, and I remember that job market all too well. That was the salad days of ATS, where you'd be asked to upload a resume, then 80% of the time you'd have to re-enter everything line-by-line into your application anyway. And god forbid if you didn't have a cover letter. Not that mattered anyway, because if you didn't have at least 2-3 years FTE experience, you were lucky to be offered a short-term contract or C2H role.

It’s still the fucking same. Everyone wants a goddamn cover letter for their fake jobs

 

[Kepler]

We don't use them much anymore, but I can't remember the last time I saw a white person driving for one of the delivery apps.

The thing I've noticed is how young the drivers are. When that gig started it was like Uber drivers: a lot of older immigrants. But now it's college students or at least that age people. They all look athletic, bored out of their minds, and TBH pretty high.

 

[Kepler]

It’s still the fucking same. Everyone wants a goddamn cover letter for their fake jobs

The last time I floated recs I told them a cover letter would be an instant DQ. I had a guy as a finalist who sent me a half page bullet list of tools and skills and wrote "will test live" at the bottom. I only dinged him because he was a bad psych fit (he was unfortunately an asshole and obviously that position was already filled).

 

[aparch]

Civil War 2, livestreamed directly to you.

Live on TikTok, perpetually 90 days away from being banned!

 

[Spartanforlife4]

This discussion reminds me of a history teacher in high school who tried to argue that even in the Great Depression, it wasn’t that bad because 75% of the country was still working. To this day I still don’t know what point he was trying to make. 25% of people without an income and how many of those people had a family that needed support seems like a gigantic deal to me.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

It’s still the fucking same. Everyone wants a goddamn cover letter for their fake jobs

In 15 years, I've read one cover letter that piqued my interest enough to remember it, and that's because it included the words, "Sued for $100+m before the age of 21."

By the RIAA, of course.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

The last time I floated recs I told them a cover letter would be an instant DQ. I had a guy as a finalist who sent me a half page bullet list of tools and skills and wrote "will test live" at the bottom. I only dinged him because he was a bad psych fit (he was unfortunately an asshole and obviously that position was already filled).

Imagine how worthless they are now with AI

 

[Slap Shot]

Last I saw the UE # for recent grads is 10+%.

Very happy that #1 found a job before graduation, and #2 should have one (i get it, not taking anything for granted) after just completing his 3rd paid summer internship heading into his senior year. They both have many friends wondering, "WTF is happening"?

 

[LynahFan]

"Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer told Fox Business that the job outlook 'underperformed just a bit, but it's still in the positive.'"

Talk about lowering the bar - apparently anything above zero is just peachy keen!

 

[Kepler]

As a group, I gotta admit we stargazers tend to be very old, very male, and very very white.

Lots of leopards massing on the horizon line...

It looks like Svbony has updated their branding and pricing, and I am seeing dramatic price increases:

• In April 2025 I ordered an 18mm UFF for $90.53CAD. Today it is listed for $221.54CAD.
• Also in April 2025, I picked up the 2x 4-element focal extender for $83.87CAD. Today it is $194.35CAD.
• In May 2024, a 25mm plossl cost $20CAD. Today it’s priced at $114CAD!!
• In April 2024 the 10mm UFF was $53.69CAD. Today $171.25CAD.

Does anyone know what is affecting prices? A 5x increase in the price of a plossl in 15 months is bananas.

Note that all the optics for these components are made in China.

 

[Jimjamesak]

This discussion reminds me of a history teacher in high school who tried to argue that even in the Great Depression, it wasn’t that bad because 75% of the country was still working. To this day I still don’t know what point he was trying to make. 25% of people without an income and how many of those people had a family that needed support seems like a gigantic deal to me.

Keep in mind, the US had a higher percentage of agricultural based jobs back then too. A lot higher percentage of rural population too.

 

[Handyman]

This discussion reminds me of a history teacher in high school who tried to argue that even in the Great Depression, it wasn’t that bad because 75% of the country was still working. To this day I still don’t know what point he was trying to make. 25% of people without an income and how many of those people had a family that needed support seems like a gigantic deal to me.

As a (sometimes) history teacher I want to punch said teacher in the throat.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

This discussion reminds me of a history teacher in high school who tried to argue that even in the Great Depression, it wasn’t that bad because 75% of the country was still working. To this day I still don’t know what point he was trying to make.

From there it's just a jump to the right, and suddenly "Hitler did some good things".

 

[aparch]

Healthcare CEOs are going to need secret service -esque protection soon. Latest fun tidbit circling social media is open enrollment costs are going up 20 to 30 percent.

 

[Handyman]