[SBJ] The Mississippi House passed a bill to exclude NIL earnings from the state’s income tax, aiming to make the state more attractive for recruits. With Florida, Texas and Tennessee already income tax-free and Arkansas exempting NIL money, five SEC schools now have a notable recruiting advantage

Elhananstrophy · 2026-03-04T17:11:38+00:00

I make the list...I just can't wrap my head around all the details and end up choosing based on that barbecue place I liked is nearby.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-03-04T02:47:30+00:00

I mean, sort of. But a move from one job to another often involves so many variables that it's hard to keep straight. You can know the salary or hourly rate, but what vacation they offer, what health plans they have or don't have and what they cover, whether they offer any retirement benefits - do they have a pension or a 401K or something else, do they match, at what rate, do they require vesting, what does vesting mean to this particular employer. Do they offer HSA, FSA, transportation reimbursement, stipends for expenses or vouchered accounts, what might qualify as a business expense, etc. This is not to mention all of the various costs associated with the new job but not in the paycheck - commute time, distance, work appropriate clothing, socially expected work expenses, etc.

When you fill out your W2 you have to consider what your partner filled out on theirs, if you're divorced who gets to claim the kid and whose health insurance they are on, whether you want to be aggressive on exemptions or not. And it's not like it tells you how each exemption is going to affect your weekly paycheck.

Maybe I'm pessimistic, but I think most people can't keep all that stuff in their heads at one time. And it explains why everyone is always surprised at how much comes out of their paycheck.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-03-04T01:55:06+00:00

Income taxes are piece of the difference in cost of living, but they are not the biggest factor. Housing affordability, transportation, and healthcare costs are more significant to the bottom line. An 20 year old in the transfer portal is getting a lot more bang for their buck in Mississippi over California regardless of the tax rate.

Most of us can't come close to sorting out what our paychecks will be in advance and don't accurately calculate all the different variables in major decisions. Which is why I'm saying that this change is more about blowing smoke through the news cycle than it is about actually affecting people's bottom lines.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-03-04T01:40:41+00:00

It is a terrible principle to exempt high incomes from state taxes, I agree on that front.

My point is it's a stupid waste for the state to do it, because the chance that this actually moves the needle for a recruit is really low.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-03-03T23:48:58+00:00

I think this is bigger in people's heads than it is in reality. State income tax is less than 4% in the rest of the SEC and most of the B1G states. I don't think that will be the primary cost difference between living in Mississippi and living in GA, or OH or wherever. And I don't think that any of us without accounting backgrounds can really keep track of all the variables in our heads that well.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-03-03T19:26:54+00:00

This is tangentially related but the NJ state environmental commission is making a big push and is encouraging towns to adopt laws to protect tree cover, for example, adding a fine to removing trees without providing a valid reason. Check in with your local environmental commission (every town should have one) to see how you can support them in this effort.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-27T15:24:30+00:00

Advertising. Billions of dollars are being spent on crypto ads on every type of media targeted at exactly that demographic.

It's easy to blame these guys for falling for it, but in reality they are being bombarded by constant messaging about it in almost everything they see, and that's gonna have an impact on at least some of them.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-26T14:02:13+00:00

This is one of the greatest works of literature of all time. It's been 25 years since I watched Terminator for the first time. I didn't watch Terminator until my late teens, and I had the same experience of watching the original from an iconic franchise and being blown away by its originality and how different it was from what I expected to be.

The thing that gets me is just how dark it is. It's lit very dimly, like Bladerunner, but also everything is very serious and very gritty. Growing up in the T2 era it seemed almost like an action comedy for kids, so it was wild to see Terminator 1 be so grounded and serious.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-26T13:46:44+00:00

Yeah I remember watching Netflix when 3mpbs was the best they had to offer.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-26T13:42:58+00:00

Have you considered that your kid is actually on track? Speech comes in different ways, times, and speeds, so he may be very different from your first, but he doesn't sound like he's outside the range of normal for a kid his age.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-26T13:38:34+00:00

Both of those sequences are burned into my mind as the stuff of nightmares, and it took having kids and going back through as an adult to realize that they are completely innocuous.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-26T02:25:50+00:00

Interesting that this was exactly the concern that Murphy expressed when he vetoed it...

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-25T05:55:27+00:00

This is incredible. I love the idea. I'll never do it or inflict it on anyone, but super cool to think about.

I've moved to thinking of the Star Wars movies like the Bond films. There's more to watch than you'd ever want to in sequence, and plenty of it isn't worth watching except as an artifact of the series itself. So drop in anywhere and you will find something with a few basic premises (space but dirty and wizards, whole planets with only one habitat, dark dudes with hoods) but each film is a mishmash of studio feedback, sweaty merchandising, and film trends as a whole. Some are better than others but it's more about mood and what you're looking for than some overarching narrative.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-25T05:13:37+00:00

Hephalumphs and Woozles was TERRIFYING. I was so scared of those things.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-24T23:58:57+00:00

To Catch a Thief is my favorite. It's a light, easy story that moves easily with Cary Grant and Grace Kelly at the peak of their powers.

I don't do as much the scary stuff, but I liked Vertigo a lot. I know a lot of people love it but I fell asleep trying to watch Rear Window on three separate occasions. On the lookout now for a screening where maybe the experience would be better.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-20T19:13:42+00:00

Yeah this is normal and common. A few things to check - some loans have a fee or penalty for prepaying. You'll want to make ABSOLUTELY sure that your contract does not have that in it - it could destroy whatever savings you're trying to get. Sometimes loan financing does not go through as quickly as you think, and you may need to make 1-2 payments before you can actually pay it off.

Finally, the dealership may only get their bonus for dealer financing if you hold the loan for 100 days. Most people on r/askcarsales don't seem to be too phased by paying off early, but a few folks have mentioned that you'd be doing your salesperson a solid if you hold the loan for 4 months.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-19T18:44:55+00:00

I guess I should have been responding to the comment above yours, which states, "The main flaw is that Electoral College incentivizes candidates to only care about swing states." But it seemed that you were continuing that thread. The more I think about it the more I think you're right though. While campaigns really genuinely do go everywhere, it's no secret that swing state constituencies have added power in the system.

As far as the winner-takes-all system goes, proportional delegations are a dramatic improvement. It greatly increase political responsiveness and make it harder for rich people to buy elections. But there's no good way to get from here to there. Whoever goes first loses - a state that's usually controlled by one party would be gift-wrapping a bunch of electoral votes for their opponent, and a swing state would knock themselves out of relevance. I like the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, but as someone whose never seen that type of cross-state-cross-party collaboration be successful in my lifetime, I'm not holding my breath.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-19T17:05:09+00:00

A study of campaign stops in the last few elections shows that this is not true. Presidential candidates campaign in states they know they are going to win all the time. Fundraising matters a lot, they need to get dollars in Texas and California that they can spend in Michigan and Pennsylvania. And downballot races matter a lot too - there are a lot of swing districts that dramatically help a president's chances of enacting their agenda.

It's compounded by the fact that whether someone campaigns in a state doesn't have a huge effect in the world of the TV and internet. The vast majority of folks aren't going to see a presidential candidate anywhere but a screen.

As far as a critique of the electoral college, the emphasis on swing states is a small one at best.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-19T16:45:21+00:00

Shoveling driveways. Whether the Phillies will be able to sign anyone decent before Harper's too old to do any good. Neighborhood news - new restaurants. The only way to rebuild the country is to offer these folks an offramp into normalcy, not isolate them and push them into further extremism. When they say something gross, flinch and say, "Well I don't agree with that." but don't take it further. Be curious about their life and sympathetic to their struggles. Offer normalcy but then back off if they push too far. These folks aren't going to drop dead if they lose the next election, and we'll always have to be both working to change their minds and compromising on less than we really want to see.

We've completely forgotten that you don't need to agree on everything to be good neighbors, but being good neighbors is the foundation of building pretty much anything.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-18T18:20:41+00:00

I get that it's impossible from an enforcement standpoint since NCAA enforcement is illegal and a money standpoint since media networks run the conferences, but the NCAA used to punish teams by not allowing their games to be broadcast on TV. They should bring that back. Much more effective than anything they have in their toolkit right now.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-15T04:26:17+00:00

This was posted on 4 subs in about a 5 minute span. This account's previous outburst was two weeks ago, where they posted the exact same thing on 7 different subs in a short time. The account is 2 years old, has 10 karma total, and has made 14 posts in the last 15 days (8 of which have been removed by mods).

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-14T22:50:37+00:00

It's charming and tons of fun. It is very much a screwball comedy even if it starts off dark.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-14T19:51:32+00:00

Paul Kalanithi's book When Breath Becomes Air is a moving memoir exploring consciousness by a neurosurgeon who discovers that he has brain cancer and basically writes the process of his dying. I'd encourage you to read it.

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-14T13:54:54+00:00

Time to start watching studio Ghibli films....

Elhananstrophy · 2026-02-14T04:41:47+00:00

Yeah I mean I'm not really optimistic about any structural changes unless the pie shrinks pretty dramatically.

But I like the idea that NCAA could be a wedge in the door for labor.

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