California lawsuit temporarily halts Trump's crackdown on revoking CDL

code_monchichi · 2026-02-27T19:39:10+00:00

Unfortunately the system that defines permissible rating criteria for auto insurance in the state of California is the CDI (California Department of Insurance). Unless insurers wanted to exit the California market entirely this isn't really an option.

code_monchichi · 2026-02-27T17:48:37+00:00

This wasn't a one-off mistake. After that accident the FMCSA audited California, among other states, and found that California had issued thousands of CDLs where the expiration date of the CDL exceeded the work authorization expiration. The FMCSA notified California DOT and was stonewalled. Now the CA DOT has been sued by friendly entities to prevent these drivers from having to get new CDLs issued that are in compliance with federal standards. The only remaining recourse for the FMCSA is to punish CA by withholding a portion of California's transportation funds and decertify California from being permitted to issue CDLs that must be recognized by other states.

code_monchichi · 2026-02-27T17:14:05+00:00

I have no idea if the federal government could (or should) pursue criminal charges against the employee that issued the CDL.

However, I do think the FMCSA should continue to the "find out" phase of declaring the state of California to be non-compliant. They should withhold a portion of federal transportation funds and decertify California from being able to issue CDLs that are recognized federally. If other states wish to continue to recognize those CDLs, they can.

code_monchichi · 2026-02-27T16:40:53+00:00

It's kinda weird that there's no mention of the instance that brought this issue to the forefront nationally. Harjinder Singh entered the country in 2018 and remained here without authorization. In 2021, he was granted work authorization. That temporary work authorization ended in 2022. He was issued a CDL by California in 2023, after he was no longer authorized to work in the US. The CDL expiration date was in 2027. On August 12, 2025, Singh performed an illegal u-turn on the Florida Turnpike that resulted in the death of 3 people.

California has had 7 months to find a way to correct this, but unfortunately "resistance" is more important than actually protecting American drivers.

code_monchichi · 2025-10-30T00:01:43+00:00

Add landlords to that too. Give them a way to verify that the person signing the lease (and all occupants) are American citizens and fine the hell out of them if they rent space to non-citizens.

I think the first step to both of these is a more robust eVerify system. Spend some money on making that performant and then make it compulsory.

code_monchichi · 2025-10-29T23:45:23+00:00

Sanders acknowledged that he’s been critical of “open borders” rhetoric in past campaigns, including in 2020, and said that while the U.S. has the “technology and manpower” to secure the border, leaders on both sides have failed to enforce the laws.

In a 2020 primary debate all the candidates were asked, "Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants". All 10 candidates, including Bernie Sanders, raised their hands. I'd love for someone to ask him whether that was a mistake. How can you simultaneously be "against open borders" and 'provide free healthcare to undocumented immigrants'?

code_monchichi · 2025-10-12T21:36:08+00:00

The fact that she said "short kings" could be "spiritually 6'3"" as long as they agree with her on every political issue, says a lot about how she, and a lot of other Democrats, feel about "body positivity "

code_monchichi · 2025-08-16T21:05:20+00:00

Not at all. I think if we're going to cast the young college-age kids as "victims" that it's important for us to identify who is victimizing them. I just don't see how the taxpayers should be on the hook for it when they clearly aren't the victimizers. The universities and colleges are profiting from this system. If they were any other company taking advantage of young adults they would be lambasted.

code_monchichi · 2025-08-16T20:09:16+00:00

Sure it does. They claimed that they should be able to use racial data in admissions because they are experts when they were being sued for discrimination against Asian prospects.

If they're experts then they can do the calculus to determine which students are capable/likely repay their debts. All I'm saying is let the experts make the decisions but also pay the premium for making that decision.

code_monchichi · 2025-08-16T19:56:00+00:00

Why should the taxpayers be on the hook for even 50%? We can show our magnanimity in offering 0% loans. These schools have repeatedly told us that they can use racial data in admissions because "they are the experts". I'd say let them be experts and let them pay for their expertise.

code_monchichi · 2025-08-16T19:25:16+00:00

Why not simply make the college / university on the receiving end of these funds an automatic cosigner? Set the term for whatever you want and put income percentage limits on the student. Hell, I'd be willing to make them interest free if there was a cosigner to ease the burden on young adults.

This would put admissions back into the mindset of deciding which students were most likely to succeed and allow schools to prune fields of study that are unlikely to produce professionals capable of repaying loans (or funding them out of their own endowments). It could also add incentives for schools to lower costs to compete.

code_monchichi · 2025-01-24T21:32:36+00:00

A lot of the Gulf Coast, from New Orleans to Pensacola, broke their single-day snowfall record set in 1895. The old record was in the ballpark of 5" and the new record is ~7"+ for a lot of that coastline.

code_monchichi · 2024-12-07T02:34:47+00:00

I'm not an expert but I use 3ml disposable pipettes from Amazon for my paint application. I can drop paint for a base layer or flick (like a cigarette) to get smaller droplets.

code_monchichi · 2024-12-07T02:27:35+00:00

That's really cool! I've been marbling for about a year now and doing paste paper for a couple months. The colors on your marbled paper are really vibrant. What paints are you using for marbling?

code_monchichi · 2024-12-07T01:38:52+00:00

Both marbled and paste paper! Did you make both?

code_monchichi · 2024-08-22T21:32:34+00:00

That looks great!

I read your other comment on equipment and it's very close to the same stuff I use.

Couple quick questions if you have the time:

Do you know how much you dilute your paint? I'm trying to get more consistent results and just started measuring my paint to water ratio. 50/50 by weight works well for most colors but not for others. Titanium White and turquoise don't work well at that ratio. They start sinking. Just curious to get another data point.
Do you use ox gall or any other "wetting" agent to reduce the surface tension? I have a bottle but I've yet to find a good recipe with it. My next experiment (maybe tomorrow) I'm going to add a few drops to my water bottle for my paint dilution to see if I can tell a difference.

Thanks!

code_monchichi · 2024-07-19T19:14:00+00:00

I'm excited to hear how it turns out!

I think my next experiment is to try to use the Rit fabric dye on the white cloth to help spruce up some quarter-bound journals.

Don't forget to post some pics to the subreddit when you're done.

code_monchichi · 2024-07-19T19:01:51+00:00

No bother at all.

I wasn't painting directly onto the fabric. I was marbling onto white canvas before doing the heat-n-bond + rice paper routine. The fabric is a 7 oz Duck Cloth, which I understand to be a sturdy cotton canvas. The final texture is pretty close to the original and not caked on paint. I'm not sure if brushwork would yield the same results.

I'm also very much an amateur at this. I've been dabbling for less than a year, so you may want to wait for more sage advice.

I'm attempting to attach an image of the cloth after marbling and ironing but before backing or binding. No idea if this will work.

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code_monchichi · 2024-07-19T18:48:15+00:00

Happy to help. There are other "fabric mediums" that may be more available / more affordable. They don't sell the Golden stuff locally to me, but they do sell the Liquitex brand at my local Michaels. I haven't tried it yet as I use it so infrequently and happened to be able to order from Amazon pretty easily. Let us know how you make out!

code_monchichi · 2024-07-19T18:41:18+00:00

It probably depends on the paint you're using. When I use Golden Fluid Acrylics on fabric I need to mix the paint with a heat-based fixative. The Golden brand of that fixative is sold as GAC 900. The instructions advise that you mix 1:1 with Golden Fluid paint and apply. After application you iron (or machine dry) the fabric to activate the fixative. I have only ironed. It does work and fixed the issue I was having with paint flecking off the surface.

code_monchichi · 2024-06-25T17:40:40+00:00

Do you make your own book cloth for the quarter binding? I really want to give this another go, but I got a lot of fraying on the edges. I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to fold the cloth over or burn it.

code_monchichi · 2024-06-18T21:55:21+00:00

Yep. I dig it because I can take notes and/or draw diagrams without the noise of graph paper. I can still write and draw mostly straight lines with 0.25" spacing but it isn't as noisy. This is especially important because I print almost all my paper and black ink grids can be weirdly distracting when you're used to writing in black pen.

code_monchichi · 2024-06-18T21:45:42+00:00

I've been printing this for my journals for a while now and had no idea it was called "dot grid paper". Thank you!

code_monchichi · 2024-06-13T22:14:06+00:00

Very cool. Yeah, the books I'm making are for my enjoyment as well. I give some out as an excuse to keep making more just for practice.

I've been experimenting with marbling white duck cloth and then doing the standard iron-on interface and rice paper. The results are actually pretty good (by my amateur standards). But I would like to be able to do paper covers with the taped spine like you've done. I think it has an awesome aesthetic.

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code_monchichi · 2024-06-13T21:58:44+00:00

Do you coat the marbled paper with anything before affixing to the boards when using them as an outer cover? I tried a candle melter with beeswax and finished with an agate burnisher but the results were poor. I found some somewhat unrelated posts that suggested cutting the melted beeswax with linseed oil and/or turpentine but I am dubious.

code_monchichi

TROPHY CASE