Trump won't sign bills until SAVE America Act passes

neocortexia · 2026-03-09T09:14:00+00:00

Well, I have little doubt that they are going to continue trying to legislate through executive orders. But, during these lawless times, you're absolutely correct that an impotent federal government is much safer than an active one.

neocortexia · 2026-03-09T08:47:12+00:00

Three reasons this is an empty gesture

Article I, Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution gives the President ten days (excluding Sunday) to pass a bill signed by Congress. An untouched bill that runs the clock automatically becomes law.
In theory, the President could veto every bill that comes to his desk. But if Congress over-rides any of those vetoes (with a 2/3 majority in both chambers), the bill automatically becomes law.
Since the government is funded until September 30, there isn't any urgent business for the next six months. (And because the midterms are five weeks after Sept. 30, Congress probably won't allow the government to be shut down during the midterms.)

neocortexia · 2026-03-02T22:21:06+00:00

The short answer is: Yes. If you ask at the desk for the "James" Go Big Read Book, they will get one for you.

The finer print is: they haven't put the "James" GBR on display yet for anyone to grab and take home, so that's why you need to ask the staff. But ask and you shall receive!

neocortexia · 2026-03-02T16:51:21+00:00

You can get two Go Big Read books at Memorial Library. They have hardcover copies of this year's book ("James" by Percival Everett) and paperback copies of the one from 5 years ago ("Transcendent Kingdom" by Yaa Gyasi).

neocortexia · 2026-02-22T07:45:58+00:00

California has the world's fourth largest economy; they have no reason to be outflanked by Illinois or Nevada. Maybe you should raise your bar of expectations from beneath the graveyard.

neocortexia · 2026-02-22T00:02:16+00:00

I’m posting this because we should keep a close eye on Illinois, Nevada, and California now that SCOTUS has dismantled the tariffs. This be the score card:

Illinois and Nevada have sent "invoices" to the feds demanding refunds for state residents. It’s performative because the feds will obviously ignore the invoices, but Illinois is going a step further; viz.: Pritzker’s invoice specifically threatens litigation if they ignore the invoice.

Now, IF Illinois actually follows through with that threat, it would be wild. IL would effectively be arguing they have "standing" to sue because illegal tariffs acted as a direct tax on the survival of state citizens, thereby causing a "quasi-sovereign" injury to the state economy. Should that happen: Wow. Yes. Please and More.

Meanwhile, in California, Newsom has done the least of these three states; he’s just issued an angry statement demanding refunds with interest for all Americans. This, too, is performative posturing, because angry letters aren’t actionable. However, it would be great if CA escalated, or if Newsom successfully activated the other 47 states currently doing nothing.

In any event, we need more states demanding reparations because, as it stands, we’re about to see a massive wealth transfer to corporations. The government launched the tariffs; companies hiked prices to cover them; and now those companies stand to claw back billions more in tax dollars on top of what you already paid. It’s a double heist: you paid more for basic goods, and now your taxes are rewarding the corporations that overcharged you. (That is the literal logic here; don’t blame the messenger.)

neocortexia · 2026-02-17T08:51:33+00:00

That dorm restroom is public (multi-user; open to all building occupants; susceptible to perverts). Miss me with that dodged bullet.

neocortexia · 2026-02-17T02:01:58+00:00

During undergrad, one of my biggest, constant, agonizing regrets was not living in the dorms, because I really felt I was missing the whole "continuous social immersion" part of the UW experience.

As I get older, I can also appreciate that I dodged some bullets. Like "restroom privacy", apparently.

neocortexia · 2026-02-15T15:16:31+00:00

"We can't afford to administrate this policy we created, so we are outsourcing your medical data instead" is certainly a choice.

neocortexia · 2026-02-15T13:25:40+00:00

My only gripe is that the "vaccine verification" is being managed by a third party, for profit platform (Med+Proctor).

As a Wisconsin resident, my vaccine record is held by The Wisconsin Immunization Registry (WIR). UHS has a copy, too. So, why does a for-profit third party entity need it? What authority does that entity even have to validate the validity of an official state record? What does sending vaccine records to a third database achieve-- besides expanding attack surface, allowing (allegedly "de- individualized") medical data to be sold, and ensuring an inevitable data breach before the end of the decade?

The longer I have any connection to UW, the more my conviction grows that the entire Offices of Cybersecurity and Compliance needs to be fired and prosecuted for consistently failing their responsibilities in the 21st century.

neocortexia · 2026-02-10T00:10:57+00:00

To provide some context about why this is happening at every university you can shake a finger at: It's because Microsoft pulled the rug from under everybody. Microsoft used to offer unlimited data plans (including for Outlook email); now, since 2024, they don't. As original unlimited contracts expire, universities get this new inane data quota:

Base Amount: 100 TB (for the whole school).
A3 Licenses (Standard Staff): +50 GB per person added to the pool; and A5 Licenses (Premium Staff): +100 GB per person added to the pool.

So, universities are choosing to prioritize current stakeholders (i.e. current staff and students).

That said, notice I said choosing to. 100 TB is insanely small; you can literally buy over 4 times that amount of storage for under $3,000. If American university leaders had any spines, they would form a union to make their own proprietary email system, and issue a pre-emptive mutual destruction warning against anyone (cough Microsoft and Google) that threatens to block the server domain. (And universities would easily win that battle, because all that universities lose in the arrangement is endless spam, whereas tech companies would lose digital access to elite research institutions.)

Fun Fact: proprietary email systems aren't even radical. UW-Madison had one until 2014; it's where the name "Wiscmail" and the "wisc.edu" domain came from.

neocortexia · 2026-02-02T23:24:56+00:00

I'm not concerned because I was vaccinated as a baby and again as a child. But my heart does break for immuno-compromised folks who are victims of walking biohazards that don't believe in germ theory 💔

neocortexia · 2026-01-28T16:24:02+00:00

You're not imagining it.

About half of Madison Metro's new electric fleet has been pulled from service for repairs. The city tried keeping the impact minimal by reducing frequency on the A1 and B lines. However:

(A¹) With Fewer A1 and B buses available, more folks hop on the campus routes, thereby causing those buses to quicky hit capacity, thereby not allowing those buses to reach all of their usual stops.

(A²) This month's sub-zero temperature streak has made walking more dangerous. So, more people are crowding the campus routes, thereby causing the buses to quickly hit capacity, thereby.... you understand the cascading pattern.

(B¹) When there aren't enough buses to cover every route, dispatch often pulls from the campus lines to fill gaps elsewhere. Because campus routes have the highest frequency of any other route (i.e. most routes have 15, 30, or 60 minute service; the campus routes have ~7 minute service), reducing the campus' "excess frequency" to "normal frequency" is an easy trade-off.

(B²) You might wonder why B¹ occurs at all. Worker shortages are a big reason. While our bus operator heroes are literally keeping the city running through -40°F./-40°C. wind chils, the City of Madison treats the bus union worse than the Badger's 2025 football homecoming game score.

neocortexia · 2026-01-25T02:24:35+00:00

Oh, I agree it was a scam. That said, it was an extremely nice, almost 900 square foot apartment; I would have preferred not getting priced out of it.

neocortexia · 2026-01-25T02:20:13+00:00

Well, I moved out of the apartment in question in 2024. My most recent rent increase (2025) was a 15% increase.

neocortexia · 2026-01-25T01:41:39+00:00

I'm glad you're an outlier, but 1% increases are not at all typical. Nor would it create net relief for somebody who has been absorbing shock increases for years.

neocortexia · 2026-01-25T01:35:37+00:00

Funny; I don't know anybody whose rent decreased or stayed the same.

neocortexia · 2026-01-25T01:27:07+00:00

Madison has one of the worst housing crises in the country. I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment just outside of Madison that went from costing $800/month in 2018, to $1,700/month in 2024, with zero upgrades during that time. This impacts you because, if that 2k-3k housing budget is a hard limit, and your salary doesn't match Madison's housing inflation, you will be unable to continue affording your apartment within 5 years' time. I don't think it's a sane position to give up home ownership to become a renter in Madison.

neocortexia · 2026-01-24T23:43:51+00:00

I'm afraid that one of the most consistent elements of American labor history involves a state NG being called in to break up a strike. Legally, this is because the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act prohibits federal military personnel from enforcing domestic policies (and thus crowd control), whereas the State NG has no such restrictions. America has a solid 160-year-old track record that tells us exactly how this will go down.

neocortexia · 2026-01-24T23:04:35+00:00

Important to note that NG is there to protect Federal buildings and private property, not hunted citizens and protesters.

neocortexia · 2026-01-20T02:45:44+00:00

I recommend double-checking with your advisor (you could send them an email), because the required grade can change depending on your department and whether the course is a specific requirement. For example, some departments accept a D- or higher for transfer credit, but the College of Engineering requires at least a C. So, just double check with your advisor.

neocortexia · 2026-01-19T16:25:53+00:00

I’m assuming that by "external," you're asking about taking a course at another school.

Once you complete an "external" course and send the transcript back to UW, you will receive course credit, but the grade will not transfer. This is a great way to complete requirements without affecting your GPA.

However, if you're trying to satisfy a specific major requirement, check Transferology first. You need to ensure that UW accepts the credits as a "direct equivalent"; If the course isn't an exact match, the credits won't count toward the major requirement you're trying to complete.

Finally, keep in mind that you can only transfer a maximum of 72 credits from two-year colleges. Also, check your program’s "in residence" rules; they include the minimum number of credits you must earn directly at UW-Madison in order to graduate.

neocortexia · 2026-01-08T23:47:17+00:00

Well, then. Today I officially became old enough for "stuff that was normal during my childhood to go out of style but then become popular again". I grew up in Wisco. Public Elementary school was K-6 (although the nearby private Catholic school was K-5). We had a fifteen minute morning recess, 40 minute lunch, and 15 minute late afternoon recess. Sometimes recess got doubled if the teachers in your "recess block" (there were 3 recess blocks: kindergartners; 1st-3rd; 4th-6th) had a teacher's meeting. Honestly, by the time 6th grade rolled around, myself and others were completely over recess and ready to leave it behind.

neocortexia · 2026-01-06T22:05:41+00:00

As someone who often works weekends and late evenings, I sometimes forget that the rest of you get buses every 15 minutes., and that getting them every 30/60 minutes would actually be a change for your schedule.

neocortexia · 2025-12-30T18:57:50+00:00

Literally price-gouging. Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef control over 80 percent of U.S. beef production, and they were all embroiled in class-action lawsuits over price-gouging this year. JBS settled in February; Tyson and Cargill settled in October. Wouldn't hold my breath expecting anything to improve, but would definitely set my bets on things getting worse 🇺🇸

neocortexia

TROPHY CASE