#Tech workforce solutions

[enfycon054]

Technology talent sourcing

In a world where diversity and inclusion are more important than ever, it is crucial for companies to prioritize workplace equality. As we look ahead to 2024, supporting women in the workforce is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic business decision. In this blog post, we will explore what companies need to know about creating an environment that empowers and champions women in the workplace. From closing the gender pay gap to fostering inclusive leadership opportunities, let’s dive into how organizations can truly support and uplift all employees for success in the years to come.

[upgradenterprise]

Build Agile, Future-Ready Teams with upGrad Enterprise Talent Fulfillment

Struggling with talent shortages or long recruitment cycles? upGrad Enterprise bridges the gap with its Talent Fulfillment services—offering businesses direct access to pre-trained, deployment-ready candidates across multiple domains. From talent mapping and onboarding to learning interventions, our solutions are designed to meet your evolving business needs. Enhance your workforce planning through scalable strategies like contingent hiring for tech teams and tech-driven e-learning for companies.

[simulanissolutions]

Future-Proof Your Business with Simulanis Immersive Tech

The business landscape is evolving rapidly, and staying ahead requires cutting-edge technology. Companies that adopt immersive solutions like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and the Metaverse are leading the way in innovation, efficiency, and engagement. At Simulanis, we specialize in providing immersive tech solutions that transform industries, enhance workforce training, and revolutionize customer interactions.

Why Immersive Technology is the Future of Business?

Traditional methods of training, collaboration, and marketing are becoming obsolete. Immersive technology offers realistic, interactive, and data-driven experiences that drive business growth and operational excellence. Here’s how:

✅ Revolutionize Employee Training

Outdated training methods can’t match the efficiency of VR and AR-powered simulations. With Simulanis immersive training solutions, employees can learn faster, practice safely, and enhance skill retention through realistic, hands-on virtual experiences.

✅ Enhanced Product Demonstrations & Marketing

Customers today demand interactive and engaging experiences. AR and VR allow businesses to showcase products in 3D environments, enabling virtual try-ons, 360-degree product views, and immersive storytelling—driving higher conversions and customer satisfaction.

✅ Boost Operational Efficiency & Safety

Industries like manufacturing, logistics, and construction rely on precision and safety. VR-based training and AR-powered assistance help workers understand machinery, follow safety protocols, and reduce operational risks—leading to higher productivity and fewer errors.

✅ Immersive Collaboration & Remote Work Solutions

The future of work is digital. Metaverse-powered virtual workspaces allow businesses to host meetings, train employees, and collaborate seamlessly—bridging the gap between remote teams and in-office environments.

✅ Seamless Integration with the Metaverse

The Metaverse is redefining business engagement, creating virtual worlds where brands can interact with customers, conduct training, and host immersive events. Simulanis helps businesses navigate the Metaverse, creating tailored solutions that enhance digital presence.

Industries Benefiting from Simulanis Immersive Tech

🔹 Manufacturing & Industrial Training – VR-based simulations for workforce upskilling, machine operation training, and safety compliance. 🔹 Healthcare & Medical Training – VR-powered surgical training, AR-assisted diagnostics, and medical simulations. 🔹 Education & E-Learning – Immersive VR and AR-based learning experiences for enhanced student engagement. 🔹 Retail & E-Commerce – 3D product visualization, AR-powered virtual try-ons, and interactive shopping experiences. 🔹 Real Estate & Architecture – Virtual property walkthroughs, 3D space planning, and immersive design presentations. 🔹 Automotive & Engineering – VR for vehicle prototyping, testing, and simulation-based driver training.

Why Choose Simulanis?

At Simulanis, we are pioneers in VR, AR, MR, and Metaverse development, helping businesses unlock the full potential of immersive technology. Our solutions are tailored to enhance efficiency, improve learning outcomes, and drive business growth.

🚀 The future is immersive—are you ready to lead the way? 🚀

📩 Contact Simulanis today and explore how VR, AR, and the Metaverse can future-proof your business!

Visit Website: simulanis.com

[v2softunofficial]

What Does a Good IT Consultant Do? Find Out Here!

In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses rely heavily on technology to maintain efficiency, security, and competitiveness. However, not every company has the expertise to manage complex IT infrastructures, optimize software solutions, or handle cybersecurity threats. This is where IT consulting & staffing solutions come into play. An experienced IT consultant helps businesses strategize, implement, and maintain technology solutions tailored to their needs. But what exactly does a good IT consultant do? Let’s find out.

The Role of an IT Consultant

An IT consultant provides expert advice and innovative solutions to help businesses streamline their technological operations. From assessing current IT systems to recommending upgrades and integrating new technologies, they play a crucial role in improving a company’s IT ecosystem. Here’s what makes a good IT consultant stand out:

1. Technology Assessment & Strategy Development

A skilled IT consultant begins by evaluating a company’s existing IT infrastructure. They analyze software applications, hardware components, cybersecurity protocols, and data management systems to identify gaps and areas for improvement. Based on this assessment, they create a customized IT strategy that aligns with the company’s business objectives.

2. Implementing Generative AI in Staffing Solutions

One of the latest advancements in the IT industry is the use of generative AI in staffing solutions. AI-powered systems can streamline recruitment by analyzing resumes, predicting candidate success, and automating communication. IT consultants help staffing agencies integrate AI-driven tools to enhance efficiency and accuracy in hiring processes. This is particularly beneficial for companies facing recruitment shortages, as AI can quickly identify the best-fit candidates and reduce time-to-hire.

3. Cybersecurity & Risk Management

A good IT consultant ensures that businesses have robust cybersecurity measures in place. From setting up firewalls and encrypting sensitive data to conducting regular security audits, they protect organizations from cyber threats. With increasing data breaches and hacking incidents, companies must rely on IT consultants to maintain compliance and safeguard customer information.

4. Optimizing IT Consulting & Staffing Solutions

Many businesses struggle with hiring qualified IT professionals. IT consulting & staffing solutions help organizations find the right talent for both short-term and long-term needs. IT consultants work with staffing firms like Empower Staffing Inc to match businesses with skilled IT professionals who fit their specific project requirements. These solutions are particularly useful for companies looking for contract staffing services in India, where demand for IT expertise is on the rise.

IT Consultants & Staffing: Addressing Recruitment Shortages

The tech industry constantly faces talent shortages, making it challenging for companies to find skilled IT professionals. IT consultants play a vital role in addressing recruitment shortages by leveraging AI, data analytics, and innovative staffing strategies to fill vacancies efficiently. Here’s how they tackle staffing challenges:

1. AI-Driven Recruitment Processes

With the rise of generative AI in staffing solutions, IT consultants help companies implement AI-powered recruitment tools. These systems assess candidate skills, predict job performance, and streamline onboarding, making hiring more efficient.

2. Contract Staffing Services in India

For businesses looking to expand operations in India, contract staffing services in India offer an effective solution. IT consultants connect businesses with reliable contract staffing agencies that provide temporary IT professionals for specific projects. This helps companies scale quickly without the burden of long-term hiring commitments.

3. Permanent Workforce Solutions

While contract staffing is essential for short-term needs, companies also require a strong permanent workforce to ensure long-term stability. Permanent workforce solutions provided by IT consultants help businesses identify and hire full-time employees who align with company goals and culture.

Benefits of Hiring an IT Consultant

Working with an IT consultant offers several advantages, including:

Cost Savings: IT consultants help businesses reduce costs by optimizing technology investments and preventing costly IT failures.

Expert Guidance: They provide industry-specific insights and tailor solutions to meet business needs.

Efficiency Boost: By automating processes and integrating AI, IT consultants enhance operational efficiency.

Security Enhancement: They ensure compliance with cybersecurity standards and protect business data.

Conclusion

A good IT consultant does much more than troubleshoot technical issues—they drive digital transformation, enhance security, and optimize staffing solutions. With the growing demand for IT professionals, leveraging IT consulting & staffing solutions is essential for business success. Whether integrating generative AI in staffing solutions, overcoming recruitment shortages, or utilizing contract staffing services in India, an experienced IT consultant ensures that businesses remain competitive in the digital age.

If your company is looking for expert IT guidance, consider partnering with a reputable IT consulting firm like Empower Staffing Inc. Their expertise in permanent workforce solutions and contract staffing can help you build a robust IT team for future success.

[quarecresourcespvtltd]

The Way We Work Has Changed – Now It's Time to Change the Way We Hire

The way we work has evolved, and so should hiring. Traditional recruitment methods no longer fit today’s dynamic workforce. Discover how innovative hiring strategies can help you attract top talent, improve retention, and build a resilient team in a changing job market.

[sierraconsult]

Engaging with Monday.com to offer CRM services opens up a range of efficient customer relationship management solutions for businesses. As a partner, you can utilize Monday.com’s advanced CRM platform to provide personalized solutions that enhance operational efficiency and productivity. Whether focusing on customer interaction management, sales process optimization, or team collaboration improvement, collaborating with Monday.com allows you to tailor CRM strategies to suit the unique requirements of your clients.

[david-villeda1]

CloudApper AI Recruiter for UKG Pro & Ready Recruiting

Explore the power of CloudApper's AI Recruiter, now integrated with UKG, to revolutionize your hiring process. Our AI recruiter simplifies applications and enhances candidate screening, offering 100% customizable solutions to meet your business needs. Traditional recruiting systems often create disengaging and burdensome experiences for candidates, leading to application abandonment and reducing the chances of finding the right people. CloudApper AI Recruiter balances finding qualified applicants with enhancing your employer brand, all while achieving your cost-to-hire and time-to-hire goals. Watch now to see how our cutting-edge AI technology can accelerate your recruitment process.

Learn More: https://shorturl.at/qqReg

For Demo: https://shorturl.at/eu6oD

[annarcho-nicolesmith]

Silicon Valley's Fish Killing Machine

There's a tech company called "Shinkei Systems" that created an "AI powered fish killing machine" (they're using an automated machine to do ike jime, a traditional Japanese slaughter technique where a fish is killed instantly via a knife to the brain). Here's a picture of their machine:

Isn't that metal box such a great way for a living creature to die? Shinkei systems claims this automated death machine is "more humane" than error prone humans, who of course, sometimes miss the mark when severing a fish's brain from its spinal cord.

If the idea of automated animal slaughter doesn't freak you out enough, take a look at their promotional material where they promise to "eliminate 85% of the workforce" wherever their machine is used.

And just to wrap this story up in a bow, the founder is a guy named Saif Khawaja who retweets a lot about "DNA based IQ testing" and other race-science nonsense:

So yeah....a tech company run by a race obsessed skull-measurer decided the most pressing issue facing the world was not enough cheap sushi-grade salmon. The solution, of course, isn't to allow the ocean's depleted fisheries to regain their natural levels by reducing commercial fishing, it's to make a robot that can kill fish in a fancy Japanese way so people who eat industrialy farmed animals can feel less bad about it. And why not put a bunch of fishermen out of work while you're at it? The solution to our ever alienated world is clearly removing any human contact in the food supply and ceding that role to a machine. Clearly, the faster we can kill animals the better; perhaps we can kill them quickly before any concerns about the rapid destruction of the earth's aquatic ecosystems arise out of our collective haunted consciousness.

[jackied0minguez]

Remote Work Redefined: TopDevz CEO Ashkan Rajaee on the Future of Flexible Business

In a world where remote work has rapidly shifted from a temporary solution to a long-term strategy, TopDevz CEO Ashkan Rajaee is leading by example. Speaking ahead of the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show, Rajaee shared insights on how his company has seamlessly integrated remote operations into its DNA—and why he believes this model isn’t just a passing trend.

A New Kind of Software Solutions

TopDevz isn’t your typical tech firm. Comprising an elite team of software developers, designers, project managers, and quality assurance specialists based in the United States and Canada, the company tackles the unique challenges that conventional off-the-shelf software can’t resolve. Rajaee explains that while standard solutions can cover 80–90% of business needs, the remaining nuances often cause significant inefficiencies. TopDevz fills this gap by offering custom solutions designed to address those critical details, ensuring that their clients achieve peak operational efficiency. With an impressive 96% workforce retention rate and 63% of their business coming through referrals, the company’s model speaks volumes about its effectiveness and employee satisfaction.

Mastering Remote Operations

Long before the global pivot to remote work, TopDevz was already thriving in a fully virtual environment. Rajaee emphasizes that the success of remote operations lies in having the right infrastructure and clear communication channels. “Working remotely isn’t as simple as logging in from home,” he notes. “It demands disciplined processes and a commitment to best practices—elements we’ve honed over the years.” His team’s seamless transition during the pandemic only reinforced the idea that a well-organized remote workforce can outperform traditional office setups.

The Indefinite Future of Remote Work

For TopDevz, remote work isn’t a temporary workaround—it’s the future. Rajaee envisions a business landscape where companies can lower overhead costs while empowering employees to work from anywhere. This flexible model not only drives client satisfaction by reducing expenses but also enriches employees’ lives by allowing them to choose environments that inspire creativity and well-being.

Rajaee even shares a personal touch: his passion for working from a yacht. Equipped with reliable Wi-Fi and satellite services, his unconventional workspace symbolizes the freedom that remote work offers. “If your current job doesn’t support the lifestyle you aspire to, it’s time to consider other opportunities,” he advises. His own journey from renting a yacht to eventually making it part of his regular work life underscores the importance of aligning one’s career with personal values and ambitions.

Empowering the Next Generation of Remote Entrepreneurs

Beyond leading TopDevz, Rajaee is passionate about sharing his remote work philosophy. Through his “RemotePreneur” initiative, he provides aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals with a playbook for building successful remote companies. This resource addresses the nuanced challenges of remote business management—from overcoming financial stagnation in traditional roles to confronting the inevitable criticisms that come with venturing off the beaten path. Rajaee’s message is clear: true freedom in work comes from rethinking established norms and embracing the possibilities that remote operations can offer.

Embracing a New Era

As businesses around the globe continue to navigate the evolving work landscape, Ashkan Rajaee’s vision serves as a powerful reminder that remote work, when executed with precision and passion, can unlock unprecedented opportunities. His leadership at TopDevz demonstrates that with the right approach, remote operations can not only sustain but also drive innovation, employee satisfaction, and overall business growth.

In a time when flexibility and adaptability are more important than ever, Rajaee’s insights offer a compelling roadmap for companies eager to thrive in a remote-first world.

[reasonsforhope]

Determined to use her skills to fight inequality, South African computer scientist Raesetje Sefala set to work to build algorithms flagging poverty hotspots - developing datasets she hopes will help target aid, new housing, or clinics.

From crop analysis to medical diagnostics, artificial intelligence (AI) is already used in essential tasks worldwide, but Sefala and a growing number of fellow African developers are pioneering it to tackle their continent's particular challenges.

Local knowledge is vital for designing AI-driven solutions that work, Sefala said.

"If you don't have people with diverse experiences doing the research, it's easy to interpret the data in ways that will marginalise others," the 26-year old said from her home in Johannesburg.

Africa is the world's youngest and fastest-growing continent, and tech experts say young, home-grown AI developers have a vital role to play in designing applications to address local problems.

"For Africa to get out of poverty, it will take innovation and this can be revolutionary, because it's Africans doing things for Africa on their own," said Cina Lawson, Togo's minister of digital economy and transformation.

"We need to use cutting-edge solutions to our problems, because you don't solve problems in 2022 using methods of 20 years ago," Lawson told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a video interview from the West African country.

Digital rights groups warn about AI's use in surveillance and the risk of discrimination, but Sefala said it can also be used to "serve the people behind the data points". ...

'Delivering Health'

As COVID-19 spread around the world in early 2020, government officials in Togo realized urgent action was needed to support informal workers who account for about 80% of the country's workforce, Lawson said.

"If you decide that everybody stays home, it means that this particular person isn't going to eat that day, it's as simple as that," she said.

In 10 days, the government built a mobile payment platform - called Novissi - to distribute cash to the vulnerable.

The government paired up with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) think tank and the University of California, Berkeley, to build a poverty map of Togo using satellite imagery.

Using algorithms with the support of GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that uses AI to distribute cash transfers, the recipients earning less than $1.25 per day and living in the poorest districts were identified for a direct cash transfer.

"We texted them saying if you need financial help, please register," Lawson said, adding that beneficiaries' consent and data privacy had been prioritized.

The entire program reached 920,000 beneficiaries in need.

"Machine learning has the advantage of reaching so many people in a very short time and delivering help when people need it most," said Caroline Teti, a Kenya-based GiveDirectly director.

'Zero Representation'

Aiming to boost discussion about AI in Africa, computer scientists Benjamin Rosman and Ulrich Paquet co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba - a week-long gathering that started in South Africa - together with other colleagues in 2017.

"You used to get to the top AI conferences and there was zero representation from Africa, both in terms of papers and people, so we're all about finding cost effective ways to build a community," Paquet said in a video call.

In 2019, 27 smaller Indabas - called IndabaX - were rolled out across the continent, with some events hosting as many as 300 participants.

One of these offshoots was IndabaX Uganda, where founder Bruno Ssekiwere said participants shared information on using AI for social issues such as improving agriculture and treating malaria.

Another outcome from the South African Indaba was Masakhane - an organization that uses open-source, machine learning to translate African languages not typically found in online programs such as Google Translate.

On their site, the founders speak about the South African philosophy of "Ubuntu" - a term generally meaning "humanity" - as part of their organization's values.

"This philosophy calls for collaboration and participation and community," reads their site, a philosophy that Ssekiwere, Paquet, and Rosman said has now become the driving value for AI research in Africa.

Inclusion

Now that Sefala has built a dataset of South Africa's suburbs and townships, she plans to collaborate with domain experts and communities to refine it, deepen inequality research and improve the algorithms.

"Making datasets easily available opens the door for new mechanisms and techniques for policy-making around desegregation, housing, and access to economic opportunity," she said.

African AI leaders say building more complete datasets will also help tackle biases baked into algorithms.

"Imagine rolling out Novissi in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast ... then the algorithm will be trained with understanding poverty in West Africa," Lawson said.

"If there are ever ways to fight bias in tech, it's by increasing diverse datasets ... we need to contribute more," she said.

But contributing more will require increased funding for African projects and wider access to computer science education and technology in general, Sefala said.

Despite such obstacles, Lawson said "technology will be Africa's savior".

"Let's use what is cutting edge and apply it straight away or as a continent we will never get out of poverty," she said. "It's really as simple as that."

-via Good Good Good, February 16, 2022

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Tim Eagan, Cagle Cartoons

* * * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 10, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Mar 11, 2025

Last week’s dramatically dropping stock market prompted Fox News Channel personality Maria Bartiromo to ask Trump in an interview that aired yesterday if he was expecting a recession. Trump answered: “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.”

Yesterday evening, on Air Force One, a reporter asked President Donald Trump if he is worried about a recession. “Who knows?” the president answered. “All I know is this: We’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money. I’m telling you, you just watch. We’re going to have jobs. We’re going to have open factories. It’s going to be great.”

Today the stock market plunged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 prominent companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges fell by 890 points, more than 2%. The S&P 500, which tracks the stocks of 500 of the largest companies listed in the U.S., fell by 2.7%. The Nasdaq Composite, which tracks tech stocks, fell by 4%. Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla closed down more than 15%, dropping more than 45% this year. Tonight, as the Asian markets opened on the other side of the world, the slide continued.

According to MarketWatch, this is the worst start to a presidential term since 2009, when the country was in the subprime mortgage crisis. Trump did not inherit an economy mired in crisis, of course; he inherited what was, at the time, the strongest economy in the world. That booming economy is no more: Goldman is now predicting higher inflation and slower growth than it had previously forecast, while its forecast for Europe is now stronger than it had been.

Trump has always been a dodgy salesman more than anything, telling supporters what they want to hear. He insisted that the strong economy under former president Joe Biden was, in fact, a disaster that only he could fix. In October, Trump told attendees at a rally: “We will begin a new era of soaring incomes. Skyrocketing wealth. Millions and millions of new jobs and a booming middle class. We are going to boom like we’ve never boomed before.”

That sales pitch got Trump away from the criminal cases against him and back into the White House. Now, though, he needs to make the sales pitch fit into a reality that it doesn’t match. Trump is “steering the country toward a downturn with his tariffs and cuts to spending and the federal workforce—for no logical reason,” Washington Post economic reporter Heather Long wrote on March 6. “Trump’s whipsaw actions have put businesses and consumers on edge,” she noted. If they stop spending at the same time that the government slashes jobs and spending, a downward spiral could lead to a recession. “Trump is inciting an economic storm,” Long wrote. “The big question is why he’s doing this.”

One answer might be that Trump’s top priority is the extension of the 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, at the same time that he has also promised to cut the deficit. Those two things are utterly at odds: the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending the tax cuts will cost the country more than $4 trillion over the next ten years.

Tariffs appear to have been Trump’s workaround for that incompatibility. He claimed that tariffs would shift the burden of funding the U.S. government to foreign countries. When economists reiterated that tariffs are paid by U.S. consumers and would drive up prices and slow growth, he insisted they were wrong. Increasingly, tariffs seem to have become for him not just the solution to his economic dilemma, but also a symbol of American strength.

“[T]ariffs are not just about protecting American jobs,” Trump told Congress last week. “They are about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and it is happening and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we are OK with that.”

After watching Trump talk to Fox News Channel host Bret Baier in mid-February, Will Saletan of The Bulwark noted that Trump seemed truly to believe that tariffs would bring in “tremendous amounts of money.” For that, as well as his apparent conviction that Palestinians should evacuate Gaza so the U.S. could “take over” and develop the real estate there, and that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state, and so on, Saletan concluded “Donald Trump is Delusional.”

Another reason for Trump’s dogged determination to impose tariffs despite the pain they are inflicting on Americans might lie in James Fallows’s observation in Breaking the News after the president’s speech to Congress that Trump’s mental acuity is slipping. Fallows noted that Trump’s vocabulary has shrunk markedly since his first term and he appears to be falling back on “more primitive and predictable” phrases. Tonight the president appeared to be moving back in time, as well, advertising the availability of the first season of “the Emmy nominated ORIGINAL APPRENTICE STARRING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP.”

The White House said today in a statement: “Since President Trump was elected, industry leaders have responded to President Trump’s America First economic agenda of tariffs, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy with trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of new jobs. President Trump delivered historic job, wage, and investment growth in his first term, and is set to do so again in his second term.”

As the administration’s economic policies are rocking the economy, the administration’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Syrian-born Palestinian activist who figured prominently in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University last April, seems designed to rock society. According to Democracy Now, Khalil is an Algerian citizen, but he holds a U.S. green card and is married to a U.S. citizen who is 8 months pregnant.

Shortly after he took office, Trump issued an executive order saying he would revoke the student visas of anyone he claimed sympathized with Hamas. On Saturday, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Khalil. Khalil’s lawyer said that ICE agents claimed they were acting on the orders of the State Department to revoke Khalil’s student visa, apparently unaware that Khalil, who graduated from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December 2024, is a lawful permanent resident of the United States. When his wife showed officers documents proving that status, the lawyer said, an officer said they were revoking his green card instead. He is apparently being held in Louisiana.

The revocation of a green card is very rare. The Associated Press noted that the Department of Homeland Security can begin the process of deportation for lawful permanent residents who are connected to alleged criminal activity. But Khalil hasn’t been charged with a crime. Nik Popli of Time magazine notes that a green card holder can be deported for supporting terrorist groups, but in that case the government must have material evidence. A Homeland Security spokesperson did not offer any such evidence, saying simply that Khalil’s arrest was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” and that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

That is, the Trump administration has arrested and detained a legal resident for expressing an opinion that Trump officials don’t like, likely using Khalil to launch this extraordinary attack on the First Amendment because they don’t expect Americans to care deeply about his fate. Once the principle is established that the government can arrest and jail protesters, though, officials will use it to silence opposition broadly. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump posted just after noon. “We know there are more students at Columbia who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”

Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) posted: “This is illegal, and it endangers the rights of all Americans. In this country, people must be free to express their views—left or right, popular or unpopular—without being detained or punished by the government.” On this basic principle, Americans across the political spectrum appear to agree. Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter was one of those who stepped back from the idea of arrests and deportations of those expressing opinions. “There’s almost no one I don’t want to deport,” she posted, “but, unless they’ve committed a crime, isn’t this a violation of the first amendment?”

Today, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered that Khalil “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” and ordered a hearing on Wednesday.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[misfitwashere]

March 10, 2025 

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 11

Last week’s dramatically dropping stock market prompted Fox News Channel personality Maria Bartiromo to ask Trump in an interview that aired yesterday if he was expecting a recession. Trump answered: “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.”

Yesterday evening, on Air Force One, a reporter asked President Donald Trump if he is worried about a recession. “Who knows?” the president answered. “All I know is this: We’re going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money. I’m telling you, you just watch. We’re going to have jobs. We’re going to have open factories. It’s going to be great.”

Today the stock market plunged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 prominent companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges fell by 890 points, more than 2%. The S&P 500, which tracks the stocks of 500 of the largest companies listed in the U.S., fell by 2.7%. The Nasdaq Composite, which tracks tech stocks, fell by 4%. Shares of Elon Musk’s Tesla closed down more than 15%, dropping more than 45% this year. Tonight, as the Asian markets opened on the other side of the world, the slide continued.

According to MarketWatch, this is the worst start to a presidential term since 2009, when the country was in the subprime mortgage crisis. Trump did not inherit an economy mired in crisis, of course; he inherited what was, at the time, the strongest economy in the world. That booming economy is no more: Goldman is now predicting higher inflation and slower growth than it had previously forecast, while its forecast for Europe is now stronger than it had been.

Trump has always been a dodgy salesman more than anything, telling supporters what they want to hear. He insisted that the strong economy under former president Joe Biden was, in fact, a disaster that only he could fix. In October, Trump told attendees at a rally: “We will begin a new era of soaring incomes. Skyrocketing wealth. Millions and millions of new jobs and a booming middle class. We are going to boom like we’ve never boomed before.”

That sales pitch got Trump away from the criminal cases against him and back into the White House. Now, though, he needs to make the sales pitch fit into a reality that it doesn’t match. Trump is “steering the country toward a downturn with his tariffs and cuts to spending and the federal workforce—for no logical reason,” Washington Post economic reporter Heather Long wrote on March 6. “Trump’s whipsaw actions have put businesses and consumers on edge,” she noted. If they stop spending at the same time that the government slashes jobs and spending, a downward spiral could lead to a recession. “Trump is inciting an economic storm,” Long wrote. “The big question is why he’s doing this.”

One answer might be that Trump’s top priority is the extension of the 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, at the same time that he has also promised to cut the deficit. Those two things are utterly at odds: the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending the tax cuts will cost the country more than $4 trillion over the next ten years.

Tariffs appear to have been Trump’s workaround for that incompatibility. He claimed that tariffs would shift the burden of funding the U.S. government to foreign countries. When economists reiterated that tariffs are paid by U.S. consumers and would drive up prices and slow growth, he insisted they were wrong. Increasingly, tariffs seem to have become for him not just the solution to his economic dilemma, but also a symbol of American strength.

“[T]ariffs are not just about protecting American jobs,” Trump told Congress last week. “They are about protecting the soul of our country. Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again, and it is happening and it will happen rather quickly. There will be a little disturbance, but we are OK with that.”

After watching Trump talk to Fox News Channel host Bret Baier in mid-February, Will Saletan of The Bulwark noted that Trump seemed truly to believe that tariffs would bring in “tremendous amounts of money.” For that, as well as his apparent conviction that Palestinians should evacuate Gaza so the U.S. could “take over” and develop the real estate there, and that Canada should become the 51st U.S. state, and so on, Saletan concluded “Donald Trump is Delusional.”

Another reason for Trump’s dogged determination to impose tariffs despite the pain they are inflicting on Americans might lie in James Fallows’s observation in Breaking the News after the president’s speech to Congress that Trump’s mental acuity is slipping. Fallows noted that Trump’s vocabulary has shrunk markedly since his first term and he appears to be falling back on “more primitive and predictable” phrases. Tonight the president appeared to be moving back in time, as well, advertising the availability of the first season of “the Emmy nominated ORIGINAL APPRENTICE STARRING PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP.”

The White House said today in a statement: “Since President Trump was elected, industry leaders have responded to President Trump’s America First economic agenda of tariffs, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy with trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of new jobs. President Trump delivered historic job, wage, and investment growth in his first term, and is set to do so again in his second term.”

As the administration’s economic policies are rocking the economy, the administration’s arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old Syrian-born Palestinian activist who figured prominently in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University last April, seems designed to rock society. According to Democracy Now, Khalil is an Algerian citizen, but he holds a U.S. green card and is married to a U.S. citizen who is 8 months pregnant.

Shortly after he took office, Trump issued an executive order saying he would revoke the student visas of anyone he claimed sympathized with Hamas. On Saturday, agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Khalil. Khalil’s lawyer said that ICE agents claimed they were acting on the orders of the State Department to revoke Khalil’s student visa, apparently unaware that Khalil, who graduated from Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs in December 2024, is a lawful permanent resident of the United States. When his wife showed officers documents proving that status, the lawyer said, an officer said they were revoking his green card instead. He is apparently being held in Louisiana.

The revocation of a green card is very rare. The Associated Press noted that the Department of Homeland Security can begin the process of deportation for lawful permanent residents who are connected to alleged criminal activity. But Khalil hasn’t been charged with a crime. Nik Popli of Time magazine notes that a green card holder can be deported for supporting terrorist groups, but in that case the government must have material evidence. A Homeland Security spokesperson did not offer any such evidence, saying simply that Khalil’s arrest was “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism” and that Khalil “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.”

That is, the Trump administration has arrested and detained a legal resident for expressing an opinion that Trump officials don’t like, likely using Khalil to launch this extraordinary attack on the First Amendment because they don’t expect Americans to care deeply about his fate. Once the principle is established that the government can arrest and jail protesters, though, officials will use it to silence opposition broadly. “This is the first arrest of many to come,” Trump posted just after noon. “We know there are more students at Columbia who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it.”

Representative Greg Casar (D-TX) posted: “This is illegal, and it endangers the rights of all Americans. In this country, people must be free to express their views—left or right, popular or unpopular—without being detained or punished by the government.” On this basic principle, Americans across the political spectrum appear to agree. Right-wing pundit Ann Coulter was one of those who stepped back from the idea of arrests and deportations of those expressing opinions. “There’s almost no one I don’t want to deport,” she posted, “but, unless they’ve committed a crime, isn’t this a violation of the first amendment?”

Today, U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman ordered that Khalil “shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” and ordered a hearing on Wednesday.

—

[xenosagaepisodeone]

every big show of "autonomous robots" of the last decade has been a mechanical turk. honda's asimo, and now the gay little thing tesla has just put out. regardless of the smoke and mirrors of this tech, the investorbait that it is designed as and the empty promises it ultimately offers, the consumer demand for mechanical companionship still presses forward. the solution to this is quite simple: a workforce of digital serfs tasked to remotely pantomime the illusion of futuristic luxury. an elderly woman working in a call center-type environment types in an input that spits out an "am i feeling...love?" (modulated to sound as cliche as it reads) from behind the black featureless void of a robot's face screen, the machine stationed thousands of miles away from where she lives. another person in another department remotely oversees (and is monitored, to a prudent degree) the function of it's arm movements, another of chest, and so on. each specialized for their particular role with only superficial overlap between jobs. thousands of people severed from a completely holistic existence, but together, form the ultimate docile robot gf. Johnny Got His Project 2501

[mariacallous]

The glow of the tech bros’ halo is dimming and, in 2025, the computing industry’s sheen of glamor will continue to fade too. While other STEM fields are making strides in broadening participation in their workforces, year after year, computing, a supposedly innovative field, fails to recruit, retain, and respect women and nonbinary workers. For example, precision questioning, abstraction, aggression, sexism, and a disdain for altruism—serving the social good—are a few of the core values driving culture in computing worksites. These values and the ways they are policed via bias, discrimination, and harassment in high-tech companies form the “Bro Code.”

The Bro Code perpetuates high tolerance of sexual harassment. It also contributes to the field’s failure to rectify its stark segregation. Only 21 percent of computer programming positions are held by women. Of that 21 percent, only 2 percent are African American, and only 1 percent are Latina. While sorely underrepresented in the field overall, women are disproportionately affected during industry’s downsizing. For example, nearly 70 percent of those laid off in the 2022 tech layoffs were women. This tracks with my experience in Big Tech. As soon as the company went public, stockholders demanded annual layoffs. For the first two years, the only people terminated in my department were women.

Further, due to their massive wealth and masterful branding, Bro Code bosses believe themselves to be wizards or priests. They lean into authoritarianism, prompted to repress complaints and resistance. Some programmers imitate this behavior. For example, in 2023, tech bros mobbed the Grace Hopper Celebration, the world’s largest conference for women and nonbinary tech workers. Women attendees I spoke with described men at the career expo simply barging in front of them in lines, and some said they were verbally harassed and assaulted.

In 2025, the march toward a future dictated by algorithmic lords will falter. Coalitions between feminist movements and labor activism will increase public scrutiny of tech culture. These efforts will start to crack the Bro Code. Bro Code bosses talk a big game about its socially revolutionary impact, but participants in my research felt thwarted when trying to use their technical skills to serve others. For instance, Lynn reported that the eye-tracking device she developed to help people with disabilities was repurposed for marketing analysis; Shauna’s lab mates nicknamed her “accessibility bitch” when she worked on projects to help those disenfranchised in computing.

As Big Tech continues to deliver empty promises instead of solutions to social ills—while dodging taxes, quashing regulations and fueling a yawning pay inequality gap—the public will continue to grow disenchanted with the industry. In 2025, thwarted altruistic efforts like Shauna’s and Lynn’s will accelerate growing skepticism about computing’s service to humanity.

Disenfranchised tech workers will continue to help us hold Bro Code bosses accountable for not only failing to live up to its widely publicized altruism, but also for their efforts to conceal the social harms of their products. As recent organizing activities by tech workers show, strong coalitions across workers are what scare these reigning elites the most. For example, in 2018, more than 20,000 Google employees across the globe staged a walkout against sexual harassment and systemic racism in the company. In 2025, activism against the militarization, racism, sexism and economic exploitation in the tech industry will skyrocket higher than Bro Code bosses' space jets.

[sierraconsult]

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[aricr]

My thoughts on TED (the planet) and its people (just headcanons)

I had some thoughts/headcanons about TED (the planet + its people).  (Slight spoilers for s2 of Midnight Burger?)

It’s been established that:

An algorithm rules the TEDs. They trust it, and (allegedly) have no real leaders.

They worked on this algorithm for a long time until it learned to improve itself

The education system is geared toward people’s strengths, and the algorithm and presumably authority figures steer kids in the direction of a fitting career, and that will help push the Empire forward.

There used to be rainforests like the ones on earth

THEREFORE (and this is where my headcanons come in)

I think maybe industrialization took hold. They were the Earth before Earth in that way.

The difference is that because they’re a much more advanced civilization, it looks cleaner. They clean up nice and decorate their cities with artificial (and maybe electric/mechanical) trees, plants, etc.  This helps keep the younger population's morale up, while the workforce works to find a solution for their rapidly depleting resources. The algorithm works to train the younger generation and push them toward what they do best individually in a way that helps the workforce continue.

NOW we get into the good stuff

The TEDs got desperate and started looking for....more questionable solutions. 

Eventually, someone gets an idea. It's drastic, and they do some small tests. But it works. 

They start working on a larger model immediately and announce their success to the population; a way to connect their planet to others like it. An age for diplomacy and cultural exchange. Of planets helping each other. A bridge of sorts. My guess is that they were very open about their system of scanning for life on different systems because the corruption hadn’t taken hold yet, at least not completely. Everything would be okay if they followed protocol. If they stuck to the plan. 

A team had already departed to get a head start on construction.

MY THOUGHTS ON THE TEDs AS A PEOPLE/SPECIES (based on my Ted (singular) design and my inspirations behind it)

Building and tech have always been a lot easier for TEDs. Evolutionarily speaking, they can transfer small shocks of electricity from one place to another simply through touch. They're an electric bunch, like electric eels.

My good friend @mostdeviouswizard asked if the shocks are affected by emotions, and the answer is YES! So in my Ted design, his scales/freckles light up, along with sparks from the ends of his antennae. This also applies to other strong emotions and is a defense mechanism (evolutionarily speaking, against prey and such).  

Becoming an Earth expert was a great way for the TEDs to use his expertise to help find resources. He always loved the forests of his planet (or what was left of them). When he realized humans were chopping down their forests and burning through their natural resources, he could see them going the same way they were headed--only they didn't have the advancements of the TEDs. They would doom themselves, and those beautiful resources on their planet. That would explain why he has such strong feelings about life on other planets, especially their forests & other flora. 

I was just drawing and had the cute idea of possible small electric shocks bc I made his little scales/freckles glow blue and then went "......Why do they do that tho."

So naturally, I IMMEDIATELY came up w this lore.