"Why isn't anyone think about how his policies are affecting multimillionaires and billionaires!!!"

It's a great question, considering that Mamdani is relying on them to fund his pet projects.

What if they choose not to, which they easily can.

I seriously considered taking a job in Norway. Love the people, but the weather where I would have been in unreal. I don't know that I could do that year round. My buddy is sailing around Lufoten right now, and he sent me pictures. You think they would have been in Antarctica or something.

"The United States is considered a capitalist country, not a democratic socialist one. Its economy is primarily driven by free markets and private property ownership, though the government utilizes certain social programs like Medicare and Social Security, making it a mixed-market economy."

Dude, I've never been to a country that didn't fit this same description. Including the Scandinavian countries.

"Millionaires, billionaires and especially the "worlds first trillionaire" have done nothing beneficial for society and are actively destroying the world."

Really? Starlink, Tesla, and SpaceX have not benefitting society?

I think there are a lot of Ukrainians who would disagree with that statement.

And I could care less about millionaires, billionaires, and trillionaires. You're the one who gets yer panties in a wad over their existence.

"If you provide good schools and healthcare to poor people, they can grow up to do amazing things for society."

Like Larry Ellison?

I guess you're right. The US is a Democratic Socialist country.

"Nor has any poor person done anything beneficial for society. Nor has any government official done anything beneficial for society and are actively destroying the world you used to know."

I would start by saying that the vast majority of us all started off poor. I didn't have a single friend in college who didn't live in an apartment. State school guy.

I would direct you towards the socioeconomic J-Curve, which is basically the delta between what people think they deserve, and what they can achieve through their own merits. Revolutions start when those who think they deserve something don't recieve it. It's generally not the poor. It's the so-called "educated class" that resents that society has not rewarded them in the way they think they deserve to be rewarded.

"His desires to prevent Americans from gaining the benefits he's had is laughable."

I do?

My daughter is following in my footsteps. Are you suggesting I am against that? Or that any of her fellow cadets shouldn't be allowed?

Or...are you saying that anyone with the rare talent of being able to draw breath should be entitled to the same benefits as someone who joins the military?

Ready? Go!

"He collects a paycheck from the democratic socialist system he signed up for when he was a kid."

In the US?

If the US is already a Democratic Socialist country...why do you keep whining?

"It was obviously needed. Showing the way for other democrats."

To do what? Win in the primaries and lose in the general?

"But Mamdami is obviously a different kind of Democrat. Shaking up the party. Trying to and actually helping people."

Do you think Mamdani's proposed and/or implemented policies are hurting some while helping others, or is it helping all with a neutral effect?

"If they have the work available and choose to work longer then that's called "overtime"."

OK, but even that has an effect on the unit cost structure. I'm a salary guy, so I don't know how it works, but it used to be that overtime was 150% of hourly rate. What does that do for labor costs, particularly with in-demand professionals?

For doctors and nurses, it would seem like it would only drive up the cost of healthcare. And it's not like you can easily recruit more of either. Same with airline pilots.

"32 hour work week? That's probably the most interesting part of anything in the article. Not sure how that can be implemented but like with anything...you have to start somewhere."

I'm guessing this is shift-workers only. I can't imagine that high-demand workers like doctors, nurses, airline pilots, etc, would be limited to 32 hours per week.

"Beautiful places, generous government programs... but beautiful in the frozen wasteland for long periods of time kind of way."

Love the people, it's pretty, but it has the worst weather on earth. No kidding.

I was up there in may and booked a cabin in the mountains I was going to hike in to. My buddy said "nope. you'll die."

He has told me that on several occasions.

"Norway over Ivory Coast as we speak. I wonder if Megan Kelly does not mourn the lack of immigration from Ivory Coast to the US?"

ROW!!!

"Then move ---- ----. We won't miss you at all."

Norway needs people. You could likely get a job in Tromso or Vardo with little problem.

Most of the low-skilled people working in Norway are from Africa. At least in Northern Norway. I don't really like it up there. I think they probably like it even less.

"Is it illegal in Germany? Or is it just certain historic homes not allowed (without heavy permit fees)?"

No. It is not illegal.

A lot of the new builds have A/C. It's the older ones, those built prior to the last 3-5 years that don't. And European homes don't have central heating, which means they can't have central cooling.

I do question why a house with heated floors couldn't have cooled floors though.

Anyone here eaten whale? I think it's more popular in NOR than Lutefisk. Stockfish seems to be the most popular.

I have a chunk of smoked whale in my fridge right now.

"All the ---- you NEED to survive in Norway is the same price, cheaper or free."

Telling me you've never been to Norway without telling me you've never been to Norway.

C. Oops.

Daily forecasts are between 30-35C for the next ten days or so.

It was 41F here in Kaiserslautern on Saturday and Sunday. And NO air conditioning.

As an answer to the Bluesky question...raise your hand if you want the US to implement a VAT.

In Norway, it's 25%. The cheapest beer I've seen at a Restaurant is 10 EUR.

I went to go buy a small notebook at a stationary shop when I was there last month. It was 22 EUR.

Now you know the answer.

We do have Norwegians coming to the US. There is a mixed Dutch/Norwegian F-35 squadron at Luke Air Force Base in AZ. There is a Finnish F-35 squadron in Little Rock, Arkansas.

You'd be surprised how many Norwegian fighter pilots have US passports. A lot of them are legacy. Their dads were pilots, and so they spent a lot of their youth in Tucson.

One of the Norwegian pilots I work with grew up almost entirely in the US. His dad was a USAF F-15 pilot. Mom was a Viking.

"Your "Nightmare" is the rest of the world finding ways to counter the Militarism and Arrogance of US Policy."

Dude, if I saw a Jellyfish swarm anywhere, it would freak me out. My first impression was either hallucination, or more UFO ----.

A swarm of Jellyfish is known as a "smack," BTW. I found that out.

When we first received the reports, which were classified at the time, we were like "WTF." Nightmare fuel.

The back-seater is actually taking over as a division chief in my unit.

I also worked with Tom Bussiere, another 4* who unexpectedly left after Trump took office. You can't blame these guys for leaving. Their credibility is where their real authority lies. Lose that, and you become a star-studded joke.