Copernican

Cable is dead. Long live the cable bundle. Curious to see the pricing and if the bundle only includes ad tiered options.

I always see advice about which software to use and there's always the advice that FreeTaxUSA is the best bang for your buck and does everything you need for when your taxes are "simple." I've used and thought it was great for years. But as my career has grown and no longer filed as a single I've begun to question when my taxes and earnings become "complicated" to the point where it is worthwhile to have a professional do my taxes. Are there general recommended bullet points or scenarios?

The words [Equity-language] guides recommend or reject are sometimes exactly the same, justified in nearly identical language.

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Although the guides refer to language “evolving,” these changes are a revolution from above. They haven’t emerged organically from the shifting linguistic habits of large numbers of people.

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Prison does not become a less brutal place by calling someone locked up in one a person experiencing the criminal-justice system.

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The whole tendency of equity language is to blur the contours of hard, often unpleasant facts. This aversion to reality is its main appeal. Once you acquire the vocabulary, it’s actually easier to say people with limited financial resources than the poor.

Paramount Global, amid a swirl of M&A discussions, is laying off about 800 employees worldwide — an estimated 3% of its headcount — as it looks to trim costs.

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For the third quarter of 2023, Paramount Global’s revenue rose 3% thanks to its growth in its streaming and film businesses — but revenue in its largest division, linear TV, fell 8% as sales of traditional television advertising continued to contract (declining 14% in the quarter).

Looking to pay off $15k of student loan debt of my partner. It's something we could wipe out with cash on hand if we wanted to relatively quickly. But one of the loans is 4.5%. Am I better off just riding that out but keeping the cash in for that loan in a HY savings account or keep reinvesting it in short term CD's that have a 5% return and to have more liquidity?

There's a part of me that used to really enjoy the piece of mind of being debt free when I paid off my student loans. But now that I'm more financially established and disciplined, I'm wondering if it's better to pay it off slowly.

Long form article on school shootings, police dept scapegoating, training for active shooters, and the confusing time to be a police officer where public feedback wants deescalation in most scenarios, but expect military or warrior mentality training for school shootings responses.

Because cowardice is not an actual crime—courts have consistently ruled that police officers have no specific constitutional duty to protect citizens, except for those in their custody—Florida prosecutors argued that Peterson, in his job as a school resource officer, was a “caregiver” for the children at Stoneman Douglas. His trial would thus be an experiment in a new arena of police accountability: Can cops be criminally punished for failing to move toward gunfire?

Peterson had received only three specific active-shooter trainings, in 2007, 2012, and 2016. Although other courses had taught relevant or adjacent skills—“tactical pistol,” “combat life saver”—or had been lectures that focused on things like the history of mass shootings, Peterson had spent very little time learning how to do one of the most dangerous and complex tasks required of law enforcement: confront a shooter who has a semiautomatic rifle.

In one solo-response exercise, the script prompted instructors to say: “There is no reason to give up a good position of cover … Remember, the cavalry is on their way, so it’s better to hold, than to expose yourself to unknown threats.”

Over the past few years, the public has witnessed multiple distressing moments of baffling police behavior. All those cops standing, impotent, in the hallways of a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school while children were slaughtered. Cops killing Black motorists after traffic stops escalated needlessly. To policing experts, both problems fall under the same umbrella: improper use of force. Too little force, too much force—both lead to terrible outcomes.

Nobody is sure any longer what the job of policing is, Morgan told me, or how to weigh its different priorities. This squares with what cops have been telling me in recent years: It’s never been a more confusing time to be a police officer.

TL;DR NY Times predicts trump will remain on the ballet and the ruling will likely have a very narrow basis in hopes of achieving unanimous consensus from the court.

Newliyish married, but the new reality is partner finished law school so going back to the DINK lifestyle. We live in NYC and are lucky to be in a rent regulated apartment. On one hand we realize it's cheaper to stay there forever, but it's not the most well maintained building the the amenities aren't the best... Anyways, we want to aggressively start saving for a downpayment, but have some question.

And before folks say leave NYC, no, that is not the plan and not what we want. We like the lifestyle, car less, near a park, etc. So really want to understand what the planning is for that.

1. Based on all the "how much house can you afford" calculators we can afford like 3-4X monthly housing payments than we currently have. That seems insane, but how should we be thinking about the fixed cost of a mortgage over time that is also equity as opposed to rent? When buying a house, is it kind of expected that it is more "painful" earlier in the lifecycle of a mortage, but naturally gets easier as inflation kicks in and salaries go up?

2. I've been maxing out stock purchasing plans and what not to save while partner was in laws school, but kind of saving less because I was the single income currently have about 1/3rd of downpayment in securities (maybe 50% if my employers stock ever bounces back to 2021 valuations). I'm thinking for the next 2 years we should try to devote what we anticipate our mortgage (and other fees like taxes, co-op, etc). would be to buy. That would allow us to save and see how that change impacts quality of life and other factors. Is that a good strategy? This would be in addition to normal saving practices. Our parents would probably assist too with the downpayment, but haven't broached that until we are closer to doing this for real.

3. When it comes to saving for a down payment, is it better for psychological and newly married folks to use that as a way to get used to joint finances in a dual income (nearly equal salaried) partnership? If so, what type of account should we open. High yield savings? Short term CD's?

4. For NYC specifically, what are the differences to consider between buying buildings, co ops, or condos when it comes to finances? 2/3 family homes in some ways look good on paper, but how do you factor in being a landlord and costs and risks for doing that? Co ops and Condos seems more attractive on paper for being much more simple in terms of ownership and responsibility of the entire property.

Any other advice is welcome. Thanks!