Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- VDH: The Embarrassments of Ideology. He's not wrong.
- Could one or both of the Clinton's be going to jail?
- The world's over $111 trillion in government debt in one chart. The US has over a third of the worldwide debt.
- When Trump built an ice rink. An excellent metaphor for where were are in today's national political climate.
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- A Federal Judge Just Opened the Strangest Door. Trump could say he was just following a court order.
- Anti-Semitism makes you stupid. Conversely you have to be stupid to be an antisemite. (HT Execupundit).
- The Austerity Threshold. A nation can't go broke if they have no national debt and a balanced budget.
More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Why are interest rates so high? It's bad fiscal policy. The interest rates are tied to the national debt.
- Weight Watchers files for bankruptcy protection. There's a trimming the fat joke to be made here. (HT Cultural Offering)
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- It does make common sense. I too would be interested in hearing any rational argument why it doesn't
- Paper squares and prison bars. The difference between a "good" kid and a "bad" kid is that the good kid often never got caught.
- Is RFK Jr. going to ban Big Pharma ads on TV?
- VDH: California and its collapsing blue-state Democrat model.
Between the National Debt and the personal debt this country is carrying - I'm worried about our economic future. (Via)
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- It's as if something has changed. Or we've lost our way.
- NYC will target food choices in its battle against climate change. The city can't handle trash pickup or keep the subways from being disgusting but they have time for this nonsense. More evidence that the climate change folks are unserious.
- Visualizing the $31.4 trillion US national debt. Staggering.
- How to Be an Essentialist. Good life advice.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." - Thomas Jefferson
"Be stubborn on destinations, flexible on tactics, and relentless on progress." - Shane Parrish
"Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those who you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach." - Seneca
"The problem with people is that they're only human." - Bill Waterson
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- US "No Fly List" leaks after being left on unsecure airline server. We're in the very best of hands.
- Exclusive behind the scenes look as Ivan Provorov tells his GM he won't wear the pride jersey. (Don't click the link if you're easily offended)
- National Debt - Your US Government at work
- Tucker Carlson on the Deep State and why Richard Nixon had to go.
If that represented a household budget - the house would be in foreclosure, the credit cards would be maxed out, and the couple would have divorced over money issues.
Keep in mind that if interest rates climb - servicing that national debt will have to pay more, and more in net interest - which can only be accommodated by decreased spending or increased debt. This is unsustainable.
Some quotes I hope may resonate with you.
"Intentions don't matter. Actions do. That's why being ethical is hard." - Naval Ravikant
"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." - Thomas Jefferson
"Be stubborn on destinations, flexible on tactics, and relentless on progress." - Shane Parrish
"Associate with people who are likely to improve you. Welcome those who you are capable of improving. The process is a mutual one: men learn as they teach." - Seneca
It is said that many a truth is said in jest, but here it looks like a truth was spoken Tweeted in response to a jest.
"True national debt, including unfunded entitlements, is at least $60 trillion - roughly three time the size of the entire US economy. Something has to give." - Elon Musk
That Tweet was in response to this article in the Babylon Bee - Joe Biden to Go Double or Nothing on National Debt by Betting $30 Trillion on the Bengals. So was Elon speaking out so people have a better awareness of the horrific true size of the national debt? Or was he telling Biden he needs to bet so much more for a true double or nothing?
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
A spot-on nickname for either Joe Biden or Kamala Harris at this point would be "the Albatross" because both have become like albatrosses around the neck of the Democratic Party. Biden for his legacy of incompetence (after just 8 f*cking months!) and Harris for her pure unlikability... Matt Taibbi: We Failed Afghanistan - Not the Other Way Around. The cynic in me can't help but think that at least the silver lining is the billions that were being spent on waste, fraud and corruption in Afghanistan can now be used to pay the rising interest on the national debt due to the inflation caused by Biden's failing economic polices... "Soiree" is not a word you hear much, if at all, anymore. What happened? Did people stop having soirees?... I had forgotten how dark a writer James Ellroy was. An excellent writer but dark, very dark... Meanwhile in Sweden... And speaking of writers - The Lexophile would be a good name for a blog about books... Still say the Spanish National Anthem has the best official lyrics...
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
Just a reminder that a good percentage of your tax dollars go to pay the interest on the National Debt every year. Our National Debt is going through the roof because of all the wasteful spending out of Washington and this will couple with the inflation that is being caused by the mismanagement of the economy by these self-same folks. The amount we US citizens will have to pay on the interest on the national debt is about to skyrocket and this story is seemingly not getting any attention in the media... Noah Smith - Does America really lose all it's wars? He pegs our post WWII "record" at 15-2-3 and I don't agree with all his assumptions or conclusions (Iraq was never about oil). What fascinated me was I didn't recognize a number of the wars he listed (and I consider myself a pretty historically literate fellow). Operation Beleaguer (1945-49)? Operation Observant Compass (2011-17)? Are some of these really wars?... If I were to start a new religion I'd call it Bill Belichick's Cult of Personality. I think that would be amusing. Wonder if I could get tax-exempt status?... Psychedelic Apples would be a good name for a Grateful Dead or Phish cover band... There is absolutely no Fortune 500 company that would hire either Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi as CEO yet here they both are running the entire economy. How does that make you feel?...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- A potential tunnel linking Northern Ireland and Scotland.
- The Daily Routines of Geniuses
- How I learned to stop worrying and love the debt.
- Still one of my favorite music mash-ups - Call Me A Hole
Here's one way to think about large numbers:
One thousand seconds equals 16 minutes and 40 secondsMiscellaneous thoughts and observations.
How great would it be if you took all the great "Hail Mary" passes in football history (Stabauch, Flutie, etc.) and set them to the music of Ave Maria?... In January of 1835 the U.S. national debt was reduced to $0 for the first and only time in history (file this under things that will never happen again)... Interesting look at what went wrong with Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles. Was amused by this line in the article, "When you believe you've found the Great White of team sports - an elite quarterback - you hold on for dear life and you feed the beast." Even the moderately literate get that "Great White" is a Moby Dick reference but I chuckle knowing many out there will wrongly read it as some sort of MAGA dog-whistle or even sillier as some kind of reference to the movie JAWS... Has anyone asked Joe Biden if he plans to move the US Embassy out of Jerusalem? I know Biden has only been asked softballs but I'd be really curious to hear his response to this question... Need a ruling on this - the way Amazon, Apple, and Google trampled Parler would that have been considered a violation of Net Neutrality if Net Neutrality was the law of the land? If not - what's the good of Net Neutrality?...
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- A doctor on 9 things that could go wrong with the new vaccines. My worry is that #3 and #9 somehow get combined.
- After the pandemic, a pile of IOU's. The pandemic has caused $12 TRILLION in new debt worldwide.
- Cool - Cell signaling technologies. This could easily be hosted at an art gallery.
- John le Carre has passed aged 89. The Russia House is an under-rated book of his and his The Tailor of Panama his most fun.
- The American Medical Association rescinds previous statement against prescription of hydroxychloroquine. Did the science change or the political situation?
- "This is obviously not good" is the understatement of the decade.
