The Elon Musk story has a long way to go. But at this point he’s starting to look like a character in Atlas Shrugged.

Also, our US intel agencies said Iran was not developing the bomb.
Trump says they are wrong.

Jeez, with a town full of liars, and a media full of mouthpieces, it's just so hard to know. Which goes back to my first comment. Too much work to even care.

And, what is happening on Trump's suggestion that the US will take over Gaza and develop it as a tourist destination?
Seems reasonable. Med beachfront, sunshine.

I'll admit right up front that I know nothing and don't care to put forth enough effort to learn more. Mostly because it's a fool's errand, given how everything that is available to us is heavily biased. I'm sure there is something unbiased out there, but there is no way to tell, given the environme...

Luck or did you time it I had sold some commercial property, and was going to be hit with significant capital gains taxes. As stocks and commercial bonds fell throughout the latter part of the year, I kept selling, booking losses, and replacing with similar components. I wiped out my gains while st...

I’ve mentioned this before. I bought all my positions near the bottom in the 08-09 crash. As such, the stocks and gold have huge unrealized gains. Selling anything would be quite expensive. So I don’t. Now the stocks are 40-some percent. That’s fine. I could rationalize it as having a PP with a side...

Basically it’s not a ground breaking article. Just the usual stuff.

I don’t have a better link. Interestingly it was not paywalled for me. There was an overlay that I was able to click away. Edit, I tried it now, and can’t get in.

perfect_simulation wrote: ↑Mon Apr 21, 2025 6:08 pm

No president should be able to do any of that, frankly.

Shocking. Have you given any thought to emigrating somewhere? I know it’s not that simple.

Here is a good article on the US government gold, and the various actions and reactions since FDR confiscated gold.

And if you don’t laugh at the name of one of the men mentioned in the article, you’re probably not immature like me.

https://www.theflyingfrisby.com/p/the-m ... ricas-gold

Ugly_Bird wrote: ↑Tue Mar 18, 2025 3:55 pm

sophie wrote: ↑Sun Mar 16, 2025 6:37 pm Sitting tight.

Just was thinking.
The Gold portion of my 4x25 HBPP is close to 30%.
In order to reach 35% bracket it should get to $3500.
Is it even realistic?

Every once in a while, gold goes straight up. So yes, I think it's realistic.

I’m kind of skeptical that I’ll ever rebalance gold. l’m starting to think of it as part of its own portfolio. It’s not part of my retirement savings. It’s not to be touched except as a last resort. Added to when excess cash is on hand. Passed down to my children with these same instructions, along...

VEU is beating the US stocks?? Be still my heart! My diversification from 2008 is finally starting to work!
Where are the dancing banana emoticons?

Can't wait until they get to the Defense Department budget and identify all the waste in providing all the jobs programs for the constituents of those in Congress and the Senate. Spending that would go away if not the desire to provide these needless jobs programs. That is where the REAL money is. ...

I'm waiting for them to get to the bottom of the beneficial relationships between govt officials and NGOs. I have to think there will be people from both parties exposed.

Here's a CBS News account from insiders about how the dog and pony show went sideways. It seems like VZ is a bit of a loose cannon. Not saying Trump isn't as well. Trump should have just recessed the meeting for a few minutes instead of reacting to VZ, and then hashed it out in private. It wasn't th...

Here’s 8 minutes better explaining why Trump is doing the right thing, why we should be talking to Putin, and what the outcome will look like.

https://youtu.be/ZVG4YWw3Fqo?si=OkwaEbk95-huRgOX

Just to clarify, I don’t like Putin at all. But he’s there. And just like Al Qaeda and other bad actors, if you push enough of their buttons, you bear some responsibility for what happens. Because they told everyone what their red lines were. And of course we crossed them. And it wasn’t due to clums...

dualstow wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2025 6:18 pm Putin’s own speeches make his lust for empire pretty clear.

Are we talking about Belarus, or Hungary for example?

If it's Belarus, should we fight Russia to prevent it? I'm not trying to be a jerk. I think it's a very good question. My answer is no, it's none of our business.

But abolishing the practice altogether would mean we'll need more courts, more judges, more attorneys, and more tax dollars. It would also mean that for all practical purposes, only legitimate charges would be brought. That seems like a good thing. Maybe plea bargaining should carry a requirement t...

coasting wrote: ↑Mon Feb 24, 2025 4:29 pm Putin's ambitions are not limited to 20% of Ukraine's territory.

What’s your basis for that?

What should be done about the war?

In the 90s NATO expanded to include former Eastern Block states, despite a US promise not to do so. We bombed Serbia, outside of UN rules. (If that matters anyway.) In 2000 the US sponsored the overthrow of a Serbian government friendly to Russia. In 2003, the same for Georgia. In 2004 and 2014, Ukr...