I use "right" in the same way Harry Browne did. As in they don't exist in any form. The only "rights" you have are the ones you have power or influence to make happen. Thus, knowing that I can't prevent thieves from trying to steal, I acknowledge that this is part of the real wo...

And one more comment on my earlier rant on IP theft... I don't think it matters one way or another whether we can all come to agreement on what is right or wrong or moral or immoral. It's irrelevant. Morality and legality don't even factor in. I fully acknowledge the right of low life scum to try a...

As things have felt a bit more contentious today (see IP thread), I'll bump the cat thread. Here's my other girl (Poppy):


My older iPhone SE doesn't have a great camera, but this will have to do.

The comments about Social Security seem off-topic, but we've never let that stop us before here, so I'll just chime in briefly... I recognize SS as being a Ponzi scheme. It's also been shown that a lot of the higher-earners put more in than they will ever get back out, and a lot of lower-earners end...

I've been a software developer since before that term was invented. I'm not sure if this comment was meant to imply some greater experience-level on your part, or not. I'll try not to read into that too much, other than to say that I graduated with my Computer Science degree back in 1993, so I've b...

"1) Would you be willing to sign a contract which allowed you to go back to work with the stipulation that should you get sick with COVID-19, that hospitals would be allowed to put you in the back of the line (compared to someone who was not willing to sign such a contract)? " If you agre...

For anyone not following that IP thread, check it out. I called in the big guns.

This isn't just a theoretical issue to me, by the way. I'm currently in negotiations regarding several software inventions that I have invented over the last several years. I believe they are major because they enable the efficient use of new hardware technology. Right, so no offense, but you're al...

For anyone here who would like to read an extended and serious debate about IP, message me and I'll send you a gift copy of Origitent (https://www.amazon.com/Origitent-Why-Original-Content-Property-ebook/dp/B07DRQ9NWC). This offer is good for up to 90 copies in total, one per person. Is that you? D...

Anyways, I find it kinda interesting that your justification for being against IP laws echoes the same thought process of that Chinese factory owner raised with the Communist mindset. Not to say you're a Commie. ;) Just pointing out another side to the story on the small business level rather than ...

The people who tend to oppose the lockdowns are those who have an established job or career that they still depend on heavily (i.e., retirement isn't yet a good option). Especially if remote work isn't an option for them. I think it's worth breaking this group into two. As you stated, the ones in t...

Maybe at some point we can start a separate thread to discuss this fascinating and controversial (admittedly non-coronavirus-related) topic. :) And for anyone interested, dualstow has done exactly that: Intellectual Property (IP) & Theft https://www.gyroscopicinvesting.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f...

I never said I had the right to someone else's money. I said that another person didn't have the right to profit off of my time and money. Those are two entirely different things. Your "time" doesn't have any inherent value, except to you. If it takes you 2 weeks to make a table, and I ca...

Where do you stand, Scott, on (1) Plagiarizing a melody from another song and putting it out, where it becomes a big hit and (2) Copying a copyrighted film and then selling the copies on the street? Those are both complicated questions, that I may not have great short answers to, but I'll put mysel...

Oh, Scott, you mentioned trespassing (apple orchard) and that reminded me: in Sweden, isn’t there a term that means “every man’s right” and refers to the legal right to cross someone’s property as long as you don’t hang out and build a campfire and do weird things? I think so. At the risk of gettin...

I don't get the road-building analogy though. If I build a roadway, then I have something concrete to rent to people to get my money back. It's not an intellectual property situation. Sorry if I wasn't clear...I didn't intend to equate roads with IP. I was simply saying that asking "Who will b...

I’m just trying to get your ideas right and to not put words in your mouth for now. I don’t know exactly where I stand on this. I’m malleable. Thanks for adding this clarification. I appreciate it. And I'm happy to hear that you aren't completely dead-set in your opinion (all of us, myself included...

dualstow, thanks for bringing this into it's own thread! If IP is immoral, then where is the incentive for say a pharmaceutical company to invest huge amounts of money to develop a new drug if they know that they are going to have to immediately share the profits with other companies who didn't inve...

but I also believe that the entire concept of "Intellectual Property" is immoral why I edited my post several times, so I'm not sure if this was a sentence I added/revised after you started to quote it, or if you just left it out of your quote for some reason, but I offered a simple expla...

When a large fraction of the users of a product resort to loopholes/scams or the black market (e.g., pirating), it generally indicates that the seller is charging a price above the true market price (i.e., the price is not accurately reflecting the true value that most customers are placing on the ...

The media is hyping up the story as being "Trump supporters" against the lockdown, and the fools who are waving flags, Trump banners, and not wearing masks or practicing social-distancing, while going out to protest, are allowing that to remain the headline. People spend too much time focu...

I've been watching Maru and later, his sister, for years and years. https://youtu.be/iaJ2J1PRT7c What's most impressive to me, is that they appear to know exactly where to put their back legs/feet down without knocking things over. I'm sure it's not just "luck." That is a cute picture. Sh...

Any chance of lobbying your employer to increase the options? Well my employer has a pretty good selection of Vanguard stock funds (as well as the bond funds I mentioned). Is there a particular fund (or funds) that I should recommend? Which ones do they already offer? If you only have it on paper, ...

You may be too young for one of these but you'll need to see what ARE the provisions in each of your 401(k)'s for an "in service transfer". https://www.centerfinplan.com/money-centered/2015/4/6/can-you-roll-your-401k-to-an-ira-without-leaving-your-job Ooh, that's very interesting. I'm 48,...

I would answer if I could find some pros among the cons. Some people use a treasury bullet (I don't) instead of the cash/longbond barbell, so maybe you can make use of (A3). None of the rest looks very pp-friendly, does it. Just to clarify, are you saying that you prefer A3 (VSIGX) better than A1 (...