3/30/25 – All the things we don’t spend money on: Anything promoted by “influencers,” anything promoted anywhere actually, fancy beauty products, wellness, fitness or fashion trends, or expensive, brand name clothes. Basically, it’s useless to advertise to us. You don’t need all this stuff. So, what are you doing? Do you even know? If you don’t know, you might want to give things some thought and be more deliberate in how you shop. For health and beauty, go to your local coop and talk to the sales staff about your specific needs. Better yet, join your local coop. Over time, you’ll figure out how to get natural, reasonably priced products to meet them without the regular consultation and from diverse sources. However, your local coop is usually the best place to start. Check to make sure that they have knowledgeable staff. That’s key.
3/30/25 – As people who aren’t influenced by “influencers” because we aren’t exposed to them or want to be, we have this to say: What are you doing? You’re wasting your time, money and lives with this stuff. Wellness isn’t about some bulls—t that they’re hawking. It’s mostly just balance and relationships. If you want to feel well, make some friends and community, get some fresh air and exercise, eat healthy, rest, and authentically nurture your body, mind and soul. It’s really not hard. Our ancestors did it effortlessly and with none of the influencer-peddled products for millennia. You can too. Happy Sunday!
3/27/25 – This happens to be something that we’ve been thinking about. The Benedictine approach is to pray and work (ora et labora). The simplicity of the motto belies the complexity of its execution. Particularly for laypeople, how does one go about structuring their day to pray and work?
Today, I spent at least a half hour organizing my calendar. It is a worthwhile investment of time because it helps me manage the rest of my time, and as I was looking at it after most everything was entered for the next few weeks, I thought, this is a lot.
Yet, as I go through my day, the goal is for it to not feel like a lot. To do that, I need to be calm, take pauses, such as for prayer, meditation, or quick expressions of gratitude to God for his infinite goodness, and be present in the thing that I’m doing in that moment. I also need to just rest, and I do. Remember: God rested.
Pray and work is preferable to and arguably better than work and leisure. The reason pray and work is so effective and that religious people are so productive is that their time is balanced and well-structured, and they keep to it. They also don’t idle away their time with unhealthy activities.
Most of us are not going to be able to maintain that level of order in our day. So, we need to be extra mindful of how we’re spending our time and put restrictions on things that take up too much of it and are unproductive. We also need to be deliberate about balance. For each one of us this will look different. This article has some good tips on this topic.
You Can Do Leisure Better, Seriously
3/27/25 – Monks and nuns typically do not own property, yet they have more than the rich people will ever have.
3/27/25 – First some quick thoughts. 1. Our military members are our heroes. We appreciate and value them so much. It is scandalous how this administration treats them, cutting their benefits and being careless with their lives. Callous rich people and the people and things they break…. It is just a matter of time before our entire country is put in a dangerous position because of this administration. 2. Judge James E. Boasberg is also an American hero.
3/24/25 – 1. The “Mar-a-Lago Accord” doesn’t make economic sense. 2. Where is the role of (domestic) monetary policy in this brilliant plan? (It is imperative that the Fed’s de jure and de facto independence is protected from these morons.) 3. It is intended to distract us from their grand plan, which is to end our progressive tax system and replace it with a regressive one. 4. If this is a sincere idea, only the same financial idiot savants, who were really just idiots, who caused the last financial crisis would come up with something so stupid. 5. The data do not support their idea/claims. The euro has been stronger than the dollar for most of the euro’s existence as a currency, and they have been the ones to occasionally accuse us of beggar-thy-neighbor policies. Similarly the pound. So then, where’s their argument? 6. What is the relationship between this and defense spending? It makes no sense.
The Wild Trump Theory Making the Rounds on Wall Street
3/24/25 – Why are people having such a hard time understanding how free markets and free societies operate? The people hold the press accountable – not the government. As private citizens, we are entirely capable of doing our job. We don’t need any help, especially not from the government. Its job is to f—k off. Thank you, and Happy Monday!
3/24/25 – And the National Review had something to say about Tim Walz….
3/24/25 – Our government is led by complete idiots.
3/23/25 – If this is your man, you need to have your soul and your head examined, and you need to be the one to initiate the examination. We will pray for you to see the light.
Trump’s Appetite for Revenge Is Insatiable
3/23/25 – As part of the “learning” in “God, life, learning,” let’s teach the National Review how free markets operate, shall we. Free markets are free. Consumers are free to choose of their own free will what they buy and don’t buy. If they don’t want to buy Tesla products because it’s CEO is a genetically inferior, traitorous, incompetent moron with no emotional intelligence who has revealed himself to be a freak, a racist and an anti-Semite, well, that’s how free markets operate. Tesla’s share of the EV market had already been decreasing, and only a ketamine klepto krazy would choose to drive it into the ground by making the poor choices he has chosen of his own free will to make. People are free, and that’s how the free market operates.
3/23/25 – As part of our Lenten reflections, let us consider Jesus’s words, from the KJV, which should fit the National Review’s literary tastes, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:3-5)
The National Review has choice words for the liberal media, but it has its own work to do, and it should do it first. It is rather, well, absurd to point to the 80,000 Tesla employees when said CEO, the white South African, is illegally laying off federal employees while the National Review cheers this action as somehow beneficial to the country. If it was not obvious before, this hypocrisy reveals its assumption that private sector employees are somehow superior or more valuable to the country than federal employees. It is a farcical assertion based on pure bias, ignorance and idiocy.
Possessed by the demons of greed, the National Review worships at the altar of mammon and cheers the illegal destruction of USAID, whose great sin is in helping the poorest, most vulnerable people in the world, yet wears the pretenses of Christian virtue. PEPFAR was proudly launched by George W. Bush, who, last we checked, was a conservative who espoused compassionate conservatism. What does the National Review espouse? What are its core values? Does it know? It seems to be having an identity crisis.
Let’s help it, shall we. It can’t have its cake and to eat it too. It has to choose. There is no free lunch in economics or in life. You don’t get to support the white South African or a certain person and simultaneously claim to be a true conservative. Most true conservatives, such as Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, David French, Peter Wehner, etc., have already figured this out. The National Review is refusing to choose because its soul has become so corrupted with greed that its moral compass is broken. It needs to clean its intellectual and spiritual house, and then and only then, can it speak to us on these matters. Happy Sunday!
3/22/25 – Another aspect to this, which is not limited to red or blue states, but applies to all those choosing to live in natural disaster prone areas (yes, it’s related to climate change, which is real) is that those of us who are responsible in choosing where we live are subsidizing their irresponsible decisions and their home insurance. Don’t gaslight us. It’s obvious, especially HOA fees.
Who Wants to Live in the Palisades Now?
3/22/25 – Fair criticism, but it’s tough to argue that our government is weak…. The executive branch has become too powerful because it is claiming power it does not constitutionally have. Both parties have been guilty of not respecting the executive’s limited power and our constitutional structure that gives legislative power, meaning real governing power, to Congress. Our government is definitely broken though.
“Abundance begins with specific goals for America’s future. Imagine much more housing where it’s most in demand. An economy powered by plentiful clean energy. A revitalized national science policy prioritizing high-risk discoveries that extend lives and improve health. And a national invention agenda that seeks to pull forward technologies in transportation, medicine, energy, and beyond that would improve people’s lives.
Sometimes what stand in the way of abundance are special interests, powerful incumbents, and conservatives. Oil and gas companies have at times thwarted the rise of renewable energy. The MAGA faithful seem to care much more about protecting their own than the rule of law and redirecting income into their own pockets rather than redistributing it to the poor.”
The Political Fight of the Century
3/22/25 – We would like to let MAGA in on an open secret, at least to the rest of us. None of this administration’s economic policies are intended to help you. They are intended to help the billionaire class, the unpatriotic parasites, and hurt everyone else.
3/22/25 – Wanting to open a restaurant is reflective of the delusional echo chamber the white South African lives in. He is an incompetent ketamine krank. (Yes, with three k’s.)
3/22/25 – Tesla is unlikely to recover from its self-inflicted damage. One might consider selling before things get worse. If one wants to make money and can financially handle the risk, one could consider shorting it.
3/20/25 – Not only is the cybertruck atrociously ugly, but it is also shoddily made. This is the person who has accessed our data.
3/19/25 – At the end of this saga, the country might or might not end up in “civil war,” but it will likely want to see some billionaire tears.
3/19/25 – Apes, some things to consider. 1. Eat the rich. While the unpatriotic parasites, such as Ken Griffin, rig the stock market against retail investors and apes, remember that we pay their paid parasitic, unpatriotic politicians’ salaries or contracts (yes, such as the white South African). 2. Given the incompetence and kleptomania we are paying for but didn’t vote for, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before the Fed, despite its bluster today…, will have to lower interest rates. The outstanding question is do the bears (and beta) win the day or will some risk assets, which tend to benefit from lower interest rates, do relatively better. 3. Given said situation, what is an ape to do? Hedge. Go long and short the same stock.
3/18/25 – The Russian prostitute, Tulsi Gabbard is a serious danger to our country, and Republican Senators confirmed her.
They’re Cheering for Trump in Moscow—Again
3/18/25 – Some questions: 1. Since they pay almost no taxes, why are they supposedly so eager to “decrease federal spending”? Maybe it’s actually about something else…. 2. Are they subject to margin calls if the value of their collateral falls below the minimum capital requirements? 3. Taxing unrealized gains is a bad idea. The tax law needs to be fixed to prevent them from not paying estate taxes. These people are unpatriotic, traitorous parasites.
Buy, Borrow, Die
3/17/25 – Both parties are bad, but one, the MAGA/technofascist one, is terrible. We must do better, America.
3/17/25 – Entirely unsurprisingly, a certain person is more interested in persecuting his perceived enemies than fixing the economy he’s screwed up. In Biden’s first 60 days, the S&P 500 was up 2%. In a certain person’s first 60 days, the stock market is down 7%. So, he is MAGA’s retribution if they are more interested in his revenge than say their own revenue. This is one of the main reasons you are never supposed to get emotionally entangled with any politician. It clouds your judgment.
3/16/25 – To all of the young ladies, you don’t need to try “to look sexy” as the Hollywood and “influencer,” whatever they are, trash do. Don’t buy into that garbage. Be classy. Have grace, elegance and dignity. “Sexiness” is really just about being healthy, fit, and natural. If you want to glam it up here and there, that’s fine. In general, don’t wear too much makeup, don’t dye your hair unless it is going gray, don’t change your face or body in ways that aren’t consistent with your natural looks. God made you beautiful as you are. Decent men, the ones who make good husbands, will love you for having a natural beauty and for being you. Go to church. It is a space that will feel safe and accepting as it relates to your looks. It will give you confidence to love yourself as you are because the God who made you loves you as you are.
3/16/25 – The talentless technofascists are trying to enslave us. Instead of restraining their vile greed and their debased, meritless characters, they want people to put up with food poisoning in their company towns so that they can parade around with their tacky mistresses with their fake boobs, their tacky wives with their plastic surgery distorted faces, their tacky talentless nepobabies, in their tacky yachts so that they can feel like big men. Maybe they and their tacky friends and family can roll their eyes back in their heads in their high self-regard to find a worthwhile brain cell. Instead of having a planet that is livable, they want to reduce it to dust and ash while they imagine themselves orbiting the earth they have destroyed in their rockets. This is their idea of superiority because they are inferior in every respect that actually matters. Happy Sunday!
3/15/25 – The white South African’s cybertruck is an aesthetic abomination. The people who choose to drive it are ugly, stupid and crazy, just like the white South African. This is the brand. Know what it is you’re buying and driving.
3/15/25 – As we said numerous times, our expectation is that MAGA cleans up the mess it has created, and it needs to start doing so now. They voted for a dangerous narcissistic sociopath because they thought he would hurt other people but not them, which says a lot about MAGA. Let’s skip to the end of the drama. He’s hurting you, MAGA. Now, fix it.
3/15/25 – Before following a certain person’s executive orders, first ask your own independent legal counsel if they think it is legal. If it is deemed illegal, ignore it, and sue. DOGE is illegal. They should not be granted access to anything, no matter who accompanies them. The American people do not need to follow anything illegal. Just like the military, we are faithful to our Constitution.
3/15/25 – After this dark and dangerous period, other countries will diversify away from us. Who knew that MAGA’s idea of owning the libs and “making America great again” was helping Europe and other countries around the world and hurting the USA.
3/15/25 – Do Americans have some of the worst rich people in the world? Are they cowards, idiots, traitors, deranged, all of the above? What are they? Why do we have such terrible rich people that nobody likes? What should we do with these horrible people?
3/15/25 – Much appreciated comments, and we’re in agreement with them. However, he didn’t talk about the data. The data privacy violation, access and theft is a big problem for us and for our country. See the well-articulated argument below. However, his elaboration on our betrayal of Canada was especially poignant. Canada. It’s truly mind-boggling. He didn’t bring it up during the campaign because he knew Americans would have thought he had lost his mind. A certain person who we used to call the evil one is an insane lunatic with a psychotic, genetically degenerate side-kick.
Scott Galloway on Markets, Musk, and Trump’s “Weapons of Mass Distraction”
3/13/25 – The millennials ushered in the era of imposters faking it until they make it. They were and still are superficial phonies. It just got worse from there. We need to put an end to this bull. Actually, have knowledge and talent, have substance, deliver, or get off the stage.
3/13/25 – Anybody who’s not been living under a rock in the modern world should understand the value of data. DOGE must be stopped. We said this last month: “2/11/25 – Is the white South African going to use the vast quantity of data he has illegally gotten access to, in violation of Americans’ and others’ privacy rights, to better train his AI models and potentially put his competitors at a disadvantage?” He could do even more malicious things with our data. It is illegal for even individual actors or agencies within the government to have access to this much of our data. Yet, the unelected white South African, the richest imposter in the world, who we need to make the poorest, has access to our data to a degree no other elected official or federal employee has! Why are people not processing the insane gravity of this situation?
Musk’s Madisonian Insight—And Its Troubling Consequences
3/13/25 – In the midst of our entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted storm, we need to pay attention to what’s happening in the South China Sea and Australia. The belligerence is bold.
3/11/25 – Gravity exists. So does the gravity model. There are God’s laws and his physical laws. There is also basic commonsense, such as Canada is the best neighbor one could possibly hope for…. Simple ideas such as these are not god-complex tech bling or god-complex imperialism, but maybe we don’t need so many gods. Maybe we just need the one, true God.
3/11/25 – The tariffs were covered more recently. (In the GDP identity, it’s net exports (NX).) In any case, some market participants seem to be pricing in interest rate cuts. It’s safe to assume it’s not because they think the economy is doing well or headed in the right direction.
3/11/25 – The GDP identity won’t be redefined for a certain person or for anybody else. The administration can act like gods, but the markets and the voters won’t treat them as such. After all, they don’t have the luxury of living in their delusions. For as much as MAGA might like to do so, when the s—t hits the fan, they’ll have to come to terms with the undeniable truth of living in the real world as it actually is.
3/11/25 – It turns out that big tech and all of its panderers are losing a lot of money. We can’t imagine why that might be. There was something somewhere about it, something along the lines of a macro-economy is macro. “10/30/24 – Most people – even well-educated people – have a hard time understanding basic macroeconomics. Basic macroeconomics. A government’s budget is nothing like an individual’s or even a large corporation’s budget. If you’re voting for a certain person because of his business background, not only was he a failure at his businesses but that experience DOES NOT translate well to managing a country’s economy or finances.
What should be the most obvious is that a government has control over its money supply. This is part of what we call monetary policy. No individual or corporation has this power. The other important difference is that government spending is part of the GDP identity: GDP is Y = C + I + G + NX. It is a hugely important part of the health of our economy. You can see it in this graphic here.
Components of GDP: Explanation, Formula and Chart
Elon Musk is a degenerate on every level: personal, moral, intellectual. It is absurd that a know-nothing with a severe god complex – who the American people have not elected to any position of power – thinks he should determine how our country operates. If his plan is implemented, there will be a severe recession, and it will damage our economy – in the long-term, not just in the short-term.
He and a certain person – the evil one – want to enslave the American people. Just know this now before you cast your vote. These people are all plutocrats. If you think they care about ordinary Americans, you are dead wrong. They despise you. They think you are stupid lowlifes. Get it? You vote for them, and you could be helping to prove them right….
Musk’s Plan to Cut $2 Trillion in U.S. Spending Could Bring Economic Turmoil”
3/11/25 – So, this is going well. We aren’t particularly inspired to do much to help. The reason is quite simple. We put in a lot of time and effort to prevent this outcome. It ended up just being a waste of time and energy. Also, we are not responsible for it and want to hold those who are accountable for their vote. Not only did we not vote for it, but we are also moderates, not extreme liberals who indirectly contributed to our present predicament. We wish MAGA and the rest of his voters well. They can let us know when and how they intend to fix the situation they created. The National Review asks, does a certain person know why he was elected? He knows why he wanted to be elected. The people who voted for him might not have understood why he wanted to be elected. Do they understand now? What do they understand?
3/9/25 – An eternally applicable sermon. The cross is the only thing that matters. The rest is a bubble that bursts. Come to the cross. Come to Jesus Christ, and find what matters.
Sex, Power, Riches and Materialism | Billy Graham Classic Sermon
3/9/25 – If we allow Ukraine to lose the war, it would be a moral indictment, not of Ukrainians and not just of Russia, but of all of us because we would have let it happen. “Decisions about war and peace are often morally complex. But in this case, the defense of the indefensible is happening through a social Darwinist argument that is already hollowing out much of American life. Such a view says that the power to do something is itself a moral justification—or even worse, that moral considerations are themselves a sign of ‘virtue signaling’ and weakness. We have seen before where this leads.” We are our brother’s keeper.
The Moral Cost of Murdering Ukraine
3/8/25 – The measure of any country is quite simple. Do you want to live there? Do you want to live in China, the country of Uighur rapists and killers, of chaining human beings, or Russia, the country of baby rapists and defenestration, or North Korea, the country of every form of oppression and torture? If you’re a sane person, you don’t. What is quite plain is that a certain person wants to make our country like these countries, particularly like Russia. We understand that MAGA is quite confused, but this is his obvious goal. If this trajectory continues, we will become a country nobody, not even Americans, will want to live in.
3/8/25 – One of the great privileges of being a public servant in the United States, whether it’s first responders, police officers, public school teachers, etc., is that you get to serve the most diverse group of people ever assembled. It is an honor and a privilege. It also comes with great responsibility. One of the things you never want to do is alienate the people you serve by asserting your personal political views while serving them. There are some basic human rights that we all agree on, even if we might phrase them differently, such as all people are created equal. This comes from the Judeo-Christian tradition, but we consider it a universal value. Whether you’re dealing with a Hindu who believes in the caste system or a white self-described “Christian” who believes in white supremacy or whoever along these lines, we assert this value because it is morally correct. However, when it comes to highly controversial and sensitive topics, for example, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, no public servant should be taking sides while serving the people. We are all free to exercise our First Amendment rights outside of our professional responsibilities and associated activities. This obligation to be inclusive naturally extends to any associated unions. Being a professional and a public servant is an honor, a privilege and a responsibility. Anybody blessed to be in this position needs to take it seriously and exercise good judgment and personal restraint.
3/6/25 – A certain person’s policies not only violate our democracy, privacy rights and separation of powers, but we might be heading to stagflation. Our constitutional structure is designed to keep us from becoming an autocracy and to sustain free markets. Autocracies, such as Russia, China, North Korea, etc., never do capitalism well. So, what do you want, America, a king and a kleptocracy, or democracy and capitalism? They come in pairs, and you have to choose between them as such. You don’t get to mix and match.
3/6/25 – This is a good opportunity for Europe to realize its ambition of truly becoming a global reserve currency and “the United States of Europe.” As the article correctly notes, to do so, it needs a bond market to rival the United States, meaning issuing more EU debt. To do so, Europe also needs more fiscal integration, including ideally automatic fiscal transfers. With Germany, particularly its auto industry, humbled, this is also a good time to convince them that fiscal integration is in its long-term interests. Not only are these changes overdue, particularly for the eurozone, but it will allow Europe to truly compete with the United States and to better collectively finance some of the basic functions of the state, such as defense. Another upside to this change for the eurozone specifically is that it will make the currency union function better, especially by making it less brittle in the event of an exogenous shock.
Investors Dare to Imagine a World Beyond the Dollar
3/5/25 – Examination of conscience and penance: let us be somber and serious for the next 40 days. Let us ALL reflect on our sins as we wander in the wilderness.
Songs of Lent, Music for the Lenten Season
3/4/25 – We will not be spending our Lent obsessing on MAGA’s poor judgment or a certain person’s terrible decisions and behavior. Expect gaps in programming. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Fast, and go to church.
3/4/25 – Disruption for disruption’s sake is dumb. This has been MAGA’s problem. They are frustrated and angry, and they want to burn the whole thing down and inflict misery on others. Misery loves company, as they say. They are intemperate and illogical. As we said before, we will be holding them accountable. They voted for this, and they will be responsible for cleaning up their mess. We wish them well. Please keep us updated.
3/3/25 – Is the United States Ukraine’s enemy now? Would Ukraine be better off doing a deal with Iran, which could really use the help? Minerals for drones? What’s that saying: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”?
3/3/25 – How long does it take to develop the military capacity to build drones? Can we build anything anymore? Are there any competent people in the world, right now?
3/3/25 – Can everyone stop with the blame game and focus on repairing the breach? The Ukrainians are in a considerably more difficult situation now.
3/2/25 – As a general observation about American liberals, one of the many paradoxes about them is that they think of themselves as sensitive and compassionate, yet they lack sophistication in interpersonal communication and dynamics. Their sensitivity is directed entirely towards themselves, and, in their infinite self-righteousness and arrogance, they bludgeon people with their viewpoints or try to force them down their throats either by overriding what should be a democratic process with antidemocratic means or with implied censorship. They also use so many $10 words, yet they can’t string together words or sentences to build consensus or negotiate compromise.
3/2/25 – The sudden interest in minerals is likely coming from the tech sector. This is the main player in the plutocracy right now. Europe, as a whole, needs to figure out how it can get the best deal. It does not have adequate military production at this time (even though they had ample time and warning to get it together…but they chose not to because they are lazy and entitled), and they need to leverage their collective mineral and other natural resource wealth to buy arms from the United States and to buy time to develop more of their own military production capabilities. Leverage what they have and don’t need to get what they need immediately and to plan better for the future.
3/2/25 – “As a conservative, I’ve long respected the concept of ‘Chesterton’s fence,’ named after G.K. Chesterton, a British writer, philosopher and Catholic apologist. Chesterton argued that the best and most careful approach to change required us to discern why, say, a fence might block a road and not to just tear it down.
‘The more modern type of reformer,’ Chesterton wrote, ‘goes gaily up to it and says, “I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.” To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: “If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.”’”
Trump Is Breaking Things We Can’t Just Fix
3/2/25 – We understand that Zelensky is probably exhausted and has understandable antipathy towards a certain person. For his country, he has to either get over it or resign. Trying to win this war or get a peace agreement without the United States is an unlikely proposition. That does not mean hand over the nation’s wealth. The terms need to be reasonable. We have been supporting the Ukrainian people since the beginning of the war. We are their friends. Please heed our advice.
For all of his really terrible qualities, a certain person does want to be liked. He wants people to think well of him. He wants the Nobel Prize. Now, people might say that it’s all narcissism. It is, but it’s also different from dealing with a psychopath. It’s a spectrum. Work the point on the spectrum where he falls. He has probably had a million and one fights with people. He’s a New Yorker, and that’s also his personality. Zelensky needs to overcome his bitterness and be pragmatic. His job is to deliver for his country, no matter what his personal feelings might be. If he didn’t like the deal, which seems quite possible, he still has to go back to the negotiating table. See the point above. There is no free lunch, and there are not only luxuries in life. We all have to do things we would rather not do.