He’ll get pardoned. I have zero doubt. Apparently he’s a trumper and planted the bombs to drain law enforcement resources so the insurrection was less likely to be put down.
In tribute, we watched The Tick vs. The Tick last night. I was the only one in the house who found it hilarious genius. Son and girlfriend merely tolerated it.
Sometimes I just read the comments as a way of filtering the news. But I have been reading the comments below, and they just make me sad. Maybe I should start just reading the comments about the comments…
All I have is moonlight and cat pictures. Wouldn’t it be ironic if this planet was the only place that brought forth life? And here we are throwing it away with both hands.
Thank you. I think it was just very tired and vulnerable when I read those comments. I’ve gotten some sleep and I’m better now, and might even go back to sleep and get better rested. I’m really working at trying to get to bed earlier, with no visible results so far.
I find the idea that the Earth being the only planet with life to be very sad given how we seem to be bound and determined to put an end to all life on this planet with extreme prejucide.
Unrelated question: with all the snow you get, how do schools nearby handle it? Are there closures, strenuous efforts made to get students to their buildings, dog sleds? I'm curious.
I have rarely, rarely-rarely, seen school closures because of weather. School buses have automatic chains on them now, which is a big upgrade from the days when drivers used to have to get out there and throw them on the tires by hand.
Different schools/districts have different cut offs about playground and outdoor activities at different temperatures. The local district has a 20 below cut off, but I’ve seen a district where it was -40°F. And we can get 20 below for a month at a time, so the kids go to the gym for recess, but they are bouncing off the walls after a few weeks of being stuck indoors.
Ironically, having worse weather in recent years is because winters are warmer. Typically we get ice storms now in the middle of winter, and that is causing more problems for people.
Meghan McCain has hit back at conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for comments made on his podcast about her weight.
“I am aware on the most recent episode of Tucker Carlson’s show a subject of conversation with his guest was my weight - particularly how fat I am,“ McCain wrote in a Thursday X post.
The remarks were made during Carlson’s interview with far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, published on Wednesday, in which Yiannopoulos called McCain an example of her father’s “fat best friend” in a convoluted rant about John McCain’s bloodlust making him gay.
Well, on the bright side ... this current iteration of the Donnie Dipshit administration has really shown the American public just how fucking evil almost all republicans, broligarchs, and fundagelical "christians" are. They are all greedy, self-centered hypocrites to a person. And it is NOT gender specific. It has also exposed some cracks in the way our governing is structured.
I hope to see some of the generational changes needed to fix these problems before I shuffle off this mortal coil.
Well, 31° and foggy, glad I'm not driving in it. Today is lunch with my cousin at what used to be my favorite breakfast place but less so since they tried to chichi up the place and menu. Still, they have fresh squeezed OJ and an OJ machine I love to watch. (One day a child who was more autistic than I and I stood staring in awe of the machine at work. He flapped his hands and jumped up and down, I wrang my hands and laughed. That machine is SO COOL!)
Anyway. No big plans for the weekend. 2% chance of rain for the next week plus highs in the upper 40s/lower 50s will be nice if the sun stays out, which it has not done thusly. I need a trip to the dog park. It would be good to finish the next issue of Catzeine this weekend ao I can get it printed. I have craft night Monday where I am going to work on addressing envelopes, then at the next craft night, I'll work on assembling the copies. Did I mention I am up to 11 subscribers. I need to get to 25 to cover my costs. If I can get to 150, I can make Catzeine monthly! www.catzeine.com
Charles Norman Shay, who as a 19-year-old medic on D-Day repeatedly saved soldiers from drowning off Omaha Beach, turning them on their backs, dragging them ashore and binding their wounds, died on Wednesday at his home in Thue et Mue, France, near the site of the Normandy invasion. He was 101...
Mr. Shay, a member of the Penobscot Nation of Maine, was one of about 175 Native Americans among the 34,000 Allied troops who came ashore on that beach, into the teeth of some of the bloodiest fighting of D-Day in the opening act of the liberation of France during World War II.
Mr. Shay was awarded the Silver Star for saving soldiers who had been cut down by heavy German machine-gun fire after disembarking from their landing craft into the waves. In 2007, he received France’s Legion of Honor for his actions that day...
As a Native American, Mr. Shay found few opportunities for work on returning to the United States. In the fall of 1945, wearing his Army uniform with his decorations, including the Silver Star, he was turned away when he tried to vote in an election in Maine. (The state did not grant Native Americans the right to vote in federal elections until 1954, and in state and local elections until 1967.)...
He re-enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Vienna as a medic with a military police unit. During the Korean War, he saw combat and earned the Bronze Star. He retired with the rank of master sergeant in 1952.
In 1950, while stationed in Vienna, he married Lilli Bellarth, a native of that city, and the couple lived there for many years. In 2003, they moved to the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, near Old Town, Maine, north of Bangor, where Mr. Shay, by then a tribal elder, promoted the culture and history of the Penobscot.
Mr. Shay’s wife died in 2003. He is survived by a son, Jonny Shay, and a grandson.
Like Padre Land Shark, the last remaining US soldiers who fought fascism are few. And their children, the Boomers and Gen X (I think) have forgotten all the stories they were told about WWII, nazis, fascists, and totalitarianism.
I have made a mistake. I have compared ADM Bradley’s attack on the shipwreck to Malmedy and the killing of unarmed soldiers. That is wrong. It’s far more comparable to the bayoneting of babies.
And Congress can do what? Direct the Secretary of Defense to take actions? This is our problem: Congress can't enforce jack shit because their enforcers are Punch Drunk Pete, Ka$h "Money" Patel, and Pammy Jo.
A man pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol returned to Washington in recent days and has been wandering the neighborhood of Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin — alarming police and prosecutors, who urged a judge to immediately jail him...Taranto is the latest Jan. 6 defendant, pardoned by Trump, to face new legal trouble. He drew national headlines when he was arrested in 2023 shortly after livestreaming a threat to blow up the National Institute of Standards and Technology and entered a Maryland elementary school while livestreaming apparent threats to Raskin, a Democrat from the state. He was arrested after authorities found him with weapons in Obama’s Kalorama neighborhood a day after Trump posted the address on Truth Social. Taranto spent two years in jail while awaiting trial...
Studies are now occurring around human interactions with large language models (LLMs). Each new study highlights a particular set of limitations. But when taken together, those limitations make generalized usage of LLMs pretty useless.
And just an FYI: the stock market (and your 401k) is being held up by seven tech companies ... all of which have investment commitments in the trillions of dollars to AI. 🔥
LLMs are really good at search tasks. Really good. I wonder how long it will be before all this other bullshit dies off and we get to the actual useful parts of this tech.
I take console, probably false, that past performance after crashes indicates value is restored within a year, thus I keep three years of withdrawals in cash.
That happened to me as well. However, *this* time I instructed the 401k "manager" to have more of my investments outside US stocks. That has proven to be a good idea.
Also watch out for investments in REITS and certain partnerships in your 401. They generate taxable incomes that are NOT exempt from taxes. Imagine my surprise when my investment company told me I had to get a EIN for my IRA and file a tax return because one of my REITs reported $2K in Unrelated Business Taxable Income (UBTI).
Yes, and no. There’s real risk in foreign stocks too, probably more risk than in US value stocks, e.g., P&G, JNJ, etc., PLUS foreign taxes. You’re paying foreign taxes that are not reported to you because you can’t do anything with them anyway in a tax deferred account.
Invest in foreign stocks in your taxable accounts where you can get Foreign Tax Credits.
I checked ... most all of the investments are not direct foreign equites, but US based funds containing foreign equities. The bonds (I was mistaken) are still US Treasuries.
Experience is a cruel master. I discovered all of this when I purchased Philips Electronics in both my taxable and IRA brokerage accounts. Philips is a Dutch company, and like all good companies maintain their own investments. The Netherlands collects a 15% tax on dividends and gains. The first year, they distributed Dividends that included Reduction in Cost gains and ordinary dividends.
My taxable account reported those taxes on my 1099. There was no 1099 from the IRA. “Hey! Wait!”
I have 2 pensions, a traditional defined benefit program which, along with Social Security, compels concern with inflation, and a defined contribution plan so that the stock market can keep me up nights...
He’ll get pardoned. I have zero doubt. Apparently he’s a trumper and planted the bombs to drain law enforcement resources so the insurrection was less likely to be put down.
In tribute, we watched The Tick vs. The Tick last night. I was the only one in the house who found it hilarious genius. Son and girlfriend merely tolerated it.
He already pardoned all the J6 participants, and the pipe bomber's defense team has that in-hand.
Sometimes I just read the comments as a way of filtering the news. But I have been reading the comments below, and they just make me sad. Maybe I should start just reading the comments about the comments…
All I have is moonlight and cat pictures. Wouldn’t it be ironic if this planet was the only place that brought forth life? And here we are throwing it away with both hands.
I have something that might cheer you up:
As with comments themselves, comments about comments are not allowed.
Thank you. I think it was just very tired and vulnerable when I read those comments. I’ve gotten some sleep and I’m better now, and might even go back to sleep and get better rested. I’m really working at trying to get to bed earlier, with no visible results so far.
I find the idea that the Earth being the only planet with life to be very sad given how we seem to be bound and determined to put an end to all life on this planet with extreme prejucide.
Unrelated question: with all the snow you get, how do schools nearby handle it? Are there closures, strenuous efforts made to get students to their buildings, dog sleds? I'm curious.
I have rarely, rarely-rarely, seen school closures because of weather. School buses have automatic chains on them now, which is a big upgrade from the days when drivers used to have to get out there and throw them on the tires by hand.
Different schools/districts have different cut offs about playground and outdoor activities at different temperatures. The local district has a 20 below cut off, but I’ve seen a district where it was -40°F. And we can get 20 below for a month at a time, so the kids go to the gym for recess, but they are bouncing off the walls after a few weeks of being stuck indoors.
Ironically, having worse weather in recent years is because winters are warmer. Typically we get ice storms now in the middle of winter, and that is causing more problems for people.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. That's very interesting.
Ice. Gah! I don't like driving in that at all.
Think that was the gist of the space movie with tommy Lee Jones as the missing scientist. That we're all we got so we better stop being such assholes.
Think that is true even if there are aliens out there somewhere. For now at least, we're all we've got.
:hugs:
You should email me you address to send you a copy of Catzeine. It will bring you joy. People love it! diane@catzeine.com
I can testify that Catzeine is awesome and well worth the money spent
Is that a physical address or an email address?
ETA I’m better now, after a little bit of sleep, but thank you for caring.
Featuring Termite's Corner!
Yes! Next issue is baby elephants!
Brame Klezmer! Li'l Feller surveys his domain from the Command Shelf.
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Vk8W!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fmedia_upload%2Fcomment%2F6af1069d-31f0-4c07-93f6-0597855f6c83%2F2504cadf-74dd-4fb3-8ce0-88af39c3bcc1.jpeg
He's a looker, that one.
As soon as I saw this, I thought of you: https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/24024088-get-in-loser-were-getting-tacos.
I need one of those shirts.
Yes, you do.
Cute whiskers and toes!
Weird looking neck.
I get that a lot but frankly, I don't get it. I guess I'm just used to him having a few extra vertebrates.
Terrible, terrible people fighting.
Meghan McCain has hit back at conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for comments made on his podcast about her weight.
“I am aware on the most recent episode of Tucker Carlson’s show a subject of conversation with his guest was my weight - particularly how fat I am,“ McCain wrote in a Thursday X post.
The remarks were made during Carlson’s interview with far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, published on Wednesday, in which Yiannopoulos called McCain an example of her father’s “fat best friend” in a convoluted rant about John McCain’s bloodlust making him gay.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/pregnant-meghan-mccain-burns-tucker-carlson-for-fat-comments-on-his-show/
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ugk-!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fmedia_upload%2Fcomment%2F4e9e2320-a868-4615-a07b-81c9fc19d165%2F087f5bf7-6b79-4ab5-89fb-b90cb0b34af3.gif
Sorry Megs, not that you got called fat, but that you alienated anyone who has the decency to stand up for you.
WHY DON'T YOU JUST LEAVE THE MEMOS IN THE ORIGINAL RUSSIAN!!
𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹-𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲
Document calls for an end to NATO expansion and chastises Europe over ‘unrealistic expectations’ for how to end the war in Ukraine
https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/trumps-new-national-security-strategy-takes-aim-at-europe-22f03581?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcCcn4afdPkFDlulMAQw9OoPtJKnm18rR6AGpXyGv2yMIioGMhSY5vU&gaa_ts=6932c9fd&gaa_sig=ZmmQ-697MhPSG85QM7BBr0VEfp0avsjV7xBsqfqJTSOJE0qxljmRAiZcX78UHmohm8F50hbmc2qWoo6g7NbJPg%3D%3D
surejan
how come when Russia is losing it is "unrealistic expectations" for them to get the fuck out of Ukraine?
Well, on the bright side ... this current iteration of the Donnie Dipshit administration has really shown the American public just how fucking evil almost all republicans, broligarchs, and fundagelical "christians" are. They are all greedy, self-centered hypocrites to a person. And it is NOT gender specific. It has also exposed some cracks in the way our governing is structured.
I hope to see some of the generational changes needed to fix these problems before I shuffle off this mortal coil.
I agree with you. I just hope the American public, in sufficient numbers, will both know and care.
It really is astounding how far the party of Lincoln has gone over the past 100 years. It's only been 60 years since they were the good guys.
Sorry former allies, but the US has sided with Vlad. Well, the demented toddler in charge has.
𝗚𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘄𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/05/europe/german-parliament-conscription-reform-intl
But we were assured this was totally about peace!
PEACE PRESIDENT!1
Hugs europe.
Well, 31° and foggy, glad I'm not driving in it. Today is lunch with my cousin at what used to be my favorite breakfast place but less so since they tried to chichi up the place and menu. Still, they have fresh squeezed OJ and an OJ machine I love to watch. (One day a child who was more autistic than I and I stood staring in awe of the machine at work. He flapped his hands and jumped up and down, I wrang my hands and laughed. That machine is SO COOL!)
Anyway. No big plans for the weekend. 2% chance of rain for the next week plus highs in the upper 40s/lower 50s will be nice if the sun stays out, which it has not done thusly. I need a trip to the dog park. It would be good to finish the next issue of Catzeine this weekend ao I can get it printed. I have craft night Monday where I am going to work on addressing envelopes, then at the next craft night, I'll work on assembling the copies. Did I mention I am up to 11 subscribers. I need to get to 25 to cover my costs. If I can get to 150, I can make Catzeine monthly! www.catzeine.com
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝘆, 𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗜𝗜 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼, 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟬𝟭
Charles Norman Shay, who as a 19-year-old medic on D-Day repeatedly saved soldiers from drowning off Omaha Beach, turning them on their backs, dragging them ashore and binding their wounds, died on Wednesday at his home in Thue et Mue, France, near the site of the Normandy invasion. He was 101...
Mr. Shay, a member of the Penobscot Nation of Maine, was one of about 175 Native Americans among the 34,000 Allied troops who came ashore on that beach, into the teeth of some of the bloodiest fighting of D-Day in the opening act of the liberation of France during World War II.
Mr. Shay was awarded the Silver Star for saving soldiers who had been cut down by heavy German machine-gun fire after disembarking from their landing craft into the waves. In 2007, he received France’s Legion of Honor for his actions that day...
As a Native American, Mr. Shay found few opportunities for work on returning to the United States. In the fall of 1945, wearing his Army uniform with his decorations, including the Silver Star, he was turned away when he tried to vote in an election in Maine. (The state did not grant Native Americans the right to vote in federal elections until 1954, and in state and local elections until 1967.)...
He re-enlisted in the Army and was stationed in Vienna as a medic with a military police unit. During the Korean War, he saw combat and earned the Bronze Star. He retired with the rank of master sergeant in 1952.
In 1950, while stationed in Vienna, he married Lilli Bellarth, a native of that city, and the couple lived there for many years. In 2003, they moved to the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, near Old Town, Maine, north of Bangor, where Mr. Shay, by then a tribal elder, promoted the culture and history of the Penobscot.
Mr. Shay’s wife died in 2003. He is survived by a son, Jonny Shay, and a grandson.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/us/politics/charles-norman-shay-dead.html
Archive:
https://archive.ph/Gz562
Thank you.
Thank YOU. : )
Like Padre Land Shark, the last remaining US soldiers who fought fascism are few. And their children, the Boomers and Gen X (I think) have forgotten all the stories they were told about WWII, nazis, fascists, and totalitarianism.
hey! Someone remembered Gen X!
Gen X is basically Brad Renfo in Apt Pupil.
I have made a mistake. I have compared ADM Bradley’s attack on the shipwreck to Malmedy and the killing of unarmed soldiers. That is wrong. It’s far more comparable to the bayoneting of babies.
I keep hearing they are going to get dragged before congress but I am still waiting.
That guy was at Congress yesterday.
And Congress can do what? Direct the Secretary of Defense to take actions? This is our problem: Congress can't enforce jack shit because their enforcers are Punch Drunk Pete, Ka$h "Money" Patel, and Pammy Jo.
Refer crimes to the DOJ is what they normally do. I’m sure Pam will get right on it.
Morning all. ☕️
#Worldle #1414 (05.12.2025) 1/6 (100%)
🔥 Current Win Streak: 3 days
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr/share
Good morning, Diane!
Hi, Diane!
Today, according to Wikipedia, is World Soil Day.
So if you want to feel soiled, read Truth Social today.
There's 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 and then there's 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥...
So ... you've been on twitter lately ...
Which is which?
Big Sewer and Small Sewer
Crazy person has permission to be the Felon's personal assistant...
𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝗮𝗻. 𝟲 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗖
A man pardoned by President Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol returned to Washington in recent days and has been wandering the neighborhood of Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin — alarming police and prosecutors, who urged a judge to immediately jail him...Taranto is the latest Jan. 6 defendant, pardoned by Trump, to face new legal trouble. He drew national headlines when he was arrested in 2023 shortly after livestreaming a threat to blow up the National Institute of Standards and Technology and entered a Maryland elementary school while livestreaming apparent threats to Raskin, a Democrat from the state. He was arrested after authorities found him with weapons in Obama’s Kalorama neighborhood a day after Trump posted the address on Truth Social. Taranto spent two years in jail while awaiting trial...
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/04/justice-department-urges-judge-to-jail-former-jan-6-defendant-after-alarming-return-to-dc-00678109
of course. The brownshirts are essential right now
NIST? NIST?! Say what?
The BEST people!
Studies are now occurring around human interactions with large language models (LLMs). Each new study highlights a particular set of limitations. But when taken together, those limitations make generalized usage of LLMs pretty useless.
𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 “𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦” 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘐𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦—𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘶𝘱 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯.
𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗮𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲
A massive study of political persuasion shows AIs have, at best, a weak effect.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/researchers-find-what-makes-ai-chatbots-politically-persuasive/
And just an FYI: the stock market (and your 401k) is being held up by seven tech companies ... all of which have investment commitments in the trillions of dollars to AI. 🔥
Remember when Ask Jeeves was a great search engine? I want to go back to then.
LLMs are really good at search tasks. Really good. I wonder how long it will be before all this other bullshit dies off and we get to the actual useful parts of this tech.
Agreed.
I take console, probably false, that past performance after crashes indicates value is restored within a year, thus I keep three years of withdrawals in cash.
That happened to me as well. However, *this* time I instructed the 401k "manager" to have more of my investments outside US stocks. That has proven to be a good idea.
Wait, you use it to manage your stocks? What do you tell it to do?
Also watch out for investments in REITS and certain partnerships in your 401. They generate taxable incomes that are NOT exempt from taxes. Imagine my surprise when my investment company told me I had to get a EIN for my IRA and file a tax return because one of my REITs reported $2K in Unrelated Business Taxable Income (UBTI).
You're hired.
Yes, and no. There’s real risk in foreign stocks too, probably more risk than in US value stocks, e.g., P&G, JNJ, etc., PLUS foreign taxes. You’re paying foreign taxes that are not reported to you because you can’t do anything with them anyway in a tax deferred account.
Invest in foreign stocks in your taxable accounts where you can get Foreign Tax Credits.
I checked ... most all of the investments are not direct foreign equites, but US based funds containing foreign equities. The bonds (I was mistaken) are still US Treasuries.
Experience is a cruel master. I discovered all of this when I purchased Philips Electronics in both my taxable and IRA brokerage accounts. Philips is a Dutch company, and like all good companies maintain their own investments. The Netherlands collects a 15% tax on dividends and gains. The first year, they distributed Dividends that included Reduction in Cost gains and ordinary dividends.
My taxable account reported those taxes on my 1099. There was no 1099 from the IRA. “Hey! Wait!”
Po-tae-toe, po-tah-toe.
In a taxable account the mutual fund passes those foreign tax credits to you on your 1099. In a tax deferred, you never see them.
I have 2 pensions, a traditional defined benefit program which, along with Social Security, compels concern with inflation, and a defined contribution plan so that the stock market can keep me up nights...
I plan to die at work so my sprog can have my life insurance.
That's my retirement plan
What about the lottery?