“If," [“the management consultant”] said tersely, “we could for a moment move on to the subject of fiscal policy. . .” “Fiscal policy!" whooped Ford Prefect. “Fiscal policy!" The management consultant gave him a look that only a lungfish could have copied. “Fiscal policy. . .” he repeated, “that is what I said.” “How can you have money,” demanded Ford, “if none of you actually produces anything? It doesn’t grow on trees you know.” “If you would allow me to continue… .” Ford nodded dejectedly. “Thank you. Since we decided a few weeks ago to adopt the leaf as legal tender, we have, of course, all become immensely rich.” Ford stared in disbelief at the crowd who were murmuring appreciatively at this and greedily fingering the wads of leaves with which their track suits were stuffed. “But we have also,” continued the management consultant, “run into a small inflation problem on account of the high level of leaf availability, which means that, I gather, the current going rate has something like three deciduous forests buying one ship’s peanut." Murmurs of alarm came from the crowd. The management consultant waved them down. “So in order to obviate this problem,” he continued, “and effectively revalue the leaf, we are about to embark on a massive defoliation campaign, and. . .er, burn down all the forests. I think you’ll all agree that’s a sensible move under the circumstances." The crowd seemed a little uncertain about this for a second or two until someone pointed out how much this would increase the value of the leaves in their pockets whereupon they let out whoops of delight and gave the management consultant a standing ovation. The accountants among them looked forward to a profitable autumn aloft and it got an appreciative round from the crowd.”

― Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

I don’t know if you’ve read Ray Dalio’s “Changing World Order”, but it’s in this vein. Here is the animated video he produced covering the ideas in the book in an ELI5 type format. Worth your time if it interests you.

Trump is hell-bent on bringing about financial collapse of the U.S. sooner rather than later. Defense is ~14% of the U.S. budget, so a 50% boost would be massive. Add in the fact that his “Big Beautiful Bill” has already boosted the budget deficit to ~6%, much greater than U.S. economic growth, that his tariffs and ejection of immigrants are shrinking the economy, and that ~ 1/3 of the national debt comes due in 2026 and will need to be rolled over, and you have a foolproof recipe for financial collapse. In addition, Jerome Powell’s term as fed chair is up in May, so Trump can appoint a lackey to juice rates and engage in quantitative easing (money printing), and there is zero doubt that the dollar will be absolutely obliterated before Trump leaves office. There is a reason we’re in the greatest gold bull market of all time, and it is not because Trump is competent and the U.S. is a stable anchor for the world’s economy.

Trump says lots of shit, and his actions rarely align with his words.

I’m willing to bet that Ozzy also likes to climb into your underwear when you’re sitting on the toilet.

Not even butt plug sellers.

I love how they framed the letter and hung it on their wall.

Toys for thots.

Venezuela is a trial balloon to see how the world responds. As expected, the response was timid and weak. This will only embolden this administration. If I had to hazard a guess, Trump’s next military adventure will be an attack on “cartels” in Mexico.

The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, enacted the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the Federal Government “set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses and identification cards.” The Act and implementing regulations establish minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibit federal agencies from accepting for certain official purposes noncompliant driver’s licenses and identification cards, both physical and digital (also known as Mobile Driver’s Licenses, or “mDLs”).

The official purposes covered by the Act and regulations are:

Accessing certain federal facilities; Boarding Federally regulated commercial aircraft; and Entering nuclear power plants.

So Real ID was designed to be good enough for people to use to enter a nuclear power plant, but apparently not reliable enough to identify someone to confirm citizenship? Sounds like some racist bullshit.

Dangler!

I’d check reddit to get a sense of the sellers people have used and the experiences with their products, but in general I haven’t had an issue with the peptides I’ve bought from Peptide Sciences, which is one of the more popular (but more expensive) sellers. The most common issue is contamination from lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which arises from poor lab procedures and lack of cleanliness. My very first peptide experience from an inexpensive seller triggered an inflammatory response, so I discontinued use and tossed the remainder and bought new product from a different seller.

Retatrutide is readily available from peptide sellers. Buyer beware, however, because some grey market peptide sellers don’t have quality products. I stick to the top tier peptide sellers, and haven’t had an issue.

You are 100% right. Trump’s actions not only harm Europe and the rest of the world, he’s harming the U.S. even more, and his actions will directly lead to economic collapse of the U.S., a worldwide depression, and WWIII. Unfortunately, Trump and his supporters currently have a lock not only on all 3 branches of government, but also are developing a stranglehold on traditional media and social media via oligarchs looking to expand their control by allying with Trump’s fascist regime. Sadly, it seems like far too few in the U.S. understand the alarming changes being made and the grave risks. The U.S. is fast becoming a rogue state, and possesses the most powerful military the world has seen so far. We certainly are living in interesting times.

Sleep with one eye open

Gripping your pillow tight…

It was very “alpha” of them to get their asses kicked. I find it particularly interesting that Paul had his jaw bone shattered in this fight, but “won” against Mike Tyson. Something tells me that the Tyson fight was almost certainly rigged.

No shit he’s not “ruling out war”, as he’s clearly and unambiguously teeing it up. He’s been itching to flex military power, and he undoubtedly will use the “victory” over a “foe” to try to rally his base, who are racist, blood-thirsty rednecks. It will also provide a nice distraction from the Epstein files. Trump has everything to gain (and the U.S. has a lot to lose) by attacking Venezuela, so we can rest assured that the attack is coming. The only thing that would prevent it is if there were a military coup that ousted Maduro before Trump launched the attack.

First up was Ben Shapiro, who described Tucker Carlson and others as grifters and charlatans, guilty of misleading their audiences with falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

Hahahahahahah!!! Pot calling kettle black. This sort of infighting is what happens when leadership falters. Trump’s corrupt mismanagement is becoming more apparent, and starting to tank his approval among even the hardcore MAGAts, and the other narcissists waiting in the wings are now knifing each other as they jockey for position. Wait until the economy comes completely unglued in 2026 and we experience major economic collapse, with bank runs, etc., similar to the lead-in to the Great Depression. We are definitely living in interesting times!

AI

What a sucker! He should have used the power of the presidency to bully his way into a merger with IBM. Surely no one would have objected.