The Frankish Reich

⬆️ Meanwhile, perhaps a, umm, I don't know, vaccine scientist? would care to weigh in on how his life has been devoted to the destruction of freedom in the name of public health. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/14/opinion/pre-vaccine-america.html

COVID? No, not anymore, because the pandemic is over, silly. Would have been over sooner if my advice had been adopted.

Hmm ... Barkley, Trubisky, Keenum, Trubisky ... generic white guy fits the bill

Oh, I stand corrected. About the same in the broad market (SPY). Ooh. Maybe we should add in Trump 2.0's first 50 days to correct that.

MMR should be mandated. No exceptions other than medically inappropriate (compromised immune system, etc). So too polio, HPV for girls* according to current medical guidelines. Feel free to try to argue otherwise. *as assigned at birth. haha

The usual bs. Trump 1.0 not counting the first 9 months of COVID, because of course Trump's inept management (or lack thereof) of that doesn't count. So you tell me: why is consumer confidence lower today than it was when Biden left office?

Remember the Biden "vibecession" anyone?

Still ignoring me by obsessing over me. He's really good at that.

"Never confuse activity with accomplishment" - John Wooden One of my favorite quotes of all time by a man who knew what it means to be a winner. The Madness of King Trump II. Trump has lost it. Paul Krugman says it best: https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-mind-is-a-terrible-thing-to-lose When Trump first began talking about turning Canada into the 51st state, many people treated it as a joke. But Trump doesn’t appear to be in on the joke. He just keeps doubling down, even as the people of Canada grow ever more outraged. No sane leader would imagine that it’s a good idea to threaten a heretofore friendly but proudly patriotic neighbor and ally with annexation. But a sane leader is exactly what we don’t have. And look beyond what Trump and Musk have said to the actions of the people they’ve chosen to oversee key public agencies. Robert F. Kennedy, the secretary of health and human services, refuses to respond to a measles outbreak with a clear call for vaccinations, instead suggesting that people take cod liver oil. The secretary of agriculture has suggested that Americans respond to high egg prices by raising their own chickens. How did the highest levels of U.S. government become infected by madness? Well, this is what you get when you give flawed people — people prone to grandiosity, vindictiveness and paranoia — so much power that nobody dares tell them when they’re going too far. Cowed Republicans and timid Democrats have effectively given Trump and Musk the freedom to become the worst versions of themselves. And the whole world will pay the price.

News you can use! Exactly what I've been doing here ... giving people life hacks on how to spend within their means. Which is usually met with ridicule, so watch your back.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was 56% of white people. Let's listen to the words of an expert analyst: "Vance said he noticed as a child that his peers seemed to fall into two groups: “My grandparents embodied one type: old-fashioned, quietly faithful, self-reliant, hardworking. My mother and, increasingly, the entire neighborhood embodied another: consumerist, isolated, angry, distrustful.” What might the government do differently? Vance notes that hillbillies love to complain, a la Trump, that the system is holding them back. “Never be like those f—ing losers who think the deck is stacked against them,” Mamaw used to tell her grandson. And yet hillbillies create so many varieties of misery for themselves. Vance recalls that in high school, a neighbor ran a bath, took some painkillers and passed out. When she awoke, the bath had overflowed and ruined the top floor of her house. “This is the reality of our community,” Vance writes. “It’s about a naked druggie destroying what little of value exists in her life. It’s about children who lose their toys and clothes to a mother’s addiction.”

Well, with absolutely zero new contributions (and of course there would be new contributions) and average annual returns of 6 percent, it would double in 12 years ... but of course you knew that. I mean you know it now.

Sounds like a winner! Did I miss the part about annexing Belgium too?

Victimhood and oppression. "We've been treated very unfairly by [Canada. The EU. Ukraine. Everyone but Russia.]"

First he came for then lumber, and I did nothing because I am not a lumberjack. Then he came for the steel, and I did nothing because I am not an autoworker. Now he comes for the French wine and champagne? Let the masses awaken ...

You need to study this a little more. My example was a 45 year old planning to work 15 more years ...

What we knew for a long time, finally found to be true by a federal judge: They. Are. Lying. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/trump-education-department-layoffs-lawsuit-state-attorneys-general-32c6441f?mod=WTRN_pos1&cx_testId=3&cx_testVariant=cx_165&cx_artPos=0 “It’s a sad day when the federal government would fire a good employee and say it’s based on performance when they know good and well that’s a lie,” Alsup said. He pointed to employees who were told they were fired for cause despite stellar performance reviews. “That should not be done in our country,” he said. “It was a sham to avoid statutory requirements.” Alsup also criticized the Justice Department for what he characterized as attempts to stonewall the challengers in their attempts to gather more details about the firings, including attempts to depose acting OPM Director Charles Ezell.

Down 7+ percent since Trump took office.

https://www.usbank.com/investing/financial-perspectives/market-news/stock-market-under-trump.html As of yesterday's close (before today's bad day): - S&P 500 down 3.64% since election day - down 7.1% since inauguration day Let's say your a 45 year old with a million bucks in a 401k on inauguration day, all in U.S. equities. (This is not unusual these days.) You hope to retire at 60. Congrats, you've lost $71,000. You can work an extra two years. But hey, maybe we'll have Greenland! Winning!

Stocks Extend Losses as Trump Ramps Up Canada Tariffs Blue chips fall 600 points; U.S. dollar weakens further President Trump said the U.S. will increase its planned 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50%, in a response to Ottawa’s retaliation to U.S. tariffs. Trump also said he would “substantially increase” tariffs on cars coming into the U.S. on April 2. The WSJ online head, right now. Tired of so much winning yet?

https://www.wsj.com/economy/trump-team-recession-hard-landing-c8f23d5d?st=bERXCL One doddering old man gave us a soft landing. Another dotard insisted on a crash landing. Which one is mentally competent? The old fool who knows his limitations and defers to people who know WTF they're doing? Or the old fool who still thinks he's the smartest man in the room?

As Michael Jordan famously said about avoiding politics, "Republicans buy sneakers too."

Now it’s a 50% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum. You may have played poker with this guy, the guy whose go-to is always the bluff. It stops working after the third or fourth time …

He never looks at the markets.

Spoken like a guy without any retirement savings.