It is the same with automotive parts. Anything imported from China has at least a 40% markup before it is resold.

If you are young a down market is a great opportunity to buy. That ten years allows you to pick up stock and build your portfolio.

As an owner of a Nissan I am thrilled Honda is bailing them out. I need those spare parts to flow.

China has terrible demographics, a real estate mark that is in free fall, high debt, is the target of tariffs in every major economy and a domestic market that can’t consume what they produce.

Economically they are fucked unless the US and EU throw them a life line and allow them to dump products in their market again… which is not going to happen no matter which party is in control. The best they can hope for at this point is a Japanese style lost decade. But I doubt they can manage even that outcome.

Bottom line is the CCP will do whatever is in the best interest of the CCP staying in control of China. Even if that decision is terrible for China itself.

If they are backed into a corner it doesn’t matter that Taiwan is out of reach. All that matters is that the CCP stays in control.

That is what makes this next ten years very dangerous.

We are on the tail end of the crypto grift. Getting the largest country on earth to invest in Crypto is basically the last gasp before the bubble deflates and cleans all the suckers out.

Been done in El Salvador. This is going to be a grift on the US tax payer of EPIC proportions.

https://www.bloomberglinea.com/english/el-salvador-loses-50-of-its-bitcoin-investments-due-to-crypto-collapse/

That’s what I think as well. The assassin hopped on a bike and pedaled off to Central Park.

Personally I think he had a different clothes going into the city. Changed in CP, Stole a bike, then biked to the hotel did the deed. Biked back to CP ditched the clothes and bike and left the city.

Thank you Microsoft after being a windows user since the 3.1 days your recent changes to Windows makes me happy to announce I bought my first MAC.

If you think you see an opportunity go ahead and invest and don’t feel ashamed. Many of the Hispanic immigrant communities that will adversely be affected by mass deportation had high levels of Trump support.

I say fuck it and make a buck. May those who voted for Trump get exactly what they voted for.

No, they will be even cheaper and easier to run.

Absolutely, but I’d rather deal with something that has widespread manufacturer and user support.

While I think there is lots of support for Linux, and I could figure it out. I don’t perceive that it is as wide spread as Mac OS.

Long story short I’m paying for the convenience.

I’ve considered Linux. I work in IT and I know I could figure it out and adapt to it. The problem is my kids and my wife would also need to use it.

To give you some perspective on my decision making process. My wife (who is of the age where she really should be able to figure tech out.) can’t seem to figure out how to print from her phone and complained about how difficult IOS is compared to Android when we switched a few years ago. My kids run to me for all things tech and I usually have to figure out their problems. I’m always genuinely surprised my teenage son hasn’t made an effort to hack the application which restricts his time and access to his gaming computer (I would be secretly proud of him if he did).

So for my own piece of mind I’ll pay the 2x multiple for Apple hardware just so I don’t have to deal with learning a new OS while my family comes to me for basically every tech issue.

Literally the link I posted was a small resort in the middle of a community…

I’m up to buy a new computer and I’ve never wanted a Macbook but with all the negative changes Microsoft is making I feel it is the time to make the switch.

Microsoft seems to think that we are the product and harvesting data is the default business model moving forward.

Have your son travel, sending him off to see how other people live and how cheerful and helpful most people are is probably going to open his eyes.

1. Puerto Rico, Bahama’s, St Lucia, British Virgin Islands are all fairly safe and you can mix and mingle with the locals. Just don’t stay somewhere where you will only stay on the resort. Get a hotel or resort in the middle of a community

I had a wonderful time in St Luca several years ago and stayed at the resort below. It’s a small resort in the middle of a town with lots of interaction with locals.

https://coco-resorts.com/

For the last 40 years through free trade we’ve had a large population join the market from countries like China, Russia, India etc.

Free trade with China has given us cheap consumer goods but at the cost of our own manufacturing which suppressed wage growth and inflation for a long time. We hit the peak of this just before Covid and we are now feeling the after affects.

China’s dramatically aging population along with geopolitical instability means that the logistics and manufacturing capacity that existed overseas for 20 years Is now failing. The US forced to reshore or nearshore (Mexico) much of its manufacturing capacity. Basically if we want to continue to have stuff we need to find somewhere else to make it besides China. This isn’t a cheap process and it won’t be as efficient as the old system.

Russia’s war with Ukraine has huge implications on resources and energy. Russia exports a lot of raw materials, fertilizer products, food, energy and aluminum. Taking them offline has affected international trade and has many many markets.

Our institutions that support labor have also withered over the last 40 years. Labor unions don’t have the sway they used too and politicians have ignored their needs for decades. Big business will not just give wage increases much like in the 20s and 30s Labor will need to grow and become more combative than it currently is to see any improvements.

In short the world order that we all grew up in is breaking down and changing. It will be at least a decade before these changes finish shaking out and we see solutions to the problems we are facing fully materialize.

A. Many men would not marry a woman who didn’t take their name.

B. Makes parenting more difficult in social settings by not sharing the last name of your kids. I.E. Picking up your kid at school or making medical decisions about kids and having a different last name as the child forces you to jump through a lot more hoops.

C. Women tend to grow up knowing they are going to change their last name it’s not even an afterthought. My girlfriend told me her and her friends would often talk about what their name would be if they married a guy they liked.

D. In some states it is very difficult for a man to change their last name but for women the processes is already in place.

I agree with all of your points but believe there is one more.

Many vote for their party because that is what their family has always done. To them it is like rooting for their Football or Baseball team. They just want the win and feed off any news stories that support that view. No matter how much of complete failure a Republican President is (G.W.B. Comes to mind) their popularity never drops below 28% - 35%.

Na, it will only take two years.

Trump tariffs will crater the economy in a year.

Massive round ups of migrants both legal and illegal. Killing farming and destroying families.

Musk well being Musk and chopping the Federal Budget,

50,000 vetted loyal Trumpists ready to take over the Federal government.

Matt Gates in charge of the Dept of Justice leading Trumps Vengence tour.

RFK Jr starts peddling raw milk and makes vaccines illegal.

It’s gonna be fucking LIT. I can’t wait to tell my half wit Dominican coworker who voted for Trump “I told you so” when their family gets deported. I can’t wait to tell my idiot sister in laws who voted for Trump, I told you so when the government programs they rely on (including Obama Care) get wrecked.

Of course I’m going to suffer too, I’m stocking up on N1 masks, food, toilet paper and bullets… but holy shit I’m going to be saying I told you so in the nastiest most demeaning way possible for the rest of my days.

You could vote for the candidate least likely to Genocide. I think Kamala was her name…

No seriously, I hope Palestine gets the policies that all the Genocide Joes here voted for. You earned it for them! 🫡