Even I’ve shrunk already at 56. I’m slowly getting in the habit of saying 6’2” instead of 6’3”. By the time I fully adjust to saying 6’2” I’ll probably be 6’1”.

The Bach was mesmerizing.

@jon-nyc said in Maybe this person can explain how tariffs increase prosperity: Reminds me of Murabaha, aka Islamic Finance. The bank purchases an asset and sells it to the client at a markup, paid in installments, but it's definitely not a loan. Because that would be forbidden. At CS our Emerging Markets Fixed income desk had a Murabaha trading book. My chase credit card has a "pay over time" program available for every purchase over $100. There's no "loan", or "interest", but the payments add up to more than the original price, because of "fees". Those fees are 5.5%, if paid off over a year.

Parents go stupid, common sense and logic flees when kids panic over a pet. Yup. I’ve seen this.

I've been to Toronto a lot. I think you might be a bit disappointed if you went there as a replacement for NYC, unless you just want to meet really obnoxious locals.

They also repealed the bans on the Black Sox….

Snort

I discovered that I was subscribing to Max twice. I am afraid to look for how long. It comes with my AT&T wireless bundle, but I was also subscribing as an add-on with my hulu. I removed it and added Disney+ for an extra $1 per month. I couldn't afford not to.

Made me think about maintenance of the aircraft after Trump leaves office, should the aircraft be accepted. It seems the Trump Organization already has an aviation fleet that includes.a Boeing 757: https://www.trump.com/lifestyle/aviation It will be expensive, but the Trump Organization should already have some capacity to maintain an aircraft, even if it's outsourced.

Be careful, Mark. Luckily you live in a very solid house.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-economy-worse-shape-than-moscow-says-report-eu-shows-2025-05-13/ The report, prepared for talks of European Union finance ministers, said that while still relatively stable, the Russian economy was only superficially resilient and that underlying imbalances and structural weaknesses were growing. "The fiscal stimulus of the war economy has kept the economy afloat in the short term, but the reliance on opaque financing, distortionary resource allocation, and shrinking fiscal buffers makes it unsustainable in the long term. Contrary to Kremlin narratives, time is not on Russia's side," it said.

@Tom-K said in The Ukraine war thread: @Renauda said in The Ukraine war thread: Kennedy gets it, in fact, he got it all along. For all his, "awe shuks" and "yes" and "no ma'am" he's the smartest guy in the Senate. I'm sure he loves it when people underestimate him.

Definitely seems like "creative accounting"

@Mik That is a good point. I remember hearing a CEO who said, "the only decisions I SHOULD make are those that nobody else CAN make."

He frequently contradicts himself, essentially meaning you can't believe he means anything he says.

Sure, but that assumes the common man and the higher income folks both have similar intuitions that tariffs are going to harm them economically in the immediate future.