Armed guards at the door. Opioids offered on repeat. Apple Pay at my bedside. Welcome to the American Emergency Room. The French think it bankrupts you. Americans think France does it for free. I’ve been to the ER in both. Both are wrong. Mountain bike crash, dislocated and fractured shoulder. I’m French, I live in San Francisco, and I take slightly too many risks. Let’s compare. Security 🇺🇸 Kaiser in Marin. Three armed guards and a metal detector. My phone set it off, so with my shoulder out of its socket I walked through again. And again. Then a pat-down. 🇫🇷 A couple of unarmed guys with walkie-talkies. Still not sure what they’re for. Wait 🇺🇸 Three people in the waiting room. Seen in 15 to 30 minutes. 🇫🇷 Broken hand: packed room, 4 hours before anyone touched me. Records 🇺🇸 Kaiser is vertically integrated. Insurer, hospital, doctors: one system. They had my file before I sat down. 🇫🇷 Every new doctor is a fresh context window. Zero history, maybe a printout from last time. Infrastructure 🇺🇸 Small hospital, serious kit. Straight to the trauma bay: real bed, IV, vitals monitoring, ready for surgery if needed. All imaging on the spot. 🇫🇷 Broken hand: a plastic chair and a Doliprane. Drugs 🇺🇸 Strong opioids were the default offer. I said no. They insisted. The doctor came in personally, confused why someone in that much pain would refuse. I stuck to Tylenol, an anti-inflammatory, to put the shoulder back in. Yes, it hurt. No, I didn’t tap out. My mom is proud of me. 🇫🇷 Broken hand: Doliprane, opioids never mentioned. I have friends who got their shoulder popped back in with nothing at all. US default: opioids. French default: Doliprane. Bill 🇺🇸 Every nurse warned me: “You’re French, this bill is going to traumatize you.” Before discharge, someone came to my bed to collect payment. Apple Pay, from the hospital bed. $300. For everything. On a ~$500/month Kaiser plan. 🇫🇷 A flat ~€20 ER fee, usually reimbursed by your mutuelle. The real bill shows up later, on your payslip (see below) followup 🇺🇸 Kaiser called me right after to set up follow-up and physio, all in their system. So far, so good. 🇫🇷 Broken hand: discharged, figure it out yourself. A friend dislocated her finger. They put it back in wrong, sent her home with bad instructions, it locked up, and she needed surgery months later. Still not fixed. “Free healthcare” in France It’s not free when your marginal tax rate nears 70% with social charges. And if you want quality care fast, more and more people pay for private clinics anyway. Verdict One person, one data point. But the care was 10x better than anything I’ve had in France, for a price that’s completely fine. France has a lot to learn. And yes, I refused the narcotics to stay sharp enough to launch a NanoCorp from my hospital bed. Launch your first company run by an AI agent: nanocorp .so

I am a U.S. permanent resident with over seven figures in U.S. dollars in savings and investable assets, a stable career, income, and property. I have never been denied a visa by any country, nor have I ever violated the immigration laws of any country. Yet over the past four years, the Schengen visas issued to me have become progressively shorter and more restrictive. In 2023, France granted me a 90-day multiple-entry visa. Naturally, I expected that my excellent travel history would qualify me for a longer visa upon reapplication. Instead, my second French visa was reduced to just 30 days, albeit with multiple entries. I considered this not only a disregard for my impeccable record but also an insult to a law-abiding traveler. I therefore decided to abandon France and apply to Spain instead—a country I had mistakenly believed would be more welcoming to Chinese visitors. To my astonishment, Spain proved even worse. Despite my history of holding two French Schengen visas, Spain granted me only a one-month, single-entry visa, with its validity calculated almost precisely to match my travel itinerary, leaving virtually no flexibility. I assumed that applying to Spain a second time, with an even stronger travel record, would at least earn me a six-month multiple-entry visa. Once again, Spain disappointed me: 33 days. Single entry. This is how certain European countries treat a financially secure, law-abiding traveler with U.S. permanent residency and an impeccable international travel record. The irony is extraordinary. On the one hand, these countries impose increasingly burdensome restrictions on legitimate tourists. On the other, they have opened doors for years to illegal immigrants and third country refugees. They are remarkably stingy toward visitors who respect their laws, appreciate their cultures, and contribute to their tourism economies. Yet when confronted with genuine threats to public order, they just sit and do nothing. I initially wanted to condemn these immigration officers in the harshest possible words for their arrogance, shortsightedness, and upside-down mentality. However, after reading recent news reports about violent incidents in France and Spain, my anger has gradually turned into a sense of relief. Of course, I do not wish violence upon innocent people. But these reports have reminded me of something important: Why should I go to such lengths to obtain permission to visit countries where public safety itself has become a source of concern? I once believed that these visa officers were rejecting me. Now I realize that perhaps they have unintentionally helped me avoid unnecessary risks. They seem to believe that they alone possess the power to decide who deserves to enter Europe. What they forget is that travelers also have the freedom to decide which countries deserve their time and money. My wealth can be spent anywhere in the world. My vacations can take place in countless destinations. I have absolutely no need to beg any country for the privilege of spending my own money within its borders. If a country cannot show basic respect to law-abiding visitors or provide a travel environment in which they feel safe, then the most appropriate response is simply to take my time and money elsewhere. Looking back, perhaps it was precisely the stinginess of these visa officers that spared me from potentially encountering violence or other unnecessary risks in their countries. I used to be furious that my visas kept getting shorter. Today, I am grateful that I no longer feel any need to visit these countries. Perhaps everything happens according to God’s plan. Thank God!

Went to black coffee in Dubai last night. Fully sold out arena tables reselling for 30k USD, bad hoes everywhere impeccable vibes. People said Dubai was done a few kk the ago meanwhile the likes of France are literally on fire 😂 Dubai busier than it was pre war, after having literal missiles shot at it. It still has best quality of life in the world, and only continues to improve. So many people were talking an abundance of shit and now they have to watch it thrive again lmao

European poverty will be manifested in older cars, dirtier streets, more closed and boarded up windows, urban decay encroaching ever more on upscale neighborhoods. People will be spending more time at home, drinking and watching streaming services. More defaults on loans will mean half finished, deteriorating buildings everywhere. So basically the currently economically active Europeans will not notice a thing. It's the whole world outside Europe which will be developing, having flying cars, autonomous robots, cheap services and abundance, while Europe will be just like now, but forever. Europe will be Cubafied.

Good Morning from Germany, where one of Europe’s biggest landlords calls the country “uninvestable.” Heimstaden is withholding fresh capital over Berlin’s expropriation plans. It owns 20,000 apartments in the city worth ~€5bn and estimates a potential €1bn loss. Its hybrid bond has plunged from ~98 cents in August to 82.5. The irony: a policy meant to tackle the housing shortage risks driving away investment without building a single new home. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

New 30 km/h area speed limit signs will be posted at neighbourhood entry and exit points. Once you enter a signed area, the 30 km/h speed limit applies throughout the local road network until you leave that area. Slower speeds help reduce the risk of serious collisions and make neighbourhood streets safer. Learn more about the change: toronto.ca/LocalSpeed

I honestly don't get why CT is so enamored with Flood's appearance. There's a lot of ugly people who post analysis, who gives a fuck, as long as it provides some sort of useful insight and perspective. This is simply trading markets and posting sentiment on a public forum. Opinions can differ. Stan Druckenmiller is ugly as fuck, Steve Cohen is ugly as fuck, Tom Lee is ugly, Vitalik is ugly as fuck etc. Even the panel below everyone there is ugly as fuck too but no one has said a word about their appearances. This just seems like pent up anger and hatred towards Flood. This isn't a fucking paegent show you guys are so brutal

I've had sports cars, experienced luxury in many forms Nothing beats the feeling of paying for groceries without knowing or caring about the price That's true wealth for me

Told claude I'm in Dubai with 5 grams and the cops are knocking the hotel door It's advice? > Don't flush it > it's only a short sentence > You'll get through this > Go open the door Total AI alignment

I’m Japanese. After seeing Paris, I came to the conclusion that diversity is bullshit.

We call on France to exercise restraint when dispersing the freedom fighters on the streets of Paris. These brave warriors for justice must receive immediate humanitarian aid, and their safety must be guaranteed in accordance with international law. Failure to comply will leave us no choice but to bring a case before the ICJ, in close cooperation with that renowned champion of human rights, Afghanistan.

J’ai entendu dire que la France était finie, qu’il était trop tard pour la sauver. Mais la France est toujours aussi belle, enviable même. Sa grandeur n’a pas disparu, elle ne demande qu’à renaître. Nous avons surmonté en un an un problème cent fois plus grave, sans avoir les moyens dont dispose la France. La France pourrait y arriver en une semaine.

🔴 Richard James Schueler’in eşi adına kayıtlı 9 araç muhafaza altına alındı. 📌 Yüksek miktarda kripto para dolandırıcılığı yaptığı gerekçesiyle INTERPOL tarafından Kırmızı Bülten ile aranan Richard James Schueler ve eşi gözaltına alınmıştı. 📌 Eşi adına tescilli olduğu belirlenen 9 araca el koyma işlemi gerçekleştirildi. Araçlar otoparka çekildi.

As a German living abroad and looking at things from outside the German media bubble, it’s tough to watch such a great nation hold itself back like this.