financial counterculture, digital triangulation, analog manliness
Nashville, TN
Joined December 2009
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Todd Robbins retweeted
Remember when Obama's former chief counsel and head of ethics Kathy Ruemmler was exposed for being so close to Epstein that she referred to him as "Uncle Jeffrey" whom she "adored," was on flight logs to his island, and was even the backup executor on his will? That was awesome.
The Vanderbilt story is wild - a few generations of degenerate losers doomed them.
Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877 with $100 million, more money than the U.S. Treasury. In 1973, 120 of his descendants gathered at Vanderbilt University. Not one of them was a millionaire.
His great-great-great-grandson is Anderson Cooper. At 14 he was walking up the stairs at home and heard his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, on the phone: "Well, I'll always be able to make money."
"I remember stopping and freezing… and thinking: we are doomed."
At 13 he'd been telling her to open a savings account. By 14 he was working as a child model.
By 1885 the Commodore's son had more than doubled the fortune, to about $230 million. Then the next generation's wives decided to take over New York society. "And then the spending begins."
Worked out.
$230 million in 1885.
Left alone at a plain 5% a year until 1973: about $17 billion.
Split 120 ways: about $140 million each.
What the 120 actually had: not one had $1 million.
Spending only the 5% would have paid the family $11.5 million a year, in 1885 dollars, forever.
Keep this part. A fortune doesn't need a thief. It only needs each generation to spend a little more than it earns, and more heirs to split what's left.
Gloria inherited what remained, then made her own money with jeans. Anderson's parents made sure he knew: "There wasn't some pot of gold waiting for me, and I'm glad."
The clip is three minutes. Watch him on the stairs, then decide.
You have $100 million and one child. How much do you leave them?
I like this!
The Brazilian presidential debate going on right now is using a really interesting format. Instead of having the moderators ask the questions (and inject bias into the debate with their tones, smirks, snapbacks and "fact checks", etc.), each candidate chooses a topic from the screen, and then asks the other candidate a question about that topic, with the other candidate receiving time to answer. To prevent interruptions, the other side's mic is secured at each phase. US should try this, it leads to much better exchanges with much less partisan interference.
Excellent news
Two former senior FBI officials, Nikki Cole Floris and Bradley Benavides, were taken into custody today on charges of allegedly lying to Congress about their involvement in the FBI’s investigations into Hunter Biden.
The charges stem from an ongoing investigation into the since-dissolved FBI Foreign Influence Task Force.
Floris led the FITF as a Deputy Assistant Director from mid-2019 through mid-2022. Benavides was the FITF Section Chief from mid-2019 through the 2020 election. Both testified that the FITF was not involved in the Hunter Biden investigations. Documentary evidence, contemporaneous communications, and witness accounts contradict their testimony.
Floris is also on record privately claiming to be “running a shadow government” during the 2020 election in her role on the FITF.
Lying to Congress by senior FBI officials strikes at the heart of our system. No one is above the law.
The FBI has already dismantled the corrupt CR-15 squad that engaged in political weaponization targeting their opponents, including President Trump.
Thanks to @TheJusticeDept @FBIKansasCity and @USAttyPirro.
-DKP🇺🇸
excellent point
Likely waterfall of what CEOs would do if politicians made stock buybacks illegal.
First, private companies would be less likely to go public, as they can't manage dilution.
Current public CEOs would, in likely order:
1. Pay higher dividends
2. Pay special dividends
3. Pursue more mergers and acquisitions
4. Hoard more cash
5. Pay down debt
6. Overinvestment in marginal R&D and capex
or just go private.
Accomplish what you're looking for? No, of course not, but it sounds good as a boogeyman!
Mindblowing
The biggest charitable donation of all time from @elonmusk ..and these two hate it.
Predictable, but sad to see. @karaswisher goes as far to say "it's a ridiculous waste of money" and "only one share?" and "I fault him for it".
I used to think when you pick a political party your IQ goes down 20% now I think it's closer to 50%.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…
"I’m against the death penalty but sometimes I wish I wasn’t." - stunning low IQ comment that 100% exemplifies today's liberal/progressive. Just wow.
Todd Robbins retweeted
Christopher Hitchens: ”In 1786, when the United States was barely a country, it was having its sailors taken as slaves by the Barbary states, the states of the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Tripoli, shores of Tripoli. Ships stopped, its crews carried off into slavery. We estimate 1.5 million European and American slaves taken between 1750 and 1815.
Jefferson and Adams went to their ambassador in London and said, why do you do this to us? The United States has never had a quarrel with the Muslim world of any kind. We weren't in the crusades. We weren't at war with Spain. Why do you do this to our people and our ships? Why do you plunder and enslave our people? The ambassador said very plainly, Mr. Abdul Rahman said, because the Quran gives us permission to do so, because you are infidels, and that's our answer. Jefferson said, well, in that case, I will send a navy which will crush your state, which he did.
Islamic fundamentalism is not created by American democracy. It's a lie to say so. It's a masochistic lie, and it excuses those who are the real criminals, and blames us for the attacks made upon us.”
Todd Robbins retweeted
35 YEARS AGO TODAY, Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed by a vote of 52-48 after the Democrats launched an all-out war to destroy him.
They failed spectacularly. Despite the most vicious smears and lies, Justice Thomas never backed down.
In a legendary exchange during the hearing, when Justice Thomas was told by Senator Hatch that there were rumors that he was going to withdraw, Justice Thomas said, “I would rather die than withdraw. If they’re going to kill me, they’re going to kill me . . . I’d rather die than withdraw from the process, not for the purpose of serving on the Supreme Court but for the purpose of not being driven out of this process... I’ve never run from bullies. I never cry uncle and I’m not going to cry uncle today whether I want to be on the Supreme Court or not.”
God Bless Justice Thomas for his courage and perseverance in the face of such an outrageous assault.
Justice Thomas is now our second longest serving Justice in American history, and more important, he has had more impact on American jurisprudence than any Justice in history. His opinions have led the way in returning the Court’s jurisprudence to the Constitution’s original meaning.
Justice Thomas is an American hero and our nation’s greatest justice.
