LC

Trump already abdicated this responsibility when he refused to deploy the national guard to defend the US capital from a treasonous riot. The only difference is he doesn't like this riot but he liked the Jan 6 riot. Well if the game is to selectively enforce laws, that means we get to criticize those choices. And he doesn't get to cry to mommy when others pick up the ball and join the game. Well I should clarify: he obviously does cry about it, but how anyone with a shred of self-respect can stand it is beyond me.

Like when the US Capital Building was ransacked by a riotous mob, egged on by the president (who resisted calling in the national guard, much less marines) Gimme a break

Trump is also actively preventing the enforcement of the law. But the criticism I read here is that POTUS=Great ; Gov. Newsom = Trash So which is it?

California is the most successful state in the Union...those who don't like it can continue pissing into the wind but I don't see what good it does to continuously ignore success simply because you don't agree with its politics or image.

The new marching orders are out, I wonder when it will filter down to the usual suspects:

No comment on the names pitched here, but Peter Sidoti is a really nice guy, 10/10. A relative of his was also my pediatrician as a kid

Well that didn't answer the question in the least!

I saw a video yesterday which kind of discusses this, from an ethical standpoint: Why do we (as a society) hand-waive disturbing behavior simply because of extreme wealth? Asked differently, do you think Elon or Trump is a good role model for your son?

Someone tell Taco we need SkyNet. No, not from Terminator....but a gigantic fishing net in the sky

I remember absolutely hating Bruce Bowen doing it to Kobe during a lot of those Lakers-Spurs clashes.

Just reading your quoted piece: The first half pretty much says, "Hey Chubb, stop telling other people how to run their business!" Then the second half says, "Hey Chubb, here is how you should run your business!" Personally I think political risk, reputation risk...is a real risk and should be accounted for by insurers at both the policy level and the group level. If Chubb or anyone else thinks long tail exposure is too great due to political risk in O&G for example, they can choose not to write that business. If Chubb thinks just being exposed to gun ownership will have some reputational backlash, again they can choose not to write that business.

https://www.nextgov.com/people/2025/05/va-based-doge-associate-gets-boot-after-publicly-discussing-his-work/405636/ And in the truly hilarious twist of fate, turns out DOGE is pretty much just high priced consultants that are ultimately useless:

What? The NBA made a rule because of Zaza Pachulia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaza_rule

I really enjoyed that scene. I also thought Brosnan's enjoyment of his prison welcome was the cherry on the cake of his psychopathy. Lunatics all around, but fun to watch.

Thank you! Have you seen Ludwig? Another good one in the genre.

Good posts @DooDiligence

Same...I think it was trading something like 50x earnings, post-spin? Was a lesson to me like: "if you somehow have low-cost shares in a one-of-a-kind asset, it's not the end of the world if you think it is overvalued"

Trump Always Chickens Out is just a negotiation tactic. Does he always chicken out? Maybe. Does Trump want to slap 150% taxes on China? Maybe. Either we take people at their word or we don't. I think it's funny we have a higher expectation of truth from people making jokes/talking shit, versus the POTUS

Why isn't the US honoring the military commitment we made in 1994 to Ukraine, in exchange for their nuclear disarmament?

Fighting a religious war is a never ending pursuit. There will be no end, no two-state solution, no cease-fire...their gods will provide an bottomless well of blind hatred. This is what happens at the extreme when religion runs the state. Best we can do is isolate both sides so they are using sticks and stones vs. drones and missiles. But, that will never happen.

Part of the reason I sold was the last 2 years we turned around the business, at this point it is at a steady-state. So nothing really more for me to add to the business, and really it was the owner/operator's "dream" to own his own restaurant...given "the economy" and the volatility in the restaurant industry...figured it was as good a time as any to step back. Along the way, there was definitely a lot of work "educating" the operator on how to run a profitable business. Many disagreements along the way...things like, "No we cannot have 4 employees in the shop from 2pm-5pm when we have 4 total customers" kind of thing... part of the reason (IMHO) the restaurant industry has a bad reputation is because it attracts unskilled labor. The business itself is like any other - if you have a "moat", you can do well. But I think a lot of people running restaurants have 100% kitchen skills and 0% business skills. @thepupil Thank you...I still work in finance, this was a side project. It was 90% me telling the operator that we can't hire more people, we can't drastically expand the menu, we can't buy new beer coolers for no reason other than "they're nice"...things like that Definitely an experience. He is probably happy to have me off his back, I am happy to have walked without a loss! Really the only reason this place succeeded is we are 1 of 2 pizzerias in a big ski area, and we had a guaranteed vendor spot (1 of 5 total) at a regional summer concert venue. So the shop had those built-in "moats". From there it was just limiting as many expenses as possible and ensuring the operator ran a tight ship.

No real comment on the content, but I absolutely love @Blake Hampton calling it how he sees it.

The only use I see for dividends is to limit management's allocation options so they don't do stupid stuff. And sometimes even that doesn't work. Why not ignore dividends, just buy good companies you think are growing in value, and sell a few shares every year to create your dividend? I.e. Buffett's advice from years ago?

Thank you both for the kind words!

A few years ago I bought into some local businesses, including a pizzeria/bar. We are finalizing the sale of that to the owner/operator. Not a homerun by any means, with the sale price + net dividends received along the way, will be about a 25-30% return or ~10-12% annual IRR. Not the worst but from a pure capital allocation perspective definitely inferior to the public markets. The good (or bad) news is now I have a reinvestment problem on my hands.