james22

Manila cannot react similarly because it differs by higher population density (it has no large numbers of warehouses full of stores), weaker infrastructure (transport of new supplies would not be arranged), weaker social cohesion, etc. Not to mention the lack of external aid it could rely upon. https://www.numbeo.com/quality-of-life/rankings.jsp https://fragilestatesindex.org/ https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/resilient-cities-index-2023

How a 27-year-old busted the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity https://arstechnica.com/features/2024/01/how-a-27-year-old-busted-the-myth-of-bitcoins-anonymity/

Kyiv? Manhattan?? Manila is unlike either.

Reminds me of this: In the military literature he had become familiar with a subject called The Fragile City scenario, a term used to describe the vulnerability of mega-metropolises in the Third World. The theory was they were subject to the special danger of catastrophic collapse. Nothing like these cities had ever been been seen in human history; they were creatures, not of local conditions, but of globalization. Paid for by the entire output of their countries, these gigantic urban sprawls held together by imported food, imported cars, imported fuel and imported telecommunications. In 1800, only 3% of the world's population lived in cities, a that figure rose to 47% by the end of the 20th century. In 1950, there were only 83 cities with populations in excess of 1 million; by 2007, this number had risen to 468. In the first decades of the 21st century, there were more than 30 cities with a population greater than ten million, each larger than the largest city in the world at the end of the World War 2. All but a handful of these monster mega-cities were in the Third World. The biggest were in Asia of a size that in human terms boggled the mind. Tokyo was now the largest concentration of humans ever seen, with 35 million people, packed 4,900 to the square mile. The mega cities on the China coast, Guangzhou with 32 million and Shanghai with 29 million, were next biggest with densities of 5,000 and 10,000 people per square mile. By comparison New York with 24 million people at 1,876 people per square mile was pastoral. But Manila’s 22 million people were crowded in at an incredibly 48,000 per square mile -- 25 times the density of New York was in a league by itself. Just what happened when a human hive with 48,000 to the square mile suddenly lost power and fuel for weeks was a matter for conjecture. No one really knew because it had never happened before. But the Fragile City scenario suggested the power loss would literally have the effect of an atomic bomb or perhaps more accurately, one of apocalyptic zombie infections seen only in movies. Great masses of people would suddenly be deprived of every necessity of life. The power plants that lighted them, the trucks that fed them, the cell towers that held together the links in an incalculable chain would suddenly stop working. The city would have no means of sustenance, no power to organize a recovery. Without power food would spoil, hospitals would could become airless infernos, communications would collapse, sewage and water supply would cease. High rise apartments predicated on uninterrupted air conditioning couldn’t even open the windows. Chaos would at most be 48 hours away. If China ever destroyed the fuel storage of a mega-city Manila the result would not resemble the bombings of World War 2 cities, horrible as these had been. They would be something never before witnessed: a mountain of humanity collapsing of its own weight. https://docs.google.com/document/d/10jMqhI2_N1RvopXlH4L-BeYu-rldDfCLHzxdXqgq8pQ/pub

It'll all seem very obvious looking back 10 years from now. Even moreso with Bitcoin. Ha.

This is how I take it.

Why not service and sell it? Even if in only Good condition and without Box and Papers, should still get a minimum of $12-13K.

Sure, but all that matters is what Xi, surrounded by yes-men, believes. Luckily, he's recent reasons to question his military's capability.

1. They're interesting, being at the intersection of history, engineering, art, and fashion. 2. Watches are Real in a way my (symbolic analyst) work and much of today's digital/disposal world isn't. 3. Like any collection, an interesting problem (curation) to solve. People who buy them as such are soon disappointed. NO ONE notices your watch.

Love Nomos. Every Rolex sports watch is worth more than its MSRP. It's just near impossible to buy one at MSRP without having an in.

Mine as well. Loved that car. I'm an Omega fan boy, but if you can buy a Rolex at MSRP, you should. You make money walking out the door.

According to official figures released on Wednesday, Chinese women had fewer than half the births in 2023 than they did in 2016 — the year Beijing finally repealed that slow-rolling disaster known as the One-Child Policy. https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/01/17/chinese-women-are-voting-against-communism-with-their-uteri-n4925570

A proud tradition. Corruption seems to have played a major role; many Chinese shells appear to have been filled with cement or porcelain, or were the wrong caliber and could not be fired. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Yalu_River_(1894)

When does Fidelity add a 1-2% FBTC allocation to their Target Date Retirement Funds?

If it makes you feel any better, you might not like the 911 as much as you think. I've a Cayenne and Boxster and am really looking forward to downsizing to one car. But it'll be a Macan (GTS) rather than a 911 because after a lifetime of sports cars, I'm shocked to realize how much I prefer the better visibility and ease of entry/exit of a higher seating position. Go test drive one - it may make you realize you're not missing anything. (Then swap the X3 for an X3 M.)

What's funny is retiring with some wealth only to realize most of the toys you thought you'd be interested in are more work than fun. A second car and boat is hassle enough. A second home/ranch, plane, or RV would be too much. Not to mention there's only so much time (even if you'd the energy). One toy takes time away from others.

I'd long planned to build a large house out by the lake when I retired. Turns out I'm happy enough in my 1-bedroom downtown condo.

Go after my wife in a real underhanded way and I won't be especially reasonable about it.

That's my excuse!

Over the past century, if the wealthiest families had spent a reasonable fraction of their wealth, paid taxes, invested in the stock market, and passed their wealth down to the next generation, there would be tens of thousands of billionaire heirs to generations-old fortunes today. The puzzle of The Missing Billionaires is why you cannot find one such billionaire on any current rich list. There are a number of explanations, but this book is focused on one mistake which is of profound importance to all investors: poor risk decisions, both in investing and spending. Many of these families didn’t choose bad investments– they sized them incorrectly– and allowed their spending decisions to amplify this mistake. The Missing Billionaires book offers a simple yet powerful framework for making important lifetime financial decisions in a systematic and rational way. It's for readers with a baseline level of financial literacy, but doesn’t require a PhD. It fills the gap between personal finance books and the academic literature, bringing the valuable insights of academic finance to non-specialists. Part One builds the theory of optimal investment sizing from first principles, starting with betting on biased coins. Part Two covers lifetime financial decision-making, with emphasis on the integration of investment, saving and spending decisions. Part Three covers practical implementation details, including how to calibrate your personal level of risk-aversion, and how to estimate the expected return and risk on a broad spectrum of investments. The book is packed with case studies and anecdotes, including one about Victor’s investment with LTCM as a partner, and a bonus chapter on Liar’s Poker. The authors draw extensively on their own experiences as principals of Elm Wealth, a multi-billion-dollar wealth management practice, and prior to that on their years as arbitrage traders– Victor at Salomon Brothers and LTCM, and James at Nationsbank/CRT and Citadel. Whether you are young and building wealth, an entrepreneur invested heavily in your own business, or at a stage where your primary focus is investing and spending, The Missing Billionaires: A Guide to Better Financial Decisions is your must-have resource for thoughtful financial decision-making. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1119747910?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Great.

Increased demand.

But by your earlier definition (one is only wealthy if one is happy and content), there isn't. Seneca didn't say "be wealthy."

But by your definition, anyone anyone who has "enough" is wealthy (agree) and anyone who does not isn't (disagree). Not very helpful.