Castanza

1 in 10 people have an IQ below 83. The poverty rate in the US is 11.4% of the population. Schooling has something to do with it, but there is also an entire other degree to this. The United States Military has an IQ threshold of 83. They have studied this extensively for decades and come to the conclusion that there is absolutely NO job in the military that can be done by these individuals which provides any semblance of productivity or value. It has also been shown that NO amount of training, funds, or time can help people below this threshold learn a skill etc. This has been well documented by clinical psychologists. This is a problem that nobody knows how to solve and everything that has been tried does not work *(funding, trainings programs, government jobs programs, welfare, etc.).

I concur, it’s a very good book and worth a read and re-read. @TwoCitiesCapital The Brazil news if passed is certainlysignificant, but I still thinking looking at it as “the 13th largest economy” isn’t the right way. BTC needs a truly influential country to adopt it. I don’t think Brazil quite fits that mold. But perhaps a segway?

Make sure to get your work from home agreements in writing @Spek, I was just in San Antonio for a wedding this past weekend and turned it into a mini vacation with the wife. Spent a few days in Austin and Dallas as well. Stopped in Waco to make the "white woman pilgrimage" to "Mecca" I mean Magnolia. All three cities worth visiting (Waco not so much), but completely different vibes. Dallas was my least favorite though. Hog hunts with former SEALs make for pretty good bachelor parties.

Go big or go home?

Jordan Peterson has done some really great work and covers some really interesting topics on thought sociology and philosophy. Some of his early lectures on the USSR and Nazi Germany are pretty fascinating. Also if your a fan of Dostoyevsky or Neitzche he is worth a listen as he has done some extensive work on them. His Sam Harris debate is also worth a watch. Honestly it’s a disservice to say he is a self help guru. Or compare him to “Dr. Phil” who doesn’t even have a degree.

I will say at least China understands the influence the “arts” have on a society

That article is pure class warfare propaganda. Sorry, but this attack on savings, family money, private property, assets and financial classes is sickening. It’s the same language the USSR used and it’s being used by OUR journalists and politicians alike.

LOL and that it how Castanza became an alcoholic.

Recently watched the film "Dinner with Andre" and picked up a bottle of Amaretto (although not quite the same). It's an interesting liquor for sure.

What type of athlete are you?

I have Target, Wegmans, Costco and Giant near me and none of them carry it (and they’re supposed to according to FT website). Probably just order it online at this point.

I’ve heard of fever tree but can’t ever find it near me. Can only find tonic in generic half liters which always pisses me off because it goes flat. Next month I’m headed to Kentucky for some bourbon bliss. My friends wife was the lead design for Heaven Hill’s new facility/addition so she’s hooking us up with a private tour and potentially some unreleased small batch samples

Are you a gin man? Going to have to pick up a bottle this weekend. Sapphire the way to go? Typically just went with Beefeater or Tang

I agree with all of your points except the last It's not the money that is the problem, but the ways which is can currently be used to influence politics. Most of your above points would take care of the later imo. Govt has just so much waste it's sickening. I mean the latest infra bill is a perfect example. Look at how much is actually going to infra. We need a Calvin Coolidge president who does nothing but cut bloat for 8 years and once that's done re-evaluate what tax revenue needs to look like. Not an easy or simple situation and honestly I don't think there is a fix. I recent have re-read Solzhenitsyn: The Gulag Archipelago and some of Dostoevsky works. Class warfare is something that spirals very quickly and I find it concerning that there is very similar language being lauded by our politicians on both sides of the aisle. __________________________________________________ At the end of the day if you have to have a death tax, I think the cap could be much higher than 3.5m. I think society in general should be shifting back towards family dependence and not government dependence.

I don’t agree with the limitations on gifts for family members either. Here in PA we have a state death tax of 4% for family members distributions, 12.5% for extended family and I think 15% for friends give or take a few percent. I think it would be better if immediate family was zero and you stepped up from there. Would you rather have family members looking after descendants or government? These types of policies stifle ambition, progress, responsibility etc. and encourage more loopholes and under the table dealings. Simply put, it’s no business of the government.

So a loophole for the government? Should probably close that one too

China graduates more engineers every single year than the US has in total. Hard to ignore the R&D capability. But the political sphere makes it un-investable to me. The success of China and the CCP does not necessarily mean the success of individual companies or further the shareholders.

They're YOUR kids, not some external 3rd party to the family. Who are you to say how and when you can provide for them? The idea that it's wrong to provide for your direct descendants after death is somehow wrong and immoral is a ridiculous notion. If anything it's considered responsible, and "planting a tree so others can sit in its shade." Kids don't earn any of the money when being raised as well. Maybe we should limit how much parents can spend on their children every year too. If you're against "dynasties" then work on fixing the loopholes. If you're worried about "power" of said families then go after lobbying monopolistic regulations, etc. This addresses the exact wrong end of the problem. It non of the governments business what one does with their money within their family and they have no business taking any of it which has been taxed half a dozen times. Not like the govt is a great steward of wealth management to begin with.

Silver spoons don’t make up 90% of the people who would be affected by this. Is a 3.5m inheritance anywhere near silver spoon status? I mean hell Im young and will probably need a lot more than that to retire. There are better ways to tackle the “issue” if people believe there to be one. This type of stuff always comes with unintended consequences

Bingo Ask Mr. Cuban what owning a college bar is like. your always one underage topless girl away from having it closed down.

Why warrants? I picked up a little more common

Small adds to CAG, KMB, CPB and VZ

Offices will be rented and flexible working hour policies will be established. All covid did was help bring fresh ideas to the forefront. As I said in the beginning…for every person looking to get out of the city grind and work from home, there is another five chomping at the bit to live the big city lifestyle. It’s still playing out, but I think over the next year or two life won’t be much different than pre covid.

Have you tried creating your own with Google Sheets? Might be easier to just build what you want.

But it wasn’t all from the first round, which is my point. Even if it was only a few months later for round 2. The fact is he did this with at most 3m funding, no public usage, 350m in rev and no profit. Did he know he had something special? Probably, but that doesn’t matter. There were dozens if not hundreds of tech companies who thought they had something special. But most ended up going to zero (1999 after all). Tax evasion is wrong. But tax avoidance is expected no? We don’t have all the details yet, and I’m not sure that .001 number is even verified yet. But PayPal definitely wasn’t worth 60m at the time he bought and put shares in a self directed Ira. There was an HSA thread on here a year ago where everyone was talking about how you can save your receipts and pay out of pocket up front. Then when you reach collection age you can show proof of receipts and instead of using the HSA “in the spirit it was intended” you basically used it as a triple tax advantage retirement account. Everyone “games” the system as much as they can with every investment vehicle.