Onefoothurdles

You’re right — sometimes violence really is senseless and random. George Harrison’s stabbing was exactly that: a tragic encounter with a mentally ill intruder, not a political act. And we don’t even need to look that far back — Charlotte reminded us just days ago how random, senseless violence still happens. When someone is killed under horrific but non-political circumstances (like Iryna in Charlotte), the response is sadness and anger — not people saying “they deserved it” because of their opinions. That’s why Charlie Kirk’s death sits in a different category. When people openly celebrate it as “street justice,” it shows they don’t see it as random. And sitting here in Australia, where much of the political sphere and media lean left, the reactions feel especially unhinged. The fact that his death is being celebrated because of his views shows we’ve stepped into a very different and troubling moral space.

My thoughts on Kirk: Yes, there are many who didn’t agree with him — that’s part of what makes a nation. But he certainly didn’t deserve to die for his views. While there’s been a lot of shock and sadness at the news, what’s also sad is to see the level of celebration happening on social media. So many seem relieved, even calling it “street justice,” as if a man’s life can be settled like that. It raises two questions for me. First: what made his views so “dangerous” that someone felt he needed to be killed? He wasn’t unique in holding strong or controversial opinions, but his platform was large, his words cut sharply, and he carried influence that opponents saw as a real threat to their vision of society. In that sense, it wasn’t the truth or falsity of his words that put him at risk, but the reach and impact they had. Second: how many documented cases do we actually have of people being assassinated simply for “spinning lies”? If you look through history, the record is clear: truth-tellers, reformers, and dissidents are the ones who get silenced — from prophets to journalists to civil rights leaders. Liars usually get ignored, mocked, or discredited. Assassination almost never comes because someone was “spreading lies”; it comes because their voice was seen as too powerful, too disruptive, too dangerous to those who opposed them.

SBI Holdings (8473.JP) - runs one of Japan's top neobank and brokerage platforms - at the forefront of digital assets and tokenized securities in Japan - trades ~1 x bv, single digit P/E - most direct public market exposure to Ripple and XRP - Owns ~9% of Ripple - worth $2.3bn at last mark - Post Ripple's case dismissal with the SEC, XRP is now positioned as the only US crypto with explicit legal clarity - If Ripple IPOs, it could be historic in size - possibly larger than Saudi Aramco's $298b raise

Bought more LULU, 8473.T and 9022.T

Reduced DFIN and NTDOY being my larger positions and have had a decent run of late, to free up some cash.

PRNG

Just returned from our family trip to Japan. 3 weeks, very satisfied, would go there again. Favourite moments: - The satisfaction of finally being able to sit down after a long day of walking/shuffling/standing with a hot bowl of Ramen and an ice cold pint of Asahi was the best thing ever. Men have simple needs! - The chimes of the approaching trains and closing doors as well as the pedestrian signal tweets - 'why cant we have this here!' - Japanese convenience stores live up to the word 'Convenience' in every sense. If Im ever going to suffer from post-travel blues its probably going to be when I walk into my local 7-11 in Sydney - Visiting Mt. Fuji area - I underestimated how visually striking Mt. Fuji is. Lots of folks go there for day trips from Tokyo and depending on weather its usually a hit and miss when it comes to seeing the mountain, we instead hired a car, and stayed in Hakone and Fuji area for 3 days. Having the car added another level of convenience and pace to our trip. Next time, we'll commit a week there, that's how much we loved the area. - Stayed at a Ryokan in Hakone with a private onsen in our room and traditional japanese breakfast and dinner - Certainly stretched the holiday budget by a bit - but totally worth it We arrived in Tokyo just after Golden Week and certainly well past the cherry blossom season - so you could consider this as Japan's 'less busy' period - I didnt mind the crowds but I certainly felt cities like Osaka and Kyoto had caught a serious case of over-tourism - observed more pushing, shoving, outlash behavior with locals in these cities than in Tokyo. Regardless, wherever we went, we enjoyed, but a small part of us also wondered "Gee, I bet this place wouldve been so much cooler a couple of years ago when it was less discovered" LOL! Where to next? We'll certainly do a Japan 2.0 at some point. But I'd like to do South Korea next.

From a friend who attended the meeting: "After the long standing ovation he received after announcing his exit as CEO, Buffett said: "The enthusiasm show by that response can be interpreted in two ways, but I'll take it" "

So I have been sitting in 40% cash coming into this sell-off (I am usually always fully invested and have no sense of timing, so just call me lucky) which I think began in February. In hindsight I may have bought too aggressively early on with names like DFIN, which sold off early but didn't anticipate how much cheaper it could go. Towards the end of March, I was sitting with 15% cash, was able to add to Nintendo, Kyoto Financial Group, ACFN and Fairfax. Overall, pleased to be able to pick up some quality names at decent prices. But yeah my coffers are empty now. So I'll just be window shopping from here on lol!

Added to Nintendo and Kyoto Financial Corp.

Used last week's weakness in Canadian stocks to Buy FFH and add to FIH and ELF.

Bought some E-L Financial, added to FIH and ACFN

Directly via IBKR

Bought more DFIN, ACFN and 5844.T

Sold half of my DFIN position last week only to buy it all back today