Thought for the Day

[Nick Danger]

I don't understand this hero worship. You say you want to invest like Warren Buffett who actually is a genius at valuing businesses but then idolize someone who has been very lucky. I thought to myself during his 2020 run that he'd have to be an idiot not to be able to cash in on his populism. His entire campaign message was that insofar as the media disagrees with him they can't be trusted. Even fox news is untrustworthy when they say there's no evidence of election fraud. Of course he should be able to parlay that into money.

He is not the only billionaire in this country but for years he's exaggerated his wealth and railed against people richer than him. You clone Warren Buffett and Donald Trump and put them in families of average means and Warren Buffett's chance of getting rich is probably greater than 90% while Trump's is probably less than 5%.

You're the one saying I'm idolizing Trump, Bronco, I never said it. If you're referring to my "Trump/Trump 2024" comment that was just to get under Flighty's skin. I would be more than willing to sit through another 4 years of Trump, don't get me wrong. But I'd rather see a more conventional Republican administration that shuts the door on all the progressive whining. Shove Trump down the leftist media's throat again and it's 4 more years of non-stop crying. Give them DeSantis or even Ted Cruz and they might STFU long enough for us to put this country back on course for success. And yes, even chinless Ted Cruz can win in 2024, anyone the Republicans run will win, Biden is a dead duck. We can afford to be selective about who we put in the White House and Trump is not the best govern-er we can put in there. Nonetheless it's looking more and more like he wants the nomination and if he wants it he will get it.

Far as Buffett, yeah, he's a guy to follow on investing. I'm not what you would call a serious investor, though I do have most of my money in stocks - but blue chips. There's no such thing as a sure thing but I stay as close to that realm of investing as possible. I'm a very conservative investor who reaps very conservative profits. Now that I'm retiring I'll probably start spending more time studying the matter, maybe take more risks.

[Nick Danger]

I'll tell you what will be an interesting scenario, Bronco. What if Trump's social media platform takes off? All indications are it will, there are a lot of people who like the utility of Facebook and Twitter but not the politics - one might even say Trump stands to gain half the users of these sites if he can get up and running and offer a quality product. And then...he's President again. So now you've got a President of the United States who also happens to own a giant social media platform. That would be unprecedented to say the least.

[broncofan]

Far as Buffett, yeah, he's a guy to follow on investing. I'm not what you would call a serious investor, though I do have most of my money in stocks - but blue chips. There's no such thing as a sure thing but I stay as close to that realm of investing as possible. I'm a very conservative investor who reaps very conservative profits. Now that I'm retiring I'll probably start spending more time studying the matter, maybe take more risks.

Conservative is the way to go with stocks. I DO kind of idolize Warren Buffett. Or at least a decade ago I was super interested in reading about his investment strategy and his annual shareholder letters. It didn't help me pick stocks but it was fascinating to watch one person just consistently identify companies he thought were undervalued and be right over and over again. He lives a very humble life in Nebraska....a friend of mine took me to Buffett's favorite steakhouse in Omaha and it wasn't anything to write home about. Putting politics aside and not as a slight to Trump, I recommend reading about Buffett. I was disappointed I couldn't put his strategy to use (but no surprise it requires one in a million talent probably) but his annual newsletters and virtually anything written about him is fun to read.

[broncofan]

So now you've got a President of the United States who also happens to own a giant social media platform. That would be unprecedented to say the least.

One step closer to ending the American experiment. Seriously, you can see the dystopian shades there can't you?

[Nick Danger]

One step closer to ending the American experiment. Seriously, you can see the dystopian shades there can't you?

I see some shades all right, and some ramifications. One timeline that might develop is the social media platform itself becomes a tool of governance. I think if Trump had his way the first time around he'd have just stayed at the White House or Mar-a Lago and governed via Twitter, so he certainly has the mindset to transform government into more of an online presence than a manifest institution. That's probably inevitable anyway. There may come a day when the Facebook endorsement determines the DNC nominee and likewise with Trump's new conservative platform and the Republicans. Full-on technocracy.

[broncofan]

I'll tell you what will be an interesting scenario, Bronco. What if Trump's social media platform takes off? All indications are it will, there are a lot of people who like the utility of Facebook and Twitter but not the politics - .

The appeal of facebook is that you can connect with virtually anyone you've ever met in your life. The drawback of facebook is exactly the same. I don't know if twitter would be as fun without antagonism. You create an echo chamber and it will draw some hardcore right-wingers but it is not going to be the same experience of having celebrities, foreign leaders, self-appointed experts on subjects they know nothing about, and wingnuts all in the same place.

But would such a venture do well financially? I think so.

I am going to push back obviously against the claim that facebook and twitter are political. They have combatted misinformation when it's obvious and its effects are dangerous. Who are they to decide? They're private companies making judgments about what content they are willing to host. It's hard for me to believe the conservative viewpoint is now vaccine and disease misinformation. Or misinformation about election fraud. Or flagrant incitement of violence. The risk that the views they deleted are actually true is very remote. Are we going to live in a world where pure fantasy has to be treated as legitimate?

[Laphroaig]

I'll tell you what will be an interesting scenario, Bronco. What if Trump's social media platform takes off? All indications are it will, there are a lot of people who like the utility of Facebook and Twitter but not the politics - one might even say Trump stands to gain half the users of these sites if he can get up and running and offer a quality product. And then...he's President again. So now you've got a President of the United States who also happens to own a giant social media platform. That would be unprecedented to say the least.

All the Trump supporters and right wing nutters were going to disappear off to Parler a while back. That went well...

Besides, Trump is doing a great job of alienating half his fanbase...

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/s...24520721866789

[Nick Danger]

All the Trump supporters and right wing nutters were going to disappear off to Parler a while back. That went well...

Besides, Trump is doing a great job of alienating half his fanbase...

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/s...24520721866789

What is Parler? The fact that I've never heard of it and I'm a right wing nutter should tell you that no, that was never going to happen. Then again I'm not really hep to all the latest interweb gadgetry.

Also, you seem to be of the impression that Trump's base are a huge group of anti-vaxxers. There may be some anti-vaxxers among them, but for the most part what Trump's supporters are is merely anti-mandate, like me. Why should I give a shit if you get the vaccine or not, Laphro? I don't, though I would miss your quarterly insult on this forum if you died of the Darwin Flu. But if I did care, I guess I would be an anti-vaxxer, right, that's an anti-vaxxer? Someone who thinks there's something underhanded about the vaccine, some kind of mind-control or sterilization angle, yes? That's not me, or Trump's base. That's a tiny faction of outliers, and they're probably quite vocal - vocal enough for the liberal media to act as if "Republicans-General" are angry at Trump because he's spoken in favor of getting vaccinated.

If you honestly think Trump has alienated half his base, act accordingly, Laphro. That kind of math should put the next two election cycles in the bag for the Democrats, may as well run Hillary again.

[Nick Danger]

My thought for the day is that, as 2021 draws to a close, a year in which we have observed the unprecedented destruction of the Democratic Party's harmful and racist agenda, I am reminded of a whore.

A huge, tattooed BBW whore with her legs spread wide, a look of gleeful anticipation on her face as she massages her mammoth boobs with both hands. Her name is America. Walking toward her is Joe Biden, her latest john. He walks with a hunch, bent over and wanking his half-flaccid penis furiously as he approaches the bed, muttering to himself, "Oh I'm gonna fuck you so hard, oh yeah baby you're about to know you've been fucked by the best, they don't call me 'The Big Guy' for nothing, oh yeah I'm gonna stick it to you all right baby..."

As he slides his wrinkled body across the bed toward her, he is aroused even further by the aroma of her vagine, the smell of abject poverty and great riches all at once, oppression and freedom mingled freely, the smell of...victory. "Oh yeah baby get ready for Big Daddy Sleepy Joe!" But just as he approaches her flowering womanhood with his fully-erect, liver-spotted member, a single drop of semen suddenly trickles forth from the tip of his manhood and drips down the inside of America's supple but substantial thigh.

"Doh!" says Joe Biden as his 5 inches of flesh torpedo quickly contracts to the size of a sewing thimble. "You loser," says America, disappointed and disgusted, as she rolls off the bed, takes his money off the nightstand, and heads to the shower. "Find your own way out," she says as she closes the bathroom door behind her.

[broncofan]

The anti-mandate people are selling soft serve antivax propaganda. I'm safer than someone who isn't vaccinated but we're both less protected than we'd be if we were both vaccinated. Society functions because people protect themselves and others against communicable diseases.

Republicans are also confused about the role of private businesses. On the one hand they think private businesses should be able to do whatever they want but on the other hand they shouldn't be able to require their employees or customers get vaccinated. The government is engaged in tyranny if they tell businesses what to do but if businesses make a decision they don't like it's also tyranny.

I love the creative writing but this sounds like classic projection. Stormy Daniels described Trump's dick as a tiny mushroom surrounded by yeti hair. His supporters describe him as the epitome of manhood yet he's obese, paints his skin orange, and is hung like a hamster.