To say it has been a crazy week would be a bit of an understatement. Between the US election and a unfounded health scare for @mrsbozz and I, it has been a wave of emotions this week. Aside from the occasional mini-rant, I try to keep politics out of my posts with a few exceptions. This week it might be a bit harder to do that.
I think what baffles me the most is just how far apart opinions are on this one. Add to that the belief that rhetoric is the absolute truth and I can't quite come to grips with where we are as a nation. While I am curious about some of the new policy stuff that will be potentially coming down the line, I personally can't get over is when you throw out all the MSM lies, conjecture, and speculation, the future president still said what he said and did what he did.
For other people that isn't an issue apparently, and as husbands, brothers, uncles, fathers, that's the part I can't wrap my head around. Do they just not care?
Sadly, I think that even if Trump went off the rails and tried to make himself dictator and throw democracy out the window (or something similar), these same people wouldn't say woah, wait a minute, that's a little too far... They'd be jumping on board. Which begs the question, how far is too far?
It's Friday though and Friday's belong to finance. I am going to have one more blurb about politics in a little bit, but I actually prefer not to talk about politics.
It is time again for another Finance Friday/Friday Finance. This is a series I started where I talk about random bits of financial stuff that I have seen, gathered, or experienced during the week. I hope as a reader you find it informational, entertaining, or both. I also hope it can generate some good discussion and edify the community.
How about that Bitcoin huh? It's nice to see the price pumping. I actually thought we might see $80,000 by the end of the week, but that is looking less likely now. Even with the rate cut, things seem to be stalled a bit at the $76,000 mark. Trust me, I'm not complaining. It will be nice when we start seeing the alts move a little more.
More New Silver
I knew as soon as I saw the 80th Anniversary of D-Day silver rounds I needed to get one for my nephew/godson. Along with sports, he is huge into the military and things like that, so I thought this would be a really cool round for him. It's one of two rounds I picked up to gift him at Christmas. It's been really great seeing the look on his face when he opens up the new silver each year. I plan on continuing this tradition until he is at least 18 and perhaps longer.
I think part of what I love about gifting him silver is that it gives me a reason to order more silver for myself as well!
Once again we have a nice depiction of Charlie on the back side. I have one more piece that I am going to give him which I will be sharing in a future post. I really like how well this round is made. The details is great and given that it was released in 2024, it is in great condition with crisp lines. I also like the diamond etching it has on both the front and the back.
Is Net Neutrality In Danger Again?
As I mentioned in my opening, I am a little curious about some of the policy stuff that this new administration is going to implement. I can't help but think back to 2017 though when Trump in his first term assigned Ajit Pai as the chairman of the FCC. His all out war on Net Neutrality set the Internet back years if not decades in my opinion.
Is it possible the newfound affinity for crypto will give us a more favorable FCC chair this time? I honestly don't know. I can't help but be a little worried given current history though. It's interesting because I think Net Neutrality is one of those fringe things that no one really thinks about until it is in jeopardy or too late. What happens when CBDCs have dedicated bandwidth on the Internet and other crypto traffic gets pushed to a slow lane?
Maybe I don't understand fully how everything works, but it's possible right?
Will Nuclear Power Thrive?
I'll be the first to admit that I don't know where parties stand on a whole host of issues. I've been saying for a while now that I think nuclear power will play a huge roll in the future growth of our nation and potentially the world. The advances in compact, small, and micro reactors is quite promising and exciting.
Whether you like AI or not, they aren't going to stop developing it and the future of AI is going to require tremendous amounts of power. It will be interesting to see where the upcoming administration stands on nuclear power. They will potentially have the "power" (pun intended) to kill these stocks that I think are going to be hot buys, or leave them dead on the reactor room floor.
Hitting Close to Home
Finally, as public school employees, @mrsbozz and I are very familiar with the drastic changes that come with an administration switch like this. Republicans have a very long history of being anti-public schools and prefer charter schools or the voucher system. While I know that many people have negative opinions of the public school system, the fact remains that our jobs puts food on the table for my wife and I and allows us to have four walls and a roof over our heads.
Being on the tech side of things, my job is probably still pretty secure, but my wife is a school social worker. There has already been a lot of rhetoric about how social emotional learning isn't necessary. Add to that the fact that they are pushing for more parent control of districts, when many of these parents can't even effectively parent, and that is a big concern.
I'm sure we will make it through, but as I mentioned, there are a lot of lower level things with an administration change that can end up being a big deal down the road.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
I've been thinking hard about things since it happened. People are not bad, usually. I am aghast at what happened, but I also am disappointed that the overall message from some Democrats is "You idiots elected him. You will see the truth of what we were trying to tell you." Great messaging... insult people. Nice. That will win support.
Trump is so far gone mentally that he has no idea what he is saying. His not keeping promises and flip-flopping every two seconds seems more like a guy who simply can't remember what he said the first time, and has no policy written down to consult, so just wings it and says whatever shit pops in his head.
But the GOP.... Their messaging was basically that Biden made the worst economy in human history. It's actually the best it's been since the 60s. They accused him of setting policies to make things worse. No... he was raising taxes on the rich, lowering them on the poor, implementing policies that would finally get us away from the failed Neo-liberalism that Reagan introduced that moved all the wealth in America from the 99% to the 1%. Yes, inflation hit while Biden was in office. But that wasn't his fault—it hit the entire world—and real data shows that wages increased more than inflation on average. None of what the GOP said was true!
Now I'm no Biden lover. He had great policies, but he has terrible messaging. He loved to say that he was doing what FDR did. But he never said that loud enough for anyone to hear him. FDR had his fireside chats to try to cut through the shit MSM was doing even back then and tell Americans what he was actually doing, but Biden just assumed Americans could figure it out and then he took a nap. Again, Democrats fail. We can't get angry at the working class for believing GOP lies when the Democrats did nothing to show those lies weren't true.
The main Democrat message was "He is a demagogue. He will be an autocrat. Elect him and democracy will end". But the thing is... most people don't believe that. American education teaches that there are enough guardrails to prevent that. Forget that the GOP has been dismantling those guardrails for the past 40 years, there is still this idea that it can't happen in America. Tell people that it can happen, and those people are simply not going to believe you. The Democrats needed a different message, but instead they kept hammering that one and then getting frustrated at people that they didn't seem to understand.
Looking at the election results, Trump got fewer votes than in 2020. Harris got a ton fewer votes than Biden did in 2020. Takeaway: Trump's people voted for him. The Democrat message didn't sway anyone. Democrats, however, didn't show up to vote for Harris.
We got a lot of work to do before the next one (if there is another). Bernie's attack of the Democratic Party after the election was spot on.
Sorry. I guess I'm in a ranting mood this evening :)
No worries! I appreciate your input and it means a lot coming from someone who is looking at it from the outside (sort of). It's pretty clear that the Democrats needed to focus more on the economy and they didn't. That seems to be the one thing that really united everyone. They just want better for themselves and their families. I can respect that. In this case though, the cost might be too high or worse than they hoped. Time will tell...
Ohh wow that sunlight sure is a motivation on its own,
This is one of my favorite places to take a walk when we are camping!
Its a view to behold
I'm glad the health scare was unfounded I have been dealing with some of my of issue and my mother which has kept me off hive for a bit. Add that election and I'm just tired.
Yeah, it was a shocker. I'm still at a loss for words quite honestly. I'm trying to see the positive in it, but it is hard. The health scare was very unexpected, but thankfully it was something benign.
First off let me say glad to hear the health scare for Mrs Bozz was unfounded.
Politics is a subject I tend to stay away from online, even more so these days people can get so heated and shall on say on their high horse than their opinion is the only acceptable one but I will throw inmy two cents worth
I do agree its going to be interesting times ahaead, and also feel the Democrats did not run the campaign they should have,
this line you said
the future president still said what he said and did what he did.
So true and sadly I think missed by so many or dismissed and twisted in people mind that he didnt mean it as he said it, or its part of his "weave"
I think part of my concern is so many seem to live in a bubble these days they just surround themselves with like minded people, only visit only pages that fit into their own perceptions, and instead of being willing to have meaninful discussions with people with different viewpoints will jsut shut them down sayign they are brainwashed, and that goes for both sides.
Now Social Media has changed the world so much and can do so good but alas it also spreads so much anger and hate :(
and lastly on this subject I do also agree I think its possible that a time will come when some may say thats to far hold up!!!, but I do wonder if it goes that way, and perhaps it wont, but how far will it have to go before people stand up and say to far, we got to stop this
Cool coin :)
Have a great day
Thank you for the great reply. I actually had an interesting conversation at the end of last week and I am really concerned by some of the things I heard. I am probably going to share them in my post tomorrow. It's so eye opening.
I will have to watch for your post tomorrow now well today I guess
It's pretty wordy, so just be ready!
Your Nephew is going to love that coin.. nice find! I like the details in that one as well.
AI is going to be like the internet and cell phones.. Life changing to say the least. I don't think many grasp how big of a movement this is going to be. I just hope that my rather large stake in Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) pays off in the next 10 years or so. So far I've tripled my money, but may just be a little FOMO in affect. Either way, it's a good idea to at least do ones DD on it.
Triple isn't a bad thing at all! Did you at least take a little bit of profit to cover some of your investment? It's hard for sure because you don't want to sell and have it really take off! I hope it works out well for you!
Sold nothing yet.. like you said its hard to part with it.
Yeah, I usually ride stuff down to zero before I sell it!
See.. More things we have in common. 😆
I personally think people get a little too invested into politics anymore and need to realize the only good government is one that looks out for it's people and doesn't keep taking from them. No matter whos been in power its very clear that for a very long time now the USA government has been over reaching, over stepping and people want power restored to them so anything or anyone that moves in that direction they are going to be behind. But to me it will never change with politics and thus you must focus on yourself and your own life and become less and less reliant on the government.
I can agree with that 100%. At then end of the day I just want everyone to feel valued, heard, and loved. I think we have a massive lack of empathy in the world these days.
Going toward a trumper future.
Lord help us!
call upon the Lord but tie your camel
I hear you this week really has been grabbing us by the pussy 🤣 !DOOK
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With all the big stuff going on, It’s easy to get caught up and feel overwhelmed. It’s weird how divided opinions are right now i see it on social media all the time.
I sometimes feel like I’m trying to figure out where I fit in all this. I respect that you’re trying to stay balanced while focusing on what matters, like your job and family.
Thanks, I appreciate it. It can definitely be hard these days. There seems to be no middle ground to be found anywhere. It can leave anyone anxious and dismayed.
It's interesting to hear your perspective on how things like politics and policy changes can impact day-to-day life, especially since you and @mrsbozz work in schools. Gifting silver to your nephew sounds like such a meaningful way to connect and show appreciation for his interests. It inspires me to start something like that with my younger cousins.
It's a really great way to give them something that should hold value over the long term. You can even start with fractional pieces if you can't afford to pick up full oz's at a time!
That's the bottom line for me. To mangle an old expression, "I believe my own lying eyes."
I can't write about this anymore, not yet anyway. Some of the responses I'm still getting to my earlier post show how much vitriol some have. Not passion, not interest, but hatred, ill will. One commenter wrote this to me today: democracy is not something i value in current form, why should a 18 year old female vote? Can´t buy a beer but can have a voice in the future? fuck that... If most people are retarded and stupid why should the intelligent among us suffer for their stupidity?
I don't think that person is alone in that view.
I am disheartened and distracting myself with silly TV shows and videos about the history of Lithuania, Slovenia, etc. At some point I will get over this, but not now.
I can't blame you for that! It's pretty dismal right now. I had a conversation the other day via chat with some folks just trying to wrap my head around why they feel the way they feel. It's interesting because for as much as they blame the left for believing the MSM, they are eating up these lies that are being fed to them from who knows where hook line and sinker. It's sad. I told my wife last night, the only thing I really took away from that conversation is that the gap is definitely too wide and I don't think there will ever be an attempt to bridge it. Even if there was, they wouldn't believe it anyway.
Nice silver! And nuclear power is going to have a place in the future, I think you invested wisely.
I try not to worry about politics too much, bad for the health... There was a guy running for president by the name of Lucifer, don't recall what states he made the ballot. There's a winning vote for you!
I'm glad the Mrs. is doing ok, health is the most important thing in life!
Thanks, yeah, it was a pretty intense couple of days for us. The extra tests and waiting for results was horrible. It sounds like it is all going to be okay though.
Challenging times may be ahead. I've seen a lot of demonising of politicians, journalists and others, but they are all people with human faults. Certain forces have done a lot to shake trust in the 'establishment', but then those institutions have let people down. As the saying goes, trust is hard to win and easy to lose. I think Trump exploits the uncertainty, but he is deliberately divisive and enables some nasty people. I hope the US democracy is strong enough to control him.
I was talking to some folks online earlier today trying to understand their point of view. I listened well and they made some good points, but the only thing it really solidified for me is that there is very little chance both sides will ever come to an agreement on anything like the did in the past. The hate and distrust is just too ingrained and established at this point.
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In my opinion, people are becoming overly immersed in politics and need to understand that the only effective government is one that protects its citizens and refrains from stealing from them. It's obvious that the US government has been overreaching and overstepping for a very long time. People want their authority back, and anything or anyone that goes in that direction will be opposed. Responsible citizenship requires that we are supportive of that. Politics won't change things. We just need to concentrate on our own lives and the people we are responsible for, and become less dependent on the government.
Only time will tell I guess. The divide feels much too large at this point. I don't see folks ever landing in the same space. Unfortunately, this new administration has already proven that they can empower some to not let others just focus on their own lives.
Only time will tell, @bozz!
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Excellent. Talking a little about politics wouldn't hurt.
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