Our major shop projects are on hold. A combination of weather delays (Ure doesn’t work outdoors under 50F if he can avoid it) and supply chain issues. The local lair of the Home Despots was out of the polycarbonate panel mounting strips for the Studio Grow Room. So, we await deliveries and a change in … Read More
Breaking: Retail Craters Axiomatically: Everything’s a Business Model. Including America. Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2021, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $626.8 billion, a decrease of 1.9 percent (±0.5 percent) from the previous month, but 16.9 percent (±0.9 percent) … Read More
Adventures in Data: Let’s begin with a couple of “news searches” on a reliable interface to the Google platform. Like DuckDuckGo. We notice an odd thing when comes to “reposting news” and thereby finding monetization of “hot” button stories. Do the simple search like [Ukraine] today and we see three of the stories are reposts … Read More
A quarter century back, I committed to an “ethical lifestyle.” Today, an update on its progress and evolution. (Voluntary Lifestyle Reduction.) However, first, we need to roll through some (additional, foolish) sheep fodder. Fed people – dumbed-down folks – who don’t have the brains God gave chickens. Or, they would have figured out there is … Read More
You may not be old enough to remember the term “SNAFU” but it meant “Situation Normal, All Fouled Up.” With variants for the “eff-word” more common. As another year begins, we see SNAFU but have concerns this will be part of the larger “reality breaks” implicit in the Multi-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics. It’s … Read More
School’s in session! This has been a most remarkable year for the stock market. Or has it? Most people, understand, are woefully ignorant of the role of the Money Supply in determining the prevailing prices paid in markets. This is true whether you’re talking House, stocks, digital/cryptos, or the price of lumber. To wind up the … Read More
Let there be no question that I am what society would call a “crackpot.” Doesn’t mean we’re wrong, however. That’s because – in the social-media-fired land of “Me-too’s” – rational thought – backed by Data – is no longer respected. We’re living in a “loudest voice craps game” in a digital dark alley. Where even the … Read More
Ah. the Joy of the Season. Time to get hammered. What’s an old geezer to do when markets are closed, the kids are too busy, and there’s only so much idle chit-chat you can do on the 75-meter breakfast nets in the morning? Why, you get a wild hare idea to build something. In the … Read More
Odds are rising the “hot word” of 2022 will be “NSNW.” As if Covid 19 was not enough of a context scapegoat for financial markets, the odds are seen growing that the “next step” along the path will be war. Possibly of the NSNW sort. Interventionist Capitalism’s run may be ending sooner than we think: … Read More
Monday morning, our pre-open call was that “Market Puke Day is here.” Sure enough, the Dow dropped 433-points. On top of losses suffered in previous sessions. With Ipecac Syrup Day over, the market today will pretend the world isn’t going to hell in a hand basket. The rising of sour bile might be held at bay … Read More
When you look at the world through “de-monetized glasses” this week, there are three things highlighting Life. Assembly of presents, personal changes at the Winter Solstice. And of course, food. Some Assembly Required Over the course of almost 73-years, the relative importance of Christmas has changed a lot. The old Sears Wish Book while watching the … Read More
Nothing-Burger Fed Decision. But a nothing-burger is just what the shills were looking for. Dow up 383 and change as a result and showing +212 early this morning. Here’s the part of the Fed decision driving it: “In light of inflation developments and the further improvement in the labor market, the Committee decided to reduce … Read More
With some of the big issues out of the way, the rest of 2022’s drivers can be lined up and then some ideas tabled. As always, UrbanSurvival and Peoplenomics are not about “making the most” but instead about “losing the least” as complexity hits the wall. This morning, we eye things like communications, transportation, and … Read More