There is always risk. However, sitting on physical cash is a bad idea. I googled the inflationary changes and those numbers are correct.

The least bad option is to park cash in a savings accounts. At least you get a fraction of inflation.

Why?

These people were making/retaining money (by reducing tax exposure) via shady means. They didn’t lose money in the trading activity.

Putting cash in a mattress is a sure way of losing value. $100/€100 in 2005 is now worth $64.92/70.68.

The Austrian method, as it became know. Still used as late as WWI.

It wasn’t so much that it was vanity as it was the legacy of games being a pagan religious activity. We forget that the ancient games were first and foremost religious festivals that incorporated ritualized combat (all of the ancient Olympic events were first and foremost combat skills - not that hand-to-hand-combat-ballroom-dancing doesn’t have a certain appeal in theory…).

It is true that as the empire turned away from paganism it eschewed various aspects of civic and private life that were incompatible with the Christian ethical/moral construct. Remember, the festivals were not some sort of neutral, secular, agnostic affairs. They were first and foremost acts of religious devotion and expressions of faith. And since Christianity (and Judaism for that matter) has a pretty strict prohibition about worshipping other gods, it all had to go.

Thus we see the end of gladiators fighting to the death, the large games (Olympian, Delphian, etc.) and a wide range of other activities, events and festivals. The ancient philosophic schools also declined as society morphed and changed; they were replaced by other schools and institutions more in line with the contemporary mores of the period.

As the gymnasiums were a fusion of the pagan philosophical tradition and the pagan religious athletic tradition, it faded as well. I am very interested to learn about how that particular area of interest evolved though. It isn’t as though athletes suddenly disappeared or that fitness and martial prowess went up in smoke. Like mosaicists, sculptors, etc. who used their skills & interests to praise the pagan gods and the Christian God, I am sure athletes found another similar outlet. And I don’t know about it.

There has been some interesting work around the decline of the large public bath. The latest thinking being that the public bath declined primarily as the result of environmental and economic factors. Baths consumed vast amounts of water and fuel (to heat the water). This cost vast amounts of money. Throw in the persistence of ideas around virtue and vice (Christian frowning on men and women being naked/bathing in each others company was not new or novel in any way) and presto, end of the large public baths.

“Nobody reads the article eh?

Update: Investigation continues. Skagit Valley College Campus is on precautionary lockdown as well in Oak Harbor. No victims found. 1 caller. Possible swatting hoax, information still unconfirmed as of 4:47.

In fact, I think that update was already there when it was posted.”

Look up the other sources. Additionally, look deeper; the overwhelming majority of defensive incidents do not result in someone’s death.

2 million people are shot to death every year?

In 2019 ~250k died via gunshot in the entire world. Of those, 71% (globally) are intentional homicides. 21% are suicides and 8% are accidental.

In the US the mix is a little different. The US yearly figure is around 40k deaths by gunshot. Of those, ~59% are suicide.

The suicide bit is really fascinating/worrisome. Combined it with other forms of suicide and “deaths of despair” and it becomes quite clear that we have a problem in the US. Vast numbers of people have no hope, are suffering some sort of disorder where suicide is the only way out in the midst of a crisis.

It is deeply disturbing.

I sure did. I even provided a sort of disclaimer, noted that it includes a wide range of sources too.

It’s almost like some folks never moved beyond needing to be spoon fed by mommy and daddy.

You can google it. Here is a wiki entry that covers the spread of studies and results. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_gun_use

Happens about a million times a year per the FBI.

I didn’t grow up with pets. So there is that. Of course, my siblings all have dogs these days.

They just don’t register as important in my mind. I can appreciate floofiness, playing fetch, etc. But that is where it stops. I can’t tolerate cruelty to animals, btw, that’s isn’t right. I think maybe I should put that out there.

As I have gotten older and worked in impoverished parts of the world I have come to find the enormous expense lavished on pets to be immoral. I mean, I have seen kids who had limbs chopped off just to maim them. I have seen people starving to death. I have lived with people for whom a simple finger cut is cause for worry. Where a fever brings out incredible worry and stress for parents. I have difficulty justifying spending resources on pets - non working animals - when there is so much hurt in the world.

I have a son who I love more than life itself. When he has a slight fever, I don’t worry. Just keep an eye on it. When he gets a cut or scratch we get the neosporin, a bandaid and share some hugs. I’m not anxious that he is going to get tetanus. But there are millions of people out there who don’t have that luxury.

I can’t read a book written by an animal that illuminates some facet of the universe. I can’t engage with an animal over some work challenge. I can’t have a conversation, hold hands with one who has a deep connection with me. They can’t tell a joke that help allay some fear, pain, poke fun the absurdities of life. There just isn’t anything deep there.

I enjoy engaging with people, learning, chatting, being silly. Helping them know that they matter even if we just met, even for a moment. Because I think that they do. I just don’t get that with animals. At all.

So, all in all it is a combination of that “switch” never flipped on along with witnessing the wealth we lavish on pets while ignoring tremendous need everywhere around us. It just rubs me the wrong way. And consequently, experiencing loss - especially a deep emotional trauma - over a pet dying simply doesn’t register with me.

I can understand that it does for other people. I can sympathize with them. But that’s it.

So there you go. Does that help explain it?

See, I don’t have a pet or form emotional attachments with animals. Just never clicked for me.

People? Oh yeah, that clicks.

But animals? Not even a little.

It also helps that most socialized medicine nations are much more conducive to healthy living.

Those quaint, beautiful, amazing walkable cities, towns and villages in Europe are largely the result of their being built when feet were the primary mode of travel. Fun fact; the much vaunted German Army of WWII primarily walked into combat and its heavy equipment (artillery) was horse drawn.

It is one thing I really miss living back in the US. Here I have to get in the car to go to a store. Any store. For anything. It is bonkers. I went from walking 6-9 miles a day to a fraction of that. I have to be intentional about exercise; dedicating large portions of my time to the achingly boring and tedious exercise of… exercise. Blech.

Because I have dealt with both.

Broadly speaking I can’t really say which one is better than the other.

Personally speaking, my son is alive and well. So my personal vote goes to the American system. I would work two jobs again and again if it meant he had life.

It isn’t that weird. There are substantial numbers of folks who will defend one model over another to the nth degree. It is weird.

Additionally, it is not “objectively false” that every model has pros and cons. As the old saying goes, “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” There is always a cost associated with what we do and what we do not do. Opportunity costs, economic, fixed, variable, environmental costs. Always a cost.

When it comes to healthcare there are costs. One model could be that 100% of everything is always covered, in full. And that the government funds and hires enough docs, nurses, specialists, etc. to ensure that there are no wait times, that there are enough everything for every eventuality. That simply is not realistic.

For example, I worked for a government run entity where basically everything was covered. We had a patient who was gone. Never ever going to wake up, the only “movement” was the result of nerve death causing spasming. But the machines kept oxygen in the blood, kept blood circulating, took over from the kidneys, etc. All machines. The wife knew what needed to be done but one of the kids was convinced his dad was going to come back hale and hearty. It costs millions and millions to prolong this agony. It was traumatic for everyone involved including our staff.

I used to live in Europe and dealt with socialized medicine. Certain things were great. In other instances, it was mystifying how certain kinds of imaging (MRIs for example) which are routine in the US are exceptional over there. Or how imaging is offered only certain days of the week; good luck if you have a broken leg, the X-ray tech will be here Tuesday (that’s a real thing that happened too).

Likewise, a model dependent upon employer provided insurance (or really employer subsidized/cost sharing) isn’t particularly perfect either.

Another example; my son was born with a particularly serious heart condition. His mom was hospitalized prior to the birth because she was likewise “circling the drain.” Altogether it cost ~$2 million in the first six months for our son and hundreds of thousands for her. Insurance covered most of it but I was still having to figure out how to pay the deductible and “out of pocket maximums” and premiums. Half of my income before taxes was going towards some healthcare related thing. And I made good money. Half of every dollar. Before rent, food, taxes, gas, everything.

Even after that first year junior has continued with his medical checkups. While he had his surgical repair and is otherwise healthy, just the observational checkups rack up the dollars. It is also worth noting that his particular heart condition would not have been covered in most parts of the world including Europe or Canada. He would have been either euthanized or simply made comfortable and allowed to die. He is fine now and smart as a whip.

And when I was responsible for her (she ended up developing an uncommon illness that required ~$100k in treatment every month in perpetuity) I was still shelling out vast sums. It was untenable. I have a couple advanced degrees, made a good wage, paid my taxes, lived right and couldn’t afford rent or food on my own.

The point is, no system is perfect. There are always pros and cons. There are benefits and costs. I am fortunate enough that I have personal experience with several of the most financially flush healthcare models on the planet. I cannot say that one is better than the other, just that both can be maddeningly frustrating, limiting, and difficult to use. And also incredibly helpful in their own ways.

In other news, North Korea condemns the JROTC at a school in Idaho as an affront to its sovereignty. The North Korean Ministry of Foreign Insults and Butthurtedness described the local school’s program as “an irresponsible attempt at spreading despicable American imperialist murder fantasies amongst its delicate and depraved youth” and promised “an overwhelming response to teach the vile yankee bastards a lesson.”

The JROTC students, when asked for their comments were somewhat confused at the vitriol with which they have been targeted. After a few minutes googling (a practice also condemned by North Korea and punishable by death in the “worker’s paradise”) the students are amused. This reporter reminded them that it is impolite to make fun of mentally ill people, but darn it if those kids weren’t hilarious. The bit about Kim’s jockstrap… oh buddy was that hot fire.

Honestly, who knows. And would be it be for something so common & mundane as money?

Perhaps it was because Trump saw in Rod someone like himself; it is said that Trump figures everyone is cheating and has the knives out so why not him first? Maybe he figured that good ‘ol Rod was “unfairly” targeted when everyone is dirty. The reasoning continues that if everyone is dirty then it is unfair that any one person gets in trouble.

Commuting/pardoning some of these folks would surely bring some amount of gratitude that may pay off later in terms of influence. If Trump is ever convicted maybe these people would influence the next president to grant clemency too…

There is probably some sort of (twisted) logic at play, but we don’t really know what. What is so maddening to me, and others, is that Trump (and other presidents to a much lesser degree) pardoned and commuted real dirt bags. Generally people who had flown among the higher echelons but got caught. There are advantages to that… even after being imprisoned.

Meanwhile, lots of prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted, who have become worthy of mercy languish because they are poor, nobodies, anonymous.

Rod, the infamous right winger? /s

I only joke because, well, look around.

More seriously, Blagojevich was as dirty as they come. Exactly the sorting person trump admires.

So…. Germany won’t let the owners of equipment they sold send it, but they want the US to directly send it…

Way to go Berlin. It’s spinelessness like that which will preserve democracy and the rule of law.

Haven’t they seen all the other equipment the US has provided? Many many times what Germany has done. Fuck that noise.

Umm, guys, cool it with the anti semitism… Putin might try to invade claiming that we’re all Nazis.

Ah, the ‘ol “the CIA is responsible for all bad things (except for when they are completely and invariably incompetent) and all these bad people are simply being forced into it by the military industrial complex” line combine with the “Russia is just an innocent bystander here. Putin, praise be his name, was forced into a war of aggression by the evil West and their homosexual lovers.”

Got it.

Umm, Russians are pretty high up there. The Chinese too.

You know, I looked it up and you are correct. Has been that way since the Ottomans slaughtered/expelled the Serbs a long time ago. But it has been more pronounced in the past 120 years.

It is curious how these things play out over the long term. It is also curious how history has a way of echoing (as opposed to repeating). Kinda sad when one thinks about it.

Appears to be an opportunity for other players to insert themselves…

It’s weird. Almost like the policy of moving ethnic Albanians into Kosovo and Serbs out in the waning years of Tito’s reign has had negative impacts.

Who could have called this?