btq96r

Good time to refresh this thread for folks to do an azimuth check with the market in a bit of a malaise. Anyone looking for a port in the storm? If you loved you some Netflix, probably don't as much after yesterday. I'm still holding onto my mutual funds for the long term plan, and am down somewhere between 13-15% YTD, with a loss for a 12 month period. The stock hits I'm brushing off as air coming out of the balloon, and it ain't done yet with debt not cheap for fueling growth. Gotta happen so we can take better steps forward. It's my bond fund I keep cussing at the losses for. I use that to hold money for a down payment on a house (fading dream thanks to rate hikes) and my next car fund. I'm losing real value, and inflation is junk punching. And my poor friends who have (had) decent money in an ARK fund...oof. Feel for you guys, this fall from grace is rough. It's amazing to me that people are still letting Cathie Wood manage capital after things she's said lately. Looking more and more like it's hangover time, and not party time anymore.

Judging by the level of emails I got about sales on the Polymer 80s, it just rang that the whole concept was a big money grab probably backed with a lot of VC money looking for a good return given how quick things materialized. And I get it...gun owners spend well, don't see firearms purchases as wasting disposable income for the most part, and boy do we love a perceived loophole to ATF shenanigans.

You can times that number by 5 and you still only have a 1/100 ratio of manufactured ghost guns to sold guns. I don't think it's so absurd as to be instantly dismissed. The capacity for production is out there, and we've had a wonky few years where economic incentive was ripe.

I'm always skeptical of numbers the government throws out, but I can absolutely see the logic in what you're describing here. Plenty of entrepreneurial initiative meets loose ethics potential in the country. I know 45,000 seems like a large number, and in abstract, it is. But in 2020, guns were flying off the shelves. Some reports as many as 23 million were sold. So, it's not hard to imagine that 0.20% of that number could be added on in "ghost guns" from various sources nationwide. The equipment and technical know how is abundant enough.

Sorry to hear, always seemed like a good guy on here, and he'll be missed. May his memory be a blessing.

So, it let me renew. Got an email at about midnight last night that the invoice had been generated. Paid up, you're all stuck with me for another year.

It was the email I got the other day that prompted me. System is working as hoped it seems. I know that doesn't happen by accident, and can't say thanks enough for the unseen work.

Thanks, David. Will it send a reminder email, or do I need to set an alert for myself?

Time for my yearly confusion about this. I got the email that my benefactor status was expiring. Right now I can only see the option to upgrade, not renew. Do I have to wait until it expires on 03/30/2022 to renew?

Sorry to hear. Hoping he can beat the estimate and give others more time with him. I think it's awesome you've still kept up together after all this time.

It's good to see Kris still doing well. Solid guy who helped me out a while back.

While I'm firmly in the "folks should take the jab" camp, I have zero belief the costs are being accurately passed downstream here. The insurance companies are not getting hit with "real costs" as you indicate. During COVID, they have had phenomenal financial results in 2020, and won't be doing too bad in 2021. Think of all the outpatient work they didn't have to pay out...all those surgeries that didn't happen, and all the other routine things. I work in imaging, and we noticed a lot of women just skipped a yearly mammogram. My auto insurance sent some small rebates because they realized folks were driving less...but I got zilch from Blue Cross during the same time.

Had to wait six whole days.

I grieve with thee. You and your family will be in my thoughts.

Looks like you both have the time on your hands to meet up. Congrats, Greg. I'm pretty far away from retired, so the only advice I can give you is to enjoy yourself and whatever hobbies you put your time into.

Why don't they just make a plate that looks like the state flag? I hate the tnvacation.com thing too...I have a plate that was issued before it, and I'll for sure try to hold onto it if I switch vehicles. Stupid thing to have in the TCA.

If all the rain is what it takes to give summer the boot and usher in some cooler fall like temps, I'm fine what we're going through this week.

If it's good enough for Dolly Parton, it's good enough for anybody.

Loved watching him on SNL in the 90s. Any interview he did for a TV or radio show was great as well. Sucks cancer took him before his time.

Hoping for the best outcomes for your family. Folks are going to be getting released earlier than otherwise might be recommended. I know you'll be keeping an eye on your daughter, just wanted you to know she might have had a few more days of recommended observation if the bed/staffing situation was pre-COVID levels.

Regarding the Titans...it's Week 1. A lot of teams (and bettors) get their assumptions punched in the mouth the first week of the season. No cause for alarm yet. I don't think they do better than they ended up last year, but I doubt they'll revert to the scrub level of years past. As for Vandy...don't expect football results from a baseball school. Texas administrators, coaches, and players ares going to love the money from being in the SEC...their fans when it comes to the win/loss record, not so much.

I was a PFC in the barracks at Fort Campbell putting on my boots after PT and a shower so my roommate and I could go to breakfast. My platoon sergeant ran into my room in a frenzy telling us to put on CNN then went to the next room with a TV. Nothing was the same anymore. Four and a half months later I was in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

I'm strongly suspecting the multiple union contracts are a big reason. Especially since the American Postal Workers Union contract is approaching expiration in less than two weeks and some crunch time negotiations are in progress. Would be very bad to try and address this so late in the game. https://apwu.org/news/contract-update-union-management-“locking-down”-ahead-september-20-expiration

Government actively restricts access to safe and proven drugs all the time; that's what prescriptions ensure. For better or worse, we've set the rules in this country that only licensed clinicians get to prescribe certain medicine. You may want ivermectin, but if your physician isn't in agreement with it as a proper course of treatment, they don't have to just acquiesce to you. But the good news is, you can shop for physicians as easily as you do restaurants. Don't like your PCP, keep trying new ones until you're satisifed. A PCP should be on the same level as your barber or mechanic with people you trust and feel a level of comfort around...moreso even.

Yeah, I've seen that and can believe that a great many physicians would read it and think if they go counter to it, they'll either be not giving the best treatment based on their knowledge base, or opening themselves to litigation for ignoring it. Maybe it's because I work in administrative side of a physician practice and have been privy to debates on (non-COVID) policies and protocols during meetings, but the ivermectin debate is really overblown to me. If your physician has read up on it, understands the pros/cons, that's when I'd be fine having it recommended if I were a patient. Now, not many physicians get sufficient admin time to be well versed to the point of an opinion in something so debatable. So for them, recommending it without due diligence on their part, or just because a patient is clamoring for it wouldn't be cool in my mind. Everyday doctors are very smart and can digest information in medical journals a lot faster than us who aren't trained as such...but they have a limited amount of working time, and most of it is spent on clinical shifts, not admin time or research to dive into the details of what amounts to experimental efforts. I have no problem believing plenty of physicians don't understand ivermectin well enough and don't feel comfortable prescribing it counter to official warnings from the FDA, CDC, or their professional associations.