I’ve noticed this year that I have no holiday spirit left. Not just Christmas, but all the holidays. Presidential birthdays – Shame on them all. No more presidents, please. Valentines – I’ve been married 10 years and didn’t even like this holiday before I was married. Now, it’s just a game of gauging expectation and…
Category: Politics
Attending a Gun Show and Having My Expectations Shattered
I attended a gun show as a vendor this weekend. I don’t own any guns so I wasn’t selling those – I was selling knives and fishing gear. I wasn’t really sure what to expect at the gun show – I’ve never been to one. Here’s what I thought it would be: survivalists, right wing…
The Obscenity of Borders and Walls
Borders and walls are artificial constructs created primarily as control systems for the population within them, rather than, as is popularly suggested to protect said population from without. Think about it for a second. Who makes borders? Governments. Where do governments get their economic ability to create force and restrict freedom? From collecting taxes. Where…
Predictions for 2019
I have a number of predictions for 2019. They are worth considering in any event. First a fun one – I think that in 2019, celebrity stock and crypto traders will become the new celebrity chefs. In the past most notorious traders have either been criminals or niche market – I think this year they…
Going Going Going Without Moving At All
I feel like the entire year of 2018, both nationally and internationally – economically and politically, can be reflected pretty well by my own working life over the same period. So, it makes sense to touch on that a little bit. I’ve been a productivity machine these past few months. I’ve been learning new skills,…
An Inflection Point for the Direction of the United States of America
I’ve introduced my Vagorithm Index previously, but it’s a good time to take a bit of a deeper dive into what it is looking at. Rather than focusing on a breadbasket of currencies, stocks, bonds, or economic indicators – the Vagorithm Index is built to indicate overall mental and cultural trends with regards to advances…
Vagorithm Special Election Coverage Prediction
Like everyone in the U.S. – I have become unecessarily stressed out over the election tomorrow – which is really stupid because I voted two weeks ago and the rest of it is out of my hands now. There is literally nothing I can do about what will happen. Unless you haven’t voted yet –…
Seven Industries That Will Shape the Future
This morning before the closing bell of the stock market, I released the first baseline number for the Vagorithm Index. Today on October 24, 2018 it was 381.33(+1.64) with the number in parenthesis being my societal volatility index number. On scale 381.33 is our baseline for societal change and and radical disruption. A lower number…
Marriott Hotel Workers in Hawai’i Strike Protesting Tourism Job Automation
Hawaii may be paradise for people on holiday but for those who live and work here it has long been unaffordable. The money flowing into the islands flows out as fast as it flows in and what stays has never been shared fairly. Hotel companies, like Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts (a Japanese company) which own…
The Age of Irrational Exuberance – Equity Markets in a Time of Chaos
First – let’s get the facts out of the way: Fact 1: Share prices keep climbing and indexes keep hitting new all time highs Fact 2: Past results do not guarantee future returns Fact 3: If the price of something rises but the underlying value doesn’t increase, then the unit of monetary measure has actually…