Weâre living in âThe Boysâ Season 5
And there are a lot of statistics that indicate that human slavery is more rampant today than at any time in history.
Itâs an endless cycle of who holds the power.
The more things changeâŚ
Oh⌠You are married too???
YUPâ-
I support social security for everyone. Even though itâs not a lot of money for someone whoâs rich, it is a lifeline for someone whoâs poor. The rich donât need it, but they would likely not support it if they did not receive it, as they have a distaste for the poor and would feel they are lazy, donât work, and are on the dole. If everyone gets, they cannot complain about it, because they get it, too.
Agreed, but the question was if the cap on wealthy investment in the program being capped at $184K is in the best interests of those in need. That is why my examples pointed out the differences hereâŚ
Perhaps, quite possibly, somehow, maybe⌠If you make so much money that that money is exempt from SS tax, your participation in the program is a $0 payout. Congrats, you won at playing American capitalism and no longer need a subsidy. You know, like when you have zero claims for any other insurance ever.
USAA does not write me a check after 65 years of home ownership without a claim⌠LOL.
At the tail end of about 35 years +/- in the investment and insurance business I was in the Compliance Department (they used a different term so it wasnât so scary) of one of the largest insurance companies in the country.
Over several years of visits with literally hundreds of agents I NEVER met one that had actually paid out on a policy.
The people that really need it often canât afford to get coverage and if they have money they often end up âself insuredâ and stop paying on policies and they lapse.
There is a reason that insurance companies are able to build such HUGE buildings as a monument to the cash flow.
Actually, very much like Amazon building on the corpses of dead selling accounts caused by feesâŚ
Since Feb. 28, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran, 4,500 ships have not been able to travel east or west through the shipping lane that carried about 20% of the worldâs oil before the war began, according to Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka. Prior to the war, about 100 to 110 vessels traveled through the strait every day, he said.
âItâs going to take months to untangle the supply chain web,â he said Monday as part of a monthly cargo data update.
Well managed US companies which rely heavily on imported materials and goods take action to protect themselves from unstable areas of the world.
Although some companies may import from the Middle East, more companies do not include some or all of the Middle Eastern countries in their supply chains.
The article and the expert, do not reference the skills in supply chain management which protect our companies, society and consumers. We have, in recent years, experienced far worse supply chain disruptions that is likely from this latest source of instability. and somehow continued to prosper.
No one challenges he fact that 20% of the worldâs oil transited Homuz, but the amount of supply of oil, world wide is higher than the 80% represented when that number was the case. And your world oil prices are not yet at their previous highs, and how much more the might rise is beyond my predictive skills.
The stock market rallied again today. My personal portfolio reached another record high. I have been saying the market has been overvalued under at least three US presidents, and probably 4.
It goes beyond oil, as just the number of ships stuck in the gulf affect the available tonnage available for ocean commerce. The ships that have been essentially trapped force the price of shipping for all forms of ocean traffic.
It makes no difference if a logistician has XYZ supply chain tails, if the vessel capacity is non existent, the prices for moving commerce go up, like we saw when ships anchored offshore for COVID and the 6 day hit when the EverGiven decided to parallel park in the Suez Canal.
Tankers do not serve the same function as container ships.
The amount of other goods shipped to the Middle East is far less than the amount of oil shipped from the Middle Easr.
The amount of raw materials shipped from the Middle Easr is also much less.
Problems can be managed.
Your argument is based on very small amounts of both vessels and products. But you can probably get AI to provide you with an inflated estimate of the effects on either. They will probably find a source in the legacy media to quote for you.
Yes, pesky physics gets in the way, but there are not just tankers stuck in the Gulf.
Well, I have to applaud your mental gymnastics used to downplay the effects. You cannot remove 6 cruise ships, from that industry without an impact. This one ship alone not significantâŚ
But never mind thisâŚNothing to be affected I guess. I count at least a 30 massive container ships sitting in the minute or so I took look at a few ships types in the category. At least 50 in the region if not more.
Uh, ya. But shipping is not linear, ships transit on routes with numerous vessels in transit at all times, meaning the number of ships in the middle east would correlate with the same volume on the way from China to Italy because⌠Wait for it⌠Wait for it⌠Here it comes⌠The boat goes to port there because it is containerized or has numerous holds with numerous destinations, on the route heading that way⌠OMG.. Mind Blown I bet.
Now you can go to the grocery store and⌠the much less needed auto parts store becauseâŚIT IS ALONG THE WAY IN THE SAME TRIP.. OMG!
Here, look for yourself.
See above. Ships also head to the region as a major bunker fuel loading due to prices, meaning they donât even have to be loaded with anything for there, to get stuck there.
Your assertion is based on a lack of understanding of rudimentary logistics systems.
Here, Sal will explain it for you in a non partisan way. But be careful, they call ships âsheâ and I know that gender thing can be triggering for some. 
Nah, it will be a Joe Rogan podcast or The Epoch Times.
Thank you Mr. Tariff
I think theyâre offering courses in Spinonomics at Columbia now.
Things are going so well actually, we decided to stop oil sanctions for 30 days, on the same country we were actively bombing. Never saw that tactic while flying combat sorties over Iraq while Saddam was there.
ROFLOL, canât make this stuff up.
@Dogtamer used to point it out all the time⌠Idiocracy is here.
Because there is a difference when something is âdoctoredâ - it doesnât mean doctor
Le sigh
Hopefully some Sellers here are can get some relief for their businesses. It wonât undo this masterclass in omnishamblesânot all businesses survived 2025âbut maybe it can help some. In â30-90 daysââŚ
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/20/trump-tariffs-us-business-refunds-customs-ace-portal
ârefund site thatâs set to go live Mondayâ
⌠otherwise known as The Great Crash of 2026
More than 330,000 importers paid âthe tariffs at issue on 53 million shipments of imported goods, according to court filings.
Cheung noted that registration requires entering bank account information even though the government already has it for customs payments. And company names must be exact. âIt took me five tries before we could get registered due to minor differences like âcompanyâ versus âco,ââ Cheung said.
The system is set up to refund the importer of record, not ultimate end users who paid higher goods prices as a result.
So they are taking lessons from Amazon about âexact matchâ requirementsâŚ
Who is taking the bets on the spread this will be super Fâed up? I wonder if I can put in like $100M without any verification, like they did with the PPP loans ??