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I don't like the war in Iran, though if it slows down the ambitions of China in Taiwan, I think that'll at least be a good secondary effect.

I am not sure if it does that to the extent people are claiming.  Yes, it does limit China's ability to stockpile oil in preparation for the invasion.  But the war is taking a toll on the US Navy.  And a strong US navy is the #1 deterrent to said invasion.  I suspect China will be able to refill its oil reserves much quicker than the US will be able to refurbish and redeploy it navy from the Strait of Hormuz to the Sea of Taiwan. 

First, I'll say is that I am sure glad I bought a Tesla in 2024. None of this energy stuff affects me directly anymore. SC's grid is based off of nuclear, coal, and natural gas. The KWs I charge the car with are cheap and that's been great. I do worry about my employees and family though. To offset some of the cost of my employees' drive to work, I often have them stop at various courts/police departments on the way in, so they can take advantage mileage payments at the end of the month. Makes a dent but doesn't solve it.

I don't like the war in Iran, though if it slows down the ambitions of China in Taiwan, I think that'll at least be a good secondary effect. I do agree that it was a miscalculation by Trump to go in there, thinking we could blast them and that they'd topple. Sociopaths cling to power better than anyone else, and most leaders are sociopaths at an at least sub-clinical level. Iran is no different. You'd need to put boots on the ground (which I just can't see Trump doing) to really topple them, and so we are stuck.

I am annoyed that, from what I can see, Trump's universal tariffs caused PCE to reverse it's deflationary trajectory last year. CPI is not as much affected, but people, as I understand it, are more affected by PCE, and I can't understand why you would gamble on tariffs when you could take the easy win of allowing the inflation to cool and negotiate individual trade deals with various countries that you thought were taking advantage of you, and if said negotiations failed THEN tariff them.

As one may expect from my prior postings here, I strongly object to Trump's targeting of Pope Leo in retaliation for the latter's criticism of the former's warlike tendencies. I think the Pope is correct, prudentially, here with regards to the fact that the world is getting more and more belligerent and balkanized, and we should attempt to reverse this trend and work towards peace. War is hell, and our grandfathers all knew it from horrible personal experience. We do not need yet another generation of en masse PTSD'd Americans. Two of my employees are vets, and both have been to war zones (Afghanistan and Mogadishu). You can see their strong reactions to violence. They abhor those weirdly popular videos of Russians and Ukrainians getting bombed by drones. There's something to that, IMO.

In my home state this year, Republican majorities are pushing many bills. Some of them are great, and some are terrible. But all are caught in a giant clusterf*ck, because it is clear that, at the national level, the Republican party will likely get a shellacking for it's improper handling of the economy, and now this war. In a sense, I'm kind of grateful, as any horrible bills would pass into law in my state much more quickly if Trump hadn't fumbled the ball (IMO) so hard. But honestly, I would rather the country be in better shape and eat the horrible bills at home.

I think that Trump'll be impeached, again. I don't think he'll be convicted in the Senate, as that would be a nuclear outcome that would turn him into a martyr and trigger an enormous conflict internally. I think the Dems will probably attempt to manage out the remainder of his term after the elections this year, but will probably go a little too hard and squander the political capital they'll gain by his fumbling, leading to a really intense battle in 2028 for the presidency. If the Reps were smart, they'd tap DeSantis for prez then, because he'll then be free of all the shenanigans that've happened in DC during this administration. I think the Dems will counter with Gavin, obviously, but I think he's so oily and gross that people will largely reject him (I see Newsome as Clinton with creepy plastic surgery and zero charisma outside of his base), leading to a tight election in 2028, which is exactly what we don't need (a mandate and the clarity that comes with it being preferable).

We'll see!

Oh, you're in my wheelhouse now.

If you're willing to spend the cash, I'd say Narwal Flow or Flow 2 (which recently came out). Obscenely expensive, but excellent at what it does, and durable. Uses camera-based nav system over LiDAR, so there may be privacy issues, but I haven't noticed anything through the app (no weird references to anything I recently said in banner ads, no weird references to types of furniture, etc).

It also mops, and mops superiorly. The bathroom floors at my firm get disgusting from the staff and client foot traffic. But they are pristinely cleaned every weekend without me doing anything except spending the money, setting up the device, and scheduling it.

One downside, if you're not using this in a workplace setting, like I am, you can't have an employee dump the dirty water and re-add the clean. That can be a little gross, but it's no worse than actually spending the time to clean the floors.

Troy Aikman is a consultant for the Dolphins.

Troy Aikman was not employed by the Dolphins in 2011 or 2023 when either of his divorces became public, so this comparison is still inapplicable.

If you really want to find a more reasonable recent analogy to this situation, I suggest Bill Belichick.

I don't know how it is a sham as he has been married to her since 99. They are college sweethearts. I can't imagine him missing part of the draft if he didn't think it was best for him.

And apparently has been cheating on her since 2020 at least.

I presume you are referring to the marital issues they had after they had already been retired from the league for over a decade.
The appropriate analogy would be if Mike Vrabel had never went into coaching after retiring as a player in 2011, and if that had happened, I assure you that no one would care about his extramarital affairs today.

Troy Aikman is a consultant for the Dolphins. 

This is as relevant as Dan Marino and Troy Aikman's martial issues.

I presume you are referring to the marital issues they had after they had already been retired from the league for over a decade.
The appropriate analogy would be if Mike Vrabel had never went into coaching after retiring as a player in 2011, and if that had happened, I assure you that no one would care about his extramarital affairs today.

This is as relevant as Dan Marino and Troy Aikman's martial issues. 

Bob Kraft getting a rub-and-tug in a massage parlor was also "not a football issue," but here we are.

Most massage parlors will allow you to upgrade from a rub-and-tug to a yank-and-spank for an extra $50...

Bob Kraft getting a rub-and-tug in a massage parlor was also "not a football issue," but here we are.