A week ago, when I posted about my house in a different timeline, I looked up my first house on the county auditor site. I bought it on April 28th, 1992, and sold it on April 28th, 1998. Owning it for exactly six years is notable, so an anniversary post seemed like a good idea.
I am always going to click on an article that sounds like the name of a Tom Clancy novel. This article opens with a photo of a submarine conning tower jutting through the ice. There are a few other nice photos and what seems to be a deep analysis of the geopolitics of the Arctic.
I don’t know anything about the organization, IM, that posted the article, but it seems balanced and informative. I only read a bit of it, was in over my head, and Sparky wants to go outside.
Let me know if it’s worth reading.
Ultra-processed foods and cardio-metabolic health
We are doing terribly. Ultra-processed foods make up 58% of the average American’s diet.
With foreign trade and tariffs in the news, that map of Top Import Partner of Every U.S. State is a little bit interesting.
Guardian: Home ownership has become a nightmare for many Americans.
Owning a home isn’t for everyone.
On Sunday, President Biden repealed the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision. Since I will start getting a windfall, being frugal is pointless.
Tramping around in the snow with Sparky, I get wet boots. Two weeks ago, I knocked up a drying rack for my boots using shelf brackets, scrap wood and my CPAP machine. It folds up for easy storage.
Now that the SSFA is passed and frivolous spending is encouraged, I spent $45 on Amazon to get a boot dryer like regular people use.
I am eager to try it out.
Congress dragged me back in the game, so now I want to win.
Social Security is a game. It’s not like roulette, where the risk corresponds to the reward. It’s not much like blackjack where there is a clear strategy to narrow the odds. Social Security is more like that Fun Fair “Mystery Fishing” game where every player gets a prize, but there are better prizes and worser prizes.
A record 23 of NATO’s 32 member nations are hitting the Western military alliance’s defense spending target this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, as Russia’s war in Ukraine has raised the threat of expanding conflict in Europe.
Trump doesn’t get enough credit for calling bullshit on NATO. In 2016, Trump made it clear that if member countries didn’t spend 2% of GDP for defense, the US may not be as supportive. The corporate media, progressives and anti-Trumpers cried about his incivility and lack of decorum.
Converting malls to apartments should be easier than it is, and living there should be better than it seems to be.
Well, Sparky might eat crickets, but I wouldn’t ask him to.
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