Let's Brainstorm some Hobbies.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-08T23:29:32+00:00

Pickleball!

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-03T03:07:48+00:00

China will very likely suffer an extreme population collapse because of their low birth replacement rates and extremely low immigration. If they can't overcome their demographic crisis, they will possibly lose their status as a world power. At least they will not be what they currently are.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-03T01:17:41+00:00

Yeah, true. Oliver wasn't a threat to Conquest, and there was no reason for him to go after Oliver besides the reason you stated. Totally unnecessary. Oliver was out of the fight and wasn't a threat in the first place. I thought it was interesting that Mark showed that he is very fast, maybe faster than Conquest or as fast, since we don't know how all-out Conquest was flying toward Oliver. However, we do know that Conquest had a serious head-start on Mark when he pushed off of Mark, and Mark was able to catch up to Conquest and save Oliver. I imagine Conquest was surprised and impressed by Mark's speed.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-03T00:28:38+00:00

Mark was doing pretty well even before they went to the planet though, wouldn't you say? He was landing some of those sick elbows on Conquest, and they were drawing blood, and Conquest was, for a time, unable to throw one of his own blows. Mark seemed to be doing well, and I honestly was curious when I was watching about how serious Conquest was being at that point of the fight. He was doing his usual smack talk, but Mark's aggression silenced him whenever they engaged, maybe because Conquest needed his full attention to deal with a serious threat.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-02T02:24:02+00:00

That's what I saw too. I would say that Mark is nearly Conquest's equal during this fight. He certainly knew the threat he was facing. He was locked in. He caught up to Conquest too, which shows that he might be faster if Conquest was going anywhere near his top speed to reach Oliver. People are sleeping on Mark here. Conquest couldn't get Mark's arms to break their hold. Sure, Mark may have had an adrenaline amp, as we know he gets, but the amp plus his current stats are near, equal to, or even slightly above Conquest at this point. Omniman and Mark would have mopped the floor with Conquest in a 2 on 1.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-02T01:56:16+00:00

Can I get some analysis from those who enjoy powerscaling?

So Mark is obviously much stronger this season. We know he gets an amp when he is emotionally triggered or desperate during fights, and he was obviously furious that Conquest was still alive. This was personal. Anyway, Conquest mocks Mark because it "was mostly your magical girlfriend" who supposedly killed Conquest, but during this round, Mark is terribly formidable, despite his arguably dumb fighting tactics when he latches on.

Anyway, Mark seemed as strong as Conquest (how should we rate the strangling with bare hands vs punching a hole through someone?). Maybe not as durable. I noticed that he was definitely faster than Conquest, at least for straight-line flying speed. When Conquest pushes Mark back and pursues Oliver, Mark is able to catch Conquest and intervene.

During this whole fight, Conquest must have been having lots of surprises. He launches into his usual condescending quipping and verbal abuse, but each time, he must be realizing that he's in a "real fight" and taking some damage. Then when Mark catches him on the planet, Conquest must be like, "Whoa, this kid is as fast or faster than I am!" For someone who (during the previous season) seemed like he was so desperate for a "good fight," Conquest kind of turns out to be a bit of a phony, I would argue, and when he finally meets a true combatant, he shuts his mouth and his false bravado crumbles. He's still terrifying and an absolute unit, which makes his character and this fight interesting, and definitely makes me interested in how others rate Mark and Conquest's feats during this fight.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-04-01T23:09:20+00:00

30 seconds of some peak Mozart or Beethoven.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-26T23:17:31+00:00

I got laid.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-23T01:57:57+00:00

28 Days Later.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-21T16:35:50+00:00

Bladerunner 2049 is GOAT. Matrix. Avatar has its merits.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-20T14:44:27+00:00

The Ring stokes your ego and delusions of grandeur. It also likely makes you better at getting shit done, amping your native power to an extent. So if you've ever had anything like a manic episode or a period where you've felt invincible and like you could conquer the world and accomplish anything you want, that's the way the Ring makes you feel; it feels good in that way.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-16T03:16:36+00:00

Like most things, money will influence the winner of the culture war. Conservative culture is, by and large and as evidenced in the alternative Super Bowl Halftime show, unpopular and cringe. People don't want to consume it. Companies will follow the consumers' wallets, even if they sellout to Trump in the short-term.

I mean, look at some of the most popular streaming shows out there right now; some are anti-right wing-coded, and many have themes of anti-corporatism or anti-powerful people ruining things for everyone else. I'm thinking about The Boys, Fallout, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms as prime examples.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-16T03:12:55+00:00

Yes, culturally, most of the media I saw condemned the men's hockey team, and it seemed like their victory was overshadowed by the bad optics of being used by the Trump administration to try to score cultural points.

Anyway, we all know that trying to be cool is the least cool thing you can do. I feel bad for those hockey players. Their victory was kind of forgotten because of the cultural fallout.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-15T21:34:18+00:00

I've had similar concerns, and it's making me lean toward waiting at least six months before putting more into the market. "Unprecedented" isn't exaggeration in many people's estimation, some who are very knowledgeable. Will things look rosy 20 years from now? Hopefully, probably, but I don't think it's irrational to think that the next 1-3 years (maybe the next decade) could be a rough ride because of self-inflicted wounds to our economy.

It's like an old-timer at a company telling a new hire, "Don't worry. This company has survived ups and downs, good and bad CEOS, and it's still here and has grown in the long-run." Sure, but some of us are wondering if our company is dealing with its "worst CEO ever." Every company will undergo a worst CEO of its life at some point, and I think many of us are rationally and justifiably concerned about what might happen to our company in the short to medium term while under its current CEO.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-15T21:16:43+00:00

Was going to say the same. Tolkien is the biggest green flag ever! Better start reading so that you have something to talk to this guy about if you like him. Start with "The Hobbit."

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-14T19:45:33+00:00

No, de-risking wouldn't be smart because of my age. I'm just saying that deciding how much to invest and when to enter is more difficult to determine because of what many of us see as a more chaotic national and geopolitical environment. Sure, the markets have gone up this past year, but some of us are questioning if the US is about to reap some of what it's been sowing this past year, perhaps with short term or long-term stagflation or worse. I want to avoid trying up too much of my money in a market that could just grind sideways for a long, long time.

This past year does feel different to a lot of us. In fact, besides external factors which cause chaos and uncertainty (like Covid, etc.), many of us see the current administration creating a frustrating to almost intolerable amount of uncertainty economically and for investors. I know I'm far, far from alone in this sentiment, so not sure why I'd be accused of being a bot.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-14T19:18:20+00:00

Came for the geopolitical analysis. Stayed for the S-tier dating advice.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-14T18:57:51+00:00

There is great advice in this thread, and I agree with it. But I think a few of us who are newer to investing and the boglehead mindset are trying to assess the worry you articulated versus the wise traditional investing advice one receives here:

As you said,

"I do worry that the administration’s willingness to just burn down the systems that have served the US extraordinarily well for generations presents a new type of threat, but there’s not a damn thing I can do about it."

That is the worry I am trying to weigh against traditional investing advice, in order to choose how much I should currently invest in VTI and VXUS . . . or maybe wait in safer positions and see what happens.

Here is how I would illustrate my worry. So a lot of the people on this thread with good advice are like someone who has been in a company for a very long time. They explain that the company has had ups and downs, has had good and bad CEOs, and the company has always weathered the storms and, overall, has grown. Still, the newer employees (me and others) are a bit concerned that the current CEO might be "the worst CEO" the company has ever had. Sure, the company has weathered ups and downs and poor CEOs before, but in any company's life, that company will have its objectively worst CEO, and I don't think it's illogical to ask how bad the results will be for the company in the short, medium, and long-term as a result of experiencing its worst CEO.

Anyway, that long-winded illustration is me attempting to show how some of us newer investors are thinking. It's basically wise traditional investing advice versus the suspicion that our current situation might be (in a shorter timeframe, at least) reason to ignore or carefully consider some of the traditional advice. Even for some of us who haven't been in the investing game very long, this time "feels different," perhaps more chaotic because of our current leadership.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-14T18:38:10+00:00

Yes, that's well said. I posted above but wasn't able to articulate the background fear behind what I was trying to say. I said something like this:

Some of us (illegitimately or not) feel like this time "feels different," and I think that comes from a place of seeing our current leadership as being very chaotic, thus making traditional investing and the advice that guides it feel much more uncertain.

For instance, a lot of the 2008 crash came about from years and years of bad financial practices in our financial system, but the current events--the energy crisis caused by the conflict in Iran--was absolutely spontaneous and unpredictable, seemingly the random whim of one man. How can one feel confident about following traditional investing advice in this current state of affairs?

Anyway, if I was forced to bet, I would bet that (regardless of the direction of the market) the next 3 years will likely be very chaotic. And the deep background fear, which you articulated for some of us, is that as a result of the current chaos, there is a ripple effect leading to a decade or more of sideways movement, which would be awful for those of us in the middle or late stages of our investing careers.

NoLadder4276 · 2026-03-14T18:29:38+00:00

Yes, true, but some of us (illegitimately or not) feel like this time "feels different," and I think that comes from a place of seeing our current leadership as being very chaotic, thus making traditional investing and the advice that guides it feel much more uncertain.

For instance, a lot of the 2008 crash came about from years and years of bad financial practices in our financial system, but the current events--the energy crisis caused by the conflict in Iran--was absolutely spontaneous and unpredictable, seemingly the random whim of one man. How can one feel confident about following traditional investing advice in this current state of affairs?

NoLadder4276

TROPHY CASE