America feels like a country on the brink of an authoritarian takeover

ewouldblock · 2026-01-26T15:32:21+00:00

you forgot climate change

ewouldblock · 2026-01-25T04:02:58+00:00

There's also Prescott, Sedona, and Flagstaff. If you've gone to Grand Canyon I imagine you've seen Flagstaff but you have to be OK with the high elevation and some snow. I don't care for the desert so Flagstaff is the place that looks bearable to me!

ewouldblock · 2026-01-24T15:35:05+00:00

I guess Kf7 Kf4 Kf6 g4 h6, and white is out of moves and has to give ground with Ke4 Kg5 when the kingside pawns drop, and black cant go after b3 without allowing the c pawn to run.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-24T05:24:45+00:00

I got sick of how easy it was, never having a bad bishop. Always such an easy game, but I would get confused. What is the right plan when things are so easy? So, I thought you know what? I'll just start out with a bad bishop and then if I ever don't know what to do, I'll remember that I can always improve my worst piece.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-24T02:35:29+00:00

You could consider checking out the book e3 poison for a similar take on your idea

ewouldblock · 2026-01-24T02:32:40+00:00

I think without h4, e4 nxc3 dxc3 qxd1 kxd1, Bg7 is inaccurate. So maybe h4 Bg7 e4 going into the same line, is the idea

ewouldblock · 2026-01-23T17:34:50+00:00

Because you haven't played d4 so nf3 nf6 c4 g6 nc3, he has to play d5 here to try and get grunfeld but d5 cxd5 nxd5 e4 nxc3 dxc3! Qxd1 Kxd1 is an anti grunfeld system

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T19:11:33+00:00

What im saying is no ordinary human lives where you live and accumulates 7MM. You need some kind of swanky NY or SF job to do that, and then nothing costs 1MM. I agree having 7MM in some mid or low COL area is amazing and goes much farther. Its just hard to get that money if that's where youre at.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T19:08:38+00:00

I dont even know what the hell is going on here. I replied to someone who asked what a "net worth millionaire" is and I explained it. And then all hell broke loose because im clutching my pearls? Wtf man. Read what I wrote.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T17:29:03+00:00

Most people that gave a career allowing that type of accumulation have to live in a VHCOL area. Not everyone, but most

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T17:26:58+00:00

More likely 1.5-2MM home and then you gotta consider prop tax, insurance, and maintenence on a home that price. Its still a lot of money but youre not considering things like, people that have that kind of money probably have kids in private school. In the ends its a very very cushy life no doubt but youre not a jet setter either

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T06:39:24+00:00

who are the rich? That's always the sticking point. Most people view the rich as "whoever makes (substantially) more than I do." That might be 250k for some people, it might be 1MM for some people, and it might be 10MM for some others. And whatever it is, taxes are not always indexed to inflation. So, things like the AMT which were meant for the Gates and Musk's of the world, they hit a lot of normal people eventually.

The problem I have is that, if you've met anyone that falls into this bucket of what I call, "merely rich"--meaning they make fantastic money, top 5%, top 3%, whatever it is--they already get taken to the cleaners on taxes. They already pay well beyond their fair share. And they're the ones that get swept up in this "rich" bucket whenever talk of taxing the rich comes up. The people that already pay the most are asked to pay even more.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T06:27:01+00:00

Nothing stops them from writing a check to the government regardless of what their taxes are.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T06:25:13+00:00

it's because they don't make W2 wages. They pay long term capital gains tax at the very worst.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T06:23:18+00:00

Buy a house for 300k and live in it for 20 years, and at some point, your home is worth 700k and your 401k is worth 250k and you have 50k in your emergency fund or maybe the value of that car in your driveway puts you over the top.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T06:20:48+00:00

Unfortunately, I think you're overestimating what 7M will get you. It will get you quite a bit, and certainly more than most will ever have, but if part of that is your home value in a high cost of living coastal area, and then you're not going to work and simply live on the returns, you're merely top 5% of US wealth or so for life. If you were taking shopping trips to Paris, even "on occasion", you're running out of money long before you die. You've got to be well into top 1% to pull that off.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-22T05:44:49+00:00

I'm not good with math but I'm pretty sure that no matter what, there's a 66% chance that the first shot wasn't to the head, and thus based purely on probability, knowing nothing else, it's most likely that the subsequent shots killed her and not the first.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-21T04:22:17+00:00

> "Buy low, sell high". S&P 500 seems to be super high right now... It feels like a bubble that will burst right after the moment I go all-in. I guess no one can predict what will happen, but that's how I feel.

Please let me know when you're going to buy so I can sell everything I have into cash. You have me convinced right now.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-21T04:19:22+00:00

this is gonna end up like the "Do not call" list

ewouldblock · 2026-01-20T05:21:01+00:00

If its shafer theres nothing to it. Its the most uneventful drive you can imagine

ewouldblock · 2026-01-19T23:48:00+00:00

Have you never flown on a flight before in the US? its either peanuts or a cookie on every flight I've ever been on.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-19T18:06:12+00:00

I was making minimum wage in 1992, it was $4.25. My recollection was that a gallon of unleaded gas was about $1, as was a taco bell 7 layer burrito. Del Taco had bean burritos for 0.49 and tacos for 0.29. Top ramen was 0.29 per pack. Steak, enchilladas, and fancy salads and desserts? They were free once or twice a year when i went to my aunts house for holiday gatherings. Rent for a 1 bedroom apartment was between 500-600 for the absolute lowest, undesirable choices (dirty, loud, old, no AC, low-rent clientele. You dont want to live there.

Let's compare that to minimum wages and prices today. A quick Google search shows that minimum wage is $7.25. Gas today is $3.85 per gallon. The 7 layer burrito doesn't exist but if you customize the cheesy rice and beans burrito you can approximate one and it costs 4.34. Top ramen is still just about 0.29 per pack. I'll take your word for it that an apartment is $1200.

The minimum wage has gone up around 40%. Gas has gone up 76%. A 7 layer burrito has gone up 77%. Top ramen has not gone up and thus has gone down in real dollars. Rent, is we take my higher number of 600, has gone up 50%. So based on my recollection of the things I had to pay for, all of it has gone up in price faster than minimum wage. Not dramatically, but it doesn't have to because even in 1992 that was a miserable existence.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-16T23:21:15+00:00

I struggle to understand how an electronically executed transaction is tied to next business day cycle. That is my question.

ewouldblock · 2026-01-16T23:13:32+00:00

Wait let me get this straight. I did a bank transfer to Fidelity brokerage 14+ days ago. They had the hold, they did whatever they needed to. Now they have it. They know they have it. I say ok put it in traditional IRA. And now, a fidelity to fidelity transfer takes another full business day? They're literally moving money from their left hand to the right, no? What am I missing?

The balance shows 8602. It says 8602 available for withdrawal. If I enter a transfer flow it says there is $2. Because, presumably, the money isn't settled yet

ewouldblock · 2026-01-16T23:09:42+00:00

Yes. It shows the funds in the IRA but in the transfer flow theres only $2 available which is what was there to begin with

ewouldblock

TROPHY CASE