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Monopoly goes woke

Hasbro is rewriting the Community Chest cards for Monopoly in order to be more woke. I read them, and it is nauseating. Some examples:

  • You volunteer to paint a mural at your local school. Collect $50
  • You volunteer at your local literacy center and learn some fun phrases in a new language! Collect $100
  • You help a local school build a playground- and you get to test the slide! Collect $100
  • You graciously host a group of international students. They appreciate the home cooking! For each house you own, pay $40. For each hotel you own, pay $115.
  • You didn’t shop local! Pay $50
  • You found a wallet on the ground and decided not to return it. Go to jail, go directly to jail. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200
  • You held a neighborhood party- but didn’t recycle your trash. Pay $100
  • You volunteer to run the social media accounts for a non-profit art center, and you meet some pretty talented people. Collect $100

Woke garbage. Still, who plays board games any more?

By Divemedic, ago

My opinion on digital currency

When you own a digital currency, what do you own? You own a digital certificate, no different than a piece of paper. There is nothing preventing there from being more made. Yes, I know that the largest of the digital currencies- Bitcoin- has a limit of 21 million units.

With that being said, here are the reasons why digital currency is a bad idea:

  • It has no intrinsic value. You can’t eat it, wear it, or heat your house with it. Unlike gold — which at least feels nice and looks shiny on your spouse’s ring finger — you can’t even see Bitcoin.
  • It is not a productive asset. It’s not a factory that produces an item. It’s not a field that produces cucumbers. It’s not a firm that offers a service. It contributes nothing to society.
  • It has zero underlying value. None. It’s not backed by land or commodities or — as with national currencies like USD or GBP — the threat of violence
  • It has minimal utility. Because the price fluctuates so wildly (what healthy currency doubles in a month?), it’s virtually ineffective as a safe representation of value or means of trade.
  • Its value is solely derived from the trust that the price will continue to rise indefinitely. That there will always be new investors to buy out the old ones.

This makes it no better than owning paper gold. It’s mathematically impossible for Bitcoin to grow forever, this can only have one final outcome: A Black Swan event causes its demise as an investment. Perhaps a superior cryptocurrency makes Bitcoin as irrelevant as the Model T versus a Tesla. Perhaps nations or groups of nations make a concerted effort to destroy Bitcoin, or more likely, Bitcoin owners. Or maybe Bitcoin simply levels out when it reaches max coinage, shedding its identity as an investment and becoming a stable trust-based currency. In doing so, it will drive away all the exuberant speculators who are currently propping up its inflated price. No matter how it happens, at some point, millions of Bitcoin investors are going to lose billions of dollars.

By Divemedic, ago

How not to sell a gun

I was just at a local gun store. I walked up to the Smith and Wesson section of the store, and stood in line behind a couple who were looking for a handgun. They obviously knew very little about handguns, and the sales guy didn’t know much more.

Every pistol he handed them from the case, they immediately grabbed it with their finger on the trigger. No one checked to ensure the gun was loaded before sweeping half of the customers in the store. The woman declared that she wanted a Glock. The husband responded, “Well, that isn’t what we are getting.” She then pointed (at an E-Z) and said that she wanted that one. He replied that he wanted (pointing at a full sized) this other one. This went on for 5 minutes. They walked away without getting anything.

Then I asked if they had an M&P45. He said that all they had was what was in the case. Now since this particular store has several locations, I asked if he could check to see if the other locations had any. He said, “I can’t see their inventory from here.” Uh- you can’t call?

Anyhow, I am in search of a full sized M&P45. All I can find anywhere is the Shield, and I already have one of those. Anyone know where I can get one in Central Florida? I would prefer paying less than $550.

By Divemedic, ago

Quote of the week

In honor of our loss of one of the greatest speakers of my lifetime, I present to you Rush Limbaugh’s quote of the week:

Liberals measure compassion by how many people are given welfare. Conservatives measure compassion by how many people no longer need it.

By Divemedic, ago

Quote of the week

In honor of our loss of one of the greatest speakers of my lifetime, I present to you Rush Limbaugh’s quote of the week:

I’m convinced that a lot of people simply don’t know what’s available out there and how it is possible to find a job and work your way up if you are willing to accept responsibility for your life. I know what it’s like to be on the bottom. I’ve been broke. I’ve been fired seven times from jobs. And I don’t even have a college degree. But I didn’t blame anyone else for my problems. I knew that if I didn’t try to solve them on my own or with the help of friends or family members, no one else was going to take care of me.

Note from DM: This one resonates with me. I have twice been homeless. I once lived in my car. I was taking baths in a 48 quart Igloo cooler. After taxes, I was left with about $720 each payday. $348 in child support was taken from my check, and sent to the ex-wife, leaving me with $720 per month to live on. The rent on my apartment was $600 for a small one bedroom. I was soon homeless and without a car. I got a second job picking up garbage. I got an apartment with three roommates. I bought a car at a “buy here, pay here.” Somehow, I made it. I worked 84 hours a week at those two jobs while going to school with a full class load. I didn’t have a college degree until I was 43, now I have four of them. I went bankrupt in 2009 and started over again. Bankruptcy isn’t an easy way out of debt- I lost everything I owned.

Here I am, 53 years old. I have grandkids. I am now a multi millionaire. I never asked for a single handout- not from government, not from anyone. I busted my ass and did it myself. You know what? Money HAS changed me- it has made me believe that anyone can do it. Go ahead, tell me I am privileged. I will call you a liar. I worked for every single dime I have.

Claiming that others made it when you didn’t because they were privileged is nothing but a bullshit excuse. Stop bitching and whining about how unfair life is, get out there, and do something to change it.

By Divemedic, ago