There has been the rumor that Joe has had incontinence issues since he was running in 2020. Which in a man of his age is not terribly unusual; that could be a result of either benign prostate hyperplasia or prostate cancer, but it is apparent something has been going on for a while.
I see this as a "graceful exit". Planned by whom is up for debate. But we have either been lied to (again) or it is turbo cancer. Regardless, both serve as little alarm clocks for our sleepy brethren.
In Tucker Carlson's recent interview with Catherine Fitts, he asked her a question that is related to this. I can't remember the exact context but something she said stuck out to me and it was you have to be willing to look yourself in the mirror and say "OMG, I'm the patsy." It is an ego play and it is very hard for people who are considered otherwise smart to come to terms with it. But intelligence really isn't the issue as much as denial to avoid the uncomfortable feelings of shame.
(I am not saying they don't take responsibility for their actions, but once they come to terms with the fact they are being used as pawns, it gets a lot easier.)
It is kind of like the hyper-exagerrated headlines that "Major Chain Store is Closing Over 50 locations!" when they have 10,000. Meant to plant a mind seed of "SEE,SEE? The other side is BAD! You need us (back) in power to fix it (even though we probably had a hand in causing it) or it just makes sense.
(I saw one like this the other day for Subway. There were two locations on the same street that were less than 1/2 mile from each other. One was closed and should have been.)
One if my favorite books is called "White Man's Grave" by Richard Dooling. Fictional book about a guy whose best friend who is serving in the Peace Corps goes missing in Africa and he goes to try and find him. It is a satirical novel that is quite funny while painting a picture of life in Africa. (IIRC, the author spent time in the Peace Corps himself, ) There is a scene in the book where one of the characters who started off an anthropologist and chucked it all to live there permanently tells the main character that 'the loneliest people in Africa are African-Americans'. Essentially, there is a disconnect because while they "look" one way (African) , they are "seen" another (American) by the locals. It's not the expected Roots reunion. I wonder if this is really what happened here. Because we've got bugs and if you ask the people of Flint, we have water issues too.
Part of my job involves dealing with wage garnishments. Most of the ones I see have to do with child support. What I have noticed lately is the picky BS coming from the state of CA. Traffic court. Things like that. The last two I got were for about $200 and $400 each. That's it. The state probably spent $1000 to send it out. It is...annoying.
If the economy is so good, how come I can't see ANY of the signs on the freeway because the brush is so overgrown? You know, that stuff that is fuel for the fires?
Overview of 2024 finances - PDF of full report in the link.
https://finance.harvard.edu/financial-overview
Of note:
Total assets, $76 billion. Net assets, $64 billion. Endowment, $53.2 billion.
(Keep in mind, the endowment grows tax-free, and donations to it are also tax-free.)
Allocations: 39% is in private equity and 32% in hedge funds. Over 70% in financial vehicles to which the average person does not have access.
But they are a 501(c)3. A non-profit with an investment team that earns multi millions that just happens to generate multi billions every year (yet underperformed the S&P index last year).
With student loans, it's a giant taxpayer subsidized hedge fund - that's tax free to them. Harvard will say "it's for the greater good," but is it? If this entity were a person, a corporation, hell, even a trust - that entity would have to pay taxes. Harvard takes, but does not give back.
It will be interesting to see what happens at the state levels. This is where I always get screwed. Between property and state income, I pay far more for that than federal. Don't get me wrong - I would love for fed to go bye-bye, but I can also see the states trying to make a grab (cough, California) with some lame excuse.
Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn did an extended breakdown of Bernie! which was very interesting. You can argue he is a sellout, but that's not quite right. From the podcast:
Walter Kirn: Well, at a superficial level, that might have to do with belief in the party, but at a fundamental level, it has to do with one of the flaws in human software that goes back to the ancient times. And that’s this. We want nothing more than acceptance by those who’ve rejected us. That’s why the pretty girl at the prom doesn’t accept the proposal from the guy who carries her books and so on and is always telling her how pretty she is.
Matt Taibbi: No, it’s the guy who’s a jerk.
Walter Kirn: Yeah. It’s the guy who’s the jerk, who nags her, who ignores her.... We’re fatally attracted to redemption with those who have criticized and hurt us in the past. And what I see in Bernie is a little boy, frankly, who’s got very gray hair and yet is just like me and you in the sense that those who ignored him and those who punished him are going to give him the chance now to say, I told you so. Because they have a very tactical reason to do so.
Matt Taibbi: Right.
Walter Kirn: They need to rehabilitate him because right now, every single one of their demagogues is in disgrace or so stupid like Jasmine Crockett, that they can’t command more than three news cycles in a row until America’s sick of them. Gavin Newsom looks like somebody from a band who’s trying to still resemble using every trick of hair color and makeup. The guy who had the hit singles. AOC, she just doesn’t wear well, she kicks around. She doesn’t seem serious.
Matt Taibbi: No. It’s like nails in a blackboard.
Walter Kirn: Yeah. Yeah. Their old hands like Chuck Schumer and Schiff, the old foxes, the old fixers are of a politics that America is utterly over. And so Bernie, will you come back? Will you play a solo? You were right all along.
They go on to talk about how happy he is.
It is Garden Party but Bernie doesn't have the guts of Ricky Nelson.
Look into Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. He was on Tucker not too long ago and approaches cancer as an immune system issue. Thinks outside the box of the traditional paradigm of oncology and understands the issues of dogma that influence much of modern medicine.
https://immunitybio.com/founders-vision/
🙏
I go back and forth on the Biden cancer story. Could he have cancer? Yes. Was it just diagnosed? Possible. This is the guy who supposedly took five CV jabs, so the possibility of turbo cancers exists, but turbo cancers are affecting the younger population and prostate isn't high on the list.
I saw something years ago that most men as they get to that stage in life have some form of prostate issue, be it cancer, or benign prostate hyperplasia. Many men will develop prostate cancer, but that it isn't necessarily the cause of death - because it is so slow, it tends to be something you die with rather than from. (You can still die from it - I had a great uncle who passed from it in his mid-80s, but he also had been diagnosed about 5-6 years earlier.) So I am leaning more towards they have known for a long time, but chose not to tell us for about 17 different reasons. But - all stories/themes seem to be rushing towards a head on conclusion. So that is why I waiver.