Whats This FTX Crypto Crap About?

 One single guy.....Sam Brinkman-Fried....created a crypto currency out of thin air.

At peak, it was loaded with 32-billion dollars.  As of today.....it's zero.

What the whole looks like?  Giant billion dollar ponzi scheme....used primarily as a money laundering 'tool'....which oddly enough....had around forty million spent on the mid-term election.  No one says the candidates or parties involved.  

Odds of some folks in the US Treasury at least knowing this was money-laundering?  I'd put it at a 99-percent chance.....but they can't admit that in public. 

Who had the money in this gimmick?  Based on what I've read.....lot of YouTube and Instagram people.....who were making money from around the world, and tried to avoid detection by their governments, or paying taxes.  

Guy's location?  Some plane indications just hint of a path leading to Brazil.  No extradition treaty.....for US/Brazil.  But in this case....people might just look to hire some gangs from Brazil to hunt him down.  I don't see him surviving more than a month at the most.  

My Cure For Slow-Counting In Elections

 Once you fill out a voting ballot, with a unique barcode....there is a time-stamp to be on it.  As long as it's counted prior to midnight, no problems.

Once it's counted after midnight, for each twelve hours of delay.....you (the ballot owner) get $100 from the state budget.  If it takes 36 hours to count your vote....after midnight.....that's $300 to be paid out.

After one election with delay....the state will learn a important lesson on competence. 

Observations

 1.  Should we be asking how disgruntled you are, your party affiliation, and then ask your state-status?

I'm of the mind if you asked the question.....are you happy about the direction of Florida....more than 70-percent of people would indicate they are happy with Florida.  The same might be said for folks in South Carolina and Tennessee.  

If you were a resident of Portland or SF?  It's probably a 75-percent disgruntled feeling that you are walking around with.

2.  Student debt forgiveness 'pit'?

Based on the federal judge's order....that $10,000 of forgiveness is mostly now gone.  I'm guessing President Biden will talk constantly over this, but it's a pretty dead topic at this point.  

3.  Where all this slow vote-counting is heading?

I'm going out to predict in the November 2024 election.....it will reach a stage where courts are involved, and slow-counting will occur.....leading to at least one state missing the mid-December deadline.  I might even suggest three states missing the date.

All hell will break loose in the states affected, with a number of lawsuits about being disenfranchised.  I'll forecast that the Supreme Court eventually dumps it back onto the states and gives the public some option to sue for 'damages'.  If you thought things were screwed up presently.....it would get a lot worse.

4.  I read a piece this week where the fake-meat industry (coming on strong in the past three years)....has hit some peak.  The chief issue?  Lack of taste/flavor....in the products.

Yeah, shocking.....people want fake-meat to taste like real meat.

5.  What happens if this NATO expansion with Finland and Sweden fails?  Both Hungary and Turkey are becoming problems in accepting the two.

I would suggest that if we reach such a point where NATO can't get the two votes....the US will step up and sign a protective treaty.....saying they would do what NATO can't do.  

6.  Can Twitter survive with 75-percent of the customer base that they had before Elon came along?

If this $8 a month fee comes into play....I would suggest they can easily survive and thrive.  The hint from Elon is that podcast capability would expand over the next year, and I think that's the key selling point for Twitter in the future.