Chicago has some of the highest taxes in the country, so here’s my question: Why don’t we have the best streets, the cleanest neighborhoods, beautiful landscaping along our highways, and city services that reflect what we’re paying?
I’m not asking for perfection—I’m asking for value. If taxpayers are contributing this much, shouldn’t Chicago look and function like a world-class city? We deserve smooth roads, well-maintained medians, clean public spaces, responsive services, and neighborhoods that reflect pride instead of neglect.
Where is our money going? Chicago taxpayers deserve answers—and better results.
feng shui is real. declutter your room. clear your camera roll. unfollow people. clean your desk.
wash the dishes. get rid of what’s expired. watch how much mental energy comes back
Former BlackRock fund manager Ed Dowd on the SpaceX IPO:
"people gotta understand... [SpaceX] raised $75 billion... [and only] floated 5% of the stock... it's a very small float"
"[But its valuation], that's a different story"
"$1.7 trillion did not go to SpaceX. [It is] $75 billion. So people need to understand that"
"then when Anthropic and OpenAI, if they ever make it to IPO, they're going to raise about $100 billion each. So the total raised actual real money is about $300 billion between these three IPOs"
"Their valuations, that's a different story. And those probably won't hold and they'll probably, you know, go down 80%. So anybody buying these stocks at these prices is probably going to lose a lot of money if they hold on to them"
@ShannonJoyRadio@DowdEdward
Elon just created 4,400 millionaires in a single day.
400 of them are now worth over $100 million.
These aren't VCs. They're SpaceX employees, and the list includes welders, technicians, and cafeteria staff, because for two decades the company paid every level of the workforce in stock instead of higher salaries.
Juan Hernandez immigrated from Mexico and took a $28 an hour contractor welding job in 2015. He says he didn't even know what SpaceX was. The company gave him a $10,000 equity grant and let him buy more shares through payroll deductions. That stake is now worth $880,000.
Trevor Hise's parents wanted him to take a stable job at General Electric. He picked SpaceX instead, stayed 12 years, and accumulated over 100,000 shares. At the $135 listing price that's $13.5 million. He's 37 and semiretired. His words: "The magnitude of this has been ridiculous."
The most telling detail came before the listing. Over 100 employees quietly banded together and negotiated a group wealth management deal covering up to $5 billion, because none of them had ever needed a wealth manager before.
Software IPOs have minted millionaires for 30 years. This is the first one where the money went to the factory floor.
Being financially stable requires a level of selfishness most people won’t understand.
If every emergency becomes your responsibility, your future becomes the sacrifice.
Protecting your money isn’t a lack of compassion. It’s a form of self respect.
You’re a man. Every bit of your focus should be on money, purpose, and fixing your life. Who likes you or dislikes you should be none of your business.