🇱🇧 In the 1960s, Beirut was the banking hub of the Arab world.
People across the region stashed their cash in Lebanese banks because the currency was rock solid.
This was a country with beaches, mountains, and serious money, all packed into a tiny space.
Then it all fell apart.
A 15-year civil war ripped through the country and destroyed its infrastructure.
After that, corruption took over, and then came the financial collapse.
People who trusted the system lost everything.
Source: Geography202 YT
Do not take the good health of you and your loved ones for granted.
Do not take a good job, a caring boss and steady income for granted.
Do not take lifelong friendships and supportive truth tellers for granted.
Do not take being in love, and being loved, for granted.
Elon Musk just told the world to stop training surgeons.
Not slow down. Stop.
Musk: “There’ll probably be more Optimus robots that are great surgeons than there are all surgeons on Earth.”
The entire global surgical workforce. Redundant. Before a current med student finishes residency.
“Don’t go to medical school?”
Musk: “Yes. Pointless.”
Twelve years. Half a million dollars. One word.
Optimus does not shake. Does not fatigue. Does not flinch at hour eleven of a twelve-hour operation.
It improves every night while the surgeon sleeps.
By year four, Musk says he’d stake everything on it. By year five, it is not close.
Then came the line that rewrites who medicine has ever belonged to.
Musk: “Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now.”
Medicine has always been rationed by wealth. The best surgeons on Earth have always belonged to the powerful.
That ends. Completely. Within five years.
The machine does not calibrate its precision to your net worth. It does not save its best work for the wealthy. Full capacity, every time, for everyone.
One day, choosing a human surgeon over a robot will feel like refusing the anesthesia.
Human hands are no longer medicine’s highest standard.
The ones who doubted this will understand it the day they need surgery, not a surgeon.
Miami is now home to….
Citadel HQ (2022)
Microsoft (Latin America HQ)
Palantir
Amazon (huge Wynwood office)
Uber (increased its footprint)
Anaplan ($10.4B software company)
Kirkland + Ellis
Sidley Austin
Varonis ($3B cybersecurity)
Rumblings that Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Santander, and FC Barcelona have expanded or are moving to Miami.
Who lives here?
Jeff Bezos
Larry Page
Mark Zuckerberg
Sergey Brin
Ken Griffin
Peter Thiel
Alex Karp
Josh Harris
Sami Mnaymneh
William Berkley
Rakesh Gangwal
Orlando Bravo
Tom Brady
Mickey Arison
Carl Icahn
Norman Brahman
Just to name a few.
No state income tax.
Business-friendly regulations.
Miami is becoming THE PLACE to be.
The next Manhattan with better weather and better taxes.
Here’s a clear explanation of why Trump attacked Iran, and why I think the war will end soon.
The war isn't about nuclear weapons. It's not about helping the Iranian people. It’s not about doing Israel’s bidding. And it's not about Iran being a threat to the U.S.
It's about China.
China imports 45-57% of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has the capacity to shut it down.
A U.S.-aligned Iran means an Iran that would choke off that strait if there's ever a real power struggle between Washington and Beijing.
And there already is one.
The U.S. and China have been locked in a tariff war for over a year now.
Also remember when China threatened export controls on rare earths, encompassing any company anywhere in the world that uses Chinese rare earths?
Yes, China essentially said that any company that uses their rare earths (China refines 85-90% of the world’s supply) must seek their permission before exporting their products.
This means if a German manufacturer uses rare earths fro China to create chips for American companies, China can block the export of these chips.
That’s how much leverage China has over the U.S., and that’s dangerous, especially if China finally decides to reunify with Taiwan.
So controlling the Strait of Hormuz becomes critical for the U.S.
It's the same reason Trump wants China out of the Panama Canal. The same reason Venezuela matters.
The same reason he's eyeing Greenland, where shipping routes to China pass through melting Arctic ice.
Energy is everything now. The AI arms race is the most important strategic competition on the planet.
Limiting China's access to energy is how the U.S. wins that race, and anyone who believes in freedom and democracy should want America to win.
China is investing heavily in domestic energy, building nuclear reactors, solar farms, wind power. They're leapfrogging the rest of the world.
But they still import the majority of their oil. And a significant chunk of it comes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran was reportedly nearing a deal for supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles from China, which would make it easier for Iran to threaten shipping in the Strait and strike U.S. naval vessels.
That accelerated the timeline.
Trump's comment today about doing in Iran what he did in Venezuela makes perfect sense in this context. He wants influence over who comes next.
A regime that's workable for Washington.
If he succeeds, this would be a massive strategic win for the U.S. and for Trump.
Jeff Bezos wants AI to approve Miami building permits in 10 seconds:
“Miami should have an AI application that reads your building permit and it should give you a yes or a no in 10 seconds. Why does it take months and months and months to get a building permit? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Warren Buffett: "My dad was always very forgiving of my misbehavior. He'd just say, 'I know you can do better.' That was very powerful stuff — because I could do better. I knew it and he knew it. It's nice to have somebody have faith in you."
Family first
Love your children unconditionally
Do not take your good health for granted
Keep in touch with good friends
Fight against a sense of entitlement
good manners > good education
agency (I will) > intellect (IQ)
You are not your job
Be helpful
Consume less sugar
Sleep 6-8 hours per day
Do not take people for granted
Exercise at least 15-30 minutes per day
Complain less
Forgive first
Dare to dream big, execute bigger
Show appreciation
Be honest with yourself and others
Tip well
Love your parents unconditionally
Judge less
Know when to leave
Be optimistic and hopeful
Share stories that lift up others
Seek random collisions
Do not respond to negativity
Hold doors open longer than expected