jb smith

Libertarian. MN Vikings, NC Tar Heels, USD Coyotes, TWolves, Twins; Iraq and Bosnia Vet; Just here for some jokes.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

Best Sports to Watch Ranked:

1. NFL Football
2. NCAA D1 Football
3. NCAA D2 Football
4. NCAA D3 Football
5. High School Football
6. USFL Football
7. CFL Football
8. JR High Football
9. PeeWee Football
10. Basketball
11. Baseball

Everything else except soccer.

Soccer.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@TheWyteRabbit1 This is an exquisite troll. This video is from Sep 2024 and the FBI visit was made after the person made a threatening post about Harris.

But I guess everyone will switch clothes now.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@td_nash Antonio Brown was the best. None of these other players were considered top 5 of all players in the NFL, AB was. It’s hard to remember how great he was at his peak because his end was so weird.

I’m a Vikings fan BTW.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

They haven’t yet. And doing it merely gives them the “right” to push their stuff thru on partisan terms. Conservatives want and expect less from the government. Gridlock is a net plus for us. Sometimes the cut goes against you and you just need to suck it up.

Also, and even more importantly, a lot of the items in the SAVE act won’t pass thru judicial review due to their infringement on states’ rights to elections. So you’ll blow up the filibuster and probably lose 50% of the items on the act. Bad trade.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@NateWilliamsJD @VinnysCorner1 That’s amazing. Dude is probably 25 and looks 52.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@maureenrose44 @CaitlinPacific Depends on the book and the age of the kids that use that school/library. I certainly agree with you that the default position should be one of free exchange of ideas. But there is such a thing as age appropriate material. School libraries and curriculums should reflect that

[jb smith @jbs2a]

It is impossible to accurately translate his wealth into present day, mainly because of the development of the land he owned - 70,000 acres at his peak.

Mount Vernon alone (8,000 acres) would be worth billions of dollars today. The land he owned in what is now Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio was timber tracts and good fertile potential farm land located along rivers. Again, worth billions.

Using an “inflation” adjustment doesn’t capture the true increase in the real estate between then and now (and wouldn’t be necessarily fair because the conditions that caused the run up didnt exist).

What isn’t impossible to say is that he was in the top .01% of wealthiest Americans. He owned massive holdings (distillery, mills, etc) in addition to the massive real estate, and of course the >300 slaves he owned.

Some economic historians actually estimate his real wealth between $1-3B today. And of course the relative power of his wealth was far greater than that simply because of the strategic nature of the holdings and the tiny amount of GDP the US had at the time.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

People can’t exactly “hoard wealth”. They don’t bury it in a yard.

If Bezos’ kids each inherit $100B and they put it in a 3% savings account and live off of that interest while contributing nothing to society, that $100B will provide the capital for 100s of 1000s of homes, businesses, etc.

Unless they withdraw all the cash and bury it, light it on fire, or fund a war, that money will continue providing value to society.

The argument against inherited wealth is simply one of envy that some people won the birth lottery. Now I won’t argue against the proposition that it is better for society that these wealthy high performing people administer the wealth in a way benefiting society. But the notion that simply passing it down to their children is “hoarding” the wealth is simply wrong.

And I’ll further argue that a confiscation level death tax reverting a large % to the government would be wealth destroying (see: Funding Wars above).

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@M_Cottone @mattyglesias Oh really? How many people does it take to put on a Beyoncé show? From the roadies to the security guards to the ushers, ticket takers, janitors, marketing folks, etc etc. The answer is about 2,000 - most of whom are relatively lowly paid and seasonally employed.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@DailyLoud If that croc had the body of a 59 year old businessman, that croc really let himself go.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@NRSC @AceofSpadesHQ @grok could you explain what happened here? Was this person released early?

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@LizzieMarbach Now do cat ownership

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@mattyglesias What’s stupid about this conversation is the continued effort by people to put American Politics, parties, and even philosophies on the European political spectrum. Just don’t. There are far too many areas of divergence to make it a useful conversation or comparison.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@BoeufEtLiberte @RonDeSantis I agree the current system is abused. But if the hiring companies had to pay the salary - plus a 3x fee to the government - the incentive to do so would disappear.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@maner_travis Thanks. Wasn’t aware of this.

Not quite what I would propose - as the barrier to entry seems to be high - and a bit subjective.

I think the 3x fee would act as an appropriate barrier and not place an undue administrative requirement.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

Well the initial premise is a lie. Trump didn’t conjure up the idea/term of Domestic Terrorism.

Biden warned of a rise of “political extremism, white supremacy, and domestic terrorism” in his inaugural address.

In 2021 the Biden Administration released the “National Strategy for Combating Domestic Terrorism”

https://t.co/MoanuGqqV1

And of course Biden repeatedly referred to the moron Jan 6 protesters as domestic terrorists as well.

Kind of hard to give your article a lot of credibility when you get such a basic fact badly wrong.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

To further illustrate your point, it’s the concept of the “wisdom of crowds”. For things that are subjective, the crowds get it right more than the “experts”.

Almost every NFL team would benefit from just using the consensus big board.

As for those saying “well other teams drafting behind the Vikings liked Banks!” There is another economics concept called “the winner’s curse” when a party pays too much for a valued asset and that overpay represents a net loss of value.

Lastly, we have never seen the Vikings consistently draft so well that they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

@BerkleSam11160 @mattvanswol WTF is wrong with you posting someone’s address Twitter? You should delete this.

[jb smith @jbs2a]

We tried the “Low T” approach for the past 25 years and it created a generation of young men lagging behind females in education and work outcomes. More fixated on video games and immediate pleasure seeking than in building and being responsible for themselves and for others.

Past time to try something else.