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A Sobriety Story

Io no bev' I don't drink. Not anymore. After five years of chronic drinking, I've been sober for 16 months. My journey to sobriety has been per Aspera ad Inferi. Prior to that, I was sober for four years. Prior to that, I binge drank for three years. It was like drinking at Bob's Country Bunker. I had both kinds, chronic and binge. .385 is a great batting average, but it's a terrible measure of your life and how the way you are living affects those around you. I've weighed whether to share this story, but it is my nature and…

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Five O’clock Friday

It's Five O'clock Somewhere Five o'clock on Fridays once marked a joyful leap from work to weekend, filled with happy hours and anticipation. Today’s 24x7 work culture has dimmed this ritual. Constant connectivity, blurred work-life boundaries, and burnout have replaced celebration with exhaustion. Remote work erases social cues, while weekend tasks encroach on freedom, making Fridays feel ordinary. Generational shifts add complexity-younger workers, used to fluid schedules, may not feel the loss as keenly. This analysis explores how lost rituals, always-on expectations, and redefined fun have reshaped Fridays, using data to highlight a cultural shift that calls for renewed work-life balance.…

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A Father’s Fears

The Living Years Every generation Blames the one before And all of their frustrations Come beating on your door I know that I'm a prisoner to all my father held so dear I know that I'm a hostage to all his hopes and fears I just wish I could have told him in the living years — The Living Years by Mike + The Mechanics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hr64MxYpgk Parents can disregard, fail, and neglect their children. But it’s a two-way street. Children can also inflict deep, lasting harm. When I was 13, I hurt my father deeply with careless, ignorant words. Our relationship…

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Thursday Takes

Quick Takes: Thursday Takes House Passes Amended Budget Resolution The House narrowly passed the Senate-amended budget resolution for fiscal year 2025 on April 9, 2025, by a vote of 216-214. This resolution sets the stage for a reconciliation process, allowing Republicans to advance major tax and spending legislation with a simple majority, bypassing the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster. It includes provisions for extending tax cuts, increasing border security and defense spending, and implementing federal spending reductions. The passage faced resistance, with two Republicans voting against it, reflecting internal party tensions. This step moves Congress closer to drafting a reconciliation bill to enact…

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Midweek Manufacturing

Well, we're waiting here in Allentown For the Pennsylvania we never found For the promises our teachers gave If we worked hard, if we behaved So the graduations hang on the wall But they never really helped us at all No they never taught us what was real Iron and coke, chromium steel --Billy Joel "Allentown" Salena Zito wrote this week for the Washington Post exploring the Mon Valley Works Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, a U.S. Steel facility central to the region’s identity and President Trump’s second-term agenda. The plant, employing 850 workers, produces steel for everyday products using…

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Tech Tuesday

Parenting, Technology, and A.I. One year after its publication on March 26, 2024, The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt sparked a global movement addressing the harmful effects of smartphones and social media on children. The book framed the issue as a collective action problem, offering practical solutions that empowered communities to act together. Its success reflects a cultural tipping point, driven by widespread frustration with technology’s impact on youth, and hints at broader prospects for societal renewal amidst rapid technological change. Rather than following their original plan to promote the book and then take a break, the authors witnessed rapid cultural…

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Markets Monday

The manufacturing post has been delayed due to technical difficulties, so let's change it to markets.  In the words of the great Levi Stubbs, "This one gon' be shoat!" I know what all the super smarty smarties said heading into Monday.  And then there's what the markets did, which was definitely not that.  At one point today due to a fake news report that President Trump was going to suspend the tariffs for 90 days, the markets spiked over 1,000.  Once that rumor was shot down, the boomlet quickly fell apart.  That tells me this is a largely media driven phenomenon…

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Sunday Solace

The Book of Hosea is one of the twelve Minor Prophets in the Old Testament of the Bible, and it’s a pretty powerful story about love, loyalty, and redemption. It’s traditionally dated to around 760-720 BC, during a turbulent time for the northern kingdom of Israel. Hosea, the prophet, was called by God to deliver a message to a people who’d drifted far from their faith, chasing after idols and foreign alliances instead of trusting in God. What makes Hosea stand out is the personal angle-God tells Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer, who’s described as promiscuous or unfaithful (scholars…

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Sports Saturday

It's a cold rainy day in Texas after several rounds of thunderstorms this week that largely spared us as they strengthened and hit the South and Midwest hard.  We got a lot of rain and loud thunder, but the main thing we got is the cold.  It's approaching the upper 30s in North Texas on Sunday morning.  Just in time for the Rangers bats to heat up.  In the old days we usually had to wait until the June regression and the warmth of summer to get the bats going.  Tonight possibly signaled a sustainable breakout in a series clinching game…

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Friday Forecasting

Capital Gains Tax Scenarios and Analyses Executive Summary This analysis explores a proposed capital gains tax structure-15% flat rate for foreign/non-qualifying gains and tiered rates for U.S. domestic stocks (7.5% for 1-3 years, 5% for 3-5 years, 2.5% for 5-10 years, 0% for 10+ years, with no NIIT)-evaluated under diverse economic scenarios tied to Trump’s tariff policies as of April 2025. Starting with a static revenue loss of $10.025 billion annually ($100 billion gains baseline), the study employs static and dynamic scoring to assess fiscal impacts, ranging from optimistic tariff-driven growth to severe recessionary shocks, culminating in a V-shaped recovery scenario.…

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