Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
It seems to me people are being unbelievably optimistic (to the point of naivete) about what things are going to be like as they “re-open.” It isn’t going to be like it was before. Not even close.
As an example from just one sector, just take a look at these highlights from the restrictions related to eating establishments:
(more…)Let us begin with some dialog from Star Trek’s “Court Martial” episode:
SPOCK: But the computer is inaccurate, nevertheless.
SHAW: Why do you say that?
SPOCK: It reports that the jettison button was pressed before the Red Alert.
SHAW: In other words, it reports that Captain Kirk was reacting to an extreme emergency that did not then exist.
SPOCK: And that is impossible.
SHAW: Is it? Were you watching him the exact moment he pressed the jettison button?
SPOCK: No, I was occupied. The ship was already on Yellow Alert.
SHAW: Then how can you dispute the finding of the log?
SPOCK: I do not dispute it. I merely state that it is wrong.
SHAW: Oh? On what do you base that statement?
SPOCK: I know the Captain. He is incapable…….
SHAW: Please instruct the witness not to speculate.
SPOCK: Lieutenant, I am half Vulcanian. Vulcanians do not speculate. I speak from pure logic. If I let go of a hammer on a planet that has a positive gravity, I need not see it fall to know that it has in fact fallen.
SHAW: I do not see what that has to
SPOCK: Gentlemen, human beings have characteristics just as inanimate objects do. It is impossible for Captain Kirk to act out of panic or malice. It is not his nature.
You may have heard the news this morning that the celebrity parents of bubble-headed Olivia Jade finally gave up their legal fight and have pleaded Guilty to paying huge bribes to get their vapid daughters into USC (which, in those circles, is held up as a superb institution of higher learning). Frankly, Ms. Jade would have done vastly better with a high school diploma and her thriving “influencer” website, but we’re not here to talk about that.
Early Sunday morning, I was driving down Santa Cruz Avenue, which is the main retail drag of Menlo Park, and it was so sad. Only a few months ago, this was one of the most affluent and ritzy retail strips in the Bay Area, and yet a dozen different places were utterly empty and abandoned with a For Lease sign on the front. It was like a ghost town, even though it is surrounded by thousands of millionaires.
All of us known small business owners who have been struck down by the shutdown, such as barbers, gym owners, party centers, restaurants, and so forth. In an effort to help, the government has thrown trillions of dollars at the problem, including a multi-hundred-billion dollar SBA “Paycheck Protection Program” designed to help employees keep their jobs while their employers are struggling.
(more…)After the close on Friday, it was announced that the Federal Government would be going after Alphabet (AKA Google). Judging from the after-hours reaction, people weren’t exactly panicking.
I’m not sure if I’ve ever talked about this before, but I thought some of you might be interested in knowing how I go about dealing with my portfolio.
It’s really all about the watch lists. Specifically, three watch lists of mine called Core, Bear Pen, and TK Short. Here is sort of the “flow”, which I’ll describe next.
