Macroeconomy, investment, technology, architecture, arts and curiosity. Ukraine situation and the developing buble burst of western living standards.

Joined February 2009
Wanneer de helft van de mensen het idee krijgt dat ze niet hoeven te werken omdat de andere helft voor hen gaat zorgen, en wanneer de andere helft het idee krijgt dat het geen zin heeft om te werken omdat iemand anders gaat krijgen waar zij voor werken, dan is dat het begin van het einde van elke natie. Krekels 🦗 & Mieren 🐜 Wat gebeurt er als meer dan 50% van de burgers financieel afhankelijk wordt van de staat? De klassieke fabel van de krekel en de mier krijgt dan een gevaarlijke politieke lading. In de originele fabel werkt de mier hard om waarde te creëren en reserves op te bouwen, terwijl de krekel consumeert zonder bij te dragen. In een gezonde samenleving stimuleert dit systeem de krekel om ook een mier te worden. Totdat de overheid ingrijpt. Wanneer de overheid de mieren dwingt om hun voorraad af te staan, ontstaat er een kantelpunt. Zodra de afhankelijke 'krekels' de democratische meerderheid vormen (>50%), kunnen zij stemmen voor nóg meer herverdeling. De prikkel om waarde te creëren verdwijnt volledig. Zoals econoom Milton Friedman al waarschuwde: een systeem dat gelijkheid boven vrijheid stelt, vernietigt uiteindelijk beide. Als hard werken niet meer loont omdat de staat alles opeist, stopt de economische motor. Het resultaat? Collectieve armoede. #Krekels #Mieren #CollectieveArmoede
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Castiyo retweeted
Este vídeo es la lápida de PSOE y Podemos, es el resumen perfecto del desastre que nos deja la izquierda. Darle RT hasta que llegue a Marte.
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This chart is simply mind-blowing. It’s a perfect visualization of the German “green” energy transition though. Let’s take a look. 1. Germany increased its installed energy generation capacity since 2000 by a whopping 120%, yet German electricity generation fell by 13%. Isn’t that a paradox? The answer is simple, renewables do not generate electricity constantly, as required for an industrial nation, so they need parallel energy-generating infrastructure, e.g., gas. That’s the main reason countries that moved to renewables, like Germany or the UK, have the highest energy prices for industry and households. 2. Based on fairly conservative estimates, Germany has spent about €400 billion on this “green” energy transition, an eye-watering amount. 3. Higher energy prices have made German energy-intensive industries uncompetitive. Industrial production imploded, and countless well-paid jobs disappeared. This explains the reduction in energy demand and generation. 4. By shutting clean nuclear plants while keeping coal and gas, German energy production generates about 10 times more emissions than France’s. You read that right: 10 times more. If Germany had switched off coal power plants first instead of nuclear, by now it would have avoided CO2 emissions equivalent to Berlin’s emissions over almost a century. Keep that in mind next time you chew on a paper drinking straw. 5. Worse still, production moved from Germany to Asia, where the same products generate far more emissions in manufacturing and shipping. A Chinese-built car shipped to Europe causes about 70% more emissions than one built in Germany, cement production causes twice as many. Honestly, can you name a bigger absurdity than the German “green” energy transition? They spent a fortune to ruin their industry and hurt the climate badly. Isn’t it hilarious that German greens seriously claim other countries will follow the German way? In which parallel universe do these people live?
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Castiyo retweeted
Cómo siempre Margallo alumbrado la oscuridad. No verás videos de Podemos hablando con datos por la sencilla razón que les juega en contra al relato populista que acostumbran. Recuerden, cuanto más cerca de la luz mas se ve.
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Castiyo retweeted
🔴🔥 Menudo repaso a los sindicatos comegambas 🤣🤣 Ni un euro público para sindicatos políticos
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Nächster Riesen Bums! Bosch stellt seine Konzernstruktur radikal um! 62.500 Beschäftigte wechseln in eigenständige GmbHs! Es riecht und schmeckt nach Teilabwicklung! #Bosch #Konzernumbau #Automobilindustrie #Arbeitsplätze Spontane Belegschaftsversammlung: Gestern gab es aufgrund dieser Ankündigung eine spontane Versammlung der gesamten Belegschaft. Bosch will seine Mobilitätssparte sowie die Bereiche Bosch Digital, Global Business Services und Global Real Estate in eigenständige Tochtergesellschaften überführen. Rund 62.500 Beschäftigte sind betroffen. Ihre bestehenden Arbeitsverträge sollen auf die neuen Gesellschaften übergehen. Umbau unter massivem Druck: Die neuen Gesellschaften sollen ab dem 1. August 2027 operativ tätig werden. Bosch verspricht schnellere Entscheidungen, mehr Innovationskraft und höhere Profitabilität. Gleichzeitig hat der Konzern bereits den Abbau von mehr als 20.000 Arbeitsplätzen in Deutschland angekündigt. Laut Bosch sind durch die neue Umstrukturierung keine zusätzlichen Stellenstreichungen geplant. 62.500 Beschäftigte vor einem organisatorischen Umbruch und das mitten in einer der schwierigsten Phasen der deutschen Automobilindustrie! Vielen Dank für den wichtigen Hinweis! Quelle: SWR Aktuell, 22.10.2026. swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuer…
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Whenever I feel lost, I watch this.
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Castiyo retweeted
But I voted for open borders, Ahmad! Why did you destroy my parents' store and aggress me?
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德国 DW 电视台拍过一部关于巴黎郊区移民的纪录片。 镜头对准了生活在同一片区域的两个群体。 一边是大约七万人的法国华人。 在巴黎北郊的欧贝维利耶,他们建起了欧洲最大的服装批发中心。 这批人的生活方式很简单: 起早贪黑,开小作坊、看店、跑货运。 赚了钱继续投入生意,遇到难处自己想办法扛。 平时低调安静,很少向政府伸手要特殊补贴,也不上街制造混乱。 几十年下来,越来越多家庭买了房,把生意做了起来。 另一边,是同样生活在这片街区的北非移民群体。 从整体上看,他们在当地的经济融入相对滞后。 但纪录片捕捉到了一个细微却现实的心态变化: 一种把自食其力者视作威胁的情绪,正在悄悄蔓延。 按片子里的观察, 一些融入受挫的人,习惯以受害者自居,觉得社会欠自己太多。 可当他们转头看到身旁的华人时,心态变了。 他们不仅没有去学怎么做生意,反而把华人当成了竞争对手。 这种敌意到底从何而来? 最现实的冲突在于:华人的日子越过越好,受害者叙事就越难自圆其说。 大家同样是外来者,同样面对异国他乡的壁垒。 甚至华人刚来的时候连法语都不会讲,更谈不上本地人脉。 如果有人靠一天干十几个小时,能把日子一点点撑起来, 那句“我们过不好全怪外界不公”,就很难再理直气壮地说出口。 一个闷头自立的人,往往会让习惯归咎环境的人感到刺眼。 更深层的错位在于对财富的理解。 在很多索取者的认知里,财富是一块固定死的大饼。 他们看不到那些批发店是怎样一箱一箱货物搬出来的, 只觉得华人的店铺赚到了钱,就是占了自己的便宜。 再加上华人素来习惯忍让,遇到纠纷往往选择息事宁人, 这种心态上的失衡,很快就落成了现实中的治安麻烦。 抢劫、尾随、街头袭击,接二连三指向这群只想安分过日子的人。 靠双手养活自己、靠信誉积累财富,放在任何健全的社会都是最基本的尊严。 但如果一个地方习惯了把受害者身份当成通行的筹码, 那个默默把日子过好的人, 往往最先成为被针对的对象。
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Story of Europe in nutshell
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Premise: Incentives drive all human behavior. The corollary: How to destroy a country: A vast social security and support system that serves as a magnet for those who would rather not work. An open immigration policy that does not screen immigrants to determine their ability and willingness to provide for themselves and their families. An open immigration policy that does not screen for political and/or religious ideologies that are a threat to the country. Economic incentives large enough to incentivize immigrants on the state dole to have large numbers of children, but insufficient for educated and economically productive mothers to be able to quit to raise a family. The declining fertility of the most educated and productive women due to their delay to begin a family as a result of their desire and/or need to advance their careers, among other reasons, to live a life they deem consistent with their educational achievements and/or to repay their student debts. Amnesty programs that give citizenship and voting power to illegal immigrants without consideration of their economic productivity or their threat to the country due to their religious or political ideologies. The changing demographics and increased population due to the above factors. The state responding to protests by increasing social support. The continued failure to punish and hold accountable violent and looting rioters. Government managed by a massive and growing unelected bureaucracy. Government fraud, waste, and abuse contributed to ballooning budgets. Anti-business legislation that makes it difficult for businesses to compete in a global marketplace being disrupted by AI, including restrictions on firing even poorly performing employees. Overly burdensome, globally uncompetitive, corporate taxation. Continuous increases in personal taxes to raise funds to provide for the rapidly growing welfare state. The substantial majority of the tax burden levied on a small percentage of the population. A growing percentage of the electorate paying no taxes and receiving welfare. The introduction or threat of a wealth tax including the taxation of unrealized gains, i.e., taxes on paper wealth. The flight of the most productive business builders and highest taxpayers to lower tax countries with lesser security concerns. A growing percentage of the electorate voting for candidates that support increased welfare and laws favorable to, and/or that match the cultural and ideological needs and desires of a growing unproductive immigrant population. The rapid rise in anti-semitism and inadequate efforts to address this hatred. Increased borrowing by the state to fund the growing social burden. Higher sovereign interest rates due to all of the above. The resulting need to reduce expenditures to make the math work. Increasingly violent protests that make life less livable for the productive and law abiding citizens leading to their accelerated departure. And so on…
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Castiyo retweeted
Muslims have never assimilated peacefully in 1,400 years. Socialism has never worked in 200 years. And you want to vote for both?
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Castiyo retweeted
Surround yourself with people who see a flying car and say, "Awesome!" Not people who see a flying car and say, "It's not actually flying" or "I don't see the point." This post is not about cars :)
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Imagine following nearly 13 million real people for more than 10 years just to see what cholesterol level helps them live the longest. That is exactly what Korean scientists did in a giant 2019 study. They tracked 12.8 million adults who had check-ups between 2001 and 2004, and they kept watching until 2013. More than 694,000 people died during that long stretch. The results were clear and surprising. Cholesterol and death formed a U-shape. Very low cholesterol was linked to higher death rates. So was very high cholesterol. The sweet spot for the longest life was 210 to 249 mg/dL for most adults. That is higher than many doctors call “ideal.” Younger people had a slightly lower best range, but still not the super-low numbers often pushed today. Because the study lasted so many years, reverse causality is less likely to explain the low-cholesterol danger. Reverse causality means a hidden illness might lower your cholesterol right before it kills you. With more than a decade of follow-up, early sickness cannot easily account for the extra deaths seen in people who started with low cholesterol. The pattern held across ages and for both men and women. The huge number of people—almost the entire adult population of a country—makes the findings hard to ignore. Smaller studies can be wrong by chance. This one is massive. It shows that moderately higher total cholesterol, not the lowest possible number, went with the best chance of living longer in this large group. In short, the biggest study of its kind found that cholesterol levels in the low-to-mid 200s were tied to the longest lives, and the long tracking time makes it tougher to blame the higher death rates at low levels on reverse causality alone.
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We're so fucked
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