Linkee-poo tunes up the New Year Bell

One year down, 3 more to go. You can do this.

There's a lot of commentary about the editorial notes of Milo Yiannopoulos' supposed "biography" that Simon & Shuster both paid him an advance and then killed. Yes they are pretty good fodder. But as some have pointed out, these were (for the most part) notes that were supposed to help Milo write a more palatable book. They were notes to help him mainstream his ideas. Unfortunately for S&S (and fortunately for us) Milo has no real incentive or desire to do that and in fact shows a willful motivation to not be that person (or to improve himself or his messaging skills). He already has all the attention he wants and his business model isn't based on actual content or desire to lead, but instead is based on being as much of an asshole as possible to get people to react against him in a way that he can sue them for more money (which is his business model, lawsuits). Be thankful for idiot criminals. Milo is a prime example about how some privileged, very smart people (and while his POV is idiotic, he himself doesn't appear to be) are at their base lazy because they've never had to push hard to make their way in life. If he had to really fight for anything early in life he would be much more dangerous. (Grokked from Dan)

Update to lottery story, "Memo to the next big lottery winner: Hold off on claiming your winnings until January to bag an extra $4 million to $9 million, courtesy of the GOP and President Donald Trump." Also, just as an economy bullet point, "For perspective, a family making the U.S. median income would need to work for 54 years -- longer than a typical working lifetime -- to earn even $4 million." But most people haven't done that math.

"One reason this country never adopted the metric system can be blamed on pirates." Damn pirates.

"In other words, sitting could really be killing us because it distorts the body's own picture of how much it weighs, screwing with the systems that regulate body fat." Evolution screws with us again. "Dementia doesn’t happen all at once. And it's not well understood what, if anything, can be done to reverse it. But doctors now have more ideas about what can slow down its progression and new research suggests that exercise may play a big role." Affects an annoyed teenager voice, "That's what they always say."

IANA investment counselor… blah blah blah, but check your 4012(k). "To keep fees low, look at expense ratios and load charges before you invest — never assume an investment is inexpensive, even if it is offered within a retirement account. Often the lowest-cost options are index funds, exchange-traded funds or open-end mutual funds, which are bought directly from the mutual fund company." A little on fund classes and what fees are and do to your investment.

Space is hard. Even for the Russians.

"Russia’s space experts say they have managed to regain control of Angola’s first satellite launched earlier this week." "But his detractors — engaged in a dispute that rages up and down America’s West Coast, as the region struggles to cope with a rising tide of homelessness — say Aly and other do-gooders are doing more harm than good. However well-meaning, critics say, those who provide the homeless with tents and tarps, showers and toilets, hot meals and pet food, are enabling them to remain unsheltered." Bullshit. Or as I've told people who have expressed opinions about how the homeless or people living in Section 8 housing have it so good, if it's so great you're a fool for not doing it yourself. Look, this isn't the first time we have a chronic homeless "problem." The solution is never looking at the homeless and telling them about pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps. If they had bootstraps they already would have done that.

The recreational marijuana market looks to cannibalize the medical marijuana market. And water is wet, by the way. This is exactly why some medications facing the end of patent protection go to over the counter instead of allowing generics to cut into their market space (Prilosec I'm looking at you).

"After living in Washington for nearly a year, President Donald Trump has yet to enjoy a single non-working meal at a restaurant that doesn’t pay him rent. He hasn’t taken in a performance at the Kennedy Center; hasn’t been to a sporting event; hasn’t toured most of the sights." He doesn't have time to after visiting his properties and golfing. And (leans in to whisper) our president doesn't have much culture or class.