Weekend here in the woods was fractured:  Research & writing, binge watching (Dark Wolf, Butterfly on Amazon), and modeling inflation ahead. The research breakthrough is in how people “Index Life.”  (I’ll also tell you about my best-ever spaghetti, too…)

To us, present times are strong on the 1929 Replay vibe, but it riffs off one o the Dozilla Meets… series. Because 1929 didn’t have “push-button money” creation. Financial Engineers lacked global scope.

Key Difference:  In 1929 there was no “inflation monster in the wings.”  Today we stand at the precipice of our “Second-derivative of All Fears” moment.  Yes, we could zoom into hyperinflation since China is rolling into global primacy.  At the same time, though, made up debt (and perhaps a well-placed false flag) could bring on “instant inflation” sufficient to offset Utter Collapse.

I’m reminded of the grad school stats class:  “So, what do you call a guy who is standing with one foot in the fire and one foot has just been frozen into a block of ice?” asked the Stats lecturer.

“Stupid?” I asked.  (Chuckles followed).

“No, in economics we learn to say “On average he’s comfortable!”

(This and $5 for coffee) is modern econ in a nutshell when you think about it.

Or, you can just listen closely enough.  Hear it?  “Chicken Little” screams about the sky falling off in the distance.

Power is rolling.  The Developer loses Leverage. Food and Inflation hedges call.  But, as we have advised here (since 1998): There’s nothing so comfortable as a free-and-clear home, no debt of any sort, and at least the tools for rudimentary food production.

As we said then (and it holds now): You either live 100 percent leveraged or zero percent.  Anything in between is for the indecisive. Look up the term “cannon fodder.”

We spent a good deal of weekend “wetware processing time” pondering how to “triangulate” what’s ahead – and that will be the “First things” part of Peoplenomics tomorrow.

But here’s an inflation whiff, there’s the financial engineers.  In pilot terms, “Watch the vertical speed indicators closely” on approach to crevasses and mountains.

That’s the “money line”.  Now, take a deep breath and step over to the RSS high-dive board…

America’s “Dim Sums”

 BRICS brats, anyone? Xi welcomes Putin to secretive summit for ‘axis of upheaval’.  This, as the USA faces loss of world financial dominance.

There’s a sequence to history our consigliere points out.  “Before a World War, power seems to rotate westward in advance.”  World War I seemed to be a middle-Europe problem (until trench warfare). World War II you had the V2 rocket’s and Battle of Britain.

But the “power moves” came first – the wars to reverse lagged.  Now, Developer Trump faces Car rides and hand-holding: Putin, Modi and Xi send Trump a message at China summit.  While hear at home, his Battle of the Books was being quickly lost at a 67% democrat-appointed court. If the tariffs have to be refunded, it will be a “such-a-deal” for industry.  They will pocket any rebates, and this BS pass-through tax will be “sticky in their pockets” – lost to those of us who paid it.

War’s coming, though it’s still a matter of when, exactly,.  France orders hospitals to ready for ‘WW3’ & treat hundreds of wounded soldiers per day in less than a year.  Ever notice how “wars come too soon, peace comes too late?”

It all adds up to a very sketchy future.  And seems like we’re doing “dim sums.”

Scrolling the Waterfront

Oh, did they go somewhere? Congress returns from recess as government shutdown deadline looms, Epstein files dominate the House.  I guess if they’d been leading the fight for us little people we would have noticed their absence a bit more…  Cue the Grandstanding stories now to pretend further…

Afghanistan earthquake over the weekend was a real killer: Death toll climbs to over 1,400 after Afghanistan earthquake, official says.

Move over, Quebec: 51st State: Canada’s Descent into Chaos and the Rise of Alberta Separatism.

Personal Survival

Still enjoying the Win11 KB5063878 surprise?  Microsoft released Windows 11 KB5065378, KB5064097 Setup and Recovery updates.  If you like gambling, though, and can’t pop out to Vegas for a while, listen up: Windows 11 25H2: Meet the exciting features coming to your PC soon.  This is one of those damn “Let me think about this.”  On the one hand, new features, latest security twqeaks.. but on the other? Where’d those SSDs all go? Hard call.

“Guilty as charged, your Honor…”  Yeah – Elaine and I watched Dark Wolf (new epi tomorrow night) and a bunch of Butterfly last night.  And – right on cue here comes the nod from Universe that it’s all OK with The Dude: Why Binge-Watching Your Favorite Shows Might Actually Be Good For You.  Whew! Dodged another one…not going to DVT-out after all…

Jury is still out?  I was telling you back in 2012 about the remarkable book Ignoring the Awkward:  How the cholesterol myth is kept alive.  (We just had that stats class discussion, right?) Well, now Rina at the Primal Podcast has a dandy video worth considering Shocking NEW Cause of Heart Attacks (Not LDL Cholesterol) Dr Kendrick. One of Kendrick’s books is a clue: The Clot Thickens.

Buy your way out?  Pick up a PowerBall ticket today!  Powerball jackpot reaches $1.3 billion after Labor Day drawing sees no winner.  Put us in for a 5% tip for reminding?

Around the Ranch: Super Spaghetti – Research Breakthrough

I don’t rave very often about food.  But we had the best damn spaghetti EVER last night.  It wasn’t hard to make – couple of more dishes to clean, but as soon as today’s column’s done, I’m going back for leftovers.

The secret?  We had prime rib Sunday.  There was some meat left over (uncooked, cut into 1-inch strip)s. browned with an onion in a hot skillet.  THEN came the magic:  covered in a big pot and placed in the oven for 90-minutes.  OMG!

You wouldn’t think cooking technique  could make such a difference, but you’d be wrong.  The meat was extremely tender, but it didn’t go off to mush – it was “perfect tooth, fork tender.”  An extra teaspoon of Italian seasoning (because I cheated with a bottled sauce).  Discovered with the hands-off digital thermometer my “down low” over setting runs 10 degrees hot (200 when digits claimed 190F) but maybe a 30 pound pizza steel (warmed for an hour ahead of time) was a factor.

Not sure of the how and why but it was the most amazing spaghetti ever – and after three-quarters of a century eating great food…that was going a ways.

The Research Breakthrough

As you (may) know, I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on “domain walking” skills.  This weekend it all came together in a radical new theory of how we can make everyone in the world smarter!

The idea – worth sharing widely so we’re putting it in the public domain – is that there are basically two kinds of people in the world.  One type of person is what we can label “Life Indexers.”  See, in my world, there isn’t just “fact clouds” when you are thinking.  There’s also how you index – and that’s where the breakthrough is.

First of the two “people types” are the “Life Indexers.”  They index what they need to have a good life in their principal domains of interest.   Wife Elaine is a “Life Indexer.”  She has domains of interest – fashion, art, interior design, house DIY, family, nature (and feral cat care). Delightful, nurturing human.

Me?  I’m in the second pile:  A Mass Indexer.  My family upbringing taught me.  When I learn something new, it’s not just about “indexing to my immediate life domains” – it maps to a zillion other additional indexes.  Radio, economics, flying, sailing, politics, and so forth.  “How does this fact apply in carpentry?” for example.

What happens is people who are Life Indexers can have better health because they can operate with lower levels of stress.  My family?  With a dad guys at the firehouse called “The Encyclopedia”?  Mass indexing is the key to unlimited creativity in new domains of thought.

This is why, for example, doctors think differently.  Sure, Dr. Jerome Groopman’s book How Doctors Think is a great deal of it.  But the breakthrough this weekend was seeing that people who have a professional specialty have learned additional indexing skills as much as new “facts.”

When you begin to field it as a “personality cataloging and sorting tool” I think you’ll find, as I have, that how a person indexes is the steppingstone to higher mental capacity.

And the great part is?  Indexing can be taught as a skill!

Honestly, one of the most exciting things I have come up with in a long time – so a much longer discussion (and more formal paper) to read on Peoplenomics tomorrow.

In economics and investing?  Life Indexers tend toward a single signal like inflation.  Mass Indexers might want 100-signals and a consensus threshold…

Big week ahead:  

• Jobs data pops Friday. Keep an eye on inflation and metals pricing.
• Son G2’s lodge is back from summer break.  (He’s a Junior Steward…)
• We’re getting our wills updated.
• And the odds of another 100F day seem to be gone for the year.
• Maybe one more mowing…

ShopTalk Sunday (on restorations) is here if you missed it.  Also, the Labor Day Music playlist is here.

Have a great week and write when you get rich,

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