Pallet cleanser

b1-66er: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/07/09/air-forces-c-5m-super-galaxy-aids-in-removal-destruction-of-5-billion-worth-of-illegal-drugs/

b1-67er: That military drug transport story is just an incredible bucket of hogwash. So any cargo plane can move those pallets of drugs.  I can't believe they dig up a 40,000 pound cargo loader to take that picture.  There are only a few of those around. I guarantee moving that stuff on the ground would be 10x cheaper.

66: "If not for Air Force assistance, the DEA would have to drive the substances across several states. This in turn would take excessive manpower and time as well as increasing the possibility of security issues, like ambush, theft or logistical failure, the release says."

D4rw1n: Both modes create interesting issues of interstate transport of Schedule 1 narcotics

Which I suppose is perfectly lawful for the government to do. But maybe you avoid some questions by not physically crossing a lot of state borders.

I tend to agree with 67 though. Even the reason reasons they give our little suspect: excessive manpower (that's one advantage the military always has). Ambush (I find it impossible to believe the military can't handle the possibility of an ambush). Theft (same). Logistical failure (the US Army is by far the world's largest and most sophisticated logistics agency).

Here's Google AI's answer to my question of how the US military compares in size and capability to the world's largest private logistics companies:

The US military possesses the largest and most complex logistics capability in the world, far exceeding the scale of any single private corporation. While private companies optimize for cost and efficiency, the US military optimizes for mass, speed, and survivability in highly hostile environments.

So trucking few truckloads of narcotics across the Homeland would be doable for them

Hell AND the handbasket AND the price paid

b1-66er: How're you holdin' together? 

Do you have any sweepin' up you have to do after the trip? (Emotional, legal or otherwise)

Special K: A long list of things to do and I haven’t organized the list yet. My main goal for today is to unpack (from my free Frontier flight).

I’m doing OK. A lot of thoughts about him of course.

b1: It's odd that, in your lives, you've thought about him more than he's thought about you. 

(And, of course, that number will become more lopsided as time approaches ♾️.)

One thing that never got answered in the Death Shuffle: Did Momma K go back for your brother's event? 

I assume she did not.

K: RIght, she didn’t go.

b1: How well did she know him?

K: Very well. He lived with us for a year or two. And she heard me bitch about him even more than you did.

b1: Wow.

As I sent that message I thought, this better not be one of those 'she dated him before she dated me' things.

K: Luckily, it’s not.

b1: I'll say the most honest thing I've ever said to you: 

You could of definitely take your brother in a 

Loving Women Contest. 

In all aspects. 

All aspects, K-bot•

K: Thank you.
But what about arm wrestling?

b1: Rigor mortis is a bitch when competing against an opponent with it in arm wrestling, but...... All you have to do is wait a couple months and it's a snap!

K: BAM!

b1: I just handed our TXT thread over to The Accomplice. "Read this."

She did and 'chuckled deathly,' adding, "...isn't it a bit 'too soon?'

I replied: are you kiddin' me? He's been dealing with that  bullshit for YEARS. 

Her under-the-breath-response: I guess not. 

K: Perfecto.

b1 <coincidentally in another thread>: The scariest thing about

SHAQUILICIOUS XL Gummies...

They taste exactly like Jolly Ranchers...

... Which, if you examine it, is not surprising...

...because they're both owned by Hersey•

K: Did you know my brother loved Jolly Ranchers? 

b1: I did not.

K: He ate several every day, right up to the end. His former roommate brought him big bags. My brother liked the blue ones. I am a grape guy.

b1: 

My mom used to get bags of seconds from a nurse whose husband worked at the factory. 

Apple was where it was at in the flavor world for me. Are JR's what gave him the social bugaboos?

K: I don’t think so.

He did them so much, however, that his roommate was considering throwing some into his grave.

That violates several Jewish laws, but the rabbi said she would look the other way.

b1: So perfect...

...In so many ways.

K: He was a sociopath who sought and found people he could dominate. He did improve in his later years.

b1: Maybe that's why he died: 

Don't wanna get too good.

K: He had a bad drug problem too. And he was also stubborn with doctors, which helped kill him.

b1: What was his drug of choice?

K: We never ever talked about it. But I think it was Vicodin and then later Oxy. He was constantly asking for Oxy at the nursing home.

Denver is a small town. We had a cousin who worked at the pharmacy he used. So I knew stuff.

b1: YOU FRICKEN KNOW STUFF.

(It's funny, people don't understand How small Denver is, even today. Denver's about the same size today as the Silicon Valley we moved into in the 80s.)

K: Yes. 

And yet I would still consider moving back there. It charms me, has so many interesting neighborhoods and features.

b1: I wouldn't. 

Denver's not what it was.The worst thing about it is the whole

'Tis a privilege to live in CO

bullshit.

K: My least-favorite feature of Denver is that it’s largely filled with small-minded people.

b1: Yes.

K: It’s almost self-selecting. If you never escaped Denver, you’re probably lame.

b1: lame: I'm actually full-on belly laughing at that one. 

That may be the funniest/most true thing you've ever said to me. 

Cartman would be so very proud.

To my mind, CO has the same -but smaller- problem as CA.

You don't get your money's worth from your taxes. The Accomplice nailed it. She said the way you knew Spiro Agnew was crooked as governor of MD was the roads were beat all to hell.

CA and CO have the same infrastructure problem. Overcrowded freeways. Potholes. Or both. I'm not sayin' that means crooked governments, but it absolutely means not enough people are payin' attention to what the everyday person experiences.

You know you're payin' your taxes--it's much less clear what you're gettin' for the dollars spent.

And the U.S. is in population decline now. The vector isn't toward this stuff getting better.

Dark

b1-66er: Bonnie Tyler dead at 75.

Special K: A total cessation of the heart. 

Consensus by US

b1-66er: {Dateline 6/24}

I changed my biggest Intelligent Portfolio ($500K) settings today.

That account has done extremely well up to now...made something like $100K in 4 years under a

World Moderate Growth (their words) 

framework...

... I've changed it over to an Income Focused Moderate Portfolio. 

(Meaning, slightly more conservative with more interest and dividends).

My reasoning is all markets are near, or on, their all-time highs... (And we all know that capitalistic markets waggle.)

For various reasons (war, population decline, American belligerence, AI uncertainties, etc), I'm wary of a major correction and certainly don't want to blindly endure a $¼M correction...

...Add to this that I was thinking for years that I'd be taking my first social security payment at 70 (that happens in 2030 -- $3300), but it's becoming ever more clear to me that Congress will reduce that benefit when the day of reckoning comes in 2032...

My guess is they'll aim the pruning shears at the 70 year olds first (if they waited until 70, they must not NEED the money, right? RIGHT!?).

So if I take $2600 next year at 67 (the "full retirement" age for the year I was born), I'll get three extra years of soiree.

{Aside: Schwab predicts I'll get $820K out of the account in an "average" market over those four years.

(All tax deferred Roth.)

This would be be the last of my financial onion to get unpeeled and spent.}

[The old profile was

60% stocks

30% fixed income

10% cash

•••

The new one is

40% stocks 

45% fixed income

15% cash

]

•••

I'm very satisfied with this decision. 

(The worst thing about it is I get to express extra glee if the market turns... Which is not very sporting of me.)

[Weirdly, that makes me the most conservative investor at Scorpion Manor.]

b1-67er: Yeah I think you are right. When to take SS is harder to figure when the minimum age may get bumped up at any time. I may be the perfect age [ed: born 1963] for them to keep bumping it out of reach. 

I also agree that the markets are high risk for correction (or are already correcting). 

For my part, all new investments are taking place with mutual funds outside the U.S. It's the way I'm voting no to the clown show that is the Trump administration. All they care about is money.... Therefore the economy doesn't get mine. It will almost certainly cost me money. But at least it's a lever I can push. 

[6/26 Addendum: Markets universally down today. 

66's IPs were + $1300.

]

El super bueno

b1-66er: Forecasters predict the current El Nino could turn into a 'Super El Nino' by the end of the year, ranking it among the strongest ever recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Wouldn't that make it

El hombre?

Jelly Tite: El nino is Spanish for the nino

https://youtu.be/t_fGjrZfDt4?si=Z6xVtHusZ84ozSNI

Freshness from the First Drop to the Last

The Actore: b1-67er and I are taking a fishing trip this weekend in the Emmigrant wilderness area above Yosemite and I just sent the following text to your brother

    ...

On the other hand, you don't have to worry about being target for a bear this trip at all. Between having to wash my backpack to get rid of the rat pee smell and having to discover the joys of something actually called sticky tent syndrome from storing high-tech gear in spaces that get too hot like… My freaking garage. I'm going to be sleeping a esconced in the aromas of a goddamn Victorian herb garden. You will never not know where I am because you will be able to zero in by wafting the delicious fragrances of lavender and chamomile and God knows what else in those special cleansers 

'Last thing I remember, I started to swerve'...

b1-66er:

Red's awake.

The Accomplice: 

I just woke up, too

b1: 

Bueno. 

How was your sleep?

TA: I thought for a while that I wasn't going to be able to snooze, and suddenly I was waking up.

So it was good. Necessary.