Reading · The Ramblings of Buck Roy

The key is not the will to win. Everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.
- Bobby Knight

Paywall helper bee: https://archive.vn/

Image from openthebooks.com.

Why is it that the best wisdom about life seems to come primarily from entrepreneurs, writers, artists, and musicians, far less often from politicians, and seemingly never from rank-and-file government workers?

Given that there’s likely a struggle between “moderate” radicals and extreme radicals in Iran, should we expect that the extreme radicals will adhere to any deal that the moderates sign?

Dr. Anthony Fauci was the highest paid person in the federal government. And he now has an unbelievably lucrative pension. Put this in your pondering neural pathways: Dr. Anthony Fauci represents the best of the best of the best of our Washington bureaucrats. Feeling all warm and fuzzy now?

If the goal is to make women and men equal in the world of professional work, professional sports, and professional everything, who is going to raise the children? Oh, looks like ChatGPT is going to do it.

How long until all the “free stuff” NYC’s Mayor Mamdani promised creates a fiscal problem? As Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”

Kind of hard to believe that Matt Damon’s stunt double in The Odyssey is a 4’6” woman.

Having money is a wonderful thing. But pursuing money just to have it might not be so great. Should the first order of business and work be to help better the lives of people or just to make money?

America needs a new kind of intellectual
As institutional trust collapses.

Bill Clinton was right about welfare
Empower, don’t entitle.

LLMs have a fundamental flaw
That can easily be exploited by the bad guys.

Economy

US loses 23,00 jobs in July
US jobless claims rise
Top mortgage lender value plummets
The AI boom is the economy
US factory activity is cranking up

The Lone Star

Dallas investor tops Pitchbook’s US scorecard
Houston start-up wants to electrify cargo ships
Samsung to build another giant Texas chip plant

Energy

A global pipeline boom is happening
China loves EVs but has no solution to battery disposal
Solar keeps on booming

Investments

Bond traders think rates are going up
KKR closes $19.2B infrastructure fund
KKR sees a K-shaped market in private equity
The Buffett indicator keeps flashing red

Technology