The Consumer Price Index Is Not Economic Reality The nation’s leading indicator of inflation has always existed as a creature of politics and power, revised and updated in ways that betray its image. (Bloomberg)
How People Get Rich Now In 1982 the most common source of wealth was inheritance. Of the 100 richest people, 60 inherited from an ancestor. By 2020 the number of heirs had been cut in half, accounting for only 27 of the biggest 100 fortunes. How are people making these new fortunes? Roughly 3/4 by starting companies and 1/4 by investing (Paul Graham)
6 boomtowns: What’s driving LI’s rising home prices Long Island’s real estate market has gone wild during the pandemic, with luxury homes that once languished on the market suddenly sparking bidding wars, and some first-time homebuyers scrambling to make offers of $30,000 or more over asking prices. (Newsday)
Over 3 Million People Took This Course on Happiness. Here’s What Some Learned. It may seem simple, but it bears repeating: sleep, gratitude and helping other people. (New York Times)
Alan Cross: Sorry Gen X, but the music of your youth is now the new classic rock Back when The Simpsons still offered biting social commentary, season seven saw Homer try to impress Bart and Lisa by scoring tickets to the Lollapalooza-like Hullabalooza, which featured Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, and a very baked Cypress Hill. Homer was crushed when he realized that his music, which he had always believed achieved perfection in 1974, wasn’t cool anymore. He’d become just like this father. (Global)
How Ramadan helped a Halifax brewery make peace with the mosque next door Ramadan is a time of forgiveness, which Good Robot received when it became a good neighbour (CBC)
The Redemption of Justin Bieber He made every mistake a child star can make, including the ones that nearly destroyed him. Now—fortified by God, marriage, and a new album, Justice—Justin Bieber is putting his life back together, one positive, deliberate step at a time. (GQ)
Absolute Decoupling of Economic Growth and Emissions in 32 Countries The past 30 years have seen immense progress in improving the quality of life for much of humanity. Extreme poverty — the number of people living on less than $1.90 per day — has fallen by nearly two-thirds, from 1.9 billion to around 650 million. Life expectancy has risen in most of the world, along with literacy and access to education, while infant mortality has fallen. (Breakthrough)
House Hunt Victoria, BC Business Relief Grant, Investing and NFTs
Tuesday morning news drop
Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant The Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant provides fully funded grants to hospitality and fitness businesses impacted by the March 30, 2021 Provincial Health Officer (PHO) orders. (BC Government)
Texas Froze and California Burned. To Insurers, They Look Similar. An effort to pass on costs in Texas will echo the wildfire strategy by arguing that power companies should have taken protective steps after past cold snaps. (New York Times)
The Most Important Rule in Investing With all due respect to Warren Buffett, the most important rule in investing is not anything close to “never lose money.” In fact, the entire notion is absurd. Anyone who has ever invested in the history of the world has lost money at one time or another. Buffett himself lost over 50% from late 2007 to early 2009 (Compound)
Who Owns Stocks in the United States? Politicians should be figuring out ways to get more people invested in it to take advantage of the ever-growing profits and dividends paid out by corporations. Stock market ownership trends are slowly but surely heading in the right direction. We should encourage more people to take part in the stock market to keep it going. (Wealth of Common Sense)
How America’s Great Economic Challenge Suddenly Turned 180 Degrees Recent supply problems suggest businesses may have trouble responding to rising consumer demand. (Upshot)
Are NFT Purchases Real? The Dollars Are. Dive down a rabbit hole and explore nonfungible tokens, multimillion-dollar digital art and the nature of reality. (New York Times)
What’s the outlook for condos? In the same vein as last week’s post, let’s keep looking in the magic 8 ball of market forecasting, but this time we’ll turn our attention to the condo market. After all, with an average house at over $1.1 million, many have been looking at alternatives and in response the condo market has been clearly heating up since last fall with strong price gains in recent months. Back then was the better time to buy of course, but if you’re looking at the market now, does it still make sense to buy a condo for living or investment? Let’s take a look. (House Hunt Victoria)
Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Stock Market, Bond Markets, Corporate Taxes, Mass Timber and Bryson DeChambeau
Monday morning news drop
Fed Chair Jerome Powell tells 60 Minutes America is going back to work Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gives his thoughts on how the economy is rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic. Scott Pelley reports. (60 Minutes)
What happens after the stock market is up big? 12 month returns were negative 65% of the time following a gain of 50% or more in a 1-year period. However, there wasn’t a single 3-year period following a 12-month gain of 50% or more that showed a negative return. (Fortune)
A Hidden Bond-Market Problem American savers could once count on bonds to provide meaningful returns with modest risk. Not anymore. (Bloomberg)
In 2020, There Was an Epic Collapse of Demand. Now, the Problem Is Supply. Recent setbacks raise doubt about how quickly businesses can respond to customers who seem intent on spending (Upshot)'
Inside the Fight for the Future of The Wall Street Journal A special team led by a high-level manager says Rupert Murdoch’s paper must evolve to survive. But a rivalry between editor and publisher stands in the way. (New York Times)
Joe Biden Wants to Put the World’s Corporate Tax Havens Out of Business The administration is vowing to fund a historically ambitious infrastructure and economic modernization plan in part by solving one of the thorniest problems created by global capitalism. “If implemented, such an international agreement would lead to a collapse of the development model of tax havens. A high global minimum tax can change the face of globalization.” (Slate)
You Won’t Remember the Pandemic the Way You Think You Will The pandemic has not been a single, traumatic “flashbulb” event like the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the fiery disintegration of the space shuttle Challenger, or 9/11. Starting in March 2020, hundreds of millions of Americans began forming their own impressions of it. As psychologists and anthropologists who study memory will tell you, we tend to lay out our anecdotes almost like short stories or screenplays to give our lives meaning; our plots (do they have silver linings? hopeful endings?) can reveal something about how we handle setbacks (The Atlantic)
How BC Fumbled the Third Wave Four experts say leaders were warned of the variant threat but misread key data and failed to respond fast enough. (Tyee)
A Look Inside the Anti-Vaxx Playbook How the anti-vaccine establishment is waging war against Covid-19 vaccines. The roughly 150 leading anti-vaxx social media accounts gained more than 10 million followers, mostly on Instagram and YouTube, between 2019 and December 2020. (Bloomberg)
B.C. mass timber movement gets boost with backing for 13 new projects A pair of government funding announcements last week will provide more than $5 million for 13 mass timber projects throughout B.C., giving the fast-growing market for cross-laminated timber and other such materials an added shot in the arm. (On-Site)
Trump Put a Right-Wing Radio Host in Charge of a National Park. Emails Show the Chaos That Ensued. Michael Savage used his position at San Francisco’s Presidio to stir up a controversy over Japanese American internment. (Mother Jones)
Golf still can’t figure out how it feels about Bryson DeChambeau In the leadup to this year’s Masters, a video of Bryson DeChambeau began making the rounds. In it, DeChambeau is shown taking practice cuts on the driving range. It’s like watching a guy chop down a tree with a crowbar. The violence with which DeChambeau approaches the game – everything from the twitchy run up to the tee to the back-snapping swing – is mesmerizing. (Globe and Mail)
Videos of the Week, Bitcoin and Carbon Footprints, and a Guide to the Markets
Friday morning news drop and videos of the week
Bitcoin and Ethereum Carbon Footprints Although miners are willing to spend a lot on power today to earn BTC, this does not mean that they will be inclined to use and pay for a lot of power in the future. Bitcoin’s issuance rate is halved every four years which means that, in the long run, miners’ revenues from block rewards will shrink. ~90% of all BTC have been mined already and fees are not a major source of revenue today. Most of the power-intensive block reward action has already happened. (2 Quants)
Nearing the Topps? How a Baseball Card Company Illustrates Sentiment Now You won’t get this nexus of fads in a typical early bull market. (FI)
The Bubble Burst Well, that was fun. Here is a look at my Top Shot account. (Irrelevant Investor)
Bank regulator proposes higher mortgage stress test level, making it harder to qualify for home loan OSFI was considering changes in early 2020 before shelving them during COVID-19 (CBC)
Bill Hwang Had $20 Billion, Then Lost It All in Two Days The fast rise and even faster fall of a trader who bet big with borrowed money (Businessweek)
Why I’ve Become a Shareholder Who Doesn’t Vote Shareholders can express themselves, but companies don’t necessarily listen. (Bloomberg)
What a photo of Trump’s new office reveals about how he wants to be remembered An obsessive, inch-by-inch POLITICO breakdown of the 45th president’s new digs at Mar-a-Lago. (Politico)
Question of the Week: What Is the Car Of Your Youth? Our automotive passion was formed by endless days behind the wheel and long evenings in the garage during our youth. Things were different back then. We didn’t look at cars in terms of resale value and future collectability. We only thought about where they could take us and how much fun we’d have getting there. (Bring A Trailer)
Guide to the Markets - (JP Morgan Chase)
JONES presents: The Lodge Boys There is nothing stronger than friendships bonded by snowboarding. The countless adventures, epic pow days, chairlift banter and time well spent with your best friends in the mountains are memories that last a lifetime. The Lodge Boys are a perfect example of that. A close group of friends, formed in the misty mountains of the Pacific Northwest. If you ask anybody around they know exactly who these characters are. The pure stoke, high energy and absolute love of snowboarding is infectious when you're around this crew.
Join Harry Kearney, Jerry Mark and Timmy Taussig as they adventure from Mt. Baker to British Columbia enjoying big lines, spines, pillow fields and plenty of powder turns.
John Dilo's "561" Part Dilo heads straight to the streets after returning home to FL, breaking new ground at The Triangle and laying waste to every pad and bar in his path.
CULTCREW/ BRANDON BEGIN Always awesome seeing a rider enjoying BMX and life to the fullest...Brandon does all this with his own style, swagger and creativity...Truly one for the history books here...Enjoy this piece...
Credence Bikes - "3" Clips of the entire Credence family laced together by DJ Clint and Charlie C.
Vans Europe Presents: Going Nowhere Going Nowhere is the newest team video offer from Vans Germany, Austria & Switzerland. As covid hit in, in 2020, the team decided to go nowhere and stood home in their countries, where they filmed this new clip throughout the year. They mainly visited Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg & Stuttgart and had some of the EMEA team joining on this journey.
Featuring: Kalle Wiehn, Jan Hoffmann, Joscha Aicher, Marco Kada, Willow Voges, Marcel Weber, Daniel Lepori, Tim Rebensdorf, Julian Ruhe, Roland Hirsch, Danny Stephen, Ruben Lücke, Niklas Schaible, Justen Ernst, Paul Zenner, Conny Mirbach, Daniel Spiegel & Manu Mayr
The Slate Line is the brand new edit from Gee Atherton, the World Champion mountain-biker renowned as one of the toughest and most daring riders in downhill mountain-biking.
Sending Big Lines On - Cop Killer in Pemberton with Steve Vanderhoek and Remy Metailler
House Hunt Victoria, Tech Industry, Electric Vehicles, and Bryson DeChambeau
Thursday morning news drop
Victoria businesses, slipping through the cracks, are pleading for federal financial aid COVID subsidies based on previous earnings leave out new and newly expanded businesses like Bear & Joey, Hey Happy, and The Vicious Poodle (Capital Daily)
Tech in the City – Victoria’s bright future The tech sector is one of Victoria’s largest employers and continues to generate jobs at levels that match pre-pandemic recruitment. VIATEC (Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology and Entrepreneurship Council) is currently posting an average of 120 jobs, a number that hasn’t changed much in a year.“ (Douglas)
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Economic Boom? There’s too much whining about the super-strong recovery. You don’t get a spurt like this without a few bruises. (Bloomberg)
First-Ever Chevrolet Silverado Electric Pickup General Motors President Mark Reuss today announced Chevrolet will introduce a Silverado electric pickup truck that will be built at the company’s Factory ZERO assembly plant in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan. Reuss also confirmed the recently revealed GMC HUMMER EV SUV will be built at Factory ZERO. (General Motors)
Rivian Will Go Where Even Tesla Doesn’t Dare Its charging map is wild, adventurous, and way less risky than relying on third parties (Green)
Green transition could displace majority of Canada’s energy workers Three-quarters of the Canadians employed in oil and gas could lose their jobs as the country pursues aggressive climate targets, according to a new report that warns governments must develop worker transition plans now to prevent disastrous consequences. (Globe and Mail)
When Death Is Preferable to Taxes The Canada Emergency Response Benefit helped me survive COVID-19’s first wave. Then the government tried to claw back the cash (Walrus)
The Robinhood Generation Is Debating Old School Investors on Trading Stocks The wrangling over the best way to go about investing is not only playing out online, but also making its way into the family sphere. (Bloomberg)
NFTs Weren’t Supposed to End Like This When we invented non-fungible tokens, we were trying to protect artists. But tech-world opportunism has struck again (The Atlantic)
Inside the mind of Bryson DeChambeau, golf’s polarising genius The US Open champion’s first coach and the fitness expert that’s overseen his dramatic transformation speak to Tom Kershaw about a relentless work ethic and desire to conquer the sport (Independent)
Dusting off the crystal ball If there’s one thing I’ve learned in a decade of analyzing Victoria’s housing market, it’s that you can’t predict the housing market. If you’re going to try to do that, you better learn to be humble. Similar to the stock market, there’s no shortage of people that will tell you where the market is going with certainty and with many very convincing arguments, but much of that is just our left hemispheres trying to rationalize a highly random process. (House Hunt Victoria)
BC Covid-19 Vaccine Immunization Registration
Covid-19 Vaccine Registration is open Fill out the form and get invited to book an appointment when you are eligible. It takes a few minutes to tell us how to contact you and help your community get the right amount of vaccines. Register here > (BC Covid-19 Immunization Registration)
Canadian Housing Bubble, Stock Picking, Microchips, and Unemployment
Tuesday morning news drop
It's not just Toronto and Vancouver — Canada's housing bubble has gone national Bully offers with no conditions are popping up in small real estate markets, too (CBC)
Why You Shouldn’t Pick Individual Stocks I stopped picking individual stocks years ago and I recommend that you do the same. But, today I am not going to give you the traditional argument as to why you shouldn’t pick stocks, but a new one. The traditional argument, which you’ve probably heard many times before, goes as follows: since most people (even the professionals) can’t beat the index, you shouldn’t bother trying. (Dollars and Data)
How a Chip Shortage Snarled Everything From Phones to Cars A six-decade-old invention, the lowly chip, has gone from little-understood workhorse in powerful computers to the most crucial and expensive component under the hood of modern-day gadgets. That explosion in demand—unexpectedly goosed during the Covid-19 pandemic for certain industries like smartphones and PCs—has caused a near-term supply shock triggering an unprecedented global shortage. (Bloomberg)
CEOs Can’t Stay on Society’s Sidelines Anymore They are no longer closely aligned with the Republican Party and face increasing pressure to wield their considerable influence on issues such as voting rights, income equality and climate change. (Bloomberg)
Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century behind closed doors Republicans speak differently about the legislation, which is also known as House Resolution 1 and Senate Bill 1. They admit the lesser-known provisions in the bill that limit secret campaign spending are overwhelmingly popular across the political spectrum. In private, they concede their own polling shows that no message they can devise effectively counters the argument that billionaires should be prevented from buying elections. (New Yorker)
Will U.S. learn from a $1.7 trillion goof that would have paid for Biden’s infrastructure plan? America’s military-industrial complex squanders $1.5 trillion on a lame fighter jet while the president begs for infrastructure cash. Isn’t there a better way? (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan, explained in 600 words $621 billion for roads and bridges; another $165 billion would go toward public transportation, with a big chunk of that going to Amtrak. It would also pay for electric car recharging stations, water systems (including eliminating all lead pipes), high-speed broadband infrastructure, and modernizing the electrical grid (Vox)
Annie’s Mac and Cheese is based in the Bay Area, but Annie is not. Here’s her story. he more I read about Annie’s, the second-most popular mac and cheese brand in the United States behind Kraft, the more I wanted to know about the mysterious woman behind the brand. Her number isn’t on the boxes of mac and cheese anymore, obviously. So a few weeks ago, I left a voicemail for a number that I figured had a 50-50 shot of being accurate. Then I waited. (SFGate)
Unemployment: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) John Oliver details the many obstacles that impede access to unemployment benefits – often by design – and why the entire system needs to be rethought.
Videos of the Week, Baseball, Food Banks, Commodities, and Beauty Influencers
Long weekend news drop and Videos of the week
Why Home Runs Are Bad for Baseball The nonstop dingers are a hit with the fans, but at what cost to the sport? (Walrus)
How Food Banks Succeeded and What They Need Now America’s charitable food banks take pride in what they’ve accomplished over the past year, and the numbers justify it: They distributed roughly 50 percent more food in 2020 compared with 2019, a considerable portion to first-time visitors. They served millions of people even as they dealt with supply-chain interruptions and health risks for their volunteers and employees. (New York Times)
China’s Commodities Binge Makes America’s Future More Expensive America requires steel, cement, and tarmacadam for roads and bridges, and cobalt, lithium, and rare earths for batteries. Above all, it needs copper—and lots of it. Copper will go into the electric vehicles that President Biden has said he’ll buy for the government fleet, in the charging stations to power them, and in the cables connecting new wind turbines and solar farms to the grid. But when it comes to these commodities—and copper in particular—Washington is one step behind Beijing, who got to all the raw materials first. (Businessweek)
Brutalist buildings aren’t unlovable. You’re looking at them wrong. An architectural style characterized by unfinished concrete, recessed windows, top-heavy design, and a proclivity for bulk and heft, Brutalism proliferated around the world in the mid-20th century and found a particularly welcoming home in the D.C. area, which boasts many examples of the style. At the time, the U.S. government was pouring funds into the public sector, and concrete — convenient, inexpensive and versatile — would give shape to public housing, schools, libraries, government offices and more. (Washington Post)
Dark patterns, the tricks websites use to make you say yes: How design can manipulate and coerce you. Dark patterns have for years been tricking internet users into giving up their data, money, and time. But if some advocates and regulators get their way, they may not be able to do that for much longer. There’s now a growing movement to ban dark patterns, and that may well lead to consumer protection laws and action as the Biden administration’s technology policies and initiatives take shape. (Vox)
The Beauty of 78.5 Million Followers How social media stars like Addison Rae gave the cosmetics industry a makeover. As beauty has become a pop phenomenon, a radical change in the perception of the cosmetics business has also taken place. In our new virtual society, the same beauty industry that was once maligned has been embraced as a universal good. Beauty companies are lauded for providing us with tools of self-expression and celebrating the human desire to adorn the face using something other than the tricks of social media (filters, lighting, Facetune). And many individuals and companies within the industry have capitalized on this impression. (New York Times)
American Special Ops Forces Are Everywhere Within the span of a few decades, the United States has utterly transformed its military, or at least the military that is actively fighting. This has taken place with little fanfare and little public scrutiny. U.S. Special Operators were involved in the successful hunt for the drug lord Pablo Escobar, the subject of Killing Pablo, and they conducted the raid that ended the career of Osama bin Laden, the subject of The Finish. By seeking out dramatic military missions, I have chronicled the movement of Special Ops from the wings to center stage. (The Atlantic)
The Best, Loudest, and Filthiest of AC/DC, According to Angus Young With 18 albums, dozens of songs with “rock” in the title, and several lineup changes due to tragic deaths and less-tragic arrests, you know what you’re getting into before pressing play on AC/DC: It’s going to be loud, the finger-lickin’ riffs will give you blunt-force trauma, and the double entendres will make even the most prolific of lotharios blush. Don’t like their style? Think they’re a little too lowbrow? Who cares. Their longevity has made them one of the most poignant stories in rock music, and they created one of the best-selling albums of all-time, second only to Thriller. (Vulture)
Etnies 'Amygdala' - ft. Brandon Semenuk Brandon Semenuk’s first etnies pro shoe, the Semenuk Pro, launches globally today with his latest video project AMYGDALA. Located in the brain, a human’s amygdala literally represents their core fear system. This video makes viewers wonder if Semenuk chooses to ignore his amygdala or if he simply doesn’t have one.
REAWAKEN - Marcel Hunt - My passion reawakened, my meaning for living recharged, refuelled and reignited. Age is just a number, your dreams don’t have to die at 30, sometimes they REAWAKEN.
John Worthington's "Dystopia" Part High praise from Cardiel kicks off John’s ruthless transition tear. Sit back and watch the deep ends turn to dust.
Andy Anderson - Seen Him - Powell-Peralta Presents: "SEEN HIM" a Zenga Bros Film
BC Tax Increases, US Stimulus, ESG, Covid, Investing and the Stock Market
Thursday morning news drop
B.C. tax increases: From Netflix to gas, here’s what will cost you more on April 1 New taxes on streaming services, sugary drinks and a hike on B.C.'s carbon tax will take effect on Thursday (Vancouver Sun)
Biden wants to spend big — $2.25 trillion — and fund it with a 28% corporate tax But reality is that the 'American Jobs Plan' faces a rough road in Congress (National Post)
Inside ESG Ratings: How Companies are Scored (Visual Capitalist)
Is Canada turning the corner with Covid? Canada has secured the largest vaccine portfolio in the world but has so far failed to get its inoculation programme off the ground, even as it faces the pandemic's third wave. (BBC)
The Dumbest Financial Story of 2021: Everyone involved should be embarrassed. The swift fall of Archegos Capital Management is one of the most embarrassing financial plotlines in years, not just for a handful of banks but for an entire financial and governance system that really shouldn’t have let any of this happen. It takes a lot of malfeasance for giant banks to do something in 2021 that would make a neutral observer think, “Wow, it’s legitimately shocking they did that.” (Slate)
So You’re a Celebrity Who Wants to Buy a House There’s a niche industry built around helping celebrities drop millions of dollars on real estate without the public ever finding out. Here’s how it works. (Vice)
Can the stock market crash during an economic boom? Inflation can be harmful to the stock market, but it’s hard to imagine investors selling their stocks in the midst of an economic boom. Has the stock market ever crashed as the economy soared? It’s rare, but it has happened before. (Fortune)
The Generational Wealth Gap Are younger people worse off today than prior generations were at similar ages? According to this widely circulated chart, which shows that Baby Boomers held a much larger portion of U.S. household wealth in their 30s and 40s than Gen Xers do today at the same age, the answer is an unequivocal yes. (Irrelevant Investor)
The Spirited Man - A visual representation of our 80-year history cycles, as laid out in the 1997 book, THE FOURTH
BMX and Corey Walsh, NFTs, Johnson & Johnson Vaccine, and Working Out
Wednesday morning news drop
What would you think of someone came out in the BMX industry If you were to tell me a year ago that today was going to be the day where I said fuck it and let the world in on my personal life I would have told you that’s never going to happen. But thanks to the support of my family, friends, and sponsors I can finally accept the fact that I am gay and be open about it. Trust me, I’m not the person who wants to let people in on my personal life and in a perfect world I would not have to. But the reality is there are a lot of people still struggling with the same situations and I just wanted to let people know that they are not alone. I feel like the world is shifting into a more understanding place and now is the time to open up the conversation within our communities every chance we get. So here we are. I understand the privilege I’ve had with my situation and the reality is a lot of members of the LGTBQ community don’t always get positive experiences. So I ask you if you can take anything positive from my situation please be open minded to anyone struggling with their own journeys. And to anyone out there dealing with the bad days it does get better. Just take it one day at a time. Also, a huge thank you to anyone else who has previously opened up to tell their story. The only reason I have gotten to this point is because of you. - Corey Walsh (Dig BMX)
New round of inflation fears as investors demand higher rates Spring home-buying binge adds risk to worries over coming rise in borrowing costs (CBC)
How to Talk to Your Clients about NFTs Under the hood, NFTs are smart contracts, generally on the Ethereum blockchain, which the author (an artist like Beeple, a celebrity like Elon Musk, or a company like the NBA) creates (and then sells). The contract links to some form of intellectual property (an image, a video, and/or various metadata) — but it isn’t the IP itself (ETF Trends)
How Johnson & Johnson’s Vaccine Became the Hot Shot February’s approval of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was a potential game changer because not only is it a single dose, it doesn’t need to be frozen like doses from Moderna and Pfizer. That makes it a boon for hard-to-reach areas, (New York Magazine)
Why we can’t stop talking about billionaires Tech billionaires emerged from a year of hardship as more than leaders of iconic companies. They are central — almost too central — characters in American life. (Vox)
Is Spotify really listening to artists “Loud & Clear?” The site’s launch comes as the controversy over streaming royalties continues to build. (The Fader)
The Long, Sweaty History of Working Out: For as long as people have existed, people have got BUFF as SHIT For most of human history, exercise wasn’t really necessary, because life was tough. It seems reasonable to say that most running done by Early Man was either toward something to eat it or away from something to not be eaten by it. Until labor-saving devices like “the wheel” and “ladders” came along, performing the most basic of tasks was a ballache. (Mel)
Beware of the Roaring 20’s Bill Maher