F. U.
Huh, what? That’s “Follow Up”. What did you think? (;->)
Yeah, I’ve written a bunch of blog articles recently that I think deserve a follow up. In a couple of cases, things I predicted came true (not that I’m prescient or anything, I just made an educated guess) and in a couple more information has come to light.
ChatGPT
Since I wrote about ChatGPT (see Have You Heard of ChatGPT?), the AI “bot” that can write whole papers and articles, I’ve seen reports describing it explode. It’s hard to believe that anyone who watches or reads news didn’t get exposed to ChatGPT.
One thing I suggested is that newspapers could eliminate reporters and use a clerk to use ChatGPT to write stories for the paper. News organizations have fallen on hard times for a number of reasons and I could foresee ChatGPT as a life saver.
Well, the electronic ink had barely dried when this story appeared: BuzzFeed stock surges on plan to use ChatGPT parent OpenAI for content. Buzzfeed provides digital content for stories about food, pop culture, etc.
The site’s stock had dropped 60% from its IPO in 2021. After the ChatGPT announcement its stock price jumped by more than 150%.
ChatGPT to the rescue!
Dumbass
Back in November I wrote about a road rage incident (see I’m a Dumbass) that I initiated but ended well. A young man ran a stop sign in my community and I confronted him about his recklessness. He apologized and that was the end of it.
Not.
A few weeks later I witnessed the same kid in the same car blow the stop sign again. I was walking at the time and couldn’t do anything more.
So, I got played. The next time I see him or his car I’ll (peacefully) take a picture and send it to the Homeowner’s Association as evidence if this little s**t gets into an accident on the property.
Glitter
In December I was worried about the U.S. dollar losing its reserve status. (See All That Glitters Is Not The U.S. Dollar.) It looked like China was buying huge amounts of gold that would be used to back up the Chinese Yuan which would become the new reserve currency.
Well, at January’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Saudi Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan, on a panel about “Saudi Arabia’s Transformation,” made it clear that Riyadh “will consider trading in currencies other than the US dollar.”
“There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the US dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal,” Al-Jadaan told Bloomberg TV.
Delinking the U.S. Dollar from the oil trade will be a major first step in weakening the dollar’s reserve status. This action has accelerated in recent months as economists have warned that the US dollar is headed for a major crash due to the US national debt growing above $31 trillion. Moreover, in the fiscal year 2022, the White House ran a $1.38 trillion budget deficit, sending the debt-to-GDP ratio ballooning past 125 percent.
Other countries may begin to use non-U.S. currencies to reduce the risk from the U.S. Dollar’s weakness.
Pot
Early last year I wrote about the burgeoning pot industry (see Pot Lucky) and how government regulations that permit pot dispensaries were good for the illegal pot trade. The black market doesn’t have to follow regulations or pay taxes.
Last week I saw this headline: California's legal marijuana market goes to pot: Relatives of late stoner Jerry Garcia pull his cannabis brand out of Golden State as high taxes and regulation sees profits dive - and the black market surge.
In California the pot regulations are stifling and taxes are a killer. The state imposes a 25% tax on retail sales and, coupled with Federal taxes, the effective tax rate can be up to 80%.
The president of United Cannabis Business Association, Jerred Kiloh, gave a grim prediction for the California cannabis market's future, arguing that years of debt assumed by retailers while keeping up with taxes and regulation fees was coming to a head.
'It's probably ballooning quickly now, because people have no dollars left, there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel, and no one's investing,' he said, according to Green Market Report.
It’s estimated that in the next 12 months only half of the retailers are going to be in business and 80% of the people in business will be gone.
And three quarters of all marijuana sold is from the black market. Are you surprised?
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“A dog is the only animal that loves you more than he loves himself"
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If Ever There Was A Super Dog, The Belgian Malinois Is One!
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