Same Soup - AI, Iran, Midterms (9/18/26)

FLASH: GOAT Steps Down

It's a sad day in the world of investing. The greatest of all time, Warren Buffet, has stepped down as Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. At the ripe old age of 96.

The affable Oracle of Omaha not only created enormous wealth for those who followed his lead but, in his one-of-a-kind charming way, explained to the world how to build wealth in ways the common man could understand.

In what may well be his final public remarks, he observed, "Although he's been generous to me, in the end, Father Time always wins."

Helluva job, Warren.

Whoever Wins AI - Wins

Fact: China seeks world domination. Xi has no interest in being a good citizen.

Fact: This means, first and foremost, subjugating the US.

Fact: China is no longer just a producer of cheap goods

Fact: China's military capability has mushroomed over the past decade.

Fact: China has also proven its capability to produce world class technological invention.

Fact: China is only a stone's throw behind us in AI now. Maybe.

Fact: Ain't no way on God's green earth China will slow down.

Fact: No way to verify even if they did agree to play ball.

Fact: Does anybody think China is really showing all their cards?

Fact: AI is already the new "Cold War".

This may be the conundrum to beat all conundrums. How do we control AI so it doesn't overrun mankind without allowing China to overrun us?

Somehow, some way AI companies must be motivated/coerced into developing the controls necessary to monitor and prevent massive damage. Could our dysfunctional Congress ever agree on how?

Then there's the issue of how fast. Apparently, once these new AI capabilities embed themselves in the internet, hope of control will be forsaken indefinitely.

Just read that AI models are starting to create their own language so they can communicate without human participation. This language may soon be incomprehensible to humans. See where this is headed? Jeesh!

$4-6 million a "pop"

Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptors cost $4.2 million per unit. Sometimes as much as $6M. It is the most widely deployed — and currently most strained — missile defense platform in the Western arsenal.

Often Patriots cost 5x or more the missiles they shoot down. Worse yet, drones cost peanuts. You do the math.

For example...U.S. forces fired 60 to 70 Patriot interceptors to counter the last week's Iranian attack, which consisted of about 20 ballistic missiles. The U.S. also fired more than a dozen Thaad interceptors (used for ballistics). These babies cost $12-15 million each. Again, do the math.

"Are Our Kids Getting Dumber?" continued...

The most recent survey from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted every four years, reports...Nearly half of students in economically developed countries now use chatbots every week. Kids that didn't use chatbots to write essays scored 28 points higher on average than kids who use then daily. This equates to 1.5 school years.

58% said they watch videos or peruse social media when supposed to be watching instructional videos. 48% use to solve math problems. 36% to summarize books. 29% to write essays. 26% to help with quizzes. 62% agree that students use AI on assignments despite specifically forbidden. 69% say they are allowed to retake tests. Huh? WT heck.

Grade inflation is so endemic than 44% of the kids who scored under 1000 on SATs reported receiving all A's.

This doesn't sound good. Lots of work required to make sure AI doesn't make kids any dumber than the use of current Tech already is. There's 'theory" and there's practice.

On top of that... math skills gap between U.S. and China students has grown to the equivalent of more than seven years. Ponder that for a moment. While 8% of U.S. students rated “top performers” in math, 54% did in mainland China.

A Take on "Peace-loving" Islam

Recently the Economist published a piece clearly designed for appeal to its "elite" readership. Basically it reaffirmed the long held position that Islam is a religion of peace. That the vast majority of Muslims are peace-loving people and that the terrorists are a fringe minority. Eco claims this is not unlike nearly all other religions and political organizations.

Not so fast. Let's consider some facts.

The Islamic movement we now call “Islamist” has produced, in the last quarter-century alone,

• September 11, 2001;

• The Madrid bombings;

• The London Tube bombings;

• The Charlie Hebdo massacre;

• October 7, 2023;

• Attacks in Nice, Berlin, Manchester, Brussels, Vienna, and the Bataclan theater in Paris;

• Hundreds of smaller attacks across Europe;

• The rise and territorial conquests of ISIS;

• The Syrian jihad;

• The Iraqi insurgency;

• The Nigerian insurgency;

• The Sahel insurgency;

• The Somalia insurgency;

• The ongoing armed campaigns in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, the Philippines, and the Caucasus.

Does that sound like most other religions you know?

To pull this off, you need money. Lots and lots of money.

The Islamist infrastructure has been resourced, for 50 years, by well over a $100 billion in Gulf state and private funding. It builds mosques by the thousands. It funds television channels, publishing houses, university chairs, and international NGOs. And, boy oh boy, does it recruit military age young men.

Then there is the matter of "displaced human beings". Those uprooted by identifiably Islamist militant forces:

• The Taliban’s return to Kabul produced an estimated 3.2 million internally displaced Afghans;

• The Islamic State’s assault on the Yazidis of Sinjar, Iraq, drove 400,000 people from their homes, murdered 5,000 men and older women, and enslaved 6,000 women and children, of whom nearly 2,800 are still missing. So atrocious, even the UN called it genocide;

• Also in Iraq, ISIS displaced approximately six million further people. The Iraqi Christian community fell from roughly 1.5 million before 2003 to fewer than 250,000 today;

• In sub-Saharan Africa, the Boko Haram insurgency has displaced over three million people across Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, and Chad;

• al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates displaced roughly three million more across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger;

• al-Shabaab has driven several million more out of Somalia over two decades (most went to Minnesota lol);

• In South Asia, Pakistani Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and allied groups have displaced millions.

  
  

This doesn't count the 40,000 murdered by the IRGC. Total? Tens of millions murdered or displaced by named Islamist terrorist organizations.

Finally consider the flight of the persecuted. Where are they fleeing? They sure aren't leaving the US, Western Europe or Israel?

Doesn't seem all that peace-loving through that lens, does it? Maybe Islam needs an adjustment.

Lions and Zebras Don't Dance

The Lion King is not a documentary. Lions kill zebras - in the real world. (I've seen it.) The Democratic Socialists of America would have you believe we should eliminate all borders because we're all members of the same great human family. We can eliminate the military because we can all become friends. We don't need police because...you get it.

These maniacs would have us believe that purity of commitment will overcome ignorance of the mind. And that absolutely anything is better than Donald Trump.

Although summarized before, in the next edition we'll spell out "precisely" what the DSA has in mind. It's quite a mouthful.

How will we know when we've come so far off the rails as nation we can never recover? What would be the ultimate sign?

For me it would be if James Talarico won the senate race in Texas. Texas! Can you imagine...if Texans elect a guy who says God is non-binary, ribs, pulled pork and brisket should step aside 'cause vegan is king, there are six sexes, the border should be flung wide open, drilling for oil should be curtailed and men can get abortions?

That would be the ultimate confirmation that it's all comin' down, Baby.

All Humanity Falls into Four Buckets

The first are those who go through life doing their fair share and receiving like in stature and prosperity.

The second who do far less and survive by grabbing from others - legally or illegally.

The third give the world something of exceptional value and are rewarded with power, influence and great wealth.

And the fourth use elected office to accumulate wealth by bartering their influence.

Have a Nice Weekend. Keep that driver's license handy so you can vote on November 4.