Rules Were Meant To Be...
Lower interest rates, perfectly suited to finance those medical bills.
Hey Friends,
Good morning to everyone, except for the National Guard in Los Angeles, who have the opportunity to sleep in today, since a judge ruled that their deployment in California must end.
Welcome to The Lorem Ipsum, where we agree that the world needs rules, but they shouldn't apply to me personally. Grammar included. Oh, how many young copywriters I've pressured regarding their run-on sentences filled with fluff that need not be said, just before I open this email with an offence of two such sentences in a row.
The truth is, rules are best broken carefully, by a skilled breaker. I am one of those breakers. Starting with the format of this newsletter. Thanks for being here.
Let's get to the news.
Hot Takes
Week 50 of 2025
The Feds cut interest rates, reminding Americans that credit card debt really isn't that bad. That means a second mortgage not only costs you less money over time, but you can also throw in a paid membership to The Lorem Ipsum, and not even feel it. The President should be pleased, now with a second-rate cut from his little buddy Gerome, who not only put the economy first, but also put Trump first, as well!
What does this mean for everyday Americans? Well, Gerome, it means you'll only need to pay $828,980 for a $375,210 home loan. That frees up much-needed capital for cable TV and caramel lattes. It's something to celebrate.
Secretary of State "Marco Rubio Sans" reversed a Biden-era rule to use Calibri font on state documents, and I must say I am truly sans-serifed about it. The Rubio, who is sometimes referred to as Roboto, another popular font with a weak hairdo, has vowed to bring the government back to Times New Roman. It's a theme many say the whole administration has leaned into across many policies. If nothing else, at least Times New Fifties, before the Civil Rights Act. Calibri, known as the world's Wokest font, is known for its lack of flourishes and is evidently easily read by dyslexics and text-to-speech readers. It's also the original font of Windows, all reasons that make me hate it.
Last week, Netflix announced a deal to buy Warner Bros., including HBO and its movie studio. But they promised I'd still pay separate enormous fees for multiple streaming services I mainly only use when a new season of White Lotus is out – for which I am thankful. Only days before I decided to cancel streaming services in an effort to clean house, Paramount, which was just purchased by David Ellison, placed a hostile bid to buy the company from beneath Netflix, causing the deal to crumble like House of Cards, season six. If you want my opinion on the agreement (and I know you do), I'd say throw in a T-shirt with the MTV logo on it, and you've got a deal.
The Trump Administration seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela because its campaign is totally focused on drugs! Despite what the Administration says, we know the goal is to bump Nicolás Maduro from power. Don't get me wrong, Maduro is no Saint Nicolás. If Trump makes his list and checks it twice, I can see that the only thing Maduro is getting for Christmas is probably the gift of a special military operation from the US Military.
In Indiana, people are different. In my home state, the urban dwellers of Indianapolis, in the center of the state, have different concerns than the good ole' folks of the rural Floyd County on the Ohio River. Anyone named Floyd would agree, "those big city folk, they differnt" and that's why we have different people representing us in the legislature. But new electoral maps pushed by Trump smush those people into the same district. Last night, Democrats and Republicans struck down these maps, as they should.
Healthcare is still expensive. The Senate is in a deadlock over healthcare regulations, with both Republican and Democratic plans failing to advance. Meanwhile, I have some acid reflux and a crick in my lower back that I don't want to get checked out. I'm pretty sure the doctor is going to charge me hundreds of dollars to tell me to take a pill, and to please come back and see him later when I'm dying of cancer because I didn't eat right and get some exercise between all these newsletters.
In the USA, we spend $13,432 per person. Second place among peer countries is Switzerland at $9,000, and the average is $7,393. As it turns out, we have the lowest life expectancy among those same 10 countries. Is it our food supply? Drinking soda? Sitting at a desk all day? Or our insistence on ignoring the data that other countries have already figured out? Probably all the above.
I hope you guys had a great week!
On Truthache
How will AI consume us, and what should we do about it? In the latest episode of Truthache, we discuss what businesses are doing to adopt AI and the problem of alignment between artificial intelligence and the humans who have created it. Then, we explore the ways that AI is affecting how we think about work, relationships, and whether job loss – and the loss of reality – is inevitable.
PodBean Development
That's it for this week.
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Have a great weekend!
