1776

This is the answer I was fishing for earlier today when I asked what was different now as opposed to 75 years ago with the black families in America. It’s the lack of two parent families! Currently, and for some time now, the number of single parent homes for black Americans is around 70%. Of course, the single parent is most always the mother. It is an ongoing tragedy in this country.

Root cause? People aren’t killing each other just because Al Gore invented the internet. What has changed?

Could we not make the same comment about black Americans 75 years ago? Particularly in the south? Yet, black funeral directors weren’t being overwhelmed with the slaughter of the local youth due to gang violence and killings.

“A big part of the reason we have poor, decayed inner cities is because they are mostly black, and when whites moved away they took their political power and economic development resources with them.” I am not going to oppose your point at all but I’d like to pose a question that I have asked myself at times. To my knowledge there was nothing like the black on black crime that we see today prior to integration. Black Americans were amazingly resilient in light of the hate toward them and the concerted effort by racist whites to keep them in their places and do whatever possible to make their lives miserable. So going back your point I quoted above, aren’t inner city blacks today without “political power and economic development resources” today, as as they were before. Yet, prior to full integration, blacks didn’t destroy themselves by killing each other and the like. Yes, I agree that economics is a contributor here but 60-70 years ago blacks were battling the institutional racism across this country and they were very economically depressed then, very! But, there was not the ongoing violence toward each other that we see today. I find it difficult to point solely to economic disadvantages alone. And no, my conversation has nothing to do with other gun topics and events being discussed on this thread.

We’re all aware of the human carnage of black youths in Chicago. Last week the Cook County Medical Office recorded its 1,000th murder of 2021. There is a month left in the year. Of these victims, an estimated 80% were black. This is so wrong on so many levels. I have a question that is simple and straightforward. How do we stop this ongoing madness? It is beyond epidemic. I have read, true or not, that Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws out there. I confess, I don’t know their laws related to this topic. So what is the answer?

As frequently as his name comes up in conversations pertaining to signings, I don’t believe his issues are as understood as you’d think they would be with all the media attention these guys get. There is no way I’d sign him at this point.

Oh, Manfred and his minions are more than happy to play politics. Case in point, the 2021 All Star Game relocation.

So he and Andrew can hang out now. Cool. Mario would be disappointed.

You are doing a fantastic job with your investing/saving plan, fantastic! That’s what it is going to take to retire comfortably. Stay the course. In this current market environment I have been moving some cash into my funds. Not a lot, but a little here and there on the more red days. Sounds odd I know, but I ‘d like to see a market pullback of 10%. Funds are a little pricey right now. One huge component in investing is having a plan. This includes how to, or how not to, deal with a volatile market BEFORE you encounter one. I don’t know your age or when you plan to retire. But as a general principle I would say do not sell your funds. The biggest problem investors make is trying to time the market. It is futile and there are tons of articles supporting my position on this. In fact, market downturns are the best time to BUY! When the market turned down in February-March 2020, I was buying incrementally. I am a long term guy. As a closer, I’ll quote the late founder of Vanguard, John Bogle, when he offered advice on what to do when the market is going crazy. He said, “Don’t just do something, stand there!” Ignore the market and the noise and stay with your contribution rate. If you continue to invest as you are doing and the market pulls back you’ll be getting more for your money on your purchases.

Pitchers and catchers generally report during the second week of February. If they miss that date I think everything starts getting pushed out. ST tickets always go on sale at 10:00 AM on the 2nd Saturday of January.

I would think an agreement around first week in February would be good. For this reason, I don’t expect anything but BS from either side for awhile.

Objection Your Honor Baseball will survive these self serving pigs in one form or another. Manfred & Company are very poor stewards of this game. Things need to change. Que: James Earl Jones

KL2

Rob Manfred has made me a big fan of the players.

And Avila got an extension.

How will rewarding teams financially keep the fans more engaged? I understand the players may have a heightened interest in this. Apologies if I’m missing your point.

There are more than a handful of problems facing the game now. Yes, it will take more than reconfiguring teams and divisions to correct. The tanking has to go. There needs to be a spending floor and a spending cap. Even if it is not a hard cap there should be some structure in place that addresses the disparity in competitiveness across the league. One of the biggest problems in the game today is Rob Manfred. He, through support from owners, now has a full blown monopoly on the game.

I prefer the union’s stance on this, based on your description. How does adding more teams increase competition? I believe it is, in reality, only rewarding mediocrity. If there is any success to be realized through an expansion of teams included in the playoffs, that success will be monetary through revenue. That doesn’t add anything to the level of competition. If anything, it rewards the less competitive teams. Adding teams, in my opinion, doesn’t increase competition. Rather, it is simply lowering the bar in a way that redefines what is considered successful.

Late to this thread but I enjoy the conversation. I retired in May of 2017. I invested without fail for over 30 years in a 401K. The 401K was still relatively new to the marketplace for the average investor when I began contributing. As I recall, I began contributing 6% of my salary initially. Then I moved to 10% and then 15%. For about 30 years I contributed 15% of my salary. If I were to offer advice…I would advise that 15% is a base to work off of, 20% if you possibly can. Everyone’s situation is different. This includes the options you may or may not have through your employer. Personally, and I do invest fairly conservatively, I would avoid individual stocks in a retirement account. If you want to buy a few stocks here and there, do it outside money you’re relying on for retirement. Be very aware of fees. Again, your employer is choosing the options you have but be very aware of what you’re paying in fees. A good S&P fund or ETF is fine. The S&P beats practically everything out there year in and year out. The yield is generally around 2%, historically speaking. If you’re relatively young, ignore the market and don’t stop contributing. Educate yourself on investing. I think most here have by reading the comments. Don’t make this complicated, it’s not. Lastly, the most under utilized investment vehicle in this country is the Roth IRA. If at all possible, and again everybody’s situation is different, try to max one of these out every year. I feel for younger investors in this country right now, my son included. SS may or may not be around and at the rate we’re going taxes are going to be a bear. Pensions are long gone. As a FWIW, I’m a Vanguard fan. I subscribe to Morningstar for dabbling in individual stocks now that I’m retired. They are a good resource if anyone is interested. A Premium annual subscription was $199 a few months back. They have a lot of good information for review. Apologies for getting long.

MLB (mouthpiece for Manfred) is claiming there were two versions of baseballs due to production issues and availability. You have to appreciate the bullish!t these guys produce. I read that MLB owns Rawlings, the ball manufacturer. I didn’t realize that if that is true. How convenient.

If I am understanding your comments, 2021 deaths have exceeded the 2020 death count and the numbers are still climbing, unfortunately.

Not surprisingly, not a word about this on MLB.com.

I thought the same thing.

Anxious to see what the terms are for Alex Cobb’s deal with the Giants.

The Tigers have just completed a four year tank job. They have been awarded some of the top talent through the draft for the past several years now. They have been dirt cheap in spending on players. This was the year they said they were ready to spend some money to bring in pieces to compliment their draft picks in an effort to get back in the game after a four year hiatus. I believe the organization is indeed anxious about spending real money and making commitments that today’s market requires to be competitive. If signing a starting pitcher at a fair price and trading for a “plug the hole” catcher is Illitch’s idea of spending to be competitive is, it’s going to be a “dark winter.” I have believed, unlike most others, that the Tigers should fully expect to compete for the division top spot this season. AA says he has “the best manager in baseball.” That being the case, spend a few bucks. One or two pieces would be huge. I still don’t have any confidence in Illitch or Avila to move this team forward beyond simply drafting high after tanking year after year. That won’t get the job done without spending some money. This situation is exactly what I expected from this organization. Your move Al.