So, Putin runs for “re-election” saying he’s the guy to count on for security. He “wins.” Not a month later, four armed men start shooting up a concert. Then, in the chaos, as the crowd flees in panic, the shooters reportedly set the building on fire. There’s a possibility it wasn’t them intentionally. But they’re still responsible. All of this happened IN Moscow. 137 dead. More than 180 injured. The four men who did it have been arrested. They showed up in court, already beaten. One had to be brought in from intensive care. I presume, no matter HOW long they’re sentenced to serve, they’ll “serve” only a short time. Then, they’ll die. Maybe, “out walking.”

The shooters say they’re Islamic State. The Islamic State has claimed both the shooters AND responsibility for the attack. (On non-combatant civilians, it should be noted.) Putin? He goes on state TV (Foxacova Newsinski?) and blames… Ukraine! Well, kind of. There was a heavy implication that the shooters were escaping to Ukraine using a prepared escape route, leaving open the possibility that it was a Ukrainian attack without actually blaming Kyiv for orchestrating the attack. For their part, Kyiv has denied any knowledge of, and all responsibility for, the attack.

The attack was carried out by a group of people associated with a known terrorist group called Isis-k. (Now with more vitamins?) They’ve been critical of Putin and his policies for years. They think he does things to harm Islam. Peculiar, isn’t it, that they DON’T think killing a bunch of civilians – who don’t have any more control over policy than the shooters to – doesn’t harm Islam in any way? It might just be me, but I think killing innocents “in the name of Islam” gives Muhammad something of a black eye.

In a completely unrelated side note: how come all these tough guys with guns always attack unarmed, unprepared civilians and never – and I do mean never – attack the actual people who set the policies they’re mad about? No, I’m not calling for political assassinations but, really, if you’re pissed off at the government for something, don’t attack civilians. Attack the government you’re pissed off at. If you’re angry with Putin and really need to kill someone over it, kill Putin. Yeah, it’s going to be harder than killing a bunch of concert-goers. But it will be FAR more direct in expressing your outrage.

I don’t think we’ll ever know much more than that. Officially, the Kremlin will work to protect Putin, making sure he continues to look like the strong, resolute leader he isn’t. Russia will continue, I believe, to pretend it has something to do with Ukraine so they can try to create some support for Putin’s war. But I don’t think much trustworthy news will be forthcoming…

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Hey, Boing’s, no Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun, is “stepping down.” That’s usually corporate speak for “fired,” but he’s not leaving until the end of the year so, maybe. Calhoun came into the job in 2020, after Boeing’s 737 Max airplanes started falling out of the sky. Technically, I guess he DID improve things. Now, only pieces of 737’s are falling out of the sky.

In fairness, this is 21st century, “free-market” Capitalism America. It wasn’t Calhoun’s job to keep the planes (and all of it’s pieces) in the air. His job was to shore up the stock price, which he did, by making lots of noise about keeping the planes in the air. Then, when plane parts and the stock price started falling, Calhoun had to go. Hey, don’t let the door hit you, Dave. No, not in the ass. The one that just fell from one of your planes…

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Speaking of crashing and burning, Donny has a SPAC set to go public sometime this week. A SPAC is a ‘Special Purpose Acquisition Company.’ It doesn’t DO anything of it’s own. It just buys some private company someplace, and then takes it public. A SPAC does it faster than an IPO because it doesn’t have the same oversight. It’s not a perfect statement, but it’s safe to say that if you have a company that can’t meet the stringent requirements of an IPO, use a SPAC. They’re often instruments of, well, trumpery. (Ergo, Trump.)

The company going public is Donny’s social media company. The company will be called ‘Digital World’ and it’s stock symbol is going to be ‘DJT.’ MAGA is running up the stock price. Think Gamestop. Remember when Gamestop’s share price suddenly shot through the roof? The financial fundamentals of Gamestop couldn’t support such pricing but people liked Gamestop and tried to help. The thing is, early investors “trying to help” started running up the stock price and, pretty soon, people who shouldn’t be in the market at all were buying and the whole thing became a feeding frenzy – with nothing real to feed on.

IF you get in early on such a run and then get the hell out, you can make some money. It’s the later investors who are going to take it in the shorts. But these are MAGA people investing, not in some company, but in their glorious dear leader. They’re already in and they won’t get out. That would be disloyal to Donny. There are a LOT of red flags, but these guys only see red hats. Soon? They’re likely to be seeing only red ink.

First, it’s a Trump company. I don’t know a single Trump company Donny has started that has succeeded. In truth, I think he uses them as fleecing vehicles. He never even intends to run a going concern. He just wants the short-term income. His last public offering (also trading as ‘DJT’) was his casino. The casino found itself in worse and worse financial condition and all the while Donny was raking in millions in “compensation.” That’s his standard model.

He starts a company, pays himself a substantial wage for his “services” (privatizing all the revenues), then bankrupts the company and starts another somewhere. It’s harmful to whatever industry it is, it’s harmful to the community it happens in, it’s harmful to investors. But Donny makes money so, I guess it’s just business?

Truth Social had revenues in the first nine months of 2023 of $3.4 million dollars. Yeah, that’s a lot. But not as much as it spent, so they lost $10.6 million. It is keeping itself afloat by taking out loans. In total, since it started, Trump Media is $49 million dollars in the hole, after only nine months of operation! Spending more than it is bringing in AND getting deeper and deeper into debt? Yeah, that sounds exactly like a trump company. HE takes his cash up front. The investors have to wait for theirs. So far, ALL of his investors in ALL of his companies are still waiting to see a penny of return.

It’s not going to be any better for any of his investors in this venture, either. I don’t know if Donny really knows HOW to run a going concern. He has never even tried. It’s yet another part of the MAGA mania sweeping large parts of the country that fascinates me. I wonder how long MAGA can keep this guy living the lifestyle of a wanna-be Billionaire. Should this stock crash and burn, as expected, MAGA is going to have a LOT less money to give…