Speculation

"There are two times in a man's life when he shouldn't speculate:  when he can't afford it, and when he can!"--Mark Twain

The TV show Upstairs, Downstairs had some good dialogue, especially between Mrs. Bridges the cook and her scullery maid Ruby.

Ruby: "I'm not one to speculate..."

Mrs. Bridges: "I'll speculate you, my girl!"

In the developed world, our economy is top-heavy with speculation.  I think they should put a tax on stock purchases and currency exchange.  Even one-tenth of one percent would raise billions to spend on all the investment governments have been neglecting, like health care and a Green New Deal.

I've never gone in for gambling.  Money aside, it's a waste of time.  If you lose you look like a sap, and even if you win it's a bit like stealing.  And financial speculation is basically gambling.  The pros basically get their profits out of the pocket of the amateurs.

As for investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, you'd have to be insane to take your chances on that!  Nobody really knows the true value of those.  It's different when you're rich and can afford to lose it all, though it's really the same as Las Vegas.  Don't fly higher than you're ready to fall...

Cartoons

It's hard to believe that I used to like The Flintstones. (I had no taste when I was a kid.) The show had terrible writing, and all those cheap Hanna-Barbera effects like a car driving pass the same three buildings again and again, as if in a circle.  And of course, it was a ripoff of Jackie Gleason's far superior sitcom The Honeymooners.

But Rocky and Bullwinkle had better writing.  I can still watch it today!  My favourite part is Bullwinkle as Mr. Knowitall, doing things like "How to Get Into a Movie Theater Without Buying a Ticket." (Cartoon characters didn't have to be role models back then...)

My favourite cartoons, of course, were Warner Brothers.  When I was young I would have said that Bugs Bunny was my favourite cartoon character, but now I'd choose Daffy Duck, especially his later curmudgeonly persona. One Froggy Evening and Duck Amuck are true classics!

When I was young the local university had a program where they showed National Film Board shorts on Sunday afternoons.  Some of the NFB cartoons are amazing, especially considering that many appeared at a time when animation standards were declining, as evidenced by The Flintstones.