DistrictofCalamity

@wil_da_beast630 Hey Winnie-- try again. Jews weren't necessarily Roman citizens. St. Paul was an exception hence he was entitled to a trial before the Caesar. Along with that tell, you know little about aramaic linguistics & Jewish vows for temple veil weavers. God bless your little heart

The idea that a non-monastic Roman citizen just opted to never have sex with his pretty wife for 40 years, and all the people who are explicitly called Jesus' brothers were his distant cousins, is a fascinating example of dogma - a thing believed because one is supposed to believe it.

@JadeAtrophis In America, #Catholic faithful get palm fronds (and it looks like you got the whole branch) for Passion Sunday. In Ukraine they get pussie-willows (sic). Try weaving those into a cross

See now THESE are the palms I expected we'd get in Mass as a kid

@vbspurs Don't let a fallible cleric impede your piety. I have a great worship life but miss out on parish life. Hope that you have a blessed Holy Week and Easter.

I once overheard him talking about a BMW on a hot mic after Mass. And another priest in the parish was talking seriously to two guys about stocks and bonds. I don't go to only one church. I vary it up, probably because of this feeling I get.

I'm sat in my car waiting for Mum. She's getting more palms. We both greeted the parish priest (not the one who said Mass) who continues to disappoint me. 😔 I can't explain it. I feel that he's a society priest. Do you know what I mean? He only pays attention to certain folks.

@vbspurs Some have a talent for remembering names or giving off a veneer of vague warmth. After V-II, priests serve a parish 6 years for two terms then a final parish before retirement. Having a cleric stay forever can create fiefdoms & social circles. But also less family bonding

@CalamityDC It's been 5 years now. I keep waiting to connect somehow. He knows who I am.

@vbspurs My tells of AI videos include mispronouncing the past perfect of "read" and visual narrators who constantly gesticulate in the same manner.

Oh no. 😵‍💫 Just watched a short YouTube "react" clip on making salmon. The chef ended the clip using the same posture and facial expression as he started with. That's a common feature of AI videos. And I hate it. AI is making inroads into our culture. 💩

@EndWokeness @NewsWire_US I had heard that the Magic Kingdom was going to be less fabulous this year lgbtqnation.com/2026/02/disney…

@NewsWire_US Lindsey is unmarried and childless. What's he doing in Disney World?

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vacationing at Disney World amid DHS shutdown — TMZ

@alt_w_v_g I hardly use my car @SiriusXM but love the streaming service. Over last 4 years, no need to call retention. Yearly subscription $154. Agree that Stern seems overpaid but his channel drove many at launch to Sirius over XM. Sorry that media doesn't work for you.

Ran some diligence on SiriusXM this weekend Not because anyone asked Because my 14-year-old nephew connected his phone to my car via Bluetooth, played a Spotify playlist, and asked me what the "SXM" button was for I didn't have an answer So I pulled the 10-K SiriusXM is an $8.56B revenue company with nearly $10B in debt and a $7.4B market cap Read that again The debt is larger than the company Their business model, simplified: 1. Pay automakers to install radios nobody asked for 2. Give every new car buyer a free trial they didn't request 3. Hope they forget to cancel 4. Charge them $25.99/month for something their phone does for $10.99 That's it. That's the model. They have 33M subscribers. Sounds impressive until they lost 301,000 self-pay subscribers last year. And hundreds of thousands the year before that. Revenue has declined three consecutive years The average subscriber is 35-64, male, household income over $150K. Over half have been paying for 10+ years. These aren't loyal customers These are people whose spouses haven't noticed the $25.99 charge on the Amex yet The crown jewel of the portfolio is Howard Stern. They pay him roughly $100M a year. He works three days a week. His show averages 125K daily listeners. That's $800 per listener per year My analyst did the math three times because he thought he was wrong He wasn't For that price, you could buy each listener a Spotify family plan, an Audible subscription, and still have enough left for AirPods Speaking of Spotify. Nearly 290M premium subscribers. Growing double digits. $10.99/month. Available on every device ever made. SiriusXM. 33M subscribers. Shrinking. $25.99/month. Requires a satellite. Spotify's full-year revenue grew 19%. SiriusXM's declined 2%. Spotify trades at 74x earnings. SiriusXM trades at 5x. The market is not confused about which direction these businesses are headed Their growth strategy is called the "trial funnel." There are 7.3M people driving cars with free SiriusXM trials. The conversion rate is not publicly disclosed. Probably because it's embarrassing They have 180M "enabled vehicles" in the U.S. They have 33M subscribers. That's an 18% attach rate on hardware they already paid to install. 82% of the cars with their radios in them are generating zero revenue In any other industry an 18% hit rate gets you fired In satellite radio, it gets you a seat on the NYSE Adjusted EBITDA margin is 31%. Looks healthy. Until you realize "adjusted" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting in a company that posted a $2.08B net loss the year prior. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.73B that same year The distance between those two numbers is called addbacks And they're working overtime 2026 guidance: flat revenue, flat EBITDA, slightly fewer subscribers. The CEO called this stability and meaningful progress. On Wall Street, we call this managed decline Warren Buffett owns 35.4% of this company. This is the most confusing part. The man who said "be fearful when others are greedy" bought a satellite radio company in the age of Bluetooth. His entry was a Liberty Media arb play that accidentally became a long-term hold. The stock is down over 50% from its highs. I don't know why he's still in. You don't know why. His shareholders definitely don't know why. The bull thesis: SiriusXM has 33M people who have been paying $15/month for a decade and have no plans to stop. That's $6B in recurring revenue from people who may not even remember they're subscribed. Churn is 1.5%. Lower than most SaaS companies. The bear thesis: Every teenager alive today has never used a car radio Both are probably right SiriusXM's competitive moat is not content. It's not technology. It's not brand. It's the 47 minutes it takes to cancel over the phone SiriusXM isn't a bad company. It's a case study in what happens when your moat is consumer apathy and your growth strategy requires General Motors. Plz fix. Thx. Sent from my iPhone

@WorldFullofJunk @RezaC1 Disagree. Bike lanes can accommodate E-bike speeds. One problem is when modeds going over 30 mph use them. 2nd problem is arrogant bikers who flaunt traffic laws (wrong way. no hand signal. not yielding. 3rd issues Cars not minding bike lane users.

@CalamityDC @RezaC1 I've never seen an urban bike lane that isn't dangerous when the bicyclist is at or approaching the typical 20-30mph urban vehicle speeds.

THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES STRIKES AGAIN 46% of trips in NYC are walking. 32% are by vehicle. Less than 3% are by bicycle, a fringe form of transportation most commonly and empirically associated with juveniles. Yet, another vehicle lane will be removed replaced by a expanded bike lane and a 10-foot shoulder with trees, reducing road capacity, increasing congestion, increasing potential for pedestrian conflict, and further restricting emergency vehicle movement. This captured agency must be placed under federal receivership until the idealogical rot is excised.

@JimStamm22 Many @MLB changes seem to have worked like pitch clock & possibly challenges. But extra inning runner, DH in both leagues & too much interleague play has taken away the charm and tenor of baseball.

I could watch baseball for the next 100 years and still not get used to a runner standing on second base to start extra innings.

@WorldFullofJunk @RezaC1 Disagree in part. Holding anti-automobile agenda in abeyance, many of DC's bike lanes are good and can allow for quick transit unless there's congestion (e.g. Cherry Blossom weekend madness).

@RezaC1 Most bicycle lanes and generally all in urban areas are horrid for any bicyclist who knows how to ride in traffic at a decent speed. The bike lanes are not for transportation bicyclists. They are to take space away from general traffic for an anti-automobile agenda.

@catturd2 While visiting Wash. Monument at noon, it was an older (not not blue haired) collection of leftoids. They were the type who would shell out coin for the F*ck Trump x4 t-shirts. The parade of disgruntled wasn't small but was dwarfed by @CherryBlossFest kite attendees & families

Is the No Kings freak-show today?

@michaeljknowles Michael-- what a setup.

When it comes to the perpetual virginity of Mary, do you agree with the Catholic view or with the view of Protestant reformers Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, and John Wesley?

@schotts Who watches @MSNOWNews and @CNN (for the latter, that's only if you are stuck in an airport, #NoKings

Why are the majority of the protesters in the no kings protest old white people?

@AmericaPapaBear Isn't it ironic? Don't cha' think? Yeah it's ironic. And I really do think

🚨BREAKING: A massive crowd of people have gathered in London in support of the American left’s No Kings protest. The country that literally has a King is protesting against America who doesn’t. Can’t make this stuff up.

@NoVA_Campaigns Not as many blue hair Rock of the Ageds boomers passing by Wash. Monument during @CherryBlossFest Kite parade. But lots of leftoids exercising their 1st Amendment Free Speech rights.

Empty, useless roundabout full of Boomer leftists could use some marble grandness They’ll all be dead before JD’s 2nd term is over

@ToddHagopian While a medical test (blood or urine) is exact, LEO can use one's own judgment & circumstance. Tiger had bloodshot eyes in mug shot, he flipped his vehicle in 30mph zone. Public doesn't know about questioning. Some think they can outsmart DUI laws by refusing.

Florida’s implied consent law sets a urine trap Refuse the piss test: 1-year suspension + misdemeanor charge. Tiger blew .000 - still hit with DUI. Pills linger for weeks in urine This is state-sponsored false-incrimination End the outdated urine witch-hunt. #TigerWoods

@southern_ox @JLLiedl Remarkable to give an Ignatian pre-supposition to a Franciscan Bishop

@JLLiedl Nice of you to assume there was a thought process involved.

I wonder how much of this is factoring into Bishop Martin's thought process re: liturgy in Charlotte.

@findveritasx OK, but tween cachechism students likely will consider the number of books in Canon something to be regurgitated then forgotten. I like idea of having Confirmation in Fall rather than track academic year, so youths can practice faithrather than "Graduate" from CCD & Mass

@CalamityDC Unless these important differences are taught, we will have more separated brethren, which is a danger to their souls. Dunking isn’t the point, but clarifying truth over false doctrines taught frequently to others is.

I have meet at least 50 former Catholics in the non-denom church I’ve been a part of. 100% of them were not catechized even halfway. Examples include not knowing the Catholic Bible had more books, why we pray to saints, or even that the Catholics claim to be the one true church.