That Shoeshine Boy October 12, 2025 But first . . . ASK NOT WHETHER THESE 10 SECONDS WERE GENERATED BY AI They have the ring of truth. WELL, DUH! Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices Of course it does! U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document. And construction prices will be rising, too — just when everyone agrees we badly need workers to build more houses. And all this even before considering the effect of tariffs, which are also making food and construction more expensive. Coffee, anyone? Lumber? JIM DOESN’T WANT DEMOCRATS TO CAVE EVEN IF IT MEANS KEEPING HIM OUT OF WORK LONGER He makes a compelling case (2 minutes). Meanwhile, Kristi Noem abuses her power to tell travelers stuck in airport security lines that the shutdown is the Democrats’ fault. JAMES SCURLOCK’S WARNING More Working-Class Americans Than Ever Are Investing in the Stock Market, reports the Wall Street Journal. Which is three cheers for capitalism, I guess; but it immediately made me think of Joe Kennedy and that shoeshine boy. James Scurlock warns: The United States is in much worse shape than it was in 2008 to deal with what’s coming. That said, the kinds of crazy speculations suggested here from time to time will certainly fall when the market does (as they did Friday) but are largely independent of the economy or the market. In turbulent times, the price of gold can actually rise when the market is falling. HYMC is a potential gold mine. PRKR‘s prospects are almost entirely dependent on the outcome of lawsuits, not the health of the ec0nomy or mood of the market. This analysis from a year ago proved way too bullish but the gist is still the same. If ANIX proves truly to have an effective breast cancer vaccine or ovarian cancer therapy — giant IFs, of course — it would be a home run “regardless.” Similarly, VERU, as suggested here (down 25% since then, adjusted for the one-for-ten reverse split). All of them — and the others — to be bought only with money you can truly afford to lose! Even BOREF is not dead! If WheelTug ever happens (another of those big IFs) it could be big . . . because ground time matters.