Before going homeless, there will be a massive uptick in reverse mortgages. Remember that most retirees were able to buy houses back when they were super cheap. A reverse mortgage gives them income while effectively selling the equity in their home. As is often the case, they will be screwing over their kids and grandkids. There won’t even be a house (owned) to inherit upon their death.

The executor will be forced to sell the house to pay off the reverse mortgage, often at a discount, to exactly the types you describe.

Imagine being the historian researching these for dates…

It’s not entirely out of the question, but it does require considerable evidence. It’s possible that he carried it so that it wouldn’t be left somewhere as evidence, until he could get somewhere that he could safely destroy it.

That said, there are some pretty gaping holes with that explanation that would need to be filled first.

Berkshire has been very public about his succession plan, and hyping his successor’s competence. Investors have long been concerned about what will happen when he inevitably dies.

Yes, they exist, as I acknowledged. How old is it? Is it representative of what you’d find at a standard big box retailer?

For it to work, it means the controls must all be manual and mechanical. This is in contrast to the “smart” features that are very common.

Oh, and FWIW - if you live somewhere with an unstable power grid, a natural gas or LP stove will continue to function when the power is out, albeit you’ll need to light it manually.

This is only true on the simplest (or older) gas stoves. Most models these days have all sorts of electronics, including features to prevent gas leaks.

FWIW, uBO Lite set to complete is still quite effective.

I won’t speak to how the UK does things, but in the US this would make for an easier criminal charge.

It can be difficult to prove that someone stole (or is about to steal) a car, or broke in to steal the contents. This is especially true if they weren’t apprehended in or with the vehicle itself. But if they are arrested on suspicion, and one of these devices is found on them, they can very easily be prosecuted for possession of criminal tools. It’s similar to how we normies can’t legally own a lockpicking kit unless we’re locksmiths.

Not removed - never added to the US designs. They were added afterwards to models being sold in places that require them.

I know the hard sciences aren’t a strong suit around these parts, but do some very basic math. 55 billion divided by 5,000 is 11 million.

There’s no way to “No True Scotsman” the number of Americans down to 11 million. So how will they decide who gets the money?

I think we already know…