I was anxious last week and did not know why. Everything was fine; but, something seemed wrong. I hate to do this; but, I had a gut feeling. I prefer analysis to "feelings"; but, sometimes you get them and sometimes you have to follow them. My brain is wired slightly weird and sometimes it picks up on things that I have to work to my conscious side. I think in patterns and when a pattern is broken, I know it. Anyways, I was seeing a pattern, a trend; but, unconsciously.
Anyways, I think I just figured out what it is. I think the currency collapse is going to begin soon. Last week the Japanese yen began to collapse. In and of itself, I do not consider that significant for others countries. Then I read another article about how trillions of dollars from overseas would be returning to the United States, that is a big problem; but, these things did not seal the deal. The deal maker was when Warren Buffet warned about what happens when the Federal Reserve stops their quantitative easing and then some Federal Reserve people talking about doing just that.
The next triple witching hour is not until June and that is when I would usually expect to see a major disruption in the bond market. If this were a financial website advising investors then I would not even make this post because I am not positive; but, I think something major may happen on Wall Street this week. You have to ask why the stock market is going up, this is not a good sign. The market is not going up because our companies are doing better, it is going up in anticipation of our currencies being worth less. It is the rats jumping the ship because they know what is coming and overpaying for real things is better than losing everything for nothing. The smart money is moving into stocks because they represent ownership of assets. The purpose of market volatility is to get dumb money out of the market so that the smart money can buy cheap.
Whether or not it happens this week, when it does happen, just sit back and relax. While we may not all agree with the plan, at least my readers know that the International Monetary Fund, the G20, the FDIC and the Bank of England do all in fact have a plan in place to deal with it. I have posted links to their stuff and you can go back and read what they said. They have a plan. When the markets start moving quickly and in ugly ways, don't worry, there is a plan. It won't seem like there is, the media will say that we were all surprised; but, my readers should not be surprised and those who manage the markets will not be surprised.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Bad Little Biometrics, I hate being right
There were a lot of people on alternative news sites that said that RFID chips had to be put in everyone as part of the health care reform bill (Obamacare); but, it just wasn't true. The bill did call for having a registry of any such devices that were in someone and also said that they might be used in people with Alzheimer's. There is a big difference between everyone and some people for specific reasons. Well, I read something in the alternative news; but, did not believe I was positive the source was accurate. As I went through the news later in the day, I found the same story in a reputable source. I consider WIRED to generally be pretty good on reporting on technology and it is quoted by all the major media sources.
Wired - Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform. The article says:
"David Bier, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, agrees with the ACLU’s fears. “The most worrying aspect is that this creates a principle of permission basically to do certain activities and it can be used to restrict activities,” he said. “It’s like a national ID system without the card.”"
This has been apparent since the government passed the "Real ID" laws a few years back. The Wired article links to the actual bill. You can read the bill yourself. According to the article, your state ID will be sufficient to put you on the Federal database with your biometrics. They have mine, I wrote a post about when I got my new license and how they electronically scanned my thumb. They also took my picture, maybe that is why we don't have any blind cops, they wouldn't know if it was my ID. Okay, that was a bad joke. As Arlo Guthrie explained, justice may be blind and judges may be blind; but, cops are not. If you don't understand that reference, you have to listen to "Alice's Restaurant".
The biometrics will not be enough to achieve what they wish. We can make bio-metrically correct replicas of a face, we can duplicate your iris and we can duplicate your thumb print. Heck, we can duplicate any aspect of your body. We can even transplant faces, hands and eyes. Lets be truthful, we can clone you. There must be a technological solution. What would be acceptable? The law says that it is about identifying, positively people who get jobs, to assure that they are Americans. LOL. This is an Immigration law. In order to get a job, you will have to prove that you are you and that you are an American citizen. Do you not get the joke?
Conservatives are supposedly wanting to keep out Mexicans. Liberals are supposedly wanting to let them be citizens so that we can tax them. Both sides of the staged argument are hiding the real agenda. Why would anyone bother proving they were an illegal alien? Than makes no sense, so, we can only make people prove who they are, give up any sense of privacy of anonymity. Here is a question, if I get a face or hand transplant, would my face match the DNA of the donor or mine? I read an article not long ago, it was about taking a transplant from one person, lets say a heart, removing all the DNA instructions and replacing them with the DNA of the recipient. The reason appeared to be so that the living person could accept the transplant. To the best of my understanding.
Sorry, lost my train of thought; but, I will post the thought I did have.
Wired - Biometric Database of All Adult Americans Hidden in Immigration Reform. The article says:
"David Bier, an analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, agrees with the ACLU’s fears. “The most worrying aspect is that this creates a principle of permission basically to do certain activities and it can be used to restrict activities,” he said. “It’s like a national ID system without the card.”"
This has been apparent since the government passed the "Real ID" laws a few years back. The Wired article links to the actual bill. You can read the bill yourself. According to the article, your state ID will be sufficient to put you on the Federal database with your biometrics. They have mine, I wrote a post about when I got my new license and how they electronically scanned my thumb. They also took my picture, maybe that is why we don't have any blind cops, they wouldn't know if it was my ID. Okay, that was a bad joke. As Arlo Guthrie explained, justice may be blind and judges may be blind; but, cops are not. If you don't understand that reference, you have to listen to "Alice's Restaurant".
The biometrics will not be enough to achieve what they wish. We can make bio-metrically correct replicas of a face, we can duplicate your iris and we can duplicate your thumb print. Heck, we can duplicate any aspect of your body. We can even transplant faces, hands and eyes. Lets be truthful, we can clone you. There must be a technological solution. What would be acceptable? The law says that it is about identifying, positively people who get jobs, to assure that they are Americans. LOL. This is an Immigration law. In order to get a job, you will have to prove that you are you and that you are an American citizen. Do you not get the joke?
Conservatives are supposedly wanting to keep out Mexicans. Liberals are supposedly wanting to let them be citizens so that we can tax them. Both sides of the staged argument are hiding the real agenda. Why would anyone bother proving they were an illegal alien? Than makes no sense, so, we can only make people prove who they are, give up any sense of privacy of anonymity. Here is a question, if I get a face or hand transplant, would my face match the DNA of the donor or mine? I read an article not long ago, it was about taking a transplant from one person, lets say a heart, removing all the DNA instructions and replacing them with the DNA of the recipient. The reason appeared to be so that the living person could accept the transplant. To the best of my understanding.
Sorry, lost my train of thought; but, I will post the thought I did have.
Friday, May 10, 2013
College Tuition, Health monitors and things in the news
I am going to discuss just a few items today and attempt to go into a little more depth. These articles that I am going to link to have been popping up in slightly different ways across the world media and all with a slightly similar twist. I will discuss the articles, what I have read other places and where I think they are trending.
College and Student Loans. For about the past six months I have been reading about the Student Loan bubble. We are told it is over a trillion dollars in the United States. It recently came to my attention that just about all student loans are government loans anymore. The articles that have come out in the past few months have gone a step further than saying there is a student loan bubble, they are now saying that it may not pay to go to college, that it is actually better to never go to college unless you have lots of money and don't have to take on any debt. I have also read how one politician wants to lower the interest rate paid on student loans to the same as that offered banks by the Federal Reserve (less than 1% a year). Here is the latest take from CNBC - Student Debt a 'Roadblock' for Wider Economy. We can add to this the fact that state owned schools are increasing in accepting students from out of state because they pay more.
Now personally, I have no problem with private universities allowing in foreign students; but, do I really want my state taxes for state schools to subsidize foreign students and have them refuse to let my own kids in? The Daily Beast - Elizabeth Warren Wants the Fed to Get Into the Student Loan Business. The articles that I linked to showed a definitely negative response to the idea of lowering the interest rates on student loans and even the idea of Americans bothering to attend college. So what happens if their advice is followed, fewer Americans in college in the United States, more foreign (Chinese) students and a transfer of our knowledge base to foreign countries.
Why do you think foreign students want to come to America? It is a fair question. They come here because we turn out college graduates that are at the forefront of technology when their own colleges do not. Perhaps they should tell the Chinese students not to apply to UCLA because they won't be able to get jobs here. At the same time all of this is going on, European countries and Australia are in dire need of college educated people. This trend is going to push the American that do get a college degree to look at getting jobs in foreign countries where they will be much better off and that is the intent.
Quite awhile ago I read about how in the future American professionals would be more successful if they worked in different countries. The article said that it would be the only way to get ahead, I think I wrote something about it but am not going back to look for it tonight. Now here is the really interesting thing, American colleges are not denying that Americans won't be able to get jobs and will be stuck with lots of student loans. Why not? Imagine a scenario where you have to buy Chinese goods using the Yuan or an international currency. We don't sell many products to China, maybe we could sell our education system to them for payment in Yuans so that we can buy their goods.
Next issue is wearable health monitors. I have been reading about smart phones, wristbands, invisible tattoos and all sorts of devices that will track and monitor your health. These devices will notify you and anyone else you want of your condition. Yahoo - Wired - Fitbit Flex : Wearable design with an impressive smartphone app. Sounds great; but, once again with technology we have to consider how it will be used. Lets say you had to insure someone's health and you knew they had a pre-existing condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure. You might want them to wear one so that you knew if they were taking their medications properly, you know, for their benefit. Might you consider having them wear one of these bands in order to have a lower rate for the mandatory medical insurance? You probably have a rewards card for your supermarket, did you know that Insurance companies have been buying the information about your purchases, trust me, they will want proof about how healthy you are living.
Forbes - Twitter Commits Social Suicide. Here is the short of the article, Twitter will block certain "tweets" from countries that require them to not post certain things. On the one hand this makes perfect sense because the laws in one country are different than the laws of other countries. We cannot expect all countries to allow what we allow. Still, there was another choice and that was to block the whole country from using the internet or certain sites on the internet.
Lets look at the issue backwards for a second. The United States owns and controls the backbone of the internet; but, what if China owned it? What if China had begun and controlled the internet? What if they decided what we could post on the internet and attempted to have us follow their rules, would you be comfortable with that? There are countries where 12 year olds can get married; but, in the United States it would be considered a crime. Should we block that countries wedding announcements on Twitter?
I hate to say this; but, in certain European countries it is legal to have sex with animals. Should we allow pictures of such things to be posted in a country where it is illegal? Do we have to allow animal porn in the United States just because it is legal in parts of Europe? We need to think long and carefully about imposing our beliefs on others and on determining what should be free access to all. What is political speech and what is personal speech. What is the difference between public comment, such as this blog, and personal communication or e-mails?
Yahoo - Twivo? Tech-Smart Teen Creates Program to Save You From TV Spoilers on Twitter. A teenager has created a program that will block an individual from content that they do not wish to see such as information on a television show that they don't want to know in advance. Hmmmm, perhaps we will be judged in the future by what we do and do not block from our internet. Self monitoring is so much easier to accept than governmental or commercial filtering.
Now for a complete and utter lie, lets read this from the Daily Beast - Our Swiftly Melting Deficit, Or How the U.S. is Killing It. The article claims that we are paying off our deficit and it is utter nonsense. It completely ignores the fact that our treasury bonds are bought by the Federal Reserve and focuses on foreign purchases of treasury debt. LOL. Well of course we are paying our foreign debt, we have to; but, we are also paying it by inflating our currency by purchasing the debt by the Federal Reserve. The Daily Beast has about the worst opinions that I can imagine.
I was at a party once and a young Ukranian girl, probably 25 to 3o, decided she liked me. She was incredibly beautiful and intelligent; but, I prefer women my age. She said something to me as I stood outside having a cigarette, she said that American women when asked about how they were always said that they were great and things were fine. She said things are not always great and everything is not fine. Her attitude seemed to be that life is not always good; but, that we could always seek to improve our situation. A very level headed girl. Everything is not OK with the economy and the media speaks out both sides of their mouth to tell us what they think we need to believe. Don't trust their spin on things.
FoxNews - Pentagon scrubs 3D gun plans from Internet, says designer
. You may have seen, heard or read about 3D printed plastic guns. Well, the one that came out can be made by anyone. Do you want anyone to make them? What if someone posted how to make a 3D atomic bomb and anyone could do it, would you want them to be able to use the internet to do it, to make them? Now I want you to go back to the part I wrote about controlling what countries allow to be posted on the internet. Should the United States be able to block content from terrorists that teach how to make bombs and give directions to where to place them within the United States?
College and Student Loans. For about the past six months I have been reading about the Student Loan bubble. We are told it is over a trillion dollars in the United States. It recently came to my attention that just about all student loans are government loans anymore. The articles that have come out in the past few months have gone a step further than saying there is a student loan bubble, they are now saying that it may not pay to go to college, that it is actually better to never go to college unless you have lots of money and don't have to take on any debt. I have also read how one politician wants to lower the interest rate paid on student loans to the same as that offered banks by the Federal Reserve (less than 1% a year). Here is the latest take from CNBC - Student Debt a 'Roadblock' for Wider Economy. We can add to this the fact that state owned schools are increasing in accepting students from out of state because they pay more.
Now personally, I have no problem with private universities allowing in foreign students; but, do I really want my state taxes for state schools to subsidize foreign students and have them refuse to let my own kids in? The Daily Beast - Elizabeth Warren Wants the Fed to Get Into the Student Loan Business. The articles that I linked to showed a definitely negative response to the idea of lowering the interest rates on student loans and even the idea of Americans bothering to attend college. So what happens if their advice is followed, fewer Americans in college in the United States, more foreign (Chinese) students and a transfer of our knowledge base to foreign countries.
Why do you think foreign students want to come to America? It is a fair question. They come here because we turn out college graduates that are at the forefront of technology when their own colleges do not. Perhaps they should tell the Chinese students not to apply to UCLA because they won't be able to get jobs here. At the same time all of this is going on, European countries and Australia are in dire need of college educated people. This trend is going to push the American that do get a college degree to look at getting jobs in foreign countries where they will be much better off and that is the intent.
Quite awhile ago I read about how in the future American professionals would be more successful if they worked in different countries. The article said that it would be the only way to get ahead, I think I wrote something about it but am not going back to look for it tonight. Now here is the really interesting thing, American colleges are not denying that Americans won't be able to get jobs and will be stuck with lots of student loans. Why not? Imagine a scenario where you have to buy Chinese goods using the Yuan or an international currency. We don't sell many products to China, maybe we could sell our education system to them for payment in Yuans so that we can buy their goods.
Next issue is wearable health monitors. I have been reading about smart phones, wristbands, invisible tattoos and all sorts of devices that will track and monitor your health. These devices will notify you and anyone else you want of your condition. Yahoo - Wired - Fitbit Flex : Wearable design with an impressive smartphone app. Sounds great; but, once again with technology we have to consider how it will be used. Lets say you had to insure someone's health and you knew they had a pre-existing condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure. You might want them to wear one so that you knew if they were taking their medications properly, you know, for their benefit. Might you consider having them wear one of these bands in order to have a lower rate for the mandatory medical insurance? You probably have a rewards card for your supermarket, did you know that Insurance companies have been buying the information about your purchases, trust me, they will want proof about how healthy you are living.
Forbes - Twitter Commits Social Suicide. Here is the short of the article, Twitter will block certain "tweets" from countries that require them to not post certain things. On the one hand this makes perfect sense because the laws in one country are different than the laws of other countries. We cannot expect all countries to allow what we allow. Still, there was another choice and that was to block the whole country from using the internet or certain sites on the internet.
Lets look at the issue backwards for a second. The United States owns and controls the backbone of the internet; but, what if China owned it? What if China had begun and controlled the internet? What if they decided what we could post on the internet and attempted to have us follow their rules, would you be comfortable with that? There are countries where 12 year olds can get married; but, in the United States it would be considered a crime. Should we block that countries wedding announcements on Twitter?
I hate to say this; but, in certain European countries it is legal to have sex with animals. Should we allow pictures of such things to be posted in a country where it is illegal? Do we have to allow animal porn in the United States just because it is legal in parts of Europe? We need to think long and carefully about imposing our beliefs on others and on determining what should be free access to all. What is political speech and what is personal speech. What is the difference between public comment, such as this blog, and personal communication or e-mails?
Yahoo - Twivo? Tech-Smart Teen Creates Program to Save You From TV Spoilers on Twitter. A teenager has created a program that will block an individual from content that they do not wish to see such as information on a television show that they don't want to know in advance. Hmmmm, perhaps we will be judged in the future by what we do and do not block from our internet. Self monitoring is so much easier to accept than governmental or commercial filtering.
Now for a complete and utter lie, lets read this from the Daily Beast - Our Swiftly Melting Deficit, Or How the U.S. is Killing It. The article claims that we are paying off our deficit and it is utter nonsense. It completely ignores the fact that our treasury bonds are bought by the Federal Reserve and focuses on foreign purchases of treasury debt. LOL. Well of course we are paying our foreign debt, we have to; but, we are also paying it by inflating our currency by purchasing the debt by the Federal Reserve. The Daily Beast has about the worst opinions that I can imagine.
I was at a party once and a young Ukranian girl, probably 25 to 3o, decided she liked me. She was incredibly beautiful and intelligent; but, I prefer women my age. She said something to me as I stood outside having a cigarette, she said that American women when asked about how they were always said that they were great and things were fine. She said things are not always great and everything is not fine. Her attitude seemed to be that life is not always good; but, that we could always seek to improve our situation. A very level headed girl. Everything is not OK with the economy and the media speaks out both sides of their mouth to tell us what they think we need to believe. Don't trust their spin on things.
FoxNews - Pentagon scrubs 3D gun plans from Internet, says designer
. You may have seen, heard or read about 3D printed plastic guns. Well, the one that came out can be made by anyone. Do you want anyone to make them? What if someone posted how to make a 3D atomic bomb and anyone could do it, would you want them to be able to use the internet to do it, to make them? Now I want you to go back to the part I wrote about controlling what countries allow to be posted on the internet. Should the United States be able to block content from terrorists that teach how to make bombs and give directions to where to place them within the United States?
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Porn, Next Gen Homes, lies and some scary stuff
So which of them did you come for? The Pimpernel does not post naughty things.
The first article is from the Mail Online - Porn set to be banned from public wi-fi this year to protect children. This is at the same time that certain English public officials are calling for dropping the legal age of consent to 14. This is about establishing the governments right to control what you can and cannot see on the net.
Lennar - NextGen - The Home Within a Home. They are going to build homes for two families. They refer to it as inter-generational; but, we used to call them duplexes. The houses built at the end of the housing bubble were also for more than one family. Communal living.
Wired - Google Is Alive, It Has Eyes, and This Is What It Sees. Just thought you might enjoy seeing what you look like to the computer when seen via Google Glasses.
Yahoo - Associated Press - New efforts to curb cellphone theft
. The upswing is that the government wants to require cell phone companies to track their phones in case they are ever stolen and have a kill switch so that they cannot be used again. All to protect you from getting your phone stolen? They don't do that much for cars.
The Tennessean - FBI investigating Pilot Flying J, company owned by governor's family
. This story is only developing; but, it is going to get interesting. I spoke to a trucker a few days ago about this and it is already effecting the industry.
Yahoo - CNBC - Buffett: 'Shot Heard Around the World' Coming. Here is a paragraph from the article that I found interesting:
"In response to a question on the Federal Reserve's massive quantitative easing program, Buffett said it will be "the shot heard around the world" when the central bank first indicates it will stop buying financial assets or start selling from their now enormous $3.4 trillion balance sheet. "we're in uncharted territory ... that's a lot of securities."
An interesting comment, he goes on to say that it will not be the end of the world. There is not a doubt in Mr. Buffets mind that things are going to change big time and there isn't a doubt in mine either.
Yahoo - Christian Science Monitor - Teenagers, social media, and terrorism: a threat level hard to assess. Basically, kids cannot joke online anymore. These types of arrests and "anti-bullying" campaigns are about restricting the speech of the next generation. They recently expelled a 7 or 8 year old for pointing a pencil at another kid and saying "bang, bang". The two were just playing.
The Telegraph - German euro founder calls for 'catastrophic' currency to be broken up. UKIP also posted major election victories in England recently. What this chatter is about in the European papers, it is about prepping them to accept the new international currency that is coming and was proposed by the International Monetary Fund, without actually telling them that.
This Is Collosal - Stranger Visions: DNA Collected from Found Objects Used to Create 3D Portraits. If this is accurate and the pictures are accurate then they can basically recreate your looks into face masks with just a sample of your DNA that could be found on a cigarette butt. Biometrics alone will not protect your identity, what will you need to prove that your biometric image is really you. Now go back up to the story about how your Google glasses see you. I bet an invisible (to the eye) tattoo that monitored your health would work.
Yahoo - Reuters - Calpers: bankrupt San Bernardino has more cash than first admitted. San Bernardino declared bankruptcy to avoid paying pensions costs and now it turns out that the pension is not in trouble. I have said many times and the Governmental Finance Officers Association agrees, there is no problem with the public pensions system. Politicians are up to something else and it is only to benefit themselves. A quote from the article:
"California's public pension fund said on Tuesday that the bankrupt city of San Bernardino has a lot more cash than it had previously disclosed and more than enough money to pay off its debts to the retirement system."
Why would a city claim they couldn't pay their pensions when they can? Why would they hide their funds from their own citizens and the state? Are they siphoning off money from the pensions to pay for something else or perhaps to someone else. Maybe their investments and their use of "placement agents" needs to be looked at? Personally, I would investigate any write offs from pension investments and then follow the money.
Stansberry's Investment Advisory - Their warning. Personally, I would not buy their stuff of use their advice. I don't sell gold, silver or anything else. I don't promote products and only speak for myself. The video takes some time to watch and I do not agree with everything he says; but, he is one of the few, like me, that accurately predicted when the bubbles would burst. He thinks there are things that you can do to benefit when things go bad and I disagree with him. Doesn't matter what you do. He also says that sales of gold are not reported to the government and that is incorrect.
Yahoo - Reuters - Fed's credibility tested as inflation drifts below target. The article says that inflation is lower than wanted and lower than the Fed predicted; but, it doesn't really matter. In the future there will be practically no inflation because the value of your currency will be set by your nation's Gross Domestic Product.
Yahoo - AP - China's struggling automakers jump on SUV boom. This same company, BYD, has just announced they are moving to Lancaster, California to build electric buses and batteries. Lancaster is a little town in the desert, it is near Edwards Air Force Base and Skunk Works. It is home to many people who work on Top Secret projects, I know, I dated one of them. It would seem like a great place to buy technology cheap from fired or laid off workers.
Yahoo - New York Times - Google Glass Picks Up Early Signal: Keep Out. Google glasses look like what they are; but, the next generation will be contact lenses and regular glasses and you won't even know if someone has them on.
Fox News - The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world. Persecution of Christians hasn't even gotten close to reaching it's zenith.
Fast Company - EmotionSense App Measures Smartphone Users' Happiness. Now my smartphone will know how I feel, if I am feeling unhappy and then it will know how to make me happier. Sometimes it is okay to be unhappy and after awhile, you need to get over it, you will know when that time is better than your phone. We need to really consider when we are going to let technology decide what is best for us. I am going to talk about this after posting all the articles.
Mail Online - Probation shake-up, GPS tags and compulsory drug-tests 'will turn the tide of crime' promises Justice Secretary. Okay, in England they want to GPS chip certain convicted criminals. They also want to be able to GPS control where these people can go even after being released from prison. One mistake and they get to track you for the rest of your life.
That is all of the news articles for today. This blog continues to evolve. I used to just post one link and then talk about it at great length, now I post a link and have little to say. That is because the issues have not changed. I don't post the articles of the day, don't care about who slept with who, who is going to jail for a DUI or most of the non-sense that really does not effect our lives. I do post the odd article on Stephen Hawking who somehow manages to remain a douche bag or the sadly missed Pastor Daniels; but, this blog continues to be about things that will impact your life and are not widely circulated. By the way, as I was typing, I was also eating some really good home barbecued teriyaki chicken.
The first article is from the Mail Online - Porn set to be banned from public wi-fi this year to protect children. This is at the same time that certain English public officials are calling for dropping the legal age of consent to 14. This is about establishing the governments right to control what you can and cannot see on the net.
Lennar - NextGen - The Home Within a Home. They are going to build homes for two families. They refer to it as inter-generational; but, we used to call them duplexes. The houses built at the end of the housing bubble were also for more than one family. Communal living.
Wired - Google Is Alive, It Has Eyes, and This Is What It Sees. Just thought you might enjoy seeing what you look like to the computer when seen via Google Glasses.
Yahoo - Associated Press - New efforts to curb cellphone theft
. The upswing is that the government wants to require cell phone companies to track their phones in case they are ever stolen and have a kill switch so that they cannot be used again. All to protect you from getting your phone stolen? They don't do that much for cars.
The Tennessean - FBI investigating Pilot Flying J, company owned by governor's family
. This story is only developing; but, it is going to get interesting. I spoke to a trucker a few days ago about this and it is already effecting the industry.
Yahoo - CNBC - Buffett: 'Shot Heard Around the World' Coming. Here is a paragraph from the article that I found interesting:
"In response to a question on the Federal Reserve's massive quantitative easing program, Buffett said it will be "the shot heard around the world" when the central bank first indicates it will stop buying financial assets or start selling from their now enormous $3.4 trillion balance sheet. "we're in uncharted territory ... that's a lot of securities."
An interesting comment, he goes on to say that it will not be the end of the world. There is not a doubt in Mr. Buffets mind that things are going to change big time and there isn't a doubt in mine either.
Yahoo - Christian Science Monitor - Teenagers, social media, and terrorism: a threat level hard to assess. Basically, kids cannot joke online anymore. These types of arrests and "anti-bullying" campaigns are about restricting the speech of the next generation. They recently expelled a 7 or 8 year old for pointing a pencil at another kid and saying "bang, bang". The two were just playing.
The Telegraph - German euro founder calls for 'catastrophic' currency to be broken up. UKIP also posted major election victories in England recently. What this chatter is about in the European papers, it is about prepping them to accept the new international currency that is coming and was proposed by the International Monetary Fund, without actually telling them that.
This Is Collosal - Stranger Visions: DNA Collected from Found Objects Used to Create 3D Portraits. If this is accurate and the pictures are accurate then they can basically recreate your looks into face masks with just a sample of your DNA that could be found on a cigarette butt. Biometrics alone will not protect your identity, what will you need to prove that your biometric image is really you. Now go back up to the story about how your Google glasses see you. I bet an invisible (to the eye) tattoo that monitored your health would work.
Yahoo - Reuters - Calpers: bankrupt San Bernardino has more cash than first admitted. San Bernardino declared bankruptcy to avoid paying pensions costs and now it turns out that the pension is not in trouble. I have said many times and the Governmental Finance Officers Association agrees, there is no problem with the public pensions system. Politicians are up to something else and it is only to benefit themselves. A quote from the article:
"California's public pension fund said on Tuesday that the bankrupt city of San Bernardino has a lot more cash than it had previously disclosed and more than enough money to pay off its debts to the retirement system."
Why would a city claim they couldn't pay their pensions when they can? Why would they hide their funds from their own citizens and the state? Are they siphoning off money from the pensions to pay for something else or perhaps to someone else. Maybe their investments and their use of "placement agents" needs to be looked at? Personally, I would investigate any write offs from pension investments and then follow the money.
Stansberry's Investment Advisory - Their warning. Personally, I would not buy their stuff of use their advice. I don't sell gold, silver or anything else. I don't promote products and only speak for myself. The video takes some time to watch and I do not agree with everything he says; but, he is one of the few, like me, that accurately predicted when the bubbles would burst. He thinks there are things that you can do to benefit when things go bad and I disagree with him. Doesn't matter what you do. He also says that sales of gold are not reported to the government and that is incorrect.
Yahoo - Reuters - Fed's credibility tested as inflation drifts below target. The article says that inflation is lower than wanted and lower than the Fed predicted; but, it doesn't really matter. In the future there will be practically no inflation because the value of your currency will be set by your nation's Gross Domestic Product.
Yahoo - AP - China's struggling automakers jump on SUV boom. This same company, BYD, has just announced they are moving to Lancaster, California to build electric buses and batteries. Lancaster is a little town in the desert, it is near Edwards Air Force Base and Skunk Works. It is home to many people who work on Top Secret projects, I know, I dated one of them. It would seem like a great place to buy technology cheap from fired or laid off workers.
Yahoo - New York Times - Google Glass Picks Up Early Signal: Keep Out. Google glasses look like what they are; but, the next generation will be contact lenses and regular glasses and you won't even know if someone has them on.
Fox News - The mass exodus of Christians from the Muslim world. Persecution of Christians hasn't even gotten close to reaching it's zenith.
Fast Company - EmotionSense App Measures Smartphone Users' Happiness. Now my smartphone will know how I feel, if I am feeling unhappy and then it will know how to make me happier. Sometimes it is okay to be unhappy and after awhile, you need to get over it, you will know when that time is better than your phone. We need to really consider when we are going to let technology decide what is best for us. I am going to talk about this after posting all the articles.
Mail Online - Probation shake-up, GPS tags and compulsory drug-tests 'will turn the tide of crime' promises Justice Secretary. Okay, in England they want to GPS chip certain convicted criminals. They also want to be able to GPS control where these people can go even after being released from prison. One mistake and they get to track you for the rest of your life.
That is all of the news articles for today. This blog continues to evolve. I used to just post one link and then talk about it at great length, now I post a link and have little to say. That is because the issues have not changed. I don't post the articles of the day, don't care about who slept with who, who is going to jail for a DUI or most of the non-sense that really does not effect our lives. I do post the odd article on Stephen Hawking who somehow manages to remain a douche bag or the sadly missed Pastor Daniels; but, this blog continues to be about things that will impact your life and are not widely circulated. By the way, as I was typing, I was also eating some really good home barbecued teriyaki chicken.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
More Stuff For You To Read, hahahahah - news stuff
I waited till midnight to post. I am cheating, it will show as a Saturday post.
Wired - Virtual Reality Stunts Rats’ Sense of Space. The message is that we lose our intelligence as we rely on gadgets and accept a reality that is not real.
The Telegraph - Fridges could be switched off without owner's consent to reduce strain on power stations. Green energy cannot increase production as energy is needed, we cannot increase how much wind or sun we need on any given day regardless of our energy needs. Green energy cannot and will not be able to meet what is called "peak demand". If you cannot make the energy produced meet the demand then you must decrease the demand.
Huffington Post - Reuters - U.S. May Charge JPMorgan For Power Market Manipulation: Analysts. Not much to this article, another story telling you how the whole system is rigged and being gamed. The purpose and solution to these questions and why they are out there are answered in what the solution will be and the solution will be international regulation by the governments rather than private regulation by the bankers. The free market died long ago, it died when Wall Street and investment banks were given control over the system. They were allowed to be corrupt to their limits until the systems failed. I am not sure that that was not intentional.
Main Online - Porn set to be banned from public wi-fi this year to protect children. I will say it again, in order to protect children, you will need to prove who you are in reality and that you are you.
Wired - Virtual Reality Stunts Rats’ Sense of Space. The message is that we lose our intelligence as we rely on gadgets and accept a reality that is not real.
The Telegraph - Fridges could be switched off without owner's consent to reduce strain on power stations. Green energy cannot increase production as energy is needed, we cannot increase how much wind or sun we need on any given day regardless of our energy needs. Green energy cannot and will not be able to meet what is called "peak demand". If you cannot make the energy produced meet the demand then you must decrease the demand.
Huffington Post - Reuters - U.S. May Charge JPMorgan For Power Market Manipulation: Analysts. Not much to this article, another story telling you how the whole system is rigged and being gamed. The purpose and solution to these questions and why they are out there are answered in what the solution will be and the solution will be international regulation by the governments rather than private regulation by the bankers. The free market died long ago, it died when Wall Street and investment banks were given control over the system. They were allowed to be corrupt to their limits until the systems failed. I am not sure that that was not intentional.
Main Online - Porn set to be banned from public wi-fi this year to protect children. I will say it again, in order to protect children, you will need to prove who you are in reality and that you are you.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
News, a Smile and a Prediction Come True
Things I have said in the past. They are not going to take your guns, gay marriage will be legal, marijuana will be legal and online gambling will be legal. Follow the taxes. Cigarettes are not illegal because we make too much in taxes. Breitbart - Online poker back: Legal website launches in Nev. A couple of interesting aspects to the story. Firstly, you have to prove that you live in Nevada to access the website. LOL. People will gladly sign up using their real identity if they get their cookie. Secondly, you have to live in Nevada to access the website. Hey, that is the same as the first I mentioned; but, the reason and effect is different than what I just discussed. To prohibit people in one state to access legal activities in another state is a violation of the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. A monkey could win that law suit. For those who do not know, I was nationally recognized as a constitutional law expert. The Pimpernel is not just another pretty face, I have a mind too. Okay, I don't really have a pretty face, lets get back to the news.
The Telegraph - 'There will be more wealth confiscation, without a doubt'. I have written about what the IMF, Bank of England and the FDIC plan on doing, is it surprising that they openly say it?
Mail Online - What the brain of Google's self-driving car sees: The 'Terminator's-eye-view' that shows just what it takes to navigate a city.
Mail Online - Why the middle class aren't breeding any more: It's a profound social shift no one talks about - but it could transform the face of Britain. And the message is, people who want to be middle class don't have children.
CNBC - Foreign Holdings of US Securities Have Exploded. Foreigners now own just about the same in US debt as our gross domestic product. You owe foreign countries one year of your life's labor.
CNSNEWS.com - Payments Using Chinese Yuan Continue to Surge as Currency Tops Russian Rouble in Popularity. The dollar is about to die in spectacular form.
The Sydney Morning Herald - Danish breakthrough for HIV cure expected 'within months'. It is not at all surprising that the "cure" involves changing your DNA.
CBS, New York - Installation Of Bike Share Docking Stations Testing New Yorkers’ Patience. This is an easy one, it is more evidence that they do not wish you to drive your own vehicle.
Yahoo - The New York Times - Cellphone Thefts Grow, but the Industry Looks the Other Way. Don't ask what the problem is, ask how they want to solve the problem.
Now a smile. I read about a young man who is all about giving his all. I don't watch football, the Rams disappointed me for decades. There is a young man named Quinton Patton who was a fourth round draft pick, turns out he is also a number one type of person. This kid showed up a week early to train for the 49rs and he did it on his own dime. Yahoo - Shutdown Corner - 49ers rookie Quinton Patton shows up early, impresses his new coach, but has to go back home. This kid is all about attitude, he is a Christian (I listened to interviews with him), is about giving back to others and is about giving his all. Lets hope he stays that way and I think he might. I might actually watch football if he and Tebow played on the same team, all heart for the both of them.
Now I have to tell you about my prediction, it came true. I used to live in the Antelope Valley, it is known for Lancaster, Palmdale, Lake Los Angeles, Quartz Hill, Rosamond and Little Rock. Basically, it is the desert in Southern California. I watched them modify their infrastructure. I had predicted, not prophesied, that a Chinese firm was going to come to the Antelope Valley to make batteries and vehicles. Well, they are. LA Daily News - BYD - first Chinese automaker in US - to open plants in Lancaster. Maybe I still have some analytical abilities, contrary to what the ex thought.
The Telegraph - 'There will be more wealth confiscation, without a doubt'. I have written about what the IMF, Bank of England and the FDIC plan on doing, is it surprising that they openly say it?
Mail Online - What the brain of Google's self-driving car sees: The 'Terminator's-eye-view' that shows just what it takes to navigate a city.
Mail Online - Why the middle class aren't breeding any more: It's a profound social shift no one talks about - but it could transform the face of Britain. And the message is, people who want to be middle class don't have children.
CNBC - Foreign Holdings of US Securities Have Exploded. Foreigners now own just about the same in US debt as our gross domestic product. You owe foreign countries one year of your life's labor.
CNSNEWS.com - Payments Using Chinese Yuan Continue to Surge as Currency Tops Russian Rouble in Popularity. The dollar is about to die in spectacular form.
The Sydney Morning Herald - Danish breakthrough for HIV cure expected 'within months'. It is not at all surprising that the "cure" involves changing your DNA.
CBS, New York - Installation Of Bike Share Docking Stations Testing New Yorkers’ Patience. This is an easy one, it is more evidence that they do not wish you to drive your own vehicle.
Yahoo - The New York Times - Cellphone Thefts Grow, but the Industry Looks the Other Way. Don't ask what the problem is, ask how they want to solve the problem.
Now a smile. I read about a young man who is all about giving his all. I don't watch football, the Rams disappointed me for decades. There is a young man named Quinton Patton who was a fourth round draft pick, turns out he is also a number one type of person. This kid showed up a week early to train for the 49rs and he did it on his own dime. Yahoo - Shutdown Corner - 49ers rookie Quinton Patton shows up early, impresses his new coach, but has to go back home. This kid is all about attitude, he is a Christian (I listened to interviews with him), is about giving back to others and is about giving his all. Lets hope he stays that way and I think he might. I might actually watch football if he and Tebow played on the same team, all heart for the both of them.
Now I have to tell you about my prediction, it came true. I used to live in the Antelope Valley, it is known for Lancaster, Palmdale, Lake Los Angeles, Quartz Hill, Rosamond and Little Rock. Basically, it is the desert in Southern California. I watched them modify their infrastructure. I had predicted, not prophesied, that a Chinese firm was going to come to the Antelope Valley to make batteries and vehicles. Well, they are. LA Daily News - BYD - first Chinese automaker in US - to open plants in Lancaster. Maybe I still have some analytical abilities, contrary to what the ex thought.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Deanna Durbin Has Died, I MIss Her
Deanna Durbin was a singer from the 30s and 40s. She sang operatic songs in the movies from age 15 until she turned her back on Hollywood and moved to France. I am not a big opera fan; but, I sure appreciate opera singers and the sounds they can make come out of our human bodies.
I "discovered" Miss Durbin when I was about 15 or so. I liked old movies and love musical comedies. The musical comedy is a distinctly American invention and was our main staple for decades. As a stage manager, they were my favorite productions. Miss Durbin was one of my first crushes. She was beautiful, polite and intelligent. Three things I like in a woman and the fact that she could sing so well made her a hottie, to me. By the time I discovered Miss Durbin, she was probably in her 50s and had not been in movies for decades. As I got older, I found myself attracted to older people, I have always been attracted to people of the same age. Today, I find people like Jane Seymour and Dana Delany to be the most attractive and they are just slightly older than me.
When I think of Miss Durbin, I think of her the way I saw her when we were both about 15. I was about 15 when I discovered the 15 year old Miss Durbin in a movie called, "Three Smart Girls". I would like to leave you with a trailer from one of her movies and a clip of her singing.
YouTube - Three Smart Girls - Trailer
YouTube - Deanna Durbin - Vienna Boys Choir - Ave Maria - Bach/Gounod.
Goodbye Miss Durbin.
I "discovered" Miss Durbin when I was about 15 or so. I liked old movies and love musical comedies. The musical comedy is a distinctly American invention and was our main staple for decades. As a stage manager, they were my favorite productions. Miss Durbin was one of my first crushes. She was beautiful, polite and intelligent. Three things I like in a woman and the fact that she could sing so well made her a hottie, to me. By the time I discovered Miss Durbin, she was probably in her 50s and had not been in movies for decades. As I got older, I found myself attracted to older people, I have always been attracted to people of the same age. Today, I find people like Jane Seymour and Dana Delany to be the most attractive and they are just slightly older than me.
When I think of Miss Durbin, I think of her the way I saw her when we were both about 15. I was about 15 when I discovered the 15 year old Miss Durbin in a movie called, "Three Smart Girls". I would like to leave you with a trailer from one of her movies and a clip of her singing.
YouTube - Three Smart Girls - Trailer
YouTube - Deanna Durbin - Vienna Boys Choir - Ave Maria - Bach/Gounod.
Goodbye Miss Durbin.
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