Glenn Reynolds on Tech Central Station

I have believed this stuff for years. I think Glenn is right on target with this assessment. It seems that violent video games have actually lessened how much crimes that teens do. Many games show actual consequences for your actions.

If you kill a bunch of people in Grand Theft Auto (or in real life) then the game (or your life) will get harder and harder until you are either caught or killed. So don't do the crime and you won't have to fight the Rhino tanks (I think that's what they are called in GTA.)

Also porn allows teens to see what all the fuss is about without having to actually engage in the behavior. The curiousity factor is gone and teens that are bombarded with it actually may become desensitized to it. That may actually be a good thing. They actually develop a "been there, seen that" mentality. So there may come a day when sex doesn't sell anymore.

Great article about Turkey in the EU

Yup, looks like the EU is going to freeze out Turkey much to their detriment. I think the Turks would make a good addition to the EU and it's basically France standing in their way. What's wrong with a militarily powerful, Islamic nation that is actually on your side.

Plus they are close to the trouble spots and are thus affected by things going down in that region. So they would be able to exert pressure on Iran and Syria with the EU backing them up. So the EU can be a serious player on events in the region with the Turks acting as self-interested agents. It would certainly tweak American noses if the EU could wring concessions out of Iran and bring them back in from the cold. And I think the Turks could be key to it.

I guess they fear cheap Turkish labor flooding in and taking benefits from their nanny states. Well, maybe it's time for them to start cutting off the spigot when it comes to public assistance and giveaways. But you know that isn't going to happen.

Love and Sex Different

Hmm this is a very interesting study. The sample size is quite small though so I think more research is needed to make any conclusions.

Slater caught playing grab ass

I hope they throw the book at him. You just can't grab some stranger's ass and hope to get away with it no matter how much of a B-list celebrity you are. Well generally women are welcome to grab men's asses but that's a different story.

DC Comics Shipping week of June 2nd

AQUAMAN #31 »
BLOOD OF THE DEMON #4 »
DETECTIVE COMICS #807 »
FIRESTORM #14 »
THE HUMAN RACE #3 (OF 7) »
JSA #74 »
JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #10
NEW TEEN TITANS: WHO IS DONNA TROY? »
SEVEN SOLDIERS: ZATANNA #2 (OF 4) »
SON OF VULCAN #1 (OF 6) »
SUPERMAN #218 »
SUPERMAN/BATMAN #20 »
VILLAINS UNITED #2 (OF 6)

I will probably be buying Villains United #2, JSA #74, and Superman/Batman #20. I will probably be picking up House of M #1 from Marvel as well. That one comes out tomorrow and I have a feeling it will sell like crazy.

Paris engaged to Paris?

Now I'm all confused. So Paris is going to marry Paris? Or is Paris going to marry Paris? And are they going to get married in Paris? And the thought of Paris and Paris having a little Paris makes one shudder.

Looks like Profit Taking Today

Hmm, weak regional manufacturing reports and the market is down today. Could they be oil price related? I think it is mostly profit taking myself but I'm no economist.

Dow 10,467.48-75.07(-0.71%)
Nasdaq 2,068.22-7.51(-0.36%)
S&P 5001,191.50-7.28(-0.61%)

Woo hoo! We're more Confident!

Looks like we are more confident consumers then the conference board would have us believe. Kind of a big revision here (97.5 to 102.2.) I guess someone found a stack of questionnaires that fell behind a table or something.

$638 Billion Hispanic Market

Yeah I agree that this is the next big market segment out there. I didn't think they were that big though. It may be an interesting demographic to tap for investment ideas. I heard a report that Pepsico brought out Guacamole chips in the US because they were selling really well in Latin American countries. Sure enough the Guacamole chips has ended up doing pretty well for Pepsi since then.

Another area to tap is banks that cater to the Hispanic market. I heard that there are now bilingual banks that use special teller trucks that drive up to construction sites and such to help Hispanic people do their banking conveniently. This is the kind of thinking that will tap this new market.

UAL dodged a massive bullet

Wow, whoever got this thing ratified should get stock options or something. UAL would probably have ceased as a concern if the machanics decided to strike. I guess the members would rather work at a 14% pay cut then to not work at all.

I Guess the FBI was out to get him

Looks like they figured out who Deep Throat is. It was the 2nd in command of the FBI. I guess Nixon was right to distrust the FBI since they were actually out to get him. I agree that the break-in was an idiotic idea but the coverup was an even worse bungle. Nixon should have got right out there and admitted everything. I think the US would have forgiven him. Also I wonder if Mark Felt was on the enemies list or not.

Presidential News Conference

I agree with some of the stuff he said but as always I disagree with others. Amnesty International should use some other source then the people we are holding there to accuse us of human rights abuses. This is Al-Quida Handbook 101 stuff. They are going to say we are torturing the crap out of them no matter how well or poorly we treat them. Perhaps Amnesty should put up monitoring equipment like the Atomic Energy guys if they are so concerned about getting the record strait.

I also agree that the Iraqis should be close to defending themselves. I guess we can start pulling our troops out of there eventually. On our timetable of course.

Whoever is talking about a military option in North Korea needs to get fired. There is no way we could take them on decently with our troops committed to Afghanistan and Iraq. I guess we could go to the draft, if we have to fight on three fronts, but it won't be pretty.

I agree with him letting Iran into the WTO and letting the Europeans jawbone them about the nukes. That way if they get nukes we can blame Europe, and wait for the Israelis to blow up the actual research facilities. This would make Europe look bad/weak/ineffectual and we can just "condemn the Israeli actions in the strongest possible terms."

I think he may need to either give up the ghost or create some bipartisan panel when it comes to Social Security Reform. At least we need to get the Dems to admit that reform is needed and see what their plan is. That way they can compromise on something decent. Whatever the case I'm not giving a crap about Social Security because I am convinced I won't see a dime of it.

Oh oh, hypocrite alert on the Stem Cell front:

"There's an alternative to the destruction of life," he said. "But the stem cell issue is really one of federal funding, that's the issue before us, and that is whether or not we use taxpayers' money to destroy life. ... I don't believe we should."

Hmm, I guess our taxpayer money is okay to use as long as it is killing full grown people. The LLLs will make some hay out of this quote. He needed to use the words unborn life or something similar. Oh well, all in all it seems like a decent speech. But why did he have to stand in the sun? They should get a little tarp or canopy thing going. It would be like an old fasion tent revival.

Jimmy Olsen #133 Ouch!

Wow, this cover looks painful for Superman or any other man for that matter.

Tom DeLay Needs to Resign Already

Now he is going after Law and Order. This kind of things shows he is totally humorless and makes Republicans look like uptight jerks.

He should have said something like "I am flattered to have my name used in a popular show like Law&Order and my commitment to judicial security has always been foremost in my mind. I would like to applaud Mr. Wolf for shining light on the dangers that some justices face. And I know that no self-respecting person would ever think about laying a hand on any judge, activist or not. I know that the portrayal of the murderers as conservatives, although distressing to me, is purely a work of fantasy and I judge it as such."

Instead he fires off a stiff-necked screed relying on 2nd-hand knowledge. He should have at least watched the show, or requested a transcript of the show, to educate himself as to the context that the statement was given in. He looks like an idiot arguing things with knowledge provided by an aide's wife.

With all the ethics crap he's going though he should not be calling attention to himself at all. When you add this adventure to the whole Shiavo mess it makes the Republican party look foolish. This kind of thing could cost them seats, and if they aren't careful, the White House in 2008.

They getting ready for 2008 Elections?

Wow they are already predicting the front runners for an election that is still 4 years away? I agree that a McCain or Guiliani ticket would be the best thing since sliced bread. I would probably even volunteer for a McCain ticket if he decided to run.

Girls (I think) from Shibuya in Tokyo

Oh my God! Kill them before they multiply! She's making the throat slash symbol? She thirsts for human blood!

Mary Kay pulls out of Desperate Housewives

I have a feeling that some other company will be more then happy to take up Mary Kay's space on one of the top rated shows on TV. Also the lucrative female market that is in front of those TVs will probably just buy their make-up from Revlon or something. Mary Kay's loss.

It is also funny as hell that the leader of the AFA is named Donald E. Wildmon. That name sounds like one a porn star would have.

Market up slightly today

Dow 10542.55 +4.95(+0.05%)
Nasdaq 2075.73 +4.49(+0.22%)
S&P500 1198.78 +1.16(+0.10%)

Looks like the Viagra blindness story hurt PFE and thus the Dow today. We are up for the week though so that is good.

Looks like Viagra causes Blindness

Hmm its seems like it might be time to short PFE is this is true.

Saudi King May be Dying

Wow now this is a new development. There probably won't be much difference since the Crown Prince pretty much runs things now.

Revenge of the Sith Review

Well I went to see it last night and it was actually better then I thought it would be. My expectations were greatly lowered by Attack of the Clones and I wouldn't be surprised by a real crapfest. The political stuff was totally overblown and did not get in the way of the movie at all.

The acting was still wooden and fake feeling but I guess that can be chalked up to Christensen being a terrible actor. Almost everything he does from the whiney bitch he was at the beginning to parts he is shedding a tear near the end was terrible. Also Portman who is normally a decent actress had no-chemistry with her supposed husband. Actually, it really seemed that the actors didn't like one another at all and it came through in their performance. She also seemed to be in weepy women mode the whole time. Much different then the feisty princess mode she was on in the other two movies.

McGregor was as good as he could be in the roll. He was trying to channel Alec Guinness sometimes but it worked for me. At the end when he was battling Darth you were feeling his emotion come through. Too bad he couldn't have been paired up with a decent actor and not wooden-man Hayden.

The effects were decent enough for a movie like this but they did not give a sense of a real world at all. I guess this may have been intentional to give the movie an unreal quality but I seriously doubt that. In some scenes the fakey green screens were everywhere and even that lizard-bird thing Obi-wan was riding looked like ILM "magic" and not a real creature. Some of the worlds were the Jedi were getting killed at were just laughably fakey looking. Finally, the enemy droids (even General Grievous) never felt like anything at all. They really needed to have a few real metal prop droids that got cut in half to give them the sense they were battling a real thing.

One good thing though is they used sets a bit more then in the other two movies. So some scenes were nicely rooted in reality with only the fakey CGI in the windows or background. The scenes in the Corellian Corvette were the best because I think that was all set-building. Also the lava world at the end looked as real as anything in the prequels. I have a feeling it was because it was so dark but maybe ILM went all out to make it look real.

The plot was fairly decent for the most part and it seemed believable that Anakin would turn to the dark side to save his wife. The Jedi were really arrogant asses and almost seemed to deserve their comeupance. It was idiotic that Anakin would have been kicked out of the council for having a child with his wedded wife. (I assume the Jedi knew he was married but I don't remember what happened in Clones) I guess the Jedi code prevents the propagation of the species. Good thing they never got into power.

Also how they put in the council but didn't make him a Master for the first time in history would have rankled anyone. I guess he was just a glorified secretary. And immediately they treated him like a tool to get info from the Chancellor. I guess there is no bugging technology in this high tech world. "Now that you are a member of this council, well not a full member but you can sit in this chair, we need you to betray your friend. k-thnx bye." Even when Anakin told them that the Chancellor was a Sith lord they said some stuff like we'll check and after that we will trust you. I was not sorry to see the Jedi die.

The part where Anakin fell to the Darkside seemed really, really quick. "What have I done?" to slaughtering younglings in under a minute and a half. And who ever thought of using the world younglings needs to be fired. It was a laughable word to describe quite a heinous crime. When Portman said "you killed younglings?" You need to feel horror and not supress laughter. I think if they called them Young Padawans, Jedi Youth or even the Children it would have been much better.

To sum up though, the last 30 minutes was worth the entire movie in my mind. All the wooden exchanges between Anakin and Padme and the fakey green screens were worth it. The lightsaber duels were fantastic and how Darth Vader was made (complete with a medical droid from Empire that put on Luke's robot hand) showed how the prequels should have been. Even the scene of them watching the Death Star being made with Moff Tarkin looking on was outstanding.

Finally, the part where Owen is standing with the sunset in the background was one of the best in the movie IMO. It dovetailed exactly with the scene in New Hope with Luke looking at the same sun which was rising I think. First goosebumps of the entire Prequels.

If the last 30 minutes weren't in the movie I would have put this above Menace and Clones but not by very much. But with those 30 mintues I have to put this one right behind New Hope and Empire. All in all, despite its faults, it was a very decent movie and a satisfying end to the Star Wars movie universe. It may even be worth owning the DVD. Which is big in my book.

Going to see Revenge of the Sith tonight

Well I'm finally going to go see it tonight. I'm hoping that is is better then the almost unwatchable Attack of the Clones. I was a huge Star Wars fan when there was only the older movies to see. I still have lots and lots of toys, comics, and card games from that period.

The Prequels killed the whole franchise for me though. First Jar-jar and then the lame-assed "love" scenes in Clones. I just couldn't take it anymore.

Lets hope this last one will ressurect some of the wonder that I felt in those first three movies. I have heard that people thought it was the best one since Empire. I'll write a full review tomorrow.

Skinny Women in Hollywood

The reason I posted these two pictures of the current It-girl Lindsay Lohan is that I am getting sick of Hollywood actresses starving themselves. She looks great in that Tonight Show pic but she looks as bad as I have ever seen her in that other pic.

I read recently in In-Touch magazine that she is getting stressed out from doing so much she doesn't have time to eat at all. They even had some kind of publicity event that had her and Nicole Richie eating some sort of cake in front of the hovering eyes of the paparazzi. It seemed like an event to say "I can actually eat cake!" It was a sad, sorry spectacle.

I have seen a million different things about eating disorders in Hollywood with people even dying of various things but nothing is done about it. The only unforgivable crime in Hollywood is to be fat. As soon as someone puts on a few pounds the tabloids (the same ones that blasted Lohan for being skinny) jump all over the star until they get their waistlines down.

I guess this is part of the whole get back at the stars mentality that some of the public has. We love to see the beautiful millionaires brought down to earth and humbled. So when they put on a few pounds (like the vast majority of Americans) we need to fix them and force them to be thin. If their too thin then we need to come down on them too. That's the price they need to pay us to be "stars."

It sucks though that a fresh-faced 18 year old like Lohan has to endure this kind of rat race to be thin. It seemed that she was beyond this kind of thing because she has always been normal sized in the past. Now she has joined the ranks of the sickly sticks. Oh well, another bit of meat ground down by the "star machine."

Here she is about a year ago.

She looks much healthier here on the Tonight Show. Note her fuller arms and she has kind of a double chin here. She really looks great in this picture too.

Lindsay Lohan the Sickly Stick-figure

Here is scarecrow-thin Lindsay. Check out how thin her arms and face look. Man, she looks like hell!

Tysabri May be Back on the Market

This is great news for Elan and Biogen/IDEC. Their stocks were blasted by the news that this was going to be taken off of the market. The drug may be a good hope for MS patients but let's hope the FDA really checks it out well. If it is pulled a 2nd time then everyone will have some explaining to do.

Market Holds Rally

It's good to see the buying follow throught to the end like this. The only thing we have to fear going ahead is that $50+ oil.

Dow 10537.60+79.80(+0.76%)
Nasdaq 2071.24+21.12(+1.03%)
S&P 500 1197.62+7.61(+0.64%)

KenJen the new JLo?

They are calling him KenJen now? I bet the media would want him to be dating either Puff Daddy or Ben Affleck so they can use a Bennifer style nickname. I am guessing PuffKen for Puffy and KenAffleck or BenKen for Ben.

Underwood Wins It All

Well at least she will be a better Idol then Fantasia. Her Bo-boing was cute at the *very* beginning but now it just fills with horror and remorse. I didn't see much of this season but from what I had seen it likes she and Bice will probably be stars at least on the magnitude of Kelly Clarkson.

Pretty Smart idea by Yahoo

They are testing a service that allows you to place thumbnails in your e-mail that links to the bigger file that is stored on the Yahoo Photos online album service. Seems like a good idea when you are sending a bunch of big files of your vacation to your family.

Airline Stocks Rally

Well it's good to see that this beleagered industry is making a little run here. But I still think high oil prices will keep them from actually doing decently for the time being. Plus, crushing labor strife will push any one of them into bankruptcy. Well, LUV and the JBLU will still be profitable for the most part. Low costs+low overhead seems to be the way to go in the Airline industry.

Economic Growth 3.5%

Looks like the economy has just got out of its soft patch. They always seem to revise these numbers after the fact though. I guess it is a nice buying catalyst because the market is up on the news.

UN getting the point in Sudan

Wow, it seems that the UN won't ignore this round of African genocide. I guess those so-called UN reforms are finally taking. Or maybe Kofi is just fighting like mad to keep his job.

North Korea to fall apart?

It would be a great thing to happen. But I have a feeling it will happen only after Little Kimmy shuffles off his mortal coil. But until then they will rattle the sabre and talk alot of trash. The funny thing though is if they abandoned their isolationist ways they can be the next China. The Chinese are respected and given deference in world affairs, they are getting prosperous, and they are giving their citizens a reason not to run amok in the streets. I think Taiwan may even think about rejoining the mainland if China is serious with this extreme makeover.

I also went to Borders

I also checked out Borders after eating dinner with my parents at the Ala Moana food court. I read Teen Titans while I was there and was impressed with that comic quite a bit. I never collected this one in the past so I really don't know much about the comic. The story was pretty good but I don't know anything about the characters at all.

I also read Marvel Knights Spiderman. It was a pretty good issue that dealt with Spiderman and how he isn't getting along with Wolverine on the Avengers. I have a feeling that Wolvie will be out on his ass soon.

Finally, I saw a pretty Japanese girl with a this glittery blue eyeshadow. She was also wearing a great black skirt and white top combo that showed off her figure quite well. All and all she made a great sight. Too bad I didn't have the courage to appoach her. Maybe I need to hit my head or something to get brave/crazy enough to do cold approaches like that.

Got my Weekly Comics

I ended up buying OMAC Project #2, Flash #222, and Amazing Spiderman #520. All and all great books. Flash seems a little heavy in the past knowledge department. I may have to start collecting some of back issues to bring me up to speed.

OMAC project was a great read but I still need to get my hands on #1 though. I especially like how it is showing Batman's reaction to being mindwiped. I have a feeling he is going to smack some JLAers around before too long. I'm still not sure what Superman thinks about all the mind wipe stuff. I have a feeling that he was mindwiped too.

Finally, I think Amazing might be my 5th book on my pull list. They are really going into how Spiderman is dealing with his knew role on the Avengers. The problem though is I can probably just read this book at Borders since it is usually a very fast read.

So far my pull list is: Flash, Birds of Prey, JSA, and Superman/Batman. I still need one more comic so I can get the Comic Club 25% discount at Last Sanctuary. A great FLCS that is across the street from my office. Still not sure what it will be.

Wow, Liverpool Wins Cup!

This must have been a bang up game. They scored 3 times in 6 minutes and then won the game on a shoot-out! There must be some heavy celebrating in Merseyside tonight.

Info about Stem Cells Inc (STEM)

Well I have been looking at this company and wow some interesting stuff came up. Their last quarter revenue was $35K. Now that is pretty damn low but at least they have a decent cash horde ($37mill) built up without much debt ($1.87mill.)

I guess this is typical of a company right at the start of a new technology. Lots of companies seemed that way during the dot-com boom. STEM has an outrageously high market cap ($248 mill) for so little of anything in terms of fundamentals.

There seem to be lots of hope built up into this stock but not many results so far. (In fact revenue decreased year to year.) It is pretty much a bet that stem cell research will be the next biotech goldmine. Let's hope the feds will open up the money spiggots and keep this guy flush with the cash to keep their burn rate under control.

Phillip Paolo's Review

Well we came back from there not to long ago and it was just so-so. They had a good baked ziti and the muscles in butter were very tasty but other then that it was a let-down.

The chicken was kind of dry and the food was somewhat bland. I was expecting a chicken parmesan for some reason and they didn't have anything like that. Also I was thinking there would be some sort of shrimp dish but I guess that's on the dinner menu.

All in all, I probably wouldn't be going back any time soon. About the only good thing I saw was a nice looking girl getting into an elevator who had a cool tattoo on her back. It was very colorful with a dragon and what looked like pixies or something dancing near it. I wonder if she was a gamer of some sort?

Republicans are Screwing Up

This is a very interesting post on QandO.net talking about how the Repubs aren't looking so good in the polling. I agree 100% with his assesment.

They have to stop catering to their religious base so much. It is starting to ware down on us middle of the roaders. (I guess I am also a Libertarian Centrist like the post describes.) First the Schiavo mess and now this anti-Stem Cell stuff. I know the evangelicals got you folks the win but you don't have to create these policies that so many Americans seem to disagree with. I'm sure the W-Admin is doing their own polling on this stuff.

I have a feeling there will be a backlash of some sort that gets some Republicans voted out of office. I don't think they will lose either chamber but their majority will certainly shrink. I just wish they would wake up and see that the religious far-right is the same thing as the loony liberal elite. A fringe group that the majority of Americans don't want anything to do with.

Market Down today

Dow 10457.80-45.88(-0.44%)
Nasdaq 2050.12-11.50(-0.56%)
S&P 500 1190.01-4.06(-0.34%)

Stem Cell Bill moves along.

Well it looks like it is getting some bipartisan support. I think they should pass this thing and get the people they need to override the veto. Like I said yesterday if we aren't going to do it then some other nation will.

The potential for helping mankind should be worth the ethical quandry that this stuff brings up. But doing nothing is not the answer at all. This is why I don't mind having Slick Willie back in the White House. He wouldn't be blocking this kind of thing. I think W is standing in the way of history here, and he will be proved wrong down the line to his, and his party's detriment.

Whatever the case the bill passes these companies (GERN, STEM, ASTM) will probably see a nice bump.

Phillip Paolo Restaurant

My department is going to this restaurant for lunch today. I am told it is an Italian buffet so it should be fairly good I think. I'll post my opinion of the place when I get back later today.

Anti-Woman in Combat Provision killed

At last someone talked some sense into Rep. Duncan Hunter and dropped that idiotic provision tacked onto the military spending Bill. Women can fight just as well as men and this past Iraq war shows us.

Actually, I think women should get more combat rolls since they have shown that they can do the job when they are pressed. Check out this report about some bad-assed Kentuckians. These women are National Guard too.

I think this incident would make an outstanding movie. I think the role of the SGT Leigh Ann Hester (the woman with the gernade launcher and M4) would be one that Hollywood heavyweight women would be lining up for. It's the ultimate strong women's role.

Looks like Apprentice is getting stale

Ratings are down 20% from last year and 50% from the year before. I have a feeling that the idea is past its prime and the next one will probably be ab even bigger disappointment. I have a feeling that the Martha Stewart one will get some early buzz but it will probably drop off.

The whole Apprentice idea isn't being helped by Trump giving these guys crappy jobs instead of learning at the feet of the master as we had been led to believe. The 2nd season guy has a lone desk outside of the office of Trump's wifes assistant. They trot him out for various events and things like a prize bull. I think they are feeling they made a mistake quitting lucrative jobs to do this crap.

This guy knows what he is talking about

He has the right attitude when it comes to violent video games. GTA: San Andreas doesn't help anyone simulate crimes in the real world. I mean the game even punishes you by having more and more people go after you depending on the severity of your crimes. Soon the army and air force are trying to take you out with tanks and fighter planes.

People like the Illinois State Senate should not be wasting their time on something that is nearly unenforceable. Parents are just going to buy their kids these games no matter what age group they are for. When I bought GTA:SA a woman in front of me in line was buying her 12-13 year old son the game. I have a feeling that this kid won't be running amok with a Mac-10 anytime soon. I did hear that he opened a car door kicked a person then threw him out of a car to chase after some Ballas gang members. But that is societies fault.

Oil prices up

I guess it's good information for the energy investors but it sucks for the rest of the people out there. It's hitting the markets too. It seems like the oil market is teetering up or down depending solely on US supply reports. Supply builds for the last several weeks got oil below $50 and this slight slip brought it roaring right back up.

I Hate Spyware!

I really hate spyware. I spent the afternoon getting rid of spyware on someones laptop. All she did was download some free screensaver from GAIN software. I really hope congress comes down on that company with a hammer. I'm talking million dollar fines and convictions.

Looks like Blogger is back up

Wow they are pretty good they said 2 hours to fix the problem and they were about 15 minutes faster then their estimate. I have a feeling Geordie Laforge is working in that department.

Seems Blogger is laying an egg

I guess they are having some sort of problem. Oh well.

Sam's Club Pizza

Now this has to be the best deal in town when it comes to lunch. A soda and a slice of Sabarro's sized pizza for $2.50. That seems almost as cheap as bringing a home lunch. It is very filling and is quite tasty. The best thing though is you don't need the membership to eat there.

Guru picks are out

The guru moniker doesn't seem fitting with their 8% loss for the year. I guess that bet on oil stocks when crude prices went south wasn't the best idea. Kookmin Bank (KB) is an interesting stock that I have heard about a few times before. Nice growth numbers and their profits are way up. Maybe worth putting on the watch list.

On a related note, it seems some of the design heat from Japan may be going to Korea. I read an outstanding story in Wired (the issue with George Lucas on the cover) about how innovative Samsung is becoming. Perhaps Korea may be a good place to take a look at going ahead.

Market Mixed Today

I guess that GM debt downgrade bushwhacked the Dow. It's good to see tech inching up.

Dow 10503.68 -19.88(-0.19%)
Nasdaq 2061.62 +4.97(+0.24%)
S&P 500 1194.07 +0.21(+0.02%)

Interesting Sony Stuff on Penny Arcade

These guys seem to be at the heartbeat of gaming today and currently bringing in reports from E3. Tycho talks about how Sony seems to be trying to put up the PS3 as a ready to go when it is in fact not ready for prime time. He says that the non gaming media seemed to eat it up, while a savvy person like him saw through what Sony was trying to do.

I read about Sony bringing out the PS3 in the business press and it seemed like Sony was ready for the PS3 to rock Microsoft's ass. If Sony was really trying to pull a fast one at E3 then you can assume X-Box 360 will have true fast-mover advantage.

Sony by their own estimation will miss the holiday season. Thus, I would bet good money that X-Box 360 will be this years Tickle Me Elmo and simply fly off the shelves. Let's hope that MSFT has their supply chain ready to hum. Extreme shortages at that point would be the worse case scenerio. Whatever the case, that buzz and early push may be shaping up to put the 360 at the top of the heap.

In the interests of full disclosure I do own shares in Microsoft so this news affects me directly. I never thought I would buy shares in the "evil-empire" but that one-time dividend they paid last year changed my mind. They do seem to be cleaning up their act though by settling their 101 lawsuits so maybe they can be upgraded to the "neutral with evil tendencies empire." Also I own a PS2 and a PS1 and don't currently own an X-box.

New Dumb WB show

Oh man check out this mess. It's a show about pairing up Geeks with hot babes and making them do different tasks for a chance at a $250K. Hmm, I wonder if the hot girls will be dumb and the geeks will be socially inept? That's a toughie. And Ashton Kutcher attached his name to this turkey which simply puts the cherry on top. I guess it is better then that who wants to marry a geek show that was on a few years back.

Spyware outlawed by the House

About time. I hate spyware with the passion of a million blazing suns! I have gotten rid of so much spyware on peoples machines who have Road Runner but don't use/never heard of routers it is not even funny. One click of yes on a popup and weeks of misery follow. It's about time congress does something about this menace.

Stem Cell Watch

I'm getting kind of tired of W standing in the way of Stem Cell research. Let's hope they have enough votes to overturn that veto. If we don't act on Stem Cell research then the Chinese or someone will simply run with the ball that we fumbled.

If the cure for cancer or AIDS comes out of Stem Cell research then W will look like he stood in the way of scientific progress that helped millions. If nothing comes of it then the government wasted some money to see that nothing can come of it. The government is great at wasting money so that's par for the course.

I guess it is no big deal because we can still buy the ADRs of some Chinese Stem Cell research companies as easily as we can buy the Gerons (GERN) of the world.

Jackson Trial Betting Line

Looks like the smart money is on aquittal. My pick is innocent on some of the big stuff but guilty on the plying with liquor or some other lesser charge. He will serve jail time I wager but it will probably be similar in time to Martha Stewert. But whatever happens though any parents that send their kids to Neverland should be sited for child endagerment.

Big Buff buys PacifiCorp

Looks like Buffett is dipping his toes into power companies. The deal seems like a good one for both sides with Scottish Power getting rid of non-core money losing assets and Buffett only paying $166 million premium on the unit. I wonder if power companies are worth looking at?

GM debt downed by Fitch

Well looks like Fitch just downed GM debt to junk. Hmm, I wonder when this is the bottom for these guys. Just about eveyone has downgraded this guy in the past several weeks. But it still seems like an interesting contrarian play as long as they don't declare bankruptcy. When all the news is bad it could be time get in. I have it in my watch list now.

Burger King urged to drop Star Wars Tie in

Now this is some stupid stuff. I have a feeling that the Burger King toys weren't targeted to 4-9 year olds but they have an age range thing on them saying they are safe for that age group.

I would be willing to lay money down that the number of 4-9 year olds going to see that movie with their parents will be massive whether Burger King is involved or not. The Dove Foundation should spend their time protecting our kids from Michael Jackson and not some movie. :)

Zarqawi hopefully near death

Well, looks like we wounded him. Let's hope his death is swift and painful. I kind of wanted our boys to catch him but this is just as good too.

Counterstrike

Time to play some Counterstrike. Goodnight folks.

The Game's new song: Dreams

I also caught the video for the Game's new song Dreams on MTV. I have to say it is a great song and very nice how he eulogises the various rap folk who died in the past several years.

I know I might not be the kind of person that listens to rap but I have begun to appreciate it from playing the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. It has a nice quality to it and most of the songs have a nice quick beat and tempo. The subject matter seems interesting as well. Lots of gangs, cool cars, shootouts, and love making with beautiful women met at Clubs.

That lifestyle seems dangerous but it does have a kind of appeal to it. To me Rap stars are the current Rock Stars. Living lives of excess and debauchery that people secretly long for. In my book I would rather hook up with the Nubian Goddesses in a 50Cent video then blown out haired Jersey girl looking groupies of the era of 60-70s era Rock and Roll.

It would be interesting to have a scientific comparison of the various groupies from each genre. I'm sure the rap tell-alls will be coming out eventually so we can make such a bold assesment.

Superman/Batman Vol.2: Supergirl

I just finished reading this Graphic Novel and I have to say that I recommend it as a great read. The story of how she was brought back is very simple and easy to get into.

The art is fantastic being from the Michael Turner the same guy that did Wychblade and Fathom. He has a great style that brings the characters to life and draws some outstanding women. He also draws a great Superman as well. I didn't like his Batman with the very long ears but it was still cool.

The story was excellent and it was very engaging. They tell the story in a dual narorrator role with Batman and Superman each giving their own take on the situation. It's neat to see how much each guy respects one another.

My final complaint is why its called Superman/Batman. What happened to World's Finest Comics? I have quite a few of that book in my collection and I enjoyed it as World's Finest. The weird dual Batman/Superman symbol is offputting. I guess that is progress.

Firefox sucks for Blogging

Hmm I have been noticing that Firefox seems to slow to a crawl when I am putting down posts. I am forced to use crappy IE now to even type at a decent speed. I wonder what is doing that.

DC Comics coming out this week

Day of Vengeance #2 (of 6)
DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy #1 (of 4)
Doom Patrol #12
Flash #222
Green Lantern #1
Legion of Super-Heroes #6
OMAC Project #2 (of 6)
Outsiders #24
Wrath of the Spectre TP

Hmm I will probably be buying Flash and OMAC project. The Flash story arc has been doing pretty good so far with a battle of his Rogues Gallery. Reading a Flash comic at Borders got me back into collecting comics for the first time in nearly 12 years. I am just collecting to read this time around and not collecting as a pseudo-investment like I was way back then.

Speaking of Jeans

I saw a girl in front of me at lunch and she seemed to be wearing some sort of designer Jeans. Too bad it is hard to tell the brand by looking at the pocket. I think it might have been 7 for all mankind because the design kind of looked like a 7. Hmm, it was hard to tell though. I have to admit that doing research into a woman's jeans company is alot more fun then some staid oil concern.

Here is a pic of me from Las Vegas

I am on the right. I posted this to test out that Hello program. Seems pretty good so far but I can't seem to post a picture in my description box. Oh well.

Innovo Group

I have been following Innovo Group for most of May (ticker INNO.) They make high end women's jeans in their Joe's Jeans brand. I have read several articles about how High end women's jeans are just flying off the shelves. The trend is several years old but it doesn't seem to be letting up.

So far this is one of the only 2 high end jeans makers that are publically traded. The other one is on the NASDAQ pink sheets called True Religion Apparel (TRLG.) I have heard of True Religion Jeans before as well as 7 for All Mankind and I have done recon at Neiman Marcus to see what the fuss is about.

The Jeans themselves seem pretty well made and are quite soft to the touch. They don't seem to be worth $180 though. I have done some informal polling at my office and most of the women here wouldn't pay that much for a pair of Jeans no matter what. But I suspect that women in New York or LA would beg to differ. Those Sex in the City women are who I am talking about.

Whatever the case though these jeans seem to be selling fairly briskly. INNO seems to be growing very well and has sold off their Craft business to focus more on their denim business. It seems like a company that is worthy of someones watch list. I own only 100 shares but I may pick up more on pull backs. Here is theStreet.com article that turned me on to the whole high end Jeans idea.

http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/funds/jondmarkman/10214568.html

Carl Edwards

Here is some info about Carl from the NASCAR site.

http://www.nascar.com/drivers/dps/cedwards00/cup/index.html

NASCAR Watch

Well I am a big NASCAR fan which is strange because I neither live in the South or have any affiliation with there. (Although I think women with drawls are sexy.)

I only got to see the beginning part of the race that had the people qualifying for the All-Star part. It kind of sucked to see Mike Bliss get spun out like that. I don't know if that is part of racing but it seemed kind of crappy.

The race was won Mark Martin in the Viagra No6 Ford. That's good to see because he will be retiring at the end of this season. My racer came in 15th (Card Edwards in the 99 car) It looks like his car was damaged in the big crash. At least it looked that way on the sad-assed coverage that they had on SportsCenter.

Market up Today

Looks like a good day for the markets.

DOW: 10523.56+51.65
NASDAQ: 2056.65+10.23
S&P500: 1193.86+4.58

Joemama's Free Press open for business!

Hi there everyone I wanted to try this blogging thing out and here I am. This Blog will be about things I am interested in like the stock market, interesting articles, and some fun stuff. Hope you like it.