Child Gets Stern Not from Grade School Food Nazi's after Oreos found in her Lunch

Now this is getting out of hand.

"Dear Parents, it is very important that all students have a nutritious lunch. This is a public school setting and all children are required to have a fruit, a vegetable and a heavy snack from home, along with a milk. If they have potatoes, the child will also need bread to go along with it. Lunchables, chips, fruit snacks, and peanut butter are not considered to be a healthy snack. This is a very important part of our program and we need everyone's participation," read the note, provided to ABC News by Pearson. 

I guess if the child is lactose intolerant they drink "nothing and like it." Also why aren't fruit snacks not considered healthy? A guess the Fatherland does not require the ingestion of sub-human fruit and they "shall be banned!" This is yet another thing that should go away in two years when we get a new occupant of the White House.

Macro-Economics Like Astrology? What they Need as an Economy Simulator

Hmm this is very true of the "dismal science."

Abruptly, after a century, in part due to Galileo's telescope destroying the science of political lies and hierarchies built on them, the astrological edifice disappeared in a puff - or so it appeared.

Except that macro-economics is now its modern incarnation: Only instead of stars, macro-economists look at "aggregates" gathered religiously by governments' statistical agencies - never mind if the country has a dictatorial regime, be it left, right or anything in between, or has large black markets, as Italy and Greece do, where tax evasion has long been the main national sport. So let us first forget about this "macro" stuff, whose beginnings are almost a century old, and offer a simple alternative for shedding light on the situation today and on possible solutions, hopefully demolish this modern pseudo-"science" once and for all.

You would figure with all the technology out there today we could create an economic simulator that could mirror the real economy. I mean with some constraints like only a certain number of products and a certain number of participants and such. Then you can run a scenario and see how raising interest rates or adding stimulus actually effects this pocket economy. I would think a powerful enough supercomputer might be able to tackle something like this.

U.S. Department of Education and White House Kills Off Corinthian Colleges

Well that $30 million fine was just enough to destroy the lives of 16,000 students.

Corinthian Colleges will shut down all of its remaining 28 ground campuses, displacing about 16,000 students, less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Education announced it was fining the for-profit institution $30 million for misrepresentation.

In a statement Sunday, the Santa Ana, California-based company said it was working with other schools to help students continue their education. The closures include Heald College campuses in California, Hawaii and Oregon, as well as Everest and WyoTech schools in California, Arizona and New York.

I say destroy the lives because people that go to these colleges probably don't have the resources to get a degree at the Universities that the White House wants them to. For many students this will effectively end their shot at a college degree. They now either have to go into debt slavery to earn a degree (I still don't understand how student loans are at 4.66% while 20 year fixed mortgages are 3.625%) or maybe go on the dole. Maybe that is the White House plan to get everyone in debt to the government either through student loans or put on the dole?

This also shows the power of the US Government when they took over nearly all student loans in America with a stealth amendment to Obamacare. They effectively ran a company out of business. Then they pinch off any chance they have of being bought out with a huge fine and shutting off the student loan spigot. If banks were still involved in student loans then Corinthian might have been able to save itself. Instead the Government effectively took away the chances of 16,000 people to earn a degrees.

That's why I cannot wait until Obama is out as President. Hillary is pro-business as far as I can tell and the GOP seems that way as well. So if either person wins we won't have a White House so hostile to business interests in this country for the next 4 years.

Brazillian Meat Restaurant Fogo de Chao Coming to America? #Welcomewithopenarms

They are filing an IPO so they must be profitable.

Fogo de Chao serves mostly Brazilian BBQ, called churrasco, in an all-you-can-eat barrage of more than a dozen different cuts of meat cooked on skewers and sliced at the table.

Menu items include six varieties of grilled beef plus lamb, chicken, pork, seafood, and a salad bar. Diners fork over $59.50 for unlimited food.

This business model helped Fogo de Chao post $262 million in revenue in 2014 from only 35 locations in the US and Brazil, according to the SEC filing. That is up 20% from a year earlier. Net income was $17.6 million in 2014, following a loss of $937,000 in 2013. 

Each 8,500-square-foot location sees about $7 million in revenue per unit with a three-year average return on cash invested of 50% by the restaurant's third year of business, the company said in the filing.

I love that 20% growth rate in a business that charges $59.50 per person for a meal. I know I can eat $59 worth of meat so I don't think that price is very high but other people might be priced out of the market. 

Unfortunately, the company seems to be doing a slow roll-out (they only opened 13 restaurants since 2010) so they probably won't be coming to Hawaii anytime soon. In any case a chain version of the churrasco sounds like just the kind of thing that carnivorous Americans would really enjoy.

Johns Hopkins University Bans Chick-fil-A even Though they Aren't Coming to the Campus: Tuition Fee there is $47,060 per Year

These Universities are losing their minds.

The university’s Student Government Association approved a resolution this week saying that university officials should pick “other non-discriminatory options” and rule out any “current and future Chick-fil-A development plans” if searching for new dining vendors on campus.

In the resolution, which passed 18 to 8, the SGA stated that having a Chick-fil-A location on campus would be a “microaggression” toward the campus community, including “visiting prospective and current students, staff, faculty, and other visitors who are members of the LGBTQ community or are allies.”

Wow the buzzwords are flying. This part is especially rich.

The resolution didn’t come in response to any plans to bring the Southern-fried chicken restaurant to the Baltimore campus—and the students’ measure is getting backlash in the conservative press. The National Review said there’s a “new spirit of intolerance” on campus that is targeting conservative Christians.

The restaurant is not even coming to this benighted campus at all. It is a pre-emption in case they come with their "microaggressions" and treating the LGBTQ people like children that need protection from the big-bad chicken restaurant. If you were a LGBTQ person then just don't eat there. You don't have to be protected from the sight of this place. Just eat at Popeyes or KFC or something. That simple.

What? Brown University has a "Safe Space" with Play-Doh and Puppy videos? You pay $23,204 per Semester for that

I think Universities have jumped the shark.

Sommers described the safe spaces at Brown University, which she claimed contained Play-Doh and videos of puppies. “It’s so shocking to me as a philosophy professor,” she added, “that campuses have become such a hostile environment for free expression.”

I thought campuses were supposed to be a hotbed of free expression. You are supposed to be there to think critically about the world and accept all viewpoints. Instead you retreat to an infantilized state rather then hear anything shocking. What a rip-off when they keep raising that tuition on you and getting these poor infants to pile up mountains of debt.

Stupid British "journalist" Krishanan Guru-Murthy Causes Robert Downey Jr. to Walk out on Avengers Interview: He Used Drugs Now he is Sober. #Duh

I'm tired of these gotcha "journalists" trying to stir the pot.

In a video tweeted out by British journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who describes it as "a steely moment from Ironman" [sic], Downey is seen to become increasingly combative throughout the interview even before Guru-Murthy gets personal. His surprise (and potential discomfort) is visible when a quote from a 2008 New York Times interview is brought up, and his confusion continues as the journalist continues to ask about Downey Jr.'s personal history. "I'm sorry, I, I really don't — what are we doing?" he asks, before the interview gets cut short.

Um, Robert Downey Jr. used drugs in his past and nearly died. You can get that info from his Wikipedia page. Why do you have to ask him this again during the Ultron promotional tour? Guru-Murthy is an idiot.

Yeah, Chris Christies Retirement Plan is a Rip-Off

You would think he had a D next to his name with this scheme.

The higher that income rises, the less Social Security they'd get - and the more Medicare premiums they'd pay. At about $200,000, such a couple would get no Social Security and would pay 90 percent of the full cost of Medicare premiums. That's a double whammy that creates a huge disincentive to save for retirement, Lott said.

Imagine a couple with an annual income of $79,000. If they worked long enough, they might receive Social Security benefits of $40,000 annually. Meanwhile they'd pay Medicare premiums of perhaps $2,000 a year.
Now imagine the same couple has retirement income of $200,000 a year. They'd get zero Social Security and pay about $20,000 in Medicare premiums under Christie's plan. 

That's a net loss of $58,000 just because they set aside a lot of money for retirement. 

So if you were going to retire you would do everything you can to stay under the $200K "you get nothing and like it" rate. That means taking less out of a 401K or IRA because if you go over that you pay a whopping $20K for Medicare.

So like any stupid plan this is actually a disincentive to save for retirement. If you do well in your IRA or 401k you actually are penalized if you take out $200K or more in income per year. While if you don't save a penny and spend all of your income you actually pay far less for Medicare are get more than your "fair share" in Social Security benefits. Oh well, luckily there are tons of GOP candidates to support.

Say it Aint So Hillary: Her Campaign Launch Ad Contained Washington Insiders Posing as Real Americans

They couldn't have just rounded up a few Americans in Iowa or something and shot the ad? Instead they had to use Democratic hangers-on to staff the ad.

Clinton’s campaign launch video also used Democratic strategists posing as ordinary Americans. One of them (who posed as a grandma growing tomatoes in her garden) is an abortion rights lobbyist who was a campaign manager for Texas state senator Wendy Davis, who ran for governor in 2014. Another was a staffer for former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack (D).

This is the same old Clinton formula of making everything seem fake and disingenuous. I sure wish Elizabeth Warren or almost anyone else in the Democratic camp challenges her. I can't stand another 4 years of Clinton's dodging questions and hiding emails and pretending to be something she is not.

The Death Tax Only Rakes in $12.7 Billion?: Time to Kill it

I never understood why the government wanted to get their cut out of a dead person in the first place.

According to IRS statistics, in 2013 the estate tax raised $12.7 billion, or 0.5%, of all federal revenues. Steve Entin of the Tax Foundation estimates that because the tax reduces capital investment in family businesses, the impact of the tax on federal revenues may even be negative over time.

So it only brings in $12.7 billion and there is so much fight to keep it going? I mean there are whole industries and legions of lawyers trying to find ways around this tax and it might even bring in a negative number? This is another unfair tax that needs to be abolished.

Family had to Sit in Vomit on a United Flight: That's Why I Never Want to Fly United

This sounds absolutely horrible.

Scott Shirley had boarded a United Airlines flight with his wife and son when the trio noticed an unusual smell after placing their carry-on bags underneath their seats. After realizing their bags were damp, the family recognized the odor as vomit.

“She [Shirley’s wife] reached down and rubbed the ground and goes “the whole ground is wet,” and then she put it to her nose and goes “Oh my god! This is throw up,” Shirley explained to WUSA9.

That is so stomach churning that I cannot describe it. The cleaners must have just wiped it up with a damp rag or something and then went on to the next thing.

A Woman on the $20 Bill? I Select Harriet Tubman

It seems Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is trying to get a women on the $20 and I think it would be a good idea.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen filed legislation this week that would create a citizens panel to recommend an appropriate choice to the treasury secretary. She is hoping to build on the work of Women on 20s, a national campaign pushing for new $20 bills by 2020, the 100th anniversary of the constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote.

"I think there are a lot of opportunities that we sometimes don't think about to point out the significant contributions women have made in U.S. history," Shaheen said. "And this is one of those opportunities."

I think Harriet Tubman was especially brave upon reading her story. A conductor in the underground railroad that freed 70 or more slaves who was also a Union spy sounds pretty intriguing. Hell, a Harriet Tubman movie or even a Netflix series would be something worth watching. However, she did seem very religious and that might make some liberals uncomfortable.

Legalizing Pot in America is Now over 50%

It seems that pot legalization is a ball rolling down hill now.

A new Pew Research Center poll has found that 53 percent of Americans believe marijuana use should be legalized. Twenty-one percent of Americans surveyed by Pew have changed their minds about marijuana and no longer oppose legalization. Meanwhile, a new poll from Bloomberg Politics shows that 58 percent of Americans expect pot to be legalized in all 50 states within the next two decades. Marijuana is already legal in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, and Oregon.

I think Hawaii should get on this list as fast as possible. Home Depot plant sections will have to be beefed up to handle all the rush.

What is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Why it is Not Global Warming the Cause of the California Drought

It seems that a weird hot ocean blob and not a hot air blob (Al Gore) that might be the cause of the California drought.

The anomaly has spread out over the last 12 months, with warm water showing up all the way from Alaska to the central Mexican coast. Physical oceanographers have speculated that the blob is influenced by a major climate pattern known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a combination of several phenomena that have the effect of warming water across the eastern Pacific for periods of 4 to 20 years.

I guess California needs to start building desalinization plants to turn seawater into drinking water soon. If the drought lasts for 20 years it will drastically change things going forward. I think some of the fruit growing in California needs to be moved to other parts of the country.

Hillary is too Busy Paying the Mortgages on her Homes to Leave a Tip at Chipotle

I'm sure she will be tipping from here on in when she is pretending to be an everyman by going to Chipotle.

"Her bill was $20 and some change, and they paid with $21 and left" without putting anything in a tip jar on the counter, Charles Wright, the manager at the Maumee, Ohio, Chipotle restaurant told Bloomberg. 

Wearing large sunglasses, Clinton wasn't recognized by any of the workers at the fast-food Mexican chain when she and Huma Abedin, the vice chairwoman of her presidential campaign, ordered a chicken burrito bowl, a chicken salad, a blackberry Izzy, and a soda. 

"The other lady paid the bill," Wright said of one of Clinton's dark-haired companions. "Clinton didn't pay."

I'm sure Hillary's dodge will be if she had paid she would have left a $20 tip or other nonsense. Although you have to remember that Hillary probably hasn't paid for anything directly or carried cash in years. That is what body people like Huma Abedin are there for.

How Minimum Wage Hike Advocates can Win the Argument: Raising Wages Lowers Welfare Spending

This argument might be able to get some Republicans on the side of a minimum wage hike.

But it turns out a lot of those people overlap: a majority of public benefits go to working families, a new analysis from two Berkeley economists finds. Their work shows that $152 billion in public programs like Medicaid and welfare — 56 percent of overall spending — goes toward supporting low-wage workers.

So if they tie a minimum wage hike to a reduction in Medicaid and welfare spending you might be able to get more conservatives on their side. There just needs to be a sweet spot where the minimum wage can actually reduce the need for these programs. That might be $10.10 an hour or whatever but the CBO needs to look into this.

Oh oh, Hillary is Going to Fight Your Children and their Families. Expect No Quarter!

Damn Hillary is trying to get that bulldog mentality started.

"From her mother's own childhood—in which she was abandoned by her parents—to her work going door-to-door for the Children's Defense Fund to battling to create the Children's Health Insurance Program, she's fought children and their families all her career."

I'm not sure if she fought just the children or the families or both at the same time. The problem is she fought them her entire career. That must have been thousands of families and children roughed up at the fists of Hillary. Also I have to wonder if she all the children rushed her at once during the fight. You would figure they would get the upper hand if they all came at her at once. Or maybe she fought the children one at a time so not have these kind of groups coming at her.

Rubio Adds Hat to Ring: Wake me up When Everyone is In so I can Begin the Horserace

Hillary on Sunday and now Marco Rubio on Monday.

Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced his bid for U.S. president to top donors on Monday, ahead of his formal announcement at a political rally at 6 p.m. EST in his hometown of Miami.

Rubio, a 43-year-old Cuban-American, presented his campaign as a youthful, next-generation alternative to business-as-usual politics and the Washington establishment. 

Actually I would vote for Rubio over Jeb Bush, Hillary, Rand Paul and "Batboy" Cruz. I would like to see another young President even though the last young President we had was a dismal flop. Unfortunately, Rubio seems like he won't get the nomination because of his stand on immigration reform. There are just too many nativists still in the GOP fold to let that stand go. 

In a way I wouldn't mind seeing Carly Fiorina throw her hat in the ring. I mean she has run a large organization before (and it wasn't just a National campaign like Obama) and would be good at the executive aspects of President. However, she was not a good CEO at HP so that would probably hurt her. In any case as long as it isn't Clinton vs. Bush I don't mind.

The French McDonalds sounds like Heaven on Earth #BlueCheeseBurger

I think the US McDonalds needs to start playing from the French McDonalds playbook.

I'm not the only one who has been impressed by the spread offered in French McDonald's restaurants.

NPR pointed out in 2012 that eating in McDonald's in France "doesn't feel like fast food" because they are spacious, "tastefully decorated," and "encourage people to take their time" while they're enjoying their meals.

A paper from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business reported that same year that McDonald's has been successful in France because the chain has adapted to French eating habits, NPR noted.

The thing that seriously caught my eye is the Blue Cheese Burger on the right which looks outstanding:

This display is what you order on in France. You actually select your meal and pay for it at this display. The Kiosk then prints a paper that you then take to the food preparation area. That is where they would make the 3 Blue Cheese burgers that I would order.

Anti-Gay Marriage Pizzaria Reopens

It's good that they are deciding to keep the concern going.

O'Connor closed the shop for eight days after comments by him and his daughter, Crystal, to a local television station supporting a new religious objections law. The law, which has since been revised, sparked a boycott of Indiana.

O'Connor said the criticism hasn't changed his beliefs. He said gays are welcome in his restaurant in the small, one-traffic-light town of Walkerton, 20 miles southwest of South Bend, but that he would decline to cater a same-sex wedding because it would conflict with his Christian beliefs.

The correct answer to these questions should be "I do not cater weddings" and then repeat it over and over until the media gets tired of asking the question. That way you don't have to discriminate against either gay or strait weddings and just ignore this issue all together. 

A person's religious beliefs then will not get in the way of providing a service because they will not be providing the service. This goes for bakeries too. If a Christian baker feels strongly enough to discriminate against a gay marriage then just don't make wedding cakes at all.

Holy Crap the Iranian Oil Bomb will Be Huge: Time to Short Oil even Harder?

Iran is sitting on a huge glut of unsold oil and shuttered production. According to this article once sanctions are lifted they will unleash all of this on the already weak market.

But once those steps are complete, Iran will quickly look to sell off approximately 35 million barrels of surplus, stored oil for which it has apparently not managed to find buyers. Analysts don’t seem to make much of this ready inventory, but if Tehran sells it in 500,000-barrel-a-day increments—a reasonable pace—it could send an already-saturated market back into a price nosedive for more than two months.

That $50 per barrel oil we have now will look like a tall ceiling if you add this amount of stockpiled oil to the global stockpile.

But that isn’t all. After that, Iran will push production back up at currently producing fields. Until the sanctions hit in 2012, Iran produced 3.6 million barrels of oil a day, of which it exported about 2.5 million. Today, it produces much less—about 2.8 million barrels a day—and exports just 1.1 million.

So Iranian oil exports will shoot up for the rest of the year. Also the Iranians will want to sell this stuff at rock bottom prices to raise its cash reserves for proxy wars and such. So there will be lots of $15 a barrel Iranian oil sloshing around. You add to the fact that rock bottom oil prices put a thumb in the eye of the Iranian enemies who are the Saudi's and Americans with their shale oil and you get a double bonus if you are the Mullahs.

The Millennials are Gunshy: Only 26% in the Market

Too bad they didn't get in during college or they would have participated in one of the great bull markets of all time. Instead they are shying away in droves.

The kids are scared of the stock market.

Just 26% of people under 30 are investing in stocks, according to a survey published Thursday by Bankrate.com, a personal finance site. That’s compared with 58% of people between the ages of 50 and 64.

One of the reason why seems to be the millenials don't understand the market.

Of all of the age groups in Bankrate’s survey, 18- to 30-year-olds were the most likely to cite not knowing enough about the market when asked why they weren’t investing. In fact, 38% of survey respondents under 30 gave that reason for staying away from stocks. 

This goes to show you how poor financial education is in America. The concepts really aren't that hard to fathom and just getting into a cheap Vanguard S&P500 Index Fund would be enough for many Millineals to have participated in this last bull market.

However, seeing the Great Recession first-hand has made them hold onto cash and eschew debt (63% don't have Credit Cards.) That means when they finally come off the sidelines a great ocean of cash will be unleashed onto the markets. Hopefully, some of those profits will be used to get rid of their student loan debts and the economy will really be humming along.  

Iran May Kill Nuclear Deal?: Um Iran you Will not get a better one because there won't be a Desperate President on the Other End

I guess this is posturing and chest-pounding from the Mullahs because they will never get a better deal then the one the US is giving up.

On Thursday, both the Ayatollah and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani again insisted that all sanctions be removed as soon as a deal is reached, or implemented. 
"We will not sign any agreement, unless all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the first day of the implementation of the deal," Rouhani said during a ceremony marking Iran's nuclear technology day, which celebrates the country's nuclear achievements. 

I hope they realize that Obama is a desperate President that is trying to do anything he can to create some type of legacy. This deal is golden for Iran. They get rid of sanctions and can still enrich uranium if they want to. They can get the bomb if they choose right after the 10 year waiting period. They will not get a better deal because they will probably never see such a desperate President in the White House for decades.

#ImNoAngel: The Victoria Secret's Backlash!

I have to admit that I have never really found the Victoria's Secret Angels very attractive. But there seems to be a bit of a backlash brewing.

Perhaps the most overt prosecution of Victoria’s Secret’s core beliefs is Lane Bryant’s latest ad campaign for its plus-size lingerie line Cacique. Featuring popular models Ashley Graham, Marquita Pring,Candice Huffine, Victoria Lee, Justine Legaultand, and Elly Mayday, it’s called #ImNoAngel. “We admire Victoria’s Secret and what they’ve done, it’s an amazing brand, but we also feel that they are very narrow potentially in their appeal and in defining what beauty is,” Linda Heasley, the company’s CEO tells Yahoo Style. 

I think it would be a good idea for Victoria Secret to increase their sizes a bit so that they can cater to a larger slice of women.

Brian Williams Future: The New Larry King?

Hmm, this is a very interesting article about the behind the scenes goings on at NBC news during the Brian Williams lying scandal. The article can easily be blown up and used for an HBO docu-drama about that whole affair. This morsel I found especially interesting.

Williams’s future, NBC insiders insist, remains up in the air. He and Andy Lack are close friends, leading to widespread speculation that Lack will reinstate him once his suspension is complete. But people close to Lack say nothing has yet been decided. Many NBC observers simply can’t imagine a network anchorman ever returning to his former position after being exposed as Williams has. The most Machiavellian scenario, floated by an NBC partisan, is that Jeff Zucker, whose distaste for Comcast executives is well known, has fanned the flames of controversy so that he can eventually snare Williams for CNN—not as a newsman but as the long-sought replacement for Larry King. “That’s the perfect solution,” a source says. “Zucker gets a star, and Brian gets the talk show he always wanted.”

I can see Williams at CNN interviewing people like Larry King did back in the day. He won't be in front of people day-after-day like a news anchor but can still do some hard news by interviewing political figures. He would also get a chance to talk to celebs and sports figures like King did. 

Some hard news with a little soft news thrown in but not having to do a monologue like he would have had to do if he took over the Tonight Show. He could even make it a Daily Show or that HBO show with John Oliver but without the jokiness of that format. I would actually watch this show from time to time because I actually enjoy the Brian Williams that I would see interviewed on the Tonight Show or Daily Show. This CNN show would be the perfect book-end to this whole affair.