5 Stocks that Might Benefit from the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

Well it seems that ALS research is getting a big bump from people dumping ice water on their heads and giving money to fight the disease.

Besides the millions of viral videos now circulating the web, there is an entire force of big pharmaceutical companies and non-profit clinics and universities hunting for a cure. The record influx of funds supporting Lou Gehrig’s disease may help them hone in on one.

In August, the ALS Association began putting those donations to work, awarding scientists with 21 new research grants valued at $3.5 million, it said in a report.

The stocks are:

Biogen IDEC (BIIB)Their drug dexpramipexole failed in a late stage trial but they are going back to drawing board to see what they can salvage.

Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. (AVNR) Their drug Nuedexta is supposed to treat pseudobulbar affect which is uncontrollabe laughing and crying. It might be used to help with ALS because some of them have this affliction as well.

Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ISIS) They have a very early stage drug called ISIS-SOD1-Rx that is being studied right now to help with ALS. I'm long this stock.

Sanofi (SNY) They developed the only therapy for ALS which is a drug called Rilutek. It extends the life of an ALS patient but doesn't cure it.

Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. (BMY) Their immune modulation therapies might be useful in treating ALS. This is from the ALS Forum:

BMS currently is developing a therapy aimed at microtubule stabilization. In addition, BMS has a large program aimed at immune modulation. Both microtubule stabilization and immune modulation could be potential opportunities for ALS therapeutics. [Updated: August 9, 2013]

BMS currently is developing a therapy aimed at microtubule stabilization. In addition, BMS has a large program aimed at immune modulation. Both microtubule stabilization and immune modulation could be potential opportunities for ALS therapeutics. [Updated: August 9, 2013] - See more at: http://www.researchals.org/page/4805/?filter_stage=&filter_location=&filter_class=Small+Molecule#sthash.G8GGvF9a.dpuf

They Found the Missing Global Warming Heat: It's in the Atlantic Ocean

I was wondering where it went.

In 1999, the feverish rise in Earth's surface temperatures suddenly slowed, even as greenhouse gas emissions escalated. This unexpected slowdown has been called a global warming hiatus or global warming pause. Most climate scientists don't think this hiatus means global warming went kaput, but the reason (or reasons) for the slowdown has scientists flummoxed. Researchers have offered more than two dozen ideas to explain the missing heat.

Now, a study published today (Aug. 21) in the journal Science suggests a natural climate cycle in the North Atlantic Ocean gobbled Earth's extra heat. While the study is unlikely to settle the scientific debate, it does support the idea that Earth's global warming continues in the ocean, even when air temperatures stay flat.

Of course this cycle won't last forever and will stop in 2030 for some reason or another. They say it is a 30 year cycle though so in 2060 it should start back up again. So maybe all the climate doom-and-gloom models need to be adjusted for ocean heat trapping.

This is exactly why people bristle at Climate Change Science. Nothing is sure and it is constantly moving and changing like any other kind of science. The so-called "settled science" argument that will cause the UN to make sure the Chinese and Indians keep their people in poverty is such bunk.

Student Suspended for Saying "Bless You" to Someone Who Sneezed

This is just outrageous any way you look at it.

“She said that we’re not going to have godly speaking in her class," Turner said, "and that’s when I said we have a constitutional right. ... It’s all right to defend God and it’s our constitutional right, because we have a freedom of religion and freedom of speech."

Turner was sent to the administrator's office, where she finished the class period with an "in-school suspension," WMC said.

The 1st Amendment says that the Congress can make no law against the free exercise of religion. So saying bless you to someone that sneezed is free exercise of religion. It must take a lot of faith to be an atheist.

Millennials Insanely Risk Averse Study Finds

I guess the Great Recession can do that to a group of people just starting their fiscal lives.

Unfortunately, millennials have a basic misunderstanding of risk. BlackRock's "Global Investor Pulse" survey found that almost half of its 4,000 participants were opposed to taking any risk with their money, keeping it in cash or bonds. The participants included investors of all ages, "with those born in the late 1970s and after leading the way." 

The problem is all-cash will get eroded away by inflation. Just some low-fee index funds or even some dividend rich income funds are better than cash. I blame this on lack of financial literacy for millennials.

The Checked-Out President: Tells Harry Reid to "Work it Out:

I guess Harry Reid knows that Obama is so-over this President thing.

With Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, sitting a few feet away, Mr. Reid complained that Senate Republicans were spitefully blocking the confirmation of dozens of Mr. Obama’s nominees to serve as ambassadors. He expected that the president would back him up and urge Mr. McConnell to relent.

Mr. Obama quickly dismissed the matter.

“You and Mitch work it out,” Mr. Obama said coolly, cutting off any discussion.

Mr. Reid seethed quietly for the rest of the meeting, according to four separate accounts provided by people who spoke with him about it. After his return to the Capitol that afternoon, Mr. Reid told other senators and his staff members that he was astonished by how disengaged the president seemed. After all, these were Mr. Obama’s own ambassadors who were being blocked by Mr. McConnell, and Secretary of State John Kerry had been arguing for months that getting them installed was an urgent necessity for the administration.

Yeah, these are Obama's own nominees that are supposed to be urgently needed. Instead he is like "Dingy Harry work it out." Politics are sooo beneath him. Maybe if Harry Reid was a noted artist, Jay-Z, or a Nobel prize winning economist Obama would have gave him the time of day. Instead he is merely a grubby Majority Leader of the Senate. I think Obama needs to resign and become Democratic Party Chairman and let Biden finish off his term.

A Hillary Speech Does Not Come Cheap; She is a Political Rock Star baby!

Talk about a money making opportunity!

The paper reported Saturday on specifics of the contract for Clinton's speech at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation fundraiser in October. Clinton will receive $225,000 for speaking at the dinner. In exchange, she will attend for 90 minutes and pose for a maximum of 50 photographs with no more than 100 people. That's a discount: Her regular fee is $300,000, Myers reported.

I guess she can barely afford "houses" with that kind of money. Oh and she is a rock star alright with some rock star demands as well:

Co-host Ron Claiborne read off some of Clinton's specifications for her events -- which include travel on a private jet, a presidential suite to stay in, and the presence of a stenographer -- prompting Harris to ask, "Did she specify which color M&M's she would like?"

Two Important Numbers to Investors

This is an interesting way of looking at the American economy and the Stock Market.

American corporations earned $4.62 billion of net income on Monday. Financial advisors, analysts, and brokers, collected $630 million in fees. No media outlet reported these figures, despite being the two most important numbers necessary to understanding investing.

Also here is why economic numbers are viewed so differently:

A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the economy added 209,000 jobs last month. An economist from a right-leaning think tank called the report disappointing. Another at a left-leaning organization called it encouraging. Neither has a reputable track record. Both yelled. The jobs report has a margin of error of plus or minus 100,000, and will be revised seven times in the coming years. No one whose outlook was swayed by the report said they care about these details.

I swear economist is the only job where you can be wrong 90% of the time and still get paid by right/left leaning think-tanks. At least a weatherman is correct some of the time. Just not when you want to go to the beach.

Is Hillary Blowing Her Presidential Chances Again? She still has 2 years to go!

Hillary just can't win.

There's a nightmare scenario for Clinton supporters lurking under the surface of these critiques of her campaign skills: the idea that 2016 would be a repeat of 2008. Right now, as a powerful front-runner, Clinton is in a similar position to the one she enjoyed heading into that race. Her slew of stumbles have raised the possibility she could end the race in the same position as 2008 — bested by an opponent who was more electrifying and better able to connect with the public on the campaign trail.

It seems that she is in the same boat as she was when Obama knocked her off in the last election. Maybe Elizabeth Warren or even Joe Biden might want to start up the political machine. Hillary looks vulnerable again.

Wait, Matt Lauer is Not the Dad? Could Have Fooled Me

I heard that Savannah Guthrie just had a kid. However, this photo makes me think that Matt Lauer is the dad and not some other guy.

In fact this comment about the real father is supposed to be funny but is immasculating at the same time.

How is the TV journalist's husband, Mike Feldman, adjusting to life as a first-time father? "You know how fussy he gets!" Savannah said with a laugh. "I've gotta put him down for his nap or he's so cranky."

Haha, the father of your child is like a child himself. Funny stuff. Maybe we need Montel Williams to sort all this out.

Apple's China Opportunity: Massive is an Understatement

It seems that there is huge opportunity to bring iPhones to the Chinese.

The biggest opportunity for Apple in China is likely to come from its new partnership to sell iPhones at the world's largest carrier, China Mobile. The carrier just recently started rolling out its 4G LTE in the country, and the early results of the customer acquisition trajectory is startling.

So far there is 8 million 4G LTE customers in China. However, there are 779 million non 4G LTE customers for them to go after. Even if they get a fraction of that number it will seriously move the needle.

Robin Williams Daughter Chased off of Social Media

Now this is a sad commentary on how people are treated by Anon-assholes online.

While the 25-year-old actress's social media accounts were flooded with mostly well wishes, a few anonymous users criticized the fact she didn't post enough pictures of her father; several sent graphic photoshopped images along with crude and hateful remarks.

"I will be leaving this account for a [sic] but while I heal and decide if I'll be deleting it or not. In this difficult time, please try to be respectful of the accounts of myself, my family and my friends," she shared on Instagram alongside a photo of a butterfly. "Mining our accounts for photos of dad, or judging me on the number of them is cruel and unnecessary. There are a couple throughout, but the real private moments I shared with him were precious, quiet, and believe it or not, not full of photos or 'selfies'.

So they attacked her for not having enough pictures of her dad on social media? I'm glad I deleted my Facebook because people out in social media land are nuts.

6-Sigma Event In Junk Bonds?

It seems that people are pulling their money out of junk bonds to the tune of $7.1 billion.

"HY flowmageddon," said Goldman Sachs' Charles Himmelberg in a research note we saw via @lebullmarche. "This is the largest HY outflow on record – a 6-sigma event when flows are scaled by mutual fund assets under management!"

Sigma is another way of saying standard deviation. And the greater the number of standard deviations, the more unlikely the event.

A 6-sigma event is extremely rare. If you want to put a number to it, think 1 in 500 million. According to Business Insider quant reporter Andy Kiersz, it's like flipping a coin 29 times in a row and getting heads each time. It's like rolling a die 11 times in a row and getting 6 each time.

Some people are saying that it is a good entry point because the companies that are issuing the debt are still in pretty good shape. The economy is growing fairly well so you don't have to worry about the risk of a downturn.

200 Day Moving Average Test Might Be a Good Entry Point

Hopefully, the last correction might have opened up another buying opportunity.

Craig Johnson, senior technical analyst at Piper Jaffray, is also bullish on the Dow. Tests of the index’s 200-day moving average have “proven to be great buying opportunities” over the past few years, he said. That’s because an uptrend he sees as beginning in 2011 is still intact.

“This to me looks and feels like just a normal pullback, correction right back to the 200-day, and a great buying opportunity,” Johnson said. “At this pullback here, we’re starting to look a little bit oversold.”

Teen Choice Awards Rigged?

I guess the rules are such that they can pretty much pick anyone and ignore the "so-called" fan vote.

Winners for the Teen Choice Awards are determined using the votes cast on Teenchoiceawards.com. Votes are tabulated electronically and winners are determined based on the nominees in each category with the highest number of eligible votes.  Teenasaurus Rox reserves the right to choose the winner from the top four vote getters. The Olay Fresh Effects Breakout Star Award and Ultimate Choice Award were both chosen by Teenasaurus Rox.

 I wonder what would have been wrong with just tabulating the winners like a week before and then giving them to Accounting firm. Then they invite the people that won and if they cannot make it have their industry friend (or their biggest fan) accept the award in their behalf. Instead they say that it is fan votes that pick the winner when it is actually done by the management.

Montana Might have Lost Its Senate Candidate?

I guess this is why you don't copy your Masters Thesis in college.

But then in July, The New York Times reported that Walsh, while a master's candidate at the United States Army War College "appropriated at least a quarter of his thesis on American Middle East policy from other authors’ works, with no attribution." 

Walsh's campaign has been in a spiral ever since. His camp initially attributed the plagiarism to his struggle with PTSD, but he has thus far been unable to contain the damage. 

On Tuesday, two Montana newspapers called on Walsh to quit the race. 

He hasn't been heard from since. 

The New York Times took down a Democrat? I'm sure the liberal establishment are going crazy over that fact.

Tea Party Group Stealing With Both Hands: Now the Tea Party is Like Everyone Else in Washington

It all started so well. Now it has become a mess.

This week, ProPublica released a report on the financial (and moral) corruption of a Tea Party group operating under the name Move America Forward, which was founded by one Sal Russo. Russo also helped start the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, aka the Tea Party Express. Move America Forward has run fake drives to give care packages to troops, stolen images of other charitable campaigns and passed them off as its own, and trumpeted a nonexistent partnership with Walter Reed Hospital — all while funneling very real millions to itself. The group is an industry leader at taking your Tea Party sentiments (if you have them) and turning them into profits.

They are turning your anger of government bloat and spending into fat stacks of cash that they are putting into their pockets. I hope they bury this Sal Russo character underneath the jail.

People Suck at Figuring Out Risk: They Fear the Rare and Ignore the Common

These numbers kind of blew me away.

How many miles would you have to drive by car until the risk of dying is the same as in a nonstop flight? I have asked this to dozens of expert audiences. The answers are all over the place: one thousand miles, ten thousand miles, driving three times around the world. However, the best estimate is twelve miles. Yes, only twelve. If your car makes it safely to the airport, the most dangerous part of your trip is likely already behind you.

Yeah 12 miles. This article also points out that more people die in car crashes in 5 hours than have died all this year in airplane crashes. This part is stunning as well:

Ebola has also been in the news this week, scaring people around the world. Ebola has killed 1,590 people since it was identified in the 1970s, according to the World Health Organization. Measles -- which faces a vaccination backlash -- kills about as many people every 96 hours.

Yet there is all sorts of fear factor when it comes to the Ebola outbreak. There is no talk of the measles outbreak and how deaths will go up considerably if people stop vaccinating their children. But there is no cure for ebola and there is a cure for measles so of course people are scared to death of it.

A case in point can be drawn from Hawaii and 2 hurricanes bearing down on us. I heard on the news there is like a 5% chance of there being winds over 50 miles per hour. So what do people do? They rush to Costco and stock up on tons of bottled water and noodles. At Sam's Club there were lines that went the length of the store to pay for something that will probably not be needed. Also I wonder if these people bought piles of bottled water when we had a Tsunami about a year ago? I mean water doesn't go bad. I guess this is where you get the term sheeple from.

There might be Sapphire on the iPhone 6 after all

This debate goes back and forth but an analyst did some math and inventory buildup might be evidence that the iPhone 6 will have a Sapphire display.

As the chart shows, GT has been building up a significant backlog of deferred revenue in recent quarters. While a portion of that is from its other products, the company reports that amount and it represents about $65 million in equipment as of the end of last quarter. When that’s subtracted out of the total, it leaves $154 million that Margolis says can pretty much only be sapphire. He believes Apple is paying $8-10 per screen for the material from GT (the finished goods price will be higher after it’s processed by Apple’s contract manufacturers) so that alone represents 15-19 million screens worth of sapphire.

“What this means is GT is already sitting on enough sapphire to satisfy Apple’s needs for the iPhone 6 launch in September,” Margolis said. “This deal was in the making for 2 years. They’ve been preparing this for quite some time.”

15-19 million screens seems to be a decent amount for the first run of iPhone 6s. They will probably fly off the shelves and GT Advanced will have to seriously churn out the Sapphire going forward. This article says that number needs to be 10 million screens a month in order to keep ahead of demand.

Microsoft Lost $1.73 Billion on the Surface

Ballmer's legacy of failure continues.

Keizer did his own back-of-the-envelope calculation to estimate that Microsoft has lost $1.73 billion since the Surface’s debut in 2012. The total loss for FY2014 was $680 million, and it was $1.049 million for the year before, according to Keizer.

His calculations also revealed that in the June 2014 quarter alone, the Surface had lost $363 million, the largest quarterly loss for the Surface since Microsoft started releasing quarterly revenue figures.

He said some of the losses was due to massive write-offs from the Surface Mini, which never hit the market despite being ready for production, out of fear it would not sell well. 

I think the newest version of the Surface is pretty decent for the most part. However, I would still rather own a Nexus or an iPad.

Looks like iPhone 6 Release Date is Sept 8th

Lots of rumors and innuendo but this might be the date we see the new iPhone6.

September 9 is the date pegged by re/code today and it should be taken seriously. Re/code was founded by Wall Street Journal industry pillars Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher and after years of hosting talks with the biggest names in tech (they once got Bill Gates and Steve Jobs on the sofa together) the duo are among the best connected journalists in the industry.

I wonder if anyone will be lining up for that date or not?

Strange Sign that there is Lots of Excess Money Sloshing Around in the Economy

I was reading an article on the best performing alternative investments and I came across this line.

The same forces propelling markets are also raising prices for companies private-equity firms want to buy. Dry powder -- buyout money that has yet to be deployed -- stood at a record $1.16 trillion as of June 30, according to Preqin. 

“Prices are very high,” Black said at the Milken Conference. “It’s still not a robust environment for private equity. We are continuing to sell more than we are buying.” 

The combination of too much dry powder and a great deal of demand has created a dilemma for executives such as Blackstone President Tony James, whose firm manages a total of $279 billion in alternative investments. He says Blackstone has been turning away money because the New York-based firm can’t find prudent ways to spend it. 

So there is $1.16 trillion sitting on the sidelines because prices are too high? On one hand that is quite bit of money left to pop things higher. I mean that is a real first world problem to have so much money to be deployed you are turning away new investors. On the other hand if prices are so high that no one will deploy that money then maybe things are just over valued. Hopefully, we can get a nice 10% or more correction and this dry-powder will power us to new highs. 

Windows 9 for Free? Sign me up!

It seems that Microsoft is mulling offering a free upgrade for Windows XP, Vista, and 7 owners.

The company is reportedly considering offering some sort of Windows 9 upgrade deal to XP, Vista and Windows 7 users, with a completely free upgrade option also on the table. This isn’t the first time free Windows 9 upgrade rumors have hit the web, but previous reports suggested that Windows Threshold (Windows 9’s internal codename) might launch as a free download to Windows 8.1 Update, and Windows 7 Service Pack 1 owners.

I think this is a great idea because most people with XP need to buy a new machine anyway because it couldn't run Windows 9. Also most people holding onto Windows 7 and dodging Windows 8 will upgrade for sure if it is offered as a free download. With Ballmer gone Microsoft is like a different company.

Israeli Left Turn on Obama: I guess Barack Has No Friends Left From the River Jordan to the Sea

I guess all of Israel now understands that Obama is no friend of theirs after all this time.

Consequently, the harshest criticisms of the administration’s pro-Hamas position were heard from quarters where rarely a peep of criticism for Obama has been heard.
The Israeli Left went ballistic.

Haaretz, the far-left broadsheet that has seldom taken issue with even the harshest rejections of Israel’s rights, went bananas after its reporter Barak Ravid received the details of Kerry’s cease-fire agreement. As Ravid put it, Kerry’s document, “might as well have been penned by Khaled Mashaal. It was everything Hamas could have hoped for.”

Ravid continued, “What Kerry’s draft spells for the internal Palestinian political arena is even direr: It crowns Hamas and issues Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a death warrant.”

The Israeli Right understands that Obama really hates them and can barely hold his anger when he talks with Netanyahu. Now the Left understands that they might need to wait for 2016 before they get an occupant of the White House that will back them up with actions and not just words.

Obamacare More Unliked Than Ever before

It seems that Obamacare has sunk to a new low in peoples' eyes.

Kaiser Family Foundation, which has done arguably the best and most consistent polling on the health-care law in the past four-plus years, found that public opinion on the law sank to a record low in July. More people than ever (53 percent) last month said they viewed the law unfavorably, an increase of 8 percentage points since June — one of the biggest opinion swings ever.

The Kaiser Family Foundation has no idea why it dropped so much from one month to the next. Maybe people are just tired of listening to stories about it?

Strange Fact: Romney Won 19 and 20 Year Olds? Maybe Obama just Let Them Down

It seems that big government failures and Obama had soured them on liberalism.

In fact, there may be more than one Millennial generation: an older cohort that came of age during the George W. Bush years and identifies strongly with Obama’s progressive agenda, and a more skeptical younger cohort, whose political awareness has been shaped by Obama’s first term. Research by George Washington University’s John Sides and UCLA’s Lynn Vavreck shows that younger Millennials went heavily for Mitt Romney in the 2012 election. The GOP nominee won 59 percent of 19-year-olds and 54 percent of 20-year-olds. “Only among ‘the oldest of the youngest’—21-year-olds, whose political memories would have been forged during Obama’s first year in office and perhaps during his first presidential campaign—did Obama win a clear majority (75 percent),” Sides wrote. 

Obama's second term we had the White House scandal outbreak (IRS, VA, Bergdahl, Bengazi, NSA. Fast and Furious, etc.) the government not being able to build a web site in 3 years after billions were spent, and 4 different hot wars all going on at once.

A new generation of post-Millennials could be emerging now. They’ve seen the yawning gap between what big government promises and what it can deliver. They don’t trust Washington to protect their privacy any more than they trust Silicon Valley not to exploit their personal information. They’ve witnessed the chaos that results when the world’s most powerful nation leads from behind in world affairs. They were born into a world of on-demand options and personalized services and can’t understand why they only get two choices when it comes to politics.  

I too cannot understand why we have only two choices when it comes to politics. There should be a moderate party as a home for fiscally conservative Democrats and Republicans who don't agree with the Tea Party assholes or the Commies on the far left.

There should be a far left environmental party that is all about solving global warming and helping the environment. Maybe a socially conservative party that doesn't care about fiscal matters and only care about stopping abortion and such. There can even be a technocrat party that talks about more visas for coders, net neutrality and would push back against the NSA when it comes to privacy.

A coalition government would need to form who will be forced to compromise on things to get the support of the various factions. I mean it cannot be any worse than what we have now where compromise is a dirty word and Ted Cruz pretty much runs the entire 234 member House of Representatives with some pizza.

Hezbollah Fighting in Iraq? What?

I guess the Syrian civil war is moving to a new theater of operations.

Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Shi'ite Islamist group, has not previously announced any role in the conflict in Iraq, which escalated last month when radical Sunni militants seized large areas of territory from the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Four sources in Lebanon named the Hezbollah commander as Ibrahim al-Haj, a technical specialist involved in training. They said he was "martyred" in a battle near Mosul, a city in northern Iraq seized from government control last month by an al Qaeda offshoot known as the Islamic State.

ISIS vs Hezbollah? I wonder who gets martyred when they use suicide bombers against one another?

Tea Party Assholes Torpedo Immigrant Aid Bill

Well we have to hand it to the obstructionist/stupidity wing of the GOP again.

But even significant concessions by leadership weren't enough to secure support from a small band of tea party lawmakers reluctant to give money to President Barack Obama without taking steps to rein in his executive authority on immigration.

Those lawmakers were goaded on by firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who summoned them for pizza Wednesday evening to strategize against the bill.

Faced with weak conservative support for the $659 million border bill, GOP leaders agreed late Wednesday to schedule a second vote on legislation to block Obama from extending deportation relief to more immigrants here illegally, beyond the 500,000 that have already benefited from a program he created.

So "Batboy Cruz" had the gall to come down to the House so that they will do nothing on a bill to appropriate emergency money? Even that paltry amount could not be appropriated from the "do-nothing" House. Now they go on a 5-week vacation so they can raise money to go back.What a joke.

Paul Ryan Believes in Climate Change: Well He Believes that the Climate is Changing

I think his stance is similar to mine.

"Climate change occurs no matter what," Ryan said Wednesday, as quoted by CNN. "The question is, can and should the federal government do something about it?"

"And I would argue the federal government, with all its tax and regulatory schemes, can't. And all it will do is end up hurting our country, our people and especially low-income individuals," he added.

The Climate might be changing but what we do about it is the rub. Do we damage our economy and put a "carbon burden" on poor people just to *maybe* slow down warming? This is especially bad if we have to lead by example. The Red Chinese wouldn't mind if we put burdens on our economy to maybe reduce warming by 2 degrees over a 100 years. 

Apple Eyes New Revenue Stream: Turning your IPhone into a Credit Card

I think this idea might have the potential to be quite lucrative depending on how they implement it.

The tech giant is reportedly looking at getting into the mobile payment business. According to published reports, Apple is said to be in talks with credit card companies to create a service that would allow users to pay for items with the iPhones acting as credit cards.

With Apple now trading near its split-adjusted all-time highs, what will such a service mean for its stock? Gina Sanchez, founder of Chantico Global, believes this would be a potentially big deal for the company.

“Everybody is waiting for the next big thing because that’s what Apple is known for,” said Sanchez, a CNBC contributor. She noted that mobile payments are estimated to grow to $90 billion in 2017, from $12.8 billion in 2012, according to Forrester Research.

 
If they can take a cut of each transaction this could build up pretty quickly. It is high margin business as well. If I bought an iPhone6 I would certainly set it up to pay with my debit card instead of having to reach into my pocket.

Sarah Palin Looks Dumb Again: Couldn't name the 12 Democrats it Would take to Impeach Obama

Why is she still in the public eye?

Palin, a Fox News contributor who is launching her own online subscription news channel, responded to this request for specificity, in part, like this: “Who are these Democrats? You gotta know that there are still Reagan Democrats and Blue Dog Democrats, those who will stiffen their spines and do the right thing because both sides of the aisle, both political parties have so many problems that a lot of Americans maybe were registered in a party, we believe in the planks in one or the other party, but we’re independent. And I believe that there are elected, independent Democrats who will do the right thing.”

Okay. “But who are they?” Medved asked, noting that he could think of one potential Democrat — Joe Manchin of West Virginia. When Medved mentioned him, Palin responded, “Yeah, he’s good.”

Okay you have one Democrat. What is more he would probably be thrown out of the caucus if he would be stupid enough to go along with Palin. What is so very funny is that an impeachment vote would take like a year or more to wind its way through the House and Senate. Obama is impeached automatically by term limits just one year later. 

Wait Antarctica's Ice Sheet Expansion is Due to an error that is 23 Years Old?

This is one of the reasons why people have trouble trusting climate science.

But a new study by scientists from NASA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography found that a processing error originating from a recalibration made to satellite readings made in 1991 resulted in an artificial jump in Antarctic sea ice extent that was not apparent until the data was reprocessed in 2007.

This means that Antarctic sea ice coverage may have not been accelerating as fast as was previously thought, according to the study’s authors.

“Here, we show that much of the increase in the reported trend occurred due to the previously undocumented effect of a change in the way the satellite sea ice observations are processed for the widely used Bootstrap algorithm data set, rather than a physical increase in the rate of ice advance,” writes lead author Ian Eisenman, a climate researcher at Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and others.

So this error is 23 years old and was only discovered after this algorithm was used for 18 years? In other words the Antarctic sea ice calculation has been wrong for two decades? This is case-in-point why people have such trouble believing climate science. This begs the question what other decades old errors are in the models that we are supposed to base tens-of-billions of dollars of spending on? Climate science so so complicated that these kind of errors really raise a bunch of doubt on the extent of climate change.   

Satanists Seek Hobby Lobby Exemption

I guess this is what you call the slippery slope.

If Christian business owners cannot be compelled to violate their faith, why should the same protection not apply to Satanists? That's the argument the Satanic Temple is making to claim that, in the wake of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling, women who share their beliefs should not be forced to follow some of the more restrictive state-level abortion laws to crop up in recent years.

Specifically, the Satanic Temple wants women to be exempt from having to view legally mandated "informational" materials — which it calls "biased" and "medically invalid" — prior to having an abortion. Dozens of states require women to attend counseling before receiving an abortion, while 10 mandate that they receive written materials before undergoing the procedure, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

I'm not sure what this has to do with Obamacare but I guess they can give it a try.

Paul Ryan Unvails new Anti-Poverty Plan: Mixes in some Liberal Ideas

Hmm, could this be a plank in a 2016 Presidential run?

I didn't expect him to tackle criminal-justice reform, for example, but his plan calls for softening mandatory-minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders. 

I didn't expect the plan to include higher-education reform, but it has several worthy ideas, from reforming the accreditation process so more innovative schools can emerge to simplifying financial-aid forms.

Getting rid of mandatory minimum's for non-violent drug offenses have always seemed like a liberal red-meat issue. The law-and-order GOP would not dream of letting people incarcerated for like 1 ounce of marijuana off of the hook. It would certainly get quite a few people out of jail and on to productive lives if Ryan had a chance to implement it.

The second thing might take care of the drop-out factory colleges out there preying on poor kids who just go into debt and receive nothing at all for their trouble. The financial aid form simplification would also help quite a few kids as well. This part might not pass muster with Dems though:

Ryan's most attention-getting proposal would consolidate a range of federal anti-poverty programs into a block grant distributed to the states. The federal government would merely set a few conditions. Perhaps most important, able-bodied aid recipients would have to work or participate in work-related activities (such as looking for a job). I'm skeptical about how innovative state governments would really be with federal money, but it's a good idea to streamline these programs and add work requirements.

I think states understand how to deal with their poverty problems in a better way than with the Federal Government. Like using the money to fix schools and provide meals instead of some Washington bureaucrat trying to figure out a one-size-fits-all solution.

Standing With the IDF Facebook page has women with pro-IDF messages on their bodies? Sounds good to me

Some of these girls are very, very good looking.

Submissions are pouring in from all over the world on the Standing With IDF Facebook page, with women are inscribing pro-IDF messages on their body before snapping pictures. After just two days, the page has received more than 16,000 likes on Facebook.


I wonder if a "Standing with Hamas" Facebook page would have women with I love Hamas written on parts of their bodies. Their bodies would be covered by a burka so you couldn't see the message. So it is basically a number of women in burkas standing around.

Middle Kingdom Set to Catapult Apple Sales?

So far China Mobile has done well for Apple for the most part.

"China, honestly, was surprising to us ... we thought it would be strong, but it went well past what we thought. The unit growth was really off the charts across the board," CEO Tim Cook told analysts on Tuesday.

China Mobile Ltd's <0941 .hk=""> 4G customer growth has been accelerating after a tepid start in February. The number of 4G subscribers rose to nearly 14 million in June, up from just 1.3 million at the end of February. 

"A lot of China Mobile customers have been holding on to old phones, so when the high-speed 4G came out they naturally switched to a 5S or 5C and upgraded. This trend will only become more apparent with the iPhone 6's release," said C.K. Lu, an analyst at Gartner.

It seems that many Chinese consumers are waiting to pull the trigger on a 4G phone until Apple comes out with the iPhone 6. Then they might be off to the races in terms of Chinese sales. From what I have been reading the iPhone 6 might be one of Apples most popular launches in its history. You have excitement from the US and then you have the Red Chinese waiting to upgrade their phones as well. Then you add the iWatch to this mix and that 13.87 forward P/E ratio looks really cheap. 

Darth Vader Wins the 2016 Presidential Race? I'll Vote for Lex Luthor Myself

At least Lex Luthor ran a successful business (Lexcorp.) Darth Vader is pretty much just a mouth-piece and thuggish muscle for the Emperor. Fear does not lower my taxes Mr. Emperor. However, Vader could always choke out Putin and solve the Ukrainian mess. I'm sure many people will prefer the non-denominational Stormtroopers over the ISIS Islamic thugs any day.

In any case it seems that Vader is beating the field going into the 2016 Presidential Horse Race.

The results of a comparison of the net favorability ratings of Star Wars characters and U.S. political figures, published in The Washington Post, suggest Americans would choose a fictional evil villain as president over Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Emperor Palpatine, Paul Ryan, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Andrew Cuomo, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Martin O’Malley, Jeb Bush, Joe Biden, Rick Santorum, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell and, of course, Congress — in that order.

Obama Embarks on his West-Coast Money Swing

It seems that no scandal or crisis can deter the President from his sworn duty to raise cash from rich people.

On Wednesday Obama was attending a Democratic National Committee event for about 450 donors at the Beverly Hills home of Shonda Rhimes, the producer of the Washington-set ABC drama "Scandal." Kerry Washington, who plays the lead role on the show, is among the hosts. Tickets start at $1,000.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama was attending events for the House Majority PAC, a committee that can raise unlimited funds for House candidates, and another for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. The House Majority PAC event was closed to the press. Obama had once criticized those types of organizations for creating an end-run around political contribution limits, but Democrats have now embraced the system and Obama has agreed to appear before group events but not to solicit funds.

Donations to the DCCC event at the Los Altos, Calif., home of Real estate developer George Marcus range from $10,000 per person to $32,400 per couple.

I guess that is Obama's plan to tackle income inequality one $10,000 to $32,400 donation at a time.

Whats Up with the Ennui? Americans Seem Discontent in the Summer of 2014

I recently read this article about Dicks Sporting Goods firing 200 golf pros because golf is hitting that companies bottom line hard.

Yesterday Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) announced it would be cutting more than 400 PGA professionals in its stores. Dicks has been candid about the downturn in its golf business before, in its last conference call CEO Ed Stack said the downturn in golf was responsible for the vast majority of the company's earnings shortfall and added that he saw no bottom in sight for the business. Still it's a significant concession to fire these pros. After all, Dicks first expanded heavily into golf in 2007. Golf survived the Great Recession but can't hack the sense of ennui of 2014.

I also saw on ESPN that golf and NASCAR are seriously hurting for viewers and are trying everything to get people to watch and to show up. It also seems that Americans are barely going to the movies.

It's not just weather-related things like golf. Americans aren't even going to the movies anymore either. July box office is off 30% compared to last year. It's the worst year for American cinema since 2011. Hell, it's almost August and we don't even have a song of the summer yet.

Well the movies in July have been fairly substandard so that might be part of it. Last year we had Wolverine, the Conjuring, Pacific Rim and Despicable Me 2. While this year we have Earth to Echo (bombed,) Tammy (Melissa Mccarthy looking gross and sloppy,) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (the first one didn't do much for me,) Sex Tape (which looks like a bomb,) and Hurcules (I'm going to see it but it is the Rock with fake looking hair fighting CGI monsters.) So the slate is very bare and a 30% drop off was not a huge shock.

But there does seem to be a palpable sense of ennui in the country. I think part of it is people are tired of Obama and the scandal/crisis parade. I need a spreadsheet to keep track of the scandals and there is a sense that he has just checked out on America. We have four crisis all going on at the same time. Israel is attacking Hamas in Gaza, ISIS has taken over western Iraq and part of Syria, Ukrainian rebels shoot down a Malaysian jetliner, and 50,000 unaccompanied kids entered the country illegally from Mexico. All of those things are going on and the President plays golf, tries to go on Jimmy Kimmel, and jets off to $30K a plate rubber chicken dinners. If he doesn't seem to care about what is happening why should anyone else?

We couple that with the fact that there is no real happy craze in the country to unite us. The World Cup was popular but most Americans kind of ignored it after we were eliminated. The iPhone and the iPad are long in the tooth and won't be refreshed until fall. There are "disruptive companies" like Uber and Wealthfront and such but most Americans who aren't millennials or really tech savvy don't know what those are. Plus some people see the companies as some 20-something kids getting rich off of venture capital money while eliminating cab drivers jobs. There is no beanie babies or Gangnam Style or anything to keep peoples minds off of things even for just a little while.

There is also a sense that the old world of video stores, book stores, computer stores, cab drivers, travel agents, etc is being replaced by a shiny new one on your tablet or smart phone. The ritual of going to the mall to rent a DVD or buy a new summertime best seller has been replaced by a few swipes on your tablet on the Amazon app and scrolling through Netflix. There are so many entertainment choices at your fingertips you are bored of them already. So people stay in their sweltering homes staring at their tiny screens all weekend. Or go to the seashore and stare at their tiny screens while sitting in the sun.

Then we have wages stagnant and the FED punishing savers with terrible interest rates. There was a recession and a housing blow-up and no one went to jail or were punished or anything. Those same banks and insurance companies that were bailed out are raking in the money again. We have just about everyone calling for a correction or a crash. Most Americans seemed to have been gun-shy and missed almost the entire massive stock market move since 2008. So they missed the huge run-up and now that they get a little breathing room and want to get back into the market we get calls for a crash just around the corner. I can see why the American people are just as checked out as the President.

Interesting Article on Why You Should *Not* Go to an Ivy

This is a very thought provoking article on how the Ivy League is not all its cracked up to be when it comes to creating well-rounded adults.

The major reason for the trend is clear. Not increasing tuition, though that is a factor, but the ever-growing cost of manufacturing children who are fit to compete in the college admissions game. The more hurdles there are, the more expensive it is to catapult your kid across them. Wealthy families start buying their children’s way into elite colleges almost from the moment they are born: music lessons, sports equipment, foreign travel (“enrichment” programs, to use the all-too-perfect term)—most important, of course, private-school tuition or the costs of living in a place with top-tier public schools. The SAT is supposed to measure aptitude, but what it actually measures is parental income, which it tracks quite closely. Today, fewer than half of high-scoring students from low-income families even enroll at four-year schools.

This creates quite a few people that are really smart, with awesome work ethic, but you end up with this:

Look beneath the façade of seamless well-adjustment, and what you often find are toxic levels of fear, anxiety, and depression, of emptiness and aimlessness and isolation. A large-scale survey of college freshmen recently found that self-reports of emotional well-being have fallen to their lowest level in the study’s 25-year history.

You have scared kids that think they are a failure if they fail at becoming a partner at a prestigious law firm or a CEO. What is interesting is that these kids will keep the privilege going from one generation to the next regardless of race.

The truth is that the meritocracy was never more than partial. Visit any elite campus across our great nation, and you can thrill to the heart-warming spectacle of the children of white businesspeople and professionals studying and playing alongside the children of black, Asian, and Latino businesspeople and professionals. Kids at schools like Stanford think that their environment is diverse if one comes from Missouri and another from Pakistan, or if one plays the cello and the other lacrosse. Never mind that all of their parents are doctors or bankers.

So there is no real economic or class diversity. You end up with clueless people that have no idea about the life of the regular working-class person or worse people that look down on them. Case in point is Congress and Wall Street. Many of them are Ivy Leaguers who have no idea what it was like to wait tables or live paycheck to paycheck. They lived in the bubble of privilege and move their kids onto the same treadmill of success that they went down. Also this article has concrete steps to change things.

The education system has to act to mitigate the class system, not reproduce it. Affirmative action should be based on class instead of race, a change that many have been advocating for years. Preferences for legacies and athletes ought to be discarded. SAT scores should be weighted to account for socioeconomic factors. Colleges should put an end to résumé-stuffing by imposing a limit on the number of extracurriculars that kids can list on their applications. They ought to place more value on the kind of service jobs that lower-income students often take in high school and that high achievers almost never do. They should refuse to be impressed by any opportunity that was enabled by parental wealth. Of course, they have to stop cooperating with U.S. News.

You might get more kids that work hard but who's parents are Latino immigrants that could barely speak English. That might improve the compassion that this potential "Ivy League leader" will have toward his fellow man going forward.

Obama Might be Buying a $4.25 million House in Rancho Mirage's Thunderbird Heights

It is all speculative at this point but who knows?

The main house has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths and a "master retreat with gym, tanning and spa rooms" in 6,100 square feet, according to the listing. There's also a 2,000-square-foot "casita" -- perfect for the Secret Service, perhaps? -- with 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. Elevators ease travel at the compound. 

The grounds' 3 acres also include a putting green with a sand trap, a 20-foot waterfall, a "rock-formed lagoon," a pool and two spas, and more. 

Because the property is on a hilltop abutting a bighorn sheep preserve, it's exceptionally private and secure, the listing says.

Sounds like an ideal Presidential compound for when he is out of the Oval Office. Rancho Mirage has like 7 Golf Courses in a few minutes drive according to Google maps. Also that privacy allows him to host some nice dinner parties with the literati and powerful elite that Obama will eventually hold court with. I'm sure nearly every Los Angeles based movie star, writer, economist, artist and such will make that pilgrimage to kiss his ring. Kind of the pseudo-intellectual version of the Playboy Mansion where you replace sex with bloviating.

Apple Beats on Earnings but Falls Short of Revenue: Why I Think IBM will Be Awesome for Them

It seems Apple is making more money and selling iPhones like crazy but they fell short of what the analysts were forecasting.

Apple posted its second straight quarter of double-digit percentage growth in iPhone sales. The company also reported net income of $7.7 billion, slightly more than the $7.49 billion that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected, on revenue of $37.4 billion, just under the $37.98 billion the analysts had expected. Per-share profit came in at $1.28, compared with the expected  $1.23, a number adjusted for Apple’s recent 7-for-1 stock split.

What was really interesting is that they increased gross margin from 39.4% from 36.9% from a year ago. Even though there phones are ready for a refresh they were still able to keep prices the same and people paid them in record numbers. 

I really think the IBM deal will bring in an influx of business from the corporate end. If you want a tablet for your business then Android is just not ready for prime time. You have to buy these third party apps that connect with your corporate email. You have no idea if they are being made by the NSA or hackers or what. The iPad just works and now IBM could tightly integrate themselves with the iMac and that cubicle machine might go from a Dell to an Apple PC after the next refresh cycle. The consumer market is big and robust but the business market is massive as well. 

Ackman Lays an Egg in Herbalife "Deathblow"

I guess it was just too good to be true because if you were short Herbalife you got pounded.

Shares of Herbalife rose steadily in the morning after Ackman started giving his talk on Herbalife’s nutritional clubs, increasing by 8% to $58.40 in the first hour of the presentation. Two hours into the talk the stock had risen by 11% to $60. That’s a little higher than the shares were changing hands for on Monday before Ackman drove down the stock by 11%, saying he would be delivering “the most important presentation that I have made in my career.” Ackman had promised in a CNBC interview on Monday that “we won’t disappoint.” Ackman’s presentation was still going on at 1:07 p.m., with the stock up by 15% to $62.22. During the presentation, Ackman suggested that Herbalife had been repurchasing shares in a material way on Tuesday. Shares of Herbalife continued to rise after the three-hour presentation ended, closing at $67.77, up 25% for the day.

I guess it would be up to the FBI and the FDA to look into the claims and release their rulings. In any case the stock is about the same price it was before the "deathblow" was being attempted. I guess if you believe the company is a scam it would be a good place to go short. If not there is a triple bottom in the stock and it will probably go up for a while now. 

Looks like the Soviets err the Russians Weren't Directly Involved with Shooting Down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17

It was all a mix-up it seems.

They say the passenger jet was likely felled by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and that Russia "created the conditions" for the downing by arming the separatists.

They said they did not know if any Russians were present at the missile launch, and they wouldn't say that the missile crew was trained in Russia.

A senior official said the most likely explanation was the plane was shot down by mistake.

I guess the Ukrainian separatists shot down the wrong plane thinking it was a troop transport instead of a passenger jet. So slapped-wrists all around, and some "condemn with the strongest possible terms" and play on.   

I'm sure Obama was afraid that his luncheon with Jay-Z or whomever was going to get pushed back. Now he can be on Jimmy Kimmel and crack some jokes next week after things go back to normal.

Netflix Goes into Content Overdrive

It seems like Netflix is slowly becoming a major studio in its own right.

“In the coming weeks, we will premiere the all new 4th and final season of The Killing and a new adult animated comedy BoJack Horseman. Also in August, we will release Mission Blue from the Oscar winning director of The Cove, Fisher Stevens.

“Reflecting the increasingly global nature of the Netflix service, we now have original series in production around the world, involving some of the best storytellers working in television and film today. Marco Polo, a historical adventure from Executive Producer Harvey Weinstein, is shooting in Kazakhstan and Malaysia. In New York there is Marvel’s Daredevil, the first of our original series from Marvel Television, as well as the already eagerly anticipated third season of Orange is the New Black; while in Baltimore, production is underway on the third season of House of Cards. In the Florida Keys, the creators of Damages (Glenn Kessler, Daniel Zelman, and Todd Kessler) are shooting a dark family thriller with an ensemble cast led by Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek, Sam Shepard, Linda Cardellini, Ben Mendelsohn, and Norbert Leo Butz.

“Sense8, a mind-bending series from the Wachowskis (The Matrix trilogy, Cloud Atlas) and J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5), began production in San Francisco last month, is now in Chicago, and will shoot in many international locations this year. In August, production begins in Los Angeles on Grace and Frankie, a comedy led by Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston; and in Colombia, Brazilian director José Padilha (Elite Squad, Robocop) will begin filming Narcos with an all-star international cast led by Wagner Moura.

I would be watching Marco Polo for sure because I love the time period. Daredevil if it is good and cleaves to the Frank Miller version of Daredevil and not the horrid Ben Affleck version. I will check out Sense8 as long as it isn't anything like Cloud Atlas which was awful in the extreme. Finally, Narcos might be good if it has lots of action and doesn't pull any punches.

Obamacare Dealt Blow by Appeals Court: I guess they should have read it before they passed it

It seems that someone flubbed the wording in part of the bill and now it is probably going to the Supreme Court again.

The plaintiffs in the case argue the way the law was written does not allow for subsidies to be provided by the federal government, pointing to a statute that says subsidies should be issued to plans purchased  "through an Exchange established by the State under Section 1311"  of the Affordable Care Act. Section 1311 establishes the state-run exchanges. But plaintiffs say the law does not permit subsidies in federal exchanges, according to Section 1321 of the law.

All they needed was to cut the "by the State" part of that sentence and they would have been in the clear. Instead they might get a major part of the bill thrown out.

Herbalife's Last Stand: Ackman to Present "Pyramid Scheme" Presentation

Depending on how the Federal Trade Commission takes his investigation you might not have Herbalife to kick around anymore.

Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman said on CNBC today that he would give the "most important" presentation of his career on Tuesday when he unveils an investigation into Herbalife's nutrition clubs. 

It's Ackman's contention that the company operates as a "pyramid scheme" that targets lower-income individuals. He believes that regulators, specifically the Federal Trade Commission, will be persuaded to shut it down. Back in March the FTC launched an investigation in the company.

Too bad I didn't get short this thing when it was in the mid 60s. I have a feeling if this investigation is a "bomb-shell" as some people think we might get a trading halt tomorrow.

Pricing In Geopolitical Uncertainty

This article makes quite a bit of sense when it comes to things like the downing of the Malaysian Airlines jet and the invasion of Gaza by the Israelis.

In a repricing of risk scenario, we start to see good news ignored and people less willing to pay a higher multiple for stocks – even when they’ve announced results or initiatives that would clearly deserve it. Our inability to become excited by great news or fresh developments becomes evident in this way only over time. The inner monologue goes something like this: “Wow, I’m really impressed that Chipotle just shocked The Street with double-digit same store comps this month…but, my god, 300 passengers on a civilian airline were just shot out of the sky over Eastern Europe!” That extra lot of shares simply doesn’t get bought. People become resigned to hold what exposure they already have until “all that uncertainty dies down.” Obviously, the media plays a major role in this phenomenon, feeding it around the clock on screens everywhere. Don’t be mad, it’s kind of their job.

I have seen this repricing risk scenario over and over when it comes to things that are not as shattering as 9/11. People freak out due to "uncertainty" and stop buying on good news but sell momentum stocks on bad news. The only think concrete that might hurt the American consumer would be higher gas prices due to sanctions. Most airlines will now avoid the Ukraine and may need to use more fuel but nothing that would hurt them long-term. You would figure that the vast majority of companies as well as American and European consumers will not be affected materially.

However the fear factor caused by the event which is compounded by the 24 hour news cycle (as this article points out) usually casts a pall over the markets until something wakes it up. So if and when we get a cease-fire between the Ukraine and Russia we will see the market go back to normal. For whatever reason the market rallied today so maybe even that bit of wisdom is off the mark.

4 Star Marine General Blasts Obama on Iraq

I guess he can finally speak his mind now that he is about to retire later this year.

Speaking at the Brookings Institute Tuesday, Amos said the Obama administration paved the way for the emergence of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) by completely withdrawing American troops in 2011.

“I have a hard time believing that had we been there, and worked with the government, and worked with parliament, and worked with the minister of defense, the minister of interior, I don't think we'd be in the same shape we're in today,” Amos said.

That is pretty much an affirmative. If you cut and run you have no say in what happens going forward. Instead we get to go back in with the odds stacked against us. What is sad is that Iran will probably pull the strings and fill the gap we gave up. Maybe that is Obama's plan all along.

Fish Oil Might Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

It seems fish oil is like a wonder drug according to this.

Fish oil is touted as a magical potion that boosts fertility, heart health, and weight loss and promotes a clear complexion, while lessening the effects of depression, ulcers, diabetes and many more conditions. But there’s another benefit to these glossy little capsules: They may prevent Alzheimer’s disease. 

A new study of 819 people published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia found that taking fish oil supplements on a daily basis is associated with a significant decrease in cognitive decline (as measured by the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale and the Mini Mental State Exam) and brain atrophy — important findings in light of statistics that show that one person per minute is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

I know certain biotechs are using concentrated fish oil for various purposes. Hmm might be time to invest in some and see what it does.

Is ISIS vs. the Iraqi Government going to the First Shots in a 30 Years War of Islam?

So this thing is degenerating into a Shiite vs. Sunni war that could easily turn into a massive region-wide conflagration. Recently ISIS said they were going to destroy Mecca.

"By Allah's leave our sheikh al-Baghdadi led Mecca stone for those who worship (pilgrims) will kill you and God ' I will tear down the Ka'ba, the place of worship,” the alleged ISIS militant said on the social media site, according to reports from Turkish media adding that those of the Islamic faith should not be worshipping 'stones.'"

I'm sure the Saudis will do everything they can to end the threat to the place that they are supposed to guard with everything they have. What I have been thinking is that this might be the first shots fired in what could be The 30 Years War of Islam. This book on the 30 Years War is what got me thinking.

The 30 Years War started in 1617 and was basically a number of Catholic powers fighting against a number of Protestant powers. It was the last major all-out war of the Reformation basically because it was terribly destructive and resulted in hideous tortures. Some states in what is now Germany and Czech Republic were nearly wiped out and others suffering 30-40% losses. Some sources say that 50% of all the men in the German states were killed. It strikes me that an all-out war between the Sunni ISIS and the Shiite Iranians, Saudis protecting their holy sites and the Iraqis might be a similar conflict.

In fact we have may of the the parts already in place. We have bloodthirsty zealots on one side and an army that can give no quarter on the other. All we need are foreign mercenaries (gulp, maybe that is the USA?) to come in and start fighting to have us back in 1617 again.

During the 30 years war we start with battles in Bohemia (Syria) then Spain intervened (that might be Sunni zealot part of the Middle East.) Then we have the Danish come in on the side of the Protestants (that might be the Saudis protecting their holy sites) Then the Swedes come in on the side of the Protestants (this would be Iran.) Finally France came in at the end (that would probably be Turkey since the French were mostly fighting the Hapsburgs and not the Catholics as a group.) We might even see the birth of the Dutch Republic (that would be Kurdistan.)

I'm sure if the Iranians enter the war in any numbers they might be able to sweep the field of ISIS but not before we might see some serious bad things happen. ISIS now has some uranium so a dirty bomb can be cooked up and used on Baghdad or perhaps Tehran. That would seriously push Iran and Iraq closer together. Also if I was Iran in "the Great Game" I would conclude a status of forces agreement to garrison troops in Iraq so an ISIS can never form up again. What would be really bad for Islam is an ISIS suicide bomber could blow up something in Mecca. So many pilgrims pack into places like the Ka'aba or Mina that a bomber could easily kill 10,000 people or more from an explosion followed by a stampede.

In any case history doesn't usually repeat itself but every now and then it sure rhymes.

What a Meteroric Rise and Fall: Axelle Despiegelaere Dropped From L'Oreal After Wanting to Hunt Americans

She went from pretty face cheering on Belgium at the World Cup to L'Oreal model to threatening to hunt Americans in about a week.

But fans were outraged after Axelle recently posted  a photo of herself to Facebook in which she is holding a rifle, proudly sitting behind what appears to be a dead gazelle she shot while hunting.

The caption, in reference to the World Cup match, read: "Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It's much more important than that..this was about 1 year ago...ready to hunt Americans today haha."

After feeling the heat from fans, Axelle apologized in the comments section of her post, saying "i didn't mean to offend anyone..it was a joke."

Haha, hunting people is a funny joke. She may have a job working for ISIS, the Taliban or some other "Death to America" Islamist group. In any case that is fame and infamy in the Facebook era.