KFC Tender Not a Rat just Weird Piece of Chicken

I figured it wasn't a rat.

KFC tells ABC News that last week “the customer’s attorney turned over the product in question for testing at an independent lab, and the results officially confirmed what KFC knew all along — the product was chicken and not a rat as he claimed.”

Well at least they guy turned it over so it could be tested. KFC had a tough time trying to get any kind of statement from the guy earlier.

Wait de Blasio is Sending Cops with Desk Jobs into the the Worst Precincts? Could it be Revenge for Turning their backs on Him?

Wow, this guy needs some referendum and recall directed toward him.

Many of the All Out cops have been working desk jobs for a decade or more, so everyone underwent a two-day refresher course to get them familiar with the violence – and crime – plagued neighborhoods they have to patrol.

The crash course wasn’t nearly enough to prepare the cops for the dangers of facing down perps emboldened by de Blasio’s crackdown on stop-and-frisk and his anti-police rhetoric, sources said.

So de Blasio ramps up the criminal element by disrespecting the cops and shutting down stop-and-frisk then he sends guys that have earned a desk job right to the wolves? I mean these desk job cops worked a beat when they were young men and have earned the desk job and easier time of things. Instead they are pushed onto the streets because I guess there is a shortage of cops or something.

I guess this must be de Blasio's way of revenge for turning their backs on him at public funerals and such. Someone needs to match up a list of the back-turners and a list of the desk job cops being put onto the street. They might match up.

Hmm Lester Holt at Nightly News Might Be Something Worth Watching

I kind of like the emphasis on technology and the new media.

As audiences change habits to accommodate the rise of streaming video and mobile devices, Holt sees opportunity to try new things and experiment with ways to deliver information. He has taken to Facebook to interview correspondents, and experimented with Periscope, the live-streaming video app, on set. “We are still feeling it out,” he said. “I want people to know me a little more in ways that I can’t always express in a half-hour broadcast. That’s the direction I think we are all going in.” He also expects “NBC Nightly News” to emphasize coverage of technology and Silicon Valley, and wants to make regular trips to anchor the broadcast from California.

Sounds like a way to make the news more contemporary like Jimmy Fallon does for the Tonight Show. I'll see how it goes.

I Like Ran Pauls Tax Plan. You mean lower income Americans will Pay Zero Taxes?

This plan needs to be seriously looked into.

So taxpayers at the bottom would already pay much less than 14.5%. But because Paul would repeal the payroll tax, keep the earned income tax credit and grant an income tax exemption Gleckman calls generous, bottom-rung taxpayers “would pay an average effective federal tax rate of close to zero, or perhaps even below zero,” Gleckman writes. 

Sounds good. That amounts to a raise for every American if they repeal the payroll tax. Most people will get like a $1000 or more a year extra that they can spend on something productive.
This part is hilarious though

Paul’s plan would come at a cost — The Tax Foundation projects it would increase the deficit by between $1 trillion and $3 trillion over a decade.  

This of course ignores the growth from people spending more on something that they need instead of giving their money to Washington so that Capitol Hill fat cats can waste it. I never understood the idea that people freak out when the Government gets less tax money. That means that people are keeping more of their pay and that should be a good thing. Especially if those people are lower income because they spend a larger percentage of their take-home pay.

The Clippers New Logo: Hmm, I kind of Like It.

It seems the logo is being taken apart in social media.


It does look a little like a logo for a tech firm or something but I kind of like it. The red and blue have a nice contrast to one another and you can see it clearly. I like the block letters and the red and blue lines as well. The whole effect seems pretty modern and clean. 

Brian Williams Demoted to MSNBC: Maybe they Should Give him a Bill O'reilly-Like Show before Maddow

It seems that Brian Williams will be tossed to MSNBC.

Williams, who served as the anchor of NBC’s flagship evening news program from 2004 to February of 2015 before being suspended for reporting exaggerations, will contribute across MSNBC programming covering breaking news, adding to the network’s hard news pivot over the last year away from pure opinion programming.

They could make it a mix of late breaking news and opinion followed by celebrity interviews. Maybe Williams can ask some of the celebs about the news of the day. It would be interesting to watch Ben Affleck one day and then Angela Merkel the next. I would actually watch such a show as my "echo-chamber breaker" now that Jon Stewart is leaving the Daily Show.

Obama Again Thought he Could get the Trade Deal Done by Just Showing Up on Capital Hill

He really think he is some godlike figure to the Dems or something.

It appears that Friday’s visit from Obama — when he talked to House Democrats for about 45 minutes, taking no questions and telling members who opposed the trade deal (which clearly was a majority of them) that they were wrong — was the last straw. Pelosi took to the floor to say she would vote against Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a top party priority, in order to prevent the larger deal from going through. The Senate, led by Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, had paired the TAA bill with the more controversial fast-track trade legislation in order to gain Democratic votes. With Pelosi’s announcement, the whole tenuous deal fell apart. 

He has such an ego on him. He actually thought that a 45 minute visit to talk with people that have opposed a trade deal for years could get them to change their minds. I mean he didn't even take any questions or try to sooth their concerns. It is strange that LBJ (the consummate Congress bending President) and this guy are from the same party.

Facebook Comments on McKinney, Texas Pool Party Claims yet Another Job #DeleteYourFacebook

Well that didn't take long for another person to lose their job over comments on what happened at that now infamous pool party.

Yesterday, a teacher from McKinney got axed from her position for posting a racially inflammatory rant about Officer Eric Casebolt’s resignation on her personal Facebook page — hotly defending his actions and referring to African-Americans as “having no education” and “the ones causing the problem” when it comes to racial tension.

“This makes me ANGRY! This officer should not have to resign,” wrote Karen Fitzgibbons, formerly a fourth-grade teacher at Bennett Elementary School in McKinney, on her Facebook page on Tuesday, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. The page has since been deleted.

She worked there for 16 years and after one Facebook post she was fired. What she said was incendiary but you figure that the school board would go to bat for her after she apologized. Instead she was fired without any further ado.  One post and she will probably never teach again.

I have to say if you are a school teacher, a principal, or professor delete your Facebook right now or it might be used against you in the court of public opinion. Maybe in the same vein it would be a good idea to totally ignore anything about race and keep your head down.

Oh Woe is Ted Cruz, Maybe he Should Drop out of the Race and Do Something Else #CruzisanIdiot

Poor Ted Cruz maybe the he just isn't cut out to be President. This is what is happening to him according to his shill for money missive.

Time with my family “Spending almost every day on the campaign trail or fighting on the Senate floor means precious little time spent with my wife, Heidi, and my daughters -- the very family that gives me the motivation and drive to fight.”

Health and sleep: “My runoff campaign for the Senate in 2012 took a toll, but now I'm sacrificing even more sleep with long nights and constant travel. And the pizza diet is a staple on the campaign trail.”

Finances: “The cost of campaigning back and forth across the country for president is increasingly expensive, but Heidi and I are willing to invest our livelihoods into this sacrifice.

Personal time: “You think of this the least, but as a candidate, my days are no longer my own. Days start before dawn and many times don't end until early the next morning. There is almost no personal time when you run for president.”

“I've chosen to sacrifice part of mine and my families (sic) lives to run for President -- but I think you will agree with me that the sacrifice is well worth it.”

I don't think it is. I think he should abandon the race so he has more personal time, doesn't have to get up at dawn, and can spend time with the wife and kids. He ran the good fight in the three months he has been a nominee. I mean it can only get worse from here. Imagine how little personal time he will have when by some disaster he becomes President? That is like a full time job.

Contrary to author Lee Siegel It is a Terrible Idea to Default on your Federal Student Loans

According to this article it sounds awful if you decide to default on your loans.

According to Jarvis, if you decide one day to stop paying your federal student loans, after 270 days the loan will default, at which point the government will start garnishing your wages, seizing tax refunds, and intercepting government benefits (like social security) without a court order. The government may also sue if they think it will give them access to your assets.

"They can and do — literally do — pursue debtors to their graves," Jarvis said.

Jarvis says defaulting on your student loans can also affect your credit and hurt your chances of qualifying for mortgages and loans down the road. She does note that the government cannot put you in jail for owing debt. 

In other words the Feds can blow up your financial profile if you default on this debt. What is especially galling is that they are charging above market interest rates on student loans and reaping billions in profit. For a masters degree the Feds charge 5.84% interest while the bank charges 4.12% for a 30 year fixed mortgage. Plus with the low interest rate policy it is very difficult to make 5.84% on your money in anything but stocks. You add this to the incredibly low yearly income gain and you have a recipe for student loans following people to their graves.

Obama Done in By Democrats on "Fast-Track" Trade Deals

It seems that Obama cannot win even when it comes to his own party.

In a 126-302 vote Friday, Democrats helped reject a displaced workers’ aid program they usually support that was needed to proceed to a final vote on fast-track authority. The House quickly passed, 219-211, the fast-track bill though it won’t go to Obama’s desk unless the worker aid bill also passes.

This looked to be low hanging fruit that could go a long way toward some kind of legacy. It seems that Pelosi just doesn't want that to happen. I guess he still has the idea of a nuclear Iran to push forward instead.

Yet Another Reason to Not Have Facebook: School Principal Fired Over Supporting Texas police officer that Bodyslammed Girl

This is yet another reason to get rid of social media if you have any sort of prominent position.

The Miami Herald newspaper on Wednesday reported that Iber had posted a comment on an article published on its website supportive of McKinney, Texas police Corporal Eric Casebolt.

"He did nothing wrong," Iber wrote in a comment that displayed his Facebook picture, name, school and title, according to the newspaper. "He was afraid for his life. I commend him for his actions."

Casebolt, who is white, resigned on Tuesday after being seen in a video responding to a disturbance at a pool party last Friday where he appeared to target black youths, an incident that has added to a national outcry against racial bias in U.S. policing.

So he lost his job over two sentences written on Facebook? I think he should consult a lawyer and see if he can get some money out of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. 

Police Shut Down Girls Lemonaide Stand but they Get Around it Via Loophole

First of all this is such a joke that 8 and 7 year old girls had their lemonade stand shut down.

Andria Green, 8, and her sister Zoey, 7, set up the lemonade stand to raise the $105 they needed for tickets to the Texas waterpark Splash Kingdom. They were selling lemonade for 50 cents and kettle corn for one dollar on their street in the town of Overton, but about an hour after opening, police showed up and told the girls they needed a permit to sell the lemonade. Police agreed to waive the fee of the permit, which normally would cost $150. “The officer told them they had to go to city hall to get a permit,” Overton Police Chief Clyde Carter tells Yahoo Parenting. “Then the city told them they had to check with the health department, which they didn’t do.” 

I thought Texas was all about getting rid of red tape and layers of bureaucracy. However these girls have entrepreneur written all over them.

Instead of pursuing the permit, the girls will set up a new stand this Saturday, according to KLTV: Free lemonade, donations welcome.  

Maybe get a corporate sponsor and this is the makings of a very smart end-around for regulations and red tape.

Mark Cuban Says Ted Cruz is Hated: Yeah Pretty Much #CruzisanIdiot

Talk about stating the obvious.

Cuban said that whenever he's in Washington DC, he hears bad stuff about Cruz. It's all secondhand, but it's pretty brutal.

"The one thing I hear about Ted Cruz, and I don't know the guy, is that he's a jerk, and everybody hates him. This is all secondhand; everybody I talk to that knows anybody that works for him, they've all quit or been fired and the turnover is enormous ...

"I've heard it time in and time out, again and again and again and again..."

Cruz just seems like the kind of person that runs his staffers out and is just a general asshole. I would vote for Communist Bernie Sanders twice before I would vote for Cruz. In fact Cruz represents everything that sucks about politics and the GOP.

Crime Surges as Police Look the Other Way: It Makes Sense from the Police Point of View

It seems crime is starting to get out of control.

Leading criminologists believe the upsurge in crime is due to what Sam Dotson, the St Louis police chief, has described as the “Ferguson effect” — a reluctance by police officers to make arrests or confront criminals for fear of being prosecuted if they make an error.

One posting on a St Louis forum used by police officers stated: “I’ll continue to do my job, but that is all. I refuse to be a punching bag for the public and the press. Why should I do anything other than the bare minimum?

“If I make even the slightest mistake my career, my savings . . . and even my freedom are in jeopardy.”

So it makes sense that they just look the other way when they see someone loitering or running a red light or whatever. No sense getting out of their squad car and possibly having someone film them and possibly sending them to jail.

I mean this recent case of the cops breaking up that Texas pool party with too much force will probably result in criminal charges. The cops might as well have sat that one out and they would not be facing any possible jail time. They could have just watched from the patrol car and made sure a riot doesn't happen.

One moment of too much adrenaline pumping, an accident, or a suspect running at them can be enough to send them to jail and threaten their lives after the fact. Hell, even the President of the United States will be bad mouthing you. These cops can just look the other way and they can spare themselves the destruction that the media and their own prosecutors will bring down on their heads.

It is Official: Early Draft of Star Wars Says Han Shot First

Well, I could have told you this.

It is difficult to tell whether Han or Greedo got the first shot in, and several updated versions of the film haven't helped to settle the debate once and for all. For instance, in the 1997 version, the scene was slightly altered to make it look as if Han was acting in self-defense. 

"I'll tell you one thing, right now," Brown told CBC, "Based on the script, I can tell you 100 per cent, Han shot first."

Han shooting first makes him a badass smuggler. So when he becomes heroic later in the story his transformation is even better. Having Greedo shoot first (and miss at point blank range) was such a cop-out. That is what made the 1976 George Lucas a genius while the 1997 Lucas was just a hack resting on his laurels.

FIFA Bought Off Ireland so they Wouldn't Bring a Lawsuit on 2010 French Handball #CrookedFIFA

Now we will slowly get the info on more of this kind of thing happening.

The payment is reported to have been worth five million euros ($5.63 million), but when that figure was put to Delaney, he refused to confirm or deny it, saying he was "bound by confidentiality".

France qualified for the 2010 World Cup at Ireland's expense after Henry blatantly handled the ball as he set up William Gallas for the decisive goal in a play-off match in Paris in November 2009.

So France committed a handball that was missed for whatever reason and FIFA paid Ireland to look the other way instead of challenging them. I wonder how many more of these kick-backs are lurking out there that we haven't discovered yet?

More Americans describe Themselves as Socially Liberal: Welcome to the Party

I self-describe myself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal and it seems America is following the trend.

For the first time in at least 16 years, Americans are equally likely to describe themselves as socially liberal as they are to say they're social conservatives, a new Gallup poll finds.

Thirty-one percent of Americans say they're liberal on social issues, with another 31 percent calling themselves conservatives and the rest identifying as moderates.

This is exactly why stiff-necked GOP opposition to immigration, gay marriage, and legalizing pot might damage the GOP brand among younger people. I certainly wouldn't vote for a socially conservative nominee for President because the country has changed. They might not think it has changed for the better but you have to acknowledge things are different that 16 years ago.

Woman Loses School Lunch Job for Feeding Hungry Kids that Could Not Pay

Now this is a travesty of justice if I ever seen one.

In her position, Curry was often manning the cash register, so she would see students come through the line with a hot lunch and then learn that their accounts did not have enough credit on them. “The policy is to then take their food from them and throw it away, and give them the cheese sandwich,” she says. “I couldn’t do it. When I had money I would put it in for them, and if I did not have money, I gave them the food.”

On Friday, Curry was fired. “I will never say I was wrongfully terminated, because according to policy, I was not,” she says. “But it’s not right. No child should ever have to have that nutrition – it’s not nutrition – or that humiliation.”

What got me is she was supposed to snatch the food out of the kids hands and throw it away in front of them. Then give them the Gulag lunch? The literal version of "No soup for you." The worst part is this is in front of everyone so the kid gets a side order of humiliation with their Gulag meal.

Wait, What? Caitlyn Jenner won the Courage Award ESPY over Brain Cancer Victim Lauren Hill? #TravestyofJustice

Now this is just going beyond the pale.

Caitlyn is the new female identity of former Olympic gold-medal winner Bruce Jenner, which was revealed Monday.

But now some are crying foul over ESPN’s decision to choose Jenner, 65, instead of Mount St. Joseph basketball player Lauren Hill, who courageously battled brain cancer while staying on the university team. The 19-year-old lost her fight against cancer on April 10.

So a 65 year old millionaire gets surgery and we are supposed to honor that achievement? This girl was courageous enough to play basketball with blinding headaches from the cancer that would kill her. She did it with grace and humility and was quite inspirational. I think the media is losing its mind.

I Agree that Yellen Really Does not need to talk about Stock Valuations

I have to agree with this article.

At a recent International Monetary Fund event in Washington, D.C., Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen opined about the “potential dangers” posed by “quite high” stock market valuations. This was not her first market prognostication. In July 2014 she singled out biotech and social-media stocks as having “substantially stretched” valuations. Such comments are ill considered and are more likely to do harm than good.

What sucks is if you sold Biotechs when Yellen said they were "too high" you missed a 40% rally. You also missed an 8 point move on Facebook (but you dodged an 9 point drop in Twitter so there is that.) But I do have to agree that stocks seem stretched here and we might have a correction. I think we are overdue.

Hillary Reeling in Polls: Yeah I Don't Trust her Either after Server-gate

I guess all the bad press and question dodging seems to have hurt her brand.

The survey found 46 percent view Clinton favorably, down from 53 percent in March and 61 percent in May 2013.

Meanwhile, 57 percent of Americans say she is not honest and trustworthy (up from 49 percent in March), 47 percent feel she cares about people like them (down from 53 percent in July 2014) and 50 percent feel she does not inspire confidence (up from 42 percent in March 2014).

If the GOP field wasn't so un-electable at the moment I would like these numbers more. In any case it seems America is souring on her and its time for some other person to run forward on the Democrat side.

Blatter is Out: I Guess He is Afraid of Going to Canada so He Doesn't Get Extradited

Well I guess they ran that FIFA election for no reason.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is resigning as president of FIFA amid a growing corruption scandal, he announced on Tuesday at a surprise press conference.

"While I have a mandate from the membership of FIFA, I do not feel that I have a mandate from the entire world of football — the fans, the players, the clubs, the people who live, breathe and love football as much as we all do at FIFA," he said. "Therefore, I have decided to lay down my mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress."

There will be an congress of FIFA members and a new president will be elected, at which time he will step down the post he has held since 1998. This will take place sometime between December of 2015 and March of 2016, FIFA says.

In any case hopefully all of the dirty dealing will come to light and many more FIFA officials will be perp-walked going forward.

I Think the Saudi's Need to Enter Iraq to Go After ISIS #Gamechanger

Upon reading about how badly the Iraqi army is faring I think there need to be bold movement on this.

On June 10, 2014, Mosul, which is Iraq's second-largest city, fell to ISIS as the Iraqi army fled. Today, Iraq's national military is in even worse shape, and may have as few as 5,000 "effective troops" under its command, according to Politico. 

Despite over a decade's worth of US training and military support for the Baghdad government, along with 11 months of US-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and the mobilization of Iranian-backed Shiite militias to fight the jihadist group, ISIS has continued to gain ground in the country. 

So it seems Iraq will have a difficult time dislodging ISIS so I think the Saudi's need to try something bold. They have a fairly powerful military and share a land border with Iraq. So a few tank armies could fight against ISIS and might send them back to Syria. They might even push into Syria as well.

Visa Might Dump FIFA is Things Aren't cleaned up #FireBlatter

Hopefully many more sponsors will jump ship unless FIFA roots out the corruption.

Worried that their reputations will be tarnished by their links to FIFA, major sponsors are demanding that soccer's global governing body clean up its act, with Visa even warning it is prepared to jump ship.

Coca-Cola also made it clear it is unhappy with the scandals rocking the organization, which saw the head of European soccer, Michel Platini, urge FIFA President Sepp Blatter to step down Thursday.

Yeah Blatter needs to go. He oversaw all the corruption and scandal overtaking the "charity." Yes FIFA is a charity that makes billions a year.

Ryanair Makes a Pile of Money

I recently saw the CEO of this company on Squawk box and it seems they had a huge quarter while other European carriers lost money for some reason or another.

Recently, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair Holdings plc RYAAY reported robust financial and operating numbers with net profit for the year ended Mar 2015 rising 66% year over year to €867 million. Moreover, load factor increased by 500 basis points to stand at 88% while air traffic jumped 11% to 90.6 million.

It also seems like they are coming to America with their low cost fares.

Ryanair is also eyeing the transatlantic route with extremely low fares for a one-way trip. If successful in implementing its plans, the company will likely pose significant competitive threat to U.S. low-cost carriers like Southwest Airlines Co. LUV and Spirit Airlines.  

Hopefully he can give our legacy carriers a run for their money.

FBI Goes after FIFA on corruption Probe

At long last someone is investigating FIFA.

The world's most popular sport was plunged into turmoil on Wednesday as seven powerful soccer figures were arrested on U.S. corruption charges and faced extradition from Switzerland, whose authorities also announced a criminal investigation into the awarding of the next two World Cups.

The arrests of the senior FIFA officials in a dawn raid at a five-star Zurich hotel mark an unprecedented blow against soccer's powerful governing body, which for years has been dogged by allegations of corruption but always escaped major criminal cases.

The idea of rousting them from a Swiss Luxury Hotel is something out of a movie as well. It would be interesting to see if they were perp-walked with mistresses and high classed call girls in tow or not. It is also nice to see someone going after the rampantly corrupt FIFA after all these years.

Veggie Burger for McDonalds? Tips to Fix McDonalds is spot on

I think this might be a hit depending on how it tastes.

Introduce an improved, protein-based version of the old McVeggie Burger. “This would be a great option for vegetarians and people trying to reduce meat in their diet,” said Mistry. “McDonald’s is sometimes the only option for people traveling or in remote areas or in a late-night pinch.” But don’t do it as an afterthought — make it delicious, said Erin McKenna, founder of Erin McKenna’s Bakery, the vegan outposts in New York, L.A., and Walt Disney World in Orlando. “Make it an item that even meat-eaters can’t resist.”

It would have to be very tasty though but I would at least try it to see if it is any good. I agree with this suggestion as well.

“Put a Big Mac up against ‘Big Macs’ made by Shake Shack or In-N-Out Burger and I guarantee you that no one will pick the McDonald’s Big Mac.” A few chefs suggested organic and grass-fed options. “Higher quality ingredients and a slightly thicker patty would make a great burger,” said Kris Yenbamroong, the chef of Night + Market and Night + Market Song in L.A. 

I actually enjoy the taste of Big Macs but I think it is more nostalgia based then anything else. If I didn't have them as a kid I would not rush out to eat them now. The burgers at Shake Shack and Teddy's Bigger Burgers here in Hawaii are a 100x better than a standard Big Mac. Their burgers have a bigger patty and have nice melty cheese on them that the Big Mac lacks. The bun is also nice and fresh and much better than the generic sesame bun on a Big Mac. I think the thin grey meat patties and the sauce turns off a lot of burger lovers out there. 

The Saudi's Move Toward Getting the Bomb: The Arms Race Begin! #MiddleEasternColdWar

I can see their position when playing the "Great Game" against Iran.

The Sunday Times reported the move by the Saudis -- said by the newspaper to have been bankrolling much of the Pakistani nuclear program for three decades -- comes amid concern among Sunni Arab nations over a framework deal on Iran's nuclear program that aims to limit Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.

The framework deal was hammered out by world powers and Tehran in talks that ended in early April. The parties have until the end to June to work out the details and finalize the plan. 

They Saudi's have been sold down the river by Obama's White House so they have to fend for themselves. So they need the right of deterrent when Iran goes nuclear. It is a perfectly logical way to protect their interests. Now they will be able to have a freer hand in any proxy wars that should pop up against Iran. In other words a cold war is now settling over the Middle East thanks to the Obama White House. A more dangerous world indeed.

Food for Thought: Declining Productivity is Due to Waning Technological Inventiveness #TechStagnation

This article is very interesting in trying to explain why productivity is only growing at 0.4% in recent years.

In somewhat different ways, John Fernald of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and Robert Gordon of Northwestern University, two leading productivity experts, have argued that the greatest productivity gains from information technology came years ago, and that recent inventions look puny by comparison. Compare Facebook with the Internet, or the Apple Watch with the personal computer. Maybe inventiveness has not waned, but the productivity-enhancing impacts of inventions have.

The Apple watch is certainly case-in-point in this argument. I was reading a different article on how businesses are trying to bend over backward trying to figure out how to incorporate the Apple Watch into the workplace. All of the reasons just looked like a way for executives to get a free Apple Watch and not a tool to make them more productive. I mean anything work related you can see on the watch you can see on your iPhone already and much easier at that.

All Facebook and Twitter have done is made yet another place to show you ads for things you don't want to buy. Mobile ad revenue is going strait up over there but it certainly isn't helping anyone do their jobs more efficiently. This article actually says they might be a drag on productivity as well depending on how much of the workday they take up. Most of the ideas where companies help your company "get on social media" are pretty much a way to put up a digital billboard.

While Big Data is pretty much a way to parse the mountains of somewhat useless data and hopefully find a use for it. I watched an IBM ad that had some way of figuring out who is important in your emails and social interactions. Do you really need that at most businesses? I know the people in my department are important and my boss is the most important. I saved my company the millions it would have taken IBM to implement this useless application.

The Internet of Things is basically an excuse to sell you stuff you don't really need. If my refrigerator tells me when my milk goes bad and re-orders the milk I would need to turn that function off. I don't always want milk so I don't want my refrigerator making decisions for me.

What I noticed is most of the technology today is just deck-chair re-arrangers. A thinner phone where you can use the edge of it for something or another. A bigger phone with a better camera and display. A laptop that turns into a tablet. A way to watch TV shows and 2nd run movies at home for small sum a month. A car service where you don't need a taxi license to participate in and can be called using an app. A different app that rents out your house when you are away. That is the innovation in 2015. These are all things that replace something that we already had. Uber vs. the taxi, the Samsung Edge vs. a regular smart phone, Netflix vs. Blockbuster Video.

Its all just a little nudge better and a little cheaper cost for pretty much the same thing as last year. I mean a bigger iPhone is not going to do anything special to move the productivity bar. You will still read the same email, use the same apps, and waste time with the same games and social media. So the idea that technological stagnation is something that might be putting a damper on productivity growth is a very good one indeed.

 

Obama's Plan Just Knee-capped SWAT teams throught the country

The White House again sticks its big nose into policing around the country.

To curb the “militarization” of local police that upset so many people during the Ferguson protests, President Obama has authorized a series of recommendations to regulate the transfer of equipment from federal agencies to state/local law enforcement.

The plan divides equipment into two main categories: (1) “prohibited” equipment – including bayonets, grenade launchers, weaponized aircraft, tracked armored vehicles and large caliber weapons – that have been deemed inappropriate for local law enforcement and should not be made available local police “under any circumstances,” and (2) “controlled” equipment – including riot gear, explosives, armored vehicles, and specialized firearms – that police departments can acquire only if they comply with certain “vigorous” controls.

Okay a grenade launcher can fire a smoke or tear gas grenade so I guess SWAT teams don't get that. I guess they also don't get to use a tracked vehicle in case of a bomb threat as well. Also what caliber is large caliber? Hopefully doesn't leave them with pop guns when the criminals can use any caliber of firearm they want. 

Also on the "controlled list" why is riot gear on this list? This gear protects the cops when there are riots like there were in Baltimore. Maybe explosives or armored vehicles might be on this list by why is protective gear there? I guess there will just be more injured cops next time there is a riot.

Kid Dodges all 8 Ivies for University of Alabama: #Smartchoices

Now this is a kid that is interested in his financial future.

Yet despite the accomplishment, Nelson declined offers from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Penn. He chose a state school instead: the University of Alabama. His reason for choosing to Roll Tide? Nelson wants to avoid mountains of student loan debt.

Nelson, who is his senior class president, has a 4.58 weighted GPA, is an award-winning saxophone player, and has plenty of merit-based awards to his name, told Morning Joe Monday that he analyzed all of the offers and asked himself one simple question: “Where am I going to get the best education possible, while still making sure that it’s financially reasonable for both me and my family?” said Nelson.

In other words he chose free college instead of having to work for decades to pay off a mountain of debt he would get from an Ivy. He can always choose to go to an Ivy for grad school or maybe law school if he was so inclined. Instead he gets 4 years of free college then he can go into debt for a fraction of the amount he would need. Smart kid.

They are Going to Run Out of Straws!: 36 People on the #RNCStrawPoll including Mark Whitty Everson. Who? Read Further

Can't they whittle this group down to a more manageable number?

The RNC then throws in a few senators and governors for good measure. Nikki Haley, John Thune, Brian Sandoval, Kelly Ayotte, Susana Martinez, Tim Scott. Add former congressman Allen West, a potential candidate in his own mind, and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and you're at a ridiculous 35 candidates.

Who's number 36, you ask? Mark Everson. Who's Mark Everson, you ask? Beats me.

Time to Google:

He is the former Commissioner of the IRS under George W. Bush (points off) but has an interesting middle name: Whitty (not sure if he actually fits this name.) He went to Yale (points off) and NYU school of business for an MBA in accounting (points: I would love a Beancounter in Chief.) He was the CEO of the Red Cross (big points) but knocked up a married subordinate while he was there (points for Clinton-istas) but ended up divorcing his wife and marring that woman (tie score to the Christian Reich: your sin Mr Everson? ADULTERY! Your penance? MARRIAGE.) He is currently working as a consultant for Alliantgroup which is a tax consultant (if they can cut my taxes then points.) Said Alliantgroup has a David Tepper clone on their website. When I first clicked through I thought "wow Tepper has his hands in everything." Turns out it was Dean Zerbe who is some dude I never heard of.

Total Score: I would not vote for him but he would make a decent Tax functionary in an imaginary Condoleezza Rice White House. (Yeah I'm not a fan of any of the people running on the GOP ticket so far)

How to Combat #Hack-a-Jordan: Spike the Ball off the Backboard and Rebound

I was watching the Clippers vs. Rockets snoozefest where they hacked DeAndre Jordan 28 times in the first half of that game. I know it didn't work during that game but it didn't matter.

For one thing, there's the perception that Hack-a-Whoever, in many instances, just doesn't work. Remember, the Clippers decimated the Rockets in Jordan's 34-freebie game, thanks in large part to the combination of Houston completely sabotaging its rhythm, forsaking the possibility of generating live-ball turnovers, and having to repeatedly attack the Clips' set half-court defense, loaded up to snuff out every last James Harden isolation. (Also, the Rockets kind of seemed to quit.)

I'm pretty sure the Rockets quit because they were forced to play against how they wanted to. Harden seemed like he hated having to use a trick instead of playing tough defense.

Before I changed the channel on that game (this tactic actually lost at least one viewer)I was trying to think of ways to get rid of this tactic. Anything like giving the team that got fouled possession if it was intentional rewards them for having a poor free throw shooter. You could have a good free throw shooter sub in for the poor one only if the foul was intentional but that would be a reward as well.
 
One thing I think would be interesting is to have DeAndre Jordon spike the ball off the backboard on the second foul shot. Then rebound like crazy or even have Jordon try for a tip dunk. I think a strong fellow like Jordon can fire the ball hard enough off of the backboard so one of his teammates can rebound it. If he can do it enough then that intentionally missed free throw can turn into a whole new possession.

Starbucks' Ethos Water Brand Flees California

Well the drought has pushed out this company.

Beginning in May and over the next six months, Starbucks said it plans to move production to its Pennsylvania supplier.

The Seattle-based coffee chain also is looking for a new source and supplier for its West Coast Ethos Water distribution.

The announcement comes a week after the magazine Mother Jones published a report showing that Ethos Water was sourced in areas deemed to be in "exceptional drought.

Yeah it probably doesn't look good to Ethos waters liberal drinkers to be bottling during a drought.

Growth Slowing to a Crawl

We may have had a contraction in Q1 and maybe an anemic Q2.

But the number that really caught our attention is the new "GDP Now" figure put out by the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. That number uses data, as they come in,to make real-time estimates for near-term GDP growth.
It's not perfect. But in the first quarter, GDP Now estimates were way below the Wall Street consensus by two full percentage points or more. But its final forecast of 0.1% growth came closest to the real number.
So with Wall Street again expecting a pickup in the second quarter — the consensus calls for 3%-plus growth — what does GDP Now see? An anemic 0.8% GDP gain. That estimate, if again correct, may mean the U.S. is falling into recession before the Fed even raises rates.

Well the good news is that the FED will probably not get a chance to raise rates anytime soon. The bad news is we will have 2 recessions on Obama's watch. It is strange that everyone else is running stimulus while the US wants to raise rates. I think the Government should cut payroll taxes again and give everyone a little spending shot in the arm.

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.