Friday, June 10, 2005
Madonna to create Kabbalah Hotel?
Yup she spent $2.9 million on some mansion in England. I wonder if they are going to storm this place Branch Davidian style in the next few years?
Big Throwdown over Patiot Act
Now this is some stupid stuff from Captiol Hill. We have guys shouting, people leaving and taking the gavel. It's a big joke. At least there wasn't a fist fight or something. That would have made some news. I agree with this to a point:
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, speaking immediately after Sensenbrenner left, voiced dismay over the proceedings. "I'm troubled about what kind of lesson this gives" to the rest of the world, he told the Democrats remaining in the room.
Can't these idiots stay civil when it comes to this kind of thing. It shows the rest of the world that we would rather argue and stomp off with our ball then get things done. Everyone should be ashamed of themselves over this.
James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, speaking immediately after Sensenbrenner left, voiced dismay over the proceedings. "I'm troubled about what kind of lesson this gives" to the rest of the world, he told the Democrats remaining in the room.
Can't these idiots stay civil when it comes to this kind of thing. It shows the rest of the world that we would rather argue and stomp off with our ball then get things done. Everyone should be ashamed of themselves over this.
Stocks Finish Mixed
Wonder how Glazer is going to run the Red Devils?
Hmm looks like he is buying out the Manchester United execs now. He pretty much has control of the company and is going to take it private. I wonder if he is going to bring some of that US football mentality to British football. I mean luxury boxes, seat licenses, endless marketing, and exclusive TV deals? They may be serving sushi at Old Trafford by next season.
Citigroup cuts its Losses and pays up
This is one of the reasons why I own this stock. I am kind of like Prince Alwaleed bin Talal the so called Warren Buffett of Saudi Arabia who said he will never sell C no matter what occurs. I on the other hand may sell it but the chances are really, really low.
Citi knows when to just pay the money for something like the Enron screw-up instead of fighting it like Morgan Stanley is. Now the Citi CEO, Prince just has to work on not getting into these stupid scandals in the first place.
Citi knows when to just pay the money for something like the Enron screw-up instead of fighting it like Morgan Stanley is. Now the Citi CEO, Prince just has to work on not getting into these stupid scandals in the first place.
Looks like the budget deficit is coming down
Looks like the government isn't ponying up for excess $100K toilet seats now. Maybe the Repubs are finally exercising some of that fiscal discipline that I heard so much about.
Holloway did have sex in Car
Yup looks like she did hook up with the Dutch guy. I guess even honor students get it on when exotic Europeans are lurking around the casino of the hotel they are staying at. In fact they were both honor students.
Also, this seems like quite a senior trip. A casino in the hotel and bars you can go to where you can get stumbling-out-of-the-car drunk. You even get to hook up with Europeans in their car. It seems that the Senior Outing Committee of Mountain Brook High picked Aruba because "dude you can get like drunk at 17 and they don't even check IDs."
One of the things that is messed about this though is why Holloway couldn't have sex with this dude in her room. I bet the chaperones would have smacked her around if she snuck him into her room and got caught.
It looks like Natalie may be the victim of US style morality. If the chaperones were more loose with the rules on sex then she could have done the nasty with this guy, had a shower, and then went to sleep. She would have got onto the plane the next day, with a fun adventure under her belt. Instead it may be the security guards that did her in:
After Holloway and the three men went to the beach, they drove her back to her hotel, where she stumbled and was approached by a man wearing a security guard uniform, another defense attorney, David Kock, told the AP.
They may have thought to have a little fun with her and maybe she accidently died of alcohol poisoning, or gave her some drugs that she couldn't handle, or she hit her head or something. Then the guards hid her body. Whatever the case though if she went Dutch in her room instead of in the car she may be alive today.
Also, this seems like quite a senior trip. A casino in the hotel and bars you can go to where you can get stumbling-out-of-the-car drunk. You even get to hook up with Europeans in their car. It seems that the Senior Outing Committee of Mountain Brook High picked Aruba because "dude you can get like drunk at 17 and they don't even check IDs."
One of the things that is messed about this though is why Holloway couldn't have sex with this dude in her room. I bet the chaperones would have smacked her around if she snuck him into her room and got caught.
It looks like Natalie may be the victim of US style morality. If the chaperones were more loose with the rules on sex then she could have done the nasty with this guy, had a shower, and then went to sleep. She would have got onto the plane the next day, with a fun adventure under her belt. Instead it may be the security guards that did her in:
After Holloway and the three men went to the beach, they drove her back to her hotel, where she stumbled and was approached by a man wearing a security guard uniform, another defense attorney, David Kock, told the AP.
They may have thought to have a little fun with her and maybe she accidently died of alcohol poisoning, or gave her some drugs that she couldn't handle, or she hit her head or something. Then the guards hid her body. Whatever the case though if she went Dutch in her room instead of in the car she may be alive today.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Yup Date a Nerd. You can't go wrong.
I have always agreed that this is a good idea. Geeky guys are always more devoted to women then some good-looking player. They will treat the girl well because they will be damn happy to get her in the first place.
The player will as likely to ditch a girl for a her best friend or sister then be serious in the relationship. Plus the player will probably not pay as much attention to a girl as a geek. To a player there is always someone better looking then you. A good-looking player knows he can get any girl he wants so why stop with you?
The geek will always put you first or just slightly behind his Hero Clicks, Comic Collection, Magic cards, etc. At least a girl dating a geek will have to simply rise above Batman and not that hot waitress that is taking your dinner order.
Finally, many geeks bring the one two punch of intelligence and wittyness to the relationship. He knows alot about stuff and can probably speak eloquently on almost any topic. It is just the girls job to make him presentable and teach him social graces if he is deficient. Remember the geek will always go the extra mile for a decent girl. He is willing to change.
The player will as likely to ditch a girl for a her best friend or sister then be serious in the relationship. Plus the player will probably not pay as much attention to a girl as a geek. To a player there is always someone better looking then you. A good-looking player knows he can get any girl he wants so why stop with you?
The geek will always put you first or just slightly behind his Hero Clicks, Comic Collection, Magic cards, etc. At least a girl dating a geek will have to simply rise above Batman and not that hot waitress that is taking your dinner order.
Finally, many geeks bring the one two punch of intelligence and wittyness to the relationship. He knows alot about stuff and can probably speak eloquently on almost any topic. It is just the girls job to make him presentable and teach him social graces if he is deficient. Remember the geek will always go the extra mile for a decent girl. He is willing to change.
Free Katie! Free Katie!
This is a funny development in the Holmes/Cruise hook up. "Free Katie" indeed. Here is a link to the site
I think she may be suffereing from Stockholm syndrome already:
"I feel like he's made my life. He's amazing. He's kind, he's generous, he's smart, he's Tom Cruise," Holmes gushed to the Boston Herald. "He's the most artistic man I've ever met, he's a joy, he makes me laugh like I've never laughed. He's the most wonderful being.''
Notice how she left out the word "human" in front of being. Tom Cruise is her Rasputin I tells ya! Free Katie! Free Katie!
I think she may be suffereing from Stockholm syndrome already:
"I feel like he's made my life. He's amazing. He's kind, he's generous, he's smart, he's Tom Cruise," Holmes gushed to the Boston Herald. "He's the most artistic man I've ever met, he's a joy, he makes me laugh like I've never laughed. He's the most wonderful being.''
Notice how she left out the word "human" in front of being. Tom Cruise is her Rasputin I tells ya! Free Katie! Free Katie!
Intel Guides Upward
Looks like demand for semis are higher. They said:
In a scheduled update, Intel targeted sales of $9.1 billion to $9.3 billion. In April, the company forecast sales of $8.6 billion to $9.2 billion.
Intel also forecast quarterly gross margins of about 57 percent, plus or minus a point, ahead of its previous forecast of 56 percent, plus or minus a couple of points. Gross margin is the percentage of sales left over after accounting for production costs.
Both revenue and margins are up which is always a good thing in these markets. As long as capital spending on tech is still there this stock looks pretty decent going forward. Too bad it has had a 25% run up here recently.
In a scheduled update, Intel targeted sales of $9.1 billion to $9.3 billion. In April, the company forecast sales of $8.6 billion to $9.2 billion.
Intel also forecast quarterly gross margins of about 57 percent, plus or minus a point, ahead of its previous forecast of 56 percent, plus or minus a couple of points. Gross margin is the percentage of sales left over after accounting for production costs.
Both revenue and margins are up which is always a good thing in these markets. As long as capital spending on tech is still there this stock looks pretty decent going forward. Too bad it has had a 25% run up here recently.
I think they need some Scotch tape.
Torn Bibles at the Saudi International Airport. No wait! Those are Qurans!!!
Koran abuse from Israel! Oh my God!
How dare those heartless Zionists tear some pages in a book! Wait just a minute:
The charges against Israeli soldiers originally surfaced on Tuesday, when prisoners charged that soldiers tore three Qurans and stepped on them. In a later version, they said soldiers ripped pages out of one Quran.
Hmm, perhaps the prisoners tore the pages and blamed the guards? No, that would be a totally laughable claim. But they would do it if they were effected by insidious Zionist mind rays! They are being controlled I tells ya! The UN must ban insidious Zionist mind rays at once! Who knows what idiotic Jihaddi is going to rip their own Koran under their influence.
The charges against Israeli soldiers originally surfaced on Tuesday, when prisoners charged that soldiers tore three Qurans and stepped on them. In a later version, they said soldiers ripped pages out of one Quran.
Hmm, perhaps the prisoners tore the pages and blamed the guards? No, that would be a totally laughable claim. But they would do it if they were effected by insidious Zionist mind rays! They are being controlled I tells ya! The UN must ban insidious Zionist mind rays at once! Who knows what idiotic Jihaddi is going to rip their own Koran under their influence.
Late move pushes the market up
Journal says Tysabri needs more study
Looks like the New England Journal of Medicine is weighing the risks and rewards for Tysabri. I say if the people helped are willing to take the risk they should go for it. They should just monitor the person really closely and if they are getting the brain disease then they should stop the treatments immediately. It is a good thing though the Biogen and Elan are making damn sure everything is okay before going ahead.
Natalee Holloway story is getting Stranger and Stranger
Looks like they nabbed 3 more guys that may be connected to her disappearance. The were all students two guys from Surinam and a Dutch guy. Their story about dropping her off at the hotel in the early morning sounds kind of fishy though.
Maybe they dropped her off and the security guards nabbed her afterward but that doesn't seem right. They would have had to grab her right in front of the hotel. She would have probably put up a struggle and alerted people though.
Here is what may have happened. The students met her and partied with her at Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant and took her somewhere else to maybe hook up with her. Maybe to the beach or something like that.
She had her bags packed already so this would have been one last fling before she went back to her honors courses and such in Alabama. A last chance to hook up with some exotic guys before returning to her regular, structured life in Mountain Brook.
The students may have given her some Extasy or just lots of liquor and she couldn't take it and died. They probably didn't even force her but said something like "just try it it will be fun." The students then freaked out and hid the body instead of alerting autorities. I have a feeling if it happened in the Netherlands or Surinam they would have called the cops, but not here in some strange country. I think this may be the case of a party gone wrong. It went from a tale she would tell her girlfriends back in Alabama to tragedy.
Maybe they dropped her off and the security guards nabbed her afterward but that doesn't seem right. They would have had to grab her right in front of the hotel. She would have probably put up a struggle and alerted people though.
Here is what may have happened. The students met her and partied with her at Carlos' n Charlie's bar and restaurant and took her somewhere else to maybe hook up with her. Maybe to the beach or something like that.
She had her bags packed already so this would have been one last fling before she went back to her honors courses and such in Alabama. A last chance to hook up with some exotic guys before returning to her regular, structured life in Mountain Brook.
The students may have given her some Extasy or just lots of liquor and she couldn't take it and died. They probably didn't even force her but said something like "just try it it will be fun." The students then freaked out and hid the body instead of alerting autorities. I have a feeling if it happened in the Netherlands or Surinam they would have called the cops, but not here in some strange country. I think this may be the case of a party gone wrong. It went from a tale she would tell her girlfriends back in Alabama to tragedy.
Starbucks expanding in China
Looks like Starbucks is going hog wild expanding in China. This statement seems interesting:
Starbucks already operates about 300 stores in China and Jim Donald, president of the company, said recently that there plenty of room for growth.
"China will be our largest market outside of the U.S.," he said in an interview last month. "Clearly there can be lots more than (the 300 stores), but we haven't really put a number to them yet because we don't know what the upside is."
More then Europe? I figured Europeans are the original coffee house people and they should be the 2nd biggest market. I guess there isn't much more expansion there.
I was thinking that the Chinese really don't drink much coffee but I guess Starbucks begs to differ. Maybe Starbucks will be serving more kinds of teas in those Chinese coffee houses or something. In any case you can kind of see the end of their growth plans here. After they expand to capacity in China then where else can they go?
Starbucks already operates about 300 stores in China and Jim Donald, president of the company, said recently that there plenty of room for growth.
"China will be our largest market outside of the U.S.," he said in an interview last month. "Clearly there can be lots more than (the 300 stores), but we haven't really put a number to them yet because we don't know what the upside is."
More then Europe? I figured Europeans are the original coffee house people and they should be the 2nd biggest market. I guess there isn't much more expansion there.
I was thinking that the Chinese really don't drink much coffee but I guess Starbucks begs to differ. Maybe Starbucks will be serving more kinds of teas in those Chinese coffee houses or something. In any case you can kind of see the end of their growth plans here. After they expand to capacity in China then where else can they go?
30 Year Mortgages are dirt cheap
Wow, now these are some good rates on mortgages and they just keep dropping. I guess this is part of reason why there is a housing bubble. Lots of cheap money out there to buy multiple homes or get home equity loans. When that bubble bursts though you better have a large cash position or you will be hurting.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Glenn Reynolds Tech Central Station column
This is a very interesting article that Glenn wrote. I think customization is really going to be important as we go deeper into this century. We are already customizing our music (making smash ups, mix tapes etc.) in our Ipods and CDs. We are also customizing our ringtones, faceplate, etc. on our cell phones. Some PC games are modded so much that the mod is better then the game itself.
There are some problems with this customization paradigm though. I agree that some people will really enjoy having a one-of-a-kind item that they designed themselves. The problem is not all people are creative. Some people may just want a toaster that works. They won't have the time or skill to sit down and design an item that will do and look exactly how they want it to.
Also depending on the sheer number of options and tweaks that they have available people are going to be become overloaded and just go with the default. I think they call this option paralysis. I guess these are just a behaviors that the personal manufacturing machine company is going to have to overcome.
There are some problems with this customization paradigm though. I agree that some people will really enjoy having a one-of-a-kind item that they designed themselves. The problem is not all people are creative. Some people may just want a toaster that works. They won't have the time or skill to sit down and design an item that will do and look exactly how they want it to.
Also depending on the sheer number of options and tweaks that they have available people are going to be become overloaded and just go with the default. I think they call this option paralysis. I guess these are just a behaviors that the personal manufacturing machine company is going to have to overcome.
Wow, is Howard Dean is working for Rove?
I think he is a secret Rove plant to make the Democrats look like fools. Dean says:
Republicans are "a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party."
Yup, they are just a bunch of white Christians who act exactly the same. Sounds like something a bigot would say about blacks, gays, Jews, or some minority. If he replaced Republican with any of those minority groups he would have been run out of national life on a rail.
I am starting to think that he is a plant by Rove to discredit the Democrats. Noone could call this much attention to himself when he was simply trying to drum up money for the party.
This is the final whopper that convinced me:
"We have to be rough on the Republicans. Republicans don't represent ordinary Americans and they don't have any understanding of what it is to go out and try and make ends meet."
All this from a millionaire doctor who went to Yale and whos father, grandfather and great grandfathers were all investment bankers. I have a feeling that he doesn't shop at Sam's Club to fill the larders of his Park Avenue apartment. Rove must be pulling his strings!
Republicans are "a pretty monolithic party. They all behave the same. They all look the same. It's pretty much a white Christian party."
Yup, they are just a bunch of white Christians who act exactly the same. Sounds like something a bigot would say about blacks, gays, Jews, or some minority. If he replaced Republican with any of those minority groups he would have been run out of national life on a rail.
I am starting to think that he is a plant by Rove to discredit the Democrats. Noone could call this much attention to himself when he was simply trying to drum up money for the party.
This is the final whopper that convinced me:
"We have to be rough on the Republicans. Republicans don't represent ordinary Americans and they don't have any understanding of what it is to go out and try and make ends meet."
All this from a millionaire doctor who went to Yale and whos father, grandfather and great grandfathers were all investment bankers. I have a feeling that he doesn't shop at Sam's Club to fill the larders of his Park Avenue apartment. Rove must be pulling his strings!
Rangel says Iraqi Liberation is like the Holocost.
Looks like Rep. Charles Rangel(D) is comparing the Iraqi Liberation to the Holocost. This is the same Bush=Hitler stuff that crops up all the time. When are they going to understand that regular people don't agree with these kinds of statements.
This kind of rhetoric only plays to the people in their own echo chamber and noone else. Anyone with any kind of sense of decency can't compare the systematic slaughter of 6 million people to the freeing of 26 million other people. This is case in point why they lost the White House and will continue to keep on losing down the line.
This kind of rhetoric only plays to the people in their own echo chamber and noone else. Anyone with any kind of sense of decency can't compare the systematic slaughter of 6 million people to the freeing of 26 million other people. This is case in point why they lost the White House and will continue to keep on losing down the line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)