Here is a Deal: Trump Should Release Tax Returns in Exchange for the Clinton Foundation's Returns

I think it is idiotic the whole idea that anyone needs to release their tax returns and I agree with this assumption by Donald Trump Jr.

When asked why his father has not released his tax returns as presidential candidates have traditionally done, Trump Jr. said, “Because he’s got a 12,000-page tax return that would create … financial auditors out of every person in the country asking questions that would detract from (his father’s) main message.”

Yeah pretty much. People will comb through the thing for anything funky and make that a big deal. So this same scrutiny should be paid to the Clinton Foundation. Have everything right out in the open so both sides can look for discrepancies. Hillary's personal tax return is nearly worthless compared to the Foundation's which will probably have a ton of scary stuff in it. It could conceivably exonerate her if it doesn't contain anything but that is not very likely.

Obama Relaxes Hatred of Israel with $38 Billion Military Aid

I wonder if there will be Iranian military aid to keep a detente in the region?

The United States agreed Wednesday to provide Israel a record $38 billion in new military aid over the next decade. The pact is a sign of the two nations' close alliance despite major differences over Iran's nuclear program and other policies.

Although like all Obama White House plans there are strings attached

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a critic of the memorandum of understanding between the two allies, called it important but slammed a provision that would limit Israel from seeking additional U.S. funds except in times of war.

Oprah is $117 Million Poorer as Weight Watchers Stock Down 66%

She must feel like Bill Ackman and his Herbalife shares. She should have sold a while back when the stock was at $28 in November of last year. (I know she cannot since selling such a large position would have moved the stock downward right away) In any case she is still up from when she bought it.

The media mogul and 10% owner of Weight Watchers has seen $117 million in wealth vanish as shares of the company have crashed 66% from their high notched November 2015 on enthusiasm over her involvement with the company. Shares of Weight Watchers are down another 68 cents, or 6.6%, to $9.68 Tuesday after the company said it is replacing its CEO. The value of the company has dropped $1.2 billion in value since the peak hit after Winfrey came on board.

At Last: Economic Good News: People have More Money in Their Paychecks

At last some good news.

After eight lean years, Americans finally got fatter paychecks in 2015 — their first significant hike since 2007 and the biggest since record keeping began in 1968. The U.S. median household income rose 5.2% to $56,516, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

Hopefully, they put some of that money in a rainy day fund so they can get through the next recession.

I Agree with Tim Gunn: The Fashion Industry Needs to Design for Size 12 and Up Women

I have to agree with this assessment.

Gunn, one of the biggest names in fashion, wrote in a Washington Post essay that designers “refuse to make clothes to fit American women,” calling it not just a poor business decision, but also “a disgrace.”

“Actually I’ve been saying this for a very long time,” Gunn, 63, said today on “Good Morning America”. “Christian Siriano and his work for Leslie Jones for the premiere of ‘Ghost Busters’ was really the catalyst for this Washington Post article. I’ve been an advocate for women who are larger than a size 12 for many, many, many years. And there are 100 million of them, so why doesn’t this industry wake up?”

I think it might just be easier to design for human coat-hangers because designers have been doing it for decades. It takes the skill of someone like Siriano to design for a bigger woman. I think there is just too many Karl Lagerfelds with his fat shaming.

Brainard Walks Back Rate Hike: Can't they Speak with One Voice?

Well I guess it is "No Rate Hike" in September.

Fed Governor Lael Brainard — a voting member of the central bank's policymaking committee — said in a speech that, while economic progress continues, it would be wise for the Fed to keep monetary policy loose.
"She resurrected some of the concerns for why the Fed shouldn't raise rates," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial. "We now go back to a thesis where the Fed wants to raise rates for other reasons," She also said "it's hard to see Janet Yellen come out and raise rates" next week. 

I guess peace will reign until some other governor opens his/her big yapper and the market will head lower again.

SAS Sniper Pulls off God-shot out of an Action Movie to Slay ISIS Executioner

Now this guy is a bad-ass that needs to have a movie made after him.

A sharpshooter killed a top ISIS executioner and three other jihadists with a single bullet from nearly a mile away — just seconds before the fiend was set to burn 12 hostages alive with a flamethrower, according to a new report.
The British Special Air Service marksman turned one of the most hated terrorists in Syria into a fireball by using a Barett .50-caliber rifle to strike a fuel tank affixed to the jihadi’s back, the UK’s Daily Star reported Sunday.
The pack exploded, killing the sadistic terrorist and three of his flunkies, who were supposed to film the execution, last month, the paper said.

Now that is an awesome shot. One shot 3 targets eliminated and 12 people saved. This guy needs to be put up for the Victoria Cross.

The FED Governors Need to STFU: Market Slides 394 Points on Their Loose Lips

I'm tired of these un-elected officials roiling the market on their loose talk.

The speculation has been driven by divergent Fed speak over recent days despite the disappointing economic reports. Most recently, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, another usually reliable dove, said the the central bank risks financial instability if it keeps rates anchored so low. San Francisco Fed President John Williams, a policy kindred spirit for Yellen, called for hiking "sooner rater than later."

I'm so tired of this game of "raising rates in September or December or both or neither" that markets keep playing. Can't the FED speak with one voice? I don't remember a time when they would pop off like this under Ben Bernanke or Alan Greenspan. Maybe Yellen just runs a loose ship where everyone can just say whatever they want when ever they want without consequences.

The problem is the FED is so mealy mouthed. Just say we will raise rates in September and December. Or just come out with some sort of game plan so the markets can adjust. Just say they want rates at 4% by 2020 or something. Or come out with a statement at the beginning of the year saying "we will raise rates 4 times by 1/4 point" in 2017. Take away all this idiotic uncertainty so people can make decisions.

The "Never Date a Feminist Guy" Dave Hon Will Probably Not Be Dating Anyone Soon #TeethCleaning

Well this article is raising some hackles.

If you look for a reason to hate men, chances are you’re going to find it.

The truth is, I don’t blame women, (especially in my generation) for hating men. They’ve been told there’s a wage gap (I disagree). That there’s a culture of rape on college campuses (I also disagree). And the patriarchy is keeping them oppressed in almost every facet of their lives (I really, really disagree.)

I don't think this guy needs to worry about feminists because he is not a good looking fellow. I wonder if he thinks that women who won't date him hate all men or just hate the particular man they see before them? In any case maybe some teeth whitening would be a good start. 

Richard Sherman is A Very Intelligent Fellow but This Statement is Just Ignorant

This has got to take the cake for just spouting uninformed statements about the US.

“But I think there is also things in this nation that people need to remember and need to take heed of and also acknowledge. This country is the same country that had ‘Whites’ and ‘Colored’ signs on the bathroom. We are still in that country. We are still in that nation. And that needs to be acknowledged and that needs to be changed; that mentality still exists. And that needs to change…

Um no this is not the same country that had segregation it is a totally different one. Just like China of today should not be colored by the millions and millions of people that died under Mao. Or Germany of today has to be colored by the Holocaust. The people that did those atrocities are almost all dead. They will eventually join them on the ash heap of history.

I agree that our racist past should be acknowledged but the great strives we have done in the present should not be diminished my them. That's why saying we are still in a nation of segregationists is ignorant. There is still might be that mentality somewhere in America but it is no longer in a position of power.

The most powerful man in America and the attorney general are both black. There are many black governors, mayors, and police chiefs etc. Saying we are still the same nation as the one in the past discounts everything we have done to change that situation. There are no longer "White" and "Colored" signs up over any bathroom in this country and there hasn't been for 30 years.

Now the Seahawks want to Join Colin Craper-nick in Kneeling/Sitting Protest Against the National Anthem?

I guess it is contagious.

Not only is Baldwin considering a protest during the anthem, it sounds like others on the Seahawks might be as well.

“Our locker room has discussed it so we’ll see,” Baldwin said, according to Condotta.

Baldwin’s teammate, cornerback Jeremy Lane, sat down during the national anthem in Seattle’s final preseason game and said he’ll continue to do so. Kaepernick was also joined in his protest by 49ers safety Eric Reid. Kaepernick’s protest has drawn a ton of attention, both positive and negative.

What exactly is the end-game to this protest? If all racism in America is eradicated. That means Craper-nick and the Seahawks will be sitting for decades. Do they want police to stop carrying guns? I guess that would get lots of cops killed just to make them feel better. 

Do they want black people in power? I mean the President and the Attorney General are both black. Also nearly every Police Chief that I have seen where there were riots were black. So institutional racism in the police department does not seem to be happening at the top cop level. 

In any case I guess these protestors will be sitting/kneeling for a very long time. Just like the Occupy Wall Street crowd they do not have a list of things that need to happen to end the protest. It's just airy ideas that do not get down to concrete solutions at all.

Hillary Just Can't Stop Lying Even when it Comes to Whether she Follows Polls of Not

I think her reflex action is to lie.

Speaking to reporters aboard her campaign plane Tuesday, Clinton shrugged off a question about the CNN/ORC survey.

"I really pay no attention to polls. When they are good for me -- and there have been a lot of them that have been good for me recently -- I don't pay attention," Clinton said. "When they are not so good, I don't pay attention. We are on a course that we are sticking with."

If you don't pay attention how would you know if they were good or bad? She should have said "whether the polls are good or bad we really don't care." That would mean she sees the polls and they are "still on the course that they are sticking with." 

Maybe this is old school Clinton-speak. It matters what "I don't pay attention" means. Hillary doesn't pay attention at all but her body-person Huma or her similar Clinton-istas whole job revolves around it. Get ready for 4 years of this kind of thing. Maybe the old Kremlin-oligists can teach the new people following the Clintons.  

Can th 49ers trade Colin Craper-nick for the Ravens Ben Watson?

Now this is sentiment that I can believe in.

Before competition, as I stand in shoulder pads and cleats, my helmet in my left hand, adrenaline flowing and my heart raging under my right, I never forget the ills of America but for a moment I envision its potential, remember its prosperity and give thanks to God for the land He has placed me in and the people I love who live in it.

I stand, because this mixed bag of evil and good is MY home. And because it's MY home my standing is a pledge to continue the fight against all injustice and preserve the greatest attributes of the country, including Colin Kaepernick's right to kneel.

The whole thing should be read. Hell, I would vote for Ben Watson for President over the Crazy Person and the the Crooked One if he were old enough to run.

Great! Another thing to be Afraid of: The Dreaded Carrington Event #Disaster

Add this to the pile of scare tactics people seem to throw at us daily.

The best available estimates suggest a modern Carrington Event would cost humanity $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year and take another four to 10 years to achieve full recovery. A 2007 NASA estimate found that the damage to the satellite fleet would cost between $30 billion and $70 billion. 

What this is is a massive solar flare that would take out nearly every power grid, satellite, and cellphone and GPS device all at once. We would only have a few hours to a day of warning as well before everything gets fried by energetic particles. Time to buy that emergency food that Right-wing talk radio keeps touting.

Interesting Vanity Fair Article on Theranos Strangely Injects Race and Sex into Issue.

I love these postmortem articles on "where it all went wrong" with various companies. This one by Vanity Fair was on Theranos. It was a great article full of the kind of behind the scenes stuff I like. But this part I found strange.

It generally works like this: the venture capitalists (who are mostly white men) don’t really know what they’re doing with any certainty—it’s impossible, after all, to truly predict the next big thing—so they bet a little bit on every company that they can with the hope that one of them hits it big. The entrepreneurs (also mostly white men) often work on a lot of meaningless stuff, like using code to deliver frozen yogurt more expeditiously or apps that let you say “Yo!” (and only “Yo!”) to your friends. The entrepreneurs generally glorify their efforts by saying that their innovation could change the world, which tends to appease the venture capitalists, because they can also pretend they’re not there only to make money. And this also helps seduce the tech press (also largely comprised of white men), which is often ready to play a game of access in exchange for a few more page views of their story about the company that is trying to change the world by getting frozen yogurt to customers more expeditiously. The financial rewards speak for themselves. Silicon Valley, which is 50 square miles, has created more wealth than any place in human history. In the end, it isn’t in anyone’s interest to call bullshit.

So in this paragraph he adds white men over and over to imply some sort of bias I guess. Since the CEO was a white woman the white men were supposed to be enchanted with her or something? I have no idea why this little bit was injected into the article over and over. Does he imply that if the tech press was comprised mostly of Asian women they would have caught her? Or if the venture capitalists were all Uighur men they would not have invested a cent with her?

It is almost as if an article about a Hip-Hop music company kept adding black male over and over to imply something. I guess this guy is implying that race had something to do with this issue when it clearly does not. It was the case of a person who was overly secretive heading a company that made crazy "Silicon Valley claims." The person was then found out by a white male named John Carreyrou. I guess white male Nick Bilton the author of the article has some problem with white males. Or maybe it was a Vanity Fair editorial decision to race-bait like this.

Trump Continues Fight: Not Against ISIS, High Taxes, or Terrorists but Mika Brzezinski

This is really getting old. You hate her we got it. Why does this take up so much of his thought process?

Just heard that crazy and very dumb @morningmika had a mental breakdown while talking about me on the low ratings @Morning_Joe. Joe a mess!

Yeah low ratings and she is crazy and dumb. Does he keep tuning in over and over just to keep saying this? What a moron.

Burning Man Live Stream is Mesmerizing

I have been watching this thing off and on and it is just fascinating. Lots of people on bicycles driving around aimlessly. Every now and again a car shaped like a fish or a Mad Max style vehicle tools by. It is all under a pall of dust covering everything.

Foot Locker Doing Great While Nearly Everyone Else Struggles

It seems like they have the secret sauce they need to beat Amazon at the retail game.

In the past year, CitySports and Sports Authority both filed for bankruptcy and began the process to liquidate all their stores. Vestis Retail Group, which owned the chains EMS, Bob’s Stores and Sport Chalet, filed for bankruptcy. Quiksilver filed for bankruptcy; Aeropostale is bankrupt; Finish Line will close 150 stores.

Foot Locker has bucked the trend. This month it beat expectations with its Q2 earnings of 94 cents per share and revenue of $1.78 billion, both figures up from the year before. The company forecasts a profit in 2017 while many of its longtime competitors are gasping for air. The stock (FL) is up 15% in the last two years, and 235% in the last five.

They seem to be listening to their demographics quite well.

It’s all because the chain keeps “listening to the kid,” says Jacobs. “The kid is different today than they were in the past… it’s more of a storytelling game.” The new flagship store isn’t as obvious an example of that—it only has one modest area for children’s footwear, because there is a Kids Foot Locker just one block away—but the average Foot Locker brick-and-mortar visitor is between ages 14 and 25.

I guess they just don't want to buy shoes online and like the idea of waiting in lines for exclusive sneakers. 

I have bought sneakers from Foot Locker for a while and never really thought about buying them from anywhere else. The problem is that I rarely wear non-work sneakers so my Nikes last a very long time. 

One thing is interesting is as more players like Sports Authority are swept off the board companies like Foot Locker and Dick's Sporting Goods become more and more valuable. People like athletic wear and sneaker culture is a billion dollar business and there are just fewer places to buy them. Also millennials as a group seem much more health conscious then other age cohorts. Foot Locker seems to be aiming right at them in their strategy going forward.     

Strange Signal Sent from HD 164595 a Sun 94 Light Years Away

I wonder what this signal is supposed to mean?

"The signal from HD 164595 is intriguing, because it comes from the vicinity of a sun-like star, and if it's artificial, its strength is great enough that it was clearly made by a civilization with capabilities beyond those of humankind," astronomer Douglas Vakoch, president of METI International, which searches for life beyond Earth, tells CNN. 

You add this to the potentially Dyson Sphere-covered sun and we are getting some interesting readings from just outside our solar system. Time to make that solar sailed powered space probe.

Olympics Ratings Terrible: Down 17% from London: NBC sucks at the Olympics

NBC needs to make some drastic changes here because watching the games on NBC really sucks. It is a bunch of smarmy vignettes bracketed around matches that you can get the results of with a few taps on your phone. I knew the "Final Five" won the team competition hours before it aired on NBC. Also there are so many commercials that it makes a few taps on the phone much more bearable. If I have to see that Pizza Hut commercial for the dipping box one more time I'm going to plotz.

Also I have no idea what is live and what is on tape or even when things are supposed to air. I wanted to watch wrestling but I have no idea when the matches are supposed to be on. I tune into NBC Sports Network and I lucked out being able to watch the womens matches but missed Helen Maroulis gold medal winning match. I then wanted to watch the match again at night on NBC but men's diving was on. I have yet to see what will probably be a historic match and probably won't get a chance to.

In any case, to fix things, they first they need to embrace digital viewership with both arms.

The bigger story here is that digital viewership is up, up, up. In the first week of these Games, online users streamed 1.86 billion minutes of NBC’s coverage, handily beating streams for the Olympics in London and Sochi. Last Saturday, NBC boasted in a press release, was the best day ever for NBC Olympics on digital platforms, with 155 million live streaming minutes, up 263% from the comparable day at London in 2012.

However, I did not stream the games at all because of this:

But they still had to have a cable login, and therein lies the problem. By requiring cable login credentials, NBC didn’t do enough to pull in cord-cutters, or “cord-nevers” (those who never paid for cable in the first place).
I whole bunch of people did not watch the Games at all because they are in this category. 

As soon as I saw the cable login thing I uninstalled the app. I have cable but why should I have to be tethered to it just to watch some obscure sports that I enjoy. CBS was smart when they allowed free streaming of the NCAA championship and I figured NBC would follow suit but I was wrong.

They should have put the big stuff like USA basketball, swimming, and gymnastics on NBC at night and put wrestling, shooting, etc on the digital app. Instead we are still tethered to the cable box which is something I dislike a lot. In any case NBC botched Rio and I'm not looking forward to how they handle Tokyo in 2020.