Analytics

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Post #3537 M

Quote of the Day

The greatest test of courage on earth is 
to bear defeat without losing heart.
R.G. Ingersoll  


Tweet of the Day











CATO's Tweet-Annotated SOTU Is Spot-On




Why Government Shutdowns Are a Bad Thing



DEAD WRONG: Drones Cost Jobs



Political Cartoon


Courtesy of Steve Breen via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


 Mariah Carey, "Obsessed"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Post #3536 M

Quote of the Day

Dignity consists not in possessing honors, 
but in the consciousness that we deserve them.
Aristotle  


Tweet of the Day














Image of the Day


Stossel On the Freedom Index: We're #1 #17




Stossel On Generation Whine


Shapiro Buries Leftist Rubbish


Sweet



Political Cartoon


Courtesy of Mike Lester via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


 Mariah Carey, "Bye Bye"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, January 29, 2018

Post #3535 M

Quote of the Day

One may go a long way after one is tired.
French proverb  

Tweet of the Day









Fix Yourself; Don't Blame the World




An Interesting Take On Orwell's 1984




Are CEO's Worth Millions? It Depends On How the Company Makes Money

I've more or less said the exact same thing as this professor.


Political Cartoon


Courtesy of Steve Kelley via Townhall

Musical Interview: My Favorite Vocalists


 Mariah Cary, "Touch My Body". We are heading down the home stretch of Carey's incredible string of #1 hits.

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Post #3534 M

Quote of the Day

It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, 
but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
Benjamin Elijah Mays 

Tweet of the Day










Pelosi On Draining the Swamp--Big Govt IS the Swamp



Towards a Competitive Market in Education


Ron Paul On the  State Tactic of Manipulative Fear-Mongering



Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Steve Breen via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


 Mariah Carey, "Shake It Off"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Post #3533 M

Quote of the Day

He who smiles rather than rages is always the stronger.
Japanese proverb  

Tweet of the Day




















Don't Let the Left Demand Fidelity Because of Your Incidental Characteristics




Prager U On the Women's March


This video shows interviews with leftist protesters who rarely know squat beyond memorization of politically correct talking points. It's so bad I almost classify it as political humor.



Cool Technology: Artificial Intelligence Meets the Camera




Reforestation in Iceland





Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Ken Catalino via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, January 26, 2018

Post #3532 M

Quote of the Day

It's better to light a candle 
than to curse the darkness.
Chinese proverb  

Tweet of the Day


Every once in a while I write a viral tweet that grabs literally thousands of viewers. The hashtag was tailor-made for someone like me who has very mixed meetings about Trump. I mean, I can sometimes tell if a tweet might attract the attention of Trumpkins and grab a few hundred views, but almost never when it goes viral. And there are sometimes unintended effects when I find myself flooded with indignant Obama cultists, anti-immigrants and pro-aborts, even though the tweet was about Trump. One Obama cultist even tried to argue improved growth the last 3 quarters was the deferred effect of Obamanomics. Yeah, right... He didn't do it over the 8 years of his Presidency--and he figures out just as he leaves the White House?

But to give an example, my first tweet (a hashtag game) is a pun on The Guess Who's big 70's hit, "Clap For the Wolfman". I thought it was an inspired tweet. It got a number of views but others got much more.


























Ron Paul On Trumponomics




Remy's Back With a Spoof On Government Fear-Mongers




The Lazy Millennial Is Back




Political Cartoon
Courtesy of Henry Payne via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Mariah Carey, "It's Like That."

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Post #3531 M

Quote of the Day

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.
Henry David Thoreau  

Tweet of the Day







The Human Freedom Index: Under Trump, Not Even in the Top 10




Equal Opportunity For the Poorer Disabled Students?




The Hell Of Venezuela




What Does Freedom Mean to You?




Political Cartoon


Courtesy of Gary Varvel via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


Mariah Carey (featuring Cameo), "Loverboy"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Post #3530 M

Quote of the Day

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is 
that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke  

Tweet of the Day









DEAD WRONG: Unfair Equality Over Fair Inequality




Facebook Corner

I have a cousin who works for a major pharmaceutical. He was not happy with companies who decide to divest from neurological research/product development like Pfizer. He posted a leftist group using Pfizer as benefiting from the new tax law while cutting its program for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. I snapped back on the absurd tie between tax reform and he quickly regretted posting the video and political claptrap, saying he didn't like Pfizer's  reducing opportunities for professionals like him and a fellow female colleague. Unfortunately, his friend had no issue ranting leftist BS at me. So I start with my response and then a post of my own, following up.

This is economic illiterate rubbish. Pfizer is not in the business of losing money on drugs that don't work. Using tired, ignorant rubbish like "trickle-down" economics is pathetic; the poor today have access to pharmaceutical products and vaccines, not made just for the 1%, never mind cellphones, transportation, appliances, etc. Coolidge's son died from complications of a foot blister a century ago, when the nation's best doctors couldn't help.



A cousin recently posted a leftist attack video on the recent tax reform law, somehow trying to absurly tie it to Pfizer's recent decision to leave the markets for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. When I suggested that the decision was related to poor prospects in drug development, one of my cousin's economic illiterate colleagues mocked my inference of failing drugs and went on an anti-capitalist rant. Here's what 5 seconds of a Google search will tell you (Marketwatch):

Pfizer Inc. said Saturday it will stop trying to discover new drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, abandoning costly but futile efforts to find effective treatments for the disorders.
The restructuring won’t affect later-stage drug development for pain treatments Lyrica and tanezumab, or research into drugs for rare neurological diseases, Pfizer said.
The company plans to use the savings to fund drug R&D in other areas. “This was an exercise to reallocate [spending] across our portfolio, to focus on those areas where our pipeline, and our scientific expertise, is strongest,” it said. Like several peers, Pfizer PFE, +0.30% has invested heavily in developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s because of the huge need, but met disappointment when once-promising compounds failed to work during testing

Political Cartoon



Courtesy of Henry Payne via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


 Mariah Carey (featuring Snoop Dogg), "Crybaby"

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

Post #3529 J

Be Careful in Your Investments! We Are Nearer the Top Than the Bottom

Let me first note I'm not a financial or monetary expert; what I'm going to try to do is to simplify discussion as a fellow investor.

Here's the basic idea: a zero/negative difference between longer/shorter debt tends to be a harbinger of a recession. But longer-term debt is riskier than short-term financing. Rising interest rates  raise the cost of financing and pressure profits, tied to stock prices. Sure, higher interest attracts investors relative to risky, possibly lower near-term returns from stocks.

How do we get a narrowing of interest rates? For one think, the Fed may be contributing to the problem by unwinding its balance sheet which basically takes money out of the economy. For example, it redeems maturing federal debt without rolling over the debt into new Treasury purchases. Also when it unwinds other debt, greater supply vs. demand for debt should translate to lower prices, which means higher interest rates.

On the other hand, l0-year Treasury bonds are seen as a better alternative (safer, higher interest) say than negative-rate European corporate bonds (i.e., you pay the corporation to take your money. Competition for a set number of T-bills should translate to insufficient supplies, higher costs, lower interest.

Courtesy of FT

Now we should be careful of how to translate this in terms of alternative investments--for example, lower tax payments and/or repatriating offshore assets could offset the need for financing. And it's possible that the Fed  could worry raising rates or selling debt would trigger a recession and/or deflation.

There's a lot of speculation about the global melt-up, gold bugs thinking that the Fed will blink in efforts to defend the dollar, especially in its intent to avoid deflation. I personally want to avoid overly broad securities (say, the S&P), I think it's more of a sector pickers market, I don't believe the Fed can succeed in staving off a recession (including timing it), and I want some diversification from the domestic market; moreover, I probably want to keep some of my powder dry, i.e., cash. Can I time this game of investigator musical chairs? No. but I'm more disciplined about diversifying, cutting losers, reevaluating issues, and refusing to chase overbought stocks (or ETF's/mutual funds).

As always, invest at your own risk. I can't afford to screw up my retirement funds.

I Can't Stand Economic Illiterates

Whether we are talking about Trump's morally reprehensible increasing trade wars against 3 of our biggest customers (China, Canada, and Mexico), or some progressive believing the State monopoly will make "injustice wither away", I don't suffer fools gladly.

Just remember a few things:

  • the market for the upper 1% is very limited, and there are economies of scale--which benefit most consumers
  • federal legislators and bureaucrats are the political 1%, special interest via public trust theory
Posted by at

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Post #3528 M

Quote of the Day

Blessed are those who can give without remembering 
and take without forgetting.
Elizabeth Bibesco  

Tweet of the Day











Stossel On Saving Kids From Government Monopoly Schools




The First in FEE's New Series on Female Entrepreneurs



Facebook Corner

My own post: These Border Patrol scum should be terminated and prosecuted on charges of theft. No excuses.



Political Cartoon


Courtesy of Henry Payne via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists


Mariah Carey (with Joe and 98 Degrees), "Thank God I Found You"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, January 22, 2018

Post #3527 M

-Quote of the Day

First say to yourself what you would be; 
and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus  

Tweet of the Day






The Case AGAINST Education



For the Children: A Story During the Holocaust




Does Heckling Violate Free Speech?

Basically, you (and the government) do not have the right to use force to prevent expression of speech. This doesn't mean there aren't social norms that play a role, including the principle of reciprocity, civility, etc. You certainly don't have unilateral rights or to violate the contract of a speech setting. For example, the rules of a debit may including things like time limits and the style or nature of discussion. These are not violations of free speech but a contractual mutual agreement to limit speech in the debate.


Political Cartoon

Courtesy of Robert Ariail via Townhall


Musical Interlude: My Favorite Vocalists

Mariah Carey (featuring Jay-Z), "Heartbreaker"

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)