Sunday, September 28, 2008

Grabbing a Cheesesteak in South Philly, Palin Opines on Pakistan -- But Does She Contradict McCain Policy?

clipped from blogs.abcnews.com

Saturday night in Mo-town Philly, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin found herself at Tony Luke’s on Oregon Avenue.

“It’s Tina Fey!” shouted a bystander as Palin and her daughter Willow walked in.

At the counter, Palin ordered two cheesesteaks, whiz and onions. The woman at the counter asked the governor's name.

As Palin was glad handling, a man named Michael Rovito, wearing a Temple University t-shirt, approached Palin

“How about the Pakistan situation?" he asked her. "What’s your thoughts about that.”

“So we do cross the border," he asked, "like from Afghanistan to Pakistan, you think?”

“If that’s what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in," she said, "absolutely, we should.”

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Free Ice Cream---World's Largest Ice Cream Social

You can get free ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery on Thursday, September 25th.

Use the link in the clip to find the participating locations.

To cap off this special month, don't miss the 7th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social at participating Cold Stone Creamery locations nationwide, a special night to join together and share the simple pleasures of life with a FREE ice cream and family fun. On September 25th from 5:00 - 8:00PM, guests will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of Jack or Emily's Creation. All donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

McCain Campaign Disputes Post Poll

On the heels of a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that showed Barack Obama leading John McCain 52 percent to 43 percent nationally, the Arizona senator's campaign convened a conference call today insisting that the survey was an "outlier".

A new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll produced similar results with 48 percent of the sample saying Obama would do a better job handling the financial crisis as president while 35 percent said the same of McCain.

Chris Cillizza's Politics Blog -- The Fix

Clay Aiken acknowledges he's gay

clipped from www.reuters.com
Former "American Idol" contestant Clay Aiken has acknowledged he is gay, confirming in an interview with People magazine what most of his fans have suspected for years.
Aiken, 29, a born-again Christian who forged a successful career after being named runner-up in the 2003 "American Idol" television talent show, said he decided to come out after becoming a father in August.

He told People he came out to his mother four years ago, and said he hoped his fans, dubbed the Claymates, would not desert him. "I've never intended to lie to anybody at all. ... But if they leave, I don't want them to leave hating me."

In August, Aiken fathered a baby through in-vitro fertilization with his friend, music producer Jaymes Foster. Foster gave birth to a boy Parker on August 8. 
Photo
clipped from www.reuters.com

The news came as little surprise to those in the music business. "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell said, "If he said it, it's the right thing for him. Good for him. I don't think anyone cares. Let's face it. It's 2008."

Monday, September 22, 2008

McCain Draws Fire for Health Reform Modeled on Banking Deregulation

You can read the entire article by following the links.
clipped from blogs.wsj.com
Paul Krugman, op-ed columnist and blogger, at the New York Times, riffs on an interesting piece on health-care reform by John McCain in an obscure, to us, journal for actuaries.
In the current issue of Contingencies, McCain makes his case for a freer market for health coverage by arguing that insurance would benefit from the same sort of deregulation that has led to innovation in…wait for it…banking.
The money quote from McCain, as noted by Krugman:


Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Watch the Season Premier of Dexter Right Now!

The season premieres of Dexter and Californication are up and ready to be viewed. Beat the traffic and be the first person on your block too see these two shows scheduled to premier on September 28.
To get in use the password "ladykiller"
Here is the direct link Dexter Premier. Same password and link for Californication.
Enjoy and let us know what you think.

For more information and stuff like this subscribe to our blog via email or feed.
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Watch the Ryder Cup Live on your Computer


Use this direct link 37th Ryder Cup!


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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Financial Meltdown--Where there is Smoke, there is Fire

At dinner he described the situation to me. He said, “Where there is smoke there is fire”. He went on to explain that any time a major financial institution gets in trouble you could draw a circle around its location and expect the problem to spread to any other financial institution in a 150 mile radius (keep in mind this was the 1980s and before the Internet). He went on to explain the interconnectivity of financial institutions in a geographic proximity....His trip and fact finding mission convinced him that there was going to be a real financial crisis in Texas and that it would likely devastate the major banks and savings and loans. This was a very unpopular stance that cost him his job....It also was the catalyst of a stock market crash in 1987....I am reminded of other sayings that I heard early in my career on Wall Street—“never try and catch a falling knife”. I find myself thinking right now—“Cash is King”.


Financial Meltdown--Where there is Smoke, there is Fire

Back in the 1980s I learned an important lesson. At the time, I was with Bear Stearns and working in their Dallas, Texas office. The head of credit came to Texas to visit the state’s major banks and Savings and Loans to discuss their financial statements. Specifically he was trying to get a handle on their financial viability. There was a growing concern about the quality of credit and soundness of financial institutions in the southwest and California. The head of credit spent a couple of days in Dallas and Houston talking to the CFOs of these banks. Late in day, at the end of the trip, I saw him sitting alone in the office and asked him what he was doing. He informed me he was done but was not scheduled to fly out until the next morning. I saw this as an opportunity to “pick” his brain and learn something. So, I invited him out to dinner.

At dinner he described the situation to me. He said, “Where there is smoke there is fire”. He went on to explain that any time a major financial institution gets in trouble you could draw a circle around its location and expect the problem to spread to any other financial institution in a 150 mile radius (keep in mind this was the 1980s and before the Internet). He went on to explain the inter connectivity of financial institution is a geographic proximity. His trip and fact finding mission convinced him that there was going to be a real financial crisis in Texas and that it would likely devastate the major banks and savings and loans. This was a very unpopular stance that cost him his job. At the end of the day he was right. Both of the major banks in Dallas failed (Republic and First Interstate) and all of the major S and L’s in Texas failed (Sunbelt and Bright Bank to name two). This resulted in the formation of the Resolution Trust Corporation a government agency set up to dispose of the massive amount of defaulted loans owned by these financial institutions. It also was the catalyst of a stock market crash in 1987.

For years I have been telling my friends that the derivatives and swaps markets would turn out to be the equivalent of the savings and loan fiasco but on a scale that could never be imagined. Let me ask you, do you know anyone that predicted Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and AIG would go up in smoke? That Merrill Lynch would be offered at a fire sale? Have you heard prior discussions about the inter connectivity of all these financial institutions? Are they within a 150 mile radius?

AIG, the next to go, is a good example of the direness of the current situation. AIG has been racking up enormous profits for a very long time. Just last week they were considered to be solvent. They are loaded with cash. They are claiming $1,000,000,000,000 in assets (Trillion). They operate world wide. Now if you ask AIG they will tell you their problem is not a solvency issue it’s a liquidity issue. It seems that the financial community is no longer buying this argument and no one is willing to stand up and throw money at the problem. AIG does not have the necessary assets to collateralize the $75 billion in loans it needs right now to keep operating. If they go down someone will be on the hook for the insurance side of the business. I bet you thought as an insurance company there were being regulated. Partially true but this does not include the part of the business that is all wrapped up in the credit default swaps market and other derivatives designed to leverage the balance sheet and create “monster” profits. It appears the Fed and government regulators have finally decided that bailouts aren’t working and decided to say no to Lehman and AIG. Lehman is bankrupt and it appears that AIG will declare bankruptcy soon. The too big fail rule is no longer in effect.

It would be foolish to believe that once AIG goes over the cliff it will bring an end to the financial crisis we are seeing today. You should be thinking of the inter connectivity of AIG and all the counterparties they are doing business with AIG worldwide. Companies doing business with them will get wounded, maybe mortally wounded. What looked like a US problem is now a global problem. This will spill into financial markets world wide.

It appears it is finally being recognized that this is not smoke, it’s a FIRE. It appears that “too big to fail” is no longer a workable strategy to fix the problem. It appears the reality of the credit swaps derivatives market is finally being recognized. It’s likely that much of this paper is worthless or only worth cents on the dollar. This financial crisis is not likely to go away over night. There is more to come before all this “paper” can get unwound or find a home. In the interim there is an enormous risk in the stock and other financial markets.

The Fed will address this issue by adding massive liquidity to the markets. The world’s central banks will do the same. It is the right thing to do. But, it is a short term fix that is like prescribing an aspirin for a major infection. It might lower your fever but it won’t cure your illness.

In closing, I am reminded of other sayings that I heard early in my career on Wall Street—“never try and catch a falling knife”. But, right now I find myself thinking—“Cash is King”.

Palin Saturday Night Live Video Featuring Tina Fey



From TV guide: Opening: A Nonpartisan message from Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton
OMG! How awesomely perfect is Tina Fey as Palin? Thank goodness they coaxed her back! She nails Palin's mannerisms and accent. Poehler is amazing as Hillary; her timing is better than ever. My favorite line was Tina saying "I can see Russia from my house!" The skit is all about asking the public to respect them and stop calling them names like, "Attractive, beautiful, MILF," (or for Hillary) "bon*r shrinker and flerg." It's brilliant and perfect given the current media obsession with attention given the former Mayor of "Alaska's crystal meth capitol." Watch it here:

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Tina Fey does Sarah Palin on Saturday Nigt Live Video


Watch the Tina Fey Palin Video



NBC doesn't want anyone showing this video direct. So follow the link.

I found myself thinking, Tina Fey looks more like Sarah Palin than Palin does.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Small (Car, House) Is Beautiful

I think everyone should have at least on tiny house. Might be a good idea for all of us living on the Atlantic and Gulf coast. When you run you need somewhere to go.

One is a report on the Wheels blog by my friend Jim Motavalli about the possible rebirth of the “air car,” a vehicle that runs on compressed air and a small amount of fuel to run a heater that boosts its range (it is said to get the equivalent of more than 100 miles per gallon when you account for the energy it takes to compress the air). There’s lots more at the link above and in a story on the pneumatic-car technology written by Jim in 2000.

tiny houses
Another is a story about tiny houses, which resonated particularly because on Tuesday night I went to an art show in Beacon, N.Y., organized by friends, including the sculptor Simon Draper, who are building tiny free-standing artists’ “habitats.”
The Times story, by Steven Kurutz, descrbes a growing “small house movement
Below is a video showing Simon Draper building a tiny artist’s shed (set to music by the songwriter Dar Williams, for whom he’s also building a similar creative nook).

Thursday, September 11, 2008

WHAT PEOPLE WILL DO FOR NEIL DIAMOND TICKETS

I was surfing around trying to figure out how to get some traction for my blog, The Alzheimer's Reading Room. Stasia sent me the link to shankman.com so I decided to see if this dude could help. I looked down his blog page and bumped into this video. I figured why not.

Watch to the end like he says. I'm still laughing.
clipped from shankman.com

Congrats to Michele Leiberman, who embarrassed herself in front of 21,000 people to get the extra Neil Diamond tickets for Sunday night’s concert in Philly. Be sure to watch to the end - It’s quite funny.

Enjoy the show, Michele!

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Alzheimer's and the Thyroid

This is a clip. Follow the link for the complete article.
I wish I could shout this from the mountain top: "when Alzheimer's or dementia present themselves get the thyroid checked".

The Sahara Forest Project

Clever plan. Would cost.
The Sahara Forest Project

The Sahara Forest Project combines two proven technologies in a new way to create multiple benefits: producing large amounts of renewable energy, food and water as well as reversing desertification. A major element of the proposal is the Seawater Greenhouse - a brilliant invention that creates a cool growing environment in hot parts of the world and is a net producer of distilled water from seawater. The second technology, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) involves concentrating the sun's heat to create steam that drives conventional turbines, producing zero carbon electricity twice as efficiently as photovoltaics. The two technologoes have very promising synergies that make the economic case even more attractive.

Projects
Client - Seawater Greenhouse Limited

Architect - Exploration


Environmental Engineer - Max Fordham & Partners
Projects
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Serial Liars

Utter contempt for voters

Serial Liars

So here’s the reason why the whole “Bridge to Nowhere” flap is a big deal; it’s an outright lie.  LIE.  Not a big word, so say it with me; the Bridge to Nowhere narrative pushed by the McPalin campaign is one gigantic LIE.

It’s a lie because part of McCain’s narrative is that he hates pork barrel spending.  In order to embue his new running mate with anti-pork street creds, they hammer her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere over and over again.  Indeed, Justin Gardner has a new McCain ad where they hit it again.

He’s bewildered and so am I.  Why would one continue to sell this lie when it is so readily debunked if for no other reason than an utter contempt for the voter; a disbelief that they will go through even the most cursory of fact checking.

cause, you see, McCain has said multiple times
that he will be ruthless in going after pork barrel spending; going so far as to say he will “make them famous.”

Apparently his way of making them famous is by selecting them as running mate.

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US Govt payouts to states: Alaska grabs most

Gets more than it pays in taxes. "Alaska has been masterful in having the federal government send billions, while it gives its own tax revenues directly to its citizens. While Alaska could afford to pay for its bridges to nowhere (Palin approved!), it would rather have the rest of the 49 states shoulder the cost..." Country first? Smaller government? Lower federal taxes? They'll take all of yours they can get!
clipped from www.dailykos.com

Alaska is, in essence, an adjunct member of OPEC. It has four different taxes on oil, which produce more than 89% of the state's unrestricted revenue. On average, three-quarters of the value of a barrel of oil is taken by the state government before that oil is permitted to leave the state. Alaska residents each get a yearly check for about $2,000 from oil revenues, plus an additional $1,200 pushed through by Palin last year to take advantage of rising oil prices. Any sympathy the governor of Alaska expresses for folks in the lower 48 who are suffering from high gas prices or can't afford to heat their homes is strictly crocodile tears.

Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures),
18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950)
in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.
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Emperor's New Clothes: Palin Pork Public

Over the last couple days, every newspaper and network in America has disproven Sarah Palin's claim that she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere. Yet just moments ago at a campaign rally in Lebanon, Ohio, she repeated her familiar refrain on the bridge, claiming she told the federal government, "Thanks, but no thanks.
clipped from www.motherjones.com
cartoon_pork.gif

Over the last couple days, every newspaper and network in America has disproven Sarah Palin's claim that she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere. Yet just moments ago at a campaign rally in Lebanon, Ohio, she repeated her familiar refrain on the bridge, claiming she told the federal government, "Thanks, but no thanks."

There appears to be no accountability here; the McCain campaign will trot out Palin to repeat her talking points no matter how many times the press reports that Palin campaigned for governor as a supporter of the bridge and only opposed it when it became obvious the federal government was going to cancel its funding.

Today, states receive roughly $50 per person in earmark funds from the federal government. Alaska gets a stunning $506 per person
small towns in Alaska never sought federal earmarks until Palin pioneered the tactic, even using an Abramoff-connected lobbyist to get them
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Monday, September 8, 2008

Experts Confirm Open Water Circling Arctic

There have been some breathless headlines in the last few days about the North Pole’s being an “island” for the first time in 125,000 years.

[UPDATE 9/6: The National Ice Center on Friday said that a navigable passage has opened through sea ice along the entire Russian Arctic coast, although the center added that patches of dangerous thick ice still pepper the area. In a statement, the center said: "This is the first recorded occurrence of the Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route both being open at the same time." The full statement is below in the comment string. Here's an animation loop of the retreating sea ice.]

Sea ice maps
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Storm Warning: Ike’s Impact Could Go Far Beyond Hurricane Season

Instead of ramping up production to over 2 million barrels per day as once dreamed by the Departments of the Interior and Energy, Gulf of Mexico production is likely to fall to a low of a million barrels per day by 2013—a third lower than the region’s production prior to the 2005 storm season.
clipped from blogs.wsj.com

The real problem is that thanks to hurricanes, the Gulf of Mexico will never live up to its promise as a mother lode of U.S. domestic oil production, leaving the country even more vulnerable to imports. Then the question becomes—imports from where?

That’s the argument laid out in a new report from Jeff Rubin at Canadian investment bank CIBC World Markets, the guys who earlier this year projected $200 oil.

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, the Gulf still hasn’t recovered its pre-2005 production levels, CIBC notes. Thanks to rapid production declines at existing fields and huge delays getting new fields operational, official U.S. government forecasts for the Gulf’s role in U.S. oil production are wildly overblown, Mr. Rubin says:

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Canadians are the Biggest Foreign Buyers Of U.S. Homes

Good news for homeowners?
clipped from www.google.com
The strong Canadian dollar and the American housing downturn have led many Canadian investors to buy properties in the U.S., June Fletcher writes in today’s Wall Street Journal. Fletcher found that Canadians made up the largest portion of foreign buyers of U.S. homes between May 2007 and May 2008. At 24% of all foreign buyers, that’s double the percentage of the year prior, Fletcher writes, citing the National Association of Realtors.
Canada_art_200h_20080905132703.jpg
Fletcher’s House Talk column today also touches on the Canadian influx.
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New “Green” Designation Available for Realtors

Three day class or online. Walla, you are a green specialist.
clipped from blogs.wsj.com

A new tool is now available for investors looking to buy a so-called “green” building, a property that has environmentally-friendly features like energy and water efficiency and that produces minimal pollution and waste. A new program instituted by the National Association of Realtors(R) has begun certifying brokers as green specialists. Brokers can earn the designation from NAR’s Green Resource Council by taking three days of courses or completing the program online at their own pace.

green_art_200v_20080905160718.jpg
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Good Mark Wahlberg read in the NY Times

Also talks about Entourage
clipped from www.nytimes.com

It even happens at church, which Mr. Wahlberg attends regularly. “Young, old, men, women, black, white, everywhere I go,” he said. They all want to know about “Entourage.”

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Friday, September 5, 2008

Woodward: Bush slow to react on Iraq

No doubt this new book by Bob Woodard is going to get some people riled up. Care to guess the talking points?
clipped from blogs.usatoday.com

President Bush "rarely was the voice of realism" on the Iraq war and "too often failed to lead," according to a new book by Bob Woodward examining how the president handled the war effort during some of the conflict's most difficult years.

Woodward's book, The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, tells of a president slow to react to the growing violence in Iraq, The Washington Post reports.
The book also says the Bush administration has conducted an extensive spying operation on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
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I Picked A Girl by John McCain and Sarah Palin

Thursday, September 4, 2008

The Business of Connecting Gamers

Gamers create an account on Raptr and hand over identifying information from networks such as Xbox Live, and they can quickly learn what friends are online and what games they are playing. Besides console and PC games, the service tracks some 2,000 different games on the Web
clipped from www.google.com

People who spend most of their lives playing computer gamers are often thought of as loners. But many of them are just as social as anyone else–they just want to socialize with their own kind.

That’s why Dennis Fong, a former professional computer gamer and serial entrepreneur is launching Raptr.com, a startup whose service is entering a public beta test Thursday. The company does what social-aggregator sites such FriendFeed do for more normal folk–help gamers keep track of what their friends are doing, what online games they are playing and discover new games they might like.
Otherwise, finding fellow gamers can be a hit-or-miss process of logging on to multiple gaming sites, or social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Raptr is “kind of like FriendFeed for your gaming activities,” Fong says. “How else do you figure out what else is out there?”