Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Cab Thoughts 8/20/14

"'Politics is not the art of the possible. It is choosing between the unpalatable and the disastrous'.--Gailbreth



One problem for the average investor in the U.S. is the impact of computer trading which allows for millions of trades a second, usually through EFTs. This also allows for short trades of monstrous size and this kind of action can crush a company. These types of trades make up 70% of stock trades. At one point in time the SEC had a rule that  required a short trade only in a rising stock but that has been cancelled. What a surprise, money and influence overpower the good of the system.

Those who believe that the government will create the best for itself in spite of the circumstances and regardless of distortions necessary took a big step back this week. A small company, SIGA, which has developed a cure for smallpox (bought by DARPA and applied for by most Western countries and Israel) and has made progress on several other dangerous viral diseases that would be cataclysmic if weaponized has been virtually destroyed by a number of peculiar court decisions and might well go out of business. They have shut down their R&D departments.

Who is....Margaret Sanger?

Robin William's daughter has been receiving hate mail. While her social media accounts were flooded with mostly well wishes, a few anonymous users criticized the fact she didn't post enough pictures of her father and sent graphic photo-shopped images along with crude and hateful remarks. This is further demonstration of the bell-curve. There are three hundred million people in this country and that is just enough people to accommodate just about any kind of behavior. Expect it.

60% of bachelor degrees go to women.

The State of Kansas was sued by the SEC for fraud in a bond issue. The State!

The McCArran Ferguson Act of 1945 gave the states the authority to regulate insurance. This exempts insurers from many of the federal regulations, including some anti-trust laws. This little pearl also prevents the ACA from mandating state exchanges.


The U.S. is producing about 65% of current consumption, and net imports make up the rest. The U.S. is now a net exporter of refined petroleum products, and net imports are now smaller than domestic production

X-Files star Gillian Anderson is coming out with a sci-fi thriller novel, co-written by Jeff Rovin.

The administration's approach in the Middle East has not been questioned. The radicals have always been outlaws, not military. We have dealt with them by assassinating their leaders, sometimes arresting and trying them. Is the assessment of these people that has led to these approaches accurate?
First round pick Shazier finished the exhibition game this weekend  with a game-high nine tackles — plus two special teams tackles — in a quarter and a half.

The current attack on coal has been so successful we are importing more of it.

A band of locals attacked a school holding Ebola patients over the weekend and freed them. Some were unhappy they were not getting more treatment, some believe that Ebola is a hoax generated by the government to get more Western aid. Some opinions and options in the world are too stupid/dangerous to be allowed.

The ISIS battlefront is hundreds of miles long. Will selective bombing strikes be effective under those conditions?

The Righteous have their own compass; they play by sacred rules. Recent events in Missouri have drawn the Righteous with the power of a huge Black Hole. One of these Sacred Text Readers is Anonymous, the hacker group that periodically is moved to expose things for our own good. They swept in and revealed the name of the police officer who shot the unarmed kid. Regrettably it was the wrong guy. "But extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Obama said in an interview with Friedman that global warming leads to instability and terrorism and thus is a national security issue.

The British Office of National Statistics revealed that Mohammed--and variants--was the most common boys given name in Britain in 2013.

AAAaaaaaannnnnndddddd.....a chart:
Chart of the Day

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