“People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress,”....Things are tough all over...

Schiff, 46, is facing another kind of jam this year: Paid a lower bonus, he said the $350,000 he earns, enough to put him in the country’s top 1 percent by income, doesn’t cover his family’s private-school tuition, a Kent, Connecticut, summer rental and the upgrade they would like from their 1,200-square- foot Brooklyn duplex.

“I feel stuck,” Schiff said. “The New York that I wanted to have is still just beyond my reach.”

The smaller bonus checks that hit accounts across the financial-services industry this month are making it difficult to maintain the lifestyles that Wall Street workers expect, according to interviews with bankers and their accountants, therapists, advisers and headhunters.

“People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress,” said Alan Dlugash, a partner at accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron LLP in New York who specializes in financial planning for the wealthy. “Could you imagine what it’s like to say I got three kids in private school, I have to think about pulling them out? How do you do that?”


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/wall-street-bonus-withdrawal-means-trading-aspen-for-cheap-chex.html

How do speculators drive up the price of oil/gasoline? Explanation inside

Consider this a tutorial on speculation.  We all hear how speculators are driving the cost of oil more than supply/demand these days, but how exactly are they doing it?  It's pretty simple.  Keep in mind the basic principle of mass sell offs lowering prices and purchases will drive them up.


We'll use oil for this example, it works for any traded commodity.  I'll use simplified numbers to better explain it also.  Consider that there is a market for oil that is real time, the current price.  We call that the spot price or spot market.   Whatever price oil is trading at THIS moment is the spot price.   Speculators buy futures contracts; that is they contract to buy/sell oil in the future...six months, one year, whatever..for a price agreed upon.   These markets have a legitimate purpose, although they can also be used to manipulate prices, particularly by hedge funds.

One legitimate purpose would be to hedge (not really associated with what hedge funds do..this is a defensive measure).   Say for instance FedEx contracts with all of its corporate clients for two year contracts.   They make an agreement with Walmart to deliver all of their packages and important papers for the next two years for a flat price.   That price is negotiated by both parties and based on assumptions that fuel costs will fall inline with their estimates.  FedEx can hedge by signing the contract, and taking out a futures contract to purchase fuel at current prices, or within an acceptable margin.  Therefore they will be covered with affordable fuel one year from now, hedging the risk on a price rise.

Now, consider this scenario.  The spot price of oil is 100$ per barrel (it isn't but the math is easier) and the one year interest rate is 5% (ditto).    Lets say speculators with lots of cash  bid up the price of oil at one year from now to a price of 150$ per barrel.  There now is a mismatch in the prices.

If you owned oil physically, or bought it in the spot market at that time, you would have an instant risk free profit.   Buy one barrel for 100$, borrow the money to do it at 5%.  You owe 105$ in a year.  Then enter into a futures contract at that moment to sell that barrel at the 150$ per unit cost.  You've made 45$ per barrel, no risk (minus storage, transportation, etc).  

What would the market do?  Scramble to buy oil at the spot price, because it is too cheap relative to the futures price.  Billions of dollars flowing into oil would push the spot price of oil up, until it converged with the futures price...which by my rough calculation would be a spot price of 142.86 per barrel.  When it reached this price, if you borrowed 142.86 at 5% for a year, you'd owe 150, and only break even at best on the contract.

Now the assumptions are simplified, such as interest rates, cost of carrying the item and the terms, but the math is the same.   And hedge funds have billions at their disposal to invest, and complex computer programs written by highly paid computer wizards that monitor constantly real time futures prices, spot prices and interest rates.  When that imbalance occurs, they can execute with precision and lock in profits.

That's what is raising the price of gas, and there isn't a damn thing Obama can do about it.  But good luck explaining that to the lunatic part of America that hates him.

Don't Look Now, Conservatives: A Tale Of Two Recessions.

Chris is back from the depths of Hell and yes, they have Fox News there. 

Now, we all know that Obama is a secret Kenyan Muslim Socialist Communist Sith Lord Lex Luthor Anti-Christ who has fooled all of our United States Military, The CIA, The FBI, The DEA, and I hear even the PTA has been duped into thinking he's one of us. But I mean, cmon! His name is Barack Obama, for God's sake! Get him! He's trying to destroy America! Even Texas, for crying out loud! And they were the first state!

And Obama's fooling us saying he's "leading" us out of a recession that is in no way the fault of George W Bush and all the fault of Bill Clinton according to a guy whom I helped read the menu at McDonald's as he was trying to order. And Reagan Bless him, he asked the cashier for a double order of Freedom Fries. 

But, then I came across this piece about the recession under Reagan and the recession under Obama. There are a few surprises that even I didn't know, and I consider myself pretty darn good when "Jeopardy" is on and the category isn't about needlepoint, famous geologists, or the song library of 70's wondergroup Bread. And I think conservatives might be surprised as well when they learn that maybe Obama isn't out to destroy the United States after all. Although I'm sure these facts are just made up hogwash and poppycock, anyway. 

The Academy Awards: My Non-Qualifed Opinion Of The "Best Picture" Winners Since My Birth

This is Chris coming at ya live from the Red Carpet. Well, not quite. Although I'm a short drive away from Kodak Theater where the Rich And Bitchiful will play Sunday night, I know to avoid that area at all costs. In Los Angeles, especially in areas within 10 miles of Hollywood, people treat the Oscars like it's the Super Bowl times a zillion. Grocery stores are packed, the streets are slammed, and guys who look like they could be extras in a biker movie are discussing who they think should win Best Adapted Screenplay. Hell, they are probably screenwriters themselves. 

But enough of All That Jazz (which was up for a bunch of awards in 1979 and took home the prize for a few of them. Nothing major, though). I thought it would be fun if I took a look of the "Best Picture" winners since my birth and give a short insight into all of them Well, fun for me anyway. Please play along.

1973- "The Sting"- Great fun. The sequel sucked. 

1974- "The Godfather Part 2"- Great drama. This sequel did not suck.

1975- "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"- Jack is nuts in a good way and inspires change. Nurse Ratchett doesn't like it and would be at home in today's GOP.

1976- "Rocky"- Personally, one of my favorite movies. Spoiler! He lost. For the fourteen people out there who didn't know this, I'm sorry for ruining it. 

1977- "Annie Hall"- Comedies just don't win. However, this one did. I had hope Carrot Top's "Chairman Of The Board" would have wooed the voters many years later, but I was wrong. Lost $20 bucks on that bet. 

1978- "The Deer Hunter"- War is hell both physically and emotionally. Walken's character loses his mind. Hell, when playing a sane character Walken still appears to have lost his mind. 

1979- "Kramer Vs Kramer"- Bails on her hubby and kid then wants the kid back. To quote Public Enemy "There's a five letter word that described her character." In my version, Dustin Hoffman throws her out the courtroom window. 

1980- "Ordinary People"- A thoughtful, compelling look at the...ah, hell. I didn't see it. I know. I'm sorry. 

1981- "Chariots Of Fire"- This one I did see while flying to Germany. I was a kid and didn't get it. I watched it years later and if I had been the age I was when I first saw it on the plane, I would have prayed for the plane to crash. Boring. 

1982- "Gandhi"- Did you know Gandhi actually abstained from sex with his own wife? The remake will star Marcus Bachmann.  

1983- "Terms Of Endearment"- A heartbreaker. Reminded me of the 2010 Iron Bowl. 

1984- "Amadeus"- We are still looking for F. Murray Abraham's career. Hell, he and Tom Hulce. Could you imagine the casting director for this movie. "You know who I want to play Mozart? Larry "Pinto" Kroger from "Animal House." Yeah! Who's with me?" It worked, though. 

1985- "Out Of Africa"- I know for a fact women who saw this film had to sign a disclaimer stating that if they dragged their man to this movie, they owed him sex immediately after. 

1986- "Platoon"- Charlie Sheen is the moral compass. You read that right.  

1987- "The Last Emperor"- Never saw it. No one I know well has seen it, 

1988- "Rain Man"- There's one bad fallout from this movie. People who decided to do impersonations of Dustin's Hoffman character every chance they got at the height of its popularity. 

1989- "Driving Miss Daisy"- The Tea Party refers to this as "they way it should be. Ahh, the good old days..." 

1990- "Dances With Wolves"- Remember when Kevin Costner was a force to be reckoned with? The 90's were a time where everybody had a shot. Everybody. Just ask Luke Perry. 

1991- "The Silence Of The Lambs"- This movie always makes me hungry for some reason. Lechter was the good guy, right? 

1992- "Unforgiven"- Up and comer Clint Eastwood plays an ex-outlaw looking for revenge. Joining him that year was promising young actor Morgan Freeman. 

1993- "Schindler's List"- Steven Spielberg may make it in Hollywood after all. 

1994- "Forrest Gump"- The story of a simple minded yet well meaning man, involved with important historical events, who never gave up on his quest to prove Iraq has WMD's. No, that's not right. Ah, yes. The story of a simple minded yet well meaning man, involved with historical events, who never gave up on his quest to prove his love for Jenny. 

1995- "Braveheart"- Historically accurate? Hell no. Did anyone care about that? Hell no again.

1996- "The English Patient"- If I ever make it past the first hour of the film, I'll let you know my thoughts.

1997- "Titanic"- It was cool to hate this movie, but you have to admit James Cameron can spin a yarn. Speaking of Cameron, did you know Kirk Cameron co-starred on "Growing Pains" with Leonardo DiCaprio? DiCaprio is one of the most famous actors today. Kirk Cameron gave us "Like Father, Like Son", though. 

1998- "Shakespeare In Love"- True story. My best friend called me from the lobby when he went and saw this with his wife. He said, and I quote, "Whatever you do, don't ever see this movie. Help me. I told the wife I was going to the bathroom. I may stay there." So, I've never seen it. 

1999- "American Beauty"- This is a weird movie. Did Mena Suvari get naked? I may have to watch it again.  

2000- "Gladiator"- Lot of controversy with this one. But one of the nominees was "Erin Brockovich" so obviously this was a down year for movies. 

2001- "A Beautiful Mind"- I think Ron Howard saw that "Gladiator" won the year before for Best Pic And Russell Crowe for Best Actor and said "Hey! I'll put Crowe in it" and maybe the Academy is still drugged from 2000 and will think they are watching "Gladiator" again!" He's an evil genius, that Ron Howard.

2002- "Chicago"- Third on my list of "Haven't seen." I heard Richard Gere sang in it so I immediately avoided at all costs. 

2003- "The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King"- Started watching this in 2003 and finished it six months later without ever pausing the film. 

2004- "Million Dollar Baby"- Clint Eastwood went against type and played a gruff, tough old guy though. The "Karate Kid" that wasn't Ralph Macchio and had breasts was in it, too. 

2005- "Crash"- "You're all racists. All of you. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Now, thank you for coming and don't forget if you bought a large soda or popcorn you can fill it up for free on the way home!"

2006- "The Departed"- I'm sure the original is better. I haven't seen it, but I know that's the hip thing to say, so I just want to tell you that the original is better. 

2007- "No Country For Old Men"- I'm going to say what we all want to say but no one has the guts to say. "I don't care if you're being faithful to the book, Coen Brothers. You give us a proper ending and you give us one now, friendo!" 

2008- "Slumdog Millionaire"- Wait a minute. A film with a happy ending wins? What the hell? 

2009- "The Hurt Locker"- Kathryn Bigelow also directed another film that was robbed of an Oscar. I am talking about the 1991 masterpiece "Point Break" starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze. 

2010- "The King's Speech"- If you've ever seen me drunk, I sound just like Colin's Firth's stammering character. True, I'm not trying to sound like that, but....

Thanks for reading!! 

Interesting article from Forbes magazine on how consumer driven health-care has been proven wrong #p2

Grand Junction, CO has expanded coverage in its town, and also has the sixth lowest cost per patient.   This experiment is a slap in the face of the proponents that costs can be contained by people choosing and shopping around.  The problem is that consumers will wait until the last minute, instead of taking preventive care.  Quoting:

 The physician group also decided that the key to success would be to emphasize ‘birth to death’ primary care, focused on fostering good health in order to stave off serious illness and to catch and treat illness before it escalates to the serious disease where the big money is spent.

This philosophy is what runs contrary to the consumer driven approach that keeps people out of the doctors office at the early stages (they chose not to see the doctor rather than spend their own money) only to send them rushing in for treatment for something that could have been easily treatable at an earlier point when it would be far less expensive.


Here's the kicker.  This was done with a modified co-op, where the goal wasn't profit driven. Quoting more:

It begins with the primary care doctors and many local specialists getting together—some 30 years ago—to form the Independent Physicians Association. The purpose of the group was not to help make more money for its members but rather to provide everyone in the community with the best possible health care at the most efficient price. 

As for expensive testing and procedures, participating physicians are subject to peer reviews where any proclivity to engage in procedures or tests of questionable value by a physician will be called out. Any doctor found, in the judgment of his or her peers (not the government)  to be racking up charges with unneeded tests or procedures, will be punished at the end of the year with a lump of coal in the stocking rather than the substantial Christmas bonus awarded from the insurance company pool to physicians who have held down costs while achieving good medical results. It is worth noting that this pool is the result of money being available that, were the insurer to be for-profit, would be turned over to shareholders rather than the physicians.

 Read the whole thing at this link

Posted without comment: Stephen Hawking visits sex clubs. No, really from Radar online


This explains worm holes I guess?  Ok, ok I had to do ONE comment....

Quantcast

 

Renowned Physicist Stephen Hawking Frequents Sex Clubs

Landov

By Amber Goodhand - Radar Reporter

Mark this in your book of bizarre celebrity sightings.

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is somewhat of a regular at a Devore, California sex club, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

According to a source who has been a member of Freedom Acres swingers club for nearly half a decade, Hawking, 70, shows up to the club with a bevy of nurses and assistants and has naked woman grind on him.

"I have seen Stephen Hawking at the club more than a handful of times," the source revealed.

"He arrives with an entourage of nurses and assistants. Last time I saw him he was in the back 'play area' laying on a bed fully clothed with two naked women gyrating all over him."

The source notes that Hawking, who is wheelchair-bound due to a long-time battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, has his staff stand nearby watching while he's with the women.

"I have spoken to him on several occasions and have even shared drinks with people in his group," the insider said.

"And he'll even take photos with people in the club as long as it's in a neutral area."

As RadarOnline.com first reported, Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson's ex-husband Donn has also been spotted in the Southern California swingers club.

"But Stephen is by far the last person I ever expected to see in this club," the source said.

 



Original Page: http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/02/stephen-hawking-sex-clubs-physicist-freedom-acres#224sf

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Buy Ayn Rand Hates Tuscaloosa, And You Too, Joplin!  
Available at Amazon.com for Kindle  
Also on Barnes and Noble for Nook
Coming soon in paperback!  

This man was "The most interesting man in the world". A hell of an obit from NYTs

Three sentences from dozens of great ones:

"At 9, he settled a dispute with a pistol. At 13, he lit out for the Amazon jungle. At 20, he attempted suicide by jaguar"


There is even more. Read the whole thing

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/us/john-fairfax-who-rowed-across-oceans-die...

Buy Ayn Rand Hates Tuscaloosa, And You Too, Joplin! Available at Amazon.com for Kindle Also on Barnes and Noble for Nook
Coming soon in paperback!