Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Small Business in Californio land
Steve McQueen on Charlie Manson's death list
Monday, July 28, 2008
The guy who made billions on subprime
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Magnificent Seven film trivia
Friday, July 25, 2008
Money is . . .
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Songs of the Century
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
NASA Air Carrier Survey analyzed by CAPBOR
On News Year's Eve 2007, NASA released a heavily redacted "report" regarding an $11 million survey they ran between 2001 and 2004. The data were released in formats virtually impossible to analyze.
NASA spokesmen said they can't see why the flying public would be interested in this data. Why would taxpayers NOT be interested in these results? So CAPBOR cross-referenced the questions and answers from section B and also created a spreadsheet with section A and section B data.
The first of our releases to the public was the following document that cross-referenced the results of the survey with the questions asked. Keep in mind this is a small sample of pilots that were surveyed. Notable results:
- 168 reports of landing an aircraft without getting clearance.
- 1528 reports where aircraft diverted to an alternate airport or returned to land because of an aircraft equipment problem.
- Hundreds of reports where aircraft had uncommanded movements of rudders, ailerons, spoilers, speedbrakes, etc, in flight!
- Hundreds of reports of in-flight smoke, fumes and fire in engines, flight decks, passenger cabins, etc.
- 2339 reports where Air Traffic Control refused to requests to change course due to severe weather.
- Over four thousand reports where reserve fuel was required to stay flying.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Anglers are important to California economy
1/30/08
San Francisco, CA - A report released today finds that anglers in California generate billions of dollars in direct and indirect revenue in the state, which supplies an important economic boost, particularly for rural communities. The report also recommends that a high priority be given to habitat protection and maintenance, which would increase present and future economic benefits to the state's economy.
The report was conducted by Carolyn Alkire of Environmental Economics and Policy Consulting and was released by the advocacy group California Trout to develop a deeper understanding of the factors that determine fishing's economic effects, expanding the study of this important relationship for the benefit of decision-makers and policy-makers in the state.
"We knew that fishing was important to California's economy, but now we know just how important," said Brian Stranko, CEO of California Trout. "The findings of this report make it abundantly clear that people all over the state depend on the financial infusion caused by recreational fishing, and that this beneficial effect could be increased even further by better protecting and maintaining the streams and surrounding habitats that make fishing possible. Also, by encouraging young people to get involved in fishing, the people of California can maximize the long-term value of this healthy, sustainable activity."
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Christ Evert Lloyd Mill Norman
Their divorce was finalized on 12/04/2006. Citing irreconcilable differences, Chris agreed to pay Andy cash and securities amounting to $7 million. Andy will also keep their $4 million vacation home in Aspen, Colorado, a Porsche, and other automobiles.
OK, now I know and I hope Christ and Greg are happy for evermore.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The Open Championship
Monday, July 14, 2008
You think you've made bad investments?
Oh heck, it'll probably work out . . . .
Do we have a smaller government?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Let me introduce you to Phil Gramm . . . .
Friday, July 11, 2008
more pain for the financials
Sir Isaac Newton and sunlight
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The Longest Day
Since we returned from France and our visit to Normandy to see the D Day beaches I've been wanting to see the 1962 film "The Longest Day" and it was on AMC two days ago. What is one remarkable element about the film is that the assault at Pointe du Hoc was shot on location! You can see my photos of the region at my Flickr site, click here
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Monday, July 07, 2008
Counterknowledge
Saturday, July 05, 2008
do you know what a SPAC is?
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
"Did short sellers kill Bear Stearns" in Vanity Fair
Bear Stearns was an investment bank, but the traditional banking roles, such as advising on corporate mergers and trading stocks, were always an afterthought there. What the P.S.D.’s at Bear Stearns did best was trade bonds. The firm’s executive history was the story of three bond traders, each with his own outsize personality. From the mid-1930s till the late 1970s, Bear was the province of Salim “Cy” Lewis, the cantankerous Wall Street legend who forged a cutthroat culture run less as a modern corporation than as a series of squabbling fiefdoms, each vying for his approval. Ace Greenberg, an avuncular sort who kept his desk on the trading floor and answered his own phone, took over after Lewis’s death, in 1978, and while his edges were softer, Bear remained a Mametesque pressure cooker where top traders could pull down $10 million a year while runners-up were tossed into the alley."
The Vanity Fair piece blames everyone from shorts to CNBC to Charlie Gasparino and David Faber.
Yet bottom line remains: If your financial condition is so precarious that rumors can bring you down, then its the finances, and not the rumors, that are to blame . . .