Sell in May

Anyone who disputes the "sell in May" concept need only check out this graph. Thanks to Chart of the Day.

Merry Christmas to convicted felons time

Ah yes, it's Presidential pardon time. Let me put things in perspective . . . . . as of Oct 1, 2007 there were 3000 petitions for clemency filed with the Office of the Pardon Attorney (per the Justice Dept). That compares to an average of 500 to 1000 in the 5 decades since WWII. President Clinton's final years in office saw things begin to soar. President Bush closed only 18 cases in fiscal 2007 . . . . Scooter being the big winner in the small group. Bush has granted 113 pardons and commuted 4 sentences since taking office . . . . that is the lowest number since WWII except for the elder President Bush who granted 74 pardons and 3 commutations in his one term.

No Country for Old Men

The Coen brothers just can't seem to make a mistake and with their latest movie, which I saw after yesterdays Thanksgiving celebration, they're creating another masterpiece. This film will have you and whoever you see it with talking for at least an hour after it's over piecing together what happened and why. My favorite line in the film is . . . . "well, if this isn't a mess, it'll do until the mess gets here".

Humans and Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees share 98.2% our genome.

You think Exxon Mobil is big . . .

PetroChina Co. shares more than doubled in their Shanghai debut Monday (11/5/07), giving the oil giant a $1 trillion market capitalization and easily surpassing Exxon Mobil as the world's largest company

Bush approval - disapproval

I love the Colbert Report and found this quote about President Bush's ratings to be funny . . . "So don‘t pay attention to the approval ratings that say that 68 percent of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68 percent approve of the job he‘s not doing?"

the Opinion is News campaign

I found this in a response to an op-ed on Huffington Post Look for the Economic Lies From the GOP Debate column by Hale "Bondad" Stewart.

"Here's the trick, Rush-bot: you have to say it reeeeal fast on the radio, then don't take any rebuttals, and go to a quick commercial, like Rush did. When you write his crap down, someone can call you on it, and you, I'm sorry to say, (as a Cost Analyst for a Fortune 500 co) just look stupid."

Boy does that sum up the "opinion is news" Fox/Limbaugh talking heads. Ever notice how when someone calls in and asks a good question, the host simply makes a quick reply then goes ahead and talks about whatever he wants to on his high horse?

Nobel Prize for Medicine - stem cell research

The scientists created a technology to genetically engineer so-called ``knockout'' mice, animals missing a particular gene, the Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation said today in a statement.

Their discovery fuels the work of researchers who study the development of embryos, the genesis of diseases or the workings of cells. The technique is used to disable or weaken single genes, illuminating their roles in disease and aging, and has produced more than 500 mouse models of human disorders such as hypertension and cystic fibrosis, which may aid drug studies.

``This is staggering,'' Capecchi, 70, said in an interview. He called the 3 a.m. phone call from Sweden ``a huge surprise.''

Capecchi was born in Italy, where he was forced to wander the streets for four years after his mother was imprisoned by the Nazis in a concentration camp. His mother found him after World War II and brought him to live with his aunt and uncle in the U.S. He completed his thesis work under James D. Watson, who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine along with Francis Crick in 1962 for their work on the structure of DNA.

Now a human geneticist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Capecchi and Smithies, 82, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, showed how a mouse's genetic information can be permanently changed, creating animals that pass down their disease traits to their offspring.

Junkbond king Michael Milken says . . . .

``The most important asset and the largest asset category in the United States or any country is human capital,'' Milken said. ``The cure of cancer is worth $45 trillion to the U.S. economy. The elimination of heart disease as a cause of suffering and death is worth almost $50 trillion to the U.S. economy. The solution to those two problems far outweighs any other economic discussion which we could have today.''

what a great take on the resources of the US

Oil for Food

More than 2,200 companies paid almost $1.8 billion in bribes to the Iraqis to win contracts, according to a 2005 inquiry led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Eight people (in addtion to Oscar Wyatt, who just plead guilty and will forfeit $11 million plus go to jail for 2 years) have pleaded guilty or were convicted of charges stemming from the federal investigation.

Beware of your pancake mix . .

there might be mold in it which can cause you harm. Snopes says it's true . . click here

the value of the dollar

the Canadian dollar is now on par with the US dollar and the Euro hits a new high against the greenback this past week but the real news is the peso . . . .

Two hundred twenty-two years and two weeks ago today, the United States made the peso its official currency. Nonetheless, many Americans went nuts last week when Value Giant announced that it would start accepting pesos in all of its stores on Saturday, July 14, fearing an increase in peso-spending illegal immigrants to the United States.

Live your life

"Every man should live his life so that he can be half the man his dog thinks he is."

C Wallenbrock

Owning your own home

The reason that it's good when people own their own houses is that they take better care of them, they invest (emotionally) in the local community and are concerned about schools, crime, street maintenance, etc . . . . . renters usually are ambivalent on such issues.

As one person of influence once put it : "In the history of the world, no one ever washed a rented car.''

Jay and the Americans

Jay and the Americans were apart of the first Beatles Tour in America along with the Righteous Brothers in 1964. I had the opporunity to work with Jay Black at TTG during my engineer days . . . I've always thought he was one of the most talented crooner/tenors whoever sang a song. here's some more information . . . .

With the success of "She Cried," Jay and the Americans were booked on a continuous string of one nighter tours. The constant travel and failure of the next two singles caused Traynor to leave the group to go solo by mid-1963. The Americans without Traynor sang backup vocals on Bobby Goldsboro's "See the Funny Little Clown."

Early in 1963 The Drifters (produced by Leiber-Stoller since 1959) recorded a Mann/Weil composition called "Only In America." When Atlantic decided not to release it the vocals were erased and replaced by Jay and the Americans. "Only In America" was released in July, 1963 and became their first chart hit (#25) with Jay Black singing lead. Leiber and Stoller's work with the Drifters and the Coasters caused them to turn over production of the group's material over to Artie Ripp of Kama Sutra Productions (Later to be Kama Sutra Records). One year and two singles later they had their biggest hit with "Come a Little Bit Closer" (#3). "Let's Lock the Door (#11) and "Think of the Good Times" both charted in the summer of 1965. At this time they began the second phase of their career with "Cara Mia" (#4). Beginning with Cara Mia" the group began covering successful oldies. Their next release was "Some Enchanted Evening" (#13) followed by Neil Diamond's first songwriting success "Sunday and Me" (#18).

Baseball retiring a number

Major League Baseball has only retired one number . . . 42, that of Jackie Robinson meaning no team can issue that number to a player. Many teams have retired numbers of players who played for the team though but only one number . . . . 42 is RETIRED. read more on the number retirement here

Honest Leadership and Open Government Act

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act requires that special appropriations added by individual legislators be listed in an online database at least 48 hours before they come to a vote. Critics such as Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) complained bitterly about a loophole: Congressional leaders can certify that a bill contains no earmarks, and there's no way to challenge that determination.

read more about the Act from Reason Magazine here

BCCI and the Bushes and John Kerry

One of the greatest bank fraud scandals occurred back in the late 80's. It originated in Pakistan with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. These guys ultimately snared the current President's dad and guess who brought the whole thing down . . . . John Kerry.

read more here

Townes Van Zandt

from "High, Low and in Between"

All things at our life
are brothers in the soil
and in the sky
and I believe it
with my blood
if not my eyes
I don't know why we can't
be brothers here
I know we should be
answers don't seem easy
and I'm wonderin'
if they could be

Earmarks . . . . . huh?

I'll bet you've heard about earmarks but aren't really sure what they are . . . . . here's some info

Earmarks are funds provided by the Congress for projects or programs where the congressional direction (in bill or report language) circumvents the merit-based or competitive allocation process, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the Executive Branch to properly manage funds. Congress includes earmarks in appropriation bills - the annual spending bills that Congress enacts to allocate discretionary spending - and also in authorization bills.

I think we should hear about all earmarks to bills. Will the media tell us ?. . . . . doubt it.

Even the imprisonment of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-Calif., on corruption charges that included earmark abuses has not dulled lawmakers' appetite for pet projects. One recent study found that earmarks in House legislation went from 3,000 in 1996 to 15,000 in 2005.

And Obey said earlier this year that House members had requested 32,000 earmarks in spending bills for fiscal 2007.