2.26.2013

Sprouts Farmers Market salutes the Federal Reserve



Gas: up 1729%, or 3.3% annualized.
Cars: up 1936%, or 4.9% annualized.
Disneyland: up 22,757%, or 10% annualized.
Milk: up 292%, or 2.6% annualized.
Stamps: up 463%, or 4.2% annualized.

Note that almost all of this inflation was before the era of Obama trillion-dollar deficits and Zimbabwe Ben monetization of same. That is, the forward inflation could be a lot higher than the past inflation we see here.

You're still keeping a portion of your long-term savings in cash or bonds? Why?

Why not to take firearms advice from Joe Biden

2.25.2013

Life in a free country

A surprisingly unsurprising tale of how the Department of Homeland Security treats Americans and their property, from the founder of TechCrunch:

2.22.2013

LA Times reporter John Glionna takes stupid to a whole new level

You may have heard there was a shooting and car crash that left three people dead on the Las Vegas Strip early Thursday.  Leave it to the LA Times, via reporter John M. Glionna, to unleash its own fiery wreck of politics and misinformation.

From its first story:
Paul Pillat witnessed the incident. For seven years, Pillat, whose nickname is "Tumbleweed," has lived on the streets of Vegas. His regular haunt is the intersection where the crash occurred. ...
Pillat said he had come to expect violence on the Strip. "It's the Wild West here. People don't understand. They think it is fun and games. It's not. It's dangerous," he said.
Okay, that's an interesting assessment.  Get a bum's opinion.  Never mind the statistics, or the objective fact that the Las Vegas Strip is one of the most surveilled, heavily policed metropolitan areas in the world.
At the news conference, [Sheriff] Gillespie emphasized that the city remained safe. "I've been asked whether the Las Vegas Strip is safe: Yes, it is," he said. "As you know, there are no absolutes when it comes to people's behavior."

Still, the shooting hit a city that has embraced guns and lawlessness as a way of business. Settled by organized crime members, downtown Las Vegas has its own Mob Museum. The Strip and surrounding freeways are littered with billboards advertising galleries where customers can fire AK-47s and other high-powered weapons. (Emphasis ours.)
So here, we give the sheriff's response, and undermine it with vapid, off-base political commentary.  There is zero link between the city's gun ranges and this crime (apparently a fight between California gangsta thugs); and anyone who thinks the city of Las Vegas "has embraced lawlessness" has surely not spent much time here.  (Note: I live in Las Vegas and most days frequent the Strip.)  But nothing is too much a stretch to get in a plug for gun control, it would seem.

It gets worse.  In the next story from the same reporter, we open with the sad tale of the deceased:
One of the victims in a spectacular predawn shooting and crash on the Las Vegas Strip has been identified as Kenneth Cherry Jr., an aspiring rapper known as Kenny Clutch.

His attorney, Vicki Greco, said his death was shocking. "Out of everyone I know in the rapping industry, there is no way I would have ever, ever expected to find that he was shot on the Las Vegas Strip in such an aggressive manner," Greco said.

"He didn't have a [criminal] record or a history. He was just a good kid trying to make it and be a good father." Cherry had two children, she said.
Does John Glionna pause to wonder why this "aspiring rapper" drove a Maserati and had a criminal defense attorney in his employ?  Perhaps she does PR on the side?

We don't learn until the end of the article that:
Cherry had several arrests in Oakland and Berkeley, many for gun charges. He was convicted on a gun charge in 2007, stemming from an arrest in Berkeley, sources told the Tribune, although details on that conviction weren't immediately available.
Now this is a head scratcher.  If you have this information, why would you spin this as an innocent victim story, and publish the transparent lies of his attorney in the top half of the article?

I happen to have heard on good authority some details of that particular attorney-client relationship, and a reporter worth his wages might find some good stuff there.  Suffice it to say, that reporter probably doesn't work at the L.A. Times.



2.20.2013

Gordon Sumner meets Glenn Hubbard

Now this is chocolate and peanut butter:
For those interested here is the real life Glenn from the movie Inside Job showing us what a tough guy he'll be when/if he takes over for ZB:

2.16.2013

Happy Gerard Finneran Day!

This Monday, as you're hitting the slopes or otherwise enjoying the three-day weekend, please remember the man behind the holiday: Gerard Finneran.

Gerard Finneran was born February 16, 1937. Truly a renaissance man, Finneran was a multi-sport athlete who went on to an extraordinarily successful career in banking. The details of Finneran's long and storied career are chronicled here in a 2005 obituary. But he will always be remembered for that one, shining moment. A quarterback for the Air Force Academy, Finneran would come to be known for a far greater feat in the air.
... on a flight back from Buenos Aires to New York, Mr. Finneran had a bit too much to drink.

He drank snowballs and other cocktails, starting before take-off and continuing until a flight attendant decided that it would not be appropriate to serve him any more. He assaulted her, then then started shouting "Fuck the President, fuck him in the ass" while serving himself from the trolley. (History does not record whether he meant the President of Argentina or the President of the United States.)

Moments later, Finneran made the decision that entered his name in the annals of history.

He dropped his pants, pulled off his underwear, and took a shit on a service cart. When he had finished his business, he used linen napkins as toilet paper and wiped his hands on various work surfaces in the galley, smearing faeces throughout the first class cabin.

Gerard Finneran, we salute you.

2.14.2013

Spaceballs

NASA to chronicle near-miss asteroid fly-by.

... which reminds me: have you watched Melancholia yet?

The New York Times deceives?? Say it ain't so...

So technically challenged John Broder wrote a scathing review of one of Tesla's cars for the New York Times here. He claims all sorts of things which Tesla responds to here with data. Hilarity ensues.

Tesla's rebuttal to the article was basically that Broder lied. Tesla shows the log files illustrating that the claims Broder made were false. Imagine that, a newspaper guy not realizing that technology is everywhere, cars log everything now, and someone as sharp as Musk is not going to be played the fool.

The New York Times - America's leading propaganda outlet, nothing more

2.12.2013

Soccer Racism Solution?

Not on our list of usual topics here but something that does exemplify the flaws of liberal solutions: solving racism in world soccer.

For those that aren't aware there are many folks in many stadiums throughout Europe who when a black player touches the ball they start shouting monkey chants. Completely infantile and moronic but it really pisses a lot of black players off to the point that they even just get up and leave the field. For example the monkey chants were so horrific, so evil that Ghanian midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng of AC Milan kicked the ball into the stands and the walked off the field with his team in tow here. HAH! Have that evil racists!

Sensing a little bit of snarkiness in my narrative? Oh, it's there. Why? Because the best way to treat ignorant, neanderthal racists, who as a Constitutionalist I do support their right to vocalize monkey chants, is to not react at all and instead do what New Jersey born American Jozy Altidore did while playing in Holland for AZ Alkmaar when the opposing fans started doing the same thing to him. Ignore and kick the crap out of the opposing team. AZ beat Den Bosch 5-0 and when the ref went to stop the game because of the racist "abuse", Jozy replied, no no, we're playing well, we're professionals and our job is soccer. He went on:
"It's a bit disappointing that these things still happen in this time we're in but what are you going to do?

"You just hope that these people can improve themselves. You pray for them. I feel like I have an obligation as a football player, to my club, to my family, to not react to things like this and to show that the club stands better than that, that I was raised better than to respond to such ridiculous behaviour.

"You would hope that we as humanity can grow from these kind of times but it's still alive, racism. All we can do is try to educate ourselves, and try to raise young kids to be better than that."
THAT'S HOW YOU REACT TO RACISTS! Jozy is one of my favorite American soccer players and now one of my favorite sports figures. You don't entertain this kind of crap just like I don't entertain my 4 year old's tantrums.

Yet the European solution machine is in full voice on how to stop racism, exemplified here by New York Red Bulls former French great Theirry Henry(pronounced On-ree):
HARRISON, N.J. -- Thierry Henry wants soccer officials to deduct points in the standings from teams whose fans racially abuse players.
Now to be fair Henry is not stating that as an absolute but many in Europe are. They desire that the teams of the fans should be punished through points deductions if their fans make monkey chants. This leads to an obvious conclusion to those who can think, generally non-liberals. One can easily purchase a ticket to any soccer match and if your team is in a tight race against your rival then all you and your mates need do is buy tickets to your rival's game and whenever the opposing black players touch the ball make monkey chants. Your rival will be punished for your behavior and your team reaps the benefit. See how that works? See the unintended consequences?

As a huge Arsenal fan can anyone get me some tickets to a Tottenham Hotspurs game?!? Also any recommendations for which monkey, chimp or baboon I should try to emulate? Arsenal has to finish ahead of Spurs this year! I'll do whatever it takes..........

2.10.2013

Zimbabwe Ben comes for your liquor

We've pointed out the package shrinkery trick that food sellers have used to hide price inflation, but this is ridiculous.

Maker's Mark watering down its bourbon by 6.7%.

That's amazing for a premium brand like Maker's Mark to feel the need to reduce quality.  They must believe consumers have hit their limit on what they can pay for a bottle of bourbon, so price increases are out of the question.  Meanwhile, grain, energy, and labor inputs aren't getting any cheaper.

May Zimbabwe Ben be forever remembered as the face of New Maker's Mark just as Bill Cosby was the face of New Coke.




UPDATE: Maker's Mark backtracks faster than New Coke.

AIG Commercial

Conan played a tragically funny new AIG commercial that I think hits home on the surface of the bailout abomination. Of course if Conan had really wanted to portray it accurately we would have seen Jamie Dimon, Lloyd Blankfein, Timmy Tax Cheat and The Bernank saying the same thing regarding AIG's bailout: Go F#$@ Yourself America.

2.08.2013

2.07.2013

CNBC's Brian Sullivan is a blithering idiot

For someone who has spent years covering stocks and financial markets, this guy is completely clueless about some really basic stock fundamentals.  He doesn't know the difference between market price and a balance sheet.

Take a look beginning about 1:15 of this video.

Sullivan: "Three-fourths of the stock price is effectively cash or short-term investments... you're paying for about 25% of the business is [sic] the stock price.  That's why we look at cash," he knowingly lectures CNBC viewers.

He's referring to this statistic compiled by CNBC gofers:



Yes, cash is 75.1% of total assets for Priceline.  That just means, like a lot of internet companies, they don't have a whole lot of physical assets like factories, retail stores, and inventory.  Duh.  It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the stock price.  The stock price, in fact, is around $690, giving Priceline a market cap of about $35 billion.  That's seven times the $5 billion in cash and equivalents on the balance sheet.  Here's some remedial math for CNBC:

 3/4 ≠ 1/7

"That's why we look at cash" indeed.

It can't be chalked up to a simple mistake or misreading of the graphic.  Anyone who thinks a high-flying internet stock like Priceline could be trading anywhere close to cash on the balance sheet has absolutely no clue what is going on in the market.

I can't believe they ran a whole segment on this and nobody told Sullivan he had no idea what he was talking about.

Anybody who uses CNBC for financial information and insight is duly warned.

LAPD goes full paranoid rage; starts shooting citizens for driving the wrong kind of truck

In two separate incidents, pants-wetting LAPD officers have now shot at innocent people for driving trucks that resemble the vehicle of the killer the cops are the target of.

In the first, the police shot two reportedly elderly Asian women delivering newspapers.  Because obviously they looked exactly like a giant lone bald black man.

In the second shooting in Torrance, no one was injured.

It's time to disarm the police.  Only civilians can be trusted with guns.

LA Times

LA Times

2.06.2013

Psycho cop Christopher Jordan Dorner's manifesto

Only the police should have guns, you know.

The shocking double murder of a young couple in Irvine turns out to have been suspectedly committed by a disgruntled former LAPD cop.  The female victim is apparently the daughter of an official somehow involved in the suspect's firing from LAPD.

Oh, yeah.  He's still on the loose, armed to the teeth, batshit insane, and angry as hell.

UPDATE: Randal Quan, the victim's father, acted as Dorner's legal representation during his termination hearing.  And here is the origin of the firing:

According to documents from a court of appeals hearing in October 2011, Dorner was fired from the LAPD after he made a complaint against his field training officer, Sgt. Teresa Evans, saying in the course of arrest she kicked suspect Christopher Gettler, a schizophrenic with severe dementia.

Dorner denied the allegations, KCBS says.

Following an investigation, Dorner was fired for making false statements.
Richard Gettler, the schizophrenic man's father, gave testimony that supported Dorner's claim. After his son was returned on July 28, 2007, Richard Gettler asked "if he had been in a fight because his face was puffy" and his son responded that he was kicked twice in the chest by a police officer, he testified.
UPDATE: unredacted manifesto here.

UPDATE: The "unredacted" version above is only half of it.  Shockingly, the media have not mentioned the other 11 pages where Dorner reveals himself as a left-wing Obama-lover and die-hard fanboy of the left-wing media including Anderson Cooper, Chris Matthews, Piers Morgan, etc.

Manifesto:

California school district builds brand new high school it doesn't need and can't afford

San Diego Union-Tribune:
A number of teachers and parents are asking the Carlsbad Unified School District to delay the planned August opening of Sage Creek High School, arguing that it will strain resources and isn’t needed at this time.

“This new high school is just going to be a ruination of the district,” said Sheila DeKosky, a Carlsbad High teacher who created the website www.delaysagecreek.com last month.

[...]

Moors and board President Elisa Williamson said the district’s plan to open Sage Creek follows through with the commitment it made to build a second school when voters passed the $198 million Proposition P bond initiative in 2006.

But DeKosky — along with several people who have spoken to the board and posted comments on her site and a Facebook page — argue that the new school is unnecessary and too costly to open at this time.

“Most of us are all for a new high school when and if we need it, and when we can afford it,” she said. “But we are certainly not in that situation now.”
They truly don't need a new high school for capacity. Enrollment is actually declining in this area as young families can't afford the cost of living.

This situation arises because Carlsbad, like almost all California school districts, has an unsustainable operating budget because of bloated pension and administration costs. However, the capital budget is quite another story. California's voters almost never reject bond issuance "for the children," no matter how obscene the amount or absurd the intended use. But these bonds can only legally be used for construction, not to help with the operating budget. So you get what we had here in Carlsbad: ridiculous, unnecessary, unaffordable construction, and no operating budget to run the place.

2.04.2013

Greenspan's Body Count: Phillip Marshall, Alex Marshall, Macaila Marshall

or, the Celebrated Murdering Maestro of Calaveras County.

Calaveras County is in the California gold country in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  It was made famous in the Mark Twain short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

It was not the 19th century gold rush, but the 21st century real estate rush, that brought us today's tragic tale.

The Calaveras County Sheriff's Office has identified the three people killed in the suspected murder suicide in Murphys.

The body of 54-year-old Phillip Marshall, and his two juvenile children, were found inside their home in the Forest Meadows subdivision yesterday afternoon. All three died from gunshot wounds to the head. The children were 17-year-old Alex Marshall and 14-year-old Macaila Marshall, both students at Bret Harte High School. The family dog was also found dead. The Sheriff's Office believes that Phillip shot his children, and then turned the gun on himself. Phillip's estranged wife, and mother of the two children, was out of town at the time of the shootings. 

The home at 1259 Sandalwood Drive was purchased in 2004 for $584,000.  It is now worth $344,616 according to Zillow.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 239.

Happy Super Tuesday!