Comment Re:The left half .... (Score 1) 103
The half that downloaded that new "Phone Addiction" app on the first day it came out.
The half that downloaded that new "Phone Addiction" app on the first day it came out.
I think one thing we've learned from all this is it's not about money, it's about airtime. And if you can get that for free, it no longer matters which side the Koch brothers are on - which somehow is kind of reassuring, despite the obvious negative consequences in this case.
I've watched a lot of CNN throughout all this, and they're clearly biased against Trump. Yet they've fueled his campaign with the wall-to-wall free airtime they give him. (And yes, as a CNN viewer, I'm part of the problem.) In fact, on their "Reliable Sources" program the other day, someone mentioned that CNN's ratings were up dramatically throughout all this, which isn't surprising. It's a win-win for both: Trump gets airtime, CNN gets ratings. I guess we could call that the "media-troll complex."
There appears to be a choice between someone who is conniving and self serving, and someone who is nasty and under handed.
Can you tell which is which?
That's easy: one wears a bad haircut and the other wears a bad pantsuit.
As a historical comparison, Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover may have been just as conniving/self-serving/nasty/underhanded or whatever, but at least Nixon's haircut wasn't half bad. And however bad Hoover's pantsuit might be, at least he never wore it in public...
Fascinating, Captain...can the politician who got where he is by defying all conventional wisdom about how to be a successful politician then expand on that success by suddenly employing the primary tactic of all conventional politicians?
Trump has a lot of negatives, yes.
They said the same about Ansel Adams. And just look how his career developed.
(sorry, couldn't resist)
Speaking of "master key," I once read about some sort of principle or rule-of-thumb that every security device has to have an escape hatch of some kind. For example, car doors could be opened with a "slim jim," safes and padlocks could be cracked by a qualified locksmith, and most password systems have a "password recovery" option of some kind. Does anybody know if there's a name and/or Wikipedia page for that principle?
BTW, I'm not suggesting that government should have a master key, but I've been saved in a couple of cases when someone could open a car door, and I've benefited from password recovery options many times, even though the fact that such things exist at all is an obvious security issue.
But these articles that talk about jobs being replaced by AIs and Robots are misleading as those technologies are years away from being day-to-day reality. If an AI does replace my job, I'll be ready to change to a different job.
I see it as more of a gradual thing. My favorite example of this involves 'trash collectors' - which used to be the archetypal job that humans that would forever provide employment for the unskilled. Not so: many trash trucks today are manned by a single skilled driver who operates a (fairly dumb) trash-truck robot that picks up the (now standardized) trash cans. So, instead have having one skilled driver and one or two unskilled trash guys, we now have just the skilled driver. And it isn't hard to foresee even the driver being replaced in the next decade.
For taking a old & tired (in internet years) company and
helping drive it into the ground. And insignificance.
And being a woman helps 'cause you can do no wrong.
With a track record like that, I predict she'll run for President one day.
Don't all public companies have fiduciary duty (whatever that means) to do everything in the best interest of the shareholders?
Therein lies the rub: it's hard to prosecute on "whatever that means." So, all that we investors can do is vote with our dollars. However, looking at YHOO's major owners, the top ones seem to be S&P 500 funds, which presumably aren't any more activist than S&P itself. I guess that's anecdotal evidence that those of us who are (mostly) stock pickers have a good shot at doing better in that portion of our investments.
A TV pundit recently observed that each CEO of Yahoo has walked away with significant compensation after a short term, yet the stockholders have gotten nada in the form of dividends. And they may not get much when it's eventually sold off, or will get nothing if it goes bankrupt (which is less likely.)
Ironically, I rely on Yahoo's "Finance" section for much of my own stock-picking: its "Key Statistics" page is by far my favorite one-page stock statistic summary. Here are some highlights (read: lowlights) for YHOO itself:
Profit Margin (ttm): -87.74%
Return on Assets (ttm): -0.16%
Return on Equity (ttm): -12.82%
Trailing Annual Dividend Yield3: N/A
This paints a picture of a company that is losing money (negative profit margin), hasn't managed its assets well (negative return on assets and return on equity), and doesn't treat stockholders well (see ROA and ROE, together with no dividend.) Next, throw in a history of expensive golden parachutes to short-term CEOs and you've got a stock that no one (IMHO) should ever own.
Sadly, those of us who have part of our money in S&P 500 funds have a few bucks that get to go along on this horrifying ride.
And one that will not be accepted by the public when they see how ugly the money is becoming.
Yup, I saw a picture of Harriet Tubman today, and I think both Susan B. Anthony or Frederick Douglas were prettier. I'm not saying that Andrew Jackson was any great looker either, but this seems to be a step in the wrong direction in terms of pure cosmetics - unless they have Halle Berry or somebody model for Harriet. Even Oprah.
Cult: incipient form of religion. May be persecuted by the state until transformed into religion (see belowe). In most cases used to get power and money for the leader/priests.
You forgot sex: although the term "cult" doesn't seem to have an exact, well accepted definition, sex seems to be an important element of most groups that have been labelled as "cults." It's not a coincidence that many "prophets," both ancient and contemporary, have had lots of wives. I won't name any names here, but I can think of at least two contemporary established world religions that either currently or once allowed and encouraged polygamy, aka "plural marriage."
Since polygamy really isn't practical on a large scale due to the fact that men and women are born in approximately equal numbers, it's notable that prophets who have encouraged that seem to have more wives than the average adherent of their faith. Go figure.
Then again, maybe God is playing a little trick on certain false prophets who espouse plural spouses: I doubt that the pleasure they would derive from multiple wives could ever possibly compensate for the concomitant aggravation.
Good point - Everything is Awesome!
I hope kids will work with the blocks in groups - Everything is cool when you're part of a team!
But even if all our big ideas to change the world never pan out - Everything is awesome when we're living our dream!
Here's an even better idea: why not start kids as early as possible on this idea of making complex objects out of simple components? For example, I could create a system of interchangeable plastic blocks that very small children could put together, either free-form, using their own imaginations, or in specially designed kits that are intended to be assembled (with instructions) into an exciting macro-toy. Even better, after they get tired of the macro toy, they could tear it down and go free-form with the pieces!
I could envision such plastic blocks becoming popular world-wide, and could see them making their way into homes, daycare centers, preschools, and even elementary schools. Heck, I might even play with those myself. Imagine the educational possibilities for kids of all ages!
If my idea succeeds, I wonder how many billions Microsoft would pay me for it?
Money is the root of all evil, and man needs roots.
