Friday, December 31, 2010

A Year in 9 Pictures - The Economist












Young Men Today should "Pay it Forward" to their Partners

Boise Limos - Rental Limousines

Young men today are looking for a way to express themselves in Sexual Prowess. Some are taking Pistol Permit License classes - (aka Concealed Weapon Permit) Some are buying drugs that "Guarantee" an additional "up to 4 Inch Growth" In the mean time - Groupon is offering - For Women

$35 for Five Pole-Dancing Lessons ($70 Value) or $20 for Five Chair-Dancing Lessons ($40 Value) at Ophidia Studio

from
$20
See Today's Groupon Deal
worth:discount:savings:
$4050%$20
Company Information:
Ophidia Studio
website
Locations:
4464 Chinden Blvd.
Suite A
Garden City, Idaho 83714
Right here in Boise

If I had a Partner (woman) rather than worrying about My concerns with How I'm perceived in Size and strength - I would spend my money on my partner's new exercise methods.
Ophidia-dance
Remember: Pay it foreword - The benefits are guaranteed to be better for both you and your partner........>

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Doug Kass - Uncanny Predictions have been Excellent in the Past - They are awaited equally by many as "Time Inc's Person of the Year"

1. In line with consensus, the domestic economy experiences a strong first half, but several factors conspire to produce a weakening second half, which jeopardizes corporate profit growth forecasts.

• The improving momentum of domestic growth at the end of 2010 continues into the first half of 2011 but proves ephemeral by the summer.
• That improving momentum turns out to be nothing more than a brief respite and “recession fatigue,” as reality and a new normal sets in.
• Americans remain in a foul mood, as the jobs market fails to improve despite the recent downtick in claims.
• Over there, multiple country austerity programs move Europe back into recession by year-end 2011. (Share prices of many large multinational industrials falter in the year’s second half.)
• China continues to tighten, but inflation remains persistent, economic growth disappoints (see surprise No. 15), and it’s stock market weakens further.
• Political gridlock and inertia in tackling the deficit incite the bond vigilantes. The yield on the 10-year U.S. note rises above 4.50% by the spring (see surprise No. 2).
• Trust continues to be lost, as the uncertainty brought by changes in the administration (see surprise No. 7) and the emergence of a third political party (see surprise No. 8) adversely impacts consumer and corporate confidence.
• Housing fades under the pressure of higher mortgage rates and the supply of shadow inventory coming onto the market in an avalanche of foreclosures. (A housing czar is named to implement a Marshall Plan for housing.)
• An across-the-board spike in commodities pressures corporate profit margins and real disposable incomes (see surprise No. 3).
• Price controls are briefly considered (and then rejected) by the Obama Administration as oil soars to over $125/barrel.

2. Partisan politics cuts into business and consumer confidence and economic growth in the last half of 2011.

Partisan politics cuts into business and consumer confidence and economic growth in the last half of 2011.
Image: David Shankbone via Flickr
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.
– William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2
Increased hostilities between the Republicans and Democrats become a challenge to the market and to the economic recovery next year. As the 2012 election moves closer, President Obama reverses his seemingly newly minted centrist views, as newly appointed Vice President Hillary Clinton becomes the administration’s pit bull against the Republican opposition.
“The day the Fed came into being in 1913 may have been the beginning of the end, but the powers it caused took a long time to become a serious issue and a concern for the average Americans.” –Ron Paul, “End of the Fed”
On the other side of the pew, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy, Congressman Ron Paul’s fervent criticism of monetary policy and the lack of transparency of the Fed leads to further friction between the parties.
“‘Refudiate,’ ‘misunderestimate,’ ‘wee-wee’d up.’ English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words, too. Got to celebrate it!’” –Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin, who can see the 2012 Presidential election from her home in Alaska, continues her barbs against the opposition party and holds a large lead to be her party’s Presidential candidate in early 2011, but continued verbal and nonverbal blunders and policy errors coupled with an announcement that she has separated from her husband causes Palin to announce that she will not run on the Republican ticket. Massachusetts’ Mitt Romney, Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan and South Dakota’s John Thune emerge as the leading Republican Presidential candidates by year-end 2011.
The resulting bickering yields little progress on deficit reduction. Nor does the rancor allow for an advancement of much-needed and focused legislation geared toward reversing the continued weak jobs market.
The yield on the 10-year U.S. note, despite a stuttering economic recovery visible by third quarter 2011, rises to over 4.25%, as the bond vigilantes take control of the markets. The rate rise serves to put a further dent in the U.S. housing market, which continues to be plagued by an avalanche of unsold home inventory into the market as the mortgage putback issue is slowly resolved.
During the second half of the year, housing stocks crater and the financial sector’s shares erase the (sector-leading) gains made in late 2010 and early 2011.

3. Rising commodities prices becomes the single greatest concern for u.s. stock market and economy.

Scarcity of water boosts agricultural prices and causes a military confrontation between China and India. The continued effect of global warming, the resumption of swifter worldwide economic growth in 2011, normal population increases and an accelerated industrialization in emerging markets (and the associated water contamination and pollution that follows) contribute importantly to more droughts and the growing scarcity of water, forcing a continued and almost geometric rise in the price of agricultural commodities (which becomes one of the most important economic and stock market themes in 2011). Increased scarcity of water and higher agricultural commodity prices (corn, wheat, beans, etc.) not only have broad economic consequences, but they become a destabilizing factor and serve as the basis for a developing powder keg in the relations between China and India.
China has about 23% of the world’s population but only approximately 7% of the world’s fresh water supply. Moreover, China’s water resources are not distributed proportionately; the 550 million residents in the more industrialized northern area of the country are supported by only one-fifth of the fresh water and the 700 million in the southern region of China have the other 80% of the country’s fresh water supply. The shared resources of water supply have been a focal point of conflict between China and India since the 1962 Indo-China War.
My big surprise is that in early 2011, tension intensifies based on a decision by the Chinese government to materially expand the plans for the diversion of the 1,800-mile long Brahmaputra River, which hugs the Chinese border before dipping into India, from the south back up to the water-deprived northern China area in an expansion of the Zangmu Dam project, original construction plans of which were announced earlier this year. At first, trade sanctions are imposed by India against China. Later in the year, the impoverished northeastern India region is the setting for massive protests aimed at China; ultimately, groups of Indian rebels, fearful of reduced availability of fresh water and the likelihood of flooding, actually invade Southern China in retaliation.

4. The market moves sideways during 2011.

The market moves sideways during 2011.
Image: AP
While the general consensus forecast is for a rise of about 10% to 15% for the S&P 500 in 2011, the index ends up exactly where it closes the year in 2010. A flat year is a fairly rare occurrence. Since 1900, there have only been six times when the averages recorded a year-over-year price change of less than 3% (plus or minus); 2011 will mark the seventh time.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. –William Shakespeare, Hamlet
With a return profile reminiscent of the sideways markets of 1953 (-0.80%), 1960 (-0.74%) and 1994 (+1.19%), the senior averages also exhibit one of the least volatile and narrow price ranges ever. The S&P 500 never falls below 1150 and never rises above 1300, as the tension between the cyclical tailwind of monetary ease (and the cyclical economic recovery it brings) are offset by numerous nontraditional secular challenges (e.g., fiscal imbalances in the U.S. and Europe; a persistently high unemployment rate that fails to decline much, as structural domestic unemployment issues plague the jobs market), and the continued low level of business confidence (reinforced by increased animosity between the Republicans and Democrats) exacerbates an already weak jobs market and retards capital-spending plans.
Despite the current unambiguous signs of an improving domestic economy, as the year progresses thegrowing expectation of consistently improving economic growth and a self-sustaining recovery is adversely influenced by continued blows to confidence from Washington, D.C., serving to contribute to a more uneven path of economic growth than the bulls envision.
With traditional economic analysis again failing to accurately predict the path of economic growth (as it did in 2008-2009), behavioral economic analysis, linking psychology to the business cycle, gains popularity. Yale’s Dr. Robert Shiller and former Fed Chairman Dr. Alan Greenspan write books on behavioral economics that become the No. 1 and No. 2 books on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list
The sideways market of 2011 will prove to be a good year for opportunistic traders but a poor one for the buy-and-hold crowd as neither the bulls nor the bears will be rejoicing next Christmas.

5. Food and restaurant companies are among the worst performers in the S&P 500.

Food and restaurant companies are among the worst performers in the S&P 500.
Image: Vacacion on flickr
(This surprise is an extension of surprise No. 3.) Several well-known multinational food companies and a host of domestic restaurant chains face margin and earnings pressures as they are unable to pass on the violent rise in agricultural costs on to the consumer. Profit guidance for 2011 is taken down by Kellogg (K), Kraft(KFT), General Mills (GIS) and many other exposed food companies. Publicly traded restaurant chains such as Darden Restaurants (DRI), McDonald’s (MCD), Yum! Brands (YUM), Brinker International (EAT) and Ruby Tuesday (RT) all take a hit owing to the abrupt contraction in profit margins as product demand swoons in the face of higher prices. As a consequence, food companies and restaurant chains are among the worst performers in the S&P next year.

6. The shares of asset managers suffer.

The shares of asset managers suffer.
I expect a series of populist initiatives by the current administration beginning by a frontal assault on mutual fund 12b-1 fees. The asset managers — Franklin Resources (BEN), T. Rowe Price (TROW) and Waddell & Reed (WDR) — are exposed, and I am short all three of them.

7. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton switch jobs by midyear 2011, 18 months before the 2012 Presidential election.

Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton switch jobs by midyear 2011, 18 months before the 2012 Presidential election.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
It is generally recognized that President Obama has been seriously weakened politically, but the situation gets worse early next year. A sustained and high level of unemployment and a quiescent housing market fail to revive, forcing the administration to consider some radical changes in order to survive in the Presidential election of 2012. (While such a switch is unconventional, this move can be accomplished as the twenty-fifth amendment sets out that the majorities in both houses of Congress would have to confirm Vice President Clinton and Secretary of State Biden would only have to be confirmed by the Senate.)The other benefits to the switcheroo:
• Hillary Clinton would have almost a year and a half of experience and credibility in the Vice President’s office.
• She would be well-prepared to campaign for a Democratic ticket.
• An Obama/Clinton ticket would be viewed by many as unbeatable. Clinton is a relentless campaigner and she would be a far more effect drawer of votes than Biden. (Consider how many votes Obama and Clinton combined received in the 2008 Presidential primary campaign.)
• Clinton will be seen as very capable of deflecting the women’s vote from Sarah Palin in 2012.
• Clinton still likely harbors dreams of the White House. She would immediately become the overwhelming favorite to garner the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination in 2016. She will only be 69 years old at that time.
• On experience alone, Clinton would be considered far more qualified than most of the other Republicans now being considered (e.g., Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty)
• Fears of former-President interference in the White House have dissipated. Bill Clinton has stayed out of the limelight and has been discreet with regard to his private life.

8. Speaker of the House John Boehner is replaced by Congressman Paul Ryan during the summer.

Speaker of the House John Boehner is replaced by Congressman Paul Ryan during the summer.
Image: AP
A tearful Boehner proves too dogmatic. Within the context of a gridlock-impacted interest rate rise and slowing economy coupled with the emergence of a threat from an increasingly powerful third party (see surprise No. 9), Wisconsin’s Paul Ryan replaces Boehner.

9. A new political party emerges.

A new political party emerges.
Image: Image: thelastminute on flickr
Screwflation becomes a theme that has broadening economic social and political implications. Similar to its first cousin stagflation, screwflation is an expression of a period of slow and uneven economic growth, but, in addition, it holds the existence of inflationary consequences that have an outsized impact on a specific group. The emergence of screwflation hurts just the group that authorities want to protect — namely, the middle class, a segment of the population that has already spent a decade experiencing an erosion in disposable income and a painful period (at least over the past several years) of lower stock and home prices.Importantly, quantitative easing is designed to lower real interest rates and, at the same time, raise inflation. A lower interest rate policy hurts the savings classes — both the middle class and the elderly. And inflation in the costs of food, energy and everything else consumed (without a concomitant increase in salaries) will screw the average American who doesn’t benefit from QE2.
Stagnating wages and ever higher food and other costs energize Middle America, the chief victim of screwflation, and a new party, the American Party, emerges chiefly through a viral campaign begun on Facebook. This centrist initiative initially is endorsed by several independent Republican and Democratic Congressmen, but a ratification by Senator Joe Lieberman (Connecticut) leads to several Senatorial endorsements as it becomes clear that the American Party’s ranks are growing rapidly. (Both the Tea Party and Sarah Palin abruptly disappear from the public dialogue.)
By the end of 2011, between 5% and 10% of all U.S. voters are believed to be members of the American Party. With its newfound popularity, the American Party asks New York City Mayor Bloomberg to become its leader. By year-end 2011, he has not yet made a decision.

10. The price of gold plummets by more than $250 an ounce in a four-week period in 2011 and is among the worst asset classes of the new year.

The price of gold plummets by more than $250 an ounce in a four-week period in 2011 and is among the worst asset classes of the new year.
Image: flickr
The commodity experiences wild volatility in price (on five to 10 occasions, the price has a daily price change of at least $75), briefly trading under $1,050 an ounce during the year and ending the year between $1,100 and $1,200 an ounce.By means of background, the price of gold has risen from about $250 an ounce 11 years ago to about $1,370 an ounce today — compounding at more than a 16% rate annually. As a result, investing in gold has become de rigeur for hedge-hoggers and other institutional investors – and in due course gold has become a favored investment among individual investors.
My surprise is that next year the price of gold has the potential to become the modern-day equivalent of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” a short tale about two weavers who promise an emperor a new suit of clothes that are invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid or incompetent. When the emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, “But he isn’t wearing anything at all!”
With a finite supply, gold has historically been viewed as a tangible asset that increases in value during uncertain (and inflationary) times. No wonder it has become such a desirable asset class following the Great Decession and credit crisis of 2008-09. Gold bugs remind the nonbelievers that for thousands of years, gold has been a store of value and, given the current state of the world’s financial system, gold is the best house in a bad neighborhood of asset classes.
But gold, which may be the most crowded trade around, is viewed now as a commodity for all seasons — during inflation, deflation, low or high economic growth.
There is a body of thought that maintains gold holds little value, that it is only a shiny metal with limited industrial value that throws off no income or cash flow (and, as such, its value cannot be determined or analyzed with any precision based on interest rates or any other measure). Those nonbelievers compare the dizzying price of gold to the unsustainable rise in comic book prices (and other collectibles) in the early 1990s, Internet stock prices in early 2000 or home prices in 2006-07.
Here is how Oaktree Management’s Howard Marks draws a colorful parallel between gold and religion, over the past weekend in his always-thoughtful commentary on the markets:
My view is simple and starts with the observation that gold is a lot like religion. No one can prove that God exists … or that God doesn’t exist. The believer can’t convince the atheist, and the atheist can’t convince the believer. It’s incredibly simple: either you believe in God or you don’t. Well, that’s exactly the way I think it is with gold. Either you’re a believer or you’re not.
What we do know is that gold is valued in an auction market based on the price where buyers (“the believers”) and sellers (“the atheists”) meet.
With an inability to gauge gold’s intrinsic value, wide price swings remain possible. And wide price swings are what I expect in 2011.
There are numerous catalysts that can contribute to a surprising weakness in the price of gold in the upcoming year. But most likely, a large drop in the price of gold might simply be the result in a swing in sentiment that can be induced by a number of factors (or maybe even sentiment that the emperor (and gold investors/traders) aren’t wearing anything at all!):
• Investors might grow increasingly comfortable in a self-sustaining, inflation-free worldwide economic recovery.
• Interest rates could ratchet higher, providing competition for non-income producing assets (like gold).
• The world stock markets could surprise to the upside, reducing investors’ interest in real assets (like gold).
• The U.S. government might (astonishingly) address the deficit.
In addition, there are numerous cautionary and anecdotal signs that are reminiscent of prior unsustainable asset class cycles or bubbles:
1. Macro funds, like those managed by John Paulson, have outsized weightings in gold or even have established dedicated gold hedge funds.
2. On Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, Fla., handheld placards that used to advertise condominiums and single-family homes for sale (during the housing bubble) have been replaced by handheld signs advertising “We Buy Gold.” On this well-populated street, gold exchange stores have replaced the omnipresent real estate and cell phone stores of the last speculative cycle. (“We Buy Gold,” “Sell Your Unwanted Gold,” “Get Cash Now For Your Gold” are names of a few of the retail outlets).
3. Gold is even being dispensed in an ATM machine in the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Fla. and at a hotel in Abu Dhabi.
4. The company that dispenses the gold is PMX Communities, a Boca Raton-based company listed on the pink sheets. According to a recent release, the ATM gold dispensing machines now operate in 12 locations around the world.
5. My spam emails normally consist of Viagra and “male enlargement” solicitations, but offer to buy gold have been on the rise over the last few months.

11. Among the most notable takeover deals in 2011, Microsoft launches a tender offer for Yahoo! at $21.50 a share.

Among the most notable takeover deals in 2011, Microsoft launches a tender offer for Yahoo! at $21.50 a share.
Image: AP
With the company in play, News Corporation (NWS) follows with a competing and higher bid. The private equity community joins the fray. Microsoft (MSFT) ultimately prevails and pays $24 a share for Yahoo!(YHOO).Currently, Yahoo! is universally viewed as a dysfunctional company, and few expect that Microsoft has an interest in the company. But a deal could be profitable and advantageous (more critical mass and immediate exposure to the rapidly growing Chinese market) to Microsoft:
• Microsoft is hemorrhaging cash in its Internet operations (estimated $2.5 billion of losses in the last 12 months). Yahoo! will immediately contribute $1.25 billion-plus of cash flow. (Applying a normal multiple, 6x to 9x creates $8.5 billion of value to Microsoft from Yahoo!’s current earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).
• Yahoo! boasts net cash of $3.4 billion.
• Yahoo!’s public holdings total $9.5 billion of value (AliBaba.com and Yahoo! Japan).
• Yahoo!’s private holdings total $6.0 billion.
Yahoo owns 40% of private AliBaba through two assets:
1. A call option on Chinese search via Microsoft joint venture. Based on the value of Baidu, if Yahoo gets a 10% share of $50 billion Chinese search market the value is $5 billion – the value to Yahoo is about $1 billion for each 10% of search share (40% of 50%).
2. 40% of AliPay. This is the elephant in the room. Current AliPay payments are about two thirds of PayPal, but the company is growing much faster than PayPal and its market potential is far greater. PayPal is currently worth $18 billion – making AliPay valued at $12 billion. Yahoo!’s 40% is worth $5 billion now but will easily be $10 billion in three years.
By means of background, on Feb. 1, 2008, Microsoft offered $31 a share, or $45 billion, to acquire Yahoo! in an unsolicited bid that included a combination of stock and cash. At that time, Yahoo!’s shares stood at $19 a share, and Microsoft was trading at $32 a share. (Today Microsoft trades at $27 a share, and Yahoo! trades at $16 a share.)
Yahoo! rejected the bid, claiming that it “substantially undervalued” the company and was not in the interest of its shareholders. In January 2009, Carol Bartz replaced Yahoo! cofounder Jerry Yang, and six months later Microsoft and Yahoo! entered into a search joint venture.

12. The Internet becomes the tactical nuke of the digital age.

The Internet becomes the tactical nuke of the digital age.
Image: Flickr
Cybercrime likely explodes exponentially as the Web is invaded by hackers. A specific target next year will be the NYSE, and I predict an attack that causes a week-long hiatus in trading and an abrupt slowdown in domestic business activity.

13. The SEC’s insider trading case expands dramatically, reaching much further into the canyons of some of the largest hedge funds and mutual funds and to several West Coast-based technology companies.

The SEC's insider trading case expands dramatically, reaching much further into the canyons of some of the largest hedge funds and mutual funds and to several West Coast-based technology companies.
Image: AP
This surprise is an extension of surprise No. 13 from last year’s 20 Surprises for 2010:Insider trading charges expand. The SEC alleges, in a broad-ranging sting, the existence of extensive exchange of information that goes well beyond Galleon’s Silicon Valley executive connections. Several well-known long-only mutual funds are implicated in the sting, which reveals that they have consistently received privileged information from some of the largest public companies over the past decade.
The next SEC target is directed at some of the world’s largest tech companies, including one of the leading manufacturers of flash memory cards, one of the largest contract manufacturers and a big producer of integrated circuits. A high-profile very senior executive in one of these companies is implicated and is forced out of his position.
With the depth of the investigations moving toward the center of some of the largest hedge and mutual funds, many of the more active traders are temporarily in “lockdown” mode as the hedge fund community’s trading activity freezes up.
• New York Stock Exchange volume and price volatility dries up (see surprise No. 4 on the sideways market).
• Fox Business Network closes because of lack of interest.
• CNBC reduces its live broadcasting schedule and resorts to paid programming before 6:00 a.m. and after 8:00 p.m.
• Particularly hard-hit is Greenwich, Connecticut — the home of many of the biggest hedge-hoggers who are alleged to have committed insider trading violations. The residential real estate market in Greenwich collapses.

14. There is a peaceful regime change in Iran.

There is a peaceful regime change in Iran.

15. China overplays it’s economic hand by implementing multiple tightening and by its unwillingness to allow its currency to appreciate.

China overplays it's economic hand by implementing multiple=
Image: AP
The region’s GDP climbs by only 5% in 2011.

Trading - just a little longer than a day or a week CSCO and S Long-Term Call options

Both of these holdings are beginning to climb.  They are Long Term Call Options - in essence I am renting the securities for a year (due Jan 2012) and during this time I get any appreciation in these securities less the cost to rent. For Example, I am renting 5,000 shares of CSCO for $17,500 (owning them would cost $100,000.) My current investment of $17,500 is worth $20,000 today.  My other holding is renting 15,000 shares of Sprint for $30,000 - If I owned the securities they would be worth $60,000. They are currently worth 28,000. Otherwise, Between these two positions I am at about break-even.  I own each for different reasons.

Did Arizona Shoot Itself in the Foot? ... Fuck Arizona!

Did I day that?  Well, I wanted to get my last nasties out before I come clean for this next Decade!
...in 2008 the federal government distributed $866.5 billion in funds to the states based on the census population counts.  Your state gets its share of the federal pie based on the number of people that are counted by the census. ...each person would be worth $2,807 in federal money to your state...  "people" not "citizens."  Arizona Recent pop. 6,392,017 or 276,062 fewer people than what the Census Bureau expected to find. ... Either Arizona's undocumented population did not want to stick around in the state or they did not think it was wise to fill out a government form -- even if their confidentiality is strictly guarded by the U.S. Census Bureau. If the shortfall was due to the latter, then at $2,708 a person, Arizona lost out on $775 million in federal grants per year 3/4's of a Billion Dollars (again per year in federal grants!)
condensed from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-p-mcdonald/did-arizona-shoot-itself_b_801704.html

If Arizona were a business - they would be in Bankruptcy Court as I write this. Arizona has become the Pariah of our country. Interesting to note that other states are considering what Arizona has done.  Their color will turn from Red to Black - bring it on!

Red States, Religious Right, "real white folks"... and finally, Creationists - go fuck yourselves, your neighbors and the states you live in!



Monday, December 27, 2010

A few notes I shared with a very private friend today - Get the Idea?

all my girl acquaintances including some of my men friends too!!!
paulie is like patty...Patty cake patty cake,
Bakers man bake me some cake as fast as you can.
Roll it, pat it, mark it with a "P" and put it in the oven
for "Paulie" and me! 
I was supposed to be institutionalized - but I had a talent
that could not be denied. So I'm free to terrorize the community
as they do to me.
hiding in Boise.
I have decided to change my bedroom around as a new "stage"
so I can change my current act. I'm looking for today's costume
and working on today's act - before I go out and charm the public.
It is very hard to come up with a new character to play every day
but I am successful in my insanity. Award winning success and
award winning insanity!
"And indeed there will be time
To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?"
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!"]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!"]
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
For I have known them all already, known them all;
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?
I grow old . . . I grow old . . .
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
I do not think they will sing to me.
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown."
I wish I could have claimed that last quote -
it was bastardized by me from a famous poet
TS. Elliot


PS. Just clearing my head before breakfast - nothing to fear.....
I've got to get away from this computer this am.  I have ordered
my new computer (new decade) and I'm about to move to a new
cell phone provider and a new Anderoid but before I hit the
"escape button"
a thought on Feng Shui
feng shui is not something one can acquire - it's a "feel" some have it some don't" It is an overused term by social elitists who claim to have "the latest "thing" don't be fooled by commercialism... give me a comfortable rocking chair that looks out among an unpopulated landscape - with a good dog at my side. Some good music, the smell of something baking in the oven - a glass of wine before I take a nap.  Fehg Shui indeed!
Rub yourself all over, and where it feels good, be gentle and rub it again Keep doing this exercise until your eyes roll back and you lose your breath in your own self excitement... Remain calm and do this as often as you can
until the Doctor Cums!
OK, OK, I'm getting dressed and getting out of here............................

Sunday, December 26, 2010

A new Decade - and it is my responsibility to help the Economy Recover

Within the next week and before January 1st. I am celebrating the next Decade by:

1. Leaving Verizon after 25 years for finally screwing me to the wall with their Storm 1 PDA and lying to me about their broadband service speed while I was in Arizona last winter. I am moving to Sprint this coming week - the only tested 4G that works and a new Android Epic 4G samsung or the EVO by HTC (have not finished reviewing) and the new Broadband card for computer 4G service. Fuck verizon, and fuck Blackberry for binding me into a contract $$$ for equipment that was never ready for prime time - out of fear from Apple

2. I am replacing one of my Laptops with a Lenovo 23inch TV/Intel I5 dual core windows 7 computer (all in one) This will be one of the latest and fastest computers on the market - running at Sprint 4G speed with a 23inch HD TV tuner - All in one - wireless everything except for one cord to the power outlet in my home.

That's it - and in several weeks I'll be dreading setting up all of this equipment - except that the Sprint Store is one block away from my home and I purchased a contract with Lenovo that allows Lenovo to connect directly to my computer (for the next 12 months) - and while I'm on my phone to them - they can change/correct any and all setup problems that I will have.

These two Items are my last two Hanukkah and xmas gifts to myself - the only dammage I have done to myself has been to my bank accounts... the last thing my shrink said to me several years ago "whatever you do, don't worry about money - money takes care of itself as long as you are a responsible person" - God Bless Her!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas Eve - moments of Memories - and Favorites

It started this morning - a delivery from Katz's Delicatessen - I didn't have to open it to know that my daughter had sent me a "Famous Salami" - aged to wrinkle - One of the great treats from New York City - a Favorite! see below

About noon my first Mail Delivery included New York Magazine - probably one of their best issues ever - a special "Double Issue" titled - "Reasons To Love New York - Right Now! - gift addition"  What makes NYC a one of a kind in this universe - is what it is all about - especially if you are not from NY or have not visited and been taken around. NYC is not really missed by me - as once you arrive - it picks up where you left off.

Well, and finally, after going to my HS Reunion and running into an old friend - we visited and she reminded me of what I didn't remember about High School, the 50's, drinking at the beach - making out - "heat" and all that goes with the ups and downs passion, etc.  Well.... I received another "all time favorite" - once a product of the candy department of the Famous Marshall Fields Department Store - Frango Chocolates! Whew....! I know now what I have 18 special bottles of my favorite wines - waiting for...." one bite, one sip" and so it goes.

This was a special Holiday season for me. There were 8 days of Chanukah and are 12 days of Christmas - I play no favorites - So at the beginning of December I ordered 20 days of presents to arrive (to me) during the 20 days of the Judeo-Christian holidays -  averaging about $100 per day - Of course I have only received all my Jewish presents and now the Christmas Presents will be coming starting today and for the next 12 days. Lucky me!

Yes, they are commercial holidays now - and material items feel good - and the Holidays are Religious -I don't believe in Religions - God and I have had several visits and either there were horses and or dogs around at the time - I really don't remember any Clergy in special garb having any significance in "our visits"
---not even any guidance - then who would need guidance to be with god.




Katzs





God Bless Me, My Family, Jackpot, The woman from Chicago, Boise Idaho, NYC, a few friends here and there and America!


 ( Judeo-Christian values are what distinguish America from all other countries. That is why American coins feature these two messages: "In God we trust" and "Liberty." ) 

Monday, December 20, 2010

So much for life - "She Had It All!"

Young Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) Analyst Jumps to Her Death

Jessica Fashano
DEVELOPING STORY... Tragic. As reported by Gothamist, "Yesterday morning, a 27-year-old woman apparently jumped to her death from a Trump Place building on the Upper West Side."
Jessica Fashano was an analyst at Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) and, asGothamist noted, she appeared in a Citigroup recruitment video on their corporate web site.
At time of publication, the video appears to have been removed from the site.
This is breaking news. More information will be added as it becomes available.
From the New York Post:
Jessica Fashano, 27, an analyst with Citigroup since graduating from Georgetown University in 2005, left no suicide note at the 40-story luxury high-rise on Riverside Boulevard on the Upper West Side on Saturday.
She had been taking medication for depression, police sources said.

"Jessica was an amazing person with such a big heart . . . a beautiful girl, with a contagious laugh and a willingness to give back," said Michelle Javian, 27, who had been pals with Fashano since Georgetown.
A woman returning from walking her dog, met Fashano in the elevator of Trump Place Tower - who asked the woman how to get to the roof - Fashano jumped from the roof moments later.

"She had it all," added Javian, who co-founded the charity Haboring Hearts Housing Foundation, which Fashano supported.

Looking forward to Christmas Eve -

Idaho Botanical Garden Winter Garden aGlow

Dec24Fri 6:30 PM



Who's hosting? 
LOCATION 2355 Old Penitentiary Rd, Boise
I would like to invite everyone to join me, on a stroll through the Idaho Botanical Gardens Winter Garden aGlow on Christmas Eve. See their dazzling display of nearly 250,000 sparkling lights and color artfully displayed throughout the garden. This season’s new attractions include giant blooming lighted flowers in the Children’s Garden, and a solar panel trailer provided by the Electricians Contractors which will assist with conserving energy and power throughout the season
We will meet at 6:30 pm on the steps behind the cottage (north side) and take a leisurely stroll through the garden and light display. The gates open at 6:00 pm and may take a little bit to get through them, so please plan on arriving prior to 6:30 pm, so you can be through the gate by then. If you’ve never done this before, it’s a spectacular event. There will be warm beverages to purchase along the way and warming fires, but dress warm for the event. If we’re lucky enough it might even snow
After our leisurely stroll through the garden, I’d like to invite everyone back to my house for some hot drinks, appetizers, and a warm fire. Please plan to bring something to share, if you’d like to join us for this portion of the event. As you RSVP for this event, please let me know if you plan on doing just the garden portion of the event or if you are planning on joining us at my house, after the event
TIME/PLACE 6:30 PM on the north side steps, of the cottage