Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Puff Daddy and Magic Johnson to Buy Buffalo Bills, Bring NFL back to LA
Sean "Puffy" Combs and Magic Johnson have both been making noises about buying an NFL franchise and bringing it to LA.
Puffy is estimated to be worth about half a billion, and Magic just sold his stake in the Lakers as well as his many Starbucks franchises, and both have expressed interest in moving the Buffalo Bills to LA.
Together, with their money, clout, and business acumen, they could do it. And they probably will.
Neat huh?
Puffy is estimated to be worth about half a billion, and Magic just sold his stake in the Lakers as well as his many Starbucks franchises, and both have expressed interest in moving the Buffalo Bills to LA.
Together, with their money, clout, and business acumen, they could do it. And they probably will.
Neat huh?
Social Security Stalemate
Social Security is a budgetary trick that is virtually indistinguishable from a Ponzi scheme. Workers pay in, theoretically so that they will have something to take out when they retire. However, this money doesn't go into a lockbox. It goes straight to current beneficiaries.
There is no Social Security Trust Fund. There was supposed to be, but it ended up getting spent by our government. In it's place are billions in Treasuries, which when the time comes to cash them in, our broke-ass government will just print some more dollars, making those T-bills effectively worthless.
Social Security is broke, and any attempt to fix it is met with FIERCE liberal rhetoric, even though they bring no ideas on how to fix it themselves.
Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security went down in flames. Current Republican reforms are being met with cries that they are killing Social Security, and that they want old people to live in abject poverty.
The funny thing is, these attempts are actually trying to save Social Security, while the Left simultaneously sits on their hands and puts their fingers in their ears while Social Security sinks deeper into the red.
The time of Social Security reckoning will come, and we will know who really brought the pain.
Of course, both sides will continue to play the shell game. Once the program hits the wall, the Right will call for reforms and blame the Left for spending too much, and the Left will say the Right wants old people to live in the streets.
But we are catching on to their game.
There is no Social Security Trust Fund. There was supposed to be, but it ended up getting spent by our government. In it's place are billions in Treasuries, which when the time comes to cash them in, our broke-ass government will just print some more dollars, making those T-bills effectively worthless.
Social Security is broke, and any attempt to fix it is met with FIERCE liberal rhetoric, even though they bring no ideas on how to fix it themselves.
Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security went down in flames. Current Republican reforms are being met with cries that they are killing Social Security, and that they want old people to live in abject poverty.
The funny thing is, these attempts are actually trying to save Social Security, while the Left simultaneously sits on their hands and puts their fingers in their ears while Social Security sinks deeper into the red.
The time of Social Security reckoning will come, and we will know who really brought the pain.
Of course, both sides will continue to play the shell game. Once the program hits the wall, the Right will call for reforms and blame the Left for spending too much, and the Left will say the Right wants old people to live in the streets.
But we are catching on to their game.
Railroads Get a Boost
Not everyone is struggling in this economy, as railroads see strong surges in profit.
Union Pacific Corp.'s third-quarter profit jumped 51% as the railroad company posted volume growth for the third consecutive quarter and noted freight revenue improved across all business segments.
Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Young said strong volume growth, pricing gains and operating efficiency "combined to produce another record quarter" for the company. Results easily topped Wall Street's expectations.
The company's results further highlight the transport sector's rebound from last year's moribund levels, as the U.S. economic recovery continues. Already, peer CSX Corp. and transport companies J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. and United Parcel Services Inc. have reported results above prior-year levels as volumes jump higher. Union Pacific has said it sees a peak autumn intermodal shipping seasons, although it warned of industry uncertainty.
As the dollar weakens and commodity prices rise, commodity movers like railroads should see a boost, as I wrote about a year ago, when Warren Buffet bought railroad company Burlington Northern.
I should really start listening to myself.
They Took Our Jobs! [Robot Apocalypse]
These cold, heartless bastards aren't content to just conquer the world, they want our JOBS too!
The robots are going to do all our work, better than us, at a fraction of the cost.
Or, as the denizens of South Park so eloquently put it:
Today, a Japanese company called Fanuc, Ltd., has industrial robots making other industrial robots in a "lights out" factory. (That's the somewhat unsettling term for a fully automated production facility where you don't need lights because you don't need humans.) That's where we're headed.
It's not just manufacturing, either. Automated call centers are replacing customer-service agents. Automated checkout stations are replacing grocery-store clerks. When the science of computer vision advances sufficiently, we'll have algorithms, not humans, evaluating X-rays at airport security checkpoints and screening user-generated content for sites like Facebook.
The robots are going to do all our work, better than us, at a fraction of the cost.
Or, as the denizens of South Park so eloquently put it:
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Language Learning Computer Insults Obama [Robot Apocalypse]
NELL, the smartest language learning computer with a Twitter account, recently insulted the commander in chief.
A "politicianus?" I may criticize our government from time to time, but at least I have warm blood and a squishy brain. These metal and silicon bastards have gone too far. They are supposed to serve us, and here they are insulting our highest leader?
DARPA is playing with fire.
And as recently as Saturday, she even ventured into political satire territory - or at least, something that sounded very much like it when she decided that "US President-elect Barack Obama" is a #politicianus.
Nobody seems to know exactly what a politicianus is, but for now we're assuming they're like opinions - everyone's got one, even NELL.
A "politicianus?" I may criticize our government from time to time, but at least I have warm blood and a squishy brain. These metal and silicon bastards have gone too far. They are supposed to serve us, and here they are insulting our highest leader?
DARPA is playing with fire.
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