Saturday, January 23, 2016

How many friends does Mayor Bloomberg have on social networks?

January 23, 2016
By Maggie Haberman

Pella, Iowa — Donald J. Trump’s reaction (click here) to the potential run of Michael R. Bloomberg in the presidential race was simple: Bring it on.
“I would love to see Michael run — I would love the competition,” Mr. Trump said in a brief interview before a rally of several hundred people who lined up for hours to see him here.
He was responding to a New York Times report that Mr. Bloomberg had asked his advisers to draw up plans for a potential run as an independent candidate under specific circumstances, particularly if Senator Bernie Sanders wins the Democratic primary and the Republicans choose Mr. Trump or Senator Ted Cruz....

I hate to have Michael Bloomberg throw his money away. He is sincerely a good guy. 

This is America. We have an open election system where people decide to serve in office. A lot of people are upset, but, once again this is America. And it could be far, far worse than Donald Trump when one analyzes the moral content of campaign financing and how it has deteriorated. I think Donald Trump is offering people a very real option. He is primarily self-funded while still allowing enthusiastic people to claim a campaign fund and all the merchandising that goes along with it. Donald Trump is not allowing a SuperPAC to mar his self-respect in running for office. I sincerely believe Donald Trump is an interesting candidate.

Donald Trump is a very popular person. He is a celebrity and celebrity has run for office before and won. A celebrity that was not a businessman but an actor. Having an actor in the presidency did not bring good programs or policies. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. The homeless rate went off the scale when Reagan was in office. I heard an estimate to the minimum wage and when it should have been $15.00 per hour when all other wages in the USA were rising. The equity of minimum wage compared to others would have been in 1970s. Literally, since the mid 70s the poor kept getting poorer and we wonder why in 2016 they are now the working poor.

The immorality of Wall Street is rampant in the USA with corporate welfare provided as food stamps and Medicaid to their employees. Walmart's work force has been subsidized billions because the federal government said raising the minimum wage is bad for business. No kidding. Those billions could have gone to schools and higher education of Americans. But, they didn't, they went to private, global companies that specialize in impoverished employees.

Michael Bloomberg should have announced at the beginning of the process, not at the point where balloting begins in primaries. 

How long did either the DNC or RNC think they could get along with exploitation of Americans to benefit the wealth of Wall Street? It became really obvious where Americans stood within their own country when the global economic collapse of 2008 occurred. Americans were abandoned. They lost everything. Their TRUST of government and Wall Street was very misplaced and they lost substantial amounts of 401Ks, real estate, homes they lived in for generations of their family, land gone to who, no one can actually say. Americans died at their own hand and they were never in military combat.

I don't mind Mr. Trump at all as a candidate because I understand what this is about. Realizing what this is about what makes Michael Bloomberg think he has a better opportunity to win the presidency, especially at this late stage of the game. 

I also trust Senator Bernie Sanders. He is a good man. He cares enormously about the country. I have no problem with him.

I appreciate Michael Bloomberg's love of his country, but, those currently running do as well.

I think we have enough candidates. 

Snow plow drivers

The unsung heroes. 

This is a picture of Vermont available online. They are roadside markers with reflectors on top. The weather is perfect. The reflectors help people see the side of the road. Reflectors help during the day, but, especially at night. These markers are short and one has to wonder if they actually benefit drivers in SUVs an Pick-up trucks. 

Snow plows would never see these short markers and would plow over top of them and end up off the road.

When the weather clears and states have money they can begin to think about placing roadside markers along emergency routes. 

I know, I know putting up more signs and poles along the side of roads can be a hazard to cars in accidents. But, kindly consider a well placed set of tall snow markers with reflectors in the increments of one foot from bottom to top. If the reflectors or painted marks are one foot apart a snow plow driver can immediately know the height of the snow and measure the that against the operating capacity of his plow, hence, his/her safety.

They are important people. Without them we would never be able to keep up with paths on emergency routes. It would be a good project and perhaps there can be such poles that break with strong impact if they don't become a projectile into the crashing car compartment.

Snow plows for safety equipped with heated windows, heated mirrors, heated seats, an inside compartment roll bar and emergency GPS locator along with an emergency blanket, possibly a large size warm clothing.

The picture is only an example:

"Sportsman Hooded Blanket or Poncho"

The SPACE® Sportsman Hooded Blanket (click here) is a by-product of the super-insulating materials originally developed for NASA. A premier accessory for all outdoor activities. Will reflect & help retain over 80% of radiated body heat, providing warmth and protection even in sub-zero temperatures. The four-ply laminated construction and reflective metal surface make this an excellent outdoor safety blanket for personal protection, shelter, ground cover, and visibility. It is also a radar reflector. Colors may vary.

These blankets fold up into small size to carry in a pocket or purse.

Take care.

Sideways snow.

This is from the New York Times. (click here) 

Kindly be careful. Short times of exposure if not producing your own body heat. Folks running and skiing will produce their own body heat. That body heat will replace the heat loss by the wind and low temperature. Going for a walk might not produce enough body heat to maintain an internal temperature of 98.6. Seriously. That wind is no joke. 

Enjoy the snow but be smart about it by taking short intervals outdoors close to home. Children especially won't even realize they are getting cold if they are distracted by play.

A childlike heart.


Typical, typical, typical Wall Street greed.

One day a frustrated millionaire wasn't happy he wasn't doubling his value day after day, so he decided he'd solve his own problem. He took his millions and began a start up lending institution based in RESERVED LIQUIDITY.

What is different about this lending company than any other? This lending institution isn't a traditional bank. The frustrated millionaire assessed the value of companies within "Techy" Wall Street and decided after a decade of "Fed" indulgence there was more fluidity with Silicon Valley than anywhere else on Earth. He came up with an idea and patented it and then solicited companies with high liquidity and signed them on to lend their monies to make more money by ten times their current income with the promise of far, far more in the long run.

January 22, 2016
By William D. Cohan

...San Francisco peer-to-peer lender (click here) is a star in the world of "fintech," a growing sector made up of financial technology companies bent on disrupting the traditional banking sector. Its backers include venture capital royalty such as Kleiner Perkins and Union Square Ventures, not to mention Google (GOOG) and Alibaba (BABA). The startup's gold-plated board of directors includes luminaries such as John Mack, the former CEO of Morgan Stanley (MS); former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers; and Mary Meeker, the one-time doyenne of Internet IPOs who is now a Kleiner partner. In other words, Lending Club (LC) had assembled a very smart-money crowd. Its much-buzzed-about offering was viewed, understandably, as a slam dunk.
In December 2014, led by underwriters at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs (GS), Lending Club priced its shares at $15, above the high end of the proposed range of $12 to $14. The IPO was 20 times oversubscribed and instantly gave the company a market value of nearly $6 billion. On the first day of trading, Lending Club's stock jumped almost 70% before pulling back to close at $23.42 a share, a one-day pop of 56%. For shareholders who got out quickly, it went in the books as another very successful offering.
Then reality set in. Lending Club's stock peaked about a week after its IPO, at nearly $26 a share, and has been retreating ever since. Never mind that the startup delivered extraordinary financial results in its first year as a public company: Lending Club's operating revenue was up more than 100% in the first nine months of 2015 compared with the same period in 2014, and its Ebitda, a measure of earnings before subtracting expenses such as interest and taxes, was up more than 200%. The stock recently traded around $8 a share, nearly 50% below its $15 IPO price....

Today, the idea of the frustrated millionaire is not much more than exactly that, an idea. He is no longer alone being frustrated, Silicon Valley is frustrated, too. This idea will end up causing fiscal problems for Silicon Valley and guess what happens next?

When Silicon Valley decides it needs more income to stockholders the first place that will happen is with labor. Where unemployed labor find monies 'until they find their next job;" in the value of their homes.

This is what is occurring with Wall Street. It is called greed, not investment. In the early days of the IPO, Day Traders took advantage of speculation and bought the stock when low and sold when it was high. All that equity brought in by releasing a new IPO has been lost to the company. Now, the only people sincerely involved with the lending are the original owners and lenders because they have no choice, otherwise, their own stocks will tumble.

The previous paragraph is what I would expect to have happened. It may be a very different reality, but, I don't see how.

There are a lot of people employed in Silicon Valley with a new wealth to this region of California, including San Francisco. This is an interesting insight to The Valley because the lower middle class and poor have been pushed out of their long time homes by the techy nouveau riche. The low income citizen and poor have been faced with movement to the extremes if they can find it, but, more likely simply homeless.

If this venture proves to be as bad as it's potential, those forced from their homes may be finding themselves back there again.

Bailout? What Bailout?

Shooting while intoxicated.

January 22, 2016
By The Wrap

...According to the Associated Press, (click here) police have arrested a man “who told authorities he accidentally shot and injured a woman in a Washington state movie theater.”
Investigators said that the two parties didn’t know each other, but the man seemed to be intoxicated as he fumbled with a gun at the Renton Regal Cinemas.
Police have said that the man returned to his home after the shooting and called 911 himself, claiming that “he had dropped his gun and the shooting was accidental.
A spokesperson for the Harborview Medical Center told the AP that the woman’s condition is no longer critical and is expected to recover.

I suppose people have to consider the kind of crowd a movie would attract to protect against accidental shootings. The right wing pandering "13 Hours" is going to have an audience of gun enthusiasts having concealed carry. Who needs it? There is a bit of a culture that follows these guys. Why expose yourself to this potential to die? The 'about town' evening out has to be qualified by certain standards to avoid this mess.

I listened to Governor Cuomo's State of the State on C-Span.

New York State offers assistance  (click here) to minority-owned & women-owned businesses (MWBEs) in many different areas. We help eliminate barriers for MWBEs seeking to participate in state contracts and provide information and resources that increase access to information and opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses throughout the State. New York's Division of Minority and Women's Business Development (DMWBD) promotes the equality of economic opportunities for MWBEs.

The
Business First Resource Center provides one-stop shopping for many state resources, but to speak with someone about your specific business needs, please contact New York's Division of Minority and Women's Business Development at (212) 803-2414.

This is one of the resources he claims to be the most successful program in the country to move minorities and women out of poverty and the working poor. He expanding the program to upstate New York this year.

Governor Cuomo in his State of the State laid claim to more New York institutions that lead the country in their purpose in improving the lives of New Yorkers. He is innovative and willing to try options to move the state into a place where all people have opportunity and upward movement.