This short slide show was sent to me by a friend.
It really resonated with me, so it has become a Christmas tradition for me to share it with you.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all !
… back with you after the New Year
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click picture to launch (best with audio on)
Let’s end this week on a lighter note (<= pun intended).
Loyal readers know that I’ve been a long-standing of airlines charging by the pound rather than having a flat fare that is applied to all passengers – small, big and supersized.
Applying the principle, GoAir, an Indian low-cost carrier, now only hires female flight attendants because they are on average 10-15 kg lighter than men. Less weight means less fuel-burn, lower costs, more profit.
====== According to The Economist, it’s just one of the ways that airlines are shaving costs these days. |
I’m sure you’ve noticed that gas prices have come down at the pump.
If you follow the economy or the stock market, you’ve certainly noticed that oil prices have come down … a couple of years ago it was selling for over $130 per barrel … now it’s selling for under $35.
Most pundits chalk it up to slowing economic growth in China.
But, that sounded too simple to me, so I started asking some questions … why’s it happening? who’s getting helped or hurt?
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Here’s my current theory of the case …
Last week, I built a partial Cabinet from the current cast of GOP Presidential candidates.
HHS – Dr. Ben Carson
Commerce – Ms. Carly Fiorina
State – Sen. Marco Rubio
Justice (AG) – Gov. Chris Christie
V.P. – Gov. John Kasich
For details & rational, See Let’s build a cabinet ….
OK, I’m ready to declare my pick for the top spot.
It’s a long-shot, especially since he’s not a declared candidate.
But I can dream, can’t I ?
I hoping that since the current field – on both sides – doesn’t have a president-ready candidate, that this guy will ride in on a white horse … or, be dragged in …. I don’t really care.
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Here’s his top line bio:
Education: William & Mary, University of Chicago Law School (doubt that he studied under Prof. Obama)
Gov’t experience: DOJ under both GOP and Dem administrations
Business experience: Worked in both the defense sector and the financial sector (not just a political hack)
Proven track record: Has been demonstrably successful in everything he has done
High Integrity: Consistently praised by both ends of the political spectrum — not for being bi-partisan, but for being non-partisan
Apolitical: He’s clearly “in the game” for the right reasons – to serve the country and its people.
Independent: Earned enough FU-money in his real world jobs that he can’t be bought or swayed.
Orientation: “Gets it” regarding the war on terror … realistic, aggressive
Strong leadership: When the guy talks, I think he’s telling the truth and glad that he’s got a hand on the tiller (think, the polar opposite to Obama’s speech after San Bernardino.)
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Pretty solid, right?
So, who’s my pick?
A couple of weeks, we posted: Why does he persist in calling it “ISIL”?
The central observation was that EVERYBODY else (including the Washington Post and New York Times) called the terrorist group ISIS, but Obama continued to use the more arcane term ISIL
According to Wiki :
“The usage of the term “Levant” has been relegated to academia in the fields of archeology and literature, but there is a recent attempt to reclaim the notion of the Levant as a category of analysis in political and social sciences.”
For a detailed explanation of the nuanced differences, see ISIS, ISIL,Islamic State, etc.
We asked “Why?” … and hypothesized that the President was playing a card right out of the “Power Personna” playbook.
Rule #3: Establish superiority through language, e.g.
“I’m way smarter than you are, so I’ll call it ISIL (especially since you don’t call it that and you’re stupid)”
Well, well, well …
At his press conference last Friday, President Obama finally broke down and called the terrorist group ISIS.
Hmmm
Let’s recount the bidding ….
The HomaFiles takes the President to task for using arcane academic language to appear superior to the masses.
Days later, the self-proclaimed ‘gifted’ orator changes course and starts talking like all of rest of us folks … blurting out the phrase ISIS.
Coincidence?
What’s next “Radical Islamic Terrorists”?
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During this week’s GOP debate, the obvious became clear to me.
Like many (most?) people, I have trouble envisioning any of the candidates sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office (or standing at a podium in front of the desk).
But, there’s premium lemonade that can be squeezed from the cast of characters.
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Specifically, if these boys and girl can modify their behavior to swallow their egos and play nice-nice with one another, I think a powerful cabinet can be put together .
Here’s the team I’d put on the field …
Ok, the Fed finally hiked rates by a whooping 1/4% ….
A common view: “geez, is the economy so bad that it can’t absorb a measly 25 bps increase in interest rates?”
Obviously, .25% isn’t enough to sway many corporate investment decisions … most corporate investments are projected to return mucho above the firm’s cost of capital … not mere quarters of a point. Reality is that firms have hurdle rates way above their cost of capital, reflecting implicit risk and organizations’ limited implementation capacity.
So, what’s likely to be the major impact?
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Here’s my take…
There was a “must read” opinion piece in the Washington Post last weekend.
The article was penned by left-leaning GWU law professor Jonathan Turley
Turley has long been warning that Dems may think it is clever and appropriate when Obama circumvents the Congress and courts to implement his partisan policies, that they should be forewarned that what goes around, come around.
Specifically, he says:
Democrats have supported President Obama’s claims of unchecked authority in a variety of areas.
Obama has been particularly aggressive in his unilateral actions.
From health care to immigration to the environment, he has set out to order changes long refused by Congress.
Thrilled by those changes, supporters have ignored the obvious danger that they could be planting a deeply unfortunate precedent if the next president proves to be a Cruz rather than a Clinton.
While the policies may not carry over to the next president, the powers will.
The Obama model will be attractive to successors who, although they may have a different agenda, have the same appetite for unilateral decisions.
Here are some specifics that he cites:
Trump’s plan to temporarily halt visas for Muslims “until we figure out what’s going on” was met with broad-scale indignation.
To summarize the outcry: “It’s unconstitutional … and, even if it isn’t, it’s just not who we are.”
Oh, really?
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Let’s dive a bit deeper on the constitutionality and the “who we are” arguments …
No, I’m not talking about the Paris Accords … I’ll get to them later.
I’m talking about Christmas shoppers strolling the streets of DC in shirtsleeves with temps in the 70s.
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I heard a lot of comments like “This is sweet” and “Who needs Florida?”
I didn’t overhear anybody saying “But, what will happen to the earth 10,000 years from now?” or “How about those Paris Accords?”
So, I feel obligated to draw attention to the “historic” Paris Climate Change Accords.
The press & politicos have been excoriating Syed Farook’s neighbors for not alerting the authorities that a gaggle of Muslim-looking guys were frequently gathering in Farook’s garage.
“If they had only called, the San Bernardino massacre might not have happened at all”
It sounds pretty straightforward, doesn’t it?
But, let’s take a test …
What do you see in the below picture?
If this were laid open at, say, an airport or school, would you “say something”?
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Do you know what happened to the folks who thought the item was pretty suspicious and decided to “say something”?
I got a few questions and comments after the post earlier this week asking about President Obama:
Once again, let’s answer the question: what’s the difference among all those names?
Pundits are struggling to explain Donald Trump’s continued strong — and arguably strengthening — position in the Presidential race.
It’s simple Watson.
Just imagine him as a Cuban boxer.
Many of you may be too young to have witnessed and remember, but…
In the 1972 Olympics, the polished U.S. boxing team was predicted to sweep the competition.
But, something happened on the way to the medals’ platform that shocked the sporting world.
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Here’s the story and why Trump jogged my memory of the 1972 Olympics …
OK, I know that “Levant” refers to a broader area than Iraq and Syria.
My point: if you’re trying to communicate clearly, it usually helps to speak in the jargon of the listeners.
Even, media shills refer to the terrorists as ISIS … and, they even do it to help readers — translating what Obama means when he says “ISIL”.
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To get a bit more technical, Wiki says:
“The usage of the term “Levant” has been relegated to academia in the fields of archeology and literature, but there is a recent attempt to reclaim the notion of the Levant as a category of analysis in political and social sciences.”
Hmm.
An arcane academic usage … being reclaimed by politicos.
But, for what reason?
The terrorist murders in California last week were a horrendous tragedy.
Can you imagine being one of the family or friends of the innocent victims?
For me, it evokes the feelings I had when attending the funeral wake of one of my former students who was killed on 9-11.
I will never forget the look on his mother’s face as she tried to stay strong while standing in front of her dear son’s coffin.
That scene permanently framed my reaction to terrorists and their cold-blooded murderous actions.
With that as a backdrop, I was stunned by some of the outrageous (and dumb) things that were said following the killings ….
How big of a worry is climate change?
According to Gallup, a slim majority of Americans think that climate change is “not a worry at all” or is “a little bit of a worry”.
Hardly hysteria.
The issue ranks #14 on Gallup’s list of top worries … about twice as many people think that the economy and government spending is a big deal.
People are way more concerned about crime & violence, terrorism and the availability & affordability of energy.
Hmm.
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And, even more interesting than the polling data is how people are acting in the free market …
Yesterday, we looked at some of the doomsday forecasts about what’s likely to happen if world leaders don’t take significant anti-carbon action at the Global Summit on Climate Change.
Most of the doom & gloom comes from what scientists speculate happened here on earth a couple of hundred thousand years ago.
Like they have good data from a million years ago, right?
Today, let’s look at some more recent history.
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First up is the 18 year “pause” in global warming.
Over the weekend, the NY Times published a piece by Curt Stager — a professor of natural sciences at Paul Smith’s College.
Prof. Stager’s opening salvo:
The cleanup (of the carbon already in the atmosphere) will take tens of thousands of years even if we switch quickly to renewable energy sources.
When the Earth’s slow cyclic tilting and wobbling along its eccentric orbital path once again leads to a major cooling period some 50,000 years from now, enough of our heat-trapping carbon emissions will still remain in the atmosphere to warm the planet just enough to weaken that chill.
Holy Smokes, Batman … 50,000 years
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But, not to worry, Prof. Stager serves up a best case scenario…
First, let’s put a couple of stakes in the ground …
I’m not a big Warren Buffet fan.
He’s a big fan of Barack Obama, and is always being rolled out as the sage of American business.
He whines about how his secretary’s marginal tax rate is higher than his … but, he doesn’t consider paying her more to cover the difference … he just asserts that my taxes should be higher.
But, since he’s President Obama’s man, I wondered …
Where does Buffett come out on climate change?
The Homa Files 