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Republicans Planted Seed Of Tree They Are Hanging From

Kind of a bold title isn’t it ! While I’m not going to spring any new information on you, I am going to point out what you already know but have never connected the dots.

The far right wing of the republican party has been hell-bent on removing any rules that would apply sanity to the economy or the election process over the years.

Part of that was removing any spending caps on elections. And the right wing of the Supreme Court equated money with free speech which not only opened the flood gates for anonymous money into any election, it prevented congress from acting against it because now being a freedom of speech issue of the 1st amendment of the constitution, it can not be changed by Congress.

So what has this changed for us.

It now means that a foreign power or entity could support a election or issue with unlimited amounts of money and nobody will know the source is not from the U.S. Keep in mind these adds do not have to be truthful. And most elections are won on scaring you into not voting for something or someone with miss-information. Very few are for why you should vote this way (pro), they are all ‘con’, why you should ‘not’ vote that way.

But that’s not all…

It has created a situation within the republican party where “THE MONEY” speaks even without spending it.

It seems that if they want that Congressman or Senator to do what “THE MONEY” wishes, they only need to threaten to spend it on the other guy next primary. So they do not even have to spend it. Just have it sitting there ‘not as a carrot’, but ‘as a stick’.

So they have went on speaking the way that “THE MONEY” wants them to until it just sounds unattractive to any voter. This is the clear reason for the OUTSIDER dominance in the early primary polls.

Business is actually scared because the leading candidates on both sides have not been listening to what “THE MONEY” has been saying for the last decade.

Hence the prop-up for the only true big biz candidate on face value anyway… Carly Fiorina who was a former HP CEO. There was a hope that if the voters want a outsider, they need one that “THE MONEY” could control in a understandable way.

Well, the noose is getting tighter as they hang from the tree that they planted.

As this Trump thing continues, I am personally not sure if he could win a general election but if he stays in the race long enough, he is sure to keep the republicans from winning the seat.

Since there really is no way to remedy this problem even in future elections short of a constitutional amendment from the people (states) separating the rights of a corporation from a citizen and removing anonymity from the monetary side of the election process, we and they are going to have to live with this rope hanging from the tree each election cycle. The rhetoric that gets you attention while in office, will keep you from proceeding in the future.

Yes, company’s should be able to spend whatever they want getting someone elected, but the money should have their name stamped on it. If that were the case, I’m sure they would be much more reluctant in putting it up.

Who would want to be known as the guy behind the curtain pushing all the buttons when you most likely spend money on their products.

Not that they are not there now, you just don’t know who they are.

But all of this really equates to a self lynching !

That EERY FaceBook Feeling

Virtual Reality is just about to be everyplace you are in very short time. A fabulous tech once promised in the 90’s for over a decade and about to be delivered to the masses in early 2016.

Topping the list off in the field was the over 2 billion dollar purchase of Oculus VR by FaceBook in 2014.

You may not know it, but I am quite a Online Privacy and Security Buff.

I have always had a idea that there would be some eery detail hidden within the Oculus Rift because of what I know about how Facebook does things. I would not be alone. Some may remember that the creator and author of the very popular game “MINECRAFT” made a comment that went viral after the accusation. He did later sell-out his most popular game to Microsoft shortly afterwards. CREEPY is the word I think he used. To understand why that comment may be justified, you need to know more about how the web works with information gathering and warehousing and analytics. Google has certainly already proved that is very valuable. But even department stores and banks, insurance companies… The list is long of those that buy it because they have not the means to collect it.

Now what I am about to say is only speculation about potential.

But in my experience that runs long in this tech field, is when something is possible and it inevitably becomes highly probable especially when so much money is to be made just about information on users.

My problem with information about users is that it is stored. Anything stored is open to be hacked. So even if the intent of collecting and using the information is good when it starts, it often changes as nobody knows what has been collected or when the value of it can be realized in a struggling budget of those who hold it.

So there is no way to have security of collected information and it should not happen unless you are able to look at it for accuracy (just like a credit report) because someone is eventually going to pass judgements on you from it and you don’t even know it exists. If the info is not going to be used to pass judgment on you then why hold it in the first place ?

I really like John Carmac who now works for Oculus as their chief Tech Officer. He is a good innovator, like a mouse, always goes for the cheese relentlessly. That is the stuff it takes to succeed.

While reading details on his new VRscript for making ease of use for online VR-WEB developers, I was stunned to see the interjection of net-hmd-driver that Facebook holds online.

This has that exact potential for what I feared most from the Oculus/Facebook acquisition and partnership.

Web Like: where the script is downloaded from the net for each execution and run by a single signed app that we provide (NetHMD). Fully specified by an app-scheme URI, this allows VR experiences to be launched directly from web pages or app-links on Facebook, which I think is VERY powerful – read about how great something is while browsing on your phone, then just click the link and get the “insert into HMD” dialog and jump right there. VR scripts can link to other VR scripts without leaving VR. There is no direct monetization here, but IAP can eventually be supported.

That snippet was obtained from:

http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-cto-john-carmack-will-demo-his-vrscript-language-at-connect/

Please believe me that I am not a conspiracy theorist in any way as I have spent more time explaining what others to not understand as they seem to have a need to make up a story to explain what they do not understand.

Facebook gathers more information on online usage that dwarfs what is being collected by Google and even if you never use their site/services.

If you never use FaceBook, take a look at how many Facebook cookies you have, many placed there for tracking on pages that display the Facebook icon. It actually gets even deeper than that but I have not the space to explain it all.

And for those of you who don’t think privacy matters, I can only say… give me your passwords. I won’t tamper with your account. I would just like to post your thoughts or actions towards others. Figure out your politics, etc…

There will be a time in the very near future that some of this info collection will be used in ways that you currently have no idea is taking place and you have no idea if it is accurate, let alone that it exists.

So maybe you don’t get those online shopping discounts because that information mistakenly makes you appear in a different social-economic status. Or your insurance goes up because of it. Or you son can’t get in to a collage or pays more for that. Perhaps you can not get a loan or pay a higher interest rate or perhaps it is used against you in a future court of law.

Information is forever and it is quite valuable and can be sold or traded and hacked multiple times every year for many years. It never goes out-of-date.

What seems insignificant now has a much higher relevance after it is to late to do anything about it. Currently, your birth-date is about as valuable as your SSN. Many of you give that away very freely. But to a hacker, a few pieces of info, is enough to put together much more.

Please consider the above FOOD for THOUGHT and you had better start thinking about it. Hope you are Hungry.

Why Bernie Sanders Is Gaining Traction

Bernie Sanders has caught the eye of people as of late and I watch the Sunday morning news shows and see that for all the reasons everyone wants to site for this up-rise, Populism Messaging is what they seem to be spinning….. HOGWASH !

This is a candidate that has had the same message for nearly his entire political career. This is not some tailor made message for the campaign. Compare that to anyone running of either party.

Now that same message is on a national platform where, regardless for what the pollsters say, the national public has been awaiting for that message that nobody has been bringing forth.

For everything that is being said you will find that only some extreme talk seems to get any traction now-a-days. Yet Bernie can stay his ground with the same message that he has had for many years and gain on it.

Why?

It is now a message on a national stage.

People have never herd anyone speak this message and pollsters and the media seem to tell everyone what the issues are by keeping them at the top of the public’s mind.

Not this time. You really don’t know what the issues are until someone speaks them. Much to often this is done by the political elite through the media. It’s easy to address the issues when you are able to tell the public which ones they are. Ignoring the ones they do not want to talk about. Because they kept them off the radar.

Along comes a guy who feels your pain. He not only feels it now, he was warning you of what ails you 20 years ago. I think that is the real message.

But, he will likely be attacked by the right and the left and that makes him particularly interesting to me.

Would it not be interesting that the guy with no money wins the nomination ! What a message to shake up Washington.

It is time to break this old mold.

https://youtu.be/BFAq-4Vv5c0

See also: The Plot to marginalize Bernie Sanders

http://www.salon.com/2015/07/14/the_plot_to_marginalize_bernie_sanders_the_shared_agenda_that_links_fox_news_and_hillary_clinton_surrogates/

Confederate Flag – Get Over it !

If you are the type that find The Confederate Flag as a source of pride…

You lost the war, I have a box of the worthless money and trinkets to show for it.
Get Over It !

If you find the confederate flag as a source of symbol of a rebel, find a new symbol…

Because I for one as many find it as a mark of those like Hitler, who are waiting for a new indifferent group to put down under you, so you can feel better about yourself.
Get over it !

Most of you should know that this will be a political issue now and the politicians are ready to take advantage of your emotions to help you overlook the real things that effect your life that they will not have to talk about this election season.

You are walking right into it. I can’t get over that !

Syria, Iraq, Yemen and who is next ?

Syria, Iraq, Yemen and who is next ?

Those that are very eager to get more of our young men & women killed by getting involved in a new ground offensive are forgetting one thing even ” if ” they might be right.

Who will keep the territory once we take it again?

Are we to be sitting targets around the world to defend what the host country are unwilling to defend?

I had made a point once that I do wish someone would quote me on…

There can be no peace in the middle east until those that benefit in the peace have a vested interest in the war.

To think anything less will only create more bad-will towards us for doing all the fighting and open the door for more, very serious national security issues here at home.

While we are all disgusted to the facts on the ground, it does not provide any direct threat to us. I am tired of those that play on that idea. Blind faith will get you, your brother or neighbor killed.

I do believe the use of special forces with very targeted mission(s) is the best weapon we have but it only works well when we have adequate intelligence on the ground.

If the Iraqi’s and it’s neighbors will not defend for themselves, they deserve what they get. Willing to help, YES, do it for you, NO !

ISIL and the conflict in Syria would have taken place and threatened Iraq even if we had not removed troops years ago. But, because of internal politics of Iraq, it just happened far faster than we would have liked.

So those that are Gun-Ho about sending in the troops again better think it through a bit and ask, what after we win…? be sitting targets again and for how long? It will not end.

If you are ‘allowed’ to use this mentality, we would soon be in 1/3 of the nations on the planet…. I don’t think so.

Who will pick-up the parts of Syria if ISIL should fall. Are we to defend it also?

Is your child at risk or you just want to use others as target practice.

China has a vested interest in the oil in that region and have nothing in the game at all. So are we fighting for them in the end?

I think this Memorial Day deserves a patriotic question posed to those that would spill more of our blood.

What if you win ? I’m sure we can, What then?

This will not end till there is a multi-national ground fighting force made up by the players in the region including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and others. And that is something we could play a limited role in. Anything less is more of the same.

Still Believe in Supply and Demand, Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus

Well, despite the catchy title, it is very realistic.

The prompt to write this was based on Oil Prices.

Why oil?

Never in 80 years before has there been so much oil in storage tanks in the U.S.

Demand for oil has not changed much if any and yet even at lower production levels, we produce more oil than can be sold, hence higher storage usage.

Yet the price of a WTI barrel has been going up as of late on the expectation that something is going to change like demand is going to go up 5% for the next year.

Well something is going to change !

The cost of storage is going to burn a whole in the pocket of investors. Think how long this oil in storage costs every month to keep and until there is lower production levels and some time to burn off all that is in storage, it will be some time, perhaps years, before all the excesses are used up. Meanwhile, a bunch of folks are going to loose there shirt storing it. (good news for the storage tank renter).

They are putting this in storage tanks anywhere they can find it and oil is traveling on rail to places it never traveled before. Those that have the surplus do not want those inventories to show up at the Cushing, OK storage facility as that would spook the trading price much lower because it is a benchmark for the storage capacity in the futures market.

Wall Street to the rescue… Yes the investment banks have a answer to that. They want to make storage a trade-able commodity. The investment banks own a lot of storage terminals.

The longer this goes on, the harder the crash will be. That is not good for jobs when companies go completely belly-up. Survival of the fittest yes, but who do you think will buy all the assets when they do. It won’t be Santa, but the folks who tell you that Santa is coming tomorrow.

I’m sure that the investment banks that actually are the largest oil traders in the world and also control the speculative news for outlook in the futures market will make some extra money offloading the huge inventories that they have at higher prices, spoofing their own investors. I do wonder if anyone tells them that the oil they are investing in is owned by the bank that suggests it as a good investment.

Yet just one more self generated “contango” the investment banks are good at.

All fine and dandy unless you are one of the investors.

So you believe in supply and demand. The tooth fairy will leave you the money you loose under your pillow tonight. Santa will have to haul it as it is to heavy for the fairy. Wait for it, it’s coming.

There is a large disconnect between real supply and demand and the virtual one that exists with the banks.

It does surprise me that people can be fooled over and over again.

I guess if you don’t learn your lesson after the second time, your not going to. But there is a huge conflict of interest of the investment banks, who control the speculative news and the investor they sell commodities to that they (investment banks) own.

If your going to play poker, don’t play strip poker if you don’t look good naked.

The investment banks would jack the price of reindeer nuggets if it thought they could sell them to you.

It is all about a legal market manipulation in the end. Remember ENRON. Remember those lobbyist who give large amounts of money to Congressmen and Senators and only expect a few little word changes in the legislation they pass. What a bargain. Who do you think hired all those smart folks that worked for Enron after they went belly-up.

Addendum 5/28/15

In a effort to hide WTI inventories from the futures market, oil is now being pushed to Canada for storage. While it is not against the current export ban to sell to or move it to Canada, I do wonder who is watching it from there that it is not sold to international markets.

Since 30 million barrels have been moved there in just a few months and the price spread between WTI and Brent Oil has narrowed, I do wonder?

I can only guess that it will not be long and there simply will not be anywhere to hide the oil in just a few months (Aug-2015).

Can you say “$30 oil” ? I’m not sure even that could burn off all in storage? With current efficiencies in autos, we will not see a large spike in demand like the past. When storage runs even shorter, it will cost even more to keep it stored and for how long?

It would be in the investment banks interest that no deal is signed on Iran Nuclear issue. I’m sure they are lobbying for it that way because that’s what they do. That keeps the Iranian oil off the market or we could see $25 oil very soon.

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