The ObamaCare ruling: Four positive things

Chief Justice John Roberts is a Genius!

 Excerpt:

Chief Justice Roberts actually ruled the mandate, relative to the commerce clause, was unconstitutional. That’s how the Democrats got Obama-care through in the first place. His ruling means Congress can’t compel American citizens to purchase anything. Ever. The notion is now officially and forever, unconstitutional. As it should be.

"Construing the Commerce Clause to permit Congress to regulate individuals precisely because they are doing nothing would open a new and potentially vast domain to congressional authority. Congress already possesses expansive power to regulate what people do. Upholding the Affordable Care Act under the Commerce Clause would give Congress the same license to regulate what people do not do. The Framers knew the difference between doing something and doing nothing. They gave Congress the power to regulate commerce, not to compel it. Ignoring that distinction would undermine the principle that the Federal Government is a government of limited and enumerated powers. The individual mandate thus cannot be sustained under Congress’s power to “regulate Commerce.”

Excerpt from ruling (p 12):

Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices

Comments:

• PDF of ruling
• HT: Denny Burk

Here are the four positive things:

1. It's a tax: Roberts correctly called it a tax. Republicans can run on this!
2. Door closed on the use (er ... abuse) of the commerce clause to compel citizens to purchase something!
3. The ball is now in Mitt Romney’s court. The GOP leaders of the Congress have been given a political gift of historic dimensions
4. We are just months away from another quadrennial election. People have a choice and if we (the collective we) are stupid enough to reelect Obama well we deserve what we get!

Um .... they knew about it for 2 weeks and did nothing!

Credit card skimming scam targets Rosedale food court locale; $100K lost Excerpt:

A scheme to skim credit and debit card numbers from customers at a Rosedale Center food court restaurant is responsible for about $100,000 in bogus charges, Roseville police said Thursday. Police are publicizing the case in hopes that they will hear from diners who used a credit or debit card at the Chinese Gourmet Express. ... Also, the restaurant's corporate office told Roseville's lead detective that its executives became aware of a computer breach about two weeks earlier, involving the theft of customer credit and debit card information but the had yet to notify law enforcement.

Comment: Chinese Gourmet Express What would Charlie Chan say?: "Always danger where men are evil, but knowledge best weapon for protection". Source

Will Hillshire get gobbled up?

Hillshire to debut amid acquisition speculation

 Excerpt:

Hillshire Brands Co. is set make its debut as a public company Friday after spinning off from Sara Lee Corp., and speculation about it being an acquisition target is already under way.

Hillshire will focus on meat brands such as Jimmy Dean, Ball Park and its namesake Hillshire Farm, which Sara Lee acquired in 1971. It will also sell frozen desserts and bakery products.

The other company to emerge from Sara Lee will be an international coffee and tea company called D.E. Master Blenders 1753, referring Douwe Egberts, one of the company's coffee brands. That business will be based in the Netherlands.

In a note to investors this week, Bernstein Research analyst Alexia Howard said there are a range of potential suitors for Hillshire Brands, including Hormel Foods Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc. She noted that no other meat-focused company of Hillshire's size and strong stable of brands had been previously available.

Comment: Hormel would be a good match

Stossel: "No-discrimination insurance isn't insurance. It's welfare."

In Praise of Discrimination in the Health Insurance Market

 Excerpt:

... discrimination is what makes insurance work. An insurance regime where everyone pays the same amount is called "community rating." That sounds fair. No more cruel discrimination against the obese or people with cancer. But community rating is as destructive as ordering flood insurance companies to charge me nothing extra to insure my very vulnerable beach house, or ordering car insurance companies to charge Lindsay Lohan no more than they charge you. Such one-size-fits-all rules take away insurance companies' best tool: risk-based pricing. Risk-based pricing encourages us to take better care of ourselves.

Car insurance works because companies reward good drivers and charge the Lindsay Lohans more. If the state forces insurance companies to stop discriminating, that kills the business model.

No-discrimination insurance isn't insurance. It's welfare. If the politicians' plan was to create another government welfare program, they ought to own up to that instead of hiding the cost.

Comment: On this day the the landmark SCOTUS Obamacare ruling is to be announced, this frames the discussion well! When it comes to economics, I'm basically a Libertarian

Kraft ... spin-off details

Kraft Foods Inc. To Transfer Stock Listing to NASDAQ

 Excerpt:

At the time of the spin-off later this year, Kraft Foods Inc. will change its name to Mondelez International, Inc., and the company's common stock will trade under the symbol MDLZ. Concurrently, the North American grocery business will be spun off to form a new company, Kraft Foods Group, Inc., whose common stock will trade under the symbol KRFT. The symbol KFT will be retired at that time.

Comment: On "Mondelez" = "delicious world" but some people find the name offensive.

"Hot Potato" investing - the antithesis of value investing

Is the Buy & Hold Stock Strategy Officially Dead

Excerpts:

If you hold onto an investment for longer than five days, consider yourself the new millennium's version of Benjamin Graham.

The average holding period for the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY), the ETF which tracks the benchmark for U.S. stocks, is less than five days, according to shocking statistics in analyst Alan Newman's latest Crosscurrents newsletter.

"Given recent average volume, the SPY trades its entire capitalization and then some each and every week," wrote the always-provocative analyst. "Does anyone really wish to argue where valuation might enter the picture in this scenario? Value does not matter in the slightest."

Analysts blame the hot potato market on the disappearance of the individual investor and the entry of the high-frequency trader. After three bear markets in the last decade, individual investors - especially baby boomers careening toward retirement - don't have the risk tolerance to be burned once again.

"True liquidity has not come back and the pros and high frequency traders rule the world," said Brian Stutland of Stutland Volatility Group. "Plus, if the average person ever comes back, then they won't have time to play all day long back and forth in the market. So, maybe buy and hold really is dead."

Newman notes in his newsletter that the average holding period for all stocks was almost four years from 1926 through 1999. After a tech mania, a housing bubble, and the explosion in electronic trading, the average holding period sits at just 3.2 months today.

Comment:  I'm a "buy and hold" guy. I subscribe to Benjamin Graham's value investing model. I eschew stocks that I don't intend to keep at least (but probably more like 3) 1 year

No gift for you!

The Obama event registry

HT: Obama Asks People Getting Married To Forgo Gifts, Ask Their Guests To Donate To His Campaign Instead…

Sara Lee fireworks

Sara Lee Corp. Board of Directors approves a 1-for-5 reverse stock split immediately after the spin-off

Comment: Kind of complex but if I understand it correctly all will be happening the 1st week of July. To keep this simple (for my pea brain) suppose an investor has 100 shares of SLE

• SLE will split off coffee business into new company called D.E MASTER BLENDERS 1753 (unsure of the stock symbol but it won't be DE because that is John Deere
• SLE investors will receive a $3.00 special dividend per ahare (for for 100 shares = $ 300
• Then SLE will do a reverse stock split and the 100 shares will be 20
• And the new company name will be Hillshire Brands with a stock symbol of HSH

Student aid raises tuition

Pell Grants Flunk Out

 Excerpt:

Started in 1972 to help poor kids pay for college, Pell Grants are now so broad that more than half of all undergrads benefit. In the 2009-2010 school year (the most recent data available), 60% of all college students received a grant—a total of 9.6 million students. Between 2008 and 2010, the number of Pell grantees increased by almost 50%, roughly doubling taxpayer cost.

...

Because the amount of a Pell Grant for full-time study depends on both a student's financial straits and the cost to attend school, better-off students often receive the large Pell Grants and apply them to more expensive schools. According to Ms. Robinson and Mr. Cheston, in 2009-2010 20% of Pell grantees from families making over $60,000 opted to take their federal checks to schools that cost $30,000 or more per year. That luxury wasn't available to students from lower income families, who attended ritzy schools at a much lower rate.

Universities learned long ago how to capture the extra cash and adjust their price schedules accordingly. While Pell Grants and other student aid are intended to make college more affordable, they're contributing to the ever-higher tuition spiral. Write 100 times on the chalkboard: Student aid raises tuition.

Comment: Another government created bubble.

Obama as "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer"

Noonan: Who Benefits From the 'Avalanche of Leaks'?

Excerpt:

Liberally quoted in the Sanger book, and in Dan Kaidman's "Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency," is the White House national security adviser, Thomas Donilon. When I was a child, there was a doll called Chatty Cathy. You pulled a string in her back, and she babbled inanely. Tom Donilon appears to be the Chatty Cathy of the American intelligence community.

It is good Congress has become involved. They wonder if the leaks have been directed, encouraged or authorized, and by whom. One way to get at that is the classic legal question: Who benefits?

That is not a mystery. In all these stories, it is the president and his campaign that benefit. The common theme in the leaks is how strong and steely Mr. Obama is. He's tough but fair, bold yet judicious, surprisingly willing to do what needs to be done. He hears everyone out, asks piercing questions, doesn't flinch. He is Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer.

Comment: The leaks are a sort of swashbuckling bravado!

More on Robert Gates' advice:

After the killing of bin Laden, members of the administration, in a spirit of triumphalism, began giving briefings and interviews in which they said too much. One of the adults in the administration, then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates, reportedly went to Mr. Donilon's office. "I have a new strategic communications approach to recommend," he said. What? asked Mr. Donilon.

"Shut the [blank] up," Mr. Gates said.

My fine

Comment: While we waited we watched half a dozen or more cases. Many were DUI's and all of them were the 2nd arrest. And all of them had a fine of $ 900 with $ 800 stayed .. for a total of $ 100. Mine was three times that amount. Doesn't make sense but I had budgeted $500 so I'm not complaining

College scholarships meant only for Whites?

White student lauded after returning college scholarship meant for blacks

 Excerpt:

The scholarship application itself stated only that African-Americans were “encouraged” to apply. Warren applied online and apparently never saw a separate letter sent to school counselors specifying that it was for black students.

Comment: Here's my question. Suppose a group of us got together and funded a scholarship only for Whites. Would that be racism?

Subaru starts after hibernating on lake bottom

This Subaru Started After Sitting On The Bottom Of A Lake For Three Months

Excerpt:

This semi-beater ’96 Legacy was driven on the ice some three months ago, as a guy went fishing. Despite his claims that the ice was strong enough, the Legacy went through the ice, head-first. The driver only had time to turn off the engine and get his dogs out of the trunk, as the Legacy soon fell completely through and sank to the bottom of the (admittedly characteristically shallow, four-meter-deep) Finnish lake.

Comment: HT. Photos with first link!

On being handcuffed

Above is an image of me on crutches from last month (Kerrville TX with my Mother, wife and sister)

I can't stand up without crutches. With crutches I walk about 1/4 the speed of normal walkers and cannot walk very far. 

But for expired tabs, the Plymouth police thought it necessary to take away my crutches, pull my arms behind my back and cuff me. 

I'm a real threat to society!

 

Final thoughts on arrest and legal situation

 

• I was wrong. I did fail to pay my tabs. I'm not sure how that oversight occurred but it did.
• I'm glad that the Plymouth police stopped me! I really mean this.
• My saying - and I did say this when asked - "I drive the vehicle about once a week" was perceived to be some sort of admission that because I only drove it once a week that somehow I thought it was OK to not pay my tabs.
• Unfortunately my saying "[it] was just an oversight on my part" was ignored.
• The charge of "intent to evade taxes" was an egregious completely unsupported and unprovable charge. (I proved this by demonstrating that I have consistently paid my taxes and that the really expensive taxes I gladly pay. Take for example my property taxes which may be paid biannually (I believe they are due in May and October). The last two years (since have paid my mortgage off and I manage my own escrow and pay the taxes directly instead of having the mortgage company pay the taxes from escrow), I have paid my entire annual property tax amount on the first day I was able to pay them on the Hennepin Co tax site. This is not the action of a man who intends to evade taxes. Additionally one can easily reduce taxes legally. I do not invest in the Nuveen Minnesota Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund but as an investor I could easily invest in this fund and avoid $ 48 of Minnesota state taxes. I'm smart enough to know how to legally avoid $ 48 of state taxes. I'm not stupid enough to think I could evade taxes by not paying license plate tabs on a 10 year old truck! Intent to evade taxes ... ridiculous!
• About the Plymouth police ... I appreciate you ... I really do. Thank you for serving our community. But was it really necessary to handcuff me and bring me in for this! I think not! You could have done better.
• My own out of pocket was a $ 300 fine, $ 78 in court costs, and $ 100 to get my truck of of impound.
• But the city and state wasted resource as well. How much did it cost you?
• I think that giving me a ticket for $ 300 would have saved me time and money and would have been a better use of state resources!
• Finally I thank Steve Goldfarb - the attorney who represented me! I would never go to court without professional representation. The stakes are too high and the system is stacked against the individual. This man worked aggressively for me!

 Comment: For all posts on this subject click here (scroll back to the 12/30/2011 post for the first)

Our celebration tonight

Kathy and Roger (Sister-in-law and Brother) came by for dinner. We had pizza. Then we watched the following video .... then we had ice cream and coffee

Resolution of Court case

Peet Court Outcome 06082012

After a full morning in court, we return grateful for the outcome. I had been charged with a Gross Misdemeanor - an "intent to evade taxes" Early this morning I prepared talking points to review with my attorney. As follows:

• I've lived in Hennepin County for 16 years and over this time frame I have paid $ xx,xxx in property taxes. I documented the previous year's taxes for my attorney
• Last year alone I paid $ x,xxx. in state income taxes. I had documentation for this
• The amount of "evaded" taxes was less than $ 100.
• My other car - the Buick - has annual license tab fees of $ 251. Again I had documentation that I had paid that. The reasoning here is that if I intended to evade taxes, I would evade taxes on the much more expensive vehicle.
• My concluding point: I am not a tax evader. And that the failure to have current license tabs on my truck was a simple omission and there was no "intent to evade taxes"

My attorney met with the Plymouth attorney. The charges were reduced from a Gross misdemeanor to a Petty Misdemeanor (there are three grades of misdemeanor in Minnesota: Gross, Misdemeanor, and Petty Misdemeanor A Petty Misdemeanor is not considered a crime in Minnesota ... it is more like a traffic offense. I paid a $ 300 fine and $ 78 in court costs.

He's brave, he's green, and he's queer

Gay Green Lantern may be seen in a different light

 Excerpt:

"He's going to be the leader of the team, this dynamic hero, he'll do anything to save people, the bravest man on the planet. Why not just make him gay as well?" says Earth 2 writer James Robinson.

Comment: And I thought it was Robin!

Unemployment ticks up to 8.2%

US stock futures plunge on dire jobs numbers Excerpt:

U.S. employers created 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2 percent from 8.1 percent. Economists had forecast a gain of 158,000 jobs. The Labor Department also said 49,000 fewer jobs were created in March and April than first expected.

Comment: My earlier prediction on 12/29: "Unemployment will briefly drop and then increase before the election" Yesterday was a friend's last day at work ...

Court Date June 8th

Peet Court Summons

On the Facebook IPO

Facebook Shows There's a Sucker Born Every Minute

Excerpt:

Consider that as Facebook readied its IPO, there was a lot of shifty business: On May 15, the price was boosted to $38 from a range that bottomed at $28. The next day, the offering size swelled by 50 million shares. Then came a disclosure that insiders would sell 53% more shares, or 84 million shares, in the IPO than previously planned.

... By the time the shares went public last Thursday and started trading Friday, Facebook was close to becoming a $100 billion company with a price-to-earnings ratio of roughly 100. Those were pie-in-the-sky numbers by many measures.

They were ridiculous when you consider that Facebook reported April 23 that its growth had stalled. Revenue fell 6% in the first quarter. Profit fell 32%. There were other warnings, too.

General Motors Co. pulled its advertising from Facebook, saying it wasn't seeing a return on its investment. This wasn't the first time advertisers showed skepticism.

Facebook itself acknowledged that nearly half its advertisers considered the site experimental. In other words, as underwriters were touting the IPO and increasing its size and price, Facebook was acknowledging that it had either hit a rut or that its most robust period of growth—the kind that might support such inflated valuation models—was over.

Here's the upshot of all this: None of these factors was hidden. Facebook disclosed its worries about advertisers. It disclosed its slowing growth and all but acknowledged that it wasn't going to grow and support exponential price growth the way Google Inc. did after its IPO in 2004.

Comment: Benjamin Graham, The Intellegent Investor has an entire chapter on avoiding IPOs. It's simply not value investing. A couple of other articles with quotes: Facebook IPO Fiasco: Here’s How Small Investors Got Rolled Over

But then there are the recent revelations, which is that big institutional investors had much better information about the current condition of Facebook's business than small investors did.

This revelation may well have played into the modest stock "pop" on the first day of trading, and it may also have caused some would-be long-term institutional investors to jettison Facebook's shares, thus exacerbating the price decline.

The information that big institutions were given was estimates for Facebook's future performance, which were developed by the underwriters' research analysts. These estimates are verbally distributed in most IPOs, and the institutions use these estimates to help decide on a fair price to pay for the stock.

In Facebook's case, however, the underwriters' analysts cut their estimates midway through the roadshow, which is a highly unusual and negative event. They did this because Facebook told them that its business outlook had deteriorated--information that was not given to small investors.

As a result of this estimate cut, combined with an increase in the size and price of the deal and the number of shares sold by insiders, some institutional investors "got the willies" about the Facebook deal. Individual investors, meanwhile, were unaware that anything had changed.

Facebook Under Fire: It’s the Valuation, Stupid!

Schiff says Facebook is only the latest example of a flawed system. He blames the regulators, not because there are too few rules, but because there are way too many.

The high cost of jumping through regulatory hoops means only more mature, expensive companies can afford to go public. Up until then, the only people invested in a company were Venture Capitalists, Private Equity, and assorted well-connected, well-heeled individuals.

Those lucky few are using the IPO as a chance to cash out to the public. "By the time the average American gets a shot at all, the upside is gone," says Schiff. In the case of Facebook, the little guys may have gotten doubly hosed. During the road show, the underwriters reportedly lowered earnings estimates prior to the IPO, then only disseminated the news to select institutions and clients.

The specifics of Facebook are different, but in the larger picture Schiff says the Facebook IPO is no different than any other offering. The insiders who are selling know the company is ripe to be sold while the outsiders wager on better days.

Schiff says of the average IPO investor: "You're betting on the come but meanwhile you're paying through the nose." That's not a recipe for investing success.

Beard zenith

I started the beard on October 1st. I had intended to shave it on March 1st to celebrate Spring (which in Minnesota is really about May 1st!)

Mom asked me not to shave it - she wanted to see it. By this time it felt too long but I wanted to see my Mother (picture above on May 17th. Mom turned 92 on May 9th)

When Mom saw it ... and felt it ... her response was "I don't like it!"

Kathee trimmed it to 1" today. Feels and looks better.

Picture above: Mom, Nancy, and me in Kerrville TX

Bill's BBQ Kerrville TX

On Thursday May 17th we visited the Texas Hill Country and stopped for lunch at Bills BBQ in Kerrville, Texas Tom, Bill's grill master, took our picture. (Mom, Kathee, Jim, and my Sister Nancy)

LBJ Trip

Kathee and I returned yesterday from our San Antonio trip. We left Thursday May 10th, spent the night at Guthrie, Oklahoma and then on Friday May 11th, we drove to Mother's house in Arlington TX. On Saturday May 12th, taking 2 cars, Nancy (my Sister) and Mother and Kathee and I drove on to San Antonio. We stayed the week at the Hyatt Wild Oak Ranch. That week, Robert Caro's 4th volume of the LBJ biography was published. I received it just days before our trip. My Brother had read volumes 1-3 and recommended volume 4 to me. But it was George Will's column that persuaded me.

Excerpt:

Robert Caro's "The Passage of Power," the fourth and, he insists, penultimate volume in his "The Years of Lyndon Johnson," which when completed will rank as America's most ambitiously conceived, assiduously researched and compulsively readable political biography. The new volume arrives 30 years after the first, and its timing is serendipitous: Are you seeking an antidote to current lamentations about the decline of political civility? Immerse yourself in Caro's cringe-inducing catalogue of humiliations, gross and petty, inflicted on Johnson by many New Frontiersmen and, with obsessive hatred, by Robert Kennedy

The trip was not really an LBJ trip - it was to celebrate my Mother's 92nd birthday. But I worked through the LBJ book last week. Additionally we visited - and this was an absolute highlight of the trip - the LBJ Ranch and Texas White House.

The "Little Pig"

We've had one of these for almost 25 years. I bought in on Colorado Avenue in Denver (I think in 1988). Kathee uses it on the stairs. What a solid little performer it has been. The image above is from an Ebay ad for a used one.

Today I did a little bit a Internet research on it. I found this interesting:

A forerunner was the The Compact Vacuum Cleaner: Compact Vacuum Cleaners were among the prizes offered on the 1950s television game show “Queen for a Day.”

  A bit about the history of the "Little Pig" as it is sometimes known:

Interstate vacuums were originally produced and patented by the Interstate Engineering Corporation, and they are responsible for the creation of the compact vacuum. Both Interstate Engineering Corporation and Interstate Electronics, a sister corporation, were owned by Interstate Aircraft. Their first manufacturing plant opened in El Segundo California in 1937. These vacuums were originally made to clean the Howard Hughes Company aircraft fleet during the nineteen forties. Due to their success at cleaning the aircraft, and the fact that the company already had the necessary tools and dyes for the vacuums, these machines were sold to the public by door to door salesmen starting in 1946.

The compact vacuums were only sold by the salesmen; but in 1949, the Revelation vacuum cleaner was introduced to retail outlets and was only available there. The compact vacuums designed and patented by Interstate Engineering Corporation were also featured as prizes on a nineteen fifties game show called "Queen for a Day."

Throughout the years, the Interstate Engineering Corporation has moved several times, merged and been sold, and it now exists in two different companies run by descendants of the founder of Interstate Engineering Corporation. The two companies operate under the names of Tristar and Air Storm, and sell vacuums based on the original compact vacuum model. The Interstate Electronics Company is still in business today. The design of the vacuums sold by Tristar has changed little since their patenting, with only the motor and internal components changing, not the external assembly. The Tristar Company has many different vacuum models, including the EXL, PN5, C6 and C7. The company has canister and compact models for home and business use. The Mg series of Tristar vacuums are designed to bring ease to cleaning by providing cyclonic action and consistent power for all types of cleaning and use. The cyclonic action allows the Tristar cleaner to keep dirt and dust from clogging the filters as it pushes the debris away from the filter, not into it.

I'm not sure if the units can be purchased new but parts and supplies are readily available - for example here.

"Sometimes Mr. Market behaves like 'a psychotic drunk'"

Live-blogging Buffettpalooza

 Excerpt:

Carol Loomis presents a question from a shareholder who asks why Berkshire shares have been undervalued for so long. Mr. Buffett responds by taking an even longer view. “We’ve run Berkshire for 47 years. There have been four or five times where we thought it was significantly undervalued,” he says. “The beauty of stocks is they do sell for silly prices from time to time. That’s how Charlie and I have gotten rich.” Then he turns to his usual speech about investing in stocks, giving a shout-out to Ben Graham’s idea of Mr. Market, which he says investors should think of as their partner. The beauty of having Mr. Market as a partner, he says, is that sometimes Mr. Market behaves like “a psychotic drunk.”

Comment: An "Oracle of Omaha" moment. More: On Wells Fargo:

Asked why he bought J.P. Morgan Chase stock for his personal account but not for Berkshire Hathaway, Mr. Buffett explains that he prefers Wells Fargo -- of which the company owns 400 million shares worth $11 billion or so at year-end -- better. "My best ideas are all in Berkshire," he says. "That I can promise you." "I know Wells better and it's easier to understand," he says, adding that he bought Wells Fargo in the first quarter.

On Wal-Mart:

"I don't think there's something fundamentally dishonorable about Wal-Mart," Mr. Munger says. At companies of the scale of Wal-Mart or Berkshire, with 270,000 workers, "I guarantee someone is doing something wrong right now," Mr. Buffett says. "I guarantee 20 people are doing something wrong."

On Investing:

"Investing is not really that complicated," ... Mr. Buffett says patience is the key virtue in investing, and that those who understand the market is a tool rather than an adviser will do well over time. The market is often wrong for a variety of reasons, he says, and those who bear that in mind can take advantage of the market's pluses, such as transparent prices and liquidity.

On Prostate Cancer:

"I have four doctors. At least a few of them own Berkshire Hathaway, though I don't screen them." He and his family listened to doctors a few weeks ago. His plan says survival rate is above 99%. "Maybe I will get shot by a jealous husband," Mr. Buffett says. Mr. Munger says he doesn't know if he has prostate cancer "because I don't let them test for it."

In rare agreement with Governor Dayton

Dayton vetoes fireworks bill, citing hazards

Excerpt:

Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a bill to allow the sale and use of a wide array of consumer fireworks, including aerial rockets and firecrackers. He said in a veto letter, issued less than 90 minutes before the midnight deadline on Saturday, that it's "government's foremost responsibility to protect the safety and the well-being of its citizens." The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Kriesel, R-Cottage Grove, and Sen. Mike Jungbauer, R-East Bethel, allowed the sale and use of the full range of consumer fireworks in Minnesota, but only between June 1 and July 7. He noted that after Minnesota legalized ground-based fireworks such as sparklers and small cones in 2002, injuries have spiked, particularly among young people.

Comment: Because I have a neighbor who thinks it is appropriate to launch bottle rockets without any consideration as to what house they may hit or whose yard they land in. (I've visited and talked directly to the man and also called the police about the issue another time). The sound of a bottle rocket hitting my siding is an irritant.

On the hook

Public on hook for Vikings stadium overruns

Excerpt:

The agreement to build a new Minnesota Vikings football stadium in Minneapolis features a key difference from the plan to build the project in Ramsey County and even from the Minnesota Twins' new Target Field. Once it is built, any Vikings stadium operating cost overruns ultimately will be the public's responsibility. And not just overruns. The public will be legally obligated to maintain the stadium "in a manner that is first-class and consistent with comparable" National Football League stadiums -- a clause that could translate into substantial future costs

Comment: Once again demonstrates that MN legislators are not really representing the people. Agents of the NFL and the Vikings!

Note to the Minnesota Republican Party

Minnesota Republican Party gets eviction notice over missed rent; official says talks ongoing Excerpt:

Minnesota's debt-plagued Republican Party has been served with an eviction notice for its party headquarters after failing to pay its rent payments since August. The party's landlord filed the notice last week in Ramsey County court and it is scheduled to be heard next Tuesday. Minnesota Republican Party Chairman Pat Shortridge told party members in a memo Thursday that officials are trying to renegotiate the lease to get one that better fits space and cost needs. The GOP has 21 months remaining on a lease with Hub Properties Trust for space a block from the state Capitol. Shortridge revealed that the rent hadn't been paid in eight months. The Minnesota GOP owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to various vendors

Comments: Please don't ask me to to support the Minnesota GOP until you get your fiscal act together. You are a disappointing joke. And I am a Republican!

The Killer Commute

Created by: CollegeAtHome.com Comment: Suggestion came via the contact form. I'm telecommuting today!

The return of Phillips 66

Assessing ConocoPhillips And Phillips 66 After The Breakup

 Excerpt:

ConocoPhillips' (COP) upcoming spin-off of Phillips 66 (PSX) began trading yesterday, allowing investors to see how the market has valued the two separate pieces.

ConocoPhillips will retain the "upstream" businesses of oil exploration and production, making Conoco a large pure-play on Petroleum. COP closed on a when-issued basis of $57/shr, assigning the parent a $71 billion market cap.

Phillips 66 consists of mid-stream pipelines and collection, refineries, chemicals and some natural gas production assets. Shares closed at $34/shr, assigning a market value of $21.7 billion.

Phillips 66 Looks to Pipes to Blunt Refining Volatility

 Excerpt:

Phillips 66 will debut next month as the world’s largest independent refiner by market value. In the future, it may look more like a pipeline and chemical business.

The new Houston-based company, set to begin trading May 1 after its spinoff from ConocoPhillips (COP), plans to boost profit by emphasizing growth in its higher-return businesses and shrink its more volatile fuel processing.

Greg Garland, slated to become chief executive officer, will update investors in a webcast today on its outlook as a standalone company. Phillips 66 is trying to sell its Trainer refinery in Pennsylvania and Alliance plant in Louisiana that provide about a sixth of its capacity.

ConocoPhillips’ Board of Directors Approves Spin-off of Phillips 66

 Excerpt:

The two new companies will be separated through the distribution of shares of Phillips 66 to holders of ConocoPhillips common stock. This distribution is expected to occur after market close on April 30, 2012. ConocoPhillips shareholders will receive one share of Phillips 66 common stock for every two shares of ConocoPhillips common stock held at the close of business on the record date of April 16, 2012.

Following the distribution of Phillips 66 common stock, Phillips 66 will be an independent, publicly traded company, and ConocoPhillips will retain no ownership interest. Phillips 66 has received approval for the listing of its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PSX.

Comment: But it won't be the old familiar gas stations.

A guy who walks around with a bunch of bodyguards criticizes self-defense laws

A guy who walks around with a bunch of bodyguards criticizes self-defense laws

Excerpt:

If we all had half a dozen bodyguards to protect us like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, we might all think that Florida's "stand your ground" law and other self defense measures were a "license to murder." But most of us aren't that lucky - which is why most of us thank the Lord that we live in a country with a second amendment.

Comment: If the police were everywhere, we wouldn't need the 2nd Amendment ... But then we would be a police state!

It's Romney ... now which gap to close?

Santorum Suspends Presidential Campaign

Obama Leads Romney in Poll That Shows 19-Point Gender Gap

Excerpt:

Obama is boosted by his support among women, a constituency that favors him by 19 percentage points over Romney

Comment: The Republicans have two traditional gaps ... blacks (which will vote overwhelmingly for Obama) and Hispanics. The third gap is women. The third gap may have been why McCain chose Palin. That was exciting for about a day. Shortly thereafter the enthusiasm waned when Republicans (at least the ones I know) questioned whether she was qualified to step into the highest office. I suspect that the gender gap will promote a female governor to the head of the VP list.

7 Items not on your Credit Report

7 Items Your Credit Report Won't Reveal

Excerpt:

Here are seven items that lenders won't see when they pull your credit report.

1. Your salary
2. Your employment status
3. Your spouse's credit history
4. Your criminal past
5. Medical debt (unless it goes to collections)
6. Nontraditional loans
7. Your net worth

Comment: The last time I applied for a mortgage I had to provide:

1. Pay stubs for several previous pay periods
2. A basic net worth statement backed up with statements

He "suffered under Pontius Pilate"

Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” (John 19:6)

Apostles' Creed

United Methodist text:

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,[31] the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Comment: The Pilate Stone discovered in June 1961 by Italian archaeologists while excavating an ancient theater is the only universally accepted archaeological find with an inscription mentioning the name "Pontius Pilatus" to date

Get The Day Of The Week From A Date

HT: www.theexceladdict.com

Have you ever needed in Excel to populate the day of week in a separate column? Two easy ways:

Method 1:

=TEXT(WEEKDAY(A2),"dddd")

Method 2:

=CHOOSE(WEEKDAY(A2),"Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat")

Adelita's Mexican Restaurant

Adelita's Mexican Restaurant

 Comment: Very nice. Dinner after work tonight. Very clean and good service.

Where Mom lived in 1943

Comment: Dad was off to war. Mom was a stenographer for the Selective Service System in Grand Rapids, MI. Below: 1943 phone directory

Zoomed in image. That's my Mother - Cleone H (Hayward) Peet

Lived at 644 Union (She rented a room here)

In 1978 Kathee and I moved to Grand Rapids and lived just a couple of miles away. Details here

Dad's 1930 Census Record

Comment: From ancestry.com Dad was 12 at the time of the 1930 census

Update on Canceling a Credit Card

Back in December we made a decision (detailed here: Canceling a Credit Card ) to eliminate 1 of our three credit cards. We just weren't using it and I wanted to simplify our financial lives by having two instead of three. The problem was that the said credit card was our oldest credit card history wise (going back 20+ years). The credit card vendor warned us that our FICO score would go up if we canceled that card. In my letter to them (I got the idea from the Web), I requested this of them:

In addition, please include on our credit report that the account was closed at our own request and that the account was in good standing at the time it was closed.

We use MyFico to track our credit (ID theft, scoring, etc). We received our quarterly FICO report this week and our credit score is identical to the previous time (in the 800's). Note (the image above), that the reporting indicates that the account was closed at our request.

Critter in the attic - update

Animal control is at the house now. Kathee is at the house and reports:

The raccoon's access is via a juniper tree on the S side of the house. There is evidence of skat by that tree. There are 2 access holes: one on the front porch where the garage roof line intersects with the porch roof line and there is a small overhang in a corner there. And the other is in the back.

Animal control theorizes that the raccoon fell through the one in the back. Animal control will trap the animal and seal the holes. He recommends that we have the juniper removed as well as a tree by the kitchen window.

Critter(s) in the attic

Minnesota Wild Animal Management

Monday night after dark we heard an animal in the attic (near the front above the dinning room).

Tuesday Kathee inspected the front of the house to see it there was any hole or access point. None found.

Saturday Kathee did a walk around the house and found a large section of soffit (about 14" x 20") on the ground. At the roof line under the gutter.

We have a walk out rambler and the place where the soffit section has been removed is probably 23-25' off the ground. The roof line there has a little jut over the porch so there is an angled area where a critter was able to leverage itself and pry the soffit away. The bent piece of soffit was on the ground. How animal control works this:

• They set traps (on the roof)
• They will monitor the traps for 5 days
• Upon successful trapping they will seal the hole (either straighten the existing piece of soffit or put in a new one)

I suspect a raccoon as we have seen what we believe to be raccoon tracks on the raised deck (which itself is 12' above ground level)

Dad's first job

Comments: Brother dug this up and scanned it. Dad (b 3/29/1918) only went to 2 years of High School and started work here at the age of 14. Building is no longer there. I saw this when it was a kid. It was across the tracks from town. Map to Alto

How NBC inflamed the Trayvon Martin case

NBC to do ‘internal investigation’ on Zimmerman segment

NBC's edited account

 Excerpt:

The difference between what “Today” put on its air and the actual tape? Complete: In the “Today” version, Zimmerman volunteered that this person “looks black,” a sequence of events that would more readily paint Zimmerman as a racial profiler. In reality’s version, Zimmerman simply answered a question about the race of the person whom he was reporting to the police. Nothing prejudicial at all in responding to such an inquiry.

Actual event:

Comment: Click link for video