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I have been reading this guy's column for a while on the New York Times. Ihpguy got me interested in him when he sent me a link to an article he had written on Brazil. The guy writes well but also gives some great advice and pointers. Today's article was his 7 step plan to booking cheap hotel rooms. It was a great read IMHO. Take a look: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/travel/7-steps-to-a-cheaper-hotel-room.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&region=Marginalia&src=me&pgtype=article

Thank god for Warren. She does more for making a level playing field than anyone else. Obama while not all bad has been a lackluster compromising player. With any future elections behind him one would think he'd push a little more discipline on the BIG Bank community.

Elizabeth Warren Quietly Racked Up A Nice Win By Linette Lopez Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) got her way on Tuesday when the Federal Reserve rejected the living will plans for most Wall Street banks. Barclays, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase all had their plans rejected.* The concept of living wills was born of the financial crisis, when regulators and politicians realized that they had no orderly way of unwinding systemically important banks that had failed. They didn't want to see another Lehman bankruptcy that would take three years to resolve. The wills then became a part of Dodd-Frank, so banks were legally required to write their own strategies for the "rapid and orderly resolution in the event of material financial distress or failure of the company." The Fed on Tuesday made it clear that it did not feel the wills that banks submitted last month (now in their second iteration) were capable of doing that — something Warren had been shouting about. When Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen testified before the Senate last month, Warren completely grilled her on JP Morgan's living will, which she said was not enough to cover the bank's $2.5 trillion in assets. "I almost couldn't believe this when I read it," Warren told Yellen. Yellen said the Fed was continuing to review the wills and that it was a complicated process. Warren wasn't satisfied: I think the language in the [Dodd-Frank] statute is pretty clear. That you are required, that the Fed is required to call it every year on whether these institutions have a credible plan. And I remind you, there are very effective tools that you can use if those plans are not credible. Including, forcing these financial institutions to simplify their structure, or forcing them to liquidate some of their assets. In other words, break them up. The Fed said the wills the banks presented were "unrealistic" and that firms lacked significant structural changes necessary to carry them out. From the Fed's release: The agencies will require that the annual plans submitted by the first-wave filers on or before July 1, 2015, demonstrate that the firms are making significant progress to address all the shortcomings identified in the letters, and are taking actions to improve their resolvability under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. These actions include: establishing a rational and less complex legal structure that would take into account the best alignment of legal entities and business lines to improve the firm's resolvability; developing a holding company structure that supports resolvability; amending, on an industry-wide and firm-specific basis, financial contracts to provide for a stay of certain early termination rights of external counterparties triggered by insolvency proceedings; ensuring the continuity of shared services that support critical operations and core business lines throughout the resolution process; and demonstrating operational capabilities for resolution preparedness, such as the ability to produce reliable information in a timely manner. The next wills come out in July 2015. Let's see if those satisfy Warren and the Fed. See the original article at: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/elizabeth-warren-quietly-racked-nice-165750185.html

I don't know about robot pigeons in TN but we have enough problem with real, live ones. Almost everyone who lives along one of the major flyways in the Mid-South will test positive for histoplasmosis. Never mind the guano we get from bat shit crazy pols which also spreads histo. Guano, not pols. Pols provide their own special brand of disease. However, with the current interest in un-manned vehicles, no doubt robot pigeons will make their mark. Best regards, RA1

For our conspiracy theorists. A Map of the Most Common Cause of Death by U.S. State That Keeps Getting Covered Up by Rollin Bishop at 4:00 pm on August 4, 2014 Self-described “evil giraffe” Moe Lane created an amusing map of the most common cause of death by U.S. state that keeps getting covered up. Nebraska, it turns out, is subject to a massive amount of death by “piracy.” Lane’s map was made in response to a similar map by Slate of the most common cause of death by U.S. state other than heart disease and cancer. image via Moe Lane http://laughingsquid.com/a-map-of-the-most-common-cause-of-death-by-u-s-state-that-keeps-getting-covered-up/

I was watching some PBS program on animal sex late last night. It featured a short chubby lady biologist tugging about 4 feet of penis from a dead beached whale's body and wrapping it around her waist. Yeah, I know....Ewww!

Even without you "giving in" I will supply the answer. When Elvis first released "Hound Dog" one verse sounded like, you ain't never bought a record, you ain't no friend of mine. Or so the teen-age boys who were buying and listening to this record thought. Best regards, RA1

AS- I think you must be referring to some Miami Dolphin residents. MsGuy resides much further from the ocean than you do. At least 400 miles. Best regards, RA1

And: The very Oedipus of reason crumbles beneath us.

I hate being stuck and I think you do also. As we get older, they seem to find more and more reasons to stick us. I do not think they are finding exponentially better results from doing so even though they are finding exponential reasons to do so. There is no cogent way to tell if one is dying in Indiana. One must only concede the results. OTOH, I like corn. Best regards, RA1

Paris hotel rooms are small. I can't imagine how small budget hotel rooms must be. With the luggage you carry, you would need 2 rooms, one for you and one for luggage.

And The Price is Right!

And, better for your figure. Best regards, RA1

I learned that some of the posters here are unbelievably funny, clever, bright, and logging on most likely will find me laughing after reading only few posts. It's better than a ' Vente Latte' with a shot of espresso from Starbucks.

It WILL be.