Monday on Tuesday, News Full of Filler

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A forty-ounce Thermos of hot coffee and I’m ready to face Tuesday after the Monday semi-holiday. Yes, a lot of people worked it.

Since the headlines are devoid of the “world ending” today, the futures are up about 70 points. What I expect will happen will be a modest trade up today and Wednesday and then money coming off the table by the end of the week.
In the meantime, other than a speech by Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Fed shortly and the PMI manufacturing number this promises to be a totally ‘missable’ week. Maybe we should all just pack it in and go skiing.

Move Over Buffett?

There is another Russian bash circulating in the Western press today. This one says Russia’s Vladimir Putin has amassed a personal fortune of $200-billion, has 20 palaces, and other trappings of power.

What the reports don’t do is compare that to the Clinton Foundation. Gee, ‘magine that.

Why I Don’t Read Reddit

“Reddit Censors Pro-Trump Content in New Crackdown.”

I posed a question a couple of weeks ago in one of my Peoplenomics.com deeper thinking articles: Asked if America is becoming clinically crazy. I mean like DSM-V statistically validly crazy.

Yet here we see how the Social lynch mobs work. They work themselves into a frenzy then they can’t look at all sides of an issue. Instead, they have to freeze out, deny, censor, and so forth.

Laughably, they call it “science.” The term “Digital Mob Rule” is far more accurate, though, and it’s one of the reasons I’m taking bets on Internet content licensure by the government within five years.

He who owns the mobs owns the world which which I ‘spect even folks like Zuke Markerberg would have to admit.

Speaking the Obvious

I couldn’t help but notice the Daily Mail has an article that says people’s personalities are vastly different at age 14 versus what they are like at age 77.

I’m not sure why science has to focus on questions like this that we already know the answer to…but go read the details if curious.

Along the Same Lines

Here’s a story in the UK Independent that claims there’s a “‘Mismatch’ between the way our senses evolved and modern world is making us ill, experts warn.”

I’m not so sure about the ill part (especially once you get out from under the high-energy radio densities of big cities) but stupider? Yeah almost for sure.

Oroville Dam Pool

See here for the record rainfall numbers out of the S.F. bay area.

Up east of there, the running story about how the dam water release has met its targets on the one hand. But there are lots of speculative stories about (we all wring hands in unison here) what will happen if the dam fails despite hitting the release goals.

This is one of those stories where interest declines following the inverse square law from Oroville. Twice the distance, half the interest. By the time is pushes east of the Sierras, the reportorial questions run to “What’s an Oroville?”

New National Security Advisor

Looks like it will be H.R. McMaster – and what’s more, the NY Times article here doesn’t have much if anything to say bad about the pick. With John McCain turning anti-Trump we again are watching the implosion of the old guard republicans who have lost faith of the Middle.

Press Release Hunting

With little actual “hard news” we went looking for worthwhile press releases today.

GOBankingRates has a story about which states take the most out of your paycheck – interesting map:

The story continues:

If you’re earning (biggest bite states) $50,000 annually:

  • Hawaii ($542.24)
  • Oregon ($538.05)
  • Idaho ($528.93)
  • South Carolina ($524.95)
  • Minnesota ($515.93)

If you’re earning $100,000 annually:

  • Oregon ($1,340.95)
  • California ($1,335.66)
  • Hawaii ($1,324.69)
  • Idaho ($1,301.83)
  • Washington, D.C. ($1,297.83)

The states that take the least out of your paycheck — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — all have one thing in common: no state income tax.

Here’s a pretty simple observation we can therefore make: When States have an income tax, they will use it as a license to steal from the working folks. Both political parties are about equally corrupt in this, but now here’s some data that again shows: If you give politicians money they will overspend it.

(No, Ure not surprised, art thou?)

The Boss Gap?

Second press release du jour is from Robert Half – they find a drop in productivity when senior managers leave a company:

Maybe that’s because senior managers aren’t too keen on training their replacements, perhaps?

Perhaps, but the report offers this:

“Managers can avoid a drop in productivity and help employees effectively navigate changes in leadership by heeding this advice from Robert Half:

      • Cultivate succession and hiring pipelines. Know who in your department or company might be ready to move into a bigger role, and keep a trusted recruiter on speed dial.
      • Consider an interim boss. If you don’t have someone who can step into a leadership position immediately, hire an interim manager to keep projects moving and workloads in check.
      • Move quickly. Minimize the time of uncertainty by filling the role swiftly yet smartly, making sure you check off all necessary steps.
      • Keep everyone informed. Updating your team about the progress of the search for a new manager can help improve staff morale and keep rumors to a minimum.

      Yeah – right – like this ever happens, right?

      About here, it’s time to go manage some breakfast…so keep reading and spending.  To retool a line from a conservation group’s television commercial:

      “When  the spending stops, the world stops.”

      Say “Hi!” to the digital lynch mob for me…

      11 thoughts on “Monday on Tuesday, News Full of Filler”

      1. I went to Reddit, searched “Trump Support”, got https://www.reddit.com/r/Trump_Train/

        Creators explain: “/r/Trump_Train is a Subreddit for news articles in support of Donald Trump. Our goal is to be a home for discussion in relation to these news articles from members of all over the political spectrum.”

        I am unlikely to linger there, but am okay with supporters having one more place to hang out.

      2. You know George the old CEO of Dairylea once said that no one in upper management should remain there for more than five years,for by that time they have brought about all the changes and idea’s that they have, and from there its just keeping the wolves at bay to hang on to their jobs.
        As for Putin and his supposed wealth I have heard that a number of times, and when you do a search it says that even the C.I.A. can’t find it, so those damn pesky Russians have done it again hid Putin’s money along with those invisible armies going into the Ukraine

      4. McBlame has been a Tradior to this country for years and why Arizona is so Stupid put back in office dont get Creep

      5. The “Boss Gap” really resonates with me. In their latest restructuring my company laid off my (bottom rung) manager and left his direct reports dangling for over 2 months, some of us for nearly 3 months, without any management structure whatsoever. My bosses boss had left a couple years or so ago and never been replaced and HIS boss is in the process of transitioning to another position and apparently didn’t want to be bothered with us. So us techies just kept doing what we have been doing because the work still needs to be done.

        So they finally parceled us out to a couple different managers and us techies are trying to keep ourselves organized and coordinated enough despite the new “reporting structure” to keep getting the work done. Now my new manager is throwing his weight around, micromanaging and giving me conflicting orders, and never once asked me (I only have a few years at this job but 30+ years as a techie in similar positions) what the work was and what my part was in it. He has his vision of what the work is, why should he confuse himself with the facts? (typical liberal LOL)

        I’m living through a classic example of how to screw up management, big time. Even though we are one very small part of one VERY big company, given this example I don’t hold out much hope for the company as a whole as this restructuring plays out.

      6. Re: state taxes

        Oklahoma’s supposed Republican governor has proposed to raise sales taxes 2 BILLION DOLLARS on us common folk to pay for the shortfall of anticipated income to Government. The Democrat legislators are already lined up against her and hope to get conservative Republicans to go along with them. And, Oklahoma does have a personal income tax. The fight is on.

      7. OR has no sales tax. Once we compared total expenses with a neighbor in WA (which has no income, but a hefty sales tax) and the net tax result was about the same.

        And then there is CA, which has nigh income, sales, and property taxes. Much more expensive than OR.

        Comparing on the basis of income tax alone is pretty meaningless.

        • I agree. Texas has no state income tax, but nearly every city and county sales tax is at maximum legal limit. Property taxes near every metro area are crazy, the HOA fees and MUD fees, and then we have the “sin” taxes on alcohol and tobacco, commercial road taxes – the list is longer than people realize.

          I dip snuff – in TX, a can is $4.50-5.75, whereas the same can in LA is $2.05 – same store, same brand, just different state. Beer is as bad.

          It doesn’t matter what the tax is named. If you are forced to pay or forced to purchase, then it is a tax. So drivers license, registration, insurance, permits, hunting license, building permit, inspections – if law dictates service purchase, permit, license or registration fee, then it is a tax.

          Somebody should come up with TOTAL TAX BURDEN by state incorporating these items. Then it would be apples to apples instead of beef to bananas.

          • Agreed. When one includes the Obama tax for workers, you can easily see that over 40% of our income (middle class meaning under $200,000 a year) is spent in ‘taxes.’

            You have to go under an income of $44,000 to get some relief, but only barely.

      8. Re:Oroville dam. Remember when playing on a teeter totter, one person got off the other would go crashing? Well, think about all that water weigh. If the Dam breaks all that weigh, which maybe holding the plates in a jam, is released, expect earthquakes. Prob all the way up the coast. Then there is this:

        https://youtu.be/omJrgnIbIgI

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