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U.S. Power Grid More Vulnerable Than Ukraine's?

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Last December a cyber attack crippled Ukraine's power grid. Engineers were able to manually restart power, workers still have to control the system manually. In many U.S. power systems, no manual overrides exist. A similar attack on the grid could leave America out of power much longer. WIRED's Kim Zetter reports: Regardless, the successful assault holds many lessons for power generation plants and distribution centers here in the US, experts say; the control systems in Ukraine were surprisingly more secure than some in the US, since they were well-segmented from the control center business … [Read more...]

Hillary for Prison 2016

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There will be more fights. George Soros’ funded Moveon.org will guarantee it. “Can one imagine how the media would pile on Trump if working-class white males in Trump T-shirts invaded a Hillary Clinton rally and shut it down?” asks Pat Buchanan. Actually, I’d prefer they wear the “Hillary for Prison 2016” T-shirts. Prediction. Given their "victory" in Chicago, MoveOn.org and its allied nasties will try to replicate it, again and again. And as Americans came to despise the '60s radicals, they will come to despise them. And, as in the 1960s, the country will take a turn -- to the … [Read more...]

Illinois and Missouri on March 15th

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Florida and Ohio are obviously the big states in tomorrow’s GOP primaries, but let’s not forget about Illinois and Missouri. Both states award delegates on a congressional-district level. If a candidate wins the districts he wins all the delegates. "Together, Missouri and Illinois will award 121 delegates — which would go a long way in helping Trump stay “on track” for the nomination even if he loses either Florida or Ohio,” writes David Wasserman: And so Illinois and Missouri are a big part of the reason Tuesday is such a huge fork in the road. If Trump sweeps Florida, Illinois, Missouri and … [Read more...]

Sea Island and the American Enterprise Institute

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"From what has been reported, it would not be extreme to say this was a conspiracy of oligarchs, War Party neocons, and face-card Republicans to reverse the results of the primaries and impose upon the party, against its expressed will, a nominee responsive to the elites’ agenda,” writes Pat Buchanan in “The Sea Island Conspiracy.” He’s talking about the elites who run the show in Washington. And they do it through a tax exempt 501(c)(3) such as the ultra-neocon American Enterprise Institute. Speaker Paul Ryan (pictured to the right), along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, GOP … [Read more...]

Millennials Moving to the Burbs

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The best investment I ever made in my early 20s was buying a multi-family in Marlborough, MA when I was working out there at Fidelity Investments. I like this trend for Millennials. I have always believed that owning your home is the best investment you can make when you’re young. Here the Globe's Prashant Gopal explains that young millennials are fleeing the higher priced cities to buy in the suburbs: Cities may be the top choice for millennials who rent apartments, but young home buyers are moving in droves to the suburbs, where prices are lower and backyards are plentiful. The share of … [Read more...]

Trump’s Win in Michigan and Rush Limbaugh

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You can feel the momentum building for Donald Trump with his win last night in Michigan. I was talking with a client who lives in New Jersey last week and I asked him for the word on the street about Chris Christie’s endorsement of Trump. He said the press was having a fit, and demanding Christie’s resignation. That can’t be much help. But, as a colleague of mine points out, maybe Christie’s endorsement helps in the redder New England states where he’s still popular like New Hampshire and Maine. In Massachusetts, I find it pretty amazing that 20,000 voters shed their party affiliation to … [Read more...]

The Big Short and The Prudent Man

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If you want to lose even more faith in the big banks on Wall Street then see the movie The Big Short. It’s an excellent portrayal of what ignited the Great Recession based on Michael Lewis’ book of the same title. It never ceases to amaze me how little we learn from history—one that's littered with financial disasters. If you want to make money and keep it then you would be wise to focus your attention on the prudent man rule. Bevis Longstreth writes in the footnotes of Modern Investment Management and the Prudent Man Rule: Of course, it was early recognized that market manipulators could do … [Read more...]

Kidnapping Prevention for Young Women

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Over the weekend my daughter and I attended Sig Sauer Academy’s eight-hour course on Kidnapping Prevention for Young Women. This was the logical next step in constructing her self-defense mindset. For years now she has been shooting at our local gun club at our Friday night kid’s shoot and is comfortable around guns. A self-defense course was our next step and by traveling to Sig it gave us some precious time together to discuss her self-defense. One key takeaway from the course is to use your common sense—avoid vulnerable situations. Easy enough to say but sometimes difficult to … [Read more...]

Detroit Debate Takeaway? Elites are Nuts

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My takeaway from last night’s GOP debate? The elites are nuts. They sent out Pitbull Mitt to attack Donald Trump because he’s the biggest threat to “business as usual”. They’re in an uproar about the sophomoric attacks between Donald Trump and “Cruzio”. But what they don’t understand is real America doesn’t care about the elite’s rules anymore. I can tell you from personal experience dealing with some of these “elite” folk that they use some of the foulest language behind and in front of closed doors. And talk about thin skin. Who has laid down this moral mandate? “The Holy Father in Rome?” … [Read more...]