753. Revisit of Post #717

Post #717, Hillary Gets Indicted, needs to be reiterated! The FBI has now found 1300+ emails that have some type of classification with at least 5 in a special classification above top secret! WHAT is the Department of Justice waiting for? Is the entire O'Blunder administration corrupt? I believe you know my answer; I've been saying so since he picked his administration on 2008. Now with all the unconstitutional executive orders and pressure on his  current DOJ appointee, Ms. Lynch, can we ever expect an indictment of Hillary? I would say for certain NO if Eric Holder would still be in that position. Smart of him to bail. As long as O'Blunder remains in office we have zero chance of any action unless it plays to the Democrat's hand.

So, how is the potential Democratic nominee affected by Hillary's crimes? The way I understand it is if she departs now (quits or canned), before Primary Election delegates are assigned, Bernie is a show-in. If the lady goes belly up after delegates are assigned, but before the convention, the delegates become "open delegates" and can be support anybody (Biden?). If she makes it to convention and gets the nominee for the party and then kicked out, the party can define it anyway they want. What a wonderful democratic process we have!

Here's a simple suggestion. Vote for the Republican or Independent in the General election. I don;t want to demean the folks supporting Bernie, but, come on folks, do you want to be ruled like Russia with him in charge? You need to get educated on Socialism and its effects. Socialism would devastate this country.

O'Blunder should have been impeached long ago. I'm just as ticked off with the Republicans in Congress as I am with him. Our government is broken. We the People need to take it back! Or Texas needs to seriously consider becoming it own country. Where is the Common Sense in today's people???? 

742. Tired of Cortana/Search consuming your resources?

Note: This was written BEFORE Windows 10 Anniversary Update 1607. I'll need to review the new instaallation.

For quite a while we have been experiencing a takeover of PC resources (CPU, DISK, MEMORY) when the first person on the PC, after a hibernation or shutdown, gets on. Haven't been able to nail it down. Today I'm pretty sure it was MSFT downloading updates and applying them. My initial reports of Windows 10 were that the automatic updates were not slowing things down. Well, I retract that statement! However, when I view the Task Manager I almost always see Cortana as the big user of resources, and I have it disabled. As it turns our the Search facility, within the Taskbar, uses Cortana too. So, I obviously just had the Speech/voice function disabled, i.e., in settings turn off the main Cortana switch. This does NOT touch the search-Cortana overhead!

Today I found a batch job to remove all bloatware, including Cortana and Search, permanently. Apparently MSFT made it difficult to do this level of disablement. At the following site, http://www.hwinfo.com/misc/RemoveW10Bloat.htm, you will find links to download a batch script to remove the "junk." You will also find a batch job to put it back if you want to. I'm did the first part and will be monitoring things. Can't attest to it's completeness, but it definitely removed both Cortana and Search. The downside for me is the removal of Search which has been a helpful tool. So, if I can't really get along without it, I'll run part two to put it all back. 

741. Market's in BUY territory

As noted in post #724 the -11% drop from the October high is a signal to jump in and get your feet wet. The noted DJIA level in that note was 16000. We just about made the 18000 level but ended up a hair short. If you believe in Sam's crystal ball you should already be knee deep and need to react quickly before the tub begins to fill again. I'm always a bit anxious and dove in earlier around 16238, afraid I'd miss a bargain on the stocks already far below anybody's expectation and reality. So, as I told my son all week, here's the nod to open the gates, put on your boots, consult nature, do your Wall Street Shuffle, or whatever you need to do get back in the market. Just Sam's opinion though, but I found her to not be all about bark. Enjoy the climb.

BUT --- remember Earnings season is just about upon us and the world economy, commodity prices, including oil, and the strong dollar will scare the dickens out of investors, which in turn will cause a very volatile ride through that period. So, I believe there is no rush to fully immerse oneself at this time and to just stay selective buying the best and biggest losers; keep something for milk and cookies until you see the winds turn strongly.

740. Here's a thought long-term investors

Consider the population of China, its proximity to all the necessary raw materials, the year off from infrastructure building, and the wealth they have accumulated in dollars and what does it spell? I expect, like its population, that enough raw material manufacturing, e.g., steel, aluminum, and copper products, will explode and greatly exceed all the other countries production within 20 years. What does that do to our steel, aluminum, and copper and related products manufacturing companies? I would expect, like OPEC and oil, China will control the prices of the commodities and 1st tier of manufactured products. What recourse does America have other than to impose import tariffs on Chinese products in order to extend the misery of our manufacturers? So far we do not have free trade with China, however, China has been creating free trade zones on their own. I suspect they will then first take advantage of those countries. So, keep your eyes open. In the meantime, do invest wisely.

739. Baa-aa, Baa-a-a

All you sheep following the lady in front go back and review post #717. Then blow your nose so you can really smell and tell me if you want to continue to march nose-to-butt after the lying, cheating lady. By this time your ears are so bent they touch your tail. The bleating is still much to loud and the wolves behind the trees are sharpening their fangs for the slaughter. Should the lady complete her march, this country is in a world of a mess. You think the last 7 years were bad! Time to take your country back!

738. Playing the dips?

Well, this morning the DJIA opened down 6% from it's October high. Still not the 10% I'm anticipating, but a point where getting your toes wet is just too much to resist. Remember the roller coaster rides where you slowing crank up the first rise to only gasp coming down? I believe we are there. Sorry, I'm taking the front car so I can see what's coming. When we near the top I'm going to again lighten up so the fall isn't as taxing. I'll explore my options (pun intended) when I see the big picture sitting on top of the crest and get ready for the big one. I really think we'll have a big buying opportunity during the time earnings are being reported while the world is still in turmoil. But then, what does a dog know? Think about that. Like my first dog, I'll probably crawl under the oil tank in the basement until the thunder stops, only to arise and get right back into the sunny future. Sam doesn't expect a stellar year in the market. She already picked up a [bonds] ladder to ride out the next couple years. However, she is still looking to capitalize on the higher dividend stocks (a little insurance) until the biotechs and techs break out with some new innovations. What about inflation? China may give you a clue on what SHOULD happen (continued low inflation), but will the Fed mess it up? Your guess is as good as mine. I'm hoping the change of the guard (King O'Blunder) will provide a spark for more predictability in the world. Unfortunately, many of us are dependent on the masses of clueless voters, like the ones who voted O'Blunder in twice! With that, I question The Donald's real chances since the masses look for cuteness and pleasant talk -- well, maybe he does have a chance then since his opponent will be in the same boat! My job is to determine how I invest in either scenario. Too bad the masses have no clue how to invest, let alone save, leading to uneducated voting. Ok, time to turn the soap box back over and collect my plans for further analysis and planning. Good luck in 2016. You are on your own; don't count 100% on our advice, it comes from a deceased dog with a crystal ball. One last thing, green is the color of the grass, NOT a guiding principle to produce grass; and, I need grass!

737. A Quick Market Update and More of the Future

How does down 5% from the highest to the lowest DJIA sound? Not quite 10% as posted in 233, so watch or for more. Sam feels the volatility and smells Santa making a presence and present of a rise to get you out there shopping. By all means shop IN CASH, not credit you won't be able to pay off. Last thing this country and world needs is more credit exposures. Remember, YOU aren't too big to fail! Only the big companies are, which is also bad for you since the government takes money out of your pocket to rescue them. 

Now, for the 10% drop. Sam is still quivering and will probably remain that way until the first 2016 earnings conclude. It's not just the earnings though which will be the consequences of other events. Sam repeats her disclaimer that she's only a "deceased" dog and can't be right all the time. Presented here are only individual feelings and opinions that should NOT be used without your own research and conclusions. But, she still feels like a 10% leash is on her and it must be shed before she can run free again and enjoy the smell around a few trees, posts, and other fixtures that collect the smells of fear in other dogs as well as a little excitement. Thus, let's get through this mess by end of January 2016 and move on.

For some reason Sam does not fear OPEC. Can it survive by shooting it's other foot too? Maybe the presidential chatter of a tougher foreign policy will matter enough to rattle OPEC, really Saudia Arabia, into being just satisfied to "control" the knobs instead of winning the Grand Prize of dictator of oil. Our foreign policy, from oil, to terrorists, to leadership from the front rather than none even from behind, to the strength of our dollar and improved exports despite its strength, to acceptable relationships with other foreign leaders where we at least LOOK POSITIVE AND IN CONTROL would be a blessing. We won't tell you how to vote, but do consider the total failure of foreign policy by the current executive controlling party. I wish I could, on the other hand, wave the flag for the other party, and can for a few candidates. However, Congress and it's comfortable buddy system and cronies has made this government pretty ineffectual. Wish I had an answer to correct Congress other than a near total purge and limits on membership, but what's to guarantee that the policies remain the same and just different players manipulate the actions? Will a few REAL leaders please stand up! 

I thought Representative Ryan would should some spunk and common sense and lead, but he has only managed to grow a beard to hide his face and shame. My suggestion to SETTLE a permanent BUDGET finally and quickly and then get moving on other issues uninterrupted by the budget and debt mess we are always in. Never in my consulting years have I seen a client (government) so clueless and corrupt.

Okay, flip the box over and hand out the soap as stocking stuffers; better than coal. Have a Merry Christmas or at least have a Happy Holiday season. I'd play the "Have a very Merry Merry Christmas" song by the dog choir, but haven't figured how to do that yet on this blog. Hang in there Seniors; we may not be getting a raise and have to suck up a Medicare increase, but we have out health. Right? Well, at least we were born tough and know we'll find a way to get by. If only the younger generation had this knowledge and willingness!

736. Bloomberg's Brent Crude Oil Charts a Must

I had the hardest time finding a chart showing how oil prices fluctuate over time. Finally found this Bloomsberg website page that does the trick, including valuable articles of current events. So, if you are a believer that energy rules the world's economy as suggested in the book I reviewed in Post #700, "The Colder War, How the Global Energy Trade Slipped from America's Grasp" by Marin Katusa, you will want to rush right off to the website and explore.

Supplementing this site recommendation is a recent article of interest. You'll reinforce your knowledge of how oil affects producers and refiners and their impact on society. 

735. Volume Icon Disappeared from System Tray

        MSFT Update deleted Volume Icon from System Tray. Not only was the ICON removed and not present as a hidden Icon, when I went to Settings, System, Notifications & Actions, Choose Your Quick Actions to try to turn it on via “Turn system icons on or off” it was grayed out. When I went to “Select which icons appear on the Taskbar” the Volume “square” was there, but no ICON was in it, nor could it be selected because it too was grayed out. This was also true for two other icons I desired in the System tray, Windows Defender and Everything. So, I edited the Registry as per http://www.technipages.com/windows-system-icons-missing-from-notification-area and restarted. Specifically, edit HKEY_Current_User/Software/Classes/Local/Settings/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Tray Notify, export to save that key and values for backup if needed,  and then delete Iconstreams and PastIconStream values. After a restart, Volume came back. After starting Everything application, it too now displayed an Icon both in System Tray and within a settings square. I haven’t tried to get Windows Defender’s square reset to an ICON, but I could turn it on in Settings.

734. VISA requirements while in turmoil

I applaud the House for the bill banning waivers of visas from the 38 free-movement countries if the individuals traveled to Iraq and Syria in the last 5 years (see this article). This is the first step to improving homeland security. However, I'd take it a step beyond this in the wake of the last two terror attacks in Paris and America. I'd like to see more strict VISA checks for those requesting VISAs for marriage and finances. Then we still have the illegal people already here with expired visas or no visas. How about them? Immigration changes and cleanup needs to begin NOW. I feel the Federal government did an injustice by not performing any checks for a decade, not enforcing the laws, and continuing to avoid stopping the continuance of border jumpers. Let's get serious!

733. Market still trying to break 18,000 block

We are getting close to the end of 2015 and haven't quite pushed the 18,000 resistance level as stated in post #724 in October. We have had some good dips to sell while up and buy when down, but we haven't hit the big drop that I fear. I have already finished my portfolio balancing for this year and ready to take whatever we get in my non-retirement account. However, I might play the expected drop in my retirement accounts.

Now is a good time to get those losses sold and reduce your tax burden. You can always buy back in, but watch out for the Wash Sales (buying the same stock within 30 days, either before or after, selling it for loss unless all shares are sold). [Note, search for more complete description if this interests you]

Sam's ready to clean her crystal ball for a 2016 forecast. Things to consider include, but not limited to: (1) drag of Emerging Markets, particularly Russia, China, Brazil. India may be a boost if it rains there (seems Gold sales are down by the farmers who buy 60% of it due to lack of rain...can you believe it?). (2) Recovery of EU and Japan. (3) Bloody O'Blunder's games. We expect Fed rates to hike gradually, so I don't think that will have any major impact through the year. 

A positive person would bet on recoveries through the world and rise in commodity prices and Industrial stocks. He might also bet on some key advances in Biotechnology Industry. But O'Blunder health insurance stocks we'll go negative because health costs will continue to rise driving them to lose more O'Blunder accounts (already seeing the losses through 2015) and causing havoc again in the Health Industry. Will Financials ever recover? Sure, but not in leaps or bounds. O&G? Gotta come back...OPEC failed to wipe out anything other than their wealth and a manageable delay by America's companies (the weak have been and being sucked up by the strong). Politics? Pray we don't continue on the poor O'Blunder programs. My biggest fear for 2016 is that We the People AGAIN go to the Presidential polls uneducated and vote for looks or someone with fluent speech or youth. Unfortunately, we live in a society that these types of people are in majority and WILL influence and destroy America. 

And the worse thing: The MEDIA will continue to focus on the negatives AND their bias rather than on just reporting the facts and moving on to another story. I made it policy in this house to limit what they think is news to less than 10 minutes a day and increase common sense analysis by 100x! 

Sam say "Don't lose you common scents." 

732. WARNING: MSFT 1511 Cumulative Update wipes out things

WARNING : You will be bitten by the automatic updates today or soon. Version 1511 is ready and gets installed. I'm probably too late for some of you to prevent or prepare for destruction, but here is what I found so far and it has taken 2 days so far to detect and clean them up:

1. The Windows 7 Card Games zap documented in Post #706 disappears. All tiles and taskbar icons will disappear for Spider, Freecell, and Hearts. The problem goes beyond these games though. Seems that ALL programs you installed NOT via the Microsoft installer that are in the Program Files or Program Files (X86) folders will disappear! You might try looking for what you lose in the c:\Windows.Old folder, but as far as the games, you will only find the .exe files WITHOUT your previous zaps. See the updated Post #706 to get you back and playing.

2. If you had changed Title Bars as in Post # 124, you will have to do it again. STOP! This upgrade added an option to Desktop Personalize: "Show color on Start, Taskbar, Action Center, Titlebars". Simply turn it on and select your color.

3. The Desktop theme disappears and you need to right-click desktop, personalize, theme and select the one you desire again.

4. Task Manager returns to MSFT's default of NO details. Go there (Ctrl-Shift-ESC) and select DETAILS to get a meaningful task manager tool back.

5. ONE Drive gets reinitialized as ACTIVE. If you had it disabled, do it again.

6. I was missing 3 tiles from my start menu and couldn't remember which ones. I went to Windows.old, but still could not identify what was deleted. I know Speccy64 was one of them and got it from Windows.old\program Files. This does NOT get installed via MSFT Installer, so put it somewhere other than Program Files and rePIN to start or taskbar as desired. Same with anything else that was deleted that you can remember. Ahhh. Another was Spybot. I simply reinstalled 2.4.This apparently was removed by Microsoft because of some subscription requirement which Spybot people knew nothing about. But, 2.4 runs. Add CCleaner to the list of programs deleted. I got to reinstall and redo my saved cookies list! Thanks MSFT! CCleaner detects that Edge and IE are now active, but nor started by me, when cleaning files. Guess I need to look at this now.

7. One good thing that was fixed was that the folders in Quick Access (HOME Edition) can NOW BE REORDERED by dragging to new location. Thank you MSFT for that.

8. Post #712 showed how to disable Caps Lock. You get to redo this if you want this.

9. The disturbing Google Chrome "Shockwave crashed" error again occurs after this install. Haven't figured out how to fix it yet. If you researched this, Google imbeds its own Pepperflash. Although when you do a about::plugins in Chrome and see only the imbedded flash, there is still some conflict with one already installed on your system. As a matter of fact if you look at your installed programs you will see that this MSFT upgrade ADDED its own version 19 NPAPI flashplayer module! I saw a few comments on Internet that it needs to be uninstalled for Chrome to work right, but then, if you also use IE you will need it! So, wait for Google to correct this I guess. I just installed another MSFT update "Security Update for Internet Explorer Flash Player for Windows 10 Version 1511 for x64-based Systems (KB3103688)" in hopes the Chrome flash relies on it. Fingers crossed.

10. MAJOR Performance Problem: 

Update 11/21/15:  My Bad - I mistakingly installed  2GB + 1GB memory instead of 2GB + 4GB! So, I have been running on 3GB instead of 6GB the entire time with Windows 10. Therefore, I must compliment MSFT for the fine performance of their system even on 3GB on this old Dell Inspiron 1440 PC. I caught this after reinstalling Speccy due to its removal by the upgrade and running it. Ignore the remaining text re this problem (or shall I say no-problem).

The process "System and Compressed Memory" in this version kills my performance periodically (90+%% CPU and 89% disk).  MSFT claims this process "helps" performance by compressing system pages and keeping them in memory instead of physically paging them out to disk. Well, instead, it takes loads of CPU to do the compression AND on a system with limited memory, like my old Dell with 5 GB, it now compresses (using memory and CPU) + Paging (Compressed page? using same CPU as before + more memory for this process to do its job). So, when MSFT downloads updates (automatically) and starts installing, we are back to the old systems where the system bogs down because it overloads the "System and Compressed Memory" process AND paging. I have also noticed that there persistent attempt to kill Chrome gets involved here too since Chrome uses gobs of memory compared to IE and thus gets caught in this compressed memory process big time. The more tabs opened, the worse it gets by leaps and bounds! Even though my memory usage (even on this 6 GB'er) has never been near its 100% before this build update, it certainly goes there now. I see this as an attempt by MSFT to not only kill Chrome, but also to drive users to larger machines with more memory and CPU power to support future features. I found some weird "solutions" to try while searching, but am leery of doing them. I am including them here ONLY for documentation purposes. If anybody tries one of them, please COMMENT as to effects and problem resolution. Thanks.

     a) Disable BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) service, OR
     b) If you have ample memory, disable Pagefile/swapfile

11. Goodbye Adobe! MSFT update changed default app for .pdf files to EDGE! If you want to go back to Adobe Reader, go to system Settings and set it up again. UPDATE 12/1/2015: Just recently I have noticed that looking at a PDF file by clicking within an Internet site also goes to EDGE within whatever browser you are using. I just finished perusing a PDF document that way and saw the same Chrome bookmark bar on top. When I rolled over it I noticed that the EDGE Favorites were being shown, not Chrome. Select one and you stay in Edge.

12. 456 ERRORS in Event Viewer since install (less than 2 complete days)!!!!!. I', curious as to how many of the errors were due to my mistake of running this on just 3GB as explained in 10 above. It appears so far many of them. If this is the case, the upgrade added some memory usage size, but not enough to shut anything down.

13. Added on 1/22/16: Once again the first display of DOWNLOADS folder takes forever to load. Prior to this MSFT update I had to change Properties (Customize) of the Downloads folder from PICTURES to GENERAL. The MSFT update apparently switched if back and needed to be customized again.


Conclusion? Can't say I'll be hanging with MSFT much longer if they continue to pull these stunts. And  then after over 1.5 hours of installation they have the nerve to display on your screen Don't worry your files remained the same! Folks, this was a new O/S install, NOT a cumulative updates install! I'll pause for a while to consider the benefits of the upgrade (resolved a lot of my problems) vs. effort to redo some things.
     

731. Just return ALL control to the States!

The House continues to try to put more band aids on the "No Child Left Behind" law that was passed in July by both the House and Senate ((see article here). My recommendation, just let the States manage their own education and get rid of the federal Department of Education. 

I was never a believer of "fair" tests that apply to every location, and am more opposed to trying to enact solutions based on test results to bogus tests. How did I ever grow up without these? How did so many now well off individuals grow up from low income positions to middle class or higher positions without this dumb law? The answer: FAMILY environment! Let's address the root cause of the main issues causing so much trouble to America. Issues including education, but so many more. The answer always seems to be the same: throw money at it! Well, that isn't improving Family Values! The States are improvisers of good policies and programs and could potentially help other states improve. NOT the Federal government and our $$$. The Federal government has obliterated the State so much that it can no longer improvise! 

730. O'Blunder worse than a child

Let's talk about the refugees: 10,000 of them O'Blunder wants to give the right-of-way to. But, let's not stop there. Let's talk about allowing individuals from "safe" countries  without a visa! Imagine allowing France individuals, where 3 of their citizens help blow up Paris in the last ISIS affair, to enter WITHOUT checks and visa! Would that not be insane? 

The Republican controlled House stressed both points above in a proposed law here that strengthens the entry process into America. O'Blunder poo-poo'd them as acting like frightened sheep. Seems O'Blunder has never grown up and believes he is still impenetrable like all children. I suppose he was similar to all of us in our teens who drank and drove high speeds or challenged death by performing some high-risk act believing injury or death could never happen to us. That belief still exists to the many of our youths today. But to poo-poo adults who want to ensure these same children, parents, relatives, friends, etc. remain alive and always expect to enjoy the freedoms America offers is unconscionable. Instead, he should be joining them in the discussion TO ENSURE America provides the top security measures possible to prevent "safe" countries from allowing potential risks from entering America AND to definitely prevent terrorist piggy-backing within any refugee program by means of extreme vetting at this time! Hey, I feel safe where I am and could think like O'Blunder about myself, BUT let's think about others too!

Truly, I have seen nothing but destructive ideas, rash comments,no productive actions come from O'Blunder; but, I have seen dangerous executive orders that seem to be anti-American that endanger people and the economy. We need to get this loser out of office (impeach) AND any similar-minded individual from ever getting into office. It's time to take back the government from this insane administration and any government who continues to destroy state governments and programs. Government plans and actions need to focus on Security and Defense for a while and keep its nose out of We the People affairs. Let's return fully to state controlled education, high-risk medical plans, and other programs where the federal government has imposed itself in a way that is destroying programs that States were having no problems with.

Well, this topic was Enhanced Security for America. So let me leave with my hopes that the House and Senate can drum some sense into O'Blunder. Probably not, but then halt the insane plans, including the over-used executive order, and act to impeach should either of the two issues within this proposed law is forced down out throats! Not that I like Trump (I don't), but we need Congress to yell "You're Fired" AND ACT UPON IT!

Before leaving, you might want to also see this article just posted re Syrians arrested in Honduras headed to U.S. via Greece and Honduras with fake passports after one of the Paris terrorists was supposedly from a Greek island. Makes you wonder who's side O'Blunder is on!

729. Lock us up and throw away the key

King O'Blunder says more jobs, cheaper and easier imported oil, and additional gasoline for export to raise revenues and decrease debt are NOT of National Interest (see this article). When will this dude get impeached for disrupting America? Folks, we have 14 months more of this inept, backward thinking, constitutional side-stepping, congress-ignoring, We the People-bashing clown. Please send him to California with the other liberal, green-only fools, who are making it much more expensive and difficult to run an effective and efficient country. The environment is NOT the major issue here! That can be managed with compromise. The issue is the strife for dictatorship and I-don't-want-to-be-spanked by the sheep herd. Glad I'm in a better position to live my life than the majority of folks that are is a great need for jobs, better wages, and much stronger economy, which has been held down by dragging the O'Blunder anchor for almost 7 years now. Imagine how it will explode upward when we finally get him out of the way; unless Hillary takes over! When will voters become educated instead of indoctrinated to vote for the best looking, or minority-group biased, or religiously-identical, or insignificant-issue supported candidate?

728. Put a condom over it

Now I favor the government handing out condoms in schools, but to put to vote whether porn start have to wear condoms (see this.) Wow California is weird! 

727. Flat Tax and Media Corruptness

After the second CNBC Republican Debate can anyone disagree now that the Media is liberal and continues to indoctrinate the clueless We the People? If you review the MEDIA posts I posted you will see the injustice the Media has thrown at us. In most cases it was the Main Media networks and papers with Liberal Bias beyond comprehension. As noted in at least one post I have become fed up with all Media, including O'reilly-types too. 

The Republican Debate was a joke! Instead of deep details and comparisons between candidates, I was left only with the success of the party to fend off the liberal Media. Disgusting conclusion. A particular I was interested in was the differences in the tax plans. For those who haven't read about Flat Tax plans for the last 10 years, they are NOT all the same. For example, I believe I heard that Cruz's plan is really a Single Fixed Tax-Level (10%) plan, i.e., poor don't pay and all others pay 10%. No details as far as deductions (Seniors, child-care, blind, mortgages, itemization, etc.). Dr. Carson even blindly adjusted hi 10% to 15%, maybe. However, another Flat Tax, called the Fair Tax, I believe one or two candidates no more than mentioned as a flat tax plan, may be the one properly defined a decade ago and relates to abolishing Income Tax entirely in lieu of a FAIR TAX (Sales Tax). In this case all entities -- individuals, companies, professionals, hospitals, etc. -- would pay a FLAT sales tax, say 23% on whatever they purchased, be it a product OR service. Possible the poor would be give some break, but you could expect the rich to be paying their fair share this way since their spending is much greater to the point of going overboard on products and services than the poor and even think about affording. That is good, because it is those who can afford to pay more taxes.  

I added a category TAXES to guide you to Tax Posts, but know I didn't catch all of them. Pay particular interest to Posts #86 (Fair Tax), numbers 416 and 341 re AP's illogical comments, and 412 re a great book re who's paying taxes now. Sorry I didn't catch all the posts; just wanted to find pertinent ones from the past relating to the Media's inaccurate and bias reporting AND the Republican Tax plans not fully explained.

You can bet I'll return with additional post re the Media, my constant enemy. You can NOT believe over 80% of what they report as being facts! Sounds like the Internet too, eh? Don't be scammed, indoctrinated with bias and fact-less information, or misled by politicians. Do your homework. Unlike the Congress who never starts the Budget process until a few weeks before due, take the next 10 months and educate yourself in the poorness of the Media and "stories" they tell. Question them and question them yet again and again.

We the People need to take rule back and live as per the Constitution regardless of the hawkers shoving elixirs down out throats. Search the BOOKS category too for some interesting reading.

726. Trendnet AC600 doubles G-Speed

The old 1397 G-protocol wireless network adapter in my laptop was dragging at 20Mbs given a  50Mbs Suddenlink Cable service. Cable-connected gave the ISP rated speed of 50Mbs for downloads, but the wireless behind my Netgear 300-N router dogged at 20Mbs. I chose a not-too-expensive (around $18) solution installing the Trendnet AC600 which gave me N protocol backward compatibility and increased my wireless download speed to 40 Mbs. Not much to brag about with normal Internet transactions, but downloads and streming is much better now.

I did have a few problems since the lack of proper installation documentation failed to address some gotchs:


1. Ensure IPv6 is disabled if you know you don't need it
2. If you install the accompanying utility, you will probably end up with two ICONs in the Taskbar notification area and have Sleep/Hibernate problems. UNINSTALL the utility that came with TrendNet and return to the one you have been using. You also need to go to your Startup tasks and uncheck WLAN Card Wireless Network Tray from starting
3. Don't disable QoS. Speedtests were fantastic with QoS enabled. Whereas cable-connencted gave me 50Mbs (Suddenlink subscription) for download, Qos enabled wireless gave me 40Mbs. This was twice the speed as the previous G-protocol. Very pleased.

4. Another Sleep/Hibernate issue happens when you uncheck "Allow computer to turn off power to save energy (Device Manager, Power Management tab for the adapter). Surprisingly, you need to keep this checked for Sleep/Hibernate to work correctly.

The Trendnet AC600 is a blessing for me now that I have it and the software configured for Windows 10 correctly. 

725. O'Blunder continues to harm this country

The veto of the Defense Bill, see here, shows again O'Blunders arrogance and lack of commitment to America's National Security. In which world does he and his cronies live! Not America. O'Blunder should have been impeached long ago. Ok. Breathe. Sigh.

Let's see where his party (like Facebook friends) stands when it goes through the veto overrule process. It seems senseless given the increase in ISIS war and hacking attacks that any President would want to continue CUTS in the Defense Budget rather than increasing it! He needs an NCIS Gibb's swat to the back of the head to get his attention and then a good kick for being so stupid. We will all remember the President who gave the GREEN LIGHT to Iran, Russia, and North Korea to rule the world! Shame on the Democrats supporting his policies.

724. Runaway Market?

When will I get a dip in the market so I can BUY? Sam's crystal ball is murky. All technical indications I see are for the market to continue its rise (generally) for a while. What scares me is that the further it goes up (this time) the more it will fall. So, let me go out on the limb after the 300+ DJIA day today. We may again test the 18,000 barrier (+3%) and then once again return to 16,000 floor (-11%) to test that again. By that time (late December) we'll be ready for the new year boost should it come. January might get a spike up, but earnings in 1Q will probably damper that quickly. Summers are usually boring with the market taking its own vacation until September. I will bet on a decent rally then until election time. Depending who will get it, I predict the market to dump (Dems) or rise (Reps). The net of this forecast is fasten your seat belts and learn to be very, very patient. By September 2016 we should be seeing that the inflation increases through the summer are not a big thing. 

But then, who knows for sure? I could be one of the pessimists that predict doomsday for the last 5 years and when something close finally happens (temporarily)  polishes his/her participation trophy. I'm NOT a pessimist given the U.S. economy outlook and its ability to manage crises. Now, worldwide is a different story. Tons of things that could affect its economy. The biggest I see is the continued hammering of the Emerging Markets. OPEC is killing the commodity markets (not just oil) and will bankrupt some countries if we don't start exporting oil to stop it. Will O'Blunder do ANYTHING? No. 2016 will be a lost year as far as shoring up worldwide economy. So, the realist in me again points out volatility and nothing exciting until 4Q2016 when we learn of our fates with a new President. I know i'll be ready to pull the plug or fire a rocket in November 2016. I truly hope We the People wise up by then a vote to celebrate rather than shrivel up and hibernate for another 4 years like these last 7 years. I thank the productive U.S. companies for getting us to where we are despite the government (Executive and Congress).