TRUMP IS THE NEW LEICESTER CITY

at the beginning of the Premier League season, the odds of Leicester City winning the championship were 5,000 to 1. some die hard fans put down bets for 50 Pounds. no one thought they stood a chance. and they didn't. except they won. fortunately for the bookies, they didn't place too much money at these odds but they got clobbered.

well, we all should have put 50 pounds down on Trump at least winning the nomination. the odds of actually winning the presidency were probably even longer.

most everyone has underestimated him from day one till even today. as he took out every other republican candidate, starting with Jeb Bush; he with the $100 million dollar war chest until none were left standing.

and the question is why and what will happen next. the why is he tapped in early to the massive discontent, fear and anger in this country at the break down of the societal bargain. all countries have societal bargains. in China it was, we will provide economic growth, you don't rock the boat politically. that bargain may be breaking down in the face of slowing growth and massive pollution; with a population that might be getting old before it gets rich. and in america, the american dream; everyone has a shot at the top and most can have a good life if they work hard. well we are on the brink of a societal fail. the people who are supporting trump are not bad people per say.  they are afraid, they are mad, they are lost. it is fact based. not psychosis. the elites, and on paper i might qualify as such, have failed america and we are reaping that harvest. Trump is an unfortunate leader of this wave of discontent and i have no idea what will happen. but more of the same wont fly.

into the whirlwind

FIRST TURKEY; NOW RUSSIA. ISIS AS A PRETEXT

First Erdogan "entered" the battle against ISIS but seems to have spent more time attacking and bombing the Kurds and the PKK, the former at least seem to be the most constructive players in the region. Now, Putin has "entered" the battle against ISIS and is bombing groups supported by the US and perpetuating Assad.

Both are using ISIS as a pretext for their own agendas

when will we learn?

Apparently never.

TESLA VALUATION VS. GM

i think Tesla cars are pretty cool. especially the S model. however i am scratching my head over its valuation.

Tesla is valued at around $31 Billion

GM at around $50 Billion

Tesla will deliver around 50,000 cars this year. an article today said it is predicting that it will sell around 500,000 "by the end of the decade" whatever that means, 2019, 2020?

It has been reported that Tesla loses about $4,000 per model S. there accounting is complicated but they are hugely benefited by various tax credits that both it and its customers receive. big dollars for both.

GM sells around 10,000,000 cars in 2014. so it is valued at around $5,000 a car sold using a simplistic metric

Tesla is being valued at $600,000 a car on current volume and $60,000 on projected volume maybe 5 years in the future

now Tesla is cool and GM is not cool but does this make sense?

NETANYAHU VS OBAMA VS IRAN

there is all this noise about Netanyahu speaking before congress.  It's being called political.  Really?  Of course it's political.  Everything a politician does is political

Whatever protocols may have been violated, the stakes for the US, Israel and the world are high enough that hearing his pov can't hurt

I for one don't trust Obama,Biden and Kerry and the Europeans to cut the right deal with the Iranians.  They are concerned with legacy.  People like that cut bad deals.  They don't realize that legacies get determined over decades. Not immediate press clippings

If Iran goes nuclear, the Middle East goes nuclear.  Very dangerous.  Point to one area of the globe where this administration has done something smart, tough and effective?  And they're  going to start now with Iran?

I don't think so

We allowed 6 million Jews to be killed once. We can't do it twice. And Israel has the right to defend itself if no one else will

AMY PASCAL VS BRIAN WILLIAMS

amy pascal got fired for telling the truth. Brian Williams will get fired for lying.

Why people think that emails are private is beyond me.  But the leaked Sony emails were hilarious and entertained a nation for weeks

Brian williams on the other hand seems to have lied and as often the case gets trapped by it and fact and fiction merge. Now there may be more lies about Katrina

A real shame.  The truth would have been just fine

Amy was also fired so Michael Lynton could keep his job.  At least for now

HOW TO PUNISH RUSSIA FOR MALAYSIAN FLIGHT 17

while the forensics have just begun, while being hindered by both the separatists and the russians, it seems clear that Russia is responsible in a significant way. while it is clear that no one is going to intervene militarily in a direct way; there is another way

298 people were killed. their lives had value. Russia and any person or affiliate should be sued in every court on the planet; including UN related courts. look what a couple of hedge funds did to Argentina in the courts. and that was over a few bonds. here we have murder. and just to make it interesting, one of those killed was a top HIV researcher. why not a class action law suit on behalf of all current and future AIDS patients for damages?

time to act against Putin

WHAT ISRAEL SHOULD SAY AND DO ABOUT THE PALESTINIAN YOUTH THAT WAS KILLED

the death and likely murder of a Palestinian youth in Jerusalem is both horrific and unacceptable.  it follows the equally horrific and unacceptable kidnapping and murder of three Israeli youths. personal, vigilante justice is not justice; it is murder. Israel is committed to finding those responsible for killing the three Israelis and the state of Israel will mete out justice. equally,  we are committed to finding out what happened to the Palestinian youth and who is responsible and bringing those responsible to justice, whether they be Israeli or otherwise.

our hearts go out to the families of all.