Guest post: Carl Richards on confusing investing with entertainment ...

  • abnormalreturns
  • January 4th, 2012

Every new year is filled with financial strategists, pundits and gurus weighing in with their predictions and forecasts for the financial markets.? You can see this year?s many examples over at Pragmatic Capitalism. The problem is not in the forecasts themselves which will if history is any guide turn out to be a mixed bag by year end.? The problem is when investors take these forecasts seriously and adjust their financial plans accordingly.? This is by all accounts confuses what is an exercise in publicity with actual investing.

Carl Richards, the now controversial, financial planner and author has made frequent appearances on Abnormal Returns via his work at the Bucks Blog and Behavior Gap.? Carl is also the author of the newly published book, The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money Guest post: Carl Richards on confusing investing with entertainment. This excerpt from Carl?s book talks about the mistake we make in confusing what we see and hear in the financial media with actual investment advice.

Investing Is Not Entertainment ? Carl Richards

We get into trouble when we confuse investing with enter?tainment.

A decade or so ago, investing had become America?s fa?vorite spectator sport. Everywhere you went people were talking about finding the next hot stock, mutual fund, or alternative investment. Magazines with covers like ?Ten Hot Funds to Buy Now? and ?Five Stocks That Sizzle? made in?vesting sound fun. You couldn?t turn on the television with?out seeing some lout screaming ?Buy! Buy! Buy!?

Most of the stock market coverage in the media was de?signed to appeal to our fantasies about getting rich quickly?our wildest financial hopes and dreams. And most of us were eager to swallow the story that we could get rich quickly in stocks. So, despite knowing at some level that market timing, stock picking, and day-trading are hazardous to our wealth, many people still did those things.

46 Entertainment H 617x420 Guest post: Carl Richards on confusing investing with entertainment

Source:? Carl Richards

Every one of those investors would have benefited from asking these questions: Am I investing to meet my most im?portant financial goals, or am I investing as a form of enter?tainment? Am I being realistic, or am I letting my fantasies run away with me?

Sure, investing is fun while you?re making money. And it?s fun to indulge in occasional daydreams about getting rich the easy way. But this is not Monopoly. This is real life. We?re dealing with real money and real goals. When we for?get that?when we confuse investing and entertainment?we almost always end up behaving badly.

So next time you are tempted to ?play the stock market? maybe you should go to the movies instead.

Excerpted from The Behavior Gap: Simple Ways to Stop Doing Dumb Things with Money. Published by Portfolio/Penguin. Copyright Carl Richards, 2012.

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Source: http://abnormalreturns.com/guest-post-carl-richards-on-confusing-investing-with-entertainment/

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Playoff Time

How badly is Tim Tebow going to play against the Steelers? Who?s a better playoff quarterback, Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers? What?s it like for your team to compete in the playoffs? Former Broncos tight end Nate Jackson and Slate executive editor and Hang Up and Listen host Josh Levin are taking all of your questions about the end of the regular season, the start of the playoffs, and the beginning of the offseason coaching carousel. Check back here on our Facebook page on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 11 a.m. EST to participate in the chat!

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=873c687b0f9948b552c9016edbf53c78

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Mom opts for home schooling after son put in bag (AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? The Kentucky mother of an autistic boy who says he was stuffed in a duffel bag for misbehaving in class has pulled her son out of school.

Sandra Baker said that although classes resumed Tuesday in their central Kentucky school district, she will home-school her 9-year-old son, Christopher.

Baker says she won't send Christopher back to Mercer County Intermediate School until the teacher responsible is fired and the staff is better trained to deal with children with developmental disabilities.

Baker says she saw her son in a bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.

The Mercer County schools interim superintendent did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120103/ap_on_re_us/us_boy_in_bag

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Xcom Global revolutionizes global data: one MiFi to serve 195 countries

Chances are you'll see a metric ton of new gizmos surfacing at CES next week, and if we're lucky, two or three of them will be bona fide game changers. Lucky for you, Xcom Global is serving one up ahead of the mayhem, with a single WWAN device that enables you to suck down 3G data in nearly every country on the planet. If you'll recall, the outfit's Euro SIM took a giant step in the right direction by providing universal 3G data coverage to jetsetters who passed through some 40 nations in Europe, but true globetrotters need something even more advanced. And frankly, even those who are only hitting three or four nations in a swing will surely appreciate the ability to carry just a single USB stick or MiFi hotspot versus a handful of 'em. Xcom's deeming it the Global Travel Plan, and thanks to its partnership with iPhone Trip, the outfit is adding support for some 130 nations, bringing the grand total to 195. Better still, users will be able to enjoy unlimited surfing in any of those places, all for just $12.95 per day.

For those unaware, Xcom's service -- which we reviewed back in 2010 -- works a bit like this. If you're in the US, you hit its website and select your travel dates as well as the nations you're planning to travel through. If you select the Global Travel Plan, you'll get a single device shipped to you before you depart. It'll serve up data from local 3G networks in the countries you travel through, and once you're home, you pop the device back into a prepaid envelope and carry on. Yeah, you could argue that scrounging up a local SIM in every place you go is more affordable, but the ease of use here can't be overlooked. We'll be giving the new plan a go in some of the world's most far-out locales in the coming weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out for our results. Till then, hit the source link for a PDF of every supported nation as of January 2012.

Continue reading Xcom Global revolutionizes global data: one MiFi to serve 195 countries

Xcom Global revolutionizes global data: one MiFi to serve 195 countries originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/03/xcom-global-revolutionizes-global-data-one-mifi-to-serve-195-co/

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Chavez: US targeting Latin leaders with cancer?

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Iowa ad war: late starting but nasty (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? At least $12.5 million and counting has blanketed the airwaves ahead of next Tuesday's Republican presidential caucuses, with hard-hitting commercials awash in ghoulish images and startling claims. Most are coming from a proliferation of new independent groups aligned with the candidates.

To hear the ads tell it, Newt Gingrich is a "serial hypocrite," Rick Perry "double dips" as governor and the "liberal Republican establishment" is plotting to anoint Mitt Romney as the party's presidential nominee. The attacks, the bulk of the commercials on the air, reflected the volatile state of the race five days before the first votes of the GOP presidential nominating contest.

After a slow start, the ads in Iowa are coming on fast and furious.

On Thursday alone, at least five new commercials were rolled out, including one by Perry castigating his rivals as Washington insiders and saying: "The fox guarding the henhouse is like asking a congressman to fix Washington: bad idea." An outside group aligned with Romney, Restore Our Future, rolled out a new spot that criticizes Gingrich and asks: "Haven't we had enough mistakes?"

In the final days of the Iowa campaign, most of the ads are deeply negative, thanks in large part to the proliferation of outside groups, known as super PACs, that are doing the dirty work for candidates they support. Gingrich has been the biggest target, withering under attacks from Ron Paul and Rick Perry's campaign as well as from several outside groups like the one aligned with Romney. Polls show that Gingrich's standing in Iowa has slid accordingly.

"I call it ad wars whack-a-mole ? this endless attacking in all directions, trying to slam down anyone who is surging to the top," said David Perlmutter, a University of Iowa journalism professor who studies political communication. "This is the most negative I've ever seen it. The ads are so blatantly negative I would have told you 10 years ago this would never fly in Iowa."

It's a different landscape in the campaign advertising world than four years ago when Barack Obama won Iowa's Democratic caucuses and Mike Huckabee carried the Republican side. Social media has intensified the advertising binge, with many spots debuting on TV but also going viral across the web at almost no cost to the campaigns that sponsor them. Candidates are making heavy use of online advertising to target voters based on location and other demographic information.

Campaigns are also producing video specifically for the YouTube audience, like a new 90-second Romney video excerpting a speech Obama delivered in Iowa days before winning the Democratic caucuses in 2008.

"Well, Mr. President, you've had your moment ... this is our time," Romney says in the spot.

On Thursday, Jon Huntsman's campaign ? which can't afford to put commercials on TV and is competing only in New Hampshire ? hit at Paul in a new web video that highlights comments about race and gays in newsletters Paul used to put out. The ad asks: "Can New Hampshire voters really trust Ron Paul?'"

But nothing has altered the environment more than super PACs, which are facing their first test in a presidential campaign since a Supreme Court decision two years ago eased restrictions on campaign spending by corporations, unions and individuals.

Much of $12.5 million spent to date in Iowa, a figure confirmed by ad tracking firms, outside groups and the GOP campaigns, has been spent in just the past few weeks, much of it paying for negative ads.

The pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, has been by far the most influential in Iowa, helping to bolster the former Massachusetts governor's position in the state he lost in 2008, crippling that campaign.

The group formed by Romney allies has spent at least $2.7 million in the state. The vast majority has been used to trash Gingrich, the former House speaker whose sudden surge in the polls earlier this month has been summarily halted in recent days. In ad after ad, Romney's allies have berated Gingrich for ethical "baggage," accepting $1.6 million in consulting fees from federal mortgage giant Freddie Mac and pledging to tackle climate change in an ad with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Another new ad from the group goes after both Gingrich and Perry for being "liberal on immigration."

Perry, the Texas governor, has defended his state's policy of allowing the children of illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at public universities, while Gingrich has spoken out against deporting those who have lived in the U.S. for many years without permission to be in the country.

The ad also chides Perry for taking advantage of a loophole in state law that allows him to supplement his governor's salary with his $90,000 annual pension, even as Perry has used his own ads to rail against congressional salaries.

Romney has stepped up his advertising presence in Iowa, driving a largely positive message while his allies have made it easy for him to avoid attacking his Republican rivals.

"In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense. And I intend to make it because I have lived it," Romney says in a new uplifting 60-second commercial he began airing Thursday.

Gingrich, for his part, has railed against the Romney allies' ad blitz but has refused to respond in kind. A pro-Gingrich super PAC has begun fighting back, running ads in Iowa claiming the Republican establishment is "attacking him with falsehoods."

The ad warns: "Don't let the liberal Republican establishment pick our candidate."

But the assist from the pro-Gingrich group Winning Our Future may be too little, too late. A new CNN-Time poll found Gingrich now in fourth place in Iowa, behind Romney, Paul and Rick Santorum.

Other Republican hopefuls have super PACs that support them, including Perry and Santorum. The former Pennsylvania senator has run no ads of his own but has seen his position in Iowa strengthen in recent days in part by $327,000 in ad spending from a super PAC called the Red White and Blue Fund.

Our Destiny, a super PAC backing Huntsman, has run ads in New Hampshire for the former Utah governor. Huntsman is skipping the Iowa caucuses to focus on New Hampshire, which holds the nation's first primary on Jan. 10.

Perry has run the most campaign ads in Iowa, spending at least $3.9 million so far. His ads have offered a smattering of sometimes conflicting messages ? promoting his conservative Christian faith in one to calling for a part-time Congress in another.

"I'm an outsider who will overhaul Washington," Perry says in his latest ad, while pledging anew to end "Obama's war on religion."

Make Us Great Again, a pro-Perry super PAC, has also been on the air for weeks in Iowa.

The heavy spending hasn't seemed to help Perry much ? polls have consistently shown him trailing in the state, though he has gained some ground.

Paul has also been on the air for months and has not been shy about hitting his opponents. His latest ad, titled "Washington Machine," hits Gingrich as a "serial hypocrite" and Romney as a "flip flopper."

Cash strapped and struggling in polls, Michele Bachmann will run TV commercials a day before the caucuses. Her campaign has run radio ads and she's sought free media on a bus tour through Iowa's 99 counties.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst in Iowa and Jack Gillum in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_el_pr/us_campaign_iowa_ad_crush

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New Parents on Facebook

Okay, first let me say this: I love kids. I think they're freaking adorable and I want to flop out a few of my own some day. However, people should be banned from facebook from the time they find out that they're pregnant until the child is at least two years old. Some chick I haven't spoken to since 8th grade friend requested me a few months ago. I scrolled through her pictures, and judging from the dates of pictures she posted, things went in this order: College pictures, boyfriend pictures, ultrasound pictures, engagement ring pictures, wedding pictures with a huge baby bump under the dress, baby pictures two months later. I have no clue how she's going to finish college.

This status update is the one that killed me:

"Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were an hour old, I would die for you. This is the miracle of life! Put this on your status if you have children you love more than life itself!"

I really want to put this in my status: "If you didn't get knocked up and have to drop out of college to get married, post this in your status! Life is awesome when you don't screw it up!"


Like This? Rate It!

Hilarious 31 votes 4.3 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147328




Side-splitting 1 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147331

>Pram 77,359 40
03/29/2010 03:02 AM

Well, you have to give them credit, at least their baby didn't die and they posted stillborn pictures of them dressed up like they're alive like these people did:

NSFW

This site's been around since before Facebook, but the parents seem to have discovered Facebooktoo...

?

Hilarious 6 votes 4.2 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147337

Cinderblock 27,352 24
03/29/2010 03:12 AM

I'm about to, Taco. I already commented on her status: "No, but I do love my cat."

She's just one of many people on facebook who never post unless it's status updates about her baby, pictures of her baby, videos of her baby, stories about her baby, or maybe conversing with other people about how cute her baby is and how cute the other person's baby is and maybe some time they could get together with their babies and then their babies could have babies and OH MY GOD SHUT UP. I understand that having a baby is a life-changing event and that every parent reacts with the same unfathomable amount of instant love and devotion for their child, but for Frost's sake, don't be so annoying about it. I KNOW that having a child changes your life, and that once you become a parent your life can never be the same and your world has to revolve around your child or else they'll grow up to be serial killers... but do you have to lose any trace of a personality that you might have had before?

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Hilarious 2 votes 4.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147339

Madame KChiki 121,037 87
03/29/2010 03:14 AM

but do you have to lose any trace of a personality that you might have had before?

No.

Someone please tell me if I've lost my personality.

?

Side-splitting 6 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147344

>Pram 77,359 40
03/29/2010 03:22 AM

I don't want kids either. My housmates' friends and family have kids, and they bring them over every Sunday, and they jump straight up in the air and land with a bang, straight up in the air, crash, jump, crash, jump. Frost-ing obnoxious. I was trying to animate yesterday and thought I would grind my teeth into dust.

IN FACT, my name comes from when I was working at a Safeway in 1996 and it was my turn to fix the trash compactor we had for produce. I pushed the button and it wouldn't go. Someone had thrown a baby carriage in it and it had gotten stuck. I had to climb in the smelly mother-Froster and wedge the buggy out with a piece of wood. Then, of course, I threw the thing back in and let the compactor eat it.

Been Pram Maven ever since.

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Funny 8 votes 3.9 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147346

Cinderblock 27,352 24
03/29/2010 03:25 AM

Did you check to see if there was a baby in it first?

Nah, I wouldn't have, either.

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Hilarious 8 votes 4.5 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147379

Rock Lobster. Just Rock Lobster. 17,199 28
03/29/2010 05:35 AM

I don't have any pictures of Lobster Jr up on the internets. Unless I photoshop over her face first.

I know how annoying I was when I was pregnant, so I try not to bore you all with stories of my kid now that she's here. She does do amazing things every day, but I just call my mom or my grandma and tell them and then I'm over it. I'm only online now if she's asleep, because I can't be productive and run a vacuum or anything. But I do love her. And I don't think I've lost much about my personality since she was born. I mean, I don't do things now because they affect someone other than me, but I am pretty sure i"m still me. And i don't let my kid run my life.

But she is damn cute, don't you think?

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Hilarious 14 votes 4.4 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147382

Alt+Ctrl+Ravos 61,615 20
03/29/2010 05:38 AM

And I don't think I've lost much about my personality since she was born.

It is hard to lose something you never had in the first place.

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? 0 votes 0.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147386

Brad Poynter 33,877 47
03/29/2010 05:39 AM

Nice Vasoline in the background.

I just got the facebook interwebsite recently to see what this whole 21st century thing is about. Link in profile.

?

Hilarious 15 votes 4.5 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147387

Alt+Ctrl+Ravos 61,615 20
03/29/2010 05:40 AM

Comedy. Site.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

?

Hilarious 10 votes 4.3 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147394

MyComedyGoldTurnedGreen Jeen 41,252 49
03/29/2010 05:57 AM

That is exactly it. If a person keeps their identity, parenthood is not annoying (to me). It's when their little brats kids interrupt every moment of their life, especially while I'm on the phone with them, it gets old and annoying (to me).

Friend: Hey Jean - how are you? Want to go for a hike or something soon?
Me: Oh, yea - that sounds great. When would...
(Distracting, loud noises and screaming on the other end.)
Friend: I'M ON THE PHONE, TOMMY. MOMMY IS ON THE PHONE! GIVE MOMMY THIS TIME TO BE ON THE PHONE WITH HER FRIEND. NO. NO! YOU CANNOT HAVE CANDY. YOU ALREADY HAD CANDY EARLIER. SHARE WITH YOUR SISTER THEN. (More screaming - this time from the sister.) SHARE WITH YOUR BROTHER, MANDY!! THAT CANDY IS FOR BOTH OF YOU!
Friend (to me): "Hold on a second". (Doesn't listen for a response.)
Me: Hey - feel free to email me when you're free.
Friend: NO! SHARE! THERE'S ENOUGH FOR BOTH OF YOU! (More screaming, pounding and crying.)
Me: (hangs up & blames it on the phone being disconnected.)

Sadly, I'm not exaggerating. I do NOT want children. Can you tell? I consider calls like the above to be "birth control".

?

Hilarious 15 votes 4.4 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147396

The Mailman 173,002 48
03/29/2010 06:11 AM

She's just one of many people on facebook who never post unless it's status updates about her baby, pictures of her baby, videos of her baby, stories about her baby, or maybe conversing with other people about how cute her baby is

Respond to every post she makes about her baby with a story or screenshot of your virtual salmon pet in FishWorld.

?

Side-splitting 1 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147399

Rock Lobster. Just Rock Lobster. 17,199 28
03/29/2010 06:16 AM

Nice Vasoline in the background.

It's really windy where we live and her cheeks (the ones on the face) get chapped. It's a preventative measure for when we go out for walks and stuff.

?

Side-splitting 1 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147413

>Pram 77,359 40
03/29/2010 06:47 AM

Sadly, I'm not exaggerating. I do NOT want children. Can you tell? I consider calls like the above to be "birth control".

In the future, you'll be able to customize your birth control. If I don't have any sales from my records, I'm going sell pictures of my face to print on condoms. Not on condom wrappers though, because the point of anyone looking at my pasty mug would prevent the sex from everhappening, which is the best form of birth control there is!

?

Funny 4 votes 3.7 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147416

Thank You, Zolton Bunny! 87,541 29
03/29/2010 06:55 AM

I KNOW that having a child changes your life, and that once you become a parent your life can never be the same and your world has to revolve around your child or else...

Hey, having cancer changes your life, too. But you don't see people posting pictures of that on their Facebook pages.

Stingy Frosters.

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Hilarious 4 votes 4.5 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147417

dinesh 24,601 15
03/29/2010 07:03 AM

Dinesh is Jewish?!

Not where it counts, baby.

?

Side-splitting 6 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147420

SHP 179,601 69
03/29/2010 07:23 AM

Rock Lobster. Just Rock Lobster. 9,913 9
03/29/2010 02:39 PM

Comedy. Site.

03/29/2010 03:16 PM

Nice Vasoline in the background.

It's really windy where we live and her cheeks (the ones on the face) get chapped. It's a preventative measure for when we go out for walks and stuff.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

?

Hilarious 3 votes 4.3 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147440

Cyco Christ died so you can sin 11,299 11
03/29/2010 08:17 AM

If anyone is looking to destroy Facebook and needs help, count me in. My wife isn't as annoying as some of the examples, but she's a Frost-ing addict. We were on vacation in Chicago for the last 5 days and every waking moment that we weren't busy doing something, she was on the computer or updating her status on Facebook. I wouldn't have minded so much except she kept wanting to use my iPhone when I'm trying to do important Shakespeare like navigate downtown Chicago using Google maps, or watching porn on ifap.com.

It actually made me glad that AT&T coverage sucks donkey balls, I couldn't get a signal in any of the museums so she actually had to pay attention to what was actually happening in front of her face.

It's not a funny post, I know. I just Frost-ing hate Facebook.

?

Funny 6 votes 3.5 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147447

Filly - waxed 39,081 19
03/29/2010 08:54 AM

It actually made me glad that AT&T coverage sucks donkey balls...

Nuh uh! AT&T covers 97% of all Americans! Owen Wilson told me so!

?

Side-splitting 1 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147455

>Pram 77,359 40
03/29/2010 10:34 AM

The SomethingAwful email war with a woman running one of those stillborn baby pages culminating in "stop overcrowding heaven with your poison womb" is still pretty much one of the best things ever.

That's what I had in mind when I posted the first time in this thread. Zack's exact words were "your poison womb is making heaven too Frost-ing crowded".

SA all the way!!

This is my favorite article of all time from them.

Terrorism is not funny, but making fun of badly done Flash sites about 9/11 is awesome.

?

Hilarious 8 votes 4.6 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147457

Cinderblock 27,352 24
03/29/2010 11:01 AM

Honestly, it's not the kids that bother me. Remember that open letter that Phuc wrote last year to that snob in the ice cream shop? Yeah, I'm with Phuc. I know that, despite a parent's best efforts, kids might yell in public or emit odors that are not exactly lilac and french vanilla. That's just what kids are. I'm fine with that. My problem is with parents who are either 1: not involved in their kids lives at all, so that they don't gently correct problem behavior when necessary, or B: are TOO involved in their kids lives and think that I care that Braydon Jayden Haiden Ashton Madison rolled over for the first time today or weighs 14 pounds 4.5 ounces now. Seriously. Tell me when they're born, tell me if they're probably going to live to the age of 5, and tell me what their name is. After that, I don't want to hear about them on facebook. I'll ask you all kinds of crap at the Christmas party.

III: Profit!

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Side-splitting 5 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147459

Millie 116,654 28
03/29/2010 11:35 AM

I don't mind the postings about babies as much as the religious people. You know, the ones who have status postings like "I am so glad Jesus loves me and my family! I'm blessed and Jesus loves all my Facebook friends!" I mean what kind of status is that? I'm happy that Jesus loves you and all that crap, but how is that a status? Does it change day by day?

As for kids--the problem isn't the kids, it's their parents. When I see brats in public, they usually have parenst who are inattentive or Emersons (or both). The kid is crying because he or she is tired, frustrated, or...something. But guess what? The rest of us aren't immune to it like you are! Give the kid some attention and get it out of my range of hearing, please.

Or the older kids who are running around like Lowe's (or Home Depot) is a playground. I pray for a forklift to run them over. How can you let your kid run around a place like that and not pay attention. Face it, most parents suck.

On one hand, they want everyone to ooh and ahh over their kids, but on the other hand, they totally ignore them most of the time. And I tired of people with teenagers who do everything for their kids. I work with a couple of women who pretty much wait on their grown kids hand and foot, and complain about it. Hey, you made the monster, deal with it.

Wow, I didn't realize my feelings were so strong.

In a nutshell: religious freaks are more annoying than parents, but not by much.

?

Side-splitting 1 votes 5.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147467

>Pram 77,359 40
03/29/2010 12:50 PM

I've been led to consider a different path.

a DEATHMATCH.

Sorry Millie, those kids puked carrots all over you. You're still neat-o, though.

?

Hilarious 16 votes 4.2 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147487

Whistler P. McManus 182,925 42
03/29/2010 04:42 PM

I love kids. Adore them (well, most of them, anyway). And I think the sun shines out of my own kids' asses. But I agree that there's a whole slew of people who are way too consumed with sharing everything about their kids with the world.

So anyway, my oldest son, Eamon, got engaged over the weekend to his sweetheart Amanda, who is a dead ringer for Taylor Swift. And did I mention that he'll be graduating with his bachelors degree (with honors) this summer after only two years of study? And entering medical school* in September?

but they arent as bad as new grandparents.

In all liklihood, I'll be ZuGLive's first grandpa. Sy doesn't count. He's been gone for too long.

*Real medical school. Not imaginary crustacean medical school.

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Hilarious 13 votes 4.5 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147493

Nachos 57,465 23
03/29/2010 10:13 PM

So anyway, my oldest son, Eamon, got engaged over the weekend to his sweetheart Amanda, who is a dead ringer for Taylor Swift. And did I mention that he'll be graduating with his bachelors degree (with honors) this summer after only two years of study?

In all liklihood, I'll be ZuGLive's first grandpa. Sy doesn't count. He's been gone for too long.

Making the assumption from the information above that Eamon is about 20, in all likelihood, you'll also be ZugLive's first grandpa that doesn't see his grandkids as his son didn't get any custody rights in the divorce proceedings.

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Hilarious 7 votes 4.1 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147494

Nachos 57,465 23
03/29/2010 10:34 PM

As for my views on the topics of this thread:

Parents, just because you are biologically hard-wired to have warm fuzzy feelings for mewling, puking, spawn that happen to contain mutated versions of you and your partner's DNA does not mean that everyone else does.

Also, people's tolerance for other people's genetic sproutings is again based on biological imperatives and sociological conventions to stop said children being bludgeoned to death every time they become a burden in social situations, thereby ensuring the survival of the species.

In my opinion children should be raised in camps, thereby removing the burden from society and ensuring that there are equal opportunities for everyone regardless of race, gender and social background.

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Hilarious 5 votes 4.4 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147497

Alt+Ctrl+Ravos 61,615 20
03/29/2010 11:09 PM

Know what is even more annoying than parents on facebook? The people who don't actually have kids, but treat their pets like they were, and update us on every minute detail of the animal's existance.

"Mr. Bigglesworth just ate some cat food, and is taking a nap! Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cute!"

Or the people who update their status every 12 seconds.
"Just woke up."
"Walking to bathroom."
"Sitting on toilet."
"Pooped"
"Wiped"
"Pooped some more. Probably should have skipped the taco bell last night."
"Wiped.
"More poop."
"Showering"
"Washing hair"
"etc"
"etc"
"etc"

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Funny 1 votes 3.0 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147529

Dropkick Brody 43,056 12
03/30/2010 01:00 AM

I don't mind the postings about babies as much as the religious people. You know, the ones who have status postings like "I am so glad Jesus loves me and my family! I'm blessed and Jesus loves all my Facebook friends!" I mean what kind of status is that? I'm happy that Jesus loves you and all that crap, but how is that a status? Does it change day by day?

Haha, agreed. I have blocked so many people who spout that all over my newsfeed.

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Hilarious 7 votes 4.3 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147548

Cinderblock 27,352 24
03/30/2010 01:36 AM

Oooh, well... something shiny does sound nice. I think that one of the problems is that women are automatically programmed to say "yes" in that situation. Srsly. I mean, I don't want to get married anytime soon, but when ex-bang partner mentioned it, I still got all fluttery. I told him he was being silly, but if he had actually gotten down on one knee and given me a ring, I probably would have screamed, said yes, and then five minutes later thought, "Wait, what the Frost am I doing? I'm not even old enough to drink yet! Frost. I need to start cheating on him now."

My friend's little brother is a senior in high school, and apparently one of the girls (a junior) he goes to school with is pregnant and married. He said the wedding photos were gut-wrenchingly hilarious: a happy child bride with a big belly under her white dress, a beaming groom, and two sets of parents behind them with devastated expressions on their faces.

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Hilarious 4 votes 4.2 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147554

Dropkick Brody 43,056 12
03/30/2010 01:44 AM

When I was a kid I vividly remember watching television shows where the woman, when proposed to, said 'I'll have to think about it.' And that was okay. Now it seems that it's a YES or it means 'I don't love you.'

But still.. The ring.

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Funny 5 votes 3.8 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147562

The Mailman 173,002 48
03/30/2010 02:05 AM

I'm a firm believer that children should be raised Spartan style.

So what you're saying is, you like to see children running around naked?

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Funny 8 votes 3.6 /live?func=new_user&msgid=1054147691

Whistler P. McManus 182,925 42
03/30/2010 11:05 AM

I know a woman who got married at 19 to a marginally employed musician who was an alcoholic and a drug addict.

I'd say my kid and his girl are starting out a couple of steps ahead of his mother and father that couple.

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lsu game

Spire: A New Legal Siri Port For Any iOS 5 Device

siri-spireWell-know iOS hacker?chpwn?(aka Grant Paul) along with?Ryan Petrich?have?released?a new tool for installing Siri on jailbroken phones. The Siri port, called "Spire," works on any phone that can run iOS 5. However, because Apple only officially supports Siri requests coming from the iPhone 4S, a proxy server address is still required. Oh, there's one more thing: Spire is legal.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/4vNl4TE7fx4/

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The Christmas Wreath Lichen in the Corkscrew Swamp Wishes You a Happy Holiday

When I was in Florida a few weeks ago, I visited the Audubon Society?s Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (highly, HIGHLY recommended should you be in southwest Florida), which features a two and a quarter mile boardwalk through old-growth cypress swamp. Bald and pond cypress towered over a swamp filled with alligators, snowy egret, and white ibis. We got to see a six-foot alligator and her progeny through a spotting scope. For the plant enthusiasts, there were 500 and 600 year old cypress, strangler figs perched in their treetops, swamp lillies, and cypress knees ? woody protuberances that stick up from the swamp from the roots of the cypress.

But the strangest sight of all were the lichens I noticed peppering the railings of the boardwalk that led us through the swamp, and the bark of the occasional tree. They had bright red borders and sometimes speckled centers on either a white or green ground. I had to know what they were. When I got home and looked them up, I discovered they were called ?Christmas lichens?, or Christmas wreath lichens?. And so I use these photographs to wish you a happy Christmas, should you happen to celebrate it. Here they are (along with a fascinating assembly of other lichens and mosses that leave no wooden surface uncovered in the heart of the swamp):

Here?s a closeup of a slightly different section of the railing:

What a spectacular and unexpected sight! Here we have another strange red pigment, like the prodigiosin produced by Serratia marcescens that I wrote about earlier this year. This red pigment is chiodectonic acid, which like many lichen chemicals likely serves as a UV protectant. Beta-carotene (which might help with DNA repair after exposure to UV) and chlorophyll are also found in the bright red areas. For some more lovely photographs of Cryptothecia rubrocincta (the species epithet means ?red-girdled? or ?red-wreathed?) that show the green of the red/green Christmas lichen a little better, see here.

Merry Christmas!

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=10dd89e4e76c373bd122975e33280776

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