2018 Ethereum Sale

368%  gain to the Parisian family coffers.

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that would happen.

Good for me. 

Better for the family.

No doubt the biggest scandal in United States politics

From the Wall Street Journal

The House Intelligence Committee voted Monday night to release a Republican memo that by most accounts reveals how the FBI handled, or mishandled, federal wiretap requests during the 2016 presidential campaign. The White House should now approve its public disclosure as the first of several to help the country understand what really happened.

Democrats are objecting to the release, claiming partisanship and violations of national security. None of this is persuasive. Republican Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes has followed a long and deliberative process that follows House protocol.

When the FBI finally agreed after months of resisting to answer a committee subpoena for documents, Mr. Nunes deputized former prosecutor and South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy to investigate. The subsequent memo was vetted for security concerns, provided to the entire House committee, then made available to the entire House, then shown to the director of the FBI, and is now undergoing White House review. This is hardly a Chelsea Manning-to-WikiLeaks-to-New York Times leak.

Another false claim is that Republicans are “censoring” a rival Democratic memo. The same Democrats howling about national security wanted the committee on Monday instantly to approve the public disclosure of their counter-memo that hasn’t gone through the equivalent reviews that the majority memo has. Committee Republicans voted to start that process by making the Democratic memo available to the full House, and by all means let’s see that memo too.

The House memo is not about “attacking the FBI” or “our law enforcement professionals,” as Democrat Adam Schiff insists. This is about restoring confidence in a law enforcement agency that played an unprecedented role in a U.S. presidential election regarding both the Trump and Clinton campaigns.

Americans deserve to know whether accusations that the Kremlin infiltrated the Trump campaign have any basis, and prosecutors and Congressional committees are investigating. The FBI might well have had cause to believe Russians were targeting the Trump campaign when they sought a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant. But Washington also should be able to investigate if and how law enforcement agencies exceeded their remit in seeking wiretaps.

The memo also concerns the integrity of the FISA process. Democrats created FISA in the 1970s to protect against wiretap abuses during the Cold War. We opposed it on grounds that it would dilute political accountability, and what do you know here we are. FISA is supposed to provide a measure of legal assurance against abuse, and FBI and Justice officials appear ex parte before the FISA judges with no competing claimants.

The public should know if as part of its warrant application the FBI used the Christopher Steele dossier that we now know was financed by the Hillary Clinton campaign. The House intelligence memo may answer that question, as well as whether the FBI made other misrepresentations or omissions in its FISA application. In June 2017 former FBI director Jim Comey referred in Senate testimony to the dossier as containing “salacious and unverified” material. Is that what the FBI told the FISA court in 2016?

If the FISA judges weren’t told about the partisan provenance and doubts about the veracity of the memo in the middle of a presidential election campaign, then what is FISA for? To serve as a potted plant so the FBI can get whatever warrants it wants? Are they genuine Article III judges with an independent writ or merely another arm of the executive branch that can be rolled like some deputy assistant secretary of State?

The same progressives who demanded accountability for FISA courts after Edward Snowden exposed federal snooping now want President Trump to shut down the House’s limited attempt at transparency. Don’t buy it, Mr. President. Let it all out—the two House Intelligence memos, Senator Chuck Grassley’s referral letter for a criminal investigation of Mr. Steele, and all other relevant FBI or Justice documents that won’t undermine U.S. security. Our democracy can take the transparency, and after the 2016 fiasco it deserves it.

Tweet from David A. Clarke Jr.

"The reason the Congressional Black Caucus is not excited about the lowest recorded level ever of black unemployment is because they determine their relevance in the amount of black people’s misery. The more miserable black people are the more important the CBC feels. Sociopaths."

SOTU

Let me see if I got this straight.........

If we take a nuke it will be missiles built with technology given to China by Bill Clinton, with warheads developed from uranium sold to Russia and refined by Iran into weapons-grade plutonium in Russian centrifuges bought with the money Obama gave them. 

And the Left thinks Donald Trump is a traitor for his attempt at undoing this unbelievable shit-storm sell-out?

Yup, I got it.

GHOST RANCH RULES

Wake up smiling.

Watch wildlife.

Eat good.

Relax.

Make memories.

Watch birds.

Leave with an agate or a shed.

Nap.

Sit by a fire.

Listen to the river.

Drink refreshingly.

Savor the sunset.

Congress of the United States of America

So, you think these politicians represent you and what you want out of your government? 

Think again.  Their only goal is to remain in office and do what they do.   They care not what you want. 

Beholden to the greed and money that funds them.

Sickening state of affairs isn't it?

(MORE) Taxation without representation

Beginning or around March 19, 2018, TD Ameritrade will pass through the FINRA imposed trading activity fees on sell transactions. The Trading activity fee is based upon sell transactions for certain security types such as covered equities, options and bonds.

Your clients were notified via a message in their December 2017 statement and trade confirmations. The same message will also be included in their January 2018 statement and trade confirmations.

Going forward, this fee will a be included under the "Reg Fee" section of each trade confirmation, combined with any other applicable regulatory fees. It will also be reflected in the totals for "commissions and fees" on the TD Ameritrade website within transactions and order histories.

A breakdown of the fee is below:

1. $0.000119 per share for each sale of a covered equity security, with a maximum charge of $5.95 per trade;

2. $0.002 per contract for each sale of an option; 

3. $0.00008 per contract for each round turn transaction of a security future, provided there is a minimum charge of $0.01 per round turn transaction; 

4. $0.00075 per bond for each sale of a covered TRACE-Eligible Security (other than an Asset-Backed Security) and/or municipal security, with a maximum charge of $0.75 per trade; 

5. $0.00000075 times the value, as reported to TRACE, of a sale of an Asset-Backed Security, with a maximum charge of $0.75 per trade.

6. In addition, if the execution price for a covered security is less than the Trading Activity Fee rate: 

a. $0.000119 for covered equity securities 
b. $0.002 for covered option contracts 
$0.01 for a security future on a per share 

INFLATION in AMERICA

Over the span of 2000-2016, the amount of money spent on food by the average American household increased from $5,158 to $7,203, which is a 39.6% increase in spending.

Despite this, as Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins notes, for most of the U.S. population, food actually makes up a decreasing portion of their household spending mix because of rising incomes over time. Just 13.1% of income was spent on food by the average household in 2016, making it a less important cost than both housing and transportation.

That said, fluctuations in food prices can still make a major impact on the population. For lower income households, food makes up a much higher percentage of incomes at 32.6% – and how individual foods change in price can make a big difference at the dinner table.

FLUCTUATING GROCERY PRICES

Today’s infographic comes from TitleMax, and it uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to show the prices for 30 common grocery staples over the last decade.

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

We’ve summarized the statistics in the following table to show the grocery prices in 2007 and 2017, as well as the total percentage change.

Only prices of three items fell: chicken breasts (-6.4%), whole milk (-7.4%), and eggs (-14.9%).

However, the average price increase for all items was 22%, buoyed especially by meats like bacon (58.2%), ground beef (44.6%), top round steak (40.6%), frozen turkey (38.3%) and sirloin steak (35.2%).

THE FUTURE OF FOOD

As we’ve previously noted, technology is being applied to agriculture and food in really interesting ways – and the future of food could be very different than what we see today.

How will the grocery prices of everyday staples be affected by growth in automated vertical farms, aquaponics, in vitro meats, and artificial animal products?

With shifting consumer preferences towards more local and sustainable products, it will be interesting to revisit this data in the coming years.