(Global) Geography Quiz

And not an easy quiz, at that. For example...

4. This continent's highest mountain is named for a hero of the American Revolution - who happened to be from Poland. Which continent? Bonus points if you can name the mountain.
33. Six countries use the rupee as their currency. How many can you name? We'll spot you India.

Answers included at the bottom of the page. No fair peeking!
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Why WalMart/WMT?

Another (complex) reason to be bullish on WalMart/WMT...

"Although Walmart’s $7.5 billion in Chinese sales receipts account for only 2 percent of the company’s annual revenues, its sales in China have risen substantially over the past decade. Sales in the United States, by contrast, have been shrinking. And as China’s retail market—the world’s fastest-growing—expands by 18 percent a year, Walmart’s executives smell the intoxicating scent of more growth to come. Equally important, if not more so, some 20,000 Chinese suppliers, or “partners,” reportedly provide Walmart with about 70 percent of the nearly $420 billion worth of goods that it sells globally each year. (Because of the complexity of the global supply chain, the percentage from China is hard to calculate.) China has become so crucial to Walmart’s supply chain that in 2002, the retail giant moved its global sourcing headquarters across the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, in southern China."

-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Smart or Stoopid?

"Are you smarter or stoopider (sic) than the average person? Take this short IQ test (link below), and find out how you compare..."

A word or two of warning before you begin: the test is not solely of your knowledge but your knowledge measured against time. If I recall correctly, you have 8 seconds/question to respond.

Ready, then? Get set. Begin!

Oh, and have fun!
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Season's Greetings

Best wishes to you and yours!
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult

If I could assign a single article to read in order to describe the political world as I view it, this commentary would be it. Written by a recently retired Republican staffer, he nails the pathology of both the Republicans and the Democrats without simplistically equating the two. His analysis is straightforward, his language direct, and his many and varied insights prove spot-on time and again...

You know that Social Security and Medicare are in jeopardy when even Democrats refer to them as entitlements. "Entitlement" has a negative sound in colloquial English: somebody who is "entitled" selfishly claims something he doesn't really deserve. Why not call them "earned benefits," which is what they are because we all contribute payroll taxes to fund them? That would never occur to the Democrats. Republicans don't make that mistake; they are relentlessly on message: it is never the "estate tax," it is the "death tax."

Did I mention I like this essay? I do, lot. Read it!
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Eleven months and three weeks from now.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Makes you want to go there

Absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful place... and ad

See what I mean?
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Risking death for...

... mussels?!

"The people of Kangiqsujuaq in Canada go to great lengths to add variety to their diet of seal meat, venturing under the sea ice during the extreme low tides of the spring equinox to gather mussels."

Jaw dropping but brief (3 minutes) video you must watch...

"Jaw-dropping" for the video's beauty, but also the venture's inherent risk. A 30 minute window? Yikes!
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Winter fun

Riding a challenging course on a snowmobile, and then...

Keep watching. It gets better, more fun. For the viewer.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

Thank you (again) to Harvey A.

Apple's iBooks v1.5

Apple has updated its e-reader app, iBooks. The changes, in a word, brilliant! Better would be two words, non-brilliant.

You see, they implemented a night time reading theme, which works wonders. No longer does the iPad's backlight bathe you, and anyone near you, in its glow. The change, in essence, reverses the image: white type on a black backdrop rather than black type on a white (and ultra-bright) backdrop.

A few other changes: full screen and a greater variety of fonts.

I like the update. Download, and see for yourself.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

The greatest card trick. Ever!

See what I mean?
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

The folly of price AND time

Hmmm, what happens if...
- Christmas comes, but not 1330?
- 1330 comes, but well before Christmas?
- 1330 comes, but well after Christmas?
- Insert here your favorite permutation

In other words, where are the contingency plans? You know, if this, then that; if not this, then this other.

Tom DeMark is a smart fellow - he knows and understands the markets well - so I suspect the journalist edited Tom's commentary to the headline-grabber.

Ahh, the folly of pronouncements. I prefer good old money management.
-- David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist

WOW!

Impressive all...

But note the extraordinary last feat. I would say unbelievable, if I had not just seen it with my own eyes!
--David M Gordon / The Deipnosophist