RealtyTrac has just released data saying there are 770,000 zombie homes across the US. That is a lot of zombies! We have a bigger problem than I thought. How do we get rid of all these zombies?
Above is a typical zombie home. There could be one in your neighborhood!
Wait! I have just been told by my significant other that a zombie house is a foreclosed house.
Never mind. 
Here are the answers to the questions asked at the end of the book, The Assassination of Political Robocalls by Michael E. Kelley.
To get the book, now available in paperback for $12.84, go to
http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=robocalls&categoryId=100501
For more discussion, tweet #assassinationpr.
Yep you read it right. There is at least one Republican that loves Obamacare.
And that is because he is retired and both his premium and his deductible dropped dramatically using Arkansas’ Obamacare Marketplace.
Here is the article with the details.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/10/02/2721501/butch-matthews-obamacare-convert/
Enjoy!
People are fascinated with what other people think is important. Take for instance how to travel light or what to keep on a deserted island.
While updating my LinkedIn.com profile the other day, I received a message about a blog post titled “Things I Will Carry”. I was curious to see what that person considered the most valuable items to carry.
Well soon as I read it, another message showed up about things another person will carry.
Then another and another.
So I Googled it and found 773,000 websites with things I will carry. Now that is a lot of things. Who could possibly carry them all?
What was really odd was people said they would carry their fetish or their geekiness.
Say what?
I will defend any geek and accept most fetishes, but to tout them on a blog is over the top.
I will stick to my blogs about death, zombies and President Obama. Did I actually put all of those in the same sentence? Awesome!
P.S. Being an engineer, I have to confess, I will always carry a pen to write with. But no pocket protector for me.
In a good way. Let me explain
2. Some (Walgreen) employees could end up paying less than $5 a month for a plan offering minimal coverage.
3. “This is good for EMPLOYERS because it makes their costs more predictable,” said Thomas Buchmueller, a health economist who teaches at the University of Michigan. “But it is also a good thing for EMPLOYEES, who will have more choices.”
4. Aon Hewitt said that the number of workers joining its (private) exchange in 2014 is five times the number currently enrolled. (Editor: Due to shift from individual insurance companies.)
5. 28 percent of the companies (surveyed) expect to join private health exchanges within five years.
6. The (private health-care) exchanges allow workers to shop for health benefits from a wide menu of insurance plans offering an array of coverage options and prices.
7. The idea behind private exchanges, like Obamacare, is to stoke competition that would lower prices while giving employees more options.
To confirm these facts, refer to this website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/walgreens-moves-workers-to-private-health-care-exchanges/2013/09/18/46f2c074-2082-11e3-8459-657e0c72fec8_story.html
I predict that health-care insurance companies will NOT survive unless they are part of public OR private health-care exchanges.
I predict that the exchanges will reduce the number of plans in the next few years. Care First has already lowered their number from 62 to 8.
Some of the companies that are in private exchanges include: eHealthInsurance, BenefitMall, Liazon Corporation, ConnectedHealth, Choice Administrators, TowersWatson -Extend.
Some of the companies that are in public exchanges include: Celtic, Kaiser, CIGNA, Access Health, Care First (Blue Cross / Blue Shield)
For more information visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance_marketplace
Who says having a mustache is out of date?
Celebrities like James Franco, Colin Farrell, and Jason Sudeikis are sporting mustaches. Consequently they are everywhere – on women, babies and teenagers.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/news/the-3-commandments-for-making-a-mustache-work-172231992.html
Never underestimate the power of the ‘stache.
President Obama wasn’t going to let Syria’s President Bashar Assad be the only one with a Bill Cosby impersonation.
The President is seen here saying, “Anybody got any frizzle frazzle?”
The Obama response was prompted by a news report on The Daily Show Tuesday Sept 10 by Aasif Mandvi. In this video clip of the report is a Cosby impersonation by Assad during his Charm Offensive.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-september-9-2013/inglourious-bashar—charm-offensive
Enjoy these rare moments between wars as politicians let down their guard.
For some reason I am suddenly craving a pudding pop.
Does this scene look familiar?
Well this happened to me this past weekend when my wife and I were on a California freeway and I crossed the double yellow line to get into the carpool lane.
As many Californians know, there is a carpool entrance and exit every couple of miles. It would be “too normal” to have one before each freeway exit and another one after each on-ramp. In other words there are a lot fewer than is logically necessary.
The officer told me why I was pulled over. He asked me where I was going. I told him we were visiting my son and we didn’t drive this freeway very often. I then added that I thought there were way too few carpool lane entrances. He replied that he gets that all the time. After I gave him my registration and insurance card, he asked if my record was clean. I replied, “Yes.” Then he went to his car to confirm my record.
When he returned, he asked me an unusual question, “Are you a former fireman or policeman?” I replied, “No.” He then proceeded to let me off with a warning instead of the $389 traffic fine.
When we pulled away, I realized he thought I was a former fireman or policeman because of my mustache!
The moral of the story: the mustache saved the day! Or maybe it was cause my wife winked at him.
We need only 1 more state legislature to ask for a Balanced Budget Amendment and then a Constitutional Convention will be held to overturn Citizens United AND pass a Balanced Budget Amendment. That is because the Constitution DOES NOT LIMIT the topics at a Constitutional Convention.
Citizens United said that Corporations are people and that money is free speech.
That isn’t what our Founding Fathers intended.
See the following wikipedia website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_budget_amendment
go to the History section and read the last paragraph which says the following:
Article V of the Constitution specifies that if the legislatures of two-thirds of the states petition Congress for a constitutional amendment, then Congress must call a convention for proposing amendments. Between May 8, 1957 (Indiana), and July 21, 1983 (Missouri), applications from 32 different state legislatures, were submitted to Congress on the subject of a Balanced Budget Amendment. On October 30, 2013, the Ohio Senate adopted Senate Joint Resolution No. 5; making Ohio the 33rd state.
If one additional state legislature were to petition, then the required two-thirds majority of states would be reached (34 out of 50 states) and some contend that Congress would be required to call a convention to propose a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Why can’t anyone submit a stock sell order with a price range? In other words with a maximum price AND a minimum price so you maximize your profit and minimize your loss? Why do we have to hope it will go up and never go down?
Why do we have to use a 100 year old process that is susceptible to flash crashes and flash freezes?
Benefits of a selling price range include less risk. A flash crash would be averted because free-falling stock prices would not happen since everyone would sell out at the lower price before a crash occurred.
But better yet, what if you allowed the maximum price to rise with the stock price? The result is more profit if your stock rises even further.
And what if this new system works for shorting stocks as well as buying stocks?
There is a patent pending process called the Low High Trailing Execution Stock Orders System.
Time to enter the next century.
Michael E Kelley 
