Duh!!!!

From a recent news story out of Yahoo!: “Oil prices tumbled below $40 for the first time since the summer of 2004 Wednesday despite an announcement from OPEC of a record production cut of 2.2 million barrels a day. Markets had already priced in a vastly reduced flow of oil and traders focused instead on troubling economic data that points to a long and severe recession. Demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended Dec. 12 was 2.7 percent lower than a year earlier. Meanwhile, the dollar suffered its biggest one-day decline against the euro after the Federal Reserve cut a key lending rate target to historic lows. That would typically lead more investors into the crude market because oil is bought and sold in dollars and you can get more bang for the buck. But investors in this harsh economic climate are holding onto their wallets like never before, betting there's not enough global demand to support higher crude prices, said Gene McGillian, an analyst at Tradition Energy. "Oil prices should be a lot stronger," McGillian said.” This goes to show that speculators control the price of oil - speculators and middlemen and nobody else. Demand dropped 3% but prices dropped 70%. Explain that to me please. A weak dollar should mean higher prices but it does not – explain that to me. I have said from the beginning that speculators control much of the markets. Right now, they are scared to death and do not want to lose any money if they can avoid it. Regardless, that beautiful woman on the left does not care – she’s dead. We are not. Don't you wish you could stay 35 forever?

Hemlines

Here is proof that the economy is (or will shortly be) improving. This is not a supermodel who is being paid to wear the high hemline. She is just an average woman (no, not my next door neighbor) who is confident about the economy. I bet you she isn't even worried about job security. She has a penthouse on the third floor. Cool.

Famous Suicides

Famous suicides is an odd subject. I was researching the biography of a composer the other day (that's him on the left) when I discovered the poor guy had committed suicide by laying down on some railroad tracks. He was 54. His name was Ernest Pingoud and his talent had never been recognized in his native Finland (or anywhere else). In other words, he was decidedly unsuccessful. I asked myself if perhaps that was the cause of his decision to end his life. The answer was, of course, NO. It is said that suicide is most often caused by a failed relationship or a financial hardship. That is, of course, NOT TRUE. People don't end it all because they're broke, or because they're unhappy with someone, or because they regret something they did. Failure can cause the body (and the mind) to sort of shut down and become ill - absolutely yes. Mozart and Bizet and Mussorgsky and Modigliani come to mind. However, none of them ended their own life, although they all became ill and died young. I think suicide happens when a person becomes truly isolated in their psyche - like being at the bottom of a deep well with no way out. There are many, many poor people in the world who never kill themselves. There are many people whose relationships end badly. They also don't necessarily kill themselves. On the other hand, there are many people who have everything who shoot themselves to death. The only common denominator is the devastating mental isolation. Herewith, then, is a short list of famous people who did themselves in. Salvador Allende, Edwin Armstrong, Diana Churchill, Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hemingway, Abbie Hoffman, Frida Kahlo, Christina Onassis, Mark Rothko, Romy Schneider, and Amy Vanderbilt.