How Does Comey's Fall Play in Hillaryland? No One Is Celebrating

Liberals are not linear thinkers

 

The fact that Hillary supporters put our grave concerns about Trump's love for the Russians ahead of our frustration over Comey's role in costing Hillary the presidential election only confirms that Clinton supporters do not think in a linear path, as do Trump supporters -- and many Sanders supporters, as well. 

Boys Club | Henceforth, Let Women Make The Trades | Lehman Sisters Wouldn't Have Failed | Uber Update |

French Roast News

Anne is reading …

Best Wishes For Wall Street

Eight Things I Wish for Wall Street Bloomberg View

BoingBoing directed me to Michael Lewis’ new prescription list for Wall Street, along with this priceless view of Arturo Di Modica’s ‘Charging Bull’, located in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

3. Women will henceforth make all Wall Street trading decisions.

Men are more prone to financial risk-taking, and overconfidence, and so will be banned from even secondary roles on Wall Street trading desks — though they will be permitted to do whatever damage they would like in their private investment accounts. Trading is a bit like pornography: Women may like it, but they don’t like it nearly as much as men, and they certainly don’t like it in ways that create difficulties for society. Put them in charge of all financial decision-making and the decisions will be more boring, but more sociable. Of course, this raises a practical question: How will our society find enough women older than 35, with no special intellectual ability, to fill all of Wall Street’s trading jobs? Well …

4. Wall Street will take the resources it once hurled at Harvard and Yale universities, to recruit their students, and invest in America’s leading retirement communities, to recruit their swelling population of elderly women, most of whom are currently wasting valuable trading hours.

Lenman Sisters Wouldn’t Have Failed Big Think

Writer John Cookson explains why women are probably better constituted biochemically to work on Wall Street as traders and fund managers. You see, men tend to go all hormonal!

Men’s cortisol levels respond very powerfully from competitive situations, and women not so much.  Women’s cortisol responses and stress responses seem more powerful from social stressors.”  According to this theory, which (John) Coates has begun testing, a male’s cortisol-fueled stress response might exacerbate a bear or middling market by responding with skewed memories and anxiety to events, whereas a female risk response would be more stable across a variety of circumstances.

The numbers don’t lie, says Coates. “Women have been found over a long period of time to outperform men by up to two percent return—which is a lot,” he says. According to BusinessWeek, hedge funds run by women turned an annual rate of return of 9% between 2000 and 2009—versus 5.82% from funds run by men over the same period. A study by U.C. Davis researchers also found that men in the financial industry make 45 percent more trades than their female counterparts do—a gap that reduces their net returns by 2.65 percentage points per year compared with the 1.72 percentage points women lose on their trading fees.

The truth behind testosterone: why men risk it all Wired UK

CTPartners

In wake of controversy, CTPartners loses a client New York Post

Embattled Wall Street recruiter CTPartners may have ‘mommy issues’ New York Post

After ‘boozy romp’ claims, firm’s stock takes a dive New York Post

Phallic shadows, naked scrums, and a very bad day for CTPartners MarketWatch

It all started early Monday when the New York Post reported some colorful claims of discrimination against women. Not only did female workers “routinely” have profitable accounts taken away and given to their male counterparts, they were also subjected to some inappropriate “booze-fueled” behavior, according to the complaint.

One exec called himself “daddy” and offered a spanking. Four others formed a naked rugby-like scrum in front of a mixed crowd of coworkers and ran into the ocean. Another would call women into his office to talk about how the shadows on the buildings outside looked like “penises.” All told, there were more than a dozen different sexual-harassment complaints brought internally in the New York office in 2012, according to the Post.

Have Wall Street’s Gay and Female Diversity Policies Gone Too Far or Not Far Enough Vault

Uber News

Uber’s Delhi Rape Incident Has Opened A Hidden Entrepreneurial Door Forbes

Delhi is not unlike most major metropolises in the world – safety is a matter of concern in the same way as it is in New York or London or Paris. Being street-wise and conscious of one’s movements and actions is just as pertinent here as it is anywhere.

The difference is this: the average male in a population of a billion is raised to believe that he is better than the average female, and can therefore live his life in any way he chooses, while the females are told they must remain in fear.

Uber Driver Charged With Kidnapping, Sexual Assault Boston.com

Let Uber Operate With Less Regulation And Riders Can Make Their Own Choice Forbes

Uber says it will toughen background checks CNN

He said Uber is developing biometric and voice verification to enhance driver screening, and building ways for passengers to communicate with the company immediately in case of emergency. It will also start working with partners with expertise in issues like women’s safety, conflict resolution and road safety to provide additional training to the company, he said.

After a spate of bad press for Uber, some turn back to traditional taxis NY Daily News

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Eye | A Traveling Education | Meditation Rebuilds Brain Structure | Trends In Remarriage

LifeTracker

Self-Education By Traveling

Traveling Teaches Students in a Way Schools Can’t The Atlantic

Traveling and studying abroad can often educate young Americans in ways that the classroom cannot. To achieve lifelong lessons, it’s best to stay close to the people and not in the lap of luxury when setting out to understand how others live around the world.

Traveling to these places made me realize that the “advantages” I initially thought I had over others were not necessarily advantages to everyone. Many actually preferred living with the challenges they faced over living in a country like mine, where other things are missing. A professional I met in South America who had turned down a job offer in the United States told me, “I’d never want to move there, even though I’d make more money. The social part of life is better here, I find people happier here, and my quality of life is what matters most.” Rick Steves, the popular travel guidebook writer and television host, expressed similar thoughts in an interview with Salon when he said, “It’s a very powerful Eureka! moment when you’re traveling: to realize that people don’t have the American dream. They’ve got their own dream. And that’s not a bad thing. That’s a good thing.”

Married Once Do It Again

Marriage is in decline in America, as it is in much of the developed world. Pew Research reports that the share of all adults who have married once has fallen from 85% in 1960 to 70% in 2013.

One interesting factoid in this trend is the willingness of divorced or widowed adults to remarry. About 57% of this population does remarry, a similar number to 50 years ago.

There is a gender gap in attitudes about remarriage, and it’s not what you might expect.

There are definite gender differences on this question: Most currently divorced or widowed men are open to the idea of remarriage, but women in the same circumstances are less likely to be open to the idea. Among previously married men, 65% either want to remarry or are not sure; 30% say that they don’t want to remarry. Among women who are currently divorced or widowed, only 43% say they may want to remarry, while 54% say they are not interested.

It’s older people who are remarrying. Among those ages 25 to 34, 43% had remarried in 2013, compared with 75% in 1960.

8% of newly married adults have at least one partner marrying for the third time. And men do remarry younger women.

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Body Beat | Mind Control of Food Cravings | Ashley Graham For Navabi | Christie Brinkley's New Skin Care Line

Body Beat | Mind Control of Food Cravings |  Ashley Graham For Navabi |  Christie Brinkley’s New Skin Care Line

 …  Anecdotally,  I have engaged in these practices for years, coming to grips with my own cravings as the primary vehicle for controlling my weight. When I see photos of a Big Mac or other fat-drenched burger, my mind says ‘poison’ and I actually have a response of disgust, not desire. 

Brain science suggests that we can employ the same tactics in reprogramming our brains to resist size 0 fashion models as the ‘ideal’ vision of female beauty and a body image we women should regard as aspirational. This AOC article deserves updating, because science clearly is on my side in the assumption that we CAN control our response to advertising and commercial messaging, as well as our own private desires for food and drink. It’s tough going in the beginning, but we CAN do it! ~ Anne

Chantal Thomass, Red Wine Is More Sensual Than Coca-Cola Light

Chantal Thomass, Red Wine Is More Sensual Than Coca-Cola Light

However, one little distress signal that went off in my mind reading about Coke Light France’s new campaign with the svelte Chantal Thomass is the growing body of scientific evidence that Diet Coke works against our having slim bodies. (Read last year’s Is Marc Jacobs Defying Obesity Science Promoting Diety Coke?)

Bottom line I love Chantal Thomass, but raise my eyebrows over her statement about Coca-cola Light and sensuality, one that brings back a tirade I wrote a few years back, after Coke minis was all over my email account promising to deliver happiness in a can. It was read by the then Director of Innovation at Pepsi, who is now a buddy of mine.  (Read Coca Cola Does Not Deliver Big O Happiness in a Can.)

“I feel very honored that I have commissioned art director for Coca -Cola Light for Spring 2014. I can think of no better way to celebrate the codes of feminine glamour and sensuality present in my designs corsetry and lingerie, than with this iconic drink “ Chantal Thomass has commented in a press release .

Oh come on, Chantal, we Smart Sensuality women prefer a good glass of health-enhancing, red wine and you know it! ~ Anne

Male Canary Brains Bathed In Testosterone Hit The Seductive High Notes

Male Canary Brains Bathed In Testosterone Hit The Seductive High Notes

Seducing a female canary isn’t easy. They are picky, frankly, looking for males particularly adept at singing “sexy syllables” that may indicate their overall genetic robustness. Researchers have previously determined that unlike most vocal notes produced by a male canary, the sexy trills require “extraordinarily fast and coordinated alternation between the left and right sides of the syrinx (the avian vocal organ) more than 16 times a second.

For the male canary capable of executing this performance — even on tape — caged female canaries assume postures inviting copulation.

Junk Food Creates Dopamine-Deficit Addiction In Rats

Love to Eat| While the findings that rats consuming high-calorie foods behaved as if they were compulsively addicted cannot be applied directly to humans, scientists believe the research is highly relevant.

Specifically the scientists found decreased levels of a dopamine receptor that sends a feeling of reward in the brains of overweight rats.

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