My useful and useless facts thread

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<p><strong>Oh Noes...Apparently, you can be too sexy!</strong></p>

<p class="times">Victoria's Secret likes to ask in its marketing, "What is sexy?" Now the lingerie chain is trying to figure out, "What's too sexy?"</p>

<p class="times">The chief executive of the brand known for its provocative televised fashion shows and alluring stores made an admission yesterday. In her mind, the brand has become "too sexy" -- or at least the wrong kind of sexy.</p>

<p class="times">"We have so much gotten off our heritage," CEO Sharen Jester Turney said in a conference call with analysts. Responding to the past year's weak sales and focus-group feedback, she said, "We will return to an ultra-feminine lingerie brand to meet [customer] needs and expectations." <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120421181615799917.html?mod=todays_us_nonsub_marketplace">MORE in the Wall St. Journal</a></p>

<p class="times"><img height="199" alt="[A Victoria's Secret model in the company's recent Super Bowl ad.]" hspace="" width="245" border="0" src="http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MK-AO433_VICTOR_20080228231600.jpg" /></p>

<p><strong></strong></p>
 
She's right. Their stuff is all "cute" and designed for late teens/early 20's. Not the kind of "sexy" that made them a worldwide name.
 
<p><strong>The Ray Gun</strong></p>

<p>"It's no longer the stuff of science fiction: the Pentagon has a real-life ray gun! It's officially called the "Active Denial System" and it shoots out a 100,000 watt beam of invisible radio waves which stops a person in their tracks." <a href="http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/145/the_ray_gun">Video demonstration linky...</a></p>

<p><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4227541&cl=6718896&lang=en','playerWindow','width=793,height=608,scrollbars=no'));"><img height="184" alt="The Ray Gun" width="314" border="0" src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/60minutes/20080229/e385e894ba55f4d931bf36ac43c124e4.jpg?x=314&y=180&q=85&sig=jILFdXxmcUiYqe_Hd7ARag--" /></a><a href="javascript:void(window.open('http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/ynews?ch=4227541&cl=6718896&lang=en','playerWindow','width=793,height=608,scrollbars=no'));"></a></p>
 
<p>Today it's "Active Denial System"</p>

<p>Tomorrow it's:</p>

<p><img height="147" alt="" width="200" src="http://www.phasers.net/2260/p2-cl04.jpg" /></p>

<p>And the then you get:</p>

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Tl45bhzneJM" width="425" height="355" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed>
 
<p><a href="http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/2008/01/baconflavored_v.html">How to make bacon-flavored vodka</a></p>

<p> </p>
 
Cemetery full, mayor tells locals not to die




<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSL0552076620080305">Cemetery full, mayor tells locals not to die | U.S. | Reuters</a>
 
In our old home in Conifer, Colorado, water in an open pot boiled at 192 degrees F. The house was built at 9570 ft above sea level. Normal atmospheric pressure at that altitude is 10.2 psia instead of the 14.7 found on the beach.
 
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_fe_st/odd_rescued_kitten">Kitten survives trip in shipping crate</a></p>

<p>CLEVELAND - A scrawny, black and white female kitten has apparently survived a trip across the Pacific Ocean and North America inside a shipping crate. Cleveland Animal Protective League Executive Director Sharon Harvey says a Cleveland company that received the crate of spooled steel coil Friday found the kitten inside one the spools. </p>

<p><a onclick="return openSS(this.href);" target="ss" href="http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Cleveland-Singapore/photo//080307/480/021945361b0248abb377e1e33a8ab449//s:/ap/20080308/ap_on_fe_st/odd_rescued_kitten;_ylt=Alif.fFIcn852kVSdVsqsVcuQE4F"><img height="143" alt="Ayse Casson holds a malnourished kitten at the Animal Protective League shelter in Cleveland Friday, March 7, 2008. The kitten was discovered in a shipment of steel coil from Singapore delivered to a local Cleveland firm. The shipment was sealed Feb. 4, 2008 and arrived in Cleveland Friday. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)" width="180" border="0" src="http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080307/capt.021945361b0248abb377e1e33a8ab449.rescued_kitten_ohmd101.jpg?x=180&y=143&q=85&sig=Ma3XRWpRwSw6kqvTrqen9A--" /></a></p>
 
<img height="280" alt="" width="600" border="0" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/09/opinion/09opart.600.gif" />
 
Hope she's not gay....





<a href="http://news.aol.com/story/_a/woman-earns-silver-star-in-afghan-war/20080309110809990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001">Woman Earns Silver Star in Afghan War - AOL News</a>
 
<em>Unfortunately, authorities say hundreds of people have fallen victim to a scam in which they think they're signing up to be "mystery shoppers" - regular folks who are paid to evaluate retailers. Some have lost thousands of dollars after cashing counterfeit checks and wiring money back to scammers, usually in Canada or another foreign country.





</em><a href="http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/scam-bilks-aspiring-mystery-shoppers/20080306175909990001">Scam Bilks Aspiring 'Mystery Shoppers' - AOL Money & Finance</a>
 
New York governor Eliot Spitzer linked to prostitution




<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/10/spitzer.ap/index.html">N.Y. Times: New York governor linked to prostitution - CNN.com</a>





The article doesn't make it clear whether he is a "customer" or an actual "participant" in the business......wow.
 
Doug Kass, President of Seabreeze Partners, has just announced he is going to Short Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Oh, the horror of it all.





Shorting Buffett, the case against Berkshire:





-There will never be another Buffett


-Investors will sell when he leaves


-Growth is slowing


-Weak investment returns ahead


-Overvalued stock


-Buffett stake to be sold to charity


-Key holdings vulnerable


-Too big to grow significantly


-Weak disclosure





(P.S.) Kass made it a point to say that he personally worships at the alter of Buffett, so it clearly pains him to be making this annoucement.





Thoughts?
 
<p>In the short term, shorting BRK.A is a smart play; the market is crap and that stock moves in increments of $1000s in a day. That said, it's suicidal long-term unless you know the day that Buffett steps aside... and even then it's not a long-term certainty.</p>

<p>As for Spitzer, the sheer disconnect amazes me. The manner in which he went about it, considering his past as AG, makes me think that either the pressure got to him or he was this stupid all along and his luck finally ran out. Either way, my cup of schadenfreude runneth over.</p>
 
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