"The stock market is at an all-time, but economic activity is not at an all-time," explains billionaire investor Sam Zell to CNBC this morning, adding that, "every company that's missed has missed on the revenue side, which is a reflection that there's a demand issue; and when you got a demand issue it's hard to imagine the stock market at an all-time high." Zell said he is being very cautious adding to stocks and cutting some positions because "I don't remember any time in my career where there have been as many wildcards floating out there that have the potential to be very significant and alter people's thinking." Zell also discussed his view on Obama's Fed encouraging disparity and on tax inversions, but concludes, rather ominously, "this is the first time I ever remember where having cash isn't such a terrible thing." Zell's calls should not be shocking following George Soros. Stan Druckenmiller, and Carl Icahn's warnings that there is trouble ahead.

Sharks are nine times more likely to kill men than women, new research from Australia shows.
Men are targeted in 84 per cent of all unprovoked shark attacks, and make up 89 per cent of all shark bite fatalities - which means that women are statistically more likely to survive a shark attack.

The numbers are from a study out of Bond University in Queensland to be published in the international journal Coastal Management this week.
Report author associate professor Daryl McPhee told the Telegraph the results were so surprising that he had to double-check them.
"Potentially men spend more time in the water, and are more risk-prone," he suggested.

This message is addressed to you, oh Vladimir Putin. These are your aircraft which you sent to Bashar, and with the help of Allah we will send them back to you. Remember this. And with the permission of Allah we will liberate Chechnya and all the Caucasus. The Islamic State exists and it will exist and it will expand with the help of Allah. Your throne is already shaking. It is in danger and it will collapse when we get to you. We are on the way with Allah’s permission.

Seventeen fake cellphone towers were discovered across the U.S. last week, according to a report in Popular Science.

Rather than offering you cellphone service, the towers appear to be connecting to nearby phones, bypassing their encryption, and either tapping calls or reading texts.

Les Goldsmith, the CEO of ESD America, used ESD's CryptoPhone 500 to detect 17 bogus cellphone towers. ESD is a leading American defense and law enforcement technology provider based in Las Vegas.

With most phones, these fake communication towers are undetectable. But not for the CryptoPhone 500, a customized Android device that is disguised as a Samsung Galaxy S III but has highly advanced encryption.

Goldsmith told Popular Science: " Interceptor use in the U.S. is much higher than people had anticipated. One of our customers took a road trip from Florida to North Carolina and he found eight different interceptors on that trip. We even found one at South Point Casino in Las Vegas.”

The towers were found in July, but the report implied that there may have been more out there.

Although it is unclear who owns the towers, ESD found that several of them were located near U.S. military bases.

"Whose interceptor is it? Who are they, that's listening to calls around military bases? Is it just the U.S. military, or are they foreign governments doing it? The point is: we don't really know whose they are," Goldsmith said to Popular Science.

I hope they don't get it all wrong. I've learned that being an economics professor in no way prepares you for explaining bitcoin.

Some pundits are surprised that I support destroying the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) militarily. They shouldn’t be. I’ve said since I began public life that I am not an isolationist, nor am I an interventionist. I look at the world, and consider war, realistically and constitutionally.

I still see war as the last resort. But I agree with Reagan’s idea that no country should mistake U.S. reluctance for war for a lack of resolve.

As Commander-in-Chief, I would not allow our enemies to kill our citizens or our ambassadors. “Peace through Strength” only works if you have and show strength.

Our recent foreign policy has allowed radical jihadists to proliferate. Today, there are more terrorists groups than there were before 9/11, most notably ISIS. After all the sacrifice in Afghanistan and Iraq, why do we find ourselves in a more dangerous world?

And why, after six years, does President Obama lack a strategy to deal with threats like ISIS?

This administration’s dereliction of duty has both sins of action and inaction, which is what happens when you are flailing around wildly, without careful strategic thinking.

And while my predisposition is to less intervention, I do support intervention when our vital interests are threatened.

If I had been in President Obama’s shoes, I would have acted more decisively and strongly against ISIS. I would have called Congress back into session—even during recess.

This is what President Obama should have done. He should have been prepared with a strategic vision, a plan for victory and extricating ourselves. He should have asked for authorization for military action and would have, no doubt, received it.

Once we have decided that we have an enemy that requires destruction, we must have a comprehensive strategy—a realistic policy applying military power and skilful diplomacy to protect our national interests.

The immediate challenge is to define the national interest to determine the form of intervention we might pursue. I was repeatedly asked if I supported airstrikes. I do—if it makes sense as part of a larger strategy.

I recently returned from a medical mission to Guatemala organized by the John Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah.

My first connection with Guatemala was in the 1990's.

I met the Hernandez brothers when they were kids. They were led into the examining room by their foster mother.  Though they were blind, both boys still worked together to bring water from the river for their family in a small village in Guatemala.

During the week over 200 patients, many of them blind with cataracts, had their vision restored.
I met them because of the humanitarian work of Bill and Judy Schwank. Bill was born in Guatemala and came to the U.S. to practice neurosurgery.  His wife, Judy, is an attorney and longtime advocate for adoption.

They brought Juan and Andres Hernandez to me in 1999 to see if I could restore any of their vision. Juan was 8 and Andres 14. 

On examination, I found that they had mature cataracts.  Juan could see hand motion and Andres light perception only.  I explained that the vision center in the brain must be stimulated before age of 7 or vision isn't possible-- even if the cataracts are removed. Our hope was that the cataracts were not mature at birth and that the boys had some vision at an early age.

I performed their cataract surgery in Bowling Green, Ky. The Schwanks raised and contributed the money necessary to bring the brothers to the United States.

I remember them well because the boys had never before seen running water and they somehow stopped the drain and left the water running-- a mini-disaster for the foster family.

The two half brothers life is ruined. I wonder how the government can help them integrate back in to the society.

May be they are better off staying in the prison.

You should sell your account qnd start another one, your name doesnt match your personality.

We've already got 'contactless' debit/credit purchases in stores so I cant see any reason why this can't be implemented for bitcoin. My main concern is actually just getting merchants to accept bitcoin at all.

I genuinely think this is a sell off before a major price rise, this is similar to what happened when we hit $1000 before, hopefully this time the rise will be a real one.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has authorized sending 350 more military personnel to Iraq protect U.S. facilities and personnel in Baghdad, the White House said Tuesday night.

The moves comes at the recommendation of the Defense Department, but the additional personnel will not be serving in a combat role, the White House said in a statement. Most are from the Army and some are Marines, the Pentagon said in a statement.