Thursday Morning Non-Bakken News and Comments

1. CNN hits lowest primetime "demo" rating in primetime in 15 years. Incredible.

Unfortunately for CNN, “Piers Morgan Tonight” was the apparent victim of the busy night, drawing only 39,000 viewers 25-54 at 9 PM. To say those ratings are anomalous would be something of an understatement. That is the lowest 9 PM weekday demo rating for CNN since at least 1997.

39,000 viewers nationwide. That is incredible. I assume 38,000 of those viewers were folks walking through airport terminals. A captive audience.

2. I don't know if you have been following the story coming out of Washington, DC, in which the president has inserted himself in the bios of the previous presidents. Apparently, it has gone viral:


Upon Retirement

3. I don't think this is exactly what they meant, but the verbatim quote from the LA Times:

Headline: coffee linked to lower risk of death

The story: A study finds that older adults who drink java are less likely to die than those who don't. Subjects who averaged four or five cups per day fared best, though it's not clear why.

"Less likely to die." Really.

4. Harvard's first woman of color?  Elizabeth Warren is trying to "crawl back" from any assertions that she knew anyone was describing her as as minority (1/32nd Cherokee) but now one of the Boston tabloids has a full-front-page photo of a recipe for baked beans submitted to something called "Pow-Wow Cookbook." No big deal except it was submitted by "an" Elizabeth Warren.

5. Several housing stories regarding the Bakken posted earlier: a) at least 5,000 more houses needed in Williston; some say 7,000 more houses needed now; others say 25,000 more houses will eventually be needed. Dunn County has ended moratorium on crew camps. Dickinson moving closer to large house development.

6. For investors in energy, the play to be: "midstream." Story posted earlier.

7. Jobless claims hold steady at 370,000. Remember, 400,000 is the is magic number. Steady is not good. But it's better than an increase.

8. Wal-Mart's quarterly revenue numbers are amazing: revenues of $113 billion vs $110.5 estimated.

9. Maryland: a) increases taxes on the wealthy (defined as income > $100,000); b) increases taxes on small businesses; and, c) shifts teachers' pension costs to counties (from state). The legislature is 2/3rds Democrat. The spending bill is $1 billion more than last year.

10. Yesterday's news of Robert F Kennedy, Jr's, second wife hanging herself came just days after I finished reading Anthony Summers' biography of Marilyn Monroe. This is the first paragraph from a story of yesterday's news:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s estranged wife, Mary, who battled her husband’s rumored philandering by turning to alcohol and prescription drugs, hanged herself in a barn on their Westchester estate yesterday, sources told The Post.

Until one reads the Monroe biography, one does not get a real feeling for the extent of the "rumored philandering" of some men in this family. Marilyn Monroe was a very sympathetic figure. Somehow I could accept "mad men" back in the late 50's and early 60's but I thought things had changed. Obviously not. 

From the linked story, this quote from a dinner guest:

“I remember being seated at a dinner next to Bobby around 10 years ago that she was also at — it was the first time I had met either of them — and he put his hand on my thigh under the table. We hadn’t even spoken but to say hello. He is such a dog that way.” 

It is a very sad story. Four children, I believe. Regarding Summer's biography on Monroe: I got a "clinical" feeling for Marilyn Monroe, but only in a few places did I feel an emotional response based on his writing. It would be interesting to read a psychological biography of Marilyn. She was certainly a much more complex individual than folks seem to note.

11. Verizon will end unlimited data plans for those grandfathered in when Verizon switches to LTE data plans. Wow.  If ATT had done this (and they most likely will do this eventually), this would have been headline news. For some reason Verizon gets a pass.