Today the next big release from Pebble has been ushered in, fully prepared for examination by thousands of Pebble watch users. This newest update was teased earlier this month with a picture of Pikachu – likely in an effort to gain eyeballs from the ravenous hordes of players of the game Pokemon GO. Unfortunately this update does not – somehow … Continue reading
If you’re looking to jump into the world of drones but aren’t too keen on the hefty up front cost some of them come with, you may want to check out the two new minidrones Parrot has announced. Dubbed the Mambo and the Swing, these two drones offer up some interesting functionality, whether you’re looking to do some stunt flying … Continue reading
When Chris Kesler was six years old, he sat just outside of his cousin’s room and peered at the flickering TV through a crack in the doorway. On-screen, in grainy VHS quality, a murderous red-haired doll in Cabbage Patch overalls laughed as it attemp…
Remember when drones used to be fun toys, not a serious business regulated by the Feds? Parrot does, judging by its two latest models, the Mambo and Swing. The $139 Swing looks a lot like an X-Wing fighter, but the wings aren’t just for show. After a…
Infinity Ward has already revealed quite a bit about the next title in the Call of Duty franchise but it’s yet to show off Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare’s multiplayer experience. Fans of the franchise can rest assured because they will not need to wait for a long time now. Infinity Ward has confirmed that it has set the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare multiplayer reveal for this Friday, September 2nd.
The Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare multiplayer reveal is going to take place on a live stream that will start off on Twitch at 1pm ET on Friday, September 2nd.
Attendees at the Call of Duty XP event this coming weekend will also be able to try the multiplayer mode as well as the Zombies in Spaceland at the event.
Attendees will get a chance to play the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered multiplayer as well which comes bundled with certain editions of the new title.
The latest content release for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 called Salvation will be playable and the Call of Duty PlayStation VR Jackal flying experience will be available as well.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is scheduled to be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 4th.
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Multiplayer Reveal Set For Friday , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Microsoft confirmed today that Forza Horizon 3 has gone gold which basically means that development on the title has ceased and it’s now ready for physical disc production. To commemorate this achievement, Microsoft has released some new details about this game which include a special something from the Halo franchise as well as the Forza Horizon 3 PC system requirements.
Recommended Forza Horizon 3 PC system requirements include a 3.6GHz Intel Core i7 3820 processor with 12GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 970 or Nvidia GTX 1060, AMD R9 290X or AMD RX 480 graphics card, 55GB of hard drive space, Windows Anniversary Edition 64-bit 14393.101 and DirectX 12.
PC players will have access to a tremendous amount of adjustment options to fine-tune their experience. Basic options include full screen, vertical sync, and resolution while advanced options include quality settings for motion blur, mirrors, reflection, static and dynamic geometry.
Microsoft has also released the full list of Forza Horizon 3 achievements on its website. There’s a ton to do in this game so players will have plenty of fun trying to bag all of these trophies while playing the game.
The special something from the Halo franchise happens to be the Warthog vehicle that is playable in Forza Horizon 3. However, the Warthog won’t be open to all players, there’s a catch you need to understand before you are able to take it for a spin in Forza Horizon 3.
Forza Horizon 3 is due to be released for Xbox One and PC on September 27th. It’s compatible with Xbox Play Anywhere which means that if you buy it on Xbox One you can play it on PC as well for free.
Forza Horizon 3 PC System Requirements Confirmed , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Bethesda confirmed some details of the sixth and final Fallout 4 DLC – NukaWorld – last month. It revealed the DLC’s gameplay just last week and those who have been waiting anxiously for it to arrive can rejoice as Bethesda has finally released the final DLC for Fallout 4. This DLC is included in the $50 season pass for the game which provides access to all previously released DLC and it can also be purchased on its own for $20.
Fallout 4 NukaWorld expansion follows Automatron, Wasteland Workshop, Far Harbor, Contraptions Workshop, and Vault-Tec Workshop. All of them are included in the $50 season pass.
NukaWorld is set in a post-nuclear amusement park of the same name. It features an open wasteland and park zones like Safari Adventure, Dry Rock Gulch, Galactic Zone, and Kiddie Kingdom. Players will be leading a lethal gang of Raiders to take over settlements so that they can control the Commonwealth as they see fit.
If you’re wondering how you’re supposed to access all of the new content in this DLC including the quests, don’t worry, Bethesda has prepared lengthy instructions which are now available on its forums.
Players first have to ensure that their version of the game is updated to version 1.7 and that they have downloaded and installed the NukaWorld expansion. They will want to be a level 30 or higher player.
Those who don’t have the season pass can purchase the Fallout 4 NukaWorld expansion starting today for $20.
Fallout 4’s Final DLC NukaWorld Released , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
By Michael Burge
Mortgages inherently deal with death. The word “mortgage” comes from the Old French for “death pledge,” meaning that the loan expires after being paid in full; if it’s not paid, the property is taken and is “dead” to the owner.
But what if your death pledge outlives you? Who pays your mortgage after you die?
Your lender can foreclose on your home if it doesn’t continue receiving regular payments after you pass away, says Sara Hire, a San Jose, California-based lawyer who specializes in estate planning. To prevent that, you should make a plan that would pass your home down to your heirs instead. Depending on your circumstances, that may involve having a co-borrower, or purchasing insurance to help someone carry the payments after you’re gone. It should definitely include making your wishes clear and legally binding with a will or trust.
Who’s responsible for mortgage payments after you die?
If you and your spouse took out the mortgage together, that co-borrower would be responsible for taking over the payments and would be the legal owner, free to live in the house, refinance the loan or sell it. If he or she isn’t on the loan — for instance, due to credit problems — talk to an attorney about your spouse’s rights; inheritance laws vary from state to state.
If you don’t have a co-borrower but you have a co-signer, that person would have to step up. Wells Fargo spokesman Tom Goyda says it’s smart for anyone who takes over payment responsibilities to notify the lender rather than simply sending in checks. This can prevent miscommunication and allow your heirs to assess all payment options.
As of 2014, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule makes it easier for anyone who inherits a home to get on the mortgage and qualify to make payments. Federal law also prohibits lenders from requiring the loan to be paid in full whenever a mortgage transfers to someone else. (Note that if you also have a home equity loan, lenders could require its payment in full.)
In the absence of a spouse or a co-signer, you should designate a beneficiary. Once the title has passed to that person, she can refinance the loan if she wants to hold onto the property.
Consider adding some insurance
If the person you leave the house to would have a hard time making the payments without you, you might want to buy insurance to help them with that expense. Hire says that a life insurance policy is often recommended if you have dependent children or if your beneficiaries don’t have much money.
One option would be mortgage life insurance, also known as mortgage protection insurance, or MPI. If you died, the lender would receive a check to pay off whatever remained on the mortgage. The downside is that the value of the policy decreases every year, because it will only pay whatever you still owe on the loan. And the money goes directly to the mortgage lender, not to your heirs.
For most people, Hire recommends life insurance as the better option. The value of the policy remains the same regardless of what’s owed on the mortgage. And the payout goes directly to your beneficiaries, allowing for more flexibility. They can use it to make mortgage payments if that’s what’s best for them, or they can put the insurance money to other needs.
Put your wishes in writing
The recent death of the musician Prince shows the importance of making such a plan. It appears that he didn’t leave a will or trust, and now multiple relatives are making claims on his estate, forcing the courts to get involved, which will likely be a lengthy and expensive process.
When you own property, drawing up a will or creating a trust is perhaps the best way to make things easy for your loved ones, says Sacramento, California-based attorney John Palley.
Most people will find that a will is cheaper and provides sufficient protection. But for others — particularly those with high-net-worth estates, or who live in states with high probate fees — a trust is worth the extra cost and effort. Make sure that the people who would have to carry out your wishes would know how to find the mortgage and other documentation if you were no longer around.
A will or a trust should guarantee that your house passes to your heirs as quickly as possible. Without one, the state will take over and designate heirs for you, or the bank may foreclose.
Also, as long as they were not designated as beneficiaries, your relatives would not be responsible for taking over your mortgage payments, even if they were living in the house at the time of your death.
Michael Burge is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: mburge@nerdwallet.com.
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The FBI is worried: foreign hackers have broken into two state election databases.
The Department of Homeland Security is worried: the nation’s voting system needs greater protection against cyberattacks.
I, on the other hand, am not overly worried: after all, the voting booths have already been hacked by a political elite comprised of Republicans and Democrats who are determined to retain power at all costs.
The outcome is a foregone conclusion: the police state will win and “we the people” will lose.
The damage has already been done.
The DHS, which has offered to help “secure” the nation’s elections, has already helped to lock down the nation.
Remember, the DHS is the agency that militarized the nation’s police, spied on activists and veterans, distributed license plate readers and cell phone trackers to law enforcement agencies, contracted to build detention camps, carried out military drills and lockdowns in American cities, conducted virtual strip searches of airline passengers, established Constitution-free border zones, funded city-wide surveillance cameras, and generally turned our republic into a police state.
So, no, I’m not falling for the government’s scare tactics about Russian hackers.
I’m not losing a night’s sleep over the thought that this election might by any more rigged than it already is.
And I’m not holding my breath in the hopes that the winner of this year’s particular popularity contest will save us from government surveillance, weaponized drones, militarized police, endless wars, SWAT team raids, red light cameras, asset forfeiture schemes, overcriminalization, profit-driven private prisons, graft and corruption, or any of the other evils that masquerade as official government business these days.
The sad truth is that it doesn’t matter who wins the White House, because they all work for the same boss: Corporate America.
Politics is a game, a joke, a hustle, a con, a distraction, a spectacle, a sport, and for many devout Americans, a religion.
It is a political illusion aimed at persuading the citizenry that we are free, that our vote counts, and that we actually have some control over the government when in fact, we are prisoners of a police state.
In other words, it’s a sophisticated ruse aimed at keeping us divided and fighting over two parties whose priorities are exactly the same so that we don’t join forces and do what the Declaration of Independence suggests, which is to throw the whole lot out and start over.
We’re in trouble, folks.
We are living in a fantasy world carefully crafted to resemble a representative democracy.
It used to be that the cogs, wheels and gear shifts in our government machinery worked to keep our republic running smoothly. However, without our fully realizing it, the mechanism has changed. Its purpose is no longer to keep our republic running smoothly. To the contrary, this particular contraption’s purpose is to keep the corporate police state in power. Its various parts are already a corrupt part of the whole.
Just consider how insidious, incestuous and beholden to the corporate elite the various “parts” of the mechanism have become.
Congress. Perhaps the most notorious offenders and most obvious culprits in the creation of the corporate-state, Congress has proven itself to be both inept and avaricious, oblivious champions of an authoritarian system that is systematically dismantling their constituents’ fundamental rights. Long before they’re elected, Congressmen are trained to dance to the tune of their wealthy benefactors.
The President. What Americans want in a president and what they need are two very different things. The making of a popular president is an exercise in branding, marketing and creating alternate realities for the consumer–a.k.a., the citizenry–that allows them to buy into a fantasy about life in America that is utterly divorced from our increasingly grim reality. Take President Obama, for instance. This is a president who got elected by campaigning against war, torture, surveillance only to make them hallmarks of his presidency, and yet somehow these “indiscretions” are overlooked and forgiven as long as he presents a jocular, hip façade.
The Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court–once the last refuge of justice, the one governmental body really capable of rolling back the slowly emerging tyranny enveloping America–has instead become the champion of the American police state, absolving government and corporate officials of their crimes while relentlessly punishing the average American for exercising his or her rights. Like the rest of the government, the Court has routinely prioritized profit, security, and convenience over the basic rights of the citizenry.
The Media. Of course, this triumvirate of total control would be completely ineffective without a propaganda machine provided by the world’s largest corporations. Besides shoveling drivel down our throats at every possible moment, the so-called news agencies which are supposed to act as bulwarks against government propaganda have instead become the mouthpieces of the state. The pundits which pollute our airwaves are at best court jesters and at worst propagandists for the false reality created by the American government. When you have internet and media giants donating to the Clinton Foundation, you no longer have an independent media that can be trusted to hold the government accountable.
The American People. “We the people” now belong to a permanent underclass in America. It doesn’t matter what you call us–chattel, slaves, worker bees, drones, it’s all the same–what matters is that we are expected to march in lockstep with and submit to the will of the state in all matters, public and private. Through our complicity in matters large and small, we have allowed an out-of-control corporate-state apparatus to take over every element of American society.
We’re playing against a stacked deck.
The game is rigged, and “we the people” keep getting dealt the same losing hand. The people dealing the cards–the politicians, the corporations, the judges, the prosecutors, the police, the bureaucrats, the military, the media, etc.–have only one prevailing concern, and that is to maintain their power and control over the citizenry, while milking us of our money and possessions.
As long as they are dealing the cards, the deck will always be stacked in their favor.
As I make clear in my book, Battlefield America: The War on the American People, our failure to remain informed about what is taking place in our government, to know and exercise our rights, to vocally protest, to demand accountability on the part of our government representatives, and at a minimum to care about the plight of our fellow Americans has been our downfall.
Now we find ourselves once again caught up in the spectacle of another presidential election, and once again the majority of Americans are acting as if this election will make a difference and bring about change. As if the new boss will be different from the old boss.
When in doubt, just remember what the astute commentator George Carlin had to say about the matter:
The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice. You have owners. They own you. They own everything… They want more for themselves and less for everybody else… They don’t want well-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking… They want obedient workers… who are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork…. It’s a big club and you ain’t in it… The table is tilted, folks. The game is rigged and nobody seems to notice…. Nobody seems to care. That’s what the owners count on…. It’s called the American Dream, ’cause you have to be asleep to believe it.
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A recent New York Times story (“The Obama Years: The Best of Times to Be a Stock Investor,” by Jeff Sommer, August 19, 2016) made the case that the past few years were terrific for stock investors, as the market has nearly tripled during Obama’s years in office. The author also makes the point that “Fed interest rate policy may be the single most important factor behind the stock market boom.”
While the New York Times article examined returns on the Dow since 1900 without considering dividends, directionally the author’s conclusions are correct. My research shows that since 1929, the S&P 500 with dividends has returned an average of 15.5 percent during the calendar years under Democratic presidents and only 6.9 percent during Republican presidents.
The returns during Democratic presidents have also been much more consistent than during Republican presidents over that period. Average annual returns under Republican presidents have ranged from minus 21 percent annually under Hoover to nearly 17 percent positive under Eisenhower. In fact, the only two Presidents that experienced negative stock returns during their times in office were Hoover and George W. Bush. On the other hand, returns during Democratic administrations have all fallen in a narrow band – from a low of up 9.3 percent during the Johnson administration to up over 18.2 percent during the Clinton years.
These statistics would seem to infer that one should never vote for a Republican for the highest office in the land, as the evidence is overwhelming that the market performs worse during Republican administrations. The problem with that logic is that in this simple analysis, stock market returns are attributed to only one variable – the political party of the President. While I think we all would agree that the President has some influence on the market, there are a host of other factors – fiscal policy, monetary policy, global economic conditions, and political gridlock, to name a few – that combine to help shape stock market returns.
Data and statistics have been misused over time to support a point an advocate wishes to make, and users of empirical studies need to be very careful regarding their conclusions. Humorist Mark Twain popularized the saying that there are “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” One way to hold statistics accountable is to examine the degree of relationship between multiple factors through tools such as correlation coefficients. The correlation coefficient measures how closely related two sets of numbers are – for instance, the correlation between educational attainment level and income is quite high, which makes sense intuitively. People who have graduated from college, on average, have higher incomes than people who graduated from high school and pursued no additional education. And, people who graduated from high school have higher incomes than people who dropped out of high school. It is obvious that there is a cause and effect relationship between those sets of numbers.
However, a correlation between two sets of numbers does not always represent a meaningful relationship. This is when the statistics begin to “lie,” when the correlation between two recurring events is often misused and misinterpreted. Simply put, two sets of data can be highly related, yet have zero cause and effect. Empirical researchers refer to this as spurious correlation, and there are many ridiculous examples. For instance, over an 11-year time period from 1999 through 2009, there was a high correlation between the number of people who annually drowned in a swimming pool and the number of films Nicolas Cage appeared in during that year. Specifically, people drowned at a higher rate in the years Mr. Cage appeared in a larger number of movies.
While I don’t believe many (I would say no one, but according to a 1997 CNN/Time poll, sixty-four percent of respondents believed that aliens had abducted humans) would believe there is a correlation between movies Nicolas Cage appeared in and swimming pool drownings, people seemingly have an insatiable appetite to connect all kinds of events and, hopefully, better predict the future. It seems that every year in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl stock market indicator is discussed. That is, the “fact” that, on average, the stock market performs better when an old NFL team wins the Super Bowl than when an old AFL team prevails. In 1989 the venerable Financial Analysts Journal actually published an article entitled “Did Joe Montana Save the Stock Market?”
I am certainly not making the case that the political party of the President has no impact on stock market returns, just that there are other variables to consider. Along with Scott Beyer of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Luis Garcia-Feijoo of Florida Atlantic University, and Gerald Jensen of Creighton University, I jointly analyzed stock market returns relative to the political party of the president, the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, the year of the president’s term and the state of political gridlock (that is, if the Presidency, the House, and the Senate were under one party’s control). The research considered all of these variables together, and the findings were published in 2015 in the academic journal, Managerial Finance.
What we found was that considering those four variables all at once, the political party of the president was actually the least important. Our specific findings are that equity investors are wise to monitor Federal Reserve monetary policy. Stock returns are much higher when the Fed is pursuing an expansive monetary policy than a restrictive policy and that factor overrides the political considerations. It seems that all of the attention paid to Fed actions and inactions is warranted. Whether under Republican or Democratic presidents, the Fed has a significant influence on market returns, and Fed policy shifts are signals of coming inflationary pressures or other economic trends that impact markets.
With respect to political considerations, the conventional wisdom is that “gridlock is good for the markets” and this mantra is often repeated in the financial press. The theory is that significant fiscal policy actions, which tend to disrupt the markets, are more likely to occur during political harmony rather than gridlock. What we find is that political harmony is actually better for the stock market.
Fourth, equity investors generally have to wait until year three of a president’s term to experience the highest returns. Even after controlling for Fed policy, political gridlock and the party of the President, there is an unexplained “third year effect.” Thus, regardless of the outcome in the November election and any films Nicholas Cage may make in the meantime, it appears that equity investors may have to wait until 2019 to reap the rewards of the election season.
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