Azalin

I just received a news update saying 'North Korea hit by massive internet outages; White House declines to comment.' According to AP, one expert is claiming that the entire country's internet access is 'totally down'.

I'm obviously cynical with regard to govt spending, but I'd like to see this work out as a plus for WNY.

Like I said, I'd love to know that things had turned around up there. I left a lot of good friends behind - good people for whom I wish nothing but the best. I still have family there. And it's not like I live in some ultra-conservative place - Austin is very liberal. Texas, however, is not. Say what you will about right-leaning states, but despite having problems like most other places do, we're in pretty decent shape economically. Other states could learn from Texas.

People are 'doing the labor'. Do you think that we're positioning ourselves to have more jobs than we have people?

If that's the case, it's even dumber to expect it to have any effect. Don't misunderstand me - I'd love to see WNY turn things around, but I'm honestly surprised that so many people are willing to put up with the heavy taxation, the depressed economy, and the brutal winters associated with the region. There are many attractive alternatives with lower taxes, more jobs, and little to no snow to slog through.

Probably not a lot, since baby boomers range in age from 50 to 68, most are still working and will continue to work for at least a few years yet.

It's not about Buffalo failing, it's about yet another case of throwing money at a problem and expecting it to fix things.

In Texas we have 'TexTag'. They haven't begun using it to ticket speeders yet, but I'm sure they will eventually.

He's not the only one enjoying Texas. Do you really think that Buffalo is doing 'just fine'?

Take it as a compliment from a fellow Trek nerd impressed with your offhand knowledge of Romulan & Klingon vessels.

Nerd alert!

Thank you. I worked with a counselor at Fidelity, who helped me set my risk level and made suggestions accordingly. I'm probably only going to work for another 5 or 10 years or so (I'm getting old), so I opted for what he described as midway between conservative and risky. I have it broken down like this: 5% in an Interest Income Fund, 25% Bond Funds, 21% international stocks, 25% large caps, 24% medium & small caps. I stopped keeping company stock because it's been pretty flat for quite a long time, but pays a dividend every quarter. Thanks for the tips! I do know enough about commodities to know that I don't dare try getting into them, but I'll definitely give a few of the books you suggest a look. Speaking of IRAs, someone has suggested I look into a Roth IRA, which I like the idea of since it appears I'll not get soaked on taxes investing in one. Thanks for the advice - all of you. You've given me plenty to consider.

For me, day trading would be out of the question. My 401k is handled by Fidelity, and I trust them, but I worry if relying solely on that account is akin to the proverbial 'eggs in one basket'. I see a lot of ads hawking gold and silver, but the cynic in me wonders 'if it's such a good investment, why are they selling it?'. I'm certainly not too proud to pick up one of the 'for dummies' books, and that's probably not a bad idea since I'm pretty much a dummy when it comes to my knowledge of investing. I appreciate the tip!

same here

For someone who knows little to nothing about finance and investing, is there a trustworthy source anyone can recommend for learning the rudiments of investing as they apply to the individual?

Damn, that beats the time I watched someone at a riverboat casino outside Chicago lose $7,000.00 in five minutes at a blackjack table.

I had the 'suicidal' wings once at the Pine Lodge - a little place on Millersport and North French. Washed them down with extra-hot Bloody Marys, too. It was an especially stupid thing to do, but I did a lot of stupid things back then.

Both him and his family are in my prayers.

The first movie I saw that really scared the crap out of me was the original 1963 version of The Haunting. I was 10 or 11 years old at the time, and it was on channel 7's Fright Night double feature.

Oh, good lord. That's twice in one day that I completely misunderstood you. My apologies. Yes, it does. What I don't get is this: if it was NK that was behind both the hack and the terror threats from this GoP group, why hasn't there been any (or at least more) acknowledgement of it from Homeland Security? Or have they issued warnings and I've managed to not hear about those as well?

Oh, it's no trouble at all. I find it very easy to opine, especially on a message board, but thanks for the input.

This whole thing doesn't pass the smell test. I imagine that's it's possible that North Korea might have the means to hack Sony like this, but are we to believe that this 'Guardians Of Peace' group has the means to make credible terror threats and the feds haven't even ramped up the terror alerts? And do they actually have any connection to North Korea at all? This is one of their warnings - it reads like a bad google translation: “We will clearly show it to you at the very time and places ‘The Interview’ be shown, including the premiere, how bitter fate those who seek fun in terror should be doomed to. Soon all the world will see what an awful movie Sony Pictures Entertainment has made. The world will be full of fear. Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep yourself distant from the places at that time. (If your house is nearby, you’d better leave.) Whatever comes in the coming days is called by the greed of Sony Pictures Entertainment. All the world will denounce the SONY.” I'm not buying the connection to North Korea.

The Skull and Bones strikes again.

"Oh God, it's mom,"