MikeLigalig.com

Quote from: islander on September 10, 2013, 11:27:46 AM stylite, philippine version, aka nuno sa punso

TB version (no identification needed)

This last sentence is important. Investing in productive assets carries less risk.

That's because, in the past, irrational exuberance has caused all sorts of nonproductive assets to suddenly skyrocket beyond any sane measure of intrinsic value. The run-up on the prices of tulips in the 17th century is one colorful example.

Action to Take -- > In contrast to the "boom and bust" cycle seen in commodities like gold (or tulips), productive assets will never go "out of style," as Buffett says.

After all, people will always need goods, consume food and require a home to live as they do now. In Buffett's own words, "People will forever exchange what they produce for what others produce."

So, instead of nonproductive assets such as gold, Buffett prefers productive assets like farmland or companies that generate enormous wealth for shareholders -- companies like Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Coca-Cola or See's Candy.

And he clearly explains why:

"Our country's businesses will continue to efficiently deliver goods and services wanted by our citizens. Metaphorically, these commercial "cows" will live for centuries and give ever greater quantities of "milk" to boot. Their value will be determined not by the medium of exchange but rather by their capacity to deliver milk. Proceeds from the sale of the milk will compound for the owners of the cows, just as they did during the 20th century when the Dow increased from 66 to 11,497 (and paid loads of dividends as well).

"I believe that over any extended period of time this category of investing will prove to be the runaway winner… More important, it will be by far the safest."

"Today the world's gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably within a baseball infield.) At $1,750 per ounce -- gold's price as I write this -- its value would be $9.6 trillion. Call this cube pile A.

"Let's now create a pile B costing an equal amount. For that, we could buy all U.S. cropland (400 million acres with output of about $200 billion annually), plus 16 Exxon Mobils (the world's most profitable company, one earning more than $40 billion annually). After these purchases, we would have about $1 trillion left over for walking-around money (no sense feeling strapped after this buying binge). Can you imagine an investor with $9.6 trillion selecting pile A over pile B?

"A century from now the 400 million acres of farmland will have produced staggering amounts of corn, wheat, cotton, and other crops -- and will continue to produce that valuable bounty, whatever the currency may be. Exxon Mobil will probably have delivered trillions of dollars in dividends to its owners and will also hold assets worth many more trillions (and, remember, you get 16 Exxons). The 170,000 tons of gold will be unchanged in size and still incapable of producing anything. You can fondle the cube, but it will not respond."

By Chad Tracy | StreetAuthority Network â€" 6 hours ago


Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-A), is currently worth about $44 billion, according to Forbes' list of the world's richest people. This makes him the world's third-richest person, behind Bill Gates and Carlos Slim.

Buffett is famous for some great stock picks over the years -- picks like Coca Cola (NYSE: KO), American Express (NYSE: AXP) and IBM (NYSE: IBM), each having increased more than 110% in the past 10 years alone.

But the Oracle of Omaha is also well known for avoiding certain investments -- especially gold.

While he's is quick to point out that gold has served some investors well, particularly during times of high inflation, Buffett has never warmed up to gold as an investment.

Why not?

The answer has to do with the difference between what Buffett calls productive versus nonproductive assets.

He considers gold a nonproductive asset because it doesn't produce anything of value. To illustrate this point, Buffett proposed this thought experiment in his 2011 letter to Berkshire shareholders:

Quote from: Lollapalooza on September 10, 2013, 01:26:14 PM
Third Quarter Planning Conference namo ron.. so our menu for today... Chicken curry, Bird's nest soup, Tuna Kinilaw, Grilled Pork Ribs, rice... dessert Cassava cake, sliced pineapples and watermelon ^__^

Don't hold back on the grilled pork ribs!

Quote from: hubag bohol on September 10, 2013, 02:43:04 PM
No brains, no guts, no hearts, no balls? Hmm, that aptly describes a pesky TB member...

No brains = eediot par excellence; the retard you love to hate
No guts = all empty threats; epic fail to the max
No hearts = avoided by women; most likely has changed orientation
No balls = supreme irony here; Bals pa naman ang palayaw

Quote from: Lollapalooza on September 10, 2013, 02:22:28 PM
(There were 3 doctors, talking about which patient is easiest to conduct an operation on.

One said: Electricians â€" everything inside them is color-coded.

The second said: Librarians â€" everything inside them is in alphabetical order.

The third said politicians: They have no brains. They have no guts. They have no hearts. And they have no balls.)

No brains, no guts, no hearts, no balls? Hmm, that aptly describes a pesky TB member...

Hmm, the plan code is secret just as the plot code is being broadcast to the public.

Quote from: islander on September 10, 2013, 01:57:14 PM
1721    Koshkosh Balongush was born

As he has posted elsewhere, this is his official portrait. Actually, nanambok na ni siya ron...





...unya nalupyak ang ilong...

Agi pud tawon sa Plan U--Plan Unggoy.

Quote from: diablo on September 10, 2013, 12:25:46 PM

Baratohon ang mga gamit. Liwat sa tag-iya.

Agoi, napagod! Dokdok sa TB pa lagi...

Quote from: diablo on July 28, 2013, 11:30:59 AM
i hope you will not ban me again mike. okey lang kong gi ban ko nimo sauna. guilty man ko. but this time i am not guilty. si hubag maoy ga sugod aning among gera. kinhangang ma tiwas ni.

i promise no one will be harmed during the shooting of SUMMER of 2014.  its only a preview kay 2013 pa man ron. kong dili naho makita ang avatar ni hubag. maybe i will calm down. dili ma dajon ang operation. kong mag gara gara gihapon si hubag, mang hunaw na lang ko kon unsay mahitabo.

location shootings in new york and florida are now going on.  kong mo pakita gihapon si hubag. location shooting will continue in the philippines. mo lagbas na jud ta sa LA ISLA BONITA

Hmm, mas OK ni kaysa potato chips...

Hmm, the Katskhi Pillar reminds me of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Greece which served as a location for the 1981 James Bond flick For Your Eyes Only.

Quote from: diablo on September 10, 2013, 02:44:21 AM
maka hahadlok ni si gollum. run for your life diablo

Bwahaha! Capiche?

Santontorogok...

Quote from: islander on September 09, 2013, 07:03:09 PM
si balong ug diablo usa ra na siya.  bahalag tua siya sa amazon jungle, tungod lagi kay gikorikong na ang utok, sayon ra na siya guyoron sa mandaluyong.

Dia ra, nadakpan na...

Quote from: islander on September 09, 2013, 05:26:03 PM
ayaw kalibog nganong atakehon ka.  and not only by me.  it's simply because of who you are, the things you stand for, and how you insist on ramming these down other people's throats, expecting adulation in the process.  miserable.   

Nakapisos lagi...

Luoy pud ang MNLF. Sidelined by the current peace process.

...plus something of the mother to boot.

http://www.ratbehavior.org/

What are the parts of the rat's tail?

The rat's tail is an extension of the vertebral column that projects out the back side of the animal. The tail is a long cylinder consisting of three concentric layers. The innermost core of the tail is bone (vertebre). The bone is surrounded by a layer of tendons, and the tendons are surrounded by a layer of skin. Blood vessels run the length of the tail between the tendons.

by Alvin Elchico, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 09/09/2013 6:16 PM | Updated as of 09/09/2013 6:16 PM


MANILA, Philippines - Consumers should brace themselves for higher electricity bills this month.

Manila Electric Co (Meralco) announced it is collecting P0.18/kWh in generation charge and transmission charge for September.

Meralco officials said electricity prices in the wholesale electricity spot market soared while transmission fees also spiked for this period.

For those consuming 200 kWh, the increase in electricity bills is almost P35; for 300 kWh users, it is P52; for 400 kWh users- it is P69; and for 500 kwh users, it is P87.

The higher electricity rates were announced just a few days after the wage board approved a P10 hike in minimum wage.

Trade Union Congress of the Philippines spokesman Alan Tanjusay said their member groups are already preparing for a protest action against the small salary hike.

According to Tanjusay, aside from power rates, consumers are also about to be affected by the impending hike in MRT-LRT fares, water rates and SSS premiums.

Bwahaha! Bisag world map shower curtain na lang unta!

He said his office uncovered the following:

the signature of the senator which appeared in the NLDC endorsement letter dated March 16, 2012 was falsified;

the endorsement letter did not appear in the docket system which was implemented in the Senators Office beginning January 2011;

the signature of Ramon Cardenas which appeared in the Memorandum of Agreement to the four NGOs were falsified;

the MOAs are of dubious origin because they were allegedly notarized by a certain Atty. Antonio M. Santos in Makati City;

According to the Office of the Clerk of Court in Makati, Atty. Santos was not commissioned by the Regional Trial Court of Makati as notary public for the years covering 2011-2013;

and per Integrated Bar of the Philippines, the IBP Lifetime Number of Atty. Santos belongs to another individual.

Marcos said the above findings were transmitted to the Commission on Audit (COA) in the hope that it could aid the agency with its audit.

by Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 09/09/2013 7:58 PM | Updated as of 09/09/2013 8:10 PM


MANILA - Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr categorically denied allegations linking him to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.

In a statement, Marcos said his signature was falsified. He said he never authorized his chief-of-Staff, Ramon B. Cardenas, to deal with the National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC) on his behalf.

“When the scandal broke out, I purposely kept quiet even when my name was constantly being dragged into the controversy. I instructed my office to conduct an investigation because I wanted to be very sure about what I would say since I didn’t want to misinform nor mislead the public,” he said.

Pwede pud incumbent na...

http://manilastandardtoday.com/
By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted 7 hours ago


At least 3,732 Filipinos have been languishing in jails in 53 countries, Senate President Pro Tempore  Ralph Recto said on Monday.

Of this number, 108 were in death row, with 69 in Chinese jails awaiting execution or clemency, Recto said.

DFA officials, however, gave a lower  estimate of 80 Filipinos in death row in seven countries, with 28 in China, when they testified before a House committee last week.

Recto said Malaysia hosted the most number of Filipinos behind bars, with 2,236, mostly immigration cases as the country had launched a crackdown against undocumented aliens.

Next to Malaysia  was China, including Hong Kong and Macau (345), followed by Saudi Arabia (277), USA (208), Italy (97), United Arab Emirates (75), Kuwait (72), Japan (59), Peru (37) and Qatar (34).

At least 476 of the Filipinos imprisoned abroad were female and 865 were male, Recto said.  The gender of the 2,391 was not indicated in the reports filed by the country’s 60 embassies and 20 consulates abroad.

It was the reports of these diplomatic posts which were later collated into a 732-page “Status of OFWs Report” which the Department of Foreign Affairs submitted to the Senate last June.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on July 13, 2013, 08:58:28 PM
to whom it may concern

this is just a very gentle reminder. hapit na ang aug. 17. i will not tell you where i am. i am no longer in china. maybe i am in digos, or in balingsya, or in brooklyn, cubao or maybe brooklyn, new york

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on July 28, 2013, 08:16:00 PM
coming very very soon

AUGUST 17



disclaimer  idiots, fools, charlatans, dreamers, pretenders, millionaire wannabees,
aliens, zombies, and endangered species like hubags and boils will not be harmed during the shooting of this movie. location shooting is now going on in new york and florida. if i see hubag's avatar again, location shooting will continue in the philippines.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: balong on August 25, 2013, 07:19:24 PM
the end or the beginning

tomorrow it begins or it will end

which is which

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: robert on September 09, 2013, 06:15:53 PM
mao diay nga wa kay uniform

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Hmm, eelderly eediot...

Bajot na, palautot pa...

eye am watching you.

Bwahaha! Bantog rang nanimahong utot!

It's just a knot in time, which will not last so long,
Mas dugay pa ang es tor bot ug es tor long...

Quote from: islander on September 09, 2013, 11:16:56 AM
tigs na diay ka hubs, hihihi.

He he, kadtong natakboyan og multiple personality disorder, gatuo nga ang uban sama ka-miserable niya. Pathetic...

Quote from: islander on September 09, 2013, 11:16:28 AM
haaay, salamat.  i have no balls to korog.

no, i'm not a victim of those testicles-biting fish introduced in another thread.  it's just that i don't need balls.

Some other needs balls, but sadly he has lost them...

kani bal ong goy... 

Hmm, I used to have this stamp in my collection.

A scene from the music video of Katy Perry’s song ‘Roar’ featuring Taal Volcano. 

BACOLOD. Despite the directive of the police city director to run against those engaged in "spider fights," this is not so in Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, where even non-residents would come and place some huge bets. (Archie Rey Alipalo)

         


Ready to self-destruct. One, two, ready, go!

Quote from: Lollapalooza on September 09, 2013, 08:09:40 AM
ENJOY!!!!!!!! (13th Araw ng Digos kagahapon) fun fun fun.......LECHONAN SA KADALANAN


Pagtagbaw........

Sayang, wa motumaw ang kalitsonan sa akong screen...

Quote from: bugsay on September 09, 2013, 08:39:06 AM
taga valencia seguro'g kaliwat ni's Ferrin..

Hmm, taga Canduao, Valencia, to be exact?

While the people’s attention is focused on the billion-peso pork barrel scam, the wage board thinks it can quietly dupe workers with a measly pay increase,” said PM spokesperson Wilson Fortaleza.

He added that the P10 wage hike was a “dagdag-bawi (give-take back) scam.”

“Government decides to give workers a P10 hike in wages but it will take it back with the proposed P10 increase in fares for the MRT and LRT. Further, prices of basic goods like rice have inflated so that in the end, the workers are worse off than before,” Fortaleza said.

Baldoz defended the wage hike, saying that the Metro Manila wage board had increased the minimum wage in the NCR 12 times for a total of P268 per day, or more than double the P125 across-the-board wage increase that some labor groups had been clamoring for for 14 years now.

“Our workers’ take-home pay has increased to P11,240 per month, or by 2.1 percent, compared to the current P11,005 per month. Our workers will get a bigger 13th month pay of P11,651 or an increase of about 5.9 as a result of the Cola integration,” she said.

The new wage order is expected to take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

“The RTWPB-NCR also decided to integrate P15 of the existing P30 Cola under RTWPB-NCR Wage Order No. 17 into the basic wage effective Jan. 1, 2014. This will bring the new basic wage to P451 and the new minimum wage to P466,” Baldoz said.

The KMU reiterated its call for a significant wage hike, such as the P125 across-the-board wage increase that workers have long been clamoring for.

It also vowed to hold bigger protests to press for a significant wage hike and the abolition of the presidential pork barrel and the pork barrel system.

The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) also slammed the P10 hike, calling it a “cruel Napoles joke” inflicted on the workers.

“Janet Napoles stole P10 billion of the people’s money and the government offers P10 in coins to workers as a consolation.

By Tina G. Santos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
8:33 am | Sunday, September 8th, 2013


MANILA, Philippinesâ€"Labor groups on Saturday expressed dismay over the P10 wage hike for minimum wage earners in Metro Manila which was announced on Friday by Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.

The militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) called it “an insult to Filipino workers who are already suffering from worsening hunger and poverty.”

“The resulting basic pay of P451 and the P15 cost of living allowance (Cola) does not even amount to half of the NCR Family Living Wage which, according to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation in its May 2013 study, is already at P1,034,” the group said.

“This pitiful increase, merely equivalent to ‘pig feed,’ makes Filipino workers more painfully aware of the gross inequality in the country. Workers are being given alms while big politicians enjoy huge amounts of the people’s money in the form of pork barrel funds,” it added.

Baldoz said Friday that the Regional Tripartite Wage and Productivity Board of the National Capital Region (RTWPB-NCR) decided to raise the minimum wage by P10 per day upon the effectivity of the wage order.

Quote from: Lorenzo on September 08, 2013, 02:39:46 PM
Hatred and anger will destroy one's soul,
if day after day, these emotions do control,
for nothing positive will ever come from them,
unless you learn to forgive and love those towards which those emotions
stem.

Very true...

Hala! Naay reinforcement!

Oi, si Peekabootoy man diay...

By contrast, Labor's campaign frame was twisted to fit the leader. Critically, the ''new way'' did not involve a well-considered policy program or the sort of new ideas that are needed to sustain a campaign. The policies announced seemed like a collection of thought bubbles and greatest hits from a bygone era: the northern Australia policy, the relocation of a naval base from Sydney to somewhere up north, the fast train down the eastern seaboard, and even the federal takeover of TAFE.

The Labor policies lacked a coherent vision to tie them together; they appeared like desperate election overreach. Worse still, they seriously weakened Labor's credentials as an incumbent that could deliver stable, effective government. This was a precondition to an effective attack on the Coalition based on trust and the risk of cuts.

The bureaucratic rebuke of Labor's claim of a $10 billion hole in the Coalition's costings has been portrayed as the defining point in the campaign. But, for me, the ''birthday cake'' moment occurred when Rudd was interviewed by Barrie Cassidy on Insiders and was asked why he wanted to be elected for another three years. Rudd's answer was entirely retrospective. He could not articulate what he wanted to do in government for the next three years.

Saturday's election result has proved that Labor still runs the best ground game in Australian politics, with its field campaign in target seats effectively containing Labor's loss. Its volunteer effort resulted in more than 1.2 million telephone calls to undecided voters, and ''online donations'' has now become the biggest donor to the ALP.

But Labor faces a difficult question about whether it needs to update its long-standing message of ''jobs under Labor versus cuts under the Coalition''. This was extremely successful for Labor in the 2000s and helped produce wall-to-wall Labor governments for the first time since Federation. But it has now failed Labor in elections in Western Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland. And in the past three federal elections, Labor has finished the campaign on a lower two-party preferred vote than when it started.

A final, even harder question for Labor is how it remains relevant to its constituency in light of changes in Australian society. This is a challenge for all major parties, but for Labor it is acute given that two decades of decline has left its primary vote at a near record low.

Nicholas Reece is a public policy fellow at Melbourne University and a former Victorian ALP secretary and policy adviser to prime minister Julia Gillard.

Tony Abbott's rejoinder that Rudd's ''new way'' could only be achieved by changing government was simply more persuasive, and his question, ''Do you want three more years like the last six?'' was the most cutting of the campaign.

Governments running for a third term can rarely run on their record. Instead they need to hammer the risk of the political alternative and, importantly, present a strong, positive plan for the future.

Labor's attack on Coalition cuts was a sensible strategy. But the positive part of the campaign narrative did not come together, and actually weakened the critique of the Abbott alternative.

Labor's ''new way'' was all and only about Kevin - someone who was more popular than his predecessor but at the end of the day was just another politician.

By contrast, the Coalition campaign was determined not to make Abbott the story. Think about the Liberal campaign launch: the defining memory was the alternative prime minster's daughters.

The Coalition campaign material emphasised the team of senior shadow ministers. Normally this is a sign a party has a problem with its leader. But in this campaign it hit the right note. It projected the image the Coalition wanted: it would be a government run by a team of grown-ups. The Coalition was able to make its leader fit its campaign frame, and Abbott did what was needed of him.

The Rudd and Gillard governments did not project the image of a properly functioning team, a problem that was exacerbated by the challenges of minority government and shortcomings with policy implementation and communication of its message. This left the government looking like a pretty average show and meant this election was always going to be nigh on impossible to win.

Looking back, it seems Kevin Rudd had a plan to get Labor to the start of the election campaign but did not have a strategy to get to election day. Indeed, Labor's best day seemed to be the day Rudd announced the election.

This reflected the politically smart moves made by Rudd early in his return to the prime ministership: the change of position on asylum seekers, the bring-forward of a floating price on carbon, and the reforms to the ALP. Each of these areas had become political kryptonite for Labor, and Rudd managed to neutralise them ahead of the campaign. His support for same-sex marriage also energised party activists who are critical to the volunteer effort in an election.

But a dip in the polls in the first week of the campaign was portrayed in the media as a faltering in Labor's re-election effort. In part this early result can be explained by Rudd coming off his honeymoon high in the polls. But the deeper and more problematic explanation was that Labor's campaign narrative was not gaining traction.

The slogan ''A New Way'' was an attempt to draw a line under the negativity of recent times and position Rudd as the bringer of a new era of positive politics. As a slogan and narrative for a government seeking a third term it badly missed the mark. It would have worked for Kevin07 but not for Kevin13.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/
Nicholas Reece
September 9, 2013



Former Prime Ministers of Australia, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. Photo: Getty Images


On Saturday, Australians delivered a thumping kick up the backside to Labor. It deserved it. This was punishment for a government in which disunity overshadowed achievement, and for a campaign that fell short of the mark.

If there is any good in this defeat for Labor it will come from the hard lessons it must now learn and a genuine embrace of reform and renewal.

Labor did not lose this election because its policy agenda in government was flawed - enduring reforms in aged care, education, health and the national disability insurance scheme are proof of this. And time will prove correct its policies on pricing carbon, fairer mining taxes, building the national broadband network and supporting same-sex marriage.

Nor did Labor lose because of its handling of the economy or management of the budget and debt levels. These claims are a Coalition fiction. Labor lost because of the poor behaviour of its MPs. Disunity is death in politics, and this was a government that was racked by debilitating internal division.

Quote from: diablo on September 06, 2013, 05:20:42 PM


eye am watching you.

Susmarisep, tiyanak! Run, Botoy, run!

Hmm, di ba kaha ni apil sa questionable pork barrel releases...

Ten members of the Group of 20 joined the US in a joint statement accusing the Syrian government of carrying out a chemical weapons attack on civilians last month and calling for a strong international response against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The statement stopped short of explicitly calling for military action against Syria.

In the US, the Labor Department reported that employers added 169,000 jobs in August, while July’s figure was corrected downward from an earlier estimate of 162,000 jobs to 104,000 jobs, the fewest in over a year.

While the unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent, the lowest in nearly five years, it fell because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

The slower hiring could lead the Fed to keep its bond-purchase program in place, or trim it more gradually than it would have otherwise. The stimulus program is seen favoring investments in commodities like oil and in stocks as they could provide better returns than bonds.

Brent, the benchmark for international crudes, gained 86 cents to $116.12 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In the US, the average price of a gallon of gasoline slipped 1 penny to $3.58. That’s unchanged from a week ago, but down 24 cents from this time last year.

By AP (The Philippine Star) | Updated September 8, 2013 - 12:00am
 

NEW YORKâ€" The price of oil closed at a two-year high Friday on a combination of fear of escalating tension in the Middle East and hope for continued stimulus measures from the US Federal Reserve.

US President Barack Obama has been trying to win support at home and abroad for military action against Syria for what the US and its allies say was a chemical weapons attack against Syrian citizens. Obama has said a military strike would be limited in scope.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin stoked fears of a bigger confrontation when he said his country will continue helping Syria if it comes under attack.

US economic news also gave a boost to oil as the latest jobs data fueled expectations that the Fed will keep its economic stimulus measures in place longer than expected.

Benchmark oil for October delivery rose $2.16, or two percent, to close at $110.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s the highest closing price since May 3, 2011.

Speaking at a briefing after Friday’s Group of 20 summit, Putin answered with a firm “we will” when asked if Russia will keep providing assistance to Syria if it’s attacked.

What to do if you have symptoms of dementia

Because dementia and its symptoms can be caused by any number of conditions, obtaining an accurate diagnosis is critical for management and treatment. The sooner you address the problem, the better, so make an appointment with your doctor right away.

Your doctor can assess your personal risk factors, evaluate your symptoms, offer tips on healthy lifestyle adjustments, and help you obtain appropriate care.

If you suspect dementia:

Report your symptoms to your doctor as soon as possible and schedule regular follow up visits.

Keep a list of your symptoms and concerns and ask family members for their observations. Write down specific information about the frequency, nature, and setting of your memory, cognitive, or behavior concerns.

Take charge by learning as much about dementia as you can.

Knowing what to expect will help you plan, adjust, and live life as fully as possible. -- http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_dementias_types.htm

What is mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or early dementia?

Early dementia, also known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI), involves problems with memory, language, or other cognitive functions. But unlike those with full-blown dementia, people with mild cognitive impairment are still able to function in their daily lives without relying on others.

Many people with mild cognitive impairment eventually develop Alzheimer's disease or another type of dementia. However, others plateau at a relatively mild stage of decline and are able to live independently. Some people with mild cognitive impairment even return to normal. It is not yet fully understood why mild cognitive impairment progresses to Alzheimer's disease in some, while remaining stable in others. The course is difficult to predict, but in general, the greater the degree of memory impairment, the greater the risk of developing Alzheimer's down the line.

According to The Mayo Clinic's Dr. Ronald Peterson, roughly fifteen percent of the population between ages 70 and 90 experience minimal cognitive impairment.

Symptoms of early dementia or mild cognitive impairment include:

Frequently losing or misplacing things
Frequently forgetting conversations, appointments, or events
Difficulty remembering the names of new acquaintances
Difficulty following the flow of a conversation

Less common forms of dementia

Pick's Disease â€" Pick's Disease affects personality, orientation and behavior. It may be more common in women and occurs at an early age.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease â€" The disease progresses rapidly along with mental deterioration and involuntary movements.

Huntington's Disease â€" Huntington's is an inherited, degenerative disease. The disease causes involuntary movement and usually begins during mid-life.

Parkinson's Dementia â€" Parkinson's is a progressive disorder of the central nervous system. In later stages of Parkinson's disease, some patients develop dementia.

Lewy Body Disease â€" This disease causes symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease. Individuals with Lewy Body Disease experience hallucinations and can become fearful.

Types of dementia

All dementias involve cognitive decline that impacts daily living. However, it's important to pinpoint the specific type of dementia in order to optimize treatment. More than fifty conditions involve dementia, but the most common types of dementia are Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for two-thirds of all diagnosed cases. If your dementia symptoms are the result of Alzheimer's disease, medications can delay the onset of more debilitating symptoms. Early diagnosis can prolong independence and is the first step towards treatment, management, and living life fully.

Vascular dementia

Vascular dementia results from a series of small strokes or changes in the brain's blood supply. Sudden onset of symptoms may be a sign of this dementia. Vascular dementia severely impacts memory and cognitive functioning. However, there are ways to prevent and reduce its severity.