I have not set foot in a movie theater in 10 years. But I just saw "Up in the Air" on DVD (apparently because Paramount thinks our opinion is important) and IMHO it is one of the best American movies of all time.
The amazing thing about the movie is that you would have sworn they were plugged into CR 3-4 years ago, because that's how long it had to take to get this kind of movie in the can, at least, yet it's so dead-on for what's being discussed here and now. The juxaposition between Peak America and Hard Times America is too surreal, and too true.
Guy walks into a bar and propositions a woman, asking if she wants to go back to his place for sex and something "hinky". She agrees and they go back to his place.
After having sex, she's dressing and just before she leaves, she mentions that nothing hinky happened.
"Yeah," the guy replies, "while you were dressing, I shit in your purse."
Of course it isn't. The fact is that we're all human and therefore unable to project, much less plan for most things more than 30 years into the future with meaningful accuracy.
How is it different from what people used to say about the inevitability of Japan's world domination?
It's totally different. Japan was a defeated, occupied country, and for 30 years they adopted capitalism on steroids to claw their way back to hyper-prosperity. but they leveraged over the top and exploded.
China is still centralized and Communist, but they are like a cubic foot of hyper Swiss cheese, with vast holes in the fabric of their economy and society.
Bubbles collapse. I often collapse. But I'm not a bubble. Although I lived in one for awhile after I saw that John Travolta movie. I still think about it everyday.
After watching the clip I didn't see much to change my opinion about economists and of course I mean real economists and not our gracious host or the many pseudo-wannabe-economists who chime in here from time to time.
Actually not a bad one either. But prefer this one:
Guy came home and told wife that had a terrible day on the links. "Charley died on the 7th fairway." How terrible, his wife replied.
"Yeah, it was. Hit the ball, drag Charlie. Hit the ball, drag Charlie. Hit the ball, drag Charlie."
As to blind, prefer Helen Keller or Ray Charles jokes.
It is going to be so cool. We'll land at new airports and take new roads to new cities with our food and our culture and it will be a matter of months before we have a colonial empire economic relationship of mutual benefit.
USSR in 1990s? USA in 1930s?
But I am sure you meant figuratively ...
Not really. Those economies weren't that big, and prosperity wasn't nearly as widespread or taken for granted.
My grandparents grew up in the USA of the pre-1930s on farms, and their whole families probably didn't make more than $50-60 a week in cash. None of their children could even think about attending college, which was relatively cheap at the time.
No one country or society is omnipotent We have a tendency to turn our opponents into far smarter, better, stronger types than we are. Look at Japan, Germany, etc.
China won't make the same mistake that they made before re the west. They'll make an entirely new one, just like we did.
I'd bet that at the time, college wasn't relatively cheap. It was generally the purview of the monied individuals and wasn't really brought into reach until after WW2 with the GI bill.
On the blind golfer: Her delivery was a little off - but the punch line was worth it!
I've corresponded with Yoram Bauman and hopefully he will have another video up soon. And of course I've featured several of Merle's videos - he usually lets me know when he has a new one.
My grandparents grew up in the USA of the pre-1930s on farms, and their whole families probably didn't make more than $50-60 a week in cash.
But they played a mean fiddle and all your family reunions were a lesson in the dangers of inbreeding. Just kidding, rich. We all know how dangerous and destructive it is to stereotype all inbreds as being able to play the fiddle. Some played the jug and the washboard only, while other devised a grand scheme to make money off SRS.
Mandelson attacks US and Europe - Telegraph As the G7 finance ministers meet in Canada to try to thrash out a deal on the regulation of banking, Lord Mandelson said that the US had shown a "surprising" lack of international perspective on the issue.
...
"[There has been] a surprising lack of internationalism displayed by the US administration [on global banking regulation]," Lord Mandelson said. "But also and equally importantly a failure in the European Union to show stronger leadership.
"I think that both the European Council and the European Commission have to play a much stronger leadership role.
"Heads of government need to set the direction and pace and the Commission needs to be a much more active, implementing body than we've seen in recent months."
His comments come three weeks after President Barack Obama said that he was "up for a fight" with big banks and unilaterally announced that he wanted to see a ban on proprietary trading by global investment banks. The British Government had not been consulted about the announcement. "It is a difficult situation all round, and in my view plain speaking is good, rabble rousing is bad," Lord Mandelson said. "Consistent demands from governments are necessary. Chopping and changing is not.
...
Asked specifically about critics of the single currency who argue that by retaining sterling, Britain had been sheltered from the worst of the market backlash against high public deficits, Lord Mandelson said: "That's true.
"But it doesn't necessarily mean that being out of the eurozone will always play to Britain's advantage.
...
"On the 50p top rate tax I think it was the right move, it's fair, it's what the public expects when everyone is tightening their belts.
"But the Government is right not to rule out lowering it in the future when public finances allow. The more important issue in my view is corporation tax and capital gains tax, and I would be disappointed if those taxes had to be increased in the future."
"
HOW DID WE GET HERE? When President Bush took office in 2001, the federal budget had been in
the black for three years, and continued surpluses were projected for a decade to come.
By the time Mr. Bush left office in early 2009, the government had run big deficits for seven
straight years, and the economy was on the brink of another Great Depression. On Jan. 7, 2009 —
two weeks before Mr. Obama was inaugurated — the Congressional Budget Office issued new
budget estimates showing a fiscal year 2009 deficit of well over $1 trillion.
"
This should be required reading for deficit hawks and doves alike;
Rich, what did you think of the part fairly early in where there was no talking, just music? The first time I watched the film was on an airplane, and I fell asleep to that music, and had one of the most wonderful dreams ever. Woke up, turned off the film and couldnt wait to start it again.
I roused rabble last night and let me tell you, I'm rousing rabble again. It was great. Lord Mandelson either does not know what he was talking about or he was doing it wrong.
Of course it isn't. The fact is that we're all human and therefore unable to project, much less plan for most things more than 30 years into the future with meaningful accuracy.
My father had on his bookshelf a book called "The Third World War" by John Hackett. It was a fictional account (obviously) about how such a war might occur and progress. The chapter regarding Birmingham was a real doozy. Anyway, at the end of the book was the following passage:
“There is a nice story of a political prophet in Munich in 1928, who was asked to prophesy what would be happening to the burghers of his city in five, fifteen, twenty and forty years' time.
He began: 'I prophesy that in five years' time, in 1933, Munich will be part of a Germany that has just suffered 5 million unemployed and that is ruled by a dictator with a certifiable mental illness who will proceed to murder 6 million Jews.'
His audience said: 'Ah, then you must think that in fifteen years' time we will be in a sad plight.'
'No,' replied the prophet, 'I prophesy that in 1943 Munich will be part of a Greater Germany whose flag will fly from Volga to Bordeaux, from northern Norway to the Sahara.'
'Ah, then you must think that in twenty years' time, we will be mighty indeed.'
'No, my guess is that in 1948 Munich will be part of a Germany that stretches only from the Elbe to the Rhine, and whose ruined cities will recently have seen production down to only 10 per cent of the 1928 level.'
'So you think we face black ruin in forty years' time?'
'No, by 1968 I prophesy that real income per head in Munich will be four times greater than now, and that in the year after that 90 per cent of German adults will sit looking at a box in a corner of their drawing rooms, which will show live pictures of a man walking upon the moon.'
It ends, "They locked him up as a madman, of course."
None of their children could even think about attending college, which was relatively cheap at the time.
My father's two sisters (Iowa farm kids) were sent to college in the mid 1930's because girls needed enough education to be teachers if they didn't get married. My father, who would have appreciated the opportunity, had to stay home because he would be taking over the family farm. To bad he was so allergic to horses he couldn't do it.
My father's two sisters (Iowa farm kids) were sent to college in the mid 1930's because girls needed enough education to be teachers if they didn't get married.
No offense, but your aunts must have been creatures. Women not being able to get married in the mid 30s is equivalent to a bare breasted woman not being able to get beads on Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras. I suggest you keep that aunts and teacher's college to yourself.
Obama must be twice the President that GW Bush was. After all it took George all of 8 years to add $5T to the national debt and BHO needed only 40 months.
An architect, doctor and an investment banker are lunching at the golf club's restaurant and they play oneupsmanship, today's version being who's got the smartest dog?
The doctor brags on his Chesapeake Bay Retriever and calls out "Schweitzer!" and a well-muscled Retriever bounds in. "Fetch" says the doctor and the dog proceeds to make several trips out and back, each time with a new bunch of bones. The dog then arranges the bones in the form of a human skeleton.
The architect isn't going to be outdone, so he calls for his German Shepherd, Lloyd Wright. In bounds a handsome, well bred dog who looks at the bones and in several minutes time, builds a small building out of the bones
The two professionals sit smirking and looking at the investment banker. The banker finally calls out "Goldman!" and a runty little mutt
with one eye and a bent tail wanders in. "Go!" says the banker, and Shyster proceeds to eat the bones and screw the other two dogs.
Obama must be twice the President that GW Bush was. After all it took George all of 8 years to add $5T to the national debt and BHO needed only 40 months.
Bush was blessed by the economy Clinton left. Obama was sullied by the huge pile of shit Bush left.
Bush was blessed by the economy Clinton left. Obama was sullied by the huge pile of shit Bush left.
Fortunately, President Obama is extremely smart. He has figured out that his best option is to do absolutely nothing to fix anything and leave President Palin with an even bigger mess, and then try for two non-consecutive terms like Grover Cleveland.
Fortunately, President Obama is extremely smart. He has figured out that his best option is to do absolutely nothing to fix anything and leave President Palin with an even bigger mess, and then try for two non-consecutive terms like Grover Cleveland.
Tomorrow is a big day. After I milk the goats and butcher the hogs, I plan on watching the Super Bowl preview show. Then, I'm going to feather the chickens, knit them sweaters, and pray that they like the patterns.
After 40 years of service, a rabbi decided to retire. During all of that time, he'd kept each foreskin that he'd clipped as a memento. At the end of 40 years, he wanted to have something special done so he took the jar of foreskins to a leathermaker and asked him to make something special for him.
At the end of a month, the rabbi returned to the leathermaker and the proud leathermaker pulled out a change purse and gave it to the stunned rabbi. "After 40 years, this is all you could do with them, was a change purse?" sputtered the rabbi.
"Yeah," replied the leathermaker, "but rub it and it turns into an overnight bag."
Poll: 20 economic weapons of mass destruction triggering ticking Global Debt Time Bomb
Federal Budget Deficit Bomb. The Bush/Cheney wars pushed America deep into a debt hole. Federal debt limit was just raised almost 100% with Obama's 2010 budget, to $14.3 trillion vs. $7.8 trillion in 2005. The Congressional Budget Office predicts future deficits around 4% through 2020. Get it? America's debt at 84% of GDP will soon pass that toxic 90% trigger point.
U.S. Foreign Trade Bomb. Monthly deficits actually dropped from $50 billion per month to roughly $35 billion. But the total continues climbing as $400 billion is added each year. Foreigners now own $2.5 trillion of America, with China holding over $1.3 trillion in Treasury debt.
Niall Ferguson on Bloomberg (via Panzner link below):
At some point -- and I think it is over the next six-to-12 months -- there is going to be a re-rating, a reappraisal of U.S. fiscal prospects, and that, it seems to me, will be the moment of truth.
And that's why tonight, I'm taking the scenic route.
Already have one kid hurling and another not feeling well. This morning, considered how we'd really handle things Mad Max given the hysteria over a friggin' snow storm.
Obama must be twice the President that GW Bush was.
Did W meet privately with bankers, like Obama?
Oh, he didn't deign to publish a list of whom he met with. Obama may be a really shitty president, but it's impossible to state mathematically exactly how many times better than W he is.
Ain't that the truth. They pulled a rabbit out of a hat covering that $500B this past year, but... I don't see how they cover the $1.3T to $1.7T shortfall this year.
When people get married are they going to be required to carry the bride over the debt threshold? If so, that doesn't sound very romantic, and I expect the marriage rate to fall precipitously. Expect a proportionate demand in housing. Got bulldozers?
Saw the link to the video re China and why they're encouraging their citizens to purchase gold.
Honestly, wondered about that the other day (seriously) but chalked it up to their desire to have sufficient domestic holdings that they'd be able to confiscate it if and when the need arose (stolen out of the USG 1933 playbook). Not that the USG cares all too much for us, but the princes and princesses care all so much for their billion plus people?
but the princes and princesses care all so much for their billion plus people.
The good thing about caring for a billion people is it is cheap. The bad news about caring for a billion people is the pitchforks. China has growing pains. Fear China, but after the New Plague.
Frankly, I think they'll strangle it and take the intellectual property.
The only thing that will be left in the US is a token presence.
But that's good! Then they'll be a "platform company" just like Apple! As long as the CEO, the marketing people and the investment bankers still have jobs, that's probably the best we can hope for.
In order to save money, President Obama has ordered all government workers who use eye glasses to switch to monocles. And he mandated that they not flush at work. (However, workers with good eye sight are still allowed to flush.)
I have been informed that it is time to strike. So, I must go strike. Goodnight to all you non-union people. See you card carriers at the picket line. "Free Wages! No Works!" Later.
But that's good! Then they'll be a "platform company" just like Apple! As long as the CEO, the marketing people and the investment bankers still have jobs, that's probably the best we can hope for.
I guess that's humor or snark, or something.
I don't think you folks understand that machine tools are not made on a production line.
They are fitted by hand.
The skill set is almost gone. If something happens where this country needs a large quantity of machine tools, there won't be anyone around who knows how to make them.
There will still be manufacturers, but they won't be invited to the meeting because they were busy manufacturing stuff all these years instead of applying for government contracts.
Several more designs are in the pipeline, and the company says it can take a new vehicle from sketch to market in 18 months, about the time it takes Detroit to change the specs on some door trim. Each design is released under a share-friendly Creative Commons license, and customers are encouraged to enhance the designs and produce their own components that they can sell to their peers.
Open source hardware is here. No need to reinvent the wheel. Everything will be just in time.
The open source currency is just grease for the open source revolutionary wheel:
Yeah, I read that article: design new products on your PC! Open-source community design! Prototype on your desktop! and finally.... hire the Chinese to make it cheap! The new American revolution. I swear, they're a bunch of elitist geeks at Wired who DON'T HAVE A CLUE!
hire the Chinese to make it cheap! The new American revolution. I swear, they're a bunch of elitist geeks at Wired
The new global revolution, not American. Torvalds was from Finland. Gates is the billionaire. They're geeks but they have a clue. The last Wired open source hardware feature was about an Italian socialist geek. The Chinese do pirate, and their labor relations and human rights abuses will explode.
Just like the smartest German-Jewish physicists came to the US, the smartest Chinese engineers come to the US. We have huge houses, already built, and clean air to breathe. It's a hell of lot easier to build a car factory from the ground up than a strong Bill of Rights.
Several more designs are in the pipeline, and the company says it can take a new vehicle from sketch to market in 18 months, about the time it takes Detroit to change the specs on some door trim.
what is this the Leslie Wexner 90 day cycle for car manufacturing? (those of you who have not worked in the garment trade this is the Holy Grail for textile manufacturing and made Wexner a very rich and successful man.)
...
just watched the Ferguson piece, his self deprecating description of himself as 'bond nerd' doesn't quite square up with my impression of him 8 years ago - obviously, getting some coaching from personality shape shifters - he can afford it. :beer:
duke
...
back to shaping my Cambo cheesecake footage YouTube - Fast Cars into something worthy of Junior's. (the pre-fire Juniors)
I have been informed that it is time to strike. So, I must go strike. Goodnight to all you non-union people. See you card carriers at the picket line. "Free Wages! No Works!" Later.
broward,
here's a different look compared to the B-Day party vid-mash I posted before... YouTube - Fast Cars (obviously, no victim of an acid attack...)
The Internet is the greatest meta-catalyst for productivity ever in history.
Not only that, but much of its value derives from near universal cheap access to all its information. China and Russia will inevitably fall [further] behind if they try to limit public access.
Google, MS, Yahoo, AOL, Apple will all fail if they try to squeeze monopoly profits. Who cares about the selfish Material Girl's profits. Madonna's greed is ugly. CR's formula is simple and effective: anyone can easily block ads. Those who obtain value will tip for great service.
Eventually, the only musicians able to get rich will be the ones who can perform well to a live audience. Full circle.
Fogo de Chao. F St, from memory. Carnivore nirvana.
Fogo de Chao is a bit of a gyp, but now that I know what the price is going in($50, but it ain't on the menu) next time I'll train in advance and stretch my stomach to maximize consumption.
Tea party? How about grassroots Republican false flag? I caught the first 10-15 minutes of Palin's speech. Of course it was exactly what one would expect from someone on the GOP ticket in 2008.
The Republican party must transform itself into the tea party or something else because during the next election campaign quotes like the ones CR posted here will far more visible. Voters will constantly be reminded of the Republican rhetoric that got us into the spot where we are now.
Voters will constantly be reminded of the Republican rhetoric that got us into the spot where we are now.
Dems are hardly innocent in the scheme of things, though not to the wholesale extent of (R). But yes, if the tea-baggers gain momentum, the Republicans will need to be, something else.
It is funny now, it won't be if it actually happens. After all, Palin could have been one heartbeat from the Presidency...Honestly, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing or hearing. Stunning, absolutely stunning. Put Palin and Limbaugh together or Palin and Lou Dobbs and claim revolution...scares the holy hell out of me. I'll go into full hermit mode.
.......geeze.......Palin/Beck talk before coffee? It unfortunately doesn't matter what the Repubs do/say.......the Dems are transforming themselves and Obama into a dead end road - the Dems are losing it by simply trying to advocate policy changes too outlandish for even the staunchest of liberals........just another Carter with numerous dumb ideas and no ability.
Wall*Street & religious dogma are a perfect fit as both are based upon blind faith, although the former can't promise much in the way of an afterlife...
In addition, according to two people with knowledge of the positions, a portion of the $11 billion in taxpayer money that went to Société Générale, a French bank that traded with A.I.G., was subsequently transferred to Goldman under a deal the two banks had struck.
and, btw, a few generations of God-Lite by people other than CINO's would be a change for the good.......I would vote for a politician that vowed to stop "lying, cheating, stealing, and special interest access", regardless of his/her flavor.
In addition, according to two people with knowledge of the positions, a portion of the $11 billion in taxpayer money that went to Société Générale, a French bank that traded with A.I.G., was subsequently transferred to Goldman under a deal the two banks had struck.
The dirty creature probably would clean you out of the change jingling jangling in your sofa, if afforded the opportunity.
BSR, I wouldn't believe them-voters are, as the article from Marketwatch linked above, IRRELEVANT. I've suspected it for a long time, I've been saying it for awhile now. I'm glad to see someone else saying it.
No way in could I hold my nose and vote for Palin in any federal office. I will never, ever forgive that idiot McCain for putting the knitting circle quitter in the national political scene. What an embarrassment.
The nation was hijacked, the media bought and we're just the serfs. We don't have any choices except the ones our overlords decide to fund.
this is why I'm grumpy this morning...no I'm seething.
For every dollar in debt that Americans have paid off since they started cleansing their balance sheets in mid-2008, the U.S. government has borrowed more than $7.
BSR, you really must watch the HBO movie about Temple Grandin. I saw it last night, really fantastic and well done; inspirational I might add and not maudlin at all. Your ladies would love her.
A game as important to Wall Street as THIS one, of course will "be bought". They've been doing it for thousands of years - fine tuning it. It's nothing new. The only wrinkle they didn't expect was the housing debacle; people thrown out of jobs, and people walking away from mortgages. THAT has them nervous. Wall Street knows the tenuous nature of mankind without the anchor of a home. The sheeple have never left "their corrals" before and there aren't near enough shepherds.
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the U.S. is in no danger of losing its Aaa debt rating even though the Obama administration has predicted a $1.6 trillion budget deficit in 2010.
“Absolutely not,” Geithner said, when asked in an ABC News interview broadcast today whether a downgrade is a concern. “That will never happen to this country.”
Tentacles on the brain keep me from falling asleep
I'm rooted to the spot
The beast don't know when to stop
Sneaking up from behind
Binds and gags my wits
Dirty Creature got my head exactly where he wants it
BSR, what kind of cows do you have? I'm lucky here, at one farm we have these gigantic Brown Swiss cows that are coddled and make the most wonderful milk and small batch cheese I've ever put in my mouth. Absolute heaven. I love cows...I'm a dork.
"Just like the smartest German-Jewish physicists came to the US, the smartest Chinese engineers come to the US."
Actually, Einstein was forced to stay because nazis raided his house, burned his books and declared him as an enemy of state. He did his greatest work already 20 years earlier, contrary to the popular American myth. Smartest Chinese engineers are also going BACK. America was the place to be after WWII until maybe 2001 but now it is the place to LEAVE!
Things seems to be deteriorating fast. Obama will be one term president and then some "freshwater" nutjob closet nazi from the right wing will take over. Especially now when corporations can pour as much money to their favorite candidates or AGAINST some "librul" treehugger, who might even think gawdless dirty thoughts such as women should have right for abortion and wear shoes. Instead of being wombs for Gawd's Christian Future Soldiers.
Corpofascism is taking over, even stronger than in 1930's Germany. They just need a good front man to appease the angry crowd. Or kill the fence jumpers, what the f*ck they care. Democrats are just mere pushovers now, scared of their own shadows. When good men do nothing and all that....
.....I ought to watch my tape on Grandin one more time re. moving balky cattle thru pens.......I gotta cook a 100+ steaks for drunks moving past the BBQ this PM.....and I deal so well with drunks anyway - especially with sharp knives in their hands......:grin:
Why kill the fence-jumpers off when you can "detain" them without charge nor trial in our newly-declared "FREEDOM FARMS" where they can labor until they die?
Then we're both dorks, Nanoo....the cow is God's idea of the perfect farm animal. They'll love you forever, feed everything on the farm for you, turn grass into their food, give you a new calf every year, create fantastic fertilizer for your garden, are GREAT watch-dogs (especially the bulls) and provide you with meat when they're done. I love them too.
BSR, She' written several books too. She "thinks in pictures" and through associations. She says because of her Autism and her way of seeing the world, she can see what spooks animals. She relates better with animals than with people and likened herself to Data of Star Trek. She doesn't understand complex human emotions or 'signals' from eyes or body movements. She was phobic about being touched by people which sent her into a panic. Her mother and aunt are also amazing women.
She used a "squeeze machine" for herself to calm herself and she fashioned from observing cows relax when confined for vaccinations. She said without that, she would have never made it though college. Now she has a doctorate! Amazing woman.
That's why I come here - you guys are information machines.........Gnome, I think I'll pass on that tat, geeze....I almost threw up in my mouth.....what a specimen - both the cow-tat AND the "canvas".
Would you put your megabrain to the topic of the debate that Trim Tabs has raised? Whether the BLS survey or tax receipts gives you a more realistic view of the unemployment situation? I would love to see an unbiased (uh, that's you) author take a poke at this topic.
lol BSR, when I was 10 I got treed by a bull in a field one time...the lone cedar tree. I was up that tree for hours. The stupid horse I was trying to catch was in that field. I wasn't raised on a farm but my neighbor had a couple horses boarded, I exchanged my labor to ride this gigantic TN walking horse, it was a shy horse too.
I have a soft spot for goats too. Oh hell, I just enjoy animals, animal behavior, etc. in general but don't anthropormorphize them.
but know anybody breeding Irish Dexters, pros, cons?
Anak, there's this gal here in town who has been trying to breed Dexters into "minis" (less than 42" tall) for a while now. Apparently, because of their size, they take proportionately less feed in relation to the yield. She's trying to perfect a smaller breed that most ALL people could keep in their backyard for milk, butter, and cheese. I'm a newby when it comes to cows, I prefer mine "mid-size".....kinda like a Ford Taurus......
Kind of redundant when your whole profession is a joke, isn't it?
Read this and think...
Posted by Jim Sinclair re: China
Slumdog wrote:
Africa has as much world class leadership as Greece has solvency.
I find CR's choice of the new post to pig the previous thread highly amusing
Slumdog wrote:
How is it different from what people used to say about the inevitability of Japan's world domination?
YouTube - Elvis Costello - Everyday I Write The Book - (Solid Gold)
That same China also had:
The warlord and Nationalist Eras 1917-1937 4m dead
The Civil War 1945-1949 2m dead
Mao 1949-1976 40m dead
Sinclair is talking his book.
I have not set foot in a movie theater in 10 years. But I just saw "Up in the Air" on DVD (apparently because Paramount thinks our opinion is important) and IMHO it is one of the best American movies of all time.
The amazing thing about the movie is that you would have sworn they were plugged into CR 3-4 years ago, because that's how long it had to take to get this kind of movie in the can, at least, yet it's so dead-on for what's being discussed here and now. The juxaposition between Peak America and Hard Times America is too surreal, and too true.
No economy has ever collapsed faster.
Hell, my 13 y/o tells a better story.
Guy walks into a bar and propositions a woman, asking if she wants to go back to his place for sex and something "hinky". She agrees and they go back to his place.
After having sex, she's dressing and just before she leaves, she mentions that nothing hinky happened.
"Yeah," the guy replies, "while you were dressing, I shit in your purse."
Let's see Krugman tell that one.
Of course it isn't. The fact is that we're all human and therefore unable to project, much less plan for most things more than 30 years into the future with meaningful accuracy.
I liked the blind golfer joke.
C
rich wrote:
USSR in 1990s? USA in 1930s?
But I am sure you meant figuratively ...
Counterpointer wrote:
ok ... I'll bite, what's the blind golfer joke?
It's totally different. Japan was a defeated, occupied country, and for 30 years they adopted capitalism on steroids to claw their way back to hyper-prosperity. but they leveraged over the top and exploded.
China is still centralized and Communist, but they are like a cubic foot of hyper Swiss cheese, with vast holes in the fabric of their economy and society.
Japan exploded outward.
China will implode inward.
rich wrote:
Bubbles collapse. I often collapse. But I'm not a bubble. Although I lived in one for awhile after I saw that John Travolta movie. I still think about it everyday.
After watching the clip I didn't see much to change my opinion about economists and of course I mean real economists and not our gracious host or the many pseudo-wannabe-economists who chime in here from time to time.
The West was an unforeseen circumstance. Took them 200 years to recover from missing it the first time.
I doubt they'll make the same mistake twice.
C
Dude,
watch the video.
Actually not a bad one either. But prefer this one:
Guy came home and told wife that had a terrible day on the links. "Charley died on the 7th fairway." How terrible, his wife replied.
"Yeah, it was. Hit the ball, drag Charlie. Hit the ball, drag Charlie. Hit the ball, drag Charlie."
As to blind, prefer Helen Keller or Ray Charles jokes.
rich wrote:
China breaks. Trust me. Go drop some on concrete and see what happens.
Oh, well, since we are talking economist fun, here you go: Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem
YouTube - "Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek vs. Keynes Rap Anthem
rich wrote:
It is going to be so cool. We'll land at new airports and take new roads to new cities with our food and our culture and it will be a matter of months before we have a colonial empire economic relationship of mutual benefit.
Counterpointer wrote:
Just like the Great Depression. It never will happen twice.
Not really. Those economies weren't that big, and prosperity wasn't nearly as widespread or taken for granted.
My grandparents grew up in the USA of the pre-1930s on farms, and their whole families probably didn't make more than $50-60 a week in cash. None of their children could even think about attending college, which was relatively cheap at the time.
No one country or society is omnipotent We have a tendency to turn our opponents into far smarter, better, stronger types than we are. Look at Japan, Germany, etc.
China won't make the same mistake that they made before re the west. They'll make an entirely new one, just like we did.
Keynes vs Hayek rapout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0nERTFo-Sk
homedad43 wrote:
Oh ... I see. I started to, but they were really not funny.
I'll go back and watch at least as for as the blind golfer joke.
Here I go ... wish me luck.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Watch the Hayek vs. Keynes Rap clip then
Rich:
I'd bet that at the time, college wasn't relatively cheap. It was generally the purview of the monied individuals and wasn't really brought into reach until after WW2 with the GI bill.
I'll check that out this week.
On the blind golfer: Her delivery was a little off - but the punch line was worth it!
I've corresponded with Yoram Bauman and hopefully he will have another video up soon. And of course I've featured several of Merle's videos - he usually lets me know when he has a new one.
best wishes
YouTube - Randy Newman - Political Science
Hoocoodanode "The Big One" would end up being mortgage securities?
rich wrote:
But they played a mean fiddle and all your family reunions were a lesson in the dangers of inbreeding. Just kidding, rich. We all know how dangerous and destructive it is to stereotype all inbreds as being able to play the fiddle. Some played the jug and the washboard only, while other devised a grand scheme to make money off SRS.
Thanks, CR. Those are hysterical.
no more comments necessary after Nemo's. Well, one more - as Metallica would say " Sad but truuuuuuueeeeeeeee!"
OT (given the thread)
Mandelson attacks US and Europe - Telegraph
As the G7 finance ministers meet in Canada to try to thrash out a deal on the regulation of banking, Lord Mandelson said that the US had shown a "surprising" lack of international perspective on the issue.
...
"[There has been] a surprising lack of internationalism displayed by the US administration [on global banking regulation]," Lord Mandelson said. "But also and equally importantly a failure in the European Union to show stronger leadership.
"I think that both the European Council and the European Commission have to play a much stronger leadership role.
"Heads of government need to set the direction and pace and the Commission needs to be a much more active, implementing body than we've seen in recent months."
His comments come three weeks after President Barack Obama said that he was "up for a fight" with big banks and unilaterally announced that he wanted to see a ban on proprietary trading by global investment banks. The British Government had not been consulted about the announcement. "It is a difficult situation all round, and in my view plain speaking is good, rabble rousing is bad," Lord Mandelson said. "Consistent demands from governments are necessary. Chopping and changing is not.
...
Asked specifically about critics of the single currency who argue that by retaining sterling, Britain had been sheltered from the worst of the market backlash against high public deficits, Lord Mandelson said: "That's true.
"But it doesn't necessarily mean that being out of the eurozone will always play to Britain's advantage.
...
"On the 50p top rate tax I think it was the right move, it's fair, it's what the public expects when everyone is tightening their belts.
"But the Government is right not to rule out lowering it in the future when public finances allow. The more important issue in my view is corporation tax and capital gains tax, and I would be disappointed if those taxes had to be increased in the future."
CR, most of those folks couldn't hit a punchline with a bat.
It's an entirely different way of thinking.
Closest one that I can think of able to blend humor and social commentary is PJ O'Rourke, but even he's doing it in writing.
My personal favorite Hellen Keller joke:
Q: Why can't Hellen Keller drive a car?
A: Because she's a woman
MrM wrote:
Well ... it's no ...
YouTube - Flight of the Conchords Ep 3 Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros
MrM wrote:
That was very entertaining. I'm actually surprised it has received over 500,000 hits, but deservedly so.
Also, I didn't know economists could hang out with babes who look like that. I might have to revise my opinion.
That is so very wrong.
Anyone using the title "Lord" is not to be trusted.
OT - No Joke!
"
HOW DID WE GET HERE? When President Bush took office in 2001, the federal budget had been in
the black for three years, and continued surpluses were projected for a decade to come.
By the time Mr. Bush left office in early 2009, the government had run big deficits for seven
straight years, and the economy was on the brink of another Great Depression. On Jan. 7, 2009 —
two weeks before Mr. Obama was inaugurated — the Congressional Budget Office issued new
budget estimates showing a fiscal year 2009 deficit of well over $1 trillion.
"
This should be required reading for deficit hawks and doves alike;
EDITORIAL; The Truth About the Deficit - NY Times
Rich, what did you think of the part fairly early in where there was no talking, just music? The first time I watched the film was on an airplane, and I fell asleep to that music, and had one of the most wonderful dreams ever. Woke up, turned off the film and couldnt wait to start it again.
Q: How did Helen Keller's parents punish her?
A: Give her a golf ball and tell her to read it.
A: Put her in a round room and tell her to sit in the corner.
A: Ask her to read the waffle iron.
Q: What happened to Helen Keller when she fell off the cliff?
A: She screamed her hands off.
At the end of her life, Helen Keller talked about the afterlife. Someone mentioned that the soul of the dying person moved towards the light.
Helen replied, "what light?"
monetarism is the greatest economic comedy... and tragedy.
Hmmm ... sounds somewhat like my post from last year:
A comment on the Deficit and National Debt
best wishes
A golfer hit his wife in the head with a bad drive and killed her.
During the autopsy, a golf ball was found lodged in her anus.
The golfer was brought in for questioning.
"That was my Mulligan."
MrM wrote:
I roused rabble last night and let me tell you, I'm rousing rabble again. It was great. Lord Mandelson either does not know what he was talking about or he was doing it wrong.
Winston wrote:
My father had on his bookshelf a book called "The Third World War" by John Hackett. It was a fictional account (obviously) about how such a war might occur and progress. The chapter regarding Birmingham was a real doozy. Anyway, at the end of the book was the following passage:
“There is a nice story of a political prophet in Munich in 1928, who was asked to prophesy what would be happening to the burghers of his city in five, fifteen, twenty and forty years' time.
He began: 'I prophesy that in five years' time, in 1933, Munich will be part of a Germany that has just suffered 5 million unemployed and that is ruled by a dictator with a certifiable mental illness who will proceed to murder 6 million Jews.'
His audience said: 'Ah, then you must think that in fifteen years' time we will be in a sad plight.'
'No,' replied the prophet, 'I prophesy that in 1943 Munich will be part of a Greater Germany whose flag will fly from Volga to Bordeaux, from northern Norway to the Sahara.'
'Ah, then you must think that in twenty years' time, we will be mighty indeed.'
'No, my guess is that in 1948 Munich will be part of a Germany that stretches only from the Elbe to the Rhine, and whose ruined cities will recently have seen production down to only 10 per cent of the 1928 level.'
'So you think we face black ruin in forty years' time?'
'No, by 1968 I prophesy that real income per head in Munich will be four times greater than now, and that in the year after that 90 per cent of German adults will sit looking at a box in a corner of their drawing rooms, which will show live pictures of a man walking upon the moon.'
It ends, "They locked him up as a madman, of course."
They locked him up as a madman, of course.”
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
It is a good thing this isn't a gay joke.
Bubblisimo:
Very nice...
Out of curiosity, is your last name pronounced with a 'g' or a 'j'? Just occurred to me...
God, it's late.
Elvis wrote:
I would appreciate proper attribution of quotes.
I am no Lord Mandelson
MrM wrote:
Right, but you are a Dan Quayle.
Right, but you are a Dan Quayle.
Meh, potatoe, potatoe.
CalculatedRisk wrote:
It does , may be you will do an updated version, now that anti-deficitism is the new populism! Even among the Republicans!
the best economics joke ever
would have been to let fannie and freddie fail
despite the denials
there is evidence that china shit a brick as the GSEs teetered
because china had plowed a huge pile of "surplus" dollars
(it had from trade imbalance)
invested back into MBS
so lets see
our government used the tax code to encourage companies to get rid of
american workers (american workers effed)
and export jobs (effed again)
the trade imbalance mushroomed
(will eventually devalue dollar..... americans bent over and screwed again)
americans went into debt to compensate for falling wages
(ameicans screwed themselves, with help from our friends)
china other us creditors tell usa federal gov you better bail out our investments or else
US gov takes over fannie, freddie and aig putting the us taxpayer on the hook as the bag holder
(american worker "b" effed again and no reach-around)
,
sounds like a pretty effing funny economics joke to me
im laughin my ass off.....
not
Elvis wrote:
That does not count as an apology
rich wrote:
My father's two sisters (Iowa farm kids) were sent to college in the mid 1930's because girls needed enough education to be teachers if they didn't get married. My father, who would have appreciated the opportunity, had to stay home because he would be taking over the family farm. To bad he was so allergic to horses he couldn't do it.
homedad43 wrote:
Well let me put it this way ... my other choices were Wakinov and Phukinov.
SNAFU wrote:
Didn't you mean anti-defecationism is the new non-poopulism.
mhdoc wrote:
No offense, but your aunts must have been creatures. Women not being able to get married in the mid 30s is equivalent to a bare breasted woman not being able to get beads on Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras. I suggest you keep that aunts and teacher's college to yourself.
Obama must be twice the President that GW Bush was. After all it took George all of 8 years to add $5T to the national debt and BHO needed only 40 months.
"Pa, why did your sisters become teachers?"
"Look at them son. They were too ugly to be wives, so that was their only option."
"Then, why did you marry Ma? She should have been a teacher, too."
"Well, son, that is why I quick drinking."
Rob Dawg wrote:
Blame it on Oprah. That bitch.
CalculatedRisk wrote:
The general tenor should be repeated on a weekly basis everywhere possible.
I posted this earlier, but WTF.
YouTube - One Toke Over The Line - Lawrence Welk - WTF! (1971)
An architect, doctor and an investment banker are lunching at the golf club's restaurant and they play oneupsmanship, today's version being who's got the smartest dog?
The doctor brags on his Chesapeake Bay Retriever and calls out "Schweitzer!" and a well-muscled Retriever bounds in. "Fetch" says the doctor and the dog proceeds to make several trips out and back, each time with a new bunch of bones. The dog then arranges the bones in the form of a human skeleton.
The architect isn't going to be outdone, so he calls for his German Shepherd, Lloyd Wright. In bounds a handsome, well bred dog who looks at the bones and in several minutes time, builds a small building out of the bones
The two professionals sit smirking and looking at the investment banker. The banker finally calls out "Goldman!" and a runty little mutt
with one eye and a bent tail wanders in. "Go!" says the banker, and Shyster proceeds to eat the bones and screw the other two dogs.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Bush was blessed by the economy Clinton left. Obama was sullied by the huge pile of shit Bush left.
There. Fixed it for ya.
Crap.
I blew the punchline. Dammit. "goldman", not "shyster."
Dammit, dammit, dammit.
Why don't you edit your comment?
homedad43 wrote:
Why didn't the dog screw the doctor and the architect, too? I don't get it. Please work on your jokes before you post them.
Guess I might as well become an economist.
No you didn't.
It was a Shyster Terrier.
Mea culpa.
I thought that bestiality really isn't quite the thing for this bunch.
I have standards, you know.
homedad43 wrote:
Then you don't get to screw anybody and everyone just makes fun of you. Might as well be a virgin.
Fortunately, President Obama is extremely smart. He has figured out that his best option is to do absolutely nothing to fix anything and leave President Palin with an even bigger mess, and then try for two non-consecutive terms like Grover Cleveland.
albrt wrote:
Except for Chicago politics. They are always fixed.
Sportsfan:
Yep, but then the followup comments make no sense.
Ah well, thanks for the thought.
Carl Rove comes into W's office one January and finds him sullen and depressed.
"What's the trouble George?"
"Well Carl, I got a puzzle for Christmas and I can't make heads or tails of it."
"Oh, well that's no problem George, bring it in and we'll get the cabinet working on it. BTW, what's it a puzzle of?"
"A tiger." beams W.
The next Monday Carl comes into the Oval Office where W has the puzzle spread out on his desk.
"Uh George, put the Frosted Flakes back in the box."
homedad, then you have to edit the second comment by deleting the text and saying just
By now, though, you have to edit the third comment, so you better get started.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Leave the Tiger jokes alone. The man made a mistake. Just let him play golf already.
albrt wrote:
I knew he had a plan in there somewhere.
Did you hear about the woman who is suing her tattoo artist?
A few years ago she got a leopard tattood to her breast, but it turned into a giraffe.
With his wife, two balls, and a mulligan?
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Enough with the Oprah jokes. She has a weight problem. Show some sympathy.
I read that.
Ph*&%ing Oilers.
All right, this has just been too much fun for some of us at Boomer age.
MrM wrote:
"Fear the Boom and Bust" a Hayek ...
YouTube - Salma Hayek on Letterman - Breasts
Tomorrow is a big day. After I milk the goats and butcher the hogs, I plan on watching the Super Bowl preview show. Then, I'm going to feather the chickens, knit them sweaters, and pray that they like the patterns.
After 40 years of service, a rabbi decided to retire. During all of that time, he'd kept each foreskin that he'd clipped as a memento. At the end of 40 years, he wanted to have something special done so he took the jar of foreskins to a leathermaker and asked him to make something special for him.
At the end of a month, the rabbi returned to the leathermaker and the proud leathermaker pulled out a change purse and gave it to the stunned rabbi. "After 40 years, this is all you could do with them, was a change purse?" sputtered the rabbi.
"Yeah," replied the leathermaker, "but rub it and it turns into an overnight bag."
Some of you may recall that, some months ago, I told you that Bridgeport wasn't accepting orders because their Chinese casting supplier screwed them.
Now, a tragedy. Romi, a Brazilian machine tool manufacturer, is making a hostile bid.
UPDATE 1-Hardinge to evaluate Romi's buyout offer
| Reuters
This didn't have to happen, but this is what is happening to the United States..
must read
Paul B. Farrell over at marketwatch
Feb. 2, 2010, 12:01 a.m. EST
20 reasons Global Debt Time Bomb explodes soon
Commentary: Which trigger will ignite the Great Depression II?
Our debt time bomb is ready to go ka-boom Paul B. Farrell - MarketWatch
heres the first two
the other 18 are just as compelling
Poll: 20 economic weapons of mass destruction triggering ticking Global Debt Time Bomb
im with mp
ordering more concrete
Mock:
But can Farrell tell a joke?
If that were all it would be a tragedy. But that they've engaged Jefferies as an advisor is a farce.
C
car 55 in a truck wrote:
I welcome the bust.
ok ok cinco-x is way ahead
its still worth a re post no?
mp wrote:
First the Brazilian wax. Now they're trying to get their hands on American tools. Is man waxing to follow?
When you look at the picture of Farrell at the Marketwatch article, he does kinda look like a white-haired Phil Hartman, God rest his soul.
Elvis:
Very gentlemanly of you to ignore the obvious rude humor in that man-wax comment.
homedad43
at this point...im beyond terrified
and moving quickly towards catatonic
...yeah farrel sure can tell a joke
mock turtle wrote:
Mock, no disrespect, but I wish you weren't.
I wish we weren't talking about this.
But, we are.
mock turtle wrote:
The last time I went catatonic was after great sex. Or did someone just slip me a roofie and steal my wallet? Either way, I think I liked it.
Niall Ferguson on Bloomberg (via Panzner link below):
At some point -- and I think it is over the next six-to-12 months -- there is going to be a re-rating, a reappraisal of U.S. fiscal prospects, and that, it seems to me, will be the moment of truth.
When Giants Fall: The Coming 'Moment of Truth'
And that's why tonight, I'm taking the scenic route.
Already have one kid hurling and another not feeling well. This morning, considered how we'd really handle things Mad Max given the hysteria over a friggin' snow storm.
"Snowmageddon"? Spare me, please.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
I thought that phrase was always reserved for "the bet."
TJ and The Bear wrote:
What can I say?
Yup.
mock turtle wrote:
Today for lunch I ate a peanut butter and concrete sandwich. It tasted horrible. Needless to say, I no longer will eat peanut butter.
Agree with the logic of the Ferguson statement, but timing?
We've been waiting for this stuff for years.
mp
im not all that respectable
but... NP..... never any offense taken
im an optimist by nature...but i seriously question if there is anything (anything) that can save us now
imo obama had one chance and blew it
take the miscreant banks (and financial etc) into receivership...a year ago
now it seems to me its all water under the bridge
or is it water under the reactor...sheesh
Thought this was interesting in a
sort of way:
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Americans Reject Keynesian Economics; 83% Blame Deficit on Politicians
Conjure and I agree with Ferguson is principle, but the devil is in the details.
mock turtle wrote:
Yup. He had one chance only.
And he blew it.
Did W meet privately with bankers, like Obama?
Oh, he didn't deign to publish a list of whom he met with. Obama may be a really shitty president, but it's impossible to state mathematically exactly how many times better than W he is.
mock turtle wrote:
Right. His one chance was to lose the election, but he failed. Now he is stuck.
Deleted
Him and that damned vegetable garden of his. And then they didn't even use the WH vegetables for the Food Network "Iron Chef" show.
Must have been arranged by the Treasury Department.
homedad43 wrote:
Ain't that the truth. They pulled a rabbit out of a hat covering that $500B this past year, but... I don't see how they cover the $1.3T to $1.7T shortfall this year.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Calling Obama a shitty president is like calling the Incas weak because they were not immune to European disease.
YouTube - Bullwinkle's hat gag
For those of us old enough to remember...
Elvis wrote:
are you sure you mean catatonic and not epileptic...as in seizure?...shaking all over
the who
YouTube - The Who- Shakin All Over/Twist And Shout
Well, there's always been talk of a debt crisis. That all started with the "fiat currency" people.
But, this is no longer talk now. Reinhart and Rogoff have nailed it down.
There is a threshold.
heres the original ?
shaking all over
talk about a time capsule
YouTube - Vince Taylor - Shakin' All Over
He didn't just blow it.
He re-infused the problem with Turbo and Uncle Ben and don't forget Fat Larry.
It's mind blowing and a simple fact that both parties are corrupt to the core.
The Bush cartel was MIC .gov fraud and pillage and the Clinton / Obama cartel is big pharma and union fraud and pillage.
The doors revolve until we get both parties out of office and vote out ALL incumbents that supported tarp or any of the other bailout nonsense.
Being bought by Brazil strikes me as one of the better outcomes for the U.S. Those folks are way more fun than the Communist Chinese party bosses.
mp wrote:
When people get married are they going to be required to carry the bride over the debt threshold? If so, that doesn't sound very romantic, and I expect the marriage rate to fall precipitously. Expect a proportionate demand in housing. Got bulldozers?
Saw the link to the video re China and why they're encouraging their citizens to purchase gold.
Honestly, wondered about that the other day (seriously) but chalked it up to their desire to have sufficient domestic holdings that they'd be able to confiscate it if and when the need arose (stolen out of the USG 1933 playbook). Not that the USG cares all too much for us, but the princes and princesses care all so much for their billion plus people?
edited on advice of counsel...
albrt wrote:
Yeah.
I guess.
Geez, I recall my father once saying that the government wasn't looking out for me and wasn't my friend and I thought he was from the moon.
Damn, he was right again.
But when the bosses are in town for a visit, where are you gonna find Brazilian food?
homedad43 wrote:
The good thing about caring for a billion people is it is cheap. The bad news about caring for a billion people is the pitchforks. China has growing pains. Fear China, but after the New Plague.
homedad43 wrote:
What makes you think they're going to keep it alive?
Frankly, I think they'll strangle it and take the intellectual property.
The only thing that will be left in the US is a token presence.
LOL... a great laugh this weekend... thanks!
mp wrote:
Jobs only cause higher home prices. I want to buy homes for dirt cheap. Screw jobs! Give me cheap houses!
G'night folks.
Long day tomorrow.
Fogo de Chao. F St, from memory. Carnivore nirvana.
C
But that's good! Then they'll be a "platform company" just like Apple! As long as the CEO, the marketing people and the investment bankers still have jobs, that's probably the best we can hope for.
Oh yes, and the lawyers. Got to feed the lawyers.
In order to save money, President Obama has ordered all government workers who use eye glasses to switch to monocles. And he mandated that they not flush at work. (However, workers with good eye sight are still allowed to flush.)
homedad43 wrote:
Yes, those occassional 24 hour days really get to me.
albrt wrote:
Fuck the lawyers.
I have been informed that it is time to strike. So, I must go strike. Goodnight to all you non-union people. See you card carriers at the picket line. "Free Wages! No Works!" Later.
car 55 in a truck wrote:
Only the hot ones. Off to do my duty.
albrt wrote:
I guess that's humor or snark, or something.
I don't think you folks understand that machine tools are not made on a production line.
They are fitted by hand.
The skill set is almost gone. If something happens where this country needs a large quantity of machine tools, there won't be anyone around who knows how to make them.
You'll be using files.
mp wrote:
There is an app for that?
Elvis wrote:
Enjoy the work release program and have a super duper. No Palin implied
Hell, I guess it doesn't matter any more, anyway.
There aren't enough people around who know how to operate them even if they had them.
elvis wrote
"There is an app for that?"
yeah, its called system restore
but it doesnt work after youve crashed your hard drive
Just bitter resignation.
I spend my free time turning compost. Doesn't require much precision.
Conjure and I foresee a day when there will be some kind of national crisis.
The Defense Department will call a meeting of the top "manufacturing" companies.
The "manufacturers" will be given a list of requirements and a deadline.
The "manufacturers" will say, "Sorry, we don't do that any more."
"Would you like some nice stainless dinnerware we make in China?"
There will still be manufacturers, but they won't be invited to the meeting because they were busy manufacturing stuff all these years instead of applying for government contracts.
Open source hardware is here. No need to reinvent the wheel. Everything will be just in time.
The open source currency is just grease for the open source revolutionary wheel:
Wired's Autopia Builds A DIY Charger For Its DIY Electric Car - shocking news - Jalopnik
In the Next Industrial Revolution, Atoms Are the New Bits | Magazine
"Share-friendly". Americans can still do that.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
The open source currency is just grease for the open source revolutionary wheel:
Yeah, I read that article: design new products on your PC! Open-source community design! Prototype on your desktop! and finally.... hire the Chinese to make it cheap! The new American revolution. I swear, they're a bunch of elitist geeks at Wired who DON'T HAVE A CLUE!
The new global revolution, not American. Torvalds was from Finland. Gates is the billionaire. They're geeks but they have a clue. The last Wired open source hardware feature was about an Italian socialist geek. The Chinese do pirate, and their labor relations and human rights abuses will explode.
Just like the smartest German-Jewish physicists came to the US, the smartest Chinese engineers come to the US. We have huge houses, already built, and clean air to breathe. It's a hell of lot easier to build a car factory from the ground up than a strong Bill of Rights.
Just when you thought euro has no future, here is some contrarian work:
EU bonds are the safest
EURO to be reserve currency
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Elvis wrote:
Elvis in the NFL?
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Seems obvious to me that Ben will continue to buy.
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
Like I keep saying, productivity is NOT the issue.
The Internet is the greatest meta-catalyst for productivity ever in history.
It derives its value by deconstructing local information monopolies like.... the doctor's medical knowledge and the lawyer's knowledge of the law.
broward,
here's a different look compared to the B-Day party vid-mash I posted before...
YouTube - Fast Cars (obviously, no victim of an acid attack...)
Not only that, but much of its value derives from near universal cheap access to all its information. China and Russia will inevitably fall [further] behind if they try to limit public access.
Google, MS, Yahoo, AOL, Apple will all fail if they try to squeeze monopoly profits. Who cares about the selfish Material Girl's profits. Madonna's greed is ugly. CR's formula is simple and effective: anyone can easily block ads. Those who obtain value will tip for great service.
Eventually, the only musicians able to get rich will be the ones who can perform well to a live audience. Full circle.
Gretchen tries her hand at a status update. Introduces NYT readership to some Rosenberg guy. Musta only made one call this week, no one else quoted.
FAIR GAME; This Crisis Won’t Stop Moving - NY Times
C
Counterpointer wrote:
Fogo de Chao is a bit of a gyp, but now that I know what the price is going in($50, but it ain't on the menu) next time I'll train in advance and stretch my stomach to maximize consumption.
Arizona decides to close most state parks - Los Angeles Times
AZ really just needs to default. If they can't keep the parks open, what are residents paying taxes for?
Tea party? How about grassroots Republican false flag? I caught the first 10-15 minutes of Palin's speech. Of course it was exactly what one would expect from someone on the GOP ticket in 2008.
The Republican party must transform itself into the tea party or something else because during the next election campaign quotes like the ones CR posted here will far more visible. Voters will constantly be reminded of the Republican rhetoric that got us into the spot where we are now.
Palin/ Beck 2012!
I wanna know just what percentage of the population actually buys into that crap. Seriously...I don't think it is as large as is advertised.
Come on, Nanoo.
Where's your sense of humor, ya grumpy old fart?
Jazz Lingo from the 40's-50's...
Tea: Marijuana
Teapad: Place for smoking marijuana
Cop a Deuceways: Buy two dollar's worth (of marijuana)
Gage: Marijuana
Golden-leaf: The best marijuana
Grefa: Marijuana
Gunja: Marijuana
Hard-cutting mez: The best marijuana
Muggles: Marijuana cigarettes.
Mezzroll: Fat Sticks of handrolled Marijuana
Viper: Marijuana smoker
traderwalt wrote:
Dems are hardly innocent in the scheme of things, though not to the wholesale extent of (R). But yes, if the tea-baggers gain momentum, the Republicans will need to be, something else.
Elephants and Asses
Trampling the Masses
Does it matter who steals from you?
Red? or Blue?
It is funny now, it won't be if it actually happens. After all, Palin could have been one heartbeat from the Presidency...Honestly, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing or hearing. Stunning, absolutely stunning. Put Palin and Limbaugh together or Palin and Lou Dobbs and claim revolution...scares the holy hell out of me. I'll go into full hermit mode.
.......geeze.......Palin/Beck talk before coffee? It unfortunately doesn't matter what the Repubs do/say.......the Dems are transforming themselves and Obama into a dead end road - the Dems are losing it by simply trying to advocate policy changes too outlandish for even the staunchest of liberals........just another Carter with numerous dumb ideas and no ability.
Good Morning......
Palin/ Ghoul-iani 2012?
Nanoo<
You're assuming Palin actually has a heart...
It's the Repug-licans and the DumberRats that got us into this mess.
Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:
That would Goodwin the nation.
Wall*Street & religious dogma are a perfect fit as both are based upon blind faith, although the former can't promise much in the way of an afterlife...
I'm loving what we have in office now.
Does Michelle know?
When was the Volcker Rule, like 30 years ago?
They must have a million ways to make a billion.
Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge - NY Times
In addition, according to two people with knowledge of the positions, a portion of the $11 billion in taxpayer money that went to Société Générale, a French bank that traded with A.I.G., was subsequently transferred to Goldman under a deal the two banks had struck.
and, btw, a few generations of God-Lite by people other than CINO's would be a change for the good.......I would vote for a politician that vowed to stop "lying, cheating, stealing, and special interest access", regardless of his/her flavor.
Praise Glob!
LOL.....don't mind me.....I hate milking in the mud - the ladies hate it too.......
rich wrote:
Normally it takes a war or natural disaster to collapse this fast.
The dirty
creature probably would clean you out of the change jingling jangling in your sofa, if afforded the opportunity.
YouTube - Split Enz - Dirty Creature (1982)
BSR, I wouldn't believe them-voters are, as the article from Marketwatch linked above, IRRELEVANT. I've suspected it for a long time, I've been saying it for awhile now. I'm glad to see someone else saying it.
No way in could I hold my nose and vote for Palin in any federal office. I will never, ever forgive that idiot McCain for putting the knitting circle quitter in the national political scene. What an embarrassment.
The nation was hijacked, the media bought and we're just the serfs. We don't have any choices except the ones our overlords decide to fund.
this is why I'm grumpy this morning...no I'm seething.
Palin drones look the same, Stepford lives.
Wall St. has committed TREASON against the United States of America and her citizens; aided and abetted by FEDgov.
That Keynes-Hayek video is about 666x as funny as what passed for comedy @ the AEA, why not play that one ,czar CR?
Nanoo<
http://www.unattributable.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/teh-stupid-it-burns.jpg
For every dollar in debt that Americans have paid off since they started cleansing their balance sheets in mid-2008, the U.S. government has borrowed more than $7.
Protecting Yourself From the Giant New Deficit - WSJ.com
BSR, you really must watch the HBO movie about Temple Grandin. I saw it last night, really fantastic and well done; inspirational I might add and not maudlin at all. Your ladies would love her.
A game as important to Wall Street as THIS one, of course will "be bought". They've been doing it for thousands of years - fine tuning it. It's nothing new. The only wrinkle they didn't expect was the housing debacle; people thrown out of jobs, and people walking away from mortgages. THAT has them nervous. Wall Street knows the tenuous nature of mankind without the anchor of a home. The sheeple have never left "their corrals" before and there aren't near enough shepherds.
Computers made it all possible, Wall*Street is the downside to quick information transfer.
Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:
....I've seen the gal thru a number of training tapes many times.....knows her animals....
BSR, you know she suffers from fairly profound Autism, right? What a story and remarkable woman. Really worth your time to watch.
never knew that, Nanoo........she sure is common-sense when it comes to moving livestock.
No he didn't...
Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said the U.S. is in no danger of losing its Aaa debt rating even though the Obama administration has predicted a $1.6 trillion budget deficit in 2010.
“Absolutely not,” Geithner said, when asked in an ABC News interview broadcast today whether a downgrade is a concern. “That will never happen to this country.”
Geithner Says U.S. Will ‘Never’ Lose Its Aaa Debt Rating - BusinessWeek
---Rating downgrade in 3.....2.....1...
BSR, what kind of cows do you have? I'm lucky here, at one farm we have these gigantic Brown Swiss cows that are coddled and make the most wonderful milk and small batch cheese I've ever put in my mouth. Absolute heaven. I love cows...I'm a dork.
"Just like the smartest German-Jewish physicists came to the US, the smartest Chinese engineers come to the US."
Actually, Einstein was forced to stay because nazis raided his house, burned his books and declared him as an enemy of state. He did his greatest work already 20 years earlier, contrary to the popular American myth. Smartest Chinese engineers are also going BACK. America was the place to be after WWII until maybe 2001 but now it is the place to LEAVE!
Things seems to be deteriorating fast. Obama will be one term president and then some "freshwater" nutjob closet nazi from the right wing will take over. Especially now when corporations can pour as much money to their favorite candidates or AGAINST some "librul" treehugger, who might even think gawdless dirty thoughts such as women should have right for abortion and wear shoes. Instead of being wombs for Gawd's Christian Future Soldiers.
Corpofascism is taking over, even stronger than in 1930's Germany. They just need a good front man to appease the angry crowd. Or kill the fence jumpers, what the f*ck they care. Democrats are just mere pushovers now, scared of their own shadows. When good men do nothing and all that....
.....I ought to watch my tape on Grandin one more time re. moving balky cattle thru pens.......I gotta cook a 100+ steaks for drunks moving past the BBQ this PM.....and I deal so well with drunks anyway - especially with sharp knives in their hands......:grin:
Why kill the fence-jumpers off when you can "detain" them without charge nor trial in our newly-declared "FREEDOM FARMS" where they can labor until they die?
"Work will set you free"
Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:
Then we're both dorks, Nanoo....the cow is God's idea of the perfect farm animal. They'll love you forever, feed everything on the farm for you, turn grass into their food, give you a new calf every year, create fantastic fertilizer for your garden, are GREAT watch-dogs (especially the bulls) and provide you with meat when they're done. I love them too.
Did you get your tattoo yet?
http://www.guzer.com/pictures/cow_tat.jpg
BSR, She' written several books too. She "thinks in pictures" and through associations. She says because of her Autism and her way of seeing the world, she can see what spooks animals. She relates better with animals than with people and likened herself to Data of Star Trek. She doesn't understand complex human emotions or 'signals' from eyes or body movements. She was phobic about being touched by people which sent her into a panic. Her mother and aunt are also amazing women.
She used a "squeeze machine" for herself to calm herself and she fashioned from observing cows relax when confined for vaccinations. She said without that, she would have never made it though college. Now she has a doctorate! Amazing woman.
BSR, if you're there-- know your busy, but know anybody breeding Irish Dexters, pros, cons?
Somebody close to me wants to breed some for meat and milk (2 gal / day from the smallest bovine breed!).
Nanoo-Nanoo wrote:
That's why I come here - you guys are information machines.........Gnome, I think I'll pass on that tat, geeze....I almost threw up in my mouth.....what a specimen - both the cow-tat AND the "canvas".
CR:
Would you put your megabrain to the topic of the debate that Trim Tabs has raised? Whether the BLS survey or tax receipts gives you a more realistic view of the unemployment situation? I would love to see an unbiased (uh, that's you) author take a poke at this topic.
BinT
lol BSR, when I was 10 I got treed by a bull in a field one time...the lone cedar tree. I was up that tree for hours. The stupid horse I was trying to catch was in that field. I wasn't raised on a farm but my neighbor had a couple horses boarded, I exchanged my labor to ride this gigantic TN walking horse, it was a shy horse too.
I have a soft spot for goats too. Oh hell, I just enjoy animals, animal behavior, etc. in general but don't anthropormorphize them.
Anak wrote:
Anak, there's this gal here in town who has been trying to breed Dexters into "minis" (less than 42" tall) for a while now. Apparently, because of their size, they take proportionately less feed in relation to the yield. She's trying to perfect a smaller breed that most ALL people could keep in their backyard for milk, butter, and cheese. I'm a newby when it comes to cows, I prefer mine "mid-size".....kinda like a Ford Taurus......
Thanks BSR, I've heard a breeding pair is hard to come by.
nanoo me too
Bah, forget sentimentalist Hollywood. Terri Gross has been doing great interviews with Temple Grandin for years on NPR. Probably archived.