The Housing Bubble

Who here, other than Ben Jones (after all, it’s his blog), gets to decide which opinions are valid and which ones aren’t?

My opinion is that the earth is flat. Valid?

“My opinion is that the earth is flat. Valid?”

Every man is entitled to his opinion.

‘after all, it’s his blog’

Hey, I just work here:

‘Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error.’

Benjamin Rush

http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/Controversy_is_only_dreaded_by_the_advocates_of_error/221841/

People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Since it appears I missed some good debate, I’m off to read yesterday’s posts.

“Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error.”

If you don’t fully understand your opponent’s position, then you don’t understand your own.

I live in the liberal bubble that is San Francisco, and generally would have to travel at least an hour away to find someone who has opinions like Smithers, so I find it pretty interesting.

People like him are mostly theoretical, to me.

“People like him are mostly theoretical, to me.”

They were to us too, until we moved from SF to the Central Coast. While they are theoretical creatures to you, we interact with them on a daily basis. It’s quite jarring to hear some of these opinions in person and although I do defend their right to have their opinions, it doesn’t make hearing them any more pleasant (or any more true!).

People like him are mostly theoretical, to me.

+1 for telling the truth…

I don’t like the poster. He’s a jingoistic lackwit.

That wasn’t an attack, but rather an objective description.

If you go to yesterday’s bits bucket, you will find an exhaustive effort I made to shoot down one of the many strawmen Eddie shared with us yesterday (the one about how stocks did so much better than bonds over the past four years).

Nobody pays me to suffer fools.

Just top off my head I see camp Banana is outnumbered and outfoxed by camp Alpha any time of the day in this blog.

Right - Banana, Smitty, Lip
Left - Alpha, Ahansen, Rio, Turkey, Highway, Oxide, Polly, Slim, Colorado, Professor, GSFixr, sfrenter

Left? Just goes to show how out of touch everyone is.

I’m a moderate, but to the left and the right I’m either one or the other, I just happen to hate the right more these days mainly because of this:

WASHINGTON | Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:30pm EDT

(Reuters) - Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic bill on Tuesday to end tax deductions enjoyed by companies that close their U.S. plants and move overseas.

With a largely party-line vote of 53-45, Democrats failed to muster the 60 votes needed to clear a Republican procedural hurdle against the measure, which would also give employers a tax break to hire new U.S. workers.

Left - Alpha, Ahansen, Rio, Turkey, Highway, Oxide, Polly, Slim, Colorado, Professor, GSFixr, sfrenter

Yup, that’s me, all right! Over there on the left wing of the airplane.

You hate the right because they opposed the bill? What else was in the bill or was it a stand alone issue? Hate is a mighty big word, unless we are talking political correctness and then I guess it’s ok by some. One thing for sure, the longer this financial mess lingers the more hostilities rise to the top and certain segments of the population decide only they and that part of the government they support know what’s best for the rest.

Left? Just goes to show how out of touch everyone is.

Don’t go by me. That was just my observation based on my own bias. I have been trying hard to get this left vs right or dems vs repubs phoney debates completely out of my system.

I completely agree with Harry Connick Jr Community College Graduate’s view of the imbalance on this blog. It didn’t use to be that way. I like the debate, and it’s in danger of getting a bit one-sided. I woudl hate to see Smithers go.

I’m a moderate, but to the left and the right I’m either one or the other

Same here. I would never pass as a “leftie” due to my views on abortion and other social issues. To them I’m a right winger.

But because I don’t lick the boots of the super rich, and because of that I’m considered a left winger.

I have to bite my tongue every time I talk to my parents, I’ve moved so far right from my family. I’d be an MA/NY style Rockefeller republican now if there were any of them around. Republicans used to understand that businesses can’t function without infrastructure including an educated workforce. Did anyone else hear the report this morning about e-businesses in India trying to function when they can only get a few hours of electricity a day?

Republicans used to understand that businesses can’t function without infrastructure including an educated workforce.

Somewhere along the line, the Republican party went off the deep end. My grandfather was a lifelong New England/Rockefeller Republican- he wouldn’t recognize the party today. And wouldn’t vote for it. He voted for fiscal prudence, and that’s actually the domain of the Democrats nowadays. They’re the ones who run surpluses. Republicans just give out unaffordable tax breaks to the super-rich in the hope of destroying the system.

Nobody pays me to suffer fools.

You get paid to post here? Hey Ben, where’s my cut?

Y’all missed the most important word!!!

OUTFOXED

“Left”….

Moi ? An old fashioned Eisenhower Republican?

The “American Way” is to come up with solutions for problems.

The new “Republimentalist” party:

A): Can’t take ideological blinders off long enough to see the problems

B): Because of A), generates half baked solutions.

Example: Economy sucks, because everyone in the lowest 90% of the income range are seeing pay freezes/cuts/no paycheck at all, while being charged inflated prices for essentials.

The Repub solution is to hand even more money to the top 10%ers. To “invest”. In China.

My grandfather was a lifelong New England/Rockefeller Republican- he wouldn’t recognize the party today.

Heck, I don’t recognize it anymore, and I was a registered Republican for over 20 years. I voted for Reagan, Bush Sr. and even W in 2000.

Moi ? An old fashioned Eisenhower Republican?”

Because we fail the “purity test”.

The Repub solution is to hand even more money to the top 10%ers. To “invest”. In China.

That isn’t an act of cluelessness, it’s intentional.

Crack me up, Harry. Pro-gun rights, Bible quoting, audit the Fed, let the market go to ground, require a high school equivalency and two years of service for citizenship, pro H-1B, anti-teen mother, globalist, anti-MIC, pension-reforming little old leftist me.

Yep. You nailed it.

As for blithers, his postings are so formulaic and predictable that I find them an invaluable time-saver. No need to monitor Fox, Clear Channel, RNCtea, et al because he does it for us and sends us a daily summery to boot. Refuting his nonsense with actual facts (not opinions) keeps our minds sharp and our information current. So I thank him for his service.

Thanks, Smithers! Now, on your knees so I can use your back for my mid-morning tea tray. And while you’re down there my new Louboutins could use a good cleaning….

-xox Ms. Burns

Heck, I don’t recognize it anymore, and I was a registered Republican for over 20 years. I voted for Reagan, Bush Sr. and even W in 2000.
______________________

So you voted for Reagan but won’t vote for Romney - the guy who in 2002 described himself as a progressive - because he’s too radical.

Makes sense.

Crack me up, Harry. Pro-gun rights, Bible quoting, audit the Fed, let the market go to ground, require a high school equivalency and two years of service for citizenship, pro H-1B, anti-teen mother, globalist, anti-MIC, pension-reforming little old leftist me.

May be I misjudged you. I must have formed my opinions based on your relentless support for government health care. I suppose the government taking over 20% of the economy is a small potato compared to you being anti-teen mother, right?

What is anti-teen mother anyway? Do you hate all teen moms?
While at it, what’s your view on single moms?

By the way Colorado, how do you feel about the Democrat party’s changes? From “ask what you can do for your country” to “free shit for everyone” in 50 years.

“So, if you don’t like the posts you attack the poster?”

This does happen on this blog and that’s unfortunate, but I think that’s a simplification of what’s happening here. When someone absolutely refuses to address the points being made or answer very logical questions, but instead throws extremist rhetoric at every argument it does start to get tiresome.

The extremist (both right and left) are almost rabid in their desire to ram their opinions down other’s throats. And when they simply parrot a worn argument without addressing any new information or input they add nothing to the debate except a lot of useless hot air. And they destroy the level of meaningful discourse here.

How many times was “commie,” “leftist,” “fascist,” used yesterday? And towards people most of us know have many centralist and moderate views? Even above people are being identified as left or right without the realization that most of us are in the middle on a lot of issues. (Or have some traditionally conservative views and some liberal as In Colorado pointed out.)

Having a strong right-wing or left-wing orientation is not a bad thing. We need a variety of voices on this blog to truly analyze tough situations (and there are no easy solutions no matter how much one might wish Rush or Jesse had all the answers.) But when debate simply descends into name calling and a viral hatred for those with different life experiences and viewpoints we are not going to come up with, much less implement, any solutions.

I come here because it’s a group of bright, concerned, mostly American people who are concerned about the way the nation is headed. (Also people who saw a problem when I did and kept me sane when everyone wanted to label me a nut job.) There’s enough brain power to come up with some realistic ideas and possible changes. And maybe we can’t change everything, but we can certainly try to change something.

Seriously folks, if the smart people here can’t debate ideas/solutions without delving into name-calling or rabid hatred, what hope does the rest of America have?

I come here because it’s a group of bright, concerned, mostly American people who are concerned about the way the nation is headed. (Also people who saw a problem when I did and kept me sane when everyone wanted to label me a nut job.) There’s enough brain power to come up with some realistic ideas and possible changes. And maybe we can’t change everything, but we can certainly try to change something.

I’m here for the same reason.

Harry,

“… I suppose the government taking over 20% of the economy is a small potato compared to you being anti-teen mother, right…?”

Actually, all things considered, they’re part and parcel of the problem. Although I’ll challenge your 20% figure, I am above all a pragmatist, and our public health care system is broken.

It would be cheaper in the long run (if not the short and transitional runs) to convert our chaotic, fraud-ridden and hugely-inefficient multi-layered insurance/pharmaceutical-industry-corporate-welfare system to a single-payer public health system that covers our nation’s myriad public health issues; including also the training of its personnel, facilities maintenance, research and development entities, and outreach clinics (including a vastly-expanded end-of-life and hospice network). I’ll not monopolize Ben’s bandwidth to explain, but suspect you can Google the concept for yourself.

Curiously, our military manages that now, as do most first-world governments. As did the USA up until Richard Nixon and his insurance buddies got their hands on our reimbursement system.

The concept of government-run public services isn’t unprecedented in our country. Our postal service handles our routine mails quite successfully (the current financial kerfuffles have to do with a $55B SURPLUS in their pension system more than their day-to-day operating costs). And despite wide-spread cultural difficulties, (again, pension and health-care costs are a huge factor) our public school system still manages to educate the vast majority of our young people and staff our universities to the envy of much of the world.

Not all government-run systems are better managed by private enterprise. Health, education, and military services are among them. Please note, this is not to say there isn’t a place for private medical practices for elective procedures and protocols. But what constitutes “elective” medicine is where we should be directing our national conversation.

Secondly, I”ll admit to not being epidemiologically specific in my categorization of teen moms, (for the aforementioned bandwidth issues) but to clarify:
I do not support paying uneducated, insolvent teenagers (or anyone else, for that matter) to have babies on the public dime. You get what you subsidize. That said, I’d make birth control and abortion services available free and on demand, (via that public health service we were discussing) and subsidize girls who do NOT get pregnant before they finish school. Remove the financial incentive to make bastard children for a living, and people will stop making bastard children for a living.

“…While at it, what’s your view on single moms…?”

I am a single mom. I waited until I was 33 years old and financially solvent before I got pregnant. I got my sons got through college and medical school without student loans and without relying on ancillary public monies other than our educational system. Both of my sisters (an MD and a nurse MBA) are single moms who’ve done the same. Who said I “hated” single moms? I simply don’t support irresponsible and indiscriminate breeding as a career choice.

AMEN, SD Real Estate Bear!

Once again you articulate the soul of this blog and why this disparate family gathers at Ben’s table.

SD Bear,

My lunchtime response to your thoughtful post hasn’t shown up, so let me reiterate with a big “AMEN!”

Thank you for (again) articulating the soul of this online family and reminding us that thoughtful, courteous commentary is why we all gather here at Ben’s table. It’s only right that when un-convivial guests and whacky old aunties and uncles get a bit too boisterous, we’re rightly shunted off to the children’s table until we can learn to behave.

Now please pass the peas….

Now please pass the peas….

And do share the recipe for how the peas were prepared. Because they look delicious.

Well, it’s 105 here today (must be positively HELLISH in Bakersplat) so tonight’s snow pea pods are julienned and served atop a cold poached salmon salad with toasted almonds and a raspberry-mint vinaigrette.

And this is why my idea of forcing them to sit in class 25 hours a week and learn English for their EBT card will work.

I do not support paying uneducated, insolvent teenagers (or anyone else, for that matter) to have babies on the public dime.

zydeco quick clip watch how he plays the accordion…wild

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbuY_8q5gA4

The common explanation for the term Zydeco is that it comes from the Creole saying “Les haricots sont pas salés” meaning “The beans aren’t salty

The English skills of “them” are at least as comprehensible are yours are, dj. And the majority of welfare recipients are white.

But don’t let facts get in the way of your presuppositions. Or can’t you read, either?

“So you voted for Reagan but won’t vote for Romney - the guy who in 2002 described himself as a progressive - because he’s too radical. ”

Reagan and Romney may be similar philosophically. I think the discussion is now less about the candidate and more about what fringe of the party has the power to yank the candidate/president into both rhetoric and action.

Most of them cant speak English or do simple math either.. I know the public school should be doing its job…but with all the stupid political correctness what other choice do you propose?

And the majority of welfare recipients are white.

No need to monitor Fox, Clear Channel, RNCtea, et al because he does it for us and sends us a daily summary to boot.”

It’s a low blow to Faux News to equate their content with Slitherin’s posts.

Charlie,

Nobody pays me to post here. It is one of a number of volunteer activities I undertake due to a favorable combination of what interests me and what I believe is of use to others.

If it seems like I attack Republicans too much, I apologize; this mainly reflects that several rabidly partisan Republicans who take up lots of HBB bandwidth are complete morons.

I know, there is no point. Just like a fundy who believes that the Earth is 6000 years old or a member of the Flat Earth Society, no amount of facts or logic will persuade him.

I will admit that my exodus from the former party of Eisenhower and Lincoln took some time, as the disappointments slowly set in. The biggest of them all were the swelling deficits, and the VP, after all the promises made to be frugal and pay off the debt, told us that “deficits don’t matter”. Then came the endless wars, and the offshoring.

And what finally drove me away was the ever increasing vileness of the candidates. The current batch took this to new heights, as the best they could come up with was a Gordon Gekko clone.

See what happens when you become a homeowner?

I’m not a home owner until I have the keys in my pocket.

This week we did indeed lose one source of DP assistance (Federal program/grant called WISH),as their funds ran dry LAST WEEK. It was 15K of free money, and it’s not breaking the deal, but oh well.

Actually, one of the reasons why I did decide to go ahead and buy is because for us, buying in pricey SF requires getting DP assistance, and with the condition of gov’t coffers, it is a real possibility that those funds will not exist in the future.

And not really under any illusion that I will actually be a home owner anytime soon. I am renting money from the bank, a situation that will provide us with a little more control and stability than renting shelter from a landlord.

But the amortization schedule calculators are a source of fun for me,and I have no intention of taking 30 years to pay.

I think 30 years to pay is a good thing. What will the dollar be worth 30 years from now? If inflation exceeds the interest rate your real debt is being reduced without any effort by you. I think that is a safe bet over the next thirty years given the printing of money that has already occurred and the fact that we probably will not be the reserve currency much longer.

It doesn’t make any difference that your “real debt” is being reduced when you have to pay it in nominal dollars and your income is stagnant.

But it does matter if the alternative — rent — continues to increase while the PITI is stagnant.

She certainly had a knack for making me smile.

CT–
Without commenting on the accuracy or veracity of his posts, here are a few examples of Smithers’ “disain” from just yesterday alone…

-You do realize
-Priceless.
-People like you
-found the next messiah…Awesome!!
-And you people wonder why nobody takes Ron Paul seriously.
-Didn’t you get the memo
-Day after day, people here moan and whine
-You need to get out a little more
-Shocker!!
-Nice try.
-You’re not very sharp.
-That’s pure BS.
-By your ridiculous comment
-you’re beyond help
-BRILLIANT!!
-Typical leftist thinking
-yeah that’s the ticket.

-You know so little

“I find Smithers to be willing to engage rather than disdainful. Perhaps you can give some examples?”

Wow. Your reading comprehension is nonexistent.

“I find Smithers to be willing to engage rather than disdainful. Perhaps you can give some examples?”

Wow. Your reading comprehension is nonexistent.

It’s even more than reading comprehension imo. CharlieTango asking a question such as that, in the face of the reality of Smither’s disdainful posts (as shown by ahansen’s many examples) is a classic example of someone’s dogmatic politics overly clouding their reality.

I think I would recognize Smither’s disdain for other posters and his worn talking points even if I were the chairman of the RNC or the NRA.

It’s “librul” or “libtard”. Get it straight.

Good point, 56 was only 15.2% of yesterday’s posts. Any more than that could be perceived as excessive.

The poster in not just locked in the closet, he’s hogtied in a latex bodysuit with only a water bowl and kibbles to keep him company.

Maybe we should change his name to “The Gimp”……

Every time I see “Mr. Smithers” I think of the Simpsons episode where Lisa sees Mr. Smithers’ computer boot up and a toweled Mr. Burns appears on screen saying,

“Smithers… you’re… quite good…at… turning…me…on.”

I just assumed that’s what he was going for.

How else to explain his Simpson’s moniker?

Because like his namesake, he likes to lick boot?

“The poster in not just locked in the closet, he’s hogtied in a latex bodysuit with only a water bowl and kibbles to keep him company.” Great stuff AHansen. Very mature! You should run for political office! Lots of deep thought and analysis on your side. I bet you used your high-end, fancy liberal arts degree to come up with this zinger. Somehow you’re too sick and twisted in the head to realize the hypocritical hater you are, though. Where’s your tolerance and understanding for the other?

“Maybe we should change his name to “The Gimp”” Wonderfully funny! Look at all the tolerance it shows, too! How ironic to find the left making fun of somebody; calling somebody names. I thought only people on the right were name calling haterz?

“I propose that Mr. Smithers is a repressed or closeted gay man, a la ex Senator Larry Craig or any of the other far-right whackos who hang out in men’s bathrooms when they think no one is looking.” What are you I wonder? A leftist, name-calling, hypocritical wacko too blind to see that his pot is as black as his kettle?

I propose that you’re sick, hypocritical leftists - opened up to diversity as long as it’s diversity as you see fit. Decrying the right as name-calling haters, while handing out invective yourselves and thinking nothing of it. Loving everything you agree with, hating everything else. Gay marriage? Awesome, great! Look at how tolerant we are to others’ beliefs. Polygamy? Why absolutely not! The horror! Disgustipatin’! Inbred neanderthals. Abortion? All for it. Kill ‘em all, it’s just tissue. Keep your hands off of my body. Capital punishment? Oh no. No way. That’s cruel and unusual. We must not harm a soul. Only right wing wackos could think of a thing like that. This is the modern, enlightened age - we can’t kill people.

No worries, I know that in your twisted mind, twisted ideas seem straight, and straight ideas seem twisted. You’re unreachable. It’s all good.

Not only was that authentic frontier gibberish, but Gabby Johnson is right!

Reverend!!!

I can see and live with my inconsistent beliefs, as must any thinking person.

Yes, I am pro-animal rights and I love a good hamburger.

I am pro-choice and against the death penalty.

I hate car culture and what the internal combustion engine has done to the environment, but we own 2 cars and drive daily.

Etc., etc.

I DO have a problem with people who believe that all their beliefs and actions are compatible and cannot understand that most of life is lived in the gray areas.

Damn. That was a thing of beauty!

Now give that poor boy his Thorazine

…and another helping of kibbles.

Given the continuous and well-documented astroturfing of the Koch bros, I would be extremely surprised if they didn’t pay people to troll.

But I don’t think they’d pay Smithers, because his style doesn’t win any converts. He’s just a repeater of talking points he’s read elsewhere.

It would be far more effective to pay someone who presents themselves as apolitical and a ‘common sense’ type, who never overtly cheers one side, but subtly sways everything in that direction. In other words, they’re supposedly apolitical and ‘above it all’, but every political point they make favors one side. That’s how a pro astroturfs.

the revelation of alien colonization of December 22, 2012

someone who presents themselves as apolitical and a ‘common sense’ type, who never overtly cheers one side, but subtly sways everything in that direction.

Anyone that smart and nuanced is not going to waste his time making peanut pay to extract a few votes from little ol’ HBB. Such folks are the ones at Golden Sacks making a killing off of OPM.

Anyone that smart and nuanced is not going to waste his time making peanut pay

Oh, I’d say any half-decent used car salesman could master it.

It’s not hard, you just always support one side of any argument, but never openly cheer a political party, and every once in a while establish your bona fides by saying both parties are the same, and such.

They are revealed by the consistency of their support for one side only, despite their claims of there being ‘no difference’ between the two parties.

And who says it’s peanut pay? The Oligarchs aren’t short of money, that’s for sure.

Blogs like this are the seedbed of ideas. It is precisely where the hacks are directed to post.

Ben, how many hits per day does HBB get?

I lived in Wichita for 20 years. HQ of Koch.

Lets just say that they are insular/parochial. Worshipping at the Church of the Blessed Greenback. The only people they hire are the true believers.

And who says it’s peanut pay? The Oligarchs aren’t short of money, that’s for sure.

Because peanut pay with no benefits is the reason they aren’t short of money. Isn’t peanut pay the whole point behind offshoring?

Maybe Eddie actually works for Obama, and the conservative blather is just an act to hide his real identity?

i think all of our extremely partisan posters are the same person…ala john locke and demosthenes in “Ender’s Game”.

The “Obama camp” can’t even get its act together enough to ask for volunteers to do voter registration in VA more than three days before the weekend they want the help. I told them they needed to give a few weeks notice and then do a follow up the week before and then a day or two before, but no change so far. Seriously, this is not the hallmark of a good ground game.

the biggest sign to me that obama has no clue when it comes to the economy is that he still wants to be president.

the biggest sign to me that obama has no clue when it comes to the economy is that he still wants to be president.”

I always thought he should have demanded a recount the day he was eleted.

The “Obama camp” can’t even get its act together enough to ask for volunteers to do voter registration in VA more than three days before the weekend they want the help. I told them they needed to give a few weeks notice and then do a follow up the week before and then a day or two before, but no change so far. Seriously, this is not the hallmark of a good ground game.

Agreed. And it was last Friday when I was talking to a long-time acquaintance who tried to donate money to the Obama campaign. He couldn’t get the website to cooperate and even saved screenshots showing the problem.

He reported the problem to the Obama campaign people, and they didn’t seem to have the slightest interest in resolving the problem.

Paul Krugman? The guy who predicted a recession for 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, while GDP growth was in the 3-4% range the every year.

That Paul Krugman?

LOL.

“…so I expect people who want to do this sort of revisioninst economics to be out in force for the rest of August.”

“That Paul Krugman?

LOL.”

Right on cue.

By the way, Eddie, how much dough have you lost so far on those money-losing Atlanta real estate investments?

LOL. You’re one of these “both parties suck” types who mysteriously supports all things Democrats and opposes all things Republican. In other words a Ron Paul supporter. And you wonder why nobody takes your guy seriously.

‘In other words a Ron Paul supporter.’

Who do you support? Is it Romney? Cuz if so you’ve got an election coming up and you are still going on about Ron Paul? Why is that?

Anyway, Romney doesn’t need the Paul voters. He’s poised to smash the Democrats in November, huh? So feel free to alienate voters all the way to November. That’s a winning strategy.

“So feel free to alienate voters all the way to November. That’s a winning strategy.”

In my case, mission accomplished. The neos (neocon, neolibs) have done a fine job of hijacking both parties.

Looking forward to crushing Romney’s hopes and dreams this November.

Now, if only I could find a way to wipe that smirk off Kristol’s face.

“The Democrats are often annoying but seldom stupid.”

No, just evil. That’s why the Dems are the evil party and the Pubs the stupid party.

Evil and stupid usually travel together.

Evil and stupid usually travel together

Stupidity is the servant of evil.

“Looking forward to crushing Romney’s hopes and dreams this November.”

Another Ron Paul fan shows his true colors.

“…Dems are the evil party and the Pubs the stupid party…”

Politics breeds strange bedfellows.

“Looking forward to crushing Romney’s hopes and dreams this November.”

Another Ron Paul fan shows his true colors.”

ha-ha, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Who watches swimming in Olympics? Seriously.

It’s all Track and Field for me.

It’s all Track and Field for me.

I like beach volleyball the best, but it’s all pretty interesting.

Overall, I’m enjoying these Olympics about as much as any, maybe a little more. They’ll never be as exciting as they were in my youth, when we were more starved for entertainment, in the pre-cable, pre-internet, olden days of middle earth.

I also like that they’re not being held by an authoritarian regime.

Nothing will ever compare to that next to last hockey game in 1980.

What are these “Olympics” of which you speak?

Living in Flyover, and watching 30 years of crappy pro football and baseball has a tendancy to kill your interest in “sports”.

Besides, to borrow a line of thinking from NASCAR legend Curtis Turner, some things are like maturbation…….more fun to participate in, than to watch.

Back when I was biking around the country, I had legs sorta like that too.

Not so much now, although they’re still pretty strong. It’s the knees that are the weak point. I really have to baby my knees and have had to do so since my mid-30s.

Aye, the knees! So true. I seem to be largely cured of knee issues while riding but need simultaneous weight training (leg extensions, etc) to keep things strong.

We took a one hour detour to find a knee brace for my wife during the recent STP ride. Her knee had given her some trouble in the past but training rides of 50+ miles had seemingly solved it. Turns out she hadn’t been using her big chain ring as much as suspected during training and 20 miles into a 204 mile ride, after using the larger ring a little more extensively, her knee said I don’t think so. Coincidentally, we happened upon a guy at the next rest stop who was raving about his knee band.

Next year her “trainer” will be much more observant. On the other hand, those knee bands are miracle workers.

“Check out the recent pictures of male cyclist’s quads. Quadzilla scary.”

Yeah, but I’d still rather be 6′0″ 230 lbs. than 6′3″ 153 lbs., especially with those sideburns!

OK, 6′0″ 219 lbs. would be far better. That damned power/weight ratio kills this super-Clydesdale on the hills ever time.

204 miles?? We’ll see whether I can make a mere 60 miler on Friday. Hunting season opens the next day, so I’ll be taking it slowly!

NBC is to Olympics coverage as Madonna is to singing ability.
A huge and cynical disservice.

And not a word here about Sunday’s “Curiosity” triumph. With JPL defunded to the point of near-extinction by the Obama administration, it’s good to know that the Americans can still stick a landing.

And not a word here about Sunday’s “Curiosity” triumph. With JPL defunded to the point of near-extinction by the Obama administration, it’s good to know that the Americans can still stick a landing.

If I wasn’t such an early to bed gal, I would have gone to the Curiosity landing party down at the SkyBar. Yes, that’s right. An astronomy-themed bar in Tucson, Arizona.

In Tucson, we’re very good at big astronomy parties. Here’s the landing of the Phoenix back in 2008.

OWS Olympics style…..All athletes get a gold medal for showing up.

That would not be fair to athlete top producers. A medal awards system based on the total dollars of corporate sponsorship per athlete might work though.

Any tie-breaker would be based on how well each athlete is able to shelter his corporate sponsorship income from taxes in the country he is proud to represent.

Extra points would be awarded when the athlete evades his country’s taxes by opening offshore bank accounts in the countries he is competing against.

Only if you have cable that has MSNBC and CNBC. Not even basic cable gets you access.

Went well, but much slower after the injury so our finishing times suffered, but we didn’t do it to race. Some people do it in one day, but I’ve only done it in two. There is a camping site midway for the 2-day riders.

Sorry to hear about the injury. I’ve been icing my knees and spinning a lot more as I get older.

Two days sounds better than one, but I dunno if I’d want to sleep on the ground after 100 miles (doing my first century in October). Then again, the wife just chose the ultra firm mattress and it sure feels like the ground!

Nagelbett, anyone?

Opposite for us. We both had the REI 3.5″ air mattress. When I tried it at the store I was a bit surprised how good it felt. And after a full night sleeping on it, I was shocked to admit that it felt similar in comfort to our foam mattress at home. Slept very well.

I suspect the bike fit I got a month beforehand played a strong role as well. Very little upper body soreness this time around.

Off-road shoes used to be in the $65-95 range (pre-2007). Now most are double that.

And now, they’re also made in China.

Agreed. That’s what I meant by “imported.” We’ve been sold that in order to have low prices, we need to buy imported goods. Sorry, $125 hiking shoes and $75 shirts are not what I call low prices.

Agreed. That’s what I meant by “imported.” We’ve been sold that in order to have low prices, we need to buy imported goods. Sorry, $125 hiking shoes and $75 shirts are not what I call low prices.

I agree. And I’ve had quite the discussion with a local shoe store owner about the prevalence of imported shoes in her store. Heck, with the prices she charges, she’s making some pretty sweet bank.

A lot of the mark up may be happening before she gets the stuff in her store, especially if she is carrying brand names.

Chinese products of inferior quality, at American prices. These are hellish times.

Silm Polly Buy AMERICAN

sas shoes

http://www.sasshoes.com/

US made? One word. Chippewa.

http://www.chippewa.com

There is no better boot. I get a year out of them. You’ll get 3+.

But the idea that a country in a depression should immediately drop its spending to the same percent of GDP as it was before the depression is ridiculous, no? That’s how macro differs from micro.

Doesn’t work that well on the micro level either. When I got laid off, by income went down a lot. I stayed in my apartment and had to pay more for health insurance. Yeah, I cut back on food and dry cleaning and gifts. And my commuting costs went down, but I was paying the same for some stuff and more for others. And I really spent a lot more when I had to start paying for the tuition bills that my employer had covered before. But staying in the area where I had contacts, keeping the insurance and taking more classes meant I got another job.

Plus that whole thing where since I am a person, not an entire economy, my cutting back on discretionary spending didn’t lower my income.

Did I ever say immediately? But what Obama should have done at the beginning of his term is to pass, and he had the Congress, something like Simpson/Bowles to ensure that investors would see the country moving towards a balanced budget. The recession officially ended in the Summer of 2009, cuts could have lead to faster growth. He has not even committed to go back to the same GDP numbers hence the lack of confidence in him by the people that need to invest.

These sophisticated investors see that the kitchen table analogy does apply in the long term. We got away from the basics, saving is important, consumption should not be paid for with debt and hard work is needed. Applies at the kitchen table and at the government level.

to ensure that investors would see the country moving towards a balanced budget

Is that what investors want? Seems to me the markets rally on stimulus, not the lack of it.

since I am a person, not an entire economy, my cutting back on discretionary spending didn’t lower my income.

Exactly. Which is an even more important difference between micro- and macroeconomics.

How exactly does Obama pass Simpson Bowles? How does he get major defense cuts (closing 1/3 of overseas bases), a 15 cent a gallon gas tax, the end of the MID, the end of the tax deduction on health care coverage, and the reduction of Social Security benefits, through Congress? Could anyone?

Polly, what you are saying is you still had to prioritize your spending and pure consumption is what you cut out. Obama at the beginning of his term said he was going to cut the budget deficit by half in his first term. He was going to cut government programs that did not work so he could “invest” in programs that did work. Cutting dry cleaning to invest in an education was wise.

Yes cutting government at the macro level is more challenging because you do cut revenue. Layoff the defense worker and if he is at the 30% tax level your cut is only 70% what you thought. However, once a country reaches a certain debt level, cuts have to be made even when it is not the best time to cut. Obama has maxed out the credit card, austerity is no longer a choice between policies it is a necessity. Greece and Spain waited too long to make their cuts and now are forced to cut at a difficult time. Printing money our present policy steals from the middle class.

The argument that the budget will balance without action also leads to theft from the middle class. It means people with incomes from around $50,000 up will pay the AMT penalty since it was not adjusted for inflation. It is just a backdoor tax rise on the middle class which we were promised would not happen under Obama.

Sleepless, I am not talking about stock market investors. I am talking about people that invest in productive equipment. There has never been more money on the sidelines then now. Government spending has not encouraged investment like Keynes would say would occur, it has discouraged investment.

Alpha. Reagan never had his party in control of the house and only had the Senate for a few years. Yet he passed most of his program. He had to compromise and accept more domestic spending and a greater deficit than he wanted but for the tax cuts and the build up of the military he did it.

Obama had a democratic house by a wide margin and sixty democrats in the senate. He also would have had support of many republicans since simpson/bowles had broad bi-partisan support. Instead, he did pass his program it was the stimulus and Obama care. The latter very unpopular.

Thus he should have easily passed simpson/bowles if he wanted to pass smaller government. However, he does not believe in smaller government. He thought that larger government was going to lead to better recovery than Reagan’s recovery. However, all he proved is that Reagan was right about less government interference with the economy.

“Polly, what you are saying is you still had to prioritize your spending and pure consumption is what you cut out.”

To repeat. I am not an economy. When I cut back on gifts to my family and ate cheaper food, I did not put anyone out of work. My influence was too small. But when the government pulls back spending when the private sector is in a recession, the velocity of money goes way down.

And besides, my over all spending even on consumption probably went up. I didn’t spend that much on discretionary to start with and the extra heat (since I was home during the day) and the COBRA insurance payments were a lot.

“To repeat. I am not an economy. When I cut back on gifts to my family and ate cheaper food, I did not put anyone out of work. My influence was too small”

Everything in economics works at the margin. There is a marginal increase or decrease in revenue that causes an action to occur. You may not have been the marginal lost sale that put someone out of work. But maybe the next lost order was. And without your lost order, that lost order wouldn’t have led to the action.

So yes, every action whether you cutting back $1 in spending or $100,000,000 in spending leads to a counter action somewhere down the chain.

To paraphrase the Army, you are an economy of one. Whether your like it or not.

The typical misrepresentation of Keynes is that government could prevent recessions. Not true; the goal was to lessen the impact. Government doesn’t have to spending power. While government is large enough to have a greater impact than any other single entity, many individuals/businesses making the same decision can produce more significant results.

I think it’s impossible to debate with you because you believe the government has unalienable rights to anyone’s income as it sees fit. Many of us don’t believe in this. Since we disagree on such a fundamental point, any discussion downward is just futile.

The government has the right to tax people, it’s in the Constitution.

You are right.

When someone asserts that the government has no right to collect taxes/payments for services provided, we don’t have anything to talk about.

And don’t start with “government used to run on tariffs” blather. We are a “free market” world, remember? government has no right to impose tariff on all of those Chinese and Mexican factory workers.

Now if you want to say government wastes a lot of the tax revenue they generate, THEN we can agree to disagree/argue/discuss the tradeoffs.

Again twisting the words, aren’t we?

I said “as it sees fit.” Nowhere I made the claim that people should not pay for the services the government provides. Just because a person makes more money than the other guy, he doesn’t necessarily use more of the courts/police/roads/firemen/military/air/water. That’s all.

How to debate leftist style

Step 1: When someone says he wants less govt, interpret this to mean he wants NO government

Step 2: When someone says he wants less taxation, interpret this to mean he wants NO taxation.

Step 3: When someone says he wants less money spent on govt run education, interpret this to mean he wants to burn books.

Nowhere I made the claim that people should not pay for the services the government provides.

Well, then who determines what they pay?

Smithers giving a tutorial on straw men. Classic.

How much less should the elite pay. I mean Mitt already pays an effective tax rate that is likely well under 10%. He pays 14% on reported income, but with all those off shore entities and games my guess is he is well under 14%.

“necessarily use more of the courts/police/roads/firemen/military/air/water”

Garbage. How much would it cost to get fire insurance on Mitt Romney’s house with the car elevator if there was no public fire deparment? How much would it cost to get fire insurance on my 1000 square foot apartment in a building with sprinklers if there was no public fire deparment?

Same thing with police protection? How much to protect me with ordinary middle class parents who couldn’t come up with a few $100K if I was kidnapped for ransom? How much for a man who is worth over $200 million?

I get some value out of living in a society where people are educated because when I interact with merchants and service providers, they can do what is asked of them. He gets the benefit of exploiting the public education of all of his employees.

Just because he doesn’t use the actual service more often, doesn’t mean he isn’t get a heck of a lot more value out of it being there.

How much less should the elite pay. I mean Mitt already pays an effective tax rate that is likely well under 10%. He pays 14% on reported income, but with all those off shore entities and games my guess is he is well under 14%.

I have a solution. If Mitt pays less than 14%, why not lower everybody’s income taxes to 10% flat? That way Mitt will still pay higher rate than most of us.

Regardless of what size of government any individual sees as right, Keynsian theory is the way to go. It’s about timing instead of amount of spending. Given the uncertainties of receipts and expenditures (budgets are educated guesses at best), I think the best approach is to aim low with the anticipation of small surpluses most years. When the inevitable dowturn comes there will be reserves that could be used to maintain spending.

This could be written into law, where the budget must be based on actual receipts from 3 or so years earlier. During a dowturn spending could be maintained or even increased using the reserve. In a normal growing economy this should work well. If we get a Japan style couple of decades this plan would be useless.

Why not tax capital gains and dividends above 250k as income, and tax all CEO and Hedge Fund income benefits as wages instead of capital gains and dividends.

To lower eveyones tax rate to 10% All we have to do is get rid of the military so maybe you are on to something.

This could be written into law, where the budget must be based on actual receipts from 3 or so years earlier. During a dowturn spending could be maintained or even increased using the reserve.

Good idea but it causes a philosophical dilemma for many on the right. Although they are self-professed “fiscal conservatives” many on the right would not accept a system that develops reserves because to them it would mean “taxes are too high” while at the same time the concept of a reserve is fiscally conservative.

“I have a solution. If Mitt pays less than 14%, why not lower everybody’s income taxes to 10% flat? That way Mitt will still pay higher rate than most of us.”

The left doesn’t care that Mitt pays more than “the working man”. The left just wants to punish Mitt for being rich. Doesn’t matter if his tax rate was 99% and everyone else’s was 1%. They’d still be bitching that it’s not 100%.

Part of the reason I like this plan in spite of the difficulties getting buy in, is because there really is no other viable option* in the long run. Educating people to see that eternal deficits will create the situation we are in right now is the first step. Seems like the main resistance to such a plan is based on people being used to getting more than they payed for.

* Okay, I have one other idea but it is inferior I believe. You aim taxes high and then after the dust has settled give rebates. If taxes did end up being low, then future rebates would not be given until the balance is settled.

The left doesn’t care that Mitt pays more than “the working man”.

True.

The left just wants to punish Mitt for being rich.

Taxes are not “punishment”. Cities don’t levy taxes to “punish”. Taxes are to raise revenue. The “punish” line is poor propaganda IMO and the proof is in the fact that the “punish and hate the rich” lines are not working well in American public opinion.

A couple of many examples: CBS News/NY Times poll showed that 72% of people favored raising taxes on the wealthy in order to reduce the deficit.

19 Different Polls Show That Americans Support Tax Increases To Cut Deficit

“The left doesn’t care that Mitt pays more than “the working man”. The left just wants to punish Mitt for being rich. Doesn’t matter if his tax rate was 99% and everyone else’s was 1%. They’d still be bitching that it’s not 100%.”

Smithers Strawman. It has a nice ring.

Was it FDR’s stimulus that got us out of the Great Depression, or was it WWII?

Mostly WW2, since much of FDR’s early gains in the economy were lost when they tightened up too soon after the economy showed strength in the late 1930s, precipitating another major recession.

But spending on WW2 was stimulus too, and as I’ve noted before, is the only type of stimulus some will accept. Just as those who had earlier preached that FDR’s New Deal plans were too expensive, were wholeheartedly in support of the government spending far more when the Hun was at our door and our existence was at stake.

Bombs or bridges, it’s all stimulus. But bridges have more long-term benefit, and are more pleasant to use.

And it was the New Deal programs that made the returning soldiers into a strong middle class, rather than a bunch of angry young men with combat training and no jobs.

Neither. China wasn’t around. Japan and most of Europe were flattened by WWII leaving US the only exporter for some years to come.

leaving US the only exporter for some years to come.

Why didn’t South America equally thrive and create a large middle class during this period?

And how many years was the rest of the world ‘bombed flat’? I’ve been to Europe, and there are quite a few buildings there older than the 1950s.

And now a word from our sponsor, Jefferson Airplane.

“We are forces of chaos and anarchy
Everything they say we are we are
And we are very
Proud of ourselves”

I actually like that song.

Yeah but when the Tea Party had their Rally on the National Mall there were no Rapes, Overdoses, people Sh*tting on Police Cars, and they didn’t leave and Garbage behind

those Occupiers need to Occupy a shower and get a job!

Occupy Oakland FAIL.

Actually - I blame them both. Both have become leeches on society and government.

YOU, however - as a kool-aid drinking liberal, see nothing wrong with unions, especially public unions, bankrupting cities/counties/states ALL across America and taking BILLIONS in taxpayer funds that will never be paid back.

Why?

Because unions give 99% of their money to democrats.

And that is ALL that matters to you.

Again let’s compare total contributions and power of unions vs CEO, Hedge Fund, Big Oil, class vs unions.

Let’s compare the tax benefits and wealth gains of these elites to the trade policy and loss of health care benefits and job security and pay of the unions and tell us who is the real problem.

The elites are winning by every metric and you sit here and spew about unions day in and day out. Anyone who says otherwise is a koolaid drinking liberal?

The reality is that there should be a balance of power between labor and capital and that the power has tilted more and more toward the elites. Many who thought unions were too powerfull in the 70’s see that the elite have stripped too much power and wealth and have destroyed institutions that can organize people against them, ie press, unions, Tea Party, OWS etc.

Yes. and we were able to emerge from them without governmental intervention. They made the country stronger not weaker. More productive, creative destruction was allowed to work its magic.

You have got to be kidding.

The early history of this country was a roller coaster of depression after depression.

“Creative destruction” is pruning a tree, not burning it down.

Last night’s production was by a company called Taffety Punk. I’m really enjoying them. Definitely going to check out The Rape of Lucrece later in the year.

And Shakespeare by a company that calls itself Rogue sounds like a good time. But if I’m ever there, I’ll treat you.

And I love Winter’s Tale.

“Exit, pursued by a bear”

I saw an NYC fringe festival show a few years ago that was a musical version of Winter’s Tale. It needed a lot of work, but was already pretty darn good. I got their CD. Just had to have it.

LOL 1973-75 and 1980-82 minor recessions? Where do you get that from? Your lack of historical knowledge is shocking.

There is no need for anyone but a law enforcement officer to have anything but a plastic knife. I suggest Costco since they carry the best plastic knives.

You could put your eye out with that. Only nerf knives are safe.

“There is no need for anyone but a law enforcement officer to have anything but a plastic knife. I suggest Costco since they carry the best plastic knives.”

The officer was rushed to the hospital without his face. It took ten more plastic knife yielding SWAT members to subdue the crazed suspect.

That’s interesting because rental rates are falling in all 5 boroughs.

Do you not realize your game is obvious?

That’s interesting because rental rates are falling in all 5 boroughs.

How many people do you know in NYC looking for a place to rent? C’mon now. When 1 bedrooms fall from 3K a month to 2800K month, whoop-de-doo.

Nobody.

And 1 bedrooms aren’t 2800/month.

Why are you misrepresenting NYC rental market?

Sorry, but you are wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/realestate/manhattan-the-city-of-sky-high-rent.html?pagewanted=all

My sister just spent 9 months looking for a new place. They ended up in Bed-Stuy.

Queens is not Manhattan. Oakland or South San Francisco is not San Francisco.

You seem to forget something. I’m based in NYC. Secondly, NYC isn’t “Manhattan”. Thirdly, you’re misrepresenting the truth about Manhattan. Rental rates are slipping in Manhattan.

Why are you here misrepresenting the truth about housing?

“Are those black UN helicopters?”

I think Bernanke uses the Chinook helicopter. Here is one on a cash dump training exercise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG43PdC1GTE - 107k - Cached - Similar pages
Jun 12, 2011 … this Chinook helicopter does its best to mitigate the damage.

You know what? Now that I think about it, this is analogous to a situation we encountered this weekend. After grilling for dinner, we decided to go out for some ice cream at some new trendy place with all those exotic flavors (chevre with marionberry habanero jam and other bullsh*t) here in town.

When we got there at 9:30PM there was a line around the corner and the wait was 45 minutes to one hour according to one guy in line. He then says, “What else are you gonna do?”

Um, for starters, not wait in line for over-hyped ice cream. Duh.

It’s like an epidemic in this country. Houses. Stocks. Ice cream. I mean, what else are you gonna do?

When we got there at 9:30PM there was a line around the corner and the wait was 45 minutes to one hour according to one guy in line. He then says, “What else are you gonna do?”

Um, for starters, not wait in line for over-hyped ice cream. Duh.

I think I’d be wanting to figure out how to make my own ice cream. Bet I could do that in less than 45 minutes.

My wife redirected me away from the scene before I could scream, “The Emperor has no clothes!”

“Bet I could do that in less than 45 minutes.”

Slim — the Alton Brown vanilla ice cream recipe is very quick. But it’s important to let the mixture cool in the fridge for a while to prevent a granular texture, so that increased the time to cookie hole. Best to make on a Saturday morning (15 min), chill until lunch and churn while you’re eating, then freeze until dinner.

One of Pollen’s “Food Rules” is that you can eat junk food as long as you make it. It’s amazing how few times a years you’ll eat potato chips if you have to make them!

Marionberries are just northwest blackberries.

Yep:
“The ‘Marion’ cultivar (Rubus L. subgenus Rubus) or Marion blackberry, marketed as About this sound marionberry (help·info), is a hybrid caneberry developed by the USDA ARS breeding program in cooperation with Oregon State University. It is a cross between the ‘Chehalem’ and ‘Olallie’ berries.[1] The marionberry is currently the most common blackberry cultivar,[2][3] accounting for over half of all blackberries produced in Oregon.[4]”

Side note: I took a beer-brewing class last weekend. OSU is also producing some pretty awesome hops as well. Can’t wait to cook up a brew soon.

“Lol. Did you, perhaps, do a wee-bit of cherry-picking in choosing your dates?”

OK fine, 4 years is cherry picking

How about 1 year?
4.49% annual return

How about 2 years:
Annual return of 14.3%

How about 6 years?
Annual return of 3.4%

How about 8 years?
Annual return of 4.78%

How about 10 years?
Annual return of 6.2%

How about 15 years?
Annual return of 4.4%

How about 20 years?
Annual return of 8.2%

You were saying…..

Official inflation averaged roughly 3% for the last 20 years.

http://www.statista.com/statistics/191077/inflation-rate-in-the-usa-since-1990/

One of the nifty things about being a money manager is there is delayed feedback: Whatever the investment decisions, whatever the promises, the payoff (or lack of payoff) may not materialize until some time well in the future - maybe months, maybe years.

Meanwhile the management fees get deducted beginning with the first month, when the investment is first made, and every month thereafter (this, as I understand it, is the usual arrangement).

Pay them money now and they will promise to maybe, somehow, arrange it so you will get paid money later.

And if the promise is not kept? Oh, well. Sorry about that.

Next?

Meanwhile the management fees get deducted beginning with the first month

Bingo. That was going to be my response as well. Reading “Enough” by Bogle right now. While I suspect there’s a little bit of salesmanship to low-cost index funds coming as I read further, that is a central theme so far: too many college grads going into the non-productive finance sector and managers extract too much of investors’ wealth/gains. Downright Commie-talk coming from such a money guy.

“Meanwhile the management fees get deducted beginning with the first month, when the investment is first made, and every month thereafter (this, as I understand it, is the usual arrangement).”

Stupid people agree to such arrangements. Smart people agree to arrangements where the fees are a % of the returns. No returns, no fees.

“Smart people agree to arrangements where the fees are a % of the returns. No returns, no fees.”

Here again the risk is with the owners of the OPM. If there is to be fee based returns then the money manger has an incentive to take the largest risks available if there is even a hint of a large return.

If the investment works out then both the manager and the owner of the OPM get a big win. If it doesn’t work out then the OPM owner gets to eat a big loss and the money manager gets to break even.

So everyone who invests in a hedge fund is stupid? Standard hedge fund fee is 2% of amount managed every year AND 20% of any profits.

“fee based returns” should read “return based fees”

Give to me a million dollars and I will establish a genuine track record that will blow you out of the water. How about, say, a forty percent return? Would you sign up for that?

Here’s what I would do:

1. I would divide the million into ten equal parts and open up ten commodity trading accounts.

2. I would select five volatile commodities, such as, say, porkbellies, and I would buy one of these commodities in one account and sell an equal amount of the same commodity in another account. I would do this - buying and offsetting by selling - in all ten accounts.

3. One of these accounts will do very well, some will do less well, some will be disasters. I will close out all the accounts EXCEPT the account that did the best (and I will suffer a bit of a loss, one that I am willing to eat) and - presto! - I will have for me a well established trading record.

And this trading record can be annoited and blessed by auditors as being true (because it is true) and it can be used as a sales tool to convince owners of OPM to hand over to me all their hard-earned cash, their life savings, and all the money they can cash out of their house.

They will do this because I - along with my annointed and blessed trading record - will convince them that I am indeed a bonified trading genius.

You are fooling yourself if you think it’s that easy.

Also, when found out, you will be sued for lack of disclosure of material information (the 9 accounts that you conveniently did not disclose).

And those that sue you will win.

You know what they call a private equity manager who negotiates a 2% and 20% structure and doesn’t deliver results?

Out of business.

Also, and Combo, most managers need to invest a substantial amount of their own money alongside OPM, so it’s not as simple as you say (where managers are taking big risks without worry of loss of capital). First, if big bets don’t pay off, good luck raising the next fund. Second, if those big risks don’t pay off, you lose your own money (as well as needing to pay salaries in the meantime for your employees).

Those investing in private equity take things like conflicts of interest and alignment of interest very seriously.

I didn’t make it that long.

Okay, now you did it. I want to play Living Colour on the radio!

Only problem is, the airtime I’m getting is on the all women! all the time! show. Which means that I’d be in a bit of a pickle with The Producer if I played Living Colour.

Hell, I got my knuckles rapped for playing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Darn those Dap Kings.

Oh, well, you can always go with cooler-than-now Sleigh Bells. Not my thing, but it has its place.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=780FZKfk_2A

Here’s another lady track for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xH1_OdrvQ&feature=related

Dang Slim your getting to be a real DJ. I love her music.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Darn those Dap Kings.

Ive been getting onto Lykke Li

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLDHyCkqbuw