Good Old Neon

 

 

 

I think our primary communication chasm is that you're talking about what "people" think - who? Who thinks this way? I'm talking about what I think, because that's all I really know. I tell you what I think and you counter with "people" who think something else, and I don't know many of those "people."

Alan Greenspan for one - and two, pretty much every other financial talking head prior to the collapse. It’s no secret that purchasing low and selling high was a wise, if risky (though often described as low risk) investment for a while there – up until it wasn’t. The idea of a home being more than just a home, and also an investment is not a new or revolutionary.

Matt Taibbi's Griftopia goes into great detail on this subject.

There's a fair amount of truth to that - which is why we need a viable, reality-based third party...with balls.

Well, we do have the tea party – the difference, unfortunately, is that Europeans take to the streets in response to real problems, while here in the US, people assemble to rally against our black radical, socialist, communist, Marxist, Muslim terrorist of a president, who, among being all those other things, is probably also a closeted gay, atheist pedophile.

I enjoy pretty much everything with the exception of shoveling, tailgaters, that salt residue that forms an almost perfect curtain whenever you run out of windshield washer fluid, at night, so that you have to sort of tailgate the person in front of you to get just enough tire spray to clear the windshield, making YOU the tailgater, and people who keep their house at a “comfortable” 79 degrees when you've arrived wearing long johns and a heavy cable-knit sweater.

(62, baby!!!)

62 is the perfect degree.

As a child, I would (secretly and seriously) rank a house’s desirability according to its ability to keep one safe in the face of a full on zombie attack. Low lying windows and/or lots of glass and no basement, no way, elevated windows set in a brick or otherwise sturdy looking structure with lots of, but not too many defendable exits in a rather remote location, away from cemeteries and/or hospitals, yes.

Which is to say, for me, The Walking Dead is pretty much fetish porn.

One thousand-plus pages of awesomey goodness. Levin's first novel is getting a lot of positive praise as of late, and it is entirely deserved.

Pedro the Lion comes to mind, though David Bazan has since sort of lost his faith. Which, if you’re interested, inspired some pretty sweet music.

 

Leaving a Christmas tree outside to freeze in the cold of winter is depressing.. It could be in a nice warm home, decorated, watered daily, and enjoyed by many...

Except for that it’s dead.

They’re more like branchy zombies that we joyfully welcome into our homes for a few weeks, and then kick to the curb once we’ve sucked away whatever life force they were able to grab hold of before being axed to the ground and dragged through the snow, covered in lights, and just plain fucking humiliated.

"Largely unreported" was a poor choice. I guess I meant, the stink that resulted from the Newscorp revelation never quite reached the stink the Olbermann story has already generated - and you just know they're going to milk the shit out it over on that entertainment masquerading as news channel Fox News.

And yet this story has gone largely unreported - keep it in mind as Fox News goes apeshit over Olbermann's suspension.

News Corp Donates $1 MILLION To Republican Governors Association

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/17/news-corp-donates-1-milli_n_684462.html

Well, when you’re adept at selling the big lie, all the little ones, as illustrated on this sign, for example, all just sort of fall into place.

Thanks bro!!

 

But we know at least one VCer who thinks he is a commie....

 

LouieB

Anytime.

The charges that have and continue to be levied against Obama, his policies (and by extension, the democratic party) are so fucking irrational, and to a lesser extent, so outright racist, that they hardly deserve a reply. Unfortunately, the electorate, as a whole, is ignorant and irrational, and thus, bullshit such as, “Obama is a socialist and wants to destroy America” is accepted as truth, and any news organization that attempts to sort fact from fiction is slandered with the “liberal media” brush. Like you, part of me would take pleasure in seeing Palin and the rest of her tea party fuck heads elected, if only to expose them for the frauds that they truly are once and for all – but then, the right is so adept at smearing their opponents, they would find a way to blame Palin, et al’s incompetence on liberals (why not, it worked quite well after 8 years of Bush) – and the fuckheaded voters out there would buy that to – which is to say, we’re fucked.

Really????

 

Let's see. In this discussion I have repeated said I can understand the "fiscal" conservatism of folks here. I really can. Does anyone want to see the deficits run totally away from us? But the conservative movement didn't seem to care when George Bush was running the deficite to new heights during his administration or when he requested bail out money for the banks or when he was running a couple wars off the books. Only when the somewhat more liberal Obama wants to move forward on some of his agenda does the right get all bent out of shape about stuff. Why? Because the right has an agenda which isn't just about fiscal conservancy, it is also about social conservancy. So ultimately the right has to either divorce themselves from the crazies, who say that abortion, gay rights, etc, are the problem or the conservatives are wedded to that too.

 

So okay, I am petty?? Sure. Obama becomes President and all the crazy racists come out of the closet and accuse him of being a commie, facsist, Muslim, non-American hater. Obama has no real different agenda for this country than any other politician. He did bring up healthcare for all, which was something even Republicans got behind in previous generations. What else did he do that was so incredibly off the wall freaky to folks? Not much. Just be a guy who is slightly left of center (and not even very left of center if at all) who has a slightly weirder name and a darker face. Protecting folks from credit card companies?? Trying to keep Wall Street from blowing up the ecocnomy?? Helping new home buyers?? Talking about carbon emissions?? Is all this stuff really that horrible and anti-American?? It is really the social conservatives that are running the show, not the fiscal ones. None of this is about budget deficits.

 

Baiting folks on Wilco being a left of center band is just icing on what is a pretty ugly conservative cake. Man up!! Obama doesn't hate America and he isn't trying to destroy it. In point of fact folks on the left are annoyed with him for not going far enough. If anything they feel he has placated the right too much. The real agenda here is only barely under the surface and you know it.

 

Controlling government spending?? I am all for that (within reason). Bashing gays and women's right to choose? That and a host of other social issues is the real question here and it is pretty much the back story to the entire teaparty movement.

 

LouieB

Well said.

She wouldn't be any worse than Obama. This I believe.

Care to elaborate?

Happy birthday, Dan!!!!

From Tax.com:

Scary New Wage Data

http://tax.com/taxcom/taxblog.nsf/Permalink/UBEN-8AGMUZ?OpenDocument

I'll stop calling them "Teabaggers" when they stop calling the healthcare reform act "Obamacare"

I prefer the less offensive "fuckheads"

Either I’m getting old or bands “experimenting” with electronics is getting old – or both. There are some lovely songs on this release, but many of them are simply buried beneath blips and bleeps and drum machine beats that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Justin Bieber CD.

Therein lies the reason I got a Nook instead. I read about issues with Kindle's reliability and some piss-poor customer service from Amazon regarding it.

 

The Amazon battery is also non-replaceable. Nearly all of the competitors have replaceable batteries. IMO, well worth the few bucks more you'd pay to NOT have a Kindle.

 

And I LOVE Amazon otherwise...

I’m not going to go all fanboy, but to suggest the Kindle is mechanically inferior to the Nook pretty much goes against every head to head review I’ve read – and I’ve read quite a few. At this point, the Kindle is about as stable and reliable as tech gets. And by all reports, Amazon bends over backwards (and then some) to please Kindle owners. I own a Kindle 1.0 – after two plus years, I’ve yet to run into a single issue. I recently purchased the Kindle 3 for my wife as an anniversary gift. The improvements made to the display are simply fantastic, and the page turn speed is nearly instantaneous.

As for the battery – the Kindle’s can be replaced by Amazon, for a fee. But more importantly, the newer version can hold a charge for over a month. By all reports, the internal battery will last quite a long time. I’m going on 3 years, and the technically inferior (replaceable) Kindle 1 battery shows no signs of slowing down.

The Nook is a fine device, but its sluggish performance coupled with B&N’s uncertain future detract from its overall desirability.

It really isn't that much money if you live anywhere near a larger city. And have kids.

Unless you’re living outside your means, $200,000 a year is just a shitload of money. Assuming you work thirty years, at the about the same rate, you will have made six million or so dollars. A not insubstantial chunk of that would go towards taxes, but that’s the price you pay for living in a country whose infrastructure allows one to accumulate such wealth. If you cannot live obscenely comfortably on $200,000 a year, you’re doing something wrong.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/ - for when you’re feeling bad about your finances.

I’m not going to comment on the feud between these two – but when the director of Piranha 3D says this movie was made for the "fans", I cant help but wonder what the hell he's talking about. I remember the original Piranha movie from the 70’s – but this new movie looks as though it’s being marketed to a much younger demographic – one that I cannot help but think is not familiar with the original, or its sequel – and thus, probably wasn’t demanding a 3rd installment, 3D or no 3D.

This thread reminds me why I appreciate the Kindle. Its detractors continually criticize its lack of functionality – that it can only really be used to do one thing – read books. Which, thank god for that, otherwise, I’d be checking email, news sites, etc, every five minutes.