The Fed is about the least politically motivated federal agency there is, precisely because of the way the governors are appointed. If the SEC and the Justice department were run the same way the USA would be a lot better off.
Greenspan started trying to talk down the economy a lot earlier than you seem to realize. His "irrational exuberance" speech was in 1996.
Greenspan wasn't saying "The Internet Changes Everything". He wasn't predicting the national debt to be paid off by 2013. Clinton and Gore were doing that. Greenspan was trying to deflate the bubble, but Clinton was filling it up faster.
1) Alan Greenspan, who has worked well under both Democrat and Republican administrations, tries to pop what is obviously a speculation bubble to keep the economy from going down the toilet in a big way. Unfortunately, the election is coming up.
2) Clinton and Gore try to keep that bubble from bursting because if it does, it'll hurt Gore's chance to become president. So what if it causes the recovery to be the worst in decades, it'll be over by 2004.
Greenspan made his "irrational exuberance" speech in *1996*. Yeah, he did that to affect the 2000 election.
I voted for Clinton both times. I decided to vote for Bush when, in one of the debates, Bush said we were in a recession and Gore said we weren't. Gee, guess, turns out later we'd been in a recession for about six months. That's when I realized Gore was a craven political tool who would let the economy go down the sewer just so he could live in the big white house.
I don't blame him for the economy starting falling on his watch, but I definitely blame him for popping the bubble before it got too big. But that would have been bad with the election coming up, wouldn't it?
Remember one of the debates, where Bush said the economy was already in a recession and Gore jumped all over his ass? Turns out Bush was right. Gee, you'd think the VP would have access to economic figures.
Maybe if they'd popped the bubble before it got real big, the economy wouldn't be as horrible as it is now.
You mean the boom caused by the "peace divident" from the collapse of the Sovie Union, or the boom caused by the Reagan tax cuts? Either way, they're the same thing. What exactly did Clinton *do* to grow the economy?
So how was Stalin different than a king? Or Castro? Or Kim Il Jung (I and II)?
When the state runs everything, *somebody* gets to be in charge of the state. That somebody is now the king. Communism is fuedalism based on flowery language that seduces the weak minded.
If you want to conjecture a democratic communism, feel free. How long will that last when individuals can't own a gun or a printing press, because they all belong to the state?
People who believe in the virtues of communism are retarded. I guess it's because they think that the system will be run by a bunch of touchy-feely bleeding hearts, when in fact it's inevitable that a sociopathic monster will eventually run the system.
Three reasons: Guns, Germs, and Steel. Coincidentally, that's also the name of a really good book that should be required reading in every high school.
Being nomadic and having to carry around everything you own might affect how desirable the accumulation of goods would be, dontcha think? I'm sure the Plains Indians prized well-made axes, bows etc.
And wasn't Pizarro totally blown over by how much gold and silver the Incas had on display? They filled up rooms full of gold and silver for the emperor's ransom. BTW, the emperor of the Incas never wore the same clothes twice. Their ability to accumulate "stuff" was limited more by their production technology than by human desire.
Have you heard of the Cargo Cult natives in New Guinea?
You did know that terrorists weren't required to win India's freedom or to stop apartheid in South Africa? Non-violent protest works against democratic western countries, and Israel is a democratic western country. Even the IRA didn't really make any gains until they started using diplomacy instead of terrorism. If the Palestinians stopped the terrorism attacks and started using non-violent protest, they'd have a state within a few years.
Why do you thing Hamas keeps screwing up the peace process? They don't *want* a Palestinian state. They want all the Jews dead or gone. Preferable dead.
And as far as the Jews disenfranchising the Palestinians, please. The Palestinian leadership *wants* their people to suffer. That keeps the bucks from the wealthy Arabs flowing in, and ensures a constant supply of 18 year old suicide bombers. Or have you noticed that after Oslo, when the PLA gained more freedom and was able to start indoctrinated the Palestinian youth the way they wanted to, that seven, eight years later there's a lot more suicide bombers? I don't even recall there being *any* suicide bombers more than a few years ago.
I wish I wasn't an agnostic, because there sure is a lot of people that need to go to hell when they die.
Don't forget the that large, non-aerodynamically shaped chunk of foam was also being hit with 1900 mph winds. It's not just a matter of the shuttle still accelerating.
For people who actually read the instructions, you can open up a telezapper and flip a microswitch to get it to do 2 or all 3 tones. The default, though is just the one tone.
Or he's read the Consitution. Arnold's not a native born American. He can't be president.
There was a joke to that effect in one of the Stallone movies (I think in "Demolition Man"), where the states and Congress amended the Constitution specifically so that Arnold could become President:).
On the other hand, they *were* taken out of a war zone in Afghanistan. They weren't uniformed soldiers. The Geneva Convention doesn't apply to them. They're not US citizens, and they're not on, and never were on, US soil. They're the lucky ones; they're not piled up dead in a trench in Afghanistan.
And if you want to argue they were non-combatants, they were non-Afghans, on the Taliban side, in a war zone. Sure they were non-combatants.
WTF?? The main problem with space travel today is it's expensive. The govt doesn't have *any* real incentive to make it cheaper; they aren't spending their own money. Heck, the more it costs, the more pork there is to spread around. Rich tourists at least hold the potential of driving down the cost of manned access to space.
Can't even begin to see the point of your second paragraph. The Russians will put you into orbit for $20 million; plenty of people had that kind of money in 1973 too. The technology has advanced; it's not a matter of the rich getting richer.
You think you'll ever be able to go into space for $10,000 (not just for tourism, either, at that price there are commercial applications) if it's up to the government? They go ape-shit ballistic when Americans ride on Russian rockets for $20 million. The only way you'll be able to do it is if rich playboys drive the market. You know, like when the first CD players came out and were a couple thousand dollars.
Maybe you ought to read up on someone like Warren Buffet. There's a lot more wealthy people like him than you'd think. It's just that the bad ones get the press. Heck, even Bill Gates gives more to charity than the GNP of a lot of countries. But I forgot, he's the anti-christ.
Re:Liberalism != (Communism || Socialism)
on
Working Hard?
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· Score: 1
Guess what, members of Congress don't pay into Social Security, they pay into a private account plan. So do most schoolteachers, a traditionally Democratic demographic. Maybe you should tell them they're gambling. Around where I live there's been a big dust-up because teachers that have done nothing but teach all their lives will transfer to the custodial staff for the last few months of their careers so they can get some vesting in Social Security. A big gotcha for a lot of people becoming teachers mid-career is that your future Social Security income take a big hit, but you're not going to get the return off the teacher's stock market based system because you didn't start when you were 22.
Quite a few nations have stock-based social security systems, and they seem to work quite well. A decent plan would buy a broad array of fairly conservative stocks.
The last few years may have given you a bad feeling about the stock market, but, in the long term, it's the best way to build equity. It ain't like Vegas; you are buying ownership of a company. Just because people thought WebVan should be valued more than GM doesn't mean the stock market is flawed, it means that some people are really stupid.
Re:Jobs dont have to be enjoyable.
on
Working Hard?
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· Score: 1
I don't foresee any plumbing jobs going to India . . .
Maybe he, like many people, believe that by cutting taxes there will be fewer poor people.
If the steel company could cut payroll because the workers had to pay less taxes, they'd be more competetive and they may not have to lay off those people.
They have countries where the government takes all of your money away and they decide how to spend it. Guess what. Those countries are really sucky places to live in, even without the getting raped up the ass bit.
The average standard of living in Europe is 2/3 that of the US, and their unemployment is much higher. No company will hire someone in Europe unless they have a gun held to their head.
And I know several garbage collectors, in several parts of the country. They raise families just fine without food stamps. I also have an ex sister in law who lived with a guy for years instead of marrying him so she could continue to get welfare. Yeah, it's always good when government programs encourage socially irresponsible behaviour.
Slashdot Mirror
1) The Iragi Minister Of Information was not a journalist. Although he'd be a great intern for the New York Times.
2) He's still alive.
I don't have a problem with you being a Christian, as long as you leave me the hell alone.
:).
I can't go shopping for cars (and quite a few other things) on Sunday because of blue laws (I live in Texas).
I have to drive ten miles to buy a bottle of liquor. I can walk down to the corner and buy beer.
Science class is for teaching science. Creationism and "Intelligent Design" isn't science.
And ringing on my doorbell at 9:00 AM on a weekend morning to talk to me about Jesus is *not* the way to become my friend
The Fed is about the least politically motivated federal agency there is, precisely because of the way the governors are appointed. If the SEC and the Justice department were run the same way the USA would be a lot better off.
Greenspan started trying to talk down the economy a lot earlier than you seem to realize. His "irrational exuberance" speech was in 1996.
Greenspan wasn't saying "The Internet Changes Everything". He wasn't predicting the national debt to be paid off by 2013. Clinton and Gore were doing that. Greenspan was trying to deflate the bubble, but Clinton was filling it up faster.
Oh please. Which do you think is more likely:
1) Alan Greenspan, who has worked well under both Democrat and Republican administrations, tries to pop what is obviously a speculation bubble to keep the economy from going down the toilet in a big way. Unfortunately, the election is coming up.
2) Clinton and Gore try to keep that bubble from bursting because if it does, it'll hurt Gore's chance to become president. So what if it causes the recovery to be the worst in decades, it'll be over by 2004.
Greenspan made his "irrational exuberance" speech in *1996*. Yeah, he did that to affect the 2000 election.
I voted for Clinton both times. I decided to vote for Bush when, in one of the debates, Bush said we were in a recession and Gore said we weren't. Gee, guess, turns out later we'd been in a recession for about six months. That's when I realized Gore was a craven political tool who would let the economy go down the sewer just so he could live in the big white house.
Sorry, obviously I meant that I blame him for *not* popping the bubble before it got to big.
I don't blame him for the economy starting falling on his watch, but I definitely blame him for popping the bubble before it got too big. But that would have been bad with the election coming up, wouldn't it?
Remember one of the debates, where Bush said the economy was already in a recession and Gore jumped all over his ass? Turns out Bush was right. Gee, you'd think the VP would have access to economic figures.
Maybe if they'd popped the bubble before it got real big, the economy wouldn't be as horrible as it is now.
You mean the boom caused by the "peace divident" from the collapse of the Sovie Union, or the boom caused by the Reagan tax cuts? Either way, they're the same thing. What exactly did Clinton *do* to grow the economy?
So how was Stalin different than a king? Or Castro? Or Kim Il Jung (I and II)?
When the state runs everything, *somebody* gets to be in charge of the state. That somebody is now the king. Communism is fuedalism based on flowery language that seduces the weak minded.
If you want to conjecture a democratic communism, feel free. How long will that last when individuals can't own a gun or a printing press, because they all belong to the state?
People who believe in the virtues of communism are retarded. I guess it's because they think that the system will be run by a bunch of touchy-feely bleeding hearts, when in fact it's inevitable that a sociopathic monster will eventually run the system.
Three reasons: Guns, Germs, and Steel. Coincidentally, that's also the name of a really good book that should be required reading in every high school.
Being nomadic and having to carry around everything you own might affect how desirable the accumulation of goods would be, dontcha think? I'm sure the Plains Indians prized well-made axes, bows etc.
And wasn't Pizarro totally blown over by how much gold and silver the Incas had on display? They filled up rooms full of gold and silver for the emperor's ransom. BTW, the emperor of the Incas never wore the same clothes twice. Their ability to accumulate "stuff" was limited more by their production technology than by human desire.
Have you heard of the Cargo Cult natives in New Guinea?
Isn't that the same development process Daikatana used? :)
Oh, come on, getting rid of the witnesses *is* the fun part!
Actually, it's good in a way that children learn at an early age that many authority figures are total idiots.
You did know that terrorists weren't required to win India's freedom or to stop apartheid in South Africa? Non-violent protest works against democratic western countries, and Israel is a democratic western country. Even the IRA didn't really make any gains until they started using diplomacy instead of terrorism. If the Palestinians stopped the terrorism attacks and started using non-violent protest, they'd have a state within a few years.
Why do you thing Hamas keeps screwing up the peace process? They don't *want* a Palestinian state. They want all the Jews dead or gone. Preferable dead.
And as far as the Jews disenfranchising the Palestinians, please. The Palestinian leadership *wants* their people to suffer. That keeps the bucks from the wealthy Arabs flowing in, and ensures a constant supply of 18 year old suicide bombers. Or have you noticed that after Oslo, when the PLA gained more freedom and was able to start indoctrinated the Palestinian youth the way they wanted to, that seven, eight years later there's a lot more suicide bombers? I don't even recall there being *any* suicide bombers more than a few years ago.
I wish I wasn't an agnostic, because there sure is a lot of people that need to go to hell when they die.
Don't forget the that large, non-aerodynamically shaped chunk of foam was also being hit with 1900 mph winds. It's not just a matter of the shuttle still accelerating.
For people who actually read the instructions, you can open up a telezapper and flip a microswitch to get it to do 2 or all 3 tones. The default, though is just the one tone.
Or he's read the Consitution. Arnold's not a native born American. He can't be president.
:).
There was a joke to that effect in one of the Stallone movies (I think in "Demolition Man"), where the states and Congress amended the Constitution specifically so that Arnold could become President
The main difference, though, is the IRA just wanted the British out of Ireland. Hamas and the PLA want all the Jews to be dead.
On the other hand, they *were* taken out of a war zone in Afghanistan. They weren't uniformed soldiers. The Geneva Convention doesn't apply to them. They're not US citizens, and they're not on, and never were on, US soil. They're the lucky ones; they're not piled up dead in a trench in Afghanistan.
And if you want to argue they were non-combatants, they were non-Afghans, on the Taliban side, in a war zone. Sure they were non-combatants.
WTF?? The main problem with space travel today is it's expensive. The govt doesn't have *any* real incentive to make it cheaper; they aren't spending their own money. Heck, the more it costs, the more pork there is to spread around. Rich tourists at least hold the potential of driving down the cost of manned access to space.
Can't even begin to see the point of your second paragraph. The Russians will put you into orbit for $20 million; plenty of people had that kind of money in 1973 too. The technology has advanced; it's not a matter of the rich getting richer.
You think you'll ever be able to go into space for $10,000 (not just for tourism, either, at that price there are commercial applications) if it's up to the government? They go ape-shit ballistic when Americans ride on Russian rockets for $20 million. The only way you'll be able to do it is if rich playboys drive the market. You know, like when the first CD players came out and were a couple thousand dollars.
Maybe you ought to read up on someone like Warren Buffet. There's a lot more wealthy people like him than you'd think. It's just that the bad ones get the press. Heck, even Bill Gates gives more to charity than the GNP of a lot of countries. But I forgot, he's the anti-christ.
Guess what, members of Congress don't pay into Social Security, they pay into a private account plan. So do most schoolteachers, a traditionally Democratic demographic. Maybe you should tell them they're gambling. Around where I live there's been a big dust-up because teachers that have done nothing but teach all their lives will transfer to the custodial staff for the last few months of their careers so they can get some vesting in Social Security. A big gotcha for a lot of people becoming teachers mid-career is that your future Social Security income take a big hit, but you're not going to get the return off the teacher's stock market based system because you didn't start when you were 22.
Quite a few nations have stock-based social security systems, and they seem to work quite well. A decent plan would buy a broad array of fairly conservative stocks.
The last few years may have given you a bad feeling about the stock market, but, in the long term, it's the best way to build equity. It ain't like Vegas; you are buying ownership of a company. Just because people thought WebVan should be valued more than GM doesn't mean the stock market is flawed, it means that some people are really stupid.
I don't foresee any plumbing jobs going to India . . .
Maybe he, like many people, believe that by cutting taxes there will be fewer poor people.
If the steel company could cut payroll because the workers had to pay less taxes, they'd be more competetive and they may not have to lay off those people.
They have countries where the government takes all of your money away and they decide how to spend it. Guess what. Those countries are really sucky places to live in, even without the getting raped up the ass bit.
The average standard of living in Europe is 2/3 that of the US, and their unemployment is much higher. No company will hire someone in Europe unless they have a gun held to their head.
And I know several garbage collectors, in several parts of the country. They raise families just fine without food stamps. I also have an ex sister in law who lived with a guy for years instead of marrying him so she could continue to get welfare. Yeah, it's always good when government programs encourage socially irresponsible behaviour.
I have life insurance and disability insurance. My father did too when I was 16. And it sure as hell doesn't consume 15% of my income.