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Nords · 06-06-2005, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha

See, that is the downside to having two people from the same family post on this site.* You end up correcting each other.*

Maybe it's a downside from your perspective, but from ours it's certainly more entertaining!

greg · 06-06-2005, 12:48 PM

[
We have better fools today than god can handle or we have better booze? The US aint better, so that cant be it

Martha's went to Mpls. (she did bring me a hot lunch present before leaving). I'm home alone, ahhh!

I’ve got a possible solution to some of the world’s problems--w/out using alcohol: First, and this is the most important part, we could sell more bonds to the Chinese. Then we take some of the money and buy kiwi fruits from NZ or Australia (this would help their economies). We order them sent to us by pirates (these pirates would be learning a new, non-harmful trade). While we’re waiting for the delivery, we catch Mexicans coming across the AZ border and give them useful jobs (near the border) making little origami hats for the kiwi fruit. This would help our economy because the minimum wage might go up if fewer Mexicans ended up taking our valuable housing construction jobs away from good, hard working Americans. Canadians might be persuaded to contribute the paper or wood pulp for the hats. If not, we’ll just pay for it with Chinese money.

When the kiwis arrive, there will probably be even more Mexicans waiting for these new US gov’t sanctioned origami jobs. But we’re a smart people, so we give this newer group of Mexican workers the job of assembling the hats on the kiwis. While this is going on, the pirates are going thru the Panama Canal to pick up the new—value added—kiwi product on the Gulf side. Panama does OK too. (Ohhh, the rapture of free enterprise!) The pirates take the little kiwi men to the Sudan for distribution. Not only do we cheer up a few people in Africa, they can also eat the little kiwi men afterwards. The hats could be used for napkins.

So, you see?, the world can be made a better place w/out booze and it doesn’t cost anyone in a America one penny. But, some days, I wish I was a Bush Republican so I’d have a reason to drink.

cute fuzzy bunny · 06-07-2005, 08:21 AM

Do it without booze? Why go through all that extra trouble

greg · 06-10-2005, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclemick2

De Gaul: "God looks after Drunkards, Fools, and The United States of America." aka modern version - Bogle's TSM and watch costs.

Uncle Mick:

My De Gaulle argument is a bit simple: He was right at the time (America is a blessed new empire); but no human, especially if he’s French, is right forever. I liken your blessing idea to my own youth, when I and a group of friends were also blessed. It seemed like we could do no wrong or at the very least never suffer the negative consequences that often come to adults who do wrong things. We would ride our bikes crazily in busy streets and suffer no ill. We would fall while tree climbing, suffering only a scuffed knee, a few cuts, or perhaps, at worst, a broken collar bone. We would careen down a hill on our toboggan, hit a tree, and all get up laughing, then dust the snow off and scheme a new and even more fun bash. We had soft, flexible bones. We had unlimited energy. Unlimited natural resources. And infinite non-sensible ideas. Thank God we were blessed.

Our county is only moderately young--at best--in the grand scheme of worldly empires and other organic, living systems. Organic things get older and sometimes can’t take the abuses they inflict on themselves.

Maturity and adulthood take away a large sum of that blessing, and just like mature or maturing empires of the past, we then suffer the real consequences of our thoughts and actions. We spend too much time occupied by bread and circuses (beer and sports?); and too little time ensuring domestic tranquility (e.g. ensuring SS payments will be there in twenty years). As adults, when our economy isn’t working correctly, we can no longer run to mom for comfort and assistance, nor can we run to the bank if there are no tax reserves stored there. We just may now be crossing over to the shady side of the empire bell curve. There may also be a fat tail. This I know is true: we are all getting older.

But there’s hope. I liken it to what I once heard about how Canadian Inuit children are raised. The little ones are pampered silly, getting most everything they want until about 11-12 years of age—spoiled rotten. Then, one day the little brat’s incessant whining and begging ends. Mom smacks him a good one, and the child either grows up quickly or dies not trying. Adulthood and childhood are different worlds. The smack transfers adulthood upon the child by the mother (or perhaps by God?). The blessing, freely given by God and moms to all young, tender organisms, dissipates and moves somewhere else, perhaps China.

But this stuff is way too bleak, dark, and grey. To add some color to the dismal scene painted here, we need to look at the AMERICAN Inuit who do things differently-- this time: Imagine a single-parent family living in the ice cold, dark north . . . Mom can be seen trudging home, pulling a seal she has just clubbed to death and faintly humming “I built that igloo in the wrong damn plaace,” a top-ten Inuit hit. Her 25 year old son, who isn’t just visiting to get his laundry done, says “hi” when mom crawls thru the front door. Mom says “It’s kind of cold in here; I’ll go out and get some fire blubber to warm the place up.” The son says “Hey ma, while you’re out there getting fire blubber, would you cut me some fresh food blubber, fry it up in blubber oil, and serve it to me. Ummm, that sure would be good. Thanks ma.” Ma goes outside.

Ma comes back in and drops the frozen fire blubber strips on the now greasy fire. She walks toward her son and slowly drops her hands to her sides, with the finger tips of her right hand near the top of her loosely fitting mukluk. Her pupils look cold and hard and if you look closely you can see them twitch upward, just once (kind of like Martha when she finds out I ALREADY ate the Monster Burger Meal).

Suddenly, she sucker smacks him with a strip of frozen fire blubber hidden in her mukluk. The boy drops to his knees (Whoa, I didn’t see that coming). Ma smacks him again (Whoa, the housing bubble just popped). And again (Whoa, the DOW drops 25%). And again (Gold drops to $363.26/oz*). And yet again (the retail etf, RTH, bites the dust).

The boy’s stomach twists up into the shape of one of those dog balloon toys. He begins to rise from his knees as this feeling in his stomach moves toward his brain . . . . The big epiphany strikes, Ah HAAA! His head rises to meet his mother’s eyes.

“I’m sorry Ma,” he says, “I’m sorry for everything.” They hug. This really looks sweet and tender; life in the wild appears wonderful again. Maybe, just maybe, history won’t repeat itself again, the world will now be a different place. Then he drops his arms from around Ma, kisses her forehead, and walks to the igloo front door thinking “Sh*t, I guess I’ll just have to go get my own snack this time.”

To sum up, in conclusion, therefore, Uncle Mick, I’m hoping that you’re just a little bit wrong about America’s permanent blessing and maybe I’m a little wrong in what I think it will take to wake us up. But I do believe in blessedness and that some organisms deserve it forever.

*this is MY dream world so just this once I’d like to make a little money trading PM shares

haha · 06-10-2005, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apocalypse . . .um . . .SOON

Uncle Mick:*this is MY dream world so just this once I’d like to make a little money trading PM shares

These rascals sure pop up and down. But I think only a few things have to happen, and it's off to the races. If tech stocks roll over, and QQQQ starts down, speculators will be looking for something. If that also happens when gold stocks are strong, gold will be the natural market for people to pile into. It won't take much piling-in to make these smaller stocks double, triple and quadruple almost overnight. Once it gets going, it won't be over until the Bank of England buys back all the gold they sold for $275 at $1000.

After a very poor late winter and early spring, PM is looking good lately. My PM stocks popped enough yesterday and today alone to raise my networth a little over 1%.

I'm saying the Texas Prayer from the late 80s-"Please God, just give us one more boom, only this time I won't piss it all away."

And BTW, if I hit, I sure am not going to save it all. $60,000 is earmarked for a nice Boxster convertible.

M

laurence · 06-10-2005, 11:28 PM

Whoa, Apoc. Soon, I had a couple drinks so maybe I'm just slow, but what's up with everybody getting their a** kicked with strips of blubber? Between that and the spitting snakes I'm thinking this board is taking a turn to more exotic tastes!

Had enough heavy stuff this week, DW, daughter and I went to our town's "Gran Fiesta" tonight, at the church DW grew up in. Live music (Ranchero), rides, one dollar carne asada tacos, funnel cakes, cheesy game booths. It was homespun heaven. There are still a lot of facets of perfection in this aging empire.

unclemick · 06-11-2005, 06:30 AM

Yawn

Ah well - things come and go - waters coming up as Arlene churns north - only 40 mph predicted here - but do the drill - pick up loose items - lawn furniture,etc - move the vehicles to high ground and so on, expect possible lost power for 4-6 hrs. Welcome to hurricane season.

As for the rest - still have some gold coins in the deposit box and a 10% interest in a non working Gold mine in Colorado - should deja vue return.

May putz with a little Newmont Mining - or not as the case may be.

As to hindsight - looking back at my 70's and 80's moves - this time - less end of the world/er ah greed - and more De Gaul. It was 401k/Ben Graham's DCA at 50/50 that saved me from my own brilliance last time.

greg · 06-11-2005, 09:34 AM

Uncle M:

I was thinking last nite about why old farts like to tell stories. And had my own little Ah-ha experience. They enjoy doing revisionist history. For example, when I was a toddler, my mother took me to church as soon as I was able to stay quiet for about an hour, maybe two-three years of age. I would stand up on the pew seat and slide down the back, landing on my butt. I'd fiddle with the hymnal, looking at the words. I'd turn around to look at the people behind me. Sometimes I'd stick out my tongue at another little kid. Not much was going on in that little brain.

Now that I'm older I can say things about that experience that were there, but I didn't see at the time: For example, the entire experience for me consisted of "stand up, sit down, bla-bla-bla. stand up, sit down, bla-bla-bla." Turning it into a little amusement--now. Or if I see some youngster misbehaving I can say "You know, when I was your age, my mother took me to church and I was a good boy. I liked being good because my mother wanted me to be good. It made me and my mother happy. Plus, sometimes, I got ice cream."

Stories are good most of the time, stories from old farts are the best.