The Most Ignored Stories By The Media

[TheNiche]

WRONG - your just FLAT WRONG - I dont care how many people wrote about it in the 19th century - the true global nature of our economy and the impact that one country US has on it, cannot be figured out - its too large. B/C you think it, and toss a name out does not make it true.

If I'm so completely wrong, then proving it should be a cinch.

Go ahead, try. Do some research, broaden your horizons, then tell me why my response to you was so "FLAT WRONG".

NOBODY does know - if someone knew things would be getting fixed. I guess since you know YOU can fix it. Then again, maybe not, b/c after reading I find that your unemployed now so clearly you dont know everything, or you would have a job fixing it.

When it comes to 'fixing' things, there's more than one way to skin a cat. That's normative economics, and the optimal solution depends most basically on an individual's value system.

Explaining why things are the way they are and what will happen within the economy given changes of various variables within a system, that is positive economics...the realm within which even out-and-out socialists and die-hard libertarians can come to consensus.

As for my unemployment, well I saw it coming. My inner positive economist foresaw layoff and my inner normative economist was able to strategically manipulate the circumstances pretty well to my advantage over the course of the preceding several months. I'm not actively searching for employment yet, though. I've got a couple of ongoing construction projects to wrap up, the sale of one property, and a move before I care to draw a salary, and my savings will probably last me a good two years unless I try to make another opportunistic commercial real estate acquisition. Not bad for a 24-year-old, don't you think?

I have repeatedly said the dollar is weak - IT IS WEAK - The US dollar used to be the benchstone to which all was compared, the strongest curreny....its lost that, its not the end all of paper anymore. Its great for raw materials, if you use cheap junk - I happen to be in an industry where cheap materials from foreign countries is not available. I have to have super alloy materials, which you cannot get anywhere except the US, or the UK - Not CHINA. Goto any website and track the decline of the dollar against other currencies

I told you before...saying that a currency is weak or strong, in and of itself, is meaningless. Weakening or strengthening depends on whether the US Dollar purchases more or fewer units of a comparison currency between two points in time.

And I realize what's going on with the DXY, but the DXY is not a currency.

If your basis on the Euro was precisely one year ago, the US Dollar has strengthened relative to the Euro. If your basis on the Japanese Yen over the same span of time, the US Dollar has weakened relative to the Yen. And the British Pound has absolutely plummeted relative to the US Dollar. The Dollar is doing all this at once, weakening against some currencies, strengthening against others. It's state in a given instant, standing alone, cannot merely be summed up as "weak".

Maybe you dont get it - I DONT CARE about other countries. I care about THIS COUNTRY. I will pay more, if it means we improve OUR COUNTRY.

You're a member of that country. If you're paying more for the same product, that makes you worse off. Therefore the country is worse off.

The important thing is that the aggregate savings that the consumer experiences exceeds the lost salaries of those whose jobs have been exported. That's pretty easy to accomplish in most outsourcing deals. To that end, consumers could hypothetically be taxed to offset their gains and to completely compensate (and preferably re-train) those who lost their jobs.

I strongly recommend that you read up on the concept of Comparative Advantage, which originated in the early 19th century. I know you think that I can't talk over your head, but your reaction to David Ricardo indicates that I can. Prove me wrong and do some research so that you can participate in a real debate instead of just throwing around unsupported claims about the way things just plain are or how things just plain ought to be...according to you.

Historically - the manufacturing is what saved the US - we have not undergone a period of recession this large and deep in the past - so you have nothing to base this on.

Support those two bolded statements with factual evidence and data.

If you can do that, I will change my signature line to "Marksmu is an economics god."

Good for you - now go live where you bought those things. Be proud of your cheap junk. Next time you need something though look to that country not this one.

I don't want to live at The Home Depot. I want to live in the building that I am building with my inexpensive foreign-manufactured tools and equipment, and I want to do so without coming in so far overbudget that I immediately get foreclosed on.

I have read all of your posts, thoroughly, which you dont necessarily return the courtesy but that is fine. The politicians are pandering to the idiots, thats the problem - the idiots in this country greatly outnumber the non-idiots, and the new system is to just promise the idiots more so you can stay in office. Its easy for Obama to stand there and promise he will take from those who have, and give to those who dont, b/c there are more of those who dont. - Sounds like a simple election plan to me. Promise everything deliver nothing, kill the goose who is busy laying the golden eggs.

Finally, simply because you write well, does not make that which you write more true. You speak down to me and everyone else in your posts like you know everything, and you are a god, and I dont know you, so I wont judge you, but - I will say there is nothing that you can say that will be over my head.

On the contrary, I read all of your posts (in the threads that I participate in, anyway). I even pissed off RedScare by pointing out that he shouldn't respond to your posts if he isn't going to bother reading them all the way through.

Otherwise, I more or less agree with you through the rest of this post, including that last part about me writing well, speaking down to people, and thinking that I'm a god. My advice to you is to get over that part and stick to debating the issue.

[crunchtastic]

We just became the U.S.S.A.(United Socialist States of America) today, and who does the Houston Chronicle have on the front webpage? A drunk driver killing another drunk/and Robin Williams.

At least one publication, NewsWeek, had the cover titled 'We Are All Socialists Now'.

Congrats to NewsWeek. (If you think we are all Fascists now, that's also acceptable)

The populated cities of America unofficially became dangerous today.

The minority cities along the Gulf Coast & Mexican border have just become particularly dangerous.

Don't wait for the media to tell you to stock up, it may be too late by then.

Snap out of your programmed media reflex dependence and turn on your brain.

Remember Ike and go to the store.

Emergency Supply List: Bottled water, canned food, rice, oatmeal, energy bars, nuts, batteries, wind-up flashlights, wind-up radios, battery operated fans, ice chests, cigarette lighters, bikes, bullets, guns, and cash.

Get them while the lines are short.

I'm guessing you still have your Y2K closet fully supplied. You should maybe rotate the stock.

I actually agree with you on a numbers of points, but you don't do yourself any favours when you post like this. The sun will come up tomorrow and the ATMs will still work. Seriously.

[BryanS]

I don't want to live at The Home Depot. I want to live in the building that I am building with my inexpensive foreign-manufactured tools and equipment, and I want to do so without coming in so far overbudget that I immediately get foreclosed on.

Have you ever really worked with those inexpensive tools and equipment, made in China? Have you really? I have. They're crap. But for about 10% more... you can get better quality, made in the USA. And they really are better.

I've noticed that Sears is now color-coding its pipe wrenches. Orange = Made in the USA. Green = Made in China. I buy the orange ones.

[Rammer]

I'm guessing you still have your Y2K closet fully supplied. You should maybe rotate the stock.

I actually agree with you on a numbers of points, but you don't do yourself any favours when you post like this. The sun will come up tomorrow and the ATMs will still work. Seriously.

I wasn't trying to gather 'favour' points, I was trying to wake people up.

Rotating the stock IS an important thing to do periodically.

The earth will keep revolving around the sun(the sun stays still within the solar system) and the ATMs will probably work tomorrow. But sometime this year, our financial system is going to crash in a major way. Gerald Celente predicts sometime in March. Your ATM may not work by then, or it may dispense worthless dollars, or the government will prohibit you from getting your money, or you'll have to wait for an Amero ATM, or you'll have to wait for a Euro conversion, or you may have to get into a long line, or your money will be removed for taxes, or you may not have any money at all.

The Banksters have taken over our government and they make the rules now.

[TheNiche]

Have you ever really worked with those inexpensive tools and equipment, made in China? Have you really? I have. They're crap. But for about 10% more... you can get better quality, made in the USA. And they really are better.

I've noticed that Sears is now color-coding its pipe wrenches. Orange = Made in the USA. Green = Made in China. I buy the orange ones.

Yep, and aside from some of the tools "walking off" at the end of the day with the labor, I haven't really had any unexpected problems so far. Even the theft stopped once the tools were all spraypainted hot pink.

[crunchtastic]

The Banksters have taken over our government and they make the rules now.

They always have.

I have my guns, cats, cash, passport, man, and gold at the ready. (not all in the same suitcase). I'm just a little less fatalistic, I guess.

[TheNiche]

I wasn't trying to gather 'favour' points, I was trying to wake people up.

Rotating the stock IS an important thing to do periodically.

The earth will keep revolving around the sun(the sun stays still within the solar system) and the ATMs will probably work tomorrow. But sometime this year, our financial system is going to crash in a major way. Gerald Celente predicts sometime in March. Your ATM may not work by then, or it may dispense worthless dollars, or the government will prohibit you from getting your money, or you'll have to wait for an Amero ATM, or you'll have to wait for a Euro conversion, or you may have to get into a long line, or your money will be removed for taxes, or you may not have any money at all.

The Banksters have taken over our government and they make the rules now.

That's right, and the Banksters demand a revolution! The Banksters demand 'worthless' Dollars. The Banksters demand a total economic collapse, with the United States becoming a de-industrialized country.

...yeah, that's what the Banksters want. Why? I can only possibly think that someone has come up with an index measuring common sense, and the Banksters must be shorting it. I'd be shorting it, too.

[20thStDad]

We just became the U.S.S.A.(United Socialist States of America) today, and who does the Houston Chronicle have on the front webpage? A drunk driver killing another drunk/and Robin Williams.

At least one publication, NewsWeek, had the cover titled 'We Are All Socialists Now'.

Congrats to NewsWeek. (If you think we are all Fascists now, that's also acceptable)

The populated cities of America unofficially became dangerous today.

The minority cities along the Gulf Coast & Mexican border have just become particularly dangerous.

Don't wait for the media to tell you to stock up, it may be too late by then.

Snap out of your programmed media reflex dependence and turn on your brain.

Remember Ike and go to the store.

Emergency Supply List: Bottled water, canned food, rice, oatmeal, energy bars, nuts, batteries, wind-up flashlights, wind-up radios, battery operated fans, ice chests, cigarette lighters, bikes, bullets, guns, and cash.

Get them while the lines are short.

I bought scotch (x2! MacAllan and Caol Ila say hello!) and tequila and played downloaded video games on an emulator - is that good enough? It feels right so I'm going to run with it.

[RedScare]

Emergency Supply List: Bottled water, canned food, rice, oatmeal, energy bars, nuts, batteries, wind-up flashlights, wind-up radios, battery operated fans, ice chests, cigarette lighters, bikes, bullets, guns, and cash.

Get them while the lines are short.

Umm...no cigarettes and liquor? Dude, you got a lot to learn about Armagedden.

I wasn't trying to gather 'favour' points, I was trying to wake people up.

Rotating the stock IS an important thing to do periodically.

The earth will keep revolving around the sun(the sun stays still within the solar system) and the ATMs will probably work tomorrow. But sometime this year, our financial system is going to crash in a major way. Gerald Celente predicts sometime in March. Your ATM may not work by then, or it may dispense worthless dollars, or the government will prohibit you from getting your money, or you'll have to wait for an Amero ATM, or you'll have to wait for a Euro conversion, or you may have to get into a long line, or your money will be removed for taxes, or you may not have any money at all.

The Banksters have taken over our government and they make the rules now.

You do realize that the bill that passed today was not a banking bill, don't you?

[Rammer]

Umm...no cigarettes and liquor? Dude, you got a lot to learn about Armagedden.

You do realize that the bill that passed today was not a banking bill, don't you?

I don't smoke, but I may need to start drinking more. Celente actually recommends purchasing liquor.

I realize that it's a 1,071 page debt stimulating bill that nobody has read and will destroy our country. It's $787 billion that we don't have. The Banksters are salivating.

[Rammer]

By the way, here's my favorite phrase from the first Bailout bill(Paulson)

'Section 8. Review. Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.'

[Porchman]

WRONG - your just FLAT WRONG - I dont care how many people wrote about it in the 19th century - the true global nature of our economy and the impact that one country US has on it, cannot be figured out - its too large. B/C you think it, and toss a name out does not make it true.

So, it can't be figured out

[RedScare]

I don't smoke, but I may need to start drinking more. Celente actually recommends purchasing liquor.

I realize that it's a 1,071 page debt stimulating bill that nobody has read and will destroy our country. It's $787 billion that we don't have. The Banksters are salivating.

Assuming that the debt is not covered by tax receipts, the $787 Billion debt would add 7.15% to our $11 Trillion national debt. I hardly think that an additional 7.15% debt is going to bankrupt us. The $3.6 Trillion in bank loan guarantees is probably what you ought to slit your wrists over, not this stimulus bill. But, hey, that's just my opinion.

Just to put it in perspective, Bush added $570 Billion to the debt in 2008 alone. He added $5 Trillion in only 8 years. If that didn't cause you to rename the country and make an emergency kit, I don't know why you're worried now.

[N Judah]

In post #81, you didn't say anything about foreclosures. I don't see the relevance.

I didn't think you would. Unfortunately, too many people think like you, and that's how we got into the mess we're in now.

[jmancuso]

i believe the government stashes alien bodies underneath denver international airport and they are cooperating with extraterrestrials to facilitate a colonization of earth.

[Montrose1100]

What a joke of a thread. Why do people act like this is the first time the country has had hard economic times. Yeah, maybe most of us weren't alive during the biggest collapse, but guess what? We survived! Imagine that. And even back then the world felt the after shock because of us. So who is to blame? The greedy people who rule the banks? Probably... the last president? Maybe... there aint jack diddely we can do about it now, what's done is done.

Maybe we needed this. To make people thank god for another day, instead of worrying about the less important things. Hopefully we'll all learn something from this. If not, then I'll be buying wind up flashlights too.

But seriously, whoever thought this Bull Market (no pun intended) would last, then the jokes on you.

Invest in Gold! Before we become a "sand & mohawk based economy" lol.

[TheNiche]

I didn't think you would. Unfortunately, too many people think like you, and that's how we got into the mess we're in now.

...so, instead of pointing out what it is that I'm missing and possibly even contributing fresh ideas to this thread, you make a personal attack.

[N Judah]

...so, instead of pointing out what it is that I'm missing and possibly even contributing fresh ideas to this thread, you make a personal attack.

A page from your playbook! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[TheNiche]

A page from your playbook! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

There, you just did it again. I honestly don't mind personal attacks--sometimes they're justified like earlier in the thread where Marksmu said that I talk down to people and that I think I'm a god. He's right on both counts. I do tend to talk down to people. And my take on religion is that every entity in the universe is its own god, so yes, I do believe that I am a god.

I also don't mind tangents, even as combined with personal attacks. ...but that should be obvious by now.

However, I do mind when someone puts for the conclusion for an argument without a premise. That's just lazy, a crime against human intellect. And as you might've noticed, I'm compulsively long-winded, my premises notoriously detailed. If you can cite where I have failed to complete the basic premise/conclusion structure of one of my arguments, I will promptly apologize and correct my post to accurately reflect the entirety of my line of thought.

If not, I demand a retraction of your unfounded personal attacks.

[N Judah]

If you don't like my posts, then don't respond to my posts.

[TheNiche]

If you don't like my posts, then don't respond to my posts.

You were unable to support your earlier claim with evidence. I demand the retraction of your unfounded personal attacks.

[N Judah]

It wasn't a personal attack, genius, it was a fact. Sorry!

Anyway I think you've taken up enough space talking about yourself. I think there are more important things to discuss on this thread than your hurt feelings. OK?

[TheNiche]

It wasn't a personal attack, genius, it was a fact. Sorry!

Anyway I think you've taken up enough space talking about yourself. I think there are more important things to discuss on this thread than your hurt feelings. OK?

It was an assertion that you have made without supporting it with evidence, even when challenged. That's pretty weak, man.

I'd agree that our tangent has run its course, but having said that...I'm not really sure that there actually is anything more important to talk about on this particular thread.

[Rammer]

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." - Napoleon

Watch current videos from Gerald Celente, Glen Beck, Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, and Lou Dobbs on Youtube for the truth.

[VicMan]

"History is a set of lies agreed upon." - Napoleon

Watch current videos from Gerald Celente, Glen Beck, Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, and Lou Dobbs on Youtube for the truth.

So, why do you feel they are trustworthy and everyone else is not trustworthy?

[Marksmu]

So, it can't be figured out

[sevfiv]

Enough with any type of personal attack and back-and-forth bickering..

(oh, and the irrelevant digressions such as the types of degrees you have/don't have and the usefulness of such )

Let's keep it on topic, folks.

[Rammer]

So, why do you feel they are trustworthy and everyone else is not trustworthy?

Logical question.

I'm a money guy, they are basically thinking the same way that I do.

It's not that I'm following them...it's that I agree with them.

Also, common sense tells you that you must eat to live.

Why not purchase the food now, while it's cheap? And more importantly - still available.

Purchase the necessities of life first, then consider the various commodity investments.

Control your own destiny as much as possible, don't depend on the government.

[Geoff8201]

I've been following this thread since it was started, and reading it mostly for entertainment value as it turned into the discussion that it has become... Consider we live in a unique world, as it is this time, this day... people have solutions, many of them, the problem is simply, will they work? And the answer is, we don't know, we can only make an educated guess. Whatever solutions we do chose, I think the attitude of the people plays a significant role. If people on one side all believe it will fail, and therefore hope it will fail, then for that reason alone above all others, it will fail. The only non solution would be to do absolutely nothing.

Those statements are simplistic, yes, but I hope insightful.

Getting back on topic, I ask other Haifer's what is their source for news, and why? It'd be next to impossible to go out and hunt down what you want to know yourself, just so you can get the unbiased truth, so you have to rely on someone.

First off, for me, I tend to lean mostly Democrat, but with a lot of conservative views, because they just make sense. I guess you can call me a Centralist, or Central Democrat or whatever (but don't say liberal, I just don't like that word). I'd rather look at the issues objectively with common sense rather than just agree with the views of the party I've chosen to support or affiliate myself with. With that said my source is typically CNN (as some on the right call it, the Communist News Network) or Fox News (or as some on the left say: "Fair and Balanced, Pfft, yea, only if you're a Republican"). Those would be the mains, and on occasion NBC, ABC, http://www.drudgereport.com, and even here on Haif with the off topic discussions such as these.

PS: And Niche, I knew you were young, but I didn't know 24?!? You're two years younger than me if that is true. You know what you know and can debate as well as you can, but can't rent a car yet. Still though, impressive, even if I don't agree with you on occasion. I believe that the smart and informed among a world of so many stupid and ignorant deserve their props.

[TheNiche]

Enough with any type of personal attack and back-and-forth bickering..

(oh, and the irrelevant digressions such as the types of degrees you have/don't have and the usefulness of such )

Let's keep it on topic, folks.

I'm not sure that I can abide by that, so I'm gracefully exiting from the thread.

P.S. - Geoff, thanks for the props. And I can rent a car, just not in all states.