Here's your money, Mr. Trump

Tim Craig

Oakman wrote:

Yes, that's apparently where we part company. I love this country, right or wrong.

But Stan's a great patriot. They have that spot on Mt. Rushmore reserved for him. They're just waiting for him to kick off. :laugh:

"Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." -- P.J. O'Rourke

I'm a proud denizen of the Real Soapbox[^]
ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES!!!

Ilion

Ed Gadziemski wrote:

While [reality catches up with] ordinary people lose their homes left and right, [who "bought" houses they couldn't afford because government compelled lenders to lend to them, thus creating and feeding an unsustainable bubble in the market for housing] ...

John Carson

Oakman wrote:

But I grow more worried day after day about the combination of his vast inexperience and his overweening self confidence.

While, as I have previously observed, Obama's lack of experience sometimes worries me, fundamentally I think that rather the opposite is true. As the Republican Party attempts to get us into Great Depression --- the sequel, FDR's famous words that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" are largely correct. You have one side that just doesn't have a clue and thinks that what happened in the Great Depression is exactly the opposite of what really happened (what really happened is that government spending got the economy out of the Depression and that it took as long as it did because the government was too tentative) and the future of the economy over the next decade or so depends on Obama having the confidence to know that the Republicans are talking out of their arses. The great problem with FDR (as shown by the 1937 recession within a depression when FDR prematurely took steps to balance the budget) was that he took too much notice of conservatives. There is an interview with Krugman here: http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/paul-krugman-rescue-paradox-thrift[^]

John Carson

Oakman

John, my saying that Obama is not doing a good job, is not the same thing as proving that the Republicans would. Your saying that the Republicans would make a mess of things is not the same thing as proving that Obama isn't. Rather than worrying about a never-never land where the Republican party has anything to say about what goes on in Washington D.C. in 2009, let's focus on the people in power and what they are and aren't doing for good or for ill.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Stan Shannon

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

Lost User

OT As you are a cat owner, I would appreciate your advice, if that's OK with you? Previously I have always owned dogs. So something cat related I have very little experience. About six weeks ago I was persuaded by my daughter to take in a rescue male kitten from our local veterinary. The kitten is now around 6 months old. It has had its jabs and due shortly to have "the snip". The problem with it is that it is very fussy on what it eats. Put down tinned or pouches of cat food - different brands I have tried - as well as the dry cat food - again different brands. It will nibble at them and leave them and I will end up throwing the uneaten stuff away. It refuses milk of any description. It will drink plain tap water. Some days it will eat and empty the dish but that is a rare thing. Most days an awful lot of the food has to be thrown away - there is only so long you can keep the food in the dish before it looks all dried-up and yuk. So the question, is this normal for kittens (or cats in general) or do you feel there could be a problem to investigate further. Like I said, dogs I understand but cats - that's all new to me. Generally, the cat appears to be happy with its new environment etc. Hope you don't mind this OT question. Thanks.

Oakman

Stan, I'm not sure what you think you proved by quoting the Declaration. You have at no point declared yourself to no longer be a citizen of the United States; and you have not taken up arms against it. And, as far as I know, Thomas Jefferson never wrote anything down about hoping that England would collapse into total ruin. Thomas Jefferson was declaring himself to be a traitor to his country and in an active state of rebellion. You, on the other hand, appear to be intent on asking what your country can do for you, instead of worrying in the slightest about what you can do for your country - except complain, which is certain part of the pursuit of happiness. Having compared what I know of the author of the Declaration to what I know of you, suggests to me that you and he don't have a whole lot in commonn.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Oakman

Richard A. Abbott wrote:

Hope you don't mind this OT question

Not in the slightest. Inappetance can be a sign of a cat not feeling well. One that, usually, it's extremely wise for an owner to pay attention to since usually cats hide illness as long as they can. HOWEVER. Some cats just are fussy eaters. Some will eat only dry food, others want it as moist as they could get it in the jungle they came from 5,000 years ago. The big question to ask yourself -- and your vet, when he goes in to be snipped -- is: is he thriving on the food he's eating? If he's energetic and gaining weight (he should gain a fair amount in the first year of his life) you're likely not to have problems. If he's listless, irritable, and very skinny in the flanks, then you need to have the vet do an exam - and definitely make sure to get his blood worked up. There are many, many problems that can be diagnosed by the readings you get that way. Forget milk - it's bad for 'em and upsets their tummies. (Have you ever heard of a lion or a tiger milking a cow?) When feeding, don't leave wet food out for more'n a couple of hours. You aren't going to convince your cat to eat when it's unappetizing, what he didn't eat when its was fresh. Besides, he'll learn to eat more, more quickly, if food isn't something he can count on being there 24/7 You should buy quality cat food. The bargain brands aren't a bargain when you have to throw them away. Don't feed them dog food (it lacks taurine which is necessary to a cat's health) and don't feed them table scraps. They are unable to handle salt the way we can and onion is a poison for them. Whatever you do, make it clear to your daughter that chocolates will kill him very quickly. So will aspirin, by the way. Also make sure she isn't feeding him while you are away. Once he's neutered, he's like to become a bit more likely to eat, by the way. It's the only basic pleasure he has left. ;) Good on you for getting him neutered, by the way. Too many cats live brutish lives and die painful detahs because there are too many of 'em.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Lost User

Thank you Jon for your reply. The cat is very active and playful when its not sleeping. Whiskers and Go-Cat brand leader cat foods is what I've mainly tried. Perhaps I'll try only giving it half a pouch at a time and see if that helps. Didn't know about aspirin, chocolate, salt and onion being bad, so thank you for that Jon.

Ed Gadziemski

I'm sorry. I guess reading comprehension failed you. This post was about commercial real estate, and it points out that commercial real estate is a problem 10 times as large as residential real estate. Perhaps your local school system offers a GED program you could participate in.

Chris Austin

Holy Cow. Up next? Landlords nearing default? The world has gone insane, we have made the risk public and the profits private. I know a "big time" commercial investor who while being pretty bright also told me more than one not to: "throw good money at bad". Meaning that if he had a deal turn south that he would rather walk away from it and let the bank foreclose rather than finding a way to make things work. I always found that to be a bit of ethical nihilism. But, seeing now that it has been decided that the tax payer must carry these deals, I find it hard to fault the attitude. This stuff is making me feel pretty despondent.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?

Ed Gadziemski

The concept of moral hazard has apparently become obsolete. I'm for middle class tax cuts. I'm for well-policed stimulative infrastructure spending (e.g. Interstate highway system under Eisenhower and the Hoover Dam under Roosevelt). But bailing out commercial real estate speculation and credit default swaps is insane. It's like gamblers can now go to Vegas and no matter whether they win or lose, someone will pay off their bets.

Ed Gadziemski

In addition to Jon's good advice, we have a 14 year old cat who's been a very fussy eater since she was a kitten. She thinks anything other than Science Diet WD Feline is poison and won't touch it. She doesn't like milk. Be careful with the vet. Some of them will want to run thousands of dollars worth of tests and it just isn't worth it unless you believe strongly there is a correctable medical problem. Some cats are just finicky eaters. Our other cat will eat just about anything including table scraps and dog food but if she eats more than about 2 ounces, she throws it back up. She's also 14 and been that way her whole life. Cats are very different creatures from dogs, but they're worth it in their own way.

Chris Austin

Ed Gadziemski wrote:

The concept of moral hazard has apparently become obsolete.

Well put Ed.

Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity. --Lazarus Long Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece. --?

Lost User

Thank you Ed for your reply.

Stan Shannon

Oakman wrote:

Stan, I'm not sure what you think you proved by quoting the Declaration.

Becasue not loving your country, or at least being disappointed in it enough to want to be free of it, is also old fashioned.

Oakman wrote:

Having compared what I know of the author of the Declaration to what I know of you, suggests to me that you and he don't have a whole lot in commonn.

I agree with, and promote, every political principle the man actually worked to implment. I am a Jeffersonian.

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

Oakman

Stan Shannon wrote:

I agree with, and promote, every political principle the man actually worked to implment. I am a Jeffersonian.

Right, he actually worked at it. That was my point. Instead of demanding that his new country ask less of him, he pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Stan Shannon

How the hell am I asking what my country can do for me? I'm not asking my country to do anythng other than not becoming a communist state.

Chaining ourselves to the moral high ground does not make us good guys. Aside from making us easy targets, it merely makes us idiotic prisoners of our own self loathing.

Oakman

Every time Washington DC spends money on something you don't like, you say it is unconstitutional. When they spend money on something you approve of you either cheer, or remain mute. Again, I ask you to explain why you never argued that Washington should not fund scientific research of any sort because it is not specifically charged with doing so in the Constitution, but raise that as an objection only when they fund stem cell research. By the way, if I wanted to be cute, I'd point out that stem cell research promises to enable soldiers who have lost a limb to regrow it - make it defensible as part of maintaining the armed forces. ;)

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface

Ilion

And you can comprehend neither reading nor rational thinking.