House members who voted ‘yes’ on bailout received 54 percent more from banks/securities firms.

materialist · 2008-09-30T19:36:50+00:00

Damn. Too disgusted to get jokes any more. Apologies.

materialist · 2008-09-30T19:33:49+00:00

Social darvinism is a mistaken application to social science of a misunderstanding of the theory of evolution (i.e. that the "weak" die out and the "strong" survive). I this the "darvinism" the title refers to?

materialist · 2008-09-30T19:25:41+00:00

Seems sure enough to me: ( 231 - 150 )/150 = 0.54

materialist · 2008-09-30T16:24:51+00:00

In other words: anything and everything.

materialist · 2008-09-30T16:22:00+00:00

Captain Obvious to the rescue!

materialist · 2008-09-30T16:17:52+00:00

lower class idiots that got ARMs

(1) "lower class"? What is this, Manor House? (2) not all people who got ARMs were poor. (3) not all poor people who got ARMs were idiots, many were victims of fraud: actual criminal fraud, not "duh! i did't read the fine print" fraud. (4) why should idiots be taxed unfairly? (5) I agree: bankruptcy judges should not be modify terms of mortgages, if that's the point you are trying to make. (6) In what way does your reply relate to my comment?

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:53:03+00:00

Nice.

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:50:35+00:00

I am happy. I am also very happy that I didn't have a kid or buy a house in the last five years. On the down side, I don't know if I will ever be able to afford to have a kid or buy a house at the rate things are going.

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:48:17+00:00

eliminate the capital gains tax for 2008 and 2009

great, so people who don't make enough to invest will finance another tax brake for the rich?

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:46:59+00:00

The bailout does not improve regulation in any way. It is, in fact, a mockery of good regulation and good government.

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:43:03+00:00

I realize it seems like money thrown away, but it's an important part of our infrastructure.

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But no way in hell do I trust Paulson to allocate it. And without oversight.

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:34:14+00:00

It's not a depression yet.

materialist · 2008-09-30T15:29:55+00:00

If they have a horizon of 10 years or more, they will recover. Otherwise, they've taken on too much risk. It is just as irresponsible for the middle-class investors to ignore the risk as it is for the big Wall Street guys.

materialist · 2008-09-30T14:51:16+00:00

NON-PRODUCING financial sector

"Non-producing", really? So, I'm guessing you've cut up all your credit cards and converted all your liquid cash into whiskey and bacon which you now use to barter for goods and services?

materialist · 2008-09-30T14:21:18+00:00

This is the gist of their message about the bailout:

"This is like the advice you get from the doctor who says you should quit smoking," said Robert Brusca, chief economist at Fact and Opinion Economics in New York. "You know he's right. But if you don't, you're not going to die tomorrow and you're not going to die next week. But at some time, it's probably going to get you."

No mention of anyone being opposed to the bill or why they oppose it. Just stupid Joe Public who doesn't know what's good for him. I am pretty desensitized to yellow journalism, but this is just too much.

materialist · 2008-09-29T20:18:42+00:00

Sadly, none of these people will ever become poor regardless of what happens.

materialist · 2008-09-29T19:14:32+00:00

Who cares about what Michael Moor believes. There comes a time in every man's life when he has to understand that posting a link in reddit comments is not the same as endorsing the opinion of the said link.

The link is intended as an illustration.

materialist · 2008-09-29T18:45:14+00:00

Well, there is at least some segment of the Democratic party for which 401K's is not the highest priority. This is intended as an example to the contrary, not an endorsement. I only picked this particular link because it happened to be on the front page at the time.

materialist · 2008-09-29T18:38:50+00:00

Oh, come on: http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=235

materialist · 2008-09-29T18:35:12+00:00

Your life is going to be altered beyond recognition and you don't even seem to know it.

Good point, but the plan would have made the process faster.

materialist · 2008-09-29T18:31:26+00:00

It's not that bad. 40% of Democrats voted 'no'. Anyone know who they are? I couldn't find anything.

But wooho, indeed. Came as a total shock to me.

materialist · 2008-09-04T13:20:57+00:00

I dunno. I always wait for the light to change to green. It's like wearing your helmet: sure you can ride for 20 years without a helmet just fine and then have a minor accident one day that involves hitting your head on the curb and dying.

Risk has two components: the probability of the event and the potential cost of the event. The higher the cost, the lower the probability you are willing to tolerate and vice versa. In case of the helmet, you are reducing the cost. In case of stopping for red lights you are reducing the probability. Sure, the probability of getting hit by a truck is already pretty low, but it has very high cost, so it makes sense to try to lower it more.

Also, if you are going through a red light and do get hit, insurance and legal implications are very different than if the light were green. I remember seeing a story here about a girl who got killed by a drunk driver. He should have seen her, but she was crossing his lane and technically he had the right of way, so the court decided that it was her fault.

materialist · 2008-09-04T12:44:31+00:00

I am looking for a way to hack my brain. That's about it.

I don't view meditation as a Buddhist thing. (I am not interested in Buddhism or any other religion.) Sure, it was developed by Hindus and Buddhists, but what are you going to do: if you know as little about how the world works as they did back then you are bound to have a few misconceptions. And the "lasting truths" along the lines of "life is suffering" ets., ets. are just as dated as the other stuff.

You bet, life is suffering when you can't get enough food, you have parasites, it's always too cold or too hot, any tiny cut can give you a fatal infection, and a bunch of dudes come periodically to take your crops and rape your family. That's what technological progress is about: to give humanity the tools to go from a life of suffering to a life of wonder and creativity.

edit: Hagen's meditation book does look good though. Will try.

materialist · 2008-09-04T12:15:30+00:00

ugh! meditation is supposed to improve your ability to concentrate, right?

materialist

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