Offering constructive criticism to the social cripples in our midst since early 2005.

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
What if you're a steel company, a softwood lumber company, or a sugar company?

The you donate a lot of money to politicians of either party. Your best bet is a politician that represents a lot of people you employ.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
Boring, boring, and more boring. I would lose my mind.

My old man's semi-retired. He reads about four novels a week and plays with his invetsments online. He's gotten dramatically more interesting since he left the fucking rat race. We always thought he'd go nuts becaus he was a workaholic. I tbelieve he's had an epipiphany wherein he realized there's a lot more to life than thinking you're a big dick swinging motherfucker businessman.

I am ambitious as hell, but I'm also not stupid enough to think any of the shit I fiddle with during the day to make money is important. Unless you write a great novel, make a movie or change the face of society through some innovation or polictiacl movement, none of what you do matters in 100 years.

I just want the money. I couldn't care less about any of the accolades, titles or whather anyone respects or admires me. Frankly, I think it'd be more fun to be notorious than admired. But either way, what does it matter what a bunch of people who'll be dead in 50 years think of another person who'll be dead in 50 years?

Enjoy your family and friends. thats all that matters. I plant to haunt any son of abitch who refers to me as a "lawyer" upon my passing. In fact, I will have a provision placed in my will that anyone who refers to me as a "lawyer" or my career be barred from the after funeral reception or inheriting anything.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Spanky
The point you are missing is everyone of those businesses want to grow. They understand a growing economy is the best way to do that.

The point you are missing is that the businesses are not growing because there are less people buying what they're making, NOT because of union labor costs. If there were growing markets for the services and products produced, then businesses would be hiring new workers, right? But they're not. Thats because the markets for their products (because people have less money) are NOT growing. SO, businesses are wringing profit out of the only avenue available - decreasing costs. There. Is. No. Macro. level. Growth. Being. Stopped. By. Unions.* Its a lie, just like the lie about how the inheritence tax kills family farms, or WMD, or SS, or 99% of the bullshit this administration lies about.

*Yes, on some micro local levels, Philly one of them, unions have wrecked growth, but this is not a national phenomenon.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Its a lie, just like the lie about how the inheritence tax kills family farms, or WMD, or SS, or 99% of the bullshit this administration lies about.

Fags getting married is bad, though isn't it?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Spanky
Sidd - this is just wrong. I don't know where you get this. Business organizations and associations are the most signficant lobbyist in State Capitals in the National Capitals for Republicans. Whenver a bill comes up in Sacramento the first thing the Repubicans ask is "where does the chamber stand." You have the Manufacturere Assocition, Tech Net etc.

And don't forget the beer distributors association.

Now THEY generally sponsor solid legislation we can all get behind.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Spanky
Ayn Rand? Your study of economics may come from Ayn Rand and Norma Rae but not mine. I see the practical effect of what the unions are up to every time I get a call from Sacramento saying "you are not going to guess what the unions are up to now." See my earlier comment on where they stand on regulation, competition, and free trade acts.

I personally like the calls saying, "You won't guess what [Mitt Romney/ the Christian Right/ the Tax Cut Fanatics /the State Republican Party] are up to now.

Physician, heal thy party.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Poll (because why should the FB have all the fun and it changes the subject):

What is your personal "I am so outa here" figure?

What will you do if you get it (excluding ways to spend it)?

Me: $10 mil (though, honestly, if I got $5 mil I'd probably throw in the towel). I'd dye my hair International Klein Blue and wear my Motorhead T-shirt when I came into the office to quit (and retain our T&E guy). Then I would take up (bad) painting.

My number ranges from about $3 to 12M, depending on the day. I have a feeling that if three or four more were in the bank, it would be hard not to do something different.

And, as to devoting one's life to art, Gatti and Sidd should remember that great artists need models -- you won't need to go to the strip clubs, guys.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Fags getting married is bad, though isn't it?

Well, the fags have no one to blame for that debacle but themselves. They should have quietly lobbied for civil union recognition in every state. Instead, like the dumbass who got her clock cleaned with the medical marijuana case yesterday, they had to shoot for the whole ball of wax prematurely.

I generally find that you get more accomplished through slow progressive growth, rather than shoving an idea down everyone's throat. Someone should teach the gays and the Legalize It lobby to sneak through the backdoor a little more. No pun intended.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
My number ranges from about $3 to 12M, depending on the day. I have a feeling that if three or four more were in the bank, it would be hard not to do something different.

13. Three Million Dollars More or Less


Mr. Howell loses $3 million to Gilligan in a golfing contest. Mr. Howell then tricks Gilligan into trading for a worthless oil well that he owns. When the radio announces that the oil well is a gusher, Mr. Howell sets his sites on winning it back. However, just as he succeeds in wining it back, the radio announces that the gusher was a mistake!


b: 26-Dec-1964 pc: 0710 w: Bill Davenport & Charles Tannen d: Ray Montgomery


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
My old man's semi-retired. He reads about four novels a week and plays with his invetsments online. He's gotten dramatically more interesting since he left the fucking rat race. We always thought he'd go nuts becaus he was a workaholic. I tbelieve he's had an epipiphany wherein he realized there's a lot more to life than thinking you're a big dick swinging motherfucker businessman.

I am ambitious as hell, but I'm also not stupid enough to think any of the shit I fiddle with during the day to make money is important. Unless you write a great novel, make a movie or change the face of society through some innovation or polictiacl movement, none of what you do matters in 100 years.

I just want the money. I couldn't care less about any of the accolades, titles or whather anyone respects or admires me. Frankly, I think it'd be more fun to be notorious than admired. But either way, what does it matter what a bunch of people who'll be dead in 50 years think of another person who'll be dead in 50 years?

Enjoy your family and friends. thats all that matters. I plant to haunt any son of abitch who refers to me as a "lawyer" upon my passing. In fact, I will have a provision placed in my will that anyone who refers to me as a "lawyer" or my career be barred from the after funeral reception or inheriting anything.

Now I am the female Sebby. (Again.)

I could quite happily spend at least a few years doing fuck-all other than watching TV, drinking beer, gardening (I'd move the fuck out of TCOTU to someplace human with a garden so fast it would make your head spin) and maybe, if I felt a bit useless, learning to tango.

Work is extraordinarily overrated as a method of ... well, anything, really, other than filling a bank account (and it's frankly not so good at that as some other things), but I was thinking particularly of satisfying an ambition to do something with oneself. I think work actually gets in the way of doing something useful or meaningful with oneself.

Anyone who thinks "oh, I'd get so bored if I wasn't working" has drunk the Kool-aid. Not that it's surprising, since 90%+ of the population insists that it's God's own truth that all decent non-lazy-layabout people really want in their heart-of-hearts, even need, should they desire spiritual fulfillment, to work 50 hours per week doing nothing that particularly betters mankind, others or themselves beyond generating $$$. But 90% of people are fucking morons, and sheep to boot, so there you go.

Incidentally, my old man is semi-retired, too, but he hasn't told my mother. She thinks he works 5-6 days a week, when he really works about 2 1/2 and plays golf the rest of the time. He hit 50, looked around and said "what the fuuuh?" and just stopped. (My mother is fully retired, and within 3 months of quitting she looked 15 years younger, so it's not like she wouldn't understand, but she'd try to make him work in the garden all day if she knew he had free time.)

BR(of course, the gardening stuff just reminds me that there is nothing keeping me in TCOTU right now other than inertia)C

I seem to have woken up grouchy today. Must get coffee.

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy
My number ranges from about $3 to 12M, depending on the day.

$3 million in Treasuries (at 3% paid semi-annually) would give you $90K per year (subject to fed income tax). I could live on that (particularly if I move to Podunk), but I couldn't play around with it, particularly given that I'd need to roll part of that back into principal against inflation. I'd like enough extra to be able to screw around and play investor, start a home business selling my crappy paintings, found an etiquette school, whatever. $5 mil would generate enough extra to play around a little bit; $10 mil would be A-OK. As they say: it's fuck you money, but not fuck everyone money.

For your entertainment: Compound Interest Calculator

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Anyone who thinks "oh, I'd get so bored if I wasn't working" has drunk the Kool-aid. Not that it's surprising, since 90%+ of the population insists that it's God's own truth that all decent non-lazy-layabout people really want in their heart-of-hearts, even need, should they desire spiritual fulfillment, to work 50 hours per week doing nothing that particularly betters mankind, others or themselves beyond generating $$$. But 90% of people are fucking morons, and sheep to boot, so there you go.

I prefer "lemmings," and I love you. Work of the sort we do is an instrument to create money. Nothing more. If you want to trick yourself into thinking its an end unto itself, go ahead. But don't get all uppity on me when I tell you you're full of fucking shit and force you to reconsider your position and realize just how fucking stupid you are when you say things like "I really love practicing law and would do it even if I hit the lottery." That kind of idiotic shit talk insults the rest of the people in the conversation. Kid yourself, but don't insult me by assuming I'm as stupid as you are.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
$3 million in Treasuries (at 3% paid semi-annually) would give you $90K per year (subject to fed income tax). I could live on that (particularly if I move to Podunk), but I couldn't play around with it, particularly given that I'd need to roll part of that back into principal against inflation. I'd like enough extra to be able to screw around and play investor, start a home business selling my crappy paintings, found an etiquette school, whatever. $5 mil would generate enough extra to play around a little bit; $10 mil would be A-OK. As they say: it's fuck you money, but not fuck everyone money.

For your entertainment: Compound Interest Calculator

I'm assuming we can cash out the house and buy a nice cottage and I don't have to live off the $3 million alone. Plus, I've been squirreling away some nuts so I can keep knocking this number down. When my low number gets below $1 million, I may soon have a forwarding address.

(By the way, consider using the "annuity" calculator on that site instead; you don't necessary have to conserve principal for ever. $3 million at 5% gets you a $150,000 annuity for 60 years; now, that doesn't give you an inflation hedge, but if you can set aside some other assets as the inflation hedge and have a paid up house, $150,000 goes far in the sticks).

[Bad_Rich_Chic]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I prefer "lemmings," and I love you. Work of the sort we do is an instrument to create money. Nothing more. If you want to trick yourself into thinking its an end unto itself, go ahead. But don't get all uppity on me when I tell you you're full of fucking shit and force you to reconsider your position and realize just how fucking stupid you are when you say things like "I really love practicing law and would do it even if I hit the lottery." That kind of idiotic shit talk insults the rest of the people in the conversation. Kid yourself, but don't insult me by assuming I'm as stupid as you are.

Oh, I think there are really people out there who not only believe it, but for whom it is true. Not the bulk of people who would say it (or think it), but a few.

Then I feel sad that our society is so messed up that it doesn't get those people the help they so desperately need.

I remember reading, somewhere, in some survey someone conducted of lottery winners, more than a quarter insisted, at the time they won, that they would keep working. At the end of 1 year almost none of them were, and the most common explanation for their changed attitude was "what was I thinking?"

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by Bad_Rich_Chic
Oh, I think there are really people out there who not only believe it, but for whom it is true. Not the bulk of people who would say it (or think it), but a few.

Then I feel sad that our society is so messed up that it doesn't get those people the help they so desperately need.

I remember reading, somewhere, in some survey someone conducted of lottery winners, more than a quarter insisted, at the time they won, that they would keep working. At the end of 1 year almost none of them were, and the most common explanation for their changed attitude was "what was I thinking?"

In my job I have two primary ways of losing clients: the companies crash and burn or the principals sell out and get rich. As a result of the later, I have a lot of friends my age who are gainfully retired; others who are still hoping. Only about 1/3 go back for another go and become "serial entrepreneurs."
One of my retirees has just released his first novel. It sucks.