patrick.net

Rin says

I'm a not so proud member of that support staff, though I like the bonuses.

Story-telling is fine too. :-)

Rin says

With ample resources and free time, I could write the great American novel/screenplay, play guitar like a Malmsteen, do the equivalent of three masters degrees in engineering/applied sciences, travel to Indonesia to study Silat Martial arts, etc, etc.

Some trust-fund babies are doing that...

On the other hand, psychopaths are just fine. Now they don't even have to return video tapes. :-)

Peter P says

just a few hundred dollars.

Do you know how much he was getting in allowance and how much more he wanted?

Anyway, the whole thing is just hilarious.

Why do people even have offsprings if they do not spend the time to raise the kids?

If you have the means, allow your children to live under your shade, not in your shadow. Make them want more, not entitled.

Peter P says

It is a label invented by social "scientists" to make themselves feel more important.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/05/11/scans-show-psychopaths-have-brain-abnormalities/38540.html
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/25/could-a-brain-scan-diagnose-you-as-a-psychopath

Just a few studies done so far are more evidence than the origins of Gender coming from the splitting in half of round-shaped hermaphrodites.

thunderlips11 says

Peter P says

It is a label invented by social "scientists" to make themselves feel more important.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/05/11/scans-show-psychopaths-have-brain-abnormalities/38540.html

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/nov/25/could-a-brain-scan-diagnose-you-as-a-psychopath

Yep. They have created a whole "science" around that too. I bet ancient Egyptians could divine with modern brain scans if such technology existed back than. I think tea leaves are more elegant.

thunderlips11 says

the origins of Gender

Gender is just evolution's answer to horny men.

It was $600 he shaved it down to $400, but the old man was also footing the $2500 rent on his apartment.

CaptainShuddup says

It was $600 he shaved it down to $400, but the old man was also footing the $2500 rent on his apartment.

It takes half a lifetime to create a non-functioning offspring. If he had tolerated his son for so long he should have continued funding a lost cause.

A $2500 pad in NYC is hardly luxurious.

Couldn't Dad have gotten him a job as a Realtor? Good money in that.

Peter P says

A $2500 pad in NYC is hardly luxurious.

Yep.

It's quite bare living, a studio apartment or tiny one-bedroom in an older building with few services at best, esp. if it was in Manhattan.

Peter P says

Yep. They have created a whole "science" around that too. I bet ancient Egyptians could divine with modern brain scans if such technology existed back than. I think tea leaves are more elegant.

So modern medicine is not a science?

There really is no reasonable doubt that brain damage and birth defects cause abnormal mental conditions.

thunderlips11 says

Peter P says

Yep. They have created a whole "science" around that too. I bet ancient Egyptians could divine with modern brain scans if such technology existed back than. I think tea leaves are more elegant.

So modern medicine is not a science?

There really is no reasonable doubt that brain damage and birth defects cause abnormal mental conditions.

This is the real danger of reductionism.

True, brain damage can cause psychological and behavioral issues, but made-up conditions like "sociopathy" are not necessarily "caused" by anything physical.

Don't get me wrong. I think psychology is very useful. However, it is more useful in helping to understand yourself and your opponents than to "fix" anything.

I am not sure why folks are blaming the parents. There are far worse parents that do horrible things to their kids and the kids turned out fine.

This man probably put the kid through Princeton and is paying for the necesseties of life and trying to the good thing by nudging him to independence.

lostand confused says

I am not sure why folks are blaming the parents. There are far worse parents that do horrible things to their kids and the kids turned out fine.

It is a game of chance. Bad parenting increases the chance of having bad offsprings.

This is just like sleeping with many people who sleep with many other people increases the chance of contracting STDs.

lostand confused says

This man probably put the kid through Princeton and is paying for the necesseties of life and trying to the good thing by nudging him to independence.

You cannot raise a dependent child and later "nudge" him to become independent.

Peter P says

Some trust-fund babies are doing that...

One of them is Rin Rockefeller the Great.

Rin says

Peter P says

Some trust-fund babies are doing that...

One of them is Rin Rockefeller the Great.

Quick debate...

Is Oyster Rockefeller made with spinach, water cress, or some other greens?

Peter P says

Is Oyster Rockefeller made with spinach, water cress, or some other greens?

Spinach and it's from New Orleans, not the NYC region. The creamy sauce is almost like Hollandaise, though not eggy

Thus, the Rockefeller name was just to tell everyone that it's a rich dish.

Peter P says

lostand confused says

This man probably put the kid through Princeton and is paying for the necesseties of life and trying to the good thing by nudging him to independence.

You cannot raise a dependent child and later "nudge" him to become independent.

Ok. Children are dependant. There is not a single child in the world that is born indepenant. Parents/society teach them to be independant. That age varies-in some cultures could be before 10-with poor children expected to earn and contribute to the household by that age. In others it may be after 18 and then in some families it is later. But there is not a single child in this whole world that is born independent. They need to fed, clothed, cleaned and it takes a while-the same is true for most mammals.

Rin says

The creamy sauce is almost like Hollandaise, though not eggy

Avoid cheap New England knockoffs, who use cheese. Seriously, that's like turning a delicacy into Potato Skins. Gross!

Peter P says

lostand confused says

I am not sure why folks are blaming the parents. There are far worse parents that do horrible things to their kids and the kids turned out fine.

It is a game of chance. Bad parenting increases the chance of having bad offsprings.

This is just like sleeping with many people who sleep with many other people increases the chance of contracting STDs.

Why do you think this is bad parenting. Maybe it is the greedy entitlement mentality of this country's welfare hordes. Where hard work, success is maligned and entitled , obese whales blame the rich for everything. Only here kid killed his welfare check-err dad-perhaps hoping he would not be caught and would inherit his entire fortune. Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs is hardly a new phenomenon.

Rin says

Spinach and it's from New Orleans, not the NYC region. The creamy sauce is almost like Hollandaise, though not eggy

Hmm, I thought it was a mix of water cress and herbs.

lostand confused says

Why do you think this is bad parenting.

Good parents would have instill greed in the children, who will strive to do even better in life.

Sadly, many parents, rich or poor, never really intend their offsprings to grow beyond themselves.

Poor people claim to want their kids to do better, yet they teach falsehoods like the "evil" of wealth.

Rich people somehow think "good" genes from their supermodel trophy wives would alone be sufficient.

Asset managment is not particularly useful or honest. The difference between successful and unsuccessful financial managers is luck. People's poor grasp of statistics lets them get bamboozled by random chance, a hot hand, and some marketing.

YesYNot says

Asset managment is not particularly useful or honest. The difference between successful and unsuccessful financial managers is luck. People's poor grasp of statistics lets them get bamboozled by random chance, a hot hand, and some marketing.

That can be said of anything. Luck is everywhere. It takes skills to exploit chance.

Let's not get judgmental about professions.

On average, do actively managed funds do any better than passively managed funds?

YesYNot says

On average, do actively managed funds do any better than passively managed funds?

They serve different purposes. Non-correlation alone is a big value-add.

My understanding is that passive funds perform just as well as actively managed funds over the long term, and that they significantly outperform managed funds after accounting for fees.

YesYNot says

My understanding is that passive funds perform just as well as actively managed funds over the long term, and that they significantly outperform managed funds after accounting for fees.

It depends on how you define performance. Raw return is not necessarily the best measure to those who invest in hedge funds.

Besides, we have been in a secular bull market for many decades. It is easy to believe in passive investment. Going forward, this is not necessarily true.

Peter P says

Rin says

Spinach and it's from New Orleans, not the NYC region. The creamy sauce is almost like Hollandaise, though not eggy

Hmm, I thought it was a mix of water cress and herbs.

I've only had it in the New England region and if those were included, it's probably more a part of the sauce because the main visible ingredients were the spinach & bread crumbs.

I'll ask the restaurant manager, when I'm out for seafood again.

YesYNot says

My understanding is that passive funds perform just as well as actively managed funds over the long term, and that they significantly outperform managed funds after accounting for fees.

The success of actively managed funds is highly dependent upon the prop trading teams. On the average, few will ever beat the long term indexes, over time, however, some will.

Rin says

The success of actively managed funds is highly dependent upon the prop trading teams. On the average, few will ever beat the long term indexes, over time, however, some will.

My point is that they do not beat the long term indexes on average. Furthermore, randomness can explain any success or string of successes of well respected fund managers.

Bill Millers fund beat the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years after fees. Even he said that it's luck, because if the calendar year ended on a different month the streak would not have been there. Also, when you ask the question of how likely is it that one fund manager out of the lot beat the S&P for 15 straight years at some point during the time that the S&P has existed, the odds are 75%. So, it would be unlikely not to have such a trader. However, people attribute this to skill or brilliance, when it is really just luck.

Who cares about Bill Miller?

Geroge Soros, Paul Tudor Jones, Jim Simons, etc. are much more interesting. There are many more. They make so many trades that it is statistically significant.

I know of Bill Miller only from reading yacht magazines. His Utopia has too narrow a beam IMO.

How do you know it is statistically significant. Out of the thousands of fund managers that start, do you not expect a few to do much better than average due to random chance?

You can believe in anything. In the end, the whole point of statistics is to justify any position.

Peter P says

You can believe in anything. In the end, the whole point of statistics is to justify any position.

This statement is silly crap spewed by people who don't understand statistics. Do you really believe it? Statistics can only be used to justify two opposing positions when one person is misusing it.

YesYNot says

Statistics can only be used to justify two opposing positions when one person is misusing it.

Statistics is meaningless until it is interpreted. Language is fallible. Ultimately, we choose our own meaning. Truth is relative.