patrick.net

tts says

While I would agree that the tax system needs to be reformed it alone will not fix the mess. You could tax income at 100% rate and it still wouldn’t be enough to pay down the debt. We’re going to have to reform the entitlement spending (ie. SS and Medicare), and by reform I mean institute all sorts of stuff like rationing, means tests, and flat out cuts. We’re also going to have to massively cut spending on our military.”

Well, no true Keynesian would agree with you there. Cutting spending during bad times is not usually good policy....

Nomograph says

theoakman says

I successfully defended 2 weeks ago

That’s great, congratulations! Will you be taking a post-doc somewhere? I would suggest something different and marketable, perhaps biofuels or alternative energy research. This is the time to change research areas if you want.
theoakman says

You really are incapable of having a mature argument though.

I really can’t disagree with you there.

I'm teaching high school again this year. I also retained a part time position at the University as an instrument tech. I don't plan on doing a post-doc. I can't work for a low salary now that I'm married. Also, I'm kind of geographically limited to the NJ/Philly area. I'm looking to go into Alternative Energy development at GE.

Can't nominate yourself? Okay -

(9) Nomograph - MD with a snarky outlook who consistently speaks his own mind, regardless of the reception he may get.

(10) Mikey, a very punny guy.

tatupu70 says

tts says

While I would agree that the tax system needs to be reformed it alone will not fix the mess. You could tax income at 100% rate and it still wouldn’t be enough to pay down the debt. We’re going to have to reform the entitlement spending (ie. SS and Medicare), and by reform I mean institute all sorts of stuff like rationing, means tests, and flat out cuts. We’re also going to have to massively cut spending on our military.”

Well, no true Keynesian would agree with you there. Cutting spending during bad times is not usually good policy….

That's not true. There are a ton of super talented scientists and engineers that could be adding to the productive capacity of the US in private jobs that are currently employed by the military. Unless we plan on selling weapons to the rest of the world, we would be better off employing those individuals in jobs that add to the productive capacity of the economy.

In a forum with posters that lack balance, Pkennedy is very balanced and gets it.

I nominate SF ace. Very well rounded and has knowledge in just about everything discussed here. Optimistic thinker but still realistic.

theoakman says

That’s not true. There are a ton of super talented scientists and engineers that could be adding to the productive capacity of the US in private jobs that are currently employed by the military. Unless we plan on selling weapons to the rest of the world, we would be better off employing those individuals in jobs that add to the productive capacity of the economy.

Agreed--but before they could find those new jobs that add to the productive capacity, they'd be unemployed. And that would be bad in the short term. That's why it's better to make the cuts during good times when jobs are available.

How's about Knewbetter and Techgromit? They've been here forever, too. They're fair in their assessments and can respectfully disagree with you - or me.

Please add to Nomo's something 'bout how his snarky comments has caused me to sneeze various liquids onto my keyboard. (I really like the word "snarky," can ya tell?)

Will there be an awards ceremony? Can I bring my pistol?

tatupu70 says

theoakman says

That’s not true. There are a ton of super talented scientists and engineers that could be adding to the productive capacity of the US in private jobs that are currently employed by the military. Unless we plan on selling weapons to the rest of the world, we would be better off employing those individuals in jobs that add to the productive capacity of the economy.

Agreed–but before they could find those new jobs that add to the productive capacity, they’d be unemployed. And that would be bad in the short term. That’s why it’s better to make the cuts during good times when jobs are available.

So, you give them their severance and let them find a new job.

Shouldn't Mikey be in the hall of shame? He's just a serial punster who likes to milk it. I know it sounds corny, but I guess that's Life.

PS: Don't forget that Ray guy. He wants everything to be all right.

Who gets the remote is still a war, regardless of orientation. Things do change after sanctioned marriage.
The kink factor evaporates after nuptials, gay or straight, and few survive the Cinderella syndrome when the white picket fence fades with familiarity.
The trouble starts even before the rice is thrown.
Male and female is a bad mix all around, except perhaps, in the animal world, where sex leads to much less drama.

There was a guy named Surfer-X who posted quite often in the old days. He has a penchant, a flare shall we say, for profanity.

theoakman says

So, you give them their severance and let them find a new job.

Meanwhile the economy goes further down the dumps and more people get laid off. Which in turn lowers your tax revenue and actually increases the deficit. No thank you.

mikey says

Shouldn’t Mikey be in the hall of shame? He’s just a serial punster who likes to milk it. I know it sounds corny, but I guess that’s Life.
PS: Don’t forget that Ray guy. He wants everything to be all right.

See number ten, dude. I nominated you, 'twas a nominal effort.

tatupu70 says

theoakman says

So, you give them their severance and let them find a new job.

Meanwhile the economy goes further down the dumps and more people get laid off. Which in turn lowers your tax revenue and actually increases the deficit. No thank you.

Isn't that what unemployment benefits are for? They would be better off getting paid to look for a new job than getting paid to develop missiles.

I like the list as revised in Nomo's last post. And I remember Surfer-X from my lurker days. He could be on that list too.

marcus says

Most in need of ignoring the other: Ray and Ellie

It's been about a week now. where ya been?

Coming to a television near you very soon: "Gay Divorce Court"

I can't wait. :)

elliemae says

It’s been about a week now. where ya been?

Well done. Hope the withdrawal symptoms haven't been too bad.

lol, u left out loads of important people during the earlier days, HARM, PeterP, Facereality, Marinisprime, FakeP, etc... It's too bad they don't post here anymore

Didn't Surfer-X bought a house? No surprise that he don't visit this forum anymore.

What about Shyfire (was that her name?) who lived in Florida, sold right as the bubble burst and her sale nearly fell thru. Moved to the woods with her man to enjoy the peace... and Bobby80... and Frodo, dear frodo.

marcus says

Well done. Hope the withdrawal symptoms haven’t been too bad.

That's what she said!

(as I said before in another post, I feel like Michael Scott from the tv show "the office," where he can't resist saying "that's what she said!" and the company insists that he not say it anymore because it's sexist. He nearly explodes).

elliemae says

mikey says

Shouldn’t Mikey be in the hall of shame? He’s just a serial punster who likes to milk it. I know it sounds corny, but I guess that’s Life.
PS: Don’t forget that Ray guy. He wants everything to be all right.

See number ten, dude. I nominated you, ’twas a nominal effort.

Silly, Ellie, that's the hall of a Fame, not shame. Still, it is an unexpected honor and I must thank all the little people behind the scenes who worked their fingers to the bone for me day after day with little recognition for their efforts. Bless them all, every one.
Please pardon me while I fetch a Kleenex to soak up my happy tears.
I need a few quiet moments to appreciate my good fortune. You understand.

oops - my bad. it's these f-in' boney fingers, get in the way.

tts says

You’re right it usually isn’t, but this is not a usual recession we’re going through. This is a financial crisis worse than what we went through in the 70’s. It took the Volcker FED years and and a forced double dip recession and rates of around 20% to fix that mess. It’ll take far more to fix this one.

I agree that it will take a lot to heal the economy--I just disagree with your prescription...

elliemae says

That’s what she said!
(as I said before in another post, I feel like Michael Scott from the tv show “the office,” where he can’t resist saying “that’s what she said!” and the company insists that he not say it anymore because it’s sexist. He nearly explodes

That episode was just on TBS and it is by far the best of the series. Although any episode with Packer is a good one in my book.

That is fair. After all, plenty of people have claimed "this time its different" and been wrong before. The thing that really frustrates me is that we'd probably both agree that things are far more messed up then you're hearing the gov. or any mainstream economist say, we'd probably both disagree as to just how bad things really are.

If we can't even agree on what the facts are how are we supposed to communicate at all?

This isn't directed at you but I see this as a major problem not just on this forum but also with Americans in general right now. We can't agree on what is right or wrong, and many of the progressive reforms that are probably needed get shunned as "socialist" or even "communist" even though most people seem to hardly understand what those terms mean any more. Lots of parroting of the talking points by supporters of both political parties right now. No true Progressives can get elected as long as that is true, so even if you wanted to primary a truly good politician against the current Dem/Rep incumbent you'd have no chance of winning.

The present from Packer was good too.

marcus says

Most in need of ignoring the other: Ray and Ellie

Give me a hint. Who is "Ellie?"

At the end of the day, there is very little the Fed can do to stimulate the economy. They're already at 0%. They can throw money at banks but the banks are scared of lending and businesses and consumers are scared or borrowing. Bernanke does not have a helicopter. He cannot conjure money out of thin air - only Congress can do that. Only Congress can decide to drop money from helicopters. If they're going to do it they better get on it - I have a feeling come November the Dems aren't going to control both houses. That will make it a lot harder to pass more stimulus measures.

I'm ok with the idea of stimulus on its face but the money needs to go to something useful like doing research or building "useful" infrastructure (not resurfacing perfectly good roads in the middle of nowhere). Unfortunately the Republicrats only enrich themselves and their friends.

But what about the early 2005-2006 crew, such as RandyH, DinOR, OO, HARM, Jimbo, EBGuy (he is still here), Allah, Astrid, PeterP (RayAmerica but with a brain, just kidding Peter :)), nuttyneutron, sqt, Micahel Holliday, KurtS, Different Sean, Zephyr, FormerApartmentBroker, Skibum, StuckInBA, SP, Vicente, Claire, HeadSet, Brand, and many others that I should recall at the top of my head. I'm apologizing already for the several worthy not mentioned (yet).

And then there are slightly newer people like The Original Bankster, Malcom, pkowen, sybrib, Simchaland, Kevin, Troy, .. [more to come].

I'm talking about people who were around while there were still moderators/threadmasters (I forget the correct term). And the forum was not full of right-wing goons and free-for-all thread privileges. Those were the days, I tell you :-).

I'm glancing through some early thread and updating the list above.

One of the most interesting aspects of this thread are the tidbits that some poster remembers about other posters, apart from the funky and snarky one-liner characterizations.

Some people have a very sticky brain for trivia, and others are very good at reading between the lines. That's one fact I have learned here.

justme says

[I’m glancing through some early thread and updating the list above]

how do you access early threads? I'm dumb.

Pick a low 3-digit number at random, for example

http://patrick.net/?p=297

Before Patrick started the nursing home forum, almost all numbers were for bubble threads. Later it got more complicated.

You can go even lower

http://patrick.net/?p=9

Before that there was apparently blogspot.com. Patrick, do you have an archive of those?

I miss Ocuile(sp) the first guy to use Koolaid as his moniker. What ever happened to that guy?

Sufer X was really good and an absolute riot. He used the F word like Picaso used paint.
Harm was really good
Allah was really good

These guys and others, and Patrick, seen the bubble way way way before it was cool to see the bubble. The media and REwhores were still broadcasting the normal "now is the time to buy or be priced out forever" and all the other caacaa. There was at one point a Patrick.net word dictionary being made of all the new words being created by this bubble. My entry was "Specuvestor" .... it was cool to make the list.

As a matter of fact, the first use of "troll" was when a REwhore came on here telling us we were all stupid. Then that Casey guy was in the news. Hate that guy.

Peter P was great ... I think he may be a lurker or opened under new moniker.

elliemae says

(10) Mikey, a very punny guy.

without a doubt the best I have ever seen at proper pun prolification.

bob2356 says

Anyone on a fixed income is left destitute, the middle class is wiped out. imports cease, anyone with savings (and your 90% number is bs)

The bottom 90% of this country has 17% of the financial net worth.

61% of the bottom 90%'s total asset is their home, which is inflation-proof.

The bottom 90% also has 73.4% of the debt, compared to 20% held by the next 9% and just 5% for the top 1%.

Inflation event would be a nice little reset for 90% of the population and mostly screw the top 1% who own most of the debt (60.6% to be exact).

Sadly, inflation will also greatly benefit the specuvestor upper middle class invested in real estate, the 90-99% percentile owns about half the commercial real estate.

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

too kind too kind

#9: Nomo ... I would say your intellect and depth deserve to be logged. Do not be modest. In my opinion good humor requires intellect - both to create and to "get it". Your logic stands tall.

What a great post idea -- another point about Nomo's mind.