patrick.net

I prefer to be dominated by the Canadians, especially if the French Canadians are in charge of food.

Ooh, French food. The only thing I remember of Quebec City was Fondue.

Canadians are cool.

Canada has 1/10 the population of USA and arguably more natural resources. No wonder they can afford some social programs.

Anyway, humanity sucks.

astrid: My whole point was that parents risk their children by sending them away with a stranger for long periods of time. Isn't that an idiotic thing to do under any circumstances?!? I have known scoutmasters that I thought were... of the opposite persuasion, but did not doubt them as people.

Parents are lazy. If you want to know that somebody isn't molesting your kid, BE OUT IN THE GODDAMN WOODS WITH THEM. I'd love to see a case study of scout troops with molester problems, on an axis with troops that had plenty of dads out there with them. Why are dads so totally wuss about a few bugs and chopping wood? You're wearing a football jersey and rooting fanatically for the home team, aren't you?

Maybe it's not the kids who need manliness lessons. Maybe it's you. A bunch of pretend manly guys who go to the gym to build fake muscles, wear fashionable "stubble" and then can't start a fire in your own goddamn charcoal grill. Yeah, YOU. That guy. Mr. "I look like Paul Bunyan", but don't know which end of an axe is sharp.

[/rant]

Bap33,

I'm a woman, so I hope when you say "you" you did not mean me.

As for the rest. I'm a "lib" and I don't share your view of God. However, if you can tolerate my existence, I can certainly tolerate you.

But nevertheless, people like you really do scare me. You see things in black and white, "libs"are black and the Bushies, no matter how much they lie, cheat and steal, are still God's own knights in shining armor. I'm damn scared.

you see there …… Astrid you have no trouble putting thoughts in my head. Hate??

Your head must be awfully damned empty then...

You hate Astrid, not me. You say I want to empose my beliefs in God and the law ??? Really ?? You know Astrid, the laws that protect you and me are based DIRECTLY on biblical law. So, by proxy, you follow Gods laws by choice already, without any forced compliance from me. Aint that cool?

Ok, I give you the Ten Commandments argument. But considering that God wins the war, why are you complaining that astrid loses the very tiny battle?

Brand, please put up the Boy Scouts creedo so we can go through it together. Thanks.

What's a "creedo"? I assume you mean the Scout Law: A scout is... trustworthy loyal helpful friendly courteous kind obedient cheerful thrifty brave clean and reverent.

I am not interested in going through the Scout Law with some random person, any more than I am interested in going through the Ten Commandments with an atheist. The Scout Law, the Ten Commandments, Christianity and the American value system are ingrained social constructs that are not purely syntactic in nature. The sematics far supercede the mere words.

Can we talk about cakes?

This is a strawberry thread after all.

Brioches actually make great strawberry shortcakes.

Qu'ils mangent de la brioche.

How about some 70% cocoa dark chocolate cake?

Peter P: In the last few days I find myself longing for the buttery taste of yellowfin or sake. But given my overly conservative "it it ain't made of beef, it ain't goin' in my mouth" married friends, how do I get them out to some good sushi?

There is actually an independent sushi chef in town who has a very small restaurant. A ronin chef, if you will.

I prefer to eat it thus:

cut some brioche into 1" slices
toast the brioche slightly
puree some frozen strawberry, adding a little sugar to taste
whip up some heavy whip cream or have some vanilla ice cream handy
assemble

Bap33,

I think fundamentally, we agree on a lot of things. Our semantics do get in the way of communication a lot of times. We agree on illegal immigration, on the welfare state, on the breakdown of the family and the self indulgence and excess of modern life.

However, I do not want to brush aside our differences as if it does not exist. Doing so would be disrespecting your intelligence and the depth of your belief. It is there and it goes deeper than disagreeing on individual issues. We have very different world views and your expressed belief before doesn't really leave a place for "libs" like me. If I've sounded overly hostile and "hateful," it comes out of my sense of futility.

I think I'm going to be sick tomorrow from eating my homemade chicken wing confit.

The ACLU does not recieve any government funding, not even the tax break that non-profits recieve. I know because I have been a member for a decade.

Thanks for reminding me to renew my membership.

Oh no. A liberal declaring futility debating with a conservative.

astrid says: However, I do not want to brush aside our differences as if it does not exist. Doing so would be disrespecting your intelligence and the depth of your belief. It is there and it goes deeper than disagreeing on individual issues. We have very different world views and your expressed belief before doesn’t really leave a place for “libs” like me. If I’ve sounded overly hostile and “hateful,” it comes out of my sense of futility.

C'mon, astrid. I feel like we're singing, Cooooom-bay-ah, My Lord, cooom-bay-ah. But not with the Lord, and maybe not with cooom-bay-ah, since that might be perceived as "foreign". Freedom isn't a bunch of citizens in a circle around a campfire singing hippie songs.

I'm not sure what Bap33's worldview is. I'm not sure I value it. I'm tired of a society where I have to "value" every viewpoint--metrosexual dads whining that food should be brought to us on campouts, gay scoutmasters asking for unrestricted access to little boys, ambitious minorities complaining about the glass ceiling and the white men complaining that anti-glass ceiling initiatives cost them advancement.

I'm just a dude who wants to find a normal wife so I can teach my kids how to use a pocket knife, chop wood, believe in God, understand classical ethics and have a critical scientific mind. Is that too much to ask? :)

Peter P: In the last few days I find myself longing for the buttery taste of yellowfin or sake. But given my overly conservative “it it ain’t made of beef, it ain’t goin’ in my mouth” married friends, how do I get them out to some good sushi?

Bring them to a place with beef sashi or tataki. Try Kampachi as well. :)

There is actually an independent sushi chef in town who has a very small restaurant. A ronin chef, if you will.

Where?

my “thoughts” comment was supposed to say Astrid is able to read my mind — thoughts in my head that way — tell what I’m thinking .. ect. My writtten communications stink.

Women are generally more psychic than men.

Butterfish sashimi is also good. IIRC it was also one of the favorites of MarinaPrime.

Brand,

(I miss the good ole days when I could run to an airport 10 minute before departure time and still catch the plane.)

Be careful with those dangerous pocket knives (and dangerous perfume bottles), I've lost quite a few to airport security.

I don't like the schizophrenic nature of modern American society. On one hand, it wants everything to be packaged, sanitized, side curtain airbagged and beeped out. On the other hand, it glamorizes violence and courts danger. (The two impulses meet in Iraq). People nowadays are detached from how their food is produced, from their family members, from the consequences of their actions and even from their very own mortality.

Hmm, normal wife you say. Good luck. Maybe if SQT or SFWoman gets divorced or cloned, you could have a shot :)

"no matter how much they lie, cheat and steal, are still God’s own knights in shining armor. I’m damn scared"

In another words.
"I did not have sex with that woman."

In another words.
"We should raise taxes for social problems due to irresponsible people".

Hum!!!! As a native Californian nothing scares me more than liberals from the east coast coming into our state and telling us how to run it. I have to hand it to the NYC liberals who failed in their social experiment with NYC back in the 70s. Made a nice mess...

astrid: You can't clone SFWoman. There is no replicating a smart woman who forms her own opinions and arrives at a sensible conclusion.

Peter P.: Alas, I can locate sushibykevin.com no longer. Perhaps the ronin has caved to corporate pressures. He was a sushi chef with French influences. Very good. About $20-40 per head if you wanted a very nice meal, close to the university and rather intimate.

I miss the good ole days when I could run to an airport 10 minute before departure time and still catch the plane.

It is called a private jet. You can get there 10 minutes after the "departure" time and it may still wait for you. :)

Perhaps the ronin has caved to corporate pressures.

Sad. :(

$20 - $40 per head for a nice sushi meal is more than reasonable.

more than reasonable

I meant "very reasonable."

Space Ace,

I've got plenty of bones to pick with the Clintonites and I'm firmly against Hilary '08. However, lying about an embarrassing sexual escapade with a consenting intern in a dead end inquiry into a land deal gone bad is a lot less serious than lying about weapons of mass destruction and already getting 3,200 young Americans killed.

The Clintonites and the current Democratic congress is also a lot more fiscally responsible than the Bushies, even if they are not as fiscally responsible as I want them to be.

Anyways, why the hell would I tell Californians how to run their completely messed up state (messed up all by themselves via Prop 13 and whatnot)? My name is astrid, not Atlas.

To be clear, California is a right to work state. Randy confused that in his point. Unions cannot bar non union people from working, that is what right to work means. It is an at will state for separation, the two are not mutually exclusive.

As for proving discrimination, the statistical measure is the 4/5ths rule. In other words protected groups need to be promoted or benefit at at least 80% of the majority population rate of the firm. So if 60% of white applicants are successful 48% of protected applicants for hire or promotion should be successful. Even if it is not diliberate the EEOC can bring allegations forward on the legal theory of adverse impact.

I think many people here belong to libertarian group. They enjoy social liberty but they also hate welfare to some degree.

Welfare is the best way to protect poverty. Not poor people. Poverty.

My name is astrid, not Atlas.

Astrid Shrugged.

$

Peter P,

Tempting but no. Wastes too much fuel. Even if I had the money for a corporate jet, I hope I will choose to fly commercial.

$

Malcolm, you summarized our state of affairs in the most succinct manner ever.

If you read the book you know what that means.

Something tells me you've read it.

Tempting but no. Wastes too much fuel. Even if I had the money for a corporate jet, I hope I will choose to fly commercial.

Really? Even if I just miss the mark for deserving a corporate jet I will get one using a voodoo loan. :)

Too bad I miss the mark so much that even moderm innovate financing cannot help me. :)

You don't need a loan. It is expensive per hour but you can buy time on those jets. If you can find some enlightened friends to split the cost it starts approaching the higher end of commercial fares.

Maybe Peter P can befriend Martha Stewart...

I wonder if she is a nice person in reality.

You don’t need a loan. It is expensive per hour but you can buy time on those jets. If you can find some enlightened friends to split the cost it starts approaching the higher end of commercial fares.

I know. Even if you give me one right now I probably cannot afford to fly in it.

But I will sell it and buy 30 shitboxes in Cupertino just to reignite the spring bounce. :twisted:

If the NASDAQ peaked at ~4500 and was down to ~1500 two years after the peak how did you recover so fast

Well part of it is that my net worth wasn't really that big in 2000. I was broke, actually negative net worth in 1993, when I graduated. My GI Bill had run out and I took some student loans. But by 1997 they were paid off. I had seen a number of my friends hit the dotcom lotto, so I tried, too. After my company went public in 1999, I just prayed that the bubble would stay inflated long enough for me to cash out and it just barely did.

But I had not idea what to do with my new found "wealth" since no one in my family invests. They are all either poor, or civil servants, like teachers and social workers, and count on defined benefit plans to take care of them in retirement. My dad even taught me growing up that the stock market was just like Las Vegas and just as stupid. But I have always been an autodidact, so I just decided to teach myself how to invest. Smart Money U really helped a lot, at least it got me to diversify. That is why I only lost 1/2 when the stock market melted down, instead of 90% like most of the people I know.

Then in March 2003 I cashed everything out to buy the duplex I own know. I thought long and hard about putting the rest into savings, but by then I had been reading The Economist for a few years and decided to take their advice and invest in emerging markets. So the housing bubble and the Brazilian, Singaporian, and Russian stock markets more than brought it all back. Check out the five year chart for EWZ and PBR.

I guess a few of you are pretty aggressive investors: I had no idea FAB invested in hedge funds. I thought he just bought apartment buildings. I figured Randy H invested agressively, since he is a professional. But most of the people here are very negative about the economy and spent all their time thinking about how they are going to survive the next Great Depression. Putting all your money in CDs is never going to get you into the house of your dreams (or prepare you for retirement, for that matter).

Peter, marketing people hate guys like you. You take the fun out of the sales pitch because you actually ask 'what is the upkeep?'

I'll take her over Rachel Ray any day. I can see me getting friendly with Martha Stewart. We would viciously cackle over other people's cake decorating disasters and abuse the help when I find the sweet peas were not properly conditioned prior to arrangement.