patrick.net

. After the dot.com bust, our company had a massive lay-off, at the all hands meeting after, the directior said at least 3 or 4 times that we were lucky to still have jobs and that we need to stay focus.

Of course, most managers are minions who lack focus themselves. What is so unlucky about getting laid-off? It is just a new start. Many people can use a new start.

There are only a few people in the world that actually matter (Bill Gates is probably one). The rest are just thinking too highly of their purposes.

omg the killer was/is an asian --- breaking news

There was a time when the govt would offer returned servicemen extremely affordable housing in new suburbs and so on post-WWII. Unfortunately, the beneficiaries of that housing are now selling them for $850K with no new affordable housing being constructed for anyone...

Don’t stop there. We should also inform on vegetarians.

I love vegetarians like everybody else.

Are you a Manchurian agent sent by the Communist party?

That movie is my all-time favorite. :)

Communism is as dead as the piece of fish on my sushi rice.

Korean, to be exact. American Korean from the Bay Area, the rumor says, Jay Kim.

Huh, I heard that for a couple hours, Asian guy in his mid 20s. There might be two shooters though, the reporting is really unclear on that point.

There are only a few people in the world that actually matter.

hmm, most people seem to think that they matter... the days of French aristocrats being able to run over peasants with their coaches with impunity have passed...

We should also legalize bear baiting and cock fights, just to extra-stick it to the animals.

This was all perfectly legal in Shakespeare's time, how I miss those days. And the hanging drawing and quartering especially...

*Note, warning and disclaimer: *Different posters* quoted. No responsibility accepted or admitted for anything anytime anywhere.

I don’t, and I have no intention to live in a society where everyone is obliged to carry a gun with him wherever he goes so that he can “protect” himself.

Why do you hate our Freedom(TM)? That's exactly what Bin Laden would want you to say.

Because... uh...

Go read my post above. We've given up on this "society" stuff in America. Mexico City of today is our future: be rich, live in a compound, have an armored car - or not.

Peter P Says:
Communism is as dead as the piece of fish on my sushi rice.

How about social democracies? How are they going?

Seems to me like theocracies are on the rise, both at home and abroad!

hmm, most people seem to think that they matter… the days of French aristocrats being able to run over peasants with their coaches with impunity have passed…

I know I do not matter.

One good measure is the number of persons that will miss you 3 years after your passing.

My number is about 3.

You matter when your number is over 1000000.

Peter P,

By that measure, I never want to matter. Reagan and Nixon don't count... I don't think Mother Theresea would either. Or the pope. 1 million people actually missing you?

Missing = thinking you are important to them

Of course Mother Theresea would count.

You matter when your number is over 1000000.

So by that measure, when you consider all the tabloid junkies & guys who remember her from her Playboy days, Anna Nicole Smith will probably "matter".

How about social democracies? How are they going?

Social democracies totally s*ck ass. Except when compared to every other form of government.

So by that measure, when you consider all the tabloid junkies & guys who remember her from her Playboy days, Anna Nicole Smith will probably “matter”.

Yes. "Matter" is a neutral word.

More to the point, does anyone give a flying fukk?

People care enough to watch Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason.

It’s a free market for trust as well as labor and capital.

Trust should be used sparingly. Strategic balance is more reliable.

It's paradise if you use George W. Bush's dictionary.

I saw the story about the BMW, yes... it created quite a storm at the time. Somewhat connected to pre-Revolution French attitudes, perhaps...

Yes, anyone is welcome to talk to me any time they wish if they are interested in learning what words like “market” and “capitalism” mean aside from the rhetoric and politics.

The market makes a good servant but a poor master?

Does 3 years sociology and political economy study qualify me as pre-informed? As well as innate notions of fair play and social security. Have you read Marris on 'The Politics of Uncertainty'? Perhaps there would be fewer massacres and holdups etc if people got a fairer deal from their society, rather than resorting to acts of desperation.

What do these symbols '2', '+', '=' and '5' mean again?

I have no idea what we as a whole lose if nobody is allowed to carry a gun, plain and simple. I grew up in a place with strict gun control, lived in a few countries with strict gun control, all of them have substantially lower crime rate than the US.

I do not want to drag the thread into *yet another* gun control tangent, but I can't let this one pass without comment.

Anyone who still buys into the popular (misguided) notion that civilian gun ban = safer society should consider the information contained in the following link:

http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvinco.html

--Some countries have per capita private gun ownership rates similar to U.S. (Switzerland, Finland, Canada), yet MUCH lower gun & non-gun homicide rates.

--Some countries that either ban or severely restrict private gun ownership have far higher gun-homicide rates (South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, etc.)

It's not just % of gun ownership that matters --it's a whole lot of other factors, including distribution of wealth, social/economic stability, level of political corruption & organized crime, average literacy & education level, population growth rate (younger, poorer populations tend to have more violent crime per capita than older), etc.

It’s not just % of gun ownership that matters –it’s a whole lot of other factors, including distribution of wealth, social/economic stability, level of political corruption & organized crime, average literacy & education level, population growth rate (younger, poorer populations tend to have more violent crime per capita than older), etc.

Exactly.

Countries with beautiful sceneries (Canada, Switzerland, Finland, etc) but few people have lower overall crime rate.

Poor countries do worse. The key is to be rich.

I think the world would be much much better if we restrict gun usage to hunting vermin on hooves (can anyone tell that I really hate deer?).

It's not money, it's social inequality. South Africa is relatively rich, but there's a lot of racial and economic tension plus lots of transients. Homogenous and relatively economically equal countries tend to do better.

I have argued that minimum wage creates poverty.

Someone with similar views has excellent arguments and data here:

http://www.epionline.org/

South Africa is relatively rich, but there’s a lot of racial and economic tension plus lots of transients.

It is a result of ending apartheid too abruptly. One cannot implement political changes without FIRST having economic reforms in place.

Apartheid is evil. But the transition from it must be done right.

Russia also moved too quickly. Fortunately, Putin seems to be making sure that things go well.

When I say restrict, I don't mean by law. I mean just don't use.

Frickin Fortress South Bay

The new housing tracker now has 12 months of history. The median asking is down by 6.6% YOY.

SP already posted the link to SJMN article where problem about median was clearly mentioned. It's still buried deep in the content, but median myth might be exposed on the headline soon.

The tide has definitely turned. It's a matter of time before popular opinion and numbers reflect the knowledge.

–Some countries have per capita private gun ownership rates similar to U.S. (Switzerland, Finland, Canada), yet MUCH lower gun & non-gun homicide rates.

–Some countries that either ban or severely restrict private gun ownership have far higher gun-homicide rates (South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, etc.)

exactly, that just proves nutso societies shouldn't have high gun ownership rates for their own good...

The other countries listed comparable to the US rates can not even be considered 1st world countries, so that's telling you something straight away. The social settlements of Switzerland, Canada and Finland are more cohesive and equitable, but there could be still more points of cultural difference -- there are certain excitable cultural types in eastern Europe and elsewhere which I wouldn't want combined with high access to guns...

just thinking of the reality of South Africa, it's had a longstanding 'white siege' society ruled by a white European minority, where people are increasingly leaving as apartheid and white political domination closes down -- with high rates of gun ownership, and the complete inability to enforce the law in shanty towns as well. To compare simple statistics between countries is really not apples with apples, every country and region needs to be examined uniquely...

Peter P Says:

I have argued that minimum wage creates poverty.

Sure, it's possible. Which means that you need to provide other welfare assistance to low income earners through the tax system so they can survive and participate in otherwise affluent societies. If you keep wages low by de-regulating, you will need to supplement earnings through other redistributive methods such as healthcare benefits, free schooling, family benefits, supported housing, and so on. Analysts always do pre-transfer and post-transfer analyses of people's real conditions in poverty studies...

DS,

But my point is, private gun ownership in itself does not make a society "crazy" (dangerous & unstable). As you said, very unequal distribution of wealth/power, the existence of large permanently impoverished/disenfranchised underclass, endemic political corruption, illiteracy, and as Peter P pointed out, ratio of natural resources to population has a lot more to do with homicide rates.

Yes. Except the 'natural resources' point is barely valid at all. Britain relies on its strengths as a financial centre for a lot of its income, for instance -- unless you count human capital, engineering, technology and innovation as 'natural resources', of course.

For whatever reason a country is relatively affluent, try comparing per capita GDPs as I did earlier -- and your own cited article describes 'upper middle income' and 'high income' countries, of which the US is one of the highest. Peter P's constant arguments that the North American continent of which the US takes up a large part is 'resource poor' are not valid, not even considering the other value-adding that takes place to push average GDP even higher.

whew, glad you agree, bap, we're seeing eye to eye at last.

but think about the desperation factor of the 'addicts and illegals' and how that can turn into a cycle of crime. (US also has a very high incarceration rate compared with just about all Western countries.) I don't think there's any more people who want 'something for nothing' than here, however you have much higher wage inequality or 'multiples' than anywhere in the West also.

sorry to hate your freedoms...

Peter P’s constant arguments that the North American continent of which the US takes up a large part is ‘resource poor’ are not valid, not even considering the other value-adding that takes place to push average GDP even higher.

America is not resource poor. Far from it. But it has a lot of people to feed. In fact, 300 million of them.

compare the land area of UK with the US and divide them into the respective populations...

UK: 85M / 94,000 = 904 persons per sq mile
US: 300M / 3,619,000 = 83 persons per sq mile

hmmm...

Oh DS, my oh my. I can't believe you're actually trying to pin something like happened today on folks like me who dare to -- hold your breath -- *create* jobs in the economy. I suppose that is the government's sole domain in your vision? You've been here long enough to know that I am not afraid to deeply criticize problems I see within American society and government. I did so fairly fiercely above. But blaming all the worst problems on guys and gals like me who rather prefer the basic idea that people should have strong incentives to innovate, work hard, and progress?

As to the postmumbleism, let me ask you this: regardless of the symbol(s) used, we'll say the symbol in this case is '|', what is the difference in how the speed of light is perceived, measured, and understood? Or is just refusing to believe that "light has a speed" enough to invalidate objectivism?

hey, the speed of light changes in different media ;) not to mention the duality theory of particle-wave behaviour which we still don't understand...

anyway, the notion of "speed" is just an ‘exchanger’ discourse (or discursive practice) that that links the analytic-programmatic levels of the “sciences” and the rigidities, inertia and opacity which the real displays in its concrete functioning... :P

from nytimes

Jay Kim, owner of Sushi by Jay leaves flagship sushi bar at Brothers Market in Dobbs Ferry, NY, and moves to nearby Stop & Shop supermarket; Kim now has 31 fresh sushi bars in Stop & Shops across Northeast

from OO

Korean, to be exact. American Korean from the Bay Area, the rumor says, Jay Kim.

something that's bothering me
people saying that the college should have locked down the campus after finding 2 people, girl and guy, shot in what appeared to be an ex-lover bf white guy exacting some karma
alleged korean student rampaging 1/2 mile away 2 hours later and it is connected ?
did the jilted white guy morph into a korean ??

in explaining my views to my 16 yr old daughter I said its like a nyc subway shooting shutting down wall street
or an la gang shooting closing disney

tell me what am I missing ?