dave, rest assured you did NOT scare off Biff. I'd already given him a heads up (nh) and pointed out Xing's building, so that he and the family would have ample time to enter the Witness Protection Program.
Actually, he wondered from your post if you were going to be staying with me at all - I told him I have to get a bed for my home office first.
Where's our resident Italian??? benson, have you heard of the book "The real Untouchables" by Franco Stefanoni? it's about the "guilds" in italy, originally established in Medieval times but bolstered by Mussolini. Monti is threatening to take them apart.
Speaking of, Biff and I are planning a Field Trip with the Champs to North Shore Animal League to adopt a dog for me. It's been nearly a year since CDog died, and though I can never replace her (and won't try), I am ready for another dog.
Does anyone know what the requirements are for adoption at North Shore, including any papers I need to bring?
Am I going to get turned down because I work full-time?
Since my building allows dogs, and I had permission and paid an extra security deposit for CDog, do you think I have to go back to my Landlord and get permission to get a new dog?
Does anyone know how long it takes to get to North Shore from here?
CGar, you are a great friend. I like DIBS but he would've only gotten an air mattress if staying with me (vs you going the extra mile with an actual bed)
CGar, you can always do the get the dog first, when landlord asks about it, say "I assume it's OK given you have my dog deposit, you OK with my other dog, etc...., next time, I'll ask in advance, sorry for the oversight". that's the hubby 101 approach of "don't ask; just prepare to apologize move" (when asking in advance yields high risk of NO from wife)
Get some mixed breed. They have great personalities and are less likely to suffer from the typical over breeding that pure breds have that tend to shorten lives through various diseases, for example narcolepsy in dobermans and seizures in Akitas, etc, etc
m4l, that's what I was thinking, too. There are a lot of dogs in my building. And they never had any problem with CDog. I just don't want to be told you have to get rid of the dog. I have to dig out my lease and see what it says.
CG - Here's a link to North Shore - I'm pretty positive all your questions can be answered there except about apt. (& I'd think you're covered) & breed (I'd go for mutt/mixed breed - they're often very intelligent & cute.)
CGar, don't forget you're a lawyer - ie when push comes to shove, you bust out the trump card of "if that's how you want to go about it, see you in court and have your lawyer contact me directly as I'll litigate this myself" - ie some peeps are still scared/intimidated by lawyers
if anyone is looking for a cute chubby chinaman, I'm available to be adopted. just need to be fed 4 times a day, 3 snacks of baked goods, and no need to be walked (actually likes lounging on couch)
Are there any lawyers who specialize in representing dogs?
I only ask because I met someone who is a horse lawyer. Makes big bucks.
We live in a great country.
Thanks, Puma. I've reviewed North Shore's website, but it didn't answer all the adoption questions, but I know they have a rigorous screening process. And I've seen requirements on other sites (eg, Bide-A-Wee), so I want to make sure I'm fully prepared.
Right. This is a different lawyer.
Ex hired the most dishonest lawyer she could find.
When he sat down in court all the other lawyers (who normally kiss each others ass) got up and moved to the other side of the room.
Okay, if you won't do the barbie dog (sigh) then I'm with mutt. My folks have had a couple great (collie/something, pitbull/something) and the only one that didn't work out was a sheepdog/something that always wanted to dig, herd, and run like mad.
I looked at the website and it is short on specific answers. My guess is that you will not walk out of the North Shore Animal League with a pet after the first visit. You have to meet with a counselor who will advise you on what kind of dog suits your lifestyle. At least they don't ask for a homestudy--to adopt a cat from the big box pet food store at Union Square required a homestudy more detailed than the one I needed to adopt my kid. I couldn't find an established place that would let me adopt a single kitten--they said either adopt 2 kittens or a grown cat.
Cgar, if you want to try to do it in one day, call them and try to find out exactly what they require. I think it's a pretty high-overhead kind of place. You could adopt much more easily from the shelter in East New York
http://www.nycacc.org/contact.htm
or from the Sean Casey Animal League shelter in Windsor Terrace.
http://www.nyanimalrescue.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=64
When I adopted Widge from a rescue place I had to have a letter from my vet saying I'm a good pet owner - you might want to get that before you go. Had to sign a pledge about care & had to send substantiating documents after he'd had various check-ups.
dave, the problem for me with the place on Atlantic, and with the NYC shelters, is that most of the dogs are pitbulls and pitbull mixes, and my building doesn't allow pitbulls and you can't get homeowner's or renter's insurance for them. You can't even get insurance for Chows anymore. (Sorry, *rob*.)
just wait outside supermarket or shops in park slope or cobble hill. People will bring a dog and tie up outside and walk away. All you need to do is unleash and take home with you....no interview and no cost.
If you have any problems because of your job or living situation, blah, blah, blah, our friend Susan will get you a dog from main Line. it's just a bit far from NYC
"Unfortunately, I was called "sir" on the subway this morning"
You prefer "ma'am"?
Good luck with the dog adoption, cgar. Grown dog or puppy? I would call NS about the adoption requirements and be prepared with references and to mkae a donation. Also, vets in the area often know about people looking to adopt out dogs, though usually puppies. Call Dr. Madden on 5th Ave.
We adopted our first cat 20+ years ago from NSAL. Brought him back there when it was time for neutering and got into a big auto accident on the LIE on the way home after his surgery. I always thought it was bad karma.
My friends around the corner went to North Shore and came home with a dog the same day. I understand why there are rigorous screening requirements, but I had a dog who live to be 16+, so you would think that would be sufficient proof that I'm a suitable dog owner.
rf -- vets are the best source for kittens, and I highly recommend two rather than one. They keep each other occupied and they are less likely to keep you up at night if you are gone all day because they end up sleeping less durign the day.
Pete, this gives me a great idea for a new business. Take dogs from in front of the supermarket and sell them to people, no questions asked, and then take them back for the reward money once the posters go up!!!!
"....great idea for a new business. Take dogs from in front of the supermarket and sell them to people, no questions asked, and then take them back for the reward money once the posters go up!!!!"
Yes, I can see the capitalist is hard at work this morning. : P
I just checked my original lease, which provides, "Owner hereby consents and permits Tenant to harbor a Pet in the Apartment", and it's signed by the Landlord and me. I don't see anything saying that I have to get permission again for a new pet. I do wonder if I should call just to be on the safe side.
Of course. I was just thinking in terms of the training needed for a puppy and the activity level, NS may want more in terms of daytime availability than if you were adopting a dog that has already been housetrained. Worth checking out in advance with them before you make the trip.
Lab mixes have such great dispositions. By contrast, we know a dog in my brother in law's hood that is a jack russell/chihuahua mix. Don't get anything like that unless you plan on taking speed for the next ten years.
"However, the judge did not address claims that Courtney painted the walls of the $8 million townhouse and accidently started a small fire in June that "demonstrated enormous disregard for the lease agreement and the design vision that makes the home so unique".
People should know better than to rent to skanky renters.
Puma, I know about the fee, and I have no problem with that. It seems all of North Shore's animals are spayed/neutered, vaccinated, medically checked, etc. The website also indicates which dogs are housebroken and trained, which I prefer. The problem with the website is that I want to adopt the entire selection of 76 dogs.
One of my really awesome new business ideas is genetically designed pets that die exactly 12 or 24 months after you buy them, so they perfectly match a New York lease. So you sign a 2-year lease, buy a 2-year dog, and you don't have to worry about what happens when you move.
quote:
I know they have a rigorous screening process. And I've seen requirements on other sites (eg, Bide-A-Wee), so I want to make sure I'm fully prepared.
i was turned down NUMEROUS times at shelters from adopting dogs. so lame. it's like thhere are dogs on death row and youre going to turn people down from assinine reasons?! so lame. that's one of the reasons i kinda hate shelters. they can be pretty snobby about who they let adopt. sorry but you cant match every dog up with the PERFECT owner, those don't exist.
you should adopt a pitbull, it might give you some much needed street cred, cgar.
"you should adopt a pitbull, it might give you some much needed street cred, cgar"
LMFAO, *rob*.
And I agree with you about shelters being too extreme in their adoption requirements. There's a site called petfinder that I checked out last night, and there are something like 600,000 dogs in need of adoption within 100 miles of NYC.
Did you hear Gingrich blast CNN moderator John King last night???
“I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,” “Every person in here has had someone close to them go though painful things,” Gingrich said in the debate. “To take an ex-wife and make it two days before a primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.”
“I am frankly astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate,”
I'm looking for investors to fund this venture and other people to do all the work. Dave, you want to be the anchor investor (49.9% of the shares), Legion, you can do the genetics work, and Benson, you can manage?
Jackal, forget genetically-programmed precision-timed pet death. You will easily join the 0.1% with a patent for any invention that eliminates the need to change/clean a litter box.
I was turned down by a shelter because I was 60 - they said I'd probably die before the cats. That's why I went to a shelter in Virginia instead of NYC.
The problem with these shelters and their onerous rules is that they've been "occupied" by elite liberal left wing nutjobs and their agendas. Even Republicans would never keep pets out of the hands of the poor. they don't think it's worth their effort
And, these sort of rules really don't exist once you get far enough away from NY and CT.
Yeah, the way they protected him by not giving all that birther bullshit the time of day. Oh wait --
But seriously, I do think we need to grow up a bit as a nation about what we care about in politicians' private lives. OTOH, anyone who has engaged in as much scorched earth moralizing for political gain as Newt knows it will get thrown back in his face. He knows it, too, and was prepared with an answer to win round 1. But I don't think changing the subject to the media will carry him all the way to November and he won't always have an audience full of sympaticos to cheer for him. At some point, someone is going to frame a better question or make a better ad about this stuff and he's going to have to man up.
I'm generally opposed to digging into politicians private lives... but when you ride a moral high horse on shit like 'the sanctity of marriage' I think a little reality check is called for. Like, say, an anti-gay politican who gives blowjobs in a bathhouse should get called out on it, while I don't think it's a legit topic for an openly gay pol.
For newt, the question should really have been "Hey, why are you such a prick?"
I'd be happy to not comment on the private lives of politicians if they'd do me the same courtesy & stop trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, allow same sex marriage, tell me mykids have to have prayer in the schools, etc.
Well, that, and I just can't bear the blatant hypocrisy of these guys. They yadda yadda yadda on about the sanctity of straight marriage and then they're all f*cking around on their wives. It's complete bullsh*t.
CGar, why don't you ask Cobble Hill Vets about puppies/dogs they know about for adoption. I bet they can help; they hear and get information about everything pet related.
Callista looks like Barbie, aging. She reminds me of Nancy Reagan. I wonder if she believes in astrology. Maybe her Roman Catholicism (how many Hail Marys for her affair with Newt, I wonder) is a substitute.
I agree with Arkady and Bfar. Politicians' private lives should be private, but so should everyone else's. It never ceases to amaze me that the party that is crying 24/7 about gub'ment being too big, and too intrusive in people's lives, lives in fear of, and panders to, the extreme right wing of the party that wants to do just that. There's nothing more intrusive than getting involved in who's in your bedroom, or whether or not you wish to have children.
Besides, as people have said, there's something just so jaw droppingly hypocritical about people like Newt pontificating about family values and the sanctity of marriage. He's fair game.
I adopted a dog from North Shore, and came home with her the same day we went there. In order to do so, you have to be prepared to supply two references, whom they call before they turn over the dog. North Shore is really great: they work with you to select the type of dog that suits your needs, personality, etc.
Dunno, I don't know that being a substitute for astrology is necessarily an attack on a religion. I'd say most religions replaces something rather like astrology.
Your bigotry is crystal-clear, despite what you think to be your clever veils, and the see-no-evil poses of the disingenuous folks here (hello, Slopey - I see you are in full court press). Maybe you want to bring the Inquisition into the discussion about now?
I seem to recall disparaging remarks having been made here about Michelle - her musculature, her wardrobe, her pastimes, her demeanor, etc., etc. & so forth.
"I wonder how she reconciles her actual world with her ideal world? Perhaps her supernatural beliefs mitigate that difference, much as they did for nancy reagan."
Why don't you and some of the other disingenuous ones here try to convince me again that there is no bigotry against conservative Christians from your fellow-travelers on the left? Jokes on you, if you think that clever explanations can hide it from guys like me.
Just because you think astrology is mumbo-jumbo benson doesn't mean people don't think it's legit. Your offense at being compared to astrology is just as much bigotry.
If by 'bigotry' you mean 'thinking your beliefs are completely idiotic' then yes. I'm totally willing to say that lots of people think religious conservatives are somewhere on the scale from gullible to stupid in believing these things.
If you think that conservative christians (as opposed to, say, conservative muslims) are widely discriminated against, that's hooey. I can think your beliefs are feeble-minded and yet still let you drink from my drinking fountain.
I despise the espousal of ignorance which I believe is the case in people who affirm Bishop Ussher's date of creation as having happened 4000 years ago & that there was light before there was a sun &, &, &.
I saw the clip from the debate and I saw the Marianne Gingrich interview. Bottom line, he treated her badly. OK. Then he was asked about this at the debate and he rebuffed CNN's King's questions about it and he got a standing ovation. I really think that news is already out there about him. He's a screwball and I am not voting for him.
Fashion commentary on Callista. Everything is wrong. Her features are very sharp and her facial angles sharp. Therefore, she needs a different hairstyle. That carved wood do is totally wrong. She needs a softer style. Layered with some wave. The color is ok the way it is. Net effect of the totally retro do is that she is a fossil. 100 years old just dug out of a grave.
don't see how that's liberal. If the comment was "I wonder if R/C plays the role that judaism played for whomever" then would he have freaked out? No, it's because he thinks astrology is illegitimate as a form of religion, while r/c is fine. Which is just as much a bias.
Wow, looks like I missed a fun morning.
For the record, I don't think a politician's spouse is fair game for attacks unless the spouse plays an active role in the political process beyond basic support (like Hillary's role in the 1993 health care reform attempt)
I'm also not a fan of making fun of any person's appearance, although it happens here all the time and I have probably done it myself.
I try to stay out of any religious discussions unless discussing my own views or purely factual information.
I don't know what you are talking about. My comment had to do with Rf's mocking of the practices of Roman Catholicism. I scanned the thread briefly, and didn't even read the comments on astrology.
Now if your question was "was the comment meant to be anti-r/c," then probably yes. But the underlying assumptions which cause it to be taken (and given) as offense are based in an assumption that one form of religion is real and one is bogus. And to get bent out of shape because your religion is being called bogus while simultaneously calling another's religion bogus seems hypocritical.
Oh for crying out loud, Benson, are you going to go up in flames every time the Catholic Church is mentioned disparagingly? If so, you better walk around with a fire extinguisher. The Church is tough. It's lasted this long, and it will last much longer. It can take it. Much worse has been said here about the Church, deservedly or not.
You're very quick to call people bigots for very minor swipes at the Church, yet you get super defensive at the mere thought that your anti-Obama jokes are in any way racist, which they are. How about getting a little Scriptural, and removing the log from your own eye before condemning the mote in someone else's?
You're assuming the two statements were related. They were not. rf wanted to take a pot shot at nancy reagan and a pot shot at Callista's ccatholicism.
That's a joke you just wrote, right? You want me to take off the gloves, Montrose, since you're going to defend a bigot? Ok, then. Montrose, have I ever attempted to censor anyone on this site? Have I ever celebrated that someone was banned from Brownstoner? Answer: no. How about you, Montrose? How about it, since you're lecturing people not to take offense?
Oh please, benson. rf isn't a bigot. She may mock people, especially for hypocrisy, but she's not a bigot. But we all mock people and each other here. You are extremely thin-skinned and constantly looking for trouble where a poke back would do.
Look if I have any sympathy to anything written on this site here about this RC stuff, it is to Benson. For God's sake, do you guys have any idea how terrible those anti-Catholic comments are? How hurtful?
Rf a bigot? Nope. She rightly called Callista on her presently pious bullshit. The Gingriches are the ones making a mockery of the RCC, with their hypocrisy. Her issue wasn't the RCC- it was Callista. You need to calm down benson before you bust a blood vessel over nothing. (Hi! How are ya?)
Luke 6:42 ""Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye."
Dave, you ignoramus, it was a paraphrase from THE BIBLE.
Luke 6:42
"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
Dona- yes. And I've read some nasty ones about Jews here and we've also seen the swipes taken at Black people. Benson has made numerous racist comments - so why the sympathy only for him? And if anyone wonders why RF might not feel so kindly toward the RCC, how about their homophobia, desire to block contraception and a woman's right to choose? (Sorry- yes, I'm going there). Why does the RCC have the right to parade their bigotry and even try to force legislation based on it, but now a fairly harmless swipe from RF is a mark of her bigotry? Maybe if the Church was not trying so hard to stick their nose in other people's business, there wouldn't be any pushback.
while you folks are debating this, I'm wondering if I should partake in a wager on G-Men vs Niners game - already got in on the Ravens vs Patriots game. For the non-sports fans, this is the semi-final games for Prof Football this Sunday
If anything, I'd think people in the RCC would be kind of horrified to hear the Gingriches going on about how religious they are. It's got to be a little embarrassing.
Benson, you really want to throw down with me? I don't think so.
And the worst you can come up with is some some non-existent censorship issues you still have with Brownstoner, because he got tired of your crap on his site? You must be kidding.
seriously, dude? Just because somebody says your beliefs are stupid? Did you notice that it's a blog, and that most of it consists of just exactly that?
I know all about the game on Sunday. BH says no matter where he is after the memorial, no matter what he's doing, no matter who he is with...he'll be leaving at 3pm PT to go watch the game!
Cobble, I likely will miss good portion of the G-Men game as it's Chinese New Years Eve dinner and my mom picked a restaurant which doesn't have a TV with game on. the food better be great enough to drown out my disappointment of not seeing good portion of the game (ie will just be eyeing the updates via phone)
M4L, my cousins have season's tickets to the Giants. They are going nuts right now. My brother too. I am not a football fan, but can't help but feel the buzz.
BH sometimes DVRs games and stays awake into the early hours of the morning to watch, if he can't watch live game due to some event conflict. The word obsessed comes to mind! ; )
CGar, I love Labs. They actually had Labs to be bomb sniffing dogs at the exchange. One was named Sally. I used to love it when the security guy would take Sally around. She would stop to say hello to all the workers. He would take her around, we'd pet her and hang out for a minute. It was amazing how she changed the vibe of that place when she was around. They had a retirement party when she "retired" from service. Sally was the best dog ever.
if this was knicks or Mets in semi-final game, I would have to tell my mom I won't be attending the dinner or a venue change is needed - ie G-Men has won recently vs those other 2 teams are thirsty for a trophy
bakery similar to what you see at your neighborhood but with some asian variants - fei da (mott st near canal st; next to eye glass store) and Tai Pan (Canal St near Mott St). bakery where you can get stuff like those steamed pork buns - Mei Wah (Bayard st near Elizabeth) and Hop Sing (Bowery St @ chatham sq and next to the old OTB shop). Hop Sing is great for dim sum stuff too but the crowd waiting to order can be a bit packed and rowdy (stuff is better than Mei Wah). if you do sit-in (vs take out), try the shanghai pork dumplings (old szechuan place on bayard st near elizabeth st; another one across the street). The noodles at that skinny shop right next to Old szechuan (Xian famous foods) is very good.
back from a meeting and I appear to have missed all the, um, fun, and it is too late on Friday to get involved in another political brouhaha.
Just one point -- below is my post from this morning on Gingrich. I expect you to disagree with me on much about politics. But I am irked by the use of the word "disingenuous" -- I do not see how I am lying or concealing motives in my post. I offered my own perspective and analysis on events, not advice to candidates I want to lose. Is it really "disingenuous" merely for a democrat to comment on a republican candidate (or a republican to comment on a democratic candidate)? Shall we put that question to an OT vote? [I believe there is an OT superpac funded by punsters and lolcats supporting a yes vote, because that is largely what would remain on the OT if the measure passed.]
"But seriously, I do think we need to grow up a bit as a nation about what we care about in politicians' private lives. OTOH, anyone who has engaged in as much scorched earth moralizing for political gain as Newt knows it will get thrown back in his face. He knows it, too, and was prepared with an answer to win round 1. But I don't think changing the subject to the media will carry him all the way to November and he won't always have an audience full of sympaticos to cheer for him. At some point, someone is going to frame a better question or make a better ad about this stuff and he's going to have to man up."
You're a trip. No comments about RF or Bxgrl's gracious comments above, but I have to explain myself. That is exactly what is disingenuous about this whole situation. What a joke.
"You're a trip. No comments about RF or Bxgrl's gracious comments above, but I have to explain myself. That is exactly what is disingenuous about this whole situation. What a joke."
My comment about Gingrich does not obligate me to comment on rf's comments that she made while I was in a meeting. I don't speak for them any more than you speak for all conservatives. I do not owe it to you to comment on everything anyone says that you take issue with, just because we may share some general political perspective. I spend too much time here as it is. If you call me disingenuous for a comment I make, that is between you and me. If you are calling me disingenuous for not commenting on someone else's comment that I didn't see until nearly two hours after the fact, that stretches the meaning of disingenuous quite far.
I have to leave for other obligations so I will be disingenuously off line the rest of the day. Have a good weekend.
"Slopey, You're a trip. No comments about RF or Bxgrl's gracious comments above, but I have to explain myself. That is exactly what is disingenuous about this whole situation. What a joke."
Benson climbs scaffold. Turns and looks toward the horizon, waiting for the dramatic music to swell.....
Partial list of things that are way better to do at home than watching football:
1. Reading some more of Rabbit, Redux
2. Painting the white trim in the living room
3. Messing around with my latest bunch of metal and wire in the basement
4. Sex (either alone or with partner)
5. Doing taxes
6. Another claymation with the kids
7. Shennanigans with the kids
8. Getting quietly drunk while web surfing for increasingly dumb things
9. Sleeping
10. Making bread
11. Shower, just because
12. Obsessing over family budget, reconciling every item on bank statement to budget
13. Some pullups and pushups
14. Deep cleaning the kitchen
15. Some electrical work that doesn't really need to be done but what the hell
lech - There's a squash exhibition going on at Grand Central - in Vanderbilt Hall. Friend of mine said it's fascinating to watch - a couple of champions doing it in enclosed glass space.
And stock car rallies and demolition derbies. Nascar has gotten really hoity toity like it thinks it's some kind of fancy city bitch, so he doesn't watch that.
Why's he gonna pay five bucks to go to a bar with a UFC fight on the TV when he can go to the bar next door and get in his own fight for free? Don't piss him off with that UFC bullshit, he ain't got time.
"KABUL, Afghanistan — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France suspended military operations as part of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan on Friday and said he was considering an early pullout of his nation’s forces after an Afghan soldier shot and killed four French soldiers on a base in eastern Afghanistan."
BFar, you could not be more wrong in your comments to Benson.
On another note, you wash diapers?
I thought no American has done that since 1961.
I sure never have.
Six...Republicans said today they are going to tie it to the bill on the payroll tax extension. GOOD. Obama's going to get serious payback for the ILLEGAL appointments he made.
If Roubbini is saying it, it has got to be wrong.....
Roubini Sees ‘Significant’ Slowdown in Chinese Economy in 2012
Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China’s economy will slow in 2012, prompting policy makers to reduce interest rates and loosen lending restrictions, said Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the 2008 financial crisis.
“It’s going to be a significant growth slowdown this year,” Roubini, co-founder of Roubini Global Economics LLC, said in a Bloomberg TV interview today. “Housing is deflating.
Export growth is slowing down. If they don’t do something -- stimulus in monetary and fiscal credit -- the risk is that the growth will slow down well below 8 percent.”
Interesting report from a market analyst we use, regarding the Consumer Electronics Show:
The Consumer Electronics Show was held in Las Vegas, January 10–13, 2012. This show clearly marks the transition point of the decline of the PC era and the ushering in of the tablet and Smartphone era. We are now entering the age of Ultrabooks, Super Phones, and Hyperphones—and mega-hype! Just as stars in the universe reach a certain size and then explode, LightCounting analysts have also seen may large trade shows become so large that they merge, split up, or die altogether: NFOEC and OFC became OFC/NFOEC; Supercom died; Comdex died, and others litter the debris trail. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Apple’s products and third-party accessories products composed 35–40% of the show’s products, yet the company did not attend. Although much was made of Microsoft not attending next year, the entire personal computer area consisting of Intel, Microsoft, and various PC booths would have fit into ! just the area occupied by Samsung’s HDTV line—not counting the rest of their booth. The show has turned into a cellphone and HDTV show. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
The event had 153,000 attendees and 3,100 vendor booths in 1.9 million square feet with over 20,000 new products and probably 8.3 million iPhone cases on display! Waiting in the airport taxi line at 1:30 a.m., along with 600 of my closest friends, I realized the magnitude of the tsunami coming from the transition of the wired PC era to the mobile wireless smartphone/tablet era. These devices all use both Wi-Fi and cellular wireless interconnects that ultimately feed via optical transceivers and other equipment into the optical telecom network and eventually to datacenter servers, switches, and routers.
The magnitude of the bandwidth tsunami building on the telecom, datacom, transceiver, server, and switch/router infrastructure is staggering, to say the least, and has the potential to dwarf the 2000-era telecom/dot com boom. Only as I attend a single trade show that is 18 times bigger than the town I grew up in did the true scope really hit me. Reading the news on the web just doesn’t have the same impact. Even walking the halls proved hazardous, because half the people walking were looking at their phones instead of walking! This time, real devices are connecting with data, photos, and video content. The smartphones produce 20 times the traffic as a voice only phone and they are being sold in the tens of millions of units and growing at a staggering rate. According to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), during 2011, the number of Internet users in China soared to 513 million, up from! 298 million in 2008—with 60 percent of China's population still offline. India and Brazil are next!
Interesting piece, although I don't see the need to portray complementary technologies (mobile and PC) as competitors.
From a data perspective, I see mobile devices, PCs, tv connected appliances (including game systems) all as increasing drivers of usage.
For most of these devices, the main connection in terms of quantity of data will be through a local router, so the network infrastructure is the same.
Not to get into it again, dcb, but my point (besides that benson is being a wussie about people giving him shit about his beliefs on the internet; I believe I get called a moron at least a couple times a week, and I believe I got a 72-pt M to go with it yesterday) was that being upset about your religion becoming compared to anther system of belief is inherently a dig against the other system, and as such not a great way to back up crowded-theatre cry of bigotry. Eg: "Don't compare my system of belief to that of the jews you bigot! They're a bunch of nutcases who believe in hogwash!" Now, whether the original comment was meant to piss of benson...
well, probably. which wasn't nice. But still; hardly seems to rise to the level of bigotry. Saying r/cs are smelly criminals or pedophiles or inbred something would be bigoted. Saying their beliefs themselves are false/goofy seems just a disagreement.
But I'm late for getting to the playground (nh), and the sun is going down, so... ttfn!
I will ask you to not put words in my mouth. I will inform you again that I gave Rf the "Fuck you" she deserved because of her ridiculing a Roman Catholic prayer ritual (the Rosary), not because of her comparison to astrology. As I told you already, I didn't even see the reference to astrology when I made that remark.
Late to the comment, but it bears mentioning. I have to point out that... benson either does not understand the meaning of the word "disingenuous" and/or b) uses it incorrectly...again. We've been over this.
Thank you, M4L! We'll try those out, I've saved the info.
You do have pretty thick skin, bfar. I give you a looooot of shit about being a knee-jerk liberal and you're actually really patient in explaining your views and have the rare quality of admitting when you're probably wrong, which is a sign of curiosity and intelligence.
"ridiculing a Roman Catholic prayer ritual (the Rosary),"
Then you better be ready to lambast the NFL and scores of people who use the phrase "Hail Mary pass" for everything from football to politics. Once again, you're overreacting to a whole lot of nothing.
reading these posts without baked goods in my hand is not entertaining. football on the other hand and with cold beer in my hand, now that's...................
at this moment, I would like to thank my wife and my mom for teaching me real fast when to:
- shut up
- know I aint winning this debate
- admit when wrong
- to watch sports is better spend of time
REPOTD:http://tiny.cc/se469
though way too modern for me, I wouldn't mind renting for a couple of weeks. Funny enough I was in Stiges b4 I ever went to FI Pines.
Time will tell, but from an very high perspective I see the relationship between PCs and mobile devices to be similar to that between televisions and PCs. There is certainly overlap and ways to replace one with the other in fringe use case scenarios, but for the most part they will continue to borrow from each other and coexist in most households.
When I am in a feistier mood I will explain how the anti-religion partisans are actually promoting a religious view of their own just as much as the openly religious partisans.
I've never pretended otherwise, DCB. As I said earlier, I have contempt for anyone who doesn't believe in Darwin & evolution (& a Copernican universe, for that matter.)
Scott, I was planning to get a new laptop but have been talked into considering getting this cpu thingie / box which my friends say can be plugged into flat panel tv which when paired with wireless keyboard, I can use this combo as my TV and as my computer. these cpu thingie/box apparently only cost around 225 or so - has harddrive, all the input-output ports as one sees with computers. sounds logical but since I haven't see it in use, am not 100% sold on it - ie could be me getting old enough to suffer from tech confusion
dibs, I think he's much hotter than Nadal. If i was still single I think I would have his underwear poster in the apt.
Too bad he's already out of the australian open, was looking forward to his thighs on display.
99%+ of flat panel TVs can easily be used as a computer monitor as well.
You can do it yourself with any desktop or laptop computer and a wireless mouse/keyboard with sufficient range.
Personally, I would not want to type or read text from across the room no matter how nice the screen was.
Copernicus was a deeply religious man, and an excellent observer. Physics has gone well beyond his nonetheless valuable contributions, however.
Science doesn't deal with beliefs, or the "truth" for that matter.
It gathers evidence and advances theories. There can always be better theories and new, contradictory evidence. Which I think you know.
It's the "contempt" part that troubles me. That is a dangerous path.
I'm not a fan of having contempt for anyone, and there seems to be a lot of that around here.
I am a religious atheist humanist, and the first principal of my religion is a belief in "The inherent worth and dignity of every person"
Scott,I am not religious (meaning observant of anything), not an atheist and not a humanist. But somehow I share your belief in "The inherent worth and dignity of every person"
I'm in a good mood now - pepperidge farm milano milk chocolate cookies in my hands. albeit the expiration date looks like dec '11 but I don't taste the expiration. guess if I've eaten dragon flies, snakes, field mice, etc, my stomach can handle an expired cookie
M4L, you're tough. I know you can handle that cookie.
My hand is coming along I guess. Who KNEW this was going to be a major life project. I thought because I opened a jar of peanut butter and turned on my car with the key with my damaged hand that it was all straight uphill. Not so. The therapist could see I was down and she assured me that she thought I was making progress.
back from the playground, and a belated apology; in the threadery, I missed you saying it wasn't about astrology, and if that's the case I take back nearly all of my argument.
oh, yeah, I assume there must be some sort of significant obstacle to that, because I think it's universally acknowledged to be a giant ugly lump. It is at least 'prettier' than the PC ones I see the kids with at school.
Benson, so the article says that it is the phones and wireless devices that are getting all the play at the show, reflecting a movement away from the PC. About the trade show itself, it is massive. I had mentioned to you before that my sense is that trade shows seem to thrive in marketing products and services in industries showing both growth and disruptive change. I have seen this with different areas in my business. After major legislation in 1996 deregulating power, there was a merchant power trade show every other week. Now, almost none. Then ten years ago, there was a show/conference every month on commodities as an asset class, then biofuels. Then the shows drop off reflecting the sector's "maturity" and lack of hotness after a while.
They are real rip offs. Very complicated. Most people don't really understand the longer term ramifications of how much they are paying to the company selling them.
The wealth management firm I'm talking to in Bucks says they spend about 30% of their time unwinding new ciustomers' annuities.
"how much they are paying to the company selling them"
Ah I see. Most of my friends do theirs through the state or city or whatever the teachers' union goes through. I never did it but the retirees all swear by it.
It's also hard to say generally what's wrong with them since there are so many different types and so many different types of fee structures and payout matrices. No one I know has ever bought an annuity and can explain why but only when there's a specific one in front of you.
These are the biggest rip-off and should be the target of much more critical analysis.
I don't know what they would look like but I'm very chary that they are still not a rip off. It's all about the assumptions that they make about the future payouts.
These products are why insurance companies are sooooooo wildly profitable.
Yeah, I can't say searching google images to find an appropriate one was enjoyable - I should have outsourced it to dave. Also, remind me to clear my google search bar before the wife gets home. ;)
You show me the specific annuity and I will tell you the tax implications. generalizations are dangerous. There are also many different things that can hapen to an annuity upon your death.
LOL, dave. Yeah, I think the meteorologists are pretty funny nowadays. The Daily Show or some similar venue did a piece on their hyperbolic reactions to what used to be normal weather. I think they perhaps hire ex-TSA folks.
In other news, BH is going to come home to a very clean and well-stocked apt. Now I'm thinking of rearranging the furniture. But one piece is a bookcase full of his engineering books...a pill to move all those books. Maybe if I have a glass of wine, it will propel me...
I read an article the other day that said that during weather threats people tune into 'classic' media -radio & tv- more often & find it more up-to-date than NOAA or weather sites so maybe the hype is self-serving more than silly.
i got my 401K report today in the mail. um, dismal. but i cant really make heads of tails of what any of it means? it says my account is valued at about 2,500 dollars or so. the last quarter it was like 2100. i dont contribute much, just 1% of my paycheck. i see lots of negative signs all over., especially the part with over the year. then the mention 3 years 5 years, etc, but i really dont understand ANY of it. could someone perhaps sit down with me one day and explain the whole thing to me and ill buy you a drink. i just dont know how to read these reports.
On a positive note, rob, it is going up! Allocation is very important. Your tax preparer can probably explain it to you best, but you'd probably have to ask him very very very nicely.
was beautiful day for the kayaking. tomorrow amtrak to ft laud.
at rob's age - shouldn't worry about up or down in 401k.....down is better -- cheaper prices for future contributions.....best stays low/down for next 25 years and then goes way up. but of course he needs contribute more.
contributing 1% is not going to make him a 1%er.
Ok, NOW I wish I'd sold my jewelry, china, whatever and gone to LA. BH just texted that he got to see a ton of dolphins while out sailing today. I'm such a loser.
No, his brother has several sailboats, and took BH out on one today. Anyway, it made BH really REALLY happy, which is wonderful, because it's a heavy/tough weekend/visit and he's been working his ass off, and he REALLY deserves some fun.
what is he doing out there? i need a big tax refund this year. i want to visit my grandmother (via train). how much do you think, a rough estimate, it would cost to go to charleston from here and back by train? like amtrak or something? a few hundred bux? part of my refund i need to fund the remainder of my back crown (about 400 bux.. that's going to be out of pocket cuz of my 300 deducitble so maybe 500 for that one) and i need to get a new full crown from scratch for one of my front teeth which will be like 700 after what insurance pays. ugh. the one in the back of my mouth is not an emergency, and i dont particularly care if i lose the tooth, i already have two molars missing on the other side that were yanked, but the front one i just have a chippy. the original chip that was there fell out when i bit into a roll of quarters, but this new chip SUCKS and my tooth is SO sensitive to cold and hot it's insane. even just breathing in this cold air outside it's so sensitive.
why cant something NEW be invented to put in ones mouth instead of teeth?! new things are invented for houses and stuff ALL the time. but teeth has been the same for centuries now (well except for implants, but those looks just like teeth and are mad expensive). why cant they just invent something to put in it's place or in place of ALL the teeth. the dental industry has a monoploy on peoples mouths and it's obscene.
If you can wait til it's closer to the day you want to go, rob- often the ticket price goes down. Had that happen when I went to DC. @ weeks before the price was almost 180 each way, went down to 80 each way. Aldo the time of day you travel has a lot to do with it, and if its a weekday or not.
well i dont even know he even means by down is better. i think im completely missing the whole concept behind what 401k is. usually you can google anything on the internet and find answers to anything, but with 401k it's not exactly working as everything is so convoluted and stuff. is there one of those for dummies books for 401Ks? personally im not feeling the whole 401k anyway cuz it's SO hard to be able to use it in an emergency before you retire, or supposedly 55. i mean it's my money why cant i just take it if i want it? ive tried numerous times to drop out of the 401K program at work but my requests get ignored (maybe they are doing it for my own good tho, who knows..)
oh, thanks cobble and bxgirl! i was assuming it would be a lot more expensive than that like over 500 bux or something. what would be the best time to go that would be cheaper? like during the week or something on offtime commuter hours? the day of the time doesnt matter, i can definitely take off from work and the woman picking me up in charleston is probably pretty flexible about it, there's a few people that could pick me up from there as well so not really much of an issue.
Go familiarize yourself with the Amtrak website, rob and you can get an idea of fares for various dates and keep checking. Then when you know what your refund will be, you can go to Penn Station and buy your ticket ahead of time.
Rob, you are making this harder than it is.
The money that goes into your 401K is from your income.
(And maybe your company matches some of it)
For income tax purposes it doesn't count as part of your current income, so you don't pay taxes on it right now.
It is a way that the govt encourages you to put money away for retirement.
In other words, they let you save money before they tax it.
You (most likely) have choices of how to invest it.
If those choices do well, you see positive numbers.
If they do poorly, you see negative numbers.
You also make regular, automatic contributions.
In your case, you contributed more than your investments lost, so your account went up.
Last year was a tough one for many investment advisers so it is not surprising that they didn't do so well.
My 401K did not do very well last year, either.
If you can't take money out, that is because you have not been in long enough (called vesting)
When you are fully vested, you can take money out, but the govt doesn't like that, so they tax and penalize you. Unless you are really old and retired.
Sorry if this was boring. I dont make the rules.
we get to pick three things to invest in with our 401K (our company doesnt match btw). i didnt know what any of them were so i copied the three things that a coworker who i thought was smart picked. can i go online and change what im investing in?
here are my three:
international/global:
american funds europac growth
(that's that?)
Midcap:
goldman sachs mdcap value A
??!
asset allocation/balanced:
blackrock global allocation A
what ARE those things? i know what goldman sachs is (an investment firm right?)
hypothetical account value at retirement age: 66,043.90
hypothetical monthly retirement income: 429.41
lol
my social security the last time i got it said my expected monthly income would be 900 something dollars...
so 900 plus 425 = 1325 a month!?!?. :-/ how am i gonna live on that!??!
tho if i moved to some area of the country where i could rent a room for like 300 a month, i guess i could easily live on that. so am i in bad financial shape?
The first line is what the fund generally invests in: international/global
The second line is the name of the fund sponsor followed by the name of the fund
sponsor - American Funds Fund Name = Europac Growth
You should try and put away a higher percentage, and since the govt gives you a boost by not taxing you on the money, you wont feel the loss of disposable income quite as much as you might think.
"so 900 plus 425 = 1325 a month!?!?. :-/ how am i gonna live on that!??!"
But rob, you are just 32 or 33, now, right? You'll likely be putting money into this for at least another 32 or 35 years. And if you get some good advice from your tax preparer and you put aside a bit more, the monthly amount could be quite a bit higher. But don't take advice from me. I'm flat broke, or will be in a few weeks.
if we get raises this year i will put whatever it is i get as a raise toward the 401K. if we don't i really can't contribute more than my 1%. well, i mean i can, but it would mean giving up even more things in life i enjoy to do so. and personally, i cant imagine WHAT i would be enjoying at retirement age anyway to make it worth it. im almost certain im gonna be one of those state-run nursing home types or a hobo. it would be kinda awesome to be a hobo and still get a big check every month! i wish i could blink and suddently be like 70. at that age you can do whatever you want and no one can say anything to do, plus cuz everything probably sucks so bad anyway, there's no reason to worry about sucking. ill be 35 next month, and im sorry, but for anyway the 30s SUCK. 40s will most likely be worse and the thought of 50s and 60s is a bit mind boggling. actually no, i dont think my 30s has sucked, but when i compare it to other people in their 30s i sorta feel, well, like a loser, but not really. it's like everyone my age pretty much is set around their house, their kids, etc. some sort of solid foundation. i feel like ive been floating along for the last 35 years with no foundation. well no, perhaps just the last 10 or so. before that i dont think things like that even crossed my mind. and no, i dont want kids or a house. and i sure as hell dont wanna be a flittery middle aged gay guy who has more issues than vogue magazine who doesnt own up to those issues. i think i own up to my issues and they dont particularly bother me much, but i always get the sneaking suspicion a lot of people treat me with kid gloves and/or just feel sorry for me for some reason. so i try to do things to make people not do that. people ask me all the time why i live in park slope. well, living in park slope people arent worried about me. when i lived in harlem people were worried about me. (fyi, NOT a race thing). the double edged sword for me is that, well, there's nothing very much to DO around here. well anything that i'd find all that interesting... there were always fun house parties in harlem. around here the house parties are pretty snooty and people dont just leave their doors open for their neighbors to come in. i find the bars really shitty around here (overpriced and everyone seems to go in groups that already know each other and are totally not open to meeting new people), maybe because there are SO many? there were like no bars in harlem. if there were i didnt know about them. cattyshack was the only bar i ever enjoyed around here and that closed down and turned into a moonface bar. actually i did like great lakes across the street but that closed down in december (they had a ms. pac man machine!) but even there it was still hard socializing with people. me and a friend would go there and people were just kinda, eh, not really interested in getting to know other people they aren't already at the bar with. i thought that was the point of a bar? that's not really a problem with gay bars, people always seem to talk to strangers, but i feel akward in gay bars and the only people who approach you are people looking to hook up. i mean that's fine and all but it's pretty much only people i dont find attractive who talk to me in gay bars (im NOT one of those people who are just into tradionally hot people btw, in fact i dont find hot people all that attractive)
anyway, im ranting, it's friday night. pity party over and bubble bath time.
wait, can i sign up for my 401K thingie online? i never signed up for the online account... and give the username and password to dave and he can manage where i put my monies and in what stocks? dave if you are reading this, ill sign up for my 401K account this weekend and send you over the username and password, along with my W2's so you can my taxes and you can now manage my 401k account to maximize my retirement funds for me so i make more monies than if i did it myself?
It's actually pretty simple. Think about when you are going to retire, say age 65. You need enough money in that 401 k to support you for the rest of your life by taking no more than 5-6% from the principal every year. It dhould be earning dividends so add that and voila.
$2,500 / 20 years (living to 85) means you'll have $125.00 a year to live on.
Better start saving some more.
If you get to $400,000, and it yields 5%, that gives you $20,000 a year to live on plus you can take another 5% out every year from the principal giving you $40,000 a yaer to live on.
if you take out 5% from principal every year - and yielding 5% (which is very ambitious) - in 5 years your principal in is no longer 400k. (down to what 320k?) - so declining revenue according to your plan even with optimistic returns.
Pete, you make an assumption that, on average though not every year, the market value will grow 5%. People used to use 7% but that hasn't been the average market return in quite some time.
that's why many pension funds are fucked...they are assuming 7% growth in principal each year.
Of course, if you knew exactly how long you were going to live, you could spend the principal down to 0 at your death. that would be ideal at least for you but not your younger spouse/partner.
When I told my financial guy that I have longevity in my genes, he shook his head somberly. My only problem with this guy is that he weighs 350+ pounds. I am afraid that HE will croak on ME.
Look these are good tenants, but there are limits. On the other hand, there is a young guy up the street who would shovel for a price. Of course, he won't get up till noon.
OK, Cobble, go ahead and start a new thread. Afterall, you live in a building where you don't have to shovel snow, so get out of bed and post a new thread.
Unfortunately, I was called "sir" on the subway this morning after a guy asked me the time and said "Thank you, sir."
Actually, he wondered from your post if you were going to be staying with me at all - I told him I have to get a bed for my home office first.
Speaking of, Biff and I are planning a Field Trip with the Champs to North Shore Animal League to adopt a dog for me. It's been nearly a year since CDog died, and though I can never replace her (and won't try), I am ready for another dog.
Does anyone know what the requirements are for adoption at North Shore, including any papers I need to bring?
Am I going to get turned down because I work full-time?
Since my building allows dogs, and I had permission and paid an extra security deposit for CDog, do you think I have to go back to my Landlord and get permission to get a new dog?
Does anyone know how long it takes to get to North Shore from here?
Does anyone have any thoughts on breeds?
Thank you all so much for your input!
I thought we were going to get a lot of snow this winter. Where the hell is it!?
Random funny cat pic...
I have no idea
I have no idea
I have no idea, but prolly should talk to them, prolly won't get rejected.
I have no idea
Labrador. : )
If you must. : P
cobble, I can't adopt an entire Canadian province. Besides, I've filled my Canadian quota with Biff (nh).
LOL! OK, you choose, just don't get one of those yipping, yapping, silly little barky dogs.
I only ask because I met someone who is a horse lawyer. Makes big bucks.
We live in a great country.
Not short ones, although Stewart on LA Law was formidable.
Ummm, yeah, NO.
"Then you can do its hair in bows"
Ummm, yeah, NO.
Ex hired the most dishonest lawyer she could find.
When he sat down in court all the other lawyers (who normally kiss each others ass) got up and moved to the other side of the room.
Trashy Brooklyn Heights yard has neighbors fuming
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/3/dtg_heightsyard_2012_01_20_bk.html
Cgar, if you want to try to do it in one day, call them and try to find out exactly what they require. I think it's a pretty high-overhead kind of place. You could adopt much more easily from the shelter in East New York
http://www.nycacc.org/contact.htm
or from the Sean Casey Animal League shelter in Windsor Terrace.
http://www.nyanimalrescue.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=64
Good luck! And congratulations.
[oh, I guess maybe this 'lot' is really the back of several different lots.]
We have a very good friend (having dinner with her tonight) who volunteers at Main Line Animal rescue in PA...
http://www.mlar.org/adopt/?filter_name=&filter_animal_type=Dog&filter_gender=&filter_age=&filter_breed=
If you have any problems because of your job or living situation, blah, blah, blah, our friend Susan will get you a dog from main Line. it's just a bit far from NYC
You prefer "ma'am"?
Good luck with the dog adoption, cgar. Grown dog or puppy? I would call NS about the adoption requirements and be prepared with references and to mkae a donation. Also, vets in the area often know about people looking to adopt out dogs, though usually puppies. Call Dr. Madden on 5th Ave.
We adopted our first cat 20+ years ago from NSAL. Brought him back there when it was time for neutering and got into a big auto accident on the LIE on the way home after his surgery. I always thought it was bad karma.
http://www.mainlinerescue.com/wp-content/themes/mlar/adopt-details.php?sid=3615
Nobody likes a Cocktese.
Yay! I love Labs, too, in case you were wondering! ; )
Yes, I can see the capitalist is hard at work this morning. : P
DIBS: : P
Lab mixes have such great dispositions. By contrast, we know a dog in my brother in law's hood that is a jack russell/chihuahua mix. Don't get anything like that unless you plan on taking speed for the next ten years.
Seems pretty clear to me that the lease allows a pet. I wouldn't bother opening it up for discussion.
*rob*
Typical Democrat, not wanting to take full responsibility for anything
People should know better than to rent to skanky renters.
I oftentimes feel the same way in a Thai go-go bar.
One of my really awesome new business ideas is genetically designed pets that die exactly 12 or 24 months after you buy them, so they perfectly match a New York lease. So you sign a 2-year lease, buy a 2-year dog, and you don't have to worry about what happens when you move.
I know they have a rigorous screening process. And I've seen requirements on other sites (eg, Bide-A-Wee), so I want to make sure I'm fully prepared.
i was turned down NUMEROUS times at shelters from adopting dogs. so lame. it's like thhere are dogs on death row and youre going to turn people down from assinine reasons?! so lame. that's one of the reasons i kinda hate shelters. they can be pretty snobby about who they let adopt. sorry but you cant match every dog up with the PERFECT owner, those don't exist.
you should adopt a pitbull, it might give you some much needed street cred, cgar.
*rob*
LMFAO, *rob*.
And I agree with you about shelters being too extreme in their adoption requirements. There's a site called petfinder that I checked out last night, and there are something like 600,000 dogs in need of adoption within 100 miles of NYC.
“I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that,” “Every person in here has had someone close to them go though painful things,” Gingrich said in the debate. “To take an ex-wife and make it two days before a primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine.”
“I am frankly astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a presidential debate,”
WELL DONE
*rob*
I guess you haven't seen the infomercial.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wvnHkNqUJ8
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/gingrich-debate-south-carolina_n_1218002.html
That's outrageous, Arkady! Who the hell are they to judge THAT!
((((eye rolling))))
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/politics/gop-debate/index.html
And, these sort of rules really don't exist once you get far enough away from NY and CT.
Yeah, the way they protected him by not giving all that birther bullshit the time of day. Oh wait --
But seriously, I do think we need to grow up a bit as a nation about what we care about in politicians' private lives. OTOH, anyone who has engaged in as much scorched earth moralizing for political gain as Newt knows it will get thrown back in his face. He knows it, too, and was prepared with an answer to win round 1. But I don't think changing the subject to the media will carry him all the way to November and he won't always have an audience full of sympaticos to cheer for him. At some point, someone is going to frame a better question or make a better ad about this stuff and he's going to have to man up.
For newt, the question should really have been "Hey, why are you such a prick?"
http://www.hotdogcollars.com/1878-Republican-Party-Elephant-Pet-ID-Tag-With-Engraving.aspx?source=newsletter_01192012
Snort!
Btw, that woman is freaky looking. Turns out she's just a few years younger than me, and she looks at least 10 years older.
Ask Cobble's BH!!!
I worked for a woman with that hair. It was fun to stare at it in meetings. We called her "helmet head" behind her back.
11217! Snort! Certainly looks uptight enough! : P
Besides, as people have said, there's something just so jaw droppingly hypocritical about people like Newt pontificating about family values and the sanctity of marriage. He's fair game.
Rf;
Go fuck yorself, you bigot.
.
CGAR;
I adopted a dog from North Shore, and came home with her the same day we went there. In order to do so, you have to be prepared to supply two references, whom they call before they turn over the dog. North Shore is really great: they work with you to select the type of dog that suits your needs, personality, etc.
Your bigotry is crystal-clear, despite what you think to be your clever veils, and the see-no-evil poses of the disingenuous folks here (hello, Slopey - I see you are in full court press). Maybe you want to bring the Inquisition into the discussion about now?
"I wonder how she reconciles her actual world with her ideal world? Perhaps her supernatural beliefs mitigate that difference, much as they did for nancy reagan."
Why don't you and some of the other disingenuous ones here try to convince me again that there is no bigotry against conservative Christians from your fellow-travelers on the left? Jokes on you, if you think that clever explanations can hide it from guys like me.
Whom do I like? Are you talking about Newt's wife? I don't believe I've ever mentioned her.
If you think that conservative christians (as opposed to, say, conservative muslims) are widely discriminated against, that's hooey. I can think your beliefs are feeble-minded and yet still let you drink from my drinking fountain.
Typical liberal response.
Fashion commentary on Callista. Everything is wrong. Her features are very sharp and her facial angles sharp. Therefore, she needs a different hairstyle. That carved wood do is totally wrong. She needs a softer style. Layered with some wave. The color is ok the way it is. Net effect of the totally retro do is that she is a fossil. 100 years old just dug out of a grave.
For the record, I don't think a politician's spouse is fair game for attacks unless the spouse plays an active role in the political process beyond basic support (like Hillary's role in the 1993 health care reform attempt)
I'm also not a fan of making fun of any person's appearance, although it happens here all the time and I have probably done it myself.
I try to stay out of any religious discussions unless discussing my own views or purely factual information.
I don't know what you are talking about. My comment had to do with Rf's mocking of the practices of Roman Catholicism. I scanned the thread briefly, and didn't even read the comments on astrology.
You're very quick to call people bigots for very minor swipes at the Church, yet you get super defensive at the mere thought that your anti-Obama jokes are in any way racist, which they are. How about getting a little Scriptural, and removing the log from your own eye before condemning the mote in someone else's?
I don't even know what that means but, the What was right, you are pompous.
[been waiting quite a while to post this pic]
That's a joke you just wrote, right? You want me to take off the gloves, Montrose, since you're going to defend a bigot? Ok, then. Montrose, have I ever attempted to censor anyone on this site? Have I ever celebrated that someone was banned from Brownstoner? Answer: no. How about you, Montrose? How about it, since you're lecturing people not to take offense?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZXvLsltu2A
no pun intended
Luke 6:42 ""Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42SkxHo-x4
Get a load of the hair!!!!!!
I think it will be close, as as well Florida.
Santorum will probably drop out after Florida if not before.
February will be all Romney.
It will be tough for Gringrich to stay in and maintain enthusiasm until more friendly states in March.
Paul is in for the long haul, although he has no chance.
Correct.
Luke 6:42
"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.
OOps, posted twice. Well, worth saying twice.
And the worst you can come up with is some some non-existent censorship issues you still have with Brownstoner, because he got tired of your crap on his site? You must be kidding.
love the cat pics!
Started drinking yet?
Too easy, m4l.
.....back to.work now...tgif
.....back to.work now...tgif
back from a meeting and I appear to have missed all the, um, fun, and it is too late on Friday to get involved in another political brouhaha.
Just one point -- below is my post from this morning on Gingrich. I expect you to disagree with me on much about politics. But I am irked by the use of the word "disingenuous" -- I do not see how I am lying or concealing motives in my post. I offered my own perspective and analysis on events, not advice to candidates I want to lose. Is it really "disingenuous" merely for a democrat to comment on a republican candidate (or a republican to comment on a democratic candidate)? Shall we put that question to an OT vote? [I believe there is an OT superpac funded by punsters and lolcats supporting a yes vote, because that is largely what would remain on the OT if the measure passed.]
"But seriously, I do think we need to grow up a bit as a nation about what we care about in politicians' private lives. OTOH, anyone who has engaged in as much scorched earth moralizing for political gain as Newt knows it will get thrown back in his face. He knows it, too, and was prepared with an answer to win round 1. But I don't think changing the subject to the media will carry him all the way to November and he won't always have an audience full of sympaticos to cheer for him. At some point, someone is going to frame a better question or make a better ad about this stuff and he's going to have to man up."
*rob*
[lifting leg, making loud fart noise]
You're a trip. No comments about RF or Bxgrl's gracious comments above, but I have to explain myself. That is exactly what is disingenuous about this whole situation. What a joke.
My comment about Gingrich does not obligate me to comment on rf's comments that she made while I was in a meeting. I don't speak for them any more than you speak for all conservatives. I do not owe it to you to comment on everything anyone says that you take issue with, just because we may share some general political perspective. I spend too much time here as it is. If you call me disingenuous for a comment I make, that is between you and me. If you are calling me disingenuous for not commenting on someone else's comment that I didn't see until nearly two hours after the fact, that stretches the meaning of disingenuous quite far.
I have to leave for other obligations so I will be disingenuously off line the rest of the day. Have a good weekend.
Anyways, I can think of at least 100 things I would rather do at home than watch a football game.
M4L, no use arguing with jackal about football. Didn't you see his ranking of the relative gayness of various sports?
Benson climbs scaffold. Turns and looks toward the horizon, waiting for the dramatic music to swell.....
1. Reading some more of Rabbit, Redux
2. Painting the white trim in the living room
3. Messing around with my latest bunch of metal and wire in the basement
4. Sex (either alone or with partner)
5. Doing taxes
6. Another claymation with the kids
7. Shennanigans with the kids
8. Getting quietly drunk while web surfing for increasingly dumb things
9. Sleeping
10. Making bread
Of course, I'm off to wash diapers, so my judgment is clearly flawed.
12. Obsessing over family budget, reconciling every item on bank statement to budget
13. Some pullups and pushups
14. Deep cleaning the kitchen
15. Some electrical work that doesn't really need to be done but what the hell
Jester come back.
Of course, I'm off to wash diapers
:-/
well, at least you dont throw them down the airshaft like a certain skank neighbor i had once
*rob*
and here I thought squash was boring.
You should see the soapy shows in Bangkok
"KABUL, Afghanistan — President Nicolas Sarkozy of France suspended military operations as part of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan on Friday and said he was considering an early pullout of his nation’s forces after an Afghan soldier shot and killed four French soldiers on a base in eastern Afghanistan."
OPEN SEASON ON FRANCE, MY FRIENDS. OPEN SEASON.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/01/20/keystone_madness__112829.html
On another note, you wash diapers?
I thought no American has done that since 1961.
I sure never have.
Roubini Sees ‘Significant’ Slowdown in Chinese Economy in 2012
Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China’s economy will slow in 2012, prompting policy makers to reduce interest rates and loosen lending restrictions, said Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the 2008 financial crisis.
“It’s going to be a significant growth slowdown this year,” Roubini, co-founder of Roubini Global Economics LLC, said in a Bloomberg TV interview today. “Housing is deflating.
Export growth is slowing down. If they don’t do something -- stimulus in monetary and fiscal credit -- the risk is that the growth will slow down well below 8 percent.”
Chinese stocks are just starting to move up.
Yes, all the pundits have been saying this for a few years. Stick to trees and lawyering.
I bet Chinese stocks will be the best performing asset class this year. We've bought CAF, HOGS, YONG and a few others
LOL - Reminiscent of what MDs at Bear Stearns used to say when told they should diversify out of their overvalued stock.
One of us was right when I said in 2007 that Brooklyn real estate was overvalued and a smart buyer should rent and wait. Just a reminder.
The Consumer Electronics Show was held in Las Vegas, January 10–13, 2012. This show clearly marks the transition point of the decline of the PC era and the ushering in of the tablet and Smartphone era. We are now entering the age of Ultrabooks, Super Phones, and Hyperphones—and mega-hype! Just as stars in the universe reach a certain size and then explode, LightCounting analysts have also seen may large trade shows become so large that they merge, split up, or die altogether: NFOEC and OFC became OFC/NFOEC; Supercom died; Comdex died, and others litter the debris trail. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, Apple’s products and third-party accessories products composed 35–40% of the show’s products, yet the company did not attend. Although much was made of Microsoft not attending next year, the entire personal computer area consisting of Intel, Microsoft, and various PC booths would have fit into ! just the area occupied by Samsung’s HDTV line—not counting the rest of their booth. The show has turned into a cellphone and HDTV show. What happens next is anyone’s guess.
The event had 153,000 attendees and 3,100 vendor booths in 1.9 million square feet with over 20,000 new products and probably 8.3 million iPhone cases on display! Waiting in the airport taxi line at 1:30 a.m., along with 600 of my closest friends, I realized the magnitude of the tsunami coming from the transition of the wired PC era to the mobile wireless smartphone/tablet era. These devices all use both Wi-Fi and cellular wireless interconnects that ultimately feed via optical transceivers and other equipment into the optical telecom network and eventually to datacenter servers, switches, and routers.
The magnitude of the bandwidth tsunami building on the telecom, datacom, transceiver, server, and switch/router infrastructure is staggering, to say the least, and has the potential to dwarf the 2000-era telecom/dot com boom. Only as I attend a single trade show that is 18 times bigger than the town I grew up in did the true scope really hit me. Reading the news on the web just doesn’t have the same impact. Even walking the halls proved hazardous, because half the people walking were looking at their phones instead of walking! This time, real devices are connecting with data, photos, and video content. The smartphones produce 20 times the traffic as a voice only phone and they are being sold in the tens of millions of units and growing at a staggering rate. According to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), during 2011, the number of Internet users in China soared to 513 million, up from! 298 million in 2008—with 60 percent of China's population still offline. India and Brazil are next!
I always stand against intolerance, Arkady.
I am sorry that doesn't please you.
TLDR
Your loss ;-)
From a data perspective, I see mobile devices, PCs, tv connected appliances (including game systems) all as increasing drivers of usage.
For most of these devices, the main connection in terms of quantity of data will be through a local router, so the network infrastructure is the same.
well, probably. which wasn't nice. But still; hardly seems to rise to the level of bigotry. Saying r/cs are smelly criminals or pedophiles or inbred something would be bigoted. Saying their beliefs themselves are false/goofy seems just a disagreement.
But I'm late for getting to the playground (nh), and the sun is going down, so... ttfn!
I will ask you to not put words in my mouth. I will inform you again that I gave Rf the "Fuck you" she deserved because of her ridiculing a Roman Catholic prayer ritual (the Rosary), not because of her comparison to astrology. As I told you already, I didn't even see the reference to astrology when I made that remark.
Thank you, M4L! We'll try those out, I've saved the info.
TLDR
Then you better be ready to lambast the NFL and scores of people who use the phrase "Hail Mary pass" for everything from football to politics. Once again, you're overreacting to a whole lot of nothing.
It's also typical of rf to slink away after she makes those type of remarks.
Fuck you, Dave. You have no idea.
Vast quantities of market share and revenue have been lost by companies believing this.
Well now! That would be a first! : P
- shut up
- know I aint winning this debate
- admit when wrong
- to watch sports is better spend of time
though way too modern for me, I wouldn't mind renting for a couple of weeks. Funny enough I was in Stiges b4 I ever went to FI Pines.
Too bad he's already out of the australian open, was looking forward to his thighs on display.
You can do it yourself with any desktop or laptop computer and a wireless mouse/keyboard with sufficient range.
Personally, I would not want to type or read text from across the room no matter how nice the screen was.
Science doesn't deal with beliefs, or the "truth" for that matter.
It gathers evidence and advances theories. There can always be better theories and new, contradictory evidence. Which I think you know.
It's the "contempt" part that troubles me. That is a dangerous path.
Enlighten us then, rf. or is it your style to just toss out an offensive remark and then go away????
I am a religious atheist humanist, and the first principal of my religion is a belief in "The inherent worth and dignity of every person"
When I'm in a good mood and there are no annoying morons around.
Sad.
No inherent worth or dignity.
My hand is coming along I guess. Who KNEW this was going to be a major life project. I thought because I opened a jar of peanut butter and turned on my car with the key with my damaged hand that it was all straight uphill. Not so. The therapist could see I was down and she assured me that she thought I was making progress.
Is he wearing his baseball cap backwards? Pants hanging down?
I predict that the people who wear their pants with the waist and belt mid ass are going to be in need of physical therapy in 15 years from waddling.
Seriously, Dave. I knew in a second that that man knows what he is doing. I am going to email you.
Confirmed!
except the thin-skinned bit. ;)
Wonderful statement.
Too bad the Gingriches don't believe this — oops, I think I was showing contempt again. : P
he's the one I have occasioanlly sung to through my cell phone at karaoke.
Maybe just bitchiness. :P
NO ONE SHOULD EVER BUY AN ANNUITY, EVER.
The wealth management firm I'm talking to in Bucks says they spend about 30% of their time unwinding new ciustomers' annuities.
Ah I see. Most of my friends do theirs through the state or city or whatever the teachers' union goes through. I never did it but the retirees all swear by it.
These are the biggest rip-off and should be the target of much more critical analysis.
These products are why insurance companies are sooooooo wildly profitable.
MY GOD IT POUNDED THE MIDWEST WITH 6"
I don't think "pounded" is the right word with only 6"
http://www.osteriaphilly.com/index.php/menu/
Depends - how thick were the snowflakes?
Apple seems to be able to do anything imaginable technology wise except shrink the size of the AC adapter.
and their ego.
*rob*
LOL! That's pretty funny, bxgrl!
Hiya Pete! Kayaking sounds much better than the lunacy here...
*rob*
at rob's age - shouldn't worry about up or down in 401k.....down is better -- cheaper prices for future contributions.....best stays low/down for next 25 years and then goes way up. but of course he needs contribute more.
contributing 1% is not going to make him a 1%er.
*rob*
How long on Amtrak. 4, 5 hours?
why cant something NEW be invented to put in ones mouth instead of teeth?! new things are invented for houses and stuff ALL the time. but teeth has been the same for centuries now (well except for implants, but those looks just like teeth and are mad expensive). why cant they just invent something to put in it's place or in place of ALL the teeth. the dental industry has a monoploy on peoples mouths and it's obscene.
teeth arent even pretty!
*rob*
*rob*
Note to Rob, DO NOT take investment advice from Pete.
New York to Charleston, SC on Amtrak could be as low as $91 each way. (I plugged in March 2nd for departure, on the Amtrak website.)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/ben-heine-pencil-vs-camera_n_1217535.html#s624694
*rob*
Probably. Go to a used book store, I bet you can find one cheap.
*rob*
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/HomePage
You can also look at the Weekly Specials.
The money that goes into your 401K is from your income.
(And maybe your company matches some of it)
For income tax purposes it doesn't count as part of your current income, so you don't pay taxes on it right now.
It is a way that the govt encourages you to put money away for retirement.
In other words, they let you save money before they tax it.
You (most likely) have choices of how to invest it.
If those choices do well, you see positive numbers.
If they do poorly, you see negative numbers.
You also make regular, automatic contributions.
In your case, you contributed more than your investments lost, so your account went up.
Last year was a tough one for many investment advisers so it is not surprising that they didn't do so well.
My 401K did not do very well last year, either.
If you can't take money out, that is because you have not been in long enough (called vesting)
When you are fully vested, you can take money out, but the govt doesn't like that, so they tax and penalize you. Unless you are really old and retired.
Sorry if this was boring. I dont make the rules.
*rob*
here are my three:
international/global:
american funds europac growth
(that's that?)
Midcap:
goldman sachs mdcap value A
??!
asset allocation/balanced:
blackrock global allocation A
what ARE those things? i know what goldman sachs is (an investment firm right?)
hypothetical account value at retirement age: 66,043.90
hypothetical monthly retirement income: 429.41
lol
my social security the last time i got it said my expected monthly income would be 900 something dollars...
so 900 plus 425 = 1325 a month!?!?. :-/ how am i gonna live on that!??!
tho if i moved to some area of the country where i could rent a room for like 300 a month, i guess i could easily live on that. so am i in bad financial shape?
*rob*
The second line is the name of the fund sponsor followed by the name of the fund
sponsor - American Funds Fund Name = Europac Growth
You should try and put away a higher percentage, and since the govt gives you a boost by not taxing you on the money, you wont feel the loss of disposable income quite as much as you might think.
Mine are kind of stinky also, although I have more, but still very limited, choices.
But rob, you are just 32 or 33, now, right? You'll likely be putting money into this for at least another 32 or 35 years. And if you get some good advice from your tax preparer and you put aside a bit more, the monthly amount could be quite a bit higher. But don't take advice from me. I'm flat broke, or will be in a few weeks.
anyway, im ranting, it's friday night. pity party over and bubble bath time.
*rob*
*rob*
$2,500 / 20 years (living to 85) means you'll have $125.00 a year to live on.
Better start saving some more.
If you get to $400,000, and it yields 5%, that gives you $20,000 a year to live on plus you can take another 5% out every year from the principal giving you $40,000 a yaer to live on.
that's why many pension funds are fucked...they are assuming 7% growth in principal each year.
even better than just a hot ass in them.
I just want to live just long enough to before the dementia sets in. (Or maybe it's already too late for that! : P )
Must the republicans do EVERYTHING????
(Tiniest violin for the land baron!)
Ok, I'll do it now...
Cooking smells throughout the halls from people from all over creation.
I didn't get to comment on the whole Newt issue yesterday (I was distracted).
I can watch that video clip of Newt taking down John King over and over again. It's Republican porn!
We don't have halls in my building. The elevator opens right into my apartment. Another example of fine condo living!