....lybob

Quant= wall street slang for genius level mathematicians and programmers who use complicated algorithms and super computers to facilitate making large amounts of profits using high frequency trading- or in layman's terms if you can figure out how to make cents or even fractions of cents on a trade you can still make a boat load of money if you make 1000's to 100,000's of trades a second. Quant-identity = admittedly bad pun on quantity

Meaningless win, I'm not sure - Seattle was 5-11 and got Okung where would we have drafted had we lost?

stung by the blobfish (I do fear, I do fear)

Personally I would have used Neodymium magnets to reduce the inter circumference of the pipe and the oil flow until clay and cement filling was viable - but you have to wonder if they really want to plug the pipe, there have been reports that the pipe is ruptured much further down and any plugging would simple result in the oil working it's way through the permeable layers of earth to come out in multiple places - that would be even worse plus BP would have no chance of siphoning of 10,000+ barrels a day at $70+ a barrel .

Schobel: good pass rusher, pretty good at coming from the backside or going down the line to make plays against the run, often got blown out when run plays went right at him, his looping pass rush made him vulnerable to draw plays. overall an asset but there was weaknesses in his game that an offense could take advantage of. If Schobel was a team leader then a leader by example, not a rah rah guy or a take a rookie under his wing and show him the ropes type of guy. conditioning: Schobel has looked in very good shape the last two years, but the two years before his injury while I can't attest to his conditioning he was running around with a Buddha belly. If the Bills were still playing a 4-3 and contending for a play off spot his retirement/trade/cut would be a big blow but as it stands it probably helps in the long run to get a young guy reps in the OLB position- if you can get a 6th or better from Houston then make the trade.

A lot of truth here- people will let things go if the team is winning and the player involved is a star.

As something I have faith in or respect for, Economics ranks below Psychology but ahead of Homeopathic remedies- I'm glad you are getting a MBA in finance I'm sure you'll get rich, hopefully you'll be doing something useful like intelligently suppling capital to businesses after due diligence on products and business plans- not shuffling money around and skimming of the top- try for work of Quality not Quant-identity.

QUOTE (....lybob @ Jun 9 2010, 04:04 PM) ...you can't prove that Less government control = more economic growth. An absolutist statement like ( Less government = more economic growth) is false If you want to add modifiers to the statements like (sometimes, or most of the time) then it could be true - it's better if you specify the government and the involvement (law, regulation, action, etc) that you think should cease. Then debate can ensue, I'm sure that there is often government involvement where the harm outweighs the benefits but I prefer the use of a scalpel and not a meat cleaver. but if you truly believe "Less government = more economic growth" then I believe the first thing you should do is get rid of Patent Law, Copyright law, and Trademark law - I pretty sure most businesses would be thanking you. Another government involvement that you could dump is fire fighting you should privatize fire fighting, that's how it use to be, if you didn't have their seal of protection they'd let your house or business burn down, if the houses on either side didn't have protection they'd use the event to promote their services, sometimes there were competing services in the same area and instead of fighting fires they'd fight each other, good times I tell you good times.

Schobel like Peters is putting personal considerations ahead of team considerations- I don't blame either of them, the NFL makes a lot of players rich but it also leaves a lot of players physical wrecks, you better get some while the getting's good, he want's to play in Houston then let him, don't expect getting full value, take a 6th round pick and be happy.

Tom I like your avatar it's very ..umm gelatinous.

I time traveled into the future and talked to Aaron's disembodied head in a jar- he said he really regrets missing the Bills amazing 2010 Super-bowl winning season- and like the Bills I win- and anyone who post after this loves toe jam and peanut butter sandwiches.

Trolls are not only great and wonderful they are the living embodiment of the purpose of sport in general and football in specific- the catharsis release of emotion- love and blessings on the Bills, hate and the wish of misfortune on other teams especially NE and really especially on Tom Brady and Bill Belicheat- so when you see a troll don't hold back, vent your spleen, let it all go- you'll feel great, the troll will be well fed, everyone will be happy.

If anybody is really shocked then I question their grasp on reality- this was pretty obvious months ago- while Schobel's smarter and more media savvy than Peters his goals are probably about the same- money, playing for a team that has a shot, and in Schobel's case staying close to family and setting himself up for life after football- Schobel's a pretty good football player but outside of Buffalo he's pretty much an unknown- but a couple good seasons with say Houston and at least he'd have some local recognition for any type businesses he has.

"bull ****, you are out of your mind if you believe that more government control = more economic growth." I never said this, what I said is you can't prove that Less government control = more economic growth. To clarify where I stand, I believe that that the economy is like a biological system in that it probably functions best in certain narrow ranges of conditions- like you'd probably like your body temperature somewhere around 98.6F give or take a tiny amount, now if doctors were like most of these absolutist economic theorist you'd have one arguing that the best temp for a person is as high as possible and another one arguing that the best temp for a person is as low as possible - and they would continue to argue after all their patients had died. "And your example of Chile is a horrible one. Chile's economy is very sensitive to copper mining, and copper went from $4 a pound to $1.5 in early 2009." Well I didn't bring up Chile in the first place, and of course the down swing in copper was factor, every economy has it's factors, there are millions and millions of factors floating around, Venezuela had a drop in oil prices that was their factor. I'm a big believer in factors and the level of government control is just one out millions of factors I'm sure it has it's effect but if you are telling me you can quantify it against all other factors then I call Bullpoop, if you make an absolutist statement like Less government control = more economic growth I say bullpoop with a side order of "you're a moron"- I know I would not want to live in a place with either total government control or zero government control, what is the optimal range? that's a worthy debate.

Never said it was, I was merely refuting his point that all of China's economic growth came in the last 10 years and the 50 years before nothing was happening. as for my definition of Monopoly- incipient gotcha questions deserve flippant answers.

"What? Seriously? What? The relationship is: more government control = less economic growth. Look at Western Europe compared to us, again, not even close, unless, again, you fudge the #s like the Scandinavians do." you can't come close to proving this, for every country you could show me with a high degree of government control and poor economic growth I could show you one with a high degree of government control and excellent economic growth- for every country with a low degree of government control and good economic growth I'll show you one with a low degree of government control and poor economic growth- Somalia comes to mind- the correlation is weak at best. "One, of the many, countries that have applied Milton Freidman's economic theories to great success is Chile. Do yourself a favor and learn about Chile" one thing I can tell you I learned about Chile is that their growth rate in 2009 was -1.5% which happens to be exactly the same as commie pinko Venezuela who also had a growth rate of -1.5% in 2009.

So how does any of this account for: 1. last 10 years, significantly reduced government control, massive economic growth 2. preceding 50 years, massive government control, next to 0 economic growth When Nixon opened up China, China got better. This is undeniable. Try again. It helps when you actually respond to my point. I am talking about the difference in the last 10 years vs. the preceding 50. Try to stay focused. (deep sigh) China GDP in year 2000 dollars 1950 (.24 trillion) 1973 (.74 trillion) increase in growth 308% 1973 (.74 trillion) 1998 (3.87 trillion) increase in growth 529% 1998 (3.87 trillion) 2009 (8.7 trillion) increase in growth 225% U.S. GDP in year 2000 dollars 1950 (1.45 trillion) 1973 (3.53 trillion) increase in growth 243% 1973 (3.53 trillion) 1998 (7.39 trillion) increase in growth 209% 1998 (7.39 trillion) 2009 (14.2 trillion) increase in growth 192% China has had economic growth both under communism and under managed capitalism- under communism the growth came mainly from increases in agriculture, heavy industry, and infrastructure - under managed capitalism the engine of growth has shifted to export of consumer goods- btw if you want to see the economic future of China look at Japan's history, China plans on making the same move from low end consumer goods to high end consumer good and state of the art equipment that Japan made except they plan to do it in a much shorter time period.

is RW's wife still alive because all the property can be transfered to her tax free any year- also while I don't think it matters in this case I'm pretty sure the tax is on the recipient- so if somebody had 2.5 mil and the first 500,000 (not sure what it is now) was non taxable and he had one inheritor the first $500,000 would not be taxed and the next 2 mil would be taxed at 55%- if he had 5 inheritors then each would get $500,000 tax free. I'm tired so sorry if this doesn't make sense.

First, let's crush the ridiculous assertions: 1. "China has lots of government involvement in their economy...and look how good they are doing!" Yes, let's talk about the last 10 years of history, and conveniently forget the preceding 50. Hmm, which period showed massive economic growth? the last 10? or, the preceding 50?....and...which period had significantly more government control of the economy? Hint: not the last 10. Which direction is China headed? Towards more, or less, government? Economics? Hell, this retarded assertion gets blown up with 8th grade social studies. 2. "Scandinavian Socialism proves socialism is a superior economic model!" Sure it does. Never mind that none of these countries could defend themselves for 36 hours, and 100% relies on us for that. Never mind that these countries contribute next to nothing in foreign aid to other countries. Never mind the over 300 times socialism has failed in other countries.... ...nah the fact that it has "worked" in little countries with small populations and tiny economies that use accounting tricks like these to "prove" that socialism works is all we need to know. Yes, let's ignore all the other facts and only allow for the ones that support Scandinavian Socialism. BTW, you have to have taken accounting and economics to fully understand that article. IF you haven't, that article loses at least half it's meaning and import, and you might even end up misinterpreting it. EDIT: Your progressive friends aren't misguided, they are simply uneducated. Ok since you want 60 years I'm going to give you 1950 - 2009 GDP in (year 2000 dollars) United States GDP 1950 1.5 trillion 2009 14.2 trillion a very respectable 9.4 fold increase ( I rounded so if you want to say ten that's fine) China GDP 1950 .24 trillion 2009 8.7 trillion a 36.2 fold increase ( again I rounded so if you want to say 35 that's fine) China has had massive growth spurts even under pure communism, might have killed a lot of people but you didn't ask that, they have also had massive declines that have killed even more people but crap like that happens when you are trying to move from the 15th century to the 20th century in 20 years. 2. "Scandinavian Socialism? hey I don't have to prove that Scandinavian Socialism or China's managed capitalism are the greatest systems in the world all I have to do is to Show that which you hate ( a degree of government involvement) does not absolutely destroy economic growth (China) or produce hellish living conditions (Denmark et al) and now that I've politely replied I'm still waiting for your country that is a shinning example of pure libertarianism or the closest that you can muster so I can study and compare and see if I'd like to live there.

1) Please explain to us how and when restrictions on housing development have ever: a. lowered the price of housing b. lowered the cost of housing production a) areas designated for multi-dwelling units lower the cost of housing for people in that area b) standardization of code allows for economies of scale and reduction in insurance rates 2) Please explain to us how and when the licensing of professionals has: a. lowered the price of their services b. lowered the cost of providing those services a) since the term services is ambiguous (leeches and heart surgery could both be medical services but they are not the same) so we have to weigh the cost of the service verses the value of the service and I contend that the Licensing of professionals has increased the average value of the services more than the average costs of the services and thus lowered the price of the services. b) see above 3) Is the standard of living higher now than 30 years ago or not? Of course it is. Even this idiot(link) in the NY times begrudgingly admits that the black people of Memphis have made progress over the last 20 years. I know, shocking, isn't it? a) again ambiguous, if you were to define this using the income adjusted for inflation of the median two parent family then yes, If I was to define it as the amount of discretionary income produced by an hour of work by a worker earning the median hourly wage then no- just for example of how hard comparisons are, my father worked two jobs an average of 64 hours a week total, my mother did not work - my fathers work provided a middle class life style, paid for most of college for his five children, the jobs provided good benefits (vacation, medical, dental, pension), Even with dollars adjusted for inflation my brothers family makes about 20% more than father but they work a total of 120+ hours a week to do it, because my brother's wife works they absolutely needed two cars, they cook less and eat take-out more, they needed day care, and baby sitters, benefit wise they have good medical, but not dental, no pensions (brother has 50% match sister-in-law nothing), less vacation - my brother thanks the gods they only have two children to help put through college and even so the girls are going to end up with a lot more debt than we did. That being said I'd say we do have a higher standard of living than 30 years ago but that would be due much more to advances in science and technology than any absolutist economic theory- and if I wanted to argue the other way I could use the tenets of biological stress theory, any environment that provides more stress than is adaptable to brings unhealthy physical and psychological changes which I see everyday in the combination of fat bellies, skinny legs, and depression- which is an excellent indication of elevated cortisol levels due to high levels of stress. 4) Define monopoly(and no, not the board game). Then define market share(and no, not Park Place and Boardwalk). Then define how much market share a company has to have to be considered a monopoly. Actually... define how the game monopoly ends: what do you have to have in order to win the game? a) control of a item, good, service in (and this is important) a given area- so how do I know the one with the largest market share is a monopoly? trick question all I have to do is increase the specificity of the item or the area and all businesses have monopolies for example coke doesn't have a monopoly if I define the item as soft drinks but does have a monopoly if I define the item as coke, on the other hand no one probably (except maybe God) has a monopoly if define the area as the multiverse. b) the game monopoly ends when the future tea bagger flips the board over and runs out of the room crying. 5) Please explain how rent control works in terms of supply/demand and the affect it has on price. Then, explain how enforcing artificial prices affects ROI for suppliers of housing. (Hell, I have given you more than enough in the question to get this one right so no answer on this one). a) Well if I have the rent controlled apartment my price is low, my supply is fine, and my demand is nil. b) not sure if you want (rate of investment) (rate of interest) or if you mistyped and want (rate of return) I assure you I can make something up for any of them. 6) Please explain how Third World workers working for American companies overseas are being exploited, when they are making way more than they would be than if they WEREN'T working for American companies. (Only an idiot argues this point, so again, no answer. I am so sure all those Indian, Russian, Polish and Irish programmers I used to have to jump through INS hoops to bring here back in the day, are being...exploited by getting to stay home and live like kings in their own country today. ) a) do I have to make the case that all American companies overseas exploit all the third world workers all the time? that would be very hard- or do I just have to make the case that some American companies exploit some third world people? that would be very easy- or are we talking about on balance? that would take a lot of study, I don't know and neither do you. 7) Please explain, especially in terms of "social justice", how exactly free trade has caused worldwide unemployment? If anything, free trade has done more to employ people, especially in the third world, than any other single policy. It was intended to stop wars from starting and make things cost less world wide, thus, reducing poverty world wide. It has. Nothing is a cure all, but free trade is certainly part of the solution. a)I have nothing against Free-ish trade but lets be clear that our country and most 1st world countries have used tariffs and other forms of protectionism to build up and maintain certain vital industries - we would like to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, Why? I mean the Saudis can produce oil much cheaper than we can, free markets absolutist would say whoever can provide a product cheapest should be the one to do it- globalization has lead some countries to building very unbalanced economies very vulnerable to any global downturn, free markets taken to a religious extreme would say a country should only produce what they can competitively produce vis a vis the global market- the IMF advances this policy to what many would say is to the detriment of 2nd and 3rd world countries. 8) Please explain how and when minimum wage laws have lowered unemployment. a) they aren't meant to lower unemployment they are meant to provide a living wage and dignity to work but there has been no correlation made between unemployment and the minimum wage - example no minimum wage during the great depression very high unemployment, with minimum wage laws unemployment has been as low as under 4% This should be fun- and how

I'd never make the argument Government Good/ Oil companies bad- I'd make the argument Oil companies bad/ government owned. We don't need new regulations we need existing regulations enforced- we probably need whole sale change at a lot of regulatory agencies to get out the corporate cronies. We need to change corporate law, I don't mind a corporation having limits on liability when they are in compliance with regulations and using best practices- but when corporations start cutting corners to save a few bucks then I think liability should be unlimited and that managements personal wealth should be at stake- recent incidents with our many financial institutions, and energy corporations like Massey energy, and BP, seem to suggest that there is too great an incentive for management to take risks for bonuses, and not enough disincentive because losses tend to go to institutional shareholders and tax payers.

Blah, blah, blah- can he get separation from a defender now? because Edwards has shown no signs of being willing to throw the ball into a tight spot or to throw a ball and let a receiver go up and get it- five yards of separation or check down to a back.

What a fool I've been - but now I've seen the light- some would say this test has about as much merit as a religion test, with questions like this 1. giving your life to Jesus is the only way to Heaven (unenlightened answer: disagree), / but not me- I love the clarity of "you don't agree with me thus you are stupid and wrong". I mean one look at all the ragged, malnourished, homeless, people in the socialist hell that is Scandinavian Europe and how can you not be revolted by socialism, and China over the last 10 years shows that any government involvement in business will destroy economic progress. Now all I need from my new found genius ultra conservative friends is some real life examples of countries that implement all the practices that you approve of so I can show them to my misguided progressive friend as to how things should be done- I know Somalia doesn't have much government interference but maybe not the best example.

On Lynch you can only laugh the Bills turned down a third because it wasn't enough- now they'd take a 4th but can't get it.

lists of permitted and prohibited items Permitted flour sugar sweetener rice salt cooking oil, semolina, yeast, pasta, chickpeas beans, kidney beans, lentils peas, Burgul wheat, corn, lupini beans, powdered milk, dairy products, margarine, hummus paste frozen meat, fish, and vegetables, vitamins and oil for animal feed, empty bags for flour medicine and medical equipment, diapers, feminine hygiene products, toilet paper, baby wipes shampoo & conditioner, soap, toothpaste, laundry detergent, fabric softener, glass cleaner, floor cleaning fluid cleaning liquid for bathroom, chlorine, insecticide for household use, farms coffee, tea, salami meat, canned meat canned fish, sponges for cleaning dishes, toys for washing, mopping rags, cleaning rags,canned food except canned fruit za’atar spice, black pepper, sesame, powdered chicken stock, blankets, chicks, matches, candles, brooms,mops dustpans, trash cans, aniseed, chamomile, cinnamon, wastewater purification powder, (glass – 200 trucks), water coolers + heaters, mineral water, Tahini (sesame paste), hair brushes, hair combs, shoes, clothes wood (for doors and window frames), aluminum, soft plastic bags, fruit, vegetables, hay, fertilized eggs, pesticides for agriculture, soil for agriculture, particles for soil dilution, chemical fertilizer, plastic buckets plastic crates for fruits and vegetables,, plastic chicken cages, egg cartons, cartons for transporting chicks fiberglass and plastic trays for planting, eggs (for eating), greenhouse nylon various kinds of veterinary medications and products, wheat, barley, animal feed. Prohibited sage, cardamom, cumin, coriander, ginger, jam, halva, vinegar, nutmeg, chocolate, fruit preserves seeds and nuts,, biscuits and sweets, potato chips, gas for soft drinks, dried fruit, fresh meat, plaster tar, wood for construction, cement, iron, glucose, industrial salt, plastic/glass/metal containers industrial margarine, tarpaulin sheets for huts, fabric (for clothing), flavor and smell enhancers fishing rods, various fishing nets, buoys, ropes for fishing, nylon nets for greenhouses, hatcheries and spare parts for hatcheries, spare parts for tractors, dairies for cowsheds, irrigation pipe systems ropes to tie greenhouses, planters for saplings, heaters for chicken farms, musical instruments, size A4 paper writing implements, notebooks, newspapers, toys, razors, sewing machines and spare parts, heaters, horses donkeys ,goats, cattle Note: the permitted list has about doubled in length from the original list and recent Items that have been added are Shoes clothes and Aluminum - Pasta made the list after the first month or so because of an aid activist's complaint that their noodles were not allowed through, Hillary Clinton, supposedly using salty language, brought the subject up with the Israelis, who lifted the pasta ban.