TPS

I named one out of the "few others" I said there were. The tech bubble relates to what GG said about capital gains taxes, which I never disagreed with. I believe the unemployment rate falling to 4% was a bigger factor.

I've always argued there are a host of reasons for the most recent crisis, no one single factor can describe the perfect storm. Cutting taxes at the top raised the volume of savings looking for returns--more money for hedge funds, reits, etc. There's a long history of economic thought that focuses on rising inequality of income and wealth to (HELP) explain speculative bubbles and crises.

I thought we agreed there were a few other factors, like the unemployment rate falling to 4%, which both increases revenues and lowers expenditures. I don't recall "crowing" though...

One can make the argument that tax cuts for the class of households that have a higher propensity to save out of income creates a greater pool of savings looking for financial investment opportunities. One can use this argument and provide evidence from the two experiments with supply-side tax cuts to show these experiments ended with speculative bubbles, financial crises and bailouts--the commercial real estate bubble and S&L crisis in the 1980s, and the most recent housing bubble and ensuing crisis. With the exception of small business owners, increasing the "pool of savings" by tax cuts means an increased source of demand for financial assets which might indirectly influence real corporate investment, but more than likely won't, since new business investment is mainly a function of demand for its products (sales). There is a logical case for PJ's argument AND evidence to support it, given two test cases.

The Bills got a sack and allowed a sack. On the offensive side of the ball, this was testament to both improved O-line play and improved QB play. On the defensive side of the ball, this indicates a lack of playmakers in the front 7. The D will be in for a long year if this continues.

I know for a fact that fraud was rampant by direct lenders. Banks and mortgage finance companies input fraudulent data into Fred/Fan proprietary systems (midanet/mornet) because they no longer carried the risk--their goals were to churn assets to generate fee income. And, by the way, these were all loans, not just so-called subprime loans. Now it's possible that F&F execs weren't diligent in weeding it out as well. As I said, everyone was getting rich off this crap. It is a crime that no execs across the spectrum are doing time, which speaks to the bipartisan culpability of this mess. I missed you too AD.

Hmmm...I may regret this... You say the ratings agents and banks got their macro data from Fr/Fan, but Fan/Fr don't participate in direct lending. So where did Fan/Fr get their data? Ans. From the direct lenders. So who corrupted the data? Ans. Direct lenders. Blame can surely be spread, but it's just plain idiotic to blame things put into place years ago (like CRA). Blame should go to the bubble in the housing market in general, not just subprime. The credit created on the basis of housing wealth was unprecedented. Everyone wanted a piece of this cash cow, and fraud was rampant at all levels of finance and all wealth values (i.e. a $50,000 home vs a $500,000 one) in order to keep the ponzi schemes going up and down the credit chain. Subprime was simply the "canary in the coal mine." Check this little report out that was trying to estimate losses from suits to corps in order to estimate the losses to those who insure directors. link

I had a great meal at Seabar a few weeks ago Seabar Besides sushi, I had "Bourdain's last meal" and the 40-hour short ribs--as tender as foie gras! You won't go wrong at any of these: Left Bank (is truly no longer a secret), Lombardo's, Hutch's, Tempo. As for a little "secret" place, Europa Bistro on Elmwood near Toro does some wild stuff.

Ohhh...the ignominy... One of these years.

Offense: - A solid performance, scoring at least 20 points. - NO false starts. - No more than 1 sack given up (trying to be a little realistic). - A couple of big plays, including a successful long pass or three... - A good balance of rushing and passing yards. Defense: - I don't expect the Bills to keep Miami under 100 yards rushing, but I do hope they keep it closer to 100 than 120. - Win the T-O battle. - At least 2 sacks. Special Teams: - Win the field position battle. - Don't give up a score! This game should be a great test for the start of the Chan Gailey era, and should provide answers to a lot of questions everyone has discussed ad nauseum for the past 6-8 months. Looking forward to it, and Go Bills!

Sorry guys, but I'm going to have to bail, as the wife reminded me that we have a pot luck to go to Saturday afternoon...

Ok, count me in for 18. I hope they have worked on speeding up play there, the last time it was almost a 5-hour round (that's not a comment about MY play either).

I won't be surprised to see a veteran guard picked up.

Any decisions yet? I'm checking with the wife for permission... Time? Place? Enough people for more than one group?

Too bad you weren't here in the "old days" (maybe you were?) The board was a lot more fun, and more thoughtful posts outnumbered the idiot responses. I'll still read posts of interests and post occasionally, but priorities have changed so I am more the lurker now. However, I am more excited about the Bills than I have been in a long time, which means I can't let go of this place completely. Things change. It's great to see the growth of TBD, and Scott deserves muchos kudos for his efforts. Still reading after all these years... Cheers and Go Bills!

Thanks. Couldn't find an edit tab????

If you haven't seen it, there is a very good article on Wang and his family in the last Artvoice. Artvoice

It's not an uncommon strategy to "hide" someone you would like to put on the PS by putting them in the first round of cuts. We'll see if it's true in this case, and if so, if it works...

Took a trip to Scotland about 10 years ago and played 1. Old Course 2. Carnoustie 3. Kingsbarn 4. Cruden Bay All of which are listed in the top 100 in the world. I've also played Bethpage Black, Torrey Pines South, World Woods and Mauna Kea, which are all ranked in the top 100 courses in the US. My only regret: while working at a hotel in N. Lake Tahoe in 1981 I was invited by some waiters to join their annual trek to play the courses at Pebble Beach, and I declined... :-( Best WNY course I've played: Crag Burn.

And if K. Jenkins (best NT in NFL) can stay healthy, the Jets have one tough D. Of course, they did pretty well without him too.

I do have faith in Gailey being able to improve the offense from the bottom of the pack to the middle, despite questions about the O-line. I am also optimistic about the change in the front 7 of the D, not necessarily the D-line. A bigger, stronger group overall to help stop the run. Lots of issues that will unfold over the next 4 months, but (IMO) this team is already better than last year's.

The Buffalo show was targeted at the faithful, not the casual fan--mostly high-energy, new and non-hit (at least on "the charts") songs. Rearview Mirror summed up the show--seemed they wanted to play it all night, and almost did!

Pearl Jam Saw them for the first time at the 2003 show mentioned in the article. I remember Vedder saying something like, "they're telling us we gotta stop or we'll get fined....f-it, we'll pay the fine..." Can't wait!

Cool! This should be like an anti-curse (as opposed to being on the cover), so I'm predicting it now--Bills make the playoffs this year.

Good stuff. Was thinking that Shobel reminded me of Paup, but maybe quicker. I think he'd excel in this defense.