John Adams Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 The 200 million man army is on the march to the middle east from China any day right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 And this is unprecedented? Seems the geopolitical climate of ancient Rome matched up pretty well for starters. And don't most biblical scholars agree that John was alluding to Rome when he wrote Revelations? And there have certainly been other times when the world was poised on the brink but no need to go into that now. And what was the most sophisticated weapon in Ancient Rome? or in 1776? or 1862? or heck, even 1942 when the US was at North Korea levels of radiation science? In the swine flu thread the same question was asked. We have SO MUCH technology now that just the 0.001% of error in dealing with that technology is enough to end the world. When humans learn.....but then try to play God, eventually they are going to F up beyond repair. It doesn't have to be on purpose....but it probably will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 The 200 million man army is on the march to the middle east from China any day right? They might make a detour through California first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 And what was the most sophisticated weapon in Ancient Rome? or in 1776? or 1862? or heck, even 1942 when the US was at North Korea levels of radiation science? In the swine flu thread the same question was asked. We have SO MUCH technology now that just the 0.001% of error in dealing with that technology is enough to end the world. When humans learn.....but then try to play God, eventually they are going to F up beyond repair. It doesn't have to be on purpose....but it probably will be. AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! You're basing your nonsense not on Revelations, but on Hal freakin' Lindsey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! You're basing your nonsense not on Revelations, but on Hal freakin' Lindsey! No Tom....I am basing it on Science...hard to believe. If you quantify technology versus time, we are parabolic. We have really only gone parabolic over the past few centuries, and in reality over the past few decades. It CANNOT LAST AT THIS PACE! We will either find the Star Treckies space warp, or the sht will have to hit the fan and drag that graph back down. The collapse of the economy would do that. A huge war could do it. A pandemic could do it. You should root for this stuff before we go poof! Unless that is you think you will be in a flying car, or a telaporter in say 30 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 We will either find the Star Treckies space warp, or the sht will have to hit the fan and drag that graph back down. I'd probably feel a lot better if in lieu of a space warp we only needed to do the time warp. Cuz, y'know...it's just a jump to the left... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
/dev/null Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! You're basing your nonsense not on Revelations, but on Hal freakin' Lindsey! Wasn't Hal Lindsey the guy that played Keanu Reeve's father in the Bill & Ted movies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 No Tom....I am basing it on Science...hard to believe. If you quantify technology versus time, we are parabolic. We have really only gone parabolic over the past few centuries, and in reality over the past few decades. It CANNOT LAST AT THIS PACE! We will either find the Star Treckies space warp, or the sht will have to hit the fan and drag that graph back down. The collapse of the economy would do that. A huge war could do it. A pandemic could do it. You should root for this stuff before we go poof! Unless that is you think you will be in a flying car, or a telaporter in say 30 years? Easy to believe. That's not science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Wasn't Hal Lindsey the guy that played Keanu Reeve's father in the Bill & Ted movies? Barney Miller? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 They might make a detour through California first. 200 million Chinamen are going to land in California? That's about as logisitically possible as moving them from China to the Middle East. Why the hell not? Every Chinaman's surfin' to bomb the USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 And what was the most sophisticated weapon in Ancient Rome? or in 1776? or 1862? or heck, even 1942 when the US was at North Korea levels of radiation science? In the swine flu thread the same question was asked. We have SO MUCH technology now that just the 0.001% of error in dealing with that technology is enough to end the world. When humans learn.....but then try to play God, eventually they are going to F up beyond repair. It doesn't have to be on purpose....but it probably will be. I've read Hermann Hesse's Beneath the Wheel, too and I agree that if we don't control our technology we are doomed to be run over by it. I just don't buy the argument that we don't control it very well. We do. That's not to say a limited (NK) strike on somebody wouldn't be devestating, it would. It would also be the end of that aggressor as well. You purport to base your prediction on biblical prophecy but, why then, are they full of that old school technology of ancient Rome? Horseman and stuff? Swords, chariots. No mention of missiles. The 200 million man army of China sounds like a prophecy from Nostradamus (sp) more than anything else. How is that biblical? I don't think he even had an inkling of what a few tactical nukes can do to a 200 million man army. Again, devastating but not the end of the world. This doom and gloom has been predicted for thousands of years. We're still here in spite of our best efforts to destroy each other. There will be people to pick up the pieces just like there have always been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Oh I definitely think that the economy is going to double dip. I think we will see that happen sometime in the second half of next year. I just said this yesterday, the only difference is our timing. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=a3IpfKeeveVM Harvard’s Feldstein Sees Risk of ‘Double-Dip’ Recession in U.S. July 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. recession may not be coming to and end and there is a risk the economy may experience a “double-dip” contraction, said Martin Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University. “There is a real danger this is going to be a double dip and that after six months or so we’ll have some more bad news,” Feldstein, the former head of the National Bureau of Economic Research and Reagan administration adviser, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “We could slide down again in the fourth quarter.” The economy could “flatten out” or “even be positive” in the third quarter, and then it’s likely to contract again in the last three months of the year as the effects of the federal stimulus program wear off and companies finish rebuilding inventories, he said. “There isn’t going to be enough to sustain a really solid recovery,” he said, even though recent data has provided some “good news” on the economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I just said this yesterday, the only difference is our timing. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...id=a3IpfKeeveVM I don't think optimism is high enough to call any second dip a shock. The uptick in earnings is due in large part to a ton of cuts. I wouldn't be surprised if we bobble along at 10-11% unemployment for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't think optimism is high enough to call any second dip a shock. The uptick in earnings is due in large part to a ton of cuts. I wouldn't be surprised if we bobble along at 10-11% unemployment for a long time. I agree, companies have done what they needed to do to either stay alive or profitable. If you noticed in many of those earnings reports, revenues were below expectations, but their earnings were higher, which validates what you just said. I also agree that we will stay within a 9-11% unemployment for a long time, I would think for at least a couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I agree, companies have done what they needed to do to either stay alive or profitable. If you noticed in many of those earnings reports, revenues were below expectations, but their earnings were higher, which validates what you just said. I also agree that we will stay within a 9-11% unemployment for a long time, I would think for at least a couple of years. Revenues aren't going up anytime soon. The squeeze is still very much on in every business. All the cutbacks have taken the urgency off but it's still pretty tight out here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Revenues aren't going up anytime soon. The squeeze is still very much on in every business. All the cutbacks have taken the urgency off but it's still pretty tight out here. One thing that gets burried in the numbers is the plight of all the small business owners. There are so many that have had their revenues dry up, and have done everything possible to keep things going. You aren't going to see these people apply for unemployment even though their income has essentially vanished. This has really become the heart and soul of the economy, yet all these new policies being handed down are going to stifle any recovery in that sector. Obama has intentionally neutered America in my opinion. As it stands already, I am close to $15K in the hole to start the year as someone self-employed versus taxes and benefits that could be picked up by an employer. And that is assuming an average salary. At a certain point with a long term slow down, and increased government pressure, small business is going to get crushed. Why put up with all the headaches of making sure employees are taken care of, going into hoc, and getting pummled from the government when in the end you can go take a 60 minute civil service test and then rake in $75K a year with your thumb up your butt in some government job? That's what this administration wants, and in a few years you are going to start to see the neutering in full effect. Big business can always patch up the life raft for a few quarters and get by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't think Obama is "intentionally" neutering America but I relate to your sentiment. Most of our clients are larger and hit us with a lot of discount requests in in $Q 2008 and early this year. Combined with late pays and a few smaller people going belly-up, we started the year with our first losing months ever. The owners (me being one) took no pay for 3 months and we did what a lot of people did: Cut dead weight and lessened benefits for everyone until ends started to meet again. But !@#$ are we tight. It's sad and our goal is to restore our culture but laying people off and demanding later hours is tough on morale. The people who are still here are grateful but the atmosphere has changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwight Drane Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't think Obama is "intentionally" neutering America but I relate to your sentiment. Most of our clients are larger and hit us with a lot of discount requests in in $Q 2008 and early this year. Combined with late pays and a few smaller people going belly-up, we started the year with our first losing months ever. The owners (me being one) took no pay for 3 months and we did what a lot of people did: Cut dead weight and lessened benefits for everyone until ends started to meet again. But !@#$ are we tight. It's sad and our goal is to restore our culture but laying people off and demanding later hours is tough on morale. The people who are still here are grateful but the atmosphere has changed. That seems to be the story. The late pays were chronic in the middle of last year to the start of this. What I think has happened is that all the log-jam of everyone owing each other has worked it's way out a bit. If it's a big customer and they will be around for a while, give them a discount. If it was a long standing customer who is in trouble, settle on what they owe and have a short leash going forward. If it is small beans, cut ties and eat it. Most of my books in/out are cleared up now, but I took a lot of pain in settling with a few people, mainly my best guy who I did most of my stuff for. Everyone that is left standing is in the same boat.....the chaos has cleared but we are left at a reduced level sort of saying "Now what?". Even if things don't get worse, which I think you know how I feel by now, it is going to be a slow, steady grind of a recovery. Where can the next bubble possibly come from to boost things to previous levels? People have wised up a bit. They are going to try with the Green Goods BS, but it is going to take a while just to jumpstart what is left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't think Obama is "intentionally" neutering America but I relate to your sentiment. Most of our clients are larger and hit us with a lot of discount requests in in $Q 2008 and early this year. Combined with late pays and a few smaller people going belly-up, we started the year with our first losing months ever. The owners (me being one) took no pay for 3 months and we did what a lot of people did: Cut dead weight and lessened benefits for everyone until ends started to meet again. But !@#$ are we tight. It's sad and our goal is to restore our culture but laying people off and demanding later hours is tough on morale. The people who are still here are grateful but the atmosphere has changed. What doesn't help right now is that health care and cap-n-trade are hanging out there right now as costs that business owners are supposedly going to have to pay for, so I think most businesses -- especially small businesses -- are going to be reluctant to hire or expand until they see just how much money they're going to be paying out for these items. All we here are "more taxes for the rich," and while being rich used to mean you actually were rich, any more that number encompasses small business owners. Why in the hell would a small business even THINK about investing in growth/expansion when they don't know how much they're going to have to fork over for these programs? I'm no economist, but this strikes me as the perfect example of what happens when people who think they're smart don't bother thinking everything all the way through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 What doesn't help right now is that health care and cap-n-trade are hanging out there right now as costs that business owners are supposedly going to have to pay for, so I think most businesses -- especially small businesses -- are going to be reluctant to hire or expand until they see just how much money they're going to be paying out for these items. All we here are "more taxes for the rich," and while being rich used to mean you actually were rich, any more that number encompasses small business owners. Why in the hell would a small business even THINK about investing in growth/expansion when they don't know how much they're going to have to fork over for these programs? I'm no economist, but this strikes me as the perfect example of what happens when people who think they're smart don't bother thinking everything all the way through. Don't forget the VAT tax they will pull when crap-and-trade fails. A small part of me hope it all passes, bring it all on, just so people can see how royally f*cked up the US economy will get. Then, I rememebr its Washington and these things never go away, so I continue to hope against their passage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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