is...trading (occasionally), trying to improve our political system (persistently) and just hangin' out.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Is anyone wondering where those who had deposits in failed banks put their money after their banks closed?
FDIC gives depositors their money back and I doubt they put it under their mattress.
Bank closings are good for someone!
Fred
I understand your point.
The question is, "How - exactly - can the people do these things?"
It can't happen as long as political parties control the selection of the people who represent us in our government.
Fred Gohlke
What tools do we have?
Voting for politicians selected by political parties isn't working. Shouldn't we be thinking about finding a better method?
Fred Gohlke
Actually, I don't think you've got that quite right.
The argument that "lower taxes means more jobs" is flawed. It depends on what taxes you're talking about.
Lowering taxes on individuals and small businesses produces more jobs. Lowering taxes on the parasitic monoliths that dominate the world's economy destroys jobs.
Along this line, we would do well to recognize the toxic nature of the misleading terms "growth" and "productivity". They are nirvana for giant corporations (and their investors), but they are disastrous for the humans among us.
The question of whether or not life is "better" is subjective. For those who've never experienced the camaraderie of shared triumphs and tragedies, how can they judge?
Fred Gohlke
It wouldn't cost money - it would cost public participation in the political process, and that won't be happening anytime soon.
Fred Gohlke
Ahhhhh, Doug
Holding horses was not my concern
So Patroclus I simply must spurn
Taking screws out, you see
Is beyond poor old me
'Cause I've still got a whole lot to learn
I sought Bruce's kind word of advice
Which surely would be worth the price
He's a magnanimous man
Who helps all he can
So I don't have to just roll the dice
Fred
Good Morning, Bruce
I've just returned from the school where they teach:
"Water and keyboards don't mix"
I had a spare keyboard, so I'm up and running, but I wonder ...
Is there any chance the original keyboard is not destroyed?
Is it worth testing when it dries out or is it a lost cause?
Fred
"Boogerville is more of a state of mind."
A state of mind aided by a background of trumpet tones, blending with the cares of the day.
Fred
Alas, now what can you do?
'Cause Paulie will surely get you
He'll make up your face
That he'll get someplace
And splash it all over with goo!
Fred
Gosh, that seems like a silly lament
'Though I'm sure it was really well meant
If I stepped on your toes
Rest assured, heaven knows,
It was not with malicious intent.
Fred
Of course not.
1) That is not the issue.
2) There is no need to look of implications. The post is clear enough.
Fred
I, for one, agree with Cintrix on this.
There are very few touchstones on iHub. If we can't trust management to leave a board name alone, it's a problem for all of us.
There is absolutely no reason and no justification for changing a board name. If you don't like the board, delete it, but don't change it's name.
Starting a new board is trivially simple. Comandeering an existing one is absolutely off-limits.
Fred
Thank you, Blasher
I should be able to make that work.
Fred
Is there a place on the net where I can download historical closing prices for NYSE, NASD and SPY, and, if possible, new high and new low counts?
Fred
Yup, you sure have an artistic license
Of which we have seen the quintessence
Though the pictures you drew
And the jokes that you brew
Occasionally show adolescence
But how could I ever throw stones
'Cause you never evoke any groans
Even folks in Fort Worth
All jiggle with mirth
And your postings sure rattle my bones
Fred
Awwwww, G'wan
'IRP representative' wasn't even a gleam in Matt's eye in those days.
Fred
re: "and a probable QE3 coming soon ..."
If you hear anything on this, please mention it --- politics or not.
Fred
Trumped!!!
You old goat.
Fred
If you're working on a similar target, may I mention that it gets better with age.
I don't think I even liked her (well, you know, kinda not so much) for the first 40 years. Men like me can be very slow to recognize value.
Maybe that's why I'm on the short side of the spiders.
Fred
Can I play?
January 25th, 1952
Sheesh, even I wouldn't have put up with me for THAT long.
Fred
Folks interested in New York sports should note that Bill Gallo died on May 10th.
Gallo was a cartoonist with the New York Daily News. He had a wonderful, insightful way of depicting the foibles of New York area sports teams, stars and followers.
Fred Gohlke
Well, we stopped John Corzine's sale of the New Jersey Turnpike --- and threw him out of office, too.
Now, we need to stop this travesty --- but I'm not sure we can generate enough anger.
Fred Gohlke
Thank you for that. Do you happen to know if our Governor Christie is one of the 35?
Are you not concerned about having a Constitutional Convention when political parties control our electoral and legislative machinery? They have already sold our country to the vast pools of money that provide the funds they need to get themselves re-elected. What reason do we have to believe we (the people) will have any greater voice in a Constitutional Convention than we have in our present government?
Our founders sought to prevent the rise of parties. Indeed, George Washington, devoted much of his Farewell Address to warning against the evils of partisan politics. If you doubt me, check out:
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp
Among a great deal more, Washington said, "... the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it."
Yet, parties arose in our country in spite of our founders best efforts. Now we have proof that their dire predictions were accurate. They have become, as Washington predicted, "... potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government."
So far, I've seen very little recognition of this terrible reality. Where are the thoughtful people among us who can help us correct this tragedy?
Even so, a Constitutional Convention is not something that's likely to happen quickly. If one is convened, there is a chance (however small) that we can examine the changes in detail before they are enacted.
Fred Gohlke
That seems like an accurate assessment, to me (I'm not current on the numbers, but think yours must be close to right.)
Is there no danger that the group in dire straits will start taking the law into their own hands? Wouldn't it make sense to devote a smidgen of our intellectual capacity to the question of how --- exactly --- our great nation came to be dominated by deceit?
We can figure it out, you know. Of course, as I've said before, thinking is hard work.
Fred Gohlke
Now, that IS strange.
Yesterday (Saturday), I had the privilege of chauffeuring my wife to Macy's at Menlo Park (NJ) and then to Macy's at Woodbridge Mall. Both places were jammed. I've no idea what was going on. It may have been some special Macy's sale, but it was unusually crowded.
I noticed because it's bad news for me. I'm expecting a pull-back and could get caught with my shorts down.
Fred
Hi, Doug
Thanks for the help.
My greatest use of Text Search is in a directory with 68 files that average 2,400 lines of text (and, of course, on those rare occasions when I update one of my dBase programs. I'm usually looking for something I know exists, but am not sure where it is. Since I still use WordStar, I just use ^QF for searching within a given file.
I've never used FIND or FINDSTR, so I tried both of them. They're fine as far as they go, but both have drawbacks from my point of view. (To tell you the truth, even after all these years, I still don't know what a "regular expression" is.) Of course, I've used Text Search for so many years, it would take a long time to get accustomed to anything new, anyway.
The GULP command worked great and the report is nicely formatted. Still, as I say, the multiple file search is important to me. When I have to go into one of the archives, it's indispensible.
Thanks, again, Doug
Fred
Hi, Doug
I'm having a bit of difficulty with the command line. I've read the help file several times, but can't seem to get things going. On my last attempt, the program put me at a ">" prompt, but I had no idea what to do at that point. It acted like a closed loop, ignoring ESC and several other things I tried. Control-C got me out of it.
The search I attempted was to find "shugart" in any .TXT file, and I tried several versions of:
GULP *.TXT SHUGART
and
GULP SHUGART *.TXT
Can you give me a clue?
Fred
You got dat right!!!
Still, is it a stand-alone program that will run on DOS?
If so, I could (temporarily) rename my present TS, install yours, make it my new TS, and see what happens.
[Not this week, though, 'cause I have an 'event' Thursday that's occupying all (well, almost all) my time.]
Fred
Those are very nice features, Doug.
Fred
Gosh, ERHC
You may not be old enough to remember it, but we used to have a song (many, many years ago) that fits your comment perfectly. It started out like this:
Oh, My Goodness, Doug
Did you get the idea for that from Peter Norton's Text Search?
[TS, Text Search, Version 3, (C) Copyright 1984, Peter Norton]
I still use TS. I'm not sure what he wrote it in, probably Assembly Language, but it's really handy. If you've done that in C, it would be a nice tool.
Fred
Good Morning, Doug
First and foremost, I apologize for my slow response. It was unavoidable.
Do I ever?
I used to justify my rights
With fisticuffs and other fights
Now I'm old, my hair is white
So I avoid even your cruel slights
Where ya been, Ol' Ergo Sum
Long time, no write, from my old chum
Now, at last, you toss a crumb
Ya think that'll make my old heart hum?
Fred
Ohhhh, OK.
Thanks for thinking about it, though.
Fred
Thanks, Al.
I know there are a lot of bright people out there. It will take time to find them and get them thinking.
Fred
Ooowwwwitch!!!
I just had occasion to go to the board I started, back when the world was new.
Somebody got in there and took out all my formatting!!! I mean, every place I used two successive carriage returns (that's what we used to call the [ENTER] key), they took 'em both out and everything is run together.
Now, I'll confess. Nobody goes there, so it prolly don't make no nevermind, but, Gee, I'd like to put it back like it was.
When I go to 'Edit iBox', it's all formatted, just like it's s'posed ta be, but it's not displayed that way.
Yes, I found the 'Editing Hints' and the 'About FCX Editor', but I'm at a disadvantage. I only read English.
Is there something simple I can do to fix up the formatting?
Or should I jest fuhgeddaboutit?
Fred
Good Morning, Doug
Thank you for your comments. I may not agree, but I'm grateful you took the time to write them.
You may be right about the feelings of the others on this board. Some have expressed approval of points I've made, but most have not. However, I'm not looking for approval. I'm hoping to encourage others to look at our common problems from a different perspective. My greatest hope is for critiques such as yours.
You may be right when you say the people on this board want to impose their positions on those who don't agree with them, but some might wonder if we can't do better than that. There may be a few who haven't thought about the destructiveness of the Divide and Conquer environment in which we live. It is always possible that somewhere out there are a few people with the wit and the wisdom to move us away from our self-destructive course.
Your bottom line is that I stand alone. If so, perhaps someone else will provide the spark we need to look for a way to improve our society. Until then, I'll have to stand here. I've nowhere else to go.
You are sure I recommend folly. That's a valid opinion, but I've never learned how to argue against opinions. Are there rational arguments I can consider?
Speaking of rational arguments, I like your description of the two agendas you attribute to "the other 406". As to the first, I have no issue with others personal economic battles. The second one, though, is worthy of comment:
I think you are absolutely right. Most people are afraid to let go of their political agendas. They fear they will be weakened or show weakness if they question their political views. Fear is a powerful stimulus. That is one of the reasons the evolution of democracy proceeds so slowly.
Hmmmmm. Not a bad idea.
Fred
Thanks, bb
I think the drug situation abominable.
I'm also with you on Afghanistan --- and have been for a l-o-n-g time. Here's a little something I wrote in 2002: #msg-456582
The corruption in our political system is not new!!!! What amazes me is how few people can look it in the eye.
I mean, c'mon, they do this stuff right in front of us --- while we whine about the terrible Liberals or the awful Conservatives.
You'll never find a better example of Divide and Conquer than American politics.
Fred Gohlke
Would it not be better to recognize that political parties are conduits for corruption?
Immense amounts of so-called 'soft money' buys the laws that are bleeding us dry. Consider this simple, almost trivial example: