[X3pilot]

Methinks someone has a case of teh ghey. You know, typical Family Value Conservative. NTTAWWT.

DADT.

oh wait

 

[jonKranked]

Ha! I'm in Texas baby we drive Man trucks here is my Ford F450 (thats a ton and a half yankees) King Ranch 6.4L Diesel 4x4 crew cab it gets 11mpg on a good day and 9mpg with my 5th wheel behind it so suck on that enviro-weenies!

This was taken at the hermosa creek trail head this summer we left it there so we could do the bolam pass to hotel draw ride out and back (no shuttles for these Texans)

unless the seats are made from whale penis leather i am dissappoint

 

[stevew]

lulz.

 

[H8R]

But then again, I'm sure you can pray with that oh so great gov. of yours, that will work right???? After all that praying for rain, didn't your state go up like a torch????

I guess that God, and infallible right wing idiocy really did a good job of doing exactly the opposite of what it was supposed to.

Well said.




WAIT....


I typed "well said" to Montashu...


THE SEVENTH SEAL HAS BEEN OPENED

 

[JohnE]

Meh, little bitchpants Hello Pu$$y wont be back, like he said. Just showed up to troll and then run away like George Bush from Vietnam. Good riddance, loser...

 

[mandown]

i'm late to the party on this issue. i just got wound up about it today, and it feels like the launch of the new iPhone; everyone is worked up about it, but i'm having a hard time understanding what it is all about.

i want to see what the outrage is about, but even with the help of google, all i can seem to find are stories about white people complaining about problems faced by every type of people for as long as this country has been around. it certainly isn't the battle-cry of the greatest generation and those who bootstrapped themselves to success in the face of adversity.

it also seems like the story of people who were given enough rope to hang themselves, and took it, going to schools, buying houses, and having kids they can't afford. it sounds like people who want communism, but are afraid to call it that. the movement lacks focus, and provides easy fodder for the media. i'm not picking a side, for or against, but i can see the flaws with the tactics, which are being used by the opposition.

the death of the american dream has been poked at since the day after the dream, and Hunter S. Thompson wasn't just writing a cool story about a drug binge in Vegas.

somebody help me out and point me in a direction to understand the complaints and the requested corrective actions. so far, all the press i a can find is people complaining about being in tough times.

 

[syadasti]

it also seems like the story of people who were given enough rope to hang themselves, and took it, going to schools, buying houses, and having kids they can't afford. it sounds like people who want communism, but are afraid to call it that. the movement lacks focus, and provides easy fodder for the media. i'm not picking a side, for or against, but i can see the flaws with the tactics, which are being used by the opposition.

There has always been risky assets but never repackaged and sold as otherwise on such huge scale of fraud. The interconnected system had feedback all over the world and the problem was amplified, people who had nothing to do with are mad as they should be - they were not in debt (or severely in debt at least) but their lives were negatively impacted on a large scale. The financial sector is at fault has not been held responsible or fundamentally changed to stop such failures in the future. This isn't an opaque problem, this is the reason why mainstreet is upset. These ground level protests are just like any other in a democratic society - some people don't have a clear picture but they understand there is an inherent problem that needs to be addressed, it hasn't been. We live in a democracy and you are upset because people aren't sitting on their asses doing nothing like our broken political system?

Also, have the people on the right forgot about how stupid their people acted in their psuedo grassroots movement - "gov - hands off my social security" and the like, please.

There have been people articulating the problem clearly:

 

[syadasti]

Also confirmed reports of efforts by the right to actively distort the news on OWS:

http://my.firedoglake.com/cgrapski/2011/10/09/american-standard-editor-admits-to-being-agent-provacateur-at-d-c-museum/

 

[jonKranked]

Q. Why are liberals so angry?

A. They are always applying faulty logic and contradicting themselves.

Seriously it’s been fun kicking over the ant pile for the last couple of days and watch y’all scramble around with the usual knee jerk responses, troll, idiot, retard, etc… The more that I know that it annoys you the bigger laugh I get when I read your responses. Anyhoo I’m outta here for a while but I promise to drop in from time to time to stir the pot and to break up your leftist circle jerk.

FYI this occupy Wall Street stunt is gonna end badly for you folks you can mark that down.

so, i hear you liek mudkipz?

 

[mandown]

We live in a democracy and you are upset because people aren't sitting on their asses doing nothing like our broken political system?

I'm not upset. I just see the anger and frustration and lots of talk about the failure of the American Dream. When I read the 99% blog, I see many stories that are unfortunate. What I'm not seeing is the thread that pulls them together, nor the end game they are asking for.

When hippies protested, it was against Vietnam. When workers go on strike, it is for changes in employment conditions. I'm trying to wrap my head around what is being asked for and will provide satisfaction.

The best I can figure is that they want "Wall Street" to be held by the ankles and have the change that falls out redistributed, and they want "The Government" to be their Robin Hood.

 

[jimmydean]

I think it goes deeper than that. There isn't a common thread other than the fact people are pissed. Pissed about what? They have no demands, there is no end game. It's just a bunch of pissed people with little or nothing better to do.

It's getting some attention, so someone will need to step up to "speak for the group" at some point.

 

[jonKranked]

the problem that will eventually come to light is how wall street has lobbied the gov't in order to create their own set of laws. Not to mention the complete and total moral bankruptcy that has infected corporate america.

My question is this: what exactly is it that these executives and ceo's are doing to earn a $100 million salary/bonus? Cuz it sure as hell ain't doing anything worthwhile like curing cancer or aids.

 

[mandown]

That is a feature of being unemployed, that you have time to protest.

It will be interesting to see who becomes the voice, and the spin they put on it.

Right now, it seems a bit of a pity party. I'm still open to being sympathetic, but I don't feel I understand what to do.

 

[mandown]

My question is this: what exactly is it that these executives and ceo's are doing to earn a $100 million salary/bonus? Cuz it sure as hell ain't doing anything worthwhile like curing cancer or aids.

They gave us iPads, Thirsty-two ounce sodas, and tri-vection ovens . . . and we bought them. Because we demanded them for less, the manufacturing was moved out of the country, taking jobs with it, leaving behind unemployed consumers.

 

[clarkenstein]

Because we demanded them for less, the manufacturing was moved out of the country, taking jobs with it, leaving behind unemployed consumers.

more like "the shareholders demanded a better margin and more profits"...

 

[mandown]

I'm pretty sure we happily took the bait.

 

[jonKranked]

I'm pretty sure we happily took the bait.

 

[mandown]

don't try to troll me by tolling with your troll related troller-poster.

 

[jonKranked]

don't try to troll me by tolling with your troll related troller-poster.

that's actually an actual movie. I watched it this weekend too.

 

[syadasti]

That is a feature of being unemployed, that you have time to protest.

It will be interesting to see who becomes the voice, and the spin they put on it.

Right now, it seems a bit of a pity party. I'm still open to being sympathetic, but I don't feel I understand what to do.

How often does change (social, political, financial, etc) in the creation/history of countries include a clean/clear consistent plan? We aren't talking about entrepreneurs or corporations with a business plan and there are plenty of things outside the control of anyone regardless.

Does Greece or the various countries (Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc) in major political or financial upheaval have a clear path to resolution? Things don't usually work the way you are proposing. The world is never black and white as HK claims and having a plan and staying the course can even be far worse (see GWB).

 

[Silver]

I'm pretty sure we happily took the bait.

Bah, that's allright. We got a decent discussion out of it eventually.

 

[dante]

more like "the shareholders demanded a better margin and more profits"...

Actually, right now I'm placing the blame squarely on the American consumer... Selling bikes I get to talk to a lot of consumers, and while quite a few lament that the bikes aren't made in the US, nobody's quite ready to spend $1500 to $1700 just to uy a comparable Made in the USA bike... It would cost me more than I'm selling complete bikes for to source a bike's worth of US tubing, let alone welding, painting and parts. Could domestic manufacturing come back? Sure, but only when Americans choose to pay more (or are forced to pay more) for US made goods...

 

[syadasti]

Could domestic manufacturing come back? Sure, but only when Americans choose to pay more (or are forced to pay more) for US made goods...

Its industry dependent, but modern capital intensive factories with a lot more automation make it feasible to make products in the EU or US at a price competitive with Asia.

 

[stevew]

Actually, right now I'm placing the blame squarely on the American consumer... Selling bikes I get to talk to a lot of consumers, and while quite a few lament that the bikes aren't made in the US, nobody's quite ready to spend $1500 to $1700 just to uy a comparable Made in the USA bike... It would cost me more than I'm selling complete bikes for to source a bike's worth of US tubing, let alone welding, painting and parts. Could domestic manufacturing come back? Sure, but only when Americans choose to pay more (or are forced to pay more) for US made goods...

should we look for the union label?

 

[mandown]

If only someone would have warned us that this type of thing could happen, before it got out of hand . . . Oh wait, they did:

"Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural."
~Aristotle

 

[jonKranked]

sooo.... money has become self aware like skynet?

 

[dante]

should we look for the union label?

Nope, you should look for the label that says... (wait for it) Made in the USA.

 

[stoney]

sooo.... money has become self aware like skynet?

Enough with skynet. If you fear the skynet, get a manual. There are not that many comps in manuals vs. cvt's.

 

[syadasti]

Concise editorial which sums up OWS:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/opinion/panic-of-the-plutocrats.html?_r=1&src=tp&smid=fb-share

Panic of the Plutocrats
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: October 9, 2011

It remains to be seen whether the Occupy Wall Street protests will change America’s direction. Yet the protests have already elicited a remarkably hysterical reaction from Wall Street, the super-rich in general, and politicians and pundits who reliably serve the interests of the wealthiest hundredth of a percent.

And this reaction tells you something important — namely, that the extremists threatening American values are what F.D.R. called “economic royalists,” not the people camping in Zuccotti Park.

Consider first how Republican politicians have portrayed the modest-sized if growing demonstrations, which have involved some confrontations with the police — confrontations that seem to have involved a lot of police overreaction — but nothing one could call a riot. And there has in fact been nothing so far to match the behavior of Tea Party crowds in the summer of 2009.

Nonetheless, Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, has denounced “mobs” and “the pitting of Americans against Americans.” The G.O.P. presidential candidates have weighed in, with Mitt Romney accusing the protesters of waging “class warfare,” while Herman Cain calls them “anti-American.” My favorite, however, is Senator Rand Paul, who for some reason worries that the protesters will start seizing iPads, because they believe rich people don’t deserve to have them.

Michael Bloomberg, New York’s mayor and a financial-industry titan in his own right, was a bit more moderate, but still accused the protesters of trying to “take the jobs away from people working in this city,” a statement that bears no resemblance to the movement’s actual goals.

And if you were listening to talking heads on CNBC, you learned that the protesters “let their freak flags fly,” and are “aligned with Lenin.”

The way to understand all of this is to realize that it’s part of a broader syndrome, in which wealthy Americans who benefit hugely from a system rigged in their favor react with hysteria to anyone who points out just how rigged the system is.

Last year, you may recall, a number of financial-industry barons went wild over very mild criticism from President Obama. They denounced Mr. Obama as being almost a socialist for endorsing the so-called Volcker rule, which would simply prohibit banks backed by federal guarantees from engaging in risky speculation. And as for their reaction to proposals to close a loophole that lets some of them pay remarkably low taxes — well, Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the Blackstone Group, compared it to Hitler’s invasion of Poland.

And then there’s the campaign of character assassination against Elizabeth Warren, the financial reformer now running for the Senate in Massachusetts. Not long ago a YouTube video of Ms. Warren making an eloquent, down-to-earth case for taxes on the rich went viral. Nothing about what she said was radical — it was no more than a modern riff on Oliver Wendell Holmes’s famous dictum that “Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”

But listening to the reliable defenders of the wealthy, you’d think that Ms. Warren was the second coming of Leon Trotsky. George Will declared that she has a “collectivist agenda,” that she believes that “individualism is a chimera.” And Rush Limbaugh called her “a parasite who hates her host. Willing to destroy the host while she sucks the life out of it.”

What’s going on here? The answer, surely, is that Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe realize, deep down, how morally indefensible their position is. They’re not John Galt; they’re not even Steve Jobs. They’re people who got rich by peddling complex financial schemes that, far from delivering clear benefits to the American people, helped push us into a crisis whose aftereffects continue to blight the lives of tens of millions of their fellow citizens.

Yet they have paid no price. Their institutions were bailed out by taxpayers, with few strings attached. They continue to benefit from explicit and implicit federal guarantees — basically, they’re still in a game of heads they win, tails taxpayers lose. And they benefit from tax loopholes that in many cases have people with multimillion-dollar incomes paying lower rates than middle-class families.

This special treatment can’t bear close scrutiny — and therefore, as they see it, there must be no close scrutiny. Anyone who points out the obvious, no matter how calmly and moderately, must be demonized and driven from the stage. In fact, the more reasonable and moderate a critic sounds, the more urgently he or she must be demonized, hence the frantic sliming of Elizabeth Warren.

So who’s really being un-American here? Not the protesters, who are simply trying to get their voices heard. No, the real extremists here are America’s oligarchs, who want to suppress any criticism of the sources of their wealth.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on October 10, 2011, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: Panic Of the Plutocrats.

 

[SuspectDevice]

Actually, right now I'm placing the blame squarely on the American consumer... Selling bikes I get to talk to a lot of consumers, and while quite a few lament that the bikes aren't made in the US, nobody's quite ready to spend $1500 to $1700 just to uy a comparable Made in the USA bike... It would cost me more than I'm selling complete bikes for to source a bike's worth of US tubing, let alone welding, painting and parts. Could domestic manufacturing come back? Sure, but only when Americans choose to pay more (or are forced to pay more) for US made goods...

True Fact: Looking at sales by area code density southern Manhattan is my #1 market.

Also True Fact: The majority of these customers buy my bikes to "atone for their sins" and because they want to harken back to their salad days when they were putting x's on their fists and punching each other in the face in acts of non-conformist anti-consumerist rock and roll debauching.

True Fact #3: One of the primary reasons I've started building custom bikes is so they can buy more bikes from me.

Buying a less-expensive American-Made bike is an act of noncomformity for them in a world driven by status, and the very novelty of being able to buy something that's made in the US by a vocal and openly anarchic blabbermouth gives them a certain amount of cache among their peers.

Consumer education and social pressure works on every level of our economy in every economic class.
Totally nifty.

(In case you didn't know Spooky(aka me) is the only company left that builds affordable road racing frames in the USA)

THAT IS SO FRIGGING F@CKED UP.

 

[Silver]

(In case you didn't know Spooky(aka me) is the only company left that builds affordable road racing frames in the USA)

THAT IS SO FRIGGING F@CKED UP.

Curtlo isn't around anymore? About 5 years ago I was thinking of a custom frame and his name came up frequently as being decent quality and price.

 

[stevew]

Nope, you should look for the label that says... (wait for it) Made in the USA.

i have three times over....but wouldn't a union label make it that much more fantastic?

 

[SuspectDevice]

Curtlo isn't around anymore? About 5 years ago I was thinking of a custom frame and his name came up frequently as being decent quality and price.

If you call me right now you can have a 2.2 pound race-tested, UCI approved black-anodized race-rocket on your doorstep Friday morning for $800.

Think Cannondale.

Lots of my customers used to buy cannondales before they went to Taiwan. Or they work at a company like Trek and can buy a durable, lightweight frame from Spooky for less than they can get a bike that they are comfortable crashing from their employer.

 

[Silver]

Ah, gotcha...you meant in stock geometries on fast delivery. Makes sense now.

 

[Fool]

sooo.... money has become self aware like skynet?

Funny you should mention that.

 

[pnj]

Interesting article about bmx frames being made in the USA vs. overseas.

http://espn.go.com/action/bmx/blog/_/post/7039366/the-resurgence-us-made-bmx-frames

 

[mandown]

octopi wall street

 

[IH8Rice]

 

[JayBear]

Now I want a gallon of milk and some chips ahoy..

Theres probably 500 people posted up in Portland still. chanting.Holding signs. Being Portlandites.

 

[mandown]

how's this for perspective? you iPhone tweeting douches.