u/ratzero

2,095 post karma · 936 comment karma · joined Aug 2007

ratzero

Misleading title concluding on non-proven allegations from one article, I'm not going to give an award to engelk for intellectual honesty here.

Here's some facts about fraud during the 1995 referendum here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_referendum,_1995#Controversies_post-referendum

En français ici: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9f%C3%A9rendum_qu%C3%A9b%C3%A9cois_de_1995#Controverse_au_sujet_du_d.C3.A9roulement_du_r.C3.A9f.C3.A9rendum

Faites-vous votre propre idée.

ratzero

Can you do it with 2 balls?

ratzero

You don't have to use Paypal. If you use your credit card from Indiegogo's site, they send the money to the project account directly, without using Paypal.

ratzero

"Salomon, vous êtes juif?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABFrN0dY-Cw (Louis De Funes, Rabbi Jacob)

ratzero

I'd like to know more about it too. Honey prices are only up 6% per year since 2006: http://www.honey.com/honey-industry/honey-industry-statistics/unit-honey-prices-by-month-wholesale

If all bees were dying I would expect a more dramatic price increase. Somebody has an explanation for that?

ratzero

13262, with the 4X4!

ratzero

I always liked that type of music. Reminds me of my old 8-bit games.

ratzero

I bet there is a market in China for camel's meat.

ratzero

Why are you talking about Paul Krugman? The article talks about Milton Friedman. Are you confusing the two?

ratzero

Open up banks balance sheets and show me the capital sitting on the books. If not, your point is moot.

You started this thread, so I think it would be fair for you to prove that capital is not sitting on the books and provide some facts.

Here are some info that may help (took me 5 minutes):

See the growth in "Cash and Cash Equivalents" from 2008: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=WFC+Balance+Sheet&annual http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=bac&annual http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=JPM+Balance+Sheet&annual http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=C&annual

...and in the news: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/04/21/stingy-megabanks-swimming-in-cash/ http://www.thestreet.com/story/11087318/1/wells-fargo-has-balance-sheet-ammunition.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

ratzero

I think the government is seen as the most stable institution in our society, hence is seen as the most competent to keep archives of proofs of ownership.

Standardization is rarely emerging from entrepreneurial and consumer calculation. It's usually either done by a group of large companies, governments or public organisations.

I think we are all for transparency and freedom of information, De Soto included. Standardization helps transparency and commerce.

My 2 cents.

ratzero

2000-2010 will be remembered as a very bad decade for investment in the US. The economic and fiscal dogmas of the era did not deliver. We forgot that in the end, efficiency and innovation are what fuel the growth and improvements in quality of life, not tax cuts and small government per se.

ratzero

A breathing guide can help people slow down their breathing. Here's one for iTouch, iPad, iPhone: One Minute Relaxation

You can set the timer to last up to 15 minutes, which makes about 100 breaths. It also includes reminders to meditate twice a day, which I find useful.

ratzero

I've never seen a graph establish a causation by itself, it would be interesting to see.

I still think this graph shows the effect of Bush's FIRE economy on the capacity of people to buy stuff.

ratzero

In 2006 I was thinking that inflation was grossly underestimated because housing prices were going up so fast.

This graph shows how much W. Bush made the USA poorer and shows that an income buys more in 2011 than in 2007.

ratzero

That's right, being killed is like being pollinated. :-)

ratzero

Do you know any wildlife that pay taxes?

My flowers pay taxes to socialists, "big hive" bees all the time.

ratzero

You are right. May I also add:

  • Food prices are going up because of bad harvests this year in many countries. Price elasticity=0.04, which means that to temporary lower demand by 1% you need a temporary 25% increase in price.

  • The money supply (M2) decreased from last year, at least in the US (-2%) and UK (-5%).

  • There is some evidence of physical hoarding of commodities (cooper, cotton, wheat, etc.) by developing countries like China.

So yes, some prices are going up. No, there is no runaway inflation in the US, and no, the money supply is not out of control.

Our biggest problem is unemployment and poverty: a huge waste of human ressources.

ratzero

Suppose there was a 5% or 10% deflation, why would I want to take the risk to invest my money in anything?

ratzero

There are plenty on Amazon, some under 20$: http://amzn.to/hho9sf

Many products around 40$ have a very good rating.

ratzero

Here are some promo codes:

FP3W4NNW3FF3 KJLKNMK44KEK PWE3M4JNL9RY WH3E633HWPMJ RPYKPL4L34RR

Please give me feedback if you use them.

ratzero

I made this iPhone App to remind myself to relax twice a day. Please try it and tell me what you think!

ratzero

“And think of all the money that would be saved,” Mr. Gates went on, turning sarcastic. “It’d be like 5 percent of the dog food market in the United States.”

What about cat food?

ratzero

Don't forget to eat your greens!

ratzero

Canada is independent, is it isolated from the rest of the world?