HousingPanic Stupid Question of the Day

August 10, 2006

HousingPanic Stupid Question of the Day

Has America, and not just housing, fallen off the track?

56 comments:

Anonymous said...: Way to stay on point, Keith. Well done.

What's with the photo? Are you saying that landing another man on the moon will solve our problems? Or are you saying we are so far off track that we aren't even on earth?

Have you been drinking again? Didn't we agree that you were going to post, then get drunk, not the get drunk, then post? We need to get you one of those breathalyzers that attach to your PC, and you have to blow before you're allowed to log on.; August 10, 2006 5:57 AM
Anonymous said...: yes, with bush as the engineer

a new conductor might be able to right it though; August 10, 2006 5:58 AM
blogger said...: My point is I'd like to be proud in my country again. I'd like to see it do great things again. I'd like to have visionary leaders who inspire vs. disgust.

I'd like a growing economy, one based on hard work and producing value.

I'd like to see people with American flags on their bumpers stop shopping for chinese cheap crap at Wal-Mart.

I've never seen my country in worse shape, fiscally and psychologically, than it is today. At this very moment.

Criticizing the direction of the country is not unpatriotic. Wanting to fix what is wrong with it is probably the most patriotic thing a person could do.

Leading it to ruin or standing by and doing nothing is probably the most unpatriotic thing a person could do.

And it's morning here in London, having a nice english breakfast and a diet coke.; August 10, 2006 6:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Hell , we cant even see the track for all the BS we are FED!

What happend to saving for a rainy day?

Producing somthing other than paperwork?

Honor and respect for the family, diligent work ethics, absolute values of right and wrong, honesty in business practices, wholesomeness in leadership, respect toward authority, moderation rather than excess, taking responsibility to provide for our own — such as one’s spouse, family and children, and so forth.; August 10, 2006 6:09 AM
Anonymous said...: America has become a slave nation. You must go to work to live. You cannot be self sufficient for any untaxed energy source. You cannot be free in your home without property tax. The income tax and inflation will rob you of any savings. Manipulated markets rob people of their livelihood and extract hard earned savings. What the hell is free or American about any of this? Nothing. Be afraid to speak out lest you get equalized.; August 10, 2006 6:24 AM
Anonymous said...: What happened to that manned mars exploration thingy bush was talking about. ok jokes aside
my parents immigrated to US in mid seventies, right at the end of the war.
He is now 70 years old, still working full time, actually 7 days a week. Unless he uses his vacation time there are no weekends as his employer is not hiring for another position. he does not complain, as he thinks its better than sitting around.
Last year on our 3hr. drive to the hospital where he was checking in to get a heart valve replacement we had a long conversation about life in general, but also about america.
He said when we first came, even in the 70`s when we were very poor, the country felt hopeful, progressive.
civil rights, desegregation, end of nixon, vietnam.. etc.
but now he thinks i would be better off elsewhere in the long run. he thinks there are parasites in the wh. playing with an end game mentality, and that the ideals of the country he beleived in (freedom, hardwork, etc) are being given up,
and the gov. is deteriorating fast.
he is loosing his motivation at the office as his superiors are not professionals in the field but just
appointees with a business agenda. the system is no longer self correcting and the feed back loop is broken. infact now it is clear to him that sending reports about serious problems upstream are penalized and it is generally understood to do a minimum and dont cause trouble.
he works for the gov. in a very critical job regarding meat safety.
think BSE and the billionares in cattle industry.; August 10, 2006 6:43 AM
Anonymous said...: oops he=dad; August 10, 2006 6:45 AM
Anonymous said...: we need a jfk-like leader to make right with the world and get us back on track

otherwise, rome comes to mind; August 10, 2006 6:51 AM
Anonymous said...: I think the world has fallen off the tracks, and soon, something so bad will happen it'll make things like the housing bubble an afterthought. Survival will be first and foremost on everyones minds; August 10, 2006 9:35 AM
Anonymous said...: madcownation said...

that's funny what your dad said, although everyone has their own impressions, because the 1970's were actually a period of real pessimism for the future. Watergate, defeat in Vietnam, Cold War no end in sight, high inflation, high unemployment, Carter's malaise. Etc.; August 10, 2006 10:17 AM
Anonymous said...: anon 10:17

we immigrated from india, and it was more turbulent there. riots, political killings, bodies floating down the river out to sea right in front of our
house, a flood in our area in 77, that killed 35,000, as well as high inflation and just no money circulating. given that back drop,
the war ending, nixon resigning,
and carters more compassionate tone was positive even though it was very difficult to leave family and friends behind, the older ones ever to see again and starting out broke in a new place.
now we have the drift in the other direction, so i think he is nervous for us.; August 10, 2006 11:18 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Madcownation

I hear the newest thing in cattle raising is the feed them chicken shit?

I hear that there is a new regulation prohibiting private individuals from testing cattle for mad cow disease?

What are we comming to?; August 10, 2006 12:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Another illusion from the Bush administration. It is not outer space it is in your face!

The money will be spend on militarizing outer space not exploration. Look at where all that money went. What district. Take a guess. Why is was Tom DeLay's district. Imagine that.; August 10, 2006 12:06 PM
Anonymous said...: anon
"
I hear that there is a new regulation prohibiting private individuals from testing cattle for mad cow disease?
"
what are you getting at?
what i was getting atis with politcal appointees rather than science professionals in the upper levels of management, safety is being compromised for profits in the meat industry.
like at FEMA.; August 10, 2006 12:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Madcownation

you were the one who wrote...

"he works for the gov. in a very critical job regarding meat safety"

So tell us what is unsafe about the meat. Spit it out. Give us the facts.

We all know the governemnt is full of fun loving, high paid, bullshit artists, better known as bureaucrats who know nothing but have a degree in media or disneyland history.; August 10, 2006 1:22 PM
Anonymous said...: well for example, if an inspector find some thing or a worker reports a cow,
with BSE symptoms, rather than have a report that is filed, and investigated, the cow is made to dissappear, preventing tests.
No news is good news.
If a report is filed to supervisors in USda, redarding this dissapearance,nothing comes out of it as well as no emails are replied regarding the file.

I dont know if the meat is safe or not, but the system is corrupted for profit, regualtions are not being followed, reports to higher ups in DC are being ignored, causing morale
to diminish.; August 10, 2006 1:50 PM
Anonymous said...: Step 1) Realise that nobody hates you because of your 'lifestyle' and supposed 'freedom'.

step 2) Start usuing diplomacy instead of war.

step 3) Get out of Iraq.

step 5) Look at why America was such a great country in the 1950's, and why it has become a moralic cess pool today.

step 6) Ban all SUV's

step 7) Turn off your T.V.; August 10, 2006 1:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Patriotism? The United States government, state governments, county governments all the way down to the local community association governments are corrupt in this country. They feed off of the fruits of the honest working men and women of this country like leaches. They allow property taxes to rise with inflated home values and boost their bureaucratic budgets 8-10% per year. They vote themselves massive wage increases. They make sure that they have good pension plans while most in the private sector have lost theirs. They build glorified castles complete with mahogany furniture to rule from. They increase the tax on cigarettes by $2/pk allegedly for smoking succession and health care services but dump the money into the general fund. They run lotteries with millions to one odds of winning then give you the present cash value which they then heavily tax. They debate “flag burning” instead of immigration. The list goes on and on.

I was born in the 50’s. I have watched a great country turn into a piece of S%$T.; August 10, 2006 2:08 PM
Anonymous said...: I think it has fallen backwards, people spending money they don't have or will be able to pay back. Gov't doing the same thing with our money. Loss of higher paying jobs. Children that won't or never required to do any work. Fat, fat, fat people everywhere, just plain lazy.; August 10, 2006 2:23 PM
Anonymous said...: Hell yeah! Just get in the car kid - I have some candy!; August 10, 2006 2:38 PM
Anonymous said...: completely off track. simply put, bad management. W and his buddies have systematically looted most of the treasury to benefit a few. and they are arrogant about it, and they get the masses to believe them.

keith is in london, i think i will head to vancouver.; August 10, 2006 3:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Everyone just relax. A correction in lifestyles is coming and soon enough you'll be damn lucky if you can even find a job for both you and your spouse. Mom and/or dad will be able to stay home with the kids and owning just a single car will be considered a luxury. We are looking at a future where picking berries on a farm will be considered a good hard days work and large cities will be considered a dangerous place to live.

So stop worring about the future and what track we are on. Our wasteful ways have already put us on a path of decline and soon enough we will all look back and wonder what the hell were we thinking.; August 10, 2006 3:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous,

I agree that that is what the future holds......however when the great depression hit people were used to hard manual labour as an honest day's work. Today however manual labour for 90% of the population is making a sandwich.

People are in for some rough times....however because they are not actually used to the physicaltrains a depression/ deep recession will bring......they will turn to the easy way out...

Buy a gun.; August 10, 2006 3:40 PM
Anonymous said...: The thing I have the most problem with is the general unwillingness of most Americans to discuss this kind of stuff.
its almost impossible to 'criticise' the Us in any way, without generating some kind of knee-jerk reation, resulting in someone saying 'shut up! American IS THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!', or some such drivel.
As if, by criticising, you're personally responsible for the state of the nation, and if you don't shut up then the whole country will go to Hell in a Handbasket at your whim.

Democracy means nothing if you have no choices. Freedom is illiusory if you're not actually free.

Maybe its my fault for growing up in a country where frredom of speech is actually practised, where people debate and argue about the political scene, without fear that some knuckle-dragger is going to pull out a gun and shoot you, if you say something they don't like.

Everybody here just seems to want to go with the herd. No dissention, no discussion, no opposing views. If you're a "Tall Poppy", you get shouted down for being Un-American. So you eventually shup up and follow the rest of the herd into the Abattior...

Funny thing is - I do actually think America is the greatest country in the world. Its certainly the richest and most powerful one, in fact its the only Superpower left on the planet.

So, instead of leading the world in genetic research and alternative power, we have a government that bans it on religious grounds, in direct contradiction to the law of 'Seperaration of Church and State'.
We have young people who leave High School (if they graduate at all) with one of the worst literacy/numeracy records in the developed world, so unfit to fill the roles of leading scientists and researchers that the US has to import them from other countries.
There's a society that's so addicted to oil, so wasteful and mindless of the squandering of a finite rescource that the mere thought of using less, being a bit more frugal, is enough to send shockwaves though the whole society.

Its crazy and depressing - there's a whole generation of allergic butterballs out there - so over fed and sanitised that its no wonder that so many of them have asthma, diabetes and all the other illnesses of old age, while still teenagers. And these are the people who will take over in 25 years time!

And, despite the raucous cries about the greatness of America, so few people actually travel outside the United States to confirm this. 75% of Americans do not have a Passport!. Instead, they gawp at the TV and get all their information about the world from carefully chosen media outlets. No one's saying you shouldn't love your country, but its hard to put yourself, as a people, in perspective if you have no reference to any other socieites. Amazingly, very few people in the world live as you do, and that includes other 'G8' countries too.

I'm sure I'll be shot down in flames for saying what I have. I'd just like to point out that criticism doesn't neceesarily mean hate. Every country in the world - including the nutty Fundalamentalist Islamic ones - acknowledges that the US is the most powerful country in the world, but everybody just wishes you'd use it for good, rather than always looking to your own agenda first. You have the manpower, the physical and intellectual rescources to make a change for good for the whole planet, if only you would.
But you don't , and you scare people by running around imposing your views and millitary might, no matter the consequences.

Anyway, coffee finshed, normal service will be resumed shortly. Flame away.; August 10, 2006 3:42 PM
Roccman said...: Cool picture Keith - where'd it come from?; August 10, 2006 3:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous,

I agree that that is what the future holds......however when the great depression hit people were used to hard manual labour as an honest day's work. Today however manual labour for 90% of the population is making a sandwich.

People are in for some rough times....however because they are not actually used to the physicaltrains a depression/ deep recession will bring......they will turn to the easy way out...

Buy a gun.; August 10, 2006 4:03 PM
Bill said...: America is so out of touch with reality it is not even funny..oh and i was thinking last night while i was pushing a broom at my second job...that this rate hold does not hold any merit. I understand what Ben is trying to do (I think) by holding rates one last time to give the IO ARM people an opportunity to get out of that product and save your home.

But! with values dropping like a stuff pig what options do thses folks have? the rate hold came to late in the game and the drop in housing is already being felt like a tsunami.

It also amazes me with the ammount of credit card use I see..I work 2 jobs because i have no Plastic..but will admit..cash flow does get tight with kids and all, but I manage and will continue to manage..some days tho you wake up and say why do i keep going what is the motivation here.; August 10, 2006 4:41 PM
Anonymous said...: "Maybe you'll even get your name up in lights by the time the collapse occurs -- something you seem to desperately crave."

Every bear will have his day.

The problem is that the cheerleaders won't take their beatings like a man. Instead, they'll be looking to scapegoats for CYA.; August 10, 2006 4:57 PM
Anonymous said...: the posts thus far seem to follow the same trend that those on this board have towards the markets: "bearish" or pessimistic.

AMerica is still the greatest country in the world. We still have the most rights, freedoms, and opportunities open to us.

Flame on.; August 10, 2006 4:57 PM
Roccman said...: Civilization as we know it is coming to an end soon. This is not the wacky proclamation of a doomsday cult, apocalypse bible prophecy sect, or conspiracy theory society. Rather, it is the scientific conclusion of the best paid, most widely-respected geologists, physicists, and investment bankers in the world. These are rational, professional, conservative individuals who are absolutely terrified by a phenomenon known as global "Peak Oil."

Matt Savinar - www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net; August 10, 2006 5:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Since people have forgotten, a thread needs resurrecting...

America is great; it's society that's failed.

Realize, back in the 70s, we used to have dialogues on whether or not Milton Friedman and Univ of Chicago supporting Pinochet's totalitarian govt in Chile warranted him not getting a Nobel Prize. These things are still inside ourselves, however, society's failed.

Instead of focusing on real improvements, throughout the 90s, we got into the world of bubblenomics and the idea that GUIs, telcom, and other get-rich-quick schemes are conducive to a better world. Slogans/notions like "make change from within", etc became synonymous with corporate cronyism where stupid generation Xs (yes, my peers) thought that their generation had more options than their elders considering that before the 90s, there were real jobs in every industry outside of IT whereas afterwards, most white collar professionals served the IT/telcom sectors. I couldn't believe the stupidity of my own classmates. There were a few of us, in the real sciences, who saw that basic R&D was in decline and that 'taking data from one place and moving somewhere else' wasn't real science but marketing. Well now, cerca 2006, the rest of the world has caught up with America in the sciences, the smart Americans in sciences went into finance, law, or medicine because they like to be employed. And the few idealists are in postdocs, publishing shoddy papers just to keep some grant money on the table.
Along with that, we'd answered a telco/IT bubble with a housing one. How smart or forward thinking is that to all you free marketeer types? (*snide remark: I bet most of you market intellectuals don't even know what a differential equation is?)

Sorry, but it's society that's failed. If America simply stuck with its tried and tested 'Marshall-to-Eisenhower' ways, there could have been a transition from a cold war society to that of a heterogeneous modern world instead of a banana republic of scam artist CEOs, corporate cronies, and people who kiss their asses.

Someone says:

"I must disagree however with the notion that america and the american society are sufficiently separate entities"

I respond:

Of course the two are flipsides or amphoteric, however, America, as a modern nation, is based upon the Marshall-Eisenhower ideas of building up our allies, military readiness, and commitment to R&D for future growth and development.

That's somewhat different from the isolationism of the lost generation or even the pre-1914 generation. It's a modern view of a Franklin-Madison type of outlook.

When Milton Friedmanism started to take off with the Greenspan era, society failed to realize that govt (or national) R&D is what gave life to things like Apollo and modern computation, not the world of IPOs and easy money. Once this type of erroneous thinking became endemic, much of American research fell off the cliff and we saw the demise of the national labs, supercollider projects, and then soon afterwards, the private ones (like ATT/Bell Labs, Xerox, etc). Today, Google execs love to talk about themselves in the same breath as Nikola Tesla as if they could even shine his buckle. Sorry, but search engines do not make for real science research and doesn't even come an inch towards what Tesla had contributed to our country. And if generation Yers can't see that then perhaps we do need to send all our science jobs to Russia, eastern Europe, and Asia because that's where our society had failed. And without this bulwark, why would any international corporation need America around in the future since nothing's either invented, developed, produced, or proliferated here? I know that the whole brand name thing is big (Hint: iTunes) but cmon, it's the meat and potatoes that counts in the long haul. A 300 million persons first world nation isn't built on Amazon or iTunes store fronts but on the DuPonts, IBMs, GEs, etc, all of whom are sending R&D abroad.

So from the cold war, where the Marshall-Eisenhower "American" model was in place, we gave Milton Friedmanism and the "Banana Republic" wonks carte blanche on the future. Well... the future's in motion and we can see where it's headed.

Someone says:

"It is because we don't encourage or support our kids to go to college."

I respond:

We have plenty of people who'd gone to school, to study the sciences, just to end up in dead end careers (see university postdocs) because of lab closings and other short term corporate plans of outsourcing core R&D.

Today, any science student with A's (and a few A-'s) is considered a moron if he doesn't go for law, medicine, or finance with his mental skills. With that in mind along with a deteriorating, insecure career track for scientists and engineers, why should any American be interested in getting an advanced degree for science other than an MD/PhD to become a brain surgeon with research credentials?

=== con't ====

Ok people, using the whole decline of true research and development as a backdrop, where's the upside when the tide goes out this time?

After the 70s stagflation, we had computers, wireless, and the net take off in a big way. The origins of that take off began in labs at Xerox, BBN, AT&T, Digital, and the DOE/DOD labs. Upon entering the commercial sectors, private industry took off with these innovations with the jointed support of financiers and industrialists.

Ok, fast forward to 2006, most of those labs are either DOA or close to going nowhere with idiot press releases like drawing molecules on a tip of a needle, BFD.

Now, we also have housing at historic highs with no base of R&D to chain react the next generation of products and services. So where's the next '80s and '90s going to come from? From China? Russia?

You see, when housing goes down, the whole enchilada goes down this time. Since the current housing prices are based upon the future of America looking like its past (think from 'American Graffiti' to 'American Pie') then we have a serious issue of collapsing prices to that of third world like valuations in non-wealthy communities.

Someone says:

"I've worked in China for several years and have seen the massive number of ambitious English speaking college kids who will toil endlessly for 1/10 equivalent pay in the USA."

I respond:

Don't forget, these kids will get work at DuPont R&D in China (FYI, Duppie had sent 2K science R&D jobs over there during the past 2-3 years) or another like multinational corp, build an expertise in product development, and then start their own companies with China's accumulated capital along with American knowledge.

Realize, it's one thing to study science in school but to get a full course of experience, in making something, is worth its weight in gold.

End result, no local American lab can compete with both the capital and manpower abroad. The final result: twenty years later, the US is another Argentina.; August 10, 2006 5:20 PM
Anonymous said...: The dumbing down of America is alive and well! Our Society has failed! When we are more concerned about what Paris or Brad are up to, and not the fact that those lil rat bastards raghesds are out to destroy us and we do Nothing about it.....we're screwed; August 10, 2006 5:27 PM
Anonymous said...: You guys are all the biggest losers. Angry, jealous, bitter, liberal Dems.; August 10, 2006 5:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Anon...
America is still the greatest country in the world. We still have the most rights, freedoms, and opportunities open to us.

But...do you? How do you know?

The opportunity part I can agree with - lots of people come to the States to make a beter life for themselves, or because they can get rich.

As for freedom and rights - it doesn't appear that you have any more freedom and rights than any other developed country.
Note 'developed'.
I'm not talking about North Korea, or Zimbawe, or Lebanon, or any of the other #ucked-up countries in the world.

But to imply that countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, The UK, the EU countries, etc.. have less freedom and rights is simply not true.
In fact, many of these countries have more personal freedoms and rights than the US: freedom to marry if you're gay, the right to an abortion, the right of women to enter the priesthood, the right to euthanaisa should one want it - all these are 'old news' in other countries.

I'm not getting at the US, believe me. But there's obviously something fundamentally wrong with the nation - we wouldn't be here spouting doom-and-gloom if everything was rosy, any of us. Proclaiming 'we're the greatest nation in the world!' just doesn't cut it any more without some sort of introspection and thought.; August 10, 2006 5:30 PM
Anonymous said...: "You guys are all the biggest losers. Angry, jealous, bitter, liberal Dems."

I bet you don't know what a differential equation is.; August 10, 2006 5:36 PM
Anonymous said...: "You guys are all the biggest losers. Angry, jealous, bitter, liberal Dems."

BTW, Eisenhower was a Republican.; August 10, 2006 5:37 PM
Anonymous said...: We're morally bankrupt because of America-and-God-hating, I'm-a-victim-of-something, government-take-care-of-me, entitlement-minded, liberalism, PERIOD!; August 10, 2006 5:42 PM
Bill said...: You guys are all the biggest losers. Angry, jealous, bitter, liberal Dems.

And you are a conservitard, who belives that things are grand, probably, no doubt, the same lame ass who belives what "DICK" Cheney said about Joesph Loserman this morning and I quote...Cheney:

Lieberman Loss “Disturbing” Because al Qaeda Is “Betting They Can Break The Will of The American People”...

Bite me FLASE FLAG ALERTS!!! watch as they come in buckets cause of the Loserman loss..WE the Replublicans Thieves will save you VOTE for us or DIE!!!

I am an Independent an in Independent style KISS MY ASS!; August 10, 2006 6:22 PM
Bill said...: One could have predicted the False Flag this morning..funny to cause when I woke to go to work..(yes we here in america do work, well some of us do the others just borrow to live and live to borrow) anyway I said to the wife when we were having coffee, watch as this Lieberman loss will cause a panic in the Rethuglican party, sure enough..

British police on Thursday foiled a suspected plot to blow up several aircraft mid-flight between Britain and the United States.

What a fucking joke..are we really that Gullible as human beings..not that conservitive republicans are human beings...but they will do what ever it takes to hold on to their seats..even if it means flying a plane into a building.; August 10, 2006 6:36 PM
Anonymous said...: We have young people who leave High School (if they graduate at all) with one of the worst literacy/numeracy records in the developed world, so unfit to fill the roles of leading scientists and researchers that the US has to import them from other countries.

This true and untrue. The average high school graduates are pretty lousy---but those are irrelevant for the purpose of for being a scientist or researcher. All that matters is the highest-IQ tail. It's like looking at the exploding obesity problem in high-schoolers and then saying "But we won't ever get any NBA-level players".

This is the pipeline for R&D jobs: being the smartest kid in your high school class taking college level work, then going to a high level school and acing your undergraduate studies in the ball-busting majors like mechanical engineering, physics, chemE, etc...and then going to a major graduate school at PhD level and starting research in your 2nd year.

At this level, there is no actual shortage of potential American students, and the ability is not lacking here or among Chinese & Indians.

Here what is lacking: a career path.
The reality is this: Chinese and Indian students have much better prospects for jobs both in US and especially back in their home countries. They get a US green card, and maintain their home country citizenship. It's not that they are willing to work hard for peanuts---their wages here are about the same as US workers, and when they go back to China & India, their financial and social position will be substantially higher than in the USA. They aren't toiling in sweatshop factories, they often have 4 or 5 bedroom houses in fancy neighborhoods, with a maid and cook, and a wife who often doesn't have to work.

The Indians & Chinese in US R&D departments make it much easier for the companies to transfer the work out of the US as well----they have contacts and can easily set up the departments back in India and get people.

They, and not the Americans, can go back home and do not need any work papers. When the company oursources, they will be the heads of the department back in China & India---their career goes up as the US people get fired.

China is impossible for Americans because the language is so hard (and culture alien), and Indian government won't give work visas very much for US scientists because they have so many of their own. There are no anti-discrimination laws in China, and few in India.

Hence, both in the US and in the East, those workers are preferred, and will be treated better.

That's why all those students are studying hard. There were plenty of hard studiers in the 50s and 60's when science & engineering was a good career path in the USA.

Other factors: Universities prefer foreign students because usually their governments pay full out-of-state tuition for them, but native US students pay lower rates (but it's on their own dime if they don't get a fellowship).

Summary: it is complete BS right-wing propaganda to assert that this outsourcing is an inevitable consequence of US high school students being stupid. It is 100% a phenomenon of short-term hypercapitalism for a few to get rich at the expense of the nation's future.

End result, no local American lab can compete with both the capital and manpower abroad. The final result: twenty years later, the US is another Argentina.

Except Americans are much fatter and uglier, and they don't know how to party or dance.; August 10, 2006 7:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Very good point, Anon - it is more to do with the job prospects than anything else.

I can totally understand someone not wanting to spend years studying, only to get a badly paid university research job, while all around them thier peers are making a killing in international finance.

I wasn't impying that US kids are stupid, far from it, but as Another Anon pointed out - the 'smart' kids are getting into finance, business and economics rather than the hard sciences.

And, once you get R&D being dictated by the religious beliefs of politicians, then you're in a lose-lose situation. Because Bush is a born-again, the US wil lose valuable time and resources in research and will no doubt come in last in the new bio-tech industries.; August 10, 2006 7:42 PM
foxwoodlief said...: What's with the Photo? No, I think instead of saying landing a man on the moon will solve our problems, Keith is saying the government continues to lie to the American people. We didn't land on the moon, see the flag waving in the breeze? We don't really have the ability to land on the moon today let alone in 1967. It was part of the US propaganda war against the Russians. Same with our economy, inflation, the government doesn't tell us the truth.; August 10, 2006 8:12 PM
Anonymous said...: It's true that the Bushista stem cell stuff is ridiculous but this will not last a long time.

One other thing to consider:

research and actual deployment in physical science and engineering brings major economic growth benefits.

Maybe biology research doesn't as much? It contributes to medications sure, but these are now becoming enormous cost drains rather than productivity multipliers the way "hard" tech is.

The one thing where biology could really help---genetically modified plants---is now effectively banned by the know-nothings.

--- Just another unemployed scientist.

I have a short term consulting arrangement to do statistical financial market research. Moving bits around, no useful product.; August 10, 2006 9:10 PM
Roccman said...: Ghawar is dead.; August 10, 2006 10:02 PM
Anonymous said...: "We didn't land on the moon, see the flag waving in the breeze?"

That was the movie, 'Capricorn One'.; August 10, 2006 10:24 PM
Anonymous said...: my blood is red, white, and blue. i'm a reel amerikan. i saport my presidents war on terra. i have faith in god to bless my cuntry. you people are unamerikan. your hurtin my cuntry with your negitive atitoods. why don't you go to irak if you don't like this cuntry? wats rong with you peeple? do you want my cuntry to fale? your either with us or agenst us!!! them arabs want us fightin each uther so they can take over and make us all ride camels, ware turbines and wershup satin.

i'm the futer of this nation. your atitoods are helpin the arabs destroy us.; August 10, 2006 10:56 PM
Anonymous said...: "I have a short term consulting arrangement to do statistical financial market research. Moving bits around, no useful product."

Well nowadays, that's a science-to-technology career, data mining analyst.

Hopefully, if you spin it right, you can get into risk analysis for a trading company and possibly have a long term career.; August 10, 2006 11:01 PM
Roccman said...: Really we did not land on the moon....hmmmmmm.

Does that also mean 18 guys with box openers hit 75% of their targets on September 11, 2001?

BTW how many buildings in NY did fall that day?; August 10, 2006 11:08 PM
Anonymous said...: speedingpullet said . . .

"So, instead of leading the world in genetic research and alternative power, we have a government that bans it on religious grounds, in direct contradiction to the law of 'Seperaration of Church and State'."

Wrong. There is no government ban on genetic research. Hundreds of universities and private corporations are engaged in it. There is a restriction on the use of government funds for some stem cell research. That's it. Why the government should be funding research for huge drug companies is never mentioned in these statements. The drug companies complain, but they never give away the drugs federal funding produced.

There is no ban on stem cell research, there never was a ban on stem cell research; this belief is hooey. Abortion clinics sell fetuses and embryos to research facilities all the time; the selling of aborted babies brings in more money than the abortions themselves. Clients are unaware of the profits involved; they simply sign releases giving the clinics permission to provide "tissue" for "medical research." Considering how much money is involved, the clinics should be paying THEM to let them do abortions.

By the way, I'm an agnostic, and couldn't care less about religious rules and regulations.; August 10, 2006 11:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Liberalism means being 'open minded' to the point your worthless brains fall out!; August 11, 2006 2:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Take it easy! That photo is only a land broker trying to see how many million dollar condo's he can pack in that area!; August 11, 2006 2:31 AM
Anonymous said...: NOT the end, not the begining of the end, but..the end of the beginning. the shit storm comes.....all you have to do is look at the horizon, or not... as you choose, but it does not change the facts ..............................................................This was the era when we abandoned the gold standard. Study the "Nixon Shock" of 1971 when, in the face of increasing trade defecit strain, the Bretton Woods system collapsed, following the United States' suspension of convertibility from dollars to gold.; August 11, 2006 3:30 AM
Anonymous said...: This dude nailed it:

Anonymous said...

America has become a slave nation. You must go to work to live. You cannot be self sufficient for any untaxed energy source. You cannot be free in your home without property tax. The income tax and inflation will rob you of any savings. Manipulated markets rob people of their livelihood and extract hard earned savings. What the hell is free or American about any of this? Nothing. Be afraid to speak out lest you get equalized.

Thursday, August 10, 2006 6:24:49 AM; August 11, 2006 3:40 AM
Anonymous said...: To quote the famous cartoon closing:

"That's all Folks!"

The best years of this nation are behind it. The 21st century will be the decline of the American empire..where is it written that 6% of the planet's population can't keep on gorging themselves and manipulating other countries and cultures forever?
History will document Bush and his wacko conservative nitwits as the beginning of the American decline.
Its OVER.; August 11, 2006 4:46 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey! I'm the america-hater that posts on here all the time!

Yes! America is a shithole of greed, selfishness and fear with a big portion of mindless consumerism on the side! America stands for all the worst things in humans and has given up even trying to look like it wants to see good things for other countries.

It needs to go, be destroyed in some way in order to save the world from it's disease. A split-up of its territory would help quarantine the worst offenders, republicans, and hopefully nake them a better target for the other people in the world who rightly hate their guts!; August 12, 2006 12:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey! I'm the america-hater that posts on here all the time!

Yes! America is a shithole of greed, selfishness and fear with a big portion of mindless consumerism on the side! America stands for all the worst things in humans and has given up even trying to look like it wants to see good things for other countries.

It needs to go, be destroyed in some way in order to save the world from it's disease. A split-up of its territory would help quarantine the worst offenders, republicans, and hopefully nake them a better target for the other people in the world who rightly hate their guts!; August 12, 2006 12:18 AM

HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008

August 10, 2006

HousingPanic Stupid Question of the Day

56 comments:

About Me

HP blogs & websites

Blog Archive