This week’s Birds Eye View Contest is posted.
Barney Frank has introduced his “Make Room for the Real Criminals” bill
It hasn’t been talked about much, but this is really bad news for McCain.
Can’t Bring Yourself to Type the Word “Ass”?
Eager to share our brilliant political commentary and blunt media criticism, but too genteel to link to horsesass.org? Well, good news, ladies: we also answer to HASeattle.com, because, you know, whatever. You're welcome!
Oh boy, maybe I should send Barr some money! lol
If any of y’all haven’t clicked on the link over there to the upper left, with the blonde with the pearls, well, ya oughta. The video may not be very effective at selling Ron Wyden’s idea of health care reform, but it’s really funny.
Oh just Fuck Eyman. Fuck him.
Yikes, I’ve been away for a bit and HA looks completely different. I suspect it’s better and I’ll get used to it. Change, as we know, is more often good than not. On a different note, Bob Barr is a bastard. We saw the shit he tried to pull with Clinton. And, while I can understand why he wanted to lick the whipping cream off that beauty queen’s breast, as a public official he probably could have exercised better judgment. Still, Bob, run.
No Awrt, wead my biwl.
Well there’s Barr and there’s that little gaff where McCain called his wife a cunt.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....95429.html
The Huffington post is good but I pwefewr to get my news from the national enquiwer. Way more twuthful.
Say what you like about Barr, but he is at least a true conservative. Not like the rest of the a**holes masquerading as conservatives today.
s/
Jim
(still haven’t attempted to operate a bagpipe assembly)
Jim
He may have become a “true conservative,” but he sure wasn’t such when he was in Congress. He was an asshole of the first order, one of the leaders of the neocon shock troops that have hurt this nation so much.
As a genuine musician myself, what might your claim to fame be? I actually miss the Piper. He was one of about 2 rightwingers on this blog who could write a coherent sentence.
@7
Maybe you’d prefer to hear it from The Drudge Report?
http://www.drudge.com/news/106.....nt-trollop
Why does Cindy stay with that asshole??
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....ops18.html
This means that there is AT LEAST a 1 in 5 chance that JohnBoyMcBush has mental problems. Do we want to take a chance on more crazy in the White House?
@9 What happened to Piper? Did his wife kill him for the insurance money? Did she cut him up in the bathtub with a chainsaw to get rid of the body like Mrs. Neslund did to Captain Rolf? They should’ve named the new West Seattle bridge the Rolf Neslund Memorial Bridge because it never would have been built if he hadn’t hit the old one with his ship before his wife killed him and sawed him into pieces in the bathtub.
@ 3, I would really prefer Timmy remain completely fuckless.
It would serve the insipid little watch salesman right. Why would anyone fuck a souless bullshit artist who peddles social decay to the kool aid drunk minority, enriching himself as he laughs at those he defrauded?
Oh, right… there is always a supply of self loathing Republican women.
@ 13 Roger Rabbit, I always know I can count on you for some local lore of a most uplifting nature.
That is why I love your furry little self.
As for Pooper, I imagine a music lover found him fiddling with his bag of strangled cats, and beat him over the head with any handy blunt instrument.
Bagpiping is a thankless job.
And for good reason.
I see on Stefan’s blog a bit about the Seattle mayor suggesting independence for Seattle fromthe rest of the country. Sounds like a good idea to me.
You guys can be your own country and the rest of us can go on about our business. A definite win-win situation, if you ask me!
“Ti-Po”, that’s nice.
I actually miss the Piper.
Me? NOT!!! Yeah, he knew grammar and usage but the content?
TOTAL RIGHT WING BULLSHIT!
My liberal, progressive friends.
Goldy’s fundraising is doing pretty good. Let’s get him to his goal.
I put my $40 in.
Small compensation for covering the ups and downs of governor’s election contest, getting Brownie fired, alerting voters to the sociopathy of the woman abuser Irons, pointing fun at the charlatans at the “other blog” and many other services Goldy has done for our community.
Let’s strongly support his voice.
@13,15
I hadn’t heard about that!
http://www.historylink.org/ess.....le_id=8137
Hey Mr. Cynical,
How’s that ISRG stock pick going for ya???
I see it’s dropped 16.57% in value just TODAY! Must be run by a bunch of dumb shit Republicans
I TOLD YOU it would top # $340. Obviously, you have no fucking idea how to invest.
Stop watching Jim Cramer’s Mad Money.
GBS–
My broker agreed with you on IRSG. Never bought it.
In addition to the Wells Fargo I bought in March @ 27.25, we also bought:
McDonalds on 3/24 @ $54.10
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) on 3/28 @ $56.10
Microsoft on 3/31 @ $28.10
NOV was a play Rog Rabbit coaxed me into. I then sold out somewhere in the 80’s I think…
and just bought back 3 weeks ago.
The Rabbit originally bought in before I did.
I procrastinated and finally bought in about 7-8 points higher than he did.
We both made money.
I just made more….more shares & I sold & bought back.
I love to see Rog Rabbit make money on Corporate Stocks!!
It’s the American way.
There are too many other opportunities now to even consider IRSG.
Glad I listened to you & my broker.
I did think it was a fine company that was about to split.
Mr. Cynical.
Do you ever make a bad stock play?
It seems you ALWAYS time the market juuuuuust right, or back off that purchase right before the stock tanks.
Well, one thing we agree on, making money on corporate stocks is good. And, if you like the idea of making money on stocks then for SURE you vote Democrat.
Because, if you look back at the stock market since the Great Depression you’ll note that when Democrats are in the White House investors average about 17% return vs. 12% when Republicans are in WH.
So, if you’d like to make about 50% more on your returns it’s real easy to do – Vote Demcorat!
It’s good for business and good for America.
GBS–
I’ve made a few bad stock plays…none lately.
I do not like to mess around with Short-Term Capital Gains. I rarely buy for short-term plays.
These recent purchases are with the intent of holding 1 year or longer.
As for voting Democrat–
The 1st thing that will happen is to raise the tax on dividends and Long-Term gains….both Obama & Clinton will do it.
It will cause the market to tank.
I have a great broker.
She got me into the market years ago….1980
She helped me to make a few excellent timing moves in & out of the market.
Got all out in 2001..back in in Jan. 2003
I got all out when the market 1st hit 14,000 in 2007.
Now I have been averaging back in.
Timing is everything.
And having a broker you can trust.
Well do your broker a HUGE favor and post her contact info.
We’d all like a great broker on our side and I’m sure she’d like to add clients.
Looking forward to you posting her contact info.
thanks,
GBS
http://www.komotv.com/news/business/17917414.html
FINALLY someone who is a big CEO wig type has to pay up for deceit!
@17 You can always count on wingnuts to be in favor of balkanizing the whole fucking world.
@23 I bought my NOV shares before the split, which means I paid $22 to $28 a share in relation to today’s price. (NOV closed today @ $74.05.)
@25 “The 1st thing that will happen is to raise the tax on dividends and Long-Term gains….both Obama & Clinton will do it. It will cause the market to tank.”
Why shouldn’t they? Why should workers pay 2 or 3 times as much tax on money they worked for than you and I pay on stocking market winnings? Why should we get a big fat undeserved tax break when the country is running record deficits? How about doing the right thing for your country instead of the greedy thing for yourself, for once?
It’s not true the market will tank in response to a CG tax increase. People with excess cash still have to invest it somewhere, and historically the stock market has produced the best returns of any investment medium. The only thing that will happen from raising the CG tax is that the rich people who make most of the capital gains in this country will pay higher taxes, hedge fund managers making over a billion dollars a year will pay the same tax rate as the custodians who empty their waste baskets, and the deficit will be less.
“I have a great broker. She got me into the market years ago….1980 She helped me to make a few excellent timing moves in & out of the market.”
Hogwash. No one can time the market or individual stocks. On the rare occasions when it looks that way, the timing was merely a lucky coincidence, never to be replicated.
@26 I’ve learned not to depend on brokers. I’m better at this than they are.
Anyway, your broker isn’t giving you her own opinion based on her own research. Retail brokers don’t research stocks, they’re told what to say and which stocks to push. The latter often turn out to be stocks the brokerage account is overweighted with, which the green eyeshade boys in New York want their brokers to clear off the shelf — this is basically the same thing as a grocery store putting the stale cottage cheese in the front of the dairy case. I don’t want that stuff, and you shouldn’t either.
Another reason for picking your own stocks is because if you fuck up you’ve got no one to blame but yourself. This forces you take responsibility for your decisions, which encourages you to be more careful. And besides, your broker has a tough enough job as it is — it’s bad enough he has to listen to your whining without being at fault, too. I prefer to relieve my broker of the latter burden.
I’ve made $8,914 this month, and April isn’t even over yet! Unfortunately, business sucked in January, February, and March, so I don’t have a profit in 2008 yet. I’ll probably make about 10% to 15% this year while the billionaires are losing their asses.
Hey Cynical! Check out Cabela’s (CAB). This stock cycled between $15 and $28 every year since going public 3 years ago, and is currently under $14. I wouldn’t jump into it just yet, because CAB is a retailer and the retail sector will be trashed for a while yet, until consumers have spending money again. But outdoor stores do better than general retail during a recession. What do a lot of guys do when they’re out of work? They go hunting or fishing. They don’t get to do that when they have to work, so this market perks up when the economy is lousy. When the boss hands them a pink slip, they stop at Cabela’s on the way home to stock up on bait, ammo, and camping supplies! I haven’t bought this one yet but I think this stock will bottom out soon, so I’m stockpiling cash to load up on it. There could easily be a $10 or $15 upward move. Yeah, it’s gonna take a while, but if you have to wait 2 years to make $10 on a $14 stock, so what? That’s better than the money market fund pays! Disclaimer: Forward-looking statements like this involve a substantial degree of risk and are speculative in nature.
Getting back to my point about capital gains taxes, why should a slacker like me who does no work, produces nothing except belly lint, and adds no value to the economy get a lower tax rate than the producers? That’s stupid!
This policy destroys the incentive to work, we’ll become a nation of flippers, and our GDP will go to zero. It’s bad enough that I get paid for this, but giving me cheap taxes on top of it adds insult to injury! Why should anyone do any work under a system like this?
All I’m saying is, level the playing field between Workers and Owners. The producers deserve to pay the same taxes as heirs and us lazy good-for-nothing capitalists. Tax everything as ordinary income, and if there’s money left over after eliminating the deficit, cut everyone’s taxes equally. That’s all I’m saying.
Correctnotright:
The Dow climbed over 500 points last week.
Nothing to say?
Interesting
Rog–
High capital gains tax rates discourage capital investment. Without capital investment, there are no private sector jobs.
Encourage capital investment==create jobs.
I believe the tax rate on earned income should be lowered. And government get back to 2 things…infrastructure & public safety.
That’s it. As you know, I’m no Bush Fan…and am disappointed other R’s as well. But I’m not so desperate as to vote for a Socialist (O-blah-blah or Chillary).
GBS-
Do you have over $1 million of liquid assets to invest? If so, give me your e-mail address. Otherwise, continue to linger in the minor leagues.
Rog–
I understand the concern about Retail Brokers pushing their garbage. I’ve been fortunate. She brings me ideas & research…I decide. Have I done everything she suggests? NO.
Have I done some things she cautioned me not to? YUP.
But in the long run of approx. 28 years…making a couple ALL OUT moves and getting back in after major declines has served me well. Is it luck?? To some extent.
I don’t worry about daily or weekly changes.
I try to pick good companies and stay with them UNLESS I see a major overall market shift coming. Only got all out twice in 28 years..but did some shifting of apportionment between stocks & bonds. Was never 100% in stocks.
Rog–
Kind of sounds like you are a Steve Forbes “flat-taxer”.
I liked his plan. Took a lot of politics out of taxes.
Cabela’s is an awesome place to shop. Hard to understand why they haven’t done better. They are expanding….and spend waaaay to much in opening a store. Takes a while to recoup the New Store investment. In the long-run I agree with you, it’s a good play. Yahoos like me running around with time & money looking to play outdoors. It’s a prime Baby-Boomer company. Better than REI.
Will check it out on Monday.
Thanks-
Rog–
Did a quick look at Cabela’s.
Retailers are tough.
Good growth in Sales of approx. 15%/yr.
However, earnings linger around 4% of sales.
Nordstrom is around 7-1/2% earnings as % of sales…although their growth is slower.
However PE Ratio is 10.63 vs. Nordstrom’s which is 12.61
I don’t know what to make of it.
It might be worth a flyer..if you like retailers.