Saffire

Well isn't that what all money is, anyway? Just IOU paper. People will trade their IOUs just like they trade any other type of debt, and they'll use it to buy stuff. The govt has gone bankrupt, it should just shut down.

...said the Canadian, who probably can't stand temperatures over 80 degrees for more than a few minutes at a time. ;)

Twilight! Twilight! :laugh3:

RedGirl, take a look at the typical Men's Health magazine cover: http://www.menshealth.com/mhguys/2005.html Both sexes have to put up with the same crap. There were loads of handsome, very sweet guys at my high school and college who were ignored by girls in favor of losers on the sports teams. The media makes fun of the hapless young lad who's incapable of getting the god-like beauty queen to even notice him. So it goes both ways.

RedGirl, that's why there's such a thing as "publicists". In that line of work, you do everything in your power from preventing photographs like these from being published, and you wine & dine magazine editors to keep them from getting mad at your clients! The service magazines provide is to advertise products to women, so the more scandalous the photos, the more exposure the ads will get. The idea is that you'll think, "Oh, if only she had used that Oil of Olay facial cream, then she wouldn't have been all spotty!"

The "Daily Male", as you disaffected women enjoy calling it, criticize men as well: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1103449/Fears-fallen-Hollywood-heart-throb-Joaquin-Phoenix--bloated-dishevelled-shadow-self.html I just went to the front page of the website and that was prominently featured.

Media doesn't have much to do with it. I know that's probably heresy but here's why: 1. There's no indication that anorexia (as a percentage of the total population) is on the rise. Sure there are more anorexic people, but that's only because there are more people. 2. If the media is pressuring us to be thin, then they're doing a terrible job. Over 60% of Americans are overweight, and Europe isn't far behind. These numbers are going up. The media may make you FEEL bad for being overweight or unhealthy, but it's not actually changing the way you behave! I remember there was a study recently that showed you are far more influenced by your friends than the media. So if you have thin friends, you'll eat less, and visa versa.

Pomegranate Izze http://www.izze.com/ It'll blow your mind, plus it's really healthy!

lol, my best friend took up smoking and drinking a couple years ago, and if you look at old pictures of us together, he looks like he's aged 10 years and I haven't aged a day. It's amazing what smoking alone does. But seriously, looking younger than you are is a blessing. I'm 22 and I look like I'm 18 and people always ask me where I'm planning on going to college. :D

Hah! At the end he says the stock market has hit bottom and he's very bullish on it. It's true, inflation will cause the dollar-value of your stocks to double in the next couple years! :laugh3:

Dang you've grown up Nick... I remember that first pic you posted a while back. I bet you'll look young again after the shave/haircut though. Nice sweater, btw, you look sharp.

For some weird reason I find that hot. Not that you'd care! ;) But I think most girls would be thrilled to sleep with a virgin guy, they're kinda rare at your age. BTW, dudes: beware eating pussy. Get vaccinated for HPV first, cause otherwise you can get oral cancer. No joke.

As a skinny guy, I totally agree! The only store that sells clothes that fit me really well is Banana Republic. All the department stores that sell cheap clothing cater to plus-size people. Maybe it's only that way in America, particularly in the south. But skinny people are a minority here.

It'll only end up this bad if our government forces us to remain on the dollar and begins rationing supplies instead of allowing prices to fall. I think it would be pretty cool if the components of the DOW or Nasdaq came together to surprise the Obama administration and proposed an alternative currency backed by gold. Almost like stores like Best Buy create "gift cards" which can't be forged... it's like a currency, but in that case it's backed by a dollar. Now imagine if there were credits backed by real supplies... inventory. It would save retail. But this is highly unlikely. It requires too much planning and the stakes aren't as apparent yet. We might get something like this in the next few years if government doesn't do something reasonable first.

Want.

I suspect sexual attraction works similarly for both sexes, it's just women that try to complicate things and obsess over their own bodies to the point they blame it all on men. My theory: In your teens, regardless of whether you're a guy or a girl, you're attracted to stereotypical ideals of male/female bodies. That means Ken and Barbie dolls with big dicks and big breasts. Then as you get older, you begin to refine your tastes a little and start to notice people who aren't "traditionally sexy". But you're still generally looking for someone who's healthy and has a symmetrical face. While women criticize men for being superficial or interested in studies like these, I've got news for them: ladies, your obsession with unrealistic romantic stories like those found in Hollywood movies such as "Twilight" is probably more harmful in the long run.

Being gay, I have to admit I'm pro-global warming. It means that eventually men will quit wearing those stupid suits and ties to work and start going out in boxers & tees. That's awesome. :laugh3:

Hey Chuck, good post. The reason gold initially fell was because of a few factors: 1. The US federal reserve was (and continues) to sell their gold reserves in large quantities, in an effort to artificially increase supply and hold the price of gold down. Their motive to do this is pretty obvious. 2. Investors easily confuse falling asset prices as for deflation. So when stocks fell in price, everyone wanted to be in dollars as it was perceived to be the most stable store of value. That quickly changed when the fed reduced interest rates to near zero! In truth, deflation is a decrease in the supply of money (which never actually happens unless The Joker burns a huge pile of cash like in that recent Batman movie). 3. Commodities prices tend to fall during the onset of a recession, in anticipation of lower demand. Gold is included in the iTunes playlist known as "Commodities", so when oil and copper fell, so did gold - even though it shouldn't have. It's just a matter of time before people realize the difference (gold has few useful applications in industrial manufacturing). The thing about China holding our bonds is this: Chinese politics is extremely touch-and-go. They are constantly trying to keep their GDP growing at as fast a pace as it has been for the past decade, and to do that they rely on the health of the American consumer. So devaluing the dollar would be disastrous for the Chinese government - they would be perceived as incapable of continuing the good economic conditions there. Therefore, the Chinese have played along with America for longer than they should have. To some degree they knew trading our debt was like buying into a Ponzi scheme, but they wanted to kick the can down the road a little longer - not unlike our own politicians. We've finally reached the end of the road. Americans will mistake the economic downturn for something wrong with the free market, and demand more government regulation. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Corey, China recently surpassed Japan as the largest holder of US national debt. And MrCool011 is right, Americans will pay the debt back through inflation, not direct increase in taxes. Either way, it will cause a dramatic decrease in our standard of living here compared with other countries. Our economic growth will be stagnant for the next decade unless the dollar is pegged to a commodity like gold. The problem is that people assume national debt isn't an issue that affects them directly. They are more prone to see something more visceral (like terrorism) as a threat. But the cost of having a government is massive beyond comprehension. We'd probably be 30 to 40 years ahead of where we are now without taxation or inflation.

I'd love to pay my federal income taxes in pennies! All Americans should do it. Or better yet, just stop paying taxes altogether.

Enough sissy vampires, how about some Chris Evans:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/3526645/Citigroup-says-gold-could-rise-above-2000-next-year-as-world-unravels.html Let's hope this recession is so terrible that it shakes our confidence in government and that we can finally say "NO!" when politicians offer us platitudes of hope and change. Reinstate the gold standard, end the Fed, and abolish government once and for all! [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oGMEEE11Lc]YouTube - True News 6: The Truth About Voting Part 2[/ame]

Smart kid! It's too late, though. The people in charge now don't believe in Austrian economics, so the dollar is doomed. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/30/AR2008113002217_pf.html This is a very telling sign of what's to come. Domestic troop deployment. The purpose of this is to quell the inevitable uprisings by Americans once it becomes abundantly clear their government has failed and their paychecks are worthless.

My sister always gets mad at me whenever I do my impression of Mr. Mayor from Powerpuff Girls around her friends. I swear I get the voice spot-on, though.

That's my homeskillet, Josh. Josh is babysitting and the pantry is devoid of real food. All that's left is Hot Pockets and grape juice. It is my mission to hook him up with Aleluvscp!