Saffire

If you put Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin in a room together, it would be like having Einstein and Newton host a symposium at Oxford. I grow tingly at the thought, but alas, their schedules conspire to keep these two great minds apart.

I think the Republicans in America should retool their party platform to more closely resemble the Sex Party's platform. Maybe then they'd have a shot in hell of winning next time around.

I'm not saying Obama will have a bad or good influence, I'm just wondering if there will be a change in crime under his presidency. We've had nothing but white presidents so far, so it's a valid question in my view. The idea promoted by many was that with a black president, black kids would feel like they were capable of succeeding in America (nevermind the fact there are many black billionaires and millionaires). Now we get to test that theory.

The Dow Jones Industrial average finished the day down 427 points, at 7997. That's 48% lower than last year, and the first time the DOW closed below 8000 since March 2003. The intraday low on Oct 10 of this year was 7882, so we're getting close to testing the bottom again.

I love this guy. Plus he's a billionaire, which is pretty cool in its own right.

They're a political party that's against non-white immigration into Britain. You know your political party sucks when it's embarrassing to be caught on their roster.

Guys, I have a confession: My entire time on this forum has been an example of behavior I do not approve of. You may disregard all my previous posts now! :P

Agreed, Christmas music is the most annoying there is.

I've been a huge Top Gear fan since season 8.

Oh dear, I think we struck a nerve. :laugh3:

It's a sociological query, I'm not making any assertion about the superiority of one race over another :rolleyes:

My advice: mainstream their counterculture group! Now there are entire stores in American malls dedicated to supplying youth with ragged clothes (Hot Topic, for example). I don't intend this to be racist (although it probably is, and I'm going to be publicly hanged for it here on Coldplaying.com), but I really can't wait to see the crime statistics following Barack Obama's inauguration. Not because I want to rub them in anyones' faces (far from it!) but I have a genuine curiosity as to whether crime will increase or decrease among black youth in this country when they perceive government to be headed by a man of their own race. Fascinating stuff.

The "scallies"/"chavs" thing sounds similar to the artificial "gangsta" culture that popped up over here in America. Basically disaffected youth who have too much free time on their hands and not enough intellectual curiosity. It sounds like the adults in this case have already written them off. THAT'S the real problem, here. Kids always go through a phase where they're rebellious in one way or another. But when they hear themselves referred to as "feral" or "chav" then they think: "Maybe I AM an animal." The most important determinant of behavior is what one thinks of one's self.

Last time I checked, 60% of Americans are overweight. You have to admit that's kinda funny considering our country basically invented Hollywood-superficiality. ;) Then we demand free healthcare on election day! What a bunch of losers we are.

I don't mean to pick on Britain, but maybe a greater cultural emphasis should be placed on the responsibilities of parents. It sounds to me like people are just having kids and not supervising them well. What's the divorce rate in Britain? I also wonder how many stabbings occur there, compared to how many shootings occur in America per capita. Interesting stuff.

Is this generation of British just particularly bad at raising their children? I have to wonder what's causing this.

That's funny because I'm going to a Radiohead concert during that time, and it's in your hometown, Briggins. ;) (I realized how similar this sounds to a South Park plot that I will not include the part about the "chili contest" they have planned for after the concert)

2009 Toyota Corolla.

Drunk guys? Where? ;) I think I've noticed that in social situations involving alcohol and immature young adults, the guys tend to be just as immature when they're drunk as when they're not drunk, but the girls tend to turn into Paris Hilton (squared) once they've downed a few beers. Part of it is psychological, I think. I bet if you put out non-alcoholic beverages and claimed they contained alcohol, people would act stupid and drunk nonetheless.

I was going to start a topic similar to this, but my question is similar: What are your thoughts about straight marriage? I mean half of them end in divorce and straights have kids who suffer psychological trauma as a result. I mean I don't have a problem with straight people, as long as they're not too... flamboyant about it. Also, I read somewhere that straight people have WAY more abortions than gay people. So I'm really torn on the whole issue.

The Ukrainian prime minister, Miss Timoshenko!

Hey coldplay101, you're a handsome dude!

Craigslist? I'm actually thinking of taking you up on your offer, though...

Cramer is a lunatic scatterbrain who's way too risk averse when it comes to building a portfolio. He's not contrarian enough for me ;) You'll learn a lot more about how the stock market works if you read a few books and blogs, let me link you: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Stock-Market-Genius/dp/0684840073/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226725511&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: You Can Be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits: Joel Greenblatt: Books[/ame] This one has a hokey title, but it's an amazing book. Greenblatt is a hedge fund manager whose fund regularly returns over 20% a year. This book is good for understanding corporate structure and special situation investing - basically taking advantage of mergers/spinoffs/and other corporate activity. Plus you learn about how to study new types of securities (besides the regular stocks/bonds/etc, he explains things like preferred shares and senior debentures and other stuff you only hear about if you attend Harvard Business School). Normally I'd tell you to buy "The Intelligent Investor" but basically you can find advice on value investing anywhere on the internet. Just understand what the basic metrics of finance are and you're set - P/E ratio, debt/equity ratio, PEG, Float, Short ratio, etc. You can find this stuff at Investopedia.com Mostly when I invest I look for situations where a stock's price is severely depressed because of a situation. For instance I recently bought shares of APL (Atlas Pipelines) because a hedge fund (SAC Capital, if you're interested) was forced to sell a bunch of stock in that company, which caused it to become ridiculously cheap relative the dividend the stock pays out per annum. As a result, the shares yield something like 30% (last time I checked) - and that doesn't include the upside potential in share price appreciation! Sorry I'm geeking out at you now. EDIT: Watch Fast Money on CNBC, rather than Cramer. You'll learn a lot more. Jot down a phrase whenever you don't understand it and then go back online and look it up after the show.

I'll definitely consider it! Depends on the job hunt...