We're in trouble as a nation because style matter more than substance and because perception drives reality. Why?  Because people won't stop and think-- preferring rather to allow their emotions to rule the day. Damn, I must be getting old. Which side of this debate is the "stop and think"...

I saw it in IMAX 3D as well and really enjoyed it. I don't go to the movies very often so I figured I would go all out. I was afraid it was going to be too intense going into it but I was able to keep my eyes on the screen. There was a survival movie called Frozen http://www.imdb.com/title/tt132304...

It was insane.  There aren't many times I've been as visually floored and emotionally drained than this movie. The 3d supplemented the unbelievable visuals, but I don't know if the 3d was quite as immersive as life of pi. Can't really argue about life of Pi as I nearly went to see it again the next...

RuralEngineer wrote: I weep for this nation.  I can't believe this happened in Arizona.

Are you weeping because the police offer showed up in school in SWAT gear or because of the way the school reacted to it?

Do members of the SWAT team actually go to work in full riot gear? Seems kind of strange to me.

Saw it last night in IMAX-3D. Great movie but not sure it would work the same in normal 2D. You wouldn't get to see Sandra Bullock's tears come floating towards you in space (and speaking of S.B. she has an incredible body for a 50-year-old woman). I thought life of Pi was the best use of 3D I had e...

This is confusing correlation And causation. The downgrade of LTs and subsequent price rise is not sufficient to prove that downgrades of LTs cause the price to rise. First off the idea is ludacris. A downgrade implies lower credit worthiness. We know that credit worthiness is something of value so...

What do Permanent Portfolio investors think would happen to the portfolio if the government shutdown resulted in a downgrade, or God forbid, some sort of default, of treasury bonds? John As PS pointed out the last downgrade seemed to positively effect the value of LT's. The reason is a mystery to m...

First off, I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of the Libertarian Party, although I am in sympathy with many of their ideas, especially those relating to foreign affairs (which I've noticed tends to rile some folks here). The only time I ever registered as a member of a political party was a...

Yeah, a lot of things are going to suck going forward for people in the 25-45 age group right now. They are still struggling with the own student loans and they will soon be trying to send their own kids to college.  During the remainder of their careers they will also have to pay enough in taxes f...

I use my IRA to hold cash in the form of Treasury Bills. Are there any tax implications to selling these then using the funds to purchase Long Term Bonds in the same IRA? This is my first time needing to sell cash for re-balance purposes. A little unclear on tax implications. Think of the money in ...

If you explained to some 30 year old that the idea is to make the 30 year olds pay more into the system than they get out so that the 50 year olds can get more out than they pay in, I can imagine him saying something like: "Okay.  Are the 50 year olds going to be helping the 30 year olds pay o...

If I die close to the same age as my father it will be about 30 years from now. What do you think the odds are that the word "Obamacare" will still be in usage and part of the American lexicon by then? Can't think of anything like it. Did they call Social Security - Roosevelt Security, or ...

Yes but isn't the enforcement of the mandate just a small penalty? Wasn't it ruled constitutional only because it was so small it could not compel compliance? Only read the snippets in the news but I thought it was ruled constitutional because Roberts construed it as a tax. Even so, I think the pen...

I tried Ubuntu with my granddaughter and I found myself putting in just as much time helping her to set up things she had managed to do perfectly well with Windows, like iTunes. I don't think there was even a Linux version so I tried some Linux equivalent and also WINE but finally gave up and re-in...

Article from Forbes saying expect old and sick people to sign up for Obamacare but not the young and healthy. This is how it will ruin the health insurance industry like I said and is nothing more than a welfare program. The surprising thing to me about Obamacare was that it grew out of the complai...

I used to get quite annoyed with the amount of effort I was putting in to keep their machines functional, but having seen a drive-by virus injection from a compromised education site that went straight through the virus protection I realise that you can't educate to avoid that. I tried Ubuntu with ...

I wore a beard for about 10 years, between the ages of about 40-50. I've always looked young for my age so it was as much about trying to make myself look older and more distinguished than it was about just not wanting to shave. I had my doubts about how well it would come in because of previous att...

I have been thinking about doing something like this, but I can't decide whether to use ETFs which I think might be a smart pick, either international or sector-specific... Or pick a high-risk/high-return fund, which is sounds like what you are doing.  If you don't mind me asking, are you using the...

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/debt-ceiling-treasury-final-extraordinary-measures-97690.html Do any of you smart folks here know what this means..... "The final extraordinary measures include suspending the daily reinvestment of the portion of the Exchange Stabilization Fund invested in...

A while back I posted on the Gold forum a story about how the U.S. was preventing Iranian citizens from buying gold. At the time it was mostly of interest to me because of the U.S. government's attitude about private citizens owning gold to protect themselves from economic collapse. Now I wonder eve...

So you believe that the gov't tells the truth when it says things which agree with your bias, and lies when it does not? I always assume that the government might be lying about anything it claims. It has a long track record. What motive would they have to claim that there is no evidence Iran is de...

I was sent to a mental hospital for three months. I worked in a place like that once - back in the early 70's. It was called "The United Methodist Children's Home". That sounds like an orphanage but it was really a place where "troubled youths" were sent for the kind of "th...

Basically it's illegal to do that, because it looks like you're trying to get around the reporting rules for banks which kick in at $10,000. I believe the law reads something like it is illegal to do cash transactions under $10,000 if you are doing it for the purpose of avoiding the reporting requi...

Wiki In August 1995, the US government avoided trial on a civil lawsuit filed by the Weavers, by awarding the three surviving daughters $1,000,000 each, and Randy Weaver $100,000 over the deaths of Sammy and Vicki Weaver. The attorney for Kevin Harris pressed Harris' civil suit for damages, althoug...

I got spanked a lot growing up, mostly by my mother but my dad would also take off his belt sometimes.

This was fairly common back then and nobody thought of it as abuse, just a normal part of growing up.

We did worse things to each other playing football.