rkbabang

I'll stick up for cwericb. I don't think a website has to be complicated and expensive to use screen real estate efficiently. Take a look at the attachment of my browser window viewing the site. A lot of wasted space. Why not expand the info to fill the window? I'd prefer a simple HTML site like berkshirehathaway.com for ease of reading than what they have. I'm not too worried about the web site though. It serves its purpose. But as cwericb said, It could be better. --Eric

Don't forget all the diesel burned on the farm and in transporting the corn. As well as the energy burned in the distilling process. I've read that the carbon footprint is greater than that of gasoline. And we know the cost is greater. So we are spending more to increase our carbon footprint. And don't forget 10% ethanol at the gas pumps is mandated by law in most (all?) of the U.S. --Eric

No problem. I've typed many a thing in haste on-line that I regretted afterward. We all do it. The tone of my initial post was somewhat inflammatory now, that I go back and read it, as well, for which I apologize.

Excellent article thanks. Gonzalo has a more realistic assessment of what the government is actually going to do...exactly what it has been doing. It will burn that candle until the wax is gone then try to deny that the candle no longer exists when it's gone. I just can't imagine them doing what needs to be done. Not this year, or next, or ever. The tone of my first post may have been a little harsh, but to state that the US dollar will (not "should", but "will") be made redeemable by gold is quite a wishful statement. I just don't see that happening.

Wow. 1) Thou shall not criticize anything anyone says unless you have read what he has said over a period of years. I'll try to remember that. I guess I should go back and read years worth of your writings before criticizing this statement of yours, but since I disagree with it I won't. 2) I agree with almost everything he said I just made 2 small criticisms. One, that you can't put a number to "trust". And two, that regardless of what should happen I don't think the US will go back to the gold standard. 3) It is much easier to launch an ad hominem attack than to criticize the content of someone's comments. Which says a lot about yourself. --Eric

Based solely on usernames I've seen here I know there are at least some here who would be interested in this. The Atlas Shrugged Part I movie comes out tomorrow in 300 theaters nationwide (US) I'm not sure about Canada. I haven't been this excited about a movie in a long time. I'm hopeful that it will be as good as the looks. Here's a good review from someone who saw a screening. I can't wait to see it. --Eric

Reminds me of the economic theories that have equations including things like "utility". How on earth does one quantify "trust", "utility", or anything else which is not only different from person to person, but in each and every individual can change from moment to moment? And even in one individual at one moment there are no units so no way to quantify it and assign it a specific numerical value. Sure you can say the price of gold in any fiat monetary unit tends to be inversely proportional to the trust in that fiat money, but using a mathematical formula is inappropriate in this case. Also this guy is dreaming if he thinks the U.S. dollar will ever again be redeemable for gold. The political class never gives up power willingly or peacefully. I can't imagine this happening, even though it should.

The Fruit link is an excellent summary. Thanks. The other thing to remember is that for those of us that have metabolic syndrome and/or diabetes we have messed up our metabolism over a number of years (or decades) so it isn't going to go back to normal over night. For example, as I mentioned in my last post, one half of one banana was enough to spike my fasting blood sugar the next morning. Which shows that I am still highly insulin resistant. I would expect this to improve as time goes on. In a year or two I hope I can eat a banana on occasion without the negative consequences. Someone who's genes or metabolism are different from mine may be able to eat more fruit than I am right away. It is all about learning what works for you. --Eric

I've been sticking to berries. I'll eat blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and even a limited amount of strawberries. I don't eat fruit everyday though, maybe 3-4 times per week. I tried a half of a banana one day, and while I didn't gain any weight, my blood sugar was high the next morning. I like to whip up heavy cream with some ground vanilla bean powder and put some berries on it. Makes a good, filling snack. If you need it sweeter, put a little stevia in it. Also try some unsweetened raw cacao powder instead of the vanilla. Or some raw cacao nibs sprinkled on top. I also just bought an ice cream maker attachment for my KichenAid mixer and I'm going to be experimenting with making low carb ice cream using heavy cream and sweetened with a little stevia extract. I don't limit my consumption of coffee or tea, but I don't drink a ton of it either. I tend to have a cup or two of coffee per day and maybe a cup or two of tea (either green or oolong). I drink both my coffee and tea without adding anything to it. (no milk/cream or sugar). If you need cream try heavy cream, if you need it sweet try stevia. I drink a lot of water with a small wedge of a lime or lemon in it. Honey is a sugar, so no. In a normal person (without type I diabetes) no, I don't think so. Your body will make glucose. I have completely eliminated sugars of all types from my diet and my fasting glucose level (measured with a home glucose blood tester) has never been bellow 75mg/dL. If your glucose is going too low there is something wrong and you should see a doctor ASAP and probably stop the diet until you do. congrats :)

Atkins is the closest to what I am on. Here is a study done comparing Atkins, Zone, and Ornish diets against a traditional low-fat/low calorie/ high exercise diet. Atkins was clearly the winner, but both Zone and Ornish were also preferable to the low-fat/low-cal/exercise diet in every metric of health which was measured.. http://www.math.hope.edu/stats/articles/weight-loss.pdf I think you are correct in that the first thing anyone should do is cut out sugar of all types from their diet and that alone will probably make a difference. After that, I think the evidence shows that cutting out the starches and grains will yield further benefits. --Eric

That is what I would think. Deflation you would want cash to buy cheap. Inflation you would want to be fully invested, because cash will loose value where caeteris paribus stocks should keep pace with inflation. --Eric

Congratulations. Maybe you weren't quite as overweight as I was. Or your metabolism is just different from mine. Either way 18 lbs in 3 months is nothing to sneeze at. If you told me last year that I could loose 18lbs in 3 months (never mind over 30) I would have not believed it. My weight loss has slowed significantly as time goes on. I lost 18lbs in 2 weeks then another 18 over the next 3 months, loosing less and less every week, some weeks not loosing at all. That's OK with me though, even If it takes me a year or more to loose the next 18 I'm OK with that. As long as I feel good and my lipid and sugar levels stay at healthy levels it is a huge improvement over where I was. --Eric

Sounds very similar to what I am doing and what Gary Taubes recommends. The only fruits I've been eating are berries and only a limited amount of them usually over unsweetened whipped heavy cream. I don't eat fruit everyday. I eat a lot of green high fiber vegetables everyday along with everything else she claims to be eating. I don't like wine though, I've never drank it. I'm not going to start now. I did give up beer when I went on this diet. Beer has a ton of carbs. And this from a longtime SAM shareholder, :( I really shouldn't be advising people to give up beer! --Eric

No, nothing but staying under 20g net carbs per day for 3 months. --Eric

Excellent! One thing I still need to do is exercise more. I exercise about once per week, sometimes less :( which is about the same as what I was doing before going on the diet. --Eric

I was the one who lost 18lbs in a few weeks. I haven't read that 4hour body book, so I can't comment on that. I started my diet in January and have lost a total of 36lbs as of this morning. I have about 20-30lbs to go before I am the weight I was when I graduated high school. In December I went for a routine check-up and bloodwork and was pretty upset about the results. Not only was I obviously obese, but my good cholesterol was low, my LDL was high, my triglycerides where through the roof, my blood sugar was high and A1C was in the diabetic range. On a recommendation I read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" then "Why We Get Fat" both by Gary Taubes. I thought I'd give it a try. I went on the diet completely, I haven't cheated a single time since going on it the first week in January. I do about 20g of net carbs/day. (Net carbs) = (total carbs) - (fiber). As I said I've lost 36lbs on the scale, I went from a size 38pants (they were tight) to a size 34 which are getting too loose now to wear without a belt. I had bloodwork done at the end of March and it was amazing. My triglycerides was 94 (under 100 is very good, they were almost 150 in December), my HDL (Good cholesterol) was way up into the high 40's and my LDL was still a little high, but almost normal. The LDL doesn't bother me anymore because of my triglycerides level being under 100, read this. And best of all my A1C level was 5.6 (it was almost 6.8 before) which is well under the diabetic level and well into the normal range. I'm done debating people. I don't really care if you buy the food pyramid eat lots of grains BS. Everyone else seems to be getting fatter and fatter and my results speak for themselves. People have been coming up to me almost daily in my office asking me how on earth I've lost so much weight in so little time. I point them towards Taubes' books. --Eric

Japan hit again: 7.1 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Damaged Northeast Japan http://abcnews.go.com/International/71-magnitite-earthquake-strikes-damaged-northeast-japan/story?id=13318962

Sanjeev, I'd like to echo what everyone else has been saying. This is the best, most profitable discussion board I've ever been on. Back in February of 2009 I was posting to a fool.com board about Western Sizzlin, and someone tipped me off about the MSN Berkshire board saying that Biglari was being talked about a lot there. I've been a member ever since. I wish I remembered who it was that gave me the tip so I could thank him. --Eric

Because a system based on violence simply will never work. From the point of view of the average person anyway, government always works for the political class. And wishing (or voting) really really hard, will not make it work, because it can't. Sorry. http://mises.org/rothbard/newlibertywhole.asp --Eric

There have been times that the enquirer has broken true stories before the mainstream media. The John Edwards affair stuff a few years back. Also IIRC they broke the Rush Limbaugh OxyContin addiction story that turned out to be true. Not saying they are always accurate, but they sometimes are. --Eric

Dan, the market is an auction with crowds of buyers bidding things up and sellers driving things down. That is how it is supposed to work. The point at which a bid meets an asking price is when a sale happens. An auction is an excellent way to describe it. There isn't anything wrong with that at all. More information is always a good thing not a bad thing, (for the people that have the information anyway). --Eric

I get free level II quotes using Fidelity's "Active Trader Pro" software. I don't think they require you to be an "active trader" to use it.

Facebook Could Turn Netflix Into $400 Stock, Says Jim Cramer I don't think Netflix is going to trade at $400 anytime soon, but crazier things have happened. I do think it is nuts to short a stock like Netflix though. It will go down eventually and trade at a reasonable valuation, but maybe it will go up until you loose your shirt first. --Eric

I don't see a way to do it. If I were you I'd go to "PROFILE" then to "Account Related Setting", then "Delete This Account". Then sign up again using the username you prefer. You only have this one post, so you won't be losing any post history or anything. --Eric

You won't piss me off as long as you don't vote democrat either. Remember: If you vote you can't complain. (see tri-fold brochure attached). --Eric