rb
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Posts posted by rb
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Here's another one. Apparently there's a certain level of suspicion that the Trump women may be with Her.
Either that or perhaps they were confused about how to vote.
HAHAHAHA! Maybe they're with Her as well ;D :D
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Well if abortion is murder of babies. Why shouldn't murder charges be levied?
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Here's another one. Apparently there's a certain level of suspicion that the Trump women may be with Her.
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Wow! When Jennifer "Jenghazi" Rubin accuses you of suffering from Clinton Derangement Syndrome you have a real problem.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/11/08/give-it-a-rest-republicans/
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LOL! Awesome! Gotta make sure.
I don't know why he's so concerned though. It's not like he's gonna be close in New York.
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No it's not complicated. Rkbabang you're so pure libertarian that your Johnson vote would really just be a a vote for Johnson.
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Trump supporters say that a vote for Gary Johnson is a vote for Hillary.
Hillary Supporters say that a vote for Gary Johnson is a vote for Trump.
How does that actually work????
Is one of them right or are they both wrong? If only one of them is right then which is it and why?
They're both right.
Since America is so polarized Trump supporters are likely to say that to people on the right who would break Trump's way if they don't go 3rd party. Ditto for H. supporters.
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Just thought I'd point out that "Just shoot me. :(" is now in second place!
I thought it was kind up there all along.
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The reason it is close race is because of how flawed Clinton is. A decent candidate would destroy Trump. That so many on this board cannot see that is what amazes me. Instead of looking at their candidate and/or her policies they call the other side deplorables, and draw comparisons to Nazi Germany. It is not deplorable to want to protect life, freedoms of speech and religion, second amendment rights, have lower taxes, or want to control our borders. Don't get me wrong, Trump sucks. He is a pig. Just as any decent Democrat should easily beat Trump, any decent Republican would be comfortably ahead of Clinton. Like it or not they are our only two real choices.
Tim, we're not really gonna engage on the abortion topic cause that's not gonna lead anywhere good.
That argument that Hillary is such a flawed candidate and anyone else would win bigly is such BS. Hillary is sitting on a 4-5% polling lead right now. One of the polls tested a generic Obama against trump and it came out that he would win by 12. That's Obama that is having a Regan like approval rating. But it's also an Obama that's not running so he didn't take electoral fire for for 18 months. If he were to actually run he'll win maybe by 6 and that would be mainly because of higher black turnout. So give me a break with the flawed candidate.
As for the deplorable part, I think H said that about half of Trump supporters fall into a basket, then she revised it to maybe less than that. The fact is that there is a good chunk of deplorables supporting Trump: the alt-right (hell one of the leaders of the alt-right is his campaign "CEO"), the KKK, the guy yelling Jew-S-A. That's a pretty deplorable bunch. Top it off with Trump supporters self identifying as deplorables and being proud. Then you have the family values people standing firmly behind Trump. While I know a lot of them and know that they're not depolable, they're still committing a pretty deplorable act. Let's call it hypocritical instead.
As for freedom of speech. Trump is the one banning media outlets, talking about opening up libel laws, raving about dishonest media, and directing ire toward the media at his rallies. Secret service never had to escorts journalists out of Clinton rallies for their protection. They had to do that at Trump rallies.
As for freedom of religion. Clinton never threatened anyone's freedom of religion. Trump is the one who talked about closing places of worship, surveillance of places of worship, and banning people belonging to a religion from entering the US.
On taxes, Trump's people just say lower taxes. They don't care where they go or what they do they just want lower taxes. There can be a discussion here but they're not engaging on it at least not honestly. There are two dimensions. One around services - this is more mathematical. This is an efficiency argument. My view is there are some services that can be more efficiently delivered by the private sector and should be shifted. Also there are some services that are more efficiently delivered by the public sector and should be shifted.
The other dimension is welfare - this is more personal and subjective. We live in an unequal society. Because of this I am a well off individual. Because of this others are not. Then I sit back and look at what kind of society I want to live in. For example, I do not want to live in one where people are in danger of disease and death because they are poorer than i am. To live in that kind of a society I am willing to pay more. What's amazing to me is that people that are so concerned with life do not share my view. They're so concerned with the 9 months between ejaculate and birth. After that they're just concerned with low taxes.
In the US there's still one man, one vote. Everyone can vote for anyone they want. You want to vote for Trump, it's your right. Go ahead and do that, I respect that. But please spare me the bullshit. That I do not respect. Or maybe come up with some better one. I may be able to respect that.
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As to the next President being a brain surgeon, I would rather have one who knows how put together a great team versus one who knows how put together a corrupt team whose focus is more CYA than doing what is right. Some of the smartest presidents, Carter for example, have been some of the worst because they thought they knew what to do. Just my 2c.
Packer
This is frigging hilarious.
Trump's view on foreign policy advisors:
I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain. I speak to a lot of people, but my primary consultant is myself, and I have a good instinct for this stuff.
As for Trump building good teams? In one election first he brings in the Corey Lewandowski JV team. Then he fires JV team. Then he bring the Russian stooge Paul Manafort team. Then he fires the Russian stooge team. Then he brings in the despicable team: Kellyanne Conway (of Todd Akin legitimate rape fame among other creeps) and Steve Bannon (of Breitbart fame). Special team mention for his chosen running mate: Mike Pence. Pence thinks you can pray away the gay and as a governor he almost triggered an HIV epidemic in his state. It's also worth noting that he has recruitment problems because loads of serious professional republicans refused to work with/for him and/or publicly denounced him.
Two of the most prominent and public members of the Trump team are Rudy Juliani who seems to have a problem identifying top, bottom, middle and side and Chris Christie. Who I'm hearing has some problems with a bridge? Maybe Christie for Secretary of Transportation?
If Trump is someone who builds great teams and this is how great teams look how do bad teams look like?
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To me, it shows the true power ideology combined with Fox's 25 year propaganda campaign, repeating the same message every day for decades. It's pretty amazing, really.
What I am surprised is how little it would take to move the needle to the other side. Imagine if we just had another meltdown similar to 2008. I can guarantee that Trump would have won handily no matter how racist,misogynist, dangerous tyrant he would sound. How are we any different than the authoritarian countries that we lecture every day about the wonders of democracy and open society ? They just happen to have shitty economy and bad neighbors.Doesn't make China look so bad does it when they clamp down on the free media? How about Venezuela or Iran who blame their neighbors for their problems? Or Russia who employs the draconian measure to save the republic? Or Israel who we lecture how to treat the muslims.
This close race is what scares the hell out of me. I wore why I believe this is fascism. The thing is that compared to past fascists Trump is kind of incompetent and kind of an idiot. He ranks pretty low on the scale. What if we got a more competent one. Or what if he didn't pick on Mexicans but instead picked on the Chinese or something. He may very well have closed that small gap.
We got luck this time (hopefully. don't count chickens and jinx it). Hopefully tomorrow is a wake up call and after the hangover clears America realizes it had a close call, does some serious introspection and cleans up its act. I won't hold my breath though.
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Not sure how this will play out, but governments in Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and China seem to be coming down on real estate.
Good!
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The odds of a Trump win is very small to be non-existent. I am yet to see a poll that shows Trump winning the electoral college. I think he is going to carry Ohio and Iowa which is better than what Romney did last time around. Trump has no path without winning one or all three of these states - Florida, North Carolina and New Hampshire.
I know what the polls are saying, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Trump pulled out a win in New Hampshire. The Trump people seem to be a lot more excited and motivated than the Hillary voters. All weekend I've seen the Trump people out in force at intersections, overpasses, city streets (in Manchester). There was one intersection with about 15 people, mostly women and all looked Asian, waving flags and trump signs. You can't find a Hillary supporter anywhere, yet the polls say she is leading. Weird.
The polls are actually saying that NH is a really tight race. Anyway if H bagged Nevada - and it really looks like she did - then NH doesn't really matter. But we have a big poll coming out tomorrow which should answer a lot of questions.
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Those who compare Trump to Hitler & Mussolini really do not know history & are playing off a superficial knowledge of it. Trump is more akin to those who have a large mouth but not much to back it up with. Hitler & Mussolini had bands of thugs around them that would suppress the opposition. I see no evidence of this other than protesters paid by others to cause trouble. Also both men were great at inciting others to do there bullying for them a trait Hillary is better at the Trump. The other major difference is Trump changes his positions to the mainstream over time. Immigration is an example. Going from mass deportation to deporting the criminals, securing the border then dealing with amnesty. Another characteristic of both men is they did the worst is secret and covered up the truth with lies. Now this is Hillary's specialty and different than Turmp who lets the good and the bad all hang out there.
Packer
Does it have to identical to movements of the past to call it what it is? Do we need have to wait for the Trump Shirts before we say something?
Is it so far fetched that we may get Trump goons in the future? He's already recruiting poll watchers to go to "certain areas". The usual creepy characters seem to have answered the call.
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Do you actually think that negotiating at the nation level, say for a cease fire or a peace deal is the same as negotiating a bulk purchase of mattresses? If I was hiring someone to negotiate a fancy renovation maybe I'd pick Trump but if I'm looking for a cease fire I'll take Clinton over Trump without thinking twice.
Why are we still talking about this nonsense of how the economy would be so great under Romney because he was a businessman v.s that crappy Obama? We don't know because he didn't win. But remember Romney promised that at the end of his first term he would have achieved the heroic feat of bringing unemployment down to 6%. Barack H. Obama: 4.9%. I'd say some respect is warranted.
But Clinton doesnt want a cease fire. She loves war.
Because you say so? Is there any proof Trump is a great pacifist? Between the two of them Hillary actually negotiated cease fires. The only proof of Trump's negotiating prowess comes from his mouth. The only evidence of Trump coming ahead on negotiations is by not paying or not keeping his side of the bargain. That doesn't really work for Nation level negotiations.
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Can you be more specific as to what negotiating experience your basing your opinion off of? Donald Trump has never held an elected office, so I'm not sure what you're judging his negotiating skills from, other than his ghost-written autobiography. Some of the Secretary of State's negotiations are secret for national security interests, as it always has been, and would continue to be under a Donald Trump presidency.
Is there really an argument here that a career politician may not have the same skills/experience negotiating deals as an accomplished businessman? This was one of the most shocking aspects of the 2012 election; that there were people who held it against Romney that he was successful and claimed Obama would be better for the economy. For one, somebody who has made their living taking other people's money(through taxation and donation) can't possibly have the same respect for details as someone looking out for their own dollar/investors/business.
Do you actually think that negotiating at the nation level, say for a cease fire or a peace deal is the same as negotiating a bulk purchase of mattresses? If I was hiring someone to negotiate a fancy renovation maybe I'd pick Trump but if I'm looking for a cease fire I'll take Clinton over Trump without thinking twice.
Why are we still talking about this nonsense of how the economy would be so great under Romney because he was a businessman v.s that crappy Obama? We don't know because he didn't win. But remember Romney promised that at the end of his first term he would have achieved the heroic feat of bringing unemployment down to 6%. Barack H. Obama: 4.9%. I'd say some respect is warranted.
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I agree but let me be clear: the only situation actually worth knowing about is Nazi Germany and Hitler. You may not know this, but no other events in world history lend themselves to analogies.
I find it hard to tell from your posts if you're serious or sarcastic. Not your fault really, just a side effect of how crazy the conversation has become. I'll go with sarcastic.
Nazi Germany and Hitler is an easy go to because everyone knows about it. If you want to reference another lesser known situation then you have to give a whole history lesson because let's face it, history is not one of Americans' strong suit. I'll try to give a half assed shot below.
Hitler and Nazi Germany did not happen in a vacuum. Just like now there was a whole movement with fascism happening in multiple places: Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, Peron in Argentina, Ion Antonescu/Iron Guard in Romania just to name a few.
Now I agree that Hitler and Germany is not the best analogy. After all, Hitler despite being a despicable human being with no moral compass to speak of was not ignorant and quite capable (just a fact, not a fan, please don't send me hate mail). I think that Mussolini and Italy is a better comparison. A more ignorant and unfit leader, a large personality full of himself and hot air, that loved to give self-centered mumbling speeches to large adoring crowds (remind you of anyone?). One of his themes was also restoring Italy to the former greatness of the Roman province of Italia which controlled the Mediterranean basin. (Make Italy Great Again?).
It's not hard to see that Trumpism is a fascism or a derivative thereof. What's surprising is how easily America succumbed. One of the main causes of fascism was economic hardship brought upon by WWI and the great depression. But America in the aftermath of the Great Recession did not even come close to the level of suffering of Europe post WWI.
Cwericb quoted that famous line: He who ignores history is bound to repeat it. While this Trumpist (or whatever you want to call it) movement is developing there's one interesting thing. It's not catching on in formerly fascist countries. Maybe America needs to put more emphasis on teaching history. I guess on the eve of the election I remain hopeful that despite the all the rhetoric Americans will listen to their better angels, make the right choice, and reject fascism.
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Firstly, actually BRK does have an options market. Please don't hog it cause i like to swim in that pond from time to time :). Look at the B class not the A class. It's not as big as for other companies in it's class but it should be big enough unless ur a giant investor. But the if your a giant investor you have access to bespoke options.
Secondly, BRK doesn't really do CAT reinsurance anymore so that risk isn't as big as it once was. I think they estimate that if the worst global catastrophe they can possibly imagine comes to pass it would cost them one year's operating earnings. Ironically if that happened it would probably end up benefiting BRK because it would result in such a tight market that they would make a killing on future underwriting.
Thirdly, while i wouldn't recommend that anyone go 50% in one stock, BRK is probably the only one you could do that with and not loose sleep at night. I don't think that you can think of BRK as carrying single company risk given the breadth and depth of their operations and the quality of management.
Fourthly, I agree BRK's valuation looks kinda appealing. Especially in this crazy market. Sometimes the right thing to do is also the easiest :).
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alwaysinvest: "It's exactly like Germany in 1933."
This is exactly what I've been saying for months now.
Read this on Facebook and it tends to put things in perspective:
"If you needed open-heart surgery and had to pick between a doctor with a malpractice suit filed against them or the manager of a Wendy’s, which person would you choose to perform that surgery?
This is the American election in a nutshell."
Except that there isn't even a malpractice suit, just a bunch of doctors from a rival hospital talking shit.
Still, a manager of Wendy's has no business performing open heart surgery.
I know, I was trying to make a point. That line about the doctor and the manager is trying to convey how ridiculous the comparison between Clinton and Trump is. But even a line that tries to point out how ridiculous the comparison is manages to understate the level of ridiculousness. That's how unreal this situation is.
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Right, the president is just a hood ornament. That's why they're fighting so hard to win that position. Is it because the whole executive branch of government has no power thus the president as the head of the executive branch has no power?
I mean i find it hard to believe that someone that carries the title commander in chief of the most powerful military is really ornamental. But then what do I know? I'm probably one of those with the pea brain.
Btw, the hood ornament has a 54% approval rating. The rest of the car has an approval rating around 13%. Obviously there's the bigger problem is with the rest of the car. The rest of the car is on the ballot as well. However I don't see any of you "change the status quo" people advocating for a change in the rest of the car.
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alwaysinvest: "It's exactly like Germany in 1933."
This is exactly what I've been saying for months now.
Read this on Facebook and it tends to put things in perspective:
"If you needed open-heart surgery and had to pick between a doctor with a malpractice suit filed against them or the manager of a Wendy’s, which person would you choose to perform that surgery?
This is the American election in a nutshell."
Except that there isn't even a malpractice suit, just a bunch of doctors from a rival hospital talking shit.
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Well turns out that the new FBI thing was a pile of nothing.
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When does BRK buy Gillette?
1989
Is mr market expecting a results disaster????
in Fairfax Financial
Posted
There's nothing too weird about treasuries going down today. Classic risk off trade.