10/31   Remember all those rosy estimates about how much it would
        cost to rebuild Iraq from the White House? Remember how many
        on the motd said that $200B and 10 years was wildly too high?
        Who turned out to be right?
        http://csua.org/u/4v5
        \_ Of course the Marshall plan cost over $1 Trillion.  And that gave us
           France and Germany.  Oh well.
           \_ BZZT thanks for playing anyway.  The Marshall Plan allowed the
              European countries to devise their own reconstruction plans,
              and make their own priorities, which the Iraqi reconstruction
              does not.  US corporations did not participate - the money was
              given to local organizations and companies.
              Also, the Marshall plan cost 11.8 billion, about 100 billion
              in todays dollars, not 1 trillion.  You're off by an order
              of magnitude even taking into account inflation.
              \_ The value I saw was $1T in today's dollars.  I'll double check.
                 Do you have a reference for your figure?
        \_ Yawn.  I don't recall seeing $200b and 10 years on the motd and
           certainly never thought such a figure was wildly too high.  I'm
           still stuck on the motd postings about how it's going to be another
           Vietnam quagmire and we'll never beat them and how the CA recall
           can't possibly pass and Arnold can't possibly get elected if it
           does and Bush can't win in 2000 and the tax cuts will never pass
           and the economy will never recover and we're running out of oil
           and housing prices are going to crash.  If I had to blindly bet
           with 1:1 odds on whether a motd prediction would come true or not
           I'd be fabulously wealthy always betting against the motd.

10/31   I want to start a professional society that finds the most painfully
        hideous implementations of various electrical engineering practices
        and tracks down the engineer responsible and shouts at them on speaker
        phone after getting rip roaring drunk.  any takers?
        \_ what's it called?
           \_ I'll figure that out when I sober up.

10/31   Alien: The Director's Cut in Bay Area theaters.  KICK ASS.
        \_ This is for Resurrection, the 4th or 5th or 6th movie, isn't it?
           \_ The original Ridley Scott film.
        \_ Its just another way for them to make more money out of old
           crap. It should have been on DVD to begin with

10/31   Worrying About Jobs Isn't Productive
        http://www.fortune.com/fortune/valuedriven/0,15704,526435,00.html
        \_ formatd
        \_ you'll all work for walmart

10/31   Oh great.  A Vietnamese man just bought my building and has now
        cancelled the property management firm, the cleaning contract,
        and the pest control contract.  He claims he can do it all
        himself.  There are 19 units and over 30 people in the building.
        This is stupid - 5 years ago they finally beat back the roach
        invasion and now this chump is going to let them back in?
        Why is he so cheap?!
        \_ why do you still live in the Bay Area?!
             \_ Where do you live? And who do you work for?
        \_ Vietnamese people are always cheap. They are your worst nightmare
           as your employee (stupid) and your landlord (cheap). They're
           also your worst roomates (dirty). I'm speaking from personal
           experience. Do yourself a favor and move out ASAP.
           \_ I've got 7 months left on my lease.  ARGH!
              \_ You can break lease and move now or wait and pay double in
                 7 months after the economy improves.  Or you could kill him.
           \_ um, how are we vietnamese dirty?
              \_ heh, you'll accept stupid and cheap but dirty isn't ok?
                \_ ha that's pretty funny. Anyways, how come Vietcongese
                   bashing is ok but black/white/jews bashing gets trashed
                   by motd custodians? Is it because our custodians don't
                   like Viets as well?
                   \_ No, b/w/j bashing mostly causes the flamefest intended
                      by the trolls posting.  When that section of the motd
                      grows to 5 pages, it gets deleted.
                   \_ Edit it yourself. I like Vietnamese so well I married
                      one, I just don't see the need to censor idiots. It
                      is better to let the world see how stupid the bigots
                      really are.
           \_ sheesh, what a bigot!
        \_ Property management firms ... snicker.  Those are usually
           run by lazy, incompetent know-nothing do-nothing english major
           suit-wearing money-grabbers who think they are entitled to a
           high fee without providing any service.  Of course he should
           fire them and cut some fat.  Helps the economy, if nothing else.
           \_ I have yet to see an exception to the rule you state.
           \_ personal experience: management company did what was needed to
              be done at my apartment complex.  it was very industrial and
              there was no personal touch to anything but stuff got done. i
              moved from there to another complex run by the one-owner-guy and
              it was a big fucking filthy broken mess and a fire hazard to
              boot!  i'll take a prop. management firm anyday.
              \_ I think you mean "industrious."
                 \_ no, I mean industrial.  exactly like I said.  thanks.
        \_ At least your landlord wasn't the Lucky Reddy dude who bring
           indian peasant girls to the country to serve as sex slave
           and to help clean the apartment buildings.
           \_ If you're not an Indian peasant girl what do you care?

11/1    How many of you libertarian fuckheads are planning to go try to
        ruin the great state of New Hampshire?
        http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/national/27LIBE.html
        \_ I loved the major party reactions.
           GOP: "Great to have you, guys!  Come on over!"
           DNC: <trembling voice> "The best way to describe these people is
                                   anarchists..."
             -- libertarian fuckhead
        \_ What's so fucking great about NH?  Their only claim to fame is
           voting second in the primaries and being almost the smallest
           state.  Is there *anything* they do right?
           \_ Libertarians have a hardon over the slogan on their license plate:
              "Live free or die"
              \_ And the lack of state income tax makes them ejaculate.
                 \_ Lye, is that you?
              \_ I'm guessing all the rightwing assholes at Dartmouth
                 have something to do with it also. It's probably the most
                 right-wing of the Ivy League colleges.

11/1    I understand how a US trade deficit translates to a downward
        pressure on the US dollar, but does a big US budget defict
        also put downward pressure on the dollar?  How?
        \_ budget deficit solution is usually issuing bonds.  A strong
                supply of US-currency based-bonds means we would have to
                work extra hard later to pay that debts.  Pretty much
                like what happens to companies which sells bonds to
                stay alive - their stocks tank.  The Federal government
                has an obligation to pay interest first before spending
                on the citizens.