Lars

Original story. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/25/AR2008122500931.html?hpid=topnews Seems plausible, although as you say Bigduke, a bit sensationalist, which is no doubt why they published it. Americans love sex too. Your concerns about the conservatism of the elders are addressed on page two, btw. And yes, it does say "According to the retired operative who was there..."

At your age, that's just sad.

If any of you swine should hear the rapping of little hooves up on top of the outhouse roof tonight, don't let the little ones look…. Have a Merry Pengmass!!!

One nut...

Not to mention the fact that they won't go to Iraq. We'll have to wait and see if any Afghanis have been practicing up.

The rifle stuffed up his kiester is a nice touch. Well done.

You'll never make "Genocidal Maniac of the 21st Century" with that attitude, mister.

Eh, let them eat cake.

Er, crows aren't raptors. Whatcha done there, old boy, is mix up your Passeriformes with your Accipitriformes. Or somfink.

Eh, his new sig has a typo too. But then, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

I hope they went with vanilla.

The old rule was own your age in bonds. It's not complicated. But of course, you don't make much money as a financial adviser going with that, no fees.

Oh Bravo. But why are we putting perfectly good alcohol on the boat?

Depends on where you bought it. This is about the best I could do around here. Found a nice one on the lake that went for $375,000 five years ago, sold in 2006 for $792,000, and is now in foreclosure for $499,000. You should snap it up, it's only losing $6,500 a month on the asking price.

Er, -40% of their worth. If they put it all in something like a S&P 500 Index. And if they had it all in stocks as retirees, they're retards. If they put it all in a Bond Index like they should have, they're up 4.76%.

Umm, a $485,000 house. Which a quick jog over to Bankrate's little calculator shows your payment (30 yr mortgage at 6%) would be $2907.82 a month, not including property taxes and insurance, which, around here, would run you about another $800 a month. I really don't think a couple making less than $50,000 a year can afford to be blowing $45,000 on housing. They might want to do something else too. Like eat, for instance. Oh hell, I forgot to add PMI. Been so long since I had to pay it..they're bottom up!

Not at all. The last thing we need is the government getting involved. In a capitalist system, you're free to make as much as you can. But you are also supposed to be free to fail. Currently, we're not letting the free market be free. Fun response letter from one of the Big 3's suppliers to the President of GM currently making the rounds. Tell me which part of it you disagree with.

Oh, they'll be getting some of it back. The lawsuits are already starting to fly. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122930077610905377.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_mostpop Unless, of course, they were direct investors and had the minimum $1 million to plop down. In which case, we're supposed to hate them anyway.

Er, 401k's are not a "failed experiment" It's just that Congress wants the money. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122662401729126813.html

In short, they demand to continue to be overpaid. Seems they'd rather take a chance with the unemployment line. Not very smart, if you ask me. Heck, by the time that date came around, the UAW (and the economy) could probably have been in a better position to demand concessions.

Bugger, we missed the day's record of -18F by 4 degrees. And now it's going to warm up enough to snow. Where's the fun in that? Oh well, only a couple of days till winter starts. Maybe we'll see some real weather then, instead of this poofy Ohio stuff.

Heh. Waste no tears.

Well, I was supposed to go up to dalem's and play Sword of Rome with the rest of the Minnesota Miscreants yesterday, but we had a small blizzard blow in. Currently, it's -6F, windchill of -27F, winds gusting to 25 mph and still snowing. Then later night, it gets downright cold. Why am I telling you this? Because, since I can’t make it to the party to see Seanachai, it means I have to drink up a case of Chimay Grande Reserve Trappist Ale and Hacker-Pschorr Oktoberfest-Marzen, all by myself. Oh darn.

Ah, so you're saying I should have gone with my first choice, the gift certificate for breast augmentation.