dieseltaylor

ASL - just to save you looking: http://www.stpadvisors.com/working_papers/STP2007_1_Fails_in_Bond_Market.pdf which indirectly covers the shares market. Given its an official paper you may believe , as I do, that there is a considerable possibility that the report is engaged in diminishing the problem, rather than as an expose of a worrying flaw. But as the greatest exponent of capitalism the US is a concern: http://www.articlesbase.com/ethics-articles/the-impact-of-naked-short-selling-and-ftds-on-capital-markets-614775.html

ASL - you do not appear to answer my point regarding a duty to society. Is this because I have not explained the concept or that you cannot recognise it. AS for derivatives being good or bad I agree absolutely that they are not inherently wrong. However rather like a automatic rifle in the wrong hands - and with no constraints they can be misused. Does society need to legislate for power crazed monetary morons - I think so. Btw as an ex-banker I am very familiar with what banks do. And also that money given to hedge funds is not money that can then be lent to businesses - oops I should have conditioned my remark to say on normal lending multiples. Afterall if GS wants to lend 100 times its actually asset base why of course they in theory could lend to businesses. I do also have quite a few shares. I understand interest, return, profitability and investment. I also understand gambling as I have had a few flutters in my time. I think I can safely say that derivatives to cover actual real assets is pretty reasonable. Betting that mortgages/crop/raw materials which one does not have a direct interest in is probably not good. And what is your feeling about the mishap last Thursday. Just the tiniest concern perhaps that a system designed solely for getting a trading edge on each other is perhaps not the most robust. And any forward thinking intelligent person may wonder what deliberate sabotage of these automated trading systems could result in. Personally I would love to have bought Accenture at 1cent. I wonder what trades happened on the way down. I am not the only one: Incidentally what is your position on the Hunt Brothers and their failed attempt to corner the silver market? Do you worry that as physical delivery of stock rarely takes place that in fact trades are not being settled, and that some trades are in fictitious stock. Automation is a wonderful thing but as there is no money in policing the system you have lots of opportunity for people to screw the system. This is kinda of an important area where it appears to be a problem, Lord knows what less important stocks are suffering: http://www.sifma.org/capital_markets/docs/Fails-Charge-Trading-Practice.pdf I think there are plenty of things in NY that require some serious thinking. Velocity of trading with millions of spoof trades playing with the price is just bonkers in terms of small gain but potential for danger.

I will look Anderson up. My first reaction is that it is a stunt to exclude DD's as Funnies. I suppose on that line of argument if the Yanks had used any others it would have disbarred those from being called Funnies also. There were a range of Funnies . Ike liked DD and CDL and left it to Bradley to decide on the rest -- and Bradley delegated. Apparently the Crabs would have been difficult to train on [WTF they were Shermans]. All the training for DD's etc was done by 79th Armoured. According to Hobarts diaries he had words with Ike as getting Sherman DD's built in the UK was being a problem. A day later the blueprints and his best man flew to the US and the first 100 arrived 6 weeks later in Liverpool. Ike was very taken with DD's.

I think you are right generally the purchase of light armour in CM games is a waste. I think it very much depends on the map, point size, and the type of battle as to whether I would purchase that many MG in CMBB. Barbed wire is only going to occur in attack/assault type battles so if it is not that type of battle then the barbed wire crossing ability can be discarded as a value. Wooded battlefields or flat battlefields are not good but long contoured battlefields were moving your support weaponry is going to be important would make them interesting. One thing here is the tempo of the battle and very occasionally I have overbought on these to allow me to get troops to a great battlefield position - normally accompanied with an ATG or mortar to constrain the opponents movement. Using tanks for the task has the danger that you arrive perhaps at a wooded knoll with no infantry and the embarrassment that his infantry are going to be laughing at your tanks very shortly , and the tanks have no safe exit route. I have actually done this in CMAK ME without seeing the map as with casualties on you can buy a whole battalion and a few purchases gives you the lift capacity and the ATG's that will need moving anyway. In an attack scenario I have made use of smoke from mortars to cover the litle guys through wire and to deep positions again to unhinge a defence. It does require big maps and points and a willingness to go to a map and think is there a way to launch a coup. It happens rarely so all the more fun to play for it when it does. Its a long time since I really looked at CMBB and its just fun to note the costs/ lift/speed of the halftrack, scout car and MG. However any game , as in my most recent, where 3/8ths of my armour bogs within six turns of the game start on firm ground is going to be one I prefer not to play. Let alone the cower behaviour etc etc. Which reminds me I have never seen the performance and bogging potential of the three vehicles above! Not likely to bother now anyway. : )

JonS - as I do not have Anderson's book your comments need expanding if I am to rebut them in any way. The biography is written by Kenneth Macksey, who at least has the advantage of being a tank man. He did serve under Hobart but I do not think one would say he has hidden his subjects failings. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Macksey I understand its your short version but I have nearly 20 pages in the book on the Invasion day , and a whole chapter previous on their development so .... * the US had 27DD sink at sea of Omaha - two made the shoreline and engaged the shore defences but could not move off because of the minefields. Three later arrived by LCT. If they had Crabs then as on the UK beaches the paths could have been cleared for them to advance * not move on the shingle?! Bobbins were utilised to cover the soft blue clay on the British beaches were it existed - shingle would have been easier I would think. * the petard armed AVRE was designed to follow up the paths made by the Crabs and AVRE bridging units. The Crabs themselves could fire anyway. Apparently Chester Wilmot wrote " At Bradley's HQ .... Montgomery's plan for armored assault was regarded as just another example of British under-confidence and over-insurance." Incidentally you write as though the DD's at Utah did not exist -34 reached the shore and silenced the close opposition but had to wait for the slow manual clearance of mines. On this the least contested beach the US Engineers had 45 casualties compared to the 79th Armoured's 169 for the full day from three more hotly contested beaches. Seems fairly evident that a Crab can clear more quickly and safely than any manual method. Not to say that at times engineers did not get out of their tanks to clear mines and lay charges also. The only thing I have no info on is the LCT claim - do you have that fact handy? The other points you raise seem to require expansion as at the moment they do not seem to hold water.

ArgusEye - I don't doubt there is considerable pressure for science to be studying the hot topic. I would like to deplore it however in this particular case I have to accept for the greater good it is best to accept the "fact" of climate change. Note I do not use global warming as there is always people who will say in my neck of the woods it was way cold last year. Duh! The reason why it is good to "believe" is that lots of money is going to sciences, alternative power is a very pressing need, improved food yields , improved water utilisation etc. Some years back I was saying that this should be framed as a war , but a war without bloodshed and the potential to get things done. And not coincidentally to give people a cause , with no USSR, and religion becoming a debatable dead duck, a cause is not a bad idea. It also may prove to be an economy driver as economic activity is ofen raised during a war. : )

jc - Depending what point size you play you may well want sufficient lift to get a platoon behind the wire to take out close defenders/spotters. That the MG's have he ability to move pretty much all the Russian support equipment makes them doubly useful where you play on big maps. I don't play much CMBB as it is too flawed for my tastes but if I do I would prefer playing with caualties on. A 6 man mortar team is very welcome bonus : )

Bear in mind the advantages of buying fully tracked vehicles to carry your troops - for that you need Commonwealth troops. Many people tend to forget that fact and are a bit put out when you just swarm across with Universal carriers and the various Kangaroos.

I suspect what we have here is a difference in opinion in what game-changing represents. I do not see game changing as being synonymous with winning, rather it changes how the game is played. Interestingly if the tactical applications do mean a reduction in other types of fire support it may give the US Army a pool of existing soldiers that could be put in the sharp end. So maybe ramifications beyond the obvious. There is also the psychological effects of new weapons. If you are behind the curve and reacting to enemy plays that can be daunting.

Tank might be an example of game changing. And the use of the armoured car and biplane made quite a difference in the pre-war period. Just reading a biography of Percy Hobart and that is illuminating for the changes during his lifetime from cavalry to Centurion. Looking at the use of Funnies that is also instructive in new weapons to solve big problems. The difference in beach casualties where they wer ein use and not in use is very striking. And also the speedy reduction of German fortified ports is textbook right tool for the job. Couple of things re Percy. Could have been killed several times before WW2 , including a misfire when a Turkish guard was going to shoot him in the back. A landing on his head when at full gallop a lucky shot nicked his horses hoof. And several near misses on the Western Front. And a plane crash. Probably one of the first Army officers to go up doing recon. Other facts - often quoted as brother-in-law to Monty. In fact his sister Betty died in 1937 so one time brother-in-law might provide a better view of the connection. His daughter was named Grizzel!???

http://www.physorg.com/news192633095.html Seems pretty hot stuff.

I like http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1935115

Trust Physorg to be more informative on the fan

I called the thread economic sabotage because: 1] being legal does not mean it is right or proper 2] citizens have a duty to their society - implicitly So if I am aware that the market is becoming perilous and has national implications do I: 1] pile in and make as much money as possible 2] withdraw from the market and advising my clients why 3] just withdraw from the market 4] ring the alarum bells loudly and publically So does a citizen have to support his nation or does he just go along for the ride and benefit by exacerbating an illness in the market. If he believes the second then does the state need to look after his interests or has he placed himself outside the law? Explaining how derivatives can be good does not trump the fact they have been used for financial disaster - there is no defence.

http://solaraero.org/index.html Interesting and as it is ecologically sound I thought I would throw it in to the mix. Anything Tesla was involved in starts with pedigree : ) As for autos I think the big thing is what is the countryside like. Whats good in Wyoming is not so clever in city travel. My guess is hybrid electric for those longer journeys or where people live in the boonies. Hydrogen does have legs as home based hydrogen production is available now. For lorries injecting hydrogen apparently reduces fuel consumption by 17%. Payback is 6 months in Europe on a Volvo truck doing serious highway work. Also it was announced last week that a catalyst to replace platinum [$200 per ounce] has been discovered and is non-precious metal and will be 30 times cheaper. I think hydrogen is looking good.

I have a problem with the idea that teenagers are adult [other than in law]. Biologically teenagers brains are developing still. But that is irrelevant in this case. It is obvious that I should now go and insult my aged neighbour and either they take the abuse or swing at me. Of course he could call the cops and say I am swearing at him and could they come and arrest me. I am not sure that is easy to prove - is it a mandatory arrest for neighbour abuse? !! As it happens they arrested the right person in this incident. Anyone not smart enough to lie in this case ..... No the girl would have a record for the rest of her life. Not so bad for a 73 year old women. Surely arresting both would have been the Solomon like judgement. Youths hitting pensioners just seems so wrong.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=130961&provider=top ..... H ...... , what a bloody stupid situation. I quess thats going to lose her a mention in the wills.

http://www.physorg.com/news192043428.html

There is a lot of bull around about EV cars and I found htis interesting: http://www.physorg.com/news191596951.html

Of course he probably knew this

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/sniper_kills_qaeda_from_mi_away_sTm0xFUmJNal3HgWlmEgRL?sms_ss=facebook

Well here is Newton

In Flanders fields the poppies grow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields. I have amended it to the authors version. : )

I decide to leave the Fannies out as I was also tying to UK Building Societies also. Effectively as you say the Fannies supported half the market. It is a great shame that corruption plays suh a large part in US upper echelons: Wiki The UK was also very corrupt in allwing very dubious mortgage processes. All of this however was really triggered by the influx of easy money into the marketplace where firms such as Goldman Sachs was lending up to 100 times its capital base. Complete lunacy. The idea that one wrong deal would/should wipe-out the capital base was skated over by the buying of insurances, or hedging. I suspect that everyone in the game was thinking they would be out clear before the **** hit the fan. And I suspect that the laying of a risk in a dizzying spiral was also a game as nobody really wanted to question peoples ability to pay. Far too much money was paid on results in an immediate time frame. If the money for bonuses was locked up for a decade then people who created the **** would get it back before pay-off. Incidentally switching between firms would mean bonus pot goes bye bye ..... otherwise bad guys would keep flipping jobs every year or so.

Well if the Yanks had actually constructed their Mulberry properly and put in the right number of anchors, and also under stood that the 25 ton and 40 ton bridging items were not to be used interchangeably then the percentage delivered may well have been higher. : ) Oops Ambrose skipped that bit?!