Open Thread

[vanshnookenraggen]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=26309738
If you add me send me a msg with your forums name just so I know who you are.

[statler]

A little something in celebration of May Day:



(uh, you may not wanna watch this one at work )

[JohnAKeith]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=693667396

[Lurker]

It's a small world

[palindrome]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1612948

[BarbaricManchurian]

Originally Posted by Beton Brut

Now that we're talking about Facebook, I wonder how many users we have. A few of us have connected that way (and via Flickr), but doing so defeats the (perceived) anonymity of the internet forum...

I'd like to remain anonymous, thank you very much I barely use facebook much anymore, there isn't much to do on it (at least for me, females might think differently :P).

[czsz]

Where is that Irish flag house!?

F-15 training!?

[Lrfox]

Originally Posted by BarbaricManchurian

I'd like to remain anonymous, thank you very much I barely use facebook much anymore, there isn't much to do on it (at least for me, females might think differently :P).

I'm remaining anonymous as well. Maybe I'll give it out at a later date, but know at the moment. I do enjoy it though. It's a pretty good networking tool (if you remember to clean up those old college photos!) as well.

[Beton Brut]

For the record, I'm neither advocating nor dismissing Facebook or other social networking tools. For a thousand reasons, anonymity is important on this forum -- that's why I didn't post a link to my profile. If people do wish to connect, it may be best to do so via private messages.

(just a thought)

[kz1000ps]

I'm guessing - through all my band annoucements and photos - that I lost my anonymity a long time ago, so why the heck not:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=20801629

[Ron Newman]

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=577923756

[tobyjug]

Face this:

[palindrome]

I graduated from BC yesterday!

but had to drive my gf to the airport today.

[blade_bltz]

RE: Statler's Jonathan Coulton post

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a youtube video of this, but if you go here and scroll down to the bottom, you'll find an amusing homage to (err, more like satire of) the country's finest municipality. No, I'm not biased or anything.

[bosdevelopment]

Bringing it back. Summer of '96.

[Lurker]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...627912,00.html
Gents you really want to click on that link

06/01/2009 11:50 AM


'POSITIVE ENERGY'

Blonde Parade Lifts Spirits in Gloomy Latvia

Latvians may be feeling depressed as a result of the economic crisis which has hammered the Baltic state, but over 500 blonde women did their best to lift spirits in Riga on Sunday with a parade and other "Blonde Weekend" events.
The global economic crisis has hit the Baltic state of Latvia particularly hard and left the population feeling blue. But one group of Latvian women has taken a novel approach to fighting the pervasive feeling of doom and gloom.
On Sunday, a procession of more than 500 blondes paraded through the capital Riga wearing pink and white. Many were escorted by lap dogs wearing the same cheerful hues. Their goal: to use their beauty to shine a little light into the dark mood caused by the global downturn.
Though it was far from being a protest march, some women used the opportunity to counter stereotypes. "I am beautiful, but I'm not dumb," Ilone Zigure told the news agency AFP. The student added that she hopes that those of her countrymen who are depressed about the economic crisis will find her "positive energy" contagious.
It's a sentiment that many observing the parade shared. "Finally, something positive," one 70-year-old woman watching the parade told AFP. "I just can't stand listening to people talk about the crisis anymore."
The parade was just part of a range of events making up Riga's "Blonde Weekend," which also included a golf tournament, a fashion show, a ball and a drawing contest for kids. The Latvian Blondes Association, which organized the events, hoped to use any proceeds from the weekend's activities toward a playground for handicapped children.
jtw -- with wire reports

[tobyjug]

^^^ Finally a stimulus package I can get behind.

[kennedy]

Blissful ignorance? All of these people who just want to ignore the crisis, who can't stand to hear people talk about it?

Or maybe, if they ignore the talk, they'll spend their money more freely.

[KentXie]

Originally Posted by kennedy

Blissful ignorance? All of these people who just want to ignore the crisis, who can't stand to hear people talk about it?

Or maybe, if they ignore the talk, they'll spend their money more freely.

I think it is to try to build confidence in people on the market. We all know the crisis is man-made and if people were to behave before the bubble started, the economy could be recovering a little faster.

[Lurker]

"If people were to behave before the bubble started, the economy could be recovering a little faster"

People no longer have unlimited easy credit to buy things they shouldn't can't afford in the first place. Nor do people have jobs to spend at the same levels they could before, even excluding credit. It doesn't help either that the rule of law has been eroded to scare off investors, given that the government is now breaking all existing legal precedent in bankruptcy court for politically connected entities.

The constant meddling of the government and uncertainty of the future is what's killing the economy. Government interference in the market created the mess and is only making it worse. Mind you this is before hyperinflation, or even worse a spiral indexed deflation across the board, kicks in thanks to the government borrowing itself into oblivion. Remember what happened to the USSR? We are on our way there economically if the trend continues.