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Messages - Disco Pickle

#1
First, I hope you are all well. 

It's been a whirlwind of nearly a decade and a half and I've been contemplating absurdism again to get me through it, which naturally led me back here.  Lurking.  Reading.

Re-reading some RAW last year helped get me through some tough times.  He always did.

I've abandoned nearly everything I used to think I knew and have gone back to the drawing board, quite literally. 

Change is a constant.  Hail Eris.
#2
Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread
February 08, 2013, 02:57:49 AM
Quote from: LMNO, PhD (life continues) on January 30, 2013, 02:44:17 PM
And yet, no arrests, and no breaking up the institutions.



TOO BIG TO PROSECUTE.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/04/14/business/20110414-prosecute.html

a comparison between the cases and prosecutions brought during the S&L and 2007 crisis.

Seems to me that the wolves swapped out their silk suits for wool blends somewhere in late 94. 

My thoughts on this have been taking me back to the 6 degrees of separation concept.  The people who become heads of the SEC and top banks all either know each other personally, or could very easily be within a minimum of 6 degrees of anyone who does, or could be up and coming. 

Even in a city as populous as D.C. and NY, the insular world the sort of people who fill these positions inhabits should be very finite by design, considering the wealth and pedigree required to ever occupy once of these positions.

Distastefully as it is, it's going to happen that they're covering each other's asses.  Like a well run drug ring, the ones at the top rarely get caught, because they've insulated themselves with multiple layers of actors, making moves on their behalf.

This isn't meant to be a "why it happens"    That's clearly money. 

More of a how, I guess.   I'll chew on it a bit more.   
#3
Quote from: Elder Iptuous on January 25, 2013, 06:33:23 PM
of course, there's the obvious passage

John 3:16 -- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten gun, that whosoever should holster it should not perish, but have everlasting Liberty.

I'm keeping this.  Forever.  I'll always credit you.  If anyone asks to be linked to you, I'll give them your G+, to protect your privacy.
#4
i got the girl a plush chocobo, a sweet firefly shirt, and a laptop, because hers sucks and she has to have a good laptop as a teacher. she got me a roll on bed liner for my Jeep, a leather bound edition of the hitchhikers guide, and a game of thrones companion book.  we got the cat a box. merry Christmas pd.  safe travels if you do. 
#5
Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread
December 11, 2012, 12:38:42 AM
Quote from: Elder Iptuous on December 09, 2012, 05:31:35 PM
I hadn't heard of it.  reading up on it now.  initial reaction is that if it became a viable means of borrowing for the wider audience, the banks would squash it like a bug.

Not sure they'd be able to now.  After Prosper's initial shutdown by the SEC for selling unlicensed securities, paying off the state fines, and filing with the SEC, they're officially operating within the law.  There is the problem of the pending class action filed by the group of initial investors who lost a large chunk of cash, and the fact that they're hemorrhaging cash to expand.  I'm still thinking they could continue to follow Lending Club's growth curve and turn profitable.

There have been some large funds moving in to keep them solvent, which means to me that there's definite potential for profit.  An independent audit last year put their seasoned return at somewhere around 9%, which beats the shit out of anything on the bond market.  Only a few of the mutual funds I hold are doing anything like that.

Quote from: Faust on December 10, 2012, 11:25:14 PM

It sounds like high risk, the people who are going to be attracted to it and cause it the largest loss are property developers who can stake enough cash to get a decent loan which will just be dumped into their over valued and saturated markets.
You can make money on this. And it's crash would have been a good time to get in, but you have to have a realistic exit and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what prices or times those would be.

It's very much high risk.  I've thought of several scams that could easily be run by the sort of people who have absolutely no problem fucking people over using organized fraud and people with nothing to loose by screwing their credit score up for 7 years. 

I've also considered the possibility of people taking the cash and dumping it into a hard asset like a house, but at the rates the loans are going for, I can't see that being a good use unless the max loan of $20,000 would pay off the property, free up the monthly payment and the person was to just walk away from the debt until it became time barred.  If the house gets paid off and they're otherwise fairly financially stable, they could likely take the credit score hit over the next 7 years.  The difference between the likely mortgage rate and the rate for the cash is most likely very large.

Then, there's the possibility of someone with a good credit history taking out a full 20,000 (at around 5%ish I'm guessing, which is still a fucking crazy rate to borrow money) and spreading it out with enough care to get close to the 10% return I've seen people reporting.  Even after paying down the principle at the borrowing rate, you're still basically making free money.
#6
Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread
December 09, 2012, 12:46:05 AM
Since this isn't a financial board, I thought a thread based on this was a silly idea, but I come here to the lot of you for troof, and thought I'd get some reality check outside of the bubble of forums I've dug through in my research on this idea.

Potentially an internets full of financial fuckery, but has anyone here heard of the P2P lending scene since it first debuted in 2006ish, crashed predictably, then began to recover?

Ippy, hirly0, have you heard of this? Is it something you'd do? 

Cain, Faust, P3nt, Pixy, and other boardlings outside of the states: is there anything like this going on across the pond?  I haven't done any digging on it happening outside of these borders but I'm curious about the mindset difference that might exist in other countries to lending money to strangers based on a risk calculated by a third party.

TGGR, LMNO, ECH, RWHN (sigh acronyms) you guys cut to the meat of issues and I'd appreciate the visceral on this one. 

I'm anticipating a discussion on usury coming from this and I'd be interested to have it.  It's a subject which I haven't formed a for or against, but currently support because it's all I've ever known people to do.

Full disclosure: I've already invested with both of the big sites, prosper and lending club, but I'm in for change and wouldn't miss it if they defaulted.  I'm really liking the idea of helping people get their house in order for rates lower than a bank would charge, but I'm having a hard time reconciling that with my general distrust of people and their intentions. 
#7
Aneristic Illusions / Re: Financial fuckery thread
November 28, 2012, 01:41:14 AM
><http://www.cnbc.com/id/49540593

An article that made me laugh out loud about some of the ideas I've had about currencies over the last few years.

><http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/27/europe/gallery/milk-protests/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Milk as a bell weather to real inflation is an interesting idea, but reminds me of that scene in American Gangster between Frank and Dominic about the "true cost of production,  'cause it's gotta be controlled, right? It's got to be set. It's gotta be fair."

So now I'm reading about Milk, from cow to market.  Learning something new, anyway.

Hirley0: 
Quote30849 it seams reasonable to me: RATIONING is the future 30863

Scary prospect, which drives rationing, recursive as that is.

Quote30823 rationing sex comes to mind? start somewhere globally? 12:39:46.AM

Christ man, you're talking anarchy.

QuoteProjects that do not require IMF+WBO  Loans/Leans/Leases
Projects accomplished by individuals, WHO take the time to be interested.

I like this idea.  I've taken to moving some extra scratch that would otherwise realize less than 2%, into a spread of unsecured private loans through a couple of websites that do that sort of thing.  It's not much, but It's helping people who would otherwise be turned down by a bank, or have to do it through a credit card at a ridiculous rate, which is still a bank.

#8
QuoteMuslim synthesizers

Lost it right there. 

Had some half formed joke about ADSR as applied to Islam and couldn't make it funny.  Certainly not funnier than that.
#9
High Weirdness / Re: Florida, land of opportunity
October 19, 2012, 02:17:56 AM
Read about this a some time ago.   Florida makes news because it's fucking Florida.  Jacksonville isn't really north Florida though.  We're south-south Georgia.

I think I've apologized here before for not killing Fred Durst before anyone had to hear of him outside of this place.  I would just like to again extend my deepest sympathies for not doing something about that when I had a chance. 

#10
Quote from: Cain on September 21, 2012, 12:22:30 PM
I'm fairly sure this election has been going on for forever.

Are we sure Romney didn't become President, we all died during the Mormon Rapture and we're now on one of Mitt Romney's planets, reliving his Rise to Power over and over again?

i couldn't make it past 6 of the comments on that blog without wanting to grab the screen and shake, then laugh a bit, manicaly.. 

jesus christ those people are daft
#11
Quote from: Nephew Twiddleton on September 21, 2012, 04:41:49 AM
Hey Pickle, how goes?

twiddles, not bad.  no complaints to be had.  thought i was going to be up that way a few months ago to survey a boat but wasn't necessary so never hit you up on showing me some Basten.   

I'll hit you up on the face space tomorrow, been meaning to listen to this album of yours and just haven't.  you kids and your music.   :)
#12
Quote from: Freeky Queen of DERP on September 21, 2012, 04:15:04 AM
How old exactly do you think Fidel is? :?

I'm yanking his dick a bit on that, but i did see his revolution fictionalized in "The Godfather" and remember that he posted some pics from his service time in the spagbook.  he can't have more than a decade on me, and that's not much really. 

#13
Quote from: Internet Jesus on September 21, 2012, 04:02:57 AM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on September 21, 2012, 03:39:07 AM

It is amusing to me that I'm some sort of candyman who's posts can single handedly summon a (hilarious, btw) djinn of political smack downs from another board simply by posting.

Are we supposed to fight now?

noooo..  you're like..  months late.. 

*sigh* 

there was a time, not long ago (and they don't delete this shit so you can find it) when i was sure i knew some things.  like when i was younger, only more obnoxious, and would pick drunken fights on the board. 

enough people I'd never met told me i was an asshole that i had to step back and consider it, because I'd only ever been called that by people who know me well.. and are sure I'm an asshole, but not an irredeemable one. 

so i mostly just read here now. 

if you want to fight though, I'm going to need time to cook the odds a bit.  i could get back in character for some lols.  it'd be a half assed attempt though.  not only am i busy as shit until 9est but i really, really don't give a shit about those things i did.

#14
narwal politics have to be interesting.   

when you have a horn growing from your forehead, and have to fight for air pockets in a deep winter freeze...   some cut throat fights must happen thar.

I'm done as well, Fidel.  more than any time in my memory,  and as old as i am, I'm a whippersnapper compared to you, it seems like a bunch of people arguing over which shitty end of the stick they want to hold.

i want to strangle anyone who wants to tell me why their team is right and the other team is wrong. 

id like to apologize to everyone i did that to here.  there aren't enough hells in which to burn. 
#15
Quote from: Net on September 18, 2012, 10:30:15 PM
Quote from: TEXAS FAIRIES FOR ALL YOU SPAGS on September 18, 2012, 10:28:31 PM
Quote from: Net on September 18, 2012, 10:20:32 PM
Quote from: Fidel Castro on September 18, 2012, 10:02:40 PM
Quote from: A Very Hairy Monkey In An Ill-Fitting Tunic on September 18, 2012, 10:00:08 PM
Oh, WOW. I want to interact with SuperTroy! Dammit.

I'll ask him again.

Someone should start a pention, or

:?

There's gotta be SOMETHING he can't resist.

Ooh, ooh!

Someone get Disco Pickle to post again!

Ooh, ooh..  OOOOHHHHhhh

*post*

It is amusing to me that I'm some sort of candyman who's posts can single handedly summon a (hilarious, btw) djinn of political smack downs from another board simply by posting.


I've come around to the opinion that human politics are stupid, and wasting time (even time making fun of it) is a waste of time.

Much like smoking the green, or any other distraction of my youth that took me away from doing the things I actually enjoy doing, I'm done with it.  No fanfare, no reminiscing...  It's useless and clearly, hallucinogens were the best anyway.

and really, who has time for hallucinogens anymore?