Soup

All my bikes decided to die this month. Top-end rebuilds all around. There's a few places I know of that rent bikes for $150 a day. Im talking multistradas and speed triples. I'd be down to check it out.

Occupy Wallstreet occupies Occupy Wallstreet

Im not informed by forums. I waste time on them.

Look, I call it a "fashion" forum because If I have to type "luxury lifestyle forum" every time I want to reference your faggotty forum I'll have to trace your IP and send a big leaky box of smelly whale dicks to your front door. If I'm honest, the term I would prefer to use is "faggy" forum, because that's the word that pops into my head when I imagine a bunch of dudes chatting on a forum about ways they would love to spend cash— but I thought I'd try to be respectful and use the word "fashion" instead. The "1%" refers to the top household income earners in America, which is anyone who makes roughly $250,000... or 713 Jackalopes in Australian currency. That would make me part of the 1%. How is he not a minister? You literally JUST referred to him as a minister. The news article refers to him a minister. He refers to himself as a minister. A minister is not exactly a hard title to receive. Here, you can become one too in seconds: http://www.themonastery.org/ What's the point you're trying to make by saying he isn't a minister?

Hahaha I love how you think you're more informed than everyone else then refer to OWS as a bunch of "Angry students." Man that insider info you get from your graffiti and fashion forum is off the hook. uh... I am the 1%. Or more like the 1.4% I would love to know who you're referring to. How is that in any way a response to you wrongfully thinking the minister punched a cop?

Sweetcheeks? I take it that's australian for "Nobody punched a cop. I don't know why I posted that." If you actually derive a feeling of intellectual superiority from reading fashion and graffiti forums then go back to reading... unless you've learned to read and post at the same time. Stop derailing the thread with misinformation like "How dumb is someone that punches a cop?" and a page-long hypothetical argument about why cops shouldn't react inappropriately to something that never happened. I know the internet is for porn but this is a whole new level of masturbation.

I repeat, WHO punched a cop?

This is too funny. "I argue with people on TWO forums about OWS, so CLEARLY i'm more informed than most." I'm still confused by that whole "That's what you get for punching a cop" post he made... when nobody punched a cop.... so why are we talking about it? I dont understand the internet 99% of the time.

Someone buy one of those walmart fixies, put it on ebay and see how much you get for it. I bet i could sell the wheels and tires alone for $100-200

Who punched a cop? Looked at the website expecting some crazy cult. It's just a small community church. Most churches in america are small, community churches.... and historically these churches are where civil rights movements in America started... before the days of twitter...

Sorry, I rackerrythang. FukusingGreen.

I dont know who's dumber, Dan Quayle, or George Bush Quotes by Dan Quayle: "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." "Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child." "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is 'to be prepared.'" "Welcome to President Bush, Mrs. Bush, and my fellow astronauts." "Mars is essentially in the same orbit . . . Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe." "The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century." "I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy -- but that could change." "Add one little bit on the end... Think of 'potato', how's it spelled? You're right phonetically, but what else...? There ya' go... all right!" --"correcting" a student's correct spelling of the word "potato" during a spelling bee at an elementary school (he told the student to add an "e" at the end "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future." "The future will be better tomorrow." "We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world." "People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history." "We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe." "I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican." "I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix." "It's wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago." "A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls." "When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the riots and the killing in L.A., my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame." "Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it." "We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur." "For NASA, space is still a high priority." "Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children." "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." "[it's] time for the human race to enter the solar system." "The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle may or may not make." "Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things." "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

On the subject of adding liquidity to Europe's USD supply: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/12/08/143350499/european-banks-go-crazy-for-the-greenback#more

I kinda read that and just thought, "Yep, those are exactly the quotes I was expecting." Who I want to hear from are Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and every other country that's affected by China's decision to take whatever land it wants for whatever reason they think is valid. Actually, I want to hear China try to explain to westerners why they think they're deserving of taiwan and the south china sea... without resorting to "Fuck you we're china. We gave you pork buns you ingrates."

I say that most australians are argumentative retards and that translates to me crying nobody understands me.... Hmmm Why are you derailing the thread with this nonsense? What do you want?

Because you were trying to mediate my conversation with dudes I've talked to for years and know by first name. Who does that? Nobody knows you. Please, shut the fuck up.

i lold

Someone needs to mass produce these bars. They'd make a killing.

Banks by law need to keep a certain percentage of money on their books for all the money they've lent out. The central bank is there to provide short loans to help a bank balance their books on a daily basis. A bank could need to borrow a hundred million dollars for only three days, pay it back, then need to borrow another hundred million a day later. You could see how fifty banks could get up to $7.7 trillion in transactions in just two years.

People have a hard time separating idealism from reality. I would think career comic book writers would have an even harder time than most. And regarding that thing kobersause posted: It's not unusual for banks to be indebted to the federal reserve for billions of dollars. It's a loan, everybody needs loans, and when you're one of the biggest banks those loans have to come from something bigger. Now the question that Bloomberg asks, "Should the money a bank owes to the federal reserve be public record and/or regulated?" that's up to you to decide. There is no clearcut answer. For a bank like CitiCorp to owe $81 Billion to the federal reserve on any given day, when it at one point was making a billion dollars every month, doesn't bother me. And if the total amount in transactions to all these firms—including a few government agencies if i read that correctly—totaled up to the amount of $7.7 trillion, wheres the foul play if it was all payed back, with interest? This is a normal mechanism of the central bank. I dont know if this is where you want to get mad.

That green two-stroke is badass. How mechanically inclined are you? Im assuming you're not but I apologize if I assumed wrong. Here's my advice anyway. Don't buy one that's been detailed/cleaned up on the motor. You want to be able to see where it's leaking, and if he says it's not leaking at all he's a liar. Don't buy one that doesn't run. Especially if it's a "cafe project." Make him buy a fucking battery for the thing. If there's a delay in throttle response, you've got dirty carbs. Peg that at +$500 If there's a leak from the valve cover, peg that at +$500 If there's oil seepage from the head gasket, that's ok. If it's flowing from the head gasket, peg that at +$2500 If it needs new tires, +$130 each If it needs new brake fluid +$60 If it needs new oil +$40 If the brakes squeak, oh well. You can always get some sandpaper and scuff up the pads. Old bikes are pretty big money pits. Especially if you want them to be "performance oriented." I can name 20 newer bikes that'll be less cost, go faster, handle better, and look just as cool (to me).

Don't think of it as a short-term solution for europe. Think of it as a long term solution for Europe's banks. Greece still needs to figure out how it's going to tell it's people "The government can't pay for everything." Banks can't do that.

This is kind of like QE3, but the difference here is that this is specifically helps banks that will be affected by Greece defaulting on its debt. Last month it was announced that Greece can default on their debt by up to 50%. That's potentially a 50% decrease in capital for greek banks. If you have a savings account in a bank that just lost half of its capital, you just lost your savings, maybe even start a bank run. This way these banks can borrow more money at an extremely low interest rate in preparation of Greece defaulting. Think of the affect this has on the psyches of investors. Greece no longer needs a bailout, the future of the Euro looks more secure, there will make more security in the markets which means people will have more money to spend, which means people will invest more in companies that rely on consumer spending... It's a good time to buy more stocks. Take those dollars and invest because now's the time. Sure the US currency has inflated 3% but unless the price of goods goes up it doesn't affect anyone. The price at the pump is already reflecting the rising price of oil...

I think fucking with China who's willfully pegged its currency to the USD is an added bonus. Bernake's been wanting to inflate the USD for a while to bring housing prices in america back in line, which would help the 1/3 of americans who are underwater on their mortgages and prevent future defaults. It also strengthens the yen and other currencies which would mean outsourcing overseas is no longer as profitable, and potentially could bring more jobs back to the states. And it also provides liquidity to the states which needs it as much as europe.... This is all Bernake's idea. Obviously if you own anything that's pegged to the USD you're going to be pretty pissed off.... like for instance savings accounts. I have a feeling that this will end up hurting more americans than it helps. Most americans still have very little faith in the US economy and will probably refuse to reinvest to pre-crisis levels.

I dont get the whole stink that article puts on the united states being at the top of the "global financial and monetary order." Our economy rivals all of Europe combined. Our economy rivals all of Asia combined. Our currency is out there in circulation far more than any other currency, and that's the basis for a lot of cross-border trade being exchanged in US currency first. Everybody knows what dollars are worth, everybody accepts them. It's not like you can provide liquidity to Europe's economy with yen or beanie babies. It HAS to be the U.S. dollar. SURE, europe doesn't want dollars so it has to give back those US dollars back to America by buying our goods, or investing in bonds, so it benefits us the most. But you have to weigh that against how much money the EU is losing every day it waits for their governments to work out a bailout for greece, italy, france, etc. I also want to stress that this isn't some conversion of europe to the USD. If that was the case Europe would just buy cash from the federal reserve. It's buying it from their own central bank, which somewhat helps to peg the Euro, Yen, and maple leaf (whatever Canuks use as currency... moose antlers?) to the USD. On a side note, where are all the NWO conspiracy theorists in all of this? I think it's pretty clear at this point that europe's "One currency to rule them all" isn't some Rothschild mastermind plan. And another linky http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/11/30/142945987/the-central-banks-are-doing-what#more