StreetScooby

No one seems to have raised this question - even if they were put on a bus before Katrina hit, where were they going to go? No evacuation shelters had been set up to receive them. So, they get dumped off at a 7-11 in Baton Rouge? Planning just wasn't there. We are all engines of karma

Link to a Barbara Walters interview with him: http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Politics/story?id=1105979&page=1 We are all engines of karma

I'd vote for Colin in a heartbeat. But, Billvon is probably right, again. We are all engines of karma

kallend - do you really look like your avatar? We are all engines of karma

Yep We are all engines of karma

Great web site!

NYTimes just reported that preliminary tests show 10 times acceptable levels for e-coli and lead. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/national/nationalspecial/08cnd-storm.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=efe0a58b7fc8e12c&hp&ex=1126238400&partner=homepage We are all engines of karma

LOL We are all engines of karma

But, they didn't have guns We are all engines of karma

Think base-10 has anything to do with the number of our fingers? For the life of me, I can't figure out where 12 or 16 (16 oz to lb) came from. Was a family of merchants deformed somewheres along the line? We are all engines of karma

New Orleans is a major port, and will always be so. Ports need people and businesses to exist. There is no doubt New Orleans will be rebuilt. My guess is you'll see better levees. We are all engines of karma

Good

Just read in the NYTimes that a road side bomb killed 4 security personnel in Basra. Has anyone heard from Clay recently? We are all engines of karma

Those that didn't leave didn't have any place to go. FEMA didn't set up evacuation shelters until _after_ Katrina hit. We are all engines of karma

Have you heard what's going on in Baton Rouge? The population there has doubled due to the evacuation. Friends of mine actually made a show of force (with weapons) recently at the Baton Rouge convention center. We are all engines of karma

Instead of something white, how about green or red (as in high power laser). We are all engines of karma

In addition to the cats, we have two guinea pigs, and my god do they smell. All they do is eat and poop. Have to change their tray multiple times a week. They've turned into well fed rats. We are all engines of karma

Where do you go borrow shares? From a "clearing house". A clearing house is responsible for keeping electronic entries, and reporting for SEC requirements, and these days Sarbanes-Oxley. In banking terms, the clearing house turns white paper into green paper, and vice versa, in the eyes of the Federal Reserve. In order to borrow the shares, typically you must have a relationship with the clearing house, i.e., you've used them to clear trades from your broker for a long time. You can hold a short position as long as you want, or until the clearing house buys you back in. What is that? Whenever a clearing house keeps track of your long positions, there is a clause in your contract with them that allows the clearing house to loan those shares out at their discretion. If lots of people start selling their long positions, they have to get those shares back from anyone they've lent them to. Thus, the short seller's squeeze. Also, there are two basic types of agreements with a broker (...who, guess what, tends to work for a clearing house either directly or indirectly). 1) Discretionary - The clearing house/broker makes trades without your permission 2) Non-discretionary - The clearing house/broker makes trades only with your permission. You need to read the contract in order to determine what type of agreement you've entered. If you've entered into a discretionary agreement with a broker who shorts at will, you can lose your shirt and everything around you. Caveat emptor. We are all engines of karma

In order to short a stock, you must borrow the "white paper" from a securities shop. Once you have borrowed the stock, you immediately sell it on the open market and put the "green paper" in your closet. At some point in the future, you must repay the "white paper" to your securities shop. In order to do this, you step back into the open market using your "green paper" you've kept in the closet. After paying back the white paper, you get to keep whatever green paper is left over. Here's an example: 1) You think stock XYZ is going to lose value, for whatever reason. 2) You approach you securities shop (e.g., Morgan Stanley), and borrow 100 shares of XYZ. 3) You immediately have your broker sell those shares, let's say for $10. 4) That gives you $1000 green paper in your closet. 5) Two months later, XYZ has fallen to $5. 6) You have your broker buy back 100 shares of XYZ at $5, costing you $500. This is called covering the short. 7) That leaves you with $500 green paper in your closet. You just made money. Pitfalls are many. 1) You have to pay an agreed "interest rate" to your securities shop while borrowing the white paper. 2) Securities shops _know_ who is shorting what. They can make a play against you that causes the price of the stock to rise. It's called a short sellers squeeze. You can lose _alot_ of money in this scenario, because you have to pay back the "white paper", not the "green paper". Typically, investing professionals _never_ make one sided trades. They always go long in one security, and short another. This is the operating definition for a hedge. We are all engines of karma

I believe there are tax advantages, also. These companies are based off shore, and are not subject to US tax laws. Hedge fund managers typically command 2-3% of equity as their fee, plus 20% of any profits. Taking short positions is a huge part of their business. Also, they rarely make "one-sided" trades. Usually, they'll "go long" (i.e., actually own the security) in one market sector while going short against another sector. A typical portfolio will contain many such "strategies". We are all engines of karma

We just got two new kittens, 10 weeks old. One is a male, the other is a female. They spend quite a bit of time playing together, and sleep together. They were already littered trained when we got them from ASPCA. The vet is saying have the male neutered at 4 months, the female at 6 months. The male is already using the scratching post, while the female hasn't quite caught on yet (...no major damage). At this time, we're trying to teach them they're not allowed to get on the dinner table. Other than that, absolutely no problems, and quite a bit of fun. We are all engines of karma

I've never heard of anyone coming back and complaining. Guess it can't be that bad We are all engines of karma

I think we're all in agreement regarding net energy. The question in my mind is the distribution of the energy amongst the various parts of the planet. It's the oceans that are getting warm. Why? That's the part that's not clear to me. I have a very hard time seeing gases warming up a large body of water. If the interior of the earth is leaking into the water (i.e., magma), that tends to make more sense to me. BTW - I have a masters in ChE. We are all engines of karma

Did you hear about the Jewish doctor? We are all engines of karma

Your argument holds water In my pondering, I'm still stuck. Nothing I've heard in this thread discounts underwater volcanic activity. A leaking thermos bottle (the earth) still sounds viable. We are all engines of karma