Pick:

Heads   6 votes - 66 %
Tails   1 vote - 11 %
-----   4 votes - 44 %
Rock   2 votes - 22 %
Paper   3 votes - 33 %
Scissors   2 votes - 22 %
----   4 votes - 44 %
Other - Right On!   1 vote - 11 %
 
9 Total Votes
wipo by sasquatchan (2.00 / 0) #1 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:28:48 PM EST
tiger hand, You don't know Tiger Hand?

Mob ? Bob, I think you're watching the wrong movies here, my man. You need real stories about the mob, not this made up hollywood crap.

Admit it, you're sorry you can't run that fast, so you can be put out to stud..

Oh, and burberry's been out, Bob, but I know style takes a while to get to Cleveburgh. Time for a new polo big guy.



Well by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #8 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:53:15 PM EST
I've been making a study of the modern day mob lately, which is actually why I checked this out.

Truth be told I think it would have been fun to be a mobster, if it weren't for all the danger involved.

re: No no, it's not a polo, in fact it's not even so much the style of a shirt that makes me like it, as it is the way it fits.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob
[ Parent ]

I think that's right. by ObviousTroll (2.00 / 0) #11 Wed May 24, 2006 at 02:34:39 PM EST
The mob was born during prohibition and when booze went legit again they moved into nastier ways to make money.

That's my biggest concern about legalizing drugs - you don't think all those narcobarons are going to go legit, do you? They'll find some other way to rake in the cash - smuggling MP3s and pirate warez for example.

--
You're no good to me dead. Even half-alive would be socially awkward. - Hugh MacLeod
[ Parent ]

Easy there.. by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #12 Wed May 24, 2006 at 03:17:17 PM EST
I'm pretty sure the Russian mob owns all the rights to pirated mp3's and waR3Z stuff. The last thing we need is to get into it with those blokes, they make the Italian's look like cream-puffs.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob
[ Parent ]

mob? by garlic (2.00 / 0) #2 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:29:28 PM EST
you must not have seen enough mob movies then. prohibition beer running and then the move to control vegas are major themes.



Oh sure by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #6 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:47:34 PM EST
What I didn't know was that the mob pretty much didn't exist until prohibition.

Oh yeah, they also claimed that the mob generated more revenue than like the top 10 companies in the US, or something along those lines.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob
[ Parent ]

Mafia came to power during Prohibition by DesiredUsername (4.00 / 2) #3 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:32:46 PM EST
Sicily may be surprised to find this out.

---
Now accepting suggestions for a new sigline


In the States that is by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #4 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:44:56 PM EST
In fact they claim that prohibition was put in place as an attempt to curb the drinking habits of all those crazy immigrants who were coming to America to escape oppression. So it was the attempt to control them that actually gave birth to all the crime and corruption in organised crime. I'll bet dollars to donuts a Bush was involved in that decision.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob
[ Parent ]

I'm Sure They Do. by Christopher Robin was Murdered (2.00 / 0) #5 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:47:21 PM EST
At least, I'm certain that our leaders are as thoughful with regards to the impact of their decisions as we with regards to impact of our votes.



Now Bob by dev trash (2.00 / 0) #7 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:48:44 PM EST
The Owners o fthat horse said on NPR they'd had him in surgery regardless of how much money it cost or how much he'll make them.  They JUST LOVE horses. ( So much that they participate in in-breeding them into fragile china dolls. )

--
Blizzard of Death '06


Ha.. what a hoot by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #9 Wed May 24, 2006 at 12:55:36 PM EST
They're about as transparent as dkos when he came out against the evil Democrat from LA.

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob
[ Parent ]

It's not really a side effect by theantix (2.00 / 0) #10 Wed May 24, 2006 at 01:23:38 PM EST
Considering how the same people who promote prohibition of vices are generally the same people who promote less restricted free markets, it's kind of funny to see how they don't see how one necessarily leads the other.  Competitive markets work because the personal incentives for the buyers and sellers align to arrive at a fair price point for goods -- this is to say that in a competitive market personal selfishness or greed on the part of the buyer or seller is in fact helpful not harmful.

But in the case of prohibition, making something that there is a strong demand for illegal increases the transaction cost.  This boosts prices, which attracts certain suppliers no matter how illegal the transactions will ever be.  And with no legal recourse between vendors of illegal goods, disputes must be settled privately instead of in a court of law.  In this case, the personal selfishness of the sellers is not aligned with the common good: it is in their best interest to use violence and seize the market for themselves.

So if you look at it from the perspective of the incentives that are created for the various players, you can see that it's not a side effect at all and just a logical consequence of how the government shifts the behaviours based on their policies.  It's only a side effect because most people never bother to think about how public policy shapes behaviour for better or for worse when analyzing.  So this brings me back to the start: if people like this fundamentally do not understand why markets work, why the hell are they the ones promoting them?

____________________________________
You sir, are worse than Hitler.


the shirt by alprazolam (2.00 / 0) #13 Wed May 24, 2006 at 03:31:33 PM EST
this happens with chicks all the time. they buy a pair of shoes in the spring and totally love them, then next year rolls around and they can't even decide if they like them.

as for diets, i'm thinking about going low-no carbs other than veggies for a while as i seem to have lost the ninja discipline that allowed me to lose 60 lbs the first time around.



that's a rough diet by georgeha (2.00 / 0) #14 Wed May 24, 2006 at 04:41:30 PM EST
I'm trying something similar, greatly reduced starches.

No peanuts or cashews, but you can have almonds and jerky, and dried fruit.


[ Parent ]

So I'm morphing into a chick??? by Bob Abooey (2.00 / 0) #15 Wed May 24, 2006 at 05:26:19 PM EST
My overall diet is pretty good, except for the occasional runts binges. I've been eating more fruit and veggies lately even though it's a bit of a pain to clean and prepare them.

You need the carbs for energy for working out, no?

Warmest regards,
--Your best pal Bob
[ Parent ]

yea by alprazolam (2.00 / 0) #16 Wed May 24, 2006 at 06:20:15 PM EST
I need the carbs for working out, but if I did some lame circuit workout and cut carbs to nothing but a post workout shake, I could get by.

Probably ought to go back to my "not having food at home" strategy. Nothing works better than that.

[ Parent ]