Forward/Return ratios, expenses, etc.

[TheElement]

Well, remind me to tell you some stories over a coffee in the Westin lobby. Your jaw will drop.

Sounds like a plan Peter. See you at the Rally!

[RockChild56]

This doesn't come up often in the forums these days, (there was a time, not long past, in the days before Facebook, when political discussion was common, here) I am at least nominally a Republican; I live in a blue dot in a red state; the Austin, TX of Indiana, if you will, and the reason is so I can vote in primaries, to try to limit the damage done by Grover Norquist, Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes to what was once the party of Lincoln. The last Republican president I coulda voted for was probably Eisenhower. I did vote for Reagan once, but the other choice was Mondale; my first vote as an American was wasted on third-party candidate John Anderson)

I'm also a veteran, my dad was, all my uncles were and so was my late brother and oddly, fewer than half of my many cousins. So when I say with a straight face that paying taxes is patriotic, I actually believe that, but speaking as a veteran, our colossal waste of blood and treasure for the sake of special interests and the military-industrial complex? Not a fan. I'm also not sure which 'Veep' was referred to, but I guess that doesn't matter, cuz I'm telling you exactly where I come from.

I wasn't trying to be political or elicit a political response. Had I known it would tickle you so, I would have kept my mouth SHUT. Actually I do believe it's about time I do just that and exit the scene.

Later DUDe

A thousand pardons; there was no snark intended in my post, (hence the smilies) I was just trying to open up a little about who I am, so I can get to hear your stories. And please, call me Mojo; all my friends do, and I theenk we're all friends here. My feathers are NOT ruffled, and I'm way too old for that puffing out the chest thing on the 'net, or elsewhere.

Soooo, story: today I'm standing in line to buy a gun, and I'm getting a little irritated by a guy waiting in line behind me, who's riffing about how Obummer is the greatest gun salesman in history, but I turned around and asked him a question, (a polite one, since he was openly carrying) and he turned out to be a very helpful guy who knew a lot about procedural details like how to legally get from my house to the gun range without a carry permit.

Anyways, as Americans, I think we might be getting a little too sensitive, these days, and I want y'all to know that when I say "dude" I mean it the way Sam Eliot meant it in the Big Lebowski, not how Tom Arnold meant it in Men In Black. How's about we all do a 'courtesy flush' and start over from square one?

Agreed.

[mojobone]

Most likely the poor are poor because they don't have the constitution, for one reason or another, for revolution.

Well Len, we ALL have murder and larceny in our hearts; IMHO, that's why we need the Jesus.

[mojobone]

[
I think the best business advice I ever got, was when someone suggested I was in the wrong business and should maybe open up an ice cream shop, I replied that I didn't much care for ice cream, and she told me that was good because I wouldn't be eating up all the profits,lol!

That's a fair enough point; too many of us are willing to work for too little, because we love to perform too much. This is what's behind the general devaluation of music that we ALL suffer from, but who wants to be the guy who breaks the fingers of the folks undercutting us?

[Len911]

Most likely the poor are poor because they don't have the constitution, for one reason or another, for revolution.

Well Len, we ALL have murder and larceny in our hearts; IMHO, that's why we need the Jesus.

Except for the poor who don't have murder and larceny in their hearts, and don't need Jesus,lol!
The revolution I was referring to doesn't require murder or larceny, but rather voting and protest.

[mikemichnya]

The revolution I was referring to doesn't require murder or larceny, but rather voting and protest.

I quote an earlier post: Must. Resist. Bait... but it's late and the flesh is weak... so, good luck with that!

I agree w/T. H. White. Paraphrasing The Once and Future King: out of every 100 people, 90 are born sheep, 9 are born wolves and one ( ) is born truly wise (sheep dog). The 9 wolves get rid of the one sheep dog and exploit the 90 sheep. Among the wolves - the Koch Bros. and their ilk. Among the sheep dogs: RFK... The sheep - "W"... and most of the rest of us.

[mojobone]

But where is the shepherd in all this?

[Len911]

But where is the shepherd in all this?

Very good point!!

I believe he was last seen in Philadelphia,lol!

I think maybe most of those sheep are merely wolves disguised as sheep, and so well that even the wolves can't differentiate between the real sheep from those in sheep's clothing. Even the sheep dog who polices for the shepherd occasionally reverts to his wolf ancestry. And then there's something about, only the true, few sheep recognize the master or shepherd's voice.

*It's amazing how we went from ratios and expenses to inventing parables,lol!

[TimWalter]

8 pages of posts on this subject... love it! Only on taxi forums!

best to all of you.
Tim

[PeterD]

My father once told me, If something costs $10, and it's on sale for $1, but all you have is 25 cents in your pocket, is it really a good deal?

Spoken like a poor person, whose progeny are likely to remain poor. Call credit by its real name, which is leverage. You should only use leverage when you know more than the person you're borrowing from. It could be you know more about yourself and your motivation, or maybe you know more about a given market , but if you don't know more than your lender, you're probably screwed, because the people you borrow from didn't get it by accident.

For example, if it's on sale for a dollar and you have a quarter, could you use it to somehow make a dollar and a quarter? Depending on the interest rate, that might be a deal you'd make, any day of the week.

Maybe poor people are poor because they obey the laws of the rich. Maybe "screwed" is a term that legally allows a rich person to steal from the poor? Maybe the solution is to steal until the poor become rich and until they can prosper under the rules of the rich? Isn't that the Robin Hood principle?
Most likely the poor are poor because they don't have the constitution, for one reason or another, for revolution.

Well ... This "poor guy" made a very aggressive bet on BIDU missing it's earnings over the summer. Turned $2,500 in put options into $10K in a matter of hours and closed the position. In the account, bam. Real, taxable money.

That said, I'm very willing to take risks. Especially with things with which I'm familiar.

Wish the music biz was that easy ...