215700+ entries in 1.7s
mod6: i'll have to watch that one. i don't think
a film could ever do such
a book justice.
assbot: Repeating Anna Karenina’s Mistakes | Contravex:
A blog by Pete Dushenski
pete_dushenski: mircea_popescu: quebec was if memory serves 50.5 - 49.5 << ayup. pretty much each and every time they gave it
a go
bounce: anyway. ``Netropolitan Is Facebook For The Rich, Only
A $9000 Fee To Join'' -- gotta be reeech to fall for that
kakobrekla: jurov did you request
a deposit address on .su?
The20YearIRCloud: I'm curious if BTC is gonna stay sub 400 for
a while. If it does, our dividends are gonna be stellar
chetty: mircea_popescu, that is
a whole nother issue, especially since old folks are useless and irrelevant
mircea_popescu: chetty moreover, old folks are in
a better position to understand the futility of change anyway.
ThickAsThieves: i see it as YES voters were trying to hit
a target, NO voters trying to dodge
a bullet
diana_coman: ThickAsThieves it was pretty much like
a competition (football match) so they are excited their "team" won
ThickAsThieves: the news photos show
a bunch of people either very happy or very sad about the vote
mircea_popescu: (no, i didn't change it. i don't change passwords when
a third party says so. i change them when i change them.)
cazalla: such good prices and i have car rego and insurance to pay, such
a scam :\
mircea_popescu: was
a very similar affair, led by similarly inept cvasi-religious figures without an actual religion. ended up hanging an innocent young english sailor for no particular reason.
assbot: Disney & Pixar's
A Bug's Life - 2 mosquitos - YouTube
mircea_popescu: done and that GGC would have no problem pre-selling the lots to pay for the land. He also told me that he had negotiated
a deal in such
a way that even if the full payment can't be made in time that we could extend it.
mircea_popescu: "Since I had already brought in thousands of leads to GGC throughout 2012 and the start of 2013 and Ken had begun to market this new property that GGC didn't even own I was very distressed. However, at the same time, the amount of interest was staggering. I knew there would be demand for
a project like this but I was amazed how much interest there was. Ken again told me that this is just how these type of deals are
assbot: Glenn Beck is Planning
a $2 Billion Libertarian Commune in Texas | Dallas Observer
mircea_popescu: Also, he had hired some sales staff (all TDV readers) and all of them were emailing me telling me that what Ken had just done was crazy and he was trying to get them to sell
a property that wasn't owned by GGC without any real details even about the property, how much water or water rights it had and whether it could be rezoned! They all said they were going to quit but Ken had begun to move forward and market it."
mircea_popescu: "
A few months passed and there wasn't too much developing when I got an email from someone (not even Ken) in June of 2013 that he had just committed to purchase
a property with secure water rights near the initial property for over $6 million... and it had to be paid in full within three months!
mircea_popescu: ingenuity, yes. they're about as ingenue as
a 9 year old girl.
mircea_popescu: Ken told me it wouldn't be
a problem and he'd get it fixed. And, while I had already begun to market the property I was generally okay in knowing that the four founders had bought
a large piece of property that, at worst, they could live on and/or resell and no one would get very hurt from this mistake.
mircea_popescu: Very quickly after the purchase of the property I received an email from Ken that there was
a lot of errors and the property not only can't be rezoned for 3,000 lots but only for 12! And, it had no water rights for much more than 12 livable units!
Duffer1: 50/50 partners on the deal (with
a certain percentage for.. the investors..
mircea_popescu: 50-50s ar for the qualified people in question. there is NOTHING, nothing at all, no benefit, zero, zilch, gulch for the guys with the "idea" or the "vision". fuck your vision and get lost, it's not worth
a cupful of piss.
mircea_popescu: "I was assured that the property could be rezoned (at least somewhat) and that it had water rights and I returned to North America and Ken and I agreed we would be 50/50 partners on the deal (with
a certain percentage for Cobin and his partner and for the founding investors) and I told Ken that I had no time nor qualification to operate or manage
a real estate development so he would be the Managing Partner and that th
mircea_popescu: listen kids.
a) this isn't how any business works ; b) "totally normal" is no argument ; c) don't be this loser. don't be the 9 yo kid telling the tall tale about how you "nearly" got into
a fist fight with the bad boys that ruined your sunday clothes.
mircea_popescu: By that point I had had enough. "I don't do business that way," I said, and nearly got into
a fist fight with Ken Johnson over it. However he and the others all assured me that this was "totally normal" in the real estate business to do... and over time they, and especially Ken, talked me into doing it. Ken told me, "this is how the real estate business works."
mircea_popescu: Everyone at the table told me that it was
a "sure thing" which I found preposterous. But then, Cobin, his partner and Ken started talking about putting
a down payment on the property with
a "rubber cheque". They were essentially saying that we would give the owner
a cheque that had no real money backing it and then raise the funds to buy the property.
mircea_popescu: My first thought was that it would be terrible to turn this serene, perfect mountain valley into
a complete suburban-like area. And my second thought was, "3,000 lots? Doug Casey has been operating La Estancia de Cafayate for more than five years and hasn't even sold 200 lots!"
mircea_popescu: We sat down for dinner in Santiago with John Cobin and his partner who had brought us the property and that's when things started to get strange. Cobin and his partner had some bizarre plan to zone
a few thousand acres with 3,000 lots including golf courses, hotels and all manner of grandiose things. They actually had
a business plan that went into the billions of dollars in revenue.
mircea_popescu: "I first wrote about La Estancia as being "Galt's Gulch" in 2011. I went on to talk throughout much of early 2012 about how exciting I found the concept and how I would like to do one myself." fucking preachers without
a church, teenaged boys trapped in sagging old bodies trying to get patrons to carve them
a parish.
mircea_popescu: "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" is
a thing for
a fucking reason.
mircea_popescu: the more annoying you are to larger groups of people, the less advisable it is to go into
a fucking ravine. stick to the town, everyone's annoying there.
mircea_popescu: why the fuck do you think feminists don't go to hide in utah on
a farm ? perhaps because they don't want to end up on the receiving end of the stick, like the mormons ?
mircea_popescu: but for people to try and create
a "bitcoin" or "ayn rnd" or w/e community.... this is so idiotic it defies description.
mircea_popescu: but these are all practical considerations. i wouldn't do this even as
a banal every day person.
The20YearIRCloud: it'd be like me throwing
a dart at
a map of Ohio and saying "I'm gonna build an acid plant here, it's sure to make money!"
The20YearIRCloud: in the sticks in
a somewhat economically hostile country without quality advisers/professionals to help guide decisions
mircea_popescu: decimation i was just wtf'ing now, looking at it. really, pictures of one jar of honey,
a bunch of SIGNS and
a bunch of mountain range ? THAT ?
decimation: my spindy-sense was tingling when I went to their website
a few months ago and they had no details whatever
mircea_popescu: for the record, i agree with both negative estimates. it is incredibly stupid to go out in the fucking sticks, if you're on
a budget.
decimation: The20YearIRCloud: it seems that this could be
a 'marketing opportunity' for
a real estate baron
mircea_popescu: would you use it to defend your house or get
a different guard for it ?
mircea_popescu: suppose you were
a billionaire, and owned
a real estate company that owned about ten thousand units on average in each state.
The20YearIRCloud: granted my data is from
a few hundred homeowners in central Ohio, with
a few out of state people as well
The20YearIRCloud: And from what i've personally seen, working with people who buy, own ,maintain , manage, get divorced, declare bankrupcy, have their house burnt down, find radon/asbestos/lead paint, that overall real estate isn't
a bad investment for your common guy
The20YearIRCloud: Well, since data was collected, it shows itself to be
a relatively good investment (not the best mind you) but one that's pretty decenty
The20YearIRCloud: And, when you look back on real estate prices in the US from 1880-1920, it still was
a pretty stable pricing trend
mircea_popescu: the fact that i can live in it is about as much
a consideration as the notion i could fuck my bonds.
mircea_popescu: so you make
a commitment to
a house that exceeds the commitment you make to the woman in question.
ben_vulpes: <decimation> 'owning' your home is partially renting from the government, partially speculation on mortgage bonds, and partially
a 'ticket' to future 'wealth' << fucking bril
The20YearIRCloud: I know countless people who are now sitting on near
a million dollars of real estate because they own their home and
a few others
decimation: mircea_popescu: in the us you can buy "umbrella insurance" for such
a possibility
decimation: 'owning' your home is partially renting from the government, partially speculation on mortgage bonds, and partially
a 'ticket' to future 'wealth'
mircea_popescu: simple question for "homeowners". calculate your per-passerby liability for injury happening on "your" sidewalk. just as
a curio.
mircea_popescu: decimation there used to be this thing that you're not
a real woman if you give good head
decimation: mircea_popescu: there's this thing in American culture that you aren't
a 'real person' if you don't 'own' your home
mircea_popescu: sure, some people enjoy, either, as
a hobby. some people do their own tattoos.
decimation: asciilifeform: I'm pretty sure the warez book I linked above is
a shitty translation
gernika: mircea_popescu: agreed. not
a viable outcome for employees. Although in my case they kept our product alive until it was killed in
a second acquisition so it was sort of
a semi-acquihire. Still
a complete waste of money.
mircea_popescu: gernika: I made more consulting for
a firm based out of Minnesota than I was working at the big name tech company that acquired
a startup I had worked for. So yeah. Fuck startups. << acquihires are usually pitiful affairs that rarely work
decimation: asciilifeform: my favorite quote from "in the first circle": "
A familiar figure in many prison research establishments, Professor Chelnov, an old mathematician arrested seventeen years ago and who, when he had to fill in
a form, put down his nationality not as 'Russian' but as 'zek', had applied his mind to many inventions, from the direct flow boiler to the jet engine, and had put his heart and soul into several of them."
decimation: mircea_popescu: I haven't done the narrowboats, are they
a good time?
decimation: I find learning another language to be
a good way to find out how I am ignorant of things that millions of children know
decimation: the wikipedia says that there's an even deeper meaning derived from the beginnings of the gulag system: "
A memory of the canal is also preserved in the Russian language, in the words "zeka", "zek, z/k" for "inmate". In Russian, "inmate", "incarcerated" is заключённый (zakliuchyonnyi), usually abbreviated to "з/к" in paperwork, and pronounced as "зэка" (IPA: [zɨˈka], "zeh-KA"), which gradually transformed into "
atcbot: [X-BT] Bid: 198 Ask: 245 Last Price: 198 24h-Vol: 0k High: N/
A Low: N/
A VWAP: N/
A mircea_popescu: gernika: I am
a consultant in silly-con valley << win.
ben_vulpes: see now i'm in this horrible place where i *think* i know when you've made
a mispelling, but then i double guess, then...
gribble: wn: allele n 1: (genetics) either of
a pair (or series) of alternative forms of
a gene that can occupy the same locus on
a particular chromosome and that control the same character; "some alleles are dominant over others" [syn: {allele}, {allelomorph}]
decimation: ben_vulpes: I think the renting vs. buying thing is
a generational shift in the us
ben_vulpes: i just let the girl paint the walls whatever and book the deposit as
a cost of renting.
gernika: then there's the fact that when your house goes up in value, so does everyone else's, so its not like you can sell it and buy
a bigger house. And if you don't buy another house with the proceeds of selling your house, you pay
a lot of taxes.
mats_cd03: i was under the impression selling homes is
a matter of finding bagholders
ben_vulpes: the house discussion with these people is
a great example.
decimation: gernika: indeed, unfortunately there's no undergrad class on how not to be
a chump
decimation: gernika: I've noticed that it's
a common pattern in today's economy: kid goes to work for borg-firm, gives up his flower of youth, and then later finds employment profiting on the idiocy he witnessed earlier
gernika: I made more consulting for
a firm based out of Minnesota than I was working at the big name tech company that acquired
a startup I had worked for. So yeah. Fuck startups.