RIP Biz Markie
Died July 16

*doublepromote
*quality

Sorry to be the little grey raincloud on this Hate The Hedges party, but you might want to understand the implications of what just happened

Y'know that fund that's getting all attention, Melvin Capital? Yeah, fuck them, right? Fuckin' shorters all shortin' and shit -- they played, they paid!

There's a reason they were bailed out and with all due haste.

Here's the issue: they were VERY good at the shorting game. So good that they actually had to turn away business. They made money like horses makes shit. When clients couldn't get in at Melvin, they went elsewhere. That opened the door to a lot of other firms basically mirroring exactly what MC was doing, which included shorting the fuck outta GME.

Fuck those guys too, right? It's their money, so why should I care?

Let's go back a few year, shall we, to the glorious chapter in finance and economics that was the 2008 Crash. Remember when Paulson lost his shit because he realized that in about 36 hours, the basic system called Western Capitalism was going to shit the bed; the bedroom; the whole house and pretty much every surface above the ocean within a planetary radius? This is sorta like that. Only worse.

The thing about short squeezes is that the losses can be infinite, and that's exactly why WallStreetBets did what they did. They knew if they bought and held -- diamond hands -- the stock would have to rise as the shorters had to cover their bets. Melvin Capital and a shit-ton of other, smaller firms had to do that and ran out of liquidity long before GME was even at $50. For every share of stock they shorted, they need to cough up another share at a higher value -- and they HAD to actually have the higher-priced share.

And here's where things get VERY ugly.

Shorting GME was such a sure thing that a huge number of shorts were placed. In fact, more shares of GME were shorted than actually existed. Oops. But hey, SURE THING, BABY and what's the worst that can happen?

Yeeeah, y'see where this is going now?

So these firms, not only are they broke, they don't have the shares, either. They need to come up with shares, pronto, at any price, because contractual obligations are a motherfucker in the finance world. But again, more shorts than there are shares and the people who have the shares, WSB and 4chan's /biz/, aren't letting them go. The longer they hold, the higher the price will go as short after short faces having to cough up the shares they borrowed.

A lot of people are about to lose a LOT of money -- the kinda losses that have so many zeros attached that looking at the number bores the eyes.

Back to 2008: the reason the whole world almost started Mad Max LARPing back then is that a narrow number of highly-important financial institutions were a wee bit thin on liquidity because they were having to pay it out by the boatload. That's bad. What would be better is if risk were more distributed, and how could that little plan POSSIBLY go wrong? Maybe a Black Swan event involving a huge amount of money that needs to be paid out by all of them due to this annoying bird.

That's where we are now, but no one even remotely knows what that figure is going to be. Again, (potentially) infinite losses multiplied by 150% times the number of shares actually available, multiplied by the dogshit risk factor on the loans and the leveraged payouts -- your best case scenario might be a loss of about $500 billion. Someone has to come up with that money, be it the Fed or other banks/investors, but that latter group has to come up with the money themselves, which is generally accomplished by selling profitable holdings. We all know what happens when a lot of people have to sell, right?

I always wanted to live in interesting times, thus proving what an utter fuckwit I am.

Pure gold: https://www.centrism.biz/

Browse through the sections, values and policies most of all.

Appetizer:
"Centrist politicians

These charismatic stage managers for capitalism enchant voters with thrilling tales of the imminent economic prosperity that will grow without limits forever. Their slogans, selfies and well-rehearsed hand gestures help voters understand that better isn't possible, but feeling better is. "

All the time.
Local pigs are often in the pocket of big biz and work as their muscle.

Now try M&N's in Lincoln, Nebraska.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/m-and-n-sandwich-shop-lincoln-2

For anyone else who is curious: Frederick the Great.

Evening doll! Having studied film and being in the biz for as long as I have, I have become pretty jaded, and was convinced that I have seen it all. There just doesn't seem like there is any original thought left, Hollywood appears to have given up, and watching endless "student films" kinda proved that assumption.

However, every now and then a short comes along that renders me speechless, snatches the breath from my lungs, and makes me stare in wonderment at the screen. Watching a Horror Film as a Young Boy is one, and I keep finding my mind drifting back to it, playing it over and over in my head.

This is why I dig the Sift so much, and really feel connected to it and some of the amazing people here. This does more for my soul than any meeting or therapy session ever could.

P.S.Holy balls, you have 0 videos in your Personnel Que...I think I will just start referring to you as King, having @bareboards2 already nominated you to join our shared fantasy. It really does seem to be fitting!!

I drank anyway. Hamilton only lost ... twice?

We had a grand time at my house. Bunch of theater geeks ended the night by singing There's No Bizness like Show Bizness at the top of our lungs.

James Corden rocked it.

Did you have fun?

Art Garfunkel says:
http://variety.com/2016/biz/news/bernie-sanders-simon-and-garfunkel-america-art-garfunkel-1201686260/

If it were a public figure or an elected official, I wouldn't have a problem at all with them being fired.

I'm not sure if that TED talk example fits exactly. She was a PR manager right? For someone in the PR biz, that was just monumentally stupid thing to say and someone in PR should know better so I find it hard to have sympathy for someone in that case.

But yeah, it's a blurry line to be sure. For me it's a very potent example of why direct democracy isn't always great and why it's a good thing that we elect individuals to make decisions for us to counter the mob with pitchforks mentality that large groups of people tend to have.

Could you imagine if we put EVERYTHING to a popular vote? Sure some things might become more progressive, but then crap like this would happen. Imagine if the decision to use the nuclear bomb was up to direct popular vote. Our planet would be an irradiated wasteland many times over.

Ah, got it. I couldn't find my own photos, but google came to the rescue - here is Lake Colac in its "Colac mudflat" phase a few years ago - http://otway.biz/images/lakecolacdry.jpg

And here's a more normal view after a bit of rain - https://fredodonnellphotography.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/jetties-lake-colac/

The lake's only shallow, so it's prone to drying out completely if there's a drought. It's only happened once in my lifetime that I know of though, although the level does go up and down.

There's a man made lake called Lake Wendouree a few hours north in Ballarat, and around the time that a few years before lake Colac dried up they had to mow it... and started a fire in the dry grass! It was still mud underneath, so it was a bit hard to put the fire out too, they couldn't get the fire trucks onto it

On the Lake Wendouree fire - http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/12/31/2457263.htm

@Grimm
@ChaosEngine
@Sagemind

thanks guys!
thats exactly what i was looking for.
though i have to admit a particular curiosity in regards to what a "decent" or "living" wage would amount to,which is too specific for most people to actually state.

the reason i am so curious is because since 1978 i have been in the business in one capacity or another.i have been a captain at a few 5 star places.ran two 4 star ballrooms and have bartended at some of the most amazing clubs.

i worked very hard to learn the techniques and particulars of my trade.i learned from the best so i could be the best.started from the bottom,listened intently and learned the trade from some of the most talented people i had ever met.

so what am i worth? what would be considered a "living" wage?
the reason i say this,tongue firmly planted in cheek,is because when people find out how much i made they..and i am not exagerating here..literally lose their mind.

i did very well,but i worked my ass off to get it.
and i was worth every penny.
but i didnt just do it for the money...thats just...soulless and void of any meaning.i did it for the challenge.i did it for pride and knowing that the majority of people out there could not do what i do.
and i happen to enjoy meeting people:bonus!
love what you do and the money follows.

or did.

i recently left the business out of disgust.
maybe i am just getting too old and cranky but corporate eateries have douched the profession i adored for decades.

a corporate trained waiter/waitress is just one notch above useless.
i know i know..thats my experience and does not reflect on ALL servers but fuck that,i am old and i am free to bitch about the younger generation.

no pride.
no discipline.
just whining crying and more whining.
and god forbid you offer advice to these know-it-all wankers...
"well,when i was at olive garden"..oh fuck me....
only been in the biz for 30 plus years..yeah..what would i know..
just let grandpa hump the ten tops because you got double sat and are now in the "weeds".
fucking pussies...

gah..sorry for the ranting,but watching my profession go down the shitter is upsetting.

tipping is not mandatory in the states.
though if you are experiencing the "new wave" of servers,who i have seen openly give stink eye to customers,i can see why you may think otherwise.

i always looked at my profession as a sub-contractor.
my relationship is with my customer.THEY are my business and i treat them accordingly.you should not do this job strictly for the money.might as well go sell your soul and become a crack dealer...same difference.

ok..now i am just rambling.
suffice to say:
tipping is not mandatory.
new generation of servers are a gaggle of whiny non-conrtibuting pussies who think they know everything because they worked day shift at olive garden for a year.

and if ever offered minimum wage to do what i did,i would stab the person in the eye socket with a dirty ball point pen.

/end rant

folks i will be here every tuesday! dont forget to tip your bartenders and wai...oh....nevermind.

Fox sucks and so does calling them on their bullshit-Anti bizness? How about, anti-anti one's own bullshit-think?

You people..who don't wach shitty televison, and yet you cull YOU TUBE for examples to prop-up your clueless-ness....Can't understand why you're continuing to hang here to provide such a worthless disservice to intelligence and reason?

The bulk of peeps here don't watch bullshit television anyhow, right?

The thumbnail image for this video has been updated - thumbnail added by oritteropo.

There are many misconceptions of Mexican Cuisine. I am probably one of many that apart of this misconception. I have noticed many Indian and Thai restaurants have Mexicans cooking those respective cuisines, not because they are cheap labor but because they are diverse in their respective trades.

"Mexican" food is popular all over but the Taquerias in San Francisco are well known around the US and locally. But, the food served in the Taquerias are actually a San Franciscan cuisine. The San Francisco burrito is just that. It was made here, it is an American food influenced by Mexican cuisine but geared towards us gringos. This is not necessarily true for everything on the menu of course.

Regardless, it is very good. Surprisingly, one of my favorite "Mexican" food spots is in a very industrial area of Oakland in the form of a food truck. You would never know it by the taste of the food. IT IS AMAZINNNNNNN!!! Amazingly tasty fresh salsa. a secret spicy salsa, great beans, great tortilla, tomato friend rice, carne asada to scream for. The best tacos I have ever had in Cali and a burrito that rivals SF's best and they do it everyday, so it is not a fluke and it takes place on a truck.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-taco-panzon-oakland