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The Stock Market Roller Coaster
Yes. Exactly. I have no issue with someone who actually creates something getting a big reward. I have many issues with those who break or bend the law, cheat, and act immorally to literally steal from the rest of us and then lecture us all on how their brilliance made them rich. Have you read about the recent research on pyschopathology? As one wag put it, if you're born a poor psychopath, you go to prison...if you're born a wealthy psychopath, you to to business school. Top CEOs frequently exhibit psychopathic tendencies, an utter disregard for the consequences of their actions, and disdain for others in the world. I think Jeff fits that description nicely.— January 3, 2012 8:13 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
Don, I disagree that he's given us any useful information...he'll spout numbers, and copy/paste somebody else's ideas, and he's really fast to go to ad hominem when he has nothing to back himself up. But information? Where? When? Jeff has some tricks for how to gamble on commodities, and that's about it. Otherwise, his knowledge of economics and finance seems quite shallow, falling into the ludic fallacy more often than stumbling on truth. He has, as F.A. Hayek would say, only the pretense of knowledge. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/… I suggest he get a real job, work for a living, and learn something about the world. I've met plenty of Jeffs in this world, and I don't respect them a bit.— January 3, 2012 8:08 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
A writer and a hack? Been called a lot of things, but never that. You still don't know what I do... Jeez, Jeff. Maybe you should hire someone intelligent to find the information for you while you go gamble some more.— January 3, 2012 7:59 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
Refried wrote: "I think that those who battle in the markets will succeed based on whatever level of genius they possess in that area." Sorry, but there's little evidence for this today, as you well know. In fact, the evidence points another direction entirely. Those who cheat, lie, steal, distort, and turn government into their private tool are the big winners today...and that's immoral.— January 3, 2012 6:35 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
A clarification, Jeff... I'm not anonymous. My name is Fred Williams. I'm quite well known actually, and thirty seconds of searching would show you all kinds of information about me. I always comment using my real name, never hide behind a pseudonym. In addition, I'm not hiding behind a proxy...you're really don't know much about how the Internet works, do you?— January 3, 2012 6:30 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
Hey Refried. Didn't know you and Jeff are buddies...that raises his stature in my eyes. But I think you've misunderstood, and misstated my point. Jeff doesn't make anything. He doesn't earn anything. He trades derivatives. If he were some large trading house, a market maker perhaps, he could claim to add liquidity to the market. But he's just a gambler, same as some geezer at the blackjack table. He produces nothing of value. So when he gets money, it's not from doing anything productive or positive in the world...it's just shaving points, distorting prices, using insider knowledge to play his game. The result is clear and well documented. Children starve when speculators drive up prices not because of market factors but because of their playing these games. I'm not saying you or anyone else has a responsibility to feed all the children in the world, but we all have a moral duty to refrain from deliberately starving them.— January 3, 2012 6:26 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
So your reply is: 1. I'm clueless. 2. I am a jealous programmer. Both quite false, in this case. My conclusion is: 1. You didn't read what I wrote, since you haven't responded to it. 2. You know as little about making software as you do about how the real economy works. Jeff, you can do better. Give it a try.— January 3, 2012 6:22 a.m.
Supreme Court Knocks Out Redevelopment Agencies
Follow up: The arrogance of Maas in front of the city council: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq5081slnTs And how Maas is trying to take his revenge on DeMaio: http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/government/thehall… Does anyone still think these people are truly interested in the public good?— January 3, 2012 1:35 a.m.
Supreme Court Knocks Out Redevelopment Agencies
The tears of CCDC taste like sweet wine to me. Salt, Mudville...there's no cause and effect relationship between CCDC and the changes downtown. Neighborhoods with NO redevelopment did just as well if not better than those where government stooges used eminent domain to benefit their rich buddies. Don Bauder has laid out the facts. You can check them for yourselves, if you're truly interested. Horton Plaza loses money, and is going to get a lot more expensive for taxpayers soon. The ballpark is a fiscal disaster. The empty ugly condo boxes have turned San Diego's skyline into yet another bland collection of rectangles, and the sidewalk experiences in these canyons of concrete is anything but enjoyable. Homelessness and affordable housing have NEVER been the priority of CCDC. In fact, if you look at their own numbers you'll see they don't spend close to the 20% they're required under the law. (Katherine Rhoads -- aka LaPlayaHeritage -- has documented this thoroughly.) Meanwhile, look at the campaign contributions of CCDC staff. They are the tail wagging the dog of the city government. Have you seen the arrogance on display when Fred Maas was finally asked questions by DeMaio at the council? His scorn for the elected officials is palpable...and then the mayor put him in charge of building a stadium downtown for the Chargers...doesn't that make you want to vomit? San Diego's gaslamp would have evolved as it has without CCDC meddling and siphoning off funds. The other "improvements" downtown are the opposite of free enterprise...they destroyed manufacturing jobs and replaced them with minimum wage waitresses and maids. They're trying to do the same in Grantville too. I am also old enough to remember the "bad old days" when the East Village was becoming an interesting arts district, with lofts and a lively street life. That's all been replaced with sterile high rises, mostly vacant. In the early 90's I was also a supporter of redevelopment. But as I gained more experience my eyes were opened. It's a scam, and the people who benefit aren't the residents, the poor, or the taxpayers...it's folks like John Moores who rode into town and used CCDC to steal close to a billion dollars from our city "legally". Yes, when you cry for the loss of "redevelopment" it makes me very happy. The biggest blight in San Diego is in the CCDC offices.— January 3, 2012 1:19 a.m.
The Stock Market Roller Coaster
Hi Refried, I don't think that's it's accurate to say that Jeff's educated in an area of interest...he's just experienced in gambling. If there were no side effects, and the only persons involved or affected were consenting adults, I'd have no problem with this. But the truth of the matter is that what he does for a living sucks money away from the needy. He doesn't produce "goods" and he doesn't "serve" anyone. He just maneuvers to cut little slices off everyone else's cake. I have zero objection to a skilled craftsman, writer, programmer, builder, or other creative person using their superior skills and knowledge to better themselves. But there's no equivalence to what Jeff does. He's not providing finance or liquidity, enabling transactions, helping establish a realistic price for futures contracts...he's just playing a game where psychological tricks and insider information are the chips he uses to take money from others like himself...but it's all built upon the REAL actions of REAL people who REALLY grew food for people to eat. He doesn't assist in that in any way, just siphons off what he can for himself. The result is higher food prices for the very poorest. Children starve so Jeff can buy himself a new surfboard. That's immoral. It's not taking advantage of superior knowledge (we've established he has little that's not copy/pasted from elsewhere), it's taking food from the mouths of children.— January 3, 2012 12:57 a.m.