The Round Table

[Petty Tyrant]

Nobody thinks another lehman bros type trigger could set off a financial collapse or is that something that only happens once and the bailouts and buyups of bad debts take over keeping the banks functioning from there?

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[monsta666]

Nobody thinks another lehman bros type trigger could set off a financial collapse or is that something that only happens once and the bailouts and buyups of bad debts take over keeping the banks functioning from there?

I was shocked that the Lehman Brothers were allowed to fail. I thought at the time when Bush and co. said they would not bail them out they were just playing hard ball so they could bail them out on better terms, I thought they would know the failure of that bank would cause a systemic crisis in the banking sector. If they weren't aware of this danger then (which seems unbelievable to me) they are certainly aware now if a TBTF bank is allowed to fail it could send the whole banking system into complete meltdown. It is this reason why I don't think banks will be allowed to fail or EU states will be allowed to leave the Euro. Once those things happen the chance of cascade failure becomes unacceptably high. Off course, like the financial crisis of 2008, the next crisis will be triggered by a "black swan" event that no one - at least in the MSM - will anticipate. What is it that Mark Twain said? History never repeats itself but rhymes?

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[Petty Tyrant]

I saw a doco on how it happened, they expected Barclays or Credit Suisse to  compete for LB for a takeover. When the reps of the 2 prospective buyers both decided they did not want LB, they just left the LB execs sitting in another conference room and walked out without bothering to inform them.

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[luciddreams]

What is it that Mark Twain said? History never repeats itself but rhymes?

He also said this:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

I always liked that quote.  Struck me as profound when I read it at 18 years old. 

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[buzzard]

Well, you guys talk about the collapse as if that is what drops the curtain. That leaves the irrational and nasty moves of the psychopaths to fuck with us. That is what I see as immanent. These humanoid beings are incapable of foresight and can not process that their actions will bring them down also. Do not underestimate their ability to do stupid things against their own interests if it appears to gain them immediate gratification. That is what makes them dangerous. Reason and rationality don't figure into their plans.

We shall see if my intuition is correct. I have not wanted so much to be wrong as I do now.

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[Kilmoon]

Oh bugger, I'm always late for a party  . See, this is what happens when you take on contract work while also trying to finish off painting the house. Sigh.

Its great to see the DD is 1 year old. For me "1 year" is still a month or two off as I found this site heading into our winter. It gave me the warm fuzzies to know that I wasn't alone in my assessment of what was going on around the world, nor alone in wanting to prepare for collapse.

Anyway, better get back to earning some $....can't prepare without some $ to facilitate the preparation!  Take care all.

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[Surly1]

Oh bugger, I'm always late for a party  . See, this is what happens when you take on contract work while also trying to finish off painting the house. Sigh.

Its great to see the DD is 1 year old. For me "1 year" is still a month or two off as I found this site heading into our winter. It gave me the warm fuzzies to know that I wasn't alone in my assessment of what was going on around the world, nor alone in wanting to prepare for collapse.

Anyway, better get back to earning some $....can't prepare without some $ to facilitate the preparation!  Take care all.

Kilmoon,
Nice to see you drop in, if just for a quick beer. Don't be a stranger!

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[steve from virginia]

Hello,

I just wanted to drop by and tell everyone you're doing a great job, your forum has really grown. I appreciate RE importing my 'product'; it's a privilege to live in interesting times such as ours. Moreso to be able to do- or say something about it ... and for others to take it (somewhat) seriously.

I know it's a lot of work doing something like this, most difficult to be content provider. There is always that next article to write, it always needs to be completely redone one more time ... it's like pulling your own teeth. Meanwhile, there is always something to pay attention to, something important. I seem to recall not so long ago there was the announced triumph of materialistic so-called capitalism, Fukuyama called it 'The End of History and the Last Man'.

He might be half right ...

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[RE]

Hello,

I just wanted to drop by and tell everyone you're doing a great job, your forum has really grown. I appreciate RE importing my 'product'; it's a privilege to live in interesting times such as ours. Moreso to be able to do- or say something about it ... and for others to take it (somewhat) seriously.

I know it's a lot of work doing something like this, most difficult to be content provider. There is always that next article to write, it always needs to be completely redone one more time ... it's like pulling your own teeth. Meanwhile, there is always something to pay attention to, something important. I seem to recall not so long ago there was the announced triumph of materialistic so-called capitalism, Fukuyama called it 'The End of History and the Last Man'.

He might be half right ...

Elvis has Entered the Building!

Thanks for dropping in Steve.

I remember that "End of History" hoopla around the time the Soviet Union crashed.  Nobody took into account the fact the PAHHHTY ends when the Keg is Outta Beer.

Don't be a stranger. Drop by more often.

RE

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[nobody]

Belated gift.


http://paulbibeau.blogspot.com/2011/05/im-going-to-run-into-street-and-end.html#.UUUrzSZGJ5R

I'm Going To Run Into The Street And End This

Every day. Every goddamn day.

We wake up. We sit here on our haunches by the side of the road while the rush hour clears out. Then after that last blue minivan passes we make a run for it. We eat some nuts, crap in the flower bed, freak a few neighbor dogs out... and tomorrow we're going to do exactly the same thing. I mate with females I don't even like. I have 36 kids I never see. Look at me, Jerry. I'm eight years old but I look ten. Ten, Jerry.

There is no point to any of this.

I'm not depressed. It goes deeper than that. For the longest time I'd lie there at night in my tree-hole and wonder about the purpose of my life. And then one morning it hit me: That's not even the question I should be asking. The real question, Jerry, is who am I? And I don't have an answer.

Some might say you're defined by what you do. You lose a chess piece, and you can easily replace it with a coin or a button. Because a chess piece isn't really a chunk of carved wood. It's a representation of an actor within a system of other actors and the rules of how they move. Look at it that way, and I'm just one of the guys who makes sure the old lady's bird feeder doesn't ever feed any birds. I'm doing a job, a cog in a great big machine nobody can understand. The fat guy with the Vietnam vet bumper sticker who yells at kids. The ice cream truck driver who deals a little pot to the teenagers. And me, chewing things and tearing up screen doors. Is that worth a life?

I've been thinking of the way Steve died when he jumped onto that power line. How all his hair fell out, and he kind of looked like a little baby squirrel. I remember staring at him and thinking: That's not Steve. That's what's left of him. But you know what? It also reminded me of Steve the baby -- I mean, we grew up together. And suddenly I realized that Steve the baby had died a long time ago and I didn't even know it. Steve the baby turned into Steve the young adult, who turned into Steve the guy with three legs after he tangled with that raccoon. Then came Steve the corpse.

You don't get it, do you Jerry? You're just an illusion to yourself. There's no single, permanent you at the center of all this running around and chattering at kids with BB guns. There's a brain and a body -- some chemicals, some electrical impulses. And all of it is constantly changing. And it's held together by this fantasy of some unitary personality that you are trying desperately to maintain. But someday the whole damn thing is gonna fly apart. For you it will be when you finally duck under that automatic garage door you seem obsessed with.

And behind this fantasy of ourselves? Fear. The fear of dying. Every car, every cat. The fear of dying is the cause and the effect of my own illusion that I'm real. They reinforce each other. Unless you just... let go.

The next time that blue Odyssey comes down the street I am darting out under the wheels. Don't try to talk me out of it. Don't you understand?! Camus said the primary philosophical problem was suicide. He didn't understand what I do. It's not a problem. That goddamn minivan is a solution.

Here comes that poor bastard driving his kids to preschool. Goodbye, Jerry. Don't mourn me. I feel sorry for the rest of you, gnawing on trees and running from strollers. Because I'm free.

Also, my personal favorite:

I Was Shitting You People - A Message From Ayn Rand

http://paulbibeau.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-was-shitting-you-people-message-from.html#.UUUtfCZGJ5Q

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