Jenksismyhero

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 12:16 PM) When the foreclosure crisis first started really getting rolling in 2009 or so you see these empty houses and new constructions unoccupied, while you see people being kicked out of their houses and unemployment spiking while more people go homeless. It makes you wonder what for. And then you see the banks get protected (because they're the ones running the show, and they wrote all the laws) and you have your answer. This isn't normal and doesn't have to be inevitable, but it's what happens when you defend any type of activity and chalk it up to the "free market" (as though such a thing existed in a concurrent reality that we can never touch) like putting a stop to it is going to do harm. I agree with what you're saying generally, but the counter to that argument is that had the government not meddled with the private mortgage business over the last 50 years the housing bubble would have never burst. There would have been no government backing mortgages, there would have been no forcing banks to loan to people who shouldn't have purchased homes, down payment requirements would have been higher, etc. The result would be that banks wouldn't have been so risky with their money and they would have loaned at much more reasonable level. You can't really blame it on the no-rules free market when that free market doesn't exist.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 11:44 AM) Nah this isn't really true. Blockbuster had a massive distribution center, and generally handled a lot more volume than somewhere like Family Video. If they got 120 copies of a hot new release (let's say, something like Zero Dark Thirty) then trust, all those movies would be off the shelves for the first week, and every Friday/Saturday/Sunday for the next 3 weeks. You'd get one if you hung around and waited for someone to drop one off (ask the employee who's running movies to hold it for you when they see it) but it wasn't out for more than a few minutes once it got back on the shelf. Occasionally we'd have a f***up or accounting glitch somewhere above our level where we'd get way too few of a really hot movie. We got 12 copies of American Beauty once (Calumet City store)... that sucked. Sometimes when I got the rare copy returned I'd hold it for one of the good customers I knew had been asking for it and call them to tell them to hurry and come get it. They loved that. To your point, what did Blockbuster in was its outdated operating model (brick and mortar stores everywhere, large inventories) they couldn't do anything about while Netflix and Red Box were lighter and agile with much lower operating expenses. Here's a recent write-up I just found on how FV is still alive: http://www.bnd.com/2013/02/25/2506834/few-...ill-thrive.html The big thing appears to be that they own their property, whereas the others were leasing. I still think it comes down to pricing too. Edit: I think in 20 years you probably won't see a FV anywhere. Everything will be digital at that point. But for now there is still a sizeable portion of the country that doesn't have good enough internet and/or they like the idea of a hard disc at a cheap price. Same with gaming. We'll get to that point eventually, but probably not for another decade or more.

It's just an outdated tradition. Nowadays you end up dating the same person for a year or seven before proposing (poor college student/poor law student, no money for a ring in my case), you meet the family for holidays and sometimes you even move in with that person beforehand. You become married before getting married so there's no reason to give the family a heads up. Unless you're doing it really early they should expect that to be the logical next step.

QUOTE (Iwritecode @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 11:03 AM) I'm not sure what they are doing different than Blockbuster. Although I think Blockbuster shot themselves in the foot when they went to their "no late fees" program but then upped their rental prices. We stopped going there soon after that. Lower prices and they didn't over expand. It's been years since I rented a video, but I used to always go to Family Video over Blockbuster. It was like 2 bucks versus 5 to rent a movie, and that was mainly due to the fact that blockbuster bought 100 copies of the new movie whereas family video bought 25. I was willing to wait a few days after a release to get the new movies and save myself some money in the process.

Y2HH's alternative: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/tec...ry.html?hpid=z3

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 10:22 AM) I wanted the Bulls to trade their expensive assets in the offseason and not chase a dream assuming Derrick Rose would come back when medically cleared to play and they'd make a run at this thing. The Bulls have completely f***ed themselves here. How they could let this be the season of all seasons they go over the tax threshold is beyond me. Completely ass-backwards management here. Yep. They should have tanked from day 1.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 10:19 AM) If the person you are dating has balls, that makes she a he. That's genderist.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/history-cha...and-ther,96157/ Looks like it got renewed for a second season.

2nd place. Not bad for missing out on some of the elite eight teams.

QUOTE (MexSoxFan#1 @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 10:08 PM) Am I the only one who thinks that calling Rose (or anyone for that matter) a vagina is really really insulting to women? Someone who thinks using the word vagina is insulting to women is a vagina.

QUOTE (Jake @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 07:37 PM) My town (much smaller than Rockford) has a Family Video as well and it seems okay, I keep hearing reports about them opening up new stores in other towns. Don't know what they're doing, but it seems to be working. I go to school in Memphis and there is only one video rental store in the entire metro area, and that is just some guys who bought out the stock of all the closed Blockbusters and sells them out of this old house he owns. It's actually pretty cool though, despite only having about 5 parking spots and the craziest selection ever (there is a "John Waters Room") I think Family Video has a good business model. In La Grange they just took over an old blockbuster store and appear to be doing well.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 07:56 AM) I watched them, and it was OK. I am way more into Vikings. Agree with this. The Vikings is really, really good. Does anyone know if this is just a mini-series? Or will they have more than one season?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2013 -> 08:38 AM) I felt the same way, and it seems a lot of people felt it was a series finale. I knew it'd been renewed, but it seemed to cleanly wrap up a lot of storylines. Of course, with a bigger budget due to the fact that so many people love the show, it makes some sense that the show will expand even further beyond Chicagoland. There's so many writing opportunities (Ian likely getting kicked out of the Army, Lip "integrating" with regular people at MIT - they thankfully wrapped up Karen/Jody/baby storlyine. Be gone with anything Karen. We're set up for some solid office politics (and likely a romance with the funny boss). Kevin and V with a kid and hopefully the awkwardness of mom hanging around... will Frank clean himself up? Lots of good stuff. Totally agree, that was the best season finale on the best season of the show so far. My wife and I were mad that they didn't say anything about Jimmy, and I get that the writers probably wanted to keep their options open going forward, but the more I think about it the more it's pretty obvious he's gone. I think we're used to major characters getting a "send off" when they die. Though it wouldn't surprise me if he comes back late next season or in later seasons. That makes the most sense for Fiona - move on, get in a good, new relationship, and then have Jimmy come back and screw it all up.

You whiny Illinois fans need to stop b****ing about the officiating. SO ANNOYING.

LOL

I "told" both of my in laws that I bought a ring and planned to ask within a couple weeks. I never asked.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 11:00 AM) GoT question: In the season premiere, what was the castle they were at that was massacred and burned? I thought that was at Winterfell, but then in last night's they get a letter from winterfell. I'm not the best at keepin track, any help appreciated. Harrenhall I believe.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 10:01 AM) MJ in 1995 hadn't been doing all the workouts and practice with the intensity that Rose is doing right now. That is not to say Rose is going to come back and light up the league (LOL if he even comes back, ever) but I don't think those two situations are directly comparable. Rose went from rehab to workouts to 5 on 5s and game-like simulations, it's the equivalent of a training camp and a preseason. ...all of which leads to yet another question to ask him WTF is he doing. He is spamming God with prayers, but God is like "why does this kid keep calling me, I answered his prayer and healed his body months ago." God has Rose's email and phone numbers blocked.

QUOTE (Brian @ Apr 8, 2013 -> 08:34 AM) Too much Betty I'm a huge fan of the show but last night was a little dull. But it was a "catching up" episode, so I expected that.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 5, 2013 -> 02:49 PM) That specific warning and note from the psychiatrist specifically stating that he had made threats against her happened right in the middle of building up his arsenal. From the description, it sounds like that notification to UC happened close to June 1 (over a month before the shooting). Holmes purchased his AR-15 rifle, which did most of the damage, right around that same week, around June 1. He continued buying weapons and body armor, as well as the explosives he rigged his apartment with, for the next month. Obviously if this is getting recognized by one trained person, there should have been other things that could have happened if people were willing to more actively intervene with the mentally ill (which of course, costs money). But the simple answer is "Dont f***ing sell an arsenal to a guy who is making threats against a psychiatrist". I gotta imagine crazies threaten a lot of people.

Right, so why does anyone take that bozo seriously anyway? Why doesn't the head of the military take over?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 5, 2013 -> 01:57 PM) He said he'd do direct diplomacy whereas Republicans said (and still say) the mere thought of it is naive and dumb. Which is crap because we still don't do direct diplomacy and haven't for a long time. It's pretty simple - we talked and they balked, we stopped talking and they balked. At the end of the day they keep providing weapons/training to terrorist groups and continue building their nuclear capabilities and we don't do anything about it but give them MORE money/food/oil whatever.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Apr 5, 2013 -> 04:35 PM) Well plus the new kid on the block trying to assert his domestic authority over the long-time officials there. Which I don't get. Is he not the supreme leader? I mean, I get the military officials have the "guns" but if Kim Jong Un/Il were thought of so highly, why not get rid of those officials? It's like they're trying to appease those guys when there shouldn't be any reason to do so.

QUOTE (pettie4sox @ Apr 5, 2013 -> 01:46 PM) Part of me would have enjoyed seeing all of the idiots who voted for Romney getting fleeced when all of his plans would benefit his rich buddies and screw them. My god are people so partisan that they are practically brain dead. Because the Democrats in power the last 20 years have been so different.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 5, 2013 -> 01:40 PM) Here you witness an incredible example of the Republican caricature of the world and how detached from reality it is...in that a candidate who spent 2007-2008 declaring his intentions openly to send large numbers of additional U.S. forces to Afghanistan and stating that he would send U.S. forces into Pakistan if actionable intelligence on Bin Laden's location was available...is described as having campaigned on a pacifist platform. Oh come on now, he gave stump speeches about how he would do everything possible to talk with the evildoers instead of using military threats. I said Obama did it to a lesser extent than Kerry, who basically said military threats were dumb and he'd just call up Kim Jong Il on the phone and set up a meeting.