Economy:1-1-09 Microsoft planning big layoffs for January?

[JS80]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: Xavier434


There is some truth to what you say and I am not claiming that money will completely solve the problem, but lack of money most certainly contributes a lot to that problem. No matter how you slice it, quality public education costs a lot of money. Without the money, the quality can, will, and has been dropping in many places in the US and especially Florida.

If you don't have money, you cannot hire let alone attract quality teachers.
If you don't have money, you have to cram more students into a single classroom.
If you don't have money you cannot purchase up to date classroom teaching materials.
If you don't have money you cannot afford maintenance in the schools.
If you don't have money, you cannot afford to offer some very useful and educational elective classes and extra curricular activities.

None of this is free folks. It all costs money and while many corners can be cut you eventually end up cutting off full pages that none of us want to see go down the drain if there isn't enough funding. That is exactly what is happening in Florida right now. Florida was never exactly prime time when it comes to education, but that doesn't mean that it could not get worse and it most certainly has recently due to funding issues.

I do not disagree with you in the slightest. Educating the children is and should be one of the most important things we can spend $$$ on in this country. The money does need to be better managed and better spent however. I see administrators here getting huge 6 figure salaries, principals who make into the 6 figures, and waste, waste, waste, all the while, the school district (s) fight to avoid giving teachers raises, they short the schools on supplies, (which the teachers are expected to pay for out of their pockets) and let maintenance go to shit.

Kahleeforneeya spends a lot of money on education, yet we're still below the national average in $$ spent per child.

http://californiaschoolfinance...tabid/183/Default.aspx

Here is your problem:

Teachers' salaries (2005-06) RANK 1

Isn't there an inverse correlation between spend per child vs performance? The problem is increased budgets often go to increasing compensation to existing teachers and administrators. The only way to effectively increase performance AND decrease cost is to give the public schools some competition, aka vouchers.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: JS80
[
Here is your problem:

Teachers' salaries (2005-06) RANK 1

Isn't there an inverse correlation between spend per child vs performance? The problem is increased budgets often go to increasing compensation to existing teachers and administrators. The only way to effectively increase performance AND decrease cost is to give the public schools some competition, aka vouchers.

Do you have a problem with all college educated people who work an average of 12 or more hours per day making $60K+ or just the ones who babysit your kids while YOU are working?

Vouchers? IF people want to send their kids to private schools, that's fine...but with their money, not with taxpayer's money.
Your argument will probably be something like:
"They pay school taxes, why can't they get a voucher to send their kids to the school of their choice? (That's usually the argument)
Let me counter with:
"I have no minor children. Why should I have to pay school taxes at all? I should be exempt."

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
The big rise in inflation left consumers even more squeezed. The Labor Department said that average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, fell by 3.1 percent in July compared to a year ago, the biggest year-over-year decline since November 1990.

My adjusted wages after inflation will suck worse next month: Sad economy = 5% pay cut for me (and everyone else working at the same company) starting Saturday. Fuck that.

That can't be

They have always claimed wages are rising faster than inflation here.

Long-term wages have increased faster than inflation.

Unless you have data to disprove that.

The data is the rich.

All others have gone down as eveidenced by the non-rich in here.

Thar's all the data needed for real Americans, Elitists need not apply.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: BoomerD

Originally posted by: JS80
[
Here is your problem:

Teachers' salaries (2005-06) RANK 1

Isn't there an inverse correlation between spend per child vs performance? The problem is increased budgets often go to increasing compensation to existing teachers and administrators. The only way to effectively increase performance AND decrease cost is to give the public schools some competition, aka vouchers.

Do you have a problem with all college educated people who work an average of 12 or more hours per day making $60K+ or just the ones who babysit your kids while YOU are working?

Vouchers? IF people want to send their kids to private schools, that's fine...but with their money, not with taxpayer's money.
Your argument will probably be something like:
"They pay school taxes, why can't they get a voucher to send their kids to the school of their choice? (That's usually the argument)
Let me counter with:
"I have no minor children. Why should I have to pay school taxes at all? I should be exempt."

Teachers underpaid for equivalent educational levels.

Interesting comment about pay to take care of kids. People pay an auto mechanic upwards of $60 per hour to take care of their car but cry like babies if a teacher, who takes care of their kids, gets any kind of decent pay at all.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
The big rise in inflation left consumers even more squeezed. The Labor Department said that average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, fell by 3.1 percent in July compared to a year ago, the biggest year-over-year decline since November 1990.

My adjusted wages after inflation will suck worse next month: Sad economy = 5% pay cut for me (and everyone else working at the same company) starting Saturday. Fuck that.

That can't be

They have always claimed wages are rising faster than inflation here.

Long-term wages have increased faster than inflation.

Unless you have data to disprove that.

The data is the rich.

All others have gone down as eveidenced by the non-rich in here.

Thar's all the data needed for real Americans, Elitists need not apply.

Anecdotal evidence isn't data. You've provided nothing, as usual.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: dmcowen674
The big rise in inflation left consumers even more squeezed. The Labor Department said that average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, fell by 3.1 percent in July compared to a year ago, the biggest year-over-year decline since November 1990.

My adjusted wages after inflation will suck worse next month: Sad economy = 5% pay cut for me (and everyone else working at the same company) starting Saturday. Fuck that.

That can't be

They have always claimed wages are rising faster than inflation here.

Long-term wages have increased faster than inflation.

Unless you have data to disprove that.

The data is the rich.

All others have gone down as eveidenced by the non-rich in here.

Thar's all the data needed for real Americans, Elitists need not apply.

Anecdotal evidence isn't data. You've provided nothing, as usual.

America is "Anecdotal" to you. Some of us feel otherwise.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

America is "Anecdotal" to you. Some of us feel otherwise.

No, your small inconsequential life is anecdotal. Show some statistically meaningful data and I might start believing you. However, that'd require work, which we all know you're alergic to.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

America is "Anecdotal" to you. Some of us feel otherwise.

No, your small inconsequential life is anecdotal. Show some statistically meaningful data and I might start believing you. However, that'd require work, which we all know you're alergic to.

I post reality, you post a cherry picked anti-American agenda.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: LegendKiller

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

America is "Anecdotal" to you. Some of us feel otherwise.

No, your small inconsequential life is anecdotal. Show some statistically meaningful data and I might start believing you. However, that'd require work, which we all know you're alergic to.

I post reality, you post a cherry picked anti-American agenda.

LOL. Reality? Sure buddy, your reality is easily digestible spoon-fed bullshit that is slanted to your own viewpoint and not well-rounded. You lack any analysis or data for anything you post, limiting yourself to sound-bites. It couldn't be otherwise because it'd require to you use a brain.

 

[Engineer]

Wholesale inflation jumps by most in 27 years. Core up 0.7% in July...over 3 times analyst's expectations.

 

[Genx87]

Hey if anybody is interested in some of the issues within the our public education system please see my sig. There is an example of a charter school getting better results than its public equivalent when the public equivalent spends 3 times the money.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: Genx87
Hey if anybody is interested in some of the issues within the our public education system please see my sig. There is an example of a charter school getting better results than its public equivalent when the public equivalent spends 3 times the money.

Thats because in many cases there are incompetent people in charge of the school district and it filters down to the principals and the way the schools are run. In our district the director is appointed by the school board. They will not admit he is a dud... so he will be there until the board loses enough of his buddies that his contract does not get extended. Meanwhile the district is lucky to graduate 75% of the students.

 

[dmcowen674]

This guy is just getting around to what I said 8 months ago?

8-19-2008 Large U.S. bank collapse ahead, says ex-IMF economist

The worst of the global financial crisis is yet to come and a large U.S. bank will fail in the next few months as the world's biggest economy hits further troubles, former IMF chief economist Kenneth Rogoff said on Tuesday.

"We're not just going to see mid-sized banks go under in the next few months, we're going to see a whopper, we're going to see a big one, one of the big investment banks or big banks," said Rogoff, who is an economics professor at Harvard University and was the International Monetary Fund's chief economist from 2001 to 2004.

Rogoff's comments come as investors dumped shares of the largest U.S. home funding companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Monday after a newspaper report said government officials may have no choice but to effectively nationalize the U.S. housing finance titans.

A government move to recapitalize the two companies by injecting funds could wipe out existing common stock holders, the weekend Barron's story said. Preferred shareholders and even holders of the two government-sponsored entities' $19 billion of subordinated debt would also suffer losses.

Rogoff said the U.S. Federal Reserve was wrong to cut interest rates as "dramatically" as it did.

"Cutting interest rates is going to lead to a lot of inflation in the next few years in the United States."

 

[senseamp]

Bernanke should resign, and Fed mandate should be changed to singular focus on controlling inflation.

 

[BoberFett]

How bad would the economy have to be so Dave would be forced to stop posting? That's how bad I'd like to see things get.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: senseamp
Bernanke should resign, and Fed mandate should be changed to singular focus on controlling inflation.

Bernanke couldn't control inflation in this case. YOu'll see it moderate next month as the commodity spike rolls off. He couldn't control this, so it's not really his fault.

If it was in his power, then no other country in the world would have such massive increase in prices.

 

[glugglug]

Originally posted by: senseamp
Bernanke should resign, and Fed mandate should be changed to singular focus on controlling inflation.

More blame lies with Greenspan than it does with Bernake. Bernake pretty much started the position from a no-win situation.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: BoberFett
How bad would the economy have to be so Dave would be forced to stop posting?

That's how bad I'd like to see things get.

 

[dmcowen674]

8-20-2008 Food prices to post biggest rise since 1990

U.S. consumers should brace for the biggest increase in food prices in nearly 20 years in 2008 and even more pain next year due to surging meat and produce prices, the Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.

Food prices are forecast to rise by 5 percent to 6 percent this year, making it the largest annual increase since 1990.

"It's a little bit of a surprise how strong some of the numbers were in July," USDA economist Ephraim Leibtag, who prepared the forecast, said in an interview.

Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said last week he did not see any relief for food prices during the remainder of the year.

The cost of energy -- used to transport, package and process foods -- is still boosting food prices

Farmers get 20 cents of the food dollar and the rest goes to processing, labor, transportation and distribution.

 

[StageLeft]

Great news! I would like to share with y'all that I shorted Fannie Mae in a major way. I bought, about a year ago, 20,000 shares and with where they are now I've collected a bit over a million in profit. MrsSkoorb even said I can finally build that little race track I had planned to make out at the cottage. It'll only be about a mile, but should be fun for the weekends.

 

[XZeroII]

wow, Dave. You must be really happy. After all, this is exactly what you asked for. You wanted high gas prices and now that we have them (although not as high as you would like), we're starting to see the results.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Great news! I would like to share with y'all that I shorted Fannie Mae in a major way.

I bought, about a year ago, 20,000 shares and with where they are now I've collected a bit over a million in profit.

MrsSkoorb even said I can finally build that little race track I had planned to make out at the cottage. It'll only be about a mile, but should be fun for the weekends.

How do you have time to do anything will all your millions always posting on AT?

How do you have time to even see MrsSkoorb for fun on the weekend always posting on AT?

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Great news! I would like to share with y'all that I shorted Fannie Mae in a major way.

I bought, about a year ago, 20,000 shares and with where they are now I've collected a bit over a million in profit.

MrsSkoorb even said I can finally build that little race track I had planned to make out at the cottage. It'll only be about a mile, but should be fun for the weekends.

How do you have time to do anything will all your millions always posting on AT?

How do you have time to even see MrsSkoorb for fun on the weekend always posting on AT?

I own my money, not the other way around. I do technically have to work, but it mainly consists of staring out my office bored all hours of the day looking down on the city and posting while the underlings do all the real work, which funnels up to management, which includes me at the very top. Daddy built this company from the ground up and when he got ill passed it to me. Business isn't so good these days (Management sucks), but I have enough socked away that I'll be good, regardless.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Great news! I would like to share with y'all that I shorted Fannie Mae in a major way.

I bought, about a year ago, 20,000 shares and with where they are now I've collected a bit over a million in profit.

MrsSkoorb even said I can finally build that little race track I had planned to make out at the cottage. It'll only be about a mile, but should be fun for the weekends.

How do you have time to do anything will all your millions always posting on AT?

How do you have time to even see MrsSkoorb for fun on the weekend always posting on AT?

I own my money, not the other way around. I do technically have to work, but it mainly consists of staring out my office bored all hours of the day looking down on the city and posting while the underlings do all the real work, which funnels up to management, which includes me at the very top.

Daddy built this company from the ground up and when he got ill passed it to me.

Business isn't so good these days (Management sucks), but I have enough socked away that I'll be good, regardless.

Wow, like I guess, Epic sad.

I would rather be in the poor house than be "bored" like you.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Great news! I would like to share with y'all that I shorted Fannie Mae in a major way.

I bought, about a year ago, 20,000 shares and with where they are now I've collected a bit over a million in profit.

MrsSkoorb even said I can finally build that little race track I had planned to make out at the cottage. It'll only be about a mile, but should be fun for the weekends.

How do you have time to do anything will all your millions always posting on AT?

How do you have time to even see MrsSkoorb for fun on the weekend always posting on AT?

I own my money, not the other way around. I do technically have to work, but it mainly consists of staring out my office bored all hours of the day looking down on the city and posting while the underlings do all the real work, which funnels up to management, which includes me at the very top.

Daddy built this company from the ground up and when he got ill passed it to me.

Business isn't so good these days (Management sucks), but I have enough socked away that I'll be good, regardless.

Wow, like I guess, Epic sad.

I would rather be in the poor house than be "bored" like you.

Only bored at work, never in the evenings, that's when the parties begin I spend many weekends out of the country because I have a private jet (albeit it's almost 10 years old so hardly anything worth bragging about).