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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117028)	11/22/2008 7:53:12 PM
From: Mike M2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Sing the song boom boom boom let's go back to my room !

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117028)	11/23/2008 2:22:58 AM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Knighty, gas prices have fallen 60%, but gas companies have only fallen 40%. is there any way to make a pure play on the price per barrel of oil without betting on the gas companies? i don't want something with a time limit. i don't mind tying up more cash and waiting for oil prices to explode again (most likely due to inflationary and dollar devaluation).

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117028)	11/23/2008 2:22:58 AM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Knighty, gas prices have fallen 60%, but gas companies have only fallen 40%. is there any way to make a pure play on the price per barrel of oil without betting on the gas companies? i don't want something with a time limit. i don't mind tying up more cash and waiting for oil prices to explode again (most likely due to inflationary and dollar devaluation).

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117028)	11/23/2008 3:36:47 AM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

i think buffett has lost his mind... seekingalpha.com nikkei, anyone?

To: Knighty Tin who wrote (117028)	11/23/2008 9:51:56 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Another Harvard Grad, are they all fucking stoopit? it seems so. Hey corrupt pols, ever hear of a bagman? By Howie Carr \| Sunday, November 23, 2008 \| bostonherald.com \| Columnists Photo by Angela Rowlings Whatever happened to the good old-fashioned bagman - the guy who actually picked up the cash for politicians? What designated drivers are to drunks, bagmen were to politicians - a way to avoid getting arrested by putting a little distance between themselves and the actual payoff. The bagman operated under the same ground rules as Peter Graves in “Mission: Impossible”: Should the bagman be apprehended, the pol would disavow any knowledge of his activities. Some fools are trying to turn the arrests of Dianne Wilkerson and Chuck Turner into a racial issue. But this scandal is yet another example of the decline in American standards - in this case, the standard of stealing. An effective leader must learn to delegate authority. This includes having someone else pick up the cash you have extorted. Not so long ago, every hack worth his summer cottage on the Cape had at least one bagman. One state senator had two - he was a full-service thief, and he wanted his victims to be comfortable (socially, ethnically, etc.) with the guys he sent to rob them. Sonny McDonough used to say that you should never use a cop as a bagman, because cops steal. Sonny hated it when a cop handed him $300, because he said he never knew if the cop had grabbed $200 or $700. It helped if your bagman had a law degree, because then you could claim attorney-client privilege. That m.o. has long been popular in South Boston and the North End. Another tradition is to employ a relative as your bagman. That cuts down the snitchin’ odds somewhat. Congressman Nicky “Pockets” Mavroules used a son-in-law to pick up his “bottles of wine” (one bottle was a grand in Nick-speak). Sadly, the solon and his son-in-law had a falling-out, which led Nicky Pockets to do the unthinkable - he dimed out his own bagman to the FBI. Nicky forgot that when ratting somebody out, you have to trade up, not down. His bagman son-in-law flipped, and Rep. Mavroules quickly went from the U.S. House to the Big House. Another basic lesson: Don’t put yourself in jeopardy for short money. Here is a verbatim quote from one of Turner’s staunch supporters outside the Worcester courthouse: “I just know he would not take this small amount.” Hence Turner’s new nickname: Chuckie Chump Change. Turner bungled everything. According to the FBI’s complaint, not only did he not have a bagman, he also had an aide at City Hall who directly asked shakedown victims if they were delivering cash, and then refused to step away, thus preventing the boss from collecting the marked FBI bills. Let me tell you, nobody ever stepped between Sonny McDonough and a mark. Not if they knew what was good for them anyway. Why was Chuckie Chump Change so incompetent in basic Boston political skills? I can answer that in two words: Harvard ’63. Article URL: bostonherald.com Related Articles: