Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Did Slick Boink Monica? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (8668)	2/27/1998 8:56:00 AM
From: carl a. mehr	Respond to of 20981

From Europe comes a joke and I wonder if it was influenced by Clintons problems? It is being circulated in Denmark (primarily) as a chain letter, and I removed the huge list of names before sending it on. So here goes, humble carl --------------------- THE LITTLE OLD LADY AND THE BET A little old lady went into the Bank of Canada one day, carrying a bag of money. She insisted that she must speak with the president of the bank to open a savings account because, It's a lot of money! After much hemming and hawing, the bank staff finally ushered her into the president's office (the customer is always right!). The bank president then asked her how much she would like to deposit. She replied, $165,000! and dumped the cash out of her bag onto his desk. The president was of course curious as to how she came by all this cash, so he asked her, "Ma'am, I'm surprised you're carrying so much cash around. Where did you get this money?" The old lady replied, I make bets. The president then asked, Bets? What kind of bets? the old woman said, Well, for example, I'll bet you $25,000 that your balls are square. Ha, laughed the president, That's a stupid bet. You can never win that kind of bet! The old lady challenged, So, would you like to take my bet? Sure, said the president, I'll bet $25,000 that my balls are not square! The little old lady then said, Okay, but since there is a lot of money involved, may I bring my lawyer with me tomorrow at 10:00am as a witness? Sure! replied the confident president. That night, the president got very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of a mirror checking his balls, turning from side to side, again and again. He thoroughly checked them out until he as sure that there was absolutely no way his balls were square and that he would win the bet. The next morning, at precisely 10:00 am, the little old lady appeared with her lawyer at the president's office. She introduced the lawyer to the president and repeated the bet: $25,000 says the president's balls are square! The president agreed with the bet again and the old lady asked him to drop his pants so they could all see. The president complied. The little old lady peered closely at his balls and then asked if she could feel them. Well, Okay, said the president, $25,000 is a lot of money, so I guess you should be absolutely sure. Just then, he noticed that the lawyer was quietly banging his head against the wall. The president asked the old lady, What the hell's the matter with your lawyer? She replied, Nothing, except I bet him $100,000 that at 10:00 am today, I'd have The Bank of Canada's president's balls in my hand. The origination of this letter is unknown, but it brings good luck to everyone who passes it On. The one who breaks the chain will have bad luck. Do not keep this letter. Do not send money. Just forward it to five of your friends to whom you wish good luck. You will see that something good happens to you four days from now if the chain is not broken. You will receive good luck in four days.

To: Zoltan! who wrote (8668)	2/27/1998 2:19:00 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20981

Gee, Duncan, I don't feel like arguing about economics, which as I stated, are not my strong suit. However, I do believe all the statistics I have read recently indicate that the upper class is becoming smaller (although controlling more of the wealth), and more of the middle class is becoming poor. I will have to do some more research. There is not doubt that Jimmy Carter left the economy in shambles, and Reagan inherited a mess. I do seem to remember a general lack of compassion, however, which seemed to develop during the Reagan years. I don't believe macroeconomic trends have much to do with the policies of presidents, and I would agree with you that Clinton got lucky on that one. I would not want to go back to a brawn-based economy, but we do need to figure out how to improve our education system so that Americans are well trained for the jobs of the future. While I do not envy people with a lot of money, I think there needs to be enough fairness so that people working hard full time are able to house and feed and clothe their families, which is no longer the case in California, for example, where many homeless people do work fulltime. Certainly, there is a point where wealth becomes greed, particularly in the salaries and bonuses of companies where profits are being made but not much is being returned to shareholders. I would be curious to know more about your feelings on unions. I believe they become more popular when employers become too greedy and unfair, and there is increased unionization of professional groups like nurses now in California, because they cannot take the workload anymore. Christine (Hanoi Jane here)