The News, The Media, The Economy?

[sellin71]

Let's not get this political, just rational. Do you think that our media can bring on a recession by constantly talking about the slightest possibility of one?

I was listening to Anne Murray's song today, "A Little Good News" and it made me think. All we hear is bad, I know that there is good out there. What if we did hear good news everyday instead of bad, even if it was manufactured ( it doesn't have to be), but what if. People's perception would be so different and positive.

They wouldn't be standing around the water cooler saying, the news said that gas could reach $4.00 a gallon by summer, or the news said that my adjustable mortgage is going to raise a couple of points so that I will lose my house.

The next guy says really? (He is living in a bubble and only believes what the uber co-worker spews, whom only believes what the talking heads are spewing on television.....sometimes I despise modern technology.)

Are we just a bunch of lemmings? Why do we as a society buy everything that a bunch of pretty people on television tells us to believe?

When will we think for ourselves?

[Endless Wake]

I like to use the media quotes to back up what I've been saying was going to happen for years.

[sellin71]

I like to use the media quotes to back up what I've been saying was going to happen for years.

Does that make them prophets or self-fulfilling prophets?

[Ink]

I think the majority of the people forgot how to think for their selves

[Endless Wake]

Does that make them prophets or self-fulfilling prophets?Your right that the media could hasten the situation but the problem exists with or without their help.

[tedmic]

I think the majority of the people forgot how to think for their selves


This is so true. The news mostly reports bad news. It's easy to have a negative attitude with a daily feeding of this. Do I really need to know that 25 people died in some small village in China due to a flood or two people died from a tornado in Kansas? Local news loves to show us pictures of fires and car accidents because it's visually interesting. But if the papers JUST reported the good news. we'd be living in the 1950's (bad thing?). Balance is in order here.

[bat_collector]

inflation doesn't need the news to happen to occur.

but hearing contstantly how bad things are doesn't help

[sellin71]

inflation doesn't need the news to happen to occur.

but hearing contstantly how bad things are doesn't help

I heard a man say yesterday, "The news said we could be in store for a depression not just a recession."

He then proceeded to tell me what he was doing to prepare for this event that MSNBC said could happen.

His battle plan was to not eat out anymore and he even said that his internet and cable wasn't really that important. Knee jerk reactions.

[Endless Wake]

As long as another speculative market comes around like real estate did after the internet, the economy will recover. Unfortunately the only likely candidates are infrastructure and alternative fuels, neither of which are as attractive as the previous two markets.

[ANGRYCOMICMAN]

The so called media can shape everything we see and hear.
Some of you are too young to remember this but back in the late 70's or early 80's.
Johnny Carson said very seriously on his show that there was a toilet paper shortage.
The next day people were buying toilet paper like crazy, until the shelves were bare. He had to say the next night that it was a joke. And this wasn't even a news show. Some of the lazy news people even ran with the story as if it were real. Never bothering to check out the story.
In this age of instant access/gratification to all forms of media, it's even easier to fool the masses. Since most people I meet on a day to day basis, are genuinely sheep and have no attention span whatsoever. They believe almost everything that is fed to them, by the so called media.
Most of them will perish when the depression hits.

[sellin71]

The so called media can shape everything we see and hear.
Some of you are too young to remember this but back in the late 70's or early 80's.
Johnny Carson said very seriously on his show that there was a toilet paper shortage.
The next day people were buying toilet paper like crazy, until the shelves were bare. He had to say the next night that it was a joke. And this wasn't even a news show. Some of the lazy news people even ran with the story as if it were real. Never bothering to check out the story.
In this age of instant access/gratification to all forms of media, it's even easier to fool the masses. Since most people I meet on a day to day basis, are genuinely sheep and have no attention span whatsoever. They believe almost everything that is fed to them, by the so called media.
Most of them will perish when the depression hits.

So, you think a depression is coming?

[ANGRYCOMICMAN]

So, you think a depression is coming?

It's been almost 80 years.
All the signs are there.
And history usually repeats itself.
WE have a Nazi/Fascist Muslim extremists, we have appeasers in Europe & here, we have gotten fat on our wealth, we just need that one little push and BOOM.
Depression.
And the only true way out of a depression, is a war. A BIG WAR.
I'm such an optimist.

[lord odin]

It's been almost 80 years.
All the signs are there.
And history usually repeats itself.
WE have a Nazi/Fascist Muslim extremists, we have appeasers in Europe & here, we have gotten fat on our wealth, we just need that one little push and BOOM.
Depression.
And the only true way out of a depression, is a war. A BIG WAR.
I'm such an optimist.
I like the way you think.:thumbs2: :buttrock:

[Brru]

I think the US has to many things set up in order to make sure a depression doesn't happen the way it did before. We may see a dip, but we wont be draining the bowl.

As for recession, I thnk we are already in one, but that probably has to do with my class. I live in California too so Im sure that has a bit to do with it as well. I think the latest flag in my mind has been the loss of jobs (for what ever reason, not just outsourcing). More and more upper middle class have lost positions and had to coincidentally cut back on spending. Unfortunately, people in the upper echelon won't admit things until it hits them.

I read a report a few years back that said every recession in history was never called a recession during its period of time. Every recession has only been designated such a year or so after the recession was over. Only when the data finally comes in will we know if it was really a recession.

As for the media.... they are capitalist. "A nuclear missile is going to send the US into the apocalypse within the next 30 minutes. Find out where tonight at ten!"

[ANGRYCOMICMAN]

I think the US has to many things set up in order to make sure a depression doesn't happen the way it did before. We may see a dip, but we wont be draining the bowl.

As for recession, I thnk we are already in one, but that probably has to do with my class. I live in California too so Im sure that has a bit to do with it as well. I think the latest flag in my mind has been the loss of jobs (for what ever reason, not just outsourcing). More and more upper middle class have lost positions and had to coincidentally cut back on spending. Unfortunately, people in the upper echelon won't admit things until it hits them.

I read a report a few years back that said every recession in history was never called a recession during its period of time. Every recession has only been designated such a year or so after the recession was over. Only when the data finally comes in will we know if it was really a recession.

As for the media.... they are capitalist. "A nuclear missile is going to send the US into the apocalypse within the next 30 minutes. Find out where tonight at ten!"

O NOZ!!!!!!
And Los Angeles is going to fall into the ocean.

[Endless Wake]

I think were in for a historically bad day today fellas.

[cblakey1]

I think were in for a historically bad day today fellas.

Amen, bro. :confused2

But who cares? It's almost barbeque season. Right Chris (Country)?

[Ink]

I think were in for a historically bad day today fellas.

baer sterns just went into the sh*tter

[rilynil]

I got my 401K statement last week and I lost $9,000 this past quarter. Damn, for me that's a HUGE hit! :(

[cblakey1]

I got my 401K statement last week and I lost $9,000 this past quarter. Damn, for me that's a HUGE hit! :(

I don't even want to look at my 403B :bawling:

[sellin71]

Amen, bro. :confused2

But who cares? It's almost barbeque season. Right Chris (Country)?

You got that right brother!:buttrock:

BBQ makes everything better.


I got lucky on my 401K (The half I didn't withdraw to buy my business) My agent told me to move everything into bonds, (when the market was at 13500). He saved my bacon for the time being.

[cblakey1]

You got that right brother!:buttrock:

BBQ makes everything better.


I got lucky on my 401K (The half I didn't withdraw to buy my business) My agent told me to move everything into bonds, (when the market was at 13500). He saved my bacon for the time being.

Hey man. With all the flooding there, did your grill, cooler, and cars float away? :laugh:

[sellin71]

Hey man. With all the flooding there, did your grill, cooler, and cars float away? :laugh:

We got lucky. The worst of the flooding is about 50 miles to the north of me. We are dry, for the time being.

[Tommy Allison]

I actually pay pretty close attention to politics and the world economy, and I can tell you why America's economy is having a problem.

Our government has printed way too much money, and therefore our money is worth a lot less than it was 7 years ago. The problem started around 1999, when the stock market did a correction to account for the fact that during the tech boom, a lot of useless stocks, or junk stocks were created. Then in 2000, we saw another correction in the market, only this time, it was because our currency was devalued by about 9 cents.

When people stop using the dollar for their trading currency, it loses it's power. A strong dollar policy by the FED, and having several other nations like China, India, and Pakistan artificially deflating their currencies value has created a balloon that will eventually pop.

When the Euro was created, it was initially pegged to the dollar as a fairly equitable trade. As the markets changed after 9-11, and after several major corporate scandals rocked our stock market, the Euro took hold as the new standard.

This is why Canada's dollar, rose in value, while OUR dollar dropped. Couple that with an unending war on terror, and ever growing budget deficit to cover the costs of this war, and our allies dumping the dollar as their currency of trade, the dollar will continue to be devalued until it either collapses, or the government stops minting money.

I believe it is a result of a concerted effort to bring America to heel, and to get us to stop waging a war we cannot afford. I invest in several commodities.

I would probably make good investments in steel, brass and lead should the economy truly tank.

[Tommy Allison]

And like Jack The Ripper, I Kill another innocent thread.

[sellin71]

And like Jack The Ripper, I Kill another innocent thread.

The problem is, when you make too much sense, there is nothing to refute.:)

[Endless Wake]

Greenspan says US is in recession. Thats about as official as its ever going to get until were out of it.

http://news.aol.com/business/story/_a/greenspan-says-us-is-in-recession/20080409062709990001

[Tommy Allison]

I can be the guy that says we're in a recession when driving to work for me, is a luxury, and I work at home.

[Mandragora]

yeah. . . we're definitely in one.

I work in the event/entertainment industry and work has all but come to a standstill.

luxuries go first :thumbsdow

[Tommy Allison]

I blame the enviro-wackos for our current plight.

We have 10,000 years worth of coal that could be turned into gasoline, and we have another 30,000 years worth of oil trapped in oil shale. Yet, we're subsidizing farmers to throw away our food, in order to water down our gasoline with crap.

Go figure. We should be using those subsidies in order to develop other sources of energy that we have in stock, instead of driving up food prices.

[sellin71]

I blame the enviro-wackos for our current plight.

We have 10,000 years worth of coal that could be turned into gasoline, and we have another 30,000 years worth of oil trapped in oil shale. Yet, we're subsidizing farmers to throw away our food, in order to water down our gasoline with crap.

Go figure. We should be using those subsidies in order to develop other sources of energy that we have in stock, instead of driving up food prices.

:buttrock: :buttrock: :buttrock:

[rilynil]

Umm, I don't think enviromentalists are the reason for our over-reliance on oil and high food prices.

[Tommy Allison]

Actually, their meddling in government and preventing us from building new refineries, and drilling our own oil is.

[cblakey1]

Actually, their meddling in government and preventing us from building new refineries, and drilling our own oil is.

No, the whole ANWAR thing is bs. It won't do anything for the here and now. It'll take 10 years to yield a years worth of oil. I wouldn't be too adverse to drilling off the FL coast, but the problem is, the companies doing it would make a big assed mess of EXXON Valdez proportion over time. Then go unpunished because they got the blessing from the gov't and helped avoid an oil "crisis".

Switchgrass is an unexplored option as well as more ethanol production. The miserable failure of a government we have now is suppressing efforts to move towards alternative fuels so they can continue to mak us more dependent on them while rewarding their buddies in the oil business.

Not only that, they are pig-headed and won't work with the oil-rich Venezuelans or Russians. They'd rather succumb to the commodities market who're jacking the price of a barrel on speculation and not bit@h-slap the Saudis into increasing oil production, keeping the barrel prices more reasonable.

See, the government lied to us when Wolfowitz said that the proceeds from Iraq oil would pay for the war 10 times over. If they didn't lie to us and steal whatever they can from Iraq and give it to their criminal buddies in KBR, Blackwater and Haliburton, then we wouldn't be facing a 2-3 cent increase in gas prices today.

I heard the other day that gas can top $10.00 a gallon. Looks like we are on track to meet that milestone. Damn glad I got rid of our gas-guzzling Pathfinder.

[Jesse321]

No, the whole ANWAR thing is bs. It won't do anything for the here and now. It'll take 10 years to yield a years worth of oil. I wouldn't be too adverse to drilling off the FL coast, but the problem is, the companies doing it would make a big assed mess of EXXON Valdez proportion over time. Then go unpunished because they got the blessing from the gov't and helped avoid an oil "crisis".

Living in South Florida ... I can tell you NO ****ING WAY!!

[cblakey1]

Living in South Florida ... I can tell you NO ****ING WAY!!

C'mon, Jess.. you and me are on the same page. I'm just showing I can be open-minded on some issues as long as it's done with the proper safeguards in place. I don't want you coming out of the ocean in a black and greasy Speedo (although swimmers do grease themselves down for speed)!

So relax! :stick:

[Jesse321]

Fine ... then drill for oil in your back yard ... our reefs are under enough pressure already!!!

There's no such thing as "proper safeguards" ... this is one subject I will NEVER budge on!!

NO DRILLING OFF SOUTH FLORIDA WATERS ... EVER!!!

[rychehitman]

Could we drill off the south Florida coast once it is 20' under water after global warming melts the polar ice cap?

[cblakey1]

Could we drill off the south Florida coast once it is 20' under water after global warming melts the polar ice cap?

:eek: Save Jesse's statues!

[Jesse321]

Could we drill off the south Florida coast once it is 20' under water after global warming melts the polar ice cap?

NO! :stick:

All the buildings that will be underwater will make perfect building materials for new reefs!


And I own some land in Mt. Dora. :)

[Comicboy]

Well I found out Monday I may be losing my job of 13 years. Thanks, appreciate it.

[cblakey1]

Well I found out Monday I may be losing my job of 13 years. Thanks, appreciate it.

Man, that's a drag.

Everything happens for a reason though, and if it happens, I'm sure you'll be off to bigger and better things. :buttrock:

[Jesse321]

Well I found out Monday I may be losing my job of 13 years. Thanks, appreciate it.

Sorry hear this CB ... hopefully it will mean better things in the future.

[Mandragora]

Well I found out Monday I may be losing my job of 13 years. Thanks, appreciate it.

so sorry to hear it.

i wish you all the best

[Comicboy]

Thanks guys. Yeah I don't really know what's going to happen, nobody does. At least they aren't telling anyone other than their cutting 750 people and losing a shift. So now we have one shift here and 2 other plants building gas guzzling pigs that nobody want's to buy. GM isn't very bright.

On my bright side I filled out my app for school yesterday so if I do lose my job I can have something to fall back on far away from the auto industry. To tell you the truth I'm totally sick of the bs and if it comes I'm not going to cry about it. Is it gonna suck money wise - you bet but at least 1) I'll be alive past 55, 2) I'll be able to walk and move when I'm old and 3) my life will be my own again and won't be completely at someone else's whim.

[VinReaper]

Well I found out Monday I may be losing my job of 13 years. Thanks, appreciate it.

Thanks guys. Yeah I don't really know what's going to happen, nobody does. At least they aren't telling anyone other than their cutting 750 people and losing a shift. So now we have one shift here and 2 other plants building gas guzzling pigs that nobody want's to buy. GM isn't very bright.

On my bright side I filled out my app for school yesterday so if I do lose my job I can have something to fall back on far away from the auto industry. To tell you the truth I'm totally sick of the bs and if it comes I'm not going to cry about it. Is it gonna suck money wise - you bet but at least 1) I'll be alive past 55, 2) I'll be able to walk and move when I'm old and 3) my life will be my own again and won't be completely at someone else's whim.

That is terrible news. Sorry to hear it! I wish you the best.

But you have the correct outlook. Like someone said earlier, everything happens for a reason. and now you may get a chance to take control back of your life. More power to you!! :thumbs2:

Good luck!! And Best wishes!!

VR

[Tommy Allison]

Get as much of a severance package as you can get. Make sure you get your health care covered.

[Comicboy]

Get as much of a severance package as you can get. Make sure you get your health care covered.

Yeah thats not really an option for me Tommy. I work in a factory for GM. My options are to stay and ride it out for as long as possible and let the chips fall where they may or sever all ties for about $80,000. I dunno what I'm going to do other than go back to school for now. Right now I still have a job there but who knows for how long.

[CocoPUFF]

I blame the enviro-wackos for our current plight.

We have 10,000 years worth of coal that could be turned into gasoline, and we have another 30,000 years worth of oil trapped in oil shale. Yet, we're subsidizing farmers to throw away our food, in order to water down our gasoline with crap.

Go figure. We should be using those subsidies in order to develop other sources of energy that we have in stock, instead of driving up food prices.

preach it brotha!:buttrock: