DarkandStormy

Oh look, a "conservative" wants to spend someone else's money for him. The irony.

http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-are-killing-list-2017-8/#home-improvement-stores-like-home-depot-and-lowes-18

https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/spending/ So rather than reduce our $600 billion we spend on the military annually - which is more than the next 5 countries on Earth combined - we're going to scrimp and save on the $1.28 trillion we spend on Social Security, Unemployment, and Labor? Note that we have separate taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and an Unemployment tax. Or are we going to cut from the ~$1 trillion spent on Medicare and Healthcare?

So you don't believe the poorest workers among us should AT LEAST keep up with the pace of inflation?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-19/trump-asks-how-s-your-401-k-but-most-voters-don-t-have-one Only 1/3 of working adults have a 401k. Only 14% of American families own stocks.

Are they having seizures when they try to view it? It's popup book style...you know...to cater to their short attention spa....oh look, a bird.

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/poor-millennials/ A lot of my friends are freaking out (relatively) over this article. (Perhaps this belongs more in the personal finance thread)

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/south-korea-pushes-ripple-price-71-japanese-banks-conduct-payment-trials/

I'm seeing more rumblings around Ripple. Anyone know what that is?

Can't wait for the Browns to screw up TWO top ten picks!

They don't have the money to buy things...that's why there's so much credit card debt. The spending is largely happening on borrowed time. The increased spending is simply built on a house of cards mostly. People spending themselves into debt today further decreases their purchasing power tomorrow.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-households-will-soon-have-as-much-debt-as-they-had-in-2008-2017-04-03

The S&P 500 is up ~18% YTD. That said, stock markets /= the economy.

Look up the 2013 Bitcoin crash.

The MLS is effing stupid. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/12/11/mls-cup-2017-television-ratings-espn-rise-75-percent-over-2015-edition There's your "metrics."

No one. The buyer takes on all the risk when they purchase any investment. No one sued when the price of gold dropped in the '80s. This would be the exact same thing. I've done minimal research on bitcoin - what makes them valuable? I get there are going to be a limited number - probably done in 2040, right? Other than avoiding currency translation, why should I care about bitcoins?

I believe you can short GBTC - Bitcoin Investment Trust. There may be other funds out there. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-27/calling-a-bitcoin-top-here-s-how-you-can-short-the-digital-coin https://www.investopedia.com/news/short-bitcoin/ So you could short-sell GBTC (or other Bitcoin funds, if they exist - and I'm sure they do) or any of the other things outlined in the Investopedia article.

I don't think we've got that in the tank. In addition to Barrett being gone (and when he's on, he's definitely on), I'm still something of a skeptic about Mike Weber (though maybe Dobbins will leapfrog him and make real strides in the offseason). None of them are Ezekiel Elliott, though. I don't even think they're Carlos Hyde. Dobbins just set the freshman rushing record at Ohio State. I think we're fine. Not sure how much Weber's hamstring injury hindered his season. Would be nice to get those guys going as a 1/2 punch (think: USC with Lendale White and Reggie Bush). Weber IS draft-eligible. Guys on offense to replace (as of now - could be some early draft guys leave unexpectedly or transfer): JT, Price (center), Jones (left tackle), Baugh (tight end). That's it. On defense: Lewis, Holmes, Hubbard, Sprinkle, Worley, Ward (probably), Erick Smith (safety) - a possibility that another LB leaves (Baker?) and Dremont Jones at DT might leave as well. Secondary might be a concern if Ward leaves early.

I think we'll be better next year with Haskins in there. JT is just so bad on throws over 15 yards down the field, especially since the departure of Devin Smith and Michael Thomas. I predict we'll go 15-0 next year with Haskins since the offense won't be so JT-reliant running the ball. Haskins isn't as good there - more of a Cardale-esque big arm who can scoot when needed but not as shifty as Barrett.

Committee is consistent, thus OSU getting in last year. It's not the same, though. OSU last year was 3-1 against the CFP top 8 teams (that's a helluva schedule to navigate...and they only lost once, on the road, on a fluky special teams play). Alabama this year is 0-1 against the top 16 of the CFP. Basically if OSU had scheduled Mercer instead of Oklahoma they're probably in. If Alabama had better wins, then sure I'd say they would have the edge. But they played a crap schedule outside of one game, which they lost. OSU went 3-1 against top 16 opponents this season. That should, imo, trump the 31-point loss at Iowa.

Good Lord, JT sucks. That game isn't close with a competent QB.

Look up the historical price of gold and ask yourself if you'd be ok buying gold in 1979 or 1980. This is where we *could* be with Bitcoin.

There's no underlying asset. It's like buying gold. It's worth a lot because people value them for some reason. But it's not like a stock. I don't understand it really, but man if these last few days haven't got me hooked as well!

#8 is exactly where they should be after the turd they laid in Iowa City. Who would you have them ahead of in the top 7? SEC title game = winner in, loser out ACC title game = winner in, loser out Those two games are irrelevant to Ohio State. You'd probably rather have Stanford win the Pac-12 to ensure all Pac-12 teams in contention have 3 losses (and are out of the playoffs for sure). TCU/OU - I don't know. I've read some places that TCU winning is more helpful (it throws the final two spots into chaos a bit). OSU obviously has to win. If they do, they'll be up against one-loss Alabama who didn't win their division and has zero top 15 wins. OSU will have 2 top ten wins (Wisconsin, Penn State) and a blow out of #16 MSU, plus a conference championship. That should be enough to forgive the clunker against Iowa and the loss to Oklahoma looks ok if OU steamrolls to a Big 12 title. On 538, you can "simulate" these games and the best I can get to is 81-82% chance to get in. For that to happen winners need to be Memphis (pretty irrelevant), Ohio State, Stanford, Clemson, Auburn, and TCU. Top 4 in that case would go Clemson, Auburn, Ohio State, and...maybe Alabama?

He's more likely to reunite with Coughlin (front office) in Jacksonville, where the Bortles experiment seems to be a disaster. Eli definitely benefited from a stout D in the two Super Bowl years, but I don't think he played with any HOF-caliber WRs? I don't follow the Giants each year so who knows. Still, I think it's 1) Big Ben, 2) Eli, 3) Rivers.