JohnG

It will be nice to have more alternatives. I use Firefox - it runs and loads faster, has a smaller memory footprint, is more secure than IE, and is easier to use. IE is a true piece of [censored]. Chrome was redesigned from the ground up - it is not built on top of an old platform (like IE which just keeps getting bigger and slower with each build). It comes sans useless bells and whistles. It actually terminates processes when you shut down tabs. I am looking forward to trying it.

Fair and Balanced

Don't look at it too long or you will start believing everything they say on Fox News.

You mean [censored]?

Close. Actually it was Hurricane Gustav that was staged to take the focus away from the pregnant daughter. You have to pay to say blowjob.

If you want a good sub your best options are probably to get it either from BK (BKmariner) or from EuroTimez (Euromariner) - these are two good watches, each with it's own strengths. They will both have gen ETA's if that is what you want. Robbie is right that some people will give you are hard time and make snide comments about using the search button and it sounds like you have already done that. But if people make smart ass comments, don't worry about it - if they don't want to help, they don't have to. Some people just get off on chewing out new members. It takes less time to ignore a post than to make a sarcastic reply, but there is never any shortage of those people. Anyway, search those two watches. There is a good review here of the Euromariner by a member named Tribal, and for BK, he has a section here though he has a greater presence on a forum called Repgeek.com - you can join there too and see his section. It is more complicated to order from him but his watches are already modified and consequently, VERY closely inspected. EuroTimez's Euromariner is considered a better rep by some, but has not been modified and may be a little more expensive (definitely more expensive if you factor in modifications). Good luck.

Well you get a zero for reading comprehension. I never said "it is all good." I said it is a gross exaggeration to suggest that freedom is dead in the United States. There are abuses, there have ALWAYS been abuses, and there WILL always be abuses - not just in the United States but in every country on the face of the earth. The question is whether there are remedies available to those whose rights are violated. The answer is that the remedies today are equal to or greater than those available at any given time in the past. I don't know how to say it any simpler than that.

There is already a rep of it - a pretty bad one but it exists.

Kind of like the way things are right now.

Land of the Free was NEVER Land of the Perfect. Assuming the worst - that this was an abuse of police powers to preemptively detain a few college students who might have been planning to throw turds and insults at some Republicans - there exist in the U.S. many remedies available to the detained. They will have the assistance of the ACLU and numerous media outlets to make their case. They may sue if they so choose and if there is evidence sufficient to sustain a claim that their civil rights were violated. If there were no freedom in the U.S. this would not have shown up in the media, it would be be being debated now by U.S. citizens without fear of reprisal, and there would be no avenue of legal redress available. On the face, and without knowing all the facts, the story makes me uncomfortable. But suggesting (as some have) that this is the end of freedom in the U.S. is patently ridiculous. Little more than a half century ago in many places in the U.S. African Americans could be legally excluded from "white-only" restaurants, homosexuals could be jailed or worse for "crimes" committed in the privacy of their own homes, and anyone who dared to criticize Senator Joe McCarthy was labeled a communist and saw his life destroyed in extra-judicial witch hunts. All in all I would say it is a little premature to sound the death knell for freedom in the United States.

This gets richer and richer. First Bush and the Rockefellers orchestrated 9/11. Then the entire U.S. media is "state-run" and censuring the "truth" about Georgia. And the latest? U.S. citizens acting on "direct orders" started the war in Georgia. Hey, if Putin said it, it must be true.

Call her up, tell her the watch is a replica, and explain that this is your way of "sticking it to the man."

Don't give that power to others. I refuse to let others decide for me what I will like, what I won't like, what products I need or don't need. If you like a watch, forget the people who want to tell you why you shouldn't like it.

Truth is the first casualty in ANY war. No one is being completely honest about the events as they have occurred or their own motivations. That's why God gave us common sense and an ability to read between the lines.

Well this is a generalization of staggering proportions, just as much as THIS: I hardly know where to begin and indeed I suspect any comments I may make will fall on deaf ears. The United States is a country with virtues and defects as varied as the people who live within its borders. I find Georgegrasser's comments saddening. It is much easier to run away than to try to repair something so worth fixing. Indeed, those who do so are complicit in the very ills they bemoan in righteous indignation. Many people who also believe the United States has serious problems and frequently perpetrates great injustices have dedicated their lives to trying to correct these problems. I live outside the United States but my reasons for doing so (I am pleased to say) have nothing to do with shirking my civic responsibilities as a citizen. And then I am struck by the great irony of Corgi's statement - he holds the United States in great esteem and extols its "freedom." But it would seem that to him this is just a catch word - because if people cannot disapprove of the government's actions and in good conscious voice their opinions publicly without being ridiculed (or worse, silenced), then the words freedom and liberty are but slogans devoid of any substantive meaning. When I hear of a protest in the United States, any protest, regardless of whether I agree or disagree with the protesters' opinions, I am contented because protest and loud public debate are, in any true democracy, good and necessary things. How one could hate protesters and simultaneously love freedom is beyond my comprehension.

Noob case dimensions are correct EXCEPT for the slightly shallow rehaut. I am dreaming of a Euromariner someday too, but though it is (I think) a better overall watch than the noob now - it is not without it's own rehaut problems too.

I think we can safely assume you don't come from the States. It is clear that for some time in Russia anybody who has some money wants imported goods. Spending is, well, conspicuous. The purpose is to demonstrate one's financial status. I think Russians themselves have a worse opinion of their own products than outsiders do. But in watch collecting circles (gen) Russian watches have been gaining popularity for quite some time and it has a lot to do with the exceptional value and quality offered by these watches. In the West there are no such bad memories associated with these products.

Well, I didn't go so far as to say he is weak minded - I just point out the obvious fact that it is a favored tactic among the weak minded. If someone wishes to avoid being perceived that way, they ought to address and critique specific points of another's argument, NOT their post count. By that (weak) logic, everyone who has a lot of posts is always right and everyone who has few is always wrong. It doesn't take much intellect to the see the fallacy of that assumption. Exactly.

If you want to attack my reasoning, then do it. My post count or time on the board is irrelevant to my points - which from the comments below it is quite obvious you are not even reading. Read, critique, contradict... but calling me a noob and dismissing my arguments in this manner is a mark of weakness. I know it is real. If you can show me where I say that the cartel does not engage in price fixing I will buy you ANY GEN OF YOUR CHOICE. It would be better to just ignore my posts I think, because to argue against them you are going to at least have to spend a moment actually reading them. So far you have replied to arguments I have never made. Instead of an insinuation and a wink, how about saying clearly what you mean. If Silix cannot get this watch - say so. If you don't know for sure, then I am not sure what your point is.

Why is this being cast as an issue of loyalty or trust? I have never bought from Josh or Andrew and anyone who knows me from RWG1 knows that I am VERY critical of some of their practices. I don't like the "white" lies - whatever that means because to me lies are lies and I think they tell them quite freely. I also find the evidence presented in the threads at RWI regarding threats against other dealers convincing. And I have read and understand the "old" cartel threads. But the fact that certain dealers behave in (in my opinion) a less than ethical way, does NOT convert every one of their pricing decisions into a fraudulent action. If there is ANY evidence that the price increase in the SF cited in the first post of this thread is part of some NEW scheme to fix prices, I would REALLY like to know what it is. If such evidence does not exist - then the price point of that one watch is a mere distraction and this is just a rehash of old themes. That is FINE by me - I am no defender of J/A and am not going to protest a debate about their tactics. But I will speak up if it is suggested, as it has been here, that every price increase is part of some nefarious plot. That is just patently ridiculous. Well, that is pretty compelling evidence that J/A have NOT (at least so far) fixed the price of this replica among all the dealers. As long as this watch can still be had from other dealers at a more competitive price, then comments about the demise of the free market and references to "fish in a barrel" are off base, to put it mildly.

If there is evidence that Josh and Andrew are pressuring other dealers to increase their prices on the Steelfish then what pray tell is it? I don't put them above such behavior but suspicions and innuendo is NOT evidence. You offer a price increase by one dealer on one watch as your proof. By the way, please don't imply that those who disagree only do so because they are ignorant. I get tired of being told to read the "cartel" threads. I did so some time ago as many here have, and that I can see you have not yet offered compelling evidence (or indeed ANY evidence) that this single price increase is part of some price fixing scheme.

Jose is a newcomer to this forum, but not to the hobby. And even if he were, calling attention to someone's low post count in an attempt to undermine their credibility is a favored tactic of the weak-minded. Surely you don't want to be perceived that way... so why not let your arguments stand on their own merit rather than calling someone you disagree with "noob"? This is a false analogy. We are talking about the pricing of a watch, not a fraudulent description. I am a total loss as to what relevance this has to the subject of the thread. I am NO fan of the cartel and have never purchased from them. And if they attempt to fix pricing or lie about their product I am very quick to speak out. But this thread is about a price increase in a watch. Nothing more. Any dealer can price any watch anyway he or she wishes. As long as there is transparency as to what the product actually IS and they are not trying to force other dealers to similarly increase their price, then there is no legitimate complaint to be made. Calling attention to the fact that a watch is overpriced is appropriate - but insinuating that the act of raising a price, just because you don't like it, constitutes some sort of fraud is beyond silly. We are all (in theory) adults here and can make informed and responsible choices for ourselves. If you don't like a price, simply buy the watch from someone else.

Well you can't force people to educate themselves properly. For anyone who cares to be well informed in the U.S. there is AMPLE opportunity. If freedom of speech is to mean anything, it must include the right to say things that you (or I) might not agree with.