ryyannon

Depends on the path the friend is following: occasional shoplifter, ok. Violent mugger, not ok. Serial rapist, not ok. Non-violent bank robber, ok. White-collar 'non-violent' Enron execs who swindeled shareholders and emptied the pension-plans of their employees, definitely not ok. Like the L.A. Police, I believe that we're on this planet To Protect and Serve. Protect those who are weaker and in need our force; serve humanity and a higher ideal of who and what we are. Not always easy to live up to, but one can only try. As for the question of pre-destination - wow, really too complex to be able to answer. But that doesn't enter into the equation, as far as I'm concerned - the question for me being, when do we give a pass for the moral trespasses of others and when do we hammer them? In school and just after, I lived in a communal apartment in Chicago with a brilliant chemist from MIT. He used the University labs at night to cook up batches of LSD, which he sold to support his heroin habit. The guy was as sharp as a razor, funny and would never hurt a fly - other than himself through his addiction to heroin, which incidentally, somehow allowed him to function as a 'normal' member of society At the same time, he was shooting up and wholesaling tons of acid - some of which was undoubtedly burning out its users' minds - to be able to indulge in his little hobby. We were great friends. There's no way I would have ever sold him down the river. As for the 'how would (one) know' that a close friend was involved in some sort of disgusting and/or really morally reprehensible activity, I've always known that sort of thing without having to be told: call it instinct or a sixth sense if you like. Which leads me to believe that we all know these sorts of things without having to be told: whether they are conscious or not depends on our own degree of consciousness. Remaining unconscious of such givens (as in the infinitely-repeated example of the wives who 'never suspected' that their husbands were sexually abusing their daughters) is just a moral cop-out to me, meaning simply that they never wanted to know - and therefore were participating in the evil as much as the perpetrator himself. Do you follow me here?

Which quite naturally leads to another and very important question, namely, why would you consciously or unconsciously choose a rapist to be your friend?

One thing is clear, Vicky: Your avatars just get funnier and funnier

Hmm... And just when the subject was getting real....

And if the husband in question was cheating on his wife with you. Never say never, Vicky: the flesh is weak, love itself is not always exclusive, marriages tend to get boring for one or both partners, and this is not an uncommon occurance. Under certain circumstances, an affair can even permit the marriage from totally breaking up. In places like France, it's practically an institution. At certain levels of society all over Europe, it's expected. Were it to happen to you (admitting the idea that in real-life anything can happen) would you remain 'friends' with your friend - meaning continue your friendship as if nothing had happened? Breaking off your friendship would only be the admission that something was wrong, and would be particularly painful if there were genuine bonds of friendship between you. On the other hand, continuing as if nothing had changed would - for most people - be the worst type of betrayal. This type of situation is so close to what psychologists call a 'double-bind' that I'm tempted to suggest that if such a situation did arise, it would indicate all sorts of underlying factors and hidden (and possibly morally valid) agendas which would preclude a black-and-white moral judgement - even though conventional morality would literally be screaming for one.

Hmm... This reminds me of a real-life problem I personally had not long ago. As it turned out, there was no 'right' answer: I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn't. In the end, and to varying degress, practically everyone involved lost in one way or another. Since Vicky mentioned Aristotle, I seem to remember that either he or someone of his ilk defined tragedy in those terms. I've thought a lot about it since, and your hypothetical problem has brought the memory back to the forefront. And I still don't have the 'right' answer... Could it be that sometimes there is no right answer? By the way, I'm in no way preaching inaction, rationalization or moral equivalency here: there are times when one is obliged to take moral action whatever the consequences.

It's a pity you don't have it all in a Sterling Lloyd's account...

For anyone else interested, these people offer the highest rates I've found, and came through in a very friendly way; seems to be the best deal going at the moment: http://www.westpac.co.nz/ The quetion now is whether it's going to be worth moving funds over (wire fees plus conversion into NZ dollars plus conversion and wire fee back) compared to the rate I can get where I already am.... The definitive answer would be in the certainty of a continued rise in NZ to U.S. dollar parity. My intitmate conviction is that this remains a good move - just as was buying gold a year (or more) ago... Before I provoke any more insanely jealous reactions - like the time I posted here for advice on a huge certified check a bank sent to me by mistake - let me add that ryyannon is a total idiot when it comes to most things, including money: he never bought into gold when he knew it was going to go through the roof, just as he'll probably watch the dollar diminish to negative values over the next year, while being replaced by the New Zealand Dollar as the world's reference currency. So sleep tight, ye mean-spirited few: ryyannon is actually getting poorer with the passage of time, betting in his own insane way on the ultimate of long-shots: that the meek, poor and stupid (his strongest qualities) shall inherit the earth - as if anyone except a total moron would even want it by then. Anyway, having done the research on the New Zealand term investment question, I hope that at least someone profits from it. And lastly (but first, in intention) let me once again thank the kind souls who contributed to this thread with their own suggestions, information and analyses!

I'm with you on that. Raboplus has a S&P AAA rating - which is as good as it gets. I'll definitely look into this - and thanks much for the link Update: It looks like they want to keep a good thing for themselves: there's no provision for non-resident/non-nationals in the registration process. I might give them a call to find out what their policy on this is, and will report back when I've more information...

One of several banks offering rates like these, ie. 8.70% on anything over $10,000 NZ for eight or nine-month periods. Sounds quite good to me, but of course, I know nothing about how these banks are run - or their reputation.... http://www.bnz.co.nz/Rates_and_Fees/1,1184...Term_Investment Term Deposit Rates Term Investment Interest Rates p.a. Term $2,000-$4,999 $5,000-$9,999 $10,000-$49,999 $50,000-$99,999 $100,000-$250,000 30 - 59 days* 2.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% 5.25% 60 - 89 days* 2.00% 3.20% 3.20% 3.20% 5.25% 90 - 119 days* 2.00% 4.50% 6.90% 6.95% 7.00% 120 - 149 days* 2.00% 4.50% 7.05% 7.10% 7.15% 150 - 179 days* 2.00% 4.50% 7.90% 7.95% 8.00% 180 - 209 days* 2.00% 4.50% 8.10% 8.15% 8.20% 210 - 239 days* 2.00% 4.50% 7.75% 7.80% 7.85% 240 - 269 days* 2.00% 4.50% 8.70% 8.70% 8.70% 270 - 364 days* 2.00% 4.50% 7.90% 7.95% 8.00% 1 year 2.00% 5.00% 7.90% 7.95% 8.00% 18 months 2.00% 5.00% 7.90% 7.95% 8.00% 2 years 2.00% 5.00% 8.40% 8.40% 8.40%

Germans are a race?

On the contrary, I always send this along with queries about investing my nest-eggs...

Will do, and thank you: I'm having a hard time convincing these Kiwi bankers that I'm not a member of the Mob, Al Quaida - or both at the same time

It's never easy coming back and readjusting, but in case some people have missed the news, these guys haven't been killing tons of babies this time around... http://michaelyon-online.com/ Of course, for those who are convinced that any American in a military uniform is a baby-killing, puppy-abusing Storm Trooper, nothing - and certainly not reality - is ever going to change their mind, so I won't insist, let alone try... http://www.michaeltotten.com/

Thank you all for your sound advice: I've been in contact with some NZ banks, and as soon as I can convince them that my two cents are not part of a vast and tentacular international money laundering operation, it is possible that I'll send a trial amount over to see how I make out at the end of a six or twelve month period. I'm quite aware that if something looks (almost) too good to be true, then... but there is a strong possibility that the situation in NZ represents a better alternative to investing in term deposits in the U.S. Actually, almost anything at this point represents a better alternative than investing one's money in dollars, short of simply running them through a paper-shredder. Will the U.S. dollar ever bounce back against the Euro? It might, but only when enough major players decide that there's money to be made in letting it appreciate. They've certainly made buckets of money in speculating on the dollar/euro parity, but like every party, it could end when people decide that they've had enough fun. As astute readers can see, I don't really believe that the given value of a currency is based on logical factors as much as emotion - and at the bottom line, greed. There are a whole mix of reasons that the dollar is at an historical low against other currency, none of which (the reasons, that it is) are particularly binding the moment that it's decided that huge amounts of money can now be made by going in the opposite direction. Thanks again for your input and suggestions...it's been most interesting and infomative!

Hmm... I wonder if WatchMaster is still around.

Gotcha! No really, for sure this time: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5729460876453254057 Uh-uh...I'm thinking I'd better get out of here fast.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgM0xPnWt4Y

Mere facts (ie, reality) is never a match for terminal cognitive dissociation, POTR.

Don't waste your breath: your brain is clearly oxygen-starved as it is.

Labioplasty Labioplasty is an operation designed to reduce and reshape the excess labia minora tissues of the vagina.

Mmmm, sausages!

New Zealand banks are currently offering 8+ percent P.A. interest on fixed-term (CD) deposits. Since American interest rates have gone South (and will probably continue to do so) I'm thinking of moving some of my U.S. based savings into these accounts. Of course, in the unlikely event that the dollar appreciates against the NZ dollar (unlikely, in my opinion) I could lose. There's also the question of losing a few percent on incoming and outgoing exchange rate charges, plus bankwire fees and other nickle-and-dime stuff. But overall, and even factoring in fee structures, NZ looks like a winning proposition as a place to park some savings. Do we have any financially-enlightened Aussie or Kiwi members who'd like to offer their considered opinion on such (perfecly legal, TwoTone) shenanigans? Not all at once, please....

A very short timewaster, dedicated to our very own forum sweetie, TTK - who I suspect was there when the original call was sounded: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10204/10204-m/10204-m-001.mp3

Personally, I wouldn't waste my time replying to a PM like that. It just reeks of entitlement. The sad thing is that the person who wrote it is probably not even aware of its tone....

I never thought it would happen, but I've finally found someone who is even more pessimistic and with an even dimmer view of human nature than my own! You must be more fun than the proverbial barrel of rabid monkeys, POTR Now, let's get real: first of all, no one slaps me around - even metaphorically - except for my pet pigeon, Poopzilla and he would never do such a thing anyway, unless seriously provoked. (It's generally unknown, but pigeons can give incredibly strong 'karate-chops' using the edge of a wing. It can scare the hell out of someone who is unaware of this capacity, and if the bird connects well, it can also hurt.) For the rest, I still maintain that a system of posting dated before and after thumbs would work - most of the time. On the condition of using the same lighting, position and presentation for all watches. Of course, if a modder wanted to manipulate the system, he could - but for how many times? Seeing the same horror story more than twice would totally disqualify a modder in most people's eyes. But the bottom line is that nothing in life is one-hundred percent sure: as others have already pointed out, there's always a small margin of error, and even the best people occasionally have a bad day. Is there even a trusted collector here who hasn't occasionally sent out bad product? The end of the bottom line is that I don't really have a dog in this fight: I've never sent a piece out for modding, and probably never will. If I wanted it to look absolutely like the real thing, I'd buy the real thing. As for repairs, I know who I'd chose and who I'd avoid: you can't spend the time you should on this forum without learning that. I do feel that it would be good to have some sort of objective, visible way of evaluating the skills of modders/smiths, and the pics were my initial suggestion. Beyond that - and even using that system - I tend to agree with you that there will be blood. And after sleeping on it, I think you're probably right, but with some reservations: the good people would use it well, and the incompetent, dishonest guys would abuse it. But hell, if we didn't have each other to complain about - legitimately or not - a large part of the interest of this forum would be lost for some people, no?