Dwight Drane

It didn't go through, but yes....it didn't give it up with enough momentum. Bad trade in hindsight. Oh well....rather put my sack on the line and lose a few instead of sitting on my hands in awe of the world while bitching about others. And who is my braintrust anyway? All I seem to find on a regular basis here are a bunch of grade schoolers ready to tattle on the cool kid for smoking in the bathroom because they are mad he steals their intellectual milk money. Those with relevant takes usually don't have post counts into 5 digits.

Then why don't you explain it? I asked for expertise. You constantly mock other people and say how much you know, but I have yet to see anything of substance. You probably know a lot more about gargling viscous white liquids than do I as well.

Now Tom.....I know that announcing a pandemic is just a formality and that people aren't running around with their hair on fire, but like I have said many times on this board....you need to look at the next logical and possible steps. What may seem logical to me doesn't seem logical to most here it looks like, and that is fine. I don't do things the "normal" way. But you need to look ahead. You doubt my statement that this swine flu was created in a lab. You also seem to feel there is limited potential for disaster. Now.....if you have ever seen liquid explosives work, and I am sure you have, there are usually 2 seemingly controlled substances contained in their own device. Each may have toxic or even explosive properties, but when the two mix....BLAMMO! Something as simple as sodium and water. Water is harmless.....sodium if dry and contained is fine, and if mixed with the right combo is harmless as well. So far this swine flu looks very mild. I wouldn't call it water, but it isn't a disaster. However.....you have sodium sitting in SE Asia in the form of avian flu. Now that it is obvious that the swine flu is all over the place....don't you think there is a real potential that our water and sodium in this case...mix? Then what do you have? An explosion. This is only the first phase. The longer this is out there and expands, the greater the chance for mutation. This flu popped up out of nowhere...and it started in North America. If you were to release this as a weapon....wouldn't it make sense to release it on your own people first when it is a very mild strain in order for them to develop the proper antibodies so that when the final cycle comes around they have a fighting chance? I am far from a bioscientist so anyone with experience feel free to chime in. It seems like the smart play to me. Especially when you know the deadly strain would most likely take hold in the overpopulated part of the world that happens to house 2 billion of your closest enemies. Feel free to call the bioweapon part of this jibberish, but to underestimate the potential for damage here is folly.

Let's have a party! You bring the hammer.....I'll bring the sickle.

No, but I am dumping dollars faster than a sailor coming into port for a weekend after 6 months at sea. If you really want to scratch your head, try finding some ammunition for anything with firepower. Prices are double from a year ago and there is a 3 month lag time. Are there really that many yahoos out there? At a certain point you would think people would figure out that something ain't right, far beyond a little recession. A few thousand Dwight Dranes aren't going to wipe out the entire stockpile of firearms....and you can't blame Obama because it has been 7 months since we were blessed with him. I do laugh when pundits go to the moneyline "This is going to be the problem of our children and grandchildren and it isn't fair to them." That is like your Uncle Jerry being in the ICU after a quadruple bypass and in a coma, and you saying "Jerry really needs to start jogging a little or he's going to be in rough shape 20 years from now."

I couldn't believe he didn't get some time when Reed was out. To me he seems like Josh Reed Jr. in his routes and awareness. Maybe he will be the next Jabari Greer. All he does is everything right, shows instincts, makes plays, and has to wait 3 years to get on the field.

Right.....it would have been a meltdown of equal proportions. Instead, this has been a well planned looting of the masses by the elite. In this thread alone you have validated all my warnings from late '07 up until September of last year. As others continued their ignorant chiding, you at least understood how close to "THE END" we really were. I noticed a definite tempering of your tone, and even to this day you aren't a cheerleader for current conditions. You may cheerlead policies that on the face can be explained as trying to improve the current condition, but at least you aren't telling me a turd is a rosebush anymore. For that I appologise for some of the shill comments I made. You are only being hopeful for your job and well being and I can't blame you as long as defamation isn't involved. At least you attempt to debate those on this board with actual grasp of knowledge instead of mudslinging. I may not appreciate your personality, but I'm sure you don't like my wiseguy directness either. Now...as far as understanding how capital and finance work.....people need to think BIGGER...and look at what role that plays on a geopolitical scale. People are starting to do that now in public. When you make decisions that are self-serving, others take notice. This is going the way of war. There is no turning back. As I have said numerous times, either others get sick of the US policies and arrogance and start to make moves....or the government continues to appease our trading partners which will eventually lead to such opressive domestic policies that the American people WILL revolt. There are a lot of "hicks" out there that on the surface, seem to have better math skills than the Fed and Treasury. This is not over by any means....and you know that. There is no easy solution. I am amazed that things have hung on this long. If you want to talk capital requirements......every empire has eventually seen their fiat currency fail. The US got a pass in the 70's. If you want to talk individual cases as I was about my place of employ, I can tell you that there is always a creative way around a rule. Just go "offline". That is what our government has done with all these bailout plans. There is no regulation.....in fact as we can see with your championing of mark to market "relaxation", the regulators are aiding the plan. This will not be good in the end. Trust me. I can get a piece of crap rated AAA with a few phonecalls. That is what the government is doing now. In the end.....there is really nothing of value there. And when the other 95% of the public wakes up to that fact, it will be a very sad state of affairs. It will also be too late.

I didn't even see until now that the Supreme Court let the Chrysler deal go. I think it's time to set up a rival government, sort of like the XFL. Sure it may fail, but at least we'd have some hot cheerleaders for a while.

Magox....I wish you were here over a year ago to add some common sensical commentary. I felt like William DaFoe in the last scene of Platoon on this board at times. It still pains me to see people battle along party lines. Bush and Paulson set this up and handed the torch to this administration. They could have let the beast die, and we could have had a very painful few years of restructuring. Instead they protected their own interests. Now there is no turning back.

Don't worry.....it's too late. System is dead. I lurned that a while ago. Although I guess it must have been obvious. Maybe someday we can sit down and have a beer....and you can teach me the SEC or NASD or Wharton school code...whatever the hell you do, and I'll show you how to grill possum. Us unedukatid types are real good at possum grillin!!

The only person calling me a prophet is yourself and Adams. You should have sold those puts....you'd be up 60%.

There is a difference in marking a security THAT TRADES AT PAR to ZERO over marking a mortgage that was made for $500,000 on a property that is now selling (if you are lucky to find a buyer) for $150,000. There are buyers at par in the first case. In the second case there are buyers at 30% of securitization. Although I guess that point was obvious to Tom.

But they all piled in to keep things solvent, and the money from the feds came through the first two. There was plenty of TARP before TARP.

Tommy can you hear me?

When the government can launder $2 trillion through AIG counterparty OCDs, the select few that own 70% of them tend to get better in a hurry. Besides the dollar getting diced, be prepared for round 2 or the real estate crash over the next 6-9 months. The housing numbers have been inflated through foreclosure blocks getting swapped, and a disproportionate amount of sales are to $8,000 tax credit users. Commercial is about to get jacked in certain areas. If you are sitting on a few spare dollars and want to own a strip mall, nursing home, or office building...keep your eyes open. Also, let me explain mark to market.........mark to market was the torch the government always used as a standard to chase the boogey-men broker-dealers around. In order to "protect" the common investor from bad securities, and prevent institutions from becoming overleveraged, they force you to value the asset at "prevailing" market prices. Now the government would make cutsie little rules like....if a security didn't trade for a certain period of time, it was worthless. Or if a security traded at par but was rated below investment grade, it was worthless. This meant that the value of holding these securities was transfered as a liability to the institution. My personal favorite.....and why I am no longer part of the "system", is a time where we purchased a block of bonds for say $10,000. They were paying interest well and above market rate and were not rated. We sold the bonds to clients for $13,000. The bonds eventually paid out at $20,000 and clients earned above market interest the whole time. Sounds good to me...right? Buy a bond...hold it a few years with a great rate and then cash in for twice you cash? Well, the government didn't think it was great. We knew these bonds were fine but since they were nonrated they were worth crap in the government's eyes. This cost us to hold the bonds. We sold them to select clients as a treat. Problem is.....we were only allowed to make 5% commission. Now that might make sense when you are trading treasuries or operating a mutual fund...but not when you take the risk of buying something for 50% market value. Long story short......we go private to get the government off our back. Not for losing anyone any money, but for doubling their investment. NOW!!!.......since the shoe is on the other foot and all the pretty places that the government needs to support are holding REAL trash.....they lift mark to market. What people need to understand is that it is just a game. All this does is allow Goldman and JP Morgan to run up oil again and for these same places to chase the prices of banks up high enough to issue huge secondary offerings. This is all smoke and mirrors. It is almost over with though. You are seeing a revolution slowly taking place. In the marketplace through interest rate dislocation....and VERY soon in the metals pits. Not to mention a few million patriots waiting on the sidelines if the bad guys manage to somehow squeak control of the country. Enjoy. PS.....anyone have a 1985 Bronco I can give you $1500 for so I can trade it in and pocket $4500??? Another government masterpiece. Wait until crime rates in the inner cities fly because their cars suddenly have value and get stolen left and right.

The Minute Rice Offense Takes one minute to cook the D. Plus....our entire O-Line is white. And before you say Langston Walker...he's probably the whitest of all.

What do they put in the food?

Loganberry I never went there, but I love watching all the old timers talk about it. They light up. Probably because they were going at it like jackrabbits back then. I do own a Crystal Beach waffle iron.

I'll vouch for the neighbors. Nice little development. By far the coolest home I have ever been in. Thirteen bathrooms. Back in his prime, helicopters would hang out and stalk him like he was Paris Hilton.

I do understand that Drury is not an angel. I think Briere was much more personable and honest when talking to the media. The trade deadline really got to me though. Max broke his wrist on February 15 and the prognosis was he would be out a minnimum of 6 weeks, pushing close to 8 weeks. Regier came out the next week declaring Max would be back for the playoffs. No ifs or maybe. 8 full weeks would have had Max missing 1 or 2 games. Connolly had been gone for almost a full year at that point. You couldn't count on him to get out of bed the next day let alone declare him fit for the playoffs. It was a huge Red Flag to me for Darcy to speak in these terms. I understand the auditing process with the NHL, but there were legitimate reasons to believe both players wouldn't make it back in time. Either Regier is the worst poker player in the world, or there were alterior motives to him saying that. It wasn't until the captains walked that it looked obvious he was protecting himself from critics such as myself. By saying Max and Connolly would be back during the regular season, there was now no way he could make a splash at the deadline. He neutered himself. I have to assume giving up a Paille and a pick for Gary Roberts, or Stafford and Sekera for Guerin was too rich for his blood because he knew he needed those players going forward. They knew that '07 was as good of a chance they would get to win the Cup, and they went in on cruise control instead of punching the accelerator. To me, this was the biggest slap in the face of all. If you are going to break up with the supermodel the next morning, don't just drop her off at the door with a peck on the cheek.

I believe you. I said in a thread a while back that the cops have had it with Lynch. He keeps going downtown and creating a hassle. To hear that this happened is not a surprise. If he wasn't arrested, it is only a matter of time. He almost started a gang riot from what I was told. This was a few months back.

Thanks Lori It was nothing against John. At the time I was steamed at how the fans were being treated like 5 year olds, much like Donahoe did as well. It is unique to have the source here himself to reflect on that period of time. My theory is that the fans know what the deal is now. If they chose to support the franchise, so be it. It pains me as a fan to not take the best shot possible and then be told otherwise by management. Also an interesting date is on the horizon. Larry Quinn's ownership in the team becomes vested at 1 year and he would only be taxed at 15% on any sale of the team. If Tommy G had paid him a $10 million bonus instead, he gets taxed at 40%. Can you say....Golden Parachute?????

Thanks John Like I said, nothing against you or the AP. It is much easier to defend yourself against one person though instead of having an open communication policy. It is just a unique opportunity to be able to ask you questions. I appreciate the response. 3 questions I would love to ask the front office would be: 1) As the trading deadline approached during the '06-'07 season, Darcy Regier did something quite out of character. He openly stated that Tim Connolly and Max Afinogenov would both be back in the lineup by the end of the regular season. Now, this struck me as very odd for Regier. Darcy isn't one to definitively tell you simple things, let alone that a player who had missed the entire season to date with a head injury and was not near ready to return...would in fact be on the ice during the regular season. Max had just broken his wrist, and the timeframe of his recovery possibly extended into week 2 of the playoffs. How was Dr. Regier so sure of these prognosi? I feel that Regier was going on record so that the Sabres would not be able to make a substantial trade at the deadline. If he had kept quiet, which is the prudent thing to do in this situation, the Sabres could have added around $5 million in salary over the cap for their playoff run. If Connolly and Afinogenov did not return in the regular season, their salaries would not count against the cap. They would then be free to return in the playoffs as there is no playoff salary cap. With the likes of Gary Roberts, Ryan Smyth and Bill Guerin to be had for reasonable deals, why would a team that was one of the favorites to win the Cup pass up a chance to solidify their troops? My guess would be that they knew full well they wouldn't be keeping their veteran players the next year and would need live bodies like Paille, Stafford, etc. to fill the roster. Fill the roster cheaply at that. Max did return for 3 games, but looked to have come back too fast as he was scratched in the playoffs and stuck to the bench at times. Connolly played a whopping 2 games that season. 2) Larry Quinn was here when Pat LaFontaine was traded away. At the time, Quinn stated that the team was not comfortable with a player that had multiple head injuries. One of the most talented and classiest players in NHL history was unceremoniously dumped for a draft pick. Fast forward to 2006. Tim Connolly is coming off of multiple head injuries where he had missed an entire season. Quinn signs Connolly to a head scratching contract that would end up paying him $90,000 per game played. Fast forward to 2009. After missing yet almost another full season with a head injury to go with countless others, Connolly gets a 50% raise. Why would Quinn go against his own policy 180 degrees in Connolly's case? I don't know. I do know however that Quinn boasted in the media earlier in the decade the fact that he was classmates and friends at Canisius High School with Connolly's father. 3) During the Drury negotiations when the two sides had seemed to agree on a 4 year $22 million deal early in the season that faitful night in Boston, the Sabres ended up waiting 2 weeks to present a formal contract. Over those 2 weeks, the Sabres pulled away from the pack and Drury went on a scoring binge. To go along with the delay, Darcy Regier has gone on record during the Vanek negotiations that the agents of the players know well ahead of time of free agency what their demands will be and where they will most likely be slotted in terms of salary. By waiting 2 weeks and expecting Drury to accept the same deal, the Sabres were using every possible leverage. Drury risked injury by going out on the ice without an extension. Drury risked poor play from both himself and the team. Most importantly Drury made it clear to the Sabres what price he was willing to accept, and the Sabres sat on that information for 2 weeks. In that time the front office could have been doing a multitude of things such as shopping Drury to other teams with the fact that he could be resigned at that pricetag. They could have been contacting other player agents in order to get an idea of where other potential free agents expected to be compensated......and as explained to us by Darcy, this would be known well ahead of time by "The Market" that we hear so much about. And as it worked out, if the team continued to excel and Drury did well, then they can present him with the contract. Is there any wonder Drury was turned off to the point that he wouldn't come back at any price by the end of the ordeal? That was pure dirty pool on the Sabres' part, and the PR hatchet job they did on Drury in the offseason was a disgrace in my opinion. These are just questions that I would have liked to ask. I had to draw my own conclusions.....longwinded as you may see! Thanks again for your replies.

Thanks for the insight. I am sure on a personal basis Quinn can be just fine. I was talking in regards to being a custodian of the franchise. Just like most other places, his #1 goal is to make money and not worry about accountability. The fact that fans keep ponying up for a mediocre product only goes to prove him right....so I give him credit for that. At the time they would not return any calls from the Buffalo News. Golisano only talked to CBC after getting flack for running a fluff piece with Robitaille on their own network. It seemed as if Quinn would almost use the AP as a PR press release when he wanted to respond to issues they were getting heat for, but didn't want to get pounded by questions. I am sure you were doing what you could, but I don't forgive Quinn for his actions.