Patrick it was fun for about a day, now it is getting tedious.Blanquito wrote:I must say, this thread has been my favorite in a long while (however doubtful that Ian and Mark would agree)...
Trust me I was not looking to pick a fight with our esteemed Australian expat, I was merely challenging the notion that just because a right banker has never won WOTY we should award it to one this year. I tried to do it in as civil a fashion as possible, by emphasising that right banks should not be seen as a poor relation to left banks. A rational and reasonable person would have countered with a civilised and well reasoned argument for a particular 08 right bank. It would have been a polite and dignified discussion.
Unfortunately just because I challenged his reasoning he took it as a personal attack. I am not a psychologist so I don’t know what this condition is called. Perhaps I could name it delusional paranoia syndrome (DPS), or something like that. Only after several incoherent diatribes and personal insults did he articulate the case for the 08 right banks. If he had done so in the first place we would not have had this back and forth.
I blame Arthur for goading our little aussie battler and for inflaming the situation...
You know me Patrick I don’t suffer fools gladly and I am not going to stand idly by and take that kind of bile from someone who is clearly mentally unbalanced. Yes and we have seen this movie before from another visitor you tried to present all of his opinions – or more accurately the opinions of the entity he was representing – as fact or gospel.
Yesterday he posted twice, merely repeating himself the second time...if anything the second (longer) post was even more incoherent and confused than the first. I mean what is the bloody point???
The notion that the middle class has fallen progressively behind is of course not new news. As if I was unaware of it given what I do for a living. It has been reflected in primary data sources for a very long time, for example earlier editions of the survey of consumer finances. In fact income and wealth distribution more so than ever has an important bearing on macroeconomic outcomes, but that is for a separate discussion. So when some armchair amateur voyeur picks this up in the Economist magazine – which by the way is good for reporting news but is often analytically weak – as if this is a completely new revelation – and then spouts the crap that middle class Americans should top themselves on an American board it is naive, offensive and unacceptable. And it was good to see a bon fide academic take him to task for it on a previous thread.
When I used to spar with Tom – we are best mates now – at least I knew I was sparring with someone with a strong intellect. This time it is getting very tedious because I know I will wake up to the same rehashed bile and vitriol. It reminds me of the Black Knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail. You can chop all the limbs off but the torso on the ground will still be spitting poison at you.
Maybe another Monty Python sketch is appropriate for our well travelled and well schooled ex-pat. Anne Elk, who was dealt with more ruthlessly than the Black Knight.
P.S. You can substitute the bits about the Brontosaurus for the notion that the middle classes have been squeezed.
On the other hand, perhaps because I used to drink a lot of new world oak monsters, I don't seem to be as bothered as you and some others by the amount of oak being used in Bdx these days. Maybe there's a drinking strategy here. Drink a few Henry's Drive or Torbreck shirazes, and you'll appreciate the lighter touch on even an 04 Lascombes!