PRC has lots of money + owns lots of equity in Chinese companies + has fiat regulatory powers in the future world's biggest consumer market. Blackstone has lots of expertise in turning money into money + connections in the Western business world. A marriage made in Adam Smith's wet dreams.

Remember a large amount of capital (corporations, equities, etc.) are owned by the PRC. PRC gets Blackstone expertise (and IRR) in Western market deals, BX gets free reign in LBOs/M&A of PRC-owned enterprises and non-interference in the Chinese economy.....what's Mandarin for Hart-Scott-Rodino?

Bottom line: buy and hold BX on pull-backs 'til the day you die....or load up on BX shares during the next recession.....or take the sum of each year's personal savings and buy BX on every November 1 (the worst months in the stock market tend to be Aug to Oct) 'til the day you die. Then sit back and enjoy life as a member of the capital class, while you enjoy the fruits of the sweat equity of the labor class.

It's bad enough that the Republicans are letting anarchy reign throughout the executive branch. The continued lack of oversight by the Congressional Democrats (even as the majority) is laughable, but for resulting deaths from their continued lack of oversight.

Where were the Democratic senators questioning Petraeus on the contractors (which even back then was a serious and known issue)?

Wow, lack of rest impairs biological functions. Who wudda thunk it?

Sincerely,

Graduate of two fancy-pants smug universities who finally appreciated in his late-20s that knowledge does not equal wisdom.

****Explorer Hyrbid Supply Problems

I thought I had heard that the Explorer Hybrid is experiencing significant supply problems. Does anyone know to what extent the disparity in sales between it and the Prius can be attributed to supply?****

Yes there is a severe supply problem for the Explorer hybrid....it doesn't exist. You may be thinking of the Escape hybrid....but reviews of that car are mixed. Supposedly the Escape hybrid suffers from poor A/C performance in the summer.

is also very, very energy intensive.

ideally nuclear power plants would be built to supply the electricity to extract/"crack"/refine the shale and tar sands.

however given nuclear powers near universal disdain, even though in reality it's the greenest commercially viable energy source, don't count on shale oil/tar sands to bring down the price of oil

Seat-neighbors who are height-weight proportionate.

Maybe the one upside of high food prices is that people will be motivated to lose weight!

to reply:

******This is probably the most un-pc comment I'll ever make on here...

But it is quite clear that many (not all) "minorities" employed by the TSA now have their dream job: they get decent salaries, government benefits and most importantly the opportunity to yell at and harass caucasian business travelers for hours at a time w/o any fear of repercussion.

I fly out of Atlanta and Newark frequently, a lot of these "officers" are complete thugs, the badges and the new signs Smith mentions are only going to make them worse.******

The white people at TSA checkpoints are just as dumb.

redistricting....Obama helping on the down ballot would help usher in a permanent progressive majority.

thank you GWB, at least one good thing may come out of your smoldering legacy.

so has a journalist interviewed the residents of that home to verify that they are obama supporters? or did an ironic Obama supporter sneak that sign on the lawn?

I'd assume that "joe the resident" didn't come out disavowing that sign, it must be true.

and to sound elitist, a lot of people who fly the confederate flag just "don't get it" that the stars 'n bars might as well be the swastika to many people.

in 2012, assuming an Obama win tomorrow, the Palins of the GOP will eat up the Jindals of the GOP during primary season.

1. unlocked flight deck doors; and

2. a mentality that any hijacking would be like that TWA/Mideast hijacking in 1984 in which the hijacked plane would fly around as a political statement.

A bigger concern is as the article stated, bombings, shoot-downs and shoot-outs.

As much as Peggy Noonan is one of the more likable conservatives, she has a bad case of cognitive dissonance going on.

birth control (eg, the pill) is expensive. condoms are a cheaper substitute. imho, it's not safer-sex per se, just the substitution effect.

the answer, unfortunately, is....

just suck it up. grin and bear it.

Progressive Attorney ("PA") can't "debate" this guy. Wing-nut may have other partners who share his political view but don't do so in a public manner.

By raising confronting Wing-Nut, PA may ruin his/her "office capital".

So basically, grew some ovaries/testicles, bite your tongue!

@huxley.

This liberal wimp begs you to please fuck off back to your hole. Unless you've worked at a law firm....if so, then please pontificate all you want.

Have a pleasant day :)