…brrrraaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAp!.. scratch, scratch. Hoicht–ptuuu. snort. Hhhhhhhooicht-pptUUU!! Aaah. That’s better.
OK. Subject: The run up in the price of gold, what’s with that? Gold has no real value except a market price and we topped 1340.00/oz. today. I understand it’s supposed to be a hedge commodity, so what does this sky high price mean? I’ve got more to say but I’ve been called to dinner. Can’t disappoint the wife… 
Churro,
Sure, I follow the gold news because I end up dealing gold in the form of jewelry. Still, I keep trying to understand how gold is really a hedge. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that there is a complete world-wide economic collapse. What does having gold do for me? I can’t eat it, or wear it, or keep myself warm with it, and I’m at the mercy of whatever someone is willing to exchange for it. Seems to me, that in a doomsday scenario, what I need is a couple dozen cases of tuna fish, a rototiller, and a pile of garden seed. With that, I can produce real wealth and have something truly valuable to trade. How much is gold worth when you have nothing to eat?
If this were 1950 with limited interconnection of financial markets, I’d agree. But if anything is obvious, the latest downturn affected every financial market in the world. There are no isolated financial markets. If someone burps, coughs, or farts in any place in the world, everyone is affected. I doubt that we would ever see a complete meltdown. I’ll save that for the doom and gloomers and the people who want to see the second coming in their lifetimes, But what was impossible a few decades ago is now a possible scenario. We watched as the so-called experts showed us that they had no idea what to do with the current mess, and because there are no clear and simple causes, there are no policies in place to prevent it happening again. Will gold retain the confidence of people in general? Hard to say. There are just too many scenarios where gold could easily become as worthless as tits on bacon…
New subject:
Art and Aesthetics
What is the most beautiful thing to you, if anything.
I mean, is there anything that you just feel awestruck by and generally expect others to feel awestruck by as well?
And do you think knowledge about a thing generally takes away from it’s beauty or adds to it?
For example, I find the vastness of space and the beauty of the world to be downright devine… I seriously mistrust anyone who can honestly look at pictures taken by the hubble telescope and not feel anything, and I find knowing what little I do know about physics and cosmology enhances the beauty of those images.
I have never seen a work of art that I found more captivating than the night sky.
Please hand in your man-card.
I don’t know, guys. I’ve always thought there’s something decidedly girly about team sports… :-"
I don’t think the technology exists yet for us to work something out Miss Jpeg.
Okay. Man Topic:
My dad had it better than me.
Let’s see. My Dad did not have to do the washing up. My Dad’s clothes mysteriously ironed themselves. Whenever he set foot in the dining room, food appeared on the table. Reasonably hot, reasonably tasty. He had two children, who both came home from the maternity hospital, and strangely looked after themselves until it was time for them to leave home and find jobs of their own. At which point they asked him for some money periodically to help them on their way. Shops existed, as did supermarkets. He knew that because it was written so on the outside. How they worked, or indeed, what they were for, remained a mystery to him for many, many years.
Six-packs were just how the beer came. Razors were only for facial use. Aftershave was 100% alcohol, and hurt like fuck. As it should. Hair came and went wherever it liked, whenever it liked. These were good times to be hair. There were no homosexuals. It was okay to call people with different coloured skins funny names. In fact there were comedians on the telly who did, and it was really funny. You could tell, because everyone was laughing. It was absolutely de-rigguer to swear loudly at any woman who dared set one high-heeled foot inside a car. Though actually, de-rigguer wasn’t even a word when my dad was younger.
Women often had cleavages in public. And legs. There were hardly any fat bastards around. And if there were, it was completely okay to say “hey fatso, buy me a drink.” There were many places to park wherever you went. Houses only cost a couple of thousand pounds. Those houses were large, had big gardens front and back, with driveways and separate garages. And stairs. Showers were new-fangled, and one bath a week was totally cool. Graphitti hadn’t been invented. And teenagers weren’t a bunch of fucking headcases. You could build extensions and decorate loftspaces without having to brown-nose every civil servant in the world. There were only four channels on the telly, and one of them was always football. There were no TV remote problems, because there were no remotes. Adverts were few, and far between. Telephone numbers were easy to remember, because there were only 5 digits. No-one had emotional needs.
Going to the restaurant was easy, because they all served pie and chips. Clothes were easy, because whatever you wore, you looked just fine. You didn’t need to learn about computers. Or buy the latest mobile phone. Popstars were all nice, sang pretty nice songs, about nice things. You didn’t have to worry about death or the afterlife, because God took care of those details for you, as long as you bunged him 50p every sunday when the collection plate came round. It was totally okay to smoke. Anywhere. Anytime. Smoking was good for you, like vitamins. Vegetables in your diet were optional. As was fruit. In fact, no-one knew what you were talking about, if you used the word diet. You could hit your kids, in fact you could hit anybody’s kids, if they pissed you off. Or find a policeman to hit them for you. Kids = hitting. There were no pedophiles.
There were transvestites, but they were safely on the telly, and were absolutely hilarious.
My Dad had it better.
This thread is jokes 
I’ve always been one-of-da-guys ya know - can I hang here too?
Nope. We’ve seen your pic. You are definitely an attractive female. We’ll have enough trouble concentrating on man stuff as it is. No girls in the locker room!
Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno 
Perhaps I can score ‘man points’ with this joke:
Wife says to husband “If you cycle to work we can save money by getting rid of the 2nd car”
Husband says to wife “If you take it up the arse and let me come all over your face we can get rid of the nanny” - am I in? 
I believe women have been designated thier own thread.
You’ll love it - it comes with its own private kitchen area. And if you ask real nice, we might also give you a carpet to hoover.
But only if your good.
Back to man talk:
Does anyone know if its true that gay dudes talk funny because they’ve taken it up the arse and that affects thier voice?
premiere.com/Feature/8-Life- … m-Predator
Here’s a horrific sports injury:
Goddam, mags. You are asking for it. ANITA! Notice my restraint in the face of terrible temptation. This ought to score a few points for the man council. So now the question is: Do we pull the lever and flush ourselves down into pure trash talk or can we pretend to be better than we are and actually come up with a rational reasonable discussion? Being alternately a child and an ancient, I can go either way, but can we show a little class or just be the predictable collection of macho shitheads?
Lol Churro… yes I have a laptop, but it is on the desk in my lounge not in my kitchen 
I’m a great cook though
I’m sure you’d look hot with a hoover in your hand, a frilly apron, and not much else 
Btw, I’m always good BM
Y’see guys. Always the same.
Did any men try and get into the girl club…?
Er… No.
But men start a club - Post a “No women allowed” sticker on the door, and what happens…?
Go away women. We like you, we even love some of you, just not here.
I’m married, therefore I’m immune to cute. I’m not immune to money, but the two seldom come together. Unlike me and the wife. Sorry, too much information.