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Economy: Turns out, we really ARE screwed!

Joined
6 November 2006
Messages
3,359
Location
Austin, TX
I hate to say this.. I've been an optimist for quite some time.. and then my 401k took a dump 30%... but we may be totally screwed.


Holy S****.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/11/...-up-on-ammunition-canned-goods-for-recession/
http://guerrillanews.com/headlines/..._Revolution_Food_Riots_Tax_Rebellions_By_2012
http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article17752
http://www.elpasotimes.com/living/ci_10986996

Gerald Celente, the man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash, the fall of the Soviet Union, the Asian currency crisis, and the more recent stock market turmoil, has made a chilling prediction this week: food/tax riots and revolution in the next four years. Moreover, he also stated that the United States would become the world’s first “underdeveloped” nation by 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46MEqEgdLTg



Feel free to calm me down...


Questions:
-Should I be buying gold..? It's high - but if this is true, it's going to go higher!?
 
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What bar was that interview at? I'm thirsty!

...and a link so you can sleep at night. :)
http://blogs.computerworld.com/fox_news_obama_gloom

That's the best argument against him that can be producted?

Who cares that his prediction of embracing latin culture may have been too optimistic.

Painting this as "right wing doom and gloom" ignores the more times than not that this person has been right, especially about predictions for pessimisim.

Ron Paul has painted recent dire warnings and he has been know to have been right about a number of things as well.
 
whats a tax riot?

i cant post any more for fear of not wanting to be banned: Now that the US elections are over we are taking a break from political discussion in Off Topic. Please do not reply to any old political threads or start new ones until this notice is removed. When this notice is gone and political discussion is allowed again, be sure to observe the "tread lightly on politics and religion" rule for this forum; any heavily partisan posts will be removed.
 
Bull & Bear Bar at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
 
Start living in the now. Pretending you can predict what life will be like in 2012 is fool's folly.

Here's a retort from http://louminatti.blogspot.com/:

Gerald Celente is full of crap

Gerald Celente is getting a lot of press lately. He's predicting doom and gloom and is very popular with the 9/11 truther dirtbags. So how's his guessing ability? For that we have the handy-dandy Wayback Machine. Browsing through old versions of his website:

April 2001: He bragged about guessing the Dot Com crash. In November 2000, not a word about it.
January 2005: First mention of the real estate bubble. March 2004: The Economist published an article about the global real estate bubble.
2003: US to lose Iraq war.
2005: Dollar to go down. Great prediction, the Dollar had been declining steadily for the previous three years.
June 2008: Gerald Celente failed to see that oil was in a bubble and implied that Bush was about to attack Iran over oil. (January 1, 2008: Lou Minatti predicted that oil would end the year at $50. I am still waiting to hear back from Lauren Steffy. Mine's the first comment, Lauren. See the date?)
Gerald Celente's best talent is his ability to self-promote. But his accuracy doesn't look any more exceptional than someone making predictions by reading tea leaves. And I'm not the only one to notice this. His predictions consist of nothing more than reading news stories and deducing the painfully obvious.
 
That's the best argument against him that can be producted?

Who cares that his prediction of embracing latin culture may have been too optimistic.

Painting this as "right wing doom and gloom" ignores the more times than not that this person has been right, especially about predictions for pessimisim.

Ron Paul has painted recent dire warnings and he has been know to have been right about a number of things as well.

??? Go dig a bomb shelter then. :rolleyes:
 
Funny thing about trends is they don't continue forever. Guys like this are a much better prediction we have found bottom. For example - everyone was predicting we would have $6-7 / gallon gas by the holidays.

I think you are better off living your life in a way consistent with your values and the teaching your parents and 1000 generations have handed down to you.

There are always people trying to pump you full of fear so they can control you or have you give away your rights.

We have enough real problems without inventing new ones so while I defend this persons right to frighten the masses (for at a minimum - attention to himself) I also couldn't agree less.
 
When trying to call a top or a bottom in a stock's price, you are wrong every single time but once.

This nation has been pushing forward for a while now, trying to call the top is a loser's game.

We must be getting close to the bottom.
 
I agree with the OP.

I see all of these different things happening... the economy, the markets, social unrest, unemployment skyrocketing...

And I gotta believe its going to culminate into something truly scary and horrible before it starts to get any better.

People won't stand in bread lines like they did in the 30's. They are going to take to the streets with guns.

We are already starting to see inklings of the different pieces start to fall into place...

Wait for the market to hit 5k. Unemployment to hit 20%. Society is gonna FREAK.

Here in quaint little Omaha robberies are already up 20% in the past 3 months, shootings are up 11%, and there is a purse snatching everyday.

Lord knows whats gonna happen in larger metropolises when it gets truly bad.
 
Indian Leaders to call for new world order
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sudeshna_Sen_World_Eco_Summit/articleshow/3720725.cms

French President Nicholas Sarkozy calling for "global monetary system"
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/537435

CNN calling for a new world order
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/14/news/economy/g20_powerplay/?postversion=2008111409

Japan to call and take lead on a "New Financial Order"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jXkLTZV-ufMLwWxY85qmdJgH4EgA

Filipino groups to call for new world order on g20 summit
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/133561/Groups-to-call-for-new-world-order-during-G-20-summit

Qatar: Islam to emerge as the new world order
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Di...November2008&file=Local_News2008111554010.xml

Chinese President Hu Jintao calls for "new international financial order"
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/17/content_7208992.htm

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Demands New World Financial Order
http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID={E8FB090C-2F52-4FC7-BAA7-56C36F76B9A0}&language=EN

Bussiness Daily Africa "Time for a new world order"
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11043&Itemid=5854

Australia: We need a new world health order
http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20081117-We-need-a-new-world-order-post-G20.html

China People’s Daily: A New World Financial Order
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/steelman6.html

United Kingdom: Gordon Brown calls for new world order
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...ls-for-new-world-order-to-beat-recession.html

Japan's Prime Minister: "New Financial Order Will Emerge From Crisis"
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=b1be3bfb-c624-4bd8-86db-23671cd15bb7

Brazil, Russia, India and China are unifying to demand a big role in negotiations to create a new global financial order.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/08/business/LT-Meltdown-Emerging-Economies.php
 
Indian Leaders to call for new world order
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sudeshna_Sen_World_Eco_Summit/articleshow/3720725.cms

French President Nicholas Sarkozy calling for "global monetary system"
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/537435

CNN calling for a new world order
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/14/news/economy/g20_powerplay/?postversion=2008111409

Japan to call and take lead on a "New Financial Order"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jXkLTZV-ufMLwWxY85qmdJgH4EgA

Filipino groups to call for new world order on g20 summit
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/133561/Groups-to-call-for-new-world-order-during-G-20-summit

Qatar: Islam to emerge as the new world order
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Di...November2008&file=Local_News2008111554010.xml

Chinese President Hu Jintao calls for "new international financial order"
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/17/content_7208992.htm

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Demands New World Financial Order
http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID={E8FB090C-2F52-4FC7-BAA7-56C36F76B9A0}&language=EN

Bussiness Daily Africa "Time for a new world order"
http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11043&Itemid=5854

Australia: We need a new world health order
http://www.crikey.com.au/Politics/20081117-We-need-a-new-world-order-post-G20.html

China People’s Daily: A New World Financial Order
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig9/steelman6.html

United Kingdom: Gordon Brown calls for new world order
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...ls-for-new-world-order-to-beat-recession.html

Japan's Prime Minister: "New Financial Order Will Emerge From Crisis"
http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=b1be3bfb-c624-4bd8-86db-23671cd15bb7

Brazil, Russia, India and China are unifying to demand a big role in negotiations to create a new global financial order.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/11/08/business/LT-Meltdown-Emerging-Economies.php



Yikes.....
 
an now to completely hijack the thread......

Meh, the sky is falling blah blah blah. I never liked paying taxes anyway.


I just read that the word "MEH" is going into the dictionary!

'Meh': Apathetic expression enters dictionary

At least someone is excited about "meh."

The expression of indifference or boredom has gained a place in the Collins English Dictionary after generating a surprising amount of enthusiasm among lexicographers.

Publisher HarperCollins announced Monday the word had been chosen from terms suggested by the public for inclusion in the dictionary's 30th anniversary edition, to be published next year.

The origins of "meh" are murky, but the term grew in popularity after being used in a 2001 episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer suggests a day trip to his children Bart and Lisa.

"They both just reply 'meh' and keep watching TV," said Cormac McKeown, head of content at Collins Dictionaries.

The dictionary defines "meh" as an expression of indifference or boredom, or an adjective meaning mediocre or boring. Examples given by the dictionary include "the Canadian election was so meh."

The dictionary's compilers said the word originated in North America, spread through the Internet and was now entering British spoken English.

"This is a new interjection from the U.S. that seems to have inveigled its way into common speech over here," McKeown said. "Internet forums and e-mail are playing a big part in formalizing the spellings of vocal interjections like these. A couple of other examples would be 'hmm' and 'heh.'

"Meh" was selected by Collins after it asked people to submit words they use in conversation that are not in the dictionary. Other suggestions included jargonaut, a fan of jargon; frenemy, an enemy disguised as a friend; and huggles, a hybrid of hugs and snuggles.

Unhijacked!!!!

IT IS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT....
 
Naw, it’s not so bad, you guys only have to raise the taxes a little, or a lot. Then the government will have more money to hand out and keep people calm. If things are clam then you don’t need a bunker.

Here (Europe in general), taxes are about 80% (if you add everything up) and we still do pretty well. Look at some of the cool cars we produce. And great roads for driving them on. With no police on those roads.

Sure, we don’t have a couple of cars, boats, or other toys, no three or four car garages, but the toys we do have, we can really use.

We have little violent crime, don’t need guns, we have very good education, no poor people, good hospitals for everybody, etc.


To do all this, you need to raise your taxes to our level.

Start with sales tax is about 20% (generally). And it is on work done and goods delivered. So any work done is also taxed. Imagine that.

Take importation into the EU, they add 10% import tax, THEN tax that new total with sales tax. They tax the tax! THAT’S what I call creative tax levying, you guys are amateurs compared to that.

Take income tax:
People’s income is halved (so if your employer pays 5000 a month for having you, you get 2500 of that and the government gets 2500.

Then you have to pay about 40% of your 2500 in income tax. Which is 40% if you are on a low income, maybe 60% or higher if you make more that 2500 per month, generally speaking.

If you want to buy a house, and involve a bank, then you pay a large tax for the paperwork (sometimes up to 25% of the value of the house, (again generally, it differs in different EU countries).
And you pay the bank huge amount for the service and also an expensive insurance (for the bank) too.

You don’t have a job, ok, you get about 80% of your previous wages in unemployment. That money is taxed though. At 20-40%. Right. But it keeps you from falling into crime.

If you want a driving licence? You have to pay more than a couple thousand.

When you buy something in the store, it’s like double as expensive because of add-up of all those taxes. Even Chinese goods.

You want high quality made-in-the-EC goods? They are 4 times as expensive for us as similar made-in-USA goods are for you.

Gas is, what, 4 times what you pay?

Cars are, what, almost 2x what you pay? With no cruise control, A/C, electric seats, and tinted windows etc.


Still we are happy and less messed up than Americans.

You guys have a looooong way to go before there is rioting in the streets and the end of the world.

You could look at all that is happening as a good thing. Things may only get better.

Who knows, maybe, one day, you will reach the same level of civilization as we liberal Europeans. :smile:
 
We are in the USA. We are not a bunch of socialistic wimps. The goal of the EU is to try to bring the US down to their level.

We don't want socialism here. The US is the most efficient economy on the planet. We also have a much lower unemployment rate than the EU.:biggrin:

In the US, we want the government to stay out of our back pocket, we don't expect the government to provide for us cradle to grave.:mad:

We want to provide for our families, as we see fit. If other losers don't do that, then they can go to the EU with the rest of the socialists.

The government is a black hole that confiscates wealth. It doees nothing better than the private sector.

As you stated, in the US we do own more than 1 car, we do have more fun than people in the EU. :biggrin: We have friends that live in Paris France, and they are moving to the US. They were stunned to learn that we pay approximately 50% between sales tax, income tax and FICA.

The EU is jealous, and a joke.:eek::biggrin:
 
you recite that very well :rolleyes: :smile:
 
Naw, it’s not so bad, you guys only have to raise the taxes a little, or a lot. Then the government will have more money to hand out and keep people calm. If things are clam then you don’t need a bunker.

Here (Europe in general), taxes are about 80% (if you add everything up) and we still do pretty well. Look at some of the cool cars we produce. And great roads for driving them on. With no police on those roads.

Sure, we don’t have a couple of cars, boats, or other toys, no three or four car garages, but the toys we do have, we can really use.

We have little violent crime, don’t need guns, we have very good education, no poor people, good hospitals for everybody, etc.


To do all this, you need to raise your taxes to our level.

Start with sales tax is about 20% (generally). And it is on work done and goods delivered. So any work done is also taxed. Imagine that.

Take importation into the EU, they add 10% import tax, THEN tax that new total with sales tax. They tax the tax! THAT’S what I call creative tax levying, you guys are amateurs compared to that.

Take income tax:
People’s income is halved (so if your employer pays 5000 a month for having you, you get 2500 of that and the government gets 2500.

Then you have to pay about 40% of your 2500 in income tax. Which is 40% if you are on a low income, maybe 60% or higher if you make more that 2500 per month, generally speaking.

If you want to buy a house, and involve a bank, then you pay a large tax for the paperwork (sometimes up to 25% of the value of the house, (again generally, it differs in different EU countries).
And you pay the bank huge amount for the service and also an expensive insurance (for the bank) too.

You don’t have a job, ok, you get about 80% of your previous wages in unemployment. That money is taxed though. At 20-40%. Right. But it keeps you from falling into crime.

If you want a driving licence? You have to pay more than a couple thousand.

When you buy something in the store, it’s like double as expensive because of add-up of all those taxes. Even Chinese goods.

You want high quality made-in-the-EC goods? They are 4 times as expensive for us as similar made-in-USA goods are for you.

Gas is, what, 4 times what you pay?

Cars are, what, almost 2x what you pay? With no cruise control, A/C, electric seats, and tinted windows etc.


Still we are happy and less messed up than Americans.

You guys have a looooong way to go before there is rioting in the streets and the end of the world.

You could look at all that is happening as a good thing. Things may only get better.

Who knows, maybe, one day, you will reach the same level of civilization as we liberal Europeans. :smile:


This sounds like my definition of HELL!!!
 
Naw, it’s not so bad, you guys only have to raise the taxes a little, or a lot. Then the government will have more money to hand out and keep people calm. If things are clam then you don’t need a bunker.

Here (Europe in general), taxes are about 80% (if you add everything up) and we still do pretty well. Look at some of the cool cars we produce. And great roads for driving them on. With no police on those roads.

Sure, we don’t have a couple of cars, boats, or other toys, no three or four car garages, but the toys we do have, we can really use.

We have little violent crime, don’t need guns, we have very good education, no poor people, good hospitals for everybody, etc.


To do all this, you need to raise your taxes to our level.

Start with sales tax is about 20% (generally). And it is on work done and goods delivered. So any work done is also taxed. Imagine that.

Take importation into the EU, they add 10% import tax, THEN tax that new total with sales tax. They tax the tax! THAT’S what I call creative tax levying, you guys are amateurs compared to that.

Take income tax:
People’s income is halved (so if your employer pays 5000 a month for having you, you get 2500 of that and the government gets 2500.

Then you have to pay about 40% of your 2500 in income tax. Which is 40% if you are on a low income, maybe 60% or higher if you make more that 2500 per month, generally speaking.

If you want to buy a house, and involve a bank, then you pay a large tax for the paperwork (sometimes up to 25% of the value of the house, (again generally, it differs in different EU countries).
And you pay the bank huge amount for the service and also an expensive insurance (for the bank) too.

You don’t have a job, ok, you get about 80% of your previous wages in unemployment. That money is taxed though. At 20-40%. Right. But it keeps you from falling into crime.

If you want a driving licence? You have to pay more than a couple thousand.

When you buy something in the store, it’s like double as expensive because of add-up of all those taxes. Even Chinese goods.

You want high quality made-in-the-EC goods? They are 4 times as expensive for us as similar made-in-USA goods are for you.

Gas is, what, 4 times what you pay?

Cars are, what, almost 2x what you pay? With no cruise control, A/C, electric seats, and tinted windows etc.


Still we are happy and less messed up than Americans.

You guys have a looooong way to go before there is rioting in the streets and the end of the world.

You could look at all that is happening as a good thing. Things may only get better.

Who knows, maybe, one day, you will reach the same level of civilization as we liberal Europeans. :smile:

IMO, it's unsustainable. Capital over the long term is allocated to where it is most efficiently used. Distorting that degrades economic efficiency and increases dead weight loss (everyone loses within the system). Last time I checked Europe has had its share of issues over the past 100 years. Our current issues are caused at least 50% by socialist ideas-the idea everyone "deserves" a home or is "entitled" to a home. That turned out pretty good huh. Talk about "dead weight loss", look at home values AND equity values.
 
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IMO, it's unsustainable. Capital over the long term is allocated to where it is most efficiently used. Distorting that degrades economic efficiency and increases dead weight loss (everyone loses within the system). Last time I checked Europe has had its share of issues over the past 100 years. Our current issues are caused at least 50% by socialist ideas-the idea everyone "deserves" a home or is "entitled" to a home. That turned out pretty good huh. Talk about "dead weight loss", look at home values AND equity values.

I have to disagree here. If anything, we've just proven without any shadow of a doubt what kind of society and lifestyle in unsustainable. A society built on debt will fall. Ours is in the process. Its got nothing to do with socialism and EVERYTHING to do with debt.

We might help ourselves to drop the ego and look to solutions from other countries who have buffered against the economic slowdown elsewhere.

One of the best things about this nation is that we are built on the best ideas of many people and places around the world. It would behoove us not to forget that moving forward as we look for a solution to these problems IMHO.
 
I wasn’t actually promoting our system (that’s an American trait), I was just saying that things are not so bad. You will pull through. There are worse things happening than you have.

I was only saying that taxes can go up a lot more before you have problems. Gas prices (taxes) can go up more too, we pay 4x as much and nobody stops driving here. And we are seeing more of those big SUVs here too. So it’s not so bad.

Most of you who flame the system here are missing the point, lambasting the “socialistic” “hell” system here. You are too blind to see that you have swallowed the American koolaid. It tasted good, but now you have serious hallucinations.

The high tax system here works somewhat because it drives business and entrepreneurial people to be very sharp and careful and gives them (and only them, not the masses) a chance to do something. At the same time keeping the masses happy.

The masses neither have the tax knowledge nor the will to have 3 cars and a boat, but they still have the feeling they are accomplishing something, however small or big.

They just want to have a comfortable life. That is here.
And, make no mistake (don’t let that kookaid blind you) that’s what most American people really want too.

But Americans have been brought up to blindly believe in a dream. But that’s all it is, a dream. That they can be an astronaut or president, whatever, a dream. So when life gets them down and they only have 3 cars and 1 boat, they get frustrated and unhappy.

Here, they have not been brought up to want it all. They generally are happy with what they have. (and they still have quite a lot)

All over the world most of the people are cows and they want to be happy in their comfortable fields being milked. The cows don’t riot, don’t dream about being astronauts, don’t carry guns and are available to work and pay taxes. And don’t day dream about flying.

If the owners of the cows (entrepreneurs) invest a little in keeping the fields comfortable, and are left alone to get on with making money, and there are plenty of rich people here in this “socialistic hell”.
Plenty of Ferraris, Porsches, etc. where the hell do you think they are made, in Detroit?
And what roads and drivers do you think they are made for, American “autobahns”?
Come on.

Life is good here in Europe. It is not a socialistic hell. We don’t blindly flame others’ systems. We try to understand them and see how they do it.

And driving is good, we have freedom from cops and great cars that you don't have. And we have places like the Ring etc.:tongue:

And we try to learn from the last century, and what we have learned is that compromise and understanding and being a little “wimpy” is better than trying to be like some comic book action hero and hitting the concrete because you think you can jump off building and fly.

And we don’t actually call it socialism, we call it ”responsible” and “humane”. Just like “wimpy” is actually “modesty” and “sensible”.

You guys in the States don’t have it so bad, this recession/crash will hurt everybody, but come on, pay the price to keep the cows happy, and there won’t be riots in the streets.
Continue to ignore your “social” responsibilities and the cows could learn to use pitchforks.
Jeez, this thread has really wandered…sorry :rolleyes:
 
I wasn’t actually promoting our system (that’s an American trait), I was just saying that things are not so bad. You will pull through. There are worse things happening than you have.

I was only saying that taxes can go up a lot more before you have problems. Gas prices (taxes) can go up more too, we pay 4x as much and nobody stops driving here. And we are seeing more of those big SUVs here too. So it’s not so bad.

Most of you who flame the system here are missing the point, lambasting the “socialistic” “hell” system here. You are too blind to see that you have swallowed the American koolaid. It tasted good, but now you have serious hallucinations.

The high tax system here works somewhat because it drives business and entrepreneurial people to be very sharp and careful and gives them (and only them, not the masses) a chance to do something. At the same time keeping the masses happy.

The masses neither have the tax knowledge nor the will to have 3 cars and a boat, but they still have the feeling they are accomplishing something, however small or big.

They just want to have a comfortable life. That is here.
And, make no mistake (don’t let that kookaid blind you) that’s what most American people really want too.

But Americans have been brought up to blindly believe in a dream. But that’s all it is, a dream. That they can be an astronaut or president, whatever, a dream. So when life gets them down and they only have 3 cars and 1 boat, they get frustrated and unhappy.

Here, they have not been brought up to want it all. They generally are happy with what they have. (and they still have quite a lot)

All over the world most of the people are cows and they want to be happy in their comfortable fields being milked. The cows don’t riot, don’t dream about being astronauts, don’t carry guns and are available to work and pay taxes. And don’t day dream about flying.

If the owners of the cows (entrepreneurs) invest a little in keeping the fields comfortable, and are left alone to get on with making money, and there are plenty of rich people here in this “socialistic hell”.
Plenty of Ferraris, Porsches, etc. where the hell do you think they are made, in Detroit?
And what roads and drivers do you think they are made for, American “autobahns”?
Come on.

Life is good here in Europe. It is not a socialistic hell. We don’t blindly flame others’ systems. We try to understand them and see how they do it.

And driving is good, we have freedom from cops and great cars that you don't have. And we have places like the Ring etc.:tongue:

And we try to learn from the last century, and what we have learned is that compromise and understanding and being a little “wimpy” is better than trying to be like some comic book action hero and hitting the concrete because you think you can jump off building and fly.

And we don’t actually call it socialism, we call it ”responsible” and “humane”. Just like “wimpy” is actually “modesty” and “sensible”.

You guys in the States don’t have it so bad, this recession/crash will hurt everybody, but come on, pay the price to keep the cows happy, and there won’t be riots in the streets.
Continue to ignore your “social” responsibilities and the cows could learn to use pitchforks.
Jeez, this thread has really wandered…sorry :rolleyes:


The problem here is there are cows and there are Vegans. If the cows were actually producing milk or meat some one could use, it might be a different matter. The cows need to starve a bit in the field before they are going to produce anything of use. The cows here are actually jackals.
 
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