Comments by FONDL (page 23)

David, Asians didn't become wealthy by choosing to live below their means, most of them have little means to start with because wage rates are so low. They have the world's greatest income disparity - the rich are fabously wealthy while everyone else is poor. And the rich got that way by investing in manufacturing at home and exporting, mainly to the US (most European countries restrict their imports especially from Asia.) They have a huge economic advantage over western manufacturers not only because of extremely low wages but also because of the total lack of environmental regulations in the countries in which they operate. Now they're investing their money surpluses throughout the world - mainly expanding manufacturing in third world countries, buying real estate in the US. I'm convinced that Asia will dominate the world in the next century if not before, largely because their governments support manufacturing while ours does not, and manufacturing is the key to wealth and power.

David, the real estate speculative bubble was strictly residential, primarily at the higher end of the single-family housing market; foreign ownership is primarily commercial, there hasn't been any speculative bubble there in nearly 20 years. The easy credit was created by the Fed in response to the weak economy that appeared during the last 2 years of the Clinton administration. Asians did play a role, but it was primarily due to their exports to the US which have kept inflation low, which in turn allowed the Fed to lower long-term interest rates to near historic lows.

Am I the only one here who thinks that the sad stories and whining about the "weak economy" have been going on in SDs for many years? Seems to me that's been a part of standard SS fare for as long as I can remember. Maybe the economy will fall in 2008 but it sure didn't in 2007, in fact third quarter growth (which was when we were last discussing this) was well above average.

Sounds like my definition of "nice" is a little different. To me being nice means that you're polite and considerate of the feelings of others. Until someone gives you reason to treat them otherwise, then you just ignore them. It doesn't mean that you allow people to walk all over you. Nice people use passive-aggressive rather than aggressive behavior when dealing with those who aren't nice. Nice people can also be strong people. In fact IMO the truly nice people always are - they know who they are and are comfortable with it. They don't need to be annoying or bullying to draw attention to themselves. They have no need to impress others because they have a lot of self-confidence, which bad boys lack.

In a lot of areas housing was overvalued because there were so many people rolling them over - buying them with no intention of living in them, but to resell them immediatly at an even higher price. When that kind of speculation becomes widespread, the bubble is bound to burst. So the decline in value isn't real because the values weren't real to start with. In my area housing rpices have declined, especially at the high end, but they're still well above where they were 5 years ago. The only people who have lost any value are those who overpaid to start with or those who bought more house than they could afford with a variable rate mortgage and now can't roll it over because they don't earn enough. If you look at house prices over a long period of time (eg. 20 years or so), they increase on average at 8-10 percent a year (in nominal terms), with considerable regional variation. But that increase isn't in a straight line, it's more like the stock market with significant ups and downs. It's always been like that and probably always will be because it's so interest rate sensitive. People who buy at a cyclical peak are always going to get burned. In the short term it's a zero sum game, because they guy who sells the house at possilby a loss is contributing to the future gain of the guy who is buying it.

Bones, suggest you make reservations at a nice hotel that's hosting a party and get a room for the night since you'll both be drinking heavily and don't want to get in trouble. That would be the thoughtful thing to do. Bring massage oil.

I'd put Tampa first and Probably Providence second. Key West would also make the list, although chances of getting snowed in there aren't too high. But I guess that's true of Tampa too. I once got snowed in in Chicago and was stuck in a hotel half a block from the Playboy Club back in it's heyday. Guess where I spent the 3 days. Probably the best business trip I ever had.

I too like to be called by my name. I've been told tht I look a lot younger than I am (which is true) and that I'm not like other customers, which I take either as a compliment or as SS depending on the circumstances.

I think ones and tens both get discounted by a lot of readers - they figure either the guy works for the club or works for a rival. So it may have been more effective for you to give it a 3 or 4. Incidently, I believe founder only counts ratings from each reviewer once (at least within a certain time period) when computing his averages, so the other guy could give it a whole string of tens and it would only get counted once if they were close together in time. I forget exactly how he does it (he's explained it here before) but it's something like that.

Bones, that's cheating. They're only resolutions if you intend to make some effort to do them. As yoda (not our Yoda) said, "There is not try, there is only do and not do." A resolution is something that you'll do. Which is why I don't make any.

"Why do strippers feel so free to inform all and sundry of how 'bad off' they had it?" I think a lot of them grew up in homes where the adults spent most of their time whining about how bad they had it. It's become habitual and they think everyone does it. It's a way to avoid taking responsibility for their own lives - they blame society instead.

Put me down for (4) also. I've only been on it once in the past 5 years and that was sort of by accident recently when another web site sent me there. I didn't know it still existed, even though I used to write reviews for it long before I learned of TUSCL. If I were still travelling regularly I'd probably use it because, as someone else pointed out, they have reviews of clubs that are rarely (or never) reviewed here.

And don't forget to have a Lappy New Year.

The fact that they get naked and pretend to be attracted to all kinds of slobs is probably what makes them "strikingly, excitingly, or mysteriously different or unusual" since most women wouldn't do that. If garbage men can be considered sanitation engineers, I guess girls wandering around naked selling lappers can be called exotic dancers.

I don't make resolutions. I do usually list some objectives but that's not quite the same. Here's on thing I've been doing for awhile - on my first visit to the gym each new year (usually on the 2nd) I weigh myself and write it down on my calendar. I'm down about 4 pounds from the beginning of the year, which will be the first year I've lost weight in about 10 years. That requires a little explanation - as I've said here before, 10 or so years ago I went through a major depression - among other things I lost my appetite dropped over 30 pounds, which was more than I needed to lose. And I've been inching up ever since, but I'm still about 10 pounds below my peak weight before my depression. But I'm also a little heavier than I want to be. So if I can lose another 5 pounds this year I'll be just about right. That's one of my objectives.

I got furious with a regular once - she had been sitting with me for awhile and we had done some dancees but weren't finished when it was her turn to go onstage. She came back and said that a customer had asked her for a dance and would I mind if she did a dance for him, saying she'd be right back. An hour later she was still sitting and talking with him so I got up and left. She wasn't my regular for very long after that.

Wondergrl, some customers like to spend time with many different dancers, others like me prefer to get to know one girl really well and spend all our time with her. And when we find one we really like, we will keep going back to see her again and again, developing a relationship that may eventually extend beyond the club. Each of those relationships are likely to be different, some may involve sex, some may be limited to conversation and flirting. We often refer to such a relationship as being club buddies - more than just a typical customer-dancer relationship but not quite a true friendship. And if we have one special girl like that who we have liked the best, we will call her our ATF. I've known my ATF for over 10 years and we've become close friends. I'd tell you more but everyone here is tired of hearing me talk about her (LOL).

"But most women DO perceive that niceness equates to wussiness." That's not just true for women, a lot of men (mainly the jerks) think that too. I've often used that to my advantage, it can be very useful to have people underestimate you. Bottom line, people who consider niceness to be a fault aren't worth my time. I have no interest in them, men or women.

Chandler, I knew it was only a matter of time before you began disagreeing with everything I say again, you've been much too nice to me lately. What I can't figure out is why you feel compelled to do that every so often. I'm not playing that game anymore, it's become very tiring.

Chandler, when referring to any word as a word as I did, it's always proper English to put it in quotation marks. As I'm sure you know. The assholes and jerks (which is probably redundant) are the weaklings and cowards in our society. It takes courage to be a nice guy. The jerks are too dumb to recognize that.

"Nice guy" and "wus" are not synonymous. You can be a nice guy and still be willing to stand up for the things you believe in. Being a nice guy just means that you're polite about it, that you abide by the traditional concepts of civillity.

ATF means exactly what it says - of all the dancers you've ever met she's the one you liked the best. The why is irrelevant, we'll all have different reasons because we all like different things. And there can only be one ATF, you can have several faves but only one ATF.

Bobbyl, that's not what everyone is looking for. Different people go to clubs for different reasons. My ATF achieved that status because she treated me exactly the way I wanted to be treated and never stopped doing so. She still does and I've known her over 10 years.

Large, that surprises me. I've always been told that the Wheel had the best looking and friendliest dancers in MD. I've been a regular at both Showcase and McDoogals and like both places. Showcase had very attractive and friendly girls but was overpriced IMO. McDoogals was very friendly but very unever dancer looks, and the dances are overpriced. I stopped going because neither place is open during the day. I've also been a regular at Gentlemens Gold Club, which is WAY too expensive and dancer quality is uneven (although Kimberly is the most perfect dancer I've ever seen - a pefect 10 in every respect. If you haven't met her by all means do so - they list work schedules on their web site.) My favorite MD club used to be Choo-Choo's - friendly atmosphere, inexpensive dances, some attractive girls (and some not.) That's where my ATF worked. When she left I did too.

Yoda, I was all set to agree with you but first I decided to check the facts. So I reread all the threads that she started and discovered that the overwhelming majority of posts on her threads were positive, from people trying to help her. Only a couple people gave her a hard time, and those were mostly people who aren't regular posters here. I could be wrong because I have a couple people (actually the same person under different aliases) on ignore. But he insults everyone. So I think you're over-reacting. Go back and re-read her threads and I think you'll agree.