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What Silicon Valley’s Orgy Of Christmas Party Excess Says About America

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Do you remember the first website you ever visited?

I do. It was Yahoo!

The year was 1995. Toy Story was the #1 movie in the world. The Oklahoma City bombings claimed the lives of 168 people. War and genocide raged in the ongoing Balkan conflict.

America Online and Prodigy, both early Internet pioneers, offered the public access to the “information superhighway” for the first time.

And a couple of engineers from Stanford University formally incorporated their new ‘search engine’ and brought it online as Yahoo.

It was mesmerizing. The site was a treasure trove of information with vast lists of other websites pertaining to every category under the sun.

And the search feature could help you find exactly what you were looking for. It was amazing.

The first time I used it I remember feeling like I had been transported into the future.

Yahoo quickly became one of the kings of Silicon Valley, drawing in more visitors than any other website in the world.

The following year they went public at a price of $13 per share. Investors loved the company and were convinced it would go to the moon.

And it did. For a time. Yahoo’s stock price peaked at $118 on January 3, 2000, marking almost to the day the top of the dot-com bubble.

Fast forward nearly 16 years and the company is a shell of its former self.

Its stock is down more than 70% from its all-time high, and the price hasn’t gone anywhere for more than two years.

More importantly, Yahoo isn’t making money.

The company has posted several consecutive quarters of negative operating income. Revenue is declining. Its traffic rank has fallen.

They’ve had to lay off thousands of brilliant engineers they can no longer afford to retain.

Plus they’ve made tons of bonehead acquisitions, squandering billions of dollars on investments that have produced nothing for the company.

One would think that a company in such obvious decline would demonstrate a modicum of frugality.

Think again. Yahoo’s annual Christmas party this year was a Roaring 20s / Great Gatsby theme, complete with champagne towers and a vintage Rolls Royce.

 

The party itself, right down to the theme, was a symbol of waste, indulgence, and excess; it reported costly between $7 and $10 million to stage.

I mean, the only thing more excessive would have been a Caligula remake.

I have to imagine stakeholders are wondering: what are these people thinking?

The good old days are long gone. This is no longer a company that can afford such largess. And everyone seems to realize it… except Yahoo.

*  *  *

Frankly I find this the perfect metaphor for the United States of America.

Despite political candidates saying that “America’s best days are ahead of us,” the United States peaked a long time ago.

US debt is higher than it’s ever been, and the government still loses money every year.

Even in their most wildly optimistic projections, they have no expectation of a budget surplus. Ever.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the national debt, both nominally and as a percentage of GDP, will continue to increase.

You’d think they would recognize such an obvious fiscal reality.

But no. They keep spending, oblivious to the fact that they can no longer afford the largess. These guys are partying like it’s 1929.

Like Yahoo, the US used to be king of the hill. But now it’s in clear decline.

Government finances are a total mess. The middle class has been vanquished and no longer comprises the majority of the population anymore.

The monetary and regulatory systems encourage debt and consumption, instead of savings and production.

Political power is derived from fear and intimidation. And the government rules with an ethos that debt, money printing, and more bureaucracy will make the country prosperous and strong.

When it comes time to spend money, there’s no frugality. No agency left behind.

And after they ink the legislation that will spend a record $4 trillion of taxpayer money on war, debt, and unsustainable entitlement programs, they slap each other on the back for a job well done.

If you step back and look at the big picture, it’s obvious that this ‘party like it’s 1929’ mentality is not consequence free.

No one (least of all Yahoo!) would have predicted back in 1998 that they would soon become an irrelevant has-been. Yet it happened nevertheless.

History shows us that nations too rise and fall– gradually, then suddenly.

It’s not like there’s some cataclysm that’s going to cause the ground to open up and swallow America tomorrow morning. This isn’t that kind of emergency.

Plus governments and central bankers have an astonishing ability to kick the can down the road just a little while longer.

But no one can stop the tidal wave of consequences that grows with every terrible decision they make.

Whether people like it or not, whether they choose to acknowledge it or not, this decline is a long, slow grind that’s already in progress.

Maybe it takes 3 years to play out. Maybe it takes 30. No one can say for sure where the bifurcation point is that tips stability into chaos.

But to simply buy into the official propaganda and make a conscious decision to ignore such obvious data is completely foolish.

Rational people have a Plan B.

And it’s hard to imagine you’ll be worse off for taking sensible steps to protect yourself against the consequences of one of the biggest trends in history.

 

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Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:34 | 6957916 skinwalker
skinwalker's picture

The only parties worth attending are the illegal ones. 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:41 | 6957941 Bastiat
Bastiat's picture

Impression management: trying to prevent a death spiral of employee exits.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:53 | 6957979 0b1knob
0b1knob's picture

" the only thing more excessive would have been a Caligula remake."

A Caligula remake starring Marissa Mayer?

 

https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/marissa-mayer.png?w=640

I'd buy a ticket for that.

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:07 | 6958031 tenpanhandle
tenpanhandle's picture

I've already blown through plan "B" and am into plan "C".

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:15 | 6958062 Say What Again
Say What Again's picture

I want to see the pictures of Marissa Mayer. 

Can she top this one? http://www.vogue.com/865211/hail-to-the-chief-yahoos-marissa-mayer/

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:46 | 6958156 Stainless Steel Rat
Stainless Steel Rat's picture

Yahoo needs to acquire another broadcast.com.  Then junk it again, and make another billionaire in the process.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 21:17 | 6958642 eatthebanksters
eatthebanksters's picture

Maybe Marissa wanted to through a legendar and memorable going away party?

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:47 | 6958157 Life of Illusion
Life of Illusion's picture

 

the WELL was first not an IVY league startup

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WELL

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:36 | 6957924 Deus Irate
Deus Irate's picture

And to think of all the idiots buying Apple crap, thinking they are stickin it to the man! Talk about mental retardation...

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:36 | 6957925 stant
stant's picture

Pics of hookers and blow or it didn't happen

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:41 | 6957942 Clowns on Acid
Clowns on Acid's picture

Yahoo is partying cause they know they will get bought out by a consortium led by Oprah and Warren Buffet. Its just the dying of the light.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 20:05 | 6958426 dag
dag's picture

Alibaba acquires Yahoo for a mix of cash and stock.
Specifically, 0.39 Alibaba shares and $7.25 in cash per Yahoo share.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:43 | 6957949 Rainman
Rainman's picture

' You know, I've been around the ruling class all my life, and I've been quite aware of their total contempt for the people of the country.'
 

                            Gore Vidal , 2009 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:43 | 6957950 BigDuke6
BigDuke6's picture

Lucky America - the good times are back.

The crisis was manufactured by your Jewish masters and you now are reaping the benefits...as can be seen here.

All those ladies soon to have their legs in the air and men drunk as skunks.

You should be grateful to your masters instead of complaining - losing a few trillion dollars and a few troops in the defense if isreal is a small price to pay for all this loot.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:46 | 6957958 i_call_you_my_base
i_call_you_my_base's picture

I always resented spending like that at places I've worked. My view was always, "just give me a fuckin' raise and let me stay home."

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 20:20 | 6958480 Nero_Hedge
Nero_Hedge's picture

SERIOUSLY though! I don't give a fuck about holidays, birthdays, none of that shit! For every liter of soda and cupcakes my office buys for that shit, all I see is money out of my paycheck, not to mention a disgustingly serious sugar and carb addiction among my coworkers...

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:49 | 6957965 asierguti
asierguti's picture

I have few friends who work in Silicon Valley, and I'm shocked by what they told me.

 

In Silicon Valley there are around 3 or 4 new startups every single day. That would be good, if it's not because most of these startups are vaporware. Their only goal is to attract a couple of rounds of investment from private equity groups and venture capital firms. In fact, I've heard about people who worked for a big tech company, they leave the company to start up a new company, and a year later this company is bought by his former employer, the guy becomes millionaire and gets back to his previous job, but with a much higher salary.

 

Many fresh graduates ask for at least 70k or 80k as their first salary, while they basically know almost nothing about IT, programming, etc. Why do they need to know, when they are hired anyway?

 

And if we look into companies' balance sheets, it's even worse. Most of them are just burning cash with negative cash flow. They don't care, since they can always issue new shares, and sell them to venture capitallist, who will buy them with both hands. Why buy a company with negative cash flow? Well, because they think they can see it even hire. Where have I see this before? Ah, yes, it's called a ponzi scheme. Fascinatingly, this happened just 15 years ago, and people don't even remember about it.

 

This is a must see by Peter Schiff.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUhOxS-F-Zk

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:57 | 6957996 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

At my small business job in the SV electronics industry, making real, tangible things, I've worked on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as if it was a regular-'ol day. Tend to go home early cuz it would be sadistic otherwise, but we still show up and get shit done.

Sometimes when customers are over for all-day meetings, the bossman orders pizza and I chow on a couple of slices.

TANSTAAFL, mvthrfvckers.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:57 | 6957994 Hohum
Hohum's picture

The waste, at least, provided a wage for a few people.  What would these folks do without it?

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 17:57 | 6957997 ali-ali-al-qomfri
ali-ali-al-qomfri's picture

it's all about kickin' the can,

Mexi can

Afri can

Ameri can

Puerto Ri can

Can uckss

...

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:01 | 6957999 V for ...
V for ...'s picture

Talmud shit, insolvent banksters, Temple and Tel Aviv pet  of the Ratcihild City of London freaks Silicon Valley hate Christmas, hate muslims, hate Hindu, Sikhs, Buddhists, all the world.

Same ol same ol.

Most of all, they hate Christians, and the Constitution. I know we are dying but I am not afraid.

Speak truth to power.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 19:21 | 6958271 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Most of all the peoples, the Zionist hates the different denominations of Xtianity and the Anglo-Saxons.

I used to think the Protocols of Zion were a joke; I used to think Albert Pike's ravings were a joke, but you can see it happening right before your eyes today...

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:04 | 6958005 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

Simon Black mentioned OK City bombing. 

Original Inside Job to prepare Public (Sheeple) for 9/11

  "Says Partin: "Based on my experience in weapons development and bomb damage analysis, and on my review of all evidence available, I can say, with a high level of confidence, that the damage pattern on the reinforced concrete superstructure could not possibly have been attained from a single truck bomb without supplementing demolition charge.

"The total incompatibility of this pattern of destruction with a single truck bomb lies in the simple, incontrovertible fact that some of the columns collapsed that should not have collapsed if the damage was caused solely by a truck bomb, and some of the columns were left standing that should have collapsed if the damage had been caused by the truck bomb."

fertilizer bomb 'nonsense' says expert general ben partin
Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:06 | 6958026 V for ...
V for ...'s picture

OK Computer ;-)

OK Computer. You know what I'm saying in a good way.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:22 | 6958086 22winmag
22winmag's picture

The word on the street is it was an oxidized nitromethane device in the truck which did some, but certainly not all of the damage.

 

There are more memory-hole facts and reporting events surrounding OKC than you can shake a stick at.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 19:18 | 6958252 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Very plausible since we now know how far .politburo will go to get what they want. The same crew probably pulled off Waco, too.

Eric 'Hold-em' was the Point Man in Waco for the Lesbo General, too.

I can't find the book right now, but there is a tome out about Gladio and how the Dulles CIA intentionally bombed Italian citizens to ward off a communist party victory in Italy. Makes sense they would have no reserve about doing it in the CONUS, too.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 20:04 | 6958423 Consuelo
Consuelo's picture

And none of that stuff was admitted into court - even on expert witness.

Remember also, as in Waco, how fast the government executed McVeigh and saw to mow the place down to below dirt level and then some.   Out of sight, out of mind, move on...    Reminds me, what other nation is expert at that tactic...?

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:01 | 6958011 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

I would not put myself in the physical center of the party if I had crashed the company....but I do not have a horribly inflated ego...OK it is puffed up a bit but .....I still would not sit at a piano roped off from the common folk knowing that they knew I had killed their livelihood.

Some people just lack insight into the way they are viewed by the world....the Donald comes to mind....(hey I'd volte for him over Sillary but he does lack a certain introspective quality).

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:05 | 6958023 22winmag
22winmag's picture

You can put lipstick on a dead cat's lips and it's still a dead cat.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:06 | 6958025 Manipuflation
Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:09 | 6958036 V for ...
V for ...'s picture

Fuck off.

Good children are with their friends, their work, their family. Any others are part of the freak zionist nazi George Schwarz 'color revolution.' Insolvent bankster cannon fodder.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 19:03 | 6958206 Manipuflation
Manipuflation's picture

Then Susan Gaertner shows up in the story as Council for MOA.  That Wiki is incomplete and has been edited.  Allow me to fill in a few blanks for you.  Gaertner is married to John Wodele.   Most of you won't know who that is but he was Grubernor Ventura's Advisor in 1998.  Gaerntner and Wodele had a sexual affair even though they were both married to other persons.  The whole sordid affair started over a the 1982 murder of a woman by the name of Kathleen Greening.  At that time, Susan Gaertner was the asssitant Ramsey county attorney.  In 1985 things changed when WCCO decided to investigate and were promptly sued for libel.

Numerous incidents occurred with Gaertner's name attached to it that included everything from missappropiation of funds, jury rigging and dimissal of actionable offenses.  Let's fast forward.  Wodele became advisor to Jesse Ventura which resulted in ethics and legal questions.   https://casetext.com/case/savior-v-gaertner .

A lot of this info is hard to find unless you know what you are looking for or you have it yourself.  My guess is that Gaertner, Wodele are behind what has been going on here with black lives matter.  Why not a create a problem and act as though as you are the saviour on the other side?    You folks get the idea.  Your city is probably no different.  I do not know the names in many other cities but I saw Gaertner's name and I knew it was rotten.

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:09 | 6958035 Platinum
Platinum's picture

Marrisa Mayer knows that she's taken care of, regardless of what happens to everyone else at Yahoo. Most of the government elites are the same way. Both groups can afford not to care. I will be glad to (hopefully) no longer have to see her when she's ousted. Clueless with a broken phone laugh. Another useless, although highly-touted, female CEO. I bet she's going to get into politics next.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:15 | 6958050 V for ...
V for ...'s picture

She is a a jew bitch, thinking the goy serve her, as per her Talmud. Check it out: the Talmud which says non jews are donkeys and cows to be used.

Oddly enough, some not all American jews are thieving lying AshkeNAZI; converted to judaism, and they are not semites, but they aree true to their own insane delusions.

There is a family of honest jews, christians who made the USA. Are we angry with the current turn of events?

Yes. Angry, bur more than that, we are ready.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 21:07 | 6958613 jcdenton
jcdenton's picture

Should Marrisa et al be concerned in the next few months?

 

 

?$$$ GLOBAL RESET HAS BEEN TRIGGERED, THE PROCESS BEGUN, THE VOICE FINALLY WARNS... THE EVENTS HAVE BEGUN, AND THE USFED RATE HIKE MIGHT HAVE BEEN PART OF THE GLOBAL DECISION. $$$ 

  

The Voice gives an urgent warning that finally the breakdown is accelerating, the damage profound, the effects unmistakable, the plug pulled. The officials have not undertaken any remedy for several years. His message is clear and stark, the first time such a communication has been given to the Jackass and colleagues. It was given just a few days before the USFed rate hike decision was made. "Guys, the plug has been pulled. Let the show begin. Our organization has been alerted accordingly to that effect this morning at 4am, that the deed is done. The battle trigger code has been chosen. It will get incredibly ugly, as real casualties will result. The annihilation of entire groups of people within the corrupt and criminal systems will be unimaginable to normal humanoids. These systems will be totally dismembered and crushed, never to be resurrected. The cabal is being caught in a grand dragnet, with the outcome certain to be their extermination, along with all their agents and collaborators. The effects of this event driven scenario will become visible to the ordinary people in early 2016 and forward. Once the dust settles, it is clear to me that the human population will be noticeably lower, with fewer people roaming this planet." The Voice is referring to the Satanist Bank Cabal groups. We mere mortals hope that reason prevails, that remedy is agreed upon, that transition is orderly, so that a billion people do not needlessly perish. But the Anglo-Americans have their favorite nuclear and virus toys. We have seen ample evidence of their chemical plant explosions as a warm-up to main events.

 

-- The Global Money War Report December 2015 by Dr. Jim Willie

 

 

?$$$ VOICE ON GOLD AND THE TREMENDOUS PARADIGM SHIFT... THE GLOBAL RESET IS AN EVENT DRIVEN SCENARIO FOR WHICH THE FUSE HAS ALREADY BEEN LIT... THE BANKER CABAL ARE ON THE RUN, SOON TO BE EXPOSED IN A MASSIVE DISPLAY BY THE SPOTLIGHT HELD BY THE PRESS NETWORKS... THE GOLD PRICE WILL MOVE MULTIPLES HIGHER. $$$ 


The Voice offered a summary of the upcoming events, in a general sense. The following are his thoughts, my minor edits. The fuse had been lit on the Global RESET event. Only a very few know how the fuse is timed. Russia and China are well prepared for the system meltdown, since they have contingency plans in place. There will be an event driven scenario triggered by the meltdown which will be default install the new financial systems. This is a grand chess game the West does not really understand. Look how cleverly China has de-industrialized the United States, while buying up its commercial property assets in a big way. Absolutely mind bending how that was planned and executed. Most of today's supposedly expert analysis is not even worth reading any longer. It is like a dog chasing its own tail.  

  

Western governments and the Middle East sheiks have already lost control. Some lost control is also happening in Latin America and even in the United States. In Canada, with its new government, they did cut the corner just before the country was about to go over the cliff. The real decisions concerning Canada are being made in China and soon in Russia. Little known is how Russia sits atop China in the global food chain. In the end we could see the Alaska land lease deal being undone and Alaska reverting back to Russia. The USGovt will find itself in debt default, without any power at the table. Claims will be made in rapid fire against the Americans, who have alienated both friend and foe. The US is so royally screwed, that most people in the shattered nation, whether in government, in industry, in think tanks, or in households, do not have the slightest idea how bad it is going to get.  

  

Furthermore, the narco cartels in Latin America will all be exterminated by the Chinese and Russian once the US influence and involvement has been eliminated. The balance of power will shift, leaving entire groups and nations vulnerable. The US West Coast Latino gangs, 45 thousand men strong in Los Angeles alone and armed to their teeth, are well aware that they will be wiped out by the Chinese if they make a wrong move. The TRIAD barbarians are at the gate, as in the Chinese Mafia. The world will grow a lot more violent and insecure in the coming months as events unfold, while international travel will decline significantly. People will stay close to home, due to terror attacks everywhere. The electronically dominated world we live in today will be unhinged and all the unnecessary, personality and privacy invading technologies will be altered to serve people and no longer patronize them. Scientific studies, which for a long time have been suppressed, known to be critical to the sprawling powerful banker cabal, will be published soon.

 

 

The Western press will lose control, even as the banker cabal loses control. The released news stories will be filled with documents and high level professionally detailed reports that describe the dangers to economies, financial systems, and society due to the cabal hands. The bankers will be unmasked and revealed for what they are, a group dedicated to destruction, subjugation, fraud, power, and privilege. Some say that beach balls are being pushed under water, the pressure and force soon to reverse to bring surprising and often pleasure outcomes. While that might be true, it is worse. The banker cabal are finding their own balls are hanging already in boiling water. As for the Gold price, it will take care of itself, finding price levels multiples higher as the system implodes and the cabal power over financial markets erodes quickly. These COMEX screen prices are totally irrelevant, and a waste of time to follow. It is all an illusion for the sheep, who have followed the script by selling their gold. Only the smart and nimble and gifted will survive this global torrential storm, those who hang on, do not lose heart, and endure to see the return of Gold to its apex position.

-- Gold Investment Report December 2015 by Dr. Jim Willie

 

To reiterate ..

 

along with all their agents and collaborators.

 

So do you think Marrisa et al will be beneficiaries of the the coming restored constitutional dollar?

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/07/30/the-coming-return-of-the-real-us...

I say they only pray for a jail sentence rather than be decapitated ..

 

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/05/11/the-intel-cowboys/

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/12/20/very-very-bad-things/

 

https://app.box.com/s/hfgvcqg7gqh7i27at6sv53ywu87lwarp (Read Me First)

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:14 | 6958057 azusgm
azusgm's picture

Would much prefer to spend the time with family. A party like that is more irritation that celebration. Actually, such affairs leave me feeling hollow and depressed.

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:18 | 6958074 V for ...
V for ...'s picture

Hannukah, Christmas...we dance at the darkest time of year.We have friends in many lands.

I intensely dislike the modern career politicians and their insolvent banks.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 18:17 | 6958067 Farmer Joe in B...
Farmer Joe in Brooklyn's picture

I was living in SF in 1999 and saw the excesses then....and also how it all ended...

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 19:16 | 6958242 ThrowAwayYourTV
ThrowAwayYourTV's picture

None of this shit means a damn thing to me. They can take that Rolls Royce and shove it up their ass cause all I see is a useless pile of tin shit that needs to go to the scrap pile.

These people look like they having a good time but I can truely see right thru them. They are chasing ghost and thin air and will always be in debt as long as they think that they are living the good life surrounded by piles of junk and fake plastic people.

I personally am probably the happiest person on this planet. I live a very simple life in a simple home and absolutely no toys at all, although I can afford jst about anyone. My secret to happiness spend most of my waking hours outdoors with the dogs on some trail. Live simple, breath fresh clean air, drink natural unbleached water and eat healthy.

Those people are wasting their time doing stupid shit like partying for nothing.

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 23:20 | 6959045 DipshitMiddleCl...
DipshitMiddleClassWhiteKid's picture

yup...and mentally slaving away, punching out code for uselss apps no one will ever use 

 

and chasing 'status' aka getting more degrees, more debt and more repsonsibilites aat a doing nothing job like being a programmer @ a tech start up

 

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 20:12 | 6958454 thebigunit
thebigunit's picture

Really?

I personally am probably the happiest person on this planet. I live a very simple life in a simple home and absolutely no toys at all, although I can afford jst about anyone. My secret to happiness spend most of my waking hours outdoors with the dogs on some trail. Live simple, breath fresh clean air, drink natural unbleached water and eat healthy.

If you're so damn happy, why did you ignore your dogs and point your nose at a damn video screen and tap out a message to the entire internet to sneer at us for not being more like you?

You don't behave like a happy camper.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 20:26 | 6958496 Able Ape
Able Ape's picture

BUNCH OF YAHOOS....

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 20:38 | 6958539 JR
JR's picture

A Yahoo $8 million bacchanal in the face of no profits is an orgy of anti-capitalists; a false security brought on by the nascent socialist state created by Fed bailouts of Wall Street and America’s bloated government class at the expense of America’s private sector middle class.

It won’t last.

It reminds one of the disparities in the waning days of Stalin’s dictatorship. A case in point is outlined in Khlevniuk’s new biography of Stalin:

Stalin’s security apparatus, the Main Guard Directorate, protected both Stalin and other top level Soviet officials. It also maintained their apartments and dachas.

“In early 1952 it comprised 14,300 people and an enormous budget of 672 million rubles.

"In 1951, approximately 80 million rubles of the directorate’s budget went toward maintaining the dachas and apartments of the 14 highest Soviet leaders. Stalin, of course, was the most expensive of the fourteen.  A total of 26.3 million rubles were spent on his apartment and dacha in 1951.”

Here’s the “Yahoo-like” disparity:

“In 1951 the average compensation for members of Stalin’s security team (including uniforms, housing, etc.) was 5,300 rubles per month, at a time when the average monthly wage throughout the Soviet Union was 660 rubles and the average per capita income for collective farm workers was approximately 90 rubles per month.”

Stalin’s reign brought on chaos, death and ruin. Is it any wonder that the working man always has preferred free enterprise over socialism and $8 million orgies?

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 21:33 | 6958686 Goldilocks
Goldilocks's picture

Merry

Saturnalia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the deity Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves.[1] The poet Catullus called it "the best of days."[2]

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 22:06 | 6958815 brooklinite8
brooklinite8's picture

Oh well won't be the last time we see this stuff. We have seen it 1999, 2006 and we will see it again. Some one said every human learns only after the fact. If we all read the history and learnt from it, we would n't have ZH. Dumb fucks though who would have a christmas party with the reporters hanging out on the podium.

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 23:22 | 6959051 DipshitMiddleCl...
DipshitMiddleClassWhiteKid's picture

time to buy long dated Outa the money puts

 

 

Wed, 12/23/2015 - 23:46 | 6959120 Barrack Chavez
Barrack Chavez's picture

Yahoo has to keep the software engineers happy, otherwise the stock is worth zero. Even the critics of Yahoo know it.

If Mayer leaves (or is pushed), there are a dozen other CEOs waiting to collect million dollar bonuses. Easy to replace.

If the software folks leave, the board / new CEO cannot pretend things are going to turn around.

Simple as that.

Absurd was the idea of paying a CEO for a job before she (or he) actually did the job. This is the second time Yahoo brought in a high priced CEO, paid the new CEO as though a turn around was a sure thing, and then cut pay for everyone else.

Asking the staff to make sacrifices the CEO wouldn't make is why Yahoo failed (again). Its why a lot of companies are in trouble.

An oil sheik in Qatar just spent $450 million on a new private 767. Obama just spent $1.5 billion for the next Air Force One (officially, its $3 billion for two planes). How many US taxpayers are getting a new plane this year? :)

Thu, 12/24/2015 - 09:10 | 6959768 Thick Willy
Thick Willy's picture

How dare you say America's best days are behind us?!  Those women in the picture that run America's corporate giants like Yahoo are true geniuses and titans of industry!  America's childless feminist Asian and Latino women in California will lead America to ever greater heights of wealth!

Women were oppressed for too long by evil white male patriarchs.  Now is the time of the new American woman!  She will show the world what she has to offer!

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