Bits Bucket for November 7, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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This might be a good time for Oklahomans to consider a move to California. I have only experienced one magnitude 5.0+ quake over the course of fifteen largely enjoyable years of California living.
Oklahoma’s seismic activity may not be over, experts say
By Matt Dinger and Tiffany Gibson
Published: November 7, 2011
The 5.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the state Saturday night did not cause significant damage nor have any serious injuries been reported — but the seismic activity may be far from over, scientists said.
The brunt of damage has been reported in Lincoln County, the epicenters of recent quakes, and in adjacent Pottawatomie County.
Minor damage to 12 homes was reported, and a stretch of U.S. 62 buckled in Lincoln County, said authorities. One building on the campus of St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee also was damaged.
After the main shock, there were 12 temblors registering at magnitudes of 3.0 or higher and more than 70 quakes with magnitudes of 1.0 to 2.5, Oklahoma Geological Survey research scientist Amie Gibson said Sunday.
Those quakes — often known as aftershocks — are defined after the fact. A 4.7 magnitude earthquake that hit at 2:12 a.m. Saturday was initially thought to be the main shock until the 5.6 magnitude quake struck later in the day. That defined the earlier event as a foreshock, Gibson said.
“They’re all individual earthquakes. People like to lump them in. It kind of helps people understand the sequence of events,” she said.
While scientists cannot predict earthquakes, Gibson said she would be surprised if they suddenly stopped considering the high amount of seismic activity over the weekend.
“With the pattern we’re looking at, I don’t see it stopping anytime immediately soon. I’d like it to stop, but I don’t see that happening right now,” she said.
“We really hope that the 5.6 was the main shock because I don’t want to see anything like that again, personally. It would be ignorant to assume anything right now, because who would assume that we’d have the two biggest ones in one day?” Gibson said.
…
There was a small quake in Dallas 3 months ago.
California may lose its earthquake crown.
Of course, the building standards in Oklahoma/Texas do not take quakes into account.
“It’s different here.”
All states require consideration of seismic loads for structural design. Granted, the design-considered ground acceleration in is less than that found in many areas of California, but all state building codes being based upon the International Building Code (warning: misnomer like “World Series”) require seismic analysis to be performed.
The seismic detailing requirements will vary based upon soil type, use type, and seismic accelerations; however, it should also be noted that the design wind loads in Oklahoma may be higher than that required in California.
Not to mention that the most common form of home construction (timber frame) not only has extremely redundant load paths; but has excellent energy-absorbing characteristics that translate into a great way to ride out a seismic event assuming all else is equal. And no states (to my knowledge) require a registered professional structural engineer to design a typical single-family house; instead, there are prescriptive requirements in the code that dictate member sizes for given spans and imposed loads.
Disclosure: I am a registered Professional Engineer (structural) in ten jurisdictions, including Oklahoma, but not California.
The soil is a lot different in Oklahoma. It’s not rocky like California, but has a soil that will ripple under a strong quake.
Can’t wait to see how all those concrete slabs under all the houses in Okie-land hold up.
The pastor was right…. get ready for the “rapture”…..
Mormons: A shallow yet helpful guide to see if you should hate them or not
By Pete Kotz
Thursday, Nov 3 2011
Last month, evangelical leaders gathered in D.C. for the Values Voter Summit, where disciples of the Pissed-Off Jesus harrumphed and yammered about how much America sucked. That’s when the bomb ignited.
Dallas megachurch preacher Robert Jeffress was on hand to introduce Rick Perry. He warned that Mormon “cult” members were not only despoiling Broadway, but were actually running for president. “Non-Christians” like Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman had invaded the Republican primary like a bunch of damn Mexicans — and they didn’t even have comparable skill at operating a riding lawn mower.
If patriots didn’t take heed, Jeffress cautioned, America would soon be possessed by heretics.
The nation was shocked. Until that moment, Mormons were considered a mere nuisance, polite yet pesky young men who came to the door when you were trying to watch Supernanny. Or perhaps they were paid spokesmodels for the short-sleeved dress shirt industry. No one was certain.
But Jeffress uncloaked them as enemies of Jesus. They might even be worse than Muslims, who at least offered competitively priced 40-ouncers of Midnight Dragon at their convenience stores.
So we decided to get to the bottom of this menace, providing answers to your most alarmed and misguided questions:
Why do Mormons worship Satan?
…
“values voters”… lmao.
Midnight Dragon? Please, even the bums drink Miller 40s.
That piece is frickin’ hilarious.
NPR did segments w/ the guys that created the Morman musical. They are also behind Southpark.
http://www.npr.org/search/index.php?searchinput=morman+musical
I’m no fan of the LDS, but the Southpark episode that ridiculed them was mean spirited IMO.
Yeah, but didn’t they also do an episode where somebody went to hell and Satan explained to him that the Mormons were right?
The thing about the anti Mormon episode is that they singled out LDS beliefs and ridiculed them. Now I certainly don’t believe that Joseph Smith found the alleged gold plates nor translated them using some kind of seeing stone, but to ridicule that belief was in poor taste IMHO.
I recall something I read in the Scout Handbook decades ago. It basically said that if you make fun of someone else’s beliefs that you are making fun of everyone’s, including your own.
I don’t disagree, but nobody seems to play by those rules any more. That plus I expect Southpark to be “mean spirited”, so I’m not surprised or offended by it. I’m much more surprised by the religious people who I would think would be natural political allies with Mormons but would rather call them Satan worshipers and frantically search for anybody but Romney to vote for.
Is the fact that Joe Smith was a child molester considered disparaging someone elses beliefs?
I get confused because I assume the same people who get fixated on polygamy also think that the old testament prophets who did the same thing were great guys?
dumb dumb DUMB dumb dumb….
Persistent, willful stupidity is ALWAYS grounds for ridicule; regardless of sect.
To be fair, he doesn’t consider Catholics to be Christians either.
Once you’ve found the One True Religion ©, nothing else will do.
Heck, fundies often don’t consider other fundies to be “true Christians”.
But Jeffress uncloaked them as enemies of Jesus. They might even be worse than Muslims, who at least offered competitively priced 40-ouncers of Midnight Dragon at their convenience stores.
But I don’t like Midnight Dragon. Too harsh tasting. Gimme a good deal on a Polygamy Porter case and then we can talk.
A campaign ad that destroys Mitt Romney
By Carter Eskew
The Obama SuperPAC has just released a web ad that should receive an R rating for violence. Watch it if you want a sneak preview of the Obama campaign.
The video, backed so far by a relatively modest web media spend of $100,000, effectively eviscerates Mitt Romney as a Tea Party-loving, right-wing tool of a heartless Wall Street. It starts, oddly, with a series of predictions — from Karl Rove and others — that Obama will lose in 2012. This is presumably to open the mind to the very real possibility that Romney could put the title “president” in front of his name. And once opened, the horrors of a Romney presidency come at you faster than a trailer for another Die Hard movie.
…
Too ironic.
It would be a disaster if we had a friend of Wall Street in the White House, wouldn’t it Mr. President?
+1
romney may even make timothy geithner his treasury secretary or something…or get a CEO of one of the largest corps in the country that pays no taxes to be his top economic advisor.
he may do something like that.
From the opinion piece: “But, I must say, I’m confused about the strategy of blowing up Romney in the middle of the Republican primaries, where he is doing a pretty good job of self-destructing.”
Romney is NOT self-destructing in the primaries, compared to the circular firing squad that is the rest of the R field. Obama’s worst nightmare would be a nominated Romney who picks a wingnut for VP. That’s about the only way that the R ticket could garner the votes of all the R factions and win the general election.
I think Obama camp is trying to convince independents to stay home during the primaries to knock Romney off the ticket altogether.
How does an Independent vote in the Primaries?
In Texas, you are not required to register, you just show up and vote in either party election(but not both).
What if Republicans and Democrats and Independents could vote in any and all Primaries? Why not? A Republican victor is also representing a lot of Democrats.
Wouldn’t that give us more moderate candidates - ones that would be more apt to work with the other party? I mean if a Republican is “forced” to have a Democratic rep would not a moderate one be better for the Republican than a “radical” Democrat? Or vice versa?
Rush tried that approach by having his followers vote for Hillary in ‘08. It didn’t work.
It’s hard enough to get your folks to vote in your own primary.
And why can’t all states allow for same day registering?
It would work for all parties.
But the powers that be are afraid to be outdone.
Obama’s worst nightmare would be a nominated Romney who picks a wingnut for VP. That’s about the only way that the R ticket could garner the votes of all the R factions and win the general election.
I’ll betcha money that he’ll nominate Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Which will lead to widespread rejoicing in the Grand Canyon State.
And you’ll see further rejoicing when McCain hangs it up in 2014.
You’ll see mucho rejoicing over that outside of AZ as well.
Fundies would rejoice. More polygamy for everyone.
If the top 3 blow up: Cain, Perry, Romney….then who?
Gingrich. He’s been slowly but steadily moving up in the polls. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him on the ticket, either #1 or #2. He would wipe the floor with Obama in a debate.
He has too much infidelity baggage for the “values” voters.
I respect his strengths but I don’t see any way that could happen. Nobody wants to have a beer with Newt.
If people are voting on who they want to have a beer with they deserve the garbage politicians they get. Most used car salesmen are probably a blast to have a beer with as well.
I respect his strengths but I don’t see any way that could happen. Nobody wants to have a beer with Newt.
When it comes to beer, I hear that our current President is quite the beer guy. I don’t know if he’s a foreign or domestic, BigBrewer or local brewpub drinker, but he does love himself a brewski now and then.
If people are voting on who they want to have a beer with they deserve the garbage politicians they get.
You know they are…and they do.
“…infidelity baggage…”
What Clinton did was certainly inappropriate, but coercive overtures to fellatio seem much worse.
Not to suggest the Koch brothers will see anything wrong with that…
November 7, 2011 2:10 PM
Sharon Bialek accuses Cain of “sexually inappropriate” behavior
By Corbett B. Daly
Topics Campaign 2012
UPDATED at 4:15 p.m. ET
A Chicago woman accused Herman Cain on Monday of trying to get sexual favors more than a decade ago in exchange for his help finding her a new job just after she had lost her post at an arm of the restaurant association he was then running.
The woman, Sharon Bialek, is the fourth woman who has accused Cain of sexually inappropriate behavior in the late 1990s and the first to go public with her charges. She outlined her story at a high-profile New York City press conference at the Friars Club.
“I want you, Mr. Cain, to come clean,” she said with her attorney, Gloria Allred, at her side. Allred is known for her media savvy and for representing women who have had legal issues with the rich and powerful.
Bialek said Cain put his hand under her skirt and pushed her head toward his crotch after a dinner together in 1997 after she asked to meet him to discuss ways he might be able to help her find employment. She said he backed away after she asked him to stop. Her boyfriend at the time on Monday issued a statement released by Allred confirming that she told him about the incident at the time. Allred did not release the boyfriend’s name.
Bialek does not plan to sell her story or file a lawsuit against the Republican candidate for the White House.
“Just admit what you did. Admit you were inappropriate to people. And then move forward. America is in a horrible turmoil as we all know. We need a leader who can set an example which exemplifies the standards of a good person and moral character. Mr. Cain, I implore you, make this right. So that you and the country can move forward and focus on the real issues at hand,” Bialek said.
…
Gingrich. He’s been slowly but steadily moving up in the polls. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him on the ticket, either #1 or #2. He would wipe the floor with Obama in a debate.
You’re conflating prepackaged think tank talking points with intelligence. If he gets the nomination, you’re going to rethink that statement in a very big way.
How many ways are under-30-folk screwed nowadays?
1. No job prospects.
2. Shrunken pension prospects.
3. Unrepayable, unforgivable student loan debt.
I’d be occupying something, too, if I were they.
US wealth gap between young and old is widest ever
By Hope Yen
Associated Press / November 6, 2011
WASHINGTON—The wealth gap between younger and older Americans has stretched to the widest on record, worsened by a prolonged economic downturn that has wiped out job opportunities for young adults and saddled them with housing and college debt.
The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.
While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.
The analysis reflects the impact of the economic downturn, which has hit young adults particularly hard. More are pursuing college or advanced degrees, taking on debt as they wait for the job market to recover. Others are struggling to pay mortgage costs on homes now worth less than when they were bought in the housing boom.
The report, coming out before the Nov. 23 deadline for a special congressional committee to propose $1.2 trillion in budget cuts over 10 years, casts a spotlight on a government safety net that has buoyed older Americans on Social Security and Medicare amid wider cuts to education and other programs, including cash assistance for poor families.
“It makes us wonder whether the extraordinary amount of resources we spend on retirees and their health care should be at least partially reallocated to those who are hurting worse than them,” said Harry Holzer, a labor economist and public policy professor at Georgetown University who called the magnitude of the wealth gap “striking.”
The median net worth of households headed by someone 65 or older was $170,494. That is 42 percent more than in 1984, when the Census Bureau first began measuring wealth broken down by age. The median net worth for the younger-age households was $3,662, down by 68 percent from a quarter-century ago, according to the analysis by the Pew Research Center.
…
No comment WRT to net worth, but for many of the mid-20 to early-30 somethings in my office, it’s as if another HBB post stated, that the recession is like a war going on somewhere else somewhere far away.
They spend spend spend on car payments and happy hours and going out to lunch, and are all too eager to embrace mortgage albatross debt slavery. BoMaD paid for undergrad and MBA for these kids, so no student loans there.
I expect the job to end for some or all of us a year from now, I’m saving for that possibility, they’re not.
“I expect the job to end for some or all of us a year from now, I’m saving for that possibility, they’re not.”
Here here.
I am constantly living with the belief that at some point, the company I work for will wind down operations well before my retirement years. While my experience should get me a decent job elsewhere, I won’t have the same tenure, profit sharing, etc. in the new job.
So, I’m trying to bank any and all $ above and beyond what my “free agent” salary would likely be. You never know…
I’d be occupying something, too, if I were they.
They should be occupying their local public library or book store. They should be turning off their tee-vees and iPhones and other “weapons of mass distraction” and gaining some long overdue knowledge and perspective. Start by reading the US Constitution, then “The Creature from Jekyl Island” to learn about the Fed’s role in destroying the productive economy. Then they should “occupy” their nearest Ron Paul headquarters to offer their support and signal their rejection of Wall Street’s Republicrat puppet show and desire for REAL change, not what Brand Obama is peddling.
Or they could sit on their a$$es chanting slogans and waving signs and feeding deadbeats and being ignored by TPTB.
“Then they should “occupy” their nearest Ron Paul headquarters to offer their support ”
Let’s face it, RP’s position on Wall Street may be attractive to the youth vote, but much of the rest of his positions are not. Maybe the OWSers are not ready to scrap the EPA and the FDA and let big biz police itself (ha-ha).
Perhaps their lack of support for RP is based on familiarity with his positions, not ignorance.
you’re right.
keep the status quo…it’s working out so well.
romney/obama 2012!
Just trying to ’splain that it might not be ignorance of, but rather knowledge of, RP’s positions that makes him palatable to only a small minority of the voting public.
Check the levels of popular support for Social Security, and then it’s not such a mystery why people aren’t supporting a guy who wants to do away with it. I suspect similar levels of support for keeping the FDA and the EPA.
It’s not always ignorance that makes people not support your hero.
You are probably right…I recollect a conversation I had with someone during the last election. I told them I was a Ron Paul supporter. He exclaimed in apparent disgust “Ron Paul! Do you even know what his position on abortion is?”
I said…”I don’t care what his position on abortion is.”
I said…”I don’t care what his position on abortion is.”
I do. Reason: I don’t want women going back to the dark alleys.
Those people “sitting on their asses chanting slogans” have managed to change the entire nature of the economic discussion on the news and everywhere else from “deficit and budget is the problem” to “why does .01% control 99% of the money and should we fix this?”
I wouldn’t call that ineffective, and it’s not done yet.
And Marie Antoinette didn’t get it either…
those people “sitting on their asses chanting slogans” have managed to change the entire nature of the economic discussion on the news and everywhere else
I’ve read that MSN stories mentioning things like “wealth-inequality” are up like 2,000% since Sept.
No that’s change I can believe in.
11/3/11 Quinnipiac University Poll on support for OWS:
26% of those making less than 30K support OWS
28% of $30K-$50K support OWS
36% of those making $100K+ support OWS
Boston Herald Today (11/7):
“The online poll of 1,005 American adults reveals that 35 percent still have a positive impression of the Occupy movement, but 40 percent now say they have an unfavorable opinion.”
So generally around 30% give or take support OWS.
So much for representing 99% of us.
Interesting that the $100K crowd is most favorable to OWS. The less-than $50K may not too busy schlepping to the night shift to look up what a credit default swap is. They just see the arrests and hippies and homeless showing up for the food.
Where’s the $50K to $100K figure? Those are the ones getting screwed the most, IMO.
So generally around 30% give or take support OWS….So much for representing 99% of us.
“30%” “support” isn’t the important thing. What means something is because of the overreach of the rich and OWS’s complete changing of the debate, we are now close to the high water mark of the crony-capitalist’s public policy class warfare on the poor and middle class. Something like a 9,9,9 tax plan is now just a pipe dream of Koch headed think tanks.
People can still babble Heritage Foundation drivel but they ain’t gonna put this genie back in its bottle.
1005 people, huh? Is that even a statisically significant study size?
CarrieAnn,
1005 is about right for a national poll. Most polls are about that. Some even less.
Rio,
Of course everything is part of the Kocktopus. Yawn.
Believe what you will, fact is 70% of people aren’t buying into the OWS nonsense. And the 30% who are, probably were already there to begin with, ie more taxes, more spending, etc. It’s a nice circus freak show, not much more.
$50-100K is 33% support.
Believe what you will,
I do.
I believe that OWS has changed the narrative and that GEG’s failed Koch funded American Enterprise drivel is going to be viewed much more warily in the future. (Thanks to the OWS’s bringing the issues to light and the failed results of globalization and growing wealth inequality)
36% of over $100K is a pretty big deal. Guess what people with salaries in that range do? They vote.
Believe what you will, fact is 70% of people aren’t buying into the OWS nonsense. GEG
You are pretty tricky at twisting words and reality to fit your talking points. And again, you are totally wrong here. American’s ARE “buying into” the OWS’s main points by about 70-80% and it has been building for years. I can cite dozens of polls to back up my point. American’s can buy into the message without applauding the messenger.
Results of CBS/NYT poll:
The economic grievances articulated by the Occupy Wall Street movement may represent the views of not just the fringe, but a large majority of Americans, a new poll suggests.
Two-thirds of Americans said they oppose tax cuts for corporations, support increasing income taxes for millionaires, and believe that wealth should be distributed more evenly across the country, according to New York Times/CBS poll results released on Tuesday.
Harris poll 2008: Four in five Americans (80%) say political lobbyists have too much power, while almost three-quarters (74%) say the same about the news media.
There are certain groups in particular which are singled out by large majorities of the American public as having too much power in those corridors. Leading the list are big companies, as 86 percent of Americans say they have too much power and influence in Washington. These are followed by Political Action Committees (PACs), which give money to political candidates; 83 percent of Americans cite them as having too much power and influence. Harris poll 2008
+1 Rio.
Say “#OWS” and people think it’s the Summer of Love hippies out protesting again, whutevah.
Say “1% strip-mined middle class and then bought of gov and then overreached and needed a bailout” (which is why #OWS was started in the first place) and suddenly that gets attention.
You are pretty tricky at twisting words and reality to fit your talking points.
Interesting findings in the poll GEG cites:
“But the UMass Lowell/Herald poll shows one clear trend — that Americans have a more negative view of the Tea Party movement than the Wall Street protests.
Half of American adults say they have an unfavorable impression of the Tea Party, while just 29 percent hold a favorable view, according to the poll. A total of 31 percent say they have a “strongly unfavorable” view, indicating the intensity of feeling against the Tea Party movement is relatively high. Just 10 percent view the Tea Party movement in a “strongly favorable” light.
Just 13 percent have a “strongly favorable” impression of the Occupy movement, while 21 percent had a “strongly unfavorable” view. Surprisingly, lower-income voters have the least favorable opinion of the Occupy movement, while those making more than $100,000 are more supportive. And the strongest backing for the Occupy protesters comes from those living in the Northeast.
The poll does show one common thread between both movements, however — a strong dislike for both Wall Street and the federal government.
While 85 percent of those who support the Occupy movement say they have an unfavorable view of Wall Street and large corporations, 64 percent of Tea Party sympathizers share that negative view.”
Another poll:
“Thirty-three percent (33%) of Likely U.S. Voters hold a favorable view of the protesters, while 43% regard them unfavorably. Twenty-four percent (24%) are undecided.”
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on November 3-4, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports.
That’s three nationwide polls in the past week.
33% (Rasmussen)
35% (Umass)
30% (Quinnipiac)
One poll you can cast aside as an aberration. 3 polls. Two polls, coincidence. 3 polls, that’s a trend.
“Just 13 percent have a “strongly favorable” impression of the Occupy movement, while 21 percent had a “strongly unfavorable” view. Surprisingly, lower-income voters have the least favorable opinion of the Occupy movement, while those making more than $100,000 are more supportive. And the strongest backing for the Occupy protesters comes from those living in the Northeast.”
SHORTER VERSION: upper middle class white college kids from the NE are having fun at OWS rallies. Their parents support them. Nobody else does
Another poll: GEG
(not addressing the underlying issue but reaching at straws)
GEG, Are you dumb? I don’t think you are. You know what we are talking about. And if you are not dumb then you are up to something else.
We’ve shown that about 70% of American agree with OWS’s main message - that the USA’s gross wealth inequality is destructive to democracy and that our politics are bought and sold by the very rich. Address that if you’re allowed to.
These feelings have been brewing in the USA for a long time GEG. Discounting the OWS might buy you time but these feelings are growing and are not going away no matter your script or OWS.
The obvious them for under 30 crowd is Don’t Borrow
Starve the beast.
Too late. They owe big money on their college degrees. Might be good advice for the 18-and-under set, though.
I drive a 12 year old car. For the ‘millenials’ raised on a steady diet of bling and Pimp My Ride, such an idea is unthinkable.
I have an ‘84 Toyota w/320k+ miles on it, and it might be worth $500 on a warm sunny day. My commuter bicycle cost me $3,200 and change.
So, does that make you a miser or profligate?
“So, does that make you a miser or profligate?”
Think fitness, saver.
My wife, over a decade ago, after watching her law school classmates buy brand-new BMWs while still having student loan debt, drove her junker until the repairs to keep it going cost more than the car itself (I’m talking no power steering, no A/C, etc.).
Some PARTNERS at her former firm still have student loans. We’ve been done with our student loans since 3-5 years out of school.
The love of debt stretches much farther than the millenials.
The obvious for the under 30 crowd is to immigrate.
Unlike the US, many countries prefer to get young and highly educated immigrants.
Which countries?
Indeed. Most countries have the drawbridge raised and the only way you can get in is if you have a skill in short supply. Since most other countries have invested heavily in higher ed, there is no such shortage in most locales.
People on this blog keep talking about emigrating as if all you had to do was show up and they’ll let you in. It ain’t that easy. Few countries are as immigrant friendly as the US.
Australia prefers under 30 with a Ph.d or a lot of money. If you are over 40, forget it.
You can move to Brazil if you have something like $2,000 a month in pensions or guaranteed income or you invest maybe 100K in a local business. Those are rough figures and change and 2K a month won’t get you far in Rio unless you fully own your home.
There’s a web site I used to subsribe to called sovereign Man written by Simon Black. There are many countries that will open the doors to young educated Americans, including Chile, Columbia, Singapore, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland…the list goes on. It’s easier than you think.
I suggest subscribing to the daily e-mail if you are interested in broadening your horizons. I personally ended my subscription, although it is quite insightful.
Belize and Panama..
Colombia? Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Also, many of our would be emigrants might be a tad surprised at the lower standard of living they will find in most of those countries you listed.
I know people from Singapore. From the street the place looks gleaming. Then you see how small the non-airconditioned apartment is that you can afford.
And I really doubt any of these places have their doors wide open. You almost certainly need a skillset that is in short supply to get in.
And I’m talking about a permanent immigrant Visa, not a temporary work Visa.
Well I am shocked at the way people in this country live through my exposure in volunteering and traveling off the beaten path. The condition in which many of the population live is quite disheartening. From Simon’s perspective, it’s not that difficult to establish permanent residency, although I haven’t read his blog in quite a few months. I think if you’re resourceful, you can find a way. And with many life changing things, it’s always much easier to think or excuses not to do something and complain about the state of affairs. Although friends have become expats, I’ve taken a defensive position here if things ever do get as bad as they seem to be trending, but that’s another topic for another time.
As someone who has lived outside the country, let me share this:
1) If you are an American citizen you already have a strike against you. You will be discriminated against.
2) In some countries, even if you have permanent status they restrict where you can work. The laws are often written to save the good jobs (say at the multinationals) for the locals.
I’m not saying it can’t be done, but:
1) It can be really, really hard. And you will need to hire a lawyer and possibly pay bribes. It’s easier if a multinational is sponsoring you.
2) The grass isn’t all that green on the other side of the fence. There is a reason the jobs are being offshored: the pay is often shockingly low. As in white collar jobs that pay less than $1000 USD per month. Sure, the cost of living is lower, if you are willing to live like the locals: ride the bus to work, your apartment is unheated or has no A/C. You won’t be able to afford all those nice iToys, etc.
I just took a looksie at the Sovereign Man website and foujnd this little nugget:
Next, anonymous counters, “Anybody considering on moving to Mexico is out of their minds. Mexicans are afraid of being kidnapped.”
Of course many Mexicans are afraid. And many North Americans think that Osama bin Ladin is coming out of his cave to bomb Des Moines or Saskatoon. That’s what happens when governments cultivate fear and force-feed security propaganda all the time.
This just shot down any credibility this guy could have with me. He implies that Mexico is safe and that Mexicans are afraid of the bogeyman.
This is complete BS. I have relatives and friends down there. Most know someone who was kidnapped and more than a few escaped a close call with a kidnapper themselves. One friend’s family had two close calls within months of each other. They are upper middle to wealthy class and they sold everything and moved to the US. My late father (who passed away a month ago) suffered an armed home invasion and only survived it because he was packing a gun as it happened.
The Mexican gov’t isn’t “cultivating fear”. Read the Mexican media and you will see that its just the opposite: the Mexican government keeps saying that everything is hunky dory and that it’s “safe” to live in Mexico. Simon Black is full of it.
I also love his advice on how to get a second passport/citizenship: Move to another country, become a permanent resident and eventually naturalize after a few years. It’s that “permanent resident” thing that’s as hard as nails.
How about sending some of our unemployed to China to help build their infrastructure? They helped us out with our railways a century ago, so it’s only fair to return the favor.
The obvious them(sic) for under 30 crowd is Don’t Borrow
So let me ask how many here w/juniors and seniors in HS are planning on either paying all cash for their kids’ education or insisting their kids stick to bagging groceries at the local market?
(Crickets)
For those w/college right around the corner, it’s a lot harder for us to decide what’s right for them. I do have my own plan (that my husband might freak at when he hears) but I wouldn’t tell anyone in this position that the choices were going to be easy.
So let me ask how many here w/juniors and seniors in HS are planning on either paying all cash for their kids’ education
My stepdaughter is a senior. I’ll be paying all cash for her tuition and room and board if she attends either a CSU or a UC. Private university ain’t going to happen, though.
“The median net worth of households headed by someone 65 or older was $170,494….The median net worth for the younger-age households was $3,662…”
Is is just me, or are both those numbers small?
it’s dreadfully small, and goes to show that the ‘million dollars of retirement’ financial planners recommend is just a pipe dream for the bottom 80% of the population.
The stock market no longer always going up hasn’t helped.
“The median net worth of households headed by someone 65 or older was $170,494….The median net worth for the younger-age households was $3,662…”
Is is just me, or are both those numbers small?
——
The stats probably do not include the Net Present Value of pensions of the over 65 crowd. My parents have a net worth of maybe 3x that median, they can live strictly off their pensions and SS. In effect, they may never run out of money.
How would you count the net worth of someone who can live exclusively off the pension and SS ?
This article does not add up.
There 156 million people in the workforce. 72 million make $500 wk or less. Of that 72, 14 million are unemployed. 1.5 millon are the wealthy.
The rest can’t all be well off boomers.
Again we the see the disparity between the wealthy and everyone else is so huge it even distorts the median.
“Again we the see the disparity between the wealthy and everyone else is so huge it even distorts the median.”
Please review the definition of “median”. It cannot be distorted.
Average can be quite deceptive when it is skewed by outlying data-points; median suffers no such effect. It is, by definition, just the middle number, and thus unaffected by how high or how low the other data-points are. The middle is just the middle.
The math is easier when you use households instead of people.
There are about 110m households (apparently made up of 156 million people in the workforce), which means each household has about 1.5 workers.
There are 13-15 million or so households with a net worth of $1mm or more.
The median household income is $55k ($48k now? I can’t remember), that’s approximately 55 million households earn more.
There are 14mm unemployed, but that doesn’t mean the whole household is unemployed or earns $500k or less per week.
The disparity does distort the average, but it can’t distort the median as there aren’t enough of them.
“Medians” can indeed, be distorted.
Yes, you can Google it. I did.
Um… How can the median be distorted again?
I mean, how can it be distorted by “the disparity between the wealthy and everyone else” as you originally suggested?
Hint: If you added $1 Trillion/yr to the annual income of the top thousand earners in the country, you would have created a massive disparity between the wealthy and everyone else…
…but the median income in the country would not change at all.
A few easy steps to achieve wealth for today’s 25 year olds:
1. Do not buy $6 cups of coffee 3 times a day
2. Do not buy $500 Apple phones every year
3. Do not buy $700 iPads
4. Do not buy $300 jeans every month
Do not have children: Daycare: $1000 per month per child, or 2 iphones every month.
$1000 a month per kid? Maybe in NYC. In flyover country, not so much. When my oldest went to daycare, a little over a year ago we paid +/- $425 for M-W-F. Full week would have been +/- $575. And this was a really nice place, low teacher/student ratios, brand new gym and playground. Cheaper options out there too, that aren’t as nice.
And cost is tax deductible too.
I live in flyover country. There were some as low as $800, but my wife didn’t like them.
For a Lucky Ducky $500 a month daycare might as well be $10,000 … they can’t afford it.
Lucky duckies don’t send their kids to daycare. They are stay at home parents while the other parent works and they probably receive gov’t benefits for food and medical care for the kids.
Am I missing the inside joke? What’s a Lucky Ducky?
Am I missing the inside joke? What’s a Lucky Ducky? GEG
Right…..
But at least you’ve read your playbook.
1. Do not buy $6 cups of coffee 3 times a day
2. Do not buy $500 Apple phones every year
3. Do not buy $700 iPads
4. Do not buy $300 jeans every month
I love these simplistic solutions.
Half the workforce earns less than $500 a week. They don’t buy the stuff you listed above.
Yes but many Lucky Duckies couldn’t live without paying $70, $100, $150+ per month for cable TeeVee. Uncle Sugar may put their bread money on the EBT card every month but the circuses aren’t free
A few easy steps to achieve wealth for today’s 25 year olds:
1. Be born of rich parents
2. Become a K Street lobbyist lobbying for their rich parents
3. Become a politician then a K Street lobbyist lobbying for their rich parents.
1. Define your means (make a budget)
2. Live below your means
3. Work tirelessly to increase your means
4. Get sick once, lose everything.
4. Get sick once, lose everything.
Heloc your house to pay for it, get labeled a deadbeat.
“Where’s the money?”
Is the Greek debt crisis finally over? I certainly hope so, as it is about time the stock market finally starts always going up again.
Initial agreement reached in Greece crisis
Interim government will handle debt deal after prime minister agrees to step down
By Demetris Nellas and Elena Becatoros Associated Press
Posted November 6, 2011 at 11 p.m.
Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou waves to journalists while exiting the Presidential Palace after a meeting with Greek President Karolos Papoulias and opposition leader Antonis Samaras, in Athens Sunday, Nov. 6 2011. Greece’s embattled prime minister and the head of the main opposition party reached an initial agreement to form an interim government that will ensure the country’s new European debt deal and then lead Greece to early elections, the president’s office said. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)
Photo by KOSTAS TSIRONIS
ATHENS, Greece —Greece’s embattled prime minister and main opposition leader agreed Sunday to form an interim government to ensure the country’s new European debt deal and oversee early elections, capping a week of political turmoil that had Greece facing a catastrophic default and threatening its euro membership.
…
Yes Greece is not important a mere starter, the banquet is moving on to the first of the main courses
This morning the cost for the Italian government of borrowing for 10 years has risen to a new euro high of 6.6%, around 4.8 percentage points above what Germany pays.
That is dangerously close to an unaffordable interest rate for a public sector that has debt equivalent to 120% of GDP, well above what economists see as healthy, and which will have to borrow 300bn euros next year alone.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15618597
“With Greece temporarily off the market agenda, we fully expect Italy to fill that void this week,” said Harpreet Parhar, a strategist at Credit Agricole SA in London. “The turning point required may be for Berlusconi to do the decent thing and step down.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-07/italy-leads-surge-in-sovereign-debt-risk-on-berlusconi-concerns.html
How many here would lend money to Italy for 10 years at an annual interest rate of just 6.6%. That’s not enough risk premium for me.
Depends on if I get to control all the central banks for the next 20 years.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/11/20111174507725457.html
Meanwhile, France tries to buy more time by announcing (as opposed to actually implementing) budget cuts. Their public unions will take the whole country down before going along with ACTUAL cuts.
CDSs tell the truth politicians won’t:
5 Year CDS rates this morning:
ITALY 507/517 +25
SPAIN 387/397 +3
PORTUGAL 1015/1055 +16
IRELAND 700/730 0
GREECE 56.5/59.5 -1
BELGIUM 287/297 +13
FRANCE 180/184 +5
AUSTRIA 155/163 +3
UK 86/90 +3
GERMANY 86/89 +3.5
Ignore the permabulls of CNBC, and watch this instead:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GBTPGR10:IND
When it goes over 7, the EU’s days of extend & pretend will give way to the financial reckoning day.
For us in the dark on such matters - what’s a CDS and what do each of those numbers mean?
I though CDS was a Collateralized Debt Security, but I also thought they were bundles of mortgages and didn’t have anything to do with Sovreign debt. Can someone please clarify?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/world/europe/in-greece-economic-crisis-brings-rage-and-paralysis.html?_r=1
Greece is screwed. Capital flight is already well underway according to this article.
I don’t think we have anything at our house from Greece; no appliances, automobiles, computers, cutlery, software, toys, etc., and I can’t recall seeing any on-line Grecian hotties either. Odds are that they can’t repay 50% either, IMHO.
olive oil, feta cheese, and shipping (and the ten bottles of ouzo sold outside of Greece every year)
Don’t forget those Grecian Urns.
Grecian Formula?
Greek yogurt is getting popular, but who knows where it’s made.
I bought a copy of Euclid’s Elements last year, does that count?
You Can’t Fix a Burst Bubble With More Hot Air: Caroline Baum
By Caroline Baum
November 06, 2011, 8:07 PM EST
Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — It’s almost six years since the air started to leak, then gush, out of the U.S. housing market, and the best one can say is that residential real estate is bouncing along the bottom.
But just as water seeks its own level, home prices are still seeking theirs.
They’ve had lots of impediments along the way, well- intentioned though they may have been. (The counterargument, that things would have been worse without intervention, can’t be proven.) From the Federal Reserve’s purchase of $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities in 2009-2010 as part of its first round of quantitative easing to renewed talk of additional MBS purchases to temporary tax credits to mortgage modification and forgiveness programs, housing has been the center of government attention and ministration — at least until President Barack Obama pivoted to jobs last summer.
Even now it’s very much in the administration’s cross hairs. Earlier attempts to facilitate mortgage modifications via programs with abbreviations like HAMP and HARP all fell short of expectations. Fewer than 900,000 homeowners have refinanced their mortgages through the Home Affordable Refinance Program compared with the 4 million to 5 million touted by Obama when he introduced the program in 2009.
HARP 2.0
So last month, the president said he was revamping HARP, waiving fees and the 125 percent loan-to-value ceiling so that borrowers with no equity in their homes will now qualify for a refinancing. (For every borrower who sees his mortgage payment reduced there’s an offsetting saver who receives less interest income from his MBS. In some circles this would be considered a wash.)
For most Americans, their home is their major store of wealth. The value of household real estate peaked in the fourth quarter of 2006 at $25 trillion, falling to $16.2 trillion in the second three months of this year, according to the Fed’s latest Flow of Funds report. A reverse wealth effect is depressing consumer sentiment and spending.
Between 1997 — when home-price appreciation started to outpace the consumer-price index — and the peak in 2006, the average price of an existing home rose about 125 percent, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. Home Price Index. It was arguably the biggest real-estate bubble in history. I know of no law of nature, or finance, that allows for the reflating of a burst bubble. (Another asset class, yes; the same one, no.)
Not that politicians aren’t trying. Complaints about lending standards being too tight — from the same folks who pressured lenders to lower their standards — would be funny if they weren’t so sad.
All the discussion about closing tax loopholes to raise revenue tiptoes around the mortgage deduction. Why? Because it’s a bad time to remove an incentive for home purchases.
It’s always a bad time, but good times won’t return to the real-estate market until prices are allowed to fall so they can perform their traditional role of allocating supply.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-06/you-can-t-fix-a-burst-bubble-with-more-hot-air-caroline-baum.html
All the discussion about closing tax loopholes to raise revenue tiptoes around the mortgage deduction. Why? Because it’s a bad time to remove an incentive for home purchases.
ISTR reading that the UK eliminated its home mortgage deduction. Last I looked, the UK’s still there. And it still has home buyers and home owners.
….and Canada, where house prices are double those in the US!
When you have a bubble the MID is not needed to drive up prices.
LOL, is that the same Business Week that published the now-infamous 2005 article “Housing Bubble, or Bunk?” I think it is!
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jun2005/nf20050622_9404_db008.htm
Would Higher Interest Rates Boost the Housing Market?
Daniel Indiviglio
Nov 5 2011, 9:50 AM ET
This possibility contradicts conventional wisdom, but there could be something to it
When mortgage interest rates are low, consumers may be more enticed to buy a home. This logic is straightforward enough: financing is cheaper, so buying is more attractive.* But in a recent blog post, Mark Calabria at the Cato Institute challenges this commonly-held view that low mortgage interest rates are good for the housing market. He suggests aiding housing by raising rates instead. Is this assertion crazy, or could there be something to it?
Let’s look at what Calabria says:
The Fed should start raising rates. First, what bank wants to make a mortgage at 4% when their cost of funds in a few years will easily be above that? Just like any price ceiling, artificially low rates cause shortages. In this case current Fed policies are reducing the supply of credit, making it harder for potential borrowers to get mortgages (yes, if you can get a mortgage, the price is great). When rates do go up, which they will, such will put downward pressure on prices, better to take that hit now.
A broader problem could be lurking here, however. Short-term interest rates sometimes lead to higher inflation expectations. To the extent that banks believe that inflation will increase, they will choose to lend sparingly. That’s because inflation makes loans lose value.
At this time, however, inflation expectations aren’t rising. So generally, keeping short-term interest rates low for the time being might make sense if we want banks to lend more. But keeping mortgage interest rates very low as well could be counterproductive. At these rates, relatively few mortgages are actually being given to borrowers.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/11/would-higher-interest-rates-boost-the-housing-market/247940/ - 114k
“Short-term interest rates sometimes lead to higher inflation expectations. To the extent that banks believe that inflation will increase, they will choose to lend sparingly. That’s because inflation makes loans lose value.”
Assuming the first sentence was intended to mean “Higher short-term interest rates sometimes lead to higher inflation expectations,” let’s check that logic with an extreme case. When Paul Volcker was Fed Chair, I believe he took up short-term rates to somewhere north of ten percent. Why did he undertake this action, and did inflation go up or down in response?
It’s also useful to consider a bank’s motivation to lend money. The interest payment is the bank’s compensation for parting with the cash and for the risk it will not be repaid. With rates at or near zero percent, the bank may as well keep the money parked under a mattress as loan it out.
“The interest payment is the bank’s compensation for parting with the cash and for the risk it will not be repaid. With rates at or near zero percent, the bank may as well keep the money parked under a mattress as loan it out.”
Don’t the banks just sell the loans to F&F? And borrow from the Fed at whatever rates they are setting, and just tack on a few points to get the retail rate? What’s the diff between high and low rates if that’s the banks’ function?
Bingo. What makes this guy think that banks are holding on to loans long term? They may be required to keep them more than 60 days (where they make the first two monthly payments), but we haven’t dialed back to 60’s era banking.
And even if the banks kept the loans on their books (most don’t) they can hedge the interest rate risk. It costs, but they can do it. It is, in fact, what a bank’s traditional business is - figuring out how to balance short term borrowing (demand accounts) and long term lending (mortgages or other loans with longer terms).
To put this another way, F&F’s “free” insurance debauches the risk management function of mortgage lending. So it should be no surprise they have already sucked down $160bn in bail with more to come.
So, according to Calabria de Cato, if interest rates go up, banks will be more willing to lend and thus keep housing prices high (which saves the banks and the FBs). But where are the people who can afford a high price AND high rates?
I need some stats, man. We already know that closing activity is near nothing. But is that because nobody is putting in offers, or because they’re all putting in offers but are refuesed financing?
“So, according to Calabria de Cato, if interest rates go up, banks will be more willing to lend and thus keep housing prices high (which saves the banks and the FBs).”
“Let’s look at what Calabria says:”
“When rates do go up, which they will, such will put downward pressure on prices, better to take that hit now.”
“Roesler, asked by Bild if Germany could hold a referendum on whether to extend further aid to Greece, said he “could imagine” a popular vote on issues such has giving up more decision-making competences to the European Union
“But legally we are not allowed to hold referendums on financial questions. Such votes could be subject to populist abuse,” said Roesler.”
Bwa ha ha ahahahahhaha
So asking one country to continue to dig down and save the others despite that country’s refusal to save itself is not abuse.
From the article:
Germany: Greece must reform or quit euro, no third way
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/07/us-germany-greece-roesler-idUSTRE7A61JJ20111107
Like I said below, forget Greece. Here comes Italy.
The dominos are going down.
Oooh, I feel a jeff saturday song coming on.
“Oh, oh, domino”
Germany just posted disastrous economic figures. So much for Mother Merkel singlehandedly carrying the EU.
Foreclosure mill apologizes for deadbeat homeowner Halloween costumes
by Kim Miller
35
Realtors Are Liars® Says:
November 6th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Big deal.
You defaulted. Get out of the house.
I love the Stones. Wilma, Fred, Barney, Pebbles….
I said, hey! (hey) you! (you) Get out of the house
Hey! (hey) you! (you) Get out of the house
Hey! (hey) you! (you) Get out of the house
Don’t hang around cause you defaulted you clown
It’s time to put truth to the rafts of BS floating around. No more debate. GTFO of the house. No attorney is going to help you keep what’s not yours. You borrowed the money, you can’t or won’t pay it back so get out.
These are the same clowns that crowded us out. They’re the retail end of the reason we’re here.
Most of the squatters are there because the banks don’t want to foreclose on them- yet. The rafts of BS you speak of are the bankster apologists trying to frame this as some sort of a welfare queen issue.
banks don’t want to foreclose on them-
This I believe you are correct. Both parties want to extend and pretend because it is profitable for the banks and the home-debtors think they’re getting something for less when in fact their losses are magnified by extending the term to 50 years.(Or whatever the eventual term is).
’squatters are there because the banks don’t want to foreclose on them’
I would imagine what motivates a squatter is money; meaning they don’t have to pay for the roof over their head.
“The rafts of BS you speak of are the bankster apologists trying to frame this as some sort of a welfare queen issue”
The Miss Universe of the Deadbeats Lynn Szymoniak failed to tell 60 minutes that she had refied (stolen) over $500k from 1 of her properties (the 1 she was dicussing on the show) and more from others. As shown on this blog from county records several times. 4closurefraud.org and 4closurehamlet.org are the soldiers in her free sh#t army. Yes there are houses that the PTB are not taking back, but there is an industry for lawyers keeping Deadbeats from being foreclosed on. Remember Szymoniak is a lawyer and fraud investigator with a specialty in forged documents. Takes one to know one.
Mortgage paperwork mess: Next housing shock?
These convention center events are put on by the non-profit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, which helps people figure what they can afford, and then walks them across the hall to bank representatives to ask for lower payments. More than half will get their mortgages adjusted, but the rest discover that they just can’t keep their home.
For many that’s when the real surprise comes in: these same banks have fouled up all of their own paperwork to a historic degree.
“In my mind this is an absolute, intentional fraud,” Lynn Szymoniak, who is fighting foreclosure, told Pelley.
While trying to save her house, she discovered something we did not know: back when Wall Street was using algorithms and computers to engineer those disastrous mortgage-backed securities, it appears they didn’t want old fashioned paperwork slowing down the profits.
“This was back when it was a white hot fevered pitch to move as many of these as possible,” Pelley remarked.
“Exactly. When you could make a whole lotta money through securitization. And every other aspect of it could be done electronically, you know, key strokes. This was the only piece where somebody was supposed to actually go get documents, transfer the documents from one entity to the other. And it looks very much like they just eliminated that stuff all together,” Szymoniak said.
Szymoniak’s mortgage had been bundled with thousands of others into one of those Wall Street securities traded from investor to investor. When the bank took her to court, it first said it had lost her documents, including the critical assignment of mortgage which transfers ownership. But then, there was a courthouse surprise.
“They found all of your paperwork more than a year after they initially said that they had lost it?” Pelley asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
Asked if that seemed suspicious to her, Szymoniak said, “Yes, absolutely. What do you imagine? It fell behind the file cabinet? Where was all of this? ‘We had it, we own it, we lost it.’ And then more recently, everyone is coming in saying, ‘Hey we found it. Isn’t that wonderful?’”
But what the bank may not have known is that Szymoniak is a lawyer and fraud investigator with a specialty in forged documents. She has trained FBI agents.
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7361572n - 59k
60 Minutes | Fraudclosure – The Next Housing Shock Re-Airing this …
2 Aug 2011 … Mortgage paperwork mess: the next housing shock? (CBS News) If there was a question about whether we’re headed for a second housing …
http://4closurefraud.org/2011/08/02/60-minutes-fraudclosure-the-next-housing-shock-re-airing-this-weekend-aug-7th-2011/ - 64k
I was contacted by several thousand people after the show – many were losing their court cases to documents “signed” by Linda Green. Lender Processing Services refused to step forward and disclose to courts that these documents were fraudulent; the mortgage servicing companies continued to press as many foreclosures as possible using these documents or similarly forged and fraudulent documents.
If journalists had not told this story – and the truth about crimes by banks – then the banks’ version of history would prevail: “Millions of Americans woke up one morning and decided to be irresponsible deadbeats. More, faster foreclosures will save the economy.”
I admire the hell out of you and 60 Minutes for running this story. I sure did expect more courage from prosecutors and legislators – but I am finally, at age 62, cured of my naivete.
I look forward to the story about the banks being brought to justice.
Best Regards,
Lynn Szymoniak
http://4closurefraud.org/2011/08/02/60-minutes-fraudclosure-the-next-housing-shock-re-airing-this-weekend-aug-7th-2011/ -
“Yes there are houses that the PTB are not taking back, but there is an industry for lawyers keeping Deadbeats from being foreclosed on.”
So you’re saying the average person in foreclosure is paying a lawyer to defend his right to squat?
“So you’re saying the average person in foreclosure is paying a lawyer to defend his right to squat?”
That I could`t say, however I do personally know of several that are doing that and I suspect there are more.
Web Search Results
1 - 10 of about 1,320,000 for can you pay a lawyer to keep from being foreclosed on
Why won’t the banks kick them out? What’s the legal hold-up?
“Why won’t the banks kick them out? What’s the legal hold-up?”
My guess is that the PTB in some cases don`t want to have the loss on their books or crash the financial system and in others like Lynn Szymoniak the Deadbeat lawyer who has lived for free for 4 years after taking over $500k out in “equity” they can not put the broken chain of title together on the massive Liar loans she signed for. But I an sure that honest Lynn didn`t know what she was signing, after all she is just a lawyer and fraud investigator with a specialty in forged documents who has trained FBI agents.
“I admire the hell out of you and 60 Minutes for running this story. I sure did expect more courage from prosecutors and legislators – but I am finally, at age 62, cured of my naivete.”
And only half way through that $500k+ refi money I didn`t tell you about.
“No matter how cynical you become, it’s never enough.” - Lily Tomlin
I think I’m a realist. But the depth of corruption, deceit, debauchery and malice in the government still manages to catch me off guard.
“My guess is that the PTB in some cases don`t want to have the loss on their books or crash the financial system and in others ….they can not put the broken chain of title together on the massive Liar loans she signed for.”
So it’s the banksters who are allowing the FBs to continue to squat for so long, either for the banksters’ own financial interests, or because they cannot prove ownership- a serious problem of their own making. Like I’ve been saying. I’m glad to see we agree on this.
It’s one of those benefit-the-Big-Boyz things that, as usual, is being spun by the Big Boyz as a darn-those-deadbeats thing.
” Like I’ve been saying. I’m glad to see we agree on this.”
Yes we agree on that. Do you agree that Lynn Szymoniak is the Miss Universe of the Deadbeats?
Do you agree that Lynn Szymoniak is the Miss Universe of the Deadbeats?
She’s definitely in the upper-echelons of the low-level Deadbeats.
But she ain’t no bankster. She’s nowhere near the Big Leagues.
What “broken chain of title”? She still owns it. There is no broken chain of title.
The forged documents mean the people can not be foreclosed on but does it give them the right to not pay the mortgage they signed for with terms they agreed to? Not even trying to be a smart @ss here. “While trying to save her house, she discovered something we did not know:” Lynn Szymoniak had to be over a year without paying her mortgage probably two. She was not trying to save her house by getting a workout, getting a lower interest rate or making payments, she was a lawyer looking for a way out of having to pay at all.
It just seems less than honest to me. Let`s say Ben Jones loans me $500k for a house at 7% for 30 years. 6 months later he sells the preforming loan to palmetto the title is signed and palmetto holds it for 6 months chops it up and sells it to alpha-sloth and everyone he knows in the world but ooops, the title was not signed when alpha-sloth and everyone he knows in the world bought the chopped up $500k loan. Well times are hard Ben Jones never should have given me the loan in the first place and when alpha-sloth tries to foreclose I say… You can KMA not only have I not paid you for 2 years but I don`t ever plan on paying your greedy @ss until you can prove i owe you the $500k i borrowed from Ben Jones who never should have loaned me that much money in the first place..
I have no problem with Lynn asking that the banks foreclose according to the law, and that they actually have the paper to prove their claimed ownership of the note. The banks should be able to produce that without resorting to forgery. So IMHO, it’s good that at least a few folks are trying to keep the banks honest.
That said, I do find her claims of victimhood somewhat off-putting.
Fixr buys new car with cash. Fixr loses/throws away all the paperwork (Bill of Sale, Certificate of Origin, receipts, etc.).
Fixr goes to get car tagged with no/zero/nada paperwork. Tag office tells Fixr to go pound sand.
So who is more fooked up? The tag office, or the fixr?
“She’s definitely in the upper-echelons of the low-level Deadbeats.”
I`m good with that. So I will throw in a…. greedy @ss banksters who brought this country to it`s knees for their own financial interests should be flogged B4 during and after their long jail sentences.
“What “broken chain of title”? She still owns it. There is no broken chain of title.”
House of cards
Post probe finds problems in bank foreclosure filings
By CATHERINE CURAN
Last Updated: 4:00 AM, August 14, 2011
The research unearthed claims riddled with robosigners, suspiciousdocuments and outrageous fees. And in a stunning 37 out of 40 cases, The Post discovered a broken chain of title from the original lender to the company now making claim against a local family for its home and thousands of dollars in questionable fees.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/house_of_cards_hNdx5fNGt6oOl1U9mTW0HN - 112k
That was a stupid reporter. The chain of title is fine. The paperwork that gives the holder of the mortgage note the right to foreclose is not the same thing as a title.
My only experience with a title is a car or a truck title. How it has worked for me many times (too many) I get a loan for a car or a truck, I make payments until it is paid off (early or the length of the loan) after it is paid off they send me the title.
Forget Greece, that’s so yesterday. Here comes ITALY!!!!!!!!!
Whooeee, havin’ some fun now!
ROTFLMAO!
Ah, and here’s another headline for ya: “Scientists Are Puzzled Following Recent Seismic Activity”
Scientists are the new economists! Who knew?
Yep, proof positive education sucks the big one in modern times.
Let that be a lesson to all you parents sweating about how to pay for your offspring’s college. I don’t have a math or science degree, and I don’t know if Sammy Schadenfreude does, either, but we can put one and one together when it comes to fracking and get two. We can make the correlation. But “scientists” can’t, apparently.
‘…but we can put one and one together when it comes to fracking and get two. We can make the correlation. But “scientists” can’t, apparently.’
There ya have it, folks: Proof that fracking caused the Oklahoma earthquake. Dumb scientists…
Hey, genius, maybe you could ’splain to the Gulf fisherman why their shrimp catch is practically non-existent. Because “scientists” are all puzzled about that, too. (at least the ones that the media likes to quote) It couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the BP oil spill, must be some other reason. Just a bad season. Or some disrelated shrimp disease, or something.
But, you know, the fisherman who are able to see cause and effect are just a bunch of redneck gomers, yuk-yuk.
CONTROVERSIAL gas drilling DID cause Fylde coast earthquakes.
And now energy chiefs have sent a stark warning to shale gas company Cuadrilla Resources – stop the tremors or we will shut you down.
It comes as the company this week held urgent talks with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) to consider a report into the risk of earthquakes associated with fracking – the process used to extract shale gas from deep beneath the Fylde coast.
The meetings followed the British Geological Survey’s (BGS) conclusion two recent earth tremors felt nearby were most likely to have been caused by fracking.
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/local/drilling_did_cause_earthquake_1_3876146
Thanks, frankie.
It really doesn’t take much intellect to recognize that, if there is unusual seismic activity in areas that don’t normally tremble, and this coincides with fracking in the region or a connected region, something’s up.
It’s possible that the MSM only report on certain scientists. I suspect there are plenty of scientists that think the gulf oil spill has damaged the ecosystem. I would bet there are many that suspect Fracking may be playing a roll in the earthquakes.
You also have to look at financing. Scientists depend on grants to carry out this kind of research. That money has to come from somewhere and just as in politics and the media as money gets concentrated so does message and actions of politicians the media and even science.
To tar and feather sceince as a whole is just dumb and leads to a flat earth society.
just a quick look
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/13/deepwater-horizon-gulf-mexico-oil-spill
“To tar and feather sceince as a whole is just dumb and leads to a flat earth society.”
Except I’m not doing that. I spoke about “scientists” who are puzzled.
I studied science in grade and high school. It taught me a lot about observation and cause and effect. But then again, maybe that’s not the “science” that “puzzled scientists” study these days.
However, I agree with you about the MSM and financing. That’s more along the lines of what I’m getting at. Stands to reason that scientists who work for BP or for frackers would be “puzzled”. But then again, are they scientists or shills? I suggest that a scientist who is “puzzled” by seismic activity in fracking zones is a shill.
It is possible that scientists are using rigorous techniques (as opposed to anecdotal observations) to find the answer to these questions, but so far they cannot.
I saw a show on predicting earth quakes the other day. Japan has invested a mountain of money in this and their scientists honest conclusion is that we are no where near being able to do this. Why? there are so many variables and it’s hard to evaluate the entire earths surface. Given the short history of fraking and possibly poor funding It may be a while before there is a consensus on this.
Just look at global warming as an example.
Drill baby drill!
Correlation does not necessarily equal causation.
Hey combo, I heard a news segment on NPR the other day that said airlines are raising prices due to there being less travelers. Seems to agree with some of your arguments regarding deflation.
I avoid flying whenever humanly possible as a personal protest against full body scanners and TSA pat-downs and to draw a line under the null and void Fourth Amnendment.
Likely raising prices because routes are consolidating making price fixing much easier.
Capitalism only works until you get price fixing oligopolies and monopolies.
Once upon a time we bought a mansion
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And dreamed of all the great things we would do
Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
This house we’d never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la…
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
Yes the mansion lost half of it`s value
We’d smile at one another and would not pay
Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
This house we’d never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la…
Just tonight I stood before the mansion
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
The grass was long and the front door was broken
Why did they ever give that loan to me
Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
This house we’d never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way.
La la la la…
Through the broken door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
It`s been three years since we have paid the mortgage
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same
Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
This house we’d never lose
For we were young and did not have to pay.
Bravo!
CLASSIC song! Classic Jethro! Perfect!
Hey, RAL, I’ve been meaning to ask you if you have any insight into WTF is happening up there in Connecticut with the ongoing power outages. Any of your friends of there in the Nawtheast have an analysis of the situation?
I canvassed all the guys on the CT project this morning. Everyone has commercial power now and it seems most of them got it back late Friday into Saturday.
Just read that there are 50,000 residents still without power. Google home page.
Realtors Are Liars®
A Realtor lied to me about three days ago, RAL.
And I’ll wager that’s the only contact you’ve had with a Iiar in a long time. Imagine that.
Oops, I didn’t see the bit bucket today. I posted Today’s Houses in the next thread up.
Wow - you CAN cut government spending without turning the place into Somalia!
—————————–
Jindal cuts La. budget 25% and sky doesn’t fall
philly.com - November 06, 2011 - Jim Geraghty
But perhaps most unbelievable is that Jindal faced no serious competition after cutting state spending more than 25 percent. In January 2008, the state had a budget of $34.3 billion. This summer, Jindal signed into law a budget spending $25 billion. As governors from Harrisburg to Trenton to Columbus to Madison have learned, cutting a state’s budget is difficult enough; doing so without a significant backlash seems a politically impossible task.
A key part of Jindal’s story is recognizing that he took the helm of a state that had hit bottom: Decades of mismanagement and corruption had taken their toll even before Hurricane Katrina wreaked such devastation and exposed such colossal unresponsiveness in state government. The state, recognizing the bitter fruit of its traditions of colorful corruption, was ready to take a chance on a then-37-year-old Indian American congressman who speaks roughly 100 words per minute. The state was willing to try a new approach to governing; how much worse could it be?
Privatization played a big role in Jindal’s reinvention of state government, with private contractors taking over state-run operations for a lesser cost. The companies often hired the state workers who would often be the centerpiece of opponents’ criticism.
Well, no, Somalia wouldn’t be Jindal’s business model. India would.
“Privatization played a big role in Jindal’s reinvention of state government, with private contractors taking over state-run operations for a lesser cost. The companies often hired the state workers who would often be the centerpiece of opponents’ criticism.”
Yeah, let’s see where that goes. Incidentally, I was talking to my sis, who lives in CT, where some areas still have no power eight days after the snow storm. Still waiting for those “private contractors”. But now, Norwich, not a wealthy town/city, but with their own utilities and dedicated government workers who LIVE in the community, managed to get their power on in a day or two. Something about government workers who live in the community they serve, and being able to spot downed trees in the neighborhoods with which they’re familiar.
See, here’s the thing about “private contractors”. They like to get paid and if they don’t think they’ll get paid, they don’t work. If you think unions and gubmin workers are the pits when it comes to work stoppages, you ain’t seen NUTHIN’ yet.
But current events in Connecticut are a really good case study.
It will go the same place the medicare advantage plan went
Medicare advantage plan provides the same service as medicare at 115-120% of the cost. Most of that extra cost goes to high paid ceos/managment/marketing who then kick back money to politicians to perpetuate their gov mandated price fixing oligopoly. They may add higher fees so both the tax payer and the patient pay more. It’s a great money skimming operation.
Which reminds me - later this week is my birthday. Which will make me just 11 years away from telling the private health insurance industry to get the $#%* outta my life.
That is, if this country doesn’t get national health insurance first. I’m hoping it does, but never underestimate the staying power of the private insurers, aka the original giant vampire squids.
The way things are going we will get Medicare advantage plan for everyone which will morph into no insurance at some point.
Somalia doesn’t have a $25B budget
Well the sky didn’t fall YET. Just wait.
Privatizing and re-hiring the state workers is a back-door method of shedding pensions and benefits. Before you know it, the Louisiana gov’t will be run by Chindia and illegals. I wouldn’t want to hire the kids from the school systems 5-10 years from now either.
Of course the private companies love it. They can get away with corner-cutting. In a few years when the biofuel hits the wind turbine, the people will blame “the gummint.” And it will be a few years more before the citizens wake up and elect somebody new. Plenty of profit to be had before then.
Such goes the life of the public-private “partnership.”
And it will be a few years more before the citizens wake up and elect somebody new.
Of course by then 50 year contracts will have been signed with these companies. And many politicians that loose their jobs will get high paid lobbying or management positions at said companies.
A Hidden Toll as States Shift to Contract Workers
By MOTOKO RICH
Published: November 6, 2011
…
What governments save in salaries and benefits often “ends up on the government books through all sorts of programs,” said Paul C. Light, a professor at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University, referring to unemployment insurance, Medicaid and other public assistance for workers earning low incomes….
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/business/as-states-shift-to-contract-workers-savings-are-not-clear-cut.html?_r=3&ref=business
I have not seen a single government outsourcing contract that has not gone awry. It’s either offshoring, or it’s some criminal just trying to make a buck off of people who rely on the government service. The contractor gets a monopoly with no accountability whatsoever.
Have you actually ever been to Louisianna? I have and let me tell you, you will never be able to tell the differnce if the budget is cut or not. That is one dirt poor, backwards, graft ridden state.
However, this WILL mean more traffic tickets. Drive carefully when you’re there.
Have you actually ever been to Louisianna? ……That is one dirt poor, backwards, graft ridden state.
Thirty years from now, when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, “What did you do in the great World War II,” you won’t have to say, “Well……………….. I shoveled sh!t in Louisiana.”
From the movie “Patton”
Have you actually ever been to Louisianna? I have and let me tell you, you will never be able to tell the differnce if the budget is cut or not. That is one dirt poor, backwards, graft ridden state.
I have. Found it to be one of the worst states I’ve ever bicycled through. Lousy roads and nasty people.
Slim, I found people more friendly than I expected in Louisiana. But we did have our closest call by far there, when my riding companion had a car fly by so close that they brushed his pannier at highway speeds—yikes!
The least friendly was either Florida (taking the prize for most honks and “get off the road!” shouts) or Mississippi (prize for most birds provided by passing pickup trucks).
The Banking Empire Strikes Back…
From an email from Capital One Bank:
“We have temporarily suspended your Alliant Credit Union, Savings account from Funds Transfer”.
I’ll remember the 5th of November as Capital One Bank does not like accounts being drained into one of my credit union accounts.
Capital One is NOT in my wallet, anymore.
Did they give a reason?
Jim,
Just got off the phone with them.
Capital One claims that their security flagged it and they tried to contact the credit union to verify my name was on the account, but the CU refused to give my name. I gave Capital One a lot of data that they claim satisfied them in that I was the owner of both accounts.The suspension is revoked.
If it really is security than I can see a reason for it. Of course, with lots of recently open CU accounts and everyone doing transfers into them, I have to wonder if this security protocal is recent created or only now really enforced.
Note: I have moved over 100k at a time, in years past, with this account and no problems but I move less than 30k…Oops we have a security problem!
There probably is security. When I was relocating, I tried to open an account with a $10K check and they suspended it because they had to wait for security to clear it. That was 4 years ago.
I don’t think it’s a bank gimmick. Moving your money takes time, as funds are moved, direct deposit is switched, security, auto deductions are switched, etc. When I switched my money (actually I was relocating), I spent and transferred my old account to under ~ $700 or so and let it sit for a couple weeks to make sure nothing was being taken out. By then my new account was buzzing along. My old regional bank closed my account with cash.
It’s symbolic to transfer and close an account in one fell swoop, but it’s safer and less stressful to do it over a month.
The Loan Ranger
How many more years can we live here for free Tonto?
Three maybe four Kimosabe. We Deadbeats many, savers few.
Does anybody else find it a little distrubing that the longstanding fiscal problems of a little country such as Greece, with whom we have limited trading relations, is a threat to tank the U.S. economy?
Our own sitution is balanced on the head of a pin.
People now accept that as normal.
Greece is yesterday’s news. Now it is Italy, too big to bail.
As I understand it, It’s not really Greece itself as much as it’s Greece taking down French banks and then what the exposure is to those French banks and the mountains of hedges on the multiple levels of risk.
Also Greece is rescued but what comes next w/the rest of the PIIGS that are in similar shape but too big to rescue.
Their exit options are increasingly narrowing.
No because it’s all perception.
Right now we have the majority talking about inflation, but if Greece followed by Italy and Spain stop making payments and we see massive defaults the majority will start talking about deflation. Then you will have more and more people doing what I’ve done which is hoard cash, and invest in treasuries. They will pay off debts and not borrow. That will be the flushing sound before the deflationary whirlpool starts pulling everyone down.
I think I need to sell my ING banks stock on the next up day.
It is a threat to the economy of the 1%, since many of them have been dabbling in the “International Lending” field. I do not think it’s a threat to me. I think the rest of us will only get stronger as the 1% continue to fail.
Met a couple of friends we hadn’t seen in quite a while. A couple years ago he decided to get into real estate. He has 4 places now. What amazed me was when he told me that at the peak of the crisis he had banks giving him zero down loans to buy rentals. F’n amazing. HIs first two were purchased this way. It’s possible he put his own home up as colateral or that he has a lot of equity in it but still?? The other interesting thing was to listen to how low interest rates affect his cash flow. He has continued to refinance and has rates in the 4.5-5% range now. I’ll bet he has less than 5% equity on the 4 houses he’s purchased. The banker let him know after two years that they’d be willing to loan him a million or more to purchase apartments. He looks to be aiming to be one rung about slum lord in my book. His last renter got 3 mo behind by telling him her daugher had cancer, which he later learned was untrue.
I’ll update you all on how this turns out in a couple of years.
His last renter got 3 mo behind by telling him her daugher had cancer, which he later learned was untrue.
Not a very good LL if he falls for lines like this…
at least it wasn’t “I had to quit my job to take care of my sick grandmother.”
I have a friend like that too. She has 3 houses as rentals and her home in Fresno, all under water, but the rents pay all the bills. Not sure if she should be bragging about her empire.
The bank probably told him they’d lend him a million bucks using his 4 rent houses as collateral IF they are worth that much in two years’ time. They probably aren’t even worth that much now.
It’s all contingent on the appraised value of the properties. I’ll bet he appraised them himself, and will be bummed when he finds out the professional appraiser disagrees with his estimate.
Is anyone else on her single using Match? It seems 9 out of ten woman on there are looking to be rescued. Most are financial disasters. Or is it just my luck?
Is there an option to run a credit check before a date?
I will make that suggestion!!
LOL, I don’t use Match, but I don’t think it is just your luck.
OTOH, many of the old goats around these parts are looking for a nurse with a purse.
Financial disaster doesn’t discriminate based on sex.
I would say half of the woman who are divorced recently are so from blaming each other for buying a house they could not afford. The rest are going to nursing school at age 40.
Speaking as someone who’s a life-long single, I have a rather unique perspective on the dating game. And here it is:
Most of the field isn’t worth my time o’ day. Yep, I know. Not a nice thing to say. But, sorry, fellas, I’m not interested in dealing with your:
1. Problems with abusing alcohol and/or drugs. Deal with those on your time, not mine.
2. Chronic inability to move beyond the fallout from your now-dead marriage. I mean, come on. Your ex isn’t the devil for all time. After all, you once saw enough in her to get married.
3. Your kids. If they’re a bunch of screw-ups, that says a lot about you. And I don’t want to even begin to try to re-parent them.
4. Weight problems. I know it isn’t politically correct to see this, but a lot of our nation’s obesity problem comes from overeating and under-exercising.
5. Finances. I’m not in debt, and I sure as heck don’t want to hear about yours.
With those five categories, I’ve considerably narrowed down the field. In short, there are a lot of problem children out there.
Yep to all the above but from the other side.
(I also agree with the post on its own merit. you fricken slobs are giving the rest of us a bad name and hard time. it took me almost 10 years to find my current girlfriend. the few food ones left are so damn gun-shy or nuerotic from meeting so many jerks it isn’t even funny and I can’t blame them)
Fair perspective, Slim. Regarding this one:
2. Chronic inability to move beyond the fallout from your now-dead marriage. I mean, come on. Your ex isn’t the devil for all time. After all, you once saw enough in her to get married.
My ex isn’t the devil, and my problem has been the OPPOSITE of this. I’m on good terms with her; we are friends.
And two out of my last three GFs have had serious problems with this. They’re uncomfortable with the fact that we’re on good terms (even though she has long-since re-married, so it’s not like there is any actual threat or potential).
It seems that they would actually prefer that I thought she was the devil. Weird.
You shouldn’t date on Match. I’ve known a few girls who used Match, and they got nothing but loser guys who were looking for a free ride. While I’m sure there are some normal peeps, you will probably get a lot of dregs.
I have a 20 year + perspective of knowing nothing about the US dating scene but here is my perspective…..
If the USA was more mellow on money, financing, consumerism and financial expectations drilled into our heads by corporations and society, both men and women would be a hell of a lot cooler.
And they are in different places.
Our ex-friends met on match and they blossomed into a completely psycho couple. Their house is abandoned, BTW.
I would join an activities club or something related to something you enjoy. In the Tampa area there are lots of kayak type clubs. If it’s a bust, at least you spent the day outdoors doing something fun.
You can also use this killer pick-up line: I want to make love to you in the worst of ways…standing up in a kayak!
POW! Love at first sight.
Kickball is the new thing to do in Tampa. I have a female friend who slept through the entire team and still didn’t find a single normal type guy. Most of those guys talked about making millions on penny stocks and spent the weekends playing Xbox in their underwater homes.
That’s funny. Perhaps it doesn’t occur to “normal type guys” to spend their time playing kickball?
I’ve used Match off and on over the past decade. There’s a reason that some people are single later in life, your challenge is to figure out why! LOL, same applies to me of course.
You wouldn’t believe how many women have stopped talking to me instantly when they realized that I actually lived on a boat and wasn’t interested in rooming with them at their mortgaged house.
There are a lot of things worse than being single, and one of them is dating online. It’s useful for finding some shallow companionship with a likely disturbed social dysfunctional, but better to seek like minded people in the activities you enjoy. JMO. I had more luck when I stopped trying to win converts and just went to church (boaters that is).
I just heard a summary of the 60 Minutes piece on Jack Abramoff. I think it’s big.
From the interview with Abramoff:
“But the “best way” to get a congressional office to do his bidding - he says - was to offer a staffer a job that could triple his salary.
Abramoff: When we would become friendly with an office and they were important to us, and the chief of staff was a competent person, I would say or my staff would say to him or her at some point, “You know, when you’re done working on the Hill, we’d very much like you to consider coming to work for us.” Now the moment I said that to them or any of our staff said that to ‘em, that was it. We owned them. And what does that mean? Every request from our office, every request of our clients, everything that we want, they’re gonna do. And not only that, they’re gonna think of things we can’t think of to do. ”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57319075/jack-abramoff-the-lobbyists-playbook/?pageNum=2&tag=contentMain;contentBody
This is a basic problem with the system. When you talk about changing it, the beneficiaries (the legislators, their lobbyists and well-capitalized interest groups) all through up their hands and say, it’s all constitutional, there’s nothing we can do about it if we tried.
Somehow, I think they are unmotivated to find solutions, rather than solutions actually being lacking.
This guy is an insider letting light into this shadowy world. He’s obviously a very slick guy. I wonder what he’s not telling us.
I just heard a summary of the 60 Minutes piece on Jack Abramoff. I think it’s big.
It is big and things could be getting big. OWS, “Move your money”, the vast majority of Americans thinking money has too much influence in politics and that wealth inequality is a problem, former lobbyists coming clean, internet 3rd party platforms….
Americans are waking up.
What can be done about this problem? We can get a Constitutional amendment to cap campaign contributions, but what can we do about Congress-critters moving on to high-paying jobs when they leave office?
Make em wait 10 years before working for people from which they’ve gotten money/favors and to whom they’ve given money/favors.
Opensecrets tracks closely who gives to whom. If you’ve worked for this congress critter, you can’t work for these companies until a decade later.
Every policy has costs and benefits. The costs and benefits of the current system are not yielding net benefits for the society.
need to rein in the chiefs of staff, too. Good luck with that. I know of one here and I always thought he was an apolitical hustler. If they can’t move up and take the boss’s place, then they sign on with some “group” or other.
TV prices expected to crater
Early last week, Japanese manufacturer Sony Corp warned investors that its TV division is headed for its eighth consecutive annual loss, while rival Panasonic Corp forecast its biggest annual net loss in a decade.
Against this backdrop, global demand for televisions is expected to fall about 1 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Paul Gagnon, director of North American TV research for consulting firm Display Search.
Boy that sounds like that thing combotechie is always talking about.
2 years ago my FIL bought one, I can buy a better one now for 1/2 the price. It may be time to get rid of the 15yo box and analogue to dig converter.
Are the new tv’s more energy efficient? If so, the gov should offer rebates!
Last year 3D was the big push as 3D TVs became affordable and the number of shows available in 3D was vastly expanded. There’s no new big thing in TVs this year, so compared to 2010 it’s likely TV sales will be a bad year relatively speaking.
I bought a 60″ LCD 3D HD day after TK last year. Cost was $2700 with the glasses and a BluRay player package. The very first time I watched a college football game in 3D I knew I made the right choice.
the new frame less LCD are cool
I bought a 60″ LCD 3D HD day after TK last year.
I think Eddie was thinking about buying that model.
I heard Eddie was seen on the subway reading a Sybil, and then someone heard him mutter under his breath “Good idea”.
“copy of Sybil”
Maybe it’s time to upgrade my c.1993 Sanyo 13″.
I got a 27 inch Sony trinitron for $25 off Craigs list a few years ago. Still working fine.
I got a 31″ tube at a friend’s garage sale a few years back for even less than that. It works great, and more than meets my needs. (Actually, my really old 27″ was more than fine too before it was damaged in a move.)
The 31″ belonged to my friend’s parents who downsized to a condo and upgraded to an LCD. He just wanted it gone from his garage.
Deflation in the luxuries, inflation in the needs.
Sweet. A new TV for every room!!!!
Ugh.
South Korea(SamSung) is eating Japans lunch.
I’d like to steal a line from Beavis.
Realtors are fartknockers.
Yeah… hmmmmm… hehhehhehheheh.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans borrowed more in September to buy cars and attend college, but they charged less to their credit cards for a third straight month. The figures suggest that consumers are growing more cautious about taking on high-interest debt in a weak economy.
Total consumer borrowing rose by $7.4 billion in September, the Federal Reserve said Monday. In August, it had fallen by the most in 16 months.
The September increase reflected a 5.8 percent increase in borrowing in the category that includes car and student loans. But the category that covers credit card purchases dropped 1 percent after larger declines in July and August.
Credit card use has sunk nearly 19 percent since September 2008, the height of the financial crisis. For many consumers, adding debt with high interest rates is too risky when jobs are scarce, pay raises are few and unemployment has been stuck near 9 percent for more than two years.
“Households continue to prefer cash over credit as employment, income and wealth prospects remain feeble,” said Gregory Daco, principal U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight.
The average annual percentage rate, or APR, on credit cards ticked up for variable-rate credit cards to 14.46 percent and was unchanged at 13.71 percent for fixed-rate credit cards, according Bankrate.com.
Interpretation - People can’t take out home equity loans anymore to pay for college and cars so that category is up. People have cut back on spending by a whopping 15-20%. When you factor in that a larger and larger share is going to food and fuel spending on manufactured goods has gone down even more.
Are you a soldier in the Free $hit Army?
I’m guessing Mitt Romney is quite appalled by this lurid emerging story from one of his rivals’ pasts.
Tawdry tale cooks Herman Cain for good
Margery Eagan
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - Updated 1 hour ago
Herman Cain is done.
Now we’ve got the name, the face, the very gory alleged details.
Now the Hermanator looks worse than a grope-inator. He looks revolting.
Yes, I would’ve preferred less red lipstick and no blowsy blond bangs falling over half of Sharon Bialek’s face yesterday. Cain’s latest accuser looked like a poor man’s version of teased-up bombshell Gennifer Flowers, one of Bill Clinton’s many, many paramours.
And yes, I could’ve done without porn star/prostitute ambulance chaser Gloria Allred. Among her recent clients: “actress” Ginger Lee, one of former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s sexting partners; two of Tiger Woods’ mistresses and a woman who sued TSA for making her remove her nipple rings in a Lubbock, Texas, airport.
But Gloria did have the best line: “Mr. Cain,” she said, “decided to provide (Bialek) with his idea of a stimulus package.”
And just seconds into the afternoon press conference, Allred pointed out that Bialek is a registered Republican, not one of those liberals Cain claims has cooked up this “high-tech lynching.”
But the worst problem for Cain? Bialek’s more believable than he is. She’s his fourth accuser. He can’t get his stories straight.
Another big problem for Cain? The nauseating MO that Bialek described. “He suddenly reached over and he put his hand on my leg, under my skirt and reached for my genitals,” she said. “He grabbed my head and brought it toward his crotch.”
Then he said, “You want a job, right?”
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