The Housing Bubble

Can’t wait to see how all those concrete slabs under all the houses in Okie-land hold up.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So, does that make you a miser or profligate?

“So, does that make you a miser or profligate?”

Think fitness, saver.

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.

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.

4. Get sick once, lose everything.

Heloc your house to pay for it, get labeled a deadbeat.

“Where’s the money?”

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?

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.

I sure did expect more courage from prosecutors and legislators – but I am finally, at age 62, cured of my naivete.

“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.

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.

“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.

Just read that there are 50,000 residents still without power. Google home page.

The way things are going we will get Medicare advantage plan for everyone which will morph into no insurance at some point.

“copy of Sybil”

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.