Bits Bucket for December 3, 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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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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From the Denver Post: Metro Denver home sales fall as inventory sinks
“The number of metro-area homes sold or placed under contract dropped as expected in November from October, according to a housing report Friday.
Not as expected was the big drop in homes and condos available for sale to 14,275 units.
Buyers had 9.6 percent fewer homes to choose from in November than they did in October, and 30 percent fewer than they did a year ago.
“Under normal circumstances, a decline in inventory would be very good news,” said Boulder mortgage banker Lou Barnes.
Barnes suspects economic uncertainty has spooked sellers and buyers alike in recent months, putting a chill on the market.
“Most people are really confused about the world. They don’t know what our government is up to, what Europe is up to,” Barnes said.
But a lack of inventory also is weighing on the market. Some buyers and agents have complained in recent months about a lack of enough “move-in” ready homes that don’t require a significant investment to fix on top of the purchase price.
Higher home prices are needed to bring more sellers to the table, and tighter inventories should boost prices.
But so far, that isn’t happening. Median condo prices remained stable last month at $125,000, where they also were a year earlier.
Median single-family home prices rose 2 percent to $230,000 in November from October and are down 2 percent from November 2010.”
“Buyers had 9.6 percent fewer homes to choose from in November than they did in October, and 30 percent fewer than they did a year ago.”
The area that I search is more like 45 percent fewer than a year ago.
Banks holding the good properties off the market so they can shovel out the dregs first?
The people who are selling have no cash to fix up the place before selling. They can’t get a heloc to get the cash to fix up before selling. People who are buying on 3.5% FHA loans don’t have the cash to fix them up after they move in plus even painting is a bit of a pain once the weather turns cold.
So, if neither the seller nor the buyer can do the major needed fixes, you are only going to get sales between people willing and able to afford really low prices and people willing to accept living with someone else’s problems until they can save up enough cash to fix them, probably well down the road.
I’d say that leads to not many sales and fewer people willing to put up with keeping a house clean enough to show since the house isn’t really in good enough shape to sell even if it is a little cleaned up.
“So, if neither the seller nor the buyer can do the major needed fixes, you are only going to get sales between people willing and able to afford really low prices and people willing to accept living with someone else’s problems until they can save up enough cash to fix them, probably well down the road.”
Bingo. My experience exactly. Looking to buy has been a laugh.
Used houses for the most part are not “move in” ready and once the deal is done there’s no cash to do any upgrades. Or in other words, buyers are really just renting from the bank.
I don’t know if the problem for us has been so much no cash to do the upgrades as DH is ex construction w/a few local contacts. Nope the problem is the seller brings his price down $30-$50k from his pie in the sky wishing price and starts getting real onery about how he’s not going to give it away, and yet it’s gonna take $100k after purchase to bring it up to quality par w/the homes that sold down the street in 2008. That usually means once you’re done you’ve way overspent in a still declining market. Well, that approach is clearing only for the dopes.
AmazingRuss
The homes for sale in our area (So Ca) are in bad locations (street noise, backs up to a church parking lot yard, train tracks nearby), or the house is a fixer with a 10+ price tag. I think you hit the nail on the head. That’s both the REO’s and regular sales. The flips are up $25K-$50K more than they were in April (per my records). Short Sales are taking 4-6 months to close if they do. This is depressing. All we want is a freakin home to live in, that’s worth buying.
“Most people are really confused about the world. They don’t know what our government is up to, what Europe is up to,” Barnes said.
Sheep who get their worldview from the MSM are “confused” and ignorant? Say it isn’t so!
If you believe everything you read, better not read.
- Japanese proverb
“Those who don’t read newspapers are uninformed, those who do are misinformed.” - Mark Twain
Counterpunch: Debt Slavery – Why It Destroyed Rome, Why It Will Destroy Us Unless It’s Stopped
“Every economy is planned. This traditionally has been the function of government. Relinquishing this role under the slogan of “free markets” leaves it in the hands of banks. Yet the planning privilege of credit creation and allocation turns out to be even more centralized than that of elected public officials. And to make matters worse, the financial time frame is short-term hit-and-run, ending up as asset stripping. By seeking their own gains, the banks tend to destroy the economy. The surplus ends up being consumed by interest and other financial charges, leaving no revenue for new capital investment or basic social spending.
This is why relinquishing policy control to a creditor class rarely has gone together with economic growth and rising living standards. The tendency for debts to grow faster than the population’s ability to pay has been a basic constant throughout all recorded history. Debts mount up exponentially, absorbing the surplus and reducing much of the population to the equivalent of debt peonage.”
“Every economy is planned.”
I suppose government leaders could consciously plan not to do so much central planning.
‘Relinquishing this role under the slogan of “free markets” leaves it in the hands of banks.’
If central planning is an absolute necessity, whether due to central bankers or other top government officials, then I guess all societies have been relegated to the fate of the former Soviet Union.
Where do they come up with this garbage?
Maybe I’m reading this wrong. I think he’s saying that either the gov sets interest rates and financial regulation or the banks do. At this point the banks control everything. The FED and banks have gained more and more control either directly or via their bought and paid for politicians. The dramatic gains and consolidation of the financial industries wealth at the expense of everyone else has of course made them more politically powerful. Obviously you don’t want elected officials setting rates as 1 year before every election they would fall to zero, but clearly there is a roll for gov regulation which is in some sense planning. I think this guys point is that no central planning ie regulation essentially hands this function to the banks and they will use that power to strip all wealth. This is in fact what we are seeing.
It could be even more simple than that. Even setting tax policy is a form of central planning. A government that didn’t have some role in “planning” (read “influencing”) the economy wouldn’t exist.
Naomi Wolf in the UK Guardian: The crackdown on Occupy controversy: a rebuttal
Critics have accused me of concocting a fact-free ‘conspiracy theory’ about the policing of Occupy. I stand by my contentions
“What a firestorm my Comment is free blog post in the Guardian, “The Shocking News Behind the Crackdown on Occupy”, has unleashed: some have praised, while others have attacked. Joshua Holland’s criticisms of my piece, in a blog post, “Naomi Wolf’s Shocking Truth about Occupy is Anything But”, was picked up the most widely of the critics’ attacks. But the criticisms Holland poses are poorly grounded.
But Holland is seriously mistaken in reaching his premature conclusion that there is no evidence of DHS or federal participation in the crackdown, and for attacking me for having asserted the connection: “Mayors in a handful of cities,” he concludes, “responding to local political pressures, decided to break up their local occupations – decisions that were announced to the press well in advance – and were advised as to how best to do so.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/dec/02/crackdown-occupy-controversy-rebuttal-naomi-wolf
You guys are right, there are no Deadbeat Black Friday shoppers down here. LOL
Yes, they’re real lawyers: Booth at Boynton mall peddles foreclosure advice
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 1:09 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, 2011
BOYNTON BEACH — Just south of the food court and past the $15 “designer style” jewelry stand is an unusual mall kiosk staffed not with vendors hawking holiday ware but attorneys offering legal advice.
The Law Booth at the Boynton Beach Mall was opened Nov. 1 by three Palm Beach County attorneys who said they saw a need for legal counseling outside normal business hours and the traditional office setting.
Founded by Melva Rozier, Richard Carey and Paul Burkhart, the stand, which sits outside American Eagle Outfitters, is typically open from about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with “Walmart”-priced advice on legal matters including foreclosure, bankruptcy, estate planning and family law.
They were even open at 4 a.m. on Nov. 25 for Black Friday shoppers.
It was also good timing with the economic slump, the attorneys said, which has left more people trying to puzzle out real estate issues such as foreclosures, short sales, loan modifications and deeds in lieu of foreclosure. Attorneys at the booth will also review rental leases.
Carey said the group hopes to open more Law Booth’s, possibly in the Mall at Wellington Green and one in Pompano Beach.
“This isn’t a temporary thing,” said Carey, who took the 4 a.m. shift on Black Friday. “We’re really trying to help people who can’t do what they need to do during the regular working day.”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/yes-theyre-real-lawyers-booth-at-boynton-mall-2008689.html -
I’m going to read this line with my Combo lens:
“We’re really trying to help people who can’t do what they need to do during the regular working day.”
In other words, these lawyers need to go where the cash is, because they need that cash.
“We’re really trying to help people who can’t do what they need to do during the regular working day.”
Like pay their bills?
The Willy Sutton approach.
Actually this isn’t such a bad idea.
Like making out wills. I know a lot of people who don’t have them, because it’s such a hassle to actually set the time aside and go do it.
And if they can do it for less than the $200/hr the local lawyers charge for their time, even better.
“Booth at Boynton mall peddles foreclosure advice”
Florida must really be a surreal place. All I can say is … wow. The booths I’ve seen at our local malls (when I dare venture into them) peddle the usual crap: cell phones, costume jewelry, toys, etc.
That said, don’t extrapolate West Palm Beach to the rest of the US. We aren’t that far gone … at least not yet!
“Florida must really be a surreal place. All I can say is … wow.”
It`s a trip, but I can report some good news. There must have been some auditing or more proof of income on the SNAP renewals. The last few months the number of people using them at my grocery store is way down and the people who are using the card aint` driving nice cars. The ones that I have seen appear to be people who do need the help. Which is what it is for.
Since my wife is a lunch lady; she comes home with funny stories about her volunteer recess duty (boy who clings daily until he is reassured that it is indeed too cold for the bees). And the “dramedy” that is my daughter’s 7th grade class. She has a split, 1.5 hrs breakfast, 2 hours lunch; so uses her time off to volunteer for the teachers. She wants a better(more hours, benefits) job at the school and her position allows her to proceed towards that goal. And her department refuses her overtime even when she needs it; so it will be nice to have her eventually get out of lunch lady land. So as she puts in extra time off the clock to make things easier, I have to remind her that when she slams her finger in the door, while working, be careful to say the injury occurred in the line and time of duty, or else she will not be covered . She also coaches my son’s basketball team. She is a real rock star in my eyes; her efforts are not rewarded by $$ but she is used to that being a stay at home mom for 5 or more years while I played “investor”. I also work in the schools as a substitute teacher and plan to plug away in a similar way; pressing the flesh without being a shameless pimp; even though I am underemployed at least I have some work. Wifey also works retail; as a checker. Point is she works lots gets paid little.
SNAP comes in handy and has for the last 6 months. Never thought we would need welfare but hey it puts meat in the fridge! Even though I do own a house; its income stream only pays our rent. Our income goes almost 100% to health insurance. Yesterday my lame ass job sent me on a 30 minute drive for a 75 dollar gig and when I got there I was sent home because somehow they did not even have school that day at the particular jobsite I was sent to. But I gave out my card to the sympathetic secretary and may get some work out of it. Or I could pester the boss lady to try and get compensated; rather use their mess up to curry political favor, though (put me in a long-term assignment for example, or at least plug me into a job that I otherwise would not get). But all in all, kids still have a roof over their heads so we should enjoy the times even though we don’t have major bucks right now; SNAP helps.
Off to help wife coach some hoops, yay!
China leader warns about unrest due to economy
AP – 2 hours 41 minutes ago
BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese leadership’s law-and-order czar is warning that China is ill-prepared for social unrest generated by changes in the economy, in the latest sign that the government is worried about the consequences of flagging growth.
The government needs better methods for dealing with “the negative effects” of the economy, Politburo member Zhou Yongkang said in remarks to provincial officials Friday that were published Saturday by the official Xinhua News Agency. Zhou called for innovative approaches to social management — a euphemism for a clutch of policies as diverse as stepped-up policing and unemployment insurance meant to dampen unrest.
“Especially when facing the negative effects of the market economy, we still have not formed a complete mechanism for social management,” Zhou said. How to do so, he said, “is the great and urgent task before us.”
Zhou’s remarks underscore growing government uneasiness about an economic slowdown and the social unrest it might bring. In the past week, a much-watched index showed manufacturing contracting sharply, and the government lowered controls on bank reserves to encourage more lending. Meanwhile, strikes and other job actions have ticked up recently as factories retrench to confront higher labor costs and reduced demand for exports from Europe.
Zhou urged provincial officials to eliminate wasteful spending that has contributed to the mass protests, riots and other unrest that have proliferated in recent years.
In another instance of frayed tensions, Xinhua reported that hundreds of people overturned four police and government cars Friday in the central city of Xi’an after a truck hit and killed a girl and police did not arrive at the scene for two hours.
http://in.finance.yahoo.com/news/china-leader-warns-unrest-due-084011780.html -
But I thought China’s economy was kicking @ss!
Or is this what happens when the west scales back on its imports from “the world’s factory”?
The illusion of “kicking @ss!” is a function of centrally planned economies riddled with fraud and corruption, where liquidity and ficticious valuations are created out of thin air and fraudsters go about their business with the collusion of TPTB, using faked official data to hide the extent of the Ponzi.
Oh wait. You’re talking about China….
I saw that coming half way through the paragraph
Just like when Greenspan and others told the world that we were working under a new economic paradigm you can expect a collapse when the cheer leaders make statements like this. GS was doing after the collapse and it made absolutely no sense.
The reality is that technology and concentration of wealth will continue to drive up unemployment until political leaders reallize that they need to create jobs or an economic climate that supports job creation you can expect things to get worse. They can print until the cows come home it won’t help unless that money ends up in more peoples hands.
“They can print until the cows come home”
Where do the cows go when they are not at home?
“The Chinese leadership’s law-and-order czar is warning that China is ill-prepared for social unrest generated by changes in the economy, in the latest sign that the government is worried about the consequences of flagging growth.”
Which was the master plan all along.
Some of you may not remember the major reason for the break-up the Soviet Union. Economics was the main one.
There’s an old saying from an old movie, “You can’t keep ‘em down on the farm once they’ve seen the big city.”
Writer: LENNON, JOHN / MCCARTNEY, PAUL / SATURDAY, JEFF
When I find myself in times of trouble
Mall booth lawyers come to me
Speaking words of wisdom, live for free
And in my hour of shopping madness, standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, live for free
live for free, live for free, live for free
They whisper words of wisdom, live for free
I bought this granite kitchen mansion in the year 2003
There will be an answer, live for free
Then I refied two years later, money that belonged to me
There will be an answer, live for free
live for free, live for free, live for free
There will be an answer, live for free
Although I haven`t paid in three years
There`s still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow, live for free
They showed me that it wasn`t my fault, I`m a victim can`t you see
Speaking words of wisdom, live for free
live for free, live for free, live for free
Why pay rent when you can, live for free
live for free, live for free, live for free
The lawyer at the Mall said, live for free
I think that might be the best one yet.
Worked for me, too. Nice, JS.
Another classic Jeff.
4420 S Mary Cir Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Beds:3 Bed
Baths:2 Bath
House Size:1,008 Sq Ft
MLS ID R2948859
$169,900
NICE CBS HOME IN PALM BEACH GARDENS! Please call me if you would like more information on this home for sale in Palm Beach Gardens. My direct phone number is 561-758-0447. I look forward to talking to you.
Days on site 1215 days
Hey….
You guys know what?
Cash is king?
It`s a great time to buy?
A closely watched pot never boils?
Priced out forever?
Suzanne researched it?
Twenty percent is in the bag?
Realtors are liars?
Realtors Are Liars®
Aww, man. Stumped me again, RAL.
And you all thought the RAL’s made the fatal error of buying a rapidly depreciating asset at a grossly inflated price.
Kilowatt, that’s what!
The free market is the cause of all our problems?
Bill…. you couldn’t define a free market if tried.
Victim in the hood! Victim in the hood!
18 Hemlock Lane Tequesta, FL 33469
Beds:3 Bed
Baths:2 Bath
House Size: 1,809 Sq Ft
$240,000
Status: Contingency
Days on site 114 days
County sales records
Location Address: 18 HEMLOCK LN
Municipality: TEQUESTA
Parcel Control Number: 60-42-40-25-25-000-1980
Aug-2001 12985/1966 $172,500 WARRANTY DEED ROSSETTI JOHN F
Party time!
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 7/19/2002 12:33:08
CFN: 20020371787
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 13936/825
Pages: 5
Consideration: $30,000.00
Party 1: ROSSETTI JOHN F
ROSSETTI PATRICIA A
Party 2: WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK FA
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L198 L
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 2/18/2004 11:35:48
CFN: 20040087403
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 16559/1172
Pages: 15
Consideration: $195,000.00
Party 1: ROSSETTI JOHN F
ROSSETTI PATRICIA A
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
ATTORNEYS MORTGAGE SERVICES
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L198 L
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 7/26/2005 10:44:15
CFN: 20050461204
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 18963/292
Pages: 17
Consideration: $280,500.00
Party 1: ROSSETTI JOHN F
ROSSETTI PATRICIA A
Party 2: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK NA
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L198 L
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 4/20/2007 12:11:37
CFN: 20070191978
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 21645/1587
Pages: 10
Consideration: $40,000.00
Party 1: ROSSETTI JOHN F
ROSSETTI PATRICIA A
Party 2: WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK
Legal: TEQUESTA PINES L198 L
UPDATE 3-IMF acting behind the scenes in euro zone crisis
Fri Dec 2, 2011 12:28pm EST
* IMF’s Lagarde: crisis contagion risk has materialized
* IMF worried about protectionism as debt crisis drags on
* Euro zone needs fiscal consolidation, structural reforms
By Todd Benson
SAO PAULO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund is playing a behind-the-scenes role in helping to resolve the euro zone debt crisis but stands ready to extend credit to troubled European economies if it is asked to do so, Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Friday.
Lagarde, in Brazil on the last leg of a Latin American tour to drum up support for greater cooperation in addressing the global financial turmoil, also urged Europe to act swiftly to come up with a “collective, comprehensive” solution to the zone’s debt and fiscal woes.
Otherwise, she said, Europe runs the risk of sinking into a “lost decade” similar to the 1980s in Latin America, when a string of debt defaults from Brazil to Mexico plunged the region into a holding pattern of stagnant economic growth.
…
“IMF’s Lagarde: crisis contagion risk has materialized”
I was talking to a 22 year old laborer last week and he had to go to the doctor. His contagion risk materialized too.
B…b…but I thought after the Greece bailout last Spring the Eurozone contagion was “contained.” CNBC said so.
European leaders are laying down the anti-deflation rhetoric to justify a eurozone version of quantitative easing.
Eurozone crisis: ‘Merkozy’ tries to ride to the rescue
Merkel and Sarkozy seem to be winning the war to stabilise the euro, but is time running out?
Heather Stewart, Observer business editor
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 3 December 2011 06.43 EST
Article history
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have claimed numerous times over the past 18 months to have struck a ground-breaking deal to snatch the eurozone from the jaws of disaster. But when they meet in Paris on Monday – and join their fellow European leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday – the stakes will be higher than ever, including those for their neighbours across the Channel.
Chancellor George Osborne and Sir Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s governor, have made it crystal clear that the health of the economy, and the future of the banking system, critically depend on what happens in the eurozone.
By the end of this week, the outline of a plan appeared to be emerging. ECB boss Mario Draghi dropped a hint to the European parliament that if a new, more binding “fiscal compact” could be struck, “other measures” could come into play.
Euro-watchers heard his remarks as a promise of massive intervention by the Frankfurt-based central bank – so long as the eurozone’s governments promise to subject their future tax and spending plans to strict oversight from Brussels, with penalties for transgression.
At the same time, Draghi has been constructing an intellectual justification for more drastic ECB intervention in the Italian and Spanish bond markets. He has stressed that the bank’s inflation mandate forces it to tackle deflation – falling prices – just as aggressively as inflation.
…
but is time running out?
JIT/H!H!H!= acronym,..meaning:
(Hint: Cheney-$hrub’s [Goldenman$ucks] Treasury Bulldog was fond of uttering the H! as a stammering verb.)
I asked a coworker who used to live in Spain about whether they were aware the eurozone was on the brink of financial collapse, similar to where the U.S. was in Fall 2008. She had no clue.
GHEI: Eurozone free-fall
U.S. taxpayers may bankroll Old World’s big spenders
By Nita Ghei
The Washington Times
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Officials from the eurozone countries — including (from left) Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado, Italian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mario Monti, Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager, Maltese Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble — share a word during a round-table meeting in Brussels on the bloc’s financial crisis on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
There’s no end in sight for Europe’s debt crisis - unless it is the end of the euro itself. The finance ministers of the 17 eurozone countries are meeting in Brussels this week, desperate to come up with a solution as Italy heads toward financial chaos. The world’s central banks, spearheaded by the Federal Reserve, are coordinating efforts to provide liquidity to global markets.
…
FWIW the middle class in Spain lives far more frugally than we do.
My daughter is finishing up a semester in Spain. She tells me that her host family:
Has a single, subcompact car.
Lives in an apartment.
Doesn’t turn on the heater, even though in her words “it’s freezing”
Dry their laundry on a clothesline.
etc.
When we went to Spain; we constantly overloaded the circuitry running more heaters, TV, and lights in general. Until I learned that fumbling around in the dark looking for the breaker is not so fun as conservation(only heating rooms we were in; turning off as much electrical stuff as possible to avoid the dreaded black-out)
NO dryers in Sevilla for the most part; laundry was hung to dry universally. bottled propane for the stove; and freestanding heaters. supplemental heat from plug in radiators; we were there in winter so did not need to use the AC.
Folks had one car per family; usually a compact that would have three generations stuffed into it on the Sunday drive, the only time the car got used for the most part. And they were constantly at the self-service car washes; pride of ownership of something as mundane(at least in the US) as a car was evident.
A friend of mine lived with an upper class Spanish family in the early 1990s (his inlaws); he and his wife lived there because with 20 percent unemployment plus an anti-foreigner bias in the labor market, he couldn’t find a job.
Geithner to Press Europe on Crisis Ahead of Summit
By Ian Katz and Sandrine Rastello - Dec 2, 2011 9:00 PM PT
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner travels to Europe next week to press political leaders and central bankers to stem the region’s worsening debt crisis.
Geithner will continue to push the Europeans for quicker and more decisive action, a Treasury official said yesterday. The U.S. has no plans to make bilateral loans to the International Monetary Fund to help stem the crisis, said the official, who declined to be identified as a condition for holding a briefing with reporters in Washington.
Geithner will meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi during his Dec. 6-8 trip, the Treasury Department said in a statement yesterday. He will return to Washington before European leaders hold a Dec. 9 summit in Brussels.
The U.S. has been pressing European leaders to take stronger action in the crisis, which has seen bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal and now threatens to engulf Italy and Spain. Officials from the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have said Europe also poses a risk to the U.S. recovery.
The IMF has ample resources of about $400 billion, the Treasury official said. European finance ministers said this week they would seek a greater role for the IMF alongside their own bailout fund. Several countries including Brazil and Mexico have said they are ready to help boost IMF resources.
…
The rise and fall of Herman Cain’s candidacy is implied by his line on this Iowa 2012 Republican Caucus market graph. It seems that Cain’s supporters have mutinied.
OMG! Take a look at Newt’s line.
…and perry, lol.
Ron Paul is right on Newt’s tail.
Do newts ordinarily have tails?
Also note Cain’s trajectory from Sept 23 through Oct 11. These rapid Republican candidate ascents and descents raise the question of whether Kochtopi are snapping up IEM shares.
It ain’t easy being Anybody But Romney.
Speaking of which, I’m going to go out on a limb and just assume that Romney is a tool of the big money, since that’s been his career and all. But the big money should be (and maybe IS) nervous about him. Mormon businessmen can sometimes ignore a lot of “gray area” ethical issues with the idea that business is business and nobody is perfect. However…if you push them too far until it becomes black and white they are likely to stop cooperating and actively work against you regardless of the cost. Due to that I could see the possibility of the string pullers losing control of him, and him turning on them and becoming a populist. They may recognize that possibility too.
It’s time for Cain to return to life as an ordinary citizen.
Cain suspends his campaign
12:43 p.m. CST, December 3, 2011
Herman Cain announced today in Atlanta that he is suspending his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
…
I’m sure it will come as a great relief for Cain to resume conducting his affairs in private.
A friend’s place is located toward the lower end of the economic totem pole, and the neighbors have their dogs outside in a cyclone fence kennel where they bark non-stop all night, no chit. Maybe it’s because the evening temperatures are in the high teens? Idiots.
“Maybe it’s because the evening temperatures are in the high teens?”
That sounds like it deserves a call to Animal Care and Control for animal cruelty. And I am not a member of PITA, I eat vegetarians, vegetarian animals that is. Although there was this one, oh never mind.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated case. Lots of roped dogs wiggle between the CMU blocks supporting the tarp-covered trailers and shiver all night. There’s no snow to hide behind yet, so the wind chill is biting.
The first place I rented with my then girlfriend and future x wife along with my Black Lab Clyde was a basement appartment in Connecticut about 100 ft. from the railroad tracks. It was cheap especially for Greenwich but so was the LL. Not much for heat which was really only a problem for those couple of really cold weeks. On those really cold teens or single digit nights Clyde would start out sleeping at the bottom of the bed on top of the blankets. By 2 or 3 in the morning I would wake up with my teeth chattering and that damn dog was wrapped up in the blankets with my future x wife while I eneded up hanging off the edge of the bed with no blankets freezing my butt off.
Good dog though, I had him about 6 years longer then my first wife. Of course we had all moved to Florida by the next winter.
Sebastian brother and sister charged with animal cruelty
December 2nd, 2011 by TCPalm.com
David Cox
By Lamaur Stancil
SEBASTIAN — A brother and sister face several misdemeanor charges for animal cruelty and unlawful confinement after Indian River County Animal Control removed 18 animals — including an emaciated iguana — from their home, director Jason Ogilvie said.
David Michael Cox, 33, and Michele Lynn Cox, 31, of the 1200 block of Seahouse Street, were charged Wednesday with six counts of unlawful confinement and one count of cruelty. The siblings remained Thursday at the Indian River County Jail in lieu of $21,000 bail.
Animal Control went to the home on Sept. 29 after someone contacted authorities with concern for one of the dogs. The officer said the odor of urine and feces was wafting through the windows of the home, Ogilvie said. Inside, officials found seven cats, seven birds, three dogs and an iguana.
“The conditions were deplorable,” Ogilvie said. “The cages had an overwhelming amount of fecal matter. Some had dirty water and very little food. This is a case of someone who would walk past something in a cage every day and not care for it.”
Michele Cox
The Coxes signed over the animals to the Humane Society of Vero Beach and Indian River County, Ogilvie said. One of the dogs, two of the cats and the iguana were euthanized because of their poor condition, officials said.
“I don’t know who called in the tip, but we wish we could have been notified sooner,” Ogilvie said. “That smell had been there for a while. Even if someone has a hunch that something is wrong, we hope they would call as soon as possible.”
Residents stepped forward to adopt the remaining 14 dogs, cats and birds, said Ilka Daniel, director of animal protection services for the Humane Society. The last animal from the home — one of the dogs — was adopted on Nov. 17.
Daniel encouraged people unable to care for their pets to consider surrendering the animals to the Humane Society. “It’s not a crime to come forward and tell us you’re unable to care for your animals anymore.”
We have stories of starving horses and other animals being put down by the authorities, and their wild-eyed, furry owners being sent to jail where they enjoy three warm meals daily. Rural poverty is challenging due to remoteness.
Better yet, just put them down.
These people should be horsewhipped, then sterilized.
have their dogs outside in a cyclone fence kennel where they bark non-stop all night, no chit.”
I had a neighbor like that , they moved yea!!
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A report given to a high-level advisory group in Saudi Arabia claims that allowing women in the kingdom to drive could encourage premarital sex, a rights activist said Saturday.
The ultraconservative stance suggests increasing pressure on King Abdullah to retain the kingdom’s male-only driving rules despite international criticism.
Every time I read a story like this I’m glad I bought an electric car.
I’m just glad I don’t live in a theocracy. Although the Elmer Gantry’s of the GOP religious right are trying to fix that for me.
Nuclear weapons of mass destruction + male-citizens educated & ripe for world participation = top$-the-list for America Inc. to $ubsidize “Nation Building” policies of the
Monroe DoctrineCheney-$hrub Halliburton-XE Doctrine.Pakistani model’s nude photo causes fury:
By ASIF SHAHZAD | AP – 2 hrs 41 mins ago
Many here anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency or ISI has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.
Malik has broken Pakistani religious and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals.
Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a “shame for all Muslims.”
I posted an article on a Saudi gov report suggesting that giving women the right to drive would mean they would have more sex so they advised against it.
Again reading stuff like this makes me glad I have an electric car and ride my bike as much as possible.
It will be an interesting day indeed when their oil runs out. Egypt will likely precede Saudi Arabia in it’s collapse.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but their oil won’t ever run out. It’ll get harder to obtain and EROEI will decrease (further).
However, there is a day coming when global demand is greater than global supply and that is going to be a very interesting day.
“…their oil won’t ever run out…”
Before they run out, it will become too expensive to either exploit remaining proven reserves or to find others; by then, the global economy will have moved on to a new, yet to be discovered or developed, energy base.
“by then, the global economy will have moved on to a new, yet to be discovered or developed, energy base.”
Dreaaaam weaver….
I was at a place where all of this research was happening, except it isn’t. No worries, though. Invisible hand will foff us all off!
Farmers and Food Activists to Occupy Wall Street
Farmers and food reform activists to discuss abuse of corporate power and how it impacts our food supply.
Friday, December 2, 2011 - Omkara World by Adam Helfer
NEW YORK, December 2, 2011 ― Occupy Wall Street was born out of a legitimate frustration with the collusion between Big Business and elected officials of the U.S. government. And nowhere is that collusion so great as in food and agricultural production: Four corporations control 84% of beef packing and 66% of pork production, and one company (Monsanto) controls more than 93% of soybeans and 80% of corn grown in the U.S.
“One sized fits all legislation” has continued to ramp up in the last couple of years, favoring large agribusiness and industrial factory farming complexes. This subsequently has put organics, food buying clubs, and small farms on thin ice.
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Cain Train derailed…
Next stop on the Republican campaign trail: A review of Newt’s history of marital infidelities by the Christian right
Cain Train went from silver bullet to train wreck
Herman Cain gestures as he announces that he is ‘’suspending” his Republican presidential campaign at his Georgia campaign headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia December 3, 2011. REUTERS/John Adkisson
By Sam Youngman
WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 3, 2011 2:53pm EST
(Reuters) - Former pizza magnate Herman Cain’s bid for the White House was an unconventional long shot from the start, but behind the colorful Cain Train a dysfunctional team has always been on the verge of running off the tracks.
The slow-motion train wreck ground to a halt on Saturday when Cain announced that he would suspend his campaign.
The breaking point was an allegation by Atlanta businesswoman Ginger White this week that she had engaged in a 13-year affair with the candidate.
Cain’s presidential bid unraveled in public as women complained of sexual harassment, he forgot U.S. policy in Libya in a video interview and confused the language spoken in Cuba.
But there was also chaos behind the scene where his staff ran a free-wheeling show that seemed part book tour, part circus.
A former campaign official told Reuters that Cain was beset by scheduling mishaps, profligate spending on private jets and an entourage of handlers along for the ride.
“The people who Cain placed his full faith and confidence to counsel him are guilty of political malpractice,” the former official said. “Campaign and crisis management pros will be dissecting this catastrophe for decades.”
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I’m looking to snap-up a case of Cain bumper stickers to put on right wingers cars just to ridicule and humiliate them. The guy played them for the fools they are. Now that the hard right feels ‘insulted’ by the media lynching of another conservative candidate they will double down with Newt Gingrich. Right now Newt is a King, but will they make him Emperor in 2012?
—I’m looking to snap-up a case of Cain bumper stickers to put on right wingers cars just to ridicule and humiliate them—-
Says a great deal about why Democrats make bad leaders.
Razing Cain. Bravo!
Another “family values” hypocrite implodes.
Luckily this time we listened to the bimbo eruptions in time :-).
And thank heavens for the debates, which gave the unqualified Republican candidates myriad opportunities to display their ineptitude on national teevee.
Say what you want about Florida but we`ve got mastodons. But muggy be careful where you move. Where you find mastodons you`ll find sinkholes.
Florida muck factor in Daytona mastodon find
By EILEEN ZAFFIRO-KEAN The Associated Press
Posted: 12:06 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Workers recently stumbled upon remains of an Ice Age mastodon on a construction site, experts say Florida has a unique collection of natural conditions that make it one of the best places in the nation to find preserved fossils.
The dark black muck that surrounded the mastodon bones is nothing visually appealing, but it’s one of the key pieces of scientific magic that helped preserve the fossilized remains found in a half-built retention pond near the intersection of Mason Avenue and Nova Road.
The muck chokes off any oxygen that would cause decay and entombs whatever is in it, paleontology experts say.
The remains have been there for at least 13,000 years, when that type of mastodon went extinct, but the animal could have died as long as 130,000 years ago.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/florida-muck-factor-in-daytona-mastodon-find-2009566.html -
Worst Run States:
50. California
State debt per capita: $3,660 (21st highest)
Pct. without health insurance: 18.5% (8th highest)
Pct. below poverty line: 14.5% (tied for 21st highest)
Unemployment: 11.9% (2nd highest)
California has moved down one slot on from last year to earn the title of the worst-run state in the country. In the fiscal year 2009, the state spent $430 billion, roughly 14% of all the money spent by states in that year. Compared to its revenue, the state spent too much — California had the 10th lowest revenue per person, and spent the 15th most per person. California is the only state in the country to be rated A-, the lowest rating ever given to a state by S&P. Despite the huge amount the state spends each year, conditions remain poor. California has the second-lowest percentage of adults with a high school diploma in the country, the second-highest foreclosure rate and is tied for the second highest unemployment rate in the U.S.”
I don’t think this will end well not for CA and not for the Firemen’s pensions. Like living in a condo complex that is chronicly short of money and can’t afford to fix things, eventually a special assement is coming. I heard on the radio Governor Brown is trying to reign in pensions so he can raise taxes, the thinking is if government can’t control overly generous pensions no taxpayer will vote for higher taxes.
You don’t need to speak German to marvel at the Merkozy Fotomontage in the linked Bild article:
MERKOZY – sieht so das neue Europa aus?
Frankreich und Deutschland sollen der Kern des Kontinents werden
Von NIKOLAUS BLOME und DIRK HOEREN
Berlin/Brüssel – Nichts geht mehr in Europa ohne „Merkozy“! Das Macht-Duo aus Deutschlands Kanzlerin Angela Merkel und Frankreichs Staatspräsident Nicolas Sarkozy. Wie ein Mann (oder eine Frau …) wollen sie Europa retten.
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Shmortgage Board
Key Witness in Massive Mortgage Foreclosure “Robo-Signing” Fraud Case Turns Up Dead
By Matt Coker Thu., Dec. 1 2011 at 2:23 PM
A notary public who was to be the key witness against two Irvine title officers accused of orchestrating a massive mortgage foreclosure “robo-signing” fraud scheme was found dead in her Las Vegas home. Tracy Lawrence, 43, missed her sentencing hearing on a misdemeanor charge Monday, after which she was to testify against Geraldine Ann Sheppard, 62, of Santa Ana, and Gary Randall Trafford, 49, of Irvine, according to a Nevada state prosecutor.
Las Vegas police, who say there were no obvious signs of foul play, are not investigating Lawrence’s death as a homicide, according to CBS News Money Watch, which was told by the Clark County coroner a cause of death may not be known for weeks. She’s presumed to have taken her own life.
Lawrence faced up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine at her sentencing after pleading guilty Nov. 14 to a single count of notarizing the signature of a person not in her presence. She worked for Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS), which processes home repossessions for major banks across the country. It is based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, but has an office in Irvine.
A 439-page indictment handed down by Clark County’s grand jury on Nov. 16 alleges that between 2005 and 2008, Sheppard and Trafford of the LPS Irvine office directed employees to notarize forged signatures on documents and file the fraudulent notices of default with the Clark County recorder’s office to begin home foreclosures. Nevada, of course, leads the nation in bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment.
According to John Kelleher, a chief deputy Nevada attorney general, Lawrence had estimated she fraudulently notarized more than 30,000 documents between 2005 and 2008 by attesting to the validity of signatures of people not in her presence.
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Real Estate Markets
Foreclosure Timeline Lengthens to Record 21 Months
By Alison Rogers | @RE_Rookie | December 2, 2011
Increasingly in some states, foreclosure is like a Roach Motel: Houses come in, but they don’t get out. This has led to an egregious statistic in the new issue of Mortgage Monitor, a report from data-tracker LPS Applied Analytics, which shows that the average loan in foreclosure has been delinquent for 631 days. That’s nearly 21 months, a new record.
Much of the lag has to do with the processing of foreclosures. Since the “robo-signing” scandal — where financial institutions were accused of moving foreclosures along without taking the time to properly read and process the paperwork — lenders have been carefully dotting every “i” and crossing every “t.” This has slowed the timeline of moving a home through its repossession and into resale to a new owner.
(MORE: The Big Mac Big Deal: LivingSocial’s Half-Priced McDonald’s Special)
Because homes aren’t moving out of foreclosure, the ratio of foreclosures to active mortgages is at an all-time-high, according to LPS. October foreclosure inventory was at 4.29%, a jump from 4.18% in September.
I say “active mortgages” because many homes in the U.S. have no mortgages on them at all. (If, say, you bought your house when you were 25, and now you’re 60, you’ve probably paid it off.) Homes owned free-and-clear aren’t counted as part of this ratio.
The foreclosure statistics are the bad news; the good news is that fewer homes are going into delinquency, where the owners are running late with their payments. Delinquencies as a percentage of active mortgages fell, and pretty significantly from a year ago, to 7.93% of active mortgages from 9.29% a year ago.
To take a mental picture of this, think of the pool of foreclosures as a pool of water on the floor, fed by — bear with me — a leaky faucet of delinquency. What’s happening in the economy is that the faucet is dripping slower and slower, which is great news. Delinquencies down significantly, that’s wonderful.
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Overall Foreclosure Inventory at All-Time High
By Trader Mark
December 01 2011
Back in 2009 I was early on the theme that the waves of Americans living in homes they don’t make a payment on was a boon to the economy (not so much for banks). Over the next year this became relatively mainstream in the financial blogosphere. Even Mr. Cramer “got it” by early 2010. While I talked about it for a year and a half, I haven’t touched the topic this year because not much had to be said. It’s the ‘quiet’ stimulus. But with this headline on CNBC I think it’s worthwhile to take a quick look at the ‘benefits’ for the economy.
While the amount of money ‘saved’ that can be used for expenditures is up for debate a simple example says the average delinquency (now up to 21 months nationally and far higher in some states) leads to savings of approx $27,000 (assuming the average monthly note of $1300). If you believe the average note is lower or higher feel free to reduce my takeaway by 5-10-15% whatever. This assumes said folk continue to pay property taxes, which is highly questionable – so there is probably upside to my estimate on that front. This is now happening in at least 1 in 10 mortgages in this country – I havent looked at any housing statistics too deeply of late to see if its 1 in 9 or worse (better). But let’s say its 8M to 10M households employing this tactic – we’re talking an annual ‘stimuli’ to the economy of $125 – $155B. That’s at or better than levels the 2% payroll tax holiday provides. Boo yah! And no, it doesn’t matter if the default is strategic or not – that is all money not going to the banks (or investors) to pay off the mortgage; it is being used in the rest of the economy.
Back in 2009-2010 I took the view that it’s actually going to be a net negative for the economy when we are done with the foreclosure mess, because then we’ll be back to an era where everyone living in housing actually is paying for it. But we are still years away from that.
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