March 1, 2012

Bits Bucket for March 1, 2012

Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.




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298 Comments »

Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 02:26:50

Is lying to try to convince people that “real estate always goes up, in the long run” still an option for Realtors®?

Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 06:04:38

Realtors Are Liars…. so yes. It’s their only option.

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 06:25:38

This market is not affected by the downturn.

We never had a bubble here.

Everybody wants to live here because.

All our sales now are at over list.

This house will not stay on the market long.

We have another buyer ready to make an offer.

Skye - These things will never change, as long as people are paid to sell.

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:46:03

You left out my favorite: That’s not a defect, that’s a feature!

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Comment by Dale
2012-03-01 09:07:30

The freeway kind of sounds like the ocean….

 
 
Comment by michael
2012-03-01 08:00:01

you’re getting it for less than the appraisal which means you have instant equity!

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2012-03-01 19:02:28

Best. Line. Ever. 8-)

 
 
Comment by Liz Pendens
2012-03-01 08:56:01

With these low rates, its like free money

Prices have stabilized

There is no way the market can really go any lower

Investors aren’t waiting any longer

Trust me, I’ve been a Realtor for XXX and I know this market

…seeing lots of activity…

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Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 09:44:13

This house will be under contract by the end of the weekend so if you think you have any interest, you’d better make an offer.

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Comment by Jerry
2012-03-01 11:04:32

NOW. ” Prices are going up. Better get in when you can”

 
 
 
 
Comment by novadog
2012-03-01 09:51:22

increased activity…we’re seeing buoyancy..prices have bounced off the bottom I think - and that’s just from my realtor.

 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 02:33:26

Bernanke seems bound and determined to thwart the best efforts of Republican Congressmen to strangle the U.S. economy and blame the carnage on Obama. Nice try, Republicants!

Bernanke Pessimism Drives Credit With Forced Government Cutbacks
By Caroline Salas Gage - Feb 26, 2012 4:01 PM PT

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is trying to compensate for the damage lawmakers threaten to inflict on the U.S. economy, even as Republicans skewer his stimulus efforts for risking inflation.

The potential drag from fiscal restraint contributed to the rationale behind policy makers’ reduced forecasts for growth this year and in 2013, according to the minutes of their Jan. 24-25 meeting. They also decided to extend their commitment to keep interest rates near zero through at least late 2014 instead of mid-2013 to provide “more accommodative financial conditions,” the minutes said.

Bush-era tax cuts and expanded unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of the year, and a deficit-reduction law requiring $1 trillion of cutbacks also kicks in if lawmakers can’t agree on a new plan. The Fed may keep rates low for longer because the budget-balancing measures slated for 2013 — including those automatic cuts, known as sequestration — threaten to weigh on expansion, said Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jefferies & Co.

They “would certainly take a bite out of growth,” McCarthy, a former senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said in a telephone interview from his New York office. “The fact that we have a dysfunctional fiscal policy is a contributing factor to why we have such extraordinarily accommodative monetary policy.”

Bernanke, who is scheduled to deliver his semiannual monetary-policy report to the House Financial Services Committee on Feb. 29, has urged Congress to avoid sudden tightening while encouraging it to adopt a long-term program that balances spending and revenue.

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 06:36:24

Darn those traitorous uncooperators, they only want to ruin the country and blame it on Obama.

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:18:43

No they just think they can orchestrate a slow-down in time for the election. And show that Obama ‘can’t get anything done’.

Then, if they win,open the floodgates again (although as usual flooding the rich with money- their preferred solution to everything).

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 08:27:12

Obama can’t get it done is moot.

He doesn’t have an it. His supporters do not have it. His opponents do not have an it. Beat your drum though.

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Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2012-03-01 08:38:43

Obama can’t get it done is moot.

It is moot. What does it matter if Obama “can’t get it done” when our only other choice will be from the Republican party that has gone absolutely hypocritically extremest insane?

Did you even watch the Republican “debates”?

They are grossly ignorant or have gone mad.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 09:46:59

No I haven’t watched the R debates. That would be like volunteering for a root canal performed by a psychopath. The Special Olympics from hell. I know who I will vote for and he won’t be the Party Candidate.

 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 09:53:31

No I haven’t watched the R debates. That would be like volunteering for a root canal performed by a psychopath. The Special Olympics from hell. I know who I will vote for and he won’t be the Party Candidate.

No kidding. I can’t watch/listen any politician talk. Even Ron Paul bothers me after a couple of minutes. I heard Obama is going to read from a tele in front of a stadium full of idiots in the summer. Yes I said idiots because they are paying to get in.

 
Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 10:44:06

It’s the R debate audiences that are worth noting. Booing gay soldiers, cheering record number of executions, cheering that people without health insurance should die. They could just keep the audience in the studio for taping “Ow My Balls” as that show is appropriate for their level of emotional/intellectual development :)

 
 
Comment by Anon In DC
2012-03-01 14:54:20

I am one of those people who like record executions. Years ago the was not nearly the amount of crime (white collar, too) that there is today because it was not tolerated. I say keep executing. I am particularly in favor of harsh penalites for violent crime. Very often lenient sentences are encouraged by limousine liberals who don’t have to contend with the consquences. Ask the nurse or waitress taking the subway home at 2:30 am what she thinks of easy sentences.

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:48:40

Thank god they would never do anything like that!

Oh wait…

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/09/28/us-usa-democrats-offshore-idUSTRE68R40I20100928

Comment by michael
2012-03-01 08:04:12

“Why in the world would millions of Americans who are losing their jobs be subsidizing operations that are closed up, and the cost of doing that, and sending jobs overseas?”

same reason they would subsidize TBTF bankers balance sheets.

Obama/Romney 2012!

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Comment by measton
2012-03-01 08:43:48

I think like religious leaders they want a poor dumb down population that they can control with fear and propaganda.

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Comment by Anon In DC
2012-03-01 15:00:44

Because it’s the wrong approach. Lower or better yet eliminate corporate taxes in the US and you create a better jobs climate.

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 15:51:04

Bullcrap. Corporate taxes are the lowest they ever been in 40 years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204662204577199492233215330.html?mod=WSJ_article_forsub

 
Comment by AmazingRuss
2012-03-01 19:13:40

How ar you going to lock up all those criminals forever with no tax revenue? Who will pay for the drones that blow up the evil arabs?

 
 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 14:09:08

Yes. It’s kind of weird, don’t you think?

 
 
Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 08:05:18

So, if interest rates are low through 2014, then what will that do to house prices, if anything? High-price-low-interest and low-price-high-interest give you roughly the same howmuchcamonth.

Comment by Bill in Carolina
2012-03-01 08:19:28

Wait, Democrats now LIKE the Bush-era tax cuts?

And Bernanke’s stimulus efforts DON’T risk inflation?

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 08:25:46

Wait, Democrats now LIKE the Bush-era tax cuts?

Where do you get that?

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Comment by butters
2012-03-01 09:49:26

Wasn’t it extended already? Expect more of the same.

 
 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 08:21:45

It’s more a question of how long a correction takes, and who is primarily paying for it.

 
Comment by michael
2012-03-01 10:56:03

howmuchadown > howmuchamonth

Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 14:12:37

FHA, my friend. If you can put up with the fees, you can get in for 3.5 down, up to $625K or whatever.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2012-03-01 02:38:27

Are global stock markets poised to correct from their overbought condition on irrationally exuberant recovery optimism, or will they keep falling up for a while longer before the correction finally occurs?

World stock markets slip as buying fervor cools despite China data showing manufacturing gains

By Associated Press, Published: February 29 | Updated: Thursday, March 1, 12:48 AM

BANGKOK — World stock markets edged lower Thursday as buying fervor cooled following a string of strong gains.

Benchmark oil slipped below $107 per barrel while the dollar fell against the yen but rose against the euro.

European stocks fell in early trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent 5,860.54 and Germany’s DAX shed 0.4 percent to 6,828.03. France’s CAC-40 fell 0.6 percent to 3,431.93. Ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.1 percent to 12,922 and S&P 500 futures lost 0.2 percent to 1,361.50.

Earlier in the day, benchmarks in Asia lost steam following strong recent advances.

After opening higher, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index faded 0.2 percent to close at 9,707.37. The benchmark closed at 9,723.24 on Wednesday, its highest level since Aug. 2.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1 percent to 4,255.50 after falling metals prices caused materials shares to slump. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, India and Indonesia also fell. Markets in South Korea were closed for a public holiday.

Mainland China shares were mixed after Chinese manufacturing improved for the third month in a row in a sign of renewed strength in the global economy. The Shanghai Composite Index closed down 0.1 percent to 2,426.11. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 960.75.

But Hong Kong endured a sell-off. The Hang Seng, which hit a seven-month high Wednesday, fell 1.4 percent to 21,387.96 as property shares faced a pounding after the Shanghai government announced that — contrary to earlier reports — property restrictions would not be eased on purchases of second homes.

What you are seeing is that the market is overbought, and the market has advanced beyond its fundamentals, so there needs to be a correction, a consolidation, to digest all the gains since last October,” said Francis Lun, managing director of Lyncean Holdings in Hong Kong.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2012-03-01 08:50:19

Are global stock markets poised to correct from their overbought condition on irrationally exuberant recovery optimism,

Looks like it is “up, up, and away!” so far today…

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2012-03-01 02:42:36

Good thing a comparable supply glut hasn’t developed in the U.S. housing market, as otherwise we could soon be seeing 1986 housing prices again.

Baltic Index Reaches Lowest Monthly Average Since 1986 Amid Glut
By Michelle Wiese Bockmann - Feb 29, 2012 8:26 AM PT

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of costs to ship dry-bulk commodities, fell to the lowest monthly average in more than 25 years as a glut of vessels weighed on freight rates.

The index averaged 701 in February, the lowest level since August 1986, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange. Today it climbed for a fifth session.

Hire costs for two of the 29 routes assessed by the exchange reached the lowest monthly averages on record in February, its figures show. New ships on order at yards equate to 32 percent of the current fleet of Capesize vessels, the largest dry-bulk carriers, and 37 percent of all Panamaxes, according to London-based shipbroker Howe Robinson.

This represents a massive supply-side challenge,” Anastassis Margaronis, president of Diana Shipping Inc., said yesterday on a conference call. “The newbuilding order book continues to be a major concern for dry-bulk shipping.”

Comment by jim
2012-03-01 07:44:39

Can someone translate this into dummy captain speak for the non economists? What exactly does this mean?

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:47:07

Too many ships. And more being built.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:50:18

New ships aren’t being built due to lack of demands.

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:59:05

New ships on order at yards equate to 32 percent of the current fleet of Capesize vessels, the largest dry-bulk carriers, and 37 percent of all Panamaxes,

Sounds like they’re already on order- just not needed.

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Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 14:13:51

New U.S. homes are being built at a much lower rate than in 2006 for a similar reason.

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Comment by michael
2012-03-01 08:07:08

lower demand yet higher prices.

all while maintaining 3% target inflation rate.

david copperfield can’t figure this one out.

Comment by Bill in Carolina
2012-03-01 08:22:25

Demand is flat or down slightly. Supply is WAY up. So prices (for shipping) are crashing. Econ 1.

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Comment by Liz Pendens
2012-03-01 08:58:22

Can’t the FED do something? We cannot rely on supply and demand - that’s old school. Rigged markets are the future.

 
Comment by michael
2012-03-01 11:54:00

shipping cost are down which is a sign demand for commodities is down yet prices of those commodities are still going up.

 
Comment by polly
2012-03-01 13:32:11

“shipping cost are down which is a sign demand for commodities is down”

a sign that demand for *delivery* of commodities is down

Fixed it for you

 
 
 
Comment by jim
2012-03-01 08:52:20

See, this is what I mean. Anyone have some info as to the supply/demand vs number of ships or something like that? Because either demand is down, number of ships is way up, or both? Or neither.

 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 14:12:36

It’s a lot like housing: Too many houses relative to the number of people who want or can afford to live in them = affordable housing for everyone who can afford or qualify to borrow the money needed to make a purchase.

The same thing happens when there are too many boats offering dry bulk shipping service relative to the need (demand): Prices drop by “more than expected.”

 
 
Comment by Bill in Los Angeles
2012-03-01 20:39:47

Vfiax, vanguard Admiral 500 fund average rate of return since inception to February 29 is 2%.

Better than cash (but do not tell the deflationistas). Inception date November 2000.

 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 02:45:00

The dry bulk shipping bubble has popped, and so far as I can tell, it is beyond the reach of too-big-to-fail bailout assistance from sovereign states.

Drybulkers in troubled waters as China iron ore imports seen weak
By Krishna N Das and Vaishnavi Bala
Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:26am EST

Feb 29 (Reuters) - Dry bulk transporters, already hit by an oversupply of ships, could be forced to operate their vessels below breakeven for a much longer period than feared as top iron ore consumer China looks to cut down on imports.

China’s iron ore imports may fall up to 14 percent this year as domestic output ramps up, a mining industry group said on Wednesday. The country buys about 60 percent of the world’s seaborne iron ore.

The commodity makes up for nearly half of the global drybulk cargo that is transported by sea in vessels owned by companies such as Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd , Excel Maritime Carriers, Diana Shipping and DryShips.

“Decline in Chinese iron ore imports for 2012 would be a highly negative development for the (larger) capesize markets,” said Rahul Kapoor, a Singapore-based analyst at investment bank RS Platou Markets.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, which tracks rates for ships carrying commodities such as iron ore, coal and grains, has fallen 84 percent from its highs in 2008.

“The market is still pricing in ore imports to continue growing year-on-year, albeit at a slower pace than 2011 and help capesize segment stage a recovery in 2H12 from the current depressed levels.”

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 06:44:14

The malinvestments of the credit expansion become painfully evident in deflation.

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:21:04

Amazing, what those CRAs did.

 
 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 02:53:49

A foreign observer of the U.S. allegedly commented that when God wants to punish America, he sends tornadoes or hurricanes; any other part of the world He wants to punish, He sends Americans.

Tales of Chaos After Deadly Pre-Dawn Storms
By JIM SUHR Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Ill. March 1, 2012 (AP)

Jeff Rann had ample warning that terrible weather was approaching before dawn. A frantic call to his wife from his mother-in-law alerted them to reports that a tornado was barreling down, and Rann heard the deafening wail of storm sirens.

Rann was among those who survived the weather’s passing assault Wednesday, his home untouched. Yet just two blocks away in the southern Illinois town of Harrisburg, population 9,000, Rann’s parents were not as fortunate.

Rann raced through the darkness in his pickup truck to his parents’ duplex but saw instantly there was nothing left, natural gas whistling eerily as it spewed from the property’s severed meter. In the mud of a debris-strewn field, Rann found the body of his dad, 65-year-old Randy Rann, and his mother, 62-year-old Donna Rann.

“She just said, ‘It hurts. It hurts,’” Rann said of his mother, who had been looking forward to early retirement next month but who died a short time later at a hospital.

Caught in the relatively uncommon night-time twister, the Ranns were among six people killed when blocks of homes in Harrisburg were flattened by overnight storms that raked the nation’s midsection, killing at least 12 people in three states.

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:52:49

100 years of understanding what tornadoes are and we still build stick buildings.

We is be smart!

Comment by The_Overdog
2012-03-01 08:14:40

that’s because nobody wants to live underground permanently..

 
Comment by Elanor
2012-03-01 08:15:40

The only tornado-safe building is underground.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:21:48

Nope. Underground is NOT the only answer. Concrete and domes are proven solutions.

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 08:31:56

Concrete and domes are proven solutions.

Yeah, but those cost a lot more, and are more dangerous in earthquakes, unless properly reinforced (and even then), and that reinforcement costs even more money.

Tornadoes are usually ‘fingers of god’, meaning that although their destruction looks terrible, it usually is limited in its scope. The more massive ones will destroy concrete and steel buildings, too.

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Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 09:10:37

Please, drive through Galveston and see all the buildings that survived hurricane Ike. Both hospitals, all the banks, jail, courthouse, opera house, etc.

The smartly designed buildings with parking taking up the 1st floor didn’t even have water damage.

They even make hurricane glass now that won’t break like ordinary glass!

2X4’s , glass windows and drywall(in Texas builders are not even required to strap the roof to the house) might as well be living in a mobile home.

 
Comment by The_Overdog
2012-03-01 09:43:00

I’ve been to Galveston several times, and I don’t agree that concrete buildings survived Ike’s direct hit, and that’s just a hurricane straight line winds, not a tornado. There’s the concrete hotel on the pier that was being demolished last time I was there and the three story condo/hotel whatever directly across the street.

They didn’t survive.

Domes maybe, I don’t know. I dated a lady for a short period of time whose father supposedly designed the wierd domes south of Dallas on I35. Constuction costs would be ridiculous and it would be really funny to see a land of igloos.

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 09:47:05

Please, drive through Galveston and see all the buildings that survived hurricane Ike.

But we’re talking about tornadoes. My point was how much more limited the extent of their damage was compared to an earthquake or hurricane. To build every house to withstand a tornado (far more powerful than most hurricanes), would be fantastically expensive, and would have to be done everywhere in the US, as tornadoes occur everywhere. It’s just not worth it.

 
Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 13:00:58

Tornados last for minutes, hurricanes for hours.

 
Comment by polly
2012-03-01 16:25:38

But a tornado direct hit is still much more likely to destroy a house than a few hours in a hurricane. And they hit many fewer houses. Extreme example of the small risk of it happening, but if it does happen you are going to be in trouble event. If the risk of the direct hit is tiny and the cost to build to protect against it is very high, then you just accept the risk of loss. Nothing else makes sense. Unless you are really, really rich. In that case, go ahead.

 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-02 01:32:56

“Extreme example of the small risk of it happening, but if it does happen you are going to be in trouble event.”

Kind of like buying a house in the U.S. on an interest-only payment-option ARM circa 2006, no?

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 02:56:12

The stock market always goes up, or at least sideways…

Stock futures point to steady Wall St open
Traders work on the floor just before the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange February 28, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Thu Mar 1, 2012 4:45am EST

(Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a steady open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones staying flat and the Nasdaq 100 futures rising 0.1 percent.

The Labor Department will release at 8:30 a.m. ET first-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended February 25. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast 351,000 new filings, a repeat of the previous week’s number.

U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on “The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress” before the Senate Banking Committee.

Bernanke on Wednesday offered a tempered view of the economy, pouring cold water on the notion recent upbeat signs heralded a stronger recovery. He told Congress that unless growth accelerated, the unacceptably high unemployment rate would not keep dropping.

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:54:27

Churn, baby churn!

 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 02:58:54

What is the advantage of playing all these fooling games?

March 1, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EST
Ben speaks and the risk trade goes weak
By Kevin Marder

Market participants, many of them searching for an excuse to lighten positions, found one Wednesday after Mr. Bernanke outlined a still-soft economy, yet refrained from hinting at QE3.

If the job of a Fed head is to temper expectations when they need a dash of ice water, Wednesday’s action in gold and silver showed Mr. B to be a master of the craft. At the same time, however, shares were hardly the worse for wear.

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:57:00

Secret messages to the REAL insider traders.

No joke.

Never forget, the FIRE SECTOR DOES NOT CARE, even to the point of causing WW3, which they will profit from as well.

 
 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 03:01:29

What could stop the Fed from keeping rates at rock-bottom lows forever, if that is what they wanted to do?

March 1, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EST
Bond bubble, toil and trouble
Commentary: As long as rates are low, it costs little to issue more debt

Unlike previous bubbles, people do recognize the impossible trajectory of bond prices. There is only so low interest rates can fall and that means prices have a natural ceiling. If they pay very little interest and capital appreciation is off the table then it is fear that must be driving this market. Fear is the other side of the coin to the greed of the previous bubbles.

When will this bubble burst? Of course, that is impossible to predict. But one thing is for sure and that is one day interest rates will go up and bond prices will go down. Perhaps they will not crash down as Internet and housing stocks did before them. Perhaps the decline will be more orderly. But in either case, the Treasury bond market has at least one of the characteristics of a bubble making it a risky place for investors.

Will there be another bubble? As long as there are humans with emotions the odds seem high. Perhaps gold is already warming up to take the reins a few years from now.

 
Comment by Roy G Biv
2012-03-01 03:50:13

I used to get some exercise walking downtown window shopping, going to the bank and of course visiting Open Houses. Now I just lazily surf at home and throw in a look at the BBC sites as well. Lazy or wisely using my time and resources? I know what my Grandmother would say !!

Comment by Avocado
2012-03-01 12:19:13

great name!

 
 
Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 04:43:38

Gerrymandering

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

Ithaca could join Syracuse in new congressional district that leans toward Democrats

Both political parties propose extending Buerkle’s district into Tompkins County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly two-to-one. Judge will choose from proposals by political parties and the public.

And this process will be finished, oh, I don’t know, maybe like 6 weeks before the election

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/02/ithaca_could_join_syracuse_in.html

 
Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 05:14:34

http://www.ajc.com/sports/9-bedrooms-full-size-1367240.html

9 bedrooms, full-size court: Jordan home for sale

(AP)HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Michael Jordan’s longtime personal residence in suburban Chicago is for sale for $29 million.The sprawling estate is in Highland Park, along Lake Michigan, and has more than 56,000 square feet of living space.

That includes nine bedrooms, 15 baths and five fireplaces.

There’s also a three-bedroom guesthouse, pool area, outdoor tennis court and three climate-controlled multi-car garages.

An indoor basketball complex features a full-size regulation court with specially cushioned hardwood flooring and competition-quality high intensity lighting. It has a sound system set up to provide perfect acoustics within the court space.

This property should be fun to watch.

Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 06:10:20

Can someone explain the trend towards more baths than bedrooms in celebrity mansions? We saw it in Hulk Hogan’s pad too.

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 06:52:40

Entertainment. Bathrooms off the dining area. Pool and basketball court get bathrooms too. His and hers.

Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 07:12:36

They must buy tidy-bowl by the case :-)

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Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:14:33

Every bedroom gets a bath, some probably two (his n hers). Then you need one in each of the party room/man cave/home theater rooms, one or two in the pool house, one for the gym/ball court. One or two more for the more formal areas (living room/dining room,etc). One for the help…

I’m surprised MJ can get by with only 15, when you think about it.

 
Comment by polly
2012-03-01 07:16:34

A bathroom for every bedroom plus a few extras in the public areas? I don’t know why the public area ones would need tubs/showers, so maybe some of the extras are half baths?

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 07:58:46

They are.

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Comment by whyoung
2012-03-01 07:31:10

And a separate one for the domestic help, can’t share such an intimate space ya’ know…

 
Comment by whyoung
2012-03-01 07:32:22

Oh, and I forgot the separate his and hers in the master suite…

Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 10:00:59

The more bathrooms, the better. You never know when you’ll have to flush a Realtor.

Comment by Al
2012-03-01 12:46:32

The more the better if you have hired help to clean them. Since going from a 2 bath house to a 3 bath house, I seem to spend 50% more time cleaning bathrooms.

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Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 13:03:15

Hmmm…

 
 
Comment by wphr_editor
2012-03-01 17:29:41

Ya, but that’s an awful lot of ‘upper deckers’ to drop. I’ll need 2, maybe three buckets of KFC, some gravy…..

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Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 17:49:05

lmao

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 05:42:34

How bout a quickie? Even though “The bill is aimed at speeding foreclosures on abandoned and vacant properties” judging from the responses, there is no joy in Beatville.

1
jim Says:
February 29th, 2012 at 12:46 pm

Our Republican lead Legislators have just made it easier for whats Left of Florida’s home owners to loss their homes.
What a disgrace.

2
Obiwon Says:
February 29th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

Wow. The Republican super-majority sided with the banks against the consumers. Amazing. I did not see that coming. At least they love Jesus and guns.

(Obiwon forgot football and NASCAR)

Quickie foreclosure bill passes in Florida House 94-17

by Kim Miller

The Florida House easily passed a bill designed to jumpstart Florida’s stalled foreclosure system on Wednesday in a 94-17 vote.

The approval sends the plan (HB 213) to the Senate where nearly matching legislation (SB 1890) passed its last committee on Monday. The Senate can either pick up the House bill, or consider its own version and send that to the House.

Lawmakers have until the last day of session on March 9 to consider the proposal _ the first foreclosure-related plan to make it through the legislative committee process since the housing crash.

The bill is aimed at speeding foreclosures on abandoned and vacant properties, while also allowing any lien holder, such as a community association, to request an expedited hearing.

But homeowner advocates oppose the plan because they fear borrowers will get caught in a quickie foreclosure system that won’t give them time to defend against a bank repossession.

“If a homeowner has defenses, there is no guarantee they will get to share them with the court,” said Alice Vickers, an attorney with the Florida Consumer Action Network, during Monday’s Senate committee meeting. “They’ve had no opportunity to engage in discovery or to have a meaningful hearing.”

As of earlier this week, banks had taken no stance on the legislation, but disliked at least one section that reduced the amount of time a lender could seek a deficiency judgment from five years to one year, said Anthony DiMarco, executive vice president of government affairs for the Florida Bankers Association.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, who co-sponsored the bill, said he wasn’t surprised by the overwhelming approval because many Democratic members thanked him for working with them on concerns they had about the bill.

“Clearly there is a need in our state to move the foreclosure process forward,” Steube said. “I think everyone recognized that and that something needs to be done to address it.”

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/realtime/2012/02/29/quickie-foreclosure-bill-passes-in-florida-house-94-17/ -

Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 06:14:23

“won’t give [FB's] time to defend against a bank repossession.”

since the bill is for “abandoned and vacant” properties, it’s not as if the FB is deadbeating in the house asking for a refi.

Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 06:48:10

“it’s not as if the FB is deadbeating in the house asking for a refi.”

The SRDB has long ago preformed the massive equity liposuction and taken their 3-5 years of rent free living. All you have to do is hit the HomePath alerts and look em up. Nice fat equity liposuction job by DELANEY STEVEN in 2006. He bought the house in 1995 for $102,400 and then off to the equity races. The SRDB are the ones who made out like, well I guess they are Bandits.

HomePath
16631 80TH ST N
LOXAHATCHEE, FL 33470 PRICE REDUCED
List price:
$135,900

Property Information
Location Address:
16631 80TH ST N

Dec-2011 24928/1329 $0 CERT OF TITLE FEDERAL NATL MRTG ASSN

Jun-2003 16260/1589 $44,000 QUIT CLAIM DELANEY STEVEN

Mar-1995 08686/0781 $102,400 WARRANTY DEED

Type: MTG
Date/Time: 4/4/1995 04:08:04
CFN: 19950102851
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 8686/783
Pages: 7
Consideration: $97,150.00
Party 1: DELANEY STEVEN & TONI
DELANEY TONI (M)
Party 2: CITIBANK
Legal: ACREAGE 24 42 40 POR ACRE

Type: D
Date/Time: 12/3/2003 09:08:54
CFN: 20030744020
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 16260/1589
Pages: 2
Consideration: $44,000.00
Party 1: DELANEY TONI ANN
Party 2: DELANEY STEVEN
Legal: 24 42 40 POR ACRE

Type: MTG
Date/Time: 2/5/2004 10:17:18
CFN: 20040065813
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 16517/1073
Pages: 20
Consideration: $131,000.00
Party 1: DELANEY STEVEN
Party 2: PEOPLES CHOICE HOME LOAN INC
Legal: 24 42 40 POR ACRE

Type: MTG
Date/Time: 5/18/2006 15:15:20
CFN: 20060297877
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 20359/974
Pages: 15
Consideration: $250,000.00
Party 1: DELANEY STEVEN
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
BAYSIDE MORTGAGE SERVICES INC
Legal: 24 42 40 POR ACRE

Type: LP
Date/Time: 5/6/2009 17:40:31
CFN: 20090152619
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 23216/1076
Pages: 1
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: WELLS FARGO BANK NA
Party 2: DELANEY STEVEN
DELANEY SPOUSE
Legal: 24 42 40 POR ACRE

Type: CT
Date/Time: 12/29/2011 08:42:58
CFN: 20110480587
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 24928/1329
Pages: 1
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: CLERK & COMPTROLLER PALM BEACH COUNTY
Party 2: FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION
Legal: 24 42 40 POR ACRE

Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 07:26:31

So as per the discussion from a couple days ago, Warren Buffet was RIGHT, wasn’t he. Some of those FB’s DID profit off the banks, but that “profit” only lasted a year or two, as the FB blew the money on boats and boobs.

And it was the Bottomless Stockholder Maw that held a gun to the banks’ heads and forced them to award those refi’s to sell on the open market. Bonuses and Dividends would be paid out of fees. Fees were collected/borrowed into existance as cash now, but which would be made whole later by the returns from credit default swaps, or by borrowers paying back the refi through their labor (which would never happen) or, ultimately, by Fannie/Freddie’s implied guarantee backstopped by the labor of future taxpayers (which will also never happen).

See, everybody’s right!

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:01:07

As it has been discussed here, there were plenty of FBs and specuvestors who did scam the banks, but they are FAr outnumbered by the banks scamming the bundled securities buyers.

 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 09:29:14

SRDB

Anyone have a guess? :)

 
 
Comment by Montana
2012-03-01 15:36:32

ahh yes, it recalls to mind when I used to visit certain hobby forums back then. In the What to Buy sections there were a lot of these posts, “we’re getting some money today, we just have to go sign a few papers, and the wife says I can have $xxxx to get a new bike/guitar/motorcycle/AR” etc. So, bribe the spouse with $3000 for a new Trek Madone, and the rest is yours to play with!

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Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 06:51:43

But what about the squatters? :-)

Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 07:00:51

“But what about the squatters?”

DELANEY STEVEN can take some of that $250,000.00 lipo cash he got in 2006 and buy the squatters some beer. :)

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Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 06:59:02

“one section that reduced the amount of time a lender could seek a deficiency judgment from five years to one year”

Excellent!

And this panders to the banks how?

“foreclosure system that won’t give them time to defend against a bank repossession”

The “owners” will always a way to defend against foreclosure. It’s called making the payments!

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:32:49

Excellent!

So you favor letting the deabeats get away scot free? After looting all that money for bass boats and Hawaiian vacations?

Personally, I just want the banksters to have to follow the law like the rest of us, and I think it would be wise to ascertain now rather than later whether the chain of title ownership is clear.

I would then like to see the deadbeats pursued for deficiencies.

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 08:16:13

“So you favor letting the deabeats get away scot free? After looting all that money for bass boats and Hawaiian vacations?”

“So you favor letting the deabeats get away scot free? After looting all that money for bass boats and Hawaiian vacations?”

On the contrary. The part I quoted gives the bank only one year to exercise their right to foreclose, if I interpreted that properly. That would put a cap in this BS of holding foreclosures in limbo for years, so that the banks can lie about their ledger balance.

The insolvency of the banks, purposely ignored and covered up by the Fed, while the Fed pumps money into them relentlessly with ZIRP, which is at all our expense, is criminal. And it makes the cost of breakfast go up.

Sorry for the run on sentence.

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Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 08:24:00

“one section that reduced the amount of time a lender could seek a deficiency judgment from five years to one year

The part I quoted gives the bank only one year to exercise their right to foreclose, if I interpreted that properly.

It depends on whether the one year limit on seeking a deficiency judgement is the same as a one year limit on the right to foreclose. I don’t see why it would be- they’re two very different things, no? In a non-recourse state,they can’t seek a deficiency at all, bu they can still foreclose, of course.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 09:17:34

I don’t know. Recourse does not sound like the same thing as deficiency judgement to me.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2012-03-01 09:28:32

Recourse does not sound like the same thing as deficiency judgement to me.

I believe they are one and the same. A deficiency judgement is the legal tool that banks use to pursue the borrower in a recourse state. They can generally be issued as part of the foreclosure process, or obtained separately after-the-fact.

 
Comment by Jim A
2012-03-01 09:30:49

Yeah, my interpretation is that the bank has a year after the foreclosure to file a court motion for THE REST OF THE MONEY. On the one hand, I’m not sure that having the zombie debt hanging over the FB for a long period is a good idea. OTOH, a year isn’t really a very long period of time for the bank to look for hidden assets to see whether it’s worth the cost of getting a deficiency judgement.

I actually don’t have a ton of sympathy for the banks when it comes to robo-signing, chain of title, and other paperwork issues. The legal requirements to maintain the right to foreclose on property pledged as security for a loan, while occasionally complicated, are long standing. Their consistent, willful disregard for those requirements to try and save a few bucks has negative consequences. And those consequences are SUPPOSED to be less than those of filing forged documents with the courts to fraudulently maintain that those requirements were complied with.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 09:36:11

Maybe it’s got nothing to do with shortening foreclosure then.

 
Comment by polly
2012-03-01 16:33:15

I vote with Jim A.

But it might (emphasis on might) be that they have one year from selling the foreclosure, not from the date of taking possession. The amount of the potential deficiency is measured by what the loss is and you can’t know that until you get what you can out of the house.

I’d actually guess this slows down the foreclosures (or sales if measured that way). If you are going to lose money on the house, you might get some extra if you can wait for the person who lost the house to get some cash together.

 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2012-03-01 09:25:00

I would then like to see the deadbeats pursued for deficiencies.

Don’t be a hater.

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Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 07:38:56

It’s called making the payments!

What about those who made their payments, or had no mortgage at all, who were still ‘accidentally’ foreclosed on? You read the articles posted here about such things, no?

Collateral damage?

And is showing you have standing to foreclose really all that difficult? And if it is, why? And shouldn’t we do something about that? We can’t just have anyone foreclosing on anybody, correct? I would think even a conservative would object to that.

Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 07:51:46

“What about those who made their payments, or had no mortgage at all, who were still ‘accidentally’ foreclosed on? ”

I think all 3 of those homeowners who were ‘accidentally’ foreclosed on in the U.S. should have their day in court.

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:08:42

Ever tried to sue after being financially wiped out?

Contrary to popular fantasy, lawyers do NOT work on contingency.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 08:08:50

“I think all 3 of those homeowners who were ‘accidentally’ foreclosed on in the U.S. should have their day in court.”

I do too.

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 08:16:29

all 3 of those homeowners who were ‘accidentally’ foreclosed on…should have their day in court.

OK, so they’re collateral damage to you. Call me old fashioned, but I like the idea of being secure in my property, and that my house won’t be broken into, and my property carted away, for no reason, by a party who didn’t ever really have to prove they had the right to do so.

I guess you’re not a big believer in property rights.

 
Comment by drumminj
2012-03-01 08:24:05

Contrary to popular fantasy, lawyers do NOT work on contingency.

funny, the one time I needed a lawyer she worked on contingency. And would only get paid if the case DIDN’T go to court.

Care to make another incorrect assertion?

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 08:31:46

If the debtor does not make payments, who does the law say has “property rights”?

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 08:35:17

If the debtor does not make payments, who does the law say has “property rights”?

Certainly not just anyone. Do you have a problem with that?

 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 08:49:07

“Contrary to popular fantasy, lawyers do NOT work on contingency.”

Yes they do work on contingency, when they think they are going to win. I do not however see a lot of lawyers lining up to defend Joe Deadbeat on a contingency basis in a wrongful foreclosure lawsuit when he sucked $250k in artificially inflated equity out of “his house” and then left kicking and screaming about Robo signers and only getting $2k for “his family” after living in “his home” for 3-5 years without making a mortgage payment.

Contingent fee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
However, because of the high risk, few attorneys will take cases on a contingency basis unless they feel the case has good merit. According to a 2004 book by …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contingent_fee - 52k - Cached - Similar pages

 
Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 08:52:57

“I think all 3 of those homeowners who were ‘accidentally’ foreclosed on in the U.S. should have their day in court.”

And if you can identify which three foreclosures were accidental, before they’ve had their day in court to prove that the foreclosures were accidental, then I’d agree with you.

“Failure to obtain refi” is not equal to “accidental foreclosure.”

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:55:36

One personal anecdote does not win an argument. Care to try again with data?

Blue Sky, no one is saying deadbeats deserve a break, just the non-deadbeats who were wrongfully evicted.

And it was far more than 3, but thanks for letting us know the depth of your compassion.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 09:15:23

Despite your dismissive tact, we had about three articles posted here that seemed like probable wrongful foreclosure. That against a few thousand about “poor me, it’s my home!” Our legal system has a way of dealing with torts, I am pretty sure. Tell me, were there more wrongful foreclosures, really realy wrong ones, than wrongful deaths in the time period? You wouldn’t conclude that I condone wrongful death, would you?

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 10:16:32

we had about three articles posted here that seemed like probable wrongful foreclosure

Three anecdotes equals a trend, no? It takes far fewer in conservative circles.

And more seriously, what is wrong with the centuries-old demand that the foreclosing party show proof they have the right to foreclose? How can the house be sold legitimately if the seller can’t prove the property is his? It seems to me a course with all sorts of potential problems and crimes, if parties are allowed to foreclose on other parties, without showing they have legal standing to do so. It certainly goes against centuries of legal precedent, and common sense.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 10:29:45

The problem is there are no strong numbers because they are being hidden.

http://www.tampaflbankruptcyattorneys.com/2011/03/number-of-wrongful-foreclosure-cases-higher-than-banks-admit.shtml

Reuters did its own examination and found that the sample of foreclosures used by the OCC to paint a picture for the Senate Banking Committee of all foreclosure sales was troubling. The OCC looked at a sample of 2,800 foreclosures even though there were more than one million foreclosures in 2010.

Even if only a “small number” of the small sample were wrongful foreclosures, that would be equal to tens of thousands of wrongful foreclosures by banks overall, which the OCC has acknowledged. Also, the OCC included in their examination homes that were still in the process of being foreclosed upon and hadn’t even been sold yet, so of course they wouldn’t have been included in wrongful sale numbers yet.

 
Comment by drumminj
2012-03-01 10:52:45

One personal anecdote does not win an argument. Care to try again with data?

It absolutely does if you try to make an absolute statement. It only takes one data point to refute it.

 
Comment by Montana
2012-03-01 11:02:04

If the debtor does not make payments, who does the law say has “property rights”?

The debtor has rights in the real property, until title changes hands.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 11:02:33

Let me rephrase that: the exception does not make the rule.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 11:04:23

Exactly Montana. It’s where the old saying “possession is 9/10th of law” comes from.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 11:25:22

“until title changes hands”

Which happens in court, which is a pretty simple process, if the creditor follows the process legally, which proves who has a right to mortgaged property that is in default.

That and it is hard to hide a house, say in the garage.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 06:10:51

Here’s one for the haters from Yahoo News:

“COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu uttered the kind of Washington gaffe that consists of telling the truth when inconvenient. According to Politico, Chu admitted to a House committee that the administration is not interested in lowering gas prices.

Chu, along with the Obama administration, regards the spike in gas prices as a feature rather than a bug. High gas prices provide an incentive for alternate energy technology, a priority for the White House, and a decrease in reliance on oil for energy.

The Heritage Foundation points out that hammering the American consumer with high gas prices to make electric and hybrid cars more appealing is consistent with Obama administration policy and Chu’s philosophy. That explains the refusal to allow the building of the Keystone XL pipeline and to allow drilling in wide areas of the U.S. and offshore areas.”

Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 06:55:27

Ever notice how gasoline prices seem to rise quickly but fall excruciatingly slowly? They rose 15 cents here in just the past week (I paid 3.15 yesterday). When they were dropping last fall it seemed that they fell in 2-3 cent per week decrements.

I wonder why?

Comment by Hwy50ina49Dodge
2012-03-01 07:12:15

“None dare call it a CON$piracy!”

Think it was a title
of a book
$omething about those Bircher$ eh?

History
Origins

The society was established in Indianapolis, Indiana, on December 9, 1958, by a group of 12 led by Robert Welch, Jr., a retired candy manufacturer from Belmont, Massachusetts. Welch named the new organization after John Birch, an American Baptist missionary and U.S. military intelligence officer who was killed by communist forces in China in August 1945, shortly after the conclusion of World War II. Welch claimed that Birch was an unknown but dedicated anti-communist, and the first American casualty, Welch contended, of the Cold War.

One of the founding members was Fred Koch, founder of Koch Industries, one of the largest private corporations in America. ;-)

“heheeeheeeheeheeeehee”

Comment by Robin
2012-03-01 23:28:55

Pernicious?

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Comment by Awaiting
2012-03-01 07:22:21

(So Ca) Premium $4.56- last fill up on Monday.
Ouch! No wonder houses for sale in job corridors have a premium. My cost rose $9.00 in 7-8 days.

 
Comment by Awaiting
2012-03-01 07:35:46

In Colorado
Yep, and it’s not like we haven’t been here before. Up $1.00/gal…leak 50 cents…up 40 cents…leak 20cents…
wash,rinse,repeat

I really want a good technological affordable EV. Their time is a’comin.

Besides Tesla (DOE partly funded), isn’t GM
(also DOE partly funded) working on new battery technology?

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:12:56

New battery tech already exist for the 300 mile, quick charge (10 min or less) cross country car. It’s also fairly affordable.

The practical electric car cannot be built due to its extreme market disruption effect. They will be phased in over the next 20 years.

The Asian car maker will make sure it happens.

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Comment by The_Overdog
2012-03-01 08:20:44

yeah right.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:25:52

You can easily research this using the interweb thingie you’re sitting in front of.

The radical technological changes coming in the next 20 years are equal to the changes and upheaval seen in the early part of the 20th century.

… but those batteries exist NOW.

 
Comment by The_Overdog
2012-03-01 09:05:04

No, they will be phased in over the next 20 years because they don’t exist as practical replacements yet, not because of some “extreme market disruption effect”.

BTW, the closest I could find of a “New battery tech already exist for the 300 mile, quick charge (10 min or less) ” using the internet thingy (as you put it) is for Thundersky Energy group out of China, which makes a lithium ion battery for a bus that gets to 85% charge in 20 mins and has a 300km range.

The internet has little beyond wikipedia about their creations, and I can’t read Chinese, so no pricing info, no real world tests, no nothing. Everything I read about the buses used says that they make the batteries replaceable, so they just pull the drained one out and put a new one in, and the drained one recharges on site until full again.

 
Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 09:31:32

Of course natural gas is at all time lows and that proven CNG tech is currently being used on many transit systems around the country and many postal vehicles.

It’s not like the US has a 100 year supply of natural gas or anything.

Honda makes a CNG Civic, but only 2,000 of them.

 
Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 09:58:04

Any vehicle technology alternative to traditional gasoline powered inter combustion engines is just part of the radical, socialist, nanny state agenda to take away our Freedoms.

And Toyota Prius is for homosexuals and girly-man :)

 
Comment by b-hamster
2012-03-01 10:18:47

“It’s not like the US has a 100 year supply of natural gas or anything.”

Unfortunately much of the CNG will be used for the oil sands. In Canada at least. And the same could be said when they start to mine in the US. One energy unit input (CNG) is needed for two outputs (heavy crude). That’s worse than biodiesel, yet (questionably) in line with ethanol as far as inefficiencies.

“They” say the world has plenty of oil. I guess it’s just not very easy to get at.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 10:24:19

This works with the CURRENT gen of electric car batteries.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39854221/ns/technology_and_science-future_of_energy/t/ultra-fast-charge-nears-reality-electric-cars/

The quick chargers are already here, made by companies such as Aervironment and General Electric. The missing piece of the puzzle is the establishment of standards for charging, like the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J1772 standard for Level 2 electric vehicle chargers and receptacles. For EVs to flourish, it is essential that all chargers work with all vehicles.

The NEXT gen of batteries are even faster.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/215801996

I stand by 20 years and that’s conservative.

 
Comment by The_Overdog
2012-03-01 10:59:46

I think we are just talking past each other:

———————————-
The practical electric car cannot be built due to its extreme market disruption effect.
———————————-
I wouldn’t refer to a lack of compatible adapters for chargers or even the lack of charging stations as a market disruption, much less an extreme one. We already have gas stations on every corner; it would be trivial to add a circuit and bury a power cable to get 480v charger to a place where people could charge their cars using existing fueling stations.

The question right now is whether these systems are financially viable. The Prius cuts the middle ground, the Volt is too expensive, and the Leaf has too many limitations, and all due to technical limitations that have not been mitigated yet. In 20 years, sure, probably less. Now, no.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 11:06:57

“I think we are just talking past each other:”

Ah. Yes, I see. Thank you. No offense meant.

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2012-03-01 11:41:56

We already have gas stations on every corner; it would be trivial to add a circuit and bury a power cable to get 480v charger to a place where people could charge their cars using existing fueling stations.

Are you talking about when you’re on a road trip or something? I can’t imagine people not wanting to charge at home when possible.

 
Comment by The_Overdog
2012-03-01 11:57:35

Yes, as one of the primary concerns (real or imagined) with all-electric cars is the idea your car will run out of juice miles from your home, leaving you stranded.

I don’t think 480v chargers would ever be added to the majority of homes.

 
Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 13:11:17

Boone Pickens is on it:

T. Boone Pickens: Well, the path is that we have had a huge change in America on energy. We now have the cheapest energy in the world. Natural gas here cost $2.40. Beijing, it’s $16. Mid-East, $15. Europe, $13. Oil, we’re at $100 a barrel where the world market price is $115. So we’ve got cheap energy. Consequently, if we had good leadership in Washington, we could rebuild our economy on the back of cheap energy. So it’s an exciting time for this country.
http://m.wired.com/epicenter/2012/02/ted-2012-t-boone-pickens/

 
 
 
Comment by Elanor
2012-03-01 08:21:08

Price of regular is up 55 cents here, in one week. Bah.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2012-03-01 08:53:10

The Heritage Foundation points out that hammering the American consumer with high gas prices to make electric and hybrid cars more appealing is consistent with Obama administration policy and Chu’s philosophy.

Yawn. Let’s think this out Heritage Foundation. Who cares if high gas prices are “consistent with Obama’s policy and philosophy”? What difference do Obama’s philosophy and policy have on world oil and gas prices? 5%? 10%? None?? OK let’s even say Obama’s philosophy is responsible for a 5% increase in gas prices. Were those actions done by Obama just to make gas prices higher? Or where they done because of the Gulf’s biggest oil spill or other legit reasons?

Blaming high gas prices on Obama’s “philosophy” is like blaming the rain on the guy who wants it to rain.

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 09:30:41

No it’s not. And the tornados were Obama’s fault too.

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 09:46:01

Sure it is. Katrina was Bush’s fault, too.

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Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 10:03:55

His lack of response certainly was.

REFUTE IT.

 
Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 10:38:35

The culture of dependency and helplessness displayed by the left-behinds in post-Katrina New Orleans is FDR and LBJ’s faults.

 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 10:57:06

His lack of response certainly was.

His lack of response? Or, is it the ineptness of the Governments you worship so much? Doesn’t matter Brownies are left or right. The governments are full of them.

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 11:10:02

Nothing can even compare to the $30 TRILLION dollar Wall St. disaster.

That was corporate, wasn’t it.

 
Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 11:16:39

Yes his lack of response.

And who was leading the govt? Oh yea… That’s right. GW BUSH.

Anything else I can help you out with?

 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:31:18

That was corporate, wasn’t it.

Sure it was. The governments were right their with them enabling and taking their cuts.

 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:32:28

And who was leading the govt? Oh yea… That’s right. GW BUSH.

C’mon, let go with the BDS. You health will much improve….

 
Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 12:29:30

C’mon, stop ducking, weaving and bobbing. Your self-respect will much improve.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2012-03-01 20:59:39

Ya notice there were NO march for jobs post katrina?????

No jackson, sharpton waters nope all out to lunch…. so they had to import 15,000 illegals…

The culture of dependency and helplessness displayed by the left-behinds in post-Katrina New Orleans is FDR and LBJ’s faults.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 06:16:32

Realtors are charming.

Rent scam: Landlord didn’t own homes

A former real estate agent has been arrested for allegedly taking over foreclosed homes in Contra Costa County that weren’t his and renting them out to unsuspecting tenants, authorities said.

“Any con man is charming and gregarious, and this guy is a professional,” McCormick said. “People felt confident in renting from him.”

http://blog.sfgate.com/crime/2012/02/29/rent-scam-landlord-didnt-own-homes/ - -

Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 06:56:39

Nothing new under the sun. During the SoCal bust in the early 90’s the same thing happened there as well.

Comment by Awaiting
2012-03-01 07:40:53

Reminds me of the same a-holes I meet that are into investing in lawsuit settlements. Probably the same people.
One guy just got out of jail. (I didn’t ask him why.) Nice kid, but chasing the easy buck.

UHS=same type imho.

Comment by Carl Morris
2012-03-01 09:12:35

Nice kid, but chasing the easy buck.

What IS Casey up to these days, I wonder?

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Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 14:19:38

According to Wiki, the Serin parents declared Chap 13 BK and their Sacremento house was auctioned in April 2011. The last we heard of Casey was in mid 2011, when he tried to get financing to buy an island. That website was shut down recently. No news since.

 
2012-03-01 18:13:55

I have wasted far too much of my life on Caseypedia!

It was the Housing Bubble equivalent of a reality show. A bad one that you couldn’t take your eyes off of.

It always ended with water (or wine) up the nose with me laughing like crazy.

Good times, good times.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Hwy50ina49Dodge
2012-03-01 06:59:35

“Any con man is charming and gregarious, and this guy is a ProFEE$sional,”

They alway$ get that wrong …

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 08:41:18

A former real estate agent has been arrested for allegedly taking over foreclosed homes in Contra Costa County that weren’t his and renting them out

Gasp! You mean, he just t-t-takes them?! Without their being his?

Isn’t that exactly what you want the banksters to have the right to do? Take properties without needing to show ownership?

But I guess we can trust the banksters to tell the truth, right?

 
 
Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 06:19:04

America’s Credit and Housing Crisis: New State Bank Bills

Seventeen states have now introduced bills for state-owned banks, and others are in the works. Hawaii’s innovative state bank bill addresses the foreclosure mess. County-owned banks are being proposed that would tackle the housing crisis by exercising the right of eminent domain on abandoned and foreclosed properties. Arizona has a bill that would do this for homeowners who are current in their payments but underwater, allowing them to refinance at fair market value.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article33365.html

So in the Wall Street state of NY, could we possibly feel any sense of distance from the old system?

Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-02 01:39:08

This is awesome, and could be a great first step towards getting Wall Street’s hand off Joe Six Pack’s wallet.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2012-03-01 06:23:00

Here’s something interesting:

http://rt.com/usa/news/348-act-tresspass-buildings-437/

‘Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it. The US House of Representatives voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347 late Monday, a bill which is being dubbed the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011.’

So not having heard of this, I entered various parts of the bill number/names, etc, into a search at CNN.com. Nothing comes up. Then I put NDAA into the search engine. I got one relevant story and this:

Did you mean: Nada ?

Comment by Hwy50ina49Dodge
2012-03-01 06:52:25

“Here’s something interesting” Tanks, here eye’ll return the favor:

(Hwy50 looks for a refrigerator magnet on Mademoiselle Laurie’s refrigerator …)

“Every cause produces more than one effect.”
Herbert Spencer :-)

Nascar? … [a who'd thunk + a who done it!]

(Hwy50 looks east, watching …)

NASCAR driver’s car helps solve cold hit-and-run case:

By Jay Busbee | From The Marbles – 19 hours ago

“About four years ago, a young woman named Melissa Lech was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in suburban Chicago. Since then, her family had sought in vain for any clues about the identity of the driver.

Kevin Conway heard of Melissa’s story, and agreed to put her picture and information on the rear deck lid (what, in street cars, would be the trunk) of his Nationwide car for last September’s Chicagoland race. Still no word, until Sunday night.

According to ABC News, the following happened:

A stranger rang the doorbell of the home where Melissa’s sister, Michelle, lives with her husband. The man, who called himself Dave, sat down at the kitchen table and confessed.” …

 
Comment by poormancometh
2012-03-01 06:52:59

Nada - the amount politicians care about the citizens, regardless of party or class.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 06:59:09

So how long until they just rip up the constitution and bill of rights and stop pretending altogether that we are a nation of laws?

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:15:19

1986. Where have you been?

Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 11:46:10

I did say “stop pretending we are a nation of laws”.

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 13:32:14

:lol: Good point.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 07:13:13

Yes, but the President would never enforce this law, right?

Would dissent on the floor of Congress be considered “disruptive behavior”? Traitors are everywhere.

Is this another case of the Central Government being our only hope of protecting people’s rights against the evil states?

Comment by drumminj
2012-03-01 08:28:25

Is this another case of the Central Government being our only hope of protecting people’s rights against the evil states?

+1

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 13:36:01

States abuses of civil right, labor and safety laws is not some kind of hyperbole. It is real and there are thousands of cases of it every year.

Pick a state, ANY state, and google for the latest civil rights, labor and safety abuses that have ALREADY been judged and found against the state.

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 14:46:37

No doubt turkey. These are all important rights and wrongs. I expect the infractions are by people, not by whole states generally. It’s great that we have some unified laws regarding such things. That’s not the issue, the issue is abuse of power at the government level. What scares some of us is government that has, or thinks it has, so much power that it can silence dissent. Especially concerning for those of us who disagree about many things.

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Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 07:13:51

Or you could just read Bill, posted right on our transparent goverment website. It’s just a bill, just an ordinary bill, and it’s been sitting there on Capitol Hill since January 19, 2011, before Occupy was a gleam in anyone’s eye.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr347ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr347ih.pdf

The bill is four pages in really big print with really big margins.
Or, here’s the Summary from the CRS:

“11/17/2011–Reported to Senate amended.
Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011 - Amends the federal criminal code to revise the prohibition against entering restricted federal buildings or grounds to impose criminal penalties on anyone who knowingly enters any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority. Defines “restricted buildings or grounds” as a posted, cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of: (1) the White House or its grounds or the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds, (2) a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or (3) a building or grounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance.”

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:HR00347:@@@L&summ2=m&

Make of it what you will, but IMO, rt dot com really laid tin foil thick for their article.

Comment by Hwy50ina49Dodge
2012-03-01 07:29:37

“The US House of Representatives voted 388-to-3 in favor of H.R. 347″

Eyes don’t believe it, none it, all nonsense!

So, this is meant to protect lil’ Opie & Amtrak Joe, and “They” passed it?

“They” = The Do-nothing’s! / The TrueObstructionistia’$ / TrueGrid-Locker$ / Hold-the-Deficit-Ho$tage / “TrueSignthePledgeorelse!” / “Get lil’ Opie”

Eyes don’t believe it, none it, all nonsense!

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2012-03-01 07:31:56

‘really laid tin foil thick’

OK:

‘a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting’

Will be visiting? Other person protected by the Secret Service? A building or grounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance?

‘it’s been sitting there before Occupy was a gleam in anyone’s eye’

Yeah, and the Patriot Act was ’sitting there’ for years before Sept. 11th.

Maybe you’re right. Move along people, nothing to see here. You may not like what Wall Street does, but you can protest in your tents in the park. Oh, yeah you can’t do that.

Well you can protest in the street, right? No, that isn’t allowed either. National significance? Does that mean I can’t have a sit in at the Grand Canyon? Hold a sign in front of Elvis’ house?

That NDAA thing has tin foil hat written all over it. Did you know that a bill was attempted that would have made support for the Gaza flotilla terrorism? Just support or association, like saying something on a blog. And you know OWS is all tied up with the Anonymous hackers, who have attacked federal websites.

Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 07:37:38

The problem with abusive government is not the abuse itself, it’s the objection to the abuse by the abused.

Learned this from a battered wife.

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:18:18

I would have said the co-dependency and enabling, but I like the way you said it as well.

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 07:44:18

Regarding the Patriot act ’sitting there’ prior to 9/11, the Project for a New American Century theorized (wanted?) a “new Pearl Harbor” event to rev up the fascist war machine and the Patriot act was just gravy…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 08:19:37

This is indeed, documented fact.

Much the like the 2006 CITI Group Plutonomy report, which they have tried like hell to scrub from the Internet.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 14:33:01

The new definition of “restricted area” is a devil-in-the-details thing. I interpreted it as simply increasing punishment for people who knowingly try to block an area that is either permanently or temporarily cordoned off. You’re not allowed to protest in Michelle’s organic garden, because that’s within a security distance of the White House. Or, say the President and a foreign dignitary “will be visiting” Arlington Cemetary, so the Secret Service cordons that off for the day; you can’t hop the security fence. (Every other day, Arlington is wide open.) Or protestors are not allowed to knowingly block the door of a government office, trapping the workers inside. That’s what I thought this bill was trying to prevent.

Now, does this bill go far enough to allow for mass arrests in public places, or to cage up some Free Speech Zones on a public street? That doesn’t appear to be the intention, but again, the devil is in the details.

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Comment by Diogenes (Tampa, Fl)
2012-03-01 07:33:09

What you are witnessing is the conversion of the American system of “government by the people”, to the Soviet style system of government by the Politburo to rule the people (dictatorship of the proletariat). Witness Obama’s czars. Nothing could say it better.
We are rapidly being transformed by a bunch of federal agencies, answerable to no one, as they work to make everything they don’t “approve” illegal.
The Press is working hand in glove with the Politicos, as they see the “government” as the only legitimate form of power. Charlie Rose fawns at every governmental appointee, quizzing them about how they are going to create new “policies” to force people to the Good way of doing things. The people be damned. They deliberately hide stories like this, or put them in the back pages to leave the people ignorant of the plans being schemed up by this government.
It’s disgraceful, and unfortunately, with the welfare-state system currently in place, Half the people don’t care what rights are infringed by governmental edicts, so long as they get their “entitlement”. I never thought I would see this in my lifetime, but the rate of Constitutional disintegration is happening much, much faster than I had feared. All the agencies are now in place to have a complete fascist system of government where average Americans have little to no rights, at all.
WE just need to few more leftist appointees. And no, you defenders of leftist “do-gooders”, fascism is not a “right-wing” conspiracy, it’s about governmental CONTROL. That’s a leftist way of life. As long as it’s governmentally sponsored, it’s gooooood.
What could be wrong with government “health” care??

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2012-03-01 09:13:57

And no, you defenders of leftist “do-gooders”, fascism is not a “right-wing” conspiracy, it’s about governmental CONTROL. That’s a leftist way of life.

You know some people have really drank the cool-aid when they parrot the contortion that fascism is “not right-wing.”

“But, but, but NAZI had the word “Socialist” in it.”

lol

Comment by Ben Jones
2012-03-01 09:43:01

‘when they parrot the contortion that fascism is ‘not right-wing’

Dad, there are some armed men coming to the door!

Are they left or right wing?

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Comment by Northeastener
2012-03-01 10:20:58

Dad, there are some armed men coming to the door!

Are they are left or right wing?

Exactly… what difference to the Jews in Russia did a left-wing Communist government have when the KGB knocked on the door?

What difference to the Jews in Germany did a right-wing Fascist government like the Nazi’s have when the SS knocked on the door?

The arguement is always “the good of the many over the liberties of the few”. And I call bull on that. Intrusive government regardless of political leaning is the problem…

 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 12:04:04

“Are they are left or right wing?”

I don`t see any wings Dad, they got guns!

 
Comment by mathguy
2012-03-01 12:50:28

It’s even more funny that we accept the notion of a simple linear relationship of a left and right spectrum with the left being “liberal” and the right being “”conservative”. I mean, what happens if I want my state (not fed) to provide universal healthcare. I mean it’s states rights, but socialism. BOOM head exploded.

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2012-03-01 13:28:59

People only seem to be big on state’s rights when their party is out of power in DC.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 15:00:39

“People only seem to be big on state’s rights when their party is out of power in DC.”

To take that further; people don’t have much regard for the desires and concerns, even the needs of their fellows. Too often the only question is do we have the power to do this, not is it on the whole best for everyone if we do this. Crap goes through like a tidal wave on the change of majority. Why wouldn’t that make most everyone nervous? It is more scarrier [sic] for someone who doesn’t trust either party.

I actually remember a different time in this regard, when most people trusted the voices of authority, in either party, and a President disgraced was a nation disgraced, not one party disgraced with the other one doing the Happy Dance.

 
 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 12:23:50

U.N. Agreement Should Have All Gun Owners Up In Arms

6/07/2011 @ 2:04PM

It may not come as surprising news to many of you that the United Nations doesn’t approve of our Second Amendment. Not one bit. And they very much hope to do something about it with help from some powerful American friends. Under the guise of a proposed global “Small Arms Treaty” premised to fight “terrorism”, “insurgency” and “international crime syndicates” you can be quite certain that an even more insidious threat is being targeted – our Constitutional right for law-abiding citizens to own and bear arms.

While the terms have yet to be made public, if passed by the U.N. and ratified by our Senate, it will almost certainly force the U.S. to:

1.Enact tougher licensing requirements, creating additional bureaucratic red tape for legal firearms ownership.
2.Confiscate and destroy all “unauthorized” civilian firearms (exempting those owned by our government of course).
3.Ban the trade, sale and private ownership of all semi-automatic weapons (any that have magazines even though they still operate in the same one trigger pull – one single “bang” manner as revolvers, a simple fact the ant-gun media never seem to grasp).
4.Create an international gun registry, clearly setting the stage for full-scale gun confiscation.
5.In short, overriding our national sovereignty, and in the process, providing license for the federal government to assert preemptive powers over state regulatory powers guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment in addition to our Second Amendment rights.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/06/07/u-n-agreement-should-have-all-gun-owners-up-in-arms/ - 119k

The Right to Arms

Edward Abbey

If guns are outlawed
Only outlaws will have guns
(True? False? Maybe?)

Meaning weapons. The right to own, keep, and bear arms. A sword and a lance, or a bow and a quiverful of arrows. A crossbow and darts. Or in our time, a rifle and a handgun and a cache of ammunition. Firearms.

In medieval England a peasant caught with a sword in his possession would be strung up on a gibbet and left there for the crows. Swords were for gentlemen only. (Gentlemen!) Only members of the ruling class were entitled to own and bear weapons. For obvious reasons. Even bows and arrows were outlawed–see Robin Hood. When the peasants attempted to rebel, as they did in England and Germany and other European countries from time to time, they had to fight with sickles, bog hoes, clubs–no match for the sword-wielding armored cavalry of the nobility.

In Nazi Germany the possession of firearms by a private citizen of the Third Reich was considered a crime against the state; the statutory penalty was death–by hanging. Or beheading. In the Soviet Union, as in Czarist Russia, the manufacture, distribution, and ownership of firearms have always been monopolies of the state, strictly controlled and supervised. Any unauthorized citizen found with guns in his home by the OGPU or the KGB is automatically suspected of subversive intentions and subject to severe penalties. Except for the landowning aristocracy, who alone among the population were allowed the privilege of owning firearms, for only they were privileged to hunt, the ownership of weapons never did become a widespread tradition in Russia. And Russia has always been an autocracy–or at best, as today, an oligarchy.

In Uganda, Brazil, Iran, Paraguay, South Africa–wherever a few rule many–the possession of weapons is restricted to the ruling class and to their supporting apparatus: the military, the police, the secret police. In Chile and Argentina at this very hour men and women are being tortured by the most up-to-date CIA methods in the effort to force them to reveal the location of their hidden weapons. Their guns, their rifles. Their arms. And we can be certain that the Communist masters of modern China will never pass out firearms to their 800 million subjects. Only in Cuba, among dictatorships, where Fidel’s revolution apparently still enjoys popular support, does there seem to exist a true citizen’s militia.

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Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 12:38:50

The Right to Arms (continued)

Edward Abbey

There must be a moral in all this. When I try to think of a nation that has maintained its independence over centuries, and where the citizens still retain their rights as free and independent people; not many come to mind. I think of Switzerland. Of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland. The British Commonwealth. France, Italy. And of our United States.

When Tell shot the apple from his son’s head, he reserved in hand a second arrow, it may be remembered, for the Austrian tyrant Gessler. And got him too, shortly afterward. Switzerland has been a free country since 1390. In Switzerland basic. national decisions are made by initiative and referendum–direct democracy–and in some cantons by open-air meetings in which all voters participate. Every Swiss male serves a year in the Swiss Army and at the end of the year takes his government rifle home with him–where he keeps it for the rest of his life. One of my father’s grandfathers came from Canton Bern.

There must be a meaning in this. I don’t think I’m a gun fanatic. I own a couple of small-caliber weapons, but seldom take them off the wall. I gave up deer hunting fifteen years ago, when the hunters began to outnumber the deer. I am a member of the National Rifle Association, but certainly no John Bircher. I’m a liberal–and proud of it. Nevertheless, I am opposed, absolutely, to every move the state makes to restrict my right to buy, own, possess, and carry a firearm. Whether shotgun, rifle, or handgun.

Of course, we can agree to a few commonsense limitations. Guns should not be sold to children, to the certifiably insane, or to convicted criminals. Other than that, we must regard with extreme suspicion any effort by the government–Iocal, state, or national–to control our right to arms. The registration of firearms is the first step toward confiscation. The confiscation of weapons would be a major and probably fatal step into authoritarian rule–the domination of most of us by a new order of “gentlemen.” By anew and harder oligarchy,

The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an “equalizer.” Egalite implies liberte. And always will. Let us hope our weapons are never needed–but do not forget what the common people of this nation knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny.

If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military. The hired servants of our rules. Only the government–and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.

[Note about the Author: Edward Abbey lives in Wolf Hole, Arizona. A former ranger for the National Park Service, Abbey now describes himself as an "Agrarian anarchist." He writes frequently about the beauty of the American west and the ways in which that beauty has been spoiled by government, business, and tourism. His many books include such novels as Fire on the Mountain ( 1963), The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), and Good News (1980), and several collections of essays, such as Desert Solitaire (1968), Abbey's Road (1979), and, most recently, Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside (1984 ). As the following 1979 essay reveals, Abbey values the importance of the individual in a world in which individuals are at risk.]

 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 13:22:31

Edward Abbey died on March 14, 1989,[31] at the age of 62, in his home in Tucson, Arizona. His death was due to complications from surgery; he suffered four days of esophageal hemorrhaging, due to esophageal varices, a recurrent problem with one group of veins.[32] Showing his sense of humor, he left a message for anyone who asked about his final words: “No comment.” Abbey also left instructions on what to do with his remains: Abbey wanted his body transported in the bed of a pickup truck, and wished to be buried as soon as possible. He did not want to be embalmed or placed in a coffin. Instead, he preferred to be placed inside of an old sleeping bag, and requested that his friends disregard all state laws concerning burial. “I want my body to help fertilize the growth of a cactus or cliff rose or sagebrush or tree.” said the message. For his funeral, Abbey stated “No formal speeches desired, though the deceased will not interfere if someone feels the urge. But keep it all simple and brief.” He requested gunfire and bagpipe music, a cheerful and raucous wake, “[a]nd a flood of beer and booze! Lots of singing, dancing, talking, hollering, laughing, and lovemaking.”

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2012-03-01 15:07:07

Canada just trashed their gun registry. It’s gone.

I am trying to remember one good thing the UN has given us….

The Adlai Stevenson Error Postal Stamp! That was a great one for the philatelists back in the day. They just kept printing and printing them.

 
 
 
Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 09:35:24

Don’t give up so fast on the American people.

Once the cutbacks in entitlement begin and the taxes go up, people will get pretty testy.

I expect full fledged war with Iran or Spain by that time. One that will end badly and tilt the power back to the people.

 
Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 09:38:14

Yup. And get used to it until 2017 :)

 
 
Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 10:15:18

Response to the Gabby Giffords event?

‘Just when you thought the government couldn’t ruin the First Amendment any further: The House of Representatives approved a bill on Monday that outlaws protests in instances where some government officials are nearby, whether or not you even know it.

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 11:03:54

Sarah Palin caused Jared Loughner to go batsh*t and shoot Gabby. It’s true.

 
 
Comment by cactus
2012-03-01 10:55:32

What does the Government fear ?

Does it predict some savage future because of hard choices it must make? because its broke ?

 
 
Comment by Darrell_in_PHX
2012-03-01 07:04:11

I don’t see it as realistic, but I’d kind of like to see Romney win the White House. I’d love to hear the Republicans’ excuses for continuing $1T+ deficits, continuing stimulus, continued weak recovery… Not to mention then all flip-flopping on whether 0% interest rates and QE t the moon are good things.

We have zero chance of real change until both parties have utterly failed to “fix it”.

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 07:38:33

“real change”?

Not gonna happen. Obama will be re-elected this year. You’ll see…

 
Comment by Awaiting
2012-03-01 07:49:35

Darrell
You’re right about both parties failing, but that is past tense. Unlike you, I don’t see a fix. The sacrifices are too great.

 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 08:27:47

I probably like that too although I can’t bring myself to vote for Romney. I could see Democrats embracing OWS fully if Romney is the Prez. That may lead to some changes…like Nixon going to China.

I will go out on a limb and predict one thing that America doesn’t need and has no use for it, but we are going to get it. Romney wins electoral votes and Obama popular votes. Civil war redux.

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 09:21:25

Civil war? The internet-tough-guy tea party types would welcome an excuse to brandish all the weaponry they’ve been hoarding since O was elected. But the other side won’t be interested in a “battle” since they’ll be too busy stealing shoes from Foot Locker and looting flatscreens…

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 09:42:29

It’s the silent types you have to worry about. Internet-tough-guy are just that internet tough.

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Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 10:02:21

Worry not. Eric Holder has a task force to neutralize all you lone wolf types :)

 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:21:20

Eric Holder is too busy with the “hate crimes” that never happened. Big sister though, that’s some scary $hit.

 
 
 
Comment by polly
2012-03-01 14:22:46

If Romney wins the electoral college and Obama wins the popular vote, then Romney wins the election. That is the way the system works. It isn’t even that hard to do given the number of small population states that are red vs. the number that are blue. Civil war? Over what? Your example is an election of Romney.

Now, would a bunch of people then propose and try to get a Constitutional amendment for a direct popular vote based election of the president? Yeah, of course. And it might even have legs. But I don’t think it would get approved by 3/4’s of the states, so it wouldn’t be successful.

 
 
 
Comment by rms
2012-03-01 07:50:54

Here’s a comment from The Atlantic

***

James Buff:

I bought my first home in 2003, at age 29. I was married, 2-incomes around $100K/yr, the house was a $180K 2-story on the lake in north Dallas metro. It was definitely a 2-income house…until the 2nd income decided to run off with a guy from work. I sold the house for what I owed on it just to get out of the mortgage, which means I lost money because we had put $15K down. Lesson learned: don’t buy more than you can afford by yourself, because you never know when your girlfriend/wife of 10 years will decide that she wants out.

I bought my second home in 2005, at age 31. I was single, 1-income around $65K/yr, the house was a $120K 1-story about 5 blocks from house #1 up there. I sold it in 2011 to relocate for a job in Denver…and had to write a $16K check to get out of it. I did everything right: paid 2 extra payments to principal each year, did all the maintenance myself, kept the house clean and tidy. The sale price matched what the county had appraised it for in 2003. Lesson learned: renting is cheaper than buying, if you aren’t sure that you will be in the same job/town for 30 years.

Now I’m 37, with no equity to transfer into a new home, in a massively inflated housing market (Denver, compared to Texas). I have a good job ($100K+/yr), but I have ZERO motivation to own a home. Having lost money on the first two, even after working and saving and doing everything right has taken its toll. My girlfriend has a 4 year old daughter who would love to have a back yard and some privacy, but I don’t know how to tell her that I’d rather just keep renting my apartment that is 1.4 miles from work and has a garage to store my car at night.

The hidden killer to home deals (I’ve found) is the transaction costs. I sold my second home for asking-price, but paid the other person’s closing (they came to the deal with good credit but no cash) and my own transaction costs, it’s insane to me that the transaction cost is roughly ~10% of the sale price of the home.

And now that home listings are searchable on the internet, all you really need a real estate agent for is to open the door at the property. For both of my interactions with a real estate agent, neither one showed an ability to (a) remember what I had told them (stop bringing me -20% cash offers on my house, I can’t write a $30K check to sell it) or (b) any kind of haggling skills whatsoever - “here’s what they offered, do you accept?”. Agents are increasingly becoming an irrelevant part of the process.

“The End of Ownership: Why Aren’t Young People Buying More Houses?”
http://tinyurl.com/7oac9u6 (the atlantic)

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 07:57:57

“massively inflated housing market (Denver, compared to Texas)”

+1

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 08:37:45

A friend bought a home in Denver late 2008. I caught up with him last fall. He’s underwater and thinks he needs to stay in the house for 10 years to break-even.

Another friend bought a home in East Bay area Summer 2010. Same fate as the Denver friend.

 
Comment by ragerunner
2012-03-01 13:21:15

The Denver housing market is absolutely still over inflated. (I live in the region with a job that allows me to monitor development and prices very closely.) Prices have been falling but are still very high related to income. What has helped Denver is job loses and housing prices drops have not been as severe as many places, allowing the games to continue on at a much slower pace.

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 13:59:08

“absolutely still over inflated”

Yup. And the people I know here who are at or below median income levels can’t or won’t buy. And the ones who do need 2 incomes to buy and would be badly squeezed if one of those incomes decreased or disappeared.

I’m told that life as a renter really sucks. After “throwing money away on rent” today I have all this money left over that I didn’t throw away on a mortgage and can easily afford to go camping and climbing in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains this weekend.

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Comment by Hwy50ina49Dodge
2012-03-01 08:04:31

“Agent$ are increasingly becoming an irrelevant part of the proce$$.”

Hwy stands, puts his hands together behind his back, looks East, … [smiles] … thinks about the number of days possibly remaining, thinks of his children, their ages, thinks about America, is consistent with the feeling he won’t live to see it come to fruition:

“irrelevant” + “Agent$”

“How much is that doggie in the window?”

 
Comment by Diogenes (Tampa, Fl)
2012-03-01 08:18:07

For both of my interactions with a real estate agent, neither one showed an ability to (a) remember what I had told them (stop bringing me -20% cash offers on my house, I can’t write a $30K check to sell it) or (b) any kind of haggling skills whatsoever - “here’s what they offered, do you accept?”. Agents are increasingly becoming an irrelevant part of the process…….

What most people don’t know about real estate laws (again, government agents protecting the people) is that in many States, i know particularly in Florida), the agent is REQUIRED BY LAW to Submit ‘ANY AND ALL OFFERS’. The rationale being that situations change and the Seller has often not communicated with the agent any change in his/her situation.
What is not said here, is that, in spite of the fact the agent did not bring an offer that the Seller said was “acceptable”, the Seller did, in fact, ACCEPT an offer that was much less than they said they would take. Is this the agents fault??
The truth is, although the seller got a bad deal (and I agree the transaction costs make real estate a bad deal whenever the hold period is less than 10 years), he would have had NO DEAL, had he not gotten the low-bid offers.
He, perhaps should have done a FSBO, but then, people who go after FSBO’s do so for the same reason that the seller puts it on the market without an agent……..to save the fees, meaning, they usually offer even less.
Transaction costs make lots of good deals bad deals.

Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 10:17:52

Heh…

Reminds me when we sold our place in West Pawlet.

4 years after buying it we put it on the market 33% higher than we paid. 3 weeks after listing it, offer comes in 20% under list…. Accept? “we want full price”. They come back 15% under list…. Nope, “full price”. Then 10% under list…. Nope, “full price”. Then 5% under list…. Nope, “full price”. Then “we’ll offer full price but we want the big Kubota with all the implements”. Nope.

They paid full price. lmao.

I don’t think they could sell it today for what I sold it for 12 years ago.

 
 
Comment by Anon In DC
2012-03-01 15:48:19

I suspect for the second purchase that despite his claim he did not do everything right. I bet he paid too much. He did keep it 5 - 7 years the length needed to break even - at least pre bubble.

 
 
Comment by Sammy Schadenfreude
2012-03-01 07:51:12

http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GGGB1YR:IND

Why buy a house as an “investment’ when you can get those ultra-safe Greek one-year bonds closing in on 900% interest p/a?

Just don’t waste your money buying CDOs as insurance. As of today those aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

Comment by Liz Pendens
2012-03-01 09:04:41

Blue Horseshoe loves Greek Bonds.

 
 
Comment by ROBOT
2012-03-01 09:12:34

It is harder to see this type of news in MSM for me these days.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fannie-mae-reports-fourth-quarter-loss-2012-02-29
Fannie Mae reports fourth-quarter loss
Fannie Mae will request another $4.6 billion in U.S. government aid
Fannie Mae will request another $4.6 billion in U.S. government aid

–Fight with Bank of America may lead to additional aid requests

–Credit expenses increased from a year ago to $5.51 billion

(Updated with details about bailout costs, details about Bank of America loans and new information throughout.)

Fannie Mae FNMA will request another $4.6 billion in U.S. government aid after posting a $2.41 billion loss in the fourth quarter, the mortgage finance company said Wednesday.

Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 09:41:38

Fannie be tender with our cash
You know how easy it is to spend it

“Fannie Mae FNMA will request another $4.6 billion in U.S. government aid after posting a $2.41 billion loss in the fourth quarter,”

Sounds like those people at Fannie Mae are doing a fine job. How about another big bonus for them. After all they could have requested another $9.2 billion and posted a $4.82 billion loss in the fourth quarter. Lets give credit where credit is due. Jesus how long is this cr@p gonna go on?

 
Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 09:51:30

Let’s not forget the FHA is in a similar position. That’s been what I’ve been wondering. I’ve been seeing lots of chatter on Fannie, Freddie, and FHA being wound down soon but certainly that would never be done w/o some sort of program taking their place.

11/14/11
Reuters

The Federal Housing Administration’s cash reserves have dropped so low that there is a close to a 50 percent chance it could run out of funds and may require a taxpayer bailout next year, the Wall Street Journal said, citing an annual independent audit of the agency’s finances.

The audit estimated that the value of the agency’s reserves were $2.6 billion as of end-September, down 45 percent from a year ago, according to the newspaper.

http://wsau.com/news/articles/2011/nov/15/federal-housing-administration-running-low-on-cash-report/

 
 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 09:12:45

Breaking news. Breitbart is dead.

Comment by goon squad
2012-03-01 09:27:31

Read about that this morning…

But where will Matt Drudge get his talking points, non-news headlines from now?

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 09:39:02

Why the same place as always… where the sun don’t shine. :lol:

Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 12:53:57

yep…. pulled…. directly out of his @$$.

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Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 10:20:22

Good riddance.

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 10:26:29

I will shed no tears on that one. Sometimes people are so full of anger, their hearts pop. Or else he was a pill-head- the ‘legal’ drug (especially if you’re rich), much beloved by our moralists. Time will tell…

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:11:40

Read before clicking submit. You just outed yourself as the one with anger. You and Breitbart are cut of the same cloth.

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 11:33:37

Don’t make me punch my hand through the wall again!!!!

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Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:41:27

Do it! I dare you.

 
 
 
Comment by ahansen
2012-03-01 11:47:29

The man had cardiac issues, metaphoric as well as physical, and in his passing finally has something worthwhile to teach us; hate does indeed, kill. But he once called me out as ‘the coolest person in the room” at an ultra-rightist fundraiser– and I felt oddly honored, so what does that make me?

There’s a little bit of attention-whore in all of us….

RIP Andrew Breitbart. I’ve never meant that more sincerely.

Comment by MrBubble
2012-03-01 16:54:09

I almost snuffed it two years ago with cardiac issues at 39 with a our first little one on the way. Think “widowmaker”. Tons of biking, no fast food, a bit overweight, no smoking or drugs. So much is dependent on one’s genetic makeup.

AH — thanks for the chook info last night. Now I just have to figure out when Easter is! I can see you as the coolest in the room too.

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Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 11:08:10

“43, natural causes” says CNN. What natural causes are there when you’re 43?

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:15:08

Thought that was weird, too. 3 years ago, a friend of a friend didn’t wake up the next morning when he was 32. We were told natural causes at first. Postmortem showed “brain seizure.”

 
Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 11:15:21

Let me guess… He was another social conservative, married, gay and died of complications from AIDS/HIV.

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 11:36:17

He was in hollyweird for one thing.

Mercy mercy me. I don’t want to speak ill of the dead.

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Comment by Elanor
2012-03-01 11:18:26

He could have had a heart attack. Or a brain aneurysm that ruptured. Alcohol and some drugs could be thought of as “natural”.

 
Comment by Muggy
2012-03-01 18:18:28

“What natural causes are there when you’re 43?”

Hell, everything is natural. One of my friends was once saying, “Did you know McDonald’s sprays chemicals on their burgers to make them taste like that?” as he salted his pizza. LMFAO.

“so what does that make me?”

Allena, it means that you are good at reminding us all how to live with compassion. Ultra-rightests occasionally have those moments of… compassion. Sometimes.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 11:16:51

Now they suspect heart problems. Breitbart had had heart problem a year ago, and he apparently keeled over while taking a walk.

Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 11:51:13

FWIW, I know way too many people who keeled over from heart problems in their 40’s, and they weren’t land whales either.

Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 16:36:06

Will Anthony Weiner be sending flowers? Will the flag be at half-staff at the ACORN offices? Are there still ACORN offices? Oh well, after reading these comments I have an even better understanding of the compassion that liberals always say they have. Breitbart leaves behind a wife and four children. And you get on me for wanting people to pay for the houses they are living in.

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Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 18:19:59

I hope the deadbeats implode too. And Limbard has an aneurysm.

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 20:11:39

Breitbart leaves behind a wife and four children.

Most everyone who dies leaves behind some friends and family. Does that mean that every obituary has to be all sunshine and lollipops? (’Stalin loved puppies and walks on the beach’)

If you’re in the public sphere, and you’re as caustic and as Breitbart was, you should expect a lot worse than I gave when you kick. He sure could dish it out when he was alive.

 
 
Comment by Robin
2012-03-02 00:23:47

Lack of heart can cause an early demise.

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Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 09:12:57

Ghosts of Deadbeats past.

I know someone was sick of hearing Whitney Houston`s I`ll always love you last week almost driving them to popping a cap in something. So I thought her cousin would be a nice change of pace.

I’ll Never Love This Way Again Lyrics
Artist: Dionne Warwick

You looked inside my documents and said this is good for you,
something no one else had ever found a way to do.
I’ve missed my payments one by one, since you took me in;
and I know I’ll never live for free way again.

I know I’ll never live for free way again,
so I keep holdin’ on until the Robos gone.
I know I’ll never live for free again,
hold on, hold on, hold on.

A fool will lose tomorrow paying back for yesterday;
I won’t turn my head in sorrow when they make me go away.
I’ll stand here and remember just how good it’s been,
and I know I’ll never live for free again.

I know I’ll never live for free again,
so I keep holdin’ on before the good is gone.
I know I’ll never live for free again,
hold on, hold on, hold on.

I know I’ll never live for free again,
so I keep holdin’ on before the good is gone.
I know I’ll never live for free again,
hold on, hold on.

Repeat last 4 lines and fade.

Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-01 11:52:23

Ah, but it was good while it lasted: New Escalades and trips to Disney and the Bahamas.

 
 
Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 09:22:49

Banksters making a play to grab all that 401k money just sitting around not paying them fees:

There is one other reason that retirement analysts are rethinking the 401(k). Financial services firms — the mutual funds, insurance companies and investment managers who currently are holding that $4.3 trillion for the nation’s workers — don’t want to hand it over when the baby boom generation asks for its cash.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/last-401-k-generation-193348772.html

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 09:44:39

Which is EXACTLY what they want to do with Social Security and why there is so much propaganda about it being “broke”.

Comment by Neuromance
2012-03-01 12:51:41

It occurred to me some time ago that the pillorying of Social Security was also playing right into the hands of the financial sector.

Now, I don’t know whether Social Security is indeed in trouble. But running to the financial industry for wealth building is like running to a hungry tiger for safety.

Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 13:38:53

Gen X & Y FAR outnumber the boomers and are already in the workforce.

After them is the “millenials”

Do the math.

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Comment by Kirisdad
2012-03-01 10:18:34

For 4 years now we’ve hearing; pensions=bad/ 401k’s=good. Now, i’ts the opposite? WTF? They can’t keep changing the bogeyman.

Comment by oxide
2012-03-01 11:11:14

4 years or 40?

 
Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 11:12:22

Oh yes they CAN!

Churn, baby churn!

 
 
 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 09:38:49

The PMI registered 52.4 percent, a decrease of 1.7 percentage points from January’s reading of 54.1 percent, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 31st consecutive month. The New Orders Index registered 54.9 percent, a decrease of 2.7 percentage points from January’s reading of 57.6 percent, reflecting the 34th consecutive month of growth in new orders.

Is the math right here? Shouldn’t it be 3.14% and 4.68% respectively?

 
Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 10:31:57

California AG announces homeowner bill of rights

Looks like more delays are being planned for the Professor and other hbb Californians.

Out of the $40 billion in total benefits that are expected to flow from the $25 billion settlement, California is set to emerge with some $18 billion, (CA AG Kamala) Harris claims, although details of the settlement have yet to be released.

On Tuesday, Harris also intensified her fight against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed mortgage giants, over their foreclosure procedures.

In California the entities control more than 60 percent of the mortgage market and were not part of the $25 billion national settlement announced earlier this month.

While the big banks suspended foreclosures for a period after it emerged that officials had been filing irregular paperwork to evict homeowners, Fannie and Freddie have refused to suspend any foreclosures.

Harris called on them to halt foreclosures until they had undertaken a study into whether reducing the size of loans, rather than forcing homeowners in mortgage arrears to leave their properties, was a better course of action.

Edward DeMarco, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie, has resisted “principal reductions” for borrowers behind on their payments, despite the Obama administration’s support for the idea.

Appearing before a Senate housing panel on Tuesday, DeMarco said writing down mortgages would not be beneficial to Fannie and Freddie and was the least effective way to help homeowners.

Harris has repeatedly called on him to resign, saying he has not done enough to help struggling homeowners.

(Reporting By Tim Reid; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/01/us-usa-housing-harris-idUSTRE82004R20120301

Comment by Robin
2012-03-02 00:28:01

KHarris - you are our heroine!

 
 
Comment by cactus
2012-03-01 10:43:20

Short sales on the rise

Short sales are starting to become the preferred method for banks to dispose of properties in default. In short sales, borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth agree with their bank to sell their homes at the lower market value. In return, the bank agrees to absorb the loss.

During the last quarter of 2011, there were more than 88,000 short sales, up 15% compared with a year earlier, according to RealtyTrac. Short sales comprised 10% of all homes sold during the quarter.

Meanwhile, sales of bank-owned homes fell 12% year-over-year to 116,000, comprising 13% of all sales during the quarter.

“That trend will likely show up in more local markets in 2012 as lenders recognize short sales as a better option for many of their non-performing loans,” said Moore.

Comment by Carl Morris
2012-03-01 10:58:22

It’s about time. Patiently waiting to see good choices around here. Not holding my breath, though. I doubt the bank is just going to give it away.

 
 
Comment by Housing Wizard
2012-03-01 11:07:38

Haven’t posted for a while ,

In my view it doesn’t matter who gets elected for President or Congress ,after they get in the Big Money powers and the lobby system will control everything .

We are beyond having a Political system that will respond to the people in the final analysis .

A Military/Industrial Complex takeover occurred ,and there is no getting around it .

The only thing to do now is boycott and refuse to do business with these Corrupt Monopoly Corporations and Financial systems .

A free market economy is a joke anyway now because Big Monopolies take away the free market because nobody can get big enough to offer competition .

The main stream media is a disinformation machine now that is owned by the Big Money .

Our jobs went elsewhere because it was a benefit to the profit margins of the Big Corporations and Money Middle Men . Exploiting other Countries was part of the game of the greed machine that is
in control of everything now .

You can call your Congressman until your blue in the face ,what ends up happening is what will benefit the current POWERS in control .

They are all Madmen who could care less about the damage they cause World Wide ,or what damage they do to people in general . To them people are there to be used ,or killed ,or exploited ,or to pay for their damage or for them to expand . The Government is suppose to be the pawn of these Forces and taxes are to be levied to benefit them .

It really is a bizarre Cancer that is out of control . While people don’t really like war ,war benefits these Powerful forces so they will create it and lie about the real reasons .

The current POWERS that control everything are the greatest threat
to mankind currently . Given enough rope they have the potential of destroying everything and they have already done a good job of screwing up things ,just because they can . They have no alligence to anything ,except excessive profit and power . They have no regard for the people they claim to serve . They don’t care if people starve ,and they are so stupid in their greed that they have the potential of destroying themselves in their quest for World control .

The Medical system in America will collaspe from it own greed and
if the truth be known ,the Pharm Industry ( which is one of the biggest business in the World ) has cause harm by their medications, because they don’t really cure ,and in a lot of cases the side effects cause more damage and the meds just mask the disease . its Diet and lifestyle that has more bearing on health than anything . THe Food industry that is another big Monopoly business has been feeding us crap and processed food ,and this is all in the name of greater profit rather than really nourishing the population .

Our Medical system that evolved into being Pharm drug based will be looked at 50 years from now as the of the biggest harms to Society and was entirely money moviated rather than the motive to cure and keep the population healthy .

The Bee Hive is under attack from within ,and its at the point now where actions are so anti productive that it verges on anti life and anti sanity .

You have to take the power away from something this evil ,but the normal ways to control this by voting has been taken away in that
they control the Politicans and Government now . The Supreme Court gave the Corporations the power to fix elections .

Refusing to do business with them is one method of voting ,because your rulers are now BIG BUSINESS . Not to say that they didn’t always have a lot of power ,but now its off the charts and to the point of such a destructive potential ,they can push us back into the dark ages .

Refuse to engage to the point you can . Forget about the Politicians saving the day ,they are traitors . Take control of your own life and
only support dollar wise that which is beneficial to mankind .
Dont do business with industry that pollutes for instance .

Anyway its all talk until the power base shifts back to the people ,or at least is more balanced . Regulation is necessary because these big forces have proven that they can’t regulate themselves and they are not pillars of Society ,they are exploiters of Society .

This is another time in history where it is necessary for rebellion ,or go along with the corrupted systems that will destroy the BEE HIVES .
Are these Industries here to serve we the people ,or are we here to serve them to our own destruction ?

I could go on and on ,but I won’t .

Comment by butters
2012-03-01 12:06:50

the Pharm Industry ( which is one of the biggest business in the World ) has cause harm by their medications, because they don’t really cure ,and in a lot of cases the side effects cause more damage and the meds just mask the disease .

All the 70 year olds will have a full head of hair and permanent erecti0n one day. You have problem with that?

Comment by b-hamster
2012-03-01 12:11:39

And no more Restless Leg Syndrome.

Comment by Al
2012-03-01 13:22:58

“It’s great doc, I can finally rest a night without my legs twitching around. On the other hand, the dry mouth and rectal bleeding are becoming tiresome….”

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Comment by turkey lurkey
2012-03-01 13:48:50

Little known fact: the real reason for the American Revolution was the criminal abuses by the East India Co. which at the time, was the real English government.

That’s right, a transnational corporation controlled its government and was exploiting everything in sight.

Not long after that was the French revolution.

 
Comment by rms
2012-03-02 02:04:20

In my view it doesn’t matter who gets elected for President or Congress ,after they get in the Big Money powers and the lobby system will control everything .

We are beyond having a Political system that will respond to the people in the final analysis .

A Military/Industrial Complex takeover occurred ,and there is no getting around it .

I agree, HW. It doesn’t really matter which party’s ventriloquist dummy goes to Washington because the White House is completely infested with neo-con financial termites.

 
 
Comment by jeff saturday
2012-03-01 11:37:40

Just look away Darrell, just look away!

Fed chair warns that US is heading for ‘massive fiscal cliff’

by: Kristina Peterson and Michael R. Crittenden From:
Dow Jones Newswires March 01, 2012 7:26AM

The central banker faced nearly three hours of questioning from House lawmakers, who tried to nudge the chairman into hinting where the government should trim its federal budget deficit. While Mr Bernanke agreed with Republican lawmakers that a careful eye must be trained on rising health-care costs, he refrained from making any political assessments of where the federal budget should be cut. Mr Bernanke repeated a warning that the country faces a “massive fiscal cliff” at the end of the year when the Bush-era tax cuts and the current payroll-tax break expire and automatic spending cuts are scheduled to kick in.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/economics/fed-chair-warns-that-us-is-heading-for-massive-fiscal-cliff/story-e6frg926-1226285743870

Comment by b-hamster
2012-03-01 11:45:04

It’sgood to see a good domestic MSM reporting on this.

 
Comment by Posers
2012-03-01 16:34:25

As I’ve said numerous times on this board.

Taxes are going WAY UP starting in January, and will negatively affect everyone on this board. That, together with massive spending cuts, spells disaster.

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 20:13:37

Spoken like a Keynesian.

 
Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 21:00:04

WHAT taxes?

 
 
 
Comment by butters
2012-03-01 12:48:32

Not sure what to make of it

The Bank of Israel will begin today a pilot program to invest a portion of its foreign currency reserves in U.S. equities.

The investment, which in the initial phase will amount to 2 percent of the $77 billion reserves, or about $1.5 billion, will be made through UBS AG and BlackRock Inc. (BLK), Bank of Israel spokesman Yossi Saadon said in a telephone interview today. At a later stage, the investment is expected to increase to 10 percent of the reserves.

Comment by Steve J
2012-03-01 13:38:44

Sucker!

 
Comment by polly
2012-03-01 14:36:38

One of the guys to successfully run Fidelity’s Magellan Fund used to live in my home town and they moved to Israel after he made his bundle. I think he later was in on starting Israel’s equivalent of Staples.

Wonder if he has any input into this?

 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2012-03-01 13:01:59

As these regulations grow bigger and more abstruse, with more and more exceptions and caveats, they all grow from their given name (Dodd-Frank, Volcker, Buffet, etc) to the Sound And Fury Rule. Which, to adapt Shakespeare, is a rule written by lobbyists, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Bernanke Says Dodd-Frank’s Volcker Rule Won’t Be Ready by July 21 Deadline
By Craig Torres and Cheyenne Hopkins - Feb 29, 2012 1:03 PM ET
Bloomberg

“I don’t think it will be ready for July,” Bernanke said in response to a question during testimony today to the House Financial Services Committee in Washington. “Just a few weeks ago we closed the comment period, we have about 17,000 comments, we have a lot of very difficult issues to go through, so I don’t know the exact date.”

Difficult issues eh? Yes, I’m sure it is difficult to timorously attempt to reduce the profits of (and the political contributions) of the highly connected. After the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, these supposed leaders can’t bring themselves to make any substantive changes to prevent the next crisis. They just preen, strut, bloviate and ultimately do nothing. Ultimately, it’s the politicians responsible for this, so I don’t merely blame the regulators, though they are certainly complicit.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/bernanke-says-dodd-frank-s-volcker-rule-won-t-be-ready-by-july-21-deadline.html

Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 13:32:24

Bernanke and his 12 moneychangers own the White House, Congress and SCOTUS.

Why?

 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2012-03-01 13:06:15

Banks Need Simpler, Tougher Capital Standards: Phil Angelides
By Phil Angelides Feb 26, 2012 7:02 PM ET
Bloomberg

When JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon appeared before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, he testified that he told his daughter a financial crisis is something that happens every five to seven years. That observation turned out to be overly optimistic.

Heh. Something the financial industry precipitates and from which becomes yet wealthier.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-27/banks-need-simpler-tougher-capital-standards-phil-angelides.html

 
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-01 14:08:08

So long as the stock market keeps going up, who gives a flying fork about oil prices?

Bulletin » U.S. stocks finish higher with Dow industrials climbing 28 points

March 1, 2012, 3:38 p.m. EST
Oil tops $110 amid talk of Saudi pipeline fire
By Laura Mandaro

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Oil futures broke through $110 a barrel in electronic trading after the close of New York floor trading Thursday. Oil for April delivery (CLJ2 +2.06%) rose as high as $110.55 and recently traded up $1.11, or 0.9%, from its Thursday settlement of $108.84 a barrel.

 
Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 15:33:42

Realtors Are Con Artists

 
Comment by Realtors Are Liars®
2012-03-01 16:22:52

GOP Godfather Rush Limbard: “If you use contraceptives, you’re a slut.”

 
Comment by Neuromance
2012-03-01 17:04:19

OWS gets into the Wall Street regulation game.

Occupy Vigilantes Write New Volcker Rule Script: Susan Antilla
By Susan Antilla Feb 29, 2012 7:02 PM ET
Bloomberg

Occupy Wall Street and its working groups, including Occupy the SEC, were supposed to be dead, in case you missed the obituaries. Now the protesters are messing with detractors’ heads with the emergence of a media-savvy collection of legal, banking and activist members who come off as sane and authoritative. This is not the way the Occupy bashers’ “welfare-bum hippies” propaganda script was supposed to play out.

On Feb. 13, seven writers who described themselves as “concerned citizens, activists and financial professionals” filed a 325-page comment letter to financial regulators, outlining their concerns about loopholes in the “Let’s Try to Avoid the Next Financial Crisis” proposal known as the Volcker rule.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-01/occupy-the-sec-writes-new-volcker-rule-script-commentary-by-susan-antilla.html

Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 21:03:24

Awesome!

“Even veteran activists who advocate regularly for the public were wowed. “They understood the nonsense in the proposed rule,” said Bartlett Naylor, financial policy counsel at Public Citizen’s Congress Watch. Public Citizen, which also wrote a Volcker comment letter, was “humbled” by the Occupy effort, Naylor said.

Along with Goldstein, 31, who quit her job as a business analyst in Deutsche Bank’s technology department in 2010, the founding members of Occupy the SEC include Akshat Tewary, a former Kaye Scholer LLP lawyer who today specializes in immigration law; Caitlin Kline, a former credit derivatives trader; and a mysterious guy who calls himself “George Bailey” and claims to have spent 30 years working at compliance and accounting jobs at financial firms. ”

Straight out of mom and dad’s basement, eh? This ain’t your grandma’s TeaParty!

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2012-03-01 17:31:18

Reorganization starting at the office. A few 30+ year vets at 6 figures getting blindsided. Very uncomfortable in that environment. Nobody has freaked out (yet).

I only play a generational sniper tough guy on the interwebs, but wow, in real life there are plenty of real ones out there that love to see “old” people get canned.

I also find it disturbing the number of people that are enjoying certain people “getting it.”

Apparently rising too fast is a reason to be disliked.

2012-03-01 18:10:57

Firstly, schadenfreude is one of the great joys of life. Embrace it!

Secondly, nobody likes to see people suffer but in a mania, and this one has lasted since 1981-ish, it’s inevitable that a lot of babies are gonna get tossed out with the (very filthy) bathwater.

 
Comment by alpha-sloth
2012-03-01 21:14:19

30+ year vets with 6 figure incomes probably have some fat pensions coming to them after they’re ‘canned’. The young guys without a chance at the same pensions probably feel little sympathy. The old guys will get full social security and medicare too.

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2012-03-01 18:31:41

A student played this at a graduation a few years ago… odd how it was Bush that was pres. then, but this song feels more relevant now.

To me, this is mind-blowingly genius.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA

Comment by CarrieAnn
2012-03-01 20:17:57

Luved the graphics. Pretty powerful lyrics too. Thanks for suggesting.

 
Comment by Robin
2012-03-02 00:16:06

Muggy video powerful.

Muggy not so much! - :)

Comment by Muggy
2012-03-02 03:46:08

I don’t know what you mean.

 
 
 
Comment by Muggy
2012-03-01 19:15:13

Comment by rms
2012-02-29 22:52:05

Cheaper, sure, but we can’t afford “cheaper” with half of our income.

Car loans too?

—————

I paid cash for my Ford 500. Those were back in the good old days of 2008 when we were DINK and renters! Cha-ching!

Trust me, the math truly does not work. If you really want me to lay it out, I can tomorrow. I’d love input, but basically we’re locked.

When the kids are in daycare, and my wife is done with grad school, we will be back banking 2-3k/month.

Comment by Muggy
2012-03-01 19:17:55

in = out of

2012-03-01 19:30:19

Banking $2-3K is nothing to sneer about.

Almost nobody does that. It’s rarer than hens’ teeth.

Comment by Muggy
2012-03-01 19:48:57

I know… that’s why I’m not too stressed over it. It is what it is (in 2 years grad school and daycare (mostly) will be memories).

BTW, Blue, my wife’s grad school will result in professional certification and a $20k raise. More than pays for itself in one year.

Sanskrit really pays off!

(Comments wont nest below this level)
2012-03-01 20:17:26

Only if you dream!

Good luck to your wife with the Monier-Williams.

 
 
Comment by rms
2012-03-01 20:42:03

Banking $2-3K is nothing to sneer about.

I am saving an additional $1k/mo now that the mortgage is paid-off and still one income. If my other half ever earns anything she’ll likely keep it to herself.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
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