The Housing Bubble

Yes. Yes they are.

Maybe you are all a lot more exalted than I am, but there is some dam fine systems engineering done in Huntsville, AL, by people who I am pleased to hang with.

They happened to become engineers because they like knowing how things work. Which makes them interesting conversationalists.

Politics and the aforementioned war? One’s speculatin’ on identical herds of paid-for d*cks. The other’s a dead, done deal. Neither is interesting to talk about.

So, I find these folks interesting to be around. But that’s just me.

Good for you Jane, rebutting the collectivists above. Thanks!

“…So does a strong racist streak….”

And before they stopped burying their corpses in their front yards, so did a strong streak of amoebic dysentery.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8n6lxt4gn1r1yf1k.jpg

I loathe that word “racist”.

In my hood, that word is used to deflect law breaking by the homies around here.I tell them as an Americano I follow the laws. I was raised right. They consider that racist.They have a right to say as a whatever, they were too, and live it.

In my hood, that word is used to deflect law breaking by the homies around here.I tell them as an Americano I follow the laws. I was raised right. They consider that racist.They have a right to say as a whatever, they were too, and live it.

I’ve had encounters with the homies around here. After I’ve reported them a few times, it’s amazing how quickly their conversations can end when they see me.

Or people realize that they have to drive off to important meetings right now. Or that something crucial just came on TV and they have to go in and watch it right this instant.

Which just goes to show you that they’re trying to hide something from me. What I’ve hidden from them is that there are plenty of neighbors who have my back. And those people keep their eagle eyes on the homies too.

well just don’t end up like this lady.

A smart business owner would deny service to no one with the money to spend. I think that someone who would deny such service is crazy.

That said, I don’t believe it’s the government’s role to tell me as a business owner who I can and can’t serve or who I can or can’t hire. It’s my job as a businessman to do what’s best for my business, my employees and my family.

Do you consider yourself a libertarian, Bad Andy?

Do you think that a private business owner should be allowed to refuse service to people based on their race?

I’ll sell goods and services to whoever has money and a will to purchase. And yes, I also support State’s rights over those of the Federal Government…

That’s a good question alpha-sloth. I probably believe in government’s right and ability to control things as important as banking, stocks, and to a certain extent trade a little too much to tow the Libertarian Party line. That said, if I had to identify with one major or minor party or way of thinking it would be Libertarian.

There is a difference between prejudice and discrimination. If you did not know, that makes you ignorant.

“I don’t believe it’s the government’s role to tell me as a business owner who I can and can’t serve or who I can or can’t hire.”

Unfortunately for you, it is their right. It’s even in the Constitution.

Since when is business above the law? And you wonder how we got into this economic mess?

OK Turkey. Let’s take this argument. Let’s say you’re a fundamentalist Christian photographer. Your work is also your art. Now let’s say a gay couple wants you to take pictures of their wedding. This goes completely against your religious beliefs. Does the government have a right to tell your business to serve this couple and if so under what theory?

OTOH
I wish property owners didn’t have to rent to anyone, and could rent to whom they want. Some of the fed fair housing laws coupled with the relaxing of overcrowding laws have destroyed once nice areas. Private Property Owners are too regulated by the govt (fed to local).I am technically a minority, and if someone didn’t rent to me, I’d keep on looking. Yin & Yang

It use to be 2 people per bedroom per apt. Now where I live you can have as many as you want, providing they don’t sleep in the ba or kitchen. That’s insane.

There is no argument. The Constitution grants the federal government absolute power over commerce.

The end.

Awaiting, don’t tenants run afoul of LA rent stabilization laws if they overcrowd units?

And on the anti-discrimination thread, if people are looking to make money, it’s foolish to discriminate. If you discriminate against hiring women, minorities, homosexuals, people with red hair, short men, etc., you miss out on lots of talented people that could be working for you. Over time, you will be lose.

Likewise, if you discriminate against race when deciding who to serve, you lose business.

The only exception is if the market you are in somehow values discrimination…you might get and keep more customers by being a well-known bigot.

Perhaps I’m naive, but it seems to me that over time discrimination is lessening, so such discrimination-driven business strategies will weaken with time, not strengthen.

WARNING, GENERALITY AHEAD:

If you believe that there is less such discrimination in blue states than red, this is an inherent strength that blue states have over red states. Smart and driven people who are discriminated against will seek to live in markets that have less of that discrimination (either by law, or by practice).

You mean among the several states? The use of the Commerce clause in defending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is questionable at best. A hotel that caters to interstate travelers, a restaurant that serves food shipped across state lines. Nonsense.

No one is advocating discrimination here but your argument as was the majority opinion in those cases I mentioned is suspect at best.

“If you believe that there is less such discrimination in blue states than red, this is an inherent strength that blue states have over red states. Smart and driven people who are discriminated against will seek to live in markets that have less of that discrimination (either by law, or by practice).”

100% agreed.

That’s why racist red states like N. Dakota, S. Dakota, Oklahoma and Nebraska have 3-5% unemployment rates while enlightened progressive, non-racist blue states like Nevada, California and Rhode Island have 11% employments rates.

“A hotel that caters to interstate travelers, a restaurant that serves food shipped across state lines. Nonsense.”

That line of cases started out with plaintiffs who could not take a multiday trip on the interstate highways because there were no motels that would rent to them and no restaurants that would serve them. It wasn’t nonsense back then.

LGBT Christian Photographers Sued for Refusing to Take Pictures of Gay Wedding

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/06/christian_photographers_sued_f.php

I didn’t say that the justices weren’t well intentioned Polly. But it’s a slippery slope that ends up with government where it doesn’t belong in almost every aspect of life.

Mr. Smithers, over a long time horizon I’ll make a wager on blue over red when it comes to non-resource based industry.

But it’s a slippery slope that ends up with government where it doesn’t belong in almost every aspect of life.

You’re right, it was a slippery slope for those people who couldn’t travel due to discrimination in hotels and restaurants (which was precisely how it interfered with interstate commerce, BTW).

It was a slippery slope to their full citizenship.

Rental Watch
I don’t live in L A County, Ventura.Our city voted out an overcrowding ordinance in 1993, and now the low-income apartments are boarding houses. There use to be sensible laws governing multi-family units. It was ruled to be discrimination. That’s insane.

It is truly bad for the school district, when a renter has 4-6 kids and other parents living in a 2+2.
Pretty seedy element has come back in since new management came in. Can’t go out at night alone.
Even have a “two strike” homie gal next door who hates me.

Home shopping in many areas (retail & wholesale), and thought I’d say “Hi”.

BTW, prices at the auctions are up.(Hitting market value.) Flippers must be upset.

I didn’t know Ventura had such different rules than LA County…bummer.

“Flippers must be upset.”

I know a guy flipping in SD county. He believes that values at auction will come back down when the buy-to-rent groups run out of money. From what I’m seeing though, more money is going into that strategy, not less.

Rental Watch
We were at our local courthouse auction last week, and saw a bidding war, where the house exceeded $10K what it would list for in the MLS. We were blown away. $10K flushed to say “I win”.

Lots of buy- to-rent people as well, and very little flipper opportunities. What we are after as a primary is too high for flippers. I see them buying cheaper condos, low income area 3+1’s, and lots of starter home 1,200sq ft-1,400sq ft homes $260K-$330K. I’m also seeing price reductions on nose bleed flip prices.

I think the banks know there is a micro bubble, and not letting the flippers make the cash, they want it. Just my observation.

Will be interesting to see what happens with the Flippers’ capital. Many of the groups that I saw who were flipping needed to offer the capital a relatively short lockup (ie. the commitment of capital is only for one year) to entice people to invest in sight-unseen homes. That way, if the investments were poor, the investors could bail.

Well, if those investors are being presented with break-even or worse sales, I think you’ll find them pull the capital out of the strategy, and it should start to happen pretty rapidly.

The question is whether the buy-to-rent strategies will pick up the slack.

Awaiting, are you seeing the volume at auction going up or down? I’m taking an informal poll of folks I know going to auctions, and wonder what your observations are.

I guess you could sell the property with her buried on it, as long as the buyer was aware of it.

There was a little snippet of a graveyard at the corner of a major street and the street that went to the nature preserve in my hometown. I’m prety sure most of the graveyard was under the road or under the corn field a few feet away. Really cool verse on one of the stones:

Farewell my wife and children too.
I can no longer stay with you.
My portion in Heaven I wish to share.
Prepare for death and meet me there.

Wish to heck I could remember if “death” was capitalized. Any way, very New England. There was a similar one in a little grave yeard along the AT in Vermont:

Stop traveller as you pass by.
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, you soon must be.
Prepare for death and follow me.

You gals are pushing it. Garden fairies can take care of themselves these days. They have jobs and sports leagues and all sorts of stuff those old time garden fairies never dreamed about.

That being said. My coworker told me today that her pre-school age son wants to be a tooth fairy for Halloween. He informed her that he would need a pair of pliers.

It was reported that AZ quit the Cap & Trade program. Did that reverse recently?

I think he’s referring to Cali, the golden state.

I miss cracker barrel. None in the golden state, they run business away here.

Oh please! There are plenty of restaurants in California. Might it be that Cracker Barrel simply thinks that California isn’t a good target market for their redneck restaurants?

California is crawling with Trader Joe’s shops. Yet there aren’t any in Lousiana, Alabama or Mississippi. Does that mean that those states are “business unfriendly”?

There are any Trader Joe’s in Utah either. I think it is because you can’t sell wine outside the state liquor stores. I love them for dark chocolate and Kefir.

Trader Joe’s has stores that don’t sell wine in Maryland. The wine has nothing to do with it.

Almost half the store is devoted to wines in most places. Yes, if they can turn a profit on other items sufficient to justify the store they will build it but 2 buck chuck brought many a person into the stores so unless you have some evidence to support your contention, I do not know how you can be certain of that fact.

DARN THOSE FACTS
From Wikepedia:

Trader Joe’s is the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw wine, popularly known as Two Buck Chuck[10] because of its $1.99 price tag in California; in some locales, it sells for more than $3 a bottle due to varying state liquor taxes and transportation costs. Of the wine selection at Trader Joe’s, Coloumbe has said, “We built Trader Joe’s on wine first, then food. I tasted 100,000 wines, and most weren’t wonderful. They were submitted to us by desperate vintners.” Along with Charles Shaw, Trader Joe’s is known for stocking a very large selection of California and New-World wines.[21]

Almost half the store is devoted to wines in most places.

Is that an exaggeration? Not one Traders in Portland has anywhere near that much wine. Most here have part of one side wall plus an island (small row) next to it with wine. Maybe 10% of the store.

Calm down.

The wine may have nothing to do with it in Maryland, but I guess it does in other stores. The Maryland Joes may be some kind of loss leader, especially if Joe’s has libtard street cred. MD is notoriously libtard.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trader_Joe

MD is notoriously libtard

What’s with the language lately? Dropping f-bombs last week and today, libtard? We have third graders here reading this blog…

You don’t build a whole store as a loss leader. How would that even work? You get people addicted to buying Joe’s Os in Maryland (on which you lose money) which inspires them to drive to Virginia the next time they cereal where upon they stock up on fake Cheerios and buy wine? It is ridiculous.

The MD stores have no problem making plenty of money without wine. The Bethsda store is so busy they seem to have more people working there than they do at the Safeway which is easily 4 times as large - maybe more. Trader Joe’s has no problem making money without the wine if the population wants their other products. I like TJs. The quality on some of their stuff is excellent and they have good prices on some other stuff. I couldn’t do all my shopping there, but I stop by most weeks.

“Trader Joe’s is the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw wine, popularly known as Two Buck Chuck[10] because of its $1.99 price tag in California; in some locales, it sells for more than $3 a bottle due to varying state liquor taxes and transportation costs.”

Got meself through grad school on cases of the $2/bottle cab. Nowadays I get by on the under-$5/bottle TJ’s varietals.

‘Atlanta real estate “investments”’

I notice he (Eddie / Smithers) doesn’t brag as much about his Atlanta real estate investments as he used to. How are those working out for him?

Home values rise nationally, drop in Atlanta
Atlanta Business Chronicle by Jacques Couret, Senior Online Editor
Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2012, 10:55am EDT

Florida once again had the highest mortgage delinquency rate nationwide with 13.87 percent delinquency at the end of the first quarter 2012

The U.S. housing market finally hit a bottom in June, although values continued to drop in metro Atlanta, Zillow.com reported Tuesday.

Metro Atlanta home values were down 4.9 percent year-over-year to an average of $107,900 in the second quarter, according to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Report.

For the major metros tracked in the report, Atlanta was one of five for which Zillow did not project a bottom in values.
…

for which Zillow did not project a bottom

“He who pick bottom have smelly finger” - Ancient Chinese Proverb

Poor EddieTard and his “investments”. lmao

when they buy that new Benz, Beamer or Audi ??

Or when they park it in the Caiman Islands or Switzerland….

Does the upper middle class do that?

Not sure but our wannabee president does…

There is nothing middle class, upper or otherwise, of having an income in the vicinity of $20 million a year. That is wealthy, especially when “not that much of it” is from actual work performed (giving a few speeches) and even that part of it is enough to get very close to the top 1%.

Just to clarify, I was saying. tongue in cheek, that the upper middle class sends there money overseas (to Germany) when they buy their luxury cars.

I never said short sellers don’t make money. I questioned Darrell’s quote of the oft-stated Wall Street platitude that shorts drive down stock prices.

How is that possible? (I don’t believe it is…)

Short-sellers add to the bid side of bid/ask. If there are a high volume of short sellers or a few short sellers with some higher volume trades, it can put downward pressure on the stock initially.

The flip-side is that eventually the short-seller has to buy-to-cover, i.e. add to the ask side of the bid/ask. That’s why short-selling bans don’t work well. Short sellers actually help create support when they cover.

Read up on naked short selling.

You don’t borrow the shares but still sell the stock. Combine this with legitamate short selling and bad press and ratings and hype and you definitely put downward pressure on a stock. Think of it like rolling a rock down a cliff full of other loose rocks.

Your right at some point it reverses but it can take quite a while for the avalanch to end, then you see massive up swings.

The volitility that occurs in the stock market even when there is no new news tells you that this is happening.

“Read up on naked short selling.”

The ‘naked’ qualification was not mentioned in Darrell’s post.

Wow. That is some serious hair splitting.

The question was asked “How”. That answer is “naked short selling.”

“If there are a high volume of short sellers or a few short sellers with some higher volume trades, it can put downward pressure on the stock initially.”

That’s the part I don’t get. The lower the price at which short sellers initially sell, the less potential profit there will be available to buy the stock back later at a lower price. Unless, that is, some non-short sellers follow suit and sell at the lower price set by the shorts…

It’s less egregious then the SEC essentially giving Corzine and other senior executives a “Free Pass” on the fraud. No criminal charges for MF Global execs…

It would impose an entitlement contribution (not a “tax”) increase on the overlords.

In 1936, SS was intended to be a pay in, get back system. By 1939 people decided they didn’t want to get back only what they put in. They wanted to get back what they put in, plus everything their kids were putting in.

Actually, it is this idea that it is a pay-in, get-back system that has created so much of the trouble with SS. It is WAY past time to stop pretending that we’re still in the 1936-1939 SS system, and accept it is a tax to provide a bare minimum income to seniors.

Flatten the payout so everyone gets back the same amount, regardless of what they paid in. Eliminate payroll taxes and just roll it into a much steeper income tax system.

This would fix SOOOO many of our economic issues.

‘I do think that it’s the right option’

But wait. NPR had some guy on that said SS was fine. Don’t tell me there’s not enough money to pay everyone. Somebodies a lion!

Yeah, if you pay more in you get more out. That’s the beauty of it, it’s actually rather fair:

This cap affects benefits as well: calculation of Social Security benefits are based on a formula that does not take earnings over the cap into account. Since higher income during one’s working life translates into higher Social Security benefits, removing the cap on the benefit side would increase Social Security payments to high-wage earners.
Economic Policy Institute

You may quote get more but the more extra income you have the more of your SS is taxed at your regular tax rate.

Simpson-Bowles plan is to raise the income cap faster than current policy, but reduce the rate at which the higher income earners get more in benefits.

“Simpson-Bowles plan is to raise the income cap faster than current policy, but reduce the rate at which the higher income earners get more in benefits.”

Put another way: make the people who pay into the system get nothing out of it while the people who pay nothing into the system get all the benefits. We have that already. It’s called welfare.

And no you don’t really get more out of it the more pay you into it. Someone who pays $10,000 a year into it doesn’t get twice as much as someone who pays $5K a year into it. And the person who pays $5K into it doesn’t get twice the benefit than someone who pays $2500 into it, and so on.

The best ROI on SS is from people who make $15-20K a year.

The plan also includes a minimum payment of poverty level+20%, more payments for people over 85 years old, and a nice throw away line of promoting personal savings.

Unlike what people on the left are saying, this is not an ending of SS, but strengthening it as a safety net, and over time, reducing it’s value to people with more means, with an intention to encourage more private saving.

SS is not a retirement plan, and the sooner we get through our thick skulls the better. It is a tax and safety net more than anything else.

The best ROI on SS is from people who make $15-20K a year.

Which is who need it the most.

I guess the right can’t stand any plan that doesn’t primarily benefit the wealthy.

Don’t paint us all with the same brush alpha. There are plenty of right leaning folks in our office, all of which were just fine with the SS fix of Simpson-Bowles.

I always warn my friends who get the EITC that it is essential for them to file their taxes even if they owe nothing and get nothing at the end of the day because their EITC just offsets the FICA they owe on the small business income. That is their retirement income.

I have no problem with this at all.

It’s hard to get drug dealers to pay their taxes. Even if we legalized, they could claim it was capital gains and therefore exempt.

How do we get drug dealers to pay their taxes?

(And wouldn’t they be capital gains?)

glitch in the matrix

“How do we get drug dealers to pay their taxes?”

Turn income tax into a form of VAT.

Turn income tax into a form of VAT.

I should have asked: ‘How do we get drug dealers to pay their taxes without further worsening the wealth gap?’.

Value added tax would be great. Too many liberals would howl about the little guy. Remember though that the little guy buys less and therefore would pay less in taxes.

Drug dealers would have to find other work if we didn’t perpetuate this war on drugs that benefits no one.

The little guy has to spend a great deal more of his total income (perhaps all of it) to get a basic living standard so that the little guy would be paying a much higher percent of his income than the wealthy or even middle class who have enough income to also save. Of course, that is already happening with people who can turn all or most of their income into cap gains, but at least ordinary income is subject to a progressive rate structure.

Stockman suggested replacing FICA with a VAT. Since FICA is already seriously regressive, that is the more logical substitution, though how you calculate people’s benefits when you don’t have FICA income to measure is another big problem.

By the way alpha, you can’t claim capital gains rates on the profits from the sale of inventory.

, you can’t claim capital gains rates on the profits from the sale of inventory.

Can’t they classify it as a commodity investment, or is fancy tax avoidance stuff just for the Romneys of the world?

If you buy and sell (or manufacture and sell) it regularly, it isn’t a capital asset. If you hold it out for sale to customers as part of your regular business, it isn’t a capital asset. It isn’t the asset itself that is a capital asset. If you own a big piece of machinery that you use in your business to make stuff or deliver stuff or plant stuff or harvest stuff, then that is probably a capital asset for you. You use it in your business. But for the company that sold you the machine, the machine is inventory - what they make to sell to customers.

“It’s hard to get drug dealers to pay their taxes. Even if we legalized, they could claim it was capital gains and therefore exempt.”

You have no idea what capital gains are.

“Can’t they classify it as a commodity investment, or is fancy tax avoidance stuff just for the Romneys of the world?”

You know so little about how the world works. No wonder you’re a Democrat. Lemme guess, you work for the govt too, probably a teacher.

You know so little about how the world works.

Couldn’t they count it as carried interest and therefore a capital gain- you know, like billionaire hedge fund managers do? Or are such shenanigans for the 1% only? You and I both know the answer to that.

I know exactly how the world works. You’re the one obfuscating.

Not always. My wife is at home or running errands somewhere right now.

Your first mistake was equating Limbaugh and Beck with “conservative journalist”…

They are conservative entertainment at best.

Perhaps I was being overly generous in labeling them as “journalists”. That said, a lot of people take them very seriously. They are more than entertainment. Just as John Steward is more than entertainment, even though his show is on Comedy Central.

And FWIW, I’ve seen Stewart rake Dems (like Charlie Rangel) over the coals.

Stewart is not a journalist. He does give the left a few more free passes but he doesn’t hesitate to throw them under the bus for laughs.

Agreed, more like a tongue-in-cheek pundit.

“Satire is tragedy plus time. You give it enough time, the public, the reviewers will allow you to satirize it. Which is rather ridiculous, when you think about it.”

― Lenny Bruce, The Essential Lenny Bruce

Survey: NPR’s listeners best-informed, Fox viewers worst-informed

People who watch MSNBC and CNN exclusively can answer more questions about domestic events than people who watch no news at all. People who only watch Fox did much worse. NPR listeners answered more questions correctly than people in any other category.

“People who only watch Fox did much worse.”

Is that because Faux lacks in information, or because their listeners lack the ability to process information?

Is that because Faux lacks in information, or because their listeners lack the ability to process information?

Yes.

My father in law is one of those who watches Fox News exclusively. It’s not the news portion that is so terrible, it’s the commentary portion. The same can be said about MSNBC.

It’s not the news portion that is so terrible, it’s the commentary portion.

I only watch cable news sparingly when I travel because I don’t have it at home, but doesn’t Fox tend to intertwine those throughout the day, so as to make them non-distinguishable to those lazy or not willing to not distinguish the two?

IIRC, CNN does it with Jack Cafferty but seems much more news-focused until the late afternoon and evening hours. I’ve only seen MSNBC in the evening, in which case it was all commentary.

The news is typically the news at least when it comes to the headline stories at the beginning of each hour. When they bring in commentators to discuss the news its right leaning but not short on facts. CNN does this as well unless you’re watching headline news.

Now the 8:00 pm on is where the real problem comes in. None of the commentators seek to educate you at all in my opinion. It’s all GOP talking points all the time.

Only thing funnier than the left’s obsession with Fox is its obsession with Koch Bros. And Walmart too I guess.

What do Fox, WM and Koch Bros all have in common? Successful American companies. And if there are two things liberals hate it’s America and business success.

“Survey: NPR’s listeners best-informed, Fox viewers worst-informed”

So to summarize, Fox viewers = DUMBSHITS, NPR listeners = SMARTYPANTS.

If we do that, can we take away all Federal government help for all states with respect to food stamps, welfare, etc.? Leave it up to the states to take care of their own?

The Freakonomics guys linked rather well anti-abortion laws with increases in crime ~20 years later. I’m assuming there are other negatives associated with that additional crime.

The Federal Government has long overstepped its role in these type of situations…including those food stamp and welfare benefits.

On abortion? Well that’s one of those very hot button issues. I agree with Darrell to an extent. You have to clearly define when “life” occurs legally and go from there. I’m personally pro-life but being raised in a very liberal household I can see the other side of it as well.

Actually, the Freakonomics guys linked the legalization of abortion (i.e. Roe v. Wade) with a subsequent DECREASE in crime.

@Exit56, that was my point, I said that anti-abortion laws led to an increase 20 years later. The Freakonomics guys focused on legalized abortion tending to lead to decreases in crime, but to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, they also showed the opposite is true, with the example of the passage of anti-abortion laws in other countries showing an increase in crime 20 years later.

That was my point…that if states pass anti-abortion laws, it seems to indicate a significant potential for future crime increases.

How would it feel to know that your father was a rapist?

I had an idea recently that instead of aborting and destroying the embryo/fetus, we should extract and freeze - similar to the in vitro process. Then, there is no abortion and no woman is required to continue a pregnancy that she cannot survive or one that she does not want to carry to term.

What happens to all of the embryos fertilized and frozen for in vitro fertilization? I would expect some of them to eventually get destroyed.

“And what ever states choose to legalize it in one form or another, they should invoke a 1 year minimum residency to qualify for the procedure”

Why would a state that thinks that abortion should be legal require a 1 year minimum residency to be able to get one? What reason could they possibly have for such a requirement?

What reason could they possibly have for such a requirement?

I think this was part of the motivation:
“Let the red states deal with the self inflicted outcome of what they choose to do….”

I took it to be dave calling out the hypocrites. As in, watch them scramble when they decide they need one, only to find they have to cross state lines to get one, and find themselves blocked from doing what they wanted others to be blocked from doing…

Exactly Sleepy…………..

Otherwise he’s a pretty level headed guy

Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Exactly how would they lead the persecution?

Like the knights of yore?

This is so out there and w@cked out that it makes the moon-conspiracy types look positively level-headed.

I wouldn’t hire this guy. Logic seems to be sorely lacking.

I wouldn’t hire this guy. Logic seems to be sorely lacking.

He’s actually quite good at what he does. Earns a six figure salary at his current job.

Depends on what his boss tolerates.

He’s probably not offending people that he works for. That’s by self-selection.

If he was, he’d be out the door quickly. Bosses generally know how to run a self-selecting closely-knit team.

The flip side applies too. Gay financiers in NYC learn very very quickly how to impress wealthy Republicans.

And incidentally, nobody claimes that he wasn’t good at what he did. You can be a totally brilliant X without being good at Y.

People compartmentalize.

Just paper if only five people say it can punished as hate speech.

FWIW, our supposedly “conservative” Supreme Court hasn’t overturned Row Vs. Wade yet.

But the legal systems, for all that they originated in the same place, are very different. That chasm is gigantic. The only thing a church can’t do is actively participate in elections (like telling people who to vote for/against) and even then the administrative hurdles are HUGE and the only punishment would be losing tax exemption. Talking about the interpretation of the Bible wouldn’t even get a second glance.

Now, there are laws against specifically telling people that they should go out and kill someone, but if you have noticed, even the folks who put pictures of abortion doctors with targets over their faces on the internet didn’t get caught in that one. Again, talking about the interpretation of Biblical verses doesn’teven get a second glance.

“socks with sandals”

I resemble that. I wear sandals infrequently and they tear up my feet if I don’t wear at least light weight socks. Plus my lily white feet burn easily.

And the LGBT dollar is a very loyal dollar. You do right by one, and the word of mouth referrals are incredible.

Commercial I heard on the radio this morning by Subaru of Santa Monica had sound bites from new owners. One female voice said her parter and her were going to discuss the idea and think about kayaking, mountain biking, etc. I was laughing to myself. That commercial would probably not play in Peoria! But I am happy for LBGs to come out. I am an atheist, and we atheists are hated more than LBGTs, so we will be the last to come out, but our ranks are growing and the religionists’ are declining.

What is intrade, and what does it have to do with IEM futures?

What is intrade, and what does it have to do with IEM futures?

Good catch. Here’s wikipedia on it:

Intrade is an online trading exchange website. The website’s members speculate on the outcomes of non-sports-related future events.

Intrade is a prediction market which allow individuals to take positions (trade ‘contracts’) on whether future events will or will not occur. An example event is a political election, which is almost always settled in a well-defined and easily verifiable manner. The contract might be “Barack Obama to win 2012 U.S. presidential election.” Other events include financial predictions, such as “NASDAQ Average to close higher today.” Intrade facilitates trades between members, charging a monthly fee,[3] but does not participate in trading itself.

The Iowa Electronic Markets (IEM) are a group of real-money prediction markets/futures markets operated by the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business. Unlike normal futures markets, the IEM is not-for-profit; the markets are run for educational and research purposes.

The IEM allows traders to buy and sell contracts based on, among other things, political election results and economic indicators. Some markets are only available to academic traders.

The political election results have been highly accurate, especially when compared with traditional polling.[1] This may be because it uses a free market model to predict an outcome, instead of the aggregation of many individuals’ opinions. The speculator is more interested in a correct outcome than in his or her desired outcome.

“This may be because it uses a free market model to predict an outcome, instead of the aggregation of many individuals’ opinions.”

Isn’t it ironic that the free market model predicts the free market champion candidates will lose?

As an “independent voter” you might find this interesting:

A poll conducted by Illinois-based pollster and political strategist Michael McKeon found Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 37 percent in Cook County, the home of Chicago. That puts him ahead by a far thinner margin than expected in a county he should be winning handsomely.

I don’t think anyone would argue Obama will lose IL. But if he’s only leading his home Crook county by 12% - a county he won by 32% in 2008 - he’s in big, big trouble nationally.

They may not post jobs there but they certainly recruit from there

So … how does one get on this gravy train? Do you just have to “know” the “right people”?

Job listings on the Washington Post. Security clearance preferred.

AmericaJob.com lists Federal and State job openings; thousands of them in every field you can imagine. Even dj’s who speak Bulgarian.

Giddy? I do not see that in CIBT’s posts.

I do see a lot of sarcasm and gloating in yours. And I find it distracts from the points you are trying to make.

“I do see a lot of sarcasm and gloating in yours.”

Eddie remains true to form since reincarnating his HBB persona as Mr. Smithers.

And his Atlanta real estate investments are losing him a bundle of dough. I thought all Republicans were supposed to be savvy investors?

Metro Atlanta home prices down in June
Atlanta Business Chronicle by Jacques Couret, Senior Online Editor
Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2012, 9:36am EDT

The Case-Schiller Index found that home prices fell 3 percent.

Metro Atlanta home prices were down 3.2 percent year-over-year in June, while prices across Georgia were down 2.9 percent for the same period.

CoreLogic’s monthly home price report has more of the same news for metro Atlanta — price declines.

Metro Atlanta home prices were down 3.2 percent year-over-year in June, while prices across Georgia were down 2.9 percent for the same period, the report shows.

Home prices in metro Atlanta also were down 4.1 percent year-over-year in May.
…

“…the points you are trying to make.”

Please don’t grace a troll’s trail of BS with the suggestion that an ounce of thought goes into his posts.

It matters to the downticket candidates.

A close friend of mine, a database engineer, worked at a start-up many years ago, as a joke, they taped a bunch of cardboard paper-towel rolls to the wall with a hand written note “our internets” below it.

Good times indeed.

Brilliant!

LOL

A better guide is to look at how long it took past real estate busts of similar magnitude to the current one to bottom out.

History doesn’t repeat, but it certainly rhymes.

The devil is in the details, however…

Don’t get me started on the low quality of Home Depot’s lumber. Just don’t.

Here in Tucson, the place to shop for good lumber is Grant Road Lumber. Just go there and they’ll take care of you, mmm-kay?

Interesting. Lowe’s has better selection of products and higher quality of wood for any projects I want to build.”

I was told by a Lowes employee that HD is more popular with contractors because it carries better stuff , like dry wall mud.

I bought all my patio cover stuff at Lowes because I can’t stand HD. Lowes had the bolts I was looking for HD had some junky selection.

Lowes is less crowed in Simi than HD

600 bucks I spent but the cover came out nice. 2×3’s instead of 2×2’s on top ( 76 pcs. 8′ long all cut to fit) , 2×6’s span across from house ( 10 pcs. 12′ long) to rest on 4×6 header ( 2 pcs. 12 feet long cut to 10″) which rests on 4×4’s upright posts ( 3 pcs. 8′ long) sanwiched between 2×6’s 6 pcs. 8 ‘ long ) offset to cover 2/3 of the 4×6 and leaving a gap at ground level for some brick work I need to work out to cover cement footing. Lots of cool hardware was used to attach wood pieces to each other and special #8 nails to hold together. I used cement tubes sold at Lowes to get the simpson post holders up to grade. The problem with the old cover ( one of the problems ) was the post holders were buried in the dirt and completely rotted.

I’m making BOM’s at work so am in the BOM mode ( bill of materials ) sorry for detailed post above if you don’t like making patio covers. Much of the cost was 4 gallons of olympia stain at 37 dollars each. 2 coats, the first on the ground the 2nd after its up, almost done. paint sucks on patio covers ( unless done right which is beyond me and 90% of contractors ) this was the second reason the thing rotted as paint makes a water proof barrier and after it peels a little from the wood the water gets in between the paint and the wood and keeps it wet then rot sets in.

Now I see flying termites all over the place… because of the heat or maybe they smell wood ?

when you place the wood esp. the 2×6 put the bow up it looks better. Non sagging look.

When I buy wood I try really hard to avoid pieces cut out of the center of the tree where you can see the circle radiating outwards ( the growth rings ) because it tends to split apart.

out of the pile of 100 plus pieces of 4×6 lumber at Lowes maybe 4 where not cut out of the center of the tree.
I was not happy pulling all that lumber out and then restacking it back to get my 2 pieces.

Small trees hard to get big lumber out of so they mill pieces right out of the center of the tree. Crappy

I used to work at a lumber yard many years ago. So I restack when I can.

Funny stuff considering we buy materials that actually meet specification from supply houses for a least 33% less than junk at HomeCheapo and Blowes.

Good for you, cactus. I built my whole house that way. The guys at the lumber yard soon learned I meant business when I told them I wanted architectural.

You may have well waited 45 minutes given the spectacular quarter chain restaurants just had.

Darden (Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Led Lobster)
Third quarter diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations were $1.25, a 16% increase from the $1.08 diluted net earnings per share in the third quarter of last year. Net earnings from continuing operations in this year’s third quarter were $164.1 million, which compares to net earnings from continuing operations of $151.7 million in the third quarter last year.

Brinker (Chili’s, Magianno’s)
For the quarter ended June 27, Brinker reported a profit of $47 million, or 61 cents a share, up from $41.9 million, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding asset write-downs and other items, earnings were up at 61 cents from 48 cents. Revenue increased 1.5% to $728.4 million.

DineEquity (Applebee’s, IHOP)
DineEquity reported a profit of $16.9 million, up from $348,000 a year earlier. After the payment of preferred stock dividends, the company swung to a per-share profit of 88 cents from a loss of 2 cents. Excluding items such as debt-extinguishment, impairment and closure charges, adjusted earnings rose to $1.06 a share from 90 cents.

Note: each of these are fiscal quarters not calendar quarters, which is why for one it’s 4th, one it’s 2nd and one it’s 3rd. They all correspond roughly to the late spring/early summer 2012 time frame.

I guess since things are so hunky dory, we should just vote for Obama. Wouldn’t want to change this country’s course now, do we?

I guess since things are so hunky dory, we should just vote for Obama. Wouldn’t want to change this country’s course now, do we?

Nope. Obama wants to take our guns away, or at least his political part does: CO shooting prompts gun bills in big states

Democratic leaders in three big states have used this summer’s Colorado mass shooting to push bills that would crack down on assault weapons and ammunition sales, rekindling a debate that has not gained much traction in Congress or the presidential campaign.

In Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn proposed that his state enact a strict ban on assault weapons, similar to California’s. New York lawmakers have proposed wide-ranging legislation that would limit weapons purchases[to one per month].

“Obama wants to take our guns away…”

Did some gun shootin’ myself at an indoor range this weekend. First time I’ve been in about 15 years. I’ll admit the first few minutes are a bit unnerving, especially not knowing who’s in the open booths next to you.* Personally, I was hoping for individual booths inaccessible by others.

I’m just going to say it. I wouldn’t be opposed to an AWB. Personal defense is one thing. If we ever reach a point that we need AWBs to defend ourselves (against our own military or po-po I presume?), we’ve got much bigger problems IMO. At the very least we need some other vetting process for obtaining them.

*especially the 20-something female that was reprimanded by the person doing the orientation - unloaded, before going into the range - for repeatedly NOT keeping the gun pointed down. I happened to look over once and the gun was pointed in my direction…she had this “whatever” look on her face. Was relieved later when she left the range.

I was at the annual Northeast Shooters [NES] car shoot and pig roast this weekend. We had everything from M1 Garand’s to full-auto M4 carbines. I shot about 500 rounds from my AR and AK. Also got to use some Tannerite [exploding targets] to really create some havoc on the junk cars.

Imagine, almost 100 people of various ages gathered to enjoy firearms and shooting in a fun, safe, and responsible manner. Most had assault rifles, some fully-automatic. And no one died, no one was killed, no crime was committed.

Ask yourself: if firearms, including the dreaded, evil, assault rifle, are banned in Mexico, how and why is gun violence so high there? How about the gun violence in Chicago, which has some draconian gun laws? Even in MA, which has strict gun laws similar to NJ/CT/CA and still has the ‘94 AWB in place? Two weeks ago, 7 people were shot and 6 killed in Boston.

The solution to gun violence is not to restrict or ban guns from law abiding citizens, as the above examples show. In fact, I would argue that “gun-free zones” like the theater in CO are hotspots for those with criminal intent.

I’m coming from the perspective of someone that sees a fit for weapons for personal defense, not the perspective of “hey, wouldn’t it be fun to blast the sh!t out of stuff?”

Similarly, I could never be and don’t condone a sport hunter with assorted head mounts on display, but can understand when people only want to eat the meat they personally kill.

not the perspective of “hey, wouldn’t it be fun to blast the sh!t out of stuff?”

But that’s good, healthy fun. For the whole family!

You do have to wonder about the mentality of such people.

You have to wonder at how weak the typical liberal psyche has become when they hear of people exercising their 2nd amendment rights, the first reaction is “they must be crazy”.

When things break down, like in Greece, it will be the idiot liberals who eschewed guns, hunting, fishing, and the rest of those activitities deemed “uncivilized” who are jumping off of buildings because they are broke and hungry, with no means of feeding themselves.

Why do the Marketwatch people say “street slips” when there was no - nada - zip - zilch - zero change to the headline U.S. indexes by day’s end.

It’s almost as though an invisible hand put the indexes right back where they started the day.

Street slips ahead of Fed

Stocks edge lower as investors await minutes from the Fed’s last meeting, set for release Wednesday

Aug. 20, 2012, 3:33 p.m. EDT
U.S. stocks slip a bit ahead of FOMC
Apple shares hit high as buzz grows around iPhone 5 launch
By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks tallied mild losses Monday as investors waited for events later in the week, including the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting, slated for release in two days.

“This is central bank week, we’re all looking at Europe and the Fed,” said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners.
…

So why is it still a line on the water department’s budget we have to ask? Remember that the suburbs in Detroit buy their water from Detroit. They’re paying for the blacksmith at Central Ops and seeing no benefit.

The position was transfrerred from the Police Department to the water department.

Link to article:

http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/17404

Damn the ‘rest of the story” facts.

Nothing like facts to screw up another “outrage” story.

Once again, it’s the city moving the line item from a department that only affects the city to a department that affects an entire region. It is an outrage story…

I thought Smithers said it was a story about unions, now your saying it’s a story about politicians trying to shift cost. Big difference

samk said: “The position was transfrerred from the Police Department to the water department.”

In my municipality, that would make sense, since city politicians lust after the federal-level of funding that runs in our water department. They plan to capture that money, but often run into the little problem that, oh gee, it’s illegal to redirect such funds.

Dumping union positions into the water department would be one of those tactics as a part of a long-term strategy to keep local government stuffed full of workers paying union dues, but not causing a taxpayer revolt from it. Our local gov (full of Democrats and Liberals and Unionists and other such scum) constantly plays games like that. So I can see Detroit doing it; our dysfunctional local governments are essentially carbon copies of each other.

Do you seriously think he’s making… horseshoes at the water department?

I’m still waiting for someone to show that unions have cost us what the Wall St. bailouts have cost us in the same amount of time.

Anyone?

Look at the pension obligations of NY and CA alone. I’ll bite on that one.

I don’t try to justify the Wall Street bailouts, I’m as horrified by them as everyone else here. I also don’t give public unions a free pass.

“I’m still waiting for someone to show that unions have cost us what the Wall St. bailouts have cost us in the same amount of time.”

Wall St Bailout wass $700B. Total.
Unions cost hundreds of billions EVERY YEAR.

I’m still waiting for someone to show that unions have cost us what the Wall St. bailouts have cost us in the same amount of time.

Didn’t your mother ever tell you that two wrongs don’t make a right?

$700 billion is the “official number”

Doesn’t include all of the “backdoor bailouts like ZIRP, mark to fantasy accounting, the bailout of AIG…..should
I go on? Most of which are still going on.

I guess I need to download Joshua Tree.

“Unions cost hundreds of billions EVERY YEAR.”

If you would care to elaborate on that inadequate statement, I’d read it. People are well aware that unions don’t always benefit the common good, but I’ve never heard them referred to as a “cost”. A burden to some, and a boon to others. But a quantifiable cost? Hit me, I’ll read with an open mind.

because changing it to “Metal Fabrication Technician” meant they would have to pay the guy more money.

Exactly. But for right winger dittoheads it’s funny, because it says blacksmith. That makes it the talking point of the day.

I did get a tax free stipend in the medical internship part.

A little welfare made you what you are today, eh?

“hashed at a sorority”

Say what now?

That’s what I said when one of my buddies told me about it. Seventy gals total in all states of attire, wonderful memories. Glad I don’t have to see them today after the laws of physics has taken its toll!

Yes, it’s true. I earned the University of Michigan equivalent of a summa cum laude degree.

$4 in 2008 = end of the world!!!
$4 in 2012 = what’s the big deal?

What is this obsession you people have with WalMart? Is the Koch obsession over and WM is the new evil boogeyman? I miss the days when Haliburton ran the world myself.

“I think the problem is that we need to lift up the poor and make them middle class.”

And who is this “we”, the govt?
How’s that war on poverty going for you?
Making rich people poor has never and will never make poor people rich. If you truly care about the poor, you would want to have an economic environment where business can prosper. What you propose is the opposite of that.

We’ve tried your way for 50 years. A govt check every month doesn’t lift anyone out of poverty. It creates a dependency on the govt check for generations.

How about just taxing the rich people, you know with Mit and others likely paying under 10% in real effective tax rate, and changing our trade policy and energy policy to help the middle class.

It turns out this might actually increase the wealth of the elite. Trickle down has been a proven failure. We need a rising tide of wealth in the middle class that will lift all boats.

We’ve tried your way for 50 years

Yep. 1930 to 1980. The greatest expansion of wealth in history. The largest expansion of the middle class in history. Won a world war, then paid down our debt from it during that period, too.

We tried your way, too, Smithers. 1980 to the present.

Biggest expansion of debt ever. Collapse of the middle class. A repeat of the Great Depression.

What’s that definition of insanity again?

Trickle down has been a proven failure.

No! We just need to let the rich get even richer! Then they’ll finally get around to producing all those jobs, right Smithers?

Does anyone really believe that anymore? It’s really down to just hatin’ on the deadbeats and the stupid government now, isn’t it? I mean, no one really believes we need an even richer overclass before they’ll start producing all these jobs, right? We’re already at historically extreme wealth disparity. What more would it take?

A return to feudalism?

ENTRY LEVEL…….that’s the key Andy….

You have a dead end job…..and you wont hire the overqualified…because you want a MORON for the job.

You wont hire someone who lives 5 minutes away…..do you know how valuable this is to people like me who hates commuting? They would have to pay me a whole lot more $$$ to commute an hour each way a day…a LOT more money.

Well guess what andy….they have to apply for anything since the jobs in their own field are non existent…so stop your bitchhhing its the New America….

I don’t know what you have against entry level work. It’s not like I’m offering minimum wage our no advancement. What has you so bitter?

He’s “overqualified”.

Andy:

YUP THAT AWFUL NASTY DIRTY WORD OVERQUALIFIED..

Has it ever occurred to you maybe I have some very very good reasons to apply in the first place? But you wont even listen?

The Level of stupid I run into today is mind boggling….

Because those water polo players get all sorts of money when they win their gold medal? I’d be very interested in where CA has the disproportionate athletes.

The article noted Water Polo and Badminton…not the big endorsement grabbers…

We don’t play those Foo-foo sports in Flyover. And don’t even discuss the old Confederacy. There, it’s all football, all the time.

(One of my cousin’s favorite topics is the $65 MILLION dollar HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STADIUM their school district just built).

Kinda hard to play badminton when the temp is below 20 degrees 4 months out of the year, above 100 degrees another three months during the summer, and the wind is blowing a minimum of 20-30 mph 24/7/365.

“Kinda hard to play badminton when the temp is below 20 degrees 4 months out of the year, above 100 degrees another three months during the summer, and the wind is blowing a minimum of 20-30 mph 24/7/365.”

1. You’re full of it, there’s no place in America where what you describe is true.

2. Who plays badminton outside?

As kids, we used to play badminton outside all the time. Now, of course, we were no where near very good…it was completely recreational.

“Kinda hard to play badminton when the temp is below 20 degrees 4 months out of the year, above 100 degrees another three months during the summer, and the wind is blowing a minimum of 20-30 mph 24/7/365.”

You just described the Columbia Basin too.

Just for the record, Bakerspatch had an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling this year.

And we play badminton outside on the lawn. Frequently.

Uh-oh. Explicit comic books from 40 years ago.

Anyone remember Tijuana Bibles?

Yep

Clearly, Darryl’s motivation to tell tall tales is driven by his wallet.

There are a few of them here working their message. After all, what else would prompt someone to hustle lies?

Where is the data for your assertion? It certainly hasn’t been that way in CA for a long while.

http://www.car.org/3550/xls/econxls/HAIr_Historical_Tables__Mtl1.xls

The numbers are the percent of households that have at least an income sufficient to buy the median priced house (based on a 20% down, national average interest rate, no more than PITI being no more than 30% of income). So, if the median to median is the right way of thinking about this, the number should have averaged 50 over time.

The average from 1988 to 2000 (I’ll ignore beyond that, so the numbers won’t be unnecessarily skewed downward) was 33. So, only a third of households had the income sufficient to buy the median priced home.

If you average the whole data series, going to 2005, the number only drops to 31.

The current value of the index is 56 (meaning that 56% of households can afford the median priced home based on their metrics).

I will admit that in markets with lots more construction, homes tend to be more affordable, so I would be shocked if every other market was as low as CA. Most are going to have higher affordability numbers. However, for the reasons I note above, I would be surprised if very many of them averaged 50 over a long period of time.

By the way, I found the data from NAR (believe at your own risk). Their metrics are different, with 100% meaning that the median household has 100% of the income necessary to buy the median home. Today, they claim that number is over 170%, meaning that the median household has 170% of the income required to buy the median home.

They show their work though (what the median home price is, what the median income is, what interest rates are, etc.), so you can monkey with interest rates to see what would push the number below 100.

http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/reports/2012/hai-2012-06-monthly-housing-affordability-index-08-07-2012.xls

If you want to pay money, I think you can get historical data…not sure I need the information that badly…

I don’t know. Was nick asserting that median should equate to median? I assumed he meant the old saw of 2.5x income to determine house prices. Is that the same thing?

In 2009, the median household income in CA was $60k-ish. $60k-ish * 2.5 = $150k-ish. What’s the median price in CA? When did that go out of favor in CA?

” Today, they claim that number is over 170%, meaning that the median household has 170% of the income required to buy the median home.”

Based on what metrics? The NAR will say anything to lock up starry eyed FHA buyers into a life of debt slavery. You can’t really believe the junk you peddle here.

They show you the metrics. Can anyone simply look at the data rather than judge the source?

They show a median home price of $190k, median family income of $61k. With interest rates of 3.81%, they show P&I at $709, with payment as percent of income of 13.9%.

With those numbers, they claim the Qualifying income to be ~$34k, which puts P&I at 25% of gross income.

@Sleepless, I’ve heard both, 2.5x income, but also that the median home should be able to be acquired by the median HH. I took he comment above as the median income should buy the median home.

To answer your question, the median home price in 2009, according to CAR was about $250k to $300k, depending on when you took the measurement. If you look at Zillow’s data, they peg the 2009 median at about $330k. Per Zillow, the median home price in 2002 was approximately $265k.

I found a website that goes back to the late 60’s in CA. The last time the median home price was close to $150k in CA was in 1987/1988 (at which time I guarantee you the median HH income was less than $60k).

In 1988, median household income was ~$30k in California, so at that point, the median home price was about 5x median income.

After the 90’s RE crash, median prices in CA fell to about $177k in 1996, when median incomes were ~$39k (home prices at nearly 4.5x median income).

I wonder when the last time the US as a whole met the test of median home price being 2.5x median HH income?

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.census.gov/const/uspriceann.pdf
http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php

Quick spreadsheet says that the US as a whole has not met the “median home price=2.5X median HH income” test at any time since 1967.

The closest we got to that metric was in 1970 at 3.16 (HH Income of $7.4k, with median home price at $23.4k).

The AVERAGE from 1967 to 2000 was 4.02.

The 2010 number was 4.72.

Even with massively high interest rates in the early 80’s (prime upwards of 20%), the multiple was always above 3.76 (the 1982 value).

The 2.5x income test might work on an individual basis (for making personal decisions), but it was never an indicator of the overall market price levels.