Bits Bucket for October 31, 2012
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here. And check out Chomp, Chomp, Chomp by a regular poster!
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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the FED will do what it takes to keep asset prices high and the banks in business.
Would you rather have a great depression, bread lines, more foreclosures, and……
….and speaking of bread lines, rms reminded me yesterday that this blog exists partly thru the support of bloggers, so I sent in a small contribution this morning. It had been a while.
When you consider the knowledge gained on this web site saved many of us $100s of thousands in 2005-6-7 & 8, it is clearly the bargain of a lifetime.
Channeling Darryl? (”…cascading debt defaults into depression…”)
Hello Pimps. Beat that dead horse some more.
“Would you rather have….more foreclosures…”
Foreclosure is the honest reckoning of what already has transpired. Postponement is fraud. The banks like this fraud because they have made the rest of us the bagholders. Those who have made big bets on overpriced houses with borrowed money like to see the fraud continued so that they do not have a reckoning. A reckoning would put them in the bread line. The system we have now puts a few million a year, of those who did not participate in the fraud, in the breadline.
The system we have now puts a few million a year, of those who did not participate in the fraud, in the breadline.
So most of today’s broke people played by the rules, and didn’t fall for the credit bubble?
Right alpha why did i find this blog and kept reading?….
I could have stay naive and been far better off living rent free for years…D’oh
Blue Skye,
So you propose the Mitt Romney approach. Let the free market sort it all out and if many, many more innocent lives and unrelated jobs fall victim, tough sh!t.
How magnamimous of you.
“So most of today’s broke people played by the rules, and didn’t fall for the credit bubble?”
You missed the point, which is that the Fed and Uncle Sam are encouraging massive moral hazard by rewarding those who broke the rules.
Those who break rules should pay the price; plain and simple.
“So you propose the Mitt Romney approach. Let the free market sort it all out and if many, many more innocent lives and unrelated jobs fall victim, tough sh!t.”
Is this something he really said?
Please post a link, or we will know you made it up.
You missed the point,
That’s odd. I was responding to his statement,
“The system we have now puts a few million a year, of those who did not participate in the fraud, in the breadline.”
My question was asking for clarity on his statement. I’ll ask it again,
So most of today’s broke people played by the rules, and didn’t fall for the credit bubble?
OK I missed your point…fair enough.
“So you propose….tough sh!t.”
All I’m proposing is that accounting fraud is unjustly benefiting insolvent banks and debt junkies at everyone else’s expense. This creates “jobs” you say? At least Zombies do not need breadlines.
“So most of today’s broke people….”
Not sure what your point is, but I think there were tens of millions of people who did not go into debt or lend money to ride the ownership mania.
I think there were tens of millions of people who did not go into debt or lend money to ride the ownership mania.
I was curious how someone who didn’t participate in the mania could end up in a breadline nonetheless, which you stated was happening to millions.
umm we still have to pay rent or be evicted…..like before the mania
umm we still have to pay artificially inflated rent or be evicted…..
likeworse than before the maniaAnyone whose income is less now than it was six years ago. Anyone who was added to the foodstamp role. Anyone who has seen their groceries go from 10% of their takehome to 20%. Everyone is paying.
Blue Skye,
When I read your comment about people spending 20% of their take home on groceries I thought “no way”. Then I did the math on my family. We spend $150 per week on groceries, which for a family of four (two teenagers) is probably average - maybe even low.
If a family made $40,000, this would be 19.5% of their income. Not sure how people with that low of an income can do that and come close to paying their bills. Makes you wonder when food prices spike next year from this year’s drought in the Midwest where these $40k-$50k per year households are going to come up with the extra cash from to pay for food.
Jingle Male wrote:
I don’t think Mitt is big any proponent of a free market.
Finance is the favored sector of the government. Real Estate not far behind because of the tax revenue it provides when prices go up. And Mitt is of that sector.
Having market forces guide markets is typically an excellent way for individuals to improve their situations. Government interventions typically have the weaknesses of any centrally planned system. I’m not a free market fundamentalist and I see that they can break down, but in generally, market forces allocate resources more effectively, and lead to better societal outcomes, than centrally planned systems.
Markets tend to be more nimble than centrally planned systems. They react more quickly than bureaucracies to changing circumstances. In this sense, bureaucracies are conservative. They tend to continue doing what they have always done.
I don’t buy that markets are necessarily more efficient and more cost effective, although in a lot of cases they are.
In emergency medicine, where treatment is time sensitive, the market does not effectively apply pressure. You go to the nearest hospital, not the cheapest or the best.
Blue Skye: Foreclosure is the honest reckoning of what already has transpired. Postponement is fraud.
totally agree Blue Skye. The day of reckoning is at hand.
The day of reckoning is at hand.
Really? It would be nice…
That’s not even worth considering. Your concept is ridiculous on the face of it. We have 47 Million people on FOOD STAMPS. That IS the equivalent of bigger bread lines than anyone ever saw in the so-called Great Depression. It’s already here.
As for more foreclosures, well, yes, we are having more foreclosures.
We should have already had millions of them completed and the bad loans written down to bring the price of homes in line with the market (ability to pay at market rates), instead we have had massive manipulation of the markets by the FED.
What’s to become of all the bad loans the FED has supposedly taken on? This shell game should have been stopped as soon as it started, by an Act of Congress. No fortitude for them. Just go along an “hope” everything turns out alright.
Food stamps benefit the farmers and ranchers, that’s why the are run by the Dept of Agriculture.
“Would you rather have a great depression, bread lines, more foreclosures, and……”
Sure, at least I’d have a chance of buying a house.
*JOKING* btw (sort of)
that will get broken into…
OMG, by all means, please keep me safe.
I would have like a credible price reset. That would have allowed actual market-driven appreciation once again, not just having the Fed step in to maintain bubble prices and have people wonder how long the interventions can last.
Not exactly. The FED will provide the Banksters, meaning the Big BAnks “liquidity” to buy up businesses and Assets, thereby raising prices, and keep the BIG, Fed banks in business.
Most of the small banks have been taken over by the BIG banks to create a Bankster monopoly.
And all the Lemmings are lining up at these monster banks to pay hommage.
That is what the FED has done. It should be destroyed and the Big Banks broken up, to allow a situation where NO banks are “too big to fail”.
‘The ultimate result of these interventions by our caring friends in Congress and the Fed has been the biggest housing bubble and crash in US history, leaving millions of Americans underwater on their mortgages if they have not already lost their houses altogether. Congress and the Fed are directly responsible for millions of shattered lives, and almost unknowable economic damage in the form of trillions of dollars in mortgage backed securities.’
‘The only solution to this mess is to allow the US housing market to clear. All of the bad mortgage debt must be liquidated, whether via foreclosure or bankruptcy. Banks holding substantial mortgages or mortgage backed assets must face the music and adjust their balance sheets to reflect today’s reality. Undoubtedly this will force many banks into immediate insolvency, but such banks must be allowed to fail without receiving another nickel of taxpayer money.’
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/10/end-manipulation-let-markets-clear.html
banks must be allowed to fail without receiving another nickel of taxpayer money………
Amen!!!
And Praise the Lord!!
The truth is out there somewhere and sometimes we actually get a glimpse.
But the Banks won’t be allowed to fail with the current make up of the FED as their Backstop.
Congress MUST kill the FED and re-write the Federal Reserve Act to assure this kind of crap never happens again. I find it unlikely, approaching impossible. Too many on the take.
+1
Agree with the whole thread.
Does it strike anyone as odd that the left and the right of this board were arguing about which constitutional rights should be kept. Vote for my side at least you’ll be able to keep your guns. Vote for my side at least you’ll be able to speak freely. Is this what this country has become?
Exactly Andy.
The empire lovers and their paid hacks are embedded….. the truth is obsured. Seek it.
obscured
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/29/obama-in-2012-american-death-squads-in-2016/
ROTFLMAO. Hilarious stuff. I consider this site full of paraniod psychotics.
Then again, as Mel Gibson said in Conspiracy Theory, “You’re not paraniod if they’re really out to get you!”
Seperate reality from fiction. It is a big challenge for some people.
This was posted on HBB some weeks ago but warrants re-posting for an alternative scenario of how we will Take America Back.
http://westernrifleshooters.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/bracken-when-the-music-stops-how-americas-cities-may-explode-in-violence/
“I consider this site full of paraniod psychotics.”
I myself interpret spelling errors as a signal of lunacy.
Speling erors are a mater of memoryzation skils. Math is a beter indicator of logikal tougt.
Ti tog.
That only place that piece of spittle-raving racist claptrap deserves reposting is into the toilet. Gun porn for the severely hindered.
Glad you enjoyed it.
That link was posted by Spook in the 9/28 bits bucket at 06:34:10.
BTW, your author photo on the cover of Chomp Chomp Chomp looks nice.
the truth is obsured. Seek it.
Just to be clear, o truth seeker- It’s your contention that no one has ever made money from owning a house, ever?
Don’t be silly. Noone ever makes money by owing a house. You can only possibly make money selling a house, either all at once or by the month.
You can only possibly make money selling a house, either all at once or by the month
So you can make money off a house? When you sell it, of course.
AlphaPimp.
A house is a loss ALWAYS.
Who is this Noone guy, anyway?
A house is a loss ALWAYS.
So no one has ever made money off buying and selling a house?
A house is a loss ALWAYS..
Skye, what about the money that you “make” by not paying rent in a paid-off house? We all need a place to live…
“We all need a place to live…”
You’ve lowered the bar for yourself this much to invoke that beaut?
Your losses must be stunning.
Oxy, let’s put that money made in the same account with the money I make every month from not feeding four kids.
No, the money to pay your kids is still being “paid.” It’s just that the money is being paid by your kids are, usingmoney which they “created” by doing labor. The point is that it’s being paid out by somebody.
But YOU still need a place to live. And living in a paid off house is rent money which nobody is paying. In a way, you could almost argue that the saved money *poofs* into existence every month.
Now, if you mean four kids that you never had, well that only proves my point further. Not having kids is like not paying rent. Bill the Nomad certainly “made” incredible amounts of money with his minimalist lifestyle.
I raised the four kids. I’m a Grampa. Bill has nothing on me regards a frugal lifestyle. I live in a paid for place and it’s not spitting any dollars at me!
Sure I get your a penny saved is a penny earned, but after half a lifetime of overpaying for that shelter you’re going to need to sell it for four times what you bought it at to “make money”.
but after half a lifetime of overpaying for that shelter you’re going to need to sell it for four times what you bought it at to “make money”.
Well you figure you’d have to sell for 3x what you paid for it considering interest doubles the sale price and maintenance doubles it again just to break even. And that doesn’t include what you could have earned by just saving the money. Give the downward price trajectory, current massive inventory and the additional 35 million excess empty houses vacated by boomers passing on, the chances of selling for 3x just to break even is a massive leap.
The exit opening is shrinking in size very quickly.
Bill the Nomad pays rent in the places he actually lives and in Arizona so he can pretend to live there for tax purposes. And please don’t believe him when he tells you that his constant employment has anything to do with being willing to move anywhere in the country on a moment’s notice. It is because he stumbled on to a security clearance at a time when any programmer with two brain cells to rub together wanted to work for the big computer companies doing systems design, not applications programming for defense contractors. He is working off a limited supply model, just like anyone else who can make reasonable money by working as an employee.
Bill In LA For President 2012
Cutie pie pimp, your numbers only pencil out if you pay $0 in rent. Mom’s basement theory proven again.
When you’ve lost all hope, invoke “moms basement” and “keep renting”.
You’re a sucker. An underwater sucker.
and yes it pencils out….. double the cost for interest, double the cost again for maintenance.
You didn’t think of that did you?
“But YOU still need a place to live.”
And rental rates are half the total cost of buying at current inflated asking prices. (and the inflated price you paid too)
Everytime you post this lie, I will expose it for the lie it is. You can strike it from your repertoire of misrepresentations anytime you wish.
The choice is yours and yours alone.
Proceed.
I live in a paid for place and it’s not spitting any dollars at me!
Very well then. Sell the place and go rent. You’ll soon be wishing for a place that “didn’t spit dollars at you.”
RAL honey pot, I am not going to repeat the buy v. rent equation again. You know it full well.
Just being alive is a money loser. Just think of all the money you would save if you were never conceived!
“I am not going to repeat the buy v. rent equation again. You know it full well.”
I do. Clearly you do not. But I don’t expect you to acknowledge it given your unwillingness to look at your very own losses.
The denial runs deep. You recall those conversations too.
Rent prices and mortgage rates have been getting closer and closer in the greater OC, CA.
“Sell the place and go rent.”
Avoidance of expense is not actual income. You are pulling your expenses forward in a colossal way, in the hope of profits way in the future. It’s a bad bet in deflation. I’m ahead of the game now, because I live below my means. You will be behind the game for decades, because you live beyond your means. You will pay four times the “purchase price” for your house in the next thirty years. I’ll be traveling. My warning to you was that you underestimated the expenses and overestimated the future rise of housing costs. Go ahead and mock me.
Ox some of us love our moms but can’t live with them…
Cutie pie pimp, your numbers only pencil out if you pay $0 in rent. Mom’s basement theory proven again.
At 4% interest, over 30 years you pay 1.652 x the amount financed.
For a 15 yr loan the amount is 1.237 times. It might be time to update your calculations, pimpy. At least for the time being.
Maintenance - that’s a HUGE variable. Depends on the type of construction, soil conditions, weather…. even how well you clean the gutters and trim the trees.
A house is a loss ALWAYS..
Oh. Thanks for clearing that up. According to you, no one has ever made money by buying and selling a house, in history. No one. Ever.
Of course that does raise the question: Why do you own two houses (as you say), and why were you looking to buy a third house a year ago, when prices were higher?
Do you enjoy losing money?
Somebody please tell me DC is going to get some layoffs so that the area clears out some.
The new LOs’ll all be looking to rent in my complex, natch, hence pushing up my cost of housing.
Can anybody tell me what the solution is? I sure don’t see it. There’s just too d*mn much dough sloshing around in this area looking to be spent. The hard earned money ( - ahem) is squeezed out.
The great American solution to being in a funk is to go shopping. I’m going to work on my next problem set. It’s cheaper and just as distracting.
Misrepresentation #1
At 4% interest, over 30 years you pay 1.652 x the amount financed.
Nobody is getting 4% purchase. You borrow a dollar, you payback two dollars. What a bargain considering rents are half the cost of buying!
Misrepresentation #2
For a 15 yr loan the amount is 1.237 times. It might be time to update your calculations, pimpy. At least for the time being.
Considering less than 10% of suckers… ahem… buyers opt for a 15 year note, this is a moot point. And they’re not getting a low rate either. Nice try though.
Misrepresentation #3
Maintenance - that’s a HUGE variable. Depends on the type of construction, soil conditions, weather…. even how well you clean the gutters and trim the trees.
You’re so full of $hit on this one, I don’t know where to start. “Soil conditions” and “Gutter cleaning”? lmao….. The doors are gonna wear out, the paint is going to checker, the shingles are going to postage stamp, the asphalt is gonna heave, the sanitary main is going to develop a hole, the screws in the gyp board are going to dimple, the ridge is going to develop a sway or wow, the foundation is going to settle, the boiler is going to blow a hole through the blast wall and then your baseboard is going to freeze blowing water onto the floors that will need to be replaced….
YOU my friend don’t know what you’re talking about.
“Oh. Thanks for clearing that up.”
My pleasure to set you straight once again.
“The doors are gonna wear out, the paint is going to checker, the shingles are going to postage stamp, the asphalt is gonna heave, the sanitary main is going to develop a hole, the screws in the gyp board are going to dimple, the ridge is going to develop a sway or wow, the foundation is going to settle, the boiler is going to blow a hole through the blast wall and then your baseboard is going to freeze blowing water onto the floors that will need to be replaced….”
Good grief - who knew that Lot was posting on the internet. Call the Theologans. The second coming is nigh!
But seriously, dude, you or anyone here can check my figures on an amortization calculator. Multiply the payment on $100K by 360.
The 2X figure was true at about 9% rates. Most buyers pay LESS than 4% interest - I was being conservative.
“Most buyers pay LESS than 4% interest”
No they don’t. Suckers with FICO’s above 800 pay less than 4%. And what percentage of suckers is that? 10? 15%?
Let’s see - I’ve owned 4 of my houses for over 30 years , 2 built in the 20’s 2 in the 90’s (virgin timber from the Smokies was pretty good stuff)
The doors are gonna wear out….. Hasn’t happened.
the paint is going to checker…. well it peels and you scrape it off, The house gets more rent with a fresh paint job.
the shingles are going to postage stamp….. I usually replace it before then
the asphalt is gonna heave….. I did have some settling in a brick driveway - does that count? most parking areas are gravel,
the sanitary main is going to develop a hole….. I’ve replaced more than a few sewer lines. It costs around $1000 but some plumbers will charge 3K,
the screws in the gyp board are going to dimple…… occasionally but joint compound is cheap,
the ridge is going to develop a sway…. no
or wow, the foundation is going to settle….. That’s expensive but not bank breaking
the boiler is going to blow a hole through the blast wall….No boiler so not an issue. New H/A is about 3K,
and then your baseboard is going to freeze blowing water onto the floors that will need to be replaced…. We don’t do boilers and radiators here. I’ve replaced some floorbords below window ACs. It’s not the end of the world.
So yeah 4 years out of 15 you will face a big ticket item. I can see if they hit you all at once you’d be bitter.
p.s for my properties rents are 2 - 3 times the mortgage if I have one. (15 yr).
p.s for my properties rents are 2 - 3 times the mortgage if I have one. (15 yr).
If the cash-flow is _that_ good, why not buy an infinite number of properties?
Hey I lean left and support several right-of-center positions(guns, restricted voting, immigration). But somehow I can’t understand how anyone could call Obama a socialist, he’s been a f**king stooge of big money since he passed the Bush tax cut 2.0. If Obama did get elected again there is a slim change he might go rouge and really beat up on Wall St. - if for no other reason than to get revenge on GS, Bank of America, Wells Fargo for supporting Romney in 2012. That would be sweet.
Most people that use the word ’socialist’ have no idea what it means.
Words like ‘librul,’ ’socialist,’ ‘communist’ and ‘progressive’ are typically used to demonize anyone who disagrees with anything a neocon propagandist says. Their underlying meaning gets lost in the propaganda fog.
“Socialist” means lazy black and brown people getting free food stamps, health care, school lunches, rent, Obama phones, etc from the bootstrapping, rugged individualist, producers.
Despite the fact that the majority of food stamp recipients are white and are employed, working for wages at or below the poverty line.
Socialism: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods.
Government ownership of private companies, government selection of winners and losers, government taking control of personal decisions, etc are all a slippery slope to socialism.
To call Obama a socialist might not be entirely fair but his policies and beliefs lean in that direction.
AKA Romney’s 47 percent.
I’m pretty sure he is not a Vulcan.
Wall Street is pro Socialism.
I don’t know how well this works as an argument, but as the Fed is shoving money to the banks and everything drifts to a debt driven economy, you could almost say that at this point, money is the means of production, and the Fed is controlling it. Therefore we are living in a socialist era, as government is controlling the means of production. Actually, would that be an oligarchy, as Bernanke is appointed, not elected? Or do we still say socialism since we are electing the people who are appointing those controlling our means of production?
“Wall Street is pro Socialism.”
More like pro-feudalism, where Wall Street banksters are royalty and Main Street Americans are serfs.
No racist intent, but it’s particularly hard to see rouge on our black president’s face -
Don’t worry about anyone calling you a racist anymore…PC is dead Ohbewanna killed it and its being replaced with tough love.
Vote your race, it blacks can be proud of doing this so can whites…fair is fair.
“Is this what this country has become?”
What country? You mean the land mass with a taxing authority known as the USA?
You’re here in Florida, Andy. Just go to any big-box flea market and stand around and observe the customer flow. If that doesn’t give you the willies, I don’t know what would. This is it. We’re done.
And that was the whole idea all along.
However, there is hope. Another country will arise, maybe like a Phoenix from the ashes, maybe on another planet in some distant future. The former USA was based on ideas. Those same ideas still exist in the hearts of people.
Good morning, Restore Our Future. Nice to see someone else here who gets it.
Regards,
Take America Back!
Just go to any big-box flea market and stand around and observe the customer flow. If that doesn’t give you the willies, I don’t know what would. This is it. We’re done.
What do you think the underclass looked like back in the Good Ol’ Days?
Big Box Hell caters to all classes and income levels. That’s why the customer flow is so exquisitely representative. It’s the American Crossroads!
(American Crossroads is responsible for this message)
And no more representative crossroads than the great state of Indiana.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossroads_of_America
Which brought us such culturally iconic contributions like the Jackson 5, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Axl Rose. And political statesmen like Senator and Vice President Dan Quayle and rapists’ rights advocate Richard Mourdock.
Big Box Mart
What do you think the underclass looked like back in the Good Ol’ Days?
They had them “good ol’ days” clothes and hair styles but they were not generally obese.
they were not generally obese.
Correct. But they were poorly-clothed, toothless, dirty, diseased, and skinny.
In these modern times, they are barely-clothed (in the sand states, and I don’t know why they even bother wearing anything at all), toothless or gold-toothed, tatooed, diseased and obese. At all income/class levels.
Unite!
American Crossroads is responsible for this message.
toothless or gold-toothed, tatooed, diseased and obese. At all income/class levels.
Wealthy people can’t afford health and dental care?
but they were not generally obese.
Ah! The days before HFCS!
And tobacco legislation.
I don’t really see it that way. Each side is trying to cover the warts on it’s face, but the media is the great Truth killer. The posters here just mimic what they hear on the “news”.
Look at Benghazi. It’s a cover-up, plain and simple.
Where is the PRESS?? ONly Fox is even trying to get some answers.
When it was Nixon or Bush, no matter what possible scandal they could find or fabricate, there was on onslaught:
“What did the President Know, and when did he know it?”
“What did the President Know, and when did he know it?”
“What did the President Know, and when did he know it?”
Over, and Over and over, day after day, morning and night….the President isn’t telling us the truth.
WE want the facts. And endless barage.
With Obama,
They don’t care about what the President Knew, or when he knew it.
It is OBVIOUS, he has been lying about the situation since the beginning, telling us about a “Mob”, started by a BOOK, leading to a take-over.
ALL LIES.
But why isn’t the PRESS asking any questions. They are silent, and there is a reason.
They ALL “Lean Forward”, as MSNBC is promoting.
This event should have Obama finished. So they hide it. And divert our attention to other things, just like the gun-running incident that is now “executive priviledge”.
Well, aren’t they interested in finding out:
“What did the President Know, and when did he know it?”
“What did the President Know, and when did he know it?”
I guess if it’s bad, NO, they don’t want to know.
That is the State of American Politics.
We gone beyond covering warts to a black out of facts that impact the very security of America.
“But why isn’t the PRESS asking any questions.”
For a number of reasons. First of all, the time to ask questions has long since passed. Questions should have been asked way back when the Blister Sister triumvirate (Rice, Jarrett and Clinton) persuaded Obama to support the “Arab Spring” in North Africa with undeclared acts of war. Congress, not necessarily the press, should have been asking the questions. But no. Too busy playing with themselves under their desks.
Besides, it was great media! Lara Logan got a good fingering for her pains, and probably a nice bonus from CBS, lol.
I think at that point, some in the media may actually have had a light bulb moment. I think much of the media just doesn’t give a rat’s patootie about Benghazi. That ambassador, Chris Whatever (I’ve already forgotten his name and am just too lazy to look it up, that’s how much I care) was one of the architects of the mess and thought that he’d be revered as some sort of liberator. Wonder how he felt when the first rock hit his head. Wonder if he knew his bosses were watching the whole thing on pay-per-view. I have little sympathy for him and I think there are many even in the media who have the sense that he had it coming. Besides, his father didn’t want his death to be politicized. You got it, Pops!
My sympathies lie with the other personnel who bought the farm over there. The casual cruelty with which this administration threw those people under the bus in breathtaking. Maybe some Dems will get a good feel for the betrayal rife among “their own”.
One last note on “Ambassador” Stevens (yeah, I finally got up enough ambition to look it up). Anyone curious about his role in Libya ought to look up his background and history over there. It’s quite instructive and one of the best examples of “what goes around, comes around” I have ever seen. Not that I think Moammar was any kind of a super fellow. But the US did accept his olive branch and the “ambassador” was part of US foreign relations with his regime, smiling to his face and all the while working to betray him. Talk about getting a taste of one’s own medicine, it went down for Stevens almost exactly like it went down for Moammar.
What’s that saying? It’s dangerous to be an enemy of the US. It’s fatal to be an ally.
Bravo(a) ROF! Screed of the month, right there.
Cover up? Why would there be a cover up? Shouldn’t the Rpeubs be shouting this from the rooftops?
Oh wait… THEY cut the embassy security budget…
“What Ryan didn’t mention is the fact that House Republicans cut funding for embassy security, as Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) acknowledged this week.
In fiscal year 2011, lawmakers shaved $128 million off of the administration’s request for embassy security funding. House Republicans drained off even more funds in fiscal year 2012 — cutting back on the department’s request by $331 million. As the Washington Post noted, for fiscal year 2013, “the GOP-controlled House proposed spending $1.934 billion for the State Department’s Worldwide Security Protection program — well below the $2.15 billion requested by the Obama administration.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/11/paul-ryan-embassy-attacks_n_1959951.html
So for 331 million in cuts we only lost 3 guys in an embassy? And we still could have sent in some reinforcements and saved them but chose not to? Sounds like smart cutting to me…
lol, one thing about administrations, they can find the money for just about anything, despite “budget” cuts. They certainly had enough to light North Africa on fire.
My guess is Stevens pissed Obama off with some sort of catty comment and Hillary was off with her BFF Houma bustin’ a move with the sistahs in Ghana or whatever African country she was doin’ the happy dance in.
lol, the banality of evil.
“It’s just this war and that lying son of a bitch, Johnson.”
That was the best part of Forrest Gump. Not that line…just the perfect way they portrayed the way reality seems to go into slow motion at certain times.
Remember the Fugitive Slave Act?
Will the FED come up with the Fugitive Debtor Act?
One is a condition imposed by humans on other humans…..
….the other is a condition self imposed.
Hardly the same, so no, there will be no Fugitve Debtor Act.
And the BK laws could be considered the Debt Abolition Act
Thats the point. these debtors need “civilizing”, ya know… doing Gods work…
What specifically does it mean to you when we tell you we’re going to Take America Back?
That you are going to make America conform to your ideals….even if you have to kill everyone who disagrees with you. LOL, just kidding……
“…even if you have to kill everyone who disagrees with you.”
Modern religions and governments don’t generally operate that way, although some apparently do…
I’m wondering if the salt water that flooded the NYC subway system will pose the costliest and most lingering damage from Sandy.
Updated October 30, 2012, 5:29 p.m. ET
Crippled NYC subways could hamper storm recovery
Associated Press
NEW YORK — The floodwaters that poured into New York’s deepest subway tunnels may pose the biggest obstacle to the city’s recovery from the worst natural disaster in the transit system’s 108-year history.
Critical electrical equipment could be ruined. Track beds could be covered with debris. Corrosive salt water could have destroyed essential switches, lights, turnstiles and the power-conducting third rail.
Several of the tunnels that carry cars and subway trains beneath New York City’s East River remained flooded Tuesday. The head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it was too early to tell how long it would take to pump them dry and make repairs.
There has always been flooding in the tunnels, which collect storm water constantly, even in the lightest of rains. But authorities said there has never been anything like the damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy. The South Ferry subway station, at Manhattan’s southern tip, had water up to its ceiling.
The high water meant inspectors weren’t immediately able to assess how badly the water had damaged key equipment, raising the possibility that the nation’s largest city could be forced to endure an extended shutdown of the system that shuttles more than 5 million riders to work and home every day.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg guessed it could take four days for train service to resume. And even then it was unclear how much of the nation’s largest public transit system would be operational.
“If there are parts of the subway system we can get up, we will get them up,” MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said. But he suggested that, for a time, the system would be a patchwork, with buses filling in many of the gaps. Buses resumed operations Tuesday evening. Fares were being waived through Wednesday.
Experts suggested that the cost of repairs could be staggering.
A report released last year by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority estimated that a flood roughly comparable to the one that hit the city Monday night would do $10 billion in damage to the transportation infrastructure and cause another $40 billion in economic losses due to the paralyzing effects of a crippled transit system.
Klaus Jacob, an environmental disaster expert at Columbia University who oversaw the portion of the report dealing with transit disruptions, said the study estimated that it would take four weeks to get the subway system back to 90 percent of normal capacity.
“I’m not saying that this is definitely what is going to happen here,” he cautioned.
But he said the transit authority’s challenges are severe.
“In the tunnels under the East River, all the signal-and-control systems are underwater. And it is salt water,” he said. “It’s not just that it doesn’t work right now. It all has to be cleaned, dried, reassembled and tested. And we are not sure what the long-term corrosion effect might be.”
…
Its gridlock in queens everyone thinking they can get into Manhattan….no separate bus lanes.. people driving up the wrong way on one way streets..boy the cops can make lots of money today writing $150 tickets
We got lucky a few big branches down, little flickering…i have off street parking.
Glad you’re OK.
Thanks just surprised they didn’t make the upper level of the 59th street bridge for buses and cabs only….
And start some car occupancy rules like during the last subway strike.
During that strike I went to one of the share-a-ride stops and picked up enough passengers to get me into the city.
One of the guys became my “coordinator” and got enough together local coworkers so we could get in every day. Worked out pretty well.
Update from Astoria Queens…
Overcast but no rain.
A few traffic lights out, but most residences showing lights so we got off easy.
The Key Food had new deliveries of bread. Limited milk, no eggs. Plenty of fruit and veg. Plenty of non-perishables such as cereal, pasta, etc. Busy with customers but not crazy. The check-out lady lives out on Long Island, has no power, came to work anyway.
Most restaurants/delis/bakeries open.
Shoe store had a sign saying cash or credit cards only with phone approval. Assuming credit card approval system down for some, but not all as Key Food was operational. (One more reason to resist the cash-less society in my book, but don’t get me started.)
Lots of people out for a stroll with their unexpected day off and cute neighborhood kids out with their parents in costume (most merchants give out candy).
One train parked in the (elevated) Ditmars subway station. (Think it must have been there all along as I don’t think there is any above ground way to get it to the train storage yard from here.)
I suspect when they can, they will start a shuttle service from Ditmars to Queensboro Plaza. From there it is possible to walk across the 59th street bridge if you need to get into Manhattan.
Update from Astoria Queens…
Overcast but no rain.
A few traffic lights out, but most residences showing lights so we got off easy.
You okay? Anything we can do to help?
No all is fine with me, nothing I like more than an excuse to stay home and read a book.
Others, of course not so lucky, so keep those who were really hit in your thoughts, prayers and (if possible) charity donations.
This will take a while to come back to “New York Normal”, but it’s just part of the price of admission to one of the most interesting places to live.
This is interesting as I predicted people are already complaining about the relief response. But interesting while the MSM in Katrina made providing relief mainly FEMA’s responsibility now it appears to put the blame entirely on the local officials. Come on FEMA step up to the plate.
HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) — Officials in the city of Hoboken, N.J., are defending their response to severe flooding from superstorm Sandy.
Public Safety director Jon Tooke says at least 25 percent of the city on the Hudson River across from Manhattan remains under water. He estimates at least 20,000 people are stranded and says most are being encouraged to shelter in place until floodwaters recede.
Tempers flared Wednesday morning outside City Hall as some residents complained the city was slow to get food and other supplies out to the stranded.
Dan as I posted before Bush Underestimated the number of stupid people who stayed behind then the superdome was a fixed dome and there was no place to land a chopper to get food and supplies to them….and then the back up generators were not built high enough over the flood line.
So it had nothing to do with black people, just no options left.
So it had nothing to do with black people, just no options left.
Except a helicopter to either evacuate or at least resupply them, like would have happened if it was a bunch of rich white people trapped at a country club.
Hooray! You’re okay!
Thanks Slim, other then one of the LL kids are staying over with 3 grand kids running up and down the stairs since they have no power on Long island….eh what a little noise…i know how much I made as a kid.
An insurance industry employee, a friend of my brother and sister-in-law, guessed the storm damage at around $35 billion. Not sure if that is just “stuff” as opposed to lost business. They are fine, but really can’t get to work (NJ and Brooklyn). My sister-in-law thinks that the subways are going to take a lot longer to get running again than the politicians are admitting to right now.
I’m fine, but Comcast, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that I don’t need internet access, though the phone and cable are fine. As expected, I never lost power, but communication was impeded.
It seems way too early to guess whether the Sandy economic damage toll will exceed $100 bn or not. This is kind of like the point in the financial crisis when BB said “subprime will be contained to $200 bn.”
Katrina damage exceeded $100 bn. NOLA real estate is obviously far cheaper than NYC real estate, and the NOLA economy is far less vital to the operation of Uncle Sam Amalgamated industries than the NYC economy is. Perhaps a lot more of NOLA was submerged by Katrina than NYC was by Sandy, but NOLA does not have a subway system that filled up with salt water.
Many are guessing and it is not even close to Katrina:
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER and MARTIN CRUTSINGER,
AP Economics Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Superstorm Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damages and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.
In the long run, the devastation the storm inflicted on New York City and other parts of the Northeast will barely nick the U.S. economy. That’s the view of economists who say higher gas prices and a slightly slower economy in coming weeks will likely be matched by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to growth over time.
“That’s the view of economists who say higher gas prices and a slightly slower economy in coming weeks will likely be matched by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to growth over time.”
Since the MSM-favored economic ‘experts’ nailed the predicted fallout from the housing collapse, I am sure they will get their estimates dead on again this time around…
good one.
Take a good look at all the damage along the Coast. The initial estimates have been running 20 Billion. I think that’s low. It could be 2x that or more. 100 Billion? I don’t know.
But it is a good comparison for looking a what $40 Billion dollars is really worth.
That is the amount of money the FED gives to it’s Bankster conspirators EVERY MONTH, under the current “Quantitative Easing”, translated, Money Printing.
Just printed dollars for buddies to buy up your world. EVERY MONTH.
Get a clue now.
How much is a TRILLION?
How much has Power has the FED invested in the BAnkster elite to Buy up America and the World? Oh, yea, it will trickle down to jobs for the poor serving the rich.
You and I can clean up the mess that the 1% make when the fly down to their resorts and wine and dine with their mistresses and enjoy time on their yachts.
ALL Paid with Dollars Printed and Freely given by the FED, and put on Your Account.
$40,000,000,000 PER MONTH, every month!!!!
Kill the Fed. Now.
There are ways to deal with flooded electrical equipment. The US Navy had that very problem after the Pearl Harbor attack (some of the battleships sunk had turbo-electric drives).
Basically, the plan is:
-Drain the salt water
-As the equipment is pumped dry, start flushing it with fresh water
-After the fresh water flush, start coating it with oil/preservatives to prevent corrosion. They didn’t have stuff like WD-40 back then.
-Teardown/inspect as required, reassemble, test run, put equipment back on line.
I’ve seen aircraft relays work fine after having high pressure water blasted into them after a fire. Flush them with alcohol, blow dry, get power on them as soon as possible to get them warm, to evaporate any water in/around the components.
Panic/crisis reporting makes better news, than reporting that some of the people running the program have a brain, have developed contingencies for this very problem, but will take a little time to implement.
I’m inclined to disagree with you. I’ve spent a lot of time in salt water. Once anything iron or steel hits salt water, it’s begun a trip to permanent decay.
There are some new Chemical treatments that counter-act the salt deterioration and I have used them successfully to stop further decay. But they require re-immersion in the treatment.
Oil and grease won’t prevent the corrosive effects of salt intrusion. They tend to slow it down, but the damage has been done.
I’ve got an I-beam in my back yard that got hit by the hurricanes of 2004 when the canal flooded.
Only covered with salt once. It’s been decaying steadily ever since. It had a coating of primer paint.
I think the damage is irreversible and replacements will be needed. Not immediately, but decay will accelerate. I even lost a rudder on a sailboat I owned. The “stainless” I used for the rudder post was (unknown to me) low-grade and simply rusted away. Fortunately it was at the dock, so I could retrieve the rudder and rebuild it.
You may be able to rinse off most of the chlorides, but not all. The chloride in the water penetrates into the surface, and migrates in metal grains, between the atoms. No amount of rinsing or oiling will help it then. The chlorides eventually find a defect and initiate stress corrosion cracking. (at least that’s the theory, they haven’t had much luck with initiation studies.)
Dio is right. I suspect that they will rinse and oil just to get the system running again and buy time before they need to start a massive replacement program.
One of my fav stories from the past few years:
“Independence‘s decay isn’t a case of mere oxidation, which can usually be prevented by careful maintenance and cleaning. No, the 418-foot-long warship is dissolving due to one whopper of a design flaw.
There are technical terms for this kind of disintegration. Austal USA, Independence‘s Alabama-based builder, calls it “galvanic corrosion.” Civilian scientists know it as “electrolysis.” It’s what occurs when “two dissimilar metals, after being in electrical contact with one another, corrode at different rates,” Austal explained in a statement.
Independence‘s corrosion is concentrated in her water jets — shipboard versions of airplane engines — where steel “impeller housings” come in contact with the surrounding aluminum structure. Electrical charges possibly originating in the ship’s combat systems apparently sparked the electrolysis.”
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/06/shipbuilder-blames-navy-as-brand-new-warship-disintegrates/
You don’t need an electrical charge to initiate galvanic corrosion. You only need the two metals to touch and electrons will move by themselves. “Corroding at different rates” is technically correct, but it’s a lousy description. “Electrolysis” isn’t quite right either. The short version is that one metal sucks e- directly from the other metal. So one metal will stay intact while the other one will dissolve away much more quickly.
In modern applications, designers separate the two metals with a non-conducting liner such as teflon, so that the metals don’t touch and the electrons can’t flow.
You should call Austral!
Oxide - can we speak for a moment about the combination of copper and galvanized plumbing* ? I’ve heard that a brass fitting will break the connection/prevent corrosion - but I’ve also bought something called a di-electric fitting. Does this alchemy work and how?
* RAL should love this discussion as it points out a little known consideration of house maintenance.
Sure sign the housing bubble lives: Newspaper editors are still equating ever less affordable housing prices with “improvements.”
LOCAL HOME PRICES KEEP RISING
County’s increase for 7th straight month a sign of improving market
Written by Lily Leung
12:01 a.m., Oct. 31, 2012
Updated 4:04 p.m. , Oct. 30, 2012
Signs that the housing market is on the right track have become more pronounced as local home prices continue to rise, say analysts of a widely watched real estate report released Tuesday.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index shows residential prices in San Diego County rose 0.9 percent from July to August, marking the seventh straight month-to-month increase for our area. On a year-ago basis, prices are up 1.9 percent.
What’s described as good news also is evident in markets that were in far-worse shape than San Diego County during the recession.
Foreclosure-battered Phoenix is now leading the national housing recovery. That city saw home prices rise nearly 19 percent from a year ago. The annual rate in Las Vegas is now positive at 0.9 percent, a first for that city since January 2007, the report shows.
“The sustained good news in home prices over the past five months makes us optimistic for continued recovery in the housing market,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in this week’s analysis.
…
So a 1.9% rise doesn’t yet cover the 6% selling commision if you purchased in the past year or two!!
I don’t think anyone advocates ever buying a house if you think there is even a small possibility that you will need to move within a year.
Nor do people advocate buying with so little down that you are “trapped” in your house if there is a small reduction in market prices.
If you put 20% down, and found yourself in the unpleasant situation of NEEDING to move, even if prices are flat, you can move.
If we simply required every single buyer to have minimum (and REAL, no borrowing the down payment) 10% down (I’d like 20%, but let’s be realistic–it’d never fly politically), the mess wouldn’t have been as bad.
RonRon,
The 6% is normally discounted. It is normally not paid to one person.
It is usually a four-way split between the buyer’s broker, the buyer’s agent, the listing broker, and the listing agent.
5% is standard for the 4-way split in OC, CA.
I still think it’s excessive. Great opportunity for Redfin, et. al.
I think the “Right track” is $50,000 houses in abundance to allow anyone that wants a house to buy one. That’s the right track.
$350,000 average prices are the WRONG track.
But to the point of the article, I have been watching the Tampa Market closely for a long time.
We started to have some foreclosures come on the market at bargain prices. That only lasted a few months during this past year.
All of them were bought up and prices have been pushed up again.
There is a CONTROLLED RELEASE by the Banksters of foreclosures. And there is a cadre of Realtors that get to pick them over before they get on the market.
As an example, about 6 to 8 months ago, you could find Condos in the Clearwater area for as low as $35,000 for small units, 1 or 2 bdrm, in good condition. Most of those are now being sold by Realtors for about $55,000.
Given 4% mortgages, this is still very “affordable”, but the Price trend is UP, because they are holding back the inventories until they can get these others back off the market.
It’s a RIGGED Market to support the Banks, via the FED. Every time one makes the market under $50k, it’s usually under contract before you can get a showing, or are even aware that one is available.
I’ve also seen some higher priced units that say “UNDER CONTRACT”, but that they are accepting Back-up Contracts.
Bernanke and his buddies are supporting Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs by keeping houses OFF the market unless they can get a high price.
That’s the REAL market…….a manipulated one.
Isn’t that Illegal?
“Isn’t that Illegal?”
That’s a question I started asking years ago and stopped asking quite a while back as well. My conclusion at the point when I stopped asking it is that the Fed essentially acts above any rule of law. They are a hedge fund with a printing press, and no regulations to rein them in.
Sounds a lot like a monopolist’s wet dream version of free market capitalism, no?
That’s a question I started asking years ago and stopped asking quite a while back as well.
I remember it well, PB: for at least a year or so there, you were routinely asking how the Fed’s actions could possibly be legal.
My conclusion at the point when I stopped asking it is that the Fed essentially acts above any rule of law.
Above the rule of law, perhaps—as there is no law that I am aware of that addresses any of their actions.
But they are not without limits. The one limitation on their powers that I keep coming back to is political: if enough people realize what they are up to, and there is enough outrage, then their power has hit its limits.
“The one limitation on their powers that I keep coming back to is political: if enough people realize what they are up to, and there is enough outrage, then their power has hit its limits.”
I guess that’s why they hired a PR team. I’m not sure whether they pay for it with tax dollars, or through some other available means?
Opinion
The Federal Reserve’s public relations campaign is doomed to fail
2:06 PM 03/30/2012
This week marks the conclusion of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s four-part lecture series on how the central bank “saved the economy” to undergraduate students at the George Washington University School of Business.
At this point, you almost have to feel sorry for Ben Bernanke. He is engaged in a desperate propaganda tour to convince the public that the Fed prevented a “total meltdown” of the U.S. economy. Thankfully, most Americans aren’t buying it.
The Fed’s new public relations campaign proves that it’s finally on the defensive. The central bank is feeling the pressure of accountability. It’s about time. The Fed has largely operated in secrecy since its inception in 1913.
Just a few short years ago, most Americans were unaware of the Fed despite its immense power to control the value of the dollar. But things have changed quite a bit, much to the central bank’s chagrin. Congressman Ron Paul deserves credit for exposing the Fed as the real culprit in the financial meltdown.
At this point, Ben Bernanke is doing whatever he can to save face. He has a lower approval rating than Congress. You can’t get much lower than that.
This is not Bernanke’s first attempt to create a façade of Federal Reserve transparency. The Fed held its first-ever press conference back in April 2011. Don’t be fooled, the press conference was only a hoax for the Fed to appear more transparent and boost its own public image.
The last thing Bernanke wants is for the American people to find out what’s really going on behind closed doors, but it’s doubtful that Bernanke can keep his smoke-and-mirrors act going for much longer. A whopping 80 percent of Americans want a comprehensive audit of the Fed, according to Rasmussen polls.
Americans are losing trust in the central bank for good reason. The first-ever audit of the Fed in June 2011 revealed that at the height of the financial crisis it gave out $16 trillion in secret loans to corporations and banks around the world. That gigantic number is equal to 113 percent of the United States’ gross domestic product. These massive bailouts occurred without congressional approval. The unelected bureaucrats at the Fed fought tooth and nail to keep these bailouts hidden from Americans, but ultimately lost.
…
To the climate science junkies:
I found this presentation made back in Feb. 2012 and invite our resident skeptics to watch the whole thing. It’s long (1 hr+), very detailed and relevant to what is happening. Remember this was before the record Arctic melt, before the 2012 drought and the super storm Sandy. Physics crush ideology every time (including the left’s insane idea we can stop it).
Key Points
1. Enhanced Arctic warming reduces poleward temperature gradient
2. Weaker gradient affects waves in upper-level flow in two observable ways
3. Both effects slow weather patterns, favoring extreme weather
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RtRvcXUIyZg
Abstract-
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2012GL051000.shtml
Will this change anyone’s mind? I doubt it. But what you should take way from viewing this is that there is no going back. Even if we tried to curb our output of GHG at best it might have a small effect by 2100, way to late for the rest of the biosphere to adapt.
Don’t worry about it there has been no global warming since 1998. The AMO has warmed the Atlantic but that is a natural cycle. Since Co2 and the other gases have been only minor contributor to the warming, it does not even matter about the GHG.
Of course you won’t watch the video. It clearly shows the AMO has changed and it was affected by the loss of sea ice. Why not admit that dumping gigatons of man made chemicals and gases into the environment will affect a closed eco-system? The point I’m driving at is what are you going to do to adapt? Nobody is going to impose a carbon tax, it’s just a scare tactic.
I do not have an hour to watch a video during the week but I might be able to watch it this weekend. BTW many countries already have a carbon tax so I hardly think it is a scare tactic. Since the sunspot cycle is going into a quiet phase, the PDO is in a cooling phase (salmon returning to the Northwest) I think I will adapt to the cooler temperatures first. I remember growing up in Vermont and suffering through many below zero days. I had to walk a mile to school through those temperatures and once nearly lost my life due to falling down an icy slope and being trapped. Glad I am in NM my first adaptation.
“Global Warming” or “Climate Change” is just a fairy tale Al Gore made up to sell movie tickets.
The natural global warming was real. The AGW part of it was invented and Al Gore made tens if not hundreds of millions selling carbon credit to dupes. The developing nations have made billions on the scam and the globalists have attempted to use to justify hundreds of billions in world taxes.
Al Gore did not invent Global Warming or the Internet.
“You didn’t build that!”
I do agree with the part that there is very little or nothing we can do about it, because we did not cause it. I also agree with the impacts. Just like we knew that when the AMO is in a warm phase and a la nina occurs, the chance of a drought in the corn belt soars. The good news is many of the factors which caused the warming are or soon will be shifting. We just have to get through the peak solar cycle happening now and deal with any el nino which is looking less likely due to the existing cooling caused by the PDO. The natural warming of the globe took decades and it will probably take decades to get back to where we were in the early seventiess. I am not even sure we want to get back there since the late 60’s and early 70s were terrible winters.
It appears that I have an hour before I will not be able to respond, I know that will make some people’s day.
I’m amazed people use the argument of how the shifting weather cycles are naturally occurring. Sure, over (hundreds of) thousands of years you’ve seen gradually shifting and in/decreases in temperatures, but never ssuch extreme shifts in a only few decades. Unless of course, there is a volcano, a meteor hits the planet, etc.
It’s funny how back in the eighties and nineties that the school of thought was adamantly denial that climate was changing. Now that we’re seeing all sorts of extreme weather patterns, including oft predicted weather pattern changes (such as prolonged, systematic drought (in Australia, Russia, Asia, US), the rationale has changed to acceptance, but now denying that humans have any role to play in it.
It’s fascinating real-life science fiction.
And I don’t know where the “salmon returning to the northwest” came from. I wish that were the case, as well as many of the fishing boats sitting idle or for sale down at the marina (and fishermen that I know) due to depleted stock.
Did you see where some dude hood winked one of the Indian tribes to give him a million dollars to spread iron dust over the N. Pacific with the idea that it would cause an algae bloom which would then jump start the food chain and result in bringing back the salmon?
http://www.livescience.com/24025-illegal-iron-dumping-phytoplankton-bloom.html
The whole idea of Geo-engineering the climate is so crazy it must have been a republican. The side effects of stunts like this will cause more damage than even electing Romney!
Yeah, the unitnteded consequences of shift the balance through man-made processes always seems to have negative (or devestating) consequences. So the purpose of this is for the plankton to remove carbon from the atmoshere, which in turn (in my opinion, at least) will contribute to the acidifaction of the oceans via carbonic acid - already responsible for the die off of roughly 50% of the Great Barrier Reef since 1980. Link:
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/outlook-for-the-reef/climate-change/how-climate-change-can-affect-the-reef/ocean-acidification
Even here in the PNW, acidification has caused the inability for oysters’ shells to develop naturally. Most (all?) are now farmed until they develop into their second year where they can then be planted in the sound. Link
http://crosscut.com/2012/07/24/puget-sound/109707/ocean-acidification-ruckelshaus-salish-puget-sound/
ADD-Dan does not understand the words “record setting”, let alone “asymmetric disruption to a barely stable dynamic system resulting in extreme oscillation compensation.”
No, that is not code for bad things hitting the fan. That really is the scientific description of what happens to dynamic systems of any kind that are knocked out of balance.
What part of record do you not understand, we stopped setting. We are colder this year than in 1998.As far as the salmon:
Record numbers of a once-waning population of sockeye salmon have been returning to the Northwest’s Columbia Basin this summer, with thousands more crossing the river’s dams in a single day than the total numbers seen in some previous years.
Since Bonneville Dam outside Portland was built in 1938, there have been plenty of times there weren’t 38,000 sockeye salmon swimming over the fish ladders in a whole year. But on Monday that many passed the Columbia River dam, and another 41,000 swam over the dam on Wednesday — a rate of nearly 30 a minute. That bought the total so far to 290,000.
A record run of more than 400,000 of the Columbia Basin’s farthest-swimming salmon are expected to return this year, almost all of them wild fish bred in rivers, instead of the hatcheries that produce most Northwest salmon
Now in the story June 28, 2012 AP story, some biologists try to claim credit. Yea, after 30 years of failure. However, toward the end it eludes that something in the ocean might be causing it. Try the PDO, the water is cooler just like Professor Easterbrook predicted.
LOL “The good ol’ days.”
http://palaeos.com/earth/paleogeography/images/319×174xPangea.gif.pagespeed.ic._direMWmmy.png
The early moves on headline U.S. stock market indexes today resemble the shape of that damaged crane left twisting in the wind by Sandy.
But no worries — the Plunge Protection Team has the market’s back, and will ensure that stocks (and housing prices) keep going up from here on out.
That reminds me, I have to fuel up this morning on the way to work before the Fed’s latest liquidity injections drive fuel prices skyward once again.
I was too busy to respond yesterday and do not have much time today so can’t see if other people have pointed this out. But Turkey do you really believe that President Obama, who has managed to grow the economy by just over $1 trillion but has added six trillion in debt has not caused the debt to gdp ratio to soar? Are you really that math (cue comment) challenged. No wonder you think that solar is competitive. Under Obama the debt has soared to more than 100% of gdp (a very dangerous level). Under Reagan the deficits were not only less a percentage of the GDP but due to the much more rapid growth of the GDP, he added to the GDP ratio just over half as much as Obama. Only during the WWII era did we have the ratio we have now or add to the ratio as rapidly.
Your charade is fascinating.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/26/is-housing-about-to-tank/
Since I will be gone today, I will preempt a CBS poll that I know will be posted. It has Obama at 50% in Ohio. All I can say is that only the trend is right in that poll (which is all Romney). If a CBS poll has a democratic president at 50%, that President is in deep trouble. Their level of accuracy is poor and it virtually always favors the democratic.
Mitt Romney set to win, maybe by a mile - Boston Herald
First the numbers. And let’s start with the big one: Before Gallup suspended polling due to Hurricane Sandy, Mitt Romney was at or above 50 percent among likely voters for 14 consecutive days. No candidate above 50 percent at this point has ever lost the presidential race.
Ever.
Electoral College vote in the “swing states!” That’s Obama’s path to victory!
OK. But what is a swing state? Forget Virginia and Ohio. Obama’s lost so much ground he’s been forced to send Joe Biden to Pennsylvania and Bill Clinton to Minnesota — a state so blue Ronald Reagan never carried it.
The Obama campaign is angry, it’s negative and it acts like — to quote Bill Clinton — its feelings are hurt. In a word: Losing.
We are soooo close to Taking America Back now we can taste the Restored Future
The fit you guys throw after the election is going to be epic. It’s gonna start with “stolen election” and devolve into outright crazy raving.
Can’t wait!
The fit you guys throw
Umm… which guys? The Obama supporters threatening to riot on Twitter, as compiled by Michelle Malkin on the Twitchy website?
Or the “clinging to guns and religion” types?
Should be an amusing sh*tshow regardless.
The
Obama supportersKochtopus employees threatening to riot on Twitter,Fixed it for you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooks_Brothers_riot
Damn poll numbers! St00pid electoral college system! Bloody hurricane!!
Try not to let any of the above interfere with your propaganda campaign.
Swing State Polls Buoy Obama
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN (@GoldmanRussell)
Oct. 31, 2012
Polls in three key swing states show President Obama holding his lead in Ohio and wiping away Romney’s advantage in Virginia and Florida.
Obama leads 49 percent to 47 percent in Virginia and had a 48 percent to 47 percent edge in Florida, according to the Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News poll.
Obama’s lead in those two states are within the margin of error, meaning the candidates are essentially tied, but Republican rival Mitt Romney was leading in those states just a few days ago in other polls.
In Ohio, Obama is maintaining a five point lead with a 50-45 margin, according to Quinnipiac.
In a new video today, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said he thinks Obama is in the dominant position heading into Election Day because, “We are ahead or tied in every single battleground state.”
…
Que up Albaquirky Dan!
I posted my response even before you did your cut and paste.
Quinnipiac thinks the turnout is going to be exactly like 2008. Huh, no way. The numbers are skewed to make you progressive types feel some positive vibes.
If things are going so good, why is Obama sending his minions to Minnesota and Pennsylvania?
“…you progressive types…”
Just in case that moronic remark was aimed at me, F-U.
HBBers don’t be fooled, this isn’t really the Boston Herald. Lip is quoting an opinion piece from Michael Graham, a frequently fired raving tea-partier conservative commentator whose best known book is “Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War.” Even Sarah Palin lasted longer at her multiple colleges than Graham lasted at a radio station.
The other day HBB discussed that the Romney campaign was pushing a narrative that they were winning as ploy for Romney to win, as a self-fulfilling prophesy. This is an example of that. And yes, the Kerry supporters had the same hopeful tone and stats in 2004.
Propagandists somehow always forget to post links to their sources.
Fake it til you make it!
I predict the Banksters will win the election.
“I predict the Banksters will win the election.”
They are fully hedged.
I predict the Banksters will win the election.
That’s the one prediction that I can get behind…
Yeah Obama totally screwed it up when he kept the government revenue at record lows too. The uber rich don’t spend their tax cuts, don’t hire more people and frequently use their immense wealth to distort energy and commodity markets. Yes Reagan gave us supply side economics which I equate with Cancer to Adam Smith’s theory of capitalism. Romney is 100% a supply side guy.
Romney is a practical guy. He will do what he can to minimize unnecessary spending while increasing revenues, mainly through the expansion of the petroleum industry, which will put many to work. If you call that supply side, so be it as long as it works.
Watch and wait, it’s gonna happen.
What was gas when Obama took office, $1.85? What is it now?? $3.70? Big difference especially considering we still make about the same.
We are looking forward to a return to an economy shedding 800,000 jobs a month that resulted in $1.85 gasoline after we Take America Back!
Romney is a lying chameleon that tells people what they want to hear. As a result, gullible people tend to like him.
Etch-a-sketch presidency, here we come…
Barbara Shelly: Romney era offers myriad possibilities with an Etch A Sketch leader
By BARBARA SHELLY | The Kansas City Star
Fast forward to next week. It is midmorning and I am still in bed with the blankets pulled over my head.
This is partly because I was up late the night before, and partly because, before retiring, I canvassed the house for stupefying substances.
It is Wednesday, Nov. 7, and Mitt Romney is president-elect of the United States.
Morning in America? Not for me.
I fear the return of the neocons, with their blustery foreign policy. And the unraveling of health-care reform. I dread the idea of industry interests retaking control of the regulatory agencies. Shudder. Why did I never get around to purchasing blackout curtains?
But it is time to face the day - not to mention the next four years. My Republican parents always told us to “make the best of it,” so I will busy myself thinking up reasons I should be able to live with Romney as president.
…
I look forward to Romney getting rid of FEMA.
Romney is a communist traitor. Period.
What the liberal side of the argument constantly fails to mention is participation in taxes is the best way to raise revenue. If more people are working, there’s no need to touch tax rates. Raising taxes isn’t going to address our unemployment problem and could add to the problem. If we have higher taxes for a few and even fewer people participating, we don’t get more revenue.
If you raise taxes on the rich, and lower them on the poor, the poor have money to spend (and they’ll spend it… this is why they’re poor). This will drive business growth, the rich will hire people to service the growth, and drive down the unemployment rate. The rich will still end up with the money, and the the economy and tax base will will improve.
Rich people aren’t going to hire to staff empty stores just because they have money. There have to be customers. No customers = no hiring = rich people speculating and driving up the cost of essential commodities, grinding the poor further into the muck.
No, it wouldn’t be fair in the short run, but how many things in this life are fair?
Unemployed people don’t spend a lot of money Russ.
And for the poor, you can’t tax them less than 0.
So again, we have to go back to participation.
Of course you can tax people less than 0%, just send them a check.
“And for the poor, you can’t tax them less than 0.”
Really? Earned Income Credit? Child Credit? Adoption Credit? American Opportunity Credit?
There are lots of to get back more on your federal return than you paid in.
Yes, how I’ve forgotten how messed up the system really is.
the poor have money to spend (and they’ll spend it… this is why they’re poor).
I call BS again. Are you saying that the $500/week crowd is poor because they spend money? What, are they not allowed to eat? Buy toothpaste? Electricity? Those wasteful b@st@rds! Why, if only they lived in a box and ate cat food and “lived within their means,” they could all be Rich like Mitt!!
Why just give people, ya know, …. raises?
Yeah, yeah, I know. Too socialist. Rewarding people for long term loyalty and performance is just commie talk.
Marie Antoinette didn’t get it either.
I call BS again. Are you saying that the $500/week crowd is poor because they spend money?
Ummm… Yes?
I was saving money when I was earning half that amount.
I think I saved a grand that year; in other words, my savings rate was about 8%.
Yeah so did I. Back then I spent a lot but still saved a lot. How?
Cars cost less than 1/2 of what they do today. I paid $3 for a doctor’s visit instead of the $15 -$25 I do today. Insurance costs were minimal. I think we’re paying $7k a year for all our insurances right now. I’m feeding 4 people and 3 pets instead of just myself but it’s hardly a $20 x 4+ proposition. It’s 3x that. I used to get away w/only spending $20 a week at the grocry store if I was saving up for something. I didn’t need to worry about having a cell phone because public phones were everywhere. Good television programming could be found (at times) on the only 3 channels available. I didn’t have to pay extra for quality or to watch something my friends had access to. I lived in a state w/no sales tax then. My current locale charges me 12% on all taxable items. Most importantly: I paid for every dime of my own schooling w/summer jobs and a whopping student loan of $10k. Some of that education bill even included some nights out where I treated. So it could have been even lower.
Basically the cost of living has to be considered when comparing savings rates per income between now and years ago. The difference is apples and oranges.
What the liberal side of the argument constantly fails to mention is participation in taxes is the best way to raise revenue
I call stinking BS.
Liberals and Obama have repeately tried to create jobs, or write bills to stop outsourcing, or improve education so that more people are able to do jobs, or ask rich individuals to participate in taxes at least as much as their secretaries do. All their efforts were met with scorn. Despite record profits, it appears that our environment isn’t destroyed enough, our workers aren’t sick enough or slaved enough or have too much money in savings ($1 counts as too much), and therefore profits aren’t high enough, and therefore there will be NO jobs created sorry bout that.
Never mind all that.
All Your Uterus Are Belong To Todd Akin And Richard Mourdock!
Lol.
Belief? What has belief got to do with researched and verified facts?
Seriously. Seek help.
Articles like the one posted below, which ignore the role of Fed liquidity injections to prop up the stock market in a moment of crisis, are lame. And why would anyone cheerlead for the market to “scare the heck out of everyone” in the wake of a devastating storm? Not only is the writer a clueless bovine, but he is also mean-spirited.
So far his market call is 100% wrong.
Oct. 30, 2012, 7:16 p.m. EDT
How one superbull would trade the market reopen
Technical analyst Acampora hopes U.S. stocks sell off Wednesday with a ‘bang’
By Jonathan Burton, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The New York Stock Exchange was not flooded during Hurricane Sandy, contrary to rumors. But the storm’s surge may be nothing compared with the trading wave that could wash over Wall Street on Wednesday morning, when U.S. markets reopen after being closed for two days.
Technical analyst Ralph Acampora is hoping for the worst. “Ideally, I’d like to see the market open down big,” he said in a telephone interview late Tuesday. “A bang, down 4% to 5%,” that rockets the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX -0.96%) up to around 25, “would scare the hell out of everybody.”
…
Late last night I posted a fascinating article on luxury boat repossession which I repost here. I note the connection between this story and one the Wall Street Journal ran five years back, entitled Flip That Yacht.
I encourage readers to pay attention to the pro-deadbeat, anti-saver slant in this article (I added bold/italic text for emphasis). Or refer back to last night’s post for my observations.
Features
The Luxury Repo Men
By Matthew Teague on October 25, 2012
The white yacht bobbed at the end of a pier on the St. Johns River in Central Florida. On the opposite riverbank, several men tried to convey boredom from a distance: stretching, taking off sunglasses, yawning, squinting, replacing sunglasses. The small team’s leader, Ken Cage, peeked at the boat through binoculars, then turned with a snap. “That’s the one,” he said.
The four men—Cage, his No. 2 man, a boat captain, and a driver—hustled into two trucks, wheeled over a river bridge, and entered the marina. They walked quickly along the waterfront until they saw their target—a gleaming Luhrs yacht—and huddled again behind a patch of tall grass. “That has to be our boat,” Cage said. “Has to be.” The team fell silent. An alligator lay motionless in the grass three feet away.
The St. Johns emerges from central swampland and descends less than an inch per mile, lolling instead of rolling. The marsh seemed to be reclaiming the small marina itself, host to only a handful of working boats. It made a strange home for a seagoing sport yacht. “He probably knows we’re after him,” Cage said. “He figured we’d never find it here. See how he has it tied parallel to the dock?” All the other boats sat like parked cars, nose to the dock. “He wants an easy getaway.”
Cage and his guys make a living taking from the rich. He’s one of a handful of the world’s most sophisticated repo men. And while the language may be different from the doorbusters who grab TVs, the game is the same: On behalf of banks Cage nabs high-dollar toys from self-styled magnates who find themselves overleveraged. Many of the deadbeat owners made a killing in finance and real estate during the economic bubble—expanding it, even—and were caught out of position when it burst. So now men like Cage steal $20 million jets like they were jalopies. And fast boats. Even, on one occasion, a racehorse.
A pair of local fishermen stepped out of a building on the dock, looked curiously toward the newcomers, and took a few steps forward.
“Now or never,” Cage said. He bounded to the end of the pier and climbed onto the yacht’s deck. The other team members, including Cage’s lieutenant, Randy Craft, moved to their assigned lookout positions on the dock. Craft always handles security; he’s a colossal human, with a polished bald head and fists that hang like wrecking balls. (He had, moments ago, tried to grab the immobile alligator by the tail, sending it thrashing into the river. “Ah, just a small one,” he said dismissively.)
Cage made his way to the stern and leaned over the rear to examine the hull number. “This is it,” he said.
Craft leapt aboard and pulled out a small set of lock-picking tools. While he kneeled at the cabin hatch, focused on its lock, Cage’s boat captain jumped aboard. “Look,” he said, and pointed to the owner’s cooler full of beer, sitting in the sun with the ice not yet melted. Cage hurried to untie the boat from the dock. If the owner appeared before they got the engines running, they would shove away with no power and drift ever so slowly until they could get her started.
With a final flick, Craft popped the lock. He climbed down into the cabin, where the bed was rumpled from a recent sleeper. The whole endeavor suddenly felt less like an act of piracy than a home invasion, but Craft stayed focused. He grabbed the boat’s ignition keys from a shelf and tossed them to the captain, who fired up the twin diesel engines. And then, just like that—as the two locals on the dock stood staring—the yacht pulled away from the pier. The bow tipped up as it gunned toward Cage’s own hidden marina to the south. The owner might return soon from a bathroom, or newsstand, or diner, to find his boat gone.
Cage climbed up to the yacht’s bridge, into the wind, and sat grinning. “This is the best part,” he said. Half-exposed cypress trees lined the riverside where turtles and herons posed in the Florida sun. Not bad for the scene of a heist. “Yeah,” he said. “But I really like doing jets.”
…
Awesome story, thanks for posting.
American Coarseroads is responsible for this message.
It gets even better beyond the part I posted:
That is great stuff. You get the award for the best post of the day.
American Crossroads is responsible for this message.
Here is another beautiful anecdote from the story:
I’m thinking this luxury repo business might provide the material for a great reality TV show — one even I might watch. (I never did catch an episode of “Flip That House.”)
Oh bugger!
Any bank that would take a 1953 Piper Tri-Pacer as collateral deserves to get shafted/go out of business.
That would violate the Fed and government’s “No Banker Left Behind” policy.
Nice call Benny.
CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal said the influx of money from China into the Vancouver real estate market, especially the affluent west side makes it unlike any other in Canada.
“The China story is more sustainable than any other story that I know, so it is possible that this trend will continue. The fact that it is foreign money isn’t a negative,” said Tal.
http://www.buyric.com/vancouver/2011/04/chinese-demand-drives-vancouver-home-prices-up-2011-206/3823/
Today:
“But home sales are falling, suggesting more price drops may be on the way. Home sales in Vancouver and the surrounding metropolitan area dropped 33% this September from a year ago, according to the Vancouver real-estate board, while the total number of listings rose 14%.
The areas hardest hit have been high-end neighborhoods, like Vancouver’s West End, prized by Chinese and other buyers for its waterfront views and proximity to luxury shopping, according to industry officials. Sales of detached properties between $3 million and $5 million, for example, dropped 45% from this time a year ago.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203335504578088821389676846.html
Same shill different day.
Canada is not going to see a U.S.-style housing market meltdown: CIBC
“To be sure, house prices in Canada will probably fall in the coming year or two, but any comparison to the American market of 2006 reflects deep misunderstanding of the credit landscapes of the pre-crash environment in the U.S. and today’s Canadian market,” says CIBC Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal
He notes that while the debt-to-income ratio in Canada just broke the American record set in 2006, “this ratio is more a headline grabber than a serious analytical tool. There is a list of countries with comparably higher debt-to-income ratios, which did not experience anything remotely resembling the recent U.S. experience.”
Mr. Tal says we should pay more attention to the speed at which the debt-to-income ratio is growing. “Here the picture looks a bit less alarming. Comparing the three years heading into the U.S. crash to the past three years in Canada reveals that the debt-to-income ratio in Canada has been rising at half the speed seen in the pre-crash U.S. market.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/canada-not-going-see-u-120000574.html;_ylt=A2KJ3Ce3AZFQawIAGFbQtDMD
“The areas hardest hit have been high-end neighborhoods, like Vancouver’s West End, prized by Chinese and other buyers for its waterfront views and proximity to luxury shopping, according to industry officials. Sales of detached properties between $3 million and $5 million, for example, dropped 45% from this time a year ago.”
Time to set up a ‘Hardest Hit’ fund to make the FB Chinese investors whole?
Meh… they most likely stole that money to begin with. Easy come, easy go.
“the debt-to-income ratio in Canada has been rising at half the speed seen in the pre-crash U.S. …”
Take a lesson from physics: The lid will blow off with the same energy regardless of the time it took to boil the pot.
Why do the Marketwatch people say “stocks are higher” when headline indexes are all down? Can’t these people read a stock chart?
P.S. DJIA = 13,100 or bust!
Wall Street bounce as traders factor in Sandy
U.S. stocks higher after historic damage to Wall Street, with Home Depot leading the Dow industrials. What’s down? Insurers , and Apple , which made an executive shake-up.
Insurers are down. SHOCKER!
American Crossroads is responsible for this message.
Don’t forget to buy gas today, before the impact of the Fed’s latest liquidity injections (aka informal NYC bailout) show up at the pump.
And as grossly inflated housing prices continue to correct to lower levels, just how large are your personal losses?
ZERO.
Try again.
Your losses are crushing. Of course you’re in deep denial.
What are your losses on your two houses?
I don’t own any houses.
I don’t own any houses.
Then you’re lying now, or you were lying when you said you did.
Which is it, RALiar?
Have not been here in a while. Just wondering if there has been any discussion about the possibility of a massive exposure of the “shadow-foreclosure inventory” due to the destruction of the storm. In Florida there are litertally hundreds of thousands living mortgage free in “pre-forclosures” and I am doubting the banks have adequate insurance on the properties. Have to assume the same scenario is taking place in the Northeast. Kind of interesting…
Just wondering if there has been any discussion about the possibility of a massive exposure of the “shadow-foreclosure inventory” due to the destruction of the storm.
Let the games begin!
And I’ll weigh in by saying that there’s plenty of shadow inventory here in Tucson. Be nice to see what happens when it gets busted loose. The much-ballyhooed local housing recovery will be like Wile E. Coyote and that fall off the cliff.
Some time ago I made a prediction that shadow inventory would polarize: inventory in good condition would rise in price quickly. Meanwhile, the bad stuff would deteriorate to where it is effectively no longer traditionally viable inventory, at least for households and families. They want an intact place to live, not a full time reno job. In other words, time-initiated deterioration would decrease inventory, increasing prices on the remaining inventory. The crap will be left to bottom feeders, who will rebuild and re-sell at prices even higher than the good inventory.
IMO Sandy is simply a super-deteriorator which will accelerate that process. Wide swaths of destroyed inventory will now revert to land value… land which is now considered flood plain.
Sandy picked out excess empty inventory and excluded the rest of the inventory?
Your delusion runs deep my underwater debtor.
How did your two houses weather the storm, RALiar?
AlpoSloth,
You accuse me of lying. Provide the evidence.
You accuse me of lying. Provide the evidence.
Regular readers know you claimed to own two houses, just recently. Are you going to lie about that?
Where do the lies and deception end, RALiar? Are you still in control?
Provide the evidence. BACK UP your claim.
“Have to assume the same scenario is taking place in the Northeast.”
It is in a very big way. At least in DE, NJ, NY(NYC in particular), MA, CT and VT. And you don’t have to look far to see it or hear about it. BofA currently maintains scores of empty houses yet they aren’t for sale. And they’re everywhere. I talk to the service guys and they just shrug their shoulders and say, “hey…. it’s a living”.
The inventory is massive and it didn’t go anywhere. It’s still excess…. hiding is no more than a shell game. Whoops! It’s over here! Nope! It’s over there! You know it exists. You know it’s massive. You know nothing has changed.
If you’re counting on a house holding it’s value, you’re going to be very disappointed in the coming years.
It will be a great opportunity to bulldoze some of the “shadow inventory”, and sell some of the rest.
Even if uninsured, I’m assuming that you can write the house off at book value if destroyed by a storm, vs. taking the direct hit of a write-off of the outstanding loan after a foreclosure. True?
IOW, another bank bailout thru the tax code. Almost makes one think the Goldman Sachs or Halliburton has a “weather modification” subsidiary.
ven if uninsured, I’m assuming that you can write the house off at book value if destroyed by a storm, vs. taking the direct hit of a write-off of the outstanding loan after a foreclosure. True?
IOW, another bank bailout thru the tax code.
You are arguing that writing down the asset value in 1 step is somehow a bailout. If you mark to market first then to the destroyed value the result is the same.
Realizing a loss is not a bailout.
I guess you would prefer the property owner to pay income tax where they had a loss and probably property tax as well?
With Wall Street in a state of chaos, this must be an epically excellent time to continue living “rent free” in a home you “own.”
Step forward you liars.
Step forward ye scoundrels, ye deceivers, ye bullies, ye secret house-hunters.
Bow to your masters you empire slaves. Carry on with your Stockholm Syndrome.
I wouldn’t say we where slaves, more serfs, with the odd villein and cottager.
Doing fine (if anyone cares.)
How scary was this? Unbelievably so.
We were hosting people that needed to leave. Much good food and libations were consumed but there’s no doubt that the mood grew extraordinarily tense as the evening wore on.
For those that need to know, the three top dangers are:
[1] A tree, or tree branch falling on you, and
[2] Contact with water that has on some remote end contact with a downed electrical line, and
[3] Being swept away by the floods.
If you are not in danger of being flooded, do not leave your house for reasons [1] and [2].
I did a quick tally of all the deaths. Most could’ve been avoided. People behaved very irresponsibily. (No, taking pictures and posting on Twitter is not a priority, people!)
A lot of people criticized the administration during Irene but as it turns out, it was just a dress-rehearsal.
This was very very serious.
We were hosting people that needed to leave. Much good food and libations were consumed but there’s no doubt that the mood grew extraordinarily tense as the evening wore on.
Spoke with my mother yesterday. She said that the Monday night windstorm was scary. Thanks for that one, Hurricane Sandy. Because there isn’t much that will scare my mother.
My mom and sis are cold camping in Jersey. Sis says every house has a tree down across the lines. It is going to take a very long time to get them back to normal. No injuries though.
Because there isn’t much that will scare my mother.
Let me say that all the windows were securely locked down. Inspite of that, there was powerful wind coursing INSIDE the rooms because of small leaks. That’s a lot of power.
The weather has turned very mild so for people without power there’s at least a bit of a silver lining in that they are not going to freeze.
My sister is pretty upset about the prospect of not having any hot water or warm food for a week. I just came back from a week long camping trip in the Rockies and had warm food the whole time. I described to her how to fashion a little stove out of a tin can (rocket stove), that can boil soup in a flash burning pine cones or twigs. She thought this idea so ridiculous that eating cold food was a civilized and acceptable prospect. We all look define misery differently.
My #4 on your list would be running out of applejack or single malt.
If you know how, and have sufficiently thick paper, you can actually heat soup in a paper “can” over a straight-up campfire.
You can classify that under entirely useless Eagle Scout skills that I shall never use again (*).
(*) Unless we go all Mad-Max with gold and guns, and then I’m sure I’ll be needing that along with potassium permanganate and glycerin. (**)
(**) You can use that to start a fire even in a hurricane.
I’ve boiled an egg in a Dixie cup over a campfire. Did you go to Philmont?
Thanks for the update.
Hope you got through it with all your nine lives still intact.
FPSS,
What, if anything are you hearing about time tables on the trains getting back to semi-normal operations? My sister-in-law has to get from UWS to downtown Brooklyn. Never mind that the kids can’t go back to school until the teachers can get to work. Is the 4 to 5 day guess from Bloomberg even remotely possible?
Ain’t happenin’.
Anything that goes through downtown below 34th St. will not be happening. There’s no power, and it’s all flooded.
I’d just write off the week. Not happening for the kids either. It’s just too difficult logistically.
OK, I just saw this even though it was announced at 3:00pm.
Schools closed for rest of week. Entirely rational, in my opinion.
It’s just too too dangerous even for adults. There is absolutely no point in risking the lives of children.
I always figured that writing off the week was a given. I’m wondering if it is going to take a week or a month or even longer. The kids will manage, but they are going to be b-o-r-e-d without AMNH and school.
I’m guessing at least half a week into next week (if not more.)
My stuck at home god-daughter is having a “How I Met Your Mother” marathon on Netflicks. (Not sure why she and her friends love that show so much.)
It’s mildly funny.
The writers clearly decided to borrow the basic idea from a lot of Alan Ayckbourn plays.
Except when it’s used in every d_mn episode, it gets boring really really quickly.
Still, I suppose it would be mildly amusing if you didn’t actually latch on to the fairly elementary conceit that allows writers to fit in almost any scenario post-facto (and hence extend the serial indefinitely.)
Typical third-rate television borrowing.
Despite obvious end-of-month and reopening plunge protection measures today, the DJIA manged to lose 2.5% for the month of October.
Makes me wonder how ugly things might get after Election Day, as the market has quite obviously not yet priced in Sandy’s carnage.
Marketwatch dot com
Bulletin Major U.S. indexes end down for the month, with Dow off 2.5% and Nasdaq 4.5%
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Oct 31, 2012, 4:11 p.m.
13,096.46 -10.75 -0.08%
Volume 138.15m
“Doing fine (if anyone cares.)”
We naturally worry when we don’t hear from you…
Good for you surviving.
Brother lives (or lived) on Long Island, he was fine but his company car isn`t. No power, no water, no sewer but plenty of looting. Police officer on a bull horn driving around last night telling everyone they must be gone by 7:00 PM tonight. When he left this aftrernoon he said there was an armed National Guard at every corner.
The City of Long Beach Official Website
UPDATED WEDNESDAY 1PM
STATEMENT FROM LONG BEACH CITY MANAGER JACK SCHNIRMAN
•We are in the assessment and recovery phase
•The City is working with all levels of government to ensure the safety and security of the City – every resource is being brought to bear to aid Long Beach’s recovery
1. Residents must evacuate, and they are not to return until water/sewer/power have been restored – turn off your taps
2.Buses are picking up residents and taking them to evacuation centers
3.Emergency meals & water available at City Hall & will also be made available throughout the community
4.A strict curfew will continue for resident safety from 7pm to 6am – no one should be on the streets during those hours. State Police and National Guard here to ensure your safety.
5.Stay away from the boardwalk – it is NOT safe
6.500 portapotties are being placed throughout the City for emergency personnel
http://www.longbeachny.org/ - 82k -
Couldn’t have said it better myself:
“Calling it “Vulture Capitalism” is an insult to vultures…….they don’t go actively looking for victims to kill.”
http://tinyurl.com/amfc648
http://www.cartoonscrapbook.com/03pics/woodywoodpecker38.jpg
Every detail of the Greek economy is worse than officially forecast just weeks ago.
The budget unveiled this morning estimates that public debt will reach 189pc of GDP next year (not 179pc).
The budget deficit will be 5.2pc (not 4.2pc).
The economy will shrink 4.5pc next year (not 3.8pc).
Unemployment is already 25.1pc and 55.6pc for youth.
Just for the record:
The EU-IMF Troika originally said that the economy would contract by just 2.6pc in 2010, before growing by 1.1pc in 2011, and 2.1pc in 2012.
In fact Greek GDP contracted by 4.5pc in 2010, 6.9pc in 2011, and will shrink 6.5pc this year, and now 4.5pc next year.
The cumulative error is colossal.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100021059/the-german-bloc-will-have-to-take-its-bitter-medicine-in-greece/
Consider that they may still be way off on the projections.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2012/10/26/163719000/economists-romneys-12-million-jobs-target-realistic-even-if-he-loses
party on…wayne?
Bad news: New York loses 1 billion dollars a day in business due to Hurricane Sandy
Good news (?): Rest of country gains 5 times that much, by avoiding the Wall Street 3-6% “skim”.
Yeah, I was thinking how Wall Street being down isn’t much different than if all the casinos went down for a few days. It would probably be a net positive for the community.
Didn’t the casinos get whacked pretty hard in Atlantic City? I heard that the Boardwalk is no more.
A lot of the former casino bus day trippers now go to the new casino out at the Aqueduct Race track.
“avoiding the Wall Street 3-6% “skim”
Much of which goes to absurdly priced housing in the tri-state area.
Haven’t read the blog for a while, so I hope this is not a double post. Interesting article from American Banker. It would be fun to bombard them with some good comments:
“Claims of Homeownership’s Social Benefits Rise from the Grave. You might have thought all those studies linking homeownership to a slew of wondrous benefits died with the foreclosure crisis. But they’re not dead. Like zombies, they’ve come back to life, just in time for Halloween.
The authors of a 15-year-old study that suggested you might save your kids from teenage pregnancy by buying a house have doubled down on their findings….The researchers received $40,000 in grant money from the Research Institute for Housing America, according to Green. The Research Institute for Housing America is an arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Washington-based group that lobbies for greater access to homeownership.” (What a surprise!)
http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/claims-of-homeownership-social-benefits-rise-from-the-dead-1054017-1.html?bcpg=2#comments
It’s always a good time to fleece people who don’t understand the difference between correlation and causation.
Happy Halloween. I’m fixin’ to take a little Darth Vader and Cheerleader out in a few.
Sidebar: I really suck at carving pumpkins.
I’m very twisted.
There are no lights and there’s a dark backlight. The door slowly swings open and as it does, I make sure to hit the opening of George Crumb’s Night Angels at full volume.
(It’s played fortissimo sul ponticello and it’s absolutely freaky.)
Then I appear in normal clothes with candy and the kids are still
screaming.
Apparently, you don’t need costumes. Just ideas.
Hope you enjoyed Halloween with your little darlings. My kids are grown now, but will always remember Halloween trick-or-treating with the kids as my fondest of memories. Even beats Christmas, really.
And FPSS, I would do the same thing to the neighbor kids, except I dressed up as a clown, sit perfectly still in a chair on my front porch, with the candy in a bowl in my lap. The kids would come up to me, saying “is it real” and I would jump and scare the kids. They loved it! Sorry, I’m sure this is where some the clown phobias came from for those kids. Just love Halloween. Missed it this year, still in Japan and they don’t observe Halloween.
“A meningitis epidemic that has killed 25 is linked to a Mass. company Romney’s administration failed to regulate”
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/30/romneys_lax_regulation_fueled_meningitis_outbreak/
Great preview there of the “benefits” of unbridled, unregulated privatization of Mitt’s and Paul’s crony capitalist buddies that we will collectively enjoy for at least four years to come in the event of a Republican win next month.
OMG — Mitt Romney (the short version!) just knocked on my door to ask for candy. My wife loaded his trick-or-treat bag with sugar.
He and his gang cleaned my wife out; we are now down to our last box of candy, thanks to those members of the mooching 47 percent.
LOL
Did you read my freak-out story about me playing Crumb’s Black Angels last night?
The kids are still freaked out. Awesome!
I hope the East Coast hurricane victims enjoy their disaster relief while it lasts.
Luckily, with an etch-a-sketch in hand, a presidential candidate can always change his position as the situation at hand dictates.
AP/ October 31, 2012, 10:34 PM
Mitt Romney offers answer on his FEMA stance
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a campaign rally on Halloween at Metropolitan Park in Jacksonville, Florida, October 31, 2012. / EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
WASHINGTON There’s nothing like a natural disaster to test the depth of politicians’ preference for small government.
And so it turns out that after Superstorm Sandy battered the East Coast, Mitt Romney is far more supportive of the government agency in charge of coordinating disaster relief. Only last year, as Romney hewed to the right while battling for the GOP nomination, he seemed to downplay the federal government’s role in disaster response.
“Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction,” Romney said at a debate last June. “And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.”
Asked by moderator John King of CNN whether that would include disaster relief, Romney said: “We cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids.”
Now, a week before Election Day, after of a massive disaster, Romney’s campaign is reassuring voters that his administration wouldn’t leave disaster victims in the lurch.
…
Good thing Romney doesn’t have to take away time from his campaign to run a disaster relief effort, as he now has plenty of time available to come up with a defense of his proposal to eliminate federal disaster assistance.
Romney Wants To Cut FEMA
By Matthew Yglesias
Posted Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, at 9:28 AM ET
US Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan listen as US band The Oak Ridge Boys perform, during a rally at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Marion, Ohio, October 28, 2012. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel DUNAND (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images) Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images
Whenever there’s a major natural disaster, the federal government steps in to help. But that wouldn’t necessarily be the case if Mitt Romney got his way. During a 2011 GOP primary debate he said it was “immoral” for the federal government to be spending money on disaster relief when it should be focused on deficit reduction:
First Romney says: “Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that’s the right direction. And if you can go even further, and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better. Instead of thinking, in the federal budget, what we should cut, we should ask the opposite question, what should we keep?”
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Finally, after way too many debates and way too much BS, there appears to be a clear and meaningful difference between the candidates.
Disaster relief: Obama, Romney differ on federal role
By Tom Cohen, CNN
updated 9:18 AM EDT, Wed October 31, 2012
Washington (CNN) — When Chris Christie praises President Barack Obama as “outstanding” and “incredibly supportive,” you know something extraordinary has occurred.
Obama updated on Sandy; praised by Christie
In this case, it was once-in-a-lifetime Superstorm Sandy, which caused the outspoken Republican governor of New Jersey to declare a state of emergency and seek federal help for widespread devastation.
Interviewed Tuesday on NBC, Christie described Obama’s response as “outstanding,” and he told CNN that the president had been “incredibly supportive and helpful to our state.”
“This is much more important than any election,” Christie told CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.”
Obama has “been outstanding to deal with on this and I look forward to seeing him tomorrow so he can see for himself what this hurricane has done to my state,” Christie said Tuesday night.
Such effusive praise from a frequent Obama critic and strong supporter of Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney put the campaign magnifying glass on a key election issue — the role of the federal government — a week before the November 6 vote.
…
Romney resumes campaign; Obama deals with storm
NBCNews.com - 11 minutes ago
TODAY | Aired on October 31, 2012. Romney resumes campaign; Obama deals with storm. Mitt Romney resumes a full campaign schedule Wednesday in Florida after taking a break Tuesday to encourage storm donations to the Red Cross.
Prof, as you know, I am agnostic about party as I think all of the players are corrupt and fungible. No matter who “wins”, they will serve up the same agenda regardless of rhetoric, and the middle class will continue its downward spiral.
That being said, the fact is that Mr. Romney favors decentralizing disaster relief away from Federal control, TO state control. He does not favor ELIMINATING it.
I can’t think of a better idea than decentralization. I know how tp get hold of my state and town officials. Hence they are responsive and accountable. Being at the receiving end of a bloated dispensary system that has no accountability and no name and face, such as any fed agency? Does not work so well in my experience, and is therefore not my cuppa tea.
Let’s face it. Other than for building interstates, running Social Security and Veterans’, and keeping the science and engineering infrastructure alive to oversee the design of the next generations of bridges, rail, troop ships, planes and communication networks, oh and riding herd on drugs and epidemiology, there’s not a lot of value added in the federal government. They know it - that’s why many treat what they do with such contempt (GSA parties, Colombian whores, etc.). We have permitted the Feds to usurp local domains, and that has not worked out for anybody but the federal bureaucrats sucking at the tit.
Too bad that the American Bar Association is so cynical that they unleash 40K (? I think) freshly minted lawyers a year to a landscape where no functioning society needs them. It is not my yob to provide said lawyers with paid amusement as federal leeches on my dime.
We need much, much less fed meddling than we have tolerated, IMHO. To a great degree, the fedspend may have evolved just because they have nothing better to do. I think we could take an axe to it and never skip a beat. Given that any fed involvement is likely to be a ‘value-subtract’, in contrast to a ‘value-added’, this would be the expedient way to do it. Heck, it really is time for a radically pruned down model.
The first to go should be the frat boyz with their itchy fingers and shiny toyz - DHS.
Ask yourselves - what would be the downside? Not enough to justify the cost in virtually EVERY instance. I think 1970 fed headcount would be about the right level to peg to. Before the Dept of Ed was poofed into existence.
Again, just my opinion.
Mean-spirited Repugnican politicians to electorate: “Federal disaster relief is immoral, UNLESS THERE HAPPENS TO BE A REAL DISASTER IN MY BACKYARD.”
P.S. How many douche bag posters still maintain “superstorm” Sandy will have no effect whatsoever on the election outcome?
Storm Aid Muddles Message for Anti-Government Republicans
Peter Robison and Jeff Bliss
Updated 5:53 p.m., Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) — Superstorm Sandy left Republican leaders, who typically call for a reduced federal government, welcoming its intervention.
The deadly storm that caused destruction across the northeastern U.S. also muddled the free-market narratives embraced by presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Republican governors of several states, including New Jersey’s Chris Christie, who praised President Barack Obama for his help.
The governors have sparred with Obama over expanded health- care coverage, taxes and federal debt, while Republican leaders in Congress have sought to offset or limit disaster-aid costs.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, who called Obama’s policies “horrific” on Oct. 1, praised the speed at which the state was granted federal help.
“To get a disaster declaration in literally a matter of hours is almost unprecedented,” McDonnell, a frequent speaker on behalf of Romney, said at a storm briefing yesterday, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch newspaper.
“Their prayer is, ‘Lord make me a fiscal conservative, but not quite yet,’” said John Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, referring to the Republican response to the storm a week before the Nov. 6 election.
…
I frankly think “global warming” unnecessarily muddles and politicizes this story. Disasters have always been and will always remain a part of human society.
The question is whether there should be a federal role in addressing major disasters, and try as he might, it’s too late in election season at this point for Mitt Romney to use the etch-a-sketch to change the definitive answer he gave last year.
Column: Sandy shows why Romney’s wrong on FEMA
Amanda Marcotte
Mitt Romney has promised to cut disaster relief funds. In an era of global warming that just won’t work.
(Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images)
5:35PM EDT October 31. 2012 - The recent devastation up the East Coast from Hurricane Sandy serves as a reminder, in these final days before the election, of one of the vital roles of federal government: Delivering services to places devastated by natural disasters. The size of disasters like Sandy and the damage they do to local and state infrastructure means that the federal government often has to step in to get the affected areas back on their feet. It’s not just an act of generosity, either, because these disasters can have repercussions that affect the entire nation. New York City is the financial capital of the nation and an important cultural center. The entire nation benefits the faster New Yorkers get back on their feet.
Because of this, Mitt Romney has an obligation to answer questions about his statements that indicate a hostility to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). During a 2011 Republican debate, Romney agreed that he would add “disaster relief” to the long list of federal responsibilities he would like to cut, saying, “We cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids.” The comment not only exaggerated the amount of money that goes to disaster relief in the federal budget, but it showed a poor understanding of economics. It’s far more damaging to the economic future of our country to simply let centers of agriculture and business fall apart after disasters than get them back to work.
Romney’s statements weren’t simple pandering to a right wing base that votes in primaries. Even though he and Paul Ryan have been notoriously vague on the details of their budget plans, experts have analyzed their numbers and found that they don’t work without deep cuts to FEMA. Suzy Khimm of The Washington Post compared Obama’s proposed budget to the Romney/Ryan budget, and found that while Obama included a 3% cut to FEMA, Romney would likely slash the department’s budget by 40%.
It’s no mystery what happens when the federal government neglects its duty to respond swiftly and generously after a natural disaster. Seven years ago, the country watched in horror as nearly 2,000 people died and thousands of others were left stranded in New Orleans in the days after Hurricane Katrina, while the Bush administration fiddled around for days. The Obama administration took a very different approach to Sandy, as evidenced by the effusive praise Republican Governor Chris Christie offered, calling the President and FEMA’s efforts “outstanding”.
…
I howled w/laughter yesterday at the hypocrisy when I caught Donald Trump on a talk show proclaiming quite breezily that the government would just be coming in to rebuild Atantic City.
This guy is such an intense pessimist about the stock market, you’d almost think he either doesn’t realize the Fed is propping up asset prices or doubts their ability to continue doing so.
Oct. 30, 2012, 12:04 a.m. EDT
9 scenarios and all lead to stock plunge
Commentary: Death of ‘Growth Economics’ spells danger
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — “Is the U.S. Condemned by History to Slow Growth?” asks Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Yes. But for traders and investors, it’s far worse than just bearish slow growth. Plan for no growth or zero growth.
Why? Wall Street, America and the world economy are in the early stages of a long era of “de-growth,” a reversal of economic growth and reduction in market growth as population growth adds new stresses on commodities resources, creates unrest, disasters and wars. Big problems ahead.
Our nine economic scenarios all lead to a stock plunge.
Please listen: Earnings growth is in a long slowdown in all of the following nine scenarios. Economy down. Earnings down. Stocks down. Trading down. Focus on the long term, on history, look past the noise about elections and fiscal cliffs.
Why? This is an economic “perfect storm.” All nine scenarios end in bad news for all markets, spell danger for your future income, your family’s security. Start planning now.
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My 9 scenarios lead to a stock plunge, too. Except none of them may happen in my lifetime.
Nov. 1, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Japan is in worse than a deflationary trap
Commentary: One-time powerhouse, it’s withdrawing from the stage
By Barry Wood
TOKYO (MarketWatch) — A couple years ago, an American journalist 10 years resident in Tokyo offered a provocative assessment: Japan, he said, had decided to gracefully withdraw from the world stage.
This month, during my first return to Japan in a decade, I put that assertion to an English friend who had lived even longer in Tokyo. “That’s about right,” he said, “battered by deflation and a overly strong currency, the Japanese have concluded that they can’t compete with a rising China and are withdrawing into themselves.”
These startling conclusions prompted a reflection to a visit 29 years earlier. In the autumn of 1983, I accompanied an industrial study mission of two dozen American executives eager to learn how America could combat the competitive threat posed by a resurgent Japanese economy.
In a whirlwind two weeks, the American industrialists were lectured by experts and visited export enterprises throughout the country. We toured auto plants, shipbuilders and, most interesting of all, the Yamazaki Machine Tool Co. in Nagoya.
There we found a new factory the size of a football field where 20 industrial robots did all the work. The mobile robots — lights flashing above nameplates of Disney characters — whizzed down aisles delivering materials to workstations where computerized grinders milled precision components for the auto industry.
In the entire facility we counted three workers. We were informed that not a single worker was assigned to the fully automated overnight shift. Company executives expressed pride that Japan had recently overtaken the United States is manufacturing machine tools.
On the bus ride to the hotel, one of our party declared, “Boys, the game is up. There’s no way we can compete with that.”
Fast forward to 2012 and the future didn’t turn out quite the way the sobered industrialists expected. Japan’s 27-year long dominance in machine-tool production came to an end two years ago. China, where production costs are 40% lower, has seized the top spot even though the Japanese emphasize that they continue to lead in quality.
Pummeled by a strong currency and two decades of deflation, Japanese companies are shifting production to China and elsewhere. Japan’s industrial core is eroding and threatened with being hollowed out, as happened in parts of the U.S. rust belt.
Japan long ago ceased being anyone’s economic model.
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I’m still in Japan. A few weeks ago there was a discussion regarding what people’s plan a, plan b, etc was. I’d like to report that I found plan c in Okinawa. No, not planning to live here, but there is an actual place called “Plan C”. My son says it’s a gay bar. So does that mean that The Housing Bubble Blog is being read all over the world?
more on the shadow inventory…I discovered OTM waay back in 2006 or so, maybe here, don’t remember….anyway interesting reading as always
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct12/artificial-economy10-12.html
-18 +12
episode 111
Snorlels refi adventure
Yesterday, sfhomowner wrote about NYC:
Most of the power outage victims in Manhattan live in mid- or high-rises, where water is kept in roof tanks. You need electricity to get water up to those roof tanks. So most of us living downtown have been without any form of running water since those tanks ran dry on Monday night or Tuesday morning. Hot showers be damned - what about water to drink or to flush the toilet??? Those of us with options have been checking into hotels, staying with friends, using friends’ places to shower, etc. But what about the people without those options? And in particular, what about elderly or housebound downtown residents who cannot navigate dark stairs with heavy water containers? There is going to be a huge public health problem unless the city moves TODAY to do some combination of bringing port-a-potties downtown, opening up a large number of hydrants downtown, and organizing some system to get water upstairs to those people who cannot fend for themselves.
Fill the bathtub, and get a bucket to flush the toilet.
The sewage system is still working and it’s be just fine.
It’s not bleedin’ rocket-science!
You know if more people traveled the world and stayed in some rather shifty places in the third-world, they’d have a little bit of a clue of how to approach an emergency.