Bits Bucket for January 5, 2013
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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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Businessweek - Dish Network, the Meanest Company in America:
“For 2012, the website 24/7 Wall St. determined that the worst company to work for in America was the Dish Network (DISH), the Englewood (Colo.)-based company that provides satellite TV to more than 14 million subscribers. To pick its winner, the site began by sifting entries on glassdoor.com, an online service where people gossip about their jobs. It was hardly the most scientific of methods. Still, the volume of miserable tales about Dish is impressive; 346 former or current employees had taken the time to write not-so-nice things about the company. On a scale of 1 to 5, they ranked their company an average of 2.2, beating Dillard’s (DDS) and RadioShack (RSH) for the spot at the bottom.
The most common complaints were long hours, lack of paid holidays, and way too much mandatory overtime. Some posts suggest that merely setting foot in Dish’s headquarters is a danger to the soul. “Quit” was the recommendation to one Dish employee who sought management advice. “You’re part of a poisonous environment … go find a job where you can use your talents for good rather than evil.” The roundup noted one other thing: The share price was up more than 30 percent for most of the year.”
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-02/dish-network-the-meanest-company-in-america
The share price was up more than 30 percent for most of the year
Interesting, haven’t they been losing subscribers?
The direction of the share price is inversely proportional to the treatment of the employees. Coincidence? I think not.
Maybe in the short term but in the long term companies like that do not do well.
I once worked for a company with a similar environment. The owner had more money than could be spent in 10 lifetimes. But the worthless prick had no soul. He made a lot of his money via lawsuits. I eventually left even as they were trying to promote me. F-em’.
In the owner’s diseased mind he was a plantation owner.
Have known many of these types myself…Real sick people….
Up where I’m at the satellite tv business/employee model is similar to Domino’s Pizza, your car and your insurance. I know a woman whose aunt is an executive at DirecTV; she makes $60k/month, and that is old info from at least five years ago.
I know a woman whose aunt is an executive at DirecTV; she makes $60k/month
I’m sure she is worth every penny … not.
And this is why business schools are bursting at the seams, while engineering schools are not.
I am reminded of a comment made by a former colleague at HP, on why he was trying to become a manager: Because that’s how you make the “crazy money”.
And he’s right. At HP, run of the mill middle managers could make 300K. But as a techie, even with a lofty title like “Distinguished scientist” you won’t make that kind of money.
I interviewed with Echostar one time down there and it seemed horrible from what I could gather.
I work at a care giving staffing agency, and the owner is one evil SOB. Most of the caregivers are poor and they charge upwards of $250+ per DAY and give the caregivers way less than half. Not only that, but they are classifying all of them as independent contractors so they don’t have to pay taxes for them or have workers comp. I’ll never get why some people still feel a need to screw over their workers when they make a LOT of money.
Anyways, I think a lot of big companies do that. It’s just pure greed. If you are going to force long hours, unpaid holidays, and tons of mandatory overtime, you should at least let your employees know you appreciate their hard work. A good working environment can completely change your employees attitudes.
Is the bond bubble toast in 2013?
Current Yield | SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 2013
An Unhappy New Year for Bonds
By MICHAEL ANEIRO | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR
Long Treasury yields rise on fear of higher inflation and indications that stocks are a better bet.
Stocks may have welcomed the New Year with cheer, but bonds have kicked off 2013 with a week-long hangover.
The accord that averted the fiscal cliff quelled just enough market uncertainty to knock bonds out of their recent range-bound ways. Treasuries sold off, lifting yields, which move inversely to prices, to levels not seen since last May. Yields on longer-dated Treasuries rose more sharply than those on shorter-dated bonds, a phenomenon known in bond-speak as a “bear steepener” of the Treasury yield curve, indicative of investors’ longer-term inflation fears.
The 10-year Treasury yield closed Friday at 1.903%, up from 1.708% a week earlier, while the 30-year yield rose to 3.1% from 2.884%, per Tradeweb data. The iShares Trust Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund (ticker: TLT) fell to $118.40 Friday from $123.31 a week earlier.
To be sure, Treasury yields still fall well within broader boundaries that have grown familiar over the past 15 months and are still extraordinarily low by long-term standards. The Fed remains committed to pinning down short-term rates, although it divulged last week that its policy committee is more divided than previously known on how long to maintain key bond-buying programs. And Washington still faces a battle over raising the debt ceiling in two months. That could push skittish investors back into Treasuries despite threats of another U.S. credit-rating downgrade.
…
How many bull markets in the history of modern finance have lasted beyond two decades?
The end of this one may constitute a financial version of the polar ice caps melting.
CREDIT MARKETS
January 3, 2013, 9:08 p.m. ET
Happy New Year? Not for Bonds
Investors Leave Safety of Treasurys After Budget Deal, Signs of Improvement in Employment Market
By CAROLYN CUI
U.S. government bonds have had a tough start to the new year.
In the first two days of the year, prices for the benchmark 10-year Treasury have tumbled, sending the yield above 1.9% intraday Thursday, the highest level in eight months.
The sharp move has come as a shock to many market watchers, who were predicting a banner start to 2013, with wrangling in Washington and worries over the economy likely to keep investors heading to the safety of U.S. government debt. In addition, the Federal Reserve is buying $45 billion of Treasurys each month, they reasoned.
But all hasn’t gone according to plan. Instead, investors seem unfazed by the events in the nation’s capital, where lawmakers wrangled until the last minute to forge a budget accord on Jan. 1. Rather than fretting over the high-stakes brinkmanship, investors focused on the positives: Congressional leaders eventually did reach an agreement, averting a series of tax increases and spending cuts that could have driven the country over what became known as the “fiscal cliff” and into recession.
That enticed many investors out of the safety of Treasurys on Wednesday and into riskier investments like stocks and “junk” bonds. Then, on Thursday, signs that the jobs market was improving came in the form of a better-than-expected jobs report by Automatic Data Processing and Moody’s Analytics. That combined with the release of minutes of a meeting of the Fed’s policy-setting committee that suggested some officials want to end the central bank’s bond buying much earlier than investors thought.
The sudden moves have put investors and analysts on guard. Some are beginning to question whether Treasury yields, which have been stuck between about 1.60% and 1.80% for the past six months, may kick higher. Some wonder if they may even soon surpass 2%, a level they haven’t breached since last April. Many investors have been reluctant to bet against long-term Treasurys, in large part because the Fed has been such a big buyer of the debt and because intermittent shocks over the past few years—from worries about the U.S. economy to Europe’s debt crisis and troubles in the Middle East—have consistently sent investors scurrying to Treasurys for safety.
That has helped propel the bull market in Treasurys into a third decade.
“For the bond market, it’ll be a very tense time for the next several weeks,” said David Ader, head of government-bond strategy at CRT Capital Group LLC, Stamford, Conn.
…
While newspapers oriented towards the 1%, like the Wall Street Journal or Barron’s are reporting on a long-term bond meltdown, others targeted at the 99% are offering reassurances to bond market investors.
I wonder which editorial stance will appear correct through the lens of the rear-view mirror?
Failed financial prediction numero uno:
Bond market expected to remain steady into new year
By Dan Nakaso
dnakaso@mercurynews.com
Posted: 01/01/2013 08:56:12 AM PST
Updated: 01/01/2013 08:56:17 AM PST
Many investors in recent years, especially those on fixed incomes who have grown skittish about the volatile stock markets, have turned to the bond market in the hopes of not only preserving their wealth but also growing it modestly at a time when savings account interest rates are near zero.
So the good news for cautious investors is that U.S. bond markets should continue to offer a steady, safe haven — at least through the first part of 2013, experts say.
“Lower rates are painful,” said Lorne Abramson, principal and co-founder of ELM Advisors in Burlingame. “But holding onto high-quality bonds to maturity, you can take some comfort that you’re getting your par (or face) value back.”
Investors can see just slightly more than a 2 percent return on a high-quality, 10-year municipal bond. With U.S. Treasury bonds, “no one can expect better than 2 percent returns for the next decade,” said Robert Hendershott, a finance professor at Santa Clara University’s business school. “Over the long haul, that’s the promise of the most you can get and that can become extremely unappealing.”
For some cautious investors relying on fixed-incomes, however, Hendershott said “That safety is still very appealing.”
Bonds hardly guarantee a return.
Greek bonds have continued to fall since 2010 and there are ongoing fears that Venezuela could default on its debt this year.
Even in California, “We’ve seen municipalities go bankrupt,” Hendershott said.
Faced with insolvency, government officials ask themselves, “‘Do we make good on our pension promises or on our bond promises?’” Hendershott said. “Some of those promises get broken.”
“Just as with the stock market, the bond market is unpredictable as always,” Abramson said. “With rates so low, in particular with bond funds with no maturity date, there’s the chance of capital loss. There’s a lot of legitimate concerns that you don’t have that much of a yield cushion should interest rates go up.”
…
“Bonds hardly guarantee a return.”
But one can hedge with AIG.
While newspapers oriented towards the 1%, like the Wall Street Journal or Barron’s are reporting on a long-term bond meltdown, others targeted at the 99% are offering reassurances to bond market investors.
And what do the 1%er papers advise going into instead? That’s where I get lost…
“Bond market expected to remain steady into new year”
And 2012 was a banner year for bond investors.
Will the housing market finally come back after the Souper Bowl — in 2014?
How does this prediction square with news that the long-term bond market is backing up?
Housing prices will finally increase in … 2013? 2014?
Posted by Suzy Khimm at 12:02 PM ET, 03/22/2012
There’s a growing consensus that housing prices are more or less hitting bottom this year. But it’s still unclear when they’ll go from flat to rising: Calculated Risk predicts that year-over-year housing prices will start to increase in early 2013, while Merrill Lynch is more pessimistic, expecting “roughly flat home prices this year and next with modest growth in 2014,” according to a new research note. “We continue to believe the recovery will not begin in earnest until 2014,” the firm concludes.
…
Looks like the serial bottom callers will still have jobs. For at least one more year.
how did we become so dependent on real estate prices for a strong economy?
Good question, dude. And I have a question: Where are you in AZ? (I’m in good ole Tucson.)
how did we become so dependent on real estate prices for a strong economy?
When we exported most of the jobs that create real wealth to third world cesspool, sweatshop nations?
Yup. Now it’s houses all the way down.
“how did we become so dependent on real estate prices for a strong economy?”
It’s the easy way out if you’re running a state, county or city, and you have more retired workers than currently employed. A real estate bubble also means higher taxes; everybody can balance their books, which is why you see this scam duplicated throughout the westernized world. It works until the folks stuck with the monthly bill wake up to reality.
A real estate bubble also means higher taxes; everybody can balance their books
Yet another reason to have TABOR.
“how did we become so dependent on real estate prices for a strong economy?”
If you look at this history of this country, you will see it’s always been this way.
RE speculation has been an integral part of this nation even before its inception.
Because the poor people need to think they have a chance out of poverty, and the middle class need to think they have a chance of retirement?
How does this prediction square with news that the long-term bond market is backing up?
The natural response by potential homebuyers is to buy houses to avoid interest rates hikes. People care more about their monthly payments than they should. Real whores will be telling people buy now or you will be priced out of a house due to rising interest rates and people will respond. So it will raise home prices.
Lamphier: Rites and wrongs: it’s prediction time again
By Gary Lamphier, Edmonton Journal January 4, 2013
Edmonton Journal business columnist Gary Lamphier dusts off his crystal ball for 2013.
Photograph by: Larry Wong , Edmonton Journal
“Anyone who claims he has any insight into where markets are going on a six- or 12-month basis has an exaggerated notion of his own intellect.”
— Leo de Bever, CEO of AIMCo
EDMONTON - Leo is right, of course.
No one — including Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and all those overpaid windbags on Wall Street — really knows what the future holds.
Trying to predict what’s ahead is little more than a mug’s game. For evidence, just consider some of the bone-headed calls that have been made in past years:
In 1999, an army of tech geeks and Y2K doomsayers warned that planes would literally fall from the sky once the new millenium arrived. It never happened.
In late 2008, even as the U.S. economy was falling off a cliff, most economists gazed placidly into their crystal balls and predicted another year of growth in 2009. Oops. As it turned out, the new year brought merely the worst recession in decades — a recession the U.S. is still struggling to recover from, years later.
Also in 2008, former CIBC economist-turned-author Jeff Rubin predicted that oil prices would hit $200 US a barrel by 2012. Turns out the benchmark price of light U.S. crude averaged less than half that level last year.
Despite their patchy track record, economists, money managers — and yes, newspaper columnists — continue to churn out predictions every year. Like the month of January, the annual ritual is seemingly unavoidable.
Provided you don’t take such prognostications too seriously, the exercise can yield a bit of harmless fun. So without further self-justification or apology, here are some of my key predictions for 2013, as well as some of my best (and worst) calls of 2012:
House prices: Driven by strong population and job growth, Alberta’s two big cities will lead all major Canadian urban centres in 2013, with average house price gains of nearly 10 per cent.
Vancouver and Toronto will see average house prices dip by five to seven per cent this year, but there will be no U.S.-style housing meltdown.
…
CLICK!
Don’t forget the predictions by the AGW crowd in 1998 that the globe would continue to warm by 1F per decade and we have seen no warming.
Professor Don Easterbrook
Icecap
Friday, Oct 31, 2008
In 2007-2008, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change (IPCC) and computer modelers who believe that CO2 is the cause of global warming still predict the Earth is in store for catastrophic warming in this century. IPCC computer models have predicted global warming of 1F per decade and 5-6C (10-11F) by 2100, which would cause global catastrophe with ramifications for human life, natural habitat, energy and water resources, and food production. All of this is predicated on the assumption that global warming is caused by increasing atmospheric CO2 and that CO2 will continue to rise rapidly.
However, records of past climate changes suggest an altogether different scenario for the 21st century. Rather than drastic global warming at a rate of 0.5C (1F) per decade, historic records of past natural cycles suggest global cooling for the first several decades of the 21st century to about 2030, followed by global warming from about 2030 to about 2060, and renewed global cooling from 2060 to 2090 (Easterbrook, D.J., 2005, 2006a, b, 2007, 2008a, b); Easterbrook and Kovanen, 2000, 2001). Climatic fuctuations over the past several hundred years suggest ~30 year climatic cycles of global warming and cooling, on a general rising trend from the Little Ice Age.
The only thing the local media seems to talk about are the Broncos and the Souper Bowl. If they do win, they media will probably be yammering about it long after housing actually does rebound.
“If they do win,”
Maybe Peyton would be on SNL again.
Peyton Manning Funny SNL Clip.
Watch Saturday Night Live: SNL Digital Short: United Way online …
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1603 - 75k - Cached - Similar pages
Watch Saturday Night Live: SNL Digital Short: United Way free online.
And they might have a chance since they got rid of that douchebag Tebow.
Tebow is of no concern to me, he is not even eligible for a roster spot on a DBFL team. But we do have Mark Sanchez of “butt fumble” fame on our scouting radar.
Mark Sanchez runs into his lineman’s *** and fumbles! - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxVa6V304f4 - 206k -
Never mind, we don`t want Sanchez in the DBFL
Look out, Philadelphia. Tebow might just be available to replace Vick.
A lot of Bronco Fans were unhappy when Timmy was traded away. Of course, now that the Broncos have the top seed in the AFC, Timmy the Tebower is but a distant memory.
“Will the housing market finally come back after the Souper Bowl — in 2014?”
No, but it may start a new league.
The DBFL
Chargers vs Bills
Terrell Owens Faces Foreclosure: Two Dallas Condos To Be Auctioned Next Month
The Huffington Post Bonnie Kavoussi First Posted: 02/27/2012 9:50 am Updated: 02/27/2012 12:58 pm
Just because football star Terrell Owens has earned $80 million over the course of his career doesn’t mean he’s immune to foreclosure.
Report: Ex-QB Russell facing foreclosure
Things keep getting worse for former NFL quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who is considered the biggest bust in NFL draft history.
Now, the former No. 1 pick of the Raiders is in danger of losing his Oakland mansion.
NFL Player Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones Files for Foreclosure
Jones has defaulted on the terms and conditions of a mortgage with U.S. Bank, according to a notice of foreclosure sale published last Thursday in The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.
Punting the home
The home, which sits on 30 acres of land, is located at 4282 N. Chapel Road in a Nashville suburb. The property will be sold June 27 on the steps of the old Williamson County Courthouse to the highest bidder.
Former NFL cornerback Rolle faces $4M foreclosure in Delray Beach
Sep 14, 2012 … Former NFL cornerback Rolle faces $4M foreclosure in Delray Beach … Rolle played for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens before …
Eddie George surprised by foreclosure auction notice
By Josh Adams, The (Nashville) Tennessean
Jun 2, 2012
A notice published this week announcing that the home of former Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George and his wife, Tamara, will be auctioned June 7 took the Georges by surprise, according to an accountant who has been trying to get a loan modification for the couple.
Just because football star Terrell Owens has earned $80 million over the course of his career doesn’t mean he’s immune to foreclosure.
Talk about making a fine art out of pissing away a fortune.
TO pays a lot in child support!
Basketball star Kenyon Martin’s Dalworthington Gardens mansion on the market
Christmas cash burning a hole in your pocket? Well, Kenyon Martin has a deal for you — a K-Mart special of sorts.
The Bryan Adams High alum Kenyon Martin has put his mansion on the market in Dalworthington Gardens. The asking price: $5 million.
The 15,000-square-foot “Mediterranean estate” (five beds, six baths) sits on 8.4 acres along Rush Creek, not far from Martin High (no relation).
It features four bowling lanes, a 10-car garage, seven fireplaces, an immense pool (complete with spurting dolphin statues [at right]) and, of course, a full basketball court.
The property is valued at a $2.5 million (K-Mart reportedly bought it for $3 million in 2008), so those property taxes would be a whopping $63,000 a year.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/arlington/headlines/20121226-basketball-star-kenyon-martin-s-dalworthington-gardens-mansion-on-the-market.ece
There’s a high school named after Bryan Adams?
I figured it had to be Canada. When I saw Dallas I figured it must be a different Bryan Adams.
Posted: 5:46 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013
Homeowner tax cut extended; forgiven mortgage debt excluded from taxable income
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Florida homeowners have one more year to complete a short sale and benefit from a federal tax break that was set to expire Tuesday.
Tucked into the 157-page legislation that saved the nation from the worst of the fiscal cliff is an extension of the Mortgage Debt Relief Act, which allows borrowers to exclude loan debt forgiven in a short sale, foreclosure or loan modification from counting as income on their taxes.
The act has saved struggling Floridians untold millions since it began in 2007. Tuesday’s approval of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extends its deadline to Jan. 1, 2014.
“It’s an enormous relief,” said Sherry Lee, broker/owner of Lee Property Sales in West Palm Beach. “My Christmas and New Year’s was spent consoling sellers and trying to talk them through that process of realizing the act might not be extended and what that means.”
One of Lee’s clients has a short sale contract that will result in $165,000 in forgiven debt. Without the act, she would have to pay about $46,200 in taxes on the so-called “phantom income” under 2012 tax rates. Depending on the amount forgiven, homeowners coould also be pushed into a higher tax bracket, meaning they’d not only owe on the debt but also at a higher rate.
“She was so stressed out, her stomach was in knots over this,” Lee said about her client.
The extension is particularly crucial in South Florida, where homeowners have seen housing prices plummet 46 percent since the area’s peak market in December 2006, according to the October Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index.
Realtor Jared Dalto said while many sellers are breathing a sigh of relief, they need to remain diligent and not count on another tax break extension.
“If I were a seller, I would make sure this is the year of the short sale,” he said.
To avoid a lengthy foreclosure process, lenders have increasingly approved short sales — where the bank agrees to a lower sales price than what the borrower owes on the mortgage.
But not everyone can benefit from the debt relief legislation. It covers only forgiven debt on principal residences and amounts up to $2 million, or $1 million if married but filing separately. The act also does not apply to second mortgages where the money was used for non-household expenses.
The pending expiration had Realtors racing to complete sales by Dec. 31, and roused the lobbying efforts of the nation’s attorneys general who worried its sunset would dilute the $25 billion national mortgage settlement. Without the extension, principal reductions and other debt relief offered in the settlement would be considered taxable income.
The settlement has already provided for $386.7 million in primary mortgage principal forgiveness for Florida homeowners. Another $2.2 billion statewide has been forgiven through short sales.
“This extension will help struggling homeowners take full advantage of the assistance offered them by the national mortgage settlement and other foreclosure relief programs,” Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday. “We need to continue to do everything we can to help Floridians who are doing the best they can to pay their bills and stay in their homes.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimated extending the relief could cost $1.3 billion in lost revenue to the federal government.
Anthony Sanders, a George Mason University real estate finance professor, predicted last month the extension would be approved. He just didn’t know when or in what form.
On Wednesday, he called the overall legislation to avert the fiscal cliff “dreadful”, saying it adds $4 trillion in federal budget deficits over 10 years.
But he supported the debt relief extension.
“The government was a major contributor to the housing bubble and burst, so it’s only fair that it extend the act to help households that have been absolutely crushed by the market,” he said last month.
“The government was a major contributor to the housing bubble and burst, so it’s only fair that it extend the act to help households that have been absolutely crushed by the market,”
Let’s examine that logic a bit:
1. Joe6Pack blows hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity gains on toys and vacations, thanks to the home equity ATM.
2. Joe6Pack’s mortgage goes severely underwater after the housing bust, thanks in large part to his having blown hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity gains on toys and vacations during the boom.
3. Since Joe6Pack is clearly a victim, he gets to write off six figures worth of “debt forgiveness” income tax-free when he short-sells his hopelessly underwater home.
Makes perfect sense, no?
“We need to continue to do everything we can to help Floridians who are doing the best they can to pay their bills and stay in their homes.”
Let me fix this.
We need to continue to do everything we can to help Floridians stay in their homes without paying for them for another 5 years to give the Fed a chance to unload all of the underwater mortgages they have taken off the balance sheets of the Banks and pension funds. When we are done with that we will move on to the massive shadow inventoy in the Northeast.
You leave Joe6Pack alone! The economy needs guys like Joe to spend all the money they have and a lot of money they don’t have. If you stick Joe with a lot of taxes then he will get pissed and will lose his incentive to work and earn and pay taxes on what he earns. If you forgive Joe of some of his owed taxes then he will continue to think he is a financial genius and will act accordingly, which is to work and earn and spend every cent he can get his hands on.
The efficient parasite does not kill the host. If the parasite now and then has to put the host on life support then that is what it should do.
1. Because J6P blew his home equity on toys and vacations, the economy appeared to be better than it actually was, giving the Vampire Squids another 5-6 years to suck lifeblood out of the US economy.
2. Without J6P’s equity-financed spending, the economy has depended on people with actual disposable income. As we’ve seen, this means the banksters and 1%ers, who have demonstrated repeatedly since 2008 that they don’t plan on spending any money, unless they get loan-shark type ROI, incentives, tax breaks, tax holidays, etc.
3. It has only just become apparant to the PTB that you can’t have a “consumer economy” without consumers. Since, in their infinite wisdom, our so-called leadership thought it was a good idea to put Joe6Pack in direct wage competition with Juan6Cuervos and Xian6Pak, actual pay raises are out of the question. So the push for Bernanke Bucks/government incentives……….another “Socialize the costs” plan.
“…Juan6Cuervos and Xian6Pak…”
Love it.
“…Juan6Cuervos and Xian6Pak…”
I particularly enjoyed that turn of phrase as well; nice job, X-GSfixr…
1. Joe6Pack blows hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity gains on toys and vacations, thanks to the home equity ATM.
To be fair, that only happened in select locations, at least when talking about those dollar amounts. In most of flyover, the housing appreciation fairy was nowhere nearly as generous.
On the coasts, the home equity was blown on Lexus and Mercedes CUVs and SUVs.
In Flyover, it was blown on Ford/Chevy trucks, Jet skis and Harleys. The AR-15s and ammo went on the credit card.
Those redneck toys can be pretty expensive too. I don’t see how JoeFlyover could have financed them with his $30K of appreciation.
What I did see in my neck of the woods during the bubble was a lot of construction guys working tons of overtime. They built a few thousand houses in Loveland during the bubble, most of them in the 200K price range. I know a few of them and they bought some of those toys with cash. One guy I know did flooring (tile and such, funny thing, he has a college degree). He made a ton of money during the bubble. He bought some acreage> I don’t know if he still has it.
Another guy became an HVAC contractor. Only a high school education and he was making 300K. Last I heard his business folded, he lost his mansion (with acreage, a big status symbol out here) and is so broke that his college age daughter qualified for a Pell grant (she was my daughter’s freshman year roommate).
Of course, now that we’re only building 300 houses per year (and that’s up from less than 100 a few years ago) most of my builder boy acquaintances are driving 6 year old trucks (or older) and have sold the toys. Most are still hanging on to their McMansions by the skin of their teeth.
My aunt was one of those people in Florida that got foreclosed on. She likes to think she’s an eternal victim with her 4 mac computers, 2 expensive cars, expensive clothes, expensive electronics, kitchen gadgets, and tens of thousands in student loans. Yet, for the life of me, I can’t stop laughing at how deluded she is.
Thank God the housing lobby got everything they wanted out of the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations, at a mere cost to U.S. taxpayers of $600 billion, unless you also account for the $40 billion a month ($480 billion a year) the Fed pumps into the MBS market. But I suppose the latter is “off budget,” hence off topic.
Housing Lobby’s Win Costing U.S. $600 Billion: Mortgages
By Jody Shenn & Noah Buhayar - Jan 3, 2013 1:38 PM PT
Congressional efforts to reduce the U.S. deficit revived tax breaks for mortgage insurance and extended interest deductions for homeowners that will cost the government $600 billion over five years.
“This is a meaningful win for the housing lobby generally and more specifically the mortgage insurance industry,” said Isaac Boltansky, an analyst for Compass Point Research & Trading LLC in Washington. “The mortgage finance establishment fared relatively well.”
Congress raced to pass the fiscal bill on Jan. 1 to avoid sweeping spending cuts and tax increases that jeopardized the economic recovery. Legislators also left in place a 2007 tax break for homeowners whose debt is forgiven by lenders and preserved exemptions for profits on home sales, while maintaining mortgage-interest deductions that Compass Point estimates will cost $600 billion over the next five years.
The moves could help a housing market that last year started to reverse a five-year slump that pushed the U.S. economy into the longest recession since the 1930s.
…
“This is a meaningful win for the housing lobby generally and more specifically the mortgage insurance industry,” said Isaac Boltansky, an analyst for Compass Point Research & Trading LLC in Washington. “The mortgage finance establishment fared relatively well.”
The above says it all.
The good news is prices have remained stable for millions who have paid $0 for housing over the last 5 years, its tough to unseat a Beat.
Home asking prices up 13 percent in county, rents climb 5 percent
by Kim Miller
The asking price for homes in Palm Beach County was up 13 percent in December compared to last year, more than double the national average increase of 5.1 percent.
According to a report released today from Trulia, a San Francisco-based real estate analysis firm, home sellers were more confident late last year in their home’s value and subsequently asked more for it at listing.
In December 2011, asking prices nationwide were down 4.3 percent from the same time the previous year.
“The housing market enters 2013 with a running start,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist. “Price gains picked up steam in 2012, starting with modest increases early in the year and accelerating in the third and fourth quarter. In 2013, rising prices will encourage more new construction and will encourage some homeowners to sell, which will help alleviate the current inventory shortage.”
Las Vegas saw the highest change in asking prices, with an increase of 16 percent in December. Seattle was next, followed by Phoenix, Oakland, Calif. and San Jose, Calif.
Rents were also up nationwide, increasing 5.2 percent in December from 2011. In Palm Beach County, rents were up 4.8 percent.
The Miami-area had the third highest rent increase in the nation with a jump in December of 10.3 percent. Houston saw the biggest increase at 16.2 percent with Oakland in second place at 12.6 percent.
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2013 at 10:00 am and is filed under Florida economy, Foreclosures, Housing affordability, Mortgages. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Question: How will inflation in the future affect the costs of rent vs the cost of owning your own home? In other words, won’t rent skyrocket along with the annual inflation rate?
As I watch the Congress and the President dawdle with our children’s money, it occurs to me that the only way for them to ease the pain is to let inflation go wild. Their actions and the action of the Fed bear out what is likely to occur
“In other words, won’t rent skyrocket along with the annual inflation rate?”
Depends on whether wages keep up with inflation.
Many on this board seem to doubt that will happen. Time will tell.
Depends on whether wages keep up with inflation.
If prices for necessities spike and average wages continue on the trends they have shown these last 20 years, the outcome would more properly be called destitution, not inflation.
Depends on whether wages keep up with inflation ??
Thats not going to happen…At least not for the majority it won’t…So it will be a continuance of trying to stretch the dollar any way you can….Stagflation is here in a very real way…
Which moves me to another point…Its tough out there…Its a daily battle for most…Another year gone by and and the household balance sheet does not look a whole lot better than the year before…Get ahead ?? Just trying not to fall behind…
No wonder there is so much cynicism particularly amongst our young adults…I don’t disparage them one bit for their cynical view of our country..We have clearly earned that perspective…
Happy New Year…
“Which moves me to another point…Its tough out there…Its a daily battle for most…”
We saw my wife’s ex-BIL last week for the first time in maybe five years. He used to be very gainfully employed, but has also lost his job twice in the past ten years. The last time really took its toll; now he works in a temp position a state over from where his kids live, with late night hours and needed plus no job security. His words to us: ‘It’s tough out there.’
‘…as needed…’
Wages don’t have to keep up with inflation for rents to rise. You can have ten percent inflation and an eight percent rise in wages. Rents will most likely still move up the ten percent. Those with a fix mortgage will not see the rise. Oxide and I bought for the exact reason.
“Wages don’t have to keep up with inflation for rents to rise. ”
That is correct. Rents will rise, that rent will be paid by packing more incomes into one house. That income could be Section 8 vouchers, grandma’s SS check, rising military allowance, or another family.
That is correct. Rents will rise, that rent will be paid by packing more incomes into one house. That income could be Section 8 vouchers, grandma’s SS check, rising military allowance, or another family.
or not, from the
Monterey Herald
Money the military gives its men and women to live in Monterey will significantly drop this year.
The average housing allowance will fall 7.5 percent — the biggest decline in the country, said the U.S. Department of Defense.
Military currently stationed in the county are protected from the change, but new troops will receive the lower rate.
“Wages don’t have to keep up with inflation for rents to rise. You can have ten percent inflation and an eight percent rise in wages. Rents will most likely still move up the ten percent.”
WRONG.
Rents, like ALL items track wages ALWAYS.
“Rents, like ALL items track wages ALWAYS.”
So that would explain the rising consumer prices during a recession, when people are being laid off and no raises being given, right?
“Rents will most likely still move up the ten percent. Those with a fix mortgage will not see the rise. Oxide and I bought for the exact reason.”
Sorry to hear you both made the exact same mistake.
You don’t need to have wages keep up if people start to double-up to make it work. My understanding is that this happened in the 70’s to a fair degree. Landlords were able to push rents higher because there wasn’t enough vacancy, and 3 people instead of 2 crammed into a 2 bedroom apartment.
‘As I watch the Congress and the President dawdle with our children’s money..’
They aren’t dawdling with our kids money imo, they are debasing our money right here and now. I’m 50 years old. I have previously stated here that my generation will be the one that gets toasted financially.
Our kids ‘digital’ money will have a different name imo. Every transaction will be tracked. The ever increasing tax rate will always be paid.
If we don’t get a handle on this runaway train soon, their lives will be spent under the jackboot of a police state and their financial overlords.
Consider me as one who doesn’t embrace the status-quo. I’ll leave that to the usual hacks here.
But your generation voted for more Keynesian policies, at a time when they are the worse policies. It does not do any good to create more demand when the demand that is created is satisfied by Chinese goods. Extending unemployment benefits only increased demand for Chinese goods. Tax incentives to produce goods in the U.S. would increase the supply of jobs. However, that type of supply side economics is attacked as Reaganomics but that is exactly what we need. Let the attacks on me begin.
Extending unemployment benefits only increased demand for Chinese goods. T
“Only”? Again, your politics do not trump mathematics and reality. Someone on unemployment is not buying a lot of Chinese stuff. Even someone making 35K a year is not buying a lot of stuff compared to their domestic living expenses consumption.
From Kiplinger:
“The dollar figures in parentheses are based on our above example of a $35,000 gross salary with a monthly take-home pay of $2,113 per month after taxes and other deductions.”
30% ($634) Housing
10% ($211) Utilities and other housing expenditures (including renters insurance)
15% ($317) Food (at-home and away)
10% ($211) Transportation (including car loan)
10% ($211) Debt repayment (student loans and credit cards)
10% ($211) Saving
5% ($106) Clothing
5% ($106) Entertainment
5% ($106) Car insurance and miscellaneous personal expenses
Tax incentives to produce goods in the U.S. would increase the supply of jobs.
Yes.
When you are living on unemployment to the degree you are shopping you are shopping at Wal Mart or the Dollar store. Once again you choose to nit pick instead of dealing with the big point. If Keynesian economics ever worked, it worked best when the system was more closed. Today with our massive trade deficits we are helping foreign countries more than helping ourselves by boasting consumption. Reasonable people can differ if he would have implemented them, but policies advocated by Romney such as getting tough on China by labeling them a currency manipulator and by lowering taxes on U.S. companies are the correct policies. Reagan over 7.4% growth in one year, about the same as Obama over four years says it all.
But Rio tells us that there is no housing bubble in Brazil:
http://brazilianbubble.com/report-capital-economics-says-brazil-property-market-is-overvalued-by-50-but-the-housing-bubble-will-deflate-slowly/
Maybe Rio can explain how my interpretation of the graph is wrong. LOL
Once again you choose to nit pick instead of dealing with the big point.
You do know what words and numbers mean right?
Here’s what you said:
“Extending unemployment benefits only increased demand for Chinese goods.”
I just showed above that about 90% if unemployment benefits go into domestic living expenses. Proving your above statement is over 90% wrong is not “nit picking”.
Reagan over 7.4% growth in one year, about the same as Obama over four years says it all.
What it says is that Reagan was President before Reagan’s party had dismantled the American economy in favor of the rich. That you would equate Reagan’s domestic economic situation with today’s defies reality.
Today with our massive trade deficits we are helping foreign countries more than helping ourselves by boasting consumption
policies advocated by Romney such as getting tough on China by labeling them a currency manipulator and by lowering taxes on U.S. companies are the correct policies.
Tough on China yes. Lowering taxes on huge corporations no. The effective tax rates on huge US corporations are already low and lower that OCED averages. Lowering taxes on small business, maybe.
I agree with a lot of that but extending unemployment benefits mostly benefits domestic spending as the Kiplinger sample budget showed above.
But Rio tells us that there is no housing bubble in Brazil
I don’t recall him saying that. What he has said is that mortgage debt as a percentage of GDP is much smaller in Brazil than in the USA.
But Rio tells us that there is no housing bubble in Brazil:
That is not true but understandable coming from you Albuquerquedan. Because what I do write about Brazil housing takes intellect more than you possess to parse.
Hows about we tax earnings 50%, no loopholes. If companies want to avoid the tax, they would have to hire workers, preferably expensive workers, to soak up those earnings before they are taxed.
SVguy, when I moved to Maryland from the Midwest, Maryland sent me a nastygram saying, Hey, your 2010 address is Maryland. Why didn’t you pay Maryland state taxes in 2009? So I had to send them the 2009 Turbotax from the Midwest. They said, case closed.
I thought it was done, and then my Midwestern state sent me a nastygram saying, Hey, your 2009 address was our state. Why didn’t you pay state taxes in 2009, 2010, and 2011? I had to send old proof-of-address utility bills and Turbotaxes to them. Haven’t heard back.
They are clearly trolling for tax monies. Should I have told them not to bother, as I am worth less than Ann Romney’s dancing horse?
Workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal
By Hayley Peterson
PUBLISHED: 00:00 EST, 3 January 2013 | UPDATED: 06:25 EST, 4 January 2013
Middle-class workers will take a bigger hit to their income proportionately than those earning between $200,000 and $500,000 under the new fiscal cliff deal, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Earners in the latter group will pay an average 1.3 percent more - or an additional $2,711 - in taxes this year, while workers making between $30,000 and $200,000 will see their paychecks shrink by as much as 1.7 percent - or up to $1,784 - the D.C.-based think tank reported.
Overall, nearly 80 percent of households will pay more money to the federal government as a result of the fiscal cliff deal.
The average increase in tax bills for all earners will be about $1,257.
While the lower brackets will take a bigger hit to their paychecks than those in the $200,000 to $500,000 bucket, their overall federal tax rate will remain smaller. And the biggest hit of all will still be felt by the nation’s top income earners.
Obama made a tax hike on the nation’s wealthiest central to his campaign for re-election.
Workers making more than $1 million will pay an average 7.8 percent more - or an additional $170,341 - under the new law.
The federal tax rate will be roughly 39 percent for that group, compared to 26 percent for those earning between $200,000 and $500,000 and 14 percent for those making between $40,000 and $50,000.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2256972/Middle-earners-hit-hardest-revealed-workers-making-30-000-bigger-hit-earning-500-000-new-fiscal-deal.html - -
Oxy,
I bet you had a few things on your mind to say to the tax hounds.
Workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal
You left this part out:
“via the end of the payroll tax cut,”‘
So you are comparing apples to oranges. The payroll tax cut was temporary. The temporary payroll tax cut ending is necessary to keep Soc Sec solvent.
I refrained… but I did write a very nice business letter with all the info and a teeny bit of snark which they probably didn’t detect.
“You left this part out:”
Does that change workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal.
I don`t seem to remember hearing we are just going to have people making $30,000 a year pay a little more in any of Obama`s campaign speeches.
Yep, the rich are pissed.
The hit to my paycheck is stupidly small.
Taxes aren’t my problem, real double digit inflation is.
Does that change workers making $30,000 will take a bigger hit on their pay than those earning $500,000 under new fiscal deal.
Yes. Their federal taxes will not go up. The payroll tax reduction was a temporary reduction. You left that part out.
The payroll tax reduction was a temporary reduction.
And the Bush tax cuts were temporary reductions as well…
Toh-may-toh, toh-mah-toh.
Considering those lower on the earnings chain are the most likely to spend everything that they make, the reduction in the lower-paid workers net paychecks could have a real anti-stimulatory effect.
adan,
I have never voted for one state bond measure in my entire life.
Hopefully that will help with any pre-conceived notions you may have about me.
My generation of 50-something’s voted for the status quo: Keynesianism. I voted for Austrian economics, and even held office in a local election in a farm area of California as an elected Libertarian at age 23!
“Extending unemployment benefits only increased demand for Chinese goods.”
You have NEVER received UE, have you? It BARELY pays for food and shelter.
John Maudlin in his weekly email:
“Transition. That is another word we are going to see a lot this year and next. I am going to invest a great deal of my intellectual capital in thinking about how we transition our lives (not just our investments!) through the Endgame of the biggest bubble in the history of the world, that of government debt and promises.
That bubble is going to collapse, in one way or another. Our job is to make sure we are not in the vicinity of ground zero.
Meanwhile, there are a lot of positive things happening that we do not want to miss while our governments are busy rearranging deck chairs and kicking cans.”
IMO he’s right on in that we cannot continue to “maintain” what is “unsustainable”. At some point we’re going over the fiscal cliff and my goal is to position myself, manage my risk, so I don’t go over the edge with the rest of the folks.
Thanks to Ben I have a place to see what’s happening.
Maudlin’s connection with reality is a large family. However he and his friends that he visits regularly are all interested in holding onto their inflated gains while everyone else adapts, but he must have recently glanced over the top of his rose colored glasses at the lawn mower man and saw one of his kids.
So in other words you hate him because he’s rich?
Do you hate yourself because you’re poor?
“So in other words you hate him because he’s rich?”
I didn’t say that.
He is very much out of touch with reality.
He got lucky in 70’s/80’s writing ‘investment’ news letters.
He is sorta like the financial version of Paris Hilton.
Plus Maudlin totally missed the entire housing bubble because he was completely out of touch - while Ben Jones managed to identify it YEARS before the other newsletter writes even started mentioning how silly a housing crash would NEVER affect WallStreet!
“He is sorta like the financial version of Paris Hilton.”
Now THAT’S funny!
“However he and his friends that he visits regularly are all interested in holding onto their inflated gains while everyone else adapts…”
It seems investors don’t like losing these days. These days investors expect to be made whole again while someone else with nothing to invest is expected to lose their job and pension to plug the shortfall.
So Lip, was Mauldin a yea or nay for Wall street’s bailout?
He was totally for it:
Unless something is done, businesses all over the US are going to wake up in a few weeks and find they simply cannot transact business as usual. This is going to put a real crimp in all sorts of business we think of as being very far from Wall Street.
What happens if we walk away? Within a few weeks at most, financial markets will freeze even more. We will see electronic runs on major banks, and the FDIC will have more problems than you can possibly imagine.
As Han Solo said…I can imagine a lot.
Daniel Stelter of the Boston Consulting Group, from the Maudlin email:
“No one knows how long the developed world’s Ponzi scheme can go on without causing major social and economic breakdowns. As long as it does, however, economic uncertainty will remain high.
One indicator of growing uncertainty is an index developed by economists Scott Baker and Nicholas Bloom, of Stanford University, and Steven Davis, of the University of Chicago. Their “economic policy uncertainty index” shows not only that overall levels of uncertainty have risen since the financial crisis, but also that this uncertainty is increasingly driven by political disputes over economic issues rather than by events such as 9/11, for example, or military conflicts such as the First Gulf War.
To the degree that politicians and other leaders fail to address the structural challenges described in this paper, the odds of economic paralysis go up. The underlying issues cannot be ignored any longer. The developed world faces a day of reckoning. It is time to act.”
I think the Roman Empire lasted 1,500 years.
Let’s just keep on partying…Only because a global progressive is in the white house.
The British empire died, yet Britain lived on. In one stage, going through drab gray socialism, the a phase under Margarat Thatcher, then sort of backtracking a bit to socialism, but Britain survives.
The Japanese empire was on the fast track in the early part of the previous century of conquering its neighbors, but punished by the U.S. then became economically so powerful and as an ally of the U.S. but its economy faded due partially to its Aging demographics and partly to the racism against non-Japanese. But Japan still survives.
The U.S. economically will be forced to return its troops home and no longer be world cop. The savings by cutting defense spending will help, but the 800 lb gorilla in the room is the social security and Medicare entitlements. The U.S. will weaken as an economic power perhaps, but the U.S. will survive.
Missed this from joesmith yesterday:
“Oxide, I was driving through Takoma Park last night and saw a cr*ppy condo conversion like the one you mention.”
Yup…
Quick note: there are basically two Takoma Parks: from Georgia Avenue on the tip of the DC diamond southeast along the DC/MD line to the Takoma Park Metro stop is one of the most architecturally beautiful (think 1920’s Craftsman and 1930’s well built brick Colonial and small Tudor Revival) neighborhoods in the metro area. I too used to live in Silver Spring within blocks of the Metro and the new shopping area. The area is fairly good. But if you keep going east, you hit the intersection of New Hampshire and University, where Takoma Overlook is. This the worst dump of illegals, and one of the most unpleasant areas anywhere. Old strip malls are filled with Central American services, pupuserias, large discount furniture and baby stores, and a million dirty bus stops.
I looked at the “Floor plans and pricing” for Takoma Overlook. Yikes! A couple of those larger condos cost more than my SFH did. And 2/3 of the units are sold? eeek…
Classic rent-seeking combined with abuse of the legal system:
Patent trolls want $1,000—for using scanners
An alphabet soup of patent trolls is attempting to extort money from end-users of many common internet and computer-related technologies.
Someone has most likely patented the processing of posting comments on blogs & sites like HBB already, and is just waiting for their time to strike.
Our esteemed (spit!) national legislature obviously has far more important matters to deal with.
And they do this because …?
And they do this because …?
that’s where the money is, Willy!
The Patent Office has gone batsh-t insane with business process patents?
Interest rate status quo good for homebuyers, bad for savers
Posted: 7:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Mortgage rates held to their bargain basement lows this week, slipping to 3.34 percent for a 30-year fixed loan and continuing a trend that is expected to last at least through the end of the year.
For Florida homebuyers searching in a low-inventory market the prediction of prolonged discounted rates should reduce the urgency to purchase, but it is also a sign that the economic recovery will be a slow slog back to average.
And with record low mortgage rates come low interest rates on such items as a CD or money market account — bad news for savers.
While not the main driving factor, today’s low rates were one reason homebuyer Keith Stewart began looking for properties three months ago.
The 43-year-old chef, who is working with Realtor Bob Graeve of Illustrated Properties in Palm Beach Gardens, found a short sale he likes in Riviera Beach and is waiting for the bank to approve his offer of $138,000.
With a 20 percent down payment and an 800-plus credit score, Stewart said his interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 3.23 percent.
“I wanted to get in before things changed, but for me if the interest rate went up a half a percentage point, it wouldn’t be a big deal,” Stewart said. “I feel like I really have a year timeline to work with.”
Banks have clamped down on the free-wheeling loans offered during the real estate boom and aren’t likely to loosen up much until regulations in the massive Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act are better spelled out, Crowe said. Issues yet to be defined would affect what kind of capital banks will need to cover risks and include what recourse consumers have if they find they have an unaffordable mortgage.
Also, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have increasingly returned mortgages to their originators that they believe have errors.
“The bank is not particularly interested in getting those loans back,” Crowe said. “That’s why the mortgage application process is an inquisition.”
“The bank is not particularly interested in getting those loans back,” Crowe said. “That’s why the mortgage application process is an inquisition.”
For most of US history, the this process was an inquisition. During the past decade, that ceased to be the case. And we’re still cleaning up the mess.
Lending Standards: They’re there for a reason.
“They’re there for a reason.”
Lending standards keeps money in the bank’s till. A good and wonderous thing it is.
But now the Fed’s got that covered.
“Lending Standards: They’re there for a reason.”
Automobile sales were down badly as 2012 wound down, so lending standards were loosened and government loan guarantees expanded. When ‘ya gotta chum for the losers the end-game is within sight. Everybody in a suit knows it’s over, but they’re not sure what’s next because few of ‘em have any worthwhile skills.
Exactly.
What would they call an “error?” Oops, we mistakenly typed a “7″ in front of that $89K loan for the strawberry picker? We hit the “7″ key instead of the “5″ key in the FICO blank?
Or maybe the bank, income, and asset statements didn’t come in the specially sanctioned PDF format? (which is true. I had to call one retirement fund for a special printout and go to my bank twice for the good paper and signature for my loan.)
Apartment 213
I saw a program about Jeffrey Dahmer and although he was a monster, I felt some pity for him because he was pretty much left to deal with his own demons.
If he was a teen growing up today, he could just get started being gay, and probably not feel so repulsed about it that he had to kill the men he had sex with.
I suspect thats how it started even though it evolved into something else.
In addition, there are good paying jobs for sadistic people; especially if they are handsome, articulate and good liars.
Jeffrey Dahmer could have turned his lifestyle into a profession if he had the right mentor, connections…
Check out this Frank Mitrone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aVbreYNMKc
Do you have to be “sick” to do what he did to those homeless people?
Or do we all have that behavior within us, and just need the exact rational to practice it?
“In addition, there are good paying jobs for sadistic people; especially if they are handsome, articulate and good liars.”
Are you saying Jeffrey Dahmer would have been a good Realtor?
Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMxyYkVYug - 224k -
Or a used car salesman, selling cars with a lot of head room.
Isn’t there at least slight comfort knowing that the U.S. had secret torture operations already going as of the early 1970s?
RG3812
Exactly.
Inmates using newspaper’s gun owner map to threaten guards, sheriff says
Published January 04, 2013
Law enforcement officials from a New York region where a local paper published a map identifying gun owners say prisoners are using the information to intimidate guards.
Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco, who spoke at a news conference flanked by other county officials, said the Journal News’ decision to post an online map of names and addresses of handgun owners Dec. 23 has put law enforcement officers in danger.
“They have inmates coming up to them and telling them exactly where they live. That’s not acceptable to me,” Falco said, according to Newsday.
Robert Riley, an officer with the White Plains Police Department and president of its Patrolman’s Benevolent Association, agreed.
“You have guys who work in New York City who live up here. Now their names and addresses are out there, too,” he said adding that there are 8,000 active and retired NYPD officers currently living in Rockland County.
Local lawmakers also say that they intend to introduce legislation that prevents information about legal gun owners from being released to the public.
The newspaper published the online map last month alongside an article titled, “The gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your neighborhood.” The map included the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/04/law-enforcement-latest-critics-on-public-display-gun-owner-data-officers/ - 38k -
What do you expect from sick twisted freaks in the global progressive movement. Right to privacy is only for right thinking folks.
Thank you. “Progressivism” is evil. It has ruled the U.S. since 1913. Time for it to go, banish it to France where it thrives!
Yeah, the age of Robber Barons was so much better. Heaven forbid we have a strong middle class.
Thank you. “Progressivism” is evil.
Right. Freeing the slaves, letting women vote, letting formerly hard-working grandma eat some stew instead of dog-food after her doctor appointment is “evil”.
You guys crack me up.
New York: The moron state.
Ex-Burglars Say Newspaper’s Gun Map Would’ve Made the Job Easier, Safer
By Jana Winter
Published January 04, 2013
Reformed crooks say the New York newspaper that published a map of names and addresses of gun owners did a great service – to their old cronies in the burglary trade.
The information published online by the Journal-News, a daily paper serving the New York suburbs of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, could be highly useful to thieves in two ways, former burglars told FoxNews.com. Crooks looking to avoid getting shot now know which targets are soft and those who need weapons know where they can steal them.
“That was the most asinine article I’ve ever seen,” said Walter T. Shaw, 65, a former burglar and jewel thief who the FBI blames for more than 3,000 break-ins that netted some $70 million in the 1960s and 1970s. “Having a list of who has a gun is like gold - why rob that house when you can hit the one next door, where there are no guns?
“What they did was insanity,” added Shaw, author of “License to Steal,” a book about his criminal career.
The newspaper published the online map last month alongside an article titled, “The gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your neighborhood.” The map included the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Frank Abagnale, who was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 film “Catch Me if You Can,” and is perhaps the most famous reformed thief to ever earn a legitimate living by offering the public insight into the criminal mind, called the newspaper’s actions “reprehensible.”
“It is unbelievable that a newspaper or so called journalist would publish the names and addresses of legal gun owners, including federal agents, law enforcement officers and the like,” said Abagnale, who noted that he grew up in the suburban New York area served by the Journal-News. “This would be equivalent to publishing the names of individuals who keep substantial sums of money, jewelry and valuables in their home.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/04/ex-burglars-say-newspapers-gun-map-wouldve-made-job-easier-safer/ - 44k -
Of course it would make the criminal’s job easier. How many of you gun Nazi’s out there would like your neighborhood mapped like that? Who’s house do you think the home invaders would pick? That’s right…the houses that have no guns.
Speaking of Nazi’s, I saw a movie once where only the Police and Military had guns…It was titled Schindler’s List.
Maybe they should put dogs and home security systems on the map too. Now you throw in substantial sums of money, jewelry and valuables maps and you could get a lot of people off of unemployment.
Oh, they would also need a club and hammer map.
January 03, 2013
FBI: More People Killed with Hammers, Clubs Each Year Than Rifles
According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.
This is an interesting fact, particularly amid the Democrats’ feverish push to ban many different rifles, ostensibly to keep us safe of course.
However, it appears the zeal of Sens. like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is misdirected. For in looking at the FBI numbers from 2005 to 2011, the number of murders by hammers and clubs consistently exceeds the number of murders committed with a rifle.
Think about it: In 2005, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618.
And so the list goes, with the actual numbers changing somewhat from year to year, yet the fact that more people are killed with blunt objects each year remains constant.
For example, in 2011, there was 323 murders committed with a rifle but 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs.
While the FBI makes is clear that some of the “murder by rifle” numbers could be adjusted up slightly, when you take into account murders with non-categorized types of guns, it does not change the fact that their annual reports consistently show more lives are taken each year with these blunt objects than are taken with Feinstein’s dreaded rifle.
Another interesting fact: According to the FBI, nearly twice as many people are killed by hands and fists each year than are killed by murderers who use rifles.
http://nation.foxnews.com/gun-rights/2013/01/03/fbi-more-people-killed-hammers-clubs-each-year-rifles - 40k -
FBI: More People Killed with Hammers, Clubs Each Year Than Rifles
Let me know when some nut lights up a grade school for 20 with a claw-hammer.
Let me know when some nut lights up a grade school for 20 with a claw-hammer.
Not funny, I know—but still funny.
Speaking of Nazi’s, I saw a movie once where only the Police and Military had guns…It was titled Schindler’s List.
Dude, that’s all over the nutball right-wing blogs and facebook pages. In a picture form. Do you ever come up with anything original nick?
Dude, that’s all over the nutball right-wing blogs and facebook pages.
Rio, you read the nutball right-wing blogs??? Huh?
You googled it home boy.
Rio, you read the nutball right-wing blogs?
You googled it home boy.
Didn’t have to. I have friends on facebook who post all of those stupid right-wing, 3rd grade, hack-job pics and slogans. 99% of those stupid talking points are dumb as dirt designed to appeal to the same.
Also, the fact that is all over the blogs does not make the point any less valid. Your Alinsky tactics to isolate and destroy the messenger are obvious and will fail as usual. That’s all you got, one magic bullet that used to work.
Also, the fact that is all over the blogs does not make the point any less valid.
What makes it not valid is to compare Nazi Germany with some Dems calling for some restrictions on assault weapons.
It is a comparison designed to appeal to morons.
Alinsky tactics to isolate and destroy the messenger are obvious……one magic bullet that used to work.
I guess you missed it nick but I just destroyed the message too. This stuff is not hard.
What makes it not valid is to compare Nazi Germany with some Dems calling for some restrictions on assault weapons.
That’s where we differ. Lots of people were OK with the Nazis when they were banning guns. They hadn’t yet become “the NAZIS”. Later there was nothing anybody inside the country could do. For us there is no other USA out there to save us from ourselves once we disarm.
I have to give you credit for being an army of one.
Lots of people were OK with the Nazis when they were banning guns.
Restriction on assault weapons is not “banning guns” in the sense that it threatens gun ownership in America.
Not being able to own a hand grenade does not infringe on my rights to bear arms imo.
Comparing Nazi Germany to things like 10 round clip limits is silly.
I have to give you credit for being an army of one.
Not true.
The vast majority of Americans agree with me on most major issues nick. You are the outlier. Yours are the outdated, narrow minded thoughts and ideas that are quickly being relegated the dustbin of history.
Your party has only won the popular vote in a Presidential election one time in the past 6 tries.
Restriction on assault weapons is not “banning guns” in the sense that it threatens gun ownership in America.
Once again we differ. Slippery slope and all that…
..Whoops—’Cash for Clunkers’ Actually Hurt the Environment
Takepart.com – Thu, Jan 3, 2013
Back in 2009, President Obama’s “Cash for Clunkers” program was supposed to be a boon for the environment and the economy. During a limited time, consumers could trade in an old gas-guzzling used car for up to $4,500 cash back towards the purchase of a fuel-efficient new car. It seemed like a win for everyone: the environment, the gasping auto industry and cash-strapped consumers.
Though almost a million people poured into car dealerships eager to exchange their old jalopies for something shiny and new, recent reports indicate the entire program may have actually hurt the environment far more than it helped.
According to E Magazine, the “Clunkers” program, which is officially known as the Car Allowance Rebates System (CARS), produced tons of unnecessary waste while doing little to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The program’s first mistake seems to have been its focus on car shredding, instead of car recycling. With 690,000 vehicles traded in, that’s a pretty big mistake.
According to the Automotive Recyclers Association (ARA), automobiles are almost completely recyclable, down to their engine oil and brake fluid. But many of the “Cash for Clunkers” cars were never sent to recycling facilities. The agency reports that the cars’ engines were instead destroyed by federal mandate, in order to prevent dealers from illicitly reselling the vehicles later.
The remaining parts of each car could then be put up for auction, but program guidelines also required that after 180 days, no matter how much of the car was left, the parts woud be sent to a junkyard and shredded.
MORE: The Sweet Smell of Sugar Cane Derived from Fuel
Shredding vehicles results in its own environmental nightmare. For each ton of metal produced by a shredding facility, roughly 500 pounds of “shredding residue” is also produced, which includes polyurethane foams, metal oxides, glass and dirt. All totaled, about 4.5 million tons of that residue is already produced on average every year. Where does it go? Right into a landfill.
E Magazine states recycling just the plastic and metal alone from the CARS scraps would have saved 24 million barrels of oil. While some of the “Clunkers” were truly old, many of the almost 700,000 cars were still in perfectly good condition. In fact, many that qualified for the program were relatively “young,” with fuel efficiencies that rivaled newer cars.
And though the point was to get less fuel efficient cars off the roads, with only 690,000 traded in, and over 250 million registered in the U.S., the difference in pollutant levels seems pretty negligible.
But all that vehicular destruction did more than create unnecessary waste for the environment. It also had some far-reaching economic effects.
According to a recent TriCities op-ed from Mike Smith of Ralph Smith Motors in Virginia, CARS created a dearth of used cars, artificially driving up prices. For those who needed an affordable car, but didn’t qualify for the program, this increase in price meant affordable transportation was well out of reach. It also meant used-car dealers, most of whom are independently owned, small-business owners, had little to no stock. According to Smith, 122 Virginia dealers chose not to renew their licenses after that year.
http://news.yahoo.com/why-cash-clunkers-hurt-environment-more-helped-024848694.html - 203k
If it were cash for bicycles, you would have heard me crowing all over this blog. That is, until a posse came out here to silence me.
But, since it was cash for clunkers, oh, well. No crowing from Slim.
Destroying a perfectly good bicycle?! It would be a waste of a good frame you could refinish.
Don’t tell me a global progressive government program had unintended consequences…That is just plain hate speech.
Uh, what do think is done with the shredded metal and plastic?
“Your car is wrecking your retirement”
http://money.msn.com/retirement/your-car-is-wrecking-your-retirement
“Val W. emailed me because she was “finally out of ideas and energy.” The 27-year-old was cutting expenses wherever she could — axing cable, vacations and new clothes — but she couldn’t make progress on her debt or save for her future.
Val’s big problem is the $678 monthly car payment eating up a third of her $2,000 monthly income.
“I have three years left to pay,” she explained, “and can’t refinance because of my credit and (because) the car has negative equity.”
Val’s payment certainly is outsized, but big car expenses aren’t all that unusual. American households spend more on their wheels than on anything other than housing.”
There’s more, follow the link!
“I have three years left to pay,” she explained, “and can’t refinance because of my credit and (because) the car has negative equity.”
My bicycles are paid for. And I do the maintenance and repairs myself — most of the time.
If I run into a snag, it’s a group therapy sort of thing down at BICAS. Where the slogan is “We help you help your bike.”
If I run into a snag, it’s a group therapy sort of thing down at BICAS. Where the slogan is “We help you help your bike.”
Slim, you are fortunate that diversity is available and thrives.
‘it’s a group therapy sort of thing’
Yesterday I saw a car stuck in the snow near my driveway. I went over to help with a shovel (I don’t have chains) but two people stopped within ten minutes with chains and we pulled them out. It was amazing because there wasn’t a government over-seer in sight and nobody started killing each other, even though it’s legal to carry guns in Arizona.
It was amazing because there wasn’t a government over-seer in sight and nobody started killing each other, even though it’s legal to carry guns in Arizona.
LOL… That’s probably only because you aren’t packed in tight enough in that area—e.g. too much wide-open space.
OK folks, let’s do the Bankrate shuffle!
We know she has at least a 4-year loan because she had “three years left.” How much car does $678 buy you?
Option 1: 4-year loan at 2.82%. Loan: $31000. (these terms are Bankrate’s daily rate)
Option 2: 6-year loan at 3.5%. Loan: $42000. (this is typical)
Option 3: 3-year loan at 4.0%. Loan: $23000. (these were the terms on my car, but I put ~half down)
I dunno how much cars cost. Do you all think she overbought?
“How much car does $678 buy you?”
Her risky loan likely has insurance “built-in.”
Her car has “negative equity?” Cars hold their value these days, not like 10 years ago when they depreciated 50% in just 2 years. Now it can take 6 years or longer for a car to lose 50% of its value.
And $678/month? That buys about a $35,000 car. And she makes $2000 a month?
Now it can take 6 years or longer for a car to lose 50% of its value.
Depends on the car. My wife’s lost over 60% in 4 years. But luckily those weren’t the years that we owned it. Some poor guy lost about 1k in value every month for 4 years on it.
Yeah, I’m talking about ordinary cars, not high end Beamers or Benzes. There’s a reason those bad boys depreciate so much. They break a lot and cost a king’s ransom to fix. Top Gear did a story on those cars and they did not recommend buying one.
$678? What the hell is she driving, a BMW 7?
Re-posting:
“HELP! An abandoned house is on fire and only the LEGO® City firefighters can save the day!”
http://city.lego.com/en-us/products/fire/60003/
+1 Love the boarded-up windows!
I give them 8.5/10.
10/10 if they had included two deadbeat minifigures.
“10/10 if they had included two deadbeat minifigures.”
How about two dogs getting it on, for the front yard?
Huh, I guess they disable direct linking
But those lego firefighters aren’t union! They’re made in China!
“I watched one of those noiseless helo’s (all white and very sleek) take off not more than 100 feet from me while I was riding along the Pacific Crest Trail about 15 years ago.”
Jealous! Wondering about top secret military stuff is my hobby.
Wondering about the magnitude of shadow inventory is my hobby.
It’s huge.
My ‘hood is still pocked with abandoned homes with no action on them whatsoever.
“It’s huge.”
You better believe it is.
It’s not a bubble: Rather it’s an increase in multiculturalism.
ft dot com
October 15, 2012 3:18 pm
Prices fuel fears of German housing bubble
By James Wilson in Frankfurt and Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin
Ariane Jauss knew the Berlin property boom was getting serious when, a few months ago, she went to the courtroom auction of a repossessed flat.
More than 60 prospective buyers for the 102 sq m apartment, valued at €86,000, crowded the room. By the time the sale had ended, the flat – in the formerly marginal suburb of Wedding – had been sold for more than double the estimate.
“It was unbelievable,” says Ms Jauss, a property agent in the formerly divided German capital for 20 years. “Even two years ago you would never have seen that.”
Berlin is at the forefront of one of the surprising consequences of the eurozone crisis: Germany’s property price boom. Long an outlier in Europe for its relatively low levels of home ownership and sleepy housing market, Germany has caught the property bug to the extent that price rises in some locations point to a potential bubble, according to some property professionals.
Tracking price rises is difficult but F+B, a research company, says average sale prices in Berlin are up 23 per cent in the past five years. Jones Lang LaSalle, a property consultancy, estimates that median prices in Berlin have risen even more sharply: 20 per cent in the 12 months to June, and 37.5 per cent since 2009.
The long-running economic crisis since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 is linked to the property boom in several ways.
Low interest rates to aid recovery have tempted some Germans – who often prefer to rent until relatively settled – to take the step into home ownership. Perhaps just as importantly, the crisis has encouraged many wealthier savers to switch their assets into property from other investments, hoping for a better return or simply more security than with shares or bonds.
Markus Schmidt, of Aengevelt, a property consultancy, says German property is in strong demand from wealthy individuals and family offices. “Security of investment is more important to them at the moment than the amount of return, so they are prepared to pay above-average prices for properties in established top locations,” he says.
Property is also viewed as a better inflation hedge. “The flight into supposedly safer assets such as property is being reinforced by the lack of investment alternatives,” says Stefan Mitropoulos, an analyst at Helaba, a German bank. “Since mortgage rates have also fallen drastically, buying residential property has become affordable for many households.”
Buyers from outside Germany have fuelled the market, often seeking a haven from the eurozone crisis and seeing Germany as a safe bet if the currency union should break apart.
“There are lots of cash buyers coming from other places in Europe,” says Anne Riney, director of the Berlin-Mitte office of Engel & Volkers, the estate agency, citing interest from Italy, Spain and Nordic countries. “People are afraid to have their money in the bank and Germany is the most stable economy in Europe.”
While the pace of Germany’s overall property price increases has accelerated, it remains moderate in comparison with the booms in countries around the world before the financial crisis. Bank lending for mortgages has risen only moderately. Most professionals reject the idea that Germany is heading into a general property bubble, pointing to several factors that sustain higher prices, including lower interest rates, a robust jobs market and the catch-up from a long period of stagnant prices.
The situation is more ambiguous in Berlin and Germany’s other largest cities such as Hamburg and Munich where price rises have been much more pronounced. Particularly in Berlin – where the majority of people rent homes – and Munich, prices have risen to a degree “which can only partly be explained by economic fundamentals”, the rating agency Fitch said this year.
Berlin – described by its mayor as “poor but sexy” – and other big cities are probably also benefiting from demographic shifts. An ageing and wealthy population is more interested in city living, with services easy to reach, while young people from round the world are attracted by Berlin’s cultural scene, cheap living and burgeoning reputation as a hub for tech start-ups.
Ms Riney says: “Berlin is becoming a lot more multicultural, you hear it on the streets. People believe anything is possible here – like in London 40 years ago. There is lots of room for creativity.”
…
How many housing markets in the major western countries are still in the parabolic price blowout stage of the global housing bubble as of early 2013?
World
4:28 am Sat January 5, 2013
Germany’s Housing Market Is Hot. Is It Overheating?
By Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood, like many others across the city, is experiencing a real estate boom. Housing prices have risen by as much as 20 percent in the past year in some German cities.
Credit Adam Berry / Getty Images
Originally published on Sat January 5, 2013 8:59 am
Few Western countries are as conservative about home ownership as Germany, where less than half the country’s citizens own property.
German banks have tough lending rules. Would-be buyers are usually asked to provide hefty down payments to secure mortgages, meaning few Germans even think about buying a home until they are settled and financially secure.
But the European debt crisis appears to be changing the traditions around home ownership. The resulting surge in homebuying, some officials warn, is driving prices too high and threatens the nation’s economy.
In the trendy Berlin neighborhood of Mitte, real estate agent Anne Riney is showing her client Christian Ehrler a two-bedroom apartment for sale. Ehrler is hoping to buy the $476,000 place with a bank loan covering the full cost.
With such a big loan, he’s taking the unusual step of using his parents’ home in southern Germany as collateral.
“It’s a good thing to invest, and in such a good location, the prices will increase for sure,” Ehrler says of his plans. His goal is to get a mortgage with an interest rate lower than 3 percent — less than half the rate his parents paid for their mortgage.
Seeking Safe Investments In Uncertain Times
Ehrler’s not the only one with plans to buy a home. He says all his friends are in the market now, too.
These days, buyers lured by low interest rates or seeking a safer way to invest money are flooding the market in Berlin and other German cities, looking to snap up property any way they can.
The growing demand has driven real estate prices up by as much as 20 percent in some areas in the past year.
And it’s not only Germans who are shopping; international investors are pulling their money out of struggling countries like Italy and Greece to buy property here.
Riney, the real estate agent, says foreign buyers are attracted to Germany’s financial stability.
“In Germany, growth is slow and steady, which is a healthy type of growth because it does have basis in reality,” says Riney. “Whereas in other countries, you’ll often get growth from a hype, where … the value of a property and the asking price didn’t have any real relationship.”
But a growing number of analysts and officials are warning that Germany is not immune to the kind of real estate bubble that crippled the U.S. and other Western countries in recent years.
…
I want to be this guy’s friend.
Matthews vs. Gun Owner: “You’re Carrying A G-D D-mn Gun!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUDkPHPhqGk
I bought my second ever gun today in Arizona. Yup, filled out the BATF form. It is now computerized to the gun shop. I am fine with this because I already reveal my soul to background checks for my work.
Not a rifle, but yeah I want an AR-15 at some point. Of course these stay in Arizona. Google Marc victor lee Rockwell ar-15 for a good take. I voted for Marc for libertarian candidate for U.S. senate for Arizona.
My place is alarmed. I have motion detection and this was tested by maintenance person walking in while I was hundreds of miles away.
By the time a burglar finds my gun, he would be stopped. Besides, the alarm will scare him off. I asked the dealer if I would be responsible if the burglar gets my gun. He said only if you do not immediately report it missing. Yup. Noted.
A guy who worked in the California office of my client moved his family to Arizona two years ago because of the liberal (pro gun) laws. He works from home. He is a conservative gun lover. Of course you cannot tell a book by it’s cover. He is not white.
Gun shop I went to happened to be packed. People of all ages and several women, some young. Good to see another generation of defenders of the second amendment, particularly in female form! The reason the shop was crowded was a gun class was about to start.
A lot of stores are sold out of just about any kind of semi-automatic rifle, there was a big run on them in the last two weeks. Once the usual suspects started to hit the microphones in Washington, people hit the stores for some panic buying.
Even though you can carry in AZ without a permit, I would suggest you get your CCW so you can…
Bypass the Instant check when purchasing firearms.
Carry in Bars and Restaurants that serve alcohol (when you are not drinking of course).
Take advantage of the reciprocity given to Arizona CCW holders in many other states.
‘I would suggest you get your CCW’
I don’t agree. It’s more of the ‘register with the state for rights you already have’. Anyway, I don’t carry a gun around cuz I’ve got Kung Fu grip.
To change the subject a bit; a friend and I were talking and the topic came up; why do they let us have guns and continue taking our freedom away left and right?
“Anyway, I don’t carry a gun around cuz I’ve got Kung Fu grip.”
Well be careful.
Indiana Jones : Sword vs. Gun - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DzcOCyHDqc - 218k
“To change the subject a bit; a friend and I were talking and the topic came up; why do they let us have guns and continue taking our freedom away left and right?”
Because they know they can shut my ass down 10 other ways in a big hurry.
C’mon Dogg…. they can just take everything… freeze bank accounts, arrest without any crime committed. They do it all the time.
‘they can just take everything’
Well especially your gun if you sign up to carry one. So why the strange divergence? They record every email, phone and text. They can arrest you forever or kill you without charges or a trial, but you can buy a big honking gun with a basement full of ammo. Something doesn’t add up. (BTW, I asked my friend what he would do if someone showed up to confiscate his guns and he said without hesitation, “my guns were stolen.”)
‘they know they can shut my ass down 10 other ways in a big hurry’
Maybe that’s it. But can they shut 100,000 people down in a hurry?
“register with the state for rights you already have”
I agree, but unfortunately the people with the power to put me in prison do not. The reciprocity part is nice because I often travel by car…no help in California though.
“why do they let us have guns and continue taking our freedom away left and right?”
Perhaps I’m a bit conspiratorial, but it has to be some kind of head fake to keep our minds off of their incrementalism in other areas. Or the statists still remember the beat down the sustained in ‘94 when they were going all in for gun control and chose to let that one slide for now. Too bad we ended up with a bunch of slower-motion statists from the other party.
Understood regarding CCW. The Feds have a ton of information on me for decades anyway. Water over the bridge. Other defense workers of my type are gun enthusiasts, and we’ve gone to ranges together a few times. We are all strong RKBA types of course, but government knows our souls.
As far as not owning, and relying on the Kung Fu grip, well the act of not having a gun is not just having one less freedom taken from you, but a bigger opportunity cost.
I think however that I will take the CCW course advice before going deeper, into rifles.
‘the act of not having a gun is not just having one less freedom taken from you’
I have guns, I just choose not to carry one. I’m a pacifist (who grew up in the oil patch defending myself with my fists). Plus, there are plenty of people around all the time who are armed and I trust would stop a mass shooting. But the main thing is I don’t like big cities. And not living in one of those is a great comfort.
About carrying, it’s more of insurance policy and knowing you have the ability to do so when a situation warrants. Late night movies and road trips usually have me strapping on my inside the waistband holster.
Or the statists still remember the beat down the sustained in ‘94 when they were going all in for gun control and chose to let that one slide for now.
Ahhh the 1994 election. The only good thing to come from the first assault weapon ban.
(BTW, I asked my friend what he would do if someone showed up to confiscate his guns and he said without hesitation, “my guns were stolen.”)
Then they would get him on the felony of lying…
If only everyone in the neighborhood had been armed with Bushmasters, this need never have happened.
Photos: Four dead inside Aurora home, including gunman shot by police
Posted Jan 05, 2013
Four people were killed this morning including a gunman who held police at bay for several hours in an Aurora townhome. Aurora SWAT team members shot the gunman after he went to a second-floor window and fired a gun at police. The gunman fatally shot two men and a woman, police say. One woman jumped from an upstairs back window, ran from the home and called police just before 3 a.m., said Cassidee Carlson, Aurora police spokeswoman. The woman told police officers that she saw three “lifeless” bodies in the home. The woman was not injured by the jump or by gunshots. The identities of the victims and the gunmen have not been released.
…