Bits Bucket for January 23, 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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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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They have been billed as villas, but that would be using the loosest sense of the word.
Stretching as far as the eye can see in rows upon rows of arrow-straight uniformity, this development conjures images of a concrete slum or a prison block rather than a plush new housing estate.
They are among more than 1,000 grey houses, each spaced just a few feet apart, that have been built in Lingshui County in the Hainan Province of China.
But their monochrome appearance hasn’t put off the locals.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2266377/Would-want-live-housing-estate-like-New-Chinese-villas-look-like-concrete-slums.html
Wouldn’t say they where slums, remind me of Victorian terrace houses; all pushed together to maximise the population density.
Slums within 100 years.
Sadly, I have to agree on the slums. How much are these villas going to cost? 250 sq meters (2778 sq ft) does not say “McMansion” to me. More like: “One family on each floor just to make the rent.” I suspect they will be slums in 30 years and will fall apart in 100 years.
Question for the builders on HBB: I see two toilet vents(?) on the roof of each three-floor unit. Is that 2 toilets, or could it be up to 6? Even two toilets is better than using the river.
And it’s obvious that NOBODY in this complex is going to own a car.
Oxy,
The aggregate cross-sectional area of all sanitary vents through roof must equal the cross-sectional area of the sewer leaving the building. I have no idea if the Chinese follow the UPC. Probably not.
They are rather roomy too, at 250 square meters they are almost McMansion sized. But jeepers, they are identical and they’re zillions of them. Still, better than those floating shanties they live in now.
Better? How does this help them if they cannot afford them? If they could afford them why would they be living in shanties? They are worse off, because money that could have been spent improving their standard of living is wasted by their government on grandiose projects that have no practical use.
Better? How does this help them if they cannot afford them?
Then they stay in their shanties and this becomes yet another Chinese ghost town.
I am not so sure they are “better”, although if the new homes have sanitary systems, it’s better than fouling the water they live above. To me those rows of gray blocks are far more depressing than the floating homes they replace.
I agree, it looks very depressing.
It reminds me of what is known in Mexico as “casas de interes social”, though the Mexican houses are much smaller, less than 800 sq feet. Hundreds, if not thousands of identical houses are not uncommon, which are very Spartan by our standards (such as no HVAC, 1 bathroom, no garage, no insulation, etc.)
The Mexican ones do get occupied. But they cost about $20-30K USD and are financed by the government at below market rates. They are also typically purchased by “lower middle class” Mexicans. Shanty town people can’t afford them.
These are $20K USD houses in Mexico.
http://www.casasinteressocial.com/
I like those better than the Chinese gray blocks all crammed together!
I’m liking the rooftop water tanks.
“I’m liking the rooftop water tanks.”
A terrible idea for seismic regions.
I’m liking the rooftop water tanks.
AKA, “tinacos”. Every house in Mexico has one as water supply disruptions are common. When I lived there in the 70’s and 80’s they were made of asbestos.
Floating shanties?
Fire up Google Earth and zoom into Anywhere urban China. It looks a lot like any western style city anywhere on the planet.
From inner city ghettos to golf course gated communities, it’s all there.
I remember when we used to make fun of Soviet housing. Now we can get people to overpay for it.
Were you able to observe some of that on your trip to Poland? (I believe it was you that traveled, as I did, there a few years back) I’d seen it in history books but it’s something to behold when you roll into a smallish town full of dormitory style housing…For us it was somewhere on the road between Warsaw and Krakow. Kielce or Radom, I believe.
I saw some of the Soviet era housing on the outskirts of Krakow that was still being used. It appeared to be the least desirable of all the housing options. I went in and out of Warsaw by air so didn’t see much there.
Imagine coming home drunk to that development. You’d have to sober up to find your front door.
Or wife ……. Oh that Juan, he is so drunk he thinks he is me.
Teen in the middle of nowhere saves a life at the risk of his own
Read the whole thing.
Bad guy with a gun. Rapist. Arsonist. Willing to kill or harm anyone to get his way.
To obama - the victims should ALL be disarmed. Just like Chicago.
Because that is the only way to stop crime.
If it saves just one life…
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/08/03/Obama-administration-paves-the-way-for-sharia-law
Was there something stopping her from buying a gun?
Exactly. No one in the White House is saying she can’t own a gun.
Guess you never have been to Chicago or Washington DC or NYC…
They have a few things in common.
Long term rule by democrats.
Complete gun bans for the law abiding citizens (unless they are politically connected).
Coming soon to a city near you.
Your raving, paranoid loon impression is spot on this morning!
When you don’t any facts on your side…
start calling people names.
But she wasn’t in any of those places was she?
So what was stopping her from a buying a gun?
Was there something stopping her from buying a gun?
This girl was a student at Central Michigan University. They have a no firearm policy on campus.. i.e. you’re not allowed to carry or store firearms on campus.
No one in the White House is saying she can’t own a gun.
Why were handguns banned for 28 years in the city of Chicago? Why were handguns banned for 32 years in the district of Washington D.C.? Plenty on the left trying their best to keep law-abiding Americans from exercising their 2nd Amendment rights to keep and bear arms.
So Obama is blamed for campus regulations?
Seriosuly? A 6yo could tell you not to blame other people for something they have nothing to do with.
So Obama is blamed for campus regulations?
You’re being obtuse. I’m blaming the left, you know: The democrats, liberals, progressives, socialists, etc. Obama represents the left.
As to campus regulations? Never have I seen a larger bastion of the left than on the campuses of colleges and universities.
That’s because smart people tend to congregate on them.
That’s because smart people tend to congregate on them.
Ah yes, the intellectual socialists… you know, those same technocratic geniuses who have managed to bring the Eurozone to it’s economic knees.
you know, those same technocratic geniuses who have managed to bring the Eurozone to it’s economic knees.
The Eurozone has more International Fortune 500 companies than does the USA. The Eurozone spends much less of its GDP on health-care and gets better results than USA. The Eurozone is healthier than the USA. The Eurozone gets more time off and better benefits than the USA. The Eurozone is happier according to studies than the USA. I see WAY more rich European tourists in Brazil than Americas.
I see WAY more Europeans scoffing at the USA than vice-versa so you should get out and see the world more. I know. We are exceptional.
Ah yes, the intellectual socialists
You mean all those biz school profs who are often the best paid teachers on campus?
Because university campuses don’t tend to attract smart people? Ahhh. That must be because they’ve all joined the army instead.
Sorry to tell you, but the folks running Wall Street are hardly socialiast, nor are they particularly intellectual or technocratic.
I see WAY more Europeans scoffing at the USA than vice-versa so you should get out and see the world more. I know. We are exceptional.
And that should be a metric I care about why?
News flash: Even the United Kingdom agrees the Eurozone and it’s socialist parasitic technocrats should be avoided…
“I personally believe Britain won’t ever join, certainly not while I’m prime minister.” - UK Prime Minister David Cameron
Why is that that all those”liberal” cities are so expensive to live in and all the redneck, conservative towns are dirt cheap?
you know, those same technocratic geniuses who have managed to bring the Eurozone to it’s economic knees.
???
Why cast stones at Europe—aren’t you ignoring the fact that technocratic geniuses also have brought the US to it’s economic knees?
Wasn’t this in an areas awash in guns, with little or no restrictions on ownership, and a robust social acceptance of guns?
Well, it IS rural Michigan, home of militias galore, hunters and northern hillbillies. Sometimes the same people are in all three groups.
Bear spray:
Ineffective against bears
Works great on rapists
Highly recommended for all students/nightworkers who face empty parking lots after hours (It’s actually just MACE, which is restricted as such but widely sold as bear spray.) Comes in convenient purse-sized canisters that attach to your keychain.
“(It’s actually just MACE, which is restricted as such but widely sold as bear spray.) Comes in convenient purse-sized canisters that attach to your keychain.”
Thx. Need to get some for my daughter, along with training to defend against bear attacks.
To obama - the victims should ALL be disarmed.
That is ridiculous. Dude, all you do is play to your whacked base. Obama said no such thing ever.
Your idiotic propaganda does not work to change minds. In fact, it pushes people away from your party. Do you need proof?
Proof: 2 days ago in Washington DC.
Guess you never have been to Chicago or Washington DC or NYC…
They have a few things in common.
Long term rule by democrats.
Complete gun bans for the law abiding citizens (unless they are politically connected).
Coming soon to a city near you.
The event in Michigan did not happen in any of those large cities but in a rural area where guns are an accepted part of life. Please find a more satisfying and adaptive outlet for your anger before you ’stroke out’, man.
From WOOD-TV:
Bad guy with a gun.
It turns out the perp had a simple pellet gun that just looked like a .45 semiautomatic. The gasoline he used to attempt to set that house on fire, he had just purchased as witnessed by the woman. Obvious conclusion is he intended to pour the gas on his victim and burn her alive.
Gasoline and a pellet gun. So the question arises, “How would gun control legislation have stopped this arsehat?” (Or maybe it did; any Michiganders out there, can felons own firearms in your state?)
Here’s a scenario:
A friend of mine did fourteen years in Levinworth for big-time pot importation back before the cartels took over and turned what was essentially a benign public service into a violent threat to civil society. Fast forward thirty years.
Guy got out, did his parole, established a successful legitimate business, sold it, retired. He’s never so much as had a parking ticket, let alone smoke pot again. Moved to TX., bought a small ranch, planted a nice garden; he’s always loved gardening and longed for a place where he could finally plant one. The good life.
Garden is beset with javalinas yet he can’t own a firearm because back in the 1970’s he was convicted of a non-violent felony. He’s paid his debt, paid his taxes, been a model citizen for decades. Why can this man not own a firearm, while crazed SSI tweekers in the same hills can have as many as they wish? And who’s going to come out into the hills and make sure that the right people have the right guns and only the right guns?
See how silly and arbitrary this gets?
Why can this man not own a firearm, while crazed SSI tweekers in the same hills can have as many as they wish? And who’s going to come out into the hills and make sure that the right people have the right guns and only the right guns?
See how silly and arbitrary this gets?
The man could have been pardoned by either a state or federal chief executive, depending on jurisdiction, if he truly has reformed himself. I admit this is arbitrary, but the precedent is centuries old. “Robert Hode (Hood), otherwise known as Robert Dore of Wadsley given the King’s pardon on 22nd May 1382” (Roll of King’s Pardons 4-5 Richard II 1382).
Virtually never happens, unless you are someone like Marc Rich.
Similar action could be taken to decrease prison populations but this might offend special interests, however helpful/gratifying this might be to some current prisoners and their supporters.
Thank you Ahansen.
From today’s Central Michigan Life:
I wonder if James Persyn II will buy a firearm for his household.
“If you bought a house 1998-2012, you paid a grossly inflated price and you’ve lost alot of money. And you’re going to lose a lot more money.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdCUpiI1MSA
trulia.com …. now go.
“If you bought a house 1998-2012, you paid a grossly inflated price and you’ve lost alot of money.”
Thank God I waited ’til the new year!
“Thank God I waited ’til the new year!”
Imagine your losses.
When would the banks let more houses in the market. There is indeed very less inventory to choose from nowdays. Banks are probably sitting on them and maybe take out some this spring season. What a manipulation. In fact everything now seems to be manipulated from Stock Markets, RE market, Bond Market, Currencies, Commodities…….
Probably many more potential sellers can’t because they are underwater (but not in default) and don’t have the money to bring to the table.
Ben, would these underwater-but-not-in-default houses count as “shadow inventory?” I’m still struggling with the criteria for that term.
Not to me, but I haven’t been asked to define it. I have read UHS call that SI.
IMO the biggest manipulation of the housing market is financing.
Agreed.
Is there any sign of Fannie and Freddie slowing?
Is there any sign that the Fed will stop it’s market actions?
Is there any sign of rates going higher?
Without these, how can prices be brought back in line?
“IMO the biggest manipulation of the housing market is financing.”
Everything indicates that you would be correct.
“IMO the biggest manipulation of the housing market is financing.”
Agree 100%. I think though, the effect of Fannie/Freddie on the MULTI-family market is far less discussed, even though I think it has far more of an impact at this point in the cycle.
Said another way, while I think low interest rates for SFH has cushioned the fall, and is potentially laying the groundwork for stupid things to happen again…we are still far below peak home values in much of the country.
On the other hand, very cheap fixed rate financing availability for apartments HAS pushed cap rates for apartments to all-time lows, driving prices back to peak (if not above peak) values.
we are still far below peak home values in much of the country.
Nonsense.
Prices are still at the grossly inflated levels of 2003/2004.
Prices are still at the grossly inflated levels of 2003/2004.
Where I want to live this is indeed true.
“Prices are still at….levels of 2003/2004.”
And how far below the peak are these prices?
“IMO the biggest manipulation of the housing market is financing.”
+1 Ditto for the entire economy once the government guarantees are in place.
“And how far below the peak are these prices?”
That is irrelevant. What matters is how they compare to pre-bubble pricing and wages in the area.
My comment was simply that easy Fed policy cushioned the fall of home prices, but has not reflated single family to peak levels (as most of the country is still far below peak).
At the same time though, easy Fed policy HAS succeeded in pushing apartment prices to or above the peak. Yet no one is talking about the effect of the Fed policy on apartment values.
By the way, we also need to remember that comparing today’s prices to to nominal 2003 ignores nearly a decade of inflation.
If you take that 2003 home price, and throw inflation on it, we should be much higher–approximately 25% higher than prices in 2003. This assumes real wages have been roughly flat (which is not too far from reality).
So, it begs the question, on a REAL basis, where are home values today? The answer is a fair bit earlier than 2003.
By the way, we also need to remember that comparing todays prices to 2004 prices demonstrates wage deflation.
If you take that 2004 price, and throw wage deflation on it, it should be much lower-approximately 65% lower. This assumes you understand what inflation is and understand that prices had tripled by 2004.
So it begs the question, on a REAL basis, housing prices are more inflated today than they ever were.
… and housing prices have a long way to fall.
Once interest rates go back up towards historic norms, at least two big wealth revaluations will result:
1) Defined benefit pension fund liabilities will shrink.
2) Housing prices will drop, unless the rates are chasing up inflation.
With 20+million excess empty houses, you better hope the massive numbers of underwater house-debtors isn’t considered shadow inventory.
I thought the number of underwater borrowers was a mere 11m and shrinking…
Underwater debtors(including a few of our blog favorites) and excess empty housing are two different things.
“older homeowners are retrofitting their homes to accommodate their evolving needs”
Does a stair lift add value to a home?
Homes nationwide ready for remodeling, says Harvard study
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
January 22, 2013 9:00pm
After languishing for years, the U.S. remodeling industry appears to be pulling out of its downturn, and a renewal of the nation’s housing stock is underway, according to a major report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
Foreclosed properties are being rehabilitated, sustainable home improvements are gaining popularity, older homeowners are retrofitting their homes to accommodate their evolving needs, and the future market potential is immense, as the emerging “echo boom” generation is projected to be the largest in the nation’s history, the report says.
“As baby boomers move into retirement, they are increasing demand for aging-in-place retrofits,” says Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program. “A decade ago, homeowners over 55 accounted for less than one third of all home improvement spending. By 2011, this share had already grown to over 45 percent. And generations behind the baby boomers will help fuel future spending growth since echo boomers are projected to outnumber baby boomers by more than twelve million as they begin to enter their peak remodeling years over the next decade.”
Additionally, the surge in distressed properties coming back onto the market is contributing to an increase in U.S. remodeling spending.
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=22706 - -
Does a stair lift add value to a home?
OF COURSE it does.
Every $10k in improvements increases the value of the house by $30k.
We are in the NEW obama housing bubble.
Even $100 of paint increases the value of the house by $5k…
the NEW obama housing bubble
http://rental4income.com/obama-re-election-may-bring-new-housing-bubble
10 years ago we saw the light and knew our oversized two-story was not aging friendly. That’s when our housing hell started. $20K a month was a deal beaker for us, as prices increased insanely in So Ca. They still are insane.
We love everything on one floor. Retrofitting a two-story isn’t an inexpensive proposition. No thanks. I do like some of the bathtub ideas, but not willing to overpay, not to mention we’re tired of the contractor types.
I was in my 40’s and my other half his 50’s when the light went on to transition into a one-story.
transition into a one-story.
Unless one has really bad knees, isn’t it better to fight the stairs in old age? I mean, people buy stair-masters.
If I lived in a two-story house, I wouldn’t install a stairlift. It’s probably more practical to enclose an unused dining-room and expand the powder room to make a first-floor master suite. Grandma lives downstairs and the family lives upstairs.
By the way, did anyone else LOL at the very thought that the under-employed and student-debt-ridden Millenials will ever enter “peak remodeling years?”
most millennials will inherit moms house…. so much for a housing recovery anytime soon….
isn’t it better to fight the stairs in old age?
Very difficult with a modern walker (with wheels) or wheelchair. Also, there is more chance of falling on the stairs, especially with pets getting tangled up in your legs.
My back was out for a few months last year, and just the 7 stairs in our place got to be worrisome.
Stairs don’t keep you fit. No way, unless you’re up and down all day, and not 10-12 steps. You still need more movement to keep mobility and health.
I hear you, Montana. Better to not band-aid the use of the upstairs. One-story homes are just more practical. Big homes are harder to get around as well.
My husband just had a terrible fall. He’s getting better but bedridden. In our former residence, I would not have heard his cry for help. Luckily, I was home at the time. Quick, accident insurance. LOL
What was costing you $20K a month?
The prices of just average tract homes were inflating $20K/mo in the bubble era.
It was insane. $200K+ a year runaway jumps in prices. It was freak’n insane.
The prices of just average tract homes were inflating $20K/mo in the bubble era.
Price-inflation that was dramatically above what I could either save per month, and WAY WAY above what my income was going up by, was a big part of what turned me on to the bubble back in 2002/2003…
“And generations behind the baby boomers will help fuel future spending growth since echo boomers are projected to outnumber baby boomers by more than twelve million as they begin to enter their peak remodeling years over the next decade.”
‘Echo boomers’ family delays are holding back home sales
By PHIL MULKINS World Action Line Editor
Published: 8/8/2012 2:22 AM
The housing industry is expecting high demand from the “echo boom” generation to turn things around,
Echo boomers are the children of baby boomers and Generation X. Called Generation Y, Gen Y or “millennials,” they are people born 1981 through 2000 - the largest American generation since 1960 at 80 million strong.
The blog says 68 percent of echo boomers are employed, 4 percent are unemployed, 17 percent are in school and part-time-employed, 9 percent are just “in school,” and 2 percent are stay-at-home parents - meaning 32 percent lack full-time employment (the highest rate of any demographic). As of 2009, only 21 percent were married, 54 percent were suburbanites, had a $58,620 median household income and tended to buy smaller houses on smaller lots, close to their jobs.
Looking at echo boomer futures, 69 percent have no retirement savings. Experian says they have $34,765 in average debt (credit card debt $2,155, student loan $5,250 and auto loan $4,763) - with a 672 VantageScore (Experian), a “D” grade. Their general savings is $3,208 (in a financial world preferring 20 percent down to buy a home).
Realtors are banking on a temporary delay
The details on Gen Y presented by Demographic Intelligence do seem a little gloomy, says Rodger Erker, an agent with McGraw Realtors and president of the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors.
“But my feeling is that these people are young now and staying home until they’re 27 or 28, but the American dream has not gone away, and when they get older they’ll still want to take out a mortgage on their own home,” he said. “Once they start having families, the dream will become a reality.”
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/articlepath.aspx?articleid=20120808_15_E4_CUTLIN340298 -
Excellent article.
This is the NAR-scum’s alleged “pent-up demand” demographic.
Real wages are stagnant or dropping.
Real inflation is under-reported by 50+ percent.
The future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery.
GAAAAAAA! “Peak Remodeling Years”?!
That one’s going in the same “eff-ewe NAR” folder as “snapping them up” and “starter home”. These people are beyond SHAMELESS.
they are people born 1981 through 2000…The details on Gen Y presented by Demographic Intelligence do seem a little gloomy,
They are 13 to 32 years old. Half of them aren’t legal adults. Seems like that’s going to skew any averages such as savings, debt, retirement plans, whether they live at home, etc.
How much retirement savings did you have when you were 14?
“How much retirement savings did you have when you were 14?”
How much student loan debt do you have when you are 14?
How much student loan debt do you have when you are 14?
I agree. It skews all the data.
I thought the student loan amount was low: $5,250.
How much retirement savings did you have when you were 14?
Fitty cents, left over from picking cherries the summer before.
“How much retirement savings did you have when you were 14?”
Jesus, I was in debt until I was 35. I got out by saving my ass off, but if this whole huge demographic (born ‘81-2000) decides to do the same thing, we might be in some trouble.
“…How much retirement savings did you have when you were 14?”
More than I do now….
Demand does not equal “can afford it”.
LOL. I made the mistake of bringing this up to a potential former manager after an interview I had with him in 2006, as we made small talk about what was driving the San Diego RE market where he lived. Didn’t get the job. Oops.
It was yer negative thinking! You just didn’t know “The Secret!”
Totally. He kept bringing up demand, until I asked, “Demand from whom? Owner-occupiers?….Or investors?
Me and my big mouth…
Since somebody mentioned the Keystone XL pipeline yesterday:
———–
State Dept will not decide on project before end of March
By Timothy Gardner and Andrew Quinn WASHINGTON, Jan 22 , 2013(Reuters)
“The Obama administration has delayed a decision on TransCanada Corp’s rerouted Keystone XL oil pipeline until after March, even though Nebraska’s governor on Tuesday approved a plan for part of the line running through his state.
…[Victoria Nuland, State Department] said the department would take into consideration approval of the line by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.
…Heineman, a Republican, sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday that said TransCanada would adhere to 57 safety conditions. Those include rigorous pipeline design, testing and the reporting of leaks.
…Last year Obama threw his support behind the southern section of the line [Cushing, OK to Houston], which is now being built and would help drain a glut of crude in the nation’s midsection resulting from new oil drilling in North Dakota.”
————–
I read in another source that Heineman’s letter didn’t endorse the pipeline or urge the President to approve the pipeline; the letter only neutrally stated that the pipeline would meet the safety conditions. This is significant.
Meanwhile, the environmentalists have switched their focus away from opposing the pipeline route. The seem to oppose the idea of a pipeline because it facilitates our dependence on fossil fuels.
help drain a glut of crude in the nation’s midsection resulting from new oil drilling in North Dakota.
Weren’t our gas prices supposed to plummet after we drilled! drilled! drilled!?
Looks like that idea worked about as well as the idea that our economy will do great if we let the rich pay minimal taxes, and trickle the rest down to us.
we’re at 2.96 here
Bought gasoline at Costco in SLC for 2.68 over the weekend. If you are in areas of glut, you do pay less. As far as nationally, it was drill baby drill not just in North Dakota but on federal lands off the coast and Alaska that was suppose to bring down gasoline prices on a national basis, so drill baby drill has hardly failed since it has not been tried. It also would result in high paying jobs and a massive reduction in the trade deficit.
It’s the winter dip. As I’ve observed in the past, prices are sticky on the way down in the late fall and winter, but rise meteorically in the spring. In other words, 4-5 months of price drops can be wiped out in just a month or so. We’ll be back to prices approaching $4 this summer.
We’ll be back to prices approaching $4 this summer.
My prediction too, especially if China bounces back a little.
Oil is priced on the international market, no matter where it’s drilled up.
I agree we will be back up to $4 a barrel but we have a glut of gasoline during the winter particularly in some cities that cannot easily send refined gasoline out of there area. If you look at the difference in price between gasoline and diesel you can easily see a sharp price rise coming in gasoline. However, it does show that gluts do result in price decreases. I was against drilling in places such as ANWR when oil was $10 a barrel, a waste of a finite resource but at $100 a barrel, it makes sense and the economics work even with strict state of the art environment standards being applied.
I agree we will be back up to $4 a barrel but we have a glut of gasoline during the winter
Correct, and it has nothing to do with drilling.
Around here, we got down to $2.90 for about 12 hours. Now back up to $3.10. Smack dab in the middle of an area glutted with oil.
Supply and Demand? Don’t make me laugh.
Fixr, are you glutted for crude oil or refined gasoline?
For reference, today’s gasoline prices in Houston — where all the refineries are — range from $2.96 - $3.29.
Here’s a handy gas-price finder. It works for any zip code: http://www.khou.com/traffic/gas-prices
It’s also $2.70 in my neck of the woods.
$3.35/gal for regular here in MA…
Here in the middle of the biggest oil-producing county in America, I just paid $4.29/gal. Our domestic oil production gets shipped out, pooled, and resold back to us through the cartel. Just like our crop production here, it’s almost impossible to find farm-fresh produce that hasn’t been shipped to distributions centers around the country and then shipped back to grocery stores here a week later.
High prices are a function of the distribution algorithms.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/features/restoration-calls/where-oil-is-plentiful-and-expensive-20120628
Interesting stuff…
“Refine baby refine” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
You must be thinking of “burn, baby, burn!”
Weren’t our gas prices supposed to plummet after we drilled! drilled! drilled!?
Natural gas prices to my home were heading to a consistent level $10 per thousand cubic feet until production vastly increased after about 2008. This was the base price, fees for the distribution of gas, maintenance of pipelines & sales tax are additional.
Note: 1,000 cubic feet is within 3% of 1 million BTU’s, both units measure natural gas.
See WSJ, 4/18/2008, “Surge in natural gas price stoked by new global trade: further gains likely despite 93% spike” This speculative article was rendered moot by vastly increased natural gas production in the USA.
Prices bottomed out at $1.90/mBTU’s in 4/2012. It’s running near $4 at the moment in my area.
I have benefited a bit from this, not as much as I’d hoped. After the distribution company and the state gets through with adding their fees, I am still paying net $8.33/mcf for gas I burned in 12/12, 12 months ago I paid $9.81 for gas I burned in 12/11. Had the trend of 2008 continued, I would be paying $15/mcf, and am so very glad that did NOT happen. Gas prices DID plummet.
Meanwhile back in NoDak, wells are wasting natural gas they cannot deliver to a market by ‘flaring’ at the well site.
Meanwhile more and more compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations are being constructed in the USA and more vehicles (semis, buses and cars) are being sold that run on CNG. Running a vehicle on CNG is like buying gasoline at $1.95/gallon, and CNG is increasingly available for drivers.
Natural gas production and use is more complicated than saying ‘drill, baby, drill’.
I have not found a single MSM article with the above info in a single spot.
That flaring upsets me. I hear more than a 1/3 of the NG is being flared.
I hear more than a 1/3 of the NG is being flared.
Google “A Mysterious Patch Of Light Shows Up In The North Dakota Dark”
Robert Krulwich, NPR, 1/16/2013:
I think Krulwich was disingenuous in saying simply ‘energy companies don’t always build’ — he left out the fact that they must first be permitted to build adequate pipelines. Natural gas is harder to transport than liquid petroleum. Without large pipeline networks it has to be used locally.
Here’s something kinda funny:
‘The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said that before the deadly Algerian hostage crisis, the U.S. had several reports that “something big” was coming against a Western target — but did not have the details the government needed to prevent it. “Just like the Benghazi event, we had lots of threat streams…There are reports coming in from all different types of sources saying, ‘Something big is going to happen,’” Rep. Mike Rogers (R.-Mich.) told ABC News on Sunday.”
Well, you invaded a country and pat yourself on the back because you knew ’something’ was coming? And BTW a few dozen guys with rifles in Algeria isn’t something ‘big’.
This is obviously a US AFRICOM operation, trying to grab resources and block China. So why doesn’t the US just pay (out bid) for the resources like China is willing to do?
The other day the UK PM said this war was going to last decades. If nothing else, it shows what a joke the empire has become. It will take decades to defeat what are basically Berber tribes in a mostly flat, arid scrub land?
Outbid with what? Star Trek space-duckets? There isn’t anything to buy with. That military ship sailed.
I love the truth though. It pierces right through the bullshit.
“Star Trek space-duckets?”
aka Quatloos.
What about Oolongs?
Tea and crumpets?
We invaded Algeria?
Well, you invaded a country and pat yourself on the back because you knew ’something’ was coming?
And islam had been at war with infidels since its founding over 1000 years ago.
Islam does not spread by peacefully converting - it spreads by war and terror.
Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Jordon, Lebanon, Algeria, Turkey, Albania, etc. were ALL Christian nations at one time. They were conquered by islamic armies. They were all brutally occupied with the aim of destroying anything non-islamic.
Islamic terror is all the world has known that is on the border of the islam/infidels for the last 1000 years.
With modern technology - It is all the world will know for the next 1000 years.
Here is a quote from the islamic terrorists that took over the Algerian refinery:
“He said more than 20 British workers – whom the terrorists called ‘kuffar’, meaning non-Muslims – were rounded up.
He added: ‘Us Algerians were rounded up separately and were treated with kindness. We were told that because we were Muslim we would not be killed, and it was only the Christians they were after.”
‘Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Jordon, Lebanon, Algeria, Turkey, Albania, etc. were ALL Christian nations at one time’
That’s a good one.
Almost all these ‘countries’ are lines on maps drawn by western powers decades ago. This is way too complicated to go into with someone who doesn’t know history. I’m sorry I brought it up.
Yes - and you point out a difference without a distinction.
The bottom line is that islam was/is not spread by a Saint Peter and Saint Paul peacefully walking through lands talking to people about God.
Islam is spread by terror and invading armies.
And the “muslim lands” you think of were “Christian lands” brutally attack and occupied.
Sorry you don’t know your history. It is not taught in public schools as it does not fit in with politically correct group think.
But it does explain the world of islam.
—-
The Muslim conquest of North Africa continued the century of rapid Arab Muslim military expansion following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE. By 640 the Arabs controlled Mesopotamia, had invaded Armenia, and were concluding their conquest of Byzantine Syria. Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad caliphate. And by the end of 641 all of Egypt was in Arab hands. Then, with the destruction of the Persian army at the Battle of Nihawānd (Nehawand) in 642, the conquest of the Persian Empire was essentially finished.
It was at this point that Arab military expeditions into North Africa were first launched by local initiative from Egypt, continuing for years and resulting in the spread of Islam.
In 644 at Madinah, Caliph Umar (Omar) was succeeded by Uthman ibn Affan (Othman), during whose twelve-year rule Armenia, Cyprus, and all of Iran, would be added to the growing Islamic empire; Afghanistan and North Africa would receive major invasions; and Muslim sea raids would range from Rhodes to the southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula. The Byzantine navy would be defeated in the eastern Mediterranean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_the_Maghreb
“Saint Peter and Saint Paul”
You’re a catholic zealot? Thanks for the heads up.
PS- You have a lot to learn about Paul. A lot.
To be fair, a lot of Muslims try to peacefully emigrate to Western countries, where they mostly hope to be left alone and get a chance at improving their lot in life. They do not appear to be all that interested in killing all the infidels.
I am not.
But don’t be a hater.
I do have a coexist bumper sticker on my Prius.
And you have alot to learn about being truthful too.
When you don’t have the facts on your side - start calling the other guy names.
You could respond with FACTS of:
mulsims peacefully converting a country to islam
non-muslims being treated respect and dignity in an islamic country
religious freedom in ANY islamic country
islamic terrorists laying down their guns and repenting after reading the peaceful words of the koran
islamic terrorists laying down their guns and repenting after understanding the life of “peace and tolerance” of mohammed
BUT THEY DON’T EXIST.
Much easier to name call.
And you have alot to learn about being truthful too.
And you can start by refraining from misrepresenting historical truth.
And you can start by refraining from misrepresenting historical truth.
“historical truth” is a fiction… history is just as complicated as the present, only more so because we have the passage of time to obfuscate the facts. Given the present is colored by our various biases, why wouldn’t our history?
You both forgot Kenya, which is important because that’s where Barack Hussein Obama was born. And he has the same middle name as the last name of the dictator that USA removed when we liberated Iraq in 2003.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/05/17/Obama-pamphlet-in-use-2007
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/05/18/Media-Refuses-Coverage-Obama-Kenya-Lit-Agency
ALIENS LAND IN JAPAN
Four alien spaceships from Planet Zeeba landed in Makurazaki over the weekend.
Makurazaki is in the Kagoshima Prefecture on Japan’s southernmost tip. They have seen UFO activity before, but there has never been a reported landing of alien spaceships.
Japanese authorities have confirmed with WWN that four spaceships landed in Makurazaki and “thousands” of alien exited the ships and then… they all disappeared.
“It’s typical behavior of Zeebans,” said Dr. Banesh Bannerjee, a lead extraterrestrial expert at the United Nations. ”The good news is that we have confirmed that the ships that landed were from Planet Zeeba. The Zeebans have been on our planet since October, 2010 and more and more are coming each day. They are docile aliens and have come to earth to help humans.”
The bad news? ”Well, the bad news is that they may attract attention from the Gootans, aliens that landed on Earth in Novermber, 2011. The Gootans have come to earth to, take us over basically.”
http://weeklyworldnews.com/aliens/45149/aliens-land-in-japan/
They were looking for intelligent life that is why they did not go to Washington D.C.
four spaceships landed in Makurazaki and “thousands” of alien exited the ships and then… they all disappeared.
It’s just like the tourists in Rio.
The bottom line is that islam was/is not spread by a Saint Peter and Saint Paul peacefully walking through lands talking to people about God.
Japanese authorities have confirmed with WWN that four spaceships landed in Makurazaki and “thousands” of alien exited the ships and then… they all disappeared.
I’m trying to decide which is less truthful. It’s a tough one.
I’m trying to decide which is less truthful. It’s a tough one.
The latter, but I see your point. In the beginning it was just a bunch of guys preaching (and getting beaten up, tossed in jail or even murdered). By the time Constantine rolled around, you became a Christian because the Emperor was a Christian, though it was still optional. When Cortez and friends arrived in the new world, the native conversions weren’t optional.
But one of the problems is the Spanish in defeating the Islamic moors adopted some of their ways. Not the first time that victims became the perps. A main purpose of the Spanish inquisition was to get rid of a potential fifth column of Muslims. Christianity was made worse by having to deal with Islam. But even Hindus and Buddhists find themselves in a killing mood after dealing with the religion of peace.
When Cortez and friends arrived in the new world, the native conversions weren’t optional.
When Cortez and compatriots arrived in Mexico, Mexican dinners were made out of real Mexicans. Ruling Aztecs had been practicing ‘conversion’ of large numbers of their native subjects into meat long before Cortez arrived. This was not optional for the victims. Many non-Aztecs didn’t like being treated as sacrificial offerings and food and so allied with Cortez in huge numbers. I read one history that said the Cortez’s native supporters formed an army bigger than any known up to that time. The role of local opponents to Aztec rule in the Spanish conquest gets little mention in histories.
of course with muslims it also pays not to be the wrong sect:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21166755
When Cortez and compatriots arrived in Mexico, Mexican dinners were made out of real Mexicans.
No argument. The Spaniards may have very well done mesoamerica a favor with the forced evangelization, regardless whether the Gospel is true or not. But forced it was.
And you are right about Cortez forming alliances with the vassal states. At first he tried to conquer the Aztecs on his own and had his ass handed to him. Legend has it that he wept over his defeat under an ahuehuete tree in what today is the Tacuba neighborhood in Mexico City.
But after the Aztecs were defeated the Tlazacaltecans and other allies were forced to convert from their pagan faith.
The biggest difference between the English and Spanish colonizers was that the Spaniards took native women as their wives, and thus the “bronze race” was born.
The French took them as wives also. Samuel De Champlain particularly encouraged this practice. He spent some time in the Spanish areas as a ship captain and was appalled by the barbaric treatment of the natives. Truly an interesting individual and way ahead of his time.
Only about 4500 French, mostly men, came to New France prior to 1763, and very few came later. They intermarried &/or married native women. They also kept very good genealogical records to preserve le patrimoine.
Today most French Canadians are related to each other, and a great many have native American cousins also. Many pure-blooded Frenchmen went so native they would later be listed as full-blooded Indians on census rolls. Current tribal members in the USA and Canada don’t like to admit that, but very few lack a French Canadian ancestor.
Alexis de Tocqueville took a vacation in Michigan while he was doing his USA tour, and was warmly received by both the French Canadian and native American descendants he encountered.
I know I am one. Norman French, English, Native American, some Basque, it appears, and 3-4% Southwest Asian, so I may have both the casino and 7/11 Indians covered and 1% black. Found out about the Southwest Asian and black by genetic testing, the rest is by geneology. Loved that part in the narratives by Tocqueville by the way.
BTW, despite having a lot more Native American blood than a certain senator, I have never claimed it for any purpose or benefit.
Want to watch the expansion of U.S. involvement in Africa?
Watch Djibouti very closely. This is currently a Navy facility, in FY14 it is going to be turned over to big Army. My understanding is that the Djiboutian Government has no aspirations of prosperity beyond taking U.S. Government money as it comes. In essence, the US has carte blanche to operate and expand there. They will be spending, from what I’m told, in the area of $400 million in the next few years expanding their presence there.
Mali, Uganda and possibly Eritrea are the places to watch in the immediate future. Gotta feed the (military industrial complex) beast.
Wow - a whole $400 million?
Or 1 PERCENT of just the GM bailout.
You leftists are funny when it comes to the deficit and spending money.
Wasting tax dollars is wasting tax dollars. Whether it is a union bailout/Auto bailout or welfare for military contractors.
Union bailout/Auto bailout = commie/marxist/socialist
welfare for military contractors = Invisible Hand of Free Market
Union Bailouts - NOT in the US Constitution
Auto Bailouts - NOT in the US Constitution
Bankers Bailouts - NOT in the US Constitution
Pension Bailouts - NOT in the US Constitution
Rebuilding million dollar beach houses - NOT in the US Constitution
Obamaphones - NOT in the US Constitution
Obamacare - NOT in the US Constitution
Food stamps for frozen pizza and lobster - NOT in the US Constitution
Section 8 housing - NOT in the US Constitution
The US government playing Santa Claus - NOT in the US Constitution
But holy cow!
National Defense - Actually is IN the US Constitution as a defined and legitimate function of the US Government.
We can argue how much to spend and at what levels.
But at least the US Constitution authorizes it.
The Auto bailout was not wasting money. Maintaining a huge swath of industrial capability was in America’s economic and national security/strategic interest.
There is a big national strategic difference between industrial capability and banking.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
It was a union bailout given to the LARGEST campaign contributors to the democrats and obama.
Additionally, settled contract law was destroyed in order to further enrich the unions during the first GM bankruptcy.
In the near future - GM is going to declare bankruptcy AGAIN.
How many more BILLIONS do you want to give to the unions?
And it is a shame. The GM bankruptcy could have saved the company and saved most its jobs and had GM emerge as a healthy global competitor.
Instead - the corruption of the obama administration did nothing but make GM a zombie company in order to enrich the powerful UAW.
The Auto bailout was not wasting money. Maintaining a huge swath of industrial capability was in America’s economic and national security/strategic interest.
Auto Bailouts - NOT in the US Constitution…..Obamacare - NOT in the US Constitution
You don’t know much about the Constitution. ALL of which you mentioned ARE allowed by the Constitution because they do not violate the Constitution. The Constitution is not a manual of government.
Rather, the Constitution is a framework with which a nation can WRITE the manual of government that doesn’t violate the Constitutional framework.
It was a union bailout given to the LARGEST campaign contributors to the democrats and obama.
Even if true…..so what?? You don’t think too deeply do you? You don’t think past your dogma.
What you wrote is minor compared to the National Security picture. NONE of what you just wrote negates what I wrote:
“The Auto bailout was not wasting money. Maintaining a huge swath of industrial capability was in America’s economic and national security/strategic interest.”
Ah yes - the old “the US Constitution is a living and breathing document” that can be justify just about any socialist idea we can come up with argument.
So explain why the need for 17 Amendments after ratification?
So explain the 10th Amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
And tell me how obamacare and trillion dollar bailouts of PRIVATE banks and PRIVATE auto companies fits into that?
Consititution?
Article I, Section 8, Clause 3:[3]
[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;
So yes. Yes they do. PERIOD.
Bailouts? I hate them as well. But if they must be done, they should benefit the most number of people.
Ok - so “regulating commerce” among the states means TRILLION dollar taxpayer bailouts to private banks and private car companies due to the poor management decision of those companies. And so major campaign contributors won’t lose any money and get their million dollar bonuses and insane pensions.
I am sure that is EXACTLY what the founding fathers meant.
“the US Constitution is a living and breathing document” ……
….So explain why the need for 17 Amendments after ratification?
You just did right there.
So when did we ratify the US Constitution for:
Trillion dollar bailouts to banks and auto companies?
Obamacare
Abortion on demand for any reason at any time
Banning guns
Etc.
If it’s not a living, breathing document, we need to round up the slaves, and return them to their rightful owners.
Oh, and women can’t vote anymore.
And renters can’t vote either.
The Constitution can be changed though the Amendment process.
Such as to your points. The ending of slavery. The right to vote for women. Etc.
But only to a leftist that when the US Government takes over 7% of the economy, pays trillions in taxpayer bailouts to private corporations, thinks abortion on demand is a constitutional right but thinks banning guns is not a constitutional right
That NONE OF THAT needs the Constitution amendment to be change the Constitution.
Why? Because lefties could never get the support for ANY of their looney ideas to change the Constitution.
So we get the “we don’t need a stinkin amendment because the Constitution is a living and breathing document and we can do as we please…”
Union bailout/Auto bailout = commie/marxist/socialist
welfare for military contractors = Invisible Hand of Free Market
Let’s not confuse the military-industrial complex and it’s hold on our legislature and economy with the debate over capitalism vs. socialism.
The bailout of the auto companies was to to prevent a cascading supply-chain problem that would have impacted the entire industry as much as it was about keeping the UAW happy. Not much different than the bank bailouts in respect to the first reason I listed above.
The MIC is part crony-capitalism, part fascism, and part socialist jobs program… Unfortunately for us, it seems Pax Americana is dependent upon the MIC for securing the global natural resources the US requires to maintain it’s way of life.
You can’t separate them. They are at the very core of the issue.
However this is a great description!
“The MIC is part crony-capitalism, part fascism, and part socialist jobs program”
The bailout of the auto companies was….Not much different than the bank bailouts….
Unbelievable………It was WAY different. Your politics blind you to the stone-cold facts.
Intelligence Community Fears U.S. Manufacturing Decline Forbes 2/14/2011
http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2011/02/14/intelligence-community-fears-u-s-manufacturing-decline/
(China and off-shoring our industrial base are) threatening producers of steel, chemicals, glass, paper, drugs and any number of other items with prices they cannot match. Not coincidentally, the United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs every month during the same period….
…That trend has now progressed to a point where the U.S. intelligence community has become concerned. Richard McCormack reported in Manufacturing & Technology News on February 3 that the Director of National Intelligence has initiated preparation of a National Intelligence Estimate to assess the security implications of waning manufacturing activity in America. National Intelligence Estimates are the most authoritative analyses prepared by the intelligence community, definitive interagency products typically reserved for the most serious threats. So the fact that the nation’s top intelligence official thinks a National Intelligence Estimate is needed for manufacturing isn’t a good sign. It suggests that America’s industrial decline is approaching the status of a crisis.
Federal policymakers have been getting hints that all was not well in the industrial base for some time. For example, when Defense Secretary Robert Gates decided to surge production of armored trucks for the Iraq counter-insurgency campaign in 2007, it was discovered there was only one steel plant in the nation producing steel of sufficient strength to meet military needs. That plant — the old Lukens Steel Company facility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania — had been bought by European steel giant Arcelor Mittal, and already had weapons makers waiting in line for the output its limited capacity could support. Other items needed for the Iraq-bound trucks also were in short supply, such as oversized tires. The Pentagon had to cobble together an ad hoc network of domestic and foreign suppliers in order to ramp up production of the needed trucks, suggesting that the industrial complex FDR once called “the arsenal of democracy” had become a rather fragile affair.
Unbelievable………It was WAY different. Your politics blind you to the stone-cold facts.
Actually, I’ve made the argument of manufacturing decline being an issue of national security before, but I don’t think that played a role in the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, especially given they no longer contribute in any way to the MIC, and even when there were actual shortages of military hardware in 2007 and 2008 (surge years in Iraq), the government never commandeered capacity like was done in WWII.
I wholeheartedly believe it was testimony from the likes of Toyota and other manufacturers that a bankruptcy proceeding from both GM and Chrysler at the same time would eviscerate the Tier 1 and Tier 2 auto suppliers from whom other manufacturers also rely. That bankruptcy would have created cash-flow issues that would have rippled throughout the supplier ecosystem, causing disruptions that would have caused more layoffs at manufacturers not involved with GM or Chrysler.
Of course, saving union jobs in Michigan, Ohio, and other parts of the Midwest also played into Democrat hands. The Cato Institute has an interesting take on that here.
I don’t think that played a role in the bailouts of GM and Chrysler, especially given (the automotive industry) no longer contribute in any way to the MIC,
The United States’ strategic interest and the MIC are not always joined at the hip.
“But a leftist…thinks abortion on demand is a constitutional right but thinks banning guns is not a constitutional right”
A constitutional right to ban guns? I think I missed an amendment.
Watch Djibouti
You sound Brazilian.
What is next the booty call?
Sheikh, sheikh, sheikh
Sheikh, sheikh, sheikh
Sheikh Djibouti!
Nice.
This is obviously a US AFRICOM operation, trying to grab resources and block China. So why doesn’t the US just pay (out bid) for the resources like China is willing to do?
I’m guessing for the same reason China is pursuing an expansion of empire via economic warfare: we’re playing to the strength of the US MIC and the perceived weaknesses of our Chinese opponent in the projection of military power while the Chinese are pursuing their interests by using their economic might, while the US struggles to pass a balanced national budget, kick the “debt-ceiling” can down the road and generally borrow $.40 of every dollar to fund our largess.
The fact that France is a NATO member, while China is considered part of the old “Communist” block probably doesn’t hurt either.
China is pursuing an expansion of empire via economic warfare:
Yea right…..Really tough war for China when the American Right-Wing economic religion has been to give away America’s industrial base. (To only benefit the rich)
Yea…….really smart you “free-market” dumb a$$es.
Yea right…..Really tough war for China when the American Right-Wing economic religion has been to give away America’s industrial base. (To only benefit the rich)
Again, not sure why the angst is directed at me, as I have said a number of times I believe in “Fair Trade” between countries, not “Free Trade”.
Another small point, see my comments regarding the current animosity between China and our surrogate Japan below: Would it be smart of a debtor country to wage a war against it’s largest creditor, win, and require “debt forgiveness” as part of an eventual peace deal? China is playing the only card it can, money to pay for natural resources and influence… it doesn’t have the military might to do otherwise.
The question is what are our illustrious leaders planning as an end-game to the US-debt-China-credit relationship…
The question is what are our illustrious leaders planning as an end-game to the US-debt-China-credit relationship
The end-game consists of kicking the can down the road until you finish collecting your government-backed pension.
The question is what are our illustrious leaders planning as an end-game to the US-debt-China-credit relationship
Taken a look at Vancouver lately? Seattle? Portland? San Francisco? Los Angeles? San Diego…?
“…This is obviously a US AFRICOM operation, trying to grab resources and block China….”
Thanks for bringing this up, Ben. AFRICOM is Rummy and Gate’s legacy attempt to insert neocon tentacles into yet another region of the planet in the furtherance of Cheney’s oil cartel. The fact that Gate’s acolyte, Petraus was removed in the recent State Department vs CIA purge gives one hope that the dismantling may continue.
Hurrah for Wikileaks, the disclosure of which kicked all of this off. See: Arab Spring.
AFRICOM is Rummy and Gate’s legacy attempt to insert neocon tentacles into yet another region of the planet in the furtherance of Cheney’s oil cartel.
Hmm, while I’m normally one of the first to cry partisan here, AFRICOM’s clout and resources has increased dramatically since Obama came into office…
That doesn’t so much scream NeoCon as it does MIC. Given that some of the largest benefactors of MIC dollars are the states of California and Massachusetts, both strongholds of “liberal left” politics, I find it amusing to hear the left bash the NeoCon-supporting right while their Democrat political hacks do everything they can to keep the MIC money flowing.
MIC IS NeoCon. You don’t see a lot of libs and libertarians calling or its expansion. And while the jobs may go to US defense workers, the weaponry (and war-making) goes to, let’s face it, the support of Big Oil and its proxy, the government of the State of Israel. That said, it will be interesting to see what happens to AFRICOM now that Gates and Petraus are out. It’s obvious the US can’t “contain” Africa from Chinese colonization, but it may become the new Middle East in terms of where we concentrate our military resources.
The people supporting the “defense” industry in California are for the most part rabid-to-TeaParty Republicans; there’s nothing terribly left-leaning about Dana Rohrabacher, Darrell Issa, Kevin McCarthy, et al. I suspect most of the leftists among our majority would prefer to see it transitioned to more non-military research and technology concerns.
Does anyone else find the timing of the announcement from SecDef allowing women to serve in combat roles in the military a bit concerning?
All things being equal, I doubt we’ll see a woman Delta operator or Navy SEAL anytime soon… women don’t have the physical strength to hump a 150lb pack, a weapon and load bearing gear. Even the majority of males can’t do that for any distance, and they have the benefit of more muscle mass by virtue of being male.
I heard the same excuses about women firefighters and cops not so many years ago. You’ve obviously not hung around too many weighlifiting/boxing venues lately. And you can’t tell me the Army of One was taking the male cream of the crop for their cannon fodder.
Personally, I’m heartened that anyone who’d voluntarily sign up to go kill people for money has a better-than-average chance of being eliminated from the genepool. At least they’ll make equal pay for it.
Will it mess up the global economic recovery if China and Japan go to war with each other?
The Senkaku/Diaoyu islands
Dangerous shoals
The risks of a clash between China and Japan are rising—and the consequences could be calamitous
Jan 19th 2013 |From the print edition
CHINA and Japan are sliding towards war. In the waters and skies around disputed islands, China is escalating actions designed to challenge decades of Japanese control. It is accompanying its campaign with increasingly blood-curdling rhetoric. Japan, says the China Daily, is the “real danger and threat to the world”. A military clash, says Global Times, is now “more likely…We need to prepare for the worst.” China appears to be preparing for the first armed confrontation between the two countries in seven decades (see article).
China and Japan have well-known differences over history and territory—most pressingly over five islets, out in the East China Sea, which Japan controls and calls the Senkakus but which China lays claim to and calls the Diaoyus. Rational actors with deeply entwined economies are supposed to sort out their differences, or learn to put them safely to one side. At least, that was the assumption with China and Japan.
But this changed in September, after Japan’s then prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, nationalised the three islands Japan did not already own. It was a clumsy attempt to avoid them falling into the hands of Shintaro Ishihara, a right-wing China-baiter who was governor of Tokyo until late last year.
Yet China insisted that the move was an anti-China conspiracy to strengthen Japan’s claim. It set out to blow a hole in Japanese pretensions to sole control of the waters and skies around the islands. Incursions by surveillance vessels came first. Then, in December, a patrol plane buzzed the islands; Japan scrambled fighter planes. This month Japanese and Chinese jets sought to tail each other near the islands’ air space. Japan, newspapers report, is considering ordering warning shots to be fired next time. A Chinese general says that would count as the start of “actual combat”. So long as China vies for control, conflict will be a hair-trigger away.
…
And you thought Obama/Bush was bad… Did you know that Japan is rewriting their constitution and removing all the parts we put in to make them a pacifist nation?
Removes:
Article 9, which renounces “war as a sovereign right of the nation.”
Article 97 of the constitution now declares that “the fundamental human rights … guaranteed to the people of Japan are fruits of the age-old struggle of man to be free; they … are conferred upon this and future generations in trust, to be held for all time inviolate.” The Liberal Democratic Party would erase this statement of principle.
Adds:
The proposed draft authorizes the parliament to declare a military emergency during which cabinet decrees would have the force of law.
Rewrites a provision to eliminate the constitutional ban on military conscription.
Declares that “a citizen may not abuse his rights and freedoms. He should be aware of his responsibility and obligation to the community and exercise his rights in a way that does not conflict with the public interest and public order.
A new provision would put citizens on notice that they cannot exercise their freedom of speech or association “for the purpose of harming the public interest and public order.
How long till we find out Japan has a nuclear weapons program?
How long till we find out Japan has a nuclear weapons program?
Probably a bit longer than it would take for Japan to actually develop a nuclear weapon. They have everything they need to do this, the reactors, the materials, the highly trained STEM people.
“Did you know that Japan is rewriting their constitution and removing all the parts we put in to make them a pacifist nation?”
And this is surprising, given the recent actions of their aggressive neighbor to the west?
Japan, says the China Daily, is the “real danger and threat to the world”
Yet China is the one with a huge military and nukes.
We have always been at war with Eurasia.
War is great for the global economic recovery!
Think of all those missiles that have to be built and all the bombed out cities that will be in need of rebuilding….
Faded war wounds still raw in China:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/OA18Ad02.html
U.S. pivot sparks Asian arms race:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/OA17Ae01.html
Short answer, which you know is yes. The Economist covered this a few months? ago in one of its issues. It is amazing that war is possible but their conclusion was it could happen due to the extreme nationalism occurring in both nations. I guess if it went nuclear we might even gain in the medium to long term since it would wipe out a lot of our competition along with hundreds of millions of people.
It will mess up a lot more than “global recovery”.
Damn near everything, and I do mean everything, digital is made in that region.
Think about that for a minute.
And all steel used to be made in Pittsburgh
And all cars used to made in Detroit
The world moved on. And will again if needed.
Just figure alot of iPads and iPhones will get destroyed in a war so that will mean that many many new iGadgets will be needed. The most excellentest stimulus indeed!
and the economy shifts from the ipad to the itank.
the economy shifts from the ipad to the itank.
As long as it doesn’t get to the idiedofradiationpoisoning level.
“Itank”
LOL
Recent article on zerohedge discussed the escalation of hostilities when China scrambled fighter jets to intercept Japanese F-15’s harassing Chinese “spy-planes” in the region.
The Japanese government have put forward a new strategy of firing “warning shots” at Chinese planes in what Japan views as it’s sovereign territory. Needless to say, the Chinese response to the idea was quite extreme.
Considering Japan is a proxy for the US in the Asia/Pac region, if Japan engages China in a hot war, then so will the US. Unfortunately for China, it has very limited naval capability as compared to the US.
Another thing to consider from the US perspective is if China is one of the largest holders of US debt, what happens if China and the US were to engage in open warfare? Think debt repudiation or debt forgiveness…
The world is currently awash in oil.
Assuming there is oil under these islands, none of it will be recovered for a decade or more.
Looks to me like there would be plenty of time to negotiate some kind of agreement.
This pi$$ing match is obviously about something other than oil.
Nothing like a nice little war to distract the wretched refuse. Especially when you can blame the war when inflation of fuel and food prices go thru the roof.
I’m still volunteering to be the world’s “Designated Scapegoat”.
For a small percentage of GDP, a country can blame me for all of their problems.
The Feds should pick up on this idea. Sign secret contacts with other nations, and get paid for creating their problems. Might as well, we are going to get blamed anyway…….
The world is currently awash in oil.
Only when I can buy gasoline for $1/gal or less will I believe THAT.
For a small percentage of GDP, a country can blame me for all of their problems
Now you sound like me talking to my wife whenever there is a problem… “I know. It’s my fault.”
2012 Year-End Totals
22,946 – Single-family homes sold, 19 percent more than 2011.
$205,000 – Median price for single-family homes, six percent more than 2011.
69 – Average number of days that single-family homes spent on the market, 15 days fewer than 2011.
31,441 – New single-family home listings on the market, three percent more than 2011.
6,853 – Active single-family home listings on the market, 20 percent fewer than 2011.
24,941 – Pending sales for single-family homes, 19 percent more than 2011.
$6,204,024,237 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 26 percent more than 2011.
Obvious conclusion: There has never been a better time to buy!
Correction: There has never been a better time to buy with borrowed fiat currency at low fixed interest rates.
There has never been a better time to Squat!
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Someone better pay for my home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Someone better pay for my home.
I looked over Phoenix,
And WHAT did I see,
Someone better pay for my home,
A Big Bad Banker comin’ after me,
Someone better pay for my home.
Repeat chorus:
If you get foreclosed before I do,
Someone better pay for my home,
Tell all my friends I was Robo-signed too,
Someone better pay for my home.
20 Cities That Are Still Being Crushed By Foreclosures - Business …
http://www.businessinsider.com/20-cities-foreclosures-2012-8?op=1 - 155k - Cached - Similar pages
REGRESA NUESTROS HOGARES!
Interesting, with a couple of exceptions, they’re all in sand states.
In all of 2012, a total of 15,842 properties were leased in Austin, which is one percent fewer than 2011, and the median lease price was $1,320, or six percent more than 2011.
What agenda are you trying to promote by spouting these disparate statistics? Are you just trying to point out that there is almost no inventory on the market, and hence some risk that a future adjustment that increased inventory will have the effect of driving another leg down in prices?
This is the way dead cat bounces work in the stock market; maybe housing is different?
I’m not claiming it’s different; I simply stated facts.
Each time I point out housing in Austin keeps increasing in value, I get called a liar or something along those lines.
The facts are out there, and as I’ve told y’all, ny housing expenses are much higher now than ever, and I hate it!
“Each time I point out housing in Austin keeps increasing in value, I get called a liar or something along those lines.”
*Value* is not the same thing as sales price. I can’t believe you can read HBB and not get that yet. Prices *can* be a signal of value in a market, but the housing market is so utterly dependent on low interest rates, gov’t assistance, special tax treatment (MID), foreclosure “protection” rules to keep “extend and pretend” going, etc.
At least in your next paragraph you get it right - housing for yourself is an expense, not an investment.
For housing to be worth purchasing, it has to deliver value above and beyond the purchase price. Simultaneously, you need to consider all costs, including and especially the less obvious (hidden) costs of being the owner of a property.This is especially true for condos.
*Value* is not the same thing as sales price.
What is mark-to-market accounting? The “fair-value” of the asset/liability based on current market price. I.e. value = price.
What you’re talking about is classroom semantics in regards to the economic definition of “value” vs. that of “price”.
Value is linked to price through the mechanism of exchange. When an economist observes an exchange, two important value functions are revealed: those of the buyer and seller. Just as the buyer reveals what he is willing to pay for a certain amount of a good, so too does the seller reveal what it costs him to give up the good. - Wikipedia
It’s like you ignored everything that came after that sentence… namely:
“Prices *can* be a signal of value in a market, but the housing market is so utterly dependent on low interest rates, gov’t assistance, special tax treatment (MID), foreclosure “protection” rules to keep “extend and pretend” going, etc.”
What we have in Housing is not anything resembling a free market.
To me, it’s far more realistic to operate under the assumption that price =/= value.
Price = value is semantics. Even someone like Russ Roberts would agree (has said) that prices are best regarded as signals.
Purchase price for a house = value is an untenable position. To say anything else calls to mind Taleb’s notion of the Procrustean Bed.
Lol. Had to look up “Procrustean Bed”… Interesting metaphor.
Joe,
Price=Value as a generally-accepted algorithm is essentially what crashed our economic system. Here’s a nifty little article explaining the Gaussian copula function to which Taleb refers:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-03/wp_quant?currentPage=all
Brett:
You are about to be called a realtor and liar in 3,2,1….
I am a realtor! I am a liar!
I am a liar!
And I don’t believe you!
Not necessarily. I’d say naive.
2012 Year-End Totals Compared to 2010
Single-family homes sold, 16% percent LESS than 2010.
Median price for single-family homes, 6% percent LESS than 2010.
Average number of days that single-family homes spent on the market, 37 days MORE than 2010.
New single-family home listings on the market, 12% percent more than 2010.
Active single-family home listings on the market, 23% percent MORE than 2010.
Pending sales for single-family homes, 37% LESS than 2010.
Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 17% LESS than 2010.
You will be schooled on what a dead cat bounce is….. if you stick around long enough.
i there weren’t any buyers?
Invisible hand of the free market? More like the blind, grabby hand.
http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/23/16633004-gazing-into-dark-pools-the-tool-that-enables-anonymous-insider-trading?lite
While federal authorities aggressively pursue individual insider stock trading cases – including an ongoing investigation of Wall Street titan Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital hedge fund – financial regulators remain years away from being able to peer into “dark pools,” the high-tech mechanism that insiders use to conduct secret, advantageous transactions
When did fraud and violating generally accepted accounting practices become the “invisible hand” of the free market?
Oh - when a corrupt government is bribed to look the other way.
How many bankers have gone to jail under the 4 years of obama?
ZERO.
Wrong. Google it.
Quite a few Wall St. and other financial folks have gone to jail and more are being prosecuted.
There have been 71 convictions on insider trading alone.
Let me refine my message.
How many Wall Street banker went to jail for the TRILLIONS in fraud for the housing market securities fraud and the TRILLIONS in obama bailouts that came later?
Why is John Corzine NOT in jail?
Why do you defend obama with 71 low level stock insider trading convictions?
Because it is only fraud and corruption when a republican is in the white house…
Angelo Mozilo is laughing at you. ALL of you.
If you want to see a real d*ckhead, watch Lehman’s former CEO Dick Fuld’s last testimony before Congress on C-SPAN.
the notion that the invisible hand of the free market equates to the allowance of rampant fraud is becoming very annoying.
Becoming? It’s what it has always meant in the real world.
“Free market” has always meant “free to eff you up the bum without consequence”.
Never forget that.
Shut yer commie talk mouth!
After Obama was born in Indonesia and allegedly graduated from Columbia before getting a socialist bailout to attend Harvard Law, he never worked a day in his life. Community organizing = doing bong hits with terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dorhn, helping Rev. Jeremiah Wright implement Sharia law, working as a fluffer to crooks like Rezko and Blagojevich.
Mitt Romney was born in a log cabin decades before Michigan even had electricity, indoor toilets, or Starbucks. Instead of being a parasite like Obama, he taught himself to read with McGuffy Readers and old Sears-Roebucks catalogs. Then he went on to start successful businesses that created jobs and hired people and paid them enough to put food on their families.
That’s what “free market” means. It doesn’t mean waiting around for your SNAP card to get reloaded. It means bootstrapping your way from the gutter to the Governor’s mansion.
When did fraud and violating generally accepted accounting practices become the “invisible hand” of the free market?
It started with Reagan’s propaganda religion that the “free-market” is a deity that is supreme.
Reagan 4:12-16
The free-market deity is not to be questioned for who’s place is it of the simple, common man? The deity shall not be regulated by shackles of bondage. Those speaking against the deity are to be chastised, shunned and cast out as blasphemers. The ruination of the deity’s work is not the fault of the deity but is to be blamed on the wicked blasphemers.
Here we are.
Do you have a REAL Reagan quotes on the matter and not something from your leftist propaganda?
Conservatives believe in LIMITED government - not for NO government.
The people who want NO government are called anarchists. And they seem to follow and support the left. You can see them at OWS rallies with the big “A” flags.
“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
Ronald Reagan
“The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”
Ronald Reagan
“Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don’t need it and hell where they already have it.”
Ronald Reagan
“Man is not free unless government is limited.”
Ronald Reagan (hmmm - limited government but not NO government)
Do you have a REAL Reagan quotes
Yes.
“A lot of people think they’re born better than others…..”
Ronald Reagan, 1951 ‘Bedtime for Bonzo.’
(I think he was talking about the GOP leadership)
At :28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVd5xiA8_QY
“A lot of people think they’re born better than others…..”
Haven’t yet met a “limousine liberal” who didn’t meet that description…
And the amusing thing about the limo liberals is that they actively promote “integration” in housing, schools, etc. but then turn around and live in the most exclusive communities and send their kids to private schools.
“Some animals are created more equal than others”…
“A lot of people think they’re born better than others…..”
Mitt Romney’s base. It didn’t work
Reagan 4:12-16
Nice.
But my favorite quote from the whole article…
What have been saying?
“But Kreier, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said he has no compunctions about going after such a prominent player, given the high price he paid for his investment in Elan. Because he had no idea SAC Capital was dumping hundreds of millions of dollars of stock and even short-selling Elan through the dark pools, he said his confidence in the stock market is shot.
“You don’t stand a chance,” he said. “You buy a stock, you’re better off buying a lottery ticket.”
Wall Street has the gubmint to thank for this rally.
Is the Congress now on board with the Fed’s “market calming” approach?
Stock markets could retreat if debt-ceiling vote goes awry
January 23, 2013, 6:37 AM
The debt-ceiling issue is set to rear its ugly head again on Wednesday. At around 12 or 1 pm Eastern time, the House of Representatives will vote on extending that ceiling until May. The goal is to calm markets and buy time to come up with a longer-term extension.
The general view is that if this goes off without a hitch — largely expected — it won’t upset the uptrend seen since the start of the year. The DJIA , S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are up 4% or more so far.
But strategists warn of risk to those gains if the vote doesn’t go smooth, and stock futures were hugging the flat line Wednesday. “The market is very dependent on government action. Any type of messy behavior or inconclusive action from the government has tremendous potential to derail this rally, which is almost predicated fully on government action,” says Adam Sarhan, founder and chief executive officer of New York-based Sarhan Capital.
…
Rejoice all ye faithful, for our elected representatives in the hollowed halls of Federal governance have performed their civic duty and kicked the “debt-ceiling” can all the way to May…
Feel free to go back to watching Honey Boo Boo, Dancing with the Stars, The Voice, American Idol, Housewives of Beverly Hills/Atlanta/New York/New Jersey, Mob Wives, Jersey Shore, Snooki and Jwow, 16 and Pregnant, etc.
You forgot Ow My Balls.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_4jrMwvZ2A
It’s what plants crave…
Now I remember why I canceled Dish Network.
So we Amuikkkinz hound people to death over hacking……
Company offers scholarship to Dawson student who exposed security flaws
Dawson stands by its decision to expel student
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2013/01/21/montreal-dawson-college-hack-hamed-al-khabaz.html
Kid Got Expelled from College for Reporting a Security Problem to School Officials
http://gizmodo.com/5977646/kid-got-expelled-from-college-for-reporting-a-security-problem-to-school-officials
Dawson College is in Canada.
Thats the point Polly….we are too stupid to think like this
Revealed: Aaron Swartz prosecutor ‘drove another hacker to suicide in 2008 after he named him in a cyber crime case’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262831/Revealed-Aaron-Swartz-prosecutor-drove-hacker-suicide-2008-named-cyber-crime-case.html
Say what? The kid reported a security problem, and was expelled.
How is that smart?
Sounds more like Skytech was covering their butts.
Because the economic fundamentals that are the foundation of the Recovery® are sales of McRib:
“McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant by sales, said fourth-quarter profit rose 1.4 percent as its dollar menu and McRib sandwich helped U.S. sales.
Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson boosted advertising of the chain’s dollar menu items, such as the McDouble burgers and McChicken sandwiches, to draw Americans as consumer confidence falls.”
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-23/mcdonald-s-profit-rises-as-dollar-menu-drives-u-s-sales.html
A Conspiracy of Hogs: The McRib as Arbitrage
The theory that the McRib’s elusiveness is a direct result of the vagaries of the cash price for hog meat in the States is simple: in this thinking, the product is only introduced when pork prices are low enough to ensure McDonald’s can turn a profit on the product. The theory is especially convincing given the McRib’s status as the only non-breakfast fast food pork item: why wouldn’t there be a pork sandwich in every chain, if it were profitable?
http://www.theawl.com/2011/11/a-conspiracy-of-hogs-the-mcrib-as-arbitrage
“McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant by sales, said fourth-quarter profit rose 1.4 percent as its dollar menu and McRib sandwich helped U.S. sales”
I am guessing the McRib is not a big seller in Dearborn.
McDonald’s To Pay $700,000 To Settle Allegations Franchise Falsely Claimed Food Complied With Halal
By JEFF KAROUB 01/21/13 08:29 PM ET EST
DEARBORN, Mich. — McDonald’s and one of its franchise owners agreed to pay $700,000 to members of the Muslim community to settle allegations a Detroit-area restaurant falsely advertised its food as being prepared according to Islamic dietary law.
McDonald’s and Finley’s Management Co. agreed Friday to the tentative settlement, with that money to be shared by Dearborn Heights resident Ahmed Ahmed, a Detroit health clinic, the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn and lawyers.
Ahmed’s attorney, Kassem Dakhlallah, told The Associated Press on Monday that he’s “thrilled” with the preliminary deal that’s expected to be finalized March 1. McDonald’s and Finley’s Management deny any liability but say the settlement is in their best interests.
The lawsuit alleged that Ahmed bought a chicken sandwich in September 2011 at a Dearborn McDonald’s but found it wasn’t halal – meaning it didn’t meet Islamic requirements for preparing food. Islam forbids consumption of pork, and God’s name must be invoked before an animal providing meat for consumption is slaughtered.
Dakhlallah said there are only two McDonald’s in the United States that sell halal products and both are in Dearborn, which has one of the nation’s largest Arab and Muslim communities. Overall, the Detroit area is home to about 150,000 Muslims of many different ethnicities.
The locations advertise that they exclusively sell halal Chicken McNuggets and McChicken sandwiches and they have to get those products from an approved halal provider, Dakhlallah said. He said there was no evidence of problems on the production side, but he alleges that the Dearborn location on Ford Road sold non-halal products when it ran out of halal.
Dakhlallah said he was approached by Ahmed, and they conducted an investigation. A letter sent to McDonald’s Corp. and Finley’s Management by Dakhlallah’s firm said Ahmed had “confirmed from a source familiar with the inventory” that the restaurant had sold non-halal food “on many occasions.”
After they received no response to the letter, Dakhlallah said, they filed a lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court in November 2011 as part of a class action.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130121/us-mcdonald-s-halal-lawsuit/?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=politics - 177k -
Guy’s eating at a freaking Mcdonald’s and he complains that his sandwich meat is spiritually tainted?
One-worlder, nanny-state, gun-grabber socialists discuss how to use Al Gore’s big lie climate change to erode national sovereignty and destroy American exceptionalism:
http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-22/fossil-fuel-projects-from-u-s-to-china-raise-co2-by-20-.html
And some fair and balanced, invisible hand of free market, rugged individualist journalism from the Drudge Report’s favorite Moonie rag:
http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jan/22/climate-blowing-in-the-wind-for-obama-issue-a-like/
When the models come anywhere close to predicting the climate based on the amount of carbon put in the air, we can have a discussion on limiting carbon, since Hansen cannot even get close, it impossible to do a cost benefit analysis:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/05/10/a-blast-from-the-past-james-hansen-on-the-global-warming-debate-from-13-years-ago/
P.S. Goon the article you posted talks about temperature increases in the 4-6 C range within decades when we cannot even beat 1998 by .1C after almost two decades, hardly plausible. Of course, once we establish the real impact of co2, and I stick by my number that it will be about 1/7 of Hansen’s number, and the hard data for twenty years supports that view, we can evaluate the cost/benefit analysis of reducing carbon.
Of course, you cannot not only look at the detrimental impacts of co2, you have to look at increased yields of plants, increased areas of agricultural due to a wetter warmer world minus flooded lands etc. I am not sure that the benefits do not outweigh the detrimental impacts but if they do, then we can tax accordingly but it will be no where near the number Hansen would use.
The final thing that the alarmists need to remember is that the temperature record over the last 420,000 years shows that interglacial periods tend to be 1-3 C warmer than we are now at their peak. Thus, we know that the world does not end with additional warming. Right now, without us even being able to exceed the 1998 temperature , we have plenty of time to get the models right.
Dan, go find me a news article from any agricultural, aquaculture, forestry or ranching magazine or journal that claims AGW is a scam.
Here is another topic skeptics avoid;
Historic Sudden Stratospheric Warming Continues.
Current event shatters records… research links to AGW effects on upper atmosphere and suggests Jan-Mar northern hemisphere will trend cooler than global climate models predicted.
http://theweathercentre.blogspot.ca/2013/01/historic-sudden-stratospheric-warming.html
http://web.mit.edu/jlcohen/www/papers/Cohenetal2009.pdf
layman translation: The extra heat in the lower atmosphere of the tropical and sub-tropical regions are creating continental sized ‘thermals’ that are pushing up into the stratosphere and destabilizing the arctic vortex during Dec-Mar winter months.
PS: DFW had another 3.0 earthquake yesterday. I think that makes 6-7 in the last year. Before fracking… Zero.
Sure Goon right after you find me one prediction by an AGW scientist that in 2012 we would be cooler than 1998 without cutting c02 emissions.
Who are you talking to?
It was for bluestar.
I think you will find it is much more tied into sunspot theory than AGW. More cosmic rays hit the earth during low solar activity than when there are a lot of sunspots:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/22/correlation-demonstrated-bewteen-cosmic-rays-and-temperature-of-the-stratosphere/
Final note, see CERN and sunspots.
I tried to post this before but I will try again since it has been long enough: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/22/correlation-demonstrated-bewteen-cosmic-rays-and-temperature-of-the-stratosphere/
Remember that the CERN study showed that reduced sunspot activity caused increased cosmic rays to go through the magnetic field causing increased high clouds thus reducing global temperatures. You may just have stumbled on another way reduced sunspots causes global cooling. Should get interesting when the sunspots disappear entirely for probably the next two decades.
Marxist gun-grabber congresswhore tries to re-fight the Civil War by exporting New York’s nanny-state policies to where “Real Americans” live:
http://m.cnsnews.com/news/article/rep-charlie-rangel-guns-some-southern-areas-have-cultures-we-have-overcome
“New York is a little different and more progressive in a lot of areas than some other states” - Rep. Charlie Rangel
Who on this blog still doesn’t understand what we mean when we use the term “Progressive”? Well, Rep. Rangel just helped you understand what the term means… to whit, “Progressive” means willing to ramrod legislation through a midnight congressional session without any debate to take away or severely limit personal liberties and rights supported by the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution.
Any questions?
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/01/22/nra-president-says-obamas-children-shouldnt-live-in-the-white-house/
Wait. One guy defines what everybody means? From a quote taken out of context?
Context? Yeah, here’s the rest of the quote:
He added: “But we do have a model set of what Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals have come together and put the party labels behind them and come forward with something that says ‘Hey, we may disagree, but one thing is clear that we have to do something’ and that’s exactly what they have done.’”
Context? Yeah, here’s the rest of the quote:
But we do have a model set of what Republicans and Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals have come together and put the party labels behind them and come forward with something that says ‘Hey, we may disagree, but one thing is clear that we have to do something’ and that’s exactly what they have done.’”
Yes, let’s put that quote in context…
the NY State Assembly passed that gun legislation 104-to-43. As it turns out, the party breakdown is 99 Democrats and 49 Republicans… so the left got 5 Republican Assemblymen to betray their party affiliation and vote against the 2nd Amendment. Doesn’t seem like a model of “coming together” to me… seems more like political gamesmanship in a democrat-dominated state.
“Progressive” means willing to ramrod legislation through a midnight congressional session without any debate to take away or severely limit personal liberties and rights supported by the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution.
Dude …..you just described the last 2 years of the Republican Koch Brother cabals in Michigan and Wisconsin.
We have so messed up the banking system with governmental (FED) intervention that banks don’t even want deposits. No toaster for you:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-23/u-s-deposits-post-biggest-drop-since-9-11-as-fdic-ends-support.html
stop your fascist talk…it’s for the common good…they are after all…doing God’s work.
Why would ANY bank want the hassle of ANY private deposits when they can just borrow from the Feds at 0% and lend that money out?
And be FULLY insured for any bad loans?
Thank you obama for hope and change!
You mean “Thank you Greenspan and Bernanke”. Obama is merely their puppet.
Well he is a GREAT puppet.
Reappointed Bernanke and five out the six FED board members…
————————–
Obama Victory Paves Way to Continue Fed Policies
By KRISTINA PETERSON And JON HILSENRATH - WSJ
President Barack Obama’s election-night victory means the Federal Reserve’s easy-money policies are likely to continue until the economy strengthens significantly.
The central bank has said it expects to keep short-term interest rates near zero at least until mid-2015 and Mr. Obama is unlikely to want to change that.
Though presidents can’t influence the politically independent central bank directly, they do shape its decisions by making appointments to the Fed’s seven-member board, subject to Senate confirmation.
Mr. Obama already has left his stamp on the Fed by reappointing Ben Bernanke chairman of the board and appointing five of the other six members.
Don’t kid yourself, Romney or McCain would have been no different. If anything, the banksters want us to believe that it is the incumbent President’s fault. You know, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”
In any case, we’re doomed. Enjoy the ride while it lasts.
It’s that time of year again – Girl Scout cookie season and time to count the Homeless.
Not to worry you only end up homeless if you can`t pay rent, If you don`t pay your motgage you get to stay.
Volunteers head out today to count Palm Beach County’s homeless
By Sonja Isger
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Some 250 volunteers will hit the streets and shelters of Palm Beach County today and tomorrow in an effort to count the area’s homeless population.
The count is done every two years in order for the county to qualify for state money to pay for housing and services to those who have no place to call home.
Beginning at noon, teams of counters will scour the area’s parks, shelters and centers where the homeless gather to sleep and eat.
In 2011, the teams counted 3,228 homeless people in Palm Beach County, including 2,148 living on the street or in shelters and another 1,080 living with friends or family.
Wall Street Journal - Union Membership Hits Postwar Low:
“Federal figures released Wednesday show the percentage of workers who belong to unions dropped to a postwar low in 2012 and had the biggest decline in six years, largely reflecting public-sector job losses and a continuing struggle to organize workers.
Unions lost 400,000 members last year, or 2.8% of the total, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The percentage of workers in unions fell to 11.3% from 11.8% in 2011, when the rate stayed nearly flat after years of declines.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323539804578259693886663764.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Imagine what the numbers would be if an employee was not FORCED to join a union and FORCED to pay union dues as a CONDITION of employment.
RUN AWAY! IT’S THE ALL POWERFUL UNION BOOGEYMAN!
Auuuggghhh!!! Save me, Right-To-Work-For-Less-Pay Man!
Good vibes request from Slim: This past weekend, I met the editor of Bicycling magazine. I’m going to be pitching him on a story/photo package about my youthful bicycle travels and my current car-free life.
Wish me luck, people!
That’s awesome, Slim. Best wishes! Yours is a story I would enjoy reading.
All the best to you, Slim. You’ll do great. Let the editor know you can adjust the balance (old story vs. current lifestyle) to fit his needs.
Good luck. I just purchased a pair of bikes this weekend. When it gets warmer out, I plan to park in Silver Spring or Takoma Park and bike into DC every day. Unfortunately due to rain and humidity, that’s probably the limit I can do each day. In AZ I’d probably try to go car free as well. Good luck again, slim.
I plan to park in Silver Spring or Takoma Park and bike into DC every day.
Have you ever piggy-backed a bike trip on the commuter rail system in the DC area? I am thinking of a camping / bike trip to DC when weather warms a little. The Greenbelt NPS campground is just uphill from a train stop.
I used to park at Greenbelt and take the Metro in to work, so I’m familiar with that option. I really wouldn’t want to camp that close to D.C. though.
I haven’t camped as near to an urban area as you suggest. I have camped in Maryland, usually out west or else on the Delmarva peninsula. I did camp in a state park in Catonsville, MD (near UMBC). Greenbelt would seem a tad unsafe to me.
I’m planning to start biking from near where Rock Creek Church Pkwy hits New Hampshire Ave once temps are reliably above 45 or 50 degrees. I believe that is about 6-7 miles from work, so 12-15 miles rd trip per day. Enough to be invigorating without being PITA in bad weather.
I really wouldn’t want to camp that close to D.C. though.
So I’ve been told my another DC resident years back. He told me to sleep with a loaded .45 under my pillow if I tried to camp at Greenbelt NPS. The rangers there are very hard-nosed. I walked away from a campfire there about 2230 one night & an NPS ranger reprimanded for not watching it. I was camping right next to the campground host.
You would think any incident at a federal facility in DC would get some headlines, though.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Thanks for all of the good vibes, people. I sent a pitch to the e-mail address that the national magazine editor gave me on Saturday. Now the ball is in his court.
I’ll keep y’all posted and thanks again for the support!
Good luck, Slim!
You got it, Slim.
I promise to buy a copy if your story appears, and also to follow through on plans to buy myself a bicycle this year to join my (soon-to-be) three teenage sons on bike rides.
I watched Frontline’s “The Untouchables” last night. We’ve long ago discussed all of the stuff talked about except their final point - that Lanny Breuer (head of the criminal division of the Department of Justice) was the weak link in the Wall Street prosecutions. But… they just put a face to the concept - that highly connected entities on Wall Street were able to persuade ($$) politicians in DC to call off the dogs. And we named the concept years ago - “TCTJ” - Too Connected To Jail. The MSM picked it up as TBTJ - Too Big To Jail. Based on how Breuer was talking - reflecting concerns about the economic system as a whole - I’m confident he was responding to pressure from higher ups.
The episode suggested there was still some pending private litigation in the pipeline, but for the most part, Wall Street got away with it because they are TCTJ. William K. Black nailed it all years ago - it’s control fraud, where the leaders of the entities to whom the defect reports come are the ones who are corrupt and orchestrating the whole show.
The core problem with not holding the core perpetrators accountable is moral hazard - it encourages and institutionalizes this kind of behavior. It creates a culture, from the top, that scoffs at the law. Selling known defective products and simply calling yourself a market maker is an absurd defense, but the behind-the-scenes machinations were sufficient to avoid any legal consequences. I suppose it’s like used car sales. In a free market, those who lost money would have avoided dealing with those fraudulent players again, but with government insuring the whole scheme, the fraudsters were handsomely rewarded instead, with future generations picking up the tab (if we’re lucky).
I suppose the more things change, the more they stay the same: “Laws are like spiders’ webs which, if anything small falls into them they ensnare it, but large things break through and escape” — Solon (Athenian statesman and poet, 630-560bc).
One thing is different - the Internet today offers a freer flow of information. However, the commoners cannot be privy to these details. I fully expect continuous efforts to try and restrict the internet in the future. And I’m impressed with the fortitude of those who have looked at these financial issues. Because one cannot expect to pursue the seat of power in the US and expect no consequences.
Your HBB Librarian weighs in with a book recommendation: The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One by the aforementioned William K. Black. Everything you need to know about control fraud.
Great book but not “everything” you need to know about control fraud. It’s rampant in other sectors as well. Self-enrichment is common in the nonprofit sector, even for the “holiest” of charities.
Preach it on the self-enrichment in the nonprofit sector. I’ve lived through that sordid tale more than once. It involved being there “for the cause,” then learning that others were there for themselves.
“The Untouchables” all but indicted Lanny Breuer for collusion with Countrywide higher-ups — as well it should have. The Senate Select Committee and the Senate Oversight Committee were rife with “Friends of Angelo” (Mozilo). And Fannie/Freddie were already in a bit of a bind by then….
Among those receiving FOA loans were former Clinton Cabinet Secretaries Henry Cisneros, Alphonso Jackson and Donna Shalala. Senate Committee Chairmen Chris Dodd [(D-CT)] and Kent Conrad [(D-ND)] and the CEO [James Johnson] of Fannie Mae. Plus 1143 named other. (So far.)
What’s most remarkable about all of this is not even Wall Street had the audacity to expect the generosity of largesse they ended up receiving. “The Untouchables” begins by recounting the massive financial devastation the 2008 crisis wrought - “the economy was in ruins and bankers were being blamed” - and recounts:
“In 2009, Wall Street bankers were on the defensive, worried they could be held criminally liable for fraud. With a new administration, bankers and their attorneys expected investigations and at least some prosecutions.”
Indeed, the show recalls that both in Washington and the country generally, “there was broad support for prosecuting Wall Street.” Nonetheless: “four years later, there have been no arrests of any senior Wall Street executives.”
In response to the DOJ’s excuse-making that these criminal cases are too hard to win, numerous experts - Senators, top Hill staffers, former DOJ prosecutors - emphasized the key point: Obama officials never even tried. One of the heroes of “The Untouchables”, former Democratic Sen. Ted Kaufman, worked tirelessly to provide the DOJ with all the funds it needed to ensure probing criminal investigations and even to pressure and compel them to do so.
The real mystery from all of this is that it has not led to greater social unrest. To some extent, both the early version of the Tea Party and the Occupy movements were spurred by the government’s protection of Wall Street at the expense of everyone else.
Still, Americans continue to be plagued by massive unemployment, foreclosures, the threat of austerity and economic insecurity while those who caused those problems have more power and profit than ever. And they watch millions of their fellow citizens be put in cages for relatively minor offenses while the most powerful are free to commit far more serious crimes with complete impunity. Far less injustice than this has spurred serious unrest in other societies.
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-wall-street-execs-werent-prosecuted-2013-1
Watched a little of this program last night…….the peckerwoods at the DOJ always fell back on the “do we have the evidence to get a conviction?” philosophy.
(Seems that they were afraid to take on the high-powered attorneys the banksters might hire……..well, the answer to that is to get some high-powered attorneys and investigators on the case yourself).
Or, God forbid, the collateral damage that MIGHT happen if these crooks went to jail.
So, what happens is that the US taxpayer becomes the bailer-of-last-resort, instead of letting some of these yahoos watch their investments go down to zero.
Using that reasoning, let’s quit prosecuting murderers, because of the risk of lawsuits to gun manufacturers and dealers.
Basically……of all the options available, the Feds chose the worst ones, if justice was a priority.
Come on, fixer. Would you really feel better if the DoJ took on a few bankers, used up the time of 30 attorneys for 3 or 4 years and the people were all aquitted in the end. If they don’t have the evidence, they don’t have it. If the other guy has enough on his side to confuse any jury, he has it. They are working with limited money and people. They don’t take on loser cases if they can help it.
I would think the government incompetent, but at least they tried…
If the banks aren’t brought to heel, it will be like Turkey Lurkey has said: revolution. Or “Marie Antoinette didn’t get it either”. Seriously, OWS may be just the start, but as more see the inequality in the application of laws and the injustices the average American faces while banks get bailed out and financial slaps on the wrist, violence will become inevitable.
“Think of the thousands of jobs that would have been lost on Wall Street if the (Countrywide) system went down!”
Seriously. This was Lanny’s stated rationale. But really, it was just the Senate’s reluctance to send any of their long-time old boys-club-mates or their staffers off to the hoosegow for the sins of the folks they golf with, party with, junket with….
At least Ford pardoned Nixon in public.
Most think the TCTJ are just the billionaire goldman sachs/jp morgan type execs…when in reality the magnitude of bribery lies somewhere between the abilities of those tycoons and a steak dinner at morton’s…probably closer to the latter than the former.
“We’ve long ago discussed all of the stuff talked about except their final point - that Lanny Breuer (head of the criminal division of the Department of Justice) was the weak link in the Wall Street prosecutions.”
+1 Lanny Breuer worships at the same franchise as the fed, treasury, wall street, etc., so don’t be surprised with the lack of high-level indictments.
More on lithium batteries in airplanes (for the Socialist, Godless, “It-takes-a-village” types)
Go to Youtube and search “FAA Lithium batteries”…….there’s a 10-11 minute video showing how to extinguish lithium battery fires, and some pretty impressive action footage of real incidents.
The APU lithium battery in the 787 is an order of magnitude larger than a laptop battery.
For the Real-American, non-Kenyan, bootstrapping, those-socialists-don’t know squat types, watch the “Mica Opposes Overreguiation of Lithium Batteries” video that comes up on the same search
First they came for the lithium batteries.
Then they came for the Big Gulps.
And then they came for the gunz…
Obama’s utopia of Sharia law gay marriages can only happen if “Real Americans” are silent and roll over and play dead. It’s time to restore our future and Take America Back!
Goon, sometimes you really nail it.
Well done.
ya gotta luv how scared George Bush’s people are of Obama!
8 yrs of laughing a them–priceless!
First he created Obamacare.
Then he came for the guns.
Then he implemented Sharia law.
And now he is legalizing gay marriage.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/01/23/obama-endorses-stonewall/
And not just legalizing it, but mandating it. The radical homosexual agenda is just part of Obama’s plan to fundamentally transform USA into socialism. This is the slippery slope to man-on-dog action that Senator Rick Santorum warned us about.
“And not just legalizing it, but mandating it”
there is some truth to that…whenver i look at interest rates, the economy and the new real estate bubble in the DC metro area…i’d say obama and is polices are bending me over pretty good.
And during Obama’s third term, the Social Justice Reparations Act of 2017 will outlaw all heterosexual marriage for white males. White women will only be allowed to marry non-white spouses. White males who fail to have gay marriages will be fined (just like under the Obamacare law). It’s all true, it was in the Washington Times.
Once upon a time a man asked as woman to marry him.
The woman said no.
And the man lived happily ever after.
Four More Years of “It Could Have Been Worse”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/01/22/there-is-no-hope-for-change/
Yup…….our so-called leadership fiddles.
All this talk about deficit spending is pointless, as long as 15% (or more) of the workforce is essentially out of work.
Especially when that 15% is almost completely composed of tax-paying working stiffs, instead of Randian/government is stealing my wealth/tax-dodging 1%er-types.
let housing fail…those working stiffs have more money to spend on things other than housing…economy recovers…cept for that pesky trade defecit thingy.
let housing fail…those working stiffs have more money to spend on things other than housing
Not if they are already stucco. It only helps renters, and most of them will still be too poor or too credit rating impaired to buy anything anyway.
i thinking long term…not the short term impact.
How long term? 5 years? 30?
allow housing to crash and then adjust to the historical mean.
Quick - let’s grow government even BIGGER, raise taxes, give all illegals amnesty, give unions anything they want, bailout out private banks/private companies and keep interest rates at zero…
That will SURELY get the economy going again.
we tried that under Bush! gee, that boy could spend!
Now we have Obama to reverse the damage… it takes time, son.
40 yrs of trickle down failed.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/01/22/correlation-demonstrated-bewteen-cosmic-rays-and-temperature-of-the-stratosphere/
Does not seem to post above so I will try here to respond to bluestar.
If you remember the CERN post, I previously posted, lower sunspot activity leads to more cosmic rays reaching the Earth through our magnetic field. This leads to more high level clouds which leads to global cooling. Bluestar may have identified another way the lack of sunspots leads to cooling. I know he submitted to support global warming but it really supports just the opposite. The fact that we have come off a 8000 year high in sunspot activity is allowing more cosmic rays to reach the stratosphere maybe causing what he is describing which will cool the surface of the Earth. Bluestar lets work on it together for the Nobel, nobody had identified it as far as I know. (LOL)
Why is this so important to you?
I studied it initially since I believed that it one of the most important issues facing man. Then, I began to believe that the PTB were using GW like Aztec priests used solar eclipses to control people. That the warming was primarily natural and the PTB knew it but they could use it to create the need for a global governing body and create the first global taxes to fund that body. The 420,000 year temperature record shows that this warming is nothing special.
The PTB did not know that sunspot activity would start to tail off since no one can predict that out more than two cycles and they hoped to get the funding in place and cuts in co2 prior to any cooling. Had they been able to cut co2 emissions prior to cooling or stabilization they could have been able to claim credit and who really would have known?
The media just like they ignored warnings about the housing bubble were and are complicit in this and I think the two issues flow from the same sources for the same reasons. Hint, it ends up with a few having all the money and all the power and most people being little more than serfs.
Personally I appreciate you bringing it up regularly. I don’t know what The Truth is, but from the way it gets treated as a religion by some I’m always suspicious that you are correct.
Thank you. Just an open mind is all I want. Just want people to look at all the data before they reach their conclusion.
from the way it gets treated as a religion by some I’m always suspicious that you are correct.
Ah, the OJ paradox! If all legitimate evidence (99% of peer-reviewed published scientific studies, in this case) points in one direction, that proves that it’s not true! Because that’s how it always works on TV mystery shows.
It’s a trap we contrarians need to watch out for.
BTW- Who’s more religious about this issue that AQDan? One mention of climate change, and he’s off and running with post after post of his collection of non-scientific ’studies’.
You need to re-examine your fixation on that 420,000 year temperature record.
Chemical climate proxies
23 January 2013
“we really need to be more careful to understand the limitations of the proxies and when they’re good and when they’re bad.” ‘The analytical step isn’t the one that’s giving us the most error these days – it used to be, but it isn’t now – it’s the interpretation.’
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/01/climate-proxies
Congratulations on discovering WUWT. They were the #1 science blog of 2011/12 which correlates exactly with the polls that say Fox News is the most trusted news network. It’s the same people!
Now you seem to be like the people that argue against evolution. But you believe in evolution, problems with proxies 420,000 years old but not data from 400 million years ago? So I guess the only data we should rely on is data that supports AGW but we will dismiss anything that contradicts it? Sounds more like a religion than science.
So just so I have this straight ignore the evidence from the last 20 years too short a time, ignore the evidence that occurred before 1880 including the solar minimums and resulting cooling just concentrate on the data between 1880 and 1998 since it must be correct since it shows warming. The data that shows us 1-3 C warmer during several different interglacial periods must be treated as heresy. Do I need to be burned at the stake?
If there were 7 billion people on the planet 420,000 years ago we could compare apple to apples. Here is just one example of how the past is a poor proxy for our future; The day we detonated the first nuclear bomb a whole new future timeline was created which included the possibility of a human caused mass extinction event. Might not happen but you can’t say it won’t ether.
You have cited several time you think high level clouds increase atmospheric cooling. Is that correct? I have seen many research papers that claim the opposite, stratospheric clouds reflect long wave radiation back toward earth while high frequency energy (the sun) passes through.
“…like the people that argue against evolution…”
“…just like they ignored warnings about the housing bubble…”
False equivalency after false equivalency after false equivalency in search of someone, anyone, to validate your discredited Koch brothers propaganda. If you had the courage of your convictions, you’d post this on a bona fide science blog and take your licks instead of inflicting it on a lay audience that’s here for convos relating to the housing bubble.
Either cite a list of your peer-reviewed articles on this topic or take it to an appropriate venue. You’re wasting Ben’s electrons.
wasting Ben’s electrons
As are most of the coastal elitist, limousine liberal, paranoid control-freak, Dianne Feinstein voters who post here.
And the squad will confound, with our lack of adherence to your partisan plantation(s).
Will try to get re-focused on the Real Issues, specifically that the future belongs to Lucky Ducky, the USA middle class is dead, wages are stagnating and dropping, and that if you thought the future was gonna be worse, it’s gonna be a hell of a lot worse than you expected.
There is no future.
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery.
+1… I love a good conspiracy
Apple shares, look out below:
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2013/01/23/aapl-halted-ahead-of-fyq1/?mod=yahoobarrons
The job market “improves”
AAR has been looking for “Experienced sheet metal and avionics techs” in Duluth, Minnesota for a while.
Just got some definitions of their terms………
“Experienced” (to the airlines) = 5-7 years = Knows enough to no longer be dangerous = Not too much experience, because we can’t/won’t pay for it
Salary? “Up to” $25/hour (doesn’t mean you’ll get it).
For the math challenged, that’s $52K/year for experienced, certified, employable technicians, who are also Crew Chiefs. And you have to move to Duluth.
(Disclaimer: I’ve visited Duluth. In October. The weather wasn’t bad when I was there. Rumor has it that it gets cold during the winter.
Last time I was in Duluth, it was 26 degrees. That was in September.
Rumor has it that it gets cold during the winter.
I hear the saunas in Duluth are always warm.
Is that more or less than what you’re earning where you are? If less, is it worth it to move? How is the cost of living in Duluth compared to your current location?
Recession, new technology kill middle-class jobs, many for good
And that’s my “lucky” scenario. I hope it turns out better than that.
Linky no workie.
But this article confirms the squad’s correct prediction that within a few decades, less than 15% of USA worker bees will enjoy what could be considered a middle class lifestyle.
It will be papered over with lying liar CPI inflation that under-reports the *real* prices of goods/services people actually buy, but the reality will be undeniable.
The future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery.
Miami Herald version here.
Which is more boring: the daily gun discussion or the daily global warming discussion?
It’s Bush’s fault.
that’s racist.
Thats it…The daily racist discussion…….when will black people commit mass murder…. and take the heat off of white folks?
You bring up a good point. I wonder why we haven’t seen that. Perhaps Spook has some insight on this.
Only the rich can rent?
By Judy Martel · Bankrate.com
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Posted: 5 pm ET
Are rentals the next housing bubble? If you ask builders and brokers, the answer will likely be yes. October’s multifamily apartment starts were up 10 percent from a month earlier and 63 percent from a year earlier, suggesting that contractors are scrambling to keep up with the demand.
And in some sought-after areas such as New York City and Los Angeles, brokers report that rentals are going for more than their monthly asking prices, similar to what was happening with home prices during the homebuying frenzy a few years ago.
Much of the demand is a consequence of people losing their homes after the housing bubble burst. But The Wall Street Journal also reports an increase in “trophy” rentals by rich renters who prefer luxury leases over homeownership. That’s driving up rents.
This particular segment of the rich population prefers to rent, so they can keep capital flowing into the stock market or a business. But they don’t want to forfeit a wealthy lifestyle. Brokers in New York say they’re showing apartments that rent for $15,000 a month and higher, and it’s the same story in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, Developer Rick Caruso just opened an 87-unit apartment building near Beverly Hills that features a three-bedroom, fully furnished penthouse unit with a monthly rent of $40,000.
Of course, if you truly want to rent like the rich, you could shell out $500,000 to $600,000 a month for the Beverly Hills home formerly owned by William Randolph Hearst. But for the average renter, the supply-and-demand situation means that apartment buildings approved for construction now won’t be available for a year or two, so finding a deal will be difficult.
Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/mortgages/only-the-rich-can-rent/#ixzz2IrIG1k9G
Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook
bananahead is anoying
Does anyone on here get Bob Brinker’s news letter? What does he think 2013 will bring? a crash?
Just remember…If your doing it, they want to know — If you have it, they want it.
Statists - The masters of other people’s affairs and resources.
Global Progressives - Promoting and Defending the Indefensible since 1900.