The Housing Bubble

But can TPTB do it again (and again and again)?

With an infinitely-speedy printing press, and no political restraints on the operations of the Fed…

…apparently they can.

The losses are yours and yours alone.

With 20-30 MILLION excess empty houses, there’s plenty of houses for sale.

Empty does not mean for sale. No causality, or we could clear this constipated market in a heartbeat.

Empty means excess. And it will be disposed of. All 25 MILLION of them.

Yes, but sometimes the toilet gets backed up temporarily.

You know the NY story. Every thing we have here except housing is among the highest priced in the nation. Car insurance is much lower here in the upstate region. My oldest (teen) said to me just the other day he doesn’t see much sense in buying a house. He’s not interested. I was so relieved. We’ll see if he holds that thought once a serious romance blooms.

If he or one of my other children left the state I would probably be relieved for the sake of their career/future economic well being. I think upon retirement we’d probably follow. There are a lot of variables that will enter into that equation.

You anticipated a few other things I considered asking but thought were too personal/too pushy. I definitely would’ve asked how soon you’re leaving central NY? Wait for kids to finish HS I guess? Assuming your kids get degrees, it’s pretty unlikely they’ll end up in CNY.

She stays for the great harpsichord music.

Precisely what happened in my family. I’m part of the “to shirt sleeves” generation.

The two sides of my family are immigrant farmers from the mountains of central Europe, and redneck hillbillies who left Wales hundreds of years ago for religious reasons. They’re all just happy to have shirtsleeves. Nobody ever got rich, unless they also faked their death and nobody else found out about it.

“I’m part of the “to shirt sleeves” generation.”

+1 Ditto; saw the tail lights as the train left the station.

IMO, supporting either of our idiotic parties the next time around is being an accomplice. Are we going to have a meaningful option? Doubtful. It looks like the Dems have locked in on Hillary and the GOP is determined to nominate a Luddite again, based on CPAC events and the House’s budget proposals.

With the Republicans let Ron Paul debate in the GOP primaries? Could someone like Gary Johnson be allowed to debate in the General by the idiotic Debate Commission? I am guessing no and no.

Joe it was all over for America back in 96 when they refused to allow Perot in the debates…

The Illogic was he didn’t have a high enough rating in the polls…..and his argument was we dont have a lot of money and we are not sure how much we are going to raise after the debates…so being a fiscal conservative he was going to spend the $$$ after the debates when it really mattered.

And of course Clinton and Dole didn’t say a word … and of course the brand new Fox News Channel refused to assign a news team to follow Perot

IMO, supporting either of our idiotic parties the next time around is being an accomplice. Are we going to have a meaningful option? Doubtful. It looks like the Dems have locked in on Hillary and the GOP is determined to nominate a Luddite again, based on CPAC events and the House’s budget proposals.

Which is why Yours Truly is a registered Independent.

I’m registered (I) as well, so I can’t vote in primaries, the only elections that matter in my city/state. When I first registered to vote it was as an (R), then a few years later switched to (Ind) because LOL @ the the GOP’s slate of Senate, House, and Pres candidates in the last 6 years.

Polly said to just suck it up and register as a (D) but I resent having to do that so I can have a token vote in things like state/city offices.

and the GOP is determined to nominate a Luddite again

That comment was totally unfair—to Luddites.

When I first registered to vote it was as an (R), then a few years later switched to (Ind) because LOL @ the the GOP’s slate of Senate, House, and Pres candidates in the last 6 years.

So you are saying that you intentionally _reduced_ the value of your vote by changing your party-affiliation?

That strikes me as foolish. I’m still party-affiliated, even though I may be more Independently-mined—and may frequently vote as a spoiler.

He may have temporarily reduced the value of his vote in the general election but it’s the only way to steer the Rs. Once they’ve lost enough elections maybe they’ll start listening to some of us who left for I. But maybe not since Joe and I may cancel each other out in the big scheme of things. I want them to stop listening to Wall Street and he probably has unrelated issues with them.

He may have temporarily reduced the value of his vote in the general election but it’s the only way to steer the Rs.

Oh, I disagree. I think it is far more likely to get their attention if candidates such as Ron Paul claim significant percentages in primaries.

I want them to stop listening to WS, but that is only part of it. The cultural issues would probably be mostly seen at the state level, IMO. For example, MD GOP would probably still support marriage equality and some restrictions on assault weapons. Mountain West GOP would differ on those (gun restrictions for sure).

I think it is far more likely to get their attention if candidates such as Ron Paul claim significant percentages in primaries.

They already showed that it will take far more than votes to allow that to happen. It appears it will require total loss of power and all their nightmares to come true first. For now they’ll just continue to “manage” the process to get what they want and then wonder why they can’t win the White House.

Actually I said to register with whatever party has the candidate you like best running in its primary and then switch back to independent after the important election if you want to. If that is the Ds in one election and the Rs in another one, you reflect that.

It is a party registration that has to be maintained for a few weeks. Not a declaration of undying love and faithfulness.

They already showed that it will take far more than votes to allow that to happen.

Ron Paul didn’t get ENOUGH of the vote, but he clearly got a bit of notice.

Now imagine how much notice he would get if he claimed > 30-40% of the primary votes.

Actually I said to register with whatever party has the candidate you like best running in its primary and then switch back to independent after the important election if you want to.

Alternate approach: register for whichever party has the candidate that you most want to vote against, so you can vote against them in the primary.

Now imagine how much notice he would get if he claimed > 30-40% of the primary votes.

Imagine how much notice he’d get if he technically had enough delegates to win…at least prior to the machine doing it’s thing. It’s enough to make a person think it wouldn’t matter even if he had the votes you speak of.

but slack jawed yokel drudge link clickers cant comprehend all that complicated nonsense. they need ‘news’ they can respond to emotionally

I want to amend my post to remove the word “essentially”. The tax code isn’t “essentially” written by lobbyists, it is written by lobbists. The Congressional staffers just fill in the details prior to representatives pulling out their rubber stamp.

Joe Smith: The core of all these issues comes down to how money is given to politicians. Campaign finance.

That is the core issue. Government has willingly prostituted itself for money. It works for politicians, and it works for organized, moneyed interests. So what we have today is “Government of the highest bidder, by the highest bidder, for the highest bidder.”

Solve that problem, and suddenly, the other problems become much looser knots. Still knotty, but not Gordian knotty.

The core of all these issues comes down to how money is given to politicians. Campaign finance.

+1

‘all these issues comes down to how money is given to politicians’

All my adult life, this statement is the debate ender. Now we can all walk away and tsk tsk, meanwhile nothing gets fixed. Oh but we put our finger on it, didn’t we?

Here’s a novel idea; quit voting for these bastards. And if someone you voted for turns out to be a bastard, don’t defend him or vote for him OR HIS PARTY again.

“And if someone you voted for turns out to be a bastard, don’t defend him or vote for him OR HIS PARTY again.”

Sounds like a recipe not to vote. And then you cede the election to those who will vote.

Sounds like a recipe not to vote. And then you cede the election to those who will vote.

yes, but he nailed it when he pointed out the problem. we identify it, and then walk away thinking we’ve done something. in reality we don’t do a thing.

maybe we could try bringing class action lawsuits against these bastards? probably can’t sue them, but somehow we need to apply some kind of pressure.

maybe it’s all just education we need. massive pain is going to educate a lot of people..

And if someone you voted for turns out to be a bastard, don’t defend him or vote for him OR HIS PARTY again.

Wouldn’t you instantly be left with no one, and no party, to cast your vote for?

Wouldn’t you instantly be left with no one, and no party, to cast your vote for?

If everybody did it I imagine a non-bastard party would get created pretty quickly. Right now there’s no point.

If everybody did it I imagine a non-bastard party would get created pretty quickly. Right now there’s no point.

I’m wondering whether half of the country is already doing this—maybe that’s why we have such anemic voter-turnout.

If everybody did it I imagine a non-bastard party would get created pretty quickly.

and the non-bastard party would quickly fill with bastards. it’s not the party, it’s the people in it.

If everybody did it I imagine a non-bastard party would get created pretty quickly.
Not at all. The bloc of non-voters would simply get larger, as seems to be going on. Who was the last president actually elected by the majority of eligible voters? Has it ever happened?

Here’s a novel idea; quit voting for these bastards.

That doesn’t help much when there are actually 536 potential bastards, and each person only gets to vote for 4 of them. Let’s take the Favored 100 out of the 536. The country could vote for 60 good guys only to be stymied by 40 bastards. Or alternately, other people could have voted for 60 bastards while your 40 good guys are holding down the fort for the good of the country.

Or you could have 535 good guys and one bastard gumming it up, or 535 bastards and one lone defender of freeeeedom.

Or at the end of the day, you could have 536 really good guys, only the watch The Nine, Disguised in Robes of Black, cancel all of it out.

That’s why it takes so long for things to change.

I think Congresses “work from home” idea might be a huge step in the right direction.

yes, it sounds like a great idea. it would be nice if they all had to do network conferencing from their local government buildings, in their own states. turn the federal buildings of the senate and the house into museums.

Lobbyist would hate it though.

I think Congresses “work from home” idea might be a huge step in the right direction.

I got indignant when I first heard it, but I gotta admit if anybody can and should work from home it’s them. The technology should make it easy.

Lobbyist would hate it though.

yep, just think of how many states they’d have to visit. makes their job much harder. plus, it would be much harder to decapitate the government. one little nuke at the right place and moment would no longer do it.

and all those poor politicos having to stay at home instead of going to the centralized power capital that insulates them from us peons. they’d probably have to get their health care locally too. poor things.

Rather than sending the politicians home, why not send much of the spending power they currently hold back home? In other words, reduce the federal budget and push most of it’s large expenditures like medicare and social security back to the state level. Federal law can remain to regulate, but state agencies will operate.

“if a bank on wall street fails, my BOSS’ rich backers would lose a bunch of money, and they pay HIM to keep that from happening.”

“Anybody and anything can fail and we’d probably be better off for it if they are so unstable.”

Getting as big and unstable as possible in order to engage in high risk too-big-to-fail gambles that make bailouts rain down on a regular basis will remain a viable business model for Megabank, Inc, so long as the Plunge Protection Team (Treasury, Fed, etc etc etc) is there to legitimize the shakedown of the common man to pay for Wall Street megabankster bonuses and bailouts.

Funny that you mention Al Capone, since money has always corrupted our criminal justice system. It took a great deal of luck and bending of existing laws, to finally, get Al.

One has to understand human motivations. Holder is interested in making money, getting prestige, having power. He was a partner at a white shoe law firm, which had many financial sector clients. He made millions at as a partner. He makes a small fraction of that now. In government, he is building relationships, improving his position.

He would be a fool to alienate future clients. It would make no sense for him personally.

It’s not Holders job to make such a call. And truth is, it’s all a lie. Anybody and anything can fail and we’d probably be better off for it if they are so unstable.

Not to mention, prosecuting the TBTF banks does NOT necessarily equate with causing them to fail, or go out of existence.

The corporate death-penalty is not the only penalty that can be applied. Lesser penalties exist—for example, putting away the executives who approved the illegal activities does NOT mean the bank itself will go out of business.

The corporate death-penalty is not the only penalty that can be applied.
However, it is one that needs to be applied early and often, along with claw backs of ill-gotten gains.

Holder is referring to all the worker bees who lost their jobs and everyone with a 401K. “Breaking up the banks” sounds all Rambo fun, but do you really want to be known as the one who killed the hostages?

“…He would be a fool to alienate future clients. It would make no sense for him personally.”

And here is the primary symptom of most of our political-syphilis carriers in Washington and in office all over this country: “It would make no sense for him personally.” We need real leaders to solve the real problems that this country has, but nobody in DC has the balls, brains or vision to be more than just another self-serving dingleberry clinging to the sphincter of the person immediately above them in an organizational chart.

but do you really want to be known as the one who killed the hostages?

When we are slaves who wants to be the known as the one who could have done something to stop it but didn’t?

“but do you really want to be known as the one who killed the hostages?”

I mean no offence by this, but that is codependant talk. If you represent the law, and a bully calls your bluff, threatening to hurt innocents if you do not yield, you are not the one hurting the innocents if you do not yield.

“It would make no sense for him personally.” We need real leaders to solve the real problems that this country has, but nobody in DC has the balls, brains or vision to be more than just another self-serving dingleberry clinging to the sphincter of the person immediately above them in an organizational chart.

Most people, during the vast majority of their lives, only do things that make sense for them personally. Everyone is a human. Everyone wipes their ass, matter how august their title.

We need a system which takes into account human frailty and still serves the needs of society. Checks and balances is a brilliant foundation which does take into account human frailty. The science of buying people is a new twist.

If we design a system that requires saints or heroes so that it will operate correctly, it is a deeply flawed system that will not operate correctly 99.9 percent of the time.

So does “they need to be broken up, and now” to my ear. Lot easier to say, but actually throws down the glove to do something. Which one would you say if you wanted nothing done and political cover.

Which one would you say if you wanted nothing done and political cover.

I’d say ,‘We looked at their activities closely, and found nothing we felt was prosecutable’, or some such, I’m sure a lawyer could phrase it even better.

careful alpha…all that water can break your back.

open your eyes…search your feelings…let your cognitive dissonance go.

ooommmmmmmmmmm

As an appointee and not a politician, isn’t it his job to carry out his duties and let those elected worry about the consequences or responsibility to change the law? In other words, if the law says “do this” and he doesn’t, shouldn’t he be fired? He can raise the flag and leave it up to the politicians to change the law.

He can raise the flag and leave it up to the politicians to change the law.

Didn’t he do just that? He pointed out that the behemoth banks the politicians had created were too big to prosecute, without destroying the economy. He then left it up to the politicians to change the law. Exactly as you say.

Yep, it’s kind of like calling them Smurfs. Or Muppets.

Useless as far as getting a meaningful offer.

You’re not going to get a “meaningful” offer just by an internet view anyway, even if you have a bunch of pics. They’ll want to come see it. People looking to steal stuff aren’t going to waste time by emailing asking for more pics (thereby creating a popcorn trail back to them). If their strategy is to rip off house sellers, they’ll move on to the next one with pics.

On a per-mile basis, the ICC charges are insane. I used to drive to work here and there (almost always use bike + MARC now). The ICC charges something like $5 to go a few miles from I-95 near Greenbelt over to Route 32.

Imagine doing that 2x a day, 20 times a month. It really would get my attention. Is there an e-z pass commuter plan I don’t know about?

Georgia Avenue is insane, you’re right, though I mostly used New Hampshire Avenue which is just as bad. New York Avenue isn’t pretty either. I don’t think there is any “good option” to get from central Maryland into DC by car.

I hear people complain about the ICC all the time, but if you don’t like it don’t use it. For me to get to 95 I could either fight down Georgia to the Beltway, take the long country back roads or pay the fee. If you factor in gas prices and cost of aggravation to me it’s worth it - but I only do it once a week. I can see how expensive it can be for the 9 to 5ers.

I’m pretty sure that that’s by design. Montgomery County is trying to direct its development along 355/270/Marc Train Line to Frederick all the way to Harpers Ferry and preserving the rest as Ag land. They are having some success, judging from the bottleneck which is 270.

Teh Googley says that there are no quantity/EZpass discounts for the Intercounty Connector.

That’s hilarious. Both the tunnels under the harbor at Baltimore (Ft. McHenry and Harbor tunnels ) and the Francis Scott Key bridge have commuter discounts. It’s $45 for 20 round-trips, or a little over $1/trip.

“Full price” is $3 each way so it is a significant % discount. I think the one-way price for the tunnels/bridge is increasing to $4 this fall, so the commuter discount will be an even better deal.

Still, the train is far superior.

The “best” way into Dc from Maryland is through Rock Creek Park. You have to know how to do it or have a GPS that will tell you how to do it. It isn’t the most instinctive route.

I know how to navitate along Rock Creek Park by bike, but it wouldn’t be practical as a commuter option for driving. A monthly pass from Camden Yards to Union Station is just $175. If you figure 22 work days in a typical month, this works out to $8/day*. No wear/tear on car, no gas to buy, no idiotic drivers to deal with.

* this is especially good when you consider that it’s a 70 mile round trip.

The most striking thing about the disability surge was that it increased dramatically during the 98-06 bubble period when the economy was at “peak employment”.

Moreover, the # of people in SSD was one of the factors that pushed the official U-6 unemployment rate so low (combined with the early edge of Boomer retirement).

The most striking thing about the disability surge was that it increased dramatically during the 98-06 bubble period when the economy was at “peak employment”.

Do you have a source/link for this? Thanks.

It’s in that marketplace weekend report people have been discussing.

Google something like “Hale County alabama disability NPR marketplace”. It’s a pretty long story.

Here’s an article based on the radio story.

http://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/

It’s from “Planet Money” not “Marketplace”. My bad.

There are graphs that clearly lay out that SS Disability rose and rose and rose even though unemployment was falling and the market was “booming”.

Gracias.

How much is due to demographics?

I didn’t mention that she worked for a charter school, with no retirement or disability plan, other than a 401k. Fortunately, she purchased an aflac plan that will pay for hospital stays but, no long term disability.My BIL lost 60% of his painting business since 2006. He just got his ins. license but, that will not make up for her lost salary or more importantly her lost medical benefits.

And why harass people anyway…….this is not rocket science

Just like that idiot governunt of FloorRiddah drug testing unemployed people and found it was less then 2% that failed….common sense will tell you if you got fired for drugs you would not be able to collect unemployment anyway..

Thats why I keep harping on English, use that as a test standard and see how many refuse to show up or quit….its not intrusive, its not harassment, like forcing welfare recipients to work at menial jobs.. and its done to help the people get jobs by doing things like filling out application forms so you can read their writing…..what a concept!

I didn’t mention that she worked for a charter school, with no retirement or disability plan, other than a 401k.

Damn those unions.

Oh wait, charter school. Never mind.

“If we did drug tests on the 14,000,000 that are getting disability, how many would even show up for the test???”

How many of those who would test positive are being prescribed painkillers?

Just like that idiot governunt of FloorRiddah drug testing unemployed people and found it was less then 2% that failed….

You ignore the fact that while the rule was in place on the idiot drug users tried.

10% of CA’s 2 trillion dollar economy is related to healthcare.

In some ways, we should go back 100 years, stripping away needless complexity which obscures important facts and frustrates meaningful actions. In others, we should be taking advantage of advances in technology and in the law. Banking regulation and the tax code are great examples of these dual opportunities. We’ve piled on the complexity and haven’t made any meaningful progress to justify the complexity - quite the opposite.

Our social safety net also looks like something that would be designed in an industrial society. We don’t value (real) education enough and we don’t provide incentives for people who are receiving benefits to go out and get work. One thing we could do is continue to provide some benefit level to people who go out and keep a meaningful job. Instead of giving them $200/month for SNAP, we could give them $100/month for the 1/2 year, plus the EITC they’d receive at the end of that year. The gov’t would be paying less, the person would be in the work force (less chance for social pathology), and once someone is working they’d probably go out and spend most (if not all) of the earnings. People’s lives change when they work, they start to aspire to something more than video games and Hot Pockets. They also raise their expectations for themselves and for others around them. Instead of a permanent underclass, we could try to light a fire under some of their a*ses.

what’s so wrong about Hot Pockets?

The Hot Pockets thing is a comment on processed food and the fact our generation can’t cook. Most people our age can’t even cook a basic meal. I’m not talking FPSS cuisine, they don’t know how to bake a potato, roast a chicken, and make a salad.

we cook 95% of our own meals and take lunch to work every day. our co-workers regularly drop $10+ a day getting lunch at various chains ending in apostrophe s.

with all that money we’re not throwing away on lunch we try to find more interesting things to throw money away on.

10% of CA’s 2 trillion dollar economy is related to healthcare.

Single payer. We need it.

I used to bring lunch but now I only take the train and it’s a bit of a pain with the gay glittery bike riding and the practically-communist-train travel so I’m down to once or twice a week bringing food.

How are the glory holes at the train stations in Baltimore and Washington?

Camden Yards and Union Station are very clean, but there is hot action to be had at the BWI Airport station. Tap twice to get teabagged by an actual member of the House teaperson caucus - they have a Spring Sale promotion going on now. Tap three times to get get a Larry Craig Lumbar Adjustment (this works best if you’re in the oversized handicapped stall, or so I hear).

Progressive thinking?

Ha. Most of the problems today are the results of one progressive idea after another.

Most of the problems today are the results of one progressive idea after another.

HEAR HERE!!

” Most of the problems today are the results of one progressive idea after another.”

Please be more specific. Which problems are the direct result of one or a series of progressive ideas? What problems were those progressive ideas trying to solve?

Your statement is so general that anyone can agree or disagree based only on their perception of a particular idea being progressive and its current, perceived negative result.

Is globalization a progressive idea? How about cutting tax rates? De-regulation?

“3 days a week you sit in classes to learn English and math and computer skills then search for jobs the other 2 days”

The last time I was unemployed, I already had all of the above skills. I could have taught the classes you propose.

And I actually took all of the job hunting classes offered at the unemployment office. Have you been there recently?

In Washington, they already conduct work training classes for parents collecting Workfare. They are required to be there for a significant number of hours per week and are required to take training programs based on individual evaluations.

http://www.workfirst.wa.gov/about/default.asp

There are many programs available for those looking for work.

https://fortress.wa.gov/esd/worksource/StaticContent.aspx?Context=TrainingPrograms

There is nothing much offered in NYC if you have any education, its all geared to the functionally illiterate and then its not much at all. Get your GED and work at a car wash…or ramp agent or Home health aide, trucking CDL license….security guard if you have no felonies they will pay for that…

“Get your GED”

Isn’t this the minimal education you are proposing for those who speak Ebonics? Or are you proposing to turn them all into STEM graduates?

Of course, but what about those who are educated with real job skills? If we are supposed to be in lifelong training, sometimes you just dont have the money to go to a college for 2-4years, or dont want to make your situation possibly worse by taking on enormous non dischargeable debt…

So tying public assistance and Unemployment to job training so no one sits on their butts seems like a worthwhile investment for everyone. You do have to pass to keep getting benefits….

There is NO skills gap in America there is an Employer gap of giving people say 2-3 weeks to train for the job.

There has been a fundamental shift in Employers, It used to be if you applied in person that means you have initiative, today its like you are a terrorist scoping the place out.

commie talk

Couple of years ago one of my co-workers left out office to become an administrative law judge at SS deciding SSDI cases. Tough as nails woman in her 50s who was a full bird colonel in the army reserves. Retired from the regular army after full 20 years. I guarantee, no one who didn’t meet the requirements was going to get past her.

it was as crowded as a suburban Atlanta Applebee’s.

DC exists in it’s own reality. In the real world people aren’t spending all that much. Sure, the young pretty things might be hanging out at the mall, but in my experience for every pretty young thing with money there are 10 that are broke.

More like 1000:1.

Sounds like our experience in South Florida.

That was the first time we ever heard of getting car detailing as a subscription service.

Lots of new cars here….many Mercedes. Just can’t believe the jump in Mercedes SUVs. They’ve gotta be leases. But then I also see lots more 10 year old vehicles than I did in 2007/8. I’m also noticing all the beaters and know a few people keeping their vehicles together on a wing and a prayer even though they’re working full time. So it’s very split. Still can’t believe how this place empties out for school vacations. They could be visiting Cousin Billy’s house or grandma’s on the coast for all I know but my kids ask why we can’t go to some of the places their friends go…cruises, DisneyWorld, South Carolina coast, Europe, So. America, Israel. I know some of these people have multiple jobs and in most cases both parents work. It’s just that it all seems to get spent as soon as it comes in. I don’t know if there are any savings happening.

I’m surprised people are buying Merc SUVs. Everyone here wants Audi or Acura. Mercedes SUVs are apparently garbage. Perhaps they’re running a leasing special up there? But I almost never see Merc SUVs here.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/browse/suvs+50-100k+page1/

Overall, Merc is starting to be out of fashion except for the full size sedans and super lux coupes (basically the stuff that costs 6 figures).

The base model Mercedes SUVs and C-classes my wife ends up with as loaners are nothing special. The seats are where you really notice the difference.

Exactly.

That’s why Marie Antoinette didn’t get it.

“Marie Antoinette didn’t get it”

Marie Antoinette has been maligned.

From the Wikipedia entry:

Marie Antoinette was determined that her daughter should not grow up to be as haughty as her husband’s unmarried aunts. She often invited children of lower rank[6]:p.47 to come and dine with Marie-Thérèse and encouraged the child to give her toys to the poor. In contrast to her image as a materialistic queen who ignored the plight of the poor, Marie Antoinette attempted to teach her daughter about the sufferings of others. On New Year’s Day in 1784, after having some beautiful toys brought to Marie-Thérèse’s apartment, she told her:

I should have liked to have given you all these as New Year’s gifts,but the winter is very hard, there is a crowd of unhappy people who have no bread to eat, no clothes to wear, no wood to make a fire. I have given them all my money; I have none left to buy you presents, so there will be none this year.[7]

walmart is important to China’s GDP

Fixed it

Walmart is above all important to the extended Walton family’s GDP. So many multi-billionaires in one family. So many minimum-wage workers with no benefits employed at Walmart stores. It’s a microcosm of America’s vast wealth inequality.

I bet your income and wealth are justified ? It just the ones richer than you, you have problems with?

I bet your income and wealth are justified? It just the ones richer than you, you have problems with?

dang! keep rollin’ dude!

Stop being so disingenuous, Pimpster. Do you approve of the Walton family way to wealth?

Yup, he must be stupid since the Ds never give him any legitimate reasons to vote against them.

If you tilt your head back and squint your eyes, you can see it went right over your head.

But hey, thanks for proving my point.

But hey, thanks for proving my point.

Back atcha.

Once upon a time most “conservatives” were opposed to divorce. Today, many “conservative” churches allow it. It’s not even unusual to meet pastors who are in their second+ marriage (FWIW, Evangs tend to fold cultural changes into their creeds, they just trail the trends by a few decades))

I think the “folding” thing goes back to the earliest religious rules and it certainly explains the evolution of religious teachings in judeo-christian religions. The whole “Sacred and Profane” thing noted by Durkheim, where religious rules started as observations about the natural world (e.g. kosher rules reflected a crude understanding of food handling safety) but then took on entirely new meanings and became the underpinnings of religious and societal hierarchy and order.

Reagan is the only divorced man elected President.

Reagan is the only divorced man elected President.

And even way back in 1980 the religious right had no problem supporting him, even though divorce and remarriage are “unbiblical”.

The idea that kosher rules were about food safety is decades out of date. There is nothing inherently more dangerous about undercooked pork than undercooked goat. Drinking water or wine with your meat isn’t safer than drinking milk with your meat. Killing an animal in a way that gets rid of most of the blood doesn’t make the meat safer either. There are a few theories that make sense, but food saftey isn’t one of them.

It is, however, a decent explanation to use on a bunch of sceptical 11 year olds who want to know why they aren’t supposed to have a cheeseburger.

“It is, however, a decent explanation to use on a bunch of sceptical 11 year olds who want to know why they aren’t supposed to have a cheeseburger.”

Especially those for whom “God says so” no longer works.

To be fair, food safety was my example - - Durkheim looked back mostly prior to judeo christian teachings and I haven’t read that book in 10 years at this point.

Kosher is about keeping your tribe/religion together. It pretty much forces you to eat with each other, and shop at your own markets. And visit your priests to get purified, or whatever.

Paul saw the advantages of ending it.

Cool factoid, alpha. Thanks.

Even swiss bank accounts?
Money isn’t “stuff”

“money isn’t stuff” it is if you put it in your mattress.

the problem is that gasoline is a by-product of oil refining.

Reference? I don’t believe this.

We could make plenty of plastics with a LOT less refining, if we were not cracking long-chain hydrocarbons to make gasoline, and then burning it.

Um, yeah. But I just feel tingly all over when I hear Sarah Palin say “drill, baby, drill”

Reference?

Google it.

This is oil refining 101.

A barrel of oil yields these refined products (percent of barrel):

47% gasoline for use in automobiles 23% heating oil and diesel fuel 18% other products, which includes petrochemical feedstock-products derived from petroleum principally for the manufacturing of chemicals, synthetic rubber and plastics 10% jet fuel 4% propane 3% asphalt (Percentages equal more than 100 because of an approximately 5% processing gain from refining.)

Ok, I did; this data is from the CA gov:

If you add up the various categories of fuel (gas+fuel oil+jet fuel), a barrel of crude ends up being roughly 78% fuel.

Also, note: these percentages are totally driven by market demand. They can continue to crack longer-chains into shorter, depending on what the market wants/needs more (diesel/jet-fuel/gas).

Gasoline is NOT a “waste product”–it is a target product, achieved by cracking the denser, longer-chained hydrocarbons.

In conclusion, based on my googling, I believe that your thesis about gasoline being a waste product is 100% full of cr@p.

Feel free to link to a credible source if you believe otherwise.

From: http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/gasoline/whats_in_barrel_oil.html

Product Percent of Total
Finished Motor Gasoline 51.4%
Distillate Fuel Oil 15.3%
Jet Fuel 12.3%
Still Gas 5.4%
Marketable Coke 5.0%
Residual Fuel Oil 3.3%
Liquefied Refinery Gas 2.8%
Asphalt and Road Oil 1.7%
Other Refined Products 1.5%
Lubricants 0.9%

Imagine the reaction of liberals if Rush Limbaugh took 100s of millions of dollars in tax payer dollars.

But the ultra left wing propaganda of NPR is aok to support with taxpayer money…

Because you agree with it.

The hypocrisy of the progressives

So I love NPR and wholeheartedly agree with it, yet criticize them for weak reporting on a regular basis and also think they should consider going completely private.

OK then.

Imagine the reaction of liberals if Rush Limbaugh took 100s of millions of dollars in tax payer dollars”

You mean he doesn’t?

Joe:

It Never was and Never has been public radio, the public is barred form using the facilities.

Its Government controlled radio…for the 1%. I would stop all funding and force them to give back some licenses where they are just repeater stations with nothing live at all.

I just an old school radio guy who believes the public should be allowed to use the public airwaves, and NPR is a greedy socialist pig hogging up all the best frequencies so no one else can broadcast…

yet criticize them for weak reporting on a regular basis

NPR doesn’t own the licenses, dj. It is a network. The individual stations who actually broadcast the shows deal with the licenses. And WNYC which is your local NPR affiliated station? It BOUGHT its license from New York City back in the 90’s.

Polly Yes the states own the licenses and all the translators, hence Government controlled radio….

So we need to bankrupt them so at least some of the licenses can go back to the public to use.

What’s wrong with community radio anyway?

Here is what i am talking about 98,000 watt “public” stations in south carolina,

http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WNSC-FM
http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WRJA-FM
http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WLTR-FM

all covering a lot of the same area…..keeps all the riff raff of the air

then a 97,000 watt station in charleston…
http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WSCI-FM

a 47,000 watt in beaufort
http://www.radio-locator.com/info/WJWJ-FM

All to keep the community off the PUBLIC airwaves….and this happens in a lot of states

There you go again, insinuating that RAL couldn’t find buildable lots in Potero or Pac Heights for 5k.

LIES!

How Easter’s special day came to be conflated with a Christian feast day is a curious co-optation indeed.

Paul again. He knew how to grow a business. Don’t end a popular holiday, just tell everyone it’s actually in honor of your new god, not the old one they always thought they were honoring.

I think it’s because she writes for WSJ now. I have definitely seen her name as a contributer to WSJ stories, if not in the byline itself. I shuddered when I saw that. The Murdoch-ization of WSJ has been completed.