Bits Bucket for June 19, 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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<Maybe insurers are saying they don’t want to insure you in that location anymore?
Unnatural Disaster
How mortgage servicers are strong-arming the victims of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado (among others)
JUNE 17, 2013
BY DAVID DAYEN
On May 20, a massive EF5 tornado whipped through heavily populated Moore, Oklahoma, killing 24 and injuring nearly 400. That tragedy has now shifted into the drudgery of recovery. According to the state’s Insurance Department, claims from the tornado in Moore and a subsequent twister in the city of El Reno have topped 60,000. The damage is expected to reach $2 billion.
But residents of Moore may be shocked when they receive their insurance checks in the coming weeks. Like survivors of previous natural disasters, they will encounter a major obstacle to rebuilding their homes and putting the catastrophe behind them: their mortgage servicer. Turns out the same companies that ripped off homeowners during the foreclosure crisis are, after disasters like the Moore tornado, withholding repair money, often to force homeowners to use the proceeds to pay their mortgage.
The key issue concerns the standard practice for large homeowner’s insurance claims. As laid out in the fine print of mortgage and insurance contracts, the insurance company will make out the check jointly to the homeowner and the homeowner’s mortgage servicer. If the homeowner has a second mortgage on the home with a different servicer, the insurer writes a three-party check. This is intended to protect the lender if the house simply cannot be rebuilt, at which point the proceeds from the insurance claim can get used to pay off the loan. But in all other cases, it means that the homeowner must secure the endorsement of the check from the servicer(s) before they can get the money to pay for repairs.
Only the most fastidious of homeowners know this. The rest learn the hard way—like the residents of Bastrop, Texas. The most destructive wildfires in Texas history tore through the town in September 2011 and destroyed 1,691 homes. Most of these were total losses, and the insurance claims should have gone toward rebuilding. But a survey by the nonprofit consumer advocacy group United Policyholders found that over one-third of respondents were told by mortgage servicers that they would only release funds if the homeowner used them to pay off or pay down their mortgage, rather than make repairs. Though United Policyholders executive director Amy Bach hadn’t seen such a scenario in her 21 years of advocacy, “It made me think that the problem is more common than I realized,” she said. “It’s not like Bastrop is the only time lenders ever overreached.”
Standard mortgages typically say that insurance claims should be used to rebuild, as they are intended to return the home to an undamaged state. Federal regulators routinely put out guidelines asserting that servicers may not withhold policy claims to cover mortgage balances “without the written consent” of the homeowner. But that language offers ample wiggle room for servicers to try to obtain written consent, simply by refusing to release repair funds any other way. And homeowners often don’t know any better. “When a guy in a nice suit and tie tells you that you need to pay down your mortgage, you do it,” said Michael Figgins, executive director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma.
If the homeowner happens to be in foreclosure at the time of the disaster, the rules get even more abstract. In that case, many insurers write claim checks directly to the servicers. Michael Northagen of Wells Fargo Mortgage acknowledged last year that delinquent borrowers are “handled on a case-by-case basis,” and in some cases, the servicer will ask for insurance payments to be applied to the loan balance. A statement from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan in February didn’t give much comfort. “It’s critical that banks become partners in recovery and make sure that insurance payments are available to rebuild damaged properties and are not misapplied to pay off outstanding loan balances,” said Donovan, which sounded more like pleading than a confident assertion of law.
Link to follow.
First rule of contract law: Read the contract. Read every word of the contract.
Oops…I see I typed too soon.
And I agree, it is always critical to read the fine print in insurance contracts, to figure out how the attorneys have worded it to legally rip you off in a moment of need.
Second rule of contract law:
Just because a clause hasn’t been exercised to protect the interests of the party that put it there in the past, is no reason to assume it will never be used for that purpose. Also, what the party that put it there considers “in their interests” can change.
If I find this garbage in my mortgage contract, how would I go about changing mortgage companies? I suppose I could refi?
If it is there, you are stuck with it for as long as you are a party to the contract. So, yes, refinnacing (replacing your old contract with a new one) is the only way to get out of it. Don’t expect that another company will offer you a contract without that clause in it. They become standard practices almost as quickly as the lawyers think of them.
But check out if Maryland has any consumer protection rules that would prevent them from doing what was described here. I don’t know that it does, but it might.
You could always try crossing out that part of the contract before you sign. Sometimes they don’t notice. I’ve done it.
I think both parties have to initial any changes to the contract document for the change to the basic document to be valid.
“Turns out the same companies that ripped off homeowners during the foreclosure crisis are, after disasters like the Moore tornado, withholding repair money, often to force homeowners to use the proceeds to pay their mortgage.”
It sounds illegal, but then so do many other standard operating procedures of FIRE sector firms these days.
It sounds illegal,
You seem to have a misunderstanding that homeowner’s insurance exists to protect the homeowner; it is actually there to protect the bank’s collateral.
In this example, it is serving its most basic function.
You seem to have a misunderstanding that homeowner’s insurance exists to protect the homeowner; it is actually there to protect the bank’s collateral.
Yes, same as full coverage car insurance. I’m surprised that anyone is surprised. It’s not your house…it’s the bank’s house until you finish paying for it.
You take care of the politicians, they take care of you.
And by “take care”, I mean “pay”.
This is what gets me the most…almost Nobody In America knows how to use the internet for its intended purpose RESEARCH…..yup ask a question and find the answer……they never teach people this in school…
“When a guy in a nice suit and tie tells you that you need to pay down your mortgage, you do it,”
I don’t know why people can’t just read the flippin’ documents. I’ve po’d more than a few lawyers at closing as I’ve sat there and read every single word. I’m telling you, real estate attorneys are part of the industry. They are not screening situations for you. They’re streamlining the process to get ‘er done.
As Polly says, ALL the banks put this in. So what difference does it make if I DO read the flippin’ documents and find this clause? Do I walk away from the table and threaten to take my mortgage business elsewhere? Where to? They ALL put this clause in.
Sure, you have the option of not taking out a mortgage from anyone.
If you chose to knowingly enter into the contract regardless, then you have no right to b!tch about it later.
I suppose the “free market” solution is for people to be made aware of clauses like this, to force mortgage companies to leave the clause out to attract more customers.
They have us over a barrell, I suppose. RAL will have a lauging fit over this, but in a way, J6Ps are almost forced to buy a house rather than rent, IF they want to retire with the security of not paying rent when they have little income.
Yes, I know there are ways around this (trailers, live with kids, save up and buy a cheaper house on retirement) but those are not easy options.
Yes, I know there are ways around this (trailers, live with kids, save up and buy a cheaper house on retirement) but those are not easy options.
But it’s that need for easy options that being used to convince people to act against their own interests. Sometimes acting in our own best interest isn’t easy. They don’t want it to be easy…they want us to sigh and shrug and put the chains on ourselves and say “what can you do”?
“They have us over a barrell, I suppose.”
No they don’t. At least they did not make you lie down on it. How do people with half your income manage to stay alive without mortgaging a $300,000 house? The truth is you signed the contract to make a profit off of “them”. Banks are predators, if you sign your life over to them don’t be outraged that they will abuse you. They have a right to do so.
We tried to read the fine print in escrow docs,
but of course time restraint, and the length of
the clauses made it more of a cursory glance.
I assume the more there is, is a deterrent in
itself to fine tooth comb it.
After 2 hours, we needed a nap.
Some “surprises” of the natural disasters
origin got sprung on us the last minute.
The REIC is a dragon of sorts. It’s not if, but when.
but of course time restraint, and the length of
the clauses made it more of a cursory glance.
I tell closing agents that I will need plenty of time, and adamantly resist any pressure to sign before I am satisfied that I have understood the contract.
If your document review was “more of a cursory glance”, then you have only yourself to blame.
I tell closing agents that I will need plenty of time
What about having them forward you the unsigned docs a few days before? I don’t want to sit in the title office and read that stuff. I’d rather do it in the comfort of my house. Seems like it would be a win-win.
Actually, why not a week before? Depending on the nature of the transaction, I might want a RE attorney to look it over as well.
Unless you wrote special conditions into your offer, aren’t you already obliged to sign, no matter the terms?
Garbage. Lots of kids get taught in school how to do internet research. My brother did it when he was a teacher.
Most dont Polly….its called Homework……and most people today are so clueless because they are always texting and using I-phones…
Steve Jobs said smart phones dumb you down because you are always using apps and not search.
You’ve said this before, dj and you are just as wrong about this as you are about almost everything. You don’t have to use a computer instead of a smart phone while hanging out with your friends to learn how to do internet research in school. Schools teach it. Some people are better at it than others. A lot don’t bother because they don’t care. Reading comprehension is likely to be a bigger barrier than the ability to look something up on the computer.
I work with children with autism. I even help children with pretty severe intellectual disabilities learn how to do research on the internet. I agree with Polly; you have no idea what you’re talking about.
You missed the whole point….if you dont revolve your life around the smartphone you’ll have plenty of spare time to be good at internet research.
Makes sense. If the value of the house is like way less than the outstanding balance of the loan, then the bank would probably lose less money by taking the insurance and letting the house rot.
Someone gets it.
The disaster is actually a get-out-of-jail-free card for the lender in this instance. They had a mortgage that was risky, because the collateral was worth way less than the mortgage balance; after the insurance pays off the mortgage, their risk profile has improved.
Windfall by disaster…
I don’t understand why people are up-in-arms about this.
If you held the mortgage on a property that was underwater, would you prefer that an overly-generous insurance settlement pay down the mortgage, or rebuild the property that you would _still_ be underwater on?
The mortgage holder has a choice; with a non-underwater property, their incentives lie more in the direction of repair; with a significant fraction of mortgages underwater now, their incentive are different.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/113496/moore-oklahoma-tornado-victims-strong-armed-mortgage-servicers#
Link to New Republic story on insurance payments going directly to mortgage payoff or paydown before repairs.
a house will bring you fortunes untold by modern history.
If you want to know how the rebubble will play out, you guys should all go to http://www.gipsyfortuneteller.com/. It’s a truly psychic server. I go there all the time. There is NO WAY it can be wrong. No, I did not get paid to post this link.
bloomibergi has a slideshow on the cost of selling a house.
Breakdown:
Realtor: 5.4%
PODs: ~$180/month + ~50 pick-up
Declutter containers: $400
Paint: $1000
Staging: 0.5-1% (realtor may pay for this)
Inspection: $500
Transfer tax: ~1% depending on state
Title insurance ~$1250
HOA exit fees $250
For a $200K house, that adds up to ~$18K.
Doesn’t include overlapping mortgages or moving costs.
What a joke.
The last time we moved across town it cost less than $500. Our previous cross country move was about $3,000, most of which we deducted on our federal taxes.
“~$18K”
Sounds like great economic stimulus…out of the pockets of the buyer and seller, into the economy!
By way of comparison, the cost of a sales transaction on a home priced lower than any around San Diego County equals over a year’s rent on most rental properties.
And I’m missing the lender’s share in your itemization of costs (points + origination fees). Don’t bother claiming that those are borne by the buyer, as actually one cannot say without further analysis how buyers and sellers share transaction costs. For instance, a buyer who is forced to pay steep fees up front through the nose will be able to afford a lower purchase price, denting the seller’s profit in selling.
- 5.4% commission? Is this 1992? Anyone who pays more than 4% is getting ripped off
- Sellers don’t pay for inspections, buyers do.
- $1000 for paint? Are they painting the entire house? That’s 40-50 gallons
- Staging? Not for a $200K house.
- Transfer tax? That’s tax deductible, so take 30% off.
- Declutter containers? Ohhhh…kay. Whatever those are.
- Title Insurance is not $1250 for a $200K house.
- Overlapping mortgages? Not really. Mortgages start the month after move in so unless there’s a 2 month overlap betwee buying and selling this isn’t a cost.
- Moving costs….I guess moving costs for renters is free?
But “houses can’t be built for$55 per square right Slithers?
And just yesterday you had the audacity to tell everyone “you can’t have it both ways”.
You’re a fraud Slithers.
“You’re a fraud”
+1
Please don’t feed the troll.
“Sellers don’t pay for inspections, buyers do.”
Buyers and sellers share all transaction costs, in an allocation which cannot be determined without careful analysis. For instance, the amount a buyer has to pay for an inspection and all the other marginally necessary services on the move-in list will have that much less money available to pay for a downpayment. Since downpayments are leveraged against the purchase price at 100 to 3.5 for an FHA borrower, the effect of all these piddling closing costs on the seller may be larger than they appear at first glance.
On a $200K house, closing costs for the buyer adds up to $1500-2000. For the seller about $8-10k including real estate agent costs. If you guys think sellers are paying $18K to sell a $200K house, you’re living in an alternate reality.
Title fees are $2-3k alone Slithers.
Time to go back to your other username.
- Declutter containers? Ohhhh…kay. Whatever those are.
I’ve always found a roll of Hefty lawn bags to do a fine job of containing the cr@p that I’m hauling to Goodwill… They’re very cost-effective, too.
Oh…sounds like the misunderstanding is that you think they’re actually going to get rid of the stuff.
They charge us 7% here. You can probably negotiate down 50 points but that’s it. Most of it goes to the brokerage houses. Each realtor (buyer/seller) makes 1.75%.
HOA exit fees?
Why I’d rather take myself out than live in an association.
Alas, the “buyer” may want you to make concessions, like repairs, despite the fact that they are offering a fraction of “what you need”.
Carry the mortgage on a house for a year or two after you move to that new jb, and the whole perspective changes.
How come that doesn’t take into account the equity being paid off while the person is living in this house? That might take a dent out of that $18k thrown away while closing on the house.
And who in the world stages a $200k house? And who puts money into the house before selling? A declutter container can be used to throw away the junk once a week before leaving. Most people call that a trashcan.
When we bought we paid for inspections, not the seller or bank. Has the person writing that article breakdown ever bought and sold a house?
“How come that doesn’t take into account the equity being paid off while the person is living in this house?”
LOLZ
WTF is this supposed to mean?
And ‘equity’ is a fallacy.
Put down the burger and the fries, or else your friends will conclude you are diseased.
And in case you didn’t realize, scientific findings are now subject to vote, at least according to the AMA.
If this happened in Bloomberg’s NYC she would be thrown in jail:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sarah-palin-drinks-from-big-gulp-during-cpac-speech/2013/03/16/b8fa03d6-8e5a-11e2-b63f-f53fb9f2fcb4_video.html
Dang…I felt something twitch.
I went over to carls jr yesterday and some of the value meals are > 8 federal reserve notes. Inflation is tame, move along.
That’s called price fixing.
Learn the difference.
I haven’t been there in ages. How much are they charging for the “$6 burger” these days?” Has it shrunk or does it now actually cost $6 or more?
It’s still $6.
For that price, SmashBurger is better.
I burned out on Smashburger burgers pretty quickly, but I still like the chicken sandwiches.
The $6 Burger used to be about $3, it’s selling point was that it was a good as a $6 burger at a place like Red Robin. Of course the Red Robin burger now costs $9, so I guess they relabel it the “9 dollar burger”.
Try Mc. D’s. Their cheeseburgers are designed to be eaten while driving. You save money and time. They have no nutrients, but that’s OK. You’re already grown, you don’t really nutrients anymore.
They have no nutrients, but that’s OK. You’re already grown, you don’t really nutrients anymore.
Love it! I’d retweet it if this were Twitter.
I went over to carls jr yesterday and some of the value meals are > 8 federal reserve notes. Inflation is tame, move along.
Things were better back in the day
That’s hilarious.
Well at least we know where this guy stands. I picked out a couple fun paragraphs.
Ryanair Orders 175 Boeings, but CEO Wants More Seats, Less Baggage
By: Kiran Moodley | Special to CNBC.com
“While Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary finalized an order for 175 Boeing 737-800 aircraft at the Paris Air Show - Boeing’s largest ever firm order from a European airline – he remained disappointed that neither Boeing nor Airbus could offer him a few more seats on their single-aisle aircraft to allow for cheaper fares.
“They have regulatory issues, licensing issues, emergency evacuation issues, there are also technical issues, which I’ll confess I don’t really understand,” he said, explaining why Boeing could not offer him 195 seats and one less toilet on board. “But you know, it seems to me a very simple thing: take out a couple of toilets and stick in six extra seats; let’s do it today.
O’Leary reiterated his commitment to eventually offering trans-Atlantic flights.
“We charge for checked-in bags not because we want the money. We just don’t want the bloody bags,” O’Leary said. “If we can drive that down to zero and have no checked-in bags at all, it would significantly speed up our turnaround and it would make it much easier for passengers to get through airports because they won’t have to hang around the check-in desk and carousels. We’d also have lighter aircraft consuming less fuel.
“It’s a self-fulfilling sweet spot: if we could get rid of people’s bags they would have lower fares, and we’d make a fortune.”
—————–
Love it. Get rid of the lavs, and call people’s possessions “bloody” things that aren’t worthy of traveling on the plane. And this is Europe’s “favorite” airline?
I’ll stay home and watch Rick Steve’s Europe, thank you very much.
RyanAir is a budget air and may of its destinations are couple of hrs or less. There’s a proliferation of budget airs in Asia but nobody told them that budget air doesn’t mean you can be late couple hrs or more on a regular basis.
Yeah it’s Europe’s favorite airline since the fares are ridiculously low. Return flights for under $100 including tax.
We’re talking about a flight from London to Paris here or Dublin to Munich, not a 16 hour T-PAC flight. You can live without having 3 bathrooms on the flight. And for a weekend getaway, you really shouldn’t be checking bags either. Actually you shouldn’t ever check luggage. If you can’t fit it in a carry on, leave it at home.
Interesting thought. Problem is, people need the stuff in those bags. I wonder if there would be enough extra profit in not flying the bags with the people that it could justify another way of getting the bags to them at their destination? Like maybe using a FedEx cargo plane system of shipping and delivering the bags separate from the travelers? If it could be absolutely dead reliable…
Carry on works for short weekend trips, and IIRC, Ryan charges you for any carry on larger than a knapsack.
According to the article, 22% of the profit comes from the bag fees. So they would have to eliminate almost all the bags just to recoup that 22%. Probably not worth the hassle of a separate system.
The article said that this b@st@rd CEO was asking for larger overhead compartments. He probably wants passengers to be their own baggage handlers so he can save on employees and those little trucks. OR, in the back of his mind, the real reason to eliminate checked bags is to fit more passengers in the steerag… cargo hold.
And this is Europe’s “favorite” airline?
My daughter’s traveled on Ryan Air a few times. Yes, it’s dirt cheap, it makes our budget airlines look expensive. They also nickel and dime you for everything and the airports they serve are not what would be called “convenient”. She said that the bus ride into Paris from the boondocks French airport where they dumped her cost more than the airfare. It would be like booking a flight to LA and landing in Palm Springs.
Ryanair just made all of their pilots “independent contractors”.
Which would be fine, except they are contractually obligated to be available to fly for Ryanair 24/7/365. Which means that the only pilots Ryanair will be able to retain are the bottom feeders.
(The airlines are starting to recall a bunch of pilots. Three slots have opened up in the local corporate market in just the past couple of weeks. Absolutely NO pilot will stay an independent contractor, given any semblance of choice)
“…..technical issues I don’t really understand.”
Sure you understand them. You just don’t want to comply with them.
This is the kind of a-hole that would fly the Atlantic in single engine airplanes, or eliminate seats and have all of the passengers standing, if “excessive regulation” didn’t require it.
It will seem like a good idea until something bad happens. Just hope that you aren’t on the airplane when it does.
Scratch another airline off the list of those I would ever fly.
speaking of flying, we fly into o’hare this friday. will take some pics of the luxurious onwentsia dining room and clubhouse to which you were denied entry.
Good to know. I’ll be avoiding RyanAir.
It probably figures that if you work for a “no-frills” airline you get few frills yourself.
For hundreds of Ryanair pilots, that means no sick pay, paid holiday or redundancy rights.
That’s because they’re classed as self-employed, working for their own one-man companies.
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2010/10/guess-which-airline-cuts-costs.html
“She said that the bus ride into Paris from the boondocks French airport where they dumped her cost more than the airfare.”
EasyJet flies into most airports that RyanAir does, and EasyJet has cheap shuttles (vans) from many of the airports to the main cities served by the airports. We flew into London Stansted w/Ryan and hopped on the EasyJet shuttle into downtown London for 2 pounds. I should also add that the airfare was $.01 (yes, one cent) plus $20 tax. So technically yes, the shuttle ride was more expensive than the flight, but that was OK! This was ‘08 and I don’t know if Ryan still has those one-cent flights, but I wouldn’t be surprised. If you’re patient and have a loose schedule, you can fly around Europe for an obscenely low cost.
Wall Street Journal - America’s Assimilating Hispanics:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324787004578495393859698964.html
The reader comments are enlightening.
This article is beyond excellent.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/351213/illegal-immigration-elite-illiberality-victor-davis-hanson
It’s as I said before, foreign populations are being brought in to compete with the native population.
What’s amusing is to see what happens when the agriculture labor starts looking for their payoff. I can understand the point of view: We sweated and stooped in the sun for you, we deserve a raise.
Good luck with that. One of the mestizos out of Imokalee here in Florida decided to organize a protest. I think they wanted some miniscule penny a pound quota raise. His direct employer (some grower or picking broker) told him to stuff it, so the guy decided to protest to the end buyer, Publix. Organized a march all the way from Ft. Myers to Lakeland, where the HQ of Publix is. It was all televised and reported on, banners waving, si se puede and all that.
All he and his gang got for their troubles was blisters on their feet, some nice TV coverage and a very gracious statement from Publix referring them back to their direct employer. Truly, it wasn’t Publix’s responsiblity, and that was the stupidity of the endeavor. The middleman is the one that needs to pay more. The protestors picked the wrong target.
It’s beginnning to dawn on them what the score is. This is not the days of Cesar Chavez. If they don’t want to work for the pay, too bad, get yourself a mate, splat out some kids, suck off the American taxpayer and get on the dole, get something where you get paid under the table and let Big Ag bring in more waves of stoop labor. Plenty more where you came from, amigo.
Here’s another anecdote from the front lines: a few weeks ago I had a conversation with a local financial services professional who has been struggling to build a practice and clientele. He’s in that zone where he has to get his clients, and then perform the work and while he’s doing the work for them, there’s no new clients coming in. So he took on a wise young bilingual Latina with a degree, who brought in a lot of business from the Hispanic community. Guy was in seventh heaven and all on his high horse about how Anglos have no work ethic and they don’t have the added value of another language and blah, blah.
The problem was, the Latina wanted to get paid more for bringing in all that business and for the added value of being bilingual. I don’t blame her. He didn’t want to pay. So she left, taking all the clients she’d brought in, with her. And also a couple of existing clients. Ooopsie! He was pretty upset.
He’s out there beating the bushes again.
Jose,
That’s not an “illegals are bad” story, that’s a “this guy is a bad businessman” story.
If one of your employees is bringing in a lot of business and you don’t reward that employee, he/she will go somewhere else. Latina or Anglo, uni-lingual or bilingual.
“That’s not an “illegals are bad” story, that’s a “this guy is a bad businessman” story.”
Sorry, should have clarified, that actually was my point. (and she wasn’t an illegal, btw). To elaborate, many of the small business people here in this part of Florida are in a hot swivet about hiring “bilingual” employees, thinking that’s the key to capturing another market segment. What they’re not getting is that these employees expect to be paid well for their value added.
These guys are under the mistaken conception that if they hire a Hispanic, they’ll get more business, a cheaper employee and someone who will give them undying loyalty to the point of indentured servitude because they “were given a chance”. And they’ll tell you how much better these employees are, until the reality sets in and the honeymoon is over. As I’ve said before, there’s a reason small business remains small. But these small business owners think they’re aping their betters.
It has been interesting to follow trends on various hiring websites. It’s gone from “Bilingual a Must!”, to “Bilingual Preferred, but not Required” to “just want someone reliable”.
I’ve got tales of some other small businesses that tried this. They can’t keep their biligual employees, and then you start hearing the same complaining that you heard about their Anglo employees, but with a cultural twist, all of a sudden the Hispanics are the ones with no work ethic and they don’t show up on time, and they’ve always got family problems and blah, blah.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
The real truth is, they don’t want to pay them, and I really think some of these “small” business people thought the business was going to flow like milk and honey in the promised land.
Oh, wait, you mean these people want to get PAID? Oh, the horror.
How many non-English speaking customers are going to be worth the trouble in the first place?
Hanson’s essay completely glosses over the essential unfairness to legitimate immigrants who’ve gone to great lengths to comply with the rules, only to see cheaters rewarded for making fools of them.
The parallels to the housing bubble are troubling.
Hanson’s essay completely glosses over the essential unfairness to legitimate immigrants
Imagine what would happen when there are additional 50 million applications to what already is a logjam?
Well, if those additional applications are each accompanied by a non-refundable $1,500 cashier’s check, (as has been suggested) it might be worthwhile to consider….
refundable $1,500 cashier’s check, (as has been suggested)
Soon Obama and Democrats will propose a loan and subsequent loan forgivness for the ICE applications.
We sweated and stooped in the sun for you, we deserve a raise.
They’re not the only people who want a raise.
glassdoor has been a real eye opener for me. They send out blastograms with jobs opening form various mid to large sized employers. So I check on them on glassdoor, where employees can post their “reviews” of their employers. Most look like this: “Nice place to work, but don’t expect a pay raise.”
I’ve seen that. Indeed.com also has employee reviews, and you’re right, they’re real eye-openers. One of the beauties of the internet is that a potential employee can check these things out before they decide to go forward with an application or recruitement cycle.
Foreign labor, both legal and illegal, sells themselves on the undercutting, we’re cheaper model. They’re willing to exploit themselves. But they really only mean to use this as an “in”. The assumption is made that once they’re in, they can ask for more later on. And what they’re running up against is that since they’ve been willing to exploit themselves up front, it’s pretty difficult to do an about face and ask for more money down the road. They’re not going to get it.
Agree on Glassdoor being a great resource, saved me from interviewing with a rotten employer. All that is required for full access is to write a employer review yourself which was actually enjoyable. Some reviews are clearly from malcontents or shills but if you read a bunch for a given employer you can get a good general idea on how a company treats its employees. FWIW I also sometimes see job listings there that are not on Monster, craigslist,etc…
For J6P, trying to get a raise is generally seen as some damn socialist/commie act.
Eco, you are correct. That would be THEFT from the Producers.
For J6P, trying to get a raise is generally seen as some damn socialist/commie act.
You remind me of a phone interview I had Friday night. They wanted to talk about a worker bee position, I wanted to talk about the open management position they had above that same worker bee. But even though I’m perfect for it except for not already being a manager, that’s not enough. So my position that unless I see a clear path to management or a ridiculous amount of money I’m already perfectly happy where I am was definitely seen as uppity and/or socialist/commie.
Hanson is right on the money
When I talk about “coastal elitism”, his article summarizes exactly what I mean.
The article did cover that quite nicely.
I am for legalizing these people but not making them citizen. One thing kind of amusing to see the absolute stupidity of the republican elites in this issue.
What is the practical difference between legalization and citizenship? I thought the main point of contention was taking American jobs and depressing wages. You don’t need to be a citizen to do that.
One can vote.
Heh, they vote anyway. Seriously.
Heh, they vote anyway. Seriously.
I agree.
It is no less than slavery to allow people in the country for the sole purpose of working, but not voting. Anyone who works in this country should be allowed to vote. If you are not allowed to vote here, then you should not be allowed to work here.
It is no less than slavery to allow people in the country for the sole purpose of working, but not voting. Anyone who works in this country should be allowed to vote. If you are not allowed to vote here, then you should not be allowed to work here.
How many green card holders in this country work and vote in this country? As a matter of fact millions of them have chose not to be a citizen.
Homie:
Yes, and I don’t think we should be doing it that way.
“I am for legalizing these people but not making them citizen”
Courts will never allow this to happen though. Let’s say the amnesty bill does that. Legalizes them but says they can’t ever become citizens. About 3 seconds after the ink is dry on Obama’s signature, the ACLU / MALDEF / LA RAZA lawsuits will be filed claiming discrimination or a violation of some right. Same thing with the idea of giving them citizenship but not the right to vote….it would be overturned 9-0 by SCOTUS. Same with not allowing them to receive benefits once they become legalized. The courts will never allow a Class 1, Class 2 type of citizenship status to stand.
They will become full fledged citizens who will vote for the Democrat Party by 80-20 (if the GOP is lucky). And they will be eligible for every welfare benefit as well.
And the Republican Party will cease to exist in about 15 years. It makes perfect sense why Democrats want this to happen. For the life of me I cannot understand why Republicans want this to happen.
For the life of me I cannot understand why Republicans want this to happen.
McCain, Flake, Rubio etc. have no choice but to pander to hispanics because of the states they belong too. They think they will up the hispanic votes to 30% and with with 70% white votes, they are guaranteed to be senators for life I suppose.
Don’t know about others. May be they like brown people? A naturally tanned skin is a desired skin color for many whites.
Courts will never allow this to happen though
Yea I fear that too but I suppose you can make it instead of 5 yrs as legal resident make it 20 yrs to apply for a citizenship and tough citizenship exams, etc.
I can’t wait for the first political shill phone call that comes in during an election season. My response will be that there must be some mistake, I’m not part of the Hispanic vote, you must have reached me in error.
“McCain, Flake, Rubio etc. have no choice but to pander to hispanics because of the states they belong too. They think they will up the hispanic votes to 30% and with with 70% white votes, they are guaranteed to be senators for life I suppose. ”
That’s short term stupid math on the part of Flake/Rubio (McCain is what 90 years old so he doesn’t care about the long term).
AZ will become majority Hispanic soon with amnesty. Getting 70% of the minority white vote and 30% of the majority Hispanic vote won’t add up to a victory.
And the Republican Party will cease to exist in about 15 years.
Nah, it or some replacement for it will always be in the 49.9/50.1% fight. But adjustments will have to be made.
“Nah, it or some replacement for it will always be in the 49.9/50.1% fight. But adjustments will have to be made.”
In CA the GOP is for all intents and purposes a non-entity. Why do you think the same can’t happen nationally? When Texas becomes majority Hispanic and a blue state, the GOP will be finished as a national party. It may still exist and elect a handful of senators from Montana or Idaho, but it will never be a governing party again.
For the life of me I cannot understand why Republicans want this to happen.
Because they cannot see past the short term labor savings. And 20 years from now it will be “someone else’s problem”
Right on, Colorado.
It won’t hurt my feelings if the Republican party goes extinct. It deserves to.
Courts will never allow this to happen though. Let’s say the amnesty bill does that. Legalizes them but says they can’t ever become citizens. About 3 seconds after the ink is dry on Obama’s signature, the ACLU / MALDEF / LA RAZA lawsuits will be filed claiming discrimination or a violation of some right. Same thing with the idea of giving them citizenship but not the right to vote….it would be overturned 9-0 by SCOTUS. Same with not allowing them to receive benefits once they become legalized. The courts will never allow a Class 1, Class 2 type of citizenship status to stand.
You’re certainly correct about the second half of that statement. The constitution would have to be amended to disallow certain citizens from voting.
On the other hand, it would be quite possible to hand out green cards to millions of current illegals without giving them the option to become citizens. It would be a nasty thing to do, but it could be done.
“On the other hand, it would be quite possible to hand out green cards to millions of current illegals without giving them the option to become citizens. It would be a nasty thing to do, but it could be done.”
No way courts would let that stand. It would be 1st and 2nd class permanent residency. Only way you do this is to now allow ANY green card holders to become citizens for a set period of time. But you can’t say Jose and Juan from Mexico, you get a green card, but you can’t even be a citizen, while Joseph and John from Canada, you get a green card and can become citizens in a few years if you so choose. Absolutely 0% chance of this ever being upheld by the courts,
Why do you think the same can’t happen nationally?
Because once the Rs can’t compete nationally they will adjust their strategy, or be replaced. And they’ll choose to adjust even if the deep red state base doesn’t like it.
On the other hand, it would be quite possible to hand out green cards to millions of current illegals without giving them the option to become citizens. It would be a nasty thing to do, but it could be done.
Any nastier than the current situation?
“Because once the Rs can’t compete nationally they will adjust their strategy, or be replaced. And they’ll choose to adjust even if the deep red state base doesn’t like it.”
So our options will be the far left Democrat Party OR the just a little left Republican Party. Oh goodie.
Spoken like a true wingnut who thinks anything left of Genghis Khan is Marxist.
So our options will be the far left Democrat Party OR the just a little left Republican Party. Oh goodie.
I’m sure there will be a third party that will cater to the shrinking right wing demographic. It won’t win any elections, but it will exist.
So our options will be the far left Democrat Party OR the just a little left Republican Party. Oh goodie.
That’s how it looks from the far edge, I’m sure.
And there will be third parties for those folks that will continue to be as irrelevant as always.
But all that assumes that things stumble along more or less as they have in the past. A true black swan could bring real change for a while before we settle back into the 49.9/50.1 system we know and love.
On the other hand, it would be quite possible to hand out green cards to millions of current illegals without giving them the option to become citizens. It would be a nasty thing to do, but it could be done.
Any nastier than the current situation?
No, it would be less than nasty than what we currently have. Employers can bully and abuse illegal workers in a way that is not possible with workers who are legal residents. So I guess that it would be a slight improvement to give those illegals green cards without the possibility of citizenship.
On the other hand, I don’t think that that option is currently being considered in Congress, so this is a theoretical discussion.
So our options will be the far left Democrat Party OR the just a little left Republican Party. Oh goodie.
You’ve got that completely backwards, Smithers. If you look at the opinion polls that show the policies that the American people would like to see enacted, you’d have to conclude that what we have is a somewhat conservative D party and an extremely right-wing R party.
Smithers -
What’s the difference? Have you conveniently forgotten that the last republican president ran up the largest deficit in human history(at the time)?
Or are you one of the ones for whom “it’s ok when OUR guy does it,” but not ok when president darkie mcdarkenstein does it(quote from John Stewart)?
At least have some consistency.
I’d say the first thing is to eliminate all interpreters from the immigration process….if you cant fill out the forms in English and talk to a judge in English…then you cant stay here….
Goon:
Off the record, employers will admit they are reluctant to hire jobless African-American youths, although the black community is suffering historic levels of unemployment.
So where is Jesse Al Maxine???????
Almost every aspect of illegal immigration is illiberal to the core. Respect for the law?
I think the black leadership has accepted the fact that they need more hispanics to further the black cause. LOL
homie:
They know those people wont work…..happened after Katrina…why didn’t anyone have a march for JOBS?
Instead they brought in 15,000 illegals …or why would they be advertising in NYC $12 hr starting wages in a McD’s must speak spanish in New Orleans? ……..plus some offered free fema housing too…
There’s so much lipstick on that pig, Revlon stock must be skyrocketing.
Keep polishing those turds, WSJ!
VIVA OBAMA!!
SI SE PUEDE!!
You all voted for the Hope and the Change. Well now you’re getting it nice and good.
Slithers:
Romney wanted to import the entire country of Mexico into the USA, but only between the hours of 7AM and 3PM PST, M-F.
Analyst,
You voted for it, now you get to live it. But go ahead and make yourself feel better by blaming Romney. I suppose it’s an improvement over blaming Bush. Still pathetic, but at least something new and refreshing.
Slithers:
Who did you vote for? If you voted for Mitt Romney, then you did not attempt to make the world better than it is today. You act as if there were some alternative available that would have prevented all this from going down.
Remember: Republicans love illegal labor.
Not just illegal labor, but sending out jobs to communists countries while blaming anyone trying to protect American jobs a commie.
You really can’t top that kind of insanity.
And if you voted for Ron Paul and Gary Johnson, you’re even worse because those votes were “stolen” from Romney.
Yes, Smithers actually said that. Sigh, looser.
while blaming anyone trying to protect American jobs a commie.
… and calling anyone laid off from one of those jobs as the 47% and the free sh*t army and lazy bums who aren’t willing to work for minimum wage; or not willing to work for free as an intern in exchange for “knowledge” and “making key relationships.”
Don’t forget about Romney’s Mexican polygamist ancestors.
This is for NYC DJ:
Don’t Force Businesses to Pay Interns: Op-Ed
By: Carol Roth, CNBC Contributor http://www.cnbc.com/id/100824013
“[There was] a recent ruling against Fox Searchlight Pictures from a lawsuit where former interns sued the company because they weren’t compensated with the minimum wage.
“Before money was created, individuals mutually bartered goods, services and time. Even now, small businesses facing cash flow issues are looking to alternative ways to fund their businesses, such as collaborating on marketing endeavors instead of using marketing dollars. But now a bevy of short-sighted interns and even shorter-sighted courts have become blind to the alternate benefits that you can garner in exchange for work.
“The majority of students—or those who apply for internships—often have little-to-no relevant skills. Internships are a fantastic way for a student or other low skilled individuals to get a taste of a real work environment. [plus some claptrap about key relationships, skillz, barfy etc]
“However, interns, whether skilled or not, create a measurable burden on the companies where they “work.” Even without compensating them, interns create time costs, opportunity costs and often monetary costs…
“Forcing businesses to pay the minimum wage for interns ignores both the costs incurred by the host business and the value received by the intern. Ultimately, it will lead to fewer businesses offering internships…
“It’s time to pass a law to allow companies to “hire” unpaid interns at mutual discretion…”
————-
Yep. Million dollar CEO’s and they can’t afford minimum wage for an intern. There aren’t many comments but they’re pretty scathing. Here’s one:
ShaneMc67 | Jun 18, 2013 03:51 PM ET
Synopsis: Rich, white, female (Carol Roth) encourages more slavery, not less.
Thanks OX…my reply: 545 intern “jobs” in the title search on CL and these people paid to place the ads….
http://newyork.craigslist.org/search/jjj?zoomToPosting=&query=intern&srchType=T
The Corporate Maw is insatiable.
The saddest thing about this is that the interns were asking for minimum wage, for jobs that probably required a college degree — if not the actual book material, then the four-years of “finishing school” which college is — so they’re already in debt up to their eyeballs.
““Forcing businesses to pay the minimum wage for interns ignores both the costs incurred by the host business and the value received by the intern. Ultimately, it will lead to fewer businesses offering internships…”
Translation: Yes, we support slavery.
As I and others have been saying for years, “Free market” means “free to eff you up the arse without consequence.”
If you don’t want to pay your interns, then you should start an apprenticeship program. Ignoring min wage is bad, mK?
Apprentices in the trades get paid. Union work rules and all that.
“Mr. Obama’s near-complete absence from more than 25 percent of the states, from which he is politically estranged, is no surprise, in that it reflects routine cost-benefit calculations of the modern presidency. But in a country splintered by partisanship and race, it may also have consequences.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/us/politics/dissent-festers-in-states-that-obama-forgot.html?pagewanted=all
“Whites make up 90 percent of its population, which is fewer than one million people and mostly in rural areas. Its proportion of people 65 and over exceeds the national average. There was never a chance that North Dakota would give Mr. Obama its three electoral votes.”
It’s only a matter of time until ND has a Hispanic majority.
There was never a chance that North Dakota would give Mr. Obama its three electoral votes.”
Isn’t it a thinly veiled racism agaist the good people of ND. What’s race has to do with it? VT is whiter than ND I believe.
But Vermont has more COEXIST stickers than North Dakota.
one of the cars in my building’s parking lot has this one:
http://www.peaceproject.com/sites/default/files/LS42_rainbow_coexist_digital_sticker.png
Yes, because there’s nobody more tolerant of gays than Muslims.
Colorado:
You’re Mexican, aren’t you? Are you a member of La Raza? Would you feel useful if you tried to help Mexico solve some its problems, or do you feel more useful trying to help Mexico take over America, thereby turning America into another Mexico?
I don’t know know why any left leaning Americans would have problems with this kind of mass immigration. They will vote for every “solution” the left will propose. Exception being gay marriage.
I’m American and not a member of La Raza
Really? Only a Washington Insider would believe in such a nonsense.
‘in an early release of some data in its 2012 national health interview survey, the cdc said that 28.9 percent of adults are obese … the nation’s obese population is about 50 percent bigger than in 1997, when 19.4 percent of the nation was overweight … the most obese age group are those 40-59. some 33 percent of that age group is obese … some 26 percent of white women and 41 percent of black women are obese.’
http://washingtonexaminer.com/after-4-years-of-michelles-anti-obesity-campaign-america-is-still-getting-fatter/article/2532108
and this just in, yesterday.
The American Medical Association has officially recognized obesity as a disease, a move that could induce physicians to pay more attention to the condition and spur more insurers to pay for treatments.
Link
When I was a kid adults ate burgers that today are considered “kid sized”. There were no free refills on the soft drinks and there was no such thing as a big gulp.
I recall an old 7-11 commercial where a middle aged (and not lean) construction worker looks disdainfully at what was then McDonalds’ largest soft drink size and grumbles in his macho and gravelly voice “You call that a large?”
I don’t think a lot of people realize how much they eat or how large the portions have become. What they think is one serving is actually two or three.
This year I got hooked on a new TV show called Rectify. It’s about a man who is released from prison on a legal technicality after serving 19 years . Anyway, there one scene in particular, where he is having lunch at a buffet. As he is looking around at the overweight people in the restaurant he says to his step brother, people seem to eat a lot more than I remember, or words to that effect.
That would be a pretty good semester project for an undergraduate film class or American studies class. Just compile film clips over the decades of movies/TV. Just find film clips where the characters eat out at restaurants, or at home, or at fast food joints in the more recent movies. Note what people are eating, and how much.
Let’s follow the logic here from the standpoint of Obamacare
Eating burgers and pizza makes you fat.
Being fat is a disease.
Therefore, the cure is to ban burgers and pizza.
Presto, everyone is cured of the disease.
Don’t think it’s coming? Think again. Look at the new school lunch regulations enacted by Obama. Kids are starving.
http://www.npr.org/2012/09/27/161894994/healthier-school-lunches-may-leave-kids-hungry
i guess if you coordinate a menu for obese kids…the kids that aren’t obese would not be getting enough calories?
This is the free lunch program. Are you complaining because taxpayers will no longer be funding obesity among poor kids?
i thought there was no such thing as a free lunch?
Dude, don’t feed the troll. I don’t think he’s for real, or if he is, he has some kind of reality related mental disorder.
You’re full of it, Smithers.
Hungry? Those lunches are upwards of 800 calories, if you would care to read the article. That’s NOT starving. That’s almost enough calories for an entire day, and this is just for lunch.
As for the hunger, the modern dwarf hybrid wheat is a mild drug. I’m not kidding. It latches onto dopamine recepters and makes you want more. David Kessler talked about this in “The End of Overeating.” The “hunger” is actually gliadin withdrawal, with some sugar addiction baked in as well.
Obama supporters will defend anything. Even children starving in schools. Sad.
VIVA CHANGE!!
prediction: this will do nothing to “cure” or stave off childhood obesity.
“Those lunches are upwards of 800 calories, if you would care to read the article.”
how do you fix obesity without reducing calories?
“Those lunches are upwards of 800 calories, if you would care to read the article. That’s NOT starving. That’s almost enough calories for an entire day, and this is just for lunch.”
Obviously, Slithers is talk out his behind, but, Oxide, you need to be real too. Have you ever seen a teenage boy eat? We are talking about high school kids. You don’t give a 15 year old 850 calories and expect him to function for the day.
And how many schools eliminated Pys Ed as a requirement to graduate????
Fess up, Smithers. You’re really still stuck in high school, right?
Because the arguments you present on this forum are so facile and ill-considered they smack of earnest junior debate squad geared for a teen audience.
I picture you in coated in Clearasil, sweating in your too-big three piece suit and big-boy tie trying to impress the judges with your counter — and hoping against hope that one is secretly a Harvard alum you can pimp for a letter of recommendation.
There is sooooo a part of me hoping you’re just the antithetical goonie, but if you’re going for irony, you’ve totally missed the tone. At least you got your moniker right, which actually gives me hope for you….
Smithers sounds like the typical internet tough guy. He is contrarian just to be contrarian. The value he adds to the discussion here is negligible.
He is also the most anti-Fun poster on the HBB. The squad is all about the Fun. We came for the bubble, we stayed for the LOLZ!
“In a four-minute YouTube video called “We Are Hungry,” a troop of Kansas high schoolers take on the restrictions mandated by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which limits the calorie count of school lunches to 850. The policy, which was intended to not only wipe out hunger and malnutrition among American students but to encourage healthy eating, also calls for more fruit and vegetables and fewer sweet and fatty foods. But some say the amount of food you get in 850 calories simply isn’t enough — especially if you’re a rapidly growing teen. “Think of a high-school boy who works out at least three hours a day, not including farm work,” said Brenda Kirkham, an employee at the Wallace County High School where the video was filmed. “I’m furious,” she told the Wichita Eagle.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/michelle-obamas-low-calorie-school-lunch-video_n_1914394.html
Gods forbid they bring a sandwich from home to supplement their 850 calories of free healthy food.
Nice deflect, Smithers. Do you have a soundbite data base that spits out these irrelevant drudge blurbs on demand?
What Smithers may look like:
http://img.hsmagazine.net/2011/03/internet-tough-guy.jpg
Mr. Smithers, keep rattling their cage. The Obama defenders
will fall on their swords for him, for you are questioning their
religion, Liberalism.
Cool. We’ve got a drug-addled male street hooker encouraging a sycophant twink. Way to go, Diggler.
The reason that Michelle’s program isn’t working is because she is pushing the wrong solution: exercise. The real solution is to ban our modern food system: i.e. CAFO meat, vegetable oils, dward hybrid wheat, high fůcktose corn syrup, and GMO everything. That is, back to the diet of ~1970.
Done right, you don’t have to ban any food. You can still have your hamburgers and sugary soda and potato chips, but it will be a healthier version, and the cost will reflect being unsubsidized.
Factoid: reading upon Dr. Oz, he follows a version of Paleo diet. Yet he can’t seem to stop peddling quack cures on his show. Follow the money…
You also have to ban TV, cellphones, internet and video games.
Thanks to left wing do-goodism like IX, schools no longer offer sports. And thanks to left wing PC nonsense, even PhysEd no longer actually has physical activity as part of the curriculum. After all playing sports usually means one side wins and one side loses. Can’t have that, it might hurt someone’s feelings.
So instead we feed kids lettuce for lunch. Never mind that when the kid goes home after school starving, he eats a pint of ice cream. As long as Michelle is “doing something” that’s all that matters.
Slithers:
The Republicans cut PE because it’s a waste of money. BTW, I flunked PE like three times. They let me graduate anyway. I have never been overweight. Go figure.
There’s a book, “Why We Get Fat” by Gary Taubes. He is of course selling a book and there’s some stuff that sets my BS detectors off but he does look at the issue from different angles than most. For example:
• He presents the example of some aboriginal peoples, when faced with Western diets and impingement of their hunter-gatherer lifestyle, become massively obese.
• That marathoners and other highly active people are not skinny BECAUSE they are active. Rather they are active BECAUSE their body doesn’t want to store fat and directs food energy products towards activity, not fat storage.
That second one was quite interesting. I don’t know if it’s true but it’s a different way of looking at the issue.
Ultimately, he’s pushing Atkins, hard. And his footnoting is atrocious in “Why We Get Fat” (I was told he has another book, “Good Calories, Bad Calories” which is much more effectively footnoted).
And here’ the problem I see with Atkins - long term sustainability. Doing a web search for the sustainability of Atkins, there’s precious little scientific data. Most of the forum posters say this - “I lost a lot of weight on Atkins, but I gained it back. I plan to do another round of Atkins real soon.”
Also - gotta know your body type. An Inuit (Eskimo) eats a massively higher protein diet than say, a South Asian farmer, who is mostly if not completely vegetarian. Who eats differently from a sub-Saharan African who eats differently than a Spaniard. These people’s bodies have adapted to different conditions and one-size-fits-all diets leave me skeptical.
Regardless, an interesting read, Read it critically and it might spark some thinking.
Wrong. Michelle is right. Exercise kept me thin. It’s not about food as much as exercise. I don’t eat all junk food but it’s several days a week. I’ve been thin for 37 years because I have placed my number one important activity of the day: One hour of exercise of varying intensity.
It also helps to own a mirror. I asked myself at 17 if I should just cry or do something about my chunkiness? Well I took the direct approach and tried out burning more calories. By golly it worked. Mirrors are very good. They show you if you got definition. You tell yourself you want more definition and more bulk. Well you lift weights and you can jog. But mostly do weight bearing exercise. And you cut down on carbs.
While I’ve just about always been “in shape” it was giving up fried foods/carbs and burning 500 calories on the treadmill (instead of burning 200 calories on the treadmill as I had been) in addition to the weight training I was already doing that finally did it for me when I put on weight I couldn’t shed.
Concentration on my core was key.
They changed the definition of “obese” a few years ago to include more people.
No, more people became obese all on their own.
We ARE the nation of fat, dumb and stupid and it’s a stupid you can’t fix.
That may be true, but the definition was also changed. The new definition is probably more accurate than the old, but one has to take this change into account.
you fascist!
Same thing with autism/ADD/ADHD. Every second kid these days is autistic or has ADD/ADHD or Aspergers. There is a multi billion dollar industry in treating these “diseases” with thousands of govt bureaucrats involved in regulating the treatments.
Same with obesity. There will be the need for tens of thousands of govt bureaucrats to fight this new “epidemic”. We’ve spent $2T on the war on poverty and the poverty rate is the same today as 50 years ago. We will spend trillions on the “war on obesity” and 50 years from now the obesity rate will be no different. But we
re “doing something” and it’s “for the children” so it’s all worth it.
Same thing with autism/ADD/ADHD. Every second kid these days is autistic or has ADD/ADHD or Aspergers. There is a multi billion dollar industry in treating these “diseases” with thousands of govt bureaucrats involved in regulating the treatments.
It’s real…you might even have a touch of high functioning autistic spectrum stuff going on yourself :-).
I was once accused on this blog of having Asperger’s syndrome. True story.
Only a small minority are diagnosable. But that doesn’t mean most of us don’t have a touch. It’s a spectrum…
It’s hard to be manifest without obsession.
Sheesh. Also a touch of lexdysia
EDIT: It’s hard to manifest genius without obsession.
Uncle Fred, if you own an AR-15 you have Asperger’s. That’s not me saying that, that’s my fuzzy headed California Liberal colleague saying that.
job’s saved.
just think how many poor people there would be without those programs.
ATTENTION:
Slim Whitman has died.
Nooo oo ohooo ooo! MARTIANS EVERYWHERE!
Dang.
He had the best has-been singer commercials, EVER!
But wait… There’s more!
Slim Whitman lives on in the 2013 Romanian entrant to Eurovision!
Just for you, prof. Watch and marvel in horrified fascination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV3xp5ZXSYA
I always preferred Boxcar Willie’s commercial, but I have both Boxcar Willie and Slim Whitman on vinyl. Zamfir was always kind of a WTF?
Unfortunately Slim’s death is massively overshadowed by Gandolfini’s. You gotta hate it when that happens.
This is from a CNN article:
“The committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as having diminished since the fall,” the Fed said.
U.S. stocks slipped, the dollar rose to session highs against both the yen and the euro, and U.S. rate futures fell as traders saw the statement as a small step toward an eventual reduction in the central bank’s pace of bond buying.”
hahahahhahahah!!!! SUCKERS!
The economy is getting better, so the stock market must fall.
HAAAAAAAhahahahhahahahah.
You missed the transition. The real economy is now composed entirely of handouts from the federal reserve.
Well, then I guess the stock market will finally crash now. Yippee!
Whac-a-Bull
Bernanke says Fed may taper QE later this year
• Bernanke’s press conference: recap, analysis and responses
• Former Fed governor says Obama ‘essentially fired Bernanke’
• Dow falls in 7th straight triple-digit move | Gold ETFs lowest since 2011
Why is the bovine herd so upset? Bernanke didn’t say the Fed would taper stock purchases, did he?
So…what happens when interest rates go up? What happens to the amount of $ due on the debt? (Test question).
So they really can’t make rates go up then, can they?
I don’t get why the bovines are getting so excited about the Fed’s latest head fake.
That said, this seems kind of bad:
Long-term Treasury yields hit new highs the same day both gold and stocks sold off.
Date 1 mo 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr 2 yr 3 yr 5 yr 7 yr 10 yr 20 yr 30 yr
06/03/13 0.03 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.30 0.50 1.03 1.53 2.13 2.92 3.27
06/04/13 0.05 0.04 0.08 0.14 0.32 0.48 1.05 1.55 2.14 2.95 3.30
06/05/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.30 0.48 1.02 1.52 2.10 2.90 3.25
06/06/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.30 0.48 1.01 1.49 2.08 2.89 3.23
06/07/13 0.04 0.04 0.07 0.14 0.32 0.52 1.10 1.59 2.17 2.98 3.33
06/10/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.32 0.55 1.13 1.62 2.22 3.03 3.36
06/11/13 0.05 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.34 0.57 1.12 1.61 2.20 3.00 3.33
06/12/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.34 0.57 1.15 1.64 2.25 3.04 3.37
06/13/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.14 0.32 0.55 1.11 1.60 2.19 2.99 3.33
06/14/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.13 0.29 0.49 1.04 1.53 2.14 2.95 3.28
06/17/13 0.05 0.05 0.08 0.13 0.27 0.49 1.06 1.57 2.19 3.01 3.35
06/18/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.13 0.27 0.48 1.07 1.58 2.20 3.00 3.34
06/19/13 0.04 0.05 0.08 0.13 0.31 0.58 1.24 1.76 2.33 3.09 3.41
If you bought 30-year Treasurys in early May, you are down 11% by now…
Another answer (sorry if it is obvious!).
Unless interest rates are going up with inflation (they aren’t), then gold will fall as safe haven demand shifts into an asset class which (finally) also offers a real return in excess of inflation.
Gold - Electronic (COMEX) Aug 2013
$1,342.10
Change -$31.90 -2.32%
Volume 32,133
Jun 20, 2013, 2:31 a.m.
Previous close $1,374.00
Day low $1,339
Day high $1,351
Open: $1,351.20
52 week low $1,323
52 week high $1,804
ft dot com
Global Market Overview
June 20, 2013 4:05 am
Equity sell off accelerates after Fed comments
By Neil Dennis in London and Josh Noble in Hong Kong
Thursday 06.30 BST. European stocks look set to join the heavy sell off seen across Asia, which started in the US overnight in response to the Federal Reserve’s confirmation that it expects to start easing its asset purchases later this year.
Equities, particularly those of Asian emerging markets, are down heavily after the Fed set out its path to gradually reduce its $85bn monthly purchases, and possibly ending the quantiative easing programme by mid-2014, when the unemployment rate is expected to by down to 7 per cent.
The Fed has also said that by the time the rate is below 6.5 per cent it expects to start lifting interest rates.
Ahead of the open in western Europe, spread betters were calling London’s FTSE 100 to start trading about 100 points lower, while Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax was seen losing 95 points.
In late Asian trade, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 is down 1.1 per cent, while haven currencies like the dollar and yen have climbed strongly against emerging market currencies.
…
By Jeevan Vasagar, Berlin
7:26PM BST 19 Jun 2013
In shirtsleeves, Barack Obama delivered an appeal to spread Western democratic values on a global scale, invoking the spirit of John F. Kennedy as well as quoting his famous declaration of solidarity with an embattled Berlin.
There were just 4,500 “friends” gathered to hear the US president on a sweltering summer afternoon, compared with the estimated 200,000 who had turned out to watch the then Democratic nominee give a landmark, impassioned address in the German capital five years ago.
“With a global middle class consuming more energy every day, this must now be an effort of all nations, not just some,” he said. “For the grim alternative affects all nations – more severe storms, more famine and floods, new waves of refugees, coastlines that vanish, oceans that rise.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/10131015/Barack-Obama-returns-to-Berlin-with-a-more-measured-message-of-hope.html - -
Obama is a turd, but he’s right. The problems created by 7 billion humanoids will not be solved in a world inhabited by 10 billion humanoids. And I’m doing my part by not breeding.
And to those of who have/will, “I’m stealing your children’s future”, as a non-breeder, the future dies when I die, so keep lying to your children that their future will be better, because it won’t be.
Single-occupant, two vehicle household here, burning up your kidz future as fast as I can afford to. I can afford to burn $200/week on gas, and will continue to do so until I get bored with it or find other ways to spend my money.
I am not an Al Gore liberal. I am stealing your kidz future now, as fast as I can. I will burn an entire tank of gas to go skiing for 4 hours.
Drop dead, loosers…
“to go skiing for 4 hours.”
…on a clear-cut mountain.
Yes.
With no snow. But don’t let that stop you, another ice age will come along in 10,000 years or so…or something.
You have a great point.
I feel guilty on several levels though for not being a father. First, for not carrying on my father’s side’s name. Second, I gave up a relationship that I was admittedly too immature to realize how valuable it was. The woman and I grew more and more fond of each other (love grows with time…) and she has a very nice accent and gorgeous smile, not to mention that she is also a phd and friends said we made a great couple.
But that’s done, I became a soldier of fortune.
So on the other hand I wonder about those big families generating more landfill of waste that will be there forever. Much of it toxic in these old PCs, old bottles of cleaners, oil cans, and the like. How much can this go on?
I would not mind it if we were now colonizing space with families (not military types / government types only) and developing self sustaining Gerard K. O’Neil types of colonies.
Hopefully Elon Musk’s SpaceX is the first shot.
So on the other hand I wonder about those big families generating more landfill of waste that will be there forever. Much of it toxic in these old PCs, old bottles of cleaners, oil cans, and the like. How much can this go on?
Bill,
free people will find ingenious answers for all those problems. the more people there are, the easier the solution comes. (as long as they are free). over population is only a problem in socialism/communism. in tyranny. of course no one will believe this..
Good point TJ. I consider government the problem. ALWAYS the problem.
Sayonara QE3 punch bowl…
ft dot com (top story):
From GLOBAL ECONOMY 11:46pm
Bernanke sees 2014 end for QE3
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Testifies On US Economic Outlook
Monetary policy on hold as US central bank issues optimistic forecast
Punch bowl removal operations extend all the way to China.
ft dot com
From WORLD 6:58am
PBoC dashes hopes of China cash boost
Central bank rejects calls for additional liquidity
China debt auction failure sparks liquidity fears
China interbank market rates soar
Inside Business HK fears cooling of hot money flows