Bits Bucket for September 20, 2013
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Friday morning Daft Punk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axttrGnNreM
Love the head gear.
But most of all, love Nile Rogers. There’s one guy who is just happy to be there. You want to punch up your act, hire Nile Rogers.
Going to see the Iggy & the Stooges at Riot Fest tomorrow.
Headlining are the Replacements on their first tour in 22 years, the reviews of their Chicago and Toronto shows have been stellar.
Wow, Iggy’s still doing it?
There’s a nice photo of Iggy in this article:
http://www.denverpost.com/music/ci_24125224/riot-fest-denver-see-replacements-stooges-and-more
What a phiz! I think Robert Plant looks kinda like that these days. And Ozzie. It’s the Keith Richards plan for aged rock stars.
Yestersay mornings email headline from RealtyTrac;
“What inventory shortage? 4.5 million homes just resurfaced.”
Like we’ve maintained, you can’t hide 25 million excess empty houses.
“Why would pay more than new construction cost ($60 per square foot) for a depreciation 20+ year old resale house?”
Let me guess…… Because realtors tell you that the cost of a house cannot be evaluated using math?
If you take on mortgage debt at current massively inflated housing prices, you’ll enslave yourself for the rest of your life.
“Debt is bondage.”~ Suze Orman, May 11, 2013
Don’t Be A Debt Donkey®
I am a debt pony. Beat that!
Debt unicorn, maybe? I would try out for the part, but I don’t have any debt, so I guess I wouldn’t qualify…
“Buying a house at current massively inflated prices is a weapon of financial self-destruction.”
Exactly. Don’t do it.
It’s a good thing the Chicago gun ban is working and keeping the city safe
Wall Street Journal - Chigago Shooting Injures 12:
“Twelve people, including a 3-year-old, were injured late Thursday when someone opened fire on people in a park on Chicago’s southwest side.
The shooting comes nearly three weeks after Chicago saw an outbreak of violence over the Labor Day weekend that ended with eight dead and 20 others injured.”
Never let a crisis go to waste…
Quick:
Ban something
Tax something
Create another government program
Quick:
Try to sell more of something to a fearful public.
Can you guess what that would be?
Government power.
Taking America back, restoring our future, et cetera
Wall Street Journal - House Passes Bill to Cut Food-Stamp Spending:
“The House on Thursday narrowly passed a bill curtailing spending on food stamps, setting up a battle with the Senate, which backs far smaller cuts. The vote was 217-210.
The bill would cut nearly $40 billion over a decade, or about 5% in expected spending, from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs.”
Heard on NPR yesterday that Wal-Mart receives more food stamp dollars than any other retailer, I thought liberals hated Wal-Mart, and conservatives love Wal-Mart. If the conservatives vote against food stamps then they hate Wal-Mart too? So confused…
Don’t be confused.
Just join the free sh*t army.
Everything will then come into focus.
Oh - and cutting 5% of the projected future GROWTH of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs?
Kids will starve to death! Grandma will be out on the street! And we will turn America in Somalia…
Just join the free sh*t army.
Like all those farmers still getting gov-funded crop insurance?
Yeah, why?
Git yer government hands off my farm subsidies!
Ah - the old…
“You can’t cut ANY government waste because I can find some waste you didn’t cut so it is not fair and you are a hypocrite” argument.
Really? My five year old uses that argument.
How about we need to cut a lot more wasteful government and this is just a start.
Before we turn into Greece.
A Kennedy? Seriously? Most conservatives I know are for cutting all that stuff too. Obvious waste.
Just keep defending your side.
And next time use quotation marks properly.
I thought he said he asked why not. Then he asks why?
Thank god our overlords are looking out for us.
You’re having a lot of trouble with that quote. Let me simplify it for you:
Now tell us why.
You don’t really want an answer Junkie.
You don’t really want an answer Junkie.
Yes I do, Dry Drunkie.
i’m confused…why or why not what?
why or why not what?
If they are truly so concerned about people sucking the gov teat, then why does “the GOP’s farm bill leave[s] alone a subsidy that definitively breeds dependency and is growing just as fast…Government-financed crop insurance that costs $8.6 billion a year, with most of the loot going to farmers making upwards of $250,000 a year.”
Why?
because they are bought and paid for…just like the democrats.
because they are bought and paid for…just like the democrats.
I agree, campaign finance reform and lobbying reform are the answers.
third party is right answer. they will never pass legitimate campaign finance reform.
“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are … a different game you should play.”
–YODA
third party is right answer
Why won’t they be bought too?
The yellow mattress New York Times chimes in with this editorial:
“A Republican majority that refuses to govern on other issues found the votes to shove nearly 4 million people back into poverty, joining 46.5 million at a desparation line that has failed to improve since the dawn of the Great Recession. It’s a heartless bill, aimed to hurt. They think too many of their fellow citizens are cheats and loafers, dining out on lobster.”
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/red-state-pain/
More thumbsucking from the encopretic New York Times:
“In what can be seen only as an act of supreme indifference, House Republicans passed a bill on Thursday that would drastically cut federal food stamps and throw 3.8 million Americans out of the program in 2014.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/opinion/another-insult-to-the-poor.html
Thank god the Republican house can push through cuts like this without any input from the Senate or the other branch!
Let them eat cake.
More Mad Max in Mexico…
—————
Grid Down Acapulco: “There’s Nothing to Eat”
SHTF Plan | 9/19/13 | Mac Slavo
Though the government would like us to believe there is rarely looting or panic in the aftermath of a disaster, the fact of the matter is that within 72 hours of any serious crisis people will lose it.
Case in point: Acapulco, Mexico.
This week flood waters and landslides ravaged the resort town of Acapulco and stranded a reported 40,000 tourists, leaving them without food, water, or any means of escape. Major roadways into and out of Acapulco have been blocked by debris, cutting off recovery efforts for the city’s 680,000 residents.
With the city devoid of law and order, and emergency responders overwhelmed, looters hit the streets in a matter of hours.
How is this really any different than N’awlins after Katrina? I mean, I get that Mexico has some major problems, but so do many parts of the US.
Nothing is different.
Pick the location of your house carefully.
FWIW, I don’t remember Acapulco ever getting hit so hard by a hurricane, the place usually weathers the storms without incident.
I also don’t remember Boulder getting hit with 15 inches of rain. Call it what you will, but the weather has been incredibly extreme lately.
It certainly has.
Obama created the rain that flooded Colorado last week using African voodoo witchcraft that he learned as a boy growing up in Kenya, and he did it to punish Colorado for voting to recall two state senators who voted to take all your guns away.
It’s all true, I read it on Breitbart dot com.
I don’t remember Acapulco ever getting hit so hard by a hurricane
Once upon a time, NO ONE remembered New Orleans getting hit hard by a hurricane. That was the case for, oh, 3 centuries or so. Then things changed. Things ALWAYS change.
If Colorado gets hit by a major hurricane, THAT would be a surprise.
Three centuries ago N. Orleans was above sea level.
u might as well jump into the casinos of housing and stocks cause you know there will be a bailout when the party ends. Get your piece of the action.
Sad and true…
Only fools work and save.
“The point is, ladies and gentleman, that debt, for lack of a better word, is good. Debt is right, debt works. Debt clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Debt, in all of its forms; debt for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And debt, you mark my words, will not only save Goldman Sachs, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much.”
mom and pop are being sucked back into the stock casino cause there is no where else to get any yield if you dont want to be a landlord. alpo is even getting pricey.
PCLN simply amazes me and defies gravity. I thought this dog was overvalued at 200 and its now > 1000.00. this reminds me of pets.com bigtime. you have to have brass b@lls to try and short the market with the printing press running.
should I stockpile some alpo and craigslist it in a year ?
“only fools work and save.”
If stocks are for fools what do the non-fools save…fiat money? Fiat money is controlled by the thugernment.
Hard currency. Not controlled. Manipulated but not controlled. They cannot find every gold coin in this country of 300 million and 50 times that amount of hiding places.
Let’s shrink the government down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub (and replace it with $500,000,000,000+ of annual spending on contractors)
Bloomberg - Company Behind Snowden Check Also Vetted D.C. Shooter:
“The same federal contractor that vetted Edward Snowden, who leaked information about classified U.S. spying programs, also performed a background check that let the Washington Navy Yard shooter obtain a security clearance.
Now the contractor, USIS, is drawing fire from a U.S. senator asking how Snowden and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis slipped through the cracks. The vetting process has also been included in an inquiry by law enforcement agencies into Alexis’s activities before his deadly rampage this week.
No company does more U.S. government background checks for clearances than USIS, which was awarded $253 million by the Office of Personnel Management last year.”
The Washington Navy Yard shooter had a ton of red flags.
Were there any red flags for Edward Snowden?
They should hire a government contractor to vet the government contractors that vet government contractors. Invisible hand of the free market, baby!
Were there any red flags for Edward Snowden?
A conscience?
(ducks)
No need to duck, Prime, that was a good one!
but if any of them had smoked pot more than a few times they would have failed.
the world is upside down.
but if any of them had smoked pot more than a few times they would have failed.
I knew a guy who got a clearance; he informed them in his interviews that he had smoked TONs of pot earlier in his life. I guess the fact that he wasn’t currently a smoker tipped the scales in his favor. I was a little surprised, but he said that not being truthful was a much earlier way to flunk it.
Step 1 - fire government workers earning 1 million a year.
Step 2 - contract work to well connected company A
Step 3 - collect your kick back in the form of campaign contributions.
Step 4 - well connected company A is a shell company that has zero capabillity they subcontract the work out to company B for 500,000 a year.
Step 5 - Company B hires a high school drop out to google potential employees and pays them 5 bucks an hour. payroll of 250k a year with no benefits for all of company B’s employees.
why do you hate the job creators so much? are you some kind of commie?
More invisible hand of the free market, because freedom isn’t free, and we have to fight them over there so we won’t have to fight them over here, lapel flag pin and magnetic ribbon
Wall Street Journal - Washington Sees Incomes Soar as Most of U.S. Declines:
“American incomes have tumbled over the last decade. But for many people in Washington, D.C., it’s been something of a party.
The income of the typical D.C. household rose 23.3% between 2000 and 2012 to an inflation-adjusted $66,583 … The Washington, D.C. metro area — which includes the surrounding suburbs in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia — has it even better, with a median household income of $88,233″
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/09/19/washington-sees-incomes-soar-as-most-of-u-s-declines/
Bigger and bigger government is great!!!
Lots of those wealthy Washingtonians are private contractors.
Private = GOOD
Gubmint = BAD
All are living the dream with government money…
You aren’t paying attention
Let’s try again, so listen up:
http://www.aei.org/article/economics/fiscal-policy/private-contractors-accelerate-growth-of-government/
Call me an anarchist…but I see no real distinction between huge unnecessary government bureaucracy made up of just government employees and one that is made up of government employees and contractors.
‘no real distinction’
overhead and profits
do you think that if the governement where to insource everything…that would decrease spending?
just trying to understand…the current deficits are not sustainable…whether you are paying a contractor or government employee.
Contractor is a symptom, government is a disease.
Here’s hoping the Federal government does shut down over budget disagreements and the Tea Party Republicans push us over the debt ceiling edge… as far as I’m concerned, those House Tea Party members are real patriots, and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy knowing that progressive bag of bones Feinstein fears them.
To quote a classic “This town needs an enema!” - Joker
Though in all seriousness, I prefer the Heath Ledger Joker to Jack Nicholson…
“Why so serious?” - Joker
but I see no real distinction between huge unnecessary government bureaucracy made up of just government employees and one that is made up of government employees and contractors.
The big difference is that contractors concentrate wealth and are more able to bribe our government officials. They lead to a nation with a smaller middle class and more poverty.
hmph…and all this time i was putting the blame on the federal reserve.
Shut Er Down
Liberace…… are you as angry today as you were yesterday?
Liberace? Oh Liberace?
Anecdote, not data, but…
My mother in Miami has a friend who just got evicted from “her” house after it was sold to a third-party, presumably by the bank. I dunno how long ago the foreclosure actually occurred, or how long it was in-process, but I understand it has been at least 3yrs since she last made a payment.
Maybe the banks will eventually clean up the really, really old shadow inventory…
Did you mother “bank” the mortgages payments for three years?
mother in Miami has a friend
I recommend practicing your reading comprehension. This was a FRIEND of my mother; my mother rents, as I recommended they not buy in Miami when they moved there, due to the bubble.
I could save a lot of rent money in 3 years of non payment. $68400.
Crap! I’ve done this thing all wrong. I sold my house in 2007 for break even when I could have put a big chunk of change away waiting for them to finally show up. What happens again w/back taxes?
What happens again w/back taxes?
Why not pay the taxes but not the mortgage?
Why not pay the taxes but not the mortgage?
Why even pay the taxes, when you know that you are giving the house back to the bank (eventually)? The taxes will accrue on the house, but you won’t owe them when you walk away—the bank will!
The last I saw, the average length of a completed foreclosure in FL was obscenely long (700 days? 800 days? 900 days?)…9% of all their mortgages are currently in the foreclosure process…now THAT’s a clogged system.
Just like California. Millions of excess, empty and defaulted houses overhanging the market.
China: Relic protection slows modernization in ancient Kaifeng.
ZHENGZHOU, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — While China’s urbanization has become a new spur for the country’s economic growth, its progress has not been smooth in historical cities like Kaifeng, where developers have come up against restrictions on building around protected relics.
They may attract tens of millions of tourists every year, but the ancient attractions in Kaifeng of central China’s Henan Province are in effect hindering the livelihood-boosting reconstruction of old blocks of crudely built and poorly maintained houses.
Currently, 100,000 households in the city are still living in run-down areas.
Amid the national campaign to improve the living standards of urban residents in run-down areas, Kaifeng initiated shantytown rebuilding in 2008, hoping to help relocate residents from shabby houses to bright apartments. But to date, work on only 10,000 targeted households has been completed.
In Kaifeng, 247 historic sites have been recognized as unmovable protection units. They are dotted around among local dwellers’ self-constructed homes in the city’s run-down areas. Such sites have left real estate developers unable to bulldoze every building and make new ones on an empty lot.
“The ruins are treasure left from our forefathers, and we should leave them to our future generation,” according to Kong Xiangcheng, deputy director of Housing and Urban-Rural Development in Kaifeng.
Aren’t shantytowns also treasures left from forefathers?
Link here:http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2013-09/20/c_132735417.htm
Same thing used to happen during The Big Dig project in Boston. Workers find an artifact, the work would grind to a halt.
The power of public unions shock even Bloomberg…
But them again public unions was never about serving the public or educating students…
———————
Bloomberg Shocked and Boggled by City’s Inability to Fire ‘Heroin Teacher’
Politicker | September 19, 2013 | Ross Barkan
New York City’s efforts to fire what it calls the “heroin teacher” received a setback this week that has Mayor Michael Bloomberg fuming.
An arbitrator earlier this year ruled that a Brooklyn high school teacher should be fired after he was arrested for bringing heroin into a courthouse while on jury duty. But a State Supreme Court judge overturned the decision, calling the firing ”unduly harsh” and “shocking to this court’s sense of fairness.”
Needless to say, Mr. Bloomberg was not amused.
“We could not disagree more strongly with the judge’s decision to overturn an arbitrator’s ruling terminating a teacher for possessing 20 bags of heroin,” the mayor said in a statement this afternoon.
“The judge ruled that the termination ‘shocks the conscience,’ which shows a callous indifference to the well-being of our students,” he added. “That truly shocks the conscience and boggles the mind.”
While I never agree with you on anything, I do agree that the NYCTU is a disaster.
But then, I think NYC is a soul sucking disaster as well.
The New Credit Supercycle? Subprime Auto And Student Loans
Confounded Interest | 09/20/2013 | Anthony B. Sanders
The average loan-to-value ratio, or LTV, on vehicle sales to consumers with spotty credit has risen to 114.5 percent this year from about 112 percent in 2010, S&P said in a report yesterday. That compares with a peak of 121 percent in 2008, according to the New York-based rating company.
According to a story on Bloomberg, “We’re expecting continued weakening in credit standards as more players vie for a piece of the subprime auto loan market and others try to hold on to market share,” wrote the analysts led by Amy Martin.
Remember when the savings and loans collapsed in the 1980s? They were the primary lender and holder of residential mortgages. They were replaced by … Fannie Mae and Freddie, the mortgage giants in conservatorship with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
And we saw the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Congress press Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with “affordable” housing goals. So much so that by 2008, 27% of GSE mortgage purchases were “Special Affordable.”
We are seeing mortgage lenders feeling safe to go back in the water.
But this time it is different. Declining real household incomes are putting downward pressure on the ability of millions of Americans to purchase a home. Particularly since 2009.
The auto industry is putting out products that are way overbuilt. Sure Cindy CEO deserves and works hard for her Jag/BMer/Mercedes SUV. No problemo. But Joe Schmoe at the other end of the income spectrum doesn’t need special brakes, steering, air bags, GPS, satellite radio, etc, etc. Joe Schmoe needs a reliable ride to and from work and the grocery store, and Joe Schmoe needs to skip the vehicle subscription plans. But good luck finding a vehicle for anything Joe Schmoe can afford. The 70’s Ford Fiestas (metal boxes w/wheels) are long gone.
Looking at the latest lease deals in our area: $3500 down and it’s only a two year lease. So in 24 mos these kids are gonna need another $3500 besides their ongoing payments to even enter back into another lease? Assuming a $169/mo lease payment that’s over $7500 for only 2 years of driving and that’s before insurance. inspection and registration. That to get to their zero hour* jobs at Happy Macs? I don’t see how these escalating auto prices can stay on this trajectory. The industry is eating itself and yet they refuse to sell anything that resembles a stripped down version.
**********
*Zero hour jobs=you be all dressed in ready in the morning. We’ll call you that morning if we need you.
They can’t sell a stripped down car… EPA mandates fleet average MPG which means lots of R&D on how to lighten a car and it’s components and reduce drag and fuel consumption. NHTS mandated safety standards means manufacturers have to load up on air bags and safety cages to ensure minimum crash safety standards.
All that aluminum, titanium, 8-speed automatics, and ABS/VDS/side-curtain air bags, safety cages and crumple zones while averaging 30MPG in a turbo 4-banger costs money. Thank your government for the higher prices…
How many cars have 8 speed automatics or turbos?
I don’t mind the safety stuff. As an old VW ad once said, in real life there is no reset button.
1959 chevy bel air vs 2009 chevy malibu. According to the crash results the driver in the BelAir died instantly while the driver in the Malibu only suffered minor injuries.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtxd27jlZ_g
Whoa
Holy moly!
“…the driver in the BelAir died instantly…”
Yeah…those solid steering columns. That crash dummy got hit in the face like a billiards ball being slammed by Willie Mosconi.
That’s not a Chevy Bel Air.
What was it, then, Allena?
(sure looked like one from a google image search…)
They can’t sell a stripped down car
Plus I think there are still too many used cars with more features to compete with. Once they are all gone the market for a stripped out box on wheels will probably get more promising.
The problem with “features” is that as a car gets older they break and are expensive to fix.
But go to any car dealer and see what is promoted. It’s not the powertrain tech, its the fluffy tech in the dashboard: GPS, bluetooth, etc.
The problem with “features” is that as a car gets older they break and are expensive to fix.
That can be true…but mostly the stuff is more reliable than I would have thought. And not all of it is necessary. Sometimes a nice used car with some of the features not working is still much more enjoyable than a new bottom dollar box on wheels.
“Sometimes a nice used car with some of the features not working is still much more enjoyable than a new bottom dollar box on wheels.”
+1 The service trucks these days are ordered with all of the goodies, power windows, separate seats, air conditioning, etc., because the basic stripped-down models won’t sell when they’re surplus’ed.
I struggle with the idea of renting or owning things a lot more now due to the acceleration of obsolescence in a more digital world. The auto industry is going digital just like every thing else and technology continues to invent new paradigms. But we can’t stop it can we. Look at the reality of consumer behavior on display when they release each new version of a iPhone or Grand Theft Auto.
Yep. “Oohhh, SHINY!” trumps TCO, ROI analysis every time.
If it didn’t, our 75% retail driven economy would be toast.
Sad ain’t it?
“According to a story on Bloomberg, “We’re expecting continued weakening in credit standards as more players vie for a piece of the subprime auto loan market and others try to hold on to market share,” wrote the analysts led by Amy Martin.”
+1 The $30k millionaires [are] the velocity of money these days.
Why no media circus on this mass shooting?
Only obama’s sons involved?
Chicago already bans guns so there things should happen?
Only democrats involved?
Why don’t criminals follow the law?
Mid-night basketball (from the Clinton days) doesn’t work either?
These 13 people don’t count? Except as 39 reliable democrat voters every four years?
——————–
A late night basketball game, then ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom’
Chicago Tribune | September 20, 2013 | Peter Nickeas and Jeremy Gorner
A pick-up game was being played on the park’s basketball court in the 1800 block of West 51st Street around 10:15 p.m. when at least one gunman walked up and started firing, apparently with a high-powered gun.
Thirteen people who were on the court or were watching the game were hit, many of them in the arms or legs.
The boy, Deonta Howard, was standing on the court and was shot near the ear, the bullet exiting through his cheek, according to police and relatives. His family said the boy is expected to recover but will need plastic surgery.
That would be funny if it wasn’t so racis.
Bad racis, bad.
Because neither the Chicago gun violence nor the Navy Yard Shooting fit the progressive narrative for ridding the US of that troubling 2nd Amendment.
In one, the shooter obtained a shotgun (on Joe Biden’s advice obviously) legally, used his base access as a .gov contractor to get into a secured area, and went bat-shit crazy. There was no “assault weapon” and the handguns used were taken from the security guards he shot (Call of Duty style).
In the other incident, gang turf wars related to drug trafficing linked with the Sinaloa Mexican Cartel was probably to blame. Chicago already has stiff gun laws and those initiating the violence aren’t following the law anyway…
In the other incident, gang turf wars related to drug trafficing linked with the Sinaloa Mexican Cartel was probably to blame. Chicago already has stiff gun laws and those initiating the violence aren’t following the law anyway…
If true, that raises an interesting dilemma. How do we convince the haters of the haters of the 2nd Amendment to call off the drug war and just legalize it already? Doubt they’d go for that…
Disclaimer: libertarian viewpoint excepted, as they tend to have the “legalize it” mentality. *Most* of the hater haterz I know don’t self identify as libertarians, though…
That is another conundrum… the “War on Drugs” is just another facet of the military-industrial complex, including LEO, Defense Contractors, Prison Operators, etc. We also have the DEA, whose sole purpose as a government agency is to wage this “war”.
Lot’s of vested, entrenched interests and lots of money involved in the “War on Drugs”. I don’t see it changing unless and until the US Federal Government is forced to cut its budget dramatically…
The War on Drugs was also created as part of the long range plan to strip our rights.
Private property seizure without due process.
No knock warrants.
John Doe warrants.
Mandatory sentences.
Stop and frisk.
Everything about the WOD violates the 4th Amendment like a rented mule.
Yet we ballyhoo about the 2nd Amendment. I have yet to see anyone successfully use the 2nd to enforce the 4th.
Why no media circus on this mass shooting?
Only obama’s sons involved?
Are you referring to the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case? In that case, the police arrested the killer and then released him after a few hours without charges being filed. In this case the shooter(s) have not yet been arrested. That’s the difference.
Chicago already bans guns so there things should happen? Gee, I guess the guns must have been brought in from outside the city. So the solution is to ban all guns throughout the country. Is that what you’re saying?
Mid-night basketball (from the Clinton days) doesn’t work either?
It’s interesting that you should remember something from nearly 20 years ago. As I recall the idea of midnight basketball was to have organized community events supervised by adults. In the case of a big city like Chicago, there would probably be some police officers for crowd control. That’s not the same thing as the pickup game described in the article.
Sad to say, but it’s just black people killing black people and that doesn’t make a great story.
Our pension system and state are broke, our politicians are useless, but the thing that irks me most about Chicago is that regular people that live in the wrong neighborhood are absolutely hosed. I can’t imagine living there and having kids, not knowing when they will be shot dead.
I can’t imagine living there and having kids, not knowing when they will be shot dead.
You would think they would leave. I know two women who packed up their younger kids and left the projects of Chicago for Boulder a few years back. One died of chronic health problems a few years later, and the other still struggles with her own addiction issues, but darned if the kids aren’t doing a LOT better out here than the life they had there.
But as smart as that move was, I’ve never seen anyone but them do it.
But as smart as that move was, I’ve never seen anyone but them do it.
Now this is a story all about how,
My life got flipped, turned upside down…
Sad to say, but it’s just black people killing black people and that doesn’t make a great story.
Right now, if you go to the websites of the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, it’s the most prominently displayed story, in the top-left corner of both. If you go to Google News and then click on the US link on the left, the Chicago shooting story is at the top of the page. If you go to http://www.nytimes.com and click on their US link, it the second story.
I can’t see how anyone can say that this is not getting attention in the MSM.
http://www.bullionbullscanada.com/us-commentary/26374-bernanke-us-economy-is-a-ponzi-scheme?tmpl=component&print=1&page=
Yup. There will be no credit deflation for at least the next ten years. There will be tapering or “faux” tapering. But tapering in either case does not mean deflating credit.
“Former local Realtor executive charged with embezzling funds”
http://normantranscript.com/previous/x789529812/Former-local-Realtor-executive-charged-with-embezzling-funds
Not only will a realtor rip you off, they rip off each other.
DON’T get ripped off by a realtor.
Realtor Charged With Ripping Off Church
http://blog.al.com/live/2013/09/woman_convicted_on_all_counts.html
Call: 10-year bond will be trading at 4%+ within 18 months.
I turn up my nose at that - too low a rate. I might start buying again at 5%.
And you may just be a buyer very soon.
Series I bonds with fixed rates above 2% would be as great as a deal as 5% yields on ten year notes. I think we will see 0% fixed rates the next five years on series I bonds. Stay away from them as long as fixed rates are under 1%