Bits Bucket for February 27, 2014
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.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Is your bitcoin Gox Empty?
Feb. 26, 2014, 5:23 p.m. EST
Bitcoin prices recover; Mt. Gox says leave us alone
Regulators look into the sudden closure of the bitcoin exchange
By Saumya Vaishampayan, Barbara Kollmeyer and Michael Kitchen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Bitcoin prices recovered Wednesday from the declines spurred by the sudden closure of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, as authorities in the U.S. and Japan began looking into the matter.
Meanwhile, Mt. Gox Chief Executive Mark Karpeles said Wednesday on the exchange’s website that he is working on the exchange’s problems but told users that they should stop asking questions because staff members are not allowed to respond.
Bitcoin rose 5.5% to $564.02 Wednesday from Tuesday’s close on the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which takes into account prices on the Bitstamp and BTC-e bitcoin exchanges. The CoinDesk bitcoin price index was in the $400s early Tuesday after it became apparent that trading on Mt. Gox had been halted. The Mt. Gox website was subsequently wiped clean of information.
“I am still in Japan, and working very hard with the support of different parties to find a solution to our recent issues,” said Karpeles in the statement. “Furthermore I would like to kindly ask that people refrain from asking questions to our staff: they have been instructed not to give any response or information.”
…
Did somebody dig up Aladinsane’s legendary buried stash?
Gold-coin find ‘greatest buried treasure ever unearthed in the United States’
February 26, 2014, 12:02 PM
A couple in Northern California discovered more than 1,400 rare U.S. gold coins worth more than $10 million, rare-coin expert Kagin’s Inc. announced this week, referring to the find at as the “greatest buried treasure ever unearthed in the United States.”
The couple, who reportedly wish to remain anonymous, found the coins buried in cans on their property in California’s gold country while walking their dog.
“This family literally found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” said Donald Kagin, president of the Tiburon, Calif., coin firm, in a statement.
…
I could understand the couple for seeking advice from numismatists. Some of the coins are in such good condition that they are estimated to be $1,000,000 or more apiece.
Now someone here please tell me rare coins are not an investment.
‘Now someone here please tell me rare coins are not an investment.’
How many more cans of coins are out there?
I guess it does make a great story. Meanwhile, malaise, oh the malaise.
Wow….now I’m feeling kind of stupid for melting down all the gold coins I found so they would be untraceable.
Yep.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-california-gold-coins-discovered-20140226,0,2472100.story
I don’t think he’d leave his gold in CA while moving to New Zealand. Can you imagine stumbling across all that gold? Unbelievable. I wonder who buried it there, and why. I have always thought it strange to hide things outdoors where they are at risk of someone else finding them, or an animal digging them up. I would never do that. I’d bury them in the walls of my house first.
In 1970 one of my college buddies’ parents in Oil City was putting a washer in the basement and knocked a stone in the cellar wall. It fell and gold coins poured out. Enough to fill a tackle box.
True Story. Not worth then what they would be today.
“I have always thought it strange to hide things outdoors where they are at risk of someone else finding them, or an animal digging them up.”
This reminds me of the movie, Fargo, where toward the end Steve Buscemi pulls off the road to bury (hide) the ransom money for himself. The terrain is frozen white snow in every direction with no unique features anywhere to use as a marker to find and recover it later. Greed and desperation.
I think there will be more to the story. It’s interesting to read that the coins may have been stolen from the San Francisco mint by some guy called Walter Dimmick, back in the day. I look forward to hearing more. My main question would be, do the finders get to be keepers?
‘I think there will be more to the story. It’s interesting to read that the coins may have been stolen from the San Francisco mint by some guy called Walter Dimmick, back in the day. I look forward to hearing more. My main question would be, do the finders get to be keepers?’
That was my first impressions. I think the article said the coins’ face value is $28,000. In the late 1800’s that was a lot of money to just be left around. Hence I thought train robbery or something. My question is why did the coin finders even let any publicity come out? To drive the price up on them? Here, if I found a stash of old coins, I sure as heck would not want any mention of it in the press. Likewise if I won the powerball lottery. Granted the find is really good, but by California standards, just another millionairey day going by.
Apparently it stayed buried since the 1890s…not a bad hiding place!
And remained buried through the terrorist FDR’s terms.
FDR didn’t confiscate numismatics.
My idea of a good hiding place is one which is never found by anyone but the owner.
What a great story. I am telling you…there is nothing like owning California real estate…..HA, HA!
Every California investment home comes with a stash of gold in the backyard.
…. and a liar in a tollbooth in the frontyard.
Look at how well it worked out for all those people who ruined their lives and families in the last 10 or so years. You should really talk to some of them to realize what thin ice you are on
Ronnie, I get what you are saying. I was almost one of those people until I found the HBB and realized 2005 or 2006 was out of balance. I was just making a joke for HA. I guess it wasn’t very funny to you (and probably not to HA either).
So a can of gold is what puts the value in a California house. Now I got it. You can move in all the section 8 trash next door to me as long as I am guaranteed to find a can of 1,400 Pre-1900 gold coins hidden on my propert.
+1 in fact +1457!
Housing: Is It Really Just The Weather?
“There is little argument that the economic data has been “weaker than expected” with the reason being quickly attributed to “the weather.”
“While the Federal Reserve’s artificial interventions continue to pull forward future consumption, the reality is that we are likely much closer to the next recession than not.”
http://stawealth.com/daily-x-change/1967-housing-is-it-really-just-the-weather.html
The article is pretty convincing using an assortment of graphs to demonstrate it’s conclusions. That being we’re still in a recessionary state.
Pretty much everything that has gone wrong in the U.S. economy so far in 2014 can easily enough be blamed on the weather.
Bankers and politicians: the vomit of the US.
I resemble that.
Now the danged weather has screwed up durable goods orders!
Durable-goods orders drop for the third month in four
Feb. 27, 2014, 8:50 a.m. EST
Durable-goods orders drop 1% in January
Most manufacturers aside from military contractors post decline
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Orders for U.S. durable goods fell 1% in January as demand tapered off for most big-ticket items except military hardware, the government said Thursday.
Orders have fallen in three of the past four months, perhaps a sign that the manufacturing sector has cooled off a bit. Yet economists also believe harsh winter weather is part of reason and some think demand will pick up as the spring approaches.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected orders to fall 2.5% in the first month of the new year.
In January, aircraft orders sank 20.2%. Boeing received just 38 orders for new planes in January, down from 319 in the final month of 2013. The company usually takes in a bunch of orders at the end of one year and books a lot fewer at the start of the next.
Auto orders, meanwhile, dropped 2.2%.
…
In January, aircraft orders sank 20.2%. Boeing received just 38 orders for new planes in January, down from 319 in the final month of 2013. The company usually takes in a bunch of orders at the end of one year and books a lot fewer at the start of the next.
Yes, because when the weather is bad, you just don’t want to go to the store to buy a 787.
In January, aircraft orders sank 20.2%. Boeing received just 38 orders for new planes in January, down from 319 in the final month of 2013. The company usually takes in a bunch of orders at the end of one year and books a lot fewer at the start of the next.
How did Airbus do?
But what about the things that go good? Weren’t new home sales up? How does that square? Of course it doesn’t, it’s all just blabbering to fill air time/page space.
1+1=3
Don’t think to hard about it.
There’s a better article on this, by Peter Morici, that I posted a few days ago. I never saw it make it through the filters, though. But I point this out in case someone like PBear wants to check it out.
Here:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12446491/1/morici-more-than-winter-chill-gripping-housing-economy.html
“More than winter chill gripping the housing economy”
A strange quote from the article:
“According to the widely watched Case-Shiller Index, home prices are still 20% off their 2006 peak, and it may be the end of the decade before that lost growth is regained.”
To which someone replied in the comments section,
“If I thought that housing prices would appreciate 20% in 6 years, I’d go out and buy one today (seriously).”
The Original Sin of Global Warming
It might seem strange to say it, but I am a global warming skeptic because of Carl Sagan.
“The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge, and there is no place for it in the endeavor of science.”
http://thefederalist.com/2014/02/26/the-original-sin-of-global-warming/
“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”
Thomas Jefferson
I don’t think I’ve been getting enough credit for this global warming thingy.
Yes and you are still fairly active. When are you going into hibernation so we can put a bullet into the head of this this walking dead theory called CAGW?
When are you going into hibernation so we can put a bullet into the head of this this walking dead theory called CAGW?
The Koch Brothers don’t even have enough money to fight science. And you Albuquerquedan are not NASA. And I’m looking at the Atlantic Ocean 2 hours outta Rio.
Off your meds again?
How’s George Soros doing these days, Rio? Any reports?
Is he still leading an effort to divert American taxpayer into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil?
Soros = Big Oil = Big Money.
Is he still leading an effort to divert American taxpayer into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil?
What is he doing in Brazil?
Maybe you should claim to be from a different BRIC nation, I might believe you if you claimed to be from India:
http://photos.msn.com/slideshow/news/must-see-february-2014/23bg5zmn
The subservient don’t get much credit.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/27/global-warming-slowdown-not-invalidate-climate-change-science
People at the Guardian are not “real scientists”.
Better stick with the Washington Times, Washington Examiner, New York Post, UK Daily Mail, Weekly Standard, Daily Caller, Breitbart, CNS News dot com, and the assorted regional sub domains of CBS local dot com.
They’ll confirm everything you already believe and give you a cool tingly feeling like when you bite into a Peppermint Patty.
Reading both sides does keep me better informed. I do read the guardian but it is amazing what they leave out.
But these people are real scientists:
http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/events/a-discussion-on-climate-change-evidence-and-causes/
What the article talks about is the free flow of ” all information” but one side of this subject feels the need to limit the other’s information.
Why? Maybe the reason is based in Rules for Radicals? Rather than consider the other sides thoughts or beliefs, it’s easier to destroy them. I think it’s intellectual laziness.
This message sponsored by Koch Industries.
And by Al Gore.
All doubt is paid for by Koch Industries.
“The suppression of unfomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge, and there is no place for it int the endeavor of science.”
Anyone here on the message board ever heard of the Cocaine Mummys?
Anyone here on the message board ever heard of the Cocaine Mummys?
Actually not but I bet they have baby daddies in their lives.
Wiki-up “Henut Taui” if you are looking for something to ponder.
I have a link that should post very soon.
Sorry combo sometimes I just have to be the wiseacre, here is a good link to the cocaine mummies:
http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~legneref/ethnic/mummy.htm
From your link:
“The major reason for the initial criticism to Balabanova’s work is the disbelief in pre-Columbian transoceanic contact.”
note: The major reason is not the evidence, it’s the disbelief.
Pre-Columbian societies were much more advance than most people accept. Have you ever read the book 1491?
Does the fact that you were lied to about the cost to build a structure anger you?
$200 a square foot is the minimum asking price for used housing in south Denver.
See?
It’s so depressing to buy at the top.
DiBlasio’s New York.
http://www.thenycalliance.org/press-release-detail.php?id=90
He’s trying to end the city-wide practice of “bottomless brunch”**. (Unlimited mimosas or bloody Mary’s.) LOL @ this clown’s priorities. And now he’s going to piss off the hipsters that helped him defeat Christine Quinn.
** No RAL, it’s not the kind of bottomless brunch that you like… it’s not about sausage.
Liberace!
We know you’re worried DiBlasio is gonna close down Paddles.
RAL’s New York:
Bottomless bunches illegal, bottomless transkindergartens MANDATORY.
It’s unclear to me why trimming the US military budget is a bad thing.
I’ve posted before about how many more aircraft carriers and nuclear subs we have than the rest of the world. Today’s let’s discuss how the U.S. has 3300 combat aircraft, nearly twice as many as China or Russia. If you account for the condition of the planes and the quality of the planes, it would be even more lopsided.
http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-top-10-largest-combat-air-forces-in-the-world/10/
“But… but… we must cut SNAP if we want to trim the deficit”
LOL, reptiles are done here.
“we must cut SNAP”
Food stamps = $80,000,000,000 a year
Government contractors = $500,000,000,000+ a year
Most conservatives agree with cuts to bloat, and think there is PLENTY of military bloat to be cut. What’s the problem? Oh, jobs, whether in R or D districts. No one wants to cut jobs.
The qualitative edge over Russia and China has actually closed quite a bit over the last few years. Doesn’t mean that we do not need to make cuts in all the government including the military but R and D budgets should be the last to go due to the increased sophistication of Russian and Chinese weapons.
Russians lack carriers and their better planes are very range-limited. They also do not have the bases around the world like the U.S. or the ability to leverage NATO.
If you look at the munitions and the software in the planes there is a big gap, particularly w/r/t ability to avoid detection. If you look only at mechanical performance you might be right. In the age we live in, the software and other features of a plan start to outweigh the od school specs.
Keep in mind, drones are going to make a lot of this obsolete and also that my post doesn’t include helicopters, another sizeable U.S. advantage.
In the age we live in, the software and other features of a plan start to outweigh the od school specs.
You are really underestimating the Russian ability to write code and the Russians have made major advances in stealth technology and in detecting stealth technology, the qualitative differences in weapon systems has indeed narrowed.
BTW, while it is true that Russian Navy aviation is presently no match for the U.S., what do you mean that they have no carriers, that was true for China up until a few years ago but that is no longer true even for them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_aircraft_carrier_Admiral_Kuznetsov
Russia’s carriers are SPS compared to ours, same with China. What Russia and China call carriers would not even qualify compared to ours.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/carriers-2012.gif
(Link to all the world’s carriers that were deployed as of ‘13)
Our new carriers simply blow theirs out of the water. Faster, can deploy more aircraft, launch them faster, and can defend themselves much better.
Our satellite tech and stealth destroys what they have. And when it comes to drones or helicopters (necessary for rough terrain) it’s truly a laughable comparison.
By the way, that carrier is OBSOLETE. It’s widely known among the clients I used to work for (principally General Dynamics-AMSEA) that Russia’s navy is poor.
Here’s the most important part of that wiki article:
“In April 2010 it was announced that by the end of 2012 the ship will enter Severodvinsk Sevmash shipyard for a major refit and modernisation.[31] The report states that the refit will include upgrades to the obsolete electronics and sensor equipment, installation of the new anti-aircraft system and increase of the air wing by the removal of the P-700 Granit anti-ship missiles. Upgrades might also include exchanging the troublesome steam powerplant to the gas-turbine or even nuclear propulsion and installation of catapults to the angled deck.[31] As of late 2013 no such major refit has occurred.”
LOL, just LOL. They haven’t even done the refitting yet. And when they do , it will be stuff the US made obsolete in the mid-00’s.
LOL @ Russian Navy.
Here is what a real carrier looks like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_George_H.W._Bush_(CVN-77)
Finished in 2009 at a cost of over 6 Billion.
One of these, with a full complement of aircraft (short and long launches) could take out the entire fleet of China or Russia.
———————-
Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h; 35+ mph)
Range: Unlimited distance; 20-25 years
Complement: Ship’s company: 3,200
Air wing: 2,480
Sensors and
processing systems: SPS-48E 3-D air search radar
SPS-49A(V)1 2-D air search radar
SPQ-9B fire control radar
2 × SPN-46 air traffic control radars
SPN-43C air traffic control radar
SPN-41 instrument landing system radar
3 × Mk 91 NSSM guidance systems
3 × Mk 95 radars
Electronic warfare
& decoys: SLQ-32A(V)4 Countermeasures suite
SLQ-25A Nixie torpedo countermeasures
Armament: 2 × Mk 29 ESSM launcher
2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
3 (or 4?) x Phalanx CIWS[4]
Armor: 2.5 in (64 mm) Kevlar over vital spaces[5]
Aircraft carried: 90 fixed wing and helicopters
There is a big difference between saying it has no aircraft carriers and that it has a carrier that is obsolete. They still can project force with that carrier and we have “obsolete” carriers among our fleet.
Put a naval version of this plan on an obsolete carrier or a retrofitted carrier in a few years and Russia is back into the game:
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/russia-stealth/
Excerpt:
Russia’s T-50 stealth fighter prototype, the first radar-evading warplane outside the U.S. when it debuted in January 2010, is slightly less stealthy than the American F-22 and about equal to the smaller F-35. But in several other respects the new warplane from the Russian Sukhoi design bureau is actually superior to the American models.
That’s the surprising conclusion of the first-ever public scientific analysis of the T-50′s Radar Cross-Section (RCS), completed this week by Dr. Carlo Kopp, an analyst with the independent think tank Air Power Australia.
“The shaping of the T-50 is inferior to that of the F-22 Raptor,” Kopp writes in his dense, jargon-heavy report. But the F-35 and T-50, he adds, exhibit “similar … RCS behavior.”
But Kopp’s assessment of the T-50 comes with caveats. Quite a few of them, actually. To match the stealthiness of the Lockheed Martin F-35 — to say nothing of the company’s F-22 — Sukhoi’s engineers will have to, among other changes, modify the T-50′s engines to a less obtrusive fitting and add a layer of radar-absorbing material to the plane’s skin.
More on the Russian rebuild of its Navy:
http://politicalvelcraft.org/2013/09/13/president-putin-dispatches-carrier-killer-missile-cruiser-with-supporting-ships-to-syria/
The point being not that Russia is now our match, just that they have narrowed the technological edge we have enjoyed with new planes, new missiles and new ships and intend to modernize even more including a carrier which you said did not exist. This is at a time when we are cutting our capacity. The overall balance is clearly in our favor but the trend lines are clearly not.
Here is what a real carrier looks like
BTW, I know what a real carrier looks like before 9/11 you could actually tour them when they were in port in Coronado, I never toured the Bush but I believe I have seen it in port or at least its class.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/04/02/russ-a02.html
I’m saying it depends how you define an aircraft carrier. Russia has one carrier, as does China. But the firepower on those things isn’t even equal to the least of our carriers.
Moreover, they are slower and their software and systems are out of date, badly. Even if they retrofit and try to keep up, the GD wouldn’t be allowed to sell any goodies to them.
I think we can cut the military budget at least 90% and still defend the U.S.
Don’t be a hater.
Show some love for the younger generation of government contractors.
^^ Yes, but even I would acknowledge that it would have to be slow to allow for new alliances to evolve and allow Europe to pick up some of the slack. Would also mean allowing Israel and Japan to be more proactive. Probably Germany too (even though no one is challenging their borders, obvs).
The money we do spend should be on continuing to make China and Russia’s technology look pathetic.
I started to discuss this yesterday, later in the day…
The Supreme Court just expanded the ability of police to do warrantless searches of homes.
Conservative justices led the way on this opinion. Alito wrote for the majority. Ginsberg wrote the dissent for the libs (joined by Kagan and Sotomayor in recognizing that the police used an artifice to get around needing a warrant).
Basically what happened is, police showed up to a house, boyfriend said they could not enter/search. Boyfriend was arrested. While he was being locked up, police went back to the house and searched again, immediately. LOL. In the past, this would’ve required a warrant since clearly the bf would oppose them entering–the police doing a self-serving arrest would not allow them to go right back and search.
Ultimately, this goes beyond this one particular case. The only justices skeptical of unlimited surveillance and a police state? Ginsberg, Sotomayor, and Kagan. It’s getting scary, the other 6 justices signing off on all sorts of statist activities.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-scotus-lapd-search-20140226,0,3720623.story#axzz2uSOviQ5X
“The case began when LAPD officers responded to reports of a street robbery near Venice Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue. They pursued a suspect to an apartment building, heard shouting inside a unit and knocked on the door. Roxanne Rojas opened the door, but her boyfriend, Walter Fernandez, told officers they could not enter without a warrant.
“You don’t have any right to come in here. I know my rights,” Fernandez shouted from inside the apartment, according to court records.
Fernandez was arrested in connection with the street robbery and taken away. An hour later, police returned and searched his apartment, this time with Rojas’ consent. They found a shotgun and gang-related material.”
I guess this story belongs on the HBB. Is a man’s home his castle…even if it is an apartment with illegal stash?
The story is about the continual creeping of the U.S. away from limited police power. Warrantless wiretapping, data surveillance, and now you can just haul someone off for booking after he denies you entry and then come back immediately afterwards (within an hour) and enter… STILL without a warrant, even though a warrant could be easily obtained.
The point isn’t whether this particular douche was guilty, it was the complete lack of exigent circumstances that would allow such a search. There is a lot of other case law on this, esp in lower courts. The Supreme Court rarely gets a chance to weigh in and this was their weighing in? We’re in trouble.
Just to be clear– the issue here was not whether this guy could go free, it was whether certain evidence should’ve been admitted at trial bc of a flagrantly illegal search. If a court doesn’t hold police officers to any standard, the ramifications are huge. The police start to lie anytime they “need” to do it to assure a certain outcome.
Complete lack?
From the article: “He also said Rojas, who appeared to have been beaten when police first arrived, should have her own right to consent to a search. “Denying someone in Rojas’ position the right to allow the police to enter her home would also show disrespect for her independence,” Alito wrote for the Court.”
I guess cops who chase a street robber to a house and then find a beaten woman inside are just jackbooted thugs. Don’t beat the cr@p out of your girlfriend who also lives there and you’ll be fine.
It’s easy to think that it won’t happen to us because we’re “law abiding citizens”
the chris dorner manhunt in southern california and the lockdown and door to door warrantless searches in watertown, mass were trial balloons to test the sheeple’s willingness to bend over and get some abner louima style law enforcement.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Louima
“A police officer in South Carolina shot a 70-year-old motorist who was reaching for a cane during a traffic stop because he thought the man was grabbing a rifle from the bed of his pickup truck, investigators said.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/sc-officer-shoots-man-reaching-for-cane/2014/02/26/1b97852e-9f3d-11e3-878c-65222df220eb_story.html?tid=pm_pop
“The situation is very unfortunate,” Faris said, reading from a statement at a news conference. “It does appear, at this time, that Deputy Knox’s actions were an appropriate response to what he reasonably believed to be an imminent threat to his life.”
So a cop can shoot you just because he thinks you might have a gun. He doesn’t actually have to see it.
I routinely tell me kids to not do anything that will get you pulled over by a trigger happy cop.
“A police officer in South Carolina shot a 70-year-old motorist who was reaching for a cane during a traffic stop because he thought”
He didn’t have to think…
NO MORE HESITATION!
A labrador with a wagging tail…
BAM! BAM! BAM!
NO MORE HESITATION!
A 70-year-old motorist reaching for a cane.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
NO MORE HESITATION!
Kid opens his front door with a a Wii controller.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
NO MORE HESITATION!
I posted about this a few years back. In fall of 2005, the ex and I sold our home, moved to another town in FL, moved back after a couple of months and separated. I rented a dump in a somewhat sketchy apartment complex, but it was the best I could do at the time unless I wanted to overpay elsewhere. It was at the height of the bubble, in fact just as it was starting to freeze up prior to the “downturn”. The whole market was in disarray.
Anyhow, the first thing that happened was I got a visit from a couple of bounty hunters looking for the former occupant of the apartment. They were actually decent chaps, great sense of humor, they realized right away that I was not who they were looking for. They gave me their card, we shot the breeze for a while and then they went over to the office of the complex to see if they could find out more.
The next visit I got was a few days later, from a couple of members of the local constabulary, one a huge she-bull and other other a nasty skinny guy who quivered like an attack dog. They were looking for the same guy, except their manner made the bounty hunters look like a couple of English ladies serving tea.
They also knew I wasn’t who they were looking for, but that didn’t matter, they were going to take a look around inside anyway. And they left me with no doubt that if I didn’t go along with it, they’d take me into custody, just because they could.
just because they could.
Do you still answer your own door, after these experiences?
LOL, I’ve been long gone from that apartment complex, so yeah, I do answer the door, but cautiously.
I discussed that complex a little here on the blog, back then. Definitely an experience. You couldn’t make up some of the stuff that happened there, and it gave some real insight as to how far gone some members of society are.
I do answer the door, but cautiously.
My level of caution includes not answering the door unless I have received advance notice by phone. Otherwise, I don’t answer any more. You are a sitting duck / standing target for an assault as soon as you open your door.
Now & then my city &/or utilities people come by on business, & even then I tend to meet them in my yard, not at the door. Last year my gas company came by for a routine meter inspection (supposed to have been scheduled ahead of time but they hadn’t called, so) I didn’t answer the knock. Later we made arrangements.
Yes, well, over the weekend a young girl and her mother knocked on the door. I ended up buying a box of thin mint and peanut butter cookies.
People show up at our door here (Las Vegas) all the time (door to door salesmen, Jehovah Witnesses, insurance reps, etc.) I’ve gotten used to it, but it still can be a bit unnerving.
The worst was one evening a guy appeared feet away from me in my garage while I was unloading groceries. With home invasions periodically happening here, that really startled me.
Yes, well, over the weekend a young girl and her mother knocked on the door. I ended up buying a box of thin mint and peanut butter cookies.
Uncle Fed would have shot through the door.
I had a Verizon rep knock on my door recently around dinnertime, when it was already dark. I only answered it because I thought it might have been important (maybe a neighbor needing help or something). I kind of laid into the guy about what a bad time it was to knock…dinnertime…dark out…and it was a freezing cold day! He looked shocked that I was upset with him.
I also told him to come back in 2 years when the deal I have with Comcast expires.
I had a Verizon rep knock on my door recently around dinnertime
That’s when my phone used to start ringing off the hook, telephone solicitors went nuts. Too many people wanted to use my phone and my front door as an ATM, and I didn’t see it that way. I quit answering and let my machine do the talking while I listen in. Over the decades this phone fury has eased off a bit.
It’s a NeoCon = Progressives world, Joe.
Speaking of which, who is defending your individual liberty these days?
Despite your derision for all things Southern, it might be wise to befriend a few rednecks. What if it is they who ultimately preserve your liberty? Stranger things have happened, you know.
As is true in the world of investing, it is wise to diversify. The Washington, D.C.-area clearly is one of the least diversified metro areas in existence. Broadening your scope can save your @ss.
Strangely, world history shows us that populations that are more militaristic and in favor of using force have worse outcomes and less civil liberties.
No, no thanks, I don’t think gun toting people have some deeper appreciation for liberty. That’s just something they tell themselves. A convenient meme, if you will.
Also strangely, world history shows us that populations that are more elitist and in favor of redistribution of wealth have worse outcomes and less civil liberties.
No, no thanks. I don’t think redistribution of wealth elitists have some deeper appreciation for liberty. That’s just something they tell themselves. A convenient meme, if you will.
See? I can play, too.
Fairly mindless prattle, Joe. You can do better than that.
It’s interesting how alike Washingtonians are to traditional Mormons.
Mormons, at least, have been making attempts in recent years to branch out and work with people unlike themselves. Coastal elitists, not so much.
So much for diversity.
Mormons, at least, have been making attempts in recent years to branch out and work with people unlike themselves.
You’re joking, right? We have tons of LDS in my neck of the woods. They are some of the most insular, “circle the wagons” people I have ever met.
“elitist and in favor of redistribution of wealth”
First off, there is always redistribution in any large economy. It’s a question of how much. But you’re crazy if you don’t think distribution always occurs in the form of a safety net, in the form of military spending, public works, etc. Again, it’s always a question of how much.
It also depends on how redistribution is done. Most successful ancient civilizations were heavily elitist and had redistribution all over the place. You don’t think Athens and Rome in their golden ages had a ton of redistribution? Especially compared to the barbaric societies of the time? You are nuts. The history of Western Civilization is all about elitism and redistribution, with better organized societies crushing the opposition into the ground, led by elites who offered a slightly better bargain to the people until such time that they became corrupt or overextended and were themselves replaced.
Lastly, I am not in favor of the redistribution we have. In particular, we do far too much redistribution to unproductive members of society. Medicare and SS are directed at people who, by their very age, do not represent a big productivity boost to the country and are not its future. If you want to look at waste, this is a prime place to start. The military is another.
I am not economically liberal, I’m not sure where you’re getting that I’m some elitist/statist. I’ve often said that we should make serious cuts. But even if we cut SNAP 100%, it doesn’t even move us a tiny bit closer to a smaller government. And the Farm Bill is really about subsidies to big farmers. If we cut the subsidies, more people might actually be able to afford food, thus obviating the problem of food prices in the first place.
Classical liberals are not at home in the GOP. Today’s GOP is a disgrace and the tea party represents just about the worst of it. They kiss the feet of their owners (truly wealthy people) and do their bidding. It’s sickening to watch. They’re also completely nuts on social issues.
Joe, you need to get out more. As in out of DC. To see how the world really thinks and acts. From what I’ve seen, your personal susceptibility to propaganda and hype is considerably greater than you suspect.
It’s understandable. You spend nearly all of your time in a metropolitan area that skews 85-90% leftist. You work, dine and swim with leftists.
And by “out more” I don’t mean Boulder, which is known in Colorado as the Socialist State of Boulder. That’s not “getting out”. That’s “communing”. I also don’t mean going to Salt Lake City.
You learn a lot driving backroads. I suggest putting 2,000 miles on a vehicle in the near future, and checking out places such as Ohio, the U.P. of Michigan, Tennessee, Iowa, New Mexico, Idaho.
I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
Hey, In Colorado,
Visit DC for a few weeks and you’ll see what I mean, provided you can remain non-biased while you’re there.
Washingtonians are very insular. Everyone has pretty much the same world view. Just like the Mormons do. Unlike Mormons, however, Washingtonians believe themselves worldly. They aren’t. Their minds are as closed off and fixed as any Mormon.
Talk to a Mormon, though, and they’ll agree that they are closed minded. Talk to a Washingtonian and you’ll find they’ve never considered it.
It’s interesting.
“Classical liberals are not at home in the GOP”.
I strongly agree.
Similarly, classical liberals are not at home in Washington, DC, nor within the Democratic Party.
Hate ‘em, love ‘em or tolerate ‘em, Tea Partiers at least have accomplished one thing: they have helped keep the argument for individual liberty from slipping entirely off the radar screen.
What other political entity is doing that today? None that I can see. None that a large swath of people know anything about.
“People, who by their very age, do not represent a big productivity boost.”
Send Boxer to the knackers?
‘you need to get out more’
downlow joe spent a summer in pittsburgh once.
coincidentally, the american version of the teevee show ‘queer as folk’ was set in pittsburgh.
world history shows us that populations that are more militaristic and in favor of using force have worse outcomes and less civil liberties.
Cherry picking. Perhaps those “worse outcomes” are just a result of being defeated by superior military forces. I think the Chinese would have a different view of world history. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress today approved a national Nanjing Massacre memorial day. Aren’t civil liberties easier to maintain in countries that don’t get invaded every few decades, repeated over spans of centuries?.
It’s getting scary, the other 6 justices signing off on all sorts of statist activities.
Trad Cons and the Religious Right were no doubt hoping that this “conservative” SC would overturn Roe vs. Wade. Instead they got this.
no doubt hoping that this “conservative” SC would overturn Roe vs. Wade
and no doubt utterly ignorant of the history of Executive Order 9066.
http://www.picpaste.com/1798074_10151929515285773_334337247_n-CNrtYN7r.jpg
lolz
That’s funny, I thought 2brony told us everybody wants to move to the South
“Denver ranks No. 13 Out of 102 major metropolitan markets for brainpower, according to a new study … It’s an attractive place for in-migration and population growth because there are lots of jobs available — especially in the growing tech-related industries — and people love the sunshine, fresh air and mountain view.
If you can get past the traffic jams, a high brainpower ranking is a good thing, because higher degrees are typically synonymous with higher pay and a higher quality-of-life … Colorado ranks third for the most people with a bachelor’s degree or higher.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/02/27/brainpower-boost-in-colorado-comes.html
The south is notorious for brain drain. Denver/CO are the beneficiaries of a lot of people who have been successful elsewhere deciding to move for QOL reasons.
2brony is deluded:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564383/North-Dakota-tops-list-happiest-U-S-states-West-Virginia-bottom.html
(This chart is just one example of a larger trend.)
The south has the lowest levels of satisfaction, education, literacy, and income.
Many on this board believe that brains only exist on the coasts and no further down than Maryland or No. Virginia on the East Coast
Some, not many. But the some may be more vocal than others.
“only exist ”
Too strong of a statement. Convenient strawman to be sure.
Obviously there are places like the Chapel Hill/Durham area and so forth.
And I just said that CO is a destination place for people moving from coasts. Same with Austin TX and a few others.
My bigger point is, lower taxes alone are not sufficient to change the overall level of human capital in an area. And sometimes it’s worth paying much more to have access to better infrastructure and human capital. NYC is a great example of this. NYC embodies a lot of classical liberal (conservative) economic ideas as well, with its focus on externalities and efficiencies. Overall a very well run city (di Blasio trying to ruin it, though). You can’t say that for almost any place in the south.
“the Chapel Hill/Durham area”
Cary, NC = Containment Area Relocated Yankees
Chapel Hill/Durham has been deemed “acceptable” by coastal elitists for about 15-20 years now. The area is regarded as a well-established fort, a frontier town of sorts.
Back in 2008, an attempt was made to bring Charlotte up to “acceptable” standards. Alas, the results were not quite up to par.
The Charlotte problem is not one of message or effort. It’s one of distance. Coastal elitists realize full well that they need quick access to securable safe havens (in the event that a rabid redneck comes a-running, with guns-a-blazin’ and teeth-a-foamin’).
Charlotte is just a tad too far away from well-established elitist safe havens.
Just thought you should know.
how does that explain asheville, which is even further inland?
that town is full of dope smoking socialists and homogays.
Asheville? That hippie outpost? That town has never been infiltrated…it grew “organically”. Egad.
I imagine that Manitou Springs to be a smaller version of Asheville. Don’t know if I’m correct, but I suspect that I am.
On the flip side, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, is redneck “organic”. Egad.
And so is perhaps the entire state of New Hampshire. I see it as an outpost. Live Free Or Die is one heck of a motto for a place fighting for breath amid a sea of nanny statists.
MacBeth nailed it, Charlotte is full of fat native southerners who can barely speak English. It’s kind of like Atlanta, but at least Atlanta has some good upper class neighborhoods with some history (same for Charleston). Chapel Hill/Durham is like carpet bagger city, though, it’s totally a northerner outpost. Even moreso that Duke is firmly established as a top 10 school. Asheville has less permanent residents from the north, but a steady stream of visitors. Kind of like the Outer Banks in summer.
“homogays”?
Is there another type?
Let me make this even clearer.
Charlotte history = Strom Thurmond (for all practical purposes. The city IS on the SC border). Baptist as all get-out. Jimmy and Tammy Faye.
Asheville history = tuned out, doped up 1960s hippies living on berries amid a sea of destitute Cherokee rednecks and pickup-driving yokels. Flower power toking it up amongst the Beverly Hillbillies set.
Raleigh/Durham is the established buffer zone in the eyes of today’s coastal elitists. Sorta like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and East Germany were buffers zones for the USSR.
I didn’t say that Charlotte is full of fat, native Southerners.
You did.
On the contrary, Charlotte has a great many transplants (just ask them should you find yourself there). There, the non-natives are as likely to be from the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois) as they are to be from the coastal elite areas (New York, Connecticut, Jersey).
Charlotte is entertaining in that the natives despise coastal elitists (bless their hearts). They tend to be neutral about Midwesterners.
Arriving Midwesterners don’t often tell Charlotteans that their way of life sucks. Arriving coastal elitists often DO tell them exactly that. Guess who wins that battle? Elitists are not too quick on the take re: attracting flies with honey. (And then they sulk, become dismissively smug, and get all politically correct as they wonder why everyone despises them. Lather, rinse and repeat).
Conversely, Raleigh-Durham’s non-natives are decisively more coastal than Midwestern. Much like what Californians are doing to Colorado, elitists overrun the place and turn it into a puppet state.
As far as Charlotte fatness goes, Joe, I have no idea. I don’t waste my time fussing about other people’s waistlines.
How fat are those living in Washington, DC? Yeah, in that question, I am including all DC-area residents, not just those in suits and hopping into cabs.
Not to mention the legal pot.
‘legal pot’
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20140227_153849_536-nIK6L5zq.jpg
yup.
Let the state bidding begin:
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/tesla-reveals–5-billion-gigafactory–the-world-s-largest-battery-plant-223554561.html
http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/opinion/report/022614_slug/ukraine-what-hell-just-happened/
Just as outlined in the infamous Victoria Nuland phone conversation, “Yats” is the new leader of Ukraine. This should leave no doubt that the US engineered this whole coup.
And if I was “Yats”, I’d be taking a good, long look at how Washington treats its puppet rulers. I think someone once said that it’s very dangerous to be an enemy of the US, but it’s fatal to be a friend.
The State Department got their man in. I hope he’s familiar with how Chris Stevens was treated. He’ll be left to twist in the wind. Rotsa ruck, “Yats”.
It is interesting on Al Jazeera today they quoted a poll that Putin has a popularity of 69% compare that to our “leader” (use that term quite loosely) who polls in the low 40s. Despite the garbage you hear he is managing the economy far better than our leader and his standing up to the U.S., in fact schooling us is quite popular.
This won’t last. I predict “Yats” will be gone within the year, if he even survives that long. His life isn’t worth a plug nickle. Putin is not going to take this lying down.
Sadam had 100% approval and was elected every time
This was suppose to be a genuine poll not like Iraq or the poll that shows 97% support for global warming, you know one that belongs in the non-fiction category.
Hope and Change
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2014/02/26/reid-vast-majority-of-koch-ads-are-lies/
RAL, thoughts?
A real “housing analyst” seems to disagree with you.
———————-
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/docs/2014/02/NewHomeSales_02262014.pdf (link is to a white paper issued yesterday by Wells Fargo)
“New Home Sales Defy Wintry Weather”
January marked the highest pace of new home buying since the
recovery began, defying expectations that more winter weather
during the month would keep potential homebuyers away. A
strong rise in purchases of homes not yet under construction
may help explain the jump during inclement weather.
· Consumer confidence data revealed an increase in plans to
purchase a new home, keeping the outlook bright for sales.
I dunno. Whatta ya think Liberace?
HA seems perplexed by real analytics, so he resorts to juvenile name calling. Actually, I cannot say he “resorts” to it, because it seems to be a permanent part of his everyday posts….
Well “general contractor”?
Bloomberg
Aging populations in advanced economies such as the U.S. mute the efficacy of monetary policy, which therefore needs to play a more active role with larger variations in interest rates, according to research from an International Monetary Fund working paper.
“Monetary policy has a bigger impact on young people than it does on the older people,” IMF senior economist Patrick Imam said in an interview.
Uh no - What’s muting monetary policy is.
#1 People who want to borrow money have no jobs to pay it back.
#2 People who have money understand what’s going on. Why borrow to buy a house when rising interest rates and inflation of food and fuel are going to keep you from selling that house for a profit.
Printing money works to increase GDP and causes inflation when
1. People can force employers to pay them more
2. People can find better paying jobs
3. People can send their spouse off to work
4. People have savings they can spend.
5. The last stage - People can borrow money.
Once they have used up all of these options all printing money does is shift spending from wants to needs.
Until that money is used to increase the wealth of the average citizen all printing money will do is drive up food and fuel prices and unemployment as people have less for services and manufactured goods.
American Exceptionalism:
“The patient lies trapped in his own body, like a prisoner in an enormous, fleshy castle. And though he must feel wounded by the ER personnel’s remarks, he seems to find succor in knowing there’s no comment so cutting that it can’t be soothed by the balm of 8,000 calories per day.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-morbidly-obese-patient-tests-the-limits-of-a-doctors-compassion/2014/02/24/faf80438-7df9-11e3-9556-4a4bf7bcbd84_story.html
Real journalists at the Washington Post discuss the five year history of the Tea Party (although recent popularity of the phrase “tea party” actually dates to Ron Paul’s 12/16/2007 “money bomb” fundraiser, but even real journalists get it wrong sometimes)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/02/27/looking-back-at-the-tea-partys-most-memorable-moments-on-its-fifth-birthday/
Interesting that the Tea Party is on its way to becoming an institutionalized idea and entity.
I don’t see much in the way of “looking back at the OWS’ most memorable moments”.
No wonder today’s NeoCon-Progressive Party members despise the Tea Party so much. It remains despite all efforts to discredit it.
“the Tea Party is on its way to becoming an institutionalized idea and entity.”
The word you’re looking for is “punching bag”.
No, that’s not what I’m looking for.
However, if true, you lose.
Unless you’re a psychopath, you too will lose under a
NeoCon-Progressive Party system.
I see it more as branding
Think Toyota Lexus
Honda Acura
Ford Mercury
etc.
Republican
Tea Party
So the Tea Party is the Lexus of the Republican party?
The Tea Party will be remembered for young a-hole traders on Wall Street cheering on greed, and old white racists on Medicare carrying misspelled signs. OWS will be remembered for The 99% and The 1%.
The Tea Party will be remembered for young a-hole traders on Wall Street cheering on greed, and old white racists on Medicare carrying misspelled signs. OWS will be remembered for The 99% and The 1%.
Actually, history will not remember OWS for anything. They were just a flash in the pan. Just Soros’ Astro turf.
do you kiss your girlfriend with that same mouth you fluff the 0.1% with?
No, I kiss your girlfriend.
And try to avoid your Soros’ fluff. I am still waiting to hear from the Koch brother’s about payment, they could not pay me enough to fluff though.
Eh, don’t feel bad. Waiting for my Soros check is like waiting for Godot. As it is OWS itself will probably be remembered for having the opportunity to fight for a Tobin tax and wasting it on trying to resurrect the Haight-Ashbury Summer of Love.
As it is OWS itself will probably be remembered for having the opportunity to fight for a Tobin tax and wasting it on trying to resurrect the Haight-Ashbury Summer of Love.
That I agree with. A real focus on the .01% would have been beneficial had it attempted to address how the WTO and immigration was sucking the life out of the U.S. middle class. But it turned into their chance to experience the 1960s.
Not from “real journalists” but a common Goon source:
http://www.infowars.com/soros-to-ows-i-feel-your-pain/
This is how the 0.1%ers will be remembered:
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/02/1032550/-Chicago-Board-of-Trade-Dumps-McDonalds-Employment-Applications-on-Occupy-Chicago-Protesters
Apparently, it worked. They filled out the applications and now are protesting at McDonalds for $15 an hour. I bet George did not pay them more than minimum wage.
Despite the 0.1%ers best efforts to frame the narrative of OWS like this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046586/Occupy-Wall-Street-Shocking-photos-protester-defecating-POLICE-CAR.html
I think the Tea Party *wanted* the Republican party to support their ideas before they became an entity and thought that’s what the Rs should represent, so when the Rs eventually latched on to the TP, the TP let go of the reins. Bad move.
They did so with such success that I had so-called conservatives telling me I needed to vote for Romney (to which I said “Bah!”, naturally).
(I blame most of this success on “conservative” commentary shows, who equate RP with TP.)
So, even if institutionalized, I fear there are still too many who think they are part of the TP club, even as they continue to support Rs in general. I do, however, look forward to shining the light on what they think they stand for.
“A sizable chunk of the nation’s housing wealth is concentrated in a few markets, and that picture is unlikely to change as the housing recovery unfolds, according to a report released Wednesday … 10 percent of communities held 52 percent of total housing wealth — about $4.4 trillion … although home values rose across the board from 2000 to 2012, the gains totaled nearly $2 trillion for the top 10 percent but $260 billion for the bottom 40 percent.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/study-more-than-half-of-us-housing-wealth-concentrated-in-10-percent-of-communities/2014/02/26/eff54d22-9f1c-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html
Let me guess, those metro areas are where the few good jobs are.
Real journalists at the New York Times reluctantly report on a lack of Hope and Change
“Republicans are in a stronger position than Democrats for this year’s midterm elections, benefiting from the support of self-described independents, even though the party itself is deeply divided and most Americans agree more with Democratic policy positions, the latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/27/us/politics/despite-rifts-gop-has-election-edge-poll-finds.html
Most Americans polled don’t seem to know what state Columbus, Ohio is the capital of.
How’s life in Akron lately?
The kidz still partying on the Zip Strip?
How’s life in Akron lately?
The kidz still partying on the Zip Strip?
Snowy and too cold for partying outdoors, even for them. Since I have become a Zip myself (for a while), I must speak with discretion.
Perhaps but they still can vote since we stopped literacy tests in the 1960s.
From the article “A majority of Americans surveyed also said they wanted both parties to do more to address the concerns of the middle class, reduce the budget deficit with both tax increases and spending cuts, and let illegal immigrants stay in the country and apply for citizenship. Mr. Obama shares those positions on the budget and immigration.”
We are so screwed.
I don’t believe for a moment that a “majority” of Americans want illegal immigrants to stay in the country and apply for citizenship.
Let’s humor this for a bit, and assume that the results are true and accurate.
Two questions immediately arise:
1. If true, something other than policy is seen as hugely problematic. How about the lack of ethics and morality? Perhaps Americans believe that ethics and morals DO matter, and they expect their leaders to lead ethically and morally while in office.
2. If true, then few people perceive any clear political, ethical, or philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats. What else explains independents voting in favor of a fractured, broken party and against the party that purportedly supports their policy ideals.
NeoCons = Progressives, anyone? Bush = Obama, anyone?
Amazing how many people are blinded by the light of a train speeding down the tracks at them at 100 mph.
We have a brimming We vs They fight on our hands. Rather than it being a political fight, it’s an ethical one.
Perhaps Americans believe that ethics and morals DO matter
From what I have observed, sadly they don’t. As long as they can game the system, they will gladly look the other way as long as it benefits them.
No, they don’t. But they will if we establish rewards for being ethical and moral.
Just don’t expect Washington to do squat about it. If they did, most would find themselves in the pen.
http://www.picpaste.com/progressive-88goVIm6.jpg
LOLZ
Successful countries and companies are usually built by hard working smart often idealistic people but they are eventually taken over by the Greedy Vampires and Cameleons.
The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-27/confidence-improves-as-americans-grow-more-upbeat-about-economy.html
Albuquerque: School library still named after convicted felon.
One thing I like about NM is how the incompetence / corruption / cronyism there is right in your face, defiant and proud.
It is a heavily democratic state thus almost by definition it is corrupt.
New Mexico is in a class by itself. One of our states is missing.
Has anyone discussed this yet?
Eric Holder was just hospitalized.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/attorney-general-eric-h-holder-hospitalized/2014/02/27/3e826da6-9fce-11e3-9ba6-800d1192d08b_story.html
Tightness in his chest, trouble breathing. Happened during his morning meetings.
Did he read the blog? It might explain the symptoms. But seriously I would not wish a heart attack upon him.
I’d rather exit via a heart attack. Fast, no fuss, no muss. What’d be worse is living for years with the effects of a stroke.
What’d be worse is living for years with the effects of a stroke.
A “heart attack” covers a lot of territory, much of it does not involve sudden death. The worst off heart attack patients are the ones who continue to live, crippled by recurrent chest pain, low cardiac output & sometimes, yes, strokes. Sudden cardiac death is, I think, what your “druther” is.
He can’t die yet! Not until he gives Obama his Waco.
If he dies and Lola does not post anymore we have our “man”.
The doctors should show Holder some photos of the gassed and burned corpses of women and children from Waco, that will revive him promptly.
I would maybe suggest they show him a pic of Vicky Weaver after the ATF shot her face off, but that might be a bit too stimulating in his fragile state of recovery, like a Viagra overdose…
LOL!
Be still, my heart!
It must’ve been the shock of Jan Brewer vetoing the Freedom of Association bill. Probably was all prepared to bring a lawsuit, now all that work and prep gone to waste.
He’s been released from the hospital and is “resting” at home. LOL, this was a ruse to flush out his enemies by watching the reaction.
I am now on a list, along with dan, goon and MacBeth.
Well, it’s good company.
He’s been released from the hospital and is “resting” at home. LOL, this was a ruse to flush out his enemies by watching the reaction.
So about the time Rio started posting again Holder was released? Interesting. Another X er type mystery. BTW, I am proud to be part of that company.
I posted this above and I questioned whether it was Lola, it sure could be Holder’s twin on a bike, maybe the hospital admission story is to cover up this photo:
http://photos.msn.com/slideshow/news/must-see-february-2014/23bg5zmn
Is that Lola at the carnival thing he was yammering about yesterday? Who’s the passenger? Liberace?
Is that Lola at the carnival thing he was yammering about yesterday? Who’s the passenger? Liberace?
I think Joe is driving the bike and Lola is in his normal position behind Joe. Yes, I think that is the “carnival” that Lola was excited over.
Sorry Joe, it was like a drone strike and you were “collateral damage” with that joke.
Corelogic released their national foreclosure report for January today:
794k homes are in some stage of foreclosure as of January, as compared to 1.2MM in January 2013. (the end result of pig-in-python digestion)
1.946MM homes are in serious delinquency, down 25% from a year ago (the pig-in-python).
CA is now the 7th lowest state in terms of percent of mortgaged homes in the foreclosure process (0.7%, as compared to the average of 2% nationally, and 2 states, NJ and FL at over 6%).
CA’s serious delinquency rate is the 10th lowest in the country at 2.7% (top 20% of the US), as compared to the average of 5% in the US as a whole. However, the total population of the states that are ahead of them is only 23MM (5 of the low delinquency states are WY, ND, SD, AK, and MT; AZ, CO and MN are among the largest with ~6MM in population each).
CA’s serious delinquency rate is the 10th lowest in the country at 2.7%
Of course it is. The CA foreclosure moratorium is very effective.
The real question becomes; How is california going to manage it’s excess, empty and defaulted inventory of 4.4 million houses?
Bulldozer races, because they can build new ones cheaper than the cost to foreclose on the old ones…..the world according to HA, Ha, ha, ha, hahahahahahahaha………..
You claim to be a “general contractor”…. I asked you to bid on some work in Sacramento.
That frog in your throat get the best of you?
Interesting article in the WSJ today about lending for land development.
Summarizing, after bottoming in early 2013 at just a touch above $200B in total loans outstanding for land acquisition, construction and development, the FDIC reports that such balances have steadily increased during 2013 now to approximately $210B.
Land development is a precursor to more supply of housing, which should take the pressure off somewhat on home price increases.
For perspective though, the peak amount of such loans was over $600B, so this is just the beginning of the next phase of land development.
Also, they have a chart showing parts of the country where it is easier or harder to build (ie. where residential land is readily available or not). They divide the Case-Shiller 20-City indices into more or less land constrained markets. Big shocker, those markets with more constrained land availability show more volatility in home prices (home prices go up more and down more), but also over longer periods of time, the CS indices rising more in land constrained markets.
Land development is a precursor to more supply of housing, which should take the pressure off somewhat on home price increases.
Massively inflated housing prices aren’t the result of supply. With tens of millions of excess empty houses, there is plenty of supply.
For perspective though, the peak amount of such loans was over $600B, so this is just the beginning of the next phase of land development.
Keep in mind they paid massively inflated prices for what is essentially worthless dirt.
Also, they have a chart showing parts of the country where it is easier or harder to build (ie. where residential land is readily available or not).
There is no shortage of “readily available land”. And to what end with the excess housing supply that already exists?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/27/markets-precious-idUSL9N0FP00120140227
The South African strike is finally reducing the supply of platinum and palladium. My favorite metals largely because so much of the supply of both comes from unstable countries.
http://www.mining.com/web/eric-sprott-were-looking-for-ways-to-survive-the-counterfeiting-of-money/
I grew up right around the corner from here:
“After 10 months on the market, the asking price of the iconic Mushroom House in the town of Perinton took a precipitous dip.
The asking price is now $899,900, down from the original list price of $1.5 million. ”
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2014/02/26/mushroom-house-asking-price-reduced/5842343/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=#
Quite the price drop did they discover a sink hole under it or did the crash of the emerging markets create a sink hole of foreign investors?
Yes, it does say they are “motivated.”
I do wonder what the source of such drastic motivation is.
Property taxes are about $30k.
It’s probably not cheap to maintain.
http://www.mushroomhouse.com/mushroom-house-exterior
Iran and Syria:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10654144/Iran-boosts-support-to-Syria.html
Israel playing the game:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10649567/US-investigates-illegal-military-equipment-shipments-from-Israel-to-Iran.html
The Craft Beer bubble is deflating.
“Forty-three breweries closed their doors in 2012, including six during a rough two-week span in February. That was up from 37 the previous year…”
http://www.businessinsider.com/alchemist-craft-beer-market-boom-bubble-outlook-2013-12#ixzz2uYvD10kg
The new craze is in spirits. Micro-distilleries are popping up everywhere.
http://www.microdistillerymap.com/
When I visited the Flagstaff one it seems like they had vodka. I know the Park City one has whiskey.
Yup. Here too. Like bikes and food carts, Portland thinks it’s the only place these things can happen.
I am having a difficult time finding a decent condo to rent in Huntington Beach Ca. Seems that investors are trying to recoup the outrageous costs they incurred when they outbidded each other over the last two years. The places are sitting empty, with no tenants.
Does anyone have advice for scoring a good rental in a decent neighborhood? I am not ready to buy at these prices.
“Ukraine’s story is right out of the IMF playbook.”
Central Banker Appointed as Prime Minister of Ukraine
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
February 27, 2014
A reshuffled Ukrainian Parliament installed following a coup last week has voted to appoint Arseniy Yatsenyuk as the new prime minister of the country. Yats, as Victoria Nuland, the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the U.S. State Department, called him, is a natural choice. He is a millionaire former banker who served as economy minister, foreign minister and parliamentary speaker before Yanukovych took office in 2010. He is a member of Yulie Tymoshenko’s Fatherland Party. Prior to the revolution cooked up by the State Department and executed by ultra-nationalist street thugs, Tymoshenko was incarcerated for embezzlement and other crimes against the people of Ukraine. Now she will be part of the installed government, same as she was after the last orchestrated coup, the Orange Revolution.
Yats will deliver Ukraine to the international bankers. “Ukraine is on the brink of bankruptcy and needs to be saved from collapse — Yatsenyuk has a strong economic background,” Ariel Cohen, senior fellow at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation, told Bloomberg on Wednesday. “Ukraine faces difficult reforms but without them there won’t be a successful future.”
Discussion with the IMF is crucial, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said earlier this week. In order to cinch the deal, the U.S. government will sweeten the pot. Lew talked with the IMF boss, Christine Lagarde, about Ukraine as he headed back from a globalist confab, the G-20 meeting in Sydney, Australia.
“Secretary Lew informed Managing Director Lagarde that he had spoken earlier in the day with Ukrainian leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk and advised him of the broad support for an international assistance package centered on the IMF, as soon as the transitional Ukrainian government is fully established by the Parliament,” MNI News reported on Monday. “Secretary Lew also noted that he had communicated to Mr. Yatsenyuk the need to quickly begin implementing economic reforms and enter discussions with the IMF following the establishment of the transitional government.”
Ukraine’s story is right out of the IMF playbook. The nation’s corrupt leaders past and present – most notably Tymoshenko, who went to prison for corruption and wholesale thievery – have enriched themselves at the expensive of ordinary Ukrainians.
“Ukraine at the dawn of independence was among the ten most developed countries, and now it drags out a miserable existence,” Communist Party leader Petro Symonenko said last year. The nation’s leaders “signed a memorandum with the International Monetary Fund to meet the requirements of the oligarchs, but on the other hand — to timely pay the interest on the IMF loans and to raise the prices for gas and electricity,” Symonenko said.
The Orange Revolution – initiated by NED, IRI, Soros and the CIA – installed a rogue’s gallery of self-seeking sociopaths who further bankrupted a country already seriously debilitated by corruption.
For the IMF and the financial elite, Ukraine is nothing less than a tantalizing bounty. “Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics,” notes ABO, a website covering energy resources. “Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR.”
After breaking away from the Soviet Union and declaring independence, it was thought the country would “liberalize” its industry and resources, in other words open them up for privatization by transnational corporations and international banks, but this did not happen quickly enough for the financiers and the corporatists.
Ukraine to undertake “extremely unpopular steps” as IMF takes over economy.
“The drop in steel prices and Ukraine’s exposure to the global financial crisis due to aggressive foreign borrowing lowered growth in 2008 and the economy contracted more than 15 percent in 2009, among the worst economic performances in the world,” ABO explains. “In August 2010, Ukraine, under the Yanukovych Administration, reached a new agreement with the IMF for a $15.1 billion Stand-By Agreement. Economic growth resumed in 2010 and 2011, buoyed by exports. After initial disbursements, the IMF program stalled in early 2011 due to the Ukrainian Government’s lack of progress in implementing key gas sector reforms, namely gas tariff increases. Economic growth slowed in the second half of 2012 with Ukraine finishing the year in technical recession following two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”
Now that Yanukovych is out of the picture, the banker minion Yats is lording over the Parliament, and thuggish fascists control the streets and guard against a counter revolution that my threaten Wall Street’s coup, the coast is clear for the IMF to pick up where it left off. Ukraine, now one of the poorest countries in Europe thanks to a kleptocracy supported by Washington and Wall Street, is wide open for further looting.
You Read It Here First: Government Spies On Innocent People Via Webcams, Laptops, Xbox
Latest Snowden Leak confirms story Infowars first broke EIGHT YEARS AGO
Steve Watson
Infowars.com
February 27, 2014
The latest revelation concerning mass government spying confirms an issue that Infowars has been covering for close to a decade. British and American governments are spying on people in their own homes via web cams, laptop microphones and devices such as the X-box.
The London Guardian has the details in a report based on information leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The British surveillance agency GCHQ, with help from the NSA, actively spied on nearly 2 million Yahoo users via webcams built into their computers. The documents show that the agency intercepted millions of images as part of a secret program codenamed OPTIC NERVE.
The report also states that Americans were almost certainly targeted as part of the bulk collection of data, and that there is no law to prevent such activity in Britain.
The documents show that images were collected from webcams at regular intervals, one image every five minutes, and were used by the spy agency to trial automated facial recognition programs.
The Guardian describes the process as “eerily reminiscent of the telescreens evoked in George Orwell’s 1984.”
The documents dub the practice as “bulk access to Yahoo webcam images/events”, and spies working at GCHQ compared it to a police database of mugshots. “Face detection has the potential to aid selection of useful images for ‘mugshots’ or even for face recognition by assessing the angle of the face,” the papers read. “The best images are ones where the person is facing the camera with their face upright.”
Essentially, the spy agency appear to have been building a huge digital database containing the faces of Yahoo users.
The documents advise employees at GCHQ on how to use the system, noting “[I]f you search for similar IDs to your target, you will be able to request automatic comparison of the face in the similar IDs to those in your target’s ID”.
In one presentation contained within the documents, more technologically advanced systems, such as iris recognition cameras, are discussed as potential surveillance tools. The paper even chillingly states “think Tom Cruise in Minority Report”.
The documents state that Yahoo users were specifically singled out because “Yahoo webcam is known to be used by GCHQ targets”.
The papers also note that a large quantity of the data collected contained nudity or sexually explicit imagery. The spy agency seemingly made no effort to prevent the collection of such images.
Yahoo described the practice as “a whole new level of violation of our users’ privacy,” and strenuously denied having any knowledge of the program.
Infowars first reported in 2006, EIGHT YEARS AGO, that innocent people were being spied on through their computers. We specifically described the practice as Minority Report style technology, as the GCHQ had done.
We have since covered the issue consistently, warning that “Hundreds of millions of Internet-active Americans will all be potential targets for secret surveillance.”
Of course, some quarters dismissed our reports as “conspiracy theories”, while worried internet users questioned whether the reports were accurate.
The GCHQ program was seemingly not limited to Yahoo user web cams either. Another presentation within the leaked internal papers discusses the capabilities of the Xbox 360′s Kinect camera, saying it generated “fairly normal webcam traffic” and that it was being evaluated as a potential surveillance tool.
We have also documented the potential use of Xbox for surveillance purposes, noting that Skype calls made on the devices can be intercepted. We have also warned that the ‘always on’ camera of the new Xbox One, which is so powerful it can see through clothing, is wide open to abuse by hackers and government agencies.
According to the leaked documents, the OPTIC NERVE program began as a prototype in 2008 and was still active in 2012. There is no indication that the program has been deactivated.
Security expert Bruce Schneier writes that this latest revelation highlights how there is no distinction between actively spying on a person and what he called “Eavesdropping by algorithm”, in other words, automated computer surveillance. The NSA and the Obama administration have attempted to argue that what they are doing cannot be called “spying” or even “collecting” data, because when the data is gathered, a person is not looking at it. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper still uses this explanation to claim he never lied to Congress when he answered ‘no’ to the question “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?”
The fallout from the OPTIC NERVE program, the creation of facial recognition databases, and the fact that spooks provably looked at images of people, even NAKED images of people, highlights the fact, Schneier argues, that the “NSA’s definition of ‘collect’ makes no sense whatsoever”, and that our governments are indeed actively spying on us.
Soon to become U.S. citizens and vote democratic, they will get the fake papers to prove they are dreamers soon enough:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/free-el-chapo-mexicans-march-jailed-drug-lord-n39961
Here’s 200 of them.
http://goo.gl/MXjK0K
By Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg
U.S. mortgage rates for 30-year loans climbed for a third week, increasing borrowing costs as harsh weather contributes to slowing demand for homes.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 4.37 percent this week, up from 4.33 percent, Freddie Mac said on Thursday. The average 15-year rate rose to 3.39 percent from 3.35 percent, the McLean, Va.-based mortgage-finance company said.
Has IBM now officially earned its name Indian Business Machines?
BTW, they are laying off today including the plant in Essex Junction, Vermont:
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/ibm-invests-new-5bn-chip-fab-india-chip-sale-2014-02/
IRS WARNING: “Shared Responsibility” Obamacare Tax Must Be Paid With 2015 Tax Return
Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, 7:59 AM
Agency employs Orwellian term “Shared Responsibility Payment” to describe Obamacare individual mandate tax.
President Obama’s Internal Revenue Service today quietly released a series of Obamacare “Health Care Tax Tips” warning Americans that they must obtain “qualifying” health insurance – as defined by the federal government – or face a “shared responsibility payment” when filing their tax returns in 2015. The term “shared responsibility payment” refers to the Obamacare individual mandate tax, one of at least seven tax hikes in the healthcare law that directly hit families making less than $250,000 per year.
In “Four Tax Facts about the Health Care Law for Individuals” the agency writes:
Your 2014 tax return will ask if you had insurance coverage or qualified for an exemption. If not, you may owe a shared responsibility payment when you file in 2015.
In “The Individual Shared Responsibility Payment- An Overview” the agency warns Americans they must prove they were covered each and every month of the year:
For any month in 2014 that you or any of your dependents don’t maintain coverage and don’t qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your 2014 tax return filed in 2015.
Read the rest here.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/02/irs-warning-shared-responsibility-obamacare-tax-must-be-paid-with-tax-return/ - 74k -