Bits Bucket for March 3, 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.
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Name:Ben Jones
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Are you prepared for the emerging markets version of Russian roulette?
March 3, 2014, 1:56 a.m. EST
Russia surprises with rate hike as ruble plunges
By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Russia’s central bank unexpectedly raised its policy interest rate sharply to 7% from 5.5% previously, effective Monday morning. The Bank of Russia’s move came as the Russian ruble plunged to record lows following Moscow’s intervension in Ukraine, with the U.S. dollar hitting an all-time high of 37.00 rubles, and the euro setting its own record of 50.99 rubles, according to Dow Jones Newswires. “The decision is meant to avoid emerging risks to inflation and financial stability associated with the recently seen increased volatility on the financial markets,” the central bank said in a statement. The central bank described the move as “temporary.”
Are you gonna buy the dip on Russia-Ukraine tensions?
March 3, 2014, 2:39 a.m. EST
Stock futures hit as Russia/Ukraine crisis builds
By Barbara Kollmeyer
MADRID (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures fell sharply ahead of the open of European trading on Monday, as investors backed away from risk as the Russia/Ukraine crisis escalated over the weekend. … Russia raised its key rate to 7% from 5.5%, its central bank said Monday, as the ruble sank against the euro and the dollar.
…
Things like this, world tensions, used to matter at least in the short run. Now it doesn’t. Barely a blip cause fundamentals don’t matter. It is all a rigged casino where you are just pretending to play the games.
New York Markets Open in: 0:21:40
Pre-Market Indications | Analyst Ratings
Futures: S&P 500 -0.9% DOW -0.8% NASDAQ -0.9%
Stock futures tumble as Ukraine crisis escalates
How are gold prices looking these days?
The fix is in: Are gold prices a gigantic bank scam?
Date March 3, 2014 - 4:42PM
Critics say the price fixing mechanism for gold is open to abuse. Photo: Phil Carrick
The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say.
Unusual trading patterns around 3 pm in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behaviour and should be investigated, New York University’s Stern School of Business Professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper.
“The structure of the benchmark is certainly conducive to collusion and manipulation, and the empirical data are consistent with price artificiality,” they say in the report, which hasn’t yet been submitted for publication. “It is likely that co-operation between participants may be occurring.”
The paper is the first to raise the possibility that the five banks overseeing the century-old rate - Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC and Societe - may have been actively working together to manipulate the benchmark. It also adds to pressure on the firms to overhaul the way the rate is calculated. Authorities around the world, already investigating the manipulation of benchmarks from interest rates to foreign exchange, are examining the $US20 trillion gold market for signs of wrongdoing.
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The paper “is not a Moody’s research report,” Michael Adler, a spokesman for the firm, said in an e-mail. “The co-author of the paper was writing independent of his position at Moody’s and was representing his own research findings and viewpoint.”
…
Gold Fix Study Shows Signs of Decade of Bank Manipulation
By Liam Vaughan Feb 28, 2014 12:31 PM PT
The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say.
Unusual trading patterns around 3 p.m. in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behavior and should be investigated, New York University’s Stern School of Business Professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper.
“The structure of the benchmark is certainly conducive to collusion and manipulation, and the empirical data are consistent with price artificiality,” they say in the report, which hasn’t yet been submitted for publication. “It is likely that co-operation between participants may be occurring.”
…
“…Unusual trading patterns around 3 p.m. in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behavior and should be investigated…”
Oh my GAWD, I’m SHOCKED!
Is price fixing legal, provided it’s done by banks?
Yes. Everything is legal if it is done by banks.
Not only legal, it is mandatory if desired by the banks.
Gold touched $1350 today…
I wish I bought more when it was $1180… See gold breaking $2000 this year…
Is your prediction based on the presumption that price fixing will continue, or that it will soon end?
“See gold breaking $2000 this year…”
Oh, yeah, I always see gold breaking out of already artificial highs when QE is winding down. Pfffft….
Bad job and earnings numbers, stocks go up, good job numbers and economy data, stocks go up, FED tapers, stocks go up, FED doesn’t taper stocks go up… it just doesn’t make any sense? What kind of economy is that?
One flooded with cash seeking returns?
“A house makes you poor. Very poor.”
It certainly does at current massively inflated asking prices of resale housing considering prices are 250% higher than long term trend. If you buy a house in this environment, you’ll be deep in debt for the rest of your life.
Don’t do it.
One where all big enough losers are bailed out.
LOL LolaLOL
LolaLOL: One where all big enough
loserspolitical donors are bailed out.They’re not really losers because they obtained under-the-table insurance policies. The taxpayer is the loser because he and his descendants will be the ones who pay for the folly.
What kind of economy is that?
One where banks pay you less that 1% interest on your savings.
One where banks charge you for parking your cash with them.
It’s the 53% drop economy.
I am planning on picking up over a dozen more quarter ounce gold American Eagles next month. Got too much cash from selling off company stock.
Are you sure you don’t want to wait until gold is back to $300 per ounce?
LOLZ.
The inventory is still low and prices are still high here in Seattle… We are already way over 2007 peak prices…
In other words, housing prices have a long way to fall in Seattle… And everywhere else.
Yes, they have a long way to fall in Seattle.
But the statement that we are over 2007 peak prices is not true from what I can tell.
Case-Shiller shows us being roughly half-way back to the peak.
…… 65% from the bottom.
Based on the employment situation, I simply can’t fathom how prices can be this high. Maybe cause we won a big football game?
Employment doesn’t matter when it comes to house prices. Don’t be a loser and believe that crap. That’s old fashioned.
“Just for the record; there is no shortage of housing. Not in California, not in Tokyo, not anywhere. And there will come a day (again) when the media will tell us, ‘there’s a glut of houses for sale in….’, and regale us with sob stories, ‘I was doing great until the economy went south and my income went away and I can’t get rid of this damned house!’”
~Ben Jones, August 8, 2013
This false notion…. this lie….. that there is a shortage of housing in the US is laughable considering there are tens of millions of excess empty houses out there. A sea of them. And it’s growing. Day by day.
“We are already way over 2007 peak prices…”
Wow!
See my post way lower down - friend of mine just sold out in Issaquah. $140k more than paid two years ago.
I’m part way through a recent Freakonomics episode about Japanese housing.
Very interesting. A few tidbits:
1. Japanese population is shrinking…housing vacancy rate is in the teens.
2. The half-life of Japanese housing is 38 years (meaning that half of all homes are torn down after 38 years). The half-life in the US is over 100 years.
3. Because used housing has so little value, over half of all used homes that are sold are torn down, and new homes are built in their place (despite the existing homes not being that old).
4. They have more construction jobs per capita than other countries due to the high amount of new home construction.
I’m sure there is more to it, I’m not done listening. Very odd…I wonder how they are going to explain it away.
Thanks rental fraud, you are doing us all a favor trying to assuage your cognitive dissonance between believing you can’t lose and seeing things start to drop again.
The episode is 25 minutes long and you didn’t get through it? Stop your fraud and lies.
Notice the time stamp?
I was listening while cleaning up before bed, and went to sleep. Yes. I sleep.
Houses depreciate and they don’t have Home Depot. After 20 years, they pay zero taxes on a wooden house. I like that part.
If you could choose a depreciating asset, would you prefer a luxury sport car to take you out of the ghetto or would you prefer a $500,000 house that started out upscale but turned ghetto?
If you could choose a depreciating asset, would you prefer a luxury sport car to take you out of the ghetto or would you prefer a $500,000 house that started out upscale but turned ghetto?
I accept your point. But I wouldn’t want to be driving a luxury sport’s car through the ghetto.
The half-life of Japanese housing is 38 years (meaning that half of all homes are torn down after 38 years). The half-life in the US is over 100 years.
Don’t most Japanese live in brick and concrete apartment buildings? I mean, sure, those quaint houses made of tissue paper we see on TV don’t look very durable, but are they typical?
Apparently these made of timber, like here. They noted that a part of the reason for the short half-life is that a lot of the homes were thrown up very quickly just after the devastation of WWII, and were poorly constructed. However, that doesn’t explain all of it. A big part is cultural and momentum. Why maintain a house that they expect will fall in value? It in part becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
One parting shot (yes, I finished listening this morning) was that continually tearing down shelter that is still perfectly fine with a little TLC is an incredible waste of resources.
Why maintain a house that they expect will fall in value?
Because houses depreciate regardless of location.
They take cars off the road in Japan where in the US it would only be half used up.
fail a safety check cars off the road. too many miles on your car it fails the safety check.
Probably do the same with housing ?
Is their short half-life related to earthquakes?
“If you have to borrow for 15 or 30 years, it’s not affordable nor can you afford it.”
Especially when the borrowed money is used to buy a depreciating asset like a house.
“With 25 million excess, empty and defaulted houses in the US, 4 million of which are in California, there is plenty of “housing supply”.”
Ask yourself this question and be prepared to respond as you will be asked by us;
Are you an agent of price fixing and housing crime or are you an agent of truth?
San Diego, CA Housing Demand Craters 9%; Inventory Skyrockets 73%
http://www.movoto.com/san-diego-ca/market-trends/#city=&time=1Y&metric=Sold%2FExpired&type=0
As I mentioned this past weekend, just a couple of days ago I helped a San Diego renter family create a new rental vacancy which is soon to be added to for-sale inventory.
Tale from the crash (circa 2008): A co-worker’s brother-in-law, “B,” took his own life. A whole crew of us showed up to clean out his rental townhouse. At the end someone asked if we should clean the carpet in order to get the rental deposit back (which I guess would have gone to B’s brother). B’s brother answered no, the landlady had already said that she didn’t have to return the deposit, because B had broken the lease.
Sounds like there was more than one B in that equation.
San Diego, CA Housing Demand Craters 9%; Inventory Skyrockets 73%
Did you also notice that the San Diego Price Reductions chart plummeted down to zero also?
That can’t be true.
I think their latest data-set is corrupted.
Of course you do. I can think of a few corrupt things.
In the meantime, 535 listings experienced price reductions as of 2/14/2014.
I can think of a few corrupt things.
LOL. Good one—you are on a roll today…
… and remember…. resale housing is priced 250% higher than reproduction costs(lot, labor, materials and profit).
if Obama really wants to get tough with Putin he could always say…
If you like Crimea, you can keep Crimea.
lolz
i liked the post in yesterday’s bits that any u.s. action on the ground in ukraine should be led by the ‘first congressional battalion’, this should include all of the children and grandchildren of the congresscreeps.
Also their staffers and donors. ESPECIALLY their donors.
i liked the post in yesterday’s bits that any u.s. action on the ground in ukraine should be led by the ‘first congressional battalion’,
You guys threw this out yesterday apparently tongue-in-cheek, but in a by-gone era, this sort of thing actually happened.
(I am possibly giving up my anonymity with this anecdote, but I know the NSA could unmask me in an instant anyway…)
My great-grandfather was a Congressman back in the day; he voted in favor of the US entering WW-I, then immediately resigned from Congress and enlisted in the Army. He couldn’t in good conscience send others off to die in the war without being willing to take the same risks himself.
If only we had members of Congress today with such convictions…
Children of Congresscreeps….
All four of Teddy Roosevelt’s sons fought in World War I. (one may have been non-combat..) The rumor is that the only thing that succeeded in preventing Teddy himself — who was ~58 with serious heart trouble — from enlisting and fighting, was Woodrow Wilson.
Putin to Obama: Crimea river.
Obama is going to be as tough on Russia as he is on fraud and waste in the U.S. government. We have his word for it what else could we need?
Being one of those arse end boomers who actually experienced air raid drills from kindergarten to second grade, huddled under my desk with my arms crossed over my head, I never thought I’d see the day when I’d actually root for such as Putin.
But, you know, given the mean spiritedness with which the politicians have bent over US citizens to foreign and special interests, it does my heart a little bit of good to see someone say NO to Washington.
But, you know, given the mean spiritedness with which the politicians have bent over US citizens to foreign and special interests, it does my heart a little bit of good to see someone say NO to Washington.
I look at it as a battle between the globalists and a nationalist. While Russia’s national interests are not necessarily in my national interests, weakening the power of the globalists who are tying to destroy the nation state call the United States certainly is in my interest.
This +1000. I have more respect for Putin than I do for Obama.
Rumor has it that Spetnatz and US Special Forces are engaging in some aggressive diplomacy in the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine right now. I’m conflicted, as I don’t want to see American blood spilled in the Ukraine, but I truly hope Russian Special Forces spank us good. Their blood is on the hands of the fools in DC and their globalist agenda.
“don’t want to see American blood spilled in the Ukraine, but I truly hope Russian Special Forces spank us good. Their blood is on the hands of the fools in DC and their globalist agenda.”
Amen, brothah! I’m thinking along these lines myself. This is not our government, it’s some globalist nightmare and someone needs to put a stop to it. Looks like Putin stepped up to the plate, so he’s the best we’ve got.
http://theweek.com/article/index/257285/speedreads-gay-and-lesbian-troops-perform-in-drag-on-american-military-base
The article below is how Russia might not stop with Crimea. I am sure this article above instilled fear in the heart of Putin considering how he feels about gays.
Considering the pro gay reporting at this site these must be real journalists,(this is connected to a link that will post with the gay military article):
Why Russia might not stop with Crimea
It’s anyone’s guess how Russia will act in Ukraine over the coming days and weeks. The New Yorker’s David Reminick, who spent years reporting out of Russia, and who recently wrote a fascinating analysis of Putin’s worldview, argues that the situation could get much worse before it gets better. To justify the invasion of Crimea, the Russian parliament “repeatedly echoed the need to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine — a theme consonant with the Kremlin’s rhetoric about Russians everywhere, including the Baltic States,” he writes. “But there was, of course, not one word about the sovereignty of Ukraine, which has been independent since the fall of the Soviet Union, in December, 1991.”
If this is the logic of the Russian invasion, the military incursion is unlikely to stop in Crimea: nearly all of eastern Ukraine is Russian-speaking. Russia defines its interests far beyond its Black Sea fleet and the Crimean peninsula […]
It’s also worth noting that, in 1968, Moscow was reacting to the “threat” of the Prague Spring and to ideological liberalization in Eastern Europe; in 1979, the Kremlin leadership was reacting to the upheavals in Kabul. The rationale now is far flimsier, even in Moscow’s own terms. The people of the Crimean peninsula were hardly under threat by “fascist gangs” from Kiev. In the east, cities like Donetsk and Kharkov had also been quiet, though that may already be changing. That’s the advantage of Putin’s state-controlled television and his pocket legislature; you can create any reality and pass any edict. [The New Yorker]
So far, the U.S. and other Western powers have condemned the Russian incursion without calling for forceful consequences beyond sanctions. That could change if Russia indeed decides to solidify its grasp on Crimea, or push on into Ukraine.
- - Jon Terbush
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/26/us-ukraine-putin-obama-analysis-idUSBREA1P1ZL20140226
Crimea is none of our business. It’s a battle between Russia and the EU. The EU already chased out the Ukranian PM, so they can’t whine about Putin doing his own thing.
Many have posted on the U.S’s role in this matter which was much more aggressive than the EU hence the F the EU comment. Seems like all the globalists are getting F’d right now. If Russia gets a new government installed they may reverse any sales that the present government authorizes.
Hear, hear! Excellent post, ufwwylm
Thank you and for those with short memories:
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/02/06/f-the-eu-top-state-dept-officials-phone-call-to-u-s-ambassador-in-ukraine-leaked-online/
Update:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/surrender-or-face-storm-russia-reportedly-tells-ukraine-n43086
As we say in Vermont, F with bull and you get the horns.
From Yahoo:
Update, 2:27 p.m. EST: At a meeting at the Oval Office with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Barack Obama says Russia is “on the wrong side of history,” and that its actions in the Ukraine violate international law.
“If they continue on the trajectory” they are on, Obama said, the United States is examining a range of options to “isolate” Russia.
Obama said the U.S. and Secretary of State John Kerry, who is traveling to Kiev, have made it clear to Russia that Putin’s aggression has consequences.
I have made this point earlier but this is the same line that the communists always used. Anyone that opposed communism was on the wrong side of history and should not oppose it since it was inevitable. This is the language that the globalists use today.
Warren Buffett’s 23 Best Quotes About Investing
http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-best-quotes-shareholder-letters-2014-3?op=1
Some things to think about.
this article is a few weeks old, but npr was pimping it on the radio today:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/02/04/donald-graham-plans-college-scholarships-for-dreamers/
donald graham, former publisher of the washington post, is most certainly a ‘real journalist’.
real journalists love the shamnesty, real journalists silence anyone who dares to criticize the shamnesty as racist, because our differences only make us stronger.
more COEXIST from the washington post (the washington post are real journalists)
america’s demographic denial:
‘by 2050, immigrants and their u.s.-born children are projected to be 37 percent of the population, slightly higher than in 1900, when the country last experienced mass immigration. between now and mid-century, immigrants and their children will generate two-thirds of population growth.
the question is whether newcomers are constructively assimilated or whether — to use paul taylor’s acid characterization of popular fears — they ‘take our jobs, drain our resources, threaten our language and import crime.’
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
The era before illegals trashed California was golden. The trashing began in the late 60s.
Opening up taxpayer wallets and the willingness of taxpayers to bend over and take the “progressives” coercion has been the cause.
If you guys are angry enough to post about the damage illegals have done, you would have the gumption to give yourselves significant tax cuts. Don’t say you cannot. You can. There are at least five legal tax avoidance schemes the IRS has in its forms and publications that you can legally use to starve more of big government and kill “progressivism.”
‘if you guys are angry enough’
that says it all. under empress hillary, the matriarchal progressive nanny state will embrace all things non-male, non-white, non-hetero and non-english speaking like a comforting womb.
and ‘you guys’ are the ones who will pay for it. sorry, white boy.
forward
Today’s political rejects are tomorrow’s radicals.
Keep gloating progressives.
They’re already wondering WTF happened with the big empty promises. Gloat is all they’ve got at this point.
There are at least five legal tax avoidance schemes the IRS has in its forms and publications that you can legally use
Care to share what you believe those to be?
Care to share what you believe those to be?
This is not b.s. but I have to say I cannot tell you. Why? Obviously if they become too popular the “progressives” (class warfare types) will want those tax breaks taken away.
However I know one that Congress uses. It’s a good one.
>If you guys are angry enough to post about the damage illegals have done
Bill,
It’s not the illegals that have done the damage, it’s the citizens voting for stupid representation. The same reason I’m against Obamacare, I am for all the California problems… localizing the issue… in other words.. (and saying this as a California resident) nowhere in the country you can go to get away from O-care, but you can easily move out of state if the bad CA policies piss you off. I DEFINITELY think lots of CA policy is bad, but I still live here.. blaming illegals is just scapegoating and allowing those really responsible off the hook. Did you not see the guy eating lobster on EBT last week, while living in La Jolla and driving an Escalade? Lily white and homegrown.. Problem isn’t illegals, it’s non-protestant work ethic in broad swaths of the population, and enablers in the voting population and representation.
Mathguy, Obama took all the work requirements away for welfare and food stamps. Why high unemployment? Why do we have that, primarily because every low skilled job which use to be always available to tide people over or for teenagers to learn a work ethic have been taken by illegals. I am sure that the surfer never developed a work ethic as a teenager and the lack of jobs is one of the reason.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/food-stamp-work-requirements_n_3649357.html
>Mathguy, Obama took all the work requirements away for welfare and food stamps. Why high unemployment? Why do we have that, primarily because every low skilled job which use to be always available to tide people over or for teenagers to learn a work ethic have been taken by illegals
illegal or not, people are people and if they want to work, they are contributing to society, not detracting from it… you can’t vote if you are here illegally, so you can’t blame “the illegals” for any action obama or congress took to change freeby giveaway rules…
corporations are sitting on record amounts of cash.. unemployment isn’t here because there isn’t work to be done, or because there is no money to hire people… some other reason is preventing corporations from ramping up hiring… so saying “they took all the jobs” is false..
What is really happening is that jobs are being offshored. Bad “free trade” agreements are giving free access to our highly regulated markets by producers with little regulated supply sources. This is devastating the middle class, blue collar, and low income segments of our economy. It’s also devastating the environment and workforce in foreign countries i.e. Beijing air quality, river quality, foxconn working conditions.. you get the picture. It isn’t “free trade” because the countries we are trading with do not have “free people” who can vote to improve the conditions they are in. It is wealth transfer to oligarchs and corporatists.
Scapegoating immigrants looking to better their lives may be easy, but it isn’t correct. If you tell me we need to have more modest social welfare programs, or better yet, more locally administered programs you have me on your side. Otherwise, no… A guy fighting his hardest to live and work in this country of freedom and opportunity isn’t the problem…
What is really happening is that jobs are being offshored.’
I think that most of the jobs available these days require a high IQ , a very high IQ in some cases.
Reuters piece linked from Google News
U.S. Supreme Court declines immigration cases:
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected attempts by towns in Texas and Pennsylvania to revive local laws that cracked down on illegal immigration.
The court decided against hearing appeals filed by the towns of Farmers Branch, Texas, and Hazleton, Pennsylvania, which were seeking to overturn appeals court rulings that said the ordinances were trumped by federal immigration law.”
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
associated press piece (the associated press are real journalists)
oscars 2014: diversity wins big
‘diversity was perhaps the biggest winner at the 86th annual academy awards.
for the first time, a film directed by a black filmmaker — steve mcqueen of ‘12 years a slave’ — won best picture and a latino — alfonso cuaron of ‘gravity’ — took home best director in a ceremony presided over by a lesbian host and overseen by the academy’s first black president.’
could this story possibly have any more COEXIST?
meanwhile, a few miles down the road in compton, latino gangs are terrorizing black families into moving, but real journalists don’t like to talk about that, because it doesn’t fit the narrative as constructed by the Media/Academia Race Hustlers Industrial Complex©.
Look at their color, hear about their sexuality, but don’t THINK about their true defining characteristic. They are all a bunch of Richie poos, laughing at the ants.
The movie I’m waiting for is Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”. It’s supposed to be out in December.
‘hear about their sexuality’
the new york times are real journalists.
real journalists promote their social agenda with article titles like this:
‘collins’s brooklyn debut recalls robinson’s in 1947′
because gay basketball is the logical extension of desegregation, right?
because gay basketball is the logical extension of desegregation, right?
If real journalists say so, it must be right?
‘If real journalists say so, it must be right?’
now you’re coming around, dannyboy. there’s hope for you yet.
Look at their color, hear about their sexuality, but don’t THINK about their true defining characteristic. They are all a bunch of Richie poos, laughing at the ants.
And all the gags with the pizza and the selfies on Twitter were to remind us that they are just like us. Of course they are better looking, better dressed, more popular and far wealthier than we are and they live in their own reality. But never mind that! Ellen was handing out slices of pizza!
for the first time, a film directed by a black filmmaker
A foreign black filmmaker, who happens to share his name with a dead guy who had cool cars. Get your coexist facts straight!
And from what I saw in the news, the gags were great. Tripping celebs, sending out for pizza, crashing twitter.
Funny thing though, I haven’t seen a single one of the movies that were nominated for best picture, and I probably won’t. Real life is depressing enough, I gave up on those lugubrious movies a long time ago.
I hear you. I read the spoiler synopsis of Gravity. No thanks. And to be fair, I refuse to see Titanic.
Saw the infamous selfie on the news. Not sure what made it so special… add in those ubiquitous red Solo cups and it could be any kegger.
I saw Crash, which won the Oscar for best picture about 10 years ago. What an awful flick.
I think one of this years nominees was a movie about a guy who falls in love with his smartphone? I think that was already done in a Big Bang Theory episode.
And the space movie, wasn’t that already done in a Mission to Mars, the one where Tim Robbin’s character dies when their ship is also crippled?
I did like the King’s Speech a few years ago, but I have to say, movies like that seem to be the exception and not the rule these days.
12 Years a Slave is outstanding. That clip about the soap that everyone keeps playing is very dramatic, but it isn’t close to the most moving moment of the movie.
There is definitely a strong strain of ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’-ism among Real Journalists™.
would you care to elaborate on this comment?
So, there are uncomfortable and ugly truths out there. Heck, it makes me uncomfortable referencing them. I don’t want to seem to be an a••hole. People, in general, don’t like a••holes and don’t want to be a••holes. But sometimes, like a diagnosis of cancer, the unpleasant truths must be discussed and addressed in order to have a recovery.
• People want to feel good and want to be entertained.
• Real Journalists™ are seeking to sell product to a large audience.
• They may feel they are crusaders for good.
• They want their own lifestyles to be lauded or at least accepted.
• They wish to advance their own interests.
• Various other reasons.
So, it’s easier and more lucrative and better for the career to laud the Emperor’s New Clothes than to be the “gadfly” who stands up and says, ‘The emperor is naked.’
The Inside Story of Mt. Gox, Bitcoin’s $460 Million Disaster
By Robert McMillan
03.03.14
6:30 AM
Mark Karpeles, chief executive officer of Mt. Gox, center, is escorted as he leaves the Tokyo District Court on Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Photo: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
From a distance, the world’s largest bitcoin exchange looked like a towering example of renegade entrepreneurism. But on the inside, according to some who were there, Mt. Gox was a messy combination of poor management, neglect, and raw inexperience.
Its collapse into bankruptcy last week — and the disappearance of $460 million, apparently stolen by hackers, and another $27.4 million missing from its bank accounts — came as little surprise to people who had knowledge of the Tokyo-based company’s inner workings. The company, these insiders say, was largely a reflection of its CEO and majority stake holder, Mark Karpeles, a man who was more of a computer coder than a chief executive and yet was sometimes distracted even from his technical duties when they were most needed. “Mark liked the idea of being CEO, but the day-to-day reality bored him,” says one Mt. Gox insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Last week, after a leaked corporate document said that hackers had raided the Mt. Gox exchange, Karpeles confirmed that a huge portion of the money controlled by the company was gone. “We had weaknesses in our system, and our bitcoins vanished. We’ve caused trouble and inconvenience to many people, and I feel deeply sorry for what has happened,” Karpeles said, speaking at a Tokyo press conference called to announce the company’s bankruptcy. This would be the second time the exchange was hacked. In June 2011, attackers lifted the equivalent of $8.75 million.
Bitcoin promises to give a bank account to anyone with a mobile phone, no ID required. It’s clearly an amazing and potentially world-changing technology — the first viable, decentralized, reliable form of digital cash. It could democratize international finance. But it’s also a technology that was pushed forward by a community of people who were unprepared or unwilling to deal with even the basics of everyday business. A new wave of entrepreneurs may bring the digital currency a new level of respectability, but over its first several years, bitcoin has been driven largely by computer geeks with little experience in the financial world. The most prominent example is Mark Karpeles.
…
Buy the dip.
A new wave of entrepreneurs may bring the digital currency a new level of respectability, but over its first several years, bitcoin has been driven largely by computer geeks with little experience in the financial world. The most prominent example is Mark Karpeles.
But wasn’t that the whole idea? To tip over the apple cart and start over with a new paradigm?
If you want anonymity, then you are not going to get security. Using Bitcoin is no different than using cash (as long as people accept it). If someone steals your cash, then you can’t track them down. If your wallet falls down the sewer, then you probably can’t get it back.
If someone steals your cash, then you can’t track them down. If your wallet falls down the sewer, then you probably can’t get it back.
If someone sees my wallet on TV they cannot steal what is inside the wallet with a few strokes of the key board. See what happens when you show a bitcoin on TV.
If your wallet falls down the sewer, then you probably can’t get it back.
If it falls down the sewer I probably do not want it back.
If it falls down the sewer I probably do not want it back.
If it’s stuffed full of cash, I would try to get it back. I’d throw the wallet away and swap the stinky cash for clean cash at the bank.
I would never keep enough cash in my wallet that would make going through a sewer worth while to me. If you have that much in your wallet and the wrong person sees it a robbery or perhaps worse is imminent.
That’s not a problem as long as you follow the “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” style of financial management.
wichita business journal interview with charles koch:
http://m.bizjournals.com/wichita/blog/2014/02/40-minutes-with-charles-koch.html?page=all&r=full
So he’s against cronyism, but he uses his money to become a crony with legislators. Weird.
Don’t let anyone kid you about housing in DC, its slowed considerably over the past 2 months.. we keep a close eye on it, and I have not seen a “sales pending” sign in almost that long, and they were all over the place last year.. been to a number of open houses and not a one has sold yet.. have also seen several homes come back on the market in our NW area of DC from the start of the calendar year, which I don’t think occurred too much last year.. this slowing might not be the case at the highest end of the market, but it is the case in the $600K - $950K price range from what I can see.. yes, its been a rather harsh winter, but I don’t think many people allow weather to affect their lifelong financial decisions..
We’ve been reporting on it since last fall. Thank you for the confirmation however.
Sweet! Im planning to move to northern va in 2 months or less. Rents are pretty high.
Yet still a fraction of the cost of buying at current grossly inflated asking prices.
Sit tight and hold your cash. You’re going to need it.
Ethan, best wishes to you, and welcome!
If there’s anything I can do to help or advise, pls don’t hesitate to ask via Ben.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The anti-depressants for those who bought in 2013 will be flying off the shelves.
Quite of bit of my area changed hands in 2011-mid 2013, but it’s definitely slowed here too. Activity seems to rise and fall with waves of foreclosures. There are still a few abandoned houses ripe for cosmetics and flipping.
Burn, Baby, burn!
new york times - democrats try wooing ones who got away: white men
‘it is a challenge that runs through the nation’s industrial heartland, in farm states and across the south, after a half-century of economic, demographic and cultural shifts that have reshaped the electorate.
democrats generally win the votes of fewer than four in 10 white men. but they win eight of 10 minority voters and a majority of women, who have been a majority of the national electorate since 1984, while white men have shrunk to a third, and are still shrinking.’
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/us/politics/democrats-try-wooing-ones-who-got-away-white-men.html
but the democrats don’t need whitey to win, and they’ve got real journalists on their side.
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
White men don’t have to bother if they give themselves tax cuts.
you may think you can run and hide in galt gulch, but the free sh1t army are gonna track you down and forcibly seize their due reparations from you, reparations long overdue to atone for your sin of benefiting from the white male legacy of slavery, sexism, colonialism, nativism, et cetera.
and there’s more of them than there are of you, white boy.
and there’s more of them than there are of you, white boy.
That’s why real men like Sam Colt, John Moses Browning, Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov perfected the tools of aggressive negotiation.
Holy Moses, you are right. I guess that is how the British Empire was able to exist with a relative handful of white boys running things.
Don’t take it personally, but demographics are not on your side.
Within a few decades, you will have the “choice” between voting for the Free Sh*t Party or the More Free Sh*t Party.
Sigh, forward.
That’s why real men like Sam Colt, John Moses Browning, Eugene Stoner and Mikhail Kalashnikov perfected the tools of aggressive negotiation.
I’m sure the Czar had the very same plan. It just doesn’t work when the enemy is also armed and vastly outnumbers you.
‘Mikhail Kalashnikov’
I don’t see how ballet is that aggressive.
“white boy”
Enjoy the third world s..thole you’ve helped facilitate, progressives.
Did you see the Coke commercial during the Souper Bowl?
Yes, but unlike your average America loathing progressive, I did not have my hand down my pants.
“hand down my pants”
ZING!
Interesting you should say that, because I almost posted that after seeing that Coke commercial the multiculturalist progressives would have to dump some cold water on their pants to get back to focusing on the game. But I didn’t post that, because this is a family blog.
Dysfunctional family but a family.
Just curious, other than taking the MID, stuffing cash into a 401K/IRA or having kids to claim credits and exemptions, what other “deductions” can a average Joe 6 Pack take?
I know that having a big azz mortgage in a high tax state will pile the deductions up on Schedule A, but I thought we all agree here that such a scenario is best avoided. And having kids is anathema for you. And 401K contributions are capped. So how can an average Joe shelter his income?
If prices weren’t fixed there would be no need to “shelter” income.
As near as I can tell, Bill’s primary “tax break” that he gives himself won’t work for you, Colorado. Here is the basic break down:
Call yourself a contractor and get paid on a 1099, or call yourself a “contract engineer” and get paid as an employee that is only paid when he is on an actual contract.
In both cases, you maintain what you call your “tax home” in a place where you aren’t actually working. That means you need to constantly maintain a residence that is available to you at all times (not a hotel room). If you have a family, your family lives there full-time. In any event, you need to maintain most of your personal daily living “stuff” in the area near this residence - voter registration, doctors, dentists, etc. You need to keep most of your stuff in this residence. And you need to be there - on average - more than once a month.
Where you work, you keep another residence. If you are on a 1099, you pay for this place on your own. If you are an employee on “temporary assignment” to this location, your company may be able to pay for it instead, along with a daily allowance for food and living expenses. Or there may be a larger daily allowance that pays for both the place to live and the food. Anyway, as long as your tax home isn’t in this place where you work, the amount the company pays to let you live there is like a reimbursement for expenses on a business trip - not taxable. If you are on a 1099, these expenses are deductible. Please note, that this other residence can’t be your primary residence. If you get audited, the IRS person has to look around and believe this is your temporary place, not your real residence. Make sure as little of the stuff you own and/or care about is here, including your family.
So, in order to deduct or exclude a significant amount of income, you have to maintain two residences, keep the stuff and/or people you care about in a place where you don’t spend most of your time, travel between the two places regularly (obliterating the ability to have real social connections in both places), and deal with all the other little inconveniences of pretending to live someplace you haven’t really lived for years.
Oh, and the instance you or your employer contemplate the idea that the temporary assignment will last longer than 12 months, your tax home changes and - if the IRS catches you - your deductions or exclusions will all be disallowed. Once you are a full-time employee in a place, your tax home changes and you will have to actually move back to the place you claim is your tax home and so actual work there to shift it back.
Seems like a particularly pathetic way to go through life to me.
Its lucrative.
“What other “deductions” can a average Joe 6 Pack take?”
I think education and charity, high medical bills.
Those require spending more than you’ll get back.
You have to take a look on IRS web site. There is a forms and publications selection that lists dozens, if not hundreds. Many of these are tax credits.
For example a few years ago those who drove electric or even hybrid cars got a huge tax break. I think that break is gone now that it’s popular.
All the popular breaks go away when the liberal swine raise a storm.
Bill:
I hope you aren’t trying to stiff the IRS. That’s illegal, and may send you to prison.
Closely read what I posted here. GO TO THE IRS WEB SITE. USE THEIR OWN FORMS FOR TAX BREAKS.
If you think that is ripping off the IRS you are hopeless. Of course I ran my own tax breaks through H&R block first, then did my own taxes with the same tax breaks myself after their approval. I also get advise from Vanguard on taxes, such as Roth conversions.
democrats try wooing ones who got away: white men
I look forward to the Ds really going after my vote. The Rs suck so bad it wouldn’t take much to make me at least think about it. But until everyone has 100% confidence that they will stop allowing their special interests to screw over rural voters I don’t see how that can happen. And even if they do it, it could take a while for those wounds to heal.
The D’s are communists. You vote for them, you vote for the nanny state and continued unbridled authoritarianism. You will get the same thing via a slow drip voting for progressive R’s. People of all races, creeds, colors and sexual orientation better start voting against progressives or suffer the consequences.
The next two elections will be very instructive. Will minorities turn out in off-year elections and will they turn out when a black candidate is not on the ballot.
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
pending post notes that by 2050, immigrants and their u.s. born children will be 37 percent of the population.
and who will they be voting for?
either for the free sh1t party or the more free sh1t party.
forward
The free shit party is also the party that wants to ban everything you currently enjoy with the exception of marijuana, they want to keep you high, but only in the manor they choose.
Not if they don’t have their ID card that can be picked up every other Wed from 9 to 9:01 am for 50 dollars, free if you fill out 20 page questionaire that must be filled out at the DMV. Note expect a 6 hour wait in line.
I would be happy if they just could not vote three times.
Is the Obama administration driving up crude prices by regulatory actions?:
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/131872/Bakken_Oil_Rail_Slows_Regulators_Deny_Terminal_Closures/?all=HG2
Realtors Attempting To Corrupt And Influence US Law(again)
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2014/02/real-estate-private-equity-industries-fighting-camps-tax-plan.html
Worthless housing…. worthless worthless housing….. It’s worth less and less with each pasing day.
Get a life. Nobody believes your lies.
And eventually it depreciates to zero.
Cheer up Aim.
It ain’t that bad.
Unless you financed it.
YOU DIDN’T FINANCE THAT HOME PURCHASE, DID YOU?!?!?!?
MarketWatch pays me enough that I paid cash for my Chicago condo.
I have almost 4,000 followers on Twitter.
How many followers do you have? Oh, right.
IL. taxes are gonna kill your margin Aim.
When I’m done here I go back to do some real work. Fur realz.
From Business Insider March 3rd:
Buffett Warns Of A Public Pension Crisis: “Local and state financial problems are accelerating, in large part because public entities promised pensions they couldn’t afford. Citizens and public officials typically under-appreciated the gigantic financial tapeworm that was born when promises were made that conflicted with a willingness to fund them. Unfortunately, pension mathematics today remain a mystery to most Americans… During the next decade, you will read a lot of news – bad news – about public pension plans. I hope my memo is helpful to you in understanding the necessity for prompt remedial action where problems exist.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/highlights-warren-buffett-2013-letter-2014-3#ixzz2uucIi8CF
Since many of these pensions are counting on a 7.5 to 8% return on their investments every year (average of stock and bond holdings), even a flat market creates a real problem.
“Buffett Warns Of A Public Pension Crisis”
Why does gramps give a chit about public pensions?
Forgot to add:
Didn’t Meredith Whitney sound this alarm a couple of years ago?
Yes. She was a bit premature , largely because of QE III driving up stock and bond prices but it is coming.
The municipal bonds his insurance company invest in will not be worth anything if the cities go bankrupt.
The municipal bonds his insurance company invest in will not be worth anything if the cities go bankrupt.’
maybe that’s why he wants pension reform so his bond holdings stay liquid ?
pension mathematics today remain a mystery to most Americans…
Thinking things through is un-American. Mathematics is un-American. Where’s the remote?
racist white boy paul ryan wants to take the free sh1t army’s free sh1t away:
‘there are nearly 100 programs at the federal level that are meant to help, but they have actually created a poverty trap,’ ryan said in an interview.
food stamps, low-income housing, and a flurry of other social service programs and tax credits are also targeted in the report. ryan said republicans will soon offer specific prescriptions to the problems he outlines.
ryan said the crux of the report is the conclusion that federal programs need to be entirely reimagined, with more than tweaks or axed appropriations, and that legislation this year should move toward broader solutions that solve what he thinks are structural weaknesses in how the government supports the poor.
the report also suggests that the ‘breakdown’ of the family is one of the main reasons that poverty afflicts so many americans.’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-gop-budget-will-focus-on-reforming-welfare-overhauling-social-programs/2014/03/02/26b17b78-a23e-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html
and speaking of the free sh1t army…
‘connecticut and new york have found a way around federal budget cuts that played a central role in the massive farm bill passed last month: bump up home heating assistance a few million bucks in return for preserving more than a half-billion dollars in food stamp benefits.
an order by (CT governor) malloy will spend about $1.4 million in federal energy aid, increasing benefits for 50,000 low-income connecticut residents from $1 to $20 so they do not lose $112 in monthly food stamp benefits. it will preserve about $67 million in food stamp benefits.
new york will spend about $6 million more in federal low income home energy assistance program funding to maintain food stamp benefits totaling $457 million.’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/states-increasing-home-heating-assistance-to-avoid-cuts-in-food-stamps/2014/03/02/fd39a3e8-a250-11e3-84d4-e59b1709222c_story.html
Some people aren’t getting married because it saves them money to be single. Two-income earners get taxed at a higher rate. Stay-at-home moms are eligible for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE chit if they’re not married to the working dad.
This country is getting the society it deserves…
“There is no society” — Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
This country is getting the society it deserves…
This country is in a poverty trap of its own making. The trap has not yet sprung. Have some more free cheese.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yUucn9c7unk/Tk9fDXCwxiI/AAAAAAAALKw/Z0ttiXdFetc/s200/Dem%2Bdeath%2Bwish%2Bdonkey-suicide1.jpg
Haha! One would wish. But the elected Republicans are the ones shooting the Republican Party. Robert Taft, the late senator, would be horrified if he were alive to see his party these days.
No question. Both are bought and paid for whores owned by special interest. There is no hope for either one.
I think that was supposed to be a debt-donkey image.
Federal Government shut down again. I am surprised that NWS has not posted a notice like this: Your AGW report telling you how palm trees are soon to be growing in DC has been delayed due to a snow and ice storm on March 3rd in DC.
http://www.drroyspencer.com/
Link will arrive soon:
The primary winter months of December, January, and February averaged over the contiguous 48 United States were the 2rd coldest winter in the last 35 years. The average temperature of 32.2 deg. F was barely edged out by the slightly colder winter (32.0 deg. F) of 2009-2010 (click for large version):
DecJanFeb-USA48-temps-1973-2014
We’re not surprised to hear that it has been a cold winter in most of the US. Spring is only a few weeks away and it is still frozen hard around here.
Sorry, judging by the NWS eight to 14 day forecast actual Spring is probably not a few weeks away. However, you can take comfort in the calendar which says it will soon be Spring.
Not in Phoenix though. This winter there were no lows under 33 degrees. Usually there are two or three weeks of those. Last year it snowed in North Scottsdale.
True, it has been warm in ABQ also. However, the post was the average for the 48 contiguous states so we were including in the average.
Should include Alaska
My brother calls and let’s me know weekly how much warmer it is there.
Alaska was very cold when we set a warm record a few years ago, it didn’t see any post by you saying that we should include it in the data.
It =I (autocorrect) BTW, the U.S. warm record was 2012 and I saw three articles a day about it for months.
Yer point?
If a weather event supports cooling then it is only weather, if you can make any connection to AGW, then it is the result of climate change despite the climate being unchanged for the last almost twenty years.
So…you expect to get traction with the same illogical tactic that you object to?
No. I want to consistently use the satellite average for the entire world, land and ocean and compare that temperature to the predictions made by the CAGW computer models.
You are not going to get that.
The computer models are already proven to be completely wrong about “feedback”.
The temperature swings we are expected to see in our lifetimes is less than the inaccuracies built into the way we measure temperature.
The logic used to determine past temperatures is seriously flawed and circular.
That they tell you it is “settled” should by now make you realize that this debate has nothing to do with the scientific method.
The people that you are debating with use insult rather than logic.
You are not going to get your “consistently” anything. You can’t nail jello to a tree.
Sorry.
You are not going to get that.
I agree and for many of the reasons you stated. However, what I want and what I expect are two different things.
Blue:
So is the Earth flat then? Let’s debate that.
So is the Earth flat then? Let’s debate that.
No, if you want to argue that the Earth is flat, you can have a debate with yourself. As the Yale study demonstrated the people that disagree with CAGW have a better knowledge of climatic cycles than the people that believe in CAGW. The latter group reads the tabloids and believes what Hollywood tells them, that man caused the warming and they are all going to die if it does not stop. Then, the Hollywood stars fly to Europe and get picked up in their limos and go off to their yachts or their large mansions. Leaving a carbon foot print as big as Oprah’s azz.
There can be no debate with hysteria. I’m not sure about a lot of things, but that is on the short list.
If Blue won’t debate it, then you can be sure he’s wrong.
LOL, I yield to you, your flat world and all the flatness of everything in it. Perception is happiness.
Doing a drive-by commenting here, but thought folks here would find this interesting.
Coworker is moving from Seattle to the Bay area. Just put his house in Issaquah up for sale, and a bidding war commenced. House went for $20k above asking.
They bought the house two years ago. Sold it for $140k more than they bought it for (about 18% gain), and didn’t do any rehab/remodel/anything.
Gotta link?
To the house? No. Coworker is a good friend of mine and I have no interest in publishing any of his personal information online.
A zillow link isn’t personal information.
A zillow link isn’t personal information.
A Zillow link is disinformation. It is neither personal or information.
It shows transaction history.
Correction:
It is neither personal nor information.
A zillow link isn’t personal information.
Sure it is. From the address, one can easily look up the tax records and see who the owner is.
Address really doesn’t matter. You can believe it happened, or not - I don’t care. I’m just reporting local information/experience for those who might be interested.
HA doesn’t believe anything that doesn’t support his platform, even when you supply him the link.
Here is a link for you HA:
Issaquah, WA
Median Sale Price 2009: $344,000
Median Sale Price 2014: $443,000
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/WA-Issaquah-home-value/r_5302/#metric=mt%3D19%26dt%3D1%26tp%3D5%26rt%3D8%26r%3D5302%252C251341%26el%3D0
No… we don’t believe you for obvious reasons.
Here’s a link for you J._Fraud…
Yakima, WA
Sept 2009: $549,000
Sept 2013: $239,000
http://www.movoto.com/yakima-wa/market-trends/#city=&time=5Y&metric=Median%20List%20Price&type=0
It looks like Issaquah has a long way to fall.
“Yakima, WA
Sept 2009: $549,000
Sept 2013: $239,000″
Hey, that’s a 65% crater. Is it OK to buy there now, as per your mantra “wait and buy for 65% less”?
Is a used house worth $240k?
FWIW, you can’t compare Issaquah to Yakima regarding housing values; Issaquah has modern infrastructure, hospitals, etc., and an educated and sophisticated population employed in cutting edge industries. Yakima is a hard scrabble agriculture region filled with tattooed white trash, the Yakima Indian Nation and illegal Mexican agribusiness laborers.
“Is a used house worth $240k?”
That should be my question to you. If it was going for 550K in ‘09 and 240K in ‘13, it dropped 65%, which would seem to meet your strict criteria.
Yeah, the dead-cat bounce seems to be playing out differently in different cities. I think it depends on where the Blackstones are at work.
Doing a drive-by commenting here
Just a heads up if you haven’t noticed. Firefox is up to 27.1 or something like that now. I think JTE is good to 30.0? May want to bump a new one to 50.0 or something like that at some point…
I think your maintenance agreement has expired, at this point Carl. I suggest you contact your salesperson and discuss the purchase of a new contract.
(ping me via personal email and I’ll try to get around to it. Just moved, selling car/getting new one, etc so free time will be limited for a while)
Great, another bag holder bail-out if they didn’t pay all cash.
http://calwatchdog.com/2014/02/27/lawsuit-assemblyman-forced-staffers-to-work-for-his-law-firm/
A former employee of Assemblyman Steve Fox alleges that the Democrat lawmaker forced employees in his taxpayer-funded state office to work for his private law practice. The allegations are contained in a lengthy complaint filed last Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Kristina Zahn, who worked as a paralegal at Fox’s law firm and later as a scheduler in his taxpayer-funded district office. The lawsuit also claims the Palmdale legislator committed “serial violations of California wage and hour laws,” failed to pay his employees minimum wage, and required employees at his law firm to “perform between 15 and 25 hours per week of free labor on behalf of his campaigns.” - See more at: http://calwatchdog.com/2014/02/27/lawsuit-assemblyman-forced-staffers-to-work-for-his-law-firm/#sthash.TQ3yE2qe.dpuf
I’m hungry.
Got Cheetos?
Good morning fat pants.
What’s new PotPipe.
A bit early in the day for that, isn’t it now fat pants?
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20140227_153849_536-9wfw0FVh.jpg
Apparently not for you Potsy.
Snow day at Downlow Joe’s house today, fat pants.
We built an igloo so we can light the bong out of the wind, would invite you inside to toke but your coke and cheetos fat pants couldn’t squeeze through the igloo entrance.
I’ll pass….. I’ve got a couch to keep warm and groceries to consume.
Soylent green and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream will be served at Goon’s house soon.
Their Green Tea ice cream.
Living in your head rent free, Dannyboy.
Goon squad and Goldman Sachs, both have the same initials, you must be a squid plant paid to undermine the anti-globalist, Dannyboy. BTW, where is that damn Koch check?
Rent free, Dannyboy, rent free.
From Americanthinker.com:
However, a survey of more than 1,800 members of the American Meteorological Society showed that less than half believe humans are the primary cause of any recent warming. Reviews of published climate papers by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) report on thousands of peer-reviewed studies that contradict the alarmist global-warming narrative; the Chinese Academy of Sciences has published a condensed version of NIPCC reports. But many scientific organizations and academies are still sharply split on the issue of dangerous AGW (anthropogenic global warming).
Clearly, Kerry is aiming for the big climate meeting in Paris in 2015, which he hopes will lead to a new Kyoto Protocol. Good luck with that also! Quoting Dr Charles Battig, “the failed 2010 Kerry-Lieberman ‘American Power Act’ apparently lives on in Kerry’s psyche.” Also, Kerry seems to have forgotten, conveniently, that as a Senator in July 1997 he voted for the anti-Kyoto Byrd-Hagel Resolution. Perhaps someone should remind him.
Much has changed since 1997; but one constant is that the proponents of AGW have yet to publish any firm evidence that man-made CO2 is doing anything dangerous. They hadn’t done it in 1988 when James Hansen told a Congressional committee that we are headed to disaster; they hadn’t done it in 1997 when the Kyoto Protocol was signed by almost 200 countries (but never ratified by the US Senate); and they haven’t done it now.
TV Weathermen are not climatologists, and you know it. Nor is this opinion survey an accurate depiction of the opinions of the MAS membership– who are reportedly quitting in droves.
Why the continued misinformation, Dan?
Correction: His igloo.
I’m still hungry. There’s a cake in the break room.
Let Fed eat cake!!!
http://www.picpaste.com/fat-kid-mcdonalds-769134-769471-1dMkf5Fh.jpg
Forbes list of billionaires.
Forbes Releases 28th Annual World’s Billionaires Issue
A Record 1,645 Billionaires Made the 2014 List of the World’s Richest People with an Aggregate Net Worth of $6.4 Trillion, Up from $5.4 Trillion Last Year
Bill Gates Topped the List With the #1 Spot; Gates Has Been #1 for 15 of the last 20 Years
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2014/03/03/forbes-releases-28th-annual-worlds-billionaires-issue/
•The year’s biggest loser was Brazilian Eike Batista, whose net worth decreased from $10.6 billion in 2013 to less than $300 million, causing him to drop off of the list. Large debt payments cut into his cash reserves, while stock in his publicly traded natural resources companies plummeted.
Did he use Lola as a financial advisor?
FWIW, Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico is still the world’s richest man.
Sound like Batista was over-leveraged.
On Lola’s advice? Brazil’s economy always goes up just like housing prices. (sarcasm off).
Speaking of…… Where is AnklePants?
No Joe, no ankle pants, you figure it out.
eh heh.
Also isn’t DC snowed in today? Lola’s absences are quite coincidental.
Central Banker PM Says Ukraine Ready for IMF Auction Block
Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 3, 2014
Arseniy Yatseniuk, the central bankster PM of post-coup Ukraine, has signaled IMF-inspired fire sales are on schedule.
Yatseniuk: Ukraine will “collaborate” with IMF and the banksters.
On Monday Yats, as the U.S. State Department fondly calls him, said Naftogaz Ukrainy, the national oil and gas company of Ukraine, will be put on the auction block.
Ukrtransgaz, a Naftogaz Ukrainy subsidiary, operates the natural gas pipelines in Ukraine. The pipelines are used to transit Russian natural gas to eighteen European countries, including France and Italy. Naftogaz is the sole importer of Russian natural gas provided by Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas and one of the largest companies in the world.
Yats is also ready to impose IMF austerity on Ukraine, already one of the poorest nations in Europe. “Yatsenyuk is the kind of technocrat you want if you want austerity, with the veneer of professionalism,” Vladimir Signorelli, president of boutique investment research firm Bretton Woods Research LLC in New Jersey, told Forbes last month. “He’s the type of guy who can hobnob with the European elite. A Mario Monti type: unelected and willing to do the IMFs bidding.”
Mario Monti, also known as Super Mario, the former EU commissioner and Italian prime minister, pushed “emergency austerity” measures on the Italians in a bid to stave off the collapse of the EU’s fiat currency. Super Mario targeted pensions and imposed “a radical and ambitious package of spending cuts and tax increases,” according to The New York Times. Although the draconian measures restored “international credibility” – in other words, the measures were favored by the international financial elite –they resulted in a fierce backlash in Italy. A similar backlash will undoubtedly occur in Ukraine after Yats and the IMF impose austerity measures at the behest of Brussels and Wall Street. The nationalists now in control of the country will scapegoat ethnic minorities and Russia.
Signorelli notes that prior to the State Department engineered coup, Yats fell behind former heavyweight boxer Viltali Klitschko and Oleh Tyahnybok, leader of the ultranationalist and neo-fascist Svoboda Party. “But Yats had friends in high places and while he does not have strong support of the electorate, and would have no chance of winning an election, he is pro-IMF austerity and apparently the bulk of parliament is as well,” writes Kenneth Rapoza for Forbes.
While the now deposed democratically elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, resisted the IMF’s demand to raise taxes and devalue the currency, Yats was installed to make sure Ukraine and its public infrastructure, including its natural gas pipelines, are sold off to the banksters and their corporatist buddies.
“We saw this in the 90s and what the IMF did to Russia with Yeltsin. They’ll do that to Ukraine,” said Signorelli.
Ukraine, with its history of ethnic division, can expect more social upheaval and strife. “Remember Slobodan Milošević in Yugoslavia? After the IMF finished with Yugoslavia it was only a matter of time before the separatist movements gained traction,” Signorelli said. “I think things in Ukraine can get really really bad.”
Nice … the banksters might drag us all into WW3 because they’re afraid that Ukraine might stiff them. Contrary to what we see in the news, I suspect that the Ukrainian man on the street prefers the Russkies over the blood sucking banksters. And if Yats is overthrown, the auction block sales of national patrimony will be ruled null and void.
Nah, Russia would take the Ukraine over first.
I wouldn’t discount it. Our media likes to portray the Russkies as backwards buffoons, but their military is still a force to be reckoned with and Ukraine is in their backyard. If the Russians decide to occupy Ukraine and the locals welcome them, there won’t be much we can do about that.
During the Olympics we had some sort of ship deployed in the Black Sea in case there was a terrorist incident in Sochi. Hello? Russian is a sovereign state and they have big guns. What makes us think that we could just go into heavily guarded Sochi to pluck out Americans?
And to make it even more absurd, the ship ran aground and was disabled.
We really need to learn to mind our own business. If the State Department believed that there was risk in Sochi it should have issued a warning, telling Americans that if they went to Sochi that they would be under the protection of the Russians, and that they shouldn’t count on US assistance.
Now that the resumption of the housing correction is underway, how will you react to it?
Its 2008 all over again.
By renewing my lease.
Still looking for a “pile of worthless dirt” to buy in the 80210. Where is it, fatboy?
That’s good to hear Potsy.
Show me the dirt, McFatty.
Bake me a pie cherry Pickin Potsy!
http://antville.org/static/videos/images/cooking%20with%20potsy.jpg
Less talk and more links already, fat pants.
Show me the worthless dirt.
Either in the 80210 or in any adjacent ZIP, we’re waiting.
If you can’t find dirt for sale, you’ve been doing too much cherry picking.
Put some effort into it Potsy.
Because the future belongs to Lucky Ducky
“On retirement, three new reports paint a bleak picture of what the future may look like for Americans when they retire …Many people are also in terrible financial shape for their retirement … 43% of Boomers and “Generation Xers” are at risk of running out of money in retirement … 89% of Americans told Natixis researchers that they were on track to reach their retirement goals — but 54% of them didn’t even have a plan, and 45% of them couldn’t even define those goals.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/our-next-big-crisis-will-be-a-retirement-crisis-2014-03-03
The last stage of a bubble: bidding wars in subprime “up-and-coming” areas, leading to prices almost the same as prime “already there” neighborhoods. I seem to remember something similar in 2008 with Silverlake, now it’s Echo Park. Perfect for the ‘echo bubble.’
–
Feb 27, 2014
“There are many Mortons in Echo Park: Morton Avenue, Morton Place, Morton Terrace and Morton Walk, all of them appearing to be connected to one of the neighborhood’s pioneering land owners, Palmer Morton Scott and Elizabeth Morton Scott. The couple would probably be astounded at some of the sales that have recently taken place on on the Mortons, including one property that sold in only about six weeks for more than $100,000 over its asking price.
That three-bedroom property at 1710 Morton Place near Elysian Park went up for sale at $764,000 on January 13, according to Redfin. As of Wednesday, Feb. 26, the Spanish Colonial-style home built in1926 had a new owner who paid $875,000. That’s $111,000 or nearly 15% above the asking price.
Meanwhile, around the corner on Morton Walk, which is a sidewalk lined by small cottages without street access, a one-bedroom home that went up for sale at $475,000 in early January sold for $512,000 on Feb. 26, according to Redfin. A den and finished attic are squeezed into the 722-square-foot home.”
http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2014/02/eastside-property-echo-park-sellers-cashing-in-on-morton-property-sales/
“Rent free, Dannyboy, rent free.”
Let’s move beyond the “rent free” meme here. The fact is, all of you here at HBB live rent free in my head.
Some of you have more square footage than others.
Let’s move beyond the “rent free” meme here. The fact is, all of you here at HBB live rent free in my head.
That maybe more non-relatives in the same house than the city ordinance allows.
If so, just say that Goon is your illegitimate brother. HA and I will support the contention that he is a bast#rd. 
The DJ article has me speaking Ebonics.
From MSN:
Rick Ross album launch party ends in shooting
March 3, 2014, 1:02 PM EST
WENN
A launch party for rapper Rick Ross’ new album “Mastermind” ended in gunfire early on Monday morning.
Reports suggest a DJ who was working at the Velvet Room nightclub in Atlanta opened fire on two off-duty police officers after they went outside to investigate the sound of gunshots. The DJ was hit in the leg when the cops, who were working at the nightclub, returned fire.
He was subsequently arrested and taken to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries. The local area’s Public Safety Director Cedric Alexander tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “For whatever unknown reasons, it appears that this DJ who was involved in the shooting with some others turned and shot at the officers, and that’s when they returned fire… They (the cops) were doing what they were trained to do. They took all the necessary actions to protect themselves and each other.”
No one at Ross’ album launch party, which is also believed to have involved Sean “Diddy” Combs, is thought to have been caught up in the shooting.
Might be a DJ opening in Atlanta, NYCDJ jump on it.
DJ’s got a gun
DJ’s got a gun
His whole world’s come undone
At a launch party for rapper Rick Ross
What did your DJ do?
What did he put you through?
They said when DJ was arrested
they found him underneath a train
But man, he had it comin’ Now that DJ’s got a gun
he ain’t never gonna be the same.
DJ’s got a gun
His dog day’s just begun
Now everybody is on the run
Because DJ’s got a gun
DJ’s got a gun
His dog day’s just begun
Now everybody is on the run
DJ’s got a gun
How un-American with the Obama administration they should have been giving a volume discount:
By PAUL ELIAS
(AP:SAN FRANCISCO) SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal officials have filed a lawsuit alleging that Sprint Communications Inc. overbilled government agencies $21 million for wiretap services.
The lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in San Francisco alleges that that Sprint Corp. subsidiary collected unallowable expenses from the FBI and other government agencies while carrying out court-ordered wiretaps and other electronic intercepts of its customers.
Communication companies are allowed to recoup the cost of installing and maintaining wiretaps when courts order them to intercept customers’ communications.
The Department of Justice claims in its lawsuit that Sprint also sought and received reimbursement for modifying its equipment and facilities to more efficiently intercept electronics communications. In 2006, the Federal Communications Commission prohibited carriers from passing on those expenses to the government.
A Sprint spokesman says the company denies the allegations.
Someone tell Kerry there coming by Ferry!
Russians Seize Ukrainian Ferry, Move Troops Inadvertisement
Russian forces began moving troops into Ukraine’s Crimea region by ferry on Monday after seizing control of the border post on the Ukrainian side of the waterway, Ukraine’s border guards said.
Russians who seized the isolated Black Sea peninsula have been surrounding the ferry terminal for days but until now had not taken control of Ukraine’s border guard station.
A border guard spokesman said Russian troops seized the checkpoint after the border guards tried to stop two buses carrying seven armed men, and the next ferry brought three truckloads of soldiers across.
And Kiev’s U.N. Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev said on Monday that Russia has deployed roughly 16,000 troops to the Crimea region since last week,
“Beginning from 24 February, approximately 16,000 Russian troops have been deployed in Crimea by the military ships, helicopters, cargo airplanes from the neighboring territory of the Russian Federation,” Sergeyev told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on the crisis in his country.
Earlier on Monday, the Ukrainian border guards said they had seen Russia assembling an armored column on its side of the 2.7 mile wide Kerch strait that separates the Crimea peninsula from southern Russia.
— Reuters
http://www.reddit.com/r/conspiracy/comments/1zfla8/navy_commander_who_successfully_interrogated_911/