March 14, 2014

Bits Bucket for March 14, 2014

Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.




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142 Comments »

Comment by Carl Morris
2014-03-14 00:47:36

Hi everyone. Haven’t checked in from China too often this trip because there isn’t much new to report. But one interesting item is that this time I have a coworker with me who speaks Mandarin. He’s been chatting up various people including our driver on a variety of subjects.

The other day they talked about who tends to make up the factory worker demographic and the driver said it was all smarter people from the sticks who hoped to go to college and such. So coworker asked what the equivalent young people from close to the factory did…as in did they also work at the factory? Driver said no. Older generation keeps doing what they are doing, but the younger generation has discovered how to make big bucks slumlording their inherited houses to the factory workers. Which is all fine, except they are not developing any skills of their own except how to extract rent from productive workers using capital they inherited.

Now if this could go on forever, who cares? But even our driver recognized that if the USA stops buying this stuff not only do young people have to make their way back to the farms to survive like the USA in the 1930s, but they also have a generation of spoiled kids near the factories now who have no idea at all how to support themselves without a house to pay the bills. Kids who right now spend their days driving BMWs and smoking and playing cards. He sounded nervous about it.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-03-14 05:43:02

Carl think about what you wrote. That sounds just like the US. An entire sub-culture of skill-less dopes who can’t perform any useful task so they buy, sell and rent depreciating houses to each other.

 
Comment by Dolly Llama
2014-03-14 06:14:43

Smoking cigerrates is a cool thing to do in China?

Comment by jose canusi
2014-03-14 06:48:18

Actually, yes, I read somewhere a while ago that the Chinese do smoke, but something about the type of cigs they smoke does not cause the rate of lung cancer that US cigs produce. If I recall, the Chinese tobacco is cured differently than US, something about air-cured vs sugar-cured. This is all from memory, but I thought it was interesting. Of course, that may have changed if they’re now buying US produced cigs.

Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 07:32:26

The world loves to smoke - except Americans.

Eastern Europeans, Russians, Asians and middle Easterners - like chimneys…

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Comment by rms
2014-03-14 07:44:48

“Eastern Europeans…”

+1 I’ve seen absolutely gorgeous ladies smoking like a train climbing a grade; a total turn-off for me.

 
Comment by jose canusi
2014-03-14 07:49:17

Absolutely. And Americans like to smoke, too, except it’s been suppressed with laws and taboos, etc. Vape is gaining popularity as a result. And weed. In which just one doobie has as much tar as a pack of terbaccy. Lol, I was just watching a vid the other night of the Beatles performing “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” in studio. There was Ringo, bangin’ away with a cig in his puss, smoking and drumming.

Obama liked to shag ‘em up, except they rode his arse about it. He’d probably be much easier to deal with if he could burn one every once in a while.

This was a better country when more people smoked.

 
Comment by jose canusi
2014-03-14 08:00:15

One thing I’ve noticed, though. Mexicans don’t seem to smoke much, if ever. At least, not the ones who live in this area. I don’t know if that’s true for Latin Americans in general.

 
Comment by Lumpy Gravy
2014-03-14 08:07:43

“Kentucky and West Virginia have topped the list of highest smoking rates in the country, according to a recent Gallup poll.

Other high-smoking states include Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri and Indiana.”

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/report-colorado-ranks-low-in-rates-of-smokers-kentucky-w-virginia-top-the-high-smoker-list03132014

 
Comment by reedalberger
2014-03-14 09:49:29

“+1 I’ve seen absolutely gorgeous ladies smoking like a train climbing a grade; a total turn-off for me.”

Hotness trumps smoking. Anyway, I bet today’s schizophrenic nannies would turn a blind eye if the hot chicks had their faces planted in a bong.

 
Comment by Ol'Bubba
2014-03-14 11:51:03

“Kentucky and West Virginia have topped the list of highest smoking rates in the country, according to a recent Gallup poll.”

What do 15 year old girls from West Virginia say during sex?

“Stop it, daddy! You’re crushin’ my Marlboros!”

 
Comment by rms
2014-03-14 20:23:14

“Stop it, daddy! You’re crushin’ my Marlboros!”

+1 That’s fugg’n rude! :)

 
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-03-14 06:21:52

The news from outside suggests a credit squeeze on industrial metal collateral is underway. Any evidence of this from where you are?

Comment by Carl Morris
2014-03-14 19:25:06

No idea…it’s not discussed in the tech factories as far as I can tell. Everybody here just has their head down working.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2014-03-14 08:25:55

But even our driver recognized that if the USA stops buying this stuff

If the shoeshine boys are worried about this, then everyone in China is worried.

Comment by Carl Morris
2014-03-14 19:31:50

Maybe. Our driver is a smart cool dude. He grew up near the factory but is in the older generation that keeps working. He employs other drivers but we tip well so we get the owner. He’s also a pretty good driver. His Buick minivan was made in China and doesn’t have ABS. One rainy night on the freeway he had to brake hard and make an emergency lane change at the same time. He was very good at modulating the brakes for a non-racer-type…locked up one wheel for a moment, got off the brakes just enough to unlock it, all while making an emergency lane change in the rain. I was impressed. I think I heard the average time people have been driving here is only about 5 years.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-03-14 02:51:55

Housing Depreciates…… Rapidly

 
Comment by Amy Hoax
2014-03-14 03:37:58

Renters for life.

Comment by Lion Realtors
2014-03-14 05:36:53

Don’t be a renter for life! Call Lion Realtors today!

Comment by Amy Hoax
2014-03-14 07:09:01

Renters don’t wash their hands after they go to the bathroom.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:21:36

Renters don’t pea on their hands like homeowners do.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:22:37

Meant to say realtors there but I have not had my coffee yet.

 
Comment by Bill, just South of Irvine, CA
2014-03-14 07:24:56

LOL

 
Comment by Amy Hoax
2014-03-14 07:45:42

Worthless, worthless renters.

 
Comment by Lion Realtors
2014-03-14 08:01:30

Lion Lion Realtors.

 
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 06:06:07

Sandy

 
Comment by LolaLOL
2014-03-14 06:37:54

I missed it, how the Sandy thing got started. Sandy Britches?

Comment by Amy Hoax
2014-03-14 06:40:29

Your landlord is LOL-ing all the way to the bank.

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Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 04:05:14

How To Live Mortgage Free For Up To Three Years

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/13/2014 14:57 -0400

Simple: just don’t pay the mortgage. Because here is what happens next: shortly thereafter foreclosure proceedings will begin and at some point, far in the distant future, the bank will finally complete the foreclosure process, claiming the property and putting it on the block with intent to resell (or simply raze it). How far in the future? According to RealtyTrac, the average duration of the foreclosure process for zombie foreclosures is an average of a record 1,031 days. Or just shy of 3 years.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-13/how-live-mortgage-and-rent-free-thee-years -

Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 05:55:19

Very significant comments under Durden’s column:

————–
GroundhogDay: It’s only 1000 days if itis negative equity. If the owner has any equity or is breakeven, the Banks will have you out in a very short time period

detached.amusement: Dingdingding, winner right here. One buddy of mine, severely delinquent, way over LTV…didnt pay for 3 years. The bank finally foreclosed on him last month…

Contrast to another friend of mine who only had 25k left to pay on his house - he had a rough couple of months, and THE SECOND MONTH the bank had already started foreclosure processing and threats, harassment. Had to have a lawyer call and threaten them in order to get everything straightened out, they were HELLBENT on foreclosing that as soon as possible!!!
—————-

It’s all about the balance sheet.

Comment by jose canusi
2014-03-14 07:16:14

Buddy of mine has been living payment-free for four years. He keeps the place up, the bank sends someone out to drive by every once in a while to make sure the house is still standing. What a complete joke.

We also have TWO homes, side by side, across the street from us that have been abandoned for about a year. The HOA keeps up the lawn and again, the bank sends someone out every once in a while to check up on one of them. Just saw a guy stop by a couple of days ago with a gray T-Shirt that was printed “Property Agent” on the back, checking the place out and entering something into an electronic device. Probably logging his visit.

I guess the days of the S&L RTC are over.

 
 
 
Comment by The Zima Guy
2014-03-14 04:52:25

Hapy pie day y’all.

I don’t crave sweet much, today I might get me som.

Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 05:47:03

If you don’t like sweet, then get a chicken pot pie. You will please both yourself and the gods of pi.

 
Comment by LolaLOL
2014-03-14 06:40:32

National Pie Day was January 23 rd. Today is Pi day. 3/14. Dang, I had my hopes up for some pie.

 
 
Comment by Blackhawk
2014-03-14 05:42:52

Washington Speak.

It just amazes me that no matter what the present administration tells us, there is something embellished, twisted or just a bold faced lie.

Deportations come mostly from border, DHS chief says.

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/12/deportations-come-mostly-from-border-dhs-chief-say/

Where is that lap dog media? Waiting for Republican to slip up?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 06:51:12

Yes, I heard about this a few days ago. Of course, we have changed the way we calculate inflation, unemployment and we are even tweaking weather data all for political purposes so it should not come as a surprise.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 05:48:35

The rats are panicking…

US Rep. Nick Rahall(D-WV): I supported Bush more than Obama
The Hill | 3-12-2014 | Russell Berman

A longtime House Democrat in electoral jeopardy this fall says he supported former President George W. Bush more than President Obama.

Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), first elected in 1976, is a top target of Republicans in a state where Obama has long been deeply unpopular. He is facing a state senator, Evan Jenkins, who switched to the GOP to challenge him, and the House Democratic campaign committee recently added him to its “Frontline” list of members that need the most help saving their seat in November.

Obama’s national approval rating fell to the lowest of his presidency, 41 percent, in an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday. In West Virginia, however, it is much lower. A Gallup study released in January found that during 2013, an average of just 25 percent of West Virginians approved of the president’s performance.

Asked if Obama had been good for West Virginia overall, he replied, “Probably not.”

“I probably have supported George Bush more than I have Barack Obama,” Rahall said. “Am I going to switch parties because of that? No. I’m a Democrat, born a Democrat, am a Democrat and will die a Democrat.”

Rahall spoke a day after Democrats lost a hard-fought special election race in Florida that centered on the president’s policies and the healthcare law.

Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 07:39:32

The Dems are panicking yes, but I doubt they are panicking too much over West Virginia. From what I can tell, WV pays more attention to C (and CH4 and C8H18) than either D or R.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 08:30:23

The Democrats did not lose the Florida race over NG and coal production, they lost it over the unpopularity of Obamacare.

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:51:18

A longtime House Democrat in electoral jeopardy this fall says he supported former President George W. Bush more than President Obama.

That is real panic. I think that makes him a real idiot that he supported both. Since this is about West Virginia and it is joke day:

Nick Rahall is at a fundraiser dinner and turns to a major contributor, “I would like you to meet my wife and my sister.” Problem was there was only one woman there.

 
Comment by rms
2014-03-14 07:56:01

“The rats are panicking…”

+1 Housing, transportation, health care, education and Israel are where the tax dollars get spent, but at the end of the day it’s all about buying votes. The incumbents likely don’t give a chit about any of the above.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 05:50:09

For too long people have voted themselves benefits to be paid for by the next generation of taxpayers, not by sacrifices that they will make themselves.

——————–

UK faces ‘crippling’ tax rises and spending cuts to fund pensions and healthcare
Telegraph | March 13, 2014 | Szu Ping Chan

Britain faces “crippling” tax rises and spending cuts if it is to meet the needs of an ageing population, according to the Institute of Economic Affairs. The IEA calculated the Government would need to slash spending by more than a quarter or impose significant tax hikes because official calculations had failed to factor in future pension and healthcare liabilities.

“As populations age, tax bases will grow more slowly while government spending rises faster,” its report said. In a stark warning, the think-tank said Britain faced tax rises within just two years equivalent to more than 17pc of GDP – more than £300bn - in order to meet all future spending commitments.

This is larger than the entire annual NHS budget and would increase taxes from 38pc to 55pc of national income. Philip Booth, the IEA’s programme director, said tax increases of this magnitude would be “impossible” to implement “without choking off economic growth and actually reducing tax revenues.

“The underlying problem is that successive governments have made promises which can simply not be honoured from the existing tax base. The electorate is grazing a fiscal commons at the expense of future generations,” he said.

Comment by jose canusi
2014-03-14 07:33:51

What a joke. The population in Britain has fugging exploded. Except here’s the problem: much of that population is on the gubmin teat. Oh, HELL, YEAH, all those “immigrants” (and their progeny) are going to make a prosperous nation, that is, when they’re not out stabbing military veterans or grooming young British women. Or Oligarching around London.

Peak Immigration. Both in the US and UK.

Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
2014-03-14 07:55:29

Put down the Pat Buchanan books and pick up the COEXIST.

Diversity and multiculturalism only make countries better.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 08:37:37

Diversity and multiculturalism only make countries better.

Yes, it works so well in Lebanon and the FSU.

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Comment by reedalberger
2014-03-14 09:52:50

“Diversity and multiculturalism only make countries better.”

Until they turn on the useful idiots that facilitated their infestation.

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Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 05:54:48

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: ‘A beer please , and one for the road.’

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: ‘Does this taste funny to you?’

John Kerry: Russia has until Monday to reverse course in Ukraine

By Susan Crabtree | MARCH 13, 2014 AT 1:11 PM

Secretary of State John Kerry warned of serious repercussions for Russia on Monday if last-ditch talks over the weekend to resolve the crisis in Ukraine failed to persuade Moscow to soften its stance.

U.S. and European officials argue that Moscow is orchestrating the referendum and waging an intimidation campaign with thousands of Russian troops controlling the region. If Russian-backed lawmakers in Crimea go through with the Sunday referendum, Kerry said the U.S. and its European allies will not recognize it as legitimate under international law.

The U.S. and Europe on Monday would then unite to impose sanctions on Russia, Kerry told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Thursday during a hearing on the State Department’s budget.

“There will be a response of some kind to the referendum itself,” Kerry said. “If there is no sign [from Russia] of any capacity to respond to this issue … there will be a very serious series of steps on Monday.”

“Our hope is to have Russia join in respecting international law. … There is no justification, no legality to this referendum that is taking place,” he said. “The hope is that reason will prevail but there is no guarantee of that.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and a top critic of President Obama’s foreign policy, asked what the administration would do if Russian forces advance farther into the eastern area of Ukraine, and the new government in Kiev asks the U.S. for weapons to fight the Russians.

Kerry responded carefully, saying “we have contingencies – we are talking through various options that may or may not be available.”

http://washingtonexaminer.com/john-kerry-russia-has-until-monday-to-reverse-course-in-ukraine/article/2545610 - 70k -

Comment by Bill, just South of Irvine, CA
2014-03-14 07:28:29

Two people walk past a clown eating a can of beans. One asks the other “Does something smell funny to you?”

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 06:00:28

obama assumes we are all FB now. We (the people) can cut and cut (and eat raman noodles on the granite counter tops) as long as government continues to get bigger and bigger.

It is for the children…

———————–

President: Choose Between Cable, Phone or Health Care
The Libre Initiative | 3/12/14 | The Libre Initiative

(Washington, D.C.) - The President recently participated in a health care town hall with Spanish-language media. He responded to a question received via email, from a consumer who makes $36,000 per year and cannot find insurance for a family of three for less than $315 per month. The President responded that “if you looked at their cable bill, their telephone, their cell phone bill… it may turn out that, it’s just they haven’t prioritized health care.” He added that if a family member gets sick, the father “will wish he had paid that $300 a month.”

According to the National Center for Public Policy Research, the health care law is reducing choice and increasing premiums for millions of Americans. Ehealthinsurance reports that consumers are paying an average of 39% more than they did before the law was implemented. The high cost of policies is contributing to the continued weak enrollment numbers under the law, which are now showing signs of decreasing with less than 3 weeks left to enroll. When he sought the Presidency, Mr. Obama said his plan would deliver affordable care that people would be “desperate” to purchase.

Daniel Garza, Executive Director of The LIBRE Initiative released the following statement:

“If the President actually believes that a family earning less than $40,000 per year can afford nearly $4,000 in health insurance premiums, then he truly does not understand middle-income families. Americans do not need the President to tell them how to Budget their households. People are already cutting back on things like cable television and cell phones, just to compensate for an awful economy.This President promised he would deliver on affordable health care. Instead, premiums are up, out-of-pocket expenses are up, and overall cost of living is up. The President simply doesn’t get it. And his condescending attitude adds insult to injury.”

Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 07:59:56

I didn’t believe this until I found the YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijQIJAK0NFA

The YouTube is cut off at the end, and I can’t find a full transcript. If someone else can find the whole thing I’d appreciate it.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-03-14 08:58:11

‘I didn’t believe this until I found the YouTube:’

I actually concur with the Prez on what he said. Basically he said to man up. Nothing shocking there. I just wish insurance plans were not as murky as cellphone company calling plans. That goes for any business though. Always some catch or exceptions or clause or fine-print of some sort.

I am ambling towards leaving my job this spring and going the temp job route. I don’t have a clue right now my liability of getting insurance from the ACA arena at that point. If I can get a catastrophic plan with a $10K deductible, I’d take that if the premiums were low. I can make a budget that would cover the premium costs but if the premiums are too exorbitant I might fore go getting insurance fore some time and lump the penalty if one if ever served.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 09:27:24

“I don’t have a clue right now my liability of getting insurance from the ACA arena at that point.”

Larry the Cable Guy

“It’s a disaster. But I have figured a lot of it out. I figured out the Bronze plan. The Bronze plan is the color your finger’s going to look like after you give yourself a prostrate exam. The gold plan is when you start to miss your wedding ring after you had to pay for the deductible. The silver plan is what color your hair is going to be after you sign up for it.”

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Comment by In Colorado
2014-03-14 10:27:11

My current employer provided plan costs $18,000 a year.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 10:45:33

I know, you’ve mentioned that.

 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-03-14 18:09:07

I am ambling towards leaving my job this spring and going the temp job route. I don’t have a clue right now my liability of getting insurance from the ACA arena at that point.

Has it occurred to anyone that this might be a primary purpose of the ACA?

Big biz should love it, if it make people fear leaving or losing their jobs. People with fear of the unknown don’t venture out into the unknown, and thus are retained as employees.

Run, little mice-in-wheels, run!!

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Comment by Oddfellow
2014-03-14 22:42:42

Can’t he go on the web site and see what his rates would be?

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 09:10:44

‘You Can Sign the Machine?’ Obama Meets Retail Technology

Posted on March 12, 2014
by Tad Cronn

In a story that was picked up by media across the nation, the Times painted a picture of Bush as a backwards, near-Luddite who had never personally been to a grocery store. As the Times put it, “This career politician, who has lived the cloistered life of a top Washington bureaucrat for decades, is having trouble presenting himself to the electorate as a man in touch with middle-class life.”

On Tuesday, man of the people President Obama hopped on Air Force One with his staff of aides, sycophants and bodyguards to come to a Gap store in New York so he could rant against income inequality to a bunch of retail workers in one of the most overpriced areas of the country.

At some point, Obama decided to shop for some sweaters for his daughters. When he handed the cashier his credit card, though, she handed it back and said to swipe the card through the machine in front of the register. “Oh wow,” he said, “so you can sign the machine?”

He caught himself and quickly said he was kidding, that he’d seen credit card readers before.

He probably was. Obama leads the same “cloistered life” that Bush did, but if there’s anything he knows how to do, it’s how to sign things with his pen, even when he shouldn’t. In fact, it would be a surprise if Barry wasn’t hanging from light poles autographing street signs back in his “choom gang” days.

But this is another story that’s really about the media.

When Bush had his grocery moment, he was made a figure of fun around the world. But the story, it turned out, was false, created by Times staff writer Andrew Rosenthal almost entirely out of whole cloth. Rosenthal wasn’t even there, he just wrote the story based on a two-paragraph brief by a pool reporter who mentioned that Bush had a “look of wonder” on his face as he viewed the grocers’ technology.

While the Times made it seem like Bush had never seen a checkout scanner, what he was actually shown was a then-new type of scanner that could accurately read prices even when the tag was torn or folded, and could weigh the groceries. It’s run-of-the-mill now, but back then it was brand new.

While Bush was made into a caricature by a mainstream media outlet that concocted (and continued to defend) a story woven out of the biases of its own reporter, Obama today gets a pass by the same media outlet, which wrote about the trip to the Gap but skipped over the credit card gaffe-slash-joke.

The New York Times editors still fancy themselves to be America’s newspaper, but they’ve lost most of their business over the years because they’ve become more and more the White House’s propaganda outlet.

If they’re so afraid of, or in love with, Obama that they can’t even report a funny story like the Gap incident, how can the public expect the Times to ever report the truth about anything like Benghazi or the IRS scandal?

http://godfatherpolitics.com/14726/can-sign-machine-obama-meets-retail-technology/ - 40k

Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 11:58:33

When did signature pads become common? I found a reference to them being invented around 1995, but I don’t remember seeing them until much later — 2007 time frame, maybe?

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Comment by Jane
2014-03-15 02:24:16

Oxy - And your point is: “if readers have been adopted into common use only since 2007, then The One is forgiven because he’s had more important things on his mind, like handing out cheez and playing golf.”

You’re still pimping for the bought-and-paid-for prez.

 
 
 
 
Comment by reedalberger
2014-03-14 10:00:08

“The President responded that “if you looked at their cable bill, their telephone, their cell phone bill… it may turn out that, it’s just they haven’t prioritized health care.” He added that if a family member gets sick, the father “will wish he had paid that $300 a month.””

When you pattern your policies after the “beautiful revolutions” in places like Cuba and Venezuela, you end up living in a country like Cuba or Venezuela…Yuck.

“We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.”

- Barack Obama

Comment by MightyMike
2014-03-14 11:25:03

Actually, it’s a lot simpler in Cuba, along with all of the developed countries on the planet.

Comment by reedalberger
2014-03-14 15:21:35

Authoritarian systems are very simple aren’t they? Just follow the party line and/or the current dictator in charge and life is just peachy. I’ll bet things are much simpler in North Korea.

Our schools and universities are spreading this filth, we are in big trouble.

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Comment by MightyMike
2014-03-14 16:22:30

I was referring to universal health care provision, which exists in every developed country (except the U.S.) as well as some poor countries like Cuba.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 06:02:59

1. Hope and change.

2. Face book is evil.

3. Bigger and bigger government with more and more regulations and higher and higher taxes is the answer to ALL our problems.

—————

NSA pretended to be Facebook to infect millions of computers
Foxnews | March 12, 2014 | Andrew Couts

As part of its efforts to install malware on “millions” of computers worldwide, the National Security Agency impersonated Facebook to trick targets into downloading malicious code.

“In some cases the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server, using the social media site as a launching pad to infect a target’s computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive,” reports The Intercept in its latest expose based on top-secret documents obtained by Edward Snowden.

“[The NSA] has sent out spam emails laced with the malware, which can be tailored to covertly record audio from a computer’s microphone and take snapshots with its webcam. The hacking systems have also enabled the NSA to launch cyberattacks by corrupting and disrupting file downloads or denying access to websites.”

The Facebook trick was called QUANTUMHAND by the NSA, and was initially tested on “about a dozen targets” before being launched on a larger scale in 2010, the documents show…

 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 06:08:16

Wait - it is not FREE???

—————-

Obamacare Shock: Strip Assets From Dead Seniors
Western Journalism | 12/23/13 | Doug Book

The Affordable Care Act was designed to dramatically increase the number of Americans who qualify for Medicaid. In fact, the ACA will literally FORCE many low income seniors onto Medicaid rolls as subsidies for regular ObamaCare plans are NOT available to those over 55 years of age who earn less than 138% of the federal poverty level ($15,856 for individuals; $21,403 for married couples). And without such subsidies, ObamaCare plans are generally far too expensive for older, low-income individuals or couples.

Why should any of this matter to those getting “free” healthcare via Medicaid?

Because: “If you’re 55 or over, Medicaid can come back after you’re dead and bill your estate for ordinary health-care expenses.”

Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 08:08:23

More damn hypocrisy from the right.

Medicaid is billing the person’s ESTATE. Isn’t this what R’s want? People to pay for their own health care? Billing the estate is precisely that.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 08:28:29

Aren’t the Democrats always complaining about businesses not engaging in full disclosure? Before Obamacare many of those people could have bought cheaper insurance that would have covered their needs. Now to avoid paying for mental health coverage and pregnancies, they have to go on to Medicaid and are not being told that their health costs are not really being paid, they are just being deferred until they die. If a private entity did that it would be an unfair business practice.

 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 08:30:12

Yes! Yes!

Republicans are for destroying all private health care, for forcing people into government run healthcare and then stripping their bones of any assets when they die!

It is the bedrock princple of their party.

Well, that and starving kids, throwing grandma into the street and putting blacks back in chains…

 
 
Comment by ibbots
2014-03-14 10:42:53

Medicaid has always sought reimbursement from estates. Some states were reluctant to enforce the provisions but the fed’s got serious and threatened to cut off funding. this was back in 1996 ish.

Comment by drumminj
2014-03-14 11:07:17

but the fed’s got serious and threatened to cut off funding. this was back in 1996 ish.

and this is why you should fear a strong central government, especially one that taxes and re-distributes. Even if they can’t pass laws at a national level, then can affect passage of local laws/behavior based on withholding moneys taken from the residents of the states…

 
Comment by oxide
2014-03-14 12:12:12

I think a-dan’s point is that Obamacare is forcing people 55-65 into taking Medicaid instead of “cheaper” private insurance. So presumably when the person eats up a lot of health care and dies, a private company would only take up to the deductible, leaving some estate left over. Medicaid will take the entire estate.

I can understand the concern in the theoretical “freedom” sense, but practically it may be moot. If the people are poor enough to go on Medicaid in the first place, then any estate would be so small that a “cheap” insurance policy (that a poor person can afford) would likely have a deductible that’s much higher. ISTM more likely that without Medicaid, that person would get no care at all.

 
 
 
Comment by Dolly Llama
2014-03-14 06:09:30

It’s gotta be accidental military shutdown or alien abduction of some kind. How can they NOT find a plane with more than 200 people in 7 days?

Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 06:15:25

Many ideas.

1. Pilots turn off transponders. Dive low. Could be anywhere.

2. Catastrophic destruction of plane scatters thousands of small pieces of the plane over dozens of square miles of deep ocean

3. Something like “Lost” happened…

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 06:48:28

1. Pilots turn off transponders. Dive low. Could be anywhere.

Yes, my guess: terrorists with knowledge of airplanes force pilots to turn off transponders. Then, they have plan fly off course to avoid known radar. Then, they take over plane and crash it into the water. Why would they want to keep it a secret? Besides avoiding retaliation by the Chinese government, perhaps they intend to do it with multiple planes and don’t want to reveal the MOA. They can always claim “credit” later.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:29:34

The only other possibility that I can think of was it was flown to North Korea if that was within its range. They are the only country that will allow it to land and would do anything so crazy. Might be time to send Rodman back.

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Comment by In Colorado
2014-03-14 08:24:17

Even with transponders off, wouldn’t military radar have seen it had it gone to North Korea?

 
Comment by jose canusi
2014-03-14 08:28:38

Cloaking device, or wormhole. Or a Bermuda Triangle type region in the ocean.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 08:32:49

Even with transponders off, wouldn’t military radar have seen it had it gone to North Korea?

Depends how low it was flying and whether an AWACS type plane was in the area.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2014-03-14 10:24:50

I think that region would be monitored up the wazoo. If you can fly a jumbo jet through there undetected then we have a big problem.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 08:35:14

alien abduction

The illegals abducted them? Did they need the passports to get across the border? (JK)

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 06:10:41

democrat talking points:

1. Voter ID is racist

2. There is little to no election fraud

3. Dead people voting for democrats is just a myth by racist republicans

———-

Detroit Woman Dead for 4 Years Went on Voting
FrontPage Mag | 03/12/2014 | Daniel Greenfield

When politicians chant, “4 More Years”, this usually isn’t what they mean. But sometimes it is.

Voting records are raising questions amid an investigation into the discovery of a woman’s mummified body in the garage of a foreclosed metro Detroit home.

The body found last Wednesday in Pontiac is that of Pia Farrenkopf — according to her sister, Paula Logan. Authorities investigating the case haven’t released her name, but they have said that the woman apparently died in 2008 at the age of 49.

According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, records show Farrenkopf as voting in the November 2010 gubernatorial election.

Farrenkopf’s body was found March 5 in the back seat of her Jeep Liberty, parked in the attached garage of her home in the 1600 block of Savanna, near Walton Boulevard and Silver Lake Road in Pontiac. The discovery was made just after 5 p.m. by a contractor who was working at the home, which is going through foreclosure.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 06:58:23

Most Obama supporters are brain dead anyway so I think you are splitting hairs with this one. Seriously, of course there is voter fraud and it is an important part of the progressive play book. I remember when living in Vermont, just how many people would move into Burlington just before the elections and would be gone soon after the elections. They seem to have voters that would travel the country just to help get people on the left elected. Dead people voting is a time honored tradition in the Democratic party.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:20:23

Just another example of the rule of law breaking down under Obama:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/13/fbi-blocked-in-corruption-probe-involving-sens-rei/

 
 
 
Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:25:05

How many times do you have to link to it to get them to open a file on you?

 
 
Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
Comment by (Still) Waiting for the Fall
2014-03-14 07:58:22

From the article:
“Gray, 44, said the influence of corporate investors on home prices has been exaggerated. They represent at most 10 percent of the 2 million homes bought by investors in the last two years, according to Rahmani, the analyst.”

I guess that means that BX was only responsible for 200,000 purchases out of the 2 million investor homes bought. That is a lot of investor influence on the market. No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible, either.

Comment by Rental Watch
2014-03-14 09:07:12

No, BX bought about 43k. The other ~150k were other big buyers. Smaller groups made up the difference. I wonder how many of the 2MM “investor” homes were flips, as opposed to rentals?

In any event, AMH just announced their results yesterday. The main points from their announcement:

occupancy of properties rent-ready for more than 90 days of 94.5%

Net operating income from leased properties (”NOI”) was $40.0 million, a 26.6% increase from the $31.6 million reported for the prior quarter

portfolio occupancy to 74.5% as of December 31, 2013, which has improved to 79.5% since yearend

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-03-14 09:53:33

“Rents Used to Pay Blackstone Leased-Home Bonds Decline 7.6%”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/rents-used-to-pay-leased-home-bonds-fall-7-6-morningstar-says.html

“Payments declined as expiring leases and early tenant departures left residences backing the bonds of Blackstone (BX) Group”

Failing. Business. Model. Using. Dumb. Borrowed. Money.

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Comment by Bill, just South of Irvine, CA
2014-03-14 07:33:10

Did you buy precious metals mining stocks or physical precious metals during the early winter dip? I did.

Will you stop buying now that the spot price of gold is $1385? I won’t. I’m stacking.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:43:01

Did you buy precious metals mining stocks or physical precious metals during the early winter dip? I did.

Will you stop buying now that the spot price of gold is $1385? I won’t. I’m stacking.

Yes, to the first question.

Second question is more complicated. Since I use options for hedging purposes, the fact that I am allowing them to expire is essentially buying but other than that I am not adding to my positions here. I think that the PTB have a few more tricks. Speaking of that have you heard the rumor that the U.S. has acquired all the Ukrainian gold? It is about 40 tons, not enough to suppress gold in the long run but could help in the short run.

Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2014-03-14 09:04:31

40 tons? No didn’t notice. Drop in the bucket. Meanwhile China buys up gold and mines its own as well. US citizens are only starting to buy precious metals - silver, platinum, and gold in small amounts. And the US mint still posts record sales.

I still like REITs, precious metals, wines, and T-bills. Investing in apartment REITs are my interests for now - until the US gets rid of its Section 8, HUD, FHA, and other housing subsidies that destroy SFH values.

Comment by SUGuy
2014-03-14 11:41:38

Bill true fact. In the late 90’s I bought 2 wine racks from the Bombay Company and use to collect wine recommended in the wine column of the Wall street Journal. I recently opened 1bottle from my collection and it tasted great. I most often only paid in the range of $10 per bottle. Recently I checked prices of my collection online and the cheapest was being sold for $33. I was not trying to invest in a wine collection. Just to collect for the heck of it. I did this with art also. My art collection of original screen silks that I paid $70 each and sometimes the framing cost $78 is worth 7K to 8K each. I started collecting those in the 80’s and the artist died young.

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Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2014-03-14 14:56:17

It pays to diversify. A colleague of mine started buying Bordeaux in the 1980s while in his 20s (he’s from a wealthy family, so he knew investing in wine could be a good thing. I think 99.99% of 20-somethings in the 80s would never think of investing in wines). His purchases were in the low double digits. Recently he has been selling some in the mid triple digits to 4 digits.

The key is to know how to store the wines. There are storage facilities all over that have special storage units for people to keep wine - all temperature controlled.

And yes you can tell if a wine bottle was uncorked at some point.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-03-14 18:17:58

And yes you can tell if a wine bottle was uncorked at some point.

Ummmm… How, exactly?

 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 08:26:05

Yes.

Especially ones that were paying a decent dividend…:-)

One day oil prices will finally get slammed to better represent the poor world economy. And then I will buy oil stocks (with great dividends).

 
 
Comment by Bill, just South of Irvine, CA
2014-03-14 07:36:01

Platinum usually has a much higher price than gold. But it’s $1470 while gold is $1385.

I think platinum has a significant price hike ahead.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 07:45:31

I think platinum has a significant price hike ahead.

Yes particularly with the strike in SA and the fact that Russia is the other major producer. However, the fact that it has not moved more is an indication that world wide car sales are expected to be weak by people in the know, hardly matches the forecast of an accelerating economy put out in the MSM.

Comment by In Colorado
2014-03-14 08:28:02

Are catalytic converters standard equipment in all countries? They were not in Mexico until very recently.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-03-14 08:51:11

Not all countries but in the major markets. However, in China and some other countries catalytic converters are not as advanced as ours due to their gasoline and diesel fuels having more sulfur. They do have plans to reach the European standards.

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Comment by Lion Realtors
2014-03-14 07:55:58

Our firm is very busy and we’re looking for new help. Become a Lion Realtor today!

Comment by New Realtor
2014-03-14 09:09:35

I had some legal problems some time ago.

Will arrests for domestic violence, statutory rape, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, possession of oxycontin without a prescription, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving under the influence of bath salts prevent me from getting hired at Lion Realtors?

Comment by In Colorado
2014-03-14 12:04:51

You speak as if those were liabilities, when in fact they are the opposite. They demonstrate that you are creative, have a “can do” attitude and can get things done.

Welcome aboard!

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 08:16:13

Moms of Celebrities Star in Ad for Obamacare

Michelle Obama: ‘We Nag You Because We Love You.’

7:21 AM, Mar 14, 2014 • By DANIEL HALPER

Feldstein adds, “Seriously, do you want your mothers to have a nervous breakdown? You need health insurance. It’s imperative that you have health insurance. … Taking care of yourself so your mothers can sleep and have a nice life after all they’ve done for you is not too much to ask in my opinion.”

Michelle Obama is brought in at the end of the video to make the close: “We nag you because we love you. Go to healthcare.gov and enroll today.”

http://www.drudgereportarchives.net/Article.php?ID=478889& - 13k -

 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 08:44:25

The total corruption of unions and the 60 unbroken year rule of democrats have destroyed Philadelphia

————–

Livin’ Large on the Union Payroll
nationalreview.com | 3/13/2014 | Jillian Kay Melchior

Tucked deep in a South Philadelphia neighborhood that decorates for St. Patrick’s Day the way other places do for Christmas, there stands a bar that’s locally notorious for underage drinking and random brutality.

Yelp reviewers are less reticent: “I saw a bunch of regulars/locals beat up a few other guys just because they weren’t locals and therefore weren’t welcome,” wrote one woman last year. “I saw the bartender get involved and violently throw the non-locals out on the street. One guy was beat so bad he was taken away in an ambulance. It was truly horrific.”

Welcome to Doc’s Union Pub, an establishment owned and operated by the top brass of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, one of the most powerful construction unions in Philadelphia. The bar is reportedly named after John Dougherty — “Johnny Doc,” as he’s known locally — a high-paid union business agent with a reputation for using intimidation tactics to advance the goals of his union, political or otherwise.

Doc’s Union Pub is the direct or indirect recipient of huge amounts of money from Local 98’s political-action committee, one of the most significant campaign spenders in the state. Mike Connell Catering (also known as Mike the Cook Catering), a company that appears to operate primarily out of Doc’s Union Pub, also cashes in on its union connections.

Philadelphia’s construction unions are under increased scrutiny since several members of Ironworkers Local 401 were charged in February with multiple crimes including arson, violent crime in the aid of racketeering, and conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The investigation is ongoing, and both the indictment and sources have suggested the federal government will examine the unions’ political connections.

State-level candidates supported by Local 98 also patronized Doc’s Union Pub and Mike Connell Catering, spending big. Between 2001 and 2012, 14 Pennsylvania candidates and committees received Local 98 money — and together, they spent $405,000 at Doc’s Union Pub. Between 2005 and 2013, Mike’s Catering Company also received $50,750 from eight Pennsylvania candidates who had received financial support from the electrical workers’ union.

Politicians’ affinity for Doc’s Union Pub is odd, given the bar’s rap sheet. Since 2001, the bar has been cited at least twelve times, racking up more than $7,000 in fines and enduring at least one suspension of its license. On multiple occasions, the pub was caught serving liquor to minors; in 2011, the bar had allegedly “failed to maintain complete and truthful records covering the operation of the licensed business” for the required two-year period, though the final ruling is unclear; it has also repeatedly been ticketed for noise violations. Online reviews emphasize the casual violence that’s prone to break out there.

Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
2014-03-14 09:29:45

Labor unions are now 11% of the U.S. workforce, down from 30% sixty years ago.

They’re gonna take over the whole country any day now…

Comment by Hi-Z
2014-03-14 11:07:01

But PUBLIC unions have increased to 38% over less than 60 years.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-03-14 11:30:56

Labor unions are now 11% of the U.S. workforce, down from 30% sixty years ago

And that’s been a been a great boon to the one percenters born with a silvers spoons in their mouths like 2banana.

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-03-14 09:08:16

The LIEberals would love something like that here.

 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2014-03-14 09:15:43

Reports from the trickle-up economy.

Now, I’d love to see more information on this incident before fully accepting its veracity, but Yahoo has picked it up, so that’s a start.

Dachshund Left at Shelter with Heartbreaking Note Will Reunite with Owners
By: Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell | Pet360.com via shine.yahoo.com
March 13, 2014

An elderly couple who left their 13 ½ year old Dachshund tied outside of the Baldwin Park Animal Shelter near Los Angeles with a note asking for him to put to sleep because they could not afford to care for him will be reunited with the dog.

The heartbreaking note reads, “Our dog is 13 1/2 years old he is sick starting yesterday with bloody stools, vomiting. Had a skin disease for a few years. We are both seniors, sick with no money. We cannot pay for vet bills, or to put him to sleep. He has never been away from us in all those years, he cannot function without us, please put him to sleep.”

The rescue realized the little dog had been well-cared for and according to the note, very much loved, so they decided to try to reach out to the dog’s owners.

When the dog owners came forward, they explained they are indeed both sick and cannot even afford their medical treatments or tires for their vehicle. They had taken their dog, who is actually named Otto Wolfgang Maximus, to a veterinarian and were told that they would need to run costly tests. When they realized they couldn’t even afford to have their dog euthanized by the vet, they were “hysterical” and didn’t know what else to do aside from leaving him at the shelter.

“We just are living week to week,” one of the pet parents, who wished to remain anonymous, told KTLA in an interview. “We can’t even go to the hospital to get our treatment.”

https://shine.yahoo.com/pets/dachshund-left-shelter-heartbreaking-note-reunite-owners-181200430.html

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 09:48:48

This Is The Reality Of It: “We Are Factually In A Recession. Period.”

Mac Slavo
SHTFPlan.com
March 14, 2014

We can cite scores of statistics and financials that prove without a shadow of a doubt that the U.S. economy is in a tail spin and won’t be recovering any time soon. Abysmal home sales, continued degradation in the national employment numbers, sky rocketing national debt, and ever rising consumer prices all point to serious problems.

But one number in particular pretty much sums it all up. It depicts not just the worsening state of our economy, but puts the lies and machinations of the U.S. government on full display for the world to see.

You’ll often hear the media cite the U.S. Growth Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic growth. It measures the rate at which our economy grows.

In 2013, for example, our GDP was $17.08 trillion, up from the previous year’s $16.42 trillion. So, all of the goods and services sold throughout the United States (essentially, all of the money spent by Americans) rose about $661 billion dollars year-over-year.

Most people might look at the number, see 4% growth, and say it’s a no-brainer. How can the economy not be growing if the GDP rose?

The answer is simple. And when you look at it from the perspective Karl Denninger of the Market Ticker outlines below, you can’t help but realize that you’ve been purposely duped into believing that things are getting better. Just the opposite is true.

When looking at GDP you absolutely must account for the manufactured credit infused into the system during this same time period. When you do you’ll see just why the economy is not growing in any way, shape or form.

It is, in fact, contracting.

However, The Federal Reserve added $1.112 trillion in credit (unbacked by anything) during the same period of time; that’s a debasement of the units in which GDP is reported of 6.51%.

So the real change in the economy is in fact negative 2.51%.

We are factually in a recession.

Period.

There can be no progress economically or politically until the lies are stopped. These are not mistakes; both the hosts and guest are fully-aware of The Fed’s balance sheet.

That extra trillion dollars slammed into the system by The Fed pretty much wipes out any growth noted by the Federal government’s statistics, because we never actually earned that money. It’s debt. Not growth!

Incidentally, the other oft cited measure of economic health is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which currently sits around record all-time highs of 16,000 points, is likewise benefiting from this illusion. Guess where that stock market “growth” came from? Yes, the very same credit being used to prop up the economy (that $85 billion or so in Fed Treasury purchases every month) is also keeping stocks at record highs.

Back on Main Street, where most Americans live, we’re feeling the effects. Do we need to mention that the Patient Affordable Care Act has just forced working Americans to spend up to quadruple on their monthly premiums? Or that millions of Americans who are unemployed and no longer counted in the official statistics have absolutely no income whatsoever because their unemployment insurance has run out? Or that the price of everything from food and energy to rent and clothing is rising?

That kind of thing tends to happen when you debase your currency.

Last week famed contrarian economist John Williams noted that the economy gave apowerful recessionary signal in January that had not been seen since right before the market crash in 2007. Furthermore, one of the leading economic indicators of a recessionary environment is the price of copper because it is so closely associated with global growth. It has dropped significantly in recent months and it could well be signaling a coming crash in stocks just as it did in 2008.

When, not if, this thing buckles again we’re going to be in for an unprecedented period in U.S. history.

The system was on the brink of total collapse in 2008, as evidenced by Representative Brad Sherman on the House floor:

Many of us were told in private conversations that if we voted against this bill on Monday, that the sky would fall, the market would drop two or three thousands points the first day, another couple thousand the second day, and a few members were even told that there would be martial law in America if we voted no.

They’ve used up all of the tricks in their magic hat. One misstep here and we’re going down. Any number of domestic or geo-political events could trigger a meltdown in U.S. stock markets and send the broader economy crashing.

 
Comment by joe
2014-03-14 09:56:25

Keeyyyy-rash goes the new housing bubble. A pretty good article:

“2014 Could Likely Be a 2008 Housing Repeat”

——————–

http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2014/03/14/2014_could_likely_be_a_2008_housing_repeat_100954.html

“After fretting over mortgages for close to a decade now, we still cannot escape the wincing throes of the housing bubble. I should actually be more specific in that regard, as it now appears closer to reality that we will actually experience a second revulsion in housing in 2014 very similar in mannerism to a bubble collapse. This second event has been nowhere near the scale of the original, except in acceleration of prices. It may not be common knowledge, but house price indices of various styles have shown faster acceleration in 2012 and 2013 than in any comparable periods during the “big one.”

You can’t tell from the mainstream, but mortgage finance has all but collapsed in only a few months’ time. Since the Federal Reserve provoked credit markets in May 2013 with only ephemeral threats of tapering QE, gross MBS issuance is off more than 53%; February’s pace was just $87.2 billion (according to SIFMA). Worse than that, MBS repo volumes have collapsed 56.8% over that period, to a rate of just over $1 trillion per month (submitted for clearing). Agency repo volume is down 63.2% as well.”

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-03-14 10:31:13

Liberace!

Comment by joe
2014-03-14 10:44:49

good to see you too, man

 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 10:54:13

Whatever government subsidizes - it will eventually destroy.

Alex: How to become a slave for life for $200…

—————————

‘Pay It Forward’ College Tuition Plan Will Equal Higher Costs
Detroit News ^ | 3/14/2014 | Jarrett Skorup

If financial aid for college seems dysfunctional now, imagine the state of Michigan trying to collect a college tuition bill from someone who graduated 10 years ago, and has since moved elsewhere. Further, envision that the bill is based on that person’s adjusted gross income — an amount he or she can manipulate with deductions and loopholes — and has nothing to do with the true cost of his or her education.

Such a program seems doomed from the start. And yet, two Michigan legislators are proposing it. Under what some are calling a “Pay It Forward” plan, the state would give interest-free loans to college students in exchange for those students promising to pay back a percentage of their future salary for up to 25 years.

Identical bills were introduced as House Bill 5315, sponsored by Rep. David Knezek, D-Dearborn Heights, and Senate Bill 784, sponsored by Sen. Jim Ananich, D-Flint. These bills would sponsor a $2 million pilot program for 200 students.

A “Pay It Forward” program would eliminate any incentives universities have to control costs. The amount students will have to eventually pay (a percentage of their future salaries) is predetermined, regardless of the actual cost of their degree. This will likely encourage more students to enroll in the most expensive institutions they can access, since they will not have to consider whether a more expensive university is worth the cost.

The program theoretically relies on higher earning graduates to subsidize the cost of lower earners. But it is more likely that graduates going into majors that lead to higher pay will be less likely to take part. Students majoring in engineering, the careers that pay the most, would be more likely to avoid a program that requires them to pay back a percentage of their income while psychology majors, among the lowest earners, would be drawn to it.

The program has other negative features. It requires recipients to be indebted to the state for decades no matter how much they pay back. And students would be paying money to the state, whether or not they received a degree. This is one of the largest problems in the higher education system right now. Nearly half of students who entered college in 2006 did not graduate within six years, and the “Pay It Forward” bill is unlikely to help correct that.

The real problem with our higher education system is that costs are increasing exponentially. Unfortunately, taxpayer subsidies have exacerbated this trend. As public money for higher education has increased, so have administrative costs. There is nothing stopping a university or financial system from introducing a program like this on its own. The fact that they have not put up their own capital to do so is telling.

 
Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 10:57:46

Could anyone imagine the Nazis getting 90%+ of the Jewish vote?

Conservatives - “Don’t kill your babies”
Liberals - “No, no we want to kill our babies”

And remember - the Klan is the same party as those running the abortion clinics.

———————

NYC: 80% of Abortions Were Minority Babies
CNSNews.com ^ | March 7, 2014 | Michael W. Chapman

In New York City, 80% of the babies killed by abortion in 2012 were minorities: Hispanics, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and Blacks.

According to a “Pregnancy Outcomes” report published by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, there were a total 73,815 “induced terminations,” or abortions, in 2012 in the five boroughs that comprise New York City. (See Pregnancy Outcomes NYC 2012.)[PDF]

Among those abortions, 58,738 were of babies of minority race or ethnicity. That’s 79.57% of the total, or approximately 80% of all the abortions that year.

Comment by joe
2014-03-14 11:25:55

abortions aren’t babies, 2ban. and very few states (any?) allow late term/post viability abortions.

I wonder what % of those abortions were in the first trimester, i.e. well before viability. I’m sure the vast majority.

Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
2014-03-14 12:20:58

2brony wants them to be born, but not to pay for programs like Head Start, but has no problem paying 18 years later when they enter the criminal justice system.

Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 12:28:33

Liberal logic - killing babies is saving money! Especially minority babies. Kill them all (up to 80%) in NYC - we can always import more illegals.

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Comment by joe
2014-03-14 12:41:26

I always wonder if 2Ban is an alternate name for Lola, trying to make Republicans look absurd.

If 2Ban is a real person, I’d love to see how MAF if he’d get watching a movie like Django Unchained or 12 Years a Slave. He’d def be rooting for the slaveowners, right?

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Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 12:22:43

1. All states “allow” late term abortions if there are abortion centers in their states. In fact, any woman can have an abortion one second before birth for any reason if she chooses. There are no restrictions to abortion in America on a “when is your due date” decision.

2. Abortions are not babies? Go google the pictures of aborted babies - especially late term. It compares to what the allies found in concentration camps. It was why the “pro-choice” crowd fights tooth and nail to ban these pictures in public. It is why we use terms like “fetus” and “termination” because saying “killing babies” is a constitutional right just doesn’t work with the average joe.

Comment by joe
2014-03-14 12:38:58

“There are no restrictions to abortion in America on a “when is your due date” decision.”

That’s not true. The Supreme Court has consistently upheld state laws with reasonable restrictions. There are few states that allow late term elective abortions — the life/death of the mother has to be in play.

God damn you’re dumb.

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-03-15 09:59:24

the life/death of the mother has to be in play.

That’s an awfully hard line to draw in the sand. Childbirth is a dangerous activity—the life/death of the mother is _always_ in play.

 
Comment by tresho
2014-03-15 13:10:27

Childbirth is a dangerous activity—the life/death of the mother is _always_ in play.
EVERY activity has its own dangers. Sitting back in my recliner typing this, I am running the risk of a fatal pulmonary embolism. Childbirth is more dangerous than that, though, a fine line between a joyful outcome and death.

 
 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-03-14 11:39:53

If the statistics were available, it’s possible that they would shoe that 70% of the women of childbearing age in NYC are non-white.

Also, it’s nothing like the Klan or the Nazis. The women choose to end their pregnancies. So we have another waste of pixels from a dopey right wing web site.

Comment by joe
2014-03-14 12:18:44

Actually, NYC is about 50% white and a bit above that if you consider mixed-race people and white Hispanics. Certain parts of NYC are blindingly white. There are also many Asians, at least 10%.

(I’m trying to imagine how John Rocker would react to reading that sentence.)

Comment by MightyMike
2014-03-14 13:30:00

According to this -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_profile_of_New_York_City - the city is 44% white and the non-Hispanic whites are around 1/3 of the population. What I was thinking was that some immigrant groups, especially Hispanics tend to be younger on average than than the white population and may therefore make up a larger portion of the women of childbearing age.

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Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 12:26:28

Does a 16 year old runaway have a choice when brought to an abortion mill by her pimp? By he incestuous relative? By a gang-banger?

And who chooses for the baby?

Yeah, I know, even obama thought that babies born alive after a botched abortion should be killed. It is a constitutional right the founding father fought and died for…

Comment by MightyMike
2014-03-14 13:32:34

Go back to CNSNews.com and see if they have statistics on how many abortions in New York City involve 16 year-olds and pimps.

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Comment by Bill, just South of Irvine
2014-03-14 18:16:08

Hey 2ban,

If you conservatives thought it through, the millions of abortions done since Roe V. Wade eliminated a lot of potential dysfunctional people from being born. We would probably have had Obama as President in the 90s if not for Roe V. wade.

Freakonomics put forth the tie between declining crime rates and the Roe V. Wade.

So you conservatives want a baby born, but when he becomes a murderous teenager, you now want to execute him?

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 10:58:10

European Union NGO Played Direct Role in Violent Coup in Ukraine

State Department and EU worked in tandem to overthrow elected government

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 14, 2014

Bill Cash, a member of the British Parliament who led the Maastricht Rebellion against European Union integration, has criticized the EU and its Eastern Partnership and Association Agreement for the role it played in the current crisis in Ukraine.

“We do not have to be enthusiastic advocates of Vladimir Putin’s policies to recognize that this entire Ukrainian crisis was avoidable. Nor to recognize that the Crimea – handed over by Khrushchev within the Soviet Union to Ukraine in 1954 – has been and remains a vital national security and defense interest for Russia, including the Black Sea and its fleet for centuries. The European Union’s Eastern Partnership and Association Agreement were clearly anticipated to be Ukraine’s stepping stone to membership of the European Union, and probably of NATO as well. On both counts the EU has pursued a remarkably naïve foreign policy,” Cash writes on the Conservative Home website.

Cash adds that “the EU must recognize that it bears a disproportionate degree of responsibility for the crisis which could have been avoided.”

Richard North, writing for EUReferendum.com, cites Cash’s blog post and shifts focus over to the “sinister-sounding” Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. “This organization has provided an open site for a multiplicity of NGOs, specifically directed at ‘discussions, consultations, information activities in the implementation framework of the Eastern Partnership policy.’ Components of this Forum have been funded by the EU, and by other agencies, including funding from the Swedish government,” North writes.

The NGOs, flush with EU cash, North argues, are “all dedicated, as the Civil Society Forum website openly admits, to bringing Ukraine ‘closer to the EU both politically and economically,” a move adamantly opposed by Russia.

Moreover, the NGOs are dedicated to supporting the violent coup in Kyiv orchestrated by the State Department. The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum recently bragged about the role it played in fomenting violent unrest in the country that led to the death of around 100 people and deposed Viktor Yanukovych, the democratically elected leader of Ukraine.

“Many participants of the EaP Civil Society Forum have been active in various sectors of Euromaidan movement,” a post on the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum website states. It documents how the NGO participated in the coup. “National Platforms from all EaP countries have expressed solidarity with their Ukrainian colleagues and send their ‘glory’ to the civil society in Ukraine.”

Cash and North have, by pointing out the activities of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, provided additional detail on how the EU, along with the United States, worked behind the scenes to foment the violent coup in Ukraine and install a government amenable to Wall Street, the financial cartel, and central bankers running the European Union.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 11:29:37

Homeland Security Conducts Unannounced Lock-down Drill at Glen Ridge High

BY Georgette Gilmore |
Thursday, Mar 13, 2014 8:00am

We know our children have lock-down drills. It’s a sad, unfortunate part of the world we live in. However Glen Ridge students had a lock-down drill supervised by Homeland Security!

On Thursday, March 6, a team comprised of ten officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and the NJ Department of Education’s Safety and Security Task Forces visited Glen Ridge High School to conduct an unannounced school lock-down drill. With the exception of Glen Ridge Superintendent Dr. John Mucciolo and Chief of Police Sheila Byron-Lagattutta, no Glen Ridge Public School personnel received advanced notice of the exercise.

After a brief interview with GRHS Principal Dirk Phillips, the federal/state security team instructed Mr. Phillips to activate the school’s lock-down protocol. The protocol was initiated, the police arrived, and the drill went off successfully.

In the aftermath of the drill, the security team reported back to Dr. Mucciolo. “They were extremely impressed, with the school community’s response and the school’s close cooperation with the police,” he said, adding that he and Chief Byron-Lagattutta were subsequently asked to make a presentation on this ongoing cooperative effort at an upcoming Essex County Safety Summit.

Superintendent Dr. Mucciolo praised the GRHS administrators, staff and students, as well as the local police force for their efforts. “The NJ DOE team told us that of all the schools they have visited, GRHS was one of the best.”

http://kids.baristanet.com/2014/03/u-s-department-homeland-security-conducted-unannounced-school-lock-drill-glen-ridge-high-school/ - 55k -

Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
2014-03-14 12:26:29

Andrew Solomon was on NPR yesterday discussing his recent article about Peter Lanza. He said he received 2,000 letters since its publication, and that about 10% of them said Newtown was a false flag event and that all the children are still alive.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-03-14 16:07:05

only 10%

 
 
Comment by Jane
2014-03-15 02:44:03

Q.E.D.

There are too frickin’ many feds sucking at the teat.

Playing cowboy, no less.

 
 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-03-14 12:43:59

Does anyone know how to list something on Ebay for local pick-up and cash only sale? I am willing to give Ebay their cut for using their venue to get a sale but I do not want PayPal involved or shipping. Can I word the auction stating that the customer will pay a holding deposit in PayPal funds and pay the rest upon picking up the item? Sorry to ask here, but the internet basically is gobblygook trying to figure out what procedure I can utilize to make this work.

Comment by 2banana
2014-03-14 15:11:12

Yeah - it is called craigslist

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-03-14 18:54:51

‘Yeah - it is called craigslist’

I am going to have to resort to CL. I just have to deal with no-shows or people guerilla-style haggling at a meeting point after an agreed upon price prior.

 
 
 
Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
2014-03-14 15:52:55
 
Comment by the Central Scrutinizer
2014-03-14 16:48:19

When The Sh*t Hits The Fan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qv6DvI3eQ

 
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