Bits Bucket for March 25, 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
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Heard on the radio this morning flood insurance rate hikes are finally coming to the sandwich isles. Order of magnitude increase. One house supposedly is going from 700/yr to 30K/yr.
There’s never been a better time to buy, LOLOLOLOLOL!
Muggy first brought that issue to our attention a few months ago. I thought congress was taking action to “delay” the law while they study the effects in more detail.
The point of insurance is for the insurance industry to make money, anything else is just a plus.
Flood insurance is a Federal program, not a private insurance program. Obviously, the point of insurance companies is to make money; why else would they exist?
While people should pay if their home is built on a flood plain
Couldn’t they grandfather in older people who have lots of equity and say raise it 5-10% per year…and make the next owners even if its their kids pay the full price?
there are reports in PA of people never even had water in their yard let alone another rising another 3-4 feet till it hits the house then another 3 feet to flood the 1st floor…in 30 years having 1000% increases…
If that is the case, they would be better off landscaping their property to protect it, instead of buying insurance. Nothing precludes a homeowner from building mounds around a house instead of asking for government subsidized insurance. They can be created without being unduly ugly. However, people do not want to create mounds or build flood walls etc. and still want to build in flood plains. In many cases, there was a very good reason why no structure was in that area. Prior to the government intervening in every flood, someone probably lost a structure and never built in the area again.
Moral Hazard strikes again…
“Housing depreciates rapidly. Your losses on housing are magnified tremendously when you finance.”
Precisely. Just ask the millions of suckers who bought a house 1998 to current. They’re all underwater and have sustained massive losses.
Read it and weep, boys!
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/did-this-winter-wreck-your-roof-2014-03-24?link=mw_story_kiosk
Not I. Turns out I have massive profits. The world may melt down tomorrow, but today, real estate has been a very good investment for me. HA is a laugh.
The funniest part?
Your claim of being a “general contractor”.
Frankie,
I would like to have the source book or reference. That quotation makes my day, so to speak.
The man was true to himself.
Jane apologies or not replying sooner, work and life got in the way.
The quote “”What! will you never cease prating of laws to us that have swords by our sides?” comes from Pompey by Plutarch.
http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pompey.html
The reason I like it is even though the events laid out and set down by Plutarch are over 2000 years ago they speak to me of the human state. We think we have evolved and are better than that, we have laws we are civilized but at the end of the day we come back to the reality that “What! will you never cease prating of laws to us that have swords by our sides?” trumps all.
Regards
Frankie
Frankie, thanks so much!
Odds narrow on China stimulus as Q1 economy seen weakest in 5 years
BEIJING Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:15am GMT
Employees work at a Chinese automobile factory in Hefei, Anhui province, in this March 15, 2014 file photo. REUTERS/William Hong
(Reuters) - The odds of Beijing intervening to support the sluggish Chinese economy are narrowing following a slew of data that points to the weakest growth for China since the global financial crisis.
The economic pain may not be over, either, as some economists forecast that the slowdown could deepen further in the second quarter of the year.
It all adds up to increasing pressure on Beijing to provide the economy with a lift if the government wants to meet its full year growth target of around 7.5 percent.
“The government probably will have to provide some supporting measures,” said Wei Yao, China economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. “I think the slowdown is not over yet and our expectation is that the deceleration will continue into Q2,” she added.
…
You can’t put the genie back in the bottle.
Obama to Call for End to N.S.A.’s Bulk Data Collection
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
MARCH 24, 2014
The headquarters of the National Security Administration in Fort Meade, Md. Credit Jim Lo Scalzo/European Pressphoto Agency
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to unveil a legislative proposal for a far-reaching overhaul of the National Security Agency’s once-secret bulk phone records program in a way that — if approved by Congress — would end the aspect that has most alarmed privacy advocates since its existence was leaked last year, according to senior administration officials.
Under the proposal, they said, the N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans’ calling habits. The bulk records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order.
…
How does one reaction if one doesn’t believe anything Obama says?
He’s a consummate, poll-driven liar.
I’m tellin’ ya. He’s all smiles and fists full of vaseline.
We are suppose to thank him because he uses Vaseline.
I am growing tired of self-correcting computers.
Anyone know how turn self-correct off so that what is written correctly the first time isn’t turned into sludge by an over-zealous laptop?
Thanks in advance.
Well, at least it smells better than the crude oil used by his predecessor.
Re: GWB, here’s the thing: with shrub, you KNEW you were gonna get the shaft. He practically made no bones about it. His whole demeanor just about said “I’m'a give you a good screwing”. So you knew what to expect with shrub.
Now, I’m one of the folks who understood what O was going in. I knew he’d be a smiley, mealy-mouthed liar and he’d screw people even worse than shrub. But most people had different expectations.
It all smells the same after he is done. It smells like Real Journalists’ fingers.
Re: GWB, here’s the thing: with shrub, you KNEW you were gonna get the shaft.
You did not know what you were gonna get with GWB before his first term. He ran as a moderate Republican - especially compared to what he became or the Repubs today.
“I showed the people of Texas that I’m a uniter, not a divider. I refuse to play the politics of putting people into groups and pitting one group against another….A third priority is to promote the peace. America must be strong enough and willing to promote peace. One way to do so is to bring certainty into an uncertain world…I think that each person ought to be judged by their heart and by their soul and by their contribution to society. Group-thought will balkanize our society, and I have rejected the politics of pitting one group of persons against another. GWB 1999
Anyone know how turn self-correct off so that what is written correctly the first time isn’t turned into sludge by an over-zealous laptop?
Firefox highlights what it believes are spelling mistakes, but it doesn’t auto correct them.
“You did not know what you were gonna get with GWB before his first term. He ran as a moderate Republican - especially compared to what he became or the Repubs today.”
Have to admit you’ve got a point there. I did get fooled, the first time. Plus Gore reminded me of a spoiled little boy sucking his thumb. Still, it was sort of ho-hum until those planes hit the WTC and then, whew-boy, that mask came right off.
I did get fooled, the first time. Plus Gore reminded me of a spoiled little boy sucking his thumb
Before I voted that election day, I sat undecided in the Church parking lot for about an hour before I went in and voted.
That’s how much the Repub party has devolved since then.
Still, it was sort of ho-hum until those planes hit the WTC and then, whew-boy, that mask came right off.
Almost as if OBL understood what the US response would be and what it would mean to US society and the economy. Maybe it’s our 4 year election cycles or maybe it’s our fixation on corporate quarterly results, but the US has no long game…
When it came down to O or the crazed McCain, I had a long conversation with a friend who said either way, it’s death and destruction, just a matter of method, and if something happened, they wouldn’t want to be responsible for having voted for death and destruction. That decided me on voting third party or write-in. I felt horrible about voting for Bush the first time around.
This time around, I will be writing in Senator Jeff Sessions, mainly on his immigration platform. I truly believe he cares. He has his staff do a lot of research, rather than posting to Facebook and other social media.
Daily caller dot com (linked from Drudge)
“New York Times reporter James Risen called the Obama administration “the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation” on Friday, explaining that the White House seeks to control the flow of information and those who refuse to play along “will be punished.”
In a speech kicking off the (Sources and Secrets) conference, Risen claimed that the Obama administration wants to “narrow the field of national security reporting” and “create a path for accepted reporting.”
Accepted reporting? Got real journalists? LOLZ
See also:
http://www.picpaste.com/download-php-TxdmCTK8.jpeg
“the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge…”
Ah ha! We’d be guaranteed the same rights we were guaranteed before. That is reassuring.
Phone records? How about texts? Emails? Etc?
This is another counterfeit by this fascist government and corrupt president.
Yeah, but you can dream of Jeanie!
When she was on the air showing her belly button was forbidden on broadcast TV. Now, we can see Miley twerking, we have come far as a society.
I’d much rather have seen Jeannie twerking. Miley is kind of… plain.
True ,Jeannie was hot enough to cause instant puberty.
Barbara Eden was a babe. Miley’s an ugly dog.
“we have come far as a society”
What a joke,
I hope you understand it was meant to be a joke.
Why would the Fed EVER even think about unwinding its vast mortgage holdings?
15 HRs ago
MoneyBeat
Fed’s Mortgage Holdings May Dampen Future Bond Sell-Offs, Fed Says
The Fed’s share of the mortgage bond market has grown so large that it is dampening the trades by other investors that could add fuel to any increase in bond yields, the New York Fed said.
By Al Yoon
The Federal Reserve’s share of the mortgage bond market has grown so large that it is dampening the trades by other investors that could add fuel to any increase in bond yields, New York Fed economists said in a report on Monday.
The study by the New York Fed’s Liberty Street Economics team comes as investors are speculating on just how much bond yields may rise as the Fed cuts its monetary stimulus effort this year. Last year, fears of waning Fed support sparked a sell-off, pushing yields higher, but the trend was broken as the economy failed to accelerate and boost demand for funds that typically lead to higher rates.
So far in 2014, investors have paid more attention to signals that would support lower bond yields, such as a modest U.S. employment gains and slowing growth in China. Benchmark Treasury 10-year note yields have declined about a quarter-percentage point since December to 2.75%, and have held steady even as the Fed continues its campaign to trim its Treasury and mortgage bond purchase program.
Fewer Fed bond purchases have also had little impact on yields because it is still buying a large share of mortgage bond issuance, especially with the decline in mortgage refinancings limiting the new supply.
But investors are still considering the effects on the market as the Fed weans itself completely from the purchases, which at the current pace could happen as soon as October.
If yields rise, chances for the rapid increases in rates are fewer because the Fed isn’t inclined to hedge its $1.6 trillion in mortgage bonds against rising rates, the New York Fed economists said. Leaving the Fed portfolio with no hedges, or “infrequently” hedged, reduces the type of trading that is often blamed for exacerbating bond selling, they said.
Mortgage bond hedges, which in times of falling rates include purchases of Treasury securities, are typically unwound when rates rise, causing yields to increase further. The cycle can repeat itself, as it did in 1994 and 2003 when 10-year Treasury yields rose about 2.5 percentage points and 1.5 percentage points, respectively, the economists said.
When mortgage rates fall, some investors buy Treasurys because more homeowners will refinance and prepay their loans, depriving mortgage bond investors of securities with higher income. Rising mortgage rates cut refinancing, extending the time that investors will receive below-market returns.
The Fed’s decision not to hedge its mortgage bonds has a greater impact as its influence over the $5.4 trillion “agency” MBS market has grown, the economists said.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the Fed held 17% of the mortgage bond market, up from zero in 2005, they said in the report. Mortgage bond investments of government-supported mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which hedge their portfolios against interest-rate changes — have shrunk to 8% from 22%, meantime.
The shifting market share led to a “more muted” bond sell-off last year, even as 10-year Treasury yields rose more than 1 percentage point, the economists said.
…
This is a terribly written article. Almost every sentence is contradictory to itself.
> Last year, fears of waning Fed support sparked a sell-off, pushing yields higher, but the trend was broken as the economy failed to accelerate and boost demand for funds that typically lead to higher rates
Sell off part makes sense, but doesn’t lower demand increase bond yields?
>If yields rise, chances for the rapid increases in rates are fewer because the Fed isn’t inclined to hedge its $1.6 trillion in mortgage bonds against rising rates, the New York Fed economists said.
If yields rise, don’t the fed holding values fall? But isn’t the fed also reducing its purchasing, leading to decreased demand. Won’t that in fact accelerate yield rise with less demand?
Seems like a bunch of contradictory BS spin designed to try to confuse.
Probably because it was written by the Fed.
I can’t imagine why it has to unwind. It can just keep the mortgages to maturity or let them rot in the vault. Losses are spread among all dollar holders. Nobody seems to mind.
It’s much easier to let mortgages rot in a vault than to allow physical properties to sit vacant until they collapse into a heap of rubble. Have a look around Detroit if you want to see the consequences of the latter.
By contrast, out of sight, out of mind.
The loss to the values of houses are recognized on a day-by-day basis, the losses to the values of the mortgages that back the houses are not.
The losses to the values of the houses are processes, the losses to the values of the mortgages are events, and these events only happen when they are declared and that’s when the values of the mortgages are written down.
The value of the mortgages are not diminished until somebody somewhere says they are diminished. Until then they can be carried on the books at any value that they are allowed to be carried.
AKA Extend and pretend.
“The value of the mortgages are not diminished until somebody somewhere says they are diminished. Until then they can be carried on the books at any value that they are allowed to be carried.”
Mark-to-market accounting requirements in place in 2008 would not have allowed this to happen. This accounting requirement was dropped early in the Obama administration although I think that was coincidence. The bankers would have gotten their way no matter what. Mark-to-market would have meant those at fault would have to take the fall; can’t have that.
Obama reappointed Bernanke, so I rather think he had bought into the whole thing.
I dunno. I don’t see a society-wide mass revolt against allowing viable properties to rot away.
In fact, I think an argument of the opposite could be made…society promotes it. Few people in this country toil to save anything or add value.
I hope some of these decrepit properties are saved. The elderly of 2030 will need somewhere to live.
society-wide mass revolt against allowing viable properties to rot away.
Thousands of investors are quite clearly NOT allowing viable properties to rot away. They are buying them and fixing them up to rent.
What is no longer viable are the locations. If Detroit had the jobs to justify it, investors would be saving those properties too.
I mind. I really do.
Everyone Must Check In
Rhode Island senator tells 2a supporter to ” F himself ” - AR15.COM
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1606576_Rhode_Island_senator_tells_2a_supporter_to__F_himself_.html - 211k - Cached - Similar pages
AR15 dot com forums? Seriously?
Michael Bloomberg and Dianne Feinstein have your name on “the list”.
The butthurt ‘conservative’ list. I thought conservatives were supposed to be rugged, but look at them squeal at the sound of a naughty word. Finally they get a little honest discourse from a liberal, and it’s a terrible thing?
“Finally they get a little honest discourse from a liberal, and it’s a terrible thing?”
They must have signed in and read the card.
Watch the 2 dudes flanking the go f yourself dudes, one looks like Putin’s brother and the other looks like Lindsey Graham’s cousin.
Wall Street Journal - Grad Students Driving the Growing Debt Burden
“The surge in student loan debt in recent years has been driven disproportionately by borrowing for graduate school amid a week economy and an open spigot of government credit, according to a report that raises questions about the broader debate about how to resolve Americans’ growing burden.
The typical debt load of borrowers leaving school with a master’s, medical, law or doctoral degree jumped an inflation adjusted 43% between 2004 and 2012, according to a new report by the New America Foundation”
What those kidz need are $500,000 starter homes!
No, what they need is your job, goon.
Bet you won’t give it to them.
Enjoy your next ski trip! Make a few runs on their behalf, will ya?
If they could do Goon’s job and do it for less, he would be replaced in a heartbeat.
you don’t understand how government contracting works, now do you?
and yes, we are still hiring.
If your government contractor employer could boost the bottom by replacing you with someone cheaper they would. The thing is, those young college grads with your experience (in dealing with the government) don’t exist.
MacBeth is half right. What they need is the job that a 67-year-old is hanging onto.* Boomers should be retiring in droves, but aren’t. Some times it’s because they have a 50-something second wife who can’t get health insurance any other way. Other times it’s because they need to subsidize children who can’t get a job because…. some OTHER boomer won’t give up the job.
—-
*or more accurately, if the boomer retires, goon would get the boomer job and the grad student would get the goon job.
The median age of our analyst staff is well north of 50 years.
And the first paragraph of your post is absolutely correct.
When you see the numbers on how many people are saving for their retirements, it’s easy to see why people are keeping their jobs. They need to work because they don’t have any savings.
I talked to a 52 yr old contractor friend yesterday and he’s saved ZIP!!!
Some of us never saved, some of us lost a bunch in the housing bubble crash, some had medical problems, some divorces, and others???
This economy doesn’t allow for catching up real fast as it encourages you to live off the government. But at least you can take up a nice hobby like painting, knitting, hiking around the world.
What they need is the job that a 67-year-old is hanging onto.* Boomers should be retiring in droves, but aren’t.
Do you have any data to support that because what I can see from the participation numbers boomers have left the workforce, more from disability than normal but taken together they have left? The problem is the Obama economy just isn’t producing jobs not that the boomers are not leaving the workforce in percentages similar to other generations.
This article talks about the increase in early retirements and we all know about the surge in disability retirements. This administration and its friends in the MSM would like to explain a way the poor job market by claiming it is because the baby boomers will not get out of the way but they are leaving, of course some of the other boomers are hanging on since they do not have a nest egg but I do not think when you take disability into consideration that the boomers really are not leaving the workforce in the same numbers as previous generations. Only in the dot com bubble did a lot of people believe they could retire in their early 50s.
http://seniorliving.about.com/od/socialsecurity101/a/social_security_benefits_recession.htm
This administration and its friends in the MSM would like to explain a way the poor job market by claiming it is because the baby boomers will not get out of the way but it’s actually because the economy has been gutted by trickle-down all-for-the-rich policies the past 34 years.
Reagan is responsible for Obama failures on the economy? Why not blame it on Great Britain’s decision to impose a tax on tea sold in the colonies. It is equally relevant after someone has been in office for over four years. The bigger mess an economy is the more opportunities there are to improve it. That is why Reagan was so successful, he was handed a high unemployment, high inflation economy from Carter, not hard to improve on. This same principle is applicable to taking over corporations, people like Romney like to see companies with poor management since replacing them will offer the greatest chance of improving the bottom line.
Reagan is responsible for Obama failures on the economy?
This is an example of you, Adan, not seeing the forest for the trees - not understanding policy consequences and nuance. How would Reagan be totally responsible for Obama’s “failures”?
Reagan’s dead.
It is 34 years of TrickleDown/SupplySide policies that have gutted America. Reagan started it, promoted it like a religion and Clinton/Bush followed it and the Repubs have turned it into the American false religion of redistributing wealth and opportunity from the middle-class to the rich.
Obama has no real opportunities to fix it because what it would take would be going against America’s new, failed economic religion of which you are a total follower.
It’s too complicated for you I know.
All Obama had to do is open federal lands to the same type of drilling that is occurring on private lands, not impose crushing regulations on coal companies and perhaps have redirected some of the stimulus to promoting the conversion of vehicles to NG. All of which he could have done with the help of the Republicans in Congress but he would not have even needed it, if he would have kept the Democrats in line when he had control of the House and Senate by wide margins. Virtually all the growth in the economy is directly or indirectly related to the energy patch.
Obama would be most effective by not obstructing the private sector but I know that is too complicated for you. Reagan did not spend his entire time blaming Carter for the mess he inherited. No one lasts in the private sector blaming previous people for their inability to improve things. You are truly clueless just like your hero Obama, who never was more than a community organizer and it shows.
A-dan, I looked for some statistics on older boomers hanging onto their jobs but found conflicting information. The anecdotal evidence that I have is that people in professional government and contracting jobs are definitely hanging on. Jobs which aren’t outsourced. My section of government is very gray-haired.
“All Obama had to do is open federal lands to the same type of drilling that is occurring on private lands, not impose crushing regulations on coal companies and perhaps have redirected some of the stimulus to promoting the conversion of vehicles to NG.”
Amen. Turn our economy loose and quit destroying industries for the benefit of AGW, which “computer models” predict a catastrophic event, but where actual results are much less severe.
A-dan, your true colors are showing. Anti-climate change, open fed lands for drilling, anti-regulation, pro-nuke, pro NG cars… thinks that “all” Obama had to do was drill baby drill to solve problems. Are you one of those low-level revolving door guys who worked for the gov not because you cared about the people, but to feather your own nest for a future lobbyist-industry job?
A-dan, I looked for some statistics on older boomers hanging onto their jobs but found conflicting information. The anecdotal evidence that I have is that people in professional government and contracting jobs are definitely hanging on. Jobs which aren’t outsourced. My section of government is very gray-haired.
I think people do hang on to the best jobs since lateral moves are not easy to find. Plus many professionals have to hang on to their jobs to support their adult children many of whom are going back to grad school, so yes it is a vicious cycle. However, my point is blaming the boomers for the lack of jobs really is blaming the victim since they are leaving positions just as soon as they can and not that dissimilar to previous generations. Very few private companies are allowing people to retire at 55 with full benefits, in fact defined benefits plans are rare and the retirement age is slowly going up for social security so you will not be able to blame people for working past 65.
Hey he said his policy was all of the above so why shouldn’t he have kept his word? You can produce resources and still protect the environment, I know that is beyond your limit comprehension and Obama’s intellect but it is true.
Thanks Obama for what the combination of your foreign policy and your domestic energy has done to the price of oil (hint more that 2.5 times what it was when he took office):
http://news.yahoo.com/oil-above-100-russia-libya-supply-risks-125642664–finance.html
Sorry Oxide, I thought I was responding to Rio when I said limited intellect. I actually do not believe that about you. I enjoy are disputes. BTW, no directly on point but interesting:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/06/health-babyboomers-idUSL4N0B68KK20130206
All Obama had to do is open federal lands to the same type of drilling that is occurring on private lands, …. yada yada yada
Adan does not understand:
1. Oil is a global market.
2. “Opening federal lands” would amount to a drop in the bucket in world supplies. And
3. Adan should write nothing when math is involved.
Reagan did not spend his entire time blaming Carter for the mess he inherited
Reagan inherited an economy not yet gutted by his false religion of SupplySide/Trickle down.
I was responding to Rio when I said limited intellect.
Then you must be a real moron if a guy with “limited intellect” can make you look like the biased dolt you are. You have no math.
Thanks Obama for what the combination of your foreign policy and your domestic energy has done to the price of oil
Because the world economy is better than 09 and demand is up. Duhh.
Oxide, resource extraction does not have to be environmentally destructive. Yes, you have the way Nigeria extracts oil but you also have the way that Norway extracts oil. As a regulator, I saw many reclaimed mine areas and drill sites which were in better condition than the surrounding areas around them. A 100 years of overgrazing and invasive plant species were addressed and native plants were restored to the areas. I participated in applying the regulations so the areas were in better shape than before the resource extraction. The wealthier a country is, the better the environment usually will be. It takes resources to protect the environment and a strong economy which uses natural resources is not inconsistent with a protected environment, a strong economy is usually a prerequisite.
You have no understanding of the world markets if you think all the oil that has been taken off the market due to Obama’s intervention in the Middle East has not raised oil prices. Also, yes it is a world market but when we do not send our money to another country if has a multiplier effect here, I know that is far beyond your understanding of economics but try to keep up. Also, if we were producing more oil and had not intervened in Libya, oil would be cheaper both here and in the world.
Also, if we were producing more oil and had not intervened in Libya, oil would be cheaper both here and in the world.
Your crystal ball is 5th grade level and totally biased by your non-understanding how the world works and your deep hatred of the confident blackman in office.
As if you know what would have happened otherwise. Jeeze
Oooh…. Lola tells another big fat lie.
Oil demand has been falling since 07.
totally biased by your non-understanding how the world works and your deep hatred of the confident blackman in office.
Why don’t you and Obama just get a room if you haven’t already? History will record him as one of the worse presidents ever and it will be based on his record not his race. The biggest racist on this board is you since everything comes down to race with you. The only reason you think he is a good president is because he is a “black” president. Hey here is news for you, he is half white and I think that half is just as stupid as the black half.
The biggest racist on this board is you since everything comes down to race with you.
You’re the only person consistently posting on this board who I call out as a bigoted racist. Your math is bad again. Here’s why.
Calling out one out of a hundred posters is not “everything or everyone”. Look up the words, get a 2nd grade book on arithmetic. You’ll see I’m right again.
The only reason you think he is a good president is because he is a “black” president.
Why would I think that? If I thought as you do on race, I’d think Obama was good because he’s half white.
History will record him as one of the worse presidents ever
Coming from you, who treats history as only a snapshot in time, I can understand your confusion.
IF you don’t settle down you are BOTH going to bed without supper!
I’ve seen plenty of middle aged boomers get replaced by young pups. But yeah, they aren’t retiring because they can’t. But I find the notion that they can hold onto their jobs at will to be risible. Unless they are unionized and/or work for the government, they are all just a reorg away from the unemployment line.
My 50ish next door neighbor, who at one time had over 100 reports at IBM, has been un or underemployed for a almost a year since IBM gave him his walking papers.
So much for “hogging the good jobs”.
Related article:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-grad-school-to-blame-for-student-loan-crisis-2014-03-25
Washington Post - Tips on winning a bidding war in D.C.
“Last year, the spring real estate season started off with a bang, but this year it has been more of a quiet rumble.
Despite the overall slowdown, the number of homes that went under contract within two weeks jumped from 30 percent in December to 34 percent in January. That indicates determined buyers are still keen to quickly make offers on the most coveted listings. Bidding wars peaked in April 2013 when 69 percent of Redfin buyers in D.C. faced multiple offer situations.
The key is to write a strong, clean offer and to submit it right away. Don’t expect a seller to accept a low offer when homes in D.C. sell for 99 percent of list price.
Including a personalized cover letter with your offer can improve your chances of winning by 18 percent. My advice for writing a cover letter is to be personal and honest. Don’t just say what you think the sellers want to hear. It will appear disingenuous and it will show.
A trustworthy agent will help you determine which strategies are best for you”
A trustworthy agent will help you determine which strategies are best for you”
A trustworthy agent, you have better luck looking for a unicorn.
When someone tells you they know a good real estate agent, you should always reply with “Really, did they get you a bargain?” Then ask how much of a bargain.
Usually the “good” won’t be about price, but other some squishy nonsense. Then they’ll realize they got nothing and leave you alone.
I heard an ad on the radio the other day. It claimed you had to have a pre-approved loan from Quicken to stand out when bidding on houses in the DC area. It was the only way to win.
People apparently exist that think that even if this was true that it’s a good thing.
Law & Med school are expensive even for in-state students at public schools.
Check out Boalt Hall (UC-Berkeley’s L School):
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/6943.htm
$74k/yr for IN STATE student. And they assume less than $1000/month for rent & utilities in the bay area. Hahahaha.
The schools don’t need to give huge scholarships for the most part because the avg salary for a grad of top schools is ~150k and higher if it’s in NYC/DC/SF. But this ignores that big %’s of the class won’t get these jobs. And outside of top schools they are very hard to come by.
I’m sure there are some cheaper public schools in small states, but they don’t have a pipeline to the high paying jobs. So the whole process of going to law/med is basically gambling at this point. I’ve been telling college kids not to even think about it unless they can’t make headway in a career in other ways, especially at a BB or MBB firm. Sell-side finance is a grind, but there are good ways to get on the buy side these days.
Downlow Joe has entered the building.
Liberace!
Sounds like you don’t want any competition from tomorrow’s upstart legal graduates.
It is all about creating entry barriers.
As much as joe complains about older generations giving his the shaft, you’d think he’d be all over finding solutions for those who’d like to do what he does, but are barred from entry.
Nope.
To be fair to Joe, he doesn’t make the hiring decisions where he works nor does he set tuition rates at the elite schools.
My son graduated from law school with $150k in debt. His choice and while I explained the risks, he never really understood until repayment time. Even while making $200k, after paying taxes and using a 5-yr loan repayment schedule, his net effective income is $35k/year. He clearly understands Joe’s point now!
He also has many classmates who never landed the good paying position and will be buried for decades. No fun.
Liawyer born to a liar.
How not to run an economy, Brazil as an example:
http://news.yahoo.com/brazil-scrambles-avoid-power-rationing-costs-soar-001726144–finance.html;_ylt=AwrSyCUW5jBTIQ4AOQvQtDMD
Of course, one way to get money for your mismanaged economy is claim it is caused by AGW and issue an alarmist report despite even some of the people involved in the research say is over the top. However, how you going to shakedown the American taxpayers for tens of billions of dollars if you do not do it?
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26655779
Albuquerquedan,
I’d like to think we’re too smart to allow a shakedown but I know better.
I cringe when I think about the upcoming elections, 2014 & 2016, where the best issue the liberals have to push is global warming/climate change/CO2.
Can the Dems squeeze enough out of this issue to counteract the effects of Obama care?
Nate Silvers already sounding the alarms. Demonize the Koch brothers, pound the table, scream from the rafters, calling all Lolas, Mangos, and Anklepanters. This suckas goin down.
It’s time to organize the fruits, nuts, sexual deviants.
And don’t forget the trannies.
Can the Dems squeeze enough out of this issue to counteract the effects of Obama care?
No. I think we can have a strong enough El Nino this year to set a record given our very limited data set. However, I do not see anything happening that could be used to make AGW rise to the top of the electorate concerns or even motivate their base to turn out. Even the El Nino will be beneficial due to it probably meaning more rain in the drought areas. The record if it happens will not happen to after the election and will still leave virtually all of the computer models wrong. It will only increase the record by the amount the models would have predicted for a one year rise not for what they would have predicted from 1998.
Moreover, Obamacare is hardly the only issue cutting against the Democrats, a slow economy with still high unemployment, slow wage growth, increasing energy costs and increasing interest rates all work against the Democrats. Throw in how Iran, Russia and Syria are making Obama look like a fool and you have an environment not conducive to the Democrats. Moreover, the Republican has recruited strong candidates and the Democrats have had incumbents not run and strong candidates choosing not to run because of the political environment.
a slow economy with still high unemployment, slow wage growth, increasing energy costs and increasing interest rates all work against the 34 year old cult of Supply-Side/TrickleDown economics.
Unfortunately, supply side economics ended when Reagan left office. Bubblenomics is Obama’s economics and the other globalists that preceded him.
supply side economics ended when Reagan left office.
On what planet to you imagine that you wake-up on each morning? Mars?
We’ve been living Supply-Side/TrickleDown for 34 years and it killed us. Admit the failure. Admit to definitions in reality.
Supply-Side economics definition:
An economic theory which holds that reducing tax rates, especially for businesses and wealthy individuals, stimulates savings and investment for the benefit of everyone. also called trickle-down economics.
investorwords dot com
….Also called trickle down economics because its proponents believe making the rich richer eventually helps the poor when the benefits of an expanding economy seep down to them. See also Laffer curve and trickle down theory.
businessdictionary dot com
If the repubs don’t have the balls to run Rand Paul, they got nothing. All the dems need to do is not screw up too badly and the election is theirs.
I expect the next republican presidential candidate will be something between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, and he will be beaten soundly by whatever milquetoast tongue clicker the dems run.
I expect the next republican presidential candidate will be something between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney, and he will be beaten soundly by whatever milquetoast tongue clicker the dems run.
The Repubs are hobbled. To win the primaries, they have to appeal to the far-right fringe, and that loses most Americans right there.
Example: Think of 4 or 5 far-right posters on this blog. Imagine the Repub candidate having to construct a campaign message to appeal to them. (Which happens in the Repub primaries)
That unhinged message (devoid of logic and math) just freaks out most common sense, moderate Americans.
LOL! It’s gonna be JEB! 2016. Done deal, don’t even think about it. Oh, they’ll float a coupla trial balloons to give folks a bit of a show, but it’ll be JEB!
If the repubs don’t have the balls to run Rand Paul, they got nothing. All the dems need to do is not screw up too badly and the election is theirs.
Had the GOP not nominated an unelectable corporatist last time, Obama wouldn’t be president now. It will be interesting to see who climbs out of the GOP clown car next year. Will it be an unelectable Fundy like Ted Cruz? Or will it be another zillionaire CEO who can’t help but say “Let ‘em eat cake”?
but it’ll be JEB ??
Here is the problem Palmy…Jeb is center right and IMO, unwilling to cow-down to the radical right…Thats why he won’t run IMO…
an unelectable Fundy like Ted Cruz? Or will it be another zillionaire CEO who can’t help but say “Let ‘em eat cake” ?
And there is your republican problem…Split personality within the party…One dragging the party to the right no matter what happens in elections…The other wanting to move more to the center so they can win presidential elections…
The cops have been shooting poor kids to enforce order in the Brazilian slums since at least the 80s that I know of. How many are gonna get shot to prepare for the 2016 Olympics?
Lola, if you had ever been in Brazil a day in your life you’d be using your time addressing that and not fluffing The Messiah on an American Housing blog.
ola, if you had ever been in Brazil a day in your life you’d be using your time addressing that and not fluffing The Messiah on an American Housing blog.
That’s a good way to get deported. Unlike us, other countries take a very dim view of foreigners meddling in domestic affairs.
How not to run an economy, Brazil as an example:
Adan, Here’s another fine example of your political math and/or your inability to see the big picture or connect the dots. (and me constantly refuting your KochBrothers propaganda)
Brazil is having the worst droughts in 50 years, all across the country - many scientists pointing at climate change - add that to a richer society using much more hydro energy and Brazil might have to ration energy.
It’s not rocket science but it does involve math Adan.
Can the Dems squeeze enough out of this issue to counteract the effects of Obama care?
Maybe. Because the Dems cunningly invented math and science to distract from Obamacare.
“Brazil is having the worst droughts in 50 years, all across the country - many scientists pointing at climate change - add that to a richer society using much more hydro energy and Brazil might have to ration energy.”
You are leaving out a great deal of the truth here.
You are leaving out a great deal of the truth here.
Yea, like the women are hot in Brazil, it’s overcast today, TV’s are expensive, the food is good and the sand from the beach is a pain in the a$$ in my shoes.
It’s a blog, not a dissertation. Give me a break.
I stand corrected, here is a restatement:
You are leaving out a great deal of the APPLICABLE truth here.
You are leaving out a great deal of the APPLICABLE truth here.
In the history of blogs, what post on a complex subject has not left out a great deal of the APPLICABLE truth?
It’s a blog, not a dissertation and even every dissertation leaves out a great deal of all of the existing applicable truths.
Brazil is having the worst droughts in 50 years, all across the country - many scientists pointing at climate change - add that to a richer society using much more hydro energy and Brazil might have to ration energy.
Good planning requires planning for 100 year events, so if they had a worse drought only 50 years ago that is not good planning. It is particularly bad planning if they believed their own propaganda about AGW since they have been saying for years that it will increase droughts. Ten years after a similar drought caused massive power cut-backs they are still vulnerable, it appears that they do math just like you do Lola. Droughts are a natural part of climatic cycles not planning for them, is simply not planning. Typical leftist sh*thole.
Good planning requires planning for 100 year events, so if they had a worse drought only 50 years ago that is not good planning
That’s just dumb when you’re talking about a developing country a generation out of a military dictatorship, 4 currency changes, 3 economic collapses, fast growing population and now bringing 40 million people out of poverty the past 20 years in the face of massive droughts. You’re big picture vision is pathetic - like a 12 year old.
And if it were a 100 year drought you’d say “good planning requires planning for 200 year events”.
You just babble incessant BS hoping some fools think you’re smart.
The two of you are boring the goon again. I find it somewhat interesting, though, that you’re now merging global warming and the Brazilian economy into one topic.
The two of you are boring the goon again
So are you the Goon or just a mind reader?
Washington Post - Billionaire mogul Sheldon Adelson looks for mainstream Republican who can win in 2016
“Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife plowed more than $92 million into efforts to help mostly losing candidates in the 2012 elections, is undertaking a new strategy for 2016 — to tap his fortune on behalf of a more mainstream Republican with a clear shot to win the White House”
Mainstream = approved by AIPAC and the progressive/neocon warmongers, i.e. anybody but Rand Paul
Gotta keep your tax dollars flowing from your wallet to eastern Mediterranean.
Do you have any names for these “progressive warmongers?” The only progressive warmonger I can think of is Obama himself and his drone program.
Biden? Hillary?
How about Bush I and Bush II?
Both are neocon-progressives and both were war mongers.
Bush I and Bush II? Both are neocon-progressives
Lables:
Let’s play the “GWB was a Progressive” game.
Economically, GWB’s biggest deals were sky-high deficits, massive tax cuts for the rich and much increased globalization.
Economically, Reagan’s biggest deals were sky-high deficits, massive tax cuts for the rich and much increased globalization.
Therefore Ronald Reagan was a “Progressive” too?
Tomorrow’s game: “Was Reagan a GWB neo-con?”
Rice? And don’t forget the man that won the purple heart in Vietnam. I think he cut himself shaving or was it on a beer can tab? They use to be steel back when men were men.
Adelson is going to have to pay someone to tell him which Republican can win. He’s the one who spent a small fortune backing Newt.
The mistake he is doing is looking for mainstream.
Excerpt from link that will soon post, how the left loves to kick the can down the road to avoid dealing with economic realities:
“Adjusted for days of hydro demand, the situation of Brazil’s reservoirs is worse than in 2001, when rationing was unavoidable,” the report said. Steelmakers Gerdau SA and Usiminas SA are among the most likely to suffer from higher electricity costs or rationing.
In a worst-case scenario, putting off a 5 percent cut soon could lead to cuts as much as 20 percent later, the report said.
But even without rationing, the cost of replacement power would probably exceed the combined cash flow of the country’s distribution utilities, said Paulo Pedro, executive president of Abrade, Brazil’s large power users association. Consumers and taxpayers would help pay the bill.
The government, though, shows little concern. The energy minister rates the rationing risk at “zero.” Even government critics say Brazil has a good, if falling, chance to avoid cuts. In January, PSR put the risk of a cut of 4 percent or more at 17.5 percent. In February that rose to 23.8 percent.
“What should be a technical problem is now an economic and political problem,” said Sylvie D’Apote, partner and director of Prysma, a Rio de Janeiro energy research group. “Rousseff will do everything to put off the impact until after elections.”
Countries that “rely” on non-carbon based forms of energy end up having an unreliable energy system. Consequences for this can be catastrophic in a modern society, therefore it’s prudent “at this time” to have a wide range of energy sources.
how the left loves to kick the can down the road to avoid dealing with economic realities:
By massively increasing capacity in the face of climate change and a massively increasing middle-class using way more electricity. You make no sense Adan. You post articles that undermine your delusions.
….Without the new gas, coal and oil capacity built since 2002, Brazil would already be turning off the lights.
….The system is more robust than in 2002, when about 80 percent of Brazil’s electricity capacity was hydro. Today, hydro makes up 68 percent, a share that is still one of the world’s highest.
“We have been building new capacity at a rate faster than growth in demand,” said Mauricio Tomalsquim, president of the EPE, the government’s energy planning and research company. “This has been a bad year for rain, but our simulations for rainfall show that rationing is highly unlikely.”
Because “science” is socialist, European, and probably gay
Linked from Google News - UN scientists see grim future if no climate action
“UN scientists are set to deliver their darkest report yet on the impacts of climate change, pointing to a future stalked by floods, drought, conflict and economic damage if carbon emissions go untamed.”
Keep on breeding, keep on driving, keep buying new i-phones, keep telling yourself that infinite growth is possible in a finite ecosystem.
“UN scientists are set to deliver their darkest report yet on the impacts of climate change, pointing to a future stalked by floods, drought, conflict and economic damage if carbon emissions go untamed.”
Read above, many of the handpicked people that worked on the report are even saying it is an alarmist document. They are counting on a strong El Nino in 2014-15 to claim that man is significantly warming the globe. How pathetic.
“How pathetic”
My exact sentiments when it comes to the deluded belief that infinite growth is possible in a finite ecosystem.
But I’ll be long dead before humanoids get to start experiencing the long term consequences of this belief.
“At least I’m enjoying the ride” — the Grateful Dead
But I’ll be long dead before humanoids get to start experiencing the long term consequences of this belief.
Before that they will have moved on to mining asteroids. Earth First, We will mine the other planets later.
“Keep on breeding, keep on driving, keep buying new i-phones, keep telling yourself that infinite growth is possible in a finite ecosystem.”
What exactly is your point to keep restating this view? Are you in favor of just killing off vast swaths of mankind? Mankind is here and will keep doing what it has been doing since the beginning. Each individual is trying to survive and have a good life. Why don’t you start the ball rolling and step in front of a bus?
Please no, Goon is a worthy adversary. Without him I would be left to having a battle of wits with an unarmed “man”. Well, unarmed tranny, Lola.
Without him I would be left to having a battle of wits with an unarmed “man”. Well, unarmed tranny, Lola.
By that:
A debate judge would know who’s prevailing.
A Psychiatrists would have concerns for your mental health.
A sex counselor might advise being true to yourself.
And for your sake, a preacher would ask me to step away from the math.
You are right on 25% of the post. Which for you is an amazingly good score. A debate coach would know who is winning, my posts are backed with factual links, you just make ideological points backed up with links to opinions from other ideologues. Not hard to see who wins the debate.
“What exactly is your point”
That infinite growth in a finite ecosystem is not possible.
A point which could be expanded upon to include capitalism, religion, humans’ belief that they occupy a special place in that ecosystem, et cetera.
While I appreciate your sincere suggestion about stepping in front of a bus, I’ll push the kids I won’t be having under the bus with the help of a urologist’s scalpel instead.
If you like your carbon footprint, you can keep your carbon footprint.
my posts are backed with factual links,
No. Your posts are backed up with links to psudo-science, blowhard pontificating using massaged numbers and debunked theories, KochBrothers propaganda and the worst understanding of math and long term trends that I’ve seen outside of 6th grade.
As if you, Adan, are possibly smarter than NASA and 95% of the world’s finest scientific institutions. How? FOX news?
I have used NASA’s own numbers against them and supplemented them with satellite data and climatic data for over 400,000 years. You like the Obama administration want to use 180 years of data and use computer model projections when the computer models have all been wrong in the past. You are just a paid Democratic troll trying to defend Obamacare and make AGW the political issue of the cycle and you are transparent to most of this board.
I have used NASA’s own numbers against them and supplemented them with satellite data and climatic data for over 400,000 years.
Right dude. NASA doesn’t even know your stuff. Send them an email, explain it to some of the world’s best minds. You are smarter than NASA. Repeat. You are smarter than NASA.
Bottom line:
There is no climate change because Brazil has a lot of brown people who want some money. And in the USA there are a lot of white people with money. Therefore: There is no climate change.
It’s pure, conservative logic that blows NASA away.
There is no climate change because Brazil has a lot of brown people who want some money. And in the USA there are a lot of white people with money. Therefore: There is no climate change.
Yes that is you Lola, getting your azz beat in a debate so you turn it racial, I beginning to think you are working within the Obama administration, use to think you were too dumb to have a position in the administration, but after seeing their dumb policies for four years, now, I think it is possible.
so you turn it racial, I beginning to think you are working within the Obama administration,
Give me a break. You’ve couched climate change in racial terms many many times. Things like “Sending money to Sudan so it turns into Switzerland” etc. You own it. You are a racist. Period.
I beginning to think you are working within the Obama administration
Yea. That and I don’t live in Rio and Obama was put in office so Black’s would not riot. Racially Paranoid much?
Things like “Sending money to Sudan so it turns into Switzerland” etc.
Fine, once again if telling the truth is racist, I am guilty. If you look at any index for quality of life Switzerland is near the top and Sudan is near the bottom. I refuse to censor the truth because some one like you might take offense to a factual statement.
Now remember, if somebody knocks your teeth out with a brick call 911 even if you are right next to the police station.
“He said if it happened again to call 911. I didn’t think to call 911 because I was at the station, I was four doors down,” she said.
Third Temple Student Attacked by Group of Girls Off-Campus
By Vince Lattanzio and Alison Burdo | Tuesday, Mar 25, 2014 |
The student said she was in shock and couldn’t really speak about the incident, so later that night, at the urging of her roommate, she walked over to the 22nd District headquarters to make a report.
But she says that attempt fell on deaf ears.
“His attitude was very nonchalant and he was acting like it was no big deal,” she said speaking about the officer inside the station.
The woman said the whole conversation happened from within the station’s waiting room, which was full of people at the time, and that she didn’t feel comfortable talking about all of the details regarding the assault in public.
“He said if it happened again to call 911. I didn’t think to call 911 because I was at the station, I was four doors down,” she said.
The co-ed was planning to let the situation go, until she heard about the unprovoked attack of two other Temple students only three blocks away, just 15 minutes after hers.
In that attack, a 19-year-old girl was hit in the mouth with a brick, dislodging her teeth – an injury that required emergency surgery.
“My boyfriend pushed the girl away from me that hit me in the face and then the girl’s sister came at me with a brick,” the victim told NBC10.com in an exclusive interview. She also asked to remain anonymous citing safety concerns. “I tried to get away as fast as I could. My teeth were halfway out of my mouth. I wasn’t thinking about anything besides getting to safety.”
The victim in the first attack is a family friend of the 19-year-old. The two plan to meet on Temple’s North Philadelphia campus this week to discuss their experiences. The 20-year-old says she also plans to return to the police station on Monday to try to file an official report.
NBC10.com reached out to Philadelphia Police about the attack and whether they are investigating a connection.
In a written response, the Philadelphia Police Office of Public Affairs said the department was not aware of the second attack.
“If there is someone else out there indicating they were assaulted, then we want to know about it, so that it can be investigated, and to see if they are connected. More importantly, so that those who are responsible for this brutal attack are off the streets,” a spokesperson wrote.
Questions as to why a police report was not taken by an officer at the woman’s home or at the station were not answered.
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Third-Temple-Student-Attacked-by-Group-Off-Campus-251990961.html - 173k -
“Attacked by Group of Girls”
Obama has more daughters that we didn’t know about?
I had no idea Obama even had any children.
They must not be anything like those awful Bush II girls.
Always in the news and always in trouble!
damn….. what a kick in the teeth that is.
She should have told them that they assaulted a cop.
They would have deployed the SWAT team in a heartbeat.
http://www.picpaste.com/unknown-3-7Bf08oRf.jpeg
This is how a majority of Brazilians live.
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/10/11/favela_1_wide-3f38641053e50b6e6c27f5b8842ff139989954b5-s6-c30.jpg
Pack yer bags.
So is Lola’s house the one with the big satellite dish so he can pick up MSNBC?
Yes. But I believe it’s an uplink for webcam shows.
You dummy!
This isn’t Brazil.
This is Appalachia, U.S.A. Likely far Southwest Virginia…the absence of coal mines means it’s not West Virginnie.
He’s the one in the green shirt with no pants visible.
You and ADan are hilarious! Brazil-bashing simply because your nemesis lives there.
No, I think we are demonstrating that Rio’s posts about Brazil lie through omission (actually commission too) since he tries to claim that the left-wing policies are working but he is ignoring the facts on the ground that show they are not creating prosperity but locking in poverty. But like most leftists, he would rather have equalitarian poverty than unequal prosperity. The poor in the Mississippi live better than the middle class in Brazil. Lola is not our nemesis because his posts never intellectually challenge us. He is a more of a foil than a nemesis.
All your knowledge about Brazil comes from media articles. A guy who lives there is called a liar. Who is a person supposed to believe?
“A guy who lives there”
And you seem to know this too. How is that?
All your knowledge about Brazil comes from media articles
Which means it is verifiable. Even if he lived there his subjective opinions would not trump objective data. Of course, that someone that lived in Brazil would be spending so much time on an American housing blog for the primary purpose of defending Obama’s policies is a laughable belief.
It’s because he’s a dingleberry.
It’s because he’s a dingleberry
A paid dingleberry that sounds from his posts is going to have to utilize the mental health provisions of Obamacare to get back on his meds since he is getting more and more delusional.
My beef is with the general view that economies live or die by the policies their governments implement.
Markets can and do take a life of their own. Brazil isn’t the only emerging market country coming into their own in a globalized economy.
It should be pretty easy to take a critical look more than one emerging economy and seeing whether there are differences in their growth based on different policies, or whether they all look pretty much the same regardless of government policies.
I’m sure my bias is showing, but if it wasn’t clear, my suspicion is that government policies have less to do with the development of these countries’ economies, and that development has much more to do with the macro environment.
Awww…. Lola pandering…… How cute.
Just curious: why did you not believe that the builder of the house Oxide linked to yesterday was the party that sold the place for $2.7 million? That’s what ‘luxury’ or ‘custom’ builders do: buy an old house, tear it down, build, sell it. The Chicago ‘burbs are crawling with them.
Believe?
You said the “builder” made money and that the link proved it. There is no evidence the contractor earned any money.
Go back and read the comments: I said nothing about the link “proving” anything. Why should I care? It’s a harmless conversation in the Bits Bucket fercrissake. YOU said the house probably cost the builder about $500,000. Zillow says it sold in 2005 for $2.7 million. You just proved that you put words in peoples’ mouths.
And why the quotes around ‘builder’? Why so much hostility? Who DID make the money if not the builder? Did you forget your meds today?
And here they are. All of them.
And here you say the “builder” made money. You know this how?
Does anyone here see where I said the contractor earned any profit? Anywhere? Anyone?
Does anyone here see where I put words in anyones mouth? I didn’t. I merely challenged you on your own pretentiousness, again. You really don’t know anything about this business. Nothing.
LOL. Building houses is not all that complicated.
Who insinuated construction is complicated?
Pal, you’re the one who thinks nobody but you knows anything about the building biz. As if it was different from any other business. Money in minus money out=profit. Not rocket science.
But Brazilians are always happy, despite their poverty.
“Jimmy Carter Reveals He Uses Snail Mail”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5khI5ms_TI
I use snail mail.
I use email only very sparingly, and only for business purposes/transactions. Nothing personal ever via email, and increasing less personal via phone.
Snail mail is the new cool.
The Hill dot com - Four years later, Democrats wait for Obamacare popularity bounce
“Congressional leaders and senior White House advisers have been saying since 2010 that public opinion will turn their way sometime soon. Be patient, they have told anxious members of their party again and again.
Democrats now face the prospect of a second midterm drubbing in 2014, and the healthcare law is even more unpopular than it was last time around.
Adding to the nervousness among Obamacare’s advocates is the fact that enrollment numbers lag significantly behind the administration’s original estimates.
If that doesn’t change, especially among young healthy people less likely to need healthcare, premiums could rise sharply.”
My share of employer provided health insurance is going from $126 a month to $290 a month, thanks Obama.
That’s $164 dollars more a month for the right to likely higher deductibles and less coverage than what you had under a capitalist marketplace.
Incidentally, that’s about $2,000 out of pocket more annually.
How does that make you feel, goon?
I won’t let it affect my rate of savings but I’ll certainly be spending less.
$164 dollars more a month…How does that make you feel, goon?
Maybe better covered, and like he got older which triggered the usual higher price.
Nope, employer dropped the HMO option and forced everyone into more expensive PPO.
Nope, employer dropped the HMO option and forced everyone into more expensive PPO.
Apples and oranges.
My guess was close. Many people consider PPOs better coverage than HMOs and you are older.
Thanks Obama.
Forcing people to pay double for insurance they do not want “due to many people considering PPO’s superior to HMO’s”. Goon gets no say in deciding whether the HMO or PPO option is superior? Yes, thanks Obama.
Goon gets no say in deciding whether the HMO or PPO option is superior? Yes, thanks
Obama.American Corporatism.Got logic?
Obamacare was not passed by corporations, it was passed by the Democratic Congress without Republican votes and signed by Obama. Thus, if it is American Corporatism, you are saying that the Republican party is against American Corporatism and Obama and the Democratic party represents American Corporatism.
I feel like Putin playing with Obama, it is such a lopsided contest.
Nope, employer dropped the HMO option and forced everyone into more expensive PPO.
My employer didn’t drop any options.
Obamacare was not passed by corporations,
Dude. Goon’s insurance was changed by a corporation. Try to keep up. Are you 12?
Goon gets no say in deciding whether the HMO or PPO option is superior? Yes, thanks Obama. American Corporatism.
Dude. Goon’s insurance was changed by a corporation due to mandates imposed by Obamacare. Try to keep up. Are you 12?
You don’t know that cost increase was due specifically to new mandates. The cost of health insurance has been increasingly rapidly nearly every year for decades. Every year employers decide how much of that increase to absorb and how much to pass on to the employees.
Yes, that is the party line just keep repeating it. Obamacare has imposed unprecedented mandates that make it impossible to get insurance at the same rate but you require that anyone that complains about it to prove that it was caused by Obamacare. No, you prove that it was not since the presumption should be that it was caused by Obamacare given the changes that went in to effect this year. Goon did not have his insurance premiums double last year, so it is not normal.
No, you prove that it was not since the presumption should be that it was caused by Obamacare given the changes that went in to effect this year.
I can’t prove anything. That’s why the first three words that I wrote above were “You don’t know”. I don’t know either.
Dude. Goon’s insurance was changed by a corporation due to mandates imposed by Obamacare. Try to keep up. Are you 12?
Do you have any proof to back that up? NOTHING changed where I work. Why wasn’t I affected by those same Obamacare mandates? Heck, I compared this years W2 with last years and guess what? My insurance cost LESS this year. That’s right, LESS.
I think that a lot of employers are screwing their employees and blaming it on “Obamacare”
Goon is thanking Obama and he is in the best position to know whether it was primarily motivated by Obamacare or by an internal decision by the corporation to double his premiums.
We may not “know” this in the legal sense, but the silence from the administration is deafening on a number of major points:
Obamacare:
has reduced options (to varying degrees) for a large number of people (if the new options were great, why is Obama trying to allow people to keep their policies now for 2 full years?)has NOT broadly lowered premiums (we certainly would have heard about it), and has no evidence of there being enough “young invicibles” signing up (if there was, the administration would be crowing about it) to create the proper risk pool.
It is just as important to recognize what the administration ISN’T saying than what they ARE saying. Especially in an election year…they would be crowing about any little detail that paints the law in a positive light.
Obamacare:
has reduced options (to varying degrees) for a large number of people
Yea, they can’t buy cr@p insurance anymore that will not protect them from becoming deadbeats on our dime.
The horror.
Personal responsibility baby! It’s what the GOP talks but don’t walk.
Goon is thanking Obama
I’m pretty sure it was sarcasm acting like the dolts blaming EVERTHING on Obama. (as you do)
I think he was making fun of you Adan. Have humor?
Personal responsibility is buying your own health insurance and absorbing any costs not paid by the insurance. That has nothing to do with Obamacare. But hey we will see in November what people think about Obamacare.
Personal responsibility is buying your own health insurance and absorbing any costs not paid by the insurance. That has nothing to do with Obamacare.
It is everything to do with Obamacare because ACA allows people previously denied access due to pre-existing conditions, the ability of “buying their own health insurance and absorbing any costs not paid by the insurance.”
There are exceptions (as in all life) but it allows that where that was not allowed before.
Too complicated?
we will see in November what people think about Obamacare.
LOL. You can’t stop this train.
So Rio, are all policies that are NOT allowed by Obamacare crap?
What is wrong with a high deductible plan if you are wealthy?
What is wrong with a plan that doesn’t include pregnancy coverage if you are a post-menopausal woman?
What is wrong with catastrophic coverage only?
What happens if/when folks who had catastrophic coverage decide they can’t afford an ACA approved plan, and then have a catastrophic illness…didn’t the ACA create a deadbeat that didn’t exist before?
What is wrong with a high deductible plan if you are wealthy?
What’s wealthy compared to 4 years cancer treatment? Over 2 million liquid not including home? Otherwise we’re looking at possible “deadbeat city” and possibly dead as well due to running out of money the hassle and strain of not being covered.
What is wrong with a plan that doesn’t include pregnancy coverage if you are a post-menopausal woman?
A lot. Pregnancy coverage is important to society, families, the economy and America - especially a society with sky high pregnancy costs. The cost of such importance should be shared by all and not just young women making a little money.
Example: The baby subsidized by the older women might be taking care of the older women 20 years later. It’s enabling the practice of family values in a era when covering the birth of that child facilitates the possibility of practicing family values.
What is wrong with catastrophic coverage only?
See point number one above.
“It is everything to do with Obamacare because ACA allows people previously denied access due to pre-existing conditions, the ability of “buying their own health insurance and absorbing any costs not paid by the insurance.””
One of the big problems with the ACA is that is forces the mispricing of these policies, capping the premium at most 3x the lowest cost patients. As a result, people with big medical needs ABSOLUTELY buy insurance (taking PARTIAL responsibility), and those without such medical needs are much less likely, since they are paying too much given their actuarial risk.
So, the ACA creates a free-rider problem (I too would take responsibility for payment of my insurance if I was paying much less than my likely use of healthcare). It has yet to be seen if the penalties are stiff enough to stop a spiral up in insurance premiums.
The analysis that I saw surmised that the more appropriate spread between the most expensive customers and least expensive should be more like 6x, not 3x, meaning more subsidies for the sickest, but more reasonable cost for the “young invincibles”.
What happens if/when folks who had catastrophic coverage decide they can’t afford an ACA approved plan, and then have a catastrophic illness…
Then they are screwed an a slightly different way than when they had catastrophic “coverage”. They are going to be scrambling for non covered health care. Plus, the could afford a bronze plan with the subsidies if they made the choice. Look. Health-care costs big bucks. Period. ACA makes it affordable but expensive as USA healthcare is. It does not make it free. I sacrificed things in my life for good health-insurance even before ACA when I lived in Cali.
Why? I decided that I “could afford it” and bit the bullet.
But if they REALLY can’t afford it, they’d be covered by MediCaid in the states that are not run by hypocrite Repub Ideologues who deny Medicaid to their people strictly for political reasons.
One of the big problems with the ACA is that is forces the mispricing of these policies,
FWIU, that has been happening for decades on about 80% of Americans covered because they are covered through their employers.
Also Medicare.
It can cause a problem with ACA because of the young healthy opting out but America is mostly good at solving problems. Overall: IMO ACA is way better than before.
Oh - by the by - a co-worker of mine saw her family of four’s monthly rate increase from $310 monthly to $780 monthly.
A $470 / month increase or $5,640 annual increase. Just for the premiums. Deductibles are much higher, of course.
They are hoping to sell one of their cars (they have two) to cover the cost this year. How one of the spouses will get to work is unknown. They can’t afford to live in a high walk-score area.
They’re quite upset, yet I have little sympathy for them. She and her husband often spotted the carpet from 2008-2010, extolling the many virtues of Obama and his vision.
Staying home because you no longer like your guy or his party is one thing. But a whack to the pocketbook or wallet will cause someone to action, getting up and voting for the other guys.
“can’t afford to live in a high walk score area”
Contrary to what you may believe, walk score isn’t all about yuppies and doggie daycares and yoga studios. I attribute mine to proximity to King Soopers (Kroger), Walgreens, 7-Eleven, post office, bus stop, train station.
And I drive thirty minutes to work every day, the shortest transit option is ninety minutes each way.
If there is no KrispyKreme nearby, it’s worthless.
There you go!
Obama is working on regulations to ban Krispy /Kreme donuts to save money on Obamacare or maybe they will just impose a tax. Big brother is coming for you.
My share of employer provided health insurance is going from $126 a month to $290 a month, thanks Obama.
Mine is unchanged. Maybe your government contractor employer isn’t all that.
They have less than 200 employees nationwide and are facing the same squeeze as any other small to mid sized business on employee health care costs.
I have seen smaller employers pool with others to form larger groups for insurance purposes.
That said, smaller employers usually offer crappy insurance.
Perhaps you work for a government contractor that is allowed to just pass any increase along, in fact with markup.
That can now be verified with w2 forms. Box 12 DD should show how much you and your employer (total cost) contribute to your health plan.
I meant your employer may pass the increase WITH MARKUP along to the government customer who doesn’t care about cost anyway; only if the i’s are dotted and the t’s crossed per the crony contract. None of that has anything to do with your W2, except to tell what those costs are.
Private employers in the private sector (particularly small businesses) have no such accommodation.
Mine is unchanged. Maybe your government contractor employer isn’t all that.
I posted something similar yesterday as my employer had an 18% increase in health care plan costs, mostly due to Obamacare. They absorbed the entire amount so our plan monthly premiums stayed the same. Our deductibles and co-pays increased, but those are already covered by a supplemental insurance plan the company pays for.
Having said that, raises this year were meager: average of 2.5% in salary increases. Bonuses paid out 95% though, so I guess all in all there isn’t much to complain about.
check out this map/photo of “downtown” Kansas City:
http://usa.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/kansascity3.png
It’s like 2/3 parking lots. And the arena pictured cost $300M and has no tenant.
Are you suggesting that arena is going to be your next venue Liberace?
Kansas City?
Not sure how you became aware of the existence of this alleged Kansas City. Perhaps by tracing your finger westward along a map of Interstate 70, but once it goes west of Pittsburgh, things get a bit murky…
Kansas, came on the elitist map due to their smug saying of “you are not in Kansas” anymore which is applicable to anyone who moves to the I-95 corridor and also the book “What is the matter with Kansas” which made talking about Kansas acceptable cocktail chatter.
It’s like 2/3 parking lots. And the arena pictured cost $300M and has no tenant.
It’s even worse in San Antonio. They built a domed stadium (the Alamodome) and nobody came.
What is with this civic desire to have professional sports teams?
Don’t the Spurs play in the Alamodome? It seems like Spurs playoff games alone would make it profitable. And doesn’t it host the Alamo Bowl? And at least a few NCAA Final Fours?
This K.C. arena has _nothing_ going on 99% of the time.
I believe the original purpose of the Alamodome was to attract an NFL team. Also, the Spurs moved to a new sports arena made just for them about 10 years ago (the AT&T Center).
What’s interesting is that cities all over the country are putting in “light rail” systems to reduce the number of cars downtown. What they’re doing is rebuilding something that they had 100 years ago.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Kansas City, Missouri, like most North American cities, authorized early Kansas City’s early streetcar systems.[3][4] All but five cities, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and New Orleans, replaced all their streetcars with buses. Kansas City once had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in North America, but the last of its 25 streetcar routes was shut down in 1957.[5]
The first streetcars introduced in Kansas City in 1870 were horse-powered.[2] On some early routes the streetcars were propelled by latching on to underground cables, like San Francisco’s cable cars.[1]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City%27s_early_Streetcar_systems
Excellent observation, Mike, thanks for posting. I’ve thought about this myself. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the elimination of the streetcar systems had something to do with the automobile manufacturers. Possibly the petroleum industry as well, but definitely the manufacturers.
I think a tire company was also involved.
From wikpedia:
The General Motors streetcar conspiracy (also known as the Great American streetcar scandal) refers to allegations and convictions in relation to a program by General Motors (GM) and other companies who purchased and then dismantled streetcar and electric train systems in many cities in the United States.
Between 1936 and 1950, National City Lines and Pacific City Lines—with investment from GM, Firestone Tire, Standard Oil of California, Phillips Petroleum, Mack Trucks, and the Federal Engineering Corporation—purchased over 100 electric surface-traction systems in 45 cities including Baltimore, Newark, Los Angeles, New York City, Oakland and San Diego and converted them into bus operation. Several of the companies involved were convicted in 1949 of conspiracy to monopolize interstate commerce but were acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies.
The concept that ever-increasing debt (”credit”) is good for the country or the world is a very bank-centric view of the world.
If more and more debt was so great, why did the Eurozone crisis occur or the mortgage crisis occur? These are directly the results of too much debt.
People work to obtain currency - right? Wrong. They work to obtain the purchasing power of currency. The slips of paper or database entries aren’t the end goal - the purchasing power is the end goal.
Economic planners see people what appears to be people working to obtain currency and then think, “Let’s just give them more currency!” It’s hardly a new thought. But the sum total of currency is supposed to represent the wealth it can purchase. Simply increasing the pool of currency dilutes the value of that currency. There may be an initial burst as everyone feels richer temporarily but it fades as the currency flows through the society, re-achieving its equilibrium value as a representation of the wealth it can purchase.
The powers that be cannot increase the purchasing power of the average citizen. Yes, of course they can increase the purchasing power of favored associates - see the government and central bank’s relationship with Wall Street. But not of the population in general.
And especially not with more debt and money printing. A society simply cannot borrow and print its way to prosperity.
Denver home prices up 9% from 2013, says Case-Shiller report
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/03/25/case-shiller-denver.html
$200 a square foot is the minimum asking price for anything in south Denver
Because if you don’t live in Highlands Ranch, you’re nobody.
It’s good to know the epicenter of the next leg down will be Denver.
Military to train in Broward this week
Helicopters over Broward? It’s just a drill
By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel
10:29 p.m. EDT, March 24, 2014
South Florida is not under attack, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
The U.S. Department of Defense will be conducting routine training March 24-27 in Broward County, officials said. A low-flying aircraft was heard in downtown Fort Lauderdale around 8 p.m. Monday.
The training will take place at locations throughout the county. The sites have been selected to minimize the impact on the daily routine of residents and visitors, sheriff’s officials said.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-bso-dod-training-20140324,0,1278520.story - 153k -
Article for Downlow Joe
Businessweek - Luxury Fashion Brands Targeting Global ‘Yummies’: Young Urban Males
“Luxury fashion may be switching gender and age roles. In much of the world now, the most attractive demographic for such companies as Burberry and Coach isn’t middle aged women with sky high credit limits; it’s twenty something men with smartphones and self esteem issues.
At least that’s the theory put forth by three researchers at HSBC. The future of retail is in young, urban males — or as HSBC dubs them, “Yummies” (a handy verbal shortcut if one can say it without gagging.
“The metro sexual, that cliche from 20 years ago, is now becoming a commercial reality,” the HSBC team writes.
I will never call Joe a Yummy that is Lola’s position.
** I better hide my Givenchy man purse **
You’re too old to consider yourself a twink now, Downlow Joe.
Liberace,
How much do you spend /week on spa treatments and cosmetics?
“The future of retail is in young, urban males — or as HSBC dubs them, “Yummies”
Are these young urban males “Yummies”?
Booking Blotter - Palm Beach Post
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/s/blotter/ - 76k -
Six castles that cost less than an NYC apartment:
http://i.imgur.com/R0c7bJT.jpg
Amazing. I’d move if I lived there.
Paradise Valley doesn’t suck.
http://realestate.msn.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8336-N-Sendero-Tres-M_Paradise-Valley_AZ_85253_M14418-02276?gate=msn
+1 I like your taste.
Ukraine Leader In New Leaked Recording: 8 Million Russians In Ukraine “Must Be Killed With Nuclear Weapons”
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/24/2014 13:48
While the NSA is busy justifying its spying of every American its existence thanks to famous Moscow resident Edward Snowden, its Russian counterparts have been busy intercepting even more phone Ukrainian conversations.
After a month ago a leaked phone call between US assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland and the US envoy to the Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt confirmed that it was the US that was pulling the strings in what was about to be a violent coup overthrowing Ukraine’s president Yanukovich, “someone” has just leaked another phone conversation, this time between parliamentarian Nestor Shufrych and former PM and ideological leader of the Ukraine “revolution” Yulia Tymoshenko and most probable future president of West Ukraine, in which Tymoshenko is makes the following threats, “It’s going too far! Bugger! We must grab arms and go whack those damn katsaps [a Ukrainian word used to refer to the Russians in a negative tone] together with their leader”, “I’ll use all my connections, I’ll raise the whole world – as soon as I’m able to – in order to make sure.. Bugger!.. not even scorched earth won’t remain where Russia stands” although all her empty threats collapse in the last sentence of the phone conversation in which she says, regarding the Crimea annexation, that “we are going to take it to the Hague International Criminal Court.” Good luck with that.
But the smoking gun, and where Putin once again shows just how masterful of a chess player he is, is the following statement by Tymoshenko, after asked, rhetorically, by her counterparty, “what should we do now with the 8 million Russians that stayed in Ukraine. They are outcasts”… to which she replies: “They must be killed with nuclear weapons.”
Needless to say, that is not how you make Russian friends, or diffuse geopolitical tensions with your superpower neighbor,
Full recording below:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-24/ukraine-leader-new-leaked-recording-8-million-russians-ukraine-must-be-killed-nuclea - 119k -
It’s going too far! Bugger!
Why is Lola involved with this phone call?
Why I suggested platinum and palladium last year. I knew this strike would be a long one, from Bloomberg today:
The largest platinum producers said a more than eight-week strike by members of the biggest union at their South African operations started causing irreversible damage to the mines, with sales losses exceeding $925 million.
There is still no dialog over the impasse with the Association of Mining and Construction Union, which has led more than 70,000 employees on strike since Jan. 23, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (AMS), Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP) and Lonmin Plc (LMI) said in a joint statement today. Workers have lost more than 4.4 billion rand ($406 million) in wages, they said.
The financial cost of the strike didn’t “tell the full story,” the producers said. “Mines and shafts are becoming unviable; people are hungry; children are not going to school; businesses are closing and crime in the platinum belt is increasing.”
Question. If you were going to buy these metals, on what market and in what form?
I’m not that knowledgeable about the subject, I want to diversify my holdings, but I know I don’t want to pay someone to store it for me.
I am mostly trading mining stocks since I can write call options when I feel that the PTB are going to step in with manipulation. I have gotten quite good at timing. However, platinum and palladium coins are sold just like gold coins so Bill might be best able to suggest a source. I will move to the physical when I believe we are closer to “go time”, right now I have limited food and ammunition for a natural event not an economic collapse.
I cannot reveal my coin shop. However, here is the criteria I use for finding a reliable dealer:
1) You have to have a good relationship with them over the years. Are they as willing to buy your coins as they are willing to sell? - In Some years I sold precious metals
2) Are they members of the numismatic organizations?
3) Do they have referrals?
4) Are they willing to trade in an exchange of your choice - credit card, personal check, cash?
5) Do they have a showroom where you can walk in and buy or sell?
I’ve bought and sold in Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Phoenix and managed to find dealers I regularly have been a customer of.
Kitco forums or discussion boards have threads for gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and other metals. It would pay to lurk there for advice. I have seen some good posts there. There are gold bugs and permabears (anti-gold) alike on the forums.
Someone recommended you store quantities in ten different places, so no more than ten percent of all your metals should be in any one place. For instance, a theif would probably think that 10% is all you had and then leave the location after he gets that 10%. Even putting 10% in a safe deposit box is a good idea. The bank thieves might take it and deliver it to their buddy the thugernment, but that is only 10%.
If you are way up in years you of course need to give out your precious metals as gifts to your beneficiaries. Just like you would ultimately give up driving a car.
Bill, ultimately I hope my heirs are good stewards if I pass anything to them. I don’t think about the copper and silver stacks or their spot value. A few years from now, if metal prices have outshone inflation, I’ll be apt to sell some. No Au stack, yet. If we get a repeat of 2008, I will take a chance on some physical bullion. My take is WS might be the tail wagging everything and is conveniently hidden in the fray of all the world events that seem to be in code red mode all so too many times too often.
I know a couple of my heirs are not good steward quality. But the younger one might change for the better. I have to teach them at some point how to buy and sell precious metals. They have no street smarts and that scares the heck out of me.
I have two second cousins who I can tell are very stable people even though they are uber religious (I’m a raving atheist). The difference between them and the left is that they worship an unseen maniac while the left worships insane government. I think the world is safer from the unseen maniac than an insane government.
The difference between them and the left is that they worship an unseen maniac while the left worships insane government.
Too simplistic.
Many on the “left” worship God. I sure do. And I’d say just as many on America’s left practice the teachings of Jesus as does America’s right.
(I’m a raving atheist)
Really? The only “raving atheists” I’ve ever read about, who existed in my lifetime were flat-out Russian and Chinese real Communists.
I’ve bought and sold in Los Angeles, Baltimore, and Phoenix
I’ve bought gold and silver in LA and the Bay Area and I’ve sold a little in the Midwest and S. America.
There are “we buy gold” human billboards everywhere in Copa. But I would go to one of the 3 legit coin shops that I know here and get 10% more.
Everyone needs at least a few gold coins. They’re pretty.
D.R. Horton Red Tag Sale
“No reasonable offer refused.”
And honey, while you’re over there, pick up a quart of milk, too.
Those prices don’t look like a sale to me.
Nice name BTW
Thanks. All together now - sing!
Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay!
The fact that they are building SFR’s at all in LV is what is surprising…I did see a number of high density apartments going in about two months ago…
Interesting that Chinese banks do not have deposit insurance now although they are apparently working on it, Reuters article:
The case highlights the urgency of plans to put in place a deposit insurance system to protect investors against bank insolvency, as Chinese grow increasingly nervous about the impact of slowing economic growth on financial institutions.
Regulators have said they will roll out deposit insurance as soon as possible, without giving a firm deadline.
Domestic media reported, and a local official confirmed, that ordinary depositors swarmed a branch of Jiangsu Sheyang Rural Commercial Bank in Yancheng in economically troubled Jiangsu province on Monday.
The semi-official China News Service quoted the bank’s chairman, Zang Zhengzhi, as saying it would ensure payments to all the depositors. The report did not say how the rumor originated.
Chen Dequn, a resident in Yandong, just outside Yancheng, said she saw a crowd of about 70 to 80 people gathering in a branch of Sheyang Rural Commercial Bank in her town on Tuesday.
“At the moment there are about 70 or 80 people in there. Normally there’d only be about 10,” she told Reuters by telephone.
Russian kicked out of G-8
http://news.msn.com/world/us-allies-throw-russia-out-of-g-8-1
The Banking Clan is showing Vlad who’s Boss.
Stay tuned. Vlad, the bankster impaler will have his revenge.
Interesting times when we root for the Russkie to win
Ancient Chinese curse may you live in interesting times.
Putin does not pose any risk to me, but the globalists from this country that are intervening in the Ukraine are trying to destroy my country from within. Thus the only patriotic act is to root for the Russkies, since the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
the only patriotic act is to root for the Russkies
You imply Putin laughs at Obama because Obama sanctions are weak, then you imply we should do nothing much anyway.
You are all over the map.
Is life that confusing for you?
Is life that confusing for you?
I am laughing at Obama because he made strong statements about the consequences of Russia intervening and then came up with feeble sanctions. He also caused a lot of the problems in the Ukraine by interventions that have been documented on this board. There is nothing inconsistent with laughing about how Putin is b*tch slapping him around and my opposing his intervention prior to Russia’s actions and his issuing of empty threats. Obama wanted to do one thing and had his head handed to him. I know it is too complicated for you since it is not a Democratic talking point that you have been paid to disseminate.
Post was apparently lost and you are not worth the time to repeat it. However, in sum there is nothing inconsistent with laughing at Obama’s actions and believing he should not have taken any action or made any threats.
I am laughing at Obama because he made strong statements about the consequences of Russia intervening and then came up with feeble sanctions.
Wow, a politician “shocks” you. How old are you? You think we should not do too much and then blame Obama for not doing much. Adan political “logic” on display.
Post was apparently lost and you are not worth the time to repeat it.
Nobody cares. You always think people care when you posts don’t show up fast. It’s your snapshot-in-time limited attention span thinking right there.
Because the future belongs to Lucky Ducky
“The payday lending industry was put under pressure Tuesday as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said over 80% of payday loans are rolled over or followed by another loan within 14 days.
The study also showed that 15% of new loans are followed by a loan sequence at least 10 loans long.”
http://m1.marketwatch.com/articles/BL-MWEB-5621
I’m sure Mr.Banker approves.
I love that it’s the right that hates Obamacare and the left that defends it. It is designed to
#1 Get corporate America out of insuring their employees.
Under the law’s delayed “employer mandate,” companies with 50 or more full-time workers are required to provide health care or pay a penalty of $2,000 per employee. However, Emanuel suggests that many large companies that now spend more than that to offer coverage might opt to pay the penalty, raise worker pay and have employees find plans for themselves on the public exchanges.
#2 Raise tax revenue off the backs of the middle and upper middle class as higher pay will be taxed and insurance benefits are not.
#3 Increase corporate profits by decreasing costs. Good for the elite who own stocks of companies that will be able to cut costs.
#4 Guarantee business for insurance companies (I expect that they will slowly chip away at mandates and cost containment and profit containment) The program is a trojan horse. Similar in design to Mitt Romney’s plan and Heritage foundations plans.
#5 Consolidate health care industry to a few large insurance/hospital chain conglomerates. That will have the market power to crush salaries and limit health care expendatures. They will have the political power to change laws. The only problem of course is those who stand to profit will be in charge of limiting care and reporting results. A small conflict of interest.
I do not disagree with any explicit point but disagree with your implicit point. Obamacare may please the corporate interests, but it also makes government have an interest in every aspect of our life. So as a person that does not like big government or the corporate globalists, I find it truly offensive. When HA is paying for his own insurance, I have no interest in what he eats. However, when taxpayers are forced to subsidize other’s insurance all of sudden whatever they do becomes my business if it impacts their health. There is nothing inconsistent with true conservatives/libertarians not wanting government being involved with health insurance even if corporate America wants government involved. Now why do liberals like it, other than they do like to meddle? I really do not know why liberals are walking the plank to defend this Rube Goldberg program. If I was a liberal, I would vote to repeal this tomorrow to survive and then work on a single payer healthcare system. It appears to be blind loyalty to Obama that is going to do them in just like it did many other Democrats in 2010.
However, when taxpayers are forced to subsidize other’s insurance all of sudden whatever they do becomes my business if it impacts their health.
Dude, taxpayers have been subsidizing deadbeat’s and poor people’s insurance for 60 years. (You live in America right?)
And the whole concept of insurance is to share risk and “subsidize” the ones who need it. It’s a totally collective concept whether the actualized concept is completed 100% in the private sector or not.
Too complicated?
Measton
Putting government in charge of anything is usually a mistake. This will lead to single payer as it’s designed to bankrupt the health insurance companies.
Are you suggesting that you want a bureaucrat telling your doctor how to treat you? Insurance guys can be fired or thrown in jail, but once government takes control, your options are severely limited.
When that happens you go from being a customer to being a minion slave hoping the benevolent master has mercy on you.
1. There is no arguing that our system costs MUCH MORE. Single payer universal health care costs less and outcomes are similar to US.
2. I’d rather goverment be in charge of deciding how care will be dispensed and health care dollars distributed than a health care oligopoly that profits from denying me and other health care. You can always have a private system for those that want the bells and whistles, sort of like a Medicare supplement.
3. Politicians can be voted out oligopolies are for ever. They concentrate the wealth which concentrates their political power as well. They can hide information. No freedom of information acts for private contractors right.
4.
Albu says “” There is nothing inconsistent with true conservatives/libertarians not wanting government being involved with health insurance even if corporate America wants government involved “”
Well until sick people are turned away at the ER to die when they don’t have money or insurance you are paying for their care. Why not pay in the most efficient way possible.
Again
Everyone is afraid of the same thing that some group will gain power over their finances and freedom and life.
Republicans believe that this group is the government while the rest believe it is the corporate financial elite in this country who are taking over the government. To find the truth follow the money. Our gov officials are mostly millionaires Putin is worth over 40 billion last I heard/ Mubarek was worth 50 billion, Sadam 70 billion.
If you believe that the problem is government then you will try to roll back regulation and weaken enforcement. How will the finacial elite respond to this?
If you believe that finaical wealth is being use to userp control of our gov then you will epend you energy trying to reduce the concentration of wealth and power and rally people to vote for more progressive taxation, and regulation destruction of monopolies and market manipulation.
The elite of course will use the press and paid operatives to foment anger at anything else.
1. There is no arguing that our system costs MUCH MORE. Single payer universal health care costs less and outcomes are similar to US.
That is difficult to evaluate since countries like Germany have obesity rates half of our obesity rates. Certainly, the wealthy from all over the world come for care in America and we are the innovator in both procedures and drugs, in fact we absorb the costs of the innovations so the rest of the world is subsidized by our system.
However, that is not the point, we are not comparing a single payer to our previous system, we are comparing our previous system to Obamacare. And under that comparison Obamacare is failing. Obamacare is unpopular because it is hurting more people than it is helping. Certainly, we could have insured the small percentage of the population that is benefitting from Obamacare in a more efficient manner than Obamacare.
we are comparing our previous system to Obamacare. And under that comparison Obamacare is failing.
That is so dumb. Obamacare has been only really operational to the uninsured adults for less than three months. And it’s failing? Yea, Right. Failing who?
For kids with pre-existing conditions covered now for a few years and for kids under 26 covered by their parents policies, Obamacare is a big success.
‘Obamacare is a big success’
This is one reason I don’t take you seriously. You have no idea how terrible this thing is turning out. It’s like Sean Hannity saying he still thinks Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
The mid-term elections are shaping up to be a referendum on Obamacare and the voters will have their say.
This is one reason I don’t take you seriously.
I’m not surprised at all. You’ve never liked my politics. At all.
I respect you for your blog and your insight on the housing market and on other subjects, but I don’t put your opinion above others on Obamacare just because of it.
The mid-term elections are shaping up to be a referendum on Obamacare and the voters will have their say.
Fine. Then what? Republicans have to become adults for a change and come up with real fixes on ACA with the Dems? Good. I said that was a real possibility and I’d welcome it to fix ACA’s problems.
But there is no going back on America’s march towards near universal coverage. ACA changed the debate forever.
‘I’d welcome it to fix ACA’s problems’
The political ads are starting to run here. All that’s said is repeal.
The political ads are starting to run here. All that’s said is repeal.
Pure election year politics, but here’s the reality imo. If Repubs win the House and Senate in 14, they take office in Jan 15. But Obama will block any real “repeal”. Override is a fat chance imo. How could Repubs possibly do it? With Dem help with no alternative? I don’t think so.
Then let’s say Repubs hold both The House and Senate and win the White House in 2016 so they take over everything Jan 2017. That’s three long years from now. ACA will have signed up millions. When people see Repubs might win it all in 2016, they will be climbing over each other’s backs to get signed up fearing the Repubs will block them later.
So then, the Repubs are going to “repeal” the ACA? Kick maybe 25 million off? How?
This train has left the station imo.
‘When people see Repubs might win it all in 2016, they will be climbing over each other’s backs to get signed up’
This is why you have no credibility.
This is why you have no credibility.
Why would that matter either way?
My “credibility” in your eyes will not change the course of reality of what will happen.
‘what will happen’
This is what I’m talking about. In your hypothetical world, the Democrats will lose the senate, 21 million people will rush into Obamacare, and the crappy law will stand. There’s so many holes in your logic it’s not worth talking about.
In your hypothetical world, the Democrats will lose the senate, 21 million people will rush into Obamacare, and the crappy law will stand.
That’s not what I said.
Here’s what I just wrote above in so many words.
If Repubs win all branches of government, Republicans will have to become adults for a change and come up with real fixes on ACA with the Dems. Good. I said that was a real possibility years ago and I’d welcome it to fix ACA’s problems.
‘come up with real fixes on ACA with the Dems’
Not going to happen. Everyone is running on repeal. You are delusional if you think opponents to this law are going to save it. That’s what I’m saying; you are like Hannity still insisting that Saddam had WMD’s.
Everyone is running on repeal. You are delusional if you think opponents to this law are going to save it.
Running on repeal in an election year? IMO, that means squat in politics.
Sure they might “repeal” it after 40 things would have to fall in line after 3 years. OK. But if that ever comes to pass the replacement will be more or less as comprehensive as the ACA imo. But with a Repub spin.
The spin will all be jive. But the ACA’s main point of potentially insuring most Americans will remain. Let’s watch, and we’ll all see about my credibility.
Ben if you believe that the politicians running on repealing ACA will repeal it I have a condo in California I want to sell you.
This plan is backed by corporate America. If the GOP takes over my guess is they will roll back some of the mandates on insurance companies but otherwise this will stay in place.
Remember that this plan is very similar to some Republican plans put forth in the past. It’s not a single payer system it’s the “Free Market” and by that I mean it’s eventually an oligopoly that concentrates wealth and power to manipulate markets, politics, and strip wealth from the American People.
“Let’s watch, and we’ll all see about my credibility.”
We know about your credibility. You can’t even post a simple picture Lola.
You’re a fraud.
Are you suggesting that you want a bureaucrat telling your doctor how to treat you? Insurance guys can be fired or thrown in jail, but once government takes control, your options are severely limited.
When that happens you go from being a customer to being a minion slave hoping the benevolent master has mercy on you.
There’s a program called Medicare that was established long before Obamacare. You may have heard of it. It provides health care to people during the years when they generally need it the most. It may be the most popular institution in American life. I’ve never heard a single senior citizen complain that he or she has become a slave since signing up for Medicare.
And it will be broke within a few years and then what?
To be fully accurate the trust fund will be exhausted in 2026. That is the trouble with government, it can design programs that are popular but not sustainable or it can design programs that are sustainable but not popular. Of course, every once in a while it can design a program which is neither. Thanks Obama for Obamacare.
And it will be broke within a few years and then what?
Nobody knows the answer to that question because nobody can predict the future. It’s irrelevant to to my response Blackhawk’s statement about slavery.
“And it will be broke within a few years and then what?”
You know exactly what. The shakedown enlarges. Stick’em up.
Actually, it is not irrelevant. For the most part, people are not complaining about Medicare because it is a Ponzi scheme, thus it has not had to limit choices and have a bureaucrats make hard choices, although it does limit some choices and seniors do complain about it.
As far as no one can predict the future, while we may not be able to do it with perfect accuracy, we all do it and we all have to do it. You cannot plan for retirement without making certain assumptions usually based on historical averages. We know that Medicare is going broke because we have yearly reports on its health. We know that present beneficiaries did not pay enough to cover their costs and it is using funds from current taxpayers to make up the difference, that is a classic Ponzi scheme. It will remain popular as long as people get far more from it than they put in but will not retain that popularity when people find they are getting far less value than they paid for.
people are not complaining about Medicare because it is a Ponzi scheme,
Everything to you is a “Ponzi scheme” which will turn us into Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile Medicare and SocSec have made the lives of tens of millions much better. One is my mother. Thank you Ponzi scheme!
No, it’s not relevant to the slavery argument. Once again, this is what Blackhawk wrote:
but once government takes control, your options are severely limited.
When that happens you go from being a customer to being a minion slave hoping the benevolent master has mercy on you.
He says that having the government provide health care for a person turns that person into a slave. That statement has nothing to do with how the program is funded.
‘I’ve never heard a single senior citizen complain that he or she has become a slave since signing up for Medicare’
That’s how ponzi schemes work at first.
Exactly we are on the same page, see my comment above. I will put that in the great minds think alike category.
That’s how ponzi schemes work at first.
That’s how nearly everything works at first.
We are so much like Greece, the programs are broke even a top Democrat admits it but the majority of the Democrats want to increase the programs:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/top-dem-hints-forbidden-entitlement-094500498.html
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/03/25/cops-drug-addicted-shoplifter-stabs-home-depot-security-guard-with-dirty-syringe/
Open the floodgates? Indiana becomes first state to scrap Common Core
Fox News
March 25, 2014
Indiana has become the first of 45 states to opt out of the national education standard known as Common Core, and critics of the controversial K-12 program say the move could “open the floodgates” for others to follow.
Growing criticism over costs imposed by the program, as well as fears that by setting a national education standard, the program has already begun dictating curriculum, has made Common Core an increasingly polarizing issue. Although the program has both Republican and Democrat supporters, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence predicted his state will be the first of many to rethink participation.
“I believe when we reach the end of this process there are going to be many other states around the country that will take a hard look at the way Indiana has taken a step back, designed our own standards and done it in a way where we drew on educators, we drew on citizens, we drew on parents and developed standards that meet the needs of our people,” Pence said.
This article was posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 at 12:18 pm
Creationism wins yeah
Dear Prime_Is_Contained:
To learn about gasses dissolving in liquid, look up “partial vapor pressure”.
Blue Skye:
For those of us who have been bombarded with AD’s backward ranting on pollution and ecology, it is impossible to take him seriously. You say that I am merely imagining what he thinks about the subject, or what his motives are. Nevertheless, his cumulative comments on the topic reveal that he has the information all scrambled. Either he is doing it on purpose (motive), or he’s very unintelligent (what he really thinks). Both reasons are good enough to disregard his entire schtick.
Like often, I do not even have a clue what you are talking about.
I do think you need to go back to your community college where you apparently got your science degree and take a refresher course.
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/climatechange1/06_1.shtml
Where on that page does it discuss what happens when you increase the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere, genius?
Either (Adan) is doing it on purpose (motive), or he’s very unintelligent
Adan: Like often, I do not even have a clue what you are talking about.
That’s one of the funniest exchanges I’ve seen in awhile.
You both should combine, you both post comments where most people are so devoid of logic that they cannot even believe you are saying what you are saying. You still do not get that most people on this board think that the dumbest thing they ever heard is that Reagan is responsible for Clinton’s economic policies and Obama’s policies.
where most people think are so devoid
34 years of a policy? It would be like Bush II blaming his failures on FDR.
You still do not get that most people on this board think that the dumbest thing they ever heard is that Reagan is responsible for Clinton’s economic policies and Obama’s policies.
A true statement of wonder likely unsurpassed for days on this board - what understanding of concepts, complexities and nuance.
It’s…..dang……it’s like what a nine year old son of that Duck Dynasty dude would say when asked to describe what I write.
Time for boomers to sell and move on?
Anthony Volastro | @VolastroCNBC
8 Hours Ago
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101487642 - 102k -
I dedicate the song “America” by Simon & Garfunkel to the I-95 corridor*
* they are from east of I-95
And an even better one from the same album, circa 1968
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkFBOd4YN60
Great song.
liberace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwOgXWOX-iE
I am getting busy trying to sell stuff on Ebay and CL. Trying to reduce clutter and get some $$ out of it.
Still looking for a new job. As I look around, I am convinced that anyone who has a mortgage and a decent paying job is TERRIFIED of losing their income, even for a hiccup of time.
A boss at work got passed over for a promotion. A less alpha male type got the job. As much as I have some schadenfreude going on for the alpha boss, I see he has been dealt some ego bruising and know it must smart. Funny part is, I don’t know if he cares that I have a bit of sympathy for him. He probably has some sense of karma now.
I am doing some contracting at a gov site FULL of these terrified, miserable people. Walking through the office is like that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean where you see the guys in Davey Jones’ locker, all grown into the walls with no hope of escape.
They’re so beat down and desperate it makes me sad just looking at them. They have no possible escape.
“…a gov site FULL of these terrified, miserable people.”
+1 A few engineers I know have come over to the private sector, working longer hours, but making more money now.
And you’re correct about the rank-n-file; they’re miserable. Four years of reduced hours, furloughs and no pay raises eventually does its magic. I’m sure it’s really bad in the expensive metro areas.
‘They’re so beat down and desperate it makes me sad just looking at them. They have no possible escape.’
The pride of ownership.
More reason I am loosing my attachment to stuff. Too much redundant stuff and too much ball and chain.
I am pretty sure I will die some day. Don’t really care if it happens in a rental apartment or rental house or out on the trail. Allah forbid it happens in a hospital room. I’ve seen guys retire and pass a few years later from a heart attack. If they left a bunch of cash or other liquid assets behind to heirs, that probably has better consequences than leaving a house with upkeep and other overhead to bear.
I’m tellin’ ya, there’s nothing - NOTHING - like money in the bank. Makes you walk differently and enables you to do your life in an authentic manner. Lets you stay calm.
The demeanor spooks most people.
FWIW, I’ve found that living in a state of fear does not lead to good outcomes. The military canon says you cannot dig into a defensive position forever - you will eventually be overrun.
The best strategy is to be on offense yourself.
The defense strategy is to have planned your out while leaving an explosive thingie behind set to go off a bit after the invaders breach the gate. At a point where their main body is inside looting your cupboards.
In other words, flee and live on to the next offensive.
I read that somewhere in some WWII memoir by some applauded strategist. Wish I could remember it - can’t find the volume, and it’s worth a re-read. Bugs the heck out of me. I guess I’ve got to re-factor the bookshelves, at least that way I’ll know for sure what I’ve got and where I’ve put it.