Bits Bucket for June 27, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
December 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Came out in the news yesterday that the local medical clinic is getting closed down/consolidated. Few years back, 100 people a day were coming through for treatment, now they’re lucky to get 20. Maybe Zerocare has scared them all off? Who knows, but my favorite theory is that all this global warming is making people healthier - less colds, flu, ebola, etc. Doh, the liberals facist plans get foiled again!
Thanks to global warming, more people are engaging in outdoor activities like tennis, hiking, surfing, walking and jogging. The resulting improvement in health status is making society better off, reducing the need to visit medical clinics.
Is that right?
Most people around here are vegetating in front of cable tv all day.
I sincerely hope you’re kidding…
Global warming has added way less than 1 degree of temperature over the past decade.
The change over the past few years is nearly imperceptible.
The change over the past few years is nearly imperceptible
Especially if you have a good A/C and don’t want to understand science because of politics.
May was hottest on Earth since records began
The Guardian - by Adam Vaughan - 3 days ago
Worldwide, March-May was the second warmest ever by Noaa’s records – 2010 holds the record for that period. April 2014 was also
Last Decade Confirmed as the Warmest on Record Globally …
http://www.accuweather.com/en/…decade…/14913958Traduzir esta página
04/07/2013 - –The decade was the warmest on record for both the northern and southern Hemisphere and for both land and ocean surface temperatures.
Global Warming Hasn’t Stopped - It’s the Hottest Decade on …
http://www.desmogblog.com/…/global-warming-has-not-st…Traduzir esta página
23/09/2013 - In fact, we just came through the hottest decade ever recorded. Not only was it the hottest decade recorded, it has occurred despite the …
April 2014 Global Temperature Ties For Warmest on Record …
http://www.weather.com/…/april-2014-global-temperature-ties-warme...
by Terrell Johnson - in 45 Google+ circles
May 20, 2014 - Last month tied with 2010 as the warmest April on record going back to 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced …
Holy sh*t.
The words “climate change” make you lose all ability at rational thought, don’t they?
The “hottest decade” on record means that the temperature increased by 0.17 degrees Celsius the decade of the ’00s. Which was a very fast clip.
For a “few years”, that increase represents about 0.04 degrees Celsius.
A change of 0.04 degrees Celsius over a few years is nearly imperceptible when talking about the propensity to change whether or not people exercise outside. That’s my point.
Linking the number of people going to a health clinic from a few years ago to today because of increased health caused by people staying outside because of climate change is insane.
My response is taking a bit longer, perhaps because I used a quasi-obscenity (with an asterisk).
Let me pose the question differently.
Do you honestly think that a global temperature rise of about 0.04 degrees over a period of a “few years” (the 00’s decade pace of warming over a few years) is be tied to people staying outside and exercising more, and thus being healthier, and thus not going to a clinic, causing it to shut down?
0.04 degrees is nearly imperceptible when talking about changing people’s behavior.
If it weren’t nearly imperceptible, then we wouldn’t have so many people debating climate change, would we?
A change of 0.04 degrees Celsius over a few years is nearly imperceptible when talking about the propensity to change whether or not people exercise outside. That’s my point.
Your point is correct.
If it weren’t nearly imperceptible, then we wouldn’t have so many people debating climate change, would we?
There is no “debate” in the scientific community. 95% vs 5% is hardly a debate. The debate is political.
Let me rephrase.
If the change was perceptible to humans over short periods of time, then politicians couldn’t sway people’s views.
BTW, what drives me crazy about all the climate change crap is that we are arguing over the wrong things, which is distracting from what we SHOULD be talking about.
Let’s take as given for a moment that the climate is getting warmer.
Let’s also take as a given that the warming climate can create all sorts of bad outcomes (excessive rise in sea level, excessive increase in desertification, etc.). Note that even within the scientific community, there is still debate about the MAGNITUDE of these kinds of things (which is why I noted the word “excessive”). It is safe to say that there is a non-trivial probability of big problems.
So, the important question is what should we do about it (cost, actual impact on climate change, effect on overall well being of humanity over short, medium and long terms)?
The real problem is that there are no good solutions–and the best solutions would have such a big impact on humanity that it IS debatable whether the best solution is better for humanity as a whole than the problem.
But no one wants to focus our debate on those questions because they can score too many points playing political football.
“There is no “debate” in the scientific community. 95% vs 5% is hardly a debate. The debate is political.”
Please use data in a non-delusional method. 95% of of the scientific community THAT HAD AN OPINION ON AGW supported it, but 63% of the scientific community expressed no opinion. The politics of the issue is using the data in such a self-serving way.
“The change over the past few years is nearly imperceptible.”
Atlanta went from a wet state with thunderstorms to set your clock by to a drought state with dry beds where there used to be local lakes.
The local courthouses where I lived had pictures of the same square every year on the same winter day. snow was there every day until the mid-90’s and by 2003 it looked like spring there.
Meanwhile, the great american breadbasket has gone from mild to semi-desert in the same period.
Pretty soon canada’s tundra regions will become the world’s breadbasket.
“imperceptible” indeed.
Well, maybe so, but it’s only because Jesus wants to have springtime for his birthday.
Maybe in our “economic recovery” people are being forced to choose between eating and keeping a roof over their head, or healthcare.
2014, the year it all fell apart.
2015 is going to be worse.
+1
In my observations they sure arent choosing to cut back on their eating. Many are as big as a house. They have to buy those GM cars/suvs that might suddenly explode and burn you to death because those are the only vehicles they can fit in. And the few that I work with like that seem to eat something (bad) every half an hour or so.
Shes a brick. . .house! And her sister too. And Mom, and Aunt, and Cousin, etc.
Now imagine a world where “fat” is a thing of the past. It isn’t that inconceivable or out of reach. We probably know enough about brain chemistry to turn off the hunger mechanism for some period so people would only eat small quantities and be able to lose weight.
Take all of the fat women and make them no longer fat and what happens?
Someone mentioned the forever war and scifi being prescient. I think Asimov or Bradbury or someone said that great scifi was like being able to predict the sexual revolution from the creation of drive-in movie theaters.
What happens if we can control fat?
“Take all of the fat women and make them no longer fat and what happens?”
Higher birthrate?
Don’t worry, Wal Mart will open a clinic to replace it:
http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2014/06/wal-mart-tests-health-care-clinics-with-4-office-visits-for-its-employees.html/
Doctors for the most part can’t be replaced by slave labor. But they could be replaced by robots built with slave labor.
Gas prices are too expensive to drive to the clinic. Lola is thinking of starting a cab service that specializes in swervy driving and bumpy rides, kind of like Über. He’s gonna call it Lüber.
Global warming cured my impotence!
Onion article about Al Gore?
Floriduh Condo-Partment-Hotel-Section 8 housing for everyone!! Gambled on RE as an investment? BZZZZZZZ- you LOSE!!
http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2014/6/26/condo_owners_losing_.html
“Investors are taking over Cambria at Polo South in Kissimmee and turning it into section 8 housing.
By Caroline Rowland, Reporter
Last Updated: Thursday, June 26, 2014, 5:45 PM
Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on google Share on email More Sharing Services 14
read the statutes
KISSIMMEE —
When Rafael Mangual bought his condo at the Cambria at Polo South in Osceola County, he thought it was going to be a nice community — a place he could call home for years to come.
“It was beautiful, the pool was clean at all times, they kept the place clean.” Mangual said.
Mangual paid $176,000 for his condo in 2007. Over the years the community made updates and upgrades. But condo owners said they have watched the property itself deteriorate. Many condos were foreclosed on or rented out.
“Now it’s a dump, a real dump,” Mangual said.
In February Mangual got a letter saying their condos were turning into apartments with Section 8 housing. They would be forced to sell their condo to the new owner. Instead of the $176,000 Mangual paid for, the owners appraised his condo at $66,000. That was a best and final offer.
“I’m out $110,000,” Mangual said.
That’s money Mangual still has to pay off, with nothing to show for it.
Legal Analyst Jaya Balani said what’s happened to Mangual is happening to people all around Florida.
“They were built at a time when the market was really high,” Balani said. “The company who buys them out is either trying to go bankrupt, or they are trying to sell them to make their money back, for what they bought them for originally. So then they get the people together to vote on them and they make good money to convert them to apartments.”
The company told us they gave all the condo owners a good deal, and said Florida law that allows them to do this.
Changes made to Florida law in 2007 allows investors who buy 80 percent of a condo complex to force the remaining condo owners to sell…”
B…b…but housing only goes up! The NAR said so.
So the banking cartel and their minions really do understand the market value of real estate after all… At least when it suits them.
imagine folks that bought in 2005- the UBERPEAK
Where was that the peak? Where I was it was 07-08.
Well Florida was out in front…
So what happens if the necessary Section 8 Vouchers don’t materialize? In Denver, there is a lottery just to get on the waiting list.
So what happens if the necessary Section 8 Vouchers don’t materialize? In Denver, there is a lottery just to get on the waiting list.
In that case, the ROI for these investors will be disappointing. That’s probably very common in Florida.
Is the worry about the landlords collecting the Section 8 rent or the people that need the housing?
Also, I think there are ways around the Section 8 waiting lists, like if you suddenly find yourself “homeless.” Some of the accidental landlords here must have some wisdom on this that they can share.
No you are not really out the $110K….you probably should have filed for BK years ago, so why not do it now you have a real good incentive…..the appraisal.
Saw this in Maryland. you can’t beat the well connected pigmen. Mangual better just apply for some of that government Sec 8 cheese.
Obama wants $500 MILLION to arm “moderate” Syrian rebels, who he says will be carefully vetted. Wait, WHAT?
You can’t make this stuff up. This guy is seriously mentally deranged. Needs a rubber room, not half a billion bucks.
Maybe we should be grateful that Obama is being a “transparent administration” by asking for the money openly. Past Presidents just sent money on the sly via the CIA or black market dealers without telling anyone. Makes me wonder if this is just a trial balloon, or some pre-arranged agreement with Congress.
But I agree, this is insane. In a place where feuds last thousands of years and friendships last about 10 minutes, there is no such thing as “careful vetting.”
“Makes me wonder if this is just a trial balloon, or some pre-arranged agreement with Congress.”
It’s the same thing he did before when Republicans were criticizing him for doing nothing on Syria - he dared them to vote one way or another, and put their position on the record. Of course they were too chicken to do that - they just wanted an excuse to criciticize President Obama. It’s the same thing now - dare the Republicans to vote on the record, and then watch them slink into the shadows.
Is asking that you should be grateful for someone being insane a sign of mental illness?
I think this is the future of the republican party: to stay on the sidelines, complain, shriek, and tear their hair in anguish.
the future of the republican party: to stay on the sidelines, complain, shriek, and tear their hair in anguish.
Repubs ae freaking out more and more. It’s a pathetic party these days.
Jason Stanford: Republicans have mainstreamed radicalism
http://www.gazettextra.com/20140626/jason_stanford_republicans_have_mainstreamed_radicalism#sthash.uCOGjRl2.dpuf
…Tea party darling Ted Cruz likes to quote Margaret Thatcher’s saying, “First you win the argument, then you win the vote.” But Republicans and like-minded domestic terrorists speak of “taking back this country” because they are losing the arguments—and the elections. Reading from the same script as those who would take up arms against our country because you lost the White House doesn’t make you a patriot. In fact, it makes you a traitor.
….It is getting harder to tell the right-wing nut jobs who shoot law enforcement officers from the right-wing politicians running for president. ….What’s new is that the GOP has mainstreamed radicalism and turned violently anti-government rhetoric into Republican Party doctrine.
….This kind of thing has been bubbling in the Republican Party stew since Barack Obama won in 2008…. At the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal—widely assumed to be preparing a presidential run—said, “I can sense right now a rebellion brewing amongst these United States, where people are ready for a hostile takeover of Washington, D.C., to preserve the American Dream for our children and grandchildren.”
Now that kind of violent, inflammatory language seems ordinary, at least for Republicans.
Dressing sedition up in revolutionary garb would just be embarrassing for Republicans if it did not parallel a rise in domestic terrorism. More Americans have died at the hands of radical, anti-government Americans since 9/11 than because of Islamic jihadist terrorism….the call is coming from inside the house, America. A neo-Nazi killed three residents of a Jewish Community Center in Kansas. In January, a right-wing extremist shot a Bureau of Land Management ranger and a California highway patrolman. Militia members pointed guns at federal officers at the Bundy ranch in Nevada, and anti-government “patriots” murdered two Las Vegas policemen. These would-be revolutionaries are taking back this country one body bag at a time. We have met the enemy, and he is us.
Spoken like a true badge-licking, uniform-fetishist, statist.
“But Republicans and like-minded domestic terrorists speak of “taking back this country” because they are losing the arguments—and the elections.”
This is a pretty accurate statement. The Republican Party is in dire straits.
“The Republican Party is in dire straits.”
I dunno, the GOP has God on their side.
Yeah, but the Libs have the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The battle should be epic.
When the R’s didn’t vote, they spun it as “We exerted our Congressional Powers! We stopped Obama from invading Syria! Go Us!” But to be fair, the D’s who went marching and rallying spun it too, as “the people have spoken, no more invasion, no more war, go us!”
The republicans need to understand that war is the only thing that will put them in power anymore. It’s the only context that their constant hysteria works in.
I am not grateful for anything this dictatorial, sociopathic assclown has done. Although it has changed a lot of people’s minds about Carter being the worst president ever. If a Republican was ruling via executive order like the current fascist, the Democrats would screaming ‘treason’!!
As you can see from above, they will defend their Messiah to their deaths. (If you are going to have a Messiah, I suppose this makes sense)
Although I am greatful for it, at this point what plays out every day on this blog is a testament to human stupidity. How anyone who isn’t just a partisan shill hack can still be defending this guy is amazing. How a liberal could be defending him is astounding. (Cue MightyMike to say, yeah, well, you should criticize others also or some such nonsense).
Thanks Ben!
I guess my “maybe” sarcasm wasn’t strong enough. I was pointing out the hypocrisy: The R’s like to criticize Obama for going back on his promise of “most transparent administration.” And here Obama is being VERY transparent, and people are now complaining about that.
Super transparent on the IRS and NSA.
“If a Republican was ruling via executive order like the current fascist, the Democrats would screaming ‘treason’!!”
*cough*Bush*cough*gitmo*cough*extraordinary rendition*cough*free speech zones*
¨ ruling via executive order like the current fascist¨
Since the 70’s, the president who issued the most executive orders was Reagan, with 381, then comes Clinton with 364, Nixon with 346, Carter 320, GW Bush 291, Ford 169, GHWBush 166. Obama currently has issued 180.
To compare on numbers alone is nothing short of ignorance of the facts. He doesn’t fool around with the little stuff. His EOs overreach by magnitudes anything done by prior Presidents. His EOs include outright re-writing of laws passed by congress.
I think there should be a method to force ALL presidents to follow the Constitution. As this administration has so aptly shown, there really is no reasonable way to restrain overreaches short of impeachment which ain’t never going to happen.
Every president we’ve had from Clinton on has committed treason. That’s just part of the job now.
We spent billions building up the Iraqi military, and now this:
http://www.longwarjournal.org/threat-matrix/archives/2014/06/isis_holds_military_parade_in.php#
Remember 9/11
Power of pride
These colors don’t run
Support our troops
Let’s roll
Mission accomplished
Et cetera
+1 Goon…Looking back…Those ba$stards in the White House played the country like a Pied Piper…I take comfort in that I was never on board with it…
Whaddya mean you can’t run a foreign policy based on magnetic ribbon slogans? That’s unpossible!
Keep defending the Messiah by bashing the other guy.
Keep defending the Messiah by bashing the other guy ??
You read what ever you want into my post…Fact is Jack, your guy killed thousands, maimed 10’s of thousands, and spent trillions…And got what back in return except that he got a big-old-hard-on while doing it…
You are still doing it.
“Fact is Jack, your guy killed thousands, maimed 10’s of thousands, and spent trillions…And got what back in return except that he got a big-old-hard-on while doing it…”
+a zillion. Best post of the day.
We’ve already established that. What about NOW?
Well, John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Dick Cheney are Republicans. Thay all blame Obama for pulling troops out of Iraq, and now they want him to send them back. Any volunteers?
Still doing it.
You have some trouble accepting reality, Favela. “Your Team” uber alles!
One day you’ll learn that none of the people on either side give a sh*t about you.
But we have the enduring gratitude of our Iraqi allies.
Oh, wait….
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-27/america-deluded-us-slams-angry-iraq-pm-will-buy-russian-jets-instead-fight-against-i
I still say the biggest oil find will be in the Mekong delta….just need more time till the Viet vets die off or get Alzheimers.
————————-
I’m not sure how much longer it will be before all Middle Eastern oil stops flowing west… not that it matters since we’re now “north american energy independent…” for the next 5-10 years. 2025 is when this bird comes homes to roost.
You forgot ‘we will be greeted as liberators’
Yes build up Iraqi military, all the while in this country it is either turn down economy or never have money to build up America’s decaying infrastructure?
500m dollars going to the factions why?
Obama wants $500 MILLION to arm “moderate” Syrian rebels, who he says will be carefully vetted. Wait, WHAT?
Are those the ones who merely beat “infidels” instead of killing them?
I am tired of sending $1 to fund any of these middle eastern jihadist psychopaths. I think this is another case of Obama going Uncle Tom, and trying to appease those he feels subservient to rather than do the right thing and stay the heck out of it regardless of the political blowback. Obama has no spine whatsoever. It is a shame he turned out to be such a wimp.
Well, Obama hasn’t sent any money yet. As Dguy said, this might be another head-fake. (I’m still of the mind that threatening to invade Syria was also a head-fake.)
But I agree, I don’t want to send these guys a penny. They might be “our bastards” today, but history has proven that they will be someone else’s bastards tomorrow, only with American guns.
“May the odds ever be in your favor” - hope and defiance.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2013/12/09/may-the-odds-ever-be-in-your-favor-hope-defiance/
While US Attorney Generals are very selectively starting to go after foreign banks for fraud and criminality (leaving our own TBTF banks untouched, naturally), one wonders when the affected countries (UK and France, so far) are going to retaliate by going after US banks.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10929245/Banks-pull-out-of-Barclays-dark-pool.html
Well I found something more boring than watching soccer yesterday afternoon, listening to soccer on the radio.
I was driving back up to Jupiter from Sloans Curve and I hit the ESPN radio station that I somtimes listen to Mike and Mike on in the morning. The “big game” was on so I tried listening for a few minutes. It was painful.
I will now try to put into words the excitement that could be felt listening to the broadcast.
He’s done cleaning his brushes now and he is rolling up his tarp and putting it in the back of his van. If you look closely you can still see the brush marks where he cut into the ceiling. He’s out of the driveway now and on to his next job, but back where the action is there is still a shine on the wet paint where the sun is flashing across the wall. Looking even more closely, the light nap of the roller is clearly visible as the excitement in the room begins to build.
(1 hour later after talking about the painters first job 3 years ago, his brother and the difference between semi-gloss and flat paint.)
Yes! Yes! I think it’s tacky now.
(8 hours later if you are not hanging from the end of a rope)
Look how the roller marks have blended in, splendid, splendid. We can only anticipate the action in the next 16 hours of the drying process.
Ever see the Simpsons soccer parody episode?
It is all about the Marxist agenda. You don’t know what is good, you should worship and emulate socialist Europeans and corrupt Hispanish Central and South Americans.
You have been told that it is action packed and you WILL believe it.
Rush Limbaugh was saying something like that yesterday. The USA team advanced after losing to Germany. That’s why socialists like soccer. You can succeed by losing.
Mikey, no one believes you listen to Rush Limbaugh.
Lots have said that same thing. Frankly the advocates for the poor in places like Mexico ought to be down on soccer because it is a circus for the poor that distracts from the fact that the country is ruled by the rich elite yet there is such poverty and lawlessness. Wrap your mind around that.
I bet a few people believe me.
If your remarks about Mexican soccer and politics have any merit, they could also be applied to professional sports and politics in America.
And there you have it. The same thing applies to the US? Because we are so much like Mexico. Seriously? For all of our problems we’re not exactly a lawless land full of peasants being exploited by the Patrons and drug lords where millions are fleeing the desperate poverty.
The NSA spying on your Iphone is kind of a first world problem.
USA! Americans have futebol fever. They are everywhere in Rio de Janeiro. The World Cup is fun down here. I met some nice Argentinians too. I rode my bike wearing a USA garb down Copacabana and Ipanema beach and no one threw a beer bottle at me. Go Brazil tomorrow and USA on Tuesday! USA! USA!
World Cup 2014: The United States finally embraces the beautiful game as World Cup fever hits
4 days ago http://www.mirror.co…...
The Daily Mirror’s US editor Christopher Bucktin on how the tide has … States finally embraces the beautiful …
US is No. 1 at World Cup (in visiting fans)
USA TODAY-Jun 26, 2014
CNNMoney (press release)-Jun 23, 2014
Reflecting the growing popularity of soccer in the United States, the 2014 World Cup keeps setting new ratings records. The USA-Portugal …
World Cup becoming biggest social-media event ever
CNN-Jun 23, 2014
Soccer Mad Fans Pack Downtown Bars
WKRG-TV-15 hours ago
Soccer Mad Fans Pack Downtown Bars … “It’s excellent,” said Burn Pelton, a member of the American Outlaws, U.S. Soccer’s official fan club.
Really, I venture to say very few watch soccer in America, if and when we get the boot, it will be a lot like housing numbers, not good?
very few watch soccer in America,
That’s what I used to think.
What massive World Cup ratings really mean for American soccer
http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/what-massive-world-cup-ratings-really-mean-for-american-soccer.html
…The 24.7 million people that watched USA-Portugal across ESPN and Univision was on par with the audience drawn by the BCS National Championship game in January (26.4 million). It smashed the Final Four, the Masters, the Stanley Cup Final, NBA Finals, and pretty much everything in between outside the NFL and Olympics this year. To put it in further perspective, Kentucky-UConn drew 21.2 million viewers in April. Game 6 of the World Series drew 19.2 million viewers last fall. Game 5 of the NBA Finals drew 17.9 million. USA-Portugal beat them all. Handily.
Those are all awesome numbers for soccer fans and anyone associated with the sport. It’s something to be celebrated and it is evidence that soccer has “made it” so we can stop having that silly and utterly cliched debate. 25 million people don’t tune in to watch something that is “foreign” or not in the “mainstream.” So let’s just stop all the nonsense debating soccer’s worth or “Americanness.” Let’s stop all the “get off my lawn” rants from curmudgeonly sports columnists and the tired complaining about people liking soccer meaning we’re going to start living under the British monarchy once again.
Really, I venture to say very few watch soccer in America
FWIW, the USA-Portugal game had higher ratings than the NBA finals (yeah, I know, that doesn’t say much).
Moss from the IT Crowd on Football (Soccer)
“and apparently, that deserves a round of applause…”
In junior high, the phys ed program was totally convinced that soccer was going to take over the country. So instead of having us just play, the gym teachers actually gave us a written exam on the rules, complete with a lesson on the metric system. It was a pretty funny sight: the big agressive boys lying on the gym floor struggling with essay questions. It was the only good grade in gym class that I ever got.
“complete with a lesson on the metric system”
Royal Cheese?
I put the metric system in the category of those now pushing stand up desks because sitting supposedly takes years off your life. They know if they can force change in one place you will be more pliable thereafter for other stuff. All done to make a buck for the Sun Gods through their sinner minions on Madison Ave and their lying internet ants.
pushing stand up desks because sitting supposedly takes years off your life.
I thought that was more of a posture thing. When I sit slumped over a PC all day I feel a lot of strain in my upper back the next day. On the other hand, if I had to stand at a monitor all day, I could see my lower back giving me problems the next day.
I thought the reason for the stand up desks, which allow for the monitor and keyboard to be adjusted separately, was to allow you to change position instead of being locked into fixed positions.
See Bill’s posts from yesterday on this. I will not view it as a sign of mental illness.
I put the metric system in the category of those now pushing stand up desks
FWIW, metric is pretty much used in all mechanical work these days. And it has to be, as you can’t export non metric stuff, no one will buy it.
Sure, you still buy bananas by the pound and gas by the gallon, but behind the scenes the conversion has already happened.
I saw it. I will not view that as a sign that I’m not mentally ill.
On the other hand, if I had to stand at a monitor all day, I could see my lower back giving me problems the next day.
My lower back complains intensely if I stand at a monitor for 15 minutes. Then the blood starts pooling in my legs.
LOL!
Another massive commercial real estate bubble (and product of Keynesian monetary and economic policy) that won’t end well.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-26/china-s-manhattan-project-marred-by-ghost-buildings.html
Yep.
HOUSING ISN’T OVERVALUED, EXCEPT IN THESE 10 SPOTS
Source: Wall St. Journal
http://www2.realtoractioncenter.com/site/R?i=w7G-zxVJ9pjzNdnbM5wWtQ
And you believe it. You’ve got alot to learn.
Were looking for a couple CM interns in the bay area for the summer. Are you working now?
“’There will have to be a reckoning,’ said Stephen Green, head of Greater China research at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong. Sales of bonds by local-government vehicles to repay bank loans are just ‘buying time,’ he said. ‘The people will pay’ for it through bank bailouts, recapitalization with public money or inflation.”
“… bank bailouts …public money …”
(chuckles and giggles)
(You can’t lose with the stuff I use.)
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
“(and product of Keynesian monetary and economic policy)”
Getting really tired of people calling this obvious supply-side policy “keynesian”.
Kenesian policy involves putting money into the hands of those who would otherwise have none (as opposed to billionaire bankers at the top).
This allows them to continue buying the necessities of life, thus boosting demand *in the short term* and giving the free market time to grow new players to replace the businesses which crashed and burned. (Of course the government stopped allowing large firms to fail, this turns a capitalist society into a corrupt incumbent-zombie apocalypse.)
It works fine for recessions caused by cyclical forces, but if the forces are structural it must be paired with sound long-term policy designed to correct or replace those structural deficiencies.
another skateboarder’s paradise
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-builds-own-manhattan-except-093125506.html
Good lord. China has thousands of years of history and culture, and yet they seem incapable of doing anything other than copy and counterfeit from newer cultures. This time they are pirating architecture:
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2013/jan/07/china-copycat-architecture-seeing-double
Ever notice how people use the bubble as a reason there can’t be a bubble:
‘The sharp slowdown in Dubai’s property market may call to mind the specter of its spectacular crash during the global financial crisis, but analysts say it’s different this time. “We have seen a bit of a slowdown in prices. That doesn’t suggest we’ll see falls going forward,” Khawar Khan, research manager at Knight Frank, said.’
‘In the first quarter, the prices of prime properties rose just 1 percent from the previous quarter, while sales volumes were down 10 percent on quarter and 28 percent from a year earlier, Khan noted. He attributes the decline to cooling measures the government implemented late last year to prevent a replay of the emirate’s last property cycle.’
“The story this time around is different,” Khan said. “Last time, we saw a massive loss of confidence across the board, across the world.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-dubai-property-malaise-different-020103528.html
This time around.
Meanwhile, an increasingly ugly sectarian conflict is gaining force in the region. Bullish!
‘
What more can you say?
Was just wondering about you, Ben. Sounds like the move went well.
Housing Boom on the Horizon
http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/26/real_estate/harvard-millennials-housing/index.html
Yes, as all those Central American children flooding across our southern border get no-interest housing loans as a reward for assuring a Democrat supermajority.
Got foodstamps? They should set up kiosks along the boarder with food stamp apps.
Where is Nicolas Retsinas these days? Did the Housing Bubble outlive his tenure at Harvard’s JCHS?
rolling in the dough just like mozillo.
I stopped reading at “this pent-up demand will give a big boost to the housing sector”.
There is no pent-up demand. That $1.2 of outstanding student loan debt won’t be getting paid off folding sweaters at the Gap. These kidz will not be “snapping up” $500,000 starter homes.
the student loan debt will be forgiven just like home loans were forgiven. debt is an opportunity to get ahead.
I’m not seeing that development. Do you have any evidence (besides shithouse poetry)?
debt can be forgiven with the stroke of a pen. afterall is just a promise to pay. the original money loaned was created out of nothing so nothing is really lost except the opportunity to collect interest payments .
I suppose one possible way forward would be for the Fed to use QE4 to snap up securitized student loan debt and bury it on its balance sheet forever. If the Fed took possession of the asset side of student loan debt, no person would be harmed by a student loan debt jubilee.
where is the fiat coming from to fund those loans?
“…where is the fiat coming from to fund those loans?”
QE4, bro…
How are they going to forgive some student loan debt yet keep others paying? The minute they start any massive forgiveness everyone else stops paying.
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature!
Favela, I guess one way to reduce moral hazarad would be to forgive the loan debt for tuition only, and then only in bankruptcy. Room and board is still on the student. That will stop much of the partying. The disadvanatage is that it does nothing about rising tuition to pay administrators and erect shiny buildings.
“How are they going to forgive some student loan debt yet keep others paying? The minute they start any massive forgiveness everyone else stops paying.”
If it works for mortgages, why not for student loans?
Student loans won’t just be “forgiven.” They’ll be assumed by taxpayers. The Democrats’ “benevolence” will reap them new entitlement votes while their bankster patrons will reap rich profits to keep the payola going.
Don’t forget that these kidz trying to do something productive are also on the hook for slavery reparations in addition to their student loans. No jubilee.
They will just swap out the notes with shares of Facebook and Twitter and everyone will be a millionaire.
Student loans won’t just be “forgiven.” They’ll be assumed by taxpayers.
What’s another trillion tossed on top of the existing mountain of debt that will never be paid back?
Big question on azdude’s proposed student debt jubilee: Who would pay for that?
Digging Out of Debt
Obama’s Move to Help Students Is Not as Forgiving as It Seems
JUNE 23, 2014
Anna Bahr
If you’re a student loan-burdened recent college graduate putting the final touches on a note to President Obama, thanking him for his recent executive order on debt repayment, don’t get too excited.
Mr. Obama formally widened the pool of eligible participants in the Pay as You Earn program (PAYE) and said it could save recent graduates hundreds of dollars every month, helping an additional five million people manage their student debt. It fulfills a promise — made in a chipper, animated advertisement posted to Mr. Obama’s YouTube channel in 2011 — that graduates would not have to make student loan repayments greater than 10 percent of their income.
But if you look at the numbers closely, PAYE saves you money only if you borrowed big and earn little.
…
Rut-roh, Liberace’s gonna have a conniption fit at this post.
And does it really allow you to count your wife’s income separate? Really? There are some edge players here I think.
So borrow big and earn little, already!
We all make things so complicated here sometimes, when it’s really quite simple.
Yep…Now that a college education is the difference between a decent retail job and being “marginally attached,” instead of the difference between white collar with decent benefits and blue collar, paying back more money is going to be harder.
+1 Good perspective.
There are pent-up lies to be told by those who get their funding allocations from the REIC.
I really like the phrasing, “pent up lies”!
You can see theyve recently come out on this blog due to the fear of the slowdown.
now thats what I’m talking about. Homes and stocks have unlimited values. The more they go up the more money is created out of thin air. Bankers are pissing all over themselves as home and stock values prices rise.
The blue collar worker is scr@wed.
Blue collar workers (and their middle class compatriots) brought this on themselves when they elected the likes of Bush, Obama, and the other crony capitalists of our captured Republicrat duopoly who were bought and paid for by Wall Street and the mega-corporations.
I have no sympathy for those who voted for the status quo or have declined to take an active role in dumping corrupt members of both parties. They contributed directly, by their action or inaction, to their own demise.
“They contributed directly, by their action or inaction, to their own demise.”
A work of art.
And the alternatives were?
Ross Perot?
Ralph Nader?
The PTB would never have allowed any non-pre-approved candidates . . .
Shift it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gYE5TyijxE
Just something kind of funny.
Bulgaria has already experienced a bank run on it’s forth biggest bank, but rest assured, it’s all due to malicious rumors instead of any underlying liquidity crisis or malinvestment. Their central banker said so.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-27/bulgarian-lenders-under-attack-central-bank-chief-warns.html
Are the bond vigilantes trying to price in a looming recession?
June 27, 2014, 8:58 a.m. EDT
10-year Treasury gains for fifth straight session
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The benchmark 10-year Treasury note inched up Friday, on track for the fifth straight session of gains. Data on U.S. consumer sentiment is due at 9:55 a.m. Eastern. “Unless there’s more month-end and quarter-end buying that needs to be accomplished, we’re not sure who is keen to buy current levels,” David Ader, head of government bond strategy at CRT Capital Group LLC, said in a note. The 10-year Treasury note (10_YEAR -0.24%) yield, which moves inversely to the price, fell 1 basis point to 2.520%.
it will be a cold day n h@ll before bond yields rise substantially.
Two reasons they wont:
1. It would put a fork in the housing recovery
2. The govt would be forced to pay more interest on the debt.
If you could control the interest that you pay on your loan wouldn’t you want to keep it as low as possible? You could borrow more too.
Got alpo?
I can’t see why this is wrong.
Got alpo?
Stocking up as we speak, thank you very much. Buying all I can before my purchasing power vanishes completely.
I was never one to believe in expiration dates either, so it’s all good.
“Got alpo?”
Add Frank’s Hot Sauce, and you’ll never taste the difference.
If we are not currently in a recession or about to enter one, it will be the first time since WWII that such a steep drop in quarterly GDP occurred w/o a contemporaneous recession.
recessions are a thing of the past. Rising asset values backed by a printing press are a thing of beauty. Got equity?
I sometimes have similar thoughts, but then I think back to the near-total collapse of the global financial system in 2008. Weren’t recessions a thing of the past before that event, as well?
It was sure a great opportunity to create 4 trillion dollars of new fiat.
That’s a good way to think about it. How could 4 trillion in new fiat have been handed off to Wall Street investing banks without a Great Recession to legitimize the largess? In a crisis, none of the usual rules apply, and there are no atheists in foxholes, either.
now that is sure genius thinking.
recessions are a thing of the past.
Recessions are, by definition, something that is defined. When you can manipulated the numbers so that there is never technically a recession, then you can avoid recessions.
It is like if you pretend your marriage is still intact, it will be.
Recession? Steep drop?
Go here … if you dare …
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/M2V
Why does the M2 velocity keep plumbing new depths?
The connection of falling M2 to recessions seems week according to that figure — i.e. falling M2 is more of a lagging (after recessions) than contemporaneous (during recessions) indicator. But I agree that ever lower M2V to record-low post WWII levels many years after the Great Recession supposedly ended is an ominous development.
“weak” (yegads…)
“Why does the M2 velocity keep plumbing new depths?”
Uh, maybe because people with lots of money are not spending much of it?
Because the trickle down is not trickling down?
Trickle down has slowed to a trickle. Just like in GD1. (Remember those Three Stooges episodes where Moe Howard looked longingly through the restaurant window at the rich guy inside who was eating a steak dinner?)
True contrarians invested in long-term government bonds this year
By: John Waggoner June 25, 2014 12:33 pm
Most people fancy themselves contrarians: Bold, innovative thinkers who bravely do the opposite of the thundering herd on the street.
This year, those are the people who invested in long-term government bonds.
After all, if anything has seemed like a lock the past year, it was that interest rates would rise, obliterating long-term government bond holders. Rates are so low! They have to go higher, right?
In fact, the exact opposite has happened. As of Tuesday, the average long-term government bond fund was up 11.7%, vs. 6.5% for the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index with dividends reinvested, according to Morningstar.
What happened? Bond traders loathe the thought of inflation, which erodes the value of a bond’s fixed income payments. When they think inflation is going to rise, they demand higher bond yields — and lower bond prices. The yield on the bellwether 10-year Treasury note was 3.03% on the last trading day of 2013, and most pundits expected it to march higher.
Higher yields and lower bond prices seemed like even more of a lock last week when the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the consumer price index, the government’s main gauge of prices, rose 0.4% in May, bringing the headline annual change to 2.1%. Even taking out the volatile food and energy components — which the Federal Reserve couldn’t control if it wanted to — inflation rose at a 2% annual pace the past 12 months.
But the reaction to the CPI was surprisingly muted. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was 2.60% on June 16, the day before the CPI release, and it rose to 2.65% on June 17, when the BLS let the world know about the unexpectedly high inflation number.
Today, the 10-year T-note yields 2.54%. What gives?
* Gross domestic product for the first quarter was even worse after being updated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. GDP fell 2.9%, the worst showing in five years. Falling economic activity typically means lower inflation and lower yields.
* Wages continue to be stagnant. You can’t have a wage-price spiral without wages. Until the point that your boss gives you a 5% raise because of rising prices and a tight labor market, you’ll probably cut back your spending when prices rise.
No one knows when interest rates will rise again. But they seem like they’re in no hurry now — and those few brave souls who invested in long-term government bonds are looking like this year’s real contrarians.
I bought and sold early (as usual!) — bought the dip late last summer and offloaded on green shoots of recovery this spring.
Better to be three hours early than 1 minute late.
I bought and sold early (as usual!) — bought the dip late last summer and offloaded on green shoots of recovery this spring.”
How funny I sold some stock and bought a treasury BOND fund
I don’t think things are going that great .. looking at Gold Miners also look’s to me like Iraq is going to fall ..
The futures aren’t looking so bright now for Mr Market. What gives?
New York Markets Open in: 0:00:44
Futures: S&P 500 -0.3% DOW -0.3% NASDAQ -0.2%
Is the dollar loosely pegged to $1300/oz gold these days?
June 27, 2014, 9:06 a.m. EDT
U.S. stock futures slip; investors await consumer data
Nike rises premarket after better-than-expected earnings
By Sara Sjolin and Anora Mahmudova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures point to a lower open on Wall Street Friday, poised to build on the prior day’s losses as investors wait for consumer-sentiment data to gauge if the economy is back on a stronger growth track.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJU4 -0.19%) slipped 30 points, or 0.2%, to 16,731, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPU4 -0.23%) gave up 4.60 points, or 0.2%, to 1,943.90. The Nasdaq 100 index (NDU4 -0.11%) slipped 5.75 points, or 0.2%, to 3,811.75.
…
“The futures aren’t looking so bright now for Mr Market. What gives?”
What gives? How about:
The short-term “suck ‘em in” stage has run its course so now it’s time for the short-term “shake ‘em out” stage to commence.
Time to press the button under the roulette wheel.
I wish I was making this up. I’m posting a representative quote but you need to visit the link and read this to see how unhinged some people are.
From Slate:
“Infant Gender Assignment Unnecessary and Potentially Harmful”
http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2014/06/26/infant_gender_assignment_unnecessary_and_potentially_harmful.html
————————————–
(excerpt)
Would you consent to this treatment for your child? A good chance for improved social privilege, with a comparatively tiny risk of negative (albeit potentially catastrophic) consequences? Or would the stakes be too high: Russian roulette with your baby’s life?
It’s a strange hypothetical scenario to imagine. Pressure to accept a medical treatment, no tangible proof of its necessity, its only benefits conferred by the fact that everyone else already has it, and coming at a terrible expense to those 1 or 2 percent who have a bad reaction. It seems unlikely that doctors, hospitals, parents, or society in general would tolerate a standard practice like this.
Except they already do. The imaginary treatment I described above is real. Obstetricians, doctors, and midwives commit this procedure on infants every single day, in every single country. In reality, this treatment is performed almost universally without even asking for the parents’ consent, making this practice all the more insidious. It’s called infant gender assignment: When the doctor holds your child up to the harsh light of the delivery room, looks between its legs, and declares his opinion: It’s a boy or a girl, based on nothing more than a cursory assessment of your offspring’s genitals.
Liberace!
The doctor took one look at Lola and slapped his mother.
Gender is a social construct. Sex is a biological attribute.
In your FACE, Feinstein, you evil hag
Washington Post - German government to drop Verizon over NSA spying fears
“now the German government is ending its contract with Verizon over fears the telecom provider could be letting U.S. intelligence agencies snoop on sensitive communications, the Associated Press reports.
“There are indications that Verizon is legally required to provide certain things to the NSA, and that’s one of the reason the cooperation with Verizon won’t continue,” German Interior Ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told AP.
Good for Germany!
Surely every congressperson who had Verizon stock knew about this before it was announced and sold off accordingly. It’s not even illegal for them. Congress is specifically exempt from insider trading laws.
The ghost of Steve Jobs tells me that VZ is down 0.15, to 49.06. I guess traders didn’t hear the news yet?
And you love it huh Liberace?
It’s another beautiful day in the North American Union.
Nancy Pelosi to travel to border, meet detained minors
By LAUREN FRENCH | 6/26/14 6:42 PM EDT
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will travel to the southern border of the U.S. on Saturday to be briefed by Customs and Border Protection on the flood of unaccompanied minors entering the country.
The California Democrat will also meet with a group of children held at the South Texas Detention Facility.
The rush of children has turned into a crisis for Customs and Border Protection, which does not have the capacity to house the children for the 72 hours before they are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services to await an immigration hearing.
Pelosi will be joined by Democratic Reps. Filemon Vela of Texas, Rubén E. Hinojosa of Texas and Steven Horsford of Nevada. Hinojosa is the chairman of the Chairman, Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Vela sits on the House Homeland Security Committee.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/nancy-pelosi-border-detained-minors-108371.html - 96k -
————————————————————————–
Feds advertised for escort services for unaccompanied alien children in January
Written by Michele Hickford, Editor-in-Chief on June 19, 2014
If you think this sudden flood of illegal immigrant children is spontaneous, think again.
According to a “help wanted” Request For Information (RFI) posted on FedBizOpps.gov, the feds were looking for vendors to help escort unaccompanied alien children (UAC) in JANUARY of this year.
The specific vendor requirements state:
ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is seeking the services of a responsible vendor that shares the philosophy of treating all UAC with dignity and respect, while adhering to standard operating procedures and policies that allow for an effective, efficient, and incident free transport. The Contractor shall provide unarmed escort staff, including management, supervision, manpower, training, certifications, licenses, drug testing, equipment, and supplies necessary to provide on-demand escort services for non-criminal/non-delinquent unaccompanied alien children ages infant to 17 years of age, seven (7) days a week, 365 days a year. Transport will be required for either category of UAC or individual juveniles, to include both male and female juveniles. There will be approximately 65,000 UAC in total: 25% local ground transport, 25% via ICE charter and 50% via commercial air.
You can view the full posting here.
I tried calling both of the contact names listed on the page to see if they’d found a vendor yet, but got voicemail.
The question is, how in January, did the U.S. government know up to 65,000 unaccompanied illegal alien children would be arriving?
Please send me evidence that this is not an orchestrated invasion, and I will remove my tinfoil hat.
Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2014/06/feds-advertised-escort-services-unaccompanied-alien-children-january/#J1xFRjqVA4cQwoqm.99
I hope Nancy Pelosi catches scabies from one of those kidz
“The rush of children has turned into a crisis for Customs and Border Protection, which does not have the capacity to house the children for the 72 hours before they are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services to await an immigration hearing.”
Report: 90% of illegals skip immigration court appearances; 135,000 will go missing
By Paul Bedard | June 26, 2014 | 11:35 am
Ninety percent of the mostly-teen illegal immigrants flooding over the Mexico-U.S. border won’t show up for their immigration court hearing, meaning at least 135,000 of the youths will simply vanish into the country this year alone, according to a key House committee chairman.
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, who on Wednesday held a hearing to raise national security concerns about the new wave of illegals, revealed Thursday that many of the teens are placed with relatives, including parents who are in the U.S. illegally, and then ignore court orders to appear for immigration hearings.
Once they are picked up by immigration officials, “they are given a court date, expected to return, a year or more later,” said the Virginia lawmaker. “The overwhelming majority of them, more than 90 percent, do not return for their hearings and as a result we have a problem,” he added.
Sign Up for the Paul Bedard newsletter!
Please enter your email address below to begin receiving the Paul Bedard newsletter.
You must enter a valid email address in the field above!
Thank you for signing up for the Paul Bedard newsletter! You should receive your first newsletter very soon.
We’re sorry, there was an error processing your newsletter signup. Please click here to visit our Newsletter Signup Center to register for this newsletter.
Goodlatte estimated that 150,000 of the youths will cross the border this year, 10 times last year’s number, and virtually all are claiming to be crime victims in their home countries. He spoke with reporters at a media breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
The congressman will join several others next week in a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border to size up the situation. But he said that the president must begin enforcing the border and institute a zero tolerance on illegal immigration. “They should be required to leave,” he said.
Several Republicans have charged that President Obama is ignoring laws on the books that require tighter control of the border. As a result, said Goodlatte, illegals think they have the green light to enter the United States.
“It’s causing even more illegal immigration to occur,” he said.
“Many of them show right up at the border stations and say, ‘Here I am, let me into the country,’ ” said Goodlatte. “Others who are apprehended crossing the border imediately pull out of their pocket what to say,” he added.
washingtonexaminer.com/…/article/2550217 - 57k -
“135,000 of the youths will simply vanish”
Vanish until they turn 18, register to vote, and vote Democrat Party for life.
It is a LOT more than 135,000. Those are old estimates based on before the massive publicity this is getting. Try a million or more now.
Also, eventually the Mexican kids figure out they can just claim to be Honduran and get in too. If that hasnt already happened. Then it is maybe 4 million.
What’s a little swine flu between friends, LOLZ
How do you say ACORN in Spanish?
“Others who are apprehended crossing the border imediately pull out of their pocket what to say,”
The ‘cheat sheet’ found near Mexico border shows that shows illegal immigrants how to stay in the United States if detained by authorities
By Michael Zennie
Published: 14:51 EST, 26 June 2014
The following is a rough translation of the Spanish found on the ‘cheat sheet’ discovered near the U.S.-Mexico border.
•Q: Why did you abandon your country?
A: Because of poverty and misery
•Are you in fear of your government and afraid to live in your country?
A: Yes
•Are you afraid of extortion from Maras (MS-13 gang)?
A: Yes
•Q: Do you have family in the United States?
A: Yes
•Q: Have you lived in the United State before?
A: No
•Q: Is this the first time you’ve come into this country?
A: Yes
•Q: Did you cross the Rio Grande?
A: Yes
•Statement: Somebody told you that if you brought a child into the United States you can stay.
•Q: Who did you live with?
A: My aunt, but she crossed the border
•Q: Where does your father live?
A: I don’t know him or even his name
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/…-asylum-hearing-usually-release-detained-U-S-authorities.html -
Hell, I was born in Connecticut and live in Florida and I would probably answer 3 out of these 4 questions the same way.
•Q: Are you in fear of your government and afraid to live in your country?
A: Yes
•Q: Are you afraid of extortion from Maras (MS-13 gang)?
A: Yes
•Q: Do you have family in the United States?
A: Yes
•Q: Have you lived in the United State before?
A: No
Once they are picked up by immigration officials, “they are given a court date, expected to return, a year or more later,” said the Virginia lawmaker. “The overwhelming majority of them, more than 90 percent, do not return for their hearings and as a result we have a problem,” he added.”
Just like people who owe more than their house is worth and not worth the effort to get the house back these illegals have no money so are not worth going after if they miss the court date.
better to give out traffic tickets to those with jobs they need the money check this out
http://transparentcalifornia.com/
top pay is going to UC employees at over 2M a year
Can they work legally now?
Two articles from the Denver Post, first about a survey of the University of Colorado:
“5.7 percent of faculty members on the Boulder campus described themselves as Republicans. 40.6 percent of faculty members on the Boulder campus described themselves as Democrats.”
And the other 53.7 percent describe themselves as Marxist-feminist progressive-fascist social justice warriors.
“A federal judge on Thursday upheld Colorado’s new gun-control laws that mandated background checks for all gun sales and limited the capacity of ammunition magazines to no more than 15 rounds.
U.S. District Chief Judge Marcia Krieger issued her 50-page ruling on the 2013 laws after a two-week civil trial in late March and early April in Denver.
Krieger’s ruling says “the Supreme Court does not equate the Second Amendment ‘right to keep and bear arms’ to guarantee an individual the ‘right to use any firearm one chooses for self-defense.’
The Second Amendment guarantees the use of weapons commonly used “at the time” for self-defense.”
Tyrants in black robes turning this country into Stalinist Russia.
Is it “go time” yet?
This case will surely head to the Supremes - to qualify the type of gun for self protection under the 2nd is really dashing at windmills. The liberal nut job judicial system in CO has really been pushing the pedal to the metal. The speaker in the State House - now there is a piece of work. Look him up!! No wonder there is a secession movement out there.
Love your analysis of the U of C - what a cesspool of utter Marxism that dump is. Was up there last summer with my wife - first time I had visited the People’s Republic of Boulder in many years and observed that on the surface housing, shops etc. ‘looked’ good until you go to the secondary streets and it instantly becomes third world poverty - The Apt. I had rented lo those many years ago north of Mackey Auditorium is now obviously section 8 housing -
Is it “go time” yet?
It came and went a few weeks ago. You must have missed it.
it’s here now! everything we read is here now!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2671761/Millions-American-families-afford-homes-new-study-shows.html
From the article: “Presently, only 23.8 per cent of households who need housing assistance receive it”
Section 8 has limited funding. There is a lottery in Denver just to get on the waiting list. I suspect the same is true in other metro areas. I knew someone who was trying to get Section 8 in SoCal. The waiting list was 6 years long back then, and I’ll bet it’s even longer now.
Can Section 8 be considered and asset?
Is it something that can be left to your kids - something that can be left generation after generation after generation?
Can Section 8 be considered and asset?”
You can rent it out at market rates I suppose ?
“You can rent it out at market rates I suppose ?”
Or maybe borrow against it? Treat it as an asset that can be used as collateral for loans?
If so, the next logical step is securitization.
Hey, an entire sub-economy could spring into being, all back by the Section 8 program.
I don’t believe the waiting list times tell the full story. What does someone do for housing while they are waiting?
Couch surf? Someone’s basement? A van down by the river?
Lying lawyers Lying lying lawyers. The more they talk the more they lie.
Neocons are going home to the left
http://amarillo.com/opinion/opinion-columnist/weekly-opinion-columnist/2014-06-25/west-neocons-are-going-home-left
Very well-written article. And the part near the bottom about Hillary Clinton should be written by my “brother from another” PB / W-A-B. Hillary, when elected, will continue this intervention of Bushbama. Be very careful. Even though she would not want to be called a neo-con, she is a liberal interventionist.
A much higher percentage of Repubs are neocon and hawkish on Iraq, and libertarians are more aligned with Obama on the issue.
Poll: 52% of Republicans think Obama should be doing more in Iraq
http://hotair.com/archives/2014/06/23/poll-52-of-republicans-think-obama-should-be-doing-more-in-iraq/
…The bad news for doves is that, despite those 2006 and 2008 results and notwithstanding a decade of hard lessons in Iraq and Afghanistan about nation-building, you’ve still got clear majorities of Republicans calling for more intervention in reply to both questions here. How does Rand Paul navigate that? Says Michael Goldfarb, the founder of the Free Beacon:
“Now the neocons are on the hawkish side and it’s the libertarians who are standing with Obama which makes them very vulnerable. They’re in a very tough spot right now because they want to shit all over Obama but they’re basically where Obama is on this.”
Lola you’re back!
How many will you blackout in an alley and awake with your pants down around your ankles before you learn your lesson?
Why do Lola and Liberace do these drive-by postings? It’s almost like they are getting paid to post a little something here and there or they need to list something in their status report back to HQ.
I much prefer when Lola is in a blind drunk rage, with spittle flying out of the corners of his mouth, screaming about Walmart shrimp.
Question and then question again anything these two shady clowns post.
Lola hasn’t even read the article. Mainstream Republicans are hawkish, yes, but there is a lot of dissent among the Republican voters, being they are more likely to be tea party types and libertarians.
In contrast there is NO DISSENT on the Democrap side over Obama’s and H Clowntoon’s aggressive intervention. NO DISSENT.
So Obama and Clowntoon fill the vacuum. They are actually returning to the principles of DEMOCRAP Woodrow Wilson, who was very interventionist (”Make the world safe for Democracy”).
It is no coincidence under DEMOCRAT Woodrow Wilson, the Sedition Act was reincarnated. In fact Edward Snowden stays away from America precisely because of the Wilson administration laws that would get him for espionage.
In contrast there is NO DISSENT on the Democrap side over Obama’s and H Clowntoon’s aggressive intervention. NO DISSENT.
You’re dreaming. And what “aggressive intervention”? Repubs say he does not intervene enough.
You’re dreaming.
Ask Cindy Sheehan how she feels about that… I read a scathing interview with her about how the media totally stopped covering the anti-war protests after O was elected, and the Democratic machine dropped her like a hot potato once she was no longer useful to them.
I do respect her consistency and her message.
Ask Cindy Sheehan how she feels about that…
I’ll “ask her” after Obama starts another big boots-on-the-ground” war like the one she protested. And what “aggressive intervention”? Repubs say Obama does not intervene enough.
I read a scathing interview with her about how the media totally stopped covering the anti-war protests after O was elected
Because the war was ending under Obama as planned by Bush? That one?
I’ll “ask her” after Obama starts another big boots-on-the-ground” war like the one she protested.
Oh, so she was only protesting “big boots-on-the-ground war”? She never made that distinction clear to me in anti-war protesting. On the contrary, in that interview, she seemed quite dismayed that her new President seems just as inclined to wage war as the old one had been.
I guess someone forgot to tell her that we are out of Anghanistan as well…
Nice of you to finally credit Bush with the withdrawal timeline though!
in that interview, she seemed quite dismayed that her new President seems just as inclined to wage war as the old one had been.
That’s ridiculous based on the math of the wars started under each president. “Just as inclined” does not equal actual math.
Maybe I should have phrased that differently: dismayed that there was no apparent change in our war-posture under the new Home And Change President.
China is building its own Manhattan - and it’s a Ghost Town
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-builds-own-manhattan-except-093125506.html
The Chinese there should listen to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpYyqaSYLyw&feature=kp
Ghost Town lyrics:
“This town, is coming like a ghost town
All the clubs have been closed down
This place, is coming like a ghost town
Bands won’t play no more
too much fighting on the dance floor
“Do you remember the good old days
Before the ghost town?
We danced and sang,
And the music played inna de boomtown
“This town, is coming like a ghost town
Why must the youth fight against themselves?
Government leaving the youth on the shelf
This place, is coming like a ghost town
No job to be found in this country
Can’t go on no more
The people getting angry
“This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town
This town, is coming like a ghost town”
LOL
Does anyone know whether the hundreds of thousands of teenagers coming across the border and being turned loose are then allowed to legally work in the US?
Can they only legally work as long as they are pending a hearing? Can they extend this for years due to backlog and requests for extension?
Here’s a good video:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-26/when-herd-turns
That’s a deep insight, IMO.
Further insight: Government and finance are birds of a feather in this respect…they flock together.
Not so. The most dangerous thing they can do is to lose their customers’ money by substantially different means from other institutional investor herd members’ strategies.
Hey, do’t you clear your desk on Friday ???
Ben is in the middle of moving and traveling. He doesn’t have time to do a Friday post this week.
“Hey, do’t you clear your desk on Friday ???”
His desk is in the trailer.
The host on CNBC accidentally outed Apple CEO Tim Cook. The panel goes silent, no one has any idea what to say. It’s crazy that this is even considered “news”. Is anyone but the most diehard reptile surprised that a number of Fortune 500 CEOs are gay and that some are in the closet? Not sure why this is some huge secret…
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnbc-panel-goes-awkwardly-silent-when-host-outs-apple-ceo-as-gay/
——————–
New York Times columnist James R. Stewart joined the panel to discuss his latest piece profiling John Browne, the former CEO of BP, and his “tortured life” living as the gay chief executive of a Fortune 500 company. “You’d think CEOs especially are measured by objective criteria, financial performance,” Stewart said, and yet there’s a corporate culture that prevents powerful gay men from going public.
“There are gay CEOs in major companies, and I reached out to many of them,” he informed the hosts. “I got an extremely cool reception, not one would allow to be named at all.”
Enter co-host Simon Hobbs: “I think Tim Cook is fairly open about the fact he’s gay at the head of Apple, isn’t he?”
Silence from the panel. Everyone turned to look at Stewart, who responded, “Hmm, no.”
“Oh, dear, was that an error?” Hobbs asked. “I thought he was open about it.”
j-j-j-joe why are you always posting so much gay stuff?
It’s the civil rights issue of the millennial generation, brother. I am just being a team player.
j-j…. Sounds like, if you knew of a gay player on your team you would bolt?
I don’t think that the average Apple product user cares about what the CEO is. They just want stuff that looks cool and works well.
Yes, but reptiles might need a trigger warning now that CEOs of corporations that avoid taxes (something reptiles usually laud) are revealed to be ghey.
If anything, a gay CEO would improve Apple’s image as a cool-kid company.
Good thing Tim Cook isn’t the CEO of, say, John Deere.
********************************************************************
Title: Microsoft Security Notifications
Issued: June 27, 2014
********************************************************************
Notice to IT professionals:
As of July 1, 2014, due to changing governmental policies concerning
the issuance of automated electronic messaging, Microsoft is
suspending the use of email notifications that announce the
following:
* Security bulletin advance notifications
* Security bulletin summaries
* New security advisories and bulletins
* Major and minor revisions to security advisories and bulletins
In lieu of email notifications, you can subscribe to one or more of
the RSS feeds described on the Security TechCenter website.
Room 641A
check it out
WHAT IS GRAFT?
The unscrupulous use of a politician’s authority for personal gain.
Apparently this practice is not illegal, or else the law is unenforced; otherwise our prisons would be overflowing with politicians.
US refineries will pay more for crude and I’ll pay more for gasoline and when Iraq goes offline who knows how high it will go ? End of Suburbia
(Reuters) - All U.S. crude that is processed by a distillation tower, not only light oil known as condensate, is exempt from the 40-year crude export ban, U.S. government and industry sources said on Friday.
The Department of Commerce determined this week that two companies that produce condensate, a light oil, can export the petroleum if it is processed by a distillation tower.
The sources said any crude that goes through the process can also be exported, potentially widening the amount of petroleum U.S. producers can send to markets abroad.
The Department of Commerce told Irving, Texas-based Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD.N) and Houston-based Enterprise Product Partners (EPD.N) this week that they can export crude that has been lightly processed after they asked the department for clarification.
cactus
We need to start looking at replacing my 340,000 miles on it (bought new) Volvo, but EVs out there are expensive for the range satisfaction. Can’t wait to recharge for cheap and pass up the gas station. If we had the dough, the Model S would be my choice now. $70K+ for a car is insane.
The newer electronic gizmos being proposed for cars are what to worry about. A colleague was just in Detroit and said that car manufacturers are discussing authentication certificates. About ten years worth. The intentions are of course to make life easier for drivers and more convenient, but I figure they will be used for snooping and invading our privacy. I hope there is a backlash to authenticating consumer products. Most pages on internet have certificates which your browser automatically trusts so that next time you go to that page it is reached faster.
One other way for authentication is digital rights management. Like iTunes. To be sure that the same machine which subscribed to iTunes is running iTunes. Or some other subscribed service. I don’t mind that part. But I do mind big corporations in cahoots with NSA knowing every consuming habit I do and tens of millions of others do.
I would go for an older car, not a car built with spy gizmos.
Detroit cuts off water to 150,000 residents.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-06-27/shutting-water-150k-residents-ukraine-no-detroit
realtors are liars
Obama administration expands affordable housing plan
By Elvina Nawaguna
WASHINGTON Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:05pm EDT
(Reuters) - The Obama administration said on Thursday it would tap Treasury funds to bolster the construction of affordable rental housing and extend the life of a program aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure.
The announcement by Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew was timed to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Making Home Affordable program, an Obama administration initiative launched at the height of the economic crisis in 2009 to revitalize the housing sector and curb runaway foreclosures.
He said the program would be extended through December 2016.
“We need to continue to be there for homeowners who are facing foreclosure, those who are struggling with increasing interest rates on their modified mortgages, and those whose homes are caught underwater,” Lew said at an event to mark the program’s anniversary.
According to Treasury Department, more than 1.3 million homeowners have modified their mortgages under the program, reducing monthly payments by about $540 a month.
Although nationwide foreclosure rates have started dropping, millions of families are still struggling. Different estimates of underwater households range from 6.5 million to 9.7 million at the end of 2013.
Lew also said the administration would use money from the Treasury Department’s Federal Financing Bank to help housing finance agencies fund the construction of more affordable rental housing.
The collapse of the housing market created a spike in demand for rental housing, which has driven up costs. Many Americans are renting because they lost their homes, are afraid to buy a home, or cannot access mortgage credit.
The Obama administration has called on Congress to allow Ginnie Mae, a government-sponsored enterprise, to securitize loans made under the Federal Housing Administration risk-sharing program, but so far lawmakers have not acted.
The risk-sharing program allows state housing finance agencies to underwrite multifamily FHA loans while agreeing to share the risk of losses on those loans.
…