Bits Bucket for July 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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Try not to get stucco.
equity is a thing of beauty. U just sit back and watch the dollars start rolling in.
Remember….. Houses depreciate.
…until your equity goes negative!
“Try not to get stucco.”
Did you realize that if gold hangs in around $1290 per ounce in another 13 months it will be just slightly above its 5 year low - within $100?
So not gold’s slightly above its 4 year low. I somehow would be more impressed at 5 years. Thinking that in another year I will have enough cash on the side and not think about accumulating more for awhile. But focus more on accumulating precious metals such as silver, PGMs and gold.
Yes but we both know that this is the soft period for gold, if we go into September around where we are now, I would expect a sharp rally.
Yes but we both know that this is the soft period for gold,
Why would demand for gold exhibit any seasonal behavior?
“Why would demand for gold exhibit any seasonal behavior?”
I don’t know. But I do know that precious metals behaved seasonally many years out of the last 13 or 14. You can see so yourself from yearly charts on Kitco.com. Going into summer for example, gold usually gets depressed. Then In August or September starts a rally and finishes up for the year on December 31.
Why would demand for gold exhibit any seasonal behavior?
I thought there was seasonal demand in certain countries (India?) based on holidays or some such? Perhaps my memory is off though…
Here you go: Just out today.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2343765-golds-fundamentally-driven-strong-season-getting-underway
Just blow it all on hookers and meth, Bill!
Which business are you in?
I have a better idea. Enough is enough. I am wasting time now instead of money. Who needs a middleman?
LOL—nice, Blue!
Have you bought your Chinese shares yet?http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/investor-mobius-sees-20-upside-chinese-stocks
Washington Post - State media promoting China’s leader Xi with intensity unseen since Mao era
“For decades, China has shunned the cult of personality, a result of the tumultuous years when Mao Zedong elevated his personal brand to mythic proportions.
But state worship of leaders appears to be making a comeback, according to a new study by University of Hong Kong media researchers. They say China’s state-controlled media have been promoting the image of President Xi Jinping with a frequency and intensity unseen since the Mao era.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/state-media-promoting-chinas-leader-xi-with-intensity-unseen-since-mao-era/2014/07/24/f5517d88-1247-11e4-8936-26932bcfd6ed_story.html
Sounds like they’re taking a page from our own state media at the New York Times, NPR, MSNBC of how they promote our Dear Leader™
Mousie Tongue
I dunno goon, it seems like a significant part of the WH Press Corps is actually turning on the WH/Obama. Obama’s admin has been really tough on journalists and trying to find out who they talk to, who they get leaks from, etc. Just as much as the Bush Admin, if not more. And certainly more than Clinton or HW Bush (41).
“The most transparent administration in history”
Some of the print press may have soured on Dear Leader™, but NPR certainly hasn’t.
Isn’t the China Miracle exciting! Thanks for the hot tip on that Chinese ebay ripoff stock the other day!
Link will soon post but for Goon:
Friday, July 25, 2014
Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Market Group, says there’s still time to buy into the recovery of Chinese stocks as the equity market could rise another 20%, Bloomberg reported. The investor’s prediction follows a 19% surge in the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index since March 20. Mobius, whose US$12 billion Templeton Asian Growth Fund outperformed 94% of peers this year, favors state-owned banks and energy companies because of their cheap valuations and plans to open up state-dominated industries. H-shares are valued at 7.3 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, the lowest in emerging markets after Russia’s Micex index.
It is interesting since the Chinese stock market is acting like a stock market should. It is rising in anticipation of better times. Our stock market just rises due to manipulation by the Fed. The link up above will also get you to this story which actually came out yesterday but I was too busy to post:
Friday, July 25, 2014
China’s manufacturing activity reached an 18-month high in July as the government stimulus worked its magic, Reuters reported, citing a preliminary HSBC survey. The HSBC Flash China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 52 in July from June’s final reading of 50.7, beating a forecast of 51 in a Reuters poll. It was the highest reading since January 2013, and above the 50-point level that separates growth in activity from contraction for the second consecutive month. “Economic activity continues to improve in July, suggesting that the cumulative impact of mini-stimulus measures introduced earlier is still filtering through,” said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC. “We expect policymakers to maintain their accommodative stance over the next few months to consolidate the recovery.”
Wow, nothing but Blue Skyes for those Chinese! The biggest debt pyramid in the universe isn’t going to hold those guys back. Fund managers speaking truth.
***CHINA PIMP ALERT***
With 60 percent of GDP tied to real estate and an epic correction taking shape, isn’t there a good chance folks who buy Chinese stocks now will get stucco?
If you read the articles you will see that the Chinese economy is now accelerating hardly sounds like an epic correction. Just because one person throws out that 60% of Chinese GDP claim without explaining what that really means, will make me ignore the actual data. The Chinese economy is expanding despite the softness in housing that is not my opinion that is the fact, if you don’t believe it show me the numbers which disprove the numbers I am posting. No Whac, China’s move towards free enterprise is creating prosperity, Obama’s moves towards big government and socialism is creating poverty, it is as simple as that.
Epic correction in CHINESE HOUSE PRICES. Houses, ABQD, houses.
No one can discredit you with numbers, data, logic or truth. You are untouchable.
Isn’t everyone saying the same thing about the US stock market? Buy now, buy forever, it will go up, trust me.
Argentina edges closer to default.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N0PZ3BO20140724?irpc=932
If Argentina defaults, what do you think the effects will be?
Not much at this point, it would be as unexpected as the Sun coming out tomorrow.
LOL, I don’t even know why anyone would invest in that country, given the track record.
Live shot of the most quickly depreciating asset in D.C.
http://www.picpaste.com/fda480fd36fce08b0d45afb40db0a622.jpg
(At least we are having great weather today.)
Lawyers are liars, and Congress are crooks.
What percent of Congress are lawyers?
“What percent of Congress are lawyers?”
——————
Better question is, what % of Congress is in the .1%
The corner of that street is depreciating? Why, did you and Lola move your shops elsewhere?
Lola’s not in the picture unless he attends Georgetown Law or works on Cap Hill.
Downtown DC, between the White House on the W and the Capitol on the E, is still a construction zone.
Monday I’ll try to post some pictures of all the newly completed 12-story glass/steel buildings (they’re all 12 stories bc DC has a height limit of 140 feet and DC buildings typically have high ceiling lobbies with open atriums).
A bunch of law firm HQs. Arnold & Porter bought the old NPR HQ site, knocked it down, and now is building a huge building. The American Assn of Medical Schools did the same thing one block over. Covington & Burling just finished a huge (fills entire blog) black glass & steel building right across from Jenner & Block. DC commercial RE is booming apparently. Lots of new apartments too. This is all in a pretty small area, along Mass. Avenue near Georgetown Law and the Verizon Center.
http://www.picpaste.com/c91d6fd9994ffe08b25ba0298247dcb8.jpg
http://www.picpaste.com/3390f31a364da7143df06d82cc7c6278.jpg
http://www.picpaste.com/11ff86154790cbfa8b6cf74704ee57d1.jpg
http://www.picpaste.com/606f59d3bdf82e94e118dcafedf71fa1.jpg
(site being cleared for a new law firm HQ, I forget which firm for this particular site)
Lots of new empty inventory stacked on the existing empty inventory eh Liberace?
The residential stuff is pretty full, judging by the heavy street activity and the restaurants being full every night.
That said, this is a very small and extremely white slice of DC, which is experiencing a boom as the rest of the country has suffered. And most of DC is rubble.
Joe is right. 20 years ago, anything east of the Metro Center stop was a hole. I mean sidewalk peep shows, tire-burning slums, homeless hangouts. (saw all three)
While this area is in a “boom,” I don’t think it’s because of any specific economic recovery. IMO it’s a product of demographics and continuing gentrification. The shady burbs within a reasonable commute are pretty filled in. They “aren’t making any more land” (sorry) where all the action is, so the only place to build is right over the bums. Around 1995-2005 there wasn’t as much building because population had plateaued because only a few Gen X migrated in for jobs. So the blighted areas gentrified only slowly. Now that there are millions of younger “hipper” Millenials flowing in, ready and willing to live in high-density floating boxes of air, construction of high-rises is more economically viable.
The booms and busts and bubbles may speed up or slow down the pace, but IMO this area was always destined to eventually look like parts of Manhattan.
No, Washington DC is not destined to be another Manhattan because of hip Millenials. It is comfortably sucking the productive life blood out of the rest of the country, due to unprecedented political corruption and the lawlessness of the corporate elite. What DC needs is a good, old-fashioned political war. The stakes are getting high enough for that now, I think. Let the infighting begin!
As opposed to bankers and Wall Street traders comfortably sucking the productive life blood out of the country, due unprecendented bailout-mongering, interest rate manipulation, and politican-buying????
By this reasoning, DC and Manhattan aren’t much different. As I have said, there’s a reason that Occupy got a coordinated macing.
^lol.
Another drive by honk honk from The Donk.
Donk….”gentrification” is a proven failure.
Correct, most of this is what used to be “China Town” area of DC. New York Avenue (US-50) is also seeing the same thing.
These areas are now nearly 100% white (with some Asians and arabs mixed in), with a bunch of expensive or hipsterish restaurants. Poets & Busboys, Acadiana, Casa Luna, a bunch of expensive sushi places mixed in with trendy pizza places and chains like Le Pain Quotidien. I walk past 3 Le Pain Quotidiens between Union Station and the White House. Probably 8 starbucks, 3 au bon pain, and a couple Devon & Blakely’s for good measure.
The land is cheap due to DC being poorly run for many decades.
By comparison, NYC has been superbly run for like 2 decades now. So they’re expensive for different reasons.
DC really sprawls too much and doesn’t have enough density to have a Manhattan type of feel. The metro system doesn’t work 24/7. And commuter rail isn’t nearly as developed as NYC, so many jobs will remain in Bethesda, Rockville, NoVA, etc. Compare to NYC where there are more than 2 dozen different trainlines that terminate at Penn Station or Grand Central. Like 6 or 7 NJTransit lines, a handful of MetroNorth lines to Westchester/Rockland Counties, and at least a dozen different LI lines. That’s not counting Amtrak.
The land is cheap due to DC being poorly run for many decades.
By comparison, NYC has been superbly run for like 2 decades now. So they’re expensive for different reasons.
You also have to consider the ever-increasing wealth of Wall Street. That must be a factor in the rise of housing costs in NYC.
DC really sprawls too much and doesn’t have enough density to have a Manhattan type of feel.
Isn’t there a law that limits the height of buildings in DC? Is that part of the reason for the sprawl?
Yeah, I mentioned that DC has a building height limit of approx. 140 ft. Most of the new construction is in the 10-12 floor range.
Another thing is that DC is a car culture city, probably bc many DC people are from elsewhere (south/Midwest). Most buildings have large underground garages and there is much more street parking (metered) than Manhattan. The busy parts of Manhattan basically don’t have street parking at all. By contrast, the few times I’ve driven to the office on weekends, I’ve been able to park directly in front of our building and pay the meter with a smart phone app. It’s cheap, too.
NYC makes street parking rare or expensive so that traffic will flow better and productive space isn’t wasted on cars.
By comparison, NYC has been superbly run for like 2 decades now. So they’re expensive for different reasons.
+1 Good thing Charles Bronson “cleaned-house” back in the day.
Covington & Burling just finished a huge (fills entire blog) black glass & steel building
Funny you mention, the firm of Albequerque & Dan fills entire blog too.
AqDan can’t compete with RAL, though.
Not feeling the love Oxide.
However, you will be relieved to know that I am signing off for the day. I pass the baton to the other conservatives on this board.
A bubble-market tech stock darling unmasked as a pump & dump scheme leaves bagholders poorer but wiser in the ways of rigged markets. Coming soon to an overhyped housing market near you.
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/cynk?link=MW_home_latest_news
Those poor suffering bag-holding investors. The fed should step-up and buoy the share price. What’s taking ‘em so long?
Airbnb guest stays 44 days, becomes legally a “tenant”, refuses to leave:
http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Squatters-don-t-sit-well-with-Airbnb-hosts-5631952.php
“Under California law Maksym Pashanin is treated as a month-to-month tenant so a legal process to evict him will take up to six months and cost thousands of dollars.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2702908/Squatters-refusing-leave-apartment-got-Airbnb-horror-story-complain-THEY-ones-harassed.html
A new stick in property rights?
The bundle of sticks grows heavier, year by year.
the national association of realtors pimps denver to millenial homebuyers, article ignores total lack of economic fundamentals to support bubble prices, includes yun quote:
http://m.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/real_deals/2014/07/denver-chosen-among-top-10-best-markets-for.html?page=all&r=full
buy a house in denver today, and you will loose alot of money
Me bein a boomer - I can only find housing in the existing inventory out there (where I hope to finish working and eventually retire) that is at 500k and above - and this for contractor development stuff on 1/3 of an acre with lotsa kids and fams. running around - 4 bed / 3 bath / basement/ 3 car garage etc.
I agree - buy a house today and lose out tomorrow - I am gonna wait for a while until the thing implodes and after visiting there last month - it will. Incomes are not keeping up with house price inflation there.
Having been raised in SE Denver some decades back - I just have to wonder where these folks are coming from and how they are supporting themselves.
I can’t believe Yun is still around and running his mouth.
“But the ever-increasing population of people under 35 in the area means that millennials will inevitably become part of the home-buying equation.”
Inevitably? If it takes half your income to pay for the house, it’s tough to keep up with student loan payments. Even payments on a 7- or 8-year car loan take a bite out of your income. Oh, and there are all those little things like insurance, utilities, groceries, gas…
Anyone following the Amazon investor discontent? I have no dog in this fight, particularly, but I’m wondering if maybe Bezos has had some long term strategy to go public, use investors to expand the reach and power of the business, lower the share price, and go private.
Just a thought.
Could be or it could be just another power hungry CEO that does not care about the shareholders but wants to have power and money for himself and this particular one probably cares more about power. He wants to dominate the world and does not even hide it, he freely admits to it. Whether his “vision” and his shareholders’ best interests coincide is yet to be seen. Of course, going private would be consistent with this view, but is not necessary.
another power hungry CEO that does not care about the shareholders but wants to have power and money for himself
Libs like to complain that CEOs run the corporation to benefit not the employees, but only the shareholders. Now we have CEOs that run the corporation to benefit not the shareholders, but only themselves. Awesome (?).
Joe, was it Amazon that invented (or perfected) the online comment and product rating system? IMO that’s the best consumer weapon in a generation.
And another innovation: expanding product lines by allowing other companies offer products through Amazon but ship them directly. That way, only one company (Amazon) keeps your payment information.
I really don’t think this is it. Bezos has undertaken some things that would’ve been considered crazy before the late 90s, when AMZN started doing them. Think what life was like in 1996 or so. Now think about today and realize how much of that is due directly or indirectly to online shopping, online payments, better logistics, electronic delivery of books, music, data, etc. (Amazon hosts data for most of the world’s largest companies and for the US Gov, including DoD.)
Perhaps there could be someone better for turning out PROFITS in the short term, but the innovation of Bezos has created a ton of value.
The other thing is that AMZN is probably banking on being able to drive up profit margins once they are embedded into people’s experiences of buying goods and services.
There’s no question they __could__ focus on short term profits. But short term profits aren’t always the smartest thing in the long run. This is honestly something we should learn from the banking sector, where they mis-state things to create more earnings, then do a restatement a few months later saying “oops, we really didn’t have those earnings”.
I do appreciate his focus on the customer. That’s really what it’s about, after all.
“(Amazon hosts data for most of the world’s largest companies and for the US Gov, including DoD.)” Wow, I didn’t know this.
I don’t think there’s much that shareholders can do about Bezos. I suppose if some group wanted to, they could get the board to remove him, but who better to run Amazon than Bezos? In a way, Amazon IS Bezos.
He’s plowing money back into the company, which isn’t a bad thing, as you’ve said, he takes the long term view. But it just doesn’t look as if there will ever really be a payoff for the shareholder unless they can unload shares at a decent profit.
“(Amazon hosts data for most of the world’s largest companies and for the US Gov, including DoD.)” Wow, I didn’t know this.
—————–
They’re the #1 provider, by far. This includes sensitive functions like IRS, DoD, NSA, etc.
There’s actually a lot of material about it on the web. Many gov’t contractors subcontract with Amazon AWS — I used to see it in bid proposals all the time.
The other thing is that AMZN is probably banking on being able to drive up profit margins once they are embedded into people’s experiences of buying goods and services.
This probably the case. Another thing that they have done is drive a lot of bookstores out of business. If they can drive competitors out of business many other sectors, they can jack up the prices and rake in the profits at some point. However, patience is not one of our strengths in America, especially on Wall Street.
Amazon’s next step is doing their own deliveries, which they are working on.
“If they can drive competitors out of business many other sectors, they can jack up the prices and rake in the profits at some point.”
+1 Small business has suffered since Reagan’s fresh opinion of Anti-Trust law.
Those kudzu plants in the South must not have read all the Drudge Report links about how warmist warming isn’t happening, because now they’re growing as far north as Illinois, Ohio, Ontario:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-25/kudzu-that-ate-u-s-south-heads-north-as-climate-changes.html
It’s probably just a progressive conspiracy, with George Soros funded botanists planting fake kudzu plants in the North just for photo ops and fodder for alarmist articles on Bloomberg, LOLZ.
They are after you Goon, they moved up to Ohio but you had moved. Goon, a few more winters like we have been having and they will die back. While there has certainly been manipulation of data to make it appear that the warming has been greater than the real data supports, most all of us lukewarmists concede some warming, however we just believe that the vast majority of it has been natural.
Kudzu don’t die; they multiply!
And for you slack-jawed clickbait link clickers, Drudge links to some website called “climate depot” with an article that notes that 28,504 low-max temperature records have been set in the U.S. within the past year, according to the NOAA. Those warmist warming Kudzu plants didn’t do their homework and read their Drudge links when they started growing up north, LOLZ.
This is a guest post by Ross McKitrick (at Climate Audit). Tim Vogelsang and I have a new paper comparing climate models and observations over a 55-year span (1958-2012) in the tropical troposphere. Among other things we show that climate models are inconsistent with the HadAT, RICH and RAOBCORE weather balloon series. In a nutshell, the models not only predict far too much warming, but they potentially get the nature of the change wrong. The models portray a relatively smooth upward trend over the whole span, while the data exhibit a single jump in the late 1970s, with no statistically significant trend either side.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/07/24/climate-models-not-only-significantly-over-predict-observed-warming-in-the-tropical-troposphere-but-they-represent-it-in-a-fundamentally-different-way-than-is-observed/
What I’ve been reading on line is that the summer in the northern half of the US, and also Europe, has been rather cool. This is anecdotal, based on comments by residents of certain areas.
The folks in Chi-town, for example, are not happy with the cooler temps, missing their beach days.
OTOH, here in this part of Florida, summer has been particularly brutal, in terms of heat. And not so much rain.
I will add that this summer is cool. We essentially had no spring until it was summer. Had to use heavy blankets the past few nights.
The Kudzu in Illinois warming scare is BS. This is nothing new. Kudzu was first introduced to the Washington DC area. It is native to Japan, which isn’t that far off on latitude from Illinois. The Feds spread it mostly in the SE is all.
Warming or no warming, there’s just way too many people. Ugh.
Warming or no warming, there’s just way too many white people. Ugh.
Fixed that for ya
Interesting. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a global breakdown of race by the numbers.
Whites are the minority.
That’s what I thought, but in fact I’ve never seen the numbers.
So someone please explain to me why, if whites are the minority, other races seem to be so hell bent on colonizing Europe, North America and Australia. I mean, if they’ve got so much of the rest of the planet. I do note they don’t seem so interested in Russia.
Ah, well, I just don’t understand the whole diversity issue anyway.
“It’s probably just a progressive conspiracy, with George Soros funded botanists planting fake kudzu plants in the North just for photo ops and fodder for alarmist articles on Bloomberg, LOLZ.”
Nice try.
#TheNewHomeOfGlobalCommunists
Impeachment. How silly. Not that it isn’t warranted, for a host of reasons. Just read yesterday that US territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, Marianas Islands, American Samoa, etc.) have been exempted from Obamakare. In Obama’s mind, HE is the law.
But he can’t be impeached, because in order to impeach him, you’d have to impeach Shrub (who desperately deserves it, even though he’s out of office, he can still be impeached) and Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off the table. The sly boots. She created a quid pro quo.
I already impeached Obama myself.
Several weeks to a month ago I gave a small, on the ground report on real estate in my nabe (it was all turning sale pending immediately). The plural of anecdote isn’t data, but today’s report is that my previous report jinxed the market. I’ve seen a lot of stuff come up for sale since I last posted and not one has turned sale pending.
Fingers crossed we reached the top and are heading down to realistic, job-supported prices…
I do think the market has reached the freeze-up point. I see that here in my immediate nabe. During the spring, we had four properties up for sale at peak asking prices for this community. Two sold in April/May. Two are sitting…and sitting…and sitting. Not to mention the two zombie properties across the street.
It’s that seller-buyer face-off, where the buyer might be willing to buy for a bit less than the asking, but the seller doesn’t wanna give.
“realistic, job-supported prices”
Falling median wages for college graduates? Check
Chronic underemployment among pool of potential first-time buyers? Check
$1,200,000,000,000+ outstanding student loans elephant in the room? Check
Underreported inflation in food, energy, healthcare, education? Check
Total lack of economic fundamentals to support today’s bubble prices? Check
I would prefer a return to unrealistic, pocket-change-supported prices.
Prices are job-supported if you consider interest rates and a two-income household. In the MD burbs, $300K is a very typical price for a small house. It sounds like a fortune, but all you need is two $50K workers — say, a teacher and an accountant both with 3-5 years — buying at 4% interest. That is well within the 3x* income rule. A professional at $90-100K can afford the same house and support a family on a single income, if they are tight with money.
That’s in DC. People do even better in flyover. Salaries are lower, but housing is a LOT lower. The same DC house would cost about $140K in flyover, but the same teacher + accountant, or one professional might bring home $75K. Now it’s less than 2x income, well within reason. (That’s if they can all keep their jobs).
That’s middle class. Poorer households traditionally didn’t make enough money to buy anyway. We might be returning to those days, especially with college loans taking a $300 chunk of take-home pay.
What is HBB’s idea of job-supported prices? 1x household income? Houses supported on a single $50K income? We saw that in 2009 — remember Darrell in Phoenix buying that rowhouse condo at $45K or whatever? A single stocker at Costco could buy at that price. What is HBB looking for, other than some vague “craaater” that “is gonna” happen?
————
*Yes, I realize that the rule used to be 2.5x income, but that’s when interest rates were 6-7%. At 4%, 3x is ~the same PITI.
Donk, the metric was always 2x single earner income irrespective of rates.
You do come up with some doozy rationalizations to keep your head buried in the sand more comfortably.
F R A U D
Yes indeed A._Fraud. There are scores of cases of realtor and mortgage fraud.
Realtor, Friend Charged With Fraudulently Renting Out Vacation Properties
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x855032296/Local-Realtor-friend-charged-with-fraudulently-renting-out-vacant-properties
Realtors are indeed frauds. Right A._Fraud?
And now for the best news I’ve read yet this morning
Politico dot com - Poll: One-third say impeach Obama
“According to a CNN/ORC International poll released Friday, 33 percent of Americans think the president should be impeached and removed from office”
Other articles around the interwebs note that Dear Leader™ is meeting today with the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to draft an agreement on how American taxpayers can provide more free sh*t for the Free Sh*t Army, and how to fundamentally transform this country into a third-world sh*thole
Obama is also telling them that due to AGW, the temperature in Ohio will be the same as Guatemala in fifteen years. Wait to the mini-ice age hits.
If you want your Guatemalan weather, you can keep your Guatemalan weather.
Maybe there’s a connection there. If the southwestern US had the climate of North Dakota, it’s possible that a lot of Central Americans would be deterred from coming north. If, on the other hand, Maine and Minnesota eventually have the temperatures that Florida currently has, we may attract nearly all of Central and South America.
My post from above:
“Impeachment. How silly. Not that it isn’t warranted, for a host of reasons. Just read yesterday that US territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, Marianas Islands, American Samoa, etc.) have been exempted from Obamakare. In Obama’s mind, HE is the law.
But he can’t be impeached, because in order to impeach him, you’d have to impeach Shrub (who desperately deserves it, even though he’s out of office, he can still be impeached) and Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off the table. The sly boots. She created a quid pro quo.”
It’s just not gonna happen. Period. Not that I wouldn’t want to see it, but the repubes tied their own hands on this one. We’re gonna have to suffer for the next coupla years. And if it’s this bad now, I can’t even begin to imagine how bad it can get.
At this point, the best we can hope for is a military takeover by a fed-up armed forces or bammy abdickates the throne, on the basis that he’s just too special for the job anymore.
What are they going to impeach Obama for? They need a specific act, not some vaguery like “violated his oath to uphold the Constitution.” Benghazi? Lois Lerner? VA? They’d have a tough time proving that Obama was behind any of it. The case against Bush is a bit sketchy too (Cheney, on the other hand…).
The best legal case for impeachment was for Clinton. In fact, this country would have been far better off he had been removed from office. After a couple years, Gore would have easily had enough incumbancy to beat Bush.
#FundamentalTransformationOfAmerica
For our resident real estate “investors,” here’s a service you may be needing when it all turns pear-shaped.
http://www.businessinsider.com/professional-cuddler-2014-7
American exceptionalism at work:
US Stands Alone in Vote Against UN Inquiry Into Gaza Assault
Resolution passes, despite US opposition, as body approves official inquiry into “all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law”
by Sarah Lazare, staff writer
The United States was the only country in the world that voted Wednesday against the United Nations investigating human rights violations in Gaza unleashed by Israel’s military assault.
Of the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council, 29 nations voted to set up a commission to launch an international, independent inquiry, effectively passing the resolution. Seventeen countries abstained, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
The inquiry will look at “all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Gaza Strip in the context of military operations conducted since mid June,” according to a statement from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The council criticized Israeli military operations for unleashing “widespread, systematic and gross violations of international human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
U.S. ambassador to the Council, Keith Harper, said he issued the “no” vote because the resolution is a “biased and political instrument” that “will not help” the “cessation of hostilities.”
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/07/24/us-stands-alone-vote-against-un-inquiry-gaza-assault
To paraphrase George Orwell, some Sky Wizards are more equal than other Sky Wizards.
the Subhumans - Religious Wars:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mFFDpvk_fEM
That’s because we are the only country in the world who is still expected to defend Isreal, even though we didn’t create Isreal. Everyone else promised to defend them, but failed to follow through. I’m not saying it’s right, but it’s true. The rest of the world has very little credibility when criticizing the United States.
I couldn’t give a rat’s patootie what happens to Israel.
Abraham Foxman would like to have a word with you.
“I couldn’t give a rat’s patootie what happens to Israel.”
+1 Or any other backward country around there. Phuck ‘em!
This seems to be the ongoing holocaust of the Palestinian people.
So sad
Well, no, I wouldn’t expect this administration to vote for an inquiry that will point out that Obama (like Putin) is supplying weapons that are being used to kill large numbers of civilians.
One thing I always like to ask American Christians: Why do you want to risk American lives for 5 million people - Israel? For Bog’s sake WHY?
Partly because of American Christians we have had 3,000 people killed in 9/11 and thousands of American soldiers killed to counteract the 9/11 blowback for our support of Israel.
“US Stands Alone in Vote Against UN Inquiry Into Gaza Assault”
We get it, the global communists hate Israel and worship satanic global islamic jihadists. Birds of a feather flock together, doncha know.
Now, for the more level headed, you can not let your disdain for Bush’s invasion of iraq cloud your judgement when it comes to the threat posed by global islamic jihadists. These people grow up programmed to kill all non muslims and in some cases kill those that are the wrong kind of muslim.
You can not reason with them, you can not bargain for you life, you have to kill them…all of them. Given the opportunity, islamic jihadists would kill every non muslim down to the last man woman and child.
These creepy progressives/communists care not a wit about those palestinian human shields dying as a result of Israel’s defensive, they only care about the politics of the issue. Please…don’t give these clowns one more ounce of credibility.
#UnitedForSanity
‘You can not reason with them, you can not bargain for you life, you have to kill them…all of them’
That’s very level headed.
Staying alive is very level headed. Are you suicidal or just naive?
The jihadists will kill every one of us given the chance, once you come to grips with that fact, then and only then can you make level headed decisions on how to defend the non-muslim world population against these savage killers.
#UnitedAgainstJihad
By the way, you would be surprised to know just how many jihadist organizations with committed members we have in this country already, some of them with progressive government support.
I am really looking forward to seeing the movie Interstellar when it comes out in November. At that point I’ll have been waiting a year:
http://news.moviefone.com/2014/07/24/interstellar-comic-con-2014/
They have a new trailer/teaser out. I love this line, re planet Earth;
“Mankind was born here. It wasn’t meant to die here”.
Does it have a pro-statist theme?
Just a friendly reminder to folks that the Joshua Tree Extension exists, and is now hosted on mozilla.org: linky here
It’s a tool that:
* Displays the number of new/unread comments in each post summary
* Hilights new comments so they’re easily identifiable
* Provides a toolbar for jumping forward/backward to the next new comment
* Gives you the ability to ignore(automatically collapse) posts from specified users
* Provides comment preview (with links, emoticons, etc) before posting
* Will check for unclosed HTML tags when posting a comment
* Ensures links embedded in comments always open in new tab/window
Turns out there are fifty users of the extension. Who knew?!
America, we are your future:
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/07/24/police-seek-man-who-refused-treatment/20936655/?ncid=webmail5
And the future is now!
America, we are your future:
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/07/24/police-seek-man-who-refused-treatment/20936655/?ncid=webmail5
And the future is now!
America-ca, we are your future:
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-stockton-bank-robbery-20140718-story.html
And the future is now!
“If you like your drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis, you can keep your drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis” — President Barack Obama
Pascagoula MS church demolishes house it could not give away.
Article for j-j-j-joe
If this dude’s name and face are familiar, it’s because he is the doctor who was giving out meningitis vaccinations at Paddles last year.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/nyregion/credibility-among-gay-men-gives-leverage-to-new-york-citys-new-chief-of-hiv-prevention.html?referrer=
Did you dump your junk yet?
July 25, 2014, 1:11 p.m. EDT
Junk bond fears rise as outflows accelerate
Most money leaves high-yield funds since June 2013
By Ben Eisen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Outflows from mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that invest in junk bonds accelerated this week, adding to concerns that more pain is in store for the high-yield debt market.
Investors pulled $2.38 billion from funds that buy low-rated corporate bonds in the week ended Wednesday, according to Lipper. That marked the biggest outflow since June 2013, when investors fled the asset class due to fears about the end of the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying stimulus program. In the previous week, investors pulled $1.68 billion from junk bond funds.
Barclays estimates that redemptions in July so far have totaled $3.8 billion from high-yield mutual funds and $2.2 billion from exchange-traded funds.
Fund outflows tend to be a sign that retail investors have taken a negative view of the trajectory of the market. Junk bonds have been on a roll in the years since the financial crisis, posting sharp gains as investors sought out bond investments that provided income in a low-rate environment. But that rush for yield also led to concerns about overvaluation in the market.
The high-yield market has pulled back in recent weeks, sending prices lower and yields higher. The Barclays High Yield Bond index, which is tracked by the SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF JNK -0.01% , yielded 5.29% on Thursday, up from its record low of 4.83% at the end of June.
The index is on track to fall 0.4% this month, although it’s still up 5% on the year.
A sudden exodus from the market could be ugly, given the increasing difficulty of trading illiquid corporate bonds. The trading desks of big banks have been hollowed out in the years since the financial crisis, making them less willing to facilitate the exchange of bonds. If everyone rushes for the exits at once, investors trying to sell debt may have to do so at lower prices, exacerbating price movements. Primary dealer inventories of junk bonds are at their lowest levels since April of last year, according to Barclays. Read more: Mile wide, inch deep: corporate bond market liquidity dries up .
Credit Strategists at Barclays, led by Jeffrey Meli, wrote in a Friday note: “High-yield ETF redemptions do appear to be abating somewhat but could pick up again, particularly if Treasury yields, which are lower for the month, back up.”
…
Shares in Swift Transportation, the largest truckload carrier in North America, were down 14% Friday after management warned it was going to have to invest more to address a driver shortage.
The New Jersey-based firm now says it’s going to have to spend more on wages and training to hold onto and attract ore drivers.
…We were constrained in the truckload and (central refrigerated systems) segments by the challenging driver market. Our driver turnover and unseated truck count were higher than anticipated. Therefore, we sold more trucks in the second quarter to offset the impact of idle equipment, which drove additional gains on sale of equipment this period. After assessing the current and expected environment, we believe the best investment we can make at this time, for all of our stakeholders, is in our drivers. Our goal is to clear the path for our drivers by helping them overcome challenges, eliminate wait times and take home more money.
It now sees “cost headwinds” going into the second half of the year.
The American Trucking Association has warned the country is short 30,000 drivers, and that the gap could climb to 200,000 in the next decade.
Great songs that would not have been written today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLsDxvAErTU - 144k -
“Because of the uptick of alternative photographic materials, its complex processing requirements, and the widespread transition to digital photography, Kodachrome lost its market share, its manufacturing was discontinued in 2009 and its processing ended in December 2010.”
One of the best shows I have ever seen in my life was Paul Simon and Brian Wilson in Los Angeles in 2001, Paul McCartney was seated in the front of the crowd and he went up on stage to perform “I’ve Just Seen A Face” from Rubber Soul.
Simon & Garfunkel - The Only Living Boy In New York:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJGSHMgbB0E
“I’ve got nothing to do today but smile”
Simon & Garfunkel - Fakin’ It:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkFBOd4YN60
“Girl knows what she wants to do
She knows what she wants to do”
Simon & Garfunkel - Baby Driver:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeqUUNHwAl8
“And I was born one dark gray morn
With music coming in my ears
In my ears…”
Gladys Knight & The Pips- Midnight Train to Region IV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdfZnWsps34 - 167k -
Bet that was a great show.
I will try this again.
“Paul Simon and Brian Wilson in Los Angeles in 2001″
Bet that was a great show.
I am shocked beyond words that a progressive, anti-2nd Amendment lib-dem state senator in the People’s Republic of California was up to his eyeballs in corrupt dealings with Chinese triad types.
/Sarc off
http://news.yahoo.com/california-state-senator-facing-additional-charge-213437321.html
Townes Van Zant’s Pauncho and Lefty (as sung by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT9NSmZFE_Q
I like this version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zprRZ2wFQD4
Yeah, love that version. Van Zant was one of the greats. Like Mark Knopfler or Bob Dylan his voice is off-putting to some people, which is why I used the better known Nelson-Jennings version, but he was one hell of a songwriter. Self-medicated a bit too much for his own good and died way too young, but that’s the way it goes.
Meanwhile, the Wookie tells the oligarchs to ante up.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/michelle-obama/10991105/Michelle-Obama-begs-political-donors-for-big-fat-cheques.html
phony scandals
crater