Bits Bucket for August 1, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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IMO here is a question that shouldn’t have to be asked:
“Should you pay off your mortgage before you retire?”
http://www.kiplinger.com/article/real-estate/T040-C000-S002-should-you-pay-off-your-mortgage-before-you-retire.html
“Having no mortgage is a huge step toward financial security,” says Clark Randall, a certified financial planner in Dallas.”
Gee, let me hurry up and write this down before it forever slips away from my thought processes.
As yesterday’s MMM blog post says, it’s best to shoot for paying it off by about 40. And paying off everything else, too.
And even though I think Dave Ramsey is a realtor-fluffer in general, but at least he exhorts people to pay it off as fast as possible and to make big down payments.
Perhaps it’s because I graduated into the economic downturn, but the concept of paying on anything for 30 yrs does not compute for me. Even 15 yrs seems long, despite 15 yr rates still being in the 3 % range (!).
If you have to borrow 15 or 30 years it’s not affordable nor can you afford it.
HA
Good Morning, but hogwash. Most folks have mortgages, like we did. We had to hope for the best, but plan for the worse.
iirc, 25% of the US has a paid off mortgage. There was a time, leverage really paid off on SFHs, but those days are gone. Going forward, who the hell knows? (But it isn’t looking too promising.)
Wrong. And most get suckered like you did and now you’re stuck.
It is hard to understand American math… if you are paying $1000.00 for your 30 year mortgage, in 10 years that will cost you only $500.00 since Fed prints money like crazy. In 30 year that $1000.00 will cost around $300.00, and a rent will be around $3000.00 for the same house. Who is that stupid to pay early for fixed rate, only “smart” Americans…
Nonsense and a diversion from the fact that $1000/month mortgage is actually $2000 when all the costs are included.
Why buy when;
a) prices are massively inflated and falling
b) rental rates are half the cost of buying
Dave Ramsey and his followers are simpletons. I’ll give Ramsey credit for building a self-anointed brand.
We sleep well every night knowing it’s costing us property taxes and insurance to live in our “cottage”.(basic tier) Under $500/mo. (So Ca -nice county)
Eyeball troubles changed our lifestyle. Life goes on…
And your staggering losses from paying a 300% premium for that shanty amount to what? $200k? $300k?
I agree on Ramsey. I listen to his podcast a few minutes a day on the train because I like to hear about people making a concerted change and pursuing debt-free living. (He has a segment where one person/family per day talks about their journey from debtors to debt free.) There are a lot of things he is wrong about, but helping people change their behavior is credit-worthy. All of our financial decisions have some emotional underpinnings.
Speaking of Ramsey, I was absolutely disgusted with his advice when I was listening to him last night. I have been able to tolerate some of his advice, but last night’s call has done me in.
A women wanted to live in Irvine and rent a condo. Wanted Irvine to be in a good school district for her kid, close to family and where she grew up. She makes 80K a year. I am thinking this woman is smart in the decisions she is making to rent. Rent was going to be around $2300 per month, almost half of her take-home pay.
Ramsey proceeds to rip here to shreds telling her that herlong range plan is not good. In order to stay in the area, she needs to be able to buy in that area because rent is going to be $5000 - $6000 in 5 years since rent always goes up. By buying, she doesn’t have to worry about the price of housing going up.
Right on Dave - really good advice for all your listeners, “avoid debt, but buy a house in Irvine”. If you can’t afford it then tough, you won’t be able to live there.
Woman was very dis-heartened with Dave’s rant. And he really let her know that she couldn’t afford to live in Irvine because she can’t save up enough of a down payment.
Ramsey is all about debt free living, and does mention softly about a 15 year mortgage, but then proceeds to talk about his love of real estate and his ELPs who he is obviously sold out to. Funny how a bad decision on a home purchase can ruin you quicker financially than any credit card or car debt.
but hogwash ??
Well sure its hogwash so why respond to it….
If it’s such hogwash how come you fail to refute it? Even once.
crickets
Another thing that people well know about, but refuse to acknowledge in general, and seldom transform into personal action, is that by age 40 you’re generally running into trouble remaining employed. So having no mortgage or rent payment to make, greatly alleviates that financial stress.
Sadly, part of the common delusion otherwise is to continue flipping your own house in the struggle to move to where the work is. People are just destroying their sense of home, and their families. But oh well, right? I guess when you keep moving from place to place, often leaving the wifey-poo behind for a spell, then you get to try the strange. Voila! “How to achieve the American divorce”, chapter one.
“Another thing that people well know about, but refuse to acknowledge in general, and seldom transform into personal action, is that by age 40 you’re generally running into trouble remaining employed. So having no mortgage or rent payment to make, greatly alleviates that financial stress.”
+1 Good point.
The “American Dream”, at least to my parents, was paying off the house, which they did. I don’t know if I ever saw them happier than the day they “burned the mortgage”. I bet hardly anyone these days has even heard of that phrase, or knows what it means.
Carrying 15-20 years of debt was not the dream, it was the means. Now it seems debt servitude has become the dream. Funny dream, that.
iftheshoefits, you come from good stock.
A lot of 30ish and below people will be thinking more like your parents. It’s hard to say if it will be enough, though. The culture that glorifies “ownership” (but not really owning…) is still pretty powerful.
I’ve no particular contempt for DR. He serves as a conduit between the cheap seats and mezzanine. Even love the fact his acolytes spew the memes verbatim!
Someone has to do it? Younger Americans have become attuned to the fact SS won’t be there for them. $50 bucks a payday is… $50 bucks?
Younger Americans have become attuned to the fact SS won’t be there for them ??
Thats what I thought also about 20 years ago…It needs to be tweaked in any number of ways…I will throw out what should be adjusted first…
The number of quarters worked…Someone here, maybe Polly may know exactly but I believe that you need roughly 8 years of employment to qualify for SS…Thats just “stupid”…Minimum working years paying into the system should be twenty if not more…
Secondly, are the leaches (some not all) that are claiming & granted disability benefits…
that are claiming & granted disability benefits…
Like my cousin who claimed mental disorder because of Vietnam…He was a loser, a punk and a thief all the way back to when he was a youngster…Vietnam was the choice he was given vs going to prison…After he got back it was just more of the same but worse…He finally was granted what he wanted in his mid thirties…He is roughly 60 now…
It is 40 quarters, so 10 years. Don’t have to be consecutive. If your pay is high enough, you could get credit for a “quarter” by working a few weeks (I forget the amount you have to earn in a quarter to get credit for it). People with lower salaries get lower payouts, but it replaces a higher percentage of the initial dollars of income than it does the later dollars of income.
How’s the reporting to hdqs going?
Opinions. Clueless in Gaza, Charles Krauthammer
John Kerry is upset by heavy criticism from Israelis — left, right and center — of his recent cease-fire diplomacy. But that’s only half the story.
More significant is the consternation of America’s Arab partners, starting with the president of the Palestinian Authority. Mahmoud Abbas was stunned that Kerry would fly off to Paris to negotiate with Hamas allies Qatar and Turkey in talks that excluded the PA and Egypt.
The talks also undermined Egypt’s cease-fire proposal, which Israel had accepted and Hamas rejected (and would have prevented the vast majority of the casualties on both sides). “Kerry tried through his latest plan to destroy the Egyptian bid,” charged a senior Palestinian official quoted in the Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat — a peace plan that the PA itself had supported.
It gets worse. Kerry did not just trample an Egyptian initiative. It was backed by the entire Arab League and specifically praised by Saudi Arabia. With the exception of Qatar — more a bank than a country — the Arabs are unanimous in wanting to see Hamas weakened, if not overthrown. The cease-fire-in-place they backed would have denied Hamas any reward for starting this war, while what Kerry brought back from Paris granted practically all of its demands.
http://wapo.st/1quHX05
I just wanted to share an excellent article about what’s really happening in the middle east. Either Mr. Kerry is totally clueless or he’s taking directions from the Prez, who is clueless.
Clueless and motivated by Rev. Wright’s liberation theology.
Op-ed written by Texas Governor Rick Perry titled “Stand With Israel”
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/israel-mideast-gaza-palestine-conflict-109622.html
Perry and Cruz both support neocon foreign policy and “strong national defense”.
Cruz has this woman as his National Security Advisor: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/victoria-coates/31/192/689
Ph.D. in art history from an Ivy (U of Penn), never worked a real job, was a stay at home mom most of her adult life, post-education. She is still affiliated with a prominent Neocon think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies .
BTW, Ted Cruz’s entire brain trust of advisors, other than his dad, are all uber-elite HYP types who privately scoff at the GOP base (keep in mind, Ted Cruz’s wife is the breadwinner in their house and is a director at Goldman). Virtually all the GOP pres candidates are surrounded by advisor/donors made up of bankers/PE/lawyers. They view the GOP base the same way every GOP candidate has after Ford–pawns to be manipulated. Actually, in Reagan and GWB’s cases, the brain trust actually viewed the Presidents that way. All the advisors knew that Reagan and W were dummies. Lollies!
BTW, this is all pretty well known in DC. It’s only in “are country” (flyover land) that people really believe that Perry/Cruz/Rand/Ryan “stand for them”. All of these people surround themselves with highly educated, never-worked-a-real-job types who come from or married into the asset-managing class. I could post their linkedin bios all day, but it’s even funnier when you meet these people in person.
“are country”
+1 Now that’s a good one. LOL!
If the globalists supported him the press would not be attacking him so much. Rubio is there Hispanic candidate. Rand and Cruz may not be perfect but they are the best we can hope for.
Their
“are country” refers to that classic Chevrolet ad “This is Our Country” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouSHc9yDZT4 ), spelled in the proper teabilly way.
“Rand and Cruz may not be perfect but they are the best we can hope for.”
Then we’re done here. There is no party worthy of support so it’s just a race to the bottom for both the Dems and GOP at this point. They will see how many emotional buttons they can push while raking in the money from their respective elite donor classes.
Actually, I took heat a few days ago for saying it is done and its China’s century. Due to a change in the actual demographics of the country, people with much lower IQs, we are done.
Not what a globalists would do.
http://news.yahoo.com/ted-cruz-deserves-most-not-blame-killing-houses-155009420.html
Rand and Cruz may not be perfect but they are the best we can hope for ??
“we” ?? Does that include me A-dan ??
actual demographics of the country, people with much lower IQs, we are done ??
Really…Kind of a broad stroke assuming they have low IQ’s…How about lack of education ?? How about lacking a skill set or being born into the poverty of Appalachia ??
What are you talking about, I am talking about the illegals allowed to flood across the border. Is that you?
We should concern ourselves more w/ the Legion of Underachievers that can spew Bill Gates’ net worth ( but can’t seem to help us old timers hook up a printer? )
Dagnabit!
I think that you’re making a big assumption there, Joe. If Ted Cruz was exposed from birth to fundamentalism and hard core right wing politics, it’s quite possible that he believes that the flyover Dittohead teabillies are salt-of-the-earth “real Americans” and that most educated coastal residents are America’s biggest problem.
A vote for Cruz is a vote for Goldman Sachs.
Ted Cruz’s wife is a Goldman Sach’s exec. “Nuff said.
Ted Cruz’s wife is a Goldman Sach’s exec.
+1 In other words, they both work in government.
Or, in other words, they both work for Wall Street.
Ted Cruz is a classic Judas Goat (the animal that leads the unsuspecting cattle through the slaughterhouse door). Don’t be fooled by his phony “conservatism.” He is an adjunct of Wall Street, the corporate cartels, and the neo-cons, none of whom represent the interests of the 99%.
Kerry is trying to stop the killing by negotiating a truce between Israel and Hamas. The fact that Israel rejected out of hand it not good. The fact that a number of Arab states didn’t like what he proposed and don’t like Hamas shouldn’t be of any concern to the US government in regards to its role as an intermediary.
Protect those jihadists at all costs…right comrade?
I am having a difficult time accepting the findings of this report:
“Study: 35% of Americans face debt collectors.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101874818
After all the work that has been done in transferring future income of Americans to its rightful place, which is in the banker’s coffers, apparently only thirty-five percent of Americans have borrowed to their max - have borrowed PAST their max.
Damn, more effort needs to be expended in this area, much more work.
Amy, are you out there? Hustle up another mark and bring him to me and let’s you and I “do” him.
hard to get money out of people who dont have a pot to p@ss in.
Do these people have blood? Marketable body parts?
One should not limit one’s thinking.
You can always lend the money to buy themselves a pot.
You can always lend money to buy pot, if you live in Colorado or Washington.
If you buy overpriced housing or pot, your money goes up in smoke.
An attorney friend of mine told me about a client of his who was driving through Kansas with $45,000 in cash from the illegal sale of some goodies back in the Midwest. An unmarked car drove along side him for a few minutes, using some kind of detector to pick up the presence of a large quantity of $100 bills. Then the state highway patrol pulled him over and arrested him and confiscated the money, there was no weed in the car.
How is this even legal?
Right…….. and did the cop get transported back onto the USS Enterprise?
I have heard that some bills do have embedded in them technology that can be detected, stores also use it for some of their goods. It is not science fiction but it is 1984.
You see I know everything Goon knows and more because I have the advantage of spiritual inspiration:
http://viewsfrom590.torstardigital.com/rfid-tags-in-money-the-technology-is-out-there/
The detection of large amount of bills might provide a sufficient basis to pull a car over. Whether it would provide a sufficient basis for a search without more is very questionable.
This is not new technology.
For years, I have dated women who can detect (and surgically remove) $100 bills from my wallet.
goon, what are pot prices like out in CO these days? Let’s say for mid-level type stuff at a typical marijuana retailer that is legal out there. Is it cheaper than what people pay on the coasts to get lower-quality stuff?
There is no such thing as “mid-level” here, nobody wants it.
When retail recreational became legal on 1/1/14, only a handful of existing medical dispensaries could sell it, since then many more medical dispensaries got their recreational licenses, and recreational prices have dropped from $50 per 1/8 ounce (including taxes) to $25 per 1/8. A pound on the black market generally sells for $2,000 in Colorado, the market is saturated, if you want to make any real money, you have to sell it out of state.
A pound on the black market generally sells for $2,000 in Colorado, the market is saturated, if you want to make any real money, you have to sell it out of state.
How hard is it to grow the good stuff? Freakonomics-lite says that the street price of it should approach the marginal cost of producing as more growers get interested in generating money from dirt and a growlight.
“hard to get money out of people who dont have a pot to p@ss in.”
They could sell their organs.
Yes, but how are they going to p@ss if they don’t have their organ?
Do they really need two kidneys?
dont have a pot to p@ss in ??
Yep….But, if you even have 1 pot, they will confiscate it…The IRS is the biggest confiscator out of any of them…
This is an interesting state by state set of charts given the on-going discussion of the cost of housing relative to salaries and type of jobs.
Happy Weekend!!!
Read on. We are not in Kansas anymore Toto!!!
http://flowingdata.com/2014/07/02/jobs-charted-by-state-and-salary/
That is a sweet interactive rj…Thanks…
Here is the flowing data link courtesy Ritholz Big Picture blog.
http://flowingdata.com/2012/04/27/data-and-visualization-blogs-worth-following/
Today’s parallels with 1914 are very worrying
When events escalate, it’s time to worry. Almost everyone will know that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo lit the fuse on the First World War – or if they don’t, they’ve not been reading the newspapers, filled as they have been of late with retold accounts to mark the 100th anniversary of the war to end all wars.
Less well known is that the shooting was also the trigger for the first truly global financial crisis of the 20th century, one that in some respects was even bigger and internationally all-embracing than its early 21st-century version. As the clouds of war gathered, financial markets were gripped by panic, closing stock exchanges around the world and forcing governments to bail out and support banks in the same manner as today. In the City, restaurants and shops began refusing coinage and notes. Only gold would do as payment.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11003506/Todays-parallels-with-1914-are-very-worrying.html
Is it “go time” yet?
What is Dr. Copper saying?
http://www.mining.com/copper-price-boost-after-china-manufacturing-jumps-to-27-month-high-31327/
crater china
Your schooling is moving along nicely.
do you have a degree in ponzinomics?
Great question!
“China’s Copper Imports Fall as Financing Deals Unwind
By Alex Davis
July 10, 2014 1:32 AM EDT
China’s copper imports dropped to the lowest since April last year as demand for the metal as collateral to obtain credit eased amid a probe at Qingdao Port.
Inbound shipments of unwrought copper and copper products fell to 350,000 tons in June, a 7.9 percent decline from the previous month, according to data released by customs today.
Weaker demand from China, the world’s biggest user, may weigh on benchmark copper futures in London, which have retreated 3.3 percent this year. Prices will slide during the next six to 12 months as production costs drop, China’s property sector weakens and commodity financing unwinds following the investigation at Qingdao, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said July 8.
“The imports drop is evidence of waning demand for the metal as the investigation into metals warehousing in Qingdao has made banks reluctant to offer financing,” said Tetsu Emori, a fund manager at Astmax Asset Management in Tokyo.”
Check the date, you are looking in the rear view mirror again.
It’s a current article — from just last month.
Talking about things that occurred last year and before the Chinese economy started to show signs of an acceleration. It is the looking behind instead of a head, which is the what the copper market does.
Commentary
Week in Warehousing:
Qingdao Scandal Opens China to the West?
by Jeff Yoders on August 1, 2014
Welcome back to the MetalMiner week-in-review, where we digest the week that was with a large side of explanation.
…
More Warehouse Woes
Half a world away, warehousing of metals is a big issue in China, too. The metal financing scandal that hit China’s Qingdao port allegedly involved the fraudulent issuance of multiple loans on 340,000 tons of copper, aluminum and alumina has resulted in a scramble by western banks, traders and financiers to relocate their metal.
I just want to be warehoused, is that so wrong?
Stuart Burns wrote that the Qingdao scandal has thrown up an opportunity for western warehouse operators to cash in on financiers’ and investors’ desperation to find reliable alternatives. The business of storing metal has likely never been so volatile and rife with legal wrangling as it is right now. How did simple storage of metals become an international scandal in China, the US and Europe simultaneously? The LME warehouse situation has a familiar villain in Russia and UC Rusal, but you can’t say that for China’s homegrown warehouse mess. The villain is lax banking, just as it once was for subprime loans in the US. You can’t fight a Cold War against lax banking standards. Heck, Hulk Hogan fighting Nikolai Volkoff is even more stimulating than what Jon Corzine did with customer money any day of the week.
…
Says nothing about the present economic strength of china. Bottom line copper is up on growing strength in the Chinese economy. Consistent with my prediction and contrary to your prediction.
What prediction?
I have posted many articles here to document China’s real estate bust. They are not predictive, as they describe current events.
I don’t put much stock in predictions, whether political or economic.
You did not put a number on it but you did claim they were heading for economic crash.
Many articles I have recently posted document the crash. This really has nothing to do with my opinions.
China is going to unravel and move into demographic decline before the avg Chinese person is middle class. This would happen even without automation and robots, which will further lessen the value of Chinese labor at the same time that higher energy prices make shipping relatively more expensive.
It’s super sad when you think about it.
Like, they degraded their natural resources and environment, but only got a faster-paced, shitty quality of life in the deal. Of course, it did create a class of rich Chinese (their 1%)… who will move to the west as fast as possible once the SHTF.
Automation is bad for India not china. It means china can hang onto a lot of production even with higher wages.
BTW, fifty years ago tens of million of Chinese were starving to death, thirty years ago they were working for ten cents an hour, now over a hundred million have an income around $25,000 a year and their incomes are growing by ten percent a year. China is considered a middle income country not a poor country although most Americans would consider them a poor country.
The 30 million were sent to the mountains to starve. They were not working 20 years later, they were dead. The same government rules today and you lick their boots 30 million times. Shame on you.
who will move to the west as fast as possible once the SHTF ??
Oh, they are not waiting for the Chit-to-Hit…They are already on the move…
Link will post soon, but copper is often referred to as the metal with a doctorate since it is so accurate in predicting the economy:
In pre-open New York trade on Friday September copper jumped to a high of $3.2555 a pound after data out of China showed manufacturing activity at a 27-month high.
The latest jump came after the Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) indicated that the world’s second largest economy accelerated into the third quarter.
Copper is not predicting the U.S. unemployment actually ticked up. Another excerpt:
The HSBC/Markit manufacturing PMI which surveys smaller firms, increased to 51.7 compared to June’s 51 reading, also beating expectations and rising to an 18-month peak.
Private industry in China appears to have caught up to large state-led companies as Beijing improves access to finance for small firms and stimulate activity through infrastructure spending including rebuilding shanty towns and upping investment in rail and power infrastructure.
Hongbin Qu, Chief Economist, China & Co-Head of Asian Economic Research at HSBC expects policy makers to continue with targeted easing and “the cumulative impact of these measures to filter through in the next few months and help consolidate the recovery.”
Here’s a chart:
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/copper/all/
Are U.S. wages three times what they were in 2004?
Grass fed chicken….lmao
F A I L
Houses depreciate.
Was that quite the delayed reaction?
OBAMA SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER TO DETAIN AMERICANS WITH ‘RESPIRATORY ILLNESSES’
Amendment comes in wake of Ebola scare
Obama Signs Executive Order to Detain Americans With ‘Respiratory Illnesses’
by PAUL JOSEPH WATSON | AUGUST 1, 2014
As the Ebola outbreak continues to cause concern, President Barack Obama has signed an amendment to an executive order that would allow him to mandate the apprehension and detention of Americans who merely show signs of “respiratory illness.”
The executive order, titled Revised List of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases, amends executive order 13295, passed by George W. Bush in April 2003, which allows for the, “apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of suspected communicable diseases.”
The amendment signed by Obama replaces subsection (b) of the original Bush executive order which referred only to SARS. Obama’s amendment allows for the detention of Americans who display, “Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled.”
Although Ebola was listed on the original executive order signed by Bush, Obama’s amendment ensures that Americans who merely show signs of respiratory illness, with the exception of influenza, can be forcibly detained by medical authorities.
Although the quarantining of people suspected of being infected with the Ebola virus seems like a perfectly logical move, the actual preconditions for this to happen aren’t restricted to just those suffering from the disease.
As we highlighted earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has measures in place for dealing with an outbreak of a communicable disease which allow for the quarantine of “well persons” who “do not show symptoms” of the disease.
In addition, under the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act, public health authorities and governors would be given expanded police powers to seize control of communications devices, public and private property, as well as a host of other draconian measures in the event of a public health emergency.
When the legislation was introduced, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons warned that it “could turn governors into dictators.”
Yesterday it was reported that Emory University Hospital in Atlanta was set to receive a patient infected with Ebola. A hospital in Germany also accepted an infected patient earlier this week. Some critics have raised concerns about the risk of deliberately importing infected individuals into the west.
“Yesterday it was reported that Emory University Hospital in Atlanta was set to receive a patient infected with Ebola.”
——————————————————————————-
Mayor Kasim Reed to participate in annual Bilderberg Meeting
Staff
Atlanta Business Chronicle
May 29, 2014, 11:30am EDT
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is among nearly 150 people invited to the 62nd annual Bilderberg conference, Atlanta Business Chronicle broadcast partner WXIA-TV 11Alive reported.
The meeting this year is in Copenhagen, Denmark, from May 29 to June 1.
The meetings generally include political leaders and experts from other fields, including industry, finance, the media and the academic world.
Generally, two-thirds of the participants come from Europe, the remainder are generally from North America. About a third of them come from governmental bodies, while the rest come from other fields.
The first such conference took place at the Hotel de Bilderberg in the Netherlands in 1954, and it is from that first conference that the organization took its name.
In the private meetings, the participants will discuss matters concerning global politics, economics and technology.
The meetings are governed by what is called the “Chatham House Rule” which stipulates that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speakers, nor of any other participant may be revealed.
“The conference is a forum for informal discussions about major issues facing the world,” according to a release from the Bilderberg Group, which coordinates the conference. “Thanks to the private nature of the conference, the participants are not bound by the conventions of their office or by pre-agreed positions. As such, they can take time to listen, reflect and gather insights. There is no desired outcome, no resolutions are proposed, no votes are taken, and no policy statements are issued.”
http://www.bizjournals.com/…/2014/05/29/mayor-kasim-reed-to-participate-in-annual.html - 93k -
Obama Signs Executive Order to Detain Americans With ‘Respiratory Illnesses ??
Well, I guess we can expect another repub lawsuit then…
Americans who merely show signs of respiratory illness, with the exception of influenza
There is nothing specific about the earliest signs of influenza that allow it to be distinguished from SARS or Ebola. Early symptoms of influenza are sometimes not even respiratory-related. The PTB take the rest of us for fools, or maybe they are the fools.
There is nothing specific about the earliest signs of influenza that allow it to be distinguished from SARS or Ebola.”
yea I don’t get it ?
Obama’s amendment ensures that Americans who merely show signs of respiratory illness, with the exception of influenza, can be forcibly detained by medical authorities.”
Yea the authorities can tell if you are sick with influenza or Ebola, TB or whatever at a glance.
the authorities can tell if you are sick with influenza or Ebola, TB or whatever at a glance.
That’s what they want us to believe. What a crock!
Article for j-j-j-joe:
Washington Post - Gay rights groups dispute federal survey’s estimate of population
“activists worry the results will reduce the urgency of their causes and give fodder to their political foes … “The truth is, numbers matter and political influence matters,” said Scout, director of the nonprofit CenterLink Network of LGBT Equity. He only goes by one name. “If we really are 2 percent versus 4 percent, it means people are going to say, okay, I’m only going to care half as much.”
And for Dannyboy, see also:
Washington Post - Gay activists in China sue over electric shock therapy used to ‘cure’ homosexuality
“inside the courtroom, a 30-year-old man from southern China said he suffered trauma when a counseling center in the city of Chongqing tried to “cure” his homosexuality through electric-shock therapy and hypnosis … Offering gay-conversion therapy is not uncommon among counseling centers here. While such therapies are often promoted by conservative Christian groups in the West, in China the pressure often comes from gay people’s peers and especially parents, activists said.”
Now, I know why Joe was so adamant that he would not move to China. Joe, more power to you as we said in the 1960s.
Right, because one can’t support equal rights as a matter of principle. There’s a big difference between telling people that they need to give privileged treatment to gays or minorities and asking that they merely respect their rights. Reptiles and teabillies want to imply that the two things are the same. More hilariously, some of these people actually believe that sexual orientation is a conscious choice a person makes.
I’ve posted many times that I find the _exclusive focus_ on gay rights from some types of libs to be profoundly stupid.
China is awful, I think almost everyone realizes that. Just an awful, dreadful place with almost none of the charms of north America and a populace that will largely never taste a decent way of life. China got exploited and their 1% (or .1% more like it) benefited. I respect their managerial class for cashing in and stand in awe of how badly the avg Chinese person got screwed.
I’m in the middle of season six of Californication, LOLZ to the episode where Hank Moody’s agent Charlie Runkle lies and “comes out” trying to land a major client, and his gay boss greets the news with a big hug and says “welcome to the mafia.”
The first Washington Post piece notes that surveys of Americans find respondents think as many as 10 to 25% are gay.
At the Washington Post they are 10 to 25% gay.
BTW for you Goon, the dream act children thanks Obama for giving them status to stay:
http://news.yahoo.com/suspected-killer-usc-student-u-illegally-seven-years-022030720.html
It probably is nearly 10% in urban coastal areas, just due to self-selection. If you are gay, you’re very likely going to move to an area where you are accepted.
repost of recent article, this is the doctor who was giving out meningitis vaccinations at paddles last year. article notes that there are 115,000 people in new york city with hiv or aids.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/nyregion/credibility-among-gay-men-gives-leverage-to-new-york-citys-new-chief-of-hiv-prevention.html
Talk about moving to the coast, a picture of Obama vs. Putin:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/11004971/Russian-deputy-PM-mocks-Obama-by-tweeting-unmanly-photo-of-president.html
Too funny, photoshop or not!
Our old maint. officer was a dead ringer for VP. As a Bulgarian, our daughters were always asked by classmates if their dad was in the Russian mob? Well he DOES wear a black leather jacket..?
“Well he DOES wear a black leather jacket..?”
And hangout in strip clubs wearing dark sunglasses?
The LGBT community has thrown piles of $’s at research in quest of the “Q gene”. No success yet!
That aside, EST is simply barbaric. It’s remarkable how fashionable it’s become among public ed’s most recent batch of rejects. My HS grad. Class of ‘77 had like [2] gay guys. 30 yr. reunion confirmed ( it’s still [2] gay guys… )
the avg Chinese person got screwed
Your statement implies the “average” was better off in the not-too-distant past. The avg in China has been abysmal, for the last 500 years or so. The avg Chinese in the PRC was dirt poor in 1700, 1800, 1900, but by 2000 was showing signs of improvement from a very low quality of life. Of course many avg Chinese (and the many above avg) were simply liquidated by the Commies when they took over, some because they were not sufficiently enthusiastic for the party’s agenda, and others, just because.
Will many of these avg Chinese taste a better way of life? It remains to be seen. So many predictions I have encountered so far in my life turned out to be abysmally wrong.
I intend to never again visit Pine Ridge Indian Rez, Gary, IN or downtown Detroit MI.
Sacramento Foothills Rental Market:
New resident moved in today. Old resident finished moving out on Tuesday.
Listed on CL for 7 hours July 3. Four prospective residents call, all qualified. Showed at 3PM. Done. Took the resident most likely to rent for a long time (not the ones with assets & strong credit).
New market rent 5% above rent for old resident, set in 2011.
vacancy factor for this house is basically zero over the last 7 years.
Collapsing demand, skyrocketing inventory and sliding prices just like everywhere in California.
Sure HA. That’s why people are standing in line to rent. Cash flow is king…..
Your qualification criteria are weak.
Income = 4.5 Xs rent. No savings. 2 custom cars worth “$70k”. 2-year lease. Fantastic housekeeper.
Pretty clear you don’t know jack about qualifying a tenant…..
Auntie
Pretty clear you don’t understand that the shadow inventory is about to eat you alive. My tenants have better qualifications. Their cars are irrelevant, as is their housekeeping habits. No savings? wow
Good for you.
I’ve had the opportunity to visit the area several times and I’ve always enjoyed my business trips there. Gold panning in the American River was the most fun. I think I could that for a week straight.
Gold panning….be careful or you’ll get 49er fever!
I have now confirmed that there are AT LEAST two vacant houses without signs along the 30-second stretch between my house and the exit of the development where I live. This in addition to the one that’s for sale and the one that’s for rent. How long will the landlords hold out before they give in and compete? How long can a landlord keep a vacant house? What about a bunch of vacant houses?
crater
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/01/suddenly-obamacare-is-more-unpopular-than-ever/
Hell of a recovery:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12829731/1/july-jobs-growth-disappoints-and-real-unemployment-hangs-at-18.html
There are jobs in the oil patch.
Fracking requires a lot of water and I know for a fact that there aren’t enough truck drivers in the oil patch areas.
From China Daily, China says thanks Obama:
A new round of economic sanctions against Russia by the Obama administration may create a long-awaited opening for China to get into Russian oil and gas fields, a Chinese industry insider said.
“Almost overnight, Russian oil and gas giants such as Gazprom, Rosneft and Surgut began to actively communicate with us,” said Zhong Weiping, general manager of Jereh Group, a leading Chinese oil and gas equipment and engineering services company.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-08/01/content_18233356.htm
Region VIII checking in
https://www.fema.gov/regional-operations
Eazy E - Any Last Werdz?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD3v7UW7A-Q
Eazy E - Down To Tha Last Roach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwIj23FP-E4
“Region VIII checking in”
Region X, no drought, legal spleef, and a ski slope in the backyard for the chosen few.
Meanwhile, California moves deeper into severe drought.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-01/drought-goes-bad-catastrophic
The UK Daily Mail reports what our MSM can’t and won’t.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2712187/EXCLUSIVE-A-lot-people-die-blood-Obamas-hands-Shocking-images-corpses-illegal-immigrants-left-die-border-crossings.html
The global Ponzi markets and asset bubbles blown by Fed and central bank money-printing are an implosion waiting to happen.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/11006766/Banco-Espirito-Santo-woes-reignite-eurozone-fears-as-shares-drop-80pc-in-two-days.html
Suddenly, Wall Street is starting to bail on housing (he who panics first, panics best).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-31/mortgage-bond-price-tumble-signals-new-risks-in-markets.html
Aug. 1, 2014, 1:29 p.m. EDT
3 market warning signs predict 20% stock tumble
Insight: When these indicators flash together, it’s time to sell
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
Over the past 45 years, the stock market has lost more than 20% each time three warning signs flashed simultaneously.
After a selloff this past week dragged the Dow Jones Industrial Average into negative territory for the year, it’s worth noting that all three are flashing today.
The signals are excessive levels of bullish enthusiasm; significant overvaluation, based on measures like price/earnings ratios; and extreme divergences in the performances of different market sectors.
They have gone off in unison six times since 1970, according to Hayes Martin, president of Market Extremes , an investment consulting firm in New York whose research focus is major market turning points.
Bear in the air
…
phony scandals