October 10, 2014

Bits Bucket for October 10, 2014

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




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88 Comments »

Comment by knifecatcher
2014-10-10 03:27:22

The West 57th Street corridor in Manhattan is Billionaire’s Row according to promoters.should be an interesting winter.
The Chinese are crawling in Manhattan now. Should get interesting as Russians stop buying and the Chinese are blocked from buying soon because of some future diplomatic tiff.

NYC real estate is the Dem’s weak spot. Hurt NYC RE and dem financing takes a hit. EASY WAY TO HIT Obamas wallet.

Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 07:11:22

NYC real estate will continue to go up as long as we have QEs, bailouts and trillion dollar deficits…

When those stop - NYC stops.

Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-10 13:13:39

FWIW, this years deficit is projected to be $486B, according to the CBO

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/08/us-usa-fiscal-idUSKCN0HX1L620141008

Comment by aNYCdj
2014-10-10 18:06:04

How much lower was that due to paying zero interest on short term borrowing as opposed to 30 year bonds?

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 18:35:04

Uh…QE3 is ending, with no substitute in sight. Or so I’ve been told.

 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 05:43:26

Hopefully your cash is in a safe place and not tied up in foolish stock or real estate investments.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 05:56:53

Hold onto your cash and stay out of debt. You’re going to need every penny.

 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 07:13:53

I held on a bunch of cash - in Zimbabwe money…

Also cash in Afghan Taliban money…that seems to be worth more nowadays…

Comment by Blue Skye
2014-10-10 07:34:08

Here’s your sign…

 
Comment by Shillow
2014-10-10 09:51:53

No Iraqi Dinars?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 15:37:41

I’ll be happy to trade you some Zimbabwe currency for your US dollars.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-10 17:29:06

I actually purchased some $100 Trillion bills (Zimbabwe currency) to eventually give to my kids as a lesson in fiat currency.

The funny thing is, I think the note actually sells for a lot more than when I bought it…you’d think with a forever inflating currency, they would be printing more and more, driving the value down…

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 19:04:09

Were you able to dodge the stock market downdraft this week?

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 05:49:39

If you didn’t notice, not only is there an avalanche of housing inventory coming into plain view, but the stock market is showing incipient indications of a serious correction. Maybe the Plunge Protection Team will soon step in to right the capsized ship?

Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 07:15:21

Buy housing and stocks at the f*cking dip!

And vote democrat this November.

It is for the children…

 
Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-10 08:05:18

As Zerohedge says - BTFATH!!!

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 09:31:57

Outside the Box
Opinion: Investor who predicted the subprime crisis says stocks will fall 10%-plus
Published: Oct 10, 2014 12:15 p.m. ET
Lawrence G. McDonald says to buy certain beaten-down commodities
By Michael Brush

With the stock market in such a funk, it’s a great time to check in with someone who knows a thing or two about meltdowns.

That would be Lawrence G. McDonald, who says (with Patrick Robinson) in his New York Times best-seller, “A Colossal Failure of Common Sense,” that he warned colleagues at Lehman Brothers of the coming subprime storm and how it might hurt the investment bank.

Nowadays, McDonald is the head of U.S. macro strategy at Newedge, where he uses a six-factor capitulation model to judge when sentiment has broken down so much, a sector is worth buying.

It’s an indicator for true contrarians that can suggest the best time to buy a sector because everyone else hates it so much, they’re all trying to get out at once.

Too many people have the attitude of ‘don’t try to catch a falling knife.’ But you can take advantage of big sell-offs.

– Lawrence G. McDonald

Comment by cactus
2014-10-10 09:52:13

Recession is imminent so cyclical’s will do poorly.

Bonds will do well. I’m watching PAAS APA stocks like that to get beaten down. I guess HD will go down also .

MO keeps climbing so does AEP

Ebola is black swan event probably get blamed for the recession.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 17:50:03

Oh my, we are due for a recession now that you mention it. Hopefully you are wrong that it’s imminent, as the labor market has barely begun to recover at this point.

That said, the stock and bond market action this week certainly did seem to scream the R word.

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Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 06:57:36

Colombian Hooker Flap a Microcosm of Administration’s Problems
Townhall.com | October 10, 2014 | Jonah Goldberg

Let us back up for a moment. Two years ago, the Secret Service was humiliated in a terrible scandal. Agents sent to prepare for a presidential trip to Colombia availed themselves of the local service industry, as it were. The local cops were called in when one agent refused to compensate a woman for services rendered, contradicting ancient advice about the oldest profession: You don’t pay for the sex; you pay for the hooker to leave. Hats off to the Cartagena constabulary for their diligence in enforcing contract rights. Ten agents lost their jobs.

On April 23, 2012, then-White House press secretary Jay Carney said there were “no specific, credible allegations of misconduct by anyone on the White House advance team or the White House staff.”

“Nevertheless,” Carney said, “out of due diligence, the White House Counsel’s office has conducted a review … (and) came to the conclusion that there’s no indication that any member of the White House advance team engaged in any improper conduct or behavior.”

The lead investigator for the Department of Homeland Security — which oversees the Secret Service — says he was told “to withhold and alter certain information in the report of investigation because it was potentially embarrassing to the administration.”

The lead investigator and two of his aides say they were put on administrative leave when they questioned what they believed to be a naked political cover-up.

If the allegations are true, we’re left with this question: Why did the White House go to such lengths to conceal the event? Dach broke no laws in Cartagena, the alleged tryst took place in a so-called “tolerance zone” where prostitution is legal. Surely the White House isn’t against tolerance.

There are two likely answers. The first is obvious and laid out in the Post’s reporting. The White House didn’t want a scandal in an election year. The second answer, also suggested by the report, is that while Dach was an inconsequential gnome in the White House’s massive political operation, Dach’s father, Leslie, was a big donor to the Obama campaign. A former lobbyist for Wal-Mart, Leslie Dach gave $23,900 in 2008 and worked with Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign.

Neither answer excludes the other, and both speak volumes about this White House’s problems. The underlying scandal is fairly minor. But if the White House would falsify records and lie to the public about this, is it really so hard to imagine that it would deceive the public — and Congress — about larger issues like, say, Benghazi? (Just this week, former Obama Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that the infamous White House talking points on the attack were essentially bogus.)

But it also speaks to the seedy way Obama talks about politics generally. The president loves to denounce a cynical system where politics comes before the public good. He rails about a system where fat cats live by a different set of rules than the little guy, and money buys special treatment and access. But the way he operates runs completely counter to all that. Which is why the only person to come out of this scandal in an honorable light is the Cartagena hooker.

Comment by Dman
2014-10-10 07:33:44

Why doesn’t Obama just pull a trick out of the Republican playbook? Start a war, any war, and lie if you have to, spend a trillion dollars or so on it, unload the coffins in a secure airport in the middle of the night so no one can see them, and keep talking about how America is safer because of it.

Comment by drumminj
2014-10-10 07:52:10

Why doesn’t Obama just pull a trick out of the Republican playbook?

How about Obama be judged on his own (or lack of ) merit? Why must it be a team affair?

It’s not football. The stakes are so much higher, this is our lives, our freedom, our quality of life. If your team lies and oppresses, what good comes of them “winning”? Great - be proud to wear your jersey while someone’s boot is pressing your neck/head to the pavement.

Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-10 10:17:10

The stakes are so much higher, this is our lives, our freedom, our quality of life

It you’re concerned about the high stakes issues, you should ignore the Colombian hooker story.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 07:53:51

He already did. He’s is hopelessly corrupt.

 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 07:55:00

“As commander-in-chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people. Over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our country. We took out Osama bin Laden and much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We’ve targeted al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, and recently eliminated the top commander of its affiliate in Somalia. Thanks to our military and counterterrorism professionals, America is safer.”
obama’s Prime-Time Address on the Islamic State, September 9th, 2014

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 19:48:48

Isn’t it happening already? I agree the Retardican Party developed the strategy.

“I’m a war president”.

–George W. Bush

 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 07:10:00

Failure Upon Failure - The disintegration of the Obama presidency
The Weekly Standard | October 20, 2014 | Stephen F. Hayes

A year before his first inauguration, Barack Obama laid out the objective of his presidency: to renew faith and trust in -activist government and transform the country. In an hourlong interview with the editorial board of the Reno Gazette-Journal on January 16, 2008, Obama said that his campaign was already “shifting the political paradigm” and promised that his presidency would do the same. His model would be Ronald Reagan, who “put us on a fundamentally different path,” in a way that distinguished him from leaders who were content merely to occupy the office. “I think that Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not. And in a way that Bill Clinton did not.”

If Reagan sought to minimize the role of government in the lives of Americans, Obama set out to do the opposite. “We’ve had a federal government that I think has gotten worn down and ineffective over the course of the Bush administration, partly because philosophically this administration did not believe in government as an agent of change,” he complained.

“I want to make government cool again,” he said.

Obama sought to portray himself as a new kind of politician​—​a “post-partisan,” pragmatic problem-solver, not so much a centrist as someone who couldn’t be pinpointed on the left-right ideological spectrum because he floated above it. Traditional labels were anachronistic constructs that didn’t apply to such a transcendent political figure.

As we approach the sixth anniversary of his election, the Obama presidency is in tatters. Obama’s policies, foreign and domestic, are widely seen as failed or failing. His approval rating is near its lowest point. Obama’s base of support is loyal and fierce and shrinking. Much of the country sees him as incompetent or untrustworthy, and government, far from being “cool,” is a joke on good days and a threat on bad ones.

The change came quickly. And it came big. With Democrats in control of both House and Senate, Obama shortly signed into law an “economic stimulus” package that would cost nearly $1 trillion and would, in the administration’s telling, keep unemployment under 8 percent and prompt a robust economic recovery.

Then came health care reform. Obama was determined to go big. He was undeterred by growing public skepticism about the comprehensive reforms he favored and unpersuaded by arguments that he should lower his expectations. As some moderate Democrats in Congress expressed misgivings about aspects of the bill, and the prospects for passage looked uncertain, several top Obama advisers, including White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, urged the president to consider a more incremental approach. The president said no, and after he successfully employed precisely the kinds of inside-Washington tricks he had pledged to end, the Affordable Care Act became law.

The scandals and policy failures have had a devastating effect. With two years left in his presidency, Obama has no agenda. The major new investments and initiatives that he spoke of after his election never happened. Gun control measures he pushed went nowhere. Immigration reform​—​at least the comprehensive variety that Obama demanded​—​is dead. As the investigations of old scandals continue, new ones have taken their place on newspaper front pages across the country: the chronic failures of the VA and, most recently, a serious cover-up involving the Secret Service.

When he’s not on the golf course, the president seems to spend most of his time fundraising for vulnerable Democrats, threatening executive action on those things he can’t accomplish by leading, and working to minimize crises of his own making.

This is a failed presidency.

Comment by Cracker Bob
2014-10-10 07:32:48

“This is a failed presidency.”

Yes, this is a failed presidency. But, think back to the wonderful Cheney/Bush years:

Planes flying into tall buildings and killing thousands of Americans

A war with Muslim countries that did not attack us

Thousands of dead young American men and women fighting Muslims in order to kill one dictator

100,000 dead Iraqis who did not attack us

House prices falling 50%

The stock market falling 50%

Everyone’s 401K falling 50%

Yes, those were memorable years. Let’s put another Bush in the White House so we can do it again.

Comment by palmetto
2014-10-10 07:34:19

Oh, gawd, one of my biggest fears is JEB! 2016.

Comment by rms
2014-10-10 11:56:43

“Oh, gawd, one of my biggest fears is JEB! 2016.”

+1 No Bush family hat trick in 2016.

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Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-10 08:14:14

First off - I am no fan of Bush or the typical checkpants Repubs who occupy DEE CEE. With that on the table…..

Might I remind everyone here who just wants to go on bashing Bushie that it was Clinton who was being told repeatedly by what was left of the dismantled CIA and FBI that Bin Laden was a serious threat to our security - Clinton chose - emphasize the word CHOSE - to ignore foot on the ground intel and the rest is history.

So all youse out there who want to only work from medium term memory in my estimation need to go back a review a bit of history BEFORE you go on blaming Bushie exclusively for these attacks. Sadly this was a failure of leadership over a decade - not just an instantaneous occurrence in a moment of time!!

Sheesh!!!

Comment by Cracker Bob
2014-10-10 09:12:35

So Obama must take the blame for the events during his tenure, but Cheney can blame everything during his 8 years on Clinton. This is just so logical! I wish there was a TV network that would espouse this view 24/7/365.

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Comment by Shillow
2014-10-10 09:54:54

This all just seems to be a variation of “my Daddy can whip your Daddy.”

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 10:36:21

“My Daddy isn’t as effed up as your Daddy.” LOL

And BTW………as long as we are talking about revisionist history…..what was so great about the economy in the Clinton years?

All I remember about the 90’s is that it was when the “work harder, not smarter/do more with less/2% “raises”-COLAs with 6% inflation”/massage the stats to make us look better” plan really got rolling.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2014-10-10 11:28:07

HAHA my gawd is better than you gawd convert or I’ll kill you.

This all just seems to be a variation of “my Daddy can whip your Daddy.”

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 19:00:35

How about “My brother isn’t as effed up as your brother”?

- Roger Clinton vrs. Niel Bush

 
Comment by reedalberger
2014-10-10 20:22:45

Enjoy the African Marxism Cracker, and thank you for imposing it on the rest of us…All of you Democrat Party Kool-Aid drinkers thought you were going to get European Socialism…Bwahahahahahahaha

#FundamentalTransformationOfAmerica

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 20:42:13

Thought? It’s already here.

 
 
Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-10 10:24:08

Yes, the origins of 9/11 were during the Clinton years…the plan was apparently hatched in something like 1995 or 1996.

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Comment by Cracker Bob
2014-10-10 09:09:12

From Bloomberg:

“Air Force’s $486 Million in Planes Reap $32,000 as Scrap in Afghanistan”

And the hits just keep on coming. Let’s do some more nation building; how about Libya or Syria?

If we don’t fight them over there, how will we empty out the treasury over here?

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 09:54:31

Look at it as one of the costs we had to pay to get Italy to join the “coalition”.

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Comment by rms
2014-10-11 04:39:26

“Air Force’s $486 Million in Planes Reap $32,000 as Scrap in Afghanistan”

Lawrence B. Lindsey was director of the National Economic Council (2001–2002), and the assistant to the president on economic policy for the U.S. President George W. Bush. He left the White House in December 2002 and was replaced by Stephen Friedman after a dispute over the projected cost of the Iraq War. Lindsey estimated the cost of the Iraq War could reach $200 billion while Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld estimated that it would cost less than $50 billion. -wiki

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Comment by aNYCdj
2014-10-10 11:33:26

Excuse me they Volunteered……they knew the risks

Thousands of dead young American men and women fighting Muslims in order to kill one dictator

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 19:54:44

2bama suffers terrible amnesia regarding all the crap that happened on W’s watch, including 9/11, the onset of the Second Great Contraction, and the TARP TBTF bailout of the 0.1 percent.

 
 
Comment by palmetto
2014-10-10 07:33:05

Don’t read that William Kristol stuff. You’ll develop fungus of the brain.

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 09:59:13

I’d bet that anyone in a leadership position will fail, if half of the people he supposed to be working with are actively trying to stab him in the back.

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2014-10-10 07:32:47

Anchorage police: No charges in Palin birthday brawl

“Police were called to South Anchorage regarding a brawl involving about 20 people that had broken out at Korey Klingenmeyer’s house on the evening of Sept. 6. The event was a birthday party for brothers Marc and Matthew McKenna and Klingenmeyer’s son. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, her husband, Todd, and some of their children were there.

The order of events differs between witness statements in the 26-page police report. The Palins told police they were leaving the house when Track was attacked. Other witnesses said a brawl outside the front of the house involving Track and Todd occurred before Bristol Palin began punching Klingenmeyer behind the home.

When police arrived on scene, tensions were still high. Officer Benjamin Nelson arrived at the home to find Sarah and Todd Palin arguing with others. At another point, Todd, Track and Willow Palin, another Palin daughter, confronted homeowner Klingenmeyer in his driveway, and police had to separate the parties, officers John Daily and Ruth Adolf wrote.

Officer Justin Blake described arriving to find a group of people heading toward a long, white limousine parked in the street. Blake noted a strong smell of alcohol coming from the group. Track Palin, shirtless and bloodied, was being led into the limousine by several others, who appeared “intent on keeping him away from me,” the officer wrote.

Track “acted belligerent at first but I was able to get him to step out of the car,” Blake wrote. An “angry and intoxicated” Track told Daily that his friend, whom he knew only as Steven, was sucker-punched from behind as the Palins were leaving the party.

The Palin family had decided to leave after “some guys were talking rudely to his sisters, making them cry,” Track told police. Track had blood around his mouth and on his hands and an injury under his left eye, Daily wrote. Track said he didn’t know the men who attacked him.

Witness Matthew McKenna also said he and Todd Palin were walking on the sidewalk when he saw Steve punched by an unknown person, and Steve fell to the pavement. McKenna and Palin rushed to help, and a group of men started “piling” on Todd Palin. Track Palin then jumped into the fight, McKenna told police.

The fight eventually broke up, and McKenna told Todd Palin to get his “crew” and leave the party, officer Adolf wrote.

Steven Lebida, whom Blake found bleeding from his eye and nose as Lebida left the party, said he had tripped and fallen on the pavement. Lebida refused to speak to police about what had happened.

After the fight broke up, McKenna headed to the back of the house, where he told police he witnessed an “out of control” Bristol Palin punch Klingenmeyer repeatedly in the face.

Klingenmeyer told police that a fight had broken out in the cul-de-sac in front of the home, and he had asked guests not to get involved. A few minutes later, Bristol and Willow Palin came around the back of the house, and Bristol looked like she wanted to start a fight, Klingenmeyer said.

Klingenmeyer asked her to leave, he told police. “Who the f— are you?” she responded. He told her he was the homeowner, and she responded that he didn’t own the house and she would “kick his ass.”

http://www.adn.com/article/20141009/anchorage-police-no-charges-palin-birthday-brawl

Comment by goon squad
2014-10-10 07:47:58

Anchorage police release details of drunken brawl involving Palin family

“Klingenmeyer said that after the sixth punch, he grabbed Bristol’s fist, and pushed her away, and that was when she fell over. Three other witnesses corroborated Klingenmeyer’s account; a fourth, Matthew McKenna, described Bristol as “out of control.”

McKenna said that after that, he “went to Bristol, picked her up, and brought her from the yard to the street and put her down.” He said that at that point both Todd and Sarah Palin were there asking what had happened. He told them to leave, according to his statement to another responding officer, Ruth Adolf, but “nobody listened and yet another fight started.”

Bristol, whom Daily described as “heavily intoxicated and upset,” at first denied knowing who Klingenmeyer was, and then said that Klingenmeyer had “drug [sic] her across the lawn by her legs and was calling her a c*** and a slut.”

Daily reported that Bristol said she “didn’t know what else happened and didn’t have a clue whether she hit him or not.” In a separate interview, Bristol told Blake that Klingenmeyer “called her a ‘slut’ over and over,” that “someone then pulled her around on the grass by her feet,” and that someone stole her shoes and sunglasses.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/oct/09/sarah-palin-family-drunken-brawl-police-report

 
Comment by AmazingRuss
2014-10-10 09:11:35

Such a classy first family they would have made…

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 10:12:06

I can see it now………

“Palins, Secret Service brawl with Russians at State Dinner”

“A State Dinner at the White House tonight degenerated into a “throw down”, according to one of the participants.

Reportedly, the problems began when Bristol Palin threw up on Mrs. Putin, at which time Mr. Putin referred to Bristol as a “effed up little skank, who can’t hold her liquor”. An argument then ensued about the translation of “skank”.

 
 
 
Comment by drumminj
2014-10-10 07:46:56

In case you are wondering, I did post a reply here. It included a html link. I think I posted it within an hour from here. Not sure what’s going on. But I hit the “link” button, and if you try to “preview” what you placed into the text box for the URL you see nothing.

BiLA:

I’m not sure I totally follow your description from yesterday. The “link” button will basically make the selected text a link to the URL you provide. Simply clicking “link” and pasting in the URL will add the tag, but no text to actually be/represent the link (you must have text selected)

If you didn’t have any text selected when you clicked/added the link, that’s the issue. It seems to work fine for me with the link you used, but it’s certainly possible I missed something.

BTW, there should be contact info for me on the JTE website hosted on mozilla, if you need/want to email about this or other issues.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-10 23:02:25

Thanks!

 
 
Comment by cactus
2014-10-10 07:54:50

WORKFORCE CHANGES
A research project conducted by the Aberdeen Group in 2013 revealed that with more engineers reaching
retirement age — and with fewer candidates emerging from engineering schools — companies are finding that
the hardest positions to fill are the ones that are most needed. The engineering pipeline is running dry. ”

Of course they won’t pay more to attract talent .

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 08:01:10

Lolz. BS. We just hired a herd of new civies. And they weren’t costly.

Comment by Army No. Va.
2014-10-10 10:31:35

Haha haha. Civies. Try hiring data scientists, cloud architects, people who can design internet of things solutions or bio med engineers.

Comment by SUGuy
2014-10-10 12:43:01

Those are not true engineering disciplines. More like domestic engineers. :)

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 15:32:36

Exactly. IT goobers are no more engineers than I am a belly dancer.

 
Comment by Army No. Va.
2014-10-10 16:05:17

The market thinks otherwise… probably 2x to 5x or more so depending on what company, stock potential, etc

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 16:44:45

“The market” has nothing to do with it. Computer nerds don’t stamp drawings and execute the construction. Not in my firm, not anywhere.

 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 08:01:57

More money = more Americans becoming engineers supply.

More lobbyists and donations to the obama administration = more H1B engineering visas.

Comment by oxide
2014-10-10 08:50:02

I think they mean “real” engineers.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 08:53:48

Hey Donk….

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Comment by rms
2014-10-10 17:21:42

“Of course they won’t pay more to attract talent.”

+1 That’s the bottom line.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 07:58:16

Most mopes believe in the system. Those who vigorously defend it and make endless apologies for it are those who are sucking off it in some form or believe the system will do something for them.

Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 08:06:18

And the free sh*t army votes.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 08:04:32

No One Trusts Us
Townhall.com | October 10, 2014 | Linda Chavez

It should come as no surprise that Turkey so far refuses to put boots on the ground to fight the ISIS takeover of Kobane, a beseiged Kurdish town across Turkey’s border with Syria. While there is much to criticize about our erstwhile NATO ally’s government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has clearly made a calculation that he can’t trust the United States — or more accurately, that he can’t trust this administration. And why should he?

What Obama has shown is a willingness to draw red lines and then allow them to be crossed, as he did in Syria. He’s shown himself quite adept at squandering the blood and treasure spent in Iraq by withdrawing American troops precipitously, which virtually guaranteed the collapse of the country we are now witnessing.

The president’s fecklessness on this has come under increased scrutiny in recent days with the publication of a memoir by former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who lays bare Obama’s false claim that he withdrew troops because Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wouldn’t agree to let them stay. The president chose to pull out all of our troops at once rather than personally pushing for a status of forces agreement that would have kept Iraq from coming apart at the seams.

Obama has put together a shaky coalition to fight ISIS, but without American leadership — which means our willingness to use all of the resources at our disposal — how can we possibly hope that others will do the job we are unwilling to do?

When asked by Bill O’Reilly this week in his much discussed interview whether our enemies fear us, Panetta said, “I think they’re getting a mixed message as to whether the United States will stand by its word.”

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 10:23:12

Yeah, Leon Panetta is our “go-to” guy on the Middle East.

“….how can we possibly hope that others will do the job we are unwilling to do?”

Wrong.

The question is “Why are we even talking about doing the job, when those most affected aren’t willing to do it themselves?”

The whole mess is like keeping track of six year old soccer plays, who stop play every 15 minutes and swap jerseys

 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-10 10:30:14

While there is much to criticize about our erstwhile NATO ally’s government, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has clearly made a calculation that he can’t trust the United States — or more accurately, that he can’t trust this administration. And why should he?

How did she come to that conclusion? There are many possible reasons that the Turkish government could have for not wanting to get involved in war.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 08:24:52

Print more money and buy the f*cking dip!!!!

Eurozone on cusp of triple-dip recession as German exports crumble
The Telegraph | 10/10/2014 | By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Germany’s exports are falling at the fastest rate since the global crisis in 2009, raising fears of a triple-dip recession and a disastrous relapse for the rest of the eurozone.

The country’s five economic institutes - or “Wise Men” - slashed their growth forecast for Germany from 2pc to 1.2pc next year, warning that the latest measures unveiled by the European Central Bank will add “hardly any” extra stimulus to the real economy and may be unworkable.

Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the eurozone is at “serious risk” of falling back into recession if nothing is done, and is in danger of suffering a lost decade. “If the right policies are decided, if both surplus and deficit countries do what they have to do, it is avoidable,” she said. The wording is a clear call to Germany for an immediate shift in policy.

 
Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-10 08:54:02

This cartoon says it all in Illannoy!! Can anyone say TAX HIKE!!!

http://www.illinoispolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Pension-cartoon.jpg

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 10:28:19

“I got screwed out of a pension/retirement, so the answer is to screw everyone else out of their pension/retirement” seems to be the argument.

It just seems counterproductive to me.

Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-10 13:19:00

Guess who gets to keep all the savings?

 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-10 14:24:05

You have it exactly. First unions in the private sector were crippled. Shortly afterwards the pensions disappeared. Now nearly all jobs with pensions are in the public sector because that’s where the unions are. So private sector workers are informed that they should be angry and want to take pensions away from the workers who have them.

It’s pretty simple. How can the 1% be so successful at screwing over the 99%? They’re outnumbered 99 to 1. It’s essential that 99% be divided and in conflict with each other.

Comment by mathguy
2014-10-10 15:46:59

Then why don’t the unionees unite with the middle class tax payer, get some fiscal discipline in the house, then propose closing the tax loopholes for the rich?

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Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 10:48:32

Pay your fair share…

It is for the children…

Public unions gave us the weekend…

A promise is a promise…

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 11:13:19

Actually “A contract is a contract”

But I’m sure you wouldn’t be pizzed if you took a job, deferred some of your income for long term retirement, then some worthless political hack came along and said “Goldman Sachs/banksters robbed us. Go eff yourself, you parasite”.

Comment by aNYCdj
2014-10-10 11:24:37

XGS….yes but everything was based on an expanding population and city, now the cities are in reverse.

How much can you really raise property taxes or pass it on to renters to cover it.

The 2 tier system for new workers at a lot less starting pay and a 401K is not sitting well with people, How long do you think working next to someone who is making double what you are getting for the same job because he is union, will last before they revolt and demand more equality?

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Comment by mathguy
2014-10-10 15:47:59

Public unions gave us the weekend…

no private unions gave us the weekend. public unions gave us pensions spiking and double dipping.

 
 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2014-10-10 10:01:44

question for the investors….if you think we are going to crash do you own any or should you be invested in say

Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3X ETF (TZA)

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=TZA+Interactive#symbol=TZA;range=5y

considering what happened to it as the market went up up up?

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-10 11:28:35

486 million, divided by 20 aircraft = $25mil/copy, probably including training and spares.

Price as scrap = $2000 each

Somebody is making a killing on this. Or should be.

The spares are worth something. Especially engines and avionics

The questions shouldn’t be about the scrapping. They should be to whoever decided it was a good idea to do a gold plated, state of the art rebuild of an airplane with a total production run around 125-150, that has been out of production since 1993. Then turn them over to an air force that can barely maintain their aircraft tugs.

I’m betting that they were more worried about them being turned into suicide bombers.

 
Comment by tresho
2014-10-10 11:52:12

Miami Beach cheers success of flood pumps against ‘King Tide’
(Reuters) - Miami Beach residents breathed a sigh of relief on Thursday as newly installed pumps kept streets dry during the seaside city’s highest tides of the year.

For weeks, construction crews worked overtime to install pump stations to keep the so-called annual “King Tide” at bay.

The high waters arrive when the gravitational pull from the alignment of the sun, earth and moon raises the ocean.

To combat widespread flooding, the city has set aside $300 to $400 million to install up to 50 pumps in the coming years in what some say is a vain effort to protect an estimated $23 billion of real estate.

Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 11:59:56

There was a reason throughout history that man did not build his cities right on the beach. Always inland.

The joys of government subsided flood insurance for the wealthy…

Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-10 13:17:34

There was a reason throughout history that man did not build his cities right on the beach. Always inland.

What are you talking about? Thousands of cities have been build right on the coasts throughout the ages.

Comment by 2banana
2014-10-10 14:42:44

Really????

Right on the beach.

Name name.

Not Rome, Athens, Jerusalem, Lisbon, San Juan, Boston, London, NYC or even New Orleans. Always inland.

Heck - even Jersey shore vacation towns founded in the 1800s were about one mile off the beach.

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Comment by tresho
2014-10-11 08:27:47

Thousands of cities have been build right on the coasts throughout the ages.
They have also lost a few of them throughout the ages:
Lost Egyptian City Found Underwater After 1200 Years

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 19:03:05

Was Edward Quince unfair to loan to AIG at 12% while TBTF banks got 0% loans?

I guess the courts will have to sort that one out.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-10 19:09:45

It spreads globally.

Bloomberg News
Brazil Warns of First Possible Ebola Case
By Matthew Malinowski and Rachel Gamarski
October 10, 2014

Brazil has reported its first possible case of Ebola as the deadly virus spreads outside of Africa, according to the Health Ministry.

A man coming from Guinea who arrived in Brazil on Sept. 19 was admitted to a hospital yesterday complaining of a fever and transferred to a Rio de Janeiro health facility today, Health Minister Arthur Chioro told reporters in Brasilia. The patient does not now have a fever and has not shown other symptoms of the disease such as hemorrhaging, diarrhea and vomiting, Chioro said, telling reporters later in the day the man said he didn’t have contact with the disease while in Guinea.

“While the risk of transmission of Ebola in our country may be low — very low — we can’t ignore the seriousness of the situation,” Chioro said.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-10 21:22:23

crater

 
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