October 31, 2014

Bits Bucket for October 31, 2014

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




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113 Comments »

Comment by clark
2014-10-31 02:30:40

I still can’t get over this one. It’s not much by L.A. and Boston standards, but still, it takes the cake.

ASKING PRICE $89,000
780 SF — 1 BEDROOM, 1 BATH
CURRENT PROPERTY TAXES $407/BI-ANNUALLY
CURRENT LEASE [the land 1.2 ACRE is leased from, I'm pretty certain, The Army Corps of Engineers!] $942.50/BI-ANNUALLY
CURRENT FLOOD INSURANCE $945 ANNUALLY

All this can be yours, and it’s smack dab on the side of the Mississippi River where there’s lots of mud and mosquitoes.

That’s my Craigslist find.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 04:56:25

And not a buyer in sight.

You’re a lark Clark.

 
Comment by rms
2014-10-31 05:40:02

“…and it’s smack dab on the side of the Mississippi River…”

The place is likely underwater on occasion. [no pun intended, hehe]

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 07:21:19

Soon-to-be-underwater housing!

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 10:40:50

Here’s some interesting data

San Diego Sale Prices Dive 5% YoY; Prices Crater MoM and QoQ

http://www.zillow.com/san-diego-ca-92130/home-values/

 
 
Comment by clark
2014-10-31 02:33:23
Comment by rms
2014-10-31 12:18:54

It certainly does look peaceful, but I know what those mid-west storms can do to the river. But $89k for less than 1000-sqft in a floodplain? Jebus!

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 05:34:21

this is a drudge report link

article notes that sheldon adelson is dumping $5 million to defeat a medical marijuana ballot initiative in florida

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pot-legalization-20141030-story.html

‘conservatives’ who oppose legalization are hypocrites

how are you going to shrink the size of government to where you can drown it in the bathtub when you spend billions of taxpayer dollars on a failed war on drugs year after year after year?

because it’s ‘for the children’

or because disproportionately locking up black and brown people for marijuana possession gives you a tingle in your trousers?

loosers

Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-31 10:53:00

or because disproportionately locking up black and brown people for marijuana possession gives you a tingle in your trousers?

Or a lump in their wallet? Those privatized prisons turn a hefty profit.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:12:57

You bring to mind a downright horrendous Illinois advertisement of a couple of decades ago, begging for voter approval to fund construction of a new prison out in the sticks. The memorable jingle went like this:

Is we is or is we isn’t
Gonna build ourselves a prison?

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-10-31 11:24:32

Sheldon Adelson is one of the billionaire oligarchs who has captured the GOP.

 
Comment by rms
2014-10-31 12:33:02

“article notes that sheldon adelson is dumping $5 million to defeat a medical marijuana ballot initiative in florida”

Does Adelson live in Florida?

 
Comment by reedalberger
2014-11-01 00:10:39

I wonder if you would be just as upset if he was fighting and effort to re-legalize smoking tobacco in now restricted areas?

#Hypocrisy

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 05:46:33

here’s one for the badge lickers

’shortly after authorities found him at an abandoned airport thursday, they shackled him with handcuffs belonging to cpl. byron dickson, the state trooper he allegedly fatally shot on september 12.

the fugitive was then taken away in the slain officer’s car.

‘we thought it was fitting,’ state police commissioner frank noonan said.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/31/us/pennsylvania-eric-frein-arrest/

Comment by reedalberger
2014-11-01 00:12:50

Take 911 off of your family’s speed dial.

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 05:52:35

bloomberg reports on crater

‘consumer spending in the u.s. unexpectedly dropped in september as incomes rose at the slowest pace of the year, indicating the economy will have difficulty sustaining a pickup in growth into the end of the year.’

and $2.75 gas is not gonna save this christmas shopping season

americans are broke, broke, broke

Comment by Mr. Banker
2014-10-31 06:04:21

“americans are broke, broke, broke”

People are smart, smart, smart.

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 06:04:52

MarketWatch has a joke of an article titled “How Apple is luring millennials into the stock market” that notes Apple and Tesla are among the most popular stocks for millennials

Millennials = narcissistic twits who think picking stocks because the CEO is gay (because that’s how real Social Justice Warriors™ invest) is a good investment strategy

Liberace was always pimping Tesla here before he went AWOL

Comment by MacBeth
2014-10-31 06:51:07

How’s Bono?

(Sorry - I had to…couldn’t resist). Have a good weekend, goon.

Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 07:00:02

U2 should have broke up after rattle & hum, they could have left behind an artistic legacy as big as the beatles, instead they’ve stayed together and have become a watered down, past their sell by date, joke of a band, they’re like a paul mccartney and the wings without a paul mccartney

Comment by MacBeth
2014-10-31 08:16:54

“they could have left behind an artistic legacy as big as the beatles”

Hardly. The Joshua Tree is a lousy album, too.

The best U2 doesn’t come close to Revolver. The latter has several outstanding songs - And Your Bird Can Sing, Taxman, Tomorrow Never Knows, She Said She Said, I’m Only Sleeping, Eleanor Rigby.

Interestingly, the worst song on that album is McCartney’s Got To Get You Into My Life. Replace it and Here There and Everywhere with Rain and I’m Looking Through You.

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Comment by Overbanked
2014-10-31 10:09:48

I always thought at the time (and still today) that U2 was way overrated, but I did like Rattle and Hum and Achtung Baby. Only two albums I bought.

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Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-31 10:56:24

I’ll take The Smiths over U2 any day.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 10:57:54

I figured you’d be a big Liberace fan.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-31 13:17:44

Morrissey as a solo sucks. He’s way too full of himself.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-10-31 11:27:23

Hardly surprising that the same dupes who fell for “hope ‘n change” are being lured in the rigged casino called the stock market. Maybe once they get fleeced they’ll pick up the critical thinking skills they never got from their “everyone’s a winner” public school educations.

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 06:17:20

New York Times - Why Republicans Keep Telling Everyone They’re Not Scientists

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/us/why-republicans-keep-telling-everyone-theyre-not-scientists.html?_r=0&referrer=

Well, duh. Science is socialist, European, and probably gay

And no “real American” is gonna vote for any of that, LOLZ

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-31 11:02:23

It is more difficult to push a disguised political agenda when scientific evidence points in the other direction.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-10-31 11:28:34

Never in the Earth’s 7,000 year history has science seemed so irrelevant.

Comment by Lemming with an inntertube
2014-10-31 12:43:38

If you have Netflix, check out “The Unbelievers”. Really enjoyed it. Follows Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Klaus in some of their interviews. Richard is a very kind man (with the patience of Job) and it’s weird to see the Arch-Bishop (I think) of Australia treat him with so much contempt. At one point the Bishop guy challenges Dawkins to explain evolution, at which point Dawkins replies “of course I can explain it, it’s my life’s work”. Very entertaining.

 
 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 06:25:07

Business Insider - This Might Be The Most Horrific Single Massacre ISIS Has Committed

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-isis-horrific-atrocity-2014-10

Keep sending those American taxpayer dollars to Israel if you want more of this

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-31 06:26:12

Ten to one this one will literally knock your socks off. But keep kickin’ that can!

Government to ‘retire’ some of its WW1 debt

The UK Government has said that it will ‘retire’ £218m of the UK’s £2bn First World War debt by refinancing bonds, originally issued by Winston Churchill.

The UK has paid a total of £1.26bn in interest on these bonds since then.

The debt has not been paid off before because of the relatively low interest it incurs.

The Treasury plans to cut the annual cost of the debt by re-borrowing money at current market rates. It is the first such move for 67 years.

In addition to the war bonds, some of the debt being refinanced by the Treasury dates back to the 18th Century.

One of these bonds was issued by William Gladstone in 1853 to consolidate the capital stock of the South Sea Company, which was founded in 1711.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29844961

Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-31 10:59:10

What was the maturity date on those suckers?

 
 
Comment by Shillow
2014-10-31 06:35:26

Price cuts continue to be delivered to me every day. Houses on the same street competing with price cuts. One lowers, the other reacts and does the same a week later. Dueling flippers.

Nothing sells.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 07:13:32

And they’re never going to sell until prices fall back to long term trend or early 1990s level. Take your pick.

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-31 12:14:47

I want phx prices to go down fast and now.

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-31 06:48:23

Spider caught another fly. This guy was an odds-on favorite for a “cheng nu wa”, or home invasion, as we say. (Bonus points for use of “whilst” in article.)

China corruption: Record cash find in official’s home

Anti-corruption investigators in China have reportedly found the equivalent of $33m in cash at an official’s home - the biggest such haul to date.

More than 200m Yuan (£20m) were found and four out of 16 counting machines broke whilst measuring the notes, a prosecutor said.

President Xi warned that his campaign against corruption would target both “tigers” and “flies”, indicating that no one, even senior party members, were exempt from the crackdown.

Experts have even suggested that the proportionately high number of suicides among party officials is down to the pressure from the battle against corruption.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29845257

Comment by Shillow
2014-10-31 06:55:49

“The Bet” is one of my favorite recurring threads. It is Spot On (10 to 1 that druggie thug criminals are home invading the home of a drug dealer).

The police reports have the truth. It will eventually come out at sentencing because if they home invaded a drug dealer it is a much less sympathetic victim.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 07:36:55

“if they home invaded a drug dealer it is a much less sympathetic victim.”

That is the point you fellas have been trying to make from the beginning.

That is why I called Oddfellow on his rain on the hero parade 10 to 1 the old guy was a drug dealer.

You boys can not stand for the fact that a 67 year old man defended his family against 3 armed home invader POS thugs with a legally owned firearm.

He has to be a drug dealer or else there would be a reason for law abiding people to keep firearms in their homes.

Comment by Shillow
2014-10-31 16:12:10

Tin hat back on please. I said from my first comments that the thugs should be executed. I believe in the 2nd Amendment human right to have a gun or many guns, a right forfeited by being a convicted criminal. This isn’t about the gun he had. But until the actual facts come out of police reports or people under oath at a trial, your speculations are no more valid than his. He has the weight of common experience on his side thought.

Pocket Aces v. 22 is like a 9 to 1 favorite also, but although 9 to 1 is far from certain, it’s a good bet to take. I hope you are right, but I just don’t buy it. A few days have also gone by and the news is oddly silent on it now.

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Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 17:05:05

Family of five victimized in armed home-invasion robbery

By Michael Harthorne Published: Sep 16, 2014 at 12:30 PM PDT

SEATTLE — Up to a half-dozen masked men broke into a Beacon Hill home early Tuesday, forcing a family of five — including children — into a bedroom at gunpoint and stealing jewelry, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The residents of a home in the 4700 block of 30th Avenue South heard a bang at their front door around 2:45 a.m. According to police, the 50-year-old homeowner and another family member when to investigate only to have an intruder point a laser-sighted pistol at them.

Up to six men in masks and dark clothing entered the house and forced the family into a bedroom, according to police. They reportedly ransacked the home and pistol-whipped the homeowner before leaving with jewelry.

Officers arrived but were unable to find any of the men.

The homeowner was taken to Swedish Hospital with a cut to the back of his head from the pistol-whipping.

http://www.komonews.com/…of-five-victimized-in-armed-home-invasion-robbery-275331431.html - 224k -

 
Comment by Shillow
2014-10-31 22:09:48

Okay how’s this, also from Beacon Hill:

Masked men take pot and cash at gunpoint in Beacon Hill home invasion
Posted on April 28, 2014 | By Lynsi Burton
PRINT
0

Seattle police detectives are trying to find two masked men who broke into a Beacon Hill home early Monday morning and robbed a woman at gunpoint.

The men reportedly entered the home just before 4 a.m. in the 2500 block of South Juneau Street, where two people were sleeping on couches in a front room, according to Seattle police reports.

One of the robbers pulled a woman off a couch, threw her to the ground, and pistol-whipped her over the head, reports say. The man demanded the woman tell him where to find a safe and marijuana. The other man threatened to kill the woman’s 4-year-old daughter, who was also in the house.

The men searched the home and took off with two backpacks containing marijuana and a safe that contained cash, police reports indicate.

A male houseguest chased after the men and took off in his own vehicle, supposedly to follow the assailants, but never returned.

No detailed description of the men is available – only that one man wore a gray hooded sweatshirt and the other wore a dark shirt.

The woman who was attacked was not seriously injured and declined treatment by medics.

Detectives are still trying to identify the attackers and ask that anyone with information on the incident call 911 or the Seattle Police Department robbery unit at …

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 16:44:38

” (10 to 1 that druggie thug criminals are home invading the home of a drug dealer).”

Although I am not willing to bet on it I would think those odds are wrong simply because there are way too many druggie thug criminals and not nearly enough drug dealers for them to rob.

Like most thieves or thugs, I would think they would be looking for the easiest mark. Not a lot of 6 ft. 4 in. 250 lb. dudes get mugged. Why? That is not an easy mark.

In fact I just found a Recent HOME INVASION site. I read through the first 12 or so and only one of them was what appeared to be a drug dealer. Some guns, some cash, some jewelry and some which I have heard of in Lake Worth, Guatemalans. But mostly the easiest mark.

Recent HOME INVASION News Stories | abc13.com
abc13.com/tag/home-invasion/ - 58k -

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 07:07:04

I wonder if a cop would know the odds of finding “whilst” in an article?

10 to 1?

100 to 1?

1000 to 1?

Ah what’s it matter.

I do know the odds of finding the definition of welcher in this post though.

Noun 1. welcher - someone who swindles you by not repaying a debt or wager

Make the $1000.00 check payable to Ben Jones

Send it to

PO Box 1764
Flagstaff, AZ 86002

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-10-31 08:01:55

More than 200m Yuan (£20m) were found and four out of 16 counting machines broke whilst measuring the notes, a prosecutor said.

Guess those counting machines must have been made in China…

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 06:50:35

Comment by measton
2014-10-30 20:50:39

Just as an FYI

Texas voter ID law allows concealed carry as and ID but not a student ID.
Reply to this comment
——————————————————————————–
Texas Concealed Carry

Issuing Authority:
Texas Department of Public Safety

NICS check: Yes

Cost:
For most Texans, the license will cost $140. But for senior citizens or indigent Texans, the cost is only $70. For active/honorably retired peace officers or active/retired judicial officers, the cost is $25. For elected felony prosecuting attorneys, fee is waived.

Requirements:
To qualify for a Texas CHL you must:
1. Be 21 years old. (Members and former members of the armed forces must be 18.)
2. Have a clean criminal history, including military service and recent juvenile records.
3. Not be under a protective order.
4. Not be chemically dependent.
5. Not be of unsound mind.
6. Not be delinquent in paying fines, fees, child support, student loans, etc.
7. Be eligible to purchase a handgun by completing the NICS check.
8. Complete required training.

More information on the specifics of qualifying are available on the Texas Department of Public Safety site.

Informing Law Enforcement of Carry:
If a license holder is carrying a handgun on or about the license holder’s person when a magistrate or a peace officer demands that the license holder display identification, the license holder shall display both the license holder’s driver’s license or identification certificate issued by the department and the license holder’s handgun license. So basically if the LEO asks for your ID, go ahead and give him both.

http://www.usacarry.com/concealed_carry_permit_information.html - 204k -
———————————————————————-

Illegal immigrants find paths to college, careers

Updated 5/26/2012 6:30 PM

No one knows how many illegal immigrants are enrolled in colleges or have graduated; schools don’t collect such data. But in 2010, an estimated 96,000 young adults without legal status held at least an associate’s degree or higher, according to a report from the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.

http://www.usatoday.com/…/story/2012-05-26/illegal-immigrants-college-careers/55222438/1 - 347k -

Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 07:05:13

all you american taxpayers better open your wallets, because next wednesday, the day after the election, you’ll have 34 million newly legalized free sh1t army to pay for

and if you have a problem with that, you are a racist

forward

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 10:49:19

A heartwarming thought for the Free Shit Army advocates here.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-10-31 11:31:09

The Free $hit Army’s Pelosi Corps is being mobilized to ensure permanent DNC supermajorities. Forward, Soviet!

 
 
 
Comment by joe smith
2014-10-31 07:17:28

Hello all.

I’ve been on the road a lot the last few months. This summer I was feverishly working to get out of my firm because I was tired of working other men–it seems too servile, not something I’d want to do for my adult life. I used most of my cash to buy into a small private equity firm that privatizes water & sewer utility services in small towns and rural areas, mostly in the midwest and southeast. I get paid salary and bonuses also, but having equity also helps me structure comp in a way that minimizes taxes.

I have been out of town 1/2 the time these days. My role mostly involves preparing proposals, identifying people who can help us get a vote with county boards/town councils, and hammering out a final agreement. We cut annual outlay by 200-500k a year by steamlining upper management and hiring our own workers (sometimes from laid off local workers, but not always, sometimes they won’t take the pay cut). It usually works out to about a 10-15% savings for the municipality. Keep in mind, this is for small towns/counties. All the significant liabilities for environmental issues (e.g. runoff), pre-existing issues, natural disasters, and so forth remain with the municipality.

Needless to say, this is a big step up in compensation, plus I now get PE tax advantages. Possibly going to move me from 1% to .1%. My firm has gotten a bit of bad press in the past, which made me hesitant to join, but even when municipalities end up spending much more with us, they have to pay us a fee to buy us out of the contract. Also, we provide a service to the local boards/politicians because by privatizing they can hold the line on taxes (or lower them, in a few cases) and then when something bad happens and they raise the taxes they can claim they had no choice. We donate heavily in small town elections using PACs and 501(c)s affiliated with small gov’t/libertarian messages. I’ll have to report back after next week’s elections. There are a couple counties we are pitching and we are trying to turn a few seats red this election cycle.

Comment by joe smith
2014-10-31 07:26:51

**should read “working for other men”

oy vey

Comment by Shillow
2014-10-31 16:15:47

Lola’s long gone.

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 07:35:22

downlow joe has entered the building

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-31 08:00:55

So you spend all your time in small towns in the southeast and midwest, schmoozing the local Boss Hoggs?

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-10-31 08:08:33

but even when municipalities end up spending much more with us, they have to pay us a fee to buy us out of the contract.

And you feel good about that??

I get that when you guys are able to reduce costs, it could be a win for a municipality, but what about when it’s not?

The snippet about sounded like when they got sold a bill of goods, with promised savings, but actually end up with higher costs, your company comes out in the black, so it’s all good?

Yikes. Are you sleeping well at night?

Comment by joe smith
2014-10-31 09:13:53

I actually think it’s a bad idea for municipalities in the long run. They can’t make us do much beyond the contract unless they undertake an expensive arbitration or civil action. We do as little as possible and use legal structures to mitigate the risk on our end, being careful to get expert opinions along the way to serve as a basis for reliance.

In the short run, it allows counties/small towns to “keep taxes low”. In the ideal situation, we get a lot of pressure put on local boards by small gov’t/low tax advocates. A lot of these guys actually have contempt for their public utilities and workers because, among other things, they have job security and pensions. This is the world we live in. It’s incredibly short-sighted but we are just providing a service to boards that are under political pressure. These people have a very naive view of the big picture, IMO. But no, I do not feel bad about it. We’re hardly the only player in this space and if we didn’t provide the service, someone else would.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-10-31 09:36:07

I actually think it’s a bad idea for municipalities in the long run.

So you feel good both investing in, and directly spending your time and energy in something that is bad for many many people.

It’s incredibly short-sighted but we are just providing a service [...] if we didn’t provide the service, someone else would.

Both of those statements could just as easily be made by every drug dealer selling heroin to junkies.

But no, I do not feel bad about it.

Wow, I’m kind of blown away, joe; you always struck me as a better guy than that. I don’t mean to be personal. I just can’t see choosing to do something that I see as good for me and harmful for those I do business with.

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Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-31 10:24:35

Investing based on how it makes you feel reminds me of the an insurance fund that was pitching me and my partner:

John Doe has a life insurance policy that pays $2.0MM when he dies. He doesn’t have a beneficiary, but was just diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He would like to travel and enjoy what time he has left.

You buy his policy for $1.3MM and get the $2MM payoff when he dies. He get’s the $1.3MM right now to enjoy before he dies.

Seems like a win/win, right?

Except as an investor, you get better returns the quicker people die. You are rooting for new and better drugs to fail to extend (or save) a life. You do better if the person doesn’t respond well to chemo, etc.

Candidly, that just didn’t feel right. While based on logic, it seemed like an interesting “win-win” strategy, and would be uncorrelated with public markets, I would have felt dirty cashing each distribution check.

We didn’t invest.

 
Comment by oxide
2014-10-31 11:04:37

If John Doe doesn’t have a beneficiary (wife and kids), then why would he need $2M in life insurance?

 
Comment by drumminj
2014-10-31 11:04:48

Wow, I’m kind of blown away, joe; you always struck me as a better guy than that. I don’t mean to be personal. I just can’t see choosing to do something that I see as good for me and harmful for those I do business with.

+1.

I guess if you can sleep at night, Joe, that’s all that matters. But just make sure you look the average person on the street in the eye and recognize that you’re screwing them over on a daily basis so that you can “get yours”.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-31 11:23:36

Oxide-

The stories vary. It could have been a whole life policy taken out 40 years earlier, when he was married, or had kids.

In any event, the “why” is completely irrelevant, big picture, the person has a preference for slightly less money now rather than more money for their heirs (if any) later. This kind of investing provides that desired (for whatever reason) liquidity.

The other piece to the puzzle is that as the buyer of the policy, you need to continue to pay the premiums…so it’s not as if you just get to wait for your payday…you better hope the premiums and time don’t eat up all your return.

 
Comment by oxide
2014-10-31 15:20:38

I agree, Prime. But I guess we should expect this from the poster who is too good for aluminum siding, wife too good for anything less presentable than a Honda CRV, refers to “the poors,” will turn up his nose at any school that isn’t HYP, etc.

Joe, have you thought of using the Chicago parking meter example as a template for your proposals?

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-11-01 07:31:28

Oxide, that was just mean; I was trying to have a real discussion with joe, and simply attacking him for every past comment he made that offended you over the years doesn’t help.

RW, I can see feeling uncomfortable with having incentives that align with someone’s failing health & eventual death; interesting. Reversed incentives are common in investing, and I’ve considered one with somewhat similar misalignment: buying an elderly person’s house from them while also giving them a lifetime tenancy so they can afford to age and die in a familiar environment. While I haven’t done it (yet), somehow I hadn’t considered it from quite that perspective. Interesting.

Joe, I really didn’t mean for that to come across as a personal attack. But I would encourage you to reconsider your chosen route, if that is truly how you feel about it. The most important thing in life, IMO, is being able to look yourself in the eye in the mirror.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-31 11:05:25

We’re hardly the only player in this space and if we didn’t provide the service, someone else would.

Doesn’t mean you have to do it.

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Comment by drumminj
2014-10-31 11:00:24

The snippet about sounded like when they got sold a bill of goods, with promised savings, but actually end up with higher costs, your company comes out in the black, so it’s all good?

Yikes. Are you sleeping well at night?

Yeah, this rubbed me the wrong way as well. Why would someone be happy/proud they’re getting paid no matter what, even if it screws the taxpayers (the rest of us here on this board!)

Pride should come from adding value for others, and getting compensated in return. In this case, the “others” should be seen as the community, not the politicians that are simply leeches on the community

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-11-01 07:58:19

Pride should come from adding value for others, and getting compensated in return.

+1, drummin. Well said.

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Comment by cactus
2014-10-31 09:06:17

“We cut annual outlay by 200-500k a year by steamlining upper management and hiring our own workers (sometimes from laid off local workers, but not always, sometimes they won’t take the pay cut).”

And you will move to the .1% in income. Well you’re certainly not the first lawyer to do this. I just wonder how this will all end ?

Comment by Shillow
2014-10-31 16:19:21

Often with alcoholism, depression, divorce or something worse.

 
 
Comment by cactus
 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-31 09:55:48

Has anyone in your “space” looked into taking over school districts? I bet that some big money could made doing that.

Comment by joe smith
2014-10-31 10:55:38

Prisons, parking, bridges, and roads are more lucrative. My firm started with a water/sewer focus. If we expand, it will probably be to roads/bridges (taking over service/maintenance but charging tolls).

There is some innovative work being done by municipalities that bid on federal contracts to house prisoners and/or illegal immigrants, then they hire it out to a private contractor who actually builds/runs the facility hundreds of miles away. There’s a city in AZ that has a huge contract with ICE for this. The actual prison is in Texas but the city in AZ has the contract and pays most of the money to the private contractor, keeping only like 100k/yr for itself (out of a contract worth several million per yr).

Most of the areas we work in should be spending more on education, not less. This really isn’t disputed except by the hardcore home-schooling fringe. At present, we don’t operate in any areas that spend much on K-12 schools. There’s a lot of research that also shows that once you factor in the socioeconomic situations of students, public schools outperform privates and charters. Another way to say this is, if charters/privates were made to accept special needs, poorly behaved, and homeless children, their performance would be worse than we see from public schools on the whole. So I doubt we’ll be getting into education. Too risky of an investment.

Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-31 11:23:49

There’s a lot of research that also shows that once you factor in the socioeconomic situations of students, public schools outperform privates and charters. Another way to say this is, if charters/privates were made to accept special needs, poorly behaved, and homeless children, their performance would be worse than we see from public schools on the whole. So I doubt we’ll be getting into education. Too risky of an investment.

There are probably a lot of people around the country who don’t “believe” that research.

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:25:40

I’m sure there are others who are true believers. Especially investors in charter schools!

Andre Agassi’s pivot to education capitalist
Andre Agassi tells a class at Rocketship’s new school in Nashville that he never wanted to play tennis, but it allowed him to get into what he considers a more fulfilling job building schools. Agassi said he dropped out of school in 8th grade to play tennis.
by Blake Farmer
Wednesday, October 29, 2014 - 17:44

Former tennis star Andre Agassi has spent the last few years building schools. Recently, he has stopped doing it out of pure generosity. After years of raising money for charter schools, Agassi has had a conversion. He teamed up with investors and joined the growing ranks of education capitalists.

Agassi has been touring some of his schools this fall, including a recent in Nashville.

The second graders in this Rocketship classroom were barely born when Agassi hung up his tennis racket. So they don’t really know much about the guy with the shaved head touring their new school, other than they should be grateful to him.

“What made you want to play tennis?” one student asks. “I never really wanted to,” Agassi says, explaining that his dad made him.

But turns out, he was pretty good.

“And then all of the sudden when I won, I had the chance to build my own school,” he says.

The irony is not lost on him, since Agassi dropped out of school himself. He has since raised $100 million to supplement public funding for a charter school in his hometown of Las Vegas.

But in the last few years, he teamed up with investors to start a hedge fund. They don’t run schools. They just buy the land, finance construction, then rent the school back to a charter, typically part of a national chain like KIPP Academy or Rocketship.

Critics of the charter movement have charged investors with lining their pockets on the backs of public education, and Agassi says he had his own hesitance before switching gears into profit-mode.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:18:36

“Another way to say this is, if charters/privates were made to accept special needs, poorly behaved, and homeless children, their performance would be worse than we see from public schools on the whole.”

Isn’t avoiding special needs kids the core principle of the charter and private school education business models?

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 10:44:07

Liberace!

Con Ops is so 1990’s Liberace. It’s a very sleazy biz but I’m sure you’ll fit right in.

 
Comment by rms
2014-10-31 12:54:34

“This summer I was feverishly working to get out of my firm because I was tired of working other men–it seems too servile, not something I’d want to do for my adult life.”

“Well, you can stay here cutting the nuts off another man’s cows for chuck and wages till you’re all stove up and walking around like a crab like all the other bachelor cowhands….” –Prentice Ritter

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-31 07:52:55

The Outsourcing Canard: There is no tax break for companies to ship jobs overseas.
National Review | 10/31/2014 | Mona Charen

The 2012 election was essentially a protracted exercise in character assassination. Democrats painted Romney and Republicans generally as extremist cretins who held rigid views on abortion, were hostile to the point of combat towards women, engineered the financial crisis to benefit their rich cronies, and cared so little for working people that they supported tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas.

If the lesson of the war on the war on women was (1) expose the lies, and (2) shame the liars who attempt to scare voters to the polls, the same lesson applies to the Democrats’ low, libelous race baiting. From South Carolina to Arkansas to Georgia, Democrats are running ads on black radio stations and distributing leaflets in black neighborhoods warning African Americans that if Republicans win next week, more Trayvon Martins and Michael Browns will die and Obama will be impeached. These smears demand a response — not because Republicans hope to win the African-American vote, but as a matter of political hygiene. And yes, someday, the right candidates from Lincoln’s party may be able to carve out a larger share of that vote.

There is another hardy perennial that can profit from the same treatment: the great “tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas” canard.

Senator Barack Obama hit this theme hard in 2008 — shaking his head in wonderment that Republicans had enacted tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas (TBFCSJO). He promised that if elected he would end that “loophole.” In 2012, after governing for four years, (Democrats could have repealed it — if it existed) Obama sold that same rug to voters again, accusing Romney of favoring the tax break.

This year, having ridden the war on women horse into the ground, many Democratic candidates are returning to the mythical TBFCSJO. In Iowa, Bruce Braley is hammering Joni Ernst for her supposed support. Allison Lundergan Grimes is accusing Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell of wanting to reward companies that ship jobs overseas. New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen is trotting it out, and in Louisiana, Harry Reid’s Majority PAC is using it against Bill Cassidy, but with an extra twist (this being Harry Reid) — the suggestion that the “tax break” is the bidding of “out of state billionaires,” i.e., the Koch brothers.

This TBFCSJO has the virtue of playing to Democrats’ favorite stereotype — greedy Republicans helping their plutocratic friends at the expense of ordinary working people. It’s a perfect campaign issue in every respect save one — it’s false.

As Mitt Romney retorted in a debate in 2012, “Look, I’ve been in business for 25 years and I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fact checkers from the Washington Post to Politifact confirm there is no TBFCSJO. Companies can deduct moving expenses — but this applies whether the firm moves domestically or internationally and certainly doesn’t reward outsourcing. Moving expenses are trivial. A multinational is not going to move its operations from Bangor to Bangladesh because they get to deduct their packing boxes and freight fees. Such decisions are based on weightier concerns, including serving foreign markets, labor costs, and the tax climate.

That last might seem a good place to start if you were hoping to keep companies here and to attract others to relocate in the U.S. Our corporate tax rates are the highest in the developed world. But that assumes good faith, and Democrats seem much more interested in the sound bite.

Comment by cactus
2014-10-31 09:20:45

I think myself and a minority of my fellow workers will vote. Most of my co-workers are very angry they can’t vote but have to pay taxes.

Not citizens can’t vote. Bummer

Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 17:39:53

“Not citizens can’t vote. Bummer”

October 30, 2014 10:00 AM

Non-Citizens Are Voting

James O’Keefe documents the problem in North Carolina, where the Senate race is close.

By John Fund

Could non-citizen voting be a problem in next week’s elections, and perhaps even swing some very close elections?

A new study by two Old Dominion University professors, based on survey data from the Cooperative Congressional Election Study, indicated that 6.4 percent of all non-citizens voted illegally in the 2008 presidential election, and 2.2 percent in the 2010 midterms. Given that 80 percent of non-citizens lean Democratic, they cite Al Franken ’s 312-vote win in the 2008 Minnesota U.S. Senate race as one likely tipped by non-citizen voting. As a senator, Franken cast the 60th vote needed to make Obamacare law.

North Carolina features one of the closest Senate races in the country this year, between Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan and Republican Thom Tillis. So what guerrilla filmmaker James O’Keefe, the man who has uncovered voter irregularities in states ranging from Colorado to New Hampshire, has learned in North Carolina is disturbing. This month, North Carolina officials found at least 145 illegal aliens, still in the country thanks to the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, registered to vote. Hundreds of other non-citizens may be on the rolls.

A voter-registration card is routinely issued without any identification check, and undocumented workers can use it for many purposes, including obtaining a driver’s license and qualifying for a job. And if a non-citizen has a voter-registration card, there are plenty of campaign operatives who will encourage him or her to vote illegally.

O’Keefe had a Brazilian-born immigrant investigator pose as someone who wanted to vote but was not a citizen. Greg Amick, the campaign manager for the Democrat running for sheriff in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), was only too happy to help.

Greg Amick: Here’s a couple of things you can do. You do not have to have your driver’s license, but do you have any sort of identification?

Project Veritas investigator: But I do have my driver’s license.

Amick: Oh, you do. Show ’em that and you’re good.

PV: But the only problem, you know, I don’t want to vote if I’m not legal. I think that’s going to be a problem. I’m not sure.

Amick: It won’t be, it shouldn’t be an issue at all.

PV: No?

Amick: As long as you are registered to vote, you’ll be fine.

But North Carolina officials shouldn’t be “fine” with Amick, who appears to be afoul of a state law making it a felony “for any person, knowing that a person is not a citizen of the United States, to instruct or coerce that person to register to vote or to vote.”

Non-Citizens Are Voting | National Review Online
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/391474/non-citizens-are-voting-john-fund - 93k - Cached - Similar pages
1 day ago

 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-31 09:44:27

A multinational is not going to move its operations from Bangor to Bangladesh because they get to deduct their packing boxes and freight fees. Such decisions are based on weightier concerns, including serving foreign markets, labor costs, and the tax climate.

That last might seem a good place to start if you were hoping to keep companies here and to attract others to relocate in the U.S. Our corporate tax rates are the highest in the developed world.

How much less do Bangladeshi workers get paid compared to those in Maine. Is it one tenth, maybe one twentieth? It seems unlikely that changing corporate tax rates is going to bring manufacturing jobs back from the Third World. While she’s on the subject of Bangladesh, she should also consider that garment factory that collapsed there about a year and a half ago. That’s another great advantage of doing business in a country like that. There are no pesky building inspectors or OSHA to make sure that your workers have a safe working environment.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-31 10:00:13

What would happen to the United States if our “tax climate” were closer to that in Bangladesh? Might we devolve into a lower quality of life? Let’s just reinstate our tariffs and move on with our happy lives.

 
 
Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-31 10:30:03

2Bananas–

Big picture, I agree with the concept…that the “loopholes” are traditional deductions that apply to moving from CA to TX, or CA to China.

However, it’s not just packing tape and boxes.

The big items are being able to deduct undepreciated manufacturing facilities.

If you make a capital investment of $5MM into a plant, you need to depreciate it over it’s useful life. However, if you abandon the plant, you get to write off the remaining undepreciated portion right away.

That deduction takes away the sting of a move–it’s not a reason to move, but it certainly takes away some of the sting of the capital investment that will no longer be utilized.

I would guess though that in most cases, the physical plant is resold anyway, which would reduce the benefit of the “loophole” even further.

 
 
Comment by AmazingRuss
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 10:45:57

First crack appears in 18 months. 36 months later it’s getting stripped out for Corian after second crack appears.

 
 
Comment by cactus
2014-10-31 09:39:56

Stocks around the world are screaming higher this morning after the Bank of Japan announced plans to expand its version of Quantitative Easing. The Nikkei 225 (^N225) shot up nearly 5% to levels not seen since 2007. Never a nation to be left out of a party, U.S. investors have driven futures to within shouting distance of record highs ahead of the open.”

Bull market how high will it go ?

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-31 09:57:34

I am so mad. I should have bought stocks a year ago, right about the time I noticed that prices were already impossibly high.

Comment by cactus
2014-10-31 12:01:39

Very hard to time and except for giant bubbles and deep crashes I think you will be better off to asset allocate and chill.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-31 09:56:33

I’m still hungry.

Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2014-10-31 11:30:59

Auntie Fed said I’m still hungry.

Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies down to $1.99 from $2.50 this week. Would that do it?

Wines I would hesitate to buy at $12 are now $7-9.

Somebody said it here - price reductions in things you don’t need, price increases in things that are essential.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:28:02

“Wines I would hesitate to buy at $12 are now $7-9.
… - price reductions in things you don’t need,…”

Wait, I’m missing the point here.

Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2014-10-31 21:11:12

I lost my head there for a moment.
Wine is, of course, a necessity.

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-11-01 08:11:15

;-)

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-10-31 10:58:53

Millenials may be dumbed down and lobotomized by iCrap, but it appears the Obama Zombies of ‘08 are belatedly recognizing they were sold a bill of goods with “hope ‘n change.”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-30/disillusioned-millennials-dump-democrats-blame-obama

In a sad reflection of the hope-and-change expectations, a new national poll shows likely voters in the so-called millennial generation prefer a Republican-led Congress after next week’s elections, and young Hispanics are turning sharply against President Obama. As National Journal reports, the poll of 18-to-29-year-olds by Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP) shows that young Americans are leaving the new Democratic coalition that twice elected Obama as the president’s approval rating among Millennial tumbles from 47% in April to just 43% now (and nearly 60% of young Americans disapprove of Obamacare). However, the news is not all good as the future of the American electorate, generally hold Republicans in the lowest regard.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-31 11:13:13

“American Realty Declines for Second Day to a Record Low”

American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (ARCP) fell for a second day after reporting accounting errors that led to the resignations of two top executives, sparking concern about the company’s ability to raise money for growth.

The stock sank 5.8 percent to $9.42, a record low, following a 19 percent plunge yesterday. Moody’s Investors Service today joined Standard & Poor’s in saying it may cut the company’s credit rating to junk status.

The disclosure that a mistake in the landlord’s financial statements was intentionally concealed has erased more than $2.7 billion in market value at a company that has built itself into the largest owner of U.S. single tenant buildings in less than four years. The New York-based real estate investment trust said its reports for the first half of 2014 and all of last year should no longer be relied upon.

“There are definitely still unanswered questions,” said Paul Adornato, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets in New York. “We still don’t have clean financials.”

American Realty Chief Executive Officer David Kay said yesterday that the accounting missteps came after a mistake in first-quarter results that wasn’t intended to inflate adjusted funds from operations, a measure of REIT cash flow. The company changed its accounting methods in the second quarter and a number was included that was used to hide the mistake from the prior period, he said.

Bad Judgment

The errors reflected “bad judgment,” Kay said on a conference call yesterday. Brian Block, chief financial officer of the REIT since its inception in December 2010, and Chief Accounting Officer Lisa McAlister resigned.

American Realty was founded by Nicholas Schorsch, 53, who has built a real estate empire through his company AR Capital LLC, the biggest manager and operator of nontraded REITs. Block is listed on AR Capital’s website as a founding partner of that company.

American Realty Capital Properties was sponsored by AR Capital and went public in September 2011 at $12.50 a share. Schorsch, who had been CEO of the REIT before stepping down at the end of last month, went on an acquisition spree to make the company the largest owner of single-tenant buildings such as pharmacies and restaurants. The company completed at least 20 purchases since its shares began trading through June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Borrowing Costs

The stock decline makes issuing shares to finance acquisitions unattractive, while a ratings downgrade would increase the debt costs, said Adornato. More expensive financing narrows the spread to make money on new investments.

“The bigger-picture question is: What does the higher cost of capital mean for their own acquisition program?” he said in a telephone interview. “That is the question that could be impacting the stock today.”

REITs are dependent on the capital markets to finance acquisitions and development because they can’t keep large amounts of cash on hand. They also are required to pay out most of their taxable earnings to shareholders.

Moody’s said in a report today that the company’s access to debt and equity capital markets is curtailed until the review is resolved. In addition, “this purposeful hiding of the accounting error engenders questions about the company’s credibility and maintenance of investor trust,” the firm said.

Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-31 12:44:22

Makes me wonder what is going on at BlackRock, Colony Capital and their ilk as prices begin to crater and they have shareholders to answer to?

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 11:23:19

Region VIII

 
Comment by Neuromance
2014-10-31 12:39:26

I don’t care what they say, running subprime borrowers through the wringer then sticking the public with the costs has been fabulously profitable.

As such, we’ll continue to hear Mel Watt and Wall Street execs talk about the importance of getting lower income folks to buy houses through looser lending standards.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:30:13

As a society, we learned absolutely nothing from the early-2000s housing price bubble and crash.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-11-01 08:15:39

The learning was prevented by the actions of the PTB.

 
 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2014-10-31 12:44:33

This fall in gas prices coincidentally puts the screws to Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter. Now, I support penalizing Russia for its land grabs. BUT - this also indicates that governments are capable of manipulating the energy markets in addition to the real estate market.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:31:13

I’m on board with any form of price manipulation which enables me to fill my gas tank at under $3/gallon.

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2014-10-31 13:12:41

Now there’s talk of student loan forgiveness if millenials buy a house:

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/31/news/economy/student-debt-forgiveness-wall-street/index.html

One Wall Street firm has an idea that’s raising eyebrows: forgive some student debt for first-time homebuyers.

It’s too early to say exactly how the stimulus measure BlackRock (BLK) suggested would work, but it would take Congressional action because the federal government administers the majority of student debt.

I knew Mr. Banker would save the day!

Comment by Neuromance
2014-10-31 13:36:29

Socialize those losses, privatize those profits.

 
Comment by octal77
2014-10-31 13:58:51

I love the smell of free sh*t in the morning!

 
Comment by Ella58
2014-10-31 14:16:09

Is there any doubt that Obama’s final act in office will be to forgive the vast majority of student debt? The housing connection is a new one, but I doubt there will be any contingencies, just straight forgiveness.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:41:42

The Fed could just buy up all the student loan debt and bury it on its balance sheet forever alongside of $4 trillion in Treasury bonds and MBS.

For that matter, they could similarly buy all the auto loans, credit card debt and municipal bonds in bankrupt cities like Detroit and Stockton. Why limit the debt jubilee to MBS when there are so many other forms of debt that are holding our society back?

 
 
Comment by real journalists
2014-10-31 15:51:58

FEMA Controller requesting backup, request backup

Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-31 16:15:58

Actor Information Sheet

The Actor Information Sheet should be distributed to actors before the exercise and should accompany the Actor Waiver Form. This information sheet is provided as an example only and should be modified to suit the jurisdiction’s needs as well as the exercise scope, type, and scenario. For example, if decontamination will not be part of the exercise, actors do not need to be instructed to wear bathing suits.

Please read and understand the following points; they will ensure that your participation in this exercise will be safe and enjoyable. If you have any questions, please contact [Actor POC].

1. The day will be long and tiring.

You need to be at the site by [time], and you will probably not finish until after [time]. If you have any health concerns or medical conditions, please tell [Actor POC] before the start of the exercise. Health or medical concerns will not necessarily disqualify you from participating.

2. You must be at least 18 years old and sign a waiver to participate.

If you are not 18 and are not in the military, parental permission is required to participate. The waiver form (included) must be turned in before the exercise to [Actor POC].

3. Eat a good breakfast before arrival.

It is your responsibility to eat a well-balanced meal before arriving at the exercise, [just in case you miss some of the food provided.]

[Exercise officials are planning a snack and limited beverages before the exercise. Volunteers transported to hospitals will be given a snack before being returned to the exercise site. Volunteers who do not leave the exercise site will be released before lunch.]

4. Transport yourself to and from the exercise site.

You are responsible to transport yourself to [exercise location]. A map is attached for your convenience. If you carpool with another volunteer, there is no guarantee that you will be returned to the exercise site at the same time.

5. Be on time!

Please do not arrive late. It is difficult to begin the exercise if actors are not in place.

You will most likely be released by [time]. However, you may finish earlier or later. Volunteers transported to hospitals will be returned to the exercise site.

6. Wear layers of old clothes and a bathing suit.

Wear clothes that can be removed and a bathing suit underneath. Wear clothes that you do not mind getting wet, dirty, stained, or torn. You will get wet.

7. There will be no place to keep personal belongings.

Bring your driver’s license, keys, and a sense of humor. Do not bring cameras, jewelry, items you don’t want to get wet, large sums of money, or uninvited friends or volunteers.

8. Don’t overact.

It is very important to play your assigned role the best you can, but this does not mean you should overact. Overacting can be dangerous for yourself and the emergency workers in the exercise. When you arrive at the exercise site, you will be assigned an injury or role and will be briefed about your roles and what will happen during the exercise. If you do not know how to play your role or have questions about the briefing, ask the volunteer coordinators. If you are assigned the role of a psychologically distressed person, please act upset, not out of control.

9. If you get hurt or have a real problem, say “This is a real emergency.”

You must use the phrase “This is a real emergency” to tell exercise staff members that you have a real problem and are not just acting.

10. You must check in and sign out.

When you arrive in the morning, you will sign in and be assigned an “injury.” A victim tag will be placed around your neck. This card must be returned at the checkout station. Do not remove or allow anyone to remove this victim tag during the exercise, even at the hospital. When the exercise is over, return your victim tag with the questions completed on the back.

Please be sure you understand all of these points. If you have any questions, please contact [Actor POC]. We would like to ensure your safety and preparedness for this exercise.

On behalf of [Agency/Jurisdiction] and all of the participants in the exercise, thank you for volunteering. It will be an interesting and enjoyable day and, as a result, our community will be better prepared to face real challenges in the future.

[Protective Marking]

Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 20:10:27

OMG Obama just showed up at our door to ask for some free candy! (At least the mask was quite convincing…)

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-31 20:54:29

Leave it up to a voluntaryist/agorist (not a conservative and not a farting “progressive”) to introduce you to Moodoïd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SD7_IISaco

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 21:14:06

ft dot com
On Wall Street
October 31, 2014 8:07 am
QE’s break-up with markets: no regrets?
Tracy Alloway in New York

Dear Quantitative Easing,

It’s me, Markets. I know our time with each other is at an end and that you are on your way out, but my therapist thought it would be a good idea for me to write this letter to you. We have been through so much together. She says I need closure.

You see, for these past six years you have been rather important to me.

I remember when you first arrived in my life back in November 2008. It seemed like the world was crumbling around me but then you arrived and things started to get better.

You were so mysterious. This guy I used to know from way back, Myron Scholes, said I was taking a big risk with you, but I was hooked the second you showed up.

You had all these fancy theories about portfolio reallocation, and encouraged investors to relinquish safe assets like US Treasuries and cash and then made them put their money in things like stocks and corporate bonds. You had me at “deflation”.

At first, no one knew what to make of you. You had only been written about in textbooks (though I think our mutual friend, Ben B, had talked about you a bit before. He really thought the world of you). I remember people debating your intentions and your effectiveness.

And I was really a mess back then – scared of my own shadow (banks), as it were. Lehman Brothers had just collapsed, Merrill Lynch was being merged into Bank of America and it felt like the entire financial system was on the brink of collapse. I was really at a low.

Some people thought you would not be able to cheer me up. Boy, were they wrong. Once you were around, things really began to get better. Hey, you remember that summer of 2009? When the S&P 500 rallied more than 50 per cent? Those were good times.

Things were not always so great, though. We had some wobbles along the way. You were all set to leave me in the summer of 2010, before Ben B persuaded you to stick around. But then you tried to leave again – before coming back even stronger than ever in September 2012.

I was always unsure whether you were good or bad for me – you know, in the long run. My therapist calls it a codependent relationship. I took one of those online quizzes (“25 Warning Signs that you are in a codependent relationship with loose monetary policy”) and I think she may be right. There has always been a certain clinginess to our relationship – you would threaten to leave and I would threaten to go off the rails and then you would always come back.

This time it seems you really are going and I guess I will have to get by on my own.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-31 21:22:22

As another poster already duly noted, QE3 isn’t dead, it’s merely outsourced.

ft dot com
October 31, 2014 8:46 pm
BoJ stimulus boosts dollar and sends S&P 500 to new record
Michael Mackenzie in New York, Ben McLannahan in Tokyo and Robin Wigglesworth in London

The Bank of Japan stunned global markets on Friday and sent the dollar soaring as it unexpectedly expanded its stimulus programme just days after the US Federal Reserve ended its own historic experiment with easy money.

The dollar jumped as much as three per cent against the yen, prompting a similar decline in the gold price, while equity markets around the world surged. The S&P 500 hit a new record close and the Nikkei 225 index rose nearly 5 per cent.

Aggressive moves by central banks to bring down borrowing costs have propelled equities, bonds and real estate sharply higher since the global financial crisis. While the Fed has steadily withdrawn its stimulus this year, and ended it on Wednesday, the move by the BoJ and expectations of a more aggressive approach from the European Central Bank are boosting markets that were briefly rattled earlier this month.

Haruhiko Kuroda, BoJ governor, defied objections from four fellow board members, arguing that a tax-hit economy and a lower oil price have led to “a critical moment” in the effort by the world’s third-largest economy to escape 15 years of deflation.

He added: “There was a risk that despite having made steady progress, we could face a delay in eradicating the public’s deflation mindset.”

The BoJ plans to expand the monetary base by some Y80tn a year, mainly by stepping up purchases of longer-term Japanese government bonds. That is up from a current annual pace of about Y60tn-Y70tn ($539bn-$629bn).

“It shows how other central banks are being forced into the breach left by reduced Fed stimulus, either pre-emptively as in this case, or in the future forced by market stress,” said Alan Ruskin, strategist at Deutsche Bank.

 
 
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