Bits Bucket for December 15, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Region VIII
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/gamecast?gameId=400554420&version=mobile
“Losing feeling in my toes.”
Losing feeling in my toes
Chicken Parm don’t taste so good
We won but I puked all night
Now I lost that new car smell
Hostage situation in Oz could be another shoe to land on Wall Street.
Just another false flag to whip the uniform fetishists into a frenzy.
The PATRIOT Act was already written before 9/11. A 1996 policy paper by the Project For The New American Century said a “Pearl Harbor event” would be needed to push through a law like that.
And over a decade later and $1+ trillion wasted, nothing has changed.
A recent New York Times piece about libertarianism quoted someone saying that “radical Islam is like herpes, but it isn’t AIDS.”
And over a decade later and $1+ trillion wasted, nothing has changed.
The NSA does now know which porn sites are your favorites.
+1
…and now watch “Lose Change” to rock your boat.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me………two turtle doves…
Happy Holidays HBBers!
Every year that passes makes me ever more thankful for the discussions we have on this board and marking another year encourages me to look back to when it all started.
I saved my predictions for 2014 and will pull them up on New Years Day. It makes me start to think about where we are headed in 2015.
Is your Elf on a Shelf conditioning you to accept the surveillance state?
+1. I was thinking about this very issue yesterday. For a while, I’ve been sort of numb to it and yesterday it hit me what it means. Meanwhile the pigs in Washington passed the Cronybus. Eff them, and eff their sponsors.
Meanwhile the pigs in Washington passed the Cronybus. Eff them, and eff their sponsors ??
Yep….Bring the country to the brink of default then bury all the little goodies in the bill without discussion…Sickening…
what are you gonna do about it?
Bend-over….
“Bend-over…”
That was easy! –Jamie Dimon
If you voted for Wall Street stooges Obama, McCain, or Romney, you’ve already demonstrated your docility in bending over for your crony capitalist overlords.
VOTE GREEN PARTY AND E. WARREN! She stood up against this crup!
E. WARREN! She stood up against this crup!
Ha. She did a great job of using it as a springboard to land herself in the Senate. But remind me, what has she actually done to prevent the taxpayers footing the bill for bubbles and fraud?
Nada.
Warren’s grandstanding should not be confused with a serious desire to bring accountabilty to Wall Street. The DNC would bilge her in a minute if she threatened their Wall Street paymasters.
Not easing resisting the puppet masters. Dont expect a miracle over night. She is one of the only ones standing up for the people.
“”Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has heavily criticized the Education Department’s oversight of Navient and Sallie Mae, was not pleased.
“Let me get this straight: You break the law. You don’t follow the rules. You treat the borrowers badly,” Warren said of the loan servicers. “And you all just renegotiated the contracts to make sure that across the portfolio [loan servicers] are going to make a little more money if nothing changes?”"”
Elizabeth Warren is another limousine communist.
Communism will not fix our country, it will set our progress back hundreds of years and create a new dark age for the world.
http://revcom.us/rcp/index.html
#WolvesInSheepsClothing
Ha. She did a great job of using it as a springboard to land herself in the Senate. But remind me, what has she actually done to prevent the taxpayers footing the bill for bubbles and fraud?
She’s one senator, so there are limits to what she can do. She has her one vote and she can make speeches.
It’s similar to Eisenhower’s warning about the military industrial complex. The question could be asked, why did he just issue a warning? Why didn’t he do something about the problem? The answer is that there wasn’t a lot that he could do. They are the military industrial complex and he was merely the president of the United States. He’s been dead for over 40 years and they’re still going strong.
Whose family trust fund does Liawatha Warren represent and profit from?
“It’s similar to Eisenhower’s warning about the military industrial complex. The question could be asked, why did he just issue a warning? Why didn’t he do something about the problem?”
Because he was part of the problem; look up the Morganthau Plan JCS-1067.
so much fear from the neo-cons on here.
Lola…. you believe in the republican/democrat lie. But you claim to be smart. How do you reconcile that?
“… surveillance state.”
It takes a village to raise a child and the protect the child - to protect all children - hence he village must be diligently watched over.
An individual cannot do this diligence by himself, by herself, because the individual does not have the resources. However, the state does.
Praise for the state is seriously lacking on this message board which reflects the deeply imbedded hatred of children many here carry within themselves, carry within their hardened hearts.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me………two turtle doves…
Actually, the second day of Christmas is Dec 26. We’re still in Advent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas
The Twelve Days of Christmas is the festive Christian season, beginning on Christmas Day (25 December), that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, as the Son of God. This period is also known as Christmastide.
Housing Demand Negative YoY In 35 Of 36 States; Price Declines Resume
http://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public/State/State_Turnover_AllHomes.csv
‘There is a lot of defense spending in your future. The proposed defense budget is $554.2 billion, including $64 billion in war spending. The important number is the $490.1 billion “base budget.” It is $3.3 billion larger than the amount allocated for fiscal 2014 and $3 billion higher than the Pentagon itself requested. Yes, that’s right: Congressional leaders are forcing money on the Pentagon.’
‘According to Politico Pro, that extra $3 billion is not only packed with “goodies for the military’s top defense contractors, including aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing,” it’s a sign that the commander-in-chief is already a lame duck: ‘President Barack Obama is losing some of the control over the defense budget that his administration clawed away from top military commanders early in his presidency, with the service chiefs and Congress once again openly conspiring to undo tough spending decisions made by the White House and the Pentagon.’
‘The result: an omnibus spending package for this fiscal year that includes money to buy lots of weapons the Pentagon didn’t request but top commanders signaled they wanted anyway.’
Ben, once again let me remind the HBB that annual spending on government contractors is over $500,000,000,000 a year. That’s over half a trillion dollars for those of you who learned Common Core math.
The biggest welfare queens don’t live in Detroit or the Bronx, they live inside the Capital Beltway.
There is a lot of defense spending in your future ??
With intrenched policy makers in both houses and any presidential candidate who dare not suggest a contraction of the Military complex it just makes me think nothing is going to change…
Hurrah, lieberal darling Liewatha Warren joined Ted Cruz in a meaningless vote against the Cromnibus.
There it is.
CronyBus.
Ted Cruz masquerades as a Tea Party conservative, just like Obama masqueraded as a “progressive” to get elected, while their organ grinder (and Ted’s wife’s employer), Goldman Sachs, merrily plays his tunes.
Painful truth right there.
“…aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing…”
Real jobs that buttress continued settlement expansion in the occupied territories,,, paving the way for Jesus’ return. Phuc yeah!
So wait a second. I read so often here how it’s awful that America doesn’t make anything. Well, here’s a nice $500B spending package for America to make a bunch of things. And you’re still not happy.
I’d rather have $500B spent by the govt so that hard working men and women in America have manufacturing jobs than $500B spent so that welfare recipients can upgrade to the latest iphone.
“And you’re still not happy”
Nobody here ever will be.
In fact, the HBB only exists to provide you with clickbait content to chime in on to show the world how right you are, with an air of smug, finger-wagging, condescension
I’m not happy with money that doesn’t need to be spent.
Lots of pet projects. Lots of extra bases all around the world that are not needed anymore. Lots of duplication in the Federal Government. Yet instead of taking a hard look at the budget and cutting what can be cut, senators get re-elected by “bringing home the bacon”, and have a disincentive to get realistic.
So, what to do? Since the politicians will never vote themselves term limits, we need to do it ourselves. If as a politician, you’ve been in office for 8 years (2 Senate, 4 House)? You will not get my vote. End of story.
$500B spent ??
Spent on what is the real question…
Spent on things that we then “blow up” ?? Spent on things that have no useful purpose ?? Spent on things on behalf of other countries so they can use their treasure for other purposes ?? Spent on a bloated bureaucracy that is bigger than the welfare you disparage…
So wait a second. I read so often here how it’s awful that America doesn’t make anything. Well, here’s a nice $500B spending package for America to make a bunch of things. And you’re still not happy.
Aren’t you satisfied that the middle-east spending isn’t going anywhere?
How about infrastructure spending; for example bridges, roads, canals, levies, electrical grid, etc., the foundation for other business models?
“There is a lot of defense spending in your future.”
At least national defense is in the constitution. Where was the constitutional article about social welfare/healthcare/education of non us citizens, or the article regarding the funding of community agitation groups and other subversive organizations? I can’t seem to find them…I’ll keep reading.
#FundamentalTransformationOfAmerica
#DoesYourCommunityNeedToBeOrganized?
Warmist Warming Monday
“Throughout the conference, world leaders emphasized clarity of the science (see also the New York Times article about how Republicans are not scientists). Nearly everyone agreed that we must transition away from a fossil fuel driven economic world to clean energy now (see also the Business Insider article about white trash teabillies “rolling coal”). However, political convenience kicked the climate commitment down the road again with no specific plans for cutting emissions.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/keith-peterman/lima-call-for-climate-act_b_6323186.html
And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links
A convention of PolySci majors?
However, political convenience kicked the climate commitment down the road again with no specific plans for cutting emissions.
As Gomer Pyle used to say: “Surprise, surprise!”
Williams: Hacked Sony e-mails expose white liberal hypocrisy on race
posted at 1:01 pm on December 13, 2014 by Ed Morrissey
And Juan Williams should know — he’s had first-hand experience with the phenomenon. NPR fired Williams four years ago for admitting in a segment on The O’Reilly Factor that travelers boarding commercial flights in “Muslim garb” cause him to “get worried … get nervous.” Never mind that Williams and our own Mary Katharine spent the entire segment arguing that Bill O’Reilly was painting Muslims with too broad a brush and that a distinction had to be made between moderate and extremist Muslims; NPR cashiered Williams for the one sentence he uttered, calling it “inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR.” The experience became an epiphany for Williams about which side of the political spectrum actually practices the tolerance that the other preaches, although Williams himself remains as liberal as ever.
So when the opportunity comes to roast limousine liberals for intolerance and hypocrisy, especially on race, Williams has no hesitation in dropping the hammer. The release of hacked e-mails from Sony has presented Williams with a rich target, and he hits a bullseye:
Hacked emails from Hollywood’s white, liberal elite show them belittling the president by assuming his taste in movies is confined to racial stereotypes fitting just another black guy.
“Should I ask him if he likes’ DJANGO?’” asked Amy Pascal, a Sony Pictures’ co-chair. Scott Rudin, a movie producer, responds: “Or ‘The Butler’… or ‘Ride-Along. ‘ I bet he likes Kevin Hart.”
Where to begin unpacking that powder keg of race and class bigotry? …
She assumes that he is sure to share the working-class, juvenile delight of Hart’s racial slapstick. And it does not make much sense in her racial construct but she also thinks the president must also be interested in movies about the weighty topics of slavery and the civil rights movement.
Pascal and Rudin, on their way to meet the president at a Democratic fundraiser, have no hesitation about painting Obama into this limited, one-dimensional personality. What they have revealed is how demeaning and patronizing their liberal minds can be even when the man is the leader of the nation.
Pascal and Rudin have gone on an apology tour of sorts in an attempt to unwind the damage caused by this exchange. Pascal’s planning an appearance on Al Sharpton’s MSNBC show to demonstrate contrition and receive the secular blessing of the host/activist. She’ll probably get it too, although not without some commitment that atones for her sins — perhaps a three-pic development deal for Sharpton with gross points tossed in? Whatever it takes.
hotair.com/…/comment-page-1/ - 131k -
The real LIEberals are fascist racists. They deny it but they 1) send their kids to whites only private schools, 2) live in whites only nabes, and 3) favor social programs that are all modeled after Fascism.
Most conservative voters cannot afford to live away from slum areas. So it’s not surprising to see conservatives live in integrated nabes, while the “progressives” live in whites only nabes.
The country club conservatives are the Bush family types who are also fascist. It was no surprise that they seem to be a different flavor of “progressivism.” GWB pushed for and signed in a $500 billion prescription medical benefit act in his second term.
Most conservative voters cannot afford to live away from slum areas.
I suspect the same is true for liberal voters.
FWIW, judging from the election campaign signs I have seen in my upper middle class nabe over the years, I would guess that the overwhelming majority of my well to do neighbors vote lockstep Republican.
Smart people make more money. Smart people don’t vote Democrat. It makes perfect sense.
In both 2008 and 2012 Obama got around 80% of the high school dropout vote. In both 2008 and 2012 Obama LOST the college graduate vote. Evil George W. Bush also won the college graduate vote in 2000 and 2004 and Al Gore and Kerry both won the high school dropout vote.
Smart people make more money. Smart people don’t vote Democrat. It makes perfect sense.
Except for the fact that it’s not true. Plenty of people who are much smarter than you vote for Democrats.
Here’s some 2012 exit poll results from CNN. Romney got 51% of the votes of college graduates (probably meaning people with bachelor’s degrees). Obama got 55% of the votes of voters with postgraduate degrees. College graduates were 29% of voter and postgraduates 18%, so Obama got slightly more votes of all voters with bachelor’s degree or more.
Once again, the plural of anecdote is not data.
Here’s the link:
http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/race/president
“Here’s some 2012 exit poll results from CNN. Romney got 51% of the votes of college graduates (probably meaning people with bachelor’s degrees). Obama got 55% of the votes of voters with postgraduate degrees. College graduates were 29% of voter and postgraduates 18%, so Obama got slightly more votes of all voters with bachelor’s degree or more.”
Well one thing is for sure. you don’t have a math degree if this your conclusion.
Do the math again.
51% of 29% = 14.79
55% of 18% = 9.9%
Obama;s advantage in post-grad is not enough to make up for his disadvantage in bachelor alone.
Overall Romney won the “any college degree” vote by about 5%.
Look at the CNN page and try again.
Romney: 51% of 29% plus 42% of 18% = 22.35%
Obama: 47% of 29% plus 55% of 18% = 23.53%
No math degree is required.
Do the math again.
51% of 29% = 14.79
55% of 18% = 9.9%
Perhaps you should take your own advice, though to be fair, the summary is poorly written. But note that the those with postgraduate degrees generally also have a baccalaureate. The 51/49 split is of those who have ONLY a bachelor’s degree.
Obama got:
49% of 29% = 14.2% (bachelor’s only)
55% of 18% = 9.9% (postgraduate)
Total of: 24.1%
Romney got:
51% of 29% = 14.79
45% of 18% = 8.1%
Total of: 22.89%
Whoops, I went from the summary, and not the poll data itself. Mea culpa.
Corrected data is:
Obama:
47% of 29%
55% of 18%
Romney
51% of 29%
42% of 18%
The point, though remains the same.
MightyMike seems to have the math right.
Here’s the non-Common Core math that matters: 100% of the sheeple who voted for Obama or Romney sanctioned the crony capitalism that both candidates aided and abetted, not to mention John McCain of “Keating Five” influence-peddling fame.
Smart, successful people live on the coasts. See Blue.
San Fran?NYC is not Red. Doesn’t get more $$$
Lola,
“Smart successful people” don’t mill around in aids infested ghettos like SF and NYC.
“Plenty of people who are much smarter than you vote for Democrats.”
Being educated and being smart are completely different.
Smart people vote for more control over their own lives. Highly educated (indoctrinated) people vote for the totalitarian ism of the day, while at the same time isolating themselves as much as possible from the horrific outcomes of their favored polices.
#LimousineFascists
#NIMBY
reedalberger:
You actually have half a point there. I read somewhere that Fascism got a lot of support from university academics in both Italy and Germany. But it wasn’t necessarily because they were indoctrinated. They also wanted to preserve their positions in the system.
On the other hand, I’m not sure what this means:
Smart people vote for more control over their own lives.
In any case, if you didn’t the course of the debate above, your argument is more with Smithers than me. He wrote this:
Smart people don’t vote Democrat. It makes perfect sense.
In both 2008 and 2012 Obama got around 80% of the high school dropout vote. In both 2008 and 2012 Obama LOST the college graduate vote.
He implied that college graduates are smart. He also stated that Obama lost among college graduates. I happened to recall that Obama won college graduates in 2012 and I tracked down the exit poll. I never asserted that college graduates are necessarily smart.
There are plenty of libertarians and conservatives at least on the west coast. We are here because the money is good. We throw our money into 401ks and those of us mostly in traditional 401ks will duly move to a state like Nevada. Others of us with Roths mostly will stay in Cali.
I have to reassess my situation in a few years and see if my assets are mostly non-taxable in California or non-taxable in Nevada to make my decision. I’m not there yet.
Funny how the average person thinks the smart person votes only off one side of the menu.
See Bill Gates.
LIBERTARIANS!! HAHA!
they dont exist in reality.
“they dont exist in reality.”
What a nutty statement.
So, the long math is that we all got screwed, over and over and we’re set up for more.
You guys could do a great Monty Python skit.
Most conservative voters cannot afford to live away from slum areas.
Does that mean that most of America is a slum?
“Does that mean that most of America is a slum?”
Yes.
“Does that mean that most of America is a slum?”
After 60 years of revolutionary communist infiltration of our governments, schools, universities; 50 years of the war on poverty, combined with 6 years of African Revolutionary Marxism and Black Liberation Theology…I would say yes.
Now you just need a spark to have millions of useful idiots across the country rise up and demand an end to capitalism. That will be the nail in our coffin. You’re only seeing a small taste of that now.
#ClowardAndPiven
#FundamentalTransformationOfAmerica
“an end to capitalism”
It’s never going to happen. Soviet Russia even had capitalism and it was the black market that made it survive so long as it did.
Isn’t Juan Williams a reporter for “Democracy Now!”? That would place him far left of the Democratic Party.
Obama was the most liberal senator before he got elected. His heir apparent is Fauxcahontas. Democracy Now perfectly represents the Democrat Party. (and yes I know “ic”, I don’t care). There’s even talk of Bernie Sanders running…you know ole Bernie, the self described Socialist from Vermont.
But yeah, the DNC is like totally centrist and stuff.
Obama is more conservative the Reagan.
Reagan tripled the deficit, let in 3 mill illegals, raised taxes 7x and pass pro-abortion laws in ca.
Keep telling yourself that. Obama hates this country as founded, he said he wants to Fundamentally transform the United States of America, he called the constitution a “charter of negative liberties”. Reagan united this country during very difficult times, Obama could not be more divisive.
Oh, and our national debt went from 9Trillion to 18Trillion in the last 6 years…Right out of the Cloward/Piven playbook.
#FundamentalTransformationOfAmerica
you are so scared with out any facts to support your fears.
Look up the Forbes article that shows you how the deficit got so big, then come back. It has graphs! weeee!
Lola… crawl out of the gutter and straighten up.
I enjoy watching Democracy Now. Far more truth-telling than on the MSM.
Comment by phony scandals
2014-12-15 07:44:21
Williams: Hacked Sony e-mails expose white liberal hypocrisy on race
posted at 1:01 pm on December 13, 2014 by Ed Morrissey
hotair.com/archives/2014/12/13/williams-hacked-sony-e-mails-expose-white-liberal-hypocrisy-on-race/
American Exceptionalism
“Since 2009, health care’s share of the economy has stabilized at 17.4 percent of gross domestic product.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/robert-samuelson-health-spending–under-control/2014/12/14/f7ee0dbe-8221-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html
ObamaCare = corporate welfare for insurance corporations
And Europe and Canada spend from a third to half less than the U.S.
Part two of a series about the Lucky Ducky future
Washington Post - The devalued American worker
The past three recessions sparked a chain reaction of layoffs and lower pay
“When middle-skill jobs vanish, those workers must either take low-skill jobs or compete for the fewer middle-skill jobs left. That extra competition pushes down everybody’s pay”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2014/12/14/the-devalued-american-worker/
NPR reported this morning that sales of luxury goods in the U.S. are projected to increase 6% in the next year, LOLZ
Time to amnesty 34 million and pass more “free trade” agreements, because that’s the last piss on the grave of the American working class, brought to you with “bipartisan” support
Was discussing the diminished quality of living with my sister the other day. All us siblings have reduced our standard of living. Wages either stagnant or reduced.
When is the payoff? Aren’t house prices supposed to plummet when our incomes and wages plummet (not one year but over several years)?
On the bright side, I noticed my airline tickets I booked for January have come down.
Southwest round trip from SNA to PHO is $144 in mid-January. Was expecting $200.
‘BJ-SOI’s “bright side” is another screw job for airline employees.
Cost of round trip airline ticket, SAN to PHX = $144
Cost of gas to drive the same trip (1968 miles total, in a 30 mpg car, gas @ $2.50/gallon) = $168.00.
The airline gets no “premium” for saving two-three days of travel. so the money to do business has to come from somewhere. Mainly out of the pockets of the employees.
As noted before, I had the opportunity to sit in on a real estate deal. The guys bankrolling it wouldn’t sign up unless the were guaranteed an 8% ROI. So the plan is to cut employee wages and benefits, until the numbers work.
I think you need to check the distance again. It’s not a 2000 mile round trip between Irvine CA and Phoenix AZ.
It’s SNA, not SAN. Not sure what the cost is to drive 400 miles each way, but I also like the fact that air travel is much safer than driving I-10.
800 miles total would be a guess about $75.
Trip from Orange County (location of SNA/John Wayne Airport) to Phoenix is only about 400 miles. So 800 miles round trip which, using the numbers above, would come to about $67 in gasoline.
You neglect to report the ‘wear and tear’ on the auto - fed est is now at 50cent a mile + of -.
tj chicago - great point. Flying back home from Irvine to Phoenix saves some wear and tear on my car. I also make a point of renting close to where ever I work and moving to my next job, breaking my lease near my old job. I drive my car an average of 7,000 miles per year. Yes the Porsches and Audi’s look irresistible and I certainly can buy a couple new 911s with cash. But to drive them only 8 miles in stop and go traffic does not make sense. I enjoy flying and get tired driving long distances.
Just finished reading…Kind of disturbing…Thanks for the post rj….
New York Times - Brownback’s Tax Cuts Not Set in Stone as Kansas Faces Budget Shortfall
“As Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas campaigned for a second term this year, he was forced to fend off repeated criticism that his deep income tax cuts — the hallmark of his tenure — had put the state in a fiscal nose-dive.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/us/sam-brownback-tax-cuts-not-set-in-stone-as-kansas-faces-budget-shortfall.html
Fortunately, there will always be ample taxpayer money to pay for textbooks teaching Creationism, LOLZ
Article for Downlow Joe
Cairo bathhouse raid spreads fear in Egyptian gay community
“Homosexuality is not illegal per se under Egyptian law. But prosecutors charge defendants under a section of the penal code that criminalizes prostitution and debauchery.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/cairo-bathhouse-raid-spreads-fear-in-egyptian-gay-community/2014/12/13/2b332d96-7fc8-11e4-b936-f3afab0155a7_story.html
Another Drudge link from the Associated Press titled “Immigrants Flock to Workshops After Obama Reprieve” discusses workshops that educate the Free Sh*t Army how to get more free sh*t
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMMIGRATION_OUTREACH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-12-16-04-15
Will the last white taxpayer in the USA please turn out the lights, LOLZ
I wonder who told her she needed a “good conduct letter from police” and what she or her friends needed to do to receive one?
“Anahi Maldonado, a 32-year-old mother of two American-born children, said she attended to verify that she and her husband would qualify for the program. She’s been living in the U.S. for 14 years after crossing the border from Mexico and wanted to ensure she didn’t need a visa to apply.”
“The thing is, sometimes someone has questions that the president is not going to answer,” said Maldonado, adding that she also wondered if she would need a good conduct letter from police, and how she could get one since she didn’t have valid immigration papers.”
It’s cute how the media is making it sound like illegals actually have to pass background checks and prove they qualify. In reality, anyone who signs up will get amnesty.
Remember DACA from 2012 when “DREAMERS” had to pass background checks to get amnesty? Guess how many background checks have been performed so far?
ZERO. Yep. ZERO. As in none, nada.
Yet the acceptance rate is in the high 90% range.
Think this round of amnesty will be any different?
Comrad Pelosi reprimands you angry white males with your myophic failure to embrace “fairness” and “equality” as the DNC marshals its FSA hordes to begin the final countdown for the Long March into our glorious collectivist future with a benevolent Democrat permanent supermajority.
Forward, Soviet! Let us redistribute the wealth from those evil and selfish producers! You didn’t build that ____!
Penal code - a term very appropriate for a gay bath house contingent….snark!!!
great snark, lol.
The penis mightier than the sword.
Did you inadvertently leave out a space?
lolz
Oil is off 2%+ and headed for another loss today.
Where is AlbqDan to offer assurances that the price of a barrel of oil will be back above $100 by next week?
Where is AlbqDan to offer assurances ??
He’s checking in with Rasmusson…. :>)
Oil is doing much better today than Friday — just down by 3%+ instead of 4%+ so far.
The Tell
Carl Icahn says oil’s woes may be proof of a junk-bond bubble
Published: Dec 15, 2014 9:27 a.m. ET
Icahn told Bloomberg the energy sector is in for more problems
Reuters
Carl Icahn’s worried about junk.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Billionaire investor Carl Icahn says high-yield corporate debt may be in bubble territory and that a recent hiccup in the market, as a result of plunging oil prices, support his suspicions.
In an interview with Bloomberg published Monday, Icahn said high-yield bonds “are still at way too low an interest rate. In other words you can borrow money too cheaply if you’re a risky company.”
While people argue that there is enough cash flow to cover the interest payments on the bonds, Icahn says much of the cash flow is “ephemeral” and that high-yield debt is a “bubble that’s going to burst in the next couple of years.”
High-yield debt moved into the spotlight last week as the accelerating plunge in oil prices took crude (CLF5, -3.17%) below $60 a barrel for the first time in five years. The energy sector represents a large chunk of the high-yield debt market and strategists fear a sustained drop in oil prices could significantly boost the default rate.
…
Oh bugger…
but not to worry — ‘Tis a mere flesh wound!
Crude Oil - Electronic (NYMEX) Jan 2015
NMN: CLF5
Market closed $55.16
Change -$2.65 -4.58%
Volume 397,177
Dec 15, 2014 4:00 p.m.
Previous close $57.81
Day low $55.02
Day high $58.73
Futures Movers
Oil plumbs depths as OPEC refuses to blink
Published: Dec 15, 2014 3:36 p.m. ET
U.A.E. energy minister: Oil at $40 wouldn’t ‘change our minds’
Bloomberg
This week’s Fed meeting could call the shots for oil prices.
By William Watts, Reporter, & Eric Yep
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — A modest rebound by oil futures gave way to fresh selling Monday, clearing the way for a new round of lows after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries offered no indication it’s ready to blink and cut production.
U.S. light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January (CLF5, -0.32%) pushed modestly higher in early action, buoyed in part by port disruptions in Libya before sinking again. West Texas Intermediate crude oil, as the U.S. benchmark is known, fell $1.90, or 3.3%, to close at $55.91, the lowest finish since May 2009.
January Brent crude (LCOF5, -2.22%) on London’s ICE futures exchange was dragged lower, falling 79 cents, or 1.2%, to $61.06 a barrel.
“The bears are continuing to exploit the economic conditions that are aggressively against the oil markets at present. Despite already having dug down through various psychological support levels over recent weeks, there is still no floor in sight,” said Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst at FXTM in London.
Over the weekend, Libya declared force majeure for the oil export terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf as oil supplies were interrupted due to armed clashes, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
But a combination of heavy supply and worries over global demand continued to weigh on oil. As oil collapsed, U.S. stocks gave up early gains, falling into negative territory.
While lower oil prices are seen as a boon to the U.S. economy, the accelerating decline has started to be viewed as a negative factor for stocks due, in part, to concerns that the collapse may reflect weakness in the global economy.
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Gas prices are dropping through the floor, and I’m lovin’ it!
Federal Reserve: Stealing since 1913
Congress reaches deal on spending on Cromnibus
By BayAreaObserver Follow Wed, 10 Dec 2014, 1:18am
–Banks won a measure easing restrictions on their derivative-trading activities. The change would affect requirements under the Dodd-Frank law that banks spin off certain derivatives-trading activities into units that don’t enjoy access to the government safety net.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/12/10/cromnibus-highlights-irs-cuts-no-raise-for-biden-break-on-school-lunches/
Given the Breitbart articles on male sexodus last week (and frankly given the hostility most women exhibit toward men I can’t blame the guys for giving up) - I find it interesting that in the last year or so there is an increasing concern about how men are not ‘acting like men.’
This narrative - the result of several decades of Title IX favoritism has me wondering - why the concern all of a sudden by the MSM? Money, Power, women just finally waking up to the fact that they can no longer go it alone - what is driving this?
Could it be that the politicos have come to realize that their false war on women diatribe has finally run its course and now time to once again re-engage the underused male co-hort to continue to serve that of the female persuasion? Just wondering.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/upshot/unemployment-the-vanishing-male-worker-how-america-fell-behind.html?_r=0
Most of it is just based on the facts. Manufacturing has been in decline for decades. A lot of construction jobs disappeared in the past 6 or 7 years. So men were affected more then women, since the lost jobs were overwhelmingly held by men. Someone coined the term mancession a few years ago.
I guess msm is catching up, finally. If you read this blog or zerohedge, we were talking about this 5 years ago.
What use are millions of unemployed men to a “family”?
When the collapse comes, the reset in the relative roles of men and women is going to be epic.
Men are more effeminate these days particularly in the tech sector.
Real jounalist be eatin some pizza!!!
http://www.milehighreport.com/2014/12/14/7391213/broncos-chargers-final-score-peyton-manning-ill-afc-west
The taste of victory:
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20141215_170920_713-rZM8jeqx.jpg
Region VIII
On the first day of christmas a realtor gave to me, a tale taller than a redwood tree.
On the second day of christmas a realtor gave to me, two rotting structures….
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And a tale taller than a redwood tree!
On the third day of Christmas a realtor gave to me; 3% down…
Five squatting Beats
Foreclosing houses
Five squatting Beats
Foreclosing houses
3% down
Two rotting structures
And a tale taller than a redwood tree.
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I’m not going anywhere near…
Eight maids a-milking
On the 3rd day of christmas a realtor gave to me, three forged appraisals, two rotting structures….
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And a tale taller than a redwood tree!
‘A fal-si-fied FICO and a strawberry-picker’s ID!!’
On the 4th day of christmas a realtor gave to me, four peeling walls, three forged appraisals, two rotting structures….
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And a tale taller than a redwood tree!
Eight contractors a-bilking?
On the 5TH day of christmas a realtor gave to me, FIVE MORTGAGE FRAUD RINGS!!! ……four peeling walls, three forged appraisals, two rotting structures….
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And a tale taller than a redwood tree!
All good stuff.
Too bad no 12 years in prison.
The music hasn’t stopped yet.
Good news. Whites will be a minority in 2044 and will be down to 40% of the population by 2060. Hooray for diversity!!
Wonder if my kids kids will get affirmative action jobs starting in 2045.
Whites will be a minority ??
What does “white” mean ?? I am half Portuguese and a small part native indian….Am I white ??
Put a photograph of your face on picpaste.com. Then Smithers can decide.
Never mind the small parts.
Ask the Census, they’re the ones that released this info.
So if there’s no definition for White, how is there definition for non-White, ie the peeps that get the affirmative action? Nobody ever questions that. Wonder why.
Do they ever even check if you are 51% Spanish?
What percent Native American blood does it take to qualify as “non-white”?
“What does “white” mean ?? I am half Portuguese and a small part native indian….Am I white ??”
They called Zimmerman a “white Hispanic” so if you kill a black dude I guess you are a white Portuguese native indian.
“.Am I white ??”
Actually I’m going to need a little more help here.
If you were killed by a “white Hispanic” would President Obama say you could have been his son?
Comment by scdave
What does “white” mean ??
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If you hafta ask, you’re not. The 1st rule of white club is don’t talk about white club.
At 1:38 of this 2:18 clip the guy doesn’t know if he’s white either.
“shut up p#ssy”
“These guys don’t wanna be your Bro and I don’t blame em’”
get in the truck - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waz0qypdzTo - 222k -
Of of Clint’s best.
A quote from a Goldman report about oil prices got me thinking about housing:
“Creating further downside risk is a very strong consensus view that this pull back is temporary and that oil prices will quickly rebound as they did in 2009…. Instead of optimizing against a lower price environment, many oil producers are trying to position themselves for the rebound in prices.”
I’ve been wondering if the next RE crash won’t have the same result - so many people saw the ultra-quick rebound last time, will they expect RE to bounce immediately back into bubble 3.0 and thus go all-in-er? Should be interesting, considering the Fed is pretty much out of tools to reinflate the bubble for a third time.
The Fed will be able and willing to recruit new debt donkeys, but the number of willing idiots will be smaller. Where are they going to big another giant one like China?
They might have to wait another 20 years to find another sucker.
I think “quick” when describing a bounceback in prices is subjective.
First, consumption of oil continues. Demand for oil is growing at a slower pace, but still growing (Demand is growing);
Second, unlike traditional oil wells, tar sands require constant investment to get to the oil, and fracked wells have a rapid dropoff in production after their are initially fracked (without continued positive cost/price conclusions, investment into oil sands and fracking regions will slow, and supply will shrink (Supply will shrink within a couple of years if prices are too low).
So, IMHO, if my “quick” rebound, you mean within a couple of years, I would guess that you are right. However, I doubt we see prices too high very soon, since new production can come online quickly–the market now knows this.
Countries like Russia and Venezuela that need high prices are screwed–I think we are in a protracted period of prices that are high enough to frack for a small profit, but not high enough for these countries’ budgets.
“Creating further downside risk is a very strong consensus view that this pull back is temporary and that oil prices will quickly rebound as they did in 2009…. Instead of optimizing against a lower price environment, many oil producers are trying to position themselves for the rebound in prices.”
Is Goldman where AlbqDan gets his opinion that oil prices are going to bounce back above $100/bbl by next week or so?
GDX and GDXJ ETFs near their lowest points in five years. I am waiting for a genius to say it’s time to sell.
I could have sworn you were advised to sell when it was high.
I did not even own the stuff when it was high. 2011.
I just bought SSRI and GSS at the close. Thank you, weak hands, for gifting me your PM stocks at these firesale prices.
I did buy gdxj today - my limit price for buying was reached.
Another unhinged veteran adds to the uncounted costs of our neo-con wars.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11294787/Six-dead-in-Pennsylvania-shooting.html
Russia’s central bank just hiked its interest rate to 17% to prop up the ruble. How sustainable is that?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/russian-central-bank-hikes-policy-rate-to-17-2014-12-15
Looks like Obama is destroying Russia with out a cold war and tripling the deficit. Smart man!
Why doesn’t he command the sea to recede?
More on Russian rate hike stunner (from 10.5 to 17%). If this doesn’t check the ruble’s decline, Russia is in deep trouble. When the Fed’s debasement of the currency catches up with it, sometime in 2017 I expect, we’ll no doubt see similar desperation.
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-raises-rates-2014-12
Just Science:
November 2014 was the seventh warmest November on record, and the year-to-date-period January - November was Earth’s warmest such period since record keeping began in 1880, said NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on Monday. NASA rated November 2014 as the 8th warmest November on record. November ended a 3-month streak with record warm monthly temperatures—August, September, and October 2014 were all the warmest such months on record. Global ocean temperatures during November 2014 were the warmest on record. This marks the seventh month in a row (beginning in May 2014) that the global ocean temperature broke its monthly temperature record. Global land temperatures in November 2014 were the 13th warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures in November 2014 for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the 8th or 2nd warmest in the 36-year record, according to Remote Sensing Systems and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), respectively.
this is a housing and economics blog.
If you don’t think climate change doesn’t directly affect housing and the economy, just wait. It’ll become obvious enough. Especially in Arizona.
(oops, edit) If you
don’tthink climate change doesn’t directly affect housing and the economy, just wait. It’ll become obvious enough. Especially in Arizona.Falling housing prices will continue falling regardless of your little mantra.
Freddie Mac says nationwide sold prices are up 5% for 2014 YOY.
NAR says nationwide sale prices are down 6% for 2014 YoY.
“Should I ask him if he likes’ DJANGO?’” asked Amy Pascal, a Sony Pictures’ co-chair.
Hey, leave my favourite guitar player out of this.
Naw, Django is the singer of Stubborn All Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8PMGul3vMI
The scum are getting more brazen. Being able to vote themselves benefits (thanks, DNC!) isn’t enough any more.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/chicago-thieves-adopt-crash-grab-tactics-27616708
From the coments
Equality7-2521 • 5 hours ago
Thieves? THIEVES?!?! What RACIST wrote that?!?!?
These are UNDOCUMENTED SHOPPERS.
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More guns seized by state since Sandy Hook
Ken Dixon
Updated 11:14 am, Thursday, December 11, 2014
William Hanford Jr., 78, of Fairfield, stands in his greenhouse where police seized his .22 caliber rifle following an incident earlier this year, at his home on Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield, Conn.. Police arrested Hanford after he used the gun to kill a woodchuck in his garage, and Hanford’s tenant reported to police that he had threatened to shoot their cat. Hanford claims the tenant made up the story because they were being evicted from the residence.
“Since Sandy Hook, a lot of people are saying, `Is there somebody in our lives who has guns and behavioral issues?’ ” said Michael P. Lawlor, undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning in the state Office of Policy and Management. “I think people are more likely to make the call now. This is a legal mechanism for a judge to issue a search-and-seizure order where no crime is committed, usually within a few hours of a complaint.”
The law allowing friends and neighbors to start gun-seizure proceedings in state courts dates back to 1999, but following mass shootings in Arizona, Colorado and — finally — Newtown, more people who see something say something, said Dr. Michael A. Norko, director of forensic services for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
http://www.ctpost.com/…/article/More-guns-seized-by-state-since-Sandy-Hook-5949307.php - 184k -
Is the great systemic debt and leverage unwind underway? If so, the coming crash will make 2008 look like child’s play.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229660
“Now what, Ms. Yellen you jackass?”
+1 to this
“Finally, I want to stick a fork in the claims of the “big oil tax cut” for Americans.”
“Last year that 600 gallons cost you $1,950. This year it’s $1,500, or about a $450 decrease over the year.”
“That is, it’s a “massive” $37.50 a month, which admittedly is a decent amount of money but for most people it simply isn’t that material to their family financial situation.”
I said this a week or two ago. Everyone got up in arms.
The only way for The Fed to arrest the process in the high quality credit market and thus stop the impending disaster in those pension funds and insurance firms would be to massively contract credit liquidity; that is, to make credit in the high quality space more-scarce. But to do so means risking an unwind of all of the equity and other asset price bubble that has been inflated since 2009 as once margin calls start it is very difficult to get that process to stop “when you want it to.”
The art of riding the tiger is perfected by the knowledge of how to dismount without becoming an entrée. –Glenn Fairman
Looks like some of the massive fraud in REITs is starting to bubble to the surface.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-15/when-tide-rolls-out-coo-ceo-chairman-flee-fbi-probed-reit
Anybody live in NW Georgia or ATL?
Slithers is in Atlanta.
For real? I thought he lived in the Pacific NW area.
So, he has his private ski hill in the ATL?
Yes as I understand him. Down hill slopes in Atlanta. Crater.
How often does it snow in Atlanta?
And can people who frequent Applebee’s afford to ski?
“Slithers is in Atlanta.”
Spokane, WA area IIRC.
the Grateful Dead - Shakedown Street:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCMUkqpI7o
the Grateful Dead - Franklin’s Tower:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqQ-0n2I-4o
crater