Bits Bucket for February 24, 2015
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
How Region VIII medicates Crater Rage™
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150223_160536_482-HFG3xkcO.jpg
What kinds of employment does marijuana use automatically disqualify you from? Govt? military?
It’s odd. Many private sector employers don’t care. Others make you piss into a cup, even when they are in the same industry. My current employer doesn’t care, but I’ve worked for other Fortune 500’s that did care. Go figure.
If a company has any contracts with the government at all, I think the entire company (or at least that division?) is subject to random testing, even if they aren’t working on that project. One company I worked for had had contracts in the past with DOT, so all of us were subject.
As an assistant manager and accountant for a chain of dispensaries, not concerned about that
What kinds of employment does marijuana use automatically disqualify you from ??
Better question is; “How does a misdemeanor conviction for MJ possession effect your employability” ??
What color are you?
LOTS of private companies test before hiring (but do not do random testing) some say their insurance carriers require it….ran into this a year ago when I was hired for a part time job, had to pass a physical and a drug test
I was told they test for all kinds of drugs legal and illegal to see what shape you’re in.
Jobs that involve public safety, you know, bus driver, train engineer, jobs that require the employee to operate machinery, etc, all which make a degree of sense.
People tell me they get tested for the stupidest jobs though, like retail.
Speaking of drugs - Krispy Kreme doughnut chain has picked a very consumer-friendly way to celebrate the opening of its 1,000th store — free doughnuts.
Specifically, one free, Original Glazed doughnut to the first 1,000 guests at every participating store.
Is this a great country or what?
Specifically, one free, Original Glazed doughnut to the first 1,000 guests at every participating store.
Didn’t they previously give you one free, Original Glaze doughnut just for walking in to take a gander when the “hot” sign was lit??
This seems like a giant leap backwards in free doughnut availability…
Good morning, all.
One request - for just one day, can everyone on the blog behave in a civil manner?
See above picpaste link
“can everyone on the blog behave in a civil manner?”
The science is settled
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Zen
From Wikipedia
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism[note 1] that developed in China during the 6th century as Chán. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea and east to Japan.[2]
Zen emphasizes rigorous meditation-practice, insight into Buddha-nature, and the personal expression of this insight in daily life, especially for the benefit of others.[3][4] As such, it deemphasizes mere knowledge of sutras and doctrine[5][6] and favors direct understanding through zazen and interaction with an accomplished teacher.[7]
The teachings of Zen include various sources of Mahāyāna thought, especially Yogācāra, the Tathāgatagarbha Sutras and Huayan, with their emphasis on Buddha-nature, totality, and the Bodhisattva-ideal.[8][9] The Prajñāpāramitā literature[10] and, to a lesser extent, Madhyamaka have also been influential.
It does resemble a schoolyard from time to time.
I’ll say it again; for those pining for the days of yore, the only reason things seemed more civil was because I was deleting dozens, even hundred of comments. So I’ll ask you Bubba, should I delete more comments? I still do, but are you asking for more deletes? Let’s hear it; “delete him, delete her, delete that!”
Or I can try and treat you all as adults with skin thicker than a snowflake, who can deal with the pretty harmless slings and arrows of anonymous internet commentary.
Falling housing prices enrages many. It’s that simple.
On some ginormous website like CNN or MSNBC the voices are lost in the shuffle. Here there is a community large enough to engage but small enough to not get drowned out or lost. It is perfect.
And I’ll bet anyone here 10,000 mangos Lola will be banned again in a month or two, his descent into insanity is already obvious.
Just be thankful that you’re not on the kind of roller coaster that he has to ride perpetually.
The improved Joshua Tree extension for Firefox makes reading the comments bearable and much faster, it will hide comments from posters you select. The original version also hid responses to those comments so I quit using it because I was missing stuff from people who are worth reading….but the author, drumminj, was kind enough to fix that.
I never downloaded the JT, but I hope it gives the option to expand or collapse response comments? This is sorely lacking on big news sites like Yahoo or YouTube. Even if you sort the comments by “most liked” you still have to scroll through pages of crap responses to get to the next good comment. I’m sure the websites do that dekiberately to force you to spend more minutes scrolling the site, thus increasing the value of the ad space.
Tangent comment: I really dislike that since google bought Youtube, they now include all those google-plus “share this” thingies [is it like a Facebook wall reference???] as comments. Half the comments are now replies to the share-this thingies, many of which are symbol gibberish.
CraterRage® Photo Of The Day
http://goo.gl/Lyso0L
Living in a rental will never feel like a real home.
Oh my….
Santa Rosa, CA Sale Prices Sink 6% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/santa-rosa-ca-95409/home-values/
Thank god.
Nothing makes a house feel like a home more than a mortgage on the wall and a foreclosure notice on the door.
Amy, I like the red hair, but I think you may have gone overboard on the rouge. I mean, I realize that rouge is crucial for those in your line of *ahem* employment, but you need to exercise moderation.
So Amy’s looking cheap lately? Dumpster diving for her make-up perhaps?
Reading your posts will never seem like a good use of time.
region viii news
metro denver rent gains racing at triple u.s. average in january
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_27567647/metro-denver-rent-gains-racing-at-triple-u
because everybody wants to live in region viii
And 40,000 more units in the pipeline…
Too much snow to shovel. What is there like a month where it isn’t freezing?
It snows here year round. So whatever you do, don’t move here. Please?
I’m not sure why anyone would want to.
Denver…My favorite other town….
It snows here year round ??
Yeah, but the next day you could be in shorts and a teeshirt… : >)
Yeah, but the next day you could be in shorts and a teeshirt…
Sure if you are stoned, you might wear shorts at ten degrees. Seriously, I know what you are saying but I find that a problem not an advantage. That type of rollercoaster weather plays havoc with me and it makes it hard to pack for a visit.
Always entertaining are the transplant Californians trying to keep others out of the places they’ve invaded.
They don’t do it in CA anymore, try and keep people out. 20 years ago it was very common. I guess they all left?
Region X news
Alaska becomes 3rd state to legalize recreational marijuana
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alaska-becomes-3rd-state-with-legal-marijuana/2015/02/23/b6227f54-bbde-11e4-9dfb-03366e719af8_story.html
There is hope that libertarian minded voters will push the GOP electorate away from the “big government” policy of incarcerating poor (and mostly black and brown) inmates for marijuana possession
You’re never going to “shrink the size of government to where you can drown it in the bathtub” by spending millions and millions and millions of dollars for a War on Drugs that has been an absolute failure
It’s time to “take America back” from the nanny state Republicans, make the party more libertarian, and stop telling adults what they can or can’t put in their bodies
Prescription opiates for everyone.
Laugh, but I do think Cannibis has a huge market ahead of itself. Not only is this a self-medicating country, in which a lot of people will partake in weed, but the retiring Boomers will revert back to the sixties and toke up in their McMansions.
Cheaper than pharmaceuticals, eases every kind of pain with little side effects…….Shine on you crazy diamond, and find some THC on the OTC markets.
Your probably correct sean given how inexpensive it is…As soon as it becomes mainstream legal…Kind of hard for Grandma to be smoking a joint in front of one of her grandchildren when it is illegal…
I’ve often said that those currently under 58 or so will be given medical marijuana followed by legal assisted suicide in place of Social Security and Medicare.
Once those older have finished vacuuming up all current and future government revenues.
Once those older have finished vacuuming up all current and future government revenues ??
Yeah…Like they did not pay anything in…I starting paying in 48 years ago…Both sides also…Still paying…
“Both sides also.”
The first way those coming later were made worse off — the increase for the self employed was even bigger than for the employed.
And those born after 1958 had their retirement age pushed back to 67.
But all the additional revenues were spent, and used to offset income tax cuts. It’s like putting money in a 401K, borrowing against it, ending up with a $2 million balance and $2 million loan against it, and telling the kids “gee I can’t pay back the loan so you’ll have to.”
So now what?
So now what?’
Raise taxes
Perhaps it’s time to buy Altria…you know they’ll be at the forefront if it’s legalized nationally. If anyone knows how to grow and distribute, it’s them…
As a pain reliever I would think that THC is only good for pretty mild pain.
My attorney friend has a client on probation who used to use medical MJ for chronic nausea and stomach pain
The judge and PO said no way to using medical MJ while on probation, and that he should take prescription Oxycontin
This client doesn’t want to get strung out on prescrition dope, so he just suffers and waits for probation to be over
Is this in Colorado?
Yup, I think he’s on probation for DUI or something similar
tell him to stop eating wheat
“It’s time to “take America back” from the nanny state Republicans, make the party more libertarian, and stop telling adults what they can or can’t put in their bodies”
I assume that includes tobacco use.
Also, the nanny state belongs almost exclusively to so called Progressives.
I was in line at the post office today, and I had to listen to some dirty person’s miserable rant about “Obama this, Obama that” to the worker. I just rolled my eyes and plugged my nose. As luck would have it, I wound up behind him and his dirty van as he clogged up the highway, not even approaching the speed limit.
We then came to a complete stop, and the traffic piled up behind me as he waited for oncoming traffic to clear to take a left. Problem was, he failed to turn on several occasions when he had ample opportunity. Apparently he felt like he needed a space big enough for an aircraft carrier rather than a molester van. He finally approved of a 5 football field length opening, and turned- right into the food bank.
Post for phony scandals
Rajendra Pachauri, the United Nations chairman of the International Panel on Climate Change has resigned after being accused of sexual harassment
Those warmists think they’re all above the law
It’s kind of ironic that they had an economics professor in charge of “science”.
It’s kind of ironic that they had an economics professor in charge of “science”.
Nothing ironic about it at all, CAGW is about promoting Marxism not protecting the environment. Every meeting is about forcing the developed nations to pay the poor Marxist oriented countries hundreds of billions of dollars a year. All the computer models have been shown to be wrong but they will not adjust the models to show that the environment is less sensitive to co2 than they claimed. They attack a leading scientist on the impact of the Sun because they know that the Sun has been the leading cause of warming over the last century. His “crime” is that he disclosed in some but not all of his publications that he accepted money from fossil fuel companies. So what, do you really have to say it over and over and no government is going to fund you since the want the carbon taxes so you need to receive money from some where. The truth is CERN has shown the mechanism by which the sun controls global warming and cooling and it is cloud seeding and not the amount of total energy by the sun.
CAGW is about promoting Marxism not protecting the environment.
Follow the money. If there was no climate-change, the corporatists would be spending their billions on scientific studies to climate-change.
But they know the science is not behind them so the spend their billions on propaganda to cast doubt on actual science.
Yes, follow the money just like I said:
Every meeting is about forcing the developed nations to pay the poor Marxist oriented countries hundreds of billions of dollars a year
Every meeting is about forcing the developed nations
Science is not Marxist or Capitalist. It’s science. If there were no climate-change, Big Oil etc would spend their money on science to prove it, not on propaganda to have people doubt science. It’s simple to see.
Follow the money.
The simple way to “cast doubt” on something that is corrupt is to cast light upon it. That doesn’t cost billions. What actually costs billions is keeping the old whore well painted and hidden from direct light.
Climate changes all the time, we are still 2 degrees Celsius cooler than the normal interglacial period, the question is not whether climate changes it is the present contribution of man to present changes. NASA would not have to be manipulating data if man was really a major contributor to present change. The statists problem is that the normal natural warming did not continue despite CO2 soaring in the atmosphere, thus they now need to fabricate evidence.
The simple way to “cast doubt” on something that is corrupt is to cast light upon it. That doesn’t cost billions.
If that were true, BigOil/Koch would not be spending billions to cast doubt on climate-change.
It’s probably cheaper to fund science than to fund brainwashing on a global scale and armies of DC lobbyists.
So why do not the climate deniers fund science instead of propaganda?
Just ponder that in the absence of politics.
If that were true, BigOil/Koch would not be spending billions to cast doubt on climate-change.
no one doubts that the climate changes comrade. you statists just had to change tactics once again since you had trouble with both your cooling and warming scenarios.
you’ll try to sell anything that will get money into the power elite’s hands to do your dirty work for you.
It’s probably cheaper to fund science than to fund brainwashing on a global scale and armies of DC lobbyists.
you mean funding the lobbyists like soros and buffett do? both hypocrites. though soros is a little different with an evil meter that spikes off the scale..
So why do not the climate deniers fund science instead of propaganda?
climate deniers? who denies there is a climate?
you leftists are ‘universal accusers’. you point fingers everywhere except where they belong.
We shed light upon your foolishness here day in and day out without having to make change for a dollar.
We shed light upon your foolishness here day in and day out without having to make change for a dollar.
No no. Let’s just say what’s going on. You just can’t stand my politics. Name one of my “foolishness” that you can counter with logic or facts. You can’t do it and that upsets you.
So. It’s probably cheaper to fund science than to fund brainwashing on a global scale and armies of DC lobbyists. So why don’t the climate change deniers fund science close to the scale they fund propaganda?
Just because you label their scientific studies as propaganda does not mean it is propaganda. The left actually had CAGW supporting billionaires spending money against candidates and in many races did not even mention climate change, they just tried to defeat candidates that threaten the subsidies that made them billionaires. TESLA would be dead tomorrow without massive taxpayer subsidies from the federal government and California.
You just can’t stand my politics.
nobody with the slightest brainpower can stand your politics.
Name one of my “foolishness” that you can counter with logic or facts.
ALL of them.
You can’t do it and that upsets you.
i’ve already seen him do it.
So. It’s probably cheaper to fund science than to fund brainwashing on a global scale and armies of DC lobbyists.
it’s you and your socialist soros ilk that are doing the brainwashing.
So why don’t the climate change deniers fund science close to the scale they fund propaganda?
nobody denies climate change comrade. it’s been happening since before humanity existed.
once again your ilk are doing exactly what you accuse other of doing. you’re pathetic, comrade.
you’re pathetic, comrade.
1. No it’s you.
“Name one of my “foolishness”….”
Oh my. Can I have three?
So is Global Warming politics or science? You seem to have them confused. If it is science, and so important to you, please explain how it works. No Wiki articles please. Just your thoughts as a Rock Scientist. That’s not a slight, I took Rock Science too.
Brazil is different. That was foolish.
Saudi Arabia crashed the global oil market by raising production by a factor of 0.005 in September 2014. That is foolish.
Brazil is different. That was foolish.
No, you just don’t get it. Brazil IS different. But most times that I say “Brazil is Different” I’m saying it in jest like they said in the USA, and everywhere else they say it. The other times I say it is describing how it IS different, (5% mortgage debt/GDP compared to USA’s 70% etc.) But I’ve many times said Brazil could be having a bubble but it was different as far as mortgages, debt level etc. So you are wrong on that point.
So is Global Warming politics or science?
There is some politics involved in the funding but science is science. I don’t need to explain to you all NASA’s math to convince you man walked on the moon either.
please explain how it works
You are the foolish one. See above.
Saudi Arabia crashed the global oil market
You’d have to be a fool to not think Saudi Arabia is a big factor in this. Maybe you are. Because of your politics.
How Saudi Arabia Can Flood the Oil Market - Bloomberg …
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/…/how-saudi-arabia-can-flood-the-oil-marke...
5 days ago - Feb. 19 — Bloomberg’s Alix Steel reports on the price of oil. She speaks on “In The Loop.”
Saudi Arabia bets its future on ‘Berlin or Bust’ oil strategy …
http://www.telegraph.co.uk › Finance › News by Sector › Energy
Jan 2, 2015 - World’s largest oil exporter is forcing prices lower to win back market … The health of Saudi Arabia’s ageing King Abdullah could change oil …
Saudi Arabia Deepens Asia Oil Discount to Record Low
Bloomberg-Feb 5, 2015
State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co. lowered its official selling price for … “Asia is still the market that they want to keep, so they are pricing to …
Saudi Arabia’s $750 Billion Bet Drives Brent Oil Below $54 …
http://www.forbes.com/…/saudi-arabias-750-billion-bet-drives-brent-oil-below...
Jan 5, 2015 - A flood of new oil from U.S. shale producers and Canadian tar sands … Starting in October, Saudi Arabia indicated to global markets that it …
as per usual comrade, all you have is irrational bluster.
as per usual comrade, all you have is irrational bluster.
6. That’s not socialism
lol
Brazil isn’t different Lola. Sorry.
your nonresponsiveness is proof you can’t make your point when challenged.
Not NASA’s math. We already understand what they’ve done to butcher statistics. The underlying principle. How it works, that would be the scientific basis.
Rio is not different. It is in a massive debt fueled bubble and is crashing. You said it wasn’t in a bubble. That is what we are talking about here.
On oil, post all the articles you want. Without an understanding of what is going on, the articles are useless, as is your posting them.
The underlying principle. How it works, that would be the scientific basis.
The onus is on you Blue remember the challenge?
“Name one of my “foolishness” that you can counter with logic or facts.”
I’ve seen no facts or logic from you yet on any of those subjects you raised. None. As usual. And I’ve said for years that Brazil might be in a bubble but the bubble was different as far as mortgages, speculation and housing stock. And I maintain that today. Too complicated?
In 08-09 Brazil housing was not in a bubble imo because it had only kept pace with underlying inflation.
So again Blue, Name one of my “foolishness” that you can counter with logic or facts.
Listen to this podcast. Sleep on it, and listen again.
http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/03/john_christy_an.html
Two climate scientists discussing the topic like adults.
Can somebody just answer these questions.
Why do communists/progressives/marxists live in the United states of America if freedom is a four letter word in their ideology?
Why spend so much time and effort trying to “Fundamentally Transform” this country when there are plenty of post “glorious revolution” hellholes to chose from?
Also, what exactly is the END RESULT of Fundamental Transformation or Progressivism? I mean what will be left standing? Does it ever stop?
Will there ever be a time where Americans can live their lives without the PC, Nanny State, Race baiting, Divisive Radicals getting in their face?
Global Warming. You don’t know how it’s supposed to work! Some Rock Scientist. I’m outspoken, you’re just not well read.
As I remember, you were quite enthusiastic about Brazil not being in a bubble. Euphoric. You were wrong.
And the other thing.
Why do communists/progressives/marxists live in the United states of America if freedom is a four letter word in their ideology?
because there is wealth to be plundered here.
Why spend so much time and effort trying to “Fundamentally Transform” this country when there are plenty of post “glorious revolution” hellholes to chose from?
the limo liberals wouldn’t dream of living in the squalor they cause. they will leave here too when we have been sucked dry.
Also, what exactly is the END RESULT of Fundamental Transformation or Progressivism?
why, the liberal statist utopia of cradle to grave government of course. the price is merely a hellish and shorter life. what’s not to like for all the ’security’ you get?
I mean what will be left standing?
at the end? nothing.
Does it ever stop?
not unless you kill it with the knowledge that it does not, and can not ever work.
Will there ever be a time where Americans can live their lives without the PC, Nanny State, Race baiting, Divisive Radicals getting in their face?
in the foreseeable future? doubtful..
Rio is not different. It is in a massive debt fueled bubble and is crashing.
Blue Skye or anybody,
I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. Why do you think Brazil is the “same” type of bubble as America’s in light of Brazil having a 5% mortgage debt/GDP compared to USA’s 65-70% ratio?
Because of the global credit bubble? The commodity bubble? It could be but what is the funding mechanism? I think the Brazil bubble is different than America’s in that it does not look like it was caused by lose lending conditions as it was in the USA.
How can you have a housing bubble based on massive debt without lose lending conditions in the mortgage market? I know it’s possible but how?
As I remember, you were quite enthusiastic about Brazil not being in a bubble. Euphoric. You were wrong.
I’m sorry Blue Skye, but that is not true. I’ve been very consistent for over 5 years. I’ve never denied the possibility of a Bubble. Here’s me in 2009.
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2009-09-13 14:16:16
……..I know that Brazil is increasing the availability of home loans and other programs but these new “easy money plans” being introduced do not amount to much yet in light of Brazil’s current lack of mortgage debt.
Brazil home prices could very well fall but probably not for the “easy financing” reasons you suggest.
And now they’re cratering….. because of fraud financing.
Smarten up Lola.
you were quite enthusiastic about Brazil not being in a bubble.
No. Back then I was enthusiastic about Brazil, not necessarily the housing market. People have been beating me up about Brazil for over 6 years on this blog.
From 2009:
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2009-09-13 14:33:04
“WOW, so Brazil is immune, then? Oh, OK.”
…… Not once have I said Brazil was “immune” and I’ve written more than once that prices could come down if the economy weakens. It’s all in the record.
I did not say Brazil was immune. All I said was that it’s different here.
All I said was that it’s different here.
which is totally meaningless comrade, unless you explain ‘why’.
It doesn’t matter what your debt ratio is, rocketing prices not based on sustainable fundamentals is a bubble. And Brazil has had a credit mania. And it has had a temporary boom economy based on a huge credit expansion in China. It is the offspring of the biggest bubble ever. Like begets like.
I still think you don’t have an idea in your mind about how this miracle of Global Warming supposedly works. I’m not saying that because you answer challenges with name calling, nor because I think your clock doesn’t go to the top floor (so to speak). I’m saying it because the foundation of this thing is so deeply buried. As far as you can get with a casual investigation is some general comments that wouldn’t make sense to my grandson. If you dig beyond that you find whitewashed scandal. If you dig beyond that you find a discredited psychopath, who did some early useful research into thermodynamics nevertheless, and who’s other great life’s work was racial cleansing. I have yet to find a single chest beating, slogan shouting, insult throwing enthusiast who gives a damn if there is anything under his feet.
I bring this up from time to time, with more or less detail, much to everyone’s boredom or projectile vomiting.
Blue Skye out.
It’s a Marxist conspiracy.
http://brazilianbubble.com/heres-how-little-this-populist-brazil-government-understands-finances/
I would not have voted for Dilmaa. None of my friends did. I said months ago on this blog, that I was for conservative Aecio Neves.
I met the man.
Wow — AlbqDan and tj posting on the same thread. It’s like a tag team of trolls!
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/21/climate-change-denier-willie-soon-funded-energy-industry
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/02/23/smear-campaign-his-judgment-cometh-and-that-right-soon/
“This is a no-brainer for us. We’re positioning ourselves aggressively. We need the money to survive,” said J. Murray Gibson, dean of Northeastern’s College of Science.
In Nahant, NU eyes federal funds for climate research
By Tracy JanGlobe Staff July 08, 2014
Studying the impact of global warming on — in Washington parlance — “urban coastal sustainability” has become one of the hottest sources of federal dollars, and Northeastern officials believe its modest marine science center in Nahant can win up to $25 million a year in US research grants and boost the university’s profile in the process.
“This is a no-brainer for us. We’re positioning ourselves aggressively. We need the money to survive,” said J. Murray Gibson, dean of Northeastern’s College of Science.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/…/eFtbMxqeas4gPNtzyG9VCN/story.html -
Comment by phony scandals
2015-02-24 13:41:54
In Nahant, NU eyes federal funds for climate research
bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/07/07/northeastern-seeks-new-pots-federal-grants-for-nahant-marine-science-campus/eFtbMxqeas4gPNtzyG9VCN/story.html
More fundamental transformation. Please tell me what to eat Mr. President, I am just hanging on your every word.
Beef producers say Obama is trying to kill their industry
Fox News
“A panel of nutrition experts recruited by the Obama administration to craft the newest dietary guidelines suggested last week that the government should consider the environment when deciding what people should eat.”
“The report, which was presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bills itself as a way to “transform the food system” and that’s got a lot of people in the heartland and those elected to represent them in Washington fuming.”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/23/beef-producers-say-obama-is-trying-to-kill-their-industry-telling-americans-to/
Obama should have minded his own business. He should have never invented that whole food pyramid diagram.
“A panel of nutrition experts recruited by the Obama administration to craft the newest dietary guidelines suggested last week that the government should consider the environment when deciding what people should eat.”
That is not about the food pyramid which already includes too much grains. This is considering “information” which has nothing to do with the healthiest diet. His “experts” want to include bs like CAGW in our dietary choices.
More fundamental transformation. Please tell me what to eat Mr. President, I am just hanging on your every word.
I was referring to this quote. It’s similar to the brouhaha made about executive orders, teleprompters and czars. People make statements about these things as if Obama was the first president to use them.
‘Fox News talk show host and political commentator Bill O’Reilly threatened to retaliate against a reporter “with everything I have” if he felt her coverage of his war-time reporting was inappropriate, the reporter said.’
‘In a tweet late Monday, New York Times reporter Emily Steel said O’Reilly told her “I am coming after you with everything I have,” and “You can take it as a threat.”
Ben Jones be careful, you got Clubber Lang all upset when you posted about Bill O’Reilly, LOLZ
Clubber Lang used to be America’s example of Eye of the Tiger. Now it’s Katy Perry.
Didn’t Katy just win some award for best concert tour stage design or some such? I think of that as code for “distract from the lousy voice.”
I love to see lying Marxist “news” printers squirm and cower after being called out by someone with a voice and a pair of stones to go with that voice.
Bill is to PC for me, I am more in the Giuliani camp these days
“I want to stop this now,” he said of the controversy. “I hope we can stop it. I really do.”
He forgot to use the word “Mommy”.
Billy-O has a soft under-belly and I suspect women don’t like him much…Wonder why…
Maybe it has something to do with that sexual harassment lawsuit a former co-worker filed against him that settled out of court.
Maybe it has something to do with that sexual harassment lawsuit ??
Yeah, but he did not get married until he was 46…That lasted 14 years I suppose because there were two kids involved…Calling Bill-O narcissistic is a gross understatement…
Isn’t that kind of a prerequisite for becoming a TV entertainer?
Isn’t that kind of a prerequisite for becoming a TV entertainer ?
I had to give that some thought…Not necessarily…I don’t think the likes of Tim Russert are narcissistic…
Is he the guy from Buffalo that wrote the book about his Dad?
Anyway, we thought Cosby was the most sincere guy on the planet.
Is he the guy from Buffalo that wrote the book about his Dad ?
Yes…
Anyway, we thought Cosby was the most sincere guy on the planet ??
Yes, some we mistake…Unlike Bill-O…He wheres it on his sleave…
No, that was the late Tim Russert.
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Russ-Me-Father-Son/dp/1401352081/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1424811430&sr=8-3&keywords=Tim+Russert
That’s who we are talking about, Tim Russert. So, yes it was him.
Ooops, sorry lost the thread. Wasn’t sure if you were referring to O’Reilly.
I hate to stick up for O’Reilly because I think he’s a pompous ass, but he did just watch Brian Williams’s career be destroyed over similar accusations. He probably feels as if his career is being threatened as well. Were his career ruined I would not shed a tear but I can understand his tendency to over react in this situation.
O’Rielly was one of the loudest and harshest critics of the Williams situation, calling for his head to whoever would listen.
So now the turntable has indeed turned…..
O’Reilly was one of the biggest media cheerleaders for the Iraq War, right behind Sean Hannity. They made it their business to question the patriotism of anyone who was against the war. Five thousand Americans died because of blowhards like these two. I think it’s only fair that we learn just what kind of chickensh*t liars they really are.
O’rielly was one of the few on the center/right to go out of his way to avoid disparaging Williams.
If someone is going to criticize on a topic, that person needs to be squeaky clean himself on that topic. Or else he just invites oppo research and exposure as a direct hypocrite. Prime examples are Gingrich and Limbaugh’s lectures on infidelity.
Libs were just waiting to pounce on O’Reilly, and I think he knows it. Speculatively, it wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to keep his mouth shut, but FOX forced him to pile on and thus bring about his own downfall.
President Paul? Wall Street on high alert
His ‘audit the Fed’ push makes him dangerous in the eyes of finance execs
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/rand-paul-wall-street-2016-elections-115226.html
And a repost from a few weeks ago about how Wall Street “can’t lose” with Jeb or Hillary
http://nypost.com/2015/02/08/wall-streets-no-lose-view-of-2016/
Elizabeth Warren put the kibosh on this.
President Paul? Wall Street on high alert
His ‘audit the Fed’ push makes him dangerous in the eyes of finance execs
He’d best sleep with one eye open.
Has anyone here had to make a “Shared Responsibility Payment”?
Wall Street Journal subscriber pay wall article
Military May Allow Openly Transgender Personnel
Does this mean you can wear knee-high glitter Ziggy Stardust boots when you put boots on the ground?
See also:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4B5zmDz4vR4
Yes, you can wear the boots Lola gave to you.
^lol.
It’s gonna get wild here.
Just Taxing the 1 Percent as Much as We Tax the Poor Would Yield Billions for Cash-Strapped States
A new report shows that states and cities effectively tax the 1 percent at only 5.4 percent—half what they tax the poor (10.9 percent).
BY David Sirota
Roads are crumbling, bridges require repairs, schools need upgrades and public pension systems remain underfunded. How can states and cities find the money to address any of these problems? One way could be through their tax codes.
According to a new report, if the rich paid the same state and local tax rate as the middle class, states and cities would have hundreds of billions of dollars more a year in public revenue.
Last month, the nonpartisan Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the poorest 20 percent of households pay on average more than twice the effective state and local tax rate (10.9 percent) as the richest 1 percent of taxpayers (5.4 percent).
http://inthesetimes.com/article/17665/tax-fairness-could-mean-more-resources
Governments sure want more money. NY just borrowed $5 billion for “smart boards”, an already obsolete technology. The money isn’t going to be spent on “smart boards”.
Government sponsored inflation has been great for city and state revenue, on the backs of people who’s biggest expenses are retail purchases. There will be a lot of shortfall with prices of basics headed down.
Who got the contract? Who awarded it?
Follow the money.
Governments sure want more money. NY just borrowed $5 billion for “smart boards”, an already obsolete technology.
They cost about $2000. That’s 2,500,000 smart boards.
” The money isn’t going to be spent on “smart boards”
A reasonable conclusion.
Here in TABORland, schools make do with plain old whiteboards. 5 billion is about the combined K-12 budget here for all school districts.
Blue is right. NYS is laundering money through the smart board company in order to pay pensions.
What’s wrong with that?
What’s wrong with that?
Because sooner or later the OPM runs out. The two programs that built the Democratic party, Social Security and Medicare were nothing more than Ponzi schemes that relied on intergenerational theft to fund them. They are both approaching imminent bankruptcy. One of the major reasons the Democrats are pushing for more immigration is to keep the programs afloat for just a few more years, just like Bernie Madoff looked for new victims. Of course, since most of the new immigrants are less educated and in fact less intelligent, it only will make things worse over the long run. We have an 18 trillion dollar visible debt which is only the tip of the iceberg, apply GAAP to the entitlement programs and we have hundreds of billions of dollars in debt, yet the media focuses on China which has no similar problem and a visible debt lower on a percentage of GDP than we have. Misdirection to avoid Americans learning the truth, that the welfare states throughout the world are bankrupt.
Because sooner or later the OPM runs out
Exactly, the rich’s OPM (money from the middle-class redistributed to the rich) has run out.
Because sooner or later the OPM runs out
That’s why we have uncle Yelling.
uncle Yelling ??
Isn’t it Auntie ??
That’s a good one - intergenerational theft. Are public schools and universities also a form of intergenerational theft?
When you require a generation which has not even been born to pay for the retirement costs of an earlier generation that is intergenerational theft. When you require a present generation to pay for the costs to educate their own children who will then provide taxes throughout their entire life it is not. There is no reason why Social Security and Medicare cannot meet GAAP standards of funding other than the political reason they would be less popular. Bowles/Simpson had proposals to make the programs self sustaining but they were rejected because higher taxes and lower benefits are required if you want to avoid intergenerational theft. Of course, that also means governments also have a vested interest in population growth since you always need more people paying then receiving if you are not going to require someone to pay the full costs of his or her benefits.
than
When you require a generation which has not even been born to pay for the retirement costs of an earlier generation that is intergenerational theft.
Then I guess human society has practiced “Intergenerational Theft” since the world had become civilized. Because it has been a trait of civilization that generations not yet born had played a huge part in taking care of earlier generations.
we have hundreds of billions of dollars in debt
I meant hundreds of trillions.
Children taking care of their parents is hardly equivalent to a government creating a Ponzi scheme that depends on an impossible ever increasing population.
When you require a generation which has not even been born to pay for the retirement costs of an earlier generation that is intergenerational theft. When you require a present generation to pay for the costs to educate their own children who will then provide taxes throughout their entire life it is not.
This is neat. You can just make it up as you go along. I know that we have a lot of people who participate here who have no kids.
These notions should also be applied to war. For example, my grandfather was young working class guy living in New York City with a wife and kid when he was drafted and sent off to fight the Japanese. I suppose that he could have said, “They attacked Hawaii. They didn’t attack New York. Tell the Hawaiians to take care of their own problems! It’s interstate slavery!”
I suppose that he could have said, “They attacked Hawaii. They didn’t attack New York. Tell the Hawaiians to take care of their own problems! It’s interstate slavery!”
No, it would be like saying the Japanese attacked Hawaii today, so I think the next generation that is born should drafted when they turn 18 to fight the war. We will declare war today and fight it eighteen years from now.
BTW, you will still not address what is wrong with the people that are going to receive a future benefit being forced to pay for the costs of that future benefit?
“BTW, you will still not address what is wrong with the people that are going to receive a future benefit being forced to pay for the costs of that future benefit?”
Well, the future benefit that they are forced to pay the costs to receive for are going to what the people will still not address is wrong. Does that answer your question?
Are still not wrong to address. My mistake.
Does that answer your question?
No. Intergenerational theft is not preferable to having people that are going to receive a benefit, pay for the benefit.
I try not to get into blog business, but Ben are you instituting temporary bans and/or probationary periods? I’ve seen other blogs/boards do that so it’s not a surprise. I won’t agree or disagree with what or who is deleted or not. In fact I like that there’s a range of options instead of all-or-nothings.
You don’t have to answer, I’m just curious about the on-again off-again.
No matter what you progressives say, the end result of your obsessive hatred of corporations and capitalism is mass poverty, mass starvation and mass murder.
There is no balance in your philosophy, we could come up with fair regulations and taxation, but it will never be good enough…you want an end to our country as founded.
Tell me I’m wrong.
The country as founded was better than what came before, but there was a lot of room for improvement.
The country as founded was better than what came before, but there was a lot of room for improvement.
true. it also WAS better than anything that came after.
BTW, you will still not address what is wrong with the people that are going to receive a future benefit being forced to pay for the costs of that future benefit?
It’s not very useful to discuss right and wrong in this forum. We wouldn’t make much progress. You’re talking, more or less, about making sure that the Medicare trust fund doesn’t run out. However, the trust fund doesn’t pay for all of Medicare. Some of Medicare is paid for out of general revenues.
Yellin promises to raise rates when hell freezes over:
(Reuters) - U.S. equities rose and bond yields fell after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Tuesday it would be several months before the Fed expects to boost interest rates, while European equity markets gained after Greece locked in a four-month extension of its financial rescue program.
Yellen said the Fed’s policy-setting committee is considering interest rate hikes “on a meeting by meeting basis.” She added, however, that a rate increase is not likely for at least the next couple of meetings, and that the first hike would not necessarily come after the Fed removes the word “patient” from its forward guidance.
Short-term rate futures have shifted market expectations modestly, with the first hike now expected in October, instead of September before Yellen’s testimony. Expectations for a possible June increase have been reduced. Strategists said Yellen was giving the Fed more flexibility to raise rates later if necessary.
“It’s very cautious and very couched. She’s leaving all her options open as she should be,” said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.
The greenback jumped initially but paired gains and was down 0.1 percent against a basket of currencies .DXY. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR initially rose to about 2.11 percent, but subsequently declined to 1.98 percent.
“They’re trying to give themselves more flexibility without locking themselves into a commitment one way or the other, which in general can be perceived as being dovish,” said Jonathan Rick, interest rate derivatives strategist at Credit Agricole in New York.
Wall Street stocks rose. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 92.35 points, or 0.51 percent, to 18,209.19, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 5.82 points, or 0.28 percent, to 2,115.48 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 7.15 points, or 0.14 percent, to 4,968.12. The Nasdaq has posted gains in 10 consecutive sessions, the longest streak since July 2009.
Tax the productive to pay for the lazy and the corrupt.
If you mean that people who work for a living are paying taxes so bankers and CEO’s can get handouts and special perks, then that is exactly what is going on.
Tax the productive to pay for the lazy and the corrupt.
The poor pay a higher percentage in total taxes than the rich do.
And the famous Mitt Romney 47% pay a higher percentage in total taxes than he does most likely.
pay a higher percentage in total taxes than he does most likely ??
How do you tax wealth vs. income is probably the hardest question to answer…The really wealthy manage their income to control their taxable income and just let their wealth build…
How do you tax wealth vs. income is probably the hardest question to answer…
David Stockman, Ronald Reagan’s former OMB director knows trickle-down went too far and has called for a 30% “wealth tax” in conjunction with other measures.
Q&A: David A. Stockman says tax the rich and hogtie the Fed
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/sunday-commentary/20140228-qa-david-a.-stockman-says-tax-the-rich-and-hogtie-the-fed.ece
Question:
You’ve called for a massive new tax or levy, equal to 30 percent of wealth on the richest people in this country. That’s a far cry from the Reagan-era trickle-down economics that you famously rejected. What would such a levy accomplish, and why do you think it’s needed now?
Stockman:
……..My proposal was a one-time wealth tax on the top 5 percent or so in order to pay down this massive federal debt. Couple it with the abolition of the corporate income and capital gains tax so that in the future, current producers and entrepreneurs and risk-takers will have an incentive to restart this badly damaged economy.
You’ve called for a massive new tax or levy, equal to 30 percent of wealth on the richest people in this country..My proposal was a one-time wealth tax on the top 5 percent or so in order to pay down this massive federal debt ??
Well, here is one problem that I have with this approach…Its not progressive…At least not progressive enough…
Top 5% ?? Lets just say that the lower part of that ladder the gross wealth is $400,000…30% of that would be $120,000….I would offer that this person would be significantly impacted by this tax…less money for retirement or whatever….
On the other hand, lets take our poster boy for example…Romney…They say he is worth about $200-mil…We take 30% of that away and he has $160-mil left…I hope he can get by on that…
I think you get my point…The lower end has significant impact…At the higher end Romney’s life would not change a bit other than he would squeal like a pig…
An interesting idea. For the past 30 years, much of the wealth has been stolen and not earned. So you tax it, and then cut taxes on future investment which hopefully will be earned and not stolen.
But some money was earned in the past, and some will be stolen in the future.
Maybe stealing should be against the law.
How do you tax wealth vs. income is probably the hardest question to answer…
Individually, you just do it with the Estate Tax. You can’t take it with you, and your heirs only get enough to be comfy, not enough to shift to weath preservation by theft. Under this system, the Walton mega-fortune would have ended at Sam.
Corporations… I guess one incentive would be to allow double deductions, or similar, for on-shore wages. That would encourage corps to create more jobs, or pay more for existing jobs. With proper structuring and thresholds, you make job-creation and paying wages so tax advantageous to the bottom line that a corp would rather create jobs than hide profits overseas or buy back stock. Even if those jobs are digging holes and filling them in.
Of course no Congress will ever legislate this.
Oxy, Are you really on your “confiscate the family farm” high horse again? Do you really, really think that you are entitled to the proceeds from a broken up family farm, where the multigenerational inhabitants scatter to the winds because they have to liquidate to pay the estate taxes? Since bureaucrats know so much better how to re-distribute the dough, and all, I s’ppose from your standpoint liquidation is the most favored alternative.
Why am I not surprised. More for you and your nanny-state henchmen.
bravo Jane!
Are you really on your “confiscate the family farm” high horse again?
Having grown up in farm country, I understand that concern. The “family farm” argument against estate taxes is important but largely a ruse - nothing to do with Wal-Mart type wealth. And it could and should be fixed even better to protect family farms. But it has nothing to do with billionaire families becoming royalty forever.
Pro-McConnell group says the estate tax makes it hard for family farms to survive
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2014/apr/03/kentucky-opportunity-coalition/pro-mcconnell-group-says-estate-tax-makes-it-hard-/
….Republicans and opponents of the estate tax have often held up farmers as an example of a population especially burdened by this levy. Because many farmers own a lot of land and expensive machinery, the values of their estate can add up quickly, they say, but many don’t have the money to pay the high tax and could risk losing their farm.
Estimates, however, say that just a small percentage of farmers are actually affected by the tax. A 2005 study from the Congressional Budget Office estimated that if the exemption were set at $3.5 million in 2000, only 65 of the 4,640 farm estates filing returns that year would have surpassed the threshold needed to pay the estate tax. Of those, just 13 wouldn’t have enough money to pay their tax liability.
More recently, the Tax Policy Center estimated that in 2011, with the exemption at $5 million, 120 farms and small businesses would have to pay the estate tax. Their total taxes paid equated to about 6.3 percent of all estate taxes collected that year. About 40 of these filings came from “small farms or businesses,” according to the analysis.
Congress has built in a number of provisions throughout the years to assist farmers. For example, the exemption doubles if the farm is owned by a couple, even if one of the owners dies. “The idea that if you’re married now you’re approaching $10 million, that’s a pretty hefty farm,” said Bob Williams at the Tax Policy Center.
+1.
The mind of the empty pocketed, indebted and entitled is a corrupt wasteland.
Having grown up in farm country, I understand that concern.
but of course you’re for the estate tax anyway, right comrade?
who would’ve guessed it?
they’ve already paid their taxes once and you want to tax them again in death. what creep you are comrade. you are immoral down to the bone.
all farms should be run by monsanto or ADM, don’t you think? that way the government wouldn’t have to steal them from the dead and the grieving families.
and it doesn’t even matter if they could ‘afford’ to pay the estate tax. it’s THEIR property. we know bureaucrats like you think the government is entitled to their property, but it’s not. the only justice would be if the state takes everything away from you and your family when you die. you deserve the worst, comrade.
Lola,
Being so destitute as to harvest pistachios with your entire family isn’t farming. You understand farm operations no more than you know how to be honest.
You understand farm operations no more than you know how to be honest.
Bull, and Delusion tactics.
I’ve shown 3 times just in the last 2 days how you are dishonest.
And I went back to 2009 logs. You have an agenda.
You author lies today. You author lies in 2009. You’re a fraud Lola.
You author lies today. You author lies in 2009. You’re a fraud Lola.
I’ve proven your lies. You can’t prove “mine” because I don’t lie.
2009 Baby. (As if I’d lie as you do since then)
F.R.A.U.D.
you are delusional, comrade. you haven’t proven anything to be a lie except in your pea brain.
…what creep you are… you are immoral down to the bone. the only justice would be if the state takes everything away from you and your family when you die… you deserve the worst, you are delusional, comrade… all you have is irrational bluster. you haven’t proven anything to be a lie except in your pea brain.
You’re in my thoughts,
Love
Mom
lord, kill me.
The poor pay a higher percentage in total taxes than the rich do.’
no doubt
W2 income is a bitch for taxes
ISO, RSU, ESPP or NQSO held a year or longer are much better but riskier.
I guess for the real wealthy we will have to ask Joe ( LOLA )
Wealth and high income are NOT indicators of economic productivity. Given the explosion of rent-seeking in this country there are lots of rich folks who got that way without creating a single job nor adding to GDP. Heck, there are probably vulture capitalists whose wealth caused a net reduction in GDP and jobs…
Given the explosion of rent-seeking in this country
I have yet to hear a good definition of this “rent-seeking” that you speak of…
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct14/rentier-wealth10-14.html
Ok, his definition is fees collected where no real service is given. Fine.
A significant chunk of what I see get painted with the “rent-seeking” brush does not seem to be rent-seeking under CHS’s definition.
It’s terminology I wondered about too. That’s the only place I remember it being discussed.
Renting is supposed to be a good thing, right?
Renting is supposed to be a good thing, right?
‘Rent-Seeking’ does not mean renting out your house or renting a house or real estate.
DEFINITION of ‘Rent-Seeking’ When a company, organization or individual uses their resources to obtain an economic gain from others without reciprocating any benefits back to society through wealth creation.
That’s the only place I remember it being discussed.
That explains things. I’ve seen ‘Rent-Seeking’ being discussed in dozens and dozens of places.
There is discussing a thing and there is a thoughtful discussion of what word mean.
The beginning of understanding a thing is to call it by its right name.
You knew I was making a joke about renting, right?
Heck, there are probably vulture capitalists whose wealth caused a net reduction in GDP and jobs ??
I agree but creating good jobs and taxing wealth are two different subject matters…We need a new physical policy in this country to (Channeling Ben) manufacture things…Along with that, we need to try and get the wealthy to chip in more of their “wealth”…The only caveat I have is that everyone needs to chip in either with time or money…Too many riding in the wagon…Not enough helping pull it…
“We need a new physical policy in this country to (Channeling Ben) manufacture things”
Don’t put government in charge they will manufacture junk
Heck, there are probably vulture capitalists whose wealth caused a net reduction in GDP and jobs…
Mitt Romney. And whatever hedgies were behind the harvesting of Hostess.
Just Taxing the 1 Percent as Much as We Tax the Poor Would Yield Billions for Cash-Strapped States ??
It will come IMO but from the Fed’s through revenue sharing like block grants…Complete overhaul of the tax code will broaden the base but also capture more from the 1%…
we need a national sales tax say 5% drug dealers prostitutes all have to buy stuff the more you spend the more you get taxed
+1dj…I agree…Its the best way to tax the underground economy which pays very little in tax…
we need a national sales tax say 5% drug dealers prostitutes all have to buy stuff the more you spend the more you get taxed
Sales tax is easy for businesses to under-report. A VAT is much harder to hide, since it is reported at every level; the ability to cross-reference the filings across a supply-chain makes it much harder to evade.
You can bet that they will dramatically increase the taxes on the top 1% but the top 0.1% will skate free.
The tax on good health care plans does this.
The higher tax on W2 income vs stock market gains does this.
Accountants who devise ways for people like Romney to put over 100,000,000 in a non taxed IRA do this.
Inflation does this.
A nice article today on the new gov of Illinois cutting his own taxes by 750k a year while slashing wages and benefits for the masses.
When America started there were many sources of power and wealth that competed to make government work in their favor. This lead to more light being shed on the issues. Now with wealth consolidation there is less and less of this and big money can drive gov to do it’s bidding.
They had a nice article on the Mayor of Chicago who had a 35% approval rating. The money line was that in order to win these days all you need to do to win in politics is make sure you don’t take a picture of your junk and post it on the internet and know a few really rich people.
i went to breitbart looking for neocon war propaganda and found this instead
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/23/the-second-demographic-transition-the-end-of-humanity-as-weve-known-it/
no amount of shaming is gonna bring men back onto the plantation
ladies, when you wake up at age 35 asking yourself ‘where have all the good men gone?’ be sure to thank a feminist
men, take the red pill today and go your own way
+1. When the great reset comes, women are going to look for protectors and not like what they find.
Eberstadt describes a global flight from family. “All around the world today, pre-existing family patterns are being upended by a revolutionary new force: the seemingly unstoppable quest for convenience by adults demanding ever-greater autonomy,” he writes.
He mentioned almost every major region in the world except?………Drumroll………………….
Latin America. They are into families still.
I don’t know how much that article relates to feminism as you mention but it’s an interesting observation that most Brazilian women don’t get Western feminists much at all.
7 billion and growing that’s probably enough people anyway.
From the comments:
A cowboy, an Indian and a Muslim are overlooking a huge valley, the Indian sweeps his hand across his front and says, ” once my people were many, now we are few”. The Muslim looks out across the land and says, “once we were few, now we are many”. The cowboy looks out at the valley, then looks back at the Muslim and says “That’s cuz we ain’t played cowboys and Towelheads yet”.
Funny!
“The housing market is very depressed” - Janet Yellen on Capitol Hill
“It’s a great time to buy” - every Realtor in some strip plaza office
“The housing market is very depressed”
And until price roll back to the long term trend, it’s going to stay depressed.
http://www.ino.com/blog/2015/02/low-oil-prices-are-an-act-of-economic-warfare/#.VOywN1J0xjp
Interesting article. I mentioned the Iran aspect yesterday.
I was mentioning the Russian and Iranian link months ago and being denounced for being a totally conspiratorial nut by Professor Bear etc.
was denounced for being
I was speaking with a guy whose family is from the Middle East several weeks ago. He described all of the myriad political and economic connections between countries, but also between factions within countries–which effectively pitted Saudi Arabia against a large number of players (not just frackers in the US). This includes Russia and Iran.
After listening to him, I essentially said:
“So, Saudi Arabia’s move on oil is essentially them sticking up their middle finger at the world saying ‘F… all y’all’?”
To which he responded:
“Pretty much.”
From watchchina, it appears that Turkey is placing its bets between Russia/China and U.S./EU, how many U.S. jobs were lost on this one:
Turkey will go ahead with a deal to purchase a US$3.4 billion air defense system from China, the Turkish defense minister has said, according to a report in China’s Global Times.
Turkish defense minister Ismet Yilmaz said the system will be integrated with Turkey’s national defense system but not with NATO’s systems.
The decision may not be final, as a spokesperson for Turkey’s undersecretariat for defense industries has said that negotiations with all bidders for the contract were still underway, Reuters reports.
The system, called the Turkey Long Rage Air and Missile Defense System, would be jointly built by China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CPMIEC) and Turkish defense companies, based on China’s HQ-9 long-range ground-to-air missile.
The bid for the system was first announced in 2009. CPMIEC’s HQ-9 won the bid over manufacturers from Russia, the US and Europe. NATO’s concerns about the HQ-9 and issues with integration forced Turkey to cancel the bid, however.
In the second round of bidding, CPMIEC won over bids from the French/Italian Eurosam consortium and Raytheon’s Patriot missile system.
Konstantin Sivkov, the president of Russia’s International Academy of Geopolitical Problems, said the threats from neighboring Iraq, Syria, Iran and the Islamic State are the main reasons driving Turkey to build its own defense system.
If Turkey is working with China on the system, it means that it will also be working with Russia since China’s air defense system is based on Russian technology, said Sivkov, who added that Russia will not be providing China with its latest technology so Turkey will benefit more from working with Russia.
Excerpt, I am having trouble with the link:
The Energy Report: Bob, in January you published an article saying that the drop in oil prices could be the “straw that pops the $7-trillion derivative bubble.” Can you explain the influence of oil prices on derivatives?
Bob Moriarty: It’s not the oil prices that are significant; it’s the change in oil prices. If you own an oil field and it costs you $75 to produce a barrel, at $110 a barrel ($110/bbl), you’re OK. If oil drops to $45/bbl, you’re in serious trouble.
In the shale oil sector, producers were taking out hundreds of billions of dollars in loans to finance shale oil that was costing them about $110/bbl to produce. It looked good on paper, but was a disaster waiting to happen. A lot of people in the shale oil business will soon be going out of business.
This could start World War III. The United States is the biggest oil producer in the world today, and Russia is number two. Russia’s economy is based on oil priced at $110/bbl. They are very angry at the U.S. and Saudi Arabia for the games that have been played in oil. Oil at $45/bbl is not sustainable. It could bring down the world’s financial system all by itself.
Remember….. Falling prices of all items is positively bullish and good for the economy.
Some very positive economic news today
“Oil price may fall to $10″
http://dailypost.ng/2015/02/21/oil-price-may-fall-10-bloomberg-warns-nigeria-others/
Some very positive economic news today
It is not what I am seeing in the raw data coming from the Bakken fields. If you wait for the process data, there is at least a month and a half delay. You learn about what happen in December around mid-February. We learned that oil production went up in ND despite drilling falling. That is because shale oil production is a two step process, (1) drill the well (2) frac the well completing it and thus major production begins. There was and still is many wells that are between one and two. Thus, the January numbers which will be released around March 15th will also show production increases despite falling drill rig counts. However, looking at raw data from around mid-February I am seeing well completions falling off a cliff which means lower production. You will not see this reflected in data on the news wires until mid-April but it is there and will be reported about two to three months before most people were expecting it.
Stick with falling prices Dan. We need to see these prices half and half again.
Speaking of April, hate to be bearer of bad tidings but look at this in the futures market under gasoline, a twenty cent increase in gasoline prices is baked in between March and April and that is without any rise in crude oil. That is just the switch over from winter blend to summer blend for environmental reasons, it will be even higher in places such as California:
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/marketquotes/index.php3?market=CL
With the way fields are pumping, tank farms over flowing and demand falling, I don’t think we have to worry about it.
I’m also hearing of reports here wells are being drilled, but they are NOT spending the money to frack just yet.
Oil being produced from tar sands will not likely slow down too much as they are not dependant on drilling - they sort of manufacture it - in capital intensive plants whose overheads have to be paid - whether they operate or not. But new plant construction is stopping.
The US shale was reaching it’s peak so it might not be affected that much either.
But conventional drilling is slowing down - fast - and if new wells are not drilled or old ones serviced, then capping will start on producing wells and the available product will tighten.
The more dollars you have at risk in O&G the more likely you will continue producing close to the same amount. But if your costs are mostly paid (conventional oil) - why would you give your oil away for such a small profit?
The O&G have been thru this before.
They’re not “giving anything away”. Demand is collapsing, inventory maxed out and production rates are through the roof.
Cheap oil is a good thing. And it’s going to get cheaper. ALOT cheaper.
The O&G have been thru this before.
They have.
U.S. shale oil’s crash diet likely to bring forward output dip
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/23/us-usa-oil-cuts-insight-idUSKBN0LR0F520150223
(Reuters) - Shale oil producers are throttling back so quickly on drilling that U.S. crude output could fall sooner than expected, within months, executives say as they slash costs to cope with tumbling crude prices and compete with Persian Gulf rivals.
About a dozen chief executives who talked to Reuters or who spoke publicly, acknowledged they were taken aback by the scale and speed of the cutbacks, noting how this oil price downturn was different from several previous episodes in their careers.
For one, companies are cutting costs deeper and faster than before as Wall Street investors increasingly place a premium on capital discipline rather than just production growth. Some also say the nature of shale makes it easier for companies to defer work and wait for prices to recover. The wells that drove the U.S. energy boom of the last decade rapidly deplete, so overall output will fall unless new holes are constantly bored and oil extracted via hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
“The thing that has surprised me … is that companies large and small, financially strong, financially weak have really cut capital spending much quicker than I have seen before,” said Bruce Vincent, who retired as CEO of Swift Energy Co this month after 40 years in the industry.
Is the Fed’s debasement of the currency about to usher in inflation despite the erosion of the 99 percent’s purchasing power thanks to the continuing economic downturn?
http://www.businessinsider.com/pat-toomey-on-wal-mart-2015-2
Currency gone wild: How long before the US, EU, and IMF have to bail out Ukraine?
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/Currency/USDUAH?countrycode=US
They already are to the tune of tens of billions of dollars, think of it as a teaser rate because it is going to get a lot more expensive. Thanks Obama and Biden. How much is Biden’s son making off of this again?
whats up dan? where do you see oil headed? we have a range on here from 10 bucks to 200.
I still see around $80 by the end of December, the amount of drilled but not fracked wells in the Bakken did surprise me and has made me less convinced that we will reach that number by December instead of January or February of 2016 but a growing tendency of oil companies to announce that they had a strategy to not frac wells until prices have increased has offset that concern.
“I still see around $80 by the end of December,…”
What model of crystal ball do you use, noble soothsayer?
It looks like the CME futures traders are seeing levels closer to $58:
Crude Oil Futures Quotes Globex
DEC 2015 Show Price Chart 58.25 -0.05
25 Feb 2015
Does the 1% have to make a Shared Responsibility Payment or is it strictly for the middle class?
I got free tickets to the Elvis Costello concert this weekend
Be sure to wear your Lola boots to the concert.
Dannyboy is BACK
“If you (or any of your dependents) do not maintain coverage and do not qualify for an exemption, you will need to make an individual shared responsibility payment with your return.”
Lawmaker Who Said Snowden Committed Treason, Now On Other Side Of Metadata Surveillance
Lawmaker’s ignorance of surveillance becomes his downfall
by Mike Masnick | Tech Dirt | February 24, 2015
Rep. Aaron Schock is frequently referred to as a “rising star” in Congress, but this week, the Associated Press reported on a scandal involving Schock and his use of taxpayer and campaign funds for things like flights on private jets (owned by key donors) and a Katy Perry concert. Frankly, I think some of the “scandal” here is a bit overblown. But what struck me is part of how the AP tracked these details about Schock down:
The AP tracked Schock’s reliance on the aircraft partly through the congressman’s penchant for uploading pictures and videos of himself to his Instagram account. The AP extracted location data associated with each image then correlated it with flight records showing airport stopovers and expenses later billed for air travel against Schock’s office and campaign records.
In short, the metadata brought Schock down. Of course, as we’ve been describing, anyone who says that we shouldn’t be concerned about the NSA’s surveillance of metadata, or brushes it away as “just metadata,” doesn’t understand how powerful metadata can be. As former NSA/CIA boss Michael Hayden has said, the government kills people based on metadata.
But it does seem noteworthy that Schock was one of those who claimed that Ed Snowden’s leaking of how the NSA collected metadata on nearly everyone amounted to treason. I wonder if he still feels that way…
Almost a decade after the onset of the first wave of Housing Bubble collapse, some housing pundits finally are finding religion!
Bulletin Dow, S&P 500 end at record highs; Nasdaq extends win streak to 10
Half of Americans can’t afford their house
Published: Jan 31, 2015 10:16 a.m. ET
By Quentin Fottrell
Personal finance reporter
As the housing market slowly recovers, a majority of homeowners and renters are finding it hard to meet rising rents and mortgage payments, new research finds.
Over half of Americans (52%) have had to make at least one major sacrifice in order to cover their rent or mortgage over the last three years, according to the “How Housing Matters Survey,” which was commissioned by the nonprofit John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and carried out by Hart Research Associates. These sacrifices include getting a second job, deferring saving for retirement, cutting back on health care, running up credit card debt, or even moving to a less safe neighborhood or one with worse schools.
…
What’s more, at least 15% of American homeowners (or residents of 78 counties across the country) were living in housing markets where the monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home requires more than 30% of the monthly median household income — long considered the maximum for rent/mortgage repayments. Housing costs above that threshold are “unaffordable by historic standards,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at real estate data firm RealtyTrac. In New York county/Manhattan, mortgage payments represent 77% of the median income and in San Francisco County represents 70%.
Although mortgage rates are still quite low, down payments, poor credit and tighter lending standards remain three of the biggest hurdles for buying a home, especially among young people, Blomquist says. “The slow jobs recovery for young adults has made it harder for them to save and to get a mortgage.” Some 84% of young people are delaying major life decisions due to the poor economy, according to a 2013 survey by Generation Opportunity, a nonprofit think tank based in Arlington, Va.
Some people also appear to be cooling on one facet of the American dream. About 43% of respondents in the “How Housing Matters Survey” say owning a home is no longer “an excellent long-term investment and one of the best ways for people to build wealth and assets,” and over half say buying a home has become less appealing. Although 70% of renters aspire to own a home, some 58% believe that “renters can be just as successful as owners at achieving the American dream.”
But they’re still suffering the aftershocks of the property bust, experts say. In the years after the recession of 2008, more than 7.5 million homeowners lost their home to foreclosure or short sale and about 9 million more homeowners are still underwater and owe more than their property is worth, Blomquist says. “If one looks at the last seven years as a predictor of housing market behavior in the future, it certainly should give one pause about whether buying a home is a good investment or not,” he adds.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, says Stuart Gabriel, director of UCLA’s Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate. “From a policy perspective, we overshot in prescribing homeownership too often and to those who would have benefited more from other housing solutions,” he says. Homeownership rates hit 64.8% in April, the lowest since 64.7% in the second quarter of 1995, according to the Census Bureau. “It’s wise to approach homeownership with more skepticism and more trepidation,” he says.
…
A nation of broke @ss loosers
Some call it a nation in recovery.
we screwed over some folks!
B need’n mo credik!
The difference between the people running Saudi Arabia and ISIS is much like the differences between Hillary and Obama or Hillary and W:
https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-court-gives-death-penalty-man-renounced-muslim-094037909.html
US foreign policy - one is a friend and another is enemy.
Can’t make this stuff up. LOL this country.
https://twitter.com/amyhoak
https://twitter.com/realtors
Amy hasn’t posted to her Twitter account since January 6, did MarketWatch lay her off as a columnist because every pro-housing article she’s written for them is all a lie?
There are a lot of Republican voters from the South of the United States reading here. What’s holding you folks back from voting against more wars in the Middle East and voting for smaller government and lower taxes?
Don’t get all caught up in some kind of emotional fervor for a new war. Stay true to your principles, and don’t support Congressional efforts to launch a new war just because it upsets Obama and the Democrat Party
Sigh, Forward
H&R Block study: Majority of Obamacare clients paying back subsidy
Many are truthful about mandate penalties
By Tom Howell Jr. - The Washington Times - Tuesday, February 24, 2015
A majority of Obamacare customers who received government subsidies last year to get covered on state and federal health exchanges must pay back a portion to the IRS, according to an H&R Block study released Tuesday.
The tax-prep giant also said the average tax penalty for not holding insurance under the law’s “individual mandate” is $172, or larger than the $95 baseline fee that got a lot of attention in the early going.
Six weeks into tax season, H&R Block said 52 percent of customers who took advantage of a subsidy underestimated their income for 2014 and had to pay back an average of $530, decreasing their tax refunds an average of 17 percent.
This tax season marks the first time filers must document their health-coverage status. Those who received tax credits to help them pay their premiums must reconcile their actual income with their amount of subsidy, and some will have received too much or too little.
“The level of payback of the Advance Premium Tax Credit is significant in that it’s costing taxpayers a large percentage of their refund — a refund many of them count on to pay household expenses,” said Mark Ciaramitaro, vice president of H&R Block health care and tax services.
About one third of clients overestimated their income and will receive $365 back, on average, from the government.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/24/hr-block-study-majority-obamacare-clients-paying-b/#ixzz3SiZPvAUv
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Ding Dong!
What I’ve been doing most of my life:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-to-bank-hundreds-of-dollars-more-each-month-163549084.html
Lived like a student.
Remember cement blocks and a wood plank for your stereo system? I did that for well over a decade after college. Drive cars that last forever. Date, do not marry - that’s living like a student. Time left over to work out, be a tom cat, etc.
“Date, do not marry…”
Oral sex isn’t sex. –WJC
I did not have sex with that woman. -WJC
Will Lucy Yellen fool Charlie Brown yet again by pulling away the rate hike football just as Charlie is about to kick it?
Charlie Brown and the Fed
By Mark Hamrick · Bankrate.com
Monday, July 7, 2014
Posted 6 am ET
Like Lucy’s prank that dogged Charlie Brown every time he tried to kick the football, we find ourselves in the all-too-familiar situation of being fooled again by overly ambitious expectations for the U.S economy.
It’s an embarrassing position shared by the brightest minds at the Federal Reserve, who only last month had to downgrade their growth expectations for this year.
…