March 20, 2015

Bits Bucket for March 20, 2015

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




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193 Comments »

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-03-20 02:57:16

Obama walks back hints at mandatory voting, after saying it would be “transformative” if everybody voted. Like voting for the Republicrat duopoly’s .1%-annointed water carriers makes the slightest bit of difference.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-19/hours-after-hinting-mandatory-voting-obama-talks-down-suggestion-following-backlash

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 05:00:54

His butt is still as sore as Lola’s after the 2014 election. BTW, Israel had more than a 70% turn out.

Comment by Shillow
2015-03-20 06:34:41

He’s very good at expanding the Dole. We got so many on the Dole.

Even if your job is a make work government job, at least you get up and go to work. Much much better than being on the Dole.

Comment by spook
2015-03-20 08:48:51

people on the dole should walk the streets selling single cigarettes.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-03-20 11:52:36

Israelis were being offered a real choice. We’re being offered the same candidate: HillaryJeb.

 
 
Comment by butters
2015-03-20 05:20:30

Is he dumb or is he dumb?

So do we have to pay fine if we don’t vote for Hillarious or Zed?

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 05:29:38

Gary Johnson got over a million votes in 2012. And remember Perot in 1992?

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 05:32:26

A 3rd party win would be the end of the unimocracy regardless who held headed it.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 06:24:15

That’s why the herders keep herding us back to one or the other of the current parties.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 06:27:34

^bullseye.

 
Comment by Shillow
2015-03-20 06:37:15

And it should be the easiest time in history to get something like this done what with the Internet and record high dissatisfaction with politicians. Instead, Nope.

A society of people eating cake and watching cartoons.

 
Comment by rms
2015-03-20 07:42:39

“A society of people eating cake and watching cartoons.”

Make that a bucket of chicken and Honey Boo Boo re-runs.

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-03-20 15:40:22

Guess you gotta create a new crisis to get people off “Clash of Clans”.

 
 
 
 
Comment by butters
2015-03-20 05:22:17

What next? A mandatory health insurance, perhaps?

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-03-20 07:27:15

I’ll write in every name of all the zoo animals at the local zoo if I was forced at gunpoint to vote.

 
Comment by oxide
2015-03-20 09:10:03

CNN is on this too:

———-
Obama: Maybe it’s time for mandatory voting

It would be transformative if everybody voted — that would counteract money more than anything,” he said, adding it was the first time he had shared the idea publicly.
———-

CNN and the Washington Times… and of course all the accessory linker sites… are lying.

Nobody bothered to print the President’s actual words, because, you know, it’s much more fun to extract phrases and generate your own story. Oh, except C-span:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?324895-1/president-obama-remarks-cleveland-middle-class-economics

———-
” now, I don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly, but I’m going to go ahead and say it now. We shouldn’t be making it harder to vote. We should be making it easier to vote. (Applause.)And what I haven’t said — I’ve said that publicly before. (Laughter.) So my Justice Department is going to be vigorous in terms of trying to enforce voting rights…

And at the state and local levels, that’s — you can push back against that, and make sure that we’re expanding the franchise, not restricting it.In Australia, and some other countries, there’s mandatory voting. It would be transformative if everybody voted. That would counteract money more than anything. If everybody voted, then it would completely change the political map in this country, because the people who tend not to vote are young; they’re lower income; they’re skewed more heavily towards immigrant groups and minority groups; ”
———

In other words, Obama said, they mandate voting in Australia, and IF they did that here, THEN it would counteract the campaign money. It was an if-then statement. But oh, but we can’t be having any of that! The news wants to construct the story ourselves. After all, they have donors too.

In addition, CNN links Obama’s “never said this publicly before” to the if-then statement of mandatory voting. But the President himself was referring to enforcing voting rights.

But hey, you’re not allowed to do this kind of analysis anymore — that makes you a libtard. Bumper stickers and chirons are where it’s at.

Comment by butters
2015-03-20 17:43:25

Deflect, Obfuscate and Bamboozle.
Attorneys At Law

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-03-20 19:13:11

Larken Rose, a voluntaryist speaker says he expects lots of write in votes for someone named “Goaf Ukyers Elf”

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 03:53:56

12 years ago today (in the Year of the Sheep)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War

American taxpayers and voters, do you feel like a “winner” now?

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 04:56:25

As Johnny Rotten asked on stage at the last show of the Sex Pistols’ first and only tour of the United States, “Do you get the feeling you’ve been cheated?”

Comment by Shillow
2015-03-20 06:41:37

How much medical marijuana will the government allow you to have while on the Dole?

Do dispensaries accept EBT cards?

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 07:22:22

You should take a vacation to Denver, you seem so fascinated by their new freedoms. I did.

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Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-20 07:34:39

It seems like a libertarian welfare state paradise.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 08:19:02

“It seems like a libertarian welfare state paradise.”

With very good beer.

 
Comment by spook
2015-03-20 08:51:45

a man has as many masters as he has vices.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 10:22:58

Good beer is no vice.

 
 
Comment by goon squad
Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 08:20:08

Wall Street Journal editorial - Why Islam Needs a Reformation

‘To defeat the extremists for good, Muslims must reject those aspects of their tradition that prompt some believers to resort to oppression and holy war.’

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-reformation-for-islam-1426859626?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 08:56:54

Start with gender equality. Why should women have to go around covered from head to foot and miss out on the opportunity for an education when men get to show their faces and attend university?

 
 
 
Comment by Absolutebeginnerq
2015-03-20 23:42:41

Test

 
 
 
Comment by Larry Littlefield
2015-03-20 04:26:43

Just a shoutout to this blog. My expertise is in state and local government, and micro/regional economics, city planning, etc. Not this financial stuff.

Along with The Economist magazine, I’ve learned more about the macro economy here than anywhere else. In particular how that ephemeral world has screwed up the real world of people working and getting the things they need.

In any event, here is my response to the latest Z1 data. I found the interview linked at the end, of course, on this blog.

https://larrylittlefield.wordpress.com/2015/03/18/the-american-economy-hair-of-the-dog-means-more-debt-for-the-doomed/

It’s about the debt. If Americans could not and did not spend more than they were paid, we wouldn’t have the trade problem we have, and the inequality problem we have. It just keeps getting worse in the era of Generation Greed.

Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-20 07:38:09

What about those pension bonds floated by San Berdu years ago that they now aren’t paying on? It ain’t just the people borrowing. Governments been making promises and writing hot checks also, for years.

Comment by Larry Littlefield
2015-03-20 08:24:02

So have businesses. Even non-profits in some cases. It’s society-wide.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-03-20 09:15:58

It’s a private corporation’s sacred duty to underpay their employees, overcharge for their services, and get the government to fill in the difference (+ profit) with money borrowed out of air. They ALL do it, from Lockheed Martin to Wal-Mart, to the health insurance companies who practically wrote Obamacare, on down to local landlords who base their rents on what Section 8 is paying that year.

Good god, have you been under a rock?

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 10:22:12

Donk,

Eventually you’ll learn to approach things on a price basis. It only appears your salary is low. The reality is prices are too high. And now you’ve been owned by them.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 11:33:45

Eventually you’ll learn to approach things on a price basis.

Especially when she sells her paid-off home?

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 12:02:19

Falling prices Lola.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 12:18:48

YOY “falling prices” in nice DC areas? Show me.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 14:25:53

Collapsing demand Lola.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 14:33:21

Collapsing demand Lola…

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 14:53:54

We’re not talking about your sex life HA. “falling prices” in nice DC areas? Show me.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 16:35:28

You’re backpedalling again Lola.

 
 
 
 
Comment by cactus
2015-03-20 10:08:19

Debt is no replacement for higher wages

Comment by Larry Littlefield
2015-03-20 12:10:56

It worked for a lot of years. And those in charge aren’t that worried about the future, and those who will live in it.

For some, it has also been an alternative to taxes for public spending.

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 04:31:28

Is the strong dollar killing Cat’s sales?

http://www.mining.com/caterpillar-feb-sales-11/

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 04:45:45

Religion of Peace

1. If you are an atheist they will kill you.

2. If you are a religion other than Islam, they will kill you.

3. If you are the wrong form of Islam, they will kill you.

P.S. you have to be a Muslim to blow up a Mosque:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-03/20/c_134084633.htm

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 05:27:39

There must be some sort of ’small government’ and ‘lower taxes’ way to solve this?

Comment by reedalberger
2015-03-20 05:52:54

What would Chairman Mao do?

#WWCMD

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 05:56:18

What would Saul Alinsky do?

#WWSAD

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Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 06:21:51

You tell us, you’re following his playbook.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 07:29:20

What would Saul Alinsky do?

What you do ADAN, but more subtle and with half the verbiage.

 
Comment by mathguy
2015-03-20 11:41:07

nice one Rio. You finally had an actually funny line.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 11:46:43

nice one Rio. You finally had an actually funny line.

Thanks! I’ve actually had many but I think you’re a Republican. ;)

 
 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 05:58:49

Nothing says “small government” and “lower taxes” like a long-term bombing campaign in a distant land!

Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-20 07:41:04

What long term? One day, boom. Three years later another day, boom.

This is very small government compared to what William Kristol and Hillary want, which is many boots on the ground forever.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 08:01:33

Boots on the ground = war presidency = ongoing crisis = unbridled power

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 08:22:02

” One day, boom. Three years later another day, boom.”

I guess if we used nuclear weapons it could work that way. Is that your suggestion?

 
Comment by oxide
2015-03-20 09:18:01

“What long term? One day, boom. Three years later another day, boom. ”

WWGSD?

(What would Grant and Sherman do?)

 
Comment by stewie
2015-03-20 12:13:00

Ha! WWGSD?

I thought this was gonna be What Would Goldman Sachs Do?

Why, ” …how the “vampire squid” feeds, and what on — namely a delightful recipe of corpses and faeces washed down with its own mucus.” Sounds like them to me.

All hail Vampyroteuthis infernalis!!!

http://www.wired.com/2012/09/vampire-squid-video/

 
Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-20 19:51:42

Does it need to be nuclear? Probably not. I’d think you could destroy an area pretty effectively without them. You could also certainly obliterate any roads or bridges or infrastructure like power lines to the area so nothing could happen. Maybe one day’s work.

Why don’t we just do that? Because it is too cheap and effective.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 20:02:28

Does it need to be nuclear? Probably not. I’d think you could destroy an area pretty effectively without them

Airstrikes every 2 years would not stop an Iranian bomb for more than 5 years max.

Then what? Then they’d want to use it on the A$$holes who’ve been bombing them for 4 years.

We’d better think this through.

 
 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-03-20 19:26:12

“There must be some sort of ’small government’ and ‘lower taxes’ way to solve this?”

Sure.

Immediately stop all foreign aid, absolutely no weapons or money or food or whatever that can be turned into weaponse - to anyone.

Before the establishment of Israel the last thing any American was worried about was a brown skin from the Middle East.

 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2015-03-20 09:36:23

update 3 mosques…….whats the problem? its where the evil doers live and preach how to kill for allah.. Ive always been against killing innocent people on the street…but you should be scared to death of stepping into a house of hatred.

3 suicide bombings target Shiite rebel mosques in Yemen

http://news.yahoo.com/2-suicide-bombings-target-shiite-rebels-mosque-yemen-103837912.html

Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-03-20 20:49:10

“Evil doers”?

Ok Captain Terrified….

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:22:38

Picking back up on yesterday’s topic of disgraced Rep. Aaron Schock’s disastrous narcissistic fling as congressman…

ICE: 167,527 Criminal Aliens Loose in U.S.A.

By Brittany M. Hughes
March 19, 2015 - 12:16 PM

ICE admitted to releasing 36,007 criminal aliens from the agency’s custody in Fiscal Year 2013, including those convicted of sex crimes, homicide, drunk driving, kidnapping and robbery. Of these, 1,000 went on to commit new crimes ranging from assault with a deadly weapon and lewd acts with a child to aggravated assault, robbery, and hit-and-run.

http://www.cnsnews.com/…/article/brittany-m-hughes/ice-167527-criminal-aliens-loose-usa - 68k -

Comment by reedalberger
2015-03-20 05:54:33

Now I know why progressives want felons to vote.

#InstaComms

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 06:38:16

Great update on disgraced former GOP congressman Schock! I knew you’d get around to it, even if you had to do it after hours. Here’s more:

“During the past month, Schock repaid the government $40,000 after spending money from his official office budget to redecorate his office to resemble the set of PBS’s “Downton Abbey,” an English historical drama. He also reimbursed taxpayers more than $1,200 after using his office account to pay to fly on a private plane to a Chicago Bears football game.”

“Schock billed the federal government and his campaign for logging roughly 170,000 miles on his personal car from January 2010 through July 2014. But when he sold that Chevrolet Tahoe in July 2014, it had roughly 80,000 miles on the odometer, according to public records obtained by POLITICO under Illinois open records laws. The documents, in other words, indicate he was reimbursed for 90,000 miles more than his car was driven.”
Story Continued Below

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/aaron-schock-resigns-116153.html#ixzz3UvrUhi4F

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 07:33:24

That’s what happens when you give “those people” access to the perks of government. They just can’t handle it! Here’s more:

“In October 2008, Schock’s father testified in a federal court that his son had notarized documents with false dates (a Class A misdemeaner under the Illinois Notary Public Act) while helping his parents establish tax shelters.[29]”

wikipedia

Comment by Richard Warm Onger
2015-03-20 07:43:31

Another big wig signed something false recently, something involving emails and turning over govt records, hmmm, I just can’t seem to remember who it was…it’ll come to me soon.

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Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 07:49:53

If he can’t cover this stuff up or have his hard drive crash and be thrown away he has no right to access to the perks of government.

Sources: Lois Lerner’s emails likely gone forever

By RACHAEL BADE | 6/18/14 9:59 PM EDT Updated: 6/19/14 6:11 PM EDT

Ex-IRS official Lois Lerner’s crashed hard drive has been recycled, making it likely the lost emails of the lightning rod in the tea party targeting controversy will never be found, according to multiple sources.

“We’ve been informed that the hard drive has been thrown away,” Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Finance Committee, said in a brief hallway interview.

Two additional sources told POLITICO the same late Wednesday, citing IRS officials.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/irs-lois-lerner-emails-108044.html#ixzz3UwAvbcA2

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Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 08:29:56

No fair deflecting, bro! This is the Aaron Schock thread!

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 08:42:51

I lost all respect for him when I saw he reimbursed taxpayers more than $1,200 after using his office account to pay to fly on a private plane to a Chicago Bears football game.

Why would anyone this side of 1985 take a plane of any kind to a Chicago Bears football game?

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 08:57:18

“This is the Aaron Schock thread!”

At this point we can only hope that he does not go on to commit new crimes ranging from assault with a deadly weapon and lewd acts with a child to aggravated assault, robbery, and hit-and-run like the criminal aliens that were released from custody in Fiscal Year 2013.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 09:12:09

” like the criminal aliens that were released from custody ”

If only we could lock all those people up. Then we’d be free.

But hey, this is the Aaron Schock thread. Your daily race-bait thread is on down, I’m assuming.

Keep on herding, bro!

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 09:49:25

“If only we could lock all those people up.”

We did, somebody let them out.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 10:25:20

We clearly need more prisons.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 10:31:04

We clearly need more prisons.

Or better judges.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 14:01:46

“Or better judges.”

It ain’t the judges that released them.

“Those people were released under the laws of the United States,” Saldana added,

“In that report, it said that there are 167,527 non-detained, final-order convicted criminals on the loose in the United States,” Chaffetz pointed out while questioning ICE Director Sarah Saldana.

“These are people that are here illegally, get caught, convicted, and you release back out into the public,” he said, adding that some of the crimes committed by those who have been released include homicide, sex crimes, child pornography, drunk driving, robbery and kidnapping.

The federal government announced Wednesday that ICE had released about 30,000 convicted criminal aliens from ICE custody in 2014 alone, according to The Washington Times, which first reported the statistic.

During the hearing, Saldana said that ICE releases criminal aliens back into the community based on the agency’s “discretionary control.”

“Madam Director, if you’re a criminal, will you be deported?” Chaffetz asked Saldana.

“Those are the people we’re looking for, yes,” Saldana responded.

“But they’ve been in your detention. They’ve been detained. I mean they were convicted. They were…were they deported?” Chaffetz pressed.

“They were in the process of being deported,” Saldana claimed. “Everyone in our detention facilities is in the process of being deported, chairman.”

“Well that’s not true. I mean, you regularly release them back out into the public before they get deported, correct?” Chaffetz continued.

Of the roughly 36,000 criminal aliens released by ICE in 2013, about 22,000 were released under ICE’s “discretionary control,” she estimated.

“So you don’t automatically deport them, then?” Chaffetz asked.

“Automatically, sir? No,” Saldana responded, adding that “the law gives us that discretion.”

“And so when we say, if you’re a criminal, you’ll be deported, that’s not necessarily true,” Chaffetz said.

“It is true, sir. It’s in–”

“After they get released back into the public for untold number of times?” Chaffetz asked.

“It does happen. It does happen, yes, and that’s exactly what we’re here to do,” Saldana admitted.

“What does happen? That they get released?” Chaffetz asked.

“Yes,” Saldana said, “Even criminals that are released.

“Those people were released under the laws of the United States,” Saldana added, explaining that according to “due process,” it can easily take “months and even years to deport folks.”

ICE: 167,527 Criminal Aliens Loose in U.S.A.
cnsnews.com/news/article/brittany-m-hughes/ice-167527-criminal-aliens-loose-usa

 
 
 
 
Comment by TBoom
2015-03-20 07:10:08

Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:22:38

ICE: 167,527 Criminal Aliens Loose in U.S.A.
cnsnews.com/news/article/brittany-m-hughes/ice-167527-criminal-aliens-loose-usa

 
Comment by FED Up
2015-03-20 13:05:57

Repost

Not sure why Aaron Shock is being brought up under a post about illegal immigration, but I’ll chalk it up to the my team is better syndrome. This is common for Illinois. AND BOTH parties do it. Oh noes!

Chicago couple found guilty in grant scam case with ties to Obama friend Whitaker

“A federal jury Wednesday found a Chicago couple guilty on all counts in a state grant scam trial that featured testimony about power, money and sex and saw a high-profile ruling that one of President Barack Obama’s golfing buddies was a hostile witness.

The seven-man, five-woman jury deliberated for about five hours on the fate of Leon and Karin Dingle, who faced conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering charges. Prosecutors contended that the Dingles helped themselves to $3.36 million in state grant funds that were supposed to fight AIDS, flu and cancer in minority communities and misrepresented or concealed where the money went.”
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-82322751/

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:27:55

Young Adults Are Losing All Hope of Buying a Starter Home

by Akane Otani
12:50 PM EDT
March 18, 2015

Because of a growing mountain of student loan debt, young people will find it harder to buy homes in coming years, JPMorgan analysts say.

The student loan debt burden rose 8 percent, to $1.16 trillion, last year. Most of that debt—65 percent—was owed by borrowers under 40 years old. College tuition has been rising faster than the rate of inflation for decades. The double blow of a younger indebted population and higher college costs means “housing is becoming even more unsustainable for first-time buyers,” the analysts said in a note.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-18/young-adults-are-losing-all-hope-of-buying-a-starter-home

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 05:32:46

F* buying a house. I bought a 12.5% ownership share of a chain of three dispensaries (3 medical licenses, 1 recreational). People with mortgages on $500,000 starter homes never get to take risks like this.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 05:49:39

I hope it does not go up in smoke.

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 06:03:21

Maybe if some ’small government’ a-holes in Congress try to get uppity about what grown adults can and can’t put in their bodies, but if they try that it’s gonna be armed revolution in Region VIII.

BTW I’m looking at some land down in Chaffee County this weekend, I’ll build something there and keep renting in Denver before I commit financial suicide buying something up here.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 08:42:35

“’small government’ a-holes in Congress try to get uppity about what grown adults can and can’t put in their bodies”

They favor smaller government except when it increases freedom.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 08:59:42

if they try that it’s gonna be armed revolution in Region VIII.

I can see it in the history books.

The Cliven Bundy/Cheech and Chong Coalition Revolt.

:)

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 10:26:04

The Colorado Cliven Bundy/Cheech and Chong Coalition Revolt of 2016.

Reporter in 2021:
Why did the Colorado Bundy/Cheech’n'Chong Revolt of 2016 fail?

Bundy Faction Guy:
Because the Cheech’n'Chong faction kept forgetting the rendezvous points and they would eat all the rations.

Cheech’n'Chong guy:
No way man, it’s ’cause you Bundy dudes wouldn’t fight with us.

Bundy Faction Guy:
Because you were a bunch of stoners!

Cheech’n'Chong guy:
But we were fighting for personal freedoms man.

Bundy Faction Guy:
We were fighting for the right for freedoms, not for people who actually took advantage of their freedoms.

Cheech’n'Chong guy:
No way man, that’s..that’s… a bogus……….What was the quesion?

 
Comment by azdude
2015-03-20 10:58:54

maybe if homes weren’t so overpriced folks wouldn’t be dependent on banks to buy a house?

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:50:37

Do you have a drive-thru, little bongs in a Happy Meal, anything like that?

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 06:07:56

None of the above. Ben Jones won’t appreciate plugging my own shop, but I’ll say there are about thirty of them on South Broadway, so you’ll have to visit each and every one of them and hope I happen to be working the counter that day, mention the HBB coupon and I’ll gift you a free edible 8)

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 06:26:13

Free edible? What is it you’ve got cookin’ Potsy?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 06:38:49

Ben Jones won’t appreciate plugging my own shop,

Buy an ad on his site, it would be a win/win.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 06:44:30

“mention the HBB coupon and I’ll gift you a free edible”

Greatly appreciated but I gave that up (among other things) Jan 31, 1988.

Although if that offer had been made any time between 1977 and Jan 30, 1988 it certainly would have been worthy of a road trip.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 06:45:29

I won’t give up eating. Ever.

How do you make it through the day without a KrispyKreme?

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 07:30:30

“I won’t give up eating. Ever.”

I haven’t given up eating donuts, unless the KrispyKreme is Sensimilla filled.

I can’t eat mushrooms anymore either. Not because the ones they sell at the grocery store do anything to you but that last trip to the cow fields west of town 27+ years ago still leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I look at them.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 07:35:42

Now if we can only convince Lola to give up her street lifestyle.

 
Comment by cactus
2015-03-20 10:18:57

Trichocereus pachanoi) — known as San Pedro cactus

lots of people like to eat this crap. it’s all over Ebay.

Rule of thumb if a cactus has fierce spines you can eat it, no spines? its poisonous.

 
 
 
Comment by reedalberger
2015-03-20 10:26:14

This should be good for business.

Denver man accused of killing wife after eating pot-infused candy pleads not guilty to murder

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/03/13/denver-man-accused-killing-wife-after-eating-pot-infused-candy-pleads-not/?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obinsite

“DENVER – A Denver man accused of killing his wife after eating marijuana-infused candy has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.”

#MarlboroMan

Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 11:12:54

Pulling the Reefer Madness card? How cute.

How many women will get the sh1t beat out of them, just this weekend, by their drunk boyfriend or husband? And 88,000 annual deaths from alcohol in America according to this:

http://www.cdc.gov/features/alcohol-deaths/

Last I checked, it’s still legal to smoke tobacco in all 50 states, and nobody I can recall on this blog has advocated illegalizing it.

Registration for the 2015 Pikes Peak Ascent half-marathon opened this week. Did you know that race started as an informal competition between smokers and non-smokers? You should come here this August and run the race with me. I don’t use tobacco any more but if you can finish the race, I’ll smoke a Marlboro with you on the 14,115′ summit of Pikes Peak.

Would love to stay and chat, but I got customers to serve. The sun is shining, it’s 65F degrees outside, and Region VIII wants to welcome the first day of spring by getting HIGH. Have a nice day :)

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Comment by reedalberger
2015-03-21 06:48:59

I only smoke when I drink beer. I am in good shape, work out 5 or more hours a week, not a runner though, bet I could walk it and smoke that 14k marlboro :)

 
 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-03-20 19:32:22

sweet!

I don’t have much into REITs, but I’m very proud to invest in them in my Roth 401k and outside tax deferral plans. my daydream is to have $1,000,000 in REITs, but then at that point I would have $16 million in other stock sectors - REITs are 6% of my allocation in my 401k.

I gave investment advice to millenials the other day - to rent and not own, always rent where you work and jump from job to job to move up in salary every 2 or 3 years. Short commute times mean time to work out and stay thin. Renting small square footage and throw the leftover money into Roth 401ks and repeat the cycle for decades. Of course the “Real Estate is My Religion” crowd gave me all thumbs down.

Home Moanership IS a religion.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:32:06

Feminist Reporter: Take Away White Men’s Guns

by Daily Caller | Patrick Howley | March 20, 2015

Andrea Grimes, senior political reporter at the lefty women’s site RH Reality Check, sank to a disgusting new low Thursday by saying that guns should be confiscated only from white men.

“Suggestion: we don’t have to vaporize all the guns. Let’s just vaporize white men’s guns,” Grimes tweeted, linking to an article about Arizona shooter Ryan Giroux.

“White guys cannot be trusted to use guns responsibly. It is time to stop giving guns to white guys,” Grimes added. ”I mean, it’s time to stop giving guns to everybody, but we can start with the white guys.”

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 05:40:07

Is the Grexit hobgoblin out of hiding again?

Comment by Dman
2015-03-20 06:41:48

Greece, China, Oil, Housing, Unemployment, it’s all been swept under the rug. The problem is, they’re all linked. When one goes, the crises will just cascade one after another, and all over the world. Will bondholders be forced to eat their losses this time, or will the central banks come in and bail them out yet again?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 07:19:12

International Business
Warnings Raised of a Greek Exit From the Euro
By LIZ ALDERMANMARCH 18, 2015
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece at a parliamentary session in Athens on Wednesday. Credit Yannis Kolesidis/European Pressphoto Agency

PARIS — Just a few weeks ago, fears that Greece might exit the euro union subsided when Europe extended its financial bailout. But as a new war of words escalates between Athens and its creditors, talk of a “Grexit” is heating up.

In the last several days, European and American banks, think tanks and ratings agencies have issued a fresh round of warnings and studies calculating the damage to the currency union if Greece were to default on its debts or stop using the euro.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the Eurogroup body of European finance ministers, this week also raised the possibility of restricting the flow of money in and out of Greece to make sure the country has enough money to pay its debts.

Driving those concerns is an increasingly venomous standoff between Athens and nearly every other country in the 19-member currency union — especially Germany.

One of the main sticking points is Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s pushing ahead with an anti-austerity agenda that creditors say conflicts with pledges he made on Feb. 20 in winning an agreement to let Greece extend its 240 billion euro, or $254 billion, bailout program for four months. That deal was crucial to giving Greece the ability to unlock loan money it badly needs. But so far, no funds have been forthcoming.

On Wednesday, Greece’s Parliament approved a number of anti-poverty measures despite warnings from creditors that the legislation ran contrary to the overall package of changes Greece had agreed last month to adopt.

And it probably did not help Greece’s debt diplomacy that members of Mr. Tsipras’s Syriza party were among the thousands of European demonstrators in Frankfurt on Wednesday protesting, amid tear gas, European Central Bank policies.

Athens has become so politically isolated, even as its coffers run dry, that Mr. Tsipras will be trying to salvage relationships on Thursday and Friday in Brussels at a European Union summit meeting.

He has persuaded Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany; President François Hollande of France; the European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi; and others to discuss the Greek crisis directly with him. Whether he will clinch a deal to unlock funds and prevent a wider crisis remains to be seen.

Europe has “an overwhelming will to keep Greece in the eurozone,” Pierre Moscovici, the European Commission’s financial affairs chief, told a German newspaper this week. But, he added, “we won’t keep Greece in the eurozone at any price.”

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 23:23:05

Europe
Bond Markets Bet on Grexit
Mar 20, 2015 12:52 PM EDT
By Mark Gilbert

Two taboos about Greece’s future as a member of the euro club were broken this week when the German finance minister all but invited Greece to return to the drachma and the Dutch finance minister floated a temporary ban on Greeks’ taking their money out of the country.

Suggestions that some German officials are less than enthusiastic about Greece remaining in the euro and that capital controls are possible aren’t all that surprising. Nevertheless, the openness with which they were discussed shows the lack of progress the newly elected government has made in reaching agreement with the nation’s creditors. Greece’s financial future looks increasingly perilous.

Capital Controls

The bond vigilantes are giving Greece a huge vote of no confidence, doubling the country’s 10-year yield in the past six months and driving its three-year borrowing cost to a frankly unsustainable 23 percent. At that level, investors are signaling genuine concern that the country won’t be able to pay its debts and can’t retain its membership in the single-currency club:
Greek Yields

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expects Greece to leave the euro, according to Friday’s edition of Bild. The German newspaper, which didn’t cite its sources, said Schaeuble “is internally anticipating: the Greeks are going to leave the euro. But German Chancellor Merkel reportedly wants to keep the Greeks in the euro — for political reasons.” While Angela Merkel has the bigger say in what happens to Greece, it’s not clever to rile the finance minister of your biggest national creditor, as Greece has consistently done this year.

Last week’s revelation of a now infamous video of Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis raising his middle finger to Germany at a 2013 conference won’t have done anything to temper Schaeuble’s obvious mistrust of his counterpart. On Monday, he accused the Greek administration of “lying to the public” in its pledges to undo economic austerity measures. On Wednesday, he said “time is running out for Greece.” Last week, he suggested Varoufakis wasn’t up to speed on the terms of his country’s bailout: “I’m willing to lend him my copy,” was Schaeuble’s barbed comment. That prompted Greece’s ambassador in Berlin to formally complain that his government had been insulted.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 05:42:53

Ready for $40 oil? (Not Brent, of course, as that is different.)

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 05:52:48

(Not Brent, of course, as that is different.)

Yes, it is not important since it determines what we pay at the pump. All of us, have vehicles that burn WTI without refining so why would we care about the price of gasoline and diesel? BTW, we could see the rig count in North Dakota drop below 100 today, it was over 180 in December.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 06:22:29

BTW, both Brent and WTI have just turned up today.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 07:23:22

The trend ain’t your friend.

Oil Markets
Oil Prices Fall Amid Record Inventories

Investors expect that record-high crude inventories will continue to rise
By Nicole Friedman
Updated March 19, 2015 3:40 p.m. ET

Oil prices fell Thursday on expectations that record-high crude inventories would continue to grow.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery settled down 70 cents, or 1.6%, to $43.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent, the global benchmark, fell $1.48, or 2.6%, to $54.43 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

A global glut of crude sent prices plummeting in the second half of 2014, and analysts estimate the market is currently oversupplied by between one million and 1.5 million barrels a day.

The oversupply has been especially concentrated in recent months in the U.S., where stored supplies of crude have climbed for 10 straight weeks and currently sit at their highest level in about 80 years, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Traders have grown concerned that inventories could reach maximum capacity in some regions, a situation that could cause further price drops if some buyers stop purchasing crude because they have nowhere to store it.

Inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for the Nymex contract, rose by 2.9 million barrels last week to 54.4 million barrels, the highest level on record. The EIA said in September that Cushing’s working storage capacity was 70.8 million barrels.

“If you look at the storage numbers, they just keep adding,” said Oleg Girko, senior broker at BBSP Partners SAS. “Everybody keeps talking: ‘When will Cushing be full? When is it going to happen?’”

Genscape Inc., a data provider, told its subscribers Thursday that Cushing supplies rose by 2.2 million barrels in the week ended Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the report.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 08:07:17

The rig count trend is very much my friend.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 08:30:18

Prices Dan prices!

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 10:10:56

Rig count out, North Dakota has now fallen below 100. Production will soon fall hard, prices will react then and head up in V.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 10:24:49

With production at record highs and price at record lows, what’s not to like?

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 08:11:28

Also notable: Just about every other asset class known to man has turned up today. It looks as though the central bankers decided to shower the planet with a ginormous liquidity injection to ward off the deflation bugaboo.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 08:59:11

Your myopic preoccupation with production costs may have blinded you to the effect of the Fed’s postponed rate hikes on the value of the dollar. All dollar-denominated assets have gone up in price since the meeting announcement, not just oil.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 10:44:57

Remember I said Obama would have to stop manipulating it higher due to its impact on the economy. Also I pointed out gold was rising against all other currencies than the dollar and would rise when the war against putin was lost. Guess what had happened?

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 11:11:31

Guess what had happened?

Romney lost big, China cratered and ObamaCare didn’t death spiral or be abandoned by the Democrats by Spring?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 14:43:28

China moving up 7%,the Democrats did not repeal Obamacare so they lost their seats as I predicted, Obamacare is in a death spiral, the election was too close to call as I said the electoral college did not change that. Nice try Rio but you kept up your record, you are wrong 90% of the time.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 14:49:40

P.S. and as I predicted it is Brazil that collapsed, you were always pointing to Brazil as the direction we should turn. I don’t believe you are in that sewer of a country, but you deserve to be.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 14:58:55

you are wrong 90% of the time.

lol. I’m right 90% of the time. That’s why you hate me. Sorry.

P.S. and as I predicted it is Brazil that collapsed

Brazil didn’t collapse. Where? I’m going out to eat with a bunch of Brazilian friends. They’re happy and employed. Every country has economic downturns. Brazil hasn’t had a real one for almost 2 decades. They’re due. It will be good. Very good for the long term. All you do is look at snapshots in time. I look long-term.. too complicated for lower IQ’s than mine Adan.

you were always pointing to Brazil as the direction we should turn.

They took 40 million out of abject poverty. I know that pisses off economic sociopaths such as you.

Later dude. I’m going to enjoy “collapsed” Rio de Janeiro by the beach! lol

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 15:27:39

You don’t even have the average IQ of Brazil, I would have a high IQ even in China.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 18:24:07

You don’t even have the average IQ of Brazil,

Of course I don’t have the average IQ of Brazilians.

I would have a high IQ even in China.

lol, Of course you wouldn’t have a high IQ compared to the Chinese. Unless your posts are a ruse to propagandize. I’ve deconstructed your posts and “logic” at will. (Now read everything here and figure out what I just implied.)

P.S.
I just got back from a 10 min walk to the beach and dinner to watch the NCAA’s. Where I live, about 20 Restaurants were packed. While out, I heard, German, English, Spanish, Italian and some African languages. Oh yea, and Portuguese of many accents. Dude…..there is no “collapse” where I live - and no “collapse” compared to 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 or 25 years ago.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 18:58:09

lol. You can’t keep your stories straight Lola.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 19:21:08

My stories are straight Grasshopper. The record is there.

The truth is beautiful HA and the truth is, many can see you’re an angry merchant of ….jive.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 19:27:57

You’re lying again Lola.

 
 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-03-20 11:09:14

Ready for $40 oil?

Where is the $1.50 gasoline?

 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-03-20 05:57:36

all this hype about raising the fed funds rate makes me laugh.

They need to keep buying treasuries to finance part of the federal budget every year.

Comment by Dman
2015-03-20 06:37:25

But if rates on home loans go up, that will change everything.

 
Comment by cactus
2015-03-20 10:27:39

Rates will go up if salaries go up.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:58:32

Will there be guards at the fun camps for adults?

Hillary Clinton: Let’s Put Adults In Camps To Fix America’s ‘Fun Deficit’

Alex Griswold
2:37 PM 03/19/2015

In a paid speech before the New Jersey chapter of the American Camp Association, former Secretary of State Hillary Cinton told the audience that America really needed to implement camps that adults could attend.

As I have gotten older, I have decided we really need camps for adults,” she said to laughter. “And we need the kind of camps you all run.”

“None of the serious stuff, not of the life-challenging stuff; more fun!” Clinton continued. “I think we have a huge fun deficit in America. And we need to figure it out how to fill that fun deficit, certainly for our kids, but also for the rest.”

dailycaller.com/…/ - 109k -

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-03-20 06:41:31

When she puts you on the train, she will claim you are going to fun camp, if you are lucky it will just be a re-education camp.

 
Comment by TBoom
2015-03-20 07:15:57

Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 05:58:32

Hillary Clinton: Let’s Put Adults In Camps To Fix America’s ‘Fun Deficit’
dailycaller.com/2015/03/19/hillary-clinton-lets-put-adults-in-camps-to-fix-americas-fun-deficit-video/

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 05:58:59

Does St Louis have enough policing (of whatever color) to control its heinous criminals?

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-03-20 07:00:00

As long as they have enough armored personnel carriers they should be able to maintain most of the shakedown operations.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 07:48:15

Home> U.S.
6-Year-Old Heart Patient’s Shooting Death Rattles St. Louis
ST. LOUIS — Mar 19, 2015, 4:51 PM ET
By ALAN SCHER ZAGIER Associated Press

Marcus Johnson Jr.’s parents figured a sunny day at the park was just what their son needed while recovering from heart surgery.

Instead, the outing turned deadly when the 6-year-old was shot in the chest in an attack the parents said stemmed from a traffic dispute. A funeral for their boy was held Thursday, just over a week after the family visited O’Fallon Park on the north side of St. Louis following a doctor’s appointment.

The occupants of a car fired on the family’s minivan as it left the park. The boy’s 15-year-old brother and a 69-year-old family friend were also wounded.

The boy’s father, Marcus Johnson Sr., said he returned fire in self-defense as the rolling shootout continued for several blocks. Three other children — ages 8, 10 and 11 — were also in the vehicle.

Police say the March 11 shooting remains under investigation but declined to discuss specifics.

Officer Don Re was less reticent in his personal blog, describing in detail his response to a “senseless death” when he was called to the hospital where another officer had driven the child in his patrol car rather than wait for an ambulance.

“We were all hoping, but we also knew that it was going to take a miracle for that boy to live,” he wrote. “He was not granted that miracle.”

“Why did this boy have to die?” he continued. “Was it disrespect? Drugs? A woman? Money? All stupid reasons to fire a gun anywhere near another human being, let alone children, but here we are again, with another child lost to violence.”

The young heart patient’s death rattled St. Louis, which has been enduring a crime surge. The 2014 homicide rate was one of the city’s highest in nearly two decades.

“There was a line drawn,” funeral director Ronald Jones said, referring to an unwritten code of the streets that protected the innocent from violence. “Kids, family — they were off-limits.”

In an unrelated incident, a 1-year-old boy was shot in both legs Tuesday in another city park. That child survived.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 07:57:17

Map of homicides in St. Louis this year

Comment by Professor Bear
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 10:47:37

the first day of spring

Yes! Thank goodness it’s the first day of Fall here. (Such as is is.)

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 11:36:01

You’re so deluded you don’t know what time of year it is. Pull yourself out of the gutter Lola.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 11:57:35

….you don’t know what time of year it is….

But I do. In about 3 more months it might be cool enough to have to wear socks. And more peeps will be ringing my intercom to buy my paid-off house. (Summer here’s too hot and busy to be buying houses.)

Where do you have to live again?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 12:08:54

I bet those socks look great in your heels.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 12:20:52

I bet those socks look great in your heels.

I bet you would.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-21 04:49:30

They cover up the track marks. We get it Lola.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 08:05:41

Perhaps I am unfairly singling out St Louis. Detroit’s situation looks worse (albeit over a longer time period):

March 20, 2015 at 12:01 am
Interactive map: Major crimes in Detroit

UPDATE, March 1, 2014: This map is no longer being updated due to the Detroit Police Department’s cessation of crime summary reports.

The Detroit News will show where the city’s deadliest crimes take place. Click on a marker to see the details of all major homicides and shootings reported by the Detroit Police Department since May 1, 2012. The addresses are not specific, but rather refer to the block or intersection where the crime occurred. Check back often to see the latest crime locations.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 10:02:33

I have a cousin who is a bit down on his luck, who lives near downtown Detroit. Bless his heart!

I can empathize, having myself lived near high crime ghetto areas at points in my life in order to take advantage of low housing prices.

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Comment by reedalberger
2015-03-20 06:00:05

This should cheer everyone up today. An F-18 low level flyby while breaking the sound barrier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yh7QSMrdsA

#America

Comment by butters
2015-03-20 06:55:09

#YuckFeah!

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 06:20:10

CraterRage™ Photo Of The Day

http://goo.gl/j7iIE5

 
Comment by butters
2015-03-20 06:43:16

I hate basketball but I am liking this bracket thingy. My randomly selected college teams are doing well….I must add.

 
Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 07:01:12

“Researchers estimate divorcing individuals would need more than a 30 percent increase in income, on average, to maintain the same standard of living they had prior to their divorce”

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/web/kmgh/lifestyle/first-comes-valentines-day-then-comes-divorce-court-march-is-prime-time-for-splitting-up

A bachelor is a man who never made the same mistake once, LOLZ

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 10:52:23

“Researchers estimate divorcing individuals would need more than a 30 percent increase in income, on average, to maintain the same standard of living they had prior to their divorce”

And singles probably need 30% more income to have the same standard of living as comparable married people. (Absent kids of course.)

There’s no “better”.

 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-03-20 07:02:15

the FED will need to keep buying treasuries or the whole scheme collapses.

 
Comment by Larry Littlefield
2015-03-20 07:05:31

Donald Trump. The candidate for President Americans (the older ones who vote and the younger ones because they don’t) deserve?

https://larrylittlefield.wordpress.com/2013/11/10/donald-trump-the-man-of-his-generation/

Comment by palmetto
2015-03-20 07:16:38

I’d vote for him. Seriously, I’d vote for him before I’d vote for any of the other Republican field.

Comment by Larry Littlefield
2015-03-20 07:52:15

Might as well bring in someone similar with more experience.

http://news.yahoo.com/berlusconi-rise-sex-scandal-ashes-150234940.html

After all, we’re not as bankrupt as Italy. Yet. So there is more future left to sell.

Comment by palmetto
2015-03-20 09:27:14

I’d vote for him. I like his views on immigration, and China. Go, Donald.

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Comment by palmetto
2015-03-20 09:50:41

Who gives a sh*t about Berlusconi anyway? That’s Italy’s business. Besides which, who really knows how bankrupt the US is? I sure don’t. Donald knows how to deal with bankruptcy.

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Comment by butters
2015-03-20 10:21:16

Donald knows how to deal with bankruptcy.

Nah…we need a exorcist to get rid of what ails america. Jindal is the man!

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 10:55:16

who really knows how bankrupt the US is?

USA is not close to being BK. That’s a myth concentrate wealth even more. Follow the money. Follow the Repubs priorities and who are their major donors.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 07:44:28

Global oil glut leads to storage shortage
Marcus Leroux
The Times
March 21, 2015 12:00AM
Another 200 million barrels of oil will be added to global stocks in the next three months. Source: Supplied

WITH global stocks of oil ballooning rapidly, thoughts have been turning to a looming problem: where to put it all.

Oil prices have lurched down again with traders casting nervous glances at the rapid growth of inventories around the world. The supply glut means that many of the storage facilities are close to capacity, which represents a potential overhang of oil hovering precariously over global markets.

About 200 million barrels of oil will be added to global stocks over the next three months, Societe Generale has calculated. “Any way you slice it, that’s a lot,” said Michael Wittner, the bank’s head of oil market research.

The overarching picture remains bearish on prices. The thawing in relations between Iran and the west since President Rouhani came to power have led to expectations that oil export sanctions will be lifted as part of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program.

“It looks more likely than not that there’s going to be some sort of framework agreement in the next couple of weeks,” Mr Wittner said. “Fundamentally, we’re now in a situation where demand is going down seasonally and the scale of the build-up this year is very large.”

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-03-20 10:05:58

Need to Know Get email alerts
In a mad post-Fed world, oil could be heading to $40 again
Published: Mar 20, 2015 10:22 a.m. ET
Critical information ahead of the U.S. market’s open
By Barbara Kollmeyer
Markets reporter
An earlier version of this report incorrectly spelled the name of Andrew Thrasher at Financial Enhancement Group and BlackRock’s Rick Rieder. The errors have been corrected.
Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection

Mad, I tells you.

In a dizzying array of post-Fed chatter, talk of a June rate hike gathered pace and took a bite out of Wall Street yesterday, but futures are up again this morning. It’s Friday, so anything goes.

While indexes are all set to end the week higher, that it was a bumpy road to get there should be no surprise as investors have been continuously warned that would be one effect as the Fed spigot runs dry. Meanwhile, pundits continue to squabble about when the Fed will hike rates next, and whether or not the dollar’s big run is over (HSBC, for one, says it is).

Explaining it simply for the masses, Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s co-head of Americas fixed income, says the markets have never been so fixated on and influenced by central-bank policy. And that’s a recipe for more volatility.

You have a world that’s driven by excessive monetary policy … What happens is everything moves together based on where policy’s next move is. When it moves one way or the other, everyone wants to follow it because it’s so big. You have this phenomena of everything moving all one way at the same time,” he told CNBC.

And as our chart of the day shows, March has been a mad month for markets over the past 15 years, with a few key highs and key lows happening.

Meanwhile, our call of the day is about oil, with Jesse Colombo waving that $40-a-barrel flag at us again. As Financial Enhancement Group’s Andrew Thrasher, says it’s now cheaper to buy oil than lemonade.

Stocks are no longer moving in tight tandem with oil. But…“Crude oil is falling again, and if U.S. equities remain unstable amid differing prospects for a Fed rate hike, it will weigh on global equities,” said Junichi Ishikawa, market analyst at IG Securities in Tokyo, speaking to Business Day Live.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 08:12:21

It’s got a pretty map.

Even as Home Values Rise, Negative Equity Rate Flattens

Posted by: Svenja Gudell
March 19, 2015

http://www.zillow.com/research/negative-equity-2014-q4-9223/ - 266k -

 
 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-03-20 08:48:03

Got real estate in coastal Florida? New Orleans? low-lying areas of San Francisco, L.A., Galveston, New York, Cape Hatteras? Now is a great time to sell and get the h3ll OUT

Scientists discover massive Antarctic glacier is melting and thinning from underneath due to warm ocean water. The glacier complex acts as a dam; once it melts, a very large area of additional ice will flow unimpeded to the sea. The volume of ice, according to this paper, is enough to raise sea level by 3.5m (11 feet).

You want bearish real estate news? There you have it. If you own property at 11 feet above sea level or lower, your property will be TOAST.

http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2388.html

Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 09:24:50

“If you own property at 11 feet above sea level or lower, your property will be TOAST.”

You had better get this settled science news to Obama, his major donors and closest golf buddies before they buy anymore $9.5 million Ocean Front estates.

Honolulu Rumour: Obama Just Bought ‘Magnum P.I.’ House For $8.7 Million

The Huffington Post Canada | By Daniel Tencer

Posted: 03/19/2015 1:06 pm EDT

The three-acre waterfront estate with an 11,000-square-foot mansion — known as “Pahonu” in real life and “Robin’s Nest” in the hit 1980s detective show — went on sale last year, TMZ reported, though unfortunately sans the red Ferrari in which Magnum was seen zooming around the property’s driveways.

According to Fox affiliate KHON, the property was purchased on Monday by Waimanalo Paradise LLC, a company set up last month by Chicago lawyer Seth Madorsky, a major Obama donor. The property was then sold again to another LLC, this one based in Colorado, ABC affiliate KITV reports.

The deed and mortgage were signed by an executive assistant at a Chicago-based private equity firm run by longtime Obama friend and Hawaii golf partner Marty Nesbitt, KHON reported.

Parts of the estate may have fallen into disrepair. KHON notes that the mortgage on the property — US$9.5 million — is $800,000 more than the US$8.7-million selling price, suggesting the new owner is planning major renovations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/…/2015/03/19/obama-magnum-pi-house_n_6903040.html - 353k -

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-03-20 09:54:16

this settled science news

The scientific paper I linked does not mention climate change or man-caused warming. It’s only an observation, independent of cause, that the glacier/ice dam is rapidly melting. A climate denier can say this paper doesn’t prove global warming; that’s fine, but the end result is the same, a lot of people are gonna have wet feet.

Dumb move by Obama to buy that house. That little breakwater won’t do much when the tsunami hits.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 11:14:04

Dumb move by Obama to buy that house

Not really imo. He’s got about 20-25 good years left, he’s going to make super bank, the house will be a tiny part of his net-worth and he will live in an awesome place.

Life is not all about money.

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Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 15:39:34

“The scientific paper I linked does not mention climate change or man-caused warming. It’s only an observation,”

OK let’s have a look.

Could allow intrusions, if previously unknown, could potentially which may, eventually, lead to destabilization.

No wonder the super rich who are screaming about Global Warming or I mean Climate Change like Obama, Al Gore etc. are still buying ocean front property. Unless a carbon tax is going to flood them they will be fine.

“We identify entrances to the ice-shelf cavity below depths of 400 to 500 m that could allow intrusions of warm water if the vertical structure of inflow is similar to nearby observations. Radar sounding reveals a previously unknown inland trough that connects the main ice-shelf cavity to the ocean. If thinning trends continue, a larger water body over the trough could potentially allow more warm water into the cavity, which may, eventually, lead to destabilization of the low-lying region between Totten Glacier and the similarly deep glacier flowing into the Reynolds Trough”

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Comment by butters
2015-03-20 10:25:47

You want bearish real estate news? There you have it. If you own property at 11 feet above sea level or lower, your property will be TOAST.

Faster, please. Soon my midwestern farm lands will be beach front properties. Looking like that was a good investment.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-03-20 10:29:53

“bearish”

What is “bearish”?

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-03-20 10:48:36

“Paul Wolfowitz, the former World Bank president and deputy defense secretary under George W. Bush, bought a condominium for just over $1 million at the posh 400 Beach Drive complex in St. Petersburg, Florida” http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/paul-wolfowitz-condo-florida-st-petersburg-116260.html#ixzz3UwtDxWdm

Virtually at sea level… soon to be Toast, Wet Toast…

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-03-20 13:01:31

Jeb is putting together a team of all the neo-cons around his father. Wolfie will undoubtedly be “masterminding” new military misadventures before too long.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-03-20 11:09:06

If you own property at 11 feet above sea level or lower, your property will be TOAST.

I’m at about 20′. Oceanfront here I come!

 
Comment by Dman
2015-03-20 11:40:26

All those underwater houses will make good artificial reefs, though.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2015-03-20 14:41:28

I’m over 50 feet…I guess I’ll still have to drive to the beach…sigh.

Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 15:57:01

“I’m over 50 feet…I guess I’ll still have to drive to the beach…sigh.”

I wouldn’t do it, you would probably be overcome by Beaver methane on the way.

And if the Climate Changing terrorist Beavers don’t get you the Arctic permafrost melting squirrels or the Louisiana shrinking swamp rats probably will.

New Climate Change Culprit: Beavers

Numbers are rising as dammed ponds release methane into atmosphere

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff
Posted Dec 20, 2014 2:45 PM CST

Beaver dams create shallow ponds, which can host growing levels of carbon as biological material accumulates on the floor. The result is methane, a greenhouse gas that doesn’t dissolve in the ponds; instead, it travels into the atmosphere. These days, beaver ponds release 200 times more methane than they did in 1900, when centuries of hunting threatened the animals with extinction.

Beavers aren’t the only rodents to blame for climate change, the Independent reports: Arctic squirrels are doing their share, too, say US scientists. They dig burrows, which warms the ground and helps melt permafrost, where carbon has been building up “for tens of thousands of years,” an expert explains. (Meanwhile, swamp rats are shrinking Louisiana.)
33
http://www.newser.com/story/200096/new-climate-change-culprit-beavers.html - 190k -

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2015-03-20 16:27:24

“enough to raise sea level by 3.5m (11 feet)”

I’m at four feet (at least until June 30, 2016).

 
 
Comment by cactus
2015-03-20 09:19:34

Bloomberg

In its latest outlook for the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve once again lowered its projections for GDP growth.

On Wednesday, the Fed moved a step closer to hiking rates for the first time since 2006 by removing the word “patient,” but appeared overall dovish as it downgraded economic growth and inflation projections. Earlier Bloomberg pointed out that unlike in December, Fed officials no longer see economic growth reaching 3 percent — this year, next year, the year after that, or in the long run.

 
Comment by azdude
2015-03-20 11:09:02

I’m thinking about buying some stock on margin today. people are making money and i’m missing out.

Comment by Dman
2015-03-20 11:41:57

Borrow the money from family members. That’s how they do it in China.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-03-20 12:09:29

US taxpayers are on the hook for more billions in Ukrainian “loans” destined to disappear into some oligarch’s Swiss bank account.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/20/ukraine-bond-idUSL6N0WM1ER20150320

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-03-20 12:17:35

‘William “Dub” Lawrence doesn’t shy away from dirty work. Unclogging the drains of sewage pits isn’t exactly how the 70-year-old planned to spend his golden years, but neither is his work investigating killings by police officers. “I witnessed my son-in-law killed by the SWAT team I founded,” he said.’

‘In 1974, Lawrence was elected sheriff of Davis County – in the northern suburbs of Salt Lake City. A year later, he launched the department’s first SWAT team, a specialized unit he envisioned for deescalating high-risk situations. His preference was to resolve conflict without force, and his reputation for integrity became local lore. (He once wrote himself a parking ticket.)’

“Andy Griffith is the right way to do it,” he told America Tonight, referring to the classic small-town sitcom cop. “He defused everything. He was a peace officer.”

‘But what happened one afternoon at his daughter’s home in Farmington, Utah, was a far cry from life in Mayberry.’

http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2015/3/19/dub-lawrence-utah-swat-team-police-militarization.html

Comment by rms
2015-03-20 13:28:44

“He once wrote himself a parking ticket.”

Now this guy [is] going to heaven.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 14:35:10

Police state

Comment by Muggy
2015-03-20 16:02:13

“From 2010 to November 2014, 45 people were killed by police in Utah – more than the number of Utahns killed by child abuse or gang- and drug-related violence. ”

Good lord.

 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-03-20 13:38:58

It sure didn’t take long to go back to the well of asset appreciation as the means to get money into folks pockets.

The days of working and saving to buy stuff seem to be disappearing don’t they?

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-03-20 15:45:58

Cash IS king!!

 
Comment by goon squad
2015-03-20 17:16:39

Apologies for the advertising intro on the youtube, this album is from 1991, background information on it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O.G._Original_Gangster

And the album in its entirety:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjQIdV9bLDM

Think about your life. think about where you are, where you’re going, and mad PEACE and LOVE toward this blog’s host Ben Jones tonight, hit me up for a nice dinner in Colorado when you find yourself in Region VIII…

 
Comment by Muggy
2015-03-20 17:45:49

I bought a minivan last week, damn near had a heart attack. I get seriously stressed with big ticket, long-term items. I wonder if part of my bubble-sit is related to my minimalist nature?

Comment by azdude
2015-03-20 18:09:42

u know u have made it when the minivan is parked in the driveway.

 
Comment by rms
2015-03-20 18:39:03

“I bought a minivan last week…”

Condolences. Really!

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-03-20 20:09:59

Peyton Manning priceless pep talk-minivan -Check description …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJXVK9-5VEA - 249k -

 
 
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