Bits Bucket for April 1, 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.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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I put in an offer yesterday and it was accepted. I’m a first time home buyer!
Congrats and condolences!
Bits Bucket for April 1, 2015
Took a while for someone to call that out, LOLZ
But I wasn’t kidding yesterday about the friend who bid and lost on a house that got 14 other offers
I’ve been fooled…drat!
And judging by historical precedence, now is a great time to buy. Multiple offers, bidding wars, it’s like 2008 all over again. Yep, now is a great time to buy.
“Yep, now is a great time to buy.”
+1 I suggest a you first buy a new four-door pickup truck to cruise ’round looking ‘fer that 4,500-sqft house. “Go shopping, buy something.” –Dubya
Now you can finally build some equity!
I went door to door collecting signatures on a petition in support of a much needed massive carbon tax to fight extreme weather events and rising sea levels driven by climate change.
Warmish Warming Wednesday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2015/03/31/the-bad-gop-and-the-good-gop-on-climate-change/?hpid=z3
“This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush
“The Obama administration’s national energy policy is practically a national windmill policy – “
I’ve decided I don’t trust science anymore. I trust big corporations with conflicts of interest to provide me with the truth.
Just like Goldman Sachs can always be trusted with financial advice, so too can we trust the fossil fuel industry to keep us informed about climate change, and tell us Watt’s Up through their many web sites and internet employees.
That snowball on the Senate floor convinced me.
I was really confused, but the visual of that, the physical evidence of snow in the northern hemisphere during calendar winter, showed me the truth.
And if I ever doubt that truth, I just go to the Drudge Report website and click on an article reporting that there was unseasonably cold weather somewhere, and then I feel happy for the rest of the day.
My faith was shaken, but then they found the Global Warming hiding in the ocean.
“Global Warming hiding in the ocean”
I used to believe that tripe too. Then I learned Watt’s Up!
It turns out that some aspect of the production of Prius batteries is killing off the coral reefs around the world, not increasing temperatures and acidification.
It was warmer in the Antarctic than it was in New York a few days ago, but the fact that there’s still snow in the north pole proves that global warming is a lie. Senator Inhofe just made a phone call to Santa to confirm it.
“It was warmer in the Antarctic than it was in New York a few days ago,”
But that’s weather, and weather isn’t climate. Unless it’s the kind of weather that fits the Blind Squirrel climate model. Then of course it’s settled weather, if it’s not under the ocean. Then it’s science, and science isn’t weather or wait, which is it again? Let’s ask the settled scientists at NASA.
“Today, children always hear stories from their parents and grandparents about how snow was always piled up to their waists as they trudged off to school. Children today in most areas of the country haven’t experienced those kinds of dreadful snow-packed winters, except for the Northeastern U.S. in January 2005. The change in recent winter snows indicate that the climate has changed since their parents were young.”
The difference is a measure of time? But we have had another 10 year measure of time and these kids trudged off to school with snow piled up to their waists too?
What?
Oh that’s right, the Global Warming has been hiding under the ocean.
NASA - What’s the Difference Between Weather and Climate?
February 1, 2005
The difference between weather and climate is a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere “behaves” over relatively long periods of time.
When we talk about climate change, we talk about changes in long-term averages of daily weather. Today, children always hear stories from their parents and grandparents about how snow was always piled up to their waists as they trudged off to school. Children today in most areas of the country haven’t experienced those kinds of dreadful snow-packed winters, except for the Northeastern U.S. in January 2005. The change in recent winter snows indicate that the climate has changed since their parents were young.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html - 75k -
I dunno, maybe the fact that it is summer in the Antarctic while it is winter in NY is actually Climate and not weather.
It is a rather mild day here in NY, which gives me hope that our global cooling will go hide under the ocean for quite a long while.
“When we talk about climate change, we talk about changes in long-term averages of daily weather.”
Exactly. And the recent “warmest year on record” records are global records:
http://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2224
“The ten warmest years ever recorded have all occurred since 1998.”
Got snowballs?
“The ten warmest years ever recorded have all occurred since 1998.”
And every one of those years was almost 2 degrees Celsius colder than the peak years in an interglacial period. We are still cold for an interglacial period.
From Climate4U:
The diagram above (Fig.2) shows a reconstruction of global temperature based on ice core analysis from the Antarctica. The present interglacial period (the Holocene) is seen to the right (red square). The preceding four interglacials are seen at about 125,000, 280,000, 325,000 and 415,000 years before now, with much longer glacial periods in between. All four previous interglacials are seen to be warmer (1-3oC) than the present. The typical length of a glacial period is about 100,000 years, while an interglacial period typical lasts for about 10-15,000 years. The present interglacial period has now lasted about 11,600 years.
I beleive prices are going to rise in the Phoenix area between 10 and 15 percent this year!
I also want to congratulate Lola on his balanced and well thought out posts displaying a deep understanding of whatever topic he chooses to opine upon.
Since it’s such a great time to buy I outbid 3 other buyers on a house $125,000 over ASKING. I WON IT!!!!!!!!!!
Are you planning to hang tight if the stock market gets chopped?
ADP disappoints
By Anora Mahmudova and Sara Sjolin
Published: Apr 1, 2015 8:54 a.m. ET
Private sector adds 189,000 jobs in March
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures pointed to more losses on Wall Street Wednesday as investors assessed a weaker-than-expected ADP employment report and waited for manufacturing data and car sales.
Futures have been choppy, as big moves in currency markets appeared to spur a selloff in equities. They then briefly ventured into positive territory after strong European data spurred a rally in those markets, but the upbeat sentiment has since evaporated.
…
Is it time to wheel a a FED member To say they arent going to raise rates this year? Or did they already say that?
Crushing.Housing.Losses.
Denver, Miami and Dallas are leading the country in home price gains.
All three cities saw prices of preowned homes rise by more than 8 percent in January, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
Dallas-area prices were 8.1 percent higher than in January 2014, according to the closely watched home price report.
Nationwide, prices were up 4.5 percent in the Case-Shiller survey.
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/residential-real-estate/20150331-dallas-among-top-u.s.-markets-for-home-price-increases.ece
An index is meaningless. Especially considering they exclude defaults and foreclosures.
Price my friend price!
Denver, CO List Prices Dive 9% YoY; Plunge 13% QoQ As Demand Craters
http://www.zillow.com/denver-co-80230/home-values/
crater
Just today Obama put forth the following:
1. No more Bank bailouts. Banks must eat their bad loans.
2. Student debt can now be wiped clean in bankruptcy
3. Jon Corzine was just arrested.
4. The Executive Branch will now follow the laws as legally passed and written and as demanded in the US Constitution
5. The government will now not guarantee ANY housing loans
6. The Fed will be audited
7. Spending and deficits will now be brought back to insane Bush days with a path towards a balancing the budget
8. A ban on “closed shops” unions - laws which require you joining a union and paying union dues before you get your paycheck as a CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT will now be banned.
9. There will never be a law passed in which you have to pass it to see what is in it
10. Congressional approval for wars and rumors of wars
Not an April Fool’s Joke:
Detroit Residents Face Foreclosure
March 31, 2015 - BillLawrence
Today, March 31, is the deadline for property taxes to be paid on 62,000 Detroit homes else they will be owned by the county, in this case the County of Wayne, Michigan.
Granted only 18,000 of the delinquent homes are occupied but assuming a three-person household that’s about 8 percent of the city’s population which is now down to 688,701. In 1950, it was touching 2 million and Detroit was considered one of the world’s great cities.
Property taxes, of course, are a local tax used to fund services such as police, schools, and spa massages for the mayor.
For what it’s worth, Detroit public service retirees expecting a stable financial future have already taken a big hit. It’s something Pennsylvania public workers ought to recognize in working to resolved this state’s existing crisis. In any battle between ink on paper and reality, reality wins.
It’s all about funding, not science. If government was to fund studies designed to prove the Earth was flat you could substitute “flat” for warming and everything would be nearly identical.
—————
Scientists Say New Study Is A ‘Death Blow’ To Global Warming Hysteria
The Daily Caller | March 31, 2015 | Michael Bastasch
A new study out of Germany casts further doubt on the so-called global warming “consensus” by suggesting the atmosphere may be less sensitive to increases in carbon dioxide emissions than most scientists think.
A study by scientists at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Meteorology found that man-made aerosols had a much smaller cooling effect on the atmosphere during the 20th Century than was previously thought. Why is this big news? It means increases in carbon dioxide emissions likely cause less warming than most climate models suggest.
Warmists gonna warm
Regards,
Single occupant, two vehicle household
Warmists gonna warm
Regards,
Two 747 family.
President Obama and his wife Michelle both flew to Los Angeles on Thursday. But not on the same plane.
The president was in L.A. to appear on the Jimmy Kimmel show. The first lady was there to tape an Ellen Degeneres show. The Ellen show tapes at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank; the Kimmel show at a studio located at 6840 Hollywood Blvd. Distance between the two: 4.2 miles.
Obama flew on Air Force One, which costs $228,000 per hour of flight time. When asked by reporters on Air Force One if why the pair traveled separately, White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said, “I believe on this occasion the schedules were not in sync in order to travel together.”
Obama’s flight to and back cost at least $2 million. And thats just air fare. Hundreds of support people were also involved, helicopters, dozens of motocade vehicvles, the work. And the same for Michelle, who is known to enjoy the life of luxury. When she takes private vacations, she often takes along a planeful of family and friends.
And taxpayers paid for both trips, even though Michelle’s was unofficial and purely for fun.
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/obama-wife-fly-la-same-day-different-planes - 90k - Cached - Similar pages
Mar 14, 2015
See? That’s what I mean about the fossil fuel industry keeping us well informed with their echo chamber of web sites. Here’s the Max Planck Institute:
Climate Change: Ocean Acidification Amplifies Global Warming
The Max Planck Institute
“Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M), Dr. Katharina Six, Dr. Silvia Kloster, Dr. Tatiana Ilyina, the late Dr. Ernst Maier-Reimer and two co-authors from the US, demonstrate that ocean acidification may amplify global warming through the biogenic production of the marine sulfur component dimethylsulphide (DMS). ”
“It is common knowledge that fossil fuel emissions of CO2 lead to global warming. The ocean, by taking up significant amounts of CO2, lessens the effect of this anthropogenic disturbance. The “price” for storing CO2 is an ongoing decrease of seawater pH (ocean acidification1), a process that is likely to have diverse and harmful impacts on marine biota, food webs, and ecosystems. Until now, however, climate change and ocean acidification have been widely considered as uncoupled consequences of the anthropogenic CO2 perturbation2. Recently, ocean biologists measured in experiments using seawater enclosures (mesocosms)3 that DMS concentrations were markedly lower in a low-pH environment (Figure 1). “
Here’s more
http://www.mpimet.mpg.de/nc/en/communication/news/single-news/article/climate-change-ocean-acidification-amplifies-global-warming.html
There are some big words here. Is there a comic book version of this article for Senator Inhofe?
Eventually these serious scientists will figure out what happens to CO2 in the oceans that prevents death by carbonic acid. These things just take time to figure out. Baby steps, with a pause for hysteria in between each.
Maybe you could explain it to us now?
Cratering.Housing.
What for? You can insult me very well without me explaining anything to you.
Saying there’s a simple answer and refusing to provide it looks pretty weak.
Not at all.
You do not need me to say anything. Go ahead and insult me.
Wall Street Journal - Home-Price Growth Moderates, but Affordability Still Faces Headwinds
http://www.wsj.com/articles/home-price-growth-remains-weak-in-early-2015-says-s-p-case-shiller-1427807229
Headwinds? Like the $1.2+ trillion student loan elephant in the room? Or that new vehicle loan durations are at an all time high? Or income stagnation for 90% of the American workforce?
This country is broke, broke, broke
And there is no “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes
Or income stagnation for 90% of the American workforce?
That’s what makes the Denver bubble so incomprehensible. This time there are no NINJA, fog a mirror loans. People I know who have refinanced tell me that they had to jump through plenty of hoops to get the new loan (contrary to Mr. Banker’s claim that all you have to do is come in and sign on the dotted line). Lenders want to see marriage certificates, green cards, 401K statements, etc.
Yet even though wages in Denver are low and are stagnant, houses in the “right neighborhoods” are getting multiple bids within a single day. Even in my podunky, jobless, little burg, 30 miles north of Denver, houses under 250K sell quickly ($200K houses sell in one day), often with multiple offers.
‘This time there are no NINJA, fog a mirror loans.’
5% down is a NINJA fog a mirror loan by definition.
My would-be buyer friend is not a koolaid drinker, he readily acknowledges that he could be underwater within the next five years, but is planning to stay in the house for the next twenty
He sold here in 2013, moved back to the Midwest for family reasons, then moved back here into a rental in Autumn 2014, they have two kidz under age three and are losing their minds living in a two bedroom apartment
they have two kidz under age three and are losing their minds living in a two bedroom apartment
Funny how in other countries people have no trouble raising families in apartments. They also don’t need huge minivans or SUVs to cart their two kids around.
Does he think raising kids is going to be any easier in a house?
Does he think raising kids is going to be any easier in a house?
I think the idea is that a house is bigger, and that will make it easier as the kids will have “more room” and a backyard. Given that most kids just watch TV all day, what difference would more space make?
Are you sure?
I would think that it would be easier to look after kids under the age of three in a small apartment.
(”Former” Goldmanite) Rajay Horror Picture Show nears grisly climax in Spain. To the vegetables who voted for crony capitalist water carriers Obama, McCain, and Romney, here is what the end game is going to look like here, too.
http://wolfstreet.com/2015/03/31/don-quijones-rajoy-horror-picture-show-nears-grisly-climax-in-spain/
Looks like that says everything is going fine with extend and pretend as long as a black swan doesn’t hit. Same as here.
I think Spain is in a black swan right now and has been for some time.
Watch the Top Gear episode where they use the runway at a brand new, but closed commercial airport, for drag racing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgjD_MVR-X0
I think the black swan is Brazil and the big banks are getting real close to feeling real pain.
At one time the senate was the chamber for thoughtful and deliberate debate with a high regard for rules and manners.
After Harry - it is now hyper-partisan.
————–
Harry Reid is proud he lied about Mitt Romney’s taxes
Washington Examiner ^ | March 31, 2015 | Ashe Schow
Harry Reid, D-Nev. has no regrets about his 2012 claims that then presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid no taxes for 10 years.
The outgoing Senate Minority Leader even bragged to CNN that the comments, which had been described as McCarthyism, helped keep Romney from winning the election.
“They can call it whatever they want. Romney didn’t win did he?” Reid said
…
When Reid directly accused Romney of being a tax dodge, he did so from the safety of the Senate floor. Outside the protection of legislative immunity, Romney was only possibly a tax dodge.
Not only does Reid not think he did anything wrong, he’s actually proud that his lies might have helped cost Romney the election.
Nancy Pelosi: ‘It Is A Fact’ That Somebody Told Harry Reid About Romney Not Paying Taxes
Posted: 08/06/2012 10:24 am EDT
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) fired back at Republicans accusing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) of lying about a Bain Capital investor telling him that Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes in 10 years. They don’t know what they’re talking about, Pelosi says.
“Harry Reid made a statement that is true. Somebody told him. It is a fact,” Pelosi told The Huffington Post in a Sunday interview.
“Well he doesn’t know that,” Pelosi said. “Harry Reid is a person who is, as we know, A, is a fighter, B, he wouldn’t say this unless it was true that somebody told him that.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/08/06/nancy-pelosi-harry-reid-romney-taxes_n_1746894.html - 618k -
Reminds me of Bart Simpson saying that “I can’t promise to try, but I’ll try to try.”
“Republicans and Fox News have won PolitiFact’s lie of the year award for spreading inaccurate information and hysteria about Ebola.” It’s communicable by coughing! It can be weaponized! It’ll be just like the movie Outbreak! The biggest cure for Ebola was the completion of the 2014 elections…
The mantra for the next election will be that a vote for a republican president will be a vote for another mideast war, except that won’t be a lie.
You got that right Dman. The GOP platform will be more war, more debt and no cakes for gays.
The GOP platform will be more war, more debt and no cakes for gays.
The DNC platform will be more war, more debt and free cakes for gays.
It must be April Fools Day for this to get published in the New York Times, LOLZ
Editorial - The U.N.’s War on Israel
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/opinion/united-in-ignominy.html?referrer=
College Debt Bubble Crisis: 33% Of All Student Loans Are Delinquent On Repayments
Market Daily News | 03/31/2015 | Mac Slavo
With all of that job creation being claimed by the Obama administration and disseminated by mainstream media outlets as signs of a sustained recovery you’d think most college graduates would have no trouble keeping up with their bills.
But new data released by the Department of Education tell a different story.
According to the report as many as 33% of American college grads with student loan debt are now in delinquent status on their repayments.
About one-third of borrowers with federal student loans owned by the U.S. Department of Education are late on their payments, according to new federal data.
Previous measures had put the delinquency rate much lower, masking the true amount of distress among borrowers trying to make good on their taxpayer-backed debts.
There are currently 41 million Americans who collectively have about $1.1 Trillion in loans outstanding. That means about 13.5 million Americans are currently delinquent on roughly $350 billion in student loan debt.
Several years ago we noted that as many as 85% of broke and jobless college graduates had no choice but to move back in with their parents after they graduated. That was in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930′s, but the latest figures from the Department of Education suggest things are just as bad, if not worse, even though the government says our unemployment rate has dropped from 10% to 5.5% in that same time period.
“$350 billion in student loan debt”
That’s alot of $500,000 starter homes nobody will be buying, LOLZ
“That’s alot of $500,000 starter homes nobody will be buying, LOLZ”
With any luck some of these kids will be able to take over the payments their parents haven’t made on their houses for over 5 years that was posted here a couple of days ago.
It said there were 10s of thousands of them so some must have kids who aren’t paying their student loans.
Bloomberg - Sluggish Small Business Hiring May Portend U.S. Job Weakness
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-01/sluggish-small-business-hiring-may-portend-labor-market-weakness
Job weakness? LOLZ, this country has been in a recession for over six months
“This sucker could go down” — George W. Bush
Hope and Change
“Turnout is critical to the program’s longevity, says Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a Washington group that backs Obama’s action.
“The more people that sign up before a Republican president would take office, the harder it will be for that Republican to take it away,” he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-01/wary-immigrants-scarce-as-activists-pave-way-for-obama-s-order
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
I’ve heard this through the … um … “immigrant community”. They don’t trust Obama’s offer. They want green cards, not temporary visas, and won’t “come out from the shadows” unless they are offered a green card.
They are not stupid. Like the Americans who believed they could keep their doctor and their insurance plans.
Your daily missive from Chicago ILLANNOY!!!
“The wine club could be included in that,” Garcia shot back, a reference to a Montana vacation Emanuel took with future Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner where they shared a bottle of wine from an expensive California club in which the governor has a membership. (mind you this wine (whine) club has membership fee in the six figures!!)
Then this…..
“The event was outside the office building where hedge fund firm Citadel is located. Citadel is run by billionaire Ken Griffin, who along with his now-estranged wife and employees has contributed $1.39 million since Emanuel first ran for mayor in 2010.
Griffin meets with the mayor and the firm has invested in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which Emanuel backed for state tax breaks. The firm also has invested in other companies doing business with city, the Tribune has reported.”
Comment - It is all about whose ass you kiss - right Rahmmy?
Then the zinger by Phil Ponce the left leaning MSM hack for the local PBS station here in Chicago ILLANNOY who was moderating the debate:
“The most awkward moment of the debate came when moderator Phil Ponce asked a series of questions involving Garcia’s son’s brushes with the law and allegations the son had been a gang member. Members of the audience began booing Ponce, and even Emanuel said he believed that the line of questioning was inappropriate.”
Comment - even the local press here covering this debate said that Ponce’s questioning was WAY outta line - and it was WAY outta line. Seems the MSM has no boundries anymore given that they got there guy in the WH and now have been immunized.
Body of article here…http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-chicago-mayoral-race-met-0401-20150331-story.html#page=1
Growing up in Old Greenwich in the 60s and early 70s it was not uncommon for me and my friends to find arrowheads in the then undeveloped land behind Midbrook Lane.
Origins of southwestern Connecticut’s towns
March 23, 2015 |Lidia Ryan
With Greenwich celebrating its 375th anniversary this year, and Fairfield, Milford and Stratford all having celebrated in 2014, take a look back at how southwestern Connecticut towns started, and where they got their names.
Greenwich
Settled and named in 1640
Named for Greenwich, England
Indian name: Patuquapaen (Source: ct.gov )
Brief history: “In 1640, settlers from Massachusetts purchased land between the Asamuck and Patomuck rivers in the area now known as Old Greenwich. Not long after, the English joined the Dutch in a dispute with the Native Americans, which resulted in a massacre at the Indian village of Petuquapaen…By 1730, the nearly 50 square miles which comprise present-day Greenwich were laid out.” - greenwichhistory.org
Pictured: Scenes from the Putnam Hill Park Rededication and American Revolutionary War Reenactment at Putnam Cottage in Greenwich, Conn., on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015.
Stamford
Settled in 1641; Named in 1642
Named for Stamford, England. Stamford means “stony ford” in Old English.
Indian name: Rippowam (Source: ct.gov )
Brief history: “On the first of July 1640 one Capt. Turner for the New Haven colony signed a parchment that is considered the deed to Stamford. Signing for the native inhabitants was Chief Ponus, in return for a tract of land that extended from the Mianus River on the west to Bedford and Pound Ridge on the North, Five Mile River on the East and Long Island Sound on the South. Payment for this land was to be twelve coats, twelve hoes, twelve hatchets, twelve glasses, twelve knives, four kettles, and four fathoms of white wampum.” - stamfordhistory.org
http://www.greenwichtime.com/…/Origins-of-southwestern-Connecticut-s-towns-105896.php - 167k -
I grew up in the Western Reserve, because Connecticut was greedy and tried to grab more land west of the Appalachian Mountains:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Western_Reserve
Youngstown Connecticut doesn’t sound right anyway.
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-01 07:43:29
Origins of southwestern Connecticut’s towns
March 23, 2015
greenwichtime.com/local/slideshow/Origins-of-southwestern-Connecticut-s-towns-105896.php
“Twelve Hoes” - Maybe they were brought to re-populate the land.
“Twelve Hoes” - Maybe they were brought to re-populate the land.”
That statement is, well I don’t know what it is but I’m sure it offended somebody from some group that is looking to be offended.
But I guess if you went with twelve hatchets, twelve glasses, twelve knives, four kettles, or four fathoms of white wampum you just would have offended somebody else.
It’s a no win situation.
“Twelve Hoes” - Maybe they were brought to re-populate the land.
Twelve Hoes for Twelve Bros?
There goes ‘da neighborhood!
I always thought I knew what a “hoe down” meant but now I am not so sure.
Don’t move or visit Chicago ILLANNOY - you won’t like it here….
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/04/01/chicago-robbers-appear-to-copy-mexican-cartel-roadblock-tactics/
But it looks so inviting on the Bob Newhart Show
As Hawk Harrelson says on the Sox channel (Bob Newhart) ‘he gone!”
CraterRage® Photo Of The Day
http://goo.gl/PHvC9F
From Zerohedge today - Yemen on the verge of total collapse….
“The mounting civilian death toll has prompted the UN to warn that the country is on the verge of “total collapse,” as the nation which President Obama just months ago cited as a success story in the war on terror rapidly devolves into sectarian violence on the way to “failed state” status.”
Thanks Otrauma - you loser!!!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-01/yemen-verge-total-collapse-civilian-casualties-ground-invasion-calls-mount
And whoever wins in 2016 will boldly continue the war on terror.
Only if they have earned a Nobel Peace Prize first…
Don’t kid yourself. Neither party is going to get us out of the middle east.
Do you own real estate in coastal Miami, Corpus Christi, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Norfolk, Galveston? Sell the home or buy waders.
“Sea Level Rise is Spiking Sharply”
http://www.skepticalscience.com/Sharp-Spike-in-Sea-Level-Rise.html
Keep the government away from my federally subsidized flood insurance.
“Despite this ongoing rise, there are significant year-to-year fluctuations due to variations in the volume of water equivalent stored (predominantly) in the tropical land basins, and as snowfall on the gigantic ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland.”
I guess that is why you can’t actually see that the “Sea Level Rise is Spiking Sharply”.
But I’ll tell you what, I will drive by the Atlantic Ocean on my way home and check for ya. While I am there I will see if any of the Global Warming is trying to sneak out too.
I see a sharp spike on the chart — maybe that’s cuz I’m not wearing those special Climate Denier Eyeglasses, which filters out the “bad” data and lets the denier focus only on the “good” data…
Great news!
The sea level rise is not spiking sharply, in fact it’s right where it was in 1981. Must be hiding in those tropical land basins or Greenland or something.
But wait there’s more!
I found out how the Global Warming got in the ocean.
It’s the Pelicans!
The GD Pelicans must be swallowing the Global Warming before they dive for fish and then spit it into the ocean when they are grabbing the fish.
PELICANS DIVE BOMBING FOR FISH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD8nHfLYmPE - 359k -
More Pelicans injecting the Global Warming into the oceans.
Pelican Feeding Frenzy - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krrQjPZOCoY - 215k -
You’re better off walking away from the house.
Worthless housing…. worthless worthless housing. Housing is worth less and less with each passing day.
LOL. Measuring sea level rise of a few mm from a satellite is a major fail.
Sea level has not risen in the last century, well documented.
“LOL. Measuring sea level rise of a few mm from a satellite is a major fail.”
What is a few mm anyway? 1/8 of an inch?
“Do you own real estate in coastal Miami, Corpus Christi, Virginia Beach, Jacksonville, Norfolk, Galveston? Sell the home or buy waders.”
Judging by the posts, it looks like Rush Limbaugh’s show ran short today.
I find Rush to be rather hilarious, as are some of the columnists on Breitbart and the Daily Caller, they skewer liberal hypocrisy with a refreshing zing that is lacking from the liberals’ uppity, finger-wagging, holier-than-thou, frumpy scold that passes for criticism or analysis of conservative ideology
World Net Daily, however, is just creepy, scary, and sad
Second Wave of Illegals Crashing US Southern Border Now – More Than 30,000 Illegals Released Into America’s Cities
Tim Brown March 23, 2015
Read more at http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/03/second-wave-of-illegals-crashing-us-southern-border-now-more-than-30000-illegals-released-into-americas-cities/#PAiFXktxjgyrU2od.99
Keep ‘em comin’ until we turn Texas solidly blue.
This is rather interesting, LOLZ
http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-internet-trolls-are-trained-to-spread-propaganda-in-three-person-teams-2015-3/comments.rss?op=1
Old news for the HBB.
Ditto for the Chicom.
Got Smart Meters?
Stockton Smart Meters Explode After Truck Causes Power Surge
March 30, 2015 5:57 PM
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A power surge left thousands without power in Stockton on Monday after smart meters on their homes exploded.
The explosions started at around 8:30 a.m. after a truck crashed into a utility pole, causing a surge.
When the customers in more than 5,000 homes get their power back on will depend on how badly damaged their meters are.
Neighbors in the South Stockton area described it as a large pop, a bomb going off, and strong enough to shake a house.
“The neighbor across the street, his meter doesn’t look as bad but his receptacles are all blackened.” said Brad Abernathy.
PG&E says a dump truck crashed near its Alpine substation on Arch Road. When the truck hit the utility pole, the top wire fell onto the bottom wire, creating a power surge.
“The top lines are considered our freeways. The bottom lines are our distribution lines taking power directly to homes,” said PG&E spokeswoman Brandi Ehlers. “So when the two collide, they’re at different voltages and the higher voltage wins out, causing an overload.”
Source: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/03/30/stockton-smart-meters-explode-after-truck-causes-power-surge/
ARRRGGGGHHH! This has absolutely zero to do with smart meters. Sure, the smart meters exploded, just like every other electrical device not rated to handle an order of magnitude higher voltage than designed for.
When it says: “the top wire fell onto the bottom wire”, this means that a much higher-voltage line fell onto a distribution line (7kV - 15kV), causing the voltage coming into your house to jump from 120V up to ??? - if it was high enough to arc across receptacles, it likely was 1000V or more.
Somebody’s insurance company will be paying a lot of $$$ to completely rewire all of those people’s houses (plus paying for every electrical appliance within). Everything will have to get replaced. Every piece of romex and wire. The wire insulation is compromised and there is no way to fix that. This kind of incident also typically causes house fires as well.
Very little time to post but there is big news on the oil front. While the clueless MSM is trying to say the 4% move up in oil is due to a lower than expected stock build, the big news is we had a substantial drop in domestic production. If this is not just a one week fluke, we may have started the decline that is coming due to shale oil well’s sharp decline rates combined with a plunge in drilling and completions. Once it starts it is going to be very hard to turn around.
Falling corn prices, falling oil prices, falling housing prices…. all good news.
US: “Falling Corn Prices Stalk Monsanto, Sending 2Q Profits Lower”
http://www.stltoday.com/business/national-and-international/falling-corn-prices-stalk-monsanto-sending-q-profits-lower/article_06f39456-c0b8-5a37-8905-2140a94c3b79.html
Funny, after the market closed yahoo posted a story about it being caused by the drop in production.
Strange considering the overflowing stockpiles of corn.
Here is why oil prices must go back up:
Cheap oil prices chop jobs by thousands
Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
7:46 p.m. EDT March 31, 2015
Planned oil industry layoffs in the U.S. are approaching 100,000 in the past four months with more likely to come.
Oil-producing states such as North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana are catching the brunt of the cutbacks just as consumers are enjoying cheaper gasoline prices brought on by the 55% drop in crude oil prices since last June.
“The entire Midwest from Texas to North Dakota is really feeling the effects,” says Moody’s Analytics economist Aaron Smith.
About 91,000 energy-related job cuts have been made public since early December, says Continental Resources, the Oklahoma City-based oil producer, which has been tracking companies’ layoff announcements by the week. They came from oil exploration and production companies, oilfield services companies and manufacturers, such as U.S. Steel, that supply them. Some cuts have occurred, and most are expected this year.
Oilfield services companies, including Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, have announced about 69,000 layoffs the past four months, Continental’s count shows.
Oil and natural gas producers, including Chevron and BP, have said they’re chopping 10,000 jobs. And manufacturers, such as those that make steel for oil pipes and storage tanks, plan about 11,700 reductions.
Nationally, employment in mining and logging, which includes the oil industry, is down by a seasonally adjusted 14,000 the past two months. Moody’s Analytics projects net job losses for the mining sector — including layoffs and hiring — will total 37,000 in the second and third quarters before rising crude prices help recoup about half that deficit by early next year.
But low oil and gasoline prices should spur more consumer spending, a stronger economy and average monthly job growth of 270,000 this year, up from 260,000 in 2014.
Shrinking oil industry payrolls, however, are reshuffling states’ economic fortunes. New drilling techniques that siphon crude from shale rock fueled roaring job growth in states such as North Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
But North Dakota, which has led the boom, in February lost its place as the state with the lowest jobless rate for the first month since October 2008, as unemployment there rose to 2.9% from 2.8%. Nebraska claimed the top spot with a 2.7% rate.
In North Dakota, mining employment tumbled by 600 jobs in February alone, the Labor Department reports. There are 96 active drilling rigs in the state, down from 194 a year ago, according to the state Department of Mineral Resources.
“We’re starting to see effects … from low oil prices,” says Michael Ziesch, labor market information manager for Job Service North Dakota.
…
Last dead cat bounce before oil drops to a stable floor?
With So Much Oil Flowing, U.S. May Be Reaching Storage Limits
March 30, 2015 3:42 AM ET
Chris Arnold
Morning Edition
4 min 2 sec
Cushing, Okla., is a major oil storage site. Amid record oil production, some analysts worry the U.S. will run out of places to put it all.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Never before has the U.S. had so much oil spurting up out of the ground and sloshing into storage tanks around the country. There’s so much oil that the U.S. now rivals Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer.
But there has been some concern that the U.S. will run out of places to put it all. Some analysts speculate that could spark another dramatic crash in oil prices.
Everyone in the oil trading business needs information. One thing they want to know these days: How full are oil storage tanks in places like Cushing, Okla.? To find out, ask a professional — someone with eyes on the ground, and in the sky.
Genscape, an oil intelligence service, uses planes, helicopters and satellites to track where and how much oil there is all over the world. The company “does a James Bond approach and flies over the storage field twice a week,” says Hillary Stevenson, a manager at the firm.
In the U.S., you can tell how full some oil tanks are by flying over them and looking down. Others require a little more sleuthing, “by using IR or infrared technology cameras and flying over the tanks,” Stevenson says.
In Cushing, there are fields of giant storage tanks, some the size of high school football stadiums. Genscape estimates they’re about 70 percent full. As the storage tanks get closer to capacity, some analysts say that will drive prices lower.
Nobody knows that for certain and there are lots of scenarios. But as space gets tight, it gets increasingly more expensive to store oil. That should discourage speculators from buying oil and storing it, hoping to sell it later for a profit. If fewer speculators are buying, that means there’s less demand and prices fall.
“We’re running out of storage capacity in the U.S.,” Ed Morse, global head of commodities research at Citigroup, said at an event recently in New York. “And we’re seeing the indication of the U.S. reaching tank tops. It’s hard to know where the price goes down, but it does go down.”
The price of oil has already fallen from $100 a barrel last summer to $45 or $50 lately. Morse said lack of storage space could drive oil down to about $20 a barrel.
But there’s plenty of disagreement about that. Brian Busch, the director of oil markets at Genscape, says oil prices could fall, but not that much.
“If we saw crude oil that was trading [in the $30 range], $38-$35, that would not surprise me,” he says.
…
This one is for Mr. Banker - what say you?
“That’s where banks may stumble. Many are having trouble earning enough to cover their cost of capital, let alone offer a decent return to shareholders. New capital rules explain much of that, but so does the industry limiting its exposure to subprime borrowers. Considering the mess they landed in relying too much on FICO scores when extending mortgages before the crash, that’s understandable.
Whaaaat? Many are having trouble earning enough to cover their costs….. Whaaat?
BREAKINGVIEWS-U.S. lenders tempted by new way to make bad loans
Reuters 4/1/2015 3:29 PM ET
Print Article
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
By Daniel Indiviglio
WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - America’s lenders are being tempted by a new way to make bad loans. They’re about to be presented with a credit scoring system that should expand how many individuals can borrow from lenders. That’s no bad thing by itself. But it could also encourage banks desperate for higher returns to ignore more crucial metrics.
The company behind the tool, Fair Isaac, could unveil this latest product in the next couple of days, according to the Wall Street Journal. It is already responsible for FICO, the widely used credit scoring system for consumer debt. That tracks how timely borrowers are at repaying mortgages and other loans, including credit card debt.
For some 53 million Americans, though, that’s as good as useless, either because they have no such debt or because they have defaulted on it in the past. The new metric examines how good people are at paying their cable, utility and mobile phone bills. It also folds in other behavior that could indicate whether a potential borrower is worth the risk, like how often applicants change addresses.
This all sounds sensible enough. A borrower who always covers household bills on time may well be conscientious with other debts, too. Gas, electric and water are necessities, though. So in a crunch borrowers may well be more likely to pay these first and miss a loan or credit card payment or two - or more. Moreover, paying these bills only monitors a willingness to pay, not an ability to shoulder more expenses.
That’s where banks may stumble. Many are having trouble earning enough to cover their cost of capital, let alone offer a decent return to shareholders. New capital rules explain much of that, but so does the industry limiting its exposure to subprime borrowers. Considering the mess they landed in relying too much on FICO scores when extending mortgages before the crash, that’s understandable.
A new scoring metric that appears to show such borrowers are less risky than thought could be too enticing for some lenders. It would be far better to focus on a person’s income, outstanding debts and how much cash they can realistically afford to set aside for new loans. Otherwise, America’s banks could be stumbling into a whole new set of losses.
CONTEXT NEWS
- Fair Isaac Corp, which is responsible for U.S. consumer credit scores known as FICO, is set to announce a new, broader metric to assess borrower creditworthiness as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on April 1.
- The new measure will incorporate payment history for services previously unmonitored by FICO, such as cable, cellphone and utility bills, as well as other factors like how often potential borrowers change addresses. FICO has been testing the new scoring system since November with 10 credit card issuers. The company plans to release the new system for nationwide use by the end of the year.
- WSJ: New metric aids weak credit risks: http://on.wsj.com/1xY8BYq
Mandatory water restrictions in California.
“California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered officials Wednesday to impose statewide mandatory water restrictions for the first time in history as surveyors found the lowest snow level in the Sierra Nevada snowpack in 65 years of record-keeping.”
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_27826779/drought-stricken-california-set-measure-snowpack
If you like your unflushed toilet, you can keep your unflushed toilet.
Just because it has a mud snake in it doesn’t mean you have to flush!
Good. I hope it dries up and falls off.
SHYSTER
Data $hithousePoet….. Data!
Brisbane, CA List Prices Dive 24% YoY; Losses Mount As Sellers Exit
http://www.zillow.com/brisbane-ca/home-values/
Lotta pools gonna turn skate park.
Comment by rms
2015-03-02 07:47:51
Priced out: The struggle for an affordable Seattle
March 31, 2015
Please join Seattle Times business reporter Sanjay Bhatt for a provocative forum on the intersection of wages, policy and housing costs, and making it – or not – in the greater Seattle area. Local and national leaders explore affordability challenges and solutions for our region, where job growth is outpacing much of the nation, yet income disparity is greater than ever before.
The event is free, but space is limited; registration is recommended.
http://livewire.seattletimes.com/
Reply to this comment
I was planning to go this wearing my HBB t-shirt, but I’m afraid I’m just too tired tonight. Sigh.
I was planning to go this wearing my HBB t-shirt, but I’m afraid I’m just too tired tonight. Sigh.
Bummer.
Someone will follow-up. Maybe drumminj?
Are all you Californians out there ready to pay through the nose for water priced off a 25% reduction in consumption?