Bits Bucket for April 21, 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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Will renewed stimulus save the Chinese economy?
Who cares about China, just invest in our stock market or buy a house you can’t go wrong and you can’t take a loss. Borrow borrow borrow and live beyond your means. Liberate your equity and leverage up you fool.
Yeah, hit that credit like a 90 year old widow with 700FICO!!!!
Commodities & Currencies 4/20/2015 @ 8:49AM
U.S. Dollar Rises Alongside Grexit Fears
The Chinese central bank’s unexpected decision on the weekend to cut its reserve requirement initially gave commodity-sensitive currencies a lift, but the greenback is on the rise against a basket of currencies on Monday, as investors keep a watchful eye on Greece.
Investors will also be watching Germany’s April ZEW and Ifo surveys rather closely to get a better handle on business expectations from Europe’s largest economy. Furthermore, flash purchasing managers’ indexes for China, Japan, France, Germany and the eurozone, and the U.S. will be scrutinized for signs of growth. Tomorrow’s first-quarter consumer-price index data from Australia will be closely examined for clues about the next Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy move in early May. Finally, all investors will end the week focusing on the April 24 bailout deadline for Greece and a meeting between the Eurogroup and Athens.
…
Now the whole world is searching for signs of green shoots.
The global economy is as parched as a California lawn.
The greenest shoot to me would be to see Florida Skeptic and Lola declare jihad on each other the same way ISIS and the Taliban just did. I’d love to be able to pull that off.
i thought the Taliban blowing up a 1500 year old Buddhist statute was cool..its what a religious jihad is supposed to be about aiming at other religions icons and places of worship…and not killing and beheading innocent people
I’d rather just see Florida Skeptic ooze away and never waste Ben’s bandwidth again.
They both provide a valuable object lesson in how wedded people get to their beliefs and also why anyone would ever consider voting for Hillary. Hillary, really? Hillary? The woman thing runs very very deep with some like FS. Nothing will change her mind.
Concerning Lola, I’ve always thought Lola was an advanced scout for Hillary because he’s been pimping a meme for a long time that would absolve Hillary of any responsibility for the excess of the 90s and Nafta. But then I realize Lola’s never played the long game in his life.
Feminists are emotional beings.
Female chauvinists pretend otherwise.
Denver’s gotz lots of green shoots of Cannabis.
Will a Grexit send gold back up through $1400/oz?
Market Extra
A ‘Grexit’ will send gold to $1,400 by year’s end
Published: Apr 20, 2015 2:30 p.m. ET
Gold may soon see a pickup in Greece-related safety flows, Capital Economics says
By Myra P. Saefong
Markets/commodities reporter
The gold market isn’t getting much of a safe-haven boost from the turmoil in Greece right now, but that may soon change.
The risk of a Greek exit from the eurozone will help lift gold prices to $1,400 an ounce by the end of the year, according to Capital Economics.
Even so, prices for the metal traded on Comex fell $9.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,193.70 an ounce on Monday.
“The markets still appear to be anticipating some sort of last-minute deal or accounting tricks to rescue Greece,” Julian Jessop, head of commodities research at Capital Economics, wrote in a research note dated Monday. And even if Greece does default on its debt, that wouldn’t necessarily lead to an exit from the eurozone, he said.
Still, Jessop said Capital Economics is “confident” that a “further escalation of the crisis in Greece” will provide support to gold.
It would be a mistake to believe that the country is a “‘special case’ and that other members are very unlikely to follow [Greece] out of the door,” he said.
Right now, global risk appetite is still high, as seen in the strength of equity markets world-wide, said Jessop. On Monday, better-than-expected company earnings helped rally U.S. stocks and European equities climbed after China cut its reserve ratio to help boost growth.
But the true test of whether gold has lost its safe-haven appeal “will only come when risk appetite falters again,” Jessop said.
…
Bill has been awfully quiet about the precious…
/troll
Only so much of it.
Are your Beanie Babies worth thousands?
http://www.sevenoakschronicle.co.uk/beanie-babies-worth-thousands/story-26359367-detail/story.html
If you bought a house three years ago, you can sell it now for more than a 30 percent gain. Who cares about gold, go all in on houses, especially if Hillary gets elected.
Meanwhile gold’s 5 year low is equal to its one year low. $1140. Currently trading under $1200. And within 2 weeks i am loading up again.
Selfish Hoarder = Bill, Just south of Irvine. ..
5% above its 5 year low. What about the S&P? 75% above? What about the house prices? 20%?
Which has more potential to fall?
Does a ’super taper tantrum’ seem a likely prospect?
Capitol Report
Beware the ‘super taper tantrum’
Published: Apr 20, 2015 2:21 p.m. ET
By Steve Goldstein
D.C. bureau chief
Getty Images
Former Fed chief Ben Bernanke may have caused the last taper tantrum, and one analyst says it could be even worse this time around.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It’s what is feared by markets and by Federal Reserve officials alike — a rerun of the May 2013 taper tantrum, when yields spiked higher on the suggestion of an imminent reduction in bond purchases.
In a new research piece, Deutsche Bank’s Joseph LaVorgna counts five episodes since 1994 when the yield on the 10-year Treasury note (TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.10%) moved substantially higher because of a change in expectations on the likely path of Fed policy. “If history is a guide, a backup in Treasury yields could be both swift and violent, with most of the move occurring over a short period of time, generally within two months,” he says, warning of what he calls a “super taper tantrum.”
…
Super taper tantrum? May 2013 taper tantrum? What was that? I’d someone actually lose money somewhere along the way? Not in this managed economy where all losses are back stopped and eased. Seriously what’s this May 2014 stuff? No one has taken a loss in several years, everything has been up up up, especially housing.
I recall someone here around that time calling for a bond market crash or something. I don’t beleive it happened. Nothing has crashed. None of the fears have played out. No Grexit fears. No oil fears. No China fears. No Putin or Ukraine fears. Nada.
Just Mo Credik, Mo Equity, let the good times roll.
“If history is a guide, a backup in Treasury yields could be both swift and violent, with most of the move occurring over a short period of time, generally within two months,” he says, warning of what he calls a “super taper tantrum.”
…
And the stock market could crash causing a flight to safety.
What happens when chirping canaries die?
Major Chinese Developer Says It Can’t Pay Dollar Debts
by Chris Bourke
Vinicy Chan
Cordell Eddings
4:19 AM PST
April 20, 2015
A residential property project developed by Kaisa is under construction in Wuhan city, central China’s Hubei province, on Jan. 24, 2015.
Photographer: Sun xinming/AP Photo
Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. became China’s first real estate company to default on its U.S. currency debt, capping a month of distress in bond markets amid an anti-corruption probe and fueling concern that losses will spread.
The default coincides with the expiration of a 30-day grace period on $52 million of missed interest payments on two dollar-denominated bonds, according to a Hong Kong stock exchange statement Monday. Kaisa, based in the southern city of Shenzhen, is struggling to service 65 billion yuan ($10.5 billion) of debt owed to both onshore and offshore lenders while becoming embroiled in President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on graft.
The developer’s problems have rippled across the region’s debt market, where investors starved of yield elsewhere in the world have swooped in to boost returns. As the government’s anti-corruption probes widen, it’s raising concern that defaults will spread after overseas noteholders bought a record $21.3 billion of bonds issued by Chinese property companies.
“It’s been a canary that has been chirping for some time,” Gary Herbert, a money manager who helps oversee about $45 billion of fixed-income assets at Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC in Philadelphia, said in a telephone interview. “This is the beginning of an adjustment period in China that will see a lot of credit investors, who were chasing the promise of higher yields, ultimately disappointed.”
…
If look at the latest monthly data from China, about 10 of the 70 cities surveyed were already showing an upturn in prices. About ten were flat. This compares to over 60 down just the month before. A 6% decline yoy decline and the sky is falling to some. As the article states Kaisa was caught in the anti-corruption crackdown, it is hardly indicative of developers as a whole who are actually turning profits albeit lower than a few years ago. Once again China will grow by about 7% this year probably three times faster than the U.S., China is not close to imploding, we are.
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/business/real-estate/China-home-prices-fall-in-March/shdaily.shtml
Many of the “ghost” cities are not ghost cities anymore, they build cities like we build subdivisions:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-even-more-megacities-thought-173826640.html
The Chinese have truly discovered the SUV:
SHANGHAI, April 21 (Xinhua) — China’s auto sales are expected to exceed 25 million units in 2015, said Dong Yang, vice president of China Association of Automobile Manufactures (CAAM), on Tuesday.
According to CAAM, auto sales might increase 7 percent year on year to hit 25.1 million units in 2015.
Sales of passenger vehicles are expected to stand at 21.2 million units, up 8 percent from a year earlier, while sales of commercial vehicles may increase 2.4 percent year on year to 3.88 million units.
CAAM also forecast that in 2015, sales of sedans will rise 1 percent year on year to 12.5 million units, those of SUVs will increase 25 percent year on year to 5.1 million units and those of MPVs will rise to 2.58 million units, up 35 percent year on year.
China’s auto sales maintained an average annual increase of 24.1 percent from 2001 to 2010. The rate slowed to 6.8 percent from 2011 to 2014, according to CAAM.
Link to auto story:
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=277765
Yeah, and they like Range Rovers so much, they’ve decided to steal the design
http:/tinyurl.com/nmb6cpb
Why steal technology when Obama will give it away?
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-proposes-30-agreement-china-nuclear-power-192338413.html
And they stole the hang-the-hooker-over-the-hood idea too.
Finland have been Germany’s little drummer boy when it comes to austerity in the EU. Drumming along to to the call for further austerity for EU members especially Greece. They still are but will they be so keen when the drum beat picks up for them to take some of the medicine.
A millionaire former telecoms executive touted as a technocrat capable of rescuing Finland from economic slump won Sunday’s parliamentary election, but he will likely need coalition support from a second-placed eurosceptic party critical of any more Greek bailouts.
Opposition Centre Party leader Juha Sipila, who advocates a wage freeze and spending cuts to regain Finland’s competitiveness, beat pro-EU and pro-NATO Prime Minister Alexander Stubb after four years of policy stagnation and a bickering coalition……………………………..
But for voters, their concern has been their own economy, mired in three years of recession while shackled by the shrinking of its flagship Nokia, rising labour costs and a diminishing working population.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/finland/11548892/Technocrat-wins-Finland-election.html
The Agenda: Gazprom chief in Greece as crisis escalates
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
Fears over Greece continue to build, after Athens issued a decree yesterday ordering local authorities to move their cash reserves to the central bank.
_______________________________________________________________
Lord I bet Putin has sore sides from laughing so much.
Lord I bet Putin has sore sides from laughing so much.
Obama and Europe were playing checkers while he was playing chess.
If Putin were winning at chess, he wouldn’t be carving off mini-states on the near edges of the many border countries that are seeking to leave his sphere of influence.
Putin has Crimea and the most productive parts of the Ukraine, that is clearly winning. Obama does not even claim, anymore, that he is going to reverse the conquest of Crimea. His little oil war and sanctions has just backfired on both the U.S. and Europe, he is clearly winning even if you do not want to admit that Obama is getting an oil rig up his azz just like I predicted five months ago.
We haven’t had a new tank in 30 years, in planes, tanks and air defense Russia is rapidly closing the technological gap:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/russia-just-unveiled-armata-battle-150000347.html
“Putin has Crimea and the most productive parts of the Ukraine”
Yep, and he lost central and western Europe in the process.
Really? When did Russia own Western Europe or Central Europe? Putin has more support in all of Europe than the old Soviet Union. His standing up to the globalists actually plays well with left and right wing parties.
When did Russia own Western Europe or Central Europe?
For Central Europe, it was 1945 - 1989.
That was the Soviet Union, Putin never ran the Soviet Union thus he cannot have lost Central Europe since Russia never had it.
My answer was overly literal, though the Soviet Union was frequently referred to as Russia back in the day.
You say that Putin has Crimea and the most productive parts of the Ukraine. He could take all of Ukraine if he wanted it. He could also impose a terror famine, as occurred under Stalin.
Why take over all the Ukraine? Right now we have to subsidize the rest of the Ukraine and Putin has the natural resources. But getting back to the main point, Oddfellow said Putin lost central and Western Europe which was impossible since Putin never had either one. The Soviet Union which included Russia, but was never meant to be a nationalistic entity may have had most of Central Europe but it never had Western Europe. Putin is trying to restore Russia and not the Soviet Union. He wants to ensure that Russian speaking areas of the former Soviet Union are protected. He largely has succeeded on both goals with the limited intervention. It was the U.S. that overreached and has had its hands badly burned.
He’s succeeded in getting a lot of Ukrainians killed. Some of those dead Ukrainians spoke Russian, some Ukrainian, some both.
” Oddfellow said Putin lost central and Western Europe ”
He’s freaked out central Europe, who are all clamoring to have NATO bases in their countries, and are all increasing their defense spending to protect against his threats. Germany and France have both changed their view of Putin’s Russia, now viewing him not only as an unreliable partner, but as a direct threat. The Scandinavian countries are scrambling their air defenses to meet his daily challenges, and aren’t happy about it at all. You think that’s gaining him friends?
He’s a loser, if influence and allies are what he wanted, or to put together a trade group to compete with the EU. What’s his ‘eurasion trade group’ now? Belarus, Russia, Armenia, various areas he’s ripped from nearby countries, maybe a -stan or two? Worthless.
He’s a loser, unless chest thumping is a form of winning.
Kaisa Group has become the first Chinese property developer to default on its overseas debt, which is estimated to be about $2.5bn (£1.7bn).
The Shenzhen-based company said it missed two interest payments, raising concerns that more of its creditors could demand their money back.
Kaisa has borrowed billions in order to pay for large land purchases in China.
But the firm ran into trouble after the government froze some of its projects as part of a local corruption probe.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32391117
Scott Walker rallies my base
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/20/scott-walker-lays-out-pro-american-worker-stance-on-immigration/
And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links
From the article:
“Walker discussed how in the past he did support amnesty, but says he doesn’t anymore, because he has learned more about the issue
Yawn.
Mexico needs boots on the ground, heading south.
Unfortunately, he is about a believable on this issue as Romney. However, I still like Republicans going on record saying the right thing, Jeb Bush will not even do that, maybe the family history of “read my lips”. When is an old time union Democrat going to speak against open borders? The unions have gone against their tradition of being for limiting immigration for over twenty years now, even an idiot should see that open borders and unionism are mutually exclusive.
So his first executive orders will be to:
1) Round up all illegals and deport them?
2) Cancel all H1-B visas and send the “guest workers” home immediately?
3) Immediately stop granting green cards?
4) Immediately cease all naturalization applications?
The Magic 8 Ball says: “Don’t count on it”
http://wgno.com/2015/04/20/illegal-immigrant-accused-of-raping-10-year-old-girl-in-kenner/
I have an idea for a new revision to the Joshua tree extension…
Could we allow users to flag posts as partisan and then also allow users to hide posts that pass an established (user set variable) threshold of flags?
Of course in any given day’s Bits Bucket there would only be three or four posts left…
That wouldn’t be possible — the JTE only stores data locally on your computer. Thus, there’s no way to know what other users have done.
That would require server support - either from Ben, or someone’s stand-alone server (I don’t run one).
But, the JTE is open source (Mozilla Public License), so anyone is free to fork/expand on it if they please.
Thanks for responding. I just wish there was a way to sort through all the crap because I think even the most partisan of posters do occasionally get real, and I like to read those posts when they happen.
He thought he heard “Go”.
A New Hampshire man found allegedly armed and wearing body armor near a Boston Medical Center helicopter pad on Saturday told police he was “just enjoying my civil liberties” before struggling with officers, according to an incident report.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/20/man-allegedly-armed-and-wearing-body-armor-near-bmc-helipad-expected-arraigned-tuesday/mmDg5znVoo8lbYnPfhEWTK/story.html
Eric Garner was murdered by NYPD
They were enforcing a law passed by the city and he resisted arrest, one of the first things you learn when applying a chokehold if people can say I cannot breath, they actually can. A person choking even on food cannot tell you he or she is choking. Mr. Garner had other health issues that the stress of the arrest triggered caused his death, that is how the grand jury saw it and how I see it. It does not mean everything the police did under the circumstances was correct but it was hardly murder.
You are a badge licker and a uniform fetishist, Dannyboy
I see how you treat authority Goon, you are a master brownnoser. There are no cops that I am sucking up to, but I do come from a blue collar family that includes people in law enforcement. Just calling the facts the way I see them.
I’m a badge licker also. Don’t be 350 pounds with a medical condition and resist arrest and flaunt your lawbreaking in front of the cops.
There’s real tragedy in the world and Eric a Garner ain’t it.
Every encounter I’ve had with the police has been a negative one, even though I was courteous and respectful. They treated me like I was a thug every single time. They yell at me. They tell me that they know I’m up to no good, but since they have no proof they have to let me go (yes, I was actually told that once). And I’m white with a Hungarian surname.
I will never be a badge licker, never.
A cop gets away with murder and the badge lickers are happy. What else is new.
Virtually every time I was pulled over, I managed to avoid even a speeding ticket by being respectful and cooperative. This worked even in Charleston, South Carolina where I was pulled over for speeding by a black officer. At first he did yell out me, had me move my car several times and seem like he tried to provoke me. After getting nothing but compliance, he wished me a good day and sent me on my way. I think he was just testing me and I did not have a problem with it. A little tip from a person that travels a lot by auto and is a bit flexible on speed limits. Just cooperate, most times it will get you a warning not a ticket and even if they write it, if they remember you as cooperative they often will not show up to court if you contest it. I have not had a ticket in ten years.
Finally, and more importantly, you do not understand the potential danger to the officer of a traffic stop, not making sudden moves or suggesting that there is a danger to the officer is just a smart move on your part.
Pray tell…….do you perhaps have any kind of “I support the police”bumper sticker or specialty plate indicating you are a veteran?
I was written up for doing 7mph over the limit. Stone sober, driving home from work. At 3am, out in the country, in a 55mph zone. $200 fine, including court costs. Officer initially said I “crossed the center line”. “No sir, I didn’t……..let’s re-roll the tape”. Car was only a couple of years old, so the old “busted taillight/turn signal” wasn’t going to play.
After writing the ticket, the officer “didn’t appreciate my attitude”. I was tempted to say “You haven’t seen any attitude yet……”, but as I had to get up at 7am to get kids ready for school, I figured any further “discussion” was a lose-lose for me.
The only law enforcement agency around here that deserves respect is the Kansas Highway Patrol. Not because they are the only ticket-generating agency who has actually given me a “verbal warning”. Because they can be seen doing their real job, stopping and giving roadside assistance, as much as they actually write tickets.
No bumper stickers of any sort.
“I figured any further “discussion” was a lose-lose for me.”
Exactly, I will win in court if necessary, that is my best place to fight. You cannot win any battles at your car with the officer at your window. I do not know why people even try. Sorry, but officers are not stupid as you think, they can tell that I am just treating their actions as doing their job, they sense attitude and you will get written up for only going seven miles an hour over the speed limit.
After writing the ticket, the officer “didn’t appreciate my attitude”.
I won’t challenge a thing they say, and they still give me the evil eye. I remember one time I got a ticket for going five over the limit. As I signed the ticket i said “Oh, well”. For that insubordinate remark I received a tongue lashing.
I worked at IBM at the time and was near the campus and was wearing my badge on a lanyard. After yelling at me for saying “Oh well” he asked me if I worked at IBM and when I confirmed that I did he told me that they were out to get IBM’ers.
Nice.
There doesn’t seem to be much disagreement here. It’s prudent to be polite and courteous when one is pulled over the cops because they have a ticket book, as well as a taser and a gun.
The question is whether this is the optimal state of affairs. Should we give this particular group of civil servants the authority to treat us like crap if they happen to find us difficult or disrespectful in any way?
Use Chris Rock’s - How not to get your ass kicked by the police as the first step in the process.
“I will win in court if neccesary”
Nope, you have STILL lost. You are out whatever time or money you had to spend to go to court.
The PTB have cunningly calculated how to raise fines/fees/charges to the point just below where it makes more sense to “just pay the fine”.
IOW, transferring the cost of operating the criminal justice system to those who can pay the fines, but don’t make enough to hire lawyers. IOW working stiffs.
Those who pay less? Retirees, and the guys who can afford lawyers and car service.
one of the first things you learn when applying a chokehold if people can say I cannot breath, they actually can.
This is probably true. Maybe he said “I can’t breathe” because it’s easier than saying, “I’m experiencing shortness of breath.”
I wonder how many cops have ever been tested for steroid use? Looking at some of these guys, you just know that they didn’t get that bulky naturally. I wonder how many murders and assaults that cops commit are really just instances of roid rage?
“I wonder how many murders and assaults that cops commit are really just instances of roid rage?”
I wonder how many suicides and murders take place as a result of CraterRage.
crushing.housing.losses.
Elect more libertarians and you won’t have these problems
http://m.weeklystandard.com/blogs/enemy-my-enemy-what_925323.html
And if there was any real justice in the world, William Kristol would get the death penalty
Somebody help me out here, cuz I’m not sure what base this is trying to rally
So they baked a cake (no mention of if it’s a yellow cake, LOLZ) shaped like a Quran, but what I don’t understand is does this help Israel, does it hurt Israel, and most importantly, does it hasten the arrival of the Rapture?
http://mobile.wnd.com/2015/04/quran-shaped-cake-under-investigation/?cat_orig=faith
But just to be safe while this all gets sorted out, you should probably vote for a candidate that Sheldon Adelson purchased
No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/20/navy-officials-us-warship-heads-to-yemeni-waters-t/
American taxpayers, is this what you voted for?
Here’s a way to get to smaller government, get it out of higher education. All those billions wasted on public universities and federal dollars to private ones through loans and grant etc. Why is it a waste? You can go in Youtube right now and subscribe to Yalecourses, a channel from Yale with their lectures on it. It is truly amazing. Learn whatever you want and closed captioned for the hearing impaired all for free.
Anyone who cares a whit about higher education actually educating ought to be trying to tear the current university system down entirely. It is a massively inefficient relic.
Hillary crushes likely Republican opponents in a recent poll.
But what does Rasmussen have to say about it?
As reported by real journalists at the New York Times
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/us/politics/hillary-clintons-quest-to-prove-her-populist-edge-is-as-strong-as-elizabeth-warrens.html
P.S. P-Bear you know you’ll be voting for her
Hillary’s “populist edge”? The fact that so many voters thought a bon vivant candidate backed by George Soros and Goldman Sachs would bring “hope and change we can believe in” makes its own statement about the stupidity and gullability of the American sheeple. However, if Hillary convinces she’s a “populist” despite the overwhelming evidence of what she REALLY is - it will prove the US electorate is orders of magnitude more stupid than even I assessed.
You can’t be a populist and worth hundreds of millions. Have they never heard of Mitt Romney?
IDIOCRACY has replaced democracy, with our current stable of Republicrat candidates, and tens of millions of Florida Dyspeptic clones for an electorate, being the visible proof.
http://www.dark-bid.com/consumernation.html
If Florida Dyspeptic didn’t exist, I’d have to invent her. Maybe Lola did?
If Florida Dyspeptic didn’t exist, I’d have to invent her. Maybe Lola did?
Isn’t she “Uncle Fed, Why Don’t You Love Me?”
However, if Hillary convinces she’s a “populist” despite the overwhelming evidence of what she REALLY is - it will prove the US electorate is orders of magnitude more stupid than even I assessed
So true.
I think Hillary’s going to pull it off. Think of who comprises our current electorate - countless millions of Florida Dyspeptic clones, not only pig ignorant, but possessed of the kind of militant stupidity that is impervious to reason or logic.
Hillary’s ability to con such dupes (not difficult, really) is magnifed by the truly pathetic field of Wall Street fluffers, neo-con stooges, and corporate statists the GOP - a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the corporate cartels - are putting up as “choices” when in reality they all stand for the same thing: crony capitalism and being slavish water carriers for a corrupt and venal .1%.
Is Florida Dyspeptic a real commentator, or is she merely a paid thought leader for dupes?
I think Hillary’s going to pull it off
I do not think that the PTB could think of a better outcome than Hillary winning with the Republicans retaining control of the Congress. A low turnout election would work best so the Republicans running someone that would not cause a surge in Hispanic votes for Hillary like Jeb Bush would work best. Hillary will fire up some Republican voters so that is how they retain the Congress despite Hillary winning. Independents breaking for Hillary but then showing how independent they are by voting for their incumbent Republican senator. Then, they all can pretend to fight while crafting “compromise” bills that give the PTB exactly what they want. Increased chain migration for more temporary workers, what a compromise.
Hillary is winning the Keynesian beauty contest.
Rasmussen Reports
57% Think Hillary Clinton Likely To Win in 2016
in Politics
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Most voters think Hillary Clinton will be the next president of the United States even though they have very mixed feelings about her. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
…
Is it time to follow the timeless Wall Street advice to “Sell in April and go away”?
(Something doesn’t sound quite right about that version…)
S&P 500
2,100 +19.22 +0.92%
Bulletin
Shake Shack’s stock slumps after analyst downgrade
Need to Know
Mobius thinks it is time to bail on U.S. stocks, but should you listen?
By Barbara Kollmeyer
Published: Apr 21, 2015 8:04 a.m. ET
An earlier version of this column incorrectly reported the date of a report on jobless claims in ‘The Economy’ section. The error has been corrected.
Shutterstock/Swill Klitch
Time to go?
Your answer to the headline on today’s column may be a flat out ‘no’, especially if you’re watching stock futures ride the post-China stimulus wave higher again. Futures are up, following the biggest gain in three weeks for Wall Street.
…
You know Mr Market is struggling if Shake Shack can’t hit it’s numbers!
Thanks to the Fed and non-GAAP accounting practices, all of the old rules no longer apply to this rigged and manipulated market.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. was at the center of Obama’s ‘acted stupidly’ intervention and beer summit.
Ben Affleck On Republican Actors: ‘I Probably Wouldn’t Like’ Them
Posted: 12/09/2013 1:48 pm EST
Affleck himself is not immune to the judgment, adding, “When I watch a guy I know is a big Republican, part of me thinks, I probably wouldn’t like this person if I met him, or we would have different opinions.
The 41-year-old actor also spoke about his political influences, touching on his reasoning for supporting various candidates. “I grew up in a house with a mother who was a teacher and a Freedom Rider—very left-wing Democrats living in a heterogeneous working-class neighborhood,” Affleck explained. “I picked up a lot of those values there, and I brought them with me when I showed up in Hollywood.”
“In 2000, the Gore campaign said, ‘Hey, would you come do this with us?’ And I did,” Affleck continued. “I thought I had a responsibility, so I campaigned for Gore. Kerry was a Boston guy, and I felt an organic connection. And then Obama in 2008.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/09/ben-affleck-republicans_n_4413293.html - 263k -
———————————————————————-
PBS Discovered Something About a Hollywood Megastar’s Ancestor. Leaked Emails Reveal His Reaction.
Apr. 18, 2015 12:45pm Zach Noble
While participating in the 2014 PBS genealogy program “Finding Your Roots,” Ben Affleck discovered one of his ancestors had been a slave owner and demanded that PBS cover up that fact when the show aired, leaked emails uploaded this week by WikiLeaks revealed.
“[C]onfidentially, for the first time, one of our guests has asked us to edit out something about one of his ancestors–the fact that he owned slaves,” wrote Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the host of the program, in an email to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.
As the email chain continued, Gates noted that covering up the information “would be a violation of PBS rules, actually, even for Batman” and if it got out it “would embarrass him and compromise our integrity.”
He added, “Once we open the door to censorship, we lose control of the brand.”
But when the episode aired, there was no mention of Affleck’s slaveholding ancestor.
http://www.theblaze.com/…/ - 173k -
Feh. Ben Affleck. Hollywoodland.
You’d think Affleck would be thrilled! Seriously, you think he would be. Opportunities for apologies and apologetic overtures abound.
What’s he worried about?
Making reparations? Does he not want his material wealth tapped? He should, if he’s true to his leftist beliefs.
His “leftist belief” is likely concern for his children… 3 of them under the age of 10. They are already targets because of their parents. Now they can be bullied by classmates because “daddy owned slaves.” And yes, kids will do that.
Sorry
You don’t get to go on PBS and be all excited about your however many great grandfathers ago fighting in the Revolution, celebrate your Mom marching for civil rights in the 60s and then say…
Oh by the way, ixnay on the slave owner part of my family.
Gay marriage is not destroying straight marriage
The Marxist feminist legal system is destroying straight marriage
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-new-argument-against-gay-equality-same-sex-marriage-kills/2015/04/20/9fc509d4-e7a3-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html?hpid=z2
Shitty wives and shitty husbands are destroying marriage.
From another part of the Internets:
“The reason I’m not married is because I’m not paying an ex-wife to f* other men and teach our kids to hate me”
“A bachelor is a man who has deprived a woman of a divorce and the cash and prizes that come with it.”
we went to print some more cash and buy stocks and bonds so people have disposable income to buy some stuff. Cause 70% of our economy comes from people buying stuff. If the don’t have a job then they don’t have any money to buy stuff. You need to get money in their hands!!!
Assad: ISIS Was Created in Iraq, ‘Under the Supervision of the Americans’
April 21, 2015 - 4:14 AM
By Patrick Goodenough
(CNSNews.com) – The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was created in Iraq in 2006 “under the supervision of the Americans,” Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told French television in an interview broadcast on Monday.
With the civil war in its fifth year, Assad presented a customarily defiant face in the interview with France 2 TV, denying using chemical weapons or “barrel bombs” against his foes, denying that Iranian troops were fighting in support of his regime, and accusing the West and regional Arab states of supporting the infiltration of terrorists into Syria.
Asked whether he had helped ISIS to emerge in order to present himself as “a shield” against the terrorists, Assad bristled.
“ISIS was created in Iraq in 2006 under the supervision of the Americans,” he said, according to a transcript provided by the official SANA news agency. “I wasn’t controlling Iraq. The Americans controlled Iraq, and ISIS came from Iraq to Syria, because chaos is contagious.”
He accused the French government and others of “supporting those jihadists that they called moderate opposition.”
“The people who are supported now, who have Western armaments, they became ISIS, they were supported by your state [France], and by other Western states,” he said.
“The coalition against terrorism cannot be formed by countries who support the terrorists at the same time, so we don’t care whether they attack it in Syria, or Iraq, or both, as long as they support the same terrorists at the same time.”
cnsnews.com/…/assad-isis-was-created-iraq-under-supervision-americans - 64k -
Who or what is this supposed to rally?
So confused…
“Who or what is this supposed to rally?”
BUD: Who’s on first.
LOU: I don’t know.
BUD: He’s on third. We’re not talking about him.
LOU: How did I get on third base?
BUD: You mentioned his name.
LOU: If I mentioned the third baseman’s name, who did I say is playing third?
BUD: No, Who’s playing first.
LOU: Stay offa first, will ya?!
BUD: Well, what do you want me to do?
LOU: Now what’s the guy’s name on third base?
BUD: What’s on second.
LOU: I’m not asking ya who’s on second.
BUD: Who’s on first.
LOU: I don’t know.
BUD: He’s on third.
LOU: There I go, back on third again.
Where’s Richard Engel and his phony kidnapping these days?
It appears that 9/11 was the pretext for the Boosh coaliation to serve their Arab masters and oust Saddam Hussein that their behest. Mission accomplished for House of Bush and House of Saud.
The Arabs would also like to see Assad gone. Any questions?
Do CNSNEWS.COM and its readers now think that Bashar al-Assad is a reliable source?
The intelligent have become an endangered species in today’s IDIOCRACY.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icmRCixQrx8&spfreload=10
While Wall Streeters and banksters commit fraud and financial crimes with impunity, and street crime is rampant, this is what our “increasingly feminized” law enforcement is choosing to get tough on? I wish I would have been so “victimized” as a lad.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/21/us-usa-crime-teachers-idUSKBN0NC14H20150421
“Law enforcement is increasingly feminized, and women are much less prone to the old attitude: ‘Oh, this is just some kid who got lucky,’” said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center. “They recognize the issues involved and they go after women who violate the statutes.”
It would be political suicide for the Dems. Keep in mind that every single time there is a proposed taxed increase on the ballot here in the Centennial State (and that’s the only way to raise taxes), it goes down in flames, big time; as in a 2 to 1 loss.
If the governor tries to pull this off (and I doubt he legally can), he can kiss even more Dem state assembly and senate seats goodbye next year, and maybe even the governors mansion eventually as well. People will be pizzed when they find out he tried to bamboolze their TABOR refund.
Coloradans might be liberal when it comes to things like recreational mj, but the overwhelming majority HATES paying taxes and they fully support TABOR. That the governor is resorting to loopholes like this just goes to show how desperate he is to keep that $300 million surplus. But the political price will be very high if he even tries to do it. I suspect that in the end he will back off, most likely at the urging of members of his party who are afraid of not being re-elected.
Ol’ Hink used to think logically - now that he is a pol not so much.
I believe he’s a lame duck too. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but it’s a great way of handing the state legislature back to the GOP on a a silver platter.
Allowing grown adults to decide what they put in their bodies is not “liberal” it is libertarian
P.S. we did 250% of normal weekday sales yesterday on 4/20
P.S. we did 250% of normal weekday sales yesterday on 4/20
I was wondering about that
Question: Since banks will NOT accept your pot money, what do you do with the cash? Buy gold coins? Keep it in a safe?
And how do you spend it? You can’t walk into a car dealership with a briefcase full of cash and buy a car with it, or show up at a house closing with a bag full of cash. Or do you buy money orders with cash and then deposit them in a non biz related bank account?
No, its actually ‘librul’; thats what we called it at all those smoke-ins we had back in the day at Berkeley. You young bucks today are just confused because of all the political propaganda we have in ‘Mericuh now.
And libertarians? Libertarians are really just republicans who want to smoke pot, and get laid.
State department won’t deny that they would consider paying Iran up to $50Billion for a signing bonus on nuke deal?!!??! Seriously?!?!? That’s some awesome negotiating. OPM hard at work.
Would you rather spend a trillion+ invading and occupying Iran?
…because we have a trillion to spend on another worthless occupation…???
I think you missed my point.
No, I got yer point. I’d rather we not negotiate with terrorists period.
Even if it works? I’d prefer that the Iranians not develop nukes, and if a bribe can accomplish that, as opposed to a war, I think that a bribe could be pragmatic.
As for not “negotiating with terrorists”, consider that for most of the world that we are the bullies and the “terrorists”, and I’m not just talking about the Islamic world either.
So rather than get hung up on labels, why not try to find a practical solution? Sure, we can call them “terrorists” but what will that accomplish? All it has accomplished is that they’ve dug in their heels.
As for the bribe, it could be packaged as “reparations”. Don’t give it to them all at once and who knows? They might just behave.
Actually, I think it money that was frozen years ago and not our money. However, once we turn over that money we have lost most of our leverage to make sure Iran complies with the agreement. It is just another sign that Obama wants an agreement too much to negotiate. An attorney should know how to negotiate far better than Obama.
Yeah, 50 billion to not kill millions and leave a vast uninhabitable wasteland does sound a wee more equitable. My first take on the “bribe” was read as a “blink”. I didn’t see the partners5+1 in a need to kowtow with someones cash. But it’s all so easy to arm chair quarterback this whole affair from my rather comfy first world confines.
More beat down in the oil fields…..
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2015/04/21/baker-hughes-increases-layoffs-to-10500/
It is interesting since six months ago the average cost for shale oil was $68 now it is $75, I think that is right since both the cost of money has gone up and the quality of the areas left to drill has gone down:
http://peakoil.com/publicpolicy/saudi-arabias-oil-price-war-is-with-stupid-money
Just what are they huffing at the Huffington Post?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/04/21/huff-post-we-all-need-to-come-out-on-climate-change/
In the meantime, the latest news from “Laffer-stan” (Cliche Edition)
“When the hole is too big, stop digging….”
http://tinyurl.com/m5586r5
“…generate thousands of good, high paying jobs….” (not)
http://tinyurl.com/mrfwub5
Like these…… and nothing says “high tech/high paying” like baked beans and potato salad.
http://tinyurl.com/laxgpt9
And when a “good job” is making potato salad, who needs school?
http://tinyurl.com/l54mz35
Meanwhile, back at the ranch……crony capitalism/bailouts/privatize the profits/socialize the losses continue to be the “new normal”
http://tinyurl.com/o2d35fg
Finally, Brownback supports de-regulation, to “improve service and lower prices”
http;//tinyurl.com/n7sn7uo
No insurance, no background checks; such a deal! I guess the Carr brothers are going to be Uber drivers when/if they get out
http://tinyurl.com/3qrdptf
Toto, I think we’re still in Kansas.
ol.i.gar.chy
And forgot to mention……
Kansas now allows concealed carry without permits/tests/background checks.
Supposedly, people are more “civilized” when everyone is armed. Not from what I’m seeing. Conflict resolution around here is turning into a “who pulls their gun first” event.
When guns are present it’s easier for a situation to escalate, and once a gun gets pulled you’ve passed the point of no return.
Vermont had concealed carry with no license long before it became “cool”. The state never has had a problem with it and a lot of crimes have been prevented or stopped. It is amazing how many bad guys will find another line of work when they do not know whether their victim is armed or not.
This is what happens when you go too far to the right on the Laffer Curve (https://danieljmitchell.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/laffer-curve.jpg). When essential government services are cut too deeply the economy as a whole contracts and suffers. While Arthur Laffer himself is one of the founders of supply-side economics and used his theory to promote cutting taxes, ironically his own Laffer Curve justifies tax increases if taxes and spending are too low.
My mortgage payment is looking pretty good these days:
No newsflash here: San Francisco, after recently beating out Manhattan for both price and scarcity of offerings, has been crowned the worst city in the country for renters. But according to Forbes, the second worst city is not Manhattan. It’s Oakland. And the third worst: San Jose.
Studying the jump in rents from the last quarter of 2014 to now, as well as the vacancy rate, median household income, % of income paid for housing, as well as comparing the cost of renting to that of covering the average mortgage, Forbes listed the best and worst rental markets.
And apparently, the whole Bay Area kind of sucks: KQED writes “Over the past year, vacancy rates for all three cities are under 4% and rental costs have surged 12.8% in SF, 10.5% in Oakland, and 11.3% in San Jose.
http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2015/04/21/sf-oakland-and-san-jose-named-3-worst-cities-in-the-usa-for-renters/
And your losses are up to what….$500k now?
That is considered “unpossible” to some on this board. If it were me, I would be looking for the door, but sometimes it is good to buy and sometimes it is good to sell. This is true with houses, stocks or PMs, permabulls or permabears do not do well.
“sometimes it is good to buy and sometimes it is good to sell.”
You’re catching on SFJack.
My old boss just got a new job in the Bay area. Says house prices are insane, and he grew up in California.
According to his (albeit non-scientific survey), going prices for the typical 3/2/2 in the San Jose area start at $800K.
So the commute from Lake Tahoe continues………
Give $800K for a 3/2/2 around here, and the seller will throw in the wife and daughters (and they’d better be “10″s)
Hell, if a gay guy wanted to pay me $800K, and throw MYSELF in, I’d have to think about it……..
you could buy a house and pretty much retire off of 800k in a lot of places.
It must be the silicon valley folks cashing in aaple and facebook shares.
anyone working a real job would be a fool to buy an 800k house.
anyone working a real job would be a fool to buy an 800k house.”
They don’t speak much English off great American Parkway and don’t know what 800K is really I guess.
He doubled his salary when he moved out there in September.
So did my BFF/guy I went to school with in 1978 when he started out there in November ($200K+). His local options were all a retrograde step in equipment (bigger/better airplane = More pay), and paycheck (50% cut or more from his previous salary, which wasn’t anywhere near $200K).
So the family stays in Flyover, and he commutes to the Bay Area by airline when he has a trip. Like most airline pilots.
California is in some kind of crazy parallel universe, compared to 90% of the rest of the country. Get away from the major population centers, and the USA has more in common with the Taliban, than they do the major metros
- Tribalism? Check.
- Tendancies toward conservative religious beliefs? Check
- Traditional viewpoints on family? Check
- Cheerleaders for “Free Markets” (as long as they don’t have to compete in them) Check.
- Dreaming of “turning back the clock, to the way it used to be” (even though some people equate the “Way it used to be” with discrimination/violence/abuse/ethnic cleansing/you name it). Double check
- “Badge-Lickers?” Check
IOW, Fox News viewers……
Not that I don’t have some sympathy for some of their views. Like the population going in some locations from 5% or less illegal to 35% illegal since 1980, and turning the place you grew up in into a “English as a second language” paradise.
Remember the old “doing jobs Americans won’t do” excuse? It’s more like “Americans CAN”T do” unless the adopt Third World living habits.
The trouble is, legals and illegals don’t try to assimilate anymore (unlike the Vietnamese who came around here circa 1975-85) …….they bring all of the “Old Country” BS with them.
Commuting for hours every day sounds like hell. I’d rather spend that time gardening,
This is where homeowners win and renters lose. If you have a fixed rate mortgage your bank “landlord” will never raise your rent.
A moot point considering carrying costs are double the rental rates.
My losses are:
- I do not need to commute
- My housing costs are fixed
- I don’t have to worry about being evicted
- I love my home
- My housing costs are 25% of my income
Thanks to HBB, I bought after 30 years of renting. Part luck, part research, in hindsight I bought at the bottom: 3.5% fixed 30 year mortgage in 2012.
…. and double the cost of renting the same square footage.
You must be on drugs:
As of March 2015, average apartment rent within 10 miles of San Francisco, CA is $3586.
One bedroom apartments in San Francisco rent for $3100 a month on average and two bedroom apartment rents average $4268.
Wrong again my friend… and worse yet, your losses grow by the day.
Are you talking about the bottom of the market or interest rates? Because if interest rates rise, which they will at some point, housing prices will fall. And when the free money party is over, all those dot com scams in SF will crater, just like they did the last time. I don’t know how you can think you bought at the bottom. It seems to me your timing couldn’t have been worse.
“My losses are…My housing costs are fixed”
We have discussed this thought failure many times. I think you were not a longtime HBB reader.
If interest rates go to 6% (unpossible?) you will lose half a mil in the blink of an eye. So much for buying at the “low”.
In your 50s with a 30 year mortgage! Hahahaha!
You will undoubtedly spend $800,000 more than me over the next 30 years due to not being able to do long math. Or you will default. Or the housing bubble is just on the ground floor in California. Good luck.
What’s long math?
Called honest math.
Yer payin’ the bank half yer house in just INTEREST!! Refi to 15 year fixed immediately!!
M.I.D. is a ruse.
You could be in a 2.5% 15yr today.
sfloanowner: “I bought at the bottom… in 2012.”
So why was 2012 the bottom, because that’s when you bought? lmao.
When the real bottom comes you will be very surprised.
Some more heart lifting, inspiring news about our current law enforcement industrial complex:
http://tinyurl.com/n49zpt2
The problems, and the -fixr’s solution
-Cops/military are trained to shoot at “Center of mass”. Which is the excuse they give when people ask “Why didn’t you just wound him/”wing” him.
Except when they are shooting an inaccurate (compared to a pistol) TASER. In which case, the manufacturer says (in order to avoid product liability suits) essentially: “Wing ‘em”
Cops can’t have it both ways. If they are able to hit the extremities with a TASER, they should be capable of the same or better accuracy with a pistol.
The reality is that TASERS have become a non-judicial form of punishment in this country. cops know that some guys aren’t going to spend more than a couple hours in jail, especially those with money and/or good lawyers. OTOH, they get to inflict some “justice” on the perps/wretched refuse who don’t show the proper respect by simply yelling “QUIT RESISTING”, then zapping them.
The -fixr solution:
Require that officers who use TASERS on people be administered the SAME shock, with the probes in the SAME location, for the SAME length of time as the person they used it on. Especially if the charge is a misdemeanor.
(Personally, getting 10K volts to the nutsack for any length of time pretty much defines torture to me, but I’m an old fashioned liberal/socialist/commie softie……)
What better way to prove that the TASER is “safe”?
You are raising your blood pressure X, maybe if you watch the TASER scenes in “Hangover” you will feel better.
This one is telling…..from Wisconsin - police out of control….
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french
Buyer Demand Drives Double-Digit Growth in Home Sales, Devouring Inventory.
https://www.redfin.com/research/reports/real-time-housing-market-tracker/2015/market-tracker-march-2015.html#.VTaZ5fnF_wD
Wont people buy more stuff if things are cheaper?
If people couldn’t finance a house they would be like 75% less in price at least.
Instead we have people buying overpriced homes and giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest to bankers.
Good debt slaves.
” 75% less ”
I believe you overestimate how much money most people have. Actual money. Coming up with $25K cash for the vast majority is impossible.
I believe you overestimate how much money most people have. Actual money. Coming up with $25K cash for the vast majority is impossible.
When I meet people they invariably have much nicer phones and other toys and vehicles than I do, even though I earn much more than they do. They also eat out far more often than I do.
When I ask them how much they’re saving in their 401Ks they invariably laugh and say things like “Who has any money to save?” Then I tell them how much I save every month (4 figures) and they give me incredulous looks. It’s “amazing” how much you can save when you don’t drive a $50,000 truck and don’t spend all your money on toys.
So it’s no wonder that zero down mortgages are making a come back.
Driving SUV’s they can’t afford is an emotional crutch for people who will be driving used Kias when they retire.
“when they retire”
It is a drastic transition to go from spending everything, plus what you can put on credit, to spending half (for example) and saving. If you don’t do that a decade or two before retirement, it boggles the mind how retirement is even possible.
Along those lines, most of the people I work with in my age class have no plans to retire anytime soon.
I was browsing craigslist the other day and I’m seeing these gmc trucks with like 30k miles on them and folks are asking 40-50k for them. One was like a loaded 2012 for 43k. Then I ask myself I wonder what the h@ll they paid for them off the lot?
Good luck finding a buyer without a bank involved.
Prices are getting absurd because of credit.
This one is for ABQ Dan and anyone who is wondering about his question of me earlier in this day - read on - a very telling tale of what is in store for Chicago and other bankrupt ’ships of state’. Pray for those in the hull who can’t get out……
The first few comments at the end are an interesting read as well…..
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2015/04/continuing-depopulation-detroit.html
Interesting article. I believe that Chicago has around a $500 million dollar pension obligation coming soon, I just wonder if it is going to trigger the downward spiral when the city has trouble making the contribution.
Everyone who can moves to the suburbs in Detroit, leaving behind an ever more dysfunctional population. Even downtown is becoming separated from the neighborhoods. Chicago did a much better job of preserving its downtown, but its neighborhoods are worse in many ways. Detroit is slowly getting better, but only from the center out, and there will probably always be areas that people will want to avoid.
living off of home equity has a finite time span. when it ends sh@t literately hits the fan. I’m sure the party was fun while it lasted.
Has blackstone showed up to town yet?
printing money shifts resources from folks!
“Oh, my lord,” exclaimed one bundled-up woman when she first spotted the river of people, their documents in envelopes and folders of every sort, pouring out of cars, hunched over walkers, driving electric scooters, being pushed in wheelchairs, or simply attempting to jam their way on foot into the building.
Everybody there has their disability gig well rehearsed. Lösers!
lumber futures are looking pretty bullish these days. the doves might have to put a hold on rate hikes for many years to come I’m afraid.
You can probably make some easy money shorting the dollar once people realize a rate hike is a fantasy.
The historic way to raise rates is to sell treasuries and take cash out of the economy.
How can uncle fed be a net seller of treasuries when they are the only game in town? How many treasuries need to be rolled over this year?
Uber driver in Chicago puts a quick end to what could have been a mass shooting by using his own concealed handgun to take down the gunman. Oddly, the MSM has consigned this story to the memory hole.
http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-driver-with-concealed-handgun-prevents-mass-shooting-in-chicago-2015-4
“Oddly, the MSM has consigned this story to the memory hole.”
+1 Yep, can’t handle the truth.
While Florida Dyspeptic re-validated the fact that millions of ‘Muricans are irredeemably stupid and gullible, thanks in no small part to their steady diet of MSM propaganda, the “alternative” media is gleefully calling out Hillary on her so-faux attempt to don the mantle of “middle class champion” with her strident denunciations of the “one percent” when her own membership in the .1% and her long slime trail of sleaze and corruption speak for themselves.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-21/deck-stacked-warns-populist-clinton-will-topple-wealthiest-1
Who’d have thunk it - as cultural Marxists have taken over our institutions of higher learning and replaced higher education with dogmatic “progressive” indoctrination and mediocrity, college graduates are finding a degree is not guarantee of a decent job in the Obama-Fed-Goldman Sachs economy, with their prospects especially bleak since 2008 (when Obama, incidently was elected. How’s the hope ‘n change working out for you, Millenial dupes?
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/04/21/they-said-go-to-college/
This guy writes:
” The percentage of college graduates with jobs has been falling for the last 30 years and has been plummeting since 2008. It is now at an all-time low of 74.3%.”
Then he shows us a graph of labor force participation rate of college graduates over the age of 25. The participation rate includes both people who are employed and people looking for work. So this writer doesn’t know the meaning of the statistics that he is quoting.
Also, you need to remember if the graph has to do with people over 25, it includes everyone over that age, including people who 70, 80 and 90. So these graphs are not at all useful.
Cartoon: Why is your millennial crying? (Hint: The Boomers may be getting close competition in the “Most Worthless Generation in History” award.)
http://captaincapitalism.blogspot.com/2015/04/lazy-sunday-linkage_19.html
I wonder if President Obama will heap praise on Earth Day co-founder Ira Einhorn who was the master of ceremonies at the first Earth Day rally on April 22, 1970?
President Obama shines spotlight on parks for Earth Day week
By Timothy Cama - 04/20/15 06:00 AM EDT
The White House is planning events all this week, with a focus on Obama’s Earth Day trip Wednesday to the Everglades National Park in Florida.
President Obama and the White House are calling attention this week to the impact climate change will have on parks and other special landscapes.
thehill.com/…/239357-obama-shines-spotlight-on-parks-for-earth-day-week - 151k -
Earth Day co-founder killed, composted girlfriend
Ira Einhorn was the master of ceremonies at the first Earth Day rally on April 22, 1970.
By Remy Melina
updated 4/21/2011 8:19:26 PM ET
Ira Einhorn was on stage hosting the first Earth Day event at the Fairmount Park in Philadelphia on April 22, 1970. Seven years later, police raided his closet and found the “composted” body of his ex-girlfriend inside a trunk.
A self-proclaimed environmental activist, Einhorn made a name for himself among ecological groups during the 1960s and ’70s by taking on the role of a tie-dye-wearing ecological guru and Philadelphia’s head hippie. With his long beard and gap-toothed smile, Einhorn — who nicknamed himself “Unicorn” because his German-Jewish last name translates to “one horn” —advocated flower power, peace and free love to his fellow students at the University of Pennsylvania. He also claimed to have helped found Earth Day.
But the charismatic spokesman who helped bring awareness to environmental issues and preached against the Vietnam War — and any violence — had a secret dark side. When his girlfriend of five years, Helen “Holly” Maddux, moved to New York and broke up with him, Einhorn threatened that he would throw her left-behind personal belongings onto the street if she didn’t come back to pick them up.
And so on Sept. 9, 1977, Maddux went back to the apartment that she and Einhorn had shared in Philadelphia to collect her things, and was never seen again. When Philadelphia police questioned Einhorn about her mysterious disappearance several weeks later, he claimed that she had gone out to the neighborhood co-op to buy some tofu and sprouts and never returned.
It wasn’t until 18 months later that investigators searched Einhorn’s apartment after one of his neighbors complained that a reddish-brown, foul-smelling liquid was leaking from the ceiling directly below Einhorn’s bedroom closet. Inside the closet, police found Maddux’s beaten and partially mummified body stuffed into a trunk that had also been packed with Styrofoam, air fresheners and newspapers.
After his arrest, Einhorn jumped bail and spent decades evading authorities by hiding out in Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and France. After 23 years, he was finally extradited to the United States from France and put on trial. Taking the stand in his own defense, Einhorn claimed that his ex-girlfriend had been killed by CIA agents who framed him for the crime because he knew too much about the agency’s paranormal military research. He was convicted of murdering Maddux and is currently serving a life sentence.
http://www.nbcnews.com/…/t/earth-day-co-founder-killed-composted-girlfriend/ - 59k - Cached - Similar pages
Apr 21, 2011
more immigrant bs………http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/nyregion/in-immigrant-rich-queens-vienna-convention-is-part-of-criminal-court-routine.html
Officially, the Vienna Convention notice assures citizens of other countries who are arrested that they may contact their consulates for assistance. Unofficially, its mention seems to go unremarked upon by just about all of the 70,000 or so defendants who pass through the arraignment court in Kew Gardens each year.
late post and will try to post it tomorrow (I have long commutes these days and get home late):
‘ Near California’s Success Lake, more than 1,000 water wells have failed. Farmers are spending $750,000 to drill 1,800 feet down to keep fields from going fallow. Makeshift showers have sprouted near the church parking lot.
“The conditions are like a third-world country,” said Andrew Lockman, a manager at the Office of Emergency Services in Tulare County, in the heart of the state’s agricultural Central Valley about 175 miles (282 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.
As California enters the fourth year of a record drought, its residents and $43 billion agriculture industry have drawn groundwater so low that it’s beyond the reach of existing wells. That’s left thousands with dry taps and pushed farmers to dig deeper as Governor Jerry Brown, a 77-year-old Democrat, orders the first mandatory water rationing in state history.’
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-20/another-reason-move-away-california-conditions-are-third-world-country