June 27, 2015

Bits Bucket for June 27, 2015

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




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154 Comments »

Comment by Adult Diapers
2015-06-27 01:31:41

Renters rule, loanowners drool!

Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 04:50:39

rooooo-precht……Ruprecht!

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 06:42:38

Renters rule, loanowners drool!

Our HBB maturity level, never lofty, has dipped again, I fear….

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 07:00:57

Satire. It’s makes the truth of falling housing prices more painful.

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 09:16:57

You can say that again!

 
 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-06-27 01:58:41

Dear God,

I’ve never asked you for anything before, but I’ve got to make an exception now.

PLEASE arrange it so Bristol Palin goes on a “Whose the Daddy?” Episode of the Maury Povich show.

And if you really are feeling favorable, do the DNA test on her former MOH winning fiancee, and discover he IS NOT THE DADDY!

The opportunities for comic relief for the wretched refuse are nearly endless.

Throw us a bone here.

Comment by MacBeth
2015-06-27 04:24:29

Sad.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 06:44:19

The imbeciles who voted for John McCain, who would have put Bristol’s idiot mother a heart attack away from the Presidency, are prime candidates for court-ordered sterilization.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:50:38

Do you really think things would be worse than they are now. I wrote in nader. If I thought McCain was going to die I would have pull the lever for her since at least she was not a known globalist.

Comment by Pangolin
2015-06-27 11:01:01

The only candidate that would come close to even supporting court ordered sterilization was McCain. The other side would never limit their potential FSA membership.

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Comment by aNYCdj
2015-06-27 08:57:05

i dunno who is worse Alzheimer biden or cute hot mama palin?

 
 
Comment by rms
2015-06-27 07:14:42

“…and discover he IS NOT THE DADDY!”

Jerry!… Jerry!… Jerry!….

 
 
Comment by Adult Diapers
2015-06-27 03:03:52

Heading off the grid for a while but need to share this adult diaper love first:

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/26/why_republicans_are_determined_to_ignore_the_threat_of_right_wing_extremism/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 04:29:28

How much farther down from here does the Chinese stock market have to go?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 04:37:46

it always gets ugly when the incoming tsunami tide of euphoria gives way to the outgoing tsunami tide of panic.

China Stocks Plunge Most Since 1996 as Bubble Warnings Rise
June 26, 2015 — 11:28 AM PDT
Updated on June 27, 2015 — 3:40 AM PDT

China’s stocks capped their steepest two-week plunge since December 1996 as investors who use borrowed money to buy equities cut holdings and concern grew that valuations were excessive.

The Shanghai Composite Index sank 7.4 percent on Friday, taking its decline from its June 12 high to 19 percent, on the cusp of a bear market. Technology, industrial and material companies led declines in the two-week period, with Neusoft Corp., China Railway Construction Corp. and Hainan Mining Co. tumbling more than 30 percent.

Strategists at BlackRock Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG and Bank of America Corp. this month warned the nation’s equities were in a bubble. The median stock on mainland exchanges is valued at about 85 times earnings — higher than when the market peaked in October 2007 and compared with a multiple of 20 for the U.S.

“We suspect there will be will be some more forced sales in the coming few days happening in the market,” Steve Yang, China equity strategist at UBS Group AG in Shanghai, said Friday in a phone interview. “It’s probably not a wise time to buy at the current stage.”

A day after the stocks plunge, China’s central bank cut its benchmark lending rate to record low and lowered reserve-requirement ratios for some lenders. Economists at Everbright Securities Co., Mizuho Securities Co. and UBS AG said the monetary easing was likely in reaction to the equities slump.

The declines have turned China’s stock market from the world’s best performer to the worst. About 950 of the 1,105 members on the Shanghai Composite have declined since June 12. Before then, only two companies had fallen this year.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 04:50:02

This is shaping up like a page from Alan Greenspan’s play book.

China Cuts Interest Rates to a Record Low After Stocks Slump
June 27, 2015 — 2:30 AM PDT
Updated on June 27, 2015 — 4:26 AM PDT
Off-Balance Sheet Lending Pumps Up Default Risk
Nelson Ching/Bloomberg

China’s central bank cut its benchmark lending rate to a record low and lowered reserve-requirement ratios for some lenders after stocks plunged and local government bond sales drained liquidity.

In the fourth reduction since November, the one-year lending rate will be reduced by 25 basis points to 4.85 percent effective June 28, the People’s Bank of China said on its website Saturday. The one-year deposit rate will fall by 25 basis points to 2 percent, while reserve ratios for some lenders including city commercial and rural commercial banks will be cut by 50 basis points, according to the statement.

The easing follows the biggest two-week plunge in the stock market since December 1996 and a four-week rise in money-market rates as lenders hoard cash. While industrial production and retail sales stabilized in May, investment slowed further — a sign of weakness in infrastructure spending that policy makers are keen to reverse.

“The central bank doesn’t want a panic caused by the stock rout to spread,” said Shen Jianguang, chief Asia economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd. in Hong Kong. “That would lead to financial instability.”

Premier Li Keqiang has set a growth target of about 7 percent for 2015, which would be the slowest annual expansion since 1990. Policy makers are juggling the need to keep growth from slipping too far with plans to press ahead with reforms.

Global Easing

PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan’s latest move adds to a global wave of monetary easing. South Korea and New Zealand are among the latest to lower their key rates as China’s weakness combined with domestic dynamics to argue for further stimulus.

The Shanghai Composite Index sank 7.4 percent on Friday, taking its decline from its June 12 high to 19 percent, on the cusp of a bear market.

“A plunge at that pace could have forced margin calls and another round of selling, leading to a stampede,” said Lu Ting, Chief Economist at Huatai Securities Co. “So avoiding panic in the financial market and protecting market confidence is part of the consideration.”

The government has escalated efforts to prevent a hard landing, adding fiscal loosening to monetary easing. It has doubled the size of a debt swap program, offering local governments cheaper financing to alleviate a funding crunch.

Local governments are set to issue about 2.8 trillion yuan ($451 billion) of debt this year, adding a strain on liquidity. The Ministry of Finance this week failed to meet its target at a bond auction for the first time since July 2014 amid the surge in municipal issuance.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 04:48:34

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved the TPP
It once was lost, but now It’s found
A flag is all they see

Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 04:51:52

Ain’ it da trute!

Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 08:21:36

Here’s Why Republicans Gave Obama Power to Ram Through TPP

The false left/right paradigm explained

by Kit Daniels | Infowars.com | June 26, 2015

This article originally appeared in the Infowars Underground Insider newsletter! Not subscribed? Join now!
If you want to know why Republicans just gave President Obama more power to ram through the Trans-Pacific Partnership via the Trade Promotion Authority, just study the Hegelian Dialectic.

By passing the TPA on Wednesday, the Republican-controlled Senate gave Obama authority to negotiate trade deals such as the TPP under fast-track measures which denies Congress the right to change or delay international economic agreements promoted by the White House.

“…The GOP establishment has consistently failed to show any backbone when it comes to fighting Obama,” Red State reported. “They’re constantly telling us that the good, responsible thing is to pass this bill [the TPA], but we’ll fight the next time.”

“Only, next time never comes.”

The reason why can be found in the Hegelian Dialectic.

Formulated by German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the Hegelian Dialectic says the human mind can’t understand anything unless it can be split into two polar opposites, i.e. Left / Right.

“For example when people are talking about two political parties, [Republican or Democrat], what they’re actually referring to, without realizing it, is the thesis and the antithesis based off the Hegelian Dialectic,” General Maddox with realnewsaustralia.com wrote. “The only real debate that occurs is just the minor differences between those two parties.”

“Nothing is said or done about the issues that neither left or right is discussing.”

And establishment insider Carroll Quigley revealed why there doesn’t appear to be much difference between Republican and Democrat presidents, such as Obama and George W. Bush.

“The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to the doctrinaire and academic thinkers,” Quigley advocated in his book Tragedy and Hope. “Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can ‘throw the rascals out’ at any election without leading to any profound or extreme shifts in policy.”

In other words, Republicans and Democrats will publicly debate minor issues, but when it comes to the TPP, which was drafted by the transnational interests who control both parties, many of the Republicans and Democrats will toe the line and serve their masters’ agenda.

Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 09:24:15

Except none of that really matters when the form of government is a de factro kritarchy. Citizens United should have been the first clue (deciding who and what has personhood). Yesterday more or less clinched the deal. (Deciding “rights” rather than law).

Truth is, we’ve probably lived under kritarchy for a long time, ever since the kritarchs started throwing out laws and referendums voted in by the people at state level, on the grounds they are “unconstitutional”.

Ever notice that kritarchs bear more than a passing resemblance to priests when they’ve got their costumes on?

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Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 10:05:55

Anyway, jeff, looks like you and I will probably live long enough to see the end of things here in the USA. Now that I’ve made my peace with it, I’m very interested to see how events unfold.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 13:03:41

Same here.

 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-06-27 13:10:05

Now that I’ve made my peace with it, I’m very interested to see how events unfold.

Dr. Strangelove (Or: How I learned to stop worrying and love The Bomb)

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 13:41:20

“I’m very interested to see how events unfold.”

Hell palmy there’s a lot to look forward to.

Like these dopes who defend Obama care thinking their $18k a year employer provided health plans aren’t going to go up while the $27k starting point of the 40 percent excise tax won’t come down.

I figure they will meet at about $22k and then WHAP!

It’s easy to defend something that has a huge price tag when you don’t plan on having to pay for any of it.

I mean really, do they think these people are lying to everyone else and they are going to leave them unscathed?
——————————————————————

In Third Video, Obamacare Architect Talks About ‘Basic Exploitation’ Of American Voters [VIDEO]

Chuck Ross
Reporter
10:40 AM 11/12/2014

A third video has surfaced of Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber bragging about pulling the wool over the eyes of the American public in order to help implement Obamacare.

“It’s a very clever, you know, basic exploitation of the lack of economic understanding of the American voter,” Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said during a speech at the University of Rhode Island in November 2012.

He was discussing what is known as the Cadillac tax and how it came into being.

In an effort to add a cost-control measure to Obamacare, former Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who Gruber called a “hero,” successfully pushed through a 40 percent excise tax on insurance companies for plans that cost more than $10,200 for individuals and $27,000 for families.

This was an alternative to putting a cap on tax breaks employers provide employees for health insurance plans, which, according to Gruber, the public mistook for a tax increase rather than the removal of a tax break.

“You just can’t get through, it’s just politically impossible,” Gruber said during his talk.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/11/12/in-third-video-obamacare-architect-talks-about-basic-exploitation-of-american-voters-video/#ixzz3eIQIRrzb

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 13:47:56

Anyway, jeff, looks like you and I will probably live long enough to see the end of things here in the USA.

The America I grew up believing in is dead, with its Constitution a maggotty skull-f**ked corpse thanks to the Republicrats. ‘Murica has risen in its stead, populated by the denizens of Idiocracy.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-06-27 14:32:15

Like these dopes who defend Obama care thinking their $18k a year employer provided health plans aren’t going to go up

This dope’s 18K policy hasn’t gone up in 4 years.

while the $27k starting point of the 40 percent excise tax won’t come down

How exactly is that going to happen? Isn’t the congress still GOP controlled? Will the GOP vote to lower it? I don’t think so.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 15:17:25

Ray-k, as of now, nothing much has “risen” in its stead. The deterioration continues. But I can tell you this, no country that I know of has ever recovered from what the US has experienced. Not that there couldn’t be a first time, but I’ve yet to come across an example in my dilettante readings of history.

Countries are basically founded on nothing more than agreements between people inhabiting a land mass. Think of the Constitution as a basic agreement.

When people break their agreements with others, the contract is voided. Congress has effectively done itself in and reduced itself to an expensive piece of window dressing. It has broken its agreements with “the people”, for whom they are supposed to work in the form of representation. Congress stopped working when it refused to impeach Bush and prosecute him accordingly. In fact it could still do so, and should.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 15:35:48

“This dope’s 18K policy hasn’t gone up in 4 years.”

I retract and apologize for the dope part of that.

But I do believe the next 3 years and into 2018 will extract from people who never thought they would be extracted from and I also believe it is easy to defend a very expensive program if you believe it will never affect or cost you anything.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 16:14:37

“18K policy hasn’t gone up in 4 years.”

I wouldn’t expect it to go up until after the 2016 elections and then Katy bar the door.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-06-27 16:39:50

I figure they will meet at about $22k and then WHAP!

So 2018 is your the date that you’re predicting for this event?

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 17:26:08

Obamacare 40% Cadillac Tax Hits No Frills Plans Too. Like Your Plan, Keep Your Plan?

Apr 7, 2015

In 2010, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged passage of Obamacare so we could find out what’s in it. We found many new taxes, but in 2010, few worried about the Cadillac tax that was delayed until 2018. Besides, it would apply only to truly rich plans for the most elite. The numbers no longer seem so elite.

The tax applies to individual health plans worth more than $10,200 and family plans worth more than $27,500. They are hit with a whopping 40% excise tax. Former Obamacare adviser Jonathan Gruber gloated that rising medical costs would ensure that the Cadillac tax would all but eliminate tax deductible company provided health insurance. Mr. Gruber even said President Obama was in the room when the Cadillac tax lie was created.

2018 now seems close and the Cadillac tax is looming. Many Democrats and Republicans may be curiously aligned in considering repealing it. Politico has an in-depth story on the Cadillac tax, noting that repealing it would cost $87 billion. Even so, the 40% excise tax will clearly be a catastrophe. Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) introduced legislation to repeal it. Companies and unions must plan ahead as they negotiate benefits.

Plainly, the Cadillac name is a gross misnomer. It will apply to many benefits that are hardly elite. The sea change is enormous. Company provided health benefits have not been taxed for generations. And that is exactly what the deceptively named Cadillac tax does. It is broad too, applying to health savings and flexible spending accounts, supplemental insurance plans, and more.

Even plans that are not hit by the 40% tax in 2018 soon could be. After all, the Cadillac tax is linked to the consumer price index plus 1%. Medical and insurance costs are growing far faster, so more and more plans will be hit with the 40% each year. A survey by Mercer anticipates that one-third of employers will be hit by the tax in 2018, growing to 60% by 2022. It could be worse still.

A reasonable response to the Cadillac tax is likely to be cutting of health insurance. Less generous coverage will presumably be provided. In large part, the result is likely to higher costs for employees, higher deductibles, and other add-ons that will harm employees. Doesn’t that go directly contrary to what proponents of the Affordable Care Act–including the President–represented? Like your plan, keep your plan?

http://www.forbes.com/…/ - 155k -

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 04:53:37

Are Grexit fears still in force?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 04:58:56

Edmonton Journal
Stocks slide Friday as Grexit deadline looms; oil holds below $60 level
Posted by Gary Lamphier, Edmonton Journal

Stock markets are under pressure again Friday, adding to Thursday’s losses, as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras continues to talk tough with euro zone creditors despite a looming June 30th debt repayment deadline.

Tsipras accused creditors of “blackmail,” according to wire reports, after euro zone members offered to release billions of euros in frozen aid to the debt-hobbled country in return for pension and tax reforms.

The offer comes as Greece faces possible default Tuesday on outstanding loans from the International Monetary Fund.

The protracted drama over a possible Grexit – Greece’s exit from the euro – has preoccupied investors for weeks, with market sentiment flip-flopping erratically, depending on the headlines of the day.

Barring a sudden resolution, that’s likely to continue as Tuesday’s deadline nears.

As of about 1:59 pm EDT Friday, two of the three major U.S. indexes are in negative territory, with the S&P 500 Index down about two points to 2,100 and the Nasdaq Composite Index giving up 35 points to 5,076.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has bucked the downtrend; it’s currently up about 50 points to 17,941.

In Toronto, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index is also well into the red as the week draws to a close. It’s currently off about 96 points to 14,800, with all 10 sectors posting losses on the day.

Oil prices are also struggling Friday. The August futures contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is currently trading at 59.78 US per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up eight cents on the day, after briefly dipping below the $59 level earlier in the session.

June 26, 2015

Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 15:42:49

“Are Grexit fears still in force?”

More like they’re still in farce.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 05:08:55

Wall Street Journal
World
Analysis: ‘Grexit’ Isn’t the Scary Prospect It Once Was
Many of eurozone’s powers-that-be now believe any contagion could be contained
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, left, laughs with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, center, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a European summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Photo: olivier hoslet/European Pressphoto Agency
By Matthew Dalton
June 25, 2015 4:03 p.m. ET

When Greek voters were threatening to reject the country’s bailout program in June 2012 elections, skepticism rose in the German government about whether keeping Greece in the eurozone was worth the trouble—and the money.

So eurozone officials made a trip to Berlin to brief German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble on a highly sensitive eurozone analysis of the price tag attached to cutting Greece loose from the currency bloc.

The hair-raising finding, delivered in a PowerPoint presentation, was that the cost of a Greek exit was higher by “a big multiple” than the cost of keeping Greece in, said a eurozone official who has seen the analysis. The presentation made Berlin significantly more concerned about Greece leaving the currency bloc, eurozone officials said.

‘We should do everything we can to keep Greece in the eurozone, but to be honest we cannot do that at all cost’
—Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb

Three years later, the calculations have changed. A Greek exit from the eurozone—dubbed “Grexit”—would be costly and messy, but the eurozone’s powers-that-be now believe the turmoil could be contained to Greece. The mention of Grexit no longer strikes terror into the hearts of finance ministers, who talk openly about it.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 06:46:47

More whistling past the graveyard. If a default event is declared, the cascading effect on the massively leveraged derivatives exposure to Greek debt, i.e. credit default swaps, could bring down the global financial system.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 07:05:09

You just said, in so many words, that Greece is too big to fail.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-06-27 09:22:57

A 315 billion Euro loss in and of itself seems pretty easy for the global economy to absorb. I still think that they are more afraid of a domino effect of more and bigger defaulters to follow, one that could add up to trillions in defaults.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 13:51:06

Given all the leveraged derivatives - $54 trillion in Deutche Bank alone - Greece could well be the catalyst that brings down the financial system.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:21:26

It appears the eurozone finance ministers are not overly concerned about $54 trillion in leveraged derivatives defaulting at Deutsche Bank. If only private investors get burned, is it safe to presume there is no systemic risk worry?

Europe
Greece debt crisis: Eurozone refuses bailout extension
1 hour ago
From the section Europe
Greeks have been queuing to withdraw cash

Eurozone finance ministers have rejected a Greek request to extend a bailout programme beyond 30 June.

A Eurogroup statement said Greece had broken off negotiations over a new bailout deal “unilaterally”.

Late on Friday, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras called a surprise referendum for 5 July over the terms of any new deal.

Greece has to pay €1.6bn (£1.1bn) to the IMF on Tuesday. Without new funds, there are fears Greece may leave the euro and its economy may collapse.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis said Greece would still try to secure a bailout deal that could then be put to a referendum.

“In these crucial moments, the Greek government is fighting for there to be a last minute deal by Tuesday,” he said.

The Greek parliament is due to vote later on whether to ratify the referendum.

Eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem said it would be up to the European Central Bank (ECB) to decide whether to continue providing emergency liquidity funding to the Greek banking system.

The ECB said it was “closely monitoring developments” and would hold a meeting in due course to discuss the situation.

“The process hasn’t ended - it will never end probably”, said Mr Dijsselbloem. “We will continue to work with Greece. Many things could happen - many scenarios are conceivable.”

But he placed the blame squarely with Greece for walking out of negotiations on Friday.

“They broke off their talks while they were still going on, while there was still time,” he said.

“The only positive caveat I see is that the Greek parliament still has to take a wise position on that, and I hope that may lead to a different political situation.”

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:11:28

The fix is out.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:12:51

World Europe
Eurozone Finance Ministers Reject Greek Request for One-Month Bailout Extension
* Greek Parliament to vote on bailout referendum later Saturday
* Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis looks on during a Eurogroup meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Saturday. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
By Gabriele Steinhauser, Viktoria Dendrinou and Nektaria Stamouli
Updated June 27, 2015 12:36 p.m. ET

BRUSSELS—Eurozone finance ministers rejected a Greek request for a one-month extension to its bailout program on Saturday, setting off a period of high uncertainty for the country that could end in its exit from the eurozone.

Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis made the request at a meeting with his eurozone counterparts here, a day after the government in Athens said it would hold a referendum on its bailout in which it would campaign against the policy overhauls and budget cuts demanded by its creditors.

The ministers’ decision means Greece’s bailout program will expire on Tuesday and the country will likely default on its €1.55 billion ($1.73 billion) payment due to the International Monetary Fund the same day.

Mr. Varoufakis said the decision causes “permanent damage to the Eurogroup’s credibility.”

“Europe can still ask Greek people to vote ‘yes’ to an improved proposals [that can be submitted by institutions],” he added.

The finance ministers of the other 18 eurozone countries will meet without Greece later Saturday evening to discuss what measures need to be taken to preserve financial stability in the rest of the currency union, said Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, who presided over the talks.

During a news conference after Mr. Varoufakis had left the talks, Mr. Dijsselbloem made an indirect appeal to the Greek Parliament to vote against holding the referendum.

“The Greek Parliament has a right to fully understand what is actually on the table,” he said, when asked what the Greek people could still do remain in the eurozone. The Greek Parliament is expected to vote on the referendum later Saturday.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:25:42

Greece 48 hours from fatal eurozone rupture as creditor powers poised to pull the plug
Stunned lenders vow not to extend Greece’s bail-out and say they are prepared to suffer the consequences of “bombshell” referendum decision
Greece is facing prospect of banking crisis without a bail-out extension after Tuesday
By Matthew Holehouse in Brussels and Mehreen Khan
9:10PM BST 27 Jun 2015

Greece stands on the brink of a banking collapse and disorderly exit from the euro after its creditor powers lashed out at Athens’ plans to hold a referendum by vowing to pull the plug on the country in just three days.

Eurozone finance ministers last night withdrew tentative plans to release €15bn to the debtor country, after Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, said he would put the “humiliating” package of austerity demands to a public vote on July 5. Unless the cash-strapped country can scramble together €1.55bn Tuesday, it will become the first developed country in history to default on its International Monetary Fund loan on June 30. On the same day, it’s €240bn rescue programme will also formally expire throwing its banking system into turmoil.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:40:30

Europe
Greek Debt Crisis Intensifies as Extension Request Is Denied
By JAMES KANTER and JIM YARDLEY
JUNE 27, 2015
People lined up Saturday at an Athens bank. Eurozone finance ministers met in Brussels, trying to salvage a Greek bailout plan. Credit Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press

BRUSSELS — Europe’s long standoff over Greece’s debt moved into an unpredictable stage on Saturday, with tensions reaching their highest levels yet and the risk growing rapidly that Greece could crash out of the European currency.

On a hectic, fast-moving day, eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels rejected Greece’s request to extend its existing bailout program past a Tuesday deadline. Greece wanted the extension so it could hold a national referendum on July 5 to let voters decide whether the country should accept bailout aid under terms that the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras bitterly opposes.

At the same time in Athens, Greek lawmakers held a long, impassioned debate in Parliament, many of them stunned by Mr. Tsipras’s decision to hold the high-stakes referendum. Lawmakers were expected to vote later Saturday evening on whether to go forward with the referendum, while across the city there were long lines at many cash machines as Greeks pulled money from banks out of concern that a fresh financial crisis could be at hand.

After five months of grinding negotiations, Mr. Tsipras’s surprise referendum gambit — announced early Saturday morning on national television while many ordinary citizens were asleep — left unclear whether he was seeking a final bit of leverage for a last-minute deal or was essentially calling an end to the negotiations.

Negotiators in Brussels had been racing the clock — with five emergency meetings in the last 10 days — to reach a deal by the end of the day Tuesday, when the European part of the current bailout program for Greece expires.

At the conclusion of the meeting on Saturday, the Eurogroup, in a statement, said the end of the current program “will require measures by the Greek authorities” to “safeguard stability of the Greek financial system” in what amounted to a thinly veiled reference to the need for Athens to plan imposing capital controls to stem the flight of deposits.

Greece is rapidly running out of money and has been negotiating over a remaining installment of 7.2 billion euros, or about $8 billion, so that Athens can avoid defaulting on some of its debt, including a payment also due Tuesday to the International Monetary Fund.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:29:15

Markets More: Greece Grexit Eurozone IMF
THIS IS IT: Greece is probably going to default on Tuesday
Myles Udland and Reuters
Jun. 27, 2015, 1:45 PM 13,058 33
REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, seen here in a parliamentary session in Athens on June 27, 2015, called a referendum on austerity demands from foreign creditors on Saturday, rejecting an “ultimatum” from lenders and putting a deal that could decide Greece’s future in Europe to a risky popular vote.

It looks like Greece is going to default.

On Saturday, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis left a meeting of eurozone finance ministers after failing to get an agreement to extend the current bailout deal until after a referendum next week.

Late Friday, Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras made a surprise announcement of a referendum to be held in Greece next Sunday, July 5, to vote on the reforms proposed to Greece by its creditors as part of a possible bailout extension.

The most imminent money owed by Greece to creditors is €1.6 billion owed to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday, a payment it looks like Greece will now miss. The question now, it appears, is what happens next and whether this missed payment sets the table for a “Grexit,” which would see Greece leave the EU.

According to Reuters, Varoufakis told journalists as he left the meeting that, “It’s a sad day for Europe.”

Eurogroup ministers said they would meet without Greece later on Saturday evening to discuss how to handle the fallout from an expected Greek debt default on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

A report from Reuters said, “With most Greek banks closed for the weekend, there was no sign of panic on the streets of Athens. Government officials said there was no plan to impose capital controls that would limit withdrawals.”

Ahead of Tsipras’ announcement, a poll of Greek citizens indicated that 57% of the 1,000 people polled showed they want Greece to reach a deal; 29% of respondents indicated they preferred a break with creditors.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:32:20

A watched pot never boils over…usually!

Markets More: Greece Words
Wall Street traders are so tired of the Greece news they made up a new word to complain about it
Myles Udland
Jun. 26, 2015, 1:33 PM 15,719 9
REUTERS/Paulo WhitakerThis trader is just tired of the Greece news. Aren’t we all?

Wall Street is tired of the Greece drama.

And now, traders have come up with a new word to describe just how laboring following all of the “will they, won’t they” headlines really is: Gretigue.

In an afternoon email on Friday, Rich Barry at the NYSE wrote that Greitgue is simply defined as “Fatigue of all things Greek.”

On Friday, the latest news out of Greece is that whether Greece will be able to pay the IMF on June 30 now hinges on the results of a Saturday meeting of European finance ministers.

That meeting, and this weekend, is seen as actually the last time Greece will be able to make a deal. And as Business Insider’s Mike Bird reported on Friday, economists at no fewer than six Wall Street firms said that, yes, this is really the last chance.

Of course, we’ve heard that before.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:36:58

Don’t conceive of the situation as a bank run. Rather construe it as an unusually long wait at the ATM.

Finance More: Reuters Greece Finance Euro
Greeks are withdrawing money from ATMs faster than they can be replenished
Reuters
GEORGE GEORGIOPOULOS and LEFTERIS PAPADIMAS, Reuters
Jun. 27, 2015, 3:06 PM

ATHENS (Reuters) — More than a third of automated teller machines across Greece ran out of cash on Saturday before they were replenished as Greeks pulled out money on fears their country was set to crash out of the euro, three banking sources said.

Anxious Greeks lined up outside ATMs after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made a surprise call for a referendum on austerity terms demanded by lenders, throwing talks with lenders in disarray and putting Greece on the verge of a default.

About 35 percent of the ATM network - some 2,000 out of the 5,500 ATMs across Greece - ran out of euro banknotes at one point during the day and were being replenished, the bankers said. Banks were working in coordination with the central bank to keep the network fed with cash, they said.

Replenishing ATMs usually takes one to two hours per ATM, leading to the long lines, one banking source said.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 19:58:57

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-27/greece-blows-negotiations-–-bank-run-has-started-–-some-banks-won’t-be-able-open-mon

 
 
 
Comment by taxpers
2015-06-27 05:01:56

USA 28% obsessed so as we go merrily into socialized hc we need to tax fat people

Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 05:06:14

the word is “obese”. Are you posting from a “smart” phone?

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 06:48:54

We need to tax and neuter stupid people. If you voted for Obama, McCain, or Romney, you need to ante up more taxes to cover the cost of the buffoonery pushed by “your” oligarch-owned candidates.

 
Comment by Ol'Bubba
2015-06-27 06:57:12

Don’t get me started on healthcare finance.

We need to tax high fructose corn syrup, along with tobacco and alcohol and the other root causes of our health issues.

While we are at it, we should have a 500% tax surcharge on pharma advertising.

Comment by Dudgeon Bludgeon
2015-06-27 07:12:14

Life Sucks. People need to eat crap and drink booze to make it though. Geez. Give ‘em all a break.

Comment by palmetto
2015-06-27 10:49:12

Black Market food items in the schools. Who knew Michelle Obama would do such good for salt and sugar?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-27/thanks-michelle-black-market-food-items-springs-us-schools

Jeebus, looka some of that slop that passes for “healthy meals”? You know its gotta be bad when school bekfuss programs give a party and nobody comes.

More repression for the South: no biscuits for you! Bagels in the Northeast, tortillas and tacos in the Southwest, no problem!

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 13:53:09

Who knew Michelle Obama would do such good for salt and sugar?

Who knew her husband would be the best gun salesman of all time?

 
 
 
 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-06-27 09:59:45

“tax fat people”

A calorie tax! We need to have a calorie tax! Don’t tax fat people, tax whatever it is that makes them fat!

I like it.

Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-06-27 10:01:56

“We need to tax and neuter stupid people.”

An IQ tax! Tax people for being stupid and having a low IQ!

I like that too.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:04:07

Wait a minute…hasn’t your industry already perfected that tax mechanism?

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Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-06-27 10:15:53

No, it’s not quite perfect. There are still those few who have been able to keep some money all to themselves.

Selfish hoarders.

 
Comment by Anonymous
2015-06-27 18:12:29

Card-carrying selfish hoarder here! I love that I make money off the banks that issued me credit cards, by maximizing the rewards I get while never paying any interest or fees. Thanks!!

 
Comment by drumminj
2015-06-27 23:45:33

I love that I make money off the banks that issued me credit cards, by maximizing the rewards I get while never paying any interest or fees. Thanks!!

Um…you do realize that you’re paying more for each item because of the fees the credit card charges, right? *You* are paying for the rewards you feel so clever about getting.

 
 
Comment by SUGuy
2015-06-27 13:40:26

I like the idea but how do you propose we tax low IQ people.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 13:56:38

Examine their voting record. If they are members of the 99% and voted for Obama, McCain, or Romney, or intend to vote for HillaryJeb, that is prima facie evidence of being a cretin. They should also be held financially liable for abominations like Obamacare or endless freebies for the FSA.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 05:05:26

Want a shorter commute? Pay $900 a month to live in a tent near Google

Katie Dowd Updated 1:49 pm, Thursday, June 25, 2015

Are you tired of the long commute from San Francisco to your start-up (or tech giant) in Silicon Valley? Yearning to get in touch with nature? Willing to pay $900 to live in a tent in someone’s backyard?

If yes to all the above, then John Potter has a deal for you.

The freelance web developer in the Monta Loma neighborhood of Mountain View recently posted an Airbnb listing for a Coleman tent in his backyard. Rest assured, the tent is in a “safe and friendly” neighborhood, “very close to Caltrain,” and “in a beautiful garden.” You can even use the shower and eat inside. Although, come on, you’re roughin’ it! Dinner under the stars, cowboy.

Potter is charging $46 per night, $279 per week or $899 for a month. Daily rates initially started at $20 per day, but the tent rental was so popular he more than doubled the rate. Most rentals in Mountain View start at well over $2,000 on craigslist.

“It kind of is (outrageous),” Potter told CBS San Francisco. “But maybe they should build more affordable housing in Mountain View.”

http://www.sfgate.com/…/article/Want-a-shorter-commute-Pay-900-to-live-in-a-6349066.php - 459k -

Comment by oxide
2015-06-27 16:26:46

Aren’t these computer yahoos all “connected” and sh!t? They should be able to “work from home” in Oil City.

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 05:13:12

How about that Chinese stock market?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 05:18:35

Didn’t we talk about it enough Friday? It was an expected correction that the Chinese are making sure goes no further. Yesterday, I said if it dropped another ten percent, I might even buy. I knew the Chinese would not allow it to damage the economy. Today we have news of interest rate cuts and we have all seen in this country what easy money does for a stock market but hey short it if you believe it is going significantly lower.

Comment by azdude
2015-06-27 06:17:33

FREEFALL

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 06:20:19

How can one predict when a massive liquidity dump will suffice to reflate a bubble? For instance, what went wrong with Japan’s efforts to forestall two decades of stock market collapse (1990-2010)? Does China have a magic bullet for bubble reflation that Japan lacked?

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:47:09

Japan was not growing at 7% when their market started to correct.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 08:58:52

“Japan was not growing at 7% when their market started to correct.”

Are there any other similarities to the China crash underway?

 
Comment by Pangolin
2015-06-27 14:55:13

You gonna harken back to Japan 20 years ago or look at the example of the massive liquidity dump here in the last 10 years and how that seems to have the punchbowl re spiked!

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-06-27 06:34:32

“I might even buy”

There you go. It can’t “go no further” and “drop another 10%”.

Like Dan said, their stock market reflects a soaring economy.

HSBC has withdrawn sponsorship of the China PMI index. Apparently publishing bad news about reality in China is politically difficult.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:45:17

No inconsistently I said the 10% comment yesterday prior to the easing now it does not look like it will be allowed to drop that much.

 
Comment by MD
2015-06-27 10:51:07

I’ve bought long, deep-out-of-the-money put options on ASHR. I’m literally betting that the Chinese market will drop another 50%.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 05:20:12

With Obama in charge you certainly cannot trust U.S. data not on climate nor oil production:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-oil-glut-eia-invention-224056834.html

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 05:29:06

China’s biggest problem is with all the people having money for cars how to keep too many from hitting the road, new license plates can set you back $10K in the biggest cities:

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/business/auto/License-plate-bid-success-rate-hits-new-low/shdaily.shtml

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 05:49:59

Seems impractical to rush a country with 1 bn population into automotive transportation. I foresee bad pollution getting far worse in China’s cities (at least the inhabited ones).

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 05:59:56

They will sell about twenty five million cars this year and the air will improve due to their shutting down seventy year old coal plants with no pollution controls and the fact that new cars have even better cat convertors.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-06-27 13:58:58

Neoliberalism doesn’t give a damn about things like environmental stewardship.

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 05:51:18

Despite everything China continues to grow by about 7% as I predicted, I was right with the prediction last year with growth around 7.4% and my two year prediction with about half the year already in proving to be right this year with it shaping up with a yearly gain between 6.9% and 7.1%:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-06/26/c_134359803.htm

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 06:23:59

You sure seem hung up on your correct prediction of that implausible official 7% growth figure.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 06:27:13

PS Is there some kind of disconnect between collapsing share prices and 7% growth (or bust)?

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:04:32

You lost the bet so now you want to change the measurement. 7% growth in china means exactly what it meant when the bet was made. Any flaws in the data were there when the bet was made. The link I posted shows rising GDP estimates.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 07:31:37

I never agreed to bet on a GDP number whose precision is a matter of central planner discretion.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:56:07

Looser. The economist magazine estimates its growth for this year as 6.9%.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 08:05:19

And they estimated growth at 14% in 2008 when it was actually 7%.

Your point?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 09:00:45

“Looser.”

Abusive language won’t improve the flavor of your dollop of crow one bit.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 09:44:28

What you and many on this board are just beginning to realize is just how much ammunition the Chinese have to maintain growth. They have interest rates far above inflation, they have low national government debt (1/5 ours based on percentage of GDP) they still have high required reserves. Consequently, you want to change the measurements of the GDP despite we all knowing we were talking about the GDP as measured by China. If they just make it up why aren’t they still claiming they are growing at 10%, why did they not report 7.5% growth last year, why did they reduce their growth target this year? No as bad as Obama’s record looks against Reagan’s I do not try to use the shadow numbers when I compare the records even though since the shadow numbers are allegedly based on the way we use to calculate both inflation and unemployment it would have more validity to what you are trying to do. And I will say it again only a sore looser tries to change a bet after he or she starts losing.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:05:07

“And I will say it again only a sore looser tries to change a bet after he or she starts losing.”

It’s big of you to acknowledge that you are a sore looser.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:11:11

My predictions have been spot on and meanwhile so you know when China will pass the U.S. on all measures of the GDP according to the Economist Magazine:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/08/chinese-and-american-gdp-forecasts

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:13:51

“/2014/08/”

There you go again, posting outdated information.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:20:10

I have on good authority that the recent China GDP growth rate is 5.8 percent, not 7 percent.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:21:59

ft dot com > World > Asia-Pacific >
China
June 23, 2015 3:30 pm
China deflation flatters GDP figures
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing
People exercise as the sun rises at Jingshan Park in Beijing, China, on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2014. President Xi Jinping signaled China is ready to accept a lower rate of growth, assuring executives that the economy is more resilient than ever and his government can safely guide the country through any slowdown.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
©Bloomberg

Falling prices in China are helping to mask a significantly worse economic slowdown than official figures suggest.

An analysis of nominal gross domestic product growth rates shows that the Chinese economy slowed from quarterly year-on-year expansion of nearly 20 per cent in 2011 to just 5.8 per cent growth in the first quarter of this year.

In contrast, national output fell from from 9.5 per cent to 7 per cent over the same period using inflation-adjusted real GDP growth rates, indicating a much smoother and more gradual “soft landing” for the world’s second-largest economy.

The cause of the much sharper fall in nominal growth rates is due to the end of steady inflation, which persisted from the late 1990s until a few years ago, when producer prices started to fall and consumer prices began growing at a much slower pace.

Depending on how you measure it, China is already in deflation,” said John Zhu and Izumi Devalier, two HSBC economists, in a report published last week. “Producer prices have been in sustained and deep deflation for over three years . . . CPI [consumer price indices] inflation in China is now also falling to multi-year lows.”

Hit by falling profits and much slower nominal growth rates, Chinese listed companies are reporting much worse revenue growth than their American or Japanese counterparts.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:22:22

When they publish an update you will receive it but since the Economist is still predicting an almost 7% growth for China in its most current issue nothing has changed.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 10:31:22

The world is doubtful Dan. China is a mess. They lied about their GPD before. Now they’re lying again.

It’s the bursting China Bubble.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 10:43:59

“When they publish an update you will receive it but since the Economist is still predicting an almost 7% growth for China in its most current issue nothing has changed.”

You can hold out hope that last August’s Economist magazine 7% prediction will pan out. I personally put more faith in the current news in the Financial Times of London that China’s annualized first quarter 2015 growth rate was only 5.8%.

As I have often pointed out on the HBB over the years, the best ‘predictions’ involve the dissemination of historic factual information to a wider audience.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:51:42

PB your own article contradicts you and supports me:

In contrast, national output fell from from 9.5 per cent to 7 per cent over the same period using inflation-adjusted real GDP growth rates, indicating a much smoother and more gradual “soft landing” for the world’s second-largest economy.

There are different ways to measure GDP and it is not fraud to use one way over another. You knew when you bet against me the methodology used by the Chinese government. Our debate was over whether China would have a hard or soft landing, it is clearly a soft landing and I have been proven correct and you cannot deal with it.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:57:08

No this week’s Economist prediction of 6.9% which is around 7%.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-06-27 14:17:04

Dan, you didn’t perchance overlook the passage that said China’s Q1 2015 GDP growth rate slowed to 5.8%, did you? This means the economy will have to grow faster than 7% the rest of the year to average out to your predicted 7% growth rate for all of 2015.

I’m going to keep an eye on that prediction, as well as your $80/bbl December 2015 oil price prediction.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 15:06:49

Two different measurements. The key is one way produces 7% it is a well known way to measure and it shows that China does not need to fabricate to meet the 7% and it is meeting the 7%.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 15:09:02

From the person talking about oil in the twenties by now.

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 07:19:38

What was stated in 2007 as 15% GDP growth was actually 7%. Now the bubble is bursting and the cover up begins and they’re still saying its 7%.

Did anyone believe the Soviets?

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:35:07

The cia says china has underestimated its GDP and china’s economy is bigger than our economy. There does not seem to be a shortage of Chinese with money buying up the world. A 65 billion a month trade surplus will do that and that number is easily verified.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 07:53:54

Nobody believes the communists.

Why lie about 15% GDP growth when it was actually 7%?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 09:49:19

Look we were really arguing about how much China would slow down not the absolute accuracy of any numbers, whatever 7% or some other number means, we were arguing whether China would be at one number of the other, PB did not think China could maintain around 7% growth for 2014 and 2015 and most of the board agreed and they were and are wrong.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 10:18:45

“The numbers” are fantasy. They lied.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:28:00

And so are the U.S. numbers but we use them to at least decide direction.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 10:38:27

What numbers Dan?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:42:37

The inflation numbers and the unemployment numbers check out the shadow numbers.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 10:46:51
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 10:52:38

There is no inflation Dan.

 
 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-06-27 06:44:29

The problem with China GDP is that it is a made up number, according to the top CCP guy. Have a look at electricity consumption. Up 1% last we checked. No wonder they are shuttering a tiny few of the worst efficiency generation stations.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-06-27 07:09:44

Perfectly consistent with shutting energy hog plants and increasing service and high tech jobs.

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Comment by rms
2015-06-27 07:32:58

“…China continues to grow by about 7%…”

Reminds me of my wife’s CalSTRS investment newsletters.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 05:42:15

Flip and Flop celebrate gay marriage – because it’s all about them

Both Obama and Clinton’s positions have “evolved”

by Bizpac Review | Carmine Sabia | June 27, 2015

President Obama and Hillary Clinton hijacked the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states by taking a victory lap on Twitter. They also seem to have changed their minds on the issue to suit public opinion.

This is the same Hillary Clinton who in 2000 told the Washington Post that “marriage has got historic, religious and moral content that goes back to the beginning of time, and I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been, between a man and a woman.”

It’s the same Hillary Clinton whose husband, former President Bill Clinton, sign into law the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, in 1996.

The same President Obama who, in 2008, told MTV “I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage.”

Since then both Obama and Clinton’s positions have “evolved” at the same time polls show that the number of Americans supporting gay marriage has grown.

What a coincidence.

On Friday, after the court ruling, both the president and the 2016 Democratic presidential front-runner took time to celebrate the decision as historic.

“Proud to celebrate a historic victory for marriage equality—& the courage & determination of LGBT Americans who made it possible. -H,” Clinton tweeted.

She even changed her logo into a rainbow-colored H for the occasion, as if she had something to do with it.

“Today we can say in no uncertain terms that we’ve made our union a little more perfect,” Obama tweeted with a picture of who else but himself with the hashtag #LoveWins.

The Twitterverse couldn’t contain its mockery.

Comment by MightyMike
2015-06-27 16:45:55

So they changed their opinion on this issue? They have that in common with about half of the country.

 
 
Comment by scdave
2015-06-27 06:19:54

Paging Ibbots;

As I said the other day I had lunch with a good friend yesterday and I am here to tell you that I have my Bib on and I am prepared to eat my humble pie..You are correct…I can’t believe that I have gone all these years and not known the CP rule on stepped up basis…I guess one is never to old to learn something…Thanks

Comment by ibbots
2015-06-27 07:52:50

Cool - hopefully you paid for lunch!

Glad you have that info going forward. I have similar reservations to adding a child to title to facilitate transfer as I do with JT. It often creates as many issues as it resolves and there is usually a better alternative. The old use the right tool for the job logic.

The in laws are coming next week to party down. Me and my FIL are gonna stain my new fence. I am gonna go with Sherwin Williams I think. Sikkens is $80 a gallon…I was like do I get a hand job with that or what? Geeez….80 bucks, that better be some dam good stain.

Comment by scdave
2015-06-27 09:08:40

Good quality paint has gone through the roof…I had my house painted recently and I think I am into the paint alone almost $1400….

hopefully you paid for lunch ??

Oh yes….I can sit in his office and as questions and I am on the clock…If I take him to lunch, its much cheaper…I am sure you had this angle played on you before… :>)

Thanks again for the accurate information…

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 14:09:22

$10/gal and and paint has gone through the roof?

More like the belaboring over a depreciating shack.

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Comment by redmondjp
2015-06-28 00:07:16

Where can you get any kind of paint for $10/gal? Not even Walmart sells it that cheap.

The big box stores are now selling exterior paint for $40-50/gallon.

How many other aliases are you using now, HA?

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-28 14:39:30

They’re called 5 gal pails but Harvey Homedebtor prefers to pay more.

From construction to engineering to architectural finishes you just can’t seem to get with the program TouchUp Timmy.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-06-27 08:16:14

‘Leaders “frankly delusional” over war in Iraq, says senior US Naval expert. Professor Martin Cook, a US Defence Department employee who teaches senior officers at the US Naval War College in Rhode Island, also cautioned against any armed intervention against Isis in the Middle East, saying it was “something we have to leave Muslims to sort out themselves”.

‘Speaking in a personal capacity, Prof Cook said: “The people who led us into Iraq had frankly delusional ideas of what was going to happen there. Vice President Cheney was saying ‘we’re going to be walking in there as liberators’, Wolfowitz was saying it won’t cost us any money because the oil will pay for the whole thing. It was just crazy - and it turned out to be crazy.”

“In some sense we created them [the Islamic State], there’s no question about that. I understand the desire to try and contain them as much as possible but we’re not going to go in there and defeat them militarily, and even if we did it wouldn’t put an end to the thought process that created Isis in the first place - another group with a different name but a similar ideology would just emerge in its place. This is something we have to leave Muslims to sort out themselves.”

‘He added that Libya’s descent into chaos after the west intervened to help remove Gaddafi would ultimately backfire on the international community by undermining future Responsibility to Protect (RtoP) actions, which permit a state’s sovereignty to be overridden when it fails to protect its population from genocide, war crimes and other human rights atrocities.’

“The way it actually played out, this will probably be the last RtoP that we are going to see in my lifetime because the Chinese and the Russians take the view that we so exceeded the mandate that the Security Council gave us, that they will never authorise one again - they’ll veto it,” said Prof Cook. “So if you care about the underlying case for RtoP then you’ve got to be thinking in retrospect that it was a mistake, because it undermined the whole legal process.”

‘Dr Cian O’Driscoll, a political scientist at Glasgow University who is leading the project, said the traditional “mission accomplished” declarations of victory associated with World War Two or the Battle of Waterloo 200 years ago, were outdated.’

“It’s theatre,” he said. “It reflects that we still hold onto these outdated conceptions of what winning a war looks like and what war is. There’s this idea that at the end of a conflict the leader stands up and says ‘we won’, everybody goes home, and the issue is resolved. The last 10 years have shown us the fact that that way of thinking doesn’t quite cut it anymore.”

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 09:24:59

The bad news: I got home to Phoenix yesterday just afternoon and my AC would not turn on. It was over 100 and on the way to 110 degrees.

The good news: I am renting the place from a big corporation - an apartment complex and called maintenance right away. Management put me into a nice hotel for he night even though that evening their contractor delivered a new AC unit and dropped it in place using a crane by the evening.

They were on the ball.

Two observations:
1) had I been a homeowner this would have taken several days and thousands of dollars from my pocket.

2) had I been renting from a small landlord this would have taken several days.

It bears repeating that renting is better than owning. Owners never foresee maintenance costs. And renting in a large apartment complex beats renting a SFH. In both communities where I live, Orang County and Phoenix, maintenance is on the ball. It is nice I do not have to pay for the maintenance.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-06-27 09:50:41

“Management put me into a nice hotel for he night even though that evening their contractor delivered a new AC unit and dropped it in place using a crane by the evening.”

And this sounds … expensive. Expensive for the corporate owners of the apartment complex.

It’s tough to make it as a small landlord thus the incentive is to keep costs down. But if the owner is a corporation then the incentive may not be all that powerful (think in terms of piles of OPM).

(There’s a message in here somewhere.)

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 10:20:28

Agreed. Still amazed that it was a span of eight hours from having a busted AC with the compressor all gone to having AC again. Last year I got a new dishwasher in this same unit. It is old but he management is nice. I have been renting this place for over ten years and the same lead manager lady and lead maintenance guy are working here. They are terrific folks with old fashioned integrity and sympathy. And my spot is about the best in the complex. Very peaceful and a big park out in back. Why move? My lease renewal is coming up and I am aware the rent will likely go up 2%.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 10:28:38

“It is old” - not the dishwasher but the apartment complex itself.

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Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 14:19:39

Yeah I can use that kind of fireworks.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 10:20:08

Depreciation is painful.

Comment by azdude
2015-06-27 15:24:49

depreciation creates jobs!

 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-06-27 16:35:09

Bill, what has your rent been like? The advantage to a large complex is the repair infrastructure, as you saw. The disadvantage is that they have no qualms about jacking rent like crazy, with no reason to give breaks to good renters.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 17:06:16

Since 2004 it has ranged from in the $900s to where it is $1100 these days.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 17:08:44

I guess they threw in a perk a year ago. They turned this into a nonsmoking community. Cannot even smoke in your apartment or common areas. That is probably worth $25 per month.

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Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 17:11:16

Renting is more expensive in Phoenix than owning. I will admit that. But I also rent in Orange County and there, renting is far cheaper than owning. I rent there at $1350 per month. Houses in that nabe are in the $600k range.

Comment by oxide
2015-06-27 20:09:47

If those are one-beds, that’s fairly expensive. But for a two-bed, it’s probably reasonable.

Financially, you might be better off buying a small ($100K) property in rural AZ. You could make up that several thousand dollars in a few months of not paying rent, and store all the wine and car parts you want. However, that’s probably not the best option for you. You have money, you want mobility until your toe tag house (if ever), and if I recall, you want an expensive toe-tag house… so hey, whatever works for you.

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-27 20:16:06

Donk, There isn’t a sfr on the planet that can’t be built for $200k.

 
Comment by redmondjp
2015-06-28 00:14:55

Hi, HA! That’s pretty funny, when you can’t even buy a lot where I live for that much.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-06-28 14:42:01

Fixt for you.

That’s pretty funny, when you can’t even buy a lot where I live for that much dump worthless dirt.

Kirkland, WA Housing Inventory Skyrockets 82%: Prices Fall

http://www.movoto.com/kirkland-wa/market-trends/

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-27 15:28:45

Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters - Elton John (Honky Chateau 9 of 10 …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tRgYfQ48A0 - 299k -

 
 
Comment by Anonymous
2015-06-27 18:29:10

Will a Grexit and/or China going on the gold standard cause gold prices to go up? Should I buy now?

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 19:07:32

I think it will cause gold to go up by twenty bucks. I saw a link on it. But I also think it is always a good time to buy gold if you spread your purchases over time. Same for silver, platinum, and palladium and crypto currency such as Litecoin and Bitcoin.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 19:57:20

Got cash? How do you say that in Greek?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-27/greece-blows-negotiations-–-bank-run-has-started-–-some-banks-won’t-be-able-open-mon

 
 
 
Comment by rms
2015-06-27 20:29:42

Just got called-in to work… and it’s 101-degrees-F at 2030-hrs at the Moses Lake airport, KMWH. Yikes!

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-06-27 20:42:07

How can it get so hot way up north? It is about 97 and dust stormy in Phoenix at 8:30

Comment by rms
2015-06-27 22:06:10

“How can it get so hot way up north?”

Last Updated: Jun 27 2015, 8:52 pm PDT
Sat, 27 Jun 2015 20:52:00 -0700
Weather: Fair
Temperature: 99.0 °F (37.2 °C)
Dewpoint: 46.0 °F (7.8 °C)
Relative Humidity: 16 %
Heat Index: 95 F (35 C)
Wind: Southwest at 4.6 MPH (4 KT)
Visibility: 10.00 miles
MSL Pressure: 1009.2 mb
Altimeter: 29.84 in Hg

 
Comment by redmondjp
2015-06-28 00:21:31

We’re having a massive heat wave up in the PNW, since last winter (which wasn’t). It was in the 90s here in the Seattle area today. Not bad, it was windy.

The fire danger is off-the-charts right now however, and it’s really early in the season for it to be this dry.

They just announced that there are no fires in state campgrounds, IN THE FIRE PITS! This really bites, as I really do enjoy sitting around a fire for a few nights every summer.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-28 07:38:30

phony scandals

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-28 09:03:59

knowyourmeme.com/photos/979714-rachel-dolezals-racial-identity-controversy - 85k -

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-06-28 09:06:10

logicalmeme.com/?p=5648 - 41k -

 
Comment by phony scandals
 
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