Bits Bucket for July 13, 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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As I have said betting against the Chinese government hitting its target is not a bet I want to take:
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/07/13/markets-hongkong-china-stocks-midday-idINKCN0PN0FQ20150713
Betting against them? I don’t how to characterize your obsession with the Chinese government but no one will accuse you of betting against them.
I find his China pimping creepy.
ABQDan- If I was going to get a mail-order bride I would go with Argentina or Columbia, not China.
He’s transchinese… a chinaman trapped in a caucasian body. He wants to be called Kateryn.
My former roommate had an Asian fetish. He didn’t just like Asian girls but was super into the culture of Japan also, to the point of wanting to hang paper fans on his walls. We traced the root of it back to his having read the novel Shogun back during his formative years.
China is either the world’s biggest or second biggest economy depending on which measure you use. You cannot understand where the world’s economy is going without understanding China. I say that 90% of the information posted on this site is disinformation and it is not me that is doing it. The U.S. government fills the media with disinformation about China to slow down its rise without addressing our lack of competiveness and most of the people on this blog acted as unpaid posters and repost the articles.
“disinformation and it is not me”
Like the average Chinese having $100,000 in savings?
I would not say average but it is very common. 21 trillion dollars in assets means a lot of people do have that much it is about 15,000 per capita thus plenty have that much particularly when you exclude minors and the elderly.
The Chinese do not have $27 Trillion in savings as you claimed so many times. 27 trillion Yuan, sure. According to the CCP they all together have $7 Tr and I gave you the government link. That includes the party bosses and the billionaires.
So, for every one that has $100,000 there are 20 who have zero. Very common indeed.
You post articles from Chinese propaganda outlets 24/7, then claim that it is others propagating disinformation.
Typical propaganda tactics…
You make 90% of the posts, so it has to be you. You even reply to replies to yourself.
Not all the shares are trading but far more than before:
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/business/Chinese-shares-rally-for-3rd-consecutive-day-with-Shanghai-index-closing-at-3970-point/shdaily.shtml
Yeah right.
“Baofeng missed the entire correction, so shares are playing catch-up with a limit down move today.”
Chinastocks.net
The View
Peter Guy
China’s panic-induced actions add to stock market risks
By intervening in the market through suspending stocks and controlling liquidity, the mainland has exacerbated the pressure and uncertainty
PUBLISHED : Monday, 13 July, 2015, 12:31am
UPDATED : Monday, 13 July, 2015, 12:31am
Beijing has treated the market crash as a national security threat. Photo: AP
Before the handover in 1997, a mainland official toured the Hong Kong stock exchange, and on the trading floor he was bewildered by all the changing and flickering numbers. When he was told they displayed variable prices and volume, he naively remarked: “Why don’t you just fix the prices?”
It is not surprising that old instincts have not changed. More than US$2.7 trillion in value has evaporated since the Chinese stock market peaked on June 12. That represents six times Greece’s foreign debt or more than Canada’s gross domestic product for last year.
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard,” said H.L. Mencken. For this first generation of Chinese punters and speculators, their democracy turns out to be the freedom to make and lose big money. Like most inexperienced retail traders, they start to mess up fast and pick up speed as the market collapses.
The Chinese government realised that capitalism was the only economic system that worked because it served the universal desire for more. It is only now learning that it will inevitably lead to excess in pursuit of even more.
It is also understanding that only governments can deal with the crisis that inevitably occurs, not because the people in authority in government have any particular aptitude to fix it, but because the governments make and enforce laws and control the money supply.
So the bet is on whether Chinese leaders can control prices themselves rather than trusting free markets to work or independent institutions to regulate them. Inevitably, the government and the People’s Bank of China were going to learn about the perils of systemic and reputation risk, but ironically it arose in a debacle of their own making in the domestic rather than the international markets.
Market intervention is not unusual. After all, quantitative easing has inflicted more financial distortions than Beijing’s recent unusual measures. However, this historical determination must be asked: can a form of government outside a liberal democracy, without transparent and independent judicial and financial institutions, play an important and dependable part of the international financial system?
Accountability, the rule of law and reliance on the strength of the market are recognised as what make markets work. Reckoning the contradictions of a one-party state against the international market is the ultimate reputation risk China bears after this recent crisis.
The real test will not only come upon the top leaders, but bureaucrats in government agencies. They need to understand the different kinds and shifting level of private and public-sector risks that confront them and the consequences of their actions.
In its pursuit of international prestige, Beijing has treated the market crash as a national security threat. Rather than letting the winners and losers clear the market, the government has decided that it is in the national interest to intervene at multiple levels.
With more than half of Chinese stocks halted or suspended, traders are scrambling to hedge the uncertainty under the assumption that they may never open again. Hedging options are not widely available in China, so exchange-traded funds around the world are under pressure. The result is heavy selling on foreign ETFs, reflecting that all major China ETFs are also trading below their net asset value.
Initially, most of the stock market risk resided with households, but the rescue plan has transferred this risk to systemically important financial institutions, which have been asked to take up more risk when the market is under immense pressure. Increased reputation risk and moral hazard for institutions and the government could jeopardise their credibility.
Beijing has to learn that risk cannot mitigated or eliminated by stifling market action. You can hedge, buy or sell it, but otherwise it only moves somewhere else. So the result of suspending stocks and controlling liquidity has only exacerbated the pressure and uncertainty.
…
Marketwatch dot com
Emerging Markets Report
40 ways China is propping up its stock market
By Sue Chang
Published: July 13, 2015 5:38 p.m. ET
* More than a 1,000 stocks remain suspended
* China has lost its luster in the wake of the recent stock market turmoil.
From postponing initial public offerings to relaxing trading rules, Chinese authorities aggressively intervened to stabilize the stock market after panic sales shaved more than $3 trillion from the Shanghai Composite Index’s market cap in a month.
For now, the effort has paid off with the stock market regaining some of its composure, but analysts warned that the stabilization is likely to be a temporary victory, and that the worst may be yet to come.
“This is not the time to enter the market, it would be like catching a falling knife,” said David O’Malley, chief executive officer of Penn Mutual Asset Management.
When the market began its downward spiral in the middle of June, Chinese officials took a wait-and-see approach and refrained from heavy-handed action. But as the meltdown in the stock market threatened to spill over into other assets, namely the currency market, Beijing moved quickly to stem the fallout.
All told, in a span of two weeks, regulators announced at least 40 measures aimed at supporting the market, starting with the central People’s Bank of China cutting the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points on June 27.
This was followed by a proposal on June 29 to allow the national pension fund to invest in equities, which could potentially equate to an injection of 1 trillion yuan ($161 billion) if approved.
Indeed, between July 4 to July 9, not a single day went by without the Chinese government stepping into the market, according to Barclays.
The tactic succeeded in neutralizing the stock market’s rout and the Shanghai Composite rose for a third session in a row on Monday.
Nonetheless, it could be premature to believe all is well again in the world’s sixth largest stock market with about 300 companies still halted on the Shanghai market and more than 800 halted on the Shenzhen bourse.
The true litmus test of investor confidence will come when these shares resume trading, but experts are already betting that the market will face further turmoil when these stocks lift their self-imposed trading bans.
And should the recent interventions fail to have staying power, Chinese officials are expected to provide additional support.
“The government has little choice but to prop up the market. They are at a point of no return and will have to continue along that line,” said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Fixed Income.
Not doing so would undermine investors’ belief that the government is in control of the market place, she said.
…
Chinese trade data:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/chinadata/2015-07/13/content_21265358.htm
Chinese economy
China trade slumps in first half of year, dealing blow to global economy
Falling commodity prices and ‘sluggish foreign demand’ blamed for fall in trade growth by world’s second-largest economy
People walk on a footbridge with an electronic stock ticker showing real time stock market indices in Shanghai, China on 9 July. Chinese stock markets have been in turmoil in recent weeks. Photograph: AP
Agence France-Presse
Monday 13 July 2015 00.27 EDT
China’s total trade slumped in the first half of this year, official data showed on Monday, far off the government’s targets and dealing a blow to the global economy from the world’s biggest trader in goods.
Two-way trade for the first six months of the year fell 6.9% to 11.53tn yuan (US$1.85tn), the General Administration of Customs said.
China is the world’s second-largest economy and a key driver of global growth, with an outsized impact in resource-rich supplier countries such as Australia.
Monday’s result was far below Beijing’s official target for the year for growth of “about 6%”. That figure was a reduction from the 7.5% goal set for 2014 – when trade values expanded only 3.4%, the third consecutive year the target had been missed.
…
Any thoughts on why the qualifier “about” so often is used to qualify official Chinese economic statistical data releases?
Two-way trade for the first six months of the year fell 6.9% to 11.53tn yuan (US$1.85tn), the General Administration of Customs said.
Why is it bad for China to be able to buy oil and iron ore cheaper? So why this obsession with the two way trade when it is China’s exports that really matter to China and its expanding trade surplus shows that it is doing fine in a very slow world.
Cherry picked numbers, as usual
The exploding trade surplus is due to collapsing imports. They have a lot of seed corn to eat. Still, the surplus zoom is temporary.
The price of steel has dropped below the price of cabbage.
“The price of steel has dropped below the price of cabbage.”
Gives Mr. Crowman a side of steel to chew on with those rotting shingles he paid too much for that need replacement already.
Got Cabbage?
“People walk on a footbridge with an electronic stock ticker . . . ”
Perhaps a stupid question, but can one do mortal damage by jumping from said footbridge, or is it rigged with anti-suicide nets like the dorms at the iPhone factory?
Nice try, PropagandaDan.
Trade statistics are easily verified, China exports are someone’s imports.
Was the China stock market crash a harbinger of economic downturn?
China’s market crash signals crisis of faith in authoritarian system
NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE
BEIJING — The Globe and Mail
Last updated Friday, Jul. 10, 2015 4:30AM EDT
Stock investors check prices in a brokerage house in Wuhan, China, on Thursday. Stocks recovered slightly Thursday, but remain sharply down. (AP)
The Chinese miracle of the past few decades lifted more people out of poverty, and faster, than anywhere else in history. But even the spectacle of poor farmers graduating to Chevrolets could not compare to the thrill ride of China’s stock markets in the past year, which left recent university graduates counting their weekly profits in the number of new Audis they could afford – and pinching themselves at their immense good fortune.
But when it all started to fall apart, China’s fast-swelling new investor class blamed not misfortune or their own poor choices in share-picking. They instead faulted a government that had been the stock market’s cheerleader-in-chief. It was Beijing’s insistence that helped prod retirees and students alike to pour savings into stocks that then nosedived, taking with them lifetimes of accumulated wealth.
For China, then, the market crash has created not just spiralling fortunes but a crisis of trust. And as the rout deepened, people who are denied a democratic voice in their governance instead cast ballots with sell orders – making undeniably clear their dissatisfaction with the way markets, and by extension their country, has been run.
“This is a vote of no confidence by the punters,” said Willy Lam, a China expert and senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation. “This is the most serious crisis that the Xi Jinping administration has faced.”
At its heart is rising doubt about the viability of the post-Tiananmen order, which has seen Beijing seek to propel economic reform under an unbending authoritarian regime. Plummeting share prices are a sign, Mr. Lam said, that Chinese people are saying no more.
“They have reached the limit,” he said. “And the economy cannot move forward without commensurate at least institutional reforms, if not political reforms.”
…
“The Chinese miracle of the past few decades lifted more people out of poverty, and faster, than anywhere else in history.”
The “Chinese miracle of the past few decades” was mainly due to the stupidity of those who live in The West (who are still stupid, but now they are broke).
The Chinese miracle of the past…sank more people into a lifetime of debt service… than anywhere else in history.
Yes, and thanks to the ‘Chinese Miracle,’ we now have $7 tennis shoes at Walmart, and a domestic populace that’s too poor to even afford that.
Globalism . . . bringing poverty to the developed world since 1956.
It was Beijing’s insistence that helped prod retirees and students alike to pour savings into stocks that then nosedived, taking with them lifetimes of accumulated wealth.
How much “lifetime of accumulated wealth” can a student have? Unless he was day trading between classes. If that is the case then he probably didn’t lose much from where he started. There was nothing to prevent them from cashing out their illusory gains, except for unbridled greed.
“It was Beijing’s insistence that helped prod retirees and students alike to pour savings into stocks that then nosedived, taking with them lifetimes of accumulated wealth.”
Americans who are enamored of Social Security privatization should read, reread and meditate on the above sentence, which describes the likely eventual outcome of turning Social Security over to Wall Street.
Region VIII
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150711_113639.jpg
Nice!
And because I would never expect these girls to get their feet wet:
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150712_102642.jpg
Region VIII
Colorado is so beautiful and has everything one could want….Only place in the country I would choose to live outside of my own area…
The most photographed mountains in Region VIII:
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150711_132153.jpg
Take us there, Goon. Take us there. No, just take us.
Never mind what R.E.M. sang, you CAN get there from here:
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150711_062022.jpg
How green is my valley:
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150711_064838.jpg
Region VIII
And it is cheap to fly to Denver from PWM right now on short notice. Around $350. Man, I want to hike the Colorado Trail again before Scott Jurek decides to run it.
Colorado has a major Californicator infestation we need to deal with.
Where is that photo taken from - Collegiate Peaks maybe?
Aspen
Grexit averted by renewed bailout…
And total, abject capitulation by Tsipras. The 61% of the Greek electorate who rejected such a craven surrender will not be amused.
Can’t he ever wear a tie?
No, because he’s a rebel without a clue. Who is now licking the boots of his bankster masters.
Voting makes no difference.
Maybe the Greek military will end this madness.
Maybe the Greek military will end this madness.
I wonder if they can? I’m not familiar with the EU’s laws, but I have a hunch that the rest of the union might do something should there be a coupe d’etat; like invading Greece. I’m sure the Turks would be happy to oblige.
What was the voting rule for the referendum?
Yesterday, the Lib Website spread the rumor that a deal with Iran is imminent. Might be a good time to short oil.
speaking of oil. Our gas prices jumped 15 cents a gallon in two days.
Obama let his “friends” in on the deal last week most of the downside has already been reflected in the price.
If traders have priced in a drop to $55/barrel, does that indicate that Iran can produce crude profitable at $55, indefinitely?
This could kill American frackers quicker than OPEC did. Or maybe Obama made deals on Iran’s nukes to get back at Putin?
Iran can produce at $55 but reports that I have seem show that it will only be producing 500,000 barrels more than a year from now. Meanwhile Iraq has cut its predicted production for 2020 by millions of barrels. It is still about shale oil, when we were in $60s we brought on some production but we will lose it very quickly at these prices. We have drilled most of our best locations and moving to just very good. Meanwhile demand continues to grow at 100,000 barrels a day per month.
Iran and the Saud’s are profitable at $6 per barrel.
Even if true (it is not) it is irrelevant if they are close to their peak production and they are.
Statistics on marginal costs. It truly shows why Obama was a fool thinking that a country that relies on shale oil could break the Russians:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/15/opec-budget-idUKL6N0QL1VY20140815
$6/barrel oil is a reality. And there is more oil being formed than quantity extracted.
Geology my friend. *Learn it.
Watched The Donald’s speech in its entirety last night…you should do. He speaks truth to power and ripped Obama and HillaryJeb a new one.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/07/12/stucky-hops-aboard-the-trump-train/
And here’s an “act of love” alert: another one of these cabrons kidnaps and sexually assaults a 13 year old girl here in the sanctuary state of Florryduh.
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-polk/man-found-with-missing-polk-county-teen-in-michigan?google_editors_picks=true
Don’t miss the comments.
Have you noticed that more and more MSM outlets are doing away with the comments section? Too much truthiness for the Oligopoly’s paid hacks.
Yep, and I avoid them too.
I find his personality insufferable and don’t believe he is electable. However I agree that like Bernie Sanders, he offers the very valuable service of raising issues the presumptive two party front runners will steadfastly avoid.
Long live Bernie Sanders’ and Donald Trump’s candidacies!
+1. Rand Paul, too.
“I find his personality insufferable and don’t believe he is electable”
Because everyone knows that having a likable weasel for a president would be so much better.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the American electorate.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the American electorate.
I am waiting for Trump’s supporters to wear coonskin caps in honor of whatever is growing on top of his head.
I don’t wan’t a braying semi-retarded manchild in charge of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
Trump is exactly right to address immigration and trade together. It’s because of NAFTA we have so much illegal immigration from Mexico. BTW, I read a snippet on line about George W. Bush making a secret, verbal agreement with Mexico regarding taking the people they don’t want. I’m trying to find a link, but supposedly Mexico well knew that their poorer people were going to get the shaft as a result of NAFTA. So it was agreed that the US would absorb them on an informal basis, providing ag and construction work and whatever else.
Makes sense to me. No wonder the border is not enforced.
NAFTA shafted the American working class, as well as rural Mexicans. But the Oligopoly made tons of money exploiting cheap Mexican labor, and ‘Muricans ratified the arrangement with their votes for Bush, Clinton, Bush II, Obama, and now HillaryJeb.
Not disagreeing, but how exactly did Nafta shaft poor Mexicans? Wasn’t the whole deal that factories would be built down there instead of here? I can see how that shafts working class Americans but not poor Mexicans. What was the mechanism for the shafting ?(calm down Lola).
I think that it was the Mexican farmers who suffered. There were lots of small Mexican farms who found themselves competing against giant American agribusinesses. Now a lot of the corn used to make tortillas comes from north of the border.
ca. 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/27/business/us-corn-subsidies-said-to-damage-mexico.html
Thanks. Corn is super cheap and we have more than we know what to do with. 12 cents an ear at Costco for delicious sweet corn on the cob. Summer grilling is wonderful.
Southern Mexico and places like Michoacan have been emptied of young men who can’t compete with NAFTA corn and whose only survival option is to migrate to the US.
NAFTA allows cheap (subsidized?) American corn to flow into Mexico, putting many Mexican farmers out of business.
I don’t have time to find a good link, but it’s pretty easy to google.
The majority of Mexican farmers are small farmers, with only 200 hectares of land, which are known as ejidos. Ejidos are government property and are handed out long term to peasants. In theory the ejido tenants would form coops so that they could afford tractors and other equipment but in practice it doesn’t happen all that much.
There are also privately owned farms, which are also restricted in size. This is because before the Mexican Revolution (more of a civil war than a Revolution) in the 1910’s large landowners owned farms that were hundreds of square miles in size (they were known as latifundios). After the revolution ended and the PRI emerged the constitution was rewritten, and it specifically restricts property ownership to this day.
Well, NAFTA initially was good for the Mexicans. The major truck manufacturer that I used to work for had all of their wiring harnesses assembled in plants south of the border back in the 1990s.
But when cheaper labor was found elsewhere (in central and south American, and far-east Asia), those Mexican wiring harness plants were shut down and all of the jobs lost. Globalism FTW!
So now, those former Mexican plant workers are even worse off than if the plant had never came in the first place.
“Refracking Fever Sweeps Across Shale Industry After Oil Collapse”
“The technique itself is nothing new. Oil crews across the world have been schooled on its simple principles for generations: Identify aging, low-output wells and hit them with a blast of sand and water to bolster the flow of crude. The idea originated somewhere in the plains of the American Midwest, back in the 1950s. But as today’s engineers start applying the procedure to the horizontal wells that went up during the fracking boom that swept across U.S. shale fields over the past decade, something more powerful, more financially rewarding is happening. The short life span of these wells, long thought to be perhaps the single biggest weakness of the shale industry, is being stretched out. Early evidence of the effects of restimulation suggests that the fields could actually contain enough reserves to last about 50 years, according to a calculation based on Wood Mackenzie Ltd and ITG Investment Research data.”
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/139482/Refracking_Fever_Sweeps_Across_Shale_Industry_After_Oil_Collapse
It has never been about the actual resource, 70% of the cost of a shale oil well is the actual fracking, today’s wells are fracked much better than the early wells but at a higher costs since they have gone from a few stages of fracking to 70 stages in some cases. Yes, you can refrack the wells over and over but with diminishing returns if they are fracked to today’s standards.
The layoffs continue and will accelerate due to last week’s decline:
http://eaglefordtexas.com/news/id/154310/north-dakota-oil-loading-hub-lays-off-10-percent-of-staff-source/
“Would you live in a $350,000 SHIPPING CONTAINER… in Detroit? Revolutionary apartment complex that was built in hours”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3158198/Detroit-shipping-container-home-built-just-SIX-HOURS.html
On the plus side, I’d rather have steel walls than wood studs. No termite damage. More fire resistant.
On the negative side, shipping containers get real hot. They need lots and lots of insulation. Otherwise it’s like living in a Louisiana prison hot box.
When it’s done right you can’t tell it’s a shipping container from the inside:
http://dz8s0oagnjand.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/livingroom.jpg
Maybe bullet resistant!
LOL, good point!
I can just imagine the fun you’d have getting something like this approved by most local planning commissions!
Some wisdom from Charlie Munger …
“The Psychology of Human Misjudgement”
(Note: It’s a PDF file)
http://law.indiana.edu/instruction/profession/doc/16_1.pdf
Chapo Guzman, Mexico’s biggest drug kingpin, escapes from his maximum-security prison (again).
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-most-notorious-drug-lord-escaping-from-prison-is-almost-mexicos-worst-nightmare-2015-7
And all the Federales say
They could’ve caught him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose….
(Townes Van Zant, Pancho & Lefty)
My BIL brought up this story at dinner last night. Apparently the guy hired professional engineers to build the tunnel through which he escaped.
I wonder if Senor Guzman will soon illegally immigrate to the U.S.?
I wonder if Senor Guzman will soon illegally immigrate to the U.S.?
Maybe he is already here.
Registering as a Democrat, if so.
Goldman Sachs must be setting up the muppets for another slaughter.
http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-china-stock-market-collapse-correction-2015-7
It’s what they do, and it’s perfectly legal.
How long before Mexico-style corruption takes root on this side of the border? Not that our variety is any better - Free Jon Corzine!
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2015/07/additional-information-chapo-guzman-1st.html
For libertarians who want to fully privatize utilities and other essential services, here is a cautionary tale.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/7/13/in-coatesville-the-poor-are-paying-the-price-for-a-bad-water-deal.html
Isn’t this what Downlow Joe was doing? Setting up deals like this to buy utilities from kleptocrats? Then the money lines their pockets and union goon pensions are “saved” until all the rosey projections turn out to be lies a few years down the road.
Did you actually read your article? Because it appears that the Town Council and Mayor sold out the local citizens.
I’m the head of a small non-profit PRIVATE water company. We do have paid employees but the Board, including myself, works for free. We have made major improvements in the infrastructure, cut costs and improved the quality of our water.
After major changes were in place and to make a point to the shareholders, because prior Board members insisted that rates would have to increase by over 50% to save the company from ruin, we reduced the payments for each shareholder by 15% per month.
We also have passed all mandatory annual testing and have a rating number, based on State standards and review, that is as high as any other water provider (public or private) in my State.
I’m also a Libertarian who “wants to privatize utilities and other essential services”.
The Establishment GOP clown car gets a new passenger who like the others takes his orders from AIPAC and the Oligopoly.
http://news.yahoo.com/scott-walker-enters-race-deeply-polarizing-governor-win-110001726.html
takes his orders from AIPAC
See also:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/07/12/get-ready-for-the-pro-israel-nra/
No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here, LOLZ
AIPAC has 60 days to kill any Iran deal and it already has Webb on board, this should be interesting.
It is going to be a lose/lose decision for both Bernie and Hillary, but they will not be able to stay on the sidelines any longer.
The MSM is beginning to grasp that the Democrat Party is being rejected by white males (the ones stupid enough to support them thus far). Hillary, in particular, is loathed.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/hillary-clinton-s-white-male-voter-problem-20150712
Squeal like a pig for your ECB masters, Greece.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-13/after-deal-heres-whats-next-greece
It’s sad.
“Squeal like a pig for your ECB masters, Greece.”
…a la Deliverance.
Oh, they’ll be squealing alright!
Merkel and her strap-on are riding them like Zero. That’ll teach those “populist” SOBs some proper compliance for their bankster overlords.
Warmist Warming Monday
Article linked from the FoxNewsHate quotes “scientists” predicting mini ice age:
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/07/12/scientists-predict-mini-ice-age-will-hit-in-15-years/21208356/
The correlation between sunspots and a cooling climate is a lot stronger than co2 and CAGW.
That’s why I put “scientists” in quotes, Dannyboy
Real Americans know that science is European, socialist, and probably gay
But gay is now “good” in America. Witness how corporations have been tripping over each other by “raibowizing” their websites. There is a running joke, that no one wants to be the first to take their rainbow down, much like no one wanted to be the first person to stop clapping at the end of a Stalin or Hitler speech.
“raibowizing”
There is trouble somewhere over the rainbow.
Cops Arrest Woman, 57, For Battering Female Domestic Partner With Dildo
July 13, 2015
A Florida woman is facing a domestic battery charge after allegedly using a dildo to batter her female domestic partner during a fight in the couple’s residence, police allege.
The confrontation Saturday evening occurred while a Clearwater Police Department officer was inside the home of Annette Kielhurn, 57, and Gamze Capaner-Ridley.
The cop was present to oversee Capaner-Ridley’s removal of personal belongings from the house, a move apparently prompted by Capaner-Ridley’s filing the prior day for a civil domestic violence injunction against Kielhurn.
After the women tussled over possession of a dress, Officer Eric Blomgren directed Kielhurn not to touch the 47-year-old Capaner-Ridley. However, “Shortly afterwards the defendant intentionally shoved a ‘dildo’ in the victim’s face and grabbed her right arm while arguing whose it belonged to,” Blomgren reported.
As a result, the cop arrested Kielhurn for domestic battery. An arrest affidavit does not indicate whether the dildo was seized as evidence.
Seen above, Kielhurn–who has Capaner-Ridley’s first name tattooed on her chest–was booked into jail on the misdemeanor charge. She was released from custody after posting $500 bond. According to court records, Kielhurn was arrested in late-June for trespassing (and the case is pending).
Kielhurn, a former New York State corrections officer, served about three years in prison for narcotics trafficking after a 1996 police search of her rental car turned up 25 kilos of cocaine in the vehicle’s trunk.
244 comments
Paul Dicandia · Top Commenter · St. Louis
If you outlaw dildos, only outlaws will have dildos.
9 hours ago
Bright Lights · Top Commenter
Yup …… and Politicians are proposing legislation on banning assault style 4 pack Energizer Batteries!
8 hours ago
Larry Peoples Sr · Top Commenter
Each dildo should have a serial number and be registered by length, diameter, color and type. Does it vibrate? Does it have external extras? We have to get a hold of this dildo problem before it goes (in) too far!!
8 hours ago
Al Cackowski · Top Commenter · Works at Nunya Bidness
Bright Lights -
why would anyone ever need D sized batteries
AA should be more than enough
8 hours ago
Pat McBride · Top Commenter
What?
It’s not all rainbows and Unicorns with the Gay warriors?
Maybe that’s why divorce attorneys salivated at the idea of Gay “Marriage”.
9 hours ago
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/clearwater/woman-busted-for-dildo-battering-786902 - 251k -
From today’s Shanghai Daily:
Weekly new home prices in Shanghai rose to a record once again amid extremely robust sales registered in the luxury segment though transaction volume fell notably from a week earlier, latest market data suggest.
The area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, dropped 40.2 percent last week to 312,500 square meters, Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co said in a report released today. Average cost of these new homes, meanwhile, rose 8.1 percent week-over-week to 36,310 yuan (US$5,836) per square meter, the highest weekly price ever registered in the city.
“Surprisingly excellent performance recorded in the luxury residential sector during the past seven-day period helped break the previous record which was set just a few weeks ago,” said Lu Qilin, a researcher at Deovolente. “Moreover, the area of new homes sold exceeded 500,000 square meters in the first 12 days of this month, meaning it’s almost for sure that the whole month’s total volume will reach 1 million square meters, which is very rare for July, a traditionally sluggish season for property sales.”
Eight of the city’s 10 best-selling projects cost 35,000 yuan per square meter and above. A development in Beicai, Pudong New Area, became the most sought-after project last week where 222 apartments were sold for an average price of 38,275 yuan per square meter, according to Deovolente data.
Meanwhile, sales outnumbered supply for the third consecutive week. About 203,000 square meters of new houses were released to the local market last week, a decrease of 15.6 percent from the previous seven-day period.
Chicago youts deliver some Social Justice™
Article linked from DrudgeReportHate in which whitey gets her privilege checked:
http://abc7chicago.com/news/abc7-exclusive-woman-allegedly-attacked-by-group-near-uofc-campus/841913
BREAKING NEWS
6 dead, 26 wounded in weekend shootings
Peter Nickeas, Megan Crepeau and Deanese Williams-Harris
A 21-year-old man shot on Sawyer Avenue was the 32nd person shot — and the sixth killed — over the weekend. In all, 10 were shot between Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning, nine more on Saturday night and another 13 on Friday night.
Man charged with fatally striking toddler while fleeing shooting
That’s unpossible! Gunz are illegal in Chicago
Why do you stay in Chicago? Try Athens, GA or Kansas City.
Here’s the best part, IMHO: “This is something that’s going to stay with me for the rest of my life,” she said.
She’ll teach her children too.
But come November, she’ll vote for more of the same. Such is the nature of sheep.
This is an article written by real journalists at the New York Times
“Last year, 23 percent of Americans told Gallup they worried that their working hours would be cut back, up from percentages in the low to mid teens in the years leading up to the recession. Twenty-four percent said they worried that their wages would be reduced, up from the mid to high teens before the recession.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/13/business/rising-economic-insecurity-tied-to-decades-long-trend-in-employment-practices.html
No “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes happening here, LOLZ
———
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-07-12 12:31:08
Insisting on a strict definition (especially of a made up word) betrays lack of understanding. Sub-prime by definition means high risk of default.
———
I call BS. Insisting on a strict definition shows intelligence in a discussion. And at the risk of sounding like A-dan, I was not wrong. I said the FICO was the original definition of subprime, and that definition had been broadened during the bubble. From red 2 of the wiki for subprime:
“Lo, Andrew W. “Reading About the Financial Crisis: A 21-Book Review” (PDF). Draft: January 9, 2012. Journal of Economic Literature. Retrieved 17 November 2013. The term “subprime” refers to the credit quality of the mortgage borrower as determined by various consumer credit-rating bureaus such as FICO, Equifax, and Experian. The highest-quality borrowers are referred to as “prime”, hence the term “prime rate” refers to the interest rate charged on loans to such low-default-risk individuals. Accordingly, “subprime” borrowers have lower credit scores and are more likely to default than prime borrowers. Historically, this group was defined as borrowers with FICO scores below 640, although this has varied over time and circumstances, making it harder to determine what “subprime” really means.”
You were incorrect and still are.
Risk of default is the very definition of subprime. That includes overpaying multiples of construction costs (lot, labor, materials and profit at $55/sq ft), 15 and 30 year financing, less than 20% down payment and interest only options.
‘one has to wonder about the provenance of the Trump phenomenon. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, it’s been attributed to a populist upsurge against the regnant elites, who are so out of touch with the people that they never saw what was coming. The media, we are told, are biased against Trump – this is one of The Donald’s chief complaints – and now The People are rising up against the Washington-New York know-it-alls with their “big words” and pretentious airs.’
‘Yet this analysis is lacking in one key ingredient: the facts. For the reality is that the media, far from ignoring Trump, have lavished so much attention on him that he’s eating up coverage that would otherwise go to the rest of the crowded Republican field. And that may be a clue as to what’s really going on here….’
‘As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Debra Saunders points out, Trump is not really any kind of Republican, and, what’s more, his links to the Clintons are well-documented and close: “In 1987, Trump registered as a Republican in New York. But in 1999, he registered with the Independence Party. In 2001, he registered as a Democrat. In 2009 he was back in with the GOP.
“Hillary Rodham Clinton sat in the front row at Trump’s 2005 wedding with Melania Knauss.”
“According to Politico, Trump has donated more than $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation.”
“In the 2006 cycle, Trump donated $5,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $20,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, but only $1,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee./;
“When Trump flirted with running for president in 2012, CNN reported he had given $541,650 to federal Democratic candidates and committees since 1990 – more than the $429,450 he contributed to GOP candidates and committees.”
;National Review‘s Jonah Goldberg rips the veil off Trump’s alleged nativism in a by turns anguished-and-amused plea to his fellow conservatives not to be taken in by The Donald’s act: “You seem to think he’s an immigration hardliner, and he’s certainly pretending to be. But why can’t you see through it? He condemned Mitt Romney as an immigration hardliner in 2012 and favored comprehensive immigration reform. He told Bill O’Reilly he was in favor of a ‘path to citizenship’ for 30 million illegal immigrants:
“Trump: ‘You have to give them a path. You have 20 million, 30 million, nobody knows what it is. It used to be 11 million. Now, today I hear it’s 11, but I don’t think it’s 11. I actually heard you probably have 30 million. You have to give them a path, and you have to make it possible for them to succeed. You have to do that.’
“Question: Just how many rapists and drug dealers did Donald Trump want to give green cards to?”
‘Although I have no concrete proof of my theory, there’s plenty of circumstantial evidence. His ties to the Clintons, his past pronouncements which are in such blatant contradiction to his current fulminations, and the cries of joy from the Clintonian gallery and the media (or do I repeat myself) all point to a single conclusion: the Trump campaign is a Democratic wrecking operation aimed straight at the GOP’s base.’
‘Donald Trump is a false-flag candidate. It’s all an act, one that benefits his good friend Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party that, until recently, counted the reality show star among its adherents. Indeed, Trump’s pronouncements – the open racism, the demagogic appeals, the faux-populist rhetoric – sound like something out of a Democratic political consultant’s imagination, a caricature of conservatism as performed by a master actor.’
‘Now I realize this is a “conspiracy theory,” and, as we all know, there are no conspiracies in politics. In that noble profession, everything is completely aboveboard and on the level – right? Like hell it is.’
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2015/07/12/donald-trump-a-false-flag-candidate/
+1
Yep, I’m sure he’s willing to go THAT far for the Democrats, losing deals with Univision, NBC and Macy’s (the other stuff is piddling twaddle). Unless, of course, the Clinton foundation is compensating him for legal fees and lost revenue.
I mean, really.
Time will tell. If he’s still running at election time, I guess he’s in it to win it.
Lol, so much concern for the GOP, it’s truly touching.
I don’t have any concern for either party. I also didn’t know the Iron Maiden was at his wedding or that he gave them 100k. Or that he not that long ago was for amnesty. Read the article; the big neo-cons love this guy.
‘He condemned Mitt Romney as an immigration hardliner in 2012 and favored comprehensive immigration reform. He told Bill O’Reilly he was in favor of a ‘path to citizenship’ for 30 million illegal immigrants’
You do realize he’s a real estate huckster of the first order?
I came of age in the 80s, so yes, I realize he’s a big time RE huckster.
I was referring to Raimondo when I mentioned the touching concern for the Republican party.
I generally like Raimondo and I think he means well. But when you’ve got a hammer, everything looks like a nail, in terms of false flags and such. Don’t get me wrong, I do think there are false flags. Just not every upheaval, public figure, etc. This one was a bit of a stretch for me.
Lol, so much concern for the GOP, it’s truly touching
But that Hispanic vote kept the Republicans from gaining seats last year. Wait, standing up to the immigration lobby helped the Republicans but it was a disaster for the business roundtable.
I can make a case against illegal immigration without calling people names and generally being kinda vile about it. I smell a rat on this too; paint anyone against amnesty as a foaming at the mouth racist.
Consider this; has the media ever given this kind of press to someone making a thoughtful case against illegal immigration?
“…generally being kinda vile about it. I smell a rat on this too;…”
You nailed it. But what I and apparently you find detestable about Trump apparently has mass appeal.
Go figure!
“In 2001, he registered as a Democrat. In 2009 he was back in with the GOP.
“Hillary Rodham Clinton sat in the front row at Trump’s 2005 wedding with Melania Knauss.”
“According to Politico, Trump has donated more than $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation.”
Since AlbqDan regularly salivates here over The Donald, we have to conclude that he also is a secret admirer of Hillary.
I’m starting to wonder if my MIL’s theory is correct.
I hardly salivate over Trump but he is right on immigration. When are you going to admit that Obama owns the interest rate policies of the Fed since he appointed the board? Or do you and Obama still need to get a room?
border enforcement spending skyrocketing under O:
http://americasvoice.org/research/charts_enforcement_spending_and_deportation_levels_continue_to_skyrock/
Spending on immigration enforcement has steadily climbed since 2002 and continues to climb in President Obama’s administration. Spending for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) increased from fiscal year 2002, at almost $7.5 billion, to fiscal year 2010 over $17 billion.
Republican charges that the Obama administration is giving border security and immigration enforcement short shrift are false.
Maybe this will shut him up:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3159344/There-s-no-jail-big-midget-Mexico-s-billion-dollar-drugs-lord-gloats-Twitter-escaping-prison-shower-block-tunnel.html
Of course Trump gave money to the Clintons — Trump is a crony capitalist of the first degree. People hear Trump’s brash talk and they’re being fooled into thinking Trump is going to shatter the oligarchy’s hold on Washington. I’m not buying it because Trump himself is a part of oligarchy, the “ultimate crony capitalist”:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/donald-trump-the-ultimate-crony-capitalist/
There is an interview where he pretty much says he donates to the various politicians to greease wheels to get things done. He doesn’t really apologize. I loathe the guy. I find his run for president fascinating. Maybe we need a jerk for a president. The things he said in Arizona, ain’t no other presidential candidate talking about trade imbalance with China and loss of jobs overseas.
Exactly. He came right out and addressed the donations issue at his Phoenix speech, didn’t try to hide it.
And his comments on trade were spot on.
I don’t think he’s a saint. I wouldn’t want a saint for prez anyway. They tend to turn into martyrs and like most martyrs, want company badly.
We’ve had plenty of jerks for president. If we get one who works for the people, it’s OK with me.
‘ain’t no other presidential candidate talking about trade imbalance with China and loss of jobs overseas’
Think about this; with so many running, why isn’t one other candidate staking out ground that so many people agree with? I’ve never had an average Joe tell me, ‘thank God for the World Trade Organization.’
“Think about this; with so many running, why isn’t one other candidate staking out ground that so many people agree with?”
To ask that question is to answer it.
Because it doesn’t matter. The globalist fix is in. These people are merely delegates. That doesn’t mean all is lost, however. Perhaps, in a way, the fun is just beginning.
ain’t no other presidential candidate talking about trade imbalance with China and loss of jobs overseas.
Bernie Sanders talks about it. He wants to end tax breaks for sending jobs overseas and provide incentives to companies to hire domestically.
What’s more he draws 10,000 to campaign speeches.
Absolutely zero press for Bernie
I like Sanders and have for a while. He was the one guy who inserted language in the TARP bill that forced the Fed to reveal they had loaned out 9 (or 16, who’s sure) trillion bucks in the “crisis.” He’s always been a critic of the central bank and I believe he sincerely wants what’s best for the country.
A week or two ago, I was in a hotel so I had TV and was watching CSPAN 1 & 2. Ann Coulter was on one and Sanders on the other. I was struck as they both seemed to be saying similar common sense things. I’m no big fan of Coulter, just sayin’.
Oh, and when Ron Paul was drawing many thousands to speech after speech a few years ago, the media quit following him. This is what we are up against.
‘Yet this analysis is lacking in one key ingredient: the facts. For the reality is that the media, far from ignoring Trump, have lavished so much attention on him that he’s eating up coverage that would otherwise go to the rest of the crowded Republican field. And that may be a clue as to what’s really going on here….’
The guy had a teevee show, for chrissakes. He is a member of the MSM celebrity club. So of course he is getting more coverage than the sixteen other hapless schmoes known as Republican candidates.
Solar Power Hits Record Low — 3.87 cents per kW/h
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/07/10/price-solar-hits-record-low/
Near Las Vegas. Take out the subsidy and it’s still only 5.5 cents, directly competitive with fossil fuel electrical generation. Grid parity has arrived.
And double commercial rates once capital, maintenance and replacement costs of solar equipment is entered into the calculation. Worse yet, reliability of solar is in the gutter.
Who wants to double their electric costs and lose reliability?
Good, no need to support Obama’s plan to send tens of billions of U.S. taxpayers money to developing nations. If solar really is competitive they can build the new green plants on their own dime.
‘The online price fight is heating up between Wal-Mart and Amazon.com, and it’s not even the holiday shopping season. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has lowered the threshold for free shipping for online purchases to $35 from $50 for at least 30 days and on Wednesday, it will be offering discounts on thousands of items online.’
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-opens-counter-offensive-140110212.html
Because we want to lose money on every shipment too:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=amzn&ql=1
EPS (ttm): -0.88
From this mornings JHK…
“That would, of course, set things up for a mighty financial convulsion in the autumn — history’s favorite season for ruin — when all the ministers and their factotums venture back to the dismal realities they left fermenting at the office.”
Uh huh, pretty much. I remember in summer of 2008 when Hank Paulson was sweatin’ bullets reassuring us all was good.
Then BAM!!
Such an eery rhyme.
So….here ’tis - I am old enough to remember the left’s outrage at the troika of Thatcher, Reagan and Pope John Paul some 35 years ago and the ascendancy of conservatism at the time - The left was just going nuts.
Now all that is turned on its proverbial head with Otrauma, this goofy Pope and that nitwit in the UK Cameron. Oh how times have changed - and not for the better I might add. Social Justice full force.
Enjoy your day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/12/world/americas/in-fiery-speeches-francis-excoriates-global-capitalism.html?_r=0
This is what happens when you run outta OPM……
BREAKING NEWS
CPS warns of drastic cuts without $500 million in pension help
Heather Gillers and Cynthia Dizikes
Chicago Public Schools on Monday unveiled dire financial projections for the coming school year, warning that cuts will be even worse than those announced earlier this month if pension relief is not granted in Springfield.
CPS tells charter schools to expect only 15 percent of first-quarter payout
A city full of registered votes-for-entitlements Democrats can rest assured a massive taxpayer bailout can be arranged.
And when you run outta OPM - this is what you do….
http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-chicago-cloud-tax-tech-reaction-bsi-20150702-story.html
Uh oh…..
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-is-now-the-biggest-food-stamp-user-in-the-midwest/
Isn’t it by far the most populous state in the midwest? I would expect it to be “number 1″ in the midwest.
What is more interesting is that Texas, with 2/3 of California’s population, has more people on foodstamps than the golden state.
Based on percentage of population not on sheer numbers.
“What is more interesting is that Texas, with 2/3 of California’s population, has more people on foodstamps than the golden state.”
Like Arizona, Texas is a polarized state with legions of hard-scrabble poor and the well-off educated. Corpus Christi is a perfect example.
Quite a few of the well-off are not particularly well-educated business owners. They benefit nicely from the low wages that they pay their workers.
I have an idea:
“We’re on a mission from God. We’re getting the band back together.”
If I could figure out how to get reliable mail from the USA in Mexico, I think I would relocate for 1-2 yrs, surf, fish, date, learn Spanish, Yoga and work in that order. Once you get past the border towns it is safer then our big cities. San Miguel de Allende, Sayulita, Troncones or another beach town sounds good.
The Reagan Myth is alive:
WAUKESHA, Wis. — Jumping into a crowded 2016 presidential field, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker vowed Monday to return federal tax rates to their levels under Ronald Reagan, eliminate the sequester cuts restraining Pentagon spending and tackle federal budget deficits by reforming entitlement programs and returning money and power to the states.
Mr. Walker told The Washington Times one of his top domestic priorities would be to get the federal government out of the business of managing programs such as Medicaid, education, transportation and infrastructure, eliminating swaths of the federal bureaucracy and shifting the funding to states to manage as they see fit.
All he had to do was Google it! Reagan had more federal empoyees than Obama! Reagan tripled the deficit. AND
Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
Another Oligopoly stooge piles in to to the GOP clown car, eagerly looking forward to services rendered for his Wall Street pimps. Pass.
“The Reagan Myth is alive:”
One of my regular clients has a fresh Reagan wall calendar every year!
Macy’s getting a backlash for cravenly cutting its ties to The Donald. Good. It’s about time these corporate censors realized that trying to suppress free speech may provoke a negative response.
http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/13/donald-trump-macys-credit-cards-protest-firing-boycott-immigration/
There is a reason their logo is a red star.
I know why
Taxpayers Spend $3.5 Million to Find Out Why Lesbians Are Fat
Ashley Rae Goldenberg | 12 hours ago
A U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) study to understand why lesbians are fat has now cost taxpayers over $3.5 million to-date.
The study, “Sexual Orientation and Obesity: A Test of a Gendered Biopsychosocial Model,” seeks to determine why there is a disparity in the obesity rates between straight women and lesbian women and straight men and gay men.
According to the study, “It is now well-established that women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic, with nearly three-quarters of adult lesbians overweight or obese, compared to half of heterosexual women. In stark contrast, among men, heterosexual males have nearly double the risk of obesity compared to gay males.”
Apparently, “these disparities are of high public-health significance,” therefore, the National Institutes of Health has been continuously funding the project.
Since CNSNews.com first discovered the government’s funding of the study in 2013, the cost to taxpayers has increased from approximately $1.5 million to over $3.5 million.
A website with information pertaining to the project claims the study will continue until June 30, 2016.
http://www.mrctv.org/…/taxpayers-continue-spend-millions-find-out-why-lesbians-are-fat - 77k -
Chinese stocks can’t get it up even though the central planners are pouring on the Viagra. LMAO. And that’s with 36% of stocks still suspended from trading, skewing the result.
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/shcomp?countrycode=cn&mod=MW_story_quote
Interview with a failed gambler.
Golden Dawn will be strengthened by more austerity, Yanis Varoufakis warns
The former finance minister told the ABC the bailout agreement is a ‘new form of postmodern occupation’ and predicts Greece will fall into the grip of the far right
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/14/golden-dawn-will-be-strengthened-by-worse-austerity-yanis-varoufakis-warns
Q