August 4, 2015

Bits Bucket for August 4, 2015

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




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144 Comments »

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 00:54:19

Region VIII (whoever knows where this was taken wins a cookie)

http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150802_062908.jpg

P.S. people with mortgages can’t go here

Comment by the ghost of Cecil
2015-08-04 08:24:16

Where Dr. Walter Palmer is still hiding.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 09:30:06

Is that the road from Lyons to Estes Park?

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 10:22:43

Nice try Rockstar but no cookie for you

Here’s a clue: only open in the summer

 
 
Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2015-08-04 12:26:27

Opening scene of the movie, Cliffhanger?

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 14:51:01

Dang, so many roads look like that in central CO.

 
Comment by Patrick
2015-08-04 16:19:59

A beautiful picture Goon.

I’d say in the American Rockies, Colorado, and a famous ski hill (seems like lots of runs there). Appears to have great elevation, and really nice runs.

I know I have never been there, but sure would like to ski it someday.

 
Comment by Anonymous
2015-08-05 11:47:48

Mt Evans Road…

 
 
Comment by Clubber Lang
2015-08-04 03:49:10

Let’s repeal the bill if rights…LOL…is this what you really want?

http://www.infowars.com/video-hillary-supporters-call-for-repealing-bill-of-rights/

Beam me up scotty!!!

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 05:03:43

Sounds like campaign propaganda. I’d ignore it.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 09:33:03

It’s easy to find morons who will say the stupidest things. Jay Leno would do it all the time. The women being interviewed no doubt has no clue of what the Bill of Rights even is.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 06:40:14

the other guy posted that yesterday

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:31:16

That could have been taken anywhere. I see trees and bumps in the ground.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 04:19:39

Is your investment portfolio out of balance?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 04:21:02

Marketwatch dot com
Andrea Coombes’ Ways and Means
Many boomers’ 401(k)s are way out of balance
By Andrea Coombes
Published: Aug 4, 2015 6:00 a.m. ET
10% of boomers have 100% of their 401(k) in stocks

Got stocks? For some 401(k) investors, the answer to that question is an emphatic “yes.”

Ten percent of 55- to 59-year-olds and 11% of 50- to 54-year-olds had all of their 401(k) savings invested in stocks, according to a new Fidelity Investments study, based on data from June on 21,200 defined-contribution plans, covering 13.5 million plan participants.

Another 27% of people aged 55 to 59, and 18% of people aged 50 to 54 were invested in stock mutual funds at a rate that was at least 10 percentage points higher than recommended — and the recommended stock allocation isn’t exactly for the weak-kneed.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-08-04 08:09:40

Is your investment portfolio out of balance?

Wildly.

Of course, so is the real economy—so perhaps it’s a good idea. Time will tell.

Comment by Rental Watch
2015-08-04 08:24:27

The best phrase I heard in this regard was from Charlie Munger. He called it “deworsification”. His logic was that he shouldn’t invest at all in his 20th best idea (or something like that).

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 04:29:58

Are you concerned that a further dive in Apple’s share price will take a bite out of your portfolio? (My financial planner friend, who as of a couple of days ago hadn’t caught wind of either the Chinese stock market swoon or the commodities rout, did mention Apple as a particularly good stock to own!)

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 04:35:20

Marketwatch dot com
Need to Know
How a deeper dive by Apple could crush this market
By Victor Reklaitis
Published: Aug 4, 2015 7:15 a.m. ET
Critical intelligence before the U.S. market opens

Crumbles by commodities and the Colossus of Cupertino have been getting much of the blame for the market slumping in seven of the past 10 sessions.

“If AAPL doesn’t find its footing soon, it may risk a deeper drop,” writes Andrew Nyquist, over at See It Market.

And as goes the largest company by market cap, so goes the whole U.S. stock market. Or at least a further slide by Apple would act as a mighty powerful brake on the S&P 500 (SPX, -0.28% SPY, -0.31%), where it’s about 4% of the benchmark, and on the growthier Nasdaq (100 NDX, -0.18% QQQ, -0.31%) where it’s a 14% chunk.

So, what’s the matter with Apple (AAPL, -0.71%)? For the first time since September 2013, the tech giant’s stock has knifed under the closely watched 200-day moving average. Many chart lovers use that as a guide to a stock’s long-term trend.

Also, Apple has entered into what’s often called “correction territory”, by dropping more than 10% from its peak. Go here for more on the iPhone maker’s technicals, from one of MarketWatch’s resident chart nerds, Tomi Kilgore.

Nyquist suggests Apple, which closed at $118.44 on Monday, could tumble into the $109-to-$115 range — an area the tech giant jumped out of in January, after quarterly results crushed forecasts.

Comment by azdude
2015-08-04 05:36:42

talk to me when its 25.Very crowded trade.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:33:13

I think I want to buy sugar eventually. Screw apple.

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Comment by ComfortableClass
2015-08-04 05:48:15

I’d like 3 more iPads please.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 06:24:24

Chinese are already buying fewer iPhones. Looks like the bloom is off the AAPL rose.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-08-04/heres-why-apple-just-entered-correction

 
Comment by Dman
2015-08-04 11:12:59

Is your friend one of those financial planners who sells exciting financial products that mainly benefit himself?

Comment by MightyMike
2015-08-04 11:24:11

The fact that he pays no attention to the Chinese stock market is probably a good thing for his clients.

 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 04:50:19

Did anyone else see the footage on Bloomberg television of that Mt Gox bitcoin dude who got arrested yesterday sitting on the edge of his bed petting his cat?

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2015-08-04 08:43:30

Mt. Gox = Magic The Gathering Online Xchange. Originally a place for buying / selling cardboard fantasy playing card game. Beanie babies for boys.

 
 
Comment by Goon
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:16:26

And LOLZ x1,000 that Real Clear Politics has Lindsey Graham polling dead f*ing last at 0.4%, what a capital L Looser!

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:24:16

World Net Daily actually has a link titled “Proof that ancient man lived with dinosaurs” LOLZ, the mouth breathers and window lickers who read that must be the 0.4% that is Lindsey Graham’s base

Comment by ComfortableClass
2015-08-04 05:52:06

Someday we will live with dinosaurs again. I have full faith that Jurassic park style cloning will eventually return us to that Edenic paradise. Then the Cecils of the world can rest in peace.

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Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:35:47

If there were dinosaurs, then we would use them as circus animals.

 
 
Comment by Joe Smith
2015-08-04 07:22:41

Rand Paul and Rick Perry believe in the young earth idea too. I believe 6000 years old is what they say.

I’ll never understand why these guys are called “serious” candidates but Trump and Carson aren’t. Trump has a big mouth but is well educated (his kids, too) and his sister is a freaking federal judge. Clearly Trump doesn’t need a koch kash or Sheldon adelson superpac either. And Carson runs circles around most of these guys in the mental department. He’s no Herman Cain, that’s for sure.

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-08-04 07:28:45

Liberace!

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 07:40:44

How old does Carson think the earth is?

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 09:11:48

Carson thinks it’s older: 6001 years.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 09:56:23

“6001 years.”

He’s doing the Price Is Right strategy, eh? He is a genius.

 
Comment by oxide
2015-08-04 09:59:33

Putin Would Eat President Trump for Lunch
— By Leonid Bershidsky, 07/31/15

Donald Trump keeps saying that, as president, he would have a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s probably deluded: Putin doesn’t make deals with brash, showy businessmen. He eats them for lunch…

American writers are tempted to compare Trump with Putin. “Doesn’t Trump resemble an American Putin?” …

…No Russian, however, would find any basis for comparing the two men. Rather, Trump reminds me of two other Russians, neither of whom fared well under Putin.

One is Yevgeny Chichvarkin, co-founder of the Yevroset chain of mobile phone shops… In September 2008, it became clear to Chichvarkin that he would have to sell his business, by then the biggest mobile phone retailer in Russia, or face jail on shaky criminal charges. He sold out for an undisclosed but probably very low sum to Alexander Mamut.

The other Russian businessman who Trump somewhat resembles is Boris Berezovsky, a member of the first cohort of Russian oligarchs…Soon after Putin became president, Berezovsky dared to criticize him over his handling of the separatist region of Chechnya. Prosecutors reopened an old criminal investigation of Berezovsky, who decided to remain in London. Eventually, he ran out of money; in 2013, he was found hanged in his bathroom. The coroner failed to establish whether it was murder or suicide..

Putin doesn’t do deals, as Trump does, or as Berezovsky and Chichvarkin once did, because he has never been a businessman. Putin is a man of the state.

(Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. He is a Berlin-based writer, author of three novels and two nonfiction books. Bershidsky was the founding editor of Russia’s top business daily, Vedomosti, a joint project of Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, and the first publisher of the Russian edition of Forbes.)

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-07-31/putin-would-eat-trump-for-lunch

 
Comment by oxide
2015-08-04 10:02:47

Not really genius for Price is Right. You’re supposed to get close without going over, and 6001 is going over. If he wants to attract fundies, wouldn’t a better strategy be 5999 years?

(FWIW, the 5999 strategy would also work on Final Jeopardy.) :razz:

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 10:15:05

He’s erring on the side of science. It’s win/win.

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 13:39:06

“….aaaaaaaaaannnd the average retail age of our precious earth is….6002….Dr Ben, come on up for your chance with Plinko!!”

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 06:26:11

On a more positive note, Ms. Lindsey Graham broke through the glass ceiling by getting promoted to full bird colonel in the SC Air National Guard (a promotion many say is undeserved).

Comment by ComfortableClass
2015-08-04 07:43:15

The only Colonel the public cares about is Col. Sanders. Full bird is delicious. Possibly also Colonel Angus.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:21:12

This is the top headline on FoxNewsHate right now:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/04/baltimore-calls-in-federal-agents-to-help-homicide-cops-deal-with-spike-in

7 years of Obama and that’s what you get

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 05:26:07

The return of Reconstruction?

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:36:52

Does it feel awkward when you’re always asking the only black person at the Bernie Sanders watch party to move, so that he can be prominently photographed in the crowd for what you post on Instagram?

We know you’re not racist, you don’t have to try so hard to prove it :)

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 06:27:52

Most Sanders’ supporters look like ’60s fossils who still have enough idealism not to vote for a crony capitalist criminal like Hillary Clinton.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 05:22:34

Is it safe yet to buy the dip in commodities?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 05:29:46

The Straits Times
Asian stocks slip as commodity woes return; Aussie dollar, gold decline
Pedestrians passing by a share prices board in Tokyo.
PHOTO: AFP
Published 11 hours ago

WELLINGTON (BLOOMBERG) - Mining companies dragged Asian stocks down for a second day after a selloff in crude oil reignited concern over the outlook for commodities. Gold and copper extended losses, while Australia’s dollar dropped before a rate review.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.3 per cent by 9:23 a.m. in Tokyo, with materials producers and energy stocks down at least 0.3 per cent. Japan’s Topix index fell 0.3 per cent, while US index futures dropped 0.1 per cent.

Brent crude lingered below US$50 a barrel following Monday’s 5.2 per cent tumble, as copper slipped a fifth day and gold lost 0.3 per cent.

The Aussie dollar hovered near its weakest level since 2009 and Korea’s won resumed declines.

Brent’s rout and angst over China’s slowing economy has reverberated through commodity markets, which were already close to a 13-year low after last month’s selloff. China imposed limits on equity short selling late Monday in its latest salvo aimed at quelling stock volatility.

Treasury yields slipped to the lowest level in two months on the tumble in energy prices, and as a pullback in US manufacturing boosted the case for keeping American rates lower for longer.

The Bloomberg Commodity Index slid 1.5 per cent to its lowest level since February 2002 on Monday, while the Bloomberg World Oil & Gas Index of 65 of the leading producers declined 2 per cent to its weakest position in six years. The Bloomberg World Mining Index of the biggest mining stocks fell 1.9 per cent to near its lowest since March 10, 2009.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 05:24:45

Why banning short-selling will further erode “investor” confidence in China’s markets.

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-why-a-ban-on-short-selling-wont-help-china-pick-up-its-stock-market-2015-8

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 06:31:44

“ban on short-selling”

So the tall can still sell? That’s racist. Especially in China.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:42:05

Chinese Talligarchs no longer have the right to sell their petite cohorts.

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2015-08-04 06:39:13

The irony is every short seller has to eventually buy the stock to cover

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-08-04 08:17:23

+infinity.

Blaming short-selling shows a serious lack of understanding of the purpose of markets, and what price-discovery means.

 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:33:30

And because 2brony hasn’t clocked in for his shift yet, here the Moonie rag Washington Times beats the war drums:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/3/islamic-state-attacks-beyond-syria-iraq-prompts-us/

There is no “smaller government” happening here, just more borrowing and death

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:45:19

I won’t link to it, but Weekly Standard has a piece written by William Kristol titled “Wow: Americans Oppose Iran Deal by Two to One”

A quick perusal on Wikipedia notes that Iran is the 18th largest and 17th most populous nation in the world

That’s gonna take alot of boots on the ground to invade and conquer that

And I’m still waiting for an explanation of how it will result in “lower taxes”

 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 07:37:59

Another article for 2brony, here reporting on ISIS’s “Sex Slave Price List”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-03/sex-slaves-sold-by-islamic-state-the-younger-the-better

Islam is a garbage religion, and selling 9 year old girls for $165 is pretty bad, but it’s not justification for another trillion dollar war

 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:51:28

Breitbart has a link titled “Police: man high on synthetic marijuana decapitated wife, killed dogs, cut off his own eye and hand”

Synthetic drugs are garbage, we serve our customers only the purest, freshest product

Sheldon Adelson spent $5,000,000 to defeat a medical marijuana ballot initiative in Florida in 2014, which is not “smaller government” or “less regulation” or “lower taxes”

Comment by ComfortableClass
2015-08-04 05:55:50

Anybody know what Trump’s position is on marijuana?

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 06:26:23

Let’s hope it’s a question at the debate.

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2015-08-04 08:56:27

It seems like it’s all the younger generation cares about so if he is for it he might pull in a ton of the younger kids.

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Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:51:58

He is obviously stoned. Look at his eyes.

 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 05:58:27

Breitbart also has a link titled “Police: illegal alien beats, attempts to rape woman at knifepoint”

Which is unpossible, because my liberal betters have assured that every Act Of Love who comes here will grow up to be a doctor or astronaut

The top rated article comment says “This won’t end until they victimize some of the students at Sidwell Friends school” LOLZ

 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 06:06:30

Warmist Warming Tuesday

Washington Post - GOP candidates range from hopeless to hapless on climate change

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-in-denial/2015/08/03/eac65b5e-3a14-11e5-8e98-115a3cf7d7ae_story.html?hpid=z3

And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 07:05:52

World’s Glaciers Melting At Fastest Rate Since Record-Keeping Began:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/glaciers-melting-fastest-rate_55bf7090e4b06363d5a2a494

Infinite growth is not possible in a finite ecosystem!

Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 10:43:53

Heard on the news this morning that oil companies are planning on drilling on the arctic shelf, because it’s easier now that there is less ice. The Russians in particular are claiming territorial waters all the way to the north pole.

 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 06:20:50

What’s the best emoticon to post when your bike gets stolen?

After uptick in property crimes, NYPD seeks to educate millennials about personal safety

http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-brooklyn-hipster-outreach-effort-heads-to-bars-1438682401?mod=rss_newyork_main

Comment by rms
2015-08-04 07:22:58

“…NYPD seeks to educate millennials about personal safety”

I haven’t seen any polar bear hunting in the news lately.

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 07:28:34

polar bear hunting

When it happens, Breitbart reports it

Because “real journalists” never will

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 06:30:07

B…b…but I though Obamacare would save ‘Muricans an average of $2500 each on health insurance…and if you liked your doctor, you could keep your doctor…as insurance companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/04/us/politics/obama-administration-urges-states-to-cut-health-insurers-requests-for-big-rate-increases.html?ref=us&_r=1

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 06:42:09

Health care is now 18% of USA GDP

What is the tipping point? 25 percent? 33 percent?

This is a serious question

Comment by 2banana
2015-08-04 06:58:41

For the FSA - it could be 100%.

It don’t matter as long as the free sh*t is coming

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2015-08-04 08:29:47

I’m not sure that there is a “tipping point” as you describe it.

If there is a “tipping point”, I honestly think we’ve already reached it. Not in terms of healthcare spending currently, but in terms of the care we expect at any given age (and the future spending that level of care requires).

We are spending WAY too much for things like end of life care…we’ve tipped, but we don’t know it yet. We’ll know as the boomers retire and start cashing in their Medicare chips.

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 09:15:17

It already has for me. Our family spends more on health care premiums than we do for our food budget. I don’t have car payments nor a cell contract because of the cost. And we are all VERY healthy, exercise and eat pretty balanced.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 11:07:11

When I mentioned how expensive heath care is in the USA to an Irish colleague, he was stunned. He pays $3000 a year for his family’s heathcare in Ireland, and he thought that was expensive. The I told him about deductibles, copays and co-insurance and his mind boggled, as he doesn’t pay any of those things.

The other day I received an email from Glassdoor, telling me about an IT job with a large healthcare provider. I was curious so I clicked the “salaries” link for that employer. The first job I saw was “cardiologist” and the salary was just shy of $500K. The job description did not mention surgery, so I’m guessing that the doc would just have you run on a treadmill while reading your EKG.

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Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:56:08

I saw a job the other day for a hospital lab tech. These jobs once paid about $12-15/hour (not long ago). This company was willing to pay $42/hr for a person with an associate’s degree and two years of experience. The job was located in an Oil City type location.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 06:40:02

400 oligarch families represent 50% of money raised by 2016 presidential candidates. Yet 95% of ‘Muricans continue to support Oligopoly puppets who are robbing them blind and turning our former Republic into a neo-fuedal plantation.

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/08/03/american-oligarchy-400-families-represent-50-of-money-raised-by-2016-presidential-candidates/

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 06:47:52

+1

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 07:09:39

My oligarch’s red hot,
Your oligarch’s doodly squat…

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 06:57:49

And now the latest on the undercover Planned Parenthood videos.

We-de-de-de
De-de-de-de-de
De-we-um-um-a-way
We-de-de-de
De-de-de-de-de
We-um-um-a-way

A-wimoweh, a-wimoweh
A-wimoweh, a-wimoweh
A-wimoweh, a-wimoweh

In the suburbs
The quiet suburbs
The Dentist hides tonight

Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 13:52:27

That IS funny.

 
 
Comment by Joe Smith
2015-08-04 07:09:27

Per campaign filings, Scott Walker is legit poor.

He has over 100k in student loan debt for his kids, plus 2 credit cards with 10k+ balances, one of which has a 27% interest rate.

This from a supposed “conservative”. More like a koch fluffer. It was always obvious he’s a dumb prole, but I was still shocked to see how bad his finances are.

I’ll much sooner listen to trump or Carson than this tea trash koch fluffer.

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 07:26:44

Liberace!

Did you see that Scott Walker got punked by some environmental activist?

 
 
Comment by 2banana
2015-08-04 08:13:18

He needs to start his own charity to fix this

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 08:34:57

“He has over 100k in student loan debt for his kids”

Do his kids have trouble caring about money too?

Chelsea Clinton: I tried to care about money but couldn’t

The daughter of former President Bill Clinton and ex-secretary of state Hillary Clinton explained in a recent interview why she left lucrative professions and opted for working with her family’s philanthropic foundation. ‘I was curious if I could care about (money) on some fundamental level, and I couldn’t,’ she said.

BY Leslie Larson
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Monday, June 23, 2014, 9:36 AM

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/chelsea-clinton-care-money-article-1.1840138 -

Chelsea Clinton to buy $10.5 million apartment on Madison Square Park

BY Philip Caulfield
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, March 14, 2013, 3:14 PM

Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are buying a sleek, $10.5 million apartment overlooking Madison Square Park, sources said.

The 5,000-square-foot pad, in The Whitman at 21 E. 26th St., is just a few blocks from the couple’s rented Gramercy Park loft. Sources said staying nearby was a top priority for the pair.

http://www.nydailynews.com/…/chelsea-clinton-buys-10-5-million-article-1.1288710 -

Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 10:58:00

Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Marc Mezvinsky, are buying a sleek, $10.5 million apartment overlooking Madison Square Park, sources said.

You weren’t expecting them to live in Hoboken, were you?

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 12:26:59

I want to have enough inherited wealth so I can not care about money too, but I can’t.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 19:45:01

You can marry an oligarch’s spawn like Chelsea did. Those oligarch dynasties like to keep their ill-gotten loot in the family, though, so unless your folks ripped off the 99% to the tune of a few tens of millions you may not stand a chance.

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Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:57:28

Ugh, all the good oligarchs are already married or gay. It’s so hard these days.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-08-04 07:26:00

25 Years In Iraq, With No End In Sight

August 02, 2015 8:53 AM ET

It started so well. When Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, the United States swiftly cobbled together a broad coalition, unleashed a stunning new generation of air power and waged a lightning ground offensive that lasted all of four days. Iraqi troops were so desperate to quit that some surrendered to Western journalists armed only with notebooks.

Kuwait was liberated, U.S. commander Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was a hero, and the pundits confidently declared the U.S. had buried its “Vietnam syndrome,” the fear of being sucked into a quagmire. In the annals of war, it doesn’t get much easier than this.

So on the 25th anniversary of that first Iraq conflict, how is it possible that the U.S. is still entangled in a messy, complicated war with no end on the horizon?

Aside from an intermission from December 2011 until August 2014, the U.S. military has been rumbling through the sweltering sands or soaring over the desert skies for this entire quarter-century, a military engagement unparalleled in U.S. history.

Before the first Iraq battle, the U.S. had never fought a large-scale war in the Middle East. Yet freeing a tiny Gulf emirate from Saddam’s clutches has morphed into a seemingly permanent state of war, metastasizing to so many countries it’s tough to put a precise number on it.

Here’s one way to count: President Obama has ordered airstrikes on seven Muslim countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya and Somalia) in less than seven years in office.

“Before 1990, the region was a secondary or even tertiary area of importance to Washington. The United States had rarely deployed military forces in the region,” Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official now at the Brookings Institution, wrote recently. “What had been a backwater for the U.S. military has become since 1990 the principal arena of conflict. This shows no sign of ending anytime soon.”

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/08/02/425872296/25-years-in-iraq-with-no-end-in-sight

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-08-04 07:52:13

Recall the various generals telling reporters. “we’re never leaving Iraq”, or “we’re never leaving Afghanistan.” The recently leaked defense intelligence report predicted the rise of an Islamic caliphate in Syria and deemed it desirable to western forces. ISIS gives the US the perfect excuse to stay. Turkey could throw these bums out in a week, but instead are letting recruits reinforce them. Israel is treating their wounded and sending them back to fight. Saudi princes gave them the start-up capital.

‘A book a friend recommended offers a supplementary definition of militarism, one that touches closer to home for Americans. The work, A History of Militarism by Alfred Vagts, was first published in 1937. Vagts makes an important distinction at the outset: “Every war is fought, every army is maintained in a military way and in a militaristic way. The distinction is fundamental and fateful. The military way is marked by a primary concentration of men and materials on winning. … Militarism, on the other hand, presents a vast array of customs, interests, prestige, actions and thought associated with armies and wars and yet transcending true military purposes. Indeed, militarism is so constituted that it may hamper and defeat the purposes of the military way .”

“Modern militarism has … specific traits … modern armies … are more liable to forget their true purpose, war, and the maintenance of the state to which they belong. Becoming narcissistic, they dream that they exist for themselves alone … perpetuating themselves for the purpose of drawing money.”

‘This definition of militarism is alive, well, and running the show on Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon. As Vagts warns, the result is not merely the waste of some hundreds of billions of dollars. Much of that money is spent in ways that work against military effectiveness, against the ability of our armed forces to win. Vagts reminds us: “The acid test of an army is war—not the good opinion it entertains of itself. …War is the criterion, and war only. The rest is advertisement.”

‘As it happens, the U.S. armed services are sponsoring the poster child for such “advertisement” and for the militarism that undermines Vagt’s military way. Its name is the F-35. The F-35 airplane, a fighter/bomber, is the most expensive weapons program in American history.’

‘The GAO report does not address the issue of the F-35’s performance, but what is known makes the picture even bleaker. The F-35 has a higher wing loading than the infamous F-105—the “Thud” or “Lead Sled” to its pilots—which means it maneuvers like a brick. It has less than a 1:1 thrust-to-weight ratio, which compared to other fighters makes it Porky Pig. And its vaunted “stealth” anti-radar capabilities are a fraud because by now almost everyone has discovered how to cut through “stealth”—old-fashioned long-wave radars do it nicely.’

‘Republicans in Congress continually call for reducing the federal deficit. Sloughing off this albatross would save a neat trillion. At the very least, congressional budget hawks should demand a fly-off, where the F-35 would have to prove it is a better fighter than our existing F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s. Will they? No. Some of those nice men in expensive suits standing at their office doors, checkbooks in hand, might go away.’

‘The shape of American militarism is the enormous shadow cast by the F-35.’

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/what-militarism-means/

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 07:55:55

THIS

 
Comment by 2banana
2015-08-04 08:18:29

I agree.

Entitlements make up 60%+ of the federal budget

The military makes up 16% of the federal budget

We have $1 trillion deficits per year

Now go do some math.

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-08-04 08:34:23

‘In 2015, U.S. defense spending will be about $600 billion, or about 3.24 percent of GDP. The former figure would strike many Americans as sufficient, and a few would find it excessive.’

‘Robert Gates once said, “If the Department of Defense can’t figure out a way to defend the United States on a budget of more than half a trillion dollars a year, then our problems are much bigger than anything that can be cured by buying a few more ships and planes.”

‘But hawks want you to focus on the latter figure, 3.24 percent: they believe that an arbitrary fixed percentage of national output should be dedicated to defense spending every year. For example, Mitt Romney and Bobby Jindal would peg defense spending at 4 percent of GDP.’

‘Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens would see that, and raise them. In his new book, America in Retreat, Stephens calls for sharply increasing “military spending to upwards of 5 percent of GDP.”

‘It’s unclear whether these gentlemen fully appreciate what their proposals would equate to in real dollar terms. (Take a look at the chart below, prepared by my colleague Travis Evans).’

‘The bipartisan Budget Control Act (BCA) capped discretionary Pentagon spending at $3.9 trillion between 2015 and 2021, an average of 2.6 percent of GDP per year. That means Americans would need to spend $2.1 trillion above the current caps to meet the 4 percent threshold, and $3.6 trillion more to reach 5 percent.’

‘For added perspective, then-House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s FY15 alternative projected $4.2 trillion for defense, or 2.8 percent of GDP. In other words, Romney proposed to spend $1.8 trillion more than his running mate, and Stephens’s plan is even more disconnected from fiscal reality–$3.3 trillion more than the de facto GOP budget.’

‘If Stephens is serious about dedicating 5 percent of the nation’s economy to the Pentagon, nearly double what is called for under current law, cutting other federal spending won’t be enough to make up the difference. He never says whether he would hike taxes or add to a federal debt that is already out of control to pay for this global police force. But either way, taxpayer support is not likely.’

‘That support is unlikely because U.S. foreign policy–and the military force structure needed to implement it–isn’t focused solely, or even primarily, on protecting the United States from foreign threats. Rather, our military aims to reassure nervous allies, and thus discourage them from defending themselves.’

‘As Stephens puts it, “America is better served by a world of supposed freeloaders than by a world of foreign policy freelancers.”

‘A recent poll reprinted in The Wall Street Journal in December 2014 pointed out that among the foreign-policy goals that Americans counted as “very important,” “defending our allies’ security” ranked second from the bottom, just one percentage point above “strengthening the United Nations.”

‘Instead of using an arbitrary percentage of national output to determine defense spending and expecting Americans to pay the bill without question, policymakers should develop a national security strategy that places a priority on U.S. national security, including the nation’s fiscal health, and demands appropriate burden-sharing by our allies.’

‘America can maintain its military preeminence for decades if we reduce our military spending (or at least maintain the current caps), enact other reforms to get our fiscal house in order (including fixing entitlements) and allow our allies to better provide for their own security.’

http://www.newsweek.com/us-military-spending-lot-or-lot-more-305019

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Comment by Ben Jones
2015-08-04 08:37:40

‘Debt is the biggest threat to U.S. national security, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during remarks to business executives today. “I’ve said many times that I believe the single, biggest threat to our national security is our debt, so I also believe we have every responsibility to help eliminate that threat,” he said.”

‘Mullen talked to the group about concerns caused by the “sequestration” mechanism included in the nation’s new debt-reduction law. “As you know, the resident has made a decision to reduce the defense budget by more than $450 billion over the next 10 years,” he said. “That’s a lot of money from any perspective, but, in fact, it only represents a little over 9 percent a year from our baseline.”

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=65432

 
Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 08:49:39

That Navy admiral is full of baloney. Here, let me edit his words to say what he really meant:

“I’ve said many times that I believe the single, biggest threat to our national security the Pentagon budget and our pet projects is our debt, so I also believe we have every responsibility to help eliminate that threat,”

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 09:04:07

“I’ve said many times that I believe the single, biggest threat to our national security the Pentagon budget and our pet projects is our debt, so I also believe we have every responsibility to help eliminate that threat,”

There is no threat to the Pentagon budget because…

Climate change ‘urgent and growing threat’ to national security: Pentagon

By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times - Wednesday, July 29, 2015

A new Pentagon report says that climate change is an “urgent and growing threat to our national security” and blames it for “increased natural disasters” that will require more American troops designated to combat bad weather.

Says the Pentagon report released Wednesday, “Global climate change will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests over the foreseeable future because it will aggravate existing problems — such as poverty, social tensions, environmental degradation, ineffectual leadership, and weak political institutions — that threaten domestic stability in a number of countries.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/…/jul/29/climate-change-urgent-security-threat-pentagon/ - 156k -

 
Comment by TBoom
2015-08-04 09:40:06

Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 09:04:07

Climate change ‘urgent and growing threat’ to national security: Pentagon
washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jul/29/climate-change-urgent-security-threat-pentagon/

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-08-04 09:52:44

Ahhhhh, all of this bitching about the F-35 reminds me of my youth, when the same people were bitching about the F-15, F-14, F-111, B-1, M-1 Abrams, Bradley FVs, etc.

Hate to tell you this, but we’re stuck with the F-35. There’s already like 150 of them in the inventory. The F-15 and F-16 are 1970s technology, needing a 1970s support infrastructure that is disappearing rapidly. And the existing airplanes are wearing out (doing high G turns all of the time tends to do that)

The only option we have is restart the F-22 line. Or buy F-18s for the USAF (an airplane that has it’s own issues, like lack of range). Or start from scratch, in which case we might see the first airplanes in service around 2030.

Most of the cost overruns and design problems are associated with the S/VTOL version. Building a supersonic S/VTOL aircraft has never been done before. All of the new aircraft carriers being built by various countries are designed around operating F-35s.

Basically, you can have a lot of cheap airplanes and match your opponents numbers. But then you have to find pilots and maintenance guys to maintain them, and the money for training, which costs a lot more than the airplanes.

Or you do what the USAF chose to do, which is have a much smaller number of technologically superior airplanes, with adequate money for fully training a smaller number of pilots, and hope they shoot down your opponent at a 10-1 clip.

Of course, you can make the case that the whole Air Force budget is a waste, since we aren’t going to bomb China or Russia anyway……..too many of our business elite have too much invested there to blow up. And its a tough sell to say they are “defending the country”, when you have “Cmon in, we’re Open” signs posted everywhere along the border.

 
Comment by Dman
2015-08-04 11:43:05

The defense industry has figured out that hiring ex-generals is as profitable as hiring ex-Fed employees is for the banks.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-08-04 10:24:35

If you really want to reduce entitlements, advocate for single-payer health care.

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Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 10:42:00

+1 Oxide. The sooner we get rid of HMO middlemen the better. HMO = Health Money-extraction Organization…

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 11:09:54

+1 Oxide. The sooner we get rid of HMO middlemen the better. HMO = Health Money-extraction Organization…

That would be a good start, but even without those leeches our healthcare costs are sky high.

 
Comment by Anonymous
2015-08-05 12:29:19

Can’t wait for the first “government shutdown” after we get single-payer…will all the doctor’s offices and hospitals close?

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 08:21:49

The Millennial Commune, in where else but Brooklyn:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/realestate/the-millennial-commune.html

Paging rj chicago, tell the HBB how much millennials suck?

Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 08:46:52

“Prospective residents answer probing questions like “What are your passions?” and “Tell us your story (Excite us!).”

Or…

You, flock of seagulls, you know why we’re here?

Pulp Fiction Scene - “Hamburgers” - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE9Qm8mShik - 694k -

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 09:08:15

I hope their skinny jeans get stuck in the chain of their fixed gear bike.

Have you stolen a Millennials murse today??

Comment by oxide
2015-08-04 10:13:49

Millenial skinny jeans won’t get stuck in a bike chain.

Ironically, it’s the Baby Boomer 1970’s bell-bottoms which will be caught.

Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 10:59:06

But they use the power wheels at WalMart and Costco so phat chance of that.

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Comment by Puggs
Comment by MightyMike
2015-08-04 10:37:28

How imminent is imminent?

Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 10:55:27

At Zero Hedge, the end of the world has been imminent every day for the last ten years.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-08-04 12:55:10

Falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels is the end of the world?

You really are a poverty lover aren’t you…… It’s no wonder you live in California… the most impoverished welfare state in the US.

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Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 13:41:16

The world didn’t end in 2008 when the same thing happened.

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Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 09:55:35

“The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.”

Henry Kissinger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noaEwKDSS6E - 227k -
—————————————————————————-

U.S. Renews Push for Trans-Pacific Partnership

Politicians have criticized the secretive nature of the policy

by Economy Watch | August 4, 2015

After fierce resistance from Australia and several Asian countries, the United States is again making an aggressive move to get the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) approved in all member states.

American Secretary of State John Kerry has flown to Singapore, where he will meet with several Asian dignitaries to hammer out a deal on the TPP. A few sticking points, such as Americans’ insistence on strict regulations of patented prescription drugs, have caused other states to balk at the agreement, with Australia making the loudest protests over the lack of free trade agreements within the agreement.

The treaty involves the largest North American economies and several smaller developing Asian countries, as well as Australia, as potential members. Most notably is the exclusion of China from the agreement, although neighbors such as Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan are all negotiating in the agreement.

Kerry has admitted in a press conference that the deal is facing stumbling blocks, but at the same time told reporters that its completion would be a major economic milestone and an essential move in safeguarding U.S. interests in the world’s fastest growing economic area.

While many economists support the agreement, several politicians have criticized the secretive nature of the policy, and have pointed out that there have been few studies done of how much it would benefit American workers, with the precedent of NAFTA indicating that it could be less beneficial for low-skilled workers than many economists expect.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 10:06:11

Any thoughts on for how much longer Uncle Buck will reign as king?

Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 10:14:40

I thought we went over this recently? The US dollar will remain the world’s #1 currency indefinitely because there are no viable alternatives. Not the Euro, not the Yuan (especially now), not the Yen…

Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 10:45:21

Yup. Last man standing. Though “indefinitely” is a very long time.

Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 10:53:55

Maybe I should have said “for an indeterminate period of time” instead of “indefinitely”? What I mean is, I don’t see any developments on the horizon that would lift the status of the Euro, Yuan, Ruble or any other currency to super-status.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 11:11:16

I agree 100%. I knew what you meant, just giving you a hard time.

 
Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 11:44:42

I got you know. No problem with that, I’ve been known to poke a few ribs around here myself : - )

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 10:32:28

Wow, my Zestimate went up again and to a greater extent so did my Rent Zestimate. There must be a bubble or somethin.’ Renters miss out on this, they never experience the glow and excitement of the Wealth Effect. Makes me want to go out and buy a Tesla.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-08-04 11:19:49

The house next door sold for $435K, meaning that it sold for $40K less than its original asking price. They bought it in August 2001 for $334K (they could have got for under 300K had they bought after 9/11).

They did finish their 2000 sq foot basement and replaced the counters with granite, so they didn’t make 100K profit. I’m guessing that after closing costs and the basement finish job, that they broke even (maybe a small profit, their basement job looks low budget to me). AFAIK they still have the original roof and HVAC. They owed about $50K on it and will be moving to a much smaller house they having built, which they will pay cash for.

Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 11:52:49

…annnnd you just laid out why I’m not buying a Tesla. With my luck I’d be hit with major maintenance on the house and having to replace Tesla batteries at the same time. This wealth effect isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. But I have to pay property taxes on it, go figure.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-08-04 13:48:10

Post a link of said house.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-04 10:55:10

‘I am Cecil’: Obama voters go mad over killing of legendary lion - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ckX0LB640 - 397k -

Comment by WPA
2015-08-04 10:58:10

Phony I’m surprised. Are you carrying water for Russian media now?

 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 12:19:46

Stop saying prices are too high they’re not the economy is just better than you.

Comment by Puggs
2015-08-04 13:42:51

What what the do??

 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2015-08-04 13:50:25

Denver, CO Housing Prices Fall 9%

http://www.movoto.com/denver-co/market-trends/

Comment by Goon
2015-08-04 16:59:55

I took this pic a few hours ago while trailrunning. Note the new development of houses and apartments at lower left in the pic, it is pink (got stucco?) as compared to the green behind it as there are no trees there yet. This is either western Lakewood or unincorporated Jefferson County:

http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150804_142233.jpg

Region VIII

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-08-04 17:24:42

No shortage of land there. Or houses for that matter.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 17:46:24

What’s wrong with that Idaho hunter and her kill pictures?

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 19:14:01

Some people think people who kill endangered species for fun are a little, umm, psychotically crazy.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 19:46:19

Giraffes aren’t endangered, last time I checked.

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-08-04 20:40:31

“In 1999, it was estimated that over 140,000 giraffes existed in the wild, but estimates in 2010 indicate that fewer than 80,000 remain.[18]”

wikipedia

Kill ‘em while you can, psychos!

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Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 19:59:06

I mean “What is her prob?”

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 19:39:55

Today’s stock market bubble is even bigger than the DotCom boom (and destined to end just as badly).

http://www.businessinsider.com/this-stock-market-bubble-worse-than-dotcom-boom-2015-8

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-08-04 22:12:03

It’s gone on for so long. Doesn’t that pretty much guarantee its eternity?

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-08-04 19:48:07

What could possibly go wrong when Big Agriculture employs Mexican laborers under slave-like conditions to harvest its cilantro?

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/4/cilantro-linked-infection-sickens-hundreds.html

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-08-04 20:02:18

crater

 
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