Bits Bucket for August 26, 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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Howdy from China. Heard the gang was back for a reunion earlier in the week. In my life the divorce was final a while back, got laid off a few months ago due to the company almost going under. Am currently doing the same job while contracted directly with customers rather than through the former employer. Not sure where things will go. You hear a little bit of talk in China about the market peak, but not as much as you’d think. So far life goes on like normal…
Welcome back, Carl. Hope this next phase of life gets easier and better for you.
Our boots on the ground in China informs us there is nothing normal going on there.
I could believe it. But in my corner of the world the person I knew who needed to sell a place in Shanghai *finally* dumped it this spring and not many other people are talking about it. I know one person who is heavily in the stock market but thinks the worst is behind now.
Does this mean that you’re living in China now?
Are the Chinese just not interested in the market, or do they sound gagged?
I’m here approximately half time now. I don’t know…I just don’t personally know anybody that’s shopping very hard. They all still think it will make them rich eventually though and are still glad they got in when they did. The people I know just think things will stay approximately the same and focus on other things. Kind of like Americans.
Thanks for the report, and best of luck with moving on from former marriage and company. Your spirit of adventure in the face of such major life changes is admirable.
Interesting comments CM. I wish you the best moving forward.
I am curious about a larger overall perspective of China. Perhaps we could do a weekend topic on what people see, know and hear. How many vacant cities are there? Are they filling up now? Is the apartment vacancy 24%? What are average prices? Incomes? Is their bubble seemingly worse than the US one in 2008?
So many questions, so few answers.
It’s all the same bubble and collapse now Jingle_Fraud. It’s global.
Interesting questions. I personally do not know what has happened with the vacant cities. But because they were built where the jobs aren’t I suspect that nothing has changed. Prices are still very high but I think the owners are holding out so far. Not a lot of personal debt here, so people can hold out for a long time if their day job can cover any payments they might have. I suspect the bubble is much worse here, except for the lack of personal debt on everything non-housing related. I am seeing that rents are WAY out of line with prices. Shanghai is expensive…but not THAT expensive if you rent something “normal”.
Good to see you, Carl. Sorry to hear about the rough go of things.
Working and living in China…AWESOME!
And he’s sticking it to his former company, since he now poaching contracts that used to go to his company.
Thanks for the info, Oxide.
That even more AWESOME!
Sort of true. But my relationship with them is still good so far. They have managed things in such a way that a lot of money was left on the table. I’m more picking up those scraps than poaching money they would actually be making. Without me they can’t provide some of the services they were providing before. It was their sales incentives that resulted in them previously giving away for free what I can now charge for. So I’m actually making the market more efficient :-).
Carl! Great to hear an update! Many good wishes to you, may wind be at your back etc. Thanks to your resourcefulness and resilience you have landed on your feet once again. There are reputed to be thriving expat communities in the major cities.
When/if you have a chance, tell us about the life there?
Thanks, best - Jane
Anything in particular you’re curious about regarding life here? The things that freak Americans out when they first get here already get covered everywhere. I have to give the disclaimer that I’m still living a fairly American lifestyle here. I can see the Chinese lifestyle more closely from here but I don’t really live it.
The “American Dream” model/lifescript of debt-financed, owner-occupied, single family housing is over, and it ain’t coming back, nobody I know who does anything interesting with their life does that. My friends who are traveling in Europe and South America right now aren’t there because they have mortgages.
If you have to borrow for 15 or 30 years, it’s not affordable nor can you afford it.
I think George Carlin had the American Dream bang to rights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ4SSvVbhLw
Do they have families and kids or are they outliers?
I have read recently in a few places that 25% of Americans under age 30 now will likely never marry, that’s not an outlier.
Remember that 50% of marriages end in divorce, and 70% of those divorces are initiated by women.
And all the shaming in the world won’t bring men back on the plantation.
Whether married or not, families with kids are the backbone of society and those without are outliers. The entire housing market revolves around this. One flaw in a lot of the housing or financial advice offered by some here is that it does not take anything other than a single childless person perspective into account.
Singles tend to be ordered to go on company travel. Singles tend to fill I for those with families. Singles have the opportunity to be more productive and upwardly mobile.
Now a single trapped in a mortgage might have a bigger weight on his shoulders than the colleague who rents and is married.
But a single professional who rents has the bull by the horns.
+ all of this
And remember:
“Even if I fell, I land on a bunch of money” — Jay Z
Singles tend to be ordered to go on company travel.
I don’t know about that. I see plenty of marrieds with kids go on biz trips.
Sometimes married guys go on business trips to take a break from the wife and kids. At one company that I worked for people on business trips often went out after dinner and did a lot of drinking together. Some of them did that because they had spouses who objected to excessive drinking.
Let’s see here…Tyranny is a word we see from time to time. As a sovereign human male almost 50 years old, I’ve come to gain a perspective about the topic.
We are so conditioned to live in a societal box. Get married, have kids, buy a Prius and a minivan, don’t have fun, don’t live outside the PC plan. If that works for you, then fine, enjoy your life, but don’t elect bureaucratic tyrants to do your bidding by proxy.
I work hard, I am a conservationist and extremely responsible, but I also play hard, drink beer play cash card games and (gasp) smoke a cigarette or two. I also work out five days per week including martial arts/defensive tactics. Leave me alone and let me live and die the way I choose.
By the way, I am married almost 20 years to a wonderful woman, we have no kids and we live life on our terms.
Liberty is the new black. Have a nice day.
But is everyone like you, i.e. “extremely responsible”? No. So we need rules. If everyone were like you, I wouldn’t have to pity the fool.
Whether married or not, families with kids are the backbone of society and those without are outliers. The entire housing market revolves around this.
My parents grew up in rented apartments. It wasn’t a problem.
So did I. There were some problems, but I thrived. Now I belong to a country club and a fight club.
I belong to a country club
You’ll never get into Onwentsia.
You broke the first rule, man.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/150-W-Onwentsia-Rd-Lake-Forest-IL-60045/4898018_zpid/
5 bedrooms and 6 “baffrooms,” 7,634 square feet. Definitely would have to pay through the nose to hire cleaning staff to come in and keep all those “baffrooms” tidy and fresh.
You could live in AirBnB rentals 365 days a year anywhere on the planet for less than the cost of owning and maintaining a bubble-priced California McMansion.
AirHeadBNB….. The new black for drug dealers, johns and prostitutes.
Still beats California home ownership, where such types as you describe can be your permanent neighbors.
Given the popularity of AirHeadBnB in Californica, it seems the entire housing stock there has turned into crack dens and whore houses.
Unfortunately, I think AirBNB will keep house prices high.
In my neighborhood, the houses with a bath in the basement sell well; the ones without a bath in the basement (or with no basement), sell for lower even if there’s more square footage on the main floor. It’s obvious that buyers rent out the basement for cash to help with the PITI. If they aren’t willing to rent out, then they will be outbid by another buyer who will. That’s how prices in my nabe are staying stable. I think AirBNB will do the same for many houses.
Like anything else, renting out will go from being luxury bucks to a necessary source of income.
I think AirBNB will do the same for many houses.
If there’s ever an AirBNB on my street it won’t last long because I’ll call them in for a zoning violation. My street is not zoned for hotels. Period. Dang Millennials, they think just because there’s a smartphone app for something they can just ignore existing laws.
It’s not just millenials . . . a lot of our, er, newest residents do the same.
not a hotel, just letting a pal stay over in exchange for $$.
America, freedom, free market and all… less gov not more
What should we not like about this? The author does not shed any clarity?
China’s woes and a still flawed global economy
And also means that lower prices or deflation is exported to the rich West.
Now you may say yippee, that we can buy more petrol and food for our pounds, euros and dollars.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34061091
Nothing I loved more than watching the Dow go negative around about 12:30 yesterday after a whole morning of pimping and BS.
Pimps are back at it early today, trying to encourage more Muppets to buy stocks before the next leg down in the bear market.
is jim cramer pimping his Iwatch and aapl stock today?
“is jim cramer pimping…”
That’s what he does.
Apple. The $20 stock.
The shameless vampire squid is at it also.
GOLDMAN SACHS: Now is the time to buy Chinese stocks
http://uk.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-says-chinese-stocks-relatively-undervalued-2015-8#ixzz3jw7s0f5G
Rallying the base
I give them credit for doing this on their own, without spending more taxpayer dollars to pay for it, but the question you should ask is, what does Fox News aim to achieve with this article? Beyond attempting to psychologically condition the American public into launching another trillion dollar war?
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/08/25/father-and-his-sons-take-fight-to-isis
Real journalists at the New York Times helpfully script the narrative:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/26/world/middleeast/pentagon-investigates-allegations-of-skewed-intelligence-reports-on-isis.html
I would rather live in a free society that yes, has risk and danger, than live in a police state at perpetual war. And in case you forgot, the United States has over $18,000,000,000,000 of debt.
I cleared the browser cache on my phone and I’m still getting the “call your senator ______ to oppose the Iran deal” banner ad almost every time I reload the page here. Wonder if the HBB is being specifically targeted for this based on keyword frequency, such as ISIS, Iran, neocon, et cetera.
clear your cookies and install ‘Privacy Badger’
This is my current sidebar ad on HBB:
http://stelly.com.au/40-playsuits-jumpsuits
Does Ben get paid every time I click on that? I could click that all day.
Fox knows that a large part of their viewership wants to see America strong and not taking any sh!t from anyone. This includes pissants like ISIS or Iran. So those stories get eyeballs. And the love a strong America ideology is perverted and taken advantage of by the crooked warmongers and MIC.
It’s not just millenials . . . a lot of our, er, newest residents do the same.
Su casa es mi casa
Well an alternative interpretation could be “if you think we should fight ISIS go over there and do it yourself”. But yeah I doubt that’s Fox’s angle.
Commie website CounterPunch discusses The Donald, authoritarianism:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/25/why-donald-trump-is-so-scary
The Donald is like the “50 Shades Of Gray” candidate, fulfilling voters’ dark and unspoken fantasies. I watched his speech in Alabama last Friday, and the emotional response of the audience was, as the title of the article says, scary.
Real journalists (who speak Spanish) disparagingly discuss The Donald:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/27/us/politics/latino-news-media-offended-by-donald-trump-shows-it-in-broadcasts.html
Real person Donald Trump boots pipsqueak Jorge Ramos of Univision from his press conference. Priceless.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/25/politics/donald-trump-megyn-kelly-iowa-rally/
I’d love to see Ramos confronting El Chapo the same way and watch his head disappear from his shoulders.
I would love to see an American journalist (Ramos is a Mexican citizen) attack a Mexican presidential candidate. He would be told to mind his own business and then be deported.
Trump told him to go back to Univision. He should have told him to go back to Mexico.
LOL, I think “Univision” was actually code for Mexico.
I mean, Trump was calling on another journalist and Ramos just butts in and starts yammering about “I have the right to ask a question, I have the right to ask a question, I have the right to ask a question”, over and over like it’s some mantra. Really weird.
I’m surprised Trump issued the guy press credentials in the first place. He denied them to the Des Moines Register for dissing him. In all fairness, though, Ramos will, in fact, give Americans a forum to discuss illegal immigration, like he did with Ann Coulter, when US MSM won’t.
Breitbart reporting that one out of twelve births in the USA is an anchor baby.
Cultural Imperialism…It’s what’s for dinner.
The author — who is a professor of history of all things — lost all credibility with this:
“Donald Trump is the first businessman with no experience in political office to run for the presidency in living memory.”
Excuse me, my living memory clearly remembers Ross Perot holding his own in the Presidential debates in 1992. The rest of the articles pulls a full-on Godwin law.
LOL, I couldn’t even read past that. “Professor”. This is why “education” is such a joke in the US. At all levels. That’s what’s really scary.
You know they’re getting REALLY desperate when they position Trump with “Hitler” and “Mussolini”.
I notice these mokes don’t position Trump with Stalin or Mao, their patron saints.
Don’t forget Trotsky. They genuflect before him.
“You know they’re getting REALLY desperate when they position Trump with “Hitler” and “Mussolini”.”
Perhaps they can make the connection as all three are pompous asses. How many times does Trump say how great he is and how everybody loves him.
And also connect him up with many of the Founding Fathers who were pompous asses also. Imagine, the audacity to start a new country, of course they all knew better than the filthy unwashed masses.
I don’t recall any of the founding fathers blowing their own horns the way that Trump does. George Washington displayed some humility when he limited himself to two terms.
“You know they’re getting REALLY desperate when they position Trump with “Hitler” and “Mussolini”.”
He’s an old school, cult-of-personality fascist egomaniac riding to power on the disgruntlement of an idiot electorate. Why wouldn’t they?
Please. The “fascist” label is just a bunch of over the top, gratuitous hyperbole. Comparisons to Hitler and Mussolini are laughable and SJW hysteria.
fascism - “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.”
That’s what Trump is selling… and It’s funny how you bleat SJW as a response.
‘Italian Fascism is based upon Italian nationalism, and in particular seeks to complete what it considers as the incomplete project of Risorgimento by incorporating Italia Irredenta (”unredeemed Italy”) into the state of Italy.[1][9] The National Fascist Party (PNF) founded in 1921, declared that the party was to serve as “a revolutionary militia placed at the service of the nation. It follows a policy based on three principles: order, discipline, hierarchy”.[9]‘
‘It identifies modern Italy as the heir to the Roman Empire and Italy during the Renaissance, and promotes the cultural identity of Romanitas (”Roman-ness”).[9] Italian Fascism historically sought to forge a strong Italian Empire as a “Third Rome”, identifying ancient Rome as the “First Rome”, and Renaissance-era Italy as the “Second Rome”.[9] Italian Fascism has emulated ancient Rome, and Benito Mussolini in particular emulated ancient Roman leaders, such as Julius Caesar as a model for the Fascists’ rise to power, and Augustus as a model for empire-building.[10] Italian Fascism has directly promoted imperialism, such as within the Doctrine of Fascism (1932), ghostwritten by Giovanni Gentile on behalf of Mussolini:
“The Fascist state is a will to power and empire. The Roman tradition is here a powerful force. According to the Doctrine of Fascism, empire is not only territorial or military or mercantile concept, but a spiritual and moral one. One can think of an empire, that is, a nation, which directly or indirectly guides other nations, without the need to conquer a single square kilometre of territory.”
—Benito Mussolini, Giovanni Gentile, Doctrine of Fascism (1932).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Fascism
Herbert Cain (”I’m a brother from another mother”), anyone?
Excuse me, my living memory clearly remembers Ross Perot holding his own in the Presidential debates in 1992.
Maybe the writer is much younger than you.
“The Donald is like the “50 Shades Of Gray” candidate, fulfilling voters’ dark and unspoken fantasies. I watched his speech in Alabama last Friday, and the emotional response of the audience was, as the title of the article says, scary.”
No! What is scary is that the electorate voted in a candidate on two words HOPE & CHANGE. Obama care was passed and then written. The bar has been set by the media shills and now in this election you expect the electorate clued into your mindset. This is the era of reality tv, free s**t, houses for everyone, free medical care for all, and government is your daddy.
I’m pretty sure this guy didn’t actually watch the Alabama speech. It was pretty tame and frankly rambling.
There are those who have trouble with ANY authority. I see many liberals falling into this camp. Often has to do with relationship to Daddy.
I donated money to Ron Paul’s campaign in 2007.
And you, sir, are a neocon.
I think Kunstler’s latest commentary pretty much sums up the whole Trump scene accurately.
I guess Ben didn’t care much for my last response to this, so I’ll try again, more politely.
Does this include Kunstler’s not-so-veiled call for Trump to be assassinated?
Sick puppy.
I do not favor wars or illegal immigration. Is your liberty paid for by someone else’s responsibility? Or do you just not want to be told what to do?
There are those who have trouble with ANY authority.
By far this tends to be Tea Party trait. Exhibit 1: A certain deadbeat cattle rancher in Nevada, backed up by a “militia,” who won’t pay a below-market rent for using public lands.
Tea Partiers resent all forms of government, except on the 1st of the month, when the Soc Sec and Disability checks come out.
I support the Tea Party and their successful efforts to stop amnesty. Liberty, not Libertine. There seems to be some confusion.
Breitbart link reposted from yesterday, because it’s one of the most refreshing things I’ve read in a long time. The article discusses something I’ve been saying here for a long time, which is:
“scripting the narrative”
News is not reported, narratives are scripted. And there is no greater threat to the New York / Washington media axis and the bought and paid for kingdom of whores that is the political establishment than rejection of that narrative.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/08/24/rise-of-the-cultural-libertarians/
It’s not about left and right anymore, it’s the difference between libertarianism and authoritarianism, but given the sad state of the American electorate, expect the latter.
Dark days ahead for this country, and thanks Ben Jones for the platform to discuss it.
A continuation of the idea expressed in the above Breitbart link, Capture Theory: Republicans, Democrats, and the Triumph of Totalitarianism in America, By William L. Anderson
‘As the United States continues on the long march of self-destruction, those of us who actually believe in the ideals of a free society should remember that our views not only are in a minority, but are considered to be “dangerous” by both Republicans and Democrats. If we wish to be true to our ideals and, indeed, true to the Truth, then we will have to understand that we may pay dearly our adherence to those things that the founders of the USA supposedly believed, and that allegedly are celebrated in the halls of Congress and the White House.’
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/08/william-l-anderson/the-triumph-of-totalitarianism/
+1
The Birchers were probably saying things that 50 years ago.
There is a barn in Holmes County, Ohio that has a faded, but still readable painted sign on it promoting the Birch Society.
Libertarianism v. Authoritarianism? Do you really trust the FSA with liberty? They don’t pay their own way or even have enough discipline to hold down a job.
How many of the FSA vote in favor of the yearly 50 cent tobacco tax increases? I will bet the armchair authoritarian NIMBY’s (Republican and Democrat) outnumber them 5 to 1.
The FSA ALL vote for the people who impose those type of taxes, the Totalitarian Left.
I like to think I have a bit of a libertarian streak on many issues but I just can’t get behind the whole open borders thing. If anything open borders should be the last step in any grand libertarian plan, otherwise the system will break down and you will have a country flooded with people who support straight up socialism. Do the open borders bit as the very last step and people will have no reason to flood the country looking for handouts in the first place.
700 billion Indians want to emigrate here according to a 2008 poll. Open borders is as silly as much of the other libertarian rhetoric.
Maybe we could have a Libertarian state though as an experiment. Some place internal and surrounded by a wall or a moat so ingress an egress could be monitored. Kind of Lord of the Flies-ish.
Libertarian state
That’s a contradiction in terms. The end result of pure libertarianism is no government and anarchy.
In other words Southern California.
Make no mistake — the stock market might still be crashing
http://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-often-zig-zag-when-bubbles-peak-2015-8#ixzz3juhE2LCu
They’ll pull out all the stops to make today positive. Futures already up 350.
UPDATE: CARS, clothes, and your next overseas trip are all set to become more expensive as the dollar plummets towards US70 cents.
But the price of petrol will fall, creating a silver lining for consumers.
The Australian dollar plumbed a fresh six-year low yesterday morning, when it reached US70.44c — its lowest mark since April 2009 — as it was hit by the global share market ructions.
Last night had settled at about US71.8c.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/australian-dollar-plummets-towards-70c-but-petrol-prices-also-falling/story-e6frg6n6-1227499154214
A steep decline in the rouble has hammered Russian carmakers by driving up the cost of the foreign parts they rely on, forcing them to raise prices at home and making them uncompetitive abroad.
After a decade of annual sales growth in excess of 10 percent, the Russian car industry is now a victim of an economic crisis fuelled by lower oil prices and Western sanctions over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine crisis.
Domestic car sales have halved from their peaks in 2012-2013 when during some months the country ranked ahead of Germany as Europe’s largest car market by sales, and the eighth biggest in the world. It now ranks only fifth in Europe and 12th globally.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/08/17/uk-russia-crisis-autos-analysis-idUKKCN0QM1KI20150817
Production and sales results have been gloomy in Brazil all year but recent confirmation of four new auto investments provided some relief although all had been announced previously.
Last month, the sector sold 227,600 light and heavy vehicles, down 22.8% year on year. The year to date tally was off 21% to 1.55m.
July production was down 14.9% year on year to 215,100 units. Inventories (some 50% larger than usual) declined just one day from 46 to 45 days’ supply. Year to date, production was down 18.1% to 1.49m.
Auto industry lobby groups now predict full year production to plunge to the level of nine years ago with sales off 30% from the record 2012 tally.
http://www.just-auto.com/news/auto-investments-offset-sales-and-production-gloom_id162168.aspx
Not looking good for the resource providing nations.
Has anyone else detected growing trend to elect the “alternative” politicians. The main stream ones seem to be toxic to the electorate and we are seeing a rise of the alternative, whether they be right wing, left wing, just plain populist or in some case comedians. I suspect people in general now see themselves as so disconnected from the establishment that anyone who isn’t part of it becomes electable. In the past they would have been dismissed as mad or bad and dangerous too know, now they are seen as straight talking and offering hope while mainstream politicians are seen as ineffectual and crooks. Examples are becoming legion in the USA you haver Trump and Sanders. In Europe we have such examples as
Ana Colau
Barcelona’s new activist mayor, Ada Colau, is long accustomed to making powerful enemies. Before being elected to City Hall, in May’s local elections, she was best known for founding and running the Platform for Mortgage Victims (PAH)
http://www.businessinsider.com/barcelona-just-declared-war-on-airbnb-2015-8?IR=T
Beppe Grillo and Luigi di Maio
Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star party, founded in 2009 by former comedian Beppe Grillo, is itching to govern and has a man primed for the top job.
http://www.thelocal.it/20150803/italys-anti-establishment-five-star-party-ready-to-govern
Mortgage Victims
When you sign your name on a piece of paper that says 360 monthly payments, you’re only a victim of your own stupidity.
Agreed, people are tired of the political power structure that exists just about everywhere, doesn’t matter if its right or left, its all status quo and is not conducive to freedom and economic growth.
People are also dissatisfied with pretty much any important institution that you can think of - business, religion, education, etc.
Those institutions you name are all dominated by the political elites and their moneyed controllers - they’re either controlled directly like businesses now - giving us the facist corporatocracy we have now (buy health care or suffer the penalties!) or marginalized to the point of meaninglessness like most churches.
We could be seeing all the institutions being toppled at some point. While you can get a good education at some Universities providing you major in something useful, we all know a lot of the majors offered and the profs teaching those classes are completely worthless.
I suspect people in general now see themselves as so disconnected from the establishment that anyone who isn’t part of it becomes electable.
The brain-dead portion of the population (~95%) have long made a habit of mindlessly voting for the Oligopoly’s Republicrat water carriers because they had been conditioned voting for Rs over Ds, or vice versa, actually made a difference. Now that they’re getting a little fed up with excessive rectal bleeding after each election, especially if they’re taxpayers, isn’t the “hope ‘n change” they thought they’d voted for. So a growing portion of them are seeing the light, not a minute too soon, and rightly associating Wall Street stooges like HillaryJeb with ass pain and slippage in life.
“Get what you can get for your house today because it’s going to be less tomorrow for many years to come.”
More so today than ever.
“I am drowning in cash” — Selfish Hoarder, renter
queen creek real estate is a no brainer.
There’s a brand new Harkins theater in the same complex as Target/Walmart and Smash Bros., In n Out etc.
“queen creek real estate is a no brainer.”
You got that backwards. Only a no brainer would buy Queen Creek real estate.
Intolerance for obnoxious, inconsiderate behavior that spoils outings for others is now officially “insensitive.”
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/25/wine-train-issues-apology-to-black-women-booted-from-train.html
Racis
I’ve got a race card here and I’m not afraid to use it! I’m a Donkey on the edge!
“Giaccio said he had a conversation with Johnson, a leader of the Sistahs on the Reading Edge Book Club, which has also been called Sisters on the Edge,and offered the group the free passes for a reserved car “where you can enjoy yourselves as loudly as you desire.”
“Wine train spokesman Sam Singer, a crisis communications specialist whom local news site SFGate.com reported was hired Monday, said employees had repeatedly asked the women to either quiet down or get off the train and accept a free bus ride back to their starting point.”
Is it OK to expel white people who misbehave without apology?
That would’ve never made the news.
The New York Times
Analysis Finds Higher Expulsion Rates for Black Students
By MOTOKO RICH
August 24, 2015
With the Obama administration focused on reducing the number of suspensions, expulsions and arrests in public schools, a new analysis of federal data identifies districts in 13 Southern states where black students are suspended or expelled at rates overwhelmingly higher than white children.
The analysis, which will be formally released Tuesday by the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, focused on states where more than half of all the suspensions and expulsions of black students nationwide occurred. While black students represented just under a quarter of public school students in these states, they made up nearly half of all suspensions and expulsions.
In some districts, the gaps were even more striking: in 132 Southern school districts, for example, black students were suspended at rates five times their representation in the student population, or higher.
In recent years, civil rights groups such as the Advancement Project and legal advocacy organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. and Texas Appleseed have focused on reducing arrests and other severe disciplinary actions in schools.
…
Entirely different subject. I’m a bit surprised to see you taking that report at face value, however.
“…have focused on reducing arrests and other severe disciplinary actions in schools.”
Is the focus on reducing the student behaviors that lead to arrest or expulsion, or on disciplining teachers or law enforcement officers for attempting to maintain order in the classroom?
“Entirely different subject.”
My subject was race-based double standards for behavior. What was yours?
People being kicked off a train for being loud and obnoxious. I’m still surprised to see you taking that report at face value. You are often a lot more skeptical than that.
“I’m still surprised to see you taking that report at face value.”
How did you get that idea?
July 26, 2012
Executive Order — White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans
(iii) decreasing the disproportionate number of referrals of African American children from general education to special education by addressing the root causes of the referrals and eradicating discriminatory referrals;
(vi) reducing the dropout rate of African American students and helping African American students graduate from high school prepared for college and a career, in part by promoting a positive school climate that does not rely on methods that result in disparate use of disciplinary tools,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/…order-white-house-initiative-educational-excellence-african-am - 127k -
Madison middle school teacher says discipline policy problems forced her to resign
May 21, 2015 7:30 am • By Pat Schneider
Eighth grade math teacher Stephanie Bush says she knew last fall, just weeks into the school year, that things could get dicey under a new discipline code for Madison’s public schools.
“I’m seeing behaviors on a regular basis that I haven’t seen in 20 years of teaching,” Bush said. Some of this alarming conduct included students swearing at teachers, kicking trash cans, walking out of class, and kids wandering the hallways and in and out of classrooms, she said.
The Behavior Education Plan, a rewrite of the school district’s previous discipline code, was designed to keep students in the classroom, reduce the number of out-of-school suspensions and expulsions, and close a glaring disparity that sends far more African-American students from the classroom for disciplinary reasons than students of other races and ethnicities. Students with disabilities also are removed from the classroom at much higher rates than other students.
“We are being hit, we are being spat at. We have doors slammed on our fingers and toes, we’ve been pushed over, we’ve been kicked,” Margaret Stumpf, a fifth-grade special education teacher, told the board.
What’s more, a small group of disruptive students is exacerbating the misbehavior of others, Stumpf said. Still other students are frightened, she said, recounting the daily plea of “Miss Stumpf, I’m scared,” from one boy. Other students try to flee the classroom with bathroom excuses or visits to the nurse, she said.
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/pat_schneider/madison-middle-school-teacher-says-discipline-policy-problems-forced-her/article_0bea9488-99d5-5cf2-beae-edf40d09523d.html#ixzz3jvghStyl
“People being kicked off a train for being loud and obnoxious.”
I worked in the ghettos for over five years looking for automobiles that were shy several payments… or more, and I can attest to the noise a gaggle of black women might stir.
If all the decent teachers quit in the face of uncontrolled discipline problems, the Behavior Education Plan could seriously backfire.
Pardon me if I misinterpreted, PBear.
Yes. It happens all the time.
“Is it OK to expel white people who misbehave without apology?”
If I pay good money for any event (wine train, dinner,etc) and the ambience is ruined by people misbehaving regardless of any color,age, etc then I expect them to be expelled without apology after having been forewarned. (that also includes disruptive kids at an upscale restaurant). I would personally get involved, but then I was raised in a different generation.
+1billion. I see that all the time around here — kids screaming/running around in restaurants (and wine bars…and winery tasting rooms), loud obnoxious patrons. Most establishments do nothing to address the issue, however.
Quote from a former boss to the maître d’ of a nice restaurant as the neighbor patrons’ kid was crawling around on the floor near our table (loud enough for at least the parents to hear): “Is this a f@cking Denny’s?”
Kind of a douchey move, but it was inappropriate of the parents and the maître d’ did ask the parents to retrieve their spawn.
Here are the black ladies guilty of excessive laughter:
http://cdn.thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/23213444/winetour.jpg
and here is the complainer:
https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p403×403/11941242_10153114501143589_4820202540781424602_n.jpg?oh=dbc827a4a0d1b5c009c79c4c4054d127&oe=566E3D25
In this case I gotta go the with the black ladies on this one. The white woman looks like an unpleasant, Debbie Downer busybody that complains about everything. Bet she calls the HOA when somebody leaves the trash cans out too long.
from the Al Jazeera article:
Wine Train employees had called police in St. Helena about the book club members, who were already off the train when officers arrived.
Police spokeswoman Maria Gonzalez said it was the first time in memory that the Wine Train had sought such assistance from the department.
Is it possible that the train employees would have treated these women differently is they were white? It would be reasonable to say that it’s possible, but there’s no way to say with certainty one way or the other.
If it’s a bunch of blondes on the train it would be a whine train.
The Jeb half of HillaryJeb seems to be floundering, as his oligarch financiers/puppetmasters are finally noting he isn’t gaining any traction among disenchanted voters.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2015/08/bush_having_trouble_raising_money_cuts_salaries_for_staffers.html
when is uncle fed gonna print some more cash and buy some more bonds so the economy can recover?
WaPo Drudge link reports that W will headline a Jeb! fundraiser on September 10.
His “crowds” (if that applies to small, listless knots of slack-jawed oldsters) are almost entirely comprised of Boomers and the visibly stupid. Ditto for Hillary. Their oligarch backers must be wondering why the same dupes who fell for “hope ‘n change” are not rallying to more of the same this time around.
State Republican parties are maneuvering to tie Trump’s hands. I detect the stench of Karl Rove here.
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/south-carolina-republican-party-donald-trump-run-2016-121725.html
Idiots. Trump will just go third party and that’ll be the death knell for the party. Wouldn’t hurt my feelings.
Wishful thinking by the Country Club elite Chamber of Commerce types. You can’t exclude someone who is far ahead in every poll and maintain any shred of credibility with voters. This is not even saber rattling, it’s toothpick rattling.
Good one, but never underestimate the ability of the Republican Party to shoot itself in the foot.
“Idiots. Trump will just go third party”
Ding ding ding.
The problem with the GOP is that Trump doesn’t NEED them. Not for money or favors or publicity. They have no leverage over him. And in this case, Trump’s ego is an asset for him. He doesn’t seem to care too much about his money — to the point where he would give up half his fortune to run just to make a statement.
Rience Priebus knows this, as does Fox News. But as usual, South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.
But as usual, South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum.
Now that’s funny.
Not my quote. It’s an old and famous quip written to describe South Carolina’s Secession from the Union.
That oughta be a real hoedown hootenanny. Where do I sign up?
Black Privilege
Now that China’s stock market has finally turned around, is a Wall Street rally today a given, just like yesterday’s Turnaround Tuesday rally?
Oh wait…
BloombergBusiness
China’s Stocks Slump as Rate Cut Fails to Stop $5 Trillion Rout
Kyoungwha Kim
August 25, 2015 — 6:03 PM PDT
Updated on August 26, 2015 — 1:32 AM PDT
China’s stocks extended the steepest five-day drop since 1996 in volatile trading as lower interest rates failed to halt a $5 trillion rout.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.3 percent to 2,927.29 at the close, after rising as much as 4.3 percent and declining 3.9 percent. The cuts in borrowing costs and lenders’ reserve ratios were announced hours after the benchmark measure closed with a 7.6 percent drop on Tuesday.
Chinese equities have lost half their value since mid-June, as margin traders closed out bullish bets and concern deepened that valuations are unjustified by the weak economic outlook. The government has halted intervention in the equity market this week as policy makers debate the merits of an unprecedented rescue, according to people familiar with the situation.
“The prevailing sentiment is still that investors want to cash out, whatever the government does,” said Ronald Wan, chief executive at Partners Capital International in Hong Kong. “Confidence is already damaged. Doubts over the effectiveness of policies are getting bigger. The market will remain under selling pressure for a while.”
…
Are you man enough to buy the dip amidst market turmoil?
Finance
Wall Street braces for another wild day as Chinese, European stocks slump
Published August 26, 2015
The Wall Street Journal
Aug. 26, 2015: A Chinese investor monitors stock prices at a brokerage in Beijing.
(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Global markets struggled Wednesday to shrug off fears of a deepening Chinese economic slowdown, which has roiled stocks in recent sessions.
European stocks opened lower, tracking a late tumble in U.S. markets Tuesday that dashed hopes of a return to stability.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index was 1.5 percent lower midmorning, following a 4.2 percent gain on Tuesday. Germany’s DAX lost 1.1 percent, France’s CAC 40 was down 1.2 percent, and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was 1.2 percent lower.
The losses followed another volatile session in Chinese markets, as fresh measures to ease monetary policy late Tuesday failed to settle investors’ nerves. China’s central bank cut interest rates and flooded its banking system with liquidity via a cut to banks’ reserve ratio requirements. The Shanghai Composite Index swung between gains and losses before closing 1.3 percent lower.
Some investors worry the People’s Bank of China’s moves, which many anticipated, won’t be enough to steady markets after the selloff of the last week.
…
how far does the market fall before the PPT calls for QE4?
Marketwatch dot com
Matthew Lynn’s London Eye
Opinion: Forget the Dow, we’re all playing the Chinese markets now
By Matthew Lynn
Published: Aug 26, 2015 3:00 a.m. ET
One market dominates global trading, and right now it’s Shanghai
…
why overpay for stocks cause of a manipulated price?
Have you noticed how Wall Street stocks have dropped as of late like an anvil shoved off a cliff?
It almost looks like another bubble has popped.
Does the Death Cross in Apple’s stock chart concern you?
WSJ reporting “For the first time since 2007, a consumer survey that tracks the availability of jobs is no longer negative.”
Since 2007?
Has the recoveryless recovery ended just in time for the next recession?
Yet a record 93.6 million ‘Muricans are “out of the workforce.” Does.not.compute.
Employment is a lagging indicator, from what I was taught. This time the lag is big enough to overlap…
“Remember…. a ‘housing recovery’ is falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels by definition.”
BINGO
But then the bankers meal ticket of massive profits from interest would be gone.
Remember… you basically pay nothing towards the principal of a 30 year loan after 10 years and the avg homeowner moves every 7 years!
Public labor unions are largest campaign contributors in the history of US politics.
Public labor unions give nearly 100% of their money to democrats.
Democrats reward public labor unions with insane contracts that will bankrupt every city/town/county and state in which they hold power and are determined to retain power.
That is all you really need to know.
——————–
Illinois Democrats Try To Silence Gov. Rauner Over Union Talks
The Daily Caller | August 25, 2015 | Connor D. Wolf
Democrats in the Illinois legislature may soon silence Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner by taking way his ability to negotiate with public unions.
SB1229 was introduced in February in response to troubled labor negotiations between Rauner and the Illinois chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The measure would allow an arbitrator to takeover state labor negotiations if a new agreement is not reached within 30 days.
The measure was introduced after Rauner had only been in office for about a month. It is also set to expire in four years when his first term will end. The bill was passed by the Democrat majority in both the state House and Senate in May.
“Illinois’ low standing for total job growth is unusual given that Illinois has the largest population in the Midwest and the fifth largest nationally,” the Institute noted in a report for 2014. “It takes a particularly toxic combination of bad policy and corrupt dealings to hinder such a large and talented workforce from keeping up with the likes of Kentucky and Connecticut.”
“Illinois tracks last of all states for private-sector job creation in 2014, one of only four states to be negative for jobs on the year,” the report added.
According to the memo, AFSCME is demanding an 11.5 to 29 percent pay increase for state employees, a 37.5 hour work week and five weeks of fully paid vacation, among other privileges. The 11.5 percent pay increase alone would cost over $1.25 billion in just four years according to the memo. Instead, the governor is arguing that the agreement made by the Teamsters in June was much more reasonable.
Rauner also tried to stop public unions from forcing state employees from paying dues. He ordered state agencies to stop collecting the dues with an executive order while also filing a federal lawsuit to end the state law that requires them. A state judge, however, dismissed the lawsuit.
FDR warned us against public employee unions, and he was 100% correct.
Public labor unions are largest campaign contributors in the history of US politics.
If you looked into it, you’d probably find that businesses and rich people contribute much more than unions and working people.
+1… (less than 1%) Citizens United (against the 99%)
You look at the data yourself:
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/
7 out of the top 10 for Top All-Time Donors are unions.
And they give nearly 100% to democrats.
NextGen Climate Action is pretty respectable campaign contributor for a Green Super-PAC led by a hedge-fund manager.
Tom Steyer’s Green Super-PAC Has Spent a LOT of Money on This Election
By Kate Sheppard
Wed Oct. 1, 2014
Steyer has pledged to spend $50 million of his own money, earned as a hedge-fund manager, to defeat candidates who are not adequately addressing the problem of climate change. While his group had initially sought to raise up to $50 million from other sources, so far it has brought in just $3.6 million in outside funds.
But the cash flow from Steyer to the group has not slowed down. NextGen spokesman Bobby Whithorne said Steyer signed over another $15 million in September, which will show up in the group’s next FEC filing. Whithorne, who came to NextGen from the White House press shop, said the group “will continue to invest significant resources in these states” through the election.
http://www.motherjones.com/…/2014/09/tom-steyer-climate-change-superpac-2014-midterms - 113k -
How can the GOP servive when the Demercrat party gets 7 out of every 10 political dollars spent?
If you look at the list of the top 100, only around 25 are unions.
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php
Labor Force Participation Rate Falls To 37 Year Low
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000
Change you can believe in!
+1 Peggy Hubbard
Peggy Hubbard talks about Ferguson and Protests - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG7mZQvaQDk - 351k -
Let’s see.
Use my own government email account to sign up and pay for a “service” that doesn’t even exist.
Scam after scam. But we are all victims.
—————————–
Ashley Madison faked female profiles to lure men in, hacked data suggest
Washington Post | 08/26/2015 | By Caitlin Dewey
Ashley Madison has long claimed, in triumphant news releases and slick, Web-ready graphics, that it is one of the few dating sites that really clicks with women. According to statistics CEO Noel Biderman has trumpeted in the media, Ashley Madison enjoys an overall 70/30 gender split — with a 1:1 male/female ratio among the under-30 set.
But the user records laid bare by hackers last week tell a very different story: Of the more than 35 million records released, only 5 million — a mere 15 percent — actually belonged to women.
This discrepancy may be the smoking gun that proves something angry users, industry insiders and government watchdogs have alleged for some time: that when it comes to reporting their own user numbers, paid-dating sites distort, manipulate … and sometimes straight-up lie.
“Ashley Madison has paid people to write profiles, and they’ve allowed fake profiles to proliferate on their site,” said David Evans, an industry consultant who has contracted with Ashley Madison in the past and has tracked the business of online dating since 2002. “Tons of sites are guilty of that. That’s not news.”
Speaking of online dating, any coincidence that joe smith is AWOL and that the management of Rentboy dot com all just got arrested by the feds?
Nothing surprises me when it comes to Liberace.
NYSE invokes Rule 48 due to the futures activity…might be an interesting day!
Please elaborate.
it means the PPT is keeping a close eye on things.
It’s reassuring that U.S. financial authorities have intervened to extinguish the panic, just as Chinese financial authorities have already been doing for a couple of months now across the Pacific.
BREAKING NEWS
At opening highs, Nasdaq up 3%, S&P up 2%, Dow jumps 400
The little-used NYSE rule that can tame a wild market
Krysia Lenzo | Mark Koba
26 Mins Ago
CNBC dot com
The New York Stock Exchange invoked the little-used Rule 48 to pre-empt panic trading at the stock market open for the third day in a row on Wednesday. In a historic move, the exchange used the rule before Monday’s open following a dramatic drop in pre-market open futures, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling more than 700 points.
…
Gotta love rigged markets.
And how is this measure is going to prevent the Dow from cratering tomorrow or the next day?
the rally is already petering out this morning. Sh@t is gonna hit the fan if this market closes down again today.
Do u think the red cavalry should print some more cash and buy stocks so the people don’t lose in the casino?
“the rally is already petering out this morning”
That’s cuz they gotta borrow from peter to pay paul.
Was it Rule 48 that led to yesterday’s early rally, which was ultimately swamped by selling pressure?
sell the rip
“Dow jumps 400″
It’s fizzling…just like yesterday’s rally fizzled.
Do u think its to to wheel out yellen? I cant believe people actually risks their retirements trading pieces of paper around in this casino.
Business Insider headlining that some real journalists in Virginia just got real shot and real dead on live TeeVee.
Shades of Matt Bracken.
Indeed.
But you better not talk about that, or you’ll get all of the HBB’s resident SJWs’ and concern trolls’ panties in a bunch.
Really? Well, we’ve got Cracker Bob and WPA supporting veiled and not so veiled calls for Trump’s assassination.
WPA even went so far as to threaten that one of Trump Hotel’s room service workers might decide to poison him. Laid out the whole scenario, too.
Si, Lolita Bonita, she make Trump an especial margarita.
I didn’t pick that up on that plot; nuanced or other wise.
There’s not enough stupid in this country to elect Trump for dogcatcher. I think a lot of people just enjoy making the establishment squirm. Look at JEB!, Trump makes him say something dumb every day.
Looks like a terrorist anchor baby did it!
You know it’s bad when a pretty blonde reporter gets offed on camera while reporting live from a shopping center in Virginia.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wdbj7-reporter-alison-parker-photographer-adam-ward-killed-live-tv-n416221
Disgruntled boyfriend? Stalker?
Disgruntled ex-employee.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/26/us-usa-shooting-virginia-idUSKCN0QV1HY20150826
you can piss people off, but don’t disgruntle them.
Why didn’t he shoot the boss?
Had this happened inside the Huffington Post newsroom, all those unarmed precious snowflakes would have had an opportunity to learn that “when seconds count, the police are only minutes away!”
Even if she had a gun in her purse, I doubt she could have pulled it out in time.
Funny how in civilized countries this isn’t a problem
“Funny how in civilized countries this isn’t a problem”
That’s right!
In civilized countries they use knives, machetes and crossbows for this kind of thing.
Two killed in knife attack at Ikea store in Swedish city
Published
Aug 11, 2015, 5:00 am SGT
STOCKHOLM • Two people were killed and one seriously injured in a knife attack yesterday at an Ikea store in the city of Vasteras, about an hour west of the Swedish capital Stockholm.
“A man and a woman with stab wounds were found at the scene. They later died of their injuries,” a police statement said.
“Another person is seriously injured. One man has been arrested. He is suspected of murder.”
http://www.straitstimes.com/…/two-killed-in-knife-attack-at-ikea-store-in-swedish-city - 132k -
Spanish Schoolboy Kills Teacher With Machete, Turns Crossbow on Fellow Pupils
by Donna Rachel Edmunds21 Apr 201594
A 13 year old Spanish boy has killed a teacher and injured four others at a school in Barcelona, attacking his victims with a crossbow and machete. He was also armed with a molotov cocktail. Authorities have said that the boy suffered a psychotic episode. He will not face prosecution as minors under 14 are not legally responsible in Spain.
http://www.breitbart.com/…/ - 74k -
Teenager hacked to death with a machete outside a pub was trying to protect group of girls, family say
By Jay Akbar and Jenny Awford for MailOnline
Published: 04:17 EST, 24 January 2015
Zacary Evans, 19, was one of three friends attacked with a machete as he tried to act as a peacemaker outside the Pike and Musket pub in Tuffley, Gloucester, in the early hours of Saturday.
Detectives are questioning a 44-year-old Gloucester man on suspicion of murder and officers are still searching for the weapon – thought to be a machete at least two feet in length.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2924469/Police-launch-murder-investigation-teenager-hacked-death-MACHETE-outside-Gloucester-pub.html#ixzz3jwn6Jn2V
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
With Knife Murders Spiking After Gun Ban, UK Urges “Save A Life - Surrender Your Knife”
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/28/2015 11:11 -0400
The British police have recently joined forces with liberal grassroots activists in the UK, launching the “Save a Life–Surrender Your Knife” program. Knife crime has been climbing recently in major UK cities like London.
The program involved several weeks of “amnesty” for “pointed knives.” Civilians can turn in these apparently dangerous weapons at their local police station in exchange for “amnesty,” apparently, even though knives (rounded or pointed) aren’t illegal in the United Kingdom.
http://www.zerohedge.com/…s-spiking-after-gun-ban-uk-urges-save-life-surrender-your-knife - 238k -
Comment by phony scandals
2015-08-26 11:53:16
http://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/two-killed-in-knife-attack-at-ikea-store-in-swedish-city
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/04/21/spanish-schoolboy-kills-teacher-with-machete-turns-crossbow-on-fellow-pupils/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-28/knife-murders-spiking-after-gun-ban-uk-urges-save-life-surrender-your-knife
In civilized countries they use knives, machetes and crossbows for this kind of thing.
I’ll take a nutter with a knife over a nutter with a gun any day. To say that that they are equivalent is the pinnacle of absurdity, something only an American would say. If they were equivalent, why are the gun fetishists so obsessed with their guns? Why don’t they just arm themselves with knives?
“The shorter the weapon, the braver the wielder.”
Sounds like a charitable comment by an ex-girlfriend.
“I’ll take a nutter with a knife over a nutter with a gun any day. To say that that they are equivalent is the pinnacle of absurdity, something only an American would say.”
Spin baby spin.
So you are saying it is civilized to kill people with knives, machetes and crossbows?
Because it obviously happens in these “civilized countries”.
Here is your quote.
“Funny how in civilized countries this isn’t a problem”
Here is mine.
Funny how in civilized countries after they ban guns the nuts still find a way to heinously murder people.
“Guns don’t kill people. But they sure make it easy.”
“Guns don’t kill people. But they sure make it easy.”
Keeps the trains clean.
“The method of “jumping” is so common in Japan that the families of train-jumpers are often charged a fine for clean-up.”
Putting Gun Death Statistics in Perspective
By Dustin Hawkins
There are roughly 32,000 gun deaths per year in the United States. Of those, around 60% are suicides. About 3% are accidental deaths (between 700-800 deaths). About 34% of deaths (just over 11,000 in both 2010 and 2011) make up the remainder of gun deaths and are classified as homicides.
Suicide Rates
Suicide is often a secondary reason gun control advocates use for wanting to “control” guns. It is true that roughly half of suicides in America are done by use of a firearm. Gun control advocates argue that suicides are often a momentary impulse and the availability of a gun makes people more likely to act on those impulses. Japan is probably the opposite of the United States in regards to a gun culture. With few guns and gun-related deaths, Japan is one of the most heavily cited countries by gun-control advocates. But while the cultural differences between Japan and the USA (and resulting gun violence comparisons) make a gun control argument hard to realistically swallow, one thing stands out: the suicide rate in Japan is more than twice the United States’ suicide rate. The US suicide rate is about the same as Great Britain, Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, and Iceland and well below France and Greenland. In reality, suicide rates seem to have little to do with the availability or accessibility of guns. It just so happens that in the US guns are the suicide weapon of choice, while in Japan it might be jumping in front of a train or poisoning. The method of “jumping” is so common in Japan that the families of train-jumpers are often charged a fine for clean-up.
Solve the problem of gang violence, and a huge chunk of the gun homicide and violence problem is solved. And what national gun control measures would slow the gang violence problem, when local gun control laws have failed in cities like Chicago? If politicians were really worried about gun deaths, wouldn’t they be specifically targeting where a majority of the problems exist?
Gun Homicides Per Year Beyond Gangs
Most of the gun laws are aimed at a segment of the population that is mostly law-abiding and outside of the gang culture and would likely do little to stop any of the violence.
usconservatives.about.com/…/a/Putting-Gun-Death-Statistics-In-Perspective.htm - 81k -
Go walk through some muslim “no go” areas of “civilized counties” and we will see if you change your smug attitude.
“You know it’s bad when a pretty blonde reporter gets offed on camera…”
A pretty blonde is a terrible thing to waste.
Heh, well McAuliffe is certainly wasting no time calling for gun control. Jeebus, this guy is an unbelievable cretin.
They have these speeches written up in advance because they know the best way to get knee jerk legislation passed is to push for it before the blood dries.
+ this
obama is a ghoul.
Never let a crisis go to waste.
A few dozens blacks will be killed by other blacks this weekend in just a few democrat controlled cities with plenty of “gun control”
Not a word will be said.
This is really no time for jokes like that, but you can bet for certain that this will be used as another example of the need for more gun control laws.
But the fact is, the perpetrator could have gone to his local grocery store, bought a $5 Chinese-made kitchen knife, and the outcome would have been the same.
What a sweet baby-doll. Apparently she had just moved in with the much older Six-O’Clock News anchor.
RIP.
Shooter was black queer just like his president, lol.
Howz that hope and change working for ya now?
+ that
CA state legislators are trying to pass a law that would make it easier for CA deadbeats living large on the credit hog to stiff creditors. ..
capital public radio
State Government
Assembly Committee Considers Package Of Debt Relief Bills
Chris Nichols
Wednesday, August 26, 2015 | Sacramento, CA
Alan Cordova / Flickr
Low-income Californians burdened with high debt could see relief in a package of bills before the state Assembly this week.
Democratic Senator Bob Wieckowski says his legislation would reform the state’s bankruptcy laws, making it easier for people to start over. It would also lower wage garnishments for the working poor.
Opponents include debt collection agencies and a state association of county treasurers and tax collectors. They say the reforms would diminish their ability to collect payments, and result in a loss of revenue for government services.
Wieckowski says the opponents are ignoring an unjust system.
“They don’t want to change anything. The status quo is perfect for them. They don’t want any waves or for those of us to point out that this is unjust. It’s inequitable the way California law is treating average citizens.”
…
Californians burdened with high debt could see relief
Why not? It’s the Trump way! Trump declared bankruptcy four times and he said most successful business people use the bankruptcy laws we are all entitled to. Stiffing your creditors on your way to riches and profits. It’s the American way! California is merely allowing the Little People to follow Trump’s fine example.
Government views debt owed to government much differently than other debt…
Public union goon pensions will be paid
Even if it bankrupts the government that pays them . . .
Even if it bankrupts the government that pays them . . .
As long as the democrats and progressives get to stay in power…
What DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?
See examples of Detroit, Chicago, Camden, Newark, Trenton, Cleveland, Buffalo, Philly, Harrisburg, etc.
true, Trump does it, why cant the average Joe who is almost bankrupt from medical issues?
13,000 fall into homelessness every month in L.A. County, report says
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-homeless-pathways-20150825-story.html
Inequality For All!
it gets worse before it gets better.
dudley got wheeled out again but his magic isn’t working anymore.
Bloomberg TeeVee reporting right now about ad spending on anti Iran deal.
American taxpayers and voters, you are being manipulated and lied to.
I know, right? Even Buchanan has no issues with the Iran deal.
lol Big surprise!
Time to pull the old LBJ anti-Goldwater daisy nuke ad out of the archive!
It worked in 2002-2003, I remember callers to C-SPAN’s Washington Journal crying on the air in fear then.
dont worry, the Iraqi oil will pay for the war(s).
lol@Lola
American taxpayers and voters, you are being manipulated and lied to.
Well, there is a fair way to decide.
Follow the US Constitution and have senate approve it like it say for ANY TREATY.
But we are not doing that in this case.
Everything obama touches turns to fascism.
‘Follow the US Constitution’
Yeah, I heard Alan Dershowitz going on about that the other day. Oddly, when he was insisting we torture people and playing up the Patriot Act, etc, he didn’t have the same concern about the constitution.
So is your point that is there is at least hypocrite political commentator so we might as well just not follow the constitution at all?
Or is your point obama doesn’t follow the rest of the constitution so why start now?
And the irony?
Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years…
A guy I work with says he knew Obama when he was a kid in Los Angeles. I think he said he worked at a subway or something.
‘obama doesn’t follow the rest of the constitution so why start now?’
No, the worlds policeman gig is unconstitutional as is the open ended war on terror, among many other things. We’re being lied to:
‘From the start, Turkey, which nominally opposes radical rebel groups like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, has been curiously absent from the fray, instead arguing that the major effort should be focused on defeating al-Assad. Indeed, when I was in Istanbul last July bearded rebels were observed in the more fundamentalist neighborhoods collecting money for ISIS without any interference from the numerous and highly visible Turkish police and intelligence services. Turkey has also been surreptitiously buying as much as $3 million worth of smuggled oil from ISIS every day, virtually funding the group’s activities. Ankara has allowed ISIS militants to freely cross over the Syrian border into Turkey for what might be described as R&R (rest and recreation) as well as medical care and training. Weapons have been flowing in the opposite direction, cash and carry, some provided by the Turkish intelligence service MIT.’
‘As of last week, the Turkish Air Force had conducted more than 300 strikes against Kurdish targets versus only three against ISIS. Turkey’s war against ISIS was quickly and by design directed against the Kurds…So Turkey, pretending to oppose ISIS, is actually attacking ISIS’s enemies and even placing in danger the American advisers known to be working with the Kurds.’
‘All of which means that the United States is again looking on in astonishment over having been bamboozled, recalling Rudyard Kipling’s famous epitaph “A Fool lies here who tried to hustle the East.”
‘Lost in the shuffle are Washington’s hapless diplomats and soldiers, trying to make sense of the long-abandoned U.S. interests, but that does not mean that Americans will be immune from blowback as the situation continues to deteriorate. The United States Consulate General in Istanbul, where I once-upon-a-time worked, came under gunfire two weeks ago, while Kurdish militants have already begun a new terror campaign directed against foreign tourist targets in Istanbul and along Turkey’s Aegean and south coast.’
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-turkey-plays-the-war-on-terror/
U.S. debt stands at 74 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 35 percent in 2007, based on a Congressional Budget Office report released Tuesday. That burden is expected to grow further in coming years, limiting government options for additional fiscal stimulus in the form of spending or lower taxes.
Buy the votes of the FSA is expensive!
A musical interlude for the day - Ten Years After live at Fillmore East 1970 - Alvin Lee - Rock ON!!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lZZ1_K71-c
One of my all time fav’s:
Woodstock - Ten Years After - I’m Going Home(Live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW5M5xljdCI
I love the part where he walks off the stage with a watermelon!
Ben:
Agree on Woodstock - that performance of Going home is something I play for the young set to let them know who could really play back in the day.
Also, I had the privelege of seeing Alvin Lee play in New Orleans some 40 years ago and to this day I have never witnessed ANYONE play a guitar like this guy did that night. I was visiting a buddy of mine from high school and we got tickets on a lark for a southern rock band called the Outlaws where get this Lee and crew were the OPENING act. We went to hear Ten Years After Play, hung for a bit for the Southern folks set and then left.
The Fillmore live set noted above is as close to anything I remember from that night. Probably in the top 5 of ALL the shows I went to way back when - Stones, Tull, Zep and so many others all in their hey day could not pass muster with Lee that night I saw him play. May he rest in peace.
And I know, I know, I am old - really old.
Ben - I did not edit this - but this is an indication of how failed a state ILLANNOY is now - heard this morning that the State Comptroller, Leslie Munger - has been essentially told to pay bills - now mind you she has said many times - there is no money in the account so how can a check clear the bank when there is no money - you literally can’t make this sh*t up!!!
Illinois must disclose which bills it has paid or not paid -judge
Reuters 8/26/2015 1:35 PM ET
Print Article
CHICAGO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday gave Illinois until midday on Friday to disclose which bills the state has paid or not paid and why it could not fully comply with a court order to fund services for developmentally disabled residents in the absence of a fiscal 2016 state budget.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said she was “very disappointed” the state failed to meet an Aug. 21 payment deadline she set in her Aug. 18 order and did not communicate that failure to the court.
“You have to make contact with the court or else you are in contempt of the court order,” the judge told attorneys for Illinois’ comptroller and two state agency heads.
An impasse between Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democrats who control the House and Senate over a spending plan for the fiscal year that began July 1 ignited a rush to court to seek payment orders. State and federal courts have ordered state money to continue to flow for human services covered under existing consent decrees and for state payroll.
Services for more than 10,000 disabled residents were covered under a 2011 consent decree.
Attorneys for disabled residents on Tuesday asked the judge to find the state officials in civil contempt of court. But Coleman requested a detailed accounting of the state’s bill payments instead.
“Human lives are at stake,” the judge said, while acknowledging the existence of other court orders competing for state funds.
John Stevens, a lawyer for Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger, said after payments were made on Aug. 21 for debt service on bonds and for pensions, the state lacked money to pay all of its bills.
Benjamin Wolf, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing the disabled, told reporters after the hearing that some clients were about to be thrown out in the street due to the lack of state payments.
(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
Eh, they’ll do what Cali has done a few times in the past…write IOUs and twist the arms of banks in the state to accept them as cash. The banks are all “too big to fail” anyways. If there’s a liquidity problem ole’ Uncle F. Reserve will step in with a bundle.
Michael Viking:
To speculate on oil, you purchase shares in an ETF that buys and sells oil contracts. Otherwise, you can buy and sell the contracts yourself.
600+ point Dow gain today? Dead cat bounce?
Thank god retirement accounts are still solvent. The HFT will take it all back this week.
maybe it was the buyback desks ?
Never let a tragedy go to waste.
http://www.businessinsider.com/hillary-clinton-virginia-shooting-gun-control-2015-8
Virginia killer was - unsurprisingly - an Obama Zombie with “appalling” journalistic standards.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3212142/The-human-tape-recorder-TV-murderer-criticized-bosses-appalling-journalistic-standards-reprimanded-wearing-Obama-badge-report-elections.html
International Business
China’s Big Spenders Pull Back, as Stock Market Shudders
By HIROKO TABUCHI and AMIE TSANG
AUG. 26, 2015
Waiting for customers at a Rolex store in the Causeway Bay section of Hong Kong. Spending on luxury goods in China contracted 1 percent last year, to about $18 billion. Credit Xaume Olleros/Bloomberg News, via
One of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping streets winds past the Times Square center, under slick signs for brands like Mont Blanc, Cartier, Gucci and Burberry.
But inside the towering luxury mall, the hum of the crowds below fades into the quiet of rows of mostly empty boutiques.
A sales attendant greeted a few people outside a Chanel shop. “I’m sorry, you have to queue,” she said, waving her hand toward a seemingly imaginary line of shoppers. But few people entered the store on what would usually be a bustling weekend shopping day.
Boom times for luxury in China are largely over, after the recent stock market rout and currency devaluation, compounded by an already slowing economy and a government crackdown on lavish gift-giving. The effect of those woes on Chinese shoppers — who make up as much as a third of global spending on high-end goods — has rattled both investors and global luxury brands.
The quieter scenes at Times Square and other luxury department stores in Hong Kong paint a stark contrast to the fevered spending of recent years, when young, upwardly mobile Chinese seemed to have insatiable appetites for Chanel handbags and Hermès scarves.
…
As Markets Flail, China Investigates Large Brokerage Firms
By NEIL GOUGH
AUG. 26, 2015
HONG KONG — The authorities in China have opened two investigations into the country’s biggest brokerage firms amid market turmoil.
The police are investigating eight executives from Citic Securities, China’s biggest brokerage firm, on suspicion of illegal securities trading, Xinhua, the official news agency, reported late Tuesday.
In addition, staff members from the main stock market regulator, China Securities Regulatory Commission, and a reporter were been taken into custody, Xinhua said.
The reporter, from the respected news outlet Caijing, was identified by Caijing as Wang Xiaolu and wrote an article last month that said the government was considering withdrawing its support for the stock market. The report prompted a denial from the securities regulator, but was later seen as contributing to a huge plunge in Chinese stocks in late July.
Four other top brokerage firms said in announcements late on Tuesday that they were being investigated by the securities regulator over suspected violations of China’s laws on verifying the identity of securities clients. The companies, Haitong Securities, GF Securities, Founder Securities and Huatai Securities, said that they would cooperate with the investigation and that their businesses were operating normally.
Chinese officials have used such investigations in the past to help tamp down frothy markets. But given the current slump, such inquiries, including one this month that encroached on a securities trading affiliate of Citadel, the big American hedge fund, appeared more aimed at bolstering investors’ confidence.
Michael Pettis, a finance professor at Peking University and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that the problem with the government’s efforts to support the markets was that success depended greatly on public perception of its credibility.
“Beijing can signal all it likes when it comes to the stock market,” he added, “but it can only cause prices to rise if it purchases large amounts of stocks; signaling no longer works.”
…
Did the Fed pull levers today to generate the massive Wall Street rally?