September 13, 2015

Bits Bucket for September 13, 2015

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-09-13 01:18:58

Shoppers are seen walking along a commercial street in Beijing
China grapples with risk of economic hard landing
AFP By Bill SAVADOVE 1 hour ago

Shanghai (AFP) - When Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sought to reassure business leaders that the world’s second-largest economy can avoid a hard landing, he acknowledged mounting fears of exactly that, and analysts say the adjustment to slower growth will be painful.

Just six months ago Li set a 2015 economic growth target of “around seven percent”, confidently telling lawmakers that the economy was adjusting to a “new normal”.

But he scrambled to reassure a World Economic Forum meeting on Thursday that China was not heading for a disorderly slump which would shake the global economy.

“If there are signs the economy is sliding out of the proper range we have adequate capability to deal with the situation,” he said. “The Chinese economy will not head for a hard landing.”

Still, gloomy perceptions of China are growing and the signs are troubling: a surprise currency devaluation, persistently weak manufacturing, and rising debt defaults, with a share price collapse to boot.

Government meddling in the stock and currency markets, including police investigations, as well as falling back on pump-priming to support the flagging economy, have raised questions about the leadership’s management and commitment to reforms, analysts say.

Comment by azdude
2015-09-13 05:29:26

prozac sales should go up cause people r too broke to shop.

 
Comment by clueless
2015-09-13 07:18:45

How many of the Chinese stocks which were halted to stop the slide in Chinese equities are still not trading? That would have a psychological impact on the middle class. NBC/Bloomberg insist a small percentage of Chinese own stocks.

 
Comment by oxide
2015-09-13 10:26:05

“Shoppers are seen walking along a commercial street in Beijing”

A friend of mine always gauged the economy not by the number of shoppers, but by the number of bags they were carrying.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-09-13 22:59:44

Is it a given that Chinese stocks can only go higher from current levels?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-09-13 23:02:59

Oh…

The Wall Street Journal
Asia Stocks
China Stocks Pull Asian Markets Lower
Investors are concerned about both a slowdown in China and the upcoming U.S. Federal Reserve meeting
A pedestrian stood outside a securities firm in Tokyo last week. On Monday, the Nikkei was down slightly.
Photo: Bloomberg News
By Chao Deng
Updated Sept. 14, 2015 12:18 a.m. ET

Shares in China led the region’s markets deeper into negative territory on Monday, after economic data over the weekend highlighted the hurdles the country faces in reaching its growth targets.

The Shanghai Composite Index turned lower throughout the morning, losing 3.2% by midday. The Nikkei Stock Average was down 1.2%, with the Bank of Japan kicking off a two-day policy meeting.

The declines came despite growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold off on raising interest rates later this week.

The region’s markets are struggling to recover from a massive selloff last month that also pulled down global shares. Panic selling in China had started to ease last week, as Chinese authorities made fresh attempts to stabilize markets with a mix of stimulus and high-level assurances. That helped lift shares in the region, including in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Japan, where benchmarks had been down for consecutive weeks.

But on Sunday, data showed China’s factory output and fixed-asset investment were both weaker-than-expected in August, which shows the government faces challenges to reaching its full-year growth target of about 7%. ;-)

“It’s a similar story to other recent data we’ve seen,” said Angus Nicholson, market analyst at brokerage IG. “The China data was quite negative. It’s a continued mixed story of a two-speed economy.”

Markets this morning were broadly higher, coming off gains in the U.S. on Friday. U.S. stock futures also inched up slightly during the Asia morning.

By midday, the Hang Seng Index and S&P ASX 200 were both flat. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.8%.

Underscoring investor concerns toward China’s volatile stock market, index provider FTSE Russell last week decided against adding shares listed in mainland China to its global indexes. The decision was another blow to China’s efforts to attract global capital after MSCI Inc. in June also said it wouldn’t include the stocks, known as A shares, to its widely-followed emerging-market index.

The region fell even as stock-market volatility in the U.S. has eased in the past two sessions, as investors have become more confident that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise rates, according to traders. In a survey released on Friday, a majority of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal said the Fed won’t raise rates on Thursday. Fed officials have acknowledged they will consider the recent market turbulence and the outlook for the global economy when making their decision.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-09-13 23:04:58

China’s Stocks Decline Most in Three Weeks on Slowdown Concerns
Bloomberg News
September 13, 2015 — 6:26 PM PDT
Updated on September 13, 2015 — 10:14 PM PDT

China’s stocks slumped, dragging the benchmark index down the most in three weeks, after data over the weekend added to concern the economic slowdown is deepening.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.7 percent to 3,114.58 at 1:05 p.m. local time, led by technology and consumer companies. About 12 stocks fell for each that rose on the gauge, while volume was 21 percent below the 30-day average for this time of day. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was little changed, reversing a 1.4 percent advance.

August economic data released Sunday showed a challenging picture for policy makers. Industrial output missed economists’ forecasts, while investment in the first eight months increased at the slowest pace since 2000. The government also announced details about plans to make state-owned enterprises more efficient, including encouraging private investment.

“The economic reports don’t look good so investors prefer to be on the sidelines,” said Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at JK Life Insurance Co. “The SOE reform rules were widely expected by the market and aren’t very detailed, therefore the reaction is limited. The market could fall to a lower level.”

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 03:15:32

John Luv says:
September 4, 2015 at 1:41 PM

Left vs. Right = Fake.
Liberal vs. Conservative = Fake.
Democrat vs. Republican = Fake.
The State vs.You = Real!

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:16:36

The .1% in the financial sector that owns our political class vs. you - there, fixed it for you.

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 07:36:18

+1

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-09-13 07:50:29

Hey, finally something that left and right can agree upon!!

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:59:28

Yet 95% of the sheeple continue to vote for Oligopoly-owned candidates who are screwing them blind.

 
Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 09:36:59

Yet the sheeple continue to vote.

There has never been another option. Best you might be able to do is vote for Trump to stem the tide of leftist political correctness fascism.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 16:07:55

You can refuse to participate in Wall Street’s Republicrat Kabuki theater. Go to the polls, but write in Ron Paul, or Deez Nuts, or None of the Above. But by all means don’t sanction the puppet show by voting for an Oligopoly-annointed stooge.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 08:00:00

“The .1% in the financial sector that owns our political class vs. you - there, fixed it for you.”

In your opinion is keeping people who consider themselves Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican fighting with each other a strategy that the .1% of the financial sector that owns our political class uses?

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 08:12:29

Yeah, and the black-on-white crime thing. That’s a classic divider they use.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 09:26:36

Participating in the Oligopoly’s Republicrat puppet show where you get “choices” like Obama vs. McCain gives sanction to crony capitalism. Bucking the system by voting for non-Oligopoly approved candidates like Ron Paul is flipping the .1% the bird. Refuse to play their silly f**king game.

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Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-09-13 09:50:31

Are you trying to start a class war or something? Jesus wants you to be poor, and hate people poorer than you.

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 07:43:05

MT Skulls, MT Pockets, MT Houses.

 
Comment by 2banana
2015-09-13 08:06:25

Hmmmmm - and primarily who wants a bigger and bigger state?

Where they threaten that even a 1% cut to any wasteful government program will turn us into Somalia overnight.

And who wants to cut the size and scope of government?

And look to how they are vilified in the press and on this blog.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 08:34:03

We’re poorer than Somalia.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 03:23:38

Kerry Picks Clinton Donor to be State Dept. “Email Czar”

SEPTEMBER 08, 2015

The new “email czar” appointed by Secretary of State John Kerry to oversee the burgeoning Hillary Clinton email scandal is a Clinton campaign donor who recently made a generous contribution, according to federal records obtained by Judicial Watch.

Her name is Janice Jacobs, a former career diplomat assigned by Kerry this week to be the State Department’s “Transparency Coordinator,” according to a mainstream news report. Jacobs will be in charge of responding to public-record requests involving the secret email account that Clinton used exclusively to conduct official government business. She will also handle congressional requests “faster and more efficiently,” and will improve the State Department system for keeping records.

Kerry reportedly assigned an “email czar” in an effort to ensure that the State Department promptly responds to an onslaught of record requests without directly undercutting Clinton and the Democratic Party’s presidential front-runner. Ego also played a role in the appointment because aides cited in the story said Kerry has been annoyed at the distraction the Clinton email controversy has caused for his agency, which has at times “overshadowed his diplomatic efforts.”

http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/09/kerry-picks-clinton-donor-to-be-state-dept-email-czar/

 
Comment by palmetto
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 06:03:00

I guess if I was a rich and powerful banker who ran the world and controlled the money supply along with the politicians I would want some common sense gun confiscation laws too before this was common knowledge.

“All of these players, these politicians are nothing more than puppets, they don’t serve the people there is no real democracy, they serve the rich and powerful who run the world and that would be the bankers who control the money supply. The bankers make huge amounts of money….wars are great for them and ultimately they control the politicians.

Psychopaths are running the world.”

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 08:17:15

Funny how its predatory billionaire oligarchs that are bankrolling most of the gun-control initiatives. Now why would they want a disarmed populace?

Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 09:39:43

I’m glad they are wasting their money on this. It drives gun sales up. It is also impossible to get rid of 300 plus million guns.

Let them throw it in the street.

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Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-09-13 06:36:01

It’s 0Hedge, it must be untrue.

LOL

Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 06:45:43

It’s true that this guy was a marine in the Gulf War and said these things, although I’m not sure what qualifies him to speak on gassing in Syria today (2 yrs ago).

I tend to be suspicious of people who multiple times try to renounce their American Citizenship. But at least he stands by his principles.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 06:59:41

Well, there’s articles in ZeroHedge that originate with its staff, and there’s posts by and links to the work of others. I think this one is a mix.

I’m reading some pretty grim stuff this morning about the situation in Europe. You know it is bad when some European ministers start flipping their lids, pointing fingers and accusing other ministers from other countries of being “Nazis” and acting like “Hitler”. As if. Hungary just wants to be left alone. The “migrants” are trashing the place right and left.

Someone was wondering this morning why, if Germany, Austria and Sweden want these people so badly, don’t they just send massive cargo transport planes to pick them up and let them fly the friendly skies, rather than inflicting the pain on fellow European countries and making them deal with the hordes of rent seekers?

Merkel is one sick mutha.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:21:01

Merkel is a globalist and a toady of the .1%. She and her ilk will eagerly jump on the chance to inflict a “fundamental transformation” of Germany by permanently altering its demographics with unassimilable Third Worlders implacably hostile to western Christian civilization and traditional German values.

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Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 07:57:51

It’s just like I say, Ray K. Two groups of whites opposed to each other, and one group uses people of color against the other, hiding behind the race and culture cards.

This is by design. A culturally homogeneous society is not that easy to control if “the owners” have other ideas. Just mix it up and get disparate groups going against each other, by playing them off, and presto! You’ve got “controlled” chaos. Until it backfires, which it always does.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 08:00:59

Some would argue that feeding the rise of the extreme right in Germany MIGHT end up being counterproductive for the banksters and globalists, as well as a lot of other people.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 08:14:36

“the rise of the extreme right”

That’s easily preventable. Just start yelling “Hitler”! “Nazis”! “Racism”!

There’s actually a way around this. The mistake that nationalists make is they go after the shock troops. You have to go AROUND the shock troops and get to the puppets and their controllers.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 08:39:36

Whoops! How do you say “About Face!” in German?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/europe/germany-emergency-measures-european-migrant-crisis.html?_r=0

Hungary shows the way. Divert the flow.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 10:06:13

Moar! Farewell, Schengen! Beginning of the end of the EU, praise Jeebus.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/14/world/europe/germany-emergency-measures-european-migrant-crisis.html?_r=0

Looks like Mutti effed up big time and is finally seeing reason. I look for her to be vilified in the months to come. Greece must be laughing up its sleeve.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 16:12:18

This is by design. A culturally homogeneous society is not that easy to control if “the owners” have other ideas.

Palmy, I agree with Victor Frankl, a concentration camp survivor, who said there are basically two categories of people: the decent and the rest. The decent come in all races, colors, income levels, and creeds. So do the scumbags. There have never been fewer decent people, and more amoral, stupid, or sociopathic people.

 
 
 
 
Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 06:43:10

And to the Left v. Right point above, I think it’s fair to say that every single politician is crooked. Every single one would be in jail if the truth were known. The rich control and always have controlled.

So where does that leave us?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:24:51

The real question is, how can you protect yourself against millions of stupid people voting for the corrupt status quo? The best you can do is to try to mitigate the adverse impact, but like the zombies in The Walking Dead, when the inevitable collapse comes the most dangerous mauraders will be the mindless, soulless Republicrat idiots who voted us into this mess.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 12:21:05

Here are a list of politicians who should be tried for war crimes: George H. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Tony Blair, and David Cameron.

Comment by Anonymous
2015-09-13 20:27:20

I guess he’s not strictly a “politician” but sure seems like Rumsfeld should be on that list too.

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Comment by azdude
2015-09-13 05:48:03

the PBOC needs to print some more cash and buy treasuries so we can continue to buy cheap product at walmart and the dollar stores. We don’t need another recession and for gods sake people dont need any interest on their puny savings accounts.

Comment by Ol'Bubba
2015-09-13 06:50:15

“…people dont need any interest on their puny savings accounts.”

Pardon the pun, but is ZIRP punitive?

Discuss.

Comment by azdude
2015-09-13 07:16:07

whats funny about zirp is the banks are basically the only ones able to borrow at next to nothing. Credit card rates are back to 20%.

People who have a higher mortgage rate are stuck due to bad credit or loss of job or income. People who were able to refinance did it a long time ago.

Zirp is enabling deficit spending and corporate buybacks is all I see. Its not helping me .

Comment by drumminj
2015-09-13 07:24:46

whats funny about zirp is the banks are basically the only ones able to borrow at next to nothing. Credit card rates are back to 20%.

That’s because the banks take default risk into account. Central banks, however, can just print more $$$ to cover any losses.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:32:39

The Federal Reserve was set up by the Oligopoly as their chief instrument for faciliating the looting and asset-stripping of the 99%. The scheme has worked brilliantly, with ZIRP and QE-to-infinity being the perfect tools to defraud the 99% out of interest income and force them to “invest” their wealth in Wall Street’s rigged casino where they can be fleeced by the Fed’s insider accomplices. The jawboning of the Fed’s mouthpieces about a supposedly pending rate rise is smoke and mirrors - a rate rise would crush their Ponzi, but I have little doubt their currency-manipulating insider pals are making bank by profiting from advance knowledge of when the various Fed officials are going to talk up or down a ficticious rate rise.

If we had an intelligent, aware population, The Creature from Jekyll Island would be required reading for every High School student so the magnitude of the swindle being pulled on them by the Fed would be crystal clear.

http://www.amazon.com/Creature-Jekyll-Island-Federal-Reserve/dp/091298645X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1442154362&sr=1-1&keywords=the+creature+from+jekyll+island

Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magicians’ secrets are unveiled. We get a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, their pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A dry and boring subject? Just wait! You’ll be hooked in five minutes. Reads like a detective story - which it really is. But it’s all true. This book is about the most blatant scam of all history. It’s all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity. Creature from Jekyll Island is a “must read.” Your world view will definitely change. You’ll never trust a politician again - or a banker.</i?

 
 
Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-09-13 07:00:17

people dont need any interest on their puny savings accounts

OF course not, it’s discriminatory against people who have no savings. That’s why most progressives don’t really believe in raising the rates.

Bottom line you are a sucker if you saved.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 07:07:47

… and youre a stooge if you spent all your money and went deep in debt on a depreciating asset like a house.

 
 
 
Comment by palmetto
Comment by rms
2015-09-13 22:22:27

…a 3 hour tour.

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-09-13 06:08:04

It’s not often we have the weekend topic go “poof”.

Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 06:12:43

Did something happen in the other thread?

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 12:22:20

What topic? This is Bits bucket. Read the line underneath: I see “off topic ideas”

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-09-13 14:09:08

It was gone when I got online this morning and then came back. Must have been morning maintenance time.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 14:17:49

“Off-topic” has been part of that phrase for several years now. You have been a regular here for several years. Drink lots of coffee.

“Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here. Please visit my Youtube channel which you can also find here:”

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Comment by drumminj
2015-09-13 14:51:41

Bill, I think the original post was referencing that the ‘weekend topic’ thread temporarily disappeared from the list of Ben’s post. Not a complaint about the subject matter being covered here in the ‘bitch bucket’.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 16:30:36

The rage is real.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 17:27:55

Bill, I think the original post was referencing that the ‘weekend topic’ thread temporarily disappeared from the list of Ben’s post. Not a complaint about the subject matter being covered here in the ‘bitch bucket’.

Ah, I see.

My bad.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-09-13 06:10:15

family dollar, dollar general, dollar tree, 99 cents store welcome walmart shoppers with open arms. They know u are broke.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 06:33:56

You guys are smart.

Does space go on forever?

14:28 28 November 2012

http://www.newscientist.com/…/11/infinity-in-the-real-world-does-space-go-on-forever.html - 96k -

And another question, when did time start?

Who is holding that stop watch?

What was going on before time started?

Comment by frankie
2015-09-13 06:44:10

Good news if space goes on forever just think of all that real estate to sell.

Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 07:03:03

I think when you get to the end of forever there is a wall, on the other side of that wall there is a sign that says…

Foreclosure
Price reduced

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-09-13 07:05:52

“This property has been found to be vacant.”

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Comment by Ben Jones
2015-09-13 06:44:24

Error 404
Sorry, this page has not been found.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 06:50:33

What’s up, Error 404? You having a good Sunday morning?

Why are you concerning yourself with science when you think the world’s scientists are all involved in a massive conspiracy to take over the world, or some such? Aren’t all their claims therefore suspect? Or have only the world’s climate scientists be ‘turned’? The rest just keep their heads down if they know what’s good for them?

Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 07:03:09

Y’know, stop it. Just stop it. Just freakin’ knock it off. Jeff did nothing but attempt to post the article and ask some questions. He didn’t even bother you. Why do you always have to needle him?

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 07:19:47

I asked Error 404, er, I mean ‘Jeff’, how his Sunday morning was going. Then I asked him a simple follow-up question to the article he attempted to post.

No needle, just friendly banter with my homey phony. Or Jeff.

Why are you always picking on me, palmetto? It hurts my feelings.

And I still want to know how we can trust some science, but write the rest off as massive conspiracy. Does it depend on whether we agree with the findings, or what?

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Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 07:35:56

“Why are you always picking on me, palmetto? It hurts my feelings.”

Because people like you stick pins in others and draw back in “wounded surprise” when someone calls them on it.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-09-13 08:03:25

“the findings”

Finding the money is the key thing.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 08:09:52

Because people like you stick pins in others and draw back in “wounded surprise” when someone calls them on it.

When do I draw back in wounded surprise? Juvenile insults directed at me merely reveal my opponent’s lack of wits.

And the pins I stick in others are the pins of logic that pop their balloons of misinformation. I don’t call people Lola or anklepants, or say they have their panties in a wad. I leave that to the intellectually weak, who can’t otherwise craft a coherent argument. Like my homey phony.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 08:23:07

Finding the money is the key thing.

Exactly. Follow the money, from the climate change deniers back to Exxon and Mobil.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-09-13 08:45:38

“back to Exxon”

A fantasy based on wishful thinking.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 09:00:07

They’re funding them, though more discreetly than they used to.

“Dark Money” Funds Climate Change Denial Effort

The largest, most-consistent money fueling the climate denial movement are a number of well-funded conservative foundations built with so-called “dark money,” or concealed donations, according to an analysis released Friday afternoon.

The study, by Drexel University environmental sociologist Robert Brulle, is the first academic effort to probe the organizational underpinnings and funding behind the climate denial movement.

It found that the amount of money flowing through third-party, pass-through foundations like DonorsTrust and Donors Capital, whose funding cannot be traced, has risen dramatically over the past five years.

Another key finding: From 2003 to 2007, Koch Affiliated Foundations and the ExxonMobil Foundation were “heavily involved” in funding climate change denial efforts. But Exxon hasn’t made a publically traceable contribution since 2008, and Koch’s efforts dramatically declined, Brulle said.

Coinciding with a decline in traceable funding, Brulle found a dramatic rise in the cash flowing to denial organizations from DonorsTrust, a donor-directed foundation whose funders cannot be traced

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dark-money-funds-climate-change-denial-effort/

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-09-13 09:37:32

You have no clue who “they” are, so naming Exxon is untruthful. They said they would stop making any such politically incorrect donations in 2007. There is zero evidence to the contrary that I am aware of. Don’t be a malicious gossip.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 09:53:40

It’s quite a coincidence that right after the oil companies quit donating openly to the climate change denier organizations, these dark money donor trusts stated receiving tons of money to pass along to them.

Quite a coincidence.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-09-13 10:23:08

Tons? You might be back peddling to yet another unfounded assumption. A small fraction of the money mentioned in your article is “dark money”. An even smaller fraction is spent by those think tanks and organizations on challenging the Warming agenda. Some of it even goes to further the Warming agenda.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2014/01/02/dark-money-funds-to-promote-global-warming-alarmism-dwarf-warming-denier-research/

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 11:04:21

Lola…. remove your heels before backpedalling.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 11:08:22

That article is pure spin and weak arguments. An example:

“I pulled up the website for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), which Brulle and the media claim is the conservative think tank receiving and spending the most money on global warming skepticism. AEI has 15 articles featured on the front page of its website, and not a single one focuses on global warming.

I also pulled up the website for the Heritage Foundation, which Brulle and the media claim is the conservative think tank receiving and spending the second most amount of money on global warming skepticism. The Heritage Foundation has 10 articles featured on the front page of its website. None of the 10 focuses on global warming. Merely 2 of the 10 focus on any aspect of energy or environment policy.”

Well, that proves that! He pulled up their websites and didn’t find climate change denial articles on the front pages. Case closed.

Also, his assertion that more dark money funds environmental groups doesn’t have any factual basis that I can discern from the links he provides.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 07:08:52

Here is a good one for you Oddie

Does Space Go On Forever? - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCBD6B5-n9I - 184k -

PS

Palmy, don’t sweat that (I was going to say Dweeb but I decided not to) Dude.

He’s entertainment to me.

Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 07:22:15

I know, but there’s a pattern here. People post comments, articles or links, there’s some back and forth (or not), things are fairly calm and reasonable and then some boob jabs a needle in someone and gets personal, someone fires back and then there’s a flame war and Ben has to moderate all the crap, which then results in upset and warnings.

I think we can calmly and politely disagree with each other and consider each other’s points of view without the needling.

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Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 07:36:08

Spoken like a true gentleman.

I will take your advice.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:39:03

Better yet, if we all agree that me with my superior intelligence is indesputably right in all my opinions on all subjects under the sun, and the HBB’s sole possessor of truth, light, and revealed wisdom, there would be no need for further arguments, period. This would put a stop to needless conflict and butt-hurt posters and flame wars. Agreed?

I calmly await a massive retaliatory strike….

 
Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 07:39:30

I disagree with that. People like Lola and the various leftist multiple Lola accounts cannot be reasoned with. They will like clockwork come in and post deliberate lies or accusations of racism. They are just agenda pushers and should be ridiculed incessantly.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 07:40:41

“I will take your advice.”

You’re not the one needs to take it. Looka the needler’s post below.

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 07:34:17

Phony, you posted a working link! I am so proud of you. It only took a few thousand attempts. See? Your newfound interest in science is paying off already. I can’t wait until you discover that all white people are descended from black people.

Or is that from the untrustworthy conspiracy scientists?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 07:37:16

Have a good Sunday Oddfellow

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-09-13 07:42:19

Second that.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 07:46:52

Sorry I asked you those simple questions, they’re apparently too tough for you.

Have a good Sunday too, phony.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 07:23:57

egregious.realtor.corruption.

Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-09-13 07:32:07

Bienvenue en Amérique

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:41:40

What could possibly go wrong when liberal Democrat do-gooders invite the denizens of a failed state with intense anti-western political-religious beliefs and a cutthroat mentality to settle in their midst? Minneapolis used to be a great city - not so much any more.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/twin-cities-isis-problem-120000050.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:51:34

A lot of end-times rapture true believers have been suckered out of their money buying books, DVDs, etc. warning that September 13, 2015 (today) would bring down all sorts of disasters upon ‘Murica, which has incurred God’s wrath and displeasure according to this narrative. So I want all HBBers to immediately report on cases in your AO of dogs lying down with cats that would signify the end is nigh. Remember, pics or it didn’t happen.

http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/mark-this-date-for-potential-disaster/

Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-09-13 12:23:20

Jesus is at my house. I saw him walking down the sidewalk with lightning coming out of his eyes, asked him to come over, have a beer, and just calm the hell down about armageddon.

You’re welcome.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 17:09:07

Jesus just left Chicago and he’s bound for New Orleans.
Well now Jesus just left Chicago, and he’s bound for new Orleans.

Stopped at a stoplight, and he made my windshield clean.

“Pay up Gringo!”

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 07:54:27
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 08:18:53

I still contend that if taking money from one group and spending it on another is socialism, then all government everywhere is socialism, and has been throughout history.

 
Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 09:58:58

Does it say he’s been a career politician since 1981? Anyone who can have stayed in that cesspool all those years and not only stayed but risen must be …

 
Comment by measton
2015-09-13 20:26:31

So if he would tax the hedge funds, and oligopoly kings, and make trade deals that didn’t allow a flood of slave labor, and spend money on infrastructure instead of wars. The socialist label is what sticks. Of all the remaining candidates he is the most anti banker wall street of them all. He’s the most antiwar for oil of them all.

Don’t become one of the 99% RH

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 08:08:36

The Fed’s organ grinder, Goldman Sachs, signals a new counterfeiting binge, er, more “stimulus,” is in the works. Naturally. You can’t taper a Ponzi scheme.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-09-12/yellen-about-shock-everyone-goldman-says-fed-should-think-about-easing

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 08:11:16

‘Murica sinks deeper into dystopia. If only the stupid would leave the important decisons, i.e. elections, to the intelligent.

http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/from-dystopia-to-armegeddon/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-09-13 08:14:04

What could possibly go wrong with debt-fueled “growth” sustained solely by trillions in printing-press fiat currency?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11858952/BIS-fears-emerging-market-maelstrom-as-Fed-tightens.html

 
Comment by reedalberger
2015-09-13 08:19:03

Remember when Alex Jones was considered a conspiracy nut?

Maybe I’m losing it, but with everything going on in the world right now, I’d say dude was right on track about the globalists.

Do yourself a favor and watch his 3 hour commercial free show from Friday, September 11th. I’m only through the first hour which was awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bCHn9ERutM

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 12:25:30

I used to dismiss the “New World Order” discussions. But all the international events I’ve read about up to here support NWO. George H. Bush himself literally used “New World Order” in his speech on September 11, 1991. Oddly, it was ten years from the day of the “act of war” waged by Al Quaeda against the USA - well the officials called it that.

 
Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2015-09-13 12:29:05

Remember when Alex Jones was considered a conspiracy nut?

I listen to him at night (or on Ron Gibson’s channel) and then wonder why I can’t sleep.

Conspiracy Theory Rock By Robert Smigel (1998)

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-09-13 08:32:43

Ben, I’ve been watching some of your you tube things. They’re good, but you know what would make them really pop? If you had footage taken from a drone, that could really give a new perspective on the empty houses and lots, and get some scenes where you can’t physically go, and bigger panoramas.

Are you using a GoPro camera? They’ve got some relatively inexpensive drones ($600) that can use them.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 08:36:23

Great idea. Send him the dough.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-09-13 09:35:36

Funny that you mention that. I was reading yesterday about a new generation of drones that’s being designed and it occurred to me that they would be useful for what I’m trying to do. I appreciate the input.

I found an area called Greer Ranch that UHS.com says has 339 new houses for sale in a 5 mile radius. I even tried excluding lots and it returned the same thing:

339 nearby properties found Greer Ranch South, Surprise, AZ New Homes Construction for Sale

http://www.realtor.com/newhomesconstruction/Greer-Ranch-South_Surprise_AZ/type-single-family-home,condo-townhome-row-home-co-op,multi-family-home,mfd-mobile-home?cid=sem_google_desktopdsasale_cpc_google&ml=2

I’m going there this afternoon to shoot some video and find out.

From a year ago:

‘While the number of new-home communities in Phoenix grew by a third in the past year to 457, sales per community plunged 45 percent last month from a year earlier, said Jim Belfiore, president of Belfiore Real Estate Consulting in Phoenix.’

“The issue in Phoenix is the market got away from itself, so everybody is offering some level of concession,” said Joel Shine, chief executive officer of Salt Lake City-based Woodside Homes. “Frankly, in a master plan with 10 other builders, and all offering concessions and you choose not to, then you need to make sure you buy your salesperson a high-quality TV set so they have something to do while they’re sitting alone.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-07/homebuilders-offer-freebies-as-booming-u-s-markets-cool

 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-09-13 10:26:55

Does anyone have any idea of the markup at walmart? Seems like the numbers are kept pretty quiet. I imagine its different based on the product.

It really seems they have nailed this distibution system. That is what they have over their competition as well as low pay, buying in high volume etc.

In the simplest form the store owner would walk out out to the floor to see how much product they had and if they needed to order. Seems walmart mastered the inventory situation via computers.
I bet kmart still does it manually.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-09-13 13:34:00

WalMart is also very good at beating down suppliers on price, which is why they are so often sold out of product as suppliers make WalMart their last priority for shipping since the profits are razor thin.

 
 
Comment by Senior Housing Analyst
2015-09-13 14:02:28

Falling Housing Prices

Tucson, AZ Housing Prices Plunge 5% YoY

http://www.movoto.com/tucson-az/market-trends/

Comment by CountryClubberLang
2015-09-13 14:49:11

My zillow data is still as of July 31. Shouldn’t their site be updating soon?

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-09-13 17:00:21

Sunday the 13th, a frightening day. Did you see this? http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/sep/12/big-cash-withdrawals-bank-barclays-denied-access

That is in GB but all global bankers are the same. Coming to the USA. Which is why I get the banks where I go used to my regular cash withdrawals. Been doing that for three years.

Cash under the mattress is good.

…until the Feds retire the Dollar and establish a new currency. But that is why you also buy gold bullion. And crypto currency.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-09-13 17:18:51

I Feel Lucky - Lyrics - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0-0f8q8Jlc - 238k -

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-09-13 18:22:44

crushing.housing.losses.

 
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