Bits Bucket for September 18, 2015
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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
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Annandale, VA Housing Prices Fall 6% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/annandale-va/home-values/
http://www.picpaste.com/IMG_20150918_065549.jpg
Meetings this morning?
munchies this morning.
Is the US going to start returning Chinese embezzlers to face justice back home? If so, what happens to the US real estate they’re buying?
http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-man-wanted-corruption-charges-returned-us-065201874.html
seems like everyone is just printing cash tryn to get something for nothing.
and if you are Chinese it is working. Cheaper to buy the USA then invade it.
seems like everyone is just printing cash tryn to get something for nothing.
c’mon azdude, trading labor for money is so last century.
Even the banksters are starting to complain about ZIRP, which means Yellen will be printing up more QE shortly to mollify them.
http://wolfstreet.com/2015/09/17/bankers-threaten-fed-with-layoffs-if-it-doesnt-raise-rates/
Futures are dropping. Is it possible even the dullest-wittest ‘Murican finally sees right through the Fed’s “Everything is Awesome!” meme about the economy?
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/stocks/futures
Whatever harbinger of gloom the Fed saw that kept them on hold could have a similar chilling effect today on Wall Street.
One conundrum is that it will be hard for the Fed to drop rates in order to buoy the stock market, given they are superglued to the zero bound.
ft dot com > Markets >
Capital Markets
Last updated: September 18, 2015 5:15 pm
Equity markets hit hard by dovish FOMC
Katie Martin and Michael Hunter
A Federal Reserve police officer walks past the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. Bill Gross said the Federal Reserve has waited so long to raise interest rates that any move now may be labeled “too little too late” as market turmoil restricts the room for policy makers to act.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
©Bloomberg
Investors shunned equities and ploughed money into government bonds on Friday after the Federal Reserve expressed concerns about the global economy and decided not to tighten US monetary policy.
Declines of around 3 per cent for Euro Stoxx 50 and Germany’s Dax index were accompanied by a sharp drop in US equities when trading opened on Wall Street in New York. By lunchtime, the S&P 500 was down 1.1 per cent and implied volatility remained firmer.
In turn, eurozone and UK government bond prices were sharply higher, pushing yields lower, as bond traders caught up with a big overnight rally in the US Treasury market.
While investors and economists were split as to whether the Federal Open Market Committee would finally raise overnight borrowing costs at Thursday’s meeting, a dovish message, focusing on the risk posed by a slowing China and pressure across emerging markets, has shaken sentiment for equities among investors.
“The markets were taken back by the fact that the Fed ‘held up a mirror’, leaving uncertainties in place,’’ said Francesco Garzareli, macro analyst at Goldman Sachs. “The [Fed] stressed greater macro and financial uncertainties, leaving risk sentiment unsettled.’’
With the dollar falling on expectations that tighter US rate policy does not beckon until 2016, a stronger euro and Japanese yen was also refecting rising risk aversion among investors, that favoured government bonds.
Nick Gartside, chief investment officer of fixed income at JPMorgan Asset Management, said investors were watching the level of volatility in global markets and the growth picture in emerging markets.
“If both of these stabilise, and if their respective impact on the US economy remains limited, there’s no reason the Fed can’t hit the lift-off button this year.”
…
I cannot wrap my brain around this article and these numbers.
“ST. PETERSBURG — In yet another sign of Tampa Bay’s apartment boom, the 326-unit Beacon 430 complex in downtown St. Petersburg has sold for the high-end price of $84.5 million.
Opened this year, the Beacon’s studio and 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments are 97 percent leased at a maximum rental of about $2,500, he said.”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/downtown-st-pete-apartment-complex-beacon-430-sells-for-845-million/2246029
NYC prices for everyone, yeah!
I have relatives in St Pete. They pay alot less than that for rent because they live in neighborhoods where black people live. If whitey wants to live surrounded by alot of other whitey, then whitey gotta pay.
They’ll be slums in 10-15 years. Portland has tons of new apartments coming on with studios in the $1200-1600 range. No way that’s doable unless people (hipsters w no funds) double or triple up. That means 2-3x the wear and tear.
Trump Doesn’t Challenge Man’s Anti-Muslim, False Obama Claims in New Hampshire
nbc news
Oh blast… forgot that Trump was a birther. What a mixed bag…
Honk honk to The Donk!
I really don’t get what is the big deal about this. Some guy asked a question and Trump didn’t question his question? And the MSM is gnawing the rug about it? Silly.
It’s an interesting question how much we are willing to put up with if we think the ultimate result is for the greater good.
Does it really matter if he honestly is a birther? So this one small sliver of an area he has a kooky belief, so what’s? Normally we use things like this as a proxy for a person’s intelligence, but no one can seriously question that Trump is smart. 10 billion reasons.
I think putting up with something like this is well worth the trade off of being able to give the middle finger to the political establishment for the first time in a generation. Plus it will be incredibly entertaining.
Bwahahahaha, you wouldn’t believe some of the “kooky beliefs” some of our presidents and representatives have had.
Franklin cover-up, anyone? Bohemian Grove?
What about the anti vaxxer thing? That’s anything but harmless. Do you really want this loon in charge of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal?
I’m not sure which of the loons running from either party I’d want in charge of our nuclear arsenal, especially if we’re disqualifying on the basis of someone’s views on something like vaccines. Trump is no more or less qualified in that regard.
Anti-vacc + birther = crazy?
If your reason justifying his intelligence is his wealth, how do you take into consideration the fact that Trump was given a HUGE financial head start from his father. I’m willing to wager that there are a lot of people on this board who would also be worth $10B if they were given that same headstart.
Trumps net worth would be 50% greater if he had taken daddy’s money and put it into an index fund 35 years ago. Bloomberg study.
Pure lies
Anti-Muslim, False Obama Claims
http://www.wnd.com/2015/09/its-apocalypse-now-in-israel/
Thanks, Obama
…and an anti vaxxer. No wonder the loons love him.
I don’t know anything about “loons” but I bet that Trump would have at least noticed the fraud involved when some kid simply took a 1970s clock apart, put it into a small briefcase, and attempted to claim it as his own invention.
http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engineering-ahmed-mohameds-clock-and-ourselves/
One possible reason for the ruse.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/09/18/briefcase-clock-maker-ahmed-mohamed-is-son-of-muslim-activist/#more-106203
The reason for the WH visit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCn10YWsY1Q
Yea, loons.
http://www.ksl.com/?sid=36560007&nid=1313&title=teen-clockmaker-gets-offers-from-twitter-mit-nasa&s_cid=queue-10
This has been a case study in the right wing’s spin machine, how they take an event that might, just might, show bias on the part of Texas school officials when they harshfully overreact and suspend this kid when all he wanted to do is fool around with electronics and make a clock. It’s all about winning an argument at the expense of a kid who’s been wronged.
This is the same state where the governor officially recognized and endorsed the nutcase “threat” that Jade Helm was a hostile takeover of Texas. So yes, of course, they will mobilize the local command center and put on lime green vests when a muslim kid does something.
As with Kim Davis, they will spin and spin and spin in an attempt to defend the indefensible.
You didn’t read the articles that I posted on the Ahmed kid, did you?
There is no “right wing spin machine” working here. Check out Ahmed’s old man and his history (in the article). It might change your prospective on this story a bit.
Oh, and the kid didn’t MAKE a clock. He took a 70s clock apart and put the entire insides into a small case which he then decided to bring to school even thought It wasn’t part of any school project (the article). He then plugged it into a wall outlet, even though a teacher told him earlier not to (again, the article).
Our educational system seems to be totally polluted with zero-tolerance types from the higher ups in administration all the way down to the cafeteria workers.
So bringing something electrical in nature with wires and circuit boards that plugs into an outlet and chirps is a pretty stupid thing to do when the internet is full of stories about kids being suspended or being sent to reform school for nothing more that bringing a combo-food utensil for show-n-tell or having a broken pocket knife in their locker.
The thing to take away from the Ahmed the clock boy story is to question how long these stupid “zero-tolerance” school policies have existed, who brought them into play and why?
Or how about why the MSM is going gaga over some kid who did nothing more impressive than taking a clock apart and why they are trying to portray HIM as something special?
From one of the above articles:
“So I turned to eBay, searching for vintage alarm clocks. It only took a minute to locate Ahmed’s clock. See this eBay listing, up at the time of this writing. Amhed’s clock was invented, and built, by Micronta, a Radio Shack subsidary. Catalog number 63 756″.
One other question. Does anybody believe that this story would be getting the coverage that it is being given (considering that similar foolish,draconian punishments seem to occur on a daily basis in our Nation’s schools) if the kids name was Chuck or Joe the clock boy?
This red team vs blue team (”right-wing spin”) crap gets old.
I’ll let George Carlin explain the situation to you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0
If a kid named Joe or Chuck was arrested, fingerprinted and handcuffed for no good reason, it would probably get a lot of attention.
I can’t see what the father has to do with the story.
There does seem to some sort of anti-Muslim spin machine working (if you don’t want to call it right wing). It was just last week that people were posting links to articles making the argument that we shouldn’t feel so bad about the toddler who drowned in Turkey.
anti-vaxxers = loons
That is all.
Were your parents vaccinated, Russ? No particular reason, just wondering….
So they can’t get Trump on what he’s said, so now they’re going to try and see if they can get him on what others say and he fails to categorically condemn.
Throw it all up there and see what sticks, I guess. lol
Nothing worse than bacon eating, beer drinking, pro-gay and pro women’s rights Muslims.
… who’s been listening to a radical Christian preacher for 20 years to boot!
Trump should’ve corrected the idiot on the spot. Errors that aren’t corrected are approved. 25% of ‘Muricans believe Obama is the literal anti-Christ according to one recent poll. There are a lot of valid reasons to be critical of Obama, but the whole “Kenyan Muslim” smear just shows bigotry and ignorance.
Truly, our national slide into IDIOCRACY has passed the point of no return.
The reason you can’t hire staff is because they can’t afford the rent here:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/money/consumer/restaurants-search-for-staff-while-trying-to-keep-menu-prices-reasonable
I almost never go out to eat, with the obvious exception of 50% off Papa John’s pizza the day after the Broncos win, because Peyton is Jesus.
Soon only high end places will have waiters. Very soon. Just sit at your table and tap what you want a few times on the tablet.
And for all you tightwad skinflints here: No Tip!
C’mon… throw in a buck, mr. pink!
A friend of mine worked on system like that back in the late 80s. Burger King and another chain each tried it in a couple of restaurants. If you think about it, customers at fast food places give their orders to someone behind the counter who presses some buttons. The idea was to have the customers press the buttons themselves. I don’t why the two chains decided not to purchase these systems, but there must some big drawback.
Maybe were still used to face-to-face service back in the late 1980’s. Since we’re now accustomed to phone trees, scanning our own groceries, buying stuff with “one-click,” and texting our pizza orders, maybe it’s time to revisit the concept.
Evolution and survival of the fittest.
I eat out 2-3x a week. Not easy to make Panang Curry at home or Chicken Masala.
WaWa gas stations here in the mid-atlantic have self serve kiosks where you plug in your order. You pay for it at the normal cashier then come back and get your sandwich.
Years ago there was an arcade/indoor minigolf place next to a movie theater called Funscape in Chesapeake, VA. You could order Taco Bell and Pizza Hut via a touchscreen inside. CRT touchscreen era, mid-90s. Employees told me the customers generally weren’t smart enough to operate it. I guess that might of changed now, but not sure.
Ben posted this yesterday, and I’m re-posting it because I think it should have gotten more attention. That a so-called “social justice” movement is aligned with Wall Street is very significant, IMO.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/latest-protesters-outside-fed-warn-170133491.html
It has been said that George Soros is behind some of these various “social justice” movements, through “charitable” foundations and such. He was behind that massive nationwide 2006 illegal immigrant demonstration, in fact I think even he doesn’t deny it. These days, with the internet and mass media, it’s not difficult to get these “movements” going. They’re done by leverage, and if there’s one thing these financier types understand, it’s leverage.
I browse the headlines on Huffington Post and Salon every day to catch the Social Justice™ narrative. And like clockwork, several hours later when my Facebook SJWs wake up they all share those articles and like each other.
That’s what I mean by leverage. All you need is a small paid core of staff to get these things rolling. The unpaid SJWs will pile on en masse and blow it up free of charge. They get “paid” by feeling good about themselves. Heck, there’s even support from people who are being paid by others, like journalists do when they “cover” the story.
What a complete circle jerk.
Yes, this is an actual article from Salon:
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/15/prostate_massage_as_last_hetero_taboo_partner/
They used to publish David Horowitz and Camille Paglia 15 years ago.
Cause the SJWs by and large are either on Daddy’s dole or the government dole.
Welcome to the echo chamber.
Chuckle… another George Soros conspiracy theory. Soros is chump change compared to the Koch Bros./oil company axis of evil.
Chuckle… another Koch Bros. conspiracy theory.
It works both ways.
Palm is thank you for the repost. I too feel that everybody is missing the most important stuff going on today. I don’t care if someone asks Trump a question and he doesn’t answer. I don’t care who is getting a sex change. I don’t care is gays can’t marry or who they do marry. All smoke screens.
I do care that Yellen and the Feds are useless. I do care that Wall Street is behind bleeding the middle class blind and no one goes to jail. I do care that the Congress is a bunch of special interest hacks who could care less about this country and its people. I do care that the news media doesn’t print anything news worthy but makes up news. I do care that this country allows illegals to vote, draw benefits, etc. Etc, etc.
yep +1000
Wall Street is behind bleeding the middle class blind.
I do care that this country allows illegals to vote, draw benefits etc etc.
Hmm well, ISTM that a good way to counter that is to not take donations from Wall Street and special interests, and to threaten to build a wall etc etc.
yep! better to focus on being nice to your friend with a boat.
Testify, Salinasron….
Scripting a narrative.
The statement, posted on a State Department website, says sexual rights include people’s “right to have control over and decide freely and responsibly on matters related to their sexuality, including sexual and reproductive health, free of coercion, discrimination, and violence.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-government-says-it-will-now-use-the-term-sexual-rights/2015/09/18/99932978-5dba-11e5-8475-781cc9851652_story.html
As has been predicted here, the next step is the elimination of age of consent laws.
I thought the next step was polygamy, you’re thinking if the next next step.
Speaking of the State Department, what was Hillary’s biggest accomplishment in her 5 years there?
Obama will pardon Jerry Sandusky, and if you disagree with that you are a racist.
“what was Hillary’s biggest accomplishment in her 5 years there?”
Finding true love with Houma?
I thought the next step was polygamy, you’re thinking if the next next step.
It could go either way, though I could see more people getting behind the age of consent ban. Kids have rights, y’know.
Speaking of the State Department, what was Hillary’s biggest accomplishment in her 5 years there?
Staying out of jail.
Keeping us safe.
Please tell me that was satire. Or that you are at at-risk adult in a group home with your very own minder.
Just playing off Jeb’s “my brother kept us safe.”
The old guys will always have the women, because they have the money, to keep them up …while sending the younger men off to wars to negate them…
Google News links to articles reporting that an obese three year old girl is one of the youngest people ever to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. She is (unsurprisingly) from Houston, Texas.
This is why socialized medicine will never work in the United States.
Heh, sounds similar to crack babies. I don’t know if the mother was obese, but it would appear an addiction to sugar or HFCS could be passed on during pregnancy.
That kid weighs 77 pounds at age f*ing three.
The poor child is a victim. We must respond with our sympathy and our tax dollars and multiple disability payments to the poor dear and whatever behemoth People of Wal-Mart that spawned her.
This is why socialized medicine will never work in the United States.
Actually it is working since her family likely wouldn’t have access to health care if YOU weren’t buying it for them. “Eat mor chikin” and wash it down with root beer!
the new residents have to learn their trade on the po folks. we dont want them new docs doing their first knee replacement on a middle class white guy.
I recently replaced my 25 year old “arch supports” that i wear in my shoes,went back to the same little store that had supplied them back then .The same man,now much older ,chatted with me and said ,”Yep,those are ours” when he checked the old ones.I noticed,however that the store had morphed into a very busy place .A much bigger place ,a half dozen vans with signs on the sides ,something to do with artificial limb supplies….One of the helpers mentioned to me later that “the old man” owned a lot of property and a lot of things……I noticed an article somewhere,later, that medicare is now looking at why artificial legs and arms and stuff is costing so much,often as much as a new car…It’s out of control like so much other medical stuff…..The old proprietor did take care of me very well, though ,it cost me just a few bucks more then he charged 25 years ago, just over $200.
The DME market is huuuuuge. Unbelievable stuff. I recently got a prescribed back brace / support. Probably $125 of material. The provider billed insurance $1350, with discounts insurance still paid like $700.
“The DME market is huuuuuge.”
Everyone is getting a cut of the action, but it won’t last.
Everyone is getting a cut of the action
It’s the American way. Only losers do real work.
Income from labor is taxed more than any other form of income. The message is clear.
medicare is now looking at why artificial legs and arms and stuff is costing so much,
They cost an arm and a leg. [rim shot]
If HillaryJeb or one of the other neo-con stooges gets elected, we’ll be needing a lot more artificial limbs.
Looks like the Bank of England are considering their next interest rate move and it may well be
Interest rates in the UK could be cut further from their record low level, the Bank of England’s chief economist has warned, as he highlighted signs that the global financial crisis is entering a third phase of turmoil.
Andy Haldane used a speech entitled “How low can you go?” to flag signs of a slowdown in the UK and discuss events in China, where an economic downturn has coincided with a stock market rout and sent jitters through global markets. His comments appear to be at variance with the Bank governor, Mark Carney, who has indicated that rates might rise from 0.5% early next year.
Haldane, one of nine policymakers who vote on interest rates at the Bank, reiterated warnings he made earlier this year that the UK economy was not ready for higher borrowing costs.
“In my view, the balance of risks to UK growth, and to UK inflation at the two-year horizon, is skewed squarely and significantly to the downside,” he said.
“Against that backdrop, the case for raising UK interest rates in the current environment is, for me, some way from being made.”
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/sep/18/interest-rates-rise-bank-of-england-chief-economist-andy-haldane
All the major countries have to get to zero before the next step. My bet is that something is waiting out there to screw up the BIS and IMF plan.
Inquiring minds want top know how low can the bankers go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox-lfowevqA
Pardon my cultural bias, but I have a difficult time finding the appeal of a vocalist’s rapid fire monotone chant over a canned drum roll about having sex with hookers. I guess if it sells, it must be good.
I couldn’t get past a musician called Ludacris singing how low can we go, it about sums up the asylum we are living in, ludicrously the Bankers think cheap money will save them, no matter how low it goes I fear it will not work.
“Inquiring minds want top know how low can the bankers go.”
We will go as low as willing schmucks will allow us to go.
In 2008 and 2012, 95% of the ‘Murican electorate, in voting for Wall Street water carriers Obama, McCain, and Romney, made a sacred covenant with the Oligopoly: We will bend over for you on demand.
The schmucks will let you have your way with them, trust me.
“Affordable Care Act. We estimate that eliminating that requirement and the associated penalties would reduce the deficit by about $305 billion over the 2015-2025 period.”
Eliminating the Requirement that Individuals Purchase Health Insurance and Associated Penalties
September 15, 2015
Cost Estimate
Preliminary Estimate
preliminaryestimateforrepealingtheindividualmandate.pdf
View Document
274.75 KB
Summary
CBO and JCT have completed a preliminary estimate of the net budgetary effect of eliminating the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance and associated penalties established by the Affordable Care Act. We estimate that eliminating that requirement and the associated penalties would reduce the deficit by about $305 billion over the 2015-2025 period. That total consists of a $311 billion decrease in direct spending partially offset by a $6 billion decrease in revenues. Please see the attached table for year-by-year budgetary effects and a summary of the effects on health insurance coverage.
‘We strongly endorse Senator Whitehouse’s call for a RICO investigation’.
What I want to know is, in all this talk of climate change and global warming, why does no one bring up the issue of population? Africa’s population is supposed to swell by some ungodly amount by 2050. And then there’s this:
http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/news/population/2015-report.html
Too many people, and with the internet that reaches even the most destitute corners of the world, a FSA explodes with expectations, no, DEMANDS of a first world life.
Africa, Latin America (with a few countries excepted), India, China, the Middle East. All population growth hotspots.
That is global warming. Of course, wars and polluting manufacturing don’t help, but population growth is really the main driver.
Culling the herd is a bridge to far for me, as I am not a fan of genocide, but to start with, creating wars and famines insures explosions of population. Some of you have seen me post this before, but that’s the way physical organisms work. When threatened with starvation or annihilation, they reproduce, for the survival of the species, unless they’re driven to a point of mass extinction by other factors. So ending wars and spreading some security and prosperity helps keep birth rates down.
Climate change deniers are not the problem. Birth rate deniers are, however.
I have brought up the issue of population, and was instructed by “mathguy” to step in front of a bus to do my part to reduce the population.
Other HBB replies talked about colonizing space, which I think is a joke.
Global warming is real, it’s caused by human activity, and at this point it is irreversable. 2brony believes in Jesus. I believe in warmism.
Happy Friday and enjoy the die-off, we didn’t need those Maldives anyway!
“we didn’t need those Maldives anyway!”
Look on the bright side: Greenland will once again be habitable.
We didn’t need Bangladesh either. If you think the migrant crisis is bad now, wait until 200+ million of them need a new place to live.
It’s gonna be a humanitarian disaster on an unimaginable scale.
All part of God’s plan, to teach humanity a lesson.
“It’s gonna be a humanitarian disaster on an unimaginable scale.”
“My god, it’s full of stars!”
http://picpaste.com/its-full-of-stars.jpg
war famine and disease = population control for those that don’t believe in birth control. It will be brought to us by the fundamentalist Christian, Mormon, muslim, jewish, hindu etc masses of the world, and of course the uneducated poor who have no access to health care.
Unfortunately there will be no reward for the rest.
Are you now or have you ever been, a member of the communist party?
“Global warming is real,”
Sure is.
With most of the warming being a whopping 0.8 degrees in the last 150 years and none except for the recently doctored numbers in the last 15 years.
Did humans cause some of that 0.8 degrees? Sure but so did dogs. Any climate scientist worth his salt that has seen a dog leave a steaming pile in the winter would have to say dogs contribute to global warming.
In fact I would bet if you sent out a questionnaire that simply asked… Do dogs contribute to global warming? If answering honestly 97% would have to say yes.
But Dog Made Global Warming wouldn’t allow you to wage a war on coal or grease the skids for a carbon tax that Hank Paulson and the ruling elite are looking for.
Agenda 21 is a cool story bro, but it doesn’t change the fact that infinite growth is not possible in a finite ecosystem.
If I can save enough money, I’m going to buy land in Chaffee County and build a rescue ranch for pets and exotic animals.
People who breed can explain to their children about the concept of ecological collapse, I’ll never have to.
I hear a field of cows can put as much global warming into the atmosphere through its flatulence as ten Chinese factories can.
I hear a field of cows can put as much global warming into the atmosphere through its flatulence as ten Chinese factories can.
In large part because methane is a MUCH more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2.
Not as powerful as H2O!
Global warming is real, it’s caused by human activity, and at this point it is irreversable.
+1. Month after month of consecutive global temperature records.
https://goo.gl/7lJgFt <– the latest chart shows we are indeed experiencing profound global warming.
Climate deniers are like Custer’s Last Stand, they have to circle the wagons closer and closer as arrows of data continue to rain down on them. Another year or two denialism will be a laughable minority viewpoint, unsupported by science and date, marginalized to the Alex Jones show.
You worry about global warming, go right ahead.
I’m more worried about the lack of water, especially potable water. Parts of central California are sinking by several inches per year right now because they are depleting the underground aquifers so rapidly. And China is trashing their environment even worse than we were 40+ years ago (bad for people drinking from the rivers too).
And the loss of topsoil which took eons to form - that’s another real concern.
All one has to do is look at what AlGore’s degree is in, and you can figure out the rest. Earth worship is the oldest religion in the book, and Al has become immeasurably wealthy now that he has switched from God to Gaia.
Call me a climate change agnostic. While alive, I will continue to expel CO2, and once-dead, will produce even more damaging climate-change gases, either by emitting methane as I decompose, or by many pounds of CO2 produced by the methane-powered incinerator that cremates me. Alas, what am I to do? Whether alive or dead, I poison this great earth.
and some people burn trash and dump their used motor oil in a hole.
we cant stop stupid. But hopefully they do not breed.
Some people care about packing it in and packing it out, others smash beer bottles in their fire pit.
and some people burn trash
Why, we used to do that in Old Greenwich. Smelled like Christmas!
Climate change deniers are not the problem. Birth rate deniers are, however.
Birth rates do contribute to climate change due to the marginal increase in fossil fuel consumption because each new person born will need transportation, heating/cooling and food.
Climate deniers *are* the main problem because they are the prime driver of political opposition against more sustainable energy sources and practices. If transportation, heating/cooling and food can be provided with a smaller footprint, then the marginal impact of new births is less.
Tell that to the 2.5 billion Indians and Chinese who aspire to Western lifestyles of consumption.
Jared Diamond wrote some nice books about civilizations.
ISIS leader admits to being funded by the US
Sep 16, 2015
In early 2015, Yousaf al Salafi, a man believed to be the Pakistani commander of Islamic State, confessed during investigations that he has been receiving money through the United States.
A few months after al Salafi revealed the funding he was receiving was routed through the United States, Michael Flynn, former director of Obama’s Defence Intelligence Agency, said he warned the Obama administration three years ago that the groups they were funding in Syria were actually Islamic jihadists. Now, a group of 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military’s Central Command have complained that their reports on Islamic State and the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda were being incorrectly changed by senior officials.
On January 22, law enforcing agencies in Pakistan claimed they arrested not only al Salafi, but also two other people during a raid in the city of Lahore. A source familiar with the investigation told Daily Express that during the investigation al Salafi admitted he received funding to run the organisation in Pakistan and “recruit young people to fight in Syria.” The Pakistani-Syrian entered Pakistan via Turkey last year, but it was previously reported that he crossed into Turkey from Syria, was caught there but managed to escape and went to Pakistan to establish ISIS in the region.
Daily Express cited sources as saying that John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State was familiar with al Salafi’s revelations and so was CENTCOM chief General Lloyd Austin. Al Salafi confessed he was recruiting people with a Pakistani accomplice to send them to Syria and was receiving around US$600 per person.
- See more at: http://www.australiannationalreview.com/isis-leader-admits-funded/#sthash.VgFSDdqk.dpuf
That looks like your kind of paper, phony. Here’s a list of some of the articles in today’s edition:
ISIS leader admits to being funded by the US
JFK autopsy report may have been faked
Iraqi army downs two UK planes carrying weapons for ISIL
Vaccine Ingredients unsafe for human consumption
How Lemon Water in the Morning Can Instantly Benefit Our Health
JoshuaTree extension now ‘officially’ released for Chrome with version 3.0. Find it here:
JoshuaTree on Chrome Web Store
For those who have already been using it, the final piece is an options page to allow you to change your preferences.
Thank you. If only everyone used this valuable add on we’d have far less whining.
If only everyone only posted under one username we’d have far less whining.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Would love to hear feedback from folks who are using it — good, bad, and ugly
I guess I’m using the first chrome extension. It works great, the only problem I have is when I highlight someone’s comment and hit reply, and the quote gets automatically put into emphasis, the /em after the quote is two lines below the end of the quote. Sometimes I fix it manually, sometimes I don’t. It seems like if I don’t fix it, it will sometimes fix itself when it posts, other times it will leave an extra line between the quote and my response. No big deal, but that’s the only bug I’ve found.
I’m using Joshua Tree Extension v3.0
the /em after the quote is two lines below the end of the quote. Sometimes I fix it manually, sometimes I don’t.
Weird — it works perfectly for me.
If you can narrow down what causes it (are you selecting past the end of the comment? what happens if you just select a few words in the middle?), that’d be helpful. WIthout being able to reproduce it myself, it’s hard to fix sadly.
WIthout being able to reproduce it myself, it’s hard to fix sadly.
Of course right after I typed that, I had an idea. Give version 3.0.1 a try (it should auto-update for you, assuming you have it enabled).
I think it auto-updated, the /em is in the right spot now. Thanks!
I know whose got my vote in 2916: Nobody!
http://www.politicaljunkienewsmedia.com/nobody-for-president-2016.html
2916? You’re planning to still be around then? I can’t wait that long to inherit your money.
All that swimming and steamed vegetables and salmon are working miracles.
yes 2916
I’m not allowed to make typos.
my bad
Don’t forget the fancy steel milled (or whatever it’s called) oatmeal that takes a week to cook.
Steel cut oats. Have you ever eaten that shite? Holy Jeebus, if you’re a fan of sawdust and bits of cork, you’ll love it. It’s great if you want to lose weight, because after you spit out the first mouthful, your appetite is gone, baby, gone!
Buddy of mine gave me some to eat. I didn’t speak to him for a week.
You bring a saucepan of water to a boil, pour in one serving of steel cut oats, let it boil for a minute longer, shut off the stovetop, put a lid on the saucepan. Wake up the next morning and add water, turn on the heat, wait for the oats to bubble, let the oats simmer for ten minutes that way. Covered is okay.
It’s not sawdust that way. Healthiest breakfast.
My cholesterol dropped to 183 by eliminating refined sugar and eating mostly breakfasts of oatmeal and citrus. It was as high as 260.
I’ll take that 3 egg omelet with feta and spinach everyday. Just make sure you get a little exercise or a lot.
Hey - how come Obamao is not inviting this old white guy to the White House? How come I am not getting invited to Harvard for an interview? Ahmed Mohamed must be a very special snow flake.
Envy of a 9th grader? Not feeling special enough this morning?
No - I have become sad panda!!!
Another win for the Bronco last night - concussion ball aside - is Goon gonna get some more free pizza today!!!
This is actually an interesting radio interview recorded on video:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-09-18/two-mistakes-the-fed-made-in-holding-rates-steady
Former Fed guy says Yellen needs to raise rates right now. His thesis:
- US economy doing well with housing the only exception
- Signs of labor shortage, wages starting to climb, jobs going unfilled
- China has stabilized (!), he says, and says 7% growth there will happen
- Says this is Taper Tantrum II, all this hand-wringing will come to nought
- Fed will raise in December
The Fed can’t raise rates. It would implode our Ponzi markets and asset bubbles. Can’t have that now, can we?
Negative interest rates (NIRP) and QE4 are assured before the end of the year.
No comments about the markets today?
seems like the plunge should be about 500 points.
Anybody here use Robinhood or know about it? I like the idea of zero commissions.
https://robinhood.com/
Been there done that. The Realturds blackball listings that are not full commissions.
In 09, i tired FSBO on the MLS, then MLS with a expensive broker….nada. Then a bent over and went full service and it sold in 2 weeks, and more than one couple asked why had they not seen this before. MY BROKER had my listing and the buyers so he pocketed about $24k in less then 3 weeks.
I wonder if you would have a different result with Redfin today?
try this again with out typos:
Been there done that. The Realturds blackball listings that are not full commission.
In 09, i tried FSBO on the MLS, then MLS with a inexpensive broker….nada. Then I bent over and went full service (6%) and it sold in 2 weeks, and more than one couple asked why had they not seen this property before. MY BROKER had my listing and the buyers, so he pocketed about $24k in less then 3 weeks.
I was hoping my ex-landlord (in Las Vegas) would suffer a little longer since he was so nasty to us about not wanting to show the house, but after 70 days it looks like he’s got a buyer. The place is contingent or pending depending on where you look. Might have been shorter if it wasn’t FSBO.
Happy Friday…. Falling prices and Crater To All.
KeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyraaaankItUp.
https://youtu.be/qcWKZTI9OC4
$235.50 for two tickets to the Grateful Dead, loanowners can’t afford that.
That’s cheap… theres a Chilli Peppers show I want to see where tickets are 1k.
I can afford it… I just don’t think it’s worth that.
True story. Back in the 80’s me and some friends went to see Faith No More in an old Dallas ballroom. Ther were about a dozen people there. The opening act was the RHCP. (None of us had ever heard of them). They sucked so we went and drank beer in the parking lot. Then FNM got on stage and they had recently changed from punk to spandex. We left after about 3 minutes.
We care a lot about disasters, fires, floods and killer bees
We care a lot about the NASA shuttle falling in the sea
We care a lot about starvation and the food that Live Aid bought
We care a lot about disease, baby Rock, Hudson, rock, yeah!
We care a lot about the gamblers and the pushers and the geeks
We care a lot about the crack and smack and whack that hits the street
We care a lot about the welfare of all the boys and girls
We care a lot about you people cause we’re out to save the world
YEAH!
And it’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it
We care a lot about the army navy air force and marines
We care a lot about the SF, NY and LAPD
We care a lot about you people, about your guns
about the wars you’re fighting gee that looks like fun
We care a lot about the Garbage Pail Kids, they never lie
We care a lot about Transformers cause there’s more than meets the eye
We care a lot about the little things, the bigger things we top
We care a lot about you people yeah you bet we care a lot,
YEAH!
Well, its a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it
And it’s a dirty song but someone’s gotta sing it
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/faithnomore/wecarealot194537.html
Who would see the Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia?
They got Sammy Hagar taking his place.
Indeed. My Zillow is down -$12,000 in the last 30 days. Equity shrinkage has me a little bit glum as I am addicted to the wealth effect. I guess I won’t be buying that Tesla after all.
Is there a buyer for your rotting pile sticks at a small fraction of what you got in it?
Sure, it wouldn’t be hard to sell in this low inventory environment. The realistic sales price, minus commissions, would be significantly more than what I paid for it. But after subtracting out various projects and maintenance I’d be breakeven.
With housing demand at 20-year lows and 25 million XS empty houses, very doubtful.
bankruptcy?
“The realistic sales price, minus commissions, would be significantly more than what I paid for it. But after subtracting out various projects and maintenance I’d be breakeven.”
Diana Ross - Upside down - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GtyMeEcPPE - 334k -
I don’t have a zillow, and it feels grreeeeaaAAAAT!
Thoughts?
NEW YORK TIMES- THE UPSHOT
SEPT. 16, 2015
BY Neil Irwin
If your entire understanding of the economy comes from headlines about the latest economic data, you would be forgiven for thinking these are the best of times. The unemployment rate is down to 5.1 percent, after all!
If your entire understanding of the economy comes from what is going on in financial markets, you would be forgiven for thinking the same. The stock market, its recent dip notwithstanding, is still not far from all-time highs!
That’s what makes the latest annual data on incomes, released by the Census Bureau on Wednesday morning, an important corrective.
The median American household in 2014 had a lower income, in inflation-adjusted terms, than it did in 2013. The $53,657 the household in the middle of the income distribution earned last year was down 1.5 percent from the year before, though the census said that shift was not statistically significant.
But even if that drop is a statistical blip and you assume that middle-class incomes were really flat, flat isn’t anything to celebrate in the current environment. The 2014 real median income number is 6.5 percent below its 2007, pre-crisis level. It is 7.2 percent below the number in 1999.
A middle-income American family, in other words, makes substantially less money in inflation-adjusted terms than it did 15 years ago. And there is no evidence that is reversing. Those families lost ground in 2014. And as we’ve reported previously, the data on wages in 2015 so far does not suggest there is a meaningful acceleration on the way.
A drop in the price of oil, though, has created a short-term drop in inflation numbers that may create a temporary bump in inflation-adjusted incomes for 2015 anyway.
Continue reading the main story
Recent Comments
Andrew 17 hours ago
Money, especially in New York City, is worthless and inflation data do not show the true story.Rent in a bad neighborhood, for a 600 foot 1…
ejzim 17 hours ago
Well, then perhaps Janet Yellen knows more than the govrenment is telling us.
Ted 18 hours ago
Republicans will, of course, gleefully blame Obama for the declining wages. Then they’ll enact more of the voodoo economics that will…
See All Comments
The depressing data on middle-class wages is true across almost all groups based on race and age. (One exception is a 5.3 percent gain in median wages among Hispanics in 2014, though that is within the statistical margin of error and so may not be meaningful).
If you were to sum up the latest census numbers on incomes in the United States in 2014, it would be with these three words: “not statistically different.” The announcement includes the phrase six times in its discussion of incomes, and that fact sums up a lot.
Continue reading the main story
Middle-Class Incomes Have Fallen Since 1999
A middle-income American family makes less than at the turn of the century.
Median household income, in 2014 dollars
$56k
54k
52k
50k
$53.66k
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
Shaded areas indicate recessions.
Source: Census Bureau
Stagnant incomes were a problem in 2013. They remained so in 2014. The evidence we have so far suggests nothing about that is changing in 2015. That is the reality shaping the backdrop to the 2016 presidential campaign, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate debates and the dinnertime table conversations about the state of the economies in families across the United States.
The latest census numbers may not be surprising, in the sense that they affirm a trend that has been underway for 15 years and counting. But they are a timely reminder of what really ails the economy.
The future belongs to Lucky Ducky, and that future is NOW.
This is the end result of years and years of supply side economics. The producers and the “job creators” have the wealth and the means to invest in capital to make more widgets, but they won’t because they have no confidence there will be buyers. When supply side shrunk the middle class they also shrunk the customer base. The only hope is to use demand-side policies (stimulus) that bring domestic high-paying jobs to get more discretionary funds in the hands of Joe and Jane to spend. Once demand picks up the producers will start building factories again.
The gov cant force co’s with record profits to hire more people or pay you more. It is supposed to trickle down.
the fomc did the right thing allowing gamblers in stocks to be able to continue borrowing for nothing.
Corporate debt has skyrocketed due to all the borrowing to buyback stocks and hand out bonuses.
The plan is sure brilliance. Fix a debt problem with more debt.
sounds like the free market, doing its thing… banks can loan to whomever. Just none of that Bush, too big to fail this time.
survival of the fittest.
You can play too, if you chose.
Little known sports trivia:
Back in the 70’s, Ferdinand Marcos approached Lamar Hunt with a buyout offer.
He wanted to move the KC Chiefs to the Philippines, and change their name to the “Manila Folders”
LMAO!!!
I remain a huge concussion ball Bronco fan - still have the season ticks that my dad (rest his soul) first bought into back in 1962!! They are now being willed down to future generations.
Going back to Denver as I am next year - yep - building a house in CR - I will be heading to the south stands to whooop it up for old times sake - been way too long.
I say this because I remember the days of Len Dawson - Mike Garret - Willie McGee, Otis Wilson and others and how they would utterly demolish the poor donk. I relish games like this - ongoing pay back for all that bad karma back in the day!!!
If the donk only win 4 games a year and they are all at KC / Oakland - it is a successful season!!!
Has oil resumed its slide towards $20/bbl despite the Fed’s liftoff postponement?
Looking forward to visiting Costco this weekend, as they tend to adjust their gasoline price downwards very quickly when the oil price drops.
uncle fed wont let it happen.
I’ll swap my apple for your telephone.
Marketwatch dot com
Bulletin All 30 Dow components in red after Apple slips into negative territory
Apple’s stock falls further behind AT&T’s since Dow swap
Published: Sept 18, 2015 11:46 a.m. ET
- AT&T shares are pulling away from Apple’s, as the rate of outperformance has increased in the last three months
- AT&T says good riddance to Dow membership
By Tomi Kilgore
Reporter
Believe it or not, investors would have been much better off selling Apple Inc. stock and buying AT&T Inc. after Apple took AT&T’s place in the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average six months ago.
Since Apple shares (AAPL, -0.13%) entered the Dow after the March 18 close, they have slumped over 11% through midday trade on Friday. That means AT&T shares (T, -0.82%) which have slipped less than 3%, have outperformed Apple by nearly nine percentage points.
Meanwhile, the Dow (DJIA, -1.68%) has shed 8.8% in he last six months.
…
Is it odd that the Saudis fund both ISIS and FOX NEWS? And then they are anti-alternative energy? is anyone paying attention?
ISIS are our friends in the fight against Asad. If you don’t like what you see in your government, don’t vote them…twice in some cases it might have been.
I never voted for Bush/Cheney.
I am a Libertarian.
Play that funky music white boy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRr2kf84V2M - 321k -
how come only rich and connected people have access to borrow for nothing while the minions pay high rates?
Mortgage rates are near the lowest point that they’ve been at for the past 50 years.
Some say 5000 yrs.
Don’t be a Liberace.
Because 95% of the minions are morons who voted for Oligopoly water carriers who facilate their fleecing.
Stupid is as stupid does.
rapidly.depreciating.houses.
1986 wasn’t so bad now, was it?
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/that-80s-family/article17767779/
Maybe 1972 was better:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmCfm_xd8E
Q: What does a Deadhead say when the drugs run out?
A: This music SUCKS!
How’s that hope ‘n change working out for you, ‘Muricans?
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/09/14/fourth-turning-crisis-of-trust-part-2/
The nearly seven year reign of Barack Obama has resulted in furthering wealth inequality, in spite of his socialistic rhetoric. Notwithstanding his Nobel Peace Prize, military spending is at all-time highs and we are engaged in actual and proxy wars across the Middle East and in the Ukraine. Race relations have never been worse. Poverty levels have never been worse. Real median household income is lower than it was in 1989. Real hourly wages are at 50 year lows. Home ownership has plunged to 50 year lows, as middle class workers have been kicked out of their homes and young people are saddled with so much student loan debt and bleak job opportunities they will never have an opportunity to own. The ownership society pushed by Clinton and Bush, with the proliferation of Wall Street created “exotic” subprime mortgages, peddled to people incapable of paying their mortgages, blew up the world in 2008, and the fall out will last for decades.
Race relations have never been worse. Poverty levels have never been worse.
These two statements are clearly incorrect. Both have been much worse.
No, the statements are clearly correct. Demand for labor is at its’ weakest point than anytime in the last 38 years.
That is OTraumas horrific record.
So you think that poverty is currently worse than it was in the Great Depression?
Also, I don’t know what you’re referring to with that 38 year statistic. You must have some strange notion of what demand for labor is to come up with that.
Labor force participation rate is at 38 year lows.
Run my friend run.
“These two statements are clearly incorrect. Both have been much worse.”
They were a little worse last month.
Europe won’t be recognizable as Europe in another generation as suicidal liberalism has doomed them to join the Caliphate.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3240010/Number-refugees-arriving-Europe-soars-85-year-just-one-five-war-torn-Syria.html
It’s not suicidal liberalism that’s doing this.
It’s globalism.
The powers that be want a world with open boarders and one that can be easily manipulated.
The problem is how to get rich educated countries to accept this.
The answer is to make the poor and less educated and ethnically more like the countries that the elite want to merge with.
Flood the first world with third worlders and let them multiply and soon everyone is a 2nd worlder then it’s easy to divide and conquer and break down borders.
“Dow’s nearly 300-point tumble marks second-worst Friday in 2015″
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dows-nearly-300-point-tumble-marks-second-worst-friday-in-2015-2015-09-18
Let it crater……
Did Wall Street somehow miss the Fed’s post-meeting memo?
“Party on, Garth!”
Reuters
Morning Bid with David Gaffen
Fed Outlook: Bet on Chaos, and All Else a Toss-Up
By David Gaffen
September 17, 2015
With great power comes great responsibility, as a wise comic-book character once said. And so the Federal Reserve’s decision this afternoon bears the weight of re-establishing credibility in its ability to shift policy in more than one direction, communicate to markets its thinking, and yet – if it raises rates – to soothe investors concerned that several more rate increases are in the offing. (The Fed has repeatedly said this isn’t the case, but who knows how markets interpret things sometimes.)
It is somewhat bewildering that the Fed’s decision can be boiled down to some economic figures in the confusing, opaque markets in Shanghai, but that’s where we’re headed right now.
The last poll of primary dealers saw a decided shift in the direction of “no move” in September, after a majority of primary dealers said in early August that a move was indeed coming. A wider poll of 80 or so economists from Reuters shows things have also shifted in favor of no move as well. The question is whether that’s what the market is expecting or not, so it’s probably best to run through each of them for the best clues we can muster.
Short-dated federal funds contracts would say the answer is no immediate move, putting low odds on a Fed increase, as the September contract is traded at 16.5 basis points, or 1.5 basis points greater than where the effective rate is. That clearly lays out what that market says, and if the Fed has been a slave to anything in the past, it was this market. The Fed would telegraph moves as best it could, the fed funds market would follow, and other markets would have to get in line. If the Fed raises rates this time around, though, it will have effectively snubbed the fed funds market.
That’s not entirely true of the bond market. The two-year note is yielding more than 80 basis points for the first time in several years. As Reuters wrote, the market has gone some way towards doing the work for the Fed already. Big bond funds were most recently net long the long end of the curve and short on Eurodollar and short-dated Treasury futures, expecting higher rates.
…
Has the Fed inadvertently spooked Wall Street with its persistent hesitancy to raise rates?