Bits Bucket for October 15, 2015
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here. Please visit my Youtube channel which you can also find here:
http:tinyurl.com/http-hbb-com
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
April 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Here is a housing story SalinasRon, SCDave and others might like: Our Big Mistake.
I randomly moved to Monterey, CA in 1990, from the OC, just north of Irvine. All my possessions in the back of my truck and didn’t know a soul in Monterey. Upon arriving, I bought a newspaper and looked at ads for roommates. That night I moved in to a house on 17-mile drive in Pebble Beach (where the guards salute you as you arrive), living with two guys my age. I think my rent was $500/mo.
I got to play every legendary golf course in the area several times, including the ultra-private Cypress Point (no Democrats, people of color or women allowed). My one claim to fame in golf is a hole-in-one on the 15th hole at Cypress. 15 is a short par 3 and 16 is the famous par 3, about 220 yds long, all carry, over the ocean. Bing Crosby is said to have had a hole-in-one here….after hitting his first shot in the water (a nice par anyway). I had many a round at Salinas Fairways (next to the airport), Pacific Grove (the poor man’s Pebble Beach) and up in Santa Cruz…never got to play Pasatiempo though, SCDave.
It was always cold there…sweater weather…compared to the OC. After a year I couldn’t find a g/f so I imported my old g/f from the OC. We married and bought a house in downtown Monterey…an old 2/1 800 s/f charmer on a big sloping lot. It is the closest house to the wharf and we had a nice view of it…with deer and raccoons visiting us daily…and only two blocks from downtown and the Marriott….100 Seeno St.
Back then interest rates were around 8.5% and falling. The housing market was dead. We bought the place in 1993, for 197K. 20% down. Only because of stellar credit did we qualify. We were house poor and are total nut ran about $1550/mo. Monterey is an expensive place.
All the properties on the the street were multiple units except ours. And our lot was zoned R-3 also, meaning we could build two more units in the back. We didn’t realize what we had.
Our big mistake: we got homesick and the cooler weather bothered us. We didn’t need to move. Sold the place two years later to a famous flower grower’s daughter from Salinas: either the Yamaguci’s or Gatanaga’s.
We made 30K from the sale, moved to the Temecula area(???), bought a big tract house with a pool for 136K. Two years later we divorced. I moved to Fallbrook in San Diego county, which is a great place to live. Now I live in Vietnam (also a nice place).
The buyer of the Monterey property built the two units (for more than 55 bucks a s/f, I am sure) and today Zillow says it’s worth almost $1,100,000. She still owns the property today.
http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/19309938_zpid/36.605658,-121.89363,36.603319,-121.898866_rect/17_zm/1_fr/
it’s worth almost $1,100,000
That’s unpossible! We all know here that housing only depreciates.
We know you put $30k into your bank account, but how much did you lose? lol
Vietnam? - are the avocados the same? You are smart, you understand you are free to move about the planet.
Monterey is a beautiful weird place, nice to visit, but yes damp, cold and expensive and no jobs.
….. and not a buyer in sight at a quarter of that amount.
My great aunt and uncle bought a house on herders road there many decades ago. They would not afford to buy their house today.
The best part of the story is that you are now living in Vietnam. Which part?
It does seem to be a goofy time. WalMart reports weak sales and a temperate future, so the market drips 1%. Now futures are back up because everyone thinks the Fed will keep rates low. Enough is enough. Get on with the show!
drips
…drops
I guess they’re interchangeable when you’re mainlining the Fed drug of choice!
This is kinda “goofy”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-14/illinois-delay-pension-payments-amid-budget-woes
Yeah, if you’re an Illinois pensioner, that check is gonna be a little late.
Whoopsie!
And their lottery winners are receiving IOUs. (Always take the lump sum offer.)
WalMart should jump on the national $15/hr min wage bandwagon. Millions of their customers would have more discretionary income to spend. The increase in WalMart revenue would more than offset the increase in labor cost.
The landlords will immediately raise rent to take it all.
Walmart did jump on the wage hike bandwagon. That’s part of their problem:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/14/investing/walmart-outlook-wages/
and they would all shop at WalMart.
even with higher prices.
AND we could stop subsidizing them with taxpayer dollars!!
the fiscally conservative thing to do
Mr. Market seems bewildered by the MSM’s open acknowledgment of what posters here have maintained throughout 2015: There will be no liftoff this year. He is elated that rates will stay low, yet petrified over the Fed’s secret reasons for liftoff postponement.
Elated and deflated at the same time.
Erect and impotent at the same time.
The central bank is a bank. It is the driver of economic policy. Its core competency is making loans. Generating debt. That’s what it - they - understand. However, there’s already a mountain of debt out there. Low interest rates have apparently pushed the cost of servicing that debt down. Raise the cost of debt while trying to push more debt on the mountain could have a negative impact on the central bank’s financial indicators.
While the future is infinite, and Keynes noted in the long run, we’re all dead, eventually, the chickens come home to roost.
We’re told Japan is the model by Very Serious People. We may be closer than the Japanese to the endgame because they are a population of savers. We are a population of debtors at or near peak serviceable debt (”peak debt”). While their government debt is multiples of GDP and climbing, I doubt their population is at peak debt.
Bond Market Now Divided Over Whether Fed Will Even Lift in March
Jennifer Surane and Susanne Walker Barton
October 14, 2015 — 5:42 AM PDT
Updated on October 14, 2015 — 2:25 PM PDT
Probability of Fed waiting until 2016 increases to about 70%
Ten-year note yield marks lowest closing level since April
First Treasuries traders were banking on September for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Then they turned their focus to December. Now even March is looking like a toss-up.
The drumbeat of weaker-than-forecast global economic data continued Wednesday as September U.S. retail sales fell short of analysts’ expectations. The report came after Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo, who votes on rate decisions, said Tuesday that he doesn’t currently favor an increase in 2015, even though Chair Janet Yellen has said a move would probably be warranted. The Treasury sold four-week bills at a rate of zero percent Wednesday, reflecting investors’ demand for a haven.
Traders’ bets that the Fed will lift its benchmark by year-end have dropped to less than a 30 percent chance, and aren’t much higher for January. For March, the probability has tumbled to about 49 percent, from 66 percent at the start of the month. The calculation is based on the assumption that the effective fed funds rate will average 0.375 percent after the first increase.
…
NPR reporting now that King Obama to keep US troops in Afghanistan past January 2017, neocons rejoice!
All wars are bankers’ wars.
Speaking of neocon, Drudge Report links to a Washington Times piece about the Washington Times turning a profit for the first time in 33 years.
The Washington Times is published by the Unification Church (yes, the Moonies) and any time you see links to it here, you are looking at a neocon rag.
http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/14/washington-times-reaches-profitability-after-33-ye
FoxNewsHate leads with this to “rally the base”
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/10/15/russian-jet-reportedly-approached-us-aircraft-to-identify-it/
No “smaller government” or “less regulations” or “lower taxes” happening here. Just more borrowing, more bombing, more death, more neocon hypocrisy. Forward.
Jeb 2016! This Bush is different!
Trump 2016! I will tweet Putin to make him cry!
Another article for the neocons (the national debt is now $18.1 trillion)
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/14/can-anyone-prevent-a-third-intifada-israel-palestine/
The only possible outcome from this is that Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton get reelected, and that William Kristol gets PAID.
Obama is keeping The Children safe from rapist islamic terrorists. God help them in 2018.
“We are the sin eaters. It means that we take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us, so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible, and absolutely necessary.” —Byer
Progressive social justice website Salon pauses from its campaign for the global extermination of white people to note that Hillary is a neocon too:
http://www.salon.com/2015/10/14/hillary_is_still_the_democrat_for_war_she_won_the_debate_but_her_bellicosity_toward_iran_sounded_very_dangerous
14 yrs, over $2 trillion. Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld
Worst US blunder ever!
And sheeple cry that Putin wants in. Let em have it!
$2 trillion would have built a lot of wind/solar farms.
This guy from the buliding industry says building fees at $52,000.00 n stockton ca are too high and hurting growth.
http://www.kcra.com/news/builders-want-lower-fees-to-promote-stockton-construction/35847898
It’s not just Stockton. It’s everywhere in CA. Cities and counties feel they don’t get enough revenue from property taxes due to Prop 13, so they have jacked up building permit fees over the years.
Prop 13 is part of the story but in many counties out of control pension costs are a big factor. Where I live in Sonoma Co. pensions were bumped up 50% years ago but the increase was not funded so the county is slowly sliding towards bankruptcy. “Public Safety” employees can retire at 50 at 90% + pay (based on 3% X years of service) and many of them will live another 30-40 years…no way in hell this can work in the long run.
http://sonomacountytaxpayers.org/
You’re right, pensions have put pressure on local governments as well. It always amuses me when people blame public employee unions for outrageous pensions when in reality the biggest pension abusers in Calif. are the non-union managers (police chiefs, fire chiefs, city managers, etc.) like this guy who pulls down a $375K pension. No union got him this package. These big pensions are due to insider deals with city councils or county supervisors who negotiate in private, complete with cigar smoke and backslapping.
It doesn’t matter whether or not they are union pensions.
All over sized ridiculous pensions are to blame.
I’m getting sick of the “this group does it so it’s only fair our group does it” defense. It’s wrong that BOTH groups do it.
yep, and no one does anything to change it in CA. It will continue on and on….
cheaters and moochers
Many of these municipalities negotiated better pension benefits in lieu of pay increases, which require immediate funding. The issue was higher skilled workers leaving for the tech company’s higher paychecks.
The Fed’s swindles against savers and pensioners continues, as our fake CPI numbers combined with ZIRP and the Fed’s deranged money-printing means retirees (and everybody else) will continue to see the debasement of the purchasing power. But this is what you voted for, so don’t complain.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/no-cost-of-living-increase-for-social-security-in-2016-2015-10-15
your savings interest has to be sacrificed so more debt can be used to send out entitlement checks to voters.
entitlement checks to Israel. Over $8 billion a yr.
the United States spends more than $30 billion each year providing various forms of insurance, loan guarantees and direct loans for the likes of Boeing, General Electric and Caterpillar.
GM
TARP
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, for example, derives more than 80 percent of its revenue from the federal government, especially the Pentagon; for its competitor Raytheon the figure is about 75 percent.
More like free Fed printing-press trilllions going to oligarchs.
Not to worry, Goldman Sachs. The Fed and middle class taxpayers have your back.
http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-q3-earnings-2015-2015-10
And still we take in everybody from countries and cultures that detest western civilization.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/14/fbi-director-islamic-state-recruiting-24-hours-a-day-in-all-50-states/
Diversity is our strength.
https://www.rt.com/uk/318749-returning-mother-isis-interview/
Interesting to see all the heavy breathing about Kasich yesterday, from the usual suspects. Personally, I think he’s the smarmiest offering yet from the Republicans, oozing smugness and superiority from every pore. Ugh. All you have to do is look at Ohio to know what you’ll get from this creep. And here he is, telling one and all how it’s gonna be:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/09/politics/john-kasich-get-over-it-social-security/
Get over it!
He probably owns a cat food factory, and will cash in when the Xers retire and are living on $600/month.
Kasich yesterday… I think he’s the smarmiest offering yet from the Republicans, oozing smugness and superiority from every pore.
But the right used to love Kasish.
The right’s sham Christianity: How an attack on John Kasich exposes the fraud
Ohio’s GOP governor was the darling of the right — until he sought to help poor people, in the name of Christ
Kasich explained his reasoning thus:
“I had a conversation with one of the members of the legislature the other day. I said, ‘I respect the fact that you believe in small government. I do, too. I also know that you’re a person of faith. Now, when you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small. But he is going to ask you what you did for the poor. You better have a good answer.’ ”
Conservative critics did not have a good answer. If Kasich’s challenge required a faith-based, well-reasoned critique of Medicaid to defend Republican animus, that wasn’t what it received. Instead, Kasich’s right-wing opponents produced a series of attacks that seemed straight out of the Richard Dawkins school of rhetoric.
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/31/the_rights_sham_christianity_how_an_attack_on_john_kasich_exposes_the_fraud/
Jesus said pay your taxes Lola.
Shrimpsaladsandwich
Why do you change your name so many times StrawberryPicker/TerribleThings/CountryClubber/Mango/ShrimpSalad? There’s even more names you use.
It’s funny. It’s like you know you don’t add much but a snarl now and then and are embarrassed to be known by one identity?
Or is it if you use a bunch of names you think people think a lot of people think like you? (They don’t)
I wonder if you’ll respond with anything meaningful. Usually when you’re confronted on anything you just snarl something dumb and cower away for the day.
You rang?
Wasn’t he also ColonelAngus for a while?
What progressives who have never read the Bible think Jesus said:
“Go out and create huge government bureaucracies that will take money from some, at the point of a sword, and give that money to others to buy votes as a bureaucrat sees fit. For this is the work of the Lord”
And what Jesus ACTUALLY said:
Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.
Jesus? my gardener?
Now that’s funny!
Jesus? my gardener?
You mean Hay-seuss
You mean Hay-seuss
Like the Beatles song.
Jesus? my gardener?
That’s probably who he would come back as. Better treat him well, it could be him!
Quit hating on Ohio and quit blaming it on just one man or his party.
Ohio is a great place to live if you live modestly. Our weather is temperate; in fact, that was one of the big draws for Ohio industry back in the day, since you could open a factory here and not sweat to death. Once the horrible Housing Bubble passed, here is cheap. For the price of one set of permits and fees to build one house in Stockton CA, you can get a very nice house in an acceptable area of Ohio. Jobs aren’t plentiful or don’t pay that well, but when you own your own home at the low prices I just mentioned, that’s not much of a factor. Once we truly flush out the unionists and yuppies, Ohio will be a positive example for the nation about how to live in the 21st Century… cheaply.
Now if we just got rid of 95% of our levels of government, Ohio would be a shining star for the rest of the nation. Sadly, we’re still taxed too heavily; we have about 580 municipalities in the state, and they all have a city income tax. If you work in one muni and live in another, they generally try to each take a cut. As ever, the root problem of regional living in the nation is due to oppressive levels of taxing government. I have hopes that Ohioans will fall in wealth enough that they’ll start telling their city and county governments to GET LOST.
Sadly, we’re still taxed too heavily; we have about 580 municipalities in the state, and they all have a city income tax.
Got TABOR?
For the life of me, I cannot fathom why voters in other states do not vote to have their own version of TABOR. Perhaps it’s for the best, if everyone did, then the Supremes might vote to strike it down as unconstitutional or something.
After I moved to Colorado, the city of Lakewood, OH audited me and sent me a bill for like $20 of unpaid municipal taxes. I paid it just to make it go away and not get sent to collections on my credit report.
Life is better in a TABOR state.
BLS: Rents are soaring. No kidding. That’s what happens when private equity firms get free Fed money, then buy up distressed houses at firesale prices to rent back to the proles.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-15/rents-are-soaring-bls-admits-core-cpi-comes-hottest-over-year
All the money going to the landlords will be removed from other businesses.
I noticed on eBay these older people whining that the younger people just aren’t buying their nicknacks. eBay sales seemed to have dropped off a cliff recently.
Not just eBay. Junk sales, church bazaars, and garage sales have really fallen off too. People in their 20-40’s people don’t want knick-knacks that just scream 1973-Lawrence Welk. People in their 50’s-60’s probably just got done cleaning their own parents’ house of all their circa 1973 junk and are in no mood to buy more. If it doesn’t look like it will get on TV at Antiques Roadshow, or if it’s not a household name like Barbie or Star Wars, just throw it out.
You saying I need to re-think my plan to barter my Beanie Baby collection when the economy collapses?
I’m 37. I don’t NEED any more of their stupid knick-knacks or anyone’s stupid knick-knacks.
I’m astounded at the amount of junk I have without even trying - and I live with a roommate in a two bedroom apartment.
I don’t have a house and I why should I… I could lose either of my jobs at any time. Hauling around boxes and boxes of knick-knacks if I need to make a move just sounds like a waste of effort.
Sorry you greedy selfish baby boomers - you can keep your crappy tchotchkes and your McCrapShacks. When you’re ready to retire, good luck offloading them and funding your golden years.
+1. I admit, if I were to add up all my stuff, it would be a lot. But most of it is tied to the house. Gardening tools, bedding/linens, and basic furnishings like drapes or a table and chair. If I had to, I could load everything important into a Chevy Express Van and clear out in less than a day.
They just want the newest phone and good head phones.
I don’t want any junk either. Slowly getting rid of all of it. But the tools take up a lot of space. Never know when you need that tile cutter, scaffolding or car ramps.
Let’s see how the Keynesian lunatics’ debt-fueled “growth” ends up working out.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-15/corporate-america-s-epic-debt-binge-leaves-119-billion-hangover
LOL, your continued misuse and misapplication of “Keynesian” is comical. You don’t know Keynes from your jeans.
Look for the Fed to escalate its swindles against the 99% by printing more trillions for the super-rich (debasing every dollar in your wallet or bank account) and announcing NIRP to try to force you to move your savings into Wall Street’s rigged casino.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/get-ready-for-panic-signals-from-the-fed-2015-10-15?dist=beforebell
Get ready for more can-kicking.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lew-says-us-will-reach-debt-limit-by-nov-3-two-days-earlier-than-previously-estimated-2015-10-15
Well this is rich. All the corrupt Democrats (redundant, I realize) who voted for successive corrupt Democrat municipal and state governments in Illinois because they were promised endless benefits someone else would have to pay for, are now realizing “Greece is the Word” as their state is an insolvent basket case and the financial reckoning day is at hand. Word to the kiddies in the state’s failed education system: this is your introduction to Socialism 101. How’s that working out for you?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-10-14/illinois-delay-pension-payments-amid-budget-woes
And so it begins….
http://www.businessinsider.com/debt-ceiling-deadline-nov-3-2015-10
You just have to laugh at all this debt ceiling talk.
The debt has become one big ponzi over rolling over treasuries. Robbing peter to pay paul.
The debt ceiling has to be raised because Peter isn’t paying enough.
Hastert would serve prison time under federal deal:
“Press accounts quoting anonymous sources have claimed that Hastert’s “misconduct” involved sexual contact with a male student”
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/dennis-hastert-hearing-214813
Smaller government, less regulations, lower taxes, and having gay sex with teenage boys, that’s the “family values” Republican Party, LOLZ
… and it’s all done with a wide stance.
For a republican - resigns in disgrace.
For a democrat - goes on to be a hero and leader of the party.
When a progressive wants some underage sex, they pick up the phone and call Friend Of Bill™ Jeffrey Epstein for a vacation to pedophile island.
Hastert could have hired a (legal) 18 year old escort if the gay sex was all he wanted. Instead, he molests his student and pays $3 million to cover it up.
The rules don’t apply when you’re a 1%er.
OK, maybe we’ve found them. Now what?
“Wright and his co-authors say the unusual star’s light pattern is consistent with a “swarm of megastructures,” perhaps stellar-light collectors, technology designed to catch energy from the star.
“When [Boyajian] showed me the data, I was fascinated by how crazy it looked,” Wright told me. “Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build.”"
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2015/10/the-most-interesting-star-in-our-galaxy/410023/#disqus_thread
Next we point radio telescopes at the star to see if there are any interesting signals. After that? The star is only 1481 light years away. Send an easily detectable message and wait 3,000 years to see if we get a reply!
It could be the 4chan of the universe and aim their star ray at us, exploding our planet “for the LOLz” in 3000 years.
Jokes on them! They’ll have expended all that energy blowing up a lifeless planet!
Well, okay. Maybe some trout in a stream somewhere.
We’ll be a lifeless planet in 3000 years?
It’s not getting any cooler, you know!
Pretty clear how the “right-wing” Huffington Post feels about it:
“U.S. Staying In Afghanistan Through End Of 2017… Thousands Of Troops… Obama Handing Off Conflict To Successor… Previously Promised To End It In 2014… 14 Years Of War… UN: Taliban’s Reach Widest Since 2001… Afghanistan Not Mentioned In Dem Debate…”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
———————-
Obama to Announce Halt of U.S. Troop Withdrawal in Afghanistan
New York Times | 10/15/2015 | Michael Rosenberg
The United States will halt its military withdrawal from Afghanistan and instead keep thousands of troops in the country through the end of President Obama’s term in 2017, Mr. Obama will announce on Thursday, prolonging the American role in a war that has now stretched on for 14 years.
The current American force in Afghanistan of 9,800 troops will remain in place through most of 2016 under the Obama administration’s revised plans, before dropping to about 5,500 at the end of next year or in early 2017, senior administration officials said.
Some of the troops will continue to train and advise Afghan forces, while others will carry on the search for Qaeda fighters and militants from the Islamic State and other groups who have found a haven in Afghanistan, they said.
In abandoning his ambition to bring home almost all American troops before leaving office, Mr. Obama appears to be acknowledging that Afghan security forces are still not near ready to hold off the Taliban on their own.
You’ll get your wish come true when the next president launches a multi-front war in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Ukraine, and Crimea.
And it won’t be William Kristol’s children and grandchildren fighting that war, it will be your children and grandchildren fighting that war. Yours, and some black poors and brown poors and white trash poors, the ones who William Kristol affectionately calls the stupid f*ing goyim.
You mean a something little less than our current noble peace prize winner?
All the GOP candidates are calling Obummer a wimp, saying we need to send in the big guns. Is a vote for the GOP a vote for us going to war in the middle east?
Neocons gonna neocon.
Rand Paul had his moment earlier this summer, but since being eclipsed by Trump now it’s just all war, all the time.
now it’s just all war, all the time
Someone should come up with a “War Channel” to play on cable.
Never mind, that’s what Fox News does.
8 years of obama wars and rumors of war.
Of drone strikes on American citizens with just the say of a tyrant without due process.
Of Gitmo still being open.
And you blame a news channel.
Face it - you chose poorly and refuse to learn from your mistakes.
huh?
The U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (official name: Agreement Between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq On the Withdrawal of United States Forces from Iraq and the Organization of Their Activities during Their Temporary Presence in Iraq) was a status of forces agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the United States, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008. It established that U.S. combat forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all U.S. combat forces will be completely out of Iraq by December 31, 2011.[1] The pact required criminal charges for holding prisoners over 24 hours, and required a warrant for searches of homes and buildings that were not related to combat.[1] U.S. contractors working for U.S. forces would have been subject to Iraqi criminal law, while contractors working for the State Department and other U.S. agencies would retain their immunity. If U.S. forces committed still undecided “major premeditated felonies” while off-duty and off-base, they would have been subjected to an undecided procedures laid out by a joint U.S.-Iraq committee if the U.S. certified the forces were off-duty.[2][3][1][4]
Not surprising that our troops will stay. This announcement comes on the heels of Afghanistan’s no. 2 man, Dostum, who went to Moscow to ask Putin for help in Afghanistan.
Note also that China has sent “advisers” to Syria. And also note that ISIS is recruiting and gaining a tiny foothold in Kazakhstan, which shares a long border with both Russia and China.
While many believe Putin outfoxed Obama with his bold move in Syria, I’m starting to think Obama is the sly chessmaster here. Fight ISIS but not too hard; what better way to screw our enemies Russia and China than to have ISIS grow a presence at their doorsteps in central Asia, and possibly infiltrate southern Russia and western China? The Iran deal allows them to sell oil and gain power, which gives Saudi Arabia fits. I think what Obama is doing is slowly turning all of the Middle East muslim players against each other to duke it out while allowing us to extricate ourselves, at the same time making Russia and China sweat. Brilliant.
‘I’m starting to think Obama is the sly chessmaster here’
Time to light another candle on the alter.
Better to play The Great Game by proxy (Obama doctrine) than to directly participate yourself (Neocon doctrine).
Tell that to the people of Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen and those on the bottom of the Mediterranean.
I am pretty good at killing people…
I am pretty good at killing people…
It has become America’s core competence.
The Nobel Peace Prize President:
http://www.businessinsider.com/former-us-military-intel-chief-the-obama-administration-loves-the-ability-to-find-a-guy-in-the-middle-of-the-desert-in-some-sh-y-little-village-and-drop-a-bomb-on-his-head-and-kill-him-2015-10
Forward.
The most transparent administration in history:
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/256993-leaked-docs-detail-expansive-drone-campaign
Forward.
Better to play The Great Game by proxy (Obama doctrine) than to directly participate yourself (Neocon doctrine).
But blowing up rocks and rebuilding is such neo-con hobby.
$2-6 trillion by 2053, for what???
“has become America’s core competency”
Always has been.
The Great Game by proxy (Obama doctrine) than to directly participate yourself (Neocon doctrine).
Same result death, destruction and chaos.
Murder for hire is still a crime, isn’t it? Maybe not in obamaland?
Same result death, destruction and chaos.
But when Putin does it, it’s awesome!
what better way to screw our enemies Russia and China than to have ISIS grow a presence at their doorsteps in central Asia, and possibly infiltrate southern Russia and western China?
OMG! Are you this evil?
Russians, Chinese, Mideasterners, they are people, too. They love their children and deserve to live in peace. What are you trying to accomplish with this neocon playbook?
One of the problems with the herd. It’s well know that groups (or mobs) will do things the individuals would never contemplate. The American Regime exploits the herd instinct, and eventually demonizes the “enemy” to the point any action is justified. It’s gotten really bad.
https://theintercept.com/drone-papers
When the President first bragged, to a reporter!, that he was good at killing people, I said here on this blog that there must be something wrong with him. In his head. I can’t imagine what darkness there must be to make a statement like that, even if a person believed it.
+1 for Glenn Greenwald and the Intercept.
You won’t read it in the New York Times and you won’t see it on Fox News.
When the President first bragged, to a reporter!, that he was good at killing people, I said here on this blog that there must be something wrong with him. In his head. I can’t imagine what darkness there must be to make a statement like that, even if a person believed it.
The fact that such a statement was not considered scandalous just goes to show how far down the rabbit hole this nation has gone.
It also explains why pretty much everyone else hates and fears us. It must be a disappointment for them as well. They were all so hopeful that Obama would be “different” and that America would change.
My wife recently returned from a 10 week stay with her sister in the UK. She told me that in talking with Europeans and Brits, that the impression she got is that the rest of the world would be happy if we went and blew ourselves up.
“Europeans and Brits…would be happy if we went and blew ourselves up”
Right up to the point where we actually blow ourselves up. At which point they’d be faced with dealing with “the rest of the world” by themselves. I am in favor of returning to a policy of isolationism. At least for a little while.
As an aside, my sister, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, lives in England. She and her husband, a British soldier, both look forward to his imminent retirement so that they can return to the States permanently. Her major complaint, if you can believe it, is the NHS. His is the immigration crisis the UK currently faces.
Her major complaint, if you can believe it, is the NHS
You can purchase supplemental private insurance over there. It isn’t terribly expensive.
OMG! Are you this evil? Russians, Chinese, Mideasterners, they are people, too.
Not evil, just a realist. The world is a dirty competitive unethical place. Putin is a poster boy for that attitude.
Until there is wide public support in America for a full-blown all-out ground war to save the world from ISIS, etc., like we saved Europe from Hitler, then we play the proxy game as best we can from a distance. The worst option is a limited-engagement small invasion like we did in Iraq, all that does is create power vacuums for ISIS to fill. Yet neocons like McCain and Rubio want us to repeat the same mistake.
‘Expert: Why the Santa Barbara killer, other ‘crazy people’ see murder as a solution’
‘James Garbarino — author of the forthcoming book ‘I Listen to Killers: Lessons Learned from 20 Years as a Psychological Expert Witness in Murder Case’ — writes that it’s too simple to just say that ‘crazy people kill.’ Most killers, crazy or sane, believe their actions are justified, especially when violence is a normal tactic in America.’
‘ What is most striking about killers is that for the most part, crazy or sane, they believe their acts of violence are justified. Rodger believed he was right to bring death to pretty women who had rejected him and all the others who he felt had treated him unjustly. In this he is like so many killers I have interviewed.’
‘There is widespread justification for violence as a tactic in America. For example, no society that imposes the death penalty can be said to be “nonviolent” in its core beliefs.’
‘This is important in understanding the demented actions of Rodger because “crazy” people usually don’t invent the scripts that guide their behavior. Rather, for the most part, they follow the scenarios that are available to them in their culture.’
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/expert-crazy-people-mass-murder-solution-article-1.1805412
I would love to see China spend their $$ and drop their bombs on rocks over there.
Why would they? They got Bushobama to drop bombs and drones.
They’ve got Putin sending in his troops. Guess he’s really getting played?
Americans’ Denial of Climate Change Hits Record Low, Survey Finds
“Only 16% of Americans believe there is not enough evidence to prove global climate change is real, the lowest percentage since a survey began asking the question in 2008.”
Seems the pool of climate deniers is drying up faster than a California reservoir. Exxon and Koch need to hire more “scientists” and increase the paid posters.
But, but…it snowed in Chicago last winter! A ship got stuck in the ice!
More Countries Caught Manipulating Their Climate Data
Michael Bastasch
2:33 PM 05/19/2015
Weather agencies in Australia, Paraguay and Switzerland may be manipulating temperature data to create a sharper warming trend than is present in the raw data — a practice that has come under scrutiny in recent months.
Most recently, Dr. H. Sterling Burnett with the Heartland Institute detailed how the Swiss Meteorological Service adjusted its climate data “to show greater warming than actually measured by its temperature instruments.”
In his latest article, Sterling wrote that Switzerland’s weather bureau adjusted its raw temperature data so that “the temperatures reported were consistently higher than those actually recorded.” For example, the cities of Sion and Zurich saw “a doubling of the temperature trend” after such adjustments were made.
But even with the data tampering, Sterling noted that “there has been an 18-year-pause in rising temperatures, even with data- tampering.”
“Even with fudged data, governments have been unable to hide the fact winters in Switzerland and in Central Europe have become colder over the past 20 years, defying predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other climate alarmists,” according to Sterling.
The Swiss affair, however, is not the first instance of data “homogenization” catalogued by scientists and researchers who are skeptical of man-made global warming. In January, skeptic blogger Paul Homewood documented how NASA has “homogenized” temperature data across Paraguay to create a warming trend that doesn’t exist in the raw data.
Homewood found that all three operational rural thermometers in Paraguay had been adjusted by NASA to show a warming trend where one did not exist before. Homewood also found that urban thermometers in Paraguay had similarly been adjusted by NASA.
“[NASA is] supposed to make a ‘homogenisation adjustment,’ to allow for [urban heat island (UHI)] bias,” Homewood wrote. “The sort of thing you would expect to see at Asuncion Airport, Paraguay’s main gateway, handling over 800,000 passengers a year.”
“However, far from increasing historic temperatures to allow for UHI, [NASA] has done the opposite and decreased temperatures prior to 1972 by 0.4C,” Homewood added.
Before that, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) was forced to admit it adjusts temperatures recorded at all weather stations across the country. Aussie journalists had been critical of ABM for being secretive about its data adjustments.
“Almost all the alterations resulted in higher temperatures being reported for the present and lower numbers for the past–with the higher numbers being used to demonstrate a historical warming trend–than the numbers that were actually recorded,” wrote Sterling.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/19/more-countries-caught-manipulating-their-climate-data/#ixzz3og7dMo9B
The Daily Caller! Scoops ‘em again. Those darn scientists, bent on taking over the world.
Hey, did you read my article about how Exxon has been taking climate change as a given in their scientific studies for the last few decades, all the while funding fake science climate change denial sites to fool the dupes?
Break it down!
Stop- RICO time!
NOAA quietly revises website after getting caught in global warming …
http://www.naturalnews.com/045808_global_warming_fraud_data_manipulation_NOAA.html - 172k - Cached - Similar pages
Jul 1, 2014 … Since then, the agency has been caught changing temperature data from … the country experienced widespread drought and wildfires burned more … July 1936 lost its place on the leaderboard and July 2012 became the …
More Proof U.S. Temperature Data Is Manipulated
http://www.thenewamerican.com/…/item/18556-more-proof-us-temperature-data-is-manipulated - 80k - Cached - Similar pages
Jun 24, 2014 … More Proof U.S. Temperature Data Is Manipulated … years … in fact, there was a slight cooling throughout much of the country. … Disaster, saw this as vindication for all the flak he caught after the book was published in 2009.
No Oddie, you won’t find any dissent from the “real jounalists because…
“They don’t call it “programming” for nothing.”
Who Owns The Media? The 6 Monolithic Corporations That Control Almost Everything We Watch, Hear And Read
Posted on October 23, 2014 by Michael Snyder
six major corporations control mediaBack in 1983, approximately 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the United States. Today, ownership of the news media has been concentrated in the hands of just six incredibly powerful media corporations. These corporate behemoths control most of what we watch, hear and read every single day. They own television networks, cable channels, movie studios, newspapers, magazines, publishing houses, music labels and even many of our favorite websites. Sadly, most Americans don’t even stop to think about who is feeding them the endless hours of news and entertainment that they constantly ingest. Most Americans don’t really seem to care about who owns the media. But they should. The truth is that each of us is deeply influenced by the messages that are constantly being pounded into our heads by the mainstream media. The average American watches 153 hours of television a month. In fact, most Americans begin to feel physically uncomfortable if they go too long without watching or listening to something. Sadly, most Americans have become absolutely addicted to news and entertainment and the ownership of all that news and entertainment that we crave is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands each year.
The six corporations that collectively control U.S. media today are Time Warner, Walt Disney, Viacom, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., CBS Corporation and NBC Universal. Together, the “big six” absolutely dominate news and entertainment in the United States. But even those areas of the media that the “big six” do not completely control are becoming increasingly concentrated. For example, Clear Channel now owns over 1000 radio stations across the United States. Companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are increasingly dominating the Internet.
But it is the “big six” that are the biggest concerns. When you control what Americans watch, hear and read you gain a great deal of control over what they think. They don’t call it “programming” for nothing.
Only 16% of Americans are buying the climate change denial, phony. I think the Flat Earth Society has more members.
Comment by phony scandals
2015-10-15 20:30:52
More Proof U.S. Temperature Data Is Manipulated
thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/18556-more-proof-us-temperature-data-is-manipulated
So, it’s a popularity contest!
Some letting agents in London are creating fake adverts duplicating pictures of properties to lure prospective renters, a BBC investigation has found.
A regulatory body says the practice, known as ghost-listing, is on the rise because of the “massive shortage of housing” and “huge influx of people”.
One homeowner found her own flat marketed for rent on a website.
Lawyer David Smith says the practice is illegal but very difficult to police.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34525146
If that dumpy looking rowhouse in the picture is the “bait”, I’d hate to think what the “switch” looks like.
Probably a cardboard box from Harrods.
As opposed to one from Tesco or Lidl?
Could be worse could be the Co-op or the Poundshop.
Oh, fer cryin’ out loud, just give these people what they want and disband the city, not the activists. Let ‘em see if they can do any better.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/10/15/12-activists-arrested-at-baltimore-city-hall-oppose-commissioner/
“As earned income has stagnated for secular reasons (automation, rising debt service, stagnating productivity gains, advantages of capital over labor, globalization/ wage arbitrage, etc. etc.), the Status Quo has attempted to compensate for this decline in middle class earned income with gains in unearned income/wealth via asset inflation– housing being the major component of middle class wealth, and stocks/bonds to a lesser degree.
Unfortunately for the Powers That Be, their mechanisms for boosting asset prices (with the goal of generating the wealth effect in the middle class) also generate credit/asset bubbles.
These boom/bust cycles actually reduce middle class wealth as people buy at the top and then see their paper wealth plummet in the next crash.”
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/heres-why-housing-must-be-propped-up/
RMS asked - every been to the tropics?
Quito, Equador (9,350 ft elev) biggest city, not exactly tropics.
Not a lot of oxygen there either, though with time you will adapt.
and when you return to sea level for that triathlon you have more red blood cells and huge lungs.
ever been to the tropics?
They are overrated. California Central Coast was my best 14 years for weather. Next was LA. Rio ties with the East Coast, Mid-West and the Florida gulf coast imo. (For different reasons.) I mean too cold is just as bad as too hot and humid right? But I haven’t spent a cold winter since the 80’s so maybe I forgot.
I miss central coast Cali - would still be there if someone didn’t get sick down here. I have a lot in common with TIN ROOF…rusted’s story. As I sit here in my board shorts and sandals sweating, taking a break from some chores watching CNN Intl talk about Afghanistan troops.
It’s true, homes take a lot of time and work. I’m lucky mine’s only about 7 years old though. Those old homes can be a real pain. My mom’s house is getting old but it and her lake location in the mid-west has been a joy in her and her family’s life. They bought it for around 1.5 years worth of my parents income with 30% down in the 70’s.
And you know time’s passing when your parent asks you to help with their will. So enjoy your loved ones today.
Good advice on enjoying your loved ones!
And as I spent my only hour of daylight after work last night mowing the lawn (needs mowing 1-2x/week right now), I had the exact same thought about my house - how much darn time I spend just to maintain it’s current state of dilapidation. I’m getting too old to want to do major projects on it, I have young kids that I want to spend time with while they still want me to, and don’t want to take on more debt to pay somebody else to fix it. It keeps me warm and dry at night, and the hot water is there when I want it - I can’t ask for much more (just don’t tell my wife that ;).
wet climates seem to waste homes fast. I never understood why someone wanted 10 acres in say, Salem, OR or Clovis, CA. Ya gotta buy a sit down mower, who wants that every weekend?
go high desert and xeriscape.
I have a rambler with stained cedar siding, and most importantly, properly-sized eaves that overhang the exterior walls and keep all but the bottom portions of the south-facing walls dry during rain. I’ve lived here 17 years and haven’t had to do a thing to the exterior yet (still have single-frame aluminum windows that need replacing). I specifically looked for a low-maintenance house that is easy to work on when it needs it (5/12 pitch roof that I can walk on w/o fear of death, and gutter/bushes to break my fall if I do).
But I hear what you are saying - I grew up in the desert in Eastern WA, where my childhood neighbor’s 50+ year-old wood fence is still in amazingly good condition. My dad painted with primer plus 2 topcoats of white, and that paint is still on the house 40 years later. My mom planted a lot of evergreen trees when she moved over there, as she grew up on the wet side of the state. It was an oasis in the desert, and we had a lot of migrating birds come through which were neat to see.
Why white parents won’t choose black schools:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abby-norman2/why-white-parents-wont-ch_b_8294908.html
Because progressives are racists.
not so much race, as anti-ignorance and anti-laziness and anti-cheater.
I think the takeaway is:
“When I am able to move past the anger, the frustration that people are talking about a school they know nothing about, I listen to what they say. Behind all the test score talk, the opportunity mumbo jumbo that people lead with, I feel like what is actually being said, and what is never being said is this: That school is too black.”
Declining to send your child to a school with a history of sub-par performance is racist! I’m guessing that the neighbors actually do know something about the school, since, you know, they mention test scores and the strides the school has recently made. But, go ahead. Send your 4 year-old who “talks incessantly about robotics” to that sub-par school and see what “opportunities” her sub-par education from a sub-par school brings knocking at her door!
Maybe “her mother, a teacher at a suburban school,” could even show a little bit of the initiative she wants everybody else to take and, gasp, get a job there or in one of the other non-suburban schools!
What if the choice is Clinton/Warren vs Trump/Palin?
What if the choice is Clinton/Warren
Hillary’s big bank/Wall St. financiers won’t tolerate Liz on the ballot. Some people think Julian Castro, current chief of HUD, a Hispanic and former mayor of San Antonio TX might have a shot. The financial sector would not feel threatened with him if chosen.
neo-cons - the gift that keeps giving. (shhhh…. dont blam Bush)
In addition to keeping U.S. forces in Kabul, the U.S. will stay in Kandahar, Jalalabad and Bagram for training and counterterrorism missions. Keeping the troops in the country will cost $14.7 billion in 2017, a figure that includes the troops that had already been slated to stay in Kabul, a second administration official told reporters.
Combat operations in Afghanistan ended in December after more than 13 years, making it the longest war in U.S. history. The 10,000 troops remaining in the country, down from a peak of more than 100,000 in 2011, are primarily advising and training Afghan forces.
Obama’s original plan was to leave about 1,000 U.S. personnel in the country to protect the embassy in Kabul and carry out limited operations.
Q: I you had an income to support a $300k house and were self-employed. what city would you choose to live in? Single male. Fish, ski, mtn bike.
Flagstaff?
Santa Fe?
ABQ?
RENO?
Sacramento?
Boise?
or???
Do NOT move to Colorado.
I like Durango and Aspen, Vail and Steamboat, but too much snow to be there yr rnd.
drive until u qualify buddy!
They are having a fire sale in buckeye az.
You left Portland, OR off the list.
Sunshine is a must. I wont to go with solar.
Flagstaff?
Santa Fe?
ABQ?
RENO?
Sacramento?
Boise?
or???
Mammoth lakes CA
Mammoth lakes CA - like it but, too small, too fished out. Too many LA tourists. And serious snow shoveling.
Grand Junction, CO?
Bend, OR?
So far, I find Santa Fe,NM most appealing. Seems to have it all.
Why would you borrow that much for a house when you can rent it for half that amount?
I wanna cook meth in it and grow buds. the LL wont allow it.
rapidly.depreciating.houses.
Las Vegas, NV Housing Prices Plummet 8% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/las-vegas-nv-89138/home-values/
hell
“income to support a $300k house”
Oh, that is a trick question. If you skip supporting a bubble house, you could retire a decade earlier. More probably.
If you buy a $300K house on credit, you will pay over half a million more than me for housing over the next 30 years. How many years is that on $35K a year takehome? Your mileage may vary.
Charlotte
Asheville
Pittsburgh
Ozarks
Crater Taters for you regardless of location.
Levittown (either one)
Coeur D’alene
Waco
Bullhead City
what happened to all the walmart shoppers? Are they too broke to shop there now?
There is just an explosion in dollar stores in CA.
dollar tree
family dollar
dollar general
99 cent store
Everyone is tryn to stretch a dollar.
Not everyone. Thanks to the Fed and millions of stupid voters, the .1% are living high off the hog with their free trillions in QE.
I won’t be sad if the Wallyworld business model is past its “best by” date. The Walleys were designed to bring in a crowd from a large radius (here it looks like 30 miles), while the dollar store sells their crap just a few blocks down. People stretched do not go on safari to stock up, they shop for what they need tomorrow. Walley was a first responder in distributing cheap commie stuff, now everyone sells it and it ain’t so cheap anymore.
I read here that they are going against Amazon for e-sales. Great, let them go to Ben’s dry cleaners.
I was in one yesterday. Pencils on clearance sale in a shopping cart. 10 cents for a pack of ten. Back to school is over, make way for Halloween. I think I will not need more pencils in my workshop for a while.
Bwha!! Jonesy takes’em to the cleaners!
The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb live at Altamont 1969:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ShLJnqMg__s
Bernie Sanders should use this for his Campaign Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmdKHCP0Xkw - 305k -
Cruz whores himself out for the oligarchs.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3274615/Cruz-13-5-million-bank-thanks-wife-Heidi-600-fundraising-calls.html
158 oligarch families are buying the 2016 election, aided and abetted by the 95% of the electorate who will bend over for them on demand.
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/just-158-billionaire-families-are-funding-the-2016-us-presidential-election_102015
Clinton/O’Malley 2016
Sure beats: Trump/Coulter 2016
Trump lives in your empty skull, rent free.
Palin/Jesus 2020
Ignorance disarmed by decency. Kind of cool when that happens.
http://news.yahoo.com/mosque-protester-just-needed-hug-211158476.html
German voters, like their ‘Murican counterparts, grabbed their ankles for the globalists and oligarchs by voting for their water carrier Angela Merkel. Now, however, as they’re flooded with 1.5 million refugees Merkel is going to resettle in Germany as part of its Soros-backed version of “fundamental transformation,” some German voters are awakening, not a minute too soon.
http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-faces-domestic-revolt-over-refugee-welcome-201805212.html