December 19, 2015

Bits Bucket for December 19, 2015

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

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227 Comments »

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 01:51:31

Has oil hit the bottom yet?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 01:54:07

CNN Money
Investing Guide
Oil price crash could get even worse in 2016
By Matt Egan
December 18, 2015: 11:51 AM ET
Crude truth behind oil’s global boom
The epic oil crash could end next year. But before prices start climbing higher, they could go even lower.

It’s been a catastrophic 18 months for crude oil, which has suffered a dramatic 68% plunge due to a massive supply glut. Oil fell to a fresh seven-year low below $34.50 a barrel on Friday.

The collapse in prices has wreaked havoc on the industry, causing tens of thousands of job losses, a surge in corporate defaults and plunging stock prices.

Many Wall Street oil experts believe that prices will rebound in late 2016. Yet more pain may be inflicted — some say it’s actually needed — before prices bounce higher.

“It’s still a long road ahead. The oversupply problem will be with us for a little while,” said Mike Wittner, global head of oil research at Societe Generale.

Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 08:11:44

go long!

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 02:17:52

The Wall Street Journal
Oil Markets
Oil Prices Fall as Stockpiles Keep Rising
Genscape data shows stockpiles at Cushing, Okla., hub rose
By Timothy Puko
Updated Dec. 17, 2015 3:41 p.m. ET

Oil prices retreated Thursday after receiving another blow from stockpile data showing no pause in the flood of excess oil.

Data provider Genscape Inc. said Thursday that stockpiles at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for the benchmark U.S. futures contract, rose by nearly 1.4 million barrels in the week ended Tuesday, with nearly all of that coming in the last half of that week, according a person who had reviewed the report. The news came just a day after government data showed a surprise addition for stockpiles last week, mounting evidence the global glut of crude isn’t easing.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 03:34:29

Pumpers gotta pump; It’s what they do.

Bills need to be paid so money needs to be earned, and the only way for a pumper to earn money is to pump.

From a macro point of view, in a collective macro world, it would benefit all pumpers if all of them cut back on production, but (alas for them) they don’t operate it a collective macro world instead they operate in an independent micro world hence they pump all they can pump.

 
 
Comment by taxpayers
2015-12-19 05:57:13

has bear gone long or short yet ?
busta move

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2015-12-19 06:28:24

Talk about a problem of their own making…..this is just ridiculous. Stop pumping oil and start building houses. If only we had a communist government in charge of the whole world, we wouldn’t have so much misplaced and wasted capitalist cometitive energy!

I mean really, look how well it works for China!

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 06:49:57

Give Lola your 90 percent and shut up about commie failures.

Comment by Jingle Male
2015-12-19 08:17:25

+.9

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Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 10:14:24

That is funny.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-12-19 02:58:13

Kasich: We Need to Punch the Russians in the Nose


“Finally, Hugh, in regard to Syria, understand that Assad is an ally of Iran who wants to extend that Shi’i radicalism all the way across the Middle East,” he said. “He has to go. And for the Russians, frankly, it’s time that we punched the Russians in the nose. They’ve gotten away with too much in this world, and we need to stand up against them, not just there, but also in Eastern Europe where they threaten some of our most precious allies.”

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 06:54:09

What’s the point of a sham D debate? Bernie should just angrily read her the Torah for an hour. Might instill a little moral fiber.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 07:28:33

frankly, it’s time that we punched the Russians in the nose.

GOP gobsmacked by Trump’s warm embrace of Putin

‘Donald Trump is like that stray dog anybody can pet and it will follow you home,’ a former Romney aide says.
By Benjamin Oreskes

Four years ago Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, stood before the American public and definitively stated that Russia was America’s biggest “geopolitical foe.”

This week, the far-and-away Republican poll leader Donald Trump gave Vladimir Putin a big, wet kiss, calling him “a strong leader” and saying it was a “great honor” to have Putin compliment him.

Trump’s warm embrace of the Russian president has shocked and alarmed the Republican establishment. There’s no secret about why Trump has psychologically tethered himself to Putin, whose bombast rivals that of the U.S. billionaire businessman and whose own strongman reputation reinforces Trump’s. But as the United States and its allies try to beat back Russia’s intrusions into Ukraine and Syria, Trump has ruffled countless feathers by cozying up to the Russian leader.

…One foreign policy adviser to a rival GOP campaign, however, pointed out that a contingent of Republican Putin-admirers do exist.
“There is a circle within the Republican Party—people like Pat Buchanan and others—who think that Putin is the best thing since sliced bread…”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/gop-trump-putin-216949#ixzz3umDbk8Fs

Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-12-19 07:45:09

Buchanan has been more right than wrong about foreign policies than most of GOP.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 08:06:02

+1. President Buchanan (had 95% of the electorate not been retards) would have kept us out of such neo-con debacles as the invasion of Iran and “regime change” fiascos that are turning the entire Middle East into a jihadist recruitment and training arena. He would also have dealt with the Wall Street grifters and their Fed henchmen like the criminals and fraudsters that they are.

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Comment by Anklepants
2015-12-19 08:35:18

Never talk about Hillary. Always change the subject. Trump loves it though. Wait’ll someone starts actually running against her.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 09:05:11

Never talk about Hillary. Always change the subject.

Actually, the subject was Russia and the GOP, until someone tried to change the subject to Hillary.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 11:07:10

Symptom of Hillary trauma.

 
Comment by rms
2015-12-19 12:47:06

Jeb Bush: As president, I’ll end crony capitalism

 
Comment by oxide
2015-12-19 16:13:50

Don’t forget that Buchanan is also famously anti-immigrant.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 19:25:55

Hey Donk

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by ibbots
2015-12-19 03:44:17

More foreign investors? Foreign pension plans…

President Barack Obama signed into law a measure easing a 35-year-old tax on foreign investment in U.S. real estate, potentially opening the door to greater purchases by overseas investors, a major source of capital since the financial crisis.

Contained in the $1.1 trillion spending measure that was passed to avoid a government shutdown is a provision that treats foreign pension funds the same as their U.S. counterparts for real estate investments. The provision waives the tax imposed on such investors under the 1980 Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act, known as FIRPTA.’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-18/u-s-poised-to-lift-35-year-old-real-estate-tax-on-foreigners

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 05:14:45

“… potentially opening the door to greater purchases by overseas investors, a major source of capital since the financial crisis.”

And this will serve to KEEP PRICES UP.

Keeping prices up KEEPS UP THE VALUE OF EQUITY, an since equity equals wealth KEEPING PRICES UP KEEPS WEALTH INTACT.

Prices, it’s all about prices.

Comment by ibbots
2015-12-19 08:22:42

Institutional investors would likely trend toward commercial and multi-family, but still…

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 05:16:09

Too little too late Idgits.

 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 04:10:00

Buying a house is for people who’ve been manipulated into believing there are no other options. Don’t do it!

Comment by Combotechie
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 15:37:45

Loan owners tend to bristle when you tell them they could get far more return with their money than tie it up in PITI and maintenance. The stealtors and red tape combine to confuse the home owner with fancy arithmetic and soft shoeing to make it look like loan owner ships are slam dunks.

What the lady writes: You become a slave to the house and the area. Whereas a lease will allow you the incentive to think about more opportunities elsewhere.

I hardly see the argument that if you rent a one bedroom apartment you most likely have few possessions and your cost of housing is far lower than if you buy a three bedroom house. Your utilities are lower too. If you buy a house you buy more possessions and more things that can break and need repairs.

Ultimately with block chain, not only will hour crypto currency be kept track of, but your stocks and bonds will eventually be transacted on the blockchain. Zerocoin finally announced today that its product is now complete and available. It features zero knowledge proof (I implemented the Fiat Shamir protocol on an application this year. It is zero knowledge, proving you have a public key without identifying you). This means crypto currency with anonymity in transactions. I predict you will be able to buy common stocks through smart contracts anonymously very soon. Essentially no 1099s would be possible in that scenario.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 15:49:31

Essentially with physical property you are a slave.

Your crypto currency is in the block chain ledger. Your stocks could be too. And your bonds. You could have everything in a paper Wallet and access your stash just about anywhere in the world. You could essentially be a (gasp) sovereign with most of your wealth encrypted and out of preach of government. But your day-to-day spending money (six months worth of living expenses) will be in fiat and used for rent, car leasing, etc. Your freedom will be magnified and your taxes essentially go down to under 10%.

This all will force the government into getting rid of the income tax and most other taxes and only having a consumption tax. Because government will not be able to control the loss of capital gain traceability on stock and bond sales.

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Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-12-19 04:13:44

A blast from the past (an article from 2012)

“Twelve reasons not to get a PHD.”

My favorite is reason number 2, which is “Professors will exploit you”.

“It takes forever to earn a doctorate degree because graduate students are routinely treated like slaves. Grad students perform the grunt work that professors find distasteful, such as teaching undergraduates, grading papers, holding office hours, and playing mother hen to undergrads. And it’s hard to say no to a professors’ unreasonable demands because grad students needs faculty members on their side.”

In other words grad students work and professors reap. Grad students willingly sign up for this arrangement with professors just as borrowers willingly sign up for similar arrangements with lenders.

We live in a world full of dummys, some dummys are more educated than others but nevertheless they are dummys.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/12-reasons-not-to-get-a-phd/

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 05:02:51

I was a graduate research assistant in the marketing department for 4 semesters while getting my accounting degree. I made PowerPoint slides for undergraduate lectures, Professor D asked me to use colorful graphics and not too much text. Not that the students paid attention anyway, they’re all too busy playing with their phones…

 
Comment by taxpayers
2015-12-19 05:58:50

the market is slowly proving 90% of college degrees are worthless

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 06:57:20

Here, I’ll give you all the PH.D. you need right here in one phrase:

Money talks and bullshit walks.

Anyone else got a Ph.D. Worthy phrase of wisdom?

Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 11:41:31

Here’s one. Tell everyone you know to avoid Good Buddy University.

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Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:38:42

All I need to educate you is one child’s story. It’s called the Little Red Hen. Read it. Then get a job.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 17:00:00

Thanks for proving my point.

 
 
Comment by dwkunkel
2015-12-19 11:57:29

My father, who had a PHD, used to say, “Everyone knows what BS means, well MS just means more of the same and PHD is just more of the same piled higher and deeper.”

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 12:44:10

That one is destined to keep going around the block until the acronyms change.

 
Comment by rms
2015-12-19 12:54:03

“The disposable academic”
Why doing a PhD is often a waste of time
http://www.economist.com/node/17723223

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 12:10:40

My Trump University PhD has been a real dud. Not as bad as my investment in Trump Airlines, but pretty bad.

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Comment by aNYCdj
2015-12-19 12:35:13

but in nyc you can’t even get in the front door without one… must have 4 year degree to apply…..

it discriminates against those who couldn’t afford it, or chose to work instead.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-12-19 14:08:04

Most of Corporate America won’t consider you if you don’t have a degree.

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Comment by rms
2015-12-19 14:59:38
 
Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:19:08

Lolas don’t want a job, they just want 90 percent of someone else’s stuff.

 
 
 
 
Comment by ibbots
2015-12-19 08:24:38

The issue with recent MBAs is that their confidence to ability ratios are all out of whack!

 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 05:31:57

It’s the land! Nope.

It’s the materials! Nope.

It’s the labor! Nope.

It’s a rapidly depreciating asset at a grossly inflated price you doubled down on by financing.

Boca Raton, FL Housing Prices Crater 14% YoY As Housing Bust Spreads Nationally

http://www.zillow.com/boca-raton-fl-33076/home-values/

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 05:55:06

More positive economic news

“The Other Energy Bust—-Natural Gas Prices Fall To All-Time Inflation-Adjusted Low”

http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-other-energy-bust-natural-gas-prices-fall-to-all-time-inflation-adjusted-low/

Remember…. Nothing raises everyones standard of living like falling energy and housing prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 06:00:27

Which candidates are behind the TIC?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 06:02:28

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-18 08:15:52

‘the chance of changing the stats real quick at some point’

The chance and stats say a coconut is more likely to kill me. At some point? This is what statistics are saying; we are being robbed blind by the Threat Inflation Complex, and they are taking our liberties too.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 06:05:37

The public is more at risk of being accosted by a mango-juggling Lola than anything else.

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 07:24:37

I was thinking about this today. Imagine Lola trying to explain to some real world person why he is so enraged: Well, there are these people on an Internet housing blog who tease me by calling me Lola and changing their internet names (because changing your internet name is cowardly) and they make me mad by accusing me of having multiple handles and by quoting CB radio songs from the 70s. They also accuse me of pretending I am in Brazil.

I think he’d be committed, Rubber Duckie.

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 10:17:12

Cause we got a little convoy
Rockin’ through the night.
Yeah, we got a little convoy,
Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on Lola join our convoy
Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy
‘Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!

A good song to rally around Mr. Trump.

 
 
Comment by SV guy
2015-12-19 08:30:35

LOL

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Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 07:04:37

I agree with this and the Threat Inflation Complex crooks, we spend far too much on the terror threat. But that is not reason to ignore the threat of more than 100,000 radical jihadi Ameirca haters in this country willing to offer support to those who would shoot up public places. This is especially true now that those two murderous scumbags in San Berdoo showed how easy it is to follow Inspire magazines directions.

Understand that there is a threat, assess it realistically and deal with it realistically. Don’t pretend there is no threat and deny that many many US Muslims have these sentiments for the sake of political correctness.

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-19 09:48:19

‘Don’t pretend there is no threat and deny that many many US Muslims have these sentiments’

And don’t miss the elephant in the room: on a subject with so much focus and money involved, how can such a small risk be exaggerated and why is that being done? Note that the probability of us losing vast sums of money and liberties is near 100%.

‘You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due.
Remarks on Paul O’Neill (January 9, 2004)

‘We haven’t really had the time yet to pore through all those records in Baghdad. We’ll find ample evidence confirming the link, that is the connection if you will between al Qaida and the Iraqi intelligence services. They have worked together on a number of occasions. Interview with Rocky Mountain News, January 2004′

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dick_Cheney

‘The aide said that guys like me were “in what we call the reality-based community,” which he defined as people who “believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.” I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. “That’s not the way the world really works anymore.” He continued “We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors … and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

-Suskind, Ron (2004-10-17). Faith, Certainty and the Presidency of George W. Bush. The New York Times Magazine.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Rove

It’s important to understand, IMO, the connection between deficits don’t matter and empire. You can’t have an empire like Rove defined if we have to pay for it. Cuz we’re broke. What Cheney was saying is we can print money forever; history will judge that.

But what is this empire that can’t beat goat-herders? Ron Paul pointed out that IIRC, the CIA had thousands of promotion panels. Every day several people will get up and drive their expensive cars away from their very expensive house, travel over really nice roads to a gleaming office building where they will meet to discuss who should get even more money and a better parking spot. And the CIA is a pipsqueak compared to the NSA.

It’s a giant money machine. That’s why they have to inflate threats, to justify it. Did you read that the latest budget throws $11 billion MORE into the F-35? I read it is the too-big to fail project. You could buy every piece of pork that ever existed with what that thing has cost. Oh and they get a surveillance state as the cherry on top.

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Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-19 09:52:13

‘Paul went on to criticize Rubio for his supposedly weak stance on protecting US borders, limning a recent column by Ann Coulter, who wrote: “Why are Republicans talking about starting a war in Syria to stop Muslim immigrants from killing Americans in America? Is it our job to straighten out Syria? Can’t our government just stop bringing the terrorists here? If Rubio thinks he knows how to govern Syria, he’s free to run for president there. (Except he’d have to stop talking about his dad the bartender because Muslims don’t drink.)”

”Republicans love pointing out that all the gun restrictions proposed by Democrats after every mass shooting would have done absolutely nothing to stop that particular mass shooting.”

”But the GOP’s demand that we take out ISIS would also have done nothing to prevent the San Bernardino attack. As we know from Jim Comey, the director of the FBI: Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were planning a terrorist attack against Americans before ISIS existed.”

”It’s as if there’s a law of toughness conservation: The weaker a candidate is on protecting our borders, the more aggressively he talks about bombing foreign countries, a move known as ‘the Lindsey Graham.’”

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-19 09:57:39

‘The demagogic exaggeration of the “terrorist threat,” which was the centerpiece of the last Republican debates, is easily deflated with just a moment’s thought. What is the chance that any particular resident of the United States will happen to be in the same place as someone who intends to murder in the name of the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, or some other cause? Less than minuscule. Many commonplace things are likely to kill you long before you encounter an Islamist, white-supremacist, or anti-abortion terrorist in the United States.’

‘Typically, we don’t find it worth the money it would take to substantially reduce those other risks. We could cut traffic fatalities considerably by outlawing left turns and reducing the speed limit to 5 MPH. But who would support those measures?’

‘So why tolerate the government’s spending trillions of dollars (not to mention the violations of liberty) in its futile attempts to save us and our open society from all possible terrorism – especially when it could make us safer by spending less money and respecting our liberty through a noninterventionst foreign policy?’

‘Moreover, as Mueller and Stewart point out, most would-be terrorists appear to be misfits who couldn’t bomb their way out of a paper bag and wouldn’t even try without goading by an FBI informant. The fear-mongering anti-terrorism complex – which consists of the government-media-“terrorism-expert” industry – portrays would-be terrorists as an invincible force of crack operatives led by “masterminds” who are high-tech wizards. (The fear-mongers would have you believe that encryption was invented by ISIS.)’

‘But the record does not support this picture. Just as the Cold Warriors had a financial and power interest in having us think the Russians were 10 feet tall, so the counter-terrorism lobby has the same interest in persuading us that “Islamists” are uniquely and diabolically cunning; they will soon be making suitcase nukes, it is intimated, and bringing them to Times Square.’

‘When Rick Santorum, echoing his presidential rivals, says that “radical Islam is on the move and their motives are to destroy the western world,” he’s merely vying for votes by spreading baseless fear. A few “lone wolves” do not constitute “radical Islam,” and motives (even if correctly ascertained) are irrelevant when capability is lacking. Mueller and Stewart describe a “terrorist” who aspired to topple the Sears Tower in Chicago, have it slide into Lake Michigan, where it would (he hoped) create a tsunami, which would wash back on the city, and open a jail, springing the inmates. Shall we lose sleep over such plots?’

And it’s all the more ridiculous because the US and its allies are behind ISIS!

 
Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 10:30:13

I’m right there with you on much of this stuff. We can spend 1/10 the money and get 10 times the results focusing on the problem and not grandmaw in the wheelchair coming thru the airport. But that requires the crossing of a politically correct boundary of making distinctions that touch on religion and national origin. That can never be allowed to happen.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 11:18:07

We just need to put little patches on all Muslims, so we know who to be afraid of.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 11:34:26

politically correct boundary of making distinctions that touch on religion

This is otherwise known as the first amendment. Also, terrorists may not answer honestly when asked about their religion.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 12:50:58

“What is the chance that any particular resident of the United States will happen to be in the same place as someone who intends to murder in the name of the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, or some other cause? Less than minuscule.”

At the risk of offending some of the HBB regulars, your typical Republican voter is not sufficiently bright to grasp this simple point.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 12:53:13

“We just need to put little patches on all Muslims, so we know who to be afraid of.”

Also on angry white male Christian extremist gun owners…

 
Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:26:22

The first amendment doesn’t apply to aliens outside the US seeking entry. And every one of you who lives in any population center of 100k or more live near someone willing to kill for Isis and in the name of Islam.

Ignore facts of that polling data if you want. They are here.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 15:57:54

“The first amendment doesn’t apply to aliens outside the US seeking entry. ”

This truth needs to be repeated.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 17:01:51

You’re right. It applies to the government. “Congress shall make no law…”

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 22:14:11

Congress isn’t making a law. The Donald decrees it.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 06:18:49

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

– H. L. Mencken

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 07:16:12

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 12:35:55

The shrieky monkey gets the banana.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 06:20:38

Trump

Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-12-19 07:00:46

rent free

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 09:29:59

Dump

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Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 06:14:17

King Obama says that the GOP is the only major political party in the world that denies global warmism, advocates collectivist solution:

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5674678be4b014efe0d56a72

Warmists gonna warm

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 07:21:06

In some circles to question is to deny.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 07:37:41

Only our GOP has the ability to see through the Worldwide Science Conspiracy, which was created by the people who usually want us fighting each other, but who are now apparently switching to us all cooperating to fight an environmental problem. This change of tactics is of course far worse and more dangerous than fighting continuous wars, and must be nipped in the bud.

Or something like that.

Comment by Anklepants
2015-12-19 08:47:23

Only the left glorifies victimhood for all (because it leads to free govt dollars). Lazy Leftist wussies, America’s demise.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 08:55:36

The right can’t admit they trashed the US budget and economy with their tax cuts for the rich and Trickle Down nonsense.

Knuckledraggers gonna knuckle-drag.

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Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 09:03:56

Vote libertarian.

 
Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 09:22:58

But libertarianism taken to its full extent is anarchy…

 
Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 09:36:51

Roads, mail, national defense (emphasis on defense), non-debased currency, national borders, are all necessary.

I don’t adhere to the narrative as strictly as Bill in Wherever.

Public education however should be abolished. Read the “Underground History of American Education” by John Taylor Gatto.

In my Region, free lunches are provided all summer long at the local civic center to any youts under age 18 who wants one, because their Statist Indoctrination Center Daycare / Meal Program is closed, and their parents didn’t do much planning before they decided to breed.

Cloward-Piven is real.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 12:22:26

Free lunches for children that want them?

The horror.

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 12:29:20

“But libertarianism taken to its full extent is anarchy.”

Ironically, unless you are an order follower you live anarchy 99% of the time.

YOU negotiate your skills on your terms with one who wants to buy your services. Or you find some other customer (employer). There is no State involved.

YOU treat others as you would want to be treated because you know you both trade value for value and each gains on the exchange. There is no State involved in that.

YOU choose to treat your spouse/partner as you would want to be treated and you each gain selfish value from your relationship. Otherwise you would separate. There should be no State involved (I am opposed to marriage licenses and only live with a long time girlfriend every now and then…No State involved).

If you have children YOU decide what is best for your kids, I am sure you insist there is no State involved.)

YOU treat neighbors as you would want to be treated. I am sure you don’t see a uniformed thug between you and your neighbors unless you are behind bars. Again, No State involved.

As a trader, YOU create ideas and make them become real and get paid for it at your own terms. No State involved. The tens of millions of such actions have been the only way humanity has advanced, all the best things in life have come from no State involvement. We would not have gone past the agrarian age if the State had to be part of every money making idea we come up with.

If you are not an order follower, this year I insist you have been an anarchist 100% of the time. All your associations have been made freely, with no State referee. If you vote in 2016 your percent of Anarchy will just be 99%.

All the best things in life came from living anarchicly.

The fact is anarchy means NO RULERS. it does not mean no rules. I live anarchicly 100% of the time but I follow rules of common sense because even as a loner, I recognize my life is better by associating with people. To keep gaining, I need to treat people as having equal rights.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 12:37:21

“But libertarianism taken to its full extent is anarchy…”

Well you don’t have to pay taxes and there are no cops to beat you up… what’s not to like?

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 12:56:45

Central, I haven’t been beaten up by a cop lately. I don’t pay taxes. Instead, every paycheck, some of my warnings is stolen from me.

I can smoke weed if I want to. No cop is in my apartment.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-19 13:23:27

‘The horror’

Free food raises some questions; how are the farmers and ranchers gonna get paid? Why do these people need free food in a developed economy? And why is this considered some kind of safety net when the parents of these children are paying 50% of their income in rent?

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 13:55:15

I assume the people giving away the food buy it from farmers, or middlemen (using tax money and/or donations, probably). The kids need the meal because they’re from some dysfunctional family that can’t or won’t provide a good lunch to them. It’s a safety net because otherwise they’d be living on cheetos, and we’d be paying their hospital bills in the future instead. Good nourishment for kids is a great investment for the future.

 
Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:37:42

Give everybody free everything. No one has to work. Ask Bernie.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 16:48:16

Bernie also proposes an increase in the minimum wage.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 06:20:05

Salon dot com provides a grabber narrative:

http://www.salon.com/2015/12/19/7_ways_fear_and_ignorance_warp_americas_gun_debate_partner/

Fear and ignorance? N*gga please. Fear of the Constitution and ignorance of how every grabber narrative in history has ended can only lead one direction:

Registration, Confiscation, Extermination

Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 08:17:04

I thought Salon dot com was only on Rio/Oddie/White People Apologizing and Co. required reading list.

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 09:01:36

As I mentioned to you the other day, I read everything (almost everything, I avoid millennial-targeted clickbait like Buzzfeed).

I need to dissect narratives, internalize them, chew them like cud.

On the subject of gunz, we were rolling up Central Ave heading west out of downtown St. Pete and heard a burst of semi-auto gunfire a few blocks away. That never happens in my home Region…

Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 10:21:14

“As I mentioned to you the other day, I read everything”

I do remember and I enjoyed meeting you. I hope you had a good time in Fort Lauderdale, and met someone much more interesting than me on that Tinder thing. :)

IIRC you were heading back home today, have a safe trip.

As far as…

“we were rolling up Central Ave heading west out of downtown St. Pete and heard a burst of semi-auto gunfire a few blocks away.”

Whatever Region you are in you have to know where and where not to go.

Clark gets lost in the hood - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwBoa-NbNL8 - 294k -

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Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 11:00:04

someone much more interesting

Actually I did, and it wasn’t on Tinder. We were partying well into the A.M. hour the other night and she’s picking me up to go to the beach soon.

Thanks again.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 11:32:29

You’re a good dude Mr. Goon

Have fun and if you make it back to this part of Region IV next year I hope to see you again.

 
 
 
 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 12:43:53

If they wanted to exterminate, they’d just skip the other two. Your 1911 ain’t sh*t against a hellfire missile.

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:40:24

The Russians thought the same in Afghanistan. So did we.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 16:00:17

Some rascal had given those afghanis arms the likes of which you and I could never afford.

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Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 06:29:31

New York Times real journalists provide a grabber narrative:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/19/us/politics/president-obama-visits-families-of-san-bernardino-victims.html

Anyone know if they have a good wi-fi signal in the death camps?

MOLON LABE

 
Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-12-19 06:34:01

Stocks crashing. I predict no rate hikes next year but instead another round of QE. That’s the fellon way!

Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 07:44:55

how can you raise rates when we are back in a recession? the timing of this is ridiculous.

We are addicted to cheap money to prop up asset prices.

How can you buy this sh@t not knowing the real value?

This is not investing but more like a rigged casino.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 07:52:09

“We are addicted to cheap money to prop up asset prices.”

And propped up asset prices = propped up wealth.

Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 08:13:16

so basically free money cause you own stocks and homes?

What is going to happen to the dollar bubble when rates are cut and QE4 is announced?

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 08:42:35

“so basically free money cause you own stocks and homes?”

Not me, I’m the Cash is King guy. But for a lot of people, yeah.

 
Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 09:22:26

why is it only the people that own assets get free money?

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-12-19 09:34:04

“why is it only the people that own assets get free money?”

Because it’s God’s plan.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 09:56:38

it’s God’s plan.

God likes winners!

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-12-19 11:25:04

“God likes winners!”

Indeed, I do.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 09:44:26

It won’t happen that fast, as monetary policy operates with long and variable lags.

Expect a post-2016 election recession and housing crash, circa 2018, followed by QE4, ZIRP2, and possibly NIRP1, following the guidance of PimpCo principal Ben Bernanke.

Next good time to buy a home in the U.S. will be 2030, after the GSEs are wound down once and for all, and post-mortem analysis documents that QE and ZIRP fundamentally destroyed the U.S. economy by pricing the Middle Class out of basic needs in order to fund the TIC.

Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 15:33:57

If you could not finance a house they would be dirt cheap.

 
 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2015-12-19 08:00:52

Alpha announces layoffs a week before Christmas

By Chris Lawrence in News | December 18, 2015 at 6:01PM

BRISTOL, Va. — The timing couldn’t have been worse for more than 100 coal miners at Alpha Natural Resources. The workers learned Friday, a week before Christmas, they were out of a job.

Alpha will lay off 66 miners at Marfork Coal’s Slip Ridge and Ellis Eagle operations in Raleigh County. The company will also reduce the workforce by 72 at Elk Run Coal’s Seng Creek and Shonk mines in Boone County.

Alpha officials confirmed the layoffs late Friday and said they came as a result of the weakened market for coal. The company will shutdown production on one section of each of the four mines.

The miners affected were notified Friday and the layoffs take effect immediately.

http://wvmetronews.com/2015/12/18/alpha-announces-layoffs-a-week-before-christmas/

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 08:21:11

“On August 3, 2015, Alpha Natural Resources, Inc., along with its affiliates, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.”

(snip)

Mr. Kevin S. Crutchfield , 54 Chairman of The Board, Chief Exec. Officer and Member of Safety, Health, Environmental & Sustainability Committee. Pay = 2.51M

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=ANRZQ+Profile

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 08:56:28

Check out the stock purchases the company made over the past three years:

2012 $7,507,000
2013 $1,435,000
2014 $1.461.000

In January of 2012 the stock price was $20.12/sh
In January of 2013 the stock price was $8.86/sh
In January of 2014 the stock price was $1.04/sh
Yesterday the stock price was $0.01/sh

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/cf?s=ANRZQ+Cash+Flow&annual

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 09:14:21

Over the past three years the company’s net income sucked:

For 2012 it was minus $3,437,148,000
For 2013 it was minus $1,113,498,000
And for 2014 it was minus $874,961,000

But that’s okay because what money they couldn’t earn they simply borrowed:

In 2012 they borrowed $311,787,000
In 2013 they borrowed $77,550,000
And in 2014 they borrowed $414,033,000.

Phase 1 of the financial shellacking took place when the stock price collapsed. Phase two will take place when the debt is written down.

Stay tuned.

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 09:29:35

Here’s what a long term chart looks like:

https://invest.ameritrade.com/grid/p/site#r=jPage/https://research.ameritrade.com/grid/wwws/research/stocks/charts?symbol=ANRZQ&c_name=invest_VENDOR

In 2009 the stock price reached a peak of $119.30/sh.

China was buying lots and lots of coal then and was destined to be buying lots and lots of coal forever, so what possibly could go wrong?

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 11:21:02

Ooops, the chart idea didn’t work (oh well …)

Here’s some Alpha Natural Resource trivia from Wiki:

“Alpha Natural Resources filed for an IPO during December 2004 in an attempt to raise US$250 million to repay debt (strong coal prices also affected the timing of it).”

Note: “IPO” = is a Wall Street term that means “Suck ‘em in”.

“At the time coal was selling for about a quarter the price of natural gas ($1.5 versus $5.0 per million BTU) however since then (mid-2010) the ratio has become much smaller (coal has tripled in price to $4.63/mil BTU while gas is still at $5.189). (natural gas is used as an alternative to thermal coal in electricity production).

“The takeover of Foundation Coal was a reverse takeover in that Foundation Coal was the company left standing and it was immediately renamed Alpha Natural Resources. Foundation Coal added 7.5 million tons of annual coal shipments to its Eastern Coal operations and expanded the company’s presence in Wyoming. Although acquisitions helped Alpha expand rapidly since its founding in 2002, it burdened it with lots of debt ($185.6 million in 2004, $754.15 Dec. 31, 2010).”

FWIW.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 08:08:16

King Obama admission that he doesn’t watch cable news and therefore failed to understand American angst over the Paris and San Bernadino terrorist (not workplace violence) attacks, get’s memory-holed by Big Brother’s little helpers at the NYT.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-18/new-york-times-just-memory-holed-devastating-obama-admission

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 09:10:28

New York Times is a perpetual fountain of anointment for King Obama and Empress Hillary. They do actual have some real journalism (no pun intended) on many subjects but when it comes to politics they’d endorse Jerry Sandusky if he was the Democrat Party nominee.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-12-19 09:19:58

I’m no fan of Obama, but I don’t get the zerohedge pearl clutching over this one. Unless it’s the NYT they’re dissing for editing after the fact and trying to disappear something that may cast Obama in an unflattering light.

I can understand Obama’s lack of understanding here. Not saying it’s right, but I myself frequently don’t understand or have empathy for the plight of others in situations that don’t affect me, or with which I have no personal experience.

 
Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 09:45:38

Obama’s statement is also a back-handed slap at cable news: I don’t watch your constant anti-Muslim brainwashing and fearmongering, so I’m not conditioned to knee-jerk and freak out like Fox News viewers do.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 12:42:03

He well understands the angst of a nation salted with terrified wusses that want to trade their constitution for safety from an insignificant threat. You don’t need cable news to know that.

He’s decide to make the gun fearing wusses a priority over the muslim fearing wusses.

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:43:46

The Democratic Party of glorying victimhood produced wusses at 100 to 1 ratio than folks who pay their own bills.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 16:01:19

Shhhh….quiet, wuss.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 08:11:33

Mind the Narrative….

“In many nations, rational people end up believing crazy things, including (false) conspiracy theories. Those crazy thoughts can lead to violence, including terrorism. Many terrorist acts have been fueled by false conspiracy theories, and there is a good argument that some such acts would not have occurred in the absence of such theories. The key point—and, in a way, the most puzzling and disturbing one—is that the crazy thoughts are often held by people who are not crazy at all.”

–Cass Sunstein- White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/12/18/on-conspiracy-theories/

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 09:13:58

The words “mind” and “narrative” don’t belong in the same sentence because people who adhere to the latter don’t have one of the former.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 08:12:26

The Obama years had not been very kind to my small business. I learned that taking jobs I knew we would lose some money on was better than paying guys with families who had been with me for a couple of decades to sit home while I skipped paychecks and hemorrhaging lots of money.

It took all the resources I had to keep the doors open and about 2 years ago it looked like a bad bet. Went over the P&L yesterday and although we still don’t have health insurance the boys got a really nice Christmas (and I do mean Christmas) bonus and we are…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAgnJDJN4VA - 194k -

PS

If Hillary/Bernie/AnyRino gets elected and it starts to go the same way I am shutting it down.

I am too old for this sh#t.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 10:05:05

Too bad the Republicans are so wrapped around the axle about the terror threat that no political oxygen is left over to discuss relaxing the regulatory straglehold on small businesses.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 10:25:04

I am shutting it down.

Then what?

Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 11:52:15

“Then what?”

I will go to work at Climate Burger for $15 an hour.

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 12:12:50

We’ll start you on dish.

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Comment by Bubblebot
2015-12-19 20:21:57

“I will go to work at Climate Burger for $15 an hour.”

Lol. So much BS refuting packed in a simple sentence. Brilliant!

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 08:16:10

Natural gas carnage continues. How long before this starts impacting the financial sector which has loaned vast amounts for shale and natural gas plays?

http://wolfstreet.com/2015/12/18/carnage-in-us-natural-gas-as-price-falls-off-the-chart/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 08:19:30

George Soros, the mega-speculator who plucked Obama from well-deserved obscurity and groomed him to be a successful presidential candidate (thanks to the gullibility and stupidity of the hope ‘n change dupes) is up to his usual “fundamental transformation” in Europe and the US.

http://sputniknews.com/politics/20151218/1031981904/george-soros-exacerbating-refugee-crisis-europe-eu-syria.html

Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 08:53:41

“George Soros, the notorious business magnate, is shifting the responsibility for America’s adventurism in the Middle East onto Europe, most notably Germany, American-German researcher, historian and strategic risk consultant F. William Engdahl underscores.”

My Dental Hygienists is in Germany visiting her Mom as she does every year. I saw her before she went and I said that I had heard there were problems there. She said that’s what her Mom had been saying.

It will be interesting to see what she has to say when she gets back.

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 09:19:02

interesting to see what she has to say

It better not be.

Put the French flag overlay on your Facebook profile pic and go “like” some tearjerker narratives about dead Syrian toddlers.

Get with the f*ing program already, and don’t forget to renew your New York Times subscription.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 09:32:46

George Soros, the notorious business magnate, is shifting the responsibility for America’s adventurism in the Middle East onto Europe, most notably Germany

Why would he do such a thing?

Should we thank him?

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 08:42:18

Blast from the past: Hitler finds out he’s an FB. Is history getting ready to repeat itself as the Keynesian lunatics running our central banks face their financial reckoning day?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM&feature=player_embedded

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 09:10:48

George Carlin’s “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it” is the best summation EVER of how the oligopoly has captured our poltical system and dumbed down the population to be docile sheep. Mission accomplished….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dBZDSSky0

 
Comment by 2banana
2015-12-19 09:15:23

I am supporter of decriminalizing some drugs.

But it is NOT a magic solution.

—————–

Denver’s 2015 post-marijuana legalization crime wave intensifies
americanthinker.com | 12/19/2015 | Sierra Rayne

As another month goes by in Colorado’s marijuana legalization experiment, Denver’s 2015 crime wave cranks up yet another notch.

November’s crime data is out for the city, and it doesn’t tell a pretty story. There were another eight murders in Denver during November, bringing the year-to-date total to 50, which is more than 72 percent higher than last year’s numbers.

Across the board, other violent crime in Denver is also skyrocketing this year. The number of rapes has increased 16 percent, robberies are up 13 percent, and aggravated assaults are up 14 percent based on the UCR standards and up 15 percent using the NIBRS definition.

Overall violent crime has increased 14 percent. Total crimes are up almost 4 percent.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 09:48:58

Crime rates are up in many cities across the U.S., not just Denver. Clearly legalized marijuana is not to be blame.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 11:27:07

I blame the criminals.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2015-12-19 19:20:49

Dope don’t shoot people. People shoot people.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 23:52:47

People shoot dope.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 10:07:29

There’s an article from a few months ago that I’ll post if I can find it about the black gangs and Latino gangs being pushed into each other’s turf in North Denver because of rich white yuppies gentrifying and driving up the rents.

This ain’t about weed. Who the f* would want to rape somebody when they were high on the good sh*t? Understandable if they were high on synthetic garbage like Spice, which I recently learned from some locals in the know is a big problem here in Florida (thanks, Sheldon Adelson).

Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 11:52:54

There you go again, blaming white people.

Comment by aNYCdj
2015-12-19 12:42:14

black people could have gentrified Harlem, but didn’t….personal choice matters

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Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 13:40:35

There are probably some black involved in the gentrification of Harlem.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 09:20:02

Augusta Co. VA is the laughing stock of the world — schools shut down over a calligraphy assignment? But the art work is Arabic and and and because ISLAM.

Augusta Co. voted Romney 70 Obama 28 in 2012. Very conservative county. I’m not surprised. There seems to be a trend among conservatives where just the mention of Islam is like saying “Boo,” triggering waves of panic, overreaction and cowardice.

Q. How can you scare a conservative?

A. Tell them to open a math book — it’s full of ARABIC numerals. LOL!

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 11:10:39

Globalists don’t have to live with the consequences of their narrative, that’s for the little people.

Globalists gonna globe.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 09:27:41

Just for kicks

I recently received this email:

I recently asked my friends’ little girl what she wanted to be when she grows up. She said she wanted to be President of the United States. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there. So I asked her, “If you were President, what would be the first thing you would do?” She replied, “I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.” Her parents proudly beamed. “Wow…what a worthy goal,” I told her. “But you don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. Tell you what – you can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my driveway, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house. How about doing something wonderful like that?” She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?” I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.” Her parents still aren’t speaking to me.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 09:52:09

You left out the part where Republican support for leveraged buyouts and outsourcing overseas caused the guy to be laid off and become homeless in the first place.

Comment by 10-4GoodBuddy!
2015-12-19 15:48:22

They don’t WANT to work for the most part. And the few who do are likely unemployable due to drug habits and metal illness.

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 10:03:54

lol. Of course, the homeless guy is going to need public transportation to get to their house to work, so back to the Democratic Party.

Comment by 2banana
2015-12-19 11:05:20

And the homeless guy will immediately spend the $50 on drugs and booze…

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 11:06:29

WPA and Oddfellow

This just gave me a great idea!

Why wait for Bernie?

You 2 guys could go in business together and open a National chain that would have a $15 an hour minimum wage.

Climate Burger

Of course you will have to match their SS and give them vacation and sick pay. Then you will also need to cover their shifts when they have a problem with the kids or car trouble or a court date etc. Probably better count on much higher Workers Comp rates than when you start because probably more than one of your $15 an hour employees is going to claim they got hurt on the job whether they did or not.

Then there will probably be some problems with local, state and federal licenses and regulations and forget about the EPA. Don’t be late or miss any tax deposits or the IRS will really fry your @ss.

Then if you do make it 6 months the people who are still working there and know something about how to work at a Climate Burger are going to want $25 an hour because you are paying the no nothing person who just took the place of the last POS you had to fire for stealing from the register $15 an hour.

But hey, I’m sure you guys can make it happen because they will have public transportation to get to work.

So get out there and good luck!

Comment by Goon
2015-12-19 11:36:01

Climate Burger

Meatless, locally sourced, and served at room temperature.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 12:17:21

It’s actually not a bad idea. The Responsible Burger, next to every university and hipster enclave, selling local beef burgers on local bakery buns made by above-average people making a living wage.

You know it would work in Denver, could be the next Starbux.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-12-19 12:35:26

Welcome to Climate Burger are you ready to order?

Yes I will have the Responsible Burger meal medium size with a desalinated water.

That will be $67 pull up to the second window.

Um, I have a carbon credit coupon.

OK, $66.25 second window.

Are you sure I thought the carbon credit coupon was worth

Hey look buddy I’m only making $15 an hour now do want the GD burger or not?

 
Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 12:44:04

LOL Phony, that was hilarious.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 13:02:13

OK, $66.25 second window.

So we’d be price competitive with most of the fancy burger joints already out there!

I’m liking this.

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-12-19 13:08:59

And on target.

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-12-19 13:26:30

Climate Burger

I love it!

“served at room temperature”

No, the food is hot. Really hot.

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Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 09:44:28

“On the one hand, it means that the $19 trillion of national debt can be serviced on the cheap—–currently at a weighted average yield of about 1.8%. Accordingly, debt service costs which would be upwards of $1 trillion under normalized interest rates (5%) are currently only about $350 billion. So the politicians feel no financial pressure, and become accustomed to kicking the can.”

http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/meet-john-boehner-ryan-the-gops-favorite-fiscal-fake-folds-fast/

That is why rates wont normalize my friends. The debt is too large.

Talking up the dollar wont last much longer.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 10:05:14

A lot of evidence has been posted here that the Fed does not have full control of interest rates. There is no hidden hand of authority that is holding down interest rates to benefit the Federal budget. That the budget deficit can be financed so cheaply is only happening because there happens to be a lot of cash in the world chasing bonds and yield.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 10:21:29

“There is no hidden hand of authority that is holding down interest rates to benefit the Federal budget.”

QE1, QE2, QE3, and ZIRP have indeed all been carried out in the open.

The only clearly hidden post-2008 action by the Fed which I recall was grossly understating the scale of their unprecedented post-2008 bailout of the international banking system. It’s too early at this point to quantify the economic damage to the global financial system of that maneuver. But I am pretty sure that one natural consequence was to flatten government bond yields the way a Kansas tornado flattens a house.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 10:46:46

QE1, QE2, QE3, and ZIRP have indeed all been carried out in the open.

Those efforts only partially impacted interest rates — specifically, open market operations where the Fed bought some bonds.

Once the Fed juiced the system with liquidity, the Fed has no control over what the institutions and corporations actually do with all that cash and credit. What if these same institutions and corporations decided to go on a massive capital investment program, building factories, hiring people? All that money would not be in the bond market and interest rates would have gone up, not down.

The Fed’s supposed ability to control interest rates is mostly myth.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 10:54:54

Only a true audit of the Fed would unveil the extent of its financial manipulation and chicanery, which is why the Fed and the oligopoly-captured members of congress are fighting tooth and nail to prevent such an audit from ever taking place.

 
Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 10:57:09

Waste of time, just like the Benghazi hearings were.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 10:26:55

Domestic and global demand continues to collapse irrespective what the fed does.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 10:52:53

Demand is collapsing because national economies are being hollowed out by the looting and asset-stripping of the Fed’s oligarch henchmen. Pigmen gotta pig, and now the parasite is killing the host.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 12:25:15

Well…. Kinda.

Demand is collapsing due to grossly inflated prices.

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Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 10:27:17

So you must have an interest rate in mind that you consider to be normal. The fact is that people and institutions all over the world are willing to lend money to the U.S. government for little interest.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 10:46:23

Collapsing demand SnowFlake. Collapsing demand.

Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 11:40:22

… usually leads to low interest rates

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 12:23:53

Leads to collapsing demand.

*Learn* SnowFlake Learn!

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 13:42:14

You never learnt any of this. You just make it up.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 13:54:54

Why the anger SnowFlake?

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 16:51:08

That’s not anger, just the facts.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 17:54:06

Anger and a Lolaism.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 17:58:51

I’m reminded of a famous quote. “I don’t give them Hell. I just tell the truth about them and they think it’s Hell.”

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 18:14:15

You’re pouting again.

 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2015-12-19 11:54:39

December 18, 2015

“Trump on Friday blasted the spending bill, saying it would result in “higher deficits, greater debt, less economic liberty and more corporate welfare.”

“Congress cannot seem to help itself in bending to every whim of special interests,” Trump said. “How can they face their constituents when they continue to burden our children and grandchildren with debts they will never be able to repay? Our government is failing us, so we must do something about it. Who knows how bad things will be when the next administration comes in and has to pick up the pieces?”

Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 12:12:47

I have a feeling that his children and grandchildren will be just fine.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 10:07:46

Ready to see the Republicans self destruct in another presidential race?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 10:09:26

Marketwatch dot com
Opinion: How Hillary Clinton could win the White House by March
By Brett Arends
Published: Dec 18, 2015 5:28 a.m. ET
First, crush Marco Rubio, and then take the rest of the year off

Hillary Clinton’s only real competition among Republicans is Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are too extreme for most Americans.

If Hillary Clinton and her allies are smart, they’ll spend their $50 million-plus campaign warchest over the next few months making sure Marco Rubio doesn’t get the Republican nomination.

They’ll run ads in the primary states trashing the Florida senator among conservatives — cleverly hiding the source of the ads behind secretive super PACs with conservative-sounding names.

They’ll encourage Democratic activists to cross over to GOP primaries to support Rubio’s extremist opponents.

Hillary herself may even help out by making a couple of high-profile speeches in which she praises Rubio for his “moderation” and “bipartisanship” — especially, she might say, “on the subject of immigration.” Nothing could hurt the young senator more with the GOP base.

Obama could take him golfing.

Following this week’s Republican debate, it looks increasingly like the race is down to three candidates: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, real-estate huckster Donald Trump and Rubio.

If the GOP goes ahead and picks Cruz or Trump, Hillary could probably take the rest of 2016 off to work on her inauguration speech. Both men are extremists, and are traveling with more baggage than Kim Kardashian. The only people who think they are remotely electable in a general election are the increasingly narrow group of people who make up the Republican party base.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 10:13:58

Though I am not looking forward to eight more years of Clintons in the Whitehouse, watching an enraged Trump go down in flames could get entertaining.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 10:50:46

That would be sad if Trump went down in flames. The Trump-Putin bromance is just getting started.

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 11:21:06

Trump can always retire to Russia, he’d fit right in with their crass oligarchs.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2015-12-19 13:32:54

What happened to Obama’s romance with Putin?

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Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 13:45:22

They were incompatible. Albuquerque Dan said that one likes to play chess and the other prefers checkers.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-12-19 10:51:18

The country won’t survive four years of Hillary in the White House. In the aftermath, God help any mangina who voted for Hillary who seeks my help.

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 12:06:40

“Ready to we the Republicans self destruct in another presidential race?”

Yes, but that would mean a neoconservative from the Democrt party will be the next president.

Meh.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 14:00:34

Is Paul Ryan a neocon?

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 15:40:02

Yes, and so is Hitlary.

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Comment by CalifoH20
2015-12-19 15:56:40

He wants small gov and less spending. no one else does.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 13:58:40

Is there any chance of a brokered Republican convention bringing in an alternative to the current top choices (Trump / Cruz / Rubio)?

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 11:31:49

Celebrating 35 years of David Stockman predicting imminent economic doom.

Comment by WPA
2015-12-19 12:54:27

Celebrating 35 years of David Stockman trying to cover his tracks. Trickle down? Who me? No, I changed my mind, let’s forget that and move on…

 
Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-12-19 16:28:32

Wha….?

What was than in 2008? You dolts need to get your head out of ….

 
 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 11:56:28

For twelve years he was a fake CIA guy on Faux news inciting tens of millions of Americans to support bloody killing of tens of thousands of innocents in the ME. He was finally arrested. His faithful flock still believe his lies and are supporting Trump.

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/fake-cia-agent-fox-news-claimed-19-paramilitary-islamic-training-camps-operating-u-s/#FoZUJMioX22GBuVV.01

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-12-19 12:54:46

“In a June 1950 commencement speech, Boston University President Daniel Marsh said, “If the (television) craze continues….we are destined to have a nation of morons.”

Bahahahahahahaha … and here we are, sixty-five years later, a nation of morons.

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-19 13:33:58

SteveLendmanBlog: A Nation of Morons
sjlendman.blogspot.com/2012/04/nation-of-morons.html
Apr 26, 2012 - A nation of morons literally lets America get away with murder, erode human and civil rights, and leave millions uninformed, on their own, out of …
A Nation of Morons - Revision World
revisionworld.com/a2-level-level…/nation-morons-gould-1982
A Nation of Morons by Gould (1982) Aim To review Yerkes’ work on IQ testing Design A Review Study Procedure Gould reviewed Yerkes’ work. Yerkes …
A nation of fearless, bumbling morons - The Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/…/2011/01/getting_tough
The Economist
Jan 7, 2011 - We’re a nation of fearless, bumbling morons in pickup trucks who like to drink beer, go shirtless in the freezing cold for football, and drive in …
Forum: Toward a nation of morons? - Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com/…/20060204-103049...
The Washington Times
Feb 4, 2006 - “It doesn’t take very long to dumb down a nation,” agreed a former book … or three generations, you can easily produce a nation … of morons.”.

Comment by Mr. Banker
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-12-19 14:07:26

Here’s one from that link:

Example

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 16:03:50

The man with the signs cannot spell. It’s “maroons.”

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-12-19 17:06:47

He would probably assert that he’s spelling something correctly. Every dictionary that you ever seen is wrong. That’s the kind of argument that you get from the like of Albuquerque Dan, tj, and Mafia Blocks.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-12-19 17:31:38

Some navy guys say it should be spelled “marines”.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 14:15:36

Walmart Fight Brawl Crazy HD Full 2015
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mtJUr7KK3Z4

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 23:58:16

Do you like shopping while surrounded by white trash?

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=m92Tw1WB6m0

 
 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2015-12-19 15:58:20

And the Internet gives us exposure to those morons.

Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-12-19 16:51:05

“And the Internet gives us exposure to those morons.”

An endless series of entertaining moronic case studies presented to us at will and at our leisure by just a few keystrokes on a keyboard.

I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-12-19 14:06:18

Question for the board:

Whom would you pick to win in a Ryan - Clinton match-up? (I don’t care who you personally would vote for. ..)

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-12-19 14:26:16

Ryan - Clinton match-up

I’ve thought about that too. Ryan is 300/1 as winner at Paddypower.

 
Comment by The Order Of The Golden Chainsaw
2015-12-19 14:36:01

If you vote any of these 2 candidates, look in the mirror what an idiot looks like.

 
 
Comment by CalifoH20
2015-12-19 15:55:09

Funny how some people dont like lower oil prices. They say their 401k is suffering, victim mentality.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 16:37:27

Don’t buy stocks then right Lib?

Comment by azdude
2015-12-19 18:03:20

looks like sh@t is starting to hit the fan in the corporate bond market.

Are stock buybacks fading?

Wasnt it warren buffet who said it was stupid to borrow money to invest?

 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 18:09:25

“Global Trade Snapshot - The Pain Is Getting Worse”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-12-19/global-trade-snapshot-pain-getting-worse

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-19 20:44:40

Another day of lol@Lola. :mrgreen:

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2015-12-19 23:11:46

Bush military official. The empire’s ship is sinking. Great interview.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zOagQ_nfCes

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2015-12-20 13:50:22

crater

 
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