February 14, 2016

Bits Bucket for February 14, 2016

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213 Comments »

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 03:11:27

Trumplings gonna trumple.

Comment by Red Pill
2016-02-14 04:26:29

The globalist left is going to kill, they have plenty of practice.

120 million souls brutally slaughtered in the name of the greater good.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 05:07:45

Trumple trumple trumple….

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 06:43:29

Me too, me too! Don’t I get a Trumple? He did it, he WENT there, right in the teeth of the neocons.

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Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 07:42:29

It doesn’t matter that Trump has said many things people here support, as long as he tried to break up the leftist group racial politics model, they don’t care. All that matters is race.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 08:03:20

Oh, geez, JEB! and his “name one time my brother failed to make this country safe”. Stepped right in that one, Trump fires back with “9/11. He ignored the information from the CIA”. POW! Right in the kisser. Then the neocon donorist audience starts projectile vomiting.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 08:57:28

A fine trumple indeed!

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 12:17:02

Rusty Trumple….. I like it.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 08:41:46

Now that Scalia is out of the way, the Oligopoly can redouble its efforts to disarm the population prior to fully implementing its “fundamental transformation.” Forward!

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/nra-scalia-death-puts-gun-rights-in-jeopardy/article/2583258

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 14:16:47

Apparently his death has left us in a constitutional crisis because the Senate is “maybe” in recess and Obama can appoint a recess replacement to serve until Jan 2018. A 4-4 split Supreme Court would ultimately decide if Obama had this power I guess.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 23:23:07

There is a failed attempt at logic here. Just because the globalist (allegedly) brutally slaughtered X number of souls doesn’t mean The Donald wouldn’t instigate the brutal slaughter of 1000X number of souls once he takes over the reins of power.

Comment by Red Pill
2016-02-15 00:51:05

Keep brainwashing those immigrants professor.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 21:20:37

Will Trumplings’ heads explode in case The Donald loses? Or will they just sulk away to their crow dinners in abject silence, the way Albuquerque Dan did after his Rasmussen poll numbers failed him in 2012?

 
 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2016-02-14 04:57:00

Scalia dies at West Texas hunting lodge………

Has anyone else wondered where Dick Cheney was when it happened?

Comment by Red Pill
2016-02-14 05:20:29

Probably getting serviced by the same globalist doctor as Ruth Bader Ginsburg…they get the good stuff, while some paid off waiter slipped Scalia a mickey.

But I guess it’s all for the greater good as they say.

 
Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 07:44:00

79 is pretty old. People tend to have very unrealistic expectations about life expectancy thinking they will live as long as their oldest close relative.

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 08:35:38

True. Yet Bob Hope lived past 100. Jack La Lanne lifted weights regularly, even up to 2 days before his death at age 96. And was stronger than most 20-somethings.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 08:58:51

Jack was hitting the bars in Morro Bay pretty hard at the end. Bit of a local legend.

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Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 09:08:55

Jack struck out for the ghettos eh Russ?

 
Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 09:40:25

Awesome!

Outliers are not the rule though. If I’m able to pull 14 boats to Alcatraz when I’m 70 I may think about getting to my 90s.

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-14 10:25:35

79 is pretty old. People tend to have very unrealistic expectations about life expectancy thinking they will live as long as their oldest close relative.

Most people also think they’re gonna be rich someday.

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 10:35:41

I don’t think that is correct. Maybe it used to be. Maybe with some significant caveats and restrictions (like most people 18-25). But it is not true most people, even in this country think this. Too many poors, 47%ers and old folks.

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Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-14 14:16:47

I just took a looksie. Of those under 30, 53% think they will be rich someday. The percentage does shrink as people get older.

I suspect the same to be true with life expectancy. As you get older and see people you know keel over as early as their 40’s, you begin to understand that you’re on borrowed time and that not everyone makes it to their 80’s or beyond.

Plus Scalia didn’t look thin. Given the porkitude that has become all too common, I expect life expectancy to drop off.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Donald Trump
2016-02-14 05:57:14

Our weak President, that kisses everybody’s ass, is in more wars than I have ever seen. Now he’s in Libya, he’s in Afghanistan, he’s in Iraq. Nobody respects us.

Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-02-14 06:34:46

“Nobody respects us.”

I certain don’t.

Comment by Pogo
2016-02-14 06:37:11

Nor do I.

Enemy identification shouldn’t be all that tough but for some stupid reason we make it so.

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 07:13:26

Because Warshington is the Sauds’ b*tch and has been since 9/11, even before, due to the Bush crime family.

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Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 08:06:50

Government at work.

Create the problem,foster the problem and gain more and more power. If Governments could solve any problem, there would be no government at all by now.

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Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 08:14:13

“If Governments could solve any problem, there would be no government at all by now.”

True. True for most professions.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 08:16:25

The best problems are not the ones that can be solved but instead are the ones that must be - MUST BE - managed.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 09:40:57

Lol, I read that last as “mangled”.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 09:59:03

“Lol, I read that last as ‘mangled’.”

Managed is what occurs if a problem can be managed, mangled is what occurs if it can’t.

So I guess we are now once again talking about the economy.

 
 
 
 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 06:39:30

Oh, geez, Don, you WENT there last night. Made that Bush 9/11 connection. Naughty, naughty.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 08:00:36

If he keeps hammering at the neocons, I might as well go vote for him even though I think voting is a waste of time and haven’t voted in a while.

OT - what is Ted Cruz’s appeal? I mean what’s there to like about him, seriously?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 08:59:42

OT - what is Ted Cruz’s appeal? I mean what’s there to like about him, seriously?

The low IQs take him at his word as he masquerades as a conservative. Like his fellow Goldman Sachs marionette, Barak Obama, he will show his true colors once installed in office.

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Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 10:29:26

Faux arch conservative credentials with a veneer of evangelicalism. How Trump doesn’t mention every single response that Cruz’s wife is higher than an executive VP at Goldman Sachs (his undisclosed loan creditor) I don’t know.

 
 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 09:00:21

He has the power of Shotgun Jesus on his side!

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Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-14 10:23:32

OT - what is Ted Cruz’s appeal?

Fundies love him, even though they often have no clue of his non -religious stances.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-14 07:11:44

“Planned Parenthood does wonderful things.”

-Donald Trump

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 07:45:28

The rest of the quote is, “but NOT on abortion.”

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 07:55:21

Yes, he said women’s health issues and he’s right.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-14 07:57:41

Yeah, he supposedly changed his mind on that a few months ago, after a lifetime of thinking it should be legal.

Or else it’s just a play for the suckers.

Which seems more likely?

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Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 08:02:20

Not as much as believing Barney is an outsider. Jesus, this toad’s been in politics all his life. He’s the problem.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 08:05:28

Poor Barney. He’s getting creamed by all the gibsme groups.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-14 08:21:33

been in politics all his life.

In politics fighting the status quo. Like Ron Paul.

 
Comment by anklepants
2016-02-14 08:32:34

Scalia dying may have handed it to Hillary. People know Barnia is unelectable.

 
Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 10:47:44

Supposedly = I have no idea

 
 
 
 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 09:01:44

Trumple trumple trumple…

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 09:11:43

Mr. Trump. You have this extraordinary ability to send many into fits of uncontrolled rage.

You have found a fitting home here on the HBB. Welcome.

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 09:39:55

Oh, man, that rage was on display big time in SC last night. Whew! Trump showed balls the size of Mt. Everest.

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 10:49:13

This is by far the tamest and most polite of my internet watering holes.

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Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 13:00:56

I believe that many people are suffering from the shell shock of last night’s debate. Trump delivered a massive dose of 9/11 truth and Iraq War shock and awe to South Carolina and for that matter, the American people. BAM!

Will that make him President? Probably not, and he did pull his punch on the issue of whether or not Bush should be impeached. OTOH, he might be keeping that one in reserve. JEB!’s smirk disappeared fast and he went sheet-white underneath his pancake make up. Trump definitely Melvin’ed him.

I believe we witnessed a watershed moment in US political history, although it will be a while before people emerge squinting from the rubble to realize it. But it was one for the history books, that’s for sure. Trump may not gain the White House, but he just started something that will be unstoppable. He knows it, too, because he now calls Trumpism a movement. And it is that.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 15:15:21

‘Muricans can’t handle the truth. Ron Paul tried to wake up the sheeple in 2008, but got nowhere. It remains to be seen if Trump will do any better. You can’t fix stupid.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 15:58:21

Ron Paul was a lousy messenger. Great philosopher, formulator of policy and a man of principle. But he didn’t have the bully pulpit, wasn’t willing to get down and dirty and wasn’t willing to let someone else get down and dirty on his behalf. That’s the kind of stupid you can’t fix. Someone who throws his supporters under the bus and puts on a Joan of Arc act after the fact.

Well, look on the bright side. At least he got enough name recognition to get an infomercial gig. I don’t begrudge him that, btw.

It remains to be seen if Trump will do any better?? Are you fuggin’ kidding me? Since when did Ron Paul poll anywhere near Donald Trump? Maybe before Trump announced I guess.

Americans can’t handle the truth? Maybe that’s because no one ever really gives it to them broadly enough. I think they can.

 
Comment by Bubblebot
2016-02-14 21:59:36

+1. Nailed it. And 95% of the sheeple are not stupid. Some are, but most are just dumbed down and distracted through what has been mentioned on this blog a thousand times.

 
 
 
 
Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 09:21:32

he’s in Iraq ??

Who is he ?? Surely not Obama….The criminals in Crawford & Jackson Hole are who put us in Iraq….Trump told it like it is last night….

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 09:24:17

Iraq, Afhganistan… Now Libya and Syria.

Why is Obama on the rampage?

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 09:32:19

>4000 troops and climbing. You must be pretty stupid to not acknowledge that.

 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 06:07:12

“The Double Fallacy Recovery - The Fed’s Central Planning Is Destroying Capitalism”

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-13/double-fallacy-recovery-feds-central-planning-destroying-capitalism

Remember….. central planning is the foundational failure of socialism.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 06:11:48

Newton, MA Housing Prices Crater 12% YoY

http://www.movoto.com/newton-ma/market-trends/

 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-14 06:25:55

Stocks and homes are the answer to your problems.

Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-02-14 07:27:11

“Stocks and homes are the answer to your problems.”

Yes! Eternal peace and tranquility awaits!

Visit your local banker and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 07:29:48

Fixt for you Az_Donk.

Stocks and homes falling housing and oil prices are the answer to your problems.”

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 08:42:02

I still want to move back to Arizona when I get the right opportunity. Been working hard to enhance my skills in software. Even if it’s my own home-based business. The blockchain software is on the ground floor and its software jobs will be huge. I have a full node Ethereum client running now on my $35 Raspberry Pi as I type and will start development this week. I can do the work actually from anywhere. Might as well be in Arizona, where there is more individual liberty than in California.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-14 09:22:49

Good luck towards that goal Bill. It is wonderful being able to do what you want to, where you want to and when you want to. Staying out of debt is one of the keys to that kind of freedom.

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 11:19:45

Blue, you have managed to create your own oasis of freedom in an unfree world, in the statist of states, New York. Without, it seems, the complexities into which Bill has entered in an effort to game the system in order to be free.

Sometimes simple and straightforward is the best path. May your summer journey along the shores of the inland sea be a good and joyous one.

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Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 12:16:14

A few million New Yorkers have not complied with Cuomo’s “safe act.”

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 12:18:20
 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 16:22:44

I wasn’t dissin’ ya, bro’. It’s just that when I envision Blue casting off and cruisin’ that inland sea, with the sun at his back, greeting friends along the shore and stopping for bite to eat, nary a care in the world, I say “Man, that’s livin’ “.

It just suits me more than a Stairmaster and steel cut oats.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-14 18:09:43

It suits me too Palmy and thanks for the well wishes. It won’t be long now and I’ll be back on the water.

Funny thing about that world and I do have contact with the Feds out there. I’ve always been treated with respect by them. Flying the safety instructor ensign might help. In general they are just regular guys and they are sometimes envious and always appreciative of the free boater lifestyle. I’m just happy to have all that I need and enough to share.

 
 
 
Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 09:29:04

Might as well be in Arizona, where there is more individual liberty than in California ??

Specific’s ??

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 10:51:29

You can buy a .50 cal if you have the money.

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Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 11:01:25

You can buy a .50 cal if you have the money ??

Why stop at .50 Cal…What about being able to own a hand held missile launcher…

 
Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 11:02:38

Besides, is that what qualifies as “more” individual liberty ??

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 11:31:24

Some people even picked up a .50 Cal without passing a background check.

‘Fast & Furious’ rifle capable of taking down helicopter found in ‘El Chapo’ cache

By William La Jeunesse
Published January 20, 2016
FoxNews.com

A .50-caliber rifle found at Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s hideout in Mexico was funneled through the gun-smuggling investigation known as Fast and Furious, sources confirmed Tuesday to Fox News.

A .50-caliber is a massive rifle that can stop a car or, as it was intended, take down a helicopter.

After the raid on Jan. 8 in the city of Los Mochis that killed five of his men and wounded one Mexican marine, officials found a number of weapons inside the house where Guzman was staying, including the rifle, officials said.

When agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives checked serial numbers of the eight weapons found in his possession, they found one of the two .50-caliber weapons traced back to the ATF program, sources said.

Federal officials told Fox News they are not sure how many of the weapons seized from Guzman’s house actually originated in the U.S. and where they were purchased, but are investigating.

Out of the roughly 2,000 weapons sold through Fast and Furious, 34 were .50-caliber rifles that can take down a helicopter, according to officials.

Federal law enforcement sources told Fox News that ‘El Chapo’ would put his guardsmen on hilltops to be on guard for Mexican police helicopters that would fly through valleys conducting raids. The sole purpose of the guardsmen would be to shoot down those helicopters, sources said.

The Fast and Furious operation involved federal agents allowing criminals to buy guns with the intention of tracking them.

Instead, agents from the ATF lost track of 1,400 of the 2,000 guns involved in the sting operation.

The operation allowed criminals to buy guns in Phoenix-area shops with the intention of tracking them once they made their way into Mexico.

The operation became a major distraction for the Obama administration as Republicans in Congress conducted a series of inquiries into how the Justice Department allowed such an operation to happen.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt after he refused to divulge documents for a congressional investigation into the matter.

This is the third time a weapon from the Fast and Furious program has been found at a high-profile Mexican crime scene.

http://www.foxnews.com/…-el-chapo-hideout-purchased-through-fast-and-furious-program.html - 212k -

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 15:16:41

Letting civilian shooters buy .50-cal rifles is nuts.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 15:31:46

Who are you to deny a patriot his zone of safety, that happens to have a 1000 yard radius? What if there are terrorists?

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 15:33:09

Why?

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 16:12:30

“Who are you to deny a patriot his zone of safety, that happens to have a 1000 yard radius? What if there are terrorists?”

Would you like to ban .30-06 and .308 rifles too?

Accuracy Facts

.308 Winchester versus .30-06 Springfield

By Bart Bobbitt

At 1000 yards, where both the .30-06 and .308 were allowed in Palma matches, the .308 was the clear-cut most accurate of the two. If top shooters felt the .30-06 was a more accurate round, they would have used it - they didn’t. In fact by the early 1970s, the scoring ring dimensions on the 800 - 1000 yard target were also cut in about half due to the accuracy of both the .308 Win. over the .30-06 and the .30-.338 over the .300 H&H when used in long range matches.

Most top highpower shooters feel the main reason the .308 is much more accurate than the .30-06 is its shorter, fatter case promotes more uniform and gentle push on the bullet due to a higher loading density (less air space) and a more easily uniformly ignitable powder charge.

 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-14 19:04:49

“Letting civilian shooters buy .50-cal rifles is nuts.”

Why? Isn’t this an expression of freedom?

 
Comment by Muggy
2016-02-14 19:06:37
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 20:53:28

Better stop selling fast cars too.

Raw Video: Dramatic High Speed Car Crash - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obvt9aIYFH0 - 237k

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 12:14:09

I could open carry in Arizona. And it has Castle Doctrine.

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Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 12:29:49

I’m think it’s very hard to get a Ccw in SoCal also. They want everyone unarmed. In AZ plenty of open carrying, even in heavily urban areas, rarely any problems.

 
Comment by ibbots
2016-02-14 12:36:47

You should visit the Texas gulf coast, you might like it. Corpus Christi and south of there. I was talking to someone from San diego yesterday. Their electricity starts at .19 a kwh, geez. What a racket.

 
Comment by ibbots
2016-02-14 12:44:25

Ccw in socal- there’s a sheriff out east of San Diego that was a prolific provider of ccws. It may have changed, but it was the go to county to get for a while.

 
Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 12:49:10

I could open carry in Arizona. And it has Castle Doctrine ??

Sounds like the wild west to me…No thanks…

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 14:16:36

Actually in Orange County you can get a CCW.

As for “wild Wild West,” an armed society is a polite society (except when there is road rage, and for a year or two I recall how gun controlled Californians were worried about freeway snipers).

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 14:19:26

I still have my CCW for Arizona and notified the AZ DPS I moved to California. They still recognize my CCW ain Arizona. I will renew it in April 2018.

 
 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 12:29:27

Lower tax in general

too many stuff like this:

Suspension of Berkey® Products To California Residents Begining January 1, 2010

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Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 14:27:35

3.4% maximum state income tax in Arizona. Much lower than California’s.

No motorcycle helmet laws. Fewer laws against smoking, far less of a nanny state.

SCDave, I suppose you would not shoot to kill an intruder coming to kill you in your house? I would. I would do the same if it was a cop with no warrant bursting in my house (in Arizona). A Wisconsin judge just decided to violate the fourth anpmendment of all Wisconsin people by ruling cops do not need warrants in that state to search anyone’s’ homes.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-14 17:24:17

Shooting at a cop, even merely pointing a gun at a cop, is good way to get yourself killed. There’s even a phrase describing it - suicide by cop.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 07:23:27

Donald Trump…. A superb statesmen with a squad of sexy strumpets.

http://goo.gl/wcIhqR :mrgreen:

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 07:47:52

Last night Cruz confirmed that the crowd was stacked with donors. Then Rubio confirmed that Cruz was a liar. Trumps already running in the general.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 07:53:24

Like it or not, Mr. Trump is the next US President.

Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 08:10:16

As of last Thursday Vegas has the odds as even money on Hillary and 7/2 on The Donald.

“Applies to the winning candidate.

“Hillary Clinton evens
Ted Cruz 12/1
Joe Biden 50/1
Donald Trump 7/2
Jeb Bush 14/1
Paul Ryan 125/1
Bernie Sanders 7/1
Michael Bloomberg 25/1
Mitt Romney 200/1
Marco Rubio 8/1
John Kasich 40/1
Ben Carson 200/1″

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Comment by anklepants
2016-02-14 08:38:57

That’s frankly amazing it’s even that close seeing as she has been in Government for 30 years and has hundreds of endorsements. Every win by an inexperienced outsider makes it closer. If he wins in SC it’ll pop up a little more. Right now he’s double digits ahead.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-14 09:26:23

I look forward to the day that Trump is on with Hillary asking her to her face about the $150 million in payola she and Willie have collected from Wall Street.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 09:35:32

Hillary has been a bad, bad girl for 30 years. Her legacy is no asset. Her primary attractions are 1.) She’s not Trump, and 2.) she has ovaries.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 10:25:42

But her primary advantage is that 95% of the electorate are stupid, and 100% of Democrat voters are amoral and feckless as well.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 12:18:09

So who is your elite 5% voting for?

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 12:34:49

So who is your elite 5% voting for?

Not for your dem or rep for sure. Sucks to be you with your insanity. voting for same and expecting different.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 13:11:32

That’s no answer.

 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 14:27:31

Youre backpedalling again.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 15:17:54

That’s no answer.

On the contrary, that’s a great answer.

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 15:49:47

A secret Trumpling. Come out of the closet, and be ridiculed!

 
Comment by Donald Trump
2016-02-14 16:06:21

The only winner here is me. And I’m living in your head rent free.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 23:25:26

“I’m living in your head rent free.”

Insanity is saying the same thing over and over and over again, without variation.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 08:11:39
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Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 09:38:49

Here’s some second opinions …

http://www.oddschecker.com/politics/us-politics/us-presidential-election-2016/winner

Hey, lookie here! It even has odds on Howard Stern!

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 09:21:02

I don’t care if Sanders is the next president. I will live my life as I want to live. Presidents aren’t mucking fuch.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 10:27:28

Sure. Try pretending that votes cast by millions of stupid people will have no impact on you.

 
Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 10:54:11

If the Rinos roll over and allow a Scalia replacement and Heller is reversed then you will care. It took many decades to finally get them to issue an opinion recognizing the fundamental constitutional right to own a gun for personal protection and self defense.

 
Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 11:12:04

and Heller is reversed then you will care ??

Straw man argument that keeps all the southern Guns & God male rednecks all aflame….300 million guns in America and you think the supreme court will take away that right ?? In the very remote chance that it would happen, it would be overturned in a heartbeat with a constitutional Amendment…

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 12:09:21

Bruno, no piece of paper and no ruler has any effect on my practicing of my natural right to self defense. “No Treadon: The Constitution of. No Authority.”

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 12:11:37

“No Treason…”

 
Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 12:34:09

You just said above, no open carry. You also can’t get a Ccw. That “leave a person defenseless in public” combination was soon to be ruled unconstitutional under Heller. It does affect you. If you get caught in public carrying illegally in SoCal you will eventually be felonized. Then no more guns at all.

As for scdave’s ” it would be overturned in a heartbeat with a constitutional Amendment…” this flat out proves scdave’s is an uninformed moron.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 12:39:48

Bruno, no piece of paper and no ruler has any effect on my practicing of my natural right to self defense. “No Treason: The Constitution of. No Authority.”

Testify, my brother from another mother.

 
Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 12:54:07

this flat out proves scdave’s is an uninformed moron ??

Seems to me the real morons “like you” think there right to own guns is at risk….Its all the neocons selling fear just like your decider did with WMD….

 
 
Comment by Bubblebot
2016-02-14 22:19:40

Yup.

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Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 07:59:36

Heh, exactly. It was stacked with donors. Read some of the threads from around the interwebs and how people were denied tickets. That was the neocon donorist audience, right there. I think they assigned the Don himself like 20 tickets, which barely covers his family.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 09:02:14

You could tell the audience was packed with neocons and corporate statists who didn’t appreciate The Donald calling out Jeb Bush on the epic incompetence of his brother Shrub.

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Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 09:35:29

+1….

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 10:48:27

Absolutely. It was quite a moment.

 
 
 
 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 09:43:46

Testify, bro’ and best. pic. yet.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-14 17:44:08

Indeed. A fine picture.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 08:05:10

Once again, as bankster recklessness and greed leads us to the brink of the abyss and the Fed gets ready to print away their losses, precious metals are set to soar.

http://investmentresearchdynamics.com/deutsche-bank-burns-silver-is-the-trade-of-the-decade/

Comment by anklepants
2016-02-14 08:53:42

75 percent of Silicon Valley workers foreign born or H1Bs.

Shhh, big secret. Tech is built on slave labor.

Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 09:05:17

You don’t know what you’re talking about, and you’re damn proud of your ignorance. Trumpet it, Trumpling!

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 11:19:22

Why make stuff up when the truth is so awful?

http://www.jointventure.org/news-and-media/news-releases/1363-2016-silicon-valley-index-tech-economy-surging-to-new-levels

“Foreign-Born Residents — Silicon Valley has an extraordinarily large share of residents who are foreign born (37.4%, compared to California, 27.1%, or the United States, 13.3%). This population share increases to 50% for the employed, core working age population (ages 25-44), and even higher for certain occupational groups. For instance, nearly 74% of all Silicon Valley employed Computer and Mathematical workers ages 25-44 in 2014 were foreign-born.”

Disgraceful. Don’t know why more tech workers aren’t speaking out.

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Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 12:16:38

At the companies I’ve worked at down there, maybe 25% of the developers were foreign, tops… and all of us were making 150k or more.

I’m suspicious of what they call “Computer and Mathematical workers”. Probably includes Tech Support.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 12:26:06

Foreign born doesn’t mean H1b automatically.

 
Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 12:40:06

Yes, it could mean a lot of things, brought over as a kid, emigrated and LPR, I don’t know. It also doesn’t necessarily NOT mean H1B. I’d bet a very large portion are though. Either way it is a shocking stat and shows tech is built on slave labor.

Ask Apple or any of the other companies building stuff in China (or India, or Mexico).

 
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 13:45:27

Brown skin = slaves?

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-14 14:09:05

It also doesn’t necessarily NOT mean H1B. I’d bet a very large portion are though. Either way it is a shocking stat and shows tech is built on slave labor.

Most H1-B’s I have met are paid decent wages.

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 18:35:20

Brown skin = slaves?

No, Brown skin = Obama’s drone targets

 
 
 
Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 09:15:03

“75 percent of Silicon Valley workers foreign born or H1Bs.

Shhh, big secret. Tech is built on slave labor.”

That explains why California is the most impoverished state in the US.

California Leads Nation In Rate Of Poverty

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/nov/20/economy-is-up-and-so-is-poverty/

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 15:20:53

California has imported millions of Comrade Pelosi’s lifetime entitlement voters from south of the border. They tend to arrive with nothing but the shirts of their backs and a burning desire to sign up for benefits.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 10:28:44

The sheeple have voted overwhelmingly for corporate statism. So let’s give them what they voted for.

 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-14 12:50:23

If the Gold:Silver ratio is outside of historical ranges, there are two possible explanations: yes, perhaps silver is priced too low—but perhaps gold is priced too high. That article only considers one of those two possibilities.

In addition, assuming that ratio to be relatively constant over time might be a flawed assumption to begin with, as one metal has much more industrial use than the other, and thus should be reasonably expected to fluctuate more with respect to industrial expectations…

 
 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 08:33:35

How the U.S. government started Al Quaeda back in 1979 (Operation Cyclone)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 08:38:52

A 17-year old secondary school student in Spain uncovered massive irregularities in the banking system that had been papered over by crony capitalist auditors Deloitt. Now Spanish taxpayers have to cover “investors” losses.

http://wolfstreet.com/2016/02/14/deloitte-spain-to-pay-for-audit-sins-bankrupt-bankia-abengoa/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by The Central Scrutinizer
2016-02-14 09:06:34

… While planning his own invasion of Syria.

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 09:19:20

Nope, Putin’s got that sewn up.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 09:25:39

Complete with worse torture practices than waterboarding or ISIS methods…

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 09:48:16

Complete with worse torture practices than waterboarding or ISIS methods…

Renditions continue under Obama, despite due-process concerns

Why even pretend that we don’t torture? Let’s bring back the jobs right here in good ol’ usa.

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Comment by Mr. Banker
2016-02-14 10:21:30

“Why even pretend that we don’t torture?”

When people are late in paying me what they owe I enjoy sending them here for debt counseling …

http://www.torturegarden.com/

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2016-02-14 10:45:03

Why even pretend that we don’t torture? Let’s bring back the jobs right here in good ol’ usa.

Selective Outrage anybody? Or is torture one of those only-evil-when-Obummer-does-it things?

 
Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 11:01:53

Selective Outrage

LOL …Look in the mirror.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-14 12:09:46

Or is torture one of those only-evil-when-Obummer-does-it things?

Uh, yeah… I thought torture was one of those only-evil-when-Bush-does-it things. Kind of like the vast majority of the left’s “peace activists” that went mysteriously silent when Obama was elected. Personally, I’m still waiting for Guantanamo to close as promised.

 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 13:19:12

See what they did there, Ray? Changed the subject fast, thus controlling the narrative. Don’t fall for it. They’re just as much invested in 9/11 and the Middle East clusterfark as the Bushes. You just got trolled by the neocon wing of the left. And perhaps some closet Bushies.

It’s out in the open now, that genie can’t be put back in the bottle. Trump made a huge public service announcement.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 09:06:45
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 11:42:50

Oh, jeebus, that is one incredible, massive clusterfark and I have no clue how the Obama regime will navigate around that one.

If people’s lives weren’t at stake, I’d be howling with laughter and choking on popcorn.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 09:18:12

San Diego home prices have reached an all-time high in a number of communities — particularly where Mel Watts’ Affordable Housing mortgage money is targeted.

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 09:22:11

Does it really matter considering housing demand in CA is at a 30 year low?

Remember…. I can ask $50k for my 10 year old Chevy pickup but where is the buyer at that prices?

So it is with all depreciating assets like houses.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 09:24:23

The Cruz campaign’s only redeeming value is that they are putting out some great political ads. The one featuring that chick who turned out to be a former soft-core porn star was pure gold, and this parody of the computer smashing scene from Office Space where the wicked witch Hillary trashes her server is hilarious.

http://johngaltfla.com/wordpress/2016/02/12/this-is-the-funniest-anti-hillary-clinton-political-ad-to-date-video/

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 09:33:53

Since MightyMike was given his name presumably years ago by a coworker who may or may not have made it out of the mail room by now, his masterful backpedaling skills are much more in line with one of the greatest NFL defensive backs of all time.

Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-13 14:27:16

“It’s false, of course.”

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-13 15:05:06

“Are you sure?”

Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-13 18:06:15

“I’m not completely certain about it, but it sounds right.”

So I have decided to give Mighty a new name, I will choose this name from this list NFL: The 10 Greatest Cornerbacks of All Time

Right now I am leaning towards Deion Sanders who has a slight lead over Dick “Night Train” Lane.

However, in honor of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia I will listen to arguments for the other eight names throughout the day and take them into consideration.

NFL: The 10 Greatest Cornerbacks of All Time

Kofi Bofah
December 21, 2015

1. Rod Woodson

2. Dick “Night Train” Lane

3. Mel Blount

4. Deion Sanders

5. Darrell Green

6. Willie Brown

7. Ronnie Lott

8. Mike Haynes

9. Lester Hayes

10. Dick LeBeau

Comment by Mafia Blocks
2016-02-14 09:40:15

Lester Hayes…. hands down.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 10:56:46

“Lester Hayes…. hands down.”

No can do.

This disturbing Lester Hayes video has surfaced (quite possibly like the one that surfaced of Supreme Court Justice John Roberts before he changed his vote on Obamacare) which disqualifies him for Mighty’s new name.

WARNING:

This video may be disturbing to men who do not wear or support men who wish to wear dresses into women’s or girl’s locker rooms.

Lester Hayes aka Sensitive thug Directed by knights - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFZkSyCKmFM - 157k -

Comment by FrankBruno
2016-02-14 11:23:13
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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 10:31:32

Have you ever noticed that the guys you see wearing superhero t-shirts couldn’t be further from the superhero ideal? I suspect “MightyMike” is another case of catastrophically incorrect mislabeling.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-14 17:30:29

Gee, phony, that sounds like ridicule. First, you quite Lenin (or at least you think you’re quoting him) just like Christians quote Jesus. Now, you’re ridiculing me. And we all know who advocated ridicule, don’t we? It doesn’t look good for you.

Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 18:20:50

“Gee, phony, that sounds like ridicule.”

I defend you from the name Lester Hayes because of the “Lester Hayes aka Sensitive thug Directed by knights” video and this is the thanks I get?

I gotta tell ya NightTrain, I expected more from you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xabymLUgI44 - 190k -

 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-14 09:43:53

we need to create some more wealth by printing more cash for QE4.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 10:32:42

Thus debasing every dollar in your wallet and mine.

Comment by azdude
2016-02-14 10:36:39

the folks who get the cash first win! you must sacrifice to pay down the national debt!

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2016-02-14 13:10:03

Thus debasing every dollar in your wallet and mine.

It is only “debasement” per se if the new dollars are considered permanent. If the dollars created are transient, then there is no long-term revaluing of your dollars—but those who get the free hot short-term money have a chance to make lots and LOTS more, which they keep for the long term, of course!

So really, it’s about papering over past losses and reallocating gains.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 10:35:00
 
Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 11:07:37

The Derb’s tribute to Valentine’s Day, truly one from the heart:

http://www.vdare.com/posts/derb-on-valentines-daythe-book-of-love

“Here is the evidence, as much as you could ever wish for, that human beings were not designed to be alone, and that life begins properly only when a soul is paired off with another soul. WITHOUT YOU, I WOULD ONLY BE A HALF, declares “Vin” to “J.” He is exactly right. We have made something of a mess of this natural pairing in our modern society, with our casual hedonism, easy divorce, and media displays of wanton eroticism. The center still holds, though. As long as Cozyball is willing to say to Honeybunny in the pages of the New York Post that “I will love you till the end of time,” the human race will be all right.”

LOL, I’m as big a sentimental fool as Derb.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 12:32:32

Pity the Chicago public unions. For years they were key enablers to installing successive corrupt, larcenous, incompetent Democrat apparatchiks into positions where they could dispense patronage and graft in return for voting straight D. Now the public labor unions that turned a blind eye to this corruption, if not actively partaking in it, are discovering that the kitty wasn’t just looted for the sheeple; their take got looted as well. Who could’ve ever imagined that voting for bad governance could affect them personally?!

I am Jack’s utter lack of sympathy. I hope these corrupt lifetime Democrats end their days living in cardboard boxes, contemplating the role they played in bringing down the system.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 12:35:04

Why is the oligopoly media so anxious to reassure the sheeple that it’s not 2008 redux?

http://www.acting-man.com/?p=43240

 
Comment by In Colorado
2016-02-14 12:43:55

http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/11/news/economy/china-latin-america-billions-of-dollars-loans-investments/index.html

“What we’re seeing is a proliferation of Chinese finance in Latin America,” says Margaret Myers, a director at the Inter-American Dialogue.

As if China didn’t already have enough problems.

Comment by scdave
2016-02-14 13:00:10

Venezuela owes China a bunch….

Comment by palmetto
2016-02-14 13:25:28

Hey, dave, thanks for acknowledging what Trump accomplished last night. I know you don’t care for the guy, so I just want to say that it takes a big person to do what you did. I respect your opinions and believe you come by them honestly. I don’t think you’re a moron in the least, you just call it like you see it. I don’t think I’ve taken any personal shots at you in the past,but if I have, I sincerely apologize.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 12:51:41

While Hillary supporters are as devoid of morals as they are of intelligence, for the tiny handful who may have lingering qualms over voting for someone so corrupt, evil, and mendacious, Big Pharma and the DNC have just the meds for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO8xCE94vA4

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 13:15:12

Maybe when much of the country thaws out from this life threatening deep freeze Global Warming they can dig in their backyards and find the sea level rise.

Bitter Temperatures to Put Northeast Under Deep Freeze on Valentine’s Day

by Cassandra Vinograd
Feb 14 2016, 9:43 am ET

Bitter temperatures flirted with record lows on Sunday as “life-threatening” conditions put millions across the country in a deep freeze for Valentine’s Day.

More than 38 million people from the Plains into the Midwest and East Coast were under winter-storm warnings or advisories overnight, according to The Weather Channel.

The coldest air mass of the winter brought the thermometer down to minus 6 degrees overnight in Minneapolis, while New Yorkers were urged to take “extreme precautions” against wind chill.

“These temperatures can be life threatening — especially for seniors, infants and people with medical conditions,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned.

http://www.nbcnews.com/…peratures-put-northeast-under-deep-freeze-valentine-s-day-n518521 - 136k - Cached - Similar pages
5 hours ago …

NASA Study: Sea Level Rise Absorbed by Earth

by Breitbart News11 Feb 20161,134

Miami (AFP) – As glaciers melt due to climate change, the increasingly hot and parched Earth is absorbing some of that water inland, slowing sea level rise, NASA experts said Thursday.

http://www.breitbart.com/…/2016/02/11/nasa-study-sea-level-rise-absorbed-by-earth/ - 60k -

 
Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 14:29:07

Zionism at work. Israeli soldier shoots 13 year old girl and watches her bleed to death.

http://www.daysofpalestine.com/news/israeli-soldier-shot-little-girl-leave-bleeding/

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 15:26:44

Teenage girls have been trying to stab Israel soldiers, as this one reportedly was. Any IDF soldier is perfectly justified defending themselves with lethal force against such an attack.

Comment by I am yuuuge in Burma
2016-02-14 18:32:23

Gotta keep the apartheid going…..

 
 
Comment by rms
2016-02-14 21:40:51

I didn’t see this story on CNN or MSNBC, so it didn’t happen.

 
 
Comment by azdude
2016-02-14 15:51:18

Isnt it amazing the stock market hasnt crashed yet?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 17:30:53

The stock market has only begun to crash.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by MightyMike
2016-02-14 17:36:32

There many many lies in that one and none of its readers care one bit.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 18:15:56

Blah blah blah….

 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 18:29:55

More selective lie outrage from Deion Sanders.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 17:29:16

Do you plan to load up on Chinese stocks in the Year of the Monkey?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 17:33:26

BloombergBusiness
China Stock Bargains Even More Elusive After Selloff Goes Global
Rachel Butt and Gabrielle Coppola
February 14, 2016 — 8:00 AM PST
Shanghai shares trade at 34% premium to emerging-market peers
Mainland markets re-open after week-long lunar new year break

For once, it wasn’t China’s fault.

With the country’s markets closed for lunar new year holidays last week, global equity investors found plenty of other reasons to sell — everything from sliding oil prices to shrinking bank profits and crumbling faith in global monetary policy. The MSCI All-Country World Index plunged 2.6 percent, entering bear-market territory for the first time in more than four years.

While the rout may help Communist Party officials counter perceptions that China is the biggest risk for global markets, investors in yuan-denominated A shares will find little to cheer about as trading resumes Monday. Valuations in the $5.3 trillion market, already inflated by a record-breaking bubble last year, now look even more expensive versus their beaten-down global peers.

The Shanghai Composite Index trades at a 34 percent premium to MSCI Inc.’s emerging-markets index — up from an average gap of 10 percent over the past five years — and equities in the tech-heavy Shenzhen market are almost four times more expensive than their developing-nation counterparts. Shares with dual listings, meanwhile, are valued at a 46 percent premium on the mainland relative to Hong Kong, near the widest gap since 2009.

“There’s been a lot of embedded selling pressure in the A-share market,” said George Hoguet, a Boston-based global investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors, which has $2.4 trillion under management. “I don’t think the market is fully cleared yet.”

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 20:40:29

Top News
Sun Feb 14, 2016 | 8:33 PM EST
China stocks open sharply lower on first trading day of Lunar New Year

SHANGHAI Feb 15 (Reuters) - China stocks opened more than 2 percent lower on Monday, as they played catch-up with bearish global markets after the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

The CSI300 index fell 2.5 percent to 2,888.79 points at 1:29 GMT, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.8 percent to 2,685.77 points.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-15 00:24:18

China’s exports, imports fall worse than expected
Published: Feb 15, 2016 12:00 a.m. ET
By Mark Magnier

BEIJING–Chinese trade started 2016 on a weak note as January exports declined far more than expected in the face of weak demand and slower production ahead of the just-ended Lunar New Year holiday.

The General Administration of Customs reported Monday that exports fell 11.2% year-over-year in January, following a drop of 1.4% in December. The January export figure was well below a median forecast for a 2.4% decrease of 13 economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. Imports last month declined 18.8%, compared with December’s 7.6% decline. That was also well below expectations for a 4.6% decrease.

“It’s definitely weaker than the market expected,” said Standard Chartered PLC economist Shuang Ding. “There’s still no improvement from the trade account.”

Because imports declined even more than exports, China faced a greater-than-expected $63.29 billion trade surplus in January–a monthly record which followed December’s $60.1 billion surplus.

The import drop came despite a sharp jump in imports from Hong Kong that some economists suggest is largely due to companies manipulating invoices to avoid China’s restrictions on capital leaving the country.

Economists warn that January and February data must be viewed with caution as the floating Lunar New Year holiday tends to greatly disrupt consumption and production patterns around China.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which reopened Monday after the weeklong holiday, was down 1.5% in early trading.

Economists said weak global demand continued to weigh on exports in China and other Asian nations. South Korea, which serves many of the same U.S. and European markets as does China, saw an 18.5% year-over-year decline in its January exports, its biggest monthly drop in several years. And a subindex of China’s official purchasing managers’ index that tracks new export orders has been in contraction for 16 consecutive months.

We do not think underlying trade conditions are improving,” said Citibank in a research note.

 
 
Comment by Falling Housing Prices
2016-02-14 17:57:12

“falling housing prices”

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 18:56:18

“The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises.

If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time.”

Simon Johnson, The Quiet Coup

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2016/02/robert-scheer-how-clintons-fostered.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 19:01:17

The ‘Clinton Bubble’: How Clinton Democrats Fostered the 2008 Economic Crisis
By Robert Scheer

Since the collapse happened on the watch of President George W. Bush at the end of two full terms in office, many in the Democratic Party were only too eager to blame his administration. Yet while Bush did nothing to remedy the problem, and his response was to simply reward the culprits, the roots of this disaster go back much further, to the free-market propaganda of the Reagan years and, most damagingly, to the bipartisan deregulation of the banking industry undertaken with the full support of “liberal” President Clinton. Yes, Clinton. And if this debacle needs a name, it should most properly be called “the Clinton bubble,” as difficult as it may be to accept for those of us who voted for him.

Clinton, being a smart person and an astute politician, did not use old ideological arguments to do away with New Deal restrictions on the banking system, which had been in place ever since the Great Depression threatened the survival of capitalism. His were the words of technocrats, arguing that modern technology, globalization, and the increased sophistication of traders meant the old concerns and restrictions were outdated. By “modernizing” the economy, so the promise went, we would free powerful creative energies and create new wealth for a broad spectrum of Americans—not to mention boosting the Democratic Party enormously, both politically and financially.

And it worked: Traditional banks freed by the dissolution of New Deal regulations became much more aggressive in investing deposits, snapping up financial services companies in a binge of acquisitions. These giant conglomerates then bet long on a broad and limitless expansion of the economy, making credit easy and driving up the stock and real estate markets to unseen heights. Increasingly complicated yet wildly profitable securities—especially so-called over-the-counter derivatives (OTC), which, as their name suggests, are financial instruments derived from other assets or products—proved irresistible to global investors, even though few really understood what they were buying. Those transactions in suspect derivatives were negotiated in markets that had been freed from the obligations of government regulation and would grow in the year 2009 to more than $600 trillion…

Clinton betrayed the wisdom of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal reforms that capitalism needed to be saved from its own excess in order to survive, that the free market would remain free only if it was properly regulated in the public interest. The great and terrible irony of capitalism is that if left unfettered, it inexorably engineers its own demise, through either revolution or economic collapse. The guardians of capitalism’s survival are thus not the self-proclaimed free-marketers, who, in defiance of the pragmatic Adam Smith himself, want to chop away at all government restraints on corporate actions, but rather liberals, at least those in the mode of FDR, who seek to harness its awesome power while keeping its workings palatable to a civilized and progressive society.

Government regulation of the market economy arose during the New Deal out of a desire to save capitalism rather than destroy it. Whether it was child labor in dark coal mines, the exploitation of racially segregated human beings to pick cotton, or the unfathomable devastation of the Great Depression, the brutal creativity of the pure profit motive has always posed a stark challenge to our belief that we are moral creatures. The modern bureaucratic governments of the developed world were built, unconsciously, as a bulwark, something big enough to occasionally stand up to the power of uncontrolled market forces…

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2016-02-14 19:14:39

Collectivism is freedom from having to make your own choices, when your betters can make them for you.

http://projects.aljazeera.com/2016/02/cambodia-love/

Comment by The Selfish Hoarder
2016-02-14 19:54:14

Collectivism is the number one problem in the world. It is not an act practiced only by those who call themselves “left wing.” It is also practiced by people who claim to be individualists yet generalize Muslims, Other religious groups, and races. Collectivism is a fallacy in practice. If not for collectivism, there would be no war, no religion, no politicians, no politics, only cooperation.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 20:54:19

As much as I hate to throw water on irrationally exuberant Trumpling optimism, the Iowa Electronic Markets predict dwindling chances of a Republican election win with every uptick in The Donald’s popularity.

When you sweep aside the bluster and the bullying, what you see is a candidate whose positions are too extreme for mainstream American voters, the kind who determine election outcomes.

Comment by Blue Skye
2016-02-14 22:10:26

Professor Pineapple???

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 23:29:11

You can feel free to share your tears of sorrow here when Trump gets trumpled.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2016-02-14 20:55:55

Region IV

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 22:08:57

Get ready for some utterly shocking news in my next post!

Comment by Combotechie
2016-02-14 22:10:33

What? You are going to get some sleep?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 23:14:02

I honestly think I have more time and energy than the average sap who wastes his precious hours slaving away at yard work. God bless the Mexican landscape crew for all of their hard work and our landlords for paying them.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-14 22:11:45

telegram.com
Kenneth Harney
Are some realty agents hyping their numbers?
Posted Jan 28, 2016 at 8:17 PM

WASHINGTON — Are some realty agents hyping the pricing information on closed sales they report to their local multiple listing services? And if so, should you care?

A first-of-its-kind study by appraisal and real estate experts suggests that maybe you should. Researchers compared closing documents, which are supposed to indicate the final price in sales transactions, with the prices that agents actually reported to their local MLS and found that in nearly one of every 11 cases (8.75 percent) there were discrepancies. Overstatements of final price exceeded understatements by a ratio of nearly 3-to-1. In one case, the price reported to the MLS was 21.4 percent above the actual closing price.

The study, published in the latest issue of the Appraisal Journal, is unusual because settlement statements (traditionally the “HUD-1″ form, now the “Closing Document”) are not public. The researchers, three professors at Florida Gulf Coast University, obtained the HUD-1 statements from two banks that had extended mortgages on the properties. They then matched them up with the prices reported by realty agents to the local MLS. A total of 115 listing agents or brokers made the reports on the 400 sales in the statistical sample.

One of the co-authors, Kenneth M. Lusht, a past president of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, told me that some of the errors could simply be clerical mistakes — “typing errors” — but others could be the result of agents “purposely inflating” the prices they reported to the MLS.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-15 00:08:32

How are oil prices looking 1 1/2 months into the new year?

Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-15 00:12:45

Markets | Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:08am EST
Oil inches down, weak China trade data drags
TOKYO | By Osamu Tsukimori
A worker grabs a nozzle at a petrol station in Tehran, Iran January 25, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA

Brent and U.S. crude futures edged lower on Monday as the dollar regained ground and as weak Chinese trade data stoked concerns about demand in the world’s biggest energy consumer.

But the market held most of its gains of more than 10 percent from Friday that came amid renewed talk that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) might finally agree to cut output to reduce a world glut.

The mood inside OPEC is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price rout, Nigeria’s oil minister said, adding he will have talks with his Saudi and Qatari counterparts.

“We continue to believe that if prices were to be artificially supported with production cuts; it would only give more expensive forms of production more room to breathe and would only solve the problem in the short term,” Daniel Ang at Phillip Futures said in a note.

China’s exports fell 11.2 percent in January from a year earlier and imports tumbled 18.8 percent, both far worse than expected. China’s crude imports dropped 20 percent from record high volumes the previous month.

London Brent crude for April delivery LCOc1 was down 17 cents at $33.19 a barrel by 0427 GMT (11.27 p.m ET on Sunday), hurt by a strong dollar helped by a bounce in U.S. consumer spending. The oil contract jumped $3.30 on Friday after the United Arab Emirates’ energy minister was quoted as saying that OPEC members are ready to cooperate on an output cut.

NYMEX crude for March delivery CLc1 was down 18 cents at $29.26 a barrel, after rebounding more than $3 in the previous session from Thursday’s 12-year low. There will be no settlement on Monday for U.S. crude due to the Presidents Day holiday, and trading may be thinner than usual.

Iran is exporting 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, and will be pumping 1.5 million bpd by the start of the next Iranian year on March 20, a vice-president was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Iran will load 4 million barrels of crude oil on tankers destined for Europe in the coming 24 hours, a senior official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-15 00:15:41

This is what’s really wrong with oil
John Mauldin, Mauldin Economics
Oil REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Oil is everywhere.

In mid-2014, crude oil prices were about $100, depending on which grade you wanted to buy. Now prices hover near $30—roughly a 70% decline in 18 months.

The ongoing oil price collapse is having a severely negative impact on the wealth of those who own oil reserves. Western oil companies and OPEC member states, however, aren’t so worried about oil reserves in the ground.

The number one problem is oil on the surface.

There’s Too Much Oil in the Market

Supply far outstrips current demand—which, as we know from Econ 101, yields lower prices. The International Energy Agency said in its January market report that “unless something changes, the oil market could drown in oversupply.”

Is that really true? Drowning is certainly a poor analogy. Drowning is final: you don’t recover from it. We might be bearish on the oil market, but we haven’t written it down to zero.

The problem is finding the balance between supply and demand. The current situation is primarily a result of higher supplies and only secondarily of demand weakness. The world still burns plenty of oil and will keep doing so for many years.

Oil Producers Can’t Control Net Supply

The higher supply has come largely from US and Canadian shale fields as well as the 2014 Saudis’ decision to maintain production levels. Iran’s forthcoming return to the market will add even more supply.

These factors add up to an interesting group dynamic. All oil producers would benefit if production fell and prices rose—but they would not benefit proportionately unless the production cuts were also proportionate.

There is no mechanism or incentive to make it happen that way. Even OPEC, which in theory is a cartel with strict quotas on its members, has no way to enforce its will.

(One thing we know about OPEC members is that they cheat. Always and everywhere, when it is possible, they cheat. Saudi Arabia simply got fed up with being the fall guy. The reasons behind the Saudi strategy are complex, but I am sure an ancillary benefit, from their point of view, is that current Saudi production demonstrates to their fellow OPEC members what noncompliance on quotas will cost them all.)

Debt Pushes Producers to Sell Oil at a Loss

Add in the further complication that shale oil fields, by their nature, are easy to turn on and off. If your oil costs $40 a barrel to produce and you can sell it for only $35, you can cap your wells and wait for higher prices.

But here we hit another problem.

If you borrowed the money to drill your wells in the first place, you need cash flow to service your debt. So you might keep pumping even if you only break even or run a small loss.

That seems to be what many small US producers are doing. The alternative is to default on their bank loans or high-yield bonds.

Indeed, the high-yield bond market seems to have calculated that more defaults are coming. Bond prices have collapsed as low oil prices make it hard to stay current on debt payments.
A Dilemma

What will be the endgame here? If companies default and go into bankruptcy, courts will sell their assets to the highest bidder. Bondholders will push for quick liquidations.

If the assets consist of oil in the ground that can’t be profitably extracted, who will buy those assets?

I don’t really know. I’ve been told the major multinational producers are biding their time, hoping to buy those reserves on the cheap. I also know for a fact that drilling rigs and ancillary production items are going for ten or twenty cents on the dollar at auction.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-15 00:18:12

Fear: Oil’s Price
Feb. 14, 2016 9:32 AM ET

Oil’s price range is now governed by fear.

There is no support on the low side owing to potential storage capacity issues.

There is strong resistance on the high side owing to world shale-oil potential.

The price of oil is currently governed purely by fear.

While the Saudi’s may have pushed the price of oil (NYSEARCA:USO,OIL) over a cliff in 2014, where it falls is completely out of its control. Too many conspiring issues have intermingled to determine a firm landing spot. Some of these include improved efficiencies in U.S. shale oil production, high inventories, Iranian oil becoming available, a weakening global economy…the list goes on and on.

The combined result of those factors is leaving everyone guessing at the root cause of oil’s price breakdown and the Saudi’s motivations for their production actions. It’s now becoming clear that the Saudi’s could have a multitude of reasons for their actions, ranging from long-term market-share strategies to homeland cultural control (via taxation); or even some combination thereof.

But it really doesn’t matter anymore.

What does matter is the future price of oil. So let’s get into oil’s fear-based price range. Both the low- and high-side price limits are now primarily based on psychological fear factors rather than technical trading or charting factors.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2016-02-15 00:21:38

Did you notice Friday’s massive dead cat bounce in oil off its 12-year low?

Why Saudi Arabia and Russia are still flooding the oil market

by John Defterios
@CNNMoney
February 15, 2016: 1:06 AM ET
Investors sense that OPEC and other oil producers may be cooking up a deal to cut output in a bid to raise prices.

Crude oil futures jumped 12% in New York on Friday, making their biggest one-day gain since 2009 and rebounding sharply from a 12-year low hit earlier in the week.

Still, getting the fractious cartel to agree a deal to reduce oil supply, let alone one that includes non-OPEC rivals, may still be further off than the oil market believes.

OPEC member Venezuela, desperate for an agreement due to its crumbling economy, is sounding optimistic.

“We’re on a very, very, very good path,” said Eulogio Del Pino, oil minister and head of the state oil company. He recently toured the Middle East and Russia in an attempt to sign them up for a deal.

 
 
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