Bits Bucket for February 15, 2016
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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I work overnights so I’m stuck shopping at Wally World for my groceries on most nights but lately I’ve noticed that the re-stocking involves a lot less people and a lot less stuff.
I went to 2 nearby Walmarts the other night and I was amazed that many of the shelves are empty. When I asked the night manager of one store he told me that they had to cut down on people and hours to “afford” the recent pay hikes but a lone employee in the fruit/veg department told me that she was working 12 hour days by herself and was unable to keep the shelves stocked as they were ordering less produce. They didn’t even have the basics like potatoes and onions out let alone higher end products. I don’t even remember seeing this during the crisis of 2007-2008.
It’s a shame the stock price is down so far this year. It must really be putting a crimp on the Walton family lifestyle to “afford” that big pay raise for their employees.
I though u were in teaching
Anyway, the local restaurants tell a tail
Strong here in n va.
The burrito index in the Sacramento foothills is quite strong. Even Chipotle is picking up again!
After the looming tech collapse it will be the grapes of wrath again
Yes, the real estate cycle will turn down and it will be time to buy more deals. The bottom will probably arrive around 2019 or 2020.
Heroin addiction is a downward spiral not a cycle.
If there is one thing KingObama is good at it’s spending money and turning everyone into a DebtJunkie.
http://goo.gl/Ke61yX
…and traumatizing trumplings.
From your empty skull to the White House, Donald Trump lives, rent-free.
Why so scared of Trump, Hillarykins?
Trumplings trumple adorably, but they’ll have on their boo boo faces when they find out their daddy isn’t a conservative.
Overturning the Roe Vs. Wade decision is still on the Religious Zealots GOP agenda, and quite frankly, that ship has sailed. I can’t believe what nonsense all the candidates spew. We won’t tell you your mythology (religion) is our business, and you stay out of our uterus and lives. Trump was pro-choice in his younger days. BFD
Rusty? Ahem….. Over here————–>”Why so scared of Trump, Hillarykins?”
“Heroin addiction is a downward spiral not a cycle.”
Steppenwolf - The Pusher (5-min, w/eye candy too!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOPfdfSSgQ0
Disdaining The Donald does not equate to supporting Hillary.
Supporting The Donald DOES equate to supporting Hillary.
Are you sure?
Sacramento, CA Housing Prices Crater 7% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/west-sacramento-ca/home-values/
“Looming tech collapse”
Not in blockchain work. That is booming. Decentralization is the next big thing.
If one was inclined to invest in related technology, where would one look to become more familiar with the sector?
^^ Google is your friend. One linky:
http://www.blockchaintechnologies.com/blockchain-investments
“I though u were in teaching”
That would be me.
Mugsy
Muggy
BTW, I’m a gold-plated social justice warrior administrator now. I ensure that fatherless trans-gendered economically disadvantaged Muslim children receive exemplary STEM education… or HEADS ROLL.
Forward.
#notjoking
How does it feel to be the focus of evil in the modern world?
Yep. Spelling still matters in the 21st century.
Min wage rules never work
See Asia vs EU for growth results
There are a couple Walmart near us, they haven’t had any issues like that other than stocking ammo. I went Academy (sporting goods store) on saturday and you woulda thought they were passing out $100 bills.
Didn’t Walmart canabilize their own sales just to open new stores? They recently opened a new one not 2 miles or so from an existing one …
Just got back from Wally World. Shelves looked about like they’ve always looked. Employees seemed a bit more stressed.
More empty shelves nationwide as our “economic recovery” bites deeper.
http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/report-store-inventory-levels-reduced-nationwide-stock-up-now-while-you-can_01292016
Speaking of empty shelves, is it just that we’ve gotten so far away from remembering the empty shelves of the Soviet Union that people are willing to embrace that same loser philosophy of collectivist central planning here? Is this the appeal of Barney to the foolish Utes?
Say what you want about Walmart, it’s something of a miracle. The spoiled young may not remember life before you could get practically anything by driving less than 5 miles.
FrankBruno:: Say what you want about Walmart, it’s something of a miracle. The spoiled young may not remember life before you could get practically anything by driving less than 5 miles.
The question is, ‘What are the consequences of WalMart’s business model?’
• Lots of goods cheaply.
• Impact on jobs at retailers who can’t compete as well?
• It’s like a pipeline from the emerging world, China in particular, to the US. What’s the impact on US supplies?
• What’s the impact of less retail competition on suppliers?
I’m not saying it’s all good or all bad - very few things are all good or all bad. I just wonder what the net results are.
When I was kid, there was no Walmart in a hundred mile radius. We did some of our clothes shopping in small family-owned stores. I checked walmart.com and there is, indeed, a WalMart about 5 miles from my hometown. That’s a bit of a bummer. You have to drive at least 10 miles to get to a Home Depot or Lowe’s, which I think is cool. Something was lost when cheapness and convenience cam along.
Well the counter position that I saw was that the family owned small businesses that all complained about Walmart were for the most part overpriced monopolies with terrible service and terrible selection. But because they were chamber of commerce type city fathers they got away with squashing any potential competition. Walmart was a breath of fresh air, and to me still is.
WalMart is for people who dont know any better.
night manager of one store he told me that they had to cut down on people and hours to “afford” the recent pay hikes
I think this night manager is just repeating whatever lies that Corporate is handing out. That would be very much like Wal-Mart… blast advertising about what good corporate citizens they are to raise wages, while at the same time overworking the employees to make up for the low stock price, and then laying blame on the employees anyway.
I’d like to stay away from Wal-mart, but they sell things that I either can’t get anywhere else; or, I don’t have the time to go to 8 stores for different things. One-stop-shopping is a powerful retail advantage.
That said, ibbots has a point. Is your area overloaded with so much retail that there simply isn’t the customer base to support all that inventory?
I prefer going to Walmart as little as possible and when I do go I buy several commodity type items in one trip: things like soap, toothbrushes, generic over the counter drugs, etc.
It’s usually way too crowded.
Their obese clientele makes a few people a crowd.
What happened to that LIEberal compassion for the poor Rusty?
Who said I was liberal, or compassionate?
You Rusty. You.
Well you can disabuse yourself of those notions, trumplings, as I continue abuse you.
You’re backpedalling Rusty.
An amazingly rusty trombone
I’d rather go to Costco or Target, both of whom treat their employees much better. I even try to hit Whole Paycheck Foods every other week or so for the same reason (well, that, and the plentiful yoga pants-covered bottoms you can bounce a quarter off of). I don’t mind paying more to companies that do a decent job of taking care of their people.
“That said, ibbots has a point. Is your area overloaded with so much retail that there simply isn’t the customer base to support all that inventory?”
Which is the very reason we have 25 million excess, empty and defaulted houses in the US.
After several days of light snowfall here in NE OH, I was surprised to see that about 50% of the new car dealer outdoor lots I drive by, had cars completely covered with snow, days after the snowfall started. I’ve never seen this before - for many years, the first thing dealerships do after snow is have their staff clear off the cars on display. It is as if they’ve given up.
I drove by another dealer yesterday and they had what you save plastered all over the windshield. They had 8000, 9000 etc. What a joke.
Why all the ridiculous gimmics at car dealers? Balloons and sh@t like that.
people hate dealing with the shysters on the car lot.
Costco is selling cars for fixed, reasonable prices. No up-selling and no high-pressure sales tactics from shysters, just a simple transaction. No wonder the dealerships are losing customers.
Don’t you have to go to a dealership to get that? Then they try to talk you out of the Costco price (which isn’t much or a deal).
I don’t know, I only buy late-model used cars from Craigslist.
Cheer up Az_Donk. Auto dealer balloons scream collapsing demand.
people hate dealing with the shysters on the car lot
Buying a new car is like getting a root canal, even at the so called “no haggle dealers”. The latest scam is trying to sell you “pre-paid service” (oil changes, etc.), which are a complete rip off.
Stock futures up over 200, while in Italy the banking crisis that was never solved, merely papered over, is getting uglier.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/02/14/italys-banking-crisis-spirals-elegantly-out-of-control/
Wall Street speculators are counting on bad data out of Asia to spur more stimulus that will flow back into European and U.S. shares. Aren’t unfettered international capital flows grand?
PMs being dumped today…hope this will mean a new buying opportunity for miners when the market reopens tomorrow.
http://www.kitco.com/market/
Speaking of atypical currencies, much of our entire sad-sack society is encapsulated in one news story today. (nbc and reuters)
Kanye West Says He’s $53 Million in Debt, Asks Mark Zuckerberg for Help
[Main points:]
Kanye West is $53M in debt.
Kanye has a new album out, but you can only buy it if you subscribe to Tidal, which is Jay-Z’s streaming service. You can’t even get the album on Kanye’s website.
Kanye went into $15 million into debt for his fashion label, which sells $500 sweatpants and $3000 jackets. [News flash: the people buying the album are probably not the same people buying the jackets.]
The article mentions the marriage to Kim Kardashian but that’s all.
The article does not mention where the rest of the debt came from.
Kanye asks Mark Zuckerburg for $1 billion capital because he (Kanye) is “the greatest living artist and the greatest artist of all time.”
Meanwhile, Martin Shkreli, the guy who hiked the price of a malaria drug in order to support a Ponzi scheme, was later arrested for fraud and sneered at Congress, is out on bail, and claims that he had paid $15 million — in Bitcoin — for rights to the Kanye album. Turns out he was scammed. Bitcoin is trying to get his Bitcoin back.
————-
Dang, and here I felt bad for coveting a $500 light fixture.
Can’t the Fed bail him out? They’ve bailed out worse.
He’s like America. Massively in debt, but life seems to go on without having to sacrifice anything.
There’s more debt in his future.
Sounds like he’s gonna have to hit the concert circuit.
Or learn on how to declare bankruptcy from the Don.
Trump has hundreds of projects all separately incorporated, if a tiny few of those individual entities go bankrupt for business purposes that is not the same as being personally in debt or declaring personal bankruptcy.
I ordered a new couch this weekend from Crate and Barrel, trying go help.
Went to a Burlington Coat Factory store and a Dick’s Sporting Goods store this weekend, saw sections of bare shelves 12′x12′x4′x5′ tall, a complete row back-to-back standing alone. Seemed kind of odd, but perhaps only due to seasonality changes. Still, bare shelves stood out like sore thumbs.
And yah, restaurants packed to the gills.
I don’t know where all this “bare shelves” stuff is happening. All I’ve seen is more and more consumption, big bellies, and shopping.
How Dicks sporting goods can exist I do not know. It seems massively overpriced catering to the suburban golf and soccer mom crowd who buys without asking about price. Are there really enough of these people?
Beyond price Dick’s Sporting Goods oddly does not stock some long standard sporting items, was looking for a couple of basic hooded sweatshirts recently and all they had were very expensive ones plastered with logos, they did not even carry the classic ones. The store was packed with merchandise but not so many shoppers…
(FWIW went on to my local Sears and they had what I wanted, great selection, and lots of styles were on sale…but from what I’ve been reading lately Sears may not be around much longer)
I’m neutral on Sears, but I can’t wait to see the end of K-Mart.
I like K-Mart because it’s never crowded, ever, even on Christmas Eve. Mediocre merchandise, but they’re nearby and never crowded. It’s often a reasonable trade-off.
Of course, I used to like Montgomery Wards for the same reason, and they’re gone with the wind, along with the mall they were in.
A lot of gun owners and Second Amendment supporters have never forgiven Dick’s Sporting Goods for cravenly kow-towing to the gun grabbers and yanking “black guns” out of their stores after Sandy Hook.
Hmmmm … stores sell things and restaurants sell experiences. If one has already acquired all the things that he needs then he will tend to spend his money on acquiring experiences.
exactly combo….
Went to a Pier One store (tagged along with wife) recently. A few browsers, but almost all of the stuff seemed overpriced and I didn’t see any action at the cash register.
Pier One is geared toward putting the finishing touches on a renovation which was paid for by cash-out refi money. oops.
I think it’s seasonality. Me and a girlfriend of mine went to Burlington Coat Factory in Torrance last August and saw a lot of empty space.
Markets having their usual Pavlovian response to hopes of moar financial crack cocaine from the central bankers.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-jumps-as-investors-eye-japanese-stimulus-prospects-2016-02-15
Oops, too many twelves. That shoulda been, 12′x4′x5′ tall
The fourth dimension is time.
+24/7/365
AP: US plane impounded in Zimbabwe; dismembered body, blood spatters, and millions in South African rand found on board
The “dismembered body” was a stowaway who hid in the landing gear well and got mangled when the gear retracted. The plane was owned by a bank, so naturally there was a large amount of currency on board.
“… MD-11 trijet was traveling from Germany to South Africa ”
That’s a lot of air time, high-altitude air time. He probably would had frozen to death if bleeding to death didn’t get him first.
Darwin.
Who stows away to go from Germany to South Africa?
Maybe times are achanging…
Once Frau Merkel finishes carrying out the fundamental transformation demanded by her globalist overlords, stowaways from Germany to South Africa may not seem all that unusual.
I move that the airline be sued because the airplane did not carry a warning label at its landing gear well.
Written in several languages, of course. And illuminated so that it could be easily read at night.
Also written in braille.
Braile isn’t needed.. the blind just get sucked into the engine.
Home Depot has large sign on exterior of building “Help Wanted”. Parking lot was full of small DIY project patrons. Weather here has been in the 70’s to 80’s. PGA time. Gas under $1.99/gal at ARCO and Safeway.
better start raining soon! reservoirs are at record lows still.
While the Constitution has become a dead letter, Scalia’s passing will mean the last bulwark against individual liberties will be replaced by a collectivist Obama appointee.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/02/14/edward-whelan-scalias-passing-could-cost-america-the-constitution/
You mean that set of Negative Liberties as described by Ofailure?
Yes like his defense of citizen’s united
SCALIA: You can’t separate speech from — from — from the money that — that facilitates the speech.
MORGAN: Can’t you?
SCALIA: It’s — it’s — it’s utterly impossible
America’s longest war, and precious little to show for it.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/isis-and-the-taliban-are-brutally-carving-up-modern-mafiastan-a6873436.html
The proponents of “Evolving Standards” have the “intellectual” cover to essentially discount even clearly stated themes in the Constitution.
Apply it to one section, and it will be used in others.
Doh! This should have been in reply to the immediately preceding post.
Operation Cyclone started the aid and nurturing and creation of Al Quaeda. Thanks Jimmy Cahtah.
A foretaste of life once the collectivists and free sh*t army impose a permanent Democrat supermajority.
http://www.thelibertybeacon.com/2016/02/14/venezuela-food-heres-economic-collapse-really-looks-like/
When the collectivists can loot the producers at will, what naturally follows is that the producers lose any incentive to produce, and the takers run out of free sh*t to take (or be granted by their socialist overlords). A preview of coming attractions in our permanent Democrat supermajority.
http://news.yahoo.com/crisis-ridden-venezuela-electricity-scarce-035644120.html
Yes we need Goldman Sachs to keep doing God’s work.
They produce so much for our country and taxing stock transactions by even a fraction of a penny to cut down on market manipulation is a crime against GOD
Get what you can get for your rapidly depreciating house today because it’s going to be far less tomorrow for decades to come.
Mind the gap:
http://1.1.1.1/bmi/i.imgur.com/wNSizAJ.jpg
Region IX
Moar ECB can-kicking….
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-15/eur-tumbles-draghi-admits-ecb-will-buy-busted-bank-loans
British home prices hit all-time high.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/house-prices/12156868/House-asking-prices-hit-all-time-high-of-299287.html
Heads-up, Selfish Hoarder. I continue to maintain that Bitcoin is a scam currency regardless of its current valuation.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-bitcoin-broken-prominent-developer-cashes-out-2016-01-17
I tend to agree with you. Ever since the Medieval alchemists tried and failed to convert water into gold, it has generally been recognized as a scarce commodity with no close substitutes. By contrast, what’s to prevent any number of new cryptocurrencies from springing up and diluting bitcoin’s market share?
Lead into gold PB.
It was water into wine, and that one was a success.
Most of the buyers of crypto currency are well aware of substitutes. Most of us treat Bitcoin as cash that is not fiat, not subject to bail ins. Bitcoin itself is not an investment, but a far more secure way to save money than to build up fiat.
Seems like a question of which horse at the glue factory is sickest.
Ever since the Medieval alchemists tried and failed to convert water into gold, it has generally been recognized as a scarce commodity with no close substitutes.
Good analogy, PB. It’s being cleverly marketed and promoted, but I suspect a lot of crypto-currency “investors” are going to wake up one fine day and discover their hoard of “mined coins” is worth zilch.
That story on Mike Hearn is old. Bitcoin died 90 times in the media.
Go on and continue to complain about Fractional Reserve banking while using fiat currency of fractional reserve banking.
When I was at Wally World today, buying tangible items, the cashier could only take cash or credit, not bit coin, gold, silver, .22 shells, wampum, or sexual favors. So alas, I had to hand over greenbacks. Not much choice there, brother.
I could go to that same store and use Bitcoin with my Shift debit card. Everywhere that Visa is used I can pay with Bitcoin. Done so at Peet’s in Napa all last week, and when I buy my whole beans at Starbucks.
There is nothing sexy about being an FB with an underwater “luxury” house.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/luxury-homes-bet-on-sex-appeal-to-sell-2016-02-15
I check Craigslist periodically for rental inventory in the Sierra Foothills above Sacramento. Available rentals in certain submarkets are usually number about 300 to 400. It has dropped substantially in the last 12-18 months and it is 97 units this morning.
Rental inventory availability down 60-75%. We need to build more houses.
lol@jingle_fraud
With 25 million excess empty and defaulted houses and housing demand at 20 year lows and record high rental vacancy rates, are you sure?
Anecdotally, I know increasing numbers of young people are moving back in with their parents. They won’t be buying or renting anytime soon.
there was an article claiming 20% of milenials have no interest in a car
meaning- they use mom’s
A disturbingly high percentage of milenials are emotionally stunted man-boys who work sh*t jobs and waste every waking hour playing video games or watching Internet porn. They have no motivation in ever amounting to anything, period, much less fulfilling the role nature intended for them as providers and protectors.
You might be mixing up cause and effect.
Lack of jobs and money keep milenials stuck at home. They can’t afford to go out to eat or entertain so they stay home and play video games. They can’t afford to take a girl out on a date so they look at PORN.
Seriously with outsourcing and automation there are a lot fewer jobs and a lot more competition for those jobs. You started out in the land of plenty and have money many don’t. STEM Law degrees let alone lesser college degrees are no guarantee of a good job, and manufacturing is gone never to return.
Well Meats…. thats the end result of grossly inflated prices.
What is worse for global warming: climate change, or all the hot air coming out of Donald Trump’s mouth?
Come to think of it, the hot air emitted from Trumplings’ mouths is the worst global warming risk of all.
“Come to think of it, the hot air emitted from Trumplings’ mouths is the worst global warming risk of all.”
I don’t care but Lester Hayes would say that sounds like ridicule.
Ridicule is the natural reaction to Trumpling.
But Lester doesn’t seem to like ridicule.
Besides, this is a bad week for Warmists, they have to wait for their backyards to thaw out from the Valentine’s Day Global Warming Deep Freeze so they can dig up the sea level rise that is hiding there.
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 -
Sunday was mild and sunny in my neck of the woods. Highs were reaching 60.
Warmists gonna warm.
88° here in Region IX today.
“88° here in Region IX today.”
What an opportunity to dig for sea level rise in Region IX.
-6F.
So much for “global warming”.
Gas is so cheap I didn’t think twice about letting the truck warm up for half an hour.
Global warming pushed the thermometer close to ninety degrees F in our neck of the woods on this February 15. After a wonderful day of hiking down a beautiful canyon with my wife, I’m starting to think that global warming isn’t half bad!
Actually, it’s the voices of “non-bias, non-partisan” such as yours that are bad for both.
Being disingenuous is bad both for science and politics.
For the record, I utterly disdain the partisan politics which is obviously your stock in trade.
We Will Win, We Will Win and We Will Win.
You will repeat yourself because you are old.
Jim Willie: If Deutche Bank goes under it will be Lehman X 5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvnW-daLwWc
A local (unmarried, plans to remain so) radio DJ has a new name for kids:
“Dream Eaters”
All these broken human beings ….
I’m guessing said DJ is a self-absorbed, narcissic ass. I have great kids and love them immensely. Much of my anger comes from seeing the messes generations like the Boomers have left for them and their generation to deal with.
I’ve noted that many on this blog seem to equate “Eating out at restaurants” with prolific spending.
In 10 plus years of single living, I’ve found that “eating out” vs. “cooking at home” is, at best, a break even deal. Especially when you can find some sort of “special” on Monday-Thursday nights.
Then consider the time shopping, the food I end up throwing out before I use it, and the fact that I’m not crazy about cooking, especially after being at work all day.
You gotta live life. Many here strike that balance a lot closer to being miserly and parsimonious. Who knows who is right? It’s easy to pretend you are invincible before God cuts you down, though.
http://youtu.be/eJlN9jdQFSc
Unfortunately, restaurant food is one of the main causes of modern obesity. Portions too big, too many carbs, and — and this this latest theory from one of the foremost low-carbers — too many unnatural oils. Corn oil, soy oil, safflower, canola, sunflower etc.
The $5 Thursday night meatloaf dinner special is a guaranteed weight gain.
Yeah, but it’s so good and filling….
I go back and forth between eating out all the time for a year and then making all my own food for a year. Depends on if I am really pushed to the limit on expenses, like now. if you use myfitnesspal.com you can manage your balance in nutrition. It normally means getting at least five servings of vegetables and two of fruits per day to get the balance right. Veggie grill and Lyfe Kitchen have good nutritional information web sites. The bottom line is your blood chemistry and waistline.
Remember…… Nothing accelerates the economy, creates jobs and cures poverty like falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels. Nothing.
Santa Cruz, CA Housing Prices Crater 4% YoY On Ballooning Housing Inventory
http://www.zillow.com/santa-cruz-ca/home-values/
“We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled,” said Poindexter.
“His hands were sort of almost folded on top of the sheets,” said Mr. Poindexter, a manufacturing executive from Houston. “The sheets weren’t rumpled up at all.”
If you found your old friend collapsed on the floor, would you lift him to a bed or just leave him lying there?
There is a reason that most people cover the face of a person who has just died. If you’ve ever been there you would understand.
the dude who found him didn’t put it there.
When I go, I hope the sheets and the redhead that rode in on them are all rumpled to hell.
The neocons must be salivating at the prospect of yet another military adventure in the Middle East.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2016/02/turkey-and-saudi-arabia-could-send-tens.html
Time for some Raytheon stock…
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/heres-why-and-how-the-government-will-borrow-your-retirement-savings-18679/
Of course RKH then says don’t go into Bitcoin, instead be a sitting duck and be into fiat.
When I can buy groceries with Bitcoin, I will view it as a safe haven.
I already do buy groceries with Bitcoin all the time. Have done so at Ralph’s and Whole Foods since early January. I use the shift payments card and it deducts BTC from my Coinbase App.
That’s all well and good, but the stores around me don’t take Bitcoin. Even if they did, I’m not “investing” in a wildly fluctuating make-believe currency.
The store is being paid in legal tender. Bill’s broker sells the bitcoin and buys the legal tender to pay for Bill’s groceries. The “price” isn’t in bitcoin.
DIY funny money is nothing new. Only the internet base of it is new. See Ithaca dollars. Worthless as Confederate Dollars.
http://bravenewcoin.com/news/coinbase-reveals-the-shift-bitcoin-debit-card-is-off-to-a-solid-start/
Most uses of the shift debit card in a survey are groceries and restaurants. Some use it for service stations, hotels, travel.
You can directly buy travel on Expedia with Bitcoin, no debit card necessary.
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/45w60j/how_the_hell_do_people_afford_homes_when_you_need/
Amazing developments in Bitcoin governance
http://coinjournal.net/andreas-antonopoulos-were-seeing-amazing-developments-in-bitcoin-governance/
“falling housing prices”
Here’s one for SH and PB.
Islamic State stones four rape victims to death for “committing adultery”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/02/islamic-state-stones-four-rape-victims-to-death-for-committing-adultery
Cultures of death got to do some death.
As if that is news. Saudi Arabia has been doing the same for decades, yet it is your U.S. government’s closest ally. Remember Bush kissing and holding hands with a Saudi?
Has nothing to do with being a sharia apologist.
Also, this is not about bombing brown people. I don’t want that seventh century trash in my country…Is that too much to ask?
If you’re calling murderers trash, that’s one thing. If you’re calling everyone trash who is part of some “culture of death”, whatever the hell that is, then it’s too much to ask to ask people to pay attention to your argument.
The truth is out there to be witnessed by all my Soros funded friend.
You’re backpedalling….. again.
Lester knows backpedalling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xabymLUgI44 - 190k -
Lester & Rusty. Backpedalling Brothers Extraordinaire.
“I don’t want that seventh century trash in my country…Is that too much to ask?”
I don’t want bigots in my country, but it seems like we are stuck with alot of them!
America has killed many more Iraqis than ISIS. Our culture of death is much more deadly.
“Our” culture of death? Not mine, the Hildabeast and other Neocons perhaps.
We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of people killed by America. It’s just as reasonable to blame American culture as it is to blame any other culture for any killings.
Watch that video and others like it and tell me you would be comfortable living in that type of society…AND that you want to import that philosophy to this country.
If you say yes, than your are either suicidal or have a deep seated hatred for this country.
“AND that you want to import that philosophy to this country.”
Who (besides you) said they wanted to import sharia law into the U.S.?
America has killed many more Iraqis than ISIS. Our culture of death is much more deadly.
That’s moral relativism. ISIS is a barbaric, psychopathic death cult that needs to be extirpated root and branch. Not brought to trial, not “detained” as enemy combatants, but wiped out as pitilessly and completely as possible.
I don’t know what the heck moral relativism is supposed to be, but it’s irrelevant. My statement is fact. America has millions all over the world over the past 70 years. Some of that was done directly with our armed forces, Some of it was done indirectly, through the armed forces of countries that we supplied weapons to.
Irrelevant.
You seem to invoke the word ‘fact’ but your posts are bereft of them.
I’m sorry. I left out a word. America has killed millions all over the world over the past 70 years. There’s your fact.
Irrelevant Lester.
Housing my friend. Housing.
Portland, OR Housing Market Craters; Prices Plunge 5% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/portland-or-97210/home-values/
MightyMike: America has killed many more Iraqis than ISIS. Our culture of death is much more deadly.
American forces have killed 14,847 Iraqi civilians according to Iraq Body Count since 2003 (their /About page states this database is only civilians; combatants are in a separate database).
Documented civilian deaths have been 152,203 – 172,205 (ibid). Total deaths are at 242,000 (ibid).
As far as how many ISIS has killed, it’s hard to get numbers, but it’s around 6K in 2014, according to this Mother Jones link.
A UN report says 19K Iraqis were killed in the 21 months from 2014-01 to 2015-10: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/19/middleeast/iraq-civilian-death-toll/
Granted, this is due to the sectarian violence which ensued following Saddam’s removal by the US, leaving a power vacuum.
But ultimately, the people responsible for the slaughter in Iraq and the Middle East are the people actually doing it.
About 8000 US military and contractor personnel have been killed in Iraq: http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/costs/human/military
The US’s responsibility was the power vacuum. The rest of it is on the actual perpetrators.
In Vietnam, the US actually killed about 230K and maimed up to a million, with 68K US forces killed. Out of about 3 million dead Vietnamese.
Our military is quite efficient at inflicting casualties. I think we need to stop military adventurism. It’s bad for them and it’s bad for us.
Coming back around to economics, America is learning more about war as time goes on, like we learn about the economy. We had Korea, Vietnam, then Grenada and Nicaragua. Then Gulf War I, II and Afghanistan. Net result is that against all but the smallest enemies and with the most limited goals, wars are brutal and unpredictable.
We’ve been involved militarily with Iraq for over 25 years. You’re forgetting the famous Madeleine Albright quote. That had to with a UN estimate that the sanctions between the Iraq wars resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of kids. You have to keep in mind that dropping lots of ordinance on a country can cause death in a number of ways. If you destroy roads and power plants and telephone exchanges, etc., it can make it more difficult for people to get access to food, clean water. It makes it more difficult for hospitals to function.
Housing Lester housing!
White Plains, NY Housing Prices Crater 7% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/white-plains-ny/home-values/
Poll: 79% Suspect “Foul Play” in Death of Antonin Scalia
“Nearly eight out of ten think there might be a cover-up”
http://www.infowars.com/poll-79-suspect-foul-play-in-death-of-antonin-scalia/
Oh, Lord. Give it a rest, people. The man was 79 years old. Sometimes people just die in their sleep. I’m guessing in nursing homes quite a few expire with pillows over their faces without it being foul play.
If he’d died whilst shooting geese would that be fowl play?
I have never ever ever met a person… that lied as much as Ted Cruz.
Not even Hillaryous?
There are some folks around the corner that cant sell their house after months on the market.
I told them, there is nothing price wont fix, and they gave me a dirty look.
They dont even have a yard sign.
Their competition is the sh@tload of new home around the corner being built.
The Odd Death of Antonin Scalia
Scott Creighton
February 15, 2016
UPDATE: I wonder what Justice Scalia, a strict constitutionalist, thought about the TPP, the TTIP and their Investor-State Dispute Settlement provisions? Because not only do these provisions undermine US law as it stands, but they also supersede the constitution and even rulings of the Supreme Court.
scalia
Justice Antonin Scalia appeared to lack adequate security at the time of his death, Image Source: Wikipedia
Obama and the leaders of 11 other nations signed the TPP earlier this month. Obama was granted Fast Track authority, but the corporate bill of rights passing as a “trade deal” will still have to be approved by the senate in an up or down vote. It will pass and Obama will sign it leaving just one obstacle: it will certainly be challenged in the Supreme Court on the grounds that it is not constitutional.
Scalia was apparently brought out to the ranch owned by a vulture capitalist to meet with 35 substantial business people shortly after Obama signed the TPP and Obama’s offering to take Scalia’s place is a pro-business neoliberal shill?
Interesting timing, right?
Justice Scalia was found lying with hands folded on top of the sheets. It was first reported that he was found by a housekeeper, then the story changed and he was found by the owner of the ranch and “a friend”. By the time they called anyone about the death, Scalia was already cold and they failed to inform any of the authorities of the identity of the deceased. Justices are provided security by the US Marshal Service which didn’t appear to be on the scene at the time of Scalia’s passing. The cause of death was determined to have been by “natural causes” by local officials “over the phone” based on “credible information” provided by that same ranch owner and “a friend”. At first officials said he died of a heart attack but now that official says she “misspoke”. The hearse carrying Scalia away was a “decoy” and the family has opted out of an autopsy.
Scalia was brought there to meet with 35 “substantial business people” and Obama has offered up a “business friendly” judge as a possible replacement for him on the court. A business friendly judge who defended Enron, Rio Tinto and Exxon mobile back in his days of practicing law. He’s a favorite of both sides of the One True Party, the Business Party of America.
Obama hasn’t offered up anyone yet.
Here’s another coincidence, the guy who owned the ranch and found Scalia was a Democrat Party donor and an Obama award winner.
Justice Scalia Dies At Ranch Resort Owned By Democrat Party Donor & Obama Award Winner
Posted on February 14, 2016 by DCWhispers
The photo below is Barack Obama shaking hands with a man by the name of John Poindexter, a Texas millionaire businessman also noted for being a donor to the Democrat Party and who also received an award from Barack Obama related to his military service in Vietnam.
Poindexter is the owner of the very Cibolo Creek Ranch Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead at earlier this week.
image: http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/1234491*750.jpg?v=2
President Barack Obama honored Poindexter and his Vietnam War unit with the Presidential Unit Citation, the nation’s highest award for unit valor, in a ceremony last October.
It has been long-standing policy for the Obama administration to grant presidential awards to those who are among the president’s most prized political donors.
It was Poindexter who reportedly was among those who initially discovered the Justice’s body, and who then coordinated with local officials to have Justice Scalia declared dead via a phone conversation with the area medical examiner – but without an actual medical examination of the body.
Mr. Poindexter was also said to be the primary point man between the ranch location and federal authorities who were notably slow to arrive on scene.
To date, there is said to have been no request for an autopsy even though ini
Read more at http://dcwhispers.com/justice-scalia-dies-at-ranch-resort-owned-by-democrat-party-donor-obama-award-winner/#VpejMJsBWxLTw7c4.99
China advertises the Renminbi, the new world currency
https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-chinese-have-put-out-billboard-ads-announcing-the-renminbi-as-the-new-world-currency-16318/
If they back it with gold, it may very well be the world’s new reserve currency, thanks to the deranged money printing by the Fed.
Sounds like Trump is setting the stage for an independent candidacy rather than deal with the corrupt, sellout establishment GOP. Go Trump!
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/15/donald-trump-since-rnc-in-default-pledge-now-voided-i-can-do-what-i-have-to-do-to-win/
It appears to me that in the democratic party Sanders will have to get 2/3 of or more of the vote to win given the super delagates. Not sure if it’s the same but basically Sanders doesn’t have a chance. They pick the winners.
He won’t win, but he will split the GOP vote, ensuring a Hillary Clinton win.
Which gets back to my MIL’s theory that The Donald secretly works for the Clintons.
There are two things Obama deserves credit for, IMHO. First, he is the only president to pay any attention at all to our monstrous penal system, including a visit to a prison where he sat down with convicts and later banned the barbarous practice of putting minors in years-long solitary confinement, with horrific psychological consequences. Second, he showed courage in moving to normalize relations with Cuba. Even an ardent anti-communist like me fails to see the point in maintaining such a hostile policy toward a neighbor 90 miles off our shores, when we are natural trading partners and a more open Cuba can only be a good thing. I especially like to see US companies exporting US-made goods to Cuba to benefit the Cuban people.
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-alabama-company-gets-us-permission-to-build-tractors-in-cuba-2016-2
“Even an ardent anti-communist like me fails to see the point in maintaining such a hostile policy toward a neighbor 90 miles off our shores, when we are natural trading partners and a more open Cuba can only be a good thing.”
The thing to realize is that liberalizing trade ties with Cuba can potentially be the first step in their march away from Communism.
This ones for Lester Hayes, who claims to have a problem understanding political correctness
http://youtu.be/hiU20QjKPCo
What about the liberal progressives that dont give an F what people want or think? We just dont want corps ripping us off.
“In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members…
It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well, effects American security.
This is a very difficult vote, this is probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. Any vote that might lead to war should be hard, but I cast it with conviction.”
Senator Hillary Clinton (Democrat, New York)
Addressing the US Senate
October 10, 2002
http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/3214/4935/original.jpg
Goodnight Lester
Region IV
Can China borrow its way to prosperity?
China’s Stocks Rally Most This Month as New Lending Hits Record
Bloomberg News
February 15, 2016 — 5:59 PM PST
Updated on February 15, 2016 — 9:14 PM PST
China New Credit Surges to Record on Seasonal Lending Binge
China’s stocks rose the most in two weeks, led by technology and industrial companies, after data showed the nation’s banks doled out a record amount of loans in January.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 3 percent to 2,829.10 at 1:06 p.m., paring its decline this year to 20 percent. PetroChina Co. advanced 2 percent. New yuan lending jumped to 2.51 trillion yuan ($390 billion) last month, beating analyst estimates. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index extended Monday’s advance. The yuan weakened after having its biggest gain in more than a decade.
Policy makers are expected to release a package of measures to ensure economic growth is in a reasonable range this year, the Economic Information Daily reported, citing unidentified people. The Shanghai Composite has fallen the most among global benchmark indexes after Greece’s this year on concern the slowdown and the yuan’s depreciation will exacerbate capital outflows. China’s exports declined for a seventh straight month in January and imports plunged 19 percent, data showed Monday.
“The credit growth is driven by government efforts to boost liquidity and an increase in corporate financing,” said Ken Chen, a Shanghai-based analyst at KGI Securities Co. “Economic indicators did not look pretty in January and many enterprises were facing losses or profit declines. To avoid defaults, the government stepped up easing and essentially delayed the exposure of credit risks. Government departments are also preparing funds for large projects to be launched.”
…
jeb! raised his hand….. doh!!! the smartest Bush!!
http://downtrend.com/71superb/jeb-bush-raises-his-hand-when-lindsey-graham-asks-who-is-a-democrat