- On 20 May 2013
in
From Brooklyn to California, Housing Bubble Threat Grows,
lostand confused said:
It depends. In my complex , I thought I got a good deal , but they had several vacancies and they dropped rent by over 200 bucks a month. Then it got filled up and now rent is over 150 bucks a month over what I signed. But there is only one vacancy and it is not renting out so far. I think rent is much more market controlled than house prices. The FED can manipulate everything-but rent is determined by wages and ability to pay. Even if you double up, it is still a factor.
- On 20 May 2013
in
Taxes on some wealthy French top 100% of income,
lostand confused said:
Ouch. What do you get in return-the folks who eat off your money call you evil!!
- On 19 May 2013
in
The Most-Corrupt Administration Ever?,
lostand confused said:
Well true. It is wrong and if it is proven the administration had a hand in it, then someone needs to fall on their sword. But with the snooping-that reminds me of East Germany. Since it is AP, it came out, but what else is the govt doing?
I remember when Elliott Spitzer was caught hiring hookers using the Patriot act-I was scratching my head and wondering-WTF-people charged with finding terrorists are actually following hookers and their clients. Now maybe that was political and somebody decided to target Spitzer, because he was taking on a lot of big banks/corporations, but either way, that is just bizarre for the federal govt to be doing. Now this with Obama and AP-I really want to know what the govt is doing, what kind of records they have on all of us, how much surveillence they do and is it motivated by political affiliation etc? Plus with the power of the President to detain you indefnitely with no charges-if you ask too many questions, will you disappear???
That is where this country is headed and it seems both parties are in total agreement on that course. Which scares me and I think it will work as long as folks are divided on party lines and support their side no matter what. Although I think in 2008, the country came together for Obama and he gave us the Affordable care act, extended the Patriot act, NDAA, signed FATCA and now everybody has gone back to their partisan bickering-because they realized it is futile and both sides are just crap.
- On 19 May 2013
in
Is real estate bubble 2 showing some strain?,
lostand confused said:
Well it would be interesting to see the breakdown of investors. They may be buying for all cash, but is it their money or money borrowed from elsewhere. Huge hedge fund shave been liquidated and with these big investors-it ain't their cash-when they have to sell, they have to sell. On the way down, it can become rather illiquid-it is not like silver or the yen that you can liquidate right away.
Lets see. Maybe OC may not have land, but Tracy , CA does have land-thousands and thousands of acres of land-price is booming there too.
Most places where you had sustained booms in real estate, the economy in general was surging-as in main street. India, China, USA back then , Hong Kong, Singapore etc. But we are at 40 year lows in labor participation rates and the only thing to this boom is-this time it is different. I think the fat lady has not sung yet-nothing goes up and down in a straight line.
- On 19 May 2013
in
The Most-Corrupt Administration Ever?,
lostand confused said:
Really? the president has zero oversight of the IRS, by law, and you really think he had a personal hand in the cincinatti office? did he open all the mail too?
Doesn't matter. If the president says "we’re not going to participate in is a partisan fishing expedition." in response instead of telling eric placeholder to do something for once and start a criminal investigation, then it's his Nixonian moment.
I don't know. The IRS can audit anyone they want and everybody they audit is unhappy about it. IF you followed the tax code to the letter, you can get a good defense and ask the IRS to shove it.
To me Obama going after AP journalists phone records is far more sinister and dangerous to this country. We are going into dangerous territory and if one were to compare to nixon, then this would be the issue. But no one seems to be paying any attention to it at all-which I find strange. - On 19 May 2013
in
The Most-Corrupt Administration Ever?,
lostand confused said:
So what is the other option? Republicans shredded the constitution with the NDAA and Patriot Act. Obama and democrats are one upping them.
Now if repubs come and say they are sorry and are willing to repeal NDAA and the Patriot act and other such crap, fine. But there is really not that much difference . Oh there is-Obama actually went after the guy who attacked us on 9/11- Bush attacked the wrong country and stood under a banner that said,"Mission Accomplished."
I don't like Obama on these issues-but republicans are the ones who paved the way and I don't see any republicans denouncing this overreach and talk about repealing those acts. So what are our choices really??
All I see is two parties who don't care a fig about freedom-I don't see Obama lifitng a finger against the war on drugs etc. When republicans are in power, I don't see them offering benefits to men to oppose the feminists and making it a level playing field for men. Today women get everything-they get to work and if not, a man has to support her forever in the lifestyle she was used to and if she was not smart enough to snag a rich man, then taxpayers support her and the kids with welfare. What kind of crappy equality is that?? But I don't see republicans talking to modern men-instead they focus on birth control and gays and abortion-like that affects men??? Ok the policy against gays do, but still.
A lot of people in the middle feel left out and are disgusted, but I think the political parties know it and cater to their base-all they care about is winning-one term means pensions, health care benefits and a future job as a multi-million dollar earning lobbyist.Who cares about the country???
- On 19 May 2013
in
Free Patrick.net Bumper Stickers,
lostand confused said:
Hello everyone! Today to discuss the Global Forum for high-quality shoes.
You have a forum for high quality shoes???
- On 19 May 2013
in
Is real estate bubble 2 showing some strain?,
lostand confused said:
Perhaps. But I am seeing price reductions in this market- not many-so far have seen in about 5 houses. Which is why I am posting, to see if anyone else is seeing the same phenomenon. From all accounts, the market is on a tear and so wondering why people have to reduce prices-unless they overpriced it to begin with.
- On 18 May 2013
in
Sex abuse of inmates rampant in American jails,
lostand confused said:
Remember many in prison are there on drug charges or other such choices-which in a free country-oh well.
- On 18 May 2013
in
U.S Economic Growth, Dropping QE3 - YouTube,
lostand confused said:
In the current climate, mortgage debt isn't bad either. Buy a house, if it goes up gain is yours. If it goes down, stop paying the mortgage for a few years, squat in it and the gubmnt will reduce your colalteral or some such or just walk away. If you stop paying rent, they kick you out.
- On 18 May 2013
in
New report may kill the house mortgage interest deduction,
lostand confused said:
Too popular. Politicians are not going to touch it.
- On 17 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
I think you are a little lost and confused on this one. What if Sara Palin
had gotten in to the inner circle ? These non-government propagandists are the
ones who give us our candidates. In recent cycles, they have been so crazy and
far right, that it works against them.
But don't kid yourself, under the right circumstances, they could get more of
their people in. And their people already control the house of reps. Republicans
are now literally afraid to cross the people who believe all the (talk radio)
bullshit. There is a far right machine that says if you don't tow the line,
we'll run you out of office with one of our candidates.
Do you really think these people and the propaganda machine are independent
of one another ?Again you are confusing the issue. Just imagine if another Palin becomes the VP next time and the President croaks. Now you have a batsh*t crazy president with immense powers. If we have a bad President, then that is what checks and balances are for. You start removing those-then what do you have when a real nasty President takes office??
I don't care if Sarah Palin or Ann Coulter becomes President. What I do care, is that there be a very strong system of checks and balances to prevent them from doing tremendous damge, before they are thrown out. By ignoring the bad done by "your guy", you are setting up for a big disaster later.
- On 17 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
The press and more specifically the right wing press is a far bigger danger
to the future of this country than the government is.Music to the ears of dictators across the world.
No, because of the success of propaganda in Nazi Germany, which effectively
brainwashed the majority of citizens in a technological 1st world nation into
committing evil atrocity. Because of the success of propaganda in North Korea
which has brainwashed their citizens into supporting their own starvation.
Because propaganda works.
Anyone who thinks the media in this country cannot become a serious threat is
really REALLY ignorant of history and a fool.You conveniently leave out the fact that propoganda is controlled by the govt in those countries and as you suggested before as an example, the govt does not allow oppposing viewpoints. You may dislike Fox News-as do I- but they serve a very important purpose.
If a politician can't survive in the world of domestic politics, then what use is he in the international arena-where folks are far more ruthless and propoganda is king?? Once Obama continues on this path and the next President may be much worse, then they shackle the press with threats, constant surveillance, then you will see propoganda. Nothing happens overnight-it takes time to build and we are heading that way-or at least the state sponsored terror apapratus is being set up.
Remember Nazi Germany did not evolve overnight-they were badly defeated in World war I and suffered terrible terms in the treaty and people were willing to give up their freedoms for more security and national interest-. it didn't happen because a bunch of talking heads spewed their garbage non-stop.
- On 17 May 2013
in
Chinese counterfeit condom repackaging operation shut down!,
lostand confused said:
Lord knows how many got knocked up or how many folks got STDs from using this fake condoms.
Article did not mention anything about the quality of the cheap counterfeit condoms.
Yes, but even legitimate Chinese products usually are of low quality-one shudders to think of the quality of the fake condoms .
- On 16 May 2013
in
The housing bears are rightfully frustrated,
lostand confused said:
are you kidding me? what would payment have been with 4.75%, 20% down have
been in 2010? what was/is rent?
makes not buying then a rather huge freaking mistake!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not 2010- comparing the prices in 2000 vs 2013 versus the economy in the same timeframe.
- On 16 May 2013
in
The housing bears are rightfully frustrated,
lostand confused said:
Lower end homes in places like Burbank, Alhambra, Lakewood, Culver City, etc
were $200-225k in 2000. Now those same homes start at $500k(except Lakewood and
its getting closer) and more commonly are $600k and up.Yup and compare the economy of 2000 and now. That is why this does not make sense-but it is what it is.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Chinese counterfeit condom repackaging operation shut down!,
lostand confused said:
Lord knows how many got knocked up or how many folks got STDs from using this fake condoms.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
I will not compare our current cesspool of Newscorp-style thug journalism with
anything that needs protecting.Yes, but it was the AP that they went after , not NEWSCORP-but I think it would have been just as bad. Prohibiting press power in one market was to prevent people from controlling all news-not to curtail press freedom. With the passage of several laws after 9/11, it is the govt that has too much power. They are starting to act like the eastern European block-at least they have the power to do so. At such troubled times, the press is our only friend.
Fox News may be crazy-but if it causes even an ounce of fear in the Obama administration and causes them to think about things -then good , they have served their purpose-however repungent they may be. The same for say MSNBC and the republicans. Govt exists to serve us and they are all public servants. But when the govt's reach grows by leaps and bounds-especially under a President who is a constitutional scholar, then any attempt to curb the freedom of the Press must not be taken lightly.
I think it is the Obamas of the world who may prove more dangerous. Dubya was universally panned and even considered evil-to the point where some consider him to be responsible for 9/11. But Obama , the constitutional scholar, guy from poor background, nice, smiling and then he does these sorts of things.
Now I do like him on the way he dealt with Osama, IT offshoring etc-but I do not like these areas and do not like where we are going. The infrastructure is in place for an authoritative govt. The populace is slowly conditioned, by accepting of a police state-no nation puts more of its people in jail per capita or absolute numbers. Then there is general apathy and you have Obama -where more people are worried about the IRS auditing tea party than the govt snooping on journalists and/or all of us.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
But the press has generally been exempt from naming their sources and journalists have gone to jail to prevent that.
You contradict yourself in a single sentence.
The fact that people go to jail to protect their sources PROVES the press is not exempt from criminal investigations. There is nothing in the constitution that gives the press any immunity whatsoever.
Protecting your source can even reach the level of criminal conspiracy.
Nope, what I am saying is there is the law and there is what happens in real life or cherished traditions. One of our cherished traditions is freedom of the press. For example today, the President of the United states can hold anyone with no charges. Now of course he will say it is for national security as Obama is doing now. But it was always the Press and/or people in the know concerned about the direction the country is going who at considerable risk to themselves reveal the info. They may leak that the person being held is just the guy who slept with Obama's wife and in no way affects national security.
There are no checks to who Obama can hold and for how long.
Such acts are required for the health of our democracy. If it is proven later that the revealed info was through enemy spies and it actually affects national security-then fine. But that distinction needs to be there in a country that jails more people than any nation on earth. Obama is scary, because he has used the espionage act more than all other Presidents combined and has been aggressively using many secretive provisions. Wether it is pasisng FATCA, NDAA-he is worse than Bush-because he knows what he is doing. - On 16 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
So the answer is no. The press has absolutely no expectations that they can
receive criminal leaks without the government going after their recordsWell the law may say that. But the press has generally been exempt from naming their sources and journalists have gone to jail to prevent that. But if the government is bugging everybody and monitoring everybody-then that point is moot. I think our country is starting to resemble the communist block countries, with the govt maintaining a record of everything, the President able to whisk away anyone at anytime-legally. Not good, not good and if we keep to our party line and support "Our Guy", then we risk losing something valuable before we even know it.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
Do you think the press should be immune from phone record seizure in a
criminal investigation?
Yes or no
No one is immune from the law-including the President and his cronies. Now if they have twisted the law to such an extent-where the President can whisk you away and detain you indefnitely for ever with no reason needed-that is a scary direction for this country. Just like this-national security-really for so many over two months ?? These kind of laws were used to catch Elliott Spitzer hiring hookers-as well as many other men who quietly paid the fines and never raised a stink. I don't like the direction this country is heading and OBama being a constitutional scholar should know better. At least Dubya had an excuse-he was dumb.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Oh Yougins!,
lostand confused said:
So this is another great gift to the dems taget demographic...
Oh- you mean the now growing and much larger demographic of voters whom now
outnumber the GOP base who swept Obama into a 2nd term with the single largest
popular vote majority since the Eisenhower administration? The same demographic
the GOP decided to ignore for decades as they decided to instead become ( in the
words of Bobby Jindal) : The "Stupid party"? You mean the demographic that finds
most of the GOP candidates supported by the GOP base unappealing and hence
politicians they will never vote for?
Yeah...
Ah honesty at least.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Detroit Beyond Repair; Next Stop: Cannibal Anarchy,
lostand confused said:
Well, another thing with cities like Detroit is that if there is no work/jobs, nobody wnats to live there. The climate is too harsh. I lived through a few mid-west winters -Good Lord. Though I did meet a lady from Alaska who loved it and she actually didn't like the sun.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Oh Yougins!,
lostand confused said:
So this is another great gift to the dems taget demographic-women and feminists. Nice-what a farce-affordable care indeed.
- On 16 May 2013
in
Obama administration seizes 2 months of phone records of A.P. journalists,
lostand confused said:
Obama makes no apologies for AP phone scandal-this guy is starting to scare me.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/16/obama-ap-scandal_n_3287165.html