patrick.net

skibum,

It's not in the 'prime' bay area, it's on the wrong side of the penninsula. It's been on the market for 2 years, and has already been marked down once by 20%, went into escrow for four months, then fell out as the financing collapsed at the end of August. The owner bought it in 86, so they have plenty of wiggle room, and our offer would be well over the 'assessed' property tax value, even after the remodel.

If it were a recent purchase, I'd be waiting for it to go into foreclosure. :D

Just getting interesting.

Was it just me or did the gal in the SacBee article make the whole rampant, out of control foreclosure thing up to get her picture in the paper? It "did" kind of imply she was available... right? Sheesh.

"selling one’s self can still be done ..."

What do you mean? It goes on all the time. 99% of the world's population are engaged in this trade, by which I don't mean prostitution.

@Randy H
Good on 'ya Mate! I couldn't have said it better myself. (Picture an older than his years White guy flipping you gang sign, (badly)). When you are getting into your BMW and some homeless guy asks for change and you say "NO" and everyone around gives you that withering look... yeah, they can all *piss* off! Nobody ever gave me charity.

GC,
You vastly underestimate the number of jobless/chronic welfare cases there are in the world...

Actually, the best line from the last link that I posted is:

“I’m in shock,” she said, “because these people were business people. I can’t believe they would be involved in prostitution.”

You have a pretty warped understanding of "business people" if you would use it to describe REIC workers. There are much better terms: Con-artist, thief, Liar, Ponzi Scheme Enabler, etc.

Let the bailout begin...
http://www.ofheo.gov/newsroom.aspx?ID=382&q1=0&q2=0

"The Enterprises have also pledged their continued support of subprime borrowers. Freddie Mac has said that it will purchase $20 billion of subprime loans and Fannie Mae “tens of billions” of subprime loans over the next several years."

Dammit! It is going to be another G&T night, tonight. My wife loves to listen to incoherent rambling about the barter system...

Anybody watch that show "Flipping Out"?

If there were a god for all the people who believe where you live == who you are, it would be that guy. He boasts about having moved 27 times in the last 8 years.

I tuned in and couldn't stop watching (in part because his over-botoxed face is a freakish marvel).

Yea, I have seen that clown. He is such a miserable punk. I am just waiting to see him (and his weak-ass staff) crash and burn. Cannot wait!

I also enjoy the recent "Flip That House" episodes where no one can sell the damn place and make any money. Some just rent it out, some move in and make it their primary residence and some just hold out for their asking price....

GC,

My boyfriend and I don't really care what other people do with pictures we've taken. However, I do suggest letting me know of your favorites on the picture comments, so I can post full size images for suitable for printing. As for printing, I recommend Costco's photo service. You can get 8"x12" for $1.50 and 12"x18" for $3/each.

There's no secret to taking good nature photography; it's just the grind of setting up tripods, taking multiple pictures and never showing the bad pictures. I recommend John Shaw's Nature Photography Field Guide for a thorough introduction to the subject.

J Galt Says:

> There is a great deal that Ayn espoused that I do not
> agree with, however the Book Atlas Shrugged had a
> central tenet that we should not be penalized or looked
> down upon just because we choose to work harder than
> the average person. The argument is every bit as relevant
> today as it was in Ayn’s day.

Atlas Shrugged is amazing book that had a big impact on me when I first struggled through it as a child. It had an even bigger impact when I read it again as a college student…

P.S. For those who don’t have the time to read Atlas Shrugged (or even John Galt’s radio address) I found the link below:
http://www.working-minds.com/galtmini.htm

Has anyone heard about this Jason Buzi guy and his Palo Alto dealings?

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/square/index.php?i=3&d=&t=1070

It's so shady - but for once it's a guy who rips off the sellers, not the buyers.

Speaking of Ayn Rand, did you know that she was good friends with Alan Greenspan?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/business/media/10greenspan.html?ref=business

It looks like he’s saving the good stuff for those who are willing to pay $35 for his book. In the blog entry he promises to deliver details of his relationships with Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, the current President Bush and Ayn Rand, the author and philosopher who was a close friend and mentor to Mr. Greenspan.

SFWoman Says:

> Could we afford bigger, showier places? Yeah, our
> incomes gone up a lot. Do we need bigger, showier?
> Would we be happier people in bigger, more prestigious?
> No. We’re happy, we have enough space, love our
> neighbors and neighborhood. I don’t feel the need to
> be envied by people I barely know.

Every person has a different desire for material things and people tend to be happy when their income matches or exceeds their personal desire for material things.

My parents live in a nice house, but when they are out and about I’m sure people don’t envy the older couple wearing clothes from Ross or Marshalls driving the 1989 Chevy pickup or 1992 Toyota.

My brother in law was going to give my parents a six year old Lexus LS a few years back but they didn’t want a “fancy” car. I would have no problem driving a new AMG S Class Mercedes, but I wouldn’t want (and would feel like a pompous idiot driving) a “fancy” Maybach or Rolls…

Speaking of Ayn Rand, did you know that she was good friends with Alan Greenspan?

Yeah, I believe that's common business/econ lore. AG's harsher critics think of him as a failed PhD student, econo-hack who hangs on AR's coattails.

@eburbed
AG was one of her followers early on, I do not think that he became romanticly involved like Nathaniel Branden, UCLA grad, (eheheheh, shudder at the image). But yes, he was involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Branden

"For many years Branden was considered to be the leading figure in the Objectivist movement, second only to Rand herself. He was the leader of a group of Rand's closest associates known as The Collective, which also included his wife Barbara Branden and Alan Greenspan"

Interesting, (and sick), to note that Nathaniel and Ayn had a romantic affair in full knowledge of their respective spouses. (Just in case you were wondering where Ayn and I split paths...)

J Galt

Good on ‘ya Mate! I couldn’t have said it better myself. (Picture an older than his years White guy flipping you gang sign, (badly)). When you are getting into your BMW and some homeless guy asks for change and you say “NO” and everyone around gives you that withering look… yeah, they can all *piss* off! Nobody ever gave me charity.

I did receive charity. We were on the school lunch program, and after my dad lost his job, relied heavily on aid from our Parish for a little over a year. I willingly give to any number of causes, and have ever since I graduated college. Perhaps a sense of obligation to community is something ingrained in rural Midwestern upbringing that escapes those who would naively categorize people into ignorant stereotypes.

Perhaps you read Atlas a bit too narrowly? I don't recall that pride in one's personal accomplishments was anathema to voluntary acts of charity.

In fact most people misunderstand Objectivism and confuse it with cranky-old-guy "Libertarianism". Objectivism doesn't say anything about not being charitable. It simply says it's not altruistic. I don't view my charity as some divine act of selflessness. It is not. I get a lot out of it and do it because I get a lot out of it. Not only do I feel better, I am directly helping to make my community and world a place more like I'd like to live in.

Where Objectivists take issue is with mandated confiscatory programs or regimes that simply forcefully redistribute the products of merit and motivation to others without reasonable qualification. Similarly, attempting to guilt someone who's done well through their own efforts into somehow feeling bad about having more than those who didn't is nothing short of despicable.

But hey, I guess it's just all about whether one draws their own personal sense of worth from within or from others. In my mind, the shallow materialist, wealthy socialite is no different than the shallow, anti-materialistic, neo-socialist.

Alan "The Bailout Man" Greenspan being an Ayn Rand follower is definitely a surprise. Oh well, the world is full of surprises.

Ayn Rand had a tremendous impact on me when I was in college. I still think I agree with her interpretation of "selfishness".

Where I find her inadequate is her analysis of the very "self" she so strongly advocated for. In her writings I felt a strange reluctance to even discuss the very nature of "self". There was just not enough evidence of curiosity of where the universe came from and why did it become this wat, what is it that differentiates living beings from objects (or is there really any difference) and such questions.

This may be true for many "Western" philosophers. But without any meaningful discussion of spirituality, I find the whole edifice incomplete.

@Randy H.
I apologize. You are catching me in an angry phase right now. I am a true believer of Kharma and on a normal day you will find me much more generous. You are seeing me in an extreme mood.

@StuckInBA,
You have hit upon the very heart of where, (IMHO), Ayn's philosophy falls apart. She starts with excellent concepts, then draws them to extreme conclusions without examining the holistic consequences. Her conclusions are what everyone, (in her circle), wanted to hear, so that is all that she thought about. I am willing to risk censure by saying the Bush 2 may have fallen victim to the same hubris, while having the best of intentions... The road to hell and all that...

@ Randy H.
I would also like to clarify my definition of "Charity". I contribute to almost every museum in Bakersfield, because I am afraid that if any of them close, Bako will lose what little intellectual culture it has left. This is not charity, this is investment in my community. I contribute to various anti-cancer causes. This is not charity, this is investment in our health, (many of my relatives have died horrible deaths of cancer). If someone in my family, (which includes my in-laws), need help, then I help without question, (family trumps all else).

No one but cranky-old-Libertarians advocate living in a society that casts the truly poor, needy and unfortunate aside. Unfortunately, many people seem to transform into cranky-old-Libertarians while blogging. It is a natural act of self preservation we arrogantly call "compassion" to provide for these people, for someday it could be us who end up in need.

But for no reason am I obligated to make those who are in full control of their facilities, yet choose willingly to not expend the energies or efforts, feel at all comfortable. Survival is a basic human right, as is access to education, health and protection from those who would do them harm. Comfort is something which must be earned, either by one's utter inability to provide for themselves under even the most structured of circumstances, or by expending the effort to earn and pay for those comforts through the fruits of one's own labor and productivity.

...and with that, I eagerly await a retort from the good representative from that land down-under.

I am willing to risk censure by saying the Bush 2 may have fallen victim to the same hubris, while having the best of intentions…

??? :O

Is it true that GWB has early onset senile dementia? Or some other problem with language... He used to be more fluent 10 years ago, although the subject matter and policy content of his speeches was usually questionable.

I can't be bothered with an exposition on the ethical foundation of the modern welfare state this time, or shooting down right wing targets, no matter how easy it is. ;) I actually don't believe in fostering 'welfare dependency' either, but there are many people who simply don't have anything to bring to the market, or very little. Even if they did, they would qualify for a $5/hr job which doesn't feed you, clothe you or put a roof over your head, given that these things are constructed and set at a price for a more liveable wage. Not to mention all the middle class welfare that exists such as family allowance, tax breaks to stay at home and mind the kids, baby bonuses of $4,000 with every new arrival, etc. You simply cannot control how the govt is going to redistribute your taxes back to everyone else or for what reasons. I would look closely at the proportion given to military expenditure in the US tho, given that other countries can provide free healthcare and university tuition and long term unemployment benefits out of a similar tax base...

Yeah, I was also baiting you DS! All in good fun, we need to make sure that you have not been murdered and forgoten! Patrick.net will always be there for you!. My point is that GWB has nothing but sycophants to tell him how great his policies are and so he believes it. I do not think that he is intrinsicly(sp?) evil. Just that he has been steered down the wrong path by a combination of people that agree with him regardless of logic and those that purposefully encourage certain policy moves for their own gain. i.e. Haliburton.

forgoten>Forgotten

@DS
Hey man, I have been real busy. Where are we at on the Wallabies re: the world cup?

BTW DS,

You seem to be drawn further to the dark side as time moves on... Your education is almost complete...

DS

Those are all market distortions which you'll receive no argument from me if you wish to eliminate. Were it up to me, I'd eliminate all direct income redistribution in the name of social engineering. I also understand Realpolitik all too well, so I don't waste much time fighting the inevitable. You get a bonus per birth because your government wants "native" Aussies to have more of them. In Sweden these days I hear the all but provide you with free porn and a fertile mistress.

US military spending, glad you brought it up. Being you're in Australia, a country squarely under the US military umbrella, you should perhaps then advocate that you pay more of your own fair share of the costs? Many of those generous social services countries--in fact almost all of them--enjoy such a position at least in part because of US military spending, and their own avoided domestic military spending. As such I hereby advocate a dramatic US military pullback. I say we leave Europe to its Cyrillic fates, withdraw from all of our Asian presence, let Japan and Australia figure out how to stem hegemonic tides in their backyards, and we just focus on keeping Canada and Mexico in line. What says you?

DS- I do believe that GWB has some form of early dementia, perhaps alcohol and/or cocaine induced (two people I know went to school with him. Might be rumours, but I'm getting them firsthand.) He was a fluent speaker when he was governor of Texas.

Randy H.,
Keeping Canada in line shouldn't be too tough. A guest worker program and exit control at all borders/airports/ports of call would probably take care of a lot of immigration issues, even with Mexico.

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Gold was higher in early afternoon trade as the dollar continued to languish near an all-time low against the euro on mounting expectations that the US Federal Reserve will opt to cut borrowing costs by half a percentage point next week.

The outlook for the precious metal is good going into the fourth quarter, a period of peak demand for physical supplies of the metal due to the start of the festival season in India, analysts said.

'In the near term, market sentiment and in turn prices are likely to continue to find direction from the US dollar and the broader financial markets, while downside risk should be limited by the seasonally strong physical demand,' said analysts at Barclays (nyse: BCS - news - people ) Capital.

At 12.54 pm, spot gold was trading at 704.10 usd an ounce against 703.70 usd in late New York trade yesterday.

The dollar is expected to reach further historic lows if a cut in US interest rates is announced, as expected.

Burbed -

Jason Buzi has been leaving postcards and flyers all over palo alto asking to buy your home for a "fair price"

He is apparently trying to flip the houses on craigslist - I don't know how many houses he has bought, but he claims to have 4 houses for sale. You can email him at "premlsdeals@gmail.com" to get on his list of houses for sale.

I would be interesting to see who has actually sold their house to him and what he has paid. I am sure there is some element of fraud in what he is doing based on the comments on paloaltoonline.com and on how he keeps insisting on how wonderful and charitable he is.

You can also check out his excellent website - jasonbuzi.com - best quote "And if it matters, a lot of the profits I make go towards local andinternational charities"

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet...
Bush Announces "Limited" Steps on Loan Crunch.

I would put a post up, but I gotta leave right now...

Remember, this is a bail "up" NOT a bail "out"!

I noticed that said FB is required to show they were CURRENT on their payments and it was in fact their reset that threw them into financial turmoil! So that eliminates about 99.991% of specuflippers (TM).

Tough Love at best.

@DinOR,

Agreed. If the Bush plan passes 'as is' (the big question), most FBs/specuvestors will not qualify for it.

"To qualify for the new benefit, homeowners would have to prove they paid their loan on time before it reset to a higher rate and must have at least 3% equity in the home"

If the Bush plan passes ‘as is’ (the big question), most FBs/specuvestors will not qualify for it.

Nothing will be passed in time. Bush will veto any bill that is too harsh on the banks.

"It's not the government's job to bail out speculators or those that bought homes they knew they couldn't afford"

That's pretty straight forward language.

Randy dont forget that the EU and most of Asia doesnt have the inner city problem that we have here. This alone adds a massive burden to the welfare of our once proud nation. I think one can take advantage of our welfare state for , say, 5 years. After which a repatriation program takes effect. There are many nations that would except a citizen on the welfare rolls for, say, 20,000$. Then we will see the $ advance.

Randy dont forget that the EU and most of Asia doesnt have the inner city problem that we have here.

I wonder how much of that problem is caused by non-market housing schemes like rent-control and public housing.

We definitely need a welfare reform. Welfare is meant to help people getting back on their own feet. It is not designed to sustain social parasites.