patrick.net

Indiana Jones says

-Drone warfare in Pakistan started under Bush, has been significantly escalated by Obama, and Romney has indicated that he will continue using drones in Pakistan if elected. Both parties also support the continued drone warfare being used in Libya, which Romney has stated he would likely continue.

Yeah, in their foreign policy debates of 2011, Romney exhibited a shockingly high degree of "yeah me too,... what he said,...that is yes my policies would be identical to Obama's."

It's pretty clear though that our involvements in wars would be higher under Romney, not because he is more of a hawk than Obama, but because he would be more beholden to the military industrial complex than Obama is.

The differences between Democrats and republican aren't nearly what many of us would like. Although I think it could be said that the degree of difference is about what it was 50 years ago, except both are far to the right of where they were then. Both are far more under the influence of lobbyists and corporate money.

But even the lobbyists and corporate money have different interests and different political philosophies.

Our only hope is that the money factor (how much it costs to get elected and reelected) is reduced and starts going in the other direction, but I can only see that happening either in very good economic times, or if things got so bad that there was nearly a revolution. When things are somewhat bad as they are now, it's too easy for the monied interests to manipulate the people.

"Obamabenghazigatecare"

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

Say hey! This was in the Wall Street Journal on March 30, 1999. Note "... how much it will buy."

Holy cow/interesting/compelling ...!

And where is it up to date??? Right here ... see the first chart shown in this thread.
Recent Dow day is Friday, March 7, 2014 __ Level is 105.0

WOW! It is hideous that this is hidden! Is there any such "Homes, Inflation Adjusted"? Yes! This was in the New York Times on August 27, 2006:

And up to date (by me) is here:
http://patrick.net/?p=1219038&c=999083#comment-999083

WOW! The UNtrustworthy are certainly in control of what information is apparent to the people!

And http://patrick.net/?p=1230886

jazz music says

Republican administrations feature a more candid embrace of an explicit trickle-down theory, which they want us to believe is the cultural paradigm of the supposedly immutable and superior of the two parties. Republican commentator media want us to fear a nation that might NOT hold quarterly returns on investment as the supreme goal. They also have consistently embraced all out war against not only the other party, but also on the government itself ONLY WHEN they are not in full control. I refer to the doctrine of "starve the beast" and "make the economy scream." Destabilization tactics are subversive and useful for forcing regime change, not campaigning, yet they never end when the Republicans lose.

What's with all the facts and truth you speak ?

You're making too much sense. I don't think the right wingers will even deny most of what you say, and yet they advocate the behavior of the GOP. Why ? Because that's how evil democrats are. They're in a war of biblical proportions of right against wrong, good against evil.

That is they are so fucking stupid and lacking in ethics and reasoning skills, and above all they are liars, especially to themselves.

mmmarvel says

ch_tah2 says

Any thoughts on where to invest - either other parts of CA or other states?

You might laugh, but TX would be a great place to buy homes. Prices are still relatively low and the opportunity to flip is still pretty good. Buying a home for less than $100K, drop $10 - $20K into it and flip it for $135 - $150K. If I had the money, time and was into flipping. Keeping in mind the economy down here is strong, there are plenty of jobs and lots of people moving here for the first two reasons.

Texas is a great place to live. Love Austin; great food, art and ballet. The people there also are incredibly kind. A very laid back and artistic community.

REpro says

Would you buy if you will have?

Yes. I'm currently buying apartment buildings in the Bay Area. It's slim picking now. 2013 was the last year for picking. Things got really tight since 4th quarter of 2013. This might be the last year of accumulation.

ch_tah2 says

Any thoughts on where to invest - either other parts of CA or other states?

You're either not looking hard enough or not knowing where to look. Good deals are for closers. No doubt it's slim picking, but you can still pick if you have the right network. With that said, I'm still buying in the Bay Area, but this will likely be my last year of accumulation.

mmmarvel says

You might laugh, but TX would be a great place to buy homes. Prices are still relatively low and the opportunity to flip is still pretty good. Buying a home for less than $100K, drop $10 - $20K into it and flip it for $135 - $150K ... Keeping in mind the economy down here is strong, there are plenty of jobs and lots of people moving here for the first two reasons.

Which cities? Austin, Houston, San Antonio or ?

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

Then how come your mom begs me to shit on her face?

As usual, you always have a good comeback.

Maybe it's best I admit defeat when it comes to you instead of risking more humiliation?

Robber Baron Elite Scum says

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

Then how come your mom begs me to shit on her face?

As usual, you always have a good comeback.

Maybe it's best I admit defeat when it comes to you instead of risking more humiliation?

Aw, come on Mr. Scum, you must have a monstrous, gross, obscene, scatologic, miscegenistic, zoophilic, and/or blasphemous retort that you can concoct with the wisdom of Shakespeare and the soul of Satan?

Your Elite Scum buddies will think you are weak and will start parting out your empire.

tatupu70 says

Some of us apparently don't understand what socialism is even as they re-invent the wheel. Failure to grasp the enormous complexity and "texture" of goods and services in a real economy, stubbing it with uniform goo-like "production" is the intellectual starting point for socialistic central planning.

lol--and in your mind, the starting point = the ending point? There is no in between??

The in-between is called: The Road to Serfdom. Read it up.

bgamall4 says

Furthermore, squibs were observed coming out of the buildings. They were obvious, classic squibs.

Please give it a rest. The expulsion of dust and debris as a result of downward pressure isn't squibs. Squibs are wired throughout a building in a very deliberate pattern. They make a very loud noise when detonated. They don't survive out of control fires raging for hours. And on and on it goes. This is the sort of nonsense you post up. You see a puff of debris and straight away it is a squib in your mind despite the fact it is lacking in its rather essential characteristics. This is what you do over and over again. It is a fairy tale on your part.

You are just trotting out the same old inaccurate nonsense you've posted in other threads. You just aren't interested in the truth. I'm surprised you haven't started babbling about smoking gun bottled water and porta potties.

This must have been an American conspiracy. No one else is capable of dropping 3 buildings with 2 planes.

Thank you. I truly appreciate this post. My close friend lost their mother there only two weeks ago. I have heard horror stories of oppression from my friends and cousins there. I am tired of our corporate media's narrow reporting of what is happening there. The world stage is using the Ukrainian's centuries old fight for freedom in any way they can for their own sick political agendas.

Reality says

The in-between is called: The Road to Serfdom. Read it up.

If 1945 to 1980 in the US was the road to Serfdom--sign me up. I'll gladly travel that road.

bgamall4 says

"Four squibs, in a pattern, appear 20, 40 and 60 floors apart almost simultaneously.

Seems a force of air that could blow down and out that equally and that hard would have blown out windows, of equal strength, simultaneously.

It appears the squib furthest from the destruction is blowing the hardest.

A squib is coming out the corner of the, windowless, building.

These squibs suggest some form of coordination."

? That demonstrates that they weren't squibs FFS.

bgamall4 says

Gary here: With no windows blown out, but one stream of air, does not suggest some sort of downward pressure. That would have blown all the windows out on the floor where the pressure would be. And 60 floors down? That has nothing to do with downward pressure.

Ah yes, because the venting of pressure and the falling of debris is uniform. Or not. Care to describe how demolition experts arrange squibs to bring down skyscrapers, the noise they make, and why this doesn't occur while buildings are being consumed by uncontrolled fires?

I've suspected that Bigsby is a paid plant on this and other forums. He (always) takes the administration/government/establishment side of any issue and argues using scorn and trying to discredit rather than disprove. You can't convert someone who's being paid to cast doubt on everything.

Reality says

So which government standard mandated cars having to last more than 100k miles? The lack of proves that government setting standards is nothing more than an make-belief kabuki show. As the industry matured, manufacturers have to make cars last longer simply because consumers finance cars and trade in used cars: longer lasting cars reduce ownership cost in the long run. As for the phasing out of tetra-ethyl lead in gasoline and introduction of new chemicals to control knocking in engines, the "government standards" have more to do with DuPont patents expiring than anything else, just refrigerant standards change every couple decades as existing DuPont patents expire and laws have to be bought to ban copycats, so you the consumer have to pay up for the patent medicine/chemical.

You really are deeply in the dark aren't you? The EPA mandated that emissions must be maintainence free for 50k miles starting in 1973. That lead to many improvements in engineering to meet the standard. The switch to sefi, the best thing to ever happen to cars, was driven by the need to meet tightening emissions standards.

Lead was phased out of gasoline so catalytic converters could be used to control emissions. Because lead was phased out cars now regularly go 300k. Using leaded gas 100k was the norm. Don't tell me this isn't true, I changed enough rings and bearings at 100k in the days of leaded gas. The effect of the ban on leaded gas was that cars easily last 300k miles now. Plus the lead in the air has dropped to almost nothing. A very good mandate overall.

Refrigerants were changed because of banning of R12 through the 1987 international treaty known as the montreal protocol which has had 7 revisions some of which have caused ongoing changes in refrigerants.

Reality says

That must be why Mercedes researched for airbags before there was any standards for airbags. Comes to think of it, wasn't every single one of the items listed above researched and developed by some car company before it was mandated by the government? Did they hire you as the crystal ball reader telling them government mandates on non-existing features were coming in a few years, so they had to research for that not yet existing item?

Mercedes was late to the party. Ford and GM both offered air bags as an option in the early 70's, Mercedes wasn't till 1981. No one bought them, like no one bought seats belts when Ford offered them in 55 and 56. So no one had a crystal ball because no one needed one. The problems and solutions were well known for years before they were mandated. The first patent for seat belts was 1885. Car makers didn't install safety features as standard equipment because the extra cost would have put them at a sales disadvantage with other car makers that didn't. Mandates make it a level playing field.

Thanks Jazz for the links. I liked the last link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_2831663957&feature=iv&index=4&list=PLw613M86o5o5zqF6WJR8zuC7Uwyv76h7R&src_vid=Y57vy4vWb-E&v=QnpXASPd1h4

Where you have a guy telling his side of the story, and not just the Galician Side of Things. Galicia was roughly the western third of the Ukraine, once part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and before that the Grand Duchy of Poland-Lithuania, that is Catholic-Uniate (Greek Rite, Latin Hierarchy). The Eastern Part is the literal Homeland of Russia, where the Rus were concentrated in Konugaarde (Boatland, now called Kiev) before they were driven north into the Deep Forests by the Mongols. That Cossack region is very Orthodox and very Russian - and very rich in minerals and agriculture (true Black Earth) the Central Europeans always coveted (see WW2) -and don't want to pay Russia for. If they can't get it by Ostheer, they'll get it by bribing a shattered Russia, which is the real goal of Europe and the USA - a broken Russia with drunk, bribed politicians where the nat resources can be stolen at cut rate prices by Bechtel and Alcoa and Citigroup.

The Ukraine is a "Cleft Country" as Sam Huntington noted long ago. It should be split into two. That's why it keeps see-sawing between Russia and the West, because the population is roughly evenly split.

The first act of the Western Ukrainian parliament: Ban Russian.
http://my.firedoglake.com/fairleft/2014/02/25/ukraine-decides-to-fight-the-russian-language/

The leader of Svoboda, the alleged Freedom Fighters, sounds like Bgamall:

In 2004, Tyahnybok was kicked out of former President Viktor Yushchenko’s parliamentary faction for a speech calling for Ukrainians to fight against a ‘Muscovite-Jewish mafia’ — using two highly insulting words to describe Russians and Jews — and emphasising that Ukrainians had in the past fought this threat with arms.

In 2005, he signed an open letter to Ukrainian leaders, including President Yushchenko, calling for the government to halt the ‘criminal activities’ of ‘organised Jewry,’ which, the letter said, was spreading its influence in the country through conspiratorial organisations as the Anti-Defamation League – and which ultimately wanted to commit ‘genocide’ against the Ukrainian people.

http://my.firedoglake.com/fairleft/2014/02/25/ukraine-decides-to-fight-the-russian-language/

That "with arms" was the Pograms of the 19th Century and the Nazi Volunteers of WW2 that helped round up Jews and Russian POWs for summary execution by the SS.

More on the Ukrainian Language-only bill:
http://www.ibtimes.com/watch-your-tongue-language-controversy-one-fundamental-conflicts-ukraine-1559069

Immediately after the removal of President Viktor Yanukovych from power on Feb. 22, the Ukrainian Parliament repealed a controversial law passed in 2012 that allowed the use of "regional languages" – including Russian, Hungarian, Romanian and Tatar -- in courts and certain government functions in areas of the country where such speakers constituted at least 10 percent of the population.

Wall Street always blows sequential bubbles.

Nothing to see here, move along.

NJ also leads in property taxes and cost of living.

A good reason not to buy in NJ is that you are looking to escape NJ.

zzyzzx says

It's all Obama's fault!!!

We all know that. But did you know you could save 15% in 15 minutes?

bgamall4 says

Quigley says

I've suspected that Bigsby is a paid plant on this and other forums. He (always) takes the administration/government/establishment side of any issue and argues using scorn and trying to discredit rather than disprove. You can't convert someone who's being paid to cast doubt on everything.

I realize that. Deletion is in order. I wonder if he is paid by the post.

Deletion is in order because I respond to your nonsense? Well done for only wanting to live in an echo chamber. You seem to delete an awful lot of posters' comments.

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

bgamall4 says

Quigley says

I've suspected that Bigsby is a paid plant on this and other forums. He (always) takes the administration/government/establishment side of any issue and argues using scorn and trying to discredit rather than disprove. You can't convert someone who's being paid to cast doubt on everything.

I realize that. Deletion is in order. I wonder if he is paid by the post.

Deletion is in order because I respond to your nonsense? Well done for only wanting to live in an echo chamber.

Any chamber would be preferable to one shared by you.

Didn't you say you'd been married four times?

Which is worse, her keeping her licence or Angelo Mozilo not being in jail?

Tim Aurora says

sbh says

We just settled into San Antonio, and I concur, especially about the people: inconceivably polite. We looked at Austin, but the downtown highrises seemed sterile compared to the mixture of lovely old buildings in downtown SA. It'll be sweet to no longer file state tax, freaky, sorta.

Congrats and I hope you enjoy SA. It is a beautiful town

Californians have to work really hard to put themselves in this kind house lifestyle.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1501-Summit-Ridge-Dr-Garland-TX-75043/67967015_zpid/

I'm naturally unable to add back all the other posters' comments that you have deleted, but everyone can see the weighting of your comments vs others in the threads you post up and the fact you quote portions of posts you delete. How's the e-book campaign been going?

Deleting again I see. I presume that gives you a sense of power that you've sorely lacked during your entire adult life.

sbh says

Without question. We thought long and hard about San Diego, and then found it hard to wrap our minds around the tax hell and high cost of SoCal living. Our Tucson house, still unsold, would cost 3/4 of a billion dollars in BA or SD. When I consider the facts that the BA posters bandy about as standard housing cost conditions it literally makes me think there's something bad in the water.

But wait, there is still perception that houses are too cheap and prices should go higher. Is it a new .com, this time in housing??

Do you have your finger permanently hovering over the delete key out of interest? 38 ignores, thread after thread of only your comments, and then countless threads where you delete the majority of those who respond. Why don't you just get back to your blog? Oh, sorry, I forgot, nobody reads that. Rather like your ebooks I imagine.

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

Why don't you just get back to your blog? Oh, sorry, I forgot, nobody reads that. Rather like your ebooks I imagine.

I have sold about 2000 ebooks. It isn't a living. But it is something I like doing.

2000 ebooks? I can tell from all the comments on Amazon.

Bigsby says

Deleting again I see. I presume that gives you a sense of power that you've sorely lacked during your entire adult life.

I think it gives him an erection.

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

bgamall4 says

Bigsby says

Why don't you just get back to your blog? Oh, sorry, I forgot, nobody reads that. Rather like your ebooks I imagine.

I have sold about 2000 ebooks. It isn't a living. But it is something I like doing.

2000 ebooks? I can tell from all the comments on Amazon.

I have sold between 1600 and 2000 on all venues.

That's a scary thought if true.

Bigsby says

2000 ebooks? I can tell from all the comments on Amazon.

You went looking for his ebooks and comments on them? You need some more exciting hobbies in your life, like watching paint dry or grass grow.

Of course California houses will continue to rise. The money is still abundant to buy them. Foreigners also come here to buy them.

The money available for mortgages is vast: the so-called "secondary market", MBS=Mortgage backed securities, which are sold worldwide.

clambo says

Of course California houses will continue to rise. The money is still abundant to buy them. Foreigners also come here to buy them.

Eventually the bubble will burst even if these real estate investments are rental properties. Right now West LA is renting around $2.44 per square foot. The median household income is $70,249. If a median family of 3 rents a 1,100 square foot home, then the annual rent is $32,208, which is 45% of their income. A fair and reasonable market is based on rent being in the 33 to 40% of median income range.

So right now I think there is close to a bubble being formed in West Los Angeles for rental property. If rent reaches 55% of median household income then the bubble has at least a 50% chance of bursting.

Quigley says

I've suspected that Bigsby is a paid plant on this and other forums. He (always) takes the administration/government/establishment side of any issue and argues using scorn and trying to discredit rather than disprove. You can't convert someone who's being paid to cast doubt on everything.

As Gary deleted my previous response, please post up the other sites that you believe I post on. And no, I don't take the administration/government/establishment side of things on here unless you think that is the same as disagreeing with Gary's nonsense. I'm not American, I don't live permanently in America, and judging by the posts I read on here, I'm probably one of the most left-wing members of this forum. And yes, I'm scornful of Gary's views. I take it you share his views on Sandy Hook and his twin smoking guns of bottled water and porta potties. And I and others have produced plenty of evidence to counter the ridiculous nonsense Gary posts. More to the point, a great deal of what Gary posts can't be refuted in the normal manner because it's evidence free nonsense in the first place. How do you refute someone claiming fairies live at the bottom of the garden? All he does is ignore the glaring problems with his arguments, moves on to another point, and then recycles the same point later on in a different thread.

bob2356 says

Bigsby says

2000 ebooks? I can tell from all the comments on Amazon.

You went looking for his ebooks and comments on them? You need some more exciting hobbies in your life, like watching paint dry or grass grow.

If you click on the link to his 'website,' it takes you to Amazon.

bob2356 says

Bigsby says

If you click on the link to his 'website,' it takes you to Amazon

Why in the world would I want to go to paranoidschizophrenic.com in the first place and why in the world were you there? Ok maybe watching paint drying is too much of an extreme sport for you after all.

Have you never wondered what he was doing on his blog given his posts here? Turns out he was just recycling exactly the same posts.

tatupu70 says

Reality says

The in-between is called: The Road to Serfdom. Read it up.

If 1945 to 1980 in the US was the road to Serfdom--sign me up. I'll gladly travel that road.

Beware what you wish for. We are living through a period similar to the 1970's stagflation. Deregulation was well underway during Jimmy Carter's administration for a good reason: the economy was was in bad shape after LBJ's double wars and Nixon's observation that "We are all Keynesians now."

Reality says

Beware what you wish for. We are living through a period similar to the
1970's stagflation. Deregulation was well underway during Jimmy Carter's
administration for a good reason: the economy was was in bad shape after LBJ's
double wars and Nixon's observation that "We are all Keynesians now."

Except for the high inflation, high interest rates, and wage inflation.. Wait a second, it's pretty much not like the 1970s stagflation at all, is it?