patrick.net

Space Ace,

I've got plenty of bones to pick with the Clintonites and I'm firmly against Hilary '08. However, lying about an embarrassing sexual escapade with a consenting intern in a dead end inquiry into a land deal gone bad is a lot less serious than lying about weapons of mass destruction and already getting 3,200 young Americans killed.

The Clintonites and the current Democratic congress is also a lot more fiscally responsible than the Bushies, even if they are not as fiscally responsible as I want them to be.

Anyways, why the hell would I tell Californians how to run their completely messed up state (messed up all by themselves via Prop 13 and whatnot)? My name is astrid, not Atlas.

To be clear, California is a right to work state. Randy confused that in his point. Unions cannot bar non union people from working, that is what right to work means. It is an at will state for separation, the two are not mutually exclusive.

As for proving discrimination, the statistical measure is the 4/5ths rule. In other words protected groups need to be promoted or benefit at at least 80% of the majority population rate of the firm. So if 60% of white applicants are successful 48% of protected applicants for hire or promotion should be successful. Even if it is not diliberate the EEOC can bring allegations forward on the legal theory of adverse impact.

I think many people here belong to libertarian group. They enjoy social liberty but they also hate welfare to some degree.

Welfare is the best way to protect poverty. Not poor people. Poverty.

My name is astrid, not Atlas.

Astrid Shrugged.

$

Peter P,

Tempting but no. Wastes too much fuel. Even if I had the money for a corporate jet, I hope I will choose to fly commercial.

$

Malcolm, you summarized our state of affairs in the most succinct manner ever.

If you read the book you know what that means.

Something tells me you've read it.

Tempting but no. Wastes too much fuel. Even if I had the money for a corporate jet, I hope I will choose to fly commercial.

Really? Even if I just miss the mark for deserving a corporate jet I will get one using a voodoo loan. :)

Too bad I miss the mark so much that even moderm innovate financing cannot help me. :)

You don't need a loan. It is expensive per hour but you can buy time on those jets. If you can find some enlightened friends to split the cost it starts approaching the higher end of commercial fares.

Maybe Peter P can befriend Martha Stewart...

I wonder if she is a nice person in reality.

You don’t need a loan. It is expensive per hour but you can buy time on those jets. If you can find some enlightened friends to split the cost it starts approaching the higher end of commercial fares.

I know. Even if you give me one right now I probably cannot afford to fly in it.

But I will sell it and buy 30 shitboxes in Cupertino just to reignite the spring bounce. :twisted:

If the NASDAQ peaked at ~4500 and was down to ~1500 two years after the peak how did you recover so fast

Well part of it is that my net worth wasn't really that big in 2000. I was broke, actually negative net worth in 1993, when I graduated. My GI Bill had run out and I took some student loans. But by 1997 they were paid off. I had seen a number of my friends hit the dotcom lotto, so I tried, too. After my company went public in 1999, I just prayed that the bubble would stay inflated long enough for me to cash out and it just barely did.

But I had not idea what to do with my new found "wealth" since no one in my family invests. They are all either poor, or civil servants, like teachers and social workers, and count on defined benefit plans to take care of them in retirement. My dad even taught me growing up that the stock market was just like Las Vegas and just as stupid. But I have always been an autodidact, so I just decided to teach myself how to invest. Smart Money U really helped a lot, at least it got me to diversify. That is why I only lost 1/2 when the stock market melted down, instead of 90% like most of the people I know.

Then in March 2003 I cashed everything out to buy the duplex I own know. I thought long and hard about putting the rest into savings, but by then I had been reading The Economist for a few years and decided to take their advice and invest in emerging markets. So the housing bubble and the Brazilian, Singaporian, and Russian stock markets more than brought it all back. Check out the five year chart for EWZ and PBR.

I guess a few of you are pretty aggressive investors: I had no idea FAB invested in hedge funds. I thought he just bought apartment buildings. I figured Randy H invested agressively, since he is a professional. But most of the people here are very negative about the economy and spent all their time thinking about how they are going to survive the next Great Depression. Putting all your money in CDs is never going to get you into the house of your dreams (or prepare you for retirement, for that matter).

Peter, marketing people hate guys like you. You take the fun out of the sales pitch because you actually ask 'what is the upkeep?'

I'll take her over Rachel Ray any day. I can see me getting friendly with Martha Stewart. We would viciously cackle over other people's cake decorating disasters and abuse the help when I find the sweet peas were not properly conditioned prior to arrangement.

I gotta say, I used to work right next to Palomar Airport, and those big shiny Gulfstreams flying in and out of the place sure make a guy daydream.

$20 - $40 per head for a nice sushi meal is more than reasonable.

Just remember that we are approximately 1000 miles from the ocean. :)

Some of the best fish I have ever had was at Fish Market in Santa Clara. Knock it on the head, fry it up, put it on my plate. Why can't all fish be that fresh?

Although the smoked river trout here is to die for. All the water is from snowmelt at 14,000 feet or more, all the fish caught before 8,000 feet in crystal clear streams. And our city water is absolutely excellent, too.

Did I mention that the smoked trout nearly melts in your mouth? :o

I either have the Austin Powers flying shag pad vision, or I'm a white gangsta rapper with the Eminem getup.

http://www.gulfstream.com/

Peter, marketing people hate guys like you. You take the fun out of the sales pitch because you actually ask ‘what is the upkeep?’

I actually do ask car salesman about the total cost of ownership. That is the most important number, right?

I gotta say, I used to work right next to Palomar Airport, and those big shiny Gulfstreams flying in and out of the place sure make a guy daydream.

Yep. Daydreams are good. They exercise the right side of your brain.

I was playing golf in Oakland (Metropolitan?) and private jets were making approaches over my head non-stop. They were radiating: real people do not fly commercial.

Looks like the uber-rich is opting got BBJs or larger jets though. (Think GOOG and 767)

I can see me getting friendly with Martha Stewart.

I will even paint my apartment green.

Warm green or cool green?

I will really know I've made it when I don't automatically go to Southwest.com for travel even though they are the poster child company for a logistics guy like me. Southwest, and Toyota are above criticism.

I find United tends to have the cheapest flights for my routes. Plus, now I have enough frequent flier miles for a first class round trip ticket to Australia.

That's on my list of places to go. United is sometimes the best deal to Hawaii. That will be a nice trip for you especially with the extra leg room.

Hey Bap33, I am also an NRA member, if it makes you feel any better. I support all of the Bill of Rights, not just the 1st Amendment.

We were on an ATA flight to Maui and had to turn back for an emergency landing. Oh that was fun!

Malcom

Thanks for the clarification. I just go by what my lawyer tells me, which is generally how to not get into trouble.

Your info was mostly right, I just thought the 4/5ths rule was interesting and gives you a benchmark to help cover your butt.

Most employers just worry about the overt appearance of discrimination, and don't understand the statistics part, or they then overcompensate and worry about getting rid of someone who really should get fired but out of fear they become a fixture. These baby boomers who used to think they were all that are the worst. Those guys get into a company sit around and get paid well, and you just can't dislodge them.

I just saw a post office mailbox painted as R2D2. That is awesome!

The Clintonites more fiscally responsible than the Bushies ---- Yes, but the Republican Congress curtailed much of the spending.
Today the current Republicans and Democratic congress have not been fiscally responsible. Bush has not been a smaller goverment republican.

As for the 3200 dead... thats a few people compared to what has been acheived so far. 3200 is nothing to complain about.

Prop 13 is a great law. As a homeowner you can easily predict next years property tax bill. Few other states allow for that. Good savers are being taxed out of their homes in other states. Our problem is liberal spending polices. And yes, many liberals from the east coast have a agenda, even in the work place. The ones I meet are always pushing some way to change what people think... Social Engineering... I just laugh !

I believe in God, not man.

If Bap33 was born in Iran rather than in the US, one could easily imagine him/her being an active member of El-Quaeda. Identical mindset.

Space Ace,

Prop 13 is a great law.

It will be interesting to see the reaction if the Real Estate market in California grinds down and down for a decade like Japan. I would anticipate some long-time homeowners getting very antsy about the fact that their property taxes continue to rise; especially if they're HELOC'ed up the kazoo.

(And if you want a real WAG, if CA suffers a fiscal crisis I could imagine high popular support for rolling back Prop 13 with respect to non-first homes and corporately owned dwellings, while leaving it alone for first homes owned by natural persons. Sure would be some lobbying bucks against this one, though.)

Prop 13 has been around since 1978 .. since then we had 2 other Real Estate Bubbles. RE prices fell 35% in 1991. Prop 13 still remained untouched.
Why to is dislike Prop 13 and favor higher taxes. Do higher taxes solve problems? Actually we did suffer a financial crisis, and we fired the Governor.

Gotta read Herb Greenberg's article in WSJ weekend edition! He quotes CPA's, insurance brokers, and divorce attoneys who have great anecdotal insights on how real estate is effecting even very well off clients.

I don't have an online sub, and I read the article at Borders so I can't quote verbatim, but the CPA talks about his amazement at how many of his fairly well-to-do clients financial situations are in shambles, how they refi'd three years in a row leading to doubling and tripling of their mortgages. The insurance guy talks about how starting in 2004 his clients would call to switch coverage from their Honda Civic to BMW's and Mercedes and ask about what if their new Rolex gets lost. The divorce attorney talks about numerous people in the real estate industry (brokers, realtors, builders) coming to him in the past 6 months.

do any of you geniuses now where a housing blog can be found? just curious...