patrick.net

Hey, do you think there is a market for a keyboard that requires two people to type at the same time? We can sell it to the bureaucrats.

Hey, do you think there is a market for a keyboard that requires two people to type at the same time? We can sell it to the bureaucrats.

You forgot about "bilingual" keyboards and having to hire cronies --er, specialists, to retrain workers on using the new keyboards in a culturally sensitive and gender nuetral manner. ;-)

And the keyboard must cost at least $1000 and come with a 2500 page manual.

The manufacturing will be outsourced, of course. :)

"due to a "rent increase" LOL! Too funny, when you put it THAT way... I suppose not.

You have to wonder how many of these homes were actually foreclosed on and how many have never been lived in? In the end this will only compound problems. Here you have a home that's only as old as the teaser payment and it's already being trashed.

Not that any of us have sympathy for the lenders/builders but how can we drive down comps when they have to be condemned?! Here's a better idea, use them as "assisted care facilities" (Mr. Lender take me to court for all I care) and turn the asst. care fac. into homeless shelters. This way seniors get a 'real home' environment they deserve and the homeless will get basic shelter?

Talk about "Project Lifeline" or "New Hope" how's THIS for some hope?

Allow lenders and builders to DONATE their empty and un-sellable McMansions to the local municipality and get a HUGE tax break! Maybe even enough to make a dent in their ever-growing write-downs!

Simply sign the deed over to the City of Detroit/State of Michigan for them to use as 'they see fit' and you're OUT OF IT! No more growing and unpaid property tax bill! No more maint./"mothballing" expenses! YOU... just walk away! "And it's not like you'll feel bad about it"

This would be a great idea to all the crack-heads & junkies I know. They wouldn't have to spend their money on hotel rooms or have to worry about finding a couch to crash on. Also, they'd have more money to buy crack & heroin. My friend that died last Sept from an OD would have loved the free housing to go along with the free groceries he was getting at the food pantry. I really hope that while in his coma he knew he was getting free heathcare during the 4 weeks in intensive care. He never liked paying for something when he knew he could get it for free...

Don't get me wrong, I loved my friend & I know drug addiction is horible, but I really think he took advantage of every handout there was - thereby making it easy for him to continue doing what he was doing...

Gotta favor to ask......

I'm beating the crap out of a Relitter on another board and need some help. A while back they Feds/Lenders issued a rating by zip code for those according to risk. Can anyone point me to the chart?

Thanks

Keyboard that takes two people to use is a great idea.....

But I'm inventing a keyboard a with a 10 second delay built in after each keypress. Every government in America will have to upgrade to these to protect headcount or else lose headcount to the departments that upgrade(downgrade?) to them since it will take 10 times longer to do all data entry tasks (awsome!). patent pending.

The 'deluxe model' keyboard has 10 second keypress delay AND requires two people to use! cha-ching *cash register noises*.

>> Relitter

Cute.

my market plan is this:
1. partner with medical expert on carpal tunnell (give him 50% of company)
2. He publishes data showing that typing faster than 2 words per minute CAUSES carpal-tunnell and other health probelms.
3. Government employee unions then vote to require the Slo-Mo-KeyBo to be used by all state/county employees.
4. The state gets to hire 10 times more data entry personell AND needs 10 times the keyboards for em.
5. cash in.

And you just averted Great Depression II!

By 2012, every second person will be a government typist. :)

Actually there may be about 20% of the homeless that are the kind of people we once called "hobos". They prefer the rootless lifestyle and bum around the country. But that still leaves a lot of mentally ill homeless people.

They prefer the rootless lifestyle and bum around the country. But that still leaves a lot of mentally ill homeless people.

Urban survivalists?

Go check out the Criterion DVD of "Sullivan's Travels" for more on this. ;)

I think bums are really demons. I dare not look into their eyes.

Here's a fun exercise: try to spot the logical fallacies and contradictions in this gem of Realturd wisdom:

“Realtor Maria Rios called these types of sales ‘bait’ because they generate hype and attract people who think that they cannot afford a home.”

“‘They are cheating the people who bought the homes from them at regular price,’ Rios said.”

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/feb/19/its-a-different-way-of-selling-a-home-unauction/

I talked a bit with a bum today. He had a little battery powered amp and a guitar, plays on the sidewalk here. I gave him some pocket change and he played a "song", well, the guy seemed to be a "bubble off level" and did not seem to have a sense of what sounds good musically.

I think most obvious homelessness is due to mental problems. There are a lot of homeless who do not look homeless. You see them around the BA all the time - neatly dressed, but why such a big backpack? The smart homeless make sure not to look poor - poor people are hated in the US and they know it. They also know substance addictions, even alcohol, are a luxury and stay away from them.

One factor has been the closing of the mental hospitals. Another has been the closing of SRO or Single Room Occupancy hotels, rooming houses, that sort of thing.

The homeless you see are maybe 10% of the actual homeless. And PeeterPee's venom towards them makes it all the more fun watching and waiting for him to lose his job or his fortunes turn downward somehow, and for most of us they have or they will, and his attitude change drastically.

My respect for Obama just went up a few more points:

Clinton: Obama "Right Of" Bush On Housing Crisis

The Fed Temporary Auction Facility (TAF) is getting some more press, this time from the front page of the Financial Times.
And Reuters said, hhmmmmm, maybe there is a story here (but don't panic, yet). And check out that last part of the sentence:
The Financial Times said the move has sparked unease among some analysts about the stress developing in opaque corners of the U.S. banking system and the banks' growing reliance on indirect forms of government support.
What's next? TAF2 - (any collateral will do)? GSEs get capital infusion from Uncle Sam?

Hey if YouWalkAway can team up with the homeless blogs they can advertise the 'good vacants' and maybe the homeless/semi homelss can bid on them on ebay for the right to squat in them. Winner gets address and they give you the 'sheriff shows up date'. thats worth $.

It sounds crazy... but im sure a certain percent of YWA clients vacate before the 'sheriff shows up date' so for a small fee ($200 a month? whatever is auctioned?) the owner could give out an acutal lease and legally let the homeless sqauter live there for cheeeeapp. Of course these are the web connected savy homeless/semi homeless,(like ex-sunnyvale renter) not the mentall ill/addicted sleeping in gutter kind.

I would bet ex-sunny might like to squat in a mcmansion for 2 months for say $100. Then he could sublet to roomates and auction off the right to recycle the copper wires,appliances, etc (thus saving the planet by sqauting!). And all the money is tax free from the ZOG!

Nope not at all interested in squatting.

I'm into improving every place I live, I'm kinda weird that way. Must rather rent, exchange for chores, buy a piece of land myself to build on, something like that.

ex-sunnyvale-renter Says:

> PeeterPee’s venom towards them makes it all the more
> fun watching and waiting for him to lose his job or his
> fortunes turn downward somehow, and for most of us they
> have or they will, and his attitude change drastically.

I’m sure that there is an exception out there but the main reason that people are homeless is that they are “bad people”. Even a drunk with mental problems will find a place to stay if he is a “good guy”. The only reason most people are actually out on the street is that they are evil rotten people who will hurt others and steal from friends, family and even the church…

Nah, I can't agree. I don't think that homeless people are "bad people." I haven't been that close to homeless people, but I do know that the homeless population includes kids who grew up homeless, kids who ran away from their families for good or bad reasons, and a fair number of people who just are not able to make it on their own and don't have family who can support them. Reasons could include mental illness and lack of skills. Tell me, how long would you float your mentally ill brother if you were living pretty close to the edge, financially speaking, yourself? Let's say he's a great guy--but you just can't carry him and your three kids. What are you going to let go?

Mental illness is shockingly debilitating, and it is exacerbated by stress and poor nutrition. So once those folks are out on the streets, they are likely to stay there. Are they going to lash out at people who try to help them? They might, if that is part of their problem and they haven't had their meds lately. I don't know whether it is possible to say that makes them "bad people."

A friend who lived in England for awhile said that squats were very very common there at the time (1990's). Nice, ordinary people, maybe a little edgy, would set up households in empty houses. For some reason, it was important that the squat always be occupied, so there was that inconvenience. Maybe because it is illegal to burst into an occupied home? However, otherwise--squats could be quite nice. And free!

My respect for Obama just went up a few more points:

Yes. Clinton's 'Freeze interests rates' (and keep housing prices artifically high forever and ever and ever), & spending $30 Billion of OUR money to pay for their overpriced houses is appalling . It's kind of nice the see that Obama is not pandering on this issue.

im tellin ya....YouSquatAway.com has a future

>> Yes. Clinton’s ‘Freeze interests rates’ (and keep housing prices artifically high forever and ever and ever), & spending $30 Billion of OUR money to pay for their overpriced houses is appalling .

I will NOT take any risk by voting for Democrats.....

Long time homeowners who've either paid off or else refinanced low mortgage balance when rates hit bottom, and who enjoy their Prop-13 property tax basis, are living like squatters in their own homes,

while the recent FB's carry most of the load of local government services making those huge housing and tax payments .

Vallejo On Brink Of Bankruptcy
by John Boitnott, Web Producer

The city of Vallejo is on the brink of becoming the first California city ever to declare bankruptcy, City Council members said Tuesday.

Vallejo may run out of cash as early as March, council member Stephanie Gomes said.

"Not only that, but now we have 20 police and fire employees retiring because they are afraid of not getting their payouts," Gomes said. "That means we have another few million dollars in payouts that we had not expected. So the situation is quite dire."

Gomes said the situation has been building for more than a decade.

"This has been happening for quite a while. For 15 years the city council has been putting Band-Aids on the problem. (It has been) extending contracts and deferring payments for public safety to the next years as a way of balancing the current budget."

Public safety contracts for police and fire services make up 80 percent of the city's general fund.

"We've been spending more than we've been making for 20 years and it's time to pay the piper," Gomes said.

Newly elected Mayor Osby Davis is downplaying the possibility, NBC11's Jodi Hernandez reported.

"I like to look on the positive side," Davis said. "I'm confident we're going to be able to work this out without having to file bankruptcy. It's not an alternative we want the public to believe we're moving toward with any intention."

Council members Joanne Shivley and Gomes have announced they will host a community town hall meeting this Thursday to discuss bankruptcy.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at 733 Tennessee Street between Napa and El Dorado.

"The meeting Thursday is not to persuade anyone about bankruptcy," said Shively. "It's just to give them information that I have been requesting starting Dec. 4. The taxpayers have a right to all the information that they can possibly get."

The City Council will meet in closed session Feb. 26 with the city's employees' organizations to try to find a solution to the budget crisis.

In a report to the City Council dated Feb. 13, Vallejo Finance Director Rob Stout projected that without deep cuts, including assumed agreements negotiated with police and fire departments by June 30, the City will be $6 million in debt and will have spent every last penny of its $4 million in reserves.

Gomes said the city has a plan to cut $20 million out of the budget in the next year.

That emergency spending plan could devastate city services. The police and fire unions must agree on the spending cuts before it can be considered.

The Feb. 26 city council meeting takes place the same day the City Council plans to vote on the plan.

In a report to the City Council last week, City Manager Joseph Tanner said the city faces a $10.1 million general fund operating deficit for the current fiscal year and a negative available fund balance of $5.9 million on June 30, 2008.

"Based upon the updated financial projections, the current estimate for insolvency is late April 2008," Tanner said. "It may become necessary for staff to recommend that the City Council consider filing and pursuing Chapter 9 bankruptcy in the event the city is unable to meet its existing obligations with its existing revenues," Tanner said in the report.

The city currently has a $135 million liability for the present value of retiree benefits already earned by active and retired employees and an additional $6 million a year as employees continue to vest and earn this future benefit, Tanner said.

"The problem is basically bloated union contracts," Shively said.

Gomes said she and Shivley wanted the meeting to be held Tuesday night at City Hall but one of the council members pulled the item from the agenda.

"We felt it was important to do it anyway so the public could hear and have a discourse on the budget," Gomes said.

Emergency Plan Would Hit Hard

The plan calls for cutting city salaries to 5 percent lower than June 30, 2007 starting on March 28. Police and firefighter salaries under the existing labor agreements would be reduced 15 percent, by 8 percent for the electrical workers and 5 percent for confidential, management and un-represented employees.

Thirty general fund positions would be eliminated, 16 of which are currently filled and will require layoffs.

Other vacant positions could be filled by transferring employees but the reductions would reduce the general fund positions from 494 to 411, or by 17 percent.

A single fire engine company would be closed each day on a rotating basis and there would be a three-month temporary reduction in truck company staffing from four to three.

"The cuts that are being proposed in order to remain solvent will decimate city services," said Shively. "Anything other than totally new contracts is a Band-Aid."

"No California municipality has filed Chapter 9 bankruptcy, and there is very little case law guiding the potential outcome of such a filing. The risks of this option are significant," Tanner said.

Some city officials, including Mayor Osby Davis, however, are hopeful a resolution can be reached and bankruptcy can be avoided.

Orange County went bankrupt in 1994. That was a one-time problem, Gomes said.

"They had issues related to some bad investments," Gomes said. "They just restructured their debt and figured out how to pay it. For us it's not as much a debt problem. It's more of a structural problem."

sybrib Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
"Long time homeowners who’ve either paid off or else refinanced low mortgage balance when rates hit bottom, and who enjoy their Prop-13 property tax basis, are living like squatters in their own homes,"

LOL? I've never thought of myself as a squatter. Am I supposed to feel guilty that I made good choices?

Budget crisis may lead Vallejo to bankruptcy

Labor negotiators met Monday in an urgent effort to hammer out a budget crisis resolution before the Vallejo City Council votes for drastic cuts or to pursue bankruptcy.
Officials from both sides declined to comment publicly on the closed-door talks, which followed the surprise retirement last week of 21 police officers and firefighters. City and union officials now confirm the employees fled out of fear that Vallejo may be unable to buy out accrued sick leave and vacation pay.

Though they remain optimistic, several council members said Monday the city is inching toward bankruptcy. They noted that buying out retirement benefits will exacerbate a $10 million cash shortfall that could leave Vallejo unable to cover payroll within six weeks. But, Mayor Osby Davis said Monday a resolution to the current crisis may be presented to the council by Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, the City Council will receive a closed session update at 6 p.m. today of the ongoing negotiations with the International Association of Firefighters 1186 and the Vallejo Police Officers Association. Last week, the council received an emergency budget plan from City Manager Joe Tanner. It would require widespread layoffs, salary rollbacks, community service cuts and the elimination of key positions in public works, planning and economic development. New fees were also recommended.

The general fund deficit is projected to reach $13.8 million by July 1, 2009. Union and council sources said the

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Advertisement

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
unexpected public safety retirement buy-outs could cost $4 million more.
As two council members plan a Thursday town hall meeting about bankruptcy, officials familiar with the labor talks say union leaders have recently acknowledged the city's dire situation. Police and fire unions had previously cast doubt on the projected shortfalls, saying city officials would not provide documentation.

"They have come to trust the numbers," Councilwoman Erin Hannigan said of union negotiators.

Hannigan said past labor talks have created a "situation of distrust" that led to union leader skepticism.

Mayor Davis is faced with a council divided on how to handle the unions.

Councilwomen Stephanie Gomes and Joanne Schivley favor a hard-line stance, arguing that the budget is structurally unsound because public safety costs are too high.

Hannigan and three other council members - all backed by the safety unions during the November elections and contests two years ago - favor renegotiating with the unions instead of litigating over cuts.

The fire union's willingness to make salary and staffing concessions is key to any agreement because an arbitrator has ruled that cuts the former majority approved in June violate the union's contract. The same arbitrator is expected to rule soon on a union grievance over proposed police force cuts.

Tanner was unavailable Monday. Until Mayor Davis took over, Tanner had encouraged the council to challenge the arbitrator's award in court.

Fire union president Kurt Henke declined to discuss Monday's talks or characterize how close an agreement may be. He also would not confirm if the union - which has hired its own bankruptcy consultants to work with Vallejo's bankruptcy lawyers - has now accepted the city's budget assessment.

Lead city negotiator, Assistant City Manager Craig Whittom, could not be reached Monday. Last week, he said the city has been strongly advised to avoid filing for bankruptcy.

Gomes and Schivley have scheduled a public meeting called "Vallejo's Financial Crisis, a City on the Brink" for 7 p.m. Thursday at Rick Mariani Photography, 733 Tennessee St., to field questions with attorney Robert McConnell, a city Planning Commissioner.

"We're going to just give out information we have and open it up for questions," Schivley said.

"Our city is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy - we have to add more public process here for citizens to speak out about it," Gomes said Monday.

Vallejo's bankruptcy attorneys advised the city not to hold a public meeting about filing bankruptcy before the Feb. 26 meeting, council members said.

Davis on Monday said his main concern with Thursday's town hall is that it "creates an atmosphere of panic which may not be necessary."

The city's bankruptcy attorneys would be present Feb. 26 for questions and comments should the council decide to take that course of action, Davis said.

Declaring bankruptcy, Davis said, is a risky move to make and one that could stall economic development efforts, and the city's ability to maintain bond ratings.

While Davis said he would never object to council members holding town hall meetings, he said he's concerned speakers may lack enough experience, and that the bankruptcy information may not be accurate or comprehensive.

Gomes said the town hall meeting does not mean she and Schivley favor bankruptcy.

"Nobody wants the city to go bankrupt, but it is a very serious potential reality," Gomes said.

Is Vallejo a nice area or is it a blighted area? I'm surprised it is the first; I guess cities have come close and then somehow salvage themselves. Nowadays you don't hear that much about San Diego's problems but San Diego was also on the verge three years ago.

I don't think homeowners should feel guilty for making good choices. But it is pretty clear that the way is harder for young folks buying homes now. And it is pretty clearly unfair that people who bought in the last few years are paying *so* much more in property taxes than those who bought a few years back. I do rather think that property taxes should be distributed more evenly.

Someone buying today will have a smaller tax bill than someone buying the same house 2 years ago. It doesn't just go one way, although those people can appeal and have their taxes lowered to today's rates they still were paying more than someone buying now.

When the price of a car goes up is it fair that the person buying the car later pays more sales tax and higher registration fees? Just curious about your opinion, I'm not trying make a point.

An interesting observation, our taxes go up a max of 2% per year. For the last 10 years it seems that inflation has been published at about 2%. It is interesting that property taxes for someone like me who bought in 2000 do seem very low which sort of shows how misleading the government figures are.

Ah yes, to not own a home and to rent. It's getting better and better every year. I have just signed my 6th 12-month lease in the same building without facing a rent increase. I have a beautiful 1-bedroom apartment with a balcony by Lake Merritt in Oakland. It's a safe neighborhood and the management has done wonders with the building. It's clean and the gardens are lovely. Whenever I've had a maintenance issue I just right up a service request and it's done in 24 hours usually. How much do I pay? Well I pay $875 per month. That's it. No property taxes, no maintenance costs, no pmi, no arm resets, nada. This is the life. Meanwhile I get my debt under control (from having gone to grad school). I'm just starting to get some breathing room because my housing payments are stable year over year.

The landloard has a long-term commitment to this building. They seismically fitted the building 6 years ago. He's making money since he bought ages and ages ago.

Renting can be bliss.

Is Vallejo a nice area or is it a blighted area? .... Nowadays you don’t hear that much about San Diego’s problems but San Diego was also on the verge three years ago.

Vallejo once had a prosperous middle-class of well-paid workers at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. That's all gone now and from what I understand (never having lived there) it's sort of a ghost town. It's sad since basic geography would indicate Vallejo should be a nice place: on the bay and on the road to Napa.

San Diego also lost a lot of middle-class jobs from naval shutdowns.

simcha : Renting can be bliss.

I pay $1600 for a 2br in San Francisco.

A simlar (though a bit nicer) flat condo down the street sold for $550K last year. By my reasoning, the taxes alone are about $450 a month. Interest only loan at 6% would be $2750 / mo. Throw in some insurance and maintainence and they are looking at $3500+ month easily.

More than double what I pay? That's just nuts! Especially when I think that they payed 1000's in fees and have probably lost most of their equity by now (down ~9% since peak according to Shiller), and almost certainly will have less equity in 5 years than what they put in.

Then again Ive benefitted from (directly or indirectly):

rent control (12 years)
prop 13 (flat in owner's family for 50 years)
housing bubble (rental vacancies have been high 2001 until recently)

DennisN Says:
February 20th, 2008 at 1:49 am
"Vallejo once had a prosperous middle-class of well-paid workers at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard. That’s all gone now and from what I understand (never having lived there) it’s sort of a ghost town. It’s sad since basic geography would indicate Vallejo should be a nice place: on the bay and on the road to Napa.
San Diego also lost a lot of middle-class jobs from naval shutdowns."

I looked it up on the map and my first impression was, wow, that looks like it should be a nice waterfront city.
San Diego really felt the impact of defense cuts in the 90s. That was when I moved here and it was interesting to see. The economy transformed somewhat; to me it doesn't really have the same military town feel anymore. There are traces, I like to hang out in Oceanside which is definitely unchanged and very Marine oriented. I enjoy sailing on the bay and see first hand that the military is still a real presence here. I do think that there is a void here now like you describe. Combined with offshoring, there has been a loss in good paying industries which were tied to defense but also some spillover capacity from LA. Biotech is still pretty big here, but for the most part San Diego is mostly made up of lots of smaller businesses.

simcha Says:
February 19th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Discusses his Oakland apartment

I believe your case illustrates how prop 13 benefits renters as well as owners, especially over time. Yes, you don't write the check for the taxes but all those costs you feel like you are avoiding are built into your rent. Renters ultimately pay property taxes just like owners living in their homes.

Oh, one extra note regarding San Diego, the current crisis wan't really caused by an economic slowdown, basically it was caused by pension fund mismanagement. I don't think it was bust from the subprime crisis but that sure isn't going to help.