patrick.net

Mark D says

names are thrown around here all the time by not only men but also women, in even in this thread. a fact you conveniently ignored. i didn't see you come in here earlier and give Patrick the "helpful" feedback you are trying to give him now? what's the difference this time? because this time the victim is a woman?

don't you find that is sexist of you? your action has shown what a men-hater you really are. and don't act like you are concerned about Patrick's readership. you are here to defend your fellow men haters. talk about pathetic, you should look the mirror as well.

That's pretty convoluted. In fact I do find the whole atmosphere around here to be pretty disgusting, and I have said so.

I don't hate men. I think most people who hate the opposite sex have probably had some very bad experiences and probably they contributed to that with lack of judgment in who they've gotten involved with, poor relationship skills, lack of insight into themselves and/or a paranoid worldview that seeks easy scapegoats.

I have not had such experiences. Selfish people, mean people, users, liars, con artists - they're not hard to recognize. I don't let people into my life if I don't think they're good people with good intentions, and I don't use or abuse people myself.

I'm not concerned about Patrick's readership. I am curious, though, about why he makes no effort to raise the tone of discussion. Presumably he would like to expand his readership. Presumably he would like to be proud of his site. But maybe not. Maybe he's an asshole too.

denise says

I am curious, though, about why he makes no effort to raise the tone of discussion.

Btw, one other point. Some people like friendly debate. But when done in writing with personal friends, because of that issue about how hard it is to see tone in writing, you risk hurting a friends feelings if you argue with them in emails or online.

But arguing with people you don't know in a forum like this eliminates this problem. Sort of. Many of us still have the ability to avoid dysfunction or extreme rudeness most of the time in this forum, and understand that even here, respect has value. There are several people around here that I respect a lot.

Speaking for myself, I'm pretty respectful with most, but I'll admit, I let my inner asshole come out some times with certain personalities around here. Funny thing is, that a couple of those that I'm most blunt with, that I profoundly disagree with on politics, I sort of think of as brothers anyways. It's kinda weird.

Just because people are digging deep to find large cash reserves to buy real estate right now doesn't mean it is a wise investment, remotely sustainable, or irreversible.

The money is based on nothing but hope and fear. Both can disappear instantly.

HydroCabron says

Has anyone in the United States had vaginal sex this decade?

Lesbians.

bgamall4 says

The neocons in the Republican Party planned 9/11/2001 and they planned the resulting wars.

How can you explain the first attempted WTC bombing back in '93 when Clinton was prez? Did the 'neocons' plan this too?

I don't blame Clinton for the '93 attempt, and can't blame Bush for 9/11 either.

if your certain your government was involved, you must be saudi..

bgamall4 says

SoftShell says

Oh? When did you immigrate from Saudi Arabia??

What is your point?

bgamall4 says

The neocons in the Republican Party planned 9/11/2001 and they planned the resulting wars.

.....With 98 senators approving the war, IIRC. That includes senators Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, etal.

Not in the Bay area they haven't ... all the cheerleaders here for SF Bay area real estate sure look cute in their pleated skirts ... and soon they'll be able to conduct all their romantic activities in a "glow" that will illuminate them forever....

"3 scientists from the GEOMAR Research Center for Marine Geosciences showed that radiation on the West Coast of North America could end up being 10 times higher than in Japan..."

You go two of those? I bet you're double jointed as well..

marcus says

but I'll admit, I let my inner asshole come out some times

denise says

Maybe he's an asshole too

denise says

I am curious, though, about why he makes no effort to raise the tone of
discussion.

?? You talking about the tone !!!

Repost! Original thread is here:
/?p=1228460

It's unlike them to give figures like that. At least when I worked there these type if things tended to not publicized. That and they tended to do more frequent layoffs in smaller groups.

Kill the bankers.

A Britain and Canadian crash dead ahead.

Lies! All lies!
Trickle down voodoo economics through 11? tax increases
has saved the economy.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

One man said he was told that he should get his watch battery changed at a pawnshop since no one there knew how to do it.

Changing a watch battery? How quaint!

I hope he picked up a buggy whip, there's one free in every pack of tube socks.

FWIW it's been years since I've seen a STAFFED jewelry counter that could change watch batteries in Target stores either.

Tax increases are the best thing ever happened. We can give the money to bankers, realtors and deadbeats! Bullish ;)

You may be right. But I'm an example of a change in thinking. Long 30 mortgages, even at "low" interest rates makes these shacks look like a gigantic outlay to me. It all just looks like renting from the bank with some tax perks thrown in. I have plenty of cash to buy and yet I don't. I won't say "never will", but I just don't. I have always rented well. Big nice places in great spots for much less than owning. But it's true that I avoid California however possible.

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

Long checkout lines. Consumers from stores all across the country complained about check out times.

In a Consumer's Report of large department stores a year or so ago, Wal-Mart was consistently ranked last in check-out satisfaction. I found that true in ours--it has 33 check-out lanes but never more than about ten are ever open. They even removed six self-checkout stations over a year ago, but recently put in eight and made it much easier. I wish H-E-B would follow their example. They had four self check-outs, but removed them over a year ago and have not replaced them. Plus, they changed several "10 items or less" to "25 items or less" stations. "25 items" is not express, express is roughly what you can carry in your hands. A new H-E-B is opening tomorrow and I'll be interested to see if it uses a feeder line like so many places do today to eliminate the annoying problem of trying to guess which line will move fastest.

This list might actually mean something had it not been for the fact that the cause of pretty much all of this was created by the reckless decisions made decades ago by the Reagan administration in the 80's and which have been religiously upheld by every single Republican president after him, which is to more or less encourage more money for those at the top, and less money for those in the middle and the bottom via the ill-planned after effects of poorly written tax policy, careless loosening of various financial and industrial regulations, and an overall insistence on the limitation, or elimination of social programs that again- are geared towards helping those that form the majority of the country's population.

So what does this list "prove"? It proves that you can't fix over 30 years of bad Republican policies in less than five years. It also proves that the GOP has perhaps been pretty effective at blocking most forms of legislation that could actually turn things around: any and all forms of taxation, financial regulation, or socially beneficial programs have been met by their kicking and squealing the whole time.

So instead of trying to lamely blame the President who is trying to do his job, the blame instead goes not only the the GOP and their policies, but the current GOP in power whom have prevented the President from doing his job in the first place. So I am not at all surprised by these numbers. But its not the President's fault by any means.

I think what he's saying is Refinances have been the mortgage market for the last 8 years.

To the OP:

Is it really Obama's fault that the economy has been so bad? Or was it the collapse of a massive housing bubble combined with excessive risk-taking in the financial sector?

And to be fair: does Bill Clinton really get credit for the great economy in the 90's? Or was it the PC/internet revolution?

When it comes to the economy, Ben Bernanke probably has much more power than Obama.

Bush Sr. didn't cronitize the rebuilding efforts in the myriad of disasters during his presidency. That was why the economy was starting on the right path when Clinton came in office.

There was Andrew, Flooded mid western states and several other Hurricanes in the coast of Carolina.

It was an awesome time to be a self employed contractor in the building industry. I was 18-21 and it was the most money I ever made installing carpet. In fact every construction worker I knew at the time, had ample money to pay their bills, have a new(ish) work truck and a new car for their wife. Many construction workers I knew were also buying houses. The only reason I didn't was because credit rules were strict back then, and I didn't have any credit history.

Clinton didn't do anything to fuck the budding economy nor did he do anything to jeopardize the budding tech industry.

Bush Jr. Came to office and his cronies and patsies changed everything. Starting with prohibitive legislation that placed a bigger burden on the sub contractor workers to remain independently employed. Now if you want to do that you have 3 different insurances you have to carry, license, and a LLC type of corporation set up.
It was to drive people out of independence and to work for half the going rate using big carpet shops insurance and license, basically it turned most capable contractors into meager employees.

It's been one big ole Buttfuck every since then with no end in sight.
Especially when Mr. Hope and Change entered the scene.

There must be a race angle to this. if not, can't we at least work in some sort of narrative of national or social decline, wherein we confuse the aging and deterioration of our own bodies with the decline of society in general?

Facts don't mean anything to cheerleaders who rustle their pom poms little harder and blow their bullhorn a little louder in order to drown out the noise. Bush and Clinton had their share of cheerleaders, but I don't think we have ever seen a president to date with this many blind supporters walking around(many of whom are quite intelligent but have no common sense, are isolated from reality in their situation or are motivated by a single agenda) in blissful ignorance with a finger in each ear, singing, "nah nah na na nahhhh I can't hear you"

JH,
Of course you are right. But the ones who come here without money don't matter, because there are enough of the ones who come here WITH money.

And, because of the cultural imperatives they bring with them including peer pressure, many of the ones coming here without money will hustle to do whatever it takes to borrow so they can live beside the one who DO come here with money. Sometimes that doesn't work out so well, like in the SiPort matter.

Goran_K says

Does the Walmart near you guys have fresh produce and other perishable foods on sale?

Perishable, yes. Fresh, no.

Vicente says

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Shostakovich says

One man said he was told that he should get his watch battery changed at a pawnshop since no one there knew how to do it.

Changing a watch battery? How quaint!

Do it yourself for less than one tenth the cost. Batteries are cheap, but you'll pay $10+ to have it done at a kiosk in a mall.

Call it Crazy says

CaptainShuddup says

I think what he's saying is Refinances have been the mortgage market for the last 8 years.

Refinances are 63% of applications, so what was the other 37% for??

http://patrick.net/?p=1228190

Smoke and mirror lies.

Call it Crazy says

Right, he's only had 5+ years to work his magic and lead the country... I guess he needs a few more..

Guess you didn't read my entire response. Sure- Obama has had 5 years but from day one the GOP has basically shut down any effort to work with him and so why are you confused as to why there's so much that doesn't get done? Of course this is also partially due to outside lobbys and industrial interests using the GOP to get what they want in the form of fake grass roots organizations like the Tea Party and so on. So not only do you have an uncooperative GOP, but a GOP overrun by politicians more or less stuck into power via clever astroturfing techniques.

Do you ever wake up in the morning and wonder if perhaps you're cheerleading for the wrong party because they certainly aren't there to look out for your best interests. They're there to serve as puppets for their corporate masters.

Yes, and the depression was FDRs fault.

I wonder, if a new government was put in place in hiroshima after it was bombed, were there people that tried to blame that new government for the bombing ?

Call it crazy:

Talk to us when you understand what a liquidity trap is.

Let us know, when was the last time that lowering interest rates to zero and doing massive QE was barely stimulative enough to get the unemployment rate below 10, and without hardly a hint of inflation.

You might hate Obama. I'm pretty sure you did before he was elected.

You and many retards out there want to compare Obama to presidents that were in office at a time when lowering the fed funds rate to 5% would have caused the economy to overheat big time.

In other words you're a world class idiot that doesn't even know how things work. You should get along well with Captainknownothing.

lakermania says

I don't think we have ever seen a president to date with this many blind supporters walking around(many of whom are quite intelligent but have no common sense, are isolated from reality in their situation or are motivated by a single agenda) in blissful ignorance with a finger in each ear, singing, "nah nah na na nahhhh I can't hear you"

I'll think this one over during lunch, which is just down the Ronald Reagan highway, past the exit for the Ronald Reagan Rest Area and Interpretive Center near Reagan Hospital

Sure, multiple investments can lead to wealth, but not one. What I described however, would make me retire technically a millionaire, so that's cool. But then I'll give it to my kids...which is also cool. But not wealth, per say.

I would argue that you forgot something: maintenance and/or property mgmt at 1% a year (VERY conservative, especially if this goes beyond 10 years). Let's subtract that $10,000. Now we have $30k to $87k in 10 years. If instead, I invested that $30k with a 5% rate of return (and rolled in the $100/mo of maint/mgmt costs), I would net $65k. It would take an 8.3% return (compounded monthly) to hit $87k with that investment. That's not likely in the long run, but neither is home appreciation that is well above the rate of inflation. IMO, it's only worth the investment if you can do maintenance and mgmt yourself cheaply. Otherwise, fuck it...just throw the 30k in an investment and enjoy reading your quarterly statements without getting calls about clogged toilets.

However, I completely agree with you regarding the positive cash flow. A savvy investor will not start out with negative or neutral...although it works as you pointed out...it's just slower.

haha holy hell. winning bid 132k.

where did you get the screen shots? is that public?

i like the open loan at 172k.

RentingForHalfTheCost says

the revert to mean will really suck for many people.

And awesome for others :-)

Call it Crazy says

Obama campaigned for the job of president. He WANTED the position!!! Unfortunately, when you get that job it means you have to bring both parties together to work towards the common goal.

The Republicans were more than willing to reach out.

I remember when Obama proposed a health care bill taken directly from the research of the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank - indeed, a health care bill identical to Mitt Romney's plan enacted in Massachusetts, and well to the right of that proposed by Nixon in the early 1970s - the Republican caucus, one and all, supported him enthusiastically. Right-wing AM hate radio, Fox, and the entire Republican establishment have continued to support Obamacare since, never scaring their adherents with any "Boo - socialism!" stories or any distortions.

Seriously: If Obama proposed abolishing all federal gun-control restrictions, the Republican House caucus would oppose it by 233-0.

ttsmyf says

compelling and invaluable

Once this QE is terminated , these charts will make more sense to the senseless!!!

Taper is announced, and begins, September with the first reduction in monthly purchases of $15 billion ($10Bn cut in TSY purchases, $5BN cut in MBS), eventually tapering to nothing in June 2014 when the Dealers believe QE formally ends... Big banks came to some agreement on taper in their meeting with the fed. Looks like Ben is herding his banks to the bomb shelters while "US" commoners stay outside!

It's his thread. Just ignoring it is an option.

These things aren't actually Obama's fault, except in the sense that he has failed to fully reverse the situation. It all happened under Bush, during the Wall Street economic coup that took place in 2008, and caused the Great Recession. This is as plain as the nose on your face. People don't want to admit that the US became a Plutocracy almost overnight, and remains that way today. It might shock right-wingers to learn that the transition to more part-time employment all took place at the end of Bush's second term, and was not a gradual process under Obama:

The US economy was plundered in 2008, and the middle class was subsequently decimated.

I think the biggest mistake the federal government has made is bailing out bad debt, both corporate and individual. The economy is now entirely smoke and mirrors. But I can't imagine that things would have been any different in a McCain or Romney administration. If anything, the Republicans are MORE beholden to their Wall Street overlords.