patrick.net

lostand confused says

Sigh-is it too much to ask for a politician who cares a little bit about the country?

Do you want the long answer or the short answer ?

THe short answer is yes. Yes, that is too much to ask.

The changing story
http://www.youtube.com/embed/G4nxAPj8f3c#t=49

You didn't build that!

Reality says

This is precisely how bad debts should be solved: through liquidation, so the rest of the society doesn't have to carry on servicing the old bad debt. The government bailouts that your ilk advocate transfers old bad private sector debts to the taxpayers, so they are never liquidated but have to be carried on the backs of the working labor through high taxation. The result is prolonged high unemployment, as what the potential employer is willing to pay can not match what the potential employee is willing to accept after the tax bite is taken out.

Exactly.

Homeboy says

So then you were happy with double-digit annual health insurance premium increases, millions who couldn't get health insurance, and illness being the number one cause of bankruptcy

Conservative view is, don't choose to get sick if you can't afford to pay for it.

Unless you are on Medicare of course.

SiO2 says

Homeboy says

So then you were happy with double-digit annual health insurance premium increases, millions who couldn't get health insurance, and illness being the number one cause of bankruptcy

Conservative view is, don't choose to get sick if you can't afford to pay for it.

Unless you are on Medicare of course.

Not quite. Conservative view is that just because you don't have the money to pay for it, doesn't give you the right to steal it from someone else.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=o6N

orange is energy, up 120% since 2000
green is healthcare up 60%
red is rents, up 50%

bringing up the rear is wages, up ~45%.

this is why we're broke.

Back out the $1T/yr national security state spending:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/FDEFX

and things would be colossally fucked now.

If you adjust wages by quintile (e.g. tossing out the top 20%) things would be even worse, since people who rent have been triply fucked this decade and last, and renters are concentrated in the lower income quintiles.

Still, it's open season on renters. Politics in this country is really weird, when the plutocrats and theocrats coalition together as they have been doing since the 1980s.

Are they really using slave labor?

This sounds horrible, I know Patrick is an investor and I thought about buying some too, mostly because SODA seemed so legitimate.

A more comprehensive video of if you like your plan...
http://www.youtube.com/embed/qpa-5JdCnmo

Somebody thinks that redundantcy is a virtue.

He also thinks that the sky is falling, it's just doing it so slow that it's unnoticeable.

Yyyyaaaaawwwwwnnnnnnn........when are you leaving the building?

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Hoss and L'il Joe want to know more about the long form birth certificate and Benghazi amongst other things.

Good grief - the anti-Israel crowd must be running out of things to bitch about. Is this for real or an Onion piece?

Love the caveat in the link:

"While I cannot independently verify that this is the situation in the Soda Stream plant"

Meanwhile, 100X more Muslims and Arabs have been killed or made refugees (by fellow Muslims) in the last 2 years in Syria than were killed or displaced in the last 60 years of Arab/Israeli wars.

Pretty sad when that the only thing you guys can come up with... and repeat. Over, and over, and over, and over again. Moving on...

Interesting how you posted like 5 of these articles all saying the same shit. Yawn...

elvis says

ell at least for liberal democRATS, socialists, progressives, statists, Marxists, Communists and other flotsam and jetsam.

Blah blah blah blah.... McCarthyism..... ooooohh!!!

bgamall4 says

Once the neocons adopted the Yinon Plan they fomented the civil wars in the middle east. Our neocons are guilty of war crime after war crime and injustice after injustice.

I see.

- Russia/China/Iran - arming Assad and Hezbollah
- Saudi Arabia and Sunni Gulf States - arming Sunni fighters in Syria.

But somehow it is the Jooos and the American Zionists that are pulling the strings and responsible for everything? For real?

Why do you treat the Muslim/Arab world like children who have no responsibility for their actions and blame their century's old religious, tribal and sectarian differences on the existence of Israel?

Why do you fixate on Israel when there is 1000X more injustice, ignorance, patriarchy, bigotry, intolerance, corruption and violence with Israel's neighbors?

worst example of labor exploitation in this world becuase there is literally 0 labor law for desperate workers. At least a public company on the US exchange that American's support with their investment money. Like I said, Patrick, a person of high character, finds this ok (because you are rooting for SODA to do well) is appalling.

bgamall4 says

People don't understand that occupation changes the game. It is evil, and is
not acceptable behavior for a nation to engage in.

People don't understand genocide and religious hatred. Several failed attempts by Arabs to militarily wipe Israel off the map changes the game and is responsible for the current situation. It is evil to indocrtinate your children into all encompassing hatred and anti-Semitism.

Check out Hamas' new textbooks for children.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/04/world/middleeast/to-shape-young-palestinians-hamas-creates-its-own-textbooks.html

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 Wednesday, November 6, 2013 __ Level is 100.5

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

bgamall4 says

The Palestinians get no benefit from the land. The wages are below minimum wage.

Just got me thinking. It ain't much different out here. I know a lot of businesses who hire illegals out here. Illegals don't complain, work hard, and work below minimum wage with no benefits.

egads101 says

Lots of bank owned homes for sale definitely do drive prices down.

Let me be more clear.

If home prices were still at the top, most homeowners in trouble would have the equity to sell instead of defaulting.

First, home prices fall. Then, when selling is no longer an option, owners in trouble either sell short or get foreclosed on.

Back in the fall of 2005, buyers began to pull back and get more cautious. Inventory began to build, but home prices continued to rise all the way until the summer of 2006. Then, Supply and Demand reached a tipping point and prices began to fall, slowly at first.

Se started seeing some short sales, but only a handful of foreclosures. It wasn't until 2007 that foreclosures started to tick up. And it wasn't until 2008 that we saw huge numbers of foreclosures flooding the market.

It is true that, on margin, a market with more foreclosures will push prices lower than a market without. Banks have no emotional attachment and will absolutely keep dropping prices until their home sell. And, more foreclosures create more blight and social problems.

Foreclosures, themselves, don't drive housing markets. Supply and demand drive housing markets and foreclosures are simply a contributing factor to Supply. If and when the market does turn, that turn won't begin with an increase in foreclosures. By the time foreclosures start to increase, we'll be 12 months or more into the decline.

The fact that foreclosures and short sales are making up a smaller percentage of sales doesn't mean that our market is cured and free of risk. It simply means that prices have risen to where those owners can sell organically.

bgamall4 says

Claims Arise that Palestinian Slave Labor Is Being Used

Do you know what a slave is? The headline itself removes any reason to read the article

debyne says

Not quite. Conservative view is that just because you don't have the money to pay for it, doesn't give you the right to steal it from someone else.

That's not that far off.

Pretty much, it's, "if you can't afford health care, you should just die, i.e., fuck off and die." Which is a special case of BBill's "fuck you I''ve got mine."

elvis says

Don't believe me? Look up the definition of FRAUD.

He lied. I don't know if it's defensible or not. MAybe not, as others have said, it's comparable to Bush seniors "read my lips, no new taxes." I'd say its both better and worse. IT's worse in the sense that at some point Obama might have know it was a lie. The thing is that he also knew that the Billionaire funded Tea Baggers and FoxBot talk radio listening retards weren't going to let the public understand something like:

"You can keep your plan, unless it's a substandard rip off plan, in which case you might be forced to spend a little more on a plan that actually gives yo some coverage."

That would not have flown.

bgamall4 says

But the illegals are here voluntarily.

They are here just as voluntarily as those palestinians. Alternative is a lot worse. It's not much of a choice.

elvis says

Besides, its a complete violation of trust to knowingly make a false statement. Obummer's repeated misleading statements were not an innocent misrepresentations, they were not a negligent misrepresentations, they were and are FRAUD.

Don't believe me? Look up the definition of FRAUD.

Obama is a FRAUD.

Yes, Obama is one of the select group of U.S. Presidents who has said things that aren't true, known as ALL OF THEM.

So what's your point?

bgamall4 says

Boycott Soda Stream As Claims Arise that Palestinian Slave Labor Is Being Used

I guess you want them to go back to building bombs and killing.. so much for peace.

bgamall4 says

I want some profit sharing for the Palestinians because the West Bank should be theirs. I want minimum wage for the workers. Is that too hard for Soda Stream?

tell the Palestinians to buy the shares on open market if they want to profit sharing.

what is min wage..such costs are set by the market... if another employer pays more then the employees will leave. This is already been happening in China/India where there are no min wages.. so employees leave for higher/better pay without govt intervention. Seems the free market is doing fine.

Call it Crazy says

If you can't tell the difference this time, there's no hope for you...

A. Didn't ask you.

B. You didn't answer the question.

bgamall4 says

This is an occupation, Wong.

oh... so lets go back to killing violence and war.

marcus says

He lied. I don't know if it's defensible or not. MAybe not, as others have said, it's comparable to Bush seniors "read my lips, no new taxes." I'd say its both better and worse. IT's worse in the sense that at some point Obama might have know it was a lie. The thing is that he also knew that the Billionaire funded Tea Baggers and FoxBot talk radio listening retards weren't going to let the public understand something like:

a lie or a concession with the democrats.. the willingness to compromise...

.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Read_my_lips:_no_new_taxes#Taxes_raised
.

"Once he became president, however, Bush raised taxes as a way to reduce the national budget deficit. Bush refused many times but was making no progress with a Senate and House that was controlled by Democrats.

Bush eventually agreed to a compromise with Congressional Democrats to raise several taxes as part of a 1990 budget agreement. Although technically there were no new taxes in this agreement, Bush in the same speech also ruled out raising existing taxes."

All you have to do now is wait to see if Obama can compromise with Congress.. but dont hold your breath on that one.

bgamall4 says

Occupation is a form of war, Wong. Occupation is evil. Israel is losing support of young Jews in America because of this occupation.

You aren't oriental, Wong. You should come clean and quit being such a coward.

I never claimed to be Oriental. You keep forgetting this time and time again.

bgamall4 says

Occupation is a form of war, Wong. Occupation is evil. Israel is losing support of young Jews in America because of this occupation.

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel

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

Attacks began in 2001. Since then, nearly 4,800 rockets have hit southern Israel, just over 4,000 of them since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. The range of the rockets has increased over time. The original Qassam rocket has a range of about 10 km (6.2 mi) but more advanced rockets, including versions of the old Soviet Grad or Katyusha have hit Israeli targets 40 km (25 mi) from Gaza.

Hamas is the de facto governing authority in the Gaza Strip, while Fatah holds the presidency of the Palestinian National Authority.
Islamic Jihad has involved other Palestinians in the activities, running summer camps where children were taught how to hold a Qassam rocket launcher.[29] One Islamic Jihad rocket maker, Awad al-Qiq, was a science teacher and headmaster at a United Nations school. Christopher Gunness, a UNRWA spokesman, said the UN had "zero-tolerance policy towards politics and militant activities in our schools", but that they "cannot police people's minds."[30]
Palestinian security forces say that they do little or nothing to prevent rocket attacks or to hold responsible the militants who launch them, according to a 2007 report by Human Rights Watch

The Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center estimated that in 2007[32] the proportions of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip were:

34% – Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Al Quds)
22% – Hamas (Qassam)
 8% – Fatah (Kafah)
 6% – Popular Resistance Committees (al Nasser)
30% – unknown

bgamall4 says

Wow, that was just about the time that the neocons adopted the Yinon Plan for regime change and world domination

notice how you ignore all the missile/rocket attacks from the gaza..

bgamall4 says

But it was provoked.

good thing they pre ordered several thousand just in case.. oh yea !

bgamall4 says

while houses prices are artificially rising and wages are not going up

The main street realtors (6% off the top) are doing very well... plenty of parties like
it was 2005 are still ragging on... sure dont sound like their friends in Govt will
ever get around to regulations (Gasp that Liberal word)... just be sure to blame Wall street and banks...ever see some the big Liberal on Pnet talking about Regulations on Realtors..... distractions.. distractions... distractions...

thomaswong.1986 says

All you have to do now is wait to see if Obama can compromise with Congress.. but dont hold your breath on that one.

Compromise? With the assholes who said, "Do what we say or we'll shut down the government"? I don't think the republicans know the meaning of the word. There is no compromise. Obama has already said he would be willing to change ACA if it can be improved. The only position the republicans have EVER taken is that they want it 100% abolished.

bgamall4 says

You don't see a problem with that? Get back to you tomorrow.

your too busy to notice the people on mainstreet commingling financial crimes.