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http://www.grassley.senate.gov/iowa/Washington-DC-office.cfm

justme says

Ahem, and I quote myself:

http://patrick.net/?p=1234352&c=1026966#comment-1026966

I'm not convinced at the moment that Zimmerman is guilty of domestic violence. The whole case seems a bit fishy.

And this from a guy that is quite convinced that Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin.

I never in a million years would have thought I would be defending George Zimmerman. But I severely disapprove of false accusation of domestic violence or any other crime.

Now, if only the authorities could find some new evidence against Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case, at least there could be a civil case against him.

Before you knock yourself over patting yourself on the back, consider that it is very common for woman to get cold feet when accusing their boyfriends.

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/abuse/a/Why-Do-Domestic-Violence-Victims-Recant.htm

I don't know what happened, but I don't think her decision not to prosecute is an indication that he's innocent..

People STILL continue to make facts up regarding this guy. Good lord, he's been investigated by local and federal agencies, found not guilty in court, had it confirmed that witnesses against him are lying, and yet he still walks as a free man.

He must be some crazy criminal genius to keep outsmarting all these people and getting away with murder and DV.

dodgerfanjohn says

He must be some crazy criminal genius to keep outsmarting all these people and getting away with murder and DV.

lol--Does the name OJ Simpson ring a bell?

Another case of leftest enforcers intimidating witnesses to fulfill the left's wet dream of hanging zimmerman, innocence be damned...

Call it Crazy says

Hmmmm... Looks like the story changes........ Again....

Everyone on this site that tried and convicted poor George.

Call it Crazy says

I wonder who should be charged with a crime NOW???

If Zimmermann is convicted, companies will just pass the cost onto consumers, and we'll all end up paying more for products.

Given the amount of forum capital expended on proving george guilty in the trayvon case, only to be proven wrong about his guilt, it's become a lifelong trek for these folks to try to salvage whatever is left of their online reputation.

mell says

Not only that, even if there was anything to it, it's completely irrelevant. How anyone could focus on GZ trying to follow and convict him with such fervor and for so long is completely bananas.

It's all about rule of law.
One side gets it, the other abhors it.

dodgerfanjohn says

He must be some crazy criminal genius to keep outsmarting all these people and getting away with murder and DV.

I wonder if he got his guns back?

Yosemite Zimmerman

hey guys back in december 2011 i predicted that obama would still be president on this very day

call me Nostradamus, i should get my own tv show

total liar

you claimed there was 1 week of inventory in san mateo now you are back tracking like the liar you are

all liars use the same tactics

patrick.net/?p=1234779

liars exposed

just read the thread liar

everyone else can read it and see what a liar you are

dodgerfanjohn says

People STILL continue to make facts up regarding this guy. Good lord, he's
been investigated by local and federal agencies, found not guilty in court, had
it confirmed that witnesses against him are lying, and yet he still walks as a
free man.

That was for killing T Martin. And if he "still walks as a free man" it's because he posted bond, and he was charged with a felony and was awaiting trial.

Were the charges against GZ dropped? I really don't know but it seems that every right winger has GZ as priority 1 in their life, including you.

Let me change the topic from the "personal attack" comments.
If anyone pays more than 10% of listing price they might be a IDIOT.

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 Thursday, December 12, 2013 __ Level is 100.7

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

Strategist says

How can that be possible with a rising population?

Because population doesn't rise evenly. "Boom"
Besides, it's hard to get excited about rising population as a driver of demand. That has been happening for a long time which would suggest unchanging demand and is only slowing down in recent decades.

What a bull. I could hope for nothing more.
Real Estate is in full recovery mode. With inventories falling at a rapid pace prices of homes can only go up. How high they jump will probably be determined by loan availability.
Home builder stocks in my opinion will outperform home price increases.

Strategist says

They all have to live somewhere.

And work, unless they are independently wealthy.

bgamall4 says

Reality says

Just like the mushrooming of Americans on disability (not actually disabled) due to government policies

Prove it. You can't assume that statement is true. Maybe more of the disabled are applying for the benefits than in the past.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/disability-usa/

bgamall4 says

Strategist says

I personally believe our standard of living will keep getting better over the decades, and the average consumer will have a much higher purchasing power, benefiting real estate the most.

That assessment is fundamentally flawed. Wages will decline for years to even the playing field internationally. And if property does not fall in the same way at the same rate, most people will be royally screwed.

That assessment may not be correct. The "leveling" may have already taken place, and is about to flow backwards. The very high real estate prices in India and China make it highly unlikely that their wages can stay low for long, and they have been experiencing double-digit annual wage increases in recent years. There is transportation cost and management overhead associated with outsourcing.

Mark D says

boomers have to live some where. they aren't going to move out of their big houses and live in their cars.

prices for small homes will go up. rents will go up and drive prices for small homes to go up even more.

btw, they like warm weather so buy in CA, FL, and AZ.

Prices for retirement villages, group homes, and assisted living will go up, way up.Most people retire to protected gated communities with amenities and services, not ordinary houses in towns. Look at south jersey or south florida (pre insanity and crash). The retirees barely affect the house prices outside the gates. Invest big in companies providing for seniors.

You forgot Texas, one of the larger retiree states.

Reality says

That assessment may not be correct. The "leveling" may have already taken place, and is about to flow backwards. The very high real estate prices in India and China make it highly unlikely that their wages can stay low for long, and they have been experiencing double-digit annual wage increases in recent years. There is transportation cost and management overhead associated with outsourcing.

The leveling will continue. The huge multinational corporations will be arbitraging the cost of labor forever. China and India will simply lose out to the next place that provides the lowest cost Tons of manufacturing is moving to Vietnam right now. Watch for Burma to be next if the government there truly stabilizes with parts of Africa in the on deck circle. There's always someone poorer and more desperate.

No predictions about teachers unions? You are slipping.

I'm also predicting a homophobic FortWayne comment.

Wealth disparity is a symptom of the corporate takeover of our systems of governance.
The coup d'etat is a done thing. The future is plain if you just use other countries, more advanced in this process, to understand how existing trends extend and accelerate.
Gated Communities…..now with armed guards and armed private patrols.
Armed security at all public shopping venues geared to the economic elites.
Separate, and privatized, EVERYTHING for the elites, security, transportation, schools, food sourcing.
The service class resides in a buffering ring around elite enclaves.
The entire rest of the country is abandoned, to blame themselves and do-the-best-you-can-while-you-starve in urban and rural slums. Quietly please, losers.

All this is current day in Sao Palo or Lagos

The American Favelas will first be abandoned and then reoccupied, for profit, using technology, drones and urban warfare tactics honed in the illegal resource wars of the last decade. (happening right now in the Camden Test Area http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/apocalypse-new-jersey-a-dispatch-from-americas-most-desperate-town-20131211)

As the empire collapses, due to the Senatorial Classes increasingly frenzied depredations,, the might of the US Armed Forces (and of course their corporate partners) will be brought home to fight at our our borders and to contain social unrest . The mechanisms are already in place with the creation of NORTHCOM (we did without a North American continental battle group for 200 years, well we have one now) NDAA indefinite detention and the tragic degradation of Posse Comitatus under the pretense of the hideously corrupt War on Drugs.
The American people are being acclimated now for intrusive search and destruction of personal sanctity. Young people today take for granted body search at the airport and stadium.

Roberto was a Cornucopian Fabulist. Robots! Thorium! Elon is going to build me a groovy car and Google is going to drive it for me!
The future is plain to see, if you can see past your normalcy bias and fears.

edvard2 says

Everything you just described is basically the system that has been in place of auto manufacturing since its inception. Its been long-established that auto manufactures will often use components that in many cases are used across their entire lineup of vehicles. We can dilly-dally about this all day long, but "modular engineering" in auto manufacturing is nothing that suddenly came about. As I mentioned before, the textbook definition of modular engineering is simply about the production of different components by separate entities to be used in a finished product. That's it!

Sorry, but you're still looking at the wrong end of the horse. The long established practice is to produce a component and engineer the platform around the component. The ford windsor engine you named is an example. The engineers drew up an engine then millions of cars were designed to take it. In today's world the engine space for the platform would be defined and new engines designed to fit in. Paradigm shift.

That's what is new and revolutionary, the components are engineered around a common set of platform standards that exist through the entire line. VW is probably the furthest along with this, but everyone is moving toward it. Again it's like plugging a computer card into a bus instead of designing a computer around a set of chips, which is how computers were built for many years. You really don't see the difference do you?

So all programming is about 0's and 1's. All cars run down an assembly line. Would you say the ford's original river rouge line pumping out model t's is the same thing as hyuda's incredible birmingham factory which is probably the most advanced in the world? Computers, robots, just in time, cad/cam, cnc milling, ,computerized metal forming, etc. etc. don't change the game it's all the same to you? Batch processing tapes with cobol (I actually did that) is the same as providing sophisticated online ecommerce like amazon for millions of people across the world? Sorry, I don't agree.

APOCALYPSEFUCKisShostikovitch says

sed 's/ti/ta/g'

New Renter says

Strategist says

They all have to live somewhere.

And work, unless they are independently wealthy.

Most people come to California for the same reason they always came for.....economic opportunities.

Why is land so expensive in Japan:

http://www.thejapanfaq.com/FAQ-Prices.html

Ask any Japanese why homes cost so much and you'll get the Standard Party Line: "Yes, Japan is a small country with very little land, blah, blah, blah." This of course is true. At 127 million people Japan has almost half the U.S. population in a land space that's a bit smaller than California. But that does not explain why a QUARTER of the Japanese population lives in or around Tokyo, or why the Shimane Prefectural government gave away land for free if you agreed to live there at least 6 mos. a year. The real reasons are found a bit deeper. In fact, most Japanese themselves, being completely apolitcal, are clueless on how their government or System functions. One of the biggest reasons why Tokyo is insanely expensive is because the government is based there. And Big Business is in bed with the politicians and bureaucrats. So if Big Business is based there, that's where all the best jobs are and where everyone wants to live. But there's more. Japan is one of the few nations in the industrialized world that has extremely light property taxes, but if you sell a home the tax is a killer 50%!!. This chokes off the supply of land and for the average Japanese worker owning a home will only be a dream. Some companies in fact have issued loans to buy a home where your children and then grandchildren, as of yet unborn, will finish paying off the mortgage. Land is also very expensive because floor space per square meter of land is artificially restricted by government regulations. Inheiritance taxes in Japan are even more devastating, so dying is a terrible thing to do to your family. Things got still worse in the "Bubble Era" of the late 80s to early '90s, which was a rampant speculative boom. Since then land prices and rents have fallen dramatically but the real causes have not been dealt with so the problem will not go away.

thomaswong.1986 says

GM is spending more and more of its taxpayer-enhanced cash pile to shore up its faltering foreign divisions. In fact, according to an analysis of GM’s SEC filings, the company is likely to incur over $6.5 billion in losses and expenditures overseas in the 2011-2014 period, not counting over $1.6b in foreign potential legal liabilities or several other incalculable expenses that could add up to billions more. Not only are these expenses a challenge to GM’s overall financial health at a time when it also faces billion-dollar expenditures on pensions in the US, it shows the basic problem with national bailouts of global companies.

While GM isn't doing as well in Europe, they're doing gangbusters in China, South America, and the middle east. They now sell more cars in China than in the US.
bob2356 says

That's what is new and revolutionary, the components are engineered around a common set of platform standards that exist through the entire line. VW is probably the furthest along with this, but everyone is moving toward it. Again it's like plugging a computer card into a bus instead of designing a computer around a set of chips, which is how computers were built for many years. You really don't see the difference do you?

Because there isn't really a difference here. Components designed for platform standards is nothing new. For example, if you flip open the hood of pretty much any Ford car, you're likely going to find the exact same overflow tank, washer fluid tank, AC compressor, and oodles of fasteners and hardware also used on the remainder of their model lineup. To delve back even further, well I have a classic myself. Its a big 55' Mercury four door. Despite its age it turns out Ford made basically the SAME brake drums for most of their full sized cars for decades. I was able to replace the original 1955 era drums on my car with drums from a 80's Lincoln town car.
The definition I'm referring to is the classic definition of modular design. It simply states that components are independently made in mass quantities to fit a final product and even though those individual components independently function, they together with the others collectively perform a task or set of tasks.

But I assume you and I will beg to differ, which is fine.
bob2356 says

Would you say the ford's original river rouge line pumping out model t's is the same thing as hyuda's incredible birmingham factory which is probably the most advanced in the world? Computers, robots, just in time, cad/cam, cnc milling, ,computerized metal forming, etc. etc. don't change the game it's all the same to you?

Yes- any newer car plant is going to be more advanced than the old Rouge plant in its model T days, but the original Rouge plant was in its day the most advanced manufacturing facility in the world. Yes- today we have robots, CNC machines, CAD design, and large quantities of automation. But at the end of the day both the more manual, less automated assemblyline of yore as well as today's most modern car plant still produces fully functioning cars, made out of many thousands of independently created components all assembled to work together.

So I suppose we will have to agree to disagree.

Strategist says

Most people come to California for the same reason they always came for.....economic opportunities.

Which means they will need to work putting downward pressure on wages.

Homeboy says

Giving handouts to GM does nothing to change the overall demand for cars. Therefore, if GM sells fewer cars, the other companies will sell MORE cars.

Why did Mulally ask for the credit lines, and state, “In particular, the collapse of one or both of our domestic competitors would threaten Ford because we have 80 percent overlap in supplier networks and nearly 25 percent of Ford’s top dealers also own GM and Chrysler franchises.”

In addition, Ford got the vast majority of the Green Car funding amounting to $6 billion or so there.

Contrary to popular belief, Ford was on life-support and happy for the entire industry to receive assistance.

New Renter says

How is that different from spending stupid amounts of money on art only the artist could love?

Or shacks.

CL says

Why did Mulally ask for the credit lines, and state, “In particular, the collapse of one or both of our domestic competitors would threaten Ford because we have 80 percent overlap in supplier networks and nearly 25 percent of Ford’s top dealers also own GM and Chrysler franchises.”

In addition, Ford got the vast majority of the Green Car funding amounting to $6 billion or so there.

Contrary to popular belief, Ford was on life-support and happy for the entire industry to receive assistance.

Fuck Ford. Why do I care what they have to say?

The thing about the US auto industry in general was that when the recession hit there was a perfect storm that hit at the wrong time. Starting in the 70's and working its way all the way up to the 2000's the Big three were losing market share in particular to the likes of Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. This happened because for almost 60 years prior to that the big three reigned supreme with little to no competition.

The US auto industry also perfected the term " planned obsolescence" where a car model might receive a drastic redesign every year. For example my 55' Mercury underwent major design changes: in 1955 the car was more rounded with mild fins and conventional glass. The next year the entire shape was changed to be more square with a backwards slanting rear window that rolled up and down. But while the cars were styled differently, the 'innards' barely changed. Even when the Mustang came out some in the press said it was a modern looking car with 1910 technology under the hood.

Japanese auto manufactures adopted a just in time, lean manufacturing approach that also focused on high levels of quality control. Most of their cars were front wheel drive too. When the fuel crisis hit, US automakers raced to puke out their own small, FWD cars and these were totally awful and unreliable. Meanwhile the likes of Toyota and Datsun came in with small, reliable, and fuel efficient cars using time-proven FWD platforms.

And it was a slow downhill slide for decades. the remainder of the 70's, 80's and 90's were filled with typically boring, at best mediocre American cars and their competition from Toyota and others winning the most reliable car awards year after year. As a kid and even now, all my family owned were Toyotas and once they passed the 200-250k mark we traded them in for another. They never had any issues.

So you had an entire generation that grew up with highly reliable Japanese cars and often crappy and unreliable American cars. That began to change in the 2000's. GM and Ford both hired new people and spent some real quality time redeveloping their entire lineups. Cars like the new Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Ford Fusion, Fiesta, Focus, and Taurus were all miles ahead of their previous generation and as good or maybe better than the models from Toyota. But the recession hit just when these efforts started to take hold and it was impossible to avoid bankruptcy.

A great many of the new American cars today on the road were developed prior to the recession. As of now many are selling so well that for example, Ford had to open a second Factory in the US to build more Fusions due to demand. Had these cars been on the market sooner perhaps bankruptcy could have been avoided.

New Renter says

How is that different from spending stupid amounts of money on art only the artist could love?

http://www.artsumo.com/blog/post/4

The super wealthy have been spending huge amounts of money on otherwise worthless crap since forever.

If you look at how wealthy families in Europe preserved their wealth, it was through gold, fine art and real estate. This is nothing new; it's called preserving your wealth in a world awash with larger and larger amounts of paper currency.

Strategist says

Home builder stocks in my opinion will outperform home price increases.

Home builders (and health insurances) may see larger sales, lower margins.

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, December 13, 2013 __ Level is 100.8

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

Homeboy says

CL says

Why did Mulally ask for the credit lines, and state, “In particular, the collapse of one or both of our domestic competitors would threaten Ford because we have 80 percent overlap in supplier networks and nearly 25 percent of Ford’s top dealers also own GM and Chrysler franchises.”

In addition, Ford got the vast majority of the Green Car funding amounting to $6 billion or so there.

Contrary to popular belief, Ford was on life-support and happy for the entire industry to receive assistance.

Fuck Ford. Why do I care what they have to say?

Because nobody who manufactures cars believes what you or Reality believe. There was nobody in the business that bemoaned the bailouts due to not being able to scoop up this demand you referred to.

Instead, like the others are saying, it would have been devastating to the entire chain and would have brought down millions of jobs.

For the record, I thought it was a good idea even when Bush started it. There were no buyers for a giant auto manufacturer. We could barely sell Chrysler.