patrick.net

Someone Says:

> Honestly, if renting makes more sense then rent, when it
> makes sense to buy then buy. I don’t get the emotionalism
> on either side.

Then HARM Says:

> Because, a house isn’t just house. It’s the Amerikan Dream.
> And becoming a Loanowner confers higher social status.
> People will listen to you and respect your opinions, even
> on matters you clearly know nothing about. Renters, OTH,
> are permanently relegated to second-class citizenship, and
> must forever taste the bitter fruit of mortgage-envy.

HARM is correct that a large number of Americans feel that they “need” to own a home (just like they feel that they “need” to own a nice car or designer clothes). I was once one of those people… As a poor kid growing up around rich people I tried to fit in with fancy cars and fancy clothes, but it was about the time that I sold my Home in Burlingame (in my late 30’s) when I realized that I had about $1mm in liquid assets that I didn’t care any more… My fiancée was a rich kid that grew up in a rich area and never felt the need to fit in with fancy clothes or cars (her car is worth less than her bike and her most recent clothing purchase was at the Colma Target). We don’t have any mortgage envy and don’t feel like “second-class citizens” since we can buy 90% of the homes in the Bay Area for cash…

I saw that guy in the DB9 a couple weeks ago heading up HWY1 towards Stintson. Only this time he had a beautiful woman riding shotgun. I swear that's gotta be you FAB. I usually see him driving down Bay St. in the City.

Randy said
"Also, the “market sorts itself out” arguments are flawed. Markets do not ever sort themselves out in the face of government intervention. This situation is inviting — no ensuring — intense government intervention."

I wanted to comment on this very thing as well. Why would someone lower the price if they think a mandated mortgage reduction is coming? I totally agree that just the perception of government intervention is affecting the market, so I say wait 'em out. You buyers can do a German type siege on the market and starve 'em, and hey in this case waiting for the winter will work for you.

Surfer, Dennis is a good guy.

Randy H Says:

> I saw that guy in the DB9 a couple weeks ago heading
> up HWY1 towards Stintson. Only this time he had a beautiful
> woman riding shotgun. I swear that’s gotta be you FAB.
> I usually see him driving down Bay St. in the City.

I have a lot of friends with family beach houses in Seadrift, but I usually take Pano Hwy rather than Hwy 1 over the hill). I may end up with a DB9 or Vantage Volante some day (Bob Cole let me drive a DB9s from Sears Point to Sonoma a few years back), but I have no plans to replace my aging 2001 996 Cabrio (or my beautiful fiancée) any time soon. If I did buy a new car I would probably buy an older BMW like the one in the link below before I got a late model AM.
http://www.renestaud.com/shop/en/art-prints/bmw/bmw-1600-convertible-p-192.html

>>Surfer, Dennis is a good guy.

I didn't get this particular surfer-x rant, either. What is this all about? I think Dennis has been very much an upstanding contributor.

I think Dennis has been very much an upstanding contributor.

Yep. Perhaps Surfer got into a fresh anti-boomer mode?

NVR,

I think WSJ advocating demolishing "surplus" housing is an abomination.
This is the most perverse idea I have encountered in a long time. Shame on WSJ and their ilk.

Keep in mind that surplus is defined as "cannot be sold at peak prices".

WSJ is literally saying: You damn peons, if you will not buy houses at the inflated peak bubble prices, we shall burn them down. That ought to teach you peons a lesson. No house for you!

What happened to the "free market"? Oh, that's right. The free market applies only when advantageous to the ruling class of capitalism.

Phew.

The joke's on surfer-x.....I'm not married.

What happened to the “free market”? Oh, that’s right. The free market applies only when advantageous to the ruling class of capitalism.

Obviously, that is a perverted version of a "free" market. I call it Capital-socialism.

People are just too eager to "solve" economic problems. Sometimes, problems are best solved by themselves.

Nature definitely solves its own problem.

Peter P Says:
March 26th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
"Yep. Perhaps Surfer got into a fresh anti-boomer mode?"

He was probably agitated at work by some boomer coworker encroaching in his space or apropriating something of his because he didn't write his name on his lunch or stapler. Dennis might have made a pro Hillary remark at the wrong time, it happens. After a day like that, the last thing someone who works hard to make a little bread wants to hear is a Hillary (take my wealth, please) supporter rooting for him to have to spend even more time at that job to take home the same amount.

Not taking sides, just commenting.

DennisN Says:
March 26th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
"The joke’s on surfer-x…..I’m not married."

Come on, how can you be a successful boomer and not have a trophy wife?

Dennis might have made a pro Hillary remark at the wrong time, it happens.

Huh?

@Surfer-X,

Please save the hate (sweet, sweet hate... mmm...) for a deserving target. Like Lawrence Yun, or HeliBen or Tan Man. What did DennisN say anyway?

@justme,

Spot on, man.

Kind of reminds me of that part in Grapes of Wrath when the farmers literally piled up heaps of food, doused it in kerosene and set fire to it --while the Joads and other starving people looked on. All for the sole purpose of propping up food prices. "Oh, sure, you're starving and badly in need of some food, but, hey, I could lose money if I 'just give it away'!

There's the classic Boomer ethos right there.

Kidding.

No you're not ;-)

I can't imagine myself making a "pro-Hillary remark". Right now I'm not all that thrilled with any of the remaining candiates. At least Hillary isn't as far-out leftist as that Irishman O'Bama.

Hey Ayn Coulter has come out for Hillary over McCain, and you can't exactly call her a leftist.

I wish it wasn't Dennis as the target because like Harm I would have really enjoyed seeing a real jerk be on the receiving end of that.

All for the sole purpose of propping up food prices.

That is anti-market.

There’s the classic Boomer ethos right there.

Everybody needs food, but renters can choose to remain jealous and bitter. :)

Right now I’m not all that thrilled with any of the remaining candiates.

The next four years are going to be interesting anyway.

HARM and NVR,

I went over and posted a comment on WSJ with roughly the same content as I did here. Let's see if it gets through censorship, errr, I mean, "moderation".

That is unbelieveable. What is it about him that the die hard Republicans hate so much? Even Nancy Reagan the other day said, he was the last Republican in the race so she was backing him, like she was wishing it was anyone else.

There is no way that Obama is further left than Hillary.

The Bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.

-- The Grapes of Wrath

We have made progress since Steinbeck's times. Now we have the Federal Reserve and its fleet of liquidity helicopters.

There is no way that Obama is further left than Hillary.

How so?

Peter P,

As you know, the problem is that 99.9....% of the people that fashion themselves as "the noble capitalist" really are socio-capitalists, to twist your word just a little. Quite a few of them have an even more extreme form of the decease, they are sociopath-capitalists.

Well I would think the word "hate" is a little strong for my feelings about McCain. I'm a libertarian-conservative, not a social-conservative. The problem with McCain is that his approach to bi-partisanship is to just give in to the other side. The McCain-Feingold law completely disrespects the 1st Amendment, even though it got sort-of a pass from the Supremes.

In general Senators without any executive experience are less-attractive candidates for President.

According to Derbyshire over at the National Review, after Hillary and Obama beat each other up Al Gore will emerge as the Democrat candidate and go on to win the Presidency.

DennisN,

Funny one about Conan O'Bama.

According to Derbyshire over at the National Review, after Hillary and Obama beat each other up Al Gore will emerge as the Democrat candidate and go on to win the Presidency.

Huh? We are free from the Religion of "Global Warming," right?

Hopefully the Supreme Court will soon rule that religious thoughts such as hypothetical pseudo-scientific convenient fictions shall not be taught in public schools.

Did you ever check out the climate-change blog over at NRO?

http://planetgore.nationalreview.com/

I will take a look...

I am not denying climate change. Nature is about changes. However, blaming "global warming" on CO2 emission is just weird.

I speculate that climate change is caused by solar activities. We can do nothing about it. Yep, sea-level is going to rise and our toes will get wet.

Brilliant!

If Kyoto Protocol is about free trade of Kobe beef I am all for it. :)

As a poor kid growing up around rich people I tried to fit in with fancy cars and fancy clothes...

Oh, c'mon FAB, you were never poor. Middle class around a bunch of rich kids I believe, but how many times did you have the Sheriff throw your family out of the apartment you were living in while you were growing up? How many different trailer parks have you lived in?

Here's Derb's most recent piece about Al Gore.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWQxY2Q2ZWRmZGRkMDYwNzU1ZWQxMGU4YzY5ODY1YTQ=

Note: Idaho is the top producer of Kobe beef in the US.

Peter P and DennisN,

Let's get down to fundamentals about global warming. The below article in Wikipedia describes the greenhouse effect:

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

The greenhouse effect (trapping of incoming solar heat by so-called greenhouse gases, which include CO2) is the basic mechanism of global warming. The change in one input parameter (concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere) is the deemed the reason for global warming.

My question is: Do believe that the greenhouse effect is real, and if not, why not?

It is really too bad that the Supreme Court selected Bush instead of Gore. Imagine how much better off America would be if we had eight years of grown up leadership instead of The Decider.

FormerAptBroker Says:
I may end up with a DB9 or Vantage Volante some day

A friend of mine in the city got a DB9 back in '05 and offered it to me to drive. I found it quite 'unspecial' - especially once inside, it felt like just any other powerful, tightly sprung coupe.

RandyH, saw the NYT article, good on ya. And good to have you back.

By the way, I bagged a JBO (tm) (Jealous Bitter Owner) today.

Met an old friend at the library - he bought a crapshack in Crappertino in '04 and had it remodeled. He was wishing he had sold last year like his neighbor did, and seemed quite bitter about being underwater on his own place now.