patrick.net

Russian billionaires contribute much to London's economy.

"Global warming" is the ultimate "I've got mine so screw you" religion.

Peter P Says:
Russian billionaires contribute much to London’s economy.

Of course, the british are always happy to take your money - that was not my point. I was making a slightly flippant comment based on geopolitical history - the English have gone to great lengths for several centuries to contain and restrict Russian influence. However, I must also admit that the English are extremely even-handed in their xenophobia - they hate pretty much everyone else too. :-)

However, I must also admit that the English are extremely even-handed in their xenophobia - they hate pretty much everyone else too.

LOL! They love Americans, right? ;)

SP is correct. The English do hate everyone on the "wrong" side of the channel :-)
I think that includes Americans most of the time, although they may have a slight hate-deficit on that special case. Same goes for NZ, Australia and a couple of other places. I think.

Regarding Global Warming: Most times I'm not sure what to think Peter P. There is something about those who are ardent believers which repels me.

Whether or not it's related to "saving the planet" I don't know. But it is unquestionably related to limiting growth so I Imagine the fight will be over who's growth and in what way. I can't figure that one out. I don't really get what the balance of power is on the international rulemaking re: global warming.

RE: saving the planet

Earth is very sturdy. Humanity cannot even possibly ding the planet.

Most people who claim to be "saving the planet" are really trying to save themselves from lifestyle changes.

The truth is, Nature is constantly in flux. One cannot embrace Nature without accepting environmental changes. The causes of those changes are themselves irrelevant, because Nature is simply reacting to our existence.

Well-to-do Brits are all retiring overseas now, particularly in Spain and Australia. They are not the uber-rich types, just middle upper class who seek better weather (and death tax treatment) at the end of their lives.

But the funny thing is, I have met so many British retirees in Australia complaining about "brown" immigrants dirtying up the British Isles and taking advantage of the welfare system. I am like, dude, you have already left that place behind, so worry about your new abode please. Plus, if you don't notice, you are a Johny-come-lately "immigrant" yourself so quite bickering over immigrants.

Scientifically speaking, there is no conclusion about what we will experience after this "global warming" period. There may very well be a global cooling, a mini ice-age which happened around the time America was founded.

I am for limiting carbon output not because I want to save the planet, because the planet cannot be destroyed or saved by minuscule human activities. I just want to breathe better air. And our reliance on cheap fuel is simply unsustainable.

And our reliance on cheap fuel is simply unsustainable.

When fuel is no longer cheap, alternatives will look attractive. Regulation is completely unnecessary.

Most people who claim to be “saving the planet” are really trying to save themselves from lifestyle changes.

Well that doesn't make the effort automatically suspect, particularly if the lifestyle change in question is "death"!

Like I said, I can't tell if it's happening, if we're causing it, if we can reverse it or even if it is definitely a bad thing. I also kinda see a bit of a contradiction in a scientific theory which requires "belief", especially belief in models. Haven't we just learned models suck in modeling the real world? :-)

However, if someone can plausibly claim they'll "save the planet", without limiting (technological) growth, I'll agree to let them try.

Well that doesn’t make the effort automatically suspect, particularly if the lifestyle change in question is “death”!

I doubt that...

Haven’t we just learned models suck in modeling the real world?

Models, "peer-reviewed" studies, whatever. They can be be constructed to "prove" anything.

something about a virus at JavaOne Peter P - watch out!

I never eat anything there. But thanks! :)

Oh, try out Lark Creek Steak. It has the best sauteed calamari!

thanks for the recommendation Peter P. I Love steak. and calamari too!

gotta run now

The English do hate everyone on the “wrong” side of the channel.

The old British expression was "the wogs begin at Calais". :lol:

Best traditional Italian Calamari (squid steak) I’ve had thus far - Rappa’s on Monterey’s warf. Worth the walk.

Thanks! I will try that next time.

Walking was / is / and always should be free (in America, in public places).

Perhaps we should privatize the sidewalks. :)

So, if you want free and green - Walk

I have been walking to work for a couple of weeks now. Haven't felt this good since my time in the Airborne. If I had the time, I would walk home.

Let’s at least start with being financially conservative.

The only fiscally responsible people left are in the middle. We have "Deficits don't matter" on one end and unlimited government entitlement on the other.

Heaven help us when the only sensible politicians are people like Bill Clinton and Arnold Schwartzenegger.

As prices near — or in some places top — $4 a gallon, most Americans say they are cutting back on other household spending, seriously considering buying more fuel-efficient cars and consolidating their daily errands to save fuel.

Gas prices have risen well above the $4 a gallon mark, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. Record high gas prices are prompting Americans to drive less for the first time in nearly three decades, squeezing family budgets and causing major shifts in driving habits.

There are certain numbers that are typically off-limits, particularly in the workplace: age, weight and salary. But if you're young and just beginning to build your career, you're more likely to readily divulge that information. Sharing paycheck details with friends, peers and even colleagues is empowering, according to create salary reports based on very specific criteria to help determine real-time market value.

By Age:
Age 61+ $184,800
Ages 25-40 $184,900
Ages 51-60 $203,900
Ages 41-50 $207,500

By Function:
HR $185,300
Marketing $186,400
Consulting $190,600
Sales & Marketing $193,500
MIS/IT $201,000
Sales $204,000
General $216,700
Finance $235,900

By Industry:
Business Services $187,300
Healthcare $194,200
High Tech/Defense/Aerospace $206,000
Financial Services/Banking/Insurance $225,700
Life Sciences (Pharma/Med/Biotech) $230,800
Energy/Utilities $233,600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, according to ExecuNet's research from CareerBuilder.com and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania reveals a lot more detail about why and what jobs are at risk and where they are likely to go.

Based on a survey of more than 3,000 hiring managers/HR professionals and 6,700+ workers across the U.S., the research identifies the high-wage, high-skill jobs being offshored that were previously thought to be impervious to risk, and 69 percent of employers believe high-skill service positions are at equal or more risk of being offshored than low-skill jobs. Examples of jobs companies plan to offshore:

Computer programmers

Software developers

Customer service

Systems analysts

Sales managers

Graphic designers

HR personnel

General managers

Marketing personnel

Technology services, telecommunications, insurance, manufacturing, engineering, banking and finance, oil, travel, utilities and communications all reported higher rates for offshoring.

Permarenter,

GC?

While I detest the Bush Administration handling of nearly everything, this was clearly the right call. A huge majority (>95%) of mortgages are being paid timely, and if I'm going to bail out my neighbor's foolish spending, could they hand over their toys (plasma TVs, video game systems, vehicles, new furniture, vacations, etc.).

As someone that purchased their first home in Florida in 2003 (mid-boom) with 20% down (how old fashioned) and at a value of less than 3 times my salary (again old fashioned) having my Hummer driving, beautiful people neighbors being foreclosed on is unfortunate for their children but exactly what they deserved. And the only aspect I'd like to alter is the ability to go and retroactively retrieve money from ultra-smug bankers, mortgage brokers and realtors that helped fuel this new paradigm by encouraging this foolishness.(and their well-paid lobbyists of course)

By the way, I subsequently left my job and was underemployed for a couple years, ended up relocating to NC in 2006 for a new job, and still own my house in Florida due to the market conditions. Now I have a renter (negative cash flow but close) and continue to pay my mortgaage while compromising my lifestyle to honor my obligations. That's what responsible adults do. If I had listened to all the shrewd financial advice, I could owe an extra $150K and NEED a bailout, but drive to my foreclosure in a sweet car while wearing Armani)

Finally, when somebody has no equity (0% down or the like) and pays a teaser rate, or pulls all the equity out of their home to finance other investments/lifestyle, they are really RENTERS, and should not be considered homeowners- they simply were a conduit for a prior owner to transfer ownership to the bank. And I'll be damned if I bailout the bankers, again.

Yes- it's a rant, but this stuff is mighty frustrating.

msbern,

What an elegant and excellent post.

I will vote for republicans in 2008 just because democrats favor bailout.

Another one bits the dust!

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2008/pr08033.html

A rather detailed mortgage tax savings calculator:

http://www.crystalbull.com/mortgage_calculator.php

Paul,

ANB Financial, National Association, Bentonville, Arkansas.....

How odd. I take it that's Arkansas National Bank. It's in the hometown of Wallyworld. I wonder if Wallyworld has a stake in it.

It's interesting how FDIC has a "watch list" of troubled banks - about 60 last time I heard. But this watch list is a closely guarded secret. I can understant why, but it's still frustrating.

I wonder if you could pry that list loose using the Freedom of Information Act? :?

Offtopic: can anyone explain what is going on in Palo Alto? I saw a 1,200 sqft sh*tbox (really) listed for $1.39 million on Loma Verde just a week ago.

Yet, as unreal as that price seems, other houses listed in the past few weeks in the general vicinity seem to have sold. Who is giving these idiots mortgages?

OK youse guys, listen up! Here's some really good investment advice.

Investors agree that hard times for homeowners like Mr. Martin will yield good times for storage firms. U-Store-It’s stock is up 33 percent this year. Extra Space is up 18 percent. Public Storage is up 18 percent.

www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/business/11storage.html?hp

It looks like when FB's get foreclosed, they put all their stuff (e.g. plasma TVs, HD Fatboys, etc.) into storage. Then when they don't pay the rent, the storage place auctions the toys for pennies on the dollar.

A cottage industry has developed to profit from these lost and abandoned items. The other day in this Chicago suburb, Stephanie Donahou and her son Marcus had only a moment to decide whether to bid on a unit in default. They could see a couch, a sewing machine, a fish tank, a washer and dryer, lots of Christmas wrapping paper, a television and other trappings of daily life.

“This is someone’s house,” Mrs. Donahou said. Her bid, for $160, was the highest.

Offtopic: can anyone explain what is going on in Palo Alto?

School fetish?

I will vote for republicans in 2008 just because democrats favor bailout.

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

Where do you get that this was anti-vaccinators at work? Is it an educated guess?
Just to follow up on the whooping cough story, the Mercury News has a much better article than the SF Chronicle.
Contra Costa Health Services temporarily shut down the private East Bay Waldorf School on Friday in an effort to control the outbreak, which health officials say spread quickly because fewer than half the students at the school are immunized.

About 98 percent of students at other schools in the county — public and private — have been vaccinated. California law allows parents to opt out of immunizing their children for various reasons.

The closet Neocons crawl out of the woodwork. There was never even a debate about $29 billion bailout to investment banker BS Corp, yet Bush thinks it is sufficient to give the American people $600 spending money, which won't even cover one mortgage payment. Just pathetic.

In response to Lost Cause, I can't be further from a NeoCon. Socially Liberal, Fiscally conservative- which seems to be the opposite despite the claims of the NeoCon publicity machine.

Just to be consistent- I think the Bear Stearns deal was BS as well, although the structure of the deal was engineered over a single weekend, and certainly wasn't open to widespread discussion or debate before the government handed JP Morgan a "golden ticket". From JP's perspective it seems to be a no-lose deal. From the government (you and I) perspective, the best we can do is not lose.

Frankly, as an individual investor, greater risk demands greater reward. Not sure why government takes the risk, and passes the potential reward to others (Actually, I think I know the answer, but it's rather unseemly). Sometimes I wish I was a NeoCon, and could suspend my "morality" when there was money to be made. If my post inspires permarenter or others to vote Republican purely on this one matter, I sincerely apologize to humanity but can do little other than to ask that you take six consecutive years of Republican Dominance (White House/Supreme Court/Both Houses of Congress/The Fed (yes,I know its "non-partisan")) and look where it has left us from a financial/civil liberty/morality standpoint. I can hardly imagine being able to devise a more universally destructive way to lessen our world standing.

Maybe I agree with this one decision, but a NeoCon I am not.

EBGuy re vaccinations

looks like your "hunch" was right on! What a bunch of idiots. I don't like the fact that it's legal not to vaccinate, although I understand there's no alternative unless there's some kind of catastrophic outbreak. I hope the school at least discloses that little nugget to potential enrollees! If I were to sign up my kid there I'd sure like to have that kind of information.

I'll bet you the Chronicle knew it was about vaccinations and just didn't want to put that in their article.

Bap, no need to slam anyone. I don't think there is anything wrong about defending the Conservative position. As a matter of fact, it is important that our voice is heard in California.

If I start slamming liberals I will be left with no friends.

RE: civil liberty

It is an interesting question...

Who cares more about the civil liberty of unborn children.

Who cares more about the civil liberty of taxpayers.

Who cares more about the civil liberty of businesses, the engine of our economy?

On the other hand...

Who cares more about the civil liberty of criminals?

>> If my post inspires permarenter or others to vote Republican purely on this one matter, I sincerely apologize

Why?

Democrats are eqauly culpable ...... I do not see a difference ...

>> I don’t think there is anything wrong about defending the Conservative position.

I agree ... proud to be a conservative.... after watching democrats for nearly 10 years as a non citizen.