May 19, 2011
— Monty
That expensive college degree is looking more and more like a waste of money to a lot of people. There are a lot of problems in America's higher-ed system: some regulatory, some financial, some cultural, some demographic. The main problem (I think) is that too many kids are going to college because they view it as a ticket to a better job -- but as a jobs-training program, a college education fails more often than not, and it's an expensive failure at that. And there's a horrible amount of malinvestment of human labor at work there -- many young people invest 12 years of primary and six years of secondary (or more) into schooling, meaning that they are often in their mid to late 20's before even entering the jobs market...only to find that their 18+ years of education were -- well, not exactly wasted, but rather misdirected. Whatever marginal gain in earning power the college degree gives them is offset by the debt and time loss they incurred just getting the degree in the first place. Yet American parents and children both seem absolutely bent on a college education, the costs be damned.
I sure wish I had $787B to piss away. The only thing the "stimulus" did was "stimulate" the size and reach of the federal government (and throw money at insolvent states, who promptly squandered it).
Yet another economic Pollyanna says, "We can grow our way out of it!" No, we can't. GDP growth over the next decade is likely to be flat or at best a half-percentage point or so higher each year -- the chances of a major spike in GDP are not good, and thus it is irresponsible to plan on them. (The writer of the article says that if only we could cure Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, and cancer, Medicare would be just fine. Well, I'd be happy if we cured those diseases too, but I see no evidence that a cure for any of them is close. Therefore it seems...ill advised...to plan Medicare spending as if cures are right around the corner.) America can certainly grow quickly if certain measures are taken -- reformation of the Byzantine tax code, and shrinking both our national debt and the size of both federal and state governments -- but this is a project measured in decades, not years. And we do not have decades to get our financial house in order; we may not even have a single decade. Put more simply: we can surely hope for the best, but we must plan for the worst.
Another point about "curing" diseases: many chronic diseases have very effective treatments (e.g., cancer and diabetes), but these treatments are incredibly expensive. Hence the skyrocketing cost of medical care as a person ages. "Cures" for these conditions, even if discovered, would likely be incredibly expensive also -- and would simply pave the way to other age-related ailments as people live longer and longer. Until we perfect a technology to prevent aging entirely, increasing age is going to mean increasing medical costs -- there's no magic bullet to remove that cost.
Paul Ryan's budget plan is not sufficient to solve our financial problems, but it is a necessary first step because it directly addresses the main driver of our spending: entitlement costs. But the resistance to any sort of entitlement reform is growing, and the Democrats, predictably, are rolling out the "Paul Ryan wants to kill granny!" ads.
The EU default that dare not speak its name. The EU and ECB are in an odd position: it's obvious that Greece (and probably Ireland and Portugal) are going to default at some point. It's pretty much a mathematical certainty at this point. Yet the ECB is terrified of what a Greek default will mean to the Euro project -- it would expose the incompetence and flawed assumptions that have been part of the Euro project from the very beginning. This is why they seem bound and determined to shovel good money after bad -- not to "save" the Greeks, but to avoid embarrassment (and also to prevent German and French banks from taking huge haircuts on their Greek debt-holdings). I think the next step in this ridiculous melodrama is when the maturity of Greek bonds are extended for some arbitrary period -- a "soft default" that can be glossed by the ECB. It won't work, but it'll be yet another sign that the ECB is bending to the inevitable.
Veroniqe de Rugy has a good piece on how and why we suck at financial modeling and forecasting. (A lot of the problem is that when numbers get as large as the ones the government is throwing around, the discussion leaves the world of real things and enters the land of theory, probability, and statistics -- all areas where "exact" carries a far different meaning than it does in the real world.)
Los Angeles, home of the boned: LA wants to issue $1.35 billion in debt to cover pension costs. A juicy bit:
The Chief Administrative Officer recognizes that the investors may not be willing to purchase the Notes given the market’s skepticism of the City’s credit rating. In last year’s offering, the underwriters “ate” $252 million of notes that they were unable to sell.Investors are waking up to the miserable condition of many cities' finances, and muni bonds are going to suffer because of it.
[UPDATE 1]: Skyrocketing food prices turning hedge-fund managers into survivalists.
[UPDATE 2]: Obama figures America is so flush with cash that we can forgive Egypt's debt. To foster democracy, and we all know that the Muslim Brotherhood is all about the democracy.
I find your soul...quite tasty.
Posted by: Monty at
05:19 AM
| Comments (238)
Post contains 965 words, total size 7 kb.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 05:24 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 05:25 AM (4df7R)
Followed the link and the headline there said the same thing.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 05:26 AM (M9Ie6)
Satellite images reveal alarming speed Pakistan is rushing to finish weapons-grade nuclear reactor
Although the U.S. has provided Pakistan with $20 billion in military and economic aid since September 11, 2001, it has been said that there is 'no explanation' as to how Pakistan are paying for the latest reactor.
Great to know we have such keen-eyed eagles in the highest echelons of our government keeping watch over its gates.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at May 19, 2011 05:26 AM (9hSKh)
Posted by: Moody's at May 19, 2011 05:26 AM (K2wpv)
Every Senate Democrat voted against the motion to proceed along with five Republicans: Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Mike Lee (Utah), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Olympia Snowe (Maine) and David Vitter (La.).
Posted by: Y-not at May 19, 2011 05:27 AM (pW2o8)
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 05:28 AM (wuv1c)
I predicted max doom if we did not take at least house of congress, a doom halting of the hole digging if we did take the House, and perhaps a doom reversal if we took both houses by some miracle.
Well we took the House, but so far we have not stopped the hole digging. The 2012 allocations and the debt ceiling vote will tell us how that will work out.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 05:29 AM (M9Ie6)
I've been listening to those Adam Corolla podcasts that Ace and RDBrewer are always posting, I didn't realize that LA was such a craphole.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 05:30 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 09:28 AM (wuv1c)
What does it say about me that every time I see "DSK," my first thought is "North Korea" (DPRK), not "Dominique Strauss-Khaaaaaaaaan!" (insert Shatner bellow as needed)?
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 05:31 AM (4df7R)
Sustained 5% real economic growth is achievable if we do the following things: 1) eliminate the corporate income tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, and the Alternative Minimum Tax; 2) make the current personal income tax rates permanent; 3) enact H.R. 1638 to stabilize the U.S. dollar; 4) repeal ObamaCare; and, 5) adopt a reasonable regulatory regime, including freeing up U.S. conventional energy production and reforming the FDA, which has become a major impediment to medical progress. This should be the Republicans’ “Plan B”.
I gotta say that sounds real good as a plan. So it could never happen, at least while Dear Reader is in charge.
Posted by: GnuBreed at May 19, 2011 05:33 AM (ENKCw)
Posted by: Monty at May 19, 2011 05:34 AM (/0a60)
Posted by: nevergiveup at May 19, 2011 05:34 AM (i6RpT)
Posted by: Waterhouse at May 19, 2011 05:34 AM (fsGgs)
Posted by: Empire of Jeff at May 19, 2011 05:34 AM (W7Ddq)
Posted by: dananjcon at May 19, 2011 09:32 AM (pr+up)
As well it should.....
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 05:36 AM (VuLos)
Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 19, 2011 05:36 AM (eOXTH)
Los Angeles, home of the boned: LA wants to issue $1.35 billion in debt to cover pension costs.
Pensions for public workers are exactly the type of expenditure that you wouldn't want to borrow to cover. They offer zero return to the city. It would make as much sense for L.A. to borrow the money to flush it down a toilet.
However, I'm sure Mayor Vivalaraza has a plan for repaying the bonds. The legion of illegal aliens attracted by L.A.'s sanctuary city status should form a nice, healthy tax base. It had better, since the few productive citizens who are left in the city are packing up to move to Texas.
Si se puede, indeed.
Posted by: Cicero at May 19, 2011 05:38 AM (Txl/u)
Part of it seems to be a lack of foresight on the students' part - they expect that the college will find them a job (I know, actually they expect to get one through interviews with our placement office). However, for these jobs, they're competing with not just their peers at my school, but with everyone else, too. It's a reasonable assumption on their part - after all, didn't "Mommy" and "Daddy" get tthem what they needed until now?
The smart ones get the picture when they're sophomores (usually when I get a hold of them in the hallway and give them the facts of life). If they're smart, they shoot for an internship between junior and senior year (even a crappy one) - this sets them apart. Then, they try for a better internship at a major firm between junior and senior year. Then, they send out about 200 resumes in the first month of their senior year (most students don't realize that the hiring cycle at good companies gets played out very early in the school year).
It's a lot of work, but if they do the grunt work, they're usually fine.
Of course, most are lazy bastitches, and they don't take my advice. But they're scrambling in April of their senior year and still without a job a month from graduation.
Posted by: RightWingProf at May 19, 2011 05:38 AM (UOcNk)
Posted by: Lemon Kitten at May 19, 2011 05:38 AM (0fzsA)
Vitter said he opposed the measure, which in most respects tracked bills passed by the Republican House, because he said it didn't go as far as the House bills in opening new tracts along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and in the eastern Gulf for drilling. It also included a provision that would have gone beyond current Interior Department regulations and required exploration plans to have containment response provisions that had been reviewed by a third party.
Posted by: Y-not at May 19, 2011 05:38 AM (pW2o8)
Oh, have any of your seen reports concerning Obama's MAJOR middle east speech today?
I've read that he's going to ask that Egypt's debt be forgiven.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 05:39 AM (wuv1c)
Question, why should the next head of the IMF be a European?
I don't understand why we allow Europe to have so much undeserved power.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 05:41 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 19, 2011 09:36 AM (eOXTH)
An Are You Being Served? reference? And it's not even 10am? Applause are warranted!
*effusive applause!*
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 05:41 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at May 19, 2011 05:41 AM (PLvLS)
Oh, have any of your seen reports concerning Obama's MAJOR middle east speech today?
I've read that he's going to ask that Egypt's debt be forgiven.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 09:39 AM (wuv1c)
I've heard that rumor, too. And if it happens, I will be FURIOUS. The man makes me furious all the time anyway, but I am talking about incandescent, white hot, pig's-blood-bathtime-ala-Carrie kind of fury.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 05:44 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 05:45 AM (VuLos)
Posted by: phoenixgirl
Loved that show. Watched it growing up. part of my sunday night routine. and I was able to read it in her voice too. Top quality comedy there.
*Applaudes with MWR*
and the doom gets better and better Monty. Keep up the yeomans work.
Posted by: Unicorn Vendor at May 19, 2011 05:46 AM (fPOY0)
Posted by: King Barry at May 19, 2011 05:46 AM (/Mla1)
Oh, have any of your seen reports concerning Obama's MAJOR middle east speech today?
I've read that he's going to ask that Egypt's debt be forgiven.
I'm also going to ask they don't behead, castrate or declare jihad on the US until after the 2012 election...
Posted by: Barack "Louis XVI" Obama at May 19, 2011 05:52 AM (136wp)
Posted by: Barb the Evil Genius at May 19, 2011 05:53 AM (MyByM)
Question, why should the next head of the IMF be a European?
I don't understand why we allow Europe to have so much undeserved power.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 09:41 AM (wuv1c)
Because they are soooo fabulousy Metro!
Posted by: Barack "Louis XVI" Obama at May 19, 2011 05:54 AM (136wp)
Posted by: Dave C at May 19, 2011 05:54 AM (Xus7V)
Posted by: George Orwell at May 19, 2011 05:55 AM (AZGON)
Posted by: Mr Pink at May 19, 2011 05:55 AM (48U87)
Posted by: Monty at May 19, 2011 05:57 AM (/0a60)
Posted by: Mr Pink at May 19, 2011 09:55 AM (48U87)
Well, you could take a job as a bus driver in NJ hauling the seniors down to Atlantic City. Skid on the GSP and go off a bridge. Just make sure to jump before hand.
Posted by: The Robot Devil at May 19, 2011 05:57 AM (136wp)
Posted by: Unicorn Vendor at May 19, 2011 09:46 AM (fPOY0)
Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 19, 2011 09:48 AM (eOXTH)
And of course when talking about Mrs. Slocombe's pussy (*cough*), how can we leave out a discussion of her neighbor, Mr. Ackbar?
MRS. SLOCOMBE: [on the phone] Hello, is that Mr. Akbar? Mrs. Slocombe here, your next door neighbour. I wonder - would you do me a little favor? Would you go to my front door, bend down, look through the letter box... and if you can see my pussy, would you drop a sardine on the mat?
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 05:58 AM (4df7R)
MRS. SLOCOMBE:
[on the phone] Hello, is that Mr. Akbar? Mrs. Slocombe here, your next
door neighbour. I wonder - would you do me a little favor? Would you go
to my front door, bend down, look through the letter box... and if you
can see my pussy, would you drop a sardine on the mat?
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 09:58 AM (4df7R)
LOL at work, you, you...
Posted by: The Robot Devil at May 19, 2011 05:59 AM (136wp)
Posted by: Newt Gingrich at May 19, 2011 06:00 AM (AZGON)
Posted by: SurferDoc at May 19, 2011 06:00 AM (4e77w)
Posted by: phoenixgirl
Yeah, used to watch it, Hello, Hello, Monty Python, The Young Ones, and 120 every Sunday night growing up.
Not to go all OT.
And I agree about the degrees being over-rated. Especially with so many soft ones given for womyns studdies, underwater basket weaving, some repressed minority study, art, etc. The hard science degrees make sense, but even then in an effort to make the students "more rounded" we had to take the BS social and fluff classes. I never got why an engineer had to take a course in art history. it's not like we're goign to design a robot to paint.
Altho my art prof did get mad when I pointed out a couple of things in the "masterpieces" were technically unfeasable, or would have been more stable if moved to the other side of the table. LOL
Posted by: todler at May 19, 2011 06:00 AM (fPOY0)
Zerohedge notes Japan's ecomomy nominally collapsed over 5% Q1 and with commodity pullback Bernanke and Japan are poised to print trillions.
Which will have investors running to Sterling, Francs, Yuan, Pesos, ...
With oil stocks, corn stocks, rice stocks tight and getting tighter look for Arab spring, Asian summer, Mediterranean fall, ...
Posted by: gary gulrud at May 19, 2011 06:01 AM (/g2vP)
LOL at work, you, you...
Posted by: The Robot Devil at May 19, 2011 09:59 AM (136wp)
Who, meee? I'm an innocent angel! O
Just one more from me, because this is quite possibly my favorite Mrs. Slocombe exchange:
MRS. SLOCOMBE: I won't forget being thrown flat on my back by a landmine. And the German Air Force was responsible.
MR. LUCAS: All the other times she was flat on her back, the American Air Force was responsible.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:01 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: ya1daup at May 19, 2011 10:01 AM (/h8IG)
I had noticed that, too!
Skynet has become self-aware... and it's selling knockoff Air Jordans at bargain basement prices.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:03 AM (4df7R)
MRS. SLOCOMBE: [on the phone] Hello, is that Mr. Akbar? Mrs. Slocombe here, your next door neighbour. I wonder - would you do me a little favor? Would you go to my front door, bend down, look through the letter box... and if you can see my pussy, would you drop a sardine on the mat?
Posted by: MWR
Coffee, monitor, damn you.
Posted by: todler at May 19, 2011 06:04 AM (fPOY0)
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 06:05 AM (VuLos)
________
CAROUSEL! RENEW! RENEW!
Posted by: Anachronda at May 19, 2011 06:07 AM (6fER6)
Posted by: George Orwell at May 19, 2011 06:07 AM (AZGON)
Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 19, 2011 06:08 AM (eOXTH)
Talk about DOA and boned. Ha. HaHa. PFFFFFFFFFT!
Posted by: Marcus at May 19, 2011 06:08 AM (x/dFu)
Excessive subsidization by the gummint.
Employers being forbidden to use IQ tests as a criterion, and therefore using a bachelor's degree as a proxy (which as we all know is now useless in that regard).
Posted by: logprof at May 19, 2011 06:09 AM (BP6Z1)
OK. It's a little early for that discussion.
Posted by: Marcus at May 19, 2011 06:09 AM (x/dFu)
Zero Hedge is too fucking stupid to take notice of that little earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in the last quarter.
Posted by: Waterhouse at May 19, 2011 06:10 AM (fsGgs)
Posted by: Monty at May 19, 2011 06:11 AM (/0a60)
"I've got to get home. If my pussy isn't attended to by 8 o'clock, I shall be strokin' it for the rest of the evening." mrs. slocombe
The BBC got away with this in the mid-70s. by the way.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 06:12 AM (B+qrE)
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 10:05 AM (VuLos)
Oh, it's priceless! You have to check it out. It was a 1970's series, I believe, but it runs on PBS all the time in various markets. I love Fawlty Towers and Monty Python and all the rest of the Britcoms, but Are You Being Served? is hands down the best. The only other series that comes close, IMO, is the latter three series of Blackadder.
Would you look at me going all OT? I apologize, everyone! It's just nice to inject a little humor into the DOOM, ne?
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:12 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: Bob Muff Cabbage Saget at May 19, 2011 06:14 AM (F/4zf)
European Central Bank officials ruled out a Greek debt restructuring, clashing with political leaders over a solution to the sovereign financial crisis.
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at May 19, 2011 06:14 AM (9hSKh)
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 06:14 AM (VuLos)
Posted by: Mallamutt, RINO President for Life at May 19, 2011 10:12 AM (OWjjx)
FIFY
Posted by: The Robot Devil at May 19, 2011 06:14 AM (136wp)
The BBC got away with this in the mid-70s. by the way.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 10:12 AM (B+qrE)
That and SO MUCH MORE.
I still use, "I'm freeeee!" in everyday conversation. Some people look at me like I've got a third eye, but a lot of folks will laugh right along with me.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:14 AM (4df7R)
I've read that he's going to ask that Egypt's debt be forgiven.
Because we don't want the Muslim Bortherhood worrying about debt service.
This is not going to end well.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 06:15 AM (B+qrE)
The alternative is a third world head who would promptly send the money to the former head of the Nigerian Central Bank in exchange for soon to be wire transferred 100 gazillion Dollars U.S., after they exchange e-mails.
That's why they should just put the Nigerian Princes in charge of the IMF from the get-go, after taking out a HUGE Lloyd's of London insurance policy on the EU economy. Win-win.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:17 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:18 AM (4df7R)
who backs llyod's?
Gingrich: LITERATI!!!!
Paul: JOOOOOOSSSS!!!!
Me? I think it's the Potter trolls, but I could be wrong.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 06:19 AM (B+qrE)
Posted by: phoenixgirl at May 19, 2011 10:17 AM (eOXTH)
The Illuminati.
(Shhh, don't tell!)
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:19 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: George Orwell at May 19, 2011 06:22 AM (AZGON)
Investors are waking up to the miserable condition of many cities' finances, and muni bonds are going to suffer because of it.
Monty: But if the Commiecrats keep jacking up confiscatory taxation and killing the market otherwise, might that make muni bonds still (relatively) attractive?
Thanks again for your informative financial posts.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:23 AM (ujg0T)
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 06:23 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: the siren call of Big Education at May 19, 2011 06:26 AM (oGcbb)
Why not let Greece pay off its debts in Gyros and honey balls?
That would require actual work, capitalist pig-dog.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 06:26 AM (B+qrE)
Posted by: Monty at May 19, 2011 06:26 AM (/0a60)
Would you look at me going all OT? I apologize, everyone! It's just nice to inject a little humor into the DOOM, ne?
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 10:12 AM (4df7R)
I found the listing for it on my PBS (I haven't watched PBS in years!). This is great....I'm about to be housebound for a while and now I'll have something new to watch. Thanks!
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 06:28 AM (VuLos)
That which cannot be repaid, will not be repaid.
I hear printing presses....then again, you are right, "repayment" in devalued dollars is the same as no repayment.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:28 AM (ujg0T)
No one is paying market-driven interest rates now due to governmental fuckery, but at some point the market is going to force an uptick in rates to offset the risk of holding the debt. When that happens, many cities and states are going to find themselves frozen out of the bond markets.
i.e., the mother of all corrections: DOOM.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 06:28 AM (B+qrE)
at some point the market is going to force an uptick in rates to offset the risk of holding the debt.
And at that point, the bond prices plummet, so holders of them are boned...yah, we are pretty much boned either way.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:29 AM (ujg0T)
MWR, I prefer Keeping Up Appearances.
Two words: Onslow's car.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 10:21 AM (B+qrE)
Oh my gosh, YES. It had completely slipped my mind!
"The boo-KAY residence, lady of the house speaking!"
And the early years of One Foot in the Grave were priceless as well.
"I don't be-LIEVE it!"
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:29 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: George Orwell at May 19, 2011 10:27 AM (AZGON)
Put a little Windex on it, it'll be fine.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:30 AM (4df7R)
I found the listing for it on my PBS (I haven't watched PBS in years!). This is great....I'm about to be housebound for a while and now I'll have something new to watch. Thanks!
Posted by: Tami at May 19, 2011 10:28 AM (VuLos)
You're welcome!
Just one more reason why PBS needs to get off the public teat.. Between Sesame Street and Britcoms, they'd be rolling in the ad-based dough.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:32 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 06:32 AM (M9Ie6)
I never thought municipal bonds were worth a shit to begin with.
Suzi Ormann is not pleased with this statement.
I have a sister who watches her show, not religiously or anything, and Suzi apparently has all her money in Muni's, or so she has claimed.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 06:33 AM (wuv1c)
I never thought municipal bonds were worth a shit to begin with.
Other than tax sheltering, they weren't / aren't. But tax sheltering is a reality for many people. Even people of relatively modest means could get into muni bonds, unlike some other tax shelters, which require lots of up-front capital.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:34 AM (ujg0T)
She is a damn fool then.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 06:34 AM (M9Ie6)
have a sister who watches her show, not religiously or anything, and Suzi apparently has all her money in Muni's, or so she has claimed.
She is a damn fool then.
Indeed. She's also a misandrist lesbian.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 06:37 AM (wuv1c)
Suzi Ormann is not pleased with this statement.
I have a sister who watches her show, not religiously or anything, and Suzi apparently has all her money in Muni's, or so she has claimed.
Back in the day, 30 years ago, Suze was a hottie. Too bad she was/is a dyke.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:37 AM (ujg0T)
Posted by: Mr Pink at May 19, 2011 09:55 AM (48U87)
Well,
you could take a job as a bus driver in NJ hauling the seniors down to
Atlantic City. Skid on the GSP and go off a bridge. Just make sure to
jump before hand.
Posted by: The Robot Devil at May 19, 2011 09:57 AM (136wp)
Old Person: "why is our driver wearing a parachute?"
Posted by: Lemmiwinks at May 19, 2011 06:38 AM (pdRb1)
Posted by: Fritz at May 19, 2011 06:39 AM (GwPRU)
... I can't believe I never heard of Are You Being Served! I love British humor and use to watch a lot of their shows but somehow, I missed that one. What years did it run here?
Popular back in the early 90's for sure, my wife, MIL still watch the re-runs on PBS. I'm going to guess orig aired UK during the late 80's, it seemed to be newer than The Young Ones.
Which by the way, were the bomb, especially when MTV played them on Sunday nights. Now I have the boxed set, but watching them still takes me back.
Posted by: Todd Bridges, first to go bad, last to go down at May 19, 2011 06:39 AM (qL20/)
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:39 AM (ujg0T)
Posted by: Lemon Kitten at May 19, 2011 06:41 AM (0fzsA)
MSNBC Rosy Headline Of The Day: "Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week for the second straight week, suggesting that a slow recovery in the job market is continuing."
But then two sentences later, we find this intersting nugget: "The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for benefits dropped 29,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 409,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose slightly to 439,000, the sixth straight increase."
So, the moving average is showing six straight monthly increases in initial unemployment claims ... yet MSNBC's lead paragraph characterizes what is happening as a "slow recovery in the job market."
This is fucking journalistic malpractice and our country is being done a huge disservice by this Obama cock-sucking in the media.
When six straight monthly increases in initial claims for unemployment are characterized by the fawning media as a "slow recovery in the job market" then really what further use do we have as a society for the news media?
We all know they're in the tank ... but at least in the past they could make a plausible claim to unbiased journalism. But they're not even trying to cover up their cock-sucking now. Not even attempting to disguise it. It's incredible.
Posted by: someguy at May 19, 2011 06:41 AM (iIQ0a)
I have never understood the urge for legal "tax sheltering". Most regular people who have double incomes fall in the 30% tax category range. The average rate of return on a muni used to be around 1% to 1.5%. So asume you make $1.50 per $100 investment in munis tax free. Now instead of a muni you buy a $100 in a stable/safe utility stock that pays 5% so you get $5 minus 30% in taxes or $3.50.
People yelled at me for paying off my home mortgage after 8 years and losing my "income tax deduction". I got my mortgage during the Carter years 13.75% on "set-aside" money which I had to pay 6 points for up front. No income tax deduction came close to offset. Pay $6,000 in interest to save $1800 in taxes.
The only "tax shelters" I have seen that actually save you money are the illegal ones or the ones where you are able to write off money you were going to spend anyway.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 06:41 AM (M9Ie6)
Momma, the bit "who"s line" was so much better. That would have me in tears.
and now a game called "the worlds worst...."
Posted by: todler at May 19, 2011 06:41 AM (fPOY0)
People of California; why so glum? You've got Jerry Brown now again, so buck up and savor the tasty moonbeams!
Tell me about it. I just rode into work on a trolley full of winos and bums where it wasn't full fo commuters, to my "green planner" day job. Ugh. If there was just some way to invest and retire early....
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:44 AM (ujg0T)
Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week for the second straight week, suggesting that a slow recovery in the job market is continuing."
By my estimate, this "slow recovery" has been slowly recovering itself for the last three years. And that's just the RECOVERY. The actual economic downfall that the recovery is meant to recover hasn't even been touched yet. It's just laying there, drumming its fingers on the ground and wondering when the Recovery Tortoise is going to get its act in gear and start recovering.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 06:47 AM (4df7R)
Posted by: Monty at May 19, 2011 06:49 AM (/0a60)
The ECB comedy show continues. Jean-Claude Trichet went ballistic and walked out of a meeting over Jean-Claude Junker's use of the terms re-profiling and "soft restructuring".
Adding to the tenseness, huge infighting is in progress over who will replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn who just resigned as IMF chief. Some suggest outgoing ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet.
How about we try this - no hyphenated names and while I am strangely Ok with the name Jean -- Jean-Claude is euro for Billy-bob.
Posted by: Jean at May 19, 2011 06:51 AM (WkuV6)
The thing about British comedy is that I can't understand anything they say. I have a hard time understanding anyone with an accent.
Posted by: momma at May 19, 2011 06:52 AM (penCf)
If Beelzebub had a cat...that would be it.
Posted by: Red Shirt at May 19, 2011 06:53 AM (FIDMq)
A number of undecided votes over there because the plan is controversial.
We need more conservatives in the Senate.
Posted by: Miss'80sBaby at May 19, 2011 06:55 AM (CLYmB)
MSNBC Lying Headline of the Day: "Home Sales Dip Shows Slow Housing Recovery"
See, when there's a DROP in home buying activity ... NBC News says that's a "recovery."
Lead paragraph: Fewer Americas purchased previously occupied homes in April. And while activity among first-time homebuyers increased and foreclosure sales declined, those factors weren't enough to signal a recovery in the weak housing market.
Headline: Slow Recovery Happening!
Story: No evidence of a recovery.
Unbelieveable. They're not even trying to make it plausible any more. They're just out and out lying in their headlines hoping people won't read or comprehend the actual story right underneath it.
Posted by: someguy at May 19, 2011 06:56 AM (iIQ0a)
Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week for the second straight week, suggesting that a slow recovery in the job market is continuing.
When claims go back up next week, the AP or whoever will pretend this sentence and the kajillionty like it from previous uttereances never existed.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 06:56 AM (B+qrE)
there's also still a lot of denial on the part of the sellers who bought at peak and don't want to realize the (inevitable) loss.
I don't think it is denial, so much as it is:
1. A stagflation bet. Of course, to break even as the dollars devalue is still a loss.
2. Inertia. So many people (including myself) are "underwater", but so long as we have our jobs and keep making our mortgages, we stay put. Where are we going to go, if the banks won't loan us for a new home anyway? And what are we going to do--"Short sell" and have our forgiven mortgage debt counted as massive taxable income?
3. Attachment. Homes, especially personal homes, but even rental property, have sentimental value for an owner, or even a landlord, that ordinary stocks and bonds do not.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 06:59 AM (ujg0T)
OT, but that China link in the sidebar deserves its own thread.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 06:59 AM (piMMO)
MeredILF Whitney trumps Suze Orman any day...personnel costs will drown the cities. From my experience, personnel costs are inundating the DoD budget--there was another article in the WSJ about kicking out one of the legs of the nuclear triad--my money would be on nuke-capable bombers.
RightWingProf...are you on the Yahoo! page? I think I need some career advice....
Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at May 19, 2011 07:00 AM (DPM1U)
Posted by: Newt Gingrich at May 19, 2011 07:01 AM (AZGON)
So, the moving average is showing six straight monthly increases in initial unemployment claims ... yet MSNBC's lead paragraph characterizes what is happening as a "slow recovery in the job market."
This is fucking journalistic malpractice and our country is being done a huge disservice by this Obama cock-sucking in the media.
When six straight monthly increases in initial claims for unemployment are characterized by the fawning media as a "slow recovery in the job market" then really what further use do we have as a society for the news media?
We all know they're in the tank ... but at least in the past they could make a plausible claim to unbiased journalism. But they're not even trying to cover up their cock-sucking now. Not even attempting to disguise it. It's incredible.
Posted by: someguy at May 19, 2011 10:41 AM (iIQ0a)
The MFM is lying through its rotten teeth to make things look better for Barry? I'm shocked, shocked...
Posted by: TheQuietMan at May 19, 2011 07:02 AM (1Jaio)
Good for you Vic - my plan is to pay off my mortgage early too
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:06 AM (7mSYS)
Pay $6,000 in interest to save $1800 in taxes.
Vic, you obviously have no grasp of 21st century mathematics.
Next you'll tell me that it is better to straight up own something than to be in debt for it.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 07:09 AM (B+qrE)
Eh, why worry. Apparently Judgment Day is the 21st, the beginning of the end.
"Thank you for calling and sharing...." (nasal gravel monotone)
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:09 AM (ujg0T)
From an article today in Houston Chronicle's chron.com:
"(Houston) Mayor Annise Parker announced a deal with the police pension system on Wednesday that will allow the city to defer $17 million in contributions in the coming fiscal year so it can save 273 jailers' jobs and not take police officers off the streets to guard inmates.
The city also can defer $8.5 million in police pension contributions for fiscal year 2013. But it must pay the pension back at 8.5 percent interest by July 2015.
The city plans to sell the current police headquarters at 1200 Travis to pay back the pension system and help finance construction of a new headquarters."
http://tinyurl.com/63pnoky
So instead of slashing salaries of overpaid city workers and/or cutting lavish pensions, the City of Houston is kicking the can down the road by deferring pension contributions (again) and selling off the people's assets to fund the inflated salaries and bloated pension plans. Incredibly reckless city financial management is being praised as a "triumph". This will not end well.
Posted by: Mook at May 19, 2011 07:10 AM (K/Ke4)
We've got to spend money to keep from going bankrupt!
Posted by: Slow Joe Biden at May 19, 2011 07:11 AM (7mSYS)
You're just a hater because the mayor is gay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Stupid Libtard at May 19, 2011 07:14 AM (7mSYS)
I know we have a lot of creative M&Ms out there. Have y'all heard about the Powerline Prize?
The Power Line Prize of $100,000 will be awarded to whoever can most effectively and creatively dramatize the significance of the federal debt crisis. Prizes will also be awarded to the runner-up and two third-place finishers.
Total prize money is $125,000.
I propose something involving Wicket and a Honey Badger.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 07:16 AM (4df7R)
Mayor Annise Parker announced a deal with the police pension system on Wednesday that will allow the city to defer $17 million in contributions in the coming fiscal year so it can save 273 jailers' jobs and not take police officers off the streets to guard inmates.
Typical. Hey--if don't do x we'll do really painful y instead of less painful z.
$17 million for a city that size can certainly be found in cuts rather than deferring at 8.5% interest.
Sheesh.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 07:16 AM (B+qrE)
Sustained 5% real economic growth is achievable if we do the following things: 1) eliminate the corporate income tax, the capital gains tax, the death tax, and the Alternative Minimum Tax; 2) make the current personal income tax rates permanent; 3) enact H.R. 1638 to stabilize the U.S. dollar; 4) repeal ObamaCare; and, 5) adopt a reasonable regulatory regime, including freeing up U.S. conventional energy production and reforming the FDA, which has become a major impediment to medical progress. This should be the Republicans’ “Plan B”.
I gotta say that sounds real good as a plan. So it could never happen, at least while Dear Reader is in charge.Posted by: GnuBreed at May 19, 2011 09:33 AM (ENKCw) Regretably, that plan B is WAY too" radical" and "extreme" for most GOP as well . Freedom, capitalism and liberty being very fringe concepts in the Pension Fund of America. Can you envision Speaker Cryin John pushing that Plan B? me neither.
Posted by: Its Morning in the Pension Fund of America at May 19, 2011 07:18 AM (K/USr)
Posted by: polynikes at May 19, 2011 07:20 AM (T8iAI)
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 07:20 AM (dZ756)
The Muslim Brotherhood has been touted by many as a power in Egypt, but I will defer to Daniel Pipes, who thinks that the military will continue to run Egypt for the foreseeable future.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:20 AM (LH6ir)
LinkedIn Shares Go Through The Roof at IPO
How do companies like that make money? Sheesh.
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:21 AM (7mSYS)
Next you'll tell me that it is better to straight up own something than to be in debt for it.
Posted by: Circa (insert Year Here) at May 19, 2011 11:09 AM (B+qrE)
But I intend to pay off my debt with inflated dollars in the future not with the current dollars I need right now to buy more ammo, weapons, survival equipment, and farmland.
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:22 AM (yrGif)
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 07:22 AM (dZ756)
LinkedIn Shares Go Through The Roof at IPO
How do companies like that make money? Sheesh.
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 11:21 AM (7mSYS)
Sometimes perception is reality (or close enough for tech bubble work).
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:24 AM (yrGif)
Although gay doesn't enter into it, we just completed an interesting mayoral election in Jax. The first Dem in 20 years and the first ever African-American. He won by 1600 votes against a Republican with very strong name recognition and a pretty stellar reputation.
Duval County is very Republican yet his success came from campaigning in the primarily poor black neighborhoods in the city. A reporter asked a timid question of a voter yesterday and the gentleman, a black gentleman, clarified for her "You mean because he's black?!" he continued "Yeah! that was a big part of it. Usually I just sit at the house and don't really care." (pp).
Things are not so different from 2008 as you might expect.
I thought yesterday that Jax voters might be the perfect little microcosm of the electorate as a whole.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:24 AM (piMMO)
Warning young Robinson - housing prices in SF may contract. My guess is they already have in Alemeda. As broader America reduces costs, high cost areas will lose paying customers.
Posted by: Sub-tard at May 19, 2011 07:24 AM (Q5+Og)
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 11:22 AM (dZ756)
Are you saying that LinkedIn sells its profile data?
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:25 AM (7mSYS)
I purchased my home well before the bubble and it is now valued at less than what I paid for it. After 10 years of payments, I have no equity at all.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:25 AM (piMMO)
But I intend to pay off my debt with inflated dollars in the future not with the current dollars I need right now to buy more ammo, weapons, survival equipment, and farmland.
Which just goes to show the perverse incentives of Obamunist stagflation. Inflation favors the borrower, but it is something you must do carefully....likewise, investments are channeled into either tax hedges or precious metals, away from possible productive companies.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:25 AM (ujg0T)
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:26 AM (M9Ie6)
Those coupons for the local grocery store gotta go somewhere, might as well be in the newspapers that ain't worth reading.
Posted by: Chariots of Toast at May 19, 2011 07:26 AM (XyjRQ)
Probably won't because I'm considering buying a single-family, detached house with garage in Alameda (though I want to keep my SF digs).
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 11:20 AM (dZ756)
We stayed in Alameda during our visit to Alta California last week. I had never visited there thirty years ago, but now it looks like one of the better-kept parts of the Bay Area. Plus it comes with its own moat (no alligators, though).
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 07:26 AM (FcKXR)
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:27 AM (7mSYS)
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:27 AM (ujg0T)
That is not a bet I would take (deflationary recession/depression).
Posted by: Kratos (Ghost of Sparta) at May 19, 2011 07:28 AM (9hSKh)
Posted by: Guy Fawkes at May 19, 2011 07:28 AM (IXLvN)
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:29 AM (M9Ie6)
Which just goes to show the perverse incentives of Obamunist stagflation. Inflation favors the borrower, but it is something you must do carefully....likewise, investments are channeled into either tax hedges or precious metals, away from possible productive companies.
Its That Seventies Show all over again. Remember the 70s?
Posted by: Sub-tard at May 19, 2011 07:29 AM (Q5+Og)
It was safe and boring when I lived in the Bay Area. But don't speed; they'll catch you.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:29 AM (LH6ir)
It costs a lot to be cool.
Posted by: Sub-tard at May 19, 2011 07:30 AM (Q5+Og)
Forgive Egypt debt? The US is the biggest debtor in the history of the Universe, it is our debt that should be forgiven.
maybe that's obama's plan. He's hoping debt forgiveness catches on.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 07:30 AM (wuv1c)
Posted by: Sub-tard at May 19, 2011 11:30 AM (Q5+Og)
There is nothing cool about Castro Valley.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:32 AM (LH6ir)
Tell me about it. I got pulled on the Nimitz one morning on my bike doing 110 weaving in and out of traffic because I was late for work. They only wrote me for 75 because they said I would have to go to jail and post bond if they wrote it any higher. It still cost me an arm and a leg 33 years ago.
Too bad it was a CHP and not an Oakland cop. I knew all the Oakland cops. (or a lot of them)
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:33 AM (M9Ie6)
Your fixed costs are low, and you have lots of equity. Why pay it off? What's the advantage? You will soon be paying that mortgage with inflated dollars, and that's a good thing.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:33 AM (LH6ir)
do companies like that make money? Sheesh.
Dunno, how did Pets.com make it's money?
Ask Rupert Murdoch how fun it is to buy networking sites at their peak.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 07:33 AM (wuv1c)
I have no idea whether linkedin sells its data. I'm just saying that these kinds of sites are great data-mining sources. I suppose someone could join and just start taking down info. I dunno -- while I'm a practicing land use/real property litigator in S.F., I'm not a member.
As for housing prices in Alameda, I think they have mostly stabilized. Any future drop is offset by: 1) people buying the places you like while you're waiting for prices to drop; and 2) increases in mortgage rates. If I can find a 2,000 sq ft dump with garage (single or duplex, which I can merge), for $500k, I'll buy it. Rather than investing in the market, I'll just invest in my mortgage. After all expenses (including my S.F. home, which becomes an emergency fund), I still clear about $1,000/mo after taxes.
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 07:34 AM (dZ756)
One other thing on home prices in CA. Last year I checked my old neighborhood in Castro Valley. These were 1950s era houses on postage stamp size lots. They were going for $550/sq ft. This is supposedly AFTER the drop and that is still way too high.
It costs a lot to be cool.
THIS. Combine it with eco-fiends in the area restricting more housing being built. They actually spent a billion dollars to "restore a SF Bay wetland", while people are commuting into the Bay from jobs from as far away as Stockton and Modesto.
Meanwhile, those of us in economic exile out in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys reminisce about the parts of San Jose or the Peninsula we lived in when we were kids.
The big division in California is no longer North/South, it is now Coast/Interior.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:34 AM (ujg0T)
158 Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 11:26 AM (M9Ie6) 159 Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 11:26 AM (FcKXR)
Geez, Vic, we appear to be the leading candidates to occupy the old farts' chairs at this table. "Well, I recall, thirty or more years ago now, that all us young punks had the good manners to stay off other people's lawns ..."
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 07:34 AM (FcKXR)
Ah Contrare, it used to be a nice place to live too as long as you were not too far over toward the Hayward side. I lived on Redwood Road down near where it turned into woodzy area and the parks.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:34 AM (M9Ie6)
Hell no he's not. Being in the position we presently find ourselves makes us weaker and, at least to me, it appears that that position is precisely what he wants.
He simply cannot abide by the thought that America is in any way superior to any other country and he's content with evening the score.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:35 AM (piMMO)
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:35 AM (ujg0T)
do companies like that make money? Sheesh.
Dunno, how did Pets.com make it's money?
Ask Rupert Murdoch how fun it is to buy networking sites at their peak.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 11:33 AM (wuv1c)
We didn't
Posted by: Pets.com at May 19, 2011 07:35 AM (136wp)
speaking of precious metals - I went to a seminar yesterday about rare earth metals, how China dominates the world market on these metals and how they are intentionally restricting supply because (as they claim) for "environmental reasons" but really it's for more money. There are rare earth elements right here in the US but we don't mine them. Sounds like a great opportunity for someone...
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:35 AM (7mSYS)
Remember when folks were betting on Amazon's failure?
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:36 AM (piMMO)
Oh it was like that when I was out there.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:37 AM (M9Ie6)
You are lucky.
My last speeding ticket in California was on 101 North near Salinas. Empty highway, beautiful day, and I got nailed by a smoking hot CHP officer who was the most humorless woman I have ever seen.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:37 AM (LH6ir)
Geez, Vic, we appear to be the leading candidates to occupy the old farts' chairs at this table. "Well, I recall, thirty or more years ago now, that all us young punks had the good manners to stay off other people's lawns ..."
Pretty soon you two will sit on the Open Morning Thread and tell all of us how this all used to be orchards, far as the eye could see.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 07:38 AM (wuv1c)
You didn't, by an chance, provide your AOS handle to her did you?
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:39 AM (piMMO)
But at least Amazon sells tangible objects. What does LinkedIn sell?
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:39 AM (7mSYS)
Just dirt roads...
You must have missed the ONT a couple of nights ago when we reminisced about 14k modems and dial-up connections.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:40 AM (piMMO)
Pretty soon you two will sit on the Open Morning Thread and tell all of us how this all used to be orchards, far as the eye could see.
Posted by: Ben at May 19, 2011 11:38 AM (wuv1c)
Timberland, Ben, timberland ... gotta be true to my north woods upbringing.
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 07:41 AM (FcKXR)
Pets.Com went out of business because they were profoundly stupid. They shipped dog food by air, for free, and they didn't have a contract with UPS so they paid retail prices. We used to blow out planes with their shipments. Imagine a 767 flying from Oakland to Louisville filled with dog food.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:41 AM (LH6ir)
Your fixed costs are low, and you have lots of equity. Why pay it off? What's the advantage? You will soon be paying that mortgage with inflated dollars, and that's a good thing.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo
///
I'm sitting on low 6 figures cash, but yeah, probably will use that to buy a new place. Alameda (an island in the bay a few hundred yards west of Oakland has some nice areas, it's flat, it gives me great access to things I do in the East Bay, and I can get my own *house*. However, I will, under no circumstances, rent out my current place. I represent enough landlords to know what the Hell I'm getting into.
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 07:42 AM (dZ756)
Must be an inside joke there somewhere. Actually I plan to do more porch sittin'.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:42 AM (M9Ie6)
They are selling something, you can bet on it.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:42 AM (piMMO)
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 11:37 AM (LH6ir)
This is a completely random question, but what do speeding tickets average in other states? Here in NH, if you're caught speeding on the highway it's #O*!@# a lot of money, at least by my cheapo standards. On the main roads it's something like $20-25 for every five miles over the speed limit (though I think they just raised those rates), so a 15mph speeding ticket would run you $75. But on the highway, that same speed difference will cost you $300. I speak from experience, having been pulled over just a few months ago for going 82mph in a 65mph zone on I93 northbound. So I'm just wondering, for comparison's sake, what other states are like.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 07:42 AM (4df7R)
You must have missed the ONT a couple of nights ago when we reminisced about 14k modems and dial-up connections.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 11:40 AM (piMMO)
If my internet connections hadn't sucked and I wasn't impeded by using an iPhone, I might have reverted to reminiscing about slide rules - the light sabers of the late 60s - early 70s.
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 07:43 AM (FcKXR)
Oh it was like that when I was out there.
It started about 20 years ago, I grant you that, but a lot of people didn't get it and still don't.
Ironically, it was the end of the Soviet Empire that did Cali in. Cali was always chock full of faggy and dykey Commiecrats (I don't care about the orientation, but I do care about the commie politics that always seem to come with it), but they were outnumbered by the aerospace and defense and computer hardware workers. But those industries declined, and the "creative classes" in Commiewood and the graphic artistes rose to prominence. Couple that with the illegal alien underclass imported, and Cali began its political decline.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:44 AM (ujg0T)
I think I'm just more ranty about this since I'm looking for a job and find that experience/skills really matter in most things.
Posted by: Adlib at May 19, 2011 07:44 AM (nbXq4)
But at least Amazon sells tangible objects. What does LinkedIn sell?
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 11:39 AM (7mSYS)
I still ticked about not buying into Amazon back in the day--the market principle behind it was sound and I think it was going for about $10.00/sh.
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:45 AM (yrGif)
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 07:45 AM (dZ756)
'Coming in late to the thread (and leaving in two ticks), but Mr Y-not has had good success recruiting via LinkedIn. He has a bunch of positions open now and of course the standard HR "recruiting" route is less than useless (how do those people stay employed one wonders?) and conventional search firms are prohibitively expensive, so he just kept expanding his LinkedIn network. He updates his profile frequently to keep himself on everyone's radar so they are pre-disposed to take a call or email about job positions that are opening up.
It's sweat equity, but he mostly just does it at night after dinner when we're watching a game or something.
I think LinkedIn is useful in some lines of work.
Posted by: Y-not at May 19, 2011 07:45 AM (pW2o8)
It was a lot of fun. We talked about 70s-80s music and technology and films and, well, you name it. We learned that some of our morons were born in the late 80s-early 90s. The damned whippersnappers.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:46 AM (piMMO)
Cost me $275
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:46 AM (M9Ie6)
Pretty soon you two will sit on the Open Morning Thread and tell all of us how this all used to be orchards, far as the eye could see.
San Jose, when I was just a boy. Of course, Dad, who had moved in for a job at the new IBM plant, was part of the orchards end. "We have met the enemy and he is us..."
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:46 AM (ujg0T)
I lived in the East Bay for 20 years, and am familiar with the hell that landlords have been condemned.
Rent it to a relative or good friend for below market.
Also, if it's on a hill, it will be a good place to go during the apocalypse; zombies don't handle hills very well.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:47 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 11:43 AM (FcKXR)
FWIW, I still have a double precision slide rule.
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:47 AM (yrGif)
Must be an inside joke there somewhere. Actually I plan to do more porch sittin'.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 11:42 AM (M9Ie6)
There is: Monty Python's Four Yorkshiremen
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 07:48 AM (FcKXR)
As for housing prices in Alameda, I think they have mostly stabilized. Any future drop is offset by: 1) people buying the places you like while you're waiting for prices to drop; and 2) increases in mortgage rates.
As for #2, rising mortgage rates will pressure home prices downward because buyers can't afford as much at higher interest rates. With a $500k mortgage note, the difference in payments between 4.5% 30 yr and 7.5% 30 yr (close to historical mortgage rate avg) would increase montly payment by $1,000/month. If local govt raises property taxes to pay for bloated govt., that would also pressure home price downward
Sounds like you've done well so far, but be careful with your assumptions.
Posted by: Mook at May 19, 2011 07:48 AM (K/Ke4)
Posted by: Jane D'oh at May 19, 2011 11:47 AM (UOM4
That must be it--it is too cloudy and cold here for golf!
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:49 AM (yrGif)
And always hire someone with a science background for analytical work if you can get him/her. Data-oriented people are data-oriented, no matter the type of data.
Also, history majors do have some utility. They tend to make good prospect researchers for development work.
Posted by: Y-not at May 19, 2011 07:49 AM (pW2o8)
Also, if it's on a hill, it will be a good place to go during the apocalypse; zombies don't handle hills very well.
As long as the wildfires don't get you. Eco-fiends don't like cattle grazing in "wilderness areas".
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 07:49 AM (ujg0T)
I wish! It wasn't that kind of nailing.
She was a tall blonde with large tits and a great ass.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:49 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: chemjeff at May 19, 2011 07:50 AM (7mSYS)
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 11:43 AM (FcKXR)
FWIW, I still have a double precision slide rule.
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 11:47 AM (yrGif)
I was born just after the slide rule's heyday, but I always kind of wished they'd still been standard issue when I was in school. They just LOOKED so cool. Kind of like abacuses -- abacuses used to fascinate me.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 07:50 AM (4df7R)
I'd rather ram an ice pick through my eardrums.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at May 19, 2011 07:51 AM (UOM48)
We just recruited a gal with an undergrad from Harvard and a graduate degree from Cornell. She accepted what is pretty much an entry-level management position. We normally recruit for those jobs locally. Frankly, I, too, am in a similar management position and I'm on the 20-year plan to getting my degree while working 60-70 hours a week.
Her degree, no matter how impressive, will have to hold up to the experience and skills of others who have a degree from Online-U if she is to succeed.
Oh, her major was Art History.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:51 AM (piMMO)
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:52 AM (M9Ie6)
We will celebrate with a toast on the ONT tonight! Good luck.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:52 AM (piMMO)
I was born just after the slide rule's heyday, but I always kind of wished they'd still been standard issue when I was in school. They just LOOKED so cool. Kind of like abacuses -- abacuses used to fascinate me.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 11:50 AM (4df7R)
Both these technologies can be expected to make an "unexpected" comeback when "electricity rates necessarily sky-rocket".
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:52 AM (yrGif)
I'd rather ram an ice pick through my eardrums.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at May 19, 2011 11:51 AM (UOM4
I won't be listening, but if any of the M&Ms choose to liveblog the experience, I will be standing by with words of encouragement for such brave souls.
Posted by: MWR at May 19, 2011 07:54 AM (4df7R)
I'd rather ram an ice pick through my eardrums.
Posted by: Jane D'oh at May 19, 2011 11:51 AM (UOM4
What's that--I can't hear you with this icepick in my ear!
Posted by: Hrothgar at May 19, 2011 07:54 AM (yrGif)
The companies don't. Legally-not-insider-insider insiders who can dump their stock on chumps do.
There'll be a spike in Dassault Falcon sales in about two weeks. Get in now!
Posted by: oblig. at May 19, 2011 07:54 AM (xvZW9)
Posted by: Hussein the Plumber at May 19, 2011 07:55 AM (jx2j9)
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 07:55 AM (M9Ie6)
The antiquate cursive-writing skill and the ability to "spell-check" our own writing might make a comeback as well.
Posted by: Clueless at May 19, 2011 07:56 AM (piMMO)
As for housing prices in Alameda, I think they have mostly stabilized. Any future drop is offset by: 1) people buying the places you like while you're waiting for prices to drop; and 2) increases in mortgage rates.
As for #2, rising mortgage rates will pressure home prices downward because buyers can't afford as much at higher interest rates. With a $500k mortgage note, the difference in payments between 4.5% 30 yr and 7.5% 30 yr (close to historical mortgage rate avg) would increase montly payment by $1,000/month. If local govt raises property taxes to pay for bloated govt., that would also pressure home price downward
Sounds like you've done well so far, but be careful with your assumptions.
///
It would be a $350k note as I would put $150k down. Local governments are constrained by Prop. 13. I <3 Prop. 13.
As for renting to friends/relatives below market -- I've represented people who've done that. Granted that because I have a post-1995 condo, I'm exempt from rent control, but there are still a myriad of other ways to get fucked. Besides, I'd lose a rad pied-a-terre.
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 07:57 AM (dZ756)
I swear to God that some of those streets haven't been touched, other than to fill in potholes, during the intervening thirty years since I lived there. But I'm sure the powers that be in Berkeley found plenty of time and $$$ to create and fund dozens and dozens of commissions and advisory groups to address untrammeled social injustice and to create and have passed the Berkeley City Council's weighty and well-regarded proclamations on all matters international.
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 07:57 AM (FcKXR)
When I was CA, just after school I lived in a studio in the Berkeley hills (on Keith Ave. if anyone knows the area). I had about 30 feet of windows overlooking the bay. I could watch the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge.
It used to be a great place to live (ignoring the people), but now? No thanks.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 07:59 AM (LH6ir)
Oh, there is no doubt that Berkeley is a fucking sewer. One of my roommates grew up in Berkeley, and his parents had a beautiful house on Northside. They used to tell stories about how elegant Berkeley used to be.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 08:02 AM (LH6ir)
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 08:05 AM (dZ756)
You might be the last conservative in SF, so you might have to drink alone.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 08:07 AM (LH6ir)
BTW, anyone here live in S.F. or the surrounding area? Got some Glenmorangie 18 and Black Maple Hill bourbon to share if you want to come over.
An exile in Sacto here. Howdy.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 08:07 AM (ujg0T)
That had to be awesome.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 08:09 AM (M9Ie6)
Posted by: SFGoth at May 19, 2011 08:22 AM (dZ756)
I had about 30 feet of windows overlooking the bay. I could watch the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at May 19, 2011 11:59 AM (LH6ir)
Our place on Grizzly Peak Blvd. had much the same view. Breakfast and dinner every day overlooking the Bay and the Golden Gate - or the sea of fog that filled it during many of the summer days. We used to remind ourselves that we would never have been able to afford those digs except for the fact that we were grad students and compensated via stipends, which were 100% tax-free back then. Really good times ...
Posted by: ya2daup at May 19, 2011 08:30 AM (FcKXR)
Yeah, you can't even buy a house over in that low class city of Tiburon!
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 08:30 AM (M9Ie6)
not so much soccons, but eccons, like me
You only start becoming a so-con when you notice how the e-con issues have deep so-con root causes.
Posted by: Curmudgeon at May 19, 2011 08:56 AM (ujg0T)
Posted by: CeeloBadger at May 19, 2011 10:32 AM (1oVv1)
Posted by: pmike at May 19, 2011 11:51 AM (R9qZf)
http://tinyurl.com/3wgb29t
Soros has dumped all his gold, or so says this article.
Posted by: Vic at May 19, 2011 12:27 PM (M9Ie6)
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Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at May 19, 2011 05:21 AM (FkKjr)