I've heard this "subprime crises" meme repeated a few times over the last few days.
I thought "we'd" moved beyond this but I guess the GreatLie is still in effect.
Those damned Subprimers!
these two are tough to listen to - for differing reasons.............Roubini because of his accent (btw, what are "animal spirits"?), and Schiller whom I haven't quite figured out.
bsr
i have trouble with his accent too,which is weird since i can listen to a little indian guy or girl tell me how to fix my computer.and understand them.
Continuing about digital cameras from last thread...
Cameras changed the art world when they appeared on the scene 170 years ago. No longer was it important for art to be just faithful imagery, which brought us the impressionist era and other art forms that a camera couldn't replicate.
Present-day, digital cameras have changed the world because of their ubiquitousness and faithful ability to record events in real-time, as in if it happens, somebody is documenting it. We would have never heard of what was happening at the prison @ Abu Ghralb 5 years ago, had it not been for them.
BSR,
Animal spirits are the Keynsian driver of venture.
What is sorely lacking right now is the desire of folks to venture their capital, but right now (for a while) that is the prudent course. Business is pulling back, and the consumer is pulling back, and until stasis is reached, well, venturing forth resembles throwing money into the abyss.
I think this is why CIT is not getting any support- their portfolio is full of construction equipment currently selling for 10% of what it was worth two years ago.
Without folks willing to borrow, their future book of business is shot too. In other words, they are a zombie bank- but the administration is willing to cut their throats and let 'em die.
Very unlike Japan.
Still too optimistic, we have several years more to go...
Someday this war's gonna end...
The quarterly update to the marketable US Treasury roll is up - very modest improvement in the maturity distribution of the growth in marketable debt as compared to last quarter - for your viewing pleasure: energyecon: Treasury Marketable Debt Rollover Update
....lets just say all is better in 6-mos.............what do we do with all the debt AND debt interest, dead business carcasses, empty CRE, the millions unemployed, no money to reinflate the economy, and the insolvent pension plans, local governments, and still unhealthy banks, their alliances, and the additional mega cost for universal healthcare, cap & trade, and lets not forget the military costs when Obama discovers its power in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, NKorea, China, and the crisis du jour.
.....what part will be "all better"?
Hey Home........drip irrigation, mostly raised beds w/ mulch, no pesticides to speak of - a little ivory, some blood & bone meal and a small shop vac.
dell financial is done by cit to isnt it? does anyone know for sure, thats two(if true) i have dell and fingerhut. oh fiddle-sticks this might not be a good thing. oh btw off topic.
Not so much, general impression is that the surveillance in the most likely affected regions is completely unreliable - the last country reporting a new infestation was Iran last year - and IIRC that area has been experiencing some drought conditions which slows the spread. Also, the bordering nations to the east are Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Drought is good, it buys time. The thing with these rusts is that they are transmitted by spores, which are very hardy, very small and can be windborne for enormous distances...they just need to be present at the wrong time in the growing cycle and they can pretty much wipe out a harvest.
Plant the seed and you'll never be in need.
We had whiteflies this year here in scenic South Carolina. It's the first time I've ever seen them here.
I need to replant my garden this weekend.
Beans and squash.
Tomatoes are coming on strong right now!
Aside from pontificating, how many of you have made physical plans to ride out the financial storm in some fashion? I'm not interested in your "investments" vis a vis Wall*Street or other tomfoolery.
I'm curious what various preparations you've come up with.
On the difficulties understanding Roubini's English: it is his fourth or fifth language after Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Italian; he speaks very quickly; it takes a bit of practice listening to some of the many varieties of English to process the slight differences. I say this as an American who has lived and taught for over 30 years in several European countries and attended quite a few academic conferences.
It was an interesting program. My take was that both of them were blaming poor (self-) regulation, weak underwriting, financial opacity, and greed..
Head and shoulders will probably fail. too many underwater short sellers are anticipating it. if it does materialize it will stick a fork in the efficient market hypothesis. Target 8400 short term. Maybe as high as 9000 on the DJIA. And then the bottom falls out. Those with stops get squeezed.
hat tip to Interesting Finance & Economic articles
It occurred to me as I woke up here in California that the state could help solve its budget problem by switching from incarcerating first-time offenders, to simply sticking them with a mandatory earnings withholding (a "tax surcharge", "wage garnishment" or similar) for a few years. In other words, hit 'em where it hurts, and instead of making the state pay for "justice", have the offenders themselves pay for their sins.
I realize it'll stimulate the black-market economy and lead to a variety of other abuses, but that might be worth the price?
Bought land in Bermuda, have plans drawn to go off grid; wind, solar, desal
bought 15 acres in central PA, not enough to live off of, but enough to trade from spring through fall
main house in AZ is loaded for fall and winter, will be able to barter my bar tab on lemons, limes & oranges. The utility company paid for 80% of my solar hot water heater.
The library has lots of movies - free.
The 'net has lots of interesting video content - free.
And if we just couldn't miss Hollywood's latest (but why ... is it any better than what they made a few years ago? is it so important that it couldn't wait a couple years??)... we'd do something like Netflix for $5/month.
Note that $5/month is $60/year and at current rates of return, requires an upfront investment of about $1800. ("Movies for life for $1800 please!")
".......both of them were blaming poor (self-) regulation, weak underwriting, financial opacity, and greed."
....pretty much covers it. Our regulators didn't regulate, our politicians listened to campaign contributions, the ratings agencies were bought, and the bonus-based financial employees keep getting greedier.
"Financial Planning" - they can't take what you don't have. Don't be dependent or beholding to ANYBODY. Use stray dogs, rabbits and ground squirrels for target practice.
Juvenal Delinquent:
I made my plan 38 years ago. I was a product of the GD1, WW2 and the cold war. I had worked in the war industries for my whole creerer and after The Trojan Rubber Works laid off 8000 workers in a year I decided that I should go straight to the pigs trough and work for the Fed Gov. It was a good move. Fun work, NASA, and fun co-workers, smart and funny too. Now all I have to worry about is the collapse of the US gov same as all the rest of you.
Sooner or later California is going to have to address the issue of prisons and what to do with 1/5th of a million felons that it can no longer afford to keep in a style in which they've become accustomed to, and those that are grossly overpaid to oversee them...
With even top quality digital processing still deflating movie production costs are too, so I wouldn't put up $1800. The dollar won't keep up with graphic design improvements.
"switching from incarcerating first-time offenders, to simply sticking them with a mandatory earnings withholding (a "tax surcharge", "wage garnishment" or similar) for a few years. "
Since a lot of first-time offenders are gang-bangers and corner boys dealing drugs, I doubt this will work. OGs and drug kingpins rarely issue W-2s for their staff. And, once convicted, many will not be working in the straight world ever...too many unemployed to pick from.
"My backup plan is Black Star's couch." .........damn, broward, you shoulda told me sooner. The couch has got dibs by a pretty young gal that likes to cook, clean, weed, and plant naked.
“...The car companies decided they didn’t want to take responsibility for their own vehicles,” the Cleveland plaintiffs’ attorney said in an interview. “I’m suing component-suppliers and dealers.”
Targeting defendants previously protected by the deep pockets of the automakers, and by law in some states, adds a financial threat to suppliers and dealers facing the worst auto market in 30 years. GM said it had $973 million in potential product liability as of March 31. Chrysler didn’t disclose such information.
In a South Carolina case over an allegedly faulty seat belt, a woman who suffered a spinal injury didn’t sue Chrysler, which built the 1996 Dodge Caravan she was riding in. Instead, the suit was filed against Honeywell International Inc., which previously owned the buckle supplier, and against five dealers that bought and sold the vehicle.
“This case is typical of what is happening or will be happening throughout the country,” said the woman’s lawyer, Kendall Few of Greer, South Carolina. He also added Honeywell to cases that he first filed against only GM and Chrysler...."
"Sooner or later California is going to have to address the issue of prisons and what to do with 1/5th of a million felons"
Why not continue our outsourcing efforts. Syria and Egypt have already stepped up to the plate...Vietnam has lost a lot of cheap manufacturing and might be happy to accomodate our needs...and they are used to imprisoning Americans. With shipping rates tanking, we could send off boatloads of them inexpensively.
[snip]
During May 26--June 18, the unit received 13 patients for evaluation from outlying hospitals, 10 of whom were confirmed to have novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection by testing of respiratory specimens with real-time reverse transcription--polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) at MDCH and CDC. Direct immunofluorescent antibody staining at UMHS was negative for influenza A in all 10 patients. Viral culture at UMHS was positive for influenza A in two patients. Translation: 10 of 13 ICU patients admitted were A/H1N1 positive with a "DNA test", but other tests were 0/10 and 2/10
Also, the Editorial Notes at the end are a bit less technical for others interested, (viz the comments on both obesity and pulmonary emboli).
with body armor, pepper spray, stun gun, and the latest in club design.
Brings new meaning to the phrase "club wear".
I can't help thinking of that Twilight Zone episode where one guy planned and built a bomb shelter but none of his neighbors did.
Regardless of how well YOU planned, the great majority of neighbors did not and that's going to be your biggest problem.
The pivotal event for me growing up was Apollo 11. If you had asked 1,000 7 year old boys what they wanted to be in 1969, 833 would have wanted to be astronauts ...
Looking back 40 years ago, it was definitely Peak America.
Wouldn't it be ironic if the bottom falls out of Wall*Street on Monday, July 20th?
This is a repost from previous thread, but before Cali goes bust, the Detroit Public schools may declare bankruptcy...which would allow them to renegotiate or end contracts with teachers, administrators and vendors.
Mish has the link/post on the story, this is from the Detroit Free Press.
Roubini has actually turned quite bullish on the economy as compared to his previous prognostications. At the end of the day, he's a supporter of massive government stimulus, so I don't think he has the right solutions. What about listening to Ron Paul or Peter Schiff for once?
public schools are so 90s....................with budget constraints, upgraded teleconferencing abilities, and 1/2 the parents staying at home now, it can all be done from the home.
All economists are the same. They extrapolate some small success in prediction into a string of presumptions. Truth is there's little evidence that past predictions are so much as indicative of future accuracy.
@Alexei - In the kind of world where you need to take the extreme measures you've described, you're going to have trouble driving from AZ to PA. (And I still don't know how you drive to Bermuda??)
You're also going to have trouble with the housesitters.
And those perpetual trusts? That's an "unknown known": nothing is perpetual, especially these days...
Known knowns: What you think you know, that's actually true.
Known unknowns: What you know that you don't know, and need to find out.
Unknown unknowns: The unexpected; things you don't know and you don't even know you don't know them.
What Rumsfeld glaringly missed, and indeed the whole Bush administration missed, were:
Unknown knowns: Things you think you know, but you actually don't. In one major case: ideological blindness.
You should properly credit philosopher Slavoj Zizek for this bit of insight.
Everyone should youtube slavoj zizek for an obscene, misanthropic, slovenian genius.
To take hoops further, all of those things are by the percentages.
You may not be able to find out something that you don't know and
would like to know. You may actually know something that you think
you don't. You may not be able to handle the truth!
On the movie $ question, I usually wait about a month then go see the flicks at the cheap theatre, $3 a seat, and $1.75 opn Tues. Dayton does not have that much to offer, but on a lot of fronts it is pretty cheap (esp housing)
Drive-in movies up and died the past 30 years, and I expect movie theaters to do the same thing...
Modern-day movie theaters have pretty small screens nowadays, and if you buy popcorn & a soda, it'll cost you $20 to see something you can see @ home for a few bucks (including popcorn* & a coke), 6 months later.
popped in olive oil over an open flame in a pot on the stove, and salted.
That was the birthday wish for our daughter's fifth birthday party - sprang for extended family to go see Up 3D - got thumbs up from all age ranges...how the digital tech works is something I need to go look up, thanks for the reminder lliz, I like to understand that stuff and it appears similar yet different from the red/blue approach...or another digital tech for computers (alternating lenses 60x sec on glasses plugged into computer)
This was an ad in the paper for Merritt Island Florida. Hope the non-Floridians
are not disappointed. Come to cool Florida. Seldom over 95 on the coast.
HomeGnome (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:16 am
* reply
* Ignore user
Subprime wasn't the damn problem.
IT was/is a CREDIT BUBBLE and it affected valuations of all goods and services.
It was the fact that the median wage declined over 8 years. Had wages kept pace with productivity i.e. up about 2%p.a. the credit crisis would be much less severe.
I think as long as we keep insisting that our current problems are a result of the woes of the financial sector it will be the equivalent of treating the headache rather than the brain tumor. At some point we have to examine the economic orthodoxy including free trade, the destruction of the labor unions, de-regulation, the slavish worship at the temple of free markets.
lawyerliz (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 7:48 am
Cali residents still unaware?
Nope, I know the tomatoes need watering and the roses trimmed.
volker the viking (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 7:56 am
RobDawg: just set as back ground the pic of Turbo Timmy makes a poopy
re: beach babes: are they friends of yours? maybe one is headed for BSR's sofa, if so broward's personal safety may be called to question
That Timmay pic is classic. The beach babes pic took a lot of work to arrange. It was specially chosen and sized for that effect. At first attractive, then a little strange and finally disturbing. Just like many find California.
I am insulted, when have I ever been so narrow minded- although I hardly feel like an economist these days, more like a Cassandra.
I think past predictions should be taken with a grain of salt, since prognosticating the future is so damned difficult when you see things the profession had thought dead and buried walk the earth. Somebody I know personally put a blurb on the editorial page today worrying about crowding out of investment by the government- I couldn't believe he would spout such tripe.
Movie producers are 'strongly encouraging' distributors/theaters to change to 3D to get folks back in theaters. So, lots of cash will be spent on 3D effects, to hell with the story. They are likely to find that the translation to 2D for cable and DVD/Blue Ray leaves a bitter taste in viewer's mouths, destroying what little is left of movie biz after the special effects have already become more important than the story (see, Tranformers).
Theaters are a racket, pure and simple. Bad (old) pop corn with rancid oil, overpriced everything. Small screens.
OTOH: movies were major diversion for the sheeple in the GD (and very cheap), so maybe it will work again.
I wouldn't bet on anything in the 'hollywood' industry, but maybe indy films and foreign films will save the day. Anybody can make a digital movie now. (see youtube)
Since a lot of first-time offenders are gang-bangers and corner boys dealing drugs, I doubt this will work. OGs and drug kingpins rarely issue W-2s for their staff. And, once convicted, many will not be working in the straight world ever...too many unemployed to pick from.
make them dress up like drag queens and walk down their neighborhoods. Humiliating them in front of their peers is more effective at destroying the macho image than imprisoning them.
Many of the animated films produced work on multiple levels - Up is an excellent case in point - 3D was icing on the cake.
And the Disney 3D technology is interesting, utilizes circular polarization and alternating frames at a much higher rate than normal movies - more akin to the glasses plugged into to the computer example op. cit. Disney Digital 3-D - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Speaking of annoying, I think these yoyos (My Way need a MOAB dropped on them to stop interfering with my connection to wikipedia.
I hate amateur tin pot dictators- I wish the russian hackers would steal the last of their money and leave them begging to Hu. There's a friendly pawnbroker;-}
At this rate of connection, I will have to join lawyerliz with the mop bucket brigade.
Can you point me towards a way to judge the health of an insurer?
I am getting dropped by Travelers - in their words, "We are not renewing the policy identified on the enclosed notice and it will expire according to its terms on the date shown on that notice." This was preceded by, "Recent storms have had a devastating effect on properties located in many parts of the country, especially in coastal areas. Because of the potential for future significant losses due to hurricanes, we find it necessary to take action to address our overall exposure to such losses."
In the same letter they also offer a new policy from a different Travelers Company at a higher price with a higher hurricane deductible that is 5% of coverage vs 2% currently.
That said - I'm not sure I want to continue doing business with them but don't want to get insured with someone likely to go Tango Uncle anytime soon.
mike
you might try your mortage company,looks to me like it would be in their interest for hurricane ins.
i was told or read that when you insure you are making a bet that it is going to happen. sounds like all bets are off with travlers. last hurricane your area was gloria?
wish you luck.
Try Geico, that would tell you for sure if you are in a real bad spot, they don't insure anything they can't decently layoff the risk.
If they won't insure for hurricane, then you have definitely been assigned to a high risk pool by almost all of the insurers, in which case getting insurance will be very difficult.
That flood insurance might be golden.
As for force put insurance through your lender- waaaay prohibitive.
When Allstate dropped us and went really high before that I said to the
hub, why not put the money in the bank that we would have paid and
self insure. He thought I was nutz, and I prolly was. Who trusts a bank
to have the money when you need it?
I wish Geico would stick with the lizard, I hate that stack of money with
the eyes, super creepy.
Lothar,
Hash and Meth are worlds apart.
Too much hash and you take a nice nap...
Too much meth (any, IMO) and you're running down the street buck ass naked thinking you're the Terminator...
lawyerliz (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:23 am
Insurance companies are basically scum.
When Allstate dropped us and went really high before that I said to the
hub, why not put the money in the bank that we would have paid and
self insure.
My mom in Venice, FL self insures. Laughs every quarter when she gets paid.
Hey HomeGnome, I was just trying to note the similarities of the word origins and what that had to do with the folks who actually took the drogas before doing their "jobs" as it were.
I don't think the hashashins were given enough to make them sleepy, just enough to take the edge off that little part about killing other people...
Meth folks, yeah - not good any way you happen upon them.
HomeGnome (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:27 am
reply ignore user
Lothar,
Hash and Meth are worlds apart.
Too much hash and you take a nice nap...
Too much meth (any, IMO) and you're running down the street buck ass naked thinking your the Terminator...
I've seen brain activity scans of meth versus coke users. Single use meth users show less brain activity 2years later than long term coke users. Meth also permanently wrecks your brain synapses. Not many things worse than it other than perhaps glue/toluene sniffing.
So is AM Best a good guage of an insurers ability to pay or are they akin to the ratings issued by S&P and Moodys?
Hmmn. Self insure - what about liability - or do you simply get liability insurance and self insure against property damage?
If I assume construction costs of $200/sq ft (high but I'd rather be conservative) my replacement cost in the event of total loss for just the structure is $400k. Seems like a lot to self insure...
For reference the existing policy costs me $1650/yr for dwelling at $400k, personal property at $300k and liability of $300k. I am likely way over insured so I will be looking to correct that mistake either way.
Subprime wasn't the damn problem.
IT was/is a CREDIT BUBBLE and it affected valuations of all goods and services.
Just looking around, I would say it was resource depletion and population overshoot.
Of course, I'm not a superstition based economist, who thinks growth is good in a impoverished, finite world.
Some years ago I had a really obnoxious neighbor that was a Jekyll & Hyde type person, always angry or about to blow a fuse, and he had about 25 mosquito bites on each arm that never seemed to go away, and not knowing anything about meth, I had no idea that he was quite the addict, until another friend that had done meth told me of all the symptoms.
What appeared to be mosquito bites was the meth trying to escape his body unsuccessfully
Poic-all those white colored drugs wreak havoc, had a great friend die at 23, left on the sidewalk after having a seizure in car by the other coked out friends that were afraid to take him to hospital because of there high....
If they would stop worrying about pot and start concentrating the war on all the white powders of death it could be successful. The govt. efforts are inept in many areas...
Hike of the day-I'm getting away from the house-good day to all..
Wisdom Speaker (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 7:37 am
@Alexei - In the kind of world where you need to take the extreme measures you've described, you're going to have trouble driving from AZ to PA. (And I still don't know how you drive to Bermuda??)
You're also going to have trouble with the housesitters.
And those perpetual trusts? That's an "unknown known": nothing is perpetual, especially these days...
What "extreme" events are you talking about? I've done the drive with gas @ $4, that's as extreme as it gets in my lifetime.
The talk of recovery in six months (started back around the first of year) keeps getting pushed forward...six months. Reminds me sooo much of the talk of politicians of a certain stripe starting in oh, about 2004, that the violence in Iraq would abate in...six months. After a year or two of moving the goalpost I'm sure the bottom callers will be right.
Thank you, Mr. Augustus Owsley Stanley III
The best ever, better than Sandoz.
Everything else pales by comparison.
I have actually met the gentleman several times.
URUMQI, China (Reuters) - China raised the death toll from ethnic rioting in Xinjiang, giving for the first time the ethnicity of the dead, and a big security presence in the city at the center of the strife prevented protests on Saturday.
The official Xinhua news agency said 184 people had died in the July 5 riots in Urumqi, the Xinjiang regional capital, and 137 of those killed were Han Chinese, who form the majority of China's 1.3 billion population. The previous death toll was 156.
Hum, seems the administration isn't as concerned about this rioting and death toll as I haven't heard them comment on it.
Hu's your daddy, Obummer?
where are you on the island? It sounds as if you're pretty well sheltered from storm surge, but I'd definitely keep the Federal flood insurance in CYA mode. There's been what, maybe 3 tropical systems that have hit LI in my 40 years and your average nor'easter did more damage.
Besides, even if you had insurance they'd screw you anyways. They tried to do my dad with his boat saying it was wind damage, not water when his boat was raised on the Indian river inlet. Fortunately he's a mechanical engineer and was able to show that it was water that scoured the piles out by their positioning.
Reminds me sooo much of the talk of politicians of a certain stripe starting in oh, about 2004, that the violence in Iraq would abate in...six months.
Those were called "Friedman Units" of time, after Little Tommy of the clueless flatland fame.
We on the left side of things started measuring Iraq time in Friedman Units.
Hum, seems the administration isn't as concerned about this rioting and death toll as I haven't heard them comment on it.
Hu's your daddy, Obummer?
Amazingly two-faced. Lecturing the Africans and ignoring the Chinese.
Turkey came out strong against the Chinese ethnic cleansing campaign and oppression against minorities in the Western provinces. Obama, Hillary, the leaders of the "free world"...not a word.
A couple of days ago someone gave me the number of a paver. I called and left a message more on a lark for an estimate and didn't expect him to call/show for weeks. I already had a couple of quotes in the 10K range (100 yard driveway with a large parking area near the house) and had decided not to do it. Within FORTY FIVE MINUTES of my initial call he was AT MY HOUSE. Started with 11.5K. I laughed.
He- dropped to 9.1K.
Me- no can do.
He- How about 8.4K?
Me- 7.5K, take it or leave.
He- OK, can I start tomorrow?
Me- Sure.
......this is a perfect example of the "system......
"Their comic-book adventure went awry when cops approached the dynamic duo on 43rd Street to see whether they had the required license to perform in costume in public, Frisoli said."
Just finished Atlas Shrugged again. I know the left would disembowel Rand if they could invent a time machine, but it IS interesting how prophetic that book is.... How about an Automotive Reunification plan.......I think Summers reminds me most of Wesley Mouch.
When do we all wake up and say, "Suck it, Trebeck!!!"
The system is always dying, it starts decay as soon as a new state is established.
Watching the life cycles of bureaucracies has taught me that. All of them eventually wither and die unless the need once again becomes apparent.
Companies are also bureaucracies, ones that try to maintain their position even as they begin to undergo their decay cycle.
Some manage to successfully purge enough of the harden bureaucracy to survive these periodic crisis, some are buried by decision that looked good at the time (CIT!)
Countries suffer from the same problems- Why did it take six months for Panetta to find out about the domestic program? Makes me think Pelosi might have been telling the truth about the CIA disclosure- wrap things up in enough bureaucratic euphemisms, and nobody really knows WTF is on the agenda. Take it to the logical extreme and you have a Wansee conference.
So, the real question is to pick the winners and sell the losers, in more ways than one. A lot of free market ideology is on the scrap heap, just waiting for the lack of money to strangle the Cato Institute and their ilk.
A very interesting time, and the next set of changes will most likely be precipitated by external events.
The system is always dying, it starts decay as soon as a new state is established.
Watching the life cycles of bureaucracies has taught me that. All of them eventually wither and die unless the need once again becomes apparent.
Companies are also bureaucracies, ones that try to maintain their position even as they begin to undergo their decay cycle.
Some manage to successfully purge enough of the harden bureaucracy to survive these periodic crisis, some are buried by decision that looked good at the time (CIT!)
Countries suffer from the same problems- Why did it take six months for Panetta to find out about the domestic program? Makes me think Pelosi might have been telling the truth about the CIA disclosure- wrap things up in enough bureaucratic euphemisms, and nobody really knows WTF is on the agenda. Take it to the logical extreme and you have a Wansee conference.
So, the real question is to pick the winners and sell the losers, in more ways than one. A lot of free market ideology is on the scrap heap, just waiting for the lack of money to strangle the Cato Institute and their ilk.
A very interesting time, and the next set of changes will most likely be precipitated by external events.
"When do we all wake up and say, "Suck it, Trebeck!!!" "
A good start is trying to pay as little tax as you can to the government. Convert all your wealth from dollar to other currencies/commodities. Stop feeding the beast.
I used to be one of those people who just complains on the internet, but dutifully pays my taxes to the government. No more.
I stopped working because I didn't want to feed the beast in any capacity where they would use my hard-earned money to allow them to keep on keeping on.
My protest was by choice, but most people are protesting involuntarily ...
I just read this book by Dmitri Orlov called Reinventing Collapse that talks about the post soviet experience.
He says, suicidal 45-55 year olds have all their self esteem tied up in their creature comforts, faux luxuries, careers, their standing in the game, the feelings of power that money imparts. they lose it when they have to live without money.
Juvenal Delinquent (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 10:28 am
reply ignore user
I stopped working because I didn't want to feed the beast in any capacity where they would use my hard-earned money to allow them to keep on keeping on.
My protest was by choice, but most people are protesting involuntarily ...
Given that your move was voluntary I hope you have savings to fall back on.
Done playing their game. Some gold, some cash, some stash of nonparishables.
I need to wrap my head around living as I did in the early 70s. Keep life simple, no debt. And I really want to pay off my car, that is the only debt left. The less I "need" the easier it is going to be to adjust to the future.
After visiting a few other countries, they simply use less. They don't have clothes driers, they take public transit (although we have no real transit sys in Az)., walking is normal. Gas & utilities are much higher than in the US. Food is cheaper.
It is difficult to not go back to our cultural norms when I am home. I am still learning that our standard fo living isn't nessisarily what I need to aspire to right now.
I know about a dozen people that have been piling up more money than they could ever use, pile of money # 6, on top of pile of money #5, on top of pile of money #4, etc.
@Lothar the Rottweiler, @Juvenal Delinquent, @josap
Congrats.
@otishertz
Reminds me of this Kurt Vonnegut story:
While at a party, a person goes up to Kurt Vonnegut and says "you see that guy over there? He's a hedge fund trader. He makes in a day what you make in a year of writing. He has everything"
Kurt Vonnegut responds: "He doesn't have what I have"
The person asks: "what?"
Vonnegut smiles: "I have enough"
pavel.chichikov (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 12:38 pm
"Regarding dead guys; they feel shame because the system is so deep in them that when the system dies, they feel dead too."
I think the cause of a lot of emotional depression in this society is the feeling of being dead in a dead world.
I am saddened by the fact that so much depression is self-originated and could the depressed person see outside the worldview in which they trapped themselves (even without changing the material condition of their lives) even momentarily, they could find relief and move towards a recovery or an answer. But in this case depression is exactly the proper emotional reaction, as there is no collective answer.
As george Carllin said "It all depends on what you value."
My primary value is my friends. We had a get together last night of about 30 people. I would give my house key to any of them. If I called any of them in the middle of the night they would come over without asking why I even needed them.
Cheap wine, fruit platters, people brought other stuff to share. No TV. Great conversation.
So, i'm walking down the trail yesterday, and there's this woman about 80 years old with a cane in one hand, and a big rock* in the other...
I asked if she collected rocks?
She told me she saw a bear's footprints, and was going to defend herself from the bruin that was nowhere to be seen. Fear is my friend, because it generally keeps people that have no reason to be in the wilderness, away.
The Collapsed USSR had a more agrarian society and free housing. Large businesses like Gazprom never stopped running. Many were former collectives where the company took care of everything the workers needed: housing, transportation, lunch, health care. Kinda like slavery. The point is that they had a kind of stability built into the centralized bureaucracy that made some basic services collapse proof.
Juv,
Here in Scenic South Carolina there is a news story about once a month where an old lady beats the crap out of a purse snatcher, mugger or rapist.
I love those stories!
Kick ass on the punk ass thugs, you octogenarians!!!
Travesty of Treasury (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 10:16 am
Just finished Atlas Shrugged again. I know the left would disembowel Rand if they could invent a time machine, but
no i wouldnt...just like to pistol whip her into telling the truth about her selfish centerdness and then drag her around the parking lot by her ankles for awhile...thats a...figuratively speakingll
---btw over at FT lawrence summers says the worst is not over yet
Reporting from Washington -- The Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 surveillance efforts went beyond the widely publicized warrantless wiretapping program, a government report disclosed Friday, encompassing additional secretive activities that created "unprecedented" spying powers.
What has struck me recently is the global response to the economic collapse. Despite the minor political jockeying, the central bank cooperation behind the scenes has been illuminating. Armies don't matter much, missiles, bombs, political systems. It doesn't matter much.
The neutralization and homogenization of everyone on earth as instruments of the central banks is where we are.
Orlov also makes the point that he USSR had an economy that did not produce consumer products. During the collapsed period there were consumer product shortages and those who owned, or had access, to needed supplies made out well.
I would add that the USSR also had many less entrepreneurs. There was no army of trained capitalists waiting to exploit every shortage for their own Holy Self Interest.
Shortages in a time of currency collapse should be expected but when a substitute medium of exchange takes root shortages will be met with supply rapidly as everyone rushes to become an entrepreneur out of necessity.
Washington state may have a balanced budget, but at some horrible costs. My foster son was diagnosed with two serious mental illnesses in May, after an emergency psych hospitalization. Schizophrenia and bipolar. (We knew about the bipolar, but the schzophrenia was new. Often it doesn't manifest until puberty--the boy is 14.)
The hospital recommended long-term residential care and said that he is dangerous to women and girls. So, to protect us, the state of Washington removed him from our home and...dumped him in another foster home, without telling the (single) foster mom (who has daughters) what was up. He isn't getting any therapy.
Because residential care is horribly expensive and, hey, the kid hasn't actually hurt anyone yet.
This kid has maybe two or three more years to fester, and then he will erupt on society. How much is that going to cost?
"Balanced budget'? Nah. This is just kicking the can down the road.
Doc, question on potato blight. I have a thai pepper plant that has lasted five years (!!) and suddenly it is dying. .I believe potatoes, tomatoes and peppers are in the same family of plants. I used a seaweed fertilizer on it recently...did I kill my little pepper plant? The possibility makes me so annoyed I'd like to sue. Well, not sue. But after 5 years, ya get kind of fond of a plant, you know, even if its fruits are hotter than hades.
whoa!
Everybody too busy watching the video to comment?
I'd almost swear that Roubini has formaldehyde coursing through his veins, an economic undertaker of sorts.
hi now im going to watch the video, voker you the first! congradulations
Subprime wasn't the damn problem.
IT was/is a CREDIT BUBBLE and it affected valuations of all goods and services.
homegnome
you mean the bubble they are trying to re blow?
IT was/is a CREDIT BUBBLE
De Nile is an amazing river, ain't it?
I've heard this "subprime crises" meme repeated a few times over the last few days.
I thought "we'd" moved beyond this but I guess the GreatLie is still in effect.
Those damned Subprimers!
these two are tough to listen to - for differing reasons.............Roubini because of his accent (btw, what are "animal spirits"?), and Schiller whom I haven't quite figured out.
6 months? Obama mustve gotten to him too/snark
Wiki is your friend, BSR.
Animal spirits (Keynes), the Keynesian term indicating the emotional component of economies represented in consumer confidence.
what are "animal spirits"?
The Worm Turns: Absinthe Verte | Bay Area Bites
Saying six more months doesn't rule out six more years. No one's going very far out on a limb here are they?
bsr
i have trouble with his accent too,which is weird since i can listen to a little indian guy or girl tell me how to fix my computer.and understand them.
Continuing about digital cameras from last thread...
Cameras changed the art world when they appeared on the scene 170 years ago. No longer was it important for art to be just faithful imagery, which brought us the impressionist era and other art forms that a camera couldn't replicate.
Present-day, digital cameras have changed the world because of their ubiquitousness and faithful ability to record events in real-time, as in if it happens, somebody is documenting it. We would have never heard of what was happening at the prison @ Abu Ghralb 5 years ago, had it not been for them.
BSR,
Animal spirits are the Keynsian driver of venture.
What is sorely lacking right now is the desire of folks to venture their capital, but right now (for a while) that is the prudent course. Business is pulling back, and the consumer is pulling back, and until stasis is reached, well, venturing forth resembles throwing money into the abyss.
I think this is why CIT is not getting any support- their portfolio is full of construction equipment currently selling for 10% of what it was worth two years ago.
Without folks willing to borrow, their future book of business is shot too. In other words, they are a zombie bank- but the administration is willing to cut their throats and let 'em die.
Very unlike Japan.
Still too optimistic, we have several years more to go...
Someday this war's gonna end...
Nouriel the Impaler.
C
Good morning commentariat,
The quarterly update to the marketable US Treasury roll is up - very modest improvement in the maturity distribution of the growth in marketable debt as compared to last quarter - for your viewing pleasure:
energyecon: Treasury Marketable Debt Rollover Update
Energy,
Do you have a UG99 update?
Thanks for the link...
I thought Bela Lugosi was dead.
"Children of the night, de aneemal spirits are running vild; ve must stop dem before de next bubble ist blown"
....lets just say all is better in 6-mos.............what do we do with all the debt AND debt interest, dead business carcasses, empty CRE, the millions unemployed, no money to reinflate the economy, and the insolvent pension plans, local governments, and still unhealthy banks, their alliances, and the additional mega cost for universal healthcare, cap & trade, and lets not forget the military costs when Obama discovers its power in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, NKorea, China, and the crisis du jour.
.....what part will be "all better"?
Hey Home........drip irrigation, mostly raised beds w/ mulch, no pesticides to speak of - a little ivory, some blood & bone meal and a small shop vac.
No UG99 in Russia/Ukraine, locusts have eaten 50k hectares and are rolling like it's operation Barbarossa.
dell financial is done by cit to isnt it? does anyone know for sure, thats two(if true) i have dell and fingerhut. oh fiddle-sticks this might not be a good thing. oh btw off topic.
Not so much, general impression is that the surveillance in the most likely affected regions is completely unreliable - the last country reporting a new infestation was Iran last year - and IIRC that area has been experiencing some drought conditions which slows the spread. Also, the bordering nations to the east are Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Drought is good, it buys time. The thing with these rusts is that they are transmitted by spores, which are very hardy, very small and can be windborne for enormous distances...they just need to be present at the wrong time in the growing cycle and they can pretty much wipe out a harvest.
Plant the seed and you'll never be in need.
We had whiteflies this year here in scenic South Carolina. It's the first time I've ever seen them here.
I need to replant my garden this weekend.
Beans and squash.
Tomatoes are coming on strong right now!
Alexei,
Thanks for the info.
Energy,
As an amateur mycologist, I am amazed by the power of spores.
For you readers interested in UG99 or Wheat Leaf Rust
Wheat leaf rust - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
All this talk about rust has got me wanting to mention my western swing project, the Karnal Bunt Doughboys.
Aside from pontificating, how many of you have made physical plans to ride out the financial storm in some fashion? I'm not interested in your "investments" vis a vis Wall*Street or other tomfoolery.
I'm curious what various preparations you've come up with.
Please share your ideas...
yeah they reached over that lenders desk and stamped Approved on their application
I'm curious what various preparations you've come up with
Well, I'm recording the location of everyone's emergency stashes.
On the difficulties understanding Roubini's English: it is his fourth or fifth language after Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Italian; he speaks very quickly; it takes a bit of practice listening to some of the many varieties of English to process the slight differences. I say this as an American who has lived and taught for over 30 years in several European countries and attended quite a few academic conferences.
It was an interesting program. My take was that both of them were blaming poor (self-) regulation, weak underwriting, financial opacity, and greed..
Head and shoulders will probably fail. too many underwater short sellers are anticipating it. if it does materialize it will stick a fork in the efficient market hypothesis. Target 8400 short term. Maybe as high as 9000 on the DJIA. And then the bottom falls out. Those with stops get squeezed.
hat tip to Interesting Finance & Economic articles
I swear I have no clue whether that "Confessions of TARP wife" story was spoof, half-spoof, or straight.
Anyone see the new Sacha B. Cohen movie yet?
Anyone see the new Sacha B. Cohen movie yet?
I am not paying $8 to see that piece of crap.
What do the rest of you pay for a movie at the theater?
It occurred to me as I woke up here in California that the state could help solve its budget problem by switching from incarcerating first-time offenders, to simply sticking them with a mandatory earnings withholding (a "tax surcharge", "wage garnishment" or similar) for a few years. In other words, hit 'em where it hurts, and instead of making the state pay for "justice", have the offenders themselves pay for their sins.
I realize it'll stimulate the black-market economy and lead to a variety of other abuses, but that might be worth the price?
$8?
What kind of third-world slum are you in?
I paid $9.50 for "Public Enemies".
The Neo-Dillingers today are on the inside, no need for tommy guns...
A computer clique will suffice.
Bought land in Bermuda, have plans drawn to go off grid; wind, solar, desal
bought 15 acres in central PA, not enough to live off of, but enough to trade from spring through fall
main house in AZ is loaded for fall and winter, will be able to barter my bar tab on lemons, limes & oranges. The utility company paid for 80% of my solar hot water heater.
Planning my perpetual trusts for next year.
@HomeGnome: Pay for a movie? In a theater?
The library has lots of movies - free.
The 'net has lots of interesting video content - free.
And if we just couldn't miss Hollywood's latest (but why ... is it any better than what they made a few years ago? is it so important that it couldn't wait a couple years??)... we'd do something like Netflix for $5/month.
Note that $5/month is $60/year and at current rates of return, requires an upfront investment of about $1800. ("Movies for life for $1800 please!")
".......both of them were blaming poor (self-) regulation, weak underwriting, financial opacity, and greed."
....pretty much covers it. Our regulators didn't regulate, our politicians listened to campaign contributions, the ratings agencies were bought, and the bonus-based financial employees keep getting greedier.
"Financial Planning" - they can't take what you don't have. Don't be dependent or beholding to ANYBODY. Use stray dogs, rabbits and ground squirrels for target practice.
Try $11.75
@Comrade Alexei - How you gonna get from Arizona to Pennsylvania to Bermuda that often?
Juvenal Delinquent:
I made my plan 38 years ago. I was a product of the GD1, WW2 and the cold war. I had worked in the war industries for my whole creerer and after The Trojan Rubber Works laid off 8000 workers in a year I decided that I should go straight to the pigs trough and work for the Fed Gov. It was a good move. Fun work, NASA, and fun co-workers, smart and funny too. Now all I have to worry about is the collapse of the US gov same as all the rest of you.
Sooner or later California is going to have to address the issue of prisons and what to do with 1/5th of a million felons that it can no longer afford to keep in a style in which they've become accustomed to, and those that are grossly overpaid to oversee them...
With even top quality digital processing still deflating movie production costs are too, so I wouldn't put up $1800. The dollar won't keep up with graphic design improvements.
My backup plan is Black Star's couch.
Drive to PA in spring, drive to AZ in October, park my money in Bahamas
musician friends housesit when I'm away.
"switching from incarcerating first-time offenders, to simply sticking them with a mandatory earnings withholding (a "tax surcharge", "wage garnishment" or similar) for a few years. "
Since a lot of first-time offenders are gang-bangers and corner boys dealing drugs, I doubt this will work. OGs and drug kingpins rarely issue W-2s for their staff. And, once convicted, many will not be working in the straight world ever...too many unemployed to pick from.
Despite trillions in investment why is the USA a Zombieconomy ?
1. Wages are deflating.
2. Unemployment continues to grow.
3. Underemployment is growing faster than unemployment.
Zombieconomy isn't a buzzword. It's not an event. It's not (really) about banks. It is simply the state of our economy today....
"My backup plan is Black Star's couch." .........damn, broward, you shoulda told me sooner. The couch has got dibs by a pretty young gal that likes to cook, clean, weed, and plant naked.
Nothing says freedom and justice for all like a minimum wage prison guard with body armor, pepper spray, stun gun, and the latest in club design.
Don't underestimate just how many people are in the slammer for meth. Zombies of no redeeming value whatsoever.
What do we do with them?
What do we do with them? .....................they usually end up a casualty, JD - one way or the other........
The couch has got dibs by a pretty young gal
My backup plan is sounding better by the minute.
I
told
you
so.
GM, Chrysler Bankruptcies Make Targets of Dealers, Suppliers - Bloomberg.com
“...The car companies decided they didn’t want to take responsibility for their own vehicles,” the Cleveland plaintiffs’ attorney said in an interview. “I’m suing component-suppliers and dealers.”
Targeting defendants previously protected by the deep pockets of the automakers, and by law in some states, adds a financial threat to suppliers and dealers facing the worst auto market in 30 years. GM said it had $973 million in potential product liability as of March 31. Chrysler didn’t disclose such information.
In a South Carolina case over an allegedly faulty seat belt, a woman who suffered a spinal injury didn’t sue Chrysler, which built the 1996 Dodge Caravan she was riding in. Instead, the suit was filed against Honeywell International Inc., which previously owned the buckle supplier, and against five dealers that bought and sold the vehicle.
“This case is typical of what is happening or will be happening throughout the country,” said the woman’s lawyer, Kendall Few of Greer, South Carolina. He also added Honeywell to cases that he first filed against only GM and Chrysler...."
"Sooner or later California is going to have to address the issue of prisons and what to do with 1/5th of a million felons"
Why not continue our outsourcing efforts. Syria and Egypt have already stepped up to the plate...Vietnam has lost a lot of cheap manufacturing and might be happy to accomodate our needs...and they are used to imprisoning Americans. With shipping rates tanking, we could send off boatloads of them inexpensively.
Tort-sure lawyers have a lot to answer to.
Please help me point YTL at this post if he misses it - it is a CDC MMWR Dispatch:
Intensive-Care Patients With Severe Novel Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Infection --- Michigan, June 2009
[snip]
During May 26--June 18, the unit received 13 patients for evaluation from outlying hospitals, 10 of whom were confirmed to have novel influenza A (H1N1) virus infection by testing of respiratory specimens with real-time reverse transcription--polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) at MDCH and CDC. Direct immunofluorescent antibody staining at UMHS was negative for influenza A in all 10 patients. Viral culture at UMHS was positive for influenza A in two patients.
Translation: 10 of 13 ICU patients admitted were A/H1N1 positive with a "DNA test", but other tests were 0/10 and 2/10
Also, the Editorial Notes at the end are a bit less technical for others interested, (viz the comments on both obesity and pulmonary emboli).
Zombies?
I think Roubini knows how to handle Zombies.
with body armor, pepper spray, stun gun, and the latest in club design.
Brings new meaning to the phrase "club wear".
I can't help thinking of that Twilight Zone episode where one guy planned and built a bomb shelter but none of his neighbors did.
Regardless of how well YOU planned, the great majority of neighbors did not and that's going to be your biggest problem.
Watching "Panic In The Year Zero" right now.
The pivotal event for me growing up was Apollo 11. If you had asked 1,000 7 year old boys what they wanted to be in 1969, 833 would have wanted to be astronauts ...
Looking back 40 years ago, it was definitely Peak America.
Wouldn't it be ironic if the bottom falls out of Wall*Street on Monday, July 20th?
This is a repost from previous thread, but before Cali goes bust, the Detroit Public schools may declare bankruptcy...which would allow them to renegotiate or end contracts with teachers, administrators and vendors.
Mish has the link/post on the story, this is from the Detroit Free Press.
freep.com | | Detroit Free Press...
Peak America
YouTube - The launch of Apollo 11
Roubini has actually turned quite bullish on the economy as compared to his previous prognostications. At the end of the day, he's a supporter of massive government stimulus, so I don't think he has the right solutions. What about listening to Ron Paul or Peter Schiff for once?
public schools are so 90s....................with budget constraints, upgraded teleconferencing abilities, and 1/2 the parents staying at home now, it can all be done from the home.
Alexei,
Mrs. Gnome and I also have a solar water heater.
Great investment as far as I'm concerned.
We're not going anywhere. Even on an ordinary week-day in DC in rush hour the traffic is insane. Shelter in place.
Dogbert!! Where in NASA do you work?
Do we know you?
All economists are the same. They extrapolate some small success in prediction into a string of presumptions. Truth is there's little evidence that past predictions are so much as indicative of future accuracy.
Juvenal,
From a thread yesterday I didn't have the luxury to pursue - peak Mojo Jojo!
YouTube - TPPG Movie The Monkeys
@Alexei - In the kind of world where you need to take the extreme measures you've described, you're going to have trouble driving from AZ to PA. (And I still don't know how you drive to Bermuda??)
You're also going to have trouble with the housesitters.
And those perpetual trusts? That's an "unknown known": nothing is perpetual, especially these days...
Known knowns: What you think you know, that's actually true.
Known unknowns: What you know that you don't know, and need to find out.
Unknown unknowns: The unexpected; things you don't know and you don't even know you don't know them.
What Rumsfeld glaringly missed, and indeed the whole Bush administration missed, were:
Unknown knowns: Things you think you know, but you actually don't. In one major case: ideological blindness.
You should properly credit philosopher Slavoj Zizek for this bit of insight.
Everyone should youtube slavoj zizek for an obscene, misanthropic, slovenian genius.
To take hoops further, all of those things are by the percentages.
You may not be able to find out something that you don't know and
would like to know. You may actually know something that you think
you don't. You may not be able to handle the truth!
Peak Jamba Juice.
TEOTWACKI (the end of the world as Casey knows it)
Cali residents still unaware?
ECRI calling for end of recession this summer - meanwhile German's saying it's over now
Schwarze Null: Wirtschaftsministerium ruft Ende der Krise aus - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten - Wirtschaft
ECRI | News | Media Coverage
RobDawg: just set as back ground the pic of Turbo Timmy makes a poopy
re: beach babes: are they friends of yours? maybe one is headed for BSR's sofa, if so broward's personal safety may be called to question
Everybody disappeared Come back somebody, or I will have to clean!!
The launch got scrubbed.
Too many lightning strikes yesterday; must check & see no harm was done.
Roubini sees 3rd half. Liz sees 4th or 5th half with a straight line after that.
I still can't get on the bank failure thread, tho all the other threads
are open to me.
Weird.
Schaeffer--definitely, over.
The guy says definitely.
And housing prices have stabilized.
He is nutz.
Or, he's on some other planet, just like ours, except things are slightly better
there. Yep, that's it.
liz: I'll be ready for a 5th after the 4th
You are going to wait til after the fourth quarter for your 5th?
On the movie $ question, I usually wait about a month then go see the flicks at the cheap theatre, $3 a seat, and $1.75 opn Tues. Dayton does not have that much to offer, but on a lot of fronts it is pretty cheap (esp housing)
beer budget, my ship will come in by then, I'm certain of it, I have it on good authority, of course; I may have to knock over a 7-11 if it doesn't
movies? we wait till cable, not PPV either
RE: Bruno--if I found a copy on the ground, I wouldn't pick it up
7-11 is giving free slurpees on 7/11, of 7.11 ounces here.
Everywhere? So if you knock over a 7-11, get your slurpee first.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is now for sale on San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist. He's listed under "tools."
Drive-in movies up and died the past 30 years, and I expect movie theaters to do the same thing...
Modern-day movie theaters have pretty small screens nowadays, and if you buy popcorn & a soda, it'll cost you $20 to see something you can see @ home for a few bucks (including popcorn* & a coke), 6 months later.
A cheap group like us will be knocking 7-11 over as we trample in to get our free slurpees.
The 3-D-ness of Up can't be duplicated at home.
Don't think 7-11 sells hard liquor. Your ship is in a different direction.
gots ta grab a slurpee before the throw down at the register
JD: electric works too, use a cast iron skillet and garlic salt
Tomorrow's headline:
7-11 to declare bankruptcy due to extremely high free slurpee demand, sparked by an anonymous tip on an economics blog...
Thanks for the heads up lawyerliz, I'll take a free slurpee. It's going to be 105 degrees here again today. (Austin)
That was the birthday wish for our daughter's fifth birthday party - sprang for extended family to go see Up 3D - got thumbs up from all age ranges...how the digital tech works is something I need to go look up, thanks for the reminder lliz, I like to understand that stuff and it appears similar yet different from the red/blue approach...or another digital tech for computers (alternating lenses 60x sec on glasses plugged into computer)
It might appear to be over.
I'm not seeing how it lasts, though.
Might get a year or two of apparent recovery.
This was an ad in the paper for Merritt Island Florida. Hope the non-Floridians
are not disappointed. Come to cool Florida. Seldom over 95 on the coast.
But ahh, the mosquitos and humididity.
Comparisons between Louis XVI's France circa 1789, and Arnold's California circa 2009
El Cliffo + 666
Snarkiness ++++++INFINITY.
HomeGnome (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:16 am
* reply
* Ignore user
Subprime wasn't the damn problem.
IT was/is a CREDIT BUBBLE and it affected valuations of all goods and services.
It was the fact that the median wage declined over 8 years. Had wages kept pace with productivity i.e. up about 2%p.a. the credit crisis would be much less severe.
I think as long as we keep insisting that our current problems are a result of the woes of the financial sector it will be the equivalent of treating the headache rather than the brain tumor. At some point we have to examine the economic orthodoxy including free trade, the destruction of the labor unions, de-regulation, the slavish worship at the temple of free markets.
Are any tumbrels or guillotines listed on Craigslist?
lawyerliz (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 7:48 am
Cali residents still unaware?
Nope, I know the tomatoes need watering and the roses trimmed.
volker the viking (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 7:56 am
RobDawg: just set as back ground the pic of Turbo Timmy makes a poopy
re: beach babes: are they friends of yours? maybe one is headed for BSR's sofa, if so broward's personal safety may be called to question
That Timmay pic is classic. The beach babes pic took a lot of work to arrange. It was specially chosen and sized for that effect. At first attractive, then a little strange and finally disturbing. Just like many find California.
Today's California Fail links are up:
Exurban Nation: Daily California Watch 3
Interesting article. The Man Nobody Wanted to Hear: Global Banking Economist Warned of Coming Crisis - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
I am insulted, when have I ever been so narrow minded- although I hardly feel like an economist these days, more like a Cassandra.
I think past predictions should be taken with a grain of salt, since prognosticating the future is so damned difficult when you see things the profession had thought dead and buried walk the earth. Somebody I know personally put a blurb on the editorial page today worrying about crowding out of investment by the government- I couldn't believe he would spout such tripe.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Love the banker cat.
Sabot age
What's investment?
Juvie, you do know that's where the word comes from and so the joke?
Movie producers are 'strongly encouraging' distributors/theaters to change to 3D to get folks back in theaters. So, lots of cash will be spent on 3D effects, to hell with the story. They are likely to find that the translation to 2D for cable and DVD/Blue Ray leaves a bitter taste in viewer's mouths, destroying what little is left of movie biz after the special effects have already become more important than the story (see, Tranformers).
Theaters are a racket, pure and simple. Bad (old) pop corn with rancid oil, overpriced everything. Small screens.
OTOH: movies were major diversion for the sheeple in the GD (and very cheap), so maybe it will work again.
I wouldn't bet on anything in the 'hollywood' industry, but maybe indy films and foreign films will save the day. Anybody can make a digital movie now. (see youtube)
Since a lot of first-time offenders are gang-bangers and corner boys dealing drugs, I doubt this will work. OGs and drug kingpins rarely issue W-2s for their staff. And, once convicted, many will not be working in the straight world ever...too many unemployed to pick from.
make them dress up like drag queens and walk down their neighborhoods. Humiliating them in front of their peers is more effective at destroying the macho image than imprisoning them.
Legalize pot and normal coke and watch them lose their jobs.
LL,
Sometimes you have to torture the words to get them to say something...
I ran into this last month.
Movie industry already anticipating and testing a new approach....
For Your Comfort - Gold Class Cinemas
Many of the animated films produced work on multiple levels - Up is an excellent case in point - 3D was icing on the cake.
And the Disney 3D technology is interesting, utilizes circular polarization and alternating frames at a much higher rate than normal movies - more akin to the glasses plugged into to the computer example op. cit.
Disney Digital 3-D - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
crazyv: is this some sort of repressed desire?
Why not let Coca Cola return to their original recipe (a sprinkle of cocaine), and wipe out the dealers and wholesalers.
Liz. Banker Cat approves ur comment.
Investment is the process whereby the fruits of productive activities are decanted via taxes and redistributed to failed enterprises. Ref. GM.
did people catch this
YouTube - Real Estate Downfall
its hilarious
Hashshashin is one of my favorite route words, we know it better as "assassin".
Speaking of annoying, I think these yoyos (My Way need a MOAB dropped on them to stop interfering with my connection to wikipedia.
I hate amateur tin pot dictators- I wish the russian hackers would steal the last of their money and leave them begging to Hu. There's a friendly pawnbroker;-}
At this rate of connection, I will have to join lawyerliz with the mop bucket brigade.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Does that count as a Godwin?
Roubini has become a shill and Shiller has become a rube.
and together they are shrubes
I missed an interesting night here, I see.
Well said. And you know what -- with all the hubbub about Michael Jackson, I don't think anybody important has thought about it or said it.
Except you.
The moonwalk is more important than the moon.
Marla was spinning live RZH; sorry, had to listen in to that!
Roubini has become a shill and Shiller has become a rube.
Now that's why I read this board.
Hilarious.
rich,
Can you point me towards a way to judge the health of an insurer?
I am getting dropped by Travelers - in their words, "We are not renewing the policy identified on the enclosed notice and it will expire according to its terms on the date shown on that notice." This was preceded by, "Recent storms have had a devastating effect on properties located in many parts of the country, especially in coastal areas. Because of the potential for future significant losses due to hurricanes, we find it necessary to take action to address our overall exposure to such losses."
In the same letter they also offer a new policy from a different Travelers Company at a higher price with a higher hurricane deductible that is 5% of coverage vs 2% currently.
That said - I'm not sure I want to continue doing business with them but don't want to get insured with someone likely to go Tango Uncle anytime soon.
Thanks in advance
Juvie: interesting about those hashashins, isn't it? what they ingest before they go out hashashinating people?
lot like meth, don't you think?
Neil Armstrong is the Last American Hero in the old mold of quiet achievement that once marked the territory of the new frontier.
mike
you might try your mortage company,looks to me like it would be in their interest for hurricane ins.
i was told or read that when you insure you are making a bet that it is going to happen. sounds like all bets are off with travlers. last hurricane your area was gloria?
wish you luck.
Have you tried talking to that weird chick from Progressive Insurance? She has an add on CR's main page.
Try Geico, that would tell you for sure if you are in a real bad spot, they don't insure anything they can't decently layoff the risk.
If they won't insure for hurricane, then you have definitely been assigned to a high risk pool by almost all of the insurers, in which case getting insurance will be very difficult.
That flood insurance might be golden.
As for force put insurance through your lender- waaaay prohibitive.
Someday this war's gonna end...
I love the angles insurance companies use to sell their product.
Allstate has an authoritative black voice
Geico has a lizard
Progressive has that ditzy woman
Forced placed insurance also only covers the lender.
Interesting to see the 5% windstorm thing has gone ex-Florida.
Insurance companies are basically scum.
When Allstate dropped us and went really high before that I said to the
hub, why not put the money in the bank that we would have paid and
self insure. He thought I was nutz, and I prolly was. Who trusts a bank
to have the money when you need it?
I wish Geico would stick with the lizard, I hate that stack of money with
the eyes, super creepy.
Lothar,
Hash and Meth are worlds apart.
Too much hash and you take a nice nap...
Too much meth (any, IMO) and you're running down the street buck ass naked thinking you're the Terminator...
lawyerliz (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:23 am
Insurance companies are basically scum.
When Allstate dropped us and went really high before that I said to the
hub, why not put the money in the bank that we would have paid and
self insure.
My mom in Venice, FL self insures. Laughs every quarter when she gets paid.
Too much hash and you take a nice nap...
or write some great 60's type song with heavy power chords...
Where's the Brotherhood of Eternal Love with the Peter One Double Zero when you need them?
Any hashers amongst us?
on-on
Hey HomeGnome, I was just trying to note the similarities of the word origins and what that had to do with the folks who actually took the drogas before doing their "jobs" as it were.
I don't think the hashashins were given enough to make them sleepy, just enough to take the edge off that little part about killing other people...
Meth folks, yeah - not good any way you happen upon them.
HomeGnome (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:27 am
reply ignore user
Lothar,
Hash and Meth are worlds apart.
Too much hash and you take a nice nap...
Too much meth (any, IMO) and you're running down the street buck ass naked thinking your the Terminator...
I've seen brain activity scans of meth versus coke users. Single use meth users show less brain activity 2years later than long term coke users. Meth also permanently wrecks your brain synapses. Not many things worse than it other than perhaps glue/toluene sniffing.
Re: Broward's quote: "Roubini has become a shill and Shiller has become a rube."
I do not agree, but it is also why I come here.
Re: Broward's quote: "Roubini has become a shill and Shiller has become a rube."
I do not agree, but it is also why I come here.
the post was so nice you did it twice
rich (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 11:48 am
Roubini has become a shill and Shiller has become a rube.
+5 ...
Just so everyone is clear:
I have never taken Meth but I've seen it destroy a few folks.
SPEED KILLS!
You mean someone who only used it once? Or someone who uses nothing else but??
You mean someone who only used it once? Or someone who uses nothing else but??
The daughter of a friend of mine (who was a nasty teenager) got into meth and now in
her early 30s. I'm told she has no teeth.
Liz, it's called MethMouth.
Meth Mouth Gallery
So is AM Best a good guage of an insurers ability to pay or are they akin to the ratings issued by S&P and Moodys?
Hmmn. Self insure - what about liability - or do you simply get liability insurance and self insure against property damage?
If I assume construction costs of $200/sq ft (high but I'd rather be conservative) my replacement cost in the event of total loss for just the structure is $400k. Seems like a lot to self insure...
For reference the existing policy costs me $1650/yr for dwelling at $400k, personal property at $300k and liability of $300k. I am likely way over insured so I will be looking to correct that mistake either way.
Subprime wasn't the damn problem.
IT was/is a CREDIT BUBBLE and it affected valuations of all goods and services.
Just looking around, I would say it was resource depletion and population overshoot.
Of course, I'm not a superstition based economist, who thinks growth is good in a impoverished, finite world.
Super yuck, Gnome.
Some years ago I had a really obnoxious neighbor that was a Jekyll & Hyde type person, always angry or about to blow a fuse, and he had about 25 mosquito bites on each arm that never seemed to go away, and not knowing anything about meth, I had no idea that he was quite the addict, until another friend that had done meth told me of all the symptoms.
What appeared to be mosquito bites was the meth trying to escape his body unsuccessfully
Demon nature has a way of curing that over population thing.
JD- Peak comment is true
Poic-all those white colored drugs wreak havoc, had a great friend die at 23, left on the sidewalk after having a seizure in car by the other coked out friends that were afraid to take him to hospital because of there high....
If they would stop worrying about pot and start concentrating the war on all the white powders of death it could be successful. The govt. efforts are inept in many areas...
Hike of the day-I'm getting away from the house-good day to all..
Bay Area Hiker: Cataract Falls-Potrero Meadows Loop
song of day-for JD-Peak America time frame..
YouTube - Chicago- Saturday in the Park "Live" (1972)
Bites? needle pricks, rashes?
Wisdom Speaker (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 7:37 am
@Alexei - In the kind of world where you need to take the extreme measures you've described, you're going to have trouble driving from AZ to PA. (And I still don't know how you drive to Bermuda??)
You're also going to have trouble with the housesitters.
And those perpetual trusts? That's an "unknown known": nothing is perpetual, especially these days...
What "extreme" events are you talking about? I've done the drive with gas @ $4, that's as extreme as it gets in my lifetime.
Silly doomers
poic (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 12:33 pm
"Not many things worse than it other than perhaps glue/toluene sniffing."
__
Like trying to light hash while sniffing toluene, eg?
Where's the Brotherhood of Eternal Love with the Peter One Double Zero when you need them?
Laguna was my home turf-- have a orange sunshine day!
For a vivid description of post Appocalyse living see Lucifer's Hammer, by Niven.
A comet hit, not a human caused disaster, but a how-to-survive afterwards as good
as it gets.
Apocalypse not appocalyse
Thank you, Mr. Augustus Owsley Stanley III, I will.
Hey, who turned up the colors in here?
I can never spell that right.
Re: meth
Ever see Frankensteining? Apartment full of stuff taken apart. Anything that can be disassembled usually is.
I have a sex-addict friend that does a combination of vicodin-viagra-cocaine that seems to work for him.
We all expected him to be dead years ago, but he's still living somehow.
The talk of recovery in six months (started back around the first of year) keeps getting pushed forward...six months. Reminds me sooo much of the talk of politicians of a certain stripe starting in oh, about 2004, that the violence in Iraq would abate in...six months. After a year or two of moving the goalpost I'm sure the bottom callers will be right.
In other news it is a beautiful day in the Northeast. Bye all - cya tonight.
Thank you, Mr. Augustus Owsley Stanley III
The best ever, better than Sandoz.
Everything else pales by comparison.
I have actually met the gentleman several times.
Me too.
Gotta fix lunch gotta go shopping.
Toodles for now.
Never, and I do mean never, stand in front of this fellow!
A 'shroom with a view can't be beat.
lawyerliz (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 9:36 am
reply ignore user
You mean someone who only used it once? Or someone who uses nothing else but??
I mean someone using it no more than 2-3times. It was pretty shocking to see those scans. They looked like Swiss cheese.
URUMQI, China (Reuters) - China raised the death toll from ethnic rioting in Xinjiang, giving for the first time the ethnicity of the dead, and a big security presence in the city at the center of the strife prevented protests on Saturday.
The official Xinhua news agency said 184 people had died in the July 5 riots in Urumqi, the Xinjiang regional capital, and 137 of those killed were Han Chinese, who form the majority of China's 1.3 billion population. The previous death toll was 156.
Hum, seems the administration isn't as concerned about this rioting and death toll as I haven't heard them comment on it.
Hu's your daddy, Obummer?
Mike,
where are you on the island? It sounds as if you're pretty well sheltered from storm surge, but I'd definitely keep the Federal flood insurance in CYA mode. There's been what, maybe 3 tropical systems that have hit LI in my 40 years and your average nor'easter did more damage.
Besides, even if you had insurance they'd screw you anyways. They tried to do my dad with his boat saying it was wind damage, not water when his boat was raised on the Indian river inlet. Fortunately he's a mechanical engineer and was able to show that it was water that scoured the piles out by their positioning.
Brother Bill discussing the 'shrooms with a view.
YouTube - Bill Hicks- Magic Mushrooms
California is heading for some kind of Don Henley afterlife, followed by the rest of the country.
Reminds me sooo much of the talk of politicians of a certain stripe starting in oh, about 2004, that the violence in Iraq would abate in...six months.
Those were called "Friedman Units" of time, after Little Tommy of the clueless flatland fame.
We on the left side of things started measuring Iraq time in Friedman Units.
Amazingly two-faced. Lecturing the Africans and ignoring the Chinese.
Turkey came out strong against the Chinese ethnic cleansing campaign and oppression against minorities in the Western provinces. Obama, Hillary, the leaders of the "free world"...not a word.
Two deer in the headlights. Really clueless.
After the IOUs of the summer are gone...
Not clueless really.
After all, who lectures their banker?
It makes no sense to indict the system because the system is going to die.
Contractors are HURTING!
A couple of days ago someone gave me the number of a paver. I called and left a message more on a lark for an estimate and didn't expect him to call/show for weeks. I already had a couple of quotes in the 10K range (100 yard driveway with a large parking area near the house) and had decided not to do it. Within FORTY FIVE MINUTES of my initial call he was AT MY HOUSE. Started with 11.5K. I laughed.
He- dropped to 9.1K.
Me- no can do.
He- How about 8.4K?
Me- 7.5K, take it or leave.
He- OK, can I start tomorrow?
Me- Sure.
The system very well may die, otishertz; but it is going to take as many of us with it as possible.
......this is a perfect example of the "system......
"Their comic-book adventure went awry when cops approached the dynamic duo on 43rd Street to see whether they had the required license to perform in costume in public, Frisoli said."
COPS ARREST TWO MEN DRESSED AS BATMAN AND SUPERMAN IN TIMES SQUARE - NYPOST.com
Why does one need a LICENSE to wear a costume in public??
After the IOUs of the summer are gone...
Yes
um, 'cause there is a fee for that license? /snark
Just finished Atlas Shrugged again. I know the left would disembowel Rand if they could invent a time machine, but it IS interesting how prophetic that book is.... How about an Automotive Reunification plan.......I think Summers reminds me most of Wesley Mouch.
When do we all wake up and say, "Suck it, Trebeck!!!"
or a bigger fee for not having the license.
.......is a BIG bow-tie with floppy feet shoes considered a costume or a fashion statement? See where this could go?
energycon,
Great site FWIW. Use and recommend it all the time.....
I just read that middle aged men were the highest risk for suicide in the collapse conditions in the years immediately after the USSR collapse.
When do we all wake up and say, "Suck it, Trebeck!!!"
As soon as Turd Ferguson gets on Jeopardy.
The system is always dying, it starts decay as soon as a new state is established.
Watching the life cycles of bureaucracies has taught me that. All of them eventually wither and die unless the need once again becomes apparent.
Companies are also bureaucracies, ones that try to maintain their position even as they begin to undergo their decay cycle.
Some manage to successfully purge enough of the harden bureaucracy to survive these periodic crisis, some are buried by decision that looked good at the time (CIT!)
Countries suffer from the same problems- Why did it take six months for Panetta to find out about the domestic program? Makes me think Pelosi might have been telling the truth about the CIA disclosure- wrap things up in enough bureaucratic euphemisms, and nobody really knows WTF is on the agenda. Take it to the logical extreme and you have a Wansee conference.
So, the real question is to pick the winners and sell the losers, in more ways than one. A lot of free market ideology is on the scrap heap, just waiting for the lack of money to strangle the Cato Institute and their ilk.
A very interesting time, and the next set of changes will most likely be precipitated by external events.
Someday this war's gonna end...
The system is always dying, it starts decay as soon as a new state is established.
Watching the life cycles of bureaucracies has taught me that. All of them eventually wither and die unless the need once again becomes apparent.
Companies are also bureaucracies, ones that try to maintain their position even as they begin to undergo their decay cycle.
Some manage to successfully purge enough of the harden bureaucracy to survive these periodic crisis, some are buried by decision that looked good at the time (CIT!)
Countries suffer from the same problems- Why did it take six months for Panetta to find out about the domestic program? Makes me think Pelosi might have been telling the truth about the CIA disclosure- wrap things up in enough bureaucratic euphemisms, and nobody really knows WTF is on the agenda. Take it to the logical extreme and you have a Wansee conference.
So, the real question is to pick the winners and sell the losers, in more ways than one. A lot of free market ideology is on the scrap heap, just waiting for the lack of money to strangle the Cato Institute and their ilk.
A very interesting time, and the next set of changes will most likely be precipitated by external events.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Suck It, Trebeck!
YouTube - SNL Celebrity Jeopardy
"When do we all wake up and say, "Suck it, Trebeck!!!" "
A good start is trying to pay as little tax as you can to the government. Convert all your wealth from dollar to other currencies/commodities. Stop feeding the beast.
I used to be one of those people who just complains on the internet, but dutifully pays my taxes to the government. No more.
"So, the real question is to pick the winners and sell the losers, in more ways than one."
.....by doing so though, you have still again chosen to "play the game".
Monday, voluntarily unemployed. The beast has had enough of me and my health. It is what they want, but not what they think they're going to get.
I stopped working because I didn't want to feed the beast in any capacity where they would use my hard-earned money to allow them to keep on keeping on.
My protest was by choice, but most people are protesting involuntarily ...
I just read this book by Dmitri Orlov called Reinventing Collapse that talks about the post soviet experience.
He says, suicidal 45-55 year olds have all their self esteem tied up in their creature comforts, faux luxuries, careers, their standing in the game, the feelings of power that money imparts. they lose it when they have to live without money.
....many of the systems' procedures are setup as reactions to your action. Take out the "first move" and there is no game.
For me, creature comforts means hanging out with the animals of the forest, living just like them-merely eating and sleeping, and nothing more.
Shameless Mrs. Gnome Plug:
I told Mrs. Gnome I'd post a link to her food/ travel blog:
Jaunty Gourmand
"Why does one need a LICENSE to wear a costume in public??"
The Tyrant Wears The Mask
You May Not Wear A Mask
Regarding dead guys; they feel shame because the system is so deep in them that when the system dies, they feel dead too.
Juvenal Delinquent (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 10:28 am
reply ignore user
I stopped working because I didn't want to feed the beast in any capacity where they would use my hard-earned money to allow them to keep on keeping on.
My protest was by choice, but most people are protesting involuntarily ...
Given that your move was voluntary I hope you have savings to fall back on.
BOHICA
"AIG Plans Millions More in Bonuses
Troubled Insurer Is In Talks With U.S. Over $250 Million"
AIG, U.S. Talks Focus on $250 Million in Bonuses for 2010 - washingtonpost.com
Done playing their game. Some gold, some cash, some stash of nonparishables.
I need to wrap my head around living as I did in the early 70s. Keep life simple, no debt. And I really want to pay off my car, that is the only debt left. The less I "need" the easier it is going to be to adjust to the future.
After visiting a few other countries, they simply use less. They don't have clothes driers, they take public transit (although we have no real transit sys in Az)., walking is normal. Gas & utilities are much higher than in the US. Food is cheaper.
It is difficult to not go back to our cultural norms when I am home. I am still learning that our standard fo living isn't nessisarily what I need to aspire to right now.
HomeGnome, nice blog! It makes the food on our own blog seem so unappetizing.
The ScrewJobs will continue until morale improves!
Thanks poic.
I'll pass this along to Mrs. Gnome.
I know about a dozen people that have been piling up more money than they could ever use, pile of money # 6, on top of pile of money #5, on top of pile of money #4, etc.
Their measure of self-worth, sad.
@Lothar the Rottweiler, @Juvenal Delinquent, @josap
Congrats.
@otishertz
Reminds me of this Kurt Vonnegut story:
While at a party, a person goes up to Kurt Vonnegut and says "you see that guy over there? He's a hedge fund trader. He makes in a day what you make in a year of writing. He has everything"
Kurt Vonnegut responds: "He doesn't have what I have"
The person asks: "what?"
Vonnegut smiles: "I have enough"
"The system is always dying, it starts decay as soon as a new state is established"
Entropy.
The system is dying, or it's not. There will always be changes. We live in the changes.
"Regarding dead guys; they feel shame because the system is so deep in them that when the system dies, they feel dead too."
I think the cause of a lot of emotional depression in this society is the feeling of being dead in a dead world.
The only honest place left in America is in the wilderness, funny that.
From the Hollow Future, a reading:
pavel.libsyn.com
The less I "need" the easier it is going to be to adjust to the future.
You have hit on the Buddhist solution to material desires.
The last few weeks, you've really seen the kind of "leader" Obama is.
He's a pragmatist and incrementalist, not an idealist or ground-breaker.
Whether it's the banking system, global warming or China, he moves everything along inch by inch, making sure not to make mistakes.
I think it's probably because he's so damn inexperienced and the team around him is so pathetically weak.
The Greenpeace sign on Rushmore said it all.
pavel.chichikov (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 12:38 pm
"Regarding dead guys; they feel shame because the system is so deep in them that when the system dies, they feel dead too."
I think the cause of a lot of emotional depression in this society is the feeling of being dead in a dead world.
I am saddened by the fact that so much depression is self-originated and could the depressed person see outside the worldview in which they trapped themselves (even without changing the material condition of their lives) even momentarily, they could find relief and move towards a recovery or an answer. But in this case depression is exactly the proper emotional reaction, as there is no collective answer.
As george Carllin said "It all depends on what you value."
My primary value is my friends. We had a get together last night of about 30 people. I would give my house key to any of them. If I called any of them in the middle of the night they would come over without asking why I even needed them.
Cheap wine, fruit platters, people brought other stuff to share. No TV. Great conversation.
Thanks Pavel!
Keep up the good work.
"Thanks Pavel!
Keep up the good work."
Thanks for the encouragement, HomeGnome. Every bit of it is precious.
Cheap wine, fruit platters, people brought other stuff to share. No TV. Great conversation.
ALWAYS turn down the invitations to "Movie Night" at a friends house.
Forget that crap...
So, i'm walking down the trail yesterday, and there's this woman about 80 years old with a cane in one hand, and a big rock* in the other...
I asked if she collected rocks?
She told me she saw a bear's footprints, and was going to defend herself from the bruin that was nowhere to be seen. Fear is my friend, because it generally keeps people that have no reason to be in the wilderness, away.
pavel: what I meant to say was that it's true -- in effect, they ARE dead in a dead world.
The Collapsed USSR had a more agrarian society and free housing. Large businesses like Gazprom never stopped running. Many were former collectives where the company took care of everything the workers needed: housing, transportation, lunch, health care. Kinda like slavery. The point is that they had a kind of stability built into the centralized bureaucracy that made some basic services collapse proof.
Juv,
Here in Scenic South Carolina there is a news story about once a month where an old lady beats the crap out of a purse snatcher, mugger or rapist.
I love those stories!
Kick ass on the punk ass thugs, you octogenarians!!!
Travesty of Treasury (profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 10:16 am
Just finished Atlas Shrugged again. I know the left would disembowel Rand if they could invent a time machine, but
no i wouldnt...just like to pistol whip her into telling the truth about her selfish centerdness and then drag her around the parking lot by her ankles for awhile...thats a...figuratively speakingll
---btw over at FT lawrence summers says the worst is not over yet
FT.com / Columnists / Lunch with the FT - Lunch with the FT: Larry Summers
"Thanks for the encouragement Every bit of it is precious. "
Yes, it is Pavel, yes it is.
"pavel: what I meant to say was that it's true -- in effect, they ARE dead in a dead world."
RIF, I think that's true. But there is almost always some part of us left alive, and it's what keeps us alive.
pavel.chichikov (homepage, profile) wrote on Sat, 7/11/2009 - 12:54 pm
"pavel: what I meant to say was that it's true -- in effect, they ARE dead in a dead world."
RIF, I think that's true. But there is almost always some part of us left alive, and it's what keeps us alive.
The system boils the human frog slowly... only when it is too late does it realize its soul has been stolen.
Neo Fascists at work:
Reporting from Washington -- The Bush administration's post-Sept. 11 surveillance efforts went beyond the widely publicized warrantless wiretapping program, a government report disclosed Friday, encompassing additional secretive activities that created "unprecedented" spying powers.
Report: Bush-era surveillance went beyond wiretaps - Los Angeles Times
One day, I will roast you piggie!
very nice video
@rich,
Good observations on Obama.
What has struck me recently is the global response to the economic collapse. Despite the minor political jockeying, the central bank cooperation behind the scenes has been illuminating. Armies don't matter much, missiles, bombs, political systems. It doesn't matter much.
The neutralization and homogenization of everyone on earth as instruments of the central banks is where we are.
Thanks ToT...been accused of being a nerd after sharing that site with friends - but then that wasn't news to them either lol
just think, if the prez and cia ( nsa ) tapped the right phones... just think of the front running they could do
Orlov also makes the point that he USSR had an economy that did not produce consumer products. During the collapsed period there were consumer product shortages and those who owned, or had access, to needed supplies made out well.
I would add that the USSR also had many less entrepreneurs. There was no army of trained capitalists waiting to exploit every shortage for their own Holy Self Interest.
Shortages in a time of currency collapse should be expected but when a substitute medium of exchange takes root shortages will be met with supply rapidly as everyone rushes to become an entrepreneur out of necessity.
Washington state may have a balanced budget, but at some horrible costs. My foster son was diagnosed with two serious mental illnesses in May, after an emergency psych hospitalization. Schizophrenia and bipolar. (We knew about the bipolar, but the schzophrenia was new. Often it doesn't manifest until puberty--the boy is 14.)
The hospital recommended long-term residential care and said that he is dangerous to women and girls. So, to protect us, the state of Washington removed him from our home and...dumped him in another foster home, without telling the (single) foster mom (who has daughters) what was up. He isn't getting any therapy.
Because residential care is horribly expensive and, hey, the kid hasn't actually hurt anyone yet.
This kid has maybe two or three more years to fester, and then he will erupt on society. How much is that going to cost?
"Balanced budget'? Nah. This is just kicking the can down the road.
We are SO screwing our future.
Doc, question on potato blight. I have a thai pepper plant that has lasted five years (!!) and suddenly it is dying. .I believe potatoes, tomatoes and peppers are in the same family of plants. I used a seaweed fertilizer on it recently...did I kill my little pepper plant? The possibility makes me so annoyed I'd like to sue. Well, not sue. But after 5 years, ya get kind of fond of a plant, you know, even if its fruits are hotter than hades.
Jes,
I think suing is the right thing to do and as we see with WFC, you can also sue yourself, but suing your plant, that I don't know.