I speak from a standpoint of the 'lovely' system that doesn't have to recognize losses...but agree with the rest. I know it will turn out that way...rates are already headed upwards (no surprise there) again.
Blackhat-
I think they count on that more than we will ever know. No coincidence that the C4C program came shortly after the foreclosure halt. I don't think it's going to have as large an impact on the GDP as they want though-but will instead play more fun with number's to achieve it-...but I understand the point loud and clear.
/at this time/ defined, precisely as then, and this is now, so entirely correct.
/snip the rest indicates that they have adequately provided for these exposures...no you may go back to digging that victory shelter...
/We are also exposed to the risk that multifamily seller/servicers may come under financial pressure due to the current stressful economic environment and weakened real estate markets, which could cause degradation in the quality of servicing they provide. In addition, some of our multifamily seller/servicers or their related entities provide guarantees on loans we have made to one or more of their affiliates. In some cases, the ability of those counterparties to fulfill their guarantee obligations has been weakened.
/Our estimate of probable incurred losses for exposure to seller/servicers for their repurchase obligations to us is a component of our allowance for loan losses as of June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008. The estimates of potential exposure to our seller/servicers are higher than our estimates for probable loss as we consider the range of possible outcomes as well as the passage of time, which can change the indicators of incurred, or probable losses. We also consider the estimated value of related mortgage servicing rights in determining our estimates of probable loss, which reduce our potential exposures. We believe we have adequately provided for these exposures, based upon our estimate of incurred loss, in our loan loss reserves at June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008; however, our actual losses may exceed our estimates.
I have a lot of very smart, capable friends who just graduated from a good UC university. Not a single one has found any kind of work that requires a college degree. One is working part time for the city doing basic janitorial and facilities maintenence work. He's got a masters in history from the university of chicago. Another friend is working part time at a theater. The rest are unemployed, with absolutely no job prospects whatsoever. I look at these young people and wonder how their frustrations will manifest over the next two years, and whether they'll add to or cancel out the frustrations of the elderly and boomers as they watch the ship they neglected for so long sink into the waves, just in time for their retirement into poverty and failure.
A lot of our society is built on the viagra ad golden years fantasy - you put up with shit right now so that you can retire in style, well aged, cruising through the Caribbean, as you surrender the responsibilities of being an adult to your children who will work as you enjoy your second childhood on the beach.
On or about July 15 the Administration (geithner) was supposed to give the semi-annual budget/deficit tax income report....it was delayed til August. Anyone see anything?
Fleck is calling for hyperinflation.
First we need some sustained inflation.
The biggest problem is that folks still have not put a bottom under the real estate market.
Either commercial or residential.
Until then, the damage will continue to mount.
Surplus housing is becoming endemic.
The next problem will be the employment spiral downward.
Hoops, anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets.
They need a PhD to teach, and that is the only job the will find.
The main hope is that the large group of folks hanging on in the workplace from the 2000 crash finally give in and embrace their destiny- a crappy retirement.
On a brighter note- watched the Pawn shop show last night- looks to be quite funny!
Hoops, anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets.
I agree, the degree is worthless - he's a PHD candidate dropout. I just included that tidbit to show that he's no moron. He's quite smart. I told him to get trade skills and become an electrician or fiber optic lineman. He agreed, and is attempting to get into the IBEW, though it's not got a lot of work for him.
Re: Not a single one has found any kind of work that requires a college degree
Actually, you'll find that MOST of what people did for the last 40 years didn't require a college degree. Unless you have a degree involving math (in some form) everything ELSE can be learned on-the-job. The most lucrative jobs involve people skills, which aren't taught. The "math based" jobs allow introverts to have some chance of success.
You might be interested to know, however, that the state IS still hiring. Specifically FTB. If your friends can face "reality" (yes, I know, most males can't until they are 50 - but some can) the FTB is a good place to start. The State will ALWAYS be with us and the FTB collects taxes (YOU figure it out).
Arctic populations that missed the opportunity to get involved with CDOs and other structured products they had no chance of understanding are getting their prayers for another shot answered courtesy of the PPIP. The Inupiat Eskimos from Alaska's North Slope are partnering with Oaktree Capital Management to take the natural next step in their diversification away from oil by getting into toxic assets. Taking a break from his duties as a whaling boat captain, Richard Glenn, the vice president of lands for the Arctic Slope Regional Corp explained the logic behind the new push of Eskimo money into structured products.
"A lot of our society is built on the viagra ad golden years fantasy - you put up with shit right now so that you can retire in style, well aged, cruising through the Caribbean, as you surrender the responsibilities of being an adult to your children who will work as you enjoy your second childhood on the beach."
Unless there's a trigger, it will remain directionless angst, both from young and old alike.
There's no predicting such a black swan, or even if it's inevitable, but if such a spark should emerge it would get exceptionally ugly. I, personally, don't envision such an internal uprising any time soon. However, we're not even through stage 1 of the Kübler-Ross model yet.
"The buy-back provision does Freddie no good if the bank goes so far under that it can't be collected."
the buy back provision is worthless. the way TB&W is structured (assuming it is like most mortgage banks) there won't be any money left once the place is wrapped up, let alone an entity around this time next year, or the year after, as the loans go bad.
fannie and freddie are lucky places like IndyMac were banks, so the FDIC takes them over and eats the buyback risk.
But YET, what were fannie and freddie talking about a few months ago??? supporting warehouse lending, so more TB&W's could be spawned.
ridiculous. mortgage banks are terrible business models for everyone except the principals, and these fools were talking about supporting that business model?
How do I reconcile this:
Brian Faith, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac’s Washington-based rival, said last week his company hasn’t done business with Taylor Bean “for some time.”
with this:
"TBW accounted for approximately 5.2% and 2.7% of our single-family mortgage purchase volume activity for full-year 2008 and the six months ended June 30, 2009, respectively." - 6/30/09 10Q.
"Brian Faith, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac’s Washington-based rival, said last week his company hasn’t done business with Taylor Bean “for some time.”"
Fannie did no business with TBW, Freddie did, they had an exclusive arrangement with Freddie, njot that uncommon.
Perhaps you have some opinion on the matter. My own take, regarding a younger generation, let's say between 18-28 is that they are not "angst"-ish, or particulary endowed with peasant-cunning, having invariably not grown up with formative experiences like "starving". Broad-brush mind you, but it was not my general impression that anything in particular could galvanize such a sophisticated gamer-savy generation, beyond of course, starving. I'm not sure such a lump of unused potential can rally themselves around a cohesive message that will in act either creative or destructive change. I just imagine a crowd shrugging their sholders and going back to playing x-box in mom's basement.
"I agree, the degree is worthless - he's a PHD candidate dropout."
Not worthless if he took enough stat classes and actually picked up analytical skills. I think we had a history major around here (this blog) sometime back who made good in the insurance industry and did credit the skills he'd picked up in his major as a factor -- not the information, but the skills.
Of course, he would have paid a lot of money for those skills. And no guarantee that the school he went to insisted he have them.
"To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity."
With the greatest sincerity, the one thing I find myself thinking repeatedly over the past couple of years is that I wished I had a better grasp of history. The only unfortunate part is that historians rarely raise alarm bells when humans begin to replicate past mistakes. Once the oldest generation is gone and a couple of following generations have not felt a rainy day, old lessons are forgotten and errors are repeated.
What this world needs more of is militant historians.
This is true of all generations. It's either fear of staving or fear of getting killed. The Worlds "Greatest" Generation feared starvation, the Boomers feared getting killed for nothing. It tends to focus the mind.
Right now, the nobility is keep fear in check pretty well. That's a good thing.
"I think we had a history major around here (this blog) sometime back who made good in the insurance industry and did credit the skills he'd picked up in his major as a factor "
Is everything to be measured by how much money it's good for? If so, then that's a good reason for the mess we're in.
As a holder of a BA in history, I can say one become expert in the field with out going anywhere near the higher education system. I wouldn't recommend this course of study (in a BA program) to anyone. I think the subject is critical for anyone to understand, but going through the standard path of education isn't necessary.
OT: one of my brothers starts grad school at UCLA this month, and another got a job with the IRS at their San Diego office.
Re: What this world needs more of is militant historians
No. Militant has nothing to do with it. It's the inablity of people to realize their parents - and their ideas and the leaders their parents worshipped as a result - were full of shit.
Most "histories" can't tell the truth until the historian himself is safe in exposing humans for what they really are. This means MANY generations must pass. Most histories are just hero worship of the historian's parents. Which is a genetic neccessity for most people.
"I just imagine a crowd shrugging their shoulders and going back to playing x-box in mom's basement......perhaps just me."
.....and me..........announcing high school baseball & football every year - and having one last teenager in the house who is a jock-redneck-cowboy type, the young set is quite strange - almost as strange as their parents.............at least around here....
"anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets."
And what's wrong with cleaning toilets? It's a job, and needs to be done. In a previous life, I cleaned toilets. Worked for a couple years at a prestigious east coast private high school. One summer day, emptying the trash in the administration building, I came across a huge pile of letters to faculty members regarding contract renewals for the next year. The salaries were detailed in the letters. My salary, as a janitor, was higher than at least 50 percent of the teachers. Nice priorities we got here in the good old US of A. :-/
No. Militant has nothing to do with it. It's the inablity of people to realize their parents - and their ideas and the leaders their parents worshipped as a result - were full of shit.
I would restate that to say the point of history is to remind people that older generations had their intelligent, brave, idiotic, and myopic moments just the same as the present generation. History should endeavour to present as complete a picture as possible, not one single hero-worshipping or damning perspective.
I've just been reading about the siege of Leningrad, in which musicians, actors and other performers went on giving concerts, or just performing together, although they were dying of starvation - literally dying; giving concerts in unheated halls when the temperature outside was -30 C. Actors, singers and dancers would come on stage, perform, and then faint off-stage.
There was less despair in these people than in some of the well-fed we know.
To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity.
This thought applies to Bernanke and the current Fed. Greenspan bailed out financial stupidity nonstop. The result was a decimated majority and a super wealthy minority. We now have polically impotent producer and worker classes and a financial class with the greatest political influence in our history. Not comforting.
Either Bernanke is ignorant of recent history or he believes we should continue the trends started by Greenspan.
nullpointer (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 10:24 am
nova-
you touched upon something i have been thinking a lot about lately.
we should be seeing an explosion of decent music in the next 5 years or so.
the kids have something real to rebel against.
goes to put on dead kennedys record....
Re: MPG. This is why CRE is going to be a big problem for the banks. These guys create subs to hold the mortgage on each property, or group of properties, so when they get underwater, they just abandon the sub.
No emotion, no handwringing, no "ethical dilemma". the numbers don't pencil out, give it up.
hard to extend and pretend in that situation. talk about rational, or strategic, default.
No he doesn't. The Fed's GSE purchases are not emergency loans they are long term holdings. Per charter, the Fed is only allowed to purchase holdings explicitly backed by the United States Government. Ginne Mae - legal. FRE, FNM - illegal.
In response to the discussion on Fed purchases of treasuries from the last thread, I tend to agree with MS and Allen C.
I find it hard to believe that after committing to such a drastic policy the Fed will simply stop monetization. They cannot afford for long rates to rise.
So as the money printing continues, the dollar will most likely weaken, which should continue to help gold and other assets that protect against inflation. This gold price website has a good discussion of the relationship between the two given the government's economic programs.
heh... It was actually a fun job. Often disgusting (people are pigs) , but overall still fun. To this day, when people ask "what I do", I tell them I'm a janitor. It's amusing to see the reactions. And I still sometimes wear the blue polyester shirt with my name embroidered on it. Also amusing...
Re: History should endeavour to present as complete a picture as possible,
Yes, but when 95% of history is heroic and less than 5% of history IS heroic there's something wrong. Might be a good idea if history was a bit more REAL. However, it can't be BECAUSE humans themselves are mostly about creating and worshipping fantasies. It's NOT anybody's fault, btw, it's just a human survival mechanism.
This survival mechanism is neccessary for the 4-F's of male behavior, btw. Males need to live in an optimist happy fantasy world in order to hit on females - hundreds of times in order to be successful just once. That's why the stock-market appears to behave so irrationally to most people. They can't admit it's REALLY just a pack of overly optimistic males creating fantasies about females, and to make the fantasy (story) work they've got to be successful at buying stocks.
not few, none. No congress critters every read an entire bill, or even some of an entire, bill, rarely in fact reading the bill at all. That is what aids and staffers are for. not kidding.
There's no point in Congress Critters to read - or even know what they are voting for. The purpose of politicians is to funnel money to their buddies and contributors. NOTHING else. Their staff ensures that the interests of BOTH are "represented" in the bill.
Hoopajoops LTD (homepage, profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 1:10 pm
A lot of our society is built on the viagra ad golden years fantasy - you put up with shit right now so that you can retire in style, well aged, cruising through the Caribbean, as you surrender the responsibilities of being an adult to your children who will work as you enjoy your second childhood on the beach.
"Spaceman" Bezos sure has been on a dumping spree lately...in the grand scheme of things 2% is hardly much....it's the shear size of the paycheck that stands out.
Status is REAL. Most females will pick a higher status male. Higher status males should get more sex (4-F's).
That is probably why most females languish in unrewarding marriages that eventually end in divorce after years of not having decent sex or dialogue...Glad I opted for the lower status variety of male, at least the sex is great and life is never boring
October raw-sugar futures soared above 22 cents a pound on Monday, accelerating their gains amid concerns over production shortages. The contract hit an intraday high of 22.44 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S., the highest level since 1981. October sugar futures were last up 5.8% to 22.01 cents a pound
/There was less despair in these people than in some of the well-fed we know. /
"I understand but then for every Shostakovich there is an Anna Andreëvna Gorenko."
bh - it's easy to be cynical, but in Leningrad, a city besieged, in which a million people were condemned to a slow death, there were saints (I could describe some), there were cannibals, and there were people who were neither. Those who learned to care for one another, who supported one another, had a much better chance of survival. But most of all, there were those who kept their humanity, who did not die, or survive, as brutal sub-beasts.
There was a woman who came upon a long queue for a shipment of macaroni (and a plateful of it could save your life). She just stood there, obviously too late to have a chance. An old lady saw her and asked her if she would get in line. "It's useless," she said, ' but I have a young child at home and I don't know how I'll feed her." But when the line began to move the old woman pushed her ahead of herself, saying: "What's wrong with you? - you were in line ahead of me."
The woman with the child was the last on line to get into the shop. The one who pushed her into the line did not get in.
Re: Glad I opted for the lower status variety of male
You have admitted to being statistically abnormal in TWO ways. You didn't pick a higher status male AND you are reading this. If you are Libertarian waiting for the righteous sword of justice: that makes THREE ways.
"Yes, but when 95% of history is heroic and less than 5% of history IS heroic there's something wrong. Might be a good idea if history was a bit more REAL. However, it can't be BECAUSE humans themselves are mostly about creating and worshipping fantasies. It's NOT anybody's fault, btw, it's just a human survival mechanism."
Fair enough, but I think we may have different definitions of "history". While I recognize the bite-sized history morsels fed to grade school students as necessary cultural indoctrination, this is not what I had in mind as the role for historians. I was thinking more along the lines of expositions such as News from 1930 and "Wall Street: A History" by Charles Geisst, that provide information I would not have previously been able to access and which allows me to being placing myself in the shoes of those who were living in those times. Once I get past the notion of knowing how a story ends, it becomes endlessly fascinating to me to judge and contrast the actions of those living in the present against those living in the past. While I may theorize, I have no idea exactly what the market will do over the next five or ten years, and neither would commentators in 1930. I have no idea what single action today or in the next few years may trigger a global conflict, and neither did those commenting immediately after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
Watching the progression of decisions in hindsight permits me, hopefully, to learn and understand the nature of my actions and the actions of those around me in the coming months and years.
It adjusts to circumstances, but usually very slowly.
At Catholic school I learned a little bit of canon law. Seems
like if you do anything more than steal a dollar you go straight
to hell (if not repentant). All absolute. I am and was underwhelmed.
English common law admits it could be wrong, while attending
to precedent. At its best it looks at all sides of a dispute.
It works, guys. It works.
Not that we are looking at a slice of perfection here. Lots of
judges are idiots. You can appeal idiocy. If you have a lot of money,
anyway.
Like English Common Law, Pavel. Back to Henry II.
He substituted juries for nonsense of various trial that
Glod was supposed to intervene and decide. Like getting
thrown in deep water, and if you sank, you were innocent.
By the way, he was basically right and Thomas a Becket
was stiff necked wrong. Not that he should have been
murdered of course.
Every man should have a woman for sex, love and companionship. The trick is in keeping each of them from finding out about the others.
That's what the 'open relationship' clause in the pre-nup is for. Spell it all out in advance, hence avoiding the nastier consequences of alimony upon divorce.
As a young person that's all you can do: live and learn.
Just don't forget, be careful of older authorative males: EVERYBODY is full of shit. The thing we call "human consciousness" is really just a bullshit generator attempting to explain reality, so there's no OTHER possibility.
Well, as long as "works" excludes being able to determine if somebody is truly guilty or innocent. DNA exoneration of death-row inmates, for example. (Nominally, should be the more careful administration of justice.)
I look forward to the MRI or PET-scan lie-detector courtrooms.
English idioms are so pungent, but often lack reality contact. I can not see any reason that being full of shit makes one's brain/personality objectionable.
Re: Not that we are looking at a slice of perfection here
That's what separates the devout (not ONLY in deities, but devout to the political "isms") from the more normal people. The devout can't handle anything LESS than the enforcement of perfection (the righteous sword of Libertarian justice, but just one example). The more normal people can swing either way.
(But, you don't get to pick your brain, so you're stuck with what ya got).
I note you did not enter the Myers-Briggs test for your profile.
Your response is classic. And I note that you probably feel this is the one, true way. (or perhaps replace feel with think. I can't tell yet.)
Actually, a mistake is being rectified, by the DNA tests. A very few
are being let go. I read that the courts were 98% correct in the
convictions where DNA was available. With a death sentence, this
is unacceptable of course. But normally a 2% error rate, especially
with what the courts have to contend with is not bad at all.
Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer bankruptcies show no sign of abating after rising more than a third this year and may hit 1.4 million by Dec. 31 as jobs are lost and loans are harder to get, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
More than 126,000 consumers filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. last month, 34 percent more than in July 2008, the ABI said in its latest report on Aug. 4. The increase came after a 36.5 percent rise in personal bankruptcies nationwide in the first six months, to 675,351
Section 13.3 is the "unusual and exigent" circumstance clause (see link below). It authorizes only loans (discounting of notes), not outright purchases. As far as I can tell, the Fed is only authorized to buy instruments explicitly guaranteed by the U.S. Gov't.
Dog's are smart. CNN posts story that most dogs know 165 words and can count up to 5. And they are relentlessly honest.
Border collies are the smartest. They could probably untangle the accounting at the GSEs.
And what's so horrible about wanting a male who has enough on the ball to help feed and raise his kids, whatever form that might take? It's how Darwin raised us.
"Just don't forget, be careful of older authorative males: EVERYBODY is full of shit. The thing we call "human consciousness" is really just a bullshit generator attempting to explain reality, so there's no OTHER possibility."
That's not particularly helpful to me, though, with the exception of perhaps appealing to my underlying superiority complex/Narcissism. Those in positions of power, male or female, must maintain societal cohesion in order to keep us from destroying ourselves. I suppose it's a figment of the environment in which I work, but I have a sincere element of compassion for those who must maintain a positive outlook when they would certainly be aware that the situation is absolutely dire. Even Bernanke, who takes quite a licking in these forums, is certainly aware of the moral hazards and long-term instabilities he's inserting into fiscal policy, but I do feel for the impossible choices he faces.
It's easy for us to sit back in our easy chairs and mumble about hitting the reset button, but it's politically impossible. The chasm between what should be done and what can be done appears to be growing.
Too bad this brief summary is wrong. From HR3200:
SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE.
(a) Grandfathered Health Insurance Coverage Defined- Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term `grandfathered health insurance coverage' means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:
(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT-
<b> (A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of Y1.</b>
(B) DEPENDENT COVERAGE PERMITTED- Subparagraph (A) shall not affect the subsequent enrollment of a dependent of an individual who is covered as of such first day.
(2) LIMITATION ON CHANGES IN TERMS OR CONDITIONS- Subject to paragraph (3) and except as required by law, the issuer does not change any of its terms or conditions, including benefits and cost-sharing, from those in effect as of the day before the first day of Y1.
(3) RESTRICTIONS ON PREMIUM INCREASES- The issuer cannot vary the percentage increase in the premium for a risk group of enrollees in specific grandfathered health insurance coverage without changing the premium for all enrollees in the same risk group at the same rate, as specified by the Commissioner.
(b) Grace Period for Current Employment-based Health Plans-
(1) GRACE PERIOD-
(A) IN GENERAL- The Commissioner shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan years beginning after the end of the 5-year period beginning with Y1, an employment-based health plan in operation as of the day before the first day of Y1 must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan under section 101, including the essential benefit package requirement under section 121.
(B) EXCEPTION FOR LIMITED BENEFITS PLANS- Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an employment-based health plan in which the coverage consists only of one or more of the following:
(i) Any coverage described in section 3001(a)(1)(B)(ii)(IV) of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
(ii) Excepted benefits (as defined in section 733(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974), including coverage under a specified disease or illness policy described in paragraph (3)(A) of such section.
(iii) Such other limited benefits as the Commissioner may specify.
In no case shall an employment-based health plan in which the coverage consists only of one or more of the coverage or benefits described in clauses (i) through (iii) be treated as acceptable coverage under this division
(2) TRANSITIONAL TREATMENT AS ACCEPTABLE COVERAGE- During the grace period specified in paragraph (1)(A), an employment-based health plan that is described in such paragraph shall be treated as acceptable coverage under this division.
(c) Limitation on Individual Health Insurance Coverage-
(1) IN GENERAL- Individual health insurance coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan.
(2) SEPARATE, EXCEPTED COVERAGE PERMITTED- Excepted benefits (as defined in section 2791(c) of the Public Health Service Act) are not included within the definition of health insurance coverage. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall prevent the offering, other than through the Health Insurance Exchange, of excepted benefits so long as it is offered and priced separately from health insurance coverage.</i>
There it is. No new policies after the bill takes effect. No transferring policies, and any misstep by your insurer eliminates your policy, forcing you onto the public plan, all under the section titled " PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE". Why would anyone believe the MSM anyway. Here's a link to the whole thing: Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
....just don't think any of it matters at this point.
MS,
That's the sad part. Wall St. knows it's illegal but they don't care as they are the beneficiaries. Main St. thinks it is legal and that THEY are the beneficiaries.
"I've been thinking that the financial world would benefit from a law that allows only middle aged women to staff financial entities. "
Women placed in close proximity for an extended period begin to sync their menstrual cycles. If the entire financial community was staffed by women, they would inevitably cycle together and we would end up with three weeks of relative calm and one week of insanity every month.
At least A-type testosterone-fueled men are crazy all the time, so we can't game the market.
fried (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 11:22 am reply Ignore user "Most females will pick a higher status male. Higher status males should get more sex (4-F's). "
Status is fungible. What use will all these guys in Armani suits be when what needs doing is welding, machine tooling or plowing?
My girlfriends always teased me about my affection for hard science geeks. My responce was "a good dancer doesn't fix the plumbering or understand basic physics". Some of them still don't get it and had miserable marriages. The others were able to retrain the poor lads into something more interesting then upper class frat boys.
I read that the courts were 98% correct in the convictions where DNA was available. With a death sentence, this
is unacceptable of course.
And since 1 out of 50 people being mistakenly put to death, naturally the common law is correcting course. (Moreover, why would you consider a system with a 1-in-50 error rate for putting people to death "working"?)
But normally a 2% error rate, especially with what the courts have to contend with is not bad at all.
2% is when the court system is on its most careful behavior. I don't think it's a stretch that other areas have screwed up 10%.
Old joke:
Democrats are just Republicans that haven't been mugged.
Republicans are just Democrats that have not been tried.
Re: I have a sincere element of compassion for those who must maintain a positive outlook
They don't choose optimism anymore than YOU choose to be on a depressing bear site. Your brain works the way it works. Your bullshit-generator is telling you there's chooses. Trust me: Larry, Tim, Obi-Ben, Obama, GW, ALL politicians and ALL leaders ARE optimistic. They have no choice, the couldn't be there - part of a team of other optimists - if they weren't.
Ya know, as the Titanic was sinking into the abyss, there was somebody thinking "Dude, we'll be ok, Dude. Probably just the toilet overflowed". The second sentence is the bullshit machine.
Somebody in Michigan restarted an inventory-related project.
I got six calls today for an inventory control system of which I possess one of the few certifications.
A job I don't want doing something I don't care about in a place I don't want to be.
Excellent.
" I don't want to get into a discussion of moral theology, but.... "
Pavel,
please drop the subject and simply let Liz's comment stand. Your feelings are easily bruised on the subject, and then you become upset. We've been down this road before.
Umm, not to be too picky, but let's agree to confine our "common law" discussions to property, contracts, and torts, leaving out the rather legislative-and-statute-driven criminal law system, m'kay?
Criminal law is its own beast, for good or for ill, although derived from and built upon a foundation of English common law.
anybody got an idea why the bond yields are lower than they were prior to the unemployment report on Friday even though there have been reports about the Fed. not buying any more Treasuries?
Re; PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE
When the righteous sword of Libertarian justice DOES strike, and the economy get thrown back to the 30's, we'll all be unemployed. So REALLY, what difference does it make?
Everybody on here IS expecting Libertarian righteousness, right?
Also, it is more expensive to have the death penalty than to incarcerate someone for life
Oh, I dunno about that. Could contract it out, 2 or 3 at a time. Get them to stand with their heads close together. A single .44 Magnum round. Bill the family for the bullet.
"They don't choose optimism anymore than YOU choose to be on a depressing bear site. Your brain works the way it works. Your bullshit-generator is telling you there's chooses. Trust me: Larry, Tim, Obi-Ben, Obama, GW, ALL politicians and ALL leaders ARE optimistic. They have no choice, the couldn't be there - part of a team of other optimists - if they weren't."
I visit many sites in order to glean what info I can about our current circumstances. My BS detector recognizes that our opportunity for elegant solutions to the troubles facing us is long past, but there are certainly a multitude of choices we have to make between now and the time our future (whatever that may be) arrives. We make choices every day.
I know quite a few cynics in both the bureaucracy and political realm of government; it's a behind-the-scenes coping mechanism for many. There is a significant difference between manufactured optimism and a naturally optimistic personality. Henry Paulson, for example, never struck me as a fellow with a particularly sunny disposition.
The law of real estate is a beautiful thing. Much more beautifful than litigation based law. Here it is really maintained by the title underwriters, who above all, value stability.
It is a tree with roots going back to deep antiquity, so when you learn something, you typically don't have to unlearn it
10 minutes later. And satisfyingly logical and complicated both. Never boring to me.
Oh for the days of closing transactions.
Oh well evictions and foreclosures and quiet title actions
are a part of real estate law.
Funny how a history PHD should not have to clean toilets. Paper respect. If one did clean toilets and they have an ounce of brains they could easily end up owning a Janitorial service and make far more money then The PHD would. Education does not make you smart.
think we should be doing away with the death penalty and bring back hard labor. I convicts want to work out we should give them the opportunity of doing so in front of a rock pile.
Re: few cynics in both the bureaucracy and political realm of government
I would wager FEW of them started that way and VERY FEW got promoted that way. For some people, reality does silence the bullshit-machine. But, not many.
Organizations exist on the optimism of the leadership.
Boeing was okay.
.
I would have stayed there except my primary boss wanted me to bill hours to Boeing that weren't Boeing's and be a salesman and my project was over so I had no real work. I've done three consulting companies and they were all dishonest, at least for me.
.
My aspirations are fairly low now.
I've actually reached the point where I no longer want to work.
An educations DOES prove you've got "focus" tho. You've still got to either have:
1) enough brains and focus to complete the eduction.
2) enough sleeze to fake your way through it (or lie that you did).
The #2 people will be MUCH more successful (all other things being equal).
Is everything to be measured by how much money it's good for?
If it takes money to earn X, then yes, money is usual the source of measurement.
If our history scholar used his future earnings potential to pay for his education, then yes, money is usual the source of measurement.
If he can only earn food and shelter through money, then yes, money is usual the source of measurement.
I understand your question and your intent, but since we lost our apprentice system where time and energy alone provided a transfer of knowledge and understanding, your question could be also constructed about how much a degree in history from U of C is good for?
pavel.chichikov (homepage, profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 10:28 am "anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets."
To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity.
I'd take it further than pavel does. In understanding the world, social studies are extremely important. History and political science are part of the social sciences and can shed light on economic and financial events among other things. Many of the best business leaders and lawyers have studied humanities.
Another misleading generalization in the early part of this thread also comes from ignorance of social studies. That is the rant blaming baby boomers for crashing the economy. The crashing of the economy is not due to a generation that sabotaged the economy. The generation of boomers did NOT get together as a political class, a political party, a trade group or an influential industry lobby changing the laws, influencing bankers, lobbying for extended credit at high interest rates, sub-prime mortgages, etc. If anything, I would say that the baby boomer demographic enabled certain political and industry interests to disguise the impact of their own bad policies on the economy for far longer than would otherwise have been possible. The larger demographic of boomers was not only larger in itself, but the first demographic with both husband and wife working. The effect of that was the collection of above average middle and working class tax revenues including higher payroll taxes. This - for a time - disguised the truth that the US as a nation was going into debt, could not afford to lower the taxes of the wealthy nor to lower capital gains taxes and certain other juicy give-aways which the wealthy enjoyed, nor spend as much over the past 30 years.
Young people who earn degrees in social sciences have (generally) acquired many analytic skills that will fit them for a wide range of different jobs. Give them time.
NOTaREALmerican (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 11:45 am
Everybody on here IS expecting Libertarian righteousness, right?
No, but some people think that trolling with the same question will generate a response.
This is one of those unanswerable postulates. IF there were a groundswell for reassertion of the principles that catapulted the US to its position among nations/societies then they wouldn't leak details or intentions on a blog.
Broward - I'd take the MI job in a heartbeat if I were you - you'll be at ground zero for GDII - think of the great material you will get to post about. Can't think of a better place to doom.
18 year-olds generally don't "choose" anything. As somebody just pointed out, the apprentice system was destroyed in the country with the cult of "knowledge" - conveniently forgetting the “number of perfectly NORMAL dumbasses there are” in the population that would be perfectly HAPPY "doing stuff".
In my experience, EVERYTHING I've ever done in corporate life (everything, meaning, non experience based skills) I could have taught someone in 6 months. Nobody needs a 4 year degree to work in business, UNLESS you are talking about finance. And THAT is more about the marriage of math and scamming; which is WHY the financial types are paid so well - it combines math AND people-skills.
But what is it that you want to do? Hack code? Build planes? Design bras?
My uncle actually had a job doing the latter. Did it most of his career too.
Got that beat - one of my daughter's friends was a bio-med engineer designing vibrators. Yup - nightstand cowboys. They needed a bio-med engineer because of the materials - didn't want lawsuits from folks who had reactions to the plastics so they did the same kind of testing FDA would require [bio-toxicity & such].
Unfortunately he was laid off - down sizing due to the soft economy - I kid you not.
Jeez, come the revolution I would be happy with survival, given the dismal outcome of most of them.
Look at how that Iranian one is working out now.
Or the first French one.
Or Mao's.
My fav quote:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy defines the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes." It is notable that a future edition of The Encyclopedia Galactica fell through a wormhole in time, and its entry for the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation is "a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."
Been lurking mostly. Never online when you are.
Doing the gray economy thing Sitting for Cash; Selling computer scrap on Ebay. Survival money. The corporate world is receding into the dim past. I am not real sure I would work for anyone if I can avoid it.
Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Declaring the U.S. recession over may take more than a year because of the risk that recent signs of stabilization will prove short-lived, according to the head of the group charged with making the call.
“We are serious about being sure that the apparent upturn is not just a part of a longer decline,” Robert Hall, who heads the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, said in an interview. The group will “wait for activity to surpass its previous peak,” which may take 18 months or more to determine, he said....
“For an exceptionally deep recession, a longer waiting period makes sense,” Hall said. This time around, it is “more important” for the group to adhere to the principle of not calling an end to the recession until after economic growth has surpassed its previous peak, he said
I was a history and Polli Sci major undergrad, and I think my background in history has served me as well as the econ and finance stuff I did for my MBA. It gives a sense of perspective in looking at the market and the economy.
"Dangerous Games, the Uses & Abuses of History", by Margaret MacMillan (2008). In that book, she mentions how a US historian, Paul Schroder, wrote at least one article, etc., regarding the Bush administration's misreading (at best) of history in deciding to invade Afghanistan & Iraq--prior to the invasion(s). She also describes how she could not find a publisher for another book she'd written that was relevant to what was happening at the time, because the publisher said no one would be interested.
In, "Dangerous Games" she mentions that one of the two most popular books among officers/personnel heading to Iraq was "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by TE Lawrence apparently for its description of the guerilla warfare methods used and perhaps for an understanding of some of the region (the other was a book on guerilla warfare written by a Frenchman). Lawrence, warned against the British decision to invade & occupy Iraq. Britain's rationale for doing & expectations ("natives" would welcome them, agriculture & tapping of the then new resource of oil would pay costs of invasion & administration . . . ) was strikingly similar to Bush's, according to MacMillan. I read the Seven Pillars when I was around 13 or 14 (for reasons I no longer recall) & between it & "Kim" by Kipling & one now outdated course on mideast politics I took in college, I seemed to have learned enough to see the extreme/foolhardy risks of failure of Bush's "pre-emptive invasions" & occupations, then his ever-so-important & highly intelligent advisors--and I didn't go to an Ivy League school, but state universities for the most part--so it wasn't like it was difficult to see. If you were seeing at all clearly.
One of MacMillan's more interesting statements is that most politicians & administrations frequently draw historical correlations (Bush's likening himself to Churchill & Truman, are two examples she offers), but it can be difficult to choose the right one--or to not have your choice & resulting conclusions colored by your desires.
Historians talk, but if they can't get published, or the MSM ignores them, or the politicians refuse to listen, then their audience, and the influence of their analysis, is pretty limited.
I've got a TB&W mortgage. They still haven't sent out ANYTHING to their mortgage holders giving them a heads up or explaining what the process from here on in is.
Frustrating. Can't wait to start paying some vulture fund with crappy CS.
/mass foreclosures or mass principal forgiveness. there are only two choices./
from prior thread:
Comment: Yes, but both are death by murder.
--bh
The "We won't be needing money from the Treasury at this time" declaration lasted how long?
imagine the losses to the FHA. note they decreased percentage this year vs 2008 - the bulk of that difference probably went FHA.
omg here we go Again!!!!!
how many others are sAme out there?
my sil bought newer car not thur c4c,he didnt want payments!
ghost-
I speak from a standpoint of the 'lovely' system that doesn't have to recognize losses...but agree with the rest. I know it will turn out that way...rates are already headed upwards (no surprise there) again.
Blackhat-
I think they count on that more than we will ever know. No coincidence that the C4C program came shortly after the foreclosure halt. I don't think it's going to have as large an impact on the GDP as they want though-but will instead play more fun with number's to achieve it-...but I understand the point loud and clear.
Ciao
MS
Significant to the tax payer! FRE debt holders will be bailed out by Bernanke - again.
Bernanke has no legal authority to do this.
Bernanke has no legal authority to do this.
To quote Dick Cheney: So?
/at this time/ defined, precisely as then, and this is now, so entirely correct.
/snip the rest indicates that they have adequately provided for these exposures...no you may go back to digging that victory shelter...
/We are also exposed to the risk that multifamily seller/servicers may come under financial pressure due to the current stressful economic environment and weakened real estate markets, which could cause degradation in the quality of servicing they provide. In addition, some of our multifamily seller/servicers or their related entities provide guarantees on loans we have made to one or more of their affiliates. In some cases, the ability of those counterparties to fulfill their guarantee obligations has been weakened.
/Our estimate of probable incurred losses for exposure to seller/servicers for their repurchase obligations to us is a component of our allowance for loan losses as of June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008. The estimates of potential exposure to our seller/servicers are higher than our estimates for probable loss as we consider the range of possible outcomes as well as the passage of time, which can change the indicators of incurred, or probable losses. We also consider the estimated value of related mortgage servicing rights in determining our estimates of probable loss, which reduce our potential exposures. We believe we have adequately provided for these exposures, based upon our estimate of incurred loss, in our loan loss reserves at June 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008; however, our actual losses may exceed our estimates.
/end snip
I have a lot of very smart, capable friends who just graduated from a good UC university. Not a single one has found any kind of work that requires a college degree. One is working part time for the city doing basic janitorial and facilities maintenence work. He's got a masters in history from the university of chicago. Another friend is working part time at a theater. The rest are unemployed, with absolutely no job prospects whatsoever. I look at these young people and wonder how their frustrations will manifest over the next two years, and whether they'll add to or cancel out the frustrations of the elderly and boomers as they watch the ship they neglected for so long sink into the waves, just in time for their retirement into poverty and failure.
A lot of our society is built on the viagra ad golden years fantasy - you put up with shit right now so that you can retire in style, well aged, cruising through the Caribbean, as you surrender the responsibilities of being an adult to your children who will work as you enjoy your second childhood on the beach.
Significant to the tax payer! FRE debt holders will be bailed out by Bernanke
For now, it's the Treasury with specific congressional authorization to about $200B.
What? They won't be insignificant? This is a surprise.
Re:viagra ad golden
Merica, 40 years of male fantasies. F* YEAH!!!
Their stuff's not very stylish anyhow.
pre-2007 "significant" = hundreds of million
post-2008 "significant" = ten billion plus
For those with keen eyes and memories...
On or about July 15 the Administration (geithner) was supposed to give the semi-annual budget/deficit tax income report....it was delayed til August. Anyone see anything?
Angry, yes he does.
As for the rest of the tinfoil times.
Fleck is calling for hyperinflation.
First we need some sustained inflation.
The biggest problem is that folks still have not put a bottom under the real estate market.
Either commercial or residential.
Until then, the damage will continue to mount.
Surplus housing is becoming endemic.
The next problem will be the employment spiral downward.
Hoops, anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets.
They need a PhD to teach, and that is the only job the will find.
The main hope is that the large group of folks hanging on in the workplace from the 2000 crash finally give in and embrace their destiny- a crappy retirement.
On a brighter note- watched the Pawn shop show last night- looks to be quite funny!
Someday this war's gonna end...
Hoops, anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets.
I agree, the degree is worthless - he's a PHD candidate dropout. I just included that tidbit to show that he's no moron. He's quite smart. I told him to get trade skills and become an electrician or fiber optic lineman. He agreed, and is attempting to get into the IBEW, though it's not got a lot of work for him.
How can the let the market go down like this and just not do anything?!?!
It's posts like these that make me miss Tanta.
The buy-back provision does Freddie no good if the bank goes so far under that it can't be collected.
(see, she'd say that much more correctly and snarkily...)
Re: Not a single one has found any kind of work that requires a college degree
Actually, you'll find that MOST of what people did for the last 40 years didn't require a college degree. Unless you have a degree involving math (in some form) everything ELSE can be learned on-the-job. The most lucrative jobs involve people skills, which aren't taught. The "math based" jobs allow introverts to have some chance of success.
You might be interested to know, however, that the state IS still hiring. Specifically FTB. If your friends can face "reality" (yes, I know, most males can't until they are 50 - but some can) the FTB is a good place to start. The State will ALWAYS be with us and the FTB collects taxes (YOU figure it out).
Arctic populations that missed the opportunity to get involved with CDOs and other structured products they had no chance of understanding are getting their prayers for another shot answered courtesy of the PPIP. The Inupiat Eskimos from Alaska's North Slope are partnering with Oaktree Capital Management to take the natural next step in their diversification away from oil by getting into toxic assets. Taking a break from his duties as a whaling boat captain, Richard Glenn, the vice president of lands for the Arctic Slope Regional Corp explained the logic behind the new push of Eskimo money into structured products.
Dealbreaker - A Wall Street Tabloid - Business News Headlines and Financial Gossip
"A lot of our society is built on the viagra ad golden years fantasy - you put up with shit right now so that you can retire in style, well aged, cruising through the Caribbean, as you surrender the responsibilities of being an adult to your children who will work as you enjoy your second childhood on the beach."
Unless there's a trigger, it will remain directionless angst, both from young and old alike.
There's no predicting such a black swan, or even if it's inevitable, but if such a spark should emerge it would get exceptionally ugly. I, personally, don't envision such an internal uprising any time soon. However, we're not even through stage 1 of the Kübler-Ross model yet.
Unless there's a trigger, it will remain directionless angst, both from young and old alike.
More crappy music until then. I can't wait until the Revolutionary Guard puts out their first album of Lee Greenwood covers.
The Inupiat Eskimos from Alaska's North Slope are partnering with Oaktree Capital Management to take the natural ...
Damn Inupiats. Always blubbering.
Markets are down half a percent. Obama better do something fast or he might lose my vote.
"The buy-back provision does Freddie no good if the bank goes so far under that it can't be collected."
the buy back provision is worthless. the way TB&W is structured (assuming it is like most mortgage banks) there won't be any money left once the place is wrapped up, let alone an entity around this time next year, or the year after, as the loans go bad.
fannie and freddie are lucky places like IndyMac were banks, so the FDIC takes them over and eats the buyback risk.
But YET, what were fannie and freddie talking about a few months ago??? supporting warehouse lending, so more TB&W's could be spawned.
ridiculous. mortgage banks are terrible business models for everyone except the principals, and these fools were talking about supporting that business model?
nova-
you touched upon something i have been thinking a lot about lately.
we should be seeing an explosion of decent music in the next 5 years or so.
the kids have something real to rebel against.
goes to put on dead kennedys record....
How do I reconcile this:
Brian Faith, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac’s Washington-based rival, said last week his company hasn’t done business with Taylor Bean “for some time.”
with this:
"TBW accounted for approximately 5.2% and 2.7% of our single-family mortgage purchase volume activity for full-year 2008 and the six months ended June 30, 2009, respectively." - 6/30/09 10Q.
?
"Brian Faith, a spokesman for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac’s Washington-based rival, said last week his company hasn’t done business with Taylor Bean “for some time.”"
Fannie did no business with TBW, Freddie did, they had an exclusive arrangement with Freddie, njot that uncommon.
goes to put on dead kennedys record....
Follow that with some Carole King and we will be rockin!
Re: we should be seeing an explosion of decent music in the next 5 years or so
KEY-Riced, I hope so. I'll be SO happy when the music from the 50's -> 80's is buried for good. I am SO sick of geriatric rock.
OK, got it. Reading too fast
CONgress rating down to 14%.
"anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets."
To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity.
Hoops,
Perhaps you have some opinion on the matter. My own take, regarding a younger generation, let's say between 18-28 is that they are not "angst"-ish, or particulary endowed with peasant-cunning, having invariably not grown up with formative experiences like "starving". Broad-brush mind you, but it was not my general impression that anything in particular could galvanize such a sophisticated gamer-savy generation, beyond of course, starving. I'm not sure such a lump of unused potential can rally themselves around a cohesive message that will in act either creative or destructive change. I just imagine a crowd shrugging their sholders and going back to playing x-box in mom's basement.
perhaps just me.
--bh
You want real rebellion-
Put on Black Flag with Henry Rollins.
Saw him wade into a crowd in A2 in 1986 from the stage.
Nuts, just nuts.
Losses significant to whom?
Obama is still into extend and pretend.
Time to stop paying the mortgages.
Someday this war's gonna end...
...i listened to "My War" just yesterday....
"I agree, the degree is worthless - he's a PHD candidate dropout."
Not worthless if he took enough stat classes and actually picked up analytical skills. I think we had a history major around here (this blog) sometime back who made good in the insurance industry and did credit the skills he'd picked up in his major as a factor -- not the information, but the skills.
Of course, he would have paid a lot of money for those skills. And no guarantee that the school he went to insisted he have them.
"To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity."
With the greatest sincerity, the one thing I find myself thinking repeatedly over the past couple of years is that I wished I had a better grasp of history. The only unfortunate part is that historians rarely raise alarm bells when humans begin to replicate past mistakes. Once the oldest generation is gone and a couple of following generations have not felt a rainy day, old lessons are forgotten and errors are repeated.
What this world needs more of is militant historians.
Re: My own take, regarding a younger generation
Re: beyond of course, starving
This is true of all generations. It's either fear of staving or fear of getting killed. The Worlds "Greatest" Generation feared starvation, the Boomers feared getting killed for nothing. It tends to focus the mind.
Right now, the nobility is keep fear in check pretty well. That's a good thing.
"I think we had a history major around here (this blog) sometime back who made good in the insurance industry and did credit the skills he'd picked up in his major as a factor "
Is everything to be measured by how much money it's good for? If so, then that's a good reason for the mess we're in.
What this world needs more of is militant historians.
What big corporation has the most History majors?
The US Army.
check out MPG.......today's 'heat-mapped' stock courtesy of robotrader at ZH...
A thing of beauty IMO.
Ciao
MS
"anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets."
To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity.
And without clean toilets, there's no need for memory.
based on last week, generation Y most fears facebook and twitter outages.
As a holder of a BA in history, I can say one become expert in the field with out going anywhere near the higher education system. I wouldn't recommend this course of study (in a BA program) to anyone. I think the subject is critical for anyone to understand, but going through the standard path of education isn't necessary.
OT: one of my brothers starts grad school at UCLA this month, and another got a job with the IRS at their San Diego office.
Re: What this world needs more of is militant historians
No. Militant has nothing to do with it. It's the inablity of people to realize their parents - and their ideas and the leaders their parents worshipped as a result - were full of shit.
Most "histories" can't tell the truth until the historian himself is safe in exposing humans for what they really are. This means MANY generations must pass. Most histories are just hero worship of the historian's parents. Which is a genetic neccessity for most people.
Pavel +10
Ciao
MS
noob goldberg, a country without culture, of which history is a necessary part, is a disorganized, vulnerable mob, not a society.
Thanks, MS
"And without clean toilets, there's no need for memory."
?
"I just imagine a crowd shrugging their shoulders and going back to playing x-box in mom's basement......perhaps just me."
.....and me..........announcing high school baseball & football every year - and having one last teenager in the house who is a jock-redneck-cowboy type, the young set is quite strange - almost as strange as their parents.............at least around here....
MS (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 10:34 am
check out MPG.......today's 'heat-mapped' stock courtesy of robotrader at ZH...
A thing of beauty IMO.
Lol. I just looked at the 5 day charts of Corus & Maguire. Both up 50%. Does anyone need a bigger flashing red light on this market?
Looks like Obama heard the pleas about Mr. Market being down.
"anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets."
And what's wrong with cleaning toilets? It's a job, and needs to be done. In a previous life, I cleaned toilets. Worked for a couple years at a prestigious east coast private high school. One summer day, emptying the trash in the administration building, I came across a huge pile of letters to faculty members regarding contract renewals for the next year. The salaries were detailed in the letters. My salary, as a janitor, was higher than at least 50 percent of the teachers. Nice priorities we got here in the good old US of A. :-/
No. Militant has nothing to do with it. It's the inablity of people to realize their parents - and their ideas and the leaders their parents worshipped as a result - were full of shit.
I would restate that to say the point of history is to remind people that older generations had their intelligent, brave, idiotic, and myopic moments just the same as the present generation. History should endeavour to present as complete a picture as possible, not one single hero-worshipping or damning perspective.
I've just been reading about the siege of Leningrad, in which musicians, actors and other performers went on giving concerts, or just performing together, although they were dying of starvation - literally dying; giving concerts in unheated halls when the temperature outside was -30 C. Actors, singers and dancers would come on stage, perform, and then faint off-stage.
There was less despair in these people than in some of the well-fed we know.
To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity.
This thought applies to Bernanke and the current Fed. Greenspan bailed out financial stupidity nonstop. The result was a decimated majority and a super wealthy minority. We now have polically impotent producer and worker classes and a financial class with the greatest political influence in our history. Not comforting.
Either Bernanke is ignorant of recent history or he believes we should continue the trends started by Greenspan.
nullpointer (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 10:24 am
nova-
you touched upon something i have been thinking a lot about lately.
we should be seeing an explosion of decent music in the next 5 years or so.
the kids have something real to rebel against.
goes to put on dead kennedys record....
Or rediscovers Marianne Faithfull.
Re: MPG. This is why CRE is going to be a big problem for the banks. These guys create subs to hold the mortgage on each property, or group of properties, so when they get underwater, they just abandon the sub.
No emotion, no handwringing, no "ethical dilemma". the numbers don't pencil out, give it up.
hard to extend and pretend in that situation. talk about rational, or strategic, default.
"And what's wrong with cleaning toilets? "
It's low status. We musn't have that [sarcasm].
Angry, yes he does.
Citizen Allen M,
No he doesn't. The Fed's GSE purchases are not emergency loans they are long term holdings. Per charter, the Fed is only allowed to purchase holdings explicitly backed by the United States Government. Ginne Mae - legal. FRE, FNM - illegal.
In response to the discussion on Fed purchases of treasuries from the last thread, I tend to agree with MS and Allen C.
I find it hard to believe that after committing to such a drastic policy the Fed will simply stop monetization. They cannot afford for long rates to rise.
So as the money printing continues, the dollar will most likely weaken, which should continue to help gold and other assets that protect against inflation. This gold price
website has a good discussion of the relationship between the two given the government's economic programs.
"It's low status. We musn't have that [sarcasm]."
heh... It was actually a fun job. Often disgusting (people are pigs) , but overall still fun. To this day, when people ask "what I do", I tell them I'm a janitor. It's amusing to see the reactions.
And I still sometimes wear the blue polyester shirt with my name embroidered on it. Also amusing...
pavel,
/There was less despair in these people than in some of the well-fed we know. /
I understand but then for every Shostakovich there is an Anna Andreëvna Gorenko.
--bh
after reading the previous threadd
several posters asked if anyone knew what was actually in
the bill known as "the health care reform act of 2009"
aka HR 3200
here is a good very brief summary from the seattle times
few congress critters read an entire bill...they break it up into sections and have their staff read and report back to them
then the reps read the official "executive summary" of the bill.... which i will find soon ...i hope, and post
but for now
A plain language summary of HR 3200, better known as the health care reform bill
Re: History should endeavour to present as complete a picture as possible,
Yes, but when 95% of history is heroic and less than 5% of history IS heroic there's something wrong. Might be a good idea if history was a bit more REAL. However, it can't be BECAUSE humans themselves are mostly about creating and worshipping fantasies. It's NOT anybody's fault, btw, it's just a human survival mechanism.
This survival mechanism is neccessary for the 4-F's of male behavior, btw. Males need to live in an optimist happy fantasy world in order to hit on females - hundreds of times in order to be successful just once. That's why the stock-market appears to behave so irrationally to most people. They can't admit it's REALLY just a pack of overly optimistic males creating fantasies about females, and to make the fantasy (story) work they've got to be successful at buying stocks.
AS-
The term 'exigent circumstances' makes all of it ok......not that I agree with it but that's the mantra they explain it with.
We're going to have exigent circumstances for a long time.....
Ciao
MS
RE: State of the educational system
It is hard to believe that Asimov wrote "Profession" in 1957.
Happy "Reading Day" everyone.
mock turtle,
not few, none. No congress critters every read an entire bill, or even some of an entire, bill, rarely in fact reading the bill at all. That is what aids and staffers are for. not kidding.
--bh
Re: It's low status
Status is REAL. Most females will pick a higher status male. Higher status males should get more sex (4-F's).
Re: few congress critters read an entire bill
There's no point in Congress Critters to read - or even know what they are voting for. The purpose of politicians is to funnel money to their buddies and contributors. NOTHING else. Their staff ensures that the interests of BOTH are "represented" in the bill.
Hoopajoops LTD (homepage, profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 1:10 pm
A lot of our society is built on the viagra ad golden years fantasy - you put up with shit right now so that you can retire in style, well aged, cruising through the Caribbean, as you surrender the responsibilities of being an adult to your children who will work as you enjoy your second childhood on the beach.
You make that sound like a bad thing
"Spaceman" Bezos sure has been on a dumping spree lately...in the grand scheme of things 2% is hardly much....it's the shear size of the paycheck that stands out.
SEC FORM
4
I wondered why AMZN didn't participate in the last week's ramp-up....
Ciao
MS
Status is REAL. Most females will pick a higher status male. Higher status males should get more sex (4-F's).
That is probably why most females languish in unrewarding marriages that eventually end in divorce after years of not having decent sex or dialogue...Glad I opted for the lower status variety of male, at least the sex is great and life is never boring
I so hope we get Bernanke for another term:
October raw-sugar futures soared above 22 cents a pound on Monday, accelerating their gains amid concerns over production shortages. The contract hit an intraday high of 22.44 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S., the highest level since 1981. October sugar futures were last up 5.8% to 22.01 cents a pound
/There was less despair in these people than in some of the well-fed we know. /
"I understand but then for every Shostakovich there is an Anna Andreëvna Gorenko."
bh - it's easy to be cynical, but in Leningrad, a city besieged, in which a million people were condemned to a slow death, there were saints (I could describe some), there were cannibals, and there were people who were neither. Those who learned to care for one another, who supported one another, had a much better chance of survival. But most of all, there were those who kept their humanity, who did not die, or survive, as brutal sub-beasts.
There was a woman who came upon a long queue for a shipment of macaroni (and a plateful of it could save your life). She just stood there, obviously too late to have a chance. An old lady saw her and asked her if she would get in line. "It's useless," she said, ' but I have a young child at home and I don't know how I'll feed her." But when the line began to move the old woman pushed her ahead of herself, saying: "What's wrong with you? - you were in line ahead of me."
The woman with the child was the last on line to get into the shop. The one who pushed her into the line did not get in.
nova (homepage, profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 1:34 pm
What this world needs more of is militant historians.
What big corporation has the most History majors?
The US Army.
Wrong- it's McDonalds.........
Re: Glad I opted for the lower status variety of male
You have admitted to being statistically abnormal in TWO ways. You didn't pick a higher status male AND you are reading this. If you are Libertarian waiting for the righteous sword of justice: that makes THREE ways.
the kicker with "spaceman" is that he paid .01 per share.....
Ciao
MS
Sounds like I missed a good discussion.
The term 'exigent circumstances' makes all of it ok...
What good is a system of law if every law comes with an "only when convenient" clause.
CK,
Is your mate aware that he's a lower status variety? BTW, no more linky to your website these days?
"Yes, but when 95% of history is heroic and less than 5% of history IS heroic there's something wrong. Might be a good idea if history was a bit more REAL. However, it can't be BECAUSE humans themselves are mostly about creating and worshipping fantasies. It's NOT anybody's fault, btw, it's just a human survival mechanism."
Fair enough, but I think we may have different definitions of "history". While I recognize the bite-sized history morsels fed to grade school students as necessary cultural indoctrination, this is not what I had in mind as the role for historians. I was thinking more along the lines of expositions such as News from 1930 and "Wall Street: A History" by Charles Geisst, that provide information I would not have previously been able to access and which allows me to being placing myself in the shoes of those who were living in those times. Once I get past the notion of knowing how a story ends, it becomes endlessly fascinating to me to judge and contrast the actions of those living in the present against those living in the past. While I may theorize, I have no idea exactly what the market will do over the next five or ten years, and neither would commentators in 1930. I have no idea what single action today or in the next few years may trigger a global conflict, and neither did those commenting immediately after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
Watching the progression of decisions in hindsight permits me, hopefully, to learn and understand the nature of my actions and the actions of those around me in the coming months and years.
"What good is a system of law if every law comes with an "only when convenient" clause."
Like situational ethics?
Re: What good is a system of law if every law comes with an "only when convenient" clause.
It's the BEST kind of system. As long as the peasants are blissfully following "the law", that's all the counts.
What good is a system of law if every law comes with an "only when convenient" clause.
isn't that the basis for self-defense?
Re: Like situational ethics?
Ethics is for peasants and Libertarians.
The English common law is a beautiful thing.
It adjusts to circumstances, but usually very slowly.
At Catholic school I learned a little bit of canon law. Seems
like if you do anything more than steal a dollar you go straight
to hell (if not repentant). All absolute. I am and was underwhelmed.
English common law admits it could be wrong, while attending
to precedent. At its best it looks at all sides of a dispute.
It works, guys. It works.
Not that we are looking at a slice of perfection here. Lots of
judges are idiots. You can appeal idiocy. If you have a lot of money,
anyway.
Every man should have a woman for sex, love and companionship. The trick is in keeping each of them from finding out about the others.
I sense a pig lurking....
Like English Common Law, Pavel. Back to Henry II.
He substituted juries for nonsense of various trial that
Glod was supposed to intervene and decide. Like getting
thrown in deep water, and if you sank, you were innocent.
By the way, he was basically right and Thomas a Becket
was stiff necked wrong. Not that he should have been
murdered of course.
I sense a pig lurking....
I suggest you write a 300 word post that thoughtfully references a number of loose ends in this thread and ties them into a neat package.
That usually brings out the pig.
Every man should have a woman for sex, love and companionship. The trick is in keeping each of them from finding out about the others.
That's what the 'open relationship' clause in the pre-nup is for. Spell it all out in advance, hence avoiding the nastier consequences of alimony upon divorce.
English Common Law. 850 some years and still growing.
Spread all over the world. Yeah, Henry II!!!
Re: Watching the progression of decisions
As a young person that's all you can do: live and learn.
Just don't forget, be careful of older authorative males: EVERYBODY is full of shit. The thing we call "human consciousness" is really just a bullshit generator attempting to explain reality, so there's no OTHER possibility.
It works, guys. It works.
Well, as long as "works" excludes being able to determine if somebody is truly guilty or innocent. DNA exoneration of death-row inmates, for example. (Nominally, should be the more careful administration of justice.)
I look forward to the MRI or PET-scan lie-detector courtrooms.
either a nice concise summary, or some moron stating that the S&P500 is about to head under 1000 and we are doomed. That would do it. (oink?)
(what do I have to do a summary too?)
English idioms are so pungent, but often lack reality contact. I can not see any reason that being full of shit makes one's brain/personality objectionable.
Re: Not that we are looking at a slice of perfection here
That's what separates the devout (not ONLY in deities, but devout to the political "isms") from the more normal people. The devout can't handle anything LESS than the enforcement of perfection (the righteous sword of Libertarian justice, but just one example). The more normal people can swing either way.
(But, you don't get to pick your brain, so you're stuck with what ya got).
We haven't had a "Down goes Frazier" post in quite some time, so...
Down goes Frazier!
Like situational ethics?
I note you did not enter the Myers-Briggs test for your profile.
Your response is classic. And I note that you probably feel this is the one, true way. (or perhaps replace feel with think. I can't tell yet.)
"Most females will pick a higher status male. Higher status males should get more sex (4-F's). "
Status is fungible. What use will all these guys in Armani suits be when what needs doing is welding, machine tooling or plowing?
Actually, a mistake is being rectified, by the DNA tests. A very few
are being let go. I read that the courts were 98% correct in the
convictions where DNA was available. With a death sentence, this
is unacceptable of course. But normally a 2% error rate, especially
with what the courts have to contend with is not bad at all.
Re: That's what the 'open relationship' clause in the pre-nup is for
Don't ask don't tell is the usual method tho.
Re: Status is fungible
YES, absolutely. We're a LONG LONG LONG LONG way from THAT tho.
Every man should have a woman for sex, love and companionship
I split this up between two women, a man and a dog.
Who gets the love, Broward?
broward (homepage, profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 11:24 am
reply ignore user
Every man should have a woman for sex, love and companionship
I split this up between two women, a man and a dog.
Please, please. I beg you. DON'T tell us how they are split.
Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer bankruptcies show no sign of abating after rising more than a third this year and may hit 1.4 million by Dec. 31 as jobs are lost and loans are harder to get, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
More than 126,000 consumers filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. last month, 34 percent more than in July 2008, the ABI said in its latest report on Aug. 4. The increase came after a 36.5 percent rise in personal bankruptcies nationwide in the first six months, to 675,351
LOL!
Every man should have a woman for sex, love and companionship
I split this up between two women, a man and a dog.
oh wow, now I'll spend the entire day wondering how those people map onto the categories.
dog = sex
man = love
two women = companionship?
MS,
Section 13.3 is the "unusual and exigent" circumstance clause (see link below). It authorizes only loans (discounting of notes), not outright purchases. As far as I can tell, the Fed is only authorized to buy instruments explicitly guaranteed by the U.S. Gov't.
FRB: Federal Reserve Act: Section 13
"Freddie Mac: Taxpayer Losses could be "Significant"
There, fixed it for 'em.
It seems that when I post (it certainly was last week) that is the tell that piggy comes out.
Ciao
MS
Dog's are smart. CNN posts story that most dogs know 165 words and can count up to 5. And they are relentlessly honest.
Border collies are the smartest. They could probably untangle the accounting at the GSEs.
Successful stockbroker == more testosterone.
No kidding.
And what's so horrible about wanting a male who has enough on the ball to help feed and raise his kids, whatever form that might take? It's how Darwin raised us.
AS-
And that has stopped them when?
I'm totally down with ya....just don't think any of it matters at this point.
Ciao
MS
"Just don't forget, be careful of older authorative males: EVERYBODY is full of shit. The thing we call "human consciousness" is really just a bullshit generator attempting to explain reality, so there's no OTHER possibility."
That's not particularly helpful to me, though, with the exception of perhaps appealing to my underlying superiority complex/Narcissism. Those in positions of power, male or female, must maintain societal cohesion in order to keep us from destroying ourselves. I suppose it's a figment of the environment in which I work, but I have a sincere element of compassion for those who must maintain a positive outlook when they would certainly be aware that the situation is absolutely dire. Even Bernanke, who takes quite a licking in these forums, is certainly aware of the moral hazards and long-term instabilities he's inserting into fiscal policy, but I do feel for the impossible choices he faces.
It's easy for us to sit back in our easy chairs and mumble about hitting the reset button, but it's politically impossible. The chasm between what should be done and what can be done appears to be growing.
Too bad this brief summary is wrong. From HR3200:
SEC. 102. PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE.
(a) Grandfathered Health Insurance Coverage Defined- Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section, for purposes of establishing acceptable coverage under this division, the term `grandfathered health insurance coverage' means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 if the following conditions are met:
(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT-
<b> (A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of Y1.</b>
(B) DEPENDENT COVERAGE PERMITTED- Subparagraph (A) shall not affect the subsequent enrollment of a dependent of an individual who is covered as of such first day.
(2) LIMITATION ON CHANGES IN TERMS OR CONDITIONS- Subject to paragraph (3) and except as required by law, the issuer does not change any of its terms or conditions, including benefits and cost-sharing, from those in effect as of the day before the first day of Y1.
(3) RESTRICTIONS ON PREMIUM INCREASES- The issuer cannot vary the percentage increase in the premium for a risk group of enrollees in specific grandfathered health insurance coverage without changing the premium for all enrollees in the same risk group at the same rate, as specified by the Commissioner.
(b) Grace Period for Current Employment-based Health Plans-
(1) GRACE PERIOD-
(A) IN GENERAL- The Commissioner shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan years beginning after the end of the 5-year period beginning with Y1, an employment-based health plan in operation as of the day before the first day of Y1 must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan under section 101, including the essential benefit package requirement under section 121.
(B) EXCEPTION FOR LIMITED BENEFITS PLANS- Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an employment-based health plan in which the coverage consists only of one or more of the following:
(i) Any coverage described in section 3001(a)(1)(B)(ii)(IV) of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
(ii) Excepted benefits (as defined in section 733(c) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974), including coverage under a specified disease or illness policy described in paragraph (3)(A) of such section.
(iii) Such other limited benefits as the Commissioner may specify.
In no case shall an employment-based health plan in which the coverage consists only of one or more of the coverage or benefits described in clauses (i) through (iii) be treated as acceptable coverage under this division
(2) TRANSITIONAL TREATMENT AS ACCEPTABLE COVERAGE- During the grace period specified in paragraph (1)(A), an employment-based health plan that is described in such paragraph shall be treated as acceptable coverage under this division.
(c) Limitation on Individual Health Insurance Coverage-
(1) IN GENERAL- Individual health insurance coverage that is not grandfathered health insurance coverage under subsection (a) may only be offered on or after the first day of Y1 as an Exchange-participating health benefits plan.
(2) SEPARATE, EXCEPTED COVERAGE PERMITTED- Excepted benefits (as defined in section 2791(c) of the Public Health Service Act) are not included within the definition of health insurance coverage. Nothing in paragraph (1) shall prevent the offering, other than through the Health Insurance Exchange, of excepted benefits so long as it is offered and priced separately from health insurance coverage.</i>
There it is. No new policies after the bill takes effect. No transferring policies, and any misstep by your insurer eliminates your policy, forcing you onto the public plan, all under the section titled " PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE". Why would anyone believe the MSM anyway. Here's a link to the whole thing:
Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)
Successful stockbroker == more testosterone
I've been thinking that the financial world would benefit from a law that allows only middle aged women to staff financial entities.
Well smooches to you Jim.
However, it would be discrimination.
I do wonder how the world ran at all without
women around to take the proverbial rocks out of
their hands, without being thrown.
The market needs help to today to get S&P500 down below $1000. Place your sell orders and help the economy!
I'm getting free health care.
Awesome.
Was that the one, Dawg, where the person was finally finally promoted from principal to teacher?
"Seems
like if you do anything more than steal a dollar you go straight
to hell (if not repentant). All absolute. I am and was underwhelmed."
What was this school you went to, Liz? I don't want to get into a discussion of moral theology, but....
And that has stopped them when?
....just don't think any of it matters at this point.
MS,
That's the sad part. Wall St. knows it's illegal but they don't care as they are the beneficiaries. Main St. thinks it is legal and that THEY are the beneficiaries.
An epic swindle based on ignorance.
"I've been thinking that the financial world would benefit from a law that allows only middle aged women to staff financial entities. "
Women placed in close proximity for an extended period begin to sync their menstrual cycles. If the entire financial community was staffed by women, they would inevitably cycle together and we would end up with three weeks of relative calm and one week of insanity every month.
At least A-type testosterone-fueled men are crazy all the time, so we can't game the market.
/totally going to hell for that comment.
fried (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 11:22 am reply Ignore user "Most females will pick a higher status male. Higher status males should get more sex (4-F's). "
Status is fungible. What use will all these guys in Armani suits be when what needs doing is welding, machine tooling or plowing?
My girlfriends always teased me about my affection for hard science geeks. My responce was "a good dancer doesn't fix the plumbering or understand basic physics". Some of them still don't get it and had miserable marriages. The others were able to retrain the poor lads into something more interesting then upper class frat boys.
I read that the courts were 98% correct in the convictions where DNA was available. With a death sentence, this
is unacceptable of course.
And since 1 out of 50 people being mistakenly put to death, naturally the common law is correcting course. (Moreover, why would you consider a system with a 1-in-50 error rate for putting people to death "working"?)
But normally a 2% error rate, especially with what the courts have to contend with is not bad at all.
2% is when the court system is on its most careful behavior. I don't think it's a stretch that other areas have screwed up 10%.
Old joke:
Democrats are just Republicans that haven't been mugged.
Republicans are just Democrats that have not been tried.
Re: I have a sincere element of compassion for those who must maintain a positive outlook
They don't choose optimism anymore than YOU choose to be on a depressing bear site. Your brain works the way it works. Your bullshit-generator is telling you there's chooses. Trust me: Larry, Tim, Obi-Ben, Obama, GW, ALL politicians and ALL leaders ARE optimistic. They have no choice, the couldn't be there - part of a team of other optimists - if they weren't.
Ya know, as the Titanic was sinking into the abyss, there was somebody thinking "Dude, we'll be ok, Dude. Probably just the toilet overflowed". The second sentence is the bullshit machine.
I thought the Goldbergs had a free pass?
noob goldberg: i specified middle-aged to avoid useing post-menopausal, but that is what I intended LOL
Somebody in Michigan restarted an inventory-related project.
I got six calls today for an inventory control system of which I possess one of the few certifications.
A job I don't want doing something I don't care about in a place I don't want to be.
Excellent.
Well, didn't it used to be doctrine that you went to hell for
eating meat on Friday? (Unrepentent.)
There are 2 answers to this:
Yes and
No.
" I don't want to get into a discussion of moral theology, but.... "
Pavel,
please drop the subject and simply let Liz's comment stand. Your feelings are easily bruised on the subject, and then you become upset. We've been down this road before.
Middled aged women, how to tell you this?, don't have periods any more.
Thank glod.
Umm, not to be too picky, but let's agree to confine our "common law" discussions to property, contracts, and torts, leaving out the rather legislative-and-statute-driven criminal law system, m'kay?
Criminal law is its own beast, for good or for ill, although derived from and built upon a foundation of English common law.
They have no choice, the couldn't be there - part of a team of other optimists - if they weren't.
All roads lead to the Echo Chamber.
Sounds like life, to me.
The death penalty is for when you are 100% sure.
That can't happen, and DNA has proved it. So death penalty is not acceptable.
Also, it is more expensive to have the death penalty than to
incarcerate someone for life.
one of our "associates " mentioned this on the previous thread but without a link
i found one
notional value of all oustanding derivatives world wide continues to sky rocket
1.14 quadrillion ...amazing
Global Derivatives Market now valued at $1.14 Quadrillion! | Jutia Group
Out of curiousity: What exactly do you want for work, btw?
anybody got an idea why the bond yields are lower than they were prior to the unemployment report on Friday even though there have been reports about the Fed. not buying any more Treasuries?
Well, charge them an amount of money that would thoroughly overcome these objections.
Re; PROTECTING THE CHOICE TO KEEP CURRENT COVERAGE
When the righteous sword of Libertarian justice DOES strike, and the economy get thrown back to the 30's, we'll all be unemployed. So REALLY, what difference does it make?
Everybody on here IS expecting Libertarian righteousness, right?
Also, it is more expensive to have the death penalty than to incarcerate someone for life
Oh, I dunno about that. Could contract it out, 2 or 3 at a time. Get them to stand with their heads close together. A single .44 Magnum round. Bill the family for the bullet.
And so how is common law correcting, as you mentioned above?
Moreover, it's not news that men have been erroneous sent to the gallows. Why has common law not corrected in a previous century?
Obviously I'm yanking your chain, but I think common law is (to paraphrase Churchill) a terrible system; The only thing worse is all the others.
Just heard on the "news" here....referencing Maobama's meeting today
"just over the border....in Guadalajara......"
Ciao
MS
"They don't choose optimism anymore than YOU choose to be on a depressing bear site. Your brain works the way it works. Your bullshit-generator is telling you there's chooses. Trust me: Larry, Tim, Obi-Ben, Obama, GW, ALL politicians and ALL leaders ARE optimistic. They have no choice, the couldn't be there - part of a team of other optimists - if they weren't."
I visit many sites in order to glean what info I can about our current circumstances. My BS detector recognizes that our opportunity for elegant solutions to the troubles facing us is long past, but there are certainly a multitude of choices we have to make between now and the time our future (whatever that may be) arrives. We make choices every day.
I know quite a few cynics in both the bureaucracy and political realm of government; it's a behind-the-scenes coping mechanism for many. There is a significant difference between manufactured optimism and a naturally optimistic personality. Henry Paulson, for example, never struck me as a fellow with a particularly sunny disposition.
Re: The death penalty is for when you are 100% sure.
It's NOT about being 100% sure. It's about showing THOSE PEOPLE who's still got the muscle.
mock turtle (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 2:43 pm
On the bright side, JPMorgan seems to own about 10% of them....
Ok. I don't know much about criminal law anyway.
The law of real estate is a beautiful thing. Much more beautifful than litigation based law. Here it is really maintained by the title underwriters, who above all, value stability.
It is a tree with roots going back to deep antiquity, so when you learn something, you typically don't have to unlearn it
10 minutes later. And satisfyingly logical and complicated both. Never boring to me.
Oh for the days of closing transactions.
Oh well evictions and foreclosures and quiet title actions
are a part of real estate law.
Funny how a history PHD should not have to clean toilets. Paper respect. If one did clean toilets and they have an ounce of brains they could easily end up owning a Janitorial service and make far more money then The PHD would. Education does not make you smart.
crazyv (profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 2:44 pm
Probably insiders moving to safety while talking up the market-
think we should be doing away with the death penalty and bring back hard labor. I convicts want to work out we should give them the opportunity of doing so in front of a rock pile.
Re: few cynics in both the bureaucracy and political realm of government
I would wager FEW of them started that way and VERY FEW got promoted that way. For some people, reality does silence the bullshit-machine. But, not many.
Organizations exist on the optimism of the leadership.
"I thought the Goldbergs had a free pass?"
We're the black sheep of the community, after we wasted our early years building incredibly complex machines to complete simple tasks.
Now we simply call them 'robots' and they're socially acceptable, but at the time we were pariahs.
crazyv,
There was a monetization
this morning.
Out to stimulate the economy.
What exactly do you want for work, btw?
Boeing was okay.
.
I would have stayed there except my primary boss wanted me to bill hours to Boeing that weren't Boeing's and be a salesman and my project was over so I had no real work. I've done three consulting companies and they were all dishonest, at least for me.
.
My aspirations are fairly low now.
I've actually reached the point where I no longer want to work.
Only if there were no other entries on the balance sheet.
Re: Education does not make you smart
An educations DOES prove you've got "focus" tho. You've still got to either have:
1) enough brains and focus to complete the eduction.
2) enough sleeze to fake your way through it (or lie that you did).
The #2 people will be MUCH more successful (all other things being equal).
Is everything to be measured by how much money it's good for?
If it takes money to earn X, then yes, money is usual the source of measurement.
If our history scholar used his future earnings potential to pay for his education, then yes, money is usual the source of measurement.
If he can only earn food and shelter through money, then yes, money is usual the source of measurement.
I understand your question and your intent, but since we lost our apprentice system where time and energy alone provided a transfer of knowledge and understanding, your question could be also constructed about how much a degree in history from U of C is good for?
pavel.chichikov (homepage, profile) wrote on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 10:28 am "anybody who spent the money to get a history degree from the U of C should be cleaning toilets."
To display scorn for history is like displaying scorn for memory. Without memory, there is no identity.
I'd take it further than pavel does. In understanding the world, social studies are extremely important. History and political science are part of the social sciences and can shed light on economic and financial events among other things. Many of the best business leaders and lawyers have studied humanities.
Another misleading generalization in the early part of this thread also comes from ignorance of social studies. That is the rant blaming baby boomers for crashing the economy. The crashing of the economy is not due to a generation that sabotaged the economy. The generation of boomers did NOT get together as a political class, a political party, a trade group or an influential industry lobby changing the laws, influencing bankers, lobbying for extended credit at high interest rates, sub-prime mortgages, etc. If anything, I would say that the baby boomer demographic enabled certain political and industry interests to disguise the impact of their own bad policies on the economy for far longer than would otherwise have been possible. The larger demographic of boomers was not only larger in itself, but the first demographic with both husband and wife working. The effect of that was the collection of above average middle and working class tax revenues including higher payroll taxes. This - for a time - disguised the truth that the US as a nation was going into debt, could not afford to lower the taxes of the wealthy nor to lower capital gains taxes and certain other juicy give-aways which the wealthy enjoyed, nor spend as much over the past 30 years.
Young people who earn degrees in social sciences have (generally) acquired many analytic skills that will fit them for a wide range of different jobs. Give them time.
I wonder if there's a
in our future. Maybe CR is taking a holiday?...or it's a slow news day?
But what is it that you want to do? Hack code? Build planes? Design bras?
My uncle actually had a job doing the latter. Did it most of his career too.
neither does being not educated.
My bet is that the odds are better of finding a smart person amongst the ranks of the educated than they are amongst the ranks of the uneducated.
However, education is more than getting a degree.- it is about choosing to be informed.
Education is only a tool and is only good when operated by some one smart.
The #2 people will be MUCH more successful (all other things being equal).
That will depend heavily on your definition of success.
Anyway, gotta run. Happy dooming all.
JP (homepage, profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 2:54 pm
But what is it that you want to do?
I believe he wants to be a gigolo.
Both plane designing and bra designing are uplifting!
or it's a slow news day?
It is a slow news day. No economic data US releases.
NOTaREALmerican (profile) wrote (in reply to...) on Mon, 8/10/2009 - 11:45 am
Everybody on here IS expecting Libertarian righteousness, right?
No, but some people think that trolling with the same question will generate a response.
This is one of those unanswerable postulates. IF there were a groundswell for reassertion of the principles that catapulted the US to its position among nations/societies then they wouldn't leak details or intentions on a blog.
Comes the revolution. Maybe you won't be invited?
Broward - I'd take the MI job in a heartbeat if I were you - you'll be at ground zero for GDII - think of the great material you will get to post about. Can't think of a better place to doom.
Re: it is about choosing to be informed
18 year-olds generally don't "choose" anything. As somebody just pointed out, the apprentice system was destroyed in the country with the cult of "knowledge" - conveniently forgetting the “number of perfectly NORMAL dumbasses there are” in the population that would be perfectly HAPPY "doing stuff".
In my experience, EVERYTHING I've ever done in corporate life (everything, meaning, non experience based skills) I could have taught someone in 6 months. Nobody needs a 4 year degree to work in business, UNLESS you are talking about finance. And THAT is more about the marriage of math and scamming; which is WHY the financial types are paid so well - it combines math AND people-skills.
End of day
moonshot?
Check!
Re: Comes the revolution. Maybe you won't be invited
There won't be a Libertarian one, THAT is for certain.
All Goldbergs get a free pass? Does that include Rube?
But what is it that you want to do? Hack code? Build planes? Design bras?
My uncle actually had a job doing the latter. Did it most of his career too.
Got that beat - one of my daughter's friends was a bio-med engineer designing vibrators. Yup - nightstand cowboys. They needed a bio-med engineer because of the materials - didn't want lawsuits from folks who had reactions to the plastics so they did the same kind of testing FDA would require [bio-toxicity & such].
Unfortunately he was laid off - down sizing due to the soft economy - I kid you not.
explain this action on TNX. geez. america does seem to have a limitless LOC.
Lawyerliz "Both plane designing and bra designing are uplifting! "
I would prefer a uplifting career in bra design, myself.
Vader lives. Long time - where ya been and how was it?
Jeez, come the revolution I would be happy with survival, given the dismal outcome of most of them.
Look at how that Iranian one is working out now.
Or the first French one.
Or Mao's.
My fav quote:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy defines the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation as "a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes." It is notable that a future edition of The Encyclopedia Galactica fell through a wormhole in time, and its entry for the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation is "a bunch of mindless jerks who were the first against the wall when the revolution came."
Just remember when the bullet fly reason dies.
Someday this war's gonna end...
"down sizing due to the soft economy "
one would think that would increase the demand for nightstand cowboys !!!
Been lurking mostly. Never online when you are.
Doing the gray economy thing Sitting for Cash; Selling computer scrap on Ebay. Survival money. The corporate world is receding into the dim past. I am not real sure I would work for anyone if I can avoid it.
I am well thanks for asking.
NBER guy pissing on parades.
Aug. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Declaring the U.S. recession over may take more than a year because of the risk that recent signs of stabilization will prove short-lived, according to the head of the group charged with making the call.
“We are serious about being sure that the apparent upturn is not just a part of a longer decline,” Robert Hall, who heads the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, said in an interview. The group will “wait for activity to surpass its previous peak,” which may take 18 months or more to determine, he said....
“For an exceptionally deep recession, a longer waiting period makes sense,” Hall said. This time around, it is “more important” for the group to adhere to the principle of not calling an end to the recession until after economic growth has surpassed its previous peak, he said
Hall Says May Take More Than a Year to Deem U.S. Recession Over - Bloomberg.com
OT - saw a couple articles over the weekend about how Cash 4 Clunkers is sapping money away from other retail spending.
Maybe in a couple of months the aftermath of C4C will crash the stock market...
I am well thanks for asking.
Sure - been a long trek from Monster Tech Forum & I wondered what happened to you. Looks like we finally go the mess we expected way back then.
Don't be a stranger - love to hear more about what you've been up to. You have valuable 'skill sets' some of the folks here can learn from.
It is a worst mess than I could have imagined.
I've got to start my Monday shipping frenzy to get stuff packed and to the Post Office.
I'll post a bit more often.
Suprise, surprise ! Taylor, Bean & Whitaker owns a bank !
Platinum Community Bank open, despite TBW woes
I was a history and Polli Sci major undergrad, and I think my background in history has served me as well as the econ and finance stuff I did for my MBA. It gives a sense of perspective in looking at the market and the economy.
"Dangerous Games, the Uses & Abuses of History", by Margaret MacMillan (2008). In that book, she mentions how a US historian, Paul Schroder, wrote at least one article, etc., regarding the Bush administration's misreading (at best) of history in deciding to invade Afghanistan & Iraq--prior to the invasion(s). She also describes how she could not find a publisher for another book she'd written that was relevant to what was happening at the time, because the publisher said no one would be interested.
In, "Dangerous Games" she mentions that one of the two most popular books among officers/personnel heading to Iraq was "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by TE Lawrence apparently for its description of the guerilla warfare methods used and perhaps for an understanding of some of the region (the other was a book on guerilla warfare written by a Frenchman). Lawrence, warned against the British decision to invade & occupy Iraq. Britain's rationale for doing & expectations ("natives" would welcome them, agriculture & tapping of the then new resource of oil would pay costs of invasion & administration . . . ) was strikingly similar to Bush's, according to MacMillan. I read the Seven Pillars when I was around 13 or 14 (for reasons I no longer recall) & between it & "Kim" by Kipling & one now outdated course on mideast politics I took in college, I seemed to have learned enough to see the extreme/foolhardy risks of failure of Bush's "pre-emptive invasions" & occupations, then his ever-so-important & highly intelligent advisors--and I didn't go to an Ivy League school, but state universities for the most part--so it wasn't like it was difficult to see. If you were seeing at all clearly.
One of MacMillan's more interesting statements is that most politicians & administrations frequently draw historical correlations (Bush's likening himself to Churchill & Truman, are two examples she offers), but it can be difficult to choose the right one--or to not have your choice & resulting conclusions colored by your desires.
Historians talk, but if they can't get published, or the MSM ignores them, or the politicians refuse to listen, then their audience, and the influence of their analysis, is pretty limited.
So.. Platinum Community Bank has 2 'full service' locations and 21 'retail mortgage loan production offices'.
If the bank stays open (as the press release says), just who will these mortgage loan production offices be originating mortgages for ?
nullpointer,nova
no i dont think so the kids will be to busy whining.
rayonthe farm
ive been wondering about platinum bank no one seems to even mention it. you think maybe they didnt hAve Any tb&w loans? hehehe
I've got a TB&W mortgage. They still haven't sent out ANYTHING to their mortgage holders giving them a heads up or explaining what the process from here on in is.
Frustrating. Can't wait to start paying some vulture fund with crappy CS.
Freddie Mac is a well reputed firm ! but its amazing that Taylor, Bean & Whitaker owns a bank ! i mean how this comes to true in such condition!
Reverse mortgage