Hotel RevPAR off 16.7% in 2009
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 9:35am (339 comments)
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Well we are closer to a bottom. Can't get below zero can we?
RevPAR rears its ugly head again... glad to see we're right on track for recovery.
June 20, 1933
The Great Depression, A Diary
By Benjamin Roth
At this point, I think the greater concern is the beginning of a collapse in ADR.
Baring a bulldozer or re-purposing hotels into something else this will probably go on for a long time. That seems obvious.
What do you turn a hotel into? apartments? condos?
That sounds like a challenge.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
They tend to turn into Single Room Occupancy, aka flophouses.
Retailers Likely to Close Stores in 2010
CaptainMorgan wrote:
Homeless shelters
Actually I suppose you can get a RevPAR below zero with operating costs. I just visisted a major chain hotel with about a hundred rooms that the operator closed as it was cheaper than operating with close to zero occupancy. So they've reached the magical zero RevPar. Nowhere to go but up!
It is no longer a matter of if, but when, hotels start being converted to apartments/long-term stay properties.
CaptainMorgan wrote:
What do you turn a hotel into? apartments? condos?
Hourly hotels.
Before dryfly beats me to it:
Grow-tels?
CaptainMorgan wrote:
I can turn a hotel into anything you want. Just sign this here contract thingy.
This was mentioned a few days ago... creepy then creepy still:
Hotel chain offers unique (and rather creepy) service to travelers
http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/H/C/2/fannie-and-freddie-falls.jpg
badger wrote:
I haven't done the math, but it might be cheaper for corporate to demolish them in really bad markets and write it off. Then offer themselves up to some buyer. Upper management gets paid off, and it's fuck you to everyone else. That seems to be the business plan these days.
Bob Dobbs,
Reply for you on earlier thread:
Comment by Cinco-X from thread 'Unemployment Rate Increased in 43 States in December'
CaptainMorgan wrote:
Flea markets. Each room rented daily to the vendor to display their wares. 20 floors of tsotchkes, trinkets, baubles and other assorted crap. The more creative ones will zone each floor. "Socks and underwear - floor 14. Shoes - floor 15. Caskets - basement. level.
CR wrote:
That occupany rate trend line is ugly. If the occupancy rate follows the trendline much further you might have to remove this note.
dryfly wrote:
This was mentioned a few days ago... creepy then creepy still:
Bed-warmers... just one of many creative jobs that can come from our budding service(-the-oligarchs) economy...
Wasn't someone on this board burned trying to short ANF? Worst same store sales of any large retailer and still rocking a PE of 126.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Is there a category on Craigslist for that yet?
dryfly wrote:
Is that a desperate ploy for free advertising in the media, or they really think it's a good idea?
We have this amazing invention called a mattress pad heater, like an an electric blanket but under the sheets. Nice in winter to turn the heat way down at night.
Looking at CR's chart all expanded - looks like its ticking up in the 52 wk rolling average [see the red line] -
's!!!
I'm reduced to a role as an unpaid bed-warmer for my feline accoutrement, she waits 10 minutes until i've done my duty, before she'll curl up next to me on the cover.
Almost half the rooms empty....so if your divorce finally happens during vacation time in a hotel, it is all good!
Shill wrote:
UPDATE 3-Target seeks growth from small stores, overseas
| Reuters
As of 12:48 PM
RTH +$.32 +0.35%
XRT +$0.13 +0.40%
TGT +$0.71 +1.45%
scone wrote:
The hotel I mentioned that just closed is advocating that route. They want to demolish the hotel and be done with it. Unfortunately, they don't own the building but are responsible for its upkeep as part of the lease. So its cheaper to just maintain it empty then actually run it.
sdtfs wrote:
What is it that people want or need?
Housing? Apartments? Condos? Retail space?
I am going to have to vote no to all of the above. There is just to much of pretty much everything.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
The Anderson Hotel [old historic hotel in Wabasha MN] used to rent cats to guests - to help keep them warm at night. Truth is weirder than fiction sometimes.
Staggering............
Just looking at that chart made me seasick. Talk about waves.
OT
Jesse's Café Américain: Front Running the Fed
Slop and Suds...
Associated Press
Burger King is opening a restaurant in Miami Beach that will serve beer along with its burgers and fries.
At the Whopper Bar South Beach, guests can pair a Whopper sandwich with Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors beer products. A Whopper combo with a beer and fries will cost $7.99.
Hotels are interesting. It's not uncommon was one party to own the land, another to lease the building, and a third party to run the property.
Do you still get free refills?
dum luk wrote:
Barnes & Nobles? Damn!
HomeGnome wrote:
Can't wait until they offer it at the drive thru...
Path of least resistance => DOWN.
badger wrote:
IIRC that's pretty much London in a nutshell. One of the Dukes, can't remember which, owns most of the land.
All of these previously prestigious businesses (new car dealers, hoteliers, luxury anything, etc) are so much limburger cheese now.
scone wrote:
One of the Dukes, can't remember which, owns most of the land.
Our future. Except most of the royalty will be (already are) concentrated in Greenwich and Manhattan.
scone wrote:
That's why Boss Hogg hates them.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
that requires disposable income
have never heard of a hot water bottle?
jismotels
Year to year comparisons in retail compare stores open for more than 1 year--do hotels also have this stat?
sdtfs wrote:
I'd hazzard to guess that's not what she meant
It's the one I used to work for...
Shill,
Consumers are 67-70% of the economy. If the stores you cited close down, where they gonna shop ? Surviving chic discounters - maybe ?
Hourly hotels are a pain to run. It's easier to ax housekeeping and advertise weekly rates.
Cinco-X wrote:
Got it, Boxer reading the handwriting on the wall? Could be, could be. Something like, "go populist or go home?"
dryfly wrote:
Some states actually have drive thru liquor stores. The one nearest us has girls in bikini's during the spring/summer.
The reactions of people seeing this for the first time is amusing.
FDIC: History of the Eighties - Lessons for the Future
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/history/191_210.pdf FDIC history of the LDC crisis
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/historical/history/235_258.pdf
I heard this morning on the radio that GE profits are down 40% yoy. What?!
Used to work a few miles down the road from Le Rendezvous Motel in Van Nuys, an All-American City.
Most of their clientele had a 5 minute turnover rate....
Hourly hotels are a pain to run.
Just get a webcam and have a catchy name like milfsunleashed.com and watch the cash roll in.
We'll leave a lighter and a can of gas for ya. Help us out, PLEASE!
Many months ago, here @ CR a discussion shed light on the hotel business and business trips. The one-sided debate focused on the issue that conferences and business meetings were simply a means to connect hookers and drugs to corporate parties, which essentially are designed as tax writeoffs.
I'd like to take this Hotel RevPar topic a bit further off into space and suggest that the hotel industry simply come out of the closet to reveal that their businesses are simply whore houses and drug dens which offer a service for many scummy travelers in need. The question of RevPAR thus needs to focus on supply and demand in terms of how many more whore houses are needed? In addition, how is GDP growth impacted by this shadow industry?
dum luk wrote:
Name one store on that list that doesn't have an equivalent or nearly equivalent competitor, bricks and mortar or internet...
USA!
USA!
YouTube - Simon And Garfunkel Live In Paris America 1970
Still better off renting:
home economics the 'american dream' is a "scam" james altucher says: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Lets hope we don't embrace Uncle Milton's policies again. That was a wild ride, and we just about ended up in the ditch.
Doc Holiday wrote:
If they legalized it we'd be able to track that kind of data and perform that level of analysis. As it stands, we just gotta guess.
The dynamics have certainly changed. I only came across hookers once or twice in my year working night audit for a hotel. I would speculate that roughly half a hotel's money comes from variations of bringing people in for corporate training.
If they legalized it we'd be able to track that kind of data and perform that level of analysis.
How big a price in social stability do you want to pay? Take any one thing out of context and you can think of a justification for it. But life doesn't single track.
The best hotel experience is hosting a MLM event. (Amway) Better check the bathrooms before one of those events and make sure there isn't an extra roll of toilet paper sitting around or it will be gone, along with any pens and stationary sitting around.
Sounds as if the training wheels have fallen off.
noob goldberg wrote:
I have a vision of an expanding Black Market and a Bigger/Better Shadow Banking Industry
I also wonder about how America will be run in the future, since we now know that having the mafia run Congress and the Treasury proved to be problematic -- I doubt that we will see a return to an era of above board morality, so as we dangle like so many dead
what's next?
pavel.chichikov wrote:
Hiding unseemly behaviour leads to social stability?
Laredo, TX. popoulation 250K plus no longer has a single bookstore after Barnes and Noble left. Supposedly the store was still making a profit.
First you come in and drive out the little stores
Meanwhile you gentrify the poorer neeighborhoods and jack up the rent so the used bookstores go
Then you go.
Leaving behind nothing of value as usual
Alas, I have less than one life to give to the care, feeding and reading of CR.
Must check mkt.
Bad deal.
You can get a double cheese whopper for $1 and fries for $1.49.
And a 16 ounce malt liquor at the 7-11 across the street for $1.25.
MLM event.
?
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Worked for prohibition. The WOD was won decades ago.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
Fair enough, but there is a difference between legalization and social-acceptability.
Smoking is legal, but not socially-acceptable. Picking your nose is perfectly legal, but not socially-acceptable. I have a feeling that even legalized prostitution would garner the same sort of social response as picking your nose.
rich wrote:
Only 16oz for a buck and quarter?!? Malt Liquor snob!
Nevada has some major budget problems. They should just extend their legalized prostitution to Clark County.
Why shouldn't we have legalized prostitution, gambling and drugs?
It all goes on anyway, and prohibition actually INCREASES the societal harm.
But maybe that's the idea...
did someone call for a AAPL correction?
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
Just say no.
MLM -> Multi-Level Marketing. Basically legal scams and glorified ponzi schemes.
Just say know.
Cool new interactive unemployment map, courtesy of the WSJ
State-by-state Unemployment - The Wall Street Journal Online
Jim Byers' Travel Blog
Fed up with the prostitutes, the Barcelona city council has voted to open more brothers in town, mostly around La Rambla. Locals, and opposition parties of course, have reacted in horror and have said the mayor wants to turn Barcelona into Amsterdam south.
"The nightclub's license does not cover sex parties," said one cop. "For that the owners need a pornography license."
"We will investigate it with our special department."
Laredo probably has college bookstores.
noob goldberg
Well if we also made it law that people had to buy indulgences, then everyone would be happy
nova wrote:
The editor of a well respected website for used book sellers (BookThink.com) is advising his readers they have two years to unload all inventory which does not have really rare features before the digital conversion process destroys the value of it. Lots of change in the book business.
noob goldberg wrote:
If they legalized prostitution I'm afraid I'd be a poorer man for it.
Hiding unseemly behaviour leads to social stability?
Who said it did? I didn't say commercial prostitution should be hidden. I implied that it should be illegal, and the law should be enforced. Nor did I imply that prostitution is unseemly. It is immoral, socially destabilizing, and an assault on the dignity of women.
"I only came across hookers once or twice in my year working night audit for a hotel."
You need to work at the hotel during the day to see the bankers.
I've made mention of nothing on the shelves of stores behind the Iron Curtain, and we might not even have any shelves, let alone merchandise...
What a remarkable chiaroscuro effect: communism and capitalism.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
I wouldn't be happy. That'd cost me a fortune.
When bookstores margins were 40%, it was easy to make it as going concern. For argument's sake, let's say the margin is 5%. To get $50,000 income, you have to turn $1,000,000. That is incredibly hard, considering that is without staff.
WikiAnswers - What US cities have the lowest literacy rates
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Now there is a word I have never seen before. Thanks for bending my brain, man.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
---What about Congress?
pavel.chichikov wrote:
TURN: The harms to women are substantially higher when it's illegal.
Take an art history course and it'll larn ya.
I hope they plan on installing more stalls
from 12/2009:
London is leading the field in the European hotel market, driving room occupancy up in November together with an average room revenue increase of 2.7 per cent, according to latest figures from TRI Hospitality Consulting’s European Chain Hotels Market Review. Only London showed growth in average room revenues in Europe.
As a result, RevPAR (revenue per available room) in the UK capital increased by more than 11 per cent and profit per available room (GOP PAR) rose by 9.2 per cent to €113. This moves London significantly above other leading European cities such as Paris (€62.98) and Amsterdam (€59.44).
---What about Congress?
People selling their bodies for money? People selling their votes?
Both practices are socially destabilizing.
nova wrote:
Not even a bible bookstore? I find that hard to believe [having been there].
NZ legalized prostitution & gambling casinos about 10 years ago, but has rather draconian anti-drug laws, which translates into a country that drinks a lot.
It's an odd mix~
nova wrote:
People read in Texas?
Have you cross-referenced that list with bankruptcy and foreclosures?
Not to sure DL I did not write the article m8ty, just reporting it.....there is always Dollar tree perhaps.
Hmm looks like we have found a Dollar top,,,,or so it seems. I would have thought
& 
would have gone green by now.
The cabal hand is strong.
edited out of respect for my fellow posters.
Just pulled the plug on GOLDX, should have done it earlier, of course. Tuition. Almost all bonds now.
I thought it was surprising also. Not one used bookstore? Maybe Jeebus stores don't count because they don't sell Steven King. The story went on to say that the local chain grocery does carry some books. Walmart probably does also
Maybe, though Long Beach has great river rafting this time of year.
The harms to women are substantially higher when it's illegal.
That's what you say, but is it a valid argument for legal prostitution? Think about it. It's not really a libertarian issue.
Books are the only old technology that has a chance of surviving, it's not like you need special equipment to operate it.
The Catholic Church survived Roman emperors, Protestant princes, secular revolutionaries and Muslim potentates.. It will survive you.
Thank you Gnome.
Hmmmm
YouTube premiers online video rental service
That's ridiculous. The issues involving our bodies and the state - choice, prostitution, medication, right to die, and war - are THE libertarian issues.
nova wrote:
At the check out. TV Guide & People.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
It's the difference between pragmatism and ideology, I suppose. Have women in regions with legalized prostitution fared better than regions where it's illegal? Has any region had success in completely stamping out prostitution, or making a sizable dent for that matter, even using highly draconian laws? I guess I'm just examining this from an amoral Pareto perspective. Perhaps prostitution is one of those social issues that should always be condemned, irrespective of the harm that condemnation may cause to women that participate and society in general.
ahh yes the San Gabriel River....Start in Downey and end up near the LB State/Edison Power plants...
Long beach is known for its rap stars...snizzle the wizzle and all that...
so it must be a error....
To Serve Man...
YouTube - Sheb Wooley - Purple People Eater (1958)
pavel.chichikov wrote:
What about male whores and the inverse of this dynamic?
nova wrote:
I would bet most of these are paperback novels, and mainly of the "romance" variety.
On topic, why don't hotels have books for sale in the lobby with the junk food they peddle, or are people too glued to the LCD TV's to care? Surely they could compete with airport prices on books and magazines.
Always best to keep it civil, nova.
How's the book selling?
what about:
YouTube - Fleetwood Mac - Purple Dancer (Live)
Gnome,
so-so.
I understand your anger btw.
HomeGnome wrote:
+1. I would like to know how you're making, Mr. Nova.
It's a beautiful word that sums up everything in one nice little package.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
what about surrogate mothers-? what is the legal principle that makes renting the uterus legal and vagina not?
CaptainMorgan wrote:
Country Inn & Suites typically has a small library - real books too - classics & modern fiction both. They don't look heavily used.
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Books are good technology, just production and distribution cost too much because they're too imprecise and there's too much wastage. Move on-demand printing into local bookstores -- so that they become more show-rooms than anything else -- and they could survive. Toss in a good cafe and you're golden.
The technology exists and is used in a limited way in Great Britain; not the best quality yet, but that could improve.
The El Paso story: the B. Dalton chain is closing down nationwide; Barnes and Noble owns it, and wants to concentrate on their own brand. They say they plan to open a B&N in El Paso "when they find the right location." In the meantime, El Paso is SOL.
Dryfly, for the average reader of wide interests, a bible bookstore is not a bookstore.
Paying a woman to have sex with you is already legal. You just have to film it and sell the video to idiots dumb enough to pay for porn.
nova - Anyway to turn this Barnes & Noble giftcard into a sale for you?
The experience in Amsterdam suggests that legalized prostitution invited a greater prevalence of trafficking of women and the prostitution of minors. Take it for it's worth.
...irrespective of the harm that condemnation may cause to women that participate and society in general.
We don't condemn prostitutes. We condemn the practice of prostitution. I daresay that in most parts of the world women turn to it out of economic desperation, not out of love of prostituting themselves.
If you don't think it's an immoral and destructive practice, then we have a serious difference of opinion. I believe that most members of society would agree with me, not with you. If so, why?
sdtfs,
I don't know. I think B&N can order it.
LB has TWO major rivers for your rafting enjoyment as a matter of fact.
mhdoc wrote:
One in particular saddened me:
Booksellers step out from beneath the Bodhi Tree - Los Angeles Times
I found the texts more interesting than those at the UCLA student bookstore.
mhdoc
I was involved with ebook readers / publishers 4 years ago. I have quickly tried a few of the new ebooks out there, I don't think the hardware is there yet. 2-3 more years, and it will be ready for more than hype. The biggest obstacle are the publishers, they have been incredibly wasteful with the comfort of their high prices. Then there is a fight for who owns what rights as it relates to digital publishing. I would say in 5 years ebooks will be prime time. There is a lot of great screen technology just being demoed right now in prototype form. Given the advances of mobile processors, you'll have a tablet that could give you that no backlit display (for reading's sake, but capable of OLED illumination), days worth of battery life, ability to do basic computer tasks and at a price point where the large majority find it cheaper to buy the hardware than paper versions. Most importantly the capability to enhance the activity of reading. When it comes to marking passages, making notes, sharing, searching, skimming, cross-referencing, etc
Publishers for the most part will be put out of business. Editing/formatting/legal/distribution functions will still be out there, but there are not the economies of scale that result in just a few publishing houses.
Of course paper books do have advantages that digital will not replace. Some people will never move on for whatever reason, you can afford to be rougher with a book, read in the bath tub, ...
I guess I'm overlooking the decline of reading amongst the general population, so the extra features will be important to get sufficient market size (also consider what the average lifetime of an e-reader will be going forward)
If/when newspapers are circulated primarily by digital means, I would expect to see fallout in the advertising sector.
Bit by bit, the brand-taxes will be chipped away -- unless we get another bubble that gives people more money than they know what to do with, in which case a there will be a short intermission.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
Past success is no guarantee of future survival--now the church must survive parent's suspicions of local priests. There are consequences when you screw around with little boys.
Books are so easy a chimp can operate one, er, um, hold on a second....
I'd like to continue with this provocative thread, but have to produce results elsewhere; hope to be back for BFF and the slap-down of @ least 7 corrupt banks (that relied on fraud accounting).
rich wrote:
A whole new meaning of 'living large' - SUPERSIZE ME!!!
Do any public companies specialize in construction demolition? IIRC Bechtel did a little of that, but I can't think of anyone else who does. I'm talking about high-rise demolition, mostly.
badger wrote:
That's what I was looking for. Thank you badger.
If all opening one door does is pave the way to greater problems, it would make sense to keep the door shut.
Allen Dulles had it right. Most people stopped reading when television was introduced, just like most people stopped doing arithmetic when pocket calculators became affordable.
Practiced your cursive lately?
edit:
Come to think of it, Mussolini may be looking in on all of this and laughing his ass off.
About 10 years ago, my wife (a lapsed Catholic) had a distinct purple period, a reawakening that didn't take. We were in Portugal, and she wanted to go to Fatima, so we drove there, and it was pissing down rain, and she went into the big church and did her thing, and I was hanging out in this amazingly big plaza, by an outdoor covered shrine, that had astroturf runners around the perimeter, which was a good 20 feet in each direction. When I got there, there was one woman on her knees making the circuit of the Fatima 500, and before you knew it there was about 3 more humans prone to silliness, in chase.
noob goldberg wrote:
Or you can criminalize all of this totally normal and largely harmless behavior and imprison over a full percent of your own people. We'll see how well that matches up with our entitlements and state budgets going forward.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
since my daughter was nearly killed by a driver talking on his cellphone while driving I consider talking and driving very immoral (putting innocent people at risk) and very destructive. If most people don't agree with me then I believe we have a very narrow definition of morality.
greenchutes wrote:
Damn you and your rationality.
Why bother to publish a book when you can blog, and work your way up google, with a little help from fellow bloggers. The whole of interior design blogland is girls visiting each others blogs to goose the google rankings. Some of them are getting $500 a month, a few are full-time.
the door isn't shut, noob.
By your logic we should make everything illegal and avoid bigger problems.
dryfly wrote:
BK's new 16 oz malt burger: All the carbs; all the calories; for half the cost!
scone wrote:
I think those are mostly smallish private cos scone. Ex-mil demolition specialists who go private & start their own companies. Or mining demolition specialists branching out. Have never heard of a large corporation getting into the act - specialized, revenue streams too erratic. Screams odd-bunch private [even family run] cos.
EHP- I think is one weakness in your argument for the ebook.
Those most comfortable with not having a physical book in their hand are also those most uncomfortable with reading anything longer than what fits on a screen. I think the bigger issue is what is the demand for 200 pages books in whatever format?
I don't know JD. I like going to old churches and sitting in them. They are comforting to me. I think about all the knees that were bent, the pain that was spoken silently, the joy. I was sitting in a church in San Antonio, the cathederal, and a marachi band was playting for a wedding. The music echoed through the church.
We're diving!!!
and now we're not.
mp wrote:
Actually I have, and I have a trouble remembering some of the characters some time. I have personal reasons why cursive fell out of use with me personally, but I can't honestly remember the last time someone wrote me a letter using only cursive either.
dryfly wrote:
Sounds like the ideal scone career!
HomeGnome wrote:
I'm tired and my brain is elsewhere. You're correct, my statement wasn't logical.
Legalize prostitution and beef up anti-trafficking and exploitation laws.
crazyv,
I agree, daughter just tested for student permit and passed
texting and cell phones make me nervous...drivers today are too distracted. I would think the first company that comes up with some kind of metal that is embedded in car windows that deflects line of site cellular towers will make for a good investment...
Drivers suck today....period...
You seem to think there is some benefit to prostitution that would mitigate the harm of legalizing it. Our prisons aren't being filled with prostitutes. The enforcement costs are few. Add to that the destruction of families that occurs with prostitution. Add to that the public heath costs of treating prostitutes from the consequences of venereal disease later in life. Despite your protests, prostitution is quite destructive.
Cursive. Actually yes and I am learning Sutterin script too.
Pilots are very conscious of workload and safety, except for a few idiots who do crew planning on laptops while flying, but we won't talk about them. When I get into my car, I turn my cell phone "off." Frankly, I dislike the damned things intensely. Everyone who has its number knows it's only to be used in emergencies.
scone wrote:
You like explosives? I know I do.
Hmm.....seems like a bad weekend to be long...I think I will take advantage of this Low and buy some physical
at these prices this is a gift form hell.
APMEX is your friend.
DRM is the main reason I've never even considered an e-book. No way am I paying for locked-down content that will be useless in the future should standards change or companies go under.
Next Wednesday will be interesting for sure.
I like them too in their own way.
Have you ever noticed that churches have the most liberal stance as far as architecture goes, but quite often the narrowest range of thought on the inside of said structures?
Badger, I know you're in DC, but out here in the rest of the country, we have sex without paying for it occasionally.
How about we legalize prostitution and outlaw war instead?
Deal?
mp wrote:
Big difference between quitting reading and watching American Idol on TV relative to writing cursive and typing.
The last time I wrote cursive was to sign the statement to get into grad school, a long paragraph stating that it was really me and I had to fudge a few letters I didn't really remember how to make. It was shocking at the time.
They would not allow me to do it in print, which was how I was mainly writing for years before anyway.
crazyv wrote:
Peak literacy. Lots of high school kids (and college graduates) do not know how to read or write very well. Its easy to blame it on poor education, but culturaly it is not as important with digital media for better or worse.
HomeGnome wrote:
How do we settle disputes in that arrangement? Each side present their best man & female "warriors" in some kind of King of the 'Bang tournament. 10 people walk in. 9 people walk out awkwardly?
The other Badger is in DC. I'm in WI. I've driven taxi and worked at a hotel. I know about prostitution.
dryfly wrote:
I always have. It's one of the reasons I watch special effects movies. And the precision demolition of a building is illuminating and instructive, if you're into architecture.
mp wrote:
Actually, yes; it's very calming. Helps me collect my thoughts. On a keyboard, the fingers so often outrun actual thought.
Good time waster for demolition fans: Demolition City - Free Puzzle and Board Game from AddictingGames
just listened to the first few minutes of a speech Obama is giving, he starts out sounding so in touch with the people, so in tuned to what they are feeling, but then within a few minutes starts defending the bailouts.
This guy is horrible. He has no clue how to run anything, let alone a country.
Sad.
Archbishop of Boston Francis Law resigned in 2004 as a result of turning a blind eye to child abuse. His punishment from the Catholic Church was being appointed Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in 2006.
The Catholic Church just like the US Government doesn't need any help destroying itself right now.
dum luk wrote:
CA, FL, and TX have lots of non native English speakers immigrating into the state. I imagine some of those illiterate are literate in another language.
Migratory farm jobs do not work well with educational needs.
Bob Dobbs wrote:
I wish we American English folks had the equivalent of Shodo (Japanese calligraphy). Both sexes can practice it, and both sexes are appreciated/admired for it. When was the last time you complimented a dude on his cursive and he took pride in it (and was straight)?
badger wrote:
Something people in DC would know nothing about, right?
PK is on the war path, after the crash of health care:
"
anuary 22, 2010, 10:18 am
What did Geithner say?
Various news reports that Tim Geithner is privately opposed to the new Obama bank plan — which isn’t that much of a surprise, but he should not be talking about it (if he is). What we do have is this PBS interview, in which he certainly isn’t doing much to back the concept. The correct answer to “In essence are you saying that big banks need to be broken up” is “Yes”; add some qualifiers if necessary — “we’re not talking about a sudden disruption, but about new rules of the game, but the eventual goal is smaller banks that aren’t engaged in inappropriate activities” or something like that.
As it was, Geithner might as well have had a chyron underneath as he spoke, with the words DON’T WORRY, WE’RE NOT GOING TO TAKE ANY REAL ACTION.
I don’t know what’s really going on here, but Obama needs to find some officials who can talk about taking on Wall Street as if they mean it.
"
What did Geithner say? - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com
I rebelled against cursive writing when I was 8.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
Have you ever met a prostitute? There are the scabby drug addicted ones on street corners, but there are also clean, well educated women who have chosen it.
As for socially destabilizing... When has there not been prostitution? Shouldn't that give you a sign where your time/effort is best spent to improve the welfare of those women? You can preach all you want, but you're doing that for yourself.
Things I would be more concerned about: human trafficking / slavery, drug addicted who can't maintain a daily life, forcing willing prostitutes to work for a pimp instead of keeping all the money, prostitutes who were intimidated into their position, danger of violence, danger of disease, illicit activity forced into the public space. Allowing legalized brothel co-ops would crush all of those. By outlawing prostitution you don't change the actions, you just change who benefits or loses and you let people fall into a perpetual spiral that's hard to exit from if/when they want to. Here's the website of an ex-prostitute who is lobbying for such legalized brothel co-ops P.A.C.E (Prostitution Alternatives Counselling Education) before you try and revert to the hypothetical no two people could consensually exchange sex and money
Mel wrote:
I think you are far too optimistic. When you set aside reason - which is what religion and ideology are all about - it is easy to overlook those things. If people haven't given up on the Catholic church with all the disclosure on every continent nothing is going to change.
Churches, regardless of religion, retain some of the intensity of belief. Just like battlefields still retain echos of what happened there.
ACORN can help one get funding for those kinds of business!
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
Mine has always been 'improvisational'.
badger wrote:
Kewl! Thanks, badger! P.S., I love Badger Balm, is that you?
We've seen some folks make tons of money. - Obama, Town Hall Meeting
How about prostitution and
?
Nope. I decided to become more anonymous about a year or so ago. I chose the most generic name possible while retaining a modicum of distinctiveness.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Agreed! Who hasn't had to take their date out (male or female) and paid for the dinner before returning to the love shack? Srsly.
Obama mentioned we've seen businesses close too.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Say what? Are we now discussing marriage?
I stopped sending greeting cards about 15 years ago. Now, whenever I write a birthday greeting or a condolence, I write a handwritten letter. Of course, I alway photocopy it for the file, but I've had people thank me for the time it took to make it more personal.
ghostfaceinvestah wrote:
What was the joke running around the Harvard Law School while he was a student there again?
fudge_hend wrote:
Not until they actually try to accomplish something substantive, something that can't be answered with a quick steal from a web page. There's culture, and there's being an effective person. I guess my point is that they'll have to move beyond where they are, or work retail forever -- unless their daddy has his own business (pr mommy), and then they'll be sales associates forever.
FT.com / Weekend columnists / Tim Harford - Stimulus spending might not be as stimulating as we think
I don't get it.
To allow oneself to live today, based upon something that may or may not have happened over 2,000 years ago, would be like me living my life based upon the Peloponnesian War.
People have to believe in something, why not themselves?
badger wrote:
what about the corruption of police and judges. It seems to me that when you criminalize something that large numbers of people want you drive up its price and with that corruption. I don't think that cost of making things illegal gets discussed enough.
dryfly wrote:
Unsurprisingly, the concept of giving the woman an engagement ring was not really rolled out until the 1900s. Makes you wonder what was happening at that time to make a man provide a down payment, err "gift" to earn a woman's hand in marriage, no?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Aren't there already a lot of free books on
subject:"Economics" - Google Books
61% Say It’s Time for Congress To Drop Health Care - Rasmussen Reports™
crazyv
I did address that. People who read less will still have the features of basic web surfing/e-mail.
Companies/schools could switch to the digital medium to save money
I also conceded some people will never move on from paper books, to which I will add that nice hard copies aren't going anywhere.
If it's 5 years before ebooks are a legitimate force, it'll be some years after that before they have actually taken over.
I know it's an anecdotal argument, but I am most comfortable without a book (I hate how the pages bend towards the binding, trying to find an old passage I could easily search for, etc) but I did read 6 paper books from dec26-jan1. retail, some hardcover. publishers can go screw themselves if they think I'll cry for them
This is about you. - Obama
HomeGnome wrote:
But can they change the batteries?
Monday will be up, Monday has been up for almost a year
A large number of people don't desire the services of a prostitute. Similarly, a large number of gay people don't desire anonymous sex in public parks. Yes, there are people out there that desire these things, but it isn't large.
HomeGnome wrote:
Agreed, and besides that, I love Amsterdam.
See dowries and bride prices.
I win when you win. - Obama
Applause from the Town Hall crowd.
This game is a blast! Badger, you 'da man!
Bob Dobbs wrote:
The problem is that a large portion of society doesn't care to accomplish anything. As long as they get their bread and circus they are content. 70% of our economy is consumption based. Its going to be hard to change to a more productive economy when a large portion of the work force can't operate a cash register that doesn't have pictures on it. And if the power doesn't work they can't figure out how to make change.
Why will Monday be up? Will the 'fundamentals' be good Monday?
It'll be interesting to see what happens here with legalization. I hope it isn't a pandora's box that was best left shut.
Cinco-x
Publishers have tried to duplicate their paper books in digital form. They aren't making proper ebooks yet. Sign up at your local university library and you'll have access to ridiculous amounts of electronic subscriptions, the industry doesn't know what to do with itself. It's embarrassing
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
My block printing is now as illegible as my cursive-
mp wrote:
nothing annoys me more than getting an e-card . Don't send me anything but those are just insulting.
There's no reason it should go up, but Monday green has been a pretty well-established pattern in this rally for a while now.
Lobbyist Ben Dover wrote:
And the jobs won't be outsourced to India, though I'll have to admit, I have a thing for Indian women-
A news leak on Sunday evening that Democrats have mustered the 60 votes needed for a Bernanke confirmation would result in a green Monday.
JD- have you read Sam Harris's "the end of faith"
In it he has an interesting mind game- what if we all lost our memories and came across a book that had all the religious texts of the world- including the Egyptian Book of the dead. How would we know which one is the word of god?
shill wrote:
Ya' know, I've must've been to Amsterdam 5-6 times, and I've never seen the Red or Blue light zones because I always got sidetracked at the first Coffee Shop I passed
None of them?
They are all the words of men.
Publishers right now give you access to quality editors, graphics design, promotion, and distribution. The problem for writers, or so I have been told "There is more people writing fiction than reading it."
yagij wrote:
smart marketing from De Beers, just like all the crap associated with Valentines day and Xmas.
dryfly wrote:
You're married and still getting sex?
The Kali Mist Kif at the Grey Area had me feeling like an alien...
Incredibly potent.
yagij wrote:
Enough already! Give the guy a break; it's his first real job!
yagij wrote:
"You're married and still getting sex? "
I've heard that a lot of married guys fool around with Palmela on the sly.
scone wrote:
Much less risky than writing a book, paying to have it published, and then hoping someone will buy it. Reader feedback tells you what they want to see more of. If you write on timeless subjects the income starts to look like an annuity. I have pages I wrote 10 years ago that still produce income.
badger wrote:
FWIW, dowries are paid by the family of the bride-
I've been to wicked dens of sin like Germany and Singapore and never noticed an increase in family destruction or the reduction of dignity in the female half of the population resulting from legalized prostitution. I've never been to New Zealand, but by all accounts it's a pleasant place.
People have to believe in something, why not themselves?
They know themselves too well. They have at least a passing acquaintanceship with God.
As for Fatima:
DELAYER
The devil sits down at Cova da Iria, reading his breviary,
(His is the same as yours, but he reads the prayers with envy),
As rain comes spattering down, the oak tree shivers,
Only the hope of the sodden faithless withers
“Noon, and the Lady has not arrived,” observes the priest,
Whose face is clever, paper skin not creased -
The minute hand creeps forward by a shadow
As he speaks to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco
“See, the lady whom you speak of does not arrive -
Mid-day, your prophecy is false, your hope contrived,
Go home dear children, there will be no sign.”
He set the watch ahead of noon, he is malign
But when the sign appears the mimic priest has gone
Not seen again, this smooth deceptive one,
But he will come again to urge despair
When heaven even then has answered desperate prayer
Pavel
June 27, 2004
merchants of fear wrote:
Yes, statistically speaking. In fact the fundementals are always good to buy now. SO BUY NOW!
fudge_hend wrote:
on the night of 9/11 I went to a McDonald's in Jersey City to purchase some food for a Red Cross shelter that we had set up. I think the order was something 400-500 sandwiches . After ringing up the order the person at the counter said "will that be be for here or to go". Stupid me I thought she was being funny- I now realize she was just reading from a script.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Well, they better take a look at the music industry before it's too late. It's never too soon to address problems with your business model-
good one, poic.
Cinco-X wrote:
:dunk:
How would we know which one is the word of god?
You don't get it from books. You go to the books having known it.
nova wrote:
True enough; that's what the web is now for.....that and day jobs-
AFP: Obama has 'confidence' in Bernanke, calls for confirmation
Am i missing something?
Gods have been a dime a dozen on this good Earth throughout the ages, perhaps the most important ones have been utterly forgotten, who knows?
REBear wrote:
He's working the "marks".
crazyv wrote:
Thats a good example of why the unemployment rate is in a permanent upward trend. The sooner companies can replace these meat based automatons with silicone based ones they will.
HomeGnome wrote:
Anything with good visuals? I'd like to see some UFOs
crazyv wrote:
Nah, it's automatic, like asking if you want fries with that. After just a few days the phrases just tumble out by themselves.
Yes, a dowry is from the bride. The point is that the exchange of property is a commitment, as a ring has become.
'Illiquidity Component of Credit Risk'
http://www.princeton.edu/~smorris/pdfs/Illiquidity%20Component.pdf
3 kinds of risk vary with balance sheet composition:
Insolvency risk, total credit risk, illiquidity risk
'Insolvency risk is the conditional probability of default due to deterioration of asset quality if there is no run by short term creditors.'
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
Excuse?
REBear wrote:
Isn't that what he usually says right before throwing someone under the bus?
fudge_hend wrote:
Jack in the Box already tried that in La Jolla, I don't think it worked out. The customers aren't as good at ordering as you might expect.
Sam Harris is an embarrassment to atheists. As is common in "what's the point of religion?" conversations, it is just a platform for the ignorant to further demonstrate their ignorance. The arguments tend to be the equivalent of asking a physicist if he's ever considered the effect gravity has on projectiles and considering your question novel.
sdtfs wrote:
Are you sure that wasn't "Hooters"?
crazyv wrote:
What does every person want? What another person has.
Wawa has a build your own ordering process, it totally rocks.
REBear wrote:
From Ritholz's blog:
Bernanke is an arsonist who put out his own fire. We are missing a President who is well advised.
As in slam...
'Unconditional Probability'
'Total credit risk is the unconditional probability of default, either because of a (short term) creditor run or (long term) asset insolvency.'
princeton.edu link above
dum luk. In another lifetime when I had more energy I volunteered for the Literacy Society to teach adults to read in Metro Atlanta. I was amazed at the people who held full time jobs without being able to read. One was a bookkeeper. She was good at her job, she could do numbers but she could read only at like a 3rd grade level (or less). How people manage it I will never know as she worked for a major outfit. They must be exceptionally clever to hide it and make up for it, not be detected in a workplace. She was trying to raise 2 children after a divorce.
People kid about Denny's and their point at the menu pictures but those of for the 3am over-drinking crowd seeing double. I also remember at a McD's or something like that having a problem with one of their cash registers one day. (ages ago). The person behind the counter could count change but couldn't make it, I was aghast.
Comrade Alexei Mikhailovich wrote:
You mean the town with the giant goose?
Wawa, Ontario - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
fudge_hend wrote:
Scary, isn't it? But I'm thinking of the college kids -- who I see everyday, even work with -- who plan on conquering the world with a low skill set. I see many of them trying to adjust, as they see how much is demanded of them in the big world.
As for the rest... bring back the CCC.
What does every person want? What another person has.
Chimpanzees again? And people should believe in themselves?
pavel.chichikov wrote:
Yes
sdtfs wrote:
Safeway put in some self-check-out stations at their new superstore locally. I saw people using it, but the user interface was lousy and misleading. Some things should be made as simple as possible.
Yes
I've seen how that works out.
I dated a worker from mustang ranch for a year without knowing it...she did everything to pretend she led a normal life but she had many issues before she probably took a stab at it....I don't see how legalizing it will make it worse....it would put a serious dent into chinese mafia take though here in the city....
Choice is a synonym for freedom....whom am I or anyone else for that matter to control that....
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Even better, we could outsource our foreign policy to the French-- or maybe the whole government.
Human see-human do
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
I see; I didn't mean to slam anyone. I've pissed off enough folks for one day-
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
OT: JD- do you have the link to that cool weather blog for the Left Coast?
Ignore if, I'm confusing you with someone else.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
If people don't believe in themselves, they get stuck in an infinite loop. Like dividing by zero.
Cinco-X wrote:
T'wasn't derogatory.
Bob Dobbs wrote:
The complete faith in computers scares the crap out of me. I can't get over how younger generations will accept for gospel anything that comes out of the computer even if it is obviously wrong. People following GPS systems into lakes is the comedic example. I see college educated engineers take the results of a computer analysis of a building and assume its right. If you don't know what the computer is doing how can you know if what it tells you is right? When the older engineers are gone and practiallly all buildings are designed in 3D by essentially drafters who have engineering degrees who don't know if the results make sense we may begin to see problems.
Bob Dobbs wrote:
All the Home Depots and foodstores around here have self check out. If I only have a few things that's where I'll go if it looks like it will be faster than the other lines.
- NY Times
"
January 23, 2010
2 Key Senators Oppose a Second Term for Bernanke
By SEWELL CHAN
The confirmation of Ben S. Bernanke to a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve ran into further trouble on Friday, as two more Democratic senators said they would vote against him.
The White House came to Mr. Bernanke’s defense Friday, but the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is believed to be struggling to come up with the 60 votes necessary to confirm Mr. Bernanke before his term as chairman expires on Jan. 31.
In a statement Friday morning, Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, came out against Mr. Bernanke, who was named to his post during the Bush administration. She said she had “a lot of respect” for him and praised him for preventing the economic crisis from getting even worse. “However, it is time for a change,” she said. “It is time for Main Street to have a champion at the Fed.”
“Our next Federal Reserve chairman must represent a clean break from the failed policies of the past,” Ms. Boxer said.
Another Democratic senator, Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, also announced Friday that he would vote against Mr. Bernanke.
"
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Mayor of Los Angeles Says "Bankruptcy is Not an Option"
Risk interaction...
'Our theory suggests that understanding credit risk depend on fully grasping the interactions of illiquidity risk and fundamental insolvency risk.'
Morris & Shin, Princeton Univ., Sept. 2009
fudge_hend wrote:
Kinda like Global Warming Models?
but seriously for a moment, what do you mean people shouldn't believe in themselves?
Here ya go
AccuWeather.com News & Blogs: Ken Clark Blog
sdtfs wrote:
Are you a pimp?
Eric wrote:
Three straight triple digit losses? A triple-triple?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Are you asking yourself?
OT, but over at Krugman's blog Sumner and Geithner's heads are on the chopping block if BO is serious about going after Wall Street. Main Street demands and wants to see some blood. Imagine the blood spilled on Wall Street if either or both resigned their positions.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Why, what are you looking for?
I didn't hear any robust female vocalist.
fudge_hend wrote:
I appreciate the point, but also remember talking with an old programmer many years ago who couldn't understand how you could trust the results of a square root function if you hadn't coded it yourself
As kids become untethered electronically for the first time in many of their lives, because their parents can no longer justify them having a cell-phone or fast internet connection, is gonna be interesting to watch...
Cinco-X wrote:
lol, obviously not because I can't ask a question of someone I don't believe in
Cinco-X wrote:
No, he's asking pavel.
Dunk . . . as in Slam? . . .=slam dunk.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
I think he implied he'd be a "John". BTW, I saw a TV documentary about a brothel in Nevada. I've never been curious about going to one since-
Philly based convenience store chain also featuring a goose.