From the Daily Record:
Getting together in the Chesters?
A bit of New Jersey history has a chance to be made in Chester Borough and Chester Township. If all goes according to plan, residents in both towns will vote next November on becoming one. Both tonws would have to approve for a merger to take place. Meetings of a consolidation committee began earlier this year and the next one is set for Nov. 24 at Chester Borough Hall.
New Jersey has 566 municipalities, all with their own set of professionals and employees. The thinking is that one way to reduce property taxes is to reduce government. Incoming governor Chris Christie correctly has spoken of the need for towns to share services and to explore consolidation. But he stops short of threatening to mandate consolidations, which is something Trenton has had little appetite to do.
…
Some may wonder why merging two small towns would be considered historical, as opposed to a no-brainer. The answer is that this is New Jersey, a place where so-called home rule is prized. Some voters have an emotional attachment to their town that is hard to dislodge.Recent proof of that comes from Sussex County. Voters in Wantage and Sussex Borough were asked in this month’s election if the towns should become one. Sussex voters said yes, but Wantage residents were overwhelmingly opposed.
From the APP:
Forum to give status on potential consolidation of six school districts
Possible scenarios of what might happen if the neighboring school districts of Green Brook, Long Hill, North Plainfield, Warren, Watchung and Watchung Hills Regional High School consolidated will be the focus of a public meeting here Thursday.
The forum will be hosted by the township and presided over by Trudy Doyle, who as executive county superintendent established an advisory committee to study the issue as part of a state directive for municipalities to look at cutting school costs.
Gwen Thornton, a field representative from the New Jersey School Boards Association, will provide an overview of the cost-cutting initiative and an update.
From the Star Ledger:
Sussex Borough and Wantage: A tough sell on N.J. town mergers
In a leafy corner of the state, far from the epicenter of a nasty gubernatorial election, voters from the Sussex County towns of Sussex Borough and Wantage quietly mulled a merger of the two municipalities. And on Tuesday, by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, they said, “No thanks.”
The consolidation seemed to make sense: The towns already share three regional schools, a construction department and a court system and, served by the State Police, wouldn’t have to quibble over police. Plus, the towns had assets (land and utilities) to share. In an unsettling economy, when cutting property taxes is the driving political issue, this one seemed like a rural no-brainer.
“If it wasn’t going to happen here, I wonder if it’s going to happen anywhere,” said Sal Lagattuta, one of the proponents.
According to the Consolidation Study Commission report, the towns — if they merged — could have saved $585,000 in the first year. Future savings could have been greater with even more cost-cutting. That’s a nice chunk of change, but it wasn’t enough to persuade residents to erase a border — especially those in Sussex Borough, population 2,000.
…
The average municipal tax bill in Wantage — home to 11,000 — would have shrunk only $57, business administrator James Doherty said. The average savings in Sussex Borough would have been approximately $400. Still not enough, it seems.
Off topic, but an interesting article from the AP:
Recession intensifies GenX discontent at work
They’re antsy and edgy, tired of waiting for promotion opportunities at work as their elders put off retirement. A good number of them are just waiting for the economy to pick up so they can hop to the next job, find something more fulfilling and get what they think they deserve. Oh, and they want work-life balance, too.
Sounds like Gen Y, the so-called “entitlement generation,” right?
Not necessarily, say people who track the generations. In these hard times, they’re also hearing strong rumblings of discontent from Generation X. They’re the 32- to 44-year-olds who are wedged between baby boomers and their children, often feeling like forgotten middle siblings — and increasingly restless at work as a result.
“All of a sudden, we’ve gone from being the young upstarts to being the curmudgeons,” says Bruce Tulgan, a generational consultant who’s written books about various age groups, including his fellow Gen Xers.
This isn’t the first time Gen Xers have faced tough times. They came of age during a recession and survived the dot-com bust of 2000. In recent years, though, more members of the generation — stereotyped early on as jaded individualists — had families or began settling down in other ways. It was time, they thought, to enjoy the rewards of paying some dues.
“We were starting to buy into the system, at least to some extent,” Tulgan says, “and then we got the rug pulled out from under us.”
From the Star Ledger:
N.J. households compete in challenges to keep thermostat off in winter
Laura Nichols’ house is cold.
So cold, her teenage children walk around bundled in blankets. So cold, Nichols often dresses in the morning under her bed covers. So cold, last winter the family could see their breath — inside the house.
But no matter how frigid it gets, the thermostat remains stubbornly in the off position. If anyone wonders why, Nichols points to the iceberg-shaped trophy sitting on her fireplace mantel.
Last year, the Maplewood family was one of the winners of a local “no heat” contest to see how long into the winter they could keep their furnace off. Nichols’ family lasted until Dec. 31. This year, they are determined to win the contest again.
“I said, why turn it on if we could get through another night?” said Nichols. “I was like, nah, we’re going to suffer.”
The family is one of hundreds of thrifty and stubborn households competing in no heat challenges and contests around the nation. The competitions — often organized through neighborhood internet message boards and national consumer blogs — ask homeowners how long they can hold out before switching on the furnace for the first time.
All of the competitions run on the honor system, and most offer little more than a small trophy or bragging rights as their top prizes. But many entrants take the competitions seriously, especially in a year when cutting costs has become something of a national obsession.
“People are definitely examining their regular habits,” said Katy Wolk-Stanley, the Oregon-based blogger behind The Non-Consumer Advocate, a popular, frugal-living website.
From the APP:
As storm ends, damage tally starts
The worst storm to besiege the Jersey Shore in more than a decade is over, but the damage left in the wake of Tropical Storm Ida’s remnants has not been calculated.
Wind and rain that slowly crept up the Jersey Shore since Wednesday morning fueled abnormally high tides and record-setting waves that wiped away swaths of beach, pushed dunes onto boardwalks and into backyards and turned streets into canals.
“We have a couple of properties where (bulkhead) pilings were exposed, but there was no real property damage,” said Leslie Houston, the Long Beach Township deputy police chief. “A complete assessment of the damage is being performed.”
In towns along the Monmouth County coastline, Saturday floodwaters stayed well below the previous day’s levels. But roads on Long Beach Island had “extensive flooding” during high tide, Houston said.
…
Streets in Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Long Branch and Belmar that were under water during the Navesink, Shrewsbury, and Shark rivers’ high tides Friday were mostly dry Saturday, police said. But roads on Long Beach Island had extensive flooding during Saturday high tides, Houston said.
Coming of age, so to speak, in the dotcom age was weird.
Those oversized paychecks fueled the fire of the entitlement generation. Worse even, legitimized it. For the rest of the proletariat, it turned reckless gambling into an acceptable strategy. The outcome being a bifurcated society with one half expecting to be handed success, and the other half one roll away from it.
Reckless gambling is the only significant economic activity going at this time.
6 Schump
Does Russian Roulette count as reckless gambling at this time?
#2
I thought I was cheap keeping the thermostat at 68 during the day and 60 at night. Not turning the furnace on till 12/31 is hardcore.
Retail sales up by 1.4%, where’s the recession?
My boiler isn’t on yet. But my place is very well insulated and energy efficient. For reference, last months PSEG bill was 90 bucks.
However, 68 sounds sweltering to me, so to each his own.
Frank,
Retail sales down 1.7% yoy. Last month revised down from -1.5 to -2.3%. Most of that 1.4% monthly gain has to do with the prie month being worse than forecast.
2 Grim
This is absolutely ridiculous, especially with children in the house. I wonder if DYFUS will get involved.
I’ll repost from last night.
We’re all suckers:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/business/economy/15gret.html?em
Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift
“…..tucked inside the law was another prize: a tax break that lets big companies offset losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 against profits booked as far back as 2004. The tax cuts will generate corporate refunds or relief worth about $33 billion, according to an administration estimate.
…….Among the biggest beneficiaries are home builders, analysts say. Once again, at the front of the government assistance line, stand some of the very companies that contributed mightily to the credit crisis by building and financing too many homes.
This is getting to be a habit: companies that participated on the upside and are now reaping rewards from the taxpayers on the downside. The banks that underwrote so many dubious loans, for example, received government aid to get them lending again. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the result.
……..Unfortunately, this seems to be another example of an age-old phenomenon: Good Things Come to Those With Lobbying Power.
Securing this tax break was a top priority for home builders, lobbying records show. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that through Oct. 26 of this year, home builders paid $6 million to their lobbyists. Last year, the industry spent $8.2 million lobbying.
Much of this year’s lobbying expenditures were focused on arguing for the tax loss carry-forward, documents show.
Among individual companies, Lennar spent $240,000 lobbying while companies affiliated with Hovnanian Enterprises spent $222,000. Pulte Homes spent $210,000 this year.
That’s some return on investment. After spending its $210,000, Pulte will receive $450 million in refunds. And Hovnanian, after spending its $222,000, will get as much as $275 million.”
Meanwhile, the bag that we taxpayers are left holding gets bigger and bigger.
12 Lost – “This is absolutely ridiculous, especially with children in the house. I wonder if DYFUS will get involved.”
More likely, she’d score major points with social services for raising her children in socially aware and diverse Maplewood.
U.S. Nov. Empire State index 23.5 vs 34.6 Oct
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-nov-empire-state-index-235-vs-346-oct-2009-11-16
[8] safe,
60 and 68? You’re a wuss ;-)
BTW, make sure I have your current email.
[2] Thermostat challenge
Ha! My father, the most hot-blooded man in all of America, kept the house cold enough during the winter that I could routinely see my breath at night. He wasn’t trying to win any honor system trophies either. The man can still stand outside and watch a football game in the middle of January wearing just a long sleeve shirt. He would wear a tee shirt and shorts in front of the TV and when I complained all I got was “so put on a sweater”.
The A/C was set to around 64 in the summer. It was not a money thing.
#12 lostinny
Two of our kids are severely asthmatic. Their pulmonogist told me years ago the only thing we should be able to see in their rooms at night was their breath. He recommended we set the thermostat in the low 50′s and bundle up. We did turn the thermostat way down – 62 degrees – and he was right, their asthma is a lot better. If we could stand it, we’d turn it lower. Our heat has not gone on yet this year.
Those families in the article will need to turn the heat on before their pipes freeze, so it can never really get too cold (in an abusive sort of way) in their homes.
[10] grim
A good portion of my house was never insulated, except in the attic and not well. I had the whole place done this summer. I don’t recall hearing the heat kick on nearly as often.
#11 And most of the gain was due to auto sales, excluding autos, only up 0.2
Essex says:
November 16, 2009 at 6:23 am
“Coming of age, so to speak, in the dotcom age was weird.”
As opposed to all the other times you came of age?
Roubini:
The Worst is yet to Come: Unemployed Americans Should Hunker Down for More Job Losses
There’s really just one hope for our leaders to turn things around: a bold prescription that increases the fiscal stimulus with another round of labor-intensive, shovel-ready infrastructure projects, helps fiscally strapped state and local governments and provides a temporary tax credit to the private sector to hire more workers. Helping the unemployed just by extending unemployment benefits is necessary not sufficient; it leads to persistent unemployment rather than job creation.
Based on my best judgment, it is most likely that the unemployment rate will peak close to 11% and will remain at a very high level for two years or more.
The weakness in labor markets and the sharp fall in labor income ensure a weak recovery of private consumption and an anemic recovery of the economy, and increases the risk of a double dip recession.
As a result of these terribly weak labor markets, we can expect weak recovery of consumption and economic growth; larger budget deficits; greater delinquencies in residential and commercial real estate and greater fall in home and commercial real estate prices; greater losses for banks and financial institutions on residential and commercial real estate mortgages, and in credit cards, auto loans and student loans and thus a greater rate of failures of banks; and greater protectionist pressures.
#10 grim,
Our previous rental used oil heat, propane for cooking and hot water, and was poorly insulated. Propane alone was over $100 a month.
On the bright side it ruined my wife’s desire to buy a place in Basking Ridge/Warren/Watchung since almost every place under 500k had oil heat, propane for cooking, septic, and/or electric hot water or heat. So we rented a place like that for a year to see what it was like. It was horrendous. Nice view though.
House has got to be Swiss cheese to get that cold. Passive solar heating gets my attic into the 50s on a cold and sunny winter day. I’ve got a black roof and the ability to close all the attic vents though. In winter? My roof has an uninstructed southern view.
Seneca – I’d swear we had the same father except my Dad wouldn’t be seen dead at a football game.
Grew up in a house where 60 was considered “stifling”. When I left after my last visit it took 3 days of intense heat just to get the chill out of my bones. My mother just bundles up and bites her tongue.
14 ruggles
I would hope not.
18 Ellen
You had medical reasons and a doctor that advised a low thermostat. The doctor didn’t say turn the heat off. (Personally, as an asthmatic, I can’t breathe when its that cold and I’m active but that’s another story.) These people are doing this for a small award. Two very different things.
Arrgh, all that gun discussion over the weekend, and I couldn’t get in on it.
FWIW, I am truly surprised, and a bit alarmed, that the shelves of firearms dealers are still being cleared out a year after the election. This is not a natural reaction and suggests some very deep-seated fear.
It also suggests the likelihood of a feedback loop mentality that will result in a self-fulfilling prophecy (and a lot of mixed metaphors). Here is what I see at work—Gun owners are already a minority, so it is a very small % of the populace is buying up a lot of ammo because they fear gov. restrictions. This concerns law enforcement and lawmakers (who think folks who stockpile must be nuts), and they pass laws making it illegal to buy or keep lots of ammo. Folks who bought all the ammo feel vindicated, pro-gun sites scream about the gov. restrictions as proof the dems want to grab the guns, and hype over new restrictions fuels sales anew.
And the poster of Obama as Firearms Salesman of the Year gets lots of new postings on the internet.
#16 nom,
Just sent you an email.
Off the Chart
By ROSS DOUTHAT
Published: November 15, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/opinion/16douthat.html
“Ten months ago, at the beginning of the great stimulus debate, President-elect Barack Obama’s economic advisers produced an unfortunate chart. ….”
Not all of us have fur polska-head!
10.grim says:
November 16, 2009 at 8:37 am
My boiler isn’t on yet. But my place is very well insulated and energy efficient. For reference, last months PSEG bill was 90 bucks.
However, 68 sounds sweltering to me, so to each his own.
[31] chifi
Nah, its all that chest hair, keeping his thoracic cavity a toasty 98.8.
(it’s been fun. back to work)
Just End The Season!!! JETS. Somewhat related to Real Estate. GOOD LUCK selling those last 20K PSL seats in the Medowlands. Hope NJ is set for a 2011 double bail-out of Jets and Giants. Maye you can have synergies and have a DMV/Passport office on game days there. HA. Seriously Sales tax revenue just died last three games, empty seats don’t pay tax on beers and pretzels. Hey NJ you want hte Mets and Islanders too, take them all.
Enough venting bull market one. BTW NJ/NY Ambac bond insured munis at 5% today, get them before 5pm when Insurance Comminisor bails them out.
ChiFi just spit up his coffee on another no fundementals “don’t mess with the zohan” trading tip.
28 Nom
I agree with a lot of what you say here. Personally, I’ve thought a lot about a gun. I think if I were to really go through with it, I’d go for a rifle/shotgun over a handgun. I’d rather the sound of the shotgun being cocked scare someone off instead of actually having to use any gun to shoot someone.
Grim 34 is in moderation- nothing there is bad. Except for the c word.
Also consider an air purifier…..a good one, not the ozone spewing crap that could be bought at Sharper Image…
http://www.airpura.com/
18.Ellen says:
November 16, 2009 at 8:54 am
#12 lostinny
Two of our kids are severely asthmatic. Their pulmonogist told me years ago the only thing we should be able to see in their rooms at night was their breath. He recommended we set the thermostat in the low 50’s and bundle up. We did turn the thermostat way down – 62 degrees – and he was right, their asthma is a lot better. If we could stand it, we’d turn it lower. Our heat has not gone on yet this year.
Those families in the article will need to turn the heat on before their pipes freeze, so it can never really get too cold (in an abusive sort of way) in their homes.
Safe 23 a $100 for propane Ha! I heat with it no cooking or dryer involved $583 a month on the budget plan did I say budget plan. I rent, you could not give me this house by the way with taxes over 15k & I am in Vernon just southwest of no ware. Rent is really low as I knew numbers before moving in & made deal accordingly ,still insane. By the way we are freezing at that level of payment 62 is the setting.
I am a Mets fan. You should say “You don’t mess with the Johan.”
33.John says:
November 16, 2009 at 9:14 am
ChiFi just spit up his coffee on another no fundementals “don’t mess with the zohan” trading
Lowes 3rd quarter profits falls 30%
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/housing-market-slump-dents-lowes-profit-2009-11-16
#36 mike,
That’s awful. the thermostat in the place was broken when we moved in. The landlord used to turn the heat on and off by throwing the emergency kill switch at the top of the basement stairs. We demanded they fix it. We still spent over $4,500 on oil and propane, and that with the heat in the 60′s and taking quick showers.
My parents spent $1,800 on gas during the same time period for a larger place, and they had gas heat, hot water, and clothes dryer.
Safe nat’l gas is the way to go. I do about 7 K for heat, good Anderson windows, extra insulation in attic doubled & tripled in some places & basement ceiling fully insulated 5 zone. To much glass & soaring ceilings even my bath. Large home over 3700 sq ft built in 97 when propane was dirt cheap. My friend better find a really stupid buyer when I leave or give it away.
When I lived in Astoria only one thermosat in three family house in landlords unit right next to his oven, damm wife started cooking greek food from what seemed like 6am to midnight. We froze to death upstairs, landlord threw in free gas so we put a couple pots on stove and boil water to keep warm, one night got home drunk as a skunk and apt was like 20 degrees, turned over on 500 degrees open door turned all four burners on an fell a asleep on coach in my suit, woke up 45 minutes later throat as dry as someone on a death march and felt like an overcooked purdue chicken.
Even worse in summer lady cooked all day and non- air conditioned apt was around 120 degrees most of july.
The joy of renting a cheap apt.
Why don’t you just buy a cheap thermosat and put it in yourself and deduct from rent check? Seems easier than your approach.
safeashouses says:
November 16, 2009 at 9:36 am
#36 mike,
That’s awful. the thermostat in the place was broken when we moved in. The landlord used to turn the heat on and off by throwing the emergency kill switch at the top of the basement stairs. We demanded they fix it. We still spent over $4,500 on oil and propane, and that with the heat in the 60’s and taking quick showers.
My parents spent $1,800 on gas during the same time period for a larger place, and they had gas heat, hot water, and clothes dryer.
John 43 “We still spent” they did put in new stat. At least that’s the way it reads.
Lost How are you doing? Been lurking, apologize for not contacting you via email when it came up been very crazy with jobs.
36.chicagofinance says:
November 16, 2009 at 9:18 am
Also consider an air purifier…..a good one, not the ozone spewing crap that could be bought at Sharper Image…
http://www.airpura.com/
If you are considering a Photocatalytic Type with UVC, look at Air Oasis as it is the Gold Standard for those types.
45 Mike
Things are crazy here. Drop a note whenever.
#43 John,
It was that much after they fixed the thermostat and furnace. The house had lousy insulation too. Somehow i managed to pick the worst insulated room for my mother-in-law’s when she was staying with us. I walked in that room and could see my breath and feel the wind coming in through the windows and walls. Ah, only a mother-in-law, easily replaced.
Currently reading Nurtureshock. Fascinating take on praise.
Slv popping
“Slv popping”
Saddle up Tonto.
Did any of you see “Food Inc.” ? Wow! That was an eye-opener. Not sure what to buy from the store anymore.
This is what your kids end up like if you give them too much praise.
http://www.latfh.com/
Shore,
Would the NJ GOP be this brave and embrace him.
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/11/there_may_be_some_competition.html
when will Obama apologize to our kids ??…http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/child_migrants_apology
Renter @ 9:12 am,
When hope met reality!
“Ten months ago, at the beginning of the great stimulus debate, President-elect Barack Obama’s economic advisers produced an unfortunate chart.”
http://m.factcheck.org/Images/image/2009/Articles/6_16_2009_Making_Sense_Stimulus_Spending/Romer-Bernstein_Chart.jpg
Home Price Data at Odds With Sales Stats
And it might get worse for sellers yet.
The newly extended and expanded home buyer tax credit raises the income limits for eligible buyers and includes existing homeowners. This could spur a rise in inventory as qualifying homeowners who were planning to sell their home in the next one or two years decide to sell now to take advantage of the credit. Any increase in supply means sellers have to price their homes that much more competitively.
Chi-FI – Uncle Sam gave me and Bill Gross a gift today, one of my GMACs matured at par. I want to play poker with the fed. A few hands and I can retire.
GENERAL MOTORS ACCEPT CORP
SMARTNOTES BOOK/ENTRY
DTD 11/09/2004
R/MD 5.20 11/15/2009
[52] victorian
That’s one reason my sister tripled the size of her CSA garden at her Nompound.
It’s also why I have outrageous bills from Whole Paycheck.
[34] lost,
Form follows function. Let your need dictate the decision.
http://www.thebeerbelly.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1&Redirected=Y
Here is a company that sells Beer Bellies. I have seen it all. The end is neigh!!
who are still here?
7 lostinny
7 grim
6 Comrade Nom Deplume
5 safeashouses
5 John
4 lisoosh
3 Mikeinwaiting
3 chicagofinance
3 3b
2 SG
Lost 34
What you just stated is a very dangerous mind set. Anytime you point a loaded weapon in someones direction you had best be intending to use deadly force. There is no (less then deadly) option with a firearm. you DO NOT “shoot to wound/shoot to scare”
The is a whole rats nest of legal issues tied into intent if you are in a situation where you may be forced to use/threaten to use deadly force. i will leave that to the lawyers, i cannot make a qualified statement on those matters.
One of my big pet peeves not directed specifically at you) is people who want a weapon (just in case) but dont get the appropriate training. All you have done in that case is increase the risk to yourself and your loved ones. if someone doesnt want to take the time/money/effort to receive proper training stick with a baseball bat/tire-iron/dog/etc.
The classic example of this is the person who goes into a situation “planning” on scarring the bad guy away because you dont really want to shoot anyone. you have already made the subconscious decision that you will not shoot and have just become more dangerous to yourself and those around you..
if you are going to point a weapon at someone you had best first accept the fact that you are now threatening to take someones life if they do not back down.
And if you are really serious about wanting a gun for self defense, then i strongly suggest you go hunting first. Its much easier to kill an animal then it is a person. If you cant kill a deer, how are you going to manage pointing a gun at another human?
Once again this isnt a rant at you Lost, but at the general “you”
Nome Lost
overall simplest home weapon that would be a 12ga shotgun with 00 buckshot. For the ladies a 20ga would still be effective
and for the gun rookies, yes you still need to aim a shotgun unless the target is less then about 6 ft away.
Just hire a kid and make him watch the Home Alone movies.
CLot,
Re the new Ruger AR,
Looks pretty but i would rather have a nice M1a (M14).
soosh (49)-
Son’s in-game “praise” from new soccer coach:
“Either you sort this out now, or you can come over here, sit next to me, and sort it out.”
This comes with an MF-er when it’s in practice.
Harsh!
Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to bugger the dollar we go.
SLV getting fun now.
Knob Creek is back!!!!!!
Or so says the headline at Yahoo! Finance videos
Bi I am very upset, according to the US Govt those of use in Financial Services should be listed first.
bi says:
November 16, 2009 at 1:02 pm
who are still here?
7 lostinny
7 grim
6 Comrade Nom Deplume
5 safeashouses
5 John
4 lisoosh
3 Mikeinwaiting
3 chicagofinance
3 3b
2 SG
BOHICA. Love the last sentence in this article; of course, what seems the most unlikely scenario to “economists” is the current reality.
I think we can all pretty much agree that we’re collectively schtupped now.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday said the central bank will keep a close eye on the sliding U.S. dollar even as he pledged anew to keep interest rates at record-lows to nurture the economic recovery.
He made clear Fed policymakers will keep rates at super-low levels. Yet through his words, Bernanke is also trying to bolster confidence in the dollar without actually raising rates, a move that could short-circuit the fragile recovery.
Economists say a free-fall in the value of the dollar is remote but can’t be entirely dismissed.
Kettle, were you in whole foods this weekend?
“Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday said the central bank will keep a close eye on the sliding U.S. dollar”
Schump,
Based on today’s action, he should talk about the dollar every day.
Grim
yes
BC (73)-
I will gladly pay him in pieces of eight to make such well-timed remarks.
Fiat world loser that he is.
Thought that was you.
Grim
don’t be shy, say hello next time!
I know it’s been asked before but…..
Is there a way for us plebes to find out the mortgage owed on house? This would be in Middlesex. Not for purchasing, just want to know how much an acquaintance has pulled out of her house over the years.
Grim
its been interesting watching them pare back everything from the meat counter to the little candy display they had, as sales drop
Wasn’t sure, the sunglasses threw me off.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Monday said the central bank will keep a close eye on the sliding U.S. dollar even as he pledged anew to keep interest rates at record-lows to nurture the economic recovery.
AP – Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, speaks at a meeting of The Economic Club of New …
In remarks to the Economic Club of New York, Bernanke engaged in a delicate dance.
He made clear Fed policymakers will keep rates at super-low levels. Yet through his words, Bernanke is also trying to bolster confidence in the dollar without actually raising rates, a move that could short-circuit the fragile recovery.
Economists say a free-fall in the value of the dollar is remote but can’t be entirely dismissed.
Bernanke apparently will watch the dollar freefall very closely.
I stopped talking to anyone at whole foods when a woman who was in front of me online gave me a dirty look for putting my chopped meat too close to her tofu. She actually slid it up the conveyer to get it away, ad if proximity would somehow make her soy unclean.
Idiot.
U.S. Food-Stamp Recipients Reach Record 35.1 Million
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=atCF1wakoZGk
Millions may have to pay back part of “O’s” tax credit.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Millions-will-have-to-repay-apf-3724344310.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=
How’s spooky and friends?
#Victorian,
Haven’t seen it yet. I just finished reading “In Defense of Foods” by Michael Pollan. Pretty nasty what industrialization of our food supply has done to us over the last 40 years.
I was at the Whole Foods in West Orange last week. This obnoxious woman was yelling at the produce clerk because she wanted fresh (not jarred), peeled, sliced garlic cloves and the store didn’t have any. Frigging moron.
Safe (87) -
Most parts are on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5e6kSAGnkk&feature=PlayList&p=C363ECF87CEA04F9&index=31
Warning – This might make you swear off of supermarket meat. I am trying to find a local CSA. Anybody have any ideas on one in Middlesex county?
[88] vic,
Don’t know of any here, but one option is to visit kosher or halal butchers. In college, I let my roommates get our meat from the kosher butcher, and I lived near a halal shop in Philly and eventually started going there. Don’t have to be muslim or jewish—-they’ll take your green, same as anyone.
It’s no guarantee of organic, but they don’t take their cattle from the feedlot system. Also, in my experience, it was generally cheaper (go figure).
I think CSA meat is a hard proposition in any event; you may find some CSA in PA that will truck in poultry (and in the Boston area, there are CSA fishmongers), but I think that beef or pork would be difficult.
[87] safe
Obnoxious people in WF??
I’m shocked, shocked.
“Someone should translate Bernanke’s speech extolling the virtues of Goldman Sachs never having to worry about being broken up or giving up its prop trading operations, and that the American economy is sizzling, to the just announced record 35.1 million food-stamp recipients. That’s right: a record number of Americans are now subsisting courtesy of foodstamps. One wonders at what point these people say enough and decide to start their own prop trading shops, as that is the only guaranteed way to make money these days. If these millions are allowed to simply replicate Goldman’s trading feed, we are confident that the entire economy would recover practically overnight.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/record-351-million-foodstamp-recipients-believe-every-word-bernankes-propaganda
[82] grim,
I like to tick off those people by asking them “If God didn’t want us to eat animals, why did he make them taste so good”?
Or
PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals.
plume (92)-
I just take my steaks out of the shrinkwrap, open my shirt, and rub the red, red meat all over my chest.
I dare one of these 97 lb, Olive Oyl, Vermont-loving, tree-hugging, New Age, no-ass Soci@list byotches to stop me. :)
[67] schump,
That is closer to my coaching style. When D1 scored her second goal yesterday, she expected praise.
I said it was nice, but told her that while she was waiting upfield to get a garbage goal, she wasn’t getting back on defense and helping her team.
When she is older, I can get into the coaching, but right now, I would be just another one of those obnoxious coaches who actually set plays for first graders.
[93] clot
“I just take my steaks out of the shrinkwrap, open my shirt, and rub the red, red meat all over my chest.”
You are weirding me out more than usual lately, you know that, right?
Looks like hi ho might be on it’s way to the low 20′s
plume (95)-
Just doing my job.
I have a scarecrow in my garden that looks better than vegetarian people when they start aging.
Nothing beats that pasty complexion and hair that snaps off in a stiff breeze.
You don’t have all those damn back teeth for eating grass.
#88 Victorian
I buy 90% of my meat here
http://www.morrisbestbuys.com/content/5049/sussex-meat-packing/
I buy in bulk about twice a year. It is not organic, but the quality is excellent. I have links for an organic place in Vermont, but they do a 1/2 cow minimum and you have to drive up and pick up. It is all wrapped in butcher paper so there is no vacuum packaging and gas to deal with.
I get a fruit and vegetable CSA in the summer and fall and will if I get a chance I can up a lot of fruit and pickles and jams for the winter months.
I’m also building an wood fired earth oven in the back garden for baking bread and Pizza.
I just tell the WF veggies. I only care about vegan cows, not vegan people.
For anyone interested
http://store.vermontgrassfedbeef.com/packages.html
A good info source for meats
http://Www.eatwild.com
Mexico is a source of money for struggling CA.
Money Trickles North as Mexicans Help Relatives
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/world/americas/16mexico.html
Nom (89) and PGC (100) -
Thanks. Will check out the local Halal shops.
“Organic” is definitely not always healthy if they feed them a grain based diet but it is cheaper for them to do so. However, having said that I would prefer them over Tyson’s anyday.
Today’s thread reminds me of the meatrix.
http://www.themeatrix.com/
#88 Victorian
Punch in your zipcode at this website
http://www.localharvest.org/
It’ll pull up CSAs, farmer markets, and even local ranchers that produce pasture fed beef.
I used to work with a guy that would slaughter his own meat at a halal slaughterhouse. He would slaughter chickens, ducks, goats. Steers he would split with 3 other families. He lived in northern monmouth county and said the place was 20 to 30 minutes away. He said he would pick out the ones he wanted then take care of business.
Grim,
I go to my Whole Foods on weeknights, shortly before they close to do my shopping. All the store clerks know me and say to me “you always come at night” I say yes, no one around. It’s empty and I don’t have to deal with the weekend masses and their behavior. I know exactly what you’re talking about.
Bernanke: ‘Headwinds’ to Restrain Pace of Growth = Dow +148
This author has links to lots food sites
http://www.michaelpollan.com/link.htm
Anyone know where I can get a nice kosher pork loin?
ebay
[100] DSA
Buying meat in bulk? Canning vegetables? Building a bread oven?
If it weren’t for your politics, you’d be a candidate for the Nompound!!!
Walking through Hoboken Shoprite Saturday, canning supplies in the seasonal aisle.
Interesting article on the mood in local unemployment offices. Yikes!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091116/ap_on_bi_ge/us_threatened_caseworkers
63 Kettle
Since its not directed at me, I’m not going to respond to it then.
“68 sounds sweltering to me”
I thought that was about where water freezes.
PGC,
Who knows. I suppose there are some longtime R officeholders who see it as “their time” and who would fight a Dobbs nomination tooth and nail; however, the leadership might see it as a cost-effective choice — one who has instant name recognition.
Lost
I really am not attacking you, but please feel free to debate the topic. I just used your post as an exscuse to rant
#112 ball boy,
The social and political dynamic within those gates would not exactly make it an appealing place.
Where in the list will your compound fall?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_forms_of_government
Do you need a slogan?
“If you can’t do communal, you can’t do commume.”
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
November 16, 2009 at 2:09 pm
[87] safe
Obnoxious people in WF??
I’m shocked, shocked.
nom: I was just in the Red Bank Starbucks. One of the bitchy little RBC girls was in front of me on line. She orders something that was about $3. She reaches into her backpack / Coach-pack and pulls out a crumpled wag of bills, and hands it to the cashier. She makes the cashier pull apart the money, and take $3 and hand the rest back to the little bitch.
I swear on my life I am not a violent person, but I almost sucker punched a 16 year old girl……………FCUK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
awesome Jefferson quotes re: farming.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/09/wegemans_starti.php
118 Kettle
I’m not going to debate because I agree with you about most of your points.
However, I never said I wouldn’t shoot. I said I didn’t want to, there is a difference. I don’t go around thinking I’ll shoot anyone that messes with me. But if I felt it was a matter of life and death, I would absolutely shoot.
Also, I agree a gun should never be pulled without the intent to use it.
I think we are both aware that I would never use a gun without proper training. I was actually trying to help get you a training class.
I guess the biggest strike against me, especially considering the other conversation on the blog today, is that I am a strict vegetarian. I think hunting is vile. There’s no way in hell I’d hunt an animal unless it is a last resort of survival. I completely understand what you say about the difficulty of shooting and taking a life. I agree. But I can only say that I’ve had some experiences that make me certain if I had to defend myself in that way, I would.
Lost
I agree with you! Incase I wasn’t cleae there is certainly a difference between wanting to kill and ans ackowledging the consequences of your actions
well, except for I love meat. Mmmmmmmmmm
Vegetarian, isn’t that an old Indian word for bad hunter?
lost (122)-
Nothing better to me than spending a day out hunting, then having a nice mallard, quail, grouse or goose to roast.
Mallard fat is golden, clear & looks like Chateau d’Yquem. Anything you cook in it tastes 1mm times better…esp. potatoes.
[119] PBS
Who you callin’ “boy”?
As for government, the Nompound isn’t a political entity. There isn’t a governance issue except in the sense of a corporation. However, since you asked, I would prefer to be a Grand Duchy, like Grand Fenwick. But, since by law I can’t hold the title of Duke (though my daughter did make me a crown and decreed I was the King of our street), a Grand Duchy is out. So I will have to go for geniocracy instead!
124 Sean
no, it actually means good gatherer.
1/5 schump
I’m so sorry I can’t share that appreciation with you.
Using an iPhone for this sux.
Kosher Shrimp
http://bit.ly/4kbyPP
Just got a call from Stu. He heard from our mortgage refi company. Our new appraisal values us at $20k below our 2004 purchase price. Bad news for our equity situation. Good news for our 2010 tax appeal.
Those wacky chinese with their “Oba-Mao” T-Shirts.
China went and banned them..
In China, according to the Christian Science Monitor, the shirts are popular with hipsters who get the joke of comparing Obama to Mao, and apparently like to mock Fox News:
In China, the image comes across as witty and cool…. [They are] popular with young people who admire Obama and who get the Andy Warhol-esque joke about icons.
“Mao is kitschy and cool,” says Mr. Jenne. “He gets a pass” in a way that other 20th century dictators don’t.
http://features.csmonitor.com/globalnews/2009/11/13/china-bans-obamao-shirt-fearing-offense-to-obama/
[132] sean
Oh, that’s funny. At first, I thought the Chinese, they don’t understand how that will be received here. But it occurs to me that they understand quite well.
Someone here should print knockoffs and sell them. Not like the Chinese aren’t stealing our IP.
Gator,
given that news and what you know about montclair in general, any insight on this listing? taxes are over 15k
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/25-Madison-Avenue_Montclair-Twp_NJ_07042_1113370321
“I almost sucker punched a 16 year old girl…”
Chi – Cmon now. Put the coffee down slowly and lets talk about this.
“I almost sucker punched a 16 year old girl…”
did she make fun of Depeche Mode?
lost (128)-
It’s pretty tame stuff, as long as you make sure you’ve picked all the birdshot out of the carcass.
I just take my steaks out of the shrinkwrap, open my shirt, and rub the red, red meat all over my chest.
Hamburger is notably absent from the National Anthem.
137 Schump
Thanks I’m good.
Chi-fi[120];
I think that both you and the highly enlightened lass were both in line together to spend $4.89 for the venti Mocha-latte-crappuchino-frappe is more the cause for self-reflection than her particular behavior.
Let the food come to you….
http://www.peapod.com/consumerIndex.jhtml
starbucks is bad news, the coffee isn’t really that good, at least it’s cheap here compared to europe. I almost passed out at the pricing at Starbucks in madrid, it was like 4 euro for a medium cappuccino.
Barbara 134 – I’m on the train now. Will look tonight after I get home.
Barbara [134];
I prefer listings that are ‘seasoned’ (more like tenderized) by a few months of reality blows from the market. This shows as a relatively new listing, but Zillow has it listing for $689k (7 days old). Knocking off $80k is a good bit of reality for the seller to swallow. It may signal brains or “motivation” to sell. 21 Madison next door, much larger, has been sitting for 200+ days at $675k – so it should have been apparent that $689 wasn’t going anywhere. 57 Franklin is smaller by about the same unmber as 21 is larger, but sold for $529k in August.
I think the magic number should be $417k/0.8 = $521,250; for apparent reasons. You may live to hear the current owner cry about how some ba$tard ‘stole’ it from him for $573k.
Anon,
yeah I caught that price change on Zillow as well. I will definately look at it for awhile (seasoning) before looking into it because that 15K prop tax is already pretty big turn off. Thanks for the info about the house next door, I’ll try that info gathering technique on zillow, its a good one.
Speaking of seasoning, looks like the house I was going to buy is going back into the oven. We knew it needed a lot of cosmetic help, but a good inspector caught what looked like another $80k+ of stuff we hadn’t anticipated. Sellers offered an eighth of that and then seemed suprised when we said no thanks. Looks like we’re doomed to be investments and cash rich for a while longer.
Truly embarrassing…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6fL7Y4BZA
Mark Sircus Ac., OMD
Director International Medical Veritas Association
http://publications.imva.info
Special Note: The Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe are currently the weakest pegs in the world financial system, besides California and a host of other states. While they are celebrating on Wall Street certain areas of the world are facing collapse. Crisis spreads to Eastern Europe as Ukraine, Hungary and Serbia call IMF Ukraine, Hungary, and Serbia are all in emergency talks with the International Monetary Fund, raising fears that an exodus of foreign investors will set off a systemic crisis across Eastern Europe. A team of IMF trouble-shooters rushed to Kiev on Wednesday to draw up a possible standby loan to help Ukraine stabilize its bank after a panic run on deposits this month. Meanwhile banks in Sweden and The Baltic states are in the eye of the storm after leaked reports that Sweden is bracing for a full-blown economic and political “breakdown” in Latvia. The Svenska Dagbladet newspaper said Sweden’s finance minister Anders Borg had told banks secretly that Latvia’s political order was unraveling, advising them to prepare for the collapse of Latvia’s rescue talks.
Eastern Europe offers us a looking glass into the future that is happening in certain places today. Consider that accurate news is a precious commodity rarer then exceptional stones. We hardly hear in the mainstream about the crisis facing many States in America, how much less about Eastern Europe. The model presented by many thinkers is one where we see the Internationalist One World Government super elite taking advantage of and instigating crisis in both economic and health areas simultaneously. Kind of like doing a cannon ball on top of a man coming up for air; what we are seeing today in the Ukraine and the rest of Eastern Europe might be a harbinger of what is planned for the rest of us.
grim (138)-
It is?
westy (146)-
Hi-ho. The miners still lag the physical.
147 – Shameful
http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2009/11/dwight-d-eisenhower-bowing-hour.html
We’ve evolved beyond war. Now gubmints can collude with pharma and wipe out giant swaths of population with bioweapons disguised as vaccines.
Brilliant.
Worried about the prez bowing to some old geezer?
How about Junior getting shot up with some bubonic plague?
Grim,
Check this bust out!
9 Whitney Dr Oak Ridge NJ 07438
Sold 8/06 $595,000
Sold 11/09 $415,000
$180,000 loss in three years!!!
grim, you said:
gave me a dirty look for putting my chopped meat too close to her tofu
John?
scribe, 155
you mean:
Putting his red oozing chopped beef too close to her silky tofu.
*vomits*
sl
#126 Got Balls
So its a meritocracy to get in and you have to be a genius have a say on how it will be run.
Me thinks that “Piggy might be losing his glasses” when TSHTF.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows Chinese banks’ foreign-currency loans to businesses and individuals rose for an eighth month in October, climbing 40 percent from a year earlier to a record $360 billion, central bank data show. Deposits of foreign currency increased 15 percent to $204 billion over the 12 months and have declined since reaching an all-time high of $208 billion in June as investors stepped up bets the yuan will gain.
“No one wants to hold dollars in their hands if they can exchange them for yuan and benefit from the potential appreciation,” said Shi Lei, a Beijing-based analyst at Bank of China, the nation’s biggest foreign-exchange dealer. “Companies prefer to borrow dollars now to meet overseas payments with a view to repaying the loans once the yuan has risen
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aRejPDcPi43o&pos=15
“Slv popping”
As I smack myself in the face for selling out of the rest of my SLW and GDX.
Short Sale flipping fraud “Flopping”
HOW IT WORKS
Short sale flipping operations often appear under the banner of a foreclosure-rescue “consultant.”
These consultants, often Realtors or real estate investors, approach homeowners who owe more on mortgages than they can hope to repay and offer to negotiate with the bank for a short sale.
The investors know they can boost profits if they can convince lenders to unwittingly drop prices below the actual market value. That involves convincing bank representatives that low-ball offers are the best they can hope to get.
“These people are doing exactly what they did during the run-up,” said Tim Mattingly, who owns an Orlando mortgage brokerage and title agency. “They are getting inflated appraisals. They are selling to straw buyers and they are hiding terms of their deals from lenders. It’s amazing that after all we’ve been through, these people are still at it.”
Overwhelmed with distressed properties and desperate to cut costs, banks are prone to mistakes.
Instead of hiring appraisers to value distressed real estate, banks often use computer programs to estimate values or turn to Realtors who provide what are known as “broker price opinions,” or BPOs, at a relatively inexpensive $60 each.
The Realtors hired to estimate a property’s value sometimes end up as the listing agent on the house, said Chrissi Rhea, a Tennessee mortgage banker and outspoken critic of short sale flips.
Rhea, president of Mortgage Investors Group, said she has discovered about 15 short sales where banks accepted one sale price and the house was immediately flipped for at least $20,000 more.
In almost every case, the Realtor who performed the BPO for the bank became the listing agent, she said.
Such agents are in a unique position to artificially deflate what the bank gets paid, Rhea said.
On behalf of a friend, business partner or straw buyer, the agent starts by reporting a low value to the bank, allowing the related party to buy the property for less than the fair-market value. While the bank considers the offer, the agent can put the property “on ice, ” ignoring higher bids or turning away potential buyers.
“The more the bank loses, the more the ‘short sale consultant’ can make,” Rhea said.
Details of specific cases are hard to come by because lenders typically will not publicly discuss their clients’ loans even when they suspect fraud.
But enough mortgage lenders are reporting cases within the industry that Fannie Mae sent out a warning in July citing a trend of short sale buyers secretly lowballing banks.
“We have been advised of instances where the perpetrator is the listing agent, and the agent presents his/her offer as the ‘best’ offer, even though the agent has received other, higher, arms-length offers,” the advisory states.
In one deal uncovered by Rhea’s mortgage company this year, a distressed homeowner was about to walk away from a Maryville, Tenn., house for $231,000 less than he owed.
The short sale consultant representing the owner planned to buy the house at the discounted amount then resell it to an outside buyer 30 minutes later for a $100,000 profit, Rhea said.
Rhea’s company discovered the flip deal when that outside buyer applied for a mortgage on the house. Rhea refused to approve the mortgage. She contacted GMAC and CitiBank, the original lenders, and warned them that they were about to lose more than $100,000 if they allowed the deal to go through. Then she contacted the FBI and asked agents to investigate.
Rhea said she told the buyer she would approve the mortgage only if he arranged a sale directly from the distressed property owner. Instead, he asked to have his mortgage application forwarded to another lender.
Rhea said she asked the second buyer why he wanted to work through the short sale consultant. The second buyer “admitted he was getting a kickback of part of the $100,000 short sale profit.”
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091115/ARTICLE/911151083/-1/NEWSSITEMAP
Meat.
We keep passing dead deer. On Sunday morning, we were driving past some soccer matches – lot’s of MA and NY plates – on the polo fields here, and saw a doe, new dead. I told my husband to stop so I could cut a steak. I knew it was fresh, because it wasn’t there on Saturday, and there were no birds circling anywhere South on Saturday.
Haven’t had a good venison steak in a long time.
So he tells me no way, hit the gas, no proof it’s a new kill.
He’s getting there.
Joseph Moshe (Moshe is the man’s middle name) is a bio-scientist. He works (worked?) for a unit within Mossad. He is an Israeli citizen.
The Secret Service was not the agency involved in the surveillance of Moshe at his home in California. This was done by the FBI, who had orders to detain him, or “bring him in.”
Moshe did not send a threat to the White House. Rather, he communicated that he intended to go public with information he had regarding the flu vaccine that is being prepared by Baxter Labs, an Austrian company.
The information is this: The vaccine is being manufactured in Ukraine. It is not a vaccine at all, but rather an engineered genetically mutated bio-weapon meant to cause sickness and death. Moshe informed the White House he intended to go public with this information. When he became aware that the FBI was about to detain him, he packed some belongings in his car and set out for the Israeli consulate, located in close proximity to the federal building where the standoff took place. FBI pursuit kept him from reaching his destination.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giavJC7Q-TM
grim says:
November 16, 2009 at 6:30 am
Those oversized paychecks fueled the fire of the entitlement generation. Worse even, legitimized it. For the rest of the proletariat, it turned reckless gambling into an acceptable strategy. The outcome being a bifurcated society with one half expecting to be handed success, and the other half one roll away from it.
well said. scary as hell, but well put.
“I think the magic number should be $417k/0.8 = $521,250; for apparent reasons. ”
please enlighten us. the limit for essex county fha loan is $729,750
Ruggles, Eisenhower gave more of a polite nod. But really, going back to the 1940s?
The clip above and below shows 46 non-bows / non-nods from every other recent world leader, and one deep groveling bow from Obama.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6fL7Y4BZA
[157] DSA
Piggy wasn’t able to return fire.