Weekend Open Discussion

This is the time and place to post observations about your local areas, comments on news stories or the New Jersey housing market, open house reports, etc. If you have any questions you wanted to ask earlier in the week but never posted them up, let’s have them. Also a good place to post suggestions, requests for information, criticism, and praise.

For readers that have never commented, there is a link at the top of each message that is typically labeled “[#] Comments“. Go ahead and give that a click, you might be missing out on a world of information you didn’t know about. While you are there, introduce yourselves to everyone.

For new readers that have only read the messages displayed on the main page, take a look through the archives, a substantial amount of information has been put online in the past year. The archives can be accessed by using the links found in the menus on the right hand side of the page.

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232 Responses to Weekend Open Discussion

  1. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  2. grim says:

    From the Daily Record:

    NJ’s maligned Xanadu project will change name

    Xana-who?

    Xanadu, the mega-mall project in the Meadowlands that Gov. Chris Christie has called the ugliest building in New Jersey, will be getting a new name.

    Jon Hanson, who headed a committee appointed by Christie to study the future of casinos, racetracks and Xanadu, told a gambling forum Thursday that the project will shed its Kubla Khan-inspired name.

    Hanson said he met with the latest developers, Triple-Five, and told them the project does not mean anything to the average New Jerseyan.

    “Nobody in New Jersey knows what a Xanadu is, so you have to change the name,” Hanson said he told the developers. “I can report to you there will be a name change.”

    A new name has yet to be picked out.

    Last week, Christie called it the ugliest building in New Jersey, and possibly America. He said any deal to finish developing a troubled multibillion-dollar retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands will have to include a new exterior.

  3. grim says:

    From CNN/Money:

    Manhattan homes cost 5 times more than average

    Isn’t it fun to be a New Yorker? There’s the rotten weather much of the year, dirty subway stations, packed restaurants and grid-locked streets. And really high home prices.

    According to four residential real estate market reports released Friday, this year the typical Manhattan home buyer shelled out about five times as much as the average American paid for a place to live.

    “The New York market is strong compared with the rest of the country, but that’s not saying much,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel, the premiere local appraisal firm.

    The Manhattan housing market is considerably off its peak. Back in late 2008, buyers paid an average of about $1,400 a square foot for a condo or co-op. The average price this year was a little over $1,000.

    That may be a cool million dollars for a 1,000-square-foot apartment, but it still means home prices have fallen nearly 30%.

  4. grim says:

    From Reuters:

    Employment seen solid in March, jobless rate steady

    Employment likely posted a second straight month of solid gains in March, marking a decisive shift in the labor market that should help to underpin the economic recovery.

    Nonfarm payrolls rose 190,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey, after increasing 192,000 in February. The anticipated job gains come amid indications the economy suffered a minor setback early in the year as bad weather and rising energy prices dampened activity.

    “All the evidence is pointing to a strengthening labor market,” said Bill Cheney, chief economist at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston.

    The Labor Department will release the closely watched employment report at 08:30 a.m. on Friday.

  5. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    Home Brings $100 Million

    A Russian billionaire investor paid $100 million for a French chateau-style mansion in Silicon Valley, marking the highest known price paid for a single-family home in the U.S.

    The purchase of the 25,500-square-foot home in Los Altos Hills, Calif., underscores the strength of some luxury properties in an otherwise depressed housing market.

    The buyer, Yuri Milner, 49, who heads Digital Sky Technologies and whose investments include Facebook Inc., Groupon Inc. and Zynga Inc., had no immediate plans to move into the home, said a spokesman.

  6. serenity now says:

    Re#2 More like Xana-do’nt!

  7. (2)-

    I nominate The Big Shitpile as the new name.

  8. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    Manhattan Apartment Prices Decline 9.9% as Condo Sales Tumble

    Manhattan apartment prices dropped in the first quarter as condominium sales plummeted and new- development deals made up the smallest share of the market in almost seven years.

    The median price of all properties that changed hands in the quarter fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier to $782,071, appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate said in a report today. Total sales were little changed at 2,394 as demand for co-operative apartments offset the plunge in purchases of condos, which tend to be more expensive, said Miller Samuel President Jonathan Miller.

    “The co-op and condo market seemed to be polar opposites this quarter,” he said in an interview. “The disparity between the two forms of ownership is probably temporary, but clearly was a primary cause of the overall decline in price indicators compared to last year.”

    Overall sales held steady as New York City’s jobless rate stayed at 8.9 percent in February, unchanged from the prior month and a percentage point lower than a year earlier. The city’s private job count rose by 11,100 in February, as employment in the financial industry increased, according to the state Labor Department.

    The shift in apartment demand sent condo transactions down 24 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to 964, according to Miller Samuel and Prudential. Sales of co-ops climbed 29 percent to 1,430. New developments, which are primarily comprised of condos, accounted for 14.5 percent of the sales market, the lowest since the third quarter of 2004.

  9. serenity now says:

    We could offer it (Xanadu) as Japanese refugee housing.

  10. The New Jersey Abattoir?

  11. OnNotice says:

    This blog is a gathering of the nattering nabobs of negativism. This is how you choose to spend your time? As opposed to being positive and optimistic? I gotta figure 90% of you are losers in life. Winners would not dwell hereor immerse themselves in the non-stop negative culture this place is. On that note, bye.

  12. onNotice, are you long fiat paper, risk equities, long maturity bonds…or all three?

    I always like meeting counterparties.

  13. gary says:

    Xanadu should be renamed the North Newark Thrift Outlet Center. Isn’t that basically what it will look like when and if it opens?

  14. gary says:

    OnNotice,

    Some of us can produce the m’er f*cking note. Does that qualify one for the winners or the losers category?

  15. stan says:

    OnNotice-

    Can you share some of the pixie dust your smoking you l*mp d*cked twit.

  16. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    “Manhattan apartment prices dropped in the first quarter as condominium sales plummeted and new- development deals made up the smallest share of the market in almost seven years.”

    f’n snow!

  17. Mike says:

    Did you see Warren Buffet on CNBC last night, he is looking to by tons of residential and commercial real estate in New Jersey because they’re at basement bargain prices!

  18. Mike says:

    APRIL FOOLS!

  19. I’d say Buffett is the fool today.

  20. Juice Box says:

    MOC = Medowlands Outlets Center
    JOs = Jersey Outlets
    MOES = Medowlands Outlets Exposition Spot
    MONJ = Mall of North Jersey

    Anyone else care to try?

  21. I’d say 125K/share is a bit too rich a price for an investment fund that features employees who front run their own acquisition deals.

  22. gary says:

    Crude over $107 a barrel and it doesn’t even make back page news anymore. I remember seeing POS bi-levels hitting $400,000 in 2004 and how riduculous it seemed that anyone would pay that price. It’s amazing how quickly the proletarians become desensitized to everything with the slightest distraction; like children seeing a brightly colored ball after playing with an eraser. We really have become a rudderless tub of sh1t, haven’t we now.

  23. gary says:

    Here’s one reason I’m optimistic about America’s future:

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110401/ap_en_ot/us_the_price_of_snooki

  24. You actually touched some great news here. I came across it by using Google and I’ve got to admit that I already subscribed to the site, will be following you on my iphone :)

  25. Bob says:

    I’m actually thinking of buying a family house in the next few years. Instead of waiting do you think I should try looking at foreclosures? There are lots of scare stories around but if you can get 20-40% off it should protect you from any more falls. Is it worth it?

  26. Mikeinwaiting says:

    “rudderless tub of sh1t” Gary that is a new one, I like it.
    By the way what is the over under of the BS I mean BLS unemployment report.
    Unemployment down to 8.5 8.6, they just forgot to mention that the percentage of the population that is working at all is dropping like a rock. How about we look at food stamp numbers going through the roof. All is well, who was voted off American Idol last night?
    Even worse how do I know to ask that question.

  27. Neanderthal Economist says:

    Walmart ceo calling for significant inflation in all sorts of consumer products in coming months.

  28. gary (23)-

    Meanwhile, China holds 9 bn of our IOUs.

  29. Oops, that’s 900 bn!

  30. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Gary 23 32k for snooki!
    “That’s $2,000 more than the $30,000 the university is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers’ commencement address in May.”

    On notice 11 F off.

  31. gary says:

    Does packing tomato plant seeds in a warehouse count as a job created? The reason I’m asking is because a friend was a pharmacist and now is a temp worker doing mail order shipping 20 hrs/week. The reason is that Caremark and CVS have consolidated the industry and squeezed thousands of jobs out. She was a pharmacist for many years and was forced into this new “career”. Just another reason why I’m so optimistic.

  32. Bob (25)-

    Were it that easy, everyone would be doing it. There are inherent risks in pursuing this, not to mention the fact that the whole process is broken.

  33. veets (27)-

    As opposed to the insignificant inflation in consumer products we have right now?

  34. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Debt 29 we ain’t gonna pay anyway and if we do it will be for wiping their as* with. Those are our options, sad.

  35. The only reason to pay Snooki 32K would involve cameras and a large group of men.

  36. Lone Ranger says:

    “As opposed to being positive and optimistic?”

    [11]

    How this for being positive? a 40% decline in 10 years; your purchasing power down the toilet.

    http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/US/M

    Then again, those who have moved into other currencies, hard assets, the export sector and/or commodities are pretty positive.

    I’m assuming you were on notice 6-8 years ago.

  37. mike (34)-

    I sincerely hope I’m dead when we declare our Chinese debt to be odious and start firing missiles at Beijing.

  38. I predict that the NFP will be 100% fabricated.

  39. Essex says:

    30. I hear just about every brutha and sista gets a Nobel these days.

  40. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Have the cheerleaders on, CNBC for the job numbers , maybe Santelli will go off again.

  41. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Santelli right out the box forget headline rate look at the participation rate. Somebody gets it.

  42. gary says:

    216,000 jobs

  43. Lone Ranger says:

    “Winners would not dwell hereor immerse themselves in the non-stop negative culture this place is. On that note, bye.”

    On Notice,

    When the going gets tough the tough get going. Winners? They have already, or are in the process of exiting.

  44. When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.

    Hunter Thompson

  45. BLS number pulled out of a hat. Right on cue, here’s Lies Man to spin it even more positive. Zandi sitting next to him, giving him a HJ.

  46. Lone Ranger says:

    Health care, leisure and hospitality, and mining.

    It’s the eat, drink, get sick and be hard economy.

  47. #42 216,000 jobs

    Yup, and June delivery is now @ $108. Enjoy folks!

  48. gary says:

    Average hourly pay is down. When you go from consulting people on medication interaction to packing tomato seeds, that’ll do it to ya. I’ll repeat: we all eventually will be working as waiters and waitresses at Olive Garden while the discussion du jour gravitates between a Kardashian action figure and the latest iShit product forced down our gullets.

  49. Lone Ranger says:

    Gary [48],

    LMAO. Any bartender jobs at Olive Garden?

  50. gary says:

    My definition of fun: the look on the Bernank’s face when the European Central Bank raises rates next month.

  51. gary says:

    Lone,

    We don’t need a bartender’s job in order to drink heavily. ;)

  52. I totally agree with all your thoughts you said in your post, especially at the beggining of your article. Thank you, your post is very useful as always. Keep up the good work! You’ve got +1 more reader of your super blog:) Isabella S.

  53. Lone Ranger says:

    On Notice,

    If you are long corn you must be positive. Corn stocks down 15%, yoy.

  54. gary says:

    I propose that we change every American’s name to Dorfman and Blutarsky followed by a hyphen and then a series of numbers to differentiate one person from the next.

  55. Kettle1^2 says:

    Shore, Juice

    Fukushima got FAT FINGERED!!!

    The utility says it found errors in the program used to analyze radioactive elements and their levels, after some experts noted that radiation levels of leaked water inside the plant were too high.”

  56. chicagofinance says:

    New name?
    The Shoppes at Hoffa Resting……

  57. Kettle1^2 says:

    Debt 37

    Really? I would have thought you would itching to see that show live!

  58. gary says:

    I cannot take seriously a guy with a British accent announcing a breaking news story. I expect a Monty Python skit to breakout at any moment.

  59. gary says:

    ChiFi,

    Great name but 70% of the current residents of NJ are from a land that doesn’t know what a “Hoffa” is and the other 30% believe that NJ was founded in 1988.

  60. A.West says:

    Specifically about Detroit, but applies precisely to Camden, Newark, Plainfield, etc.
    http://falkenblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/detroit-imploads.html

  61. gary says:

    The Secretary of Labor is on CNBC right now. Let me sum it up for you: “Ask not, what you can do for your country; ask what your country can do for you.”

  62. Juice Box says:

    Kettle1 – April Fools?

  63. Stevie says:

    Why are sellers/realtors allowed to withdraw a listing and list it like a brand new listing? For example 17 Wildlife Run in New Vernon Harding Township was on the market for almost a year (10.5 months) then it was pulled off the market as in withdrawn for 3 days. This morning it came back on the market and the listing days shows 1. There is also a spot where it shows old listing date and old withdrawn but the realtor conveniently forgets to fill that out to make it appear like a new listing. This deception is ridiculous in order to reset the clock. Its totally unethical and should be illegal to me.

  64. Juice Box says:

    Here comes the concrete, I wonder if it can fit on C-130s and get it to Fukushima by tomorrow.

    The world’s largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government’s $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors.

    Ashmore Concrete Contractors’, Putzmeister 70Z concrete boom pump. The world’s largest concrete pump, deployed at the construction site of the U.S. government’s $4.86 billion mixed oxide fuel plant at Savannah River Site, is being moved to Japan in a series of emergency measures to help stabilize the Fukushima reactors. The 190,000-pound pump, made by Germany-based Putzmeister has a 70-meter boom and can be controlled remotely, making it suitable for use in the unpredictable and highly radioactive environment of the doomed.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2011-03-31/srs-concrete-pump-heading-japan-nuclear-site?v=1301580247

  65. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    Xanadu = Jon Corzine Memorial Prison and Amusement Park

  66. dan says:

    New name for Xanadu since the average Jerseyan doesn’t know what it is?

    Snookiville Shoppes?

    Pothole Shopping Centre?

    Tony Soprano Towne Center and Ski Palace?

    New Jersey Political Payoff Mall?

  67. Kettle1^2 says:

    Juice 65

    Pumping concrete on a still hot/critical reactor is a pretty bad idea. Concrete does not cure properly at high temperatures and tends to cure into a rubble pile instead of a monolithic structure. The Russians had robotics deployed within days of the Chernobyl mess and close to 500,000 people involved within 4 weeks. Granted, Chernobyl was probably a simpler challenge then 4 melting reactor + spent fuel pools. By the way, the latest video shows the top of the spent fuel racks in the SPF at reactor 4 are exposed to air.

    Even after they cool the reactors, entombment is a very serious challenge. How do they plan to seal all of the duct work and piping that conducts water through the cooling loops and into the ocean when it is partially destroyed? Robotic disassembly of the reactors is the best option but even that would easily take a decade.

  68. Kettle1^2 says:

    Re Xanadu

    Didnt part of the ski slopes roof collapse recently?

  69. BlindJust says:

    I filed a tax appeal this past week. Included comps of regular and distressed sales despite being told by the assessor that the latter should be excluded. My requested assessment was 20% lower than current.

    Here are the # FK filings, for 1 select town, according to the Morris County Sheriff’s site:
    Row Labels Count of MO
    2008 28
    2009 24
    2010 30
    2011 (Through May) 25

  70. Anon E. Moose says:

    Stevie [64];

    I agree with you, but once you’ve watched the used house sales shell game for a while, you see that’s low-level, old-hat fraud. What peaks my interest are the shills who can invent new and creative ways to lie about their wares and con people into lifelong debt serfdom.

    For your mental sanity you just have to assume that they (sellers/agents) are lying – for example they’ve really been wanting to sell since 2005 when Fred and Ethel down the block sold thier cape for $730k, and they’ve been waiting all this time. Pictures of HS kids on the walls? Their youngest just graduated and they are shedding the blue-ribbony school district tax bill.

    Use that to your advantage. Fair value is at least 50% below ask – market value only slightly higher. The only question is how much will be necessary to bribe them off their feifdom. Personally, I’d like to see them burried in their house if they won’t accept what the market will pay.

  71. BlindJust says:

    Bob – Expect to spend a substantial amount of time with little chance of closing…
    http://www.trulia.com/voices/Agent2Agent/How_many_of_your_short_sales_are_closing_-23498

    The properties that banks have listed are based on 3-6 mo old appraisals at best. One property that I’ve had on my watch list has been listed, relisted, price lowered 60K, and is now on the market for 80K more than the last list price. It’s obviously not really for sale.

    Considering risk, TMV and improvements, I have not seen any value in distressed listings in my town.

  72. J. says:

    Gary #59: And here I thought I was the only one.

  73. BlindJust says:

    Moose – Agreed. This is precisely why there’s gridlock.

    My wife is now resigned to the fact that we may need to wait another year or two for prices to properly adjust.

    “…Fair value is at least 50% below ask…”

  74. gary (50)-

    In the world of Bernank, first one to the bottom wins.

    Everybody’s fiat is essentially worthless right now, so we’re just talking about relative misperception.

  75. juice (65)-

    Putzmeister? I call April Fool!

  76. Juice Box says:

    re: # 68 – The should ship Xanadu in pieces on barges over to Fukushima to enclose the Nuclear Reactors.

  77. chicagofinance says:

    Shore are you out there?

    Response:
    Hi I only know a few westcoast locations.

    Siesta Key off Sarasota , a cultural center, is busy and has traffic but also a “downtown’ . The beaches are not “open” but reached by rights of way except for the town beach which can be very crowded and has lack of parking. However, there is lots of activity there and it’s easy to reach Sarasotas opera, movies,etc. ## stayed there in December and would have more to say.

    Longboat Key, off northern Sarasota bay on Gulf has many highrise and high price properties but also a nice older village at north end which is east side of main road facing the bay. No downtown except high-end shopping at Armand Circle in south and one shopping center with grocery in the middle. The problem is one road up and down with steady traffic, so the walk across to the beaches is tough. By car, over the nearby bridge to the north is Coquina Beach in Manatee County with 3 miles of accessible beach and bike trails. I saw a a nice condo on the west side of road at north end that appealed to me because of proximity of beach but it was too isolated and required too much car travel. Most of Longboat Key is built up and does not permit people to walk thru to the beach so public access is limited to the south end at Lido beach and the small area noted above. Its classy however, and very accessible to Sarasota downtown.

    Anna Maria Island is north of Longboat Key and across causeway to Bradenton which is county seat with legal offices, etc. The island is featured as “Old Florida” because it has just one high rise (## appreciates this feature for me in the future because of elevator, meeting room and heated pool right on the beach). Rest is combination of single family, small resorts and newer duplexes. There is one small “downtown ” areas with grocery, pharmacies, stores, restaurants, all reachable by free trolley. Additionally, a “village” at the end in Anna Maria. [There are three towns, Bradenton Beach to the south, Holmes Beach, then Anna Maria]. All the beaches are open and accessible to public…mine is at end of street with parking if I want it, and a bench after entering beach. These features are typical and very much prized by islanders. The emphasis here is to retain the lower height communities and service Snow Birds and long term tourists. The drive to Sarasota, the Ringling Museum, its theaters and downtown Sarasota is 35-45 minutes from here and I go there a lot for ballet, opera, events, etc.

    I have driven thru Venice and it seemed nice. Has a theater and good beaches. Its south of Sarasota and reached by Ft. Myers airport.

    ## has stayed further south and could comment on that.

  78. BlindJust says:

    28 Lookout Road, Mountain Lakes
    Judgment: $1,694,568.76
    Taxes: $29,927
    Last Sale: 12/31/2003: $815K

    I can see why banks are open to bids of 50% of judgment.

  79. Happy Renter says:

    Come on all you “nattering nabobs of negativism” … it’s clearly time to buy real estate again. CNN says so.

    “Real estate: It’s time to buy again”
    http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03/28/real-estate-its-time-to-buy-again

  80. BlindJust says:

    na·bob
       /ˈneɪbɒb/ Show Spelled[ney-bob] Show IPA
    –noun
    1.
    any very wealthy, influential, or powerful person.

  81. BlindJust says:

    The wealthy person today was negative on RE for the past 6 yrs and acted accordingly.

  82. Kettle1^2 says:

    Debt,

    When do we get nation failure friday?

  83. Shore Guy says:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/opinion/30barofsky.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

    TWO and a half years ago, Congress passed the legislation that bailed out the country’s banks. The government has declared its mission accomplished, calling the program remarkably effective “by any objective measure.” On my last day as the special inspector general of the bailout program, I regret to say that I strongly disagree. The bank bailout, more formally called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, failed to meet some of its most important goals.

    From the perspective of the largest financial institutions, the glowing assessment is warranted: billions of dollars in taxpayer money allowed institutions that were on the brink of collapse not only to survive but even to flourish. These banks now enjoy record profits and the seemingly permanent competitive advantage that accompanies being deemed “too big to fail.”

    Though there is no question that the country benefited by avoiding a meltdown of the financial system, this cannot be the only yardstick by which TARP’s legacy is measured. The legislation that created TARP, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, had far broader goals, including protecting home values and preserving homeownership.

    These Main Street-oriented goals were not, as the Treasury Department is now suggesting, mere window dressing that needed only to be taken “into account.” Rather, they were a central part of the compromise with reluctant members of Congress to cast a vote that in many cases proved to be political suicide.

    The act’s emphasis on preserving homeownership was particularly vital to passage. Congress was told that TARP would be used to purchase up to $700 billion of mortgages, and, to obtain the necessary votes, Treasury promised that it would modify those mortgages to assist struggling homeowners. Indeed, the act expressly directs the department to do just that.

    But it has done little to abide by this legislative bargain. Almost immediately, as permitted by the broad language of the act, Treasury’s plan for TARP shifted from the purchase of mortgages to the infusion of hundreds of billions of dollars into the nation’s largest financial institutions, a shift that came with the express promise that it would restore lending.

    Treasury, however, provided the money to banks with no effective policy or effort to compel the extension of credit. There were no strings attached: no requirement or even incentive to increase lending to home buyers, and against our strong recommendation, not even a request that banks report how they used TARP funds. It was only in April of last year, in response to recommendations from our office, that Treasury asked banks to provide that information, well after the largest banks had already repaid their loans. It was therefore no surprise that lending did not increase but rather continued to decline well into the recovery. (In my job as special inspector general I could not bring about the changes I thought were needed — I could only make recommendations to the Treasury Department.)

    snip

  84. Shore Guy says:

    Meadowlands Offsite Nuclear EmergencY Plutonium Intergrtion Terminal

  85. Kettle1^2 says:

    Shore

    Treasury, however, provided the money to banks with no effective policy or effort to compel the extension of credit. There were no strings attached: no requirement or even incentive to increase lending to home buyers

    The extension of credit isnt going to help anyone in this situation when the problem is debt saturation.

  86. Juice Box says:

    Kettle1 – They can pump in sand & boron mixture instead of concrete. Melting point is 1500 °C for sand, this would seal it up so they can dissemble over the coming decades.

    They did not touch 3 Mile Islands Reactor core with a robot ARM until 1984, it was used to reach inside the reactors and chip out the molten slag. The fuel rods need at least 5 years to fully cool.

    They should scuttle these reactors ASAP, there really is no hope of saving them and the cannot unload the fuel until the reactions fully stop and the rods cool.

  87. Juice Box says:

    re # 85 “legislative bargain”

    This comes to mind.

    Faust, in the legend, traded his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. To “strike a Faustian bargain” is to be willing to sacrifice anything to satisfy a limitless desire for knowledge or power.

  88. dan says:

    The end is nigh…..

    Snookie paid more to speak to Rutgers students than Nobel prize winners…..

    http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/B3/20110401/NJNEWS10/304010004/Snooki-gets-32G-to-talk-GTL-on-Rutgers-campus?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

  89. Happy Renter says:

    re [90]

    Snooki is next in line for a Nobel Peace Prize anyway, so really Rutgers is getting a good deal and making wise use of taxpayer money.

  90. Kettle1^2 says:

    Juice,

    the sand/boron mix could help to dilute the fuel if it is in liquid state which would decrease the risk of or stop active re-criticality. You would also need something to mitigate generation of radioactive dust due to heating or other environmental factors. They would also need an onsite water treatment facility to handle all of the contaminated runoff they are generating and would probably continue to generate long term.
    A sand/boron dump on the SPF’s would probably be a first priority.

  91. Juice Box says:

    Are you Unemployed and would like to earn $5k a day?

    TOKYO — It’s a job that sounds too good to be true — thousands of dollars for up to an hour of work that often requires little training.

    Job openings in Japan to be a “Jumper”

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42376837/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

  92. Shore — I see what you did there…..

    What did the Soprano’s call their no-show, no-work Money Pit…..Museum of Science and Trucking or some such.

  93. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    The pump could be powered from an independent generator, and all that someone would have to do is bring one end of the pump to the water and dump it in, and then run out.”

    This job should get 1 million, as it is certainly a death sentence

  94. Kettle1^2 says:

    Pain

    a free market exploration of the $ value of a human life.

  95. Kettle1^2 says:

    Pain,

    I find it interesting that many Russian soliders reporting taking tasks that they knew could be fatal out of a sense of duty to mother Russia. I am no expert on Japanese culture but would have thought you would see some national pride/sense of duty on both corporate and individual scales.

  96. Kettle1^2 says:

    Pain,

    The spent fuel pools with fuel elements above the water may be so radioactive that you wouldn’t immediately survive a direct exposure. It could very easily be a 1 way trip.

  97. clutterking says:

    Japan nuclear plant workers – known as ‘Fukushima 50’ – are ‘committed to die’ to ‘save the nation’

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/04/01/2011-04-01_50_japan_nuclear_plant_workers_committed_to_die_to_save_the_nation.html#ixzz1II0WCXiM

  98. Confused In NJ says:

    FDA screws up another old drug treatment:

    Colchicum extract was first described as a treatment for gout in De Materia Medica by Pedanius Dioscorides in the first century CE. Colchicine was first isolated in 1820 by the two French chemists P.S. Pelletier and J. Caventon.[4] The alkaloid was later identified as a tricyclic alkaloid, and its pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects for gout were linked to its ability to bind with tubulin.

    The precursor of colchicine Colchicum was described for treatment of rheumatism and swelling in the Ebers Papyrus, ca. 1500 B.C.[5] The use of Colchicum corm for gout probably traces back to ca. 550 A.D., as the “hermodactyl” recommended by Alexander of Tralles. Colchicum corm was used by ibn Sina Persian physician and other Islamic physicians, was recommended by Ambroise Pare in the sixteenth century, and appeared in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1618.[6] In 1833 P.L. Geiger purified an active ingredient, which he named colchicine.[7] Colchicum was brought to America by Benjamin Franklin; Franklin suffered from gout himself and had written humorous doggerel about the disease during his stint as Envoy to France.[8]

    Oral colchicine has been used for many years as an unapproved drug with no FDA-approved prescribing information, dosage recommendations, or drug interaction warnings.[2] On July 29, 2009 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved colchicine as a monotherapy for the treatment of familial Mediterranean fever and acute gout flares,[2] and gave 7-year marketing exclusivity[3] to URL Pharma, in exchange for URL Pharma doing 2 new studies. URL Pharma raised the price from $0.09 per pill to $4.85, and sued to remove other versions from market.

  99. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    Ket – 70 years ago would fly planes into American ships for the emperor and glory of Japan, cut to present would rather be singing Karoke or dressed up as a woman rather than sacrifice for the good of the nation.

    Confused – I’m pissed I didn’t think of it, that is a small warehouse, pill press, and some insignificant cost to riches. Beats the $hit out of the stock market. Ket, hype an the rest of us pharma folks can anyone think of a low cost herbal remedy commonly used that we can pull this scam on.

    I still would like to bring my new 2 new drugs to market Placebo – the effect of placebo is clinically proven to work for all major ailments 30 % of the time, and Fukitol (thank you Robin Williams) one hundred percent narcotic goodness makes you forget all your troubles

  100. Kettle1^2 says:

    Pain,

    Deer antler velvet. High in IGF and readily used by body builders and pro athletes in place of or as an addition to a HGH cycle. Patent the blend of IGF and secondary protiens from the deer antler velvet. Peanuts to produce. you could pull the same margins as URL Pharma did and push it as a popular prescription treatment for all of its current uses. Last i heard the FDA already has their eye on this stuff as it is real and has noticeable effects. The window may be small on this one.

    There may also be a niche in the male ED market for this.

    We could then promise the FDA a few studies and sue all of the current manufacturers1

  101. Nicholas says:

    I find it interesting that many Russian soliders reporting taking tasks that they knew could be fatal out of a sense of duty to mother Russia. I am no expert on Japanese culture but would have thought you would see some national pride/sense of duty on both corporate and individual scales.

    I joined the military in 2003-2004 right as we were in a full-on war. Young males are hard-wired to not interpret risk. If I was presented with the same decision now as back in 2003 then my decision would have been much different.

    I suspect that it wouldn’t be very hard to find a young buck to run in there really quick for a six-pack of beer and a national high-five. Exchange “beer” for whatever the Japaneese college kids drink.

  102. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    Ket collecting it by anything other than arrow and lead has to be interesting

  103. ChicagoIP says:

    102 & 104

    “Ket collecting it by anything other than arrow and lead has to be interesting”

    They sell it at Chinese herbal drug pharma. Comes in powder form, sliced, or formulated into pills. Or tea infusion. There are commercial productions of this stuff. Go have fun on Alibaba
    http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/CN/deer-velvet.html

  104. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    Ket granted from Wiki so take with a giant helping of Lot’s wife

    However, in the last few years, two additional companies Tercica and Insmed compiled enough clinical trial data to seek FDA approval in the United States. In August 2005, the FDA approved Tercica’s IGF-1 drug, Increlex, as replacement therapy for severe primary IGF-1 deficiency based on clinical trial data from 71 patients. In December 2005, the FDA also approved Iplex, Insmed’s IGF-1/IGFBP-3 complex. The Insmed drug is injected once a day versus the twice-a-day version that Tercica sells.

    Insmed was found to infringe on patents licensed by Tercica, which then sought to get a U.S. district court judge to ban sales of Iplex.[13] To settle patent infringement charges and resolve all litigation between the two companies, Insmed in March 2007 agreed to withdraw Iplex from the U.S. market, leaving Tercica’s Increlex as the sole version of IGF-1 available in the United States.[14]

    By delivering Iplex in a complex, patients might get the same efficacy with regard to growth rates but experience fewer side effects with less severe hypoglycemia[citation needed]. This medication might emulate IGF-1’s endogenous complexing, as in the human body 97-99% of IGF-1 is bound to one of six IGF binding proteins[citation needed]. IGFBP-3 is the most abundant of these binding proteins, accounting for approximately 80% of IGF-1 binding.

    In a clinical trial of an investigational compound MK-677, which raises IGF-1 in patients, did not result in an improvement in patients’ Alzheimer’s symptoms.[15] Another clinical demonstrated that Cephalon’s IGF-1 does not slow the progression of weakness in ALS patients. Previous shorter studies had conflicting results.[16]

    IGFBP-3 is a carrier for IGF-1, meaning that IGF-1 binds IGFBP-3, creating a complex whose combined molecular weight and binding affinity allows the growth factor to have an increased half-life in serum. Without binding to IGFBP-3, IGF-1 is cleared rapidly through the kidney, due to its low molecular weight. But when bound to IGFBP-3, IGF-1 evades renal clearance. Also, since IGFBP-3 has a lower affinity for IGF-1 than IGF-1 has for its receptor, IGFR, its binding does not interfere with IGF-1 function. For these reasons, an IGF-1/IGFBP-3 combination approach was approved for human treatment… brought forward by a small company called Insmed. However, Insmed fell afoul patent issues, and was ordered to desist in this approach.

    IGF-1 has also been shown to be effective in animal models of stroke when combined with Erythropoietin. Both behavioural and cellular improvements were found.[17]

  105. Kettle1^2 says:

    Chicago IP

    I am aware that it is already commercialized. That would be the beauty of slipping in a backdoor patent. All the technical details are know. just pay off the right people to get the patent, produce a few reams of worthless regulatory paper and your off to the races!

    The prime source for non-chinese sources is red deer antler velvet. It is then purified, concentrated, and sold in its various forms.

    There is a large deer farm in the US and one in New Zealand that are the primary non-chinese sources.

  106. scribe says:

    Gary, #23

    On Snooki getting $32,000 to speak at Rutgers, paid for by mandatory student activity fees ….

    At Hunter in the 1970’s, we had Marilyn Chambers, the Ivory Snow girl and star of the porn flick, “Behind the Green Door,” as a speaker, paid for by the same kind of student fees.

    Snooki probably had more to say ….

  107. scribe says:

    #108 …got moderated…should have known “pron” was a no-no

  108. 30 year realtor says:

    Moose #72 – You’ve got to be pretty fcuking stupid to swindled by the average real estate agent. You give us far too much credit.

    Perhaps your view is unrealistic? You are just pointing fingers and trying to make yourself feel better.

  109. Shore Guy says:

    Android sucks for cutting and pasting. Perhaps someone can post from the article the numbet of government workers vs thosr in a host of vital indudtries.

  110. JJ says:

    Weird gold stock for you gold bugs

    Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ: RGLD) is a royalty owner of the yields from gold mines. What is so amazing is that its market cap is more than $2.8 billion and the company has only about 20 employees. Most gold-only mutual fund operations require far more than 20 employees to produce even modest income. Royal Gold had revenues of $136.5 million in 2010 with its modest sized staff. Royal Gold’s portfolio consists of royalties and potential royalties from 187 gold-related properties on six continents. Some of its royalty producing operations have been on the books for quite some time and it lists about 30 current producing sites with nearly as many development stage royalty projects on its website. The ‘per employee’ figures for market cap and revenue are among the highest ‘per employee’ figures of all public companies.

  111. Libtard says:

    Kal,

    Just saw your post from yesterday about property tax appeals. There are plenty of resources online. See recent Baristanet and Patch (Montclair) hyperblogs for the answers. Quite frankly, your deadline for appealing is today. I think you might have waited a little too long to begin the process.

  112. Libtard says:

    Shore…Get an iPad2 already.

  113. 30 year (109)-

    Don’t feed the troll. I stopped last week and now feel immensely better for doing so.

  114. lib (115)-

    I think Gary would be angry with your attempt to peer pressure a fellow poster into buying iShit.

  115. JJ says:

    Hey crazy question. We were talking how often little kids should take a shower. I would say for kids like 2-10, three times a week is plenty in the winter.

    Lady at work says she has her first and third grade boys shower every day before school and if they do sports after school or something then too. I was like the kids are showering at the age of 7 ten times of week isn’t that nuts. I then said so if kids showers at night after sports you still make him do it again in morning? She was like yep.

    So what is normal? Who has time to bath little kids 7 nights a week and even if you did don’t they get excema or something?

  116. Libtard says:

    Debt(117):

    I’m just sick of reading all Shore’s damn the Android keyboard posts. It’s a good thing he doesn’t get charged for typos. Me too, although I can’t blame Google as much as not having enough time (nor do I really care) to proofread what I post.

  117. Kettle1^2 says:

    LOL, Humanitarian my @ss!

    “The European Council on Friday approved the decision to mount an EU military operation to support humanitarian efforts in Libya, if asked to do so by the United Nations. “The EU will, if requested by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), conduct a military operation in…order to support humanitarian assistance in the region,

  118. Libtard says:

    I think a 6-year old or older kid can bathe by themselves, so it’s not really a question of time. Though every other day is good enough for us unless he’s played serious sports and the dirt is visible. JJ, every year I tell our little guy that he will gain more and more responsibilities. At 5 he had to make his bed and brush his teeth by himself. At 6 he has to serve himself breakfast (including putting his bowl in the sink when done). People don’t give their kids enough independence today. Sh1t, Gator Junior already knows how to find, download and install jailbroken apps on my iPod touch already. I turned on the parental controls yesterday. He doesn’t get to surf for pron until he’s 7.

  119. JJ says:

    I think that lady is nuts. Enough effort for me a few times to yell get in the shower!!!

    My mom pretty much when she smelled swampbutt is about only time she said take a shower.

    Libtard says:
    April 1, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    I think a 6-year old or older kid can bathe by themselves, so it’s not really a question of time. Though every other day is good enough for us unless he’s played serious sports and the dirt is visible. JJ, every year I tell our little guy that he will gain more and more responsibilities. At 5 he had to make his bed and brush his teeth by himself. At 6 he has to serve himself breakfast (including putting his bowl in the sink when done). People don’t give their kids enough independence today. Sh1t, Gator Junior already knows how to find, download and install jailbroken apps on my iPod touch already. I turned on the parental controls yesterday. He doesn’t get to surf for pron until he’s 7.

  120. DL says:

    Badass Bernake will love it when the ECB raises interest rates. The dollar will go down faster than a five dollar hore.

  121. DL says:

    BTW, Libya is nothing more than Bosnia.Kosovo redux. THe chosen one has surrounded himself with Clinton retreads who think the answer to every problem is to let the military solve it.
    Step 1. No fly zone.
    Step 2. Cease ifre.
    Step 3. Ground troops to enforce a separation of beligerents.
    Step 4. Stay there for the next 50 years to ensure the oil keeps pumping.
    Sound familiar?

  122. Painhrtz - Cat of God says:

    DL you forgot rinse and repeat

    Ket – I think you may be on to something then, f the regulatory paper go nutraceutical off shore most of the profits then, file bankruptcy when the regulatory hammer comes down.

  123. Anon E. Moose says:

    30-yr [109];

    I had no shortage of ®EALTORS™ tell me I was wrong in 2005 when I thought that $650k for a post-war Levittown style cape that needed $50k of repairs before it was liveable was unrealistic when median household incomes were usually a fair bit short of $100k. Many who took the contrary view are currently quite despondent with their choice, particularly if their income circumstances have deteriorated, or simply not improved as much as they would have hoped.

    My only lament is that more people can’t see the obvious endgame, and hang on with only Hopium to solace them.

    Speaking of which, Debt [116], I’m glad to hear you’re feeling better, though I fear the cause of your euphoria. An addict on a high “feels” great, though that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in a good and stable position for long-term well being.

  124. sas3 says:

    Stu, does your son get bored at the public school?

    S

  125. chicagofinance says:

    shore…did you see this?

    chicagofinance says:
    April 1, 2011 at 11:04 am
    Shore are you out there?
    Response:
    Hi I only know a few westcoast locations.

  126. chicagofinance says:

    Baseball: Running the New Numbers
    Reams of data from motion-capture technology may soon revolutionize America’s pastime

    http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/11_15/b4223072802462.htm

  127. Nicholas says:

    Daily bathing is an Amerian habit which we picked up from the native indians. There are large swaths of the the world where you bathe once a month or less, don’t wear deodorant, and don’t use your left hand for eating.

    It is one of the things that make us American I suppose and it shows a complete lack of understanding of scarce resources. We pollute gallons and gallons of water by bathing in it and flushing it down the drain. In addition to the above, we also are in the habit of taking the equivalent of a 22 ounce steak and turning it into a few strips of beef jerkey.

    I myself take daily showers on work days and none on the weekend but only because the military drilled that into me. Before entering the service I probably showered once every three days. In my childhood, I don’t have a very good memory of day to day things but it was probably less frequently than once every three days. I would say that it is unecessary to take so many showers and that being dirty is part of childhood.

    I would splash water on my face and hair to pretend that I had showered which sometimes fooled my parents and sometimes didn’t. In retrospect I spent more time trying to avoid showers then it would have taken to just shower.

    I would say that if the child is bathing at least once every three days and possibly when he is really dirty, you should push cleanliness, else if he is bathing too much you should give him the talk about mas tur bat ion and why you will go blind if you play with it too much.

  128. ChicagoIP says:

    Ket
    “I am aware that it is already commercialized. That would be the beauty of slipping in a backdoor patent.”
    “just pay off the right people to get the patent, produce a few reams of worthless regulatory paper and your off to the races!”

    It is not a patent play. You don’t need a patent for the 7 years exclusivity. That 7 years is FDA rewarding you for testing your drug to make sure it works and doesn’t kill people. The real bang in the buck, so to speak, is becoming a real drug that a physicial can prescribe. A NYU trained Mount Sinai doc can’t very well prescribe you “deer antler fuzz chew” but he can feel better about prescribing, say, DEANFUC.

    Which is to say, go for it. (I do Orangebook stuff)

  129. ChicagoIP says:

    *physician

    And that wasn’t even android’s fault. Speaking of droid, there are number of companies trying to make them “business ready”, to dethrone blackberry in the enterprise space. Maybe Motorola Mobile should enroll Shore in their Beta.

  130. Juice Box says:

    #127 Moose – Obvious?

    When there are no fools there will be no wise men.

  131. Orion says:

    Totally off-topic.

    Need help. For savvy computer experts, does anyone recognize these symbols and what it means? Part of an investigation.

    存在しないアドレスで

  132. Orion says:

    Shore, 110

    Read it and weep is an understatement.

  133. Juice Box says:

    Orion – looks Japanese plugged into Google translate it means “no address”
    and babelfish “With the address which does not exist”

  134. confused (137)-

    It’s all over but the crying. We’ve been firmly entrenched as a Third World country for several years now.

  135. Want fries with that?

  136. Nicholas says:

    Anon E. Moose [127],

    I was looking for housing back in 2006-2007 and I didn’t buy because of the same thing. I think that I probably would have gone through with a purchase if it wasn’t for the sellers and realtors and unbelieveably “odd” behavoir that I was noticing.

    So I’m looking at houses and I find one that I like, I ask some standard questions about the house, then I start into very personal questions like “Why is the current owner leaving?”, “Has he lost his job recently?”, etc. to try and flush out a competitive advantage during negotiations. I don’t expect the realtor to answer these things and he comes back a day later with a whole sheet full of answers. Apparently the listing is owned by the same company and he just asked the other realtor. No disclosure of dual agency…none…hands the information right over to me. Hmmm…

    I drop that RE agency company and move on to another one and I go looking at houses again, this time in a different area at a different time. Agent has me walk through a house that is listed as 360k+ but unfortunately the owner has let a cat urinate all over the house. Agent doesn’t even say a word as he opens the door and escorts us around. Hmm….

    At that point I just kinda figured that for someone in the top 20% of earners in the US and far above my peers that if I’m going to trade years of my working life to get the house that smells like a cat used it as a litter box then I don’t want any part of that. You now have literal crap boxes being sold without warning by agents that are willing to blatantly break the law. It is just an unsafe purchasing environment. That alerted me to larger issue that houses were way way overpriced and as a result it took these types of people/actions to get houses sold.

    I’m not passing judgement on all agents as “two” agents is just not enough of a sampling to categorize the whole but it sure didn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I took that feeling of uneaze and sat my wife down to talk to her about what wasn’t going to happen.

  137. Orion says:

    Juice – much appreciated.

  138. Barbara says:

    It was great when my son switched to showers. Its so fast now but he hates water on his head so sometimes I have to help him (make him) rinse out his hair. Every other day here unless there was some serious outdoor play, so figure maybe a little more in the summer. Same goes for the baby although she’s a bit of a fearless tom boy and gets way dirtier, so I’m not quite every day with her but some weeks its close.

  139. Kettle1^2 says:

    ChicagoIP

    I was just shooting from the hip on IGF

  140. ChicagoIP says:

    I consider my comments lawyer humor. Obviously I’m no Nom or Moose. But what do you expect from a patent attorney?

  141. Libtard says:

    Sas: “Stu, does your son get bored at the public school?”

    He’s pretty smart, but I don’t see him as book smart even though he’s quite the reader. Most of his friends are definitely going the nerd route though. This Summer, the boy is signed up for two weeks of hockey camp followed by 8 weeks of a YMCA day camp. Most of his friends have overprotective parents who think ten weeks of camp is too much. They are paying close to double to send their kids to learning camps so they can study Mandarin, rocketry, dinosaurs and the such. One close friend of ours has a kid who won’t even go to other kids birthday parties unless they are ‘home’ parties. Gimme a break. All a young kid knows is what you expose them to. Get a pair, drop him off and he’ll learn how not to be a social misfit. So what if he pouts. Life ain’t always gone bring you roses. It’s the Summer so let the kids be kids instead of future braniacs. This disease of raising your children like delicate flowers is just killing their future. Hope you saved a lot for your own retirement cause I doubt they’ll be tough enough to make enough to support you. Now I will get off my soapbox. Taking the little one to the Devil/Flyer game tonight with free tickets I got from a vendor. Other parents around here would find hockey to violent, or they wouldn’t want their kid to stay up that late. Ours went down an hour early last night since he knew he’d lose the sleep tonight. Seriously folks, start getting control of your children. Discipline them from day one and both you and your offspring will benefit greatly from it.

    Yesterday, that kid who won’t go to b’day parties scraped his knee in the playground and got so upset that he wouldn’t go back outside during aftercare. When I went to pick Junior up, I was surprised he wasn’t playing soccer as other kids were out there and our little one lives for sports. He said he stayed inside to comfort his buddy. This was absolutely heartwarming. A few days ago, the wimpy kid told his mother that he won’t sit with the girls at the lunchtable since they pick on him. Our little one is close friends with him. Keep in mind, this is kindergarten we are talking about. Birthday boy’s mother is planning to call his teacher about it. Gator asked me what I thought of it. I said, “forget about it.”

    Time to get off my soapbox.

    If any one is going to the game and want to hang, I’ll be at Hobby’s Deli at 6pm using my $25 parking money to pay for dinner. Stupid fans park two blocks closer, have to wait for 20 minutes after the game to get out of the lot and then pay tons of money for crappy Aramark dinner.

  142. JJ says:

    Thing that is crazy about housing, if was first you had to middle class, top 50% of earners, than top 20%, now it is up to top 5%. Heck there are plenty of NJ neighborhoods that only the top 1% can afford. Soon it will be the top 1/2 of 1%.

  143. Anon E. Moose says:

    CIP [146];

    I like “DEANFUCH”. It’s probably clear, though the marketing guys may spike it over pronunciation problems.

  144. JJ says:

    I have three kids aged 4-11 and none of them are going to camp this year. If you people would stop sending your kids to camp and there were kids all around my block during summer there would be no need for camps.
    Camps, orgainzed sports, after school activities, clubs all are the devils workshops.

    Most kids today wouldn’t even know how to play street hockey, stickball, spraypaint a wall or use fake id to get into bars at 15 years of age.

    Some of my favorites times was long days leave the house at 8am and come back at six pm when I was 11. I used to even walk to queens line, grab a bus, sneak into shea catch a mets game and come back and mom would say whatchd do today and I say nothing much. Today they drive 11 year olds one block to school.

    Libtard says:
    April 1, 2011 at 4:36 pm
    Sas: “Stu, does your son get bored at the public school?”

    He’s pretty smart, but I don’t see him as book smart even though he’s quite the reader. Most of his friends are definitely going the nerd route though. This Summer, the boy is signed up for two weeks of hockey camp followed by 8 weeks of a YMCA day camp. Most of his friends have overprotective parents who think ten weeks of camp is too much.

  145. Anon E. Moose says:

    JJ [148];

    Exactly how Greenwich or Old Westbury come to be. People are oddly willing to spend more just to hike up their neighbors property values, so they don’t have to live next to “undesirables”. That’s some pretty enlightened self interest.

    There was a foreclosure in a little enclave on LI. This was a nice property, but it backed up to a double-yellow stripe and the house itself was pretty run down for the neighborhood. I’d say the block was $750-800k houses that like to pretend that they were $1 MM houses. Anyway, I was tempted to contact owners on the block, particularly those who had their own properties for sale, to essentially ask for donations so my bid wouldn’t bring their property value down.

  146. Anon E. Moose says:

    Con’t [152];

    I just looked it up, judgement ’09 @ $759k, sold late ’10 $500k.

    BTW, in the same neighborhood, how pathetic a realtor does one have to be to use the County assessor’s photo from ten years ago in your listing? “For Showing, Requires 3 Day Notice. 0.4178 Acres Land, Has Excellent School Distrcit And Has Potential To Be Built Into Multi-Million House.” There’s service and dedication that’s worth paying over $30,000 for.

    And Potential == Current Pile of ©®@¶.

  147. Juice Box says:

    JJ – remember our convo yesterday about Ireland and no property taxes?

    The Irish Government has been ordered by the EU/IMF to impose a property tax on all homeowners within a year.

    http://www.independent.ie/national-news/property-tax-on-way-within-year-2603975.html

  148. Guess which banks went to the window the day after Lehman crashed, swapping deposit bottles and handwritten IOUs for USTs?

    “While it is no surprise that the day after Lehman failed, every single bank scrambled to the Fed to soak up any and all available liquidity after confidence in the entire ponzi collapsed, what is a little surprising is that of the 6 banks that came running to papa Ben, and specifically his Primary Dealer Credit Facility, recently upgraded, or rather, downgraded to accept collateral of any type, two banks (in addition to Lehman of course which at this point was bankrupt and was forced to hand over everything to triparty clearer JPM), had the temerity to pledge bonds that had defaulted (i.e. had a rating of D). As in bankrupt, and pretty much worthless. Now that the Fed would accept Defaulted bonds as collateral: or “assets” that have no value whatsoever is a different story. What is notable is that the two banks that did so were not the crappy banks such as Citi or Morgan Stanley, but the two defined as best of breed: Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. It is probably best left to the now defunct FCIC to determine if this disclosure is something that should also be pursued in addition to recent disclosure that Gary Cohn may have perjured himself by not disclosing truthfully his bank’s discount window participation. However, we can’t help but be amused by the fact that of all banks, the ironclad Goldman and JPM would be the only ones in addition to bankrupt Lehman to resort to something so low.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/how-fed-gave-goldman-millions-exchange-defauted-bond-collateral

  149. Fabius Maximus says:

    #147 Stu
    Where do you park down there. I’m taking the boy to the Nets next Monday. I’m choking on paying $31 ($25 + $6) for advance parking.

  150. sas3 says:

    Stu, your approach — combination of multiple non-academic activities and a little free time — seems like a good balance for kids. A friend said something like we shouldn’t make the kids read too early because they may lose interest in the first few days/weeks of school and that may end up staying as a bad attitude or habit. I’m sure public schools will have some way to handle kids that may be a few weeks ahead in their learning.

  151. If #155 doesn’t get your blood boiling, maybe this disclosure that the window (and TALF) were opened to the Bank of Libya will:

    “Documents produced by the Federal Reserve in response to an order from the Supreme Court show that Bernanke loaned billions to foreign banks through its discount window. As Bloomberg – which brought the lawsuit which resulted in the document release – notes:

    The biggest borrowers from the 97-year-old discount window as the program reached its crisis-era peak were foreign banks, accounting for at least 70 percent of the $110.7 billion borrowed during the week in October 2008 when use of the program surged to a record. The disclosures may stoke a reexamination of the risks posed to U.S. taxpayers by the central bank’s role in global financial markets.

    ***

    “The caricature of the Fed is that it was shoveling money to big New York banks and a bunch of foreigners, and that is not conducive to its long-run reputation,” said Vincent Reinhart, the Fed’s director of monetary affairs from 2001 to 2007.

    ***

    “The American people are going to be outraged when they understand what has been going on,” U.S. Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Fed, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

    “What in the world are we doing thinking we can pass out tens of billions of dollars to banks that are overseas?” said Paul, who has advocated abolishing the Fed. “We have problems here at home with people not being able to pay their mortgages, and they’re losing their homes.”

    Indeed, billions of dollars worth of loans went to Libya. Senator Sanders asks why we loaned billions to Libya:

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today questioned why the Federal Reserve provided more than $26 billion in credit to an Arab intermediary for the Central Bank of Libya.

    ***

    Sanders also asked why the Libyan-owned bank and two of its branches in New York, N.Y., were exempted from sanctions that the United States this month slapped on other Libyan businesses to pressure Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s government.

    “It is incomprehensible to me that while creditworthy small businesses in Vermont and throughout the country could not receive affordable loans, the Federal Reserve was providing tens of billions of dollars in credit to a bank that is substantially owned by the Central Bank of Libya,” Sanders said.

    ***

    In the same letter, Sanders asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner why the Treasury Department on March 4 let the Libya-controlled bank skirt the economic sanctions against Libya.

    The senator also questioned why the Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corp. is even allowed to operate branches inside United States. “Why would the U.S. government allow a bank that is predominantly owned by the Central Bank of Libya – an institution on which the U.S. has imposed strict economic sanctions –to operate two banking branches within our own borders?” Sanders asked.

    Previous information released by the Fed shows that foreign banks were also huge recipients of the Term Auction Facility.

    http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bernanke-provided-billions-loans-gaddafi

  152. sastry (158)-

    Public schools don’t have a way to handle a kid who eats a spoonful of peanut butter or brings a plastic knife to school. However, they are quite adept at racketeering, extortion and pay-for-play schemes.

    “I’m sure public schools will have some way to handle kids that may be a few weeks ahead in their learning.”

  153. gary says:

    160 posts today, lotsa vitriol, volume turned up high on the doomometer… I’d say it’s a productive day on this forum.

  154. gary (160)-

    The discount window shenanigans Bloomberg began reporting today has shot my bile level to a murderous new high.

  155. I may need to get myself a good, old fashioned .357.

  156. Essex says:

    146. i love ur stories.

  157. serenity now says:

    “Rudderless tub of sh1t”
    Quote of the day goes to Gary.

  158. serenity now says:

    “I sincerely hope I’m dead when we declare our Chinese debt to be odious and start firing missiles at Beijing.”

    Do’nt be like that DS.
    Thats just when it gets interesting!
    Maybe we should convert Xanadu into a giant bomb shelter.

  159. Kettle1^2 says:

    Debt

    may I re comend the glock 31 (chambered in Sig .357). Carrying 2 with 20 rd magazines means you could achieve substantial target elimination in a short period with a high degree of amunition efficenycy and without wasting valuable time reloading.

  160. Kettle1^2 says:

    Deny
    of course you could do the saw setup with a sig saur P229. Adding a double shoulder holster means you would have 80+ rounds before needing to reload. All for the cost of a few grand.

  161. Kettle1^2 says:

    Deny =debt

    typing on a smart phone while snuggling twins can be challenging

  162. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Greetings from Charm City, where I will be until Monday night. Surrounded by estrogen. Auuggh.

  163. vodka (169)-

    Stop with your weak ass excuses. ;)

  164. plume (171)-

    High school lacrosse season started today in Baltimore. Maybe you can duck out and catch a game tomorrow.

    Or just drown in estrogen.

  165. Skyshine over Fukushima.

    “Water is for the purposes of both cooling and shielding. The lack of water means the nuclear fuel is unshielded. Its gamma rays are rising into the sky and bouncing off air molecules through a phenomenon called “skyshine.” (That sounds prettier than it is – “scattered radiation of a primary gamma radiation source generated by aerial dispersion.”) The gamma rays rain back on the site as background radiation, which is much higher than normal, making work on the refueling pool potentially lethal. In addition, the nuclear fuel is extremely hot and the plutonium inside can become volatile. The fact that the nuclear fuel pool doesn’t have water means there might be a clean path for the heavy elements to escape from the building.”

    http://www.euronuclear.org/info/encyclopedia/s/skyshine.htm

  166. Lone Ranger says:

    “The American people are going to be outraged when they understand what has been going on,” U.S. Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican who is chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the Fed, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.”

    Debt,

    We knew the swap lines were nothing more than burning fuel rods. Now the worldwide monetary system is in the early phases of a meltdown. When the game plan is to inflate to solve the debt/re crisis, you can kiss your ass goodbye. A tsunami should hit the fed. That’s our only hope. That said, Americans outraged? Only if Americam Idol and Access Hollywood are interrupted by a live fed meeting.

  167. juice box says:

    Ranger – a fool is only cured after death.

  168. whoops… moderated @ 175

  169. Confused In NJ says:

    PHOENIX – Arizona’s cash-strapped Medicaid program is considering charging patients $50 a year if they smoke, have diabetes or are overweight. A spokeswoman for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System said Friday that the fee is intended to rein in health care costs by pushing patients to keep themselves healthy

  170. Confused In NJ says:

    It’s most welcome news that job growth seems to be picking up again–even if we’ll need a whole lot more of it to get back to where we were before the Great Recession.

    Still, as we’ve reported, there’s growing evidence that the new jobs, many of which are in sectors like retail, food services, and health care, simply aren’t as good–in terms of wages, hours, and seniority–as the ones they’re replacing. And a report released today only adds to the concern.

    The study, commissioned by the nonprofit group Wider Opportunities for Women, looks at how much income it takes to support a basic standard of living for an American family–and finds that many of the jobs of the future won’t pay enough to provide that.

    To calculate this “economic security” income, the study’s authors certainly didn’t assume a lavish lifestyle. They considered basic needs–housing, food, utilities, health care, child-care, and transportation–plus the cost of modest saving for retirement and a small surplus for emergencies. (At at a time when economic “shocks” are increasingly common, that’s an essential part of financial security.) They don’t factor in some things many of us take for granted, like entertainment or eating out.

    The result? To achieve economic security, a single parent with two children needs an income of just over $30,000 a year–nearly twice the federal minimum wage–while a two-income household needs almost $68,000.

    The study then finds that, according to Labor Department projections, fewer than 13 percent of jobs to be created by 2018 will meet the economic security threshold for a single parent with two kids. Forty-three percent of those jobs will meet the threshold for a two-income household.

    In other words, most of the jobs of the future aren’t likely to pay enough to offer the kind of stable, middle-class existence that for much of the 20th century was seen as the American birthright.

    “The American Dream of working hard to support your family is being re-written by the growth of low-paying industries and rising expenses,” said Joan Kuriansky, WOW’s executive director.

    Indeed, this seems to be the new reality of the American economic landscape. Gary Burtless, an economist with the Brookings Institution, noted in a statement on the government’s jobs numbers that real earnings fell 1.1 percent between October and February–a development he attributed to the still-high unemployment rate, which is eroding workers’ bargaining power.

  171. Libtard says:

    Fabius (156)

    Halsey street. Or the one block further West if it’s filled up. Really, there’s plenty of street parking just west of Market Street directly behind the arena. There’s even a secret entrance to the arena on Lafayette Street (that few know about).

    BTW, the game was great tonight. Lot’s of Flyers fans who shot their mouths off when they scored first who had to suffer through an Elias hat trick.

  172. cobbler says:

    confused [179]
    The author seems to have some issues: why a family of 4 needs more than double the income of the family of 3 to “achieve economic security”? (Not that I believe one can have it in NJ on 30K). FWIW, our new employee (3 yrs post-college experience) started last Monday with the salary 25% less than her predecessor straight out of school had been pulling back in 2007.

  173. Fabius Maximus says:

    #171 Nom

    A Red Sox fan in Charm city on the day of the home opener surrounded by estrogen?

    There has to be a Manny Ramirez joke in there somewere!

  174. Fabius Maximus says:

    #180
    Thanks Stu, I’m going to the last game of the Nets season were there is nothing to play for so the place should be fairly empty. My boy will be happy with a big bucket of popcorn, watching the players shoot. For me it can’t be worse than the Knicks game I took him to last year.

    I’ll check out Hobbys for dinner.

  175. Fabius Maximus says:

    What a waste of good beer and St Pauli is a great one

    German league match halted after linesman hit by cup
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/europe/9444162.stm

  176. Fabius Maximus says:

    Clot, sometimes the football gods smile and it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/12932160.stm

  177. Mike says:

    Good Morning Again New Jersey

  178. Kettle1^2 says:

    Shore,

    I just came across the video of the reactor 3 explosion where you can see large debris involved.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_N-wNFSGyQ

  179. Shore Guy says:

    I think Homer Simpson may well be working at Fukushima. It took how long to find this?

    http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Japan-Finds-Radioactive-Water-Leaking-into-Ocean-119112749.html

  180. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    Offered at $355,000 Sold for $359,0000 in 2002. Taxes are over 9K. & years in the house and they did not make a dime.

    http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1028883&dayssince=&countysearch=false

  181. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    This house hit the market 2 weeks ago at $422,000. Price just reduced to $409,000. Sold in November 2005 right around the peak at $510,000. Taxes are almost 11k, and will be in the around 12,300 after this years increase.

    http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1109690&dayssince=&countysearch=false

  182. Shore Guy says:

    Nothing to worry about, gama rays, beta particles, x-rays they are just photons and you don’t fear photons from your light bulbs, do you?

    And, who is afraid of helium? Nobody! Heck, kida inhale it in order to speak funny. So, since an alpha particle is more or less just a helium nucleus, everything is fine right?

  183. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    Yesterdays job numbers the bulk of new jobs appear to be in the health care and lesiure and hospitality industries; not typically good paying areas of empoyment.

    Also there was almost no mention of the decline in construction spending again.

  184. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    #153 Property taxes is going to be huge blow. The founding fathers of Irish independence will be turning over in their graves.

  185. jamil says:

    190 “This house hit the market 2 weeks ago at $422,000”

    Why do realtors write uppercase? Sounds like written by some 6 year old, poorly trained monkey. Or do they also blame their Android keypad?

    “Property Remarks
    YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS RECENTLY RENOVATED AND EXPANDED …”

  186. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    $189 Sorry. Should have said 9 years in the hosue and they did nto make a dime. Not only that, but they are going to lose money as well. That has to hurt.

  187. Kettle1^2 says:

    shore

    you have mail at you live.com address

  188. Mikeinwaiting says:

    3b 189 Maybe they should have thrown their money away renting. Buy now or get priced out forever.

  189. Kettle1^2 says:

    3b

    historically owning a home will not make you any money if you include carrying costs. The last decade was a fluke generated by the FED’s shenanigans.

  190. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    109 ket: Oh I know that. But many don’t they assume you nver loose on real estate. They onlu look at what was paid and what it sold for. The difference between the 2 numbers in their mind is the profit.

    Oh and congrats on the twins!!

  191. juice box says:

    #193- When they refuse the EU’s demands will they send in troops?

  192. Mickey Jones says:

    #144
    I drop that RE agency company and move on to another one and I go looking at houses again, this time in a different area at a different time. Agent has me walk through a house that is listed as 360k+ but unfortunately the owner has let a cat urinate all over the house. Agent doesn’t even say a word as he opens the door and escorts us around. Hmm….

    —> this “cat house” you went & looked at was it in Monroe, NJ by chance….

  193. Mickey Jones says:

    Correction #141

    I drop that RE agency company and move on to another one and I go looking at houses again, this time in a different area at a different time. Agent has me walk through a house that is listed as 360k+ but unfortunately the owner has let a cat urinate all over the house. Agent doesn’t even say a word as he opens the door and escorts us around. Hmm….

    —> this “cat house” you went & looked at was it in Monroe, NJ by chance….

  194. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    (184) fab

    Good one.

  195. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Posting from a really huge cheer competition. It’s actually interesting, and high energy, but I’d go nuts without a smartphone.

  196. yo'me says:

    “Oh I know that. But many don’t they assume you nver loose on real estate. They onlu look at what was paid and what it sold for. The difference between the 2 numbers in their mind is the profit.”

    The IRS tells you it is a profit above 250k.

    If you deduct money that would have been spent on rent chances are there is a profit, specially if morgage is equal to rent.

  197. Neanderthal Economist says:

    3b, nice comp killers. Here is an example of what im seeing in central jersey… http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6-Faxon-Dr-Robbinsville-NJ-08691/52627761_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-address}
    Sold March 2005 for 310k
    Sold Dec 2010 for 311k
    No major renovations to speak of.
    Its like the twilight zone around here.

  198. Neanderthal Economist says:

    heres another recent one… 30% premium over mid 2003 prices for a 3/2.5 town home.
    http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/36-Chatham-Ct-Robbinsville-NJ-08691/52627630_zpid/
    Sold Mar 2003 250k
    Sold Jan 2011 325k

  199. Eula says:

    It truly is hard to find informed people for this issue, nevertheless, you be understood as you understand what you are speaking about! Many thanks

  200. Barbara says:

    The park side streets of where I am looking and had a solid offer denied last fall, is now have a price war. All four properties up including the one I put an offer on last fall, have had price reductions within the last week ranging for 15k to 30k. There needs to be about an 80 k before any are to be taken seriously but I’m just going to sit back and watch the show for now. Tick tock indeed.

  201. Shore Guy says:

    Ket,

    I will not be able to check email until late tonight. Until then, here is a good article on Fukushima:

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/science/03meltdown.xml

  202. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    #205 Rent?? Oh and lets not forget the 10k to 12K a year in property taxes in many north Jersery towns before you even touch the mtg. With 5 to 10% increases every year. And upgrades and maintenance. Oh and the interest paid on a 300 to 400k mtg assuming you live there for 20 or 30 years

    The days of making a real profit in real estate are over.

  203. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    #200 Wheres Mick Collins when they need him!

  204. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    Assuming a 300K mtg at 5% for 30 years years, total interest paid is almost 300K. Assume your 10k taxes a year never increase thats another 300K. Plus the 300K Mtg over 30 years. Just saying.

  205. NJCoast says:

    which- and I don’t even have an Android

  206. serenity now says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAp2v3r-QZc
    Remember this one? Check it out.

  207. yo'me says:

    213
    “Assuming a 300K mtg at 5% for 30 years years, total interest paid is almost 300K. Assume your 10k taxes a year never increase thats another 300K. Plus the 300K Mtg over 30 years. Just saying.”

    Assuming rent=mortgage and rent never increases equal to taxes never increases.Maintenance is the only debate.Minimal maintenance just to upkeep the home for 30 years.How much do you think is the inflated selling price of the home after 30 years then deduct maintenance cost?Add tax deduction for taxes and mortgage interest.I think you are ahead.

  208. Juice Box says:

    Are You Ready To Buy?

    Charts galore.

    Spring 2011 Guide of 30 Key Charts to See Before You Buy or Sell Your Home

    http://housingstory.net/2011/03/30/spring-2011-guide-of-30-key-charts-to-see-before-you-buy-or-sell-your-home/

  209. cobbler says:

    Anyone – what is the right price to have the driveway (1,200 sqft) redone – dig up and haul away existing stuff, put in crushed rock, pave over, Belgian block?

  210. Anon E. Moose says:

    Juice [170];

    From the article you lined, largely the same Critical Race Theory tripe I’ve read before. However this tidbit re: Buffalo, No. 6 segregated city in the country, proved interesting:

    Real estate agents were eager to make money off the boom in homeownership, says Robert Silverman, a professor of urban studies at the University at Buffalo, hoping to profit from the pent-up black demand for housing and growing white fear.

    “Blockbusting was taking place, where real estate agents would go into a neighborhood with all white homeowners and basically tell people that minorities are moving in, to encourage them to sell, and then flip the houses at inflated prices to African-Americans. Then lenders wouldn’t lend to areas with an African-American population.”

    Our old friends, the Realtors. Decades of integrity in action.

  211. So What /Who Cares!! (formerly 3b) says:

    #217 I disagree. To each his own.

  212. Anon E. Moose says:

    Nom;

    I have good memories of La Scala in Little Italy; got engaged at the Admiral Fell Inn; buddy had a pseudo bachelor pad in Federal Hill until his family moved to join him and they settled in Columbia (incidentally a real estate induced separation – he moved for work, and she lagged behind with the kids in a Michigan house they were hanging onto).

  213. Kettle1^2 says:

    Moose 220

    Ahh, one o f the unspeakable, yet very real aspects of RE, what do the neighbors look like…..

  214. Barbara says:

    Eventually, when the landlord can’t make any money off of your rent, his maintenance problems will become your maintenance problems. Sure, you can withhold rent off of a 300 plumbing bill, but have fun with that 8k furnance replacement. If anything, you are safer in a shitty housing complex than a small multifamily since the complex is better sheltered from tax increases and maintenance due to the volume.

  215. Barbara says:

    220. Anon.
    I don;t need to see the people, skin color, any of that. All I look at are the front years, the condition of the houses, the overall house proud effect. Weeds in the driveway, cars on cynderblocks, bad siding, trash cans out front of the garage, garden gnomes placed in gardens without a hint of irony……buh bye.

  216. Barbara says:

    front YARDS …..I wish I had an android to blame…..

  217. Barbara says:

    Here’s an example of wackodoo pricing. The first house is 4X the better, yet is price only twice as much. Apples to apples, the 2nd house should be 400k.

    http://www.trulia.com/property/3010196888-75-N-Mountain-Ave-Montclair-NJ-07042

    http://www.trulia.com/property/3046581278-55-Llewellyn-Rd-Montclair-NJ-07042

  218. Kettle1^2 says:

    Shore,

    That NYT article is weak on a number of points.

  219. Punch My Ticket says:

    Ahhhh, nostalgia. Cleaning up old email accounts, I ran across this gem from 1/31/2007.

    —————————

    Keep More of Your Cash in Your Pocket Every Month

    Dear Punch,

    When you’re buying a new home, think about how to maximize your purchase power. An interest-only loan is one option that can help minimize your monthly payment and let you get more home for your money.

    With mortgage rates on a rising trend, Chase could offer you:

    * Lower payments than your standard
    fixed-rate mortgage
    * More cash in your pocket every month
    * The potential to purchase more home

    Learn more about our fixed-rate interest-only loans from a Chase mortgage expert or apply online today.

    ———–

    Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end…

  220. Punch My Ticket says:

    Or this ….

    ————————

    LET YOUR HOME TAKE YOU ON YOUR NEXT VACATION!!!

    Dear Punch,

    If you’re refinancing your home, purchasing a new home or even just need cash for home improvements, Chase can help you get all that AND pay for your vacation, too.

    Earn 1,300 United Mileage Plus miles for every $10,000 you borrow from Chase.

    Chase offers:

    * Competitive rates
    * Flexible options
    * Customized solutions
    * Advanced online access

  221. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Punch some real classics.

  222. Mikeinwaiting says:

    http://seekingalpha.com/article/261474-putting-a-damper-on-the-big-march-job-report-celebration?source=hp_wc

    Some excerpts from the piece.
    “Putting a Damper on the Big March Job Report Celebration”
    “As noted above, 216,000 jobs is not especially impressive, especially given the depth of the hole that our economic policymakers put us in. In only 15 of the 52 months from February 1996 to May of 2000 did the economy create fewer than 216,000 jobs. In most cases the weakness was caused by bad weather. And this was at a time when the working age population was more than 10 percent less than today.
    I have one more point skunk to toss over at the celebrators. Here is the path of the employment to population ratio (EPOP) over the downturn. Note that we have only risen slightly from the low hit in December of 2009 and the EPOP is actually a hair lower today than it was a year ago. The drop in the unemployment rate over this period was entirely due to people leaving the labor force. Now is that good news or what?”

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