From the NY Times:
A Bright Spot in the Condo Market
EVEN here — in a city that has been one of New Jersey’s most fertile breeding grounds for condominiums — construction has been virtually at a standstill since construction financing dried up several years ago.
“Nobody seems willing to take a chance on putting up anything but rentals anymore,” an exasperated Hudson County developer said last month.
But Martin Brady, the vice president for sales at the Marketing Directors, a company that markets both condominium and rental buildings in Manhattan and New Jersey, said the appetite for condos was growing stronger in Hudson County because developers had adjusted to more “value-conscious” buyers.
“The right product — efficiently sized, well priced, with amenities and finishes that are beautiful but not over-the-top — is well received,” Mr. Brady said.
Toll Brothers’ new 1450 Washington building here — a 156-unit building named for its street address — may be a case in point. Toll, which has a history of successes in Hoboken, started construction in August 2010, when sales pace for condos was generally at its weakest.
…
“We’ve already sold a third of the units,” said Benjamin D. Jogodnik, a senior vice president of the Toll Brothers City Living division, recently, “and we don’t have a formal sales office open yet.” (A sales office is set to open on Nov. 10 at the nearly complete building, called 1450 Washington, which is its address.)There are signed contracts for 45 units, and deposits in advance of signings on another 8.The condo, expected to open for occupancy in March, is part of Toll Brothers’ waterfront complex in northeastern Hoboken. It stands across the street from the Hudson Tea building, a onetime factory that was a rental until Toll converted it to condos in 2006, and just east of Harborside Lofts, another factory building converted to condos, in 2007.
Hudson Tea and Harborside Lofts were priced near the top of the scale at the time they were created. At Harborside Lofts, which is now entirely sold, studios started at $450,000 and penthouses ranged up to $2.5 million.
…
“Since then the economy has shifted — obviously,” Mr. Jogodnik said. “We studied the market very carefully before designing a product that would appeal to the group in the widest section of the pyramid of today’s buyers.”In neighboring Jersey City, said Mr. Brady of Marketing Directors, 47 contracts have been signed since July at a new building at Liberty Harbor, the community being developed by Peter Mocco in slow phases on a 28-acre site adjacent to the historic Paulus Hook and Van Voorst neighborhoods.
The Liberty Harbor units are “efficiently designed, 650 to 700 square feet, with hardwood floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, priced from the high $200,000s to the low-to-mid $300,000s,” Mr. Brady said.
When condo construction virtually ceased in Hoboken, Mr. Brady said, finished condos slowly continued to sell — even at the priciest level. The 38 condos on upper floors of the W Hoboken Hotel originally sold out quickly in 2008 when asking prices were set at $1.7 million. A number of those sales then fell apart, and about a dozen units were put back on the market.
…
As for 1450 Washington, prices for studios start in the low $300,000s; one-bedrooms in the high $300,000s; two-bedrooms in the low $600,00s; three-bedrooms with a minimum of 1,500 square feet in the mid-$900,00s. On higher floors in the two-tiered building, prices are somewhat higher.
From Bloomberg:
You Can’t Fix a Burst Bubble With More Hot Air: Caroline Baum
It’s almost six years since the air started to leak, then gush, out of the U.S. housing market, and the best one can say is that residential real estate is bouncing along (dancing maybe? -jb) the bottom.
Almost every housing indicator, from starts to sales to prices, has been flat-lining for three years. Various government initiatives, including a first-time-homebuyer tax credit, gave home sales a temporary boost in 2009 and 2010. But just as water seeks its own level, home prices are still seeking theirs.
They’ve had lots of impediments along the way, well- intentioned though they may have been. (The counterargument, that things would have been worse without intervention, can’t be proven.) From the Federal Reserve’s purchase of $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities in 2009-2010 as part of its first round of quantitative easing to renewed talk of additional MBS purchases to temporary tax credits to mortgage modification and forgiveness programs, housing has been the center of government attention and ministration — at least until President Barack Obama pivoted to jobs last summer.
Even now it’s very much in the administration’s cross hairs. Earlier attempts to facilitate mortgage modifications via programs with abbreviations like HAMP and HARP all fell short of expectations. Fewer than 900,000 homeowners have refinanced their mortgages through the Home Affordable Refinance Program compared with the 4 million to 5 million touted by Obama when he introduced the program in 2009.
…
So last month, the president said he was revamping HARP, waiving fees and the 125 percent loan-to-value ceiling so that borrowers with no equity in their homes will now qualify for a refinancing. (For every borrower who sees his mortgage payment reduced there’s an offsetting saver who receives less interest income from his MBS. In some circles this would be considered a wash.)
Why is so much energy being directed, or misdirected, at housing? Wouldn’t those efforts be better spent charting a sound course for the overall economy rather than targeting a specific sector?
For starters, housing’s footprint is larger than its current 2.4 percent share of gross domestic product. Even at its recent peak in 2005, residential investment, as it’s known in the GDP accounts, made up only 6 percent of GDP, the highest since the 1970s when inflation was driving demand for real assets.
…
For most Americans, their home is their major store of wealth. The value of household real estate peaked in the fourth quarter of 2006 at $25 trillion, falling to $16.2 trillion in the second three months of this year, according to the Fed’s latest Flow of Funds report. A reverse wealth effect is depressing consumer sentiment and spending.
It’s also limiting mobility. Unemployed homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth can’t pick up and move to areas of the country where labor is in demand.
Finally, home purchases beget spending on big-ticket items, such as refrigerators, washing machines and furniture.
…
All the discussion about closing tax loopholes to raise revenue tiptoes around the mortgage deduction. Why? Because it’s a bad time to remove an incentive for home purchases.
It’s always a bad time, but good times won’t return to the real-estate market until prices are allowed to fall so they can perform their traditional role of allocating supply.
There are still plenty of reasons to own a home, but the deductibility of mortgage interest isn’t one of them. For the last two decades, the nation’s housing policy was designed to convert as many Americans as possible into homeowners. It was aided and abetted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which lowered the standards on mortgages they guaranteed; lax lenders; fraudulent loans, with borrowers and lenders often in cahoots; bankers that securitized and sold the mortgages; credit-rating companies that thought enough collateralized junk was worthy of a AAA; and, yes, a public eager for a free lunch.
The 11 million homeowners currently upside down on their mortgages probably wonder about the wisdom of such a policy, which succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest imagination. The homeownership rate rose to 69.2 percent in 2004 from 63.8 percent a decade earlier before slipping back to 66.3 percent now.
The rest of us can only imagine what other calamities (think ethanol) lie in store, courtesy of a tax code that encourages what the government deems to be “good” behavior at the time. Good can turn bad without warning.
From CNN/Money:
‘I’m home!’ Adult children move back in
With job openings scarce, getting adult children to leave the nest is becoming a lot more difficult.
The number of adult children who live with their parents, especially young males, has soared since the economy started heading south. Among males age 25 to 34, 19% live with their parents today, a 5% increase from 2005, according to Census data released Thursday. Meanwhile, 10% of women in that age group live at home, up from 8% six years ago.
Among the college-aged set, the 18- to 24-year-olds, 59% of males and 50% of females lived with their parents, up from 53% and 46%, respectively.
The fact that so many young people are unable or unwilling to flee the nest “cuts into the formation of new households quite a lot,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics.
Zandi calculated that there are about 150,000 fewer households being formed per year than the 1.2 million that would be in a normal, well-functioning economy.
Have fun with this one folks..
From the OC Register:
Bought a home in ’06? Prices still down in ’17
If you bought a home during housing’s price peak in 2006 or 2007, don’t expect to see its value to get back to what you paid for it by 2017.
But if you buy this year, you could see your home’s value rise around 34.6% within the next six years — a gain of about $149,000 on a median priced home.
From HousingWire:
Freddie could take more than a decade to unload REO inventory
Freddie Mac vendors sold fewer REO properties in the third quarter than they did earlier in the year as nonperforming loans continue to climb.
…
If the current trend holds, and the GSE reduces a net 1,000 REO from its inventory every quarter, it would take 60 quarters to unload its entire inventory — roughly 15 years.
Good Morning New Jersey
Why Jon gets a pass
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/as-regulators-pressed-changes-corzine-pushed-back-and-won/?pagemode=print
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/idINIndia-60313620111104
He gets a pass
Wonder what Jon’s bonus was just before the bankruptcy ??????
Guessing around 600 million
Speaking of Corzine:
http://media.philly.com/storage/dailynews/covers/toon.jpg
Never underestimate the ability of an editorial cartoonist to cut right to the point.
Maybe Corzine learnerd from the Shrub and just “misunderestimated” the risks he was taking.
learned, too
Wall Street, meet Boardwalk and Park Place.
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/signe/
http://www.finalternatives.com/node/18635?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Finalternatives+%28FINalternatives%29
Corzine resigns , whats the over /under on a perp walk?
From the last thread:
“I drove a yellow 1973 Delta 88 in college”
Between that and the bus, you drove some prime vehicles.
Corzine is part of the “Club”. Members of the “Club” never do jail time. Even if he weren’t a member, Jonny was in charge of the Democrats national fundraising for Senate candidates prior to being NJ governor. I am sure he knows where plenty of skeletons are buried that more or less make him immune from government prosecution.
I would bet the life of my kids that absolutely nothing will happen to Corslime.
Wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him back at another WS casino in a year or two.
It is OK to scam and steal…as long as you’re a member of the Club.
Pretty soon, the Dept. of Justice will be renamed the Star Chamber, too.
There’s a Department of Justice?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-03/sec-said-to-review-possible-insider-trading-in-mf-bonds.html
He may have to go on the Lamb at Carla’s .
I think Carla must have finished her free ride at Seton Hall’s law school by now so maybe JC will hire her for his defense.
Why does a billionaire wants the headache of being a public servant? PROTECTION!
Dissident HEHEHE says:
November 4, 2011 at 7:48 am
Corzine is part of the “Club”. Members of the “Club” never do jail time. Even if he weren’t a member, Jonny was in charge of the Democrats national fundraising for Senate candidates prior to being NJ governor. I am sure he knows where plenty of skeletons are buried that more or less make him immune from government prosecution.
grim #2
Informative article but it does raise questions as to what is wrong with the general mentality of our society today. Extended family under one roof is a norm in many countries and Just a couple of generations ago it was a norm to have extended family under one roof in this country, Parents grandparents even single adult brothers and sisters sharing a common home for the benefit of all. (Yes it can be challenging but it can also be rewarding,) My mother had 6 brothers and sister yet she and my father were the one’s that took my grandparents in, I was raised with my grandparents (until they passed) in my home and it seemed perfectly normal and because everybody got along it was a positive experience for me. I like many of mid aged peers exited college with many opportunities, I would hope that my daughter who is in college may one day strike out on her own, but even with an education these days you are not guaranteed a living wage, If she is not fortunate enough to land the type of high paying job out of school that would enable her to survive in this area, I would never kick her to the curb. Buts that’s just me.
Did Corzine really get much of anything out of MF? Something like $4-5 million in compensation (don’t get me wrong, it’s alot of money), but his $10 million in options are worthless, and his $12 million parachute was left on the plane. Didn’t he clear something like $400m during the Goldman IPO? Clearly, he didn’t need the money.
“its called ego” i run a wall stree firm and I’m friends with Barry
Another part of the “Club”. Members of the “Club” never do jail time
30 companies paid ‘less than zero’ taxes in recent years
While the statutory tax rate for corporations in the U.S. is 35 percent, the report says companies use legal tax loopholes and move business offshore to evade taxes. As a result, the average tax rate for all 280 companies was 18.5 percent over the last three years. Only 71 of the 280 companies, or about 25 percent, paid more than 30 percent in taxes over the three years, with an average tax rate of 32.3 percent.
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/03/8617728-30-companies-paid-less-than-zero-taxes-in-recent-years
(15) shore,
And the 88 sometimes doubled as a bus. Met one of my Smithie girlfriends that way.
What the heck are people thinking? Whether Cain broke the law in the 1990s may not matter to some people BUT his current dissembling should give every one of his supporterts serious pause.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cain-rises-in-post-abc-poll-despite-scandal-most-republicans-dismiss-allegations/2011/11/04/gIQApcgSlM_story.html?hpid=z1
Nom,
Here is something that would attract those Smithies. “Come strap yourself into my Cuisinart mobile. Oh, and make sure you keep your arms and legs close to your body”:
http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/03/8617095-manned-electric-multi-copter-takes-flight?google_editors_picks=true
The Liberty Harbor units are “efficiently designed, 650 to 700 square feet, with hardwood floors, granite counters, stainless steel appliances, priced from the high $200,000s to the low-to-mid $300,000s,” Mr. Brady said.
P.T. Barnum would be proud.
“efficiently designed”
So are shoeboxes but I wouldn’t want to live in one.
Funnel 24 That one thing I don’t understand about this country compared to others, and it’s how some turn their backs on the elderly parents
gary,
Of course, for $460/ft. sq., it sounds like quite a deal.
#24funnel: I am the child of immigrant parents, and we all lived at home until we got married, so did everyone else in the neighborhood. And, gasp!!!! we lived at home and commuted to college. When we got out of school, our first jobs gave us the ability to save money, so that when we did leave home we had a base, we paid for the most part for our weddings. Of course there was no such thing as destination weddings, and we had no student loans. And today is better?
#31 gary: Just in time for Wall St hiring……. Oh wait, never mind.
But if you buy this year, you could see your home’s value rise around 34.6% within the next six years — a gain of about $149,000 on a median priced home.
And I have a bridge to sell you as well!
3b,
It’s obvious I went into the wrong line of work.
The great lies:
1) This won’t hurt a bit;
2) Yes, I will respect you in the morning;
3) I am from the Government, I am here to help; and,
4) You could see your home’s value rise around 34.6% within the next six years
Day 7 without power. The only thing that is preventing me from doing bodily harm to PSE&G is the fact that Montclair and Glen Ridge have declared tonight Halloween. So there is candy in my future. As well as a neighborhood party with lots of booze and the best neighbors in town.
Last night PSE&G sent a truck to our neighbors across the street. Men on the truck politely told me that they did not have a work order for us, and that it was the end of their shift and they did not know if another truck was coming to us. Apparently PSE&G’s system is not smart enough to assign work orders on the same street to one truck.
We got a robo-call yesterday morning from PSE&G where they “apologized” for missing their goal of getting us back online by Wednesday night. If they miss tonight, maybe they will be really, really sorry. Lil Gator is starting to get pissed.
Shore (39) –
#5 Your power will be restored by tonight.
http://mobile.nj.com/advnj/db_96841/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=NzkVExMF
Telling you, better check Carla’s purse.
Grim,
Carla is old news. I bet Jon has been slipping it into many different purses since then.
“Your power will be restored by tonight”
Gator,
Did they say “tonight” or “tomorrow” or did they say they would restore power by “November 4”? I ask because each date in November comes once a year so…..
Well, better go for a whole-house generator — summer without AC sucks.
I hear thew salt mine calling, Obama needs the money.
“Thew” is Android for “the.”
Shore – Some of our neighbors have been told they will get power back by October 20, 2009.
Latest answer is “Friday at midnight. That’s what we’re sticking with.” At least Friday comes around once/week.
Poking around at al Jazeera I came across this:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2011/11/03/kodaks-lost-moment
Stu/John,
Don’t you two have some Kodak investments?
gary (31)-
All the buyers are Indian and Chinese IT wage slaves.
Mike and 3b #33&35
I just don’t understand where the idea of a kid remaining home after college is a bad thing, They are portrayed as leeches or lazy, or viewed as unsuccessful if they don’t strike out on there own as soon as they land a job, if they can get one. I was 23 and 6 months out of college when I was married and my wife and I bought our first house, Things were different in 88, Jobs were plentiful and they paid a living wage, not a bankers salary but I could pay the bills. Today you have kids with degree’s waiting tables or working at Walmart with no upward opportunity. So how are they suppose to leave the nest and help “support a well functioning economy” as Mark Zandi so tactfully put it.
You can cram an extended family of at least 11 or 12 into one of these 750 sf JC shacks.
funnel (51)-
The whole necronomy is broken. Kaput. Tilt. Nix.
All that is left is the charade of functionality…and plenty of media sources who continue to shill for a way of life that is dead and gone forever. Of course, the fact that the standard of living of bygone days is unattainable for Joe6P serves as a subtle public depressant/generic mind control for TPTB.
The great Amerikan bank robbery continues, unabated. We will not wake up until we are clothed in tatters and roaming the countryside in packs.
All big businesses want it both ways, They want a well functioning economy and people that buy “THEIR” products so they can give out huge bonuses to Managment and CEO”S , but none of those same companies want to give the general employee a salary that would give them the extra money to go out and buy these products/services that these companies sell.
I would think Jon boy better hire some goons to keep himself from ending up in a box.
SIPC protection is only good for 500k of your original investment. Imagine having $10 million in an MF Global account and now it gone?
re #40 – gator -heard there were a few people arrested for harassing PSE&G workers.
Meat [50],
You are absolutely correct!
Lol – watch the first video.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/goons_occupy_brawl_street_MuFbzuYYRoEkjw9RZ5xcSM#ixzz1cjucchCq
Meat #53 I Was actually writing #54 and saw your response when I sent it, I agree with you 100%. This occupy wall street is the tip of the iceberg if things do not change we are going to have the ugliness and stench of death scenario’s that you so fondly talk about. They can’t put everyone in jail. All it will take is enough people that are willing to go to jail and then there will be change.
Nom – Olds chicken car (from yesterday): My uncle from Clifton had multiple ’73 Delta 88’s. They ran forever. Something about those 350’s ran better than all the Chevy and Buick 350’s (back before the late ’70s when they were all the same engine). I think the chicken car is actually a Ninety-Eight, basically the same as the ’74 Buick LeSabre I drove in college. 455 big block, $5 in gas to go anywhere, I don’t think I could afford to fill it up completely until I graduated. Nowhere near as reliable as the Delta 88 with a small block, but it had 4 ash trays and 3 lighters;-)
Any takers?
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=grpn
So who got it at $20 before the sucker money enters????
54
you’re right
since the products are now made overseas (with slave labor) and sold to US consumers (mostly), the market would have stopped this nonsense eventually if it wasn’t for the unabated credit creation from the federal reserve system including all the members banks et al
individuals replaced their incomes/savings with credit/debt… and now we’re here
[58] juice
The guy who dropped the nutjob was pretty nutty himself:
“In a bizarre rant after the dust settled, Iskender told The Post that Clinch “is a police agent.”
“He is a Bloomberg agent, disturbing and disrupting the protest,” said Iskender, who after the fight donned a message board that read, “USA-Turk Army Ended My Diplomatic Career 6 Times,” and also charged that “AC Tropicana Casino Robbed My $30K Pay For My Driving Job.”
Bloomberg, Iskender ranted, “does everything” and is controlling what happens at the park.
“This is Bloomberg,” he said, pointing at cops. “[The] Bloomberg police machine. [The] police state finds those guys to infiltrate, to disrupt it. That’s what Bloomberg wants.”
And for my Bay State friends, these are the people that Elizabeth Warren is backing. Enough said.
funnel – the real IPO was the VC money last year, the retail buyers are just the marks.
#54 Henry Ford Understood that 100 years ago.
funnel _ I will elaborate further. Normally an IPO is a way for a company to raise money to fund operations and expansion.
With Groupon the VCs infused about 950 million in cash late last year, of which only 160 million went to operations. The rest went to the Directors who cashed out of their preferred stock and first round VCs.
Is this guy stoned? Really, it is a serious question. Do we want this guy inthe WH?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M4gz97Y9W8
#51 I agree 100%. In may day and it is not that long ago (80’s) every one who went to college (most the children of immigrants) lived at home. Going away just was not done. Plus since we all shared rooms with siblings, there was no appeal with having to share a room with some stranger. I know the whole drill about expanding your horizons and all. by going away. But lots of these kids going away, its like playing house they pretend that they are all growing up and living on their own.
Longer version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TtsjT70eME&feature=related
Duuuuuddddde! Vote for me, and pass the munchies buddy.
#67 Juice: i just don’t understand this Groupon madness. The company is supposedly valued at over 12 BILLION dollars!!!! For what!!!
Shore #68
Yes, but he didn’t inhale its a contact buzz
Ahh, kind of like being at a Grateful Dead concert, back in the day.
re : # 72 – 3B – Priceline’s stock is $500 a share. Who would have thought that dog
would have ever recovered from $1.49 in 2002.
Btw you want to add Vietnam as a possible expat SHTF locale or retirement place. Most people there speak at least some English and the younger generation are pretty proficient. The cost of living is next to nothing. The “Communist Party” running the country is less communist than many of the state governments in this country. On top of that it’s a beautiful country with multiple climates – you can live year around in 70-80 degrees in the south or have four seasons in the north.
Low balls of the rich, if not famous:
http://online.wsj.com/video/maine-compound-slashed-to-55-million/5FA29058-F315-4B9B-8EE7-9C99C3E83401.html?mod=lifestyle_video_newsreel
#76 capt
I have friends with a nice compound in Saigon.
Visas are a pain, but not really a problem. Cash usually greases the wheels.
Meat, Gary, Shore you fundamentally misunderstand the JC market. Many of those buyers are youngins with mommy and daddy’s bankbook, you do have the asians, generally not the cram 90 people in an apartment indians, those people tend to live in JSQ. It is utterly ridiculous what apartments cost in JC/Hoboken but it is reality and people think $460 psf is a good deal compared to $600 psf during the boom. Some how 77 hudson pretty much sold out at a higher price than that(Better location), crazy! Prices I think are still falling on the gold coast for resales, but it is still holding up well and develops seem to get their price.
Huge asteroid will pass Earth within the Moon’s orbit on November 8
Shore
The scary part for the GOP is that Cains polling numbers are holding. He could get the nod.
I’d rather be dead laying in the gutter somewhere in the East Tremont section of the Bronx than alive in Vietnam. It’s beyond me how anyone could consider living there. Let me stop by Kabul on the way and see if that’s an option. :o
Here is a good one on Colleges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/the-china-conundrum.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all?src=tp
Gary,
Your loss. One of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to. Saigon’s a bit much but the rest of the country is nice.
Regarding that NY Times piece. One is left to wonder whether some of the universities are willing to overlook falsehoods in the interest of cash-paying students:
snip
As for allowing an agent to write her essay, she sees that decision in pragmatic terms: “At that time, my English not better as now.”
Most Chinese students who are enrolled at American colleges turn to intermediaries to shepherd them through the admissions process, according to a study by researchers at Iowa State University published in the Journal of College Admission.
Education agents have long played a role in sending Chinese students abroad, dating back decades to a time when American dollars were forbidden in China and only agents could secure the currency to pay tuition. Admission experts say they can provide an important service, acting as guides to an application process that can seem totally, well, foreign. Application materials are frequently printed only in English. Chinese students often are baffled by the emphasis on extracurriculars and may have never written a personal essay. Requiring recommendations from guidance counselors makes little sense in a country where few high schools have one on staff. Many assume the U.S. News & World Report rankings issue is an official government publication.
But while there are certainly aboveboard agents and applications, other recruiters engage in fraudulent behavior. An administrator at one high school in Beijing says agents falsified her school’s letterhead to produce doctored transcripts and counterfeit letters of recommendation, which she discovered when a parent called to complain about being charged a fee by an agent for documents from the school. James E. Lewis, director of international admissions and recruiting at Kansas State University, says he once got a clutch of applications clearly submitted by a single agent, with all fees charged to the same bank branch, although the students came from several far-flung cities. The grades on three of the five transcripts, he says, were identical.
Zinch China, a consulting company that advises American colleges and universities about China, last year published a report based on interviews with 250 Beijing high school students bound for the United States, their parents, and a dozen agents and admissions consultants. The company concluded that 90 percent of Chinese applicants submit false recommendations, 70 percent have other people write their personal essays, 50 percent have forged high school transcripts and 10 percent list academic awards and other achievements they did not receive. The “tide of application fraud,” the report predicted, will likely only worsen as more students go to America.
snip
Btw in Hoi An for $600 I got 11 custom tailored shirts, 2 custom suits and a winter coat. Granted these aren’t Armani but as good as anything you’re going to get at a Jos. A Bank, Banane Republic etc and they are tailored.
Also from the Times piece:
Patricia J. Parker, assistant director of admissions at Iowa State, which enrolls more than 1,200 Chinese undergraduates, says students have proudly told her about memorizing thousands of vocabulary words, studying scripted responses to verbal questions and learning shortcuts that help them guess correct answers.
She has seen conditionally admitted students increase their Toefl scores by 30 or 40 points, out of a possible 120, after a summer break, despite no significant improvement in their ability to speak English. Her students, she says, don’t see this intense test-prepping as problematic: “They think the goal is to pass the test. They’re studying for the test, not studying English.”
But wait, there’s more. I appreciate the effort to help people succeed but one should not water down requirements because some people in class cannot meet them:
But some professors say they have significantly changed their teaching practices to accommodate the students. During quizzes, Dr. St. Pierre now requires everyone to leave their books at the front of the classroom to prevent cheating, a precaution not taken during any of his two decades at Delaware. And participation counts less, so as not to sink the grades of foreign students. In the past, he required members of the class to give two or three presentations during the semester. Now he might ask them to give one. “I’ve had American students saying they don’t understand what’s being said in the presentations,” he says. “It’s painful.”
Shore – The Chinese Students story is expanded here.
* 90 percent of recommendations are fake
* 70 percent of essays are written by someone else
* 50 percent of transcripts are fabricated
* 30 percent of financial aid applications contain lies
* 10 percent of awards/achievements are fake
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-now-know-every-trick-in-the-book-for-getting-into-a-us-college-2011-11#ixzz1cky97ihf
#89 Juice: Financial Aid????
Dealing with universities is beginning to sound like dealing with various municipal inspectors, pay up and all will be fine:
Many arrive at Delaware expecting to take English classes for just a few months, but end up spending a year or more at the language institute, paying $2,850 per eight-week session.
Chuck Xu and Edison Ding have been in Delaware’s English program for a full year. Their English is, at best, serviceable, and they struggle to carry on a basic conversation with a reporter. Mr. Ding says he paid an agent about $3,000 to prep him for standardized exams, fill out his application and help write his essay in English. What was the essay about? Mr. Ding doesn’t recall.
[70] shore
You are drinking the MSNBC kool-aid. From the clips I saw, Perry was cracking wise, getting in some pretty good digs at his opponents (and they were really good digs), and having some fun with the state slogan “live free or die” (which is something of a hobby in the Granite State but I guess you have to live there to know that).
The guy shows that he has a sense of humor, which is supposedly not out of character for him in less public settings, and the press jumps on him because (1) depending on the outlet, it’s what they do, and (2) anything that is different on day two is news to them. In fact, when you consider that Herman Cain was calling for more levity in the campaign just days prior, and the fact that Perry is perceived to be a hardnosed SOB by some, one can argue that Perry’s humor was actually calculated. Factor in the fact that he made local jokes, and pretty decent jibes at his opponents that resonated, and it seems to dispel the notion that the humor was unintentional or chemically-induced.
The suggestion that he was stoned or drunk is an old oppo method of casting aspersions on an opponent, designed to get the opponent to deny something.
And now for the Jamil moment: Anyone have any press or pundit coverage suggesting that Howard Dean was drunk or stoned when he did The Scream?
Live Free and Die Anyway
Now for the bouns question, forom where does this come?
Curl Up and Dye
Bonus
Nom,
With Dean, the characterization was that he was imbalanced, not drunk and not stoned. Given the choice, stoned or drunk is likely a better skewering.
#88 Shore
My SIL has been a professor at UMass for over 30 years. Last year she gave her students a test she had given in the ’70’s and more than 95% failed.
NJC,
That is sobering. It makes one wonder what the little snowflakes are learning.
Did they get a ribbon for taking the test?
JCer (79)-
Developers not happy. Mocco getting skinned on his recent conversions. Many selling at a net loss/barely breakeven.
Props to the guys who at least understand your first loss is your best loss. The smart developers are getting liquid and cutting back on future plans.
NJC,
I wonder if she helped educate Nom (although I think he got most of his education at Smith and Mt. H).
Shore, 94
Hair Salon on Rte 22 W.
Forum? I dunno.
sl
[70] shore
Watched your longer version (not all of it, no time today), and a few things struck me.
First, he seems to have tailored the speech quite well for the audience. This is a cardinal rule of “speechifying.” Second, he uses a lot of colloquialisms, which suggest that it isn’t intended to be a pure stump speech, and it also (intentionally in my view) contrasts him with Romney (remember, that is his goal in NH). Third, the props and delivery were pretty good, and while it may be more akin to a stand-up comedian or my preacher here in Westfield (similarities are amazing), remember the first two points: Know Your Audience and Try Not To Be Romney.
I did not hear slurred speech, incomplete thoughts (there were short tangents, but he returned to theme), or any rambling (though we may disagree on what constitutes rambling). The gesticulation was a bit much but it was in keeping with the delivery style, and given the choppiness of the video, it was hard to judge if the gesticulating was stunted. The extemporaneous speaking was fine, and I would have expected an inebriated candidate to slip up there. The comedic delivery wasn’t the best, but then we cannot expect a state governor to have the same practiced delivery as Eddie Murphy.
Now, I expect that there will be much made of everything from his ums and ahs (always present in extemporanous speech–just watch Obama sometime) to his blink rate as evidence of intoxication. So, if anyone wants to put videos of speeches done in similar situations up against this (extemporanous speech to a themed audience, not a canned campaign speech), then we can perhaps see if this speech differed in its delivery.
Until I see that, I am not drinking the kool aid.
#86 Capt
Bangk0k is a lot cheaper. They had you an Armani catalogue to pick your styles.
SL,
The Blues Brothers.
http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/images/scmods/locations/beauty-salon.jpg
[101] shore,
The education I got at MHC and Smith was in international political economies, nuclear warfighting doctrine, and amateur gynecology. Everything else was at UMass, with some coursework at Amherst and Harvard.
Coast, what did your SIL teach?
[105] shore guy
Grand Prix. Mmmmm.
[96] shore
“With Dean, the characterization was that he was imbalanced, not drunk and not stoned. Given the choice, stoned or drunk is likely a better skewering.”
To paraphrase Churchill “Tomorrow, I will be sober and you will still be ugly.”
gary (82)-
I think you have all it takes to become a big-time hash dealer who only bathes twice a year.
“Let me stop by Kabul on the way and see if that’s an option. :o”
box (89)-
So, Chinese students are as fake as their lead-painted toys, knockoff designer goods, pirated DVDs and melamine milk.
* 90 percent of recommendations are fake
* 70 percent of essays are written by someone else
* 50 percent of transcripts are fabricated
* 30 percent of financial aid applications contain lies
* 10 percent of awards/achievements are fake
#101 shore
If he took German she did.
I’m off to feed Panic!At the Disco- whoever they are.
[97] coast,
I think your SIL will also tell you that UMass isn’t an easy school, that they have standards and enforce them pretty rigorously. Pull under a 2.0 for two semesters and they show you the door. No exceptions.
I graduated near the top of my class in law school, and got my tax law degree from NYU. Some folks think I am actually pretty smart. But early on, during a two-semester stint, I struggled at UMass—in fact, I got far better grades at Harvard—and it killed my average. While I was there, the drop out rate was 25%. And my cousin, universally known to be brilliant, was one—she actually flunked out, as did a friend who is now an industrial engineer.
I say of UMass that it is an easy school to get into, but a hard one to stay in. After UMass, law school was a breeze.
[111] coast,
No german (all the german I know came from Hogan’s Heroes reruns and my au pairs).
They had laptops where you picked the suit etc that you wanted to knock off, they didn’t turn out to bad.
NJC,
Is that at Starlight?
I keep hoping your old friend Bruce will hit the road again. Little Stephen’s Underground Garage has been playing a boatload of Springsteen, seemingly weighted towards songs from The Promise. I don’t know if that is a teaser to the audiance or just wishful thinking that the E-Streeters still have another tour in them. I hope so; the family needs some entertainment.
Taibbi calls Mayor Bloomberg Marie Antoinette
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/mike-bloombergs-marie-antoinette-moment-20111103?link=mostpopular5
[111] coast
Occurs to me to ask: Amherst Campus?
Your Panic guys:
I will stick with Rosalita, et al.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCto3PCn8wo
Fabius, here’s a little light bedtime reading.
http://www.ctj.org/corporatetaxdodgers/CorporateTaxDodgersReport.pdf
I’d have an easier time with their analysis if their bias wasn’t so pronounced.
Nom, I think you’ll find many state schools are far more willing to through their students under the proverbial bus than fancy private schools.
Counterfeit chinese students, who’d guess that…
Meat, Peter Mocco is a crook. He’s tied into corrupt hudson county democrats and probably the Mafia. Given how much he paid for the 28 acres(something like $10m) he’s using for liberty harbor, he’d make a tidy profit at 300 psf. He has successfully avoided the union! Anything he’s losing money on is his own greedy fault because he got literally tons of valuable land for free. Condos are dead, but they make a killing on rentals!
that should read throw their students under the bus!
#10 There: 30 percent of financial aid applications contain lies.
Financial aid???????
Let me see if I understand this. If foreign students leagally come to the United States for college, they pay full out-of-state tuition. If foreigners sneak into the United States, we are supposed to give them in-state tuition, and maybe even grants?
Is there anything resembling sense to be found in this approach?
Interesting, from an ASCAP newsletter:
The U.S. copyright industries, including music, television, film, book, radio, and newspaper and magazine industries employed more than 10.6 million workers and contributed more than $1.6 trillion, to the U.S. economy in 2010, or 11.1% of GDP, according to a new report commissioned by the National Music Publishers’ Association and the Recording Industry Assn. of American other major copyright trade organizations as part of the International Intellectual Property Alliance.
Nom,
From that same ASCAP newsletter — who would have guessed that Android phones break more than iPhones?
Fitting older versions of Google’s Inc popular Android software to cheaper cellphones could send the repair costs of global telecoms operators up as much as $2 billion, a study by wireless services firm WDS showed. Costly hardware failures are more common on Android devices than on Apple Inc iPhones and Research In Motion Inc BlackBerry phones, which have strict control over the components used in their devices, WDS data showed.
Pacman Kimmel duet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXkvJGpkmhs&sns=fb
shore (123)-
Giving illegals financial aid and extra considerations for higher education is just another way TPTB wages war against us.
Not here legally? Get your ass out, or be forcibly deported (preferably by ejection from an INS van) at the Tijuana or El Paso border crossing. Enjoy exploring and learning about the country where you actually have legal citizenship.
Mommy and daddy never bothered to tell you you were illegal? Too f’ing bad; it doesn’t change the fact that you are. Get the hell out.
shore [123]
Foreign students get some grants and scholarships from the dedicated privately endowed funds, and also from USAID (I think it is USAID but not 100% sure). Private scholarships are extremely difficult to get. Govt money as far as I know is given on a country of origin basis, and very limited. The schools in principle can give academic scholarships to foreigners, unless someone (like state legislature for the state school) prohibits them to. In most cases, foreign undergrad students are source of revenue, not expense.
Yeah, I meant foreign students with student visas, not illegal immigrants…
JJ: Do the Mark Sanchez….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F9Wv46QvV0
How much for candy boom-boom Charlie?
Captain Foresight HEHEHE says:
November 4, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Btw in Hoi An for $600 I got 11 custom tailored shirts, 2 custom suits and a winter coat. Granted these aren’t Armani but as good as anything you’re going to get at a Jos. A Bank, Banane Republic etc and they are tailored.
I have a friend whose mother, an adventurous globe trotter type, bought in in Vietnam and retired there. Said it was great the first few years but now the crime is getting bad and she cannot afford to move back.
nom: The crossing guard down the street is a huge TB Rays fan. Today he was wearing a TB Playoffs ’11 baseball cap. I asked where did you get that? He said it was genuine from the TB locker room. His daughter works directly for the St. Pete’s chief of police and often gets posted at the dome. She was on duty when the Rays clinched and they had extra hats and took one for her dad………WHAT A GREAT HEARTWARMING STORY …..YES????
[133] chifi
That’s how I got my Patriots hat with the number 52 in it when the Pats clinched the playoffs in 2001.
Otherwise, no, not heartwarming at all.
Chi,
Actually saw some kid cooking on a grill in Hanoi wearing a Mets hat. I can send you the picture if you like. I asked him what he was cooking. He said, “Hamstring ala Reyes; it costs $1,000,000 each time it shows up at your plate but it’s only available a couple weeks per month”. At least that’s what I heard him say.
Who here is a Captain Beefheart fan?
HEHEHE: what going on with the Hoboken hospital thing? I don’t really keep up….
For those who remember my dogs, we had to put Alpine to sleep today…
Grim,
Sorry to hear about your loss. Regardless of how necessary or humane, it still sucks.
Chi fi-st marys sold. Debt burden is gone . Zimmer crushed mason- russo corruption crew.
I have to give it to her, she seems to outsmart the council retards at almost every turn
For anyone looking for an evening of Rock and Blues, Bonamassa is at the Beacon Theatre tonight and tomorrow.
138. Sorry Dude.
Missed Buffet’s free concert today for the Parrot Heads on Fleming and Duval streets.
(138) grim,
I’m so sorry. I got misty today thinking about that very topic. A sign I guess.
(139) shore,
True. We just passed the second anniversary of my first Boston terrier’s passing, and it still leaves a knot.
And when a friend was facing it recently, my counsel was that there was no way to avoid the hurt and guilt, and in the end, it was only the dog that mattered.
grim (138)-
I’m very sorry for your loss. Dogs are family.
Nom,
Missed the earlier post, no kool aid here. I just appear on the various US and foreign networks from time to time, I am not an acolyte of any of them.
Clot,
For many people, given the choice of being with a dog or certain members of their family, they would pick the the dog.
Margin call Monday?
“The most important news announcement of the day was not anything to came out of Cannes (as nothing did), nor from Greece (the merry go round farce there continues unabated). No, it was a brief paragraph distributed by the CME long after everyone had gone home, and was already on their 3rd drink. It is critical, because not only is this announcement a direct consequence of what happened with MF Global several days ago, but because also it confirms one of our biggest concerns: systemic liquidity is non-existanet. We confirmed interbank liquidity in Europe was at an all time low earlier today, and can only assume the same is true for US banks. But what is very disturbing is that this is just as true at the exchange level, where it appears the aftermath of the MF collapse is just now being felt. What exactly was the announcement? Unless we are completely reading it incorrectly, it is nothing short of a margin call for tens if not hundreds of billions worth of product. Because as of close of business on November 4, today, the CME just made the maintenance margin, traditionally about 26% lower than the initial margin for specs, equal. For everything. Which means that by close of business Monday, millions of options and futures holders will be forced to deposit billions in additional capital to the CME just so they are not found to be margin deficient, and thus receive a margin call. Naturally, since it is very unlikely that this incremental amount of liquidity can be easily procured in one business day, we anticipate the issuance of hundreds of thousands of margin calls Monday, followed by forced liquidations of margin accounts across America… and the world. Just like when Lehman blew up, it took 5 days for Money Markets to break. Is this unprecedented elimination in the distinction between initial and maintenance margin the post-MF equivalent of the first domino to fall this time around?”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/cme-goes-margin-defcon-1-makes-maintenance-margin-equal-initial-everything
“Missed Buffet’s free concert today ”
That was an exclamation of relief, right?
Nom/Clot,
We only feel pain for the loss of things that are important to us. The greater the importance, the greater the hurt.
Grim- so sorry for your loss.
Nom- yes Amherst campus
Shore- yes Panic! at the Starland Ballroom. Sold out.Teenyboppers singing along every word. I don’t get it. They ain’t the Beatles.
A little doom from out of this world:
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2011/s3356948.htm
NJC,
I went onto YouTube and checked them out. I’ll pass. Panic isn’t even the Bay City Rollers, as bad as they were back in the day.
Grim,
My dad always said that it’s better that they go before you because no one would be left to love them more. Hard day.
In keeping with Grim’s loss, this is a touching story about a similar loss — but, with a twist:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57319021/tarra-and-bella-elephant-loses-mans-best-friend/?tag=strip
(CBS News) HOHENWALD, Tenn. – In 2009, CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman introduced you to a couple of very unlikely friends who couldn’t have been more different. But from the moment Tarra the elephant met Bella the dog, they were inseparable.
The Elephant Sanctuary south of Nashville is more than 2,000 acres of freedom for elephants. But for a resident named Tarra, there’s not enough room in Tennessee to escape the bad news she got last week.
“Certainly her whole demeanor changed,” said Rob Atkinson, the sanctuary’s CEO. “She became more reserved, quieter, she was depressed.”
Tarra displayed all the symptoms you’d expect to see in someone who lost a good friend – which is exactly what happened.
For nearly a decade, Tarra had been best friends with a dog named Bella, a mutt who wandered onto the sanctuary grounds and into the heart of the gentle giant. Tarra clearly loved her little dog and Bella obviously bonded right back
snip
grim,
The still_lookings feel your pain and are sorry for your loss. :( We, too, know and understand that horrible sadness.
We feel for you…
sl
Shore, re curl up and dye… I give you… NJ’s version:
http://curl-upanddye.com/ :)
sl
Sorry Grim
Chi,
Apparently, despite Mason and Russo kicking and biting all the way Zimmer was able to sell the thing and get that noose off the neck of the Hoboken taxpayers. If nothing else she deserves to be re-elected simply for that miracle.
Grim: I always said my Lab and Yorkie had better manners than many people I ‘ve been around. Sorry for your loss, I have had to put mine down as well. It’s a real loss
Grim sorry to hear about Alpine
grim, sorry about your loss.
Grim so sorry for your loss, been there.
Grim:
sorry for your loss. Since my son is terrified of dogs (certain incident with a pitbull in the past), we have had a cat. Cat died, in my arms. It will be three years in april. Still brings tears to my eyes.
Finally caught up reading all the posts. we were out of power from Sat. nite to late Wed. nite.
“Finally caught up reading all the posts. we were out of power from Sat. nite to late Wed. nite.”
Same here, but now have generator in place ready to go.
“died, in my arms”
Been there. It is a deeply-emotional thing to experience, and one that does not pass from memory.
(152) coast,
A quick search reveals only one German instructor, complete with photo. BTW, as it is the theme today, what’s the dog’s name?
If memory serves, her office would be in Herter Hall. Aside from being a name JJ would like, it was one of my favorites of the modern buildings on campus.
(167) shore,
We brought his bed with us, and that was where he passed. I kept the bed nearly 2 years, then threw away the insert and kept the cover with his name embroidered on it.
Going for some kleenex now. Back later.
Grim- my sympathies to you and your family. Pets are so special. My kitty follows me around the house all day, like a little friend. I think they can also be a calming influence in times of stress.
Grim- So sorry about your losing Alpine. We had an episode last year with our dog where we almost lost her – and it was heartbreaking. I empathize.
grim: Sorry for your loss.
Grim very sorry man……..been there, it hurts.
There is a special place in hell for this Penn State coach and the administrators who protected him:
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/11/05/penn-state-ex-coach-others-charged-in-child-sex-case/njr
Little ows humor
http://teamcoco.com/video/triumph-occupy-wall-stO
Grim, sorry about your loss. Pets are so special… they unconditionally love us.
Well, as expected, the brigadoon U9 girls A team got thoroughly stomped by Somerset. My girl did okay, unexpected because she went out after taking a hard shot in the face from near point blank range. It was so hard I heard it hit from across the field, and the Somerset players just stopped after it happened. Coach told me later he didn’t expect her to go back in, but asked her and she wanted in.
Got a bloody nose and hopefully some street cred from her teammates.
Tomorrow, they play Flemington. Knowing that Clot probably coached those kids has me concerned.
Clot,
Any thought on this?
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2011/11/why_you_should_be_drinking_cheap_wine.html
I know it is tape delayed, but I really enjoyed watching Man City and QPR tonight. Really hard fought game. Nothing like the usual erratic pace of euro soccer. In fact, I split my night watching that game and the Bruins putting the hurt on the Maple Leafs.
If you told me a year ago, I would be tuning into a soccer game instead of my Bruins exclusively, I would have thought you delusional.
Nom Nom, Nom. With our trade deficit, you should be watching domestically-created college football — not some import.
BOOOOYAH!
UMass beats No. 1 ranked Boston College in men’s hockey.
Here’s what you can do with your Beanpot!
Watch out! As soon as out iraq troops are moved to Kuwait, I think we can expect Israel to hit Iran:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gfFabtzIUjEb5RT2lleIbyRSxP4w?docId=CNG.ba960336eef0b6b64d443031b729e9c7.41
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20111029/ARTICLE/111029515
Short sale nightmare wrecks couple’s credit
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Its all turning to sh_t as predicted. Make a list and arm yourselves. I promise you that this is going to get ugly. Let me say again. It will get ugly.
SPARKS, Okla. (AP) — Oklahomans more accustomed to tornadoes than earthquakes suffered through a series of weekend temblors that cracked buildings, buckled a highway and rattled nerves. One quake late Saturday was the state’s strongest ever and shook a football stadium 50 miles away at the end of a big nationally watched college game.
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plume (177)-
Sorry I can’t come today. Memorial service for a cousin.
Don’t worry; I’ve never coached girls or women. And I wouldn’t, no matter how good the pay.
shore (178)-
There are horses for courses…and no shortage of good, cheap wine these days.
Oversupply and slack demand apply to the wine biz, too. It’s our own little form of deflation.
plume (179)-
Game of the day was Toon vs Everton. We now sit 2nd in the table…still undefeated!!!
BTFD.
“Going back to the annals of brokeback Europe, we learn that gold after all is money, after the G-20 demanded that EFSF (of €1 trillion “stability fund” yet can’t raise €3 billion fame) be backstopped by none other than German gold. Per Reuters, “The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS) reported that Bundesbank reserves — including foreign currency and gold — would be used to increase Germany’s contribution to the crisis fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) by more than 15 billion euros ($20 billion).” And who would be the recipient of said transfer? Why none other than the most insolvent of global hedge funds, the European Central Bank…There are three observations to be made here: i) when it comes to rescuing insolvent countries, Germany is delighted to sacrifice euros at the altar of the 50-some year old PIIGS retirement age; ask for its gold however, and things get ugly; ii) the Eurozone, the ECB and the EFSF are dead broke, insolvent and/or have zero credibility in the capital markets, and they know it and iii) due to the joint and several nature of the ECB’s capital calls, while Germany may have had enough leverage to tell G-20 to shove it, the next countries in line, especially those which are already insolvent and will rely on the EFSF for their existence once the ECB’s SMP program is finished, may not be that lucky, and in exchange for remaining in the eurozone, the forfeit could well be their gold.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/g-20-demands-german-gold-keep-eurozone-intact-german-central-bank-tells-g-20-where-stick-it
I love this guy.
“Such a systemic writedown of bad debt in a system with only razor-thin capital to support a mighty edifice of leverage and debt would wipe out Wall Street and the banks and reveal the skimming operation of modern finance as an impossible perpetual motion machine rigged to enrich a thin crust of citizenry at the expense of the rest. And since they skim enough money to buy political protection, Capitalism has been strangled and tossed in a shallow grave lest it disrupt the skimming and the political corruption that keeps the machine running.
What we end up with is artificial valuations, endless propaganda and a zombie economy. When borrowers are left dangling in default and the assets left on the books at full value, you end up with zombie debtors, zombie lenders, a zombie government that only has one lever to pull to keep the whole corrupt pathology going–borrow and squander more money– and ultimately a zombie economy, drifting and decaying in a fetid pool of lies, shadow banking, ceaseless official propaganda, jury-rigged “fixes,” manipulated statistics, corruption, predation, exploitation and pathology.
That’s the U.S. economy, and indeed, the economies of the E.U., China and Japan in a nutshell.
The only way to clear a zombie economy is to write off uncollectable debt and liquidate all the assets, loans and hedges. That would collapse our financial system, but since it is the cause of our political and economic dysfunction, that would be the highest possible good and extremely positive.”
http://www.oftwominds.com/blognov11/collapse-of-corrupt11-11.html
(191) meat,
Thanks to Everton putting it into their own net.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/world/europe/the-gridlock-where-debts-meet-politics-economic-memo.html?google_editors_picks=true
snip
This cycle of bureaucracy and gridlock has been repeating itself for months now. It is tempting to blame feckless politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, and that would not be entirely wrong.
But the frailty of politicians is not the full story. The fact is that most of the industrialized world — Europe, the United States, Japan, too — is in a difficult economic bind. There are no simple solutions that would quickly win the approval of citizens if only politicians were willing to try them.
Most voters in these places have yet to come to grips with the notion that they have promised themselves benefits that, at current tax rates, they cannot afford. Their economies have been growing too slowly, for too long, to pay for the coming bulge of retirees.
“The U.S. and Europe have to make hard choices because of two things: slower growth and aging populations,” said Barry Eichengreen, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley. “Europe’s choices are even harder than America’s, because the prospects for growth are more dubious.”
snip
The clock is wrong? Right?
shore [195]
From today Krugman’s blog:
I think that a delegation of major US economists and policymakers should make a pilgrimage to Tokyo, and apologize to the emperor. We — even me — thought that we would not suffer the kinds of problems Japan faced. And we were right: we’re doing worse than they ever did.
Tic. Tic. Tic. The smoking gun will be a mushroom cloud.
http://m.ft.com/cms/s/0/fdd722f0-0895-11e1-bc4d-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss
The Brigadoon U9 girls annihilated Flemington today. But it was a little hard to feel sorry for the Flemington girls. The Flemington parents were waaaaayy over the top in their vocal support. They ragged the ref, directed play, and were borderline obnoxious. One parent shouting at her daughter screamed that if she didn’t play harder, she wasn’t getting any supper. That got a collective head turn from the brigadoon parents.
I told one of the parents next to me that I didn’t want to hear anything again about my vocal support.
And when our girls made a post game cheering tunnel for their opponents, the Flemington girls were at first confused, and the parents were dumbfounded.
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