From the Daily Record:
Morris woman admits to $1.2 million real estate scam
A Convent Station woman faces up to a decade in prison after admitting in court Thursday that she accepted $1.2 million from investors but didn’t follow up with promises to purchase homes in foreclosure, re-sell them, and split the profits.
Leigh O’Neill, 38, pleaded guilty before state Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown, to one count of theft by deception between July 2005 and Oct. 31, 2006.
Under questioning by defense attorney Deborah Factor, O’Neill — in a barely audible voice — said she approached investors with a plan to buy distressed properties and re-sell them. Court papers filed in connection with lawsuits against O’Neill said she purported to buy homes facing foreclosure in Randolph, Long Beach Island, Sparta, Parsippany and Roxbury, and that her plan was to re-sell them and split net profits with the investors so that they received 70 percent and she got 30 percent.
In reality, O’Neill said in court, she bought no properties but gave investors the impression she did, and used money provided to her by some investors to pay off others. [aka Ponzi scheme, jb]
…
“Even though this defendant has paid substantial restitution, the fact remains that this continuing course of defrauding investors needs to be punished,” Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said. “We will ask the court to impose a 10-year state prison sentence which we believe is appropriate considering the scope and breadth of this fraud.” Investors in 2006 filed suit against O’Neill, which led to a criminal investigation that was spearheaded by prosecutor’s office Detective Steve Murzenski.
First! You’ve got “mail” grim.
Essex and Jpasteurized, thanks for your donations!
Just in time to help with the hosting bill this month.
From the NY Post:
Jersey Jobs Con Job
NEW Jersey’s economy is in rotten shape. But if you want a more pre cise measurement, don’t trust the state’s unemployment figures.
With Gov. Jon Corzine in a tight race against Republican Chris Christie, Corzine’s staff is pushing state workers hard to produce good news. A memo revealed this week shows the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Mark Matzen, directing Cabinet members to “come up with an event or two or three that show job creation or economic development in the private sector.” Matzen said the events would “get the message out” and added, “I know this is a stretch for some of you, but please be creative.”
Just how much are state employees willing to “stretch” to help out the boss? Just how “creative” does Corzine want them to be? If the overall number is to be believed, the Garden State’s unemployment rate is 9.8 percent, as bad as the national average. But how reliable are these data? Are any numbers being tweaked or massaged to reflect the preferences of the governor’s re-election campaign?
For example, August’s press release said, “New Jersey’s private-sector employment is trending in the right direction. Gov. Corzine’s economic-recovery initiatives are fostering job creation, and the nation’s recovery program is helping to restore economic confidence. As a result, New Jersey has laid the groundwork for a recovery marked by stronger job growth when the global recession ends.”
Socolow’s good news was that the state had gained 5,900 jobs in July, with layoffs in the public sector but more than offset by the creation of 13,000 new jobs in the private sector.
That’s a great number for the state in ordinary circumstances but phenomenal during a recession, and in a month when the nation as a whole was still losing jobs.
But a funny thing happened in the next month’s release: The numbers for July were revised downward considerably. In fact, 7,400 of those new private-sector jobs were illusory — with the net result that, instead of gaining jobs, the state had lost 500.
Yet Corzine’s campaign used July’s early numbers to justify commercials that his economic recovery plan was “beginning to work with thousands of new private sector jobs, bucking the national trend.”
Chris Christie: worst candidate ever?
Discuss.
The balloon boy’s parents should be executed.
Short of that, they should at least be sterilized. People this dumb can’t be allowed to reproduce.
“Do the math. Musical chairs in reverse is not a viable economic model.
“If you build it, they will come” cannot possibly work unless the number of players increases faster than the number of chairs. The reverse is happening. More chairs are added each month than participants in the game.”
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/commercial-real-estate-musical-chairs.html
4. Whew….where to start.
Where do they find these folks?
It’s all NJ has to offer, all the great
people have either left or have given
up. This corzine can get away with
anything and will be a shoe in.
NJ is a welfare state , has been and is
a lost cause.
Three cautionary words:
One term Byrne.
For the young’ns, he was a despised governor of the 70s who had even worse approval ratings than Corzine yet still won a second term.
Just got back from my daily hour long constitutional with my dog, what a sh*tty day outside!
“One term Byrne.”
Shore,
Cahill does all the work, paving the way for the Gints to come to NJ, yet BB gets his name on an arena? Thankfully, the bldg in the swamps went corporate.
And here we have a heavily fortified German bunker moments before the allies blew it up and secured the beach head at Normandy:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Twp-Of-Washington_NJ_07676_1109167449
4. Perhaps the answers lie here-
http://www.amazon.com/Fat-Dumb-Ugly-Decline-American/dp/0743249453
Current unemployment is perspective (short & sweet):
http://cryptogon.com/?p=11695
Sadly, like virtually all politicians, Corzine is an amoral, compulsively-lying sack of shit.
Four more years of this guy and his Hudson/Essex benefactors should just about finish us off.
12. The glass sides on the door negate any feeling of security that this bunker may provide.
15. Four more years and god willing I will be gone. *prays silently*
BC,
THAT was such a friggen BS move, naming the building after him.
I spent some time at the summer mansion on Island Beach State Park one year and got to know some of the family. What a bunch of over-self-impressed knuckleheads.
Finish us off? NJ is finished. Unions
are in control with the Pols.
The exodus will pick up speed with
corzine back for a second four.
It’s all for the children
I may not make it four more years here.
Told my son to pay careful attention in Spanish class this year.
Still think Chile’s the spot. Look for them to do well in the World Cup next year, too. Very underrated team.
“THAT was such a friggen BS move, naming the building after him.”
Shore,
Yep.
And our governor’s a dud
And our economy’s stuck
Somewhere in the swaamps of Jersey
B of A loses $1B on Consumers Defaults
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/b-of-a-loses-1b-on-consumers-defaults/
Chi more of your pesky “anectdotal” evidence?
“Still think Chile’s the spot.”
Clot/Anyone;
Ever been here;
http://spluch.blogspot.com/2007/10/worlds-largest-swimming-pool.html
Tierra del Fuego…nah…La Serena.
BC-
Been to Valparaiso, but not this place.
Looks like Dubai.
“And our governor’s a dud
And our economy’s stuck
Somewhere in the swaamps of Jersey”
So hold on tight,stay up all night cause the unions are coming on strong. By the time we meet the morning light, the state will be dead.
Pot calls kettle black:
U.S. Criticizes China for Lack of Yuan ‘Flexibility’ (Update3)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aD4cV40O_Kek
“B of A loses $1B on Consumers Defaults”
Analysts today cheered the good news from BoA. According to Wall Street experts, and others looking to short the sucker’s rally, um, rapid recovery, these defaults bring the economy closer to full recovery. “If every bank would replicate these stunning results for each of the next 4-5 quarters,” said I.M. Insane, of GS, “America will be truely fcuked. Adding, since half the country spends its weekends attempting to get fcuked, this must be a good thing.”
Shore – Even Jim Florio almost got re-elected. I , of course, have more respect for Florio than for Corzine. But this is NJ – anything is possible here.
[14],
Brain cramp. I finally get it. Now that’s pant up demand; extension of unemploy benefits.
Today’s unemployed wretch is tomorrow’s FHA homebuyer.
“By the time we meet the morning light, the state will be dead.”
Time to edit:
By the time we meet the morning light, they’ll be playing the state’s requiem song.
The Gator family got their official notice yesterday. We are spending our 6th anniversary in beautiful East Orange, NJ. Stu v Montclair will be heard on October 26.
“U.S. Criticizes China for Lack of Yuan ‘Flexibility’”
F-Ing hilarious. We criticize our bankers, who have their currency pegged to our greenback, oops meant wetback? I guess it takes a tax manipulator to spot a currency manipulator.
Gator,
It never ceases to amaze me how people kvetch about how bad things are and then vote in ways that guarantee that things wil not only NOT change but get worse. Then I spend time amongst the masses and I get it.
Gator,
That Stu takes you to only the nicest places. Are you going to top off the day with dinner in Kearney?
“By the time we meet the morning light, they’ll be playing the state’s requiem song.”
Shore,
Ah, would that be Born to Run?
Baby this town rips the bones from your back. Its a death trap, its a suicide rap, we gotta get out while were young;
cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.
Shore – maybe Thomas Frank’s next book should be ‘What’s the Matter with NJ’. The R’s had a great opportunity this year and they put up Christie – who will likely be the John Kerry of 2009.
Shore 37 – Nah. I am thinking maybe he will surprise me with the Essex County trifecta and throw in Irvington and Newark.
I think Shore should be our write in candidate.
Myron Scholes getting the Becky Body Wash on Squawk now.
Why isn’t he in jail?
Scholes shouldn’t be allowed on TV unless he wears a clown suit.
“Why isn’t he in jail?”
Schump [42],
A little harsh? After all he devised a new method to determine the value of derivatives. Subsequently, thousands of investors lost hundreds of billions. I would imagine a parade down Broadway would be more appropriate.
Stu / Shore anyone else,
Any suggestions on reasonably priced 1 week in caribbean resort/rental during last weeks of December?
Boost,(44)
Scholes got a nobel prize for his great work and contributions. But nothing screams a failure like a parade down Brodway and then have Clot wait for him downtown with a bullet put him in teh ferry and send him to Ellis Island.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousivMolt/idUSTRE59E6M620091016
“Obama Wins First Financial Reform Victory in Months” Reuters
Any teeth to this? Never mind, I know the answer…
http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2254587.html
California Senate Approves $10,000 new-home buyer credit…again
How does Wantanabe loose money? He gets his inventory for free and then sells it. How many businesses would loose money if their invetory cost is $0.00
Just imagine a pizzeria loosing money and getting the sauce, dough, and cheese free!!!
WTF????
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/health/13real.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Kettle – Turns out washing with cold water is fine…good to know.
“Any teeth to this?”
Cindy [47],
Only if you were born and bred in the hills of West Virginia.
Watch the below next week. Look at the characters, then ask yourself what change stormed into DC this past Jan?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/
“cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.”
It’s a death trap, with a big budget gap
With ever more spending to fund on our backs
Cause chumps like us, baby we were born to TAX.
Gator,
NOW you are talking. You romantic saps.
BC,
Just call me the Weird Al of the 21st Century.
Oh, and I claim copyright to all of the above.
#18 Shore guy,
Didn’t one of his daughters design the license plate with the little NJ picture in the middle of it? The first time I saw one I thought it looked like a bird turd.
“Turns out washing with cold water is fine”
It may be but it is far nicer in a shower or tub built for two.
Make [49],
Play their game. Mrs Wantanabe has been shoved aside by Mrs Jones, well, actually Mrs Hernandez.
There’s a new game in town, same sheriff, same players, same manipulation. One negative, the seats are empty. The fans can’t afford a ticket.
Watching Cspan now talking about the NJ and VA governors races. Listening to many of the NJ callers in favor of the welfare state. If you guys re-elect Corzine y’all deserve whatever taxes and fees he dreams up. jeez
Shore [54],
License it and start hawking shirts.
Shore 53 – I think I only get taken out to a real nice place if I win. No pressure. No pressure at all.
How much do you think I need to take off the assessment to get Stu to spring for Nicholas? I think if I get us down to our appraisal, I’ll have to make him spring for Per Se.
BC (51)-
Yep. Change we can believe in. Too bad it’s no more than GWB’s third term. In blackface.
“Look at the characters, then ask yourself what change stormed into DC this past Jan?”
T-shirt:
“My state’s in ruins”
SG – If you are into beaches and food, try Anguilla. Paradise on earth.
“Any suggestions on reasonably priced 1 week in caribbean resort/rental during last weeks of December?”
It depends on what you are looking for in an island. One who is looking for the solitude and lack of amenities of an island like Grenada, or Dominica, will not enjoy a place like Paradise Island. A quick list of some places I like, in no particular order:
Grenada, Barbados, Dominiaca, Nevis, St. Kitts, BVI. I am also very fond of Belieze – if you snorkle or dive it is hard to beat.
Of course, the Bahamas and Puerto Rico are hard to top in terms of easy access.
I have it from a well-connected source that it’s Cuban sandwiches for Gator in N. Bergen if Stu wins.
Lose? It’ll be a night of bundling old issues of Gourmet to sell at flea markets.
60 Gator
Go for it. I’m realizing I’m too easy settling for Craft.
John, a Cuban sandwich is not what you think it is.
Pre-emptive strike.
St. Baths and Saba are also interesting. If you want a really good deal and are willing to risk a volcanic explosion, Monserate is eager to get tourists back.
“The fans can’t afford a ticket.”
But the owners do not care as they are being subsidized.
Boost,
Wish I knew how to play their game, day in and day out.
I know that I’m the equivalent of grasshopper who was smart enough to transfer all his fiat currency in shiny and now sits with popcorn watches a movie and tries to figure out when the ending is coming. Just when the moster is about to die someone from the Carribean comes in smacks him in the face and injects him with something. Monster wakes up immediately and goes back on the air @ CNBC.
four seasons resort in Virgin Islands
51 BC
“…what change stormed into DC this past Jan?”
Read somewhere else:
“Chains we can bereave in”
I’ll watch the PBS show.
I taped The National Parks series by Ken Burns on PBS and thought of you while watching #5. They featured the CCC and efforts to employ thousands under FDR’s call for more roads etc. Eventually, many of those same gentlemen found work when WW2 broke out. But at least for a while there they used federal funds to employ a folks working in the parks.
The injection is a near-lethal combination of steroids, cash, botox and Red Bull.
“…just when the moster is about to die someone from the Carribean comes in smacks him in the face and injects him with something.”
Gubmint should subsidize building meth labs in national parks.
That’s the ticket.
Wasn’t my idea (read it on the ticker forums) but totally a T-shirt:
“Chains you can Bereave in”
Schumeter,
Just end teh war on drugs and legalize weed. Watch hedgefund managers become weed producers.
make (76)-
The way it’s going, my kids will be the slave labor tending the pot fields.
Reasonably priced Carribean? Try Cabarete, Dominican Republic. It’s a windsurfing hotspot, but loads of other activities. Mostly Europeans and Canadians vacation there. Careful on Puerto Rico. Whole island is on strike this week over government layoffs. If something like this happens during your stay, it could be uncomfortable.
re #76 – make money – I bet some of them already have controlling inteserests in the trade. SaS says there is a link between wall st and the cash crops.
The way it’s going, my kids will be the slave labor tending the pot fields.
Schumeter,
At least they’ll get high for free.
Grim,
The word on the street is that the Wyeth pearl river site may see the majority of its manufacturing cut and the newly renovated lab portion of the facility be dedicated to R&D.
If this is indeed the case you are talking about a 60-70% cut at pearl river.
That is a lot of NJ pharma jobs, even if the location is in NY
Just Google: Mexican cartel, Humboldt County, marijuana
Lots of reading there….
With apologies to that wonderful tune, Badlands:
High Tax!
You’ve got to pay it every day
If you can’t afford to live here
Why don’t you move away
As always, I claim the copyright on that parody too.
“You’ve got to pay it every day
If you can’t afford to live here
Why don’t you move away”
Shore,
Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be subsidized and the subsidized ain’t satisifed until they rule everything.
“Dominican Republic”
I hear Charlie “I don’t pay my taxes” Rangle has a place for rent down there. As he keeps losing huge amounts on it each year, I am sure he can get you a deal.
Make [70],
That’s OK. The monster is being tracked.
http://www.wiitalk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/monster_hunterg_rigell_002.jpg
Cindy 50
Re hand washing:
Notice that temp does not make a difference if you wash your hands for 25 seconds. Very few people actually wash that long. Most people wash for 3 -5 seconds.
At the shorter time span temp does make a difference along the lines of what was state din the article. That is that oils and other soils are more soluble in warm water.
I do not know what the critical time period is, but for very short washing periods warm is better due to increased solubility. At longer periods temperature is not a significant effect
SHore 68
re monserate
No serious danger if you stay on the right side of the island…
Ket,
Isnt it also a function of the soap messing with the surface tension of the cell membranes — hence the longer washing the better?
Shore,
Soap molecules rupture bacterial cell membranes. However another action that takes place is that the polar soap molecules will cause soil( whether bacteria, dirt, virii, etc) to dissolve into solution and be mechanical removed via action of the water flowing over your hands.
Both the chemical and mechanical action takes place, but the chemical action is more time dependent where as the mechanical action is more temperature dependent
We have to regain our ability to produce goods. Moving money around does not necessarily provide dinner on the table,” Volcker said. “You can’t run an economy where the financial sector is making 40 percent of the profits.”
I trully hope that at some point the chosen one will give up on re-election, fire bergabe, Timmy and teh rest of the characters and give this guy a big stick.
“You can’t run an economy where the financial sector is making 40 percent of the profits.”
Make,
I don’t get it? Shuffling paper, throughout the world, does not trickle down to John Q?
If they dragged Sholes out, a leg down can’t be far behind. While he gets a lot of the blame, it’s the pushers and users who were only too willing to get hooked on the financial hopeium.
There may soon be a hitech method to wash your hands. There does exist a method of using a laser to shake or vibrate a virus apart.
Using ultra-short pulse (USP ) laser at 60 GHZ to release energy in pulses just one femtosecond long, that’s one millionth of a nanosecond. The USP laser can kill a virus using a principle called “forced resonance.” Every virus has a unique molecular structure. For each virus, there is a unique frequency that will cause it to vibrate and break apart.
It is analogous to the way that a fine crystal glass will resonate, or vibrate and break at a particular frequency.
This shouldn’t damage normal human skin cells since they resonate at a much lower frequency than 60 GHZ.
BC, we should be making at least 60% of profits so there is more to trickle down.
I don’t get it? Shuffling paper, throughout the world, does not trickle down to John Q?
Boost,
Why do I get the feeling that you actually get it? It’s cause of you that I sit where I stand.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_pay_20091014.html
BOOOOOYAAAAA 2009 Comp is rocking and rolling. Recession is OVER!!!
Sean,
Techno fix to a problem that already has a low tech solution. May be great for specialized applications, but hand washing with regular soap for 25+ seconds reduces viral loads by 95+ percent
John,
It’s only fair
re: #99 kettle1 – where is your entrepreneurial spirit? Anyone who rigs up a couple of those hand blow dryers with a couple of lasers will make some serious coin.
Sean 101
I still would still prefer to see a bacon dispensor
http://logo.cafepress.com/nocache/7/1120147.jpg
What year is this? did i hit 88mph?
NEW ORLEANS – A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.
Keith Bardwell, justice of the peace in Tangipahoa Parish, says it is his experience that most interracial marriages do not last long.
“I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way,” Bardwell told the Associated Press on Thursday. “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”
Bardwell said he asks everyone who calls about marriage if they are a mixed race couple. If they are, he does not marry them, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_on_re_us/us_interracial_rebuff
what year is this? did i hit 88 mph?
Interracial couple denied marriage license in La
A white Louisiana justice of the peace said he refused to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple out of concern for any children the couple might have.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_on_re_us/us_interracial_rebuff
grim,
unmod 103 please
I don’t like Dysons politics, but I love his products.
http://www.dysonairblade.com/homepage.asp
I might try and talk work into installing these. They are on a big green kick.
I forget? Who holds these notes? All’s well.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/oct/15/mortgage-fraud-crackdown-hits-home-southwest-flori/
#92 – I still don’t understand how what Volker is saying isn’t part of a national dialogue. There have been no real discussions of why the collapse happened, how to get us out of it, or how to prevent it happening again. Just a general, ‘Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain’ attitude from various sources. Oh, and ham fisted attempts to redirect attention.
Look, I’m a pretty cynical person with a fairly low opinion of the house apes that I share this rock with., especially here in North America. Can they really be this f***ing stupid though? Can they really be this uninterested in anything other than their own immediate gratification?
I hope that they’re just burned out; capitulated after years of trying to care and do the right thing only to see the same small group of d**ches get their way over and over again. As bad as that is, the alternative is just so much worse. At least I have some hope with the latter.
Maybe it’s time to end the whole thing and start over. Maybe either of the above is an indication that the whole thing is just done and has run its course.
I bought the original Lard ep over 20 years ago. It’s sad in a way that has an almost physical weight that I live in a place that was accurately described by Jello Biafra
The country right now
it wants to be soothed,
and told it doesn’t have to think
or sacrifice or learn
I am so excited to celebrate Dow 10,000 again soon. CNBC should keep the dust off the party supplies.
re: #107 – re: DOW 10K…. in terms of the DXY, the DOW is down about 25%, in terms of Gold the DOW is down about 74%
Tosh,
Good questions. I have friendly debates a few different people who are PhD types and supposedly worldly. Yet they dont see it. They tend to respond that they didnt hear X,Y, or Z on the MSM so how can i be sure its true? Or i occasionally get,”it cant be like that or we ar really screwed, and if we were that screwed the government would be doing someting by now”.
I am personally starting to believe that is a national and global case or Pavlovian conditioning, just on a grand scale. People are taught from the day they enter school, that the aurthorities, whether its a school admin, or a government , are here to help you and will keep you safe.
We teach a version of history that shows the US mostly a great benevolent power who helps other nations with their backwards ideas.
If you are fed this story long enough i think that the majority of people regardless of whether they are walmart people of Harvard grads have internalized the ideas.
For many people acknowledging the current reality would require them to redefine their world view and how they fit into the big picture. Very few people are able or willing to do that without being forced to do so.
Give up on the current adults. the are lost. As always, our best hope are our children having their eyes opened and then try not to screw things up to much before they take over in 20 or 30 years.
and yes i may be illiterate…
Whats the bsilout for the US insirance industry going to cost you our grandchildren?
The perils of cheap money
Here’s a little nugget from Germany. The regulator BaFin has woken up to the danger that near-zero interest rates are a major danger for the Germany’s €700bn life insurance industry. They may not be able to meet their premiums. If deflation takes hold, they risk going the way of all those life insurers that went bust in Japan during the 1990s. BaFin thought it had covered every possible shock – a share price crash, a debt crisis, etc – but nobody ever paid much attention to the long-term actuarial shock of low rates.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100001361/the-perils-of-cheap-money/
#109 – ket – As always, our best hope are our children having their eyes opened and then try not to screw things up to much before they take over in 20 or 30 years.
I hope so ket. I fear though that the conditioned response to trust authority might be even greater with them.
The Warning
“We didn’t truly know the dangers of the market, because it was a dark market,” says Brooksley Born, the head of an obscure federal regulatory agency — the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — who not only warned of the potential for economic meltdown in the late 1990s, but also tried to convince the country’s key economic powerbrokers to take actions that could have helped avert the crisis. “They were totally opposed to it,” Born says. “That puzzled me. What was it that was in this market that had to be hidden?”
In The Warning, airing Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Inside the Meltdown, Breaking the Bank) unearths the hidden history of the nation’s worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. At the center of it all he finds Brooksley Born, who speaks for the first time on television about her failed campaign to regulate the secretive, multitrillion-dollar derivatives market whose crash helped trigger the financial collapse in the fall of 2008.
“I didn’t know Brooksley Born,” says former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, a member of President Clinton’s powerful Working Group on Financial Markets. “I was told that she was irascible, difficult, stubborn, unreasonable.” Levitt explains how the other principals of the Working Group — former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin — convinced him that Born’s attempt to regulate the risky derivatives market could lead to financial turmoil, a conclusion he now believes was “clearly a mistake.”
Born’s battle behind closed doors was epic, Kirk finds. The members of the President’s Working Group vehemently opposed regulation — especially when proposed by a Washington outsider like Born. “I walk into Brooksley’s office one day; the blood has drained from her face,” says Michael Greenberger, a former top official at the CFTC who worked closely with Born. “She’s hanging up the telephone; she says to me: ‘That was [former Assistant Treasury Secretary] Larry Summers. He says, “You’re going to cause the worst financial crisis since the end of World War II.”… [He says he has] 13 bankers in his office who informed him of this. Stop, right away. No more.'”
Greenspan, Rubin and Summers ultimately prevailed on Congress to stop Born and limit future regulation of derivatives. “Born faced a formidable struggle pushing for regulation at a time when the stock market was booming,” Kirk says. “Alan Greenspan was the maestro, and both parties in Washington were united in a belief that the markets would take care of themselves.”
Now, with many of the same men who shut down Born in key positions in the Obama administration, The Warning reveals the complicated politics that led to this crisis and what it may say about current attempts to prevent the next one. “It’ll happen again if we don’t take the appropriate steps,” Born warns. “There will be significant financial downturns and disasters attributed to this regulatory gap over and over until we learn from experience.”
(see the video at the link)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/
[12] gary
“And here we have a heavily fortified German bunker moments before the allies blew it up and secured the beach head at Normandy”
I should send you my pictures of blown-up German bunkers at Omaha Beach. You can compare and contrast.
And if anyone knows of a WWII veteran who may want it for sentimental reasons, I have a small bag with sand from Omaha Beach.
Hey ya’all. Between Vegas and catching up at work since almost no one is around any more, I’ve hardly had time to participate here. Let it be known that the so-called commercial banks (hedge funds) are the only green shoots in this economy. My companies dead, Gator’s company is dieing and everyone I know is in pretty bad shape. With that said, it’s time to take a vacation.
Personally, I hate the entire Caribbean except perhaps for Bermuda and the French side of St. Maarten. Too much poverty to pay top dollar to enjoy. I’m a huge fan of Mexico though as it’s an excellent value if you know how to shop around like a local. Last time Gator and I stayed in Puerto Vallarta, we pricelined a rate that was so low in Mesmaloya that the hotel didn’t want to honor it. Place actually rocked. It was across the street from one of our favorite beaches, every room was a condo and the pool was very cool, with waterfalls and stuff. I think we paid $15 to $20 a night.
Personally, I would just wait for the last minute and book a cruise to the Caribbean. On a 7-day, out of NY or Bayonne, you could get 4 islands and the cruise would only be cold on the first day and last day. Cruise will probably cost less than your airfare during that travel period.
Late December is a tough time for discounts. First two weeks in December is a cheapo paradise. Gator and I are considering a 9-day Mexican Riviera cruise out of San Diego for Thanksgiving week. Airfare is in the $200s, and we can get a balcony room on RCL for a 9-day for $749 each + 3rd costs $299 (Gator Jr).
This also leaves us with one day to explore San Diego/TJ and I can get a free room due to my gambling habit at Harrah’s Rincon, as flying home on Tuesday after Thanksgiving is $100 cheaper than flying home Monday. Figure the three of us will do a ten day vacation complete for under 3K. Not to mention, the airfare will be paid for with Thankyou points, so it’s really only $2300 out of pocket. That’s how captain cheapo rolls.
[102] kettle
Mmmmmmmm. Bacon.
Tosh 114
that is why my 2 yr old son gets to listen Killing in the name of and <Wake Up by RATM every night before bed.
I look forward to the day i get a call from school about him forcefully repeating certain lyrics from killing in the name of to an authority figure.
F-U I won’t do what you tell me!
Tosh (109)-
I still don’t understand how what Volker is saying isn’t part of a national dialogue
It is barely a part of the dialogue on this site anymore. Upton Sinclair strikes again.
Back to the regular scheduled soci@lism rants.
Hey,
This is pretty well done visual depiction of job growth and loss over the last 3.5 years. Thought I’d share.
http://tipstrategies.com/archive/geography-of-jobs/
TGIF, btw!!!
OH heaveans, they might actually have to acknowledge their own toxic waste
Financial firms warn accounting change could threaten recovery
Financial and real estate interests are making a strong push for federal regulators to delay the implementation of a new accounting rule set to take effect at the beginning of next year. The rule bans the use of controversial financial entities that allowed firms to shift risks away from their bottom lines. Before the financial crisis, banks and other financial firms relied heavily on special financial vehicles to support the booming market for securities based on residential, commercial and other loans.
http://mobile.thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/62655-financial-firms-warn-accounting-change-could-threaten-recovery
#117 – Good, you’re doing the right thing.
Hawk,
that looked like someone just lost a game of missle defence.
The newly hired SEC COO is a former Goldmanite with 4.5 years of experience. Does this kid have pix of Obama raping a horse while wearing a KKK outfit or something?
More green shoots!!!
JPMorgan Credit-Card Results Suggest More Pain Ahead
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s credit-card unit swung to a loss of $700 million in the third quarter from a profit of $292 million a year earlier, suggesting hopes for a smooth turnaround in the U.S. economy may be premature. The latest earnings Wednesday from a top U.S. credit-card issuer indicate that consumers continue to struggle to find their financial footing amid high joblessness. Credit-card companies face the prospect of more borrowers falling behind on payments as strapped consumers, heading into the holiday season, increase spending on their plastic.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20091014-711395.html
re #121 – kettle1
Whenever FASB growls they git hit on the nose with a newspaper.
Last October the SEC’s chief accountant, Conrad Hewett kneecapped the big auditing firms, which had taken a unified stand on when to require writedowns of so-called perpetual preferred securities.
Long live Mark to Fantasy.
US CMBS Delinquencies Rise at Record Pace in September
The average rise in delinquency in the past six months is 34 basis points. This compares to a three basis point average increase for the same six month period in 2008 (April through September). In 2009 the delinquency rate has risen 269 basis points, nearly tripling since the beginning of the year.
(see chart)
http://www.researchrecap.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Moodys-CMBS.gif
#119 – Vic – Back to the regular scheduled soci@lism rants.
Thank you, it’s nice to know you’re not alone sometimes.
[104] tosh
“the house apes that I share this rock with., especially here in North America”
LMAO right now. Can I have a banana?
[119] vic
“Back to the regular scheduled soci@lism rants.”
There’s a schedule???
[120] hawk
Thanks for scaring the fcuk out of me.
Tosh,
That’s why I want to develop a product or service that will make people either fatter, dumber, or both.
I will then use my riches to jet around the world in my private plane, have multiple mansions, yet look green by having a hybrid and low energy lightbulbs.
Vic, Tosh
Maybe i have missed something, but do we not debate how ridiculous the current alice in wonderland government and local policies are?
I fell that we have just accepted reality that 99% of people and the government prefer wonderland. Besides b1tching about it, which e certainly do, there is only so much more to be said.
Why do you think clot has built a small arsenal and mined his yard?
Safe,
dont forget to use biodiesel to fuel your jet engine
albani: you are on fire today
thsi posted yet?
Fitch Sees 60% of Current RMBS Borrowers Underwater
The majority — 60% — of remaining performing borrowers within ‘06- and ‘07-vintage residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) bear negative home equity, meaning they are underwater on their mortgages and owe more than their houses are worth. This overwhelming presence of negative equity is hampering sustained improvement in RMBS performance, according to Fitch Ratings. “[N]egative equity reduces a borrower’s inventive to pay their mortgage and limits their options when faced with financial difficulties,” said senior director Grant Bailey in a statement.
http://www.housingwire.com/2009/10/13/fitch-sees-60-of-current-rmbs-borrowers-underwater/
your best all time post
make money says:
October 16, 2009 at 8:38 am
Scholes got a nobel prize for his great work and contributions. But nothing screams a failure like a parade down Brodway and then have Clot wait for him downtown with a bullet put him in teh ferry and send him to Ellis Island.
Chile was the spot last night!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK6tG61g-VQ
Schumpeter says:
October 16, 2009 at 7:54 am
I may not make it four more years here.
Told my son to pay careful attention in Spanish class this year.
Still think Chile’s the spot. Look for them to do well in the World Cup next year, too. Very underrated team.
#109 Ket – You are right. In a crisis, most people just stand around and wait for something to be announced. Looking at the situation from the guy who thinks he’s a savvy investor because he has all of his money with Edward Jones, the crisis is OVER. Sure, the recovery might take a little while, but why worry, we’re just the little people, we can’t do anything. They actually EMBRACE the concept of paralysis because they believe action is futile and they gladly leave their future well-being in the hands of others. Scary.
“I know a pretty little place in Northern Carolina down Raleigh-Durham way.
There’s little tax to pay and they have cheap car insurance all night and day”
Sorry, had to.
re#124 – homeboken – kid does not even has his MBA yet and he made it to COO of the SEC. Wait till they defend him as a “real go getter”.
Then again we have nothing on the French, over there Sarkozy’s 23 year old son is getting the job of running France’s powerful La Défense development agency.
Can you say wet behind the ears?
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/10/9/1255090374679/President-Sarkozys-son-Je-001.jpg
Out of context. You look at someone who is two weeks recovered from a triple bypass and say “man…you look like sh!t”…..you are right….I will agree to as much. Anecdotal evidence though and backward looking…
Dissident HEHEHE says:
October 16, 2009 at 7:57 am
B of A loses $1B on Consumers Defaults
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/b-of-a-loses-1b-on-consumers-defaults/
Chi more of your pesky “anectdotal” evidence?
[132] ket.
Clot’s got mines???
How do I get some of those???
(heck, you can probably download schematics from the internet)
Grim,
You’ve got mail….sharing some of the proceeds from fantasy baseball.
Love the site although I mostly lurk….
r [139],
Good stuff.
But they have superior healthcare?!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_farmer_protest
Adam Storch new 29 year old COO of the SEC.
http://www.businessinsider.com/found-photo-of-adam-storch-29-year-old-goldman-guy-who-is-now-coo-of-the-sec-2009-10
unmod
I know that given the chance, many of these people with superior healthcare would let me become a doctor for free. But I would still run the risk of being ga$$ed and baked in an oven…..
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//091014/photos_ennew_afp/0a1a14a54190481f0888e9c64646d723/
too bad this would require the romval of a good number of those currently in power.
from Wharton Business School
The public will need to “hold the perpetrators of the economic disaster responsible and take what actions they can to prevent them from harming the economy again.” In addition, the public will have to see proof that government and business leaders can behave responsibly before they will trust them again…”
http://www.scribd.com/doc/21119147/The-Ongoing-Cover-Up-of-the-Truth-Behind-the-Financial-Crisis-May-Lead-to-Another-Crash
tosh (106)-
Jello and the DKs were years ahead of their time.
#150 – Yes, they were. That’s really not a good this either.
#125 But John said the recession is over, silly John.
California uber alles!
#151 – That’s really not a good thing either.
#133 kettle1,
I’ve already found my biodiesel supplier.
http://www.chinasmack.com/pictures/recycled-slop-swill-cooking-oil/
#141 What if it is the same results next month, and the month after? Is that still bakward looking?
3b [156]
A banks balance sheet implosion in an environment of increasing record foreclosures, further rot in CMBS, increasing cc writedowns and the new subprime[prime] is as forward looking as a sit down on the 18th ave beach in Belmar.
Safe
I’ve already found my biodeisel supplier.
make sure you publish a nice glossy flyer showcasing the use of biodiesel in your corporate jet. Probably worth a nice bump in value when you go public.
“Anecdotal evidence though and backward looking…”
Backward looking to the period when the “stimulus” was supposed to be felt most? When invetories were being rebuilt? I hate to see what the future looks like?
[149] tosh
“I always thought it was aesthetics… and a dislike for mowing.”
A really extreme form of aversion therapy?
safe,
looked at the pics in your link. Its comforting to know that a human can go about 3 weeks without eating. I just hope i can keep any trips to china less then 3 weeks
I think they misspelled his name instead of Storch it is Torch, as in “we need to get somebody inside that can Torch any incriminating records”.
Seriously this clown has head in the sand YES MAN written all over him.
[146] sean
The new guy from Goldman is related to Corporal Agarn???
http://www.nndb.com/people/933/000022867/
When you don’t bribe them, they won’t show up;
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Consumer sentiment pulled back in early October, according to media reports on Friday of the Reuters/University of Michigan index. The consumer sentiment index fell to 69.4 from 73.5 in September. The decrease was sharper than expected. The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for sentiment to slip to 72.0. Sentiment had jumped by 8 points last month to its highest level since January 2008. Many economists thought the gain was unsustainable given the tough economic climate and some retreat would occur. The long-term average of the sentiment index is in the high 80s.
BC,
Enough with the backwards looking data already!
ChiFi,
Aren’t “markets” forward looking? How do you explain DOW 14K in Oct 2007? Which is just 2 months before the start of the great recession? Why didn’t “market” see this unwind and total collapse of the financial system happen just 60 days prior to it’s start.”
After all markets should be able to see at least 5 or 6 quaters worth of forward earning and macro economic conditions?
These days “markets” idea of forward looking is “What’s happening with this weeks earnings”
PGC #104 -Those Dyson hand dryers are amazing. Bone dry hands in maybe 3 seconds.
[167] redux
And just to make sure I wasn’t recirculating internet photoshopped garbage, here is the link to the photo montage on the White House’s site.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photogallery/Sotomayor-Bio/
Quoting Thomas doesn’t make her a soci@list, but man, could we have some fun with the WH vetting team or what?
“How do you explain DOW 14K in Oct 2007? Which is just 2 months before the start of the great recession? Why didn’t “market” see this unwind and total collapse of the financial system happen just 60 days prior to it’s start.”
Make,
Many did see it.
Those that didn’t? How about a colossal lack of common sense. Remember, the same pundits that missed the biggest financial calamity in our lifetime, maybe ever, are the same who are touting we have reached the Promised Land [Sorry,Shore] Sleep on that one.
#161 kettle
If you go, just don’t eat the street food, or consume powdered milk, or stay in a place with drywall, or play with the lead covered toys, or….
John says:
October 16, 2009 at 9:54 am
“BOOOOOYAAAAA 2009 Comp is rocking and rolling. Recession is OVER!!!”
Where would profits and comps be if the banks had to actually admit how much their balance sheets are really worth?
Lisoosh [173],
http://scavenging.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/garbage_dump.jpg
#168 lisooh
The best part is, that it does not use hot air.
Woo Hoo! Deflation wins this round.
“Join the IEEE Computer Society as you renew your IEEE Membership, and gain FREE access to the Computer Society Digital Library (CSDL). With this special offer, you will receive all three – IEEE and Computer Society Membership, plus the Library – for just US$40.”
Here is a simple question.
What is the difference between a free basic health system and a free basic education system.
Is providing all children with a basic level of free education, a S0c1alist concept.
#176 Victorian
I told them and the BCS to shove it 15 years ago in a row over chartership. I wonder if they made it into the Internet age.
Lisoosh (173)-
An astute money manager on Goldie’s earnings: Just a little perspective – For this incredibly “broad based” customer platform, here are the rev contributions this quarter:
Financial Advisory/M&A – $325mm
Equity underwriting – $363mm
Debt underwriting – $211mm
Total= $899mm
Trading/Principal investments = $10 Billion!!! [Total rev is $12.4B, so trading is 80.6% of rev] (Used to be $2-4 Billion)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/the-king-report-goldies-balance-sheet/
“Is providing all children with a basic level of free education, a S0c1alist concept.”
I’ve no problem with free education. I’ve a big problem with a bunch of unionized custodians, teachers, bus drivers and principals having jobs from which they can’t be fired.
quick question…with the $8k tax credit, you have to live in the house for 3 years or repay it. what if the house is foreclosed on in 2 years, do you still have to pay it back?
PGC (178) –
I think the membership dollars are worth it because they give you access to microsoft’s development s/w and other goodies like books etc.
Also, since I have been extending my student membership forever, I got Win 7 for personal use completely free. (MSDNAA license).
BTW, Win 7 rocks.
Education is not free. Take a look at your property taxes.
#183 And you cannot opt-out of it.
179
10B from trading! That’s why my BIL quit his position as an “independent equity trader”. He blamed the flash trading by the big boys for sending his net to 0 after averaging over 200K the last 3 years.
lisoosh says:
October 16, 2009 at 12:23 pm
People like you are bad for economy. The Goldman folks when they buy up all the expensive PSL seats for the Jets/Giants you guys in NJ will make a killing off all the sales tax. You guys are rolling in it.
John says:
October 16, 2009 at 9:54 am
“BOOOOOYAAAAA 2009 Comp is rocking and rolling. Recession is OVER!!!”
Where would profits and comps be if the banks had to actually admit how much their balance sheets are really worth?
Storch’s 24th B-day bash:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040606040446/http://storchonline.com/party.htm
#109
“As always, our best hope are our children having their eyes opened and then try not to screw things up to much before they take over in 20 or 30 years”
Kids are getting dumber and lazier. Ask Ben.
The Goldman folks when they buy up all the expensive PSL seats for the Jets/Giants you guys in NJ will make a killing off all the sales tax.
Please tell me you’re not this clueless and a borderline retard.
#188 I think you answered your own question.
grim unmod 187 re the Storchmeister
Where do I sign?
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/around-town/shopping/No-Youre-Reading-That-Right-64173667.html?ref=patrick.net
Larry Summers is calling for fundemental change in the banking sector;
Larry, the govt is the regulating authority. You don’t ask them to ‘accept’ the changes you subserviant little toad, you tell them. Your language completely gives away your hand. They need to ‘think about what they can do’, nice parental tone a-hole. Now stop pretending you’re really going to do antyhing about the mess you helped to create.
CR link below;
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/10/larry-summers-on-banks-time-has-come.html
I am a full blown retard, I do nothing half way. Actually I am kidding with this. PSL stands for Personal Stupidity License in the case of Jets. I bought two upper deck PSL free seats in 2010 for Jets. If they suck I only can lose out on the one year tickets. Now good Giants seats in a moderate price PSL might be a ok thing to buy, but now way Jets. Heck Front Row Club tickets at 400 a game are being sold on stubhub for 140 for sundays game as fairweather Jets fan bail in bad weather.
make money says:
October 16, 2009 at 1:31 pm
The Goldman folks when they buy up all the expensive PSL seats for the Jets/Giants you guys in NJ will make a killing off all the sales tax.
Please tell me you’re not this clueless and a borderline retard.
177.PGC says:
October 16, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Here is a simple question.
What is the difference between a free basic health system and a free basic education system.
Is providing all children with a basic level of free education, a S0c1alist concept.
Interesting, for Parity we would create Public Hospitals in line with Public Schools, and those who opt out would pay for Private Hospitals or Private Schools themselves.
As an alternative, we keep Private Hospitals and eliminate Public Schools in favor of Private Schools to maintain Parity and have some type of universal funding mechanism for both.
Kareem gets dunked.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4564694&categoryid=2378529
“forward looking” means expectations not clairvoyance…..just because their view was wrong does not mean that the description is…..HEHEHE is reacting to earnings results that are largely already know and priced into the market…..if we find out later that a person who was extended credit in October 2009 defaulted – THAT is an incremental change from current levels….
make money says:
October 16, 2009 at 12:04 pm
ChiFi, Aren’t “markets” forward looking? How do you explain DOW 14K in Oct 2007? Which is just 2 months before the start of the great recession? Why didn’t “market” see this unwind and total collapse of the financial system happen just 60 days prior to it’s start.”
After all markets should be able to see at least 5 or 6 quaters worth of forward earning and macro economic conditions?
These days “markets” idea of forward looking is “What’s happening with this weeks earnings”
Ket pack peanut butter and crackers. That how most of my colleagues survived when they went over. I did a two week stint and I can subsist on just about anything. The cuisine was starting to wear on me about day 6, by day 9 I wasn’t leaving the hotel for food. Email me I have some interesting pics from my trip 2 years ago. Taken very illegally of course. I send them to you over the weekend.
Has anyone seen my Johnny. NSFW
http://images.craigslist.org/3n93kb3pf5O95R45S79ad37728d3061291ce9.jpg
#194 confused in NJ
Works for me.
I know that given the chance, many of these people with superior healthcare would let me become a doctor for free.
But I would still run the risk of being gas$ed and baked in an oven…..
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//091014/photos_ennew_afp/0a1a14a54190481f0888e9c64646d723/
chicagofinance says:
October 15, 2009 at 9:18 am
54.bi says:
October 15, 2009 at 9:12 am
my strategy is simple: reduce equity portion by 10%whenver s&p moves up 5%.
bipolar: Will you give me two $10 for a $5?
lmao
Who wins in jeopardy, my neighbor’s dog, or Bi?
chicagofinance says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
October 16, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I know that given the chance, many of these people with superior healthcare would let me become a doctor for free.
But I would still run the risk of being gassed and baked in an oven…..
won’t let me post link
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/garden-gnomes/photo//091014/photos_ennew_afp/0a1a14a54190481f0888e9c64646d723/print;_ylt=AkdwUU87Uw.jdn4r9xlXZ1YXO7gF
An early article on the new SEC guy:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10699242/scott_storchs_outrageous_fortune
bi says:
October 15, 2009 at 10:53 am
90#, hehehe, i am not interested in anyone’s finance. just a bit of warning to lurkers and newbies on the board: some of self-claimed smart boys here lost shirts on these ultrashorts.
That is factually incorrect.
Thanks to Clot, I cleaned up on SKF last summer (08). If memory serves, many others on this board did as well.
German courts said it is satire…………………tell that to my dead family….but you can get a free colonoscopy there though….
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=16085959&ch=4226726&src=news
Tosh, Vic
to your earlier points, i would have no problem with a guaranteed basic level of healthcare provided to all citizens provided byt he government. Just not our current one.
guaranteed basic education and healthcare are 2 very good ideas but will fail when the government behind them no longer has any integrity. Until we have US government 2.0 these sorts of ventures will be a boondoggle at best
Nom,
Did you look at the most recent “market ticker” by Denniger? We have touched on some of this before, but the gist of my question is (in your laymans opinion)can this actually fly?
That is is there a real chance that mortgages get voided and BAC and friends are left with a big fat bill and no collateral
#
We still have banks that are holding worthless (or “worth less”) paper on their books at or near “par” and employing all sorts of games to avoid recognition of already-taken losses, including refusing to foreclose on delinquent notes (ref: Sarasota Tribune among countless others as I have previously documented)
#
We have what appears to be systematic and pernicious fraud in mortgage assignments, including (if the document sent to me is correct) documents alleged to be executed by an officer of an entity that in fact is an employee of the receiving entity in what appears to be a clear case of “uttering” (forgery.) This does not appear, based on my quick perusal of public records, to be an isolated incident either – it instead appears to be a pattern of intentional conduct.
#
We have a judgment out of Boston in which it appears that not only have lenders and securitizers not complied with the requirements of State Law but that they may have violated Federal Anti-Money-Laundering Law in that the issuance of “bearer” instruments has been illegal in The United States since 1982! An endorsement “in blank” is, from a standpoint of the effect of such an endorsement, the creation of a bearer instrument.
#207 – ket – Sorry, I should have been a bit clearer. My comment was really about the outrage over socialized healthcare being used as a distraction to avoid dealing with the economic problems/theft that has occured and not necesarily on the merits, or lack thereof, of socialized healthcare.
Nom,
more:
It sounds like this has the potential to Nuke both existing and future securitized mortgages, making them worthless.
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1512-The-MERShole-Yawns-Wide.html
Tosh 207
Well i am guilty then. I see little benefit in any national healthcare plan that is likely to pass. In my opinion it will end up being a give away to corporate interests and a net burden on the citizens.
On that note i do indeed feel that the heated debate is most certainly a smoke screen. I know that my parents who are very near to retiring are much more concerned with the national healthcare debate and the medicare/aid implications, then some bankers getting bailed out for some reason they dont really understand.
this is in Mass, but should be interesting to see where it goes
Ruling could undo thousands of foreclosures
A real estate judge is refusing to reverse a landmark ruling that opens the door to voiding tens of thousands of Bay State foreclosures dating as far back as 1989.
“The foreclosure sales (in question are) invalid because they failed to meet the requirements of (Massachusetts law),” Land Court Judge Keith Long wrote yesterday in reaffirming a decision he originally reached in March.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view/20091015foreclose/srvc=home&position=also
[170] pgc
“Is providing all children with a basic level of free education, a S0c1alist concept.”
No. It doesn’t touch upon the operation of an economy, nor impinge on the freedom to accumulate private property. Nor does it redistribute wealth based on economic class (though some states may do this in the name of education).
I hate these comparisons because they are logically flawed, You are talking about a universally enjoyed benefit that has no direct relation to economic status, and they rely on the fact that soci@lism is a concept that is difficult to define—I can take issue with any dictionary definition of it, and with many of the various incarnations of it.
You might as well ask if paying taxes to support standing armies and navies is soci@list.
Let’s see, I have a billion doollars…what to do next? Here’s an idea!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBjAfsfUBSNg
“Instead of partying like it’s 1999, investors are more paupers than princes after a decade of nil returns.”
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB125555533212685805.html
ketlle1 says:
October 16, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Tosh 207 Well i am guilty then. I see little benefit in any national healthcare plan that is likely to pass. In my opinion it will end up being a give away to corporate interests and a net burden on the citizens.
ket: we’ll be able to have the court allow us to gas people and burn the corpses in mass ovens….at least that is what happens in Europe…..
chifi,
whats up with all the WWII refernces?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aieoH5P_Ea10
SPend Spend spend
SILENCE – doom doom doom
John says:
October 16, 2009 at 4:01 pm
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aieoH5P_Ea10
SPend Spend spend
The end is nigh…..
McDonald’s Offers Potato Burger
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=auX4o5c.BK70
Just read this gem
fun words like hire a marketing firm, and state’s formulation
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Montvale_residents_learn_more_about_school_feasibility_study.html
“SILENCE – doom doom doom”
Chi,
Are you really an American League Pitcher?
I’ll say it again; pent up demand, my ass.
Data supported by 1,000 consumers? Break out the F-Ing Bubbly.
“James, you and me should form our own brigade.”
Oathkeepers. When the citizens rise up the military will follow.
[192] BC
And therein, you see the seeds of the next bailout: The credit-challenged, or subprime, or LMI, pick your term.
Here’s what will happen. Dems, outraged by 79% credit card offers, will try to prevent banks like that from issuing such cards. In effect, there will be an attempt to impose a national usury limit.
Once they get around the hurdles, and there are many based in federalism, and actually get national usury limits passed, that means the folks who used to get those cards, can’t anymore.
The dems won’t want them running to Vinny the Mook for their lending needs, and the banks won’t give them loans at prime rates, so what to do about this formidable democratic-leaning voting bloc? Why bail them out, of course.
Look for the USG to give poor folks credit cards. Sure, its like giving whiskey and car keys to teenagers, but so what? The RICH can pay for it.
In reality, there will be new rules on banks subject to federal regulation that will mandate that they extend consumer credit to the poor who can’t get it on their own. Right now, its optional and can count toward CRA, but in the future, it will be mandatory. Not a good deal for the banks, but as agencies of the federal government now, they aren’t expected to make a profit.
“A new report by the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute states flatly the U.S. military must prepare for “a violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States” that could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse” or “loss of functioning political and legal order.”
Late last year, The Washington Post noted the incoming Obama Administration is going to “earmark” at least 20,000 troops returning from Iraq to deal with “domestic emergencies.” Since then, the Army Times has broken the story that the domestic emergency army unit has been increased to 80,000 troops, who are being trained right now in Georgia.
In short, U.S. officials expect big trouble ahead — but they are not warning the general public about the danger (much less urge the unsuspecting masses to make basic preparations).
A rare critic of the government’s keep-the-public-in-the-dark mentality is former head of the U.S. Commission on National Security, Stephen Flynn. He noted in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial: “Too many officials believe telling the truth to Americans about the risk would set off a nationwide panic. Thus, they keep us sheep in the dark for our own good.”
Boiled down, you need a real plan to deal with massive social dislocations that are headed our way. And you need to get started right now, because the government isn’t going to give you a heads-up.”
#225 Americans choose to remain in the dark.
[224] james
Southern Poverty Law Center and DHS under Napolitano now consider Oathkeepers to be a right wing subversive organization. SPLC essentially considers them domestic terrorists.
Nice treatment for a group that has taken an oath not to participate in illegal martial law, which is actually a reasonable position given that the Nuremburg defense is no defense. Can’t be tried later for war crimes when one doesn’t commit one. Worst that can happen is that you are court-martialed, and there you always have the defense of refusing to follow an illegal order.
what do they mean by social dislocations?
227,
Comrade, I think I am already on the DHS list. Its lonely at first but you get used to it.
James
Social dislocation: Think New orleans Post katrina
James,
half the regulars on this blog are on that list with you. It will be like a giant GTG when they start rounding us up
good thing we dont have to worry about that pesky habeas corpus thingy any more
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a5xRjxneh.So
He all saw what happened when we put a hedgefund on topof an insurance AIG, but will HArvard suffer the same fate?
Kettle,
That Domenica getway is looking really good. I bring some Shiny and Skenderbeg Conjac, and clot will provide the protection.
We need to get Shore Guy on the list too. Maybe clot could mail him some land mines :)
HMMM? Which is a better gauge; A rise in spending of 4K, qoq, for those with avg annual income of 228K or the below. Need Bi’s blackbox?
“A total of 937,840 homes received a default or auction notice or were repossessed by banks, a 23 percent increase from a year earlier, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a report. One out of every 136 U.S. households received a filing, the highest quarterly rate in records dating to January 2005.”
“The problem is prime loans going into foreclosure and people being underwater and losing their jobs,” Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said in an interview. “It’s a really bad number.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFofq9_za8Is
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afIJc.I4vpbs
BC,(237),
These deadbeats are looking to go back to 40:1 leverage. same Characters, Same Sheriff, you’re absolutely right. Spot on.
#237 Don’t worry, it is mid-October, the 8k home buyer credit expires Nov 30.
So, any day now, we will be informed that not only has it been extended (another year), it has been expanded (for any one who buys a home), and it has been increased (from 8k to 15K). All is well.
“half the regulars on this blog are on that list with you. It will be like a giant GTG when they start rounding us up”
Hey as long as I get three hots and a cot it will probably beat fending for ourselves against the wandering gangs of hoodlums
Nom at 224:
a bit over the top today.
BC,
enough with the anecdotal evidence, yes the banks need a little help form the government and yes they just got a 100 billion $ interest free loan from the tax payer while demanding 30% for consumer credit.
But really, the market is forward looking, unemployment is a lagging indicator and leveraging the low cost manufacturing opportunities in developing nations is shipping US jobs overseas. But really, this is all just the prelude to dow 15000
Dylan Ratigan Sticking It To Goldman:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#33346455
ketlle1 says:
October 16, 2009 at 5:10 pm
BC, enough with the anecdotal evidence, yes the banks need a little help form the government and yes they just got a 100 billion $ interest free loan from the tax payer while demanding 30% for consumer credit.
But really, the market is forward looking, unemployment is a lagging indicator and leveraging the low cost manufacturing opportunities in developing nations is shipping US jobs overseas. But really, this is all just the prelude to dow 15000
ket: Don’t make fun of me as if I am an idiot. A lot of people that fcuked up are paying a big price. Corporations included. A lot of people that didn’t fcuk up are not paying a big price. In fact, chaos is the perfect time to strike. It sucks. It may be morally repulsive. But it is reality and it is a by-product of existing in this system.
I’d rather be here that be baked in an oven or driving a subway train….although free healthcare would be nice…..
225.james says:
October 16, 2009 at 4:24 pm
“A new report by the Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute states flatly the U.S. military must prepare for “a violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States” that could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse” or “loss of functioning political and legal order.”
Late last year, The Washington Post noted the incoming Obama Administration is going to “earmark” at least 20,000 troops returning from Iraq to deal with “domestic emergencies.” Since then, the Army Times has broken the story that the domestic emergency army unit has been increased to 80,000 troops, who are being trained right now in Georgia.
In short, U.S. officials expect big trouble ahead — but they are not warning the general public about the danger (much less urge the unsuspecting masses to make basic preparations).
A rare critic of the government’s keep-the-public-in-the-dark mentality is former head of the U.S. Commission on National Security, Stephen Flynn. He noted in a recent Wall Street Journal editorial: “Too many officials believe telling the truth to Americans about the risk would set off a nationwide panic. Thus, they keep us sheep in the dark for our own good.”
Boiled down, you need a real plan to deal with massive social dislocations that are headed our way. And you need to get started right now, because the government isn’t going to give you a heads-up.”
Surely this won’t effect the stock market at DOW 15K?
HEHEHE says:
October 16, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Dylan Ratigan Sticking It To Goldman:
HEHEHE…..five letters for you MSNBC….close to the truth, but twisted just enough to make the story plausible…hence…garbage; pandering; rating grabbing; and a shot to Ratigan’s cred….entertaining no doubt, but strains credulity.
Note: I hate GS, but this fact pattern is being manipulated for the sake of argument.
How is it being manipulated? Let’s not ignore the facts Chi
toshiro_mifune says:
October 16, 2009 at 1:45 pm
“You don’t ask them to ‘accept’ the changes you subserviant little toad, you tell them.”
Awesome line.
Chi – you have a serious victim mentality you are allowing to warp your perceptions of pretty much everything, from other countries to IB’s to the Ivy League.
Get a grip.
I know people with numbers tattooed on their forearms with better perspectives and less neuroses.
I do not remember off the top off my head from 20 minutes ago, but something to the effect of $13B of money from AIG posted collateral being construed as part of a $70B handout from the US Govt. You can make that assertion, but it is a purposely provocative and specious argument designed to get people riled up….pure garbage, and while it sounds plausible, is in reality utterly baseless……..LEH, MER, FNM, FRE, AIG went under. Are you supposed to stand by and allow everything to die?……most of you are firmly in the YES camp. I certainly could not disagree with you more.
Honestly, I think the only thing that stinks is the idea that Paulson let LEH die because everyone hates Fuld. I do not think it is the case, but I can believe it. Just one bank going under has really fcuked a lot of stuff up. It was a bad choice. Imagine instead of one bank you had five or six…..WTF does that get you? In Ratigan’s case one year later…a lot of ratings for his troubled network that is for sale and is looking to increase the sticker price as much as possible…..
lisoosh says:
October 16, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Chi – you have a serious victim mentality you are allowing to warp your perceptions of pretty much everything, from other countries to IB’s to the Ivy League. Get a grip. I know people with numbers tattooed on their forearms with better perspectives and less neuroses.
l: To quote Andrew Fletcher of Depeche Mode
Our web forum is like one long moan…
Washington Post: People sure like to complain.
Fletch: Our forum is like one long moan. (Laughs.) They’re supposed to be the biggest Depeche Mode fans and they moan about everything. And they know more about Depeche Mode than I do. It’s incredible.
l: In general, I hate it when the majority pick on the minority for what appears to me to be unjustified reasons.
As far as Europeans, I really do not appreciate their blatant anti-Israeli stances and also their taking the U.S. for granted. The ridicule appears to me as thinly veiled envy. That said, I am at heart a European, and in pains me to have to deal with these compartmentalized attitudes.
The US troops in Afghanistan proved they have retained their sense of humor, one of them sent this.
“YOU MAY BE TALIBAN IF …”
1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.
2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can’t afford shoes.
3. You have more wives than teeth.
4. You wipe your butt with your bare hand, but consider bacon “unclean.”
5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can’t think of anyone you haven’t declared Jihad against…
7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs..
9. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least one..
10. You’ve always had a crush on your neighbor’s goat.
“Honestly, I think the only thing that stinks is the idea that Paulson let LEH die because everyone hates Fuld. I do not think it is the case, but I can believe it.”
Chi,
Yes they hate Fuld, not the reason. They could have easily saved LEH. Hell, the window was opened the next week and the fed announced they were guaranteeing the cp market a few days later. In reality, they needed to blow someone out to convince Congress that Armageddon was upon us. Right after LEH went down, Hank fell on his knees, begging Nancy P. They knew if LEH went, they could then loot the kitty.
The rest is history.
(254)
Nom de humor
When it comes to being nom . . .
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!
Draw ye sword , immortal!
“They knew if LEH went, they could then loot the kitty.”
BC – You hit the nail on the head. All of them knew that the system is unsustainable. The last act of the parasite is destroying the body of the host once it knows that the host is dying.
Mission Accomplished.
(247) Morpheus
You are easily offended if you thought that was over the top.
I seem to recall libs calling for military to obey objectionable orders. How is oathkeepers different?
Their oath is not to be a tool of an oppressive regime that bends or breaks the constitiution. MSM does stories lionizing guys like that.
“Are you supposed to stand by and allow everything to die?”
Chi,
You take the entity into receivership, blow out the shareholders and sub bond holders. If there is any value, the market vultures will sniff it out, senior bondholders will get a piece. Break the crap up. The inefficient, ineffective, less competent do not deserve life support.
Why print and sink new debt in a sinking black hole? We don’t have to stand by and wait for Citi or BAC to pass on. They are already dead.
“l: In general, I hate it when the majority pick on the minority for what appears to me to be unjustified reasons.”
Chi,
Pant up demand?
BC-
So the question is ‘Do they shoot another hostage to get more handouts?’
Wouldn’t a market correction be good for the dollar?
Folks, correct me but if I am wrong but the barn is open for business, as I have stated before like it or not Bernake saved us from the Depression. History is written by the winners, so no need to rehash what we already know from last fall. Sorkin will do the events of last fall justice in his book, lets leave it to history to the authors for now.
What is happening here and now should be the focus for anyone with skin in the game, I am seeing large price declines down the shore. Anyone else?
Lets go Yankees!!!
Isn’t it amazing what turn of events can take place? Appreciate you letting your readers know about this.
271.Victorian says:
October 16, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Lets go Yankees!!!
259.chicagofinance says:
October 16, 2009 at 6:28 pm
I certainly could not disagree with you more.
263.BC Bob says:
October 16, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Chi, Yes they hate Fuld, not the reason. They could have easily saved LEH. Hell, the window was opened the next week and the fed announced they were guaranteeing the cp market a few days later. In reality, they needed to blow someone out to convince Congress that Armageddon was upon us. Right after LEH went down, Hank fell on his knees, begging Nancy P. They knew if LEH went, they could then loot the kitty. The rest is history.
Bost: eh….did the government stand down on 9/11 too?
Anecdata
My wife was at a Rutgers job fair today looking for new hires. This is an annual task of hers. and for the last several years no one would bite and they would end up hiring mostly entry level people without degree’s in many cases immigrants with basic english skills.
These are direct care positions for mentally handicapped adults. They pay about $10.75/hr
Last year there was a line at her table at the job fair and they had their pick of candidates with 4 year degrees.
This year she had a line for the entire career fair and they now have enough demand for the positions that they require a 4 year degree. Most of the people she spoke to graduated last spring and have not been able to find work yet.
Now lets put this in perspective. We have students who just graduated from Rutgers with a four year degree that cost on average about $40,000 vying for an entry level position that pays $10.75
ABC 6:00 local news ran a story about the retail shops on Ridgewood Ave. in Ridgewood. 36 shop have vacancy signs. That’s 36 shops that are gone. I had a realtor tell me at an open house a few years ago that Ridgewood is bleeding money and will never ever drop in value.
# 198 John’s Wife,
Egads!!! THAT is either really funny or really sad. I can’t say I have ever seen anyone so, um, shortchanged before.
“Bost: eh….did the government stand down on 9/11 too?”
Chi,
Low blow comparing 9/11 to greed, incompetence, fraud and cover ups. I knew some having breakfast up on Windows of the World. We all, on this site, knew somebody/knew someone else that knew somebody. I would expect much better from you. Obviously, I’m wrong. Shame on you.
“SaS says there is a link between wall st and the cash crops”
They money is funneled right to wall st.
and don’t rule out the private prisons, you give some dumb judge a little kickback, or give a phony alias to partner up with the private prison. so, he/she can then send people to fill up the beds.
SAS
“ABC 6:00 local news ran a story about the retail shops on Ridgewood Ave. in Ridgewood. 36 shop have vacancy signs. That’s 36 shops that are gone.”
Gary,
Not to worry, those that made an avg of 250K have increased their spending by an avg of 4K, quarter on quarter. They have gone to dinner, paid $25 to park for The Boss, have even entertained on their expense accounts. Swoop in, get space on the cheap. Ridgewood is back.
BFF!
San Joaquin Bank, Bakersfield, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Citizens Business Bank, Ontario, California, to assume all of the deposits of San Joaquin Bank.
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2009/pr09185.html
Bob, you’re forgetting a rule that either you or Clot used to espouse.
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Maybe LEH didn’t get put down as insurance. Maybe somebody was just testing the reactor.
And I can think of at least three other scumwad, skin-crawling scabies-makers who could’ve been picked as easily.
278.BC Bob says:
October 16, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Chi, Low blow comparing 9/11 to greed, incompetence, fraud and cover ups.
???? same thing has been raised about both events…exactly the same
I am sorry to hear this stuff, as well as dredging up the past, but it is irrelevant to your point…
[I knew some having breakfast up on Windows of the World. We all, on this site, knew somebody/knew someone else that knew somebody. I would expect much better from you. Obviously, I’m wrong. Shame on you.]
The Minnesota Free Market Institute hosted an event at Bethel University in St. Paul on Wednesday evening. Keynote speaker Lord Christopher Monckton, former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, gave a scathing and lengthy presentation, complete with detailed charts, graphs, facts, and figures which culminated in the utter decimation of both the pop culture concept of global warming and the credible threat of any significant anthropomorphic climate change.
A detailed summary of Monckton’s presentation will be available here once compiled. However, a segment of his remarks justify immediate publication. If credible, the concern Monckton speaks to may well prove the single most important issue facing the American nation, bigger than health care, bigger than cap and trade, and worth every citizen’s focused attention.
Here were Monckton’s closing remarks, as dictated from my audio recording:
At [the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in] Copenhagen, this December, weeks away, a treaty will be signed. Your president will sign it. Most of the third world countries will sign it, because they think they’re going to get money out of it. Most of the left-wing regime from the European Union will rubber stamp it. Virtually nobody won’t sign it.
I read that treaty. And what it says is this, that a world government is going to be created. The word “government” actually appears as the first of three purposes of the new entity. The second purpose is the transfer of wealth from the countries of the West to third world countries, in satisfication of what is called, coyly, “climate debt” – because we’ve been burning CO2 and they haven’t. We’ve been screwing up the climate and they haven’t. And the third purpose of this new entity, this government, is enforcement.
282.Pat says:
October 16, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Bob, you’re forgetting a rule that either you or Clot used to espouse.
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Pat: my honest assessment being in the markets in 2008…the fixed income investors got totally bailed out with Bear, Fannie and Freddie. Paulson saw us going to down the road where he was creating a moral hazard in the unsecured debt community. He decide to let the weakest link go…it was a serious error in judgement. I understood the rationale though….I agree in spirit with you athough maybe not in degree.
At least when Paulson knew he needed help, he took a line – when offered – from a plastic internet platter. Definitely no psych expert, that man. Should’ve had some dumbass HR people working for him all along.
It doesn’t matter if it was passed to him third or fourth hand, he got it and he tried it and it worked. That’s saying something about him from an odd point of view.
Chi,
Do you actually think before you type?
2,900 innocent people were killed on 9/11. The architect’s of a flim flam bubble, ponzi scheme had it blow up in their face. Where are the dots connected?
Apples and oranges? Try apples and soybeans.
Pat [273],
They knew how the reactor would respond. These guys are pros. You better ask questions before you shoot and damn well better know the answer.
Of course there were other turds that could have been wiped out, many more than 3. That said, you only need one to create havoc and have the gullible, naive play into your hand.
#213 Nom
I call BS.
“You are talking about a universally enjoyed benefit that has no direct relation to economic status”
I think this defines what a lot of people want from a health care system. If you have the money, then fine go private and have the gold level service, but provide a basic level to all.
“No. It doesn’t touch upon the operation of an economy, nor impinge on the freedom to accumulate private property. Nor does it redistribute wealth based on economic class (though some states may do this in the name of education).”
Well it does at the end of the day the place you live will determine the quality of the “free” education your child gets. It will cost more to rent in my Blue Ribbon town, than Patterson, a few miles away, and the difference in the schools is immense.
“soci@lism is a concept that is difficult to define”
I hate when people use the soci@lism as a scare tactic to stoke the zealots.
“You might as well ask if paying taxes to support standing armies and navies is soci@list.”
Well actually it is. You have the right to bear arms and raise and maintain your m1lit1a, but you defer to the gvmt to do it for you.
#229 A.West
The states are the biggest flaw in this system of Gvmt.
Why can’t there be a standard for Driving Licenses. Why must all states issue their own. The cars are the same.
When you look at Madoff and the like. They exist because the can exploit the gaps in State vs. Federal regulation.
Trying to send money from the east coast to the west coast can best be defined as feudal.
PGC, you will be fighting me when it all goes down. Lets see how closely you hold those beliefs to your chest. You do not have the right to the fruits of someone elses labor.
“ABC 6:00 local news ran a story about the retail shops on Ridgewood Ave. in Ridgewood. 36 shop have vacancy signs. That’s 36 shops that are gone.”
Went out to eat last night, one of our favorite spots is Malee in Ridgewood. IMHO, the best Thai around.
Packed! The wait started at 7pm and never ended.
What recession in Ridgewood.
Of course, you probably could classify Malee as cheaper eats. The fancy french place next door was a ghost town.
ridgewood: your a high end guy grim .
i went to garfield
PGC
at the end of the day the place you live will determine the quality of the “free” education your child gets. It will cost more to rent in my Blue Ribbon town, than Patterson, a few miles away, and the difference in the schools is immense.
This more attributable to the parents and the local culture then the physical location. The culture issue is a complex one, but it has been shown time and again that money does not solve this problem. if that was the case camden, newark, patterson etc. should be world class school systems.
What we see in the performance of schools is the natural self segregation of the different segments of society based on their ability to succeed in their given environment.
Regardless of race or culture, a successful individual is going to live in Brigadoon before they live in patterson. That success is what enables them to live in Brigadoon.
While not common there are plenty of examples of poor parents who have highly valued education and personal advancement and support/drive their children to learn and excel, allowing them to move up in the socioeconomic food chain.
In the end its a combination of luck (where you are born and your parents attitudes) and hard work, drive to excel.
PGC
The states are the biggest flaw in this system of Gvmt.
I disagree. Your proposition would work assuming we had a primarily homogeneous society. However, the USA is a highly heterogeneous society.
The states arrangement works better in a heterogeneous society as it allows different groups to adjust local rules to better fit their culture/ideas while still being part of the whole. The extra degree of freedom the states arrangement allows in a heterogeneous society prevents a build up of social tension better opposing groups. It doesnt prevent it, but it does mitigate it.