From the Asbury Park Press:
NJ unemployment: N.J. added 10,500 jobs in April, unemployment rate held steady
New Jersey’s economy added 10,500 jobs in April, and its unemployment rate remained stable at 9.8 percent, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported Wednesday.
The report was a sign that the economy is in a recovery, albeit a choppy one. A wide range of private-sector companies accounted for the bulk of the hiring.
“Employers in New Jersey — at least some segments — have finally gained confidence in the sustainability of the recovery,” said Patrick J. O’Keefe, an economist and partner at J.H. Cohn, a Roseland-based accounting firm.
…
The New Jersey labor market was decimated during the national recession that began in 2007 and cost the state almost 230,000 jobs. But the report released Wednesday showed that hiring in April was at its strongest pace in two years.
…
The huge job gain came a month after the state lost 4,900 jobs, showing the recovery remains tenuous. But economists said it is headed in the right direction. New Jersey lost 100 private-sector jobs during the first four months of the year, compared with a loss of 71,700 private-sector jobs during the first four months of 2009, Rutgers University economist James W. Hughes said.“At least we’re looking at a recovery now and the recession is in the rearview mirror,” Hughes said. “However, we’re still probably a long way from gangbusters.”
Sectors with the biggest gains: Professional and business services added 3,700 jobs, manufacturing added 2,500 jobs and financial activities added 1,100 jobs. The public sector added 2,400 jobs, most of which came from hiring by the U.S. Census Bureau.
From the NYT:
Lost Decade Looming?
Despite a chorus of voices claiming otherwise, we aren’t Greece. We are, however, looking more and more like Japan.
For the past few months, much commentary on the economy — some of it posing as reporting — has had one central theme: policy makers are doing too much. Governments need to stop spending, we’re told. Greece is held up as a cautionary tale, and every uptick in the interest rate on U.S. government bonds is treated as an indication that markets are turning on America over its deficits. Meanwhile, there are continual warnings that inflation is just around the corner, and that the Fed needs to pull back from its efforts to support the economy and get started on its “exit strategy,” tightening credit by selling off assets and raising interest rates.
And what about near-record unemployment, with long-term unemployment worse than at any time since the 1930s? What about the fact that the employment gains of the past few months, although welcome, have, so far, brought back fewer than 500,000 of the more than 8 million jobs lost in the wake of the financial crisis? Hey, worrying about the unemployed is just so 2009.
But the truth is that policy makers aren’t doing too much; they’re doing too little. Recent data don’t suggest that America is heading for a Greece-style collapse of investor confidence. Instead, they suggest that we may be heading for a Japan-style lost decade, trapped in a prolonged era of high unemployment and slow growth.
Just subtract that same number once the laid off teachers hit the rolls.
From the Star Ledger:
N.J. official says revenue from income tax could ‘fall significantly below’ budget projections
The numbers are finally coming in on New Jersey’s most crucial state tax — and they don’t look good.
Though a final tally is not available, an internal message from the Office of Legislative Service’s David Rosen says there is a “high probability” the income tax could “fall significantly below” what Gov. Chris Christie expected — and that next year’s projections might have to be adjusted.
…
The e-mail, written by Rosen, says:
“As you are aware the GIT (gross income tax) collections for April were more than $550 million below expectations. Owing to the delayed filing deadline for many residents, we assumed that much of this shortfall would be made up in May. Based on the collection data now available, it seems that this assumption was overly optimistic. There is a high probability that GIT collections for FY10 will fall significantly below the levels assumed in the GBM (governor’s budget message) and that projections for FY11 may have to be tempered as well. We will be working between now and Tuesday to quantify the impact in both years, but I thought you ought to be alerted to what we know at this time. “
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aU0WFRUuE490
Millionaire tax passes – but C says he will veto it.
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2010/05/albania-plans-gold-coins-to-honor.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Economicpolicyjournalcom+%28EconomicPolicyJournal.com%29
Chicago – Albanian gold coins to honor Mother Teresa.
Millionaire tax passes – but C says he will veto it.
Already did, I don’t think the paper even had a chance to hit the desk.
If helicopter ben doesn’t fire up another half trillion soon then unemployment will double by 2012. Mostly tit suckers of course so it may actually be a good thing.
Have to work now, somewhere there is an american fat ass that needs a bucket of fried chicken for lunch.
World Failure Friday?
6 – Grim – Cool…
I don’t sleep much, thought I was on top of that but you are the king.
Christie for President!
A smaller district than mine is laying off 60 teachers. It looks as thought the foreclosures are going to begin hitting the public sector here. A friend who works there says she knows of at least three who will lose their houses.
The 6% pay cut in my district for the next few years will seriously curtail spending in my area. CA doesn’t have anybody left to spend money.
Public/Private – it doesn’t matter – we are all broke now.
thought was though
So Clot – How far does it fall today. Roubini said another 20% “correction.”
http://custom.yahoo.com/lifelonginvesting/slideshows/sets/91/americas-oldest-workers.html
There I am at 90 – no…make that 100.
TRENTON — The state Assembly approved a measure today that seeks to rejuvenate the state’s housing market by giving out $100 million in tax credits to homebuyers.
The bill establishes the New Jersey Homebuyer Tax Credit Program, which will give new homeowners credits worth either $15,000 or five percent of the home purchase price, whichever is less. It will be distributed over a three year period on a first come, first serve basis for purchases during 2010.
The bill passed 66-8, with three abstentions and still needs to pass in the state Senate.
The total payout from the state is capped at $100 million, though supporters of the bill and members of the home building industry who pushed for it said it will generate far more revenue from the creation of jobs related to the industry and other related economic activity.
Seventy-five million dollars of the credit is reserved for new construction, while $25 million is set aside for buyers of existing homes.
The credit, which would start in 2011, comes after an $8,000 tax credit federal first-time homebuyer and $6,500 for repeat buyers expired on April 30.
Didn’t really see a lot of discussion about this on here. With so many votes for it seems certain to pass senate. Implications?
Went to a town meeting last night where they increased the Municipal Budget (Tax Increase) and moved $300K from Sewer Utility Reserves to the General Fund to avoid any cuts to DPW or Police, etc. They also rolled over on the School Budget, which had been voted down. They call themselves “Fiscal Conservatives”, but are actually “Kick the Can down the Roaders”. They were very good at smiling blandly and ignoring all concerns raised. It actually was a 3-2 vote so two members were Fiscally Responsible. I am amazed that so many of our elected representatives simply refuse to understand the dire conditions of todays economy. GEICO Homeowners Insurance just notified me that they are expecting approval of a 29% rate increase. I can’t pay that by witholding my sewer payment. The town evidently thinks they can. Reminds me of the old Condo Association Caution, only move into a brand new Condominium as they hold the maintenance costs artificially low expecting to die before repairs are needed and kicking the can down the road to the next generation of buyers.
Thank God “the recession is in the rearview mirror.” I was getting a little worried there.
Jim! Me toooooo! Go congriss!
“At least we’re looking at a recovery now and the recession is in the rearview mirror,” Hughes said.
Sorry, the old economy is kaput. Recovery will only begin after total implosion. The spread between capacity and demand is widening. Maybe if you looked thru the front widow you would see a long term unwinding/contraction looming. You don’t cure 30 years of a debt/credit bubble in a year.
By the way, what recession? This is a worldwide balance sheet depression.
“Employers in New Jersey — at least some segments — have finally gained confidence in the sustainability of the recovery,” said Patrick J. O’Keefe, an economist and partner at J.H. Cohn, a Roseland-based accounting firm.
Bwahahahaha!!!
What’s up with Hughes calling end of recession?
If anybody has time, and you’ve visited fdic site less than five times in the past year, could you do me a favor and see if you get a survey prompt when you use menu links to check files for banks opting out of t a r p. No biggie, just curious.
“Despite a chorus of voices claiming otherwise, we aren’t Greece. We are, however, looking more and more like Japan.”
[1],
On this site, we turned Japanese awhile ago. Some were forced to change their name. One slight difference; the Wantanabe’s entered their funk with a high savings rate. On the flip side, we exited a booming economy, albeit a charade, buried to our eyeballs in debt.
How about turning Japanese in a late 1970’s environment? It’s gonna be a long walk home.
sorry, opting out of TAG. Click through link on homepage, quarterly banking profile.
Cindy (13)-
I think we get a close well under 10,000 on the Dow today. However, I still think we’re eventually headed toward Dow 4,500.
Much more interesting will be the bank runs and massive riots.
I’m with Russell; by this Winter, the US will be unrecognizable to us.
This is the end of days.
Also will be interesting to see how Spain institutes an austerity program with 50% youth UE. Just the mention of such a program sends them to the streets there.
24 – I was figuring on the 7600 or whatever it was before the run up…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8tR2qKrWyg
Alas…We are dealing with the deaf, dumb and blind!
And nobody riots like the French.
Back on the FAZ train today for the first time in a long time.
I have to rig my desk so I can pee into a liter Pepsi bottle. :)
Disclaimer: I failed to become a professional Parcheesi player.
Triple down, baby!!!!
When you eat a chunk of ripe pineapple and follow it with a little piece of banana, it tastes like beer for a moment.
“The bill establishes the New Jersey Homebuyer Tax Credit Program”
Buy a home now, before prices go up by 10%.
So Senate passed a law banning subprime mortgages and bailouts, except if you’re Fannie, Freddie or FHA, so you and I can cover the losses vs. Lehman shareholders. I want GW Bush back in the White House now!!
#30 Doom
Probably a hefeweizen.
But thanks for the tip. My boss doesn’t believe that drinking beer on the job would increase my productivity so I have to get through the day somehow.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20100521,0,1163343.column
“Payday lenders scuttle financial reform amendment to limit such loans”
Oh yeah, financial reform/ consumer protection…but for payday loans it is business as usual. Huh?
When Will America Face Its Fiscal Crisis?
It’s up to the credit rating agencies to decide.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/20/economy-fiscal-crisis-money-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html
Essex says:
May 21, 2010 at 6:32 am
Just subtract that same number once the laid off teachers hit the rolls.
Outrageous that the union threw them under the bus, isn’t it?
To bad Obama is to ignorant to realize that BP could have sealed the oil leak weeks ago, but didn’t want to, until they figured out how to pump oil from the well. Now that they have a pumping vehicle, they are finally talking about top cap & junk shot which will not effect their current pumping of oil. Government is at a new low under Obama allowing unfettered destruction of the US eco system. I thought Bush was bad, but “O” is truely beyond measure. Also amazing that all of the science & industry behind America couldn’t be used by “O” to fix a leak. If that was really the case, we are in total decline. Putin would have stopped the leak weeks ago.
24 – bank runs…I just don’t see it. True, I don’t want to believe it so…rose-colored glasses and all of that – but still. Bank runs in the US – I don’t see it.
#37,
I thought this was a housing blog, not an oil blog.
Lebron James looking to play for himself? Moma aint raise no fool.
They cannot pay James with MSG stock because it would violate the league’s collective bargaining agreement. But there is nothing to stop James from buying shares of MSG with his money. This would allow James to in essence work for himself and capture the upside in revenue from higher ratings on the MSG RSN, a soon-to-be renovated Madison Square Garden and much higher profits he will bring to these platforms.
http://blogs.forbes.com/sportsmoney/2010/05/the-new-york-knicks-will-get-lebron-james/
Also, apparently I’m being told that employees can buy shares at a significant discount through some sort of employee purchase plan.
Ladies and gentleman this is a no brainer.
Cindy, 24
Do you remeber Indymac 2 yrs ago?
(37) “Obama allowing unfettered destruction of the US eco system. ”
———————–
You truly are confused
I thought this was a housing blog, not an oil blog.
This is a blog where everyone is an expert at everything and we all agree that Obama is the root of all evil.
#38 – Cindy – bank runs…I just don’t see it
I think if you were expecting the old school style bank run then you’re right. However OTS came to the conclusion that a bank run is just what finally killed WaMu;
Washington Mutual customers withdrew $16.7 billion in cash from the thrift in the past nine days, a huge outflow that led to the largest bank failure in U.S. history, the institution’s regulator said Friday.
No need to line up in front of the branch office with `lectronic transfers.
Some more fun WaMu blurbs;
When the Office of Thrift Supervision seized Washington Mutual, it said the thrift was “likely to be unable to pay its obligations” and had “no realistic chances for raising new capital.” The thrift’s deposits had declined by $22 billion in the previous two months, the federal agency said, and losses were ballooning because of Washington Mutual’s exposure to tumbling real-estate prices and risky mortgages.
With a traditional bank run you at least know it’s happening. The modern version is invisible.
42 – Make – $32 billion – yikes!
Confused 37
Runaway wells like the deephorizon well, are notoriously difficult to stop. The only fairly certain way is to to drill multiple relief wells and plug the well from below, which they are working on doing. Plugging the well from the top is a very long shot at best.
I would venture to guess that BP has not tried it yet because there is the possibility that they could blowout the bent riser that seems to be restricting the flow to some degree. If they blowout the riser in an attempted top plug operation, and the top plug operation fails, then you have a completely free flowing VERY high pressure well which in turn makes the bottom plug operation even more difficult due to the involved pressure differentials.
Without writing too much of an essay, there are other factors as well, such as subsurface geology and gas formation that complicate the issue as well.
in the end they are being careful not to disturb the existing BOP too much, as from the available public info it seems that they are afraid of causing complete failure of the BP which is then a truly worst case scenario.
The quantity of oil being collected by the current riser is about 300-5000 barrels per day of which about 50% is natural gas. the natural gas is burned off at the surface and only the liquid oil is collected. 1000-2000 barrels of oil per day is absolutely inconsequential to BP’s oil production. Mos of their deep water wells in the gulf are production 30,000 – 50,000 barrels per days at a much lower cost. The collected oil represents a net loss to BP.
The only solid chance at a top plug operation is to nuke the well, which they are not currently willing to do.
There is plenty of guilt and criminal misconduct to go around in my opinion, but BP intentionally not sealing the well so they can collect a few thousands barrels of oil per day is tin foil hat territory
Epic post on ZeroHedge yesterday:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/time-speak-out
From which I culled this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cppY-n1i79w
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/sep2008/db20080925_760466.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily
Tosh – 45
I actually do remember the Wamu situation because the dude at Bronte Capital made a big deal about the price – and indicated that JPM wanted the branches and was going to get them one way or the other. I think there are still suits pending by the bond holders.
Non-traditional bank runs…
But that was during the TBTF buildup.
You know me – ever the optimist.
jj says:
May 20, 2010 at 4:14 pm
meter says:
most people have long hit the max already by now
Here’s what I don’t get – if you aren’t contributing, you’re paying more in taxes. Deal w/ market ups and downs or give more of your hard earned $ to uncle Sam?
Unless there’s another solution I am unaware of that you guys are doing….
May 20, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Informal poll question:
Anyone still contributing to a 401k or IRA?
Follow up:
Why?
Albani: I brought up the idea of using MSG stock to draw in LeBron to Donnie Walsh in December when I went to that Knick thing. He looked at me like a deer in the headlights. We also had people from HSN and Sirius there. I said you should give him a LeBron channel and sell LeBron stuff. The other people were laughing. He did say that he would have the bankers look at the MSG thing. I thought it could be a way to circumvent the soft salary cap, but I guess I never looked at the participation angle….
What I was saying was not so earth shattering…so I’m sure that many others thought as much….obviously
make money says:
May 21, 2010 at 8:52 am
Lebron James looking to play for himself? Moma aint raise no fool.
They cannot pay James with MSG stock because it would violate the league’s collective bargaining agreement. But there is nothing to stop James from buying shares of MSG with his money. This would allow James to in essence work for himself and capture the upside in revenue from higher ratings on the MSG RSN, a soon-to-be renovated Madison Square Garden and much higher profits he will bring to these platforms.
Arg, I botched that. Damn phone.
At any rate the question remains: if you don’t do 401k/Ira what are you doing? Surely nobody here wants to give more to uncle sam…
yikes,
i buy 55 gallon drums of diesel
http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2008/09/reckless-irresponsible-seizure-of.html
Tosh –
Just one of his many rants on the subject.
D@mn – I have to go to work with the annual carnival immediately after.
I will have to catch up tomorrow.
But – I AM going to work and counting my blessings about that.
“It’s up to the credit rating agencies to decide.
”
Buck [35],
They are simply worthless pieces of sheet. Only the evil wolfpack will decide. It’s coming, once they finish pulverizing the Euro, they will hop across the pond.
“Back on the FAZ train today for the first time in a long time.”
This is a huge buy signal. I bought, bought and bought.
Thanks Clot!!!
Housing Data: A New ‘Bust-Bust’ Cycle?
This one just about covers all the bases.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/206272-housing-data-a-new-bust-bust-cycle?source=email
tidbits
“Purchase applications plummeted 27 percent last week and have declined almost 20 percent over the past month, despite relatively low interest rates. The data continue to suggest that the tax credit pulled sales into April at the expense of the remainder of the spring buying season. In fact, this drop occurred even as rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall, and at 4.83 percent are at their lowest level since November 2009,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics.
The percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the first quarter was 4.63 percent, an increase of five basis points from the fourth quarter of 2009 and 78 basis points from one year ago. This represents another record high.
According to the latest data from CoreLogic, March home prices increased 1.7% YoY. They reported that 51 of the 100 core markets they studied increased versus a 42 market increase in February. There is a “but” to this: prices have been declining in the past three months–1.7% for January and February and another 0.3% in March. If you take out foreclosure/distressed sales from the data, from peak to trough, prices declined 21.5% through March.
Check out the chart on this link truly ugly.
March 2010 Moody’s / REAL Commercial Property Price Index Shows Continued Declines
http://seekingalpha.com/article/206177-march-2010-moodys-real-commercial-property-price-index-s
There is light at the end of the tunnel.
http://jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/clip_image00138.jpg
[54] hyde
You know, I can show you how to buy drums of diesel in an IRA.
Coffee, now off to the shore on this beautiful day. There are no jobs out there, so I might as well be a beach bum for the day.
Section 8. Limitation on Player Ownership.
During the term of this Agreement, no NBA player may acquire or hold a direct or indirect interest in the ownership of any NBA Team; provided, however, that any player may own shares of any publicly-traded company that directly or indirectly owns an NBA Team.
Just looked at the rules and its legit. This is a game changer. ,akes me want to participate and pick up some shares on a dip here.
beer (33)-
Germans drink beer all through the work day. Look how it’s worked out for them.
Cindy (34)-
Every vibrant economy is built on a foundation of suckers who need payday loans.
Right?
Cindy (38)-
What were Bear & Lehman, if not full-fledged bank runs?
@64, Doom –
So if we drink beer during work hours we have to support the layabout Greeks?
Will *not* be having any midday libations from this point forward.
meter (67)-
You’re already supporting layabout Greeks, via the IMF.
Seems to me to be a reason to drink. However, make mine whiskey.
Looked at a 3bd condo at 119k yesterday REO. My agent who should know better started on the “in a few years you can sell it for X more.”
Stopped in my tracks & told her in no uncertain terms “it is a place to live, you are not going to retire on it, it is not an investment to make money.No more buying & in 8 years worth 2 times plus what you payed. The sooner people realize this the better off we will be”
The silence was deafening.
Doom Cindy 65
You want to talk about a system that rapes the poor and lower classes. Payday loans are simply legal loan sharks!!!
Then again if you want to be all free market capitalist you could argue that the demand exists to be serviced since the payday loan users seem to be ok with it…
“Every vibrant economy is built on a foundation of suckers who need payday loans.”
Doom,
Along with suckers, this foundation is built on a set of toothpicks.
MIW [69],
Like a deer in headlights. Maybe you should have offered to buy her a beer at Krogh’s, after you ruined her night?
Wantan.
The tooth picks are soaked in gasoline….
3b 72 Know her well both sold me my house & 8 yrs later sold it for me. You would think she would not go there with me. I think she actually believes it. Also gave her the MBA data on morg. apps. on the way over. No comment.
Future so bright I gotta wear shades.
One in Ten Mortgage Borrowers Will Lose Home Within Two Years
“New Observations is forecasting that a minimum of one in ten homes with a mortgage today will be lost to foreclosure in the next two years and that this loss represents a staggering five-million-unit addition to inventory-for-sale.”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/206244-one-in-ten-mortgage-borrowers-will-lose-home-within-two
OT Alert
Any lurkers out there work for small (under 250 employees worldwide) pharma/biotech companies? If so, I want to pick your brains about something.
Ket, Pain,
Was at a healthcare PE thing recently where some industry vets were lamenting NJ’s screwing the pooch in driving the business away. As is often spoken of here, the contrast between how other states pursue the opportunity is numbing.
As my Pops, an engineer, used to say: We can’t all be cvlil servants or sell insurance.
51.
Havent contributed in 3 years. Rolled 401k over to IRA and will take penalty if I even get a Kagan sniff of voluntary federal annuity initiatives.
Why?
Future tax rates make it an obsolete retirement vehicle. We will never retire and will be left on the side of the street as a dusty broken down corpse.
I converted all my equities into miners and cash.
Everything else goes in to Gold b_tiches!
Nom,
Can any of your “get out of NJ/US” avoidance techiques be employed if physical situs is NJ? Not looking for free advice, if there is something to pursue in this regard would expect the meter to be running. Thanks in advance.
Hyde,
Im thinking this oil spill story has barely begun. National guard units around the country are being called up.
Either they are planning on evacuating parts of the gulf or war is getting close.
Doom, how’s that FAZ train working out for ya?
Whoops, FAZ down 11% on the day. Clot, I love reading your posts, but that call was a stinker!
Bailout on. What a charade.
AL,
A ballpark guess is probably about 700,000 to 1,000,000 barrels of oil have leaked into the gulf….
Exxon Valdez spilled about 350,000 barrels of oil. Its probably another 30-90 days before the relief wells can be used to shut down the well….
if flow averages 30,000-50,000 barrels per days until then (assume 45 days to kill well from today and an average flow of 30,000), the total spill would be in the ballpark of 2 – 2.5 million barrels of oil.
you just turned the gulf into a deadzone for a decade.
Al 80:
I will say the latter. This oil spill is a total PR disaster for Obama. You would think that he would have sent the troops to the gulf long ago to mop up all this oil but he did not. Just last night I was thinking that the reaosn he did not as the troops will be needed somewhere else and within a short time period.
A few weeks ago I met a USMC logistics Major. He was blunt that if we were to start another war in a place like North Korea or Iran that we will need a draft almost immediately. He said the troops are being ground down with all the multiple deployments. He has done 5 tours and was on his way to a 6th deployment within the year.
84: Just what FL Gulf housing needs.
85: Draft will do nicely for UE.
relo
it will also crush the gulf seafood industry.
a draft may be what obama needs since this is going to really hurt a lot of gulf state industries.
Shore
I just saw your post from last night Re carrier group.
My WAG is it’s something inbetween. They believe they may have to act
Shore
I know we disagree on this, but perhaps out leaders should read sun-tzu. Iran clearly has the strategic highground at this time. We would be foolish to engage them militarily.
They apparently read sun-tzu and are aware of this hence they keep giving us the finger.
…live to fight another day
Ket,
I do not know that we differ in our views on this. Fighting Iran, especially at a time when PRK is acting up, and we are already up to our eyeballs in Afghanistan, and much of our equipment has been sanblasted to the point of needing replacement, and our budget is a friggen mess, and we are so totally dependent on imported oil and the prospects of OCS drilling have dimmed, does not strike me as a wholly-reasonable thing to do.
Now, if we know we need to, then doing so before the new Russian airdefense systems go in may be wise. The other thing, and do not discount this, is that we may be trying to dissuade Israel from acting. The carrier movement may be more aimed at our friend than our foe.
2000 (82)-
Needless to say, I’ve closed that one out. :)
Been a good week, though.
I suspect whatever rally may be on will be extremely short-lived. As befits a worldwide depression.
Shore,
good point on isreal. I woould suggest we deal with the devil and build a a new relationship with iran behind closed doors, similar to what we have done with the saudi royal family. Its not like we havent done that time and again over the last 50 years. Besides it is starting to look like iran may offer a better long term partnership then the saudi’s the way things are going. Besides it doesnt have to be all or nothing, play both sides of the fence.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/mzuckerman/2010/05/14/the-crippling-price-of-public-employee-unions.html?PageNr=1
More Big Pharma:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aTD07l4ExKAM
We should turn Iran into a parking lot.
For that matter, we should do it to the whole Islamic world. Why have a nuclear arsenal if you don’t ever use it?
Blecch. The lede on cnbc.com is just nauseating. A photo of the trader floor superimposed with a big fat green arrow pointing skyward. All this on a dead cat bounce of 70 points?
“After the Plunge: Investors Use Correction as an Excuse to Buy”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37276310
47 Mr Hyde
The only solid chance at a top plug operation is to nuke the well, which they are not currently willing to do.
I would not recommend bombing the well, but if that was a viable choice, I would use the new 700K conventional bunker buster bomb. Rather, I would insert into the well as they are currently doing, and shoot in as much gunnite as needed under pressure. If gunnite can’t stop it, a junk shot is worthless.
96 good call on NYX in that article, that was a huge buy this morning.
[79] relo
“Can any of your “get out of NJ/US” avoidance techiques be employed if physical situs is NJ?”
Yes, but it depends on what you want to get out. If you are talking about a business located in NJ, that is very different than personal tax avoidance. And there are a lot of other variables as well.
Clot – Any thoughts? Looking for a new, fun short.
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2010/05/21/excellent-presentation-on-scribd-on-australian-housing/
Nom;
You’ve got mail.
implode (108)-
Short the whole friggin’ continent. Their Ponzi of an economy is exponentially more rigged and more vulnerable than ours.
Very few housing bubbles- outside China- have been pumped as full as theirs. Plus, their national mindset is to go all collectivist when things get a bit rough (witness the recent new taxes on miners).
When it starts going from gray to black there, all hell will break loose.
For that matter, I cannot think of anything to be long anywhere on the planet…other than certain doom.
Guns, food, water, ammo, shiny.
All else is superfluous.
@96, myself –
Hilarious – they’ve now removed the giant green BUY NOW!!!! arrow.
Same background stock photo of the trading floor though.
Goldman Sachs stock is up $5.20 today. The PPT have acheived their objective for the day and can have all weekend to celebrate.
The rest of the market can go to hell.
Nom,
What is your deplume e-mail again? Thanks.
[104] doom
Guns, food, ammo, water and shiny are also superfluous without an exit plan.
Got Clotpound?
[108] relo
nomdeplumenj@gmail.com
Sorry. Too busy watching Erin Burnett give Gross and El-Erian a lap dance.
89. Hyde,
If Obama attacks Iran and a draft is instituted he shouldnt count on the loyalty of the folks drafted. They may use that training and access against him. Just a thought.
109.
Exit plan.
Shoot your way out its the only hope.
Get yourselves mentally prepared for a bank run.
No more than 3 months personal accounts, 6 months for businesses in the bank.
775 banks on problem list. The real number is over 2000. The FDIC will be going bye bye pretty soon. My bet is September. Bullion, ammo, food, and gas is the only safe haven. Its all going according to plan and the real show is about to begin.
Pull up a chair and enjoy the show.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704513104575256680430484878.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
clot: some sappy crap for the footballer set….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j852L4afUJs
Confused 97
You dont put and explosion in the well, but would dig a shallow well next to it, drop in the bomd and detonate it to collapse the well in on itself.
Immediately before the blowout, they were recording 13,000 PSI at the bottom of the well!!! Good luck pumping much of anything straight down it if its not currently controlled. The point of the kill wells is to have a controlled access point that can handle the pressures involved.
A nuke would only do a fraction of the damage to the gulf that a few MILLION barrels of oil will do. A nuke detonated in a sealed well maintains most of the by products in the ground at the explosion site. The idea is not that you just set a nuke by the well head and detonate it.
The russians started using nukes on runaway wells because normal explosives are not powerful enough to collapse them. and you end up with a huge mess by waiting the 30-90 days it takes to drill intercept wells.
You cant just stick a pipe into the top of this well and start pumping stuff in. The odds of that working are slim at best and pose the danger of causing the BOP to fail further and make the situation worse.
116: C’mon Ket, what’s with all the negativity? Where’s the hope? Are there bike paths on the ocean floor?
Nice pic from NASA of the Oil slick. it looks bigger than New Jersey now.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/44000/44006/gulf_tmo_2010137_lrg.jpg
Shore,
Now you are talking my language. If the carriers are sent there to f_ck up Israel then I would be pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately I dont believe the AIPAC would let that happen.
I appreciate the logic though. The US has no need for that little sh_t stain of a country that attacked the USS liberty and had a hand in 9/11. I say bomb that little Zionist sh_t box off the map.
Relo
Damn it!!! Why didnt i think of bike paths. Bike paths 10,000 ft deep on the sea bed is exactly what we need here!
chi (115)-
Here’s sappy Mr. Cantona at his ultra-violent best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYWY4Pf9_M&feature=related
AG [114],
You’re being much too conservative. More like 5,000-6,000 insolvent or close to it. If the FDIC had any cabbage, they would be closing banks at a much faster rate.
1 in 7 either behind in payments or in foreclosure. No need to worry, the models don’t reflect this.
Hyde[116],
Could you dig a shallow well and bazooka Euro’s to collapse the well?
Lets make the 1 in 7 indentured servents till the pay off their loan. I call first dibs on young pretty blonde 20 something female homeowners.
NO SOUP FOR YOU!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aFG6sTFkNKvU
[118] juice
“Nice pic from NASA of the Oil slick. it looks bigger than New Jersey now.”
Unfortunately, there isn’t much difference btwn NJ and an oil slick.
except for the bike paths.
and the taxes
A month after Gulf Coast oil spill, some wonder why BP is still in charge of response, cleanup
WASHINGTON (AP) — Days after the Gulf Coast oil spill, the Obama administration pledged to keep its “boot on the throat” of BP to make sure the company did all it could to cap the gushing leak and clean up the spill.
But a month after the April 20 explosion, anger is growing about why BP PLC is still in charge of the response.
“I’m tired of being nice. I’m tired of working as a team,” said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana.
“The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP’s word,” declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill’s effect on the ecosystem.
That sense of frustration is shared by an increasing number of Gulf Coast residents, elected officials and environmental groups who have called for the government to simply take over.
In fact, the government is overseeing things. But the official responsible for that says he still understands the discontent.
“If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms are normal, because I’m frustrated, too,” said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen.
“Nobody likes to have a feeling that you can’t do something about a very big problem,” Allen told The Associated Press Friday.
Still, as simple as it may seem for the government to just take over, the law prevents it, Allen said.
After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents — including paying for all cleanup — with oversight by federal agencies. Spills on land are overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, offshore spills by the Coast Guard.
“The basic notion is you hold the responsible party accountable, with regime oversight” from the government, Allen said. “BP has not been relieved of that responsibility, nor have they been relieved for penalties or for oversight.”
He and Coast Guard Adm. Mary Landry, the federal onsite coordinator, direct virtually everything BP does in response to the spill — and with a few exceptions have received full cooperation, Allen said.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was even more emphatic.
“There’s nothing that we think can and should be done that isn’t being done. Nothing,” Gibbs said Friday during a lengthy, often testy exchange with reporters about the response to the oil disaster.
There are no powers of intervention that the federal government has available but has opted not to use, Gibbs said.
Asked if Obama had confidence in BP, Gibbs said only: “We are continuing to push BP to do everything that they can.”
BP spokesman Neil Chapman said the federal government has been “an integral part of the response” to the oil spill since shortly after the April 20 explosion
When you have a government that is predicated on outsourcing (including it’s brain) it’s no longer capable to taking charge of anything, because it lacks expertise in everything but outsourcing. Probably why most members of Government are Lawyers by trade.
Hyde;
The russians started using nukes on runaway wells because normal explosives are not powerful enough to collapse them. and you end up with a huge mess by waiting the 30-90 days it takes to drill intercept wells
The new 700K Conventional Bomb was created to do the job of the Nuke, without fallout. So if bomb we must, we have it. They are currently testing it in NV.
What do you pay for automatic overdraft?
more than ten, less than twenty, more than twenty?
For anyone with automatic overdraft.
Confused, the responsible government agency heads are hiding.
See Katrina.
Well, maybe they just all died or wenet to France and we’re on our own for this one.
wenet = the act of going to France.
end is nigh…
“Whatever Germany does, the euro as we know it is dead
This is why the euro, in its current form, is finished.
What was once deemed unthinkable is now, I believe, inevitable: withdrawal from the eurozone of one or more of its member countries. At the bottom end, Greece and Portugal are favourites to be forced out through weakness. At the top end, proposals are already being floated in the Frankfurt press for a new “hard currency” zone, led by Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries. Either way, rich and poor are heading in opposite directions.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeffrandall/7746806/Whatever-Germany-does-the-euro-as-we-know-it-is-dead.html
Pat, 132
$20 I think, (rarely need it.) credit union.
sl
Confused.
If the russians say it will work, then it will definitely work. See how good they are at this engineering stuff:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7f9_1274470621
/Smart @ss off
thanks sl…just getting some numbers together for a letter trying to convince somebody that folks with two hundred bucks in a checking account shouldn’t have an overdraft protection fee if they work hard and have some cash in a saving acct.
It would be a real treat to get water to the camels so the sheiks can keep the spices flowing.
good times
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=interactive-12-events
Barb (140)-
Surprised to see that worldwide depression wasn’t one of the choices.
Why posit a bunch of longshots when the reality of global economic collapse is underway?
Massive fail:
“Courtesy of Economic Policy Journal we now know that the majority of American states are currently insolvent, and that the US Treasury has been conducting a shadow bailout of at least 32 US states. Over 60% of Americans receiving state unemployment benefits are getting these directly from the US government, as 32 states have now borrowed $37.8 billion from Uncle Sam to fund unemployment insurance. The states in most dire condition, are, not unexpectedly, the unholy trifecta of California ($6.9 billion borrowed), Michigan ($3.9 billion), and New York ($3.2 billion). With this form of shadow bailout occurring, one can only wonder how many other shadow programs are currently in operation to fund states under the table with federal money.The full list of America’s 32 insolvent states is below, sorted in order of bankruptedness.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/32-states-now-officially-bankrupt-378-billion-borrowed-treasury-fund-unemployment-ca-mi-ny-w
141,
buncha sci geeks. But you make a good point.
Went to look at a local overpriced listing today that has been rotting on GSMLS for months without a price reduction. In addition to some other issues with the house itself, the place is overassessed by at least 100k which translates to about an extra $3k/year in taxes.
Our realtor calls the listing agent to feel out how flexible the owner is in price and magically there is also another offer that has not been fully negotiated so there’s still time for us to bid. I think we will sit back and see how well that imaginary bid pans out.
Must go win more money from the poker machines. And completely OT, but for those with little ones in the Monmouth/Ocean area, Jersey Shore Pirates gets a big thumbs up from Lil Gator.
Hey Oblama, when you’re done sucking Calderon’s d1ck, perhaps you can concentrate on that little problem down in the gulf.
138.Mr Hyde says:
May 21, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Confused.
If the russians say it will work, then it will definitely work. See how good they are at this engineering stuff
I still think if you run a pipe far enough down into the spill, you could stop it with gunnite. Superior to the mud top cap BP talks about. You could probably use polyurethane foam also, which waterproofers use in wet conditions, as it sets quickly when reacting with water.
mack daddy (145)-
Back off, loser. Calderon brought O some righteous spliff, and they’re out in the Rose Garden, sparking up some bong hits.
Man’s gotta relax a little…okay?
Plus, O and Calderon have to figure out which cartel they’re gonna let win the Mexican drug war.
Doom,
Maybe they can plug that pipe with a few illegals; kill two birds with one stone. Just sayin’…
WASHINGTON — Facing a growing furor over the monthlong Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the White House Friday named two environmentalists to lead a presidential commission investigating the disaster.
Yeah, that outta do it! If Bush was still president while this disaster occurred, the left would be demanding impeachment proceedings followed by a “Mussolini” routine.
Dear Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder,
If you need assistance with your resignation letters, let me know, I’d be happy to help.
Love,
Gary
144.
Gator,
over and over again I get this song and dance, even when the realtor KNOWS I know the listing has been up for over a year. My fav was last year, they had a “verbal offer” rofl
Yes, since the gubmint is full of people who have worked on oil rigs on their life, I have no idea what is taking them so long to fix this.
If only people were as smart as all of us folks on this board, the world would be such a better place. Gary, you need to go impregnate as many women as you can. We need your wisdom in every child born in America.
Jamal, nobody’s asking Barry to run by the museum, pick up Jacques Cousteau’s old diving bell, and hit the sea floor.
Um, maybe a little leadership in the form of communications wouldn’t hurt?
Gary, you need to go impregnate as many women as you can.
A daunting task, but one I’m definitely “up” to accomplishing! ;)
66- Clot/Tosh
“What were Bear and Lehman, if not full-fledged bank runs?”
Sorry – I wasn’t thinking of the “modern-day” bank run.
pg. 158 – “13 Bankers”
“Bear Stearns was brought down by a modern-day bank run. On a proportional basis, it was more exposed to structured mortgage-backed securities than its rivals, and it was also highly dependent on short-term funding – cash that came from very short-term borrowing, much of it overnight. This meant that its creditors could refuse to roll over loans from one day to the next and demand their money instead. If that happened, there was no way Bear could pay them back, since many of its assets were illiquid; structured securities can be hard to sell on short notice, and selling them under pressure would cause their prices to collapse. If some creditors thought that might happen, they would try to get their money out first, which would provoke other creditors to do the same, triggering a bank run as everyone scrambled to avoid being last in line.”
….The deal was soon renegotiated to a purchase price of $10 per share, with JPMorgan now assuming the first $1 billion of losses on the $30 billion pool, which was parked in a special-purpose entity named Maiden Lane. But it remained a coup for JPMorgan, which was paying for Bear Stearnes approximately what its building was worth – and for its CEO, Jaime Dimon, who happened to be on the board of directors of the New York Fed.”
Confused.
gary’s illegal idea will work before foam or gunnite.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/05/21/developers-tax-themselves-to-build-infrastructure/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wsj%2Feconomics%2Ffeed+%28WSJ.com%3A+Real+Time+Economics+Blog%29
Developers Tax Themselves to Build Infrastructure
This is a new one on me..
157.Mr Hyde says:
May 22, 2010 at 7:39 am
Confused.
gary’s illegal idea will work before foam or gunnite
Plugging it with anything has a better chance of success then what they did the past month, which was nothing. They have yet to try any type of plugging, just various types of syphoning. I find it hard to believe that the Army Corp of Engineers, with the backing of Americas Scientific Community, can’t plug a leak. Of course if you never try to plug it, you never will. I can live with that, as long as everyone from Obama on down is executed for treason, for not trying to plug the hole.
COnfused,
Go read up on oil well blow outs. Your assumptions are so far out in left field that their nonsensicle.
It is possible for them to try a top plug. The catch is they face a very big risk of causing the BOP to completely fail. The oil plume would then be substantially larger then it is now and much harder to control.
Its likely their engineers ran the scenarios and found the risk of BOP failure is very high. if thats the case less damage will be done by not attempting a top plug and using the relief wells to plug from below
http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/treasury-and-the-banks-attack-on-collins-leverage-amendment/
Still hung up on banking news…
“Treasury and the Banks’ Attack on Collin’s Leverage Amendment”
“First off, this amendment makes it clear that bank holding companies follow capital rules that are at least as tough as those imposed on banks. This is the essence of the shadow banking problem: if you want to act like a bank you have to be regulated like a bank.”
160.Mr Hyde says:
May 22, 2010 at 8:49 am
COnfused,
Go read up on oil well blow outs. Your assumptions are so far out in left field that their nonsensicle.
It is possible for them to try a top plug. The catch is they face a very big risk of causing the BOP to completely fail. The oil plume would then be substantially larger then it is now and much harder to control.
Its likely their engineers ran the scenarios and found the risk of BOP failure is very high. if thats the case less damage will be done by not attempting a top plug and using the relief wells to plug from below
The current syphon technique supposedly has placed a pipe 1 mile into the the existing well pipe. My suggestion on gunnite was not a top cap like they are proposing, but rather to pump gunnite or other concrete 1 mile into the pipe filling it all the way up, rather then junk into the failed shutoff which they are currently proposing. I agree BP’s proposal for next week will probably make the problem worse. My scenario however doesn’t allow them to continue pumping oil, as it kill the existing well 1 mile down below sea level.
BP says it will permanently cap leaking well
May 17, 2010|By JEFFREY COLLINS and JASON DEAREN, Associated Press Writers2010-05-17 12:44:00 PDT New Orleans, , — (05-17) 12:44 PDT NEW ORLEANS, (AP) —
BP says it will never again try to produce oil through a blown-out well that’s been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico for nearly a month.
The oil has been leaking since an offshore drilling rig exploded and sank off the coast of Louisiana last month.
BP has been trying a variety of techniques to suck up the oil ever since. One finally started this working this week, but it’s still only capturing a fraction of the oil.
BP PLC chief operating officer Doug Suttles says the company will never again try to produce oil through the well. He says the right thing to do is plug the well.
BP did not rule out the company drilling elsewhere to tap the same reservoir
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2010/05/20/2905304.htm
Clarke and Dawes ask the million dollar question”
Headed out of Manasquan inlet 545am. Landed first 40in 25 lb bass on bunker heads 1/2 mile off Manasquan beach in 30 feet of water. Landed another 15 minutes later.
Awesome conditions and the fleet was out in force with no f_ckin Bennies.
Bad news is my water pump went kaput. Costly hobby.
165. Al- the fisherman have been hauling in stripers right from the jetty and beach! Big suckers too.
For all you boozers in the Monmouth County shore area, the liquor store next to Wegmans on rt. 35 in Ocean Township is closing and selling all their booze 10% above wholesale. Martinis and Painkillers all summer!
Cindy (164)-
As it will be everywhere else on the planet, the cost will be a wrecked economy, society in chaos and governments in ruins.
coast (166)-
This is the information that keeps me coming back here.
“…the liquor store next to Wegmans on rt. 35 in Ocean Township is closing and selling all their booze 10% above wholesale.”
Saw one plausable suggestion on an oil site to pump liquid nitrogen into the leak to freeze it, followed by hydraulic cement to cap it.
live feed of the oil spill.
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html
Headline should read:
Tit suckas’ take to streetz:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/052210_liverally.html
Gore (170)
As horrific as this catastrophe is, thanks for posting the link.
“Landed first 40in 25 lb bass on bunker heads 1/2 mile off Manasquan beach in 30 feet of water.”
AG [165],
Catch any bass filled with tungsten?
If I need to escape, can I hitch a ride on your boat?
coast (166)- damm was down in the area today looking at a few homes, too bad I did not see your post earlier…
Nompound: http://www.poplargrange.com/
Forza Inter!
Help?
I have finally had it with my Sony Walkman and its requisite software, Sonic
SuckshitStage.I want a small mp3 player that has good sound quality and software that isn’t going to make me want to throw it across a room.
Is ipod better than Zune? Which has the best sound quality, ease of use and good portability – (especially for working out?)
Thanks in advance.
sl
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=327605812&mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D6
SL,
They are both quite portable and the new Zunes are very different from the older ones, having a touch screen now. Apple tends to make great products but if your main interest is just putting a few hundred songs onto a device for working out, I don’t know that you can go wrong either way.
A drawback to Zune is that one cannot use it as an external hard drive. On the other hand, the H radio is nice.
“he liquor store next to Wegmans on rt. 35 in Ocean Township is closing”
Bummer. I have gotten a lot of stuff there over the years.
H radio should be HD
SL: iPod Touch.
The apps and whole eco system around iPod makes it very compelling. I got one about a month ago, and have used it more than any gadget I have owned so far.
For me due to my travel, I can put all unwatched TV shows on iPod and watch them anywhere on flight, airport or train.
Kids love apps, which gives us some quiet and piece while driving around town.
I dont see any other device comes even close.
Al “Fat Thumbery” Gore Said…
“Shore,
Now you are talking my language. If the carriers are sent there to f_ck up Israel…snip…
I appreciate the logic though. The US has no need for that little sh_t stain of a country that attacked the USS liberty and had a hand in 9/11. I say bomb that little Zionist sh_t box off the map.”
Hmmm… such resentment. My guess is that Fat Thumbery didn’t do as well in school as some Jewish kid who actually studied, and so he resents the whole religion to this day. LOL
NJCoast says:
May 22, 2010 at 12:51 pm
For all you boozers in the Monmouth County shore area, the liquor store next to Wegmans on rt. 35 in Ocean Township is closing and selling all their booze 10% above wholesale. Martinis and Painkillers all summer!
Coastie: THXXX!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks all… I’ve got more research to do it seems… *sigh*
I’m too tired to think about it right now…
OT: I’m seeing piles of misery in my department. People in significant financial distress. Our volume is down — we suspect it’s the folks who don’t have insurance anymore not coming in unless they are gravely ill — we are seeing higher acuity patients as a side effect.
sl
183, evildoc
I saw that too. Was also curious about the genesis of that thought, but frankly, too tired to even conjecture. Nor do I really care.
sl
“Two Scoop Special”: Double-Dip Recession Guaranteed
6. Housing’s bogus government-induced “rally” will implode. Just scan patrick.net for dozens of stories outlining the implosion: mortgage applications are plummeting, building permits are plummeting, sales are plummeting, etc. The Federal government essentially nationalized the entire U.S. mortgage market to save housing, and now that the Fed has announced an end (or so they claim) to their $1.2 trillion buying spree of toxic mortgages, then the Mortgage Emperor is revealed to have no clothing. There is no private mortgage market in the U.S. anymore; there are only the rotting carcasses of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, still soaking up tens of billions of dollars in tax money to sop up soon-to-default mortgages.
For an on-the-ground report from once-hot San Diego, check out the San Diego Housing Forecast: the values of pricey homes is still falling, and buyers are now scarce.
7. The massive Federal bailouts accomplished nothing but propping up a rotten status quo for a year. No new jobs were created; what was “saved” by squandering trillions of dollars? The counterparties to AIG’s bad derivatives bets; Goldman Sach’s ability to skim profits day after day, month after month, a housing market doomed to slide much further, destroying the trillions dumped in to prop it up, and and a handful of pork-barrel projects at the state and local levels.
Now the “stimulus” and bailouts are drying up, and we have nothing to show for it. The bloated status quo cannot maintain its payrolls without the trillions in Federal largesse, and so payrolls and spending will fall throughout the status quo.
more at the link,
183. His ideology is consistent with his stance on other things. Same as it ever was.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/05/how-the-ipod-took-over/
Still –
TBP has a post today titled “How the Ipod Took Over” – Thought you might enjoy it.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/206437-barney-frank-on-housing-no-wonder-the-economy-s-a-mess
Barney – Liar, liar pants on fire.
Cindy (190)-
Another example of one of the reasons why “vote with a bullet” will be the new black.
Cindy, it’s being a politician. Or maybe human. I’m no Barney fan, but one opportunity we are losing with the internet is the ego’s healing magic.
We hold our heads up, move on, and continue to make use of our best talents without drying up and blowing away.
Darn internet is messing up everybody’s right to remember the past the way they think it happened.
I remember an older sister pulling a towel rack (in reality, her secret chin-up bar,) out of the bathroom wall. Late afternoon sun and a storm breeze are there. Worn, but white, cape-cod curtains flap against sea-mist green walls and brush her furrowed brows as she back-pedals into the tub. I can hear my mother’s outrage behind me in the doorway before I turn in fright.
Growing up, I rolled around in that memory at family gatherings. “Remember when she pulled that towel rack down….” The others would smile and love me.
When I was twelve, another sister was more annoyed with me than usual.
“You weren’t even born until after we moved into this house. You weren’t even there.”
But I heal, and the new laugh becomes long I was able to be a part of the action.
191 – Clot
Searching around today for something “upbeat” to post – Can’t find a thing.
192 – Pat
Ah, family memories. The best stories are supported by a scar someone on someone’s body. An event supported by trauma ensures the details will be etched in your memory forever.
somewhere on someone’s body….
I guess a person should read what they want to post after they type it but…oh well..
CAIRO – An American-Yemeni cleric whose Internet sermons are believed to have helped inspire attacks on the U.S. has advocated the killing of American civilians in an al-Qaida video released Sunday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704852004575258751835748206.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
Grim, remember this?
“Born to Veto”
New Jersey has a bright future?
It looks like the nationalization of the banking industry is almost complete.
Say good bye to the banking industry as your know it no later than November. Unless of course Bernanke wants to print up another half trillion.
Having lived there for a short spell, I saw firsthand that while a good chunk of the populace in Israel wants to live in peace, the Orthodox Jews – who are a growing population and are increasingly more politically powerful – think they’re doing God’s work by stealing land.
Many American Jews won’t ever square their double standard support of this country and its land-grabbing ways.
Cindy (193)-
Cabela’s is having an ammo sale. That always makes me happy inside.
I also like cheese.
Mmmm cheeese
Mmmmmmmm dohhhhhhh nuts!
sl
Cindy
Upbeat?
Consider that destruction breeds creation. Order rises from chaos.
We are simply in thecearly to middle stage of a destrutive cycle. The upbeat part is that the smoking ruins of our society will be the nutrient rich hummus which allows the next creation cycle to spring forth.
The goal for each of us at this point is to simply come out on the other side.
Don’t grieve for our cancer ridden vegetative corpse of a society any more then you would for a 90 yr Old terminal cancer patient. Realize they have had a long life and it’s simply time for them to pass.
The anguish and chaos arises from us denyingthe inevitable, even
though this cycle has repeated for all of human history.
*******meter SAID
May 23, 2010 at 11:45 am
Having lived there for a short spell, I saw firsthand that while a good chunk of the populace in Israel wants to live in peace, the Orthodox Jews – who are a growing population and are increasingly more politically powerful – think they’re doing God’s work by stealing land.********
Another kid who must’ve done worse in school than some poor Jewish kid who actually studied. Resentful ever since.
205:
For anti-semitists, “stealing land” is just like for marxists, “stealing” means that you get to keep some portion of your own salary (rather than distribute it to the parasites).
that was some protest in Trenton yesterday ..
http://mappingthefuture.csis.org/tiananmen.jpg
I think I found an FSBO short sale. Any advice would be appreciated. I’d like to get %25 under what the person owes. will a bank accept this much off? and are the current gvt. incentive programs helping streamline the short sale process?
thanks in advance
@205 – keep dreamin’. Top of my class. Asians blow Jews away anyway – not that I’m either.
You’re obviously one of those double standard types who thinks stealing is okay as long as it’s from not your own kind.
If not, I guess you’d be okay with your neighbor putting up an extension of his house in your backyard.
Didn’t think so.
http://www.northjersey.com/realestate/news_residential/94681644_Housing_experts_predict_mortgage__pricing_trends.html
Some good reading for NJ Public Unions. Tells them what to look forward to.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100523/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis_welfare_state;_ylt=Aogbk1IAKmBmk8JCU7NsUOis0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTQ3bjc2azVwBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAwNTIzL2V1X2V1cm9wZV9maW5hbmNpYWxfY3Jpc2lzX3dlbGZhcmVfc3RhdGUEY2NvZGUDcmFuZG9tBGNwb3MDNARwb3MDMQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX2hlYWRsaW5lX2xpc3QEc2xrA2Zpc2NhbGNyaXNlcw–
confused (211)-
I still think the desk jockeys and other public union detritus will do the heavy lifting of rioting and ultra-violence for the rest of us.
They say Amerikans are too lazy to riot, but when these guys get weaned from the public teat, they are going to go apeshit.
I do admit that the idea of cops and firemen rioting is a little troubling, though.
@213, Doom –
I would agree but for the fact that they’ll most likely take the opportunity to gun for each other first.
Naw. Just put tubs of beers at each corner and turn it into one big familiar lovefest.
Doom, I’ve said it before.
It’s the poets you’re gonna have to shoot.
But I like guys named Mike with wives from China who can relate and interrelate. Maybe they’ll pick up a connection on some NJ blog that will create a solution. ;)
209. what a bunch of nonsense, Asian blows Jew away…wtf are you thinking?
I dont think cops would riot. In Argentina they became corrupt and “on the take.”
The current crises will go unsolved, new and bigger ones will emerge all culminating in a global massive cluster f_ck ushering out one age and ushering in a new dark age. Order out of chaos.
The constant barage of crises are meant to demoralize and disorient the people sort of like hamsters on a wheel.
This will be your new slave master.
GORDON Brown wants one of the world’s most important economic jobs as head of the International Monetary Fund, according to his closest school friend.
“Tom Brown said last night: “Gordon’s record would make him first choice. His motive for taking it, or another job like it, would be his ambition to tackle world poverty and his anger at the plight of many millions of people around the world who live on the knife’s edge of bare existence.”
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/176657/Gordon-Brown-first-choice-for-top-job-at-IMF
213.Final Doom says:
May 23, 2010 at 6:27 pm
I do admit that the idea of cops and firemen rioting is a little troubling, though.
Not to worry, in 1932 FDR had the Army Fix Bayonets and eliminate the WWI Bonus Marchers. Patton led the Calvary charge with MacArthur in charge. The army killed their own.
Christie needs to establish a requirement that all Public Employees become familiar with basic economics as they don’t understand concepts like Bankruptcy or affordability.
Glad to see the LA Governor, like the AZ Governor is taking matters into there own hands, as the Federal Government is completely dysfunctional. If we get all 50 States to go this way, “O” will only control Washington DC.
Meter Said—- meter says:
May 23, 2010 at 4:56 pm
@205 – keep dreamin’. Top of my class. Asians blow Jews away anyway – not that I’m either.
You’re obviously one of those double standard types —–
Ooooh, meter’s gettin’ cwanky. I must’ve hit a nerve, right Meter?
cheerio
evil, I’m thinking that there does seem to be some kind of anti-social thing happening with a couple of sets of Orthodox Jews. I don’t understand it either from a logistics or sustainability view because of the resource limitations.
Of course, I’m talking about Lakewood and Kiryas Joel.
Anybody out there see any advantages to closed communities like this with limited resources (in a declining economic situation)?
WSJ
SPORTSMAY 23, 2010, 8:22 P.M. ET.
How Inter Milan Won its Treble
Champions League Winners Thrive on Turnovers, Quick Strikes; Next Could Be Dealing With Manager Mourinho
By GABRIELE MARCOTTI
Bayern Munich manager Louis Van Gaal is not generally a man prone to hyperbole. On the eve of the Champions League final between his team and Italy’s Inter Milan he was asked whether the two finalists were the best sides in Europe.
“No,” he said, pausing a moment for the briefest of frowns. “No, these are not the best teams. The three best teams in Europe this season were Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United.”
Mr. Van Gaal’s opinion will, presumably, matter very little to his opposite number, José Mourinho, whose team’s 2-0 victory sealed a remarkable season in which they completed the treble: winning the league, domestic cup and Champions League. Mr. Mourinho, at 47, is the youngest manager to have won the biggest competition in club soccer twice and only the third in history to have done so with two different clubs (Ernst Happel did it with Feyenoord and Hamburg, Ottmar Hitzfeld with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern). Mr. Mourinho can also point out that on its way to winning the cup, Inter defeated the champions of England (Chelsea), Spain (Barcelona) and, of course, Germany (Bayern), three of the top leagues in the world.
The reservations some have about Inter’s greatness—including Mr. Van Gaal who, in an earlier press conference, described his opponent as “defensive-minded”—lie in the fact that Inter often looks to sit back, absorb pressure and strike on the counterattack. It was a tactic it employed to great success in the semifinal against Barcelona, happily conceding possession of the ball to the opposition and looking to pick its spots on the break.
Mr. Mourinho has brushed off the accusations, insisting that his team is merely “balanced.” Saturday night in Madrid’s legendary Santiago Bernabéu Stadium underscored just what he meant. The game followed the script many had predicted, Bayern pushing forward and Inter conceding ground. But when Inter did regain the ball it created chances with ruthless efficiency.
Indeed, both goals came within minutes of possession changes.
Inter’s first, in the 35th minute came on the heels of a save by goalkeeper Júlio César, whose immediate punt up the pitch found striker Diego Milito in the Bayern half. Mr. Milito headed the ball to Wesley Sneijder, whose one-touch pass behind the central defenders found the streaking Mr. Milito, who stroked the ball past the Bayern keeper. It was a classic give-and-go, made possible by the fact that Mr. César’s quick re-start did not give the Bayern defense time to reset.
The second, some 20 minutes from time, saw Samuel Eto’o lead a textbook counterattack, drawing defenders to him before hitting Mr. Milito on the left wing. What followed was a short skip inside, a shimmy to turn the defender inside out and an elegantly placed far-post finish.
So much for the truism—present in most sports—that you want to keep possession because, when you have the ball, the opposition can’t score. Strictly speaking, this may be true, but in a low-scoring game like soccer what happens in the moments immediately after a change in possession is often more important. That’s when the previously attacking team is often out of position, with defenders committed forward and gaps which the opposition can exploit. That’s what Inter did, with devastating effect.
Of course, for this to work, you have to know how to defend. And, with Mr. Mourinho’s input, Inter was one of the best organized teams in recent history. It excelled at denying space in the final third, its players happy to leave the initiative to Bayern, knowing that the opposition’s possession would go nowhere as long as they did their job. And crucially, as long as they did their job without committing fouls. Because, in a sport where more than half the goals come from set-pieces (penalties, corner kicks and free kicks), committing too many fouls could have been costly, particularly since Inter did not match up well in terms of size with Bayern. Inter committed just 13 fouls to Bayern’s 16, which is remarkable when you consider that it was defending for 40 minutes, 12 seconds (the time Bayern had the ball) to its opponents’ 20:39.
That ability to defend without conceding goal-scoring opportunities and free kicks while also being efficient at creating chances when regaining possession is probably exactly what Mr. Mourinho had in mind when he talked about “balance.” And he was proved right on the night.
Inter last won the continent’s premier club cup competition back in 1965, when it was still called the European Cup (the trophy has remained the same, but now the tournament is called the Champions League) and had not appeared in a final since 1972. In that time, the Milanese club became a by-word for underachievement, often far outspending its rivals, both domestically and abroad, only to come up short on the biggest of stages.
The European Cup had become something of a holy grail to Inter’s owner, Massimo Moratti, who bought the club in 1995. Mr. Moratti’s father, Angelo, owned the club in the 1960s, when it won consecutive European Cups and was widely regarded as one of the best teams in the world. Having lavished huge sums on players, Mr. Moratti chose to tighten the purse strings in terms of player expenditure, while making Mr. Mourinho the highest paid manager in the world in the summer of 2008 and now, two years on, it has paid dividends.
“Mr. Moratti dreamed about this day for many years. He dreamed of having his picture with the European Cup winning team, just like his father’s famous picture,” Mr. Mourinho told reporters after the game. “I am so glad that I was able to give him this joy.”
But having seemingly done his job at Inter—this year’s treble comes on the back of the Serie A title he won last season—Mr. Mourinho looks ready to move on. This time last year he inserted a clause in his contract which allows him to leave by paying a €6 million ($7.54 million) penalty.
And, according to reports across Europe, Mr. Mourinho is on the verge of joining Real Madrid, another European giant punching below its weight. (To be fair, Real’s underachievement is a far more recent phenomenon).
“History here has been made,” he told Italy’s RAI television after the match. “I want to be the first manager to win the Champions League with three different teams…Real Madrid is the only club who wants me.”
He was less firm when speaking in his postmatch news conference: “If I start over, it will be here [at Real Madrid]. But we’ll have to wait and see. There are things to talk about between myself and the clubs.”
We may well find out if Mr. Mourinho’s growing reputation as a soccer Mr. Fix-It—swooping in to deliver silverware to underachieving clubs and then departing as abruptly as he arrived—extends to Real Madrid this time next year, when the Champions League final moves to London’s Wembley Stadium.
Gabriele Marcotti is the world soccer columnist for The Times of London and a regular broadcaster for the BBC. His column normally appears on Sundays. Write to him at gabriele.marcotti@gmail.com.
It is no longer Lima Time….
Former Mets pitcher Lima dies of heart attack
Mets Blog
Mets on TwitterBy DAN MARTIN
Jose Lima, the dynamic pitcher who finished his major league career with the Mets in 2006, died this morning at 37.
He won 89 games over 13 seasons, including 21 with Houston in 1999, when he made his lone All-Star appearance and finished fourth in the Cy Young Award voting.
Lima’s wife said that he died of a heart attack in his sleep.
The native of the Dominican Republic signed with the Mets in February of 2006, joining current team members David Wright, Jose Reyes, John Maine and Oliver Perez. He was coming off a 5-16 season in Kansas City.
Lima started four games with the Mets and had a 9.87 ERA before being designated for assignment, effectively ending his big league career, having also pitched for the Tigers and Dodgers.
Lima played internationally after his major league career ended.
pat (223)-
The biggest drawback is that places like Kiryas Joel subsist almost entirely on welfare. The trick is that virtually all the inhabitants fail to be able to hold steady jobs because of constant interruption for religious observation (of course, these deadbeats deliberately set themselves up to fail at holding a job).
The entire community actually makes a project of getting onto public assistance…then, at a critical tipping point, they turn individual indolence and joblessness into a communitywide money-grab on a massive scale.
Natch, human political scum like Hillary Clinton actively court these welfare communities for votes in exchange for perpetual handouts.
All these people deserve a one-way ticket back to wherever the fcuk they came here from.
“GORDON Brown wants one of the world’s most important economic jobs as head of the International Monetary Fund, according to his closest school friend.
“Tom Brown said last night:”
AG [218],
FU GB.
Head of the IMF? That’s hilarious. The architect of the world’s most assinine trade; now the head of the IMF? Wake me up when this is official. Actually, it makes sense. After all, who funds the IMF?
Anybody holding paper deserves their fate.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1655001.ece
chi (224)-
I have never seen a team better-prepared for a single game in my life. No Inter player made a defensive misstep the entire 90 minutes. Every counter out of Inter’s own end was also perfectly covered from behind. When I saw Eto’o winning balls crossed to the weak side in the back, I figured the game was over.
Everybody who bitches about Mourinho is a pissant (although it will be tough pulling for him to win anything for the fascist Real Madrid). Forza Inter!!!!
If Mourinho could win the CL with Porto (not only did he win it, but he blew out a bunch of great teams then destroyed Monaco in the final), he could basically win it with a pub team.
“Explain why you sold Britain’s gold, Gordon Brown told”
Actually, I met the dolt in 2001 and thanked him for making gold available for peanuts. Mark my words, if he is named head of the IMF, he will be buying gold back, again, on its highs. Thank the good lord for the truly talented.
“The price of gold has quadrupled since Gordon Brown sold more than half of Britain’s reserves.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/investing/gold/7511589/Explain-why-you-sold-Britains-gold-Gordon-Brown-told.html
Mets beating the Yankees? WTF? Next thing you know Montclair will be lowering property taxes and imposing taxes on bicycles.
“I have never seen a team better-prepared for a single game in my life.”
Doom,
Ara vs USC, 1973.
Where’s Blue and Gold?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YaMautxH5M&feature=related
229.
Wantan,
Kind of like how Corzine (Mr Goldman Sachs)sold the NJ pension funds at the bottom in 09.
On another note.
France poised to raise retirement age
“Expectations are growing that France is set to remove the right to retire at 60, as it embarks on a contentious reform of its debt-laden pension system and brings public finances back into line.
Christian Estrosi, industry minister, said on Sunday the government was “leaning towards an increase in the [retirement] age” in its talks with unions and employers’ federations, despite denials from cabinet ministers over the weekend of a decision being taken.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/751a63d4-66a5-11df-aeb1-00144feab49a.html
Who had the claim that the French were the best rioters? I see the Jamaicans are getting in on the act as well.
Anyone wanna buy property in Jamaica? I hear the place is, in Franks words, on fire.
From an article in the NY Times about gunman destroying a childrens’ camp in Gaza:
“In the Hamas camps, strict, bearded men, sometimes waving sticks, teach children the basic tenets of Islam. In the more popular United Nations camps, children’s activities have included painting, singing and swimming.”
Tough choice there in terms ow which sounds like the most appealing to children.
Shore – did they win? Stu and I are newsless in Gettysburg but looking forward to that nice, fat rebate check of which you speak.
I just love CNBC as they bring good news! The markets are up in Asia and no, there’s not a damn world wide plunge protection team like some of you terrorists want to say. People just want to be long this damn market. I’m also ready to make these guys honorary Americans—even one except those damn commies. They need to drop the damn value of that damn currency. I just don’t get how these damn commies even have to be dealt with diferentially. One thing is for damn sure, they better be damn glad I’m not treasury secretary. There’d be no niceties. I’d tell them to drop the damn value of the yaun or else. That’s the only way to deal with the stinking commies. You have to be stern and tough as damn nails.
Shore, the filtered propaganda out of the NY Times is good for lining bird cages.
Try this eye opener:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeTqheFnBM0
Another, it’s not hard to predict where the 3-year-old in the prior video will end up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dPb1bF-s4M
Interviewer: What is better, peace and full rights, or blowing yourself up?
11-year-old girl: blowing yourself up.
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Gator –
If it’s the house I’m thinking of, was it was under contract a few mo’s ago above asking? If so, I think (tho’ fuzzy memory on this one) it was a relo couple that bought another “updater” instead (it might not’ve appraised).
We saw High in GR yesterday – we liked it (bigger and much more charming than we originally thought), but the loc is busy, there’s no yard, and the parking situation is – well – tough. They did win the tax appeal tho’ b/c a bdrm got left off.
We saw couple places we liked in MontKlaire this wknd, but really only 1 that stuck w/ us. We’d have to win the tax appeal for it to pencil out, tho’.
over the the last 2 days
shadow bailout, shadow banking, shadow inventory
What next?
Anyone up for watching reruns of The White Shadow?
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If you think no one cares you’re alive, miss a couple of house payments.
Good post, thanks
Hi,
Hi,
VRy interesting to go through it :P
I have Tweeted this post, I will keep a eye on your other posts. Ohh what do you all think about the about the North Korea sinking that ship?
Pau Gasol’s play down the stretch was the key reason the Lakers were able to defeat the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Game 7 against the Lakers last night would be a struggle, mentally and physically, and they knew it.
Lakers defeat Celtics in Game 7 for 16th NBA title.
A SUPPORTED BY THE DEVELOPER TOOLS? It was interesting. You seem very knowledgeable in ypour field.
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.
Maybe, but at least 7,000 barrels of oil will continue to pour into the Gulf every day until mid-July at the earliest.
In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well .
President Obama boldly predicts that most of the oil leaking the Gulf of Mexico will be contained by the end of this month.
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My Money is on Argentina Winning this year….I think Messi is really going to step up….He is the best player in the world…..and i know many people think other wise,and it would be interesting to who you folks think is the best player
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Red sky at night shepherds delight; red sky in the morning, shepherds warning
Cool!!!
I didn’t think Le Bron would go to Miami!! What’s up with that!