From Bloomberg:
‘Squatter Rent’ May Boost Spending as U.S. Mortgage Holders Bail
Melissa White and her husband stopped paying their mortgage in May 2008 after it reset to $3,200 a month, more than double the original rate. That gave them extra cash to pay off debts and spend on staples until their Las Vegas home sold two years later for less than they owed.
“We didn’t pay it for about 24 months,” said White, who quit her job as a beautician during that period after becoming pregnant with her first child and experiencing medical complications. “What we had, we could put towards food and the truck payments and insurance and health things I was dealing with.”
Millions of Americans have more money to spend since they fell delinquent on their mortgages amid the worst housing collapse since the Great Depression. They are staying in their homes for free about a year and a half on average, buying time to restructure their finances and providing an unexpected support for consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of the economy.
So-called “squatter’s rent,” or the increase to income from withheld mortgage payments, will be an estimated $50 billion this year, according to Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. The extra cash could represent a boost to spending that’s equal to about half the estimated savings generated by cuts to payroll withholding in December’s bipartisan tax plan.
“We’ve had a lot of government transfers to the household sector; this is a transfer from the business sector to households,” Feroli said. “It’s a shock absorber that has helped the consumer ride out the storm.”
…
Van Perrault, a home appraiser who defaulted on his Saint Mary’s, Maryland, investment property in 2007 after his tenants stopped paying the rent, used the extra money to take care of late payments on his delinquent credit-card debt.The additional $1,500 a month “made a difference in my life,” said Perrault, 60, adding that paying down his card balances helped him and his wife limit the damage to their credit scores.
…
Failing to pay a mortgage bill is “a big moral issue,” said Karl Case, co-founder of a housing-price index that bears his name. “On the other hand, it’s exactly what you would expect given the way we treat and reward behavior in an economic system built for private gain.”More than a third of mortgage defaults were strategic, according to a June 2010 survey by finance professors Paola Sapienza of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. That was up from 29 percent in a March 2009 survey.
Good Morning New Jersey
So I missed out on both the equity extraction ride upwards, and the squatter rent extraction going downwards?
Can’t win, I just can’t win!
I heard that’s how they got Osama. He was delinquent on his US backed mortgage and as a squatter he was able to give more money to the terrorists.
Grim 2 Be thankful you have a succsessful blog.
So how is the spring selling season going? Grim ,you helped a seller
grim
you could stop paying now. The NJ system is jammed it would take 3 years to get you out! Have the sheriff sales even started again? I thought the foreclosure process was at a stand still here
grim (2)-
Pretty soon, you are going to be rich and famous.
Just don’t forget us little people.
Poor and infamous
BRB, there’s a knock at the door.
;)
Nothing to see here, move on.
Kraft set to raise food prices again this year
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13307436
The story of Nelson Bunker Hunt’s attempt to corner the silver market:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/silverfinger-true-story-nelson-bunker-hunt
“Just about anything you buy, rather than paper, is better. You’re bound to come out ahead, in the long pull. If you don’t like gold, use silver, or diamonds or copper, but something. Any damn fool can run a printing press.” – Nelson Bunker Hunt
Hobo [13],
Everything that dies someday comes back.
This is a serious question. Can anyone point me to an online resource that would help explain all the employment data to an 8th grader? Something that would compare jobless claims data, payroll report, unemployment report, nuances of how data can be used to make it look like economy is improving, etc.?
Oh Ms Whitney is there egg on your face?
Market Close: Muni Rally Continues as Commodity Bubble Bursts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
By Patrick McGee
Who needs Build America Bonds to keep borrowing costs low? The tax-exempt rally extended for an 18th session Thursday as yields fell to their lowest levels since November.
“Commodity Bubble Bursts”
JJ [15],
LMAO. For the last ten years every pundit, who has missed this bull run, has called a bubble top on each/every retracement. New highs, retrace, consolidate, new highs again. Wash, rinse repeat. Idiots who have missed this entire run, have zero clue of the underlying dynamics and don’t understand currency flows are now expert market timers, calling tops? Flush out the late comers, chop open interest, consolidate and turn higher. Same as it ever was. Short term top, yes. Long term top, you would have a better chance of getting Rex Ryan to wash your feet at halftime of Jets/Pats.
BIG JOBS BOUNCE IN ORWELL’S 1984
The government reported employment numbers again come from George Orwell’s world. There are two different surveys used to report this crap. The headline is that we “CREATED” 244,000 jobs in April. Total bullshit. Here is a link to the BLS Birth/Death adjustment for April.
http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit...
The government has no idea whether small businesses have added or subtracted workers, so they have a model that guesses what happened. Shockingly, it has guessed too high by MILLIONS of jobs over the last three years. Over on Calculated Risk this morning was this info:
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) will release their April survey on Tuesday, May 10th. Here is a pre-release of the employment results from NFIB: NFIB Jobs Statement: Hiring Trends Inconsistent and Disappointing
“Four months into 2011, the trajectory for small-business hiring appears inconsistent and disappointing. February and March gave us some hope, but in April, the average number of net new jobs slipped from 0.17 per firm to 0.04. With fewer increases in new hires and more reports of shrinkage in workforces, we can expect the April job numbers to be a disappointment.
Drilling down into the (seasonally adjusted) numbers:
• 8 percent of those surveyed increased employment;
• 15 percent reduced employment; and,
• 14 percent reported unfilled job openings, down 1 point from last month.
“And the outlook for future employment growth remains unchanged from March: Only 16 percent plan to increase employment, and 6 percent plan to reduce their workforce, yielding a seasonally adjusted net 2 percent of owners planning to create new jobs in the next three months.
This info says that small businesses are decreasing employment but the government says they added 175,000 jobs in April. The 244,000 number is complete and utter bullshit.
The real numbers are on this part of the BLS website.
http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit...
Here is what is really happening:
The number of employed Americans DROPPED by 190,000 in April versus March
The number of officially unemployed went up by 205,000 and at the same time another 131,000 people left the workforce because things are soooo good.
The official unemployment rate went up to 9%
Since last April, the working age population went up by 1.8 million, but somehow the civilian labor force declined by 1.1 million. George Orwell is spinning in his grave.
There are only 292,000 more people employed today than last April, but Obama claims that millions of new jobs have been created. The Bigger the Lie, the more likely the masses will believe.
Even though only 292,000 more people are employed, the number of unemployed dropped by 1.4 million in the last year. WOW!!! What happened to these people? Were they beamed up to Mars.
No. It seems that things in the country are so great that 2.9 million people have voluntarily left the labor force in the last year.
These employment statistics are beyond laughable. Reality is that unemployment is north of 20%. The stock market doesn’t care. It will rally on this fake data, but the people who are unemployed know differently.
BIG JOBS BOUNCE IN ORWELL’S 1984
The government reported employment numbers again come from George Orwell’s world. There are two different surveys used to report this crap. The headline is that we “CREATED” 244,000 jobs in April. Total bullshit. Here is a link to the BLS Birth/Death adjustment for April.
http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit...
The government has no idea whether small businesses have added or subtracted workers, so they have a model that guesses what happened. Shockingly, it has guessed too high by MILLIONS of jobs over the last three years. Over on Calculated Risk this morning was this info:
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) will release their April survey on Tuesday, May 10th. Here is a pre-release of the employment results from NFIB: NFIB Jobs Statement: Hiring Trends Inconsistent and Disappointing
“Four months into 2011, the trajectory for small-business hiring appears inconsistent and disappointing. February and March gave us some hope, but in April, the average number of net new jobs slipped from 0.17 per firm to 0.04. With fewer increases in new hires and more reports of shrinkage in workforces, we can expect the April job numbers to be a disappointment.
Drilling down into the (seasonally adjusted) numbers:
• 8 percent of those surveyed increased employment;
• 15 percent reduced employment; and,
• 14 percent reported unfilled job openings, down 1 point from last month.
“And the outlook for future employment growth remains unchanged from March: Only 16 percent plan to increase employment, and 6 percent plan to reduce their workforce, yielding a seasonally adjusted net 2 percent of owners planning to create new jobs in the next three months.
This info says that small businesses are decreasing employment but the government says they added 175,000 jobs in April. The 244,000 number is complete and utter bullshit.
The real numbers are on this part of the BLS website.
http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit...
Here is what is really happening:
The number of employed Americans DROPPED by 190,000 in April versus March
The number of officially unemployed went up by 205,000 and at the same time another 131,000 people left the workforce because things are soooo good.
The official unemployment rate went up to 9%
Since last April, the working age population went up by 1.8 million, but somehow the civilian labor force declined by 1.1 million. George Orwell is spinning in his grave.
There are only 292,000 more people employed today than last April, but Obama claims that millions of new jobs have been created. The Bigger the Lie, the more likely the masses will believe.
Even though only 292,000 more people are employed, the number of unemployed dropped by 1.4 million in the last year. WOW!!! What happened to these people? Were they beamed up to Mars.
No. It seems that things in the country are so great that 2.9 million people have voluntarily left the labor force in the last year.
These employment statistics are beyond laughable. Reality is that unemployment is north of 20%. The stock market doesn’t care. It will rally on this fake data, but the people who are unemployed know differently.
http://seekingalpha.com/news-article/1038464-markets-relieved-at-big-us-jobs-bounce
Fun with numbers, this was a comment to the link.
Doubled up , sorry.
250K #14
Are you joking???? The system is setup (whether intentional or not) to be obscure and arcane as possible. The only way you are going to get that explanation is to take the data and boil it down your self to a logical structure an 8th grader can readily digest. It would also be very amusing since you would have to explain it something along the following lines:
250K: “Joe isnt unemployed anymore after not being able to find a job for X number of days”.
8th Grader: “But isnt Joe still without a job while the bills still show up every month?”
250K:”yes, but per the government definitions he is not unemployed anymore and the economy is now improving since Joe is no longer unemployed and no longer receives unemployment insurance to help with his bills”.
8th Grader: “But wait, Joe is sitting at home without a job and no way to pay his bills,but you are telling me that he is not unemployed anymore?!”
250K: “Exactly!!”, “And better yet the economy is now improving because Joe and all of his fellow unemployed who has been unemployed for too long are no longer unemployed per government definitions”. “this my child is what we call Green Shoots
8th Grader: “?????????”
Smiling visitors cannot share the love unless they can feel the love. One cannot feel the love, unless one is in love. One cannot be in love, if one has no one to love. If one has no one to love, than one cannot feel the love, or share the love with a visitor whether they are smiling or not.
[3] “I heard that’s how they got Osama. He was delinquent on his US backed mortgage and as a squatter he was able to give more money to the terrorists.”
Ah, I see. Osama was delinquent on his mortgage. Now I finally understand why it took 10 years to get him.
I have the one from the Economist, but it is written from the perspective of someone in the UK and it is needless complicated…..I have no clue about the one from the link, although it appears to be the speed you want. I think you need a base of knowledge, then once it is accomplished, you can noodle about how the data and related tools can be manipulated…..you answer is likely a two-step process.
Also, bear in mind the cynic’s assumption, which suggests that the entire domain is manipulated. Also, that the data itself is dynamic in composition, so trailing back through history is comparing apples to ornages…….
250k says:
May 6, 2011 at 9:27 am
This is a serious question. Can anyone point me to an online resource that would help explain all the employment data to an 8th grader? Something that would compare jobless claims data, payroll report, unemployment report, nuances of how data can be used to make it look like economy is improving, etc.?
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Economic-Indicators/dp/1592579221/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_3
I just saw this…..you are stupid fcuking a55hole…..
Kettle1^2 says:
May 6, 2011 at 10:20 am
250K #14
Are you joking???? The system is setup (whether intentional or not) to be obscure and arcane as possible. The only way you are going to get that explanation is to take the data and boil it down your self to a logical structure an 8th grader can readily digest. It would also be very amusing since you would have to explain it something along the following lines:
250K: “Joe isnt unemployed anymore after not being able to find a job for X number of days”.
8th Grader: “But isnt Joe still without a job while the bills still show up every month?”
250K:”yes, but per the government definitions he is not unemployed anymore and the economy is now improving since Joe is no longer unemployed and no longer receives unemployment insurance to help with his bills”.
8th Grader: “But wait, Joe is sitting at home without a job and no way to pay his bills,but you are telling me that he is not unemployed anymore?!”
250K: “Exactly!!”, “And better yet the economy is now improving because Joe and all of his fellow unemployed who has been unemployed for too long are no longer unemployed per government definitions”. “this my child is what we call Green Shoots
8th Grader: “?????????”
chifi, thanks.
Ket, trying to encourage the child’s curiosity and desire to learn and avoid glib responses like “well Billy, the government lies. ’nuff said”.
Other than the banks having to recognize losses and occupants having to pay, this works.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-04/banks-should-swap-debt-for-equity-on-distressed-homes-lewis-ranieri-says.html
Joe is a stupid lazy SOB who should not have had a job in the first place. But we had a jobs bubble where even the biggest laziest piece of dead wood like Joe could get a job. After over one year of looking no body wants Joe since he is a lazy sack of crap. The Govt concluded he ain’t really looking for a job and concluded he is not longer unemployed as he is just a worthless sack of crap.
Crap. Moderated @ 25 for using the McDon@ld’s word.
jj (26)-
So, the logical conclusion we should draw from this is that the US should begin forming death squads for these people?
Perhaps Soylent Green will be our economic savior?
#28 Its people you know!Soylent Green is People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got euros?
Greece allegedly threatening to leave euro.
I can only imagine Germany is offering to help them pack.
Marks calling out gold on CNBC. Not news—gold is the purest example of the greater fool theory.
Wells Fargo increasing its legal reserves by nearly 50%.
As the Fractured Fairy Tales from Bullwinkle might have said, “Semper fido, or unleash the dogs of war.”:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/04/war_dog?page=full
What is the income potential for a newbie real estate agent in Bergen County? How many houses does an agent sell on average per year in this climate?
According to my friend, right now is a great time to sell houses. Thought I’d ask the most intelligent commentors in the blogosphere. Grim and the accompanying commenting community saved my husband and I a fortune in 2006. We held off buying thanks to the information given and the accompanying discussions.
Thanks to all of you for having the conversations the rest of the media is simply not having. I anxiously await any response to my question above.
According to my friend, right now is a great time to sell houses.
the necessary correlation to this would be that it’s a great time to buy (i.e high sales/realtor). Based on NJAR data 4q10 sales were at about the early 2000 level.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/53186907/NJ-Re-Update-Apr-2011
Jersey Girl,
NOW is a terrible time to sell houses.
You will be competing with the best of the best realtors as the weak have already withered away. Not only are the number of sales dropping, but the commissions earned on them are dropping as well as the sales prices on the homes you would be selling. Ask your realtor friend for copies of her 1040s for the past 5 years. Then you’ll have the proof you need to show that she is lying to you.
34 – hard to say, really depends on that agents network (ability to convince friends, family, colleagues) to use them.
Right out of the gate? If they can make $30k their first year they are doing pretty well.
“U.S. Payrolls Grew 244,000 in April; Unemployment at 9% American employers in April added more jobs than forecast and the labor market in the prior two months was stronger than initially estimated, indicating the world’s largest economy is weathering the impact of higher fuel prices.”
How about the unemployed,no salary inrease in the last 5 years?Income have been stagnant for the last few years.Just because companies are hiring low paying jobs, it does not mean the citizens are weathering inflation.
I can see the lead article can help people weather inflation by not paying their mortgage and putting that into the economy.
Why am I still paying my mortgage?
yo’me,
I’ve asked myself the same question every day since mark to market was suspended.
And remember unlike a regular corporate job is you screw this job up you won’t have friends or family.
grim says:
May 6, 2011 at 1:09 pm
34 – hard to say, really depends on that agents network (ability to convince friends, family, colleagues) to use them.
Right out of the gate? If they can make $30k their first year they are doing pretty well.
Nom [30],
Sounds like Greece has them right where they want them; a weekend poker match between Greece, EU, and the markets. German banks do not want them to pack their bags. They would rather restructure, kick the can, and mark the crap to fantasy.
Nom [31],
This fool started buying in 2003 at $342.
re #24 – Relo just another version of Rent to Own. I had a friend who did a few of these back in the early 1990s. Would rent to own small houses down the shore to contractors, and handymen etc. Each “rent to owner” would then go about renovating the place adding decks new siding, windows, kitchens etc. But as time progressed they almost would always miss a few payments and then get evicted, few if any ever made it to the end of the rent to own contract.
Lone Ranger,
You also could have gotten in the IPO for Chipotle Mexican Grill in 2006 at $20 per share. It’s now at $270. I didn’t have the $120,000 necessary to get in so I had to settle for paying $40 per share at the open. Not complaining.
Talking to a guy who was telling me how great college was in the 1970s, how it sucks now. Anyhow found a 1980 edition of the stony brook press and in it they talk about getting rid of the 11 bars on campus, cutting down on the drugs, oversized Fridges in rooms and partying. In 1980 this was a pipe dream, but by 1990 that same campus was drier than a 90 year old nun’s bush.
So for today’s youth, college is about studying with a bunch of asians in the library all day and going home to update you face book page and drink a redbull if you want to be wild. Meanwhile the great leaders of today who went to college 30 years ago partied their butts off. Moral is none, have fun in school, do you really need that info to buy gold, trade stocks/bonds or sell real estate? It seems that is all we do on this site anyhow.
Stonybrook 1980 had 11 bars open till 2 or 4am & nights a week with 75 cents well drinks and two dollar pitchers. Plus around 100 alchol fueled free parties every weekend. Today, drinking a bud light in your room is a capital offense.
http://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/1951/37501/1/Stony%20Brook%20Press%20V.%2002,%20N.%2001.PDF
Squatter Renters are increasing Year over Year. Just look at the 90+ days late Mortgage Delinquency map at the Fed. It drills down the county level and shows some increasing numbers in NJ.
http://data.newyorkfed.org/creditconditionsmap/
Stu [45],
Unfortunately, I was too busy looking for a place to rent.
MS. Whitney and Mr. Gross with egg on face in one week, and I am one throwing the eggs.
PIMCO will change U.S. short bet on recession: Gross
REUTERS — 35 MINUTES AGO
NEW YORK (Reuters) – PIMCO’s Bill Gross, who runs the world’s largest bond fund, said on Friday the only way he would reverse his “short” position on U.S. government-related bonds is if the United States heads into another recession.
Since the April 11 news that Gross turned more bearish on Treasury debt, reflecting his growing worries over the country’s fiscal deficit and debt burden, Treasury prices have been soaring.
On Friday Treasury prices fell though after a better than expected U.S. monthly employment report.
Asked Friday Gross told Reuters: “Treasury yields are currently yielding substantially less than historical averages when compared with inflation. Perhaps the only justification for a further rally would be weak economic growth or a future recession that substantially lowered inflation and inflationary expectations.”
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 7/32, with the yield at 3.18 percent, on Friday. On April 11, the yield stood at 3.58 percent.
re # 49 – JJ am I good or what The “R” word is now being bandied about.
JJ- I hate to say it, but I agree with a lot of what you say. Regarding drinking on campus, yes – let’s ban it all, then you know what, kids with either:
1 – go somewhere else to do it, and die on the way home or
2 – start doing other drugs that you can sneak into the dorm/frat room easier. The law of unintended consequences……..
Alchohol is my anti-drug.
#51 agreed
I created a little spreadsheet for myself last month when unemployment was 8.8% just to get my head around the situation. Using census and other gov statistics I came up with this:
50.85% of Americans are old enough to work (over 16), 157 million out of 308 million.
8.80% of Americans over 16 are “officially” unemployed 13.5 million.
5.29% of Americans over 16 are getting an unemployment check 8.3 million.
3.31% of Americans over 16 are “officially” unemployed but receive no check 5.2 million.
97.71% of Americans over 16 are the “official” workforce 153 million.
2.29% of Americans over 16 are not counted as part of the Workforce because they’re not looking for work and not receiving a check 3.6 million.
89.11% of Americans over 16 have a job 140 million.
10.89% of Americans over 16 have no job 17 million.
3.44% of Americans over 16 are also over 65, so some with no job are retired 5.4 million.
Hope this helps with the caveat that my math is not guaranteed in any way shape or form.
14 – 250k says:
May 6, 2011 at 9:27 am
This is a serious question. Can anyone point me to an online resource that would help explain all the employment data to an 8th grader? Something that would compare jobless claims data, payroll report, unemployment report, nuances of how data can be used to make it look like economy is improving, etc.?
joisey girl (35)-
Is your friend practicing real estate on her knees?
Always a bull market in that.
We need a good recession!!! Too many rich folk out there.
Bars are good, when they raised the drinking age to 21 rapes of women 16-20 increased. Instead of drinking in a legal bar, with large bouncers and supervision. They go to dorm rooms, cars, behind 7/11, under bleachers, vacant lots, parents houses who are out of town and frat houses where the guys get them drunk and take advantage. When I was in school the old try to get them from bar to your car or room was the hardest step in process, now the boys start out there. Plus they control drink contrent, unlike bar servicing watered down white wine spitzers the boys are serving jungle juice with grain alchol in 16 ounce cups.
Juice X says:
May 6, 2011 at 2:30 pm
re # 49 – JJ am I good or what The “R” word is now being bandied about.
Hob 36
Isnt that how JJ close don his last home purchase?
Hobo
If you really think about it you should expect a lot more then just that to close a purchase on the order of a few hundredK
re # 56 JJ – “the boys are serving jungle juice with grain alchol in 16 ounce cups. ”
They did not have roofies when you were in college, and you and I both know if you are loaded the plumbing won’t work anyway unless you are mixing alcohol and male enhancement pills.
I like grain alcohol.
Gary,
Submitted for your consideration, here is a new listing soon to be known as “Price Reduced”.
http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1116234&dayssince=14&countysearch=false
Hobo With a Shotgun says:
May 6, 2011 at 3:09 pm
joisey girl (35)-
Is your friend practicing real estate on her knees?
Always a bull market in that.
…….
First of all, eww.
Second, I think he was at your house last night. So, maybe.
[62] jersey girl
Oooooh, smackdown.
relo,
The picture of the living room with the cartoons on, the drum sets and the feet in the frame….. they couldnt have left the room or perhaps straightened it up??? They are clearly motivated.
[46] JJ
“Stonybrook 1980 had 11 bars open till 2 or 4am & nights a week with 75 cents well drinks and two dollar pitchers. Plus around 100 alchol fueled free parties every weekend. Today, drinking a bud light in your room is a capital offense.”
I don’t think Amherst had that many bars (with surrounding towns, maybe), but hell yeah, it was largely the same. Any fake id worked in 1980, and one bar close to my house (a “townie” bar) never carded.
After graduation, around 1986 or 1987, I visited a cousin in my old dorm and cracked open a beer in the hallway. The RA saw it and opened up on me. I was gonna return the smack but my cousin told me that I was the one breaking the rules, which prompted a “WTF???”.
And apparently, it has gotten tighter since, so much so that no one thinks of UMass as a party school anymore.
[43] Ranger,
Then I’d be taking profits some, enough to recover investment, and then you are playing with the house’s money.
Greater fool theory is reliant on the belief that there will be greater fools. Gold will undoubtedly skyrocket if there is a SHTF event, but even then, you have to know when to pull the ripcord so you can convert shiny metal into useful things like guns, ammo, and foodstocks.
Speaking of stockpiling, one of my wine vendors turned me onto a sancerre that is being sold (cheaply) under a second label of a larger, better known estate. S/b essentially the same wine, only it’s $10 per bottle instead of $24. I like sancerre so if it passes muster, I will likely buy a case and then turn you all onto it.
peace out, gotta attend to my toddler and get ready to take my 8YO to her cheer team banquet. Her first formal event (sniff).
two words joisey gurl….unda wader.
#65 Comrade
Your post brought back some memories of my alma mater. For one semester, as they tried to change their party school reputation, open containers of alcohol were banned in the hallways. Sticking your finger in the container, however, was considered a closed container. So for the whole semester, everyone walked the halls with a finger in their beer. Fukcing hilarious.
WW3 here we come.
Buy the f_ckin dips. Buy ammo too. Hope you planted a garden.
I’d hit that.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Anita-Kazmierczak-Better-Homes-Realty-Marlboro-NJ/141214349251603
Right around ’79-’80, before all college kids dispersed all over the South and into Mexico and the islands for Spring Break, there was only one place. Fort Lauderdale. My friends and I had a move that served us well at all those “$5 cover, free drinks from 4-6PM” places. We would pick a prime piece of bar real estate, pick a bartender, and we would each pony up 2 bucks and the 7 or so of us would immediately tip the bartender14 dollars while everyone else was swilling down free drinks and leaving no tips or insulting 25-50 cent tips. We were then set for the entire evening. As free drinks ended at 6PM, we and any female friends we had amassed were getting all the attention over the screaming masses for the last “free” call and we were treated better than most for the remainder of the evening by our chosen bartender (and we always chose a guy). The only reason this pops into my failing memory is that one of our chosen bartenders showed us a bottle of grain he kept under the bar. He would use it to take out any asshole who thought he was the biggest toughest drinker in the place, the usual takeout drink was a “Grain Collins”. One of my friends was just daring enough to try one, he was puking in our Winnebago all the way back to our campsite. Oh yeah, we brought our mobile hotel room with us everywhere in in Lauderdale. The only rule was that the least drunk of us drove the whole crew back to the campsite at night. Different times.
#60 – Hobo With a Shotgun says:
May 6, 2011 at 3:33 pm
I like grain alcohol.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/opinion/05feldstein.xml
Coming to a tax form near you.
I like Everclear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjvGwgXa1ks&feature=related
APB for Stu or Gator to email me at twikki2@yahoo.com. Looking at a house in your area and need your insight. Thankles.
WSJ
NY SPORTS
MAY 7, 2011
A Jersey Girl Takes Aim at the Derby
Rosie Napravnik, Who’ll Climb Aboard Pants on Fire for Saturday’s Race, Would Be the First Female Winner
By JARED DIAMOND
Associated Press
Rosie Napravnik left New Jersey about seven years ago, not long after her sophomore year of high school, to pursue her lifelong dream of riding racehorses at the highest level.
This Saturday at Churchill Downs, she’ll climb aboard Pants on Fire to try to become the first female jockey ever to win the Kentucky Derby.
“I knew her when she was 40 pounds, and she was this little, skinny, red-haired girl like Little Orphan Annie who absolutely loved horses,” said Jessie Reed, 32, who rode with Napravnik at the Hunterdon Hills Pony Club. “She used to trot around pretending she really was a pony, and now we’re all going to watch her ride the Kentucky Derby.”
Only five women have ever ridden in the race, which has been run 136 times. None has finished better than 11th. While there are two female trainers in this year’s field, Napravnik is the only female jockey.
As a child growing up in Somerset and Hunterdon counties, Napravnik started with eventing and show jumping and eventually moved to racing when she turned 7. Those who remember her say she was always feisty and extremely competitive: they always make a note of her fiery red hair, which, they say, gives a strong hint about the personality of the jockey.
None of her friends said they’d imagined she’d ride a horse in the Kentucky Derby. But when word started leaking out, nobody was shocked. “She was always so into her racing. She always cared about it more than anything,” said Doug Payne, 29, who once raced with Napravnik at Far Hills. “The way I remember her, it definitely seemed like anything was possible.”
Pants on Fire, a 20-1 longshot as of Friday, will race from the No. 7 post position. The horse was the surprise winner of the Louisiana Derby in March, but hasn’t raced in six weeks.
Napravnik, who is 23, is already tired of hearing about her place in history should she win Saturday’s race (6:24 pm on NBC). She said that since horse racing started as a male-only sport, it makes sense that no woman has won the Derby. Over time, she said, it will evolve.
Kelly Breen, trainer of Pants on Fire, doesn’t want to talk about Napravnik’s gender, either. He picked her to ride his horse at the Derby for one reason: She wins. Her victory at the Louisiana Derby netted $1 million. “You don’t go away from someone who just won you a million-dollar purse,” Breen said. “It has nothing to do with whether she’s a boy or a girl.”
It turns out there’s another reason Breen may have leaned toward choosing Napravnik to ride Pants on Fire. Breen grew up in Farmingdale and has lived in New Jersey his entire life. He didn’t meet Napravnik through their collective histories in Jersey, but it didn’t hurt.
“You can’t say it doesn’t matter at all because you do associate people with where you’re born and raised,” Breen said. “She always talks about Jersey, and never in a derogatory manner. These are her roots, and being a traveling girl like she is doesn’t change that.”
—Pia Catton contributed to this article
Master Gardener plant sale in Bridgewater today from 9-1. If you do tomatoes, do not miss this. Get there early because all the great heirloom varieties sell out quick. I had to knock down an old woman last year to get the last Japanese Black Trifele at about 34 seconds past 9.
Grim, if you can’t find what you want at Bridgewater let me know, we have surplus heirloom tomato plants in about 25 varieties which will be going out to the compost pile by the end of next week. I am located in Pennington.
Wish I knew about your shares program earlier
Sign of the times . . .
On “Phineas and Ferb”, a kids cartoon, the Evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz missed some mortgage payments on his evil lair and the bank foreclosed. Dr. Doofenschmirtz proclaimed he would make the lair so unappealing that no one would buy it, and the bank would have to let him stay.
You know that default and foreclosure has become zeitgeist when they make it a theme in a kids’ cartoon.
(BTW, I have a 7YO, which explains why I am overhearing cartoons at 8 in the morning. Still, Phineas and Ferb is pretty funny)
more on the Evil Dr. Doofenschirmtz. . . .
A couple of years ago, we had a german au pair. She was incensed at the character because he had a german name. She asked “Why are all the villains in this country germans???”
Nom, big typo either in #66 or #80. I can imagine you having to explain that you were not too busy posting on blogs that you forgot critical numbers.
Jim (79)-
Please get my e-mail from Grim. I can also take a few plants & pick them up from wherever you are.
Grain alcohol in my morning coffee doesn’t go down so well.
Sas3
nom has Irish twins!!!!
I looked at 15 new listings sent to me this morning. 12 of the 15 have “price reduced” in the title. Carry on.
The End is Nigh (Cali Edition):
HOME LAND
MAY 7, 2011
History Class Can’t Stop Bullies
By CAITLIN FLANAGAN
One day last month, my twin 13-year-old boys—students at two different Los Angeles middle schools—barreled through the front door, charged the snack drawer and mentioned in the most casual way possible that each planned to take part in a National Day of Silence in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered classmates.
Say what?
“You know, Mom,” one of them said, as he pawed through the packages of chips, “it’s for kids who want to come out and stuff.”
It was one of those moments when you realize that the world in which your children live is substantially different from the one you once inhabited. Trying to imagine the boys of my own seventh-grade class understanding the range of sexual identities encompassed by the term “LGBT,” let alone standing in solidarity with its constituents, is impossible. Yet here were my own boys, suiting up for the revolution: Beavis and Butt-Head go to Stonewall. “I’m proud of you,” I said, with feeling.
“Can we have root beer?” they asked, with none.
Such a fine generation of young Americans—it’s too bad that they are being systematically robbed of the great national story that is their birthright. Here in California, history classes are now required by law to include the contributions to the state and nation that have been made by Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans and persons with disabilities. Soon to be added to this list—provided that Senate Bill 48, which just passed in Sacramento, becomes state law—are the contributions of “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans.”
Pity the poor textbook writer, charged not only with describing American history to semiliterate students (our public schools rank 49th in the nation) but also with locating transgendered Americans who made their marks upon it. Pity also the students themselves, their weak grasp of our shared history about to become even more tenuous.
Shaking down our national story for underrepresented Mexican Americans—however specious such a task may be—can’t be thirsty work, but the curriculum meeting where they try to find a “lesbian American” present at the Second Continental Congress is one I’d pay to attend. Imagine our benighted students sitting at their desks and trying to make a coherent story emerge from among the special protections offered certain of its players, rather than from the central theme of American history: the relentless journey toward freedom.
But most troubling about Senate Bill 48 is its “proposed purpose,” which is at once laudable and misguided: to discourage the bullying of gay kids. We may disagree about the extent to which schools should indoctrinate kids with particular political or social beliefs, but it’s indisputable that the world is cruel, children can be sadistic and the playground can be ugly.
Teaching children to behave decently toward one another, supervising them, punishing them when they disobey—this is how you make life better and kinder at school. The minute you define some groups as protected from that cruelty, you automatically make others candidates for it. You should not need a lobby and a special-interest group to protect your child from taunting and cruelty, because what will happen to the child without an SB 48 of her own? History classes and antibullying campaigns emerge from two separate obligations with which our schools are charged: teaching children the story of America and inculcating in them the knowledge and practice of human decency.
My boys learned in their morning assemblies about the day of silence, a student-led effort in which kids take a vow against the bullying of gay students. I recall what assemblies were like in my own youth: the darkened auditorium, the welcome respite from class, the important personages who stood at the microphone to address us. How wonderful it would have been, particularly for the gay students, if one of these programs had been devoted to standing in fealty with them. They didn’t have that.
But at least they had history class, where our teachers were unafraid to tell us the truth: that long ago a group of white, male and (apparently) heterosexual men avowed and then defended with their lives a set of ideals that made all of us—eventually and at times imperfectly—free.
There is a straight line running from Valley Forge to Stonewall. Too bad that kids are less and less likely to learn about it.
The End is Nigh (Cali Edition):
HOME LAND
MAY 7, 2011
History Class Can’t Stop Bullies
By CAITLIN FLANAGAN
One day last month, my twin 13-year-old boys—students at two different Los Angeles middle schools—barreled through the front door, charged the snack drawer and mentioned in the most casual way possible that each planned to take part in a National Day of Silence in support of lesb!an, g-y, bis-xual and transgendered classmates.
Say what?
“You know, Mom,” one of them said, as he pawed through the packages of chips, “it’s for kids who want to come out and stuff.”
It was one of those moments when you realize that the world in which your children live is substantially different from the one you once inhabited. Trying to imagine the boys of my own seventh-grade class understanding the range of s-xual identities encompassed by the term “LGBT,” let alone standing in solidarity with its constituents, is impossible. Yet here were my own boys, suiting up for the revolution: Beavis and Butt-Head go to Stonewall. “I’m proud of you,” I said, with feeling.
“Can we have root beer?” they asked, with none.
Such a fine generation of young Americans—it’s too bad that they are being systematically robbed of the great national story that is their birthright. Here in California, history classes are now required by law to include the contributions to the state and nation that have been made by Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans and persons with disabilities. Soon to be added to this list—provided that Senate Bill 48, which just passed in Sacramento, becomes state law—are the contributions of “g-y, lesb!an, bis-xual and transgendered Americans.”
Pity the poor textbook writer, charged not only with describing American history to semiliterate students (our public schools rank 49th in the nation) but also with locating transgendered Americans who made their marks upon it. Pity also the students themselves, their weak grasp of our shared history about to become even more tenuous.
Shaking down our national story for underrepresented Mexican Americans—however specious such a task may be—can’t be thirsty work, but the curriculum meeting where they try to find a “lesb!an American” present at the Second Continental Congress is one I’d pay to attend. Imagine our benighted students sitting at their desks and trying to make a coherent story emerge from among the special protections offered certain of its players, rather than from the central theme of American history: the relentless journey toward freedom.
But most troubling about Senate Bill 48 is its “proposed purpose,” which is at once laudable and misguided: to discourage the bullying of gay kids. We may disagree about the extent to which schools should indoctrinate kids with particular political or social beliefs, but it’s indisputable that the world is cruel, children can be sadistic and the playground can be ugly.
Teaching children to behave decently toward one another, supervising them, punishing them when they disobey—this is how you make life better and kinder at school. The minute you define some groups as protected from that cruelty, you automatically make others candidates for it. You should not need a lobby and a special-interest group to protect your child from taunting and cruelty, because what will happen to the child without an SB 48 of her own? History classes and antibullying campaigns emerge from two separate obligations with which our schools are charged: teaching children the story of America and inculcating in them the knowledge and practice of human decency.
My boys learned in their morning assemblies about the day of silence, a student-led effort in which kids take a vow against the bullying of gay students. I recall what assemblies were like in my own youth: the darkened auditorium, the welcome respite from class, the important personages who stood at the microphone to address us. How wonderful it would have been, particularly for the gay students, if one of these programs had been devoted to standing in fealty with them. They didn’t have that.
But at least they had history class, where our teachers were unafraid to tell us the truth: that long ago a group of white, male and (apparently) heteros-xual men avowed and then defended with their lives a set of ideals that made all of us—eventually and at times imperfectly—free.
There is a straight line running from Valley Forge to Stonewall. Too bad that kids are less and less likely to learn about it.
I once had Irish twins on yhe ctush velour seats of the dapper don’s daughter’s limo.
Any recommendations for restaurants in the Bahamas?
(82) sas3
Good catch. Her b-day is in a few days. Lately I’ve been alternating btwn 7 and 8 as the mood strikes me.
Right now, we are at Claire’s; we promised her that she could get her ears pierced when she was 8. I figured she’d freak in the chair, and she did a bit, but then sucked it up.
Lone Ranger: Greycliff bring your shiny, heavy hit.
gary, I counted the solds from 1_2010 to 5_2010 vs. 2011. Unbelievable how ppl wh0red for that credit.
MIW,
Tks.
Pat, how can you be surprised?
Do you know how many dumb American’s bought a car when employee pricing came into play?
Barb,
You got mail, with our phone number.
Its confirmed…
Stu and Gator are actual people, not just type across my computer screen.
also I take back my tenants theory. No landlord would put in a designer stove an reclaimed wood floors for tenants. I was distracted by the white walls and 2nd hand hipster furniture.
Yeah I am imprisoned by my home. I admit it. Can’t sell now. Won’t take a loss. Will just sit tight and pay down the note. Geez.
Your first loss is your best loss.
Grim,
Here is a list of CSA’s by county. http://www.slowfoodnnj.org/pdf/CSAs.pdf
From personal experience, you really have to plan the meals for the week and cook the plan. If you miss a few meals the produce can build up on you and the spoilage amount goes up.
Sign of the times:
I went to Anthony David’s in Hoboken today for lunch. The long standing realtor’s office next door has closed down and has been replaced by a law office that specializes, among other things, in personal bankruptcies…..
[101] chifi,
I am watching “The Day After Tomorrow” and its a great parable for our times. In the movie, 100 years worth of climate change was condensed into weeks.
I had long predicted this partial collapse and realignment in our economy. But I thought it would occur over a longer period. Like the climate in the movie, it collapsed before anyone could prepare. And like the new neighbors, I had planned to add bankruptcy to my practice in order to expand my ability to feed on the corpse of this economy.
89.
Lone,
I see you are spending some of your silver earnings.
102.
Nom,
Re: Feeding on the corpse of the American economy
How about a side business of heirloom tomato plants and road side vegetable stand construction. Its the only hope NJ has.
By the way all you saltwater anglers. You must now register to catch fish in the ocean or be fined up to $3000. You must present a certificate of registry when asked by law enforcement.
This is UN Agenda 21 in action. Its not about fish. Its about control.
I want out of NJ so bad. I want to live somewhere where I can carry a .357 on my hip on no one will blink an eye.
[105] al
I think we have bigger problems.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=901417
106
Nom,
The only thing that stands between the future destitute and us are shiny rocks. There is no other way out. You will be running over dead seniors in the street once their pensions and retirement accounts are confiscated and placed in the US treasury market.
106.
Nom,
Better invest in some toe tags for Grandma this Mothers Day.
Oh snap!
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/1001189_federal_taxes.pdf
Turn to table 2. BTW, these percentages don’t change significantly over time.
And then there’s this:
http://www.cbo.gov/publications/collections/tax/2010/graphics.cfm
Table 5 is illustrative of the preposition that if we cause income in the top quintile to disappear, we cut off a disproportionately large portion of revenues and exacerbate the deficit.
Fabius, feel free to insult the Tax Policy Institute. I suggest that “Tax Wonks for Jesus” is a bit unoriginal now.
dotty herman was very bullish yesterday. says now is a wonderful time to buy .
and the machine continues. Rates are low , Hurry
#108 Nom
Did you take Tax prof for Jes us to the woodshed for slipping off message?
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2011/04/ctj-.html
Happy mothers day to all the moms on the blog
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Time Share Disposal Group