Midweek Laugh (or Cry)

From AOL Money UK:

Posh car ‘pushes up house prices’

Having a posh car in the driveway can push up property prices, according to a survey.

As many as a third of people reckon having a luxury motor outside their home can add to the value of their house, the poll by car rental company Avis found.

Around a third of the 2,000 adults surveyed also thought a flash car would help sell a property.

This seemingly necessary accessory was most valued in Wolverhampton, where respondents reckoned it would add as much as £6,100 to a property.

The majority (57%) admitted they took notice of a luxury car in the drive when viewing a new home. A top-end model gave the impression it was a safe and desirable place to live and the property was an attractive one.

Car models seen as being the best to have parked outside a property include Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW.

Open-topped vehicles were also seen as a boon, particularly when trying to entice women buyers.

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153 Responses to Midweek Laugh (or Cry)

  1. grim says:

    Here’s your $15/hr minimum wage folks…

    Return of the Automat – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat

  2. anon (the good one) says:

    @BBGBillionaires: The world’s 200 richest people gained $22 billion yesterday, led by $FB’s Zuckerberg, who jumped more than $1 billion
    http://t.co/dYSETgc2Kr

  3. grim says:

    From the WSJ:

    U.S. Backs Off Tight Mortgage Rules

    The Obama administration and federal regulators are reversing course on some of the biggest postcrisis efforts to tighten mortgage-lending standards amid concern they could snuff out the fledgling housing rebound and dent the economic recovery.

    On Tuesday, Mel Watt, the newly installed overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said the mortgage giants should direct their focus toward making more credit available to homeowners, a U-turn from previous directives to pull back from the mortgage market.

    In coming weeks, six agencies, including Mr. Watt’s, are expected to finalize new rules for mortgages that are packaged into securities by private investors. Those rules largely abandon earlier proposals requiring larger down payments on mortgages in certain types of mortgage-backed securities.

    The steps mark a sharp shift from just a few years ago, when Washington, scarred by the 2008 crisis, pushed to restrict the flow of easy money that fueled the housing bubble and its subsequent bust. Critics of the move to loosen the reins now, including some economists and lenders, worry that regulators could be opening the way for another boom and bust.

  4. anon (the good one) says:

    Here’s your $15/hr minimum wage folks…

    @BBGBillionaires: The Walton family added $857m to their $151 bln fortune on May 9 http://t.co/yMZL81p09K http://t.co/EpZz1kyKnK

  5. grim says:

    4 – I find that most compelling arguments for a higher minimum wage are those based in solid business rationale, and not those based on some kind of quasi-morality play where everyone should be equally as rich.

    For example, a number of papers have discussed correlations between low wages and attrition/turnover. A well known one was HBR in 2006, that discussed the hidden costs associated with turnover between Costco and Walmart (17% vs 44% respectively). Still others have discussed correlations between low wages and higher absenteeism, and still more have discussed the productivity implications.

    Attrition results in hidden costs associated with new employee training, lower quality, higher inventory shrinkage/losses, lower customer satisfaction, higher overhead, poor team dynamics, poor succession planning, etc. I’ve spent many years in an industry that was excessively focused on labor, and I’ll tell you, even very large and mature organizations have a very difficult time understanding what labor and attrition really cost them (or they are knowingly blind to it).

    Realize though, that these potential benefits cut both ways, in that once factors like attrition and absenteeism are minimized, productivity increased, quality/satisfaction increased, you tend to require a significantly smaller workforce to execute compared to the previous state. Often times, the management structure can be leaned out significantly as well (do you really still need the 4 trainers you did previously?) So while some make more, and in some cases significantly more, a good portion will become jobless as a result.

  6. grim (3)-

    In other news, Nero is beginning to tune his fiddle.

    “On Tuesday, Mel Watt, the newly installed overseer of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said the mortgage giants should direct their focus toward making more credit available to homeowners, a U-turn from previous directives to pull back from the mortgage market.

    In coming weeks, six agencies, including Mr. Watt’s, are expected to finalize new rules for mortgages that are packaged into securities by private investors. Those rules largely abandon earlier proposals requiring larger down payments on mortgages in certain types of mortgage-backed securities.

    The steps mark a sharp shift from just a few years ago, when Washington, scarred by the 2008 crisis, pushed to restrict the flow of easy money that fueled the housing bubble and its subsequent bust. Critics of the move to loosen the reins now, including some economists and lenders, worry that regulators could be opening the way for another boom and bust.”

  7. grim (5)-

    Again…please stop making sense.

  8. grim says:

    7 – That’s what boggles my mind about folks that say that increasing the minimum wage will not result in fewer jobs.

    It absolutely will – but being able to pay a higher labor force is not the only issue here, all the benefits in 5 come into play as well, and those benefits result in a very real reduction in the need for labor.

    I scratch my head when I see all these folks arguing about obscure top down pre-post studies that look at local legislative minimum wage changes to propose an impact. When you look at it from a business perspective, it makes perfect sense. Higher productivity generally means emptier buildings.

    Repercussions go much further than jobs, they translate into less overall space required for the operations, impacting commercial/industrial real estate as well.

  9. Street Justice says:

    Quick Chek seems to be expanding rapidly. All the newer ones I go to have self checkout lanes and a touch screen kiosk where you order your sandwich. Nobody taking your order or checking you out. Just one lady making sandwiches.

    Heck they’re putting the armed robbers out of business. How can you expect a self checkout kiosk to give you all the money in the register when you point a gun at it?

    grim says:
    May 14, 2014 at 6:27 am
    Here’s your $15/hr minimum wage folks…

    Return of the Automat – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automat

  10. grim says:

    The other factor to keep in mind is that increasing the minimum wage doesn’t always directly impact those making the minimum wage today. Huh? Yes. I can share some personal anecdotes of events that took place in other countries that lead me to believe this as gospel.

    Increased wages tend to attract a different set of candidate employees, who in some cases may be better employees than those currently filling the positions. Call these the over-qualified candidates at the margin. The previous wage wasn’t sufficient to attract them, but the new wage is. Through some natural attrition, staff changes, etc what tends to happen is the nature of the workforce shifts to the higher caliber worker who was previously at the margin. The old workers, who may not have been as productive, as qualified, as educated, etc find themselves unemployed, unable to compete with this new set that has moved into these roles.

    You tend to see this in areas around universities, where a student might not be bothered to work for a low wage, but once that moves up to a point where it becomes beneficial for them to take part-time work, they almost always represent a higher quality employee than potentially the uneducated older worker. They tend to have excellent communications skills, are very computer literate, have a good grasp of mathematics, good potential management trainees, etc.

    Also very common in areas where there is an incumbent major industry. Good example of this are towns where higher than average wages are commanded by those employed by this main industry. A smaller industry that competes for the other employer for employees (but doesn’t compete directly in the market), finds themselves on more equal footing after an increase in the wage floor. What happens is higher quality employees from the other industry, who might be looking for something different, new opportunities, etc migrate over, displacing the current employees. These displaced employees find themselves unable to find any work at this point.

  11. Street Justice says:

    Sorry to switch gears, but I thought this was an interesting piece on the ongoing topic of climate change.

    Climate Change Isn’t Just About Sea Levels, And Adaptation Will Require Action, Not A Sense Of Futility
    By NOAH MILLMAN • May 13, 2014, 12:03 PM
    http://www.theamericanconservative.com/millman/climate-change-isnt-just-about-sea-levels-and-adaptation-will-require-action-not-a-sense-of-futility/

  12. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [1] grim

    I think I raised the automat example a few weeks ago and I think somewhere in Manhattan, someone opened an automat.

    However, the automat example lives on in other guises, like the prepackaged section at a pret-a-manger.

    I also think vending or e-ordering will take over many more industries. Look at inner city bodegas and liquor stores where the clerk and the goods are behind plexiglass. You order and the goods are bagged and put on a turntable. Would be a simple thing to automate a store where you type in your order, pay at the card reader and your order comes along on a conveyor. For retail that doesn’t rely on the touch and try on experience, the tech already exists. In time, the only human interaction will be the delivery truck driver.

    Until now, government was expanded to soak up these people. But tech will outpace governments ability in that regard. The later response will be to outlaw tech efficiencies in certain industries or require keeping redundant employees, such as the second guy riding along in those small European delivery trucks.

  13. Street Justice says:

    “The later response will be to outlaw tech efficiencies in certain industries or require keeping redundant employees”

    Try pumping your own gas in NJ.

  14. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/05/19/140519fa_fact_russakoff

    ExPat’s Executive Summary:

    “Decades of research have shown that experiences at home and in neighborhoods have far more influence on children’s academic achievement than classroom instruction.”
    Yes.

    “But reformers argued that well-run schools with the flexibility to recruit the best teachers could overcome many of the effects of poverty, broken homes, and exposure to violence. “
    Effing No.

  15. anon (the good one) says:

    “First of all, the current level of the minimum wage is very low by any reasonable standard. For about four decades, increases in the minimum wage have consistently fallen behind inflation, so that in real terms the minimum wage is substantially lower than it was in the 1960s. Meanwhile, worker productivity has doubled. Isn’t it time for a raise?

    Now, you might argue that even if the current minimum wage seems low, raising it would cost jobs.

    But there’s evidence on that question — lots and lots of evidence, because the minimum wage is one of the most studied issues in all of economics. U.S. experience, it turns out, offers many “natural experiments” here, in which one state raises its minimum wage while others do not. And while there are dissenters, as there always are, the great preponderance of the evidence from these natural experiments points to little if any negative effect of minimum wage increases on employment.”

    grim says:
    May 14, 2014 at 7:01 am

    For example, a number of papers have discussed correlations between low wages and attrition/turnover. A well known one was HBR in 2006, that discussed the hidden costs associated with turnover between Costco and Walmart (17% vs 44% respectively). Still others have discussed correlations between low wages and higher absenteeism, and still more have discussed the productivity implications.

  16. 1987 Condo says:

    #13..while at times inconvenient to wait, I was in NY when the law allowed pumping your gas went into effect, there was no decrease in price…just an increase for “Full Service”….

  17. Anon E. Moose says:

    Grim [5];

    Public choice theory explains Anon’s (among others’) preference for this kind of policy. Everyone getting a raise knows exactly who to thank at the ballot box for it. Those who got fired can be easily brainwashed by a complicit media to blame “greedy corporations” for their misfortune. Concentrated benefits, and diffuse costs.

    Most people also ignore the union angle. The pay scale in many if not most union contracts is indexed to the minimum wage. A raise in the minimum wage is equally a raise for thousands that make significantly more than the minimum wage. But don’t ask Anon to tell you that — he’s too busy selling the “downtrodden” narrative.

    BTW, how can you tell the difference between a plumber and a chemist? Ask them to pronounce to word “unionized”.

  18. Street Justice says:

    Envy remains one of the most dangerous of the anti-social passions infecting the West

  19. Libturd driving to Union now that I'm screwed by New Jersey transit again says:

    At least a one hour delay this morning and it had nothing to do with Amtrak again. There are mechanical problems up the line on the Montclair-Boonton line. Just got done dropping gator off with six other commuters at the light rail in Bloomfield. I love the government.

  20. grim says:

    unionized – very nice

  21. We just need a big, old-fashioned world war to thin out the ranks of entry level, minimum wage workers.

    Extra bonus: put women in the infantry, too.

  22. Fast Eddie says:

    Wouldn’t it be easier to take matters into your own hands and increase your skill level and get a better job?

  23. gary, most vocational courses conflict with The Price is Right and Queen Latifah.

  24. I think it should also be a given that at least 75% of all public HS graduates in the US are academically incapable of raising their skill levels in order to get a better job.

    Look at the machinist/die cutting industry. A gazillion job openings, but no technicians who can handle the math and science needed to operate the new generation of machines.

  25. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    When I was a kid, on days home sick form school, I found it interesting how different daytime TV commercials were to the ones on shown in the evening. It seemed like there were a lot of commercials showing you how you could make more money by being either a truck mechanic, a commercial truck driver, an electronics technician, an HVAC technician, etc. Targeting the unemployed, they still do the same thing on daytime TV, but now none of the commercials are about getting a job. Rather, the new breed of commercials advise you of all the attorneys awaiting your call to help you sue your way to a better lifestyle.

    gary, most vocational courses conflict with The Price is Right and Queen Latifah.

  26. Street Justice says:

    http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373840/ten-dumbest-common-core-problems-alec-torres

    Transfuse the Cadaver says:
    May 14, 2014 at 9:06 am
    I think it should also be a given that at least 75% of all public HS graduates in the US are academically incapable of raising their skill levels in order to get a better job.

    Look at the machinist/die cutting industry. A gazillion job openings, but no technicians who can handle the math and science needed to operate the new generation of machines.

  27. Fast Eddie says:

    Isn’t there a point in your life where you become so frustrated that you would want to better yourself? Is the lack of guidance or family structure so void that all you become is a sack of blood with nothing to offer? Actually, I believe I answered my own question.

    That $100,000,000 handed to the Newark school district did absolutely nothing. And the biggest problem stated was that these kids were bringing their f.ucked up home life into the school. How does one succeed or have the confidence to succeed without guidance and structure? I always said it starts in the home. Common sense.

    But again, it leads me back to the question: At what point in your life do you become so frustrated that you’re compelled to better yourself? Doesn’t one look at the sh1thole of a neighborhood that they live in and force themselves to escape poverty?

  28. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [21] clot

    Nah, leave the women home. Or rather, draft only the fat and ugly ones. They can fight better than cute ones and by thinning the herd of scrub men and fat, ugly broads, you improve the odds for the rest of us.

    Unless JJ still lives. Then he will be boinking all of our women.

    anon, feel free to post a snarky tweet.

  29. Libturd in Union says:

    @BBGBillionaires: The world’s 200 richest people gained $22 billion yesterday, led by $FB’s Zuckerberg, who jumped more than $1 billion.

    So?

  30. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [25] expat,

    You are absolutely right. I’ve noticed that as well. Remember New England Tractor Trailer School? They advertised constantly.

    Now its lawyer ads for injury and also for disability. BTW, we all noticed years ago that when UI started running out, disability claims spiked. Government merely shifts takers to a different pocket.

    And the ones I hear constantly on XM radio are tax relief ads. Bob Fink is one of the best known tax controversy/appeals attorneys in NYC and he taught my course on the subject. He thinks the vast majority of the guys doing those ads should be prosecuted.

  31. Pete says:

    “Rather, the new breed of commercials advise you of all the attorneys awaiting your call to help you sue your way to a better lifestyle.”

    Watching daytime TV in early 80s, I remember seeing Jacoby & Meyers commercials almost every break.

  32. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Yesterday I was driving my daughter to soccer practice, about 15 minutes into a 25 minute drive during Boston rush hour, when she announced from the back seat that she forgot her water. I stopped at a deli along the way and ran in to buy her a bottle of water. I paid with a $20 bill and the ~18 year old male counter clerk, really, really struggled to make $18.41 change from that $20 bill. While he fumbled making the change, I took my first look at the register display, and it was right there in big blue LCD numbers, $18.41, he just was having a hard time figuring out what combination of currency amounted to $18.41 . He finally got close to the right amount and handed it to me with out saying a word ($18.40, 3 fives, 3 ones, a quarter, a nickel, and a dime…no penny). I just took it and started to walk out, he had already worked hard enough. As I turned to leave, an unkempt looking older man asked if there was any minimum purchase required to use a debit card. The clerk said “No”, and the potential patron responded, “Good.”

  33. Street Justice says:

    https://twitter.com/ColetteMoran/status/395967716382629889/photo/1

    1. The job of a president is not easy.
    2. The people of a nation do not always agree.
    3. The choices of the president affect everyone.
    4. He makes sure the laws of the country are fair.
    5. The commands of government officials must be obeyed by all.
    6. The wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the nation.

  34. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [30]Nom – Yep, that is the end game. In this podcast I learned that there are these consulting/law firms that are being paid by the states (To the tune of $2500 per head, IIRC) to help poor welfare recipients (state) off of welfare and onto disability (federal):

    http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/490/trends-with-benefits

    Now its lawyer ads for injury and also for disability. BTW, we all noticed years ago that when UI started running out, disability claims spiked. Government merely shifts takers to a different pocket.

  35. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [33] For 3&4 I’m guessing the author of that propaganda was not bright enough to be thinking of Supreme Court appointments.

    1. The job of a president is not easy.
    2. The people of a nation do not always agree.
    3. The choices of the president affect everyone.
    4. He makes sure the laws of the country are fair.
    5. The commands of government officials must be obeyed by all.
    6. The wants of an individual are less important than the well-being of the nation.

  36. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [33] street

    The indoctrination started almost immediately. They are dropping all pretense of neutrality or objectivity. Recall all the videos and stories of schoolchildren being taught pro-Obama songs?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_l8KK3gGxQ

    At Wilson School in the Brig, one of my daughter’s teachers regularly wore her Obama pin to school and in class. Let me repeat–In Class. In an elementary school.

    And under Bush, fed employees largely stayed off social media. After 2010, that changed almost overnight and the very clear and visceral biases I see among the folks I know is downright scary.

  37. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Want to cash in on min. wage hikes? Here’s a good place to start.

    https://www.roboticsbusinessreview.com/companies/category/supply_chain_retail

  38. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Wow, have to stay current as things change quickly. This story makes clear that one major robotic co. was bought up by Amazon, leaving the subject company a bigger player.

    http://pando.com/2013/03/29/the-robots-are-coming-swisslog-shows-the-us-ecommerce-crowd-its-automated-fulfillment-tech/

    My research shows a lot of money and interest into supply chain, fulfillment and POS automation. As this story puts it, “Because let’s be honest, as numerous exposes and feats of investigative journalism have revealed, those traditional warehouse jobs are miserable, thankless existences. The automated systems allow workers to be more efficiently (sic) and remain safer than within the legacy warehouse environment.”

    That is, the ones who remain, period.

  39. Street Justice says:

    36 – thanks for getting that song stuck in my head.

    MMM MMM MMM Barak Hussein Obama

  40. grim says:

    About 10 years back I’d worked with a company to setup a massive fulfillment operation out near Columbus, OH. Even 10 years ago there was sufficient use of automation. Tilt tray sorters, belts, pick to light, cartonization, labelers, automatic forklifts, etc. In many cases the inventory had be provided in a pre-pack state, with little to no manual work necessary. The machinery around that site looked like a roller coaster at Six Flags, instead of cars speeding around the track, it was product and packages.

    The business had such a focus on labor cost savings that every part of the process was analyzed to the nth degree. It had to be, using human equipment, you scaled linearly, using robotics and machinery, you could scale much further and faster.

    To give you an idea, one issue was dealing with customer returns. For a number of products, the labor associated with receiving the return, unpacking it, checking to see if it was in resale condition or not, destroying unsaleable, recycling of packing material, etc. It was determined it was cheaper to just have the customer keep the product, instead of returning it. All you had to do is say you were unsatisfied, the person on the phone would tell you to donate it to charity instead of returning it, that saved a fortune, and usually turned the dissatisfied customer into a customer for life. If it was possible to automate any of this, it would have been done.

    Everything we did was about making it faster, cheaper, with fewer people, check the video here:

    https://www.innotrac.com/solutions/global-order-fulfillment/

    They’ve done a lot in the 10 years after! Notice how few people you see in that building.

  41. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [40] Grim,

    Imagine that implemented on a micro scale at your local Gap store.

    Here’s a sign of end-times. When Whole Foods introduces automated checkout. It is becoming ubiquitous at supermarkets and home improvement stores, but I have never seen it at WF. But if it ever comes there, short the world

  42. jj says:

    It is 100% true that having expensive cars in your driveway can raise your home value. That being said it also hurts you when you grieve your taxes or try to get a contractor or siding guy to give you a home estimate.

    After Sandy I had as my ONLY car for a few weeks a borrowed ten year old red station wagon with a salvage title. The thing was liquid gold in a bottle when getting estimates.

    My assessor picture still has my old cruddy Sable Wagon in picture which is also liquid gold.

    My buddy and I were thinking of a crazy business model of renting junk cars or cars on blocks out to folks. Lets say you live in Hoty Toty Hunterdoom, you go to grieve your taxe and they send some snooty lady over. A dented Chevy up on blocks and a rusted out old Taurus wagon in the driveway gotta get you 100K off assessed value. Or even when roofer comes. I could even give out tiny cruddy engagement rings out for the ladies. The bigger the rock the bigger the quote as kitchen remodlers like to say.

  43. grim says:

    41 – It already is, look at Costco. They’ve turned you into the warehouse worker who picks their own orders, packs it into a cart. Now you’ll even do your own checkout, and load the car yourself. Even better, they’ve suckered you into paying membership for the benefit of free labor. They don’t even bother hiding the fact that it’s a warehouse.

    You don’t need a robot when the labor is free.

  44. jj says:

    Also is it ok if the world runs short on food if in China we get rid of everyone except hot 16-36 year old females who dont have kids? I dont really see the point of feeding the rest of them.

    28.Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:
    May 14, 2014 at 9:27 am
    [21] clot

    Nah, leave the women home. Or rather, draft only the fat and ugly ones. They can fight better than cute ones and by thinning the herd of scrub men and fat, ugly broads, you improve the odds for the rest of us.

    Unless JJ still lives. Then he will be boinking all of our women.

    anon, feel free to post a snarky tweet.

  45. AG says:

    21,

    I agree that a nice world war would help thi out the ranks of thenminimim wage but what should we do with the 300lb heffers on foodstamps? They are unfit for duty. Perhaps we could load the heffers into siege guns and launch them at out enemies. Alternatively we could just let them graze on our enemies agriculture scorched earth style.

  46. Fast Eddie says:

    AG [45],

    LOL! Oh… my… G0d! I cannot stop laughing.

  47. AG says:

    Cant wait for Memorial Day. I’m going to get me some muffin top.

    Mmm Mmm Mmm. Barack Hussein obama

  48. jj says:

    Moody’s Puerto Rico Bank Review Has Mixed Outcome
    by Robert Slavin
    MAY 13, 2014 7:25pm ET
    .Puerto Rico’s weak economy and the commonwealth’s government are continuing to pressure Puerto Rico banks, Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday.

    Chifi do you have rest of article. I dont have a paid subscription. Was thinking of some PR Bank Trups and you know I like to buy the day after bad news

  49. jj says:

    Easy every women on Earth over 200 pounds should be Sovent Green.

    45.AG says:
    May 14, 2014 at 10:36 am
    21,

    I agree that a nice world war would help thi out the ranks of thenminimim wage but what should we do with the 300lb heffers on foodstamps? They are unfit for duty. Perhaps we could load the heffers into siege guns and launch them at out enemies. Alternatively we could just let them graze on our enemies agriculture scorched earth style.

  50. Xolepa says:

    (42) JJ, that junk car business model doesn’t work here. All the contractor needs to do is drive through the neighborhood and that Pink Floyd ching-chang song comes to mind.
    And it shows in the estimate. You also here it from them when they step out of the truck…Such a nice……

    Seriously, I try getting ranges/estimates on work before I call them to my house. Just passed this morning one of my neighbors house – mobile dry-cleaning pickup/dropoff service truck was in their driveway.

  51. grim says:

    Perhaps we could load the heffers into siege guns and launch them at out enemies.

    Like during the Middle Ages when the Tatars catapulted the bodies of bubonic plague victims over the walls while laying siege for a fortress?

    Very nice.

  52. AG (47)-

    PR muffin tops are the best. And they sorta look like giant versions of pigs in a blanket.

  53. Anon E. Moose says:

    Nom [40];

    I really bristle at automated checkout; and have dropped merchanide on a closed register and walked out of a store with nothing on occasion. Companies spend money on things that are important to them; particularly on things that make them money (excpet in Anon’s Obamatopian dream world, where people dedicate their lives’ work to the betterment of the human condition and living in penury). If taking my money from me is so unimportant and unprofitable an activity that a business can’t even be bothered to hire someone to do it, then who am I to dispute that? They obviously don’t want or need my money, and I happily oblige.

  54. anon (the good one) says:

    “When Republicans Start Their Race to the Bottom, It Can Only Mean Primary Season Is Approaching

    —Kevin Drum on Wed. May 14, 2014 11:21 AM PDT

    Marco Rubio has announced that he thinks climate change is nonsense. Rand Paul has hastily backed off his heresy over voter ID laws. Bobby Jindal gave the commencement address at Liberty University this weekend. Rick Santorum is flogging a new book, Blue Collar Conservatives. Chris Christie is agonizing over whether to piss off gun owners by signing a bill that would ban magazines holding more than ten rounds. Mike Huckabee has ditched his amiable persona and is demanding impeachment of a judge who struck down a gay marriage ban in Arkansas.

    I guess primary season must be approaching. The fight for the fever swamp vote is now in full swing.”

  55. Libturd in Union says:

    The worst self serve registers are at the Home Depot. Nothing like watching the 99% try to figure out how to scan an 80lb. bag of concrete or a 12 foot long piece of krap molding.

  56. HouseWhineWine says:

    You don’t have to phsyically go to the supermarket in my area anymore. There has been Stop and Shop Peapod delivery for a few years, right to your house. I think they charge $9.00 or so for the month. Plus, a tip I guess for the deliveryman. Just requires a bit of inventory planning on your part. I think it might cut down on spontaneous spree buying of stuff you don’t really need. Like cookies, junk food, etc. My neighbor has been doing it for years and really likes the service. I am not sure exactly how this saves the supermarket much money, since they still have to have an employee pick and pack up your goods.

  57. Fast Eddie says:

    You know why I like automated check out? Because my biggest peeve is when a cashier hands me the receipt, the greenbacks and the loose change all at once in one precipitous, balancing act hoping that the transfer doesn’t result in coins crashing to floor. It’s as if it’s your problem. Then they apologize as you’re on your hands and knees reaching under some display, trying to gather your change. There was a time when a cashier handed you the change, counted out the greenbacks and then handed you the receipt. So, f.uck em, I’ll do it myself and bag my own items.

  58. Libturd in Union says:

    What the heck is with all of this climate change garbage all of a sudden? Most meteorologists don’t believe it. I suppose, because they don’t have a vested interest in it being true. Though lots of politicians do, so it must be true. Who funds these scientists? Hmmm.

  59. Fast Eddie says:

    anon (the good one),

    Where did the $100,000,000 for the Newark schools go? Why didn’t it help?

  60. Anon E. Moose says:

    Lib [55];

    HD is precisely where I have left two 10′ pieces of 2″x1″.

    Its like the old joke about banks: They have 2 tellers and 5 windows — aren’t bankers supposed to be able to count?

  61. Anon E. Moose says:

    fever swamp vote

    Written without the slightest hint of irony by the party that gleefully crawled up Sarah Palin’s utereus to accuse her of carrying her daughter’s child. Which was just one election cycle before they slandered the right as engaging in “War On Women”. The dictionary definition for psycological projection should begin with the words “Democrat, Anon (the good one)”.

  62. chicagofinance says:
  63. anon (the good one) says:

    ad hoc efforts are a joke. a formal and structured Reparations program must be put in place. it will never happen because we deny Slavery

    Fast Eddie says:
    May 14, 2014 at 11:37 am
    anon (the good one),

    Where did the $100,000,000 for the Newark schools go? Why didn’t it help?

  64. Fast Eddie says:

    Rising home prices, stalling wages and tough mortgage standards are making it more and more difficult for America’s middle class to become homeowners, according to a new study by Trulia.

    In 20 of the top 100 metro-areas a majority of homes are now out of reach for middle class buyers. In San Francisco only 14% of for-sale homes are affordable for the middle-income buyer. In Los Angeles only 23% are available and in New York just 25% are.

    Trulia calculated affordability by figuring out whether monthly payments – including mortgage, insurance, and property taxes – were less than 31% of the metro area’s median household income.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/more-homes-than-ever-are-beyond-the-reach-of-the-middle-class-150709372.html

  65. Libturd in Union says:

    “ad hoc efforts are a joke. a formal and structured Reparations program must be put in place. it will never happen because we deny Slavery”

    Wow!

  66. Anon E. Moose says:

    Reparations; we deny slavery. Somehow relevant in 2014. Yep, you’re a sock.

  67. Fast Eddie says:

    Yup, the mind of a liberal.

  68. Libturd in Union says:

    I say we give the brothas a giant casino. It worked out great for the Iroquois. Newark can have Revel.

  69. All Hype says:

    Stu (65):

    I totally agree with you. I am absolutely dumbfounded at his comment. There is no chance that any one of us on this board will get through to him about the benefits of hard work, savings and success.

  70. Libturd in Union says:

    I say we give them a giant casino. It worked out great for the Iroquois. Newark can have Revel.

  71. Libturd in Union says:

    I say we give them a giant casino. It worked out great for the native americans. Newark can have Revel.

  72. Libturd in Union says:

    I am often dumbfounded by what comes out of the mouths of some of the desperate righties. But then I see what Anon just wrote and I have to question if that was even him? Perhaps we are better off with his retweets?

  73. Libturd in Union says:

    Newark can have Revel. Problem solved.

  74. jj says:

    Cuomo who is not running for President as he has a snowballs chance in Hell of winning from a fiscal and bond rating viewpoint has done a much better job than Christie

    62.chicagofinance says:
    May 14, 2014 at 12:07 pm
    To be clear, being A1/A+ is an embarrassment for a U.S. state….
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-14/new-jersey-s-rating-cut-by-moody-s-as-christie-plans-fix.html

  75. Libturd in Union says:

    “To be clear, being A1/A+ is an embarrassment for a U.S. state….”
    Only California and Illinois have lower grades among U.S. states.

    Hey Anon…aren’t all of these blue states? Perhaps the three most liberal states in the nation, besides Massachusetts?

    How can this be?

  76. Libturd in Union says:

    Similarly, California, Illinois and New Jersey are all in the top 10 of states with the highest percentage of union members.

    Don’t worry. You can tweet me without giving me credit.

  77. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [69-73]

    Nothing anon comes out with shocks me. If there are end times, without rule of law, I will be seeking out people like anon, lest they breed.

  78. Libturd in Union says:

    Anon won’t be around for the end of days. He’ll stupidly volunteer for front line duty.

  79. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [75] libturd

    “Anon won’t be around for the end of days. He’ll stupidly volunteer for front line duty.”

    Stop it! Now you have me almost wishing for the Apocalypse.

  80. 1987 Condo says:

    #57..so true

  81. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    This was in the comments on the Essex piece about McDonalds “hiring” 7,000 touchscreens for European locations:

    “Somewhere in Persia, about 600AD…

    “What is that monstrous thing? It is like you took the sails from a ship, and attached them to a great wheel. What is it for?”

    “That is a Wind powered Mill. When the wind blows, the wheel turns. The wheel then causes a grind stone to turn, which crushes grain into flour. It will save much labor.”

    “What a horrible thing! Stone-turners will be unemployed! And the Human Interaction of hand milling our grain will be lost!”

    Next time you go to McDee’s, tell them you want Human Interaction, and offer to grind the grain for the buns with a stone, yourself, the way it should be done. “

  82. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Oh, and this just came across my feed. Seems there is a trend in restaurants:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/panera-bread-is-cutting-back-on-cashiers-2014-5

  83. Street Justice says:

    NJ 101.5 “ask the governor” on 10 round magazine limits.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93DO4uZZafk

  84. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I think some college grads are looking for reparations for being hoodwinked into signing on the dotted line for a 4-6 year vacation with deferred billing.

  85. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [81] street,

    So glad I don’t have to worry about that.

    Note to self: Buy some high cap magazines at Cabela’s next time I am in tax-free Newark, Del.

  86. jj says:

    Credit Ratings on New York State Bonds S & P
    Personal Income Tax Bonds (PIT) AAA
    Sales Tax Revenue Bonds AAA
    General Obligation (GO) AA
    Local Government Assistance Corporation (LGAC) AAA

  87. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Not always successful but Texas continues to flip off Jerry Brown

    video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000275040

  88. Street Justice says:

    I can’t remember if I posted this before Nom, but check this out…

    It’s a 50 state legal AR. It accepts all AR-15 and M16 magazines and the upper can be swapped out with any standard upper to change caliber.

    http://www.modernarms.net/ares-defense-announces-new-ar-type-rifle-50-states/

  89. Street Justice says:

    Post NJ’s for comparison.

    What do you think they’ll do here to close the budget gap?

    jj says:
    May 14, 2014 at 1:29 pm
    Credit Ratings on New York State Bonds S & P
    Personal Income Tax Bonds (PIT) AAA
    Sales Tax Revenue Bonds AAA
    General Obligation (GO) AA
    Local Government Assistance Corporation (LGAC) AAA

  90. Ragnar says:

    For Anon, excerpted from Ayn Rand

    Why is it moral to serve the happiness of others, but not your own? If the sensation of eating a cake is a value, why is it an immoral indulgence in your stomach, but a moral goal for you to achieve in the stomach of others? Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away? And if it is not moral for you to keep a value, why is it moral for others to accept it?

    The answer you evade is: No, the takers are not evil, provided they did not earn the value you gave them. It is not immoral for them to accept it, provided they are unable to produce it, unable to deserve it, unable to give you any value in return.

    Your ethical code divides mankind into two castes and commands them to live by opposite rules: those who may desire anything and those who may desire nothing, the chosen and the damned, the riders and the carriers, the eaters and the eaten. What standard determines your caste? The passkey is lack of value.

    If you succeed, any man who fails is your master; if you fail, any man who succeeds is your serf.

    You fear the man who has a dollar less than you, that dollar is rightfully his, he makes you feel like a moral defrauder. You hate the man who has a dollar more than you, that dollar is rightfully yours, he makes you feel that you are morally defrauded. The man below is a source of your guilt, the man above is a source of your frustration. You do not know what to surrender or demand, when to give and when to grab, what pleasure in life is rightfully yours and what debt is still unpaid to others.

    Do you wonder why your morality has not achieved brotherhood on earth or the good will of man to man?

  91. Michael says:

    So why are you jealous of government workers and people on welfare? Sorry, it was ripe for the taking. lol

    Street Justice says:
    May 14, 2014 at 8:48 am
    Envy remains one of the most dangerous of the anti-social passions infecting the West

  92. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [86] street,

    Functionally, it is the same as my Mini-14, and I can get a stock kit that turns it into an AR style but with the old Ruger action, which is based on the Garand.

    http://www.cabelas.com/product/Tapco174-Collapsible-Mini-1430-Stock/708183.uts?rid=12

  93. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [90] redux,

    The Mini cost me $500, another $25 for a 20 round mag. I figure I can get the TAPCO stock for $90, no sales tax, change out my Mini-14, throw in the high cap mag and my basis is $615. When there is another buying frenzy resulting from gun grab legislation, I can easily sell it for $1500 or more for a profit of roughly $900. That would almost pay for my most recent purchases.

  94. Michael says:

    Stop stereotyping. My brother is a licensed plumber and he has never been the part of the union.

    Anyway, why is a union such a bad thing? Listen, if the entire population was unionized, it would be bad, and at the same time, if almost the entire working population had no union representation, it would be just as bad. We are at the point, where there is almost no union workers in our working population, and how is that turning out? You have to have a portion of the workforce unionized in order for the worker’s wages to reflect fair value. With no union, the entire workforce goes down the tube, as there is no way to barter for better wages. It turns into one big race to the bottom. It’s no coincidence, that the avg salary of the american worker has followed the same trajectory of union available jobs since the 70s…..down. You might not realize it, but private workers benefit from a larger union workforce. It’s to everyone’s benefit, except the boss trying to make money off of labor, as opposed to his product or business plan. You do realize that for some businesses, the only way of making money is by exploiting workers who don’t know any better. These people suck.

    “BTW, how can you tell the difference between a plumber and a chemist? Ask them to pronounce to word “unionized”.”

  95. Michael says:

    How about the people with skills who can’t find a job? You know, people with engineering degrees who can’t find a job. Wish we were awash in high paying skilled jobs, but clearly, that’s not the case.

    Fast Eddie says:
    May 14, 2014 at 8:57 am
    Wouldn’t it be easier to take matters into your own hands and increase your skill level and get a better job?

  96. Michael says:

    This has more to do with a nation that has taught us if you don’t have a college degree, you are a loser. Not about their math skills.

    Transfuse the Cadaver says:
    May 14, 2014 at 9:06 am
    I think it should also be a given that at least 75% of all public HS graduates in the US are academically incapable of raising their skill levels in order to get a better job.

    Look at the machinist/die cutting industry. A gazillion job openings, but no technicians who can handle the math and science needed to operate the new generation of machines.

  97. Phoenix says:

    77
    Where were Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s during the mortgage crisis?
    How do you trust anything they say?
    Lewis quotes one Goldman Sachs “trader-turned hedge fund manager” telling him, “guys who can’t get a job on Wall Street get a job at Moody’s,” as Moody’s paid much less.
    There is not enough camel virus in the world for these guys.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_rating_agencies_and_the_subprime_crisis

  98. Phoenix says:

    94.
    There is no more money to be made by working. Spend 4 years becoming a machinist and be outsourced.
    It is a perpetual lie.
    Drug dealers and bankers both know already the only way to get money is to take it from someone else.
    There is no more industrial revolution. And the muppets that think they can protect themselves with a couple of guns better hope they can see in the dark as well as the other guy. This time ain’t gonna be some Mel Gibson Patriot type outcome. Future unwanteds will be zapped like a bug from 3 miles away. Good luck with the pea shooting 9mm.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_rating_agencies_and_the_subprime_crisis

  99. Michael says:

    All this shows is what I stated the other day. The top cities are attracting the wealthy, eventually pushing out the poor, who can no longer afford to live there. That’s all these #s show.

    Fast Eddie says:
    May 14, 2014 at 12:13 pm
    Rising home prices, stalling wages and tough mortgage standards are making it more and more difficult for America’s middle class to become homeowners, according to a new study by Trulia.

    In 20 of the top 100 metro-areas a majority of homes are now out of reach for middle class buyers. In San Francisco only 14% of for-sale homes are affordable for the middle-income buyer. In Los Angeles only 23% are available and in New York just 25% are.

    Trulia calculated affordability by figuring out whether monthly payments – including mortgage, insurance, and property taxes – were less than 31% of the metro area’s median household income.

    http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/more-homes-than-ever-are-beyond-the-reach-of-the-middle-class-150709372.html

  100. Michael says:

    Are you a big guy that can fight? If we applied this model to the world, nerds would be dead meat. If it’s moral to only worry about yourself and nobody else, what stops the big strong dude from taking from the weak under this system. I guess under modern times, money=power. Cave man times, strength = power. So can you now understand in modern times, the people with money bully around the other people and do and take what they want. I’m glad you are okay with this.

    Ragnar says:
    May 14, 2014 at 1:56 pm
    For Anon, excerpted from Ayn Rand

    Why is it moral to serve the happiness of others, but not your own? If the sensation of eating a cake is a value, why is it an immoral indulgence in your stomach, but a moral goal for you to achieve in the stomach of others? Why is it immoral to produce a value and keep it, but moral to give it away? And if it is not moral for you to keep a value, why is it moral for others to accept it?

    The answer you evade is: No, the takers are not evil, provided they did not earn the value you gave them. It is not immoral for them to accept it, provided they are unable to produce it, unable to deserve it, unable to give you any value in return.

    Your ethical code divides mankind into two castes and commands them to live by opposite rules: those who may desire anything and those who may desire nothing, the chosen and the damned, the riders and the carriers, the eaters and the eaten. What standard determines your caste? The passkey is lack of value.

    If you succeed, any man who fails is your master; if you fail, any man who succeeds is your serf.

    You fear the man who has a dollar less than you, that dollar is rightfully his, he makes you feel like a moral defrauder. You hate the man who has a dollar more than you, that dollar is rightfully yours, he makes you feel that you are morally defrauded. The man below is a source of your guilt, the man above is a source of your frustration. You do not know what to surrender or demand, when to give and when to grab, what pleasure in life is rightfully yours and what debt is still unpaid to others.

    Do you wonder why your morality has not achieved brotherhood on earth or the good will of man to man?

  101. AG says:

    Government workers don’t actually work. They show up for work and then playfefenae against the productive part of society.

  102. AG says:

    Defense

  103. jj says:

    When I first started working on Wall Street size matter ALOT along with athletic skill.

    We had company softball and basketball back then and Heads of took winning seriously, even drafted folks from other depts or hired folks based on skill.

    Also for some reason Lacross Players from Catholic East Cost Colleges were popular hires at places like Morgan Stanley for Trading Desks.

    Also back in my day I was at one point Head Teller in a Bank Branch in my management training program. Head of branch old man, then a bunch of housewifes on platform and a bunch of HS and College girls as tellerss. Guess where there is trouble WHO DA MAN

    My back office job managing a bunch of clerks I broke up a few fights in my day at work. First job I had a couple of home boys, sistas, brooklyn guidos etc as my staff. Once I had 40 clerks I was keeping in line. Being six foot two inch, 200 pounds and growing up in the Bronx is all Clerks needed to know. I once caught the the guido and mailroom guy who were fist fighting and grabbed both by back of collar and threw then towards their chairs and barked back to work which they did.

    Honestly for the over 50 crowd you see mainly tall large men in senior roles. Back in the 1960s till early 1990s height was important. Computers was great equalizer along with women in workplace.

    A tall strong good looking man, quick with the fist, can hold his liquir and had respect of staff was your next CEO. Today it is little wimpy men who are in charge like Bezos and Zuckenberg who 25 years ago I would have stepped on like a bug

    98.Michael says:
    May 14, 2014 at 2:46 pm
    Are you a big guy that can fight? If we applied this model to the world, nerds would be dead meat. If it’s moral to only worry about yourself and nobody else, what stops the big strong dude from taking from the weak under this system. I guess under modern times, money=power. Cave man times, strength = power. So can you now understand in modern times, the people with money bully around the other people and do and take what they want. I’m glad you are okay with this.

  104. jj says:

    Greatest productivity tool for govt was the computer mouse. They can now get some work done with one hand while they jack off with the other

    100.AG says:
    May 14, 2014 at 3:04 pm
    Government workers don’t actually work. They show up for work and then playfefenae against the productive part of society.

  105. AG says:

    Government workers should send me a christmas card every year. That’s all the thanks I want. I’m very generous but at times like to feel appreciated.

    Newark airport is full of government worker types. You know the people that private enterprise won’t hire because they would tarnish the companies reputation. Take the time to travel outside western culture and you will see how absurd people look at Newark airport. That place along with the Chesapeake rest atop on I 95 make me want to dig a bunker in my back yard and never come out.

  106. chicagofinance says:

    The End Is Nigh (Haute Couture Edition):

    Kentucky Fried Chicken has brought us many wonderful innovations, like the Double Down and the Famous Bowl, but their most recent creation might the best of all. Introducing: the fried chicken corsage.

    For the reasonable price of $20, you can have your own corsage tastefully adorned with a piece of KFC chicken. The item is made in collaboration with Nanz and Kraft Florists, who regularly sold the Colonel himself one red rose for his wife. They are based in Kentucky, of course.

    There are only 100 corsages available, so its a very exclusive product. When you order, they don’t actually mail you the chicken; just the floral corsage is delivered, along with a $5 KFC gift card, so you can “customize your corsage with Original Recipe, Extra Crispy or Kentucky Grilled Chicken. Whichever best matches her dress.” For locally delivered corsages, Nanz and Kraft will use fresh baby’s breathe as the bed for the chicken, and out of town deliveries receive silk baby’s breathe.

    For the guys, Nanz and Kraft has had requests for wing boutonnieres and chicken cufflinks. The florists even had a customer request a floral + chicken theme for their wedding. It’s also the perfect prop for that last-minute promposal.

    As a Kentuckian and connoisseur of fried chicken, I am all for a good chicken corsage, but this will lead to a lot of greasy prom attire

  107. Fast Eddie says:

    AG,

    Government workers should send me a christmas card every year. That’s all the thanks I want. I’m very generous but at times like to feel appreciated.

    The least they can do is give you a kiss while you’re being f.ucked.

  108. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [104] AG

    “the Chesapeake rest atop on I 95 make[s] me want to dig a bunker in my back yard and never come out.”

    I know exactly what you mean.

  109. chicagofinance says:

    So I go to this event last night where the for-profit colleges are getting lambasted (justifiably and well argued by the professor), and Joy Reid has the balls to equate for-profit colleges with the U.S. oil companies in terms taking subsidies. I almost heckled her by saying “check your privilege”, but I think I would have been bull-rushed by the masses there…….
    https://www.eventbrite.com/e/degrees-of-inequality-with-suzanne-mettler-and-msnbcs-joy-reid-tickets-10195395703

  110. Juice Box says:

    re # 105- Fast Eddie relisted? started t $720? Pics are different in this one too

    http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/515-W-Saddle-River-Rd-Upper-Saddle-River-NJ-07458/2113176141_zpid/

  111. anon (the good one) says:

    “Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative.[6][145]

    In the National Review, conservative author Whittaker Chambers called the book “sophomoric” and “remarkably silly”. He described the tone of the book as “shrillness without reprieve” and accused Rand of supporting a godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets), claiming “From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard, from painful necessity, commanding: ‘To a gas chamber—go!'”[146]

    Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, including praise from the noted book reviewer John Chamberlain,[145] but Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that “reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs”, calling it “execrable claptrap” and “a nightmare”;

    they said it was “written out of hate” and showed “remorseless hectoring and prolixity”.[6]

    Author Flannery O’Connor wrote in a letter to a friend that “The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail.”[147]

  112. Fast Eddie says:

    Juice [110],

    100K drop. I have no idea what the deal is on this one.

  113. Ragnar says:

    JJ, 103, South Park provides the video for this
    http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/410450/security-breach

    jj says:

    May 14, 2014 at 3:10 pm

    Greatest productivity tool for govt was the computer mouse. They can now get some work done with one hand while they jack off with the other

    100.AG says:
    May 14, 2014 at 3:04 pm
    Government workers don’t actually work. They show up for work and then playfefenae against the productive part of society.

  114. Juice Box says:

    Eddie – Year built was 1900? I am surprised it has not washed away do to Saddle River flash flooding.

    Check out the neighbor at 516 from the link below. Looks like they Serve Pro guys were really busy cleaning out the muck from the last flood whenever this pic was taken.

    https://www.google.com/maps/@41.075117,-74.099905,3a,75y,82.44h,73.21t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1ssjD1vd1_PLVl1oMXL2X_eA!2e0

  115. Juice Box says:

    Eddie copy the entire URL.

  116. Fast Eddie says:

    Juice,

    Thanks for the link. Yes, cleaning and restoration – I suppose there is a little “moisture” issue to contend with.

  117. Fast Eddie says:

    I will say, though, it’s one of the few areas where a double yellow means absolutely nothing to me if the house says something. If it’s set back and has that curb appeal as that area does, I would seriously consider. Getting the spouse to agree is a different issue. :)

  118. Fast Eddie says:

    Ok, for homework this evening, everyone must smoke a bone and listen to this link on nothing less than a premium sound system. If it’s not high quality sound, you’ll do it no justice.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD-MdiUm1_Y

  119. Fast Eddie says:

    Juice,

    I suppose it has way too many issues; thus, still knocking the price down. Let it sink further so the argument can be made for a new benchmark in comps.

  120. Pete says:

    FE, Sold for $620K in 1989?! 25 years and zero appreciation. But Michael has informed me that real estate is the best investment so that can’t be true.

  121. grim says:

    121 – Buying during a bubble sucks…

  122. Fast Eddie says:

    Pete,

    First you have to convert to a muppet, then you must drink the koolaid to understand how to make riches in real estate like the pros.

  123. Juice Box says:

    re: # 122- With the setback of 115 and the fact it faces south and the fact that the neighbor at 117 wasn’t there in 1989 makes a difference in appreciation. What was once an idyllic 1900s farm house backed up to woods might have turned it a war of dirty looks. The homeowner wants out so they do not have to stare at some hairy woman lounging by the pool all summer. There is your $100k price drop….

    http://yhoo.it/1lA4jg1

  124. grim says:

    124 – Did the owner sell the land to build 117? That would change the dynamic a bit.

  125. Ragnar says:

    Pete,
    Real estate is a good investment when you can buy it from your doting grandma.

  126. Michael says:

    For the person selling, that was a great deal. For the person buying, not so much. You guys really don’t get real estate.

    Question for board, do you guys think real estate investing revolves around just buying any property and calling it an investment. Hard work goes into real estate investing in order to be successful. Too bad, half of you don’t get it, and only look at real estate in a very naive way.

    No wonder you guys like the no thinking approach of investing in equities. Just dollar cost avg an s&p500 based index fund for the rest of your life.

    Pete says:
    May 14, 2014 at 4:28 pm
    FE, Sold for $620K in 1989?! 25 years and zero appreciation. But Michael has informed me that real estate is the best investment so that can’t be true.

  127. Michael says:

    So wrong. Stereotyping again.

    When working, are you supposed to look like you just played a 90 minute soccer match? Dripping in sweat from working so hard? That’s the way to run yourself into the ground. There is no need to work like a maniac, you will end up putting yourself out of a job anyway.

    AG says:
    May 14, 2014 at 3:04 pm
    Government workers don’t actually work. They show up for work and then playfefenae against the productive part of society.

  128. Bystander says:

    Mike,

    Real estate is a great investment during times when Wall St and govt. collude to trick an entire generation out of their wealth and into debt. Othererwise, it is not a good investment.

  129. Let’s start a human centipede with Michael and anon as the first two.

  130. Anon E. Moose says:

    Sock Muppet [101];

    Note the date; you’re citing National Review approvingly. Of course, those authors are all long dead, confiming the maxim that — to a leftist– the only good conservative worthy of praise is a dead one.

    In reality, the uniformly negative reviews of Rand in NR come from her antagonistic relationship with its publisher Wm. F. Buckley. Her negative view of all religion as incompatible with objectivism offended his Catholic sensibilties.

    But facts never mattered to you before, so I doubt they will now. Fool on!

  131. Anon E. Moose says:

    should be “[111]”

  132. jcer says:

    Real estate investment is about cash flow, appreciation or lack there of is just a benefit of crazy times. A lot of wealth made in real estate.

  133. The Original NJ ExPat, cusp of doom says:

    Maybe just swap them both back-to-front for a couple months while we calculate perfect stitching technique, suture gauge, and expected throughput volume? Anybody who understands carburetors and venturi design knows that there could possibly be substantial…well, problems.

    Let’s start a human centipede with Michael and anon as the first two.

  134. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [131] moose,

    How is the troll going to die if you keep feeding it?

    BTW, it seems that anon and I each secretly wish for a Zombie Apocalypse. Me for reasons 1 and 5, he for reasons 2-4 (until Reasons 1 and 5 cook his sorry azz).

    http://www.cracked.com/article/136_5-reasons-you-secretly-want-zombie-apocalypse/

    Clot, I didn’t forget you. You are down with all 5 reasons.

  135. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Clot’s birthday is coming up. I think we should chip in and get him a new shirt.

    http://www.zazzle.com/im_excited_shirt-235076225653232105

  136. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Article on Seeking Alpha recommends investing in RFID manufacturers and AMZN in the event of a min. wage hike.

    I’m not sold on those insofar as their adoption is already well underway and they are unlikely to see a bump from businesses adopting new tech to replace workers.

    Touchscreen makers are set to benefit but I don’t see the level of adoption there to be compelling enough to move any needles.

    Anyone else looking at investment ideas for this?

  137. Ragnar says:

    Here’s a video of a human centipede, watch out when the guy at the front with lactose intolerance eats the bean and cheese burrito:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sglZGSwK6ow

  138. Happy Renter says:

    [53] “I really bristle at automated checkout; and have dropped merchandise on a closed register and walked out of a store with nothing on occasion.”

    That’s funny — I opt for the automated checkout every time, and bristle when a store has automated checkout machines that are turned off, forcing me to waste twice as much time while some idiot water buffalo rings up my purchases like she’s doing me a favor.

  139. Happy Renter says:

    Gary — I still chuckle every time you tell ’em: “Dance! Dance my muppet chubbies!”

  140. The Original NJ ExPat, cusp of doom says:

    [139] My best friend, who happens to be Jewish, his sister marries into a “more Jewish” family in Great Neck, NY. He says to me (about 25 years ago):” I can’t believe how many Chinese Restaurants they have on Long Island. Why do you think that is?” Me: “Really?” He had no clue.

  141. chicagofinance says:

    Stand-up joke from about 20 years ago……
    The Chinese calendar is 4,000 years old.
    The Jewish calendar is 5,000 years old.
    What I want to know is what did the Jewish do without Chinese food for 1,000 years?

  142. Michael says:

    Someone gets it!!! Starting to think I’m crazy or something. Real estate is not the taboo investment vehicle that some on here claim. Lots of money to be made with rent and selling high and buying low. Idiots on here put homes bought in the peak of the bubble into the equation. Any true real estate investor was selling everything, but the most valuable properties in his portfolio during the bubble. Wannabe investors were buying. That’s why they got burnt and I don’t feel bad at all.

    It’s no coincidence that investors were the first to raid the housing market after the crash, while fast Eddie and his crew were caught with their pants down, waiting for prices to drop. Fools!! Try to teach them, but blinded by their own ignorance. Investors jumped in like piranhas for a reason.

    jcer says:
    May 14, 2014 at 5:34 pm
    Real estate investment is about cash flow, appreciation or lack there of is just a benefit of crazy times. A lot of wealth made in real estate.

  143. Fast Eddie says:

    Happy Renter,

    Did I say that? Geezus, what a demented f.uck I am. lol!

  144. Fast Eddie says:

    Michael,

    Tonight I was sitting next to a woman on the train and she was on the phone telling whoever about the two refinancing moves her sister and brother in law made. The first was for $40,000 and the second was for $50,000. My timing and choice of seats couldn’t be better. We always talk about the ocean of bag holders but we fail to mention the way they used the house for an ATM on top of being fleeced by the initial purchase. Not only are these people f.cuked, but they’re f.ucked beyond belief. They will never pull equity out of their house. You know sh1t about real estate and even less about investing.

  145. Happy Renter says:

    I stand corrected – the actual quote was even better than I remembered:

    “Dance, my little chubby muppets!! Dance for papa, my pudgies!!”

    The music hasn’t stopped yet, but it should be fun when it does . . .

  146. Fast Eddie says:

    lol! Yes, that sounds about right! :-)

  147. Libturd at home says:

    Michael…the true posterboy of confirmation bias.

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