From HousingWire:
Black Knight: March foreclosure starts skyrocket 18% from February
The March delinquency rate dropped 12% month-over-month, the largest monthly decline in nine years, but at the same time foreclosure starts skyrocketed 18% in March, according to the Black Knight Financial Services report for March.
Foreclosure starts were up 18% from February. Approximately 94,100 foreclosures were started in March, a roughly 7% increase from last year.
March didn’t see quite as many foreclosure starts as there were in January when there were 94,400, but it was the second highest number of starts since the end of 2013, which was 105,000.
The foreclosure rate continues its long-term trend of improvement, down over 27% from this time last year.
The drop in the monthly delinquencies helped to drive delinquencies below 5% for the first time since August 2007.
Frist mother F’er.
Pappy Found!!!
Call it Pappy’s Revenge.
On Tuesday, at a courthouse in Frankfort, Kentucky, nine people were indicted, accused of a long-running scheme to steal and sell bourbon.
They had chosen Pappy Van Winkle, the grand cru of bourbons—bad move. Until recently, Pappy brand whiskeys were merely cognoscenti-craved obscurities.
But by a couple of years ago the craze for the ever-so-limited-release bourbons was in full frenzy—a fevered condition that continues, and that transformed a simple scheme to steal some whiskey into a crown-jewel heist.
It’s Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger’s bad luck that the Van Winkle family of whiskeys has become such a phenomenon.
He stands accused of organizing a criminal syndicate in Kentucky, using his position as a 26-year employee of Buffalo Trace distillery, where he manned the loading dock, to lift liquor not only by the case, but also by the barrel.
Prosecutors say he worked the scam with, among others, Mark S. Searcy, an employee at the nearby Wild Turkey distillery, which was also regularly robbed. His ever-so-convenient job was to truck barrels between company warehouses.
For years, nobody seemed to notice all the bottles and casks that went missing from the two companies. That’s right—years.
….
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/22/the-ocean-s-11-of-bourbon-burglaries.html
I believe barrels of 17 year old Eagle Rare were also stolen, they have a value of $11,000 each.
Interview with the sheriff yesterday confirmed hat the recovered goods were to be destroyed, which is probably worse news for bourbon lovers than the theft.
And I’m sure drinking is not a suitable form of destruction.
depends on what you want to destroy….
FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/fbi-overstated-forensic-hair-matches-in-nearly-all-criminal-trials-for-decades/2015/04/18/39c8d8c6-e515-11e4-b510-962fcfabc310_story.html
Perjury = flaws in newspeak
And no one quoted in that article, from the FBI to Justice to random congressmen to the Freedom Association, mentioned the need to prosecute the govt officials who either actively perpetrated these crimes or who were criminally negligent overseeing them
Trader charged for alleged key role in ‘flash crash’
http://news.yahoo.com/futures-trader-charged-alleged-role-flash-crash-181714004.html
[from the market ticker:]
Hmmm… how about everyone else that has been doing the same thing for years?
I seem to remember writing on this in 2010 or thereabouts, including a video clip during a holiday when I was able to directly observe this “order” activity on my screen. This sort of “order” has been a fixture of the “market” on a pretty regular basis; I find it rather difficult to believe that only one guy was doing this.
Further, exactly how long did it take to run down this “one guy”?
In short…. why now, and why only him — assuming the allegations are true, of course.
RE # 7 – Score one for Michael Lewis and his book Flash Boys. Washington DC and the SEC is finally doing something.
However illegal trades of just one guy? How about the Illegal activity of the exchanges and the big banks?
NYSE built a massive data-center in 2012 three football fields long up in Mahwah New Jersey exclusively for HTF trading, of-course they claimed no wrong doing and paid a $5 million dollar fine to the SEC last September.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-09-14/nyse-penalized-by-sec-for-giving-head-start-on-trading-data-1-
Payment for order flow…party on Garth..
http://news.yahoo.com/virtu-s-rewards–first-high-frequency-trading-firm-goes-public-151825635.html;_ylt=A0LEVvcArjdV4CQA85InnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEzdTM5N2VlBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDWUhTMDA0XzEEc2VjA3Nj
From yesterday’s thread…
Thanks to all who expressed opinions. +1 on the bleach for the well – this is what the water testing guy recommended to me the other day.
Re: #96 post on “First Loss is the Cheapest” – I appreciate what you’re saying. Trouble is, I am reading about NJ homeowners having their projects running to twice that 30K figure… no telling what the ceiling is once that can of worms is opened.
Right now I’m just speculating that there’s a UST, but in truth no digging has been done. Could be a 3×8 piece of sheet metal in that spot for all I know. Prior water tests have always come back OK and there’s no bubbling crude coming up from the ground.
Seems prudent to consider whether it’s wiser just let this buyer go and wait for a ‘less discriminating’ one and save myself a lot of money and hassle and grief. Or maybe I should just rent the place out if I want some hassle and grief. At least it will provide some cash flow.
Much obliged again to all for the commentary.
Soon to be,
I have an oil tank in the worst place (or best) in the basement of my multi. Strangely, it is located under the furnace. When I bought the place, it was still acceptable to buy a place with a professionally remediated tank. I still have the certification that it was drained and filled with cement. There is still a stem sticking out of the cement floor of my basement in the boiler room. I may cut it down and cover it up the next time I mix cement for another project. The fill pipe in the side of the house still exists, but I can just say that the tank was removed before I got the house and he can do the sweep if he doesn’t believe me. 60K to remove a tank and some soil is a crock. In the rest of the world, half the people dump used oil on the ground in their back yard.
Haute Cusine (clot Edition):
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – “Unstable” seems to be the best way to describe a local woman who opened fire on a McDonald’s when staff forgot to put bacon on her hamburger – twice. It seemed the infraction could be forgivable when the first burger handed through the drive-thru was missing the bacon, NBC reports. She was offered a free meal by apologetic staff. But things got bad when the second order was missing bacon, too. So, as any normal person would do, she fired a bullet into the restaurant. No one was hurt, as the hamburglar and others took cover. But the judge thought she should spend three to seven years behind bars to think about it.
Obviously, the solution to the McDonald’s shooting is to raise the minimum wage. In a pinch, we ran through a Wendy’s drive through to get lunch for the family in a rush going from our son’s LAX game to our soccer game. We ordered a total of four things. A bacon cheeseburger plain and a lemonade (for the kid), a bacon cheeseburger normal (for me) and fries for Gator the vegetarian. They got the fries right, though they were cold. We had to ask for a straw for the lemonade. The kid’s bacon cheeseburger had pickles, onions and ketchup. My bacon cheeseburger was a regular cheeseburger with mayo lettuce and tomato. I hate mayonnaise. When I asked for the straw, the lady looked at me like I was asking for her gold tooth. Yup, she deserves $10 per hour.
Nothing to see here, move along. Both sides playing games with your money but keep blaming the Left. Or is it the Right?
‘Warren Phenomenon’ Causing Reg Relief Delay: House Republican
Republicans may have found a targeted term to explain why their financial reforms are stalling in Washington: the “Elizabeth Warren phenomenon.”
That was the phrase used by Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., to explain why certain regulatory relief bills were at a standstill. McHenry, who also serves as deputy whip and is on the House Financial Services Committee, specifically pointed to Democrats’ resistance recently to a bill that would address how to calculate mortgage points and fees.
He said some Democrats are no longer willing to pass provisions to help banks.
“The Elizabeth Warren phenomenon in the Democratic Party is unfortunate,” said McHenry, speaking during a speech at an annual mortgage conference hosted by the North Carolina Bankers Association. “It has become harder for the left to do reasonable things.”
To be sure, it is common in Washington for one party to blame the other when it comes to why legislation hasn’t passed. But McHenry’s willingness to single out Warren again demonstrates how far her public profile has risen.
The House passed a bill last week that would have changed how points and fees are calculated under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “qualified mortgage.” But Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., adamantly opposes a similar measure in the Senate.
The House bill “is about preserving a cash cow for the mortgage industry and not about access to credit,” she said last week.
McHenry said that Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., supported the points and fees bill two years ago, but opposed it this year due to pressure from lawmakers like Warren.
In his comments, McHenry also took up the issue of housing finance reform, noting that Congress will only revisit the issue in the near term if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in need of additional funding. Responding to a question from Joseph A. Smith Jr., the monitor of the national mortgage settlement, McHenry stated that broader efforts to reform Fannie and Freddie were unlikely.
“It is important that we move the discussion along” for a post-GSE world, he added. “We in the House will have to wait a little longer for that opportunity.”
McHenry also shot down the prospects of a complete repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act.
“The idea of fully repealing Dodd-Frank is not going to happen,” he said, noting Senate rules that would require substantial Democrat support for it to happen, among other impediments. Still, he expressed optimism of “small but significant” changes to how the law is enforced. Though he gave no specifics, he said bipartisan support is possible for easing regulatory burden on community banks.
My oil tank was “professionally” removed by the previous owner. It was buried in the yard when the house was built in 1949. Tens of thousands of dollars of work. They gave me a book 1 1/2 inches thick with detailed info, pictures, diagrams, all the bills, etc. The NJ DEP had to supervise and certify the work. All surrounding soil was removed.
When my brother and I jack hammered the basement floor to install a sump pump, the soil/sand under the foundation reeked of diesel fuel. I hooked the pump to the sewer line for the first few years and let it all get pumped away.
Professional removal is a scam…there’s no way they can get all the oil that leaked out over 30 years.
I lucked up and caught a rate of 3.5% when rates were bouncing late 2012. I don’t see rates dropping to a 2 handle but if it does, I will definitely refi.
How Today’s Mortgage Rates Might Soon Hit 2%
Could today’s mortgage rates fall to the 2s?
A confluence of rate-friendly factors could soon take mortgage rates to their lowest levels of all-time; below the lows of early this year and well-south of the all-time lows reached in May 2013.
30-year conventional mortgage rates are now near 3.75 percent. By October of this year, though, they could be an entire percentage point lower.
Mortgage rates in the 2s would increase today’s home buyer’s purchasing power by more than ten percent, and would make the decision to refinance a home an absolute no-brainer.
Mortgage rates for FHA and VA home loans would be even lower.
Scoff not. There are multiple scenarios in which mortgage rates could drop below 3.00%. Furthermore, it could happen sooner than you think.
http://themortgagereports.com/17472/todays-mortgage-rates-two-percents-conventional
On older houses there are no records of the heat source. For instance my house is listed with assessor as heat source oil/gas they really don’t know.
I also don’t understand why folks like to bury tanks and then later on when there are issues leave them and just put in another tank.
In NY up to 2000 they were loosey goosey on tank removal. So in late 1990s tons of houses had their underground tanks removed before concept of remediation became a big thing.
I threw out my old tank after Sandy. It was in an annoying location. The filler was in backyard so oil guy had to come into back yard. Oil tank was at back of house in crawl space.
Now oil tank is at front of house in crawl space, so oil guy no longer has to go into back yard. It is pretty obvious there was a tank in the back of crawl space. Why would a home inpector care what happened to old tank? I mean it was above ground indoors I removed it and that was that.
PFOF you down with dat
I understand RE in Manhattan but art?
Forget gold and stocks, Manhattan real estate is where the 1% store their riches
A Manhattan apartment is the new gold.
Larry Fink, who built BlackRock Inc. BLK, +0.78% into the world’s largest money manager, had this to say at conference in Singapore, according to Bloomberg:
“The two greatest stores of wealth internationally today is contemporary art….. and I don’t mean that as a joke, I mean that as a serious asset class. And two, the other store of wealth today is apartments in Manhattan, apartments in Vancouver, in London.”
He isn’t kidding.
Just look at how Manhattan condo prices, as measured by Streeteasy.com, stack up against both that traditional store of value — gold (in this case, the continuous front-month futures contract) GCM5, -1.18% — and the S&P 500 SPX, +0.27%
Listen to the real-estate agents, and prices are headed even higher.
Douglas Elliman, a large New York real-estate broker, said in its latest report that the Manhattan housing market “took a breather” in the first quarter, and the shift reflects “the return to more sustainable conditions” after two years of robust growth.
The average sales price of $1.73 million was 2.3% below the $1.77 million of a year earlier, although the median price was off just 0.2% at $970,000.
“The strengthening U.S. dollar is expected to temper some portion of international demand although its primary driver has been the search for a safe investment haven over a currency play,” it added.
To be sure, the cost of holding property is much higher than storing gold, given the property taxes, condo and co-op fees and the cost of regular maintenance, let alone remodeling. But you have to live somewhere, and, of course, properties, owner-occupied or rented, come with tax deductions.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/forget-gold-and-stocks-manhattan-real-estate-is-where-the-1-store-their-riches-2015-04-21
Get rid of ALL signs of oil usage.
DTCC Vaults that no longer are as full of bear bonds and physical stock and bond certificates are still in City. Rich art work, gold, collectibles are stored there.
It is obvious people are parking wealth or doing it as in investment. The vault can not be accessed, so folks bought a painting, locked it up and never even look at it.
This is great. I was blasted on this board for stating this, but guess I wasn’t the idiot after all.
FKA 2010 Buyer says:
April 22, 2015 at 12:39 pm
I understand RE in Manhattan but art?
Forget gold and stocks, Manhattan real estate is where the 1% store their riches
A Manhattan apartment is the new gold.
Larry Fink, who built BlackRock Inc. BLK, +0.78% into the world’s largest money manager, had this to say at conference in Singapore, according to Bloomberg:
“The two greatest stores of wealth internationally today is contemporary art….. and I don’t mean that as a joke, I mean that as a serious asset class. And two, the other store of wealth today is apartments in Manhattan, apartments in Vancouver, in London.”
He isn’t kidding.
http://momentummachines.com/
Fast food doesn’t have to have a negative connotation anymore. With our technology, a restaurant can offer gourmet quality burgers at fast food prices.
Our alpha machine replaces all of the hamburger line cooks in a restaurant.
It does everything employees can do except better:
*it slices toppings like tomatoes and pickles only immediately before it places the slice onto your burger, giving you the freshest burger possible.
*our next revision will offer custom meat grinds for every single customer. Want a patty with 1/3 pork and 2/3 bison ground after you place your order? No problem.
*Also, our next revision will use gourmet cooking techniques never before used in a fast food restaurant, giving the patty the perfect char but keeping in all the juices.
*it’s more consistent, more sanitary, and can produce ~360 hamburgers per hour.
The labor savings allow a restaurant to spend approximately twice as much on high quality ingredients and the gourmet cooking techniques make the ingredients taste that much better.
Raise that minimum wage yo
“An average quick service restaurant spends $135K every year on labor for the production of hamburgers. Not only does our machine eliminate nearly all of that cost, it also obviates the associated management headaches.”
Damn, I sure hope so. This will be the nail in the coffin on my recommendation the past 3 years to buy as much real estate as you can get a loan for. If this happens, you will be able to sell (not that I would…wait to 2025) for a profit if you bought in 2012. Keep waiting, fast eddie. Be smart and take advantage of the conditions if you are sitting on capital and are able to get a cheap loan. Put that money to work.
FKA 2010 Buyer says:
April 22, 2015 at 12:19 pm
I lucked up and caught a rate of 3.5% when rates were bouncing late 2012. I don’t see rates dropping to a 2 handle but if it does, I will definitely refi.
How Today’s Mortgage Rates Might Soon Hit 2%
Could today’s mortgage rates fall to the 2s?
Damn. My 15-year at 2.5 no cost looks like it might be threatened. Saw a 2.75 APR yesterday at a credit union. If I can get 1.5 no cost, I’ll refinance into a ten.
Just don’t cry about welfare costs if this person doesn’t have a job. Nice that the company is saving money, but sucks that the middle class will pick up the tab for this individual’s survival through welfare.
D-FENS says:
April 22, 2015 at 1:33 pm
Raise that minimum wage yo
“An average quick service restaurant spends $135K every year on labor for the production of hamburgers. Not only does our machine eliminate nearly all of that cost, it also obviates the associated management headaches.”
Best 30-year I see is 3.6% Still got a while before we see a 2 handle.
Pumpkin Seed [22],
That’s Manhattan. Anywhere else around here and you get a 3% return when holding for 10 years or more. Places around sketchy areas (ex: Elmwood Park, Clifton, Bergenfield, etc) might keep you at break even in nominal terms.
Don’t apply avgs to an asset class that runs on cycles. Buying low and selling high will give you much better returns on your investment. Patience and nerves of steel to be successful with this strategy.
Fast Eddie says:
April 22, 2015 at 1:42 pm
Pumpkin Seed [22],
That’s Manhattan. Anywhere else around here and you get a 3% return when holding for 10 years or more. Places around sketchy areas (ex: Elmwood Park, Clifton, Bergenfield, etc) might keep you at break even in nominal terms.
Just don’t cry about welfare costs if this person doesn’t have a job. Nice that the company is saving money, but sucks that the middle class will pick up the tab for this individual’s survival through welfare.
This translates into a high dividend per share or increase share price itself. The person previously working at the fast food place needs to find another job. It’s an opportunity, not a failure. You automatically see this person as falling through the cracks; I see it as a door opening to a better paycheck.
Buying low and selling high will give you much better returns on your investment. Patience and nerves of steel to be successful with this strategy.
Hello. My name’s Forrest, Forrest Gump. You want a chocolate?
“You automatically see this person as falling through the cracks; I see it as a door opening to a better paycheck.”
If I’m flipping burgers and see a robot take my place, I’m gonna figure out how to build a better robot. Progressives only see the cup half full (increased welfare rolls) since they’ve been fooled into thinking that their policies of paying those more who contribute the least is a viable solution. It is, if what you are after is a larger voting base. Heard a commercial yesterday for the Obamaphone on WBLS. Wow is that some crock of shite.
All hail the burger bot!
Fair enough. Still think they will have a hard time finding a job and the middle class will be left with the tab.
Fast Eddie says:
April 22, 2015 at 1:48 pm
Just don’t cry about welfare costs if this person doesn’t have a job. Nice that the company is saving money, but sucks that the middle class will pick up the tab for this individual’s survival through welfare.
This translates into a high dividend per share or increase share price itself. The person previously working at the fast food place needs to find another job. It’s an opportunity, not a failure. You automatically see this person as falling through the cracks; I see it as a door opening to a better paycheck.
It is, if what you are after is a larger voting base.
Why else does the left exist? Amnesty for illegals? And now friendly relations with Cuba? See a pattern here? If the lefties can get members of ISIS to pull the lever with a (D) next to the name, don’t you think they would?
Gary,
I think you are taking it too far. Cuba restrictions are dumb, especially when Gitmo is on their island. Maybe with better relations, we can expand the prison?
Re: Well ‘bleaching’:
1. Find out how deep your well is.
2. Remove well head and measure diameter.
*Buy replacement bolts and a good pair of vise grips as some WILL break.
*Disconnect any water softeners or purifiers.
3. Go on internet and look up how many gallons of bleach you will need by searching:
‘Bleaching well formula’ ect.
4. Put in about a 1/3 more than what they say.
*when putting well head back on wear latex gloves that have been submersed in
bleach. Also, douse the bolts and well head with bleach.
5. Let sit for 24 hours – this means NO USE OF WATER AT ALL.
6. Open every faucet – inside and outside of the house – and let water run until there is
no smell of bleach at all.
*Previously schedule testing to occur soon (hours) after you’ve completed the above.
*Wear clothes you can throw away after you’re done.
I’ve not seen a well fail after performing the above but then I’ve only done this five times.
Will the bleach trick work on my oil tank? :P
Libturd (33),
Great perspective. The Luddites have been proven wrong by theory and experience for over 200 years now, yet people like Punkin still fear progress. Imagining that they can just force someone to pay them more than they’re worth to do increasingly outdated work, and their “demand” will magically propel the economy forward.
[36] Fast Eddie
Let’s say for a minute your statement is true… Excluding the rich or the people who think they are rich, who would you say the Republican’s are trying to attract to get out and vote? Seems like a hodgepodge of religious nuts, gun fanatics, tea partiers, etc.
I’m a Republican and I don’t see how you put together a winning team with that?
And Cuba….unless you are an older Cuban living in Miami or Union, what does anyone have against them? China and Russia are still Communist countries and we have warmer relations with them.
Advertising the Obamaphone on a R&B radiostation? Can the government be sued for stereotyping? Why aren’t they advertising Obamaphone’s on Rush Limbaugh? (Actually for a while they were advertising the foodstamp program heavily on 770, especially pre-election).
FKA [41];
Any majority coalition is going to be “hodgepodge”. Just because you choose to look down your northeastern liberal nose at “religious nuts, gun fanatics, tea partiers” — which, oddly enough, rather accurately describes the founding fathers: religious, believing in infantry-grade ‘assault weapons’ (i.e., muskets, at the time), and limited government — doesn’t make the leftist hodepodge of splinter identity-politics groups any more cohesive. Al Sharpton will throw the feminists and the unions under the bus in a minute — and vice versa among any of them — particularly when the gravy train starts to dry up and there are insufficient scraps to buy off everyone’s needed constituencies.
#39
NOT recommending this:
Knew a guy that put up a large camping style tent over the tank pumped it dry then dug it up by hand and cut it into pieces with a torch. Buried the pieces in the woods behind his house (off the property).
Had it not been for the free state program I would have thought about the above since a neighbor’s had been leaking when they dug it out. What a nightmare!
I find it hard to believe that the mythical “joe sixpack” would vote for Hillary.
She will be forced to go super negative in her campaign, because has big negatives herself.
At least Obama pretended to be a common-ground, “uniter”, moderate, “cool” guy when he ran his first campaign, even if an informed voter knew it wasn’t true.
It’s hard to imagine how Hillary doesn’t come off as an elitist harpy screeching “it’s my turn, you common people!”
[43] Anon
Fanatics and extremists on both sides are crazy to me, some more so than others. If anyone said that “God told me to post on this site”, I would think they are freaking crazy whereas others would be completely understand that statement….depending on who said it.
Sharpton is in it for the money and the fame. He gets paid to walk away.
[45] Ragnar
Could be 92′ all over again…..Clinton or Bush
How would either one of them not come across as elitist?
re# 44 – Knew a guy who cut up his NEW car he could not afford with a Sawzall. He spent the better part of a month cutting it up piece by piece in his garage then tossing those smaller pieces it into a random dumpster or parking lot or trash can on the highway. Then he declared it stolen, but not after selling the valuable parts like the seats t-tops, rims etc.
I don’t know anyone that would vote for Hillary but then I said that about Obama, too.
646136WU1 NEW JERSEY ST TRANSNTR FD AUTH 00.00000% 12/15/2039TRANSPORTATION SYS BDS SER. 2009A 5.02% yield
36,000 muni bonds on my screen, 50 states plus Virgin Island and Guam only NJ has a bond yielding 5% or greater.
How sad. Only PR has higher rates
I’m all for progress, but at the same time, I understand what progress brings. Give it some time and the Luddites will eventually be right. It’s common sense. You are going to get to a point where most people won’t work because there will be a machine for every single job that is based on physical labor. Trust me, not everyone has the mind to be an engineer and engineers will be the only people that are needed to work (could also envision psychologists, but they will prob have pills to cure depression..etc) So don’t think the Luddites were wrong, they were just at the beginning of the game. Eventually technology will over take human labor, but keep thinking it won’t. Humans will only be interacting instead of physically working.
Ragnar says:
April 22, 2015 at 3:15 pm
Libturd (33),
Great perspective. The Luddites have been proven wrong by theory and experience for over 200 years now, yet people like Punkin still fear progress. Imagining that they can just force someone to pay them more than they’re worth to do increasingly outdated work, and their “demand” will magically propel the economy forward.
This is your perspective. The way you see the world based on your own experience and that’s the problem. You think a burger flipper is capable of building a better robot? They have no skills and are below avg in intelligence. No one with any kind of self respect works at a fast food joint. Even the teenagers that work there are the loser teenagers, not the teenager going to Princeton or college in general. These are seriously disadvantaged people. So thinking they are going to be able to get skills to improve their lot is wishful thinking. They are losers and losers don’t become highly skilled individuals.
So here is the moral dilemma. Do we support their survival or let them die? That’s what are debating when questioning welfare and getting rid of low skilled jobs by automation or shipping them overseas. Yes, progress is great, but what do we do with these people? They will never progress to the level you envision. They simply are incapable. So get rid of the jobs these people can do, but understand that you will have to figure out what to do with these low level thinkers.
Libturd in the City says:
April 22, 2015 at 1:54 pm
“You automatically see this person as falling through the cracks; I see it as a door opening to a better paycheck.”
If I’m flipping burgers and see a robot take my place, I’m gonna figure out how to build a better robot. Progressives only see the cup half full (increased welfare rolls) since they’ve been fooled into thinking that their policies of paying those more who contribute the least is a viable solution. It is, if what you are after is a larger voting base. Heard a commercial yesterday for the Obamaphone on WBLS. Wow is that some crock of shite.
re # 52- Plumpkin – Jeff Bezos worked at McDonalds and he also spent a summer castrating cows, meanwhile you were chasing around tennis balls for tips.
53- you are talking about back in the day. I’m talking about 2000 and on. I’m just calling it like I see it.
I expect a future of extreme productivity gains from automation coupled with wage stagnation for the bottom 90%. We should probably aggressively tax global corporate profits. Since that will never happen dystopia seems likely.
On the other hand that dystopia is pretty much set up for my benefit… it’s good to be one of the automators. Even if your kids aren’t good with computers they should still study ux design so they won’t starve to death.
> No one with any kind of self respect works at a fast food joint. Even the teenagers that work there are the loser teenagers
I remember when I turned 16 my parents made me get a job, “no fast food,” told me not to even apply.
51- Put it this way, doctors and surgeons are in the beginning stages of being replaced by technology. It’s already happening. Where are these individuals going to find work?
Great post. Agree!!
Wily Millenial says:
April 22, 2015 at 4:29 pm
I expect a future of extreme productivity gains from automation coupled with wage stagnation for the bottom 90%. We should probably aggressively tax global corporate profits. Since that will never happen dystopia seems likely.
On the other hand that dystopia is pretty much set up for my benefit… it’s good to be one of the automators. Even if your kids aren’t good with computers they should still study ux design so they won’t starve to death.
Gourd [52];
So here is the moral dilemma. Do we support their survival or let them die?
Your Secularness, does the individual have any influence in how he will be provided for? OR are you just going to pick my pocket to pay for him so you can continue to feel superior about yourself?
See, I’m not making it up. Some of you are just too old to realize this. Today, no one with any kind of self respect works there. Telling someone that you work at McDonald’s is basically the equivalent of stating that “I’m a loser”. They are truly fuc!ed. Putting down on your resume that you worked at fast food is suicide.
Wily Millenial says:
April 22, 2015 at 4:33 pm
> No one with any kind of self respect works at a fast food joint. Even the teenagers that work there are the loser teenagers
I remember when I turned 16 my parents made me get a job, “no fast food,” told me not to even apply.
Someone’s pocket has to be picked, that’s for sure. If they are going to survive, it’s going to be because of someone else. We can always get down to basic nature where your ability to kill is more important than your smarts if you don’t want to support them. Survival finds a way. If they can’t survive in this society, they will take it down.
Anon E. Moose says:
April 22, 2015 at 4:39 pm
Gourd [52];
So here is the moral dilemma. Do we support their survival or let them die?
Your Secularness, does the individual have any influence in how he will be provided for? OR are you just going to pick my pocket to pay for him so you can continue to feel superior about yourself?
I’m in favor of a nationalized 10% interest in all corporations, a general amnesty for illegal immigrants and a guranteed minimum income from birth.
Usually have to leave the ballot mostly blank.
60. Pumpkin your world view is off. Working at McDonalds doesn’t make you a loser, have a McCareer for life or being bad at a McDonalds job does. Many successful youth have worked pretty bad jobs and there is nothing wrong with that, it makes them appreciate the money they earn and it teaches them what it means to work for someone. I don’t wouldn’t look down on anyone who works hard and tries to do the job they are paid for as best as they possibly can regardless of where they worked. Fast food is obviously the last choice but if it is the Job that’s available you take it and there is no shame in that.
I say bring on the robot burger overlords, I don’t think the robot will implement the spit on the burger function, or the use toilet and not wash hands function, and unlike the idiots frequently working in the burger joints at least the computer will most likely get the order right!
Truly believe we are heading towards a guaranteed minimum income.
Wily Millenial says:
April 22, 2015 at 4:47 pm
I’m in favor of a nationalized 10% interest in all corporations, a general amnesty for illegal immigrants and a guranteed minimum income from birth.
Usually have to leave the ballot mostly blank.
64. it would likely work better than the govt haphazard social services programs.
This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with observing people’s reactions the past 15 years. I’m just stating what I’ve seen and heard. I’m not romanticizing this, I’m being as real as I can be.
jcer says:
April 22, 2015 at 4:58 pm
60. Pumpkin your world view is off. Working at McDonalds doesn’t make you a loser, have a McCareer for life or being bad at a McDonalds job does. Many successful youth have worked pretty bad jobs and there is nothing wrong with that, it makes them appreciate the money they earn and it teaches them what it means to work for someone. I don’t wouldn’t look down on anyone who works hard and tries to do the job they are paid for as best as they possibly can regardless of where they worked. Fast food is obviously the last choice but if it is the Job that’s available you take it and there is no shame in that.
I say bring on the robot burger overlords, I don’t think the robot will implement the spit on the burger function, or the use toilet and not wash hands function, and unlike the idiots frequently working in the burger joints at least the computer will most likely get the order right!
All my experiences working in food services were great.
I never worked for a fast food joint, but I thoroughly enjoyed working in an Italian restaurant during high school, and delivering pizza as a freshman and sophmore in college.
I wouldn’t ever have considered delivering for a Pizza Hut or Dominos, but delivering for a local Italian joint was very good money, especially considering tips were under the table. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights were incredibly lucrative.
Reason that the big chain delivery guys make no money, is that they are controlled by corporate. If someone saw that a driver was trying to make 15-20 deliveries in an hour, they’d flip, because they know the only way you can do that is by doing 75 miles an hour on the back roads, running red lights, etc. Not saying we did any of that, but we would cash out on a Friday night with multiple hundreds in tips. There were nights where we did more than $100 an hour in tips alone. That was before the $10 an hour we got paid, and the quarter a mile we got for using our own cars.
I don’t think anyone ever realizes the bank involved, we would try to drop cash back in $1000 increments. If you had a busy night and couldn’t drop, it was easy to end up with 3 or 4 thousand in your pockets, in 5s, 10s, and 20s – literally every pocket stuffed with an inch thick wad. The owner hated it, mostly because he was worried we’d get mugged, and his cash would get swiped.
This was before GPS too, I swear I know ever single street, and where on the street a number is, across Clifton and parts of Passaic, Paterson, Montclair, and Nutley. In addition, you would pretty much plan your route in your head in a few seconds, so you could do a delivery every 4 minutes or so. You didn’t leave unless you had 20 orders.
[55] wily . . .
“On the other hand that dystopia is pretty much set up for my benefit… it’s good to be one of the automators.”
Or one of the enablers (e.g., lawyers)
[68] redux
This was an old LBJ joke:
“A Lawyer’s Prayer
Lord, spread strife among thy people, so thy humble servant shall not perish.”
Ya know, for a college town, pizza in Newark, Delaware really sucks.
[52] punkin,
“So get rid of the jobs these people can do, but understand that you will have to figure out what to do with these low level thinkers.”
They figured it out for themselves. They troll on blogs, reposting tweets and insulting republicans.
Worked in three restaurants. One was a lowbrow mini-chain that actually treated the employees pretty well (including health insurance), let us watch TV when empty and fed us two meals per shift. My usual shift supervisor was a 27 year old that smoked pot in his truck and hooked up with customers. I did not appreciate this gig at the time but looking back it was a sweet deal, frequently walked away with $200+ from a single night shift.
The other two were more like regular restaurants: completely abusive nightmare environments. One owner habitually coerced employees into quitting by giving them only worthless shifts (middle-aged employees with kids).
Restaurant work turns people ugly and destroys your self esteem. It’s a real claw your way to the top of the shit heap situation. After I stopped working there it probably took three years for my brain to fully recover.
Pumpkinator,
My SIL works at/for McD’s (has for…19 years now) as a manager and/or district manager. Very variable career, depends on the owner (forget a corporate owned store these days and since about… 2005?). Some have treated her like gold others, trash.
I did some time at McD’s myself (a few months back in the early 80s). Free food, hot chicks and easy work. They begged me to become a manager. NO WAY!
BTW – Two of my co-workers there attended good colleges (Princeton and Seton Hall).
Hamburger U (that’s where you go if you want to be a manager at McD’s) still makes me laugh!
As far as ‘regular’ workers (not part-time highschool or freshman college people) there deciding to beat robots. Nah, Jose and Margarita, well…
*While visiting my SIL a few years ago her and I helped fill out applications and tax forms for her staff (I got free food and a good bottle of PREMIUM Kentucky Bourbon). Havn’t seen so many fake ID’s since highschool!
Guess I’m guilty of fraud.
No doubt, the trend is ever increasing automation, and thus suppressing wages and jobs. Dislike to give the NY Slimes a plug, but interesting recent article entitled, “The Machines are Coming”.
Why is a program started by Reagan, signed by Clinton being called Obama phone?
Though we can’t be positive which government program the woman from the video is referencing without interviewing her, it does appear that she’s talking about the FCC’s Lifeline Assistance benefit. Owing to the fact that people generally need phones to apply for jobs and enroll their children in school, and elderly citizens need to be able to call their families and emergency services, the government decided in the ’80s (under Ronald Reagan, no less) to institute the Lifeline Assistance program. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act into law, which offered either cell phones or landline services to low-income Americans.
Today, 38 states, one of which is Ohio, participate in the Lifeline program. If you live in one of those locales and your income is at or below 135 percent of the poverty line, or if you qualify for certain benefit programs like Medicaid and TANF, you can apply for a free cell phone that offers you 250 minutes of talk time per month. The people who are getting these phones aren’t getting iPhones or other smartphones; they’re often people in urban or rural areas who are being supplied with basic cell phones so they can call the hospital when they’re sick, or receive calls if there’s a problem with their child at school.
If you’re upset that Obama is giving “freeloaders” gratis cell phones paid for with your tax money, don’t be. Firstly, Obama had nothing to do with the Lifeline program: the “Obama phone” narrative is a myth that both liberals and conservatives have fallen for since 2009. Secondly, Lifeline isn’t paid for with tax revenues. Rather, Lifeline is funded with a pool of money, called the Universal Service Fund, which is paid for with revenue donations from telecommunications providers. Some of those providers—like Verizon, for instance—pass off that cost to their customers with a Universal Service fee, but the government doesn’t mandate that the money come from citizens, meaning it’s technically not a tax.
http://gawker.com/5947133/the-obama-phone-program-has-nothing-to-do-with-obama
I also did pizza/food delivery for a pretty good Italian joint. Owner was an Sicilian Ex-con “Luigi” a guy with allot of stories, especially how he always wanted to play saxophone for a living but his temper got in the way. We used to get the occasional crank call for allot of food to a fake address. Well owner got fed up and with the advent of caller ID he was able to get the phone number. We went through the local phone book and found the number and address. Well me a 165 lb teenager and him a crazed Sicilian went over there to open a can of whoop ass. a mom answered to door, turns out her kid all of maybe 14 yrs old was the culprit. I thoght we were going to go to jail that day, he still wanted a piece of the kid, I had to drag him back to the delivery truck alas the mom kept saying “he is a good boy” “he did not mean it”.
74– article in response to that article.
“Of course, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t productive work crying out to be done. Green technologies in general and public transportation are obvious needs. The number of potential jobs connected with them is substantial. But there are not nearly enough green jobs to replace the ones that have been eliminated by technology and those that should be discarded because they are environmentally destructive and morally unsustainable.
So what should be done about all of this? Here is the hopeful part. Rifkin showed the way years ago. So did Juliette Shor (The Overworked American). J.W. Smith (Economic Democracy: the Political Struggle of the Twenty-First Century) was even more articulate about the path ahead: SHARE THE WORK.
The good news is that none of us has to work that hard unless we want to. Thanks to the new technology, we could work four-hour days or three-day weeks, or for only six months a year, or every other year. And with military spending reduced by 75%, we could still make a living wage — retiring by 40. And this is possible world-wide.
It is all now within our grasp. We just have to recognize that and get the subject on the political agenda.”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Machines-Are-Coming-T-by-Mike-Rivage-Seul-Energy_Liberation_Solar_Technology-150422-200.html
“In the 1980s, the Harvard social scientist Shoshana Zuboff examined how some workplaces used technology to “automate” — take power away from the employee — while others used technology differently, to “informate” — to empower people.
For academics, software developers and corporate and policy leaders who are lucky enough to live in this “informate” model, technology has been good. So far. To those for whom it’s been less of a blessing, we keep doling out the advice to upgrade skills. Unfortunately, for most workers, technology is used to “automate” the job and to take power away.
And workers already feel like they are powerless as it is. Last week, low-wage workers around the country demonstrated for a $15-an-hour wage, calling it economic justice. Those with college degrees may not think that they share a problem with these workers, who are fighting to reclaim some power with employers, but they do. The fight is poised to move up the skilled-labor chain.
Optimists insist that we’ve been here before, during the Industrial Revolution, when machinery replaced manual labor, and all we need is a little more education and better skills. But that is not a sufficient answer. One historical example is no guarantee of future events, and we won’t be able to compete by trying to stay one step ahead in a losing battle.
This cannot just be about machines’ capabilities or human skills, since the true solution lies in neither. Confronting the threat posed by machines, and the way in which the great data harvest has made them ever more able to compete with human workers, must be about our priorities.
It’s easy to imagine an alternate future where advanced machine capabilities are used to empower more of us, rather than control most of us. There will potentially be more time, resources and freedom to share, but only if we change how we do things. We don’t need to reject or blame technology. This problem is not us versus the machines, but between us, as humans, and how we value one another.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/opinion/sunday/the-machines-are-coming.html?_r=0
78- “Machines are getting better than humans at figuring out who to hire, who’s in a mood to pay a little more for that sweater, and who needs a coupon to nudge them toward a sale. In applications around the world, software is being used to predict whether people are lying, how they feel and whom they’ll vote for.
To crack these cognitive and emotional puzzles, computers needed not only sophisticated, efficient algorithms, but also vast amounts of human-generated data, which can now be easily harvested from our digitized world. The results are dazzling. Most of what we think of as expertise, knowledge and intuition is being deconstructed and recreated as an algorithmic competency, fueled by big data.”
Rags and lib, be careful of thinking the Luddites were wrong, game isn’t over.
“Optimists insist that we’ve been here before, during the Industrial Revolution, when machinery replaced manual labor, and all we need is a little more education and better skills. But that is not a sufficient answer. One historical example is no guarantee of future events, and we won’t be able to compete by trying to stay one step ahead in a losing battle.”
73. Went to training at McD’s Campus outside Chicago a couple of times. Not for McD’s but for other firms that rented the space. Gorgeous place.
Top notch food also.
I worked at Burger King when I was 14 and 15. I didn’t get an allowance, so I had to work if I wanted anything besides socks and underwear which my folks were willing to buy me. Before that, paper routes, lawn mowing, spring and fall cleanups, snow shoveling, even sold greeting cards door to door. Whatever the job was, I always worked as hard as I could. I too was asked to be a manager at Burger King, but moved to the greener pastures of Kmart automotive. I think I made $5 an hour there and they paid me in cash too. I worked every Summer and temped during breaks in college driving forklifts for the farma warehouses in Somerset and Cranbury. Parents didn’t pay for college either. Believe me, I learned the value of money and hard work. People might not have the intellect to be engineers, but the hardest worker in Burger Kind gets the biggest raise. I know. That was me. Paying able people to not work or work bullsh1t government jobs is simply anti-productive.