Blame the blizzard … and the stock market

From the WSJ:

U.S. Existing Home Sales Tumbled 7.1% in February

Sales of previously owned homes sank in February, a sign that demand for housing could be cooling amid rising prices and low inventory.

Sales fell 7.1% in February from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.08 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected sales would fall 2.6% to a rate of 5.33 million in February.

While inventory ticked up slightly in February to 4.4 months’ supply from January’s 4.0, economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors, Inc., noted a more “normal, vibrant market” would have roughly six months’ supply.

“Without the product to sell, it is hard to sell homes and that is a factor to consider when determining the meaning of this report,” Mr. Naroff said in a note to clients.

Economists cited other factors that may have given buyers pause, such as January’s blizzard on the East Coast and a slump in the stock market.

“The biggest drop in single-family home sales was the 17% plunge in the northeast, the region most sensitive to the stock market,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “If we’re right, the rebound in the market over the past month ought to mean home sales rebound in the spring, but momentum has stalled for now.”

Real-estate brokerage Redfin noted that the number of listings surged 12% in its major metro areas in February, signaling a stronger spring selling season on the horizon.

Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, called February’s numbers a “meaningful slowdown,” but said the 5.25 million average for January and February was comparable to the same period a year ago.

Despite the fall, February’s sales are still 2.2% higher than February a year ago.

This entry was posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, North Jersey Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

108 Responses to Blame the blizzard … and the stock market

  1. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  2. Juice Box says:

    Seems too little too late with Salah Abdeslam arrest in Belgium.

  3. Grim says:

    What is up with Belgium being the seed of radical Islam in Europe?

    Don’t most ISIS expats from Europe hail from Belgium?

    Isn’t Belgium relatively open/positive towards Middle East immigration?

  4. Third World terrorist types always mistake kindness for weakness.

  5. Essex says:

    i mentioned the stock market as the factor in my decision to stay put.

  6. D-FENS says:

    GET THE LEAD OUT — “Baraka: I didn’t know about lead when I was a Newark principal,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jessica Mazzola: “Before he was mayor of the state’s largest city, Ras Baraka was a principal at Newark’s Central High School. As details emerge of lead remediation efforts that past officials say were in place in the school system during Baraka’s tenure, the mayor says he and other school officials were kept in the dark. ‘None of it,’ Baraka said, when asked how much he knew about elevated levels of lead found in the district’s drinking water and the past efforts to remediate it. ‘Which is completely alarming to me.’ … During his six years as principal, ‘I never got one update or memo’ about lead, he said. ‘In all of the meetings I attended with (principals of other Newark schools), it was never discussed.’ That seems to run contrary to the procedures current school officials have said were in place at the time.”

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/new-jersey-playbook#ixzz43dSplIEU
    Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

  7. walking bye says:

    Will this give Trump Arizona Utah today? Be interesting to see if his numbers go up today,

  8. chicagofinance says:

    Why the word “mistake?”

    Splat What Was He Thinking says:
    March 22, 2016 at 7:52 am
    Third World terrorist types always mistake kindness for weakness.

  9. Anon E. Moose says:

    Grim [3];

    What is up with Belgium being the seed of radical Islam in Europe?

    Don’t most ISIS expats from Europe hail from Belgium?

    Isn’t Belgium relatively open/positive towards Middle East immigration?

    Grim, unfortunately I think you may have just earned the Butterfield Award of the day.

    “The Butterfield Effect” is named in honor of ace New York Times crime reporter Fox Butterfield, the intrepid analyst responsible for such brilliantly headlined stories as “More Inmates, Despite Drop In Crime,” and “Number in Prison Grows Despite Crime Reduction,” not to mention the poetic 1997 header, “Crime Keeps on Falling, but Prisons Keep on Filling.”

    Mr. Butterfield is truly perplexed at what he calls the “paradox” of more criminals in prison coinciding with less crime in neighborhoods.

    Maybe admitting hordes of Muslim immigrants is causally related with becoming the locus and incubator of Muslim terrorism?

  10. joyce says:

    9
    Moose,

    While I do find that funny, and I’m basing this solely on your quote I don’t know the history behind Mr. Butterfield… if the prison population is increasing, wouldn’t it be a fair idea that there are arrest and conviction statistics to coincide with that?

  11. D-FENS says:

    10 – Not necessarily. Possibly because “3 strikes” laws result in life prison sentences.

  12. jcer says:

    Following up from yesterday’s thread about millenials. Among the people I know in Jersey City and Hoboken age 30-40, they on average pop out the first child by 35-36, stay in the apartment until the child is 3-4 years old, I know others who had a child in their late 30’s, basically for people who had children the march to the burbs begins earliest mid 30’s most commonly right at 40 and for some at 45. The suburbs are inevitable because of cost, between private school at anywhere from 20k-40k, plus the outrageous cost and lack of availability of anything bigger than a 2 bedroom apartment, means by the time the kid is school age or the parents want a second child it becomes cost prohibitive. In looking at it a big apartment is well over a million probably closer to 2, plus private school tuition, basically you can go buy an estate in Short Hills for the carrying costs of a 3-4 bedroom apartment in Hoboken, which unless you are truly loaded isn’t even an option.

  13. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Good write-up.

    jcer says:
    March 22, 2016 at 11:01 am
    Following up from yesterday’s thread about millenials. Among the people I know in Jersey City and Hoboken age 30-40, they on average pop out the first child by 35-36, stay in the apartment until the child is 3-4 years old, I know others who had a child in their late 30′s, basically for people who had children the march to the burbs begins earliest mid 30′s most commonly right at 40 and for some at 45. The suburbs are inevitable because of cost, between private school at anywhere from 20k-40k, plus the outrageous cost and lack of availability of anything bigger than a 2 bedroom apartment, means by the time the kid is school age or the parents want a second child it becomes cost prohibitive. In looking at it a big apartment is well over a million probably closer to 2, plus private school tuition, basically you can go buy an estate in Short Hills for the carrying costs of a 3-4 bedroom apartment in Hoboken, which unless you are truly loaded isn’t even an option.

  14. grim says:

    “Baraka: I didn’t know about lead when I was a Newark principal,”

    Because he wasn’t directly told, or because he didn’t ask and push to know? Was he accountable for knowing and acting, even if information wasn’t provided proactively.

    I would imagine this falls under the locus of responsibility of a principal – it’s your job to know what is going on in your school.

  15. joyce says:

    Agreed. If someone get’s arrested and convicted of their 3rd strike, the prison population and crime stats will increase, and over the long term (if the life sentence is a true life sentence) crime may go down. Anyway, I think more context is required before deciding if that comment by Butterfield is laughable or not.

    D-FENS says:
    March 22, 2016 at 10:53 am
    10 – Not necessarily. Possibly because “3 strikes” laws result in life prison sentences.

  16. grim says:

    Or am I confusing the public sector with the private sector, and the principal of the school doesn’t actually have any real duty, responsibility, or accountability.

  17. D-FENS says:

    Only Republican Governors are to be held accountable for poisoning children with Lead.

  18. grim says:

    So Baraka had no responsibility to know, but Christie did?

    Sure, makes sense.

  19. D-FENS says:

    Well connected contractors must be salivating at the prospective opportunity to “remediate” Newark’s lead problems.

  20. D-FENS says:

    What’s that? Our quote for lead remediation is too high? But, but, it’s for the children. Do it for the children.

  21. grim says:

    Remediation would likely require an entire gut-job of the plumbing infrastructure, from the water main in the street, to the fixture in the hallway, the whole thing.

  22. chi says:

    Jim: wordpress is blocking my work server IP. We installed Bitdefender. Is there anything you can do?

  23. Fast Eddie says:

    Economists cited other factors that may have given buyers pause, such as January’s blizzard on the East Coast and a slump in the stock market.

    LMAO! Sure.

  24. D-FENS says:

    I don’t make the rules. It’s just the way it is.

    Democratic mayors…not accountable..not their fault. Please send them money.

    Republican Governors…evil corporate bootlicking bastards who should be recalled or should resign. No excuses.

    grim says:
    March 22, 2016 at 12:06 pm
    So Baraka had no responsibility to know, but Christie did?

    Sure, makes sense.

  25. grim says:

    So Baraka had no duty to know, both as a principal and as the mayor?

    Not his responsibility?

    Complete shock, he had no idea?

  26. D-FENS says:

    Why do you hate the little schoolchildren Grim?

  27. grim says:

    I think everyone in Newark knew, they just didn’t want to do anything about it.

    Now that Flint broke – either someone started asking questions about Newark, or someone thought it might be an opportune time to drop the bomb they knew about.

  28. D-FENS says:

    I just assumed it was an old building…looks to be quite new.

  29. Fast Eddie says:

    It’s Zuckerberg’s fault, he didn’t give enough money.

  30. grim says:

    Looks like less than 10 years.

  31. grim says:

    But I think the last set of laws around “lead-free” didn’t take effect until 2014. Before that there were some changes in 2011, then 2007.

  32. grim says:

    Maybe our resident plumbing supply expert can weigh in.

    I think prior to 2011, fixtures and fittings could contain up to 8% lead.

  33. grim says:

    I know the last time I bought a lead free 3/4″ valve at home depot I almost dropped my wallet at the register.

  34. Essex says:

    32. that $$$$ vanished quick.

  35. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Govt employees are always the scapegoat for wasted tax dollars, but your post sums up how it’s really wasted. The contracts with private companies is where the waste can be found. God knows how much tax money is lost in the military industrial complex. With the push for technology in the classroom, god knows how much Google, microsoft, and apple make off the taxpayer along with the parasitic consultants used to push this tech on schools.

    D-FENS says:
    March 22, 2016 at 12:06 pm
    Well connected contractors must be salivating at the prospective opportunity to “remediate” Newark’s lead problems.

  36. Ragnar says:

    These kids in France whine like punkin.

    I met Louise — 23, nose pierced, blonde hair tied in a top knot — on Boulevard Voltaire in central Paris on March 9. She and four of her friends had joined 200,000 protesters across the country, including thousands of students, all demanding that the government withdraw a bill intended to make France’s labour market more fluid.

    Exchanging jokes and sipping beer, Louise and her friends walked past the Bataclan concert hall, between Place de la République and Place de la Nation — the artery that is often the setting of Parisian street demonstrations. A band played blues standards on the back of a truck. The crowd, dotted with colourful flags of the country’s unions, chanted slogans mocking “bosses” who are “like pigs” because “they steal from their brothers”.

    Beneath the picturesque veneer, however, the grievances of Louise and her friends underline the angst of a generation struggling to find a foothold in a labour market that leaves a majority either unemployed or forced to move from one temporary contract to the next.

    “We’re here because there are too many precarious jobs,” she tells me. “It’s insecure already and this law would just extend that to everybody. It’s war to get a stable job — and not even for something we’d like to do.”

    After earning a town planning degree, she got a so-called civic service volunteer job at an non-governmental organisation, part of a state-aided scheme that Soc1al1st President François Hollande extended to 350,000 volunteers aged below 25. She earns €573 a month. Her friend, Yohann, 25, who has a law degree, has been looking for a job for a year. Laure, 27, says the vast majority of her university friends have temporary contracts.

    The scene is a familiar sight. Since May 1968, French youth has been a force that the powers that be have learnt to fear. Student protests have become a rite of passage. But, recently, they have derailed reforms that were designed to help them. In 2006, following mass protests, Jacques Chirac, then centre-right president, abrogated a law that created a flexible employment contract for those under 26.

    The March 9 protests produced results, too: a few days after Louise and her friends took to the streets, Prime Minister Manuel Valls abandoned several important pro-business measures in his jobs bill.

    Louise’s anger is understandable, says Bernard Spitz, author of On Achève Bien les Jeunes (“They shoot youths, don’t they?”) and previously an adviser to Michel Rocard, a former Soc1al1st prime minister. A quarter of those aged below 25 are unemployed, compared with 10 per cent for the whole French workforce. More than 80 per cent of new employment contracts are temporary.

    A quarter of those aged below 25 are unemployed, compared with 10 per cent for the whole French workforce

    “Everything has deteriorated for them in the past 10 years,” Mr Spitz says. “They have three choices: accept it, rebel or get out of here. But they are wrong to oppose this bill. Youths are actually the victims of a lack of reforms in this country.”

    But 78 per cent of those aged between 18 and 34 oppose the bill, according to an Odoxa poll. Louise and her friends said they resented a system that seemed to drift towards a “liberal Anglo-Saxon model” that they have learnt to distrust.

    “Margaret Thatcher’s ghost is back, she is in Paris with this law,” said Adrien, 23. “In the UK, they have zero-hour job contracts.”

    I could not help but smile as I recognised the bias of an entire education system — in my case, it took years studying and working in the US and the UK to correct it. I still remember my reluctance when signing my first “fire at will” employment contract in New York. But then, two years later, I was happy to be able to resign with just two weeks’ notice.

    When I asked Louise and her friends what they thought the government should do, they predictably suggested a grand overhaul of capitalism. “Companies distribute billions in dividends to their shareholders instead of hiring people,” Louise said. “How about we do something about that?”

    Then she turned to me: “And you — what do you think we should do?” Caught off guard by her expectant look, I am suddenly not so sure.

  37. GOP's broken (the good one) says:

    seems someone wants you to actually do some work

    not a fat a chance if you can help it

    chi says:
    March 22, 2016 at 12:12 pm
    Jim: wordpress is blocking my work server IP. We installed Bitdefender. Is there anything you can do?

  38. GOP's broken (the good one) says:

    they shouldn’t be held accountable, unless the kids are upper class

    D-FENS says:
    March 22, 2016 at 12:04 pm
    Only Republican Governors are to be held accountable for poisoning children with Lead.

  39. Essex says:

    nose piercing automatically indicates ‘ingrate’ thot.

  40. Fast Eddie says:

    they shouldn’t be held accountable, unless the kids are upper class

    Not true. The kids don’t necessarily need to be upper class. Accountability is only necessary in towns that matter.

  41. The Great Pumpkin says:

    39- And they have a right to whine. They are searching hard for jobs with the skills to work, but a broken capitalistic system has failed them. Capitalism has not provided jobs for people that desperately want to work. The capitalist system has threw them away, it has no need for their labor. Focus on extreme efficiency in the economy (when it comes to profits) has eliminated the need for most of the population to work. So what should they do, rags? People like you, think this efficiency is a good thing; why, I don’t know. No matter how hard they work to get a job, there are no jobs for them, and you think this is a good thing? How long before they take to pitch forks to restart capitalism? Jobs are our life. They are our purpose. Not providing enough jobs for everyone so that the top can profit more is wrong. It’s not wrong to profit, but it’s wrong to increase profits on the backs of the worker. Cutting their slice of the profit pie to increase profit at the top is wrong. It’s not only wrong, it will destroy the economy if this policy is in place for too long.

  42. D-FENS says:

    Provide those jobs! Provide them for me!

  43. Hughesrep says:

    35

    Yep, 8% of the total item. Except for anything that touched a wetted surface, it had to be less than .25%.

    So for example a pre 2014 valve could be 8% lead by total weight, but the surface of the valve that touched water had to be lead free.

    2014 deadline required that the entire item had to be less than .25% lead. Law only applies to items that come in contact with potable water. In reality most places only keep LF products on the shelves.

  44. Ragnar says:

    Pumpkin,
    I knew you would revert back to your idiocy before long. Still working to take the economizing out of economics. France has amongst the most controlled, most regulated economies in Europe, with weak business freedom, and very weak labor freedom, and yet moronic lefties always blame “capitalism” for the devastating consequences of their anti-free-market policies. The Soc1al1sts have been running this country most of the time – they’ve got exactly what they’ve asked for and deserve – good and hard.
    If you want the government to “give you” a job, go to Cuba or North Korea and ask the ministry to give you one. In a free country, jobs and income are earned by providing something valuable to other people.
    http://www.heritage.org/index/country/france

  45. D-FENS says:

    Oh boy. Here we go. Hang on to your wallets kids. The NJ Taxpayer money train is leaving the station folks….

    Steve Sweeney Retweeted
    HCDNNJ ‎@HCDNNJ
    @NJSenatePres – children born healthy getting sick because of their environment is a serious problem #LeadFreeKidsNJ

  46. D-FENS says:

    So, why is their lead in the water in a building constructed in 2008? The main?

  47. Ragnar says:

    Those kids were sniffing coke off their lead-paint covered stoops and eating Mexican lead-contaminated candy. Kids hardly ever drink out of water fountains at school any more.

  48. D-FENS says:

    Dion Rabouin ‏@DionRabouin 36m36 minutes ago
    Obama is at peak DGAF level. He is literally at a baseball game in Cuba with his shades on sitting next to Raul Castro right now. Literally.

  49. Hughesrep says:

    50

    Some is the mains. Lots of old big valves in the main lines.

    Another issue is those valves and fittings that complied to old “wetted surface” standard still leach lead over time. Most manufacturers just treated that surface, or even pre leached the lead out chemically. Over time water wore away those surfaces and now you essentially have a leaded valve.

    The testing standards from the 8% time period gave some leeway as well. Basically they just put water in a valve, closed it up for a while and then tested that water for the presence of lead. Nothing long term.

  50. #48 Rags

    France has been mostly Center-Right since the 50s. All the really bad Labor laws went in under the Right wing governments.

  51. Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary's Cankle fluid. says:

    How are we all alive? None of us grew up drinking bottled water and all of our pipe joints and valves were leaded. Why is it an issue now?

  52. Fast Eddie says:

    How are we all alive? None of us grew up drinking bottled water and all of our pipe joints and valves were leaded. Why is it an issue now?

    It’s an issue because it just became another source of revenue for a bloated bureaucracy.

  53. Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary's Cankle fluid. says:

    Exactamundo.

  54. Hughesrep says:

    Most industry standards start in California, sometimes Vermont. Think LF was Cali.

    Everyone else follows suit a few years later.

  55. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I haven’t reverted back, I’m just understanding the problem we are facing.

    Question; do you really believe more jobs will be created from the technology of today/tomorrow? I don’t. I know that the technology of today/tomorrow is unlike the technology of the past. This technology is clearly being created to take the place of humans. It’s a fact that machines are more efficient than human labor, so in the march towards hyper efficiency, you are telling me we will be creating more jobs from this technology that is being built to be more efficient than human labor? Eventually, there will be no use for a human, because a machine will do it better. Why can’t you see this?

    We survived on the efficiency of the 1950’s, why do you need to make it even better? I get it, the owner wants more profit(every year it must grow), and the only way to get more profit is to eliminate human labor with the replacement of machine labor or forcing the remaining human labor to take on the job of their fellow co-worker ( who was laid off) with no increase in pay in the name of hyper efficiency of profits. How does this end, rags? If you understand this, you will understand where I’m coming from. In a world based on hourly pay, there are less and less hours needed to put out the same product. Sure the guy at the top replacing human labor with cheaper and efficient labor is making off much better profit wise, but what about his customers? What happens to them? How does the capitalist economy continue to work for EVERYONE under these conditions?

    Ragnar says:
    March 22, 2016 at 2:41 pm
    Pumpkin,
    I knew you would revert back to your idiocy before long. Still working to take the economizing out of economics. France has amongst the most controlled, most regulated economies in Europe, with weak business freedom, and very weak labor freedom, and yet moronic lefties always blame “capitalism” for the devastating consequences of their anti-free-market policies. The Soc1al1sts have been running this country most of the time – they’ve got exactly what they’ve asked for and deserve – good and hard.
    If you want the government to “give you” a job, go to Cuba or North Korea and ask the ministry to give you one. In a free country, jobs and income are earned by providing something valuable to other people.
    http://www.heritage.org/index/country/france

  56. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Rags, what’s ironic is your love of hyper efficiency in the economy will bring on the thing you hate the most…..a giant welfare state, the likes of which have never been seen before.

  57. Ragnar says:

    Since you don’t like efficiency, I think you should type your comments to grim, and mail them to him via USPS. He will scan and post them for the rest of us, making more work for everyone, especially the middle-class unionized postal employees.

  58. joyce says:

    Ragnar,

    (I type your full handle because I don’t like the efficiency of using abbreviations.) Why don’t you understand that efficiency is good, but hyper efficiency is the devil.

  59. Ragnar says:

    “Let’s Keep New Jersey Retirees in New Jersey
    As many of us already know, New Jersey is a very expensive place to live. The property taxes and state and local taxes are among the highest in the nation. New Jersey is only one of sixteen states that still has an estate tax and only one of seven states that still has an inheritance tax. It is no wonder that in the past few years many people have chosen to leave their homes in New Jersey to move to tax-friendlier states such as Florida and Texas. Many of the people that choose to leave are of retirement age and feel disenchanted by the few tax exclusions offered to retirees. ”

    http://www.withum.com/kc/lets-keep-new-jersey-retirees-in-new-jersey/?utm_source=Private+Client+%7C+3-22-16&utm_campaign=PCS+%7C+3-22-16&utm_medium=email

  60. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Just eliminate their jobs and create a giant welfare state.

    Ragnar says:
    March 22, 2016 at 4:42 pm
    Since you don’t like efficiency, I think you should type your comments to grim, and mail them to him via USPS. He will scan and post them for the rest of us, making more work for everyone, especially the middle-class unionized postal employees.

  61. Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary's Cankle fluid. says:

    We don’t need those old farts anyway. They barely pay taxes and there’s never a seat available at Friendly’s.

  62. Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary's Cankle fluid. says:

    Here…I’ll solve the Rags/Plumpy debate.

    We need to socialize some things, such as schools, insurance, social security, etc. If it were up to me, we would socialize law too. On the flip side, we need to be more hands off when it comes to business regulation and we need to shrink inefficient government. We also need to ban politicians at any level from accepting campaign contributions or gifts with a value greater than $1. Heck, socialize campaigns.

    The concept of using the government to create jobs needs to come to an abrupt end. Create incentives for the private sector to build businesses and get some control over executive pay. And shut down Wall Street.

  63. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This guy clearly understands what I’m trying to explain.

    “There is a certain inevitability of outcome. The platforms will exist, and they will grow and increase in power for many years to come. While some activities invite a greater degree of human interactions than others, most will become so efficient that people will be removed from the transaction altogether. The increasing use of automation is showing up everywhere, and it’s a trend that intersects with peers and platforms more every day.

    Most of the incredible productivity gains of the last forty years have been unevenly distributed. Each year Fortune publishes data on executive compensation. Beginning in the mid-1970s, executive salaries began to outpace salaries for everyone else by a factor of three to one. Over recent decades, the richest 1 percent of families received 70 percent of the increase in average household wealth. So how will we distribute the productivity and efficiency gains that will result from the Peers Inc collaborations? The worst-case form of the platform economy — with the productivity gains of the platforms going almost exclusively to the platform owners and with significant unemployment — is unthinkable and unstable. We know that every big change results in winners and losers. We don’t want to end up with the almost-everyone-loses-everything alternative. Governments have always had to restrict monopoly power, and it has been a major aspect of life in American business since the days of the robber barons of the railroad industry and the epochal breakup of Ma Bell in the 1980s. Right now we have the opportunity to guide this transition, redesigning these businesses not just to centralize wealth and power at the platform level but also to build new structures for democratic control of big asset bases. The implications of the Peers Inc transition on companies play out differently than for people.”

    https://medium.com/the-wtf-economy/everything-that-can-become-a-platform-will-become-a-platform-216bcfb89855#.l9sd5lghg

  64. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Generally agree with this. Bottom line, it’s about finding the middle instead of the extremes.

    Libturd questioning the gender of Hillary’s Cankle fluid. says:
    March 22, 2016 at 5:08 pm
    Here…I’ll solve the Rags/Plumpy debate.

    We need to socialize some things, such as schools, insurance, social security, etc. If it were up to me, we would socialize law too. On the flip side, we need to be more hands off when it comes to business regulation and we need to shrink inefficient government. We also need to ban politicians at any level from accepting campaign contributions or gifts with a value greater than $1. Heck, socialize campaigns.

    The concept of using the government to create jobs needs to come to an abrupt end. Create incentives for the private sector to build businesses and get some control over executive pay. And shut down Wall Street.

  65. Essex says:

    66. watch what you say, or they’ll be callin’ you a radical……SuperTramp

  66. Bystander says:

    Lib,

    I will have hope for this country when just one town somewhere decides that it is cheaper to pay people in Chennai to do town planning, budget and administration, plus offer all forms and submissions via online only. Let lazy, entitled union members feel what it is like for everyone else and compete for their job.

  67. Grim says:

    So testing kids in Newark for lead exposure…

    Good points, since lead is accumulative, what’s the probability that the lead exposure was due to school water?

    It’s an interesting argument, as there are more obvious and frequent ways to be exposed. How much water do kids drink in school vs home? Lead paint in old homes, etc.

  68. Hughesrep says:

    Led dust laying around from car exhaust for 60 years?

  69. D-FENS says:

    Hahahahahahahaahahahahhahahahaaaaaaaaa

    *cough*

    Hahahahhahahahahahahahaaaaaaa

    Sure. Sure they were.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    March 22, 2016 at 3:27 pm
    #48 Rags

    France has been mostly Center-Right since the 50s. All the really bad Labor laws went in under the Right wing governments.

  70. Grim says:

    Paint and nearly ancient plumbing is my guess

  71. rags (39)-

    I have a university-educated nephew in Paris who spends his summers burning cars and trades gubmint cheese for molly.

  72. stander (70)-

    Post of the year. So far.

    “I will have hope for this country when just one town somewhere decides that it is cheaper to pay people in Chennai to do town planning, budget and administration, plus offer all forms and submissions via online only. Let lazy, entitled union members feel what it is like for everyone else and compete for their job.”

  73. grim (71)-

    How do you tell the kids in Newark who are just stupid as shit apart from the lead-addled ones?

  74. d-fens (73)-

    To Rags, it’s never the collectivist layabouts who are responsible for anything bad.

  75. 3b says:

    Brig a Doon (the original) and I coined the phrase is going to bond for a one million dollar new football field!! One million!! Waste of money!!

  76. Grim says:

    It’s for the Children

  77. Fabius Maximus says:

    #73 D-FENS

    That brings a lot to the discussion.
    Let me know if you want to back it up and step to the plate.

  78. 3b says:

    #80 grass would be just as fine but hey this is going to be n f l grade!!

  79. grim says:

    Perhaps we should take the $1m from Brigadoon and use it to repaint Newark.

  80. Fabius Maximus says:

    #78 Clot

    Nothing on were your so called “collectivist layabouts” came from? Yes, France has a problem and yes its self inflicted. Then again as with most here, you are “all gripe, no solutions!” and no understanding of the underlying issues!

    As for ” a university-educated nephew in Paris who spends his summers burning cars and trades gubmint cheese for molly”
    There is so much to say, but I won’t.

  81. 3b says:

    #84 no. Once word gets out we have an n f l grade football field house prices will increase even more. Plus with this type of field players Will increase their chances of getting a full ride to u Michigan or Notre dame. Heck maybe even straight to the pros!!

  82. 3b says:

    #84 all of western Europe has serious problems further strained by the million and counting refugees who won’t be assimilated and will further strain the safety net in Europe. Big reason why the English want out of Europe! My English cousins are all voting yes in the referendum in June.

  83. Grim says:

    Brexit is the same as Trump, no?

  84. 3b says:

    #87 in many respects it is. Much as leftists won’t admit it trump is the reaction to out of control left wind policies over the years. For recovery action there is a reaction.

  85. Grim says:

    I’m sure the British are much too proper to admit it’s the exact same thing

  86. 3b says:

    # 89 The elite refer to themselves as British. The ordinary English people refer to themselves as English as they always did. The elites want the UK to stay in Europe. The Scots on the other hand seem to prefer staying in Europe. Confused yet?

  87. Fabius Maximus says:

    #81 3b

    Brexit is not happening.

    I will give you a nice arbitrage opportunity. I will put up a bottle of Irish Single Malt on a NO. No the vote doesn’t happen, or they vote to stay.

    Will your cousins convictions hold up?

  88. Fabius Maximus says:

    #89 / 90

    I think both of you should stay away from it.

  89. joyce says:

    “Then again as with most here, you are “all gripe, no solutions!” and no understanding of the underlying issues!”

    Scroll up and on the right hand side look for the archived comments. Come back in a year after you’ve read them… or not.

  90. Fabius Maximus says:

    #93 Joyce

    So you want me to come back in a year and research what?

    How about you head back in the archives and pick out what predictions you would like me to clarify on!

    How about my 20016 Elections predictions from back in 2008, because to me they are HITTIN!

  91. 3b says:

    #91/ 92 fabulous from what I understand its evenly split right now between those who want out vs staying in. As far as staying away from it as you say that is obnoxious and arrogant. I could say the same to you and what goes on in the USA. You seem to have that European disease where you are experts and l knowing regarding what goes on in Europe and the u.s. how dare an American have an opinion on what happens in Europe. I am quite familiar with what is going on in Europe including the u.k. and I stand by what I said. The everyday English people refer to themselves as English and they always have. British is what’s on their passport. And as for Scots. Well they are Scots. Try calling them British. If I were you I would wait and see before saying that the u.k. won’t leave Europe. Boris Johnson has come out in support of leaving. That’s a big boost to the yes camp. Europe and the e u is in serious trouble.

  92. 3b says:

    #95 oh ok I am convinced. Jeez!!

  93. Fabius Maximus says:

    #94 Redux

    Joyce, I would like to clarify a point here.
    I struggle to recall you ever posting a positive post in here. Most of the stuff you post in here is a put down on the Judicial and Law Enforcement. While, I respect your First Amendment rights to object to what we have today, either put up a real argument or put up some real solutions.

    Otherwise your are just Charlie Browns teacher,
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss2hULhXf04

  94. Fabius Maximus says:

    #96 3b

    There are lots of points in that post that would require a GTG to explain.

    You can have any opinion on “where you are experts”. I think you can have an opinion on whatever you want, but if you are asked, you better be able to defend your opinion.

    I think were a lot of arguments or misconceptions come from. Why can’t I have an opinion on an American Presiden? Just because I am am European? If my views on the president don’t hold, they should be easily shot down!

  95. Fabius Maximus says:

    This is getting fun.

    Paul Ryan’s Latest Speech Said One Thing: He’s Running
    http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a43220/paul-ryan-aipac-speech/

  96. Joyce says:

    So let me get this straight, you make a comment. Someone laughs at your comment (ergo implying your dead wrong). You respond by challenging them to defend their response… Yet both your initial and follow up comments contained nothing of the sort, though your second had a vague promise that you’ll bring facts in the future (you know, if you fee, like it).

    Then you have the temerity to say Clot (and most here) does nothing but gripe… may I ask what your Harvard debate club style contributions are?

    How is it that you and Michael are so retarded to not see these incessant immediate contradictions?

  97. Joyce says:

    Retard,

    “Scroll up and on the right hand side look for the archived comments. Come back in a year after you’ve read them… or not.
    ….
    So you want me to come back in a year and research what?”

    How do you not understand such simple comments? I want you reread all the countless suggestions and solutions people have posted here over the years on various topics in between the sporadic real estate and who’s the cheapest person discussions.

  98. Joyce, you might as well be arguing with your cat.

  99. gluteus is simply what a troll with a law degree looks like.

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