Housing Bubble, credit bubble, public planning, land use, zoning and transportation in the exurban environment. Specific criticism of smart growth, neotradtional, forms based, new urbanism and other top down planner schemes to increase urban extent and density. Ventura County, California specific examples.
Friday, April 02, 2010
Welcome Hoocoodanoders
Bill and Ken are switching over. This is but a pale excuse, a shadow of the true Amber as it were but addicts don't complain.
The joys of government projects. I recieved my Census form in the mail a couple of weeks ago, filled it out and mailed it in. Last week, I received a 2nd form. Was my first form lost in the mail? Was it eaten by one of the mail processing machines? In any case, I filled out the 2nd form and enclosed a note explaining that this was my 2nd attempt at being "counted". I expect a census agent at my door any day now.
how do you know how many people are in your house on 4/1 two weeks before hand?
Sure you can be 99.99% sure, but surely it's possible someone you know/is related to you has some calamatous event and moves in with you? Or a meteor crashes through the roof on 3/29 and you move elsewhere.
Southern California office market continues to weaken
Southern California's long-suffering office market continued to weaken in the first quarter as demand slid and rents fell, a pattern expected to carry on through the months ahead.
Overall office vacancy in Los Angeles County reached 17.6% in the first quarter, up from 14.3% a year earlier, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The average rent landlords asked for dropped to $2.60 a square foot per month from $2.82 in last year's first quarter. The office market remains traumatized by bloodletting in corporate America, industry observers said.
The unions’ political triumphs have molded a California in which government workers thrive at the expense of a struggling private sector. The state’s public school teachers are the highest-paid in the nation. Its prison guards can easily earn six-figure salaries. State workers routinely retire at 55 with pensions higher than their base pay for most of their working life. Meanwhile, what was once the most prosperous state now suffers from an unemployment rate far steeper than the nation’s and a flood of firms and jobs escaping high taxes and stifling regulations. This toxic combination—high public-sector employee costs and sagging economic fortunes—has produced recurring budget crises in Sacramento and in virtually every municipality in the state.
How public employees became members of the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in slower motion.
That's a good idea. I think it's important that we who have followed this blog so long should carry on the work that was so cruelly interrupted. We should continue to discuss the things that matter so much to us especially in these trying economic times. I like to think it's what the Dawgster would have wanted.
I hope where he's at now there are no property taxes to worry about.
OK folks. Things are really slow here. Want to have some fun like the good old days?
There is an Acura web site with a tool that sounds like Casey's twin named billy. He bad mouths his wife but if you go to reply 44 she evidently found his computer logged in and saw the message before replying.
The thread has gone viral as folks try to fix Cas,.. err Billy.
Only differences I can see are: Billy in in Queens NY Billy like Acuras Billy spawned a little one.
WASHINGTON — Senior staffers at the Securities and Exchange Commission spent hours surfing pornographic websites on government-issued computers while they were being paid to police the financial system, an agency watchdog says.
The SEC's inspector general conducted 33 probes of employees looking at explicit images in the past five years, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo says 31 of those probes occurred in the 2 1/2 years since the financial system teetered and nearly crashed.
Lost cause....we have 50 flagpoles around the Washington Monument here. That would be a good start for those responsible for this mess. No wonder Maddof and gang got away with all they did. These assholes were jacking off while Rome burned. Unfuckingbelievable. It can't get any worse. Oh wait it can and will when the bond vigilantes call the gov't's bluff. You can't monetize debt indefinitely and the bill is coming due FAST.
If the Rob Dawg has passed on, we could certainly hold his funeral over at CalculatedRisk; after all, his ghost seems to be spending a lot of time there lately.
In the mean time, it's an abandoned blog, huzzah! Any ideas with what to do with it, other than spam links to shady overseas spyware traps?
I don't get the attraction of CR at all. Since Tanta passed away there's nothing in the way of original articles, just the usual daily news clips followed by 200+ posts of the usual snark.
@Lex: " . . . followed by 200+ posts of the usual snark."
Yeah, that's pretty much the appeal. CR posts some good data and has some interesting commentary, but the vast majority of the traffic is the snarkfest. It's pretty much the same crowd as migrated over from the old HBB (been ages since I've been there, but looks like it's still alive; wonder if the same tiresome people still post, but can't be bothered to check.) It's 4chan for adults.
@Lex: " . . . followed by 200+ posts of the usual snark."
That's what most popular blogs devolve into. But CR has good content. Tedious, repetitious snark excepted.
The quality of message comments on Zero Hedge has really declined. The Housing Bubble Blog... don't get me started. And maybe Ben Franklin Was Right over at Mish should get his own blog.
*yawn* I love CR, but I need a break from dooming...
What will our new blog be about? I'm thinking the Housing Bubble, credit bubble, public planning, land use, zoning and transportation in the exurban environment. Specific criticism of smart growth, neotradtional, forms based, new urbanism and other top down planner schemes to increase urban extent and density. Ventura County, California specific examples.
Something is fishy about this whole recent Rob Dawg mystery. I checked with the "Conejo Mountain Funeral Home" and they have no record of any funeral in the past two months for anyone named "Dawg" or "Cote" or any variation on that theme.
Yet clearly this Dawg/Cote individual has dropped out of site, though apparently there is an individual using the same pseudonym at at least one other blog.
Did he fake his own death? If so, you think he would've been canny enough to make sure that SOME body was made available to the funeral home for burial, perhaps one charred beyond identification. Has someone disposed of Dawg? Why is someone using Dawg's nic posting over at CR, apparently "innocuous" comments -- unless they bear some coded contents that we haven't deciphered yet. It would have made more sense had they taken over THIS blog, which they easily could have done. We know KC isn't smart enough to either plan out or execute any scheme so elaborate. Surely Dawg made enemies in high places with his various contrarian posts. I suspect someone big in the world of RE, who would have the most to lose from Dawg's revelations.
State tax collections plummeted unexpectedly in April, wiping out months of steady gains that legislators hoped would ease their budget troubles and restore California's economy faster than experts predicted.
Such hope is now fading fast.
Revenue for April, the biggest revenue month because it is when most Californians pay their taxes, lagged projections by nearly 30% — roughly $3 billion, according to state officials. The drop was steep enough to erase improvements recorded in each of the four previous months.
Jim, we just sent $10 billion or so to Greece via the IMF. California will get bailed out. No worries.
It may not be a cash handout... it may be something along the lines of, "Any and all Federal mandates will be 100% paid for by the Federal government." That would free up plenty of cash.
A state lawsuit targeting two top former officials of the California Public Employees' Retirement System could be the first in a series of state and federal actions focused on the nation's largest public pension fund.
"This is not the end of this case or the end of the investigation," said Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown at a Thursday press conference. "Other things could follow," Brown said that information from his investigation or independent investigations could result in more law suits or criminal indictments from a local district attorney, the Fair Political Practices Commission or other law enforcement agencies.
On Wednesday, Brown's office filed a civil lawsuit against Alfred R. Villalobos, a former CalPERS board member who has made more than $47 million in fees since leaving the agency to function as a go-between for investment firms looking to do business with CalPERS. A so-called placement agent, Villalobos allegedly helped private equity fund managers seal deals to invest billions of dollars of government workers' retirement money by wooing CalPERS officials with expensive meals, champagne, luxurious travel and other perks.
The Greek crisis and the populist backlash are a wake-up call, not just for Greece and Europe but also for the US and most other developed nations. The current government budget deficits and the overall debt burden may be frightening but they pale in comparison to the scale of unfunded liabilities for pensions and healthcare. Temporary measures for bailouts and economic stimulus packages are one thing but without drastic measures, ongoing government deficits are simply not sustainable for the simple fact that people live longer and there are not nearly enough young people joining the work force to generate sufficient government revenues and to support the growing unfunded liabilities.
YouTube: Stop the Boer Genocide Demonstration in Stockholm
The protest march by the Swedish Resistance Movement, under the slogan Stop the Boer Genocide!, took place in Stockholm on Saturday 17th of April, without any major disturbances.
Participants flanked the street with flags, a banderole, shields and signs. Both the Resistance Movement´s own flags, as well as the Vierkleur (Four-Color Transvaal) flag was represented. The banderole read "Stop the Boer Genocide" and signs showed a portrait of the recently murdered leader of the AWB, Eugéne TerreBlanche, who was honoured today as well.
Kristian Nordvall - a member of the Resistance Movement - held an emotional speech in which he spoke about the importance of the protest, about the reality in South Africa, and about how we must bring attention to the ongoing genocide, which politicians and the media ignores.
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer -- Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A 33-year-old El Sobrante man faces up to 11 years in prison after a jury convicted him of soliciting the killing of his business partner in the midst of what prosecutors called an illegal house-flipping operation[...]
The case revolved around a piece of land on a dead-end section of Seventh Street in North Richmond. Property records show that a corporation set up by Robinson bought it for $210,000 in August 2006.
Billon, Robinson's onetime mentor, financed the purchase and the subsequent construction of a pair of stucco homes, said prosecutor Ken McCormick.
He said Robinson had hired an 18-year-old man to pose as "Francisco Marinaro," who would buy one of the homes for $495,000 - more than double its actual value. Billon put up the $82,000 down payment, though its not clear if he knew the buyer was fake, McCormick said.
Robinson's plan was to defraud lender JPMorgan Chase of a $417,000 loan, the prosecutor said.
Rob I can understand you tiring of our dumb-asses, but dude, come on! At least leave us with some roaring tart heading up last post. If only to salve our eyes for the odd occasion we might check back. Some random flabby white guy does a disservice to yer online postage hair-tige.
This guy (Karl Denninger) is like Dawg on steroids and might fill the void during the interim.
Update for the rest of 2010:
CNBS and other "media moguls" will not tell you the truth. They didn't in the "flash crash" of last Thursday and they won't next time. Remember that CNBS was running with a "fat finger" explanation for the collapse within minutes of the market stabilizing. That was utter and complete crap and anyone watching the markets knew it. I knew what happened immediately, and so did they. Listen to those who refuse to report the facts as they occur at your peril.
If you're not out of debt by now, you're about out of time. No, it is not a good time to buy a new car. No, it is not a good time to buy a new house (or an old house!) It is an especially bad time to crank up the credit cards. The illusion you have been given by the media and banksters that "all is well" is exactly what a shark would want as he entices you into the water after eating two of your best friends! I have warned for more than three years now to get out and stay out of debt, especially unsecured debt.
If you're a youngster graduating from high school or in college, do not, under any circumstance, take debt to continue your education. The collapse in the Ponziconomy for education has barely begun. But it will come and with it will come severe devaluation of your college education and tuition.
To repeat from last year: Save 10% or more of your gross income. We're not looking at hyperinflation folks, in my view - we're looking at a deflationary collapse. Cash is perfectly fine but make damn sure it's really cash and not some exotic "cash equivalent" that can get gated. This means, unfortunately, money market funds are no longer safe with recent changes to SEC regulations.
If you're wondering if you have enough liquidity to survive you don't. The common "chestnut" is to have a couple of paychecks to three months worth. I have repeatedly said that I believe you need to be able to survive six to twelve months or more with no income of any sort. I meant it then and I mean it now, and those are minimums.
Last year I said to "sell or hedge risk" in the stock market. This year I say just sell and pocket the damn money. If you hedged, you forfeited the hedge cost but are WAY ahead on balance.
There is a possibility we may bounce again to another high, but you saw last Thursday, right? That risk is not only not gone it's not going to be gone. The claim of market "depth" and "liquidity" off the 666 lows was and is a lie. I have written extensively about this - about machines passing the same 100 or 1,000 shares back and forth, making it appear that the market is more liquid and deeper than it is.
If you haven't acquired the means of lawful self-defense in whatever form or fashion you deem prudent at this point, the time to do so was yesterday.
Numerous California businesses are packing up their bags and trading in the blue skies and hot weather to head east.
(List of 99 companies leaving or expanding outside of "Colliefornia")
The list will grow as Sacramento considers more measures that will increase corporate taxes, increase workers' comp costs, increase regulatory reporting requirements (along with higher fines for minor infractions), increase gasoline and diesel-fuel taxes, increase water rates, increase electric-power rates, and increase assorted fees that will cause services to become more expensive.
I mainly keep an eye on the VIX (volatility index) and www.optionmonster.com, among other sources. The VIX is still not as high as it has been around '08. In Oct-Nov '08 it was around 80, currently it's in the 30s ... though it has risen from the mid-20s, indicating some downward trend in the stock market is likely.
It sure sounds easy, and the web plays it that way.
The one thing these walk aways forget is there is the law, and then there is reality.
After x years, those credit smudges disappear. But the foreclosure notices in the local papers are forever in this Google age.
10-15 years later your credit report may look fine, but when you go for a job and they have a search done on you, that forclosure notice is going to pop up. That may kill one's shot at a job when they think the person is not trustworthy.
It is one thing to have a medical emergency and lose it all. But how do you explain to a potential employer it was cheaper in the long run to just walk way from ones obligations. "Hey, it was completely legal".
You hiring that person over a similiar skilled person with no flags popping up?
I believe there is only no recourse on the original loan. Many people refinanced. In CA everybody and their brother was a mortgage broker and they were always telling everyone around them how they could pull out all kinds of money and get better terms on their mortgage.
In other news, saw a Tesla roadster on the mean streets of Fairfield County today. Looked very much like a Lotus Elise in style. In spirit, it's more like a 21st century DeLorean.
Rob is looking down at us from Heaven -- or possibly looking up at us from Hell -- and wondering when we're just going to give up and abandon this blog... a blog currently run by a dead man.
Bankruptcy talk spreads among Calif. muni officials
Two years after Vallejo, California, filed for bankruptcy protection, officials in nearby Antioch are also tossing around the 'B' word.
Antioch's leaders earlier this month said bankruptcy could be an option for the cash-strapped city of roughly 100,000 on the eastern fringe of the San Francisco Bay area.
Antioch's fiscal woes are standard issue for local governments in California: weak revenue from retail sales and property taxes is forcing spending cuts, layoffs and furloughs.
But cost-cutting measures may not be enough to keep Antioch's books balanced, so its city council is openly discussing bankruptcy.
Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street would not be surprised if more local governments across the Golden State sound a similar alarm.
Street expects more talk of municipal bankruptcy across California because local government finances are in such dire shape -- a situation underscored on Wednesday when a top finance officer for Sacramento County projected a worse-than-expected shortfall for the county of $181 million, which could force more than 1,000 layoffs from the county's payroll.
Unemployment claims in California hit 768,709 in April, a modern-day record and the highest during this recession, state Employment Development Department officials report.
The number comes after the U.S. Senate went into its Memorial Day recess without acting on a bill that would allow at least the more recently unemployed to continue to get extended jobless benefits.
Just two years ago in April — a year into California’s recession — the unemployed filed 254,123 claims for benefits, EDD stats show. This April, that number more than tripled as the state remained at a record 12.6% unemployment rate, third highest in the country.
Claims are piling up in large part because Congress has approved four extensions of the typical 26 weeks of unemployment in addition to so-called Fed-Ed for high unemployment states like California. Many of those laid off in California can now receive up to 99 weeks in benefits.
Those extensions, however, are up in the air after Congress recessed May 28 before the Senate could approve legislation allowing the more recently unemployed to continue to move into their next tier of jobless benefits until at least Nov. 30. The Senate is due back June 7. If the bill is not approved, most of the unemployed will lose their benefits after completing their current tier of extended unemployment.
In addition, the latest bill drops the 65% subsidy for COBRA health insurance premiums that the government has been supplementing for the past year.
The latest bill also does nothing for the more than 111,000 Californians who have exhausted their 99 weeks of benefits. Change.com has launched a grass roots campaign for the so-called "99ers" to get additional benefits for those who have now fallen off the unemployment rolls after exhausting their 99 weeks.
"I suspect the real issue here is that she’s never learned how to manage money. That would explain her debt, her degree (in Religious and Women’s Studies, which is a good choice if you want to work in Fast Food) and her current situation."
LOL.
I have zero sympathy for this dumb bitch. Every idiot that got into debt for this sort of worthless, man-hating and white culture-hating "education" deserves every bit of hardship they got themselves into.
Unfortunately, Jesus Lincoln will probably invent some program to pull these losers out of their hole and get working people (the few that are left) to pay their bills.
It's called the Stone Mansion – 30,000 square feet of home sitting on two acres of land. Richard Kurtz is the owner, and he started building the home for just himself and his wife – but the plans kept getting bigger and bigger.
The mansion is five stories tall, with 12 bedrooms and 19 bathrooms with showers and views you won't believe. The home also has four kitchens, an 11-car garage with mahogany doors, nine fireplaces, and more than 20 flat screen televisions.
"The house has been shown to four financially bona fide buyers: three overseas buyers, one United States buyer," Dennis McCormack, of Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty, said.
If someone ends up buying the place for $68 million, it will be the highest price paid for a home so far this year. Once it's finished in about six weeks, it'll have tennis courts, a pool, and a movie theater.
There's one positive financial note for potential buyers. Alpine has the lowest property taxes in Bergen County. The town has no mail delivery, business district, or high school, and an all-volunteer fire department.
Bernard Madoff, the author of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, told inmates at the Butner prison where he is serving his 150 years jail sentence that his victims deserved what happened to them, because they were rich and greedy, according to an article in New York Magazine.
One evening a fellow prisoner kept asking Madoff about the victims of his $65 billion scheme and Madoff, angered, said: "F*** my victims. I carried them for twenty years, and now I'm doing 150 years," the magazine reported.
He was past apologizing and created his own version of events in prison, the magazine wrote. "People just kept throwing money at me," Madoff is said to have told a prison consultant who advised him on how to endure prison life. "Some guy wanted to invest, and if I said no, the guy said, 'What, I'm not good enough?'"
In prison, Madoff is regarded as a success, is admired and has fans, the magazine wrote. It quotes Robert Rosso, who serves life in prison, who wrote on a Web site he founded that Madoff is "a hero. He's arguably the greatest con of all time."
June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Two Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit in the U.S. housing bust: Buy low, sell fast. Their tactic was also illegal.
Sergio Natera and Anna McElaney are scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford’s federal court in August after pleading guilty to fraud. Their crime involved persuading lenders to approve the sale of homes for less than the balance owed -- known as a short sale -- without disclosing that there were better offers. They then flipped the houses for a profit.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Department of Real Estate and mortgage finance company Freddie Mac have warned that such schemes may be spreading after a plunge in values left homeowners owing more than their properties are worth. The scams threaten to deepen losses for lenders that are increasingly agreeing to short sales as an alternative to more costly foreclosures
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged 1,215 people in hundreds of mortgage fraud cases that resulted in estimated losses of $2.3 billion, top Obama administration officials said on Thursday, unveiling a crackdown after the housing market collapse.
The administration has been under pressure to root out mortgage fraud and improve oversight of the housing market after the housing bubble touched off a global economic slide and led to a cascade of home foreclosures in the United States.
Over the last three-and-a-half months, authorities have made 485 arrests in the fraud cases, obtained 336 individual convictions and recovered more than $147 million, the Justice Department said.
In one case, two women were arrested on Wednesday and charged with a scheme that targeted the Haitian-American community in Florida and resulted in losses of $1.5 million to lenders from $4.4 million in fraudulent mortgage loans.
(I'm ROTFLMAO over this story ... couldn't happen to a better city, imo.)
Despite heavy LAPD presence, violence breaks out after Lakers' victory
Despite a massive Los Angeles police presence Thursday night, sporadic violence broke out near Staples Center after the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Crowds hurled bottles and other objects at police, smashed marquees, jumped on vehicles, broke windows, and set rubbish dumpsters and vehicles on fire along Figueroa Street north of Staples Center and on Flower Street.
Police fired non-lethal rounds to disperse the crowd at Figueroa and Venice Boulevard after several small fires were set, as well as at 11th and Hope streets. At 7th and Flower, a car believed to be a taxicab was engulfed in flames.
At least one person was beaten unconscious as fights broke out on Flower Street near Olympic Boulevard. A bicyclist was injured when struck by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department vehicle near 11th and Flower streets, according to the LAPD.
In all, there were multiple injuries but no loss of life, officials said. One police officer suffered a broken nose (LOL). As night wore on, fire crews responded to many rubbish fires and some vehicle fires, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
(A little OT with the geo-politics here ... but this has to be read to be believed. You have to really stand in awe of the unmitigated chutzpah of the jews -- they think the world literally revolves around them.)
"If Israel goes down, we all go down"
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.
If you read some non-financal blogs, you will know that Israel has had their Army on alert at least the past 3 weeks on 2 different borders. they are expecting an attack from Iran any day. Their intel has always been worlds better than the CIA.
When it happens, you can expect the Israeli Air Force to take out Iran's oil industy along with any nations that join them. when it happens the price of oil will skyrocket.
Take our stand down on Gulf oil exploration, hard on to do cap & trade, and the smothering of our coal industry, and you can see our country will soon be in a world of hurt when we have no energy of our own. When it costs 8 grand to heat a home for winter, people will scream, but it will be too late.
Right now all one can hope for is the world backs Israel, as Iran is about to be the dog that chased down a car without a plan to of what to do next.
Without international support Israel will take their attackers out, no matter what Obama and Hillary think.
Remember when they shot up a US Navy survallence ship in 68 and fired surface to air missles at an sr71 in 1972. We do not have them on a short leash.
To my way of thinking, it is the most critical problem in the world today. A lot of oil infrastructure can be smoldering metal 2 hours into a Middle East war.
"To my way of thinking, it is the most critical problem in the world today."
Quit reading the brainwashing newspapers, and you might realize that Israel is a lawless pariah just like the United States, and a nuclear loose cannon already rolling around in the Middle East. Iran is nothing to worry about in comparison.
Recycling is expanding from newspapers and bottles to entire houses as foreclosures, tax credits and landfill costs prompt businesses and non-profit organizations to salvage materials from old homes.
Stores are springing up to sell used lumber, appliances, cabinetry and flooring. Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that builds and rehabs affordable homes, has 550 such retail outlets, called "ReStores." Mark Andrews, Habitat's director of U.S. operations, says the number is growing "almost daily." He expects an additional 100 stores in the next year.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., the first big bank to report its second-quarter earnings, said it had set aside less money to cover losses on failed loans. That is a sign that mortgage and loan defaults may be moderating. But CEO Jamie Dimon kept a cautious tone about future economic growth.
"Earnings are strong," said Sandy Mehta, principal and chief investment officer of Value Investment Principals. "But the underlying economy is not as strong."
----------
I don't understand how JP Morgan lowering their reserves is a sign that foreclosures are falling. You know what would be a real sign of foreclosures decreasing? People paying their mortgages. Which they're not. So if meaningless profits look good because foreclosures are going down, doesn't that mean that we should actually should be panicked since foreclosures are not going down? And the S&P rallied to end in the green? WTF is wrong with this country?
124 comments:
Traditional first. Yes, I have no life on a Friday night,
Could be worse. you could be an enabler of those with no life. ;-)
Help. Where is everybody? Not at church????
Is there somewhere else I' supposed to be?????
Hi Liz!
Just got back from walking dogz. Iz HCN still down???
Hi Blobbert!
Start hitting that treadmill, you corpulent manatee.
The joys of government projects. I recieved my Census form in the mail a couple of weeks ago, filled it out and mailed it in. Last week, I received a 2nd form. Was my first form lost in the mail? Was it eaten by one of the mail processing machines? In any case, I filled out the 2nd form and enclosed a note explaining that this was my 2nd attempt at being "counted". I expect a census agent at my door any day now.
bill,
how do you know how many people are in your house on 4/1 two weeks before hand?
Sure you can be 99.99% sure, but surely it's possible someone you know/is related to you has some calamatous event and moves in with you? Or a meteor crashes through the roof on 3/29 and you move elsewhere.
The census takers have to be sure!!!
Off topic (but that's traditional here)...
From the local rag: A flipper flops... this one has to hurt.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=60595&tsp=1
You okay Rob?
Robert M. Coté has died at the age of 50.
Rob posts a lot on Calculated Risk.
In case he's checking back: Rob, you might want to check into Snowflake. I quit posting about him but it does appear that the final act is in play.
This is what Lou is talking about
http://jamesmarks.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/caseys-criminal-activities-accepted-for-value-a4v/#comment-193
Okay, I'll bite ... who the frak is Robert M. Cote? Surely our Rob Dawg hasn't been using a pseudonym all this time.
who the frank is Robert M. Cote?
http://www.caseypedia.com/wiki/Robert_Cot%C3%A9
Dawg's been attending an actual cultural event in Oxnard.
Southern California office market continues to weaken
Southern California's long-suffering office market continued to weaken in the first quarter as demand slid and rents fell, a pattern expected to carry on through the months ahead.
Overall office vacancy in Los Angeles County reached 17.6% in the first quarter, up from 14.3% a year earlier, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The average rent landlords asked for dropped to $2.60 a square foot per month from $2.82 in last year's first quarter. The office market remains traumatized by bloodletting in corporate America, industry observers said.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cover-side18-2010apr18,0,5480872.story
Funeral services for Mr. Coté will be held at the Conejo Mountain Funeral Home, on Howard Road in Camarillo, this Saturday, April 24th at 10:00 AM.
Our condolences to the Coté family.
I guess it's up to us to carry the banner now.
Rob is posting regularly over at CR.
Maybe the CR poster is the Anti-Dawg who has simply taken over Dawg's form. (Sorry, I've been watching a lot of LOST lately ... )
Casey Serin's SSN is 606-74-0312.
KC's SSN is an identity no one would want to steal.
The Beholden State
How public-sector unions broke California
The unions’ political triumphs have molded a California in which government workers thrive at the expense of a struggling private sector. The state’s public school teachers are the highest-paid in the nation. Its prison guards can easily earn six-figure salaries. State workers routinely retire at 55 with pensions higher than their base pay for most of their working life. Meanwhile, what was once the most prosperous state now suffers from an unemployment rate far steeper than the nation’s and a flood of firms and jobs escaping high taxes and stifling regulations. This toxic combination—high public-sector employee costs and sagging economic fortunes—has produced recurring budget crises in Sacramento and in virtually every municipality in the state.
How public employees became members of the elite class in a declining California offers a cautionary tale to the rest of the country, where the same process is happening in slower motion.
http://city-journal.org/2010/20_2_california-unions.html
Does anyone have contact information for Mr. Coté's next-of-kin?
Maybe they can provide us with this blog's login & password so that it can once again be regularly updated.
That's a good idea. I think it's important that we who have followed this blog so long should carry on the work that was so cruelly interrupted. We should continue to discuss the things that matter so much to us especially in these trying economic times. I like to think it's what the Dawgster would have wanted.
I hope where he's at now there are no property taxes to worry about.
Tomorrow will mark 3 weeks since this final post was put up.
Maybe Casey can buy the site and keep it going since Dawg has not been able to focus.
Irony or what??
h.
This could be the blog that writes itself!
Will anyone local be attending Dawg's funeral this Saturday...?
If Rob is dead I get his PC that's running the Mac OS.
And I get dibs on MacWeek Volume 1 Number 1.
Not to mention that the circumstances will mess up Volvo's plans to have the Dawg exercise the PoleStar Concept.
WOW! Love to get that mill for the wife's C70 convertible. Double the horsepower and it should drop right in.
Nail it corners and watch the doors pop open from the torque overloading the chassis.
Macs??? Heck, I will take his VT100.
OK folks. Things are really slow here.
Want to have some fun like the good old days?
There is an Acura web site with a tool that sounds like Casey's twin named billy. He bad mouths his wife but if you go to reply 44 she evidently found his computer logged in and saw the message before replying.
The thread has gone viral as folks try to fix Cas,.. err Billy.
Only differences I can see are:
Billy in in Queens NY
Billy like Acuras
Billy spawned a little one.
The rest sounds too familar.
remember, 1st note and reply 44.
http://www.acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=770786
Enjoy
SEC staffers watched porn as the economy crashed.
WASHINGTON — Senior staffers at the Securities and Exchange Commission spent hours surfing pornographic websites on government-issued computers while they were being paid to police the financial system, an agency watchdog says.
The SEC's inspector general conducted 33 probes of employees looking at explicit images in the past five years, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo says 31 of those probes occurred in the 2 1/2 years since the financial system teetered and nearly crashed.
Simpson,
That was awesome! Glad I checked in.
Lost cause....we have 50 flagpoles around the Washington Monument here. That would be a good start for those responsible for this mess. No wonder Maddof and gang got away with all they did. These assholes were jacking off while Rome burned. Unfuckingbelievable. It can't get any worse. Oh wait it can and will when the bond vigilantes call the gov't's bluff. You can't monetize debt indefinitely and the bill is coming due FAST.
Anyone local to Camarillo going to Dawg's funeral today...?
http://bloggycasey.posterous.com/
For those you who are interested, this is where you would look to find the Dawg's obituary.
If the Rob Dawg has passed on, we could certainly hold his funeral over at CalculatedRisk; after all, his ghost seems to be spending a lot of time there lately.
In the mean time, it's an abandoned blog, huzzah! Any ideas with what to do with it, other than spam links to shady overseas spyware traps?
The Giant Vampire Squid got Rob Cote.
I don't get the attraction of CR at all. Since Tanta passed away there's nothing in the way of original articles, just the usual daily news clips followed by 200+ posts of the usual snark.
@Lex: " . . . followed by 200+ posts of the usual snark."
Yeah, that's pretty much the appeal. CR posts some good data and has some interesting commentary, but the vast majority of the traffic is the snarkfest. It's pretty much the same crowd as migrated over from the old HBB (been ages since I've been there, but looks like it's still alive; wonder if the same tiresome people still post, but can't be bothered to check.) It's 4chan for adults.
Rob ain't dead he still comments at CR. He just hates his readers.
@Lex: " . . . followed by 200+ posts of the usual snark."
That's what most popular blogs devolve into. But CR has good content. Tedious, repetitious snark excepted.
The quality of message comments on Zero Hedge has really declined. The Housing Bubble Blog... don't get me started. And maybe Ben Franklin Was Right over at Mish should get his own blog.
*yawn* I love CR, but I need a break from dooming...
What will our new blog be about? I'm thinking the Housing Bubble, credit bubble, public planning, land use, zoning and transportation in the exurban environment. Specific criticism of smart growth, neotradtional, forms based, new urbanism and other top down planner schemes to increase urban extent and density. Ventura County, California specific examples.
Who's with me?
You can start with the WAV development in Ventura. It is perfect in so many ways.
I heard that Rob choked on a ham sandwich.
I heard that Rob choked on a ham sandwich.
I heard the grand-piano-sized coffin required 24 pallbearers, and that the cemetery plot was big enough to fit a Volkswagen.
Something is fishy about this whole recent Rob Dawg mystery. I checked with the "Conejo Mountain Funeral Home" and they have no record of any funeral in the past two months for anyone named "Dawg" or "Cote" or any variation on that theme.
Yet clearly this Dawg/Cote individual has dropped out of site, though apparently there is an individual using the same pseudonym at at least one other blog.
Did he fake his own death? If so, you think he would've been canny enough to make sure that SOME body was made available to the funeral home for burial, perhaps one charred beyond identification. Has someone disposed of Dawg? Why is someone using Dawg's nic posting over at CR, apparently "innocuous" comments -- unless they bear some coded contents that we haven't deciphered yet. It would have made more sense had they taken over THIS blog, which they easily could have done. We know KC isn't smart enough to either plan out or execute any scheme so elaborate. Surely Dawg made enemies in high places with his various contrarian posts. I suspect someone big in the world of RE, who would have the most to lose from Dawg's revelations.
I just found definitive proof of Rob's death written up in the local paper.
Tragic, just tragic.
Damn. Ya'll are HARSH.
No new post in almost a month. Maybe he's doing the 12x/year update.
Poor Rob,
He is avoiding the world since 233 E La Loma Ave sold for too much money.
riverside rre is getting hammered, maybe robb's heloc got cancelled.
lololololol
State tax collections plummeted unexpectedly in April, wiping out months of steady gains that legislators hoped would ease their budget troubles and restore California's economy faster than experts predicted.
Such hope is now fading fast.
Revenue for April, the biggest revenue month because it is when most Californians pay their taxes, lagged projections by nearly 30% — roughly $3 billion, according to state officials. The drop was steep enough to erase improvements recorded in each of the four previous months.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-budget-20100504,0,680610.story
Jim, we just sent $10 billion or so to Greece via the IMF. California will get bailed out. No worries.
It may not be a cash handout... it may be something along the lines of, "Any and all Federal mandates will be 100% paid for by the Federal government." That would free up plenty of cash.
It's just paper. They can print as much of it as they want. Just like Zimbabwe ...
Wall Street pulls out of a 1000 point nose dive.
Gee. Nobody saw that coming.
CalPERS may see more lawsuits
A state lawsuit targeting two top former officials of the California Public Employees' Retirement System could be the first in a series of state and federal actions focused on the nation's largest public pension fund.
"This is not the end of this case or the end of the investigation," said Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown at a Thursday press conference. "Other things could follow," Brown said that information from his investigation or independent investigations could result in more law suits or criminal indictments from a local district attorney, the Fair Political Practices Commission or other law enforcement agencies.
On Wednesday, Brown's office filed a civil lawsuit against Alfred R. Villalobos, a former CalPERS board member who has made more than $47 million in fees since leaving the agency to function as a go-between for investment firms looking to do business with CalPERS. A so-called placement agent, Villalobos allegedly helped private equity fund managers seal deals to invest billions of dollars of government workers' retirement money by wooing CalPERS officials with expensive meals, champagne, luxurious travel and other perks.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-calpers-20100507,0,3405350.story
Greek Crisis A Demographic Wake-Up Call for U.S.
The Greek crisis and the populist backlash are a wake-up call, not just for Greece and Europe but also for the US and most other developed nations. The current government budget deficits and the overall debt burden may be frightening but they pale in comparison to the scale of unfunded liabilities for pensions and healthcare. Temporary measures for bailouts and economic stimulus packages are one thing but without drastic measures, ongoing government deficits are simply not sustainable for the simple fact that people live longer and there are not nearly enough young people joining the work force to generate sufficient government revenues and to support the growing unfunded liabilities.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-greek-crisis-is-about-demographics-2010-5
YouTube: Stop the Boer Genocide Demonstration in Stockholm
The protest march by the Swedish Resistance Movement, under the slogan Stop the Boer Genocide!, took place in Stockholm on Saturday 17th of April, without any major disturbances.
Participants flanked the street with flags, a banderole, shields and signs. Both the Resistance Movement´s own flags, as well as the Vierkleur (Four-Color Transvaal) flag was represented. The banderole read "Stop the Boer Genocide" and signs showed a portrait of the recently murdered leader of the AWB, Eugéne TerreBlanche, who was honoured today as well.
Kristian Nordvall - a member of the Resistance Movement - held an emotional speech in which he spoke about the importance of the protest, about the reality in South Africa, and about how we must bring attention to the ongoing genocide, which politicians and the media ignores.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA-mjy-KBXA&feature=player_embedded
Man convicted of soliciting house-flipping hit
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer -- Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A 33-year-old El Sobrante man faces up to 11 years in prison after a jury convicted him of soliciting the killing of his business partner in the midst of what prosecutors called an illegal house-flipping operation[...]
The case revolved around a piece of land on a dead-end section of Seventh Street in North Richmond. Property records show that a corporation set up by Robinson bought it for $210,000 in August 2006.
Billon, Robinson's onetime mentor, financed the purchase and the subsequent construction of a pair of stucco homes, said prosecutor Ken McCormick.
He said Robinson had hired an 18-year-old man to pose as "Francisco Marinaro," who would buy one of the homes for $495,000 - more than double its actual value. Billon put up the $82,000 down payment, though its not clear if he knew the buyer was fake, McCormick said.
Robinson's plan was to defraud lender JPMorgan Chase of a $417,000 loan, the prosecutor said.
Good Stuff.
Rob will give in eventually and post something he finds especially interesting.
Rob I can understand you tiring of our dumb-asses, but dude, come on! At least leave us with some roaring tart heading up last post. If only to salve our eyes for the odd occasion we might check back. Some random flabby white guy does a disservice to yer online postage hair-tige.
This guy (Karl Denninger) is like Dawg on steroids and might fill the void during the interim.
Update for the rest of 2010:
CNBS and other "media moguls" will not tell you the truth. They didn't in the "flash crash" of last Thursday and they won't next time. Remember that CNBS was running with a "fat finger" explanation for the collapse within minutes of the market stabilizing. That was utter and complete crap and anyone watching the markets knew it. I knew what happened immediately, and so did they. Listen to those who refuse to report the facts as they occur at your peril.
If you're not out of debt by now, you're about out of time. No, it is not a good time to buy a new car. No, it is not a good time to buy a new house (or an old house!) It is an especially bad time to crank up the credit cards. The illusion you have been given by the media and banksters that "all is well" is exactly what a shark would want as he entices you into the water after eating two of your best friends! I have warned for more than three years now to get out and stay out of debt, especially unsecured debt.
If you're a youngster graduating from high school or in college, do not, under any circumstance, take debt to continue your education. The collapse in the Ponziconomy for education has barely begun. But it will come and with it will come severe devaluation of your college education and tuition.
To repeat from last year: Save 10% or more of your gross income. We're not looking at hyperinflation folks, in my view - we're looking at a deflationary collapse. Cash is perfectly fine but make damn sure it's really cash and not some exotic "cash equivalent" that can get gated. This means, unfortunately, money market funds are no longer safe with recent changes to SEC regulations.
If you're wondering if you have enough liquidity to survive you don't. The common "chestnut" is to have a couple of paychecks to three months worth. I have repeatedly said that I believe you need to be able to survive six to twelve months or more with no income of any sort. I meant it then and I mean it now, and those are minimums.
Last year I said to "sell or hedge risk" in the stock market. This year I say just sell and pocket the damn money. If you hedged, you forfeited the hedge cost but are WAY ahead on balance.
There is a possibility we may bounce again to another high, but you saw last Thursday, right? That risk is not only not gone it's not going to be gone. The claim of market "depth" and "liquidity" off the 666 lows was and is a lie. I have written extensively about this - about machines passing the same 100 or 1,000 shares back and forth, making it appear that the market is more liquid and deeper than it is.
If you haven't acquired the means of lawful self-defense in whatever form or fashion you deem prudent at this point, the time to do so was yesterday.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/
No, it is not a good time to buy a new house (or an old house!)
Did that month. Oops.
Cash is perfectly fine but make damn sure it's really cash and not some exotic "cash equivalent" that can get gated.
Isn't it kinda risky to have tens of thousands of dollars buried in coffee cans?
RIP, Rob.
Did that last month, I mean.
Flood Of Calif. Businesses Abandon State
Numerous California businesses are packing up their bags and trading in the blue skies and hot weather to head east.
(List of 99 companies leaving or expanding outside of "Colliefornia")
The list will grow as Sacramento considers more measures that will increase corporate taxes, increase workers' comp costs, increase regulatory reporting requirements (along with higher fines for minor infractions), increase gasoline and diesel-fuel taxes, increase water rates, increase electric-power rates, and increase assorted fees that will cause services to become more expensive.
http://67.59.172.92/article/Local_News/Local_News/Flood_Of_Calif_Businesses_Abandon_State/67412
BTW, I just noticed this ... Isn't it eerie that the last comment Rob posted on this blog was:
"Could be worse. you could be an enabler of those with NO LIFE. ;-)"
(Emphasis added)
That's just freaky.
At least he left us with a smile and a wink. ;-)
xkcd
6 weeks. Wow, Rob must be deader than dirt. Not a peep.
Pleather: Looks like Fortune is on the same brain wave as you.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/17/magazines/fortune/2010.crash.1987.again.fortune/index.htm
When the MMM starts telling the truth, you know the end is near.
Please, Please, Please make it hold off for 11 more days. I will have dumped the house I inherited.
Just... Need... 11... More... days!
Talking to a co-worker who lives outside of Sac Town today. He would love to move back East, but is upside down on his mortgage.
One of the biggest issues of any recovery is the fact people cannot move to where the jobs are when they have a huge upside down mortgage.
I mainly keep an eye on the VIX (volatility index) and www.optionmonster.com, among other sources. The VIX is still not as high as it has been around '08. In Oct-Nov '08 it was around 80, currently it's in the 30s ... though it has risen from the mid-20s, indicating some downward trend in the stock market is likely.
Upside-down on the mortgage is no problem for California homeowners.
Since the lender can't come after you for any loss on sale, just leave the keys on the kitchen counter when you move.
Bill
It sure sounds easy, and the web plays it that way.
The one thing these walk aways forget is there is the law, and then there is reality.
After x years, those credit smudges disappear. But the foreclosure notices in the local papers are forever in this Google age.
10-15 years later your credit report may look fine, but when you go for a job and they have a search done on you, that forclosure notice is going to pop up. That may kill one's shot at a job when they think the person is not trustworthy.
It is one thing to have a medical emergency and lose it all. But how do you explain to a potential employer it was cheaper in the long run to just walk way from ones obligations. "Hey, it was completely legal".
You hiring that person over a similiar skilled person with no flags popping up?
h.
Bill,
I believe there is only no recourse on the original loan. Many people refinanced. In CA everybody and their brother was a mortgage broker and they were always telling everyone around them how they could pull out all kinds of money and get better terms on their mortgage.
It's a medical emergency if that's the reason you want to give.
No prospective employer would have access to your medical records.
And there's no legal obligation to disclose your medical condition to a former employer, so they can't contradict your explanation, e.g.:
"I know Jim left suddenly, but didn't realize why at the time..."
Again, in a non-recourse state such as California the lender's recourse is to repo the house.
Any lender choosing to do business in those jurisdictions knows that is the risk they face.
Because that risk (a lender may get stuck with the house) is known, by the lender, upfront, it is not a moral issue.
I'm gonna quit checking Rob's blog when this gets to 100 comments or Armageddon comes. Whichever is first.
Bill, it is only non-recourse on the original loan. many people refinanced and they are now recourse.
Some eye candy for those awaiting an enabler.
In other news, saw a Tesla roadster on the mean streets of Fairfield County today. Looked very much like a Lotus Elise in style. In spirit, it's more like a 21st century DeLorean.
Rob Dawg and Casey are probably off working on Casey's next big thing in real estate.
That trolling out to bring back the Dawg.
April 1999 -- Dow crosses over 10,000 for the first time.
What do you mean, the "Lost Decade?"
Welcome to year 11.
Warning: Crash Dead Ahead. Sell. Get Liquid. Now.
A pretty dismal forecast.
Good time to get liquid: http://www.bevmo.com
Rob is looking down at us from Heaven -- or possibly looking up at us from Hell -- and wondering when we're just going to give up and abandon this blog... a blog currently run by a dead man.
We have zombie banks, zombie companies...why not a zombie blog?
Bankruptcy talk spreads among Calif. muni officials
Two years after Vallejo, California, filed for bankruptcy protection, officials in nearby Antioch are also tossing around the 'B' word.
Antioch's leaders earlier this month said bankruptcy could be an option for the cash-strapped city of roughly 100,000 on the eastern fringe of the San Francisco Bay area.
Antioch's fiscal woes are standard issue for local governments in California: weak revenue from retail sales and property taxes is forcing spending cuts, layoffs and furloughs.
But cost-cutting measures may not be enough to keep Antioch's books balanced, so its city council is openly discussing bankruptcy.
Orange County Treasurer Chriss Street would not be surprised if more local governments across the Golden State sound a similar alarm.
Street expects more talk of municipal bankruptcy across California because local government finances are in such dire shape -- a situation underscored on Wednesday when a top finance officer for Sacramento County projected a worse-than-expected shortfall for the county of $181 million, which could force more than 1,000 layoffs from the county's payroll.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q6CQ20100527
We have zombie banks, zombie companies...why not a zombie blog?
Rob Zombie?
Rob Zombie
More human than human...
And on this Memorial Day, thank you to all who have served!
How come every time we "win" a war we end up less free than before ...
Antioch. That was one of the few truly middle-class towns in the Bay Area. Every other municipality seems either super-wealthy or super-ghetto.
I can see a wealthy community like Orange County flopping. "We're awesome, we can afford to take stupid risks with our money."
I can also see a ghetto community like Vallejo flopping. "We're pitiful, we can rely on the kindness of strangers."
But Antioch? What's your excuse?
California jobless claims hit modern record high
Unemployment claims in California hit 768,709 in April, a modern-day record and the highest during this recession, state Employment Development Department officials report.
The number comes after the U.S. Senate went into its Memorial Day recess without acting on a bill that would allow at least the more recently unemployed to continue to get extended jobless benefits.
Just two years ago in April — a year into California’s recession — the unemployed filed 254,123 claims for benefits, EDD stats show. This April, that number more than tripled as the state remained at a record 12.6%
unemployment rate, third highest in the country.
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/06/01/california-jobless-claims-hit-modern-record-high/
(More ...)
Claims are piling up in large part because Congress has approved four extensions of the typical 26 weeks of unemployment in addition to so-called Fed-Ed for high unemployment states like California. Many of those laid off in California can now receive up to 99 weeks in benefits.
Those extensions, however, are up in the air after Congress recessed May 28 before the Senate could approve legislation allowing the more recently unemployed to continue to move into their next tier of jobless benefits until at least Nov. 30. The Senate is due back June 7. If the bill is not approved, most of the unemployed will lose their benefits after completing their current tier of extended unemployment.
In addition, the latest bill drops the 65% subsidy for COBRA health insurance premiums that the government has been supplementing for the past year.
The latest bill also does nothing for the more than 111,000 Californians who have exhausted their 99 weeks of benefits. Change.com has launched a grass roots campaign for the so-called "99ers" to get additional benefits for those who have now fallen off the unemployment rolls after exhausting their 99 weeks.
http://economy.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/01/calif-jobless-claims-at-record-high/33673/
100 comments later. Rob is officially dead.
Lou
And it now 2 months since this last post started.
Dawg disappeared faster than Casey when he finally saw the hand writing on the wall.
Hmmmmmm??
Rob came from IT
Casey came from IT
Rob lives in Ca
Casey lives in Ca
Rob had a blog that he is letting die
Casey had a blog that he let die
Both like to write on other blogs.
Both Rob mother and Casey's mother are both mothers (NYuk Yuk Yuk).
Coincidence?? Maybe... But this seems a better match than that Lincoln/JFK comparision people send around.
The next big bubble to burst? Education
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/100278/
"I suspect the real issue here is that she’s never learned how to manage money. That would explain her debt, her degree (in Religious and Women’s Studies, which is a good choice if you want to work in Fast Food) and her current situation."
LOL.
I have zero sympathy for this dumb bitch. Every idiot that got into debt for this sort of worthless, man-hating and white culture-hating "education" deserves every bit of hardship they got themselves into.
Unfortunately, Jesus Lincoln will probably invent some program to pull these losers out of their hole and get working people (the few that are left) to pay their bills.
@ H Simpson
Rob is (was?) a married man with kids.
Casey is a divorced homosexual. ;-)
I'm starting to believe Rob really is dead, since he would've scrubbed the post containing Serin's SSN if were still alive. heh.
I'm starting to believe Rob really is dead
His ghost is spending a lot of time at CR.
$68 Million NJ Mansion Hits The Market
It's called the Stone Mansion – 30,000 square feet of home sitting on two acres of land. Richard Kurtz is the owner, and he started building the home for just himself and his wife – but the plans kept getting bigger and bigger.
The mansion is five stories tall, with 12 bedrooms and 19 bathrooms with showers and views you won't believe. The home also has four kitchens, an 11-car garage with mahogany doors, nine fireplaces, and more than 20 flat screen televisions.
"The house has been shown to four financially bona fide buyers: three overseas buyers, one United States buyer," Dennis McCormack, of Prominent Properties Sotheby's International Realty, said.
If someone ends up buying the place for $68 million, it will be the highest price paid for a home so far this year. Once it's finished in about six weeks, it'll have tennis courts, a pool, and a movie theater.
There's one positive financial note for potential buyers. Alpine has the lowest property taxes in Bergen County. The town has no mail delivery, business district, or high school, and an all-volunteer fire department.
http://wcbstv.com/local/million.dollar.mansion.2.1733780.html
Bernie Madoff: Frak My Victims!
Bernard Madoff, the author of the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, told inmates at the Butner prison where he is serving his 150 years jail sentence that his victims deserved what happened to them, because they were rich and greedy, according to an article in New York Magazine.
One evening a fellow prisoner kept asking Madoff about the victims of his $65 billion scheme and Madoff, angered, said: "F*** my victims. I carried them for twenty years, and now I'm doing 150 years," the magazine reported.
He was past apologizing and created his own version of events in prison, the magazine wrote. "People just kept throwing money at me," Madoff is said to have told a prison consultant who advised him on how to endure prison life. "Some guy wanted to invest, and if I said no, the guy said, 'What, I'm not good enough?'"
In prison, Madoff is regarded as a success, is admired and has fans, the magazine wrote. It quotes Robert Rosso, who serves life in prison, who wrote on a Web site he founded that Madoff is "a hero. He's arguably the greatest con of all time."
http://www.cnbc.com/id/37551164/
This could explain the fast rise of short-sales. A few weeks ago they were the mark of doom. Now they account for over 50% of sales.
Banks Face Short-Sale Fraud as Home ‘Flopping’ Schemes Spread
June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Two Connecticut real estate agents found a way to profit in the U.S. housing bust: Buy low, sell fast. Their tactic was also illegal.
Sergio Natera and Anna McElaney are scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford’s federal court in August after pleading guilty to fraud. Their crime involved persuading lenders to approve the sale of homes for less than the balance owed -- known as a short sale -- without disclosing that there were better offers. They then flipped the houses for a profit.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Department of Real Estate and mortgage finance company Freddie Mac have warned that such schemes may be spreading after a plunge in values left homeowners owing more than their properties are worth. The scams threaten to deepen losses for lenders that are increasingly agreeing to short sales as an alternative to more costly foreclosures
Anyone know where Cobra Driver might be?
TIA
Arrogant bankers trying to clean up their act NOT!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/37749380#37749380
Authorities reveal mortgage fraud crackdown, 485 arrests
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged 1,215 people in hundreds of mortgage fraud cases that resulted in estimated losses of $2.3 billion, top Obama administration officials said on Thursday, unveiling a crackdown after the housing market collapse.
The administration has been under pressure to root out mortgage fraud and improve oversight of the housing market after the housing bubble touched off a global economic slide and led to a cascade of home foreclosures in the United States.
Over the last three-and-a-half months, authorities have made 485 arrests in the fraud cases, obtained 336 individual convictions and recovered more than $147 million, the Justice Department said.
In one case, two women were arrested on Wednesday and charged with a scheme that targeted the Haitian-American community in Florida and resulted in losses of $1.5 million to lenders from $4.4 million in fraudulent mortgage loans.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Authorities-reveal-mortgage-rb-1109804949.html?x=0&.v=1
(I'm ROTFLMAO over this story ... couldn't happen to a better city, imo.)
Despite heavy LAPD presence, violence breaks out after Lakers' victory
Despite a massive Los Angeles police presence Thursday night, sporadic violence broke out near Staples Center after the Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Crowds hurled bottles and other objects at police, smashed marquees, jumped on vehicles, broke windows, and set rubbish dumpsters and vehicles on fire along Figueroa Street north of Staples Center and on Flower Street.
Police fired non-lethal rounds to disperse the crowd at Figueroa and Venice Boulevard after several small fires were set, as well as at 11th and Hope streets. At 7th and Flower, a car believed to be a taxicab was engulfed in flames.
At least one person was beaten unconscious as fights broke out on Flower Street near Olympic Boulevard. A bicyclist was injured when struck by a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department vehicle near 11th and Flower streets, according to the LAPD.
In all, there were multiple injuries but no loss of life, officials said. One police officer suffered a broken nose (LOL). As night wore on, fire crews responded to many rubbish fires and some vehicle fires, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
(L.A. Times)
(A little OT with the geo-politics here ... but this has to be read to be believed. You have to really stand in awe of the unmitigated chutzpah of the jews -- they think the world literally revolves around them.)
"If Israel goes down, we all go down"
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is inextricably intertwined.
http://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/main/showNews/id/9401
uhhh... all of these articles should be posted to those blogs run by people who are actually alive. ;-p
So did Rob really die? That would seem to be a waste of a lot of expensive heart replacement surgery. A pity.
As long as the readers are alive, the blog is alive.
Hopefully they harvested the Dawg's heart for re-use.
I think we're just waiting around here 'til CobraDriver shows up so we can tell him people on CR are looking for him? Or something?
PM
If you read some non-financal blogs, you will know that Israel has had their Army on alert at least the past 3 weeks on 2 different borders. they are expecting an attack from Iran any day. Their intel has always been worlds better than the CIA.
When it happens, you can expect the Israeli Air Force to take out Iran's oil industy along with any nations that join them. when it happens the price of oil will skyrocket.
Take our stand down on Gulf oil exploration, hard on to do cap & trade, and the smothering of our coal industry, and you can see our country will soon be in a world of hurt when we have no energy of our own. When it costs 8 grand to heat a home for winter, people will scream, but it will be too late.
Right now all one can hope for is the world backs Israel, as Iran is about to be the dog that chased down a car without a plan to of what to do next.
Without international support Israel will take their attackers out, no matter what Obama and Hillary think.
Remember when they shot up a US Navy survallence ship in 68 and fired surface to air missles at an sr71 in 1972. We do not have them on a short leash.
To my way of thinking, it is the most critical problem in the world today. A lot of oil infrastructure can be smoldering metal 2 hours into a Middle East war.
"To my way of thinking, it is the most critical problem in the world today."
Quit reading the brainwashing newspapers, and you might realize that Israel is a lawless pariah just like the United States, and a nuclear loose cannon already rolling around in the Middle East. Iran is nothing to worry about in comparison.
LC
That for confirming what I said sans the political bit.
WHEN the war starts, they will lay waste to the income producing oil infrastructure. They have nothing to lose as Iran will find out.
24 hours into the war, Iran will be saying WTF were we thinking?
Right or wrong, the place is going up in smoke.
Looks like some convicts did real well on the 1st time homebuyer credits.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/23/real_estate/money_stimulus_fraud/index.htm
What are they going to do? Extend the jail time of lifer convicts???
Looks like all the fraudsters were not working at banks...
California moves further down the populist path.
New legislation would treat refis the same as original loans (no recourse)
Look for more states to do the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/business/22default.html
Almost three months Rob.
Was it really that bad?
Is this what it is like for the folks in shadow when the Princes move on?
Almost three months Rob.
Rob died in the middle of April. :-(
A booming enterprise: recycling whole houses.
Recycling is expanding from newspapers and bottles to entire houses as foreclosures, tax credits and landfill costs prompt businesses and non-profit organizations to salvage materials from old homes.
Stores are springing up to sell used lumber, appliances, cabinetry and flooring. Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that builds and rehabs affordable homes, has 550 such retail outlets, called "ReStores." Mark Andrews, Habitat's director of U.S. operations, says the number is growing "almost daily." He expects an additional 100 stores in the next year.
Rob isn't dead. He's pining for the Massachusetts fjords.
Didn't he pick out some place in VT that had an airstrip?
JPMorgan Chase & Co., the first big bank to report its second-quarter earnings, said it had set aside less money to cover losses on failed loans. That is a sign that mortgage and loan defaults may be moderating. But CEO Jamie Dimon kept a cautious tone about future economic growth.
"Earnings are strong," said Sandy Mehta, principal and chief investment officer of Value Investment Principals. "But the underlying economy is not as strong."
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I don't understand how JP Morgan lowering their reserves is a sign that foreclosures are falling. You know what would be a real sign of foreclosures decreasing? People paying their mortgages. Which they're not. So if meaningless profits look good because foreclosures are going down, doesn't that mean that we should actually should be panicked since foreclosures are not going down? And the S&P rallied to end in the green? WTF is wrong with this country?
I am surprised that Rob didn't come out of retirement to write a post about this:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/10/bp-in-oxnard-it-means-beleaguered-painter/#ixzz0uFN6Dqc2
Oh, wait... scrolling down the comments I see he was on it.
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