OldController

Home Prices Have Bottomed?

2009-11-26T10:27:00.006-05:00

Not here they haven't. Found by way of Instapundit.

One statement the blogger makes is that the next wave of foreclosures will be spread out over a few years, rather than hammering us all at once, and there is "little empirical evidence to support the notion that a tidal wave of foreclosures is about to hit."

They're not talking about South Carolina. And as I've said before, anytime someone says something about the real estate market that includes the word "nationwide" you should stop listening. There is no such thing as a "nationwide" real estate market.

South Carolina lags behind the rest of the US in a lot of things. I don't know why, it just does. Our recovery will happen after the rest of the US's recovery. That's just the way it works. And we haven't hit bottom in the real estate market. And we're about to get hammered by a wave of foreclosures (anyone who reads the legal notices in the paper when they come out every Friday, and sometimes other days, knows this). This will have the effect of driving down prices still further.

Then there's this, source here (it's a .pdf). Click to embiggen.

Home prices in SC have been declining since the first quarter of 2007.

Things are bad. They're about to get worse. They'll get better after that, but how long that takes is anybody's guess. It'll be awhile. I know the tendency in certain circles is to try to talk things up, sound optimistic, say things are getting better.

But they aren't. Not right now. They will; the economy, like everything else is the universe, is cyclical. And it works better without government interference, but that's a whole 'nother topic.

Lecture over. Going to the in-laws' for Thanksgiving now. Hubby is staying behind, he has to go to work. *sigh*

Microsoft's Giving Money Away, Again

2009-11-25T14:46:00.001-05:00

From the ol' e-mail box a few minutes ago. Short and stupid.

You've won (£500,000.00) send info full name, address , age,country.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009 1:40 PM
From: "Microsoft Corporation" < ms.claimsdept@hotmail.co.uk >
To: undisclosed-recipients

In its entirety.

PrezBO Accomplishes Something No Other President Has Accomplished

2009-11-25T11:04:00.002-05:00

Although it doesn't really come under "Nobel Prize" territory.

Fox News article, no byline.

The federal government spent $3.5 trillion during President Obama's first year in office. This far exceeds the spending for any other first-year president.

President Obama has shattered the budget record for first-year presidents -- spending nearly double what his predecessor did when he came into office and far exceeding the first-year tabs for any other U.S. president in history.

More at the link. Go read the whole thing.

Venting

2009-11-25T10:28:00.007-05:00

So, I've been sending out postcards to my "sphere of influence" (people I know) every month for 4 1/2 years. I send calendars to put on their refrigerators, too. The objective being that if or when they decide to buy a house or list theirs they'll call me.

Today I checked the Hot Sheet, as I do every day, to see what's going on. And two of my sphere of influence contacts, who are married to each other so maybe they actually only count as one and who are in the community concert band with me, listed their house with someone else.

Four and half freakin' years of postcards and magnetic calendars, for nothing. I resolve not to let it bother me, but not until I'm done having my snit.

*sigh*

Oh, well. I have to take them off the mailing lists now.

This Is Stupid, I'm Posting It Anyway

2009-11-25T09:51:00.010-05:00

It's a blog, not a news service. Plus, if I can't be stupid here, where can I be?

Well, everywhere, if I want to, but still.

Anyway.

The Kentucky census worker who was found hanged, and whose death was treated as suspicious until the investigation was completed, committed suicide. The suicide was staged in such a way as to create the impression that he was murdered because his life insurance policy would not pay out if he committed suicide. CNN article here.

Lots of blogs were quick to jump on the intial theory that he was murdered. Instapundit has a link to a blog which contains a list of blogs who, as he says, owe apologies for their reaction. Glenn Beck was blamed, as was Michelle Bachman, Robert Taft and Father Coughlin. Right-wing pundits and conservatives in general were vilified as encouraging violence against people who disagreed with them.

Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs was right in there with the rest of the shriekers. He has a post up (I prefer not to link, you can find his blog, I'm pretty sure, and just scroll down to the post entitled "Update: Ky Census Worker Committed Suicide") about the suicide determination. In an update to that post, he says he's received "several angry emails" demanding an apology for saying the man "had been murdered by a right-wing extremist."

He says he never said that. Instead he posts what he said at the time. Pay close attention to the verbiage. Emphasis is mine, btw, because I think the particular word I bolded is important.

There's not enough information yet to say for sure what was behind this killing, so let's not jump to conclusions. But the description of the circumstances and the timing (around the time of the Washington DC tea party) raises a strong suspicion that anti-government sentiment may have been the motivation.

As an admission that he was wrong, it's so weak as to be nonexistent. He didn't actually say it was right-wing extremists (as he sees the Tea Party folks). He just implied that they were somehow responsible (nudge-nudge, wink-wink).

Not the same thing at all.

[Insert disbelieving eye-roll here.]

What a weenie.

Edit to add: Actually, he says in the most recent post that he most definitely does not apologize. So, he just managed to beclown himself. With confirmation.

Laser Surgery to Correct Presbyopia

2009-11-24T07:47:00.002-05:00

Found by way of Instapundit.

Looks promising, so far. Not available in the US yet. Sure would be great to not have to wear glasses anymore.

More at the link, if you're interested.

Okay, Check This Out

2009-11-23T23:16:00.007-05:00

PhotoBucket just sent me an e-mail, offering an ability to customize my laptop, screensaver, mobile phone, etc. They pulled a photo from the ones I've saved to my account there. They pulled the most recent one.

Check it out. Click to embiggen.

It's an offer to customize my laptop (or other device) with a photo of my client the scam artist.

I LOL'd, I sure did.

Why We Need a Test to Determine Who Should Be Parents, and Who Should Not

2009-11-23T10:43:00.004-05:00

Found in several places, including Patterico's Pontifications.

Some people should not be allowed to have children, theirs or anyone else's. They're just not suited to be parents. They're abusive, or substance-dependent, or just plain too stupid to be allowed responsibility for another person.

A man spoke only Klingon to his son for the child's first three years of life. The kid's 15 now, and presumably has adjusted well to life among Terrans, but still....

What an idiot.

The UN Has Determine That Climate Change Pushes Women Into Prostitution

2009-11-23T10:06:00.005-05:00

Found by way of Neal Boortz.

Sounds like the start of a joke, doesn't it? It isn't. Not kidding. GMA News article by Joseph Holandes Ubalde.

The effects of climate change have driven women in communities in coastal areas in poor countries like the Philippines into dangerous work, and sometimes even the flesh trade, a United Nations official said.

Suneeta Mukherjee, country representative of the United Nations Food Population Fund (UNFPA), said women in the Philippines are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change in the country.

“Climate change could reduce income from farming and fishing, possibly driving some women into sex work and thereby increase HIV infection," Mukherjee said during the Wednesday launch of the UNFPA annual State of World Population Report in Pasay City.

The UN springs into action.... Oh, wait, it didn't.

Population is on the rise in the Philippines. Might be all that... um... prostitution, maybe? Well, the babies are coming from somewhere. The seas are being overfished, so as to feed the burgeoning population.

This paragraph is noteworthy:

The UNFPA noted that the temperature in the earth’s surface has risen 0.74 degrees Celsius in the past 100 years. The 10 warmest years globally since 1880 have also been recorded in the last 13 years.

0.74 degrees Celsius?

And the 10 warmest years globally since 1880 have not occurred in the past several years, when global temps have actually dropped.

It's the sun, people. As long as the sun remains in a period of low activity, we're going to get colder.

Which is, of course, why they stopped calling it "global warming" and are now calling it "climate change."

Still ain't man-made, though. It's the sun.

More at the link, if you can stand it.

Freedom of Speech Applies to People We Disagree With, Too

2009-11-23T09:54:00.006-05:00

Found by way of Neal Boortz.

Freedom of speech means nothing unless it is extended to everyone (or at least American citizens, not just people who think they should be covered under our Constitution and Bill of Rights in spite of the fact they aren't American citizens and don't even live in the US, don't get me started).

I happen to think the car dealership owner is wrong, I don't agree with his statements on the billboard. The whole "birth certificate" foofaraw is on the far side of silly.

But ... he paid for the billboard and he's handling the consequences of his choice. He knew there would be people who disagreed with him (although I wonder if he realized that some of the disagreement would involve death threats, how mature and nuanced) and cries of "Racist!" But he bought the billboard space and had displayed what he wanted to say and he has that right.

And people who disagree with him can wait until his contract expires, buy the billboard space and have posted what they want to say. Or they can buy billboard space nearby and have it displayed sooner.

Sheez.

Video: Kitteh Answers the Phone

2009-11-23T09:15:00.002-05:00

I think he just wanted to make it stop chirping.

Shamelessly stolen from ICanHasCheezburger.

Wells Fargo Account Information

2009-11-20T00:08:00.003-05:00

From the ol' e-mail box a few minutes ago. Spelling errors left intact as it's not nearly as funny otherwise.

Account Notice
Thursday, November 19, 2009 3:04 PM
From: "Wells Fargo" < notice@wellsfargo.com >
To: undisclosed-recipients
Dear Wells Fargo Member,

During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedure, we have detected a slight error in your information.

This might be due to either of the following reasons:

1. A recent change in your personal information (i.e. change of address).
2. An innability to accurately verify your selected option of subscription due to an internal error within our processors.

Please update and verify your information by clicking the link below:

http://92.15932963/includes/js/.https:/www.wellsfargo.com.html

If the link in your email message does not work, please copy and paste it into your browser.

If your account information is not updated within 48 hours then your ability to use your WeIIs Fargo account could become restricted.

Sincerely,

2009 Wells Fargo. All rights reserved.

I don't recommend going to that URL, I expect a hostile virus awaits.

Plus, I don't have a Wells Fargo account.

Goobers.

I Won a Spanish Lottery!

2009-11-19T16:11:00.005-05:00

At least I think that's what it is. From the ol' e-mail box a few minutes ago. Grammar errors left intact as it's not nearly as funny otherwise.

ATTN EMAIL ID USER
Thursday, November 19, 2009 3:50 PM
From:
"ABC SWEEP STAKE" < abcsweepsta@terra.es >
To: undisclosed-recipients
ABC Lotteria Online Stake Coupon 3 5 32 36 59 70
Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that this e-mail address was entered during
the ABC Lotteria Online Stake selection Draw and has won the sum of 750,000:00 Euros from ABC LOTTERIA Stake held on the 18th of November, 2009.Your fund is now deposited with a finance institution and insured in your email and name.
Contact the verification/claims department below with your name, serial and lucky numbers, address, age,telephone number and winning email address.
Mr. Benjamin Martinez
Mrs. Roslyn Pestana
Tel: 00 34-666-692-632
All corresponding emails must be sent to
Email: claimsgroup@terra.es
Email: claimsgroup@sify.com
Warning: To be eligible for claims, winner must be 18 years and above.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. V.J. Rodriguez
http://loteria.abc.es

Very believable, no?

No. Of it goes to spam@uce.gov.

"From the Buried Lede Department: 75 to Be Held Without Trial"

2009-11-18T15:54:00.003-05:00

Washington Post article by Perry Bacon Jr. here.

Scroll down to paragraph 12:

Administration officials say they expect that as many as 40 of the 215 detainees at Guantanamo will be tried in federal court or military commissions. About 90 others have been cleared for repatriation or resettlement in a third country, and about 75 more have been deemed too dangerous to release but cannot be prosecuted because of evidentiary issues and limits on the use of classified material.

Emphasis mine. More at the links.

So, 75 of the Gitmo detainees will continue to be held with no hope of trials.

Imagine, if you will, the Bush Administration making such an announcement. The hue and cry would be considerable.

But when the Obama Administration does it, why, it's okay, isn't it? No harm done. Besides, those guys aren't even American citizens.

Right?

Yet Another Reason to Be Glad I Don't Live in England

2009-11-18T10:22:00.005-05:00

Found by way of Neal Boortz, more at Cato@Liberty.

A Brit former soldier finds a gun in his yard and turns it over to the police. His reward is to be tried and convicted of possessing a firearm. He may be sentenced to five years in prison.

You can't make this stuff up. Then again, you don't have to.

Yikes.

LOLDog of the Day (So Far)

2009-11-18T10:13:00.001-05:00

see more dog and puppy pictures

Shamelessly stolen from IHasaHotDog.

Bomb-Proof Wallpaper

2009-11-18T10:09:00.001-05:00

Found by way of Instapundit.

Best Of What's New 2009: Bombproof Wallpaper Test from PopSci.com on Vimeo.

Cool. Very, very cool.

Stimulus?

2009-11-18T08:47:00.005-05:00

Saw this in the paper this morning, wanted to share it with you.

It seems the stimulus has been "creating" jobs and billions in taxpayer fundages are being issued to congressional districts all over the U. S. -- that don't exist.

It's happening in SC, too. From The State article by James Rosen:

In South Carolina, www.recovery.gov reported $40.7 million in economic-stimulus money had gone to seven nonexistent congressional districts - including District 00 and District 25.

South Carolina only has six U.S. House districts, Nos. 1-6.

The Web site, the official federal online portal for tracking distributions from the $787 billion stimulus program, compounded the error by saying 46 jobs - 46.4, to be exact - have been "saved or created" with the recovery money in the seven districts.

Government-run health care will, of course, be better.

We are screwed.

A Question

2009-11-17T12:47:00.005-05:00

So, if you're a citizen of New York and you get a letter to report for jury duty, with the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four of his cronies coming up, do you show up? Or do you come up with a really excellent reason to be unavailable?

I wonder how long it will take al Qaeda to intimidate the first jurist's family.

Me, I'd be moving.

Word of Advice for People Looking for a Place to Rent

2009-11-17T12:07:00.004-05:00

If you borrow a key from an agency listing a rental property, you have to take the key back to the agency you borrowed it from. You can't just drive into any old agency and hand them the key with the expectation that they will return it to the appropriate agency for you. You have to return it yourself.

A woman came in this morning with a key that belonged to another agency and wanted to give it to us. We didn't take it. Our admin person gave her directions on how to get to the right place.

I wonder why she didn't know where to go to return it, assuming she was the person who picked the key up in the first place. Was she not driving? Or just being stupid in public?

Sheez.

That "Tax Credit" You Got Will Cost You in Taxes

2009-11-17T11:08:00.004-05:00

The title link takes you to Neal Boortz's site, from whence you can click on the link he has there to read the article. It's an AP article, and I can't afford to link to the AP.

That $400-$800 tax credit the Obama Administration enacted last spring? It's taxable. Yeah, I knew it at the time, as did anyone else who bothers to pay attention. Not that the Obama Administration made a point of that, because they just wanted us all to think about how nice they were being, giving us a tax break and all. Retirees who received the tax credit and also the $250 check sent to Social Security recipients have to pay more in taxes, also.

It's all taxable.

You're welcome.

Elections have consequences.

"$10,000 Per Congressional Motors Car Sold"

2009-11-17T10:51:00.006-05:00

Found by way of Neal Boortz.

The auto industry bailout cost us taxpayers about $10,000 per vehicle sold.

So -- that means each of us has an interest in every GM vehicle sold. Does that mean we can confiscate one at will, drive it whenever we want to?

Hmmm.

And if GM and Chrystler don't survive, which is looking likely, the amount increases to about $10,700 per 2009-2010 vehicle sold.

Aren't you glad your tax dollars are being so well spent? And they're talking about another bailout, too. Lovely.

"Attn: Honorable Beneficiary"

2009-11-16T19:40:00.003-05:00

From the ol' e-mail box a few minutes ago. Grammar and syntax errors left intact as it's not nearly as funny otherwise. Even without them, though, it would be pretty darned funny.

Attn: Honorable Beneficiary
Monday, November 16, 2009 6:08 PM
From: "Lt General Hassan Mustapha" < genhmustapha865@wje2rha96.homepage.t-online.de >
To: undisclosed-recipients
Attn: Honorable Beneficiary
Based on our investigations, we wish to warn you against some Miscreants, Hoodlums and Touts who go about scamming innocent people by claiming to be who they are not and
thereby tarnishing the image of this wonderful country. I am Lt General Hassan Mustapha (Rtd),National Security Adviser to the new Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
I am delighted to inform you that the contract panel which just concluded its seating in Abuja, just released your name among listed beneficiaries to benefit from the Diplomatic
Immunity Payment. This Panel was primarily delegated to investigate manipulated inheritance claims, contracts and over-invoiced payment as the effect has eaten deep into the
economy of our dear country.
However, we wish to bring to your notice that your contract profile is still reflecting in our central computer as unpaid beneficiary while auditing was going on. Your payment file was
forwarded to my office by the auditors as unclaimed fund, we wish to use this medium to inform you that for the time being, the Federal Government of Nigeria have stopped further
payment through bank to bank transfer due to beneficiaries numerous petitions to United Nations against Nigeria on wrong payment and diversion of contract/inheritance funds to
different accounts.
In this regards, we are going to send your contract part payment of $4.1 Million USD to you via our accredited shipping company and I have secured every needed documents to cover the money while the diplomat will get it delivered to you right in your door step.
Note: The money is coming in 2 security proof boxes. The boxes are sealed with synthetic nylon seal and padded with machine. Please you don't have to worry for anything as the
transaction is 100% risk free.
The consignment will be coming with a Diplomatic agent, who will accompany the boxes to your house address. All you need to do now is to send to me, your full house address and
your identity such as, international passport or drivers license and your mobile or fixed telephone number as the Diplomatic Agent will travel with it and will call you immediately he
arrives to your country's airport. I hope you understand me.
Bear in mind that the diplomat does not know the original contents of the boxes. What i declared to them as the contents is Sensitive Photographic Film Materials for security reasons.
I did not declare money to them please. If they call you and ask you the contents please tell them the same thing Ok. I will let you know how far I have gone with this arrangement.
Lastly, I will secure the Diplomatic Immunity Clearance Certificate (D..I.C.C) which will make him pass every custom checkpoint all over the world without any hitch. Confirm the receipt
of this message and send the requirements to me immediately because your boxes are scheduled to leave as soon as we hear from you.
Best Regards,
Lt Hassan Mustapha (Rtd).
National Security Advisor to the President
Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Tel: +234 806-9720870(direct line 24hours open)

Miscreants, Hoodlums and Touts, oh my.

"CMS: House Health Bill Will Hike Costs $289B"

2009-11-16T15:09:00.005-05:00

Found by way of Hugh Hewitt.

Full report here, it's a .pdf and 31 pages long.

Salient (IMHO) quotes:

Page 2:

"Because of these transition effects and the fact that most of the provisions would be in effect for only 7 of the 10 years of the budget period, the cost estimates shown in this memorandum do not represent a full 10-year cost for the proposed legislation."

Translation: We don't really know if the Democrats' claims to be able to cut health care costs with this bill are accurate, or smoke-and-mirrors.

Page 3:

"By calendar year 2019, the mandates, coupled with the Medicare expansion, would reduce the number of uninsured from 57 million, as projected under current law, to an estimated 23 million under H.R. 3962."

Translation: In ten years, 23 million people will still be uninsured.

Page 8:

"It is important to note that the estimated savings shown in this memorandum for one category of Medicare proposals may be unrealistic. H.R. 3962 would introduce permanent annual productivity adjustments to price updates for institutional providers (such as acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies), using a 10-year moving average of economy-wide productivity gains. While such payment update reductions would provide a strong incentive for institutional providers to maximize efficiency, it is doubtful that many could improve their own productivity to the degree achieved by the economy at large. Over time, a sustained reduction in payment updates, based on productivity expectations that are difficult to attain, would cause Medicare payment rates to grow more slowly than, and in a way that was unrelated to, the providers' costs of furnishing services to beneficiaries. Thus, providers for whom Medicare constitutes a substantive portion of their business could find it difficult to remain profitable and might end their participation in the program (possibly jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries). While this policy could be monitored over time to avoid such an outcome, so doing would likely result in significantly smaller actual savings than shown here for these provisions."

Translation: Increased costs will drive some providers out of business.

Page 10:

"We show a negligible financial impact over the next 10 years for the other proposals intended to help control future health care cost growth. There is no consensus in the available literature or among experts that prevention and wellness efforts result in lower costs. Several prominent studies conclude that such provisions -- while improving the quality of individuals' lives in important ways -- generally increase costs overall. For example, while it is possible that savings for many people by diagnosing diseases in early stages and promoting lifestyle and behavioral changes that reduce the risk for serious and costly illnesses, additional costs are incurred as a result of increased screenings, preventive care, and extended years of life.

"Regarding the general fraud and abuse and administrative simplification provisions (that is, excluding the Medicare and Medicaid proposals), we find the language as it now reads is not sufficiently specific to provide estimates."

Translation: This bill is likely to cost us more than we realize. And there's no way to determine even a ballpark estimate of what fraud is going to cost us.

Pages 16-17:

"Total national health expenditures in the U.S. during 2010-2019 would increase by about 0.8 percent. The additional demand for health services could be difficult to meet initially with existing health provider resources and could lead to price increases, cost-shifting, and/or changes in providers' willingness to treat patients with low-reimbursement health coverage."

Translation: It's going to cost us more than the Democrats are telling us it will.

Page 17:

"With the exception of the proposed reductions in Medicare payment updates for institutional providers, the provisions of H.R. 3962 would not have a significant impact on future health care cost growth rates. In addition, the longer-term viability of the Medicare update reductions is doubtful."

Translation: It's not going to save us any money. It's going to cost more. And Medicare cost reductions are smoke-and-mirrors.

*sigh*

"America's First Pacific President"

2009-11-16T14:55:00.003-05:00

Found by way of PowerLine.

He was born in Hawaii and lived for a time, when he was a child, in Indonesia. As I've said before, even I have more foreign policy experience than he does. He didn't get a vote about where he was when he was born nor did he get a vote about where he grew up. He was where he was because the grownups made a decision.

He really seems to think where he grew up matters.

To quote John Hinderaker:

One seriously hesitates to draw the conclusion that Barack Obama is a fool, no matter how strongly the evidence may point in that direction. But what are we to make of a man who is ignorant of history; who is ignorant of economics; who despises his own country; and who appears to believe that awareness of his own wonderfulness is enough to guide him? To put it charitably, he has a great deal to learn, and not much time to learn it.

We are screwed.