… calling to wish a happy birthday.
Good thing it didn’t wake up the house lady.
Argh!
How stupid are people? Technologists?
And where were they last year?
Argh squared!
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TECHNOLOGY: Just had a robocall from a car dealer
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Leave a Comment » | 
Technology | Tagged: Economics, Human Factors, stupidity | 
Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
INTERESTING: Time to nuke Freddy and Fannie!
Thursday, July 1, 2010CAPITALJUNE 17, 2010
Rethinking Part of the American Dream
By DAVID WESSEL
*** begin quote ***
In hard-hit Las Vegas, nearly 59% of households own their homes, but only 15% to 19% of households own a home in which they have any equity left.
For many, the American dream of home ownership turned into a nightmare of debt and foreclosure. Some people should rent.
As late as the 1930s, a U.S. mortgage was generally a loan for three to five years, at which time the borrower had to pay it off. Then the government fostered the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage—and eventually the 30—and the concept that the homeowner would pay off principal in monthly installments.
*** end quote ***
Argh!
Several thoughts occur to me here:
① 15 to 20% of homes left with the owners having equity? All those senior citizens who bought retirement homes? That’s astounding.
② Talk about malinvestment. (That’s Austrian economics term. See below.) Detroit, Flint, and Gary are destroying houses to avoid providing gooferment services. We as a society have our wealth destroyed by such action. Are there no homeles there?
③ It would seem that the FTC and the TREASURY / FED / SEC could stop this disaster anytime they want to. Regulations of minimum down payment like stock margins. Rules about honest disclosure. Limits on what banks can resell as “securities”. AND, the biggest rule, the originator get stuck with defaults! No more package it and forget it. (But then we’d see just how crappy the economy is. And, how many banks would be insolvent. It’s in the Gooferment’s interest to keep putting lipstick on the is pig. Pucker up! Guess who’s going ot have to kiss it?
④ I remember reading that Freddy and Fannie make the economy more uncompetitive and more “rigid” in that owning a home meant the workforce could not adapt to new opportunities in new locations. A high percentage of folks renting means they can move more quickly. Didn’t the Mayans force migrations by burning the village and forcing them to move hundreds of miles? Is this our modern equvalent?
⑤ Speaking of Freddy and Fannie, I see where bailing them out is going to be the “mother of all bailouts”. Shouldn’t we put them out of their, and our, misery? Time for a Constitutional Amendment banning all GSEs! (Gooferment Sponsored Entities)
⑥ Why don’t we bring back the 30 year Treasury Bond as a method of financing the deficit and easing the pain we are facing? Or is the GOoferment afraid of what that 30 year rate will be?
⑦ On HGTV, there are a lot of home buyers, some first timers, who are buying big ticket homes with nearly nothing down. Several hundred thousand dollar mortgages and they need “mortgage assistance”, seller paid closing costs, and even the tax credits to make the numbers work at all. And, in the cases of two income “families” (i.e., DINKs), one paycheck is completely going to the mortgage. Isn’t that a recipe for default in a job loss scenario?
⑧ Perhaps, it’s time for multi-generational households (i.e., grandma and grandpa buy with their retirement money; mom, dad, and the grandkids bunk in)? Wasn’t that the model before Social Security allowed Grandparents to escape to Florida? Makes the Grandparent able to dodge the nursing home.
⑨ Interesting that the Wall Street Journal paywall isn’t very encompassing.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinvestment
“Panics do not destroy capital; they merely reveal the extent to which it has been destroyed by its betrayal into hopelessly unproductive works.”
— John Mills, December 11, 1867, on Credit Cycles and the Origin of Commercial Panics
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Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: FRAUD, Gooferment, investments, Meme, Moral Hazard | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
MONEY: Wikipedia’s explanation of “malinvestment” is sparse
Wednesday, June 30, 2010A OPEN EMAIL TO LEW ROCKWELL, A CHAMPION OF AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS
Dear Mister Lew:
Re: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinvestment
Perhaps you could (if you are so moved), or one of your bright interns (you exploiter of the youth), could write an appropriate text for Wikipedia that truly reflect such an important word.
I’d do it, but I’m just a fat old white guy injineer. Remember the sources of my education: I’m just a fat old white guy injineer with: Law “degree” from watching Judge Judy, Medical “degree” from watching Doctor Phil, Building “degree” from watching “Holmes on Homes”, and Investing “degree” from reading about Bernie Made-off.
To which I’ll probably add ekenomicks from reading Mises and Rockwell. Yes, in college, (manhattan college manhattan dot edu), in my economics course, “Human Action” was on the supplemental reading list. And I read it then. Didn’t understand most of it. Surprised? Don’t be; in theology, we had to read a translation of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, Bhagavad Gita, and “Essays in Zen Budhism”. I hated that class; the Professor had a thing for “God and the Ways of Knowing” by Jean Danielou. Even four decades later, I can remember him babbling on about good old Danny Lou. But, those were the days. When Universities were truly about imparting wisdom regardless of the source. Not like today when it’s ersatz “whizdumb”.
In any event, I commend the link for your attention.
fjohn aka alibertarianin08824
behind enemy lines in Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee
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1 Comment | MONEY | Tagged: economic, economic freedom, Economics, Education, Libertarian, LIBERTY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
SERVICE: 750WORDS RECOMMENDED
Wednesday, June 30, 2010*** begin quote ***
Hello, welcome to a little thing called 750 Words
I’ve long been inspired by an idea I first learned about in The Artist’s Way called morning pages. Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in “long hand”, typically done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It’s about getting it all out of your head, and is not supposed to be edited or censored in any way. The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day. Unlike many of the other exercises in that book, I found that this one actually worked and was really really useful.
*** end quote ***
Amusing little site that has a way of getting under your skin.
I’m using it to write my course and my next book.
It sort of fits my early morning persona.
Maybe like Sudoku, it too will ward of the dreaded Alzheimer’s?
No one can see what you write but you can share the automated analysis of that writing.
See me at: http://750words.com/entries/share/174852
ROFL, yeah, I’m that nuts!
Now all I need is a tshirt declaring that I’m an ITSJ and a fat old white guy injineer. (But then I repeat myself.)
LOL!
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Leave a Comment » | RECOMMENDED, SERVICE | Tagged: Human Factors, Meme, RECOMMENDED | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
RANT: Kagan not kosher; she unacceptable to Pro_lifers as well
Tuesday, June 29, 2010http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/rabbis-say-kagan-not-a-kosher-supreme-court-nominee/
Rabbis say Kagan not a ‘kosher’ Supreme Court nominee
*** begin quote ***
Alexandria, Va., Jun 27, 2010 / 06:13 pm (CNA).- According to the National Rabbinical Alliance and its more than 850 Orthodox Jewish members, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is not “kosher,” or fit to serve, on the court.
*** and ***
Spokesman for the Rabbinical Alliance, Rabbi Yehuda Levin, told Cybercast News Service that most groups are happy when “one of their own” is nominated to such a prestigious position. “A great deal has been made about the fact that she would be the second Jewish woman on the court,” Levin noted. “We want to signal to people across the country that we take no pride in this.”
*** end quote ***
Where is the statement by the Catholic Church in the USA that they oppose the nomination?
Where is the public outrage that this Socialist President will appoint an obviously biased “justice”?
Why can’t we see all the papers that she produced as Clinton’s Solicitor General?
Sorry, but I don’t feel very “represented” in this so called representative government!
Argh!
And, she’s “young”. Can’t BHO44 appoint a nice old judge? Say 75! At least if it’s a mistake we won’t have to suffer very long!
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Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: Abortion, Obama | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
RANT: Remember Sotomayor? Oppose Kagan!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010Sonia Sotomayor testified that the RKBA was an individual right, then proceeded to vote against it.
Kagan will do the same thing.
Yesterday’s 5-4 is hanging on by a thread!
How dumb are these Senators?
Lied to their face to be approved and then do what you want with a lifetime appointment.
Argh!
Let’s make a rule that SCOTUS nominees must be 75 years old. Sort of a natural form of term limits.
Or, at least they have to be a judge or not a lawyer.
Argh!
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Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Tagged: RKBA | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
TINFOILHAT: JFK
Tuesday, June 29, 2010http://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2010/06/jfk-and-rfk-plots-that-killed-them.html
TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2010
JFK and RFK: The Plots that Killed Them, The Patsies that Didn’t
James Fetzer
Voltairenet
13 June 2010
*** begin quote ***
The demise of the “magic bullet” alone establishes conspiracy.
*** end quote ***
It’s hard not to have a tin foil hat when you read these “pages” that blow the lid. To me, even as a kid, that crappy gun that Oswald purportedly used was prima facie evidence that the story didn’t wash. Now that I know even more about guns, it’d have to be a miracle.
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Leave a Comment » | TINFOILHAT | Tagged: JFK | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
SERVICE: VERIZON text from web is poorly designed
Monday, June 28, 2010Argh!
I sent a text message from the Verizon web site. (Yes, I was signed in despite the website’s design flaws about sign in.)
It gave me a response.
So I went merely on my way.
Never received a response. So I “texted” again from my cell this time.
I get a return phone call from the recipient asking me “if I’ve lost my mind”.
They received it and replied.
So, now I go check on the website and it’s like “what text message”.
If I have a tracking number AND the recipient, it can check.
Argh!
I don’t have the 27 digit tracking number. (OK, I made that part up about 27 digit. But it’s a lot.)
And, apparently it doesn’t log it anywhere on the machine. Or, warn you that you’re goign to need it.
But where did the response go?
Argh! Squared!!
Verizon — not recommended. (Not that any of the others are much better from what I understand.)
Argh! Cubed!!!
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Leave a Comment » | SERVICE | Tagged: Not Recommended | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
INTERESTING: It’s the Gooferment’s fault; not BP’s
Monday, June 28, 2010http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdZ5LCNmvFQ&feature=player_embedded
June 26, 2010
Calm Judge Napolitano vs. Excitable Shep Smith
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Interesting the 75$M liability cap allowed BP to proceed without insurance. Interesting that the Gooferment predicted that spilled oil wouldn’t reach the shore. Interesting that the Gooferment immunizes itself and its bureaucrats from being held responsibile.
Argh!
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Leave a Comment » | INTERESTING | Tagged: Gooferment | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
NATIONAL: One uniform form for all health billing?
Monday, June 28, 2010http://www.docuticker.com/?p=35251
Saving Billions Of Dollars—And Physicians’ Time—By Streamlining Billing Practices
Source: Health Affairs
*** begin quote ***
The U.S. system of billing third parties for health care services is complex, expensive, and inefficient. Physicians end up using nearly 12 percent of their net patient service revenue to cover the costs of excessive administrative complexity. A single transparent set of payment rules for multiple payers, a single claim form, and standard rules of submission, among other innovations, would reduce the burden on the billing offices of physician organizations. On a national scale, our hypothetical modeling of these changes would translate into $7 billion of savings annually for physician and clinical services. Four hours of professional time per physician and five hours of practice support staff time could be saved each week.
*** end quote ***
A uniform billing process. Now that’s a good idea. Even statewide that could be a winner. But why does it have to be imposed. Surely all involved can see how this would benefit the industry. I smell the government with politicians and bureaucrats all wanting to claim credit.
Doesn’t medicare have such a thing?
Seems like Frodo’s ring. One ring to rule them all?
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Leave a Comment » | NATIONAL | Tagged: Health Care, NATIONAL | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj
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