07:30 – The morning paper says that Greece is officially in default and Puerto Rico might as well be. No surprise here. That’s what happens when spendthrift governments borrow money that they can’t print more of. The question is, why do investors lend money to deadbeats that they know are deadbeats?
Work on science kits continues.
11:50 – Our real-estate agent has sent us several more possibilities, including a couple that are in “move-in” condition. I’m trying to be as flexible as possible, because I want to get moved and settled in by this autumn. We’re not sure yet when Barbara will retire from her current job, but I hope it’s in the next 3 or 4 months.
I told her that the bulk of the moving tasks would fall on her, simply because I have to keep business operations as normal as possible. That means she’ll be doing most of the packing, other than kit stuff. Our new house will be only 1.5 hours away from our current one, so we have the luxury of being able to move in stages. We’ll concentrate first on getting the essentials into the new place, so we can sleep/eat in either place. We’ll gradually get more stuff moved up there until we’re eventually ready to have a moving company move all the furniture and so on. And the whole time I need to be able to ship kits from either place.
12:22 – Well, it’s official. Barbara’s last day of work is 30 September, which is just about ideal. She’ll probably be using her accrued paid-time-off between now and then by taking Fridays off when there’s stuff to be done. Next up, we need to figure out health insurance. There are several options, including COBRA and Obamacare. Also, Barbara has 20 years in with the Forsyth County Public Library, which is part of the NC state retirement system. She hasn’t officially retired from the library, but we’ll look into that as a health-care option for her since the NC retirement system provides retirement benefits to retirees.
Meanwhile, with Barbara going full-time with our company, I’m going to look into setting up an employee benefits arrangement that would, for example, reimburse all medical costs not covered by insurance, including co-pays, drug costs, and deductibles. That’s a legitimate business perk and a legitimate deduction. I’m also looking into setting up a SHOP Obamacare account, which would pay health insurance premium for all full-time employees and be deductible from business income. If we go with a Platinum plan, I may even be able to get our personal income down to a level that’d make the company eligible for subsidies. Wouldn’t that be ironic?
Because the government will bail them out, directly or indirectly and according to the politics of the deadbeat.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black (pun intended, couldn’t resist) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/06/30/jimmy-carter-hits-obama-on-foreign-policy-calls-accomplishments-minimal/
It seems to me that they need to put all government-owned assets in Greece up for auction, with the proceeds going directly to creditors.
@RBT,
Haven’t they already put all their asset up as collateral, either explicitly or implicitly?
You can’t sell what you don’t own…
nick
I have a strong feeling that the Greek and Puerto Rican situations will, in the end, cost Mr. and Mrs. Boobus Americanus Taxpayer. Countries (and commonwealths) are too big too fail, ya know.
Gee whiz, another day of steady drenching rain here. More inside grunge and scut work, I guess.
Well of course they will. US taxpayers are on the hook for most of what the IMF won’t be recovering from Greece, and we’ll end up having to pay probably 100% of the $100+ billion that Puerto Rico owes, including paying their unfunded pension liabilities.
Don’t you understand? This is the not-so-new deal. The US pays for everything. Not just trillions for defending rich countries that should be paying for that themselves. Not just trillions more for the worthless leeches that fill our cities. Not just trillions in excess drug costs so that rich countries, including the UK and Canada, can get those medications for their manufacturing costs. We pay for everything, because we’re rich and that’s not fair.
What’s not fair, us paying, or all those people suffering if we don’t pay??
Say, I just saw another email with a link to a story that the WH actually DID get lit up with rainbow colors after that SCOTUS caper–is that for real or just whacky web b.s.? Ain’t got time to fact-check it this AM; too much stuff going on here.
It’s hard to say. There are a lot of PhotoShop wizards in the world that can do things with photos that will blow your mind as to just how realistic they look. This photo seems more realistic than most (many have impossible high levels of color saturation and unrealistically distinct transitions from color to color): http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_dc_obama_rainbow_150630.nbcnews-fp-360-200.jpg
Here’s a graph from the BBC as to who owns Greece’s debt:
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/78D6/production/_83943903_who_owns_greeces_deb_v2_624.png
@ofd,
I saw a picture that looked real in that the colors were washed out and it looked like what I would expect from actual lights.
Having done this sort of thing in the past, I’d say they would have to know in advance by at least a couple of days, more if they weren’t willing to spend money to set it up and NOT use it if the decision went the other way.
A skilled production company with a good crew could throw something like that together pretty quickly, but given the realities of working around the Whitehouse, I’d say it took a couple of days to set up, and preparatory meetings, etc for at least a week or two ahead of that. All that is given pre-approved contractors with cleared crew, payment mechanism in place, and a desire to get it done.
nick
No Photoshop, this link has LGBT-Obola taking credit:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/06/30/for-obama-rainbow-white-house-was-a-moment-worth-savoring/
If Obama told me it was raining outside, I’d go look before I’d believe him.
So they spent the money and got ready “just in case.”
Well, every dollar “gay rights groups” spend on parties is a dollar they don’t have elsewhere.
It’s a powerful image and one that was probably worth the money for them.
Kind of reduces the dignity of the office in my mind.
Classic ’90’s funk, George Clinton with “Paint the White House Black”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxl4lQ8tmdM&list=RDDxl4lQ8tmdM&index=1
nick
Today, we are all Greeks. Our day will come here in the USA. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week, but maybe in ten years. Surely in twenty years.
I can fix the financial problems in the USA but you will not like my solution. So, the financial problems will be kicked down the gutter for another day.
“So they spent the money and got ready “just in case.””
Apparently there was no “just in case;” it was a done deal, a bag job, and already known. That’s what we have ruling us now.
“Today, we are all Greeks.”
Ha. Today we are all gay Greeks, and if they have their way, gay Greeks with no money and no guns.
“Our day will come here in the USA. Not today, not tomorrow, not next week, but maybe in ten years. Surely in twenty years.”
The thing is, our day COULD come this afternoon, or within the next 48 hours; that’s all it would take, realistically. I think it will come a LOT sooner than 20 years, but hey, we’ll split the diff and say 10, and hope it’s at LEAST that, so we can all get our chit together, hermanos y hermanas.
The nooz this AM on VPR is the Greek thing, the Puerto Rican mess, and how we just reopened diplomatic relations with Cuber and Lurch will head down there later this month. Makes me wonder what other chit is going on that they don’t want us looking at.
The truly important distinction between Greece, Puerto Rico, et al. and the US federal government is that the latter can create as much money as it wants to while the former cannot.
Obviously, each dollar that is created from nothing reduces the value of all existing dollars and amounts to a tax on assets. That’s the whole idea. The federal government gets the initial benefit from those inflated dollars, because they spend them first, when they’re accepted at par value.
Can this continue indefinitely? No, but it can continue for a long, long time. Until the dollar is inflated so badly that people stop accepting it. When will that happen? Probably not in our lifetimes. The federal government is very, very good at managing inflation. The whole catastrophic inflation meme is very unlikely to occur for a very long time, and it’s just about impossible for the dollar to lose its status as the world’s reserve currency. What could possibly take its place? Any other currency would be even worse. Meanwhile, smart people are getting out of dollars and into tangible assets.
“Meanwhile, smart people are getting out of dollars and into tangible assets.”
There it is.
Here, outside of the monthly bills, it’s going to tangible assets. Although we’d like to accelerate the paying off of our mortgage and the previous tax “obligations.” When I get some revenue cooking here, that will be a little easier. Right now it’s a hard row to hoe, though.
The rain continues; we’d really like to send most of it out West, as we feel we have enough; the pier is underwater again and the landscape is wottuh-logged.
“David Stockman Shock Blog: The Real Unemployment Rate Is 42.9%”
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/06/30/david_stockman_shock_blog_the_real_unemployment_rate_is_42_9
The USA unemployment is definitely way more than 5.5%. These dudes are claiming 23%.
http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/unemployment-charts
The Unemployment rate is easy to figure. Take whatever Oburcula says and add 50%.
More email woes for HILLARY! I wonder if she is waning and Obiden is rising. Some of my tangible assets will be popcorn and ginger ale for the upcoming show. I don’t know which will be better the Redumblicans or Dumbocrats.
Trump 2016!
Just off the top of my head, I’d guess the real unemployment rate is around 70% or 75%.
I think I use a reasonable definition. In addition to those that even the government admits are unemployed, you have to add in those “long-term” unemployed who are no longer looking for work because there’s no point to doing so. Then you have to add in those who are “employed” only because of government mandate. In this group, you can include most personnel/HR people, all people whom corporations have been forced to hire to fill positions that are needed to comply with government mandates on equal opportunity, etc. All of these groups are 100% unemployed because they’re not doing anything productive, which is to say something that people would voluntarily pay for in a free market.
Then you have to add in the massive number of people who are net tax consumers, using some weighting percentage. Most of the military, for example, are deadwood, as are essentially 100% of federal politicians and bureaucrats. Everyone drawing government benefits, including those on SS and disability, are unemployed. Local politicians and government employees, and, to a lesser extent, state politicians and employees, should have a factor from about 0.1 to 0.9 applied to them, because a fraction of them (e.g. police, firemen, health inspectors) are doing work that would need to be done in a free market, but as government employees are overpaid grossly. For example, I’d count a cop who’s paid, say, $45,000/year as counting as 50% of an employed person because that cop is drawing probably twice or more in salary and benefits as he could earn in a free market.
Federal Review Faults Police Response to Ferguson Protests
Gee! If only the cops coulda been nicer!
This may all be part of the plan. Drag out the dirty laundry in the first half of 2015. Talk it and analyze it to death until the public is bored with it and no longer gives a shit when 2016 comes around and the campaigns swing into high gear. She doesn’t really have a lot of new dirty laundry to air. Most of her shady dealings were exposed in 1992 when her husband ran for the Presidency, in 2000 when she ran for Senate, and in 2008 when she ran for President for the first time. She has the luxury of going into 2016 with all of her skeletons out of the closet and collecting dust. She also has the benefit of having the Clinton last name (think what you will, but people, especially minorities and the underclass, love him), and the US Senate and Secretary of State on her resume. Finally, toss into the mix the obsession the country currently has with making social changes and the fact that she’d be the first female President is a huge plus for her too.
At this point, I’d say she’s a very serious contender.
Well, part of the universal acceptance of the dollar
iswas the requirement to use it for petroleum trades. That is no longer true, and is becoming more untrue with each passing day. Some of our enemies got tired of our money printing and sanctions and world dominance and started settling petroleum trades in rubles and yuan. Then they set up an alternative to the SWIFT bank settlement system. Then they set up an alternative to the World Bank.The players on the other side of the game board have not been idle, and they have decided that the pain and disruption was finally worth it to make the changes. That decision could have been helped along by our current distraction and weakness on the world stage.
The one thing history shows time and time again is that nothing lasts forever. We’ve had a nice run since Bretton Woods, but the other players are working to change the rules.
We have pissed away any moral authority we had.
We have pissed away the industrial might we once had.
We are pissing away the military might we once had.
We have pissed away our vast natural resources.
We are pissing away our birthright to be free people.
We have let the invader into our midst, and instead of waking up one day to find that he has become us, we find that we have become HIM.
nick
Predicting the timeline is hard, and I’m convinced everything takes longer than you think, but it’s been a long time NOW. It’s coming and it’s coming soon. It’s a confidence thing. And the confidence is starting to break.
We’re past the point where you could plug the leak by sticking your finger in the hole. We’re at the point where the onlookers are standing there, pointing and exclaiming at the water coming out of the crack. Most of the onlookers can’t see that the flowing water is undermining the rest of the dam. “Oh Look! ” says one, “the Corps of Engineers is here to fix the crack, good on them.” “Oh look,” says another, “the press is here to document and explain the work the Corps will be doing.” “Oh f#ck!” says the Corps, “That water is brown and full of dirt! We better move our equipment back!” “Oh look!” says the reporter for KWTF TV “The Corps is getting started!” “Oh look” says bystander three, “Does that look like a crack?” “Oh f#ck!” says the Corps. “All those people downstream are about to get wiped out!” “Oh my” says the reporter. “Are we live? Get some video of that, this is gonna make great television!”
And in the aftermath, much wailing about building towns downstream of dams, much official blovating about the need for dams; much internet speculating about dam design, construction, maintenance, and the conspiracy that led to the dam failure; and yet– the dam will be rebuilt with public money, the towns will be rebuilt with public money, the townsfolk will bury their dead, and the cycle will repeat.
“Just off the top of my head, I’d guess the real unemployment rate is around 70% or 75%.”
Works for me, and sounds about right. So about one in four Murkans are carrying the other three. Then if we apply the 80-20 Rule, we find that in any organization, 20% of the peeps do 80% of the work. Extrapolating at these higher math levels like I do hourly, and demographic data, we are able to determine that approximately 16.4 million Murkans keep the whole ball of wax afloat.
“Most of her shady dealings were exposed in 1992 when her husband ran for the Presidency, in 2000 when she ran for Senate, and in 2008 when she ran for President for the first time. She has the luxury of going into 2016 with all of her skeletons out of the closet and collecting dust.”
Well, that’s true to a point, although we are not certain as to how many skeletons remain in that closet for one thing, and for another, I don’t believe her activities while SecState have received the thorough investigation and hearing they deserve. We have the events of Tripoli and Benghazi, and increasing reports of the financial contributions she and Larry Klinton have been receiving from foreign governments, WHILE she was serving as SecState. That chit, to me, trumps (haha), all the previous chiseling and chicanery.
“At this point, I’d say she’s a very serious contender.”
I never doubted it. And if they can hide JFK’s and Joe Biden’s medical issues, they can certainly gloss over hers, assuming the actual rulers want her in there and that she will do their bidding. Which, my guess is, the social engineering on the one hand back here, and ginning up World War IV elsewhere. Her eight years is gonna make Obercula’s look like a day at the beach.
“… the dam will be rebuilt with public money, the towns will be rebuilt with public money, the townsfolk will bury their dead, and the cycle will repeat.”
There it is. And fun times ahead.
“E-Mails: The Smartest Woman in the World Comes Off as an Absolute Idiot”
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2015/07/01/e_mails_the_smartest_woman_in_the_world_comes_off_as_an_absolute_idiot
Oh, how nice. Our next president is going to be even more of a bumble head.
I want Trump in 2016. He can kick the can far enough down the road so I don’t have to worry about losing my pension, IRA, investments, etc.
“Our next president is going to be even more of a bumble head.”
She’s a certifiable moron who gives morons a bad name; but full to the brim with “policy” chit and uber-left bromides and a bloodthirsty harridan to boot, who will give the fictional Lady MacBeth a big run for her money. She actually chortled when our new minion Quaddafi was murdered by crazed hadji thugs even worse than him. And blew off our Americans murdered in Benghazi like they were simply dog turds on the side of the road; ‘what does it matter now?’ Picture a bumble head twit who can’t work a fax or keep track of her friggin’ emails but knows how to chisel the taxpayers till the cows come home and has her fat little fingers on the nuclear triggers.
“I want Trump in 2016. He can kick the can far enough down the road so I don’t have to worry about losing my pension, IRA, investments, etc.”
Hey, how much is he paying you to be his shill, Colonel? Enquiring minds wanna know!
And can I get a cut?
@nick – at my age I am just glad to be able to piss, and there are some folks heads in DC that I would like to piss on. So many heads, so little pee. I might need so help though, I can only do so much. 😉
What I get out of the latest Hildabeast emails is that she is an absolute incompetent. Has to ask if she should attend a Cabinet Meeting. Can’t operate a FAX machine. Her staff should get a Congressional Medal because if left to her own devices she would have started the next great World War. As it was we should be grateful that she just contributed to the destruction of American Exceptionalism.
And, the latest from Oburcula:
“Everybody who has health insurance benefited and continues to benefit from this law.” —President Obama
Haha Doofus Amerikanus.
Indiegogo is full of Greece bailout pages (other Greek pages interspersed):
https://www.indiegogo.com/explore?filter_title=greece#/search
A c|net web page talks about one of them:
http://www.cnet.com/news/could-a-greek-bailout-be-crowdfunded-for-a-little-feta-and-ouzo/
My only comment is: find another rat hole to throw your money down.
“Utility: Crews robbed at gunpoint restoring power in Detroit”
http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Utility-Crews-robbed-at-gunpoint-restoring-power-in-Detroit-310939531.html
Unreal. Something is seriously wrong in Detroit. I hope that the security team accompanying the work crew has a crew served weapon.
What do those crews expect when they carry cash and other valuables into a third-world country?
“Tonight’s leap second may cause problems for the Internet”
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/06/tonights-leap-second-may-cause-problems-for-the-internet/
I missed it!
Oh boy oh boy oh boy…we gon hab sum interestin’ times ahead, amigos…
…I’m gon hab me sum fun…I’m gon hab me sum fun…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyy4yaVwsv0
If the innertubes go down, I’m driving off the Hoovah Dam bypass.
Remember that Trump has people he loves….
Love this one, here come the death threats from the party of tolerance.
“‘You are a piece of sh*t ! and your racist f***ing family – F**k you , F**k anything Trump !! and may you die slow h** ! remember half of this country is Hispanic that motherf***er will never win !! ”
Ah the eloquence. Scratch a lefty find a psycho.
nick
The vitriolic hatred and bitterness from the left in this country has been observed by this writer for many years now; the media rarely reported it, but now we have the net sources and social media to cover it. Rest assured that if they ever come to true power here, their executioners will be working overtime. Pretty nearly everyone on this board would be up against a wall in no time.
Unfortunately for them, there are probably half a billion (from the latest TTAG site article) firearms in the hands of private owners and millions of trained and experienced veterans who won’t go quietly, and may in fact, once fully riled, sweep the country of this scum.
Or maybe everyone will just sit like the frog in the pot of slowly boiling wottuh until it’s too late. First they came for the “right-wing fringe elements” and we let it slide, after all those people are NUTS! Then they came for the tax evaders and resisters…hey, they broke the LAW! Then they came for the gun owners…you don’t need an assault rifle to hunt DEER! Etc….and we didn’t say diddly….then they came for us…etc….
lol! Macy’s dumps Trumps line of clothes. I bet the only clothes they sell are made in sweatshops around the world. At least he is saying what the Republicowards won’t.
Trump 2016! “He can buy my vote for a dollar!”
With all due respect to the judge, this is a contender for dumbest question of the month:
“Hillary Clinton lied to Congress, gave arms to terrorists and destroyed her emails. How much longer can she hide the truth? How much longer can her lawlessness go unchallenged and unprosecuted? Does she really think the American voters will overlook her criminal behavior and put her in the White House where she can pardon herself?”
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2015/07/andrew-p-napolitano/the-secret-war-of-mrs-lenin/
Ah, Hillary. I’ll bet the aristocracy is plenty annoyed with her, because she’s making things difficult. I am personally convinced that she is the “annointed one”, i.e., the elections will be made to come out with her on top. But this email stupidity means that they may actually have to work for it.
What would be really fun, would be if some of her correspondents would publish some juicy emails that she failed to turnover. I mean, if she published emails asking her aides for iced tea, then what 31,000 did she delete as not relevant? I’ll bet there’s lots of interesting stuff in there.
“Does she really think the American voters will overlook her criminal behavior and put her in the White House?”
Yes, yes she does. Because the aristocracy will ensure that it happens. Through simple propaganda if possible, otherwise through election fraud.
I’m Al Franken, and I approve this message.
There it is, Mr. brad; you have it in a nutshell. It’s a pre-determined bag job, just like the SCOTUS homosexual marriage decision and the ObummerCARE project.
The vets at the group today were none too happy with either caper and voiced their anger and bitterness accordingly; I joined in, because WTF, amirite? We have to jump through hoops to get a bone thrown our way once in a blue moon and then act all grateful and happy and “cured,” and this 1.5-3% of the pop gets the royal red carpet treatment and the WH lit up in rainbow colors days BEFORE the actual decision was announced. Or at least set up days before. And the libs tell me, oh no, it’s a simple lighting deal; they just have to switch out the lenses in the floods.
Another vet pointed out, gee whiz, while all that was going on, they couldn’t even send anybody down to meet the new seventeen caskets arriving at Andrews with Murkan flags on ’em. And maybe it woulda been cool to light up the WH with red-white-and-blue lights on Veterans Day and Memorial Day….I told them not to hold their breath for that.
And maybe it woulda been cool to light up the WH with red-white-and-blue lights on Veterans Day and Memorial Day
Weakest CinC evah!
Don’t forget, fuck the Vet!
Trump 2016! “He can buy my vote for a dollar”
The vets today at the group made no bones whatsoever that they feel fucked, which they’ve felt for a very long time, most of them; our Desert One youngster has some years to go. But this latest series of SCOTUS decisions really seemed to piss them off a lot. I’m beyond pissed, and doing something about it. I dunno yet if any of them are.
Trump gon hab to pay me mo than a dam dollar; and I see that Jim Webb has now thrown his boonie hat in the ring on the Dem side. So about two-dozen RINO ass-hats and at least three Dem bozos so far. Quite a funny show. I will take a page from Colonel Atoz’s playbook and invest in tangible assets such as more Moxie and pretzels to sit back with and watch during my “downtime.”