Bubble indicators

"In the Bay Area, the cash is coming from deep-pocketed tech workers. In New York, Wall Street workers, flush with bonus checks, and foreign buyers looking to park assets, are paying with cash. Meanwhile, South Americans have been buying up real estate in South Florida as a safe haven for their money. In February, more than 71% of sales in the Miami area were all-cash deals.

...As housing becomes more expensive some worrisome trends that occurred during the bubble years are re-emerging, said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. These include a greater reliance on non-traditional financing, like low-downpayment loans and adjustable-rate mortgages, and a greater pressure to move further away from urban job centers in order to find affordable housing."

CNNMoney
h/t Icepick
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Has anyone noticed indications of an inflating bubble?

Gawker bans ‘Internet slang’

“We want to sound like regular adult human beings, not Buzzfeed writers or Reddit commenters,” new Gawker Editor Max Read says in a memo to the publication’s writers. Words like “epic,” “pwn” and “derp” are no longer welcome on the site. Read also says the word “massive” is “never to appear on the website Gawker dot com.”...

• Internet slang. We used to make an effort to avoid this, and now I see us all falling back into the habit. We want to sound like regular adult human beings, not Buzzfeed writers or Reddit commenters. Therefore: No “epic.” No “pwn.” No “+1.” No “derp.” No “this”/”this just happened.” No “OMG.” No “WTF.” No “lulz.” No “FTW.” No “win.” No “amazeballs.” And so on. Nothing will ever “win the internet” on Gawker. As with all rules there are exceptions. Err on the side of the Times, not XOJane.

• The word “massive.” Is never to appear on the website Gawker dot com. (read the whole thing)

Poynter

Pica: "mud mask for the gut"

"Eating dirt is not just some weird fetish in the South. Hundreds of thousands of people eat dirt around the world. Forrester, an assistant professor of photography at Troy University, says he has spoken with shop owners who receive orders from as far away as London."

Eating dirt has a unique history. For starters, it's not a recent phenomenon. There's evidence that our ancestors were eating dirt at least 2 million years ago, when Homo sapiens were still Homo habilis.

In her book, Craving Earth, Young says eating dirt is one component of a disorder known as pica, in which people compulsively crave things that aren't food, like starch, charcoal and ice.

"Cardiac arrest, threats of divorce, broken dentures, thousands of dollars in dental works — none of this deters people when they have these cravings," says Young. "I've talked to women throughout East Africa and the U.S., and they all talk about this stuff with this incredible fondness and enjoyment."...

Paul Schroeder, a geologist specializing in kaolin at the University of Georgia, says while the habit may have evolved as a protective measure, it may be harmful to our health.

Clay's amazing binding properties could backfire and absorb useful nutrients, which is particularly dangerous for pregnant women, he says.

I recall my stepmother had this condition during a couple of her pregnancies. Her sister's husband, Manuel, was a dirt dump truck hauler. He knew where to find the chalk dirt she craved.

Mozilla's CEO: I lost my job (caught opposing gay marriage)

— NowThis News (@nowthisnews) April 3, 2014

Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich resigns over Prop 8 controversy.
Mozilla is a web browser, like Internet Explorer and Google's Chrome.  Between you and me, I hate Chrome, but that's not what this post is about.

From an Andrew Sullivan Post...

It turns out that Eich (Mozilla's CEO) might have saved his job had he recanted, like all heretics must. But given the choice of recanting, he failed. Hence the lighting of the fires:

Throughout the interviews, it was not hard to get the sense that Eich (Mozilla's CEO) really wanted to stick strongly by his views about gay marriage, which run counter to much of the tech industry and, increasingly, the general population in the U.S. For example, he repeatedly declined to answer when asked if he would donate to a similar initiative today.

He did not understand that in order to be a CEO of a company, you have to renounce your heresy! There is only one permissible opinion at Mozilla, and all dissidents must be purged! Yep, that’s left-liberal tolerance in a nut-shell...

This is a repugnantly illiberal sentiment. It is also unbelievably stupid for the gay rights movement. You want to squander the real gains we have made by argument and engagement by becoming just as intolerant of others’ views as the Christianists? You’ve just found a great way to do this. It’s a bad, self-inflicted blow. And all of us will come to regret it.

The in-tray is inundated with your dissents, which we will air in full tomorrow, since it will some time to find the strongest counterpoints.

Putin laughs

"When an interviewer recently confronted Vladimir Putin about Europe's American-made missile defense system the President of the Russian Federation couldn't help but laugh right in his face.

According to the journalist, NATO's missile defense system is pointed at and designed to protect Europe from Iran, not Russia."



via shtfplan

Court Reporter: ‘I hate my job’

"A... Manhattan court stenographer went rogue, channeling his inner “Shining” during a high-profile criminal trial and repeatedly typing, “I hate my job, I hate my job” instead of the trial dialogue, sources told The Post."

One high-level source said his “gibberish” typing may have jeopardized hard-won convictions by giving criminals the chance to claim crucial evidence is missing.

[The] botched transcripts include the 2010 mortgage-fraud trial of Aaron Hand, who was also convicted of trying to hire a hit man to take out a witness against him.

[I]n a scene right out of 1980’s “The Shining,” where Jack Nicholson’s off-the-rails writer repeatedly types “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” a source said of  the court reporter: “He hit random keys or wrote, ‘I hate my job. I hate my job. I hate my job,’ over and over.” read more

 

***

The Most Popular Job In Every State

"Some jobs are disproportionately concentrated in certain states. Fashion designers flock to New York, Texas has an outsize share of petroleum engineers, and Floridians are much more likely to be motorboat operators than are other Americans."

We made a map that shows the most over-represented job in each state, using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' recently released May 2013 "Occupational Employment Statistics." Each state has far more of these jobs per capita than the nation as a whole.

Charles Koch: I'm Fighting To Restore A Free Society

The central belief and fatal conceit of the current administration is that you are incapable of running your own life, but those in power are capable of running it for you. This is the essence of big government and collectivism.

Writes Charles Koch in today's Wall Street Journal. (It appears not to be locked behind a paywall, at least for now.)

 Instead of encouraging free and open debate, collectivists strive to discredit and intimidate opponents. They engage in character assassination. (I should know, as the almost daily target of their attacks.) This is the approach that Arthur Schopenhauer described in the 19th century, that Saul Alinsky famously advocated in the 20th, and that so many despots have infamously practiced. Such tactics are the antithesis of what is required for a free society—and a telltale sign that the collectivists do not have good answers.

Koch responded to the attacks from Harry Reid, et. al., with a clear explanation of what he has done and why he has done it.  He sounds libertarian, in the good sense of the meaning.

Far from trying to rig the system, I have spent decades opposing cronyism and all political favors, including mandates, subsidies and protective tariffs—even when we benefit from them. I believe that cronyism is nothing more than welfare for the rich and powerful, and should be abolished.

Opposing cronyism, political favors, mandates, subsidies, protective tariffs, welfare for the rich -  how could liberals not like that?  It aligns with things liberals and progressives say they want.

The article goes on to describe Koch Industries, its size, its record of environmental awards, and so on.   It is an interesting article written by a man we never hear from, and who has been demonized by those on the left who need a straw enemy.

Felix Baumgartner

Jump from 128,100 feet. This got me. I'll go ahead and spoil. It's shorter than expected. He lives.

Sprint's Framily

"These commercials reek with hatred and ridicule of men. Men are ridiculous, non-human, and they exist only for the purpose of paying the bills. Dad/Husband is just a dumb pet to be ignored by people with more important lives.

Godawful. Or, perhaps, this is really what we men have become.

I'm no political activist. I'm just an Old Dawg trying to get along and enjoy the years I have left.

I won't draw any conclusions for you. You can come to your own."

Harleys, Cars, Girls & Guitars

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finally know what it is to have a jaw-dropping experience, or at least to recognize it as such; jaw jutted, shoulders hunched, head inclined, eyes narrowed, brow furrowed. And I felt....amazement? To hear dad talk, follow the link above. 

"Obama is in the loop while at the fundraisers"

I wish I could pass on this latest Obama "stink burger", I really do, there are so many of them, they come at us fast and furious. I would do nothing more all day, but cut and paste presidential venom, if I could stop paying attention to them for a minute or two. This one, however, stuck in my craw, a little bit. Is it too much to ask the president to postpone a fundraiser?

On Wednesday evening, President Obama was being kept up to date on the developments from the mass shooting at Fort Hood while reportedly attending fundraisers for the 2014 election cycle. According to White House spokesman Josh Earnest, Obama is in the loop while at the fundraisers.

Obama will be in Chicago for four and a half hours, and the events have largely been closed to the media, with radio and TV reporters banned from attendance. Only one print reporter will be allowed to provide press pool notes. 

The presidency is said to be a bully pulpit, "a position sufficiently conspicuous to provide an opportunity to speak out and be listened to."

This term was coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, who referred to the White House as a "bully pulpit", by which he meant a terrific platform from which to advocate an agenda. Roosevelt famously used the word bully as an adjective meaning "superb" or "wonderful", a more common usage in his time than it is today. (Another expression which survives from this era is "bully for you", synonymous with "good for you".)

By signaling what his priorities are, at a moment when the attention of the country is fixed on a tragic event, President Obama detracts from the majesty of the office.

Zingerman's

Referencing a trip to Zingerman's deli in Ann Arbor earlier April 2, president Obama offered names for GOP budget, inspired by creative sandwich naming at Zingerman's, it took a while for the genius to percolate for our Cheerleeder in Chief to contrive "stink burger" and "meanwich".

How droll, Mr. President.

He could work for SNL.

So I think of a cartoon of two delis, one offering stink burgers and meanwiches and the other forcing you to buy shit sandwiches. And it's not all that funny. Not funny at all. But if you still want it, then have this one instead. It's better.

That would have worked for the second panel, but it's too funny to ruin for something so banal as yet another injection of presidential venom.

Know what is more interesting than high school girl presidential venom? Zingerman's, that 's what. They are, it is an incredible deli. I'm jealous of him going there and that being so casual. It's like deli mecca. 

I know them by this book. I recommend it. Very entertaining introduction to the what the deal is it about specialty foods. It answers why, and why specialty foods are worth their cost. It tells the stories behind specialty foods. The book is filled with cartoon pictures written in the style of a person discovering things about food. For example, 8-rows corn, a specialty species grown in one spot, not a productive plant but makes incredible polenta. Leading to an appreciation for other types grown closer to home. 

I placed an order with them one day by way of experiment. They have a few things I would like to try. Nothing too outrageous, nothing exotic. At checkout the things that I bought require protection and their shipping is careful about that. The shipping amounted to more than the order so the order was dropped. 

The next day an email inquiring if I had a problem with ordering. I said shipping is too much to justify the order. They politely agreed. 

But just look at this place.

+7,000,000 sign up for Obamacare xxxx Affordable Care

 Victory lap.  In our no longer polite voice, "May we see your work?"

No?

Bogus numbers. Bogus speeches.  Bogus legislation. Bogus enforcement. Bogus accusations.  Don't click any of that, it's dreadful and you've seen it all already.

Swedish pharmacist

Something about chestnuts.

I heard about roasting chestnuts on an open fire but had never experienced such inviting holiday activity. Neither had I ever played conkers but it sounds like a fun game. A horse chestnut seed is threaded with string and formed into a sort of ninja weapon used to smash the opponents conker chestnut weapon. How to win at conkers. 

Nobody mentioned when you roast chestnuts, if they did I didn't notice, to drill a hole for steam to escape. If not, they explode in the oven and it sounds exactly like gunshot. They do not all go off at once, it takes time for steam to build up, each chestnut is individual and once they start banging you cannot open the oven door and put a fast stop to it. You must let it cool down by itself while they continue to bang. Horrible having irregular gunshot sounds emanating from one's apartment for a half hour period late at night. That is what happened. 

It makes a complete mess of the oven. Tiny bits of chestnut shell and meat splattered all over, nothing recoverable except waste to sweep out and oven walls to wipe clean. I mentioned this to my housekeeper, she told her teenage son, and thereafter her son bugged the heck out of her to allow exploding chestnuts in their oven just once. 

7 Petunias

Those were 2/24 planted five days earlier, so that's what? 30 for month to month, +6 to end the March, +2 to start April so 38 days since then ↓ and 43 days since planting and it is ready to burst its first bud. The bud stem is right there in the front.

Now these are special seeds. Special magical seeds. The company, Aerogarden, has the lockdown on these magical seeds. It's like Jack and the Beanstalk, the seeds are proprietary and scientific and magic so there is no way they can be duplicated outside the Aerogarden seed vault lockdown. 

Right? 

No. They found the seeds that work best. And these petunia seeds are particularly brilliant, they really have come a long way developing these annual plants. They pile, they creep, they cascade, they needn't be pinched, they keep going and going and going. So now when you buy these most modern of all hybrid seeds they cost a lot. Sometimes a dollar a dot. And by dot, I mean dot, like this:  [.]

That is a petunia seed. 

Each dot cost a dollar.

But it is pretty much guaranteed to grow and guaranteed to blow your mind, flower-wise.

This pushed the hybrids before them to the background and they are not so bad. Excellent, actually, they just do not go crazy like the new ones do. They are the beautiful and abundant standard bearers of previous years and their seeds are cheep as dirt. It's a shame to not just buy a pound and sprinkle the seeds all around town. 

I placed an order for three vials of mind-blowing petunia seeds, 1 larger vial of regular outstanding white petunias to fill in here and there and everywhere, and another plant called Vinca which Aerogarden is marketing as their new hot thing. 

Complaints to Aerogarden about their Vinca seed kits involve problems with germination. When the plant takes off it fills out so completely that one or two failures is not noticed. It is not a problem from a true gardener's point of view. It saves clearing out things that die due to being overly compacted. In a 7-plant kit the task of keeping up can be daunting with 7 hungry plants slurping water, needing feedings, and cleaning out excess overcrowding growth, a regular Audrey 2. 

From the consumer's point of view they bought a kit consisting of 7 seeds with 7 little cups and 7 little domes and they expect 7 little plants to arise from it. They are dividing the total seed kit cost by 7 and calculating cost for each plant and knowing themselves ripped off when one or two or three do not take.  Insisting they be satisfied with a successful pile of plants does not cut it. They need every one to work, even if the whole effort works out worse in the end because of it. 

So I bought some of these Vinca seeds too. From Pase seeds. I placed the order some time this weekend, the seeds were in the mailbox today. 

And their petunia seeds are $6.75 for ten, I lied about them being a dollar a dot for dramatic exaggeration. 

I hardened baby plants on the balcony overnight it became too cold and they suffered. Brought them in over the threshold but kept the door open and weather and sun on them and they all sprang back.