augustus

Talk about real estate bubbles bursting, look at this article about San Francisco.   Condo prices are crashing there.  

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/california-condo-prices-crash-by-up-to-40-in-some-areas/ar-BB1nFA8v?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=cbb2ef4e5d5b45eeaca60af4b6e1cd7b&ei=25

A downtown San Francisco recent condo sale......

Purchased in 2015 for 2.001MM

Just sold for $1.168MM

$833k loss

9 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

Fortunately the US judicial system has mechanisms to prevent people from suffering from clearly biased court decisions.

I pray you are right.

8 hours ago, pubic_assistance said:

Fortunately the US judicial system has mechanisms to prevent people from suffering from clearly biased court decisions.

As we see above,  the ability to say that phrase "convicted felon" is being weaponized. So the court of public opinion may attempt to take away rights someone may otherwise have.

Well said.   A judge who was hand-picked instead of chosen by the normal lottery system and whose jury instructions were so convoluted they took up 55 pages and 90 minutes to read, just for starters.  No one should be a "convicted felon" under these circumstances and lose any rights.   

A "convicted felon" ain't officially convicted until the appeals process has run its course. They retain rights.  ha ha

1 minute ago, azdr0710 said:

the original question was if a convicted felon still has certain rights.....

Yes. Nothing in the U.S. Constitution bars a felon from running for office, up to and including the top office.

3 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

I totally agree.  I hope you take names of those that try to drag this into a not allowed discussion simply because they want the thread closed.  

Says the one who started a "not allowed discussion".  Too funny.

You can certainly do anything once a silly meritless conviction is overturned on appeal.

3 hours ago, FrankR said:

Why are you listening to politicians and the Fed when it comes to inflation? Go to the source: the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The news release for inflation in April (dated May 15) under “Latest Releases” did not mention “core” once. 

I do.  There are some people here who cite the core and claim that inflation isn't bad, which is a blatant lie.  Inflation is worse than any official numbers.  Bloomberg had an article on it.  We have had more than 14% inflation in the last 3 years.  It's at least double that.

1 hour ago, FrankR said:

That is not correct - when calculating CPI, both fuel and food ARE included. 

And when the politicians and the Fed talk about inflation, they just so happen to use the core index which excludes food and energy.

1 hour ago, Monarchy79 said:

Add heart problems and overall cognitive decline to that list. 
I loathe weed. 

Agreed.  I know 2 adults who started smoking weed when it became legal in my state two years.  It's like they are descending into madness with the paranoia and irrational thoughts.  And an ER doctor neighbor told me they are seeing many young people with mental problems caused by pot.  All drugs are bad and there's nothing "cool" about them.

6 hours ago, EZEtoGRU said:

Turns out multiple retailers are actively lowering prices currently.  Think Walgreens, Walmart, Ikea, Amazon, Aldi, and others. 

MSN

WWW.MSN.COM

 

They should!  How much of a decline in prices is the question.  Just look at this article.  As I've been saying inflation is far worse than the official numbers.   They have to lower prices because people ain't got the money anymore.  

McDonald's exec says average menu item costs 40% more than in 2019

WWW.CNBC.COM

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The president of McDonald's USA clarified its price inflation in a press release in response to 100% price increase claims by House Republicans, among others.

Here's another article:

Legal Pot Is More Potent Than Ever — And Still Largely Unregulated - KFF Health News

KFFHEALTHNEWS.ORG

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As marijuana has become far more mainstream, potent, and sometimes dangerous, uneven regulation at the state and federal levels leaves consumers at risk.

2 hours ago, sniper said:

Um, they were saying that abiut weed 30-40 years ago when they were putting the "Just Say No" campaigns into schools. I doubt it's 100x more potent now than it was in the 60s.

Incorrect.  The potency of pot today is very high and causing serious problems.  Just what this country needs!  Pot is something you do in high school and then move on.  It ain't cool.  Life is difficult enough as it is.

Not Your Grandmother’s Marijuana: Rising THC Concentrations in Cannabis Can Pose Devastating Health Risks

MEDICINE.YALE.EDU

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Brain changes and other cannabis side effects need more study, say Yale researchers.

US Treasury yields for 5/28/24:

US 2- MO   5.386    
US 4- MO   5.41    
US 6- MO   5.383    
US 1-YR      5.232    
US 2-YR      4.964    

It's official.  CD rates cannot beat treasuries for the time being.  It used to be the other way.  In addition, the interest here is non-taxable for State income tax purposes so the yield is even better.  

Have a practicing divorce attorney represent you when writing your prenup. They’ll know what to include, what could come up and most importantly what a court would actually enforce.

Hundreds of Nursing homes and Assisted Living facilities have closed in Florida the last few years because of the insurance crises there.  What a horrendous situation.

Hundreds of nursing homes in Florida forced to close due to surging property insurance rates (msn.com)

Reb Lobster filed for bankruptcy today, May 19, 2024.   Sad.

3 hours ago, rvwnsd said:

BofA was the victim of good ol' fashioned dick-swinging. After Chase acquired Bear Stearns, the then-chair of BofA had to show Jamie Dimon that his dick was bigger and acquired Countrywide and Merrill Lynch. Sadly, that did not work out very well. 

Ahhh yes, I forgot about that! Countrywide was a disaster.

I am predicting many bank failures over the next couple of years.  The US banking system has $2 trillion in unrecognized bond losses because of the rise in interest rates (and because interest rates were held too low for years).  

On 5/8/2024 at 11:52 PM, rvwnsd said:

Back to the topic, I don't see a slew of bank failures on the horizon, as was the case in 2008 when three large banks (BofA, Citi, and WaMu) failed

BofA and Citi didn't actually fail.  They received TARP money and actually paid it all back with interest.  All the big banks were forced to take TARP money whether they needed it or not, so there wouldn't be a run on the weaker ones like Citi that did receive TARP money.

Malinformation and complete false info is being peddled.  Inflation boosts the fortunes of the top quintile of US earners and kills the living standards of the other 80%.  The notion no one would ever want prices to go back down (the new talking point), is so insulting to those of lesser means, it is shocking anyone, would actually be so tone death, as to voice it.  Never, in the history of the US, have the powers that be been so solely focused on aid to the well-educated and well heeled, at the expense of all other Americans.

41 minutes ago, KeepItReal said:

Okay. Stop. Now you are just confusing everybody with jibber jabber. In the USA we use Consumer Price Index (primary) and Personal Consumption Expenditure (secondary) to measure inflation. We do NOT use core price indexing to measure inflation...at all. 

You have no "Master's of Economics".  The "core" numbers are always cited by the Fed, among others, in their decision making.  There are several measures of the inflation rate and some don't include food and energy. Don't argue with me.  The gibberish is yours.

Then the media and government reports that "Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items, logged their lowest increase since April 2021".... So the measure of inflation excludes food and energy (and a lot of other things)  The two items that impact consumers most.  Any wonder why the public says "BS".  

6 minutes ago, KeepItReal said:

I'll ask again: if you compare Jan 2020 to Jan 2024 on the chart you selected...where do you end up? 

We end up nowhere, that's where.  You brought up the rise in disposable income (and the numbers you cited are incorrect).  Then you totally ignore the double digit increases in prices for goods and services, many of which aren't even included in the CPI numbers or are given a low weighting.  Everyone knows what time it is, except a small minority in denial. THAT is what you are avoiding.

Prices for fuel, food, rent, insurance, property taxes, insurance have soared 30-50% in the past few years and people really have the gall to say things are well.