Still lactose intolerant rumble rumble (fäääääährp).
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Dr. Housing Bubble features ten (10!) affordable real estate “investments” in So Cal in his regular feature Real Homes of Genius(tm). Wicked.
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Chas. Hugh Smith’s post today (see the May 24 entry “Health, Healthcare and Bankruptcy“) concerns the poor state of healthcare in this nation. Being faithful to this weeks theme ‘Why the Truth Can’t be Told,” he asserts (rightly, methinks) the reason it will never be addressed. Hint: nothing to do with do-nothings, know-nothings, unfeasibility, vested interests, conflicts of interest, etc.
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Computers and media: short of locating everything in the same room, it’s been a real pain to integrate these two- to date- paradoxical systems.
& If you are like me, you do not want to “invest” in some expensive hardware that’ll be obsolete after your next haircut.
What we have been needing is a “missing link.” Some device (software alone won’t be a solution) that will retrieve the “data” (.avi, .mp4, .mp3, divx, .vob) from your computer upstairs to your media room downstairs.
By George I think they have the thang right here- the Mivx HD player.
A little “lite” reading and it shows great promise.
It can carry a HDD on board with your media loaded, or you can use it’s wireless capability to network to your PC upstairs. Or do both.
This means of course the remote should function just as if it were controlling the DVD player, and I can watch the stuff on my computer, off the Mvix player itself.
Except I don’t do HD… yet. One question: will it function the same for SD?
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Rolling in style. I’ve seen these UltraVans on the road, and thought “hmmm, that’s different.” Little did I realize how true that was. This annoying javascripted site does contain some useful info about these high-tech Winnegabos of yore powered by- wait for it- a Corvair engine. Schweeet.
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Wildcatter
In my on-going review of all things Peak Oil and Global Warming (yes, pundits have found a clever way to link these up, and I guess in the end we’re all- well, some of us– well, a very few of us– check that, an infintesimal few of us– let’s call them “them”) and oh by the way “they” will profit nicely from the alliance TYVM. On both sides. It’s a win-win!
Pardon me when I call bullshit “bullshit.”
I hereby enter into evidence this article in the NYTimes. While it doesn’t directly address either- haha, gotcha! This does present some interesting background info from an unusal perspective- those wily old varmints known as wildcatters.
Not just your greasy old Texans and Okies anymore.
Update
Some additional thoughts about this article.
If I were a young man just starting out, this would be the ideal field to get started in. Oil will indeed become harder to find as wells dry up, and the field of oil exploration has been shrinking in direct opposite to our industrial and commercial needs, which is strange but there you have it, a big FUCK YOU AMERICA! from the oil companies, who’d rather not be bothered.
They’re doing a whole lot less exploration (it’s been outsourced!) relying upon imports, which, true testament to human nature, is easy.
Just as easy oil was, well, easy to obtain (it was practically bubbling up out of the ground in some places once upon a time in Pennsylvania), right now it’s far easier to import than explore, deal with hostile / volatile environments and governments, who cut into your bottom line. (Even at today’s prices?)
It’s still (and will be for the foreseable future) easy because there is so much of it- contrary to popular opinion, we are awash in oil, and (don’t believe the peak oil doomsayers- they’re in it for personal gain) there is no end in sight. There is no sign that oil is drying up- well, sure wells do dry up, always did and always will. But there is still a lot of oil- more than we can ever imagine using.
The hard (read: expensive) part is finding new deposits.
Which is surely a testament to the lazy fat bastards that run the corporations today, who prefer to sit back, deal in M&A dollars, and let others (read non-Americans) do the hard work of discovery.
What ever happened to the good old American work ethic? What ever happened to the pride in being the best country out there?
They likey the money, but no likey US.
These corporate geezers are simply un-American. Oh they like the dollar alright, and they’ll follow it to every bank the world over, but as far as propping up that dollar with what is truly valuable, the true wealth of our nation, a nation with resources and will power and a keenness to progress. They prefer to be hackneyed adminstrators and “investors.”
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The Forgotten Clause
Riddle me this- what is the commonly used analogy where this clause originally emanates from?
“It is not only a waste of time, it annoys the pig.”
Thanks to Meandering John for this closure.
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Contrarian Values
If you, like me, enjoy examining current events and comparing them to historical events to try and better understand our context, you too might have noticed some eerie parallels that the current housing boom bust has to the initial causes of the 1929 depression (which actually started in 1928).
Loose credit (not since those days have we been so credit slutty), corporate buyout frenzies, and manipulation are just a few of the things Bill Fleckenstein touches on in this recent post.
Have we forgotten the lessons of 1929? Do they still apply?
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Final Thought
Are people who drive SUV’s the haters of America? Do they despise our values, what we stand for, as a nation? Are they giving aid and comfort to the enemy? Do they share some rsponsibility to atrocities committed by out troops against innocent Iraqi civilians? Aren’t they the most greedy and selfish bastards living amongst us, caring for nought but their small, insulated from reality- and the rest of us- existence?
(Note: I’m referring to those that drive/commute most everywhere solo, or occasionally two up, not where every seat is regularly filled, or the vehicle is hardly ever used for hauling).
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Lastly, Robert Shiller, who coined the term ”irrational exuberance” (well, it was the name of his book, maybe someone else uttered those two words first) has some very interesting things to say about real estate.
Looking at the bubble (slowly defalting as I sit here and write this), you might think what everyone else does, that it is THE best investment.
Well, nothing can be further from the truth.
If you profited from this bubble- figure out a way to hold on to your dollars (keep it in euros or pounds sterling so they won’t devalue as fast) because the bargains are still a few years away.
This interview Mr. Shiller takes to task the conventional wisdom that RE only appreciates.
From 1890 through 1990, the return on residential real estate was just about zero after inflation.
Since 1987 it’s been 6 percent [or about 3 percent a year after inflation].
It can’t be true that homes rise 10 percent a year. If they did, in the long run no one would be able to afford a house.
So, if you’re over thirty-five, you shoulda known better.
