257 Responses to “Friday Free-for-all!”
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January 9th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
February 10th is ‘National Bankruptcy Day’ in the US due to a new law. Will Canada follow suit? We should be wagging the dog on this one. We don’t want to be left behind the politically correct mainstream.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/i.....geId=85542
January 9th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Drachen’s link on post # 32 is a must see if you haven’t seen it
Thanks Drachen …..good digging !
This specuvesting is a global epidemic !!!
January 9th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Right on Aleks, it’s going to a “world class” crack house.
BTW did you hear that the German National Athletes and Contingent will not be staying at Whistler siting aggregious costs. They’ll bunk at Hotels in vancouver instead.
The new motto for Vancouver 2010 ” Feel the Flush !”.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
mayor Gregor is about to go on Global 6 PM News
January 9th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
realpaul:
What’s the big deal? Gregor wanted to house the homeless, the city is being forced to build a 750 unit development. Seems like a good fit. Sure it’s expensive but so is everything governments do. Maybe they can get a homelessness grant from the province or feds.
Additionally, the Olympic Village should have a lot of extra amenities useful for housing the homeless, like cafeterias and exercise equipment. And it shouldn’t be too hard to convert the drug testing facilities into a needle exchange.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
MickeyFinn: Oops.
http://www.realestatetalks.com.....p;start=15
January 9th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
MickeyFinn: Try here.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
New colloquialisms, just for Vancouver. No more vilified, now you get renniefied!
January 9th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
I just heard the 5:00 news with Mayor Roberts saying that Vancouver is on the hook with the Millenium Project for the entire amount of what is now OVER ONE BILLION DOLLARS !!!!
The city has been paying the bills for the past few months because Fortis can not come up with any money!!!
The current outlay from the COV stands at $850 million Dollars, thats just todays dollars. ONE BILLION AND COUNTING. Great deal for the COV taxpayers.
Knock knock knockin on Heavens door. Oh Gregor where was your goofy smile today. Where are we going to come up with the money to eliminate homelessness by 2015? This bozo is just about done.
January 9th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
My apologies if this has been discussed already but am I the only one questioning why the real estate board has not released the December data?
Typically the information is released by the 4th of the following month… November’s numbers for example were released on December 2nd.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Apology graciously accepted. I’m not Bob “spit” Rennie. I’m an expat living in the UK, who’s been watching the Vancouver market for the last couple years.
Back on topic, I have to tell you that this forum is the most astute on the issue. If anything, even it is a bit optimistic. You can feel the storm building, but you won’t believe how fast it turns and how brutal it hits.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Post # 87
Touche’ !!!
BTW: I never heard of 4 out of those 5 references you made.
especially ” Nancy ” .
January 9th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
#87 Please ( by all means) keep your pants on. Being called a ” Bob Rennie” is a curse reserved for the most reviled, the sick , the twisted, the scum of the earth.
It would certainly never apply to you, unless you’re really Bob ( that shit eating maggot) Rennie.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Re: post #78 and post #83
As a Homo, I don’t mind being called Bent, Faggot, Shirtlifter, Bum Bandit, or Nancy. I do however draw the line at being called a Bob Rennie. Retract or I will be forced to beat you within an inch of your lives.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Secondly, it no longer seems the Olympic Village condos can be quickly sold off by 2010, as was expected. That was what made this deal work.
The local real estate market has slowed dramatically. Only 250 of the 750 Olympic Village condos have been sold. The new plan — a prudent one — is to delay the sale of the others until the market rebounds and avoid fire-sale prices at taxpayers’ expense.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
In short, the profitability of the Olympic Village, whose condos were supposed to be sold to the public at great profit after being used by Olympic athletes, is no longer viewed as such a sure thing. In fact, those close to the deal — now watching condo prices drop dramatically — wonder if the deal will ever make a profit.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
NO -LYMPICS:
I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em
January 9th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Post # 78
realpaul says
“……like Bob Rennies whistfully limp wristed fanning breeze off the go go boy floats at the Gay Pride Day ” .
Are you implying Bob’s forte is to shaft people up the ying yang as a normal course of doing business ?
Say it isn’t so !!!
January 9th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Post # 80 Supraboy says
QUOTE:
” I hope property prices tank and I’ll buy his house and send him to Surrey where all the bums are “.
Tsk Tsk:
Thse are enlightend times.
Shouldn’t say politicaly incorrect terms like “bums”:
Must instead refer to them as fiscally – challenged crackheads and losers.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
“Will they go back home or will they try to immigrate to Canada or claim refugee status ?”
I don’t think these temp. construction workers would qualify as refugees. I believe you would have to prove that staying in the home country poses imminent danger or persecution, or something of the like.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
If there was a breakdown of which areas lost jobs in Canada, Vancouver would be a blip on the radar. Our city is well known for retired people to live here. Who the heck wants to work in Vancouver when you can hit the slopes during this time of the year. When summer rolls around, retired rich asians will take their kids to europe or hong kong and enjoy the summer. I’ll be taking a nice 3 month vacation from June till the end of August and I don’t give a rat’s ass about this city. Vancouver’s full of rich snobs and they don’t even shovel their own driveway. I shoveled the front of my house and some fart face parked on my spot, what kind of joke is this?
I hope property prices tank and I’ll buy his house and send him to Surrey where all the bums are.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
73 Greed gets screwed Says:
January 9th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Read the story of Andy and Fiona:
http://www.greaterfool.ca/2009…../#comments
================================================
That’s NOT Fiona and Andy:
That’s Conrad Black’s wife Barbara Amiel and Gene Hackman using aliases.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
With all these people losing thier jobs and asset money disappearing like Bob Rennies whistfully limp wristed fanning breeze off the go go boy floats at the Gay Pride Day , will there be anyone left to come to the 2010 games? Don’t count on the Europeans, the Americans , or the Chinese, who’s left?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....refer=home
January 9th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Construction jobs:
Up until the last boom, what I found was a lot of workers at job sites with license plates from Alberta, Saskatchewan etc.
During the more recent boom, I observed a lot more parties whose appearances suggested Hispanic backgrounds and few if any Out – of – Province license plates.
I am curious if many of these (and others )were workers who were allowed in on temporary visas. Will they go back home or will they try to immigrate to Canada or claim refugee status ? I am curious what our immigration policy will be in the near future during an economic downturn.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
OK the official stats just announced stated 46000 construction jobs were lost. They say it’s only going to get worse. If the good folks at “Shadow stats” are correct then the number of jobs which don’t get tracked officially are much much higher, because this would be all the self employed and ancilliary labour and service jobs. Canada unemployment is most likely over 10% now and growing but the government stats only track the ‘filed for unemployment ‘ stats. Everybody knows that if you’re self employed yo can’t collect unemployment Ins.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Greed gets screwed:
So, if Calgary is crashing right on cue ( oil and construction biz in alta is down the toilet) then by extension the Okanogan markets must be swirling down the bowl, given that the majority of ‘investors’ in the Okie were from Alta.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
the unemployment numbers are worse than you think. Shadowstats numbers show unemployment may be as high as 17.5%. This is not an article for the thinking challenged.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/0.....2009010915
#71 , and unionized workers.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Read the story of Andy and Fiona:
http://www.greaterfool.ca/2009...../#comments
January 9th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Just heard on the news that the Tribune(U.S.) filed for bankruptcy and the Seattle Post Intelligencer may be gone soon.
Makes me think….can Vancouver support (2) daily newspapers ? (ie Sun versus Province )
I don’t think so:
Questions:
Which one do you think WILL go ?
Which one do you think SHOULD go ?
When the RE market rebounds in Spring 2009…where will all the full page ads from Rennie Marketing go ?
Maybe they don’t need advertising, they will be snapped up like hotcakes . I’m guessing that Asian lady aka ” I buy tree an my huzzba buy tree ” will be at the front of the line.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Post # 60
Supraboy says
Nobody works in Vancouver, those that do just kill time in offices. I’ve worked in big tech companies in Vancouver and I’ve seen 80% of the employees surfing the net while the other 20% are the suckers holding up the boat and will continue to do so.
============================
We call that 80 % Civil Servants.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
exx:
And I guess you know that this new comparable ( listing price) resets the value on all units in the building. Wait for the court ordered sales to come onto the market that have to be sold immediatly, then you’ll see some ‘price reductions’. Divorce, estate, bankruptcy, scared shitless, job loss etc., all these factors will force new numbers onto the listing agents who will the have to face the angry vendors into losses of 50% and more.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
exx:
Obviously Patrick Kim ( the listing agent) is an idiot. Yes the market has fallen but how does what he say’s relate to reality?
The market came down 20% already from peak of 2007 september, if the sky falls
and market crashes another 20% you still win at this price.”
The fact is if the market continues to plummet eartward the price of this turkey may me MUCH LOWER VERY SOON. This vendor is one runner in a marathon race to the bottom.
An old maxim in the market is “The market doesn’t care what you paid”. I am going to say that these condos will probably fall well below $100,000.00 before all is said and done. Surrey construction jobs are leading the huge decline in unemployment who’s going to buy this concrete crap.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Blueskies, you wouldn’t believe how many construction workers “invested” in the projects they were working on.
It was a sure thing the experts in the push up bras told them.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Patiently Waiting: Yes, keep your old car. I traded my mazda in for a mustang gt in 2007 and although I would do it again in the flash because it is so much fun to have a convertible (I doubt I will ever buy a hard-top again), when I think about how much more I could have had in savings I think — now why did I do that? I would feel much more financially independent if I still had the mustang money in the bank. And believe financial security is HIGHLY related to good mental and physical health. So if you do decide to take the plunge I HIGHLY recommend a convertible. You will love it! It is like going on a PNE ride everytime I get into the car, that’s the only way I can describe the feeling.
January 9th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
As I said before ” The Mellenium Olympic Village” project will be ‘ the prettiest crack house’ in the city. This from the city’s Olympic bid book
” The site will be either developed by the city or partially or wholly sold or leased to developers or non-profit housing societies.”
Verbatim! Now since they can’t sell it, since the developers gone broke and they can’t lease it ( except back to themselves) where is all the money going to come from?
So far the city is on the hook for the initial $193, MILL plus the bailout $100 MILL for a laughable total of ( drum roll please)
***** $293, 000,000.00 Million Dollars with the debt service charges going up, the costs out of control and the value going down like a stone. “Wheeeeeeeee, we’re all gonna die” says Munchkin Mayor Gregor Roberts.
City council has to meet next week to table docs, it will be interesting to see if little Greggy Roberts even shows up or if he runs off to Mexico like he did when the snow started falling. What a clown this kid is !!!!
January 9th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
7,000 jobs lost in B.C. construction industry
http://tinyurl.com/7wbhzr
i wonder how many of these were renting
“mortgage-helper” basement suites?
or how many bought into the “can’t lose”
investment condo paradigm?
January 9th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
The western provinces have been hit hard with unemployment. Perhaps the worst is yet to come
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....y/Business
January 9th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Just came across this ad on Craigslist for a 911sqft 2bed/2bath condo in one of the Infinity towers. It’s full of so much BS that I think I found SATV…
“You have everything to gain and nothing to loose at this price.” That typo must be on purpose right?
“Do the math. Do the market reaserch.” Another intentional typo?
January 9th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
“Then when you get to May, nobody cares anymore because we’re all off on vacation for the summer.”
I think there’s going to be allot of people “taking some time off”, “freelancing” and ” vacationing” for more than just the summer. I think it sucks, but it seems to be reality right now. I originally thought that a condo seemed a bit pricey now I’m looking at a K wave heading straight for the beach.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
“If you can write all that, you should be knowledgeable about severance.”
Wow you don’t read well, Supraboy. The question is one about how unemployment reports recent layoffs, not about what severance is.
“Just go down to Richmond and check out the number of people enjoying dim sum grabbing the Tsing Tao Daily enjoying life. “
They’re not included in the unemployment numbers because they’re not looking for work.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
“More than 100,000 jobs lost in the past 2 months. The tsunami is picking up speed and is nowhere near crest. Worse news to come says Finance minister”
70% of Vancouverites are jobless. Those numbers mean jack to Vancouver. Just go down to Richmond and check out the number of people enjoying dim sum grabbing the Tsing Tao Daily enjoying life. Nobody works in Vancouver, those that do just kill time in offices. I’ve worked in big tech companies in Vancouver and I’ve seen 80% of the employees surfing the net while the other 20% are the suckers holding up the boat and will continue to do so. Even I’m at home today enjoying life “working” from home.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:58 am
“Who cares why I ask? The question is how statistics track layoffs. From what I can gather the definition of unemployment is people that have been looking to work in the past 4 weeks and are not employed. From that definition, unemployment numbers will take a few months before being registered in the statistics because many people being laid off will be on severance and not necessarily actively looking for work.”
If you can write all that, you should be knowledgeable about severance. You’re just trying to confirm what you already know.
The big bad ugly numbers will be coming in March and April. Then when you get to May, nobody cares anymore because we’re all off on vacation for the summer.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:45 am
“Are you next in line to get laidoff? Is that why you ask?”
Who cares why I ask? The question is how statistics track layoffs. From what I can gather the definition of unemployment is people that have been looking to work in the past 4 weeks and are not employed. From that definition, unemployment numbers will take a few months before being registered in the statistics because many people being laid off will be on severance and not necessarily actively looking for work.
The real stat to look at is whether employment is decreasing. Unemployment is a lagging indicator for the reason I mentioned, notwithstanding that layoffs are lagging indicators in themselves. The fact that December unemployment is markedly higher shows that October and November job losses are finally starting to be recognized as people are now needing/wanting to look for work after a few months of paid introspection. With all the layoffs being announced in December and more through January, look for unemployment to increase more in the next few months.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am
someone was mentioning squirrel recently
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foo.....lkers.html
January 9th, 2009 at 11:31 am
US unemployment at 16 year high !!!!! I guess that cuts out the US surge of buyers for the Olympic Village.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/.....13641.html
January 9th, 2009 at 11:26 am
sorry that should be 8 months
January 9th, 2009 at 11:26 am
More than 100,000 jobs lost in the past 2 months. The tsunami is picking up speed and is nowhere near crest. Worse news to come says Finance minister
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1159942
I noted yesterday that a famous TV financial commentator had increased her ( Suzy Ormand) nessecary savings number from 2 to RIGHT MONTHS) . Seems like the recession circus is coming to town.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Lily Pad,
Hmmm yeah, its tempting to replace my 8 year-old car but its still running fine. Best keep every penny because I’m not layoff-proof.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:23 am
“Does anybody know if unemployment numbers include severance payouts. For example if a plant closes and everyone gets 2 weeks per year of service, when is that registered as being “unemployed” or “employed” — as soon as severance starts or after severance is finished?”
Are you next in line to get laidoff? Is that why you ask?
You’ll get 2 weeks, and companies are entitled to give you nothing if they wanted to do that. They’ll just give you the pink slip and make you sit there for 2-4 weeks.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Trade and Convention Centers:
These seem to be like a Wayne Gretzky Rookie Card..everyone has to have one…
It seem to be on the Must Have list in order to be a World Class City
As Post # 20 Van – Zee says…
QUOTE:
Well the sad thing is it seems that trade shows are a thing of the past and not the future or even present. The internet has really changed the way things get done for many businesses. If you are in business where do you get your new information about a product or service? Where are you going to provide information to future prospects?
The internet has Fucked up many of “old ways” of doing things and fundamentally changed most businesses. Things that seemed rock solid like newspapers now seem to be on the endangered list.
==================================
People and businesses may stay lean and mean, and no longer able to afford these “Trade Exhibitions” or “Conventions”
It seem that all over the world especially North America, these things have grown like weeds. The market is oversaturated with them .
We were in Penticton in the fall of 2007…and lo and behold, they have a Trade and Conventions Center. We were there on the Nov. the place was empty except for a Remembrance day ceremony. Penticton is pretty dead in Nov. when the sun goes on holiday.
Nanaimo , anothe small town has built one.(BTW: deal tied to the Millenium group)
My view is the local Tourism industry takes cue from the IOC and simply bamboozles the Local Gov’t that Tourism is a green and growing industry which will create lots of jobs(after the other well paying jobs have disappaeared). The Politicians (who love such large monuments with brass plaques proudly displaying their names as their legacy) drink this special “economic salvation” brand of “Trade and Convention Center kool -aid”.
What they have in common with the Olympics is that they tend to be major white elephants.
However, once they are built, their design and intended use is hard to change, the Tourist industry has again recieved a massive subsidy from the local taxpayers, knowing full well the building won’t be torn down,sold or converted from the original use, as THAT that would be a major political embarrassment to the kool -aid drinking politicians.
Like the internet and a dying newspaper, these Trade and Exhibition centers may be displaced by new technology such as video conferencing etc..whether it be by Go Green zeitgeist, or by pure and simple economics and tax law changes .