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Friday Free-for-all!

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126 Comments

It’s the end of another beautiful week and that means it’s time for our regular weekend news roundup and open topic discussion thread. Here are a few recent links to kick off the chat:

–CMHC Profit SOARS!
–CANADA can have ZILLOW!
–WE have MOUNTAINS!
–VANCOUVER economy is SEVENTH STRONGEST!
–FUGITIVE to be DEPORTED!
–EXPERTS say where to spend a MILLION!
–1,800 Canadian citizenships REVOKED!
–GET ready for STAGFLATION!
–TALLEST squat in the WORLD!

So what are you seeing out there? Post your news links, thoughts and anecdotes here and have an excellent weekend!

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keeperofthederp

@space889:

better the devil you know

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Patiently Waiting

New article on hospice: http://www.dushi.ca/tor/news/bencandy.php/fid12/l… Although it was still hard to read after running it through a translator its clear those idiots still don't get the damage they've done. In fact, they think they're heroes fighting injustice or something. A few interesting things I think I read in the translation: 1) Many have mortgages and seem to want to say they are not as rich as they appear. They also feel persecuted because they are rich. 2) There is some mild criticism of the mothers and how they got their children so upset. 3) Some in the Chinese community did tried to talk some sense into these b*****s. Others unloaded anger on them. Its just too bad so few Chinese community leaders had the guts to take a stand on this. 4) A paragraph full of lulz: "When the publicity… Read more »

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4444 4444 4444 4444

To the victims of Ozzie:

You deserve every bit of the curse that is coming to you greedy , irresponsible parasites.

May the curse follow you until you finally become moral and wise

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patriotz

@space889:

I'm not claiming that China is deliberately following the USSR. They like to think that Japan and S. Korea (and Singapore) are their role models. But there are characteristics of both China and the ruling party that make it difficult or impossible to follow the model of these countries.

It's like the kid who says "I'm not going to turn out to be like my dad (or mom)" and ends up just like them.

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space889

@chip: *cough*…US as a benign superpower? I bet a lot of people in Middle East, Central and South America would beg to differ….

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space889

@patriotz: Sorry I think your view just shows how much you don't know about China. I would pick Japan and maybe South Korea as more likely candidates. While both China and USSR are both communist countries in the last half of the 20th century and employed similar tactics with respect to government, they are two very different countries with very different culture and backgrounds. The goals of the policies in two countries are different as well even if the policies look similar.

I'm not saying China wouldn't suffer problems and possibly breakup but China will not stay broken up. As well, the goal of the integration of China is fairly different from goals in integration of former USSR.

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space889

@Westside Hag: I see…that sucks because you know the landlord isn't going to spend a single cent on the property for anything, even for major stuff like leaky roof, broken electrical system, backed up toilet and flooded basement.

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patriotz

@Not much of a name…:

But I would bet most prospective buyers don't know this. More willful ignorance.

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Not much of a name...

@Anonymous: It's a resale, so there is no HST anyway except for commissions and closing/moving costs. It was brought up (my wife is an accountant) and the discussion ended right there.

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Anonymous

@Not much of a name…:

You should have piped up to tell them:

The Province increased the threshold for the BC HST new-housing rebate from $400,000 to $525,000 to ensure that, on average, purchasers of new homes up to $525,000 pay no more tax due to harmonization than was currently embedded as PST.

http://www.rev.gov.bc.ca/business/Consumer_Taxes/…

So it's likely the townhouse would get the rebate described above and hence is not effected by the tax whether the vote is yes/no, just a dying real estate market.

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Madashell

"China executes vice mayors in corruption crackdown"
http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/articl…

No wonder Chinese HAMS are rushing to leave China and take their bribes and embezzled money along. Welcome to Canada.

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Not much of a name...

My weekend dinner anecdote. A relative lives in a small town on Vancouver Island and has a townhouse for sale. It's been on the market for some time now and there is very little interest in it. The HST referendum was used as an excuse for the slow market there. After all, buyers are waiting to see what happens with the tax. I just sat absolutely astonished.

Pretty amazing on two fronts. First is just the new excuse for the slow market on VI. Second is the ignorance, even at this point, surrounding the HST. And these people are actually having a say on tax policy…

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bubba

West Side rent…..is for rub shoulders wannabbees…

If you are stupid enough to pay high rent…for the sake of ego….go for it.

In Whalley…they would rent you a wife on top….

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bubba

Re: Ozzie Jurock.

I never understood how dumb people could be to place their faith in this out of town RE snake oil BS.

Harkens back to the Gold Rush…..the one who made the real money was the merchant(often Chinese) who supplied the hopes and dream of the prospectors.

Man…I can see the floodgates open re lawsuits….

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chip

@Best place on meth:

BPOM, China is strengthening and the West is weakening. Free press, hell and handbaskets don't change that fact.

Look, I'm not happy about this. It was tres chic to hate the US the Hegemon but it was as benign a superpower as you could get. China will be different and it would be nice if the West didn't commit collective economic suicide in the meantime.

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bubba

Sorry to hear about Jack Layton…….saw on news he has a new cancer…

Though Harper has a majority, this may affect the political scene.

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patriotz

@chip:

The more I think about it the more I think China is still following the path of the USSR.

Stalin -> Mao

Khrushchev -> 1976-1989 (Death of Mao to Tian An Men)

Brezhnev -> 1989 to date

Lots of differences in the details of course but the mindset at the top seems similar. The final outcome remains to be seen.

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Westside Hag

It is unfurnished and no discount. There is no mercy on the leafy westside.

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space889

@Westside Hag: Any discount on rent? Is it furnished or unfurnished?

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Westside Hag

Earlier in this thread someone posted a Point Grey rental listing. A $4000 per month character house with a basement that could be sublet.

That house was bought by HAM quite recently. The staking pegs and the For Rent sign went in the same day. The new owners want to collect rent while they are waiting for the permits to come through. This will take 7-8 months according to the rental agent, but the lucky renters will be allowed to live there for one whole year before the house meets its maker.

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Best place on meth

@chip:

>>>It’s not where they are, it’s where they’re going that matters.<<<

Right, and one of them is going to hell in a hand basket.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/us-chin…

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Best place on meth

@Coastal:

He's doing a great impression of HAM in that photo – I'd love to hear the audio.

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chip

@Best place on meth:

France has a debt-to-GDP ratio of almost 90% and is just clinging to its triple A rating, whereas China of today is not the China of 30 years ago.

It's not where they are, it's where they're going that matters.

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macho nacho

@bubba: giving bulk buying groups big discounts (most of whom are flippers), commitments to buy back or cover losses on family friends who buy, employee discounts where profits split or losses covered, setting up shell company to buy inventory, etc.

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Coastal

Ozzie gettin it in the Province now. http://www.theprovince.com/business/Real+estate+g…

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