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steve2470
steve2470's Journal
steve2470's Journal
January 8, 2018
on CNN, Oprah supposedly thinking of 2020 run
No link, sorry, reported on CNN right now
"BREAKING NEWS" allegedly, jeebus they make that phrase toxic.
January 7, 2018
a rant about Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida....
Do not read this if you're not in the mood for an angry rant....
Ok, you're still here.
I have very few insurance options. BCBS of FL happens to be my best option price-wise. Lucky me! 
The price might be "right" but the customer service is F************G TERRIBLE. Where do I start ?
1- Poorly trained phone reps
2- My prescription drug rider totally ignored and they told my pharmacy I had no coverage. What???!
3- Surreptitiously changing their formulary so I have to pay more for a medication. No notice, no phone calls, emails, old school mail, NOTHING.
4- Numerous problems with their website
5- Numerous poorly-drafted emails to me, which they have had to retract within 24 hours.
This is the coup de grace which really pisses me off:
I had to change plans in November to lower my overall costs. They FORCED me to pay for January 2018 in advance to change my coverage. Fair enough. I paid the premium for January.
Because I know how F*************G INCOMPETENT BCBS of FL is, I got a supervisor to tell me that no indeed, I would not be billed AGAIN in January 2018 and would only be billed again in February.
Guess what ? You guessed it. They are NOW informing me that I have not paid my premium for this month! And to boot, I cannot login to their website!
THEY ARE THE MOST INCOMPETENT COMPANY I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE TO DEAL WITH. I would really have to scratch my head to think of a more incompetent company.
Whew. I feel better. If you've had good luck with them, I am happy for you. I think I am cursed with them.
January 7, 2018
Joseph Goebbels vs Stephen Miller
January 7, 2018
You constantly hear that owning a home is a no brainer in California because you will always get major tax benefits. Well the new GOP tax plan is actually going to benefit California renters while California homeowners in crap shacks will see higher tax bills. It is an interesting tax proposal because the typical US household owning a typical $200,000 home is going to come out ahead. This is your bread and butter “American” family. However, Taco Tuesday Baby Boomers and Gen X’rs in California have been getting mega subsidies for buying hyper expensive crap shacks. Every tax bill that comes out seems to favor homeowners. In fact, I haven’t seen one that hasn’t favored homeownership. But the way the tax bill is setup, crap shack owners are going to actually have to pay more and renters are going to benefit nicely from the much larger standard deduction. We are now seeing some scenarios where this is playing out.
The L.A. Times has a piece where they examine various households in regards to the proposed tax plan. In one example you have a professional couple that bought a crap shack in Redondo Beach (3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms – your standard million-dollar SoCal home). They paid $915,000 for the place back in 2016. They are going to see an increase in their tax bill:
So there goes the argument that every piece of legislation actually benefits homeowners. Not in this case and in many other cases where people over paid for crap shacks. But what about “poor” renters? There is another scenario presented in the L.A. Times with a professional couple that earns even more than the high income professional homeowner couple:
You mean the GOP and Trump are friends of California renters? Not that they care or even spend two seconds thinking about people in SoCal but the way this tax plan is setup, crap shack owners are the folks who will take it in the shorts the most. The top one percent is going to make out like bandits of course:
(have to stop due to DU rules)
California renters will come out ahead with new tax plan while homeowners will see a higher tax bill
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/gop-tax-plan-california-homeowners-renters/You constantly hear that owning a home is a no brainer in California because you will always get major tax benefits. Well the new GOP tax plan is actually going to benefit California renters while California homeowners in crap shacks will see higher tax bills. It is an interesting tax proposal because the typical US household owning a typical $200,000 home is going to come out ahead. This is your bread and butter “American” family. However, Taco Tuesday Baby Boomers and Gen X’rs in California have been getting mega subsidies for buying hyper expensive crap shacks. Every tax bill that comes out seems to favor homeowners. In fact, I haven’t seen one that hasn’t favored homeownership. But the way the tax bill is setup, crap shack owners are going to actually have to pay more and renters are going to benefit nicely from the much larger standard deduction. We are now seeing some scenarios where this is playing out.
The L.A. Times has a piece where they examine various households in regards to the proposed tax plan. In one example you have a professional couple that bought a crap shack in Redondo Beach (3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms – your standard million-dollar SoCal home). They paid $915,000 for the place back in 2016. They are going to see an increase in their tax bill:
So there goes the argument that every piece of legislation actually benefits homeowners. Not in this case and in many other cases where people over paid for crap shacks. But what about “poor” renters? There is another scenario presented in the L.A. Times with a professional couple that earns even more than the high income professional homeowner couple:
You mean the GOP and Trump are friends of California renters? Not that they care or even spend two seconds thinking about people in SoCal but the way this tax plan is setup, crap shack owners are the folks who will take it in the shorts the most. The top one percent is going to make out like bandits of course:
(have to stop due to DU rules)
January 7, 2018
Ray Dalio is worried that an economic recession could foment unrest in a polarized America, resulting in segments of the population feeling marginalized in the face of stagnant wages and tax cuts for the wealthy.
The founder of Bridgewater Associates, widely viewed as the largest hedge fund on the planet with assets of about $150 billion, made his comments during a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Dalio makes the case during the interview, reiterating some long-held views, that the Federal Reserve’s policies have fostered outsize risk-taking and lofty valuations in the stock market, with the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.70% the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.88% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.83% setting repeated records over the past the year amid ultralow interest rates.
The hedge-fund manager believes that despite less regulation, corporate tax cuts will leave out the bottom 60% of U.S. households, fostering resentment. The investor says recent fiscal stimulus espoused by President Donald Trump won’t result in economic growth and that rich returns in the future will be hard to come by.
Head of largest hedge fund says economic downturn could leave U.S. at each others throats
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/head-of-largest-hedge-fund-says-economic-downturn-could-leave-us-at-each-others-throats-2018-01-03?mod=MW_story_top_storiesRay Dalio is worried that an economic recession could foment unrest in a polarized America, resulting in segments of the population feeling marginalized in the face of stagnant wages and tax cuts for the wealthy.
The founder of Bridgewater Associates, widely viewed as the largest hedge fund on the planet with assets of about $150 billion, made his comments during a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Dalio makes the case during the interview, reiterating some long-held views, that the Federal Reserve’s policies have fostered outsize risk-taking and lofty valuations in the stock market, with the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.70% the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.88% and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.83% setting repeated records over the past the year amid ultralow interest rates.
The hedge-fund manager believes that despite less regulation, corporate tax cuts will leave out the bottom 60% of U.S. households, fostering resentment. The investor says recent fiscal stimulus espoused by President Donald Trump won’t result in economic growth and that rich returns in the future will be hard to come by.
January 7, 2018
Sorry, it's a slideshow, grrr.
They say the #1 bank is PacWest Bancorp and the worst (#100) is Associated Banc-Corp.
I can't find the date of the article yet, but it's not super-recent.
eta:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/americas-best-and-worst-banks-2017/ar-BBy7rJZ
Does this 2017 list of best and worst banks have any validity ?
https://www.forbes.com/pictures/mli45fhfdk/americas-best-and-worst/#74ab91ee6befSorry, it's a slideshow, grrr.
They say the #1 bank is PacWest Bancorp and the worst (#100) is Associated Banc-Corp.
I can't find the date of the article yet, but it's not super-recent.
eta:
Bank of America ranks No. 97. The $2.2 trillion-in-assets financial behemoth only ranked in the top half of banks on one of 10 metrics (risk-based capital ratio) and operating revenue was down over the past 12 months. “The metrics in this report are backward-looking and don’t reflect the current performance of Bank of America,” according to a BofA spokesperson.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/americas-best-and-worst-banks-2017/ar-BBy7rJZ
January 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/_/status/950016695137193986
Goebbels would have loved Miller. Hitler also.
Jake Tapper Cuts Off WH Adviser Stephen Miller in Tense Interview
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jake-tapper-cuts-off-wh-adviser-stephen-miller-in-tense-interviewCNN’s Jake Tapper cut off top White House adviser Stephen Miller on Sunday during a contentious interview on State of the Union. Tapper accused Miller of “[wasting] enough of my viewers’ time” by slamming CNN’s coverage of the Trump White House instead of answering questions directly. “There’s one viewer that you care about right now and you’re being obsequious,” Tapper told Miller, referring to President Donald Trump. The sit-down centered mostly on the claims made by former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon in Michael Wolff’s new book, Fire and Fury. “It’s tragic and unfortunate that Steve would make these grotesque comments so out of touch with reality and obviously so vindictive,” Miller told Tapper, adding that Bannon’s role at the White House “has been greatly exaggerated.” The Daily Beast reported last year that Bannon’s allies in the White House, including Miller, were souring on him, and Miller said his “friendship with Steve is stronger than ever.”
https://twitter.com/_/status/950016695137193986
Goebbels would have loved Miller. Hitler also.
January 7, 2018
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&CEL=F&SI=mph&TIME=std&CONT=mamk&LAND=CU%AEION=0020&WMO=78224&R=0&LEVEL=140&NOREGION=1&SORT=__&TEMP=___&WETTER=__&&TYP=__&SEITE=0
For full context, read this thread please: https://www.democraticunderground.com/12321083
¡Mis planes de mudarme a La Habana han sido arruinados! ¡Oh Dios mío! ¡Ahora debo mudarme a Caracas para estar abrigado!
http://bit.ly/2CzTV5t
eta: For the curious, the low this morning in Caracas Venezuela was 73F
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&CEL=F&SI=mph&TIME=std&CONT=samk&LAND=VN®ION=0021&WMO=80415&R=0&LEVEL=140&NOREGION=1&SORT=__&TEMP=___&WETTER=__&&TYP=__&SEITE=0
Caracas is very tropical, at 10.28 North latitude, but at a higher elevation (3000 feet).
eta2: Barranquilla Columbia is an even better example of a tropical locale (10.57 N), located right on the Carribbean at a low elevation (59 feet). It was also 73F this AM.
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&CEL=F&SI=mph&TIME=std&CONT=samk&LAND=CO®ION=0021&WMO=80028&R=0&LEVEL=140&NOREGION=1&SORT=__&TEMP=___&WETTER=__&&TYP=__&SEITE=0
Another cool morning in Havana Cuba: 51F
2018-01-07 06:55 51 °F few clouds
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&CEL=F&SI=mph&TIME=std&CONT=mamk&LAND=CU%AEION=0020&WMO=78224&R=0&LEVEL=140&NOREGION=1&SORT=__&TEMP=___&WETTER=__&&TYP=__&SEITE=0
For full context, read this thread please: https://www.democraticunderground.com/12321083
¡Mis planes de mudarme a La Habana han sido arruinados! ¡Oh Dios mío! ¡Ahora debo mudarme a Caracas para estar abrigado!
http://bit.ly/2CzTV5t
eta: For the curious, the low this morning in Caracas Venezuela was 73F
2018-01-07 07:30 73 °F few clouds
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&CEL=F&SI=mph&TIME=std&CONT=samk&LAND=VN®ION=0021&WMO=80415&R=0&LEVEL=140&NOREGION=1&SORT=__&TEMP=___&WETTER=__&&TYP=__&SEITE=0
Caracas is very tropical, at 10.28 North latitude, but at a higher elevation (3000 feet).
eta2: Barranquilla Columbia is an even better example of a tropical locale (10.57 N), located right on the Carribbean at a low elevation (59 feet). It was also 73F this AM.
2018-01-07 07:00 73 °F few clouds
http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/weather/maps/city?LANG=en&CEL=F&SI=mph&TIME=std&CONT=samk&LAND=CO®ION=0021&WMO=80028&R=0&LEVEL=140&NOREGION=1&SORT=__&TEMP=___&WETTER=__&&TYP=__&SEITE=0
January 6, 2018
in reference to: https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/949100087350710272/photo/1
bwhahahaha
eta: Folks, the Netflix social media person is riffing off a joke about the book on Trump. There IS NO Gorilla Channel. Funny as hell, but yes, also very fake.
https://twitter.com/i/moments/949553292283142144
"please stop calling our customer service hotline to ask if we have The Gorilla Channel"
https://twitter.com/netflix/status/949449196536393728in reference to: https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/949100087350710272/photo/1
bwhahahaha
eta: Folks, the Netflix social media person is riffing off a joke about the book on Trump. There IS NO Gorilla Channel. Funny as hell, but yes, also very fake.
After some people fell for a parody excerpt from Michael Wolff's Fire & Fury book by user @pixelatedboat, which claimed that Donald Trump liked to watch a gorilla channel, Netflix decided to get in on the action.
https://twitter.com/i/moments/949553292283142144
January 6, 2018
Sorry for the source and I cannot embed, sorry!
Deer enjoys a snack during a snowstorm
https://www.facebook.com/FoxNews/videos/10156492586216336/Sorry for the source and I cannot embed, sorry!
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Gender: Do not displayMember since: Sat Oct 16, 2004, 01:04 PM
Number of posts: 37,457
