Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:45 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:40 pm While cleaning out my filing cabinet I learned that our original mortgage on this house in 1989 was at 11.09%. I hadn't remembered it being that high, but there it was.

I think of anything above 8 as high and anything below 5.5 as too good to last but I am a product of my times. I see there was a time when people were paying 18% on 30 year mortgages and I'm all

I assume that was when generations all lived together because fuck a mortgage. If I can't pay cash, then I'm not leaving home unless rents are super cheap, which somehow I doubt they were.

Posted: **Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:52 pm**

Borrowing $100k at 11.09% and total payments:
10 years: $165,911.95
20 years: $249,196.89
30 years: $345,286.88

Posted: **Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:58 pm**

I remember when I was in Brazil so much for work in the early aught's, the interest rate was something like 35%. I remember talking to clients there around my age at the time, and about how impossible a house was (and I had just closed on my first home here in the US around 4-5% IIRC).

Posted: **Thu Sep 19, 2024 8:39 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 5:52 pm Borrowing $100k at 11.09% and total payments:
10 years: $165,911.95
20 years: $249,196.89
30 years: $345,286.88

I remember glazing over when I saw that disclosure -- we had borrowed $125k so it was even higher. But of course we refinanced multiple times.

Our shiny new mortgage is at 6.65%. The closing attorney said that was the best rate she'd seen in years. We're about to sell our old house, though, and will pay most of it off and refi what's left early next year at under 6%...unless the election goes badly. A trump WH with a GOP Senate would torpedo stability.

Posted: **Thu Sep 19, 2024 10:02 pm**

The Fed rate hasn't been higher than 5% in over twenty years. They just brought it down from 5.5% to 5.0% today. While it's nowhere near the absurd 18% rates of the late 70s, 5.5% is not "low".

Posted: **Fri Sep 20, 2024 7:50 am**

milo wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 10:02 pm The Fed rate hasn't been higher than 5% in over twenty years. They just brought it down from 5.5% to 5.0% today. While it's nowhere near the absurd 18% rates of the late 70s, 5.5% is not "low".

We're still at the low range on a 62 year chart. We just got whipsawed by pandemic stimmy.

Posted: **Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:23 am**

milo wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 10:02 pm The Fed rate hasn't been higher than 5% in over twenty years. They just brought it down from 5.5% to 5.0% today.

I'm not understanding those two sentences together.

If it was at 5.5% before today, wasn't that higher than 5%.

Posted: **Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:30 am**

Unagi wrote: ↑Fri Sep 20, 2024 8:23 am If it was at 5.5% before today, wasn't that higher than 5%.

Posted: **Fri Sep 20, 2024 10:24 am**

Well, I'm sure those folks in 2012 were happy for time-traveling stimulus.

Posted: **Fri Sep 27, 2024 11:54 am**

Got my ballot today. Looks like Kennedy is still on the Ballot in Michigan. I didn't even know Stein was running this year. How does she get enough votes to stay on the Ballot or is the Green party considered perennial now? I can't see how they can be, as much as GOP tries to keep the libertarian party off the ballot. Now I have to figure out who all of these "nonpartisan" people are, especially the ones who positions of authority over education....

And my goodness, talk about something they should have done forever ago. Even if it was just send out ballots and make people hand deliver them on election day. So much of a more leisurely and informed decision from the comfort of my home, where I can see what's on the ballot and do my diligence. (That would be even more meaningful if the GOP hadn't spent the last 16 years turning me against them with an ever hastening pace)

Posted: **Fri Sep 27, 2024 5:24 pm**

RFK is still on the ballot in California. Not that it will make any difference here.

Posted: **Fri Sep 27, 2024 10:44 pm**

LordMortis wrote: ↑Fri Sep 27, 2024 11:54 am And my goodness, talk about something they should have done forever ago. Even if it was just send out ballots and make people hand deliver them on election day. So much of a more leisurely and informed decision from the comfort of my home, where I can see what's on the ballot and do my diligence. (That would be even more meaningful if the GOP hadn't spent the last 16 years turning me against them with an ever hastening pace)

So true…all those races that you used to either skip or pick at random, now you can get a cuppa and put your feet up and take 10 minutes to see what’s what. I’m voting smarter now that I can do it at my leisure.

Posted: **Sat Sep 28, 2024 7:11 am**

I did mail-in in 2020 (pandemic and all), but I'm probably going to go in-person this year for early voting. I kind of want to experience the Harris vibe (hopefully not lack thereof).

Posted: **Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:35 am**

Early voting here starts October 21, and I can not wait.

Posted: **Sat Sep 28, 2024 2:55 pm**

Make sure you vote a few times to cover your bases!

Posted: **Sat Sep 28, 2024 5:32 pm**

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:35 am Early voting here starts October 21, and I can not wait.

Ballots will be sent out October 6 in California. Saw a video where some A-hole mayor was caught stealing a ballot drop box. What a timeline.

This election seems to be biblical proportions. Almost like the epoch will be designated as BE and AE.

Posted: **Sat Sep 28, 2024 5:42 pm**

Mine will be done in the courthouse, same as if I go on the day of.

Posted: **Sat Sep 28, 2024 6:06 pm**

Jaymann wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 5:32 pm
Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 11:35 am Early voting here starts October 21, and I can not wait.
Ballots will be sent out October 6 in California. Saw a video where some A-hole mayor was caught stealing a ballot drop box. What a timeline.

It was a staged stunt by the asshole mayor.. Doesn’t make it right. Just means the asshole was hoping to give Trump an erection when he read about it.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 8:29 am**

Trump was in a private suite at the Georgia vs Alabama game last night.

Georgia Bulldog fans will not have a good memory of Trump sitting up there with the big Alabama donors routing for Bama, as Bama beat them.
And Georgia is a state filled with Georgia Bulldog fans. And Bulldog Nation? ~3million fans

I wonder what numbers (if any) shift in Georgia because he took a seat in that suite last night. Alabama's needle isn't moving, but to take sides against Georgia like that, well - I was happy to see him in that Alabama booth, but I think that wasn't politically smart.

Wanna find 11k votes in Georgia, Trump? Maybe try to not take sides in a massive football rivalry as early voting begins.

Actually sorta frightens me to think if Trump was sitting on the Georgia side, routing for Georgia, and Georgia wins - - if that would have given Trump a whole other nudge.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 1:39 pm**

Unagi wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 8:29 am Georgia Bulldog fans will not have a good memory of Trump sitting up there with the big Alabama donors routing for Bama, as Bama beat them.
And Georgia is a state filled with Georgia Bulldog fans. And Bulldog Nation? ~3million fans

Wait--He was really sitting on the Crimson Tide side??

When I saw that he was at the Alabama-Georgia game, I assumed that he was there for Georgia electoral reasons.

Could it simply be that the Alabama VIP box was more luxurious, the game being played at Tuscaloosa? Is he really that easy?

Spoiler:

Meanwhile, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was at the Michigan-Minnesota game in Ann Arbor. Obviously he is partial to Minnesota, but he made sure to hang out with Michigan fans and celebrate their enthusiasm on social media.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:13 pm**

I'm pretty sure the whole reason he was at the game was to get some photos to make it look like he was in front of giant crowds of people since he can barely fill a high school gym now with his rallies.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:34 pm**

Turns out Zachary Levi was a big RFK Jr. supporter. Now he’s backing Trump. He made the announcement during a trump rally in Michigan.

“And for a long time, I was like, ‘Man, I really want to find a politician that represents all of the things that I want and I want to see in a presidential candidate.’ And this year, I found Bobby Kennedy, and I thought, ‘Man, this guy is it. He’s the real deal.’ And in a perfect world, whatever that would look like, perhaps I would have voted for Bobby. But we don’t live in a perfect world. In fact, we live in a very broken one, we live in a country that has been hijacked by a lot of people who want to take this place way off the cliff. And we want to stop that, right?”

Levi continued, “We’re here to make sure that we are going to take back this country, we are going to make it great again, we are going to make it healthy again. And so, I stand with Bobby, and I stand with Tulsi, and I stand with everyone else who is standing with President Trump. Because I do believe, of the two choices that we have, and we only have two, Donald Trump, President Trump is the man that can get us there. And he’s gonna get us there because he’s gonna have the backing and the support and the wisdom and the knowledge and the fight that exists in Robert Kennedy Jr. and former representative Tulsi Gabbard.”

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:45 pm**

Wasn't he a known loud anti vax head case already? I have memories about his wanting Pfizer to go under.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:48 pm**

I never really paid any attention to him beyond Chuck and Shazam, so I don’t know. But I guess, based on his fervent support of RFK Jr., that is probably true.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:57 pm**

I never paid attention to him beyond Chuck. That's why I said loud. He broadcast his views loud enough that they echoed to me.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 3:30 pm**

There’s real world loud and there’s social media loud. I’m guessing you’re more tuned into the latter than I. I don’t even use X, nor do I even have an instagram account. I’m old.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 4:57 pm**

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:13 pm I'm pretty sure the whole reason he was at the game was to get some photos to make it look like he was in front of giant crowds of people since he can barely fill a high school gym now with his rallies.

You know that’s not true, right?

I mean, I think you know that and are making a joke. But I’m not 209% sure . . .

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 6:31 pm**

This was Erie, PA earlier today:

You tell me if that isn't high school pep rally sized.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 6:39 pm**

He has also shot himself in the foot because he won't pay his bills for venues, so it's strictly cash upfront these days.

Posted: **Sun Sep 29, 2024 10:15 pm**

Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 4:57 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:13 pm I'm pretty sure the whole reason he was at the game was to get some photos to make it look like he was in front of giant crowds of people since he can barely fill a high school gym now with his rallies.
You know that’s not true, right?

I mean, I think you know that and are making a joke. But I’m not 209% sure . . .

I think Smoove meant trump, not Walz. It was ambiguous but that was my take.

Posted: **Mon Sep 30, 2024 8:11 pm**

OMG while waiting for football to start, TV is 100% political ads and they run forever. It feels like 5 minutes of programming and 15 minutes of political ads. And preponderance of them are horrible. Linear TV is the absolute worst. Can we stop thinking about 2024 now? I mean, my ballot is done, and your shit wasn't going to influence me anyway. Don't worry about all the old people you are trying to reach. They've already made up their minds too.

If it matters, most of the ads are GOP ads. 100% of the GOP as are negative, except for claims they will protect our borders, if playing on fear can be considered a positive. At least the most of the Democrat ads are (you know the people with no plans) about positive things and goals for their candidacy.

I hope this goes over like the mudslinging and "democrats proposals are just too confusing" did in 2022. I fear it won't but I hope it will and that memories aren't short. The Supreme Court that drove 2022 elections are still this Supreme Court and GOP, as much as they scream at the top of their lungs the last 4 years have been controlled by the democrats, have had split government that whole time.

PLEASE, let these ads end soon. I need my old TiVo to work OTA so I can just record the game and start watching it an hour late, skipping the commercials (which is what I used to do)

/rant

Posted: **Mon Sep 30, 2024 11:47 pm**

Kraken wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 10:15 pm
Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 4:57 pm
Smoove_B wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 2:13 pm I'm pretty sure the whole reason he was at the game was to get some photos to make it look like he was in front of giant crowds of people since he can barely fill a high school gym now with his rallies.
You know that’s not true, right?

I mean, I think you know that and are making a joke. But I’m not 209% sure . . .
I think Smoove meant trump, not Walz. It was ambiguous but that was my take.

Yeah, this is what it was. I'm 209% sure.

Posted: **Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:15 am**

LordMortis wrote: ↑Mon Sep 30, 2024 8:11 pm OMG while waiting for football to start, TV is 100% political ads and they run forever. It feels like 5 minutes of programming and 15 minutes of political ads. And preponderance of them are horrible. Linear TV is the absolute worst. Can we stop thinking about 2024 now? I mean, my ballot is done, and your shit wasn't going to influence me anyway. Don't worry about all the old people you are trying to reach. They've already made up their minds too.

If it matters, most of the ads are GOP ads. 100% of the GOP as are negative, except for claims they will protect our borders, if playing on fear can be considered a positive. At least the most of the Democrat ads are (you know the people with no plans) about positive things and goals for their candidacy.

I hope this goes over like the mudslinging and "democrats proposals are just too confusing" did in 2022. I fear it won't but I hope it will and that memories aren't short. The Supreme Court that drove 2022 elections are still this Supreme Court and GOP, as much as they scream at the top of their lungs the last 4 years have been controlled by the democrats, have had split government that whole time.

PLEASE, let these ads end soon. I need my old TiVo to work OTA so I can just record the game and start watching it an hour late, skipping the commercials (which is what I used to do)

/rant

In Ohio 95% of the GOP ads are fear mongering with racist and bigoted roots (both skin color based and sex based). I have seen literally 1 GOP ad for Bernie Moreno and 0 Trump ads that didn't contain any of those elements. Perhaps the worst of them all is a new Trump ad that ends by saying Trump is against They/Them and for "us", whoever "us" is.

Posted: **Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:32 am**

It got better when it turned from local to national coverage. Thank goodness, I would have literally turned the game off if I had to continue enduring that BS. TiVo dying plus the cord being cut has me with zero tolerance for wall to wall ads that I actively annoy me. One negative ad per break is noticeably too many. 2 is annoying. I wall of non informative negativity and fear and lies? No show is worth it and I'm not great at tuning it out.

Posted: **Tue Oct 01, 2024 10:17 am**

Use the mute button liberally.

Posted: **Thu Oct 03, 2024 12:25 pm**

For all of the conservative attacks on absentee voting being criminally wrong in my state, today I had to get in a long line behind mainly old self advertising TFG voters to drop off my ballot. Of course, these are the young MAGAt RAM and Charger driving, trained attack pitbull owning "Let's Go Brandon" "Fuck Your Feelings" voters... Whom I would hope won't actually vote, but given how much effort they put in to telling me who they are, I can't see who they wouldn't.

Posted: **Sat Oct 05, 2024 6:19 pm**

Kurth wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 4:57 pm You know that’s not true, right?

I mean, I think you know that and are making a joke. But I’m not 209% sure . . .

I take it back. There are apparently a sea of deplorables willing to travel to Butler PA

Posted: **Sun Oct 06, 2024 1:47 pm**

Republicans pour money into attacking Texas Democrats on LGBTQ+ issues ahead of Election Day

In his largest ad buy to date, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz attacks U.S. Rep. Colin Allred for his support of the Equality Act. It would have prohibited gender discrimination in public places.
...
The National Republican Congressional Committee unveiled its first Texas ad of the general election on Tuesday, accusing U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-McAllen, of pushing “sex changes for kids.” U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also unveiled Tuesday his campaign’s biggest ad buy yet for two ads accusing challenger U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas, of supporting legislation that allows men to use women’s restrooms and not knowing “the difference between boys and girls.”
...
Polling by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs showed that a majority of Texans responded unfavorably toward allowing transgender people to choose which bathroom to use, participate in women’s sports and receive gender affirming care under 18. But a large majority of Texans — over 70% — support general protections for LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, according to the Public Religion Research Institute.

Posted: **Mon Oct 07, 2024 8:24 pm**

If you watch NFL football on Sundays, all you see is adds about how Kamala Harris is for they/them and Trump is for you and yours.

I watch via YouTube TV with 4 games on through multiview. There have been times when 3/4 are showing adds about how Kamala used taxpayer money for gender reassignment surgery for inmates. The ads are really big on the imagery of scary looking trans people.

Truly despicable stuff.

Posted: **Mon Oct 07, 2024 9:50 pm**

We got our ballots today and will be mailing them in tomorrow.
There are not one but two abortion measures on the ballot this time.
Also two cannabis measures as well as one for sick-leave and another for continuing to pay for scholarships.

A few Rs running unopposed in smaller tickets.

Octopus Overlords

Too soon to start thinking about 2024?

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