Comments on: What’s Wrong With This Picture?

By: nerdbert

nerdbert — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:34:51 +0000

Dude, I lived in Florida. As a resident you can pick up a 4 season pass (go once per season fall/winter/…) for the price of one admission for a tourist. It’s empty every December. It’s the only season I really liked visiting the place.

By: Bryan Price

Bryan Price — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 01:02:58 +0000

@DensityDuck: Do you have a clue as to what the weather is like in central Florida in December? Gee, it only got up to freaking 74 during the day! The low was a shattering upper 60s! Not great weather to get soaked in, but it was better than a spring of fall day in Ohio at Cedar Point or King’s Island! If everybody was running around in long pants and jackets, you’d have a point. Most people were running around in just a shirt and shorts, a different story.

Going to Florida during the summer is stupid. Fall, spring and winter are probably THE times to be down here, if you’re a northerner.

By: DensityDuck

DensityDuck — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:40:49 +0000

Bryan: Your anecdotes about Disneyworld vacancy would be more telling if it weren’t FREAKIN’ DECEMBER.

By: Gaius

Gaius — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:19:20 +0000

Gee, Steve, I had no idea that I had to answer you first when you are posting a comment on my blog. Nice try, though.

By: Terrence

Terrence — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:32:25 +0000

What the media is constantly reporting is indeed a DELUSION, Steve J. BUT THEY ARE INDEED RELENTLESSLY REPORTING IT, and the PRESIDENT ELECT IS HARPING ON IT NON-STOP, and saying the economy will ONLY GET WORSE. and the media are RELENTLESSLY REPORTING ON HIM SAYING SO.

By: Steve J.

Steve J. — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:19:22 +0000

By Jim, Sunday, 7 December , 2008 @ 9:46 pm

>>Um, by who?

Um, by every American newspaper and the president-elect, that’s who.

THIS IS A DELUSION

By: Steve J.

Steve J. — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:18:07 +0000

We are told of the home foreclosure nightmare, but in my neighborhood there are no homes in foreclosure.

Yeah, like you are a bellwether for the nation.

By: Steve J.

Steve J. — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:14:06 +0000

By Gaius, Sunday, 7 December , 2008 @ 9:12 pm

One other thing, Steve. I notice you did not answer the question.

YOU didn’t answer mine. You have not provided a single quote, much less the dozen or so that would make your claim plausible.

By: Bryan Price

Bryan Price — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 20:53:16 +0000

The malls around me? Not empty, but they certainly aren’t as busy as they have in past years, and it’s visibly apparent from the lack of cars in the parking lot. Maybe they’re doing their shopping online?

Restaurants around me aren’t that busy, and when I do eat at one, they are quite happy that I decided to eat there. My next door neighbor owns one, and business is way down from last year.

I enjoyed Disney World last week. The sheriffs were picking up people right before they got on the Disney property. Orlando must really be hurting to be pulling tourists over for the revenue. The tourists tend not to come back. The attraction lines? Pretty much non-existent, some were literally walk the queue and get on the attraction. People were there, but certainly not the crowds that I’ve seen in prior visits.

Maybe it’s just Florida. The state is only projecting a budget shortfall of $2 billion this fiscal year, and $6 billion next.

And it looks like my wife will be laid off this month due to the current customer not being able to pay the bills. That says something when that customer is the government of the country with the best economy on their continent.

So Merry Christmas everyone!

By: DensityDuck

DensityDuck — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:53:16 +0000

@lindaloo:
“some reason the news media seems to be hyping bad news – I really can’t understand why. They got their guy Obama elected, you would think they could give it a rest now.”

Well, there it is. The press sold their birthrights for a pot of message; they have a vested interest in making sure that the narrative proceeds as it’s supposed to, because otherwise what have they got left? Their fortunes are tied to those of the Democrats.

Lots of Republicans were told that the economy was going to crash, and it was all Bush’s fault, and that therefore they should vote Democrat. And they did–they sucked down that Kool-Aid and smiled because By God They Showed Those BASTARDS What It’s Really About!

Except now it’s the morning afterwards. The economy ISN’T crashing, and Obama ISN’T going to end all the wars. So all those Republicans are going to start looking at each other and saying, “wait a minute…we did WHAT with WHO?” And they’re going into full-own “chew your arm off” mode, and the Democrats will spend another twenty years losing elections.

By: Harvard@Cal

Harvard@Cal — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:59:44 +0000

Packed malls, cheap gas, no seats at the local dining establishment, yet the relentless drumbeat of doom and gloom? Bush is still in office. Once we wake up sometime in late January, early February (early March at the latest) we will be inundated with news of job growth, dropping unemployment and a surging economy. Just in time for you-know-who to take credit. And will the masses fall for it? Surely you jest…

By: Hucbald

Hucbald — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:59:29 +0000

Well, it’s a good time to buy a house, so I bought one of those, and it’s a good time to by stocks, so I’m buying some of those too. Then, with cheap gas it’s a good time to take a vacation, so when the move into the new house is finished, I’m going to take one of those too.

Nothing is wrong with this picture, as far as I can see. Hope it continues like this for a while. LOL!

By: Liberty Street

Liberty Street — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:04:15 +0000

[...] leave a comment » Gaius at Blue Crab Boulevard can’t understand why “the media” and the president-elect keep saying we’re in a global economic crisis. What economic crisis? A British paper reports that “Two million people are expected to spend a record £320million online,” and the paper had pictures of huge shopping crowds in London, and here in the States the malls… Well, I’ll let Gaius tell the story: [...]

By: Jim,MtnViewCA,USA

Jim,MtnViewCA,USA — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:01:09 +0000

I tend to agree that things are better than anticipated but the people at the malls are those that are OK. Every recession people point to the malls being full. Watch a few months. Also, seems like this one is travelling East (wall street) to the West. If you are in a state that doesn’t touch the Atlantic you may not have seen much…yet.

By: nerdbert

nerdbert — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 04:06:00 +0000

Who writes the news? Journalists.

Who have managed to drive their industry, used to local monopoly and monopoly level porfits, into the ground? Journalists.

Whose job prospects are looking horrible? Journalists.

No wonder those few left in journalism are so down on the economy — even if the rest of us manage a recovery, there’s basically no hope left for the old newsprint journalism model.