tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post5037928232746773976..comments2024-03-28T03:47:46.544-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: CIT Is Too Important to Fail.Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-63473748292236254592008-04-15T00:34:00.000-04:002008-04-15T00:34:00.000-04:00The proposed merger of Northwest and Delta is remi...The proposed merger of Northwest and Delta is reminiscent of Sears and Kmart. The airlines are having a hard time competing these days and in the coming years we may hear a debate to reregulate the industry in order to assure an essential service.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-38289440277246372342008-04-15T00:07:00.000-04:002008-04-15T00:07:00.000-04:00Mr Howard said he continued to grieve for parliame...<I>Mr Howard said he continued to grieve for parliamentary colleagues who had lost their seats, and learned two things while on a recent trip to the United States.<BR/><BR/>One was that the Labor Government was praising the strength of the Australian economy overseas, but criticising the Howard Government's economic performance at home.<BR/><BR/>The other was that his diplomacy needed work. Asked at a function at the George H. W. Bush presidential library in Texas to name his top three achievements, he started with gun control.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/howard-speaks-his-mind/2008/04/14/1208025099007.html" REL="nofollow">Speaking his Mind</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-41570022325349632122008-04-15T00:02:00.000-04:002008-04-15T00:02:00.000-04:00Berlusconi once said he agreed with the United Sta...<I>Berlusconi once said he agreed with the United States regardless of Washington's position.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080414/D901UIJO4.html" REL="nofollow">Berlusconi returns To Power</A><BR/><BR/>This is not a burlesque. This is what one needs in an ally, and a wife.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-76723246535011470122008-04-14T21:19:00.000-04:002008-04-14T21:19:00.000-04:00Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp.,...<I>Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., squeezed by record high fuel prices and a slowing economy, are combining in a stock-swap deal that would create the world's biggest carrier.<BR/><BR/>The boards of both companies gave the deal the go-ahead Monday.<BR/><BR/>Delta (DAL: 10.48, +0.47, +4.69%) said the combined airline, which will be called Delta, will have an enterprise value of $17.7 billion. It will be based in Atlanta, and Delta CEO Richard Anderson will head the combined company.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/industries/transportation/article/delta-northwest-announce-merger_559987_8.html" REL="nofollow">Merger Announcement</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-6901207397292349872008-04-14T21:13:00.000-04:002008-04-14T21:13:00.000-04:00Yeah, I agree, aenea, it's just unseemly.Yeah, I agree, aenea, it's just unseemly.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-56464985772461717612008-04-14T21:02:00.000-04:002008-04-14T21:02:00.000-04:00Israel's secret service has declined to assist U.S...<I>Israel's secret service has declined to assist U.S. agents guarding former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit in which Israeli leaders have shunned him, U.S. sources close to the matter said on Monday.<BR/><BR/>...<BR/><BR/>Another source described the snub as an "unprecedented" breach between the Israeli Shin Bet and the U.S. Secret Service, which protects all current and former U.S. presidents, as well as Israeli leaders when they visit the United States.<BR/><BR/>...<BR/><BR/>"I think there's no doubt in anyone's mind that, if Israel is ever going to find peace with justice concerning the relationship with their next-door neighbors, the Palestinians, that Hamas will have to be included in the process," Carter told U.S. television network ABC News's "This Week."</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://theusdaily.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=359082&type=home" REL="nofollow">Security Help</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-58420181675990921622008-04-14T20:42:00.000-04:002008-04-14T20:42:00.000-04:00Isn't there a law or a constitutional provision ab...<B>Isn't there a law or a constitutional provision about private citizens like Jimmy Carter running around negotiating with foreign folk like Hamas?</B><BR/><BR/>Bobal, Jimmy Carter's say-so and seventy-five cents will get you a donut at the cafeteria.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88650700629699874812008-04-14T20:02:00.000-04:002008-04-14T20:02:00.000-04:00The picketers spoke in passing to Democratic Reps....<I>The picketers spoke in passing to Democratic Reps. John Larson of Connecticut, Leonard Boswell of Iowa and James Clyburn of South Carolina.<BR/><BR/>Clyburn, a member of the House leadership, told union members, "I'm for seating them all," as he climbed into a sport utility vehicle. "We've got to get it done," a union member shouted to Clyburn.<BR/><BR/>"We will," Clyburn responded.</I><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://blog.mlive.com/elections_source/2008/04/union_members_urge_democrats_t.html" REL="nofollow">Florida/Michigan Delegates</A>samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11856051164644278989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43094538306843935122008-04-14T19:59:00.000-04:002008-04-14T19:59:00.000-04:00Hillary Unwinds Whiskey in one hand, beer in the o...<A HREF="http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=78173" REL="nofollow">Hillary Unwinds</A> Whiskey in one hand, beer in the other. Hillary lit up a bit would be <A HREF="http://ask.yahoo.com/20060707.html" REL="nofollow">More Fun Than A Barrel Of <I>Monkeys</I></A>Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88260358914438705962008-04-14T19:17:00.000-04:002008-04-14T19:17:00.000-04:00When she answers, Pastors' mike went off. Well, he...When she answers, Pastors' mike went off. Well, he was tapping the mike on the altar, and fiddling with the switch, when it comes back on, Mabel having hung up, and he is saying, "There's something wrong with this mike."<BR/>Hearing this, the congregation chimes in, <I>like trained monkeys,</I> "And also with you."<BR/><BR/><I>bobal</I><BR/><BR/>DAMN! You got to watch what you say these days!Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-89517836017338046272008-04-14T19:12:00.000-04:002008-04-14T19:12:00.000-04:00• WBBM: Monkey Comment: Obama Delegate Not Quitt...• <A HREF="http://www.wbbm780.com/New:--Racist--Obama-Delegate-Not-Quitting-Over-Mon/1972587" REL="nofollow"> <STRONG> <STRONG>WBBM: Monkey Comment: Obama Delegate Not Quitting - UPDATE</STRONG> </STRONG> </A><BR/>Typical Hispanic/Pollack fined $75 for saying neighbor's kids were playing in the tree<BR/><EM>"<STRONG>Like Monkeys</STRONG>"</EM>Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-73492831401965417552008-04-14T19:07:00.000-04:002008-04-14T19:07:00.000-04:00(from the typical right-wing rag, "The New Republi...(from the typical right-wing rag, <BR/>"<STRONG>The New Republic:</STRONG>")<BR/><BR/><STRONG>Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago, and Trinity's guiding principles--what the church calls the "Black Value System"--included a "Disavowal of the Pursuit of 'Middleclassness.'"</STRONG><BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=a74fca23-f6ac-4736-9c78-f4163d4f25c7&p=8" REL="nofollow"> <STRONG>New Republic: The Agitator -- Barack Obama's Unlikely Political Education </STRONG></A> <BR/><BR/>A Reverend Philips put the problem to him squarely when he learned that Obama didn't attend services. "It might help your mission if you had a church home," he told Obama. "It doesn't matter where, really. What you're asking from pastors requires us to set aside some of our more priestly concerns in favor of prophesy. That requires a good deal of faith on our part. It makes us want to know just where you're getting yours from."<BR/><BR/>After many lectures like this, Obama decided to take a second look at Wright's church. Older pastors warned him that Trinity was for "Buppies"--black urban professionals--and didn't have enough street cred. But Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago, and Trinity's guiding principles--what the church calls the "Black Value System"--included a "Disavowal of the Pursuit of 'Middleclassness.'"<BR/><BR/>The cross currents appealed to Obama. He came to believe that the church could not only compensate for the limitations of Alinsky-style organizing but could help answer the nagging identity problem he had come to Chicago to solve. "It was a powerful program, this cultural community," he wrote, "one more pliant than simple nationalism, more sustaining than my own brand of organizing.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-44254689945666853772008-04-14T18:52:00.000-04:002008-04-14T18:52:00.000-04:00A lot of commercial paper at my wife's bank is bei...A lot of commercial paper at my wife's bank is being downgraded, the collateral being real estate.<BR/><BR/>So they are calliing loans and revamping terms in a downward cycle of contraction.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-23585364982394953442008-04-14T18:49:00.000-04:002008-04-14T18:49:00.000-04:00Swings are from boom to bust, here.It is definatel...Swings are from boom to bust, here.<BR/><BR/>It is definately bust time, now.<BR/><BR/>And you guys and 3% down, why so high?<BR/><BR/>Cash back at closing, that was a come-on, for a while there.<BR/><BR/>As for buying or selling, the average length of time to own a house is the US is seven years.<BR/>Now I've had mine for three times that, but my behaviour is not the norm. By any means<BR/><BR/>So in any given year, about 14% of the housing stock is in transition.<BR/>A two year shake out would effect about 25% of the home owners in the US.<BR/>Tens of billions in lost value, in equity if not liquidity.desert rathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02369546288659566961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-75479082851682812472008-04-14T17:13:00.000-04:002008-04-14T17:13:00.000-04:00Housing Woes in U.S. Spread Around Globe Still, t...<A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/business/worldbusiness/14real.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5087&em&en=4c545c22917e3590&ex=1208318400" REL="nofollow"> <STRONG>Housing Woes in U.S. Spread Around Globe</STRONG> </A><BR/><BR/>Still, the problems in Britain pale next to those of Spain and Ireland. <STRONG>Residential investment accounts for 12 percent of the Irish economy and 9 percent of the Spanish economy, compared with 5 percent in Britain and 4 percent in the United States</STRONG>, according to the I.M.F.<BR/><BR/>The glut of housing has brought new construction to a standstill, driving up unemployment and dimming the prospects for two of Europe’s stellar performers over the last decade. <BR/><BR/>“We’re waking up from the property dream and finding ourselves in a situation where prices are falling in Spain for the first time,” said Fernando Encinar, a founder of Idealista.com, a real estate Web site.<BR/><BR/>In Spain, more than four million homes were built in the last decade, more than in Germany, Britain and France combined. Average house prices tripled in parts of the country, as Spain’s torrid economy attracted immigrants and Northern Europeans snapped up holiday homes along the Costa del Sol.<BR/><BR/>Now, though, thousands of those houses stand empty. The I.M.F. estimates that property is overvalued by more than 15 percent. With mortgages drying up and prices swooning, speculators who once viewed Spanish property as a no-lose proposition are confronting hard reality.<BR/>---<BR/><BR/>Economists have been busy cutting their growth forecasts for Spain, with a few saying that it may stagnate this summer. BBVA, a leading Spanish bank, forecasts that unemployment will rise to an average of 11 percent this year, from 8.6 percent in 2007.<BR/>---<BR/><BR/>After a 16-year boom that was interrupted only briefly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Ireland has the most overvalued housing market among developed countries, according to the I.M.F. In its recent economic outlook, the fund calculated that prices are 30 percent higher than they should be, given Ireland’s economic fundamentals.Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-59385023390843576742008-04-14T17:12:00.000-04:002008-04-14T17:12:00.000-04:00He lives in a bungalow, flies easyJet and 'dries o...<A HREF="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559487&in_page_id=1770" REL="nofollow"><STRONG>He lives in a bungalow, flies easyJet and 'dries out' three times a year... the man who founded Ikea and is worth £15bn</STRONG> </A><BR/><BR/>He now lives in semi-retirement with his wife Margaretha in a villa in Switzerland. The couple are often seen dining out in cheap restaurants and haggling over prices in the market.<BR/><BR/>He always does his food shopping in the afternoon, when the prices in his local market start to fall.<BR/><BR/>Recently, a statue of him was erected in his Swedish home town, and he was invited to cut the ribbon.<BR/>It was reported that instead he untied it, folded it neatly and handed it to the mayor, telling him he could now use it again.<BR/><BR/>Explaining his frugal nature, he said:<BR/><STRONG><EM>"I am a bit tight with money, a sort of Swedish Scotsman, But so what?".</EM></STRONG>Doughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16770268554450465514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5531599553719343762008-04-14T17:03:00.000-04:002008-04-14T17:03:00.000-04:00Isn't there a law or a constitutional provision ab...Isn't there a law or a constitutional provision about private citizens like Jimmy Carter running around negotiating with foreign folk like Hamas?Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-82418876565971816702008-04-14T16:41:00.000-04:002008-04-14T16:41:00.000-04:00That big picture in the illuminated billboard ther...That big picture in the illuminated billboard there, in the photo, that's the benevolent Party Chairman, I'd bet.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-63798337593146843242008-04-14T16:38:00.000-04:002008-04-14T16:38:00.000-04:00Take a look at This Life in lovely down Beijing. O...Take a look at <A HREF="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D901QVNG0&show_article=1&image=large" REL="nofollow">This</A> Life in lovely down Beijing. One good thing about living there is, you don't have to live long. Gonna shut down during the Games, so as to make a better impression, Potemkin Village style.<BR/><BR/><I>General Potemkin's villages--<BR/>There is a division among modern historians on the degree of truth behind Potemkin villages. While the tales of the fake villages are generally considered an exaggeration, some dismiss it as simply malicious rumors spread by Potemkin's opponents, though these historians argue that Potemkin did mount efforts to develop the Crimea and probably directed peasants to spruce up the riverfront in advance of the party bringing the empress by boat to the Crimea. For example, according to Montefiore, Potemkin's most comprehensive English-language biographer, the tale of elaborate, fake settlements, with glowing fires designed to comfort the monarch and her entourage as they surveyed the barren territory at night, is largely fiction. [1]<BR/><BR/>Some Russian historians have a somewhat different view. Aleksandr Panchenko, an authoritative specialist on 19th century Russia, used original correspondence and memoirs to conclude that the myth of the Potemkin village has a basis in reality, as "Potemkin really did build mock towns and villages, but he never denied that they were theatrical sets." [2] Panchenko writes that "Potemkin's goal was to demonstrate that this vast region was already practically civilized, or was at least energetically becoming civilized," by showing a vision of what the area would become, including using screens on which villages were painted, and driving flocks of sheep each night to the next stop along the route.[3]<BR/><BR/>Alternatively, it has been suggested that the close relationship between Field Marshal Potemkin and Empress Catherine made it likely she was aware of the fictitious nature of the villages. The deception would have thus been mainly directed towards the foreign ambassadors accompanying the imperial party.[4]<BR/><BR/>Regardless, Potemkin had in fact directed the building of fortresses, ships of the line, and thriving settlements, and the tour – which saw real and significant accomplishments – solidified his power. So, while "Potemkin village" has come to mean, especially in a political context, any hollow or false construct, physical or figurative, meant to hide an undesirable or potentially damaging situation, the phrase may not apply to its original context.<BR/><BR/><BR/>[edit] Modern Uses<BR/>"Potemkin village" has also frequently been used to describe the attempts of the Soviet government to fool foreign visitors. The government would take such visitors, who were often already sympathetic to socialism or communism, to select villages, factories, schools, stores, or neighborhoods and present them as if they were typical, rather than exceptional. Given the strict limitations on the movement of foreigners in the USSR, it was often impossible for these visitors to see any other examples. [5] wiki</I>Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88201573126070317582008-04-14T16:32:00.000-04:002008-04-14T16:32:00.000-04:00Prices here are maybe 5% off their peak. The marke...Prices here are maybe 5% off their peak. The market has definitely slowed, but I wouldn't be a buyer, not unless I see a good 25% adjustment, or general inflation catching up with stagnated home prices some years down the road.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11132252460964519368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-74151728775697150152008-04-14T16:12:00.000-04:002008-04-14T16:12:00.000-04:00I read 3% on some of these loans, then the stuff a...I read 3% on some of these loans, then the stuff aenea mentions. 3% down? That's ridiculous. But the overseers of the industry wanting to get the folk housed. Regulators wanting the banks to make unstable loans.<BR/><BR/>Good time to be a buyer. Get yourself that 3 bedroom 2 bath condo in Vegas, built five years ago, for 105K. Nice digs. Live the exciting Vegas life.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04145155737835511824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-53921627396967007262008-04-14T15:12:00.000-04:002008-04-14T15:12:00.000-04:00No down payment? It used to be a minimum of 10 per...No down payment? It used to be a minimum of 10 percent.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11132252460964519368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-88150056689198303712008-04-14T14:52:00.000-04:002008-04-14T14:52:00.000-04:00Metuselah: Why are falling housing prices a proble...Metuselah: <B>Why are falling housing prices a problem? They're only a problem to those that want to sell. If you don't sell, you haven't lost a thing.</B><BR/><BR/>They're called Adjustible Rate Mortgages, and they were taken out with low teaser rates that are resetting now. Overnight, people are having to come up with an additional $1000 a month or more. They were warned about this when they signed the papers, but they were also assured that they could re-fi at a fixed rate before the reset. Well, it turns out that with falling prices no one wants to re-fi a mortgage for more money than the home is worth on the open market. So the folks are stuck. A lot of them are walking away, which makes the banks take it in the shorts and contributes to the meltdown...an empty house is one more competitor for a buyer, so it depresses prices even more. And you get a chain reaction.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-68690456763164698842008-04-14T14:34:00.000-04:002008-04-14T14:34:00.000-04:00Anyway, I think most people even with a 30% haircu...Anyway, I think most people even with a 30% haircut from today's inflated prices are still ahead of the game.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11132252460964519368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-20278789825327272992008-04-14T14:32:00.000-04:002008-04-14T14:32:00.000-04:00Why are falling housing prices a problem? They're ...Why are falling housing prices a problem? They're only a problem to those that want to sell. If you don't sell, you haven't lost a thing.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11132252460964519368noreply@blogger.com