A Fave:

Define 'Moral Hazard'

Who ever thought that having your house foreclosed on would be good personal economic policy?

This is anecdotal, but, I believe the source...

In Ladera Ranch, CA, a large number of homeowners, who have Option ARM's, are currently "stacking cash" to prepare for the date that their ARM adjusts upwards on a home which is 25-30% UNDERWATER...
at that time, these folks plan to stop making payments and wait for the bank to foreclose (6-10 months after they stop making payments)

at that point, these folks will have cash available to pay for a mover, pay 6 months rent in advance on a leased home and wait a year or two for the home prices to fall further, at which point, these folks plan to buy a house at a much lower price...

On Socialism, Alaska-Style

“How can you vote against someone who hands you cash?”

A Great Flat Stanley Moment

A little more than a month earlier, teacher Joyce Ben-KiKi had Aron and his classmates each send letters to a famous person as part of a language arts lesson. Ben-KiKi wrapped the exercise around well-known children's book character "Flat Stanley," so along with the letters, the children each tucked a Flat Stanley figure they had made into each envelope.

"I told them not to expect a letter back," Ben-KiKi said. "I told them these people are very busy and most likely will not write back."

The list of recipients was impressive: Yankee third basemen Alex Rodriguez; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz; Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Obama was the only one to write back. Two other boys, Avshalom Drescher and Zachary Goldberg, both 8, also wrote to him, but Aron was the first to get a reply.

Obama's three-page letter to Aron described Flat Stanley's visit with him and his staff in Washington, D.C. It chronicled their busy day together, which included coffee with constituents, a Senate committee meeting and a trip to the gym. It also had historical facts about the U.S. Capitol, details of Obama's job and a confession from Obama.

"Sometimes I get a little nervous before talking in front of a crowd, but Flat Stanley helped me practice the speech," Obama wrote. "He made me recite it in front of him and then even gave me some advice so the speech would go smoothly. Flat Stanley is really a great coach."

Economic Bleeding Hits Home, Pt. 2

I'm not surprised by this. Hell, I'm sure he'll just declare bankruptcy again and walk away.

Submitted Without Comment

Addicted to the Dollar?

This is your money, folks. It's getting sent across the border to help the foreign money markets. Seems there's no need to wait for Obama to taste the socialism. However in this case, it's the bankers--and not you--tasting the gov't cheese:

Note the similarity between the Fed's actions and a drug dealer and his client. A shot of heroin will relieve the withdrawal symptoms, but only if the next dose is stronger.

Tuesday Can't Come Soon Enough

A funny quote from another site I frequent:

"I think it's been about 41 years since McCain saw the ground rushing at him this fast."

STOP THE PRESSES!:

A local school district official confirmed after the event that of the 6,000 people estimated by the fire marshal to be in attendance this morning, more than 4,000 were bused in from schools in the area. The entire 2,500-student Defiance School District was in attendance, the official said, in addition to at least three other schools from neighboring districts, one of which sent 14 buses.

Must Read

David Foster Wallace profile in Rolling Stone. A sad story of the author's struggles with feelings of inadequacy and the fear of success. Toss in some alcohol, prescription drugs and clinical depression for dramatic effect. Now I am sufficiently motivated to take on his Infinite Jest.

Working Late Tonight...

And the Mexican catering is challenging my digestive system.

The Economic Bleeding Hits Home:

Chicago Blues and Jazz Fests take it on the chin.

Wait, Here Are Some Better Images:

This Blog Needs an Image:

For no other reason:

She Shakes Hands With Her Left One?

"And my wedding ring, it's in Todd's pocket, 'cause it hurts sometimes when I shake hands and it gets squished," she continued. "A $35 wedding ring from Hawaii that I bought myself and 'cause I always thought with my ring it's not what it's made of, it's what it represents, and 20 years later, happy to wear it. And then finally the other accessory, you bet I'm a gold — I'm a blue star mom. I'm wearing this in honor of my son who is fighting over in Iraq right now defending all of you."

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.

It's True:

So don't count on Stevens' conviction not leading to his reelection. It could happen. Obviously, he wouldn't be able to serve out his term. But one Sarah W. Palin would be the one to appoint his replacement to the Senate. It wouldn't surprise me if she appointed herself. I think she's got the chutzpah (and the wardrobe) to do it, don't you?

On Suburbia:

The suburbs have three destinies, none of them exclusive: as materials salvage, as slums, and as ruins. In any case, the suburbs will lose value dramatically, both in terms of usefulness and financial investment.

I Might Just Liquidate the IRA...

"The bottom line of all this is that we in the US could find ourselves in a situation of shortages, hoarding, and rationing. This would pretty much kill off whatever remains of the previous shuck-and-jive economy -- hamburger sales, theme park visits, Nascar weekends -- while it obviates the failures of our suburban living arrangements (and drives the value of housing there closer to zero)."

Making Money Today:

In Summary:

Rock Star

Bigger than a Lollapalooza crowd.

Avail2

Looks Like My Mom's House...

Will We Ever be So Lucky Again?

To get another Paul Welllstone?

Not Yet:

Chicago Drawbridge Tower (Interior)

Wassup '08

Avail

Fred

First Post

Greetings. Herein lies another attempt at that blogging thing. Past attempts have attempted to document the song I woke up singing, my political observations and insights, and other categories of digital ephemera. Sadly, I was unable to maintain my initial zeal to post as fulltime employers didn't dig the whole Blogger.com homepage occupying my two very large,very expensive flat screen monitors on their dime. And who can blame them? That and the whole soul-sucking effect of fulltime employment downtime let a lot of the ambitious and determined air out of my balloon.

So how is my latest attempt any different? Well for one, I have a new company to promote: Butter Press. Formerly Deep Blue Ink, Butter Press provides graphic solutions for visual communication industries. With this blog I intend to document works in progress, availabilities and general updatery. In fact, all posts tagged with 'Butter' will operate as my online portfolio.

This blog will also provide relief to the inboxes of my spam list (you know who you are). Therefore, news and features I deem interesting will also be documented here. Typically, these spams center around the political landscape--economics in particular. Posts with this content will be tagged 'Guns'. Hence, Guns and Butter. How will you allocate your resources?

Other tags are TBD as degrees of subtlety emerge.

Why will THIS blog survive, you may be asking your beautiful self? As a newly minted, ambitious and determined freelance graphic solutions specialist, I expect to have time enough on my hands to CREATE content (or at least copy and paste). And with CHANGE on the horizon, I expect there will be plenty of opportunities to document history in my own little way.

So without further ado...*POST*