Bill Moyer Scares Us

Wise and respected, Bill Moyers deserves to be heard. Corporation of Public Broadcasting was "to be a firewall between political influence and program content." His address to the National Conference for Media Reform looks that troubled state of political journalism inside the Beltway. This was picked up by Salon.

I haven't yet read the entire piece. This is my reminder to take notice of what Bill Moyers has to say. Especially now that this administration is trying to blameshift its problems to Newsweek.

High Home Prices Can Hurt

Housing inflation is going mainstream. USAToday's cover story was "Bubble or not, high home prices can hurt." There are good numbers in here, like "a typical existing home costs 3.5 times a median family income, compared with a longstanding 2.7 ratio."

And speculative buying and investment buying: "Home builders are trying to tamp down speculative buying by writing contract clauses allowing them to cancel a sale...."

"Based on past experience, ARMs should have only about 20% of market share." They have more than 33% of the market.

Article even uses the phrase: "real-estate-price inflation." This is a quote from Eric Wolfe of IBEW noting working migrating to affordable areas. Like I've been saying, where are the workers going to live? How are the jobs going to be filled?

There is no doubt that we are in scary economic times.

Wikipedia is Hitchhiker's Guide

In State Paul Boutin compared Hitchhiker's Guide to the Wikipedia. The comparison is right. Given the absurdity and humor in the books, I wonder if life with the Wikipedia is also like Hitchhiker's?

Chris Abraham says "Complete bullocks, IMHO."

Pro-UNION Site

I happened across an blog entry by a former boss and discovered a great pro-UNION site. There is actual discussion going on here and thoughtful papers. Wish I had more “feet on the ground” experience to add.

Sloppiness as a Virtue

RSS is sloppy. So are web pages. Jon Udell wrote about Paving the Information Footpath and shows how things get done – sometimes sloppily.

Sports Teams' Names as the Truth

Are all of the players Los Angeles natives? If you really want honest representation then shouldn't the team that represents Los Angeles be players from Los Angeles?

There is an emotional "leap of faith" to follow any team. This is not a rational decision.

This comment was prompted by an blog entry for Worthwhile: Little White Lies, or Great Tales from the Marketing Front by Kevin Salwen in Creativity

Housing Inflation Fueled by Home Equity

Pay $10,000 down payment three years ago, refinance twice and take out $80,000 with a $100,000 line of credit which "he might use it to buy an investment property." Margaret Webb Pressler wrote It's on the House in the Washington Post about how the "rules" of home equity have changed with the boom in real estate price. Plenty of information to show how housing inflation is bubbling.

The envelop please .... and the winner is Red. 

Happy Birthday Young Dave

Happy Birthday Dave! You’re a young man – just half way there.

An Economy On Thin Ice

This article by Paul Volcker in the WP makes bonds sound risky.