San Diego Home Prices.......

If the average home in San Diego has come down in value by approximately 25% and the average home is priced around $600,000 then every "average" home owner is down about $150,000. How much more do they fall?

Obama's redistribution.........

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a "Obama 08" tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient deserved money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application..........OR....... IS IT THAT REDISTRIBUTION OF SOMEONE ELSE'S WEALTH IS A GREAT IDEA..............or just a fools game !!

Conflicted Wall Street advice.....

Kaboom.................

John McCain

I cast my vote for the distinguished aviator the other day. Election day will find me in the great state of South Dakota so I went ahead and got my civic obligation out of the way.

Let me tell you why I voted for McCain.

The financial calamity that we have experienced in our nation has hurt hundreds of millions of great Americans. There has been zero accountability by our government as to who caused it and nothing done to rectify it.

I know that the candidate opposing John McCain opposed attempts to put stricter regulations on Fannie Mae and that he was the second largest recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae. I know that this very year his campaign sought the advice of the former Fannie Mae CEO, Franklin Raines. Why Mr. Raines isn't in jail for all the shady shenanigans he pulled defies common decency toward the American people. You see, I believe Raines, Fannie Mae, Wall Street, the mortgage industry, the banking sector are all at the heart of "the mess" that defines Washington and our financial system. McCains opponent claims he is going to clean up our government under the banner of "change".

I know little about what "change" this young Senator stands for. His rhetoric is superb. I know that he opposed the practice of putting violent young felons on trial as adults. That was all the "change" I needed to cast my vote.

News of the weird............

Back in July, 500 truckloads of white sand were stolen from the location of a planned resort in Jamaica. This works out to around 400 meters of beach—quite a heist. Police are taking the investigation very seriously, going so far as to test other beaches for traces of the missing sand.

Though there have been no arrests, there are suspicions that "hotels may have been involved."

In 2007, a Hungarian resort was also relieved of its beach, huts, and sun loungers.

Hank "sign here, we're injecting you" Paulson.........

Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson spoke Monday to alternatively discuss the need for another economic stimulus package and make the case for the bailout efforts taken to date.
Many issues about the rescue plan and the economy remain unanswered, but a more fundamental question remains: Are the Fed chairman and Treasury secretary up to the job?
A resounding "no" is the answer from Christopher Whalen, managing director at Institutional Risk Analytics, who is particularly critical of Paulson.


The Treasury secretary is "grotesquely conflicted" in his efforts to bail out his former employer, as detailed here, and has found "common cause" with an overly lenient Fed chairman.
"They have a bias to preserve the derivatives market" -- the riskiest part of Wall Street, Whalen says, noting the government let Lehman and Bear fail but bailed out AIG and (according to Whalen) rescued Goldman Sachs and Morgan -- at least for the time being.

This should enrage you..............

From early 2004 till mid-2007, the nine banks named so far to participate in the government's rescue plan earned $305 billion. Since then they have posted losses or write downs of $323 billion (Wall Street Journal).

I haven't heard of any mega-bonuses from the good years being returned.