Welcome to WordPress or, work in progress

Well the previous postings and comments have been imported from Blogger and, I think, readers going there will be automatically redirected here. [UPDATE: No they aren’t. Working on it] There’s a lot of work to be done to set up this site as I’d like it but it seems to offer more flexibility and I’ll be free from Google’s sabotaging robots (24 hours after notifying them that I am a human, not a spam site they’ve done exactly … nothing. So long, Google/Blogger; I won’t miss you.

(just noticed that I have to reset the clock on this thing or it really is 10:15 pm and the day’s gone by. Ignore time stamps for the while.)

Existing home resales continue to slump

Nothing new here but in case your misery loves company, Bloomberg reports that sales contracts for existing homes are down nationwide. And down 17% in the Northeast.

Merril Lynch was bulls..t on America

Merrill’s demise and how it happened. From the New York Times. Best quote:

“The mortgage business at Merrill Lynch was an afterthought — they didn’t really have a strategy,” said William Dallas, the founder of Ownit Mortgage Solutions, a lending business in which Merrill bought a stake a few years ago. “They had found this huge profit potential, and everybody wanted a piece of it. But they were pigs about it.”

From “Mommy is a Democrat, a “heartwarming children’s book” according to one review. So far as I know this isn’t required reading in our public schools yet but it certainly should be in every right – thinking household!

Is there a Republican alternative to this dreck? Of course, but, because Republican kids are so much smarter , they can handle a bit of nuance and so the preaching is a little less heavy handed. That book, of course, is . You may remember the plot: Thidwick, because he has a kind heart, offers a ride on his antlers to, first, a pair of ungrateful squirrels and then an ever-growing succession of free loaders. When his life is threatened Thidwick begs his riders to get off so that he can save his life but they refuse, claiming that their desire for comfort and their “need” for a ride gives them the right to Thidwick’s life. Fortunately, just as hunters are aiming their guns at Thidwick his antlers loosen and he throws off the whole load of beggars. The last pages show Thidwick happily munching on moose grass and the Democrat/animal riders, all stuffed, mounted above the Harvard Club’s fireplace. So fitting. I read it to all my children.

Building activity is slowing or it isn’t
That’s the confusing conclusion this Greenwich Time article reaches. I’m not blaming the reporter, it’s the data that are confusing. P and Z applications are holding steady, according to Dian Fox, but actual building permits are down. There’s a lot of brave talk by builders but I don’t see the activity I used to so … guess we’ll see.

Here it comes
the Washington Post admits it was in the tank for Obama. Others will probably follow. Chris Matthews has always admitted it but sees nothing wrong with his actions; I think the majority of reporters are beginning to suffer morning after regrets as they remember what they did last night and will soon start sheepishly confessing their sins and ask us to trust them again. I won’t, maybe others will.

We’re not out of the woods yet
Mortgage applications fell off the cliff last week. Down 20% from the week before, 47% from the same week last year. It makes sense, of course: if you’re not buying a house, why would you need a mortgage?