Potemkin village for Presidential photo-op

BP bused in temporary workers for Obama’s beach visit and bused them right back out when he left to play golf. Between our government and British Petroleum, we’re being fed a whole bunch of horse shit. Did you know that the “Top Kill” was suspended from 2:20 Thursday night until 3: 30 this afternoon? Not if you relied on government officials, BP executives or the main stream press during the day. The Times did get it right late tonight, but that’s twice in two days we’ve been told that everything was going swimmingly when in fact, it is not.

The Oil Drum

Very informative article on what they’re trying to do down there in Louisiana. There seems to still be hope that this will work, but it’s going to take some time to get it right.

“Staging” real estate

The real estate columnist for the Greenwich Citizen (no link because they don’t know how to enable them) claims that houses “staged” by professionals sell, on average, in just 33 days. Staging is a vaguely defined word but it seems to include tossing around a bunch of fake antiques, a couple of throw pillows and putting up photographs of strangers who have never wandered within 500 miles of the house in question. It costs a whole bunch of money to hire this expertise, so I guess I’m not surprised that the columnist, “an accredited stager” whatever that means (exhibited good taste in picking picture frames at Walmart, I presume) cites a survey conducted by the professional stagers association. What a complete crock of hooey.

Look: there’s nothing wrong with removing clutter from your house, putting the kids up at Granny’s for a few months and putting down the old, flatulent dog, but paying a stager for his services? Give me a break. I have never seen a study that showed its effectiveness except for those conducted by the stagers themselves and I sure as hell know that staged home aren’t selling in 33 days. In fact, I know of one house in Cos Cob, listed and perhaps even staged by this very same columnist, that is entering its third year on the market. That’s not a failure due to inadequate staging – it’s just a dumb price.

Jimbo’s no shrinking violet

Perhaps because he’s never claimed to be a Medal of Honor winner, Congressman Jim Himes is not abashed to show up at Memorial Day parades. In fact, he’ll be marching all weekend, poor fool, but not here.

Bridgeport, Connecticut – Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) will participate in the following Memorial Day Parades to honor those who have served in the military.

WHO:                    Congressman Jim Himes

WHAT:                  Memorial Day Parades

Redding Memorial Day Parade

WHEN: Saturday, May 29 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Fairfield Memorial Day Parade

WHEN: Sunday, May 30 from 9:45am to 11:00am

Stamford Memorial Day Parade

WHEN: Sunday, May 30 from 11:45am to 1:30pm

Norwalk Memorial Day Parade

WHEN: Monday, May 31 from 10:00am to 11:15 am

Bridgeport Memorial Day Parade

WHEN: Monday, May 31 from 12:00pm to 1:15pm

Trumbull Memorial Day Parade

WHEN: Monday, May 31 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm

Another sale, another contract

46 Meyer Place

This Riverside house with what could kindly be described as having “noise issues” was listed at $1.1 million originally and, almost two years later, has sold for $799,999 – someone obviously was determined not to go into the 8s.

 

97 Cognewaugh, purchased for $1.080 million in 2005, has gone to contract – last asking price: $995,000.

Milton Friedman on the Euro

Reader Bored at Work sent along this amazing letter:

The following is an excerpt from a letter dated April 27, 1999 to Antonio Martino, a founding member of Forza Italia, from Milton Friedman

“Your views and mine are currently very much the same on the euro. . . . What most troubles me as it does you is that members of the euro have thrown away the key. Once the euro physically replaces the separate currencies, how in the world do you get out? It’s a major crisis. As a result, I would strongly agree with your view that the euro should be abandoned before January 1, 2002. At the same time, the odds are very great that it will not be abandoned. The defects of the euro will take some time to show up; nothing happens very rapidly in this area. There are fewer than three years to go. Even if difficulties deriving from the euro occur in those three years, the political system is unlikely to react quickly enough to end the euro. As a result, I think it would be very desirable for some systematic thought to be given to devising some way to get out of the straitjacket of the euro after 2002. The least Italy should do is to keep intact the plates which are used to produce lira.”

Got any Aussie dollars? Sell ’em now.

I’ve been down on Australia since they laid  a punitive tax on their major industry, mining. Immediately after that tax was hiked, all the major mining companies announced they were scaling back or canceling their expansion plans, so there goes that source of income. Now, courtesy of BusinessInsider, there’s this fun chart showing the extent of Australia’s housing bubble. Whoo boy, should be fun times down under.

UPDATE: Just noticed that the chart’s dated 2009. I don’t believe the Aussie housing market has corrected yet, in which case it’s even more overdue for a crash, but I’ll check.

So much for Obummer repairing our image abroad

Poll: 46% of Japanese think the United States sunk the S. Korean warship. They probably think we sank the Arizona, too.

Why don’t they both come to our Old Greenwich parade, where everyone’s welcome?

Old Greenwich natives in Binney Park?

The fellow organizing the Memorial Day ceremony in Greenwich has disinvited Linda McMahon, apparently because he’s miffed his own candidate, Dick Blumenthal, has decided to stay home and cook dogs that day. In Old Greenwich, anyone who wants to march along is free to do so and they do, from Brownies to firefighters  – I’m sure a former Marine Reservist and a lady wrestler would be welcome too.

A new Saab story

Saab 92

From Bloomberg:

May 28 (Bloomberg) — Spyker Cars NV, Saab Automobile’s owner, is in talks with automakers to share technology and an underbody for a new car based on a 1950s Saab model, Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller said in an interview.

“Discussions are already ongoing,” Muller said in a telephone interview yesterday on his way from Gothenburg, Sweden, to Saab’s plant in Trollhaettan. “That will be on my plate for the next 100 days.”

The new small car would be tear-drop shaped, inspired by the Saab 92 model that was in production between 1949 and 1956, he said, declining to say with whom he’s been negotiating.

Spyker, the Dutch maker of supercars, bought Saab in February from General Motors Co., completing a 14-month effort by GM to either unload the company or close it down. Saab, which begins selling the new 9-5 model May 31, has spent the last three months restarting production and severing the GM ties.

Can hot air stop an oil leak?

We’ll soon find out. Politico:

There’s “top kill,” and then there’s overkill.

The former may or may not plug the monthlong oil gusher deep beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. But nothing, it seems, will stick a cork in the volcano of congressional hearings. 

Chairmen across Capitol Hill have been hauling bedraggled executives and government officials away from their work on the oil-based catastrophe to answer questions like: “Would it enhance the ability to increase safety if we had a better cop on the beat that enforced the rules and regulations?”

 The same officials are often asked the same questions on the same day in two different hearing rooms.

 They even recycle testimony, to the point that the testimony of Rear Adm. James Watson prepared to deliver to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall this week was addressed to “Chairman Bingaman” — a holdover from testimony before Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

 

He must be an Obama believer

116 Sheephill Road

This is a nifty little (800 sq.ft.) cottage, built in 1895, with a decent yard. I liked it a lot when I saw it way back when, but it didn’t sell despite two years on the market and the reasonable price of $730,000.

It’s back today with a new broker and a new price: $790,000. Hmmm.

A suprise in Riverside?

29 Spring Street

This place in Riverside  – very nice inside but almost no back yard – sold for $1.6 million in 2008 and was relisted just a month or so ago at $1.798. It’s reported as under contract this morning which, assuming it’s selling for anything close to its asking price, will be the first house I’m aware of that is selling for more than its price two years ago. Aberration or harbinger? Don’t know.

F**k’em

UN to call for end of CIA drone attacks on Taliban.