Can You Say Taxpayer Bailout?

Well the votes are in and most experts in the field of finance agree that the neither the Fed nor the US Treasury can find their collective fannies with both hands. Or is it all four hands?
The Treasury's plan to create a superSIVsaver fund tanked when it was revealed that not only couldn't they put together a $100 billion bailout fund, they couldn't even organize a $20 billion one.

The collapse of the plan to create a $100billion "superfund" was embarrassing to the US Treasury which backed the scheme. The idea - to create a fund to support liquidity in the market for housing-related securities - was killed off late on Friday when the banks behind the scheme abandoned it after little interest from other financial institutions.

The former dynamic duo from Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, the Treasury secretary, and Robert Steel, the undersecretary for domestic finance, helped to broker the original agreement to create a massive fund to buy housing-related securities. The obvious problem was that the Fund would have wanted to purchase no "bad" paper and that was exactly the kind that banks needed to get rid of and were going to attempt to sell to it. The Fund would have only agreed to purchase "good" paper, and that was exactly the kind the banks would want to keep. Duh...

As for the Fed, Ben Bernanke, facing his first major test as Fed chairman, is getting mixed reviews. The Fed was embarrassed when the credit crisis hit in August. That happened only two days after the central bank had decided to keep interest rates unchanged and declared that inflation was a bigger risk than weak economic growth...maybe, or not. They have no idea.

Circulating among all these embarrassed banking gurus is rumor of a scheme that's gaining some currency, here's where your money comes into play. The plan would let the government buy most of these bad mortgage based securities, as much as $200billion worth, or maybe more. They have no idea.
In any case the plan would have the government holding the "bad" paper for a few years and then when the housing market rises from the grave, lo and behold, the fed could sell it all for a profit. Just like the Resolution Trust Corp. of the S&L days, and we all know how well that worked out for taxpayers. Some estimates put the taxpayers bill for the S&L debacle at $500billion. In the early 1990's Congress was still debating which taxes to raise to pay for the 1980's mess. One can only imagine how much this current mess will cost.

The CBO says $9,000,000,000 a month for Bush's war! That is 9 billion dollars wasted monthly.

9 billion dollars this month, next month and next and next...apparently until we send this clueless, MBA back to Texas. Money that could be used to guarantee all Americans access to quality health care regardless of where you live or work. Money to better education. Money to repair roads and bridges. Money for America. Where are our priorities? Have we lost our collective minds? It is your tax dollar and our children's futures being squandered. Better use could lower the current cost of insurance for the family lucky enough to have it. That cost is $1200 a month for Mom, Dad and 2 children. 9 billion dollars a month could lower that amount substantially. All of our politicians have SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. That's right, the very same type of insurance that half of them would have you believe is bad and evil...for you, but not for them. Who do they think is paying for their families and themselves to have full coverage? The government is paying, that's you and me as taxpayers and that's socialized medicine and they are not inviting us to participate.

Think about it, your health care should not be a commodity bought, sold and traded on Wall St. like oil or gold. Medicines should not be treated like strawberries in the marketplace. Oh my, too expensive to afford this month. American families should never be in the position of having to forgo medicine because of cost.

Forget about being a Republican or a Democrat for a few minutes, we can argue about gun control, abortion, illegal immigration or whatever later. Right now we need to agree on something pretty basic, everybody gets older and everyone gets sick and everybody needs help with their health care costs. It should be apparent that even the very rich cannot afford to pay for their health costs when those costs rise into the millions of dollars in a year. It happens all the time. Ask the Vice President.

If you are lucky enough to have a good health insurance policy it is probably capped at around a million dollars. That amount is unchanged since the 60's and it puts your personal wealth at risk because hospital costs rise above that maximum limit of one million dollars regularly. Actually the capped amount should be about 6 million in today's dollars. Of course the insurance industry won't hear of it and since they are one of the biggest contributors to political campaigns it's not surprising that their desires are foremost in politician's minds.

So what does all this have to do with the VP's health insurance? If you think the Vice President of the United States or for that matter any other member of Congress or any government employee is more entitled to comprehensive health care than you are simply because they are employed by Uncle Sam, than you need to reappraise why you are apparently willing to accept second rate status in your own very rich country.

That's right you must believe that someone being wealthier or more important or simply having taken the taxpayers money as salary for 30 years entitles them to better health care than you. Would you sit still if the government built better and safer roads and bridges for the wealthy or only for the use of retired government employees? Suppose only the rich or current and retired government employees could use the elevators in all the tall buildings in America. Think of your health as your personal infrastructure. Health care, the roads and bridges and elevators to you and your family's safety and well being. Demand your fair share of the $9,000,000,000.
Tell your elected officials that you won't take the gravel road or cross the rickety bridge or climb the stairs anymore. Tell them you want what your tax money entitles you to. Health care not warfare!

The mortgage zombies arise!

For the life of me I don't know what is keeping this market from totally swooning. It seems to keep wanting to rise from the grave like some kind of financial zombie.
It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. Could it be that the fundamentals are actually rooted in bedrock rather than sand? Could it be that the worst is over and the resurrection is only a Sunday away? Don't think so!

One reason for a pessimistic view is the cobbled together plan to keep the suckers paying for another year or so, (the Teaser Freezer plan) being touted by the administration's version of "Our Gang" Treasury Secretary "Spanky Paulson" who is pushing the idea that if we can just keep the suckers from defaulting this year who knows what might be possible next year. The mortgagee dead will arise and walk the earth once again, checkbooks in hand, clamoring to continue to pay their now inflated mortgages on their now deflated in value homes.

More specifically the the plan works like this. The doomed are divided into 3 groups. (1)Those that can pay their mortgage even after it resets at a higher rate. Tough luck suckers. (2)Those that can't pay their mortgage under any circumstances. Tough luck suckers! And (3)those that supposedly CAN pay their mortgage if it stays at the "Teaser rate" for the next few years. Uncle Sam wants you! This third group is now being touted as the saviors of the system. These unfortunate home owners are being singled out for special treatment by the system. They are going to be allowed to continue to pay their bogus mortgages with the idea that this will give the system time to recover from its deluded venture into the nether world of sub prime paper.

That's right, the plan is simple, just keep this group paying for a while longer while the financial pharisees dance around the stone idols of Ayn Rand and Gorden Gecko chanting "Greed is Good." Actually the whole purpose of the latest chapter in this monumental Ponzi scheme is to try to keep this economy afloat long enough for the morons in charge to retire to their respective homes in Texas and Wyoming next year.

How stupid DO they think we are? Part 2

It would appear that the 3rd, yes there have been three, Secretary of the Treasury has awakened from a long stupor and has come to the realization that there is a little problem with the economy, or more exactly with the ability of the financial markets to maintain the credit market circle jerk they have been orchestrating for the last 4 years. You know the one where they loaned money to people that had never successfully repaid a loan in their entire adult life and then were shocked, shocked to find out that these loans were defaulting by the hundreds of thousands and eventually perhaps 2 million or so. In just a few short years these money changers have managed to bring the US economy to the brink of disaster. But keep in mind that they made billions of dollars in fees doing it.

Now the latest apparition to appear as the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Paulson has risen to the challenge of repairing the damage that was allowed to be done to this economy on his and Bush's watch. He has been touched by the spirit, he has found the faith...praise the Lord...we must save these poor wretches from the ravages of the resetting adjustable rate mortgage. Yes, that very same "mortgage mutt" that he and the rest of the financial "watchdogs" should have sent to the pound years ago. The ARM that will cause these deluded borrowers to see their monthly notes soar from $1000 to $1500 dollars in the worst case scenario.

With the colossal gall and temerity that has been the keystone of this Republican administration, they are now suggesting that the very same financial midgets that brought you this unmitigated disaster should be allowed to decide who of the unfortunate ones who bought into this scam should be allowed to suffer a little longer before the blade drops. "Freeze the Teaser Rates" as some wag on the Street suggested the bailout plan should be called tells you all you need to know about the quality of the "NINA" no income, no assets loans and the Liars loans,"make up any income figure you want cause we won't check."

One has to ask, why should they care now when they didn't give a wit a year or so ago. The whole industry knew that these loans were being pushed and sold to people who had no business being allowed to take on any mortgage much less one that would, in some cases, double in a year or two.
The legacy of this dysfunctional administration is on the line. If something is not done soon they will be flushed down the sewer line of history. Destined to disappear as perhaps the worst bunch of elected officials ever assembled to lead the Republic.

The sorry truth about this supposed bailout for troubled homeowners is that the actual result will be to buy time for a housing market that could hardly stand to have an additional 500,000 homes dropped into the already glutted market. In other words if they can continue to keep these over extended homeowners sending in their payments for a few more years then when these poor souls do start defaulting, and you can bet the farm that they will, the theory is that by then the market will have recovered and be able to absorb these new foreclosures.

You have to ask the question...Do you really believe this administration and the Wall Street crowd gives a bloody wit about the strapped home buyers or are they trying to salvage what they can of their own reputations and save what they can of this mortally wounded credit market. Make no mistake about it, this crowd would sell their grandmothers if it would turn a lousy profit. Nice work if you can get it.

How stupid do they think we are? Let's ask!

Here we are on Wall Street surrounded by the imposing skyscrapers that house America's finest minds when it comes to finances. What better place to find out how these very well paid money changers feel about our ability to figure out what they do to earn 8 figure salaries. We won't mention any names but the newest hire just started at(rhymes with "feral finch")for 50 million dollars a year. "feral finch" just ran off its last CEO after admitting to an 8 billion dollar write down. Lucky fellow got 150 million dollars to go quietly. But we digress.
Let's stop this well dressed fellow coming out of the building that houses America's largest bank.
"Excuse me sir, but can we ask how you would rate the average American's intelligence about Wall Street finance?" "Is this a trick question?" "No" "OK you mean like on a scale of 1 to 10,with 1 being being real dumb and 10 being pretty smart?" "Right, that works." "Hmmmm, you're not with CNN or MSNBC are you?" "Nope, just curious." "Well let me put it this way, can my answer be a fraction?" "You mean less than 1???" "Just kidding, but seriously our latest scam, oops, scheme, errrr, plan is to repackage the same crappy paper we have been pushing for the last few years..." "Excuse me for interrupting but do you mean the same stuff that caused all the trouble before?" "Yeah, yeah that's right but here's where the fraction bit comes in. This time, unlike last time, we plan to say right up front that these new offerings are crap." "What!!!" "I know, it sounds really bold but we are confident in America's stupidity level, trust me there's one born every second. Are you sure you're not with the news media?" "Right"
"Then you're gonna love this. We got two more of the biggest investment banks on the Street and a slew of the smaller guys to sign on to this scheme, ummm plan with us. It's gonna work, I mean .5 or maybe .25, how can we miss?" "One last question, please." "Gotta run so make it short." "OK, so surely we can find a different opinion of America's intelligence level somewhere on Wall Street?" "You haven't been paying attention have you point two five? So long."

The gift that keeps on giving...

Good news on the sub prime mortgage front. We are about to be rescued by "old Europe" you do remember "old Europe"? That was the crowd that Rummy denigrated for not choosing to follow us headlong into glorious conflict in Iraq. They lost their chance to be showered with flowers by the grateful Iraqi people. But it seems that they are about to make amends for that failure in post WWII gratitude by descending on our floundering housing market lugging large sacks of euros and overcome with a desire to become first time home owners in the US.

The theory goes that these well off European home purchasers will stimulate the current comatose first home market thereby allowing American sellers to move on to bigger and better homes. If we assume that this idea didn't originate with the aluminum foil hat wearing crowd, and that's a big assumption, is it possible that an influx of euros being used to buy homes in America by well off Europeans could actually affect this market to any appreciable extent?

According to one broker, he has already received 5 to 10 times as many requests for information about homes from interested Europeans as he did last year. Could this mean that there are at least 20 or 30 rich Europeans looking to invest in American property? Even if it were a few hundred buyers it seems unlikely that salvation is imminent.

The American banking and financial industry started this fiasco with the full consent of the current administration and congress and we are going to have to work through the results of this greed driven mess that has resulted from a confluence of Wall Street money grubbing and idiotic economic decisions.

Blame it on the New York Times!

Since last adding to this blog and while wading through the swamp of bad financial news on the web, the following bit of wisdom jumped out from amongst all the angst, rending of clothes and general flagellation taking place in the inner sanctums of Citigroup, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, BofA, Morgan Stanley and numerous of other big time money changers. The CEO of Toll Brothers, possibly the largest of the high end home builders in the US, has come to the conclusion that the problems of the housing market could all be ended immediately if the news media would just stop reporting all the bad news.(Floyd Norris, NYTimes, Nov.9)

Robert I. Toll , the chief executive of Toll Brothers apparently is of the mind that his business model would best be served by the reporting of only good news, particularly as it involves the luxury home building industry. The audacity of this remark is matched only by its relevance to the general mind set that seems to be the norm among our financial industry titans, namely, reality should exist only as how they define it. Down is up, bad is good, poor is rich, less is more...is it just this blogger or does this not sound suspiciously like the same operating principles guiding the current administration?

But we digress. What is truly astounding is this fool no doubt received a round of applause from his peers in the industry. At last count, and this is far from accurate, the nine largest investment banks in this country have written down around 50 billion dollars in bad bets in the mortgage market. Keep in mind this is only what they have owned up to. It could well be twice this amount since they all have a well documented history of lying about the true extent of their recent poor risk management.

So what is one to do when Gisele Bundchen, the super model demands payment in euros rather than dollars while working in this country? Thankfully she didn't demand loonies, at least not yet. With the dollar in free fall and the head of the Fed, Bernanke suggesting that the economy will "slow noticeably" into next year it just might be time to dig a hole in the back yard, convert to gold, drop it in and hope for the best.

The good mortgage fairy crashes and burns.

It just gets better and better. The industry that brought you SIV's, CDO's, LBO's, ARM's, GUDD's, ROE's and last but not least, OPM's has seen the light. It has finally dawned on these financial geniuses that loaning money to people with no apparent, much less real means of ever repaying these loans was probably not such a hot idea.

In the begining it seemed like a slam dunk. The country was full of folks that had never owned a home (guess why). No one had ever offered them a mortgage(guess why).
No matter... we'll just make them an offer they can't refuse. Don't make enough income to cover the note, not to worry...we will make the note so artificially low that now, even you can afford it. And then when you get rich in a couple of years(doesn't everybody in America), and the note doubles, you will still be able to pay it.

WOW, this is so easy let's not just make thousands of these magical loans let's make millions of them. Of course we will collect lots of fees along the way and since we are so clever we will mix these timebombs in with all the real AAA rated paper and foster them off to unsuspecting investors far and wide.

And so they did just that. And the good mortgage fairy was kept busy night and day slicing and dicing and packaging these wonderous instruments and mixing them in with the good stuff and selling it to hedge funds, and retirement funds, and mutual funds and money market funds. Any of these sound like your funds? No?...lucky you.

Unfortunately, not all of these folks got rich on schedule. In fact very few did. Some even got poorer, imagine that. Well all the financial geniuses, the ones with CEO, or COO, or CFO after their names, those very same ones making tens of millions of dollars in yearly salaries, they started to fret, some even stopped golfing or playing bridge to come in to the office to check on the condition of their SIV's, CDO's and how the ROE on the OPM was doing. Not too hot, was the answer.

So it was that the folks that had never owned a home before, and had never had a mortgage before, and had never payed their bills before... still didn't.

Not quite sure about the alphabet soup?
SIV- structured investment vehicle,
CDO-collateralized debt obligation,
LBO-leveraged buy out,
ARM-adjustable rate mortgage,
GUDD-gold up dollar down,
ROE-return on equity, and last but not least,
OPM-other people's money!

Repent...the end is near..

Looks like reality bites comes to Wall St. Also looks like the Fed wasted a rate cut on this fool's quest. Mark my words, these short term injections of whoopie into this market are doomed in the long run.
These bankers, these money changers have been lying to each other for so long they have actually started to believe their own bullshit. Much like the Bush administration's run up to the war.
The damage is done and the results are playing out in the subprime mortgage market and the debt fiasco. What we really need to watch for next is the deterioration in the securitization of credit card debt. Since the home equity ATM has dried up, early figures are showing a marked increase in the use of credit cards to carry monthly debt.
There are signs of an increase in Americans paying their mortgages with credit cards, which is suicidal. Americans are carrying $907 billion dollars on their CC's and should this amount start to go bad in any appreciable percent it could make the subprime mess look like a cakewalk.
Unlike mortgages which have some collateral, even if it is an over valued home, CC's are unsecured, so any default is a total loss. Guess which banks are the most exposed in this market...the same ones that are shucking and jiving about their exposure to the subprime wreck
Oil at $100 or $125 a barrel...coming right up this week or next. The Chinese own us, and what they don't own is owned by Arabs, the Saudis, Kuwaits, anybody with oil. Hold on to your hats boys and girls.

Winter on the ridges.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!

The picture to the right, lovely Western NC fall color. The pictures below, same place...WNC.
Shocking pictures...perhaps, but no more so than what is happening in La Jolla, CA as you read this and what has happened all over the US in one form or another in recent memory.
Landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornados all natural disasters from Washington State to Florida and all points in between and across this great country.

Where does one go to build their dream home with a guarantee and 100% certainty that mother nature won't intrude in an ugly and unpredictable manner? What does this have to do with the fact that all of Western North Carolina is classified as a natural disaster zone with a history of deadly landslides and earth movement? Nothing really, other than where we live is no more or no less prone to natural disasters than most anywhere else in America. Different kinds perhaps but natural disasters none the less.

What is different here is that the very agencies that should be dedicated to seeing to it that you, as a prospective resident of WNC, willing to spend your money building in these lovely mountains are provided with at least the minimum of warning of the natural and man made problems you might face. In fact they are not doing so.

Should you know that the area is prone to landslides and other earth movement under certain conditions? And perhaps more importantly, shouldn't you know that there is no insurance available to cover your losses if by chance, however slight, you are affected by earth movement of any type, natural or man made. Of course you should be told. You are advised by law of the dangers of lead paint, termites, radon, asbestos and other possible dangers to your health and financial well being. How is it that when you build or buy in WNC no one sees fit to advise you of these facts? Simple...NO ONE IS LEGALLY REQUIRED TO DO SO UNDER EXISTING LAW.
Shocking? Maybe even more so than the photos, is the lack of information provided to you.

Starnes Cove, Jonas Ridge

Peeks Creek- 5 dead, 15 homes destroyed

It can and does happen in these beautiful mountains!

Newly discovered photo of Asheville city council meeting.

A well placed source has admitted to this blog that when not meeting in public the mayor and council members have been known to dress in drag and and practice tooting their own horns.

In this just newly discovered... but unauthorized photo... why not try and identify the cleverly disguised council members.

Give up? OK, left to right. Terry, Robin, Bryan, Holly, Jan, Brownie,and last but not least Carl

Pictures of statistical insignficance

"It remains that there have been no slides in Asheville City and the statistical significance of the number of slope issue incidents across WNC are so limited as to be statistically insignficant. It is my personal sense that government should be responding to the horses and not the zebras and that Asheville's draconian steep slope ordinances are a special interest indulgence."

Pop quiz...Who made this profound statement?

1. Attila the Hun

2. Carl Mumpower

3. Homer Simpson

4. Newt Gingrich

If you choose #2 you would be correct. If you choose 1 or 3 or 4 you could be forgiven for mistaken identity.

You didn't know, did you?...Things they don't teach in Real Estate 101

Here is some information that may be of interest to you as a property owner in a state designated High Risk Landslide Hazard Zone... that's right all of WNC has been declared as such. So the questions you ask are:
"Why wasn't this information revealed to me when I bought my home?" and further,
"What protection do I have if earth movement should affect my home?"
Insurance is designed to protect your home against damage or loss but in landslide prone Western North Carolina there is no insurance available... that's right NO insurance to cover ANY damage caused by earth movement for ANY reason.

Why didn't you know this? Because no one has any legal responsibility to tell you... the state of North Carolina does not require disclosure of these two important bits of information; one, that you are buying in a declared hazard zone and two, that there is no insurance available.

As you know, the law requires that, as a buyer, you must be told of all sorts of likely hazards: termites, asbestos, radon, lead paint, but not one word about what are arguably the most potentially dangerous possibilities to your safety and financial well-being... earth movement and the absence of insurance.

George W. Bush...the early years!

"The Shock and Awe of Music or The von Rummy Chronicles"
(The hills are alive with the sound of propaganda.)

George, a postulate in a Texas abby is distracted from his religious duties by the majestic Texas landscape and his restless, passionate spirit. The Mother Abbess Barbara, believing that George's buoyant personality may be incompatible with monastic life, wisely sends him away to discover his true calling in Washington.

George is to be the governess for the von Rummy family, a brood of seven neocon brats helmed by Captain von Rummy, a widowed Reaganite who educates his children with military discipline. While the children behave well before their father, once out of his sight they are incorrigible conservatives, determined to make their governess George miserable. George quickly learns that he is merely the latest in a long line of governesses scared away by the neocon brats antics.

"The Sound of Shock and Awe"
(A few months later in Ozraq)

As we once again look into the joyous life of George II, the now experienced Texas postulant, who has taken over the household helm of the ever rowdy 7 neocon children of Captain von Rummy, who has left for Vienna to further irritate the denizens of Old Europe.
After the Captain leaves, George conceives the idea of making playclothes for the children from the castoff robes of the soon-to-be replaced Supreme Court justices, and resumes joyously singing "A Few of My Favorite Thingamajigs."

Since Captain von Rummy has left for Vienna, George ignores his strict orders. Instead of keeping the neocons at home, he takes them on tours of the city and surrounding red states and green zones. The children accompany George to town, each wearing matching clothing from the judges robes. They cross a footbridge and visit the open market for shopping, where George juggles ripe Texas grapefruit. The happy group skips along the banks of the Tigris river, ride a train up into the Ozraq Alps, where they experience an air strike and bombardment picnic on the verdent grassy area of the Green Zone decorated with a colorful banner proclaiming,
"Mission Accomplished", draped in front of a magnificent panorama of beautiful peaks brightly lit up with napalm and burning palaces.

To prepare for the Baronness' arrival, he teaches the neocons how to sing, beginning by giving a name to the fundamental notes of the scale, "Do-Re-Mi." "Do" for dough, pallets full of dough. "Re" for re-elect me please. And "Mi" for military might makes right...
Captain von Rummy returns from Vienna with guests in tow: his glamorous love interest, Baroness NeoCondoleezza and enterprising family friend/chaperone, Karl "don't Plame me" Rove.

The Captain is far from amused when he arrives home to find his children and their governess soaked to the skin, having tumbled out of a canoe into the lake in their excitement to see him. After immediately ordering the children inside to clean up and get back into their uniforms of desert camos, he confronts fraulein George about the play clothes and the childrens' extra- curricular activities like climbing trees. George, in turn, proceeds to tell the Captain a few things about his children that he is never home long enough to notice. For instance, their developing taste for MRE's and cleverly planting IEDs about the castle garden areas, creating havoc among the Captain's garden staff and pet swans!

Angered at George's outspokenness, Captain von Rummy dismisses George and orders him to return to the Texas abbey. In the silence that follows his pronouncement, the Captain hears gunfire coming from the house and goes inside to investigate. Astounded to discover his children singing"The Sound of Shock and Awe" for the Baroness NeoCondi, the Captain is moved to join them, and over the course of the song, the estranged family reconnects through the music and by taking target practice at the already shocked and awed staff and swans.
Catching a glimpse of George in the doorway and aware that he has surely seen the Captain's hand up the back of the Baroness' dress and grateful to him for bringing music and gunplay back into his house, Captain von Rummy changes his mind about dismissing him and asks George to stay for another 4 years.

Unfortunately, upon hearing the rumor of George's sacking and imminent return, the Mother Abbess Barbara gathered all the abbey's heavy silver candlesticks, stone statues of saints and bundled up copies of The National Review that she could find; tied them around her neck, struggled to the banks of the Rio Grande and hurled herself into the river, sinking with barely a bubble to mark the spot.

Armed with a belt-fed light machine gun and a better understanding of Captain von Rummy's intentions toward the Baroness NeoCondi, George continues on with the family, redefining his governess role to include the task of preparing the children for writing a new constitution while field stripping and reassembling the light machine gun.

Under George's tutelage, the von Rummy children's musical talents expand to include puppeteering, as demonstrated by the marionette show they put on for Uncle Karl, the Baroness and their father. The children put their hands up the puppets' backsides and cause them to perform all manners of wonderous tricks, much like Uncle Karl was soon to do with George.

The children next add light rapping and break dancing to their repertoire as demonstrated when they sing goodnight to their father's guests at the grand and glorious party Captain von Rummy gives to introduce the Baroness to his beltway cronies: "So long, Farewell, Auf weidersehen, Yo mamma, Goodnight."
"There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall and bells in the steeple too.
And up in the nursery an absurd little bird is popping out to say cuckoo.
Regretfully they tell us, but firmly they compel us, to say goodby to you..."
And so the merry band of neocons and their fearless leader George cavorted for 4 more years in the land of Ozraq, while successfully continuing to convince their followers that..."Yes indeed Ozraq was the yellow brick road to untold riches for all and a Hummer in every pot."

Check back soon for further adventures...Dick Cheney as Jabba the Hut, Rummy as Chewbacca and George II as the young Luke Skywalker!

Morning hike on Big Bald

A beautiful morning and a chance to hike the new and improved Big Bald portion of the Appalachian Trail. Just completed, this new route to the top is a bit longer but considerbly eaiser to hike and offers better views along the way than did the old trail.

The Mountain Blog

Day One