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Our offer was accepted on a house in Maine yesterday. You can hit Trulia for the listing info and ~8 pics, or just view the virtual tour.

There are some additional pictures in this Flickr set and some property pix over in Skitch.

Now the "fun" begins. Hopefully, the clan will all be back under one roof by July 17^th. We're still waiting on the finalization of the Seattle house "stuff" (and hoping it goes well).

The London Review of Books as a fantastic article, written by John Lanchester that paints a crystal clear picture of the current global financial mess (including where we are and how we got here).

Everyone (but bankers, stock market swindlers, insane insurance company executives and government officials) will appreciate the conclusion:

All of this leads us to the fourth and deepest reason why the government won’t nationalise the banks. The deepest reason is:

4. Because it would be so embarrassing. Some of the embarrassment is superficial: on the not-remembering-somebody’s-name-at-a-social-occasion level. The Anglo-Saxon economies have had decades of boom mixed with what now seem, in retrospect, smallish periods of downturn. During that they/we have shamelessly lectured the rest of the world on how they should be running their economies. We’ve gloated at the French fear of debt, laughed at the Germans’ 19th-century emphasis on manufacturing, told the Japanese that they can’t expect to get over their ‘lost decade’ until they kill their zombie banks, and so on. It’s embarrassing to be in a worse condition than all of them.

There is, however, a deeper embarrassment, one which verges on a form of psychological or ideological crisis. To nationalise major financial institutions would mean that the Anglo-Saxon model of capitalism had failed. The level of state intervention in the US and UK at this moment is comparable to that of wartime. We have in effect had to declare war to get us out of the hole created by our economic system. There is no model or precedent for this, and no way to argue that it’s all right really, because under such-and-such a model of capitalism . . . there is no such model. It just isn’t supposed to work like this, and there is no road-map for what’s happened.

It’s for this reason that the thing the governments least want to do – take over the banks – is something that needs to happen, not just for economic reasons, but for ethical ones too. There needs to be a general acceptance that the current model has failed. The brakes-off, deregulate or die, privatise or stagnate, lunch is for wimps, greed is good, what’s good for the financial sector is good for the economy model; the sack the bottom 10 per cent, bonus-driven, if you can’t measure it, it isn’t real model; the model that spread from the City to government and from there through the whole culture, in which the idea of value has gradually faded to be replaced by the idea of price.

If you don't follow the Twitter stream then you probably aren't aware that I'm back on the east coast, this time for two weeks. Good flight this time and better room despite staying at the Fairfield.

As you can see in the image below, I get to experience the "joys" of east coast heat & humidity – at least for a day – something I definitely did not miss.

I'll be hanging with the Jukes' family a bit when not at work plus getting in a bit of house hunting. I'm also going to try to get a hike or two, but it's a bummer cruising around solo. Really wishing I had a means to cycle while here. Just doesn't feel right using a bike that isn't mine now and not using clipless pedals (and, I forgot to pack my cycling shoes and pedals, so it would be highly unlikely that I could find a shoppe that would rent me a full setup at a reasonable price).

We're slowly making our way out here and will know a more firm date in a few weeks.

Here's the main Coldwell Banker listing for the house.

Forgot to mention that the house is also on Trulia.

Congressional Democrats and the Obama administration have been engaged in a blatant class warfare campaign when it comes to taxes. They vilify the "rich", coddle the "poor" and in the process of inflicting more financial damage to the country than the greedy investor-gamblers who created the sub-prime mess.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has issued a report that breaks down the 2006 tax burden and shows that the current tax system is already extremely "progressive" and has the "rich" giving roughly 30% of their income to support ineffective government programs.

In 2006, the top 20 percent of earners paid 70 percent of all federal taxes. On average, they paid 26 percent of their income to the government. The very richest -- the top 1 percent of taxpayers, with household incomes of over $332,000 -- paid 28 percent of all taxes, with an effective tax rate of 31 percent. The middle three quintiles paid rates of 10, 14 and 18 percent. The lowest 20 percent of households paid only 0.8 percent of all federal taxes -- and the bottom 90 percent of households paid only 45 percent.

Based on these numbers, it would be hard to argue that the country doesn't already have a significantly progressive tax system. (WP ref)

America doesn't need class warfare. America doesn't need more draconian tax policies. America needs real leaders who are willing to make tough decisions to cut spending & eliminate waste. This administration cannot end soon enough. The question is: will America finally be smart enough after these four, horrible years to find a worthy candidate to elect instead of another smooth-talking snake-oil salesman.

The house is now claimed on Zillow.

MLS Entry for 23721 34th Ave W, Brier, WA, 98036.

From the listing:

Need Space ? Great 5 Bed(5th Bedrm non-conforming,no closet armoire will stay)Near Lake Forrest Park-Wide entry split-You are welcomed by soaring ceilings,skylights & impressive stone fireplace-Kitchen features great work space, Beautiful maple cabinets, stainless appliances and Bamboo flooring-Lower level walk-out basement, hi ceilings, family rm, 2 Beds,Den,storage & could be space for MIL or home office-Lg priv lot with garden and RV parking space,fruit trees-Newer windows & newer roof

It's no secret that I'm not a fan the individual who was elected President last November. I was no fan of any of the candidates who were running, but truly believed the choice America made was definitely a wrong one. He may be handsome, articulate and more intelligent than the average person, but that does not make him fit to lead this nation.

I maintain a a chronicle I call "Obama FAIL" because I believe his followers/supporters - which includes a large portion of the media - will do everything they can to cover up all his mistakes and refuse to accept his imperfections. I also do not want history to lose the record. Thankfully, both The Daily Show and the Colbert Report (where the image captures below are from) are willing to hold Obama as accountable as his predecessor. [NOTE: Is is sad that some of the best "journalism" comes from two comedy shows]

A theme of his campaign was "Change You Can Believe In", but many of his actions since assuming the mantle in January are better phrased as:

Modifications Deemed Logistically Plausible

A prime example of this is his recent attempt to make it look like he has ended the "War On Terror". While I am also no fan of George W. Bush and the havoc he wrought on this country with his "War On Terror" and draconian Homeland Security initiatives, changing the name of it to "Overseas Contingency Operation" does a huge disservice to the American people. Obama and his cohorts are just using the slick marketing techniques they employed during the campaign to make it look like they are accomplishing something. (Comedy Central gives him a hand with some additional rebranding opportunities.)

At a former job, I used to assert that the motto of the IT organization was "Redefining Success One Project at a Time". I would like to congratulate BHO on a successful "Redefinition Accomplished":

Melissa Irwin provided one of the best responses to Obama's "Special Olympics" gaff on The Tonight Show. This is a key excerpt:

I know you didn't mean to stick your foot in your mouth and you didn't mean to criticize an entire sect of our population. I know that you didn't mean to knock your popularity ratings down a notch and that you didn't desire to offend a single person. I know that you didn't use the word "retarded" and I know that all you really meant to do was to be humble about the fact that your bowling game has room for improvement. Your intention was to show humility and maybe even bring a light-heartedness to your message where the challenges you face as President, and the challenges we are facing today as over-spent, over-extended Americans, could use a little light-heartedness. But you should have known better than to ever make light of a person with special needs. You offended every mother, father, brother, sister, special education teacher, cousin, neighbor, friend, church member, and every other advocate for people with special needs.

...

You have already apologized. But you did more than offend. You have shown me that you may not be as sensitive as I thought you were. You may be not as intelligent as I thought you were. And you may not be as trustworthy as I thought you were. You didn't just make a regretable remark, you revealed something about your true character. Good luck with that in 2012.

The video from Ian's flame-exhausting ceremony (bring it on, RIAA...go ahead) is up over at our MobileMe gallery. I used the Flip standard resolution camera and iMovie '09 to post it. This version does not have image stabilization. If the stabilized version is substantially different, I'll upload it and update the post.

Happy Birthday, Ian!!!

After a grueling ~7 hr drive, we are back in the Lehigh Valley. We saw an interesting house in Portsmouth to start our day and drove along the gorgeous Route 1a. Definitely looking forward to riding the road bike along there later this year. The Camry we are renting is very "meh" in a great number of respects and I'm sore from sitting in it so long today.

We had an opportunity to share a meal with Lou Ann and TR tonight at an old haunt of ours - Anna Bella's. The food and fellowship were both as good as I remembered.

iChat vid with the kids was very comforting tonight. Tori is doing fine after slamming her hand in a car door Friday night. @Aadom carted her to the emergency room this morning (for which I am seriously in his debt for) and she is sore but doing well.

Looking forward to a day at the Rogers' Sunday, but really wish we were home with the kids.

Mary's may not be "musing" much, but she is definitely keeping busy. You should check out her latest venture – Virtual Gaming – over at Cafe Press. She'll be expanding the line of clothing and accessories soon, but her first offering brings one of the classic Zork quotes into the modern Windows world. She's captured the true essence of Vista along the way since it often feels like I'm stuck in a twist maze of dialogs as I navigate through UAC prompts. Click through the graphic below to see it up close and to order it. Keep watching the store (we'll have a "Virtual Gaming" sidebar block on RDN-proper soon to keep you up to date and make ordering that much easier) and give her some ideas of what you'd like to see next!