Rhody Trader

Apparently, Sheila Bair is now considering a plan I suggested about six months ago.

http://www.businessinsider.com/sheila-bair-open-to-allowing-banks-to-launder-trash-assets-2009-3

Hmmmm….

There’s a report on the Reuters wire that Secretary of State Clinton and the State Department have rather embarassed themselves.

    GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a red “reset button” to symbolise improved ties, but the gift drew smiles as the word “reset” was mistranslated into the Russian for “overcharge”.
   “I would like to present you with a little gift that represents what President Obama and Vice President Biden and I have been saying and that is: ‘We want to reset our relationship and so we will do it together,” said Clinton, presenting Lavrov with a palm-sized yellow box with a red button.
   Clinton joked to Lavrov: “We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?”
   “You got it wrong,” said Lavrov, smiling as the two pushed the reset button together before dinner at a Geneva hotel.
   He told Clinton the word “Peregruzka” meant “overcharge”, to which Clinton replied: “We won’t let you do that to us.”

Do we really not have the language skills at State to get one little word right? And people wonder why stocks keep going down when the Obama administration keeps having all these little incidents. It doesn’t exactly help breed confidence.

Here’s a picture of where I’m moving in a couple of weeks.

It may not look like much, but two blocks down the road is the shore. Also, my commute will be a bit shorter and I’ll have a 3-season porch and a deck. Most importantly, I’ll have all the space I need for a proper home office - which has been a major short-coming to the place I’m soon to be vacating.

Of course all this means I’ve got a move coming up in the a couple of weeks. I really don’t look forward to that, but I do look forward to upgrading some of my furnishings. They are despearately in need of it.

I’m contemplating a dramatic move.

In the next few weeks I’m going to be moving into a new apartment. No, that’s not the dramatic part. That’s something I’ve had in the works for a few months now.

The dramatic part is not having a television in the new place. I’ve got one now, but it’s rather aged and due to be replaced by and HD model. I’ve also got cable with the sports package as I enjoy being able to watch high level soccer 12 months a year on Fox Soccer Channel, some baseball and college football and volleyball. I also enjoy educational TV and a selection of network programs.

In other words, I’d be giving up something significant if I ditch the television and cable.

I’m at the point in my life where I’m trying to simplify things as much as possible. I certainly don’t need television in my life. I love to read and I’m sure less couch potatoe time would make me that much more productive with all my side projects.

The decision hasn’t been made yet. I have a little bit of time.

One more reason not to take things you read in the press on faith…

An article on the CNN Money site has the title Reality check on Obama’s deficit plan. As the title implies, it’s a discussion of the President’s proposals regarding the budget and cutting the deficit. The problem, though, is in the subtitle:

The administration laid out several key approaches to whittling down U.S. debt. Whether they pan out as the president hopes is a question mark.

Do you see the error?

The article author has confused the deficit with the national debt. The former contributes to the latter, but they are not the same thing. The only way the U.S. debt can be reduced is if there is a budget surplus to allow for it’s paydown. Best I can tell, there are no surpluses in Obama’s budget projections.

We”re supposed to get like 15″ of snow here in the Boston area.

Yes, it is March.

Now you know why I hate this month so much. It teases you with the idea of spring unfolding then kicks you in the tail with cold and wind and snow.