A tooth is gone

Our minute older girl lost her first tooth tonight. Her first tooth came in on Christmas Night 5 years ago. Tonight on New Years Eve she came to me with dental floss in hand and asked me to pull it out. After just a few seconds of tugging it was out.

Winter nights winter lights

One neat thing about winter nights is the light. Tonight with the moon over head the snow had a real glow as I was out walking the water dog. Now he's inside nawing on toys as I surf the web on my remanufactured phone. My beloved and the next baby are asleep on the couch and the 5 year olds are avoiding sleep.

Pheasants and The Brau Haus

I'm toward the end of a hunting break and I've stopped at the Brau Haus in Lucan. The beer is brewed in town, the service is great, and an old friend lives nearby.

Maybe it's time for Barkley

With Coleman and Franken smearing eachother maybe it's time for an indepenent


Independent voices could bring sanity about the over and above the din of two candidates and their allies smearing each other while not facing the issues.

Still Waiting for a Bank Holiday

There's little doubt that the bear market of late has happened as a result of private sector conduct and the public sector's failure to oversee the private sector. The question for the next president will not be if their administration should act in response, but how it should act. I asked for a bank holiday for the whole financial services sector in this blog in March. It clearly hasn't happened yet.

My question today is what comes next. Government involvement proposed thus far hasn't amounted to any real benefit at all (beyond psychological benefit); it's just to early in the game to see if the money allocated for future spending will be spent in the right places and in the right amounts.

I'm curious as the plan to move forward takes shape if it will focus on jobs as well as the reform of financial institutions. There's no question that the New Deal had some real shortcomings; but for all its shortcomings Roosevelt's plan was more comprehensive than the current plan because it dealt with both the needs of the unemployed and and the crisis in the banking sector. If politicians learn anything from history let it be that the whole nation has been effected by the financial crisis and that its not enough just to create jobs or just to pump money into FDIC insured banks and uninsured institutions that act like banks to keep them afloat.

The New Deal drove the economy of the working class for most of Roosevelt's first term; but it wasn't enough; banking and investing needed reform. Still after all is said and done even the New Deal alone wasn't enough to rebuild the national economy. Roosevelt created his own mini depression by trying to end the New Deal in his second term. Unemployment rose because the private sector wasn't able to employ those who had earlier been employed through the New Deal. History has many lessons to teach our next president if anyone is ready to help him listen.

Published simultaneously at Unlikely Banter on Newsvine

Studs Terkel Author and Socal-Historian Dead at 96

One of the great students and story tellers of American Social History died this week. Mr. Terkel's books have told the stories of working class Americans and social activists for the last half century. He never hid his politics or passion for justice and truth in his writings or in his interviews of people who might never be interviewed by the mainstream media.

Stud Terkel's books have been found on many a night stand and have allowed our nation glimpses of our diverse culture, life-styles, and experiences. His taped interviews allowed people not just to be described but to tell their own story and use their own words to make sense of the often challenging dynamics of our nation. He will surely be missed both as a literary figure and a key social commentator committed to telling untold stories in creative and interesting ways.

published simultaneously at Unlikely Banter on Newsvine.

Was it Realy a Rally in the Market

In the past two weeks we've seen two major days of gains in the Dow each in the neighborhood of 900 point. It seems logical that someone might come out to buy as prices fall. It also makes sense that as stocks are sold off at loss they have to sold to a party ready and willing to buy them on the way down.
The question remains until the losses stop when will the bottom come and who will be lucky enough to buy in at the absolute bottom. One days gains can quickly disappear as confidence and the will to risk scarce capital diminish. It seems sad to watch a little money put into the market a few weeks ago shrinking; but the losses of the last week don't compare to the losses of the last month. It just leaves investors and would be first time investors with a little cash to start saving with when is the right time to start.