Oh, the humanity!
Judge denies terrorist internet access at Gitmo

More on ACORN voter fraud
Let ACORN bring it on, we have computers that will screen out their phony registrants. So who's worried?

Maybe we in Connecticut should be: 7 year old Bridgeport girl gets an ACORN vote. Her family doesn't know who forged her name but ACORN filed it.

Palmer Hill Condos - yeah or nay?
A reader writes,
"You seem to know a thing or two about the whole business of real estate. How remarkable is this?....
"Palmer Hill Marks 50 Sale...this community of Stamford homes has sold one quarter of its offerings with over 50 sales since September 2007, and 10 sales in August alone."

I dunno. I've been waiting for this project to move closer to finish - right now, it's mostly piles of dirt, and original completion date was supposed to be 2002 - before making up my mind. But I saw that same press release last month and it's pretty encouraging; with the warning, of course, that there's often a large gap between press releases and fact. That's shocking, I know, but I refer you to some of the Antares PR of last year. I mean, does this sound like the words of an actual buyer or something dreamed up by a flack?

Tom Ferris is one of the first to purchase and move into a Palmer Hill home: “I looked all over Fairfield County, and couldn’t find anything like Palmer Hill,” Ferris said. “There are very few new town homes in the area so convenient and welcoming.”
He noted the thoughtfulness in the planning of his Avon model; the two car garage, the patio and attention to detail and design, all caught his attention. “The New England and Nantucket inspired style is lovely; it embraces the location of the homes.”
Ferris even chose to include an elevator as an added option in his town home.The location of the Connecticut homes is another benefit for buyers. “I’m right between 95 and the Merritt, so everything is very accessible. My family in New York City and New Jersey can visit too,” Ferris said.

Still Edgehill, right next door, has done well so there's clearly a market for this neighborhood, right on the Stamford line. I'm sure there's a large number of older buyers who'd like to downsize yet don't need, or want the care services provided by Edgehill (and those services don't come cheap). I liked the layout of these units when I first saw hem on paper two years ago and it looks like it will be a nice community when finished. So, if there's an advantage to buying in this pre-construction stage (I don't know either way) then it probably makes sense to at least look into the place. If their funding is secure and they can finish the job, it should all work out well.
Update: I've been Googling these guys and haven't found much, but according to this previous press release, they'd sold 33 units by January of this year, so if they've sold 50 now, that, by my math, means 17 sales in the past 10 months. I might expect sales to increase as the buildings draw nearer to completion but I'm no developer; nor am I a public relations writer.
Update IIThe original completion date of 2002 was derailed by years of litigation brought by opponents of the project - I should have remembered that because Greenwich was one of the most vocal of those opponents. For the builder, Sun Homes, this will be the largest project they've tackled - apparently the partner, Buckingham Partners, is a New Jersey-based investment company. I don't have access to financial data that would be useful here but if you do, go delve in and report back!

Say, here's an idea!.
Secretary Paulson, admitting that his first, $750 billion plan didn't work and his second, nationalizing our banks, is drawing criticism from conservatives, has reached deep and come up with a third alternative (announced by Dick Cheney, who abandoned his usual mufti for the occasion): Replace capitalism with Islamic financial system

"The Western system has collapsed and we need a new, complete economic philosophy as well as spiritual strength," Cheney pointed out. "Under this plan, all riches would be ours; the Islamic nation has all or nearly all the oil, so if we take them over, we'll have an advantage and an economic philosophy that no one else has. Bombing starts in half an hour."

What, again?
posted by Amanda Von Stuckle

So I was having lunch at Baang! with Kathy Lee and Carlos Santana and naturally, talk got around to this economic thing (Kathy Lee told me it's really bad). Carlos came up with that saying he's so famous for, "those who repeat history are doomed to forget it" - gee, I remember learning that one all the way back in Miss Porter's School!

Anyway, George, Major dee to the stars, gave me a copy of this article from The New York Times. At least I think it's the Times - sure doesn't look like Variety or the Hollywood Reporter to me! I'll leave you with a quote from it. Chow!

The New York Times, Oct. 26, 1929:

“Cautioning against hysterical selling, brokerage houses in their market letters this morning will strike a note of optimism, advising the purchase of seasoned stocks at the present low levels. The public is strongly urged not to liquidate stocks in the present market.”

Byram Condos
A readers asks about the recent contracts on two units here. His questions and my answers:

"How long is it between contract and closing? Months?"
1-3, usually closer to 1
"What attracted buyers to those particular middle units?"
Who knows?
"Is the school district the "magnet"?"
No

Canadian discord explained
No wonder they're fighting about politics north of the border, turns out that their own real estate market's got them all aflutter. The situation up there's no clearer than down here, and that puts folks on edge.

The Russians aren't coming! The Russians aren't coming!
For now, anyway. Moscow market is tanking.

Moscow
In the Russian capital, wealthy oligarchs have long propped up the high-end real estate market. But agents are now getting nervous. The Russian stock market has plummeted since June and in August the rouble suffered its worst monthly decline for more than nine years.

Would-be billionaires are too busy covering their professional concerns to consider property purchases. And yet, even as developers cancel projects, the supply of new housing units continues to grow, by 2.1 per cent in September to about 27,400 listings, with many more new high-end condos still set to open.

Natia Ratishvili, an estate agent at Knight Frank in Moscow with nearly a dozen properties priced above $4m on her books, says enquiries have fallen considerably in the past few weeks.

“One buyer agreed to put an offer in on an $8.6m apartment and then pulled out as the stock market started falling,” she says. “He really panicked and changed his mind at the last second and we’re beginning to see more and more of this behaviour.”

Staff meeting

I suppose this is a good idea, but what does it say about the Google geniuses who thought of it in the first place?
Google introduces eMail blocker for drunks

Uh oh
What do they know about this week's market that we don't?

Golden Gate Bridge supervisors vote to install suicide nets.

In Canada?!
Brakes sabotaged, telephone lines cut, politics in Canada get ugly and dangerous. Who in Canada has anything to fight about? What is there in Canada to fight about, other than whether to glop ketchup or gravy on your poutine?

Mansion Sales over the years
I recently tossed off some sales figures for large houses and opined that it was my sense that they were way off. A reader questioned exactly how many high end houses had sold in recent years and today I checked the statistics; never as much fun as just making stuff up but it's nice to do occasionally, if only to retain a shred of credibility.
So Here Goes:
2004: 122 houses sold over $4 million and of that number, 7 were over $8 million
2005: 130 houses sold over $4 million and of that number,28 were over $8 million
2006: 118 houses sold over $4 million and of that number,22 were over $8 million
2007: 139 houses sold over $4 million and of that number,34 were over $8 million
2008: 61 houses sold over $4 million and of that number, 16 were over $8 million
We've had 6 sales over $4 million since September 1 and 3 of those were over $8

It's interesting to note that wildly over-pricing houses is not new in 2008. The winners of this category in 2004 were (drum roll, please) 460 North Street, asked $12.5 million, got $8.6 million, or 68%, and 209 Taconic, asked $15.750 million, got (671 days later) $9.750 million or 62%.

All time winner for the entire 4 year period must go to 66 Cherry Valley Road which asked $20 million and sold for $11.4, or 57% of the original price. Funny thing: I first saw some of these houses when I was pretty new to this business and thought, "that'll be a cold day in Hell". If I can figure it out, what's wrong with the listing agents? You'd think they were doing it deliberately or something.

Scraping the bottom of the barrel?

Here are some folks who think it's time to invest in stocks. Makes sense to me, but what about Greenwich real estate? I remain cautious.

No doubt about it, Greenwich prices have softened but, with the exception of some spec houses and a few anxious owners, the price reductions so far aren't stirring many buyers into action and I don't believe they should. Even many of the massive cuts I've seen recently are simply lowering properties to where they should have been when they were first listed a year (or more) ago - they still don't reflect current market conditions.

I do disagree with some of my readers, though, who think that, just as stocks are trading for ten cents on the dollar houses should too. That's not going to happen or, if it does, you won't want to live in Greenwich anyway. I'd be on the lookout for prices that are, and this really is just a top of the head guess, 20% off three years' ago prices. There's bound to be a floor out there somewhere and I do hope that we'd be approaching that floor at that level. If I'm wrong, as is so often the case, well hey - you'll still be living in a great house that you wouldn't have been able to afford in 2005, so you can enjoy your new digs, including that swimming pool and tennis court, while you wait the market out. How bad is that?

South Sea Bubble

It won't make you feel better, but here's an interesting view of history
The NYT's Joe Nocera ran a column yesterday on financial bubbles and panics of the past. It's a nice stroll down Memory Lane but for the best history of this sort of nonsense, I recommend MacKay's Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. My father handed it to me when I was about 14 and it changed my view of investing (and investors) permanently. Great read and in print since 1841 so somebody else agrees (but I do wonder whether anyone currently gnawing their fingernails and packing survival kits has actually read it).

(Two Greenwich residents, one named Lauer, who have absolutely nothing to do with this story)


7 Dwight Lane
Soon - to -be felon Michael Lauer may have lost his Greenwich house but he's still got a fan following in the financial press. Nothing new here but it must be reassuring to Mr. Lauer that he hasn't entirely disappeared into obscurity. Yet.

Short sales, or scooping up bargains when the homeowner is screwed
A reader asked about short sales, which occur when a borrower's house is worth less than what he owes the bank (picture that 6 year car lease in year 5, when the ol' SUV's worth $3,000 and you're still in the hole to the bank $12 grand). Our GMLS has added the category "short sale" to listings in order to alert agents that they're in for a long haul on that listing - these things are tough to negotiate because there are often multiple parties involved and none want to lose money, which they'll have to do, if the sale is to go through.

I believe that the category was added proscriptively: everyone "knows" we're about to see a flood of these sales but, so far, they're still rare. May that continue.

This company claims to act as a go-between for buyers and sellers in short sales situations. I know nothing about them but one principal is coming to Raveis next Tuesday to tell us what she does and how she does it so I'll have a better picture then, maybe. Details to follow, as they say. I note that their website has no Greenwich listings; that may be because we don't have any short sales right now or, more likely, this company doesn't. The latter would explain why they're coming down to speak with us - they want business.

One thing that does set my teeth a little on edge is this quote from the company's website:

CT Property Network
is a network of creative, friendly real estate investors, with heart.

Believing in tooth fairies is probably what got you into trouble with your sub-prime mortgage to begin with.

Hmm - pretty small area for a riot - do you suppose they used wiffle ball bats? Riots resume in acre after lull

I blame Bush

Record snowfall in Boise

Things are tougher than I'd thought

Under the headline AIG Gallows Humor Gives Bankers a Laugh the Washington Post reports this bit of hilarity:

Insurance giant American International Group (AIG.N), on the receiving end of a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Federal Reserve, was trying hard on Saturday to look on the bright side of life.

"Credit markets do not function. Why not, because the word credit comes from credibility," AIG Vice Chairman Jacob Frenkel told a group of top global bankers at a lively luncheon where he took a philosophical view of the upheaval in financial markets.

"The left side of the balance sheet has nothing right and the right side of the balance sheet has nothing left. But they are equal to each other. So accounting-wise we are fine," he told the Institute of International Finance.

Hoo hoo hoo! These bankers - what cut-ups!

You want the latest banker joke? "So I went out to buy a toaster yesterday and they gave me a bank."
Ha ha ha

Two morons who didn't read the headlines below:
Gunmen tie up, rob real estate salesman

What'd they get, his Timex and IRS bills?

News you can use:
Use caution when buying property
Suddenly, it's a buyer's market
Economy slows real estate sales

Slow day for headline writers, too.

Okay, let's put the bailout on hold and try nationalizing the banks . Does anyone else remember Richard Nixon's wage and price controls? I can't stand the Democrats but I sometimes think Republicans are more dangerous precisely because they pay lip service to capitalism and free enterprise.

They've got your back

Here they come!
The Demmerkrats, confident of victory, are already planning to reconvene Congress after the election so they can add an additional $150 billion to our budget woes. This is in addition to the $150 billion they added to the $750 billion bailout bill and is doubtless only a taste of what they have in store for us. Yes, paradise is growing closer but there is one consolation: even if they confiscate every penny of income over $100,000 they can't possibly fund all this largess, so perhaps the booboise and illegal aliens will have to pitch in. I wonder how popular some of these massive giveaway programs will be then?

Stale news?
Greenwich Time's real estate reporter devoted yesterday's column to an upcoming auction of an unfinished New Canaan mansion.
Sure you could have read about that house right here on this blog one week ago but then you'd have missed the lyrical descriptive style that is GT's hallmark:

A 20,000-square-foot lakeside chateau in New Canaan is going to auction at noon Thursday, Oct. 16, through United Country The Redfield Group in Gadsden, Ala. Beyond a stone wall and spruces that shade from green to blue are six acres of woodlands with a private, tree-fringed lake and a French Manor house with six bedrooms, seven full baths, three half-baths, an infinity swimming pool and a guest house.

The owners are moving abroad, and because the main house is not finished inside, the buyer will choose interior finishes, fixtures, trim and flooring. Completion of the four-level, 32-room house is estimated at $1.5 million to $3 million as planned, according to owner Emil F. Jachmann.

That's all very nice and the house itself looks nice, too, but I did enjoy one streak of independence shown by the writer: the auction house described the task of finishing what is essentially an abandoned project as an "opportunity for the buyer to select his own finishes, fixtures, trim and flooring". As reported, that came out as "the buyer will choose". So much for that opportunity.

As I suggested last week, however, at the right place, I think this would be a cool place for a few Greenwich couples, former Lehman partners, perhaps, to move into as a sort of older hippie commune. There's plenty of space and you could all get your minds off the current disaster by focusing on choosing those finishes and fixtures.

(former) Greenwich resident

Oh, Great. Guess who's coming for another bite of Greenwich taxpayer?
Connecticut Pension funds scandalously underfunded

[State Treasurer Denise Nappier] didn't quite say it, but taxpayers should be more than worried; they should be freaking out. For even before the market crash the state pension fund did not have enough investment to meet its commitments, pension underfunding being a chronic scandal in Connecticut, most other states, and the federal government. And should the pension fund not cover those commitments, they would have to be met from the state's general fund, which would mean more taxes.

The pensions enjoyed by Connecticut's public employees -- pensions called defined-benefit plans, plans that pay a fixed level of benefits, a level long known in advance -- are lavish and a glaring manifestation of the disconnect between the government class and the working class. For most working-class people long ago were left to fend for themselves [empasis added] with 401(k) and individual retirement account pension savings plans, plans that guarantee no benefits at all, plans whose benefits vary with their investment success. When markets fall, as they are falling now, the working class, unlike the government class, does worry about its retirement, and then has to worry again as part of the taxpaying class, even as public employees need not worry.

At her meeting with the legislators Treasurer Nappier disclosed that there is even more for Connecticut's taxpayers to worry about. That's because for what may have been the first time, state government recently was unable to refinance debt, about $400 million. While this problem was not peculiar to Connecticut but rather a matter of the breakdown of the credit markets nationally, it was still, as state Rep. Arthur O'Neill, R-Southbury, remarked, "really scary."

I don't often agree with our elected representatives, but I'd say "really scary" sums up the situation neatly.

Stalwart souls on the other side of the world, too.
Turns out that even in New Zealand they're building palaces and the owners and agents there are as obtuse as here. 50 $10 million + houses are on the market. One lady, unable to unload her place since 2005, has successively raised her price until it's now over $33 million. That ought to do it. Agents say they aren't worried because "international buyers are sure to bail them out: money means nothing to these folks." I anticipate that the next press release from the Antares Group wil originate from Auckland.

Happy Lesbians
Before you all start enjoying the Ct. Supreme Court's latest abrogation arrogation of power, you might want to consider what I warned about yesterday: The ruling increases the chances of voters approving a constitutional convention. Where, I predict, all hell will break loose.

Byram Building Committee's other project.
When first announced in November, 2006, this project was estimated to be completed in "12-14 months". Things must have gotten a bit off track because actual construction didn't begin in April, 2007 but that should still have seen books and patrons returning from exile in May, 2008. The latest communication from the Library board looks forward to completion in the month of September. I'm no building expert but looking at the project's current condition, I don't think it's finished yet. In fact, it doesn't look close to being finished. I understand that the geniuses working on Hamilton Avenue School may have been distracted by that disaster and lost their focus on this one, but it still makes me wonder at the ineptitude of our various citizens groups that run municipal improvements in this town and whether there isn't a better way. Like hiring experienced construction contractors, for instance, and then getting out of their way?

What's happened to the Black Knight and his fellow Somali pirates?
Not much. The major powers seemed to have stopped Ukraine from paying a ransom and now the pirates threaten to blow up the ship.
Well, that would be one way to resolve it. As an aside, a "Russian Frigate" has been said to be on its way to the area for at least a week now and it still hasn't arrived. Are their ships that slow or do they just want nothing to do with this situation? Let's ask the CIA.

Don't mess with this agent!
So you work with clients for eight months, they buy nothing from you but do buy a house from another agent? If you're tempted to do this, don't try it in Colorado Springs, where a thrown-over agent recruited a couple of 13 - year -olds to spray paint and vandalize the ungrateful clients' new home.

And here's a tip for agents: if you're going to buy vandalism supplies don't pay for them with your personal check.

Here's some good news for those of us planning on sticking around. Hard times thinning real estate agent's ranks
Perhaps (and I'm hoping) the current fun will see the ladies who "do lunch" and sell a house or two every once in awhile will return to their country clubs. One lump or two?

Is there no end to this misery?

Goldman Sachs honcho puts his Nantucket manse up for sale for $55 million..

Sure, you'll be sleepless tonight worrying about this sad tale, but it may console you to learn that Goldman paid the man $56 million in 2006. With luck, his 5th wife left him some of that.

What kind of wussies are our colleges turning out these days?

Hartford: Woman slips her real estate agent marijuana-laced gingerbread and he gets ill

Who, me? Voter fraud in Connecticut
A local spokesman for Acorn (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) denies any sort of fraud in its voter registration drives. Hartford Democrat spokeswoman Nancy DiNardi sides with Acorn:

DiNardo said Republicans are trying to make an issue out of ACORN's national registration drives because Democrats have the advantage.
"People are registering far more as Democrats than they are as Republicans," DiNardo said. "And they will throw out anything about 'voter fraud' to see what sticks on the wall."

The most recent story about ACORN is that of the man ACORN paid in cigarettes and dollar bills each time he registered - in his case, 72 times.

That's not the end of the story. As Ron Popiel would say, "but wait, there's more!"
Kansas City officials find hundreds of bogus registrations
Nevada raids ACORN offices
More registrants than voters in Indianapolis
Three ACORN workers in Seattle plead guilty to voter fraud scheme
Washington state prosecutors indict seven ACORN workers
It's worse in Kansas City:

City officials scoff at that. They say it's up to Acorn to explain why over 1,000 addresses listed on its registrations don't exist. "We met twice with Acorn before their drive, but our requests completely fell by the wayside," says Democrat Matt Potter, the city's deputy elections director. His election clerks were already putting in 13-hour work days and "dumping this on them isn't fair." In the past, several Democrats, including Mayor Francis Slay, have complained about bloated voter rolls leading to stolen votes.

So why no outcry? Because St. Obama is up to his neck in ACORN's campaign of fraud

"I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career," he told the group last November.

Indeed, in the early '90s, Obama was recruited by Talbott herself to run training sessions for ACORN activists.

ACORN also got funding from two charities, the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation, when Obama served on their boards, and from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge - the radical "education reform" outfit Obama ran from '95 to '99.

And any attack on Obama or ACORN is, of course, Racist!

This campaign is about race, plane and simple. ACORN is helping minorities to vote -- and guess what, that scares Republicans. Politically they fear losing elections, but this is about something much deeper.

I thought the campaign was about change.

Update: You want to know more about ACORN? Here's more about ACORN Turns out, voter registration fraud is just a sideline - they have much grander plans in store for the country. Lucky us.

He's back!

Russian's palace on Simmons Lane downsized
Only 45 toilets and three swimming pools proposed this time. The Ruble must be declining.

Darn it, first he steals my name, now he's having all the fun

Hollyoaks stars put on skimpiest threads for Chris Fountain's birthday

Meet a mortgage broker from Greenwich Bank & Trust Thursday, October 23rd
Diane Dutcher, an agent who's always dreaming up bright ideas for her listings, has arranged for a banker to discuss what's happening with mortgages these days (not all bad, or I presume the lady wouldn't agree to spend an evening talking about it). Details are in the link below but basically it's being held at 9 Boulder Brook from 5-9 PM, some form of food and beverage provided and of course, a chance to inspect the beautiful house built by Diane's client, York Construction (and an excellent firm it is), asking price, if memory serves, around $6.75 million. Temporarily a little short of cash? Come anyway for the information - Diane's not the type to lock you in a closet until you agree to buy (or if she is, she'll let you out early enough the next morning that you can still catch your train.)

Call the number on the linked flyer for a phone number to call - you don't want to arrive at 5 and learn that the dancing girls and wine aren't scheduled until 8!

Update:
Okay, that link didn't work, so here's what it says:
SECURING A MORTGAGE AMID THE BAILOUT
What the Financial Crisis Means to You… And How You Can Still Secure a Mortgage

Come hear personal mortgage banker Lisa Edson from Greenwich Bank & Trust talk about the financial bailout and mortgages and what that means to homebuyers in the Greenwich market
Also view the recently completed Classic Georgian style home by York Construction & Development. 8,600 square feet of fabulous living space, 6 bedrooms and ensuite baths, gourmet kitchen, media room, wine cellar, exercise room, and more, located in the “golden triangle” of mid-country Greenwich.

Open House: 5:00 – 9:00 p.m., Thursday, October 23

Mortgage Presentation: 7:00 p.m.

Light refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served

9 Boulder Brook Road

Greenwich, CT 06830

Free and Open to the Public

Call 203-698-3460 for more information

Don't you dare hurt that plant's feelings!
It's illegal in Switzerland.

ZURICH -- For years, Swiss scientists have blithely created genetically modified rice, corn and apples. But did they ever stop to consider just how humiliating such experiments may be to plants?

That's a question they must now ask. Last spring, this small Alpine nation began mandating that geneticists conduct their research without trampling on a plant's dignity.

The world's going to end soon, one way or the other.

The blame game
I like this WSJ's columnist's idea: put Chris Dodd under oath and in the witness seat. I'd like to see his pal Barney Frank in the same chair with him, goosing Connecticut's senior Senator every now and then.

Okay, this kind of sucks
Real estate impact to be "massive".

"I don't think anybody has lived through what we are living through right now unless they are 100 years old. The magnitude is so massive," said Tim Ballard, chief investment officer of Buchanan Street Partners, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate subsidiary of The TCW Group Inc. of Los Angeles.

"This will affect ... job growth, consumption and other things. The [savings and loan] collapse did not have nearly the same effect," he said.

Commercial real estate is in the second or third inning of a game that might go into extra innings, industry insiders said.

The article is about commercial real estate not residential but the basic themes: no loans, need to sell, etc. are roughly the same. Note the good news buried deep within, however: there will be buying opportunities for those with access to funding.

So if I can't sell houses in this market,
maybe I'll rent them.

340 Stanwich Road
Nice house but ...
This house has been on and off the market since April 2006 for $4.295 million. The seller is obviously convinced that she, not the market, knows the right price so she's stuck to her guns despite being unable to sell it. Until today, when she lowered the price 7%, to $3.995 million. It's lakefront (well, pond front, but we realtors have never in our lives seen a mere "pond") and very nicely finished inside and so, ... we'll see.

The People's Paradise is rationing food

Well of course, they've always done that under Castro, except for party officials (attention liberals - don't let this interfere in even the teensiest way with your admiration for this Island heaven) but I guess things are getting tighter. I blame Bush, naturally, but at least every individual (or family, who knows?) is allowed to buy two whole pounds of lettuce. Our own collectivists must be green with envy.

GE at $18.99??!!
this is getting ridiculous. I may call my stock broker.

Greenwich Landing
Here's a tiny spot of good news
Two units in this Byram condo were reported as under contract today. No idea of selling price but asking prices were $1.695 and $1.595.

Owie

Courtesy of John Cooke, here is September's Inventory


Click on the picture to read it better, and don't miss the number of houses listed at $8 million and above: 73. If even a handful of those start dropping (and some already have), they can bring everything else down with them.

Oh, Goodie! A replacement!


Vlad Putin gets a tiger cub to rear and shoot again



I worried he'd run out

Blue skies, nothing but blue skies ...

I'll bet you think I make this stuff up:
World Wildlife Fund to tour the world and save it from global warming via private luxury jet

Join us on a remarkable 25-day journey by luxury private jet,” invites the WWF in a brochure for its voyage to “some of the most astonishing places on the planet to see top wildlife, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos, lemurs and toucans.”

For a price tag that starts at $64,950 per person, travelers will meet at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Fla. on April 6, 2009 and then fly to “remote corners” of the world on a “specially outfitted jet that carries just 88 passengers in business-class comfort.”

You're probably wondering: "are these the same people who've been telling us not to fly jets?" Sure they are, but then they were instructing the Little People. You'll see that, from its price, this tour will include Barbara Streisand (if she can be persuaded to disembark from her own jet) and very much does not include you. But here's their parting advice:

Tips for Saving Energy
Almost everything we do impacts the planet. Simple changes in our everyday lives can make a big difference and help stop global warming. Here’s what YOU can do: ....
Reduce your air travel.
Although air travel can be very convenient, the emissions from planes contribute significantly to climate change. When possible, use another form of transportation such as the train or bus.

Aren't you glad you know? Maybe they'll bring you back a T-Shirt. Organic cotton, of course.

Apparently there is serious thought of
shutting down the world's markets and reconstituting them under "global rules". I haven't been all that concerned with the panic until today, but I now fear that the collectivists, for so long shut out of power, are going to use this crisis to seize complete domination. I think I'll go home now and watch Oprah.

Update: a Socialist Tsunami's in the Works

(Not married to one another, but isn't it a cute picture?)

Connecticut Supremes Approve Gay Marriage, 4-3.

Whatever - I'm not planning on marrying anyone right now, of either sex, so I don't care. But I will say this: certain liberals, including unionized labor and teachers, are terrified of the constitutional amendment on the ballot that would, if approved, call for a constitutional convention (and voter referendums, if I haven't conflated two different ballot issues). When appointed officials overturn existing state law and put their thumbs in the eyes of citizens, the chances of something like a re-opening and re-drafting of our constitution become more likely.

49 Cutler Road
Pssst! Wanna buy some land?
Over the past few years this property in our NW corner has been offered for sale in a variety of permutations and at a variety of prices, all unsuccessful. Over that time you could have bought it as land at $1,495,000, $1,995,000, $1,750,000, or with a new house at $4,000,000 + (never built) and now as land again at $1,499,000. I can't say for certain, but my guess is that no one is buying land right now, at any price, so go ahead and drop the price: won't do any harm and who knows? Someone might bite.

Lose you desk on Maiden Lane?Have you considered a career change, like fishing? I understand it can be quite restful. Pay sucks, but hey - let's just say you'll be working on a different scale.

Putnam Hill
Downtown Condo's, updated.
This isn't my all time favorite project in town (I don't like co-ops, generally and this and its neighbor, Putnam Park, are co-ops). But the price is attractive: a 2 bedroom, probably in need of some updating (ok, the listing makes no mention of it ever having been touched since it was built in 1956 or so) asking $399,000. Last year, that might have been considered cheap and this year it's still not a whole lot of money, for Greenwich. Next year? Who knows!

Fun at the opening bell with Djbouti and the Gang

What, me worry?
You may have noticed, or perhaps heard, that the stock market's been doing a bit of gyrating lately. If so, you sure didn't get that news from the NYSE's web page which, every day, runs a charming photograph of yet another happy group ringing the opening bell. That makes me feel better; how about you?

Update: A spokesman for the NYSE informs me that they had considered posting something a bit more reflective of the times, like this, but decided against it.

Wall Street 1929

Okay, they laughed when his critics called Obama the Mesiah
How about Louis Farrakhan?

"You are the instruments that God is going to use to bring about universal change, and that is why Barack has captured the youth. And he has involved young people in a political process that they didn't care anything about. That's a sign. When the Messiah speaks, the youth will hear, and the Messiah is absolutely speaking."

Good enough for me - I just changed my vote.

17 Hendrie, Old Greenwich
Here's a disappointment
This house is just across from my family's two and I would have been delighted to see it sell for April's asking price of $7,750,000. It didn't happen, alas, and today it was knocked down to about 83% of that, or $6,450,000. I guess I won't retire this year. As an aside, it strikes me that, in most cases, when you post a picture of the view, not the house, you're probably in a bit of trouble. But speaking as a creek resident, it is all about the water, so ....

The sounds of silence
Candidates agree to wear lie detectors during debate!. Well that will be a quiet evening. Imagine if they tried this stunt at a lawyer's convention.

Well, here's a tired old voice from the past
Of all people, James Earl Carter has weighed in on the global panic. And surprise! It's all Bush's fault. I remember being the beneficiary of this dotard's wisdom back in the 80's when the inflation rate was 18% and I paid 14.5% on my mortgage. Since being driven from office the man has convincingly claimed the title as worst ex-President in history, wandering the world condemning America and Israel, cozying up to Castro, lauding Hugo Chavez and generally just spewing spittle-laced invective across the globe. And in my book, he'll go down as our worst sitting president, too. I'll admit that the current occupant of that office may end up edging him out for top position but regardless, I can think of no man I'm least interested in hearing from on any subject,especially on how to run an economy.