Will "Irresponsible Homeowners" step out of the room so we can all move on?

via youtube.com

So the Treasury Department today released the details for HARP "Home Affordable Refinance Program" & HAMP "Home Affordable Modification Program". The title of this press release is "Relief for Responsible Homeowners".

Drum roll please... Apparently, the plan is NOT going to be able to save EVERYBODY. (Actually, the number given today is 7 to 9 million homeowners). To emphasize, the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gave this simple message:

"This is not going to save every person's home."

OMG! We didn't expect that!

Sarcasm aside, there have been understandably a lot of cries of "What about me?" all over the country.

In order to make folks feel better, Mr. Gibbs said, according to Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace, "people who bought homes they clearly could never afford won't get help."

So my question once again is: how are you going to prove and enforce that?

Being a visual person, this is how I envision the scene inside my head:

(In contrast to the Nextel commercial shown here)

Chairperson: Will the Irresponsible Homeowners please stand up and get out of the room so we can all move on?

Cricket chirping.

Chairperson: Anybody? Bueller?

Homeowners look at each other angrily.

Chairperson: Nobody?

Now, this is a commercial that Nextel will not be making. Ever.

Posted via web from The Absence of Alternatives

Mankind's reach for the sky - The Tower of Babel apparently did not teach us anything...

Instead, we seem to pride ourselves on it. Free will. The power to accomplish the unthinkable. The art of one-upmanship.

Many did not realize that the 2300-foot tall Burj Dubai is "only" the world's Tallest Structure, and not the Tallest Building yet. Until Burj Dubai is completed and occupied, the honor of "The World's Tallest Building" currently still rests with Taipei 101. The grand opening of Burj Dubai is slated for September 2009. Hurray!

The Empire State Building held the title for over four decades, The Sears Tower, 24 years; yet they seemed to be the exception: Chrysler Building was the tallest for only one year before the Empire State Building took the honor away; The World Trade Center, 2 years; The Petronas Towers, 6 years. It has been almost five years since Taipei 101 was open in 2004, and the world cannot wait for a new Tallest Building. Here is a compiled list of timeline of the world's tallest skyscrapers.

But wait! There is something in the making to top Burj Dubai even before Burj Dubai is officially crowned:

According to the latest issue (March 2009) of Popular Science, or as they are known on the street, Pop Sci , (sigh... as if they didn't give themselves a cool name, the young kids would stop reading them...), Burj Mubarak al-Kabir, at the height of 3,284 feet, is being planned by the Kuwait government on the Tigris and Euphrates river delta, as part of its "the City of Silk" city development. In comparison, Burj Dubai is merely 2,684 feet tall (as originally planned; nobody knows how tall it will actually be until this September when it is finished). In order to withstand the high wind at that height, Burj Mubarak al-Kabir is designed as "three interlocking towers, each twisting 45 degrees top to bottom to help stabilize it... [The tower overlap in the center to form a triangular core.] No matter which way the wind blows, two of the three towers will always brace the building."

Like the Washington Monument with a height that is easy to remember: 555 feet, Burj Mubarak al-Kabir will be 1001 meter tall, "One thousand and one meters for One Thousand and One Nights. It's the difference between bragging rights and telling a story."

Take that, Burj Dubai. Ouch!

By the way, the supposedly 2nd tallest building to be built, The Chicago Spire? Not gonna happen, if ever, any time soon. It is currently a big giant ugly hole in the ground both literally and figuratively... construction has been put on indefinite hold because the developer have not been able to secure additional financing, at the same time when the world-renowned Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, filed a lien against the developer. Such a shame.

Obama is in Da House! Day One: Capping pay for White House employees and banning gifts...

Those who are affected, i.e. those whose salaries are more than 100K a year, are probably not too happy about this, but we are thrilled to hear that the man seeks immediately to rule by example.

"All of you are committed to building a more responsible government... Families are tightening their belts and so should Washington," said President Obama to his staff.

The president also signed new executive orders to implement new ethics rules to ban lobbying by current staff after they leave the administration, including a ban on gifts!

Say that again? I cannot believe this. Amen to that!!

Ah, I love Dilbert! Need to look busy while at work in the economic downturn...

Wally creeps me out, but he does sprout some truth sometimes.



I need one of those coaches...