Open Thread Saturday

The media is glowing about the rise in first time homebuyers pushing the sale of real estate up 9% last month. I keep wondering who is buying a home in this economy? I realize the administration's $8,000 first-time-homebuyers credit expires soon, but if you don't have the 20% downpayment (or job in this horrid economy), how does one buy a home? My theory is that those buying homes are independently wealthy and/or smart folks who have been saving for years and are finally catching a break. At least I think those are the biggest buyers of homes. If I'm right, what happens to the housing market once the $8,000 credit is gone or the few who can afford homes buy?

When the media cheers about the "surprising" uptick in home sales, I just wonder why no one asks the question "Who is buying?". Who is buying? Just like the cash for clunkers deal… the few who could buy bought.

I'd love to hear some enlightened folks opinions.

Jane Darwell may even be an Oscar winner, either for Ox-Bow or Grapes of Wrath. She has a very interesting look about her.

You may want to check out Spengler´s latest column. His theory has the benefit of actually explaining and fitting the entirety of Obama´s words and actions.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KJ20Ak03...

"The reason for Obama's peculiar mode of governance, though, may have less to do with his apparent narcissism than with his objectives. It is a credible hypothesis that this president holds views that he cannot easily share, even with his own staff. [...] There is some basis for the conjecture that his innermost sentiment is hard-core, left-wing Third World antipathy to the United States. [...] But even a president who wants to drastically reduce America's influence in the world must negotiate a formidable military and national security establishment which has a strong moral commitment to – as well as vested interests in – that influence.

The president, in this view, consciously sees himself as an outsider who has become the leader of an alien tribe, rather like Eugene O'Neill's Brutus Jones or Kipling's Peachy Carnahan – except that Obama leads the world's only superpower rather than a primitive tribe."

Jane Darwell. Great face! Wish I had more to say about her except always gives a good performance.

I wish Breitbart would start a site called BigSports. I would love to rant about why, for the sake of national security, Army football should never be televised. There are probably 100 high school teams that could beat them; and that could give encouragement to Al Quaeda and the Taliban.

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I think alot of these current sales are people taking advantage of the depressed prices, and low interest rates, and buying properties for investment, and or second (vacation) homes.

you're probably right. the inflated bubble priced many people out of the market (you mean govt's misguided efforts to increase home ownership among the less well-off actually had the opposite effect? but how can that be???) and last year's correction has started sorting itself out at a new level.

interesting take. it's not a stretch to believe BHO developed some deep-rooted enmity toward the USA as the 'great hegemon' during his formative years abroad.

That's where I remember her from Grapes of Wrath! Thanks for the reminder.

Did you know that Grapes of Wrath had been banned in California at one time. Reason, it made them look bad.
It might still BE banned but one of those laws that on one pays attention to anymore.

What?

Lord Moncton has issued some pretty chilling warnings about the impending Treaty on Climate Change. Anybody have any insight into what this is going to mean, if Obama signs it, on the US remaining an independent country?

I watched that video Yosarian and I went straight to the unfccc website and that treaty IS there. It's just waiting for Dec 9th to be signed by all that are participating. I couldn't decipher all the jargon though so I couldn't really tell you what it all means.

rofl @ the chicken throwing..dude that's RAAAAACIST!

I love your videos.

Mrs. Merriweather in "Gone With the Wind"! Another face I recognized but couldn't put a name to. I looked her up in IMDb. It lists 201 films to her credit between 1913 and 1964 (last one was "Mary Poppins"). Wow – that woman worked…and she was almost 40 when she started with "The Capture of Aguinaldo" in 1913.

At first, I thought this was Kate Price, the "burly Irishwoman" seen in some of Buster Keaton's classic short films (like "My Wife's Relations"). She had quite a career, too: 299 films between 1910 and 1937 (most of which I have never heard of, which raises a quantity-vs-quality issue that isn't so much the case with Darwell), but Price got writing credits for two films, too.

Ah, the *real* glamour women of Hollywood–who was this Rita Hayworth chick anyway? (BG)

in a depressed market, 9% may not be as much as it sounds, and the 20% you speak of just gets you out of having to pay mortgage insurance. I would hazard a guess that if you have reasonably good credit, you could find an attractive package.

Rutgers 27 Army 10
Normally I wouldn't care, but when I bet on Army and the receivers miss 7 of 9 good passes and the kicker fumbles the hike. I shouldn't have tuned in.

wasn't that picture from "Min and Bill"?

Bloated, Slothful Star Wars Celebrity Featured in New PSA Supporting Public Option in Health Care: http://optoons.blogspot.com/2009/10/bloated-sloth...

Moe Howard made pie throwing an art form. Soupy only perfected the tradition.

That was an encouraging article in the Times. thanks for the link.

And at Harvard.

Just noticed something of interest. The new Syfy series Stargate: Universe not only features a Christian among the main characters, and he's not depicted as a lunatic or a loser. Also, in the most recent episode, "Light", there's a scene where several of the characters, believing they will soon die, are reciting the Lord's Prayer.

I'm an agnostic, but I don't like Hollywood's usual stereotyping and slandering of religious people, so this is a surprise.

Dame, I bow to your wisdom… indeed Moe began the meringue.

maybe a twofer of Marjorie Main & Percy Kilbride?

AFAIK, it would still need ratified by the senate and they never came within a mile of approving Kyoto. yeah, i realize the dems now have a supermajority…

Back in the day an good actress like Jane Darwell got to work, and turn in some memorable stuff along the way. Now a lady over 40 will not get the time of day unless she was major box office in her twenties. It pains me to no end. I was brought up to be a movie buff. And I have to tell you for most of my life I would go to the movies at least twice a week. Now I get suckered once very couple of months. Its really tough out there as far as movies go, the best one I seen this year a 70 year old one on the big screen a month ago, The Wizard of OZ. You would think somebody would just tap into just making movies we want to see. its not hard, or maybe it is, maybe the old studio system was not the evil it was with regard to the artist and the craft of movie making? The Studio system gave us Jane Darwell's great work, that lives on. As for Soupy Sales, God rest the pie thrower. Bust a gut laughing and never hear a four letter word. The longer I live the more I think I was born 50 years to late. I'm 54. My generation has with some exceptions been and embarasiment.

Did anyone see some ad for something called V about aliens coing to earth and making world peace and global healthcare? I couldn't tell if it was a gov funded joke or an actual series… Either way I think it's an excellent commentary on how this administration sees things.

Although they think of themselves as outsides who COME IN PEACE and will share their ancient wisdom with us, it's sad how much they're floundering and flip flopping already and it hasn't even been a year. Maybe soon they'll go back to the mothership.

"Old age approached, but one look from Maw and it backed off – fast."

Obama says winner of clean-energy race will lead global economy

Meanwhile the "winners" who will be supplying the technology are elsewhere than the US, since we are horribly anti-business with punitive taxation rates and a liberal government preaching "soak the rich," excessive regulation with even more coming, which includes increasing controls against "pollutants" like carbon dioxide which will keep manufacturers from ever thinking about setting up shop in the US. Besides the excessive union demands, of course.

Actually the real "winner" might be Iran, which is doing far more to promote clean nuclear power than this administration ever will…

I heard that a lot of the cash for clunker purchasers were businesses who traded in their old fleets, got the $4800 or whatever for like 100 cars and put that toward a new fleet. So Big Business cashed in again…

Jane Darwell is a fine actress, BUT , in this picture… she's caught listening to one of Obama's many, phony speeches and she can't conceal her disgust.

dems diverted defense $ to pet projects..I havent heard much about it on the news..people need to be impeached for this kind of anti American manuevering.. im so sick and tired of looking at this bad news….who would have thought that Bill Ayers was just a preview of what we would see from the liberal animals running things

I read somewhere online that ABC had reworked some things to "soften" the "unintended" criticism of Obama. I don't know if I was reading a legitimate source at the time or not. It'd be nice if they could really be the rebels Hollywood always claims to be and just go for it.

Superb website…

[...]always a big fan of linking to bloggers that I love but don’t get a lot of link love from[...]……