At least those that have stumbled out of the 20th Century w/o having murdered a few million people. So what would a permanent site accomplish?

I accept you are a racist by exactly the same definition you apply to me. I just don't care. I'm wondering though if any affinity for the sports as sports and not as some glorified metaphor for the standard doctrine is in order. We're coming to the point where these daily reports could be about art or corn or manga or just about anything.

Apparently the high price of gas isn't keeping anyone off the road.

Sucking dick for money is materially different from freelance 'journalism'.

One is price inflation and the other is debt inflation. I know plenty of people who have wisely traded up to huge homes - 7500-10000 sq ft and because of the increase in value of their previous home and the home before that and so on, that they're carrying fairly little debt. That is price inflation. If you can afford it, great. It has the effect though, obviously of driving prices up which causes a larger pool of homeowners who want to buy in to any given market to have to leverage themselves more, in order to do that.

In other words, the problem with a bubble is timing. Once the bubble picks up momentum it's very very very hard for new entrants to jump on and stay ahead of the leverage that's required to buy in.

But what Mr. Leonard is ignoring is the third problem. The one no one talks about - taxes. I bought my house for about 210K in 1996. Its market value is perhaps 280K. But the city believes it to be worth 312K. So I'm paying taxes on a house that's been over assessed by 11-12%. And no city is going to give themselves a pay cut so the taxes are never going to be rebalanced w/o a huge fight. Eventually though if the market takes a big enough drop the cities and counties won't have enough occupied homes to collect revenue from. And the newer homeowners will be paying taxes based on drastically reduced values. Figure on average, mid sized cities in what used to be hot markets will show a 30-50% loss in tax revenue. In most American towns, 55-60% of all property taxes goes to the schools. With a 30-50% cut in revenue, all the soft services like parks and rec, mental and public health will go. Then the schools then the cops and fire.

It will be perfect libertarian social Darwinism in action.

The RSA, and I lived in Port Elizabeth, is one of the most dangerous and violent countries on earth. "Progressive" tourism, seeking out crime riddled poor areas, is really not something you should do unless you are armed. For a few years in J'Burg, there were so many violent carjackings that the police told people to drive with the windows up, doors locked and run as many red lights as is safe. The police also told people that if anyone stands in the road to block your way, run them over. Otherwise you are going to get shot.

I thought Buenos Aires was violent after a coworker of mine had her head smashed on a curb, being dragged by the her pocketbook strap in the middle of the day by a motorbike mugger until I got to the RSA.

Sorry by Mofaz heavily Farsi accented and limited English will doom him. Livni is much more 'foreigner friendly'

Also I am baffled by Levey's characterization of Olmert as 'extremely right wing'. Does he have any specific examples of how Olmert trading thousands of Palestinian terrorists in jails for crimes like murder for essentially nothing in return, is 'extremely right wing'. Can Levey explain how indirect negotiations with Syria, are 'extremely right wing'? Or perhaps his recent statement to carve Jerusalem in two? Is that 'extremely right wing'?

A friend of mine is a dyed in the wool ex Soviet communist who openly supports Hezbollah, sends them money and hopes to see them one day throw all the Jews into the Mediterranean and not even he claims that Olmert is 'extremely right wing'. Because he's not, he's rather centric and quite weak. If he were 'extremely right wing' the EU communists and Hezbollah and Iran would take him somewhat more seriously.

They said as much. I've got to give them that. If they break a few rules, well, I'm sure we agree it's no big thing. After all it's their country, they're hosting it and they're bullying the judges at will. What good is power if they can't abuse it.

And anyway it's just sports.

It may take a few days and a lot of blogging but we'll find that America is at the root of this.

Salon is largely voyeuristic speculation from top to bottom. We're on what? Day 30 of "Oh Oh call on me I know who the VP is gonna be"?

Salon readers all are or at least imagine themselves as urban hipsters living in the trendiest retro cool parts of SF. Which doesn't need much AC. They don't have much sympathy much less understanding of people from all those foreign counties like Nebraska or South Carolina or Upstate NY. And so on cue all the neo loon luddites come out of the woodwork with stories how they spent their summer vacations doing laundry in the basement of a Bangkok whorehouse and how they LIKED the 110 degree heat and 90% humidity and goddamnit the problem with you Americans is that you're a scourge on the earth what with your tee-vee's and central air and shoes and such.

Why after 21 years? Why now? Seems like if you didn't leave before you won't now. He doesn't sound like a violent drunk and you sound like a happy doormat. So why now? Maybe he'll really kill himself either with a gun or a bottle or a car. Why now?