The Atlantic posted a 1958 Supplement on Burma here.
Monthly Archives: May 2008
First Quarter 2008 Real Estate Market Source
In our last issue of the Real Estate Market Source, we predicted a slow ? rst quarter for residential closings, followed by an uptick in the second quarter (see www.starkhomes.com for back issues of the Real Estate Market Source). Well, we were certainly correct about the soft ? rst quarter. However, an increase in customer inquiry and showing activity after spring break gives us reason to hope that the second quarter might also meet our projections.
It appears closings will be off roughly 25% from the ?rst quarter of 2007 in the combined Dane, Sauk, and Columbia markets. We admit that this is an even bigger drop than we anticipated. However, we also didn’t anticipate a record snowfall year, when many weekends in January and February were virtually wiped out as far as showings go. The earliest possible Easter didn’t help either, as activity is always reduced in the weeks before and after the holiday for academic spring breaks. Excuses aside, this was a rough quarter.
On the brighter side, since late March, we’ve seen a noticeable increase in activity on our web site, in open houses, and in our showing volumes.
Showings on our listings were off 18% in January and February, but were even with last year in March, and are on pace to be over 20% ahead of last year in April. Offer activity is picking up as well. Pending sale data in the MLS is notoriously unreliable and always late in being reported, so we won’t really know until May or June if the market overall is taking a real turn. But the traf?c signals are certainly positive.
The mother of all on-board ideas, or Why Southwest Airlines Should Fly to Madison
Southwest Airlines, saving passengers’ necks since 1971.
Colleague Karen Robinson-Jacobs, who flew to Chicago on Saturday, said the airline had an interesting on-board amenity: free Mother’s Day cards for anybody on the airplane who needed one.
Flight attendants announced during the flights that anyone who needed a Mother’s Day card should hit their flight attendant call button. On both her flights, Dallas-Little Rock and Little Rock-Chicago, Karen reported the airplane immediately sounded like slot machines hitting the jackpot as numerous forgetful passengers hit their call buttons.
The idea reportedly came from Southwest president Colleen Barrett, who had each originating flight Saturday provisioned with about three dozen cards. But that was not enough to fill the last-minute demand on the Little Rock-Chicago leg, as Dallas-based flight attendant June Zapata ran out mid-plane.
“Crisis of Confidence in Dane County and Madison Leadership”
Jason Shepard, speaking on UW-Madison graduate Greta Van Susteren’s program mentioned that a “crisis of confidence exists in Dane County and Madison Leadership”. Jason discussed the growing controversy over murder victim Brittanny Zimmerman’s botched 911 call.
Fox News link (will disappear at some point)
40MB MPEG4 download for ipod/iphone/playstion and others. CTRL Click here.
Flight Delay: A look at the Details
Albuquerque’s Enlightened Airport
Albuquerque’s Sunport has long offered free WiFi for the masses. Passing through recently I noticed that they have greatly expanded the quantity of power outlets available. It is a kind of sport to watch folks vie for any (often rare) open outlets in most air terminals.
Recent Books
Cultural Amnesia by Clive James. A large, interesting book. Slate posted a selection of the book’s essays here.
The Bin Ladens by Steve Coll. In many ways, this book repeats the mantra that “those who fail to understand history are condemned to repeat it”. Quite a work and a nice complement to his Ghost Wars.
Comrade J by Pete Earley (fascinating read):
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, the Cold War officially ended, and a new world order began. We thought everything had changed. But one thing never did: the spies. From 1995 until 2000, a man known as “Comrade J” directed all Russian spy action in New York and oversaw all covert operations against the U.S. and its allies. He recruited spies, planted Russian agents, penetrated U.N. and U.S. security, and manipulated events that influenced American policy, under the direct leadership of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. He was a legend, the man who guarded Russia’s secrets – secrets that he never revealed…..until now. Based on exclusive interviews with Russian spymaster and double agent, Sergei Tretyakov, Comrade J exposes how the “new” Russia continues to spy and undermine the U.S.
A Tip of the Hat to Jason Shepard
Grad student and former NYC teacher Jason Shepard has set the standard for investigative reporting over the past few years. His Isthmus expose of the 911 problems in Zimmerman’s recent murder is just the latest in a string of substantive works on the local scene.
Shepard has done an exemplary job diving deep into a number of subjects, particularly our $367,806,712 school district.
A link to many of Jason’s articles.