Kate and Halifax

Thank goodness we have Kate on roller skates to distract us. Her charity disco for Tom's Ward at the Children's Hospital in Oxford a good cause and steals half the broadsheets who otherwise cover . . . . the collapse of Halifax! The UK's largest lender was sold to Lloyds TSB for £12 billion and Gordon Brown personally ensured the deal despite all normal competition laws. The new Lloyds will have 39 million account holders, 30% of all mortgages and 35% of all savers cash. Wow. The merger will also eliminate 40,000 staff, dwarfing Lehman's 5,000 in London. What does this mean for the punters you and me? Well, firstly, dearer home loans thanks to reduced competition. Secondly lower savings rates. Until now the competition made UK mortgages some of the cheapest and most available in the world, and our current account rates generous. Expect an end to all that. Also anticipate a reduction in the range of high street financial products like student and home loans, which will now cost more. We will probably be forced to pay for cash withdrawals and the banks will insist on taking a cut for making change. Still, this is a good deal - a Halifax collapse would be been the death knell. It ain't over yet brother.

Christian sees a few friends to get a sense of the jobs market in London and it is an interesting time to talk to guys in finance, oh boy. From there we have dinner with Paul and meet some new people including a fellow Philip whose father founded one of the world's largest english training programs. He's now involved with the business and regretting buying a house in Chelsea last year. We have a lively conversation about the financial mess and politics and the finacial mess and politics. Round it goes.

I have yet to meet a soul, either personally or in media, who does not have a strong view of the presidential candidates. It would seem that McC and Obama are extremes of colour so I ask myself ... are there really any independents and if so, why and where? I watch the polls Dear Sister and indeed they change. Daily. I suppose demonstrates (my) context more than anything yet I still find it, well, weird. Or likely, the even split means small movements titanic.

Sanderson

Christian and I have a martini or two at his hotel, pictured. Al joins us from San Francisco - he is in London on business - and we spend some considerable time discussing the Cal Bears. The last time we were together in Los Angeles from the USC game, which Cal lost oh well. Here is what I learn about the Sanderson Hotel: the building constructed in 1958 as the headquarters and showroom for the Sanderson furnishing fabric company for its centennial birthday. It was designed by architect Jeff Holroyd, of the architectural firm of Slater and Uren. The original design plan allowed for dynamic room configurations. The building plan was constructed around an open-to-the-sky inner courtyard with a Japanese garden designed by Philip Hicks. In 1991, the Sanderson building was listed Grade II with a star by the government’s English Heritage Commission. It was reopened in April 2000 by Morgans Hotel Group after a refurbishment by Philippe Stark and Denton Corker Marshall. The long white bar an art deco classic and favorite for the media-celeb-young chic crowd. Which is far from me but I enjoy the view nonetheless.

"Our political differences, no matter how sharply they are debated, are really quite narrow in comparison to the remarkably durable national consensus on our founding convictions."
John McCain, January 28, 2008

Tenner

Check out Eitan's side-burns: real 70s football style.

Christian and I attend a recital at St James's Church to hear Sibelius En Saga arr. for septet and Britten Sinfonietta Op 9. Just fabulous and a real treat. Most of the audience elderly with a few weirdos - it is lunch time after all - but the music is world class, performed by the New Chamber Ensemble who are most young musicians probably at or recently graduated from Oxford.

I ask Madeleine to do a simple chore and she refuses. I ask the same of Eitan, who readily accepts and in return he gets a tenner - an outrageous amount - which shocks Madeleine to tears and anger. I tell her that "opportunities should be taken" but this only gets her teeth gnashing. She refuses our bed-time read. She makes a point of slamming her bed-room door. When I cajole Eitan into giving Madeleine half his prize, she refuses. Good on her. We have had a similar exchange before - Madeleine refusing a job, Eitan accepting and getting paid - but last night's extreme reward over the top, though it does crack Sonnet up when I tell her the story. I am certain this not my finest moment as parent.

A Reason To Be Afraid

Lehman and Merrill Lynch's digestion, while disruptive and indeed sad, is not an end-of-world kind of thing. There is a bigger potential failure however: American International Group, the insurance giant. It poses a much larger threat to the financial system because it plays an integral role in several key markets: credit derivatives, mortgages, corporate loans and hedge funds. For instance, it is a central player in the unregulated credit default swap market that is reported to be at least $60 trillion in size (no idea of this market? Neither is John McCain). Ominously, last Monday AIG. was downgraded by the credit rating agencies which could require AIG to post billions of dollars of additional collateral for its mortgage derivative contracts (the Federal Reserve is trying to arrange $70B of emergency loans as I write). AIG nor Wall Street has this kind of money presenting the possibility that AIG goes bust. A side effect: Its collapse would be as close to an extinction-level event as the financial markets have seen since the Great Depression, forcing a chain of events depressing financial institutions further, causing defaults and more failure. The US government won't allow this to happen so you and I, Dear Brother, will pay. Oh boy, Northern Rock is cheap at £50B.

So who can we thank for this mess? None other than Phil Gramm, John McCain's presidential campaign co-chair and his most senior economic adviser from summer 2007 to July 18, 2008 (a time BTW when Gramm was paid by UBS to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis). Gramm of course spearheaded efforts to pass banking reform laws, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, which served to reduce government regulations in existence since the Great Depression separating banking, insurance and brokerage activities. Between 1995 and 2000 Gramm, who was the chairman of th U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, received $1,000,914 in campaign contributions from the Securities & Investment industry. Can you spell c - o - n - f - l - i - c - t ? (Photo from Getty Images)

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession. We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline." Phil Gramm, July 9, 2008

"I don't know as much about the economy as I should."
John McCain, February 19, 2008

CW

Christian arrives early Saturday and Eitan and I meet him at the airport (he's wearing Brazil BTW). 

 From there, and despite jet-lag, we head for the pitch to watch the kids play football. It is the first practice since summer and the kids turn out in new colors and different groups. Madeleine remains one of a few girls but does not care: she is happy when muddy. Eitan picks up where he left off scoring the first goal for his side - threading a few defenders then - bang! - the upper left of the net. 

We nod our head and stroke our chin: the boy has talent. From the park Sonnet makes lunch and we watch Cal lose to Maryland - the first Bears game I have ever seen on TV whilst in England. And they get blown out despite being 14 point favorites. When. Will. I. Learn. Still, in our favor, the UC won its battle against the tree-sitters and will soon build a state-of-the-art athletic centre attached to the stadium and 30 feet from a fault line (what me worry?). This should help Cal recruit. A bigger problem remains USC - they could probably beat a pro team - who dismantled #5 Ohio State 35-3. Rose bowl distinctly unlikely. Like ever.

Flat Line

Good bye Lehman Brothers. Good bye Merrill Lynch. Amazing events but neither a real surprise given Wall Street's exposure to the sub-prime trough - Lehman being the most piggy with over $600 billion of exposure. Anybody who owned Lehman stock in June when it traded between $20-25 should have unloaded fer sure . I mean, they tried to borrow money from Korea - hello - if that is not a desperate signal I don't know what is. The good news I suppose is that A) the Fed did not use my money to shore up Lehman's poor judgment; and B) the crisis is a radical de-leveraging of several financial institutions and not systemic. Merrill was less obvious despite its enormous quarterly write-offs; Merrill decided that the Lehman collapse would focus investor attention on their own swiss cheese balance sheet. Liquidity is one-part capital and nine-tenths perception so Merrill consolidated and saved itself an humiliation. And now it is AIG's turn.

Lacing Up

Madeleine gets a helping hand pre-footie.

Sarah Palin is a bona fide celebrity, which is interesting given the Republicans attacked Obama for being the same. Any case, I admit that Palin triggers a little pleasure zone somewhere in my brain - it is the same as with other celebrities, which is why I bet we find them so fascinating - we are programmed to respond to common societal phonomena. I mean, who can forget O J? God, I cannot: 24-7 dude. Any case, Palin is everywhere and it is all coming out: her favoritism, flip-flop bridge, special interests, secrecy, library censorship, husband Todd's role in state-affairs, first passport 2007, religion: God, God! God! McCain once promised us his VP would be ready to take his place at a moment's notice: "you know, immediately" he said. I have come to appreciate that the experience void and small beer make no difference to Republican voters - they are brain-washed by The Hot Dish, who Schwarzenegger himself said was a babe - Palin talks a lot of smack, shoots guns and shags like a bunny. In other words, she is just like we want to be America! Gosh darn, I'm gonna vote for her - my two Ivy League degrees be damned! She needs a smack-down - where are you Hillary Clinton?

Eitan informs me that there are two kinds of torture: "when you hurt somebody until they are dead" and "not being allowed to watch television when Manchester United is playing."

Specs

I have received, ahem, a little bit of grief from Sonnet and everybody regarding my new glasses which, Dear Sister, I picked out myself. Yes, they are big, black and clunky. As Adam says, "even George Clooney couldn't make them look good." Well, they aren't really meant to look good but rather to be noticed. After 12 years of wearing the same innocuous peepers every day I decided it was a time for a change. My little mid-life crisis along with road rage. And noticed they are - I have attracted unusual concentration from younger kids, middle-aged men and even the local mums who are probably assessing weather I am dangerous. So be it. I like them and Barney's has validated my style: the dog wears my exact pair on the cover of the Fall '08 catalog - pictured.

The Sum Of Her Experience

We now know that Palin understands the Russians: "They're our next door neighbours and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska" even though she drew a blank on the Bush Doctrine. Are we concerned that the interviewer Charles Gibson knows more about US foreign policy than Palin? (last night on ABC)

I understand why the Republicans so angered by "a pig in lipstick" which their candidate brought on herself. The expression never about sexism or appearance - we all know Palin a babe and even Schwarzenegger says so - but about content.

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party - and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose."

Abraham Lincoln, "Meditation on the Divine Will" (September 2, 1862?), p. 403-404

Life

Here is the newest addition to my family - congratulations to Joe and Susan on their blessing and beautiful number two.

Boy does this bring back memories - and how strange that it is six+ years since Sonnet and I at this stage in life. It all repeats and we find ourselves doing more or less the same as everybody else. There you have it - my Big Insight for the day. Oh boy. When Madeleine born, I packed up and moved from the bedroom into the guest room, where I happily wore ear plugs. And watched TV. And stayed up late. No need for everybody to be grumpy, after all. Madeleine was a loud baby too - stubborn and slow to sleep through the night though Sonnet was disciplined. Then as now, she refused to take suggestions and I have always admired Madeleine's independence though perhaps not when changing nappies. Or spoon feeding her mushy peas which ended up everywhere but in her mouth. Or getting her to do Kumon. These were the good times too and how fleeting it all is (Big Insight #2).

TV Dinner

Who could ever forget Swanson's TV Dinner from the '70s? The pre-cooked a working mother's savior. My favorite was the "classic fried chicken" - the mash was somehow better than home-made. Plus it was exotic and Katie and I could pick the meals ourselves from the frozen section - in short, empowering. Usually eaten BTW in front of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" or "Disney" on Sunday evening. The equivalent in Britain was Vesta Curry ready meals - few British in the early 70s had sampled the exotic delights of spiced food and eating out was a rarity. Vesta introduced the country to flavors from around the world including Italian Risotto, Chicken Supreme, Hungarian Goulash, Chinese Chow Mein and Spanish Paella. This+a bottle of Blue Nun and Benny Hill the peak of middle-class sophistication, Dear Brother. I've kept my eye open for Vesta and sadly cannot find it at Waitrose or the supermarkets in our neighborhood. We are the worst for it. Is Swanson still around I wonder?

van Gogh

After visiting the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam yesterday, I'm having a coffee when three girls - pictured - dismount to have a cigarette. I would guess they are in their early 20s and very chic and their intensity captures my interest. It is hard not to imagine Madeleine doing the same in her future. Van Gogh created one of my favorite paintings "Still Live, Vase With Twelve Sunflowers" despite being one unhappy dude. I did not appreciate that van Gogh tried to found a Utopian art colony from his home in Arles - a house without plumbing. He must have been lonely made worse by the failure of his vision. Van Gogh was aware of his mental illness and committed himself to an institution several times - afraid of his breakdowns (diagnoses include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, syphilis, poisoning from swallowed paints, temporal lobe epilepsy and acute intermittent porphyria+malnutrition, overwork, insomnia, alcohol, and absinthe in particular). He killed himself at 35, which given the volume of work he produced is hard to imagine. In fact, his last painting "Wheat Field With Crows" was completed two weeks before his death and his attempt to convey his gloom.

Goof

Here I am with the boy after playing some footie. He's in a heavenly mood following last night's World Cup Qualifier where England destroyed our nemesis Croatia, who we all recall kept us from the European Cup last year by thrashing us 3-2. The final score this time 4-1 and Theo Wilcott,the youngest on the pitch at 19, scores a hat-trick. Neat. In other news, Eitan and Madeleine host another yard-sale to earn some cash from their broken old toys. The past two days are spent pricing and when I suggest that £10 for a "tactic" might be a tad, ahem, overpriced Eitan tells me very politely to mind my own bee's wax. Fair enough. So I am not particularly surprised to learn from Sonnet, home from work yesterday to encourage our capitalists, that nothing has sold. At. All. I tell her to make "an anonymous purchase from a mystery buyer" which afterwards she tells me momentarily raises his hopes (when I ask about it later on, Eitan says "it was just you, dad" I mean, like come on). Madeleine bails for a play-date leaving our little earner left to promote on his own. Making a buck is never easy, I tell him - an obvious lesson but something that must be learned every day.

According to a Guardian survey, Sir Martin Sorrel, the Chief Executive of the WPP Group, is the highest paid executive in the UK in 2007 at £23,372,504 followed by Bart Becht at Reckitt Benckiser, Bob Diamon at Barclays and Mick Davies at Xstrata who took home £22,278,767, £18,139,000 and £13,953,635, respectively. The highest paid employees in a UK public company work for private equity group 3i, who make £231,000 per year. The average work in Britain last year made £24,000 including a 3.6% pay-rise which failed to offset 4.3% inflation on essentials like mortgage and food.

Pastor Rick Warren: "At what point, give me a number, give me a specific number, where do you move from middle class to rich?"
John McCain "So, I think, if you're just talking about income, how 'bout $5 million? (Laughter) So, no, but, but seriously, I don't think you can, i don't think, seriously, that, the point is that I'm trying to make here, seriously... and I'm sure that comment will be distorted."

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone."
Henry David Thoreau

The Telegraph reports today that there will be fifty thousand fewer businesses that will start this year as the economic slump undermines would-be entrepreneurs from taking risks. It also reports that by 2009 end, Britain's business stock will have shrunk by 150,000 firms.

Trocadero

It is hard not to love Paris anytime but a day like today - impossible. It is autumnal and warm so the city is out and about sunning themselves or whatever. I meet a friend at Carette on the Trocadero in the 14th, famous for its views of the Eiffel Tower and green neighborhoods. The Parisiennes are a beautiful lot or I am at an especially cool cafe - probably a bit of both since it is Romain's choice of venue. Anyway I am here for work and Hans and I have meetings lined up for the next three days. He's over from California so I hope it will be good use of his time.

Eitan and I play football yesterday and the little squeeker is good. I can push him around for the ball, but he can out maneuvre me. And he is fast.

On the Eiffel Tower: did you know that maintenance includes 50 to 60 tonnes of paint every seven years to protect it from rust? (the Golden Gate, counter to popular believe, is only touched-up following the 1995 completion of a zinc silicate primer and acrylic topcoats). The tower maintains a uniform appearance to an observer on the ground by using three separate colors of paint, with the darkest on the bottom and the lightest at the top. On occasion the colour of the paint is changed; the tower is currently painted a shade of brownish-grey. On the first floor there are interactive consoles hosting a poll for the colour to use for a future session of painting. The co-architects of the Eiffel Tower are Emile Nouguier, Maurice Koechline and Stephen Sauvestre.

"When good Americans die they go to Paris."
Oscar Wilde

Sunday

We see Falstaff at The Globe last night with Natalie and Justin - fun! I read Merry Wives in the 8th grade and Sonnet and I debate afterwards where Falstaff ranks on Shakespeares merry list of characters - I place him Top Five but she points out Macbeath, Otello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet... ok ok- I desist but I still give the fop a Top Ten. At least I remember the fellow from Junior High which deserves something, Dear Reader. Falstaff appears over again in Western literature and my favorite reincarnation is John Kennedy Toole's Ignatius J Reilly in Confederacy of Dunces. Ignatius loves to eat, and his masturbatory fantasies lead in strange directions. His mockery of "affronting" images is portrayed as a defensive posture to hide their titillating effect on him. He has an aversion to ever leaving the town of his birth, and frequently bores friends and strangers with the story of his sole, abortive journey from New Orleans, a trip to Baton Rouge on a Greyhound bus. He has extreme flatulence and wears his hunting jacket - regardless of the heat. Brilliant.

Cal beats Washington State 66-3. Wow- I can't remember the last time the Bears took such a lop-sided victory. Sonnet notes "that's not very sporting" proving once again that women don't get football.

Another sure sign that the planet is dying: one pound of cod- Britain's staple and the fish in in fish 'n chips - now sells for £25 a pound. That is $50 a pound. Even the lowly mackeral, disliked for its fishy taste, is going for £15 a pound. We are an island surrounded by sea, chanel and Ocena, for Pete's sake. If we are having problems getting fish - oh boy.

"I have a kind of alacrity in sinking."
John Falstaff

"When my brain begins to reel from my literary labors, I make an occasional cheese dip."
Ignatius J. Reilly

"I think it was in the Rose Garden where I issued this brilliant statement: If I had a magic wand -- but the president doesn't have a magic wand. You just can't say, 'low gas.'"
George W. Bush, Washington D.C., July 15, 2008

Go-Carts

Eitan at Luke's party earlier this summer - pretty cool. The boys race electric cars around a track (there is a boy-girl thinging going on at now's age). I went through a serious go-cart phase that lasted from age nine to twelve. We kids built the real thing too, complete with side-breaks, seran-wrap windows, swinging doors and rubber band shooters for protection and war. The things went pretty fast with little control which was all the fun. Side streets were de rigeur to avoid the cars and the steeper the better. I'm pretty sure the working moms in our middle-class neighborhood had no idea what we were up to, unsupervised after school. Later on UC Berkeley offered several challenging inclines. In '77 a freak snow storm put a couple inches on the ground and San Ramon turned out with their wheels daring each other to race the hill - now made slick with ice. Wow, that was a thrill. The go-carts eventually found their way from the basement to garage and finally the scrap heap.

Does anybody else think Palin looks drunk?

The Road

My book club discusses McCarthy's "The Road." With virtually no plot, the story follows a father and son across an apocalyptic wasteland on a search for ... what? It is dark throughout only relenting in the final pages which, for me at least, allows the reader from the hook and ends on optimism when the message nihilism. Erich notes that The Road is "bad science fiction" and fails to apply a rules-set or complication gratifying in his genre. We all agree beautifully written and a mysterious and thought provoking novel, though Tim not always impressed with McCarthy's choice of vocabulary which sometimes, surprisingly, from the mark.

I meet Eitan's year-three teacher, who is terrific. Ms Correy is in her early late 40s, has punk hair and high expectations. I can see she can control a class-room, but she also has a sense of humour: "the children are only allowed to interrupt me for blood, vomit or fire" she says. This year emphasizes reading - lots of reading - and the multiplication tables. Eitan is ahead of the curve in both counts yet continues to beg me to do Madeleine's Kumon (maths practice). When I tell him he does not need Kumon he retorts: "you always tell me I can get better with practice, Dad. Don't you want me to improve?" It is hard to say no to this direct attack on our parenting and the answer seems simple - why not let him take the course for Pete's sake? But there is a slippery slope to consider: if all the kids taking Kumon then those not taking it suffer... plus there is no need for Kumon unless one actually needs the practice. This time can be applied elsewhere, as I point out to the boy, to his bother. I am noodling this for now.

“That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay.”
Sarah Palin at the RNC on the jet plane she did not put on eBay. Why lie about something so trivial and easily verified?

The surest sign that the UK is in trouble: The Times reports that August car sales crashed to its worst month since 1966. Britain's largest industry is weighted toward luxury vehicles which have been hit the hardest - surprise, surprise. Aston Villa sold 19 cars in August. 19 cars! In 1966 they sold over 166,000.

School Drop

The kids awake in a fine mood and now seem adjusted to the new routine, teachers and all. Here we are this morning. I bump into the community and everybody cheerful for some social interaction following the summer's break, though I quietly duck out of offers to get mid-morning coffee. I was in Paris yesterday and the seasons are turning - it is my favorite city which is perhaps unfair since whenever I visit it is usually to the 8th which is like Belgravia or Knightsbridge - that is, the most manicured of the city. No time for museums unfortunately.

I have become compulsive about Sarah Palin as has America: she is on the cover of US World and News, OK! magazine and People - wow! When compared to dour old Britain with Alistair Darling announcing a "60 years recession" we could use a little bit of spunk and liteness over here. Our English friends just love to talk about American politics. So running this morning I ask myself: "Isn't Palin's son going to war a classic conflict of interest?"

You've Come A Long Way, Baby

I watched the Palin speech on CNN/ YouTube - under tremendous pressure she came across. Poised and confident - impressive. The bullshit started within one minute: "there's is a time for politics, a time for leadership. A time to campaign, a time to put our country first." Yeah, right- so WTF is this women doing on stage? One sound byte to the next to the next. The all-white, middle aged audience was on its feet most of the show often chanting "USA! USA!" - is this America? (In California and Texas english is now the second language). McCain has done a great job dodging the issues and bringing back the race-wars - gays, abortion, God - these are things outside of politics. They are also secondary to the economy and Iraq. The symbolism is just depressing - and worse (?) if Palin was a Democrat she would be destroyed for her marriage, which was two months before her first-born. And her daughter's pregnancy. And the Alaskan Independence Party, where she was a member in the 1990s and husband until '02 (founder Vogler: "I've got no use for America or her damned institutions"). Impressively these issues are no longer issues. Those showing up at the convention and backing McCain see themselves so breaking the rules - the rules established by them, the conservatives - have no consequence. Logic, Dear Reader. Logic. The value of education now a disqualifier - Obama's Harvard law degree a negative? And the Law Review? Bravo McCain. Bravo.

"Thanks but no thanks on that bridge to no where. If our states wanted to build a bridge, we wanted to build it ourselves."

""What exactly is our opponents plan after he has turned back the waters and healed our planet?"

"In politics there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. In the other, there are candidates who use their careers to promote change."

"So many lobbyists and special interests have fought the McCain presidency... "

"My fellow Americans, the journey to the White House is not meant to be one of personal discovery...."
Sarah Palin, September 3, 2008


Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy on Palin, September 3:

PN: It's over.

MM: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CT: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

CT: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MM: They're all bummed out.

CT: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

PN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MM: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CT: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MM: Yeah.

Change Alphie Can Understand

"The fundamentals of our economy are strong." John McCain, last week

· The economy has lost jobs each of the last seven months, and over the past seven and a half years job growth has been weaker than in any economic expansion on record. In July, the economy lost another 51,000 jobs, bringing the total jobs lost this year to 463,000. Over the past seven and a half years under President Bush, job growth has been weaker than in any economic expansion on record. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008]

· Families have lost an entire decade worth of raises, as real weekly earnings fell below their August 1998 level. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this month that weekly wages adjusted for inflation were $272.85 in July 2008. That is below the $273.54 level of real weekly wages in August, 1998. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008].

· Working-age households have lost more than $2,000 under President Bush. The Census Department reported this week that real incomes for working families fell from $58,555 in 2000 to $56,545 in 2007 – a decline of $2010. This is the first economic expansion on record where household incomes have fallen in real terms. [U.S. Census, 2008]

. Inflation reached a 17-year high. This month we learned that prices jumped 5.6 percent in July over a year earlier. That is the largest year-over-year increase in inflation since January 1991, when the economy was in recession. [Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008].

· Housing prices have fallen a record 15.9 percent over the past year. Last week the respected S&P/Case-Shiller index showed that housing prices in 20 major metropolitan areas fell 15.9 percent over the past year, the largest one year drop on record. More than 2.5 million homeowners are expected to face foreclosure this year – an average of 7,000 per day.

Eight Is Enough

The GenX block, presumably men and women being courted by Palin, will remember 1977's Braden family, pictured, which aired on ABC until 1981 and was tight with "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island." I was glued every Wednesday and always felt sorry for poor Tom, who somehow kept his job despite the house falling down around him. The question as to whether Sarah Palin is capable of being President given her large and growing family is legitimate- America has never had a woman in the high-office and why wouldn't a voter be curious? In my opinion, it is not about the glass-ceiling but rather the evolving model of family structure - Palin is square in it, and presents herself as a conservative and guardian of "family values" like the sanctity of marriage and pro-life (here is the definition of conservative: "disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change. " ) Why important? Sonnet demands. Well, imagine Palin placing her country before her offspring? Having observed close-quarters how the mother-child relationship works and assuming Palin a "traditionalist" mom this just is not going to happen no way. I fully appreciate and admire the work-family-struggle women must make continually. Palin could work around it as we all do but this is not what I want in our Commander-In-Chief. Sonnet loves her job, but she would never put her job before the kids. Hillary I would have supported- she does not have similar demands. Should the US face a crisis I want our President to be without distraction. I push Sonnet further: would one rather have Sarah Palin with five kids and a grandchild or without? The answer seems clear to me anyway.

It is also not cool BTW how the Palin news came out: Did McC know, and if so why not disclose it before the bloggers forced Palin's hand? If he did not know, well that is worse.

"It's a private family matter. Life happens in families If people try to politicize this, the American people will be appalled by it. It used to be that a lot of those smears and the crap on the Internet stayed out of the newsrooms of serious journalists. That's not the case anymore."
Steve Schmidt, chief strategist of the McCain campaign

Cubism

Eitan and Madeleine take some week-end boxes and build a city. They are mortified when I suggest a dump-run but those are the breaks, kid.

Douglas Cooper describes Cubism in his seminal book The Cubist Epoch: In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. Often the surfaces intersect at seemingly random angles, removing a coherent sense of depth. The background and object planes interpenetrate one another to create the shallow ambiguous space, one of cubism's distinct characteristics.

BTW I check with our school to confirm we are not considering a finger-printing system.

We agree to a set of jobs so the kids can earn some pocket money. I make it clear that a job is something the Shakespeares may choose not to do while a chore offers no choice. Jobs include the bathroom (even the toilet? Etian aks), gardening, vacuuming... in short, the tried-and-true. Madeleine tries to weasel payment for bed-making, table-clearing and Kumon - she is no dummy.

Kafkaesque

Ministers are encouraging schools to spend >£20,000 on finger-printing systems for library books, registration and payment for school lunches. Children as young as five are having their prints taken without parental consent. Many parents believe, as reported in the Sunday Times, that this is one more step towards a surveillance society and are "understandably furious." Made worse, the education and Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) cannot become involved unit it is clear that the school has failed to respond to a complaint, like "don't you dare finger-print my child!" Now there is a bureaucratic administration I do not trust. Ultimately, a parent's recourse is with her MP to the parliamentary ombudsman. In short - my kids - no way. I will take them from the school first.

"Religions get lost as people do."

"Evil is whatever distracts."
Franz Kafka

VAG

From Sarah Palin to Kate Moss - I think fair as Palin, the runner-up "Miss Alaska" in '84, must appreciate the power of her vagina. Same for Kate who, here, gives us her all. "The Siren" will go on display this October in the British Museum's Greek gallery, alongside other sculptures by leading British artists. Kate is billed as "the largest gold statue since ancient Egypt" and the first of five statues of the supermodel by Marc Quinn, who says she "shares the Egyptian Sphinx's mystery" (Quinn's nude statue of pregnant disabled artist Alison Lapper is on a plinth in London's Trafalgar Square. It is disturbing but I love it). Eventually Kate will be on display in New York and so that much closer to the next possible VEEP. Oh her reaction, I wonder? Photo courtesy of the BBC.

Google has a new tool "Google Insights" that presents global search data around trend-lines and regional-interest (It's cool: www.google.com/insights/search/). Of course certain outcomes are both surprising and not surprising: type "sex" and Pakistan is number-one, then Bangledash and Sri Lanka (surprising). But type in "water sports" and it is the UK (not surprising - perverts). Enter "McCain" and the US pops #1 followed by Iraq (not surprising and surprising). Enter "Obama" and Kenya is first followed by Uganda, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania then the United States. Wow.

You Go, America

As a tactician, McCain beats Obama hands down. His selection of Sarah Palin is bold, risky, daring - within 12 hours of Obama's speech of a lifetime, Obama is off the front-pages. Palin ticks a number o Hilary boxes - A) she's a woman; B) she's a woman and C) who cares? She shoots guns and is pro-life+she is viewed as fiscally responsible after 18 months as Alaska's Guv. From Alaska, she cannot be tagged as the "Washington problem" defined so elegantly by Obama in Denver. She aptly confirms McCain's renegade nature. Palin also balances McC's age and shores up his conservative, religious base, perhaps bringing along a few female voters to boot. He only needs a few points swing, Dear Brother, in today's 50-50 Republic. Classic tactician. On the other hand, I wonder if the majority of Republicans feel insulted? Palin may look good (literally) but she has no experience suggesting Presidential capability and after all, McCain is the oldest nominee in the history of the US elections - it is a real possibility that he may die during office. Don't these Republicans, who have tried to hammer Obama on his experience-failure, get that their VP choice could seriously harm America should she rise in office? These are not, like, easy times at home or abroad and even if they were - she would still be a problem.

"She's really a perfect selection."
Darla St Martin, Co-Director of the National Right to Life Committee

"I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin said. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"
Sarah Palin, Dakota Voice, August 29, 2008

"He [Obama] actually said in his speech last nigh -- the audience sort of looked a little stunned. He said, 'I am my brother's keeper.' He actually said it. His brother lives in a hut!"
Rush Limbaugh

“The McCain campaign’s slogan is ‘country first’. If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat from the presidency?"
David Frum, President George W Bush’s former speech-writer

Alphie

Here is Natasha's dog - no surprise the kids have fallen in love with her especially Madeleine who has been begging for a pet for - like -ev - er. Alphie is six months and will get a lot bigger then this.

Obama's DNC speech has been well covered in Britain, finding the front page of several newspapers. He is regarded as America's savior - or at least a friend to Europe. By contrast, when McCain visited London in March for a fundraiser I recall his meeting Super Gee as awkward, but then again - Gordon Brown is awkward. PM-in-waiting, Tory David Cameron, kissed McCain's ass - they seemed attached at the hip. I was not in London more recently when Obama was here in July, but it is fair to say he has this and other European cities enthralled - especially France who hate George Bush, mon Dieu! Il est une merde. Obama has it about right that the United States needs the Europeans to take on the Ruskies and China and global-warming, something the Bush administration has failed to do with gusto. I just cannot imagine "Old Europe" and especially the younger generation here embracing McC... he is, well, too old - put bluntly.

Bring It On, Brother

Obama's got our attention. I watched his last night's speech on YouTube and thought it direct and efficient- clearly he is going on the attack after waiting many months. A nice strategy. Obama speaks a bit like a preacher with similar hi and low-tones, emphasizing a point on a down-swing (usually it is the other way around). Also he places short and barely noticeable pauses between words giving them greater strength. Here are some key notes:

“It’s not because John McCain doesn’t care. It’s because John McCain doesn’t get it.”

“America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.”

“You know, John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the gates of hell, but he won’t even follow him to the cave where he lives”

"Next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Chaney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. On Nov. 4, we must stand up and say: ‘Eight is enough.’ ”

“We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job — an economy that honors the dignity of work.”

And here is John McCain's response:
“Tonight, Americans witnessed a misleading speech that was so fundamentally at odds with the meager record of Barack Obama."
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for McCain.

On Pakistan

Madeleine contemplates. Do note her "buddy" placed purposefully in the photograph.

From the airport the other day, I meet a Pakistani (who I will call Iqbal) and we discuss the Punjab and being a foreigner in the UK, which he has been for thirty years. Iqbal has strong features BTW and a large mustache - like our famous Jauquab Shaw. Iqbal moved to the England to earn a better life and repatriate funds - which is common - and eventually moving his wife to London. He has two children, born here, who attend University; he has extended family in Asia Minor. Iqbal and his family spend several weeks to several months in Pakistan each year, and he informs me that he believes himself "to be Pakistani-British" while his children are "British Muslim." They wear jeans and trainers to school or outside but in home they are mindful of the family customs including how they dress "though sometimes they do not care" he says. The Punjab BTW a region between India and Pakistan where the "Five Rivers" meet: Beas, Ravi, Sutlex, Chenab and Jhelum which are each tributaries to "the mighty" Indus. It is also a religious cross-roads for Sikhism, Hinduism and Islam. Iqbal tells me that people "get along and are happy" in this region despite religious differences, and further: there are more muslims in India than Pakistan and a large Hindu population in Pakistan. His greatest lament is "the younger generation" who no longer listen to their elders. "We muslims respect others and our world. We are not selfish, we do not do only for ourselves. The youngsters today have a different view." I ask him about sex, drugs and rock and roll, and Iqbal says "we are in Pakistan each year so our children know what are values." And how do they feel about attending Western Universities? "Well, they are now British. Pakistani, for sure. But British too."

Keeley Is Gold!

And this Olympics summary from today's Sun:

"SEXY Keeley proves she’s a golden girl.

The gorgeous Page 3 babe was spray painted to mark our British Olympic heroes' success at the Beijing Games.

The Team GB athletes returned home yesterday after they shined at the games – winning an amazing 19 gold medals.

Our winners included triple gold-winning cyclist Chris Hoy and double gold winning swimmer Rebecca Adlington.

Keeley, from Bromley, Kent, said: "To go to the Olympics and win so many golds was brilliant. All our athletes have made the nation feel great again.

"And it was made even sweeter because we finished so far ahead of the Australians. It really was a 24-carat gold achievement."

"

Scandel!

There are many things I missed during our summer away and Fleet Street one of them. Today, the newspaper that brought us the Max Nazi Race Cars Orgy reports that underwear model Katie Green, pictured (photo News Of The World) once modeled, well, without underwear. Surprise! Katie recently signed "up" (ar ar- get it?) with Wonderbra and me thinks the brand would have googled her at least once - go on, do it yourself Dad. One quickly finds the scandalous hot-tub pics with two other bare skinned women. The News Of The World was so outraged that they forgot to "censor" one of three photos that appeared in today's "journal." It is good to be home.

Fleet Street is fun and a diversion similar to Marx's religion, oh brother. Also reported in today's rags: A) the average house price in England and Wales over $350,000 requiring two years salary to equal a down-payment; B) Britain set to be Europe's most crowded nation as immigrants swell population to 77 million within two generations; C) Government loses another 2 million account records and data including signatures and D) Medvedev announces Russia prepared for another Cold War. Oh, and Manchester United loses to Porchester and has yet to win a game in the Premiereship's early season.

Eitan jet lagged and up at 1AM again (Madeleine sleeps right through - 12+ hours each night, so far): "I am sooo bored" and "maybe the sun is coming up soon?" He ponders this last thought with Sonnet.

Football & Radcliffe

Autumn officially arrives with football season and when, perhaps, I miss the US the most. Especially Game Day at Memorial Stadium when, for us Bear fans, hope mourns eternal. We kick off against Michigan State this Saturday.

While on sports: Paula Radcliffe finished 23rd in the Olympics marathon despite owning the World Record by over three and one half minutes (2:15.25 at London, 2003) making her one of the the greatest athletes ever. She has won many world-class competitions including The Wold Championships (marathon, '05), Commonwealth Games (5,000 meters, '02); World Cross Country Championships (01' and '02)+marathon victories (NYC 3X, London 2X and Chicago). Unfortunately this year Radcliffe had a stress fracture which threw off her training and delivered yet another agonising Games - tears and all - which has become familiar to the Brits, oh boy. I recall watching Radcliffe place out of the money in Sydney '00 in both her 5,000 and 10,000 meters, where she held a gutsy lead before being overtaken in the final 200 meters by the Africans. By Athens in '04, she switched to her specialty the marathon yet broke down and dropped out by mile 23. . Radcliffe is a well known sports figure in the UK but the general view is she must earn her status with Olympic Gold- silver or bronze simply won't do. Her visible grief has netted scorn from the nation which can do without the the emotion, thank you very much. In many ways the Brits are used to rooting for the under-achieving favorites: we have England Football, after all. The country's best graces come forward when their team is the underdog... and we still get trounced. I am aware of the symptoms, dear father, rooting for Cal since 1970.

This is why we love American football:
"When I see guys doing cartwheels in the end zone, I'd like to get out there, like we did in the old days, and see how many cartwheels they'd be doing then. When you got hurt, you didn't bury your head in the Astroturf and wait for cameras to focus on you so you could take off your helmet and run off the field. You dragged yourself off the field before giving your opponent the satisfaction of knowing you were hurt. I'm not sayin' football was better then, I'm just sayin' the attitude of the players was more to my liking."
Dick Butkus, Chicago Bears 1965-1973