To: Mannie who wrote (4225 ) 4/25/2003 12:20:27 PM From: Jim Willie CB Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 5423 the signals are screaming out loud now when I drive along a certain ritzy road between my office and my parent's's modest home, I pass the wealthiest patch on a street called Beechwood Blvd when young, I knew two foxes who lived on this street we all lusted after them, with dreams of lace, wealth, trips to the Caribbean, and hot steamy sex Wendy drove to highschool in a jeep, way cool I had a crush on Jennifer, in my class Jennifer S. and Wendy W. --- ooo la la anyway, back to my point (quit distracting me) Beechwood contains homes for judges, bankers, business leaders, and more in the Pitt area on a long stretch, there might be 50 homes I counted 8 with FORSALE signs, and one SOLD sign a year ago, maybe 1-2 FORSALE signs something is brewing another sign along the parkway heading into town, it was typical a year ago for traffic to be backed up 3 miles behind the Squirrel Hill Tunnel not anymore I havent sat in traffic, awaiting my exit to work, not since late autumn or early winter something is brewing yesterday I returned a BlockBuster movie rental I went over by one day, from simple forgetting when I entered their store on a weekday early evening, nobody was in there I appealed for forgiveness on my oversight, explaining that I was a jackass with mental deficiency, the clerk smiled and said "no problem" try that two years ago something is brewing I expressed my opinion in my "2003 Predictions" article that local restaurants and movie theatres would continue to prosper and survive here and now, I must revise that restaurants may not survive but movie theatres will do just fine the big big Monroeville Shopping Mall is packed each weekend I mean packed in the vast parking lots that is my last stage signal maybe people go to the mall to window shop and not buy most of the stores in the mall have signs for sales I cannot tell if people are buying or not I dont ask clerks like you do I am way too busy checking out the multitudes of highschool girls with their exposed bellies, love those bare midriffs if they got any lower, they would expose the mound of venus so often they are testing their newfound sexuality I check them out, raise a brow, occasionally wink they saunter by, with arched back, proudly ooo la la on the news everywhere is denial that real estate is a bubble I have never heard so much denial about any bubble whether stock, bond, housing, or whatever of course it is a bubble, morons as they taught me in Alcoholics Anonymous, anytime there is persistent questioning about alcoholism or addiction, YOU ARE WITNESSING ALCOHOLISM OR ADDICTION if you continue to see Uncle Eddy giving you a reason to wonder if Uncle Eddy is a drunk, then he is a drunk from the mere inquisition this recession that awaits us will be different it will feed upon itself dont expect the Congressional stimulus package to help much it might, if large enough but Democrats are doing their best to gut it they want the recession will worsen, and Bushy to exit office my professional opinion is that a $300B package might have really been effective last autumn now a $500B package will be only slightly effective what they need is a $1 trillion package with massive tax overhaul at the corporate level, removal of dividend double taxation, and elimination of tax bracket creep for individuals (moving brackets back to levels in 1980) / jim