U.S. Encouraged by Vietnam Vote :
Officials Cite 83% Turnout Despite Vietcong Terror
by Peter Grose, Special to the New York Times (9/4/1967: p. 2)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3– United States officials were surprised and heartened today at the size of turnout in South Vietnam´s presidential election despite a Vietcong terrorist campaign to disrupt the voting.

According to reports from Saigon, 83 per cent of the 5.85 million registered voters cast their ballots yesterday. Many of them risked reprisals threatened by the Vietcong.

The size of the popular vote and the inability of the Vietcong to destroy the election machinery were the two salient facts in a preliminary assessment of the nation election based on the incomplete returns reaching here.

Pending more detailed reports, neither the State Department nor the White House would comment on the balloting or the victory of the military candidates, Lieut. Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, who was running for president, and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, the candidate for vice president.

A successful election has long been seen as the keystone in President Johnson´s policy of encouraging the growth of constitutional processes in South Vietnam. The election was the culmination of a constitutional development that began in January, 1966, to which President Johnson gave his personal commitment when he met Premier Ky and General Thieu, the chief of state, in Honolulu in February.

“PHILADELPHIA (Jan. 30) - Some long-suffering Philadelphia Eagles fans are so desperate to get to the Super Bowl that they’re borrowing against their homes to pay for the tickets.

Take Kevin P. O’Donoghue, a lifelong fan from the suburbs, who told his wife after the Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in 24 years, “I don’t care if we have to mortgage our house, I’m going. She replied, “Wait a minute, maybe that’s a good idea.” So O’Donoghue sunk $4,000 on a Super Bowl package that includes round-trip airfare, a four-night hotel stay and one ticket to the Feb. 6 game in Jacksonville, Fla. To pay for it, he applied for a home equity line of credit, a way of borrowing money that requires you to put up your home as collateral. He’s getting the money in a few days.

“Sometimes the cards are maxed out and you gotta do what you gotta do,” said O’Donoghue, 36, an account executive from Glen Mills.”

Philly Fans Borrow Against Their Homes for Tickets

Isn’t that sense of entitlement a wonderful feeling?

“WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Sales of new homes were nearly unchanged in December after a big drop off in November, the Commerce Department reported Monday. New home sales increased 0.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.098 million units in December from a downwardly revised 1.097 million in November. The inventory of unsold homes on the market increased by 2.6 percent to 432,000, the highest level in 31 years. The inventory represents a 4.8-month supply at current sales rates, the highest since July 2000. Economists were expecting a bounce back in sales to about 1.18 million in December.”

The real estate engine which has been helping to power consumption by building the debt bubble is faltering. November’s fall was dismissed as an anomaly. December may be a coincidence, but I doubt it. Remember the old adage: Once is a random event, twice is a coincidence, but three times is enemy action. January’s numbers will tell the tale.

“The current status of the housing market is a close match to the three episodes of 1973, 1979, and mid-1980 to late-1980s. Based on this historical information, a sharp deceleration of single-family home prices in the near term is not far fetched.”

Northern Trust

Ah the marvels of government accounting. The Microsoft dividend causes an economic miracle in December.

8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. PERSONAL SAVINGS RATE 3.4%
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. WAGES, SALARIES UP 0.4%
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. PCE PRICE INDEX FALLS 0.1%
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. PCE CORE PRICE INDEX FLAT
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. CONSUMER SPENDING UP 0.8% AS EXPECTED
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. INCOMES EX-GATES UP 3.3%
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. INCOMES EX-MICROSOFT UP 0.6%
8:30am 01/31/05 U.S. DEC. PERSONAL INCOMES RISE RECORD 3.7%

I’m seeing bullish pieces everywhere trumpeting the rise in incomes. Looks to me that ex the Microsoft dividend, personal savings went negative in December as spending rose faster than incomes. Sick, very sick.

“Ashton Kutcher’s got a CXT.

So does the Toronto Raptors forward Jalen Rose. Jay Leno and Nick Lachey, star of MTV’s “Newlyweds,” have each taken one for a test drive. And West Coast Customs, the body shop from MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” is already calling itself the “official customizer” of the CXT.”

Nothing exceeds like excess

“At just over nine feet high, the 7300 CXT, which went on sale in September, weighs about seven tons unloaded, more than twice the weight of the Hummer H2 and equivalent to about five MINI Coopers. The CXT can tow a 20-ton boat and carry another six tons of cargo in the truck bed. Because it rides at the height of an 18-wheeler, drivers will spend most of their time looking at the tops of cars.”

NYT

The desperate search for separation from the ruck by ever more conspicuous consumption. Pathetic.

By the way, who the heck is Ashton Kutcher and why does he have these feelings of inadequacy?