last week of January in review

A few notable items:

- 129.5 inches of snow so far in Erie. Makes it the 5th snowest season on record!! Sure looks a record is in the making.

- Bankers have no clue and we're idiots for allowing them to rape the taxpayer. Handing out over 18B in bonuses to bank employees that were taxpayer bailed out is just plain stealing. The reason given is to hold onto the best and brightest. It's ironic that the best and brightest caused the mess in the first place. Quite frankly why aren't the management teams that were in place when they headed under all out of jobs and shunned? It's clear their greed is a major cause of the current global economic crisis the world world currently in.

- The message we're hearing from our new Commander-in-Chief is disappointing. To keep stating that it will get worse before it gets better offers scant hope for the folks that have become jobless, lost their homes, ..... It's no better than the press continuing to headline the massive layoffs, the failed banks and every other doom and gloom issue they can print about. I'm convinced much of the actual recession is a result of the 24/7 negative news causing everyone to panic and compounding the tight economy which is strongly driven by consumer confidence. Why is anyone surprised that consumer confidence is at historical lows when everything one hears is negative. A leader would calm the troops by giving them a sense of hope and guidance on the turnaround. The claim that it will get worse before it gets better is managing expectations of their leadership and providing a prophecy that will be fulfilled just by the fact that the leader had stated it.

- Today is SuperBowl Sunday. Should be an interesting game but I must remind everyone that it's just a game. A few million people will have a day of diversion from life's mundane but world peace and the cure for cancer won't be any closer.