Jim

Rumsfield and Bush have specifically stated that all prisoners take in Iraq will be affored the protections of the Geneva Conventions, unlike those in Afganistan. This was stated last year and repeated in the past few weeks.

Insurance is pretty minimal, about $300 a year or so. The taxes and interest are fully deductible. Upkeep? Mostly sweat equity - mow the grass, tend the garden, clean the gutters and crap like that. I did paint several rooms recently so there's a couple of hundred in paint. And the value of the house went up around $50k this year. Not a bad balance.

I pay $9k a year in rent + expenses. With taxes, increased insurance, utilities, etc. I doubt I would see much of a difference in monthly norecoverable expenses. Not to mention a decrease in my quality of life moving to a more afforable location. If you believe housing prices will continue to go up, not a bad deal. I don't. Well I'm paying about the same you are, after factoring in my deductions. Given the long term trends I see in the area I see no reason to sell and go back to renting and wasting 10k a year. Housing prices sure haven't dropped anytime and I bet if we came back and visited the issue in a year, 5, or 10 we would come to the same conclusion.

Location, location. If you were going to be around here for five years at least, and you could afford to, and you didn't mind doing some house maintenance, then it would be economicly wise to purchase. Even if house prices went up modestly and you only covered the expenses of selling transactions (likely greater than this) you would still come out substantially ahead of renting.

Whoa! Didn't know we were sliding into the social implications of high housing costs! Thought this was a simple rent vs buy discussion. And yes the disparity of upper mobility is something that needs more attention. But as an ecologist married to a public school teacher I'd say we're lucky to have a house in Seattle. It wasn't so easy as you make it sound.

I'm not trying to convince you to buy a house. I just know that over the last 10 years I would have poured something like $100k down the toilet in rent with no return. In contrast to owning a house where with tax deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes I'm paying less out per year than what I would in rent! Plus what other invenstment has doubled in 6 years and is on the verge of trippling in 10 yrs? No regrets here. Gotta have a place to live so why not make some investment income while you're at it?

Seems like we must have left the Conventions rule books back home or something, eh? Why would CIA even be asking this question to the Justice Dept.? Doesn't look good no matter what the reason.

Dude - I notice you ignored the other 5 years in that chart. For the 10 years ending in 1990 the increase in the average King County house was 208%!!!! But using your example of only a 10% rise in housing in 5 years - that's still quite a bit better than losing 100% of your money in rent! Plus you get the deduction of the interest and property taxes off you federal income tax, plus you can itemize your taxes and write off other items you can't when not itemizing. But the lifesyle thing is an item to pay attention to. It is a commitment of time. My advice to anyone remotely interested in buy is to buy now - it's not going to get any cheaper around here and interest rates are sure to be headed up soon.

Nothing wrong with renting if your not ready to make that kind of cash commitment - and maintenance issues are your landlord's issue not yours. But - there's no comparison of the economics. Your losing all your cash down a rat hole when renting. Even with a modest increase you end up winning or a least breaking even if you sell in a couple of years. In Seattle and Puget Sound it's not even close. My little house in north Seattle has just about doubled in price in 6 years and with a refinanced 4.4% 15-year loan, the tax and interest write-offs, it's sweet. Wish I would have scraped together the down payment when I was younger and doing more climbing. Could have rented out a room to friends and made a good investment instead of paying rent.

Exactly. If the economics their lot were better and they felt like they had some voice in their government they would be much less susceptible to the fundamentalist crap.

Dude - our meddling proceeds OPEC by a long shot. It's possible that it the oil producing countries were truely democratic that an oil cabal would be less likely. But given the advantages of banding together to limit supply of a precious commidity it could still occur. The differnce would be that the weath of these countries would likely be put to better use than lining the pockets of a tight network of family and the US would not be seen as aiding and abetting this process. Instead the US has historcially propped up repressive regimes to attain "stability". Good code word that one.

Well given our track record of meddling in the middle east and supporting opressive regimes is any of this surprising? Particularly in Saudia Arabia where there is no hope of democratic reform, continued repression of free speech and opposition, and continued US support with a blind eye.

Actually the poll says this: Forty-one percent said they favored strong and close relations with America, while only 39 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Saudi armed forces, both results that Obaid also termed "surprising."

Travelled around there and Chile for a few months. It's rather expensive for a SA country. Back in the 80's(?) they decided to have their currency float with the American dollar (1 peso = $1) and from my understanding it didn't work so well for the lower economic folk. You can use US currency in most larger towns. There is a large population from European ancestry, particularly Italian, and it has influenced their culture. Lots of good Italian food to be found. Also lots of beef - hard if your the veggie type. The adjacent SA countries consider the Argentines snobbish, that they consider themselves better than the rif-raf of Chile for example, more cultured and of course emensely more beautiful. They're known as the "Swiss of SA". I noticed a distinct difference between Chile and Argentina and found the Chilians much warmer and friendlier. That said - I had no bad experiences in Argentina, but the largest town I was in was Baralochie. Another friend recently came back from a year in Argentina and had wonderful stories. Some pockets of ex-Nazi types in the country, was a popular refuge after WWII.

May be going for a few turns in the Tatoosh.

After 5 years of remote camera work, hair snares, and interviews with folks that claimed to see the griz, WDFW concluded that there were a handful in the Cascades. Probably wander in and out of the US. A friend who just finished her Masters work in the North Cascades switched topics after two years of baited hair snare traps without any indication of griz.

Rats!

While I agree to a point - that Slate article above is crass - news agencies are suppose to deal with facts, not image building. Certainly a reporter at a funeral should not stray far from the respectful nature of the event, but as a news organization supposedly providing a summary of the historical administration they should be comprehensive and not selective.

Came across this opinion piece regarding the potential introduciton of the griz to the North Cascades. Has a link to an interesting report by the NW Ecosystem Alliance. Author says having griz in the Cascades would ease the recreation use pressure. Maybe. As always a big political issue. http://www.tidepool.org/voices/ncgriz.cfm

A prime example of the lack of any critical analysis by major media in this country. You couldn't discern between Fox news and NPR on this subject. Also no mention that the Reganites were the admistration with the most convicted felons and the most ethics violations of any administration. The guy was a simpleton. Apparently that's what folks want to hear. No gray areas, no complex issues. Sounds currently famaliar eh?

Sat - hike in sun and caught lizards along Umtanum Creek. Saw some bighorns, took a nap in the sun. Sun - house stuff and a run. Mon - volunteered at the cemetery and cleaned up some Vet graves with the VFW crew. Went on a 30 mi spin later in the day and though about the WWII stories I heard earlier in the day.

The guy should have had the dogs on a leash but to get shot over it? The danger in carrying a weapon on you is just this type of incident. Conflits used to get solved in different manners. Now it's easy to just start firing away. A friend of a friend carries a gun when he goes hiking all the time. WTF, for what I asked? Well you never know who you'll run into out there. I guess so.

Rainy weekend could be good time to watch Band of Brothers. Big tip o' the hat to the infantry guys.

Especially since it's under $110 I will check this out.

Thanks for the correction - I was looking at the wrong jacket - Theta AR. The SL is around 14.5 oz. Nice looking but pricey.