Will He Look Good Up Close ?

I mean Obama to his worshipers in Europe.

Do they expect a cultured sophisticate ? A glassy-eyed greenie ? Or a poodle for their socialist ideas ? I think the pop cultural reaction might be the most interesting thing to come out of this European vacation for Obama. As far an anything substantive, I expect nothing.

Europe and the rest of the world want the US to be the engine of economic growth again, but then gripe about the US ... being the leader. Europe and the rest of the world want the US to buy their goods ... and then gripe about US current account deficits and the US need to sell dollar debt the world. Do you see the contradictions ? In the end, the long term cure for the problems in the other nations economies require a shift to more consumer demand and internal or regional consumer demand, not exports. But those nations did not make the changes when times were good, as they should have. So they all get an F.

Now the US ... if one would spark those memory cells a bit, one would remember that the US WAS shifting more from a consumer, import-dominant economy to one more export oriented WHEN times were good. As the dollar was falling, the US was indeed exporting a lot more. Who was fixing problems in international trade when times were good ? The US.

Hello world ? Fix your own messes before you deign to tell us what to do. Otherwise, you suffer your condign* fates.

[*see word of the day]

Memory

It's remarkable how much learning a language helps one's memory and mind. I have noticed that I can remember new words and facts and relationships much better after seven months of effort in French. So I am now trying a bit of German, too. Maybe I'm now using areas of my brain long neglected. Whatever it is, it does work.

German pronunciation seems quite easy for me, a native English speaker, compared to French or Russian. This is just a small effort now.

Markets

The big drop yesterday should be no shock. After a 25% move up, a big pullback is natural. I'm happy to see lower prices for my planned buying in April.

Word of the Day

"Condign" - adjective [$10]; from the card file and my reinvigorated memory
Condign means deserved, adequate; (of a punishment) severe and well-deserved.
Sentence: see * above.

Le Mot du Jour

"Redresser" - verb, transitive, regular -er conjugation.
Redresser means 1. to straighten up, to knock out, to rectify; 2. to right; 3. to put right.
Le Phrase: Est-ce que Obama peut redresser GM?
Sentence: Can Obama straighten up GM?