If you go through the state dept site and read the bios about the different ambassadors, it's interesting to note which ones were political appointees, and which have been career diplomats. The ambassador position is often used as a reward for party donors/allies, as well as for the diplomats that have served a long time with the department. I think there'd be quite a bit of resentment for career diplomats to have to serve under a political appointee.

Quoted: The question, longtime State Department people say, is not whether these and other political appointees have impressive qualifications, but whether even more talented people — with better language skills, knowledge of local politics and customs, and familiarity with sometimes arcane State Department practices — could have been found within the department. “Political ambassadorial appointments ought to be an exception, not a routine practice,” said Susan Johnson, president of the American Foreign Service Association, while declining to comment specifically on Mr. Rivkin’s case.

Quoted: Seattle's annual change put it 14th on the list, down from 12th in April. Monthly changes ranged from a 1.2-percent increase in hard-hit Phoenix to a 1.9-percent drop in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Washington ranked 41st among states, and Washington, D.C., for annual change and 18th for monthly change. Annual changes ranged from an increase of 3.1 percent in New York to a drop of 26.4 percent in Nevada. Monthly changes ranged from a 1.8-percent increase in Tennessee to a 1.6-percent drop in Nevada.

We're not in the top 5 anymore?

Damn, I blame Cupcake Royale and Molly Moon's.

Quoted: A new report looks at 30 different measures to determine which cities' residents are healthiest.When it comes to healthy living, Washington, D.C., is seldom mentioned in the same breath as cities like San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, all of whi

Quoted: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

To think that the maker of Budweiser, the symbol of American beer giants, will likely be sold to the Belgian brewer that makes Becks and Stella Artois.

Quoted: Anheuser-Busch is said to be in friendly talks to sell itself to the Belgian brewer InBev, which raised its offer to $70 a share from $65.

Quoted: The United States won its first Davis Cup title since 1995 behind a convincing doubles victory Saturday by brothers Bob and Mike Bryan.

Lender fraud on the part of consumers is one cause of the huge mortgage mess, but internal fraud - lenders/escrow/appraiser/realtors - working together to pass bad deals is another huge part of the equation.

Bad appraisals have become less prevalent these past few months, but they're still happening. These actions cause market instability.

Here is a great article that talks about some of the major changes to the national mortgage market (as of mid August 07). Among the major points:

-620 credit, even with full documentation, may not cut it for most loans
-Lenders are now much more critical of debt-to-income/loan-to-value ratios
-Zero down loans are becoming the white elephant of the industry
-Financial reserves is being increased from the traditional 2 months

More rules and changes are to come.