Some Thoughts for April 13, 2010

'So many things to write about, so little time.' Anon Blogger

Okay, so I quoted myself and we can now get past that! This week already quite a few things are rearing their heads (both ugly and cute) worth passing along.

First the Ugly - There is a notion in the Halls of Government, both State and Federal, that the way to solve what many now consider a falsehood, 'Global Warming' is to regulate, regulate, and regulate some more. One of the scariest of these upcoming possible regulatory invasions into our lives comes from Cap and Trade legislation.

A License Required for your House (http://su.pr/2WozLe)

Thinking about selling your house - A look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill) This is unbelievable!

Only the beginning from this administration! Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!

Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the "Cap & Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced.

Second the Ugly - The economy and most specifically the Real Estate Sector has been buoyed by massive amounts of government intervention. In two weeks, a very popular but quite expensive support program to give tax credits to select home buyers will expire.

First time home buyer tax credit is gone, now what? (http://su.pr/2dhIyM)
Home buyer tax credit deadline approaches

There were loud calls from the real estate industry to extend the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit when the original Nov. 30 deadline neared. Now we're in shouting distance of the extended deadline -- April 30 to sign a contract -- and it's been pretty quiet. The National Association of Realtors, for instance, tells me it hasn't been lobbying for a re-extension.

But mortgage publisher HSH Associates notes that most of the people taking a poll on its blog "overwhelmingly support" more time. As of 10 p.m. Monday, 84 percent said they were "depending on" an extension.

HSH notes a quote from economist Robert Shiller (of Case-Shiller fame) in a New York Times story about the credit:

"You don't make drug addicts go cold turkey," Mr. Shiller said. "The credit interferes with the market in an arbitrary way, but ending it now would be psychologically powerful. People will be in a bad mood about buying a house." He advocates phasing it out gradually.

Third the Cute Password creation has always been a bugaboo for me and my clients. How do you remember them? Where do you safely store a reminder list? And on and on with worries about losing such important information. Now comes a brilliant solution.

Quick, easy and fun way to create fabulous passwords. (http://su.pr/2lnBbH)

Shift Your Fingers One Key to the Right for Easy-to-Remember but Awesome Passwords

You're constantly told how easy it would be to hack your weak passwords, but complicated passwords just aren't something our brains get excited about memorizing. Reader calculusrunner offers a brilliant tip that turns weak passwords into something much, much better.

His clever solution: Stick with your weak, dictionary password if you must; just move your fingers over a space on the keyboard.


That's it, onward through the week! Be well.