It's raining in Malta this morning, so no walking the city....so here's a Dose.....
1/ The big banks and the foreclosure crisis.
Paul Krugman column detailing the dangers of this disastrous mess, and how noone has any clear ideas how to fix it. But the fact is the banks still own the Administration, and are lobbying to avoid anything that will affect their profits - like writing down the property loans they are carrying on their books at face value to the 50% these loans should be valued at. It must be nice to be protected by Geithner and Obama.....
This is deeper and more serious than you might think......I think it's dragging down the whole economy.....
These days, the idea that our banks were well capitalized and supervised sounds like a sick joke. And now the mortgage mess is making nonsense of claims that we have effective contract enforcement — in fact, the question is whether our economy is governed by any kind of rule of law.
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True to form, the Obama administration’s response has been to oppose any action that might upset the banks, like a temporary moratorium on foreclosures while some of the issues are resolved. Instead, it is asking the banks, very nicely, to behave better and clean up their act. I mean, that’s worked so well in the past, right?
The response from the right is, however, even worse. Republicans in Congress are lying low, but conservative commentators like those at The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page have come out dismissing the lack of proper documents as a triviality. In effect, they’re saying that if a bank says it owns your house, we should just take its word. To me, this evokes the days when noblemen felt free to take whatever they wanted, knowing that peasants had no standing in the courts.
2/ Incredible story of Southern justice at work.....now it's up to Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi to do the right thing and pardon them.....which of course he won't - the two sisters are black......
You read this story and just wonder how this can happen in a civilised society......the sisters got two consecutive life sentences for an $11 robbery where noone got hurt.....
The Scott sisters have been in prison for 16 years. Jamie, now 38, is seriously ill. Both of her kidneys have failed. Keeping the two of them locked up any longer is unconscionable, grotesquely inhumane.
The sisters were accused of luring two men to a spot outside the rural town of Forest, Miss., in 1993, where the men were robbed by three teenagers, one of whom had a shotgun. The Scott sisters knew the teens. The evidence of the sisters’ involvement has always been ambiguous, at best. The teenagers pleaded guilty to the crime, served two years in prison and were released. All were obliged by the authorities, as part of their plea deals, to implicate the sisters.
3/ Reporters have it rough.....2 minute segment of accidents and other
misfortunes......funny....
4/ A Times Editorial on the foreclosure crisis.....I have put this in because it's a recap of all of the issues if you haven't been keeping up with it......sort of Banks 101......
One way to change that would be for Congress to reform the bankruptcy law so troubled borrowers could turn to the courts for a loan modification if banks were uncooperative. Homeowners also need a simple process to challenge a bank if it uses incorrect information to deny a modification and justify a foreclosure, or if it refuses to divulge the facts and figures it used.
The administration also needs to alter refinancing guidelines so that many borrowers who are current in their payments are eligible to refinance to lower rates, even if their houses have declined in value. It needs to provide more legal aid to homeowners, using money authorized by Congress.
5/ Real Estate
This article advises you to stay away from the foreclosure market until the dust settles. There are a lot of pitfalls and little sneaky stuff that could get you.....
But if you do make sure you have a good lawyer review it all......
Still, roughly half the recent home sales in hard-hit states like California, Arizona and Nevada have been foreclosures or short sales, according to RealtyTrac. Anyone wanting to buy homes in those and other states hit hard by the housing crisis will probably encounter these sorts of properties.
And the houses will be tempting for scores of first-time homebuyers, second-home seekers and people looking to get an early jump on buying a retirementhome while prices and interest rates are low.
So given the pitfalls, are they crazy? The answer is no, not always. But it’s important to keep something in mind.
“The whole foreclosure process is adversarial, even though it’s nonjudicial in many areas,” said Tom Cahraman, the presiding judge in Riverside County. “One person is losing their home, and another person is trying to get a new home at a discount price.”
6/ I love the title of this piece "We get the politicians we deserve". Really really good story from the Miami Herald.....if you like intelligent wit, read this one....sort of Gail Collins-ish
What does it say about us that a sizable minority is prepared to vote for people we don't like, aren't proud of, and who we don't think are ethical? [Rick Scott]
Somebody pass me a flag to wave.
Somehow, we've created a corporatist culture in America, which simultaneously distrusts big business and reveres it. Like our love-hate relationship with Facebook and Google, we're simultaneously repelled and mesmerized by the corporate elite. But something is rotten in our system when it seems like the Little League mantra, ``everybody gets a trophy,'' is stamped into every business school textbook in the country. CEOs are rewarded for spectacular failure with even more spectacular bonuses.
Wall Street, which bristles and pouts that the president of the United States isn't sufficiently nice to it because he dares to point out that its mortgage securities schemes tanked the economy, will pay record bounties again this year. All the while, those CEOs will moan on CNBC, when they're not laying off more employees or outsourcing to India to boost the value of the stock options from which they're compensated.
7/ Obama has failed to change the image of the "Ugly American" abroad......panel discussion with examples....from The Onion News network.....satire, but kind of
nails it.....
8/ Now here's a bit of technology that's scary - if you donate to a political party you have to sign a form....that form is downloaded to this website, so you can search friends, neighbors, cities, etc to see how much anyone has given to either party.....go ahead....search yourself.......
9/ Do you believe in evil? No, really? Is there a negative force out there that affects us?
Well read this one about the Westboro Baptist Church from Topeka, Kansas and tell yourself there is no evil in the world, because these bastards are truly bad people.....
Now a self-described prophet of God’s wrath, Mr. Phelps has solicited outrage with his venomous protesting at military funerals all over the country — including the burial of a young Marine in Maryland that prompted the case before the Supreme Court — as well as burning the Koran and enlisting his grandchildren to stomp on the American flag.
Mr. Phelps is regarded here as the ultimate example of an irritating local gadfly. But he and his sprawling family, which make up nearly all of Westboro Baptist Church, have been at the heart of decades of local debate about the proper limits of the First Amendment when speech is meant to be as purposefully inflammatory as it is here.
10/ Movie Reviews
"Hereafter" directed by Clint Eastwood.....great review - intelligent and thought-provoking movie......
One of the reasons that “Hereafter” works as well as it does — it has the power to haunt the skeptical, to mystify the credulous and to fascinate everyone in between — may be that its subject matter is so clearly alien to the sensibilities of its makers. Communication with the dead is a risky business, principally because once the door to the beyond opens a tiny crack, all kinds of maudlin nonsense come rushing in.
But one of Mr. Eastwood’s great and undersung strengths as a director is his ability to wade into swamps of sentimental hokum and come out perfectly dry. Directed by anyone else, “The Bridges of Madison County”would most likely have been as unbearable as the book on which it was based. “Million Dollar Baby,” though derived from much better source material, walked through a minefield of clichés and emerged as a masterpiece.
Guys.....or at least a segment of guys who like gross, stupid shit.....this movie "Jackass in 3D" is for you....but if you've seen the others don't bother....
If only there was more to laugh at and with in the movie, which reaches its apogee in the opening and closing credit sequences that show the artfully arranged men being assaulted in transfixing slow motion, their heads stretching like rubber as another projectile finds its mark.
Must see movie - "Inside Job" - the definitive analysis of the meltdown of the financial system......a movie for 1/ intelligent people and 2/ anyone who cares about the future of this country, because to have a prosperous future we need to take the lessons from the past.
So......as I said, a must see movie.....
The gist of this movie, which begins in a mood of calm reflection and grows angrier and more incredulous as it goes on, is unmistakably punitive. The density of information and the complexity of the subject matter make “Inside Job” feel like a classroom lecture at times, but by the end Mr. Ferguson has summoned the scourging moral force of a pulpit-shaking sermon. That he delivers it with rigor, restraint and good humor makes his case all the more devastating.
11/ Tools
One for the guys....what are the essential tools you need for maintaining your property....and no it doesn't mention a jackhammer......
They didn’t agree on everything, but there was near consensus on the major stuff.
The upshot: spend $250 or so on about a dozen tools, and you’ll have all you need to avoid repeated treks to the hardware store. It’ll cost $253 if you include Ms. Shirey’s purple spray paint, but more on that later.
To start off, you need a hammer. In theory, at least, there should be nothing nuanced about this purchase. It’s steel, it smashes things, you’re good.
But there’s also nothing nuanced about the elbow pain you’ll feel if you choose a steel-handled hammer for your annual nail-banging jag.
Do yourself a favor and buy a hammer with a hickory or ash handle, since wood absorbs shock instead of delivering it straight to your bones. It’ll look beautiful when you hand it off to your grown child, and your arm will be in much better shape to present your gift.
12/ Interesting video of a dog playing with a deer....or is it the other way round.....2 minutes....
13/ A quirky little story for car people, and anyone who remembers the strange small cars of the 60's and 70's. I recall the Reliant, a British 3 wheel horror because my uncle had one......awful car, but he was so proud of this damn thing......
The KR-175 was one of the first of a class of vehicles that would become known as microcars, defined as cars with engines smaller than 750 cubic centimeters. The KR-175 was less than 10 feet long and weighed 396 pounds. Befitting a vehicle bearing the nameplate of a company known for its fighter planes for the Luftwaffe, the 1-cylinder, 9-horsepower Messerschmitt also featured a plexiglass passenger compartment dome that resembled an airplane cockpit.
It’s tiny, it’s fascinating, it’s still futuristic looking — and it’s here with about 300 of its fellow minivehicles at the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in Madison, Ga.
Todays video - seniors and boating
Todays Church Ladies joke
These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:
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The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.' The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale.. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
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Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.
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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
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Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice
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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
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The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
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Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and medication to follow.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
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Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. is done.
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The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM.. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.
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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
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The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday:
"I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours".
Todays sexes joke
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Todays tech joke
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