Dean Baker: "Dan Balz and the Washington Post STILL Don't Understand the Housing Bubble"

This is as clear an explanation of why housing prices collapsed, and why they will continue to fall for a while, as you will ever read.

Police shoot fake alligator

KANSAS CITY, Mo (Reuters Life!) – Police in a suburb in the state of Missouri recently encountered one tough alligator -- or so they thought.

Officers in Independence, a Kansas City suburb, responded to a call on a Saturday evening about a large alligator lurking on the embankment of a pond, police spokesman Tom Gentry said Thursday.

An officer called a state conservation agent, who advised him to shoot the alligator because there was little that conservation officials could do at that time, Gentry said.

As instructed an officer shot the alligator, not once but twice, but both times the bullets bounced off -- because the alligator was made of cement.
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Offending alligator? Don't call the cops -- call the HOA!

I'm sick of these MF snakes in this MF foreclosed home!

idaho-foreclosure-snake-home: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance
Where's Samuel L. Jackson when you need him?

New York Co-op aims to combat obesity

Nice idea, but it won't be enough to combat the marketing of food and drink guaranteed to turn you into a waddling behemoth.

Newly amended bill would restrict library privatization

SACRAMENTO - Local governments would have to jump through multiple hoops before they could privatize local libraries under newly recrafted legislation moving through the Assembly.

The measure would require officials to provide detailed proof that contracting out would save money. It also would prohibit the layoffs of existing employees, among other rules.

The bill could have major implications for Riverside County. In 1997, the county became the first in the country to contract with a private company to provide library services.
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Privatizing local government services -- while controversial -- is one thing.  Privatizing local government itself in the form of mandated homeowner associations is quite another.

MTA Officers Detain Man For Taking Pictures « CBS Baltimore

MTA Officers Detain Man For Taking Pictures « CBS Baltimore: "The Patriot Act says that critical infrastructure, trains, train stations, all those things require certain oversight to take pictures, whether you say they are for personal use or whatever, that’s your story,” the officer said."
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And that was only a small part of the moronic harassment this man was subjected to by these Keystone Cops. They threatened to arrest him for absolutely no reason, among other things.

Bachus Comforts Wall Street While Assailing Dodd-Frank to Voters Back Home - Bloomberg

Bachus Comforts Wall Street While Assailing Dodd-Frank to Voters Back Home - Bloomberg
An absolutely astounding story of greed and stupidity. See Matt Taibbi's piece (below) for a more pointed version of events.

The Continual Screwing of Jefferson County, Alabama | Rolling Stone Politics | Taibblog | Matt Taibbi on Politics and the Economy

The Continual Screwing of Jefferson County, Alabama | Rolling Stone Politics | Taibblog | Matt Taibbi on Politics and the Economy
Read Matt Taibbi's scathing analysis of the massive political corruption surrounding the "screwing" of Jefferson County, Alabama, by elected officials, as described more moderately above.

Texas HOAs under heavy fire in Austin | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth

Texas HOAs under heavy fire in Austin | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth
"A wave of new laws were proposed, designed to restrict HOA powers that keep homeowners under financial duress and in the quicksand of debt.

State Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas) said what's happening to Greer is commonplace in Texas.

"You pay your legal fees, and other penalties and interest before the assessment is credited toward the assessment that you were supposed to have been paying in the first place," West said. "What that does is basically what it does to people in other areas — it puts them further and further behind."
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HOA threatens to sue Possum Kingdom wildfire survivor | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth

HOA threatens to sue Possum Kingdom wildfire survivor | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth
The recreational vehicle and camper he is living and working out of until his home can be rebuilt is violating Article 8, Section 3(e) of the Sportsman's World Property Owners Association covenant, according to a letter Brumbelow received from a Dallas law firm.

"If you do not move the vehicles immediately, the Association is expected to file suit," the letter reads, hitting him with attorneys fees and seeking injunctive relief.
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Another example of local democracy in action. Not.

Thanks to Rodney Gray for the link.