Deployed Soldiered Getting Sued For Not Land Scaping His Home | KXNet.com North Dakota News

Deployed Soldier Getting Sued For Not Land Scaping His Home | KXNet.com North Dakota News: "Is there anything in the world more vile than a Homeowner’s Association?"
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I think that was intended as a rhetorical question.

My Way News - McCain would buy bad homeowner mortgages

My Way News - McCain would buy bad homeowner mortgages: "WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain is proposing a $300 billion program for the federal government to buy up bad home mortgages and allow homeowners to keep their houses.

McCain said: 'Until we stabilize home values in America, we're never going to start turning around and creating jobs and fixing our economy and we've got to get some trust and confidence back to America.'"
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This might actually work. The problem is it comes on top of the bailout of institutions. Maybe McCain should have said no to the bailout bill and proposed this instead. Why not bail out the consumers and stabilize the value of the underlying asset? This was suggested by others early on.

Good Morning Yahoo!

Condo board goes to war against Segway rider
So this 83 year old WWII vet cruises around the seniors condo development on his Segway and the BOD bans it, even though they are fine with golf carts, those little personal mobility scooter thingys, bikes, and even motorized lawnmowers. He is a spunky old guy who has a girlfriend he needs to visit, so he won't back down.

New Details Emerge in Las Vegas HOA Corruption Probe | HOA Nut House

New Details Emerge in Las Vegas HOA Corruption Probe | HOA Nut House: "So how was it done? For one thing, at Park Avenue, more than half the owners live elsewhere. The condos are investments, so they take little interest in board meetings. The most recent election had twice as many ballots cast as ever before, and most were mailed from one place. 'Funny part is, in California, all the different cities, they were all mailed form Long Beach at the same time on the same date,' said Dennis Noto.'They looked like real ballots that came in. Someone duplicated ballots, duplicated envelopes and then mailed them en masse. Even in Las Vegas, they were mailed all the same day from the same place,' said Lahargoue."
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I am interested to see whether this sort of thing is ultimately found to be criminal or just civil. If the former, homeowners' rights advocates have an opportunity big enough to drive a truck through. If the latter, we are back to the "6 years in court" drawing board.

Frank says GOP housing attacks racially motivated

Frank says GOP housing attacks racially motivated: "BOSTON (AP) - Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's racially motivated. The Massachusetts Democrat, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the GOP is appealing to its base by blaming the country's mortgage foreclosure problem on efforts to expand affordable housing through the Community Reinvestment Act. He said that blame is misplaced, because those loans are issued by regulated institutions, while far more foreclosures were triggered by high-cost loans made by unregulated entities."
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Frank is probably right on the issue of regulated CRA loans (a point made by a knowledgeable commenter on this blog yesterday). But this claim that criticism of housing programs is racially motivated is exactly the same thing Democrats said to silence Republican criticism of Fannie Mae (to the enormous detriment of the nation); it is the same thing the Obama campaign says whenever The One is criticized; and I hope the rest of the nation is as sick of hearing it as I am.

AFP: US author of anti-Obama book detained in Kenya

AFP: US author of anti-Obama book detained in Kenya: "In a press release distributed earlier this week, Corsi announced he would 'expose deep secret ties between between US Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and a section of the Kenyan government leaders.' He was also to detail Kenyan leaders' 'connections to certain sectoral groups in Kenya and a subsequent plot to be executed in Kenya should Sen. Obama win the American presidency,' the release said."
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If he's not careful, HE will be the one "executed in Kenya."

A move to secede on California-Oregon border

A move to secede on California-Oregon border: "Guess the time is ripe to create a whole new state. That's the thinking up here along the border between California and Oregon, where 12 sparsely populated, thickly forested counties in both states want to break away and generate the 51st star on the nation's flag - the state of Jefferson. You can see the signs of discontent from Klamath Falls to Dunsmuir, where green double-X 'Jefferson State' flags hang in scores of businesses."
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These folks think the governments of Oregon and California are too liberal for them, so they want their own little Conservastan called "Jefferson."

Leading geneticist Steve Jones says human evolution is over - Times Online
That is obvious. Exhibit A: daytime television. I rest my case.

FT.com / In depth - Markets routed in global sell-off

FT.com / In depth - Markets routed in global sell-off: "Stock prices collapsed around the world on Monday amid growing fears that the credit crisis would trigger a global recession. The wave of selling swept through markets despite a scramble by governments to tackle the crisis, leading to rampant speculation that co-ordinated emergency rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks might be in the offing."
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Slow news day.

Indian American to oversee $700bn bailout

Indian American to oversee $700bn bailout: "Kashkari, who was one of the originator of the bailout plan, was part of the Treasury team that negotiated the asset-repurchase programme with Congress. Now, he would oversee some key decisions on how the rescue programme would operate."
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He is an engineer whose first career was with the space program. He also has an MBA in Finance.Sure hope he knows what he's doing.

Cramer to the Market: Now Is the Time to Panic

Cramer to the Market: Now Is the Time to Panic: "Whatever you may need for the next five years, please take it out of the stock market. Right now. This week. I do not believe that you should risk those assets in the stock market."
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Well. That is helpful.

6 Family Members Dead In Murder-Suicide In Porter Ranch - News Story - KNBC | Los Angeles

6 Family Members Dead In Murder-Suicide In Porter Ranch - News Story - KNBC | Los Angeles: "LOS ANGELES -- All six people found dead in a home in the Porter Ranch area of the San Fernando Valley were members of the same family and were shot to death in a murder-suicide. Deputy Chief Michel Moore said the unemployed father of the family, 45, left two suicide letters claiming responsibility for his suicide and the murders of his family members, identified as his wife, three children and his mother-in-law."
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The article says he had no evident history of mental illness.

Pakistan facing bankruptcy - Telegraph

Pakistan facing bankruptcy - Telegraph: "Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are so low that the country can only afford one month of imports and faces possible bankruptcy."
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At some point you have to give up worrying about all this. How can the whole world go bankrupt? There have to be some creditors somewhere. We can't all be debtors...can we?

September Condo Sales Plummet 30 Percent In Chicago | Best Chicago Condos

September Condo Sales Plummet 30 Percent In Chicago | Best Chicago Condos

Dewey Cheatham apparently not availableTreasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to name Neel Kashkari to oversee the U.S. government's $700 billion financial stabilization program, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
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With a name like that, what else could he do except become an economist? He is 35 years old, by the way, and has $800 billion to spend. When I was 35 I had 800, but without the "billion."

Germany takes hot seat as Europe falls into the abyss - Telegraph: "We face extreme danger. Unless there is immediate intervention on every front by all the major powers acting in concert, we risk a disintegration of global finance within days. Nobody will be spared, unless they own gold bars."
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Reading between the lines, I think the writer is a bit anxious about the state of the European economy.

Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

At what point do we start calling this "socialism"?: "Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may find the next fronts of the financial crisis to be just as chilling as last month's downfall of Wall Street titans: its spread to corporate America and state and local governments.

Companies from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and Duke Energy Corp. to Gannett Co. and Caterpillar Inc. are being forced to tap emergency credit lines or pay more to borrow as investors flee even firms with few links to the subprime-mortgage debacle. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says his and other states may need emergency federal loans as funding dries up."
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$700 billion is a lot of money, but that is just for the banks. How can a government that is $14 trillion in debt even begin to think of bailing out the states and the rest of the failing corporations?

Dogs being abandoned at state park (phillyBurbs.com) | Courier Times

Scenes from the Philadelphia suburbs: Dogs being abandoned at state park: "In the last six months, seven domestic dogs have been discovered abandoned in Nockamixon State Park, the most recent last week. Park officials and animal rescue agencies believe people are abandoning their pets there because they can no longer afford to care for them. “People think 'Oh someone will find him, take care of him. The park has leftover food. There's garbage there.' But these dogs can't fend for themselves,” said Lori McCutcheon, founder and president of Last Chance Ranch, a Richland animal rescue group, which since July, has taken in four dogs found at the park. But the 5,283-acre park, says McCutcheon and park officials, is not the place to dump animals. It's wooded, home to wild animals such as coyotes, and the pets will find little food or water."
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FOXNews.com - Mass. Asks About Federal Loan Amid Market Worries : "BOSTON — The treasurer of Massachusetts has asked the federal government about lending Massachusetts money under the same favorable terms it has given banks and firms during the financial crisis.

Treasurer Timothy Cahill's requests to the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston this week were prompted by the state's inability to borrow from the short-term debt markets, The Boston Globe reported Saturday. The financial turmoil has caused credit markets to stop lending, or to charge prohibitive rates."
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First California, now Massachusetts. Two down, 48 to go. Then there are 88,000 local governments, followed by 300,000 or so community associations. Who comes after that?

Political Punch

Put on your muck boots: Into the mire we go: "With the news that the McCain campaign is launching a full assault on Obama's associates, preparedness, and judgment in a TV ad campaign to start Wednesday -- as detailed in this morning's Washington Post -- the Obama campaign is planning a pre-emptive assault on the TV airwaves to start Monday."
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Enough about the economy and foreign policy. Time to get into mud-slinging!

As a political scientist I have been expecting this.