April 2008 archive

[This is kind of a test run. I’ve been reading the business press, including blogs, a lot lately. It’s like watching a train wreck in slo-mo. Since I lack both time and theoretical chops to write much in the way of long analyses of the unfolding economic crisis, I propose to occasional short pieces at my home blog, the lefty-politics-with-occasional-music Fire on the Mountain, highlighting one or another tidbit that has caught my attention. here’s the first. Lemme know what you think.]

The weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal provides one more reason the housing crisis isn’t going anyplace soon. It’s not just that the supply of houses for sale is up (to 2.3 million according to Bloomberg News), what with falling sales, foreclosures, overproduction of new units and rising fuel costs making the exurbs look much less attractive. The banks are acting snakebit:

Lenders are demanding higher credit scores, mandating private-mortgage insurance on many more loans, and requiring larger down payments. Fewer first-timers qualify for the house they want, or they’re paying a larger monthly amount to own it.

Hello, I haven’t posted a diary here before. I signed up….I think it was on the Grand opening day.

I blog at a site called A Creative Revolution and We are trying to get some media attention on this topic. So I thought I would post here to catch any Canucks. Any help and support from our American freinds is always very much appreciated too.

The Facebook group Mass Graves of Residential School Children Identified- Where is the media?

Started two Fridays ago, has now grown to almost 2000 members. The purpose of this group is pretty self explanatory. With the release of a list of suspected mass graves, we are wondering why this hasn’t made a bigger dent in the traditional media coverage.

There has been a lot of time spent slandering Kevin Annett, a lot of that has been coming from certain religious organizations, with a definite vested interest wouldn’t you say?

But here is the larger more important question? Is there enough evidence to investigate and place this under public scrutiny?

We believe there is.

Another “teen idol” turns “slut” in this society and somehow we are surprised?

The wife left for work with the TV on something called the entertainment channel, God, it hurts, I can almost feel my brain cells dying off.

BTW one of the photos of “Hannah” shows her giving the “sign of Satan” which I am sure the Illuminati watchers all picked up on.  Aw, crap, they don’t watch TV.

http://benfrank.net/nuke/inaug…

Aside from that I have come to the conclusion that the internet and alot of technology in general sucks.  It is more about constructing constructs of control and letting these evil memes seep into the mainstream and society itself.  Stay with me as I am going to jump around incoherently.

Thanks to all of you for your comments in my pony party last week. After a full week at the vet, my pups are now at home, though they’re not out of the woods yet. Both tails started wagging as soon as they walked in the door. And we got them to eat a bit. They’ve both had a really rough week, with maladies ranging from kidney failure to incontinence to jaundice. Have you ever seen a yellow dog? Not fur color – I mean yellow skin. It’s not a pretty sight. Both have lost over 2 lbs. In one case, that’s 20% of his body weight. For the other, it’s 15%. This hasn’t been a fun week. But, the vet is hopeful. We’ll just have to wait and see. They appear comfortable, though frail. Poor pups.

The most likely cause is leptospirosis, though that’s not confirmed yet. Pretty scary little bacteria, I must say. And, we have to take precautions, because it is zoonotic. But at least my pups are home.

Thanks again for all your kind wishes. I hope to be able to comment today, but that will depend on my schedule.

just young men and women protesting the war.

In my first ever photo diary.

A couple days ago, I covered the Two War Criminals For The Price Of One protest in Kent, Connecticut. When Glenn Koetzer of the Iraq Moratorium: Cornwall Edition sent me some photographs of the demonstration, I was surprised–to say nothing of delighted–at how many young people had showed up during a weekday to stand against the war-mongering tagteam of Henry Kissinger and George W. Bush.

My most recent piece continued in the same celebratory vein, only younger still. I shared the discovery I had just made that some fifth grade students at the Fratney School in Milwaukee, who’ve been regulars at the Third Friday Iraq Moratorium actions there, have their own website as Kids Against the War.

I sure hope this youth trend in the anti-war movement accelerates–check out the pix and you will too.

1. The Associated Press reports 2.28 million homes vacant in the United States. “The percentage of vacant homes for sale in the United States set a record high in the first quarter of this year, the government said today. The Census Bureau report shows that shows that 2.9 percent of U.S. homes — excluding rental properties — were vacant and up for sale, compared with 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007. It was the highest quarterly number in records going back to 1956. That works out to 2.28 million properties”.

   Reuters adds Homeowner vacancies hit record high. This was “the third quarter in a row in which the vacancy rate increased”. “Analysts attributed the rising vacancy rate to a surge in foreclosures brought on by the subprime mortgage crisis” and “believe home prices will not rebound until 2010.”

   Meanwhile, The New York Times reports the Loan industry is fighting new rules on mortgages. “As the Federal Reserve completes work on rules to root out abuses by lenders, its plan has run into a buzz saw of criticism from bankers, mortgage brokers and other parts of the housing industry. One common industry criticism is that at a time of tight credit, tighter rules could make many mortgages more expensive by creating more paperwork and potentially exposing lenders to more lawsuits.” The NY Times also notes Investments in self-storage stocks are doing well. The industry is being helped by foreclosures and long-term military deployments.

Four at Four continues below the fold with news about Department of Justice’s approval of CIA use of torture, Baghdad’s storm of mortars and sand, and a colossal squid thaw.