November, 2012 archive
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 1
“Private equity” is buying up houses in Sacramento.
Blackstone, a New York-based group with billions of dollars in investments and offices from London to Tokyo, has been snapping up low-priced homes across the region, from Elk Grove to Citrus Heights, at a rate of about 40 a week.
The article continues for 1500 words of speculation that amount to “this is unprecedented and no one knows what it implies.”
I believe it implies that they are betting on the return of the bubble.
In the meantime, they’ll find some way to give themselves bonuses for being such awesome masters of the universe, until the whole thing collapses into a pile of Twinkies with the cream sucked out of them, as by a giant vampire squid.
Sauce for the Gander, Misogyny Dept. 0
From Contradict Me (warning: uncomfortable, bluntly-worded facts off the port bow).
Twits on Twitter 0
Nobody twits like marketing twits.
It’s Not the Medium, It’s the Message 0
A TPM reader has some thoughts about Republicans and Romney.
Up a Tree for Your Tree? 0
At Science 2 dot 0, Kimberly Crandell considers real versus artificial trees from an environmental perspective. A nugget:
Artificial trees are manufactured using a polyvinyl chloride (or PVC), which is a petroleum-derived plastic. The raw material for fake Christmas trees is both non-renewable and polluting. Furthermore, PVC production results in the unhealthy emission of a number of carcinogens, such as dioxin, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride.
More at the link.
The Music Gap 0
Tony Norman remembers the parade of singers and stars who protested the use of their songs by Republicans and wonders why an entire class of potential Republican support was ignored. A snippet:
Ironically, there are several fiscally conservative hip-hop stars who probably would have loved to have been approached for their support. Why wasn’t LL Cool J asked to license “Mama Said Knock You Out” for large rallies in Ohio and Pennsylvania? And is there a bigger capitalist in all of popular entertainment than longtime George W. Bush groupie 50 Cent? Why didn’t the Republican National Committee seek the support of these outspoken black Republicans? I think the answer is obvious.
Indeed.
The Voter Fraud Fraud 0
The gut out the vote movement is alive and well.
Cole wants to remove several forms of ID now accepted for voting based on his belief that the recently revised law doesn’t do enough to thwart potential voter fraud. The Republican legislator would like the General Assembly to strike provisions that allow voters to present a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or pay stub with an address as valid ID at the polls.
These folks won’t be happy until they are able to guarantee stealing elections.
Republican Reassessment, and Other Fanciful Notions 2
In the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Reg Henry plants his tongue inside his cheek and urges Republicans, “Enough with the soul-searching!”*
A nugget:
That Latinos preferred Mr. Obama in the election by a wide margin is a problem for the party, but not as big as advertised. Apparently, Latinos saw punitive steps being taken against illegal immigrants and feared that they would be confused with them. Who knew people could be so thin-skinned?
The remedy is not to cease saying bad things about illegal immigrants — that has given conservatives too much pleasure — but to make room for approved Latinos in the right-wing information bubble or echo chamber.
Another possible remedy is to diversify the party’s enemies so Latinos don’t have to be singled out so much. As you know, fear and loathing of something is absolutely essential to the conservative worldview.
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*Listen carefully to the calls of the soul-searchers, then take out your Audubon and identify the callers.
Republican politicians are not doing any soul-searching, apart from the occasional “we need to stop sounding crazy” sound bite (emphasis on “sounding”). Any soul-searching is being done by members of the right-wing punditocracy, such as David Brooks and the much lighter-weight Joe Scarborough, trying to figure out why their relentless attempts to paint Republicanism as some sort of moral imperative did not carry the day.
Republican pols will just double-down on the crazy.
It’s what their base wants.
Never let it be said that they won’t pander to their base.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Indulge your greed with courtesy:
Witnesses reportedly told police that Salme had behaved rudely that morning and had provoked the situation before pulling the handgun and pointing it at Alex, though San Antonio Police Sgt. Rob Carey said at the scene of the incident that he had actually pointed it at the ground.
Roger Rivera, who was shopping in the Sears, said Salame was punched then pulled a gun. Everyone scattered, “tumbling over things, dropping boxes,” Rivera said. The man who was trying to cut in line ran and hid behind a refrigerator before he fled the store.
Police concluded that the shopper’s action was justifiably courteous.
Gun Nut Paradise approacheth post haste.
Via TPM.
Red Dawn, Through a Glass Darkly 0
PoliticalProf remarks on the irony:
No, I have no intention of seeing this potboiler. I didn’t watch the first one and want to keep my record unblemished.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy, Empty Moralizing Dept. 0
The Inky has a long story about a survey that reveals that homeowners in financial trouble are more willing to go to foreclosure than ever before. They no longer consider foreclosure an unforgivable financial sin.
The column theorizes several reasons: so many persons are in foreclosure that it has lost much of its stigma; persons have been stuck with houses so far underwater that they cannot sell them to pay off the loan; and so on. A mild undercurrent of oh! the horror runs through the article.
Buried in the middle is what I suspect is a key reason:
Consumers have developed a deep resentment of financial institutions, he says, which they perceive as not dealing in good faith with distressed borrowers. “In this case, the rationale is that it’s okay to default if a lender won’t work with a borrower to right size a loan that’s upside down,” Hars says. They think “it’s the lender’s fault, because of their refusal to write down some of the principal balance, which they’re going to have to do anyway in a foreclosure.”
He left out the part about
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“Consumers have developed a deep resentment of financial institutions” because, in the quest for sales commissions and mortgages to “securitize,” they pursued and made dodgy loans–ARMs, “liars’ loans,” no down payment loans–to persons in weak financial circumstances for undeserving properties, then turned around and crashed the market, leaving their loan customers holding the bag.
Persons who have been abused, once they realize they have been abused, have no loyalty to the abuser.
Spill Here, Spill Now, Scot-Free Dept. 0
In the Baltimore Sun, Robert Reich points out that fining Buccaneer Petroleum for its wild well misses the point. A nugget:
They’re the ones who should be punished. Failure to punish them simply invites more of the same kind of criminal negligence by executives more interested in lining their pockets than protecting their workers and the environment.
Read the rest for examples of other pillows of industry who got off Scot-free.
Droning On 2
Secret Sheriff surveillance secrecy in San Diego:
They were “as transparent as they can be” except when they weren’t.
Dulcet Tones 0
I have another podcast up at Hacker Public Radio. In this one, I discuss the Move! Bike Computer Android app. If you bike, hike, or run and want to keep track of your route and performance, you might want to check it out.
