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Bulldoze: The New Way To Foreclose

Stephen Gandel
Time
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:43 UTC
Image
© Meredith Jenks / Getty Images
Banks have a new remedy to America's ailing housing market: Bulldozers.

There are nearly 1.7 million homes in the U.S. in some state of foreclosure. Banks already own some of these homes and will soon repossess many more. Many housing economists worry that near constant stream of home sales from banks could keep housing prices down for years to come. But what if some of those homes never hit the market.

Increasingly, it appears banks are turning to demolition teams instead of realtors to rid them of their least valuable repossessed homes. Last month, Bank of American announced plans to demolish 100 foreclosed homes in the Cleveland area. The land is then going to be donated back to the local government authorities. BofA says the recent donations in Cleveland are part of a larger plan to rid itself of its least saleable properties, many of which, according to a company spokesperson, are worth less than $10,000. BofA has already donated 100 homes in Detroit and 150 in Chicago, and may add as many as nine more cities by the end of the year.
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HAL9000

What we wish Obama had said

Steve Almond
Salon
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:07 UTC
Obama
© Associated Press
President Obama
Does anyone else have a sick sense of déjà vu this morning?

After months of slow-motion capitulation, President Obama has cut an eleventh-hour deal with Republican leaders to raise the debt ceiling. After vowing to heed the public outcry for a balanced approach, he has instead consented to a plan that manages to run rough-shod over the poor and middle-class, coddles those who caused the recession, imperils the government's two most popular entitlement programs, and virtually guarantees that our economy will continue to falter.

In other words, just another day at the office for our 44th president.


Comment: It's a useful exercise now and then to imagine a different, better reality where truth-telling is common. As Robert Kennedy said, "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
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Vader

Israeli and Lebanese troops trade fire


Aljazeera
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:38 UTC
israeli,lebanese,
© Reuters
The last major violent flare-up along the Israeli-Lebanese border was during the Nakba Day protest in May
UN official refuses to confirm if Israeli soldiers crossed Blue Line and prompted warning shots from the Lebanese side.

Israeli and Lebanese troops have exchanged fire along the countries' border, officials say.

The Israeli and Lebanese sides offered different accounts of Monday's incident, which did not appear to have caused casualties.

The Israeli military said its army unit was on a routine patrol within Israeli territory when it received fire on Monday morning from over the border in Lebanon near Ghajar, a disputed village which straddles a strategic corner where boundaries between Syria, Israel and Lebanon meet.
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Bad Guys

Britain, Japan warn of disaster if no U.S. debt deal

Tomasz Janowski and Olesya Dmitracova
Reuters
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 04:25 UTC
British and Japanese officials warned Sunday of disastrous consequences for the global economy if last-minute talks among lawmakers in Washington failed to agree on raising the U.S. borrowing limit and averting a debt default.

Governments across the world fear that because of the key role of the U.S. dollar in global banking and trading systems, there could be severe instability when Asian financial markets reopen Monday if a U.S. debt deal is not in sight by then.

In Washington, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the top Senate Republican who is playing a key role in the debt talks, said "we're very close" to a $3 trillion deal that would raise the debt ceiling while cutting the U.S. budget deficit.

But a senior White House official warned that an agreement was "not there yet."

"If they get this one wrong and there's a default -- we don't expect that, we think that they will sort this out -- but if that were to happen, it has consequences for every family and every business in this country and all across the world," said Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the British Treasury.
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Stormtrooper

Russia, U.S., Canada to hold second air force anti-terror exercise


RIA Novosti
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:11 UTC
Image
© RIA Novosti. Skryinikov
The exercises will include AWACS (airborne early warning and control) and refueling aircraft, as well as combat aircraft
The Russian Air Force and NORAD, the U.S. and Canadian joint air defense command will hold a second round of anti-terrorism exercises on August 8-11, the Commander in Chief of the Eastern military district, Igor Muginov said on Monday.

"The main aim of the drills is to improve the Russian Air Force's and NORAD's capabilities for fighting terrorism in the air," Muginov said.
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Bizarro Earth

US: Ruling Another Step Toward Police State

W. Bryan Hubbard
Kentucky.com
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:41 UTC
home, privacy
© San Jose Mercury News
On Oct.13, 2005, Lexington police pursued a man suspected of dealing drugs into the breezeway of an apartment complex. During their pursuit, they passed the residence of Hollis King and thought the smell of marijuana smoke emanated from it. They knocked on his door, identified themselves and asked to enter his home.

They then heard movement within the apartment, at which point they broke down his door. Police explained that their warrantless and forcible entry into his apartment was triggered by sounds they believed to be consistent with the destruction of incriminating evidence.

In 2010, the Kentucky Supreme Court honorably defended our right to be free from warrantless searches when it invalidated the police actions that resulted in King's arrest and subsequent conviction.

But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the state's justices and essentially declared that police may forcibly enter homes without a warrant should they hear noises within that are consistent with the destruction of evidence. The court declined to share the auditory standards by which such destruction is to be legally judged.

Four days before that decision, the Indiana Supreme Court declared that its citizens had no right to resist illegal police entry into their homes. By eliminating a right that dates back to the ratification of the Magna Carta in 1215, the court's decision gives Indiana's armed agents the authority to enter any home anytime without just or proper cause.
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War Whore

US, Europe Warn Assad Over Syria Crackdown


Agence France-Presse
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
US President Barack Obama speaks in Washington, DC July 29, 2011 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Obama and European leaders condemned a crackdown by Syrian forces, which activists said killed nearly 140 people, and vowed to increase pressure on the regime
US President Barack Obama and European leaders condemned a crackdown Sunday by Syrian forces, which activists said killed nearly 140 people, and vowed to increase pressure on the regime.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini also called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, while the European Union denounced the timing of the violence coming on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan.

"I am appalled by the Syrian government's use of violence and brutality against its own people," Obama said in a statement.

"The reports out of Hama are horrifying and demonstrate the true character of the Syrian regime.

"In the days ahead, the United States will continue to increase our pressure on the Syrian regime, and work with others around the world to isolate the Assad government and stand with the Syrian people," he added.

Human rights groups said Syrian forces had killed nearly 140 people on Sunday as President Bashar al-Assad crushed dissent on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
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Dollar

HSBC Sells 195 US Branches for $1 Billion


Agence France-Presse
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 08:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse / Lionel Bonaventure
British-based banking giant HSBC has announced it will sell 195 retail branches, primarily in upstate New York, to First Niagara Bank for an estimated $1 billion.
British-based banking giant HSBC has announced it will sell 195 retail branches, primarily in upstate New York, to First Niagara Bank for an estimated $1 billion.

"As part of its ongoing US strategic focus on commercial and corporate banking, HSBC Bank USA remains committed to serving and further developing corporate banking relationships in Upstate New York," the company said in a statement.

"HSBC Bank USA is pleased to be working with First Niagara on this transaction, given its strong commitment to relationship banking and its historic roots in the region."

As of May 31, the branches held approximately $15 billion in deposits.
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Vader

Obama, U.S. Lawmakers Strike Deal to Raise Debt Ceiling


The Globe and Mail
Sun, 31 Jul 2011 09:19 UTC

A deal worked out among top congressional leaders and the White House would enable the U.S. government to keep borrowing money but may cost President Barack Obama critical support among liberal Democrats.

The agreement to immediately raise the government's debt ceiling, and enact already agreed-on spending cuts of about $1-trillion, would avert the financial turmoil that had been feared if Congress failed to raise the $14.3-trillion (U.S.) borrowing limit by Tuesday's deadline. The threat of a U.S. default has effectively been lifted.

And while the deal struck Sunday would spare the President from having to wage another protracted debt-ceiling battle as he campaigns for re-election in 2012, liberal Democrats are livid at him for giving in to Republicans on most other counts.

"Is this the deal I would have preferred? No," Mr. Obama conceded from the White House briefing room as he announced the agreement shortly before 9 p.m.. But he added it "would allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington has imposed on the rest of America."

The pact must first be approved by Congress and party leaders are still scrambling to cobble together enough votes in the Senate and House of Representatives. Congress could authorize a temporary measure allowing the government to pay its bills until final legislation passes both chambers.
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Cowboy Hat

US: Bush to Be in New York City to Mark 10th Anniversary of 9/11

Colleen Long
ABC News
Sat, 30 Jul 2011 00:00 UTC
Obama, George W. Bush
© unknown
The ceremony at the World Trade Center site marking the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks will be a solemn but stately event that will include former President George W. Bush and a chance for victims' families to view the names of loved ones etched into the memorial, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

President Barack Obama and Bloomberg will be joined by the leaders in charge during the 2001 attacks, including Bush, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former New York Gov. George Pataki. Current New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will also be there, he said.

Speaking on his weekly radio show Friday on WOR-AM, Bloomberg said the lawmakers will read short poems or quotes. No speeches will be given.

"This cannot be political," he said. "So that's why there's a poem or a quote or something that each of the readers will read. No speeches whatsoever. That's not an appropriate thing."

The mayor also revealed a few more details for the ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 11. It will be held on the highway to the west of the site, and only relatives will be allowed inside the memorial to look for the names of their loved ones, etched into the railings at two huge waterfalls built in the footprint of the World Trade Center. The falls descend from street level down into a void.
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