2009-12-31

crash08 UNDERWATER MORTGAGES 3 OPTION ARM ARMAGEDDON financemymoney 12-00-09

 
 

One of the things I like best about Patrick.net

 
 is the never-ending variety of sources Pat uses to get at our present economic extremis from 360 degrees of the compass. He vets them well. I had never read Finance My Money until today, but the mere fact that it showed up on Pat's blog tells me the source is 85% of the way to earning my trust as being reliable.

As I read this quite well done, clinical autopsy of an ARM - in language even non-professionals can easily understand - what I already understood about ARM (adjustable-rate) mortgages, and their role in America's (not so much in most other countries) economic meltdown, meshed well with the facts and analysis in this piece. But, as with the best reporting, myfinance puts together a number of damning facts in such a way that almost required I pass it on as a heads-up for your future economic well-being.

Whether or not you have an ARM doesn't matter. What does is that so many others do, and that, of the many who do, 40% of them are in foreclosure, or on their way. As myfinance points out, 40% of 850,000 ARMs extant is one helluva lot of mortgages; over 1/3-of-a-million, in fact. That each one of these budget-busting money bombs puts more daylight between fantasy and reality economics - the actual value of the property today -  every year, only makes "hanging in" until things "get better" a more and more foolish strategy as time goes on.

One doesn't even need to get into ongoing job-losses, and other complicating factors, to see exactly how far down the tracks this train is gonna wreck - not too damn far, especially when you consider that a majority of ARMs are up to reset (the interest rate) over the next 18 months. In other words, in addition to the h-u-g-e overhang of "shadow" inventory being withheld by the banks from the real estate market, you can add another half-million+ ARMs to that toxic stew. While a significant portion of those will be due to sheer financial inability, the majority will, in my opinion, be due to the future renters-to-be-for-life simply walking away, as they should, in the absence of lenders and government lifting a finger to help them; beginning with reappraising the properties at today's reality, as opposed to yesterday's fantasy, prices.

You should also know that the Tampa Bay area is #4 or #5 in the severity of its real estate market decline - about 33% off Mid-2005 values - and is one of 3 Florida hotbeds for ARMs; Miami-Dade and the Southwest counties (Ft. Myers, Naples, etc.) being the others. While the bulk of the damage will fall on the Golden State (soon to renamed the Bronze State), Las Vegas and Arizona, Florida will be the worst-hit in the East and South.

However, the real story here is this: Due to the banksters overweening greed, as well as their refusal to accept any responsibility for the grief and chaos they have caused, there is, to my mind, the possibility that their myopia extends to not fully comprehending the most logical outcome of their all-too-human, but, counterproductive behaviour, aka, unintended consequences.

In their mammon-crazed state of striving mightily (refusing to reappraise, freezing credit, etc.) to retain all of their ill-gotten gains, they may, in fact, be laying the groundwork for the eventual dissipation of the bedrock of trust (now wantonly betrayed) that is, when all is said and done, the ultimate moral underpinning and keystone of the 500-year Capitalism scam. If the "my word is my bond" maxim ever weakens to any great degree, we will have to rethink the basic premises for all human interaction.

If one adds to this the trenchant observation, by none other than Fritz Hollings

 
, that no investor (read financial institution) is willing to lend capital for American jobs, then the fat may be truly in the fire.

If so, the operative word for all of us will be, duck.

Forewarned is forearmed.
 

Note: for a look at Patrick himself, check out this 10-minute interview clip of him as he explains how his blog came about, whether to buy or rent, if Realtors ever tell you the truth and what he sees going forward.

 

http://www.directorslive.com/video/2616/Interview-With-Patrick-Killelea?source=patrick.net

 

 

Pat, feel free to post this to the forum. Hell, I might even try to climb back on there again some day.

 

Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

2009-12-25

health CARE REFORM WHY IT WILL DESTROY THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT tpmcafe 12-22-09

health CARE REFORM WHY IT WILL DESTROY THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT tpmcafe 12-22-09

 

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/22/why_the_health_care_bill_will_destroy_the_conserva/?ref=c1

 

 

Interesting take on how this will all play out (assuming it passes the conference committee). But the real fun is the rock 'em, sock 'em, bare-fanged, knock-down-drag-out debate in the comments. You want to know what your opinion is on this one? They're more than happy to tell you!

 

I'd be interested to know how any of you feel about this, and whether you think passage will redound to the benefit of the Dems, Repubs, Blue Dogs, Teabaggers or, dare I say it, the people.

 

Personally, I go back and forth, alternately damning all these misanthropic sots, then looking at the half-a-loaf that may be a game-changer going forward. I believe Bill B's take in his PP post this AM strikes the balance. To quote another keen observer of the bi-polar Yankee mentality,

 

"Americans always do the right thing... after they've exhausted every other possibility."

                     - Winston Churchill

 

 

One of our sharpest journalists appears to agree with this writer. Watch Max with Amy from this recent Democracy Now:

 

-FASCISM GOP LOCO 'Republican Gomorrah' - Max Blumenthal w Amy #23.00  dn  09-04-09

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/4/republican_gomorrah_inside_the_movement_that

 

 

 

More in-depth, you say?

 

-FASCISM FUNDIES' COUP OF GOP  'Republican Gomorrah' - Max Blumenthal #1.10.59  fora.tv  09-29-09

 http://fora.tv/2009/09/29/Republican_Gomorrah_Max_Blumenthal

 

 

 

If you click on Q-4 (Question 4), Max tells us why he thinks passage of even a bad health care bill weakens this gang of cuckoos who are, when all is said and done, nothing more than suicide bombers who haven't quite gone the final mile to claim their 72 virgins; at least, most of them.

 

Max's book explains the roots of the Christianist/Dominionist movement; not as old as you might think, with some key tenets - homophobia & abortion - less than 40 years old. One thing for sure, it is anything but biblically-based. 

 

You will better understand the attraction of a basically brainless-by-design Palin, how truly unoriginal this philosophy is and why the authoritarian personality - with critical-faculties safely short-circuited - will always present the greatest threat to our species' forward movement and survival, and why it's short and miserable life may have already peaked in the U.S., but will still inflict major damage on this nation and the world in its death throes (only to be replaced by the next inanity insanity).

 

Any more in depth and you'll need to buy the book, you cheapskate, you.

 

Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

c-s CHOICE MILITARY ABORTION BAN CREATES CRUEL NON-CHOICES FOR WOMEN IN SERVICE religiondispatches 12-15-09.url

 
Of the many outrages in this piece, none compare to the demonization of the person vainly attempting to avail herself of a Constitutionally legal medical procedure. This won't end until the people who run our armed services, and their brothers-in-arms in Congress, are not the present bunch of misogynous, Dominionist crazies effectively running both institutions now.
 
The brutalization of women is just part of a 3-decades long pattern (on steroids under Shrub) to 'Christianize" our armed forces. It began in the Air Force Academy in Boulder, CO, and has since metastasized to all branches and all ranks, especially corporals, sargeants and lower officer grades. If we ever have a military coup, these jackals will be the driving force. They have a ways to go, but - being driven to do God's will, and all - they are, as you all know, relentless and indefatigable.
 
To better understand the real threat to this nation (clue, it ain't Al Quada or Glenn Beck), I recommend any of these: 
Chris Hedges' American Fascists, Mark Crispin Miller's Cruel & Unusual, Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy and Michelle Goldberg's Kingdom Coming. All limn the determined, dogged and dastardly plans of these loons, driven by their certainty of the path to "salvation."
 
Also check out these mildly redundant videos if you have the time. They are both under the same link.
 
`vote THEFT & THEOCRACY - Mark Crispin Miller talk  #58.30  eon  05-04-06
Mark's 45-minute interview deals mainly with the Christian Zionist threat. The talk is more about the theft of elections as the main tool of the Christianists to do as they please while in office sans fear of being thrown out by a pissed-off electorate. You can't throw the beggars out of office if enough of your votes don't count. This site - EON - has quite a few other really great videos.
 
This is serious stuff. These righteous bastards have stolen 2 presidencies, at least two dozen US Senate races, scores of House races, and countless others since 2000. The evidence used to be just irrefutable. Certain facts coming to light in the past two years require that be changed to monumental. These nut-bags are, if anything, more qualified candidates for the rubber-room than the Taliban or the Wahabbis, but neither of those two groups could bring down the planet.
 
The goal of these traitors of humanity is nothing less than the destruction of this world, using America's military might to provoke a World War III event. Why would they want to do that? To hasten the Apocalypse, you big silly. And it's really fortunate that God's told them it's A-OK to cheat, lie, assassinate, et al, in his name ('cause it's a really, really good cause).
 
It's really a perfect closed universe for them, just not so much for the rest of us.
You'll want to bookmark the pub this article came from http://religiondispatches.org/
 
 lots of good reading.
 
Toodles

Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

2009-12-24

health CARE REFORM-NOT How a Few Private Health Insurers Are on the Way to Controlling Health Care - Robert Reich 12-10-09

Sad, but true.
 
Any government can only get away with just so much of this outrageous dissing of its people.
 



Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

2009-12-22

nexi US JOBS - THEY ARE ALL AGAINST THEM - FRITZ HOLLINGS (former SC Senator) huffpost 12-18-09

thanx to Diane for this most illuminating op-ed
 
You know, sometimes one really can't see the forest for the trees. Senator Hollings' observation here is so obvious as to be invisible. As well-informed as I see myself, not to mention borderline cynical, I have to admit that , sans this piece, who knows when this notion would have occurred to me independently? In the veritable bevy of bads being inflicted on us from all quarters, we all tend to focus on the moment's latest outrage, forgetting to step back every now and then to refocus on the "big picture."
 
My thanks again to the Senator and Diane. This one is definitely of share-this-with-your-lists importance.
 
 
So, where is this all heading? What is to be our nation's fate? If your crystal ball is a mite cloudy or your hectic schedule forfends your scouring the Net for hours to find the truth-tellers on this score, you might want to begin with a blog and a few names.
 
The blog is LATOC - Life After The Oil Crash. Run by Matt Savinar, it is the best line-item aggregator blog around on the Peak Oil, Great Recession, Military-Industrial, Empire Agonistes, Disaster-By-Design world we are in. You should sign up for his (alternate-days) newsletter - it's an eye-opener. Here is Matt's latest post:
 
Breaking News http://www.peakoil.org/breakingnews.html
 
 The first item, Jim Kunstler's piece is, as usual, mind-focusing. Be sure to read his next column with his predictions for 2010. To evaluate his prognostication skills, here is the one for 2009:
 
crash08 2009 FORECAST James Howard KUNSTLER 12-29-08  http://kunstler.com/blog/2008/12/
 
Also Google: James Kunstler, Dmitry Orlov, Dean Baker, Richard Heinberg, Derek Jensen and Gerald Celente as you find the time.
 
You're going to need a roadmap; all the signs will be down.


Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

2009-12-21

health CARE REFORM 10 REASONS TO KILL THE SENATE BILL fdlaction 12-21-09

Read the list. Sign the petition. PASS IT ON. Might help.
 



Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

2009-12-18

film AVATAR in IMAX 3D tomorrow's cinematic sea-change - James Cameron writerr-director gizmag 12-17-09

film AVATAR in IMAX 3D tomorrow's cinematic sea-change - James Cameron writer-director  gizmag  12-17-09

http://www.gizmag.com/avatar-movie-james-cameron-technology/13628/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=8a9cce5f2f-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email

 

It would be a shame to view this film on anything other than an IMAX screen. For any other movie house, save your money, you might as well wait for it on NetFlix.

 

Alas, there is only one true IMAX theater in the Tampa Bay area. It is at the MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) opposite USF, on Fowler Avenue in Tampa  To the best of my knowledge, none of the multiplex-type cinemas advertising "IMAX" possess the technology and space to properly exhibit this game-changing film; including BayWalk and Channelside. BayWalk's IMAX is a joke. I can't speak to Channelside.

 

This Aussie review's focus is on the tech, but scroll down for the trailer for this wonder. The videos also contain links to other videos at the end of each video. A high-def TV will give you a better feel for what Mr. Cameron has created here.

 

I won't know for sure until I see it - my guess is that MOSI will get it in 3-4 months, after the scam of faux-IMAXes has run its course - but from what I seen and read, it will be some time before this experience is reproducible in anything other than the IMAX environment. In other words, pirating this one would be pointless. The IMAX technology has had to wait almost 40 years for a movie worthy of it came along; 3-D is just icing on the cake. IMAX 101 & MOSI info http://www.mosi.org/imaxtech.html

 

 

After starting this post, I got around to reading Steve Persall's review in yesterday's St Pete Times.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/movies/avatar-is-a-technical-wonder-that-aches-for-a-story/1059019

As with many of his reviews, we disagree on a number of issues, he as reviewer, me as plain old consumer. Occasionally, we seem to be traversing parallel universes, so disparate are our respective takes on this or that film. I suspect Avatar will add to that list.

 

First, he does not caution his readers on the quantum gap between real IMAX and the soft-porn variety extant in the bay area. I'm sure he has sampled every film venue in 7 counties by now, including the IMAXes. Has he really seen or felt no difference? Even the MOSI is a step down from those in New York and Atlanta. It would be a help if they could soften the abandoned factory motif. But, at least, the basic tech is there; it is the real deal. I'd be interested to know the venue at which Steve saw this. I'm also sure his readers could have used the guidance I offer here.

 

My second beef is with the sneering aura of his piece. He appears to have a problem with the writer/director's use of allegory. The fact is, a very few humans are doing terrible things to the Earth and humanity, all in service to power and greed, but you can bet they spent oodles of time "plotting" before "doing.". The fact is that these few seem not to give a flip about the death, destruction and misery they visit on people just living their lives and bothering no one. Is this a truth deserving of his mockery, ridicule, or to be pooh-poohed? There is a fine line between honest criticism and cavalier dismissal of another's intent.

 

As for Steve's invidious comparison to the likes of Toy Story or, The Jazz Singer, no less ("Look, Ma, no more having to listen to that damn honky-tonk piano"!), Avatar promises to bring far more of an artistic sea-change to this line of work, than Disney's "pixillation" of animation could ever hope to. TS grossed less than this film cost to make.($400 million+). James Cameron may have an Olympian ego (Linda would know), but he also has the talent to match. I have loved most of his films, even the ones with Arnold in them.

 

For another view, here is an arguably better review – in terms of the spirit of Avatar – than Steve's. It appears to be Madison, Wisconsin's version of Creative Loafing. http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=27724

 

I look forward to seeing this one the right way. You should too.

 

NjW 12-18-09



Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.

2009-12-12

fun TV AD Super Glue en Francais (ooh, la-la!)

Thanx, Johnny! what a hoot!




FRENCH COMMERCIAL FOR RUBBER CEMENT

http://www.culturepub.fr/videos/rubber-cement-colle-les-nonnes.html
 
 


Just beautifully done. 
 Leave it to the French.
 
 
 



 
 


glbt CAN GAYS BE 'STRAIGHTENED' OUT? Rachel Maddow ASKS A 'THERAPIST' alternet 12-10-09

 
That Ms. Maddow's guest is certifiable is beyond question, but the service she provides here is to underline the point that such crackbrained bullshit "science" is the sine qua non of the world of blind faith. If this fool weren't so dangerous, one could just feel pity for him and move on.
 
As it is, Mr. Cohen's righteous - and clueless - zeal is chilling. He is channeling The Inquisition, The Holocaust and every other pogrom, demoinization and act of ethnic cleansing throughout history. And like the perpetrators of those miscreantic ventures, he always has the ready answer for why he is not responsible for his own hateful, despicable and destructive words on the page or that spew from his mouth. Rachel has "taken me out of context," or "he was gay and descrimnated against me because he didn't like my message," yada, yada. He's the victim, not those he castigates.
 
The self-delusion on display here (and the concomitant clueless hypocrisy) is monumental and made all the more frightening by the messenger's obvious inability to self-examine - almost like looking into the dead eyes of a serial killer at the very moent when you know you are about to die by his insane hand.
 
On a personal note: in the course of my long life, my open mind has guided me to try any number of new things, else, what's the point? On sex, BDSM, menage a trois (and quatre, cinq, etc.), in public, with strange toys, and a host of other enjoyable romps have all been on my libidinal menu, including same-sex sex on more than a few occasions..
 
I can state with almost 100% certainty, that being gay is no choice. While I feel we are all most likely bisexual (given the right circumstances), for me, there is nothing you can name that is anything like a dame, to quote Mr. Hammerstein. This does not mean that I didn't enjoy my "gay" experiences. It does mean to say that, there is little doubt in my mind that my overwhelming preferance is to make it with the fair sex. And I ddin't need to "fix" a thing to feel that way.
 
Rachel's guest is in deep denial and is attempting to transfer his self-loathing onto others by metasticizing his psychologically-refuted, cockamamie theory out to anyone who needs it to justify their own hatred (beats looking in the mirror). He is almost child-like when he says, in defense of one of Rachel's many broadsides, that he's been married for 27 and-a-half years. That's a dead giveaway he's trying to put as much real estate as possible between his old gay self and his new, "cured" persona. How many centered folks use half in describing the time-span of anything at his age; subconciously, it means something to him. It also reinforces my firm belief that we've had "gay marriages" for a long, long time.
 
That said, I do believe that he believes he is "helping" all those poor, misguided gay people; just not him; 'cuase he's been cured; for sure; in all likelihood' 27 & 1/2 - pathetic.
 
 
BTW, I kept waiting for Rachel - who is excellent at what she does and a guilty pleasure to watch - to ask the burning question here, the question any good host would include in the list of questions most likely to be of great interest to her/his listening/viewing audience (if she hadn't been so preoccupied with destroying the guy - for those of you unfamiliar, Ms. Maddow is a totally-out-or-never-been-in-the-closet lesbian - it's personal)):
 
"Exactly why, Mr. Cohen, would you, or anyone else, want to turn a gay person straight? Do have any hard, evidence that, merely by being gay, gays in any way pose a threat to themselves or anyone else"?
 
and a follow-up;
 
"How would you feel, Mr. Cohen, in another world, with a different set of power and preference paradigms, if someone implied, by trying to "turn" you gay, that being straight was a less than desirable trait"?

P.S. A little schadenfreude is okay, just remember that Mr. Cohen doesn't "get" that he's been exposed for the fraud he is. Why, I'll bet he even thinks he acquitted himself quite well.
 

Nigel Watson  freethinker  727.493.1990 freesense@Gmail.com

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." – Krishnamurti
-A good pun is its own reword.