11-01-30 A Frightening Satellite Tour Of America's Foreclosure Wastelands // Un paseo por satélite aterrador de Wastelands exclusión de Estados Unidos // 是美国取消抵押品赎回权荒原可怕卫星巡回赛

A Frightening Satellite Tour Of America's Foreclosure Wastelands

Gus Lubin | Jan. 30, 2011, 3:42 PM

Image: Courtesy of Prudential Douglas Elliman via Curbed See Also: The 10 Cities Still Getting Killed By Foreclosures NEW SATELLITE PICTURES OF CHINA'S GHOST CITIES THE FUTURE OF CALIFORNIA HOUSING: More Urban Rentals, Fewer Suburban Mansions -- And Fewer Jobs

RealtyTrac is out with the total foreclosure numbers for 2010. On the whole things are getting worse.

72 percent of major metro areas saw an increase in foreclosure volume. Although some of the worst hit areas in Nevada, California and Florida improved from 2009, the foreclosure rate in these areas remains shockingly high. If not for foreclosure suspensions due to the robosigning scandal, these numbers would have been higher.

For a frightening way to visualize the foreclosure crisis, we're borrowing a Google maps technique described by Barry Ritholtz.

Boise, Idaho -- 1 in 21 homes in foreclosure (The red dots show foreclosures)

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Sarasota, Fla. -- 1 in 21 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Lakeland, Fla. -- 1 in 21 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Tampa, Fla. -- 1 in 20 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Port St. Lucie, Fla. -- 1 in 19 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Sacramento, Calif. -- 1 in 19 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Naples, Fla. -- 1 in 18 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Deltona, Fla. -- 1 in 17 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Bakersfield, Calif. -- 1 in 17 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Reno, Nev. -- 1 in 16 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Vallejo, Calif. -- 1 in 16 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Orlando -- 1 in 15 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Merced, Calif. -- 1 in 14 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Stockton, Calif. -- 1 in 14 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Riverside, Calif. -- 1 of 14 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Miami -- 1 in 14 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Phoenix -- 1 in 14 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Modesto, Calif. -- 1 in 14 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Cape Coral, Fla. -- 1 in 12 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Las Vegas -- 1 in 9 homes in foreclosure

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

USA -- 1 in 46 homes in foreclosure

Image: Courtesy of Google Maps

Note: The red dots shows homes currently in foreclosure. The slide title describes the fraction of homes that received foreclosure filings in 2010.

Unfortunately, prices are still dropping

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/satellite-tour-foreclosure-cities-2011-1?op=1#ixzz1Pl3YwDWO

11-06-14 US Housing Crisis - Worse than Great Depression! // Peor que la Gran Depresión // 更糟糕的是比大萧条

Comment:

Corruption of the US courts has reached levels not seen for a century and is one of the fundamental causes of the current financial crisis. Unless reform of the US courts is initiated, civil society and socio-economic conditions in the US are unlikely to be restored, leaving other nations as unwitting collateral.

READ THE FULL STORY:

[1] 11-06-14 Corruption of the Courts and Failing Banking Regulation in the United States: Dred Scott redux?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/57707808/

US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression

Published: Tuesday, 14 Jun 2011 | 12:04 PM ET

By: Jeff Cox
CNBC.com Staff Writer

It's official: The housing crisis that began in 2006 and has recently entered a double dip is now worse than the Great Depression.

Prices have fallen some 33 percent since the market began its collapse, greater than the 31 percent fall that began in the late 1920s and culminated in the early 1930s, according to Case-Shiller data.

The news comes as the Federal Reserve considers whether the economy has regained enough strength to stand on its own and as unemployment remains at a still-elevated 9.1 percent, throwing into question whether the recovery is real.

READ THE FULL STORY:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/58245132/

11-06-18 Ethics Failure of Supreme Court Justice Thomas // El fracaso de la ética del juez Thomas de Corte Suprema de EE.UU. // 道德失败的美国最高法院法官托马斯

Friendship of Justice and Magnate Puts Focus on Ethics

Kamenko Pajic/Associated Press

Justice Clarence Thomas was given a $15,000 bust of Lincoln in 2001 by a group for which a friend is a trustee.

The code says judges “should not personally participate” in raising money for charitable endeavors, out of concern that donors might feel pressured to give or entitled to favorable treatment from the judge. In addition, judges are not even supposed to know who donates to projects honoring them.

READ THE FULL STORY:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/us/politics/19thomas.html?_r=1&hp

11-06-17 Jimmy Carter: End Global Drug War! // Jimmy Carter: Guerra Final Mundial de Medicamentos! // 卡特：全球毒品战争结束！

Call off the global drug war

• Article by: JIMMY CARTER , New York Times 
• Updated: June 17, 2011 - 6:22 AM

In an extraordinary new initiative announced earlier this month, the Global Commission on Drug Policy has made some courageous and profoundly important recommendations in a report on how to bring more effective control over the illicit drug trade.

The commission includes the former presidents or prime ministers of five countries, a former secretary general of the United Nations, human rights leaders, and business and government leaders, including Richard Branson, George P. Shultz and Paul A. Volcker.

The report describes the total failure of the present global antidrug effort, and in particular America's "war on drugs," which was declared 40 years ago today. It notes that the global consumption of opiates has increased 34.5 percent, cocaine 27 percent and cannabis 8.5 percent from 1998 to 2008.

READ THE FULL STORY:

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/124061414.html

11-06-19 Popular rebellion against US banks // Rebelión popular contra los bancos de EE.UU. // 热门反抗美国银行

A Mass ‘Strategic Default’ Movement Begins – Time to Rebel Against Economic Tyranny By Walking Away From Your Mortgage Payments (OpESR)

As a result of fraudulent actions by the “Too Big to Fail” banks, 28% of US homeowners now owe more on their mortgage than their homes are worth. A new survey by Fannie Mae found that 27% of American homeowners are considering walking away from their mortgage.
READ THE FULL STORY:

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/124061414.html

11-06-19 Six people arrested for feeding the hungry in Orlando // Seis personas detenidas por alimentar a los hambrientos en Orlando // 六人涉嫌在奥兰多喂养饥饿

20 Orlando Police Steal food from Children, Arrest 6 MORE for feeding the Hungry

11-06-17 Bahrain and the US // Bahrain y EE.UU. // 巴林和美国

Bahrain�s Dictatorship and the Pentagon

By Jacob G. Hornberger

June 17, 2011 "fff" -- -Sometimes it�s good to look at foreign dictatorships to see what the president and the U.S. military have done to our country. Consider, for example, the trial of 20 doctors that is currently taking place in Bahrain.

As most everyone knows, Bahrain is ruled by a brutal dictatorship, just as many other countries in the Middle East are. Bahrain is also besieged by anti-government demonstrations, just as other countries in the Middle East are. Like other dictatorships in the Middle East, Bahrain�s dictatorial regime is using brute force to suppress the protests.

What distinguishes the Bahrain dictatorship from, say, the Libyan or Syrian dictatorships, is that the U.S. government supports the dictatorship in Bahrain while opposing the Libyan and Syrian dictatorships. Thus, not only does U.S. foreign aid flow into the Bahrain dictatorship, the U.S. military also has a major base there.

The Bahrain dictatorship is accusing those 20 doctors of participating in anti-government protests in Bahrain. Guess what type of court the doctors are being tried in. You got it: a military tribunal, just like those employed by the Pentagon at Guantanamo Bay.

It probably won�t surprise you to know that the doctors are accusing Bahrain�s military of torturing them while in custody and forcing confessions out of them � and that the military is denying it.

The tribunal is actually a special national-security court that was established last March as part of the emergency rule that the dictatorship imposed on the country to deal with the anti-government protests. Emergency rule essentially means martial law, with the military wielding the power to protect �national security� by establishing �order and stability� within the country.

Not surprisingly, in previous prosecutions in Bahrain�s national-security court, defendants have been charged with �terrorism.� Moreover, since the trials pertain to �national security,� some of the proceedings have been held in secret.

Sound familiar?

READ THE FULL STORY:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28359.htm

11-06-19 Welcome Taiwan! // Bienvenido Taiwan! // 欢迎台湾！

Last New Visitor Taiwan  Visited June 19, 2011