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Home News, Real Estate News, Housing News, Apartment News |
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 US
States
 Alphonso
Jackson
Home News Real Estate News, Housing News, Apartment News
Homes
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 Real
Estate News
HOME News:
 Barack
Obama -  Housing
- Crisis
-  Investors
-  Politics
-  New
York
"HUD pick foresaw subprime crisis in '04." ... ""[Democratic President Elect] Barack Obama's pick for HUD [Housing and Urban Development] -- former New York City [New York] Housing Commissioner Shaun Donovan -- was one of the earliest public officials to foresee the magnitude and destructive capacity of the subprime crisis." ... "In the middle of 2004, I sat down with Donovan (I was at Newsday at the time) for a chat about [Democratic New York City, New York] Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to tackle the shortage of low- and middle-income housing in the city." ... "To my surprise, Donovan brushed aside my questions about the city's initiatives and began talking at length about the coming "flood" of foreclosures he anticipated among highly leveraged apartment buildings purchased by recent immigrants -- and a looming subprime crisis for one- and two-family homeowners in up-and-coming neighborhoods in southeast [New York City burroughs] Queens and central Brooklyn." ... "I left the meeting a little shaken: At the time housing prices in previously depressed parts of the city were booming and the city had been able to sell off almost of all its once-massive stock of foreclosed properties to private owners and investors. The future looked bright to almost everyone -- but not to Donovan, who was planning for the looming disaster." -By Glenn Thrush -Politico.com 
Homeless
-  Families
- Poverty
- Crisis
- Politics
-  Law
-  Police
-  Florida
"Homeless turn foreclosures into shelters." ... "For Max Rameau, a vacant, boarded-up home is more than just a symbol of the national housing crisis. It's an opportunity to house the homeless." ... "Rameau, a homeless advocate, runs a controversial program in Miami [Florida] that helps families squat in homes vacated because of bank foreclosures. Using Internet listings and a team of volunteers, Rameau and his Take Back the Land foundation matches homeless families with empty homes." ... "Rameau, 39, says his efforts are creative solutions for two of America's biggest problems: rising numbers of vacant homes and a growing homeless population. He has moved in six families since January. The authorities so far haven't stopped him." ... ""It's morally indefensible to have vacant homes sitting there, potentially for years, while you have human beings on the street," Rameau says." ... "Kelly Penton, a city of Miami spokeswoman, says police don't have the manpower to scour neighborhoods looking for squatters. Police only act on a complaint by a property owner, which so far hasn't happened, she says." ... ""People need to obey the law, obviously," Penton says. "But it has to be something that's reported to the city."" ... "With 44% of the nation's 744,000 homeless unsheltered, it's not surprising that people want to take over homes, says Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless." -By Rick Jervis -USATODAY 
 Washington
-Political
- Financing
-  Accounting
- Investigation
- Realtors
"Realtor group's account of expenses disputed: [Washington state's Public Disclosure Commission] PDC's complaints include over-the-limit contributions to [Washington state's Republican Governor Candidate Dino] Rossi." ... "State regulators have filed their second campaign-finance complaint of the year against the Washington Association of Realtors, this time alleging that the association improperly reported its spending on Republicans in races for governor and attorney general." ... "The executive director of the Public Disclosure Commission, Vicki Rippie, filed her complaint last week, and the agency is launching a full investigation, spokesmen said this week." ... "The complaint also named the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] campaigns of Attorney General Rob McKenna and gubernatorial hopeful Dino Rossi." ... "The Realtors PAC and [Realtors'] Quality of Life PAC both, in effect, made over-limit contributions to Rossi of $497,806. Rossi allegedly gave fundraising help to R-PAC before it sponsored its ads." ... "The PDC allegations do go so far as to suggest that the Realtors, Rossi or McKenna conspired to get around rules that forbid coordination between campaigns and independent groups. But they do say that actions the Realtors and Mc Kenna campaign took made the PACs ineligible for independent expenditures on behalf of Mc Kenna." ... "Realtors paid $80,000 in fines earlier in the year to settle an earlier complaint over failing to fully report $953,000 in transactions during 2004-07 — including $310,000 in independent expenditures during 2004. Another $50,000 of fines were suspended on condition the group did not have further wrongdoing." (1, 2) -By Brad Shannon -TheOlympian.com 
 Employment
- Market
- Housing
-  Rebuilding
-  Roads
-  Schools
-  Energy
- Obama
- Politics
"Employers cut 533K jobs in Nov., most in 34 years." ... "Skittish employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession." ... "The new figures, released by the Labor Department Friday, showed the crucial employment market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid clip, and handed Americans some more grim news right before the holidays. The net loss of more than a half-million jobs was far worse than analysts expected." ... "The U.S. [United States] tipped into recession last December [2007], a panel of experts declared earlier this week, confirming what many Americans already thought." ... "[Republican] President George W. Bush, who used the word "recession" for the first time to describe the economy's state, pledged Friday to explore more efforts to ease housing, credit and financial stresses." ... "[Democratic] President-elect Barack Obama said the dismal job news underscored the need for forceful action, even as he warned that the pain could not be quickly relieved." ... ""There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis ... and it's likely to get worse before it gets better," Obama said. "At the same time, this ... provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, investing in clean energy solutions to break our dependence on imported oil, and making an early down payment on the long-term reforms that will grow and strengthen our economy for all Americans for years to come."" -By Jeannine Aversa -AP via -Yahoo 
AIG
- Corporate
-  Government
- Politics
- Housing
"A Question for A.I.G.: Where Did the Cash Go?" ... "The American International Group is rapidly running through $123 billion in emergency lending provided by the Federal Reserve, raising questions about how a company claiming to be solvent in September could have developed such a big hole by October. Some analysts say at least part of the shortfall must have been there all along, hidden by irregular accounting." ... "“You don’t just suddenly lose $120 billion overnight,” said Donn Vickrey of Gradient Analytics, an independent securities research firm in Scottsdale, Ariz." ... "Mr. Vickery and other analysts are examining the company’s disclosures for clues that the cushion was threadbare and that company officials knew they had major losses months before the bailout." ... "Tantalizing support for this argument comes from what appears to have been a behind-the-scenes clash at the company over how to value some of its derivatives contracts. An accountant brought in by the company because of an earlier scandal was pushed to the sidelines on this issue, and the company’s outside auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, warned of a material weakness months before the government bailout." ... "The internal auditor resigned and is now in seclusion, according to a former colleague." ... "These accounting questions are of interest not only because taxpayers are footing the bill at A.I.G. but also because the post-mortems may point to a fundamental flaw in the Fed bailout: the money is buoying an insurer — and its trading partners — whose cash needs could easily exceed the existing government backstop if the housing sector continues to deteriorate." (1, 2, 3) -By Mary Williams Walsh -NYTimes
 Sarah
Palin -  Jeff
Larson -  Karl
Rove -  John
McCain -  Norm
Coleman - Money
-  Fashion
- Apartment
- Politics
-  Minnesota
- 2008
Election
"Sarah Palin’s Personal Shopper." ... "The attention from Jeanne Cummings’s much-talked-about Politico story has naturally focused on the $150,000 in luxury clothing purchased for [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin at Neiman Marcus, Sak’s Fifth Avenue, and Barney’s. What hasn’t yet gotten any attention is who bought it for her. But buried in the same FEC [Federal Election Commission] disclosure form that revealed Palin’s taste for the fine life is the name of the man who appears to have been her personal shopper: Jeff Larson." ... "Under FEC regulations, the RNC must file what is called a “Schedule F form,” which lists “expenditures made by political committees or designated agents(s) on behalf of candidates for federal office.”" ... "Larson is the [Republican operative] Karl Rove protégé who’s a principal in the robocalling firm of FLS Connect (the “FLS” stands for Tony Feather, Jeff Larson, and Tom Syndhorst, all veteran Republican political operatives). Larson’s firm is the same one that launched the scurrilous robocalls against John McCain in 2000, and that McCain has now hired to make robocalls connecting Barack Obama to Bill Ayers. He’s also well known in Minnesota for leasing his basement apartment at a steeply discounted rate to embattled [Minnesota] Republican Senator Norm Coleman." -By Joshua Green -TheAtlantic.com
 Japan
-  History
-  US
- Real
Estate
"Nikkei tumbles 9.6 percent on crisis fears." ... "Japan's key stock index plunged a stunning 9.6 percent Friday to close out its worst week in history as frantic investors worried about a global recession dumped stocks after huge losses on Wall Street." ... "The benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled 881.06 points to 8,276.43, its lowest since May 2003. It was its biggest one-day percentage loss since the stock market crash of October 1987." ... "The index dropped by more than 11 percent at one point but recovered modestly in the afternoon." ... "Since last Friday, the Nikkei has lost nearly a quarter of its value." ... "Mid-sized insurer Yamato Life Insurance Co. [Company] went bankrupt Friday, becoming the first major Japanese financial company to collapse on the fallout from the U.S. [United States] credit crisis. On Thursday, New City Investment Corp.'s [Corporation's] bankruptcy filing made it Japan's first real-estate investment trust to fail." -By Shino Yuasa -AP via -Google
 Joe
Biden - John
McCain - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Consumer
- Regulation
-  Mo
-  Arizona
-  Tennessee
- 2008
Election
"Biden Accuses McCain of Waffling on Homeowner Help Plan." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden started his 24-hour swing through the Show-Me State [Missouri] Thursday with a swipe at Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain for already changing the mortgage buy-up plan that the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] candidate introduced in Tuesday’s presidential debate in Nashville [Tennessee]." ... "“John said he was going to spend $300 billion of your tax money to buy from banks bad mortgages that they now own. And he was going to buy them, though, at a discount, an authority, meaning he wasn’t going to buy them for what the bank paid for them -- he’s going to buy them for what their market value was," Biden said at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo. [Missouri.] "And then on Wednesday morning he said, his campaign said, 'No, we made a mistake. We are going to buy them for exactly what the bank paid for them.'" ... ""So, he’s going to spend $300 billion of your money so the banks don’t lose a single penny!" Biden continued. "I’m not making this up. I know it sounds like fiction, but I’m not making this up." ... ""That’s not bailing out the homeowner," Biden added. "You’re bailing out the bank."" ... "“Ladies and gentlemen, in a matter of months, days, even hours, John McCain has gone from first cutting regulation consumer protections from banks –- that was his initial position, cut those protections -- then ignoring the banks and lenders and not even talking about them, now to talking about banks and lenders, and now he’s gone to the point of actually wanting to reward banks and lenders for their greedy behavior," Biden continued. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a steady hand, and the latest proposal is not only bad for taxpayers, it’s bad for homeowners and it’s bad for the economy, and everybody seems to be aware of it this morning."" -By Matthew Jaffe -ABCNEWS.com 
John
McCain -  Hillary
Clinton - Barack
Obama - Consumer
- Homeowners
- Bank
- Government
- New
York - 2008
Election
"McCain Rebuked for Comparing Mortgage Plan to Clinton." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain was rebuked by an aide to [New York Democratic Senator] Hillary Clinton on Thursday for inaccurately comparing his [home] mortgage buy-up plan to one proposed earlier this year by the former first lady." ... ""It's wrong to suggest the new McCain plan is what Senator Clinton proposed ," said Clinton spokesperson Kathleen Strand. "She and Senator Obama are focused on helping struggling homeowners and holding bank lenders responsible. . . Senator McCain's new plan calls for bailing out and rewarding irresponsible bank and mortgage lenders, while sticking taxpayers with the bill."" -By Teddy Davis and Arnab Datta -ABCNEWS.com
John
McCain - Barack
Obama - Financial
- Law
-  Veterans
- Housing
- Energy
- 2008
Election - US
-  Iran
"McCain has not sponsored a banking bill this Congress." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee John McCain has not introduced any banking or housing bills in the 110th Congress, while [2008 Election Presidential] Democratic rival Barack Obama has proposed five." ... "Obama’s legislation calls for bolstering housing assistance for veterans, amending the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to provide shareholders with an advisory vote on executive compensation, halting mortgage transactions that promote fraud, authorizing local and state governments to crack down on companies that invest in Iran's energy sector and authorizing a pilot program to prevent at-risk veterans from becoming homeless." -By Bob Cusack -TheHill.com
John
McCain -  Rick
Davis - Corporate
- Politics
- Federal
- Housing
-  Va
- Law
- 2008
Election
"Unsevered Ties? Regulatory filings indicate that [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign chief Rick Davis remains an officer with his lobbying firm." ... "Rick Davis, John McCain's campaign manager, has remained the treasurer and a corporate director of his lobbying firm this year, despite repeated statements by campaign officials that he had ended his relationship with the firm in 2006, according to corporate records." ... "The McCain campaign this week criticized news stories disclosing that, since 2006, Davis's firm has been paid a $15,000-a-month consulting fee from Freddie Mac, the troubled [housing] mortgage giant recently put under federal conservatorship. The stories, published Tuesday by NEWSWEEK, The New York Times and Roll Call, reported that the consulting fees continued until last month even though, according to two sources familiar with the arrangement, neither Davis nor anybody else at his firm did any substantial work for the payments." ... "Filings made by "Davis Manafort Partners" with the Virginia Corporation Commission as recently as April 1, 2008, show that Davis was still listed as one of only two corporate officers and directors of the firm, according to records on the commission’s Web site [PDF] reviewed by NEWSWEEK. That filing records Davis as the "treas/clerk" of the firm; his business partner, Paul Manafort is listed as the president and chief executive officer." ... "Another filing by “Davis Manafort, Inc.” [PDF] (with the same Alexandria, Va. [Virginia] address, and recorded on Oct. 17, 2007) also lists Davis as an officer and director of the firm, reporting his position as "T/Clerk," a reference to his formal title as corporate treasurer and clerk." ... "Both filings are annual reports of basic corporate information that are required by Virginia state law." -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek
John
McCain - Rick
Davis - Corporate
- Politics
- Federal
- Housing
-  Wisconsin
- 2008
Election
"McCain Transition Head Lobbied for Freddie Mac Before Takeover." ... "The lobbying firm of the man Republicans say [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain has chosen to begin planning a presidential transition earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies McCain blames for the nation's financial crisis." ... "Timmons & Co., whose founder and chairman emeritus is William Timmons Sr., was registered to lobby for Freddie Mac from 2000 through this month, when the federal government took over both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae." ... "Newly available congressional records show Timmons's firm received $260,000 this year before its lobbying activities were barred under terms of the government rescue of the failed [housing] mortgage giant. Timmons, 77, is listed as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac on the company's midyear financial-disclosure form." ... "McCain has labeled Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as prime culprits in creating the financial storm that has roiled Wall Street and Washington." ... "``At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,'' he said last week in Green Bay, Wisconsin." ... "``Using money and influence, they prevented reforms that would have curbed their power and limited their ability to damage our economy,'' he said. ``And now, as ever, the American taxpayers are left to pay the price for Washington's failure.''" ... "The McCain camp was also dealing with reports about the lobbying work of campaign manager Rick Davis." ... "The New York Times reported yesterday that Davis was paid almost $2 million in fees over five years by a group primarily funded by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae that was intended to help stave off more stringent federal regulation of the housing companies. " -By Jonathan D. Salant and Timothy J. Burger -Bloomberg
Housing
- Consumer
-  People
- Working
- Families
"Millions spend half of income on housing." ... "[Al] Ray is one of more than 7.5 million people — almost 15 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage — who are spending half of their income or more on housing costs, according to 2007 data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. That is up from nearly 7.1 million the year before." ... "Traditionally, the government and most lenders consider a homeowner spending 30 percent or more of their income on housing costs to be financially burdened. But that definition now covers almost 38 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage — 19 million of them." ... "Though home prices have fallen this year, in the most expensive markets where home prices tripled during the boom, many working families still cannot afford to buy a home." ... "More than 4 million homeowners were at least one month behind on their loans at the end of June, and almost 500,000 had started the foreclosure process, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association." -By Adrian Sainz and Alan Zibel with contributions by Allen Chen -AP via -Yahoo
John
McCain - Cindy
McCain - Barack
Obama -  Auto
- Workers
- Homes
-  Michigan
- 2008
Election
"All the Candidates’ Cars." ... "When you have seven homes [McCain], that's a lot of garages to fill. " ... "And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and Cindy McCain: 13. Barack and Michelle Obama: one." ... "One vehicle in the McCain fleet has caused a small flap. United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger, an Obama backer, accused McCain this month of "flip-flopping" on who bought daughter Meghan's foreign-made Toyota Prius. McCain said last year that he bought it, but then told a Detroit [Michigan] TV station on [September] Sept. 7 that Meghan "bought it, I believe, herself." (The McCain campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)" ... "Obama's lone vehicle also is a green machine, a 2008 Ford Escape hybrid." -By Keith Naughton and Hilary Shenfeld -Newsweek
American
International Group - Government
- Politics
- Housing
"Tab for Government Rescues Rises to $900 Billion." ... "The U.S. [United States] Federal Reserve stepped in to rescue insurance giant American International Group from bankruptcy with an $85 billion loan on Tuesday, the latest in a series of bailouts and loans for the financial and housing sectors." ... "The action brings the total tab for government rescues and special loan facilities this year to more than $900 billion." -Reuters via -CNBC |
Home News Sources Home and Garden News News Search <Real Estate> in: <Real Estate News> in: News Search <Housing> in: <Housing News> in: News Search <Homeowner> in: <Homeowner News> in: 
Search Home News: News Search <Home>in: <Home News> in: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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Virtual Homes An Information Superhighway Suburb. 
Jeremy's website for his music and mp3s. Download his mp3, "Razors Edge," from his album "Works Alone" or look over Jeremy's photos. 
The Cobalt Blue Blues Band website has redirected to to HavenWorks.com on and off over the years. A photo gallery was added in 2002. 
FishLand -the Anti - Jakob Nielsen website - this website has hidden 'easter egg' navigation that's more than anti-intuitive, it's deliberately puzzling - which is the point. 
It's an 'exploration of the odd,' meant for the searching surfers looking for an interactive experience - A Journey, Not a Destination. As an early experiment into the intersection of art and web this site's a real gem.  Try
to find the "Fractals" page - it's worth the hunt, for both
the fascinating pictures and also for the ingenious methods the website's
creator came up with to hobble copying the images.
Samson the Dog. 
KL Folk's_Websites HOME PAGES (Webiste space provided by -Hermit ;-) |
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John
McCain - William
E. Timmons, Sr. - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Oil
- 
Drug
- Housing
- Consumer
- Investigation
- Law
- 
Foreign
- Japan
- US
- 2008
Election
John
McCain - William
Timmons - Rick
Davis -Corporate
- Government
- Political
- History
- Oil
-
- 
-
- 
- 2008
Election
Gordon
Smith - Illegal
- Immigration
- Business
-
Food
- Workers
- Politics
- Agriculture
- Property
- History
- 
Oregon
- 
Md
- 
Hawaii
- 
Utah
- Wash
Sarah
Palin - John
McCain - Housing
- Market
- Government
- 
Alaska
- 
Colorado
- 2008
Election
WATCH:
Palin falsely asserted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big and too
expensive to the taxpayers." John McCain applauded the false assertion.
Henry
Paulson
- Government
- Money
- Housing
- Politics
- Historic
Cindy
McCain - John
McCain - Fashion
- Politics
- Arizona
- Houses
- 2008
Election
"Laura Bush"Wow! No wonder McCain has so many houses: his wife has the price of a Scottsdale [Arizona] split-level hanging from her ears." ... "(All prices except Laura’s shoes and Cindy’s watch are estimates, and the jewelry prices are based on the assumption that the pieces are real.)" -VanityFair.com
Oscar de la Renta suit: $2,500
Stuart Weitzman heels: $325
Pearl stud earrings: $600–$1,500
Total: Between $3,425 and $4,325""Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100"
John
McCain - Houses
- Economy
- Car
- 
Internet
- US
- Foreign
- Gas
- Torture
- Guantanamo
- Prison
- Stem
Cells - Health
Care - Politics
- 2008
Election
John
McCain -