Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
March 31, 2013
from Dollars & Sense:
BY DARWIN BONDGRAHAM | March/April 2013
The business press has been reporting a “recovery” of the U.S. housing market for over a year now, as the average prices of single-family homes rise across the country. Implied in these stories is the return of a healthy real-estate market, in which the average American family has the resources—in terms of income, savings, and access to credit—to purchase its own slice of the American dream.
The housing recovery we are seeing right now, however, is anything but indicative of broader gains—increased wages, falling unemployment, or renewed access to credit for consumers—being shared across the economy. The biggest buyers of single-family homes today are not new owner-occupants, but investors. While most of these investors are so-called “mom-and-pop” buyers who own an extra rental house or two in their hometowns, large private investors are also increasingly buying up homes.
These investors are especially focusing on foreclosed properties in the “sun” and “sand” belts—from Florida and Georgia to Arizona, Nevada, and California. Private-equity firms, investment banks, and other high-finance investors are gobbling up housing stocks in these markets by the tens of thousands of units. They have taken to calling single-family rental homes a “new asset class,” alongside corporate debt, government bonds, currencies, and financial derivatives.
From Owners to Renters
Under the so-called housing recovery, the foreclosed homeowner is being relegated to the status of renter. Increasingly, the new renters’ role will be to pay their new high-finance landlords for shelter, all in order to secure big returns for the millionaire clients and institutional partners who are backing foreclosure purchases with billions of dollars. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2013/0313bondgraham.html
Potemkin Housing Recovery?
from Dollars & Sense:
BY DARWIN BONDGRAHAM | March/April 2013
The business press has been reporting a “recovery” of the U.S. housing market for over a year now, as the average prices of single-family homes rise across the country. Implied in these stories is the return of a healthy real-estate market, in which the average American family has the resources—in terms of income, savings, and access to credit—to purchase its own slice of the American dream.
The housing recovery we are seeing right now, however, is anything but indicative of broader gains—increased wages, falling unemployment, or renewed access to credit for consumers—being shared across the economy. The biggest buyers of single-family homes today are not new owner-occupants, but investors. While most of these investors are so-called “mom-and-pop” buyers who own an extra rental house or two in their hometowns, large private investors are also increasingly buying up homes.
These investors are especially focusing on foreclosed properties in the “sun” and “sand” belts—from Florida and Georgia to Arizona, Nevada, and California. Private-equity firms, investment banks, and other high-finance investors are gobbling up housing stocks in these markets by the tens of thousands of units. They have taken to calling single-family rental homes a “new asset class,” alongside corporate debt, government bonds, currencies, and financial derivatives.
From Owners to Renters
Under the so-called housing recovery, the foreclosed homeowner is being relegated to the status of renter. Increasingly, the new renters’ role will be to pay their new high-finance landlords for shelter, all in order to secure big returns for the millionaire clients and institutional partners who are backing foreclosure purchases with billions of dollars. ..........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2013/0313bondgraham.html
March 31, 2013
(Bloomberg) Old photographs adorn the mantelpiece in Lee John Mynhardt’s living room. In one, he’s standing beside his parents and sister. In another, he’s all smiles as he wraps his arms around some college buddies.
Today, Mynhardt, 28, is confined to a wheelchair, a quadriplegic unable to move from the chest down, burdened with medical expenses that at times have topped $10,000 a month. As a senior at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, he broke his neck when he was grabbed from behind and dragged out of a keg party held by a chapter of one of the largest national fraternities, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
Mynhardt says he is a casualty of the strenuous efforts by national fraternities such as Lambda Chi to avoid paying compensation for deaths and injuries at their local chapters. After he sued, Lambda Chi Alpha and its insurer won court rulings that they weren’t liable for his plight.
“As soon as there’s an incident, national fraternities start distancing themselves,” Mynhardt said at his Charlotte, North Carolina, home. “It’s irresponsible.” .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/frats-worse-than-animal-house-fail-to-pay-for-casualties.html
Frats Worse Than Animal House Fail to Pay for Casualties
(Bloomberg) Old photographs adorn the mantelpiece in Lee John Mynhardt’s living room. In one, he’s standing beside his parents and sister. In another, he’s all smiles as he wraps his arms around some college buddies.
Today, Mynhardt, 28, is confined to a wheelchair, a quadriplegic unable to move from the chest down, burdened with medical expenses that at times have topped $10,000 a month. As a senior at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina, he broke his neck when he was grabbed from behind and dragged out of a keg party held by a chapter of one of the largest national fraternities, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Inc.
Mynhardt says he is a casualty of the strenuous efforts by national fraternities such as Lambda Chi to avoid paying compensation for deaths and injuries at their local chapters. After he sued, Lambda Chi Alpha and its insurer won court rulings that they weren’t liable for his plight.
“As soon as there’s an incident, national fraternities start distancing themselves,” Mynhardt said at his Charlotte, North Carolina, home. “It’s irresponsible.” .......................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-28/frats-worse-than-animal-house-fail-to-pay-for-casualties.html
March 31, 2013
(Bloomberg) Argentina, which defaulted on a record $95 billion in sovereign debt in 2001, proposed giving holders of $1.3 billion of the repudiated bonds about one-sixth of what a U.S. judge has said they’re entitled to receive--a move one analyst called “thumbing its nose at the court.”
The country’s filing of its proposed plan yesterday, one hour before a deadline set by the court weeks ago, paves the way for the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York to rule in a case in which a group of creditors, led by hedge fund Elliott Management Corp.’s NML Capital Ltd., seek to force the South American nation to pay after more than a decade of litigation.
Argentina said it proposes two possibilities for bondholders to exchange their defaulted debt for new bonds. Argentine officials will submit a bill to their nation’s Congress to provide for the plan to be implemented, the government said in a 22-page letter filed in court.
“After taking the full month available to work on its response, Argentina came back last night with a proposal for exactly the same package that it had offered back in 2010,” Joe Kogan, head of emerging-market debt strategy at Scotia Capital Markets, said in a note this morning. Kogan said he expects the country’s bonds to fall tomorrow “upon news of Argentina’s continued intransigence.” He added: “The proposal itself appears intended for local Argentine consumption as the government seeks to reiterate once again that it will not pay holdouts more than what Argentina gave to exchange bondholders.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-30/argentina-one-sixth-bond-offer-seen-as-thumbing-nose-.html
Argentina One-Sixth Bond Offer Seen as 'Thumbing Nose' at U.S. Court
(Bloomberg) Argentina, which defaulted on a record $95 billion in sovereign debt in 2001, proposed giving holders of $1.3 billion of the repudiated bonds about one-sixth of what a U.S. judge has said they’re entitled to receive--a move one analyst called “thumbing its nose at the court.”
The country’s filing of its proposed plan yesterday, one hour before a deadline set by the court weeks ago, paves the way for the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York to rule in a case in which a group of creditors, led by hedge fund Elliott Management Corp.’s NML Capital Ltd., seek to force the South American nation to pay after more than a decade of litigation.
Argentina said it proposes two possibilities for bondholders to exchange their defaulted debt for new bonds. Argentine officials will submit a bill to their nation’s Congress to provide for the plan to be implemented, the government said in a 22-page letter filed in court.
“After taking the full month available to work on its response, Argentina came back last night with a proposal for exactly the same package that it had offered back in 2010,” Joe Kogan, head of emerging-market debt strategy at Scotia Capital Markets, said in a note this morning. Kogan said he expects the country’s bonds to fall tomorrow “upon news of Argentina’s continued intransigence.” He added: “The proposal itself appears intended for local Argentine consumption as the government seeks to reiterate once again that it will not pay holdouts more than what Argentina gave to exchange bondholders.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-30/argentina-one-sixth-bond-offer-seen-as-thumbing-nose-.html
March 30, 2013
The New York Times
Published on Mar 29, 2013
For America's beekeepers, who have struggled for nearly a decade with a mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder that kills honeybees en masse, this past year was particularly bad.
A Disastrous Year for Bees: 'We Can't Keep Them Alive'
The New York Times
Published on Mar 29, 2013
For America's beekeepers, who have struggled for nearly a decade with a mysterious malady called colony collapse disorder that kills honeybees en masse, this past year was particularly bad.
March 30, 2013
(Guardian UK) Americans are fatalistic when it comes to climate change, recognising the dangers but unwilling to pay for sea walls or relocate coastal communities, new research released on Thursday found.
The survey, commissioned by two departments at Stanford University, the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions, was the first to investigate public attitudes towards planning for a future of sea-level rise and extreme storms.
It found a sharp disconnect between Americans' acknowledgement of climate risks – which was high – and their willingness to pay for solutions.
That divide could hurt efforts by New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to mobilise large sums of public money to build sea walls, restore sand dunes, or move people out of harm's way after superstorm Sandy. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/28/americans-climate-change-risk-cost
Americans believe in climate change risks but won't pay to fix them – survey
(Guardian UK) Americans are fatalistic when it comes to climate change, recognising the dangers but unwilling to pay for sea walls or relocate coastal communities, new research released on Thursday found.
The survey, commissioned by two departments at Stanford University, the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions, was the first to investigate public attitudes towards planning for a future of sea-level rise and extreme storms.
It found a sharp disconnect between Americans' acknowledgement of climate risks – which was high – and their willingness to pay for solutions.
That divide could hurt efforts by New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to mobilise large sums of public money to build sea walls, restore sand dunes, or move people out of harm's way after superstorm Sandy. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/28/americans-climate-change-risk-cost
March 30, 2013
from TomDispatch:
American Anniversaries from Hell
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
By Tom Engelhardt
It’s true that, last week, few in Congress cared to discuss, no less memorialize, the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Nonetheless, two anniversaries of American disasters and crimes abroad -- the “mission accomplished” debacle of 2003 and the 45th anniversary of the My Lai massacre -- were at least noted in passing in our world. In my hometown paper, the New York Times, the Iraq anniversary was memorialized with a lead op-ed by a former advisor to General David Petraeus who, amid the rubble, went in search of all-American “silver linings.”
Still, in our post-9/11 world, there are so many other anniversaries from hell whose silver linings don’t get noticed. Take this April. It will be the ninth anniversary of the widespread release of the now infamous photos of torture, abuse, and humiliation from Abu Ghraib. In case you’ve forgotten, that was Saddam Hussein’s old prison where the U.S. military taught the fallen Iraqi dictator a trick or two about the destruction of human beings. Shouldn’t there be an anniversary of some note there? I mean, how many cultures have turned dog collars (and the dogs that go with them), thumbs-up signs over dead bodies, and a mockery of the crucified Christ into screensavers?
Or to pick another not-to-be-missed anniversary that, strangely enough, goes uncelebrated here, consider the passage of the USA Patriot Act, that ten-letter acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”? This October 26th will be the 11th anniversary of the hurried congressional vote on that 363-page (essentially unread) document filled with right-wing hobbyhorses and a range of provisions meant to curtail American liberties in the name of keeping us safe from terror. “Small government” Republicans and “big government” Democrats rushed to support it back then. It passed in the Senate in record time by 98-1, with only Russ Feingold in opposition, and in the House by 357-66 -- and so began the process of taking the oppressive powers of the American state into a new dimension. It would signal the launch of a world of ever-expanding American surveillance and secrecy (and it would be renewed by the Obama administration at its leisure in 2011).
Or what about celebrating the 12th anniversary of Congress’s Authorization for Use of Military Force, the joint resolution that a panicked and cowed body passed on September 14, 2001? It wasn’t a declaration of war -- there was no one to declare war on -- but an open-ended grant to the president of the unfettered power to use “all necessary and appropriate force” in what would become a never-ending (and still expanding) “Global War on Terror.” ...........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175667/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_the_12th_anniversary_of_american_cowardice/#more
American Anniversaries from Hell: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
from TomDispatch:
American Anniversaries from Hell
What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You
By Tom Engelhardt
It’s true that, last week, few in Congress cared to discuss, no less memorialize, the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Nonetheless, two anniversaries of American disasters and crimes abroad -- the “mission accomplished” debacle of 2003 and the 45th anniversary of the My Lai massacre -- were at least noted in passing in our world. In my hometown paper, the New York Times, the Iraq anniversary was memorialized with a lead op-ed by a former advisor to General David Petraeus who, amid the rubble, went in search of all-American “silver linings.”
Still, in our post-9/11 world, there are so many other anniversaries from hell whose silver linings don’t get noticed. Take this April. It will be the ninth anniversary of the widespread release of the now infamous photos of torture, abuse, and humiliation from Abu Ghraib. In case you’ve forgotten, that was Saddam Hussein’s old prison where the U.S. military taught the fallen Iraqi dictator a trick or two about the destruction of human beings. Shouldn’t there be an anniversary of some note there? I mean, how many cultures have turned dog collars (and the dogs that go with them), thumbs-up signs over dead bodies, and a mockery of the crucified Christ into screensavers?
Or to pick another not-to-be-missed anniversary that, strangely enough, goes uncelebrated here, consider the passage of the USA Patriot Act, that ten-letter acronym for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”? This October 26th will be the 11th anniversary of the hurried congressional vote on that 363-page (essentially unread) document filled with right-wing hobbyhorses and a range of provisions meant to curtail American liberties in the name of keeping us safe from terror. “Small government” Republicans and “big government” Democrats rushed to support it back then. It passed in the Senate in record time by 98-1, with only Russ Feingold in opposition, and in the House by 357-66 -- and so began the process of taking the oppressive powers of the American state into a new dimension. It would signal the launch of a world of ever-expanding American surveillance and secrecy (and it would be renewed by the Obama administration at its leisure in 2011).
Or what about celebrating the 12th anniversary of Congress’s Authorization for Use of Military Force, the joint resolution that a panicked and cowed body passed on September 14, 2001? It wasn’t a declaration of war -- there was no one to declare war on -- but an open-ended grant to the president of the unfettered power to use “all necessary and appropriate force” in what would become a never-ending (and still expanding) “Global War on Terror.” ...........(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175667/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_the_12th_anniversary_of_american_cowardice/#more
March 30, 2013
(Guardian UK) Americans are fatalistic when it comes to climate change, recognising the dangers but unwilling to pay for sea walls or relocate coastal communities, new research released on Thursday found.
The survey, commissioned by two departments at Stanford University, the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions, was the first to investigate public attitudes towards planning for a future of sea-level rise and extreme storms.
It found a sharp disconnect between Americans' acknowledgement of climate risks – which was high – and their willingness to pay for solutions.
That divide could hurt efforts by New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to mobilise large sums of public money to build sea walls, restore sand dunes, or move people out of harm's way after superstorm Sandy. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/28/americans-climate-change-risk-cost
Americans believe in climate change risks but won't pay to fix them – survey
(Guardian UK) Americans are fatalistic when it comes to climate change, recognising the dangers but unwilling to pay for sea walls or relocate coastal communities, new research released on Thursday found.
The survey, commissioned by two departments at Stanford University, the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions, was the first to investigate public attitudes towards planning for a future of sea-level rise and extreme storms.
It found a sharp disconnect between Americans' acknowledgement of climate risks – which was high – and their willingness to pay for solutions.
That divide could hurt efforts by New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg to mobilise large sums of public money to build sea walls, restore sand dunes, or move people out of harm's way after superstorm Sandy. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/28/americans-climate-change-risk-cost
March 30, 2013
from truthdig:
Poorest Nations Say Yes to Emissions Cuts
Posted on Mar 30, 2013
By Alex Kirby, Climate News Network
LONDON—In what could be a far-reaching move, the world’s poorest countries say they are now prepared to commit themselves to binding cuts in their emissions of greenhouse gases.
The move has the potential to quicken the pace of the glacially-slow UN negotiations, which have for years been trying to agree an effective way to cut emissions in order to avoid runaway climate change.
The Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is a major negotiating bloc at the UN talks, with its member states including 12% of the world’s people..
Whether its willingness to accept cuts will in fact hasten the birth of a new and comprehensive climate agreement will now depend largely on the good faith and commitment of the richer countries. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/poorest_nations_say_yes_to_emissions_cuts_20130330/
Poorest Nations Say Yes to Emissions Cuts
from truthdig:
Poorest Nations Say Yes to Emissions Cuts
Posted on Mar 30, 2013
By Alex Kirby, Climate News Network
LONDON—In what could be a far-reaching move, the world’s poorest countries say they are now prepared to commit themselves to binding cuts in their emissions of greenhouse gases.
The move has the potential to quicken the pace of the glacially-slow UN negotiations, which have for years been trying to agree an effective way to cut emissions in order to avoid runaway climate change.
The Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is a major negotiating bloc at the UN talks, with its member states including 12% of the world’s people..
Whether its willingness to accept cuts will in fact hasten the birth of a new and comprehensive climate agreement will now depend largely on the good faith and commitment of the richer countries. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/poorest_nations_say_yes_to_emissions_cuts_20130330/
March 30, 2013
Published on Mar 28, 2013
Philosopher, cognitive scientist and political activist Noam Chomsky discusses the roles of the state and the mass media, 25 years on from his essential work Manufacturing Consent.
A prelude to Propaganda: Power and Persuasion - a major British Library exhibition lifting the lid on the ways governments across the planet have attempted to influence your thoughts for over 100 years.
Noam Chomsky in conversation with Jonathan Freedland
Published on Mar 28, 2013
Philosopher, cognitive scientist and political activist Noam Chomsky discusses the roles of the state and the mass media, 25 years on from his essential work Manufacturing Consent.
A prelude to Propaganda: Power and Persuasion - a major British Library exhibition lifting the lid on the ways governments across the planet have attempted to influence your thoughts for over 100 years.
March 30, 2013
http://vimeo.com/62923488
Bill Moyers Essay: The Hypocrisy of ‘Justice for All’
March 29, 2013
Bill reports on the hypocrisy of “justice for all” in a society where billions are squandered for a war born in fraud while the poor are pushed aside. Turns out true justice — not just the word we recite from the Pledge of Allegiance — is still unaffordable for those who need it most. Bill says we’ve “turned a deaf ear” to the hopeful legacy of Gideon vs. Wainwright, the 50-year-old Supreme ruling that established the constitutional right of criminal defendants to legal representation, even if they can’t pay for it.
Watch Bill’s conversations with civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson and journalists Martin Clancy and Tim O’Brien for more insight and context on Gideon, as well as in-depth exploration of current inequalities in America’s criminal justice system.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-hypocrisy-of-justice-for-all/
Bill Moyers Essay: The Hypocrisy of ‘Justice for All’
http://vimeo.com/62923488
Bill Moyers Essay: The Hypocrisy of ‘Justice for All’
March 29, 2013
Bill reports on the hypocrisy of “justice for all” in a society where billions are squandered for a war born in fraud while the poor are pushed aside. Turns out true justice — not just the word we recite from the Pledge of Allegiance — is still unaffordable for those who need it most. Bill says we’ve “turned a deaf ear” to the hopeful legacy of Gideon vs. Wainwright, the 50-year-old Supreme ruling that established the constitutional right of criminal defendants to legal representation, even if they can’t pay for it.
Watch Bill’s conversations with civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson and journalists Martin Clancy and Tim O’Brien for more insight and context on Gideon, as well as in-depth exploration of current inequalities in America’s criminal justice system.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-hypocrisy-of-justice-for-all/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,072
