(Narrator's voice): Let me tell you a story...
A well-meaning family of modest means buys a house in a Midwestern city about seven years ago. It's in a less-than-nice neighborhood, let us say politely. But, it once was lovely and stable(before WWII blew the culture up), and showed real promise of coming back. After all, the banks were lending, and if enough urban homesteader types like these folks were to show up, people with classic middle-class values, they might create a momentum and bring the place back. The bank owned it, and were glad to have it as a paying asset. The family went through a pretty stringent qualification, if memory serves. It was not a 'liar loan', at least not from the family's point of view.
The well-meaning family moved in, happily. And steadily brought the big old house back to life, but refied along the way to cover the costs of major roof repairs, installation of a central climate control system, and some structural work that needed doing. They also bought a little frame house around the corner, renovated it, and the eldest son lived there until he married and moved away. It's a rental now.
These folks tried, as imperfect as they were. Really worked at both improving their own lot and the lives around them. One family member still runs a Saturday version of 'Sunday School', to see if some improvement can be made in a few lives, to open the door to the outside world to a few kids, many of whom have never seen much of the rest of the city.
The neighborhood did not 'come back'. The drug trade is more embedded than ever, with its handmaiden prostitution in open practice on the streets. It's as if the city administration has nearly abandoned these blocks, as the streets deteriorate, police coverage seems scarce. I've urged that someone get a carry permit, and carry, just for safety's sake. Falling on deaf ears, of course.
Because of the refi, done at the height of The Bubble, they owe about 90k on the house. Not much equity. $1200 payments, probably including taxes and insurance, faithfully paid each and every month. A look at their zip code on Google Real Estate shows them as a tiny island of solvency in a sea of foreclosures. Abandoned industrial property nearby not likely to ever reopen. Empty CRE not likely to be occupied anytime soon. Lots of boarded-up houses all around them.
[end of narration...]
Is it time to walk away? No villains here. Everyone, bank and family, gave it their best shot. How do they get out without being hounded by the bank, and having to file a BK? It's becoming a matter of physical safety now. In the end, better bankrupt than suffering a gunshot wound. But that's a really low-class set of choices to make.
OS thinks the best solution is: The owners hand the bank the keys, the bank hands the deed to the city, the city razes the house, and zones the lot 'commercial'. Maybe, in 2020, the economic tide has turned, and the area does come back. It's a corner lot, maybe a place for a green-grocer to located. Easier to sell it if it's an empty lot.
At least that way, the city doesn't have a crack house on their hands.
This blog gets some visitors who know about these things. Any ideas?
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Geert Wilders Address To House Of Lords: Churchill Was Right
Geert Wilders can travel in the UK again, no thanks to a Labour government that has abandoned the idea of free speech.
He addressed the House of Lords today. The entire text is here, and is necessary reading.
Remember, in his home country, he is on trial for saying these things. He was barred entry to the UK for saying these things.
The entire speech is memorable, and uncompromising.
Ladies and gentlemen, not far from here stands a statue of the greatest Prime Minister your country ever had. And I would like to quote him here today: “Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. No stronger retrograde force exists in the World. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step (…) the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.” These words are from none other than Winston Churchill wrote this in his book ‘The River War’ from 1899.
Churchill was right.
Wilders is an important voice in the culture, because he addresses the culture head-on, and does not mince words.
Ladies and gentlemen, we should defend the right to freedom of speech. With all our strength. With all our might. Free speech is the most important of our many liberties. Free speech is the cornerstone of our modern societies. Freedom of speech is the breath of our democracy, without freedom of speech our way of life our freedom will be gone.
I believe it is our obligation to preserve the inheritance of the brave young soldiers that stormed the beaches of Normandy. That liberated Europe from tyranny. These heroes cannot have died for nothing. It is our obligation to defend freedom of speech. As George Orwell said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.
Green Shoots nominee!
'These Cuts Affect Me'
Hmm...Stop the presses!
Dog Bites Man!
Students Protest At Berkeley!
With the smell of burning sage and the occasional hint of weed in the air, an impassioned throng of students from the University of California’s Berkeley campus marched to Oakland (where the university system's headquarters are located) in opposition of budget cuts and tuition hikes they say are crippling one of the nation’s premier public institutions.
While the five-mile trek to Oakland proved largely peaceful, police arrested as many as 200 protesters once they reached freeways and tried to block them. The arrests mark the continuation of a what many describe as a troubling trend at the University of California, which has seen recent allegations of police brutality, racially motivated discord and an activist movement that at times appears intent on provoking law enforcement.
Thsi demonstration was part of a larger effort across the country yesterday, with protests reported in other locations. Berkeley, however, seems to have been the most vocal.
OS does not think another 'Those spoiled college kids' rant is in order. He has two of his own, neither of them spoiled, but both very cognizant that their opportunities have not come cheaply. They use Pell Grants, one has taken on significant loans, both work their patooties off. They don't talk of it often, but Dad hears the unease in their voices.
OS actually feels a bit of sympathy for the kids who went on their march in Berkeley yesterday. (The attempts to block the freeway, the windows smashed, etc., elicit no sympathy.)
They were raised in California, the land of milk and honey. Their folks likely went to UC, and prospered in their time. What could go wrong? Money grew on trees, and the state will always be there for the ed system. They were raised with that cultural assumption, which has proven to be fallacious. That's painful and angering to kids in late adolescence, which is what college students are. Their ethical world is black and white, and their cause is inherently just and true, just because it's their cause.
Had they been born five years earlier, they would not have even been aware of the gathering storm, as they busily did what college students do.
The cultural assumption was fallacious. And erroneous assumptions, if embraced, bring terrible consequences, in both individual lives and the wider world.
There is good news here, though. Some of these kids, in a more sober mood, will begin to read and think about what led to this day, and what it means. These kids will have the opportunity to embrace some healthier assumptions, and transmit them to their children.
Maybe, in 2030, we won't be reading accounts of undergraduates trashing college campuses because their tuition bills spiked unexpectedly.
In the meantime, allow OS to recommend a college that has avoided so many of the traps that so many other institutions have encountered.
It's not the only one, by any means, but provides a great template as the educational system begins to reorganize.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Dr. AlGore of The University Of Tennessee? We Are Not Amused
Planet Gore reports on the reaction of folks who live closest to the University of Tennessee about their plan to award AlGore an honorary doctorate.
They are not amused!
It's a tiny example of the disconnect OS ruminated on in his previous post.
In Tennessee, UT is for many folks a near-religious institution in their lives, an icon. If your kid gets to go to UT Knoxville, your family has achieved something, by golly. If your kid gets to play football for UT, you are local demi-gods.
Even so, times are tight. Tuition is way up, state money is down, and the dream is becoming more distant for many families.
So, the faculty and board decide to give AlGore (who wants to gut everything that makes life good in Tennessee for the sake of his nutter GlobalWarming rants), an honorary doctorate!!!
What are they thinking?
The additional expense of security at the commencement will be huge. Those dollars could have a better home, people might say...
Of course, this could be a tit-for-tat, with a significant chunk of money headed for the UT endowment from the Gore family. Of course, the announcements of the two events would be, shall we say, tastefully separated by time, so as to remain, well...tasteful. A follow-up building dedication may be in order, or perhaps a university presidency?
There's a move afoot in the Tennessee legislature that would specifically waive any academic requirement in order to serve as president of a state university. The sponsor cheerfully admits it's being done for an unnamed friend. AlGore, with his B.A., would certainly fit the description.
There's a search on for a new UT President. They've had a run of bad fortune in the position, but that's another story. And here we have AlGore, with his bright and shiny doctorate, and his tarnished Nobel Prize.
Hmm....what are they thinking?
The disconnect is breathtaking.
They are not amused!
It's a tiny example of the disconnect OS ruminated on in his previous post.
In Tennessee, UT is for many folks a near-religious institution in their lives, an icon. If your kid gets to go to UT Knoxville, your family has achieved something, by golly. If your kid gets to play football for UT, you are local demi-gods.
Even so, times are tight. Tuition is way up, state money is down, and the dream is becoming more distant for many families.
So, the faculty and board decide to give AlGore (who wants to gut everything that makes life good in Tennessee for the sake of his nutter GlobalWarming rants), an honorary doctorate!!!
What are they thinking?
The additional expense of security at the commencement will be huge. Those dollars could have a better home, people might say...
Of course, this could be a tit-for-tat, with a significant chunk of money headed for the UT endowment from the Gore family. Of course, the announcements of the two events would be, shall we say, tastefully separated by time, so as to remain, well...tasteful. A follow-up building dedication may be in order, or perhaps a university presidency?
There's a move afoot in the Tennessee legislature that would specifically waive any academic requirement in order to serve as president of a state university. The sponsor cheerfully admits it's being done for an unnamed friend. AlGore, with his B.A., would certainly fit the description.
There's a search on for a new UT President. They've had a run of bad fortune in the position, but that's another story. And here we have AlGore, with his bright and shiny doctorate, and his tarnished Nobel Prize.
Hmm....what are they thinking?
The disconnect is breathtaking.
Why ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings Are Viewed With Such Suspicion
David Brooks, columnist at the YewNorkTimes, offers some wry thoughts on a subject that bears consideration.
That general, undefined group of ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings seem to garner less and less of our respect. You know, the people who run banks, businesses, institutions that need more than anything to remain stable. Things like universities, electric utilities, school boards, churches, foundations, etc. For many years, in town after town, state after state, a person could wander into such an institution and see the portraits of such people on a wall somewhere. In a lot of places they remain on display. It matters a lot in America, which is such a cauldron of rapid change, that an image of stability be projected.
Inevitably, the portraits are of middle-aged white guys, and they project an image of absolute boring stability. If you're going to borrow money for a house, farm and tractors from this guy, you'd better have a long and wide good family reputation, and a demonstrated ability to make money at farming, by golly. If you're going to propose a change in course of educational policy at this university, you'd better have your ducks in a row, 'cuz we're doing just fine thank-you-very-much.
It's like everyone strove to look and act like Truman, Eisenhower, or even Truman's VP Alvin Barkley.
It was a badge of honor.
Brooks notes how this has changed, and why it may have contributed to our present unease:
[T]his new system has created new social chasms. In the old days, there were obviously big differences between people whose lives were defined by ''The Philadelphia Story'' and those who were defined by ''The Grapes of Wrath.'' But if you ran the largest bank in Murfreesboro, Tenn., you probably lived in Murfreesboro. Now you live in Charlotte or New York City. You might have married a secretary. Now you marry another banker. You would have had similar lifestyle habits as other people in town. Now the lifestyle patterns of the college-educated are very different from the patterns in other classes. Social attitudes are very different, too.
Too much in the essay to do it justice by pulling one quote. But he's right, in many ways, and like all good writers, he is able to put clear words to unclear intuitions.
OldSouth circulates, quietly, amongst folks in the New Managerial Class. Sometimes he wonders if they possess either souls or common sense. Here they are, making big decisions in their little worlds, and they seem oddly, wierdly disconnected from the context in which they daily live. To quote a grumpy neighbor: 'These people make me nervous!'.
OS does not wish to return to a world where being female, or black, or any number of other variations of the human condition automatically excludes one from opportunity. That is purely immoral. But there might much to learn from those grey, boring faces who stare out at us from the hall portraits, about attitudes toward life, duty, honor, and stability.
That general, undefined group of ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings seem to garner less and less of our respect. You know, the people who run banks, businesses, institutions that need more than anything to remain stable. Things like universities, electric utilities, school boards, churches, foundations, etc. For many years, in town after town, state after state, a person could wander into such an institution and see the portraits of such people on a wall somewhere. In a lot of places they remain on display. It matters a lot in America, which is such a cauldron of rapid change, that an image of stability be projected.
Inevitably, the portraits are of middle-aged white guys, and they project an image of absolute boring stability. If you're going to borrow money for a house, farm and tractors from this guy, you'd better have a long and wide good family reputation, and a demonstrated ability to make money at farming, by golly. If you're going to propose a change in course of educational policy at this university, you'd better have your ducks in a row, 'cuz we're doing just fine thank-you-very-much.
It's like everyone strove to look and act like Truman, Eisenhower, or even Truman's VP Alvin Barkley.
It was a badge of honor.
Brooks notes how this has changed, and why it may have contributed to our present unease:
[T]his new system has created new social chasms. In the old days, there were obviously big differences between people whose lives were defined by ''The Philadelphia Story'' and those who were defined by ''The Grapes of Wrath.'' But if you ran the largest bank in Murfreesboro, Tenn., you probably lived in Murfreesboro. Now you live in Charlotte or New York City. You might have married a secretary. Now you marry another banker. You would have had similar lifestyle habits as other people in town. Now the lifestyle patterns of the college-educated are very different from the patterns in other classes. Social attitudes are very different, too.
Too much in the essay to do it justice by pulling one quote. But he's right, in many ways, and like all good writers, he is able to put clear words to unclear intuitions.
OldSouth circulates, quietly, amongst folks in the New Managerial Class. Sometimes he wonders if they possess either souls or common sense. Here they are, making big decisions in their little worlds, and they seem oddly, wierdly disconnected from the context in which they daily live. To quote a grumpy neighbor: 'These people make me nervous!'.
OS does not wish to return to a world where being female, or black, or any number of other variations of the human condition automatically excludes one from opportunity. That is purely immoral. But there might much to learn from those grey, boring faces who stare out at us from the hall portraits, about attitudes toward life, duty, honor, and stability.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Our Situation, Illustrated
A big OS Hat-Tip to Jesse, the ever-droll Jesse, who informs us that the Bank of England will be floating a big debt issue.
No big deal.
In dollars.
Hmmm...
Now, my friends in England's Green and Pleasant Land, if the pound drops significantly against the dollar, the price of that paying off that debt goes up dramatically, out of your pockets.
Now, of course, they'll be buying credit insurance from AIG, the zombie corporation owned by the US Treasury. Whatever AIG loses, we pay for. Sort of like having a cocaine-addicted child and giving him keys to the Ferrari. What could go wrong?
In the end, all those dollars are carried on the backs of the households of the US. It's up to us, in the end, to make good on them.
Ergo, the BofE, with a Wall Street bank, have figured out a way to lay the ultimate risk of this debt issuance off on us, after they are through with you.
Of course, this behavior always comes with a price. Do you guys really want Bernanke, Geithner, and Obama to grasp your good country by the short hairs?
These guys will throw you under the bus, just because they can.
Bill Pearce, 1926-2010: A Lifetime Green Shoots Award
It's hard to know where to begin to talk about Bill Pearce. He was so many things to so many people for so many years. Every person he touched, whether in person, in concert, or over the radio, was a better person for having been in his presence.
OS will just have to make a list:
1. First, he was a marvelous musician. This mp3 gives you a taste of his artistry on the trombone. Listen from the beginning to the end, and you're in for the real surprise after he finishes playing. A lot of people attempt to play the instrument, and very very few do it well, because it is a wicked hard thing to do. He always played with a liquid, singing tone, drawing the audience in, only to interject some astounding bit of virtuosity along the way. There was an amazing precision to his playing as well--flawless intonation, impeccable taste. (He also had a world-class baritone voice, which he employed to great effect, both as a singer and radio broadcaster.)
2. Second, he was wonderful radio broadcaster, spending his career at Moody Radio, a religious broadcasting outfit in Chicago, from the late 1940's until health no longer allowed him to continue--well over fifty years.
3. Third, he was a fabulous, sweet, humble gentleman. Anyone who could play like that, sing like that, and talk like that had every reason to sport a real ego. And, he could have made a truckload of money along the way, had he chosen to. He always saw his gifts as something he could offer gratefully to God, and in the service of others.
His health began to fail in 1995, as Parkinson's disease took hold. He retired from his concert work, and, in the march of time, events and cultural dissolution, faded from view. But he kept soldiering on as best he could, as long as he could, doing what he could for the people around him.
Douglas Yeo, bass trombonist with the Boston Symphony, published an extensive interview with Bill in 1998. It is a fascinating, inspiring story, well worth the time taken to read and absorb. Look at all the influences and events that came together in this extraordinary life--family, teachers, work ethic, a Marine bandmaster who heard something special about him, mentors, colleagues. It's an account of a life well spent, that added value to every life around him.
From the 1960's onward, Bill hosted a late-night radio show, Nightsounds, which played quiet music and offered encouragement to troubled souls. The website for the show is here, and includes an official obituary here. There are a number of Bill's performances to enjoy at the website.
OS took the time to use the PayPal link to make a modest donation to keep the show going from its archives, and hopes his readers will consider doing the same.
Green Shoots Award to Bill Pearce, hands down.
(Here's hoping OS will find a seat warm next to him in the heavenly band one fine day.)
OS will just have to make a list:
1. First, he was a marvelous musician. This mp3 gives you a taste of his artistry on the trombone. Listen from the beginning to the end, and you're in for the real surprise after he finishes playing. A lot of people attempt to play the instrument, and very very few do it well, because it is a wicked hard thing to do. He always played with a liquid, singing tone, drawing the audience in, only to interject some astounding bit of virtuosity along the way. There was an amazing precision to his playing as well--flawless intonation, impeccable taste. (He also had a world-class baritone voice, which he employed to great effect, both as a singer and radio broadcaster.)
2. Second, he was wonderful radio broadcaster, spending his career at Moody Radio, a religious broadcasting outfit in Chicago, from the late 1940's until health no longer allowed him to continue--well over fifty years.
3. Third, he was a fabulous, sweet, humble gentleman. Anyone who could play like that, sing like that, and talk like that had every reason to sport a real ego. And, he could have made a truckload of money along the way, had he chosen to. He always saw his gifts as something he could offer gratefully to God, and in the service of others.
His health began to fail in 1995, as Parkinson's disease took hold. He retired from his concert work, and, in the march of time, events and cultural dissolution, faded from view. But he kept soldiering on as best he could, as long as he could, doing what he could for the people around him.
Douglas Yeo, bass trombonist with the Boston Symphony, published an extensive interview with Bill in 1998. It is a fascinating, inspiring story, well worth the time taken to read and absorb. Look at all the influences and events that came together in this extraordinary life--family, teachers, work ethic, a Marine bandmaster who heard something special about him, mentors, colleagues. It's an account of a life well spent, that added value to every life around him.
From the 1960's onward, Bill hosted a late-night radio show, Nightsounds, which played quiet music and offered encouragement to troubled souls. The website for the show is here, and includes an official obituary here. There are a number of Bill's performances to enjoy at the website.
OS took the time to use the PayPal link to make a modest donation to keep the show going from its archives, and hopes his readers will consider doing the same.
Green Shoots Award to Bill Pearce, hands down.
(Here's hoping OS will find a seat warm next to him in the heavenly band one fine day.)
Bunning's Offices Receive Bomb Threats, The MSM Just Shrugs
Jim Bunning, (R-Kenticky) has not just endured criticism, but his offices have received bomb threats.
Offices in Louisville and Hazard had to be evacuated.
Not a murmur from the national press.
Now, imagine if it had been Barbara Boxer holding up a bill to ensure that language ensuring the right to late-term abortion. And there were a bomb threat.
We would hear of it 24/7 for days, with the righteously angry MSM warning darkly of vast conspiracies against the nation.
Yadda, yadda....
Yadda.
Wonder what would have happened had a bomb actually gone off?
And innocents injured?
The MSM would have blamed Bunning for 'provoking' an 'anguished response' to his 'intransigence'.
Enough already. Time to vote the vermin out.
In the meantime, we're not obligated to spend a penny on the MSM press, or a moment tuned into them.
Offices in Louisville and Hazard had to be evacuated.
Not a murmur from the national press.
Now, imagine if it had been Barbara Boxer holding up a bill to ensure that language ensuring the right to late-term abortion. And there were a bomb threat.
We would hear of it 24/7 for days, with the righteously angry MSM warning darkly of vast conspiracies against the nation.
Yadda, yadda....
Yadda.
Wonder what would have happened had a bomb actually gone off?
And innocents injured?
The MSM would have blamed Bunning for 'provoking' an 'anguished response' to his 'intransigence'.
Enough already. Time to vote the vermin out.
In the meantime, we're not obligated to spend a penny on the MSM press, or a moment tuned into them.
There Is No Innocent Explanation: The Fall Of The House Of Madoff
It began innocently enough, in the late 1990's. Harry Markopolos worked for a Boston investment firm that kept losing customers to Bernie Madoff. Bernie was consistently, almost spookily, outperforming them, and Harry's bosses wanted him to find out how. They wanted to him to model Bernie's operation, so they could go and do likewise.
In under thirty minutes, Harry had bad news: They couldn't replicate Bernie, because Bernie was running a huge Ponzi scheme.
Thus began a decade-long journey in pursuit of Bernie and his sixty-five billion dollar scam.
Not surprisingly, he's now on a book tour.
Harry is not, shall we say, a riveting interview. He's a nerd, actually. But listen to what he has to say.
No one at the agency tasked with preventing stock fraud could understand the math he presented on four different occasions. No one was fired as a result, only promoted.
Had the meltdown not occurred in the fall of 2008, Bernie would still be at it. He turned himself in to the FBI. When they arrived to interview him, he greeted them with the classic line: 'There is no innocent explanation.'
He was speaking for himself, but as so often happens at crucial moments, his statement took on a universal tone.
In under thirty minutes, Harry had bad news: They couldn't replicate Bernie, because Bernie was running a huge Ponzi scheme.
Thus began a decade-long journey in pursuit of Bernie and his sixty-five billion dollar scam.
Not surprisingly, he's now on a book tour.
Harry is not, shall we say, a riveting interview. He's a nerd, actually. But listen to what he has to say.
No one at the agency tasked with preventing stock fraud could understand the math he presented on four different occasions. No one was fired as a result, only promoted.
Had the meltdown not occurred in the fall of 2008, Bernie would still be at it. He turned himself in to the FBI. When they arrived to interview him, he greeted them with the classic line: 'There is no innocent explanation.'
He was speaking for himself, but as so often happens at crucial moments, his statement took on a universal tone.
Hannan's History Lesson On The Tea Party
A bit of a history lesson from Dan Hannan, who lends his Oxford-educated perspective to the Tea Parties: the one in Boston in 1773, the movement that has arisen here in the past year, and the one just underway back in Great Britain.
The American Revolution, in other words, was inspired by British political philosophy and – more to the point – by British political practice. American patriots saw themselves as part of a continuing British tradition, stretching back through the Glorious Revolution, back through the agitations of Pym and Hampden, back even through the Great Charter to the folkright of Anglo-Saxon common law.
We here owe so much to those who risked everything for freedom, the ones who stayed behind when our ancestors debarked for America.
Three cheers, if distant and delayed.
The American Revolution, in other words, was inspired by British political philosophy and – more to the point – by British political practice. American patriots saw themselves as part of a continuing British tradition, stretching back through the Glorious Revolution, back through the agitations of Pym and Hampden, back even through the Great Charter to the folkright of Anglo-Saxon common law.
We here owe so much to those who risked everything for freedom, the ones who stayed behind when our ancestors debarked for America.
Three cheers, if distant and delayed.
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