Subject: Advocacy
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What should you do if you’re politically progressive or even if you label yourself a liberal, or a Democrat but are unhappy about the direction of New Jersey’s government? You should attend a great conference on Saturday, April 18th being…
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Back when I was a local reporter, I witnessed the unfortunate demise of a beloved neighborhood park in Malden, Massachusetts. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. had been involved in the park’s design at the dawn of the 20th century. But local…
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It’s amazing what accounts for a market rally. Are we starting to see a pattern here? While the MSM still insists on using the Dow Jones Industrial Average in taking the temperature of public policy, it’s clear that the “markets” are not fond of being held down. Is the Dow reaching over 8000 for the first time in almost two months an economic indicator, or simply a characteristic of an increasingly fickle market?
From a report today in The New York Times:
The board that sets United States accounting standards is giving companies more leeway when valuing assets, a potential lift to battered banks’ balance sheets. The independent Financial Accounting Standards Board voted to adopt guidelines under the so-called mark-to-market accounting rules, which require companies to value assets at prices reflecting current market conditions…The changes could reduce the losses banks have been forced to report as the values of their mortgage-backed securities have crumbled. The decision will allow the assets to be valued at what they would go for in an “orderly” sale, as opposed to a forced or distressed sale. The new guidelines will apply to the second quarter that began this month. The mark-to-market rules have forced banks to take steep write-downs on some assets, especially securities tied to high-risk subprime mortgages.
The Dow was up over 300 points at the publishing of this post. See article link here. more
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In general, most efforts to develop “green infrastructure” at the neighborhood level have been volunteer-led, grassroots efforts. City governments don’t tend to take the lead on creating pocket parks and planting trees or developing bike infrastructure. Seattle’s Green Factor is…
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If you still have not watched The Daily Show, stop what you are doing and go on the Internet and watch last week’s clips of Jon Stewart’s show. He was engaged in a weeklong battle with CNBC and Jim Cramer. What Stewart did was amazing.
.cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url(‘http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png’) !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;}The Daily Show With Jon StewartM – Th 11p / 10cCNBC Gives Financial AdviceDaily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri MartinPolitical Humor
Jim Cramer
It started with a CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s populist rant against Obama for using our tax dollars to bail out neighbors who are in danger of foreclosure. Santelli, who reports from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, attacked Obama’s housing bailout plan because it will help homeowners refinance mortgages and avoid foreclosure. more
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In the Chicago metro area as across the nation, even with various public, private and nonprofit relief efforts underway, the foreclosure crisis continues to snowball.
Foreclosures and foreclosed buildings going into real estate ownerships (REO) and hence likely remaining vacant have continued to rise, according to the latest analysis by the nonprofit Woodstock Institute. There was a 52 percent increase in foreclosure filings in the Chicago metro area between 2007 and 2008; building on a 100 percent increase between 2006 and 2007.
While all types of foreclosures have risen, in the Chicago area there has been a recent spike in foreclosures of condos. Condos made up 19 percent of area foreclosures in 2008, compared to 12 percent in 2007. The Chicago neighborhoods of Rogers Park and Uptown — economically and racially diverse, relatively affordable neighborhoods on the city’s north side — were particularly hard hit. more
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Editor’s Note: The following is from the National Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Stabilization Task Force. See the bottom of the page for a list of task force members.
In 2008, approximately two million families faced the devastating impacts of foreclosure — and at least as many foreclosures are anticipated this year and next.
The members of the National Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Stabilization Task Force believe it’s time to make immediate fixes to our housing infrastructure to create jobs now and get our communities back on track. The Task Force — a cross-industry group of nearly 100 local and national organizations concerned about the foreclosure crisis’ impacts on communities — encourages the addition of $4 billion to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) that will help state, county and city efforts to meet the overwhelming and growing need to rehabilitate vacant and foreclosed properties — providing thousands of new jobs for rehab contractors and home builders — and to resuscitate our communities. more
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What was the best event at the inaugural celebration? Watching Barack Obama take the oath of office, of course, but the next best moment was watching Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen lead the nation in singing “This Land is Your Land” at Sunday’s “We Are One” concert at the Lincoln Memorial.
Seeger is the legendary American folk singer and long time radical activist who contributed mightily to the folk and protest movements of the 50s and 60s and has continued his activism with his environmental organization, the Clearwater group, which he founded in 1966.
“This Land Was Your Land,” written in the shadow of the Great Depression by Woody Guthrie, captured the hurt and hunger endured by ordinary Americans as well as the push back by workers and farmers who organized across the country. more
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“Isn’t it true, Dr. Squires, that you are an advocate?” As an occasional expert for plaintiffs in fair housing lawsuits this is a question I almost always get during depositions. The implication, of course, is that as an advocate I…
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National Housing Institute
