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Apparently there is a widespread anti-union movement among local governments. The Providence Journal reports that in that city in Rhode Island ALL of the teachers are being terminated… not laid off. This seems to be a blatant ploy by the School Board to break the union, and to restructure radically the teaching profession in that state. PROVIDENCE — After two hours of contentious . . . → Read More: Providence fires all its teachers Bloomberg reports that it seems finally jail terms are being given for mortgage fraud. Though reading between the lines it seems this guy was an originator who falsified mortgage documents that he passed on to Fannie. It isn’t clear if consumers were caught up in this fraud as well. The former president of a New Jersey-based mortgage company has been sentenced to 14 . . . → Read More: NJ Man sentenced to jail time in mortgage fraud scheme Foreign Policy has a beautiful article called “Revolution U” on the Center for Applied NonViolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS). The group grew out of The Serbian resistance – Otpor, which means Resistance. The tactics they teach and have taught in over 50 countries) are a distillation of clear nonviolent revolution of the sort which was successful in Tunisia and Egypt. I have long . . . → Read More: Revolution University I am participating in the Leadership Training Institute at the Crown Height Community Mediation Center and in the latest meeting on Diversity one of my colleagues (who it was escapes me at this moment… my apologies! … hat tip forthcoming) mentioned that there was a very good essay on white privilege and male privilege by Peggy McIntosh. I realized long ago that I . . . → Read More: White male privileges considered USA Today says that indeed the Wisconsin State Troopers are seeking the Democratic leader of the Senate. Arrested voter. The Wisconsin Senate Democrats went AWOL to protest the cutting of benefits to state workers and the gutting of the their rights as members of unions. . . . → Read More: Wisconsin protesters sought by police… the State’s Senators. The Times of India notes under a provocative headline that a New Chinese law is aimed at wiping out Tibetan identity. I was particularly struck by the law’s requirement that Tibetans seek permission for reincarnation (presumably prior to death since I don’t think Communists can access that Bardo state). . . . → Read More: May I have permission to reincarnate, please? It occurs to me that the whipsawing of the US position on Egypt over the past few weeks was due to a perceived conflict between our values and our interests. There are legitimate interests in the stability of Egypt: the treaty and continued peace with Israel, the Suez canal, the bulwark against terrorism and Islamic extremism. On the other hand there are the . . . → Read More: Values and Interests Well it seems that the lawyers in Florida are the first to taste the wrath of the courts in Foreclosuregate. The Palm Beach Post notes that a local lawyer was cited in contempt of court for presenting fake documents. It seems that they were declared lost, then filed later, then apparently were for another property. Laughable. A day after federal mortgage giant Fannie . . . → Read More: Flordia Lawyer cited for contempt of court in Foreclosure fraud I am in tears of wonder at the courage and continuing nonviolence of the protesters in Egypt. Many on the news have held up Martin Luther King Jr. in the Western interviews. Many stated over and over again today they are will to die. One said in Tahrir Square tonight ” Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” The people in the USA . . . → Read More: Egypt: The lesson in nonviolence for 2011 Dr. Philip Neches has an analysis at the Huffington Post of the Bank of America (BAC) announcement that they will separate 1.3 million of their mortgages into a new entity. This is a “good bank / bad bank” strategy. Bank of America will now try to resolve the loans that it places in the bad bank at low impact on its own balance sheet. I wonder how it is going to do this. IF the entity becomes separate from BAC they could take out a short on it though… or they could securitize the entity in tranches and sell off the more toxic stuff to some idiots. If they could buy a AAA from some supine rating firm, then they could get a good price for the securities. Does this sound familiar? . . . → Read More: Legacy entity slieght of hand at Bank of America |
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