Q2 foreclosures up 121% from 2007

Well, at least Charles Prince and Stanley O'Neal are still sitting on a few hundred million made from these failed deals. For them, life remains pretty good, so thanks for your business.

U.S. home foreclosure filings rose 14 percent in the second quarter, the eighth consecutive quarterly climb, and more than doubled from the same period a year-earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Friday.

Home foreclosure filings during the second quarter were reported on 739,714 U.S. properties, up 121 percent from a year earlier, RealtyTrac, an online market of foreclosure properties, said in a report.

The figure is a total of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions between April and June.

"Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by rampant activity in a few states, such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity," James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.

Read the rest of this post...

Friday Orchid Blogging

Colmanara Wildcat (in full bloom)

You may recall that about a month ago I blogged about this flower just as it was starting to bloom. Well, now it's in full bloom, with about 70 flowers, give or take, so you can see it in its full splendor. This is what orchids do when they get all the light they want and need. Pretty cool. Read the rest of this post...

Another cell phone-cancer warning

We are not that many years into widespread cell phone use so I don't see how the previous studies can be reliable. At a minimum parents ought to be very cautious with children and then keep educating yourself on the subject. British doctors were saying something very similar only a few months ago. Just because the FDA says something, it doesn't mean much these days thanks to the GOP.

The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Herberman is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science, and he believes that people should take action now, especially when it comes to children.

"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman said.

Read the rest of this post...

McCain needs cheat notes on milk prices

John got a tip that when McCain was in the grocery store in Pennsylvania, he had to look at his notes to know how much milk costs. Yep. From Jed, of course:


Hey, McCain never claimed the economy was his strong suit. And, seriously, when was the last time he bought a gallon of milk? Cindy has people who do that for them. Read the rest of this post...

Vets blasts McCain's double standard of attacking Obama for doing what McCain did, too

I wrote earlier today about a decision by "the Pentagon" (which is actually a building, not a person) to prevent Senator Barack Obama from visiting a military base in Germany. As expected, the McCain campaign attacked Obama for not visiting the base that "the Pentagon" told him he couldn't visit. The traditional media dutifully ate up McCain's attack. (The political reporters are all worried that McCain is mad at them for giving better coverage to Obama so for the next few weeks, they'll accept every criticism of Obama, no matter how unfounded.)

On the other hand,Brandon Friedman from VoteVets, who knows a thing or two about how the military operates, didn't buy McCain's attacks. Instead, he exposed McCain's double standard, linking to an April 2008 CNN report where McCain adviser Steve Schmidt said of visits to military installations, "We follow the rules." With that, Brandon let them have it:

I understand that the McCain campaign is disorganized and pathologically clueless when it comes to utilizing the media, but they're clearly being dishonest in this case. McCain is demonstrably criticizing Obama for following a Pentagon rule to which the McCain campaign itself has been subjected recently. That's a fact. So this seems to be a simple cheap shot at Obama, in the hopes that the media won't be internet savvy enough (i.e., able to use Google) to figure out the whole story.

"We follow the rules," Steve Schmidt from the McCain campaign said.

Exactly. And they have no problem attacking Obama for doing the same. That's the very definition of "double standard."

Regardless, the Pentagon will now be under more pressure to keep the playing field even--and to keep the policy consistent on both sides.

It might behoove the media types to do their own google searches before buying into McCain's attacks. Actually, it might behoove the media types to fact check everything McCain says these days. Because, McCain and his campaign staffers are playing the political reporters for fools and just making things up. Read the rest of this post...

McCain actually thinks 16-month timetable is "a pretty good timetable"

For all McCain's squawking and complaining and railing about Iraq timetables, today, on CNN, the GOP nominee endorsed the 16-month timetable. That's al-Maliki's idea -- and what Obama has proposed, too, p.s.

You're probably thinking, after all McCain has done to castigate Obama for pushing a timetable, he couldn't possibly have gone on CNN and supported a timetable himself. But, yes, he did:
Read the rest of this post...

What's the "stealth" housing bailout costing us?

Read it and weep. It's hard to believe we're this deep in and have yet to have serious discussions about this massive failure by banks/financial organizations, regulators or politicians. Again, where the hell are all of the cheerleaders like Phil Gramm and the rest of the GOP who sold this load of manure?

With Congress on the eve of passing a historic bill that would give the Treasury a blank check to lend money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it’s worth looking at how much money the government has already pumped into the system during the housing crisis.

The numbers are staggering and likely to get much larger. What we have here is, through a variety of programs, a stealth bailout where more than a trillion dollars of taxpayer guarantees have been extended to the housing market, both to keep it going and to clean up the mess from the past.

I looked at the changes over the past year to the balance sheets of four governmental and quasi-governmental agencies—the Federal Reserve, the Federal Home Loan Banks, the Federal Housing Administration and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The objective was to see how much additional financing they have provided to the housing market. The total: $1.43 trillion.[My emphasis added.]

Read the rest of this post...

I'm guessing somebody didn't max out to Hillary...

I just arrived at Chris and Joelle's place, preparing to begin my annual cat-sitting. I brought the cats a Hillary catnip toy, and Sushi (pictured below with Hillary under his hind leg) reciprocated by bringing me a dead sparrow, playing with it, and then devouring it in my presence (the sparrow isn't pictured). Last year the cats brought me a cricket, which they ate for me, live, and the year before that you'll recall the famed 11pm bloody pigeon episode. And who says cats aren't as much fun as dogs. I'm willing to wager that Boomer never brings Joe half-dead vermin.

Read the rest of this post...

The Republicans' favorite European, French President Sarkozy, is now an Obama man

Hey, I love the French as much as the next guy (in fact, I'll be Friday Cat Blogging live in a few hours from the AMERICAblog Paris office), so I can say without any animus that the endorsement of the French president isn't exactly what every American presidential candidate craves. Having said that, Nicolas Sarkozy is every Republican's favorite Frenchman. So it's kind of funny as hell that he seems to have endorsed Obama yesterday. Does it matter? No and yes. No, foreigners can't vote, and a hearty embrace from the fur-ners can be counter-productive, or at least meaningless. But, Americans are sensitive nowadays to the fact that much of the world kind of detests us. It didn't used to bother a lot of Americans, I think now it does, at least to a degree. So I suspect the Obamamania from abroad, at this point, is helping Obama's image at home with the left and the middle, and they're the two voting blocs he's counting on. Read the rest of this post...

McCain now claiming he was critical of Iraq war from the beginning. Uh, no.

What McCain is claiming today:

“From the early days of this war, I feared the administration was pursuing a mistaken strategy, and I said so.”

What McCain actually said during the early days of the war:

EARLY 2003: MCCAIN PREDICTED A SHORT WAR IN IRAQ, SAYING “WE WILL BE WELCOMED AS LIBERATORS”

McCain: Predicted a “Brief, Successful War In Iraq.” In March 2003, just prior to the start of military operations in Iraq, McCain said on the floor of the Senate, “The costs of these enterprises are not known with any degree of certainty at this time. Nor are the costs we will incur after what I believe, what I fervently, hope, will be a brief, successful war in Iraq, as we seek to establish the foundations for a peaceful, stable and democratizing Iraq.” McCain also added, “I believe the war in Iraq can be concluded successfully in a relatively brief time.” (Congressional Record, 3/18/03)

McCain Proclaimed “There’s No Doubt In My Mind…That We Will Be Welcomed As Liberators.” “There's no doubt in my mind that once these people are gone that we will be welcomed as liberators,” McCain said on MSNBC’s Hardball in March 2003. (MSNBC, “Hardball”, 3/24/03)

McCain: Iraq War Will Be “Relatively Short.” During a March 2003 interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” McCain said, “I believe that this conflict is still going to be relatively short. I believe we’ve achieved significant goals and successes.” (NBC, “Meet the Press,” 3/30/03)

McCain: End of Iraq War “Very Much In Sight.” In interview on ABC’s Good Morning America, McCain was asked “At what point will America be able to say the war was won?” McCain replied. “We've still got the oil fields in the north that have to be secured. Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, I would imagine there'll be some die hards there that, but I think that we, it, it’s clear that the end is very much in sight, and today I think Americans should be very proud of their leadership, their technology…There are still some foreigners, Syrians and others hanging around. But it won’t be long. It will be a fairly short period of time, but this happens in wars. I’m confident that once they are confident the area is no longer a threat to the Marines and to or army troops that they’ll start imposing discipline. In the meantime, we’ll have a short period of chaos.” (ABC, “Good Morning America”, 4/9/03)

McCain Said He Was “Sure” The End Of Conflict In Iraq Was Near. During an appearing on “Lou Dobbs Moneyline,” McCain was asked, “Is it your judgment that we are near the end of this conflict?” McCain replied, “Oh, I’m sure that’s true.” (CNN, “Lou Dobbs Moneyline,” 4/10/03)

· SUMMER 2003: MCCAIN SAID THE “MAJOR CONFLICT” WAS OVER IN IRAQ

McCain: “The Major Conflict” Is Over. McCain said in 2003, “I have said a long time that reconstruction of Iraq would be a long, long, difficult process, But the conflict, the major conflict is over ... The regime change is accomplished.” (Fox News, “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” 6/11/03)

McCain Proclaimed “Massive Victory” in Iraq and Credited Combat-Readiness for "Our Victory" in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom demonstrated to the world what we saw just 12 years ago. We went to war as the most combat-ready force in the world. The value of that readiness is clear. We won a massive victory in a few weeks, and we did so with very limited loss of American and allied lives. We were able to end aggression with minimum overall loss of life, and we were even able to greatly reduce the civilian casualties of Afghani and Iraqi citizens. . . . Our technology edge in Afghanistan and Iraq would have been meaningless if we did not have men and women trained to use it. Having the best weapons system platforms in the world would not have given us our victory if we had not had the right command and control facilities, maintenance capabilities, and munitions." (Congressional Record, 5/22/03)

McCain: The Mission Is “Accomplished.” In an interview with Salon.com. McCain said, “I just think -- as I said -- I think we will find weapons of mass destruction. Now, I think it's entirely appropriate now that regime change has been orchestrated -- and though the danger is certainly not over, the mission is ‘accomplished’ -- it's appropriate to have a hearing.” (Salon, 6/13/03)

Read the rest of this post...

"Taking on the System" -- definitely worth taking on

This is a must read book. And, I don't think I've ever said that about any book we reviewed here on AMERICAblog.

Markos gave me a copy of his new book about a month ago when I was in California. I finished it before I got back to D.C. When I read books these days, I want to be entertained or I want to learn something. "Taking on the System" achieved both goals.

Anyone who reads and devours the progressive blogs will love "Taking on the System." Markos is a great storyteller -- and he weaves lessons about winning -- and organizing and new technologies -- into those stories. You'll recognize a lot of the names and many of the anecdotes. And, you'll realize how far we've progressed since the dark days of 2002 before there really was a progressive blogosphere. Throughout the book, he honors some of the people who have become our netroots heroes by taking on the system -- and winning.

"Taking on the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Digital Era" is available August 20th. Seems like there's already quite a buzz about the book. The publisher moved up the release date by a couple weeks. You can pre-order it here or order it from your local book seller.

Get the book. Read it. You'll be inspired. And, think of all the people who loathe the liberal blogs and Markos (e.g. Bill O'Reilly) who are going to be seething as this books moves up the charts. Read the rest of this post...

"The Pentagon" blocks Obama from visiting troops

This is rich -- and disturbing.

The very Pentagon leaders that do not take care of the wounded troops, see this post below, prevented Barack Obama from visiting wounded troops in Germany. The Pentagon claimed Obama's visit would be political. He's a United States Senator for Christ sakes. Blocking Obama's visit is politics. Who at the Pentagon made this call? I want names.

Andrea Mitchell explains:


A person or people, not "the Pentagon," made the decision to prevent a U.S. Senator from visiting soldiers. John wrote earlier this week about the Chairman of the Joints Chief inappropriately injecting his views into the campaign. Be interesting to know which Pentagon officials gave this order -- and who was consulted from the Bush/Cheney administration.

For the GOP, "support the troops" is just a political slogan -- and that Bush/Cheney/Rove/McCain crowd uses every opportunity to play politics with these issues. If you have any doubts about how ugly this campaign is going to get, watch how McCain tries to exploit the fact that Obama didn't visit troops in Germany -- after "the Pentagon" blocked the trip.

McCain doesn't want anymore images like this. Read the rest of this post...

Utah Army National Guard Intelligence Officer (i.e.,. spy) reportedly authors chain email defaming Obama

UPDATE: I got a copy of what is alleged to be the email. The email is signed CPT Jeffrey S. Porter.

The entire thing was a lie, signed in this guy's name. Obviously, someone could have faked this guy's name in an email, but according to the NY Daily News, the guy exists, and they seem to think he wrote it. The new chain email claims, incorrectly, that Obama blew off the troops waiting to shake his hand at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan so he could shoot hoops instead (was the alleged Intell Officer trying to imply a racist smear against Obama as well? You know those black guys and their basketballs...). In any case, the Army came out and denied the veracity of the email - Obama didn't shoot hoops, and he did greet the troops - but screw that, where is the denial from the Intell guy? I want to see him declaring that he didn't write the email and that it's factually untrue. If our spy didn't offer the anti-Obama smear, then wouldn't you think the military would have mentioned that right at the beginning of their denial?

Just as importantly, if the author of this phony smear is an Army intelligence officer - read: a US spy - then there is some serious potential illegality with him using his professional disinformation spycraft in an attempt to influence an American election. Remember, it was just yesterday that State Department employees in Berlin were told not to dare show up at Obama's speech, lest they appear to be weighing in on our elections. So how do you think a US spy using his spy talents to influence our elections falls under the rules?

Then again, can you blame the guy? His boss, the Pentagon chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, decided to weigh in on behalf of John McCain this past weekend on TV, so big surprise one of this underlings got the message, nudge nudge wink wink. Oh, guess what, I just googled my own blog and found that this week wasn't the first time Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen tried to influence the US election on behalf of John McCain. Check this out. Mullen was concerned, you may recall, about us having elections at all during a war. Uh huh. And he was especially concerned that we might have to change strategy next year in Iraq, and that such a change might not go well - again, nudge nudge wink wink - if someone else, oh I don't know who, becomes president and doesn't want to stick with the Bush-McCain plan for the 100 years war in Iraq. Not naming names here, but I'm guessing the guy who's going to make all the bad changes is a fan of basketball.

More on this latest right-wing smear from the Obama campaign. Read the rest of this post...

McCain fully adopts the Rove campaign strategy, completing McCain's transformation into George Bush

By any measure, John McCain has had a rough couple weeks. But, in the embers of his failing campaign, a new strategy is emerging. We saw McCain make an outrageous, over the top attack on Obama's patriotism (video here) for which he refuses to back down. We saw McCain make a series of major gaffes on foreign policy issues, but he refuses to admit any mistakes, even when they are obvious.

Brutal character attacks. Stubborn refusal to admit mistakes. Sound familiar? It should. We saw it in the past two presidential elections. McCain is fully adopting the Rove strategy:

Bruce Merrill, professor emeritus at Arizona State University, said he felt McCain's refusal to back down in the face of contrary evidence was part of a new campaign strategy formulated by operatives brought on board from President George W. Bush's two successful White House bids.

"Ultimately, the strategy is to make voters doubt Obama's character," said Merrill, noting that modern campaigning plays not to real issues but to voter fears, emotions and visceral judgments.

This is the final step in the complete morphing of McCain into Bush. This is also the time for the Obama campaign to obliterate the McCain/Rove strategy before it starts taking hold. Read the rest of this post...

Still not supporting the troops. Still.

How can this still be? After all the years of sloganeering by Bush, Cheney, McCain and the others who led this country into a war, our troops still aren't being supported. The wounded soldiers are not getting the care they deserve. It's beyond shocking. The NY Times editorializes:

Among other things, the Army failed to anticipate a flood of wounded soldiers. Some transition units have been overwhelmed and are thus severely understaffed. At Fort Hood, Tex., last month, staff members found 1,362 patients in a unit authorized for 649 — and more than 350 on a waiting list. Of the total, 311 were identified as being at high risk of drug overdose, suicide or other dangerous behavior. There were 38 nurse case managers when there should have been 74. Some soldiers have had to languish two months to a year before the Army decided what to do with them, far longer than the goal the Army set last year.

Under skeptical questioning during a hearing in February, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general, told the subcommittee that “for all intents and purposes, we are entirely staffed at the point we need to be staffed.” He also said: “The Army’s unwavering commitment and a key element of our warrior ethos is that we never leave a soldier behind on the battlefield — or lost in a bureaucracy.”

That was thousands of wounded, neglected soldiers ago. There are now about 12,500 soldiers assigned to the warrior transition units — more than twice as many as a year ago. The number is expected to reach 20,000 by this time next year.

The nation’s responsibility to care for the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan will extend for decades. After Tuesday’s hearing, we are left pondering the simple questions asked at the outset by Representative Susan Davis, the California Democrat who is chairwoman of the military personnel subcommittee: Why did the Army fail to adequately staff its warrior transition units? Why did it fail to predict the surge in demand? And why did it take visits from a Congressional subcommittee to prod the Army into recognizing and promising — yet again — to fix the problem?

The only way to fix the problem is to get a new administration. Bush has abandoned the troops. And, for all McCain's talk, there hasn't been much action. Read the rest of this post...

Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Obama continues his foreign tour. McCain continues his cranky, creaky, increasingly desperate campaign. The next two weeks til the Olympics are going to be interesting. McCain has to do "something" to get back in the game. Picking his V.P. is a possibility. Most likely, McCain will just continue his "scurrilous" attacks. It's all he's got now. Unless he gets Bush to pull some stunt.

As I'm writing, I can hear Dick Cheney's motorcade rolling down Connecticut Avenue right now. Only a couple more months of that.

Ok, thread. Read the rest of this post...

Food industry bitten by their own lobbying efforts

Gosh, I didn't see that one coming. Shocked. Absolutely shocked. The Big Food industry has only themselves to blame for losing $250+ million due to food safety issues. They bought influence in Washington and the GOP, as they do, believed the entire "we can self regulate" rubbish. Well duh, it doesn't work for food nor finance nor any other industry.

One of the worst outbreaks of foodborne illness in the U.S. is teaching the food industry the truth of the adage, "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it."

The industry pressured the Bush administration years ago to limit the paperwork companies would have to keep to help U.S. health investigators quickly trace produce that sickens consumers, according to interviews and government reports reviewed by The Associated Press.

The White House also killed a plan to require the industry to maintain electronic tracking records that could be reviewed easily during a crisis to search for an outbreak's source. Companies complained the proposals were too burdensome and costly, and warned they could disrupt the availability of consumers' favorite foods.

The apparent but unintended consequences of the lobbying success: a paper record-keeping system that has slowed investigators, with estimated business losses of $250 million. So far, nearly 1,300 people in 43 states, the District of Columbia and Canada have been sickened by salmonella since April.

Investigators initially focused on tomatoes as a culprit. Now they are turning attention to jalapeno peppers.

Even still, rumors about tomato problems are still swirling. Great lobbying job folks. How'd it all work out for ya? Read the rest of this post...

Qantas flight lands after loud noise and "massive" hole

What the heck was that? This must have been terrifying for customers and I'm sure more updates will be arriving soon.Passengers have described how they feared their plane would disintegrate after a "massive" hole appeared mid-flight.

The plane made an emergency landing in Manila about 1:20pm after the cabin depressurised due to the hole in the fuselage.

Sources report the hole, near the cargo door, was ''several meters wide'' and caused what passengers describe as an "explosive" depressurisation.

Melbourne woman Dr June Kane said passengers were stunned by an ''incredible boom''.

''There was wood and newspapers flying past me and a woman who I was talking to in first class and then oxygen masks fell down,'' Dr Kane said. ''The moment it happened I thought we were going to plunge to our deaths.

''There was an incredible boom. Everyone thought the plane would disintegrate. (The hole)
goes right under the plane. It's about 2 metres by 4 metres.

''Baggage was flying out.'' Read the rest of this post...