Another December Poem

I just found this one from college back in Kalamazoo mid 70's. I seem to have an on going thing about using winter themes. Must mean I'm some kind of nut job......


December Says Goodbye

Winter walks upon my lips

with the fallen grace of Decembers final freeze

The wind blowing off Lake Michigan carries a womans voice

In these last days

December writes a letter

"Enclosed you'll find a winter razor "

Lips crack and blood freezes in this cold

And men freeze in this age.

How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times As These... Continued

Foreclosures hit all-time high

Over 900,000 borrowers are losing their homes, up 71% from a year ago, and a record number of home owners are behind on payments.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More home owners than ever are losing the battle to make their monthly mortgage payments.
Over 900,000 households are in the foreclosure process, up 71% from a year ago, according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. That figure represents 2.04% of all mortgages, the highest rate in the report's quarterly, 36-year history.
Another 381,000 households, or 0.83% of borrowers, saw the foreclosure process started during the quarter, which was also a record.
Additionally, the number of mortgage borrowers who were over 30 days late on a payment in the last three months of 2007 is at its highest rate since 1985.
"Boy, that was ugly," said Jared Bernstein, an Economic Policy Institute economist of the data.
"It's another reminder that anyone who thought we had hit bottom was wrong. This was a huge bubble, and when a bubble of this magnitude breaks, it creates a huge mess," he said." It could take a lot longer for the correction to work through the system."
One reason it may take so long is that there seems to be no end in sight for falling home prices.
"Declining prices are clearly the driving factor behind foreclosures, but the reasons and magnitude of the declines differ from state to state," said Doug Duncan, MBA's Chief Economist said in a prepared statement.
The foreclosure rates for prime and subprime adjustable rate mortgages both more than doubled compared with a year ago, from 0.41% for prime ARMs to 1.06% and from 2.70% for subprime ARMs to 5.29%.
"In states like Ohio and Michigan, declines in the demand for homes due to job losses and out-migration have left those looking to sell their homes with fewer potential buyers, particularly with the much tighter credit restrictions borrowers now face," said Duncan.
"As prices plummet -- already some California and Florida areas have seen price drops of 25% or more, according to Duncan -- defaults will soar.
And falling prices and growing foreclosures create a vicious cycle; the more prices fall the less likely it is that borrowers can use home equity to refinance into more affordable loans, which leads to more defaults. And as foreclosures rise housing inventory increases, further depressing prices.

Don't Tube Me Bro

KELSO, Wash. —  The state has agreed to pay $15,000 to a man who claimed he was forcefully catheterized after being arrested for investigation of drunken driving, authorities said.

The settlement reached Friday with Matthew Clifford Arthur, 37, over his treatment following an arrest in November 2005 did not include an admission of wrongdoing, Assistant Attorney General Gary E. Andrews said.

"This turned out to be a better way to go than to spend more money litigating it," Andrews said Monday.

Arthur sued last month, accusing two Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies and a state corrections officer of forcing him to undergo catheterization and have blood drawn when he refused to provide urine and blood samples at a hospital after a traffic stop.

Arthur was required to undergo screening for intoxicants upon request under a probation agreement, but his lawyer, Kevin G. Blondin, said the procedure was painful, invasive and unnecessary.

Arthur should have been taken to jail when he refused to give the fluid samples, Blondin said.

Genuine Patriot

From Daily Kos
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (D-Kansas)

"I am adamant about protecting the Constitution. They're giving nothing in return for it. We're not getting any more security and they're shredding the Constitution," said U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Second Dist....
"What shocks me is how members of Congress from Kansas would so readily give up 230 years of our Constitution without gaining any additional security," Boyda said....
Boyda pointed out that Congress is being asked to give phone companies immunity without knowing why they need immunity.
"The question is why the president is completely unwilling to tell Congress what he did," Boyda said. "It seems to me it's probably about domestic surveillance."....
Despite her objections to the Senate Bill, Boyda acknowledges wiretapping and conducting terrorist surveillance is "job number-one," but cannot compromise civil liberties.
She said FISA was adopted to safeguard the rights of Americans, not to protect terrorists.
"Keeping America and Americans safe is my number-one priority," Boyda said.
She cautioned that despite many Americans having no objection to wiretapping because they have nothing to hide, the stake of American democracy is hanging in the balance.
"If you are willing to have the government come into your home and into your personal life without any probable cause and without any oversight or any warrant, then you have just given up our democracy," Boyda said.

A Real American Hero

I think we need a candidate who has served his country, maybe even been a POW, has demonstrated leadership skills, and knows how to negotiate with the enemy. 

So when Kinch tells you that the coffee pot phone is ringing at 3am, the man you want answering it is Col. Robert Hogan.

Tested, Ready To Lead: Hogan '08

Alistair Darling For President!

Gas and electricity bosses told 'give back profits'

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
The Sunday Telegraph

The heads of the biggest gas and electricity companies are being ordered by the Government to hand over part of their multi-billion pound profits - or face a new windfall tax.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt the chief executives of the utility giants have been summoned to Downing Street and given a dressing-down over the soaring sums being made from millions of customers.

Charities, including Help the Aged, have expressed their concern at rising fuel bills
They are being told that, unless they agree to subsidise a new nationwide "fuel poverty" scheme aimed at the 4.5 million poorest households, a levy will be put on their profits. It is understood that the fuel poverty programme is to be unveiled by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, as part of the Budget on March 12. The Government has moved to curtail what is increasingly seen as "excessive profiteering" by the utilities industry, with customers having to pay soaring household gas and electricity bills.

Campaigners have demanded action against the big utilities, with the union Unison and the National Right to Fuel Campaign describing their profits as "obscene".

One Step At A Time

Hey folks... sorry for the lack of posts this weekend. We were moving our home office, and that left me offline for a bit. If you are looking for a good workout, try humping furniture up and down the stairs of a three story townhouse. This place is the stair-master from hell!

Speaking of work outs, I hit the two mile mark in my running on a treadmill this Saturday. For my runner friends, I realize this is no big deal at all... but for a fifty something ex smoker I am amazed I've come this far in a year.My goal is to run in a 5K race (I don't care if I'm last) this September in NYC in honor of a fallen firefighter who died on 9-11. More on that as we get closer.

I think this blog needs a few more readers, so please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who you think is weird enough to enjoy it.