grahamhgreen
grahamhgreen's Journal
Foreclosure abuse rampant across U.S., experts say - Reuters
The audit of almost 400 foreclosures in San Francisco found that 84 percent of them appeared to be illegal, according to the study released by the California city on Wednesday.
"The audit in San Francisco is the most detailed and comprehensive that has been done - but it's likely those numbers are comparable nationally," Diane Thompson, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, told Reuters.
........
John O'Brien, the register of deeds for Essex County in northwestern Massachusetts, conducted an audit of loans issued in 2010 and found 75 percent of the assignments to be invalid and a further 9 percent questionable.
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One of the major problems that has emerged in the foreclosure crisis is that it is far from clear that many lenders foreclosing on properties actually own the loans and have the right to take action against them. In many cases during the housing bubble that burst in 2008, original mortgages were repackaged and sold to so many investors that it is now unclear who actually holds the loans
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/17/us-usa-housing-defaults-idUSTRE81G04M20120217
Foxconn Increases Wages, Raises Pay By 16-25% For Chinese Workers - TechCrunch
"The company just released a statement indicating pay raises for Chinese workers just before the Fair Trade Association is set to interview employees about life at Foxconn.
The base pay of junior level worker in Shenzhen is now at 1,800 yuan ($290) per month and, if the worker passes a technical examination, it will be raised to 2,200 yuan. Three years ago the base pay was just 900 yuan per month."
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/17/foxconn-increases-wages-raises-pay-by-16-25-for-chinese-workers/
Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science - NYT
Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars.
............
Heartland’s latest idea, the documents say, is a plan to create a curriculum for public schools intended to cast doubt on mainstream climate science and budgeted at $200,000 this year. The curriculum would claim, for instance, that “whether humans are changing the climate is a major scientific controversy.”
It is in fact not a scientific controversy. The vast majority of climate scientists say that emissions generated by humans are changing the climate and putting the planet at long-term risk, although they are uncertain about the exact magnitude of that risk. Whether and how to rein in emissions of greenhouse gases has become a major political controversy in the United States, however.
The National Center for Science Education, a group that has had notable success in fighting for accurate teaching of evolution in the public schools, has recently added climate change to its agenda in response to pleas from teachers who say they feel pressure to water down the science.
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/science/earth/in-heartland-institute-leak-a-plan-to-discredit-climate-teaching.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Leak Offers Glimpse of Campaign Against Climate Science - NYT
Leaked documents suggest that an organization known for attacking climate science is planning a new push to undermine the teaching of global warming in public schools, the latest indication that climate change is becoming a part of the nation’s culture wars.
The documents, from a nonprofit organization in Chicago called the Heartland Institute, outline plans to promote a curriculum that would cast doubt on the scientific finding that fossil fuel emissions endanger the long-term welfare of the planet. “Principals and teachers are heavily biased toward the alarmist perspective,” one document said.
.......
The documents raise questions about whether the group has undertaken partisan political activities, a potential violation of federal tax law governing nonprofit groups. For instance, the documents outline “Operation Angry Badger,” a plan to spend $612,000 to influence the outcome of recall elections and related fights this year in Wisconsin over the role of public-sector unions.
Tax lawyers said Wednesday that tax-exempt groups were allowed to undertake some types of lobbying and political education, but that because they are subsidized by taxpayers, they are prohibited from direct involvement in political campaigns.
...........
A spokesman for Microsoft, another listed donor, said that the company believes that “climate change is a serious issue that demands immediate worldwide action.” The company is shown in the documents as having contributed $59,908 last year to a Heartland technology newsletter. But the Microsoft spokesman, Mark Murray, said the gift was not a cash contribution but rather the value of free software, which Microsoft gives to thousands of nonprofit groups.
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But oil interests were nonetheless represented. The documents say that the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation contributed $25,000 last year and was expected to contribute $200,000 this year.
............
Heartland’s latest idea, the documents say, is a plan to create a curriculum for public schools intended to cast doubt on mainstream climate science and budgeted at $200,000 this year. The curriculum would claim, for instance, that “whether humans are changing the climate is a major scientific controversy.”
It is in fact not a scientific controversy. The vast majority of climate scientists say that emissions generated by humans are changing the climate and putting the planet at long-term risk, although they are uncertain about the exact magnitude of that risk. Whether and how to rein in emissions of greenhouse gases has become a major political controversy in the United States, however.
The National Center for Science Education, a group that has had notable success in fighting for accurate teaching of evolution in the public schools, has recently added climate change to its agenda in response to pleas from teachers who say they feel pressure to water down the science.
Shocking Factoid of the Day: Gas cars use more electricity to go 100 miles than Electric Cars do!
"There is no exact calculation for how much electricity it takes to drill, transport and refine a gallon of gasoline, but the accepted amount is around 8 kWh. So, for 8 kWh, you can go around 22 miles (using the U.S. average; we know you can go over twice that if you drive a Toyota Prius). That means that a gasoline car uses just under 40 kWh to go 100 miles. An EV, on the other hand, uses around 30 kWh to go 100 miles " (from: http://www.green.autoblog.com/2011/10/14/how-gas-cars-use-more-electricity-to-go-100-miles-than-evs-do/)
Photo taken at the LEAF booth at an auto-show:
From the DOE:
"Subject: Energy to refine gasoline
Dear Mr. Armstrong,
Thank you for your December 4, 2009, electronic mail requesting a reputable source to calculate the energy required to refine a gallon of gasoline. The energy required to refine a gallon of gasoline can be estimated based on the energy content of crude oil and the refinery efficiency of the facility performing the energy conversion; I can provide you a reputable source for both values.
In a 2008 report, Argonne National Lab estimated that the efficiency for producing gasoline of an “average” U.S. petroleum refinery is between 84% and 88% (Wang, 2008), and Oak Ridge National Lab reports that the net energy content of oil is approximately 132,000 Btu per gallon (Davis, 2009). It is commonly known that a barrel of crude oil generate approximately 45 gallons of refined product (refer to NAS, 2009, Table 3-4 for a publication stating so). Thus, using an 85% refinery efficiency and the aforementioned conversion factors, it can be estimated that about 21,000 Btu—the equivalent of 6 kWh—of energy are lost per gallon of gasoline refined:" MORE: http://gatewayev.org/how-much-electricity-is-used-refine-a-gallon-of-gasoline
So, every time we buy a gallon of gas, it seems we are not only paying for what it would cost for us to drive an EV 30 miles, but are paying a huge premium on top of that for oil company profits. Additionally, we pay with increased cancer rates, pollution, and endless wars for oil. Further, I think it's safe to assume that it will take EVEN MORE electricity to refine the shale oil for the Keystone pipeline. It's really time to end this farce. Build a bunch of wind, solar and other unlimited energy plants, and win our future like a civilized country!
Total votes and delegates GOP WED 2/8/12 - 5AM
DelegatesRomney 107
Newt Gingrich 32
Rick Santorum 45
Ron Paul 9
1,144 needed to win
Votes - Total received in all primaries and caucuses
Romney 1,180,475
Gingrich 835,898
Santorum 567,907
Paul 335,468
Source: http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/
My guess is it will be a brokered convention.....
Cost of Driving Gas Fueled Car vs. Electric Over 50 Years (Shocking!)
From: http://green.autoblog.com/photos/solar-energy-vs-gasoline-fuel-cost-chart/4798701/
Updated - Better LINK - http://green.autoblog.com/2012/02/07/infographic-a-lifetime-of-fuel-costs-gas-vs-solar/
That's the road that Mini E (and now BMW ActiveE) driver Peder Norby is on, and so he did a few calculations to extrapolate his particular set-up – driving electric cars that are powered by the solar panels on his roof – to a lifetime of driving and wanted to share it with AutoblogGreen. ... He writes:
"[The chart] does not include external cost such as the protection of oil, propping up oil supplying countries, clean up of oil, environmental or healthcare cost, nor does it include the cost of grid electricity at night when an electric car normally charges. ... Nor does the graph include the price of the cars themselves. A reasonable argument can be made for both the gasoline car and the electric car as to which one will be cheaper to own and maintain for the next 50 years. I'm betting on the electric car
"
Obama Birther Courtroom Update - good for a chuckle
From Jay Bookman of the AJC earlier today:
"Missives from the land of the birthers
10:27 am January 26, 2012, by Jay
I’m in the courtroom of Judge Michael Malihi, awaiting arguments in a case attempting to remove Barack Obama from the 2012 Georgia presidential ballot.
Roughly 100 people are in the courtroom, most of them older white Americans. The conversations are thick with various birthed theories being bandied about.
Dressed tastefully in black and wearing a pearl choker, The redoubtable Orly Taitz swept in a few minutes ago, making a star’s entrance amid whispers of “look, there she is!”...........
"Ms. Taitz is now going through her witness list. She has alleged so far that Obama’s name is not Obama but Soetero, and thus cannot be listed as Obama on the ballot. Her evidence is a school log from Indonesia listing a Barack Soetero.
She further alleges that his SSI number is fraudulent, stolen from somebody in Connecticut.
Frankly, she’s easily the worst lawyer I have ever seen in a courtroom. The judge has had to repeatedly admonish her for failing the most basic of courtroom procedures. Early in her presentation, she turned her back on the judge to address the audience instead. The judge told her to speak to the bench, not her crowd of admirers.
We are now being treated to “expert” testimony and “evidence” that the Hawaii birth certificate is a fraud.
Surreal.....
Attorneys for two previous plaintiffs argued the “natural citizenship” angle, introducing Obama’s books as evidence that his father was not a citizen. The theory is that you cannot be a natural-born citizen unless you were born here and BOTH parents were citizens.
One of the attorneys was state Rep. Mark Hatfield, Republican from Waycross. He asked the judge tobuild Obama and his attorneys in contempt for refusing to appear. Another attorney accused Obama of contempt “not just for this court but for the whole judicial branch.”
The judge cut short that rant.
Judging from his body language, Malihi is not happy to be here. But maybe that’s just me.
Her current witness is laying out the grounds upon which Barack Obama could be arrested and deported for falsely claiming US citizenship......
Excellent. The judge asked Taitz to give her closing argument. In the middle of doing so, she decided to turn into her own witness and sat in the witness chair to give testimony
The judge finally stopped her.....
The hearing has ended with closing arguments by Taitz. No rulings issued, no notice of when a decision or other action might be taken.....
LINK - http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2012/01/26/missives-from-the-land-of-the-birthers/?cp=2
Romney Paid Less in Taxes Than I Tip My Waiters!
Romney paid 14%. That's what I tip when I get poor service!
For good service I tip 20%. Great service is 25%. And I've even tipped over 100% under very special circumstances.
According to Zagat the US average tip is 19.2%. And that's just for serving our tables!
That's not for providing us with national defense, police and firefighters, roads and bridges, food for the hungry, and medical aid for the indigent, and a system which allowed him to thrive.
I don't want to say he's an ungrateful SOB, but if my waiter made be a quarter of a billion dollars, I'm sure I could dig deep and find more than 14%!
That is all.
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