January 30, 2013

BofA Foreclosure Reviews: Whistleblowers Reveal Extensive Borrower Harm and Orchestrated Coverup (2)

via Carlos, Occupy Fights Foreclosures

Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews: Whistleblowers Reveal Extensive Borrower Harm and Orchestrated Coverup (Part II)

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/37705.html

In the executive summary to this series, we provided an overview of OCC/Federal Reserve foreclosure reviews which were abruptly settled at the beginning of January. Critics anticipated that the flawed design, of having supposedly “independent” review firms hired by the banks themselves, meant the reviews were highly unlikely to find much if any damage to homeowners. Leaks during the course of the reviews confirmed these concerns, revealing that the review process at many of the major servicers was chaotic and the reviews were designed and scored so as to make a finding of harm virtually impossible.

As bad as that sounds, the reality is even worse. We obtained extensive review documentation from whistleblowers at Bank of America and debriefed them at length. They provided compelling evidence that the foreclosure reviews were plagued by persistent, widespread efforts by Bank of America to avoid any finding of borrower harm. These efforts were supported and enabled by its “independent” review firm, Promontory Financial Group.

The whistleblowers, all of whom were told their role would be to act as investigators and help borrower get compensation they deserved, described the review process as seriously flawed. Yet even with those obstacles, they saw abundant evidence of serious damage to borrowers. The whistleblowers reviewed 1600 borrower files in a “live” environment, and saw hundreds more in the attenuated start-up period. Reviewer estimates of harm varied widely primarily because they worked on different tests and thus focused on different documents and issues (see Appendix II to the Executive Summary for a description of tests). Whistleblowers were asked to estimate the percentage of harm and serious harm in the files they reviewed. The lowest estimate of harm was 30% and the highest estimate of serious harm was 80% of files reviewed.

We said we would set forth the support for our major findings, in a series of additional posts. These findings are:

(...are at the link.)

January 30, 2013

BofA Foreclosure Reviews: Whistleblowers Reveal Extensive Borrower Harm and Orchestrated Coverup (1)

Via Carlos, Occupy Fights Foreclosures

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/01/bank-of-america-foreclosure-reviews-whistleblowers-provide-extensive-evidence-of-borrower-harm-and-orchestrated-coverup.html

On January 7, ten servicers entered into an $8.5 billion settlement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, terminating a foreclosure review process which was set forth in consent orders issued in April 2010. Borrowers who had had foreclosures that were pending or had completed foreclosure sales in 2009 and 2010 could request an investigation by independent reviewers, selected and paid for by the servicers but subject to approval by the OCC.

Some experts argued that the 2009 and 2010 time range was too narrow and excluded many borrowers who had been treated improperly. These professionals also questioned whether the investigators would operate independently and fairly. Nevertheless, the reviews were touted as delivering a measure of justice to abused homeowners, since any found to be have suffered wrongful foreclosures were to receive sizable monetary awards, and smaller payments would be made to those who experienced other forms of abuse. As HUD Secretary Shuan Donovan proclaimed:

For families who suffered much deeper harm — who may have been improperly foreclosed on and lost their homes and could therefore be owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages — the settlement preserves their ability to get justice in two key ways.

First, it recognizes that the federal banking regulators have established a process through which these families can receive help by requesting a review of their file. If a borrower can document that they were improperly foreclosed on, they can receive every cent of the compensation they are entitled to through that process.

(More at the link.)

January 30, 2013

Major tornado hits Adairsville GA (Video)

LBN isn't quite set up to host internet posts...

SevereWarningSystems.com
Major tornado hits Adairsville GA. Was watching this on radar.. here is a screen shot of it as it hit the town.. major damage, hearing scanner reports of injuries.. Not a good situation right now..

Video.

Live police scanner:
http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?action=wp&feedId=7057

(Arkansas was at a 15% risk of tornado yesterday; be careful out there!)

--

Deadly Tornado Batters District of GOP Congressman Who Opposed Sandy Aid

http://www.politicususa.com/deadly-tornado-batters-district-gop-congressman-opposed-sandy-aid.html

Tornadoes ripped through Adairsville, Georgia (northwest of Atlanta) today, killing at least one person according to authorities and leaving major damage behind. The violent storm forced officials to shut down a 10-mile stretch of I-75.

Sadly, the Republican Congressman of that district, Robert Woodall (GA-7, Adairsville), is on record as voting against aid for Hurricane Sandy victims. He explained this in a newsletter, writing, “(W)e almost always serve one another better locally than we do with a check from Washington, D.C.”

Woodall’s position when it was another region that was hit was that all aid must be offset by spending cuts:

This week, the House had the tough job of appropriating disaster relief funds to the states affected to the point of devastation by Hurricane Sandy. I absolutely believe we should help our neighbors in their time of need. That said, we almost always serve one another better locally than we do with a check from Washington, D.C. America’s generosity during natural disasters by giving to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and more, is unmatched. In those rare instances of such widespread devastation that federal aid is required, we must provide that aid by reducing spending on other lower priorities, not by running up the debt burden on future generations. This is why I supported measures to ensure that any emergency funding was fully offset by other spending cuts. These offset measures did not pass the House, unfortunately, and instead, the total package of Sandy relief legislation grew nearly three-fold–from $17 billion to over $60 billion in new deficit spending– and was passed over my objection. You can read the bill, H.R. 152, by clicking here .

(More at the link.)

January 30, 2013

Gun Shoots Criminals With DNA Tags, Marking Them For Later Arrest

via NYOccupy

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/new-dna-gun-shoots-criminals-genetic-tags-marking-them-later-arrest

Riots are a tough nut for law enforcement in part because of the sheer number of people involved--it’s impossible to stop and arrest every person involved in a skirmish. That’s why cops have some pretty high-tech methods for catching suspects, from facial recognition software to debilitating sonic cannons. But none is as bizarre as this new DNA gun from a UK security firm.

The SelectaDNA High Velocity System works like it sounds--it shoots people with pellets containing a unique DNA fingerprint. Unlike rubber-pellet guns, Tasers or tear gas canisters, the technology does not deter or disable the suspect--he or she can get away seemingly unscathed. But later, authorities can track down the suspect and arrest him or her “at a less confrontational time for officers,” according to the company. Portable readers equipped with ultraviolet light scanners would be able to verify the synthetic DNA.

The pellets come in rifle or pistol form, containing 14 pellets per container. All pellets in a pack have the same DNA code. That means you could tag a lot of people at one event, but you couldn’t necessarily single him or her out in the crowd--so it would still be hard to tell who may have incited a riot, rather than just taken part.

(More at the link.)

January 30, 2013

Meet the Contractors Turning America's Police Into a Paramilitary Force

Political Fail Blog ?@PFailBlog

Meet the Contractors Turning America's Police Into a Paramilitary Force http://fb.me/2fXfIYAVY

http://www.alternet.org/meet-contractors-turning-americas-police-paramilitary-force?paging=off

January 30, 2013 |


The national security state has an annual budget of around $1 trillion. Of that huge pile of money, large amounts go to private companies the federal government awards contracts to. Some, like Lockheed Martin or Boeing, are household names, but many of the contractors fly just under the public's radar. What follows are three companies you should know about (because some of them can learn a lot about you with their spy technologies).


L3 is everywhere. Those night-vision goggles the JSOC team in Zero Dark Thirty uses? That's L3. The new machines that are replacing the naked scanners at the airport? That's L3. Torture at Abu Ghraib? A former subsidiary of L3 was recently ordered to pay $5.28 million to 71 Iraqis who had been held in the awful prison.

Oh, and drones? L3 is on it. Reprieve, a UK-based human rights organization, earlier this month wrote on its Web site:

“L-3 Communications is one of the main subcontractors involved with production of the US’s lethal Predator since the inception of the programme. Predators are used by the CIA to kill ‘suspected militants’ and terrorise entire populations in Pakistan and Yemen. Drone strikes have escalated under the Obama administration and 2013 has already seen six strikes in the two countries.”

(More at the link.)

January 30, 2013

"The best slave is the one who thinks he is free." ~ Johann von Goethe

PIRATES ?@PlRATES

"The best slave is the one who thinks he is free." ~ Johann von Goethe

Retweeted by uppity

January 30, 2013

The war on drugs is a war on people

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/01/13/1177197/-The-war-on-drugs-is-a-war-on-people#

The War on Drugs, a label we inherited from Richard Nixon, is a lie. It is simply a war on people, and has had the most dire effect on people of color, whether inside the borders of the U.S, or as a part of destabilizing military interventions in other countries.

If you have not yet watched the documentary film The House I Live In, it is a must see. It was the winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize—Documentary.

Eugene Jarecki’s seminal film Why We Fight dissected the underbelly of the American war machine. Now, with scalpel-like precision, Jarecki turns his lens on a less visible war—one that is costing more lives, destroying more families, and quickly becoming a scourge on the soul of American society. In the past 40 years, the War on Drugs has accounted for 45 million arrests, made America the world's largest jailer, and destroyed impoverished communities at home and abroad. Yet drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available today than ever. Where did we go wrong, and what can be done?

Clearly no one film, or even series of films, can cover the depredations of the drug war, nor all of the history, and current multi-varied facets, but this is a good starting point for raising some of the issues.

(Much more at the link including videos.)

January 30, 2013

Adam Rice of Occupy The Hood LA Action Assembly on Anti-Eviction of Ms. Hughes

by David Dang

Published on Jan 29, 2013

DISCLAIMER: AUDIO IS NOT THE BEST.
Adam Rice Co-Chair of the LA Anti-Eviction Campaign converses with the supervising
lieutenant of the illegal eviction of 72 year old Catherine Hughes. she has been one of the many who have been awaken by the effects of neo-colonialism that have occurred through out Los Angeles, as it was what occurred to the Hernandez Family in Van Nuys, a couple months ago.

January 29, 2013

Samer Issawi hunger strike reaches 190 days

Save_Issawi_Now ?@jalaa_h

Samer Issawi won his fight by reaching his 190 days on hunger strike, the longest in the history. Now this is defiance

#Israel #Issawi190

January 29, 2013

Um, Why Are Military Helicopters Firing Machine Guns Over Houston and Miami?

http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/joshua-holland/um-why-are-military-helicopters-firing-machine-guns-over-houston-and-miami

The sight of Army helicopters and the sound of gunfire created a lot of concern Monday afternoon in one Houston neighborhood.

SkyEye 13 HD was over the south side where at first look, it appeared there was a massive SWAT scene happening.We received a lot of phones calls, Tweets and Facebook posts from worried neighbors, wondering what was going on.

With military helicopters flying above her southeast Houston neighborhood, Frances Jerrals didn't know what to think.

"When you see this, you think the worst. When you hear this, you think the worst," Jerrals said.

(More, and videos at the link.)