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Pics or it didn't happen
FNORD
Covering windows with brown paper is better than with newspaper. Those people should quit whining and realize how much worse it could be.
(D-Deadbeat)
classic.
as for the "show us the picture" click on Tanta's link. it's right there.
Geez MoT, you're gettin' lazy.
it's all george bush's fault
At least she was smart enough to call her brohams at propz8.org and paid them a few Benji's to fill out an assessment appeal form on her behalf.
Richardson also qualifies as an eyesore and a public nuisance.
Shouldn't that be "Pwnership Society"?
And she makes Bush sound intelligent and reasonable when she speaks...
20 bucks says she goes all Britney Spears on us with 6 months.
Clearly, we're not paying our congressmen enough for the fine job their doing in Washington.
Way to go, Tanta!
"All your defect are belong to us!"
I just like to imagine what Rep. Richardson would have to say if this had been vacant REO owned by WaMu and it had been allowed to deteriorate like that . . .
I think it just goes to show that R or D, politicos are all whores.... (well damn near all of them)
.................
be fair. Pols are more like teases in that they don't deliver.
LOL!
.........
I love California! Entertainent for the rest of us. A new story every hour.
"Neighbors in the upper-middle-class neighborhood complain that the sprinklers are never turned on and the grass and plants are dead or dying. "
No sprinklers! My god, what is this world coming to! If all your neighbors don't have perfectly manicured lawns, you might as well be living in a slum! Man, if I had neighbors like that I'd let my lawn go brown just for spite.
Maybe she can ask Clark W. Griswold to do her Christmas decorating this year.
She help her standing with the neighbors.
I thought that CA is having water shortage. Thus, not watering the plants is a good thing for a responsible citizen to do.
Anyone know how to update her wikipedia entry to add the "public nuisance"?
Laura Richardso - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It's not so much the lack of irrigation; it's the "rodent harborage".
Coming daily to the CR board I'm always eager for measured doses of Americana.
After these two posts I'm good for the weekend....
Shnaps,
At least she was smart enough to call her brohams at propz8.org and paid them a few Benji's to fill out an assessment appeal form on her behalf.
I smell staff positions! Bro-tastic! Turbo-rama!
Don't Richardson and Wa MU share the same DNA?
as for the "show us the picture" click on Tanta's link. it's right there.
Geez MoT, you're gettin' lazy.
Yearning to Learn | 08.15.08 - 1:30 pm | #
What's wrong with that place? Looks pretty nice to me. Hell she doesn't have a truck parked in the front yard or a woodpile so what's the big deal?
JM
Well, since it doesn't appear that she keeps up with the taxes or utilities, it's pointless to expect her to spring for Dichotic Enhancement.
Libertarians should not protest the way someone manages their house. Mind your own business--or understand when others want to mind your business.
WHere's our bank failure pool ?
Oh dry... [from previous thread]
He was in Jersey City. Very nice guy. Had people calling him to the fence around the job all day long, handing him money. It was quite a crew - one murderer, one thief, and one junkie who broke into the gangboxes repeatedly, until we told the Local he was barred. They understood.
The same neighbors that are complaining are probably some of the same dumb asses that would vote for this kind of flake. They deserve it.
Well she should be commended for conserving water and reusing paper!
"WHere's our bank failure pool ?"
I was thinking it would be Downey Savings and Loan after 6:00 pm PDT, but then I heard the CEO said that DSL is "well capitalized". That changed my mind in a hurry. He couldn't say it if it wasn't true, right?
One person's "rotting fruit creating rodent harborage" is another person's apple fallen from a tree. One person's unwatered, brown grass is another's global environmental awareness. One person's "brown paper on the windows" is another's window shade. One person's special mortgage treatment is another's example of the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.
That house is adorable and would fit well in my inside the beltway (million plus) North Arlington neighborhood (brown grass and all).
I don't know anything about this lady but I think her neighbors are crazy to complain about a house like that.
Why doesn't she reach out to some of those minority lawn care services or homeless folks?
This makes my week.
Thank you Tanta.
are we talking major rodent harborage, brah?
Howls of derisive laughter time:
The retired bank executive has the nerve to complain?
Guess he must be burning up the lines to Countryfried and WAMU about the other reos sitting around him.
LOL
Someday this war's gonna end...
Okay, I appreciate the PR spin involed in contesting the foreclosure,...but why did she want the house? She should have just worked out a deal to leave the house in someone else's hands. Or does she not have a mortgage on it now?
I might as well be watching Gilligan's island instead of Wall St trading. It's at least as well grounded in reality.
transient writes:
Shouldn't that be "Pwnership Society"?
Brilliant! LOL. Yes it should be. We have all been pwned.
Skiiiiiiiiper!
Hey little buddy!
*Skiiiiiiipper!
White sheets cover the windows of those few hi-rise condos that are sold in PDX when the new owner can't afford to be there - and the condo is only 15% sold. The other 'owners' can't really complain because the developer still controls the condo assoc.
Hierarchy of badness: broken windows, newspapers, brown paper 'drapes', and 'see thru'.
Or does she not have a mortgage on it now?
She sure does still have a mortgage on it. She got WaMu to reinstate her mortgage (at modified terms she will not disclose) when the FC was rescinded.
As the story notes, the guy who originally bought the house at the FC sale was all ready to fix it up and market it. So she got it back from him--even though apparently he's got cash and she doesn't--and now she is neither occupying it nor renting it out, nor is is she maintaining it.
The interesting question is how long WaMu will let this go on (racking up city violations that could turn into liens) without starting FC again . . .
We have possums, foxes and raccoons around here - wild, not pets. Deer have been known to stare in through the living room windows not far away. Do we call animal control or a professional hunter?
We live in NW DC, but would like to move to my wife's small ancestral Pa. town, pop. approx. 5500. Know the people, including wife's relatives, church and local bar within easy walking distance, good fishing and hunting nearby. We're getting older and ready for it.
This is a bad time to sell a house, but perhaps a good time to acquire one.
OT: Mrs. Fields says to file for bankruptcy protection
Cookie chain Mrs. Fields to file for bankruptcy
| Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cookie retailer Mrs. Fields Famous Brands LLC said on Friday it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The company, which also licenses and franchises the TCBY frozen yogurt chain, has begun soliciting votes from creditors for a "prepackaged" bankruptcy reorganization plan.
Under a prepackaged plan, creditors vote on certain aspects of the plan prior to the bankruptcy filing in court.
Michael Ward, interim co-chief executive officer of Mrs. Fields Famous Brands, was not available to comment.
But "pre-packaged"? Is that a real cookie crumble or some "let's get out of debt easily" deal?
Bond insurers on a tear! ABK UP 30% TODAY ALONE !! How can I participate ?
Mel,
Libertarians should not protest the way someone manages their house. Mind your own business--or understand when others want to mind your business.
Can't say that I agree. Libertarianism, for good or ill, dislikes arbitrary state power. Disliking and/or bitching about your flake-of-a-Congresswoman neighbor is not an exercise of state power, it is an exercise of personal prerogative.
Getting a government entity to do something about the nuisance she is creating is not an arbitrary exercise of state power either, since presumably said nuisance is impacting their own right to enjoy their property. The wackier sort of anarcho-libertarian might at that point say "to Hell with the authorities" and just burn the place down, but I can't imagine you're advocating for that.
OT, interesting story here on gold.
U.S. mint suspends gold coin sales; futures price is a fiction | Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
or a woodpile
Hey, woodpiles are a beauty to behold.
I'm offended.
Bond insurers on a tear! ABK UP 30% TODAY ALONE !! How can I participate ?
Short these bonds I have been dumping all my corporate debt on the market, selling the rallies...Its amazing the demand that came in for some of this junk...Haven't lost a dime on this crap.
The same neighbors that are complaining are probably some of the same dumb asses that would vote for this kind of flake. They deserve it.
Anonymous
This is why I'm getting so much Schadenfreude out of this one! ROTFLMAO
If there is one thing I think HOA's should be allowed to do, its to make the front yard look ok. I'm all for being a libertarian, but no one should be allowed to let their home be the Adams family. Unless... they buy enough land.
Ugh oh! Mrs. Fields is going Ch 11?!? We just ordered cookies online!
Got Popcorn?
Neil
Brian - Whoever you are, you deserve VIP status on CR.
BG - well put, dudebrah!
BG writes...Can't say that I agree. Libertarianism, for good or ill, dislikes arbitrary state power."
Who determines she's a nuissance? Vigilantes? Maybe I don't like the color you painted the house, or worse, your desire to put a political sign out front? Slippery slope because it's assumption is bullshit. We're out of the cave, we need government regulation and taxation.
An eyesore? That's kinda extreme.
Sure the grass is a bit brown, and the leaves haven't been raked in a while... but the house still looks like it's in good condition. Public nuisance? No way.
I think she just lives in a neighboorhood of busy-body whiners that have very little to do but complain about their neighbor's grass color.
Thank god I don't live there.
OT, but maybe not:
Where are they now?
Nice find BG. Haircuts...
[Compensation for employees on Wall Street averaged $399,360 in 2007, compared with $62,390 for New York City jobs outside the securities industry, according to the state comptroller's office.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which has cut 1,500 jobs, paid its employees an average of $661,490 last year, company filings show]
Outsider writes:
or a woodpile
Hey, woodpiles are a beauty to behold.
I'm offended.
Outsider | 08.15.08 - 2:56 pm | #
LOL... they just cut a tree down in the right of way in front of my house - I ran out and begged to have them leave it for me to burn. They happily complied.
The woodcutter said that ever since energy prices took off - people have been following them around filling up their pick ups with logs after they drop the trees.
There's an idea for you urban survivalist - who needs a forest - call your tree removal service for their schedule! Buddy up with them. Might want to keep a cooler of beer in the back in case it gets hot you need to curry some favor. Just sayin'...
Who determines she's a nuissance? Vigilantes?
Calm down, Mel. Again, to the extent that it is private complaints about what a loser she is, it is a purely private determination. With regards to government action, I'd say that the possible presence of squatters, a busted front door, strewn garbage and/or a pile of mouldering apples ridden with rats might qualify as a "nuisance".
Granted, standards will vary based on location and population density. My place in NY had 3 acres and apple trees, so I'm pretty sure rodents were a legitimate possibility in September. On a 10K sqft lot in a 'burb outside DC, not so much.
bearly,
I particularly enjoyed the following:
I know a few guys that started gambling, playing poker to pay the bills,'' he said.Especially ex-traders.''
Though this is hardly universal, either. I know of at least one guy at BSC who went over to JPM and feels pretty secure about it.
OT
July State Employment Data:
11 states saw Y/Y growth of or above 1.0%. (100 elec votes)
21 states saw Y/Y growth below 1% (178 elec votes)
19 states saw Y/Y decline in employment. (260 elec votes)
States with declining employment include: AZ, CA, FL, GA, ID, Ind, Maine, Mich, Minn, Missouri, Nev, NJ, Ohio, Ore, Penn, RI, Tenn, Vermont, and Wisc.
DD
File this under "be careful what you wish for". She would've been better off to have just let it FC and be done with it, and taken the PR hit. Not like it was going to hurt her election chances with our safely-gerrymandered districts.
Now, she has back the unwanted and underwater house and loan in a city she doesn't even live in, and she took the PR hit anyhow. I predict she will take a second PR hit when she inevitably ends up back in FC (but AFTER the November election, of course; which was part of the point of strong-arming WaMu).
That house is fantastic and the yard, while a little shabby, simply looks like the lawn boy went on vacation in August. Those neighbors should be dragged to detroit for a tour of what blight really looks like. What snots !
I live an upscale DC burb. We would welcome that house in our neigborhood. Sure looks better then the crappy split levels or the slew of big McMansions that are popping up everywhere.
What, no bank failure vigil today?
Picking up on Dismal Deacon's OT:
<a href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.nr0.htm>California ........ 7.3% (UR)
To all Californian commenters, does it fell like 7.3% unemployment? Also, that's awfully close to CR's magic 8% ball number for a serious recession.
I'm not correcting any damn misspellings.
Still haven't figured out why this person is so important to her "sponsors," why so protected. She's got the Obama quality of being white enough for appealing to whites but black enough for black voters too. Her mom was a white teamster and her dad was a black teacher and principal.
Pelosi is her main protector, but it seems there's a whole infrastructure around her that's got her insulated. There has been enough talk about Pelosi and her husband the mysterious SF Investor being involved with organized crime that maybe that's most of the story here. Very successful private-public partnership of politicians and thugs?
Her political base is the unions of her district. Unions and criminals have a nice long history. It's been documented that she received at least one loan from an owner of muliple strip clubs. Strip clubs have long been associated with organized crime. The ports are in her district -- long associated with major criminal activity. She spent a number of years in china, and china has a habit of bribing officials at the ports.
In a videotaped interview she was asked point blank if she owns property beyond what we've discovered so far. She thought about it for a second and then had no comment. If she didn't, it would be an easy "no I don't." So what else is out there? Attention was called recently to the posssibility that she picked up distressed real estate in New Orleans (maybe detroit too?). Conveniently enough, shortly after this, she and Pelosi made a trip to N.O. ostensibly to survey the progress being made and to continue the reconstruction. Interesting timing.
Someone with good investigative skills and access to national property data should go in and figure out what other real estate she's involved with, and not just in California. And not just the stuff that's directly in her name.
And then there's the whole NAR connection. Her biggest source of funding. What's the connection between her and the new head of the NAR, who just happens to be from Long Beach?
The guy who really got into all of the details of her real estate stinkiness was Gene Maddaus of the Long Beach Daily Breeze. It's notable that he has not written anything of substance about her for quite a while now. York, the guy who bought her place out of foreclosure was paid off to keep quiet. Wonder why Gene gave up on the story.
Irishman from Boston blames it on Bush. He's a funny guy.
Enterprising reporters, can you check to see if she really spent 14 years as a sales rep at Xerox. I'm sure it would be easy to make it look like she did, but if you can get a hold of people who supposedly worked with her, maybe the story would change?
Also, for those that are looking into her background, her website says she went to ucla and then usc. They conveniently leave off the part about uc santa barbara. And her sister... her sister is invisible on the internet. Curious. You can also poke around a little into York, the guy who gave back her house. Was the whole thing just a big show? Were all of the defaults and problems a big show just for the purpose of making her a sympathetic hero in the eyes of all the people who are going through housing hell? She has actually played this card a few times so far. That could have been the plan from the get-go -- use her housing woes as political fodder.
Ech. Jail.
Also, might want to add the home of a more than a few commenters here: MA. And we're above average in inflation, too!
That area, Curtis Park, is a close-in neighborhood inside Sacramento. Very nice neighborhood, but it buts up against Oak Park on the east and another rough area south of Sutterville that I don't know the name.
What most people looking at purchasing in that area don't realize is that Curtis Park is the first stop on the Lank Park home invasion express for professional and semi proffesional thugs in the surrounding area.
We looked at buying a home there in 99 for 188k. It was nicer and larger then the one pictured which will give you an idea of how inflated the prices still are in Sac. We were ready to bid until we pulled the crime stats for the area. That house, one street east from the park, had been broken into 3 times in 2 years. They ignored the alarms and one time the owners were home. The owners were even mugged in their driveway! Of course both agents feigned surprise when I informed them but you know the listing agent knew.
And that house looks like complete dung compared to their neighbors.
BTW, There was someone in east Sac (another nice area) stop watering their lawn to conserve water and the city cited them. Apparently you legally can't save water in Sac.
The thing aboout water is if you use it on your lawn, it eventually goes back into the air and falls down again. So, you are not really saving water, but imprisoning it from its natural cycle. People who "save" water are akin to people who lock people in dungeons in the basement.
My lawn looked much worse, until I sent my 7 year old out with the weed wacker to wack the dandelions.
Uh. Yeah.
Dude, go out and get some sunshine. You need it.
And Elvis, the problem is the considerable effort needed to get that fresh, potable water to the point where human stupidity then allows it to "go into the air", and where it would have gone instead of into that suburban lawn.
One of the requirements for running for Congress is being a crook.
People who live in the richer neighborhoods of Sacramento are worried that the foreclosure crisis will spread to their neighborhoods. So it's not surprising that they're over-reacting to the foreclosure on the block. I've seen much worse, even in Curtis Park.
Code enforcement in Sacramento is in a lot of trouble over trying this crap about brown lawns in other neighborhoods. There's a f'ing drought in this area, and code enforcement has been told to back off on the "brown lawn" citations by the city. While I have no sympathy for this particular deadbeat owner, code enforcement has not been a force for good in Sacramento for the most part. Zealotry is a job requirement there, and it has cost the city $$ for some of their actions.
BTW, deflationary jane, the city was shamed by the local newspaper into rescinding the fine for that neighbor in East Sac, which is what led them to tell code enforcement to back off.
Other Chris:
Sure buddy. We should all just go out and get some sun. Forget about all this crap. Apathy has worked for us extremely well so far.
Why in the world would you take issue with the fact that a reporter stopped digging just when things started to get really interesting?
"Pickin' on poor Laura"
I can see people fighting for this house; it looks architecturally attractive. I truly hated some of the houses that Jim the RE man was showing in Southern CA on this blog.
Anyone who says that house is an eyesore needs to get out more often.
"Covering windows with brown paper"
Was that sun-browned commercial paper, MBS, or Freddie shares?
Agreed that the congresslady is a dipshit, but I wonder if some of the venom exposed here has a racial component. Sadly, she's more representative of our representatives than not.
Mel,
You nailed it. This should be called Calculated Racist, because we only see skin deep. This is a very shallow, appearance oriented blog. We are all supermodels and white. Apparently, you are not.
Yes, this is the Paris Hilton of Blogs. It's a McBlog, and it's snarkalicious.
Don't forget thin, Elvis. We're are all thin too.
In all seriousness, I do believe their is a racist element to the discussion. But only if you allow for the existence of just two races -- the race of total scumbags, and the race of everyone else.
Elvis,
Chill--there are racists in this country, and some of them post here. Not most, but some--others might have elitist aspirations.
Just the facts. It isn't racist to post facts.
What is the problem? It looks just like her home district.
beebs -
Hardly true. Just cherry-pick some facts that don't show the whole story and even facts can be made racist. Many times "facts" are based on incomplete evidence, speculation, old wives' tales, etc. Read some "factual" representations of certain races from the early part of this country's history through even 40 years ago to see what were once considered facts.
That said, I don't see anything racist in this Tanta posting. Some of the commenters here I've killfiled, so if they're being racist in the comments, it just shows I had good judgment.
Mel,
Just wondering, plenty of comments here routinely toss venom at Mozilo, Dodd, Toll, Bernanke, Paulson, Bair, Bush, Cheney, Dimon, Cayne, etc. So, do you detect a racial component in those comments?
Are we being deeply unfair to beleaguered (and soon to be a minority) white folks? Should we hold our fire?
Fried,
Most you named earned the ridicule--as did tonight's victim, it's just that she's such a minor player in this debacle. Considering respective culpability, bush and greenspan get off without comments being very personal. Also, come on, the house doesn't look that bad, this is a case of the reporter, the town, and some commenters taking an easy shot. She's an uppity "darkie" to some, and "they" shouldn't be in Congress.
I just saw a splendid local staging of Cabaret--and it had the desired effect. Sneers can be very dangerous.
plenty of comments here routinely toss venom at Mozilo
This blog is prejudiced against <a href="http://www.1halloween.net/images/cosoompa.jpg>oompaloompahs.
"Rodent harborage" is a myth. sure you will attract wild critters but RATS are attracted buy the trash that inevitably appears in vacant lots. tall grass/weeds in themselves do not caus a rat problem.
Also her neighbors are way out of line about lawn watering. When will America learn. Most of my lawn is now a formidable terraced garden of doom. Our township sends you a nasty letter if the grass exceeds six inches. So I planted Miscanthus Giganteus the worlds tallest true grass-fourteen feet high. Makes a great screen. The squirrels leave everything alone. We have a deal.
I'm tempted to say that the lesson to take away from Richardson's financial problems is how susceptible most people are to group think and herd mentality. If Mr Retired Banker bought his house two years ago, rather than twenty, he'd be feeling the pain.
becky writes:
My lawn looked much worse, until I sent my 7 year old out with the weed wacker to wack the dandelions.
Yeah, well my trees looked much worse until I sent my 4 year old out with a chain saw to trim the dead wood.
Mel,
your mistake...bush and greenspan, alias the shrub and greenslime have caught plenty of venom, including questions of their intelligence, their ethics, their honesty, and their culpability for creating the macro-mess.
Richardson is a Congresswoman...and has a position of responsibility. Her conduct deserves all the ridicule and condemnation she's received and more.
As do bush, mozilo, greenspan, bair, cox, toll, dodd, et. al.
Assuming she's unable to field the heat for her behavior because of her skin color is itself inherently racist.
Mel,
and again, Richardson is no "victim"...she's a player.
I wouldn't vote for her--nor would I pile on as if she's a major player--or the only bit player. She (her race) makes the story sexier for some--and that sneering is what upsets me. Her house did not deserve this story--then why the article in the first place?
Rodent harborage happens around here - we are inundated by squirrels here (in Sacramento, might I add). Can we do much about it? No. It's against the law to do anything to a squirrel in the city. They'll gnaw through wood eaves to gain shelter from the cold, and they've caused thousands in damage to my house. Outside of the ugly spike strips put up around the edges of the roof and eaves, nothing can be done. Unless you want a few cats that'll hunt the damned things.
You see what I mean about Code Enforcement - they are very selective about who they try to push around - I find code violations all over my neighborhood, but I wouldn't think of calling in that bunch of creeps. A lot of the people in my neighborhood are retirees on a fixed income.
One more update - the city has just asked that NOBODY WATER THEIR LAWNS FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER and limit use of water to an absolute minimum. Water shortage, y'know.