From Trailers to Treasures

29 Day Giving Challenge - One Week In

2009-11-24T08:57:00.005-05:00

It's been a week since I started the 29 Gifts in 29 Days challenge, and its been surprisingly fun.

Everyday I find myself thinking about what I can give, looking for opportunities to help others or do nice things that can be used towards my daily "gift." And usually, instead of giving one gift each day, I end up giving a few gifts.

Some of the things I've done as part of the challenge include sending a friend I haven't seen in a while an e-card, giving friends a ride to the airport, volunteering my time to a RI-based organization called Save the Bay, and volunteering to help out on an extra project at work. One night I made my boyfriend his favorite dish and last night, I gave him a good back massage after a particularly long day.

Part of the challenge is to be able to receive gifts in turn, which is not always easy. For instance, I gave my friends a ride to the airport an hour away, at inconvinient times of the day, and they insisted on paying me for the trouble. I would normally refuse but I took the money, and plan to use it for their Christmas gifts.

And there are little positive things happening here and there that I'd like to believe are related to this challenge. In the past week I won a discount at a "jewlery" party, got a huge discount when I called my local cable company to add additional channels, so I am actually paying $25 less than before but getting much more. These things could be coincidental, but at the very least I recognize these positive things and that, by the Law of Attraction, creates more of the same.

Giving 29 Gifts in 29 Days - Join me!

2009-11-16T09:12:00.005-05:00

In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, I just signed up for The Giving Challenge - but not entirely for un-selfish reasons.

I read an article in the November issue of Body + Soul magazine about a woman named Cami Walker who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. In the depths of her debilitating pain and depression, Walker called a friend and spiritual advisor to vent. But instead of letting her wallow in self-pity, the advisor told Walker to stop focusing so much on the disease, to stop feeding it, and do something for others. Her prescription was to give 29 gifts in 29 days.

If I were Walker, I would have been pissed. How does that help me, lady? I can barely get out of bed the pain is so bad, but you want me to give to others? Give me some herbs, some accupuncture, some magic beans, something!

But out of desperation, she tried it, and it changed her life. It forced her to stop focusing on her own misery and within 14 days, she says she was walking without a cane again.

Now, do I think that simply giving to others can heal, can fix all of our problems? If only it were that easy. But I do believe that we create our own reality with our way of thinking, and when we focus on pain and depression, we can only create more of it for ourselves and others. So maybe by focusing on the good things we can do, the gifts we can give, we can attract good things and gifts to ourselves.

So really, giving is selfish - but being selfish in that sense of the word is not a bad thing. If I can improve my life by improving the lives of others in small ways, why not?

And giving gifts does not mean going to the mall and buying something for a friend (though it can). There are lots of ways to give. It can be giving clothes we don't wear to Good Will, putting change in a parking meter for someone you don't know or making someone else feel good with your words.

I am taking this challenge in part because I find myself focusing on my lack of riches far too often, which creates needless stress and frustration in my life. At the same time, I know I am in a better position than so many people, especially in this tough economy; I have a job that I like, a roof over my head, a wonderful man and friends by my side.

But things can always be better, and I hope by committing to give gifts to others each day, good things will come back to me (see, selfish!) To kick things off, I am going to pack a bag of clothes I don't need and give it to good will today.

I plan to document my giving challenge experiences here. I encourage you to sign up and see how it affects your life and the lives of others.

Franken's Anti-Rape Amendment Passes, No Thanks to Republicans

2009-10-22T12:51:00.011-04:00

Any reasonable human being would agree that if a woman is gang raped by her co-workers, she should be able to seek some type of recourse.

For Jamie Leigh Jones, it wasn't that simple. Five years ago she was gang-raped by co-workers while working for Halliburton/KBR and stationed in Iraq. According to reports, she was then locked in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food or water and was warned that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she would be fired.

Understandably, she wanted to bring her attackers to justice, but the fine print in her employer contract stipulated that she couldn't sue. The contract requires that incidents related to her employment or personal injuries “arising in the workplace" be resolved through Haliburton's dispute resolution program.

Thankfully, the courts ruled that the incident was not related to her employment - as in her job duties - so she can take action against those who attacked her via the justice system.

Following the suit, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN)
proposed an anti-rape amendment that would deny defense contracts for companies that require their employees sign contracts preventing them from suing in cases like this. The amendment passed but received 30 nay votes - all from Republicans.

If you haven't seen this yet, Jon Stewart sums the situation up really well in his Daily Show segment, Rape Nuts.

Everyone should be asking themselves why any of our elected officials would not support a bill that protects victims of gang rape. Are these 30 republicans voting nay on behalf of their constiuents, some of whom may be rape victims themselves, or on behalf of big companies? Is this not a disgusting display of corruption? Has capitalism really become more important than civil rights?

Health insurers dodge expensive medications, care

2009-01-19T11:57:00.021-05:00

Since I am lucky enough to have a job that provides me with health insurance, I made an appointment with an allergy doc in hopes of one day living my day to day life without a handful of tissues.

During that appointment earlier today, I was reminded that A. There are much more pressing issues than technology that need to be covered, and B. People think I should be married with kids by now.

Here is how our introductory conversation went;

Me: "Hi Dr. MacMillian. (reach out my hand to shake hers) Nice to meet you.

Dr. "Yes, hi. So, are you married?" (nodding her head yes)

Me: "No."

Dr: "How old are you?"

Me: "30."

Dr: "Have kids?" (she is nodding her head yes, again)

Me: "No."

Dr. "Okay. (disapproving look) So, what do you do?"

Me: "I'm a journalist. I write about technology."

Dr. "Ah. For the Journal?" (Another whammy)

Me: "Um, no, not for the Providence Journal. I write for a technology website; it's all online content. We are based in Massachusetts."

Dr: "Funny you should mention Massachusetts. Listen to this. I just got off the phone with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), which, I hardly ever call them because I have more important things to do, but this time I did because I needed to get a new medication approved for one of my patients. So, I call, explain what I need and why, and they keep me on hold for ten minutes. Then they come back and say 'sorry, but our pharmacist doesn't approve that medication. He suggests this other one.'

"The nerve. You mean to tell me that your pharmacist, who doesn't know my patient or what they need, is denying my medication choice? Your pharmacists' decision means more than mine? It is infuriating. I mean, every insurer has their own gimmick, but this is scary. They denied a medication that I know is best for my patient."

Me: "That is scary."

Dr. "Yes. See, this is why you should forget writing about this technology crap. These kinds of things go on, and someone needs to write about them."

Me: Nodding yes.

Dr: "OK, so what's been bothering you."

Me: Um, a lot more than a stuffy nose after that conversation...

Besides the disturbing lack of a bedside manner, I actually enjoyed her spit-fire personality. Plus, she has a point - and I don't mean the point that perhaps I should be married with kids by now, you jerk. I mean her point that health insurers in the U.S. dictate patient care, and the system has got to change.

According to BCBSMA's website, their "goal is to provide a high-quality, affordable pharmacy benefit without compromising quality of care. Working closely with doctors, pharmacists, and other experts, we manage our program by asking ourselves: How effective is a particular medication? Which other medications are available to treat the same condition? How does the cost of a particular medication compare to that of similar ones that treat the same condition?"

BCBSMA has a list of medications that have to be pre-authorized before a doctor can prescribe them, as well as a list of medications that are not covered.

If a doc is granted an exception for a non-covered drug, the patient has to pay the highest level co-payment, and if the request is not approved, patients have to cover the full cost of the prescription.

This, of course, drives doctors and patients nuts. Once recent Wall Street Journal health blog entry details a situation where health insurers denied access to a medication because of cost, and it received lots of feedback from commiserating doctors and patients on the related WSJ health forum site.

One WSJ forum respondent, called Plum Nurse, wrote, "When I left practice as a pulmonary nurse specialist for a job as a nurse epidemiologist in public health, my greatest joy was that I would never again spend hours on hold with insurers or managed care companies fighting to give my patients the care they needed. By the end of my time as the nurse managing a specialty clinic at a tertiary medical center, I spent virtually all my time on the phone. Part of it was for actual clinical care - calling patients - but a VERY large part was trying to convince some high school grad sitting in front of a screen of arbitrary rules that yes, my patient really did need the drug that was prescribed..."

Though unfortunate, health care has become more of a business than ever before. I think this forum respondent, dubbed Holy Trinity, sums it up nicely:

"Medicine is no longer a noble profession, it is a business. And as other 'noble professions,' especially law and education, have degraded into businesses, it's become all about the provider, rather than the practitioner."

This is just one of the many problems with America's health insurance system that needs to change.

Our incoming president, Barack Obama, has health insurance on his massive "fix it" list, but who knows if and when any changes in the area of prescription pre-authorization will be made; there are so many other pressing issues to deal with first, like making health insurance available and affordable for everyone.

I don't see anything in Obama's plan that would specifically address prescription pre-authorization hurdles, but there are measures that will help patients get medications at lower cost. For example, Obama wants to let consumers import safe drugs from other countries, which often cost much less.

According to the plan, "Pharmaceutical companies should profit when their research and development results in a groundbreaking new drug. But some companies are exploiting Americans by dramatically overcharging U.S. consumers. These companies are selling the exact same drugs in Europe and Canada but charging Americans a 67 percent premium. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will allow Americans to buy their medicines from other developed countries if the drugs are safe and prices are lower outside the U.S."

If approved, this measure would foster an environment of competition between U.S. and non-U.S. pharmaceutical companies, thus lowering the cost of prescription medications for Americans. Presumably, a side effect of lower drug costs would be that health insurers take the now expensive meds off of their "non-authorized" list and cover the cost.

But, maybe I presume too much; I am sure it isn't that simple.

I do know this, though; with the premiums we pay for health insurance, the medications our doctors prescribe should be covered. Hopefully, one day soon, they will be.

Sweet spots of 2009; stocks, fuel, the economy...it ain't all bad

2009-01-16T13:23:00.015-05:00

Last year really sucked; gas prices spun out of control, formerly rock steady businesses collapsed, people were swindled out of their last cent by criminals in expensive suits, and unemployment rates hit staggering highs.

And while many people are still reeling from all of this, there are glimmers of hope ahead; 2008 is behind us (good riddance) and we only have about 90 more hours of a Bush presidency (good riddance). I'm not exactly jumping for joy right now, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

So, in the words of Stuart Smalley (now Senator Al Franken), I'm going to do a terrific blog today! And I'm gonna help people!

1. Up until 2008, generations X and Y only knew a wealthy America; we now know what rock bottom looks like, and there is only one place to go from here. Maybe on the way back up, we will all appreciate the things we have a little bit more. After all, you need the bitter to appreciate the sweet.

2. We now know that if you are in commercial airliner like, oh, say, U.S. Air flight 1549, and the engine fails, death is not necessarily imminent. I never worry about dying during air travel anyway, but from now on I might pay a bit more attention to the flight attendants' safety tips instead of quietly telling him or her to shut the hell up so I can read my book in peace.

3. Many stock prices have fallen so dramatically that those of us who couldn't afford to invest when times were good (i.e. people who shop at T.J. Maxx because paying full price for anything is just plain foolish) can buy stocks at bargain basement prices now.

4. U.S. fixed interest mortgage rates hit a record low of 4.96 percent , so if you were raped by subprime lenders a few years back and are fortunate enough to still have your home, you may be able to refinance, save a bit and afford food once again.

5. We are officially moving out from under the Bush reign of terror. Did I mention we only have to call him Mr. President for another 90 some odd hours?

6. Obama.

I'm sure there are plenty more diamonds in the rough, but that's all I've got for now. Let me know what I've missed.

Buffy the inbred cocker spaniel; a cautionary tale

2008-12-11T10:08:00.013-05:00

From the ages of about nine through 13, my Christmas list consisted of one thing; a cocker spaniel puppy. In the weeks leading up to Christmas I would daydream about waking up on Christmas morning (at 4 a.m., when my parents were still sleeping off their hangovers from our annual Chistmas eve party), running down the very short hallway from my bedroom to the living room and finding a tiny blonde cocker spaniel puppy with a big red ribbon sitting quietly under the tree.

I imagined her jumping all over me, laying puppy kisses on my face and playing for hours.

Of course, my daydreams never included the parts where I had to clean up the puppy crap and piss from the carpets while we trained her, or taking her outside to do her duty at 6:30 a.m. in 30 degree January weather. Nor did I imagine this adorable pure-bred cocker, with her curly haired
ears and her white, freckled muzzle, to be an inbred schizophrenic that would viciously attack me, my brothers and my parents at least a 300 times throughout her 16 years of life for offenses like reaching towards her food bowl, taking away things she should not be eating or simply coming near to pet her when the ornery bitch didn't feel like being bothered with us. And never did I imagine this 30 pound dog being so frightening to others that we would have to lock her in a bedroom when company came over to prevent any Cujo style attacks on innocent women and children. How could a creature so small and soft and cuddly be so evil?

Because we didn't want to believe our doggie was simply an asshole, we hypothesized that Buffy (shut up, it was the 1980's) was mentally disturbed due to inbreeding. We met Buffy's mama, but we didn't meet the papa, who could have been a son or brother of father. Being 13, I didn't think of that, and clearly it didn't cross my parents minds either.

Sure, there were plenty of good times with Sybil; some of her personalities were quite sweet, and we loved her despite her shortcomings. But, had we done our due diligence before investing in a pet, we could have avoided the traumas we endured.

Now, I'm not discouraging people from getting a dog. I am a dog lover, and encourage anyone who has the time, energy and love to devote to a dog to get one. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

I'm sure a lot of kids (and adults) are begging for a puppy right about now - current movies like Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Marley & Me ensure that. If you plan to give in, learn from my mistake and make sure you get your pup from a reputable breeder, or better yet, rescue a dog from a shelter.

Beware of pet shops like PetLand use puppy mills, where female dogs live their entire lives in cages and exist only to to pump out puppies. The breeding is substandard, with unhealthy mothers being partnered (a.k.a. raped) by their own brothers, fathers and sons to pump out puppies. The poor conditions of puppy mills also lead to ill pups. In other words, don't support pet shops that use puppy mills by buying dogs from them. Use your local shelters or ask the pet store owner to show you documentation of where the pups come from before buying. They should be able to provide it.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)has plenty of resources on puppy mill scams, laws protecting consumers and ways to find a puppy or adult dog.

By doing our homework, Robbi and I have the perfect dog, Bella, a bullmastiff. We bought books on the breed before deciding on her, and ended up adopting her from a local guy who introduced us to both her parents. Bella came from the mother (Cocoa)'s second and final litter, and it was clear the breeder loved his dogs. In fact, it was hard for him to let the puppies go when the time came, and he told us to bring Bella back for a visit anytime.

We felt really good about where she came from, and the good breeding is quite obvious in her demeanor, health, and her ability to be endlessly sweet. She lights up our lives every day.

Thankful to be thankful on Thanksgiving

2008-11-24T13:40:00.006-05:00

It occurred to me a little while ago that I have been thinking about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday the wrong way.

I've been complaining to myself that Rob and I have to hop between relatives houses on Thursday and won't be able to relax, but that isn't really something to complain about. God, what a jerk I am. We have places to go where there will be food, heat and family surrounding us (even if some of them drive us crazy). This is something many Americans do not have the luxury of complaining about this year.

I recently wrote an article for the Providence Business News about how the economy is affecting non-profit organizations like Crossroads Rhode Island, the state's main homeless and womens shelter. The state legislature cut funding for many state-based social services, so nonprofit groups are expected to fill the gap, but the state also cut funding for nonprofits, so these organizations can not afford to do so.

Crossroads is supporting thousands more people this year than previous years, many of them experiencing homelessness for the first time, and many of those people will converge at the shelter on Thursday for a hot meal. But homeless shelters like Crossroads can only provide food and housing if people support the cause, and it is easy to do. On Crossroads' website is a place to give the down and out among us something to look forward to this holiday season, including things like a few hours of GED tutoring, a Child's Winter Clothing Kit or Healthy Meals for 2 Families for a month.

Shelters in every state are in the same situation and need support. Give a few dollars this year and let someone else have something to be thankful for. Whatever you give will come back to you tenfold, even if it is only within yourself.

Americans vote for change, end cruelty

2008-11-05T10:07:00.010-05:00

Like the majority of Americans, I let out a sigh of relief last night when our votes to change the way things have been for the past eight years were heard; Barack Obama will be the next U.S. President.

The U.S.'s first black president elect won 349 electoral votes - double the number of votes his opponent Sen. John McCain received and 79 more than the 270 electoral votes he needed to be voted president.

If his good democratic and economic policies, his stance of increasing renewable energy and decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, his desire to end the war in Iraq responsibly, his understanding of womens issues and his overall BluePrint for Change aren't enough, Obama also offers us a way to mend tattered foreign relations.

Most countries were pleasantly surprised that Obama was voted in, especially after their disappointment with last election, when Bush was re-elected somehow. Hopefully, having Obama at the helm will put the U.S. back in good graces with our partners in the United Nations and heal the wounds Bush caused over the past eight years.

The French newspaper Liberation reported "In this election, a French bias about Americans is swept away. Every four years, we complain about the poor voter turnout in the USA -- which is a reality. But this year, given the election's historical significance and thanks to the technological advances of the Internet, we saw an exemplary mobilization of American voters..."

"We also need to change our preconceptions about American prejudice. For the first time, an African-American and a woman were candidates for the highest office in the land. It seems like America could teach us a thing or two about democracy," the Liberation reported.

I'm also thrilled that voters chose to end inhumane treatment of animals in Massachusetts and California during this election. The Humane Society of the United States reports that California approved a ballot measure to halt the inhumane confinement of animals on factory farms, and voters in Massachusetts approved a measure to ban greyhound racing, because when these dogs aren't being exploited for gambling, they are locked up in tiny cages.

These are small steps in what will be a marathon of legislative changes for animals, but important ones in our evolution as a society; people don't need to show their superiority over animals by treating them with disrespect. Farm animals are vulnerable creatures that depend on us for care, and if we intend to take their lives for food, they deserve to be treated respectfully for it, and given a good life until it is taken.

Dogs offer us their loyalty, love and protection, and we should return the favor by treating them, and all animals, with some dignity and respect.

Historical high jobless rates deplete state unemployment funds

2008-10-08T11:00:00.012-04:00

There are so many people applying for unemployment benefits that callers often can’t get through, and even if they can, unemployment checks may not be available, according to a new Stateline.org report.

In North Carolina, where more people are out of jobs than ever, state employees are working overtime and on weekends to reduce a backlog of requests to verify unemployment benefits that has been as high as 17,000, compared to only a few cases a day a year ago. And in Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 8.9 percent, there isn’t enough money in its unemployment insurance fund to cover claims, so the state has been forced to borrow from the federal government to pay jobless benefits, Stateline reported.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits is at the highest levels since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Weekly claims have exceeded 400,000 for 11 weeks, compared to 324,000 a year ago, a level that economists say indicates a recession, according to Stateline.

For example, I know someone who works in the construction industry, which has slow periods and seasonal layoffs, and this year has been especially slow. He recently had to file an unemployment claim for a couple of weeks, and dialed the number to the Rhode Island unemployment office - where unemployment is over 8% - and the line was busy for at least 25 minutes before it rang. The wait to talk to a person was well over an hour.

Also, I just spoke to Anne Nolan, the president of Crossroads RI, a homeless and womens' shelter. The non-profit organization was allotted $500,000 in state aid two years ago, but for the past two years has only gotten $200,000 in aid. In addition, she is worried that donations will slow down due to the economy.

"When people can't afford to pay for their own heat, they can't afford to donate to us," Nolan said. "Crossroads has been through tough times before, but this feels ominous. We are dealing with state cuts and at the same time, getting more people who are experiencing homelessness for the first time because they can not support themselves."

And if unemployment funds dry up, there will be even more people knocking on the doors of shelters like Crossroads.

The issue with unemployment funding is that states typically collect payroll taxes from employers to pay for jobless claims; lawmakers set the tax rates, the maximum amount of the unemployment checks and the duration of benefits. Many states have had to increase unemployment payments but have not increased payroll taxes to keep pace with the payments.

So far, unemployment insurance trust funds are in danger in California, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, South Carolina and Wisconsin, according to the National Employment Law Project, a policy group based in New York that advocates on behalf of the unemployed. That group reports 11 additional states are having trouble doling out jobless benefits.

Until economic confidence returns and banks make it easier for businesses, governments and consumers to borrow money to meet payrolls, pay bills and buy houses, companies will continue laying off workers. Major institutions like Bank of America saw steep revenue declines this week and some analysts say a number of banks won't make it through the current credit crisis, even with the ridiculous $700 billion federal bailout plan.

Subprime mortgage fun equals worst hangover ever

2008-09-25T10:36:00.021-04:00

Reading about all of the financial messiness on Wall Street these past few weeks brings back fond memories of better times, when subprime mortgage bankers made billions of dollars on the backs of hopeful home buyers who couldn't actually afford the 100% mortgages they were getting.

For a small window of time, I was part of the fun.

After I graduated from Northeastern University in 2002, I scored my first full time reporting gig at the Sentinel and Enterprise in Fitchburg, MA (a.k.a the armpit of the Commonwealth) earning a fat $18,000 a year. The editor worked us lowly reporters to the bone for peanuts every day, so after about a year I moved to a newspaper in Providence for an increase in salary - about $30,000/yr. Of course, supporting myself and paying back $40,000 in student loans on that salary still didn't cut it, so I moved to the dark side; I became an account manager for a subprime lender called SouthStar Funding.

My friend Stace already worked for them as a sales rep, and her boss was recruiting big time so they gave this inexperienced gal an interview. Actually, it wasn't a real interview; Stace and I met SouthStar's Northeast Regional Sales Manager at a bar in Providence called the Hot Club for drinks, and he hired me pretty much on the spot.

He said I would make about $80,000 a year as an account manager. That was about a $50,000 pay increase, so it was a no brainer for me.

Looking back, I shouldn't have taken a job from someone who interviewed me at a bar, especially from someone who proceeded to get drunk. And the fact that he tried to convince us to go to some local strip clubs with him should have been another red flag, but I was young and broke and blinded by dollar signs, so I ignored the glaring lack of professionalism. (We didn't go, by the way).

My first real day on the job I took a call from a mortgage broker whose loan was tied up in underwriting. She wanted to close a loan that day and was screaming and swearing at me over the phone. I told her "it isn't wise to scream at someone who can help you," and she eventually calmed down. The other girls in the office commended me for handling her so well and said I would do great there, since dealing with screaming brokers was a big part of the job. It served as a glimpse into what I would deal with just about every day.

Besides that hell, working at SouthStar, and most mortgage companies from what I heard, was a big party because most people were making tons of money. There was even a refrigerator in our Connecticut office full of beer, and many days I could hear the regional sales manager cracking the first one open at about noon. There was also a beer fridge in the Ohio offices where I trained for the job. I thought this is crazy, but what a cool place to work.

I quickly realized that the brokers and most of our sales reps were motivated by money and had no regard for whether or not their clients could actually afford their homes once they got them. They let greed guide their decisions.

I would imagine most of them had to were ski masks to their closings, because they were robbing home owners blind. Most brokers wanted to add two to three points (1 point is 1% percent of the total loan). SouthStar only allowed brokers to add up to two points on the back of a first loan, and some brokers didn't work with us because of that. Other companies let brokers add points on the front of a loan and on the back, so they could charge four points on a $400,000 loan and earn $16,000 on it.

Most of the loans I had to pre-approve were from people with credit scores of 620 or below. If they had a 620 score - which means they had lots of delinquent accounts on their credit report - they could "state" their income and get a 100% loan in the shape of an 80% first mortgage and a 20% second. Of course, with a low credit score their interest rates would be sky high - maybe 9% on the first and 14% on the second loan.

So a potential homebuyer could 'state' that their income as a convenience store clerk was $75,000 a year, and as long as that salary was within 15% of the earnings listed on a site like Salary.com, we would accept it. Often times, the mortgage brokers would coach the home owner and tell them to state their income as a "manager" instead of a clerk to get away with more income, but our underwriters would find out and the loan wouldn't get through. The 'cool' underwriters would throw that false employment information away and let the mortgage broker come back with something more reasonable.

So, say a Wal Mart cashier wanted to buy a $275,000 home, and their credit score was 640. The broker would state their income higher than the $22,000 Salary.com listing, and then add someone else to the loan who would supposedly be living in the home with them, so that person's income could be counted as well.

Of course, our underwriters knew these tricks and killed a lot of loans, but they also let plenty of them slip through.

SouthStar allowed people to break a 100% loan into two parts so a buyer could get 100% financing and avoid having to pay Mortgage Insurance, which was required on loans over 80%. So on a $200,000 first loan and a $75,000 second loan the interest rate might be 8% and 13% respectively, which equals $1,467.53 a month on the first mortgage, and $ 829.65 a month on the second.

With a 640 credit score they also had the option of paying interest only for up to ten years. Many people used this "perk" because they couldn't actually afford the home they bought at the income they really brought home.

Brokers would tell the home buyers to refinance when their interest only period kicked in to avoid paying the full payment if they had to.

These 100% mortgages were popular because it gave people who couldn't afford a home access to the American dream. Unfortunately, the subprime lenders giving them these loans didn't give a damn that the dream was built on quick sand.

After a year and a half at SouthStar, I couldn't stand being there anymore. Besides the fact that I hated doing mortgages and dealing with angry brokers everyday, I wasn't making what I expected. I was an account manager for the top sales team in the region, and I barely made $50,000 a year - about $30,000 less than I was told.

About three months later in April 2007, SouthStar Funding closed down along with a number of other lenders because investors stopped buying pools of crappy loans they were selling. I got out just in time.

A year later the subprime mortgage collapse has hit banks we thought were bullet proof, like has Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lehman Brothers.

Now the government is asking us to forgive the greed of subprime lenders and bail them out with $700 billion of taxpayer money. What about the people who were given a mortgage they couldn't afford? Are we bailing them out as well? No.

The bailout plan didn't pass yesterday, and the Dow Jones plunged a record 777.68 points, losing $1.2 trillion dollars.

One of the main reasons the plan wasn't passed is because we don't know if it is a good idea; many analysts say it isn't. President Bush says it is imperative for us to pass the bailout plan quickly, but he also said there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and sent us to war there. Fool us once, shame on you, fool us twice, shame on us.

Generally, the American people don't want to bail out private companies. If there is a bailout plan, it needs to be in the form of a loan that us tax payers will make a large return on investment (ROI) with, the same way these mortgage lenders made interest on the backs of people who couldn't afford the loans they were approved for.

Former President Bill Clinton was on The Daily Show last week and he made some good points about the plan. A strong ROI on the $700 billion bailout was one of them. He also said there should be a moratorium on foreclosures; those loans should be reviewed and re-written to avoid foreclosures. This would be less expensive to America than a foreclosure. Makes sense.

The bottom line here is that our economy is in a lot of trouble because of the mortgage industry was drunk. Now it is time to pay the piper, and they want detox help from the taxpayers. I'm not buying it.

Falling into the U.S. economic ditch; job loses and bankruptcies everywhere

2008-09-24T09:39:00.012-04:00

The depth of the economic ditch we are in here in America has officially hit home.

A good friend of mine lost his job today because the Boat retail company he works for in Warwick, RI had to file bankruptcy.

The company was healthy for decades, and for many years he made a great living selling boats there.

This year was different.

There were complicated management issues at the company that played into their demise, but the economy certainly didn't help.

In 2008, oil prices soared to over $100 a barrel, gasoline prices in New England hovered around $4.00 a gallon and the cost of materials, food and just about everything else we buy as consumers increased.

Clearly not a great year to invest in a recreational boat.

My concern now is, will he find another job? He has a mortgage and bills and a kid to support. The help wanted section in newspapers is awfully thin these days and the foreclosure section is a lot thicker than it used to be.

I'm optimistic enough to believe that someone as talented and likeable as my friend will have no trouble finding another sales job, and maybe even a better one, but it might take longer than it should.

Zooming out of Rhode Island and looking at the big picture, this is a problem everywhere in America; there have been nearly a half-million job losses since January, mainly because of poor decisions made by President Bush and his administration over the past eight years.

And who would have thought mortgage finance behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insurer American International Group (AIG) and investment banks Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns would nearly collapse?

Unfortunately, Bush still holds firm to the delusion that the U.S. economy is "strong" and says the recent disaster on Wall Street is merely an adjustment.

I am counting down the days until we have a new president in office, whether it be Obama or McCain, because it can't possibly be any worse than what we have now. Not that a new president will be able to fix eight years of damage in an instant, but at they are talking about ways to put us on the road to recovery.

Why Sarah Palin is one twisted bitch ...

2008-09-11T15:32:00.009-04:00

I did some research on Sen. John McCain's surprising pick for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and found some disturbing information on that should serve as a red flag for any American who plans to head to the polls in November.

Besides her only having served some 22 months as governor of a state with about half the number of people as Rhode Island, Palin is a frightening choice for many reasons.

Here are Top 10 Facts Everyone Must Know About Sarah Palin, courtesy of GizzlyBay.org. Click the links for some back story on these:

1) She is presently under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power

2) The Pro-Life Republican offered a bounty of $150 for each right front leg of freshly killed wolves

3) She is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest

4) She is a champion for big oil and supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

5) She believes creationism should be taught in public schools

6) She doesn't acknowledge that global warming is a man-made problem

7) She is opposed to listing the polar bear as an endangered species because it will limit oil exploitation

8) While mayor of Wasilla, she tried to fire the city librarian because the librarian refused to censor books. (Alaska is in America, right? Isn't book banning a tad Nazi-ish?)

9) The lifelong member of the National Rifle Association supports aerial hunting of wolves and bears even though Alaskans voted twice to ban the practice

10) Palin, whose 17-year old unmarried daughter is pregnant, is anti-sex education. Hmmm...Hey Palin, maybe a little safe sex and contraception education is a better approach than naively assuming your daughter will remain chaste until marriage.

If you are a pro-choice, animal lover, and a human, like me, you are probably shaking your head in disgust.

I'm guessing McCain is sorry he only spoke to Palin once before giving her the VP job.

Besides having voted with President Bush about 90% of the time over the past eight miserable years, McCain seems to be a stand-up guy. You can't knock his patriotism and courage as a war veteran but I'm seriously questioning his judgement.

I'm sure he thought adding a woman's name to his ticket would help him obtain votes from bitter Hillary Clinton supporters, but Palin's philosophies are so far right of Clinton's, I can't see how any Clinton supporter would cast a vote for a McCain-Palin ticket.

If McCain gets voted into the Presidency and the 71-year old kicks the bucket in the next four years, do we really want Palin at the helm?

I Have A Dream...Barack Obama

2008-08-29T10:44:00.008-04:00

In honor of the anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's landmark "I Have a Dream" speech delivered to thousands of peace advocates at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963, I am going to voice a dream of my own.

I have a dream that on November 4, 2008, America will vote for change and return our damaged country to a state of wealth, health, and pride.

I have to admit that Barack Obama wasn't my first choice for a democratic nominee. I'm a Hillary Clinton supporter all the way. In fact, I emailed the New York senator a year before she ever hinted at candidacy, urging her to run, so I was deeply disappointed when she conceded in June. I am even more disappointed that we won't see a woman's name on the ballot this year, but she has brought women leaps and bounds closer to that day by "putting 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling."

That said, I've also admired Barack Obama from the start. Yes, I thought Hillary's experience would make her a better candidate, but I always knew if Hillary couldn't make it, I would support Obama. His vision of what our society should look like, and his passion for making change happen, are exactly what we need at this point.

The republican party says Obama doesn't have enough experience for the presidency. I say, if their gauge for experience is George W. Bush, look at the disaster his leadership has caused. Gas prices have risen out of control, we are at war with a country that had nothing to do with the 9-11 attacks, people are losing their jobs because their employers are moving overseas, our health care system is a joke, the list goes on and on.

Another obstacle is the racism issue. For instance, my boyfriend Robbi and I had dinner with some friends back when Obama and Hillary where still fighting it out for the nomination. I supported Hillary, Robbi liked Obama. Our friends, who shall remain nameless for their own safety, were rooting for Mike Huckabee. Huckabee!
To discourage us from voting for our choices, he told us, "No woman or black man will ever get elected president in this country. No way."

I sat speechless (for a millisecond) before going off on how narrow minded and senseless this idea was. It is the 21st century! But people who think this way are not easily persuaded, and it is the way many Americans still think. This friend of mine is a 35 year old, white, middle class northerner, for God's sake.

Another example of this is my 74-year-old father, who supported Hillary - which surprised the hell out of me, because Hillary is, after all, a female. I was proud of him for supporting her. My old-fashioned dad was able to picture a woman president when so many younger more progressive thinking men could not.

But my pride for him changed to disappointment after Hillary conceded. Dad has decided to vote for Sen. John McCain. Since this is an odd and dramatic shift, given their differences on the war, environment, etc, Robbi asked my dad why he won't vote for Obama, who is the closest candidate to Hillary in terms of their values and vision.

"Because he is black," Dad said, as though that answer should be obvious.

Ugh. So I know there are plenty of those people out there. But I was encouraged by Democratic National Convention turnout. People from all races and backgrounds stood in the overcrowded Denver Broncos football stadium last night and waited in lines up to six miles long to show support and watch Obama's nomination historical acceptance speech last night, proving to the world that racism in America is a dying evil.

Hopefully his ideas and plans will overcome these obstacles. Obama was raised in Kansas by a single mother with little money. He took out loans to get through college. He made it the hard way. He knows what needs to change in order for others to have a better life in America, and hopefully, he will be given the opportunity to fulfill that vision.

Obama was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He will likely be the first black president of the United States. I hope that American's get out to the polls and cast their vote for him this year.

I'm sure Dr. King is smiling down at us now, for making his dream a reality.

Intel CTO predicts robot takeover by 2050

2008-08-22T09:42:00.010-04:00

At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) this week,Intel Corp.'s chief technology officer (CTO) took a fascinating look at how technology will bring man and machine closer by 2050, and said robots could overtake humans in their ability to reason.

Think Terminator.

During his keynote at IDF in San Francisco this week, Intel CTO Justin Rattner predicted big changes are ahead in social interactions, robotics and improvements in computer’s ability to sense the real world. He said Intel’s research labs are already looking at human-machine interfaces and examining future implications to computing with some major changes coming within the next 30 years.

“The industry has taken much greater strides than anyone ever imagined 40 years ago,” Rattner said. “There is speculation that we may be approaching an inflection point where the rate of technology advancements is accelerating at an exponential rate, and machines could even overtake humans in their ability to reason, in the not so distant future.”

Intel researchers have also been working on a Wireless Resonant Energy Link (WREL)that powers electronics without the use of a plug or wire of any kind. So, some day we may be able to walk into an airport or room with our laptop and instead of consuming battery, it is recharged.

The technology relies on strongly coupled resonators, a principle similar to the way a trained singer can shatter a glass using her voice. At the receiving resonator's natural frequency, energy is absorbed efficiently, just as a glass absorbs acoustic energy at its natural frequency. With this technology enabled in a laptop, for example, batteries could be recharged when the laptop gets within several feet of the transmit resonator.

Though engineers are still pretty far off from being able to implement this, researchers are hopeful that wireless power will be a reality one day.

Intel researchers are also investigating how millions of tiny micro-robots, called catoms, could build shape-shifting materials. If used to replace computing devices, this technology could make it possible for a device to change physical form in order to suit the specific way you are using it. A mobile computer, for example, could be tiny when in a pocket, change to the shape of an earpiece when used as a mobile phone, and be large and flat with a keyboard for browsing the Internet or watching a movie.

Robots: From the Factory Floor to Your Kitchen

Robots today are primarily used in manufacturing to perform a single task repeatedly. To make robotics personal, robots need to move and manipulate objects in human environments, and they need to be cognizant of their surroundings by sensing and recognizing movement and learn to adapt to new scenarios, according to Rattner.

Rattner demonstrated two personal robot prototypes developed at Intel’s research labs. One of the demonstrations showed electric field pre-touch that has been built into a robot hand. The technique is based on a sensing modality used by fish but not humans, so they can “feel” objects before they even touch them. The other demonstration was a complete autonomous mobile manipulation robot that can recognize faces and interpret and execute commands as generic as “please clean this mess."

In addition to robots becoming more human-like, Rattner said he believes more innovation will emerge to make human and machine interaction deeper. Randy Breen, chief product officer of Emotiv Systems, joined Rattner onstage to demonstrate the company’s EPOC1 headset, which identifies brainwave patterns, processes them in real time and tells a game what conscious or non-conscious thoughts the user has had, like facial expressions, conscious actions or emotions.
A user with the headset could think about smiling or lifting an object, and an avatar in a game would execute it. EPOC can currently identify more than 30 different “detections” through the 16 sensors on the headset.

This is all very cool, but scary at the same time, not only because I've watched the Terminator movies about a hundred times, but because technology enables laziness and stupidity.

For instance, people (like me) don't have to think about adding or multiplying because of calculators. We (I) don't have to remember phone numbers because they are all programmed in cell phones. We don't have to worry too much about spelling because spell check is a lovely crutch.

Imagine how lazy people will become if there are robots to do our cooking and cleaning? If there are mind reading headsets that allow people to just sit and think about what they want to do instead of actually having to do it themselves? I can just see the obesity epidemic exploding.

Of course, technology also frees up time in our lives for other important tasks, like drinks with friends, and frees space in our brains for more information, like whether Brittney Spears is wearing underwear.

Ah, these are truly the best times to be alive.

College presidents propose lower drinking age 12 years too late

2008-08-20T08:20:00.007-04:00

College presidents from over 100 of the best-known U.S. universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws encourage binge drinking on campuses, the Associated Press reports.

The movement called the Amethyst Initiative began recruiting presidents more than a year ago to ignite a national debate about the U.S. drinking age, which is among the highest in the world. Most countries allow the purchase of alcohol at age 18, some at 16.

A statement on the Middlebury, VT-based Amethyst website reports, "In 1984 Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which imposed a penalty of 10% of a state's federal highway appropriation on any state setting its drinking age lower than 21. Twenty-four years later, our experience as college and university presidents convinces us that twenty-one is not working.

"A culture of dangerous, clandestine "binge-drinking" -- often conducted off-campus -- has developed. Alcohol education that mandates abstinence as the only legal option has not resulted in significant constructive behavioral change among our students. Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer."

They have a point; if people are old enough to vote for president at 18, they should be given the right to consume alcohol, but I don't think lowering the drinking age to 18 will hinder binge drinking in the U.S. Americans are bred to be over-indulgent in everything, from food to soft drinks to alcohol.

And of course, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)and pretty ticked off about the Amethyst Initiative, and say there is science behind the law to show that a higher legal drinking age does save lives.

Some scientists have looked at comparisons of drinking before and after the passage of raised minimum age legislation and seen little impact upon behavior.

When I was 18 I drank more than I do now, at 30 (if you can believe that), which is probably the case for most people under 21. Making alcohol illegal adds frisson to drinking. It becomes the forbidden fruit that is all that much more desirable.

So I look forward to hearing more on this drinking age debate, even though it comes 12 years too late for me.
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Man charged with cruelty for letting sick horse live; why not people too?

2008-08-13T10:42:00.008-04:00

I saw a story on Rhode Island's local NBC news channel August 12 about a man who is being charged for animal cruelty because he would not euthanize his severely arthritic horse, and find this situation ironic.

Elliot Saffran of Milford, Mass. allegedly refused to euthanize his horse Quincy based on recommendations from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and other animal specialists. The horse was ill for a long time and died Sunday.

I am an animal lover and am passionate about animal cruelty prevention, so don't take this blog post the wrong way. I agree that it is more humane to euthanize a severly ill and incapacitated animal than it is to let it live a life of misery. It is ironic though, that we advocate for ending an animal's suffering by way fo euthanasia, but we do not give terminally ill human beings that same respect.

Here we are, charging someone with cruelty for not killing his ill animal, but we put the pathologist, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, in prison for helping terminally ill patients exercise their right to die to end their suffering via euthanasia.

Between 1990 and 1998, Kevorkian assisted in the deaths of about 100 terminally ill people before being sent to prison for it. Starting in 1999, Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence for second-degree murder. He was released on good behavior June 1, 2007.

In each case, Kevorkian assisted only by attaching the individual to a device that he had made, and the individuals took the final action which resulted in their own deaths by pushing a button that released the chemicals to end their own life.

All I know is that if I am cursed with some terrible terminal illness that leaves me a vegetable, drooling on myself, I want someone to end my suffering.

I hope the laws change to allow us all the same courtesy we give our animals.

U.S. and Europe Dumping E-Waste in Third World Countries

2008-08-12T09:49:00.010-04:00

This week, Greenpeace issued a report detailing the stream of electronic waste (e-waste) the U.S. ships to the west African country of Ghana, CNet reported.

During Greenpeace's investigation into the e-waste trade, they uncovered evidence that e-waste is being exported, often illegally, to Ghana from Europe and the US. IN Ghana they found unprotected workers, many of them children, using stones to take apart computers and TVs in search of metals that can be sold. Check out this documentary on the e-waste issue.

The e-waste has toxic metals including lead in quantities as much as one hundred times above background levels. Other chemicals in the e-waste are known to promote cancer.

I had no idea the U.S. and Europe sent its trash over to third world countries and find it deplorable. It is like if the wealthy people on Park Avenue in New York City were to dump all of their trash in the Bronx because, what the hell, its dirty there anyway.

One step Greenpeace is taking to protect people from e-waste toxins is by urging electronics manufacturers to phase out toxic chemicals and introduce global recycling programs.

And congress is introducing new e-waste legislation. Last week, U.S. Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, introduced a resolution that calls for the United States to ban the export of toxic e-waste to developing nations, CNet reported.

E-waste recycling

I wrote a story for Mass High Tech about e-waste legislation in the U.S., and how far behind Europe we are in terms of our electronic recycling programs.

In that report I spoke with Andrea Mirenda, vice president for corporate marketing for Maine-based Fairchild Seminconductor, who also sits on the Green Initiative internal team working with the EU directives. She said, "The U.S. doesn't drive any significant legislation or stipulations, and we are falling behind the curve at this point. The U.S. rules aren't aggressive in our opinion -- we are working toward achieving standards set in Europe and saying to ourselves, 'Come on U.S., catch up."

So far there are only a handful of states in the U.S. including Rhode Island that have instituted e-waste regulations but it looks like more and more are catching on.

E-waste is becoming a more serious issue due to the amount of consumer electronics used - and disposed of - today. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that 2.25 million tons of e-waste has been created in the form of old TVs, cell phones, and computer products since 2006. Up to 82% went into landfills while only about 18% was recycled.

Take cell phones for instance; Verizon has a "new every two" program that allows consumers to get a new cell phone every couple of years at virtually no charge. What happens to the old phones?

I take advantage of the new every two program and recycle the old phone by sending it to a company like Waltham, Mass.-based Second Rotation, which buys used equipment to reuse the parts, or to organizations that give phones to women who are in domestic violence situations, so they can use it to call 9-1-1 if necessary.

One of the biggest e-waste concerns involves the U.S.'s conversion from analog TV to digital in February 2009. How many people are going to buy digital televisions, instead of a converter box? What will happen to the old lead filled TVs?

Hopefully most people will take advantage of free recycling programs from their state or electronics manufacturer.

Last year, Sony started a recycling program that allows consumers to drop off old Sony products. More recently, LG Electronics started a free recycling program in the United States for its old televisions and electronics.

Noose sightings up (WTF?)

2008-07-22T08:01:00.008-04:00

A Web site that tracks noose sightings in the U.S. reports that since last fall, a noose is found hanging every week, according to Diversity Inc.'s "Noose Watch".

My question is, isn't it 2008? Didn't we stop hanging people in America a long time ago? All states except for Washington and New Hampshire (live free or die by hanging) have banned hanging as a capital punishment option.

But them there nooses ain't fer hanging, there fer hatin! Yee, haw.

Hold on, I have to vomit now.

Ok, back to business. A noose signifies death for everyone, but for black Americans, a noose is a strong hate symbol because it reminds of a time in American history when intolerance was the norm and racist groups like the dunce-cap wearing Ku Klux Klan, attacked, kidnapped and hanged black people for no reason other than the color God made them.

Oddly, the uptick in the number of reported noose sightings started to increase about nine months ago following the Jena 6 incident in Louisiana, and lawmakers there and in Connecticut and New York have made hanging a noose a crime punishable by imprisonment. Not that anyone in New York or Connecticut would do such a thing. Right? Right??

Ugh. Wrong again. It really hurt my Northeast liberal elitist ego to see how many noose sightings came from northern states.

I'd like to chalk those incidents up to the sad acts of attention seeking idiots, but it needs to be taken seriously - and in a few states, it is. Connecticut and New York passed laws in May with prison sentences ranging from a year in Connecticut to four years in New York for anyone found hanging a noose. Earlier this month, Louisiana, the state where thousands marched in support of the Jena 6, also passed such a law. Louisiana's noose law says that anybody hanging a noose or even a picture of a noose meant to intimidate somebody else could get a year in prison and a $5,000 fine. And now Florida, Maryland, Missouri and North Carolina are considering similar laws, Diversity, Inc. reports.

It's hard to believe that race-based hate still exists in the 21st Century, but clearly, it is alive and well.

In fact, within the past decade, two black men were actually hanged in the name of hate. Democracy Now reported, "On June 15 2000 in Kokomo, Mississippi, a black teenager was found hanging from a tree in his front yard. Investigators tried to rule it a suicide. But community leaders suggest that 17-year-old Raynard Johnson was killed because he had dated two white girls. And some are comparing his death to the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, who was murdered for whistling at a white woman."

Of course, racists aren't the only ones violating peace. Religious fanatics spread a good amount of hate towards anyone who doesn't believe as they do, as we saw on 9/11.

I saw a great example of American religious fanaticism on YouTube; this Baptist church freak went on Fox news to spread the message of hate towards gays, Jews, and, strangely enough, soldiers who died in war.

The irony here is that religious extremists ignore the fact that their God also made the people they hate, and I'm sure their God wouldn't condone violence and hatred towards those people. This is the same type of hypocrisy we see when pro-life activists kill abortion doctors. Isn't the message supposed to be pro-life?

I could go on and on here, but I'll spare you of that.

As daunting as all of this is, I can rest easy knowing that whenever racists, religious fanatics and over the top activists are given the opportunity to state their case to the public, they make fools of themselves.

Oil Speculation; response from RI Sen. Jack Reed

2008-07-17T10:36:00.012-04:00

After learning about the negative affects oil speculation has on the U.S. economy (and my wallet), I sent an email to my local congressmen last week urging them to take the steps to lower oil prices by enforcing tighter controls over oil speculation. Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed's office sent an email response today.

Here it is, in summary;

Dear Ms. Botelho:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the high prices of gasoline and home heating oil. I appreciate learning of your concerns on this important matter.

Over the past six years the average prices of gas and home heating oil have increased over 125%, and prices are projected to continue rising. I recognize the burden that these costs and uncertainties place on families, and I believe that a number of steps must be taken to improve this situation in both the short and long term.

...Experts estimate that over 25% of the cost of a barrel of oil can be attributed to speculation. There are actions that can and should be taken immediately to ensure that the prices Americans are paying at the pump are not the result of price gouging or unlawful manipulation of energy markets. As such, I am a cosponsor of S. 2058, the Close the Enron Loophole Act.

The “Enron Loophole” provision was inserted into the Commodity Futures Modernization Act conference report in 2000, making large energy commodities traders exempt from government oversight.

Since 2000, these unregulated electronic energy markets have exploded in size. Without federal oversight, billions of dollars in energy trades have shifted from traditional trading platforms such as NYMEX to unregulated trading environments.

I am also an original cosponsor of two other bills that will place additional scrutiny on and increase transparency of trading done in energy commodities markets. S. 3130, the Increasing Transparency and Accountability in Oil Prices Act, which was introduced by Senator Durbin on June 12, 2008, would improve the ability of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to collect and monitor data to identify the forces that are responsible for the rapid increases in the price of oil.

This legislation would authorize an increase in CFTC personnel, strengthen its access to oil market data, and close the London loophole, which allows financial traders to evade speculation limits and reporting requirements by routing transactions through off-shore markets. After its introduction, S. 3130 was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry where it is pending further consideration.

Sincerely,

Jack Reed
United States Senator

On May 5, 2008, Reed and Senator Levin also sent a letter to the President calling on him to form a top-level inter-agency task force to investigate the role that unlawful manipulative practices may be playing in the volatility of energy markets.

It will be interesting to see if Bush does anything to stop excessive oil speculation. I am not holding my breath.

In the letter, Reed also detailed a number of other bills he supported that would help lower our dependence on oil, like H.R. 6, the Renewable Fuels, Consumer Protection, and Energy Efficiency Act, which was signed into law on December 19, 2007. This law will raise the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards of vehicles to 35 miles per gallon in cars and light trucks by 2020 and increases investment into the research and development of advanced biofuels (those that are not derived from corn starch). By the year 2020, the law will reduce U.S. oil dependence by about 1.3 million barrels per day and, in that year alone, will save consumers $26 billion and reduce global warming emissions by over 200 million metric tons, according to Reed.

Let's hope so.

Congressmen crack down on oil speculation

2008-07-17T09:17:00.008-04:00

A group of Democratic senators have introduced a bill called the "End Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008" that would put strict limits on the practice of oil speculation, according to reports.

This news comes after executives of major airlines, including United Airlines, US Airways, Jet Blue, and Delta, wrote a joint open letter asking consumers and congress to help lower the price of oil by curbing oil speculation.

Oil speculation, where investors buy barrels of oil and resell those barrels at a higher price, is the cause for today's outrageous oil prices. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reports that the high price of oil is not due to demand-supply imbalance, and numerous reports show that excessive speculation is to blame.

According to the letter from the airlines, "Twenty years ago, 21% of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66% of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known. Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again.

"A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary
speculative costs."

Congress had established regulations to control excessive market speculation but, according to the airlines, these regulatory limits have deteriorated over the past 20 years.

"We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper."

On June 25, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to President Bush asking him to direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to use its emergency powers to stop excessive speculation.

"Despite growing reports of excessive speculation in energy markets, the CFTC has refused to take actions they have taken in the past," Pelosi reported.

To state the obvious, the increasing price of oil effects consumers on every level imaginable; the cost of food, transportation, and products. For instance, over the past month I have received letters from both my local cable company (Cox Communications) and utility provider (National Grid) stating there will be increases in what we pay each month due to the high cost of fuel.

You can find more information about oil speculation at www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com, and take a second to send your congressmen a quick email through the "Stop Oil Speculation Now" site demanding them to vote in ways that will lead to lower oil prices.

Door to Door Magazine Crews Victims of Labor Trafficking

2008-07-14T13:08:00.001-04:00

One Friday in June last year I opened my apartment door to a raggedy looking kid named Brandon -- probably about 19 or 20 years old -- who suckered me into buying an overpriced magazine subscription.

I was not aware that he was probably a victim of labor trafficking.

Brandon told me he was going door to door to "learn about people with interesting jobs and work on his speaking skills." He said he was trying to earn money for college through a leadership and scholarship program.

"I've travelled from California across the coutry to Rhode Island doing this for the summer. I stay in each area for about two weeks," Brandon said.

By pledging money for his cause I would get a three year magazine subscription.
I looked over the list of magazine choices while he talked to me about his dreams of college and his travels cross country, and I chose Psychology Today because I'm a geek like that. Beside it said 78 points. Some other magazines like Redbook and Metropolitian Home were worth more points.
He filled out the receipt labelled Tower of Power Sales, Inc, of 5775 Soundview Drive, Gig Harbor, WA 98335, and handed it to me.
I balked at the total.
"Jesus. $78 for a magazine?"
"Well it is a three year subscription and it goes towards scholarships. Also, if you itemize your taxes, it is a write off," Brandon said.
I gave a sigh and handed him the check, ignoring my gut.
"Do you have cash instead? We get more points for cash."
"Sorry, I don't."
He said he ranks number 10 out of the 386 people - I presume young people - doing his job. The top seller right now is a female, he said.
He asked me if the phone number on the receipt is the one he should use to call me later for a date.
I laughed to break my discomfort and walked towards the door for him to follow.
"Good luck to you," I said.
He thanked me and walked across the hall, knocking on the neighbor's door.

The next day, I went to my fourth training class for domestic violence prevention volunteerism at Day One in Providence. Katherine Chon, executive director and co-founder of the Polaris Project - a group working to end human trafficking, came to present information about types of modern day slavery that exists in our towns; the Asian massage parlors, street prostitution, and indoor prositiution, which is legal in Rhode Island by way of a loophole.
About an hour into the morning, Chon asked the group, "Have any of you been solicited by a teen or young adult going door to door selling magainzes?"
"Holy shit. I was yesterday," I blurted.
"Well this is one example of labor trafficking rampant across the country. Magazine crews. Young people are told by the owners of these magazine selling rings that they will be able to travel cross country, learn sales skills and earn scholarship money.
"Usually, the kids are packed into vans, taken from city to city and dropped off in an area to sell the magazines. They all stay in some hotel room together if they don't meet a quota for the day, they get beat - both by the leader and each other. The top ranking sellers, say it's a female, picks which lower ranking sales person to have sex with. The top rankers beat on the low rankers. They aren't always fed, either. In the end, many times the kids are dropped off in an unfamiliar city and don't see any of the money they worked for," Chon said.
One woman in the class asked if the magazine publishers know that this is one of the ways their subscriptions are being sold.
Chon said the magazine crews are led by about five or six "leaders" who are saavy enough not to let unveil their labor practices. They prey on young adults who are down on their luck, to put it lightly, by feeding them visions of cross-country travel, parties and a brighter future.

I was pissed at myself for not trusting my gut instinct. I should have turned him away. I mean, who goes selling products door to door wearing tattered, unwashed clothes and stinking of cigarettes?
I was even more pissed off that I had just supported labor trafficking.
I got home and put a stop on the check I wrote, and reported the incident to the Polaris Project. I'm not sure if it led to anything, since the crews are only around for a couple weeks before moving on to the next city.
I did a search on the web and found survivor stories and articles on this issue. I had never heard about this, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

If someone comes to your door selling magazines, ask some questions, then close the door, go to your computer and email -- Report@PolarisProject.org or call 1-866-US-Tipline