Thursday, December 30, 2010

Making Money on Internet

Show me a modern political candidate who doesn’t understand television, and I’ll show you a loser.

When TV became the dominant medium for Americans to consume news and entertainment, political candidates could no longer be successful without looking polished in televised debates, appearing on talk shows and spending big on commercials.

Like the television boom of the 1960s, we are standing on the precipice of a big shift in how public figures are perceived and how campaigns are conducted. Our frontier is social media, and its impact on mainstream political culture is coming on fast.

While my colleagues have been making their predictions about what’s on the tech and social media horizon in 2011, there will be no major U.S. elections next year. Here, we’ll be postulating about social media’s impact on the more long-term future of American civics.

1. There Will Be a Tipping Point

While campaigning and marketing share many similarities, the differences mean everything when you’re talking about democracy’s big picture. Brands can sell by hitting a tech savvy demographic of influencers. Elections involve everyone, whether they’re online or not.

If a large bloc of your constituency is made up of 65+ year-old retirees, chances are a Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook strategy won’t be time well spent. Despite the enthusiasm of the tech crowd and blogosphere, Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter is exceedingly far from the mainstream, with only 6% of Americans using the service. And while the world consumes YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube videos at a mind-bending rate, viral success is still transient and elusive.

While these tools have certainly proven to be effective in rallying support and contributions, we don’t yet live in a world where social media can make or break a political candidate by itself.

That will change, perhaps even by the next major election cycle.

The future of the social media politician is not about wild speculation and technological uncertainties. It has everything to do with when and how deeply social media can be absorbed into mainstream culture. We are on track for a tipping point — a JFK/Nixon TV debate moment — when everyone on the political scene will acknowledge that we can never go back to campaigns without social.

2. New Media Strategists Will Just Be Strategists

I’ve had the opportunity to talk with the new media strategists for a number of senators, congresspeople and political causes. Despite their differences, they all agree that their own jobs will soon be folded into the larger campaign strategy. As many have already foreseen, social media will not require experts for much longer. As we head toward true mainstream adoption, social will be a default and well-understood tool in the belt of any public-facing professional.

We’ve already seen this happening in the private sector with marketing and PR professionals. As many corporate entities lumber to catch up with those on the cutting edge, so too will government officials and the campaigners who seek their offices.

3. We’ll See the Devaluation of Old Media in Politics/>

Print and radio ads are not as valuable as TV. TV will no longer be as valuable as interactive media. For politics, this is especially so, as the arena (at its best, anyway) warrants engagement and discussion.

As media appetites shift, this is an inevitability. In the U.S., we’re already seeing web use catch up with television in terms of weekly hours spent. Political money will simply go where the eyeballs are, and we’re likely to see a big payoff on social creativity when it comes to future campaigns.

4. Whistle Blowing Gets More Efficient, But That’s It

The WikiLeaksclass="blippr-nobr">Wikileaks saga has ignited plenty of discussion about journalism and whistle blowing in the Internet age. But at the end of the day, the mechanics of an information leak are about the same as they’ve always been: Someone from within an organization leaks damaging information, and the media (in whatever form) disseminates it to the public. Generally speaking, WikiLeaks has only acted as a “middle man” for raw information. It’s journalists who are making sense of it and transmitting it to the public with context.

The web only speeds up this process through digitization and universal access. Governments and politicians will feel the impact of leaks sooner, but it’s unlikely the methods of protecting sensitive information will be much changed.

Your Thoughts?

What do you think will be social media’s biggest impact on the political process? How long until we see a winning campaign strategy that is purely social? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

More Political Resources from Mashable

- How WikiLeaks Became the Story of the Year in 2010 [VIDEO]/> - The Future of Social Media and Politics/> - How Political Campaigns Are Using Social Media for Real Results/> - How the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” Nailed Social Media/> - 17 Web Resources to Help You Decide on Election Day

For more Social Media coverage:

    class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Mediaclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Media channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad



...hopelessly outgunned presidential campaign as if it was a business, not even spending more money than he had in hand. C'mon now, how laughable is that in this day and age in modern America that someone who wants to run the federal government should live within his own campaign means? Just like normal people who live on a real budget with no ability to vote themselves a pay raise and a higher debt ceiling when no one is watching C-SPAN!


When the ultimate Democratic winner, in league with the extraordinary gentleman Harry Reid and the tough-talking San Francisco grandma who's House speaker, has decided to spend a gazillion more dollars than any non-federal calculator has digits to display.


These people, for Nancy's sake, are already spending the income taxes of the unborn grandchildren of those 4,000 babies that Paul delivered. A shocking realization that may be helping to fuel the recent re-examination of Ron Paul, who never met a federal dollar that needed spending -- unless it was going back to his district near Houston.


Ron Paul came within something like 1,000 delegates of catching John McCain for the Republican nomination in St. Paul. But when he finally gave up, Paul still had about $5 million left over. He's been investing it traveling around the country to speak and helping like-minded RFR's (Republicans For Real) organize all over. And, who knows, maybe sell a few books.


But now, just as his fierce supporters fearlessly predicted all along, many in American politics are coming around to think that maybe RP's crazy ideas, for example, of auditing and controlling the Federal Reserve, are maybe not quite so crazy.


Our news colleague in Washington, Don Lee, details the sea-change in opinion in a comprehensive look at the old guy's rebirth for weekend print editions, which we're sharing here this morning as a distinguished guest post for Ticket readers around the world.


And for any surviving Ron Paulites, who won't dare leave their typically snippy comments below because that would require them acknowledging that their favorite fiction about a MSM conspiracy to ignore the old guy is fiction.


-- Andrew Malcolm


Because no federal funds are involved, Ron Paul would want you to click here for Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. Or join us over here on The Ticket's new Facebook FAN page.


Here's Lee's reported news item:


For three decades, Texas congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul's extreme brand of libertarian economics consigned him to the far fringes even among conservatives. Not a few times, his views put him on the losing end of 434-1 votes on Capitol Hill.


No longer. With the economy still struggling and political divisions deepening, Paul's ideas not only are gaining a wider audience but also are helping to shape a potentially historic battle over economic policy -- a struggle that will affect everything including jobs, growth and the nation's place in the global economy.

Already, Paul's long-derided proposal to give Congress supervisory power over the traditionally independent Federal Reserve appears to be on its way to becoming law.

His warnings on deficits and inflation are now Republican mantras.

And with this year's congressional election campaign looming, the Texas congressman's deep-seated distrust of activist government has helped fuel protests such as the tea-party movement, harden partisan divisions in Washington and stoke public fears about federal spending and the deficit.

"People are wondering what went wrong. And they're not happy with what the....



....government is offering up," said James Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, offering an explanation for why seemingly wonkish arguments over interest rate policy and the money supply are spilling over onto ordinary Americans.

Some of Paul's most extreme views are still beyond the pale for most economists. Despite the eroding value of the dollar, no one expects the U.S. to return to the gold standard, as Paul advocates; most economists think that could wreck the economy.

In their less drastic forms, however, Paul's ideas are being welcomed by conservatives and viewed with foreboding by liberals. For conservatives, runaway inflation constitutes the biggest potential threat to the nation's future. Liberals worry that cutting back stimulus efforts too soon could slow or even halt the current recovery.

The debate over that question -- what the basic thrust of U.S. economic policy should be -- is likely to dominate the coming elections and Washington policymaking.

And so far, Paul and his fellow conservatives are on the offensive. President Obama and congressional Democrats are repeatedly pledging not to increase the deficit and to begin cutting back soon.

"I think we're going to be in for more revival of fiscal responsibility," said William Niskanen of the Cato Institute, who headed the Council of Economic Advisors under President Reagan.

Niskanen sees the Texas Republican's increasing influence as stemming from the continued economic weakness. "To this extent, Ron Paul gains voice," he said.

Paul would go a lot further in cutting back the government's role than even free-marketers like Niskanen support. If Paul had it his way, for instance, he would do away with the Fed entirely. In his bestselling book "End the Fed," he lambasted the central bank as an "immoral, unconstitutional . . . tool of tyrannical government."

Such rhetoric might once have been dismissed as extremism.


But Paul's anti-Fed message has drawn broad support because of the central bank's failure to restrain the flood of cheap money and excessive risk-taking in the years leading up to the financial crisis.

It has stirred rallies on college campuses and supportive commentaries from Wall Street pundits. More than 300 representatives in Congress have embraced Paul's ideas for reining in the Fed.

The response "is even more than I ever dreamed," Paul said in an interview, reminiscing about one evening during his 2008 White House run when University of Michigan students chanted "End the Fed" and burned dollar bills.

Paul, a skinny 74-year-old with a hangdog expression, understands that historical circumstances have thrust his ideas to the fore. "An intellectual fight is going on," he said.

Paul traces his economic views to his frugal upbringing in Pittsburgh at the tail end of the Depression. He saved pennies from delivering newspapers and helping out his father's small dairy business.

And his first economics class at Gettysburg College was an eye-opener, Paul said. When a professor explained how banks keep only a tiny part of their deposits on hand and earn money by lending out the rest, Paul discovered one of the "tricks" of the financial system.

Beyond that, Paul's ideas are grounded in the work of economic thinkers from an earlier era who focused on problems similar to those besetting the U.S. today.

In particular, Paul is a disciple of Ludwig von Mises, an Austrian theorist born at the end of the 19th century who contended that government intervention in an economy would fail because free markets were better at allocating resources and fueling growth.

Having lived through Germany's devastating hyperinflation in the early 1920s, which helped pave the way for Hitler, Mises wrote long before the Great Depression that over-generous credit policies would encourage excessive borrowing, creating a boom and then a bust.

Mises' ideas became central to what is known as the Austrian School of economics, which emphasized tight controls on credit and money supply, a strategy that discouraged financial ups and downs but tended to slow growth.

By 1940, when Mises arrived in America, most Western economists had embraced the competing theories of Britain's John Maynard Keynes, who called for government to stimulate the economy by spending on infrastructure and cutting interest rates.

Obama has largely followed the Keynesian script, as President George W. Bush did when the economic crisis broke.

Paul's once-lonely espousal of the Austrian School's ideas has gotten new impetus from conservative economists and Republican political strategists.

"A lot of good ideas were shoved aside because of the Depression and the rise of the Keynesian view of the world," said George Selgin, an economics professor at the University of Georgia.

Paul contends that Austrian economics explains the most recent financial meltdown: "It says if you inflate too much, if you have no restraint on monetary authorities, you're going to bring on a crisis." Now, Paul says, administration policies are leading the country toward disaster.

Selgin and many mainstream economists agree that pumping too much money into the economy can lead to trouble, but they say Paul goes too far.

In the 1930s, say Selgin and many other economists, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the U.S. economy began pulling out of the Depression thanks to federal easing of monetary policy.

The economy tipped back into depression after the reins were tightened too soon.

"In this aspect of the monetary system, he's just blown it," Selgin said of Paul.

However, like Mises, whose portrait hangs on his Washington office wall, Paul is intransigent, and that has earned him an ardent following.


"His views are strong and hardheaded, but you've got to stand firm or you'll get blown over in this world," said Mark Skousen, editor of the newsletter Forecasts & Strategies and a former economics professor at Columbia University.


-- Don Lee


Photo: Larry Downing / Reuters; Orlin Wagner / Associated Press; Associated Press (Paul argues with Mike Huckabee in a GOP primary debate).


 



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Gov. Haley Barbour has pardoned Gladys and Jamie Scott, who were each serving life sentences for an $11 armed robbery. But to be released, Gladys, 36, must donate a kidney to her 38-year-old sister, Jamie, who requires dialysis and ...


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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

web site promotion internet marketing


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A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

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A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

There's no word on whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family visited Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park this week as his state was buried in a real blizzard, but the rising Republican rock star may have seen his ...


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<b>News</b> - Reese Witherspoon, Jim Toth Engaged! - Healthy Lifestyle <b>...</b>

The actress and her Hollywood agent beau are "extremely happy," her rep tells Us exclusively.

Fugitive Banker Surrenders in $1.2 Million Fraud Case - AOL <b>News</b>

A former Oregon bank manager who fled after she was accused of stealing up to $1.2 million from customers has surrendered in California, the FBI said. The FBI had been seeking 37-year-old Shawna Leimomi Moore-Saia since Oct. 27, ...

NJ Gov. - AOL <b>News</b>

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Thursday, December 23, 2010

foreclosure law



In two recent pieces I harped on the problems at MERS, the Mortgage Electronic Registration System. ("Support Representative Kaptur's Bill: Time To Shut Down Mers And To Restore The Rule Of Law" and "Shut Down MERS"). Briefly, MERS purportedly offers an alternative to paperwork, maintaining an electronic record of mortgages that are usually packaged into mortgage backed securities (MBSs). When mortgages go delinquent, MERS helps mortgage servicers foreclose on homes.



I argued that MERS was created to run multiple frauds, a topic I will discuss in more detail in part two of this series. However, one of the big puzzles of the ongoing foreclosure crisis concerns the whereabouts of the "wet ink notes" -- the IOUs signed by borrowers. In foreclosure cases across the nation, the banks have been filing "lost note affidavits", certifying that they cannot find the notes that are required to prove that they have the right to take away someone's home. In some cases, the notes miraculously appear, seemingly out of nowhere, and in others "Burger King kids" have been manufacturing them for robo-signers. By law, the notes are supposed to be at REMIC trustees, held against the MBSs sold on to investors -- and must be presented to foreclose.



The real mystery is why these trustees cannot produce the notes. I think we have finally found the smoking gun. An interested reader alerted me to MERS's instruction manual, "MERS Recommended Foreclosure Procedures -- State by State", originally written in 1999, updated in 2002 and available on MERS's website (accessed by clicking on: Recommended Foreclosure Procedures).



The first thing to note is the date. Folks, this strategy was formulated in 1999. The second thing to note is these documents demonstrate that failure to properly endorse the notes and transfer them to the REMIC trustee was not an occasional mistake, but rather was MERS's business model. As we will see, MERS planned from the get-go to defraud the counties, and the IRS, and the homeowners, and the buyers of the mortgage-backed securities.



Let me provide three very clear quotes (emphasis added) from the document, and then I will explain the implications. To demonstrate that these quotes are not slips or errant comments I am appending at the bottom a couple of dozen more quotes from the manual with virtually identical wording.



We have been advised that the named plaintiff in the foreclosure action should be both the record holder of the mortgage and the owner and holder of the promissory note. This is typically considered to be the servicer because if the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having its employees become certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Therefore, MERS is both the mortgage holder and the note holder as nominee for the current servicer. Page 62

...

Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights of the promissory note. Page 50

...

During the redemption period, MERS will be considered to be titleholder. However, at the end of the redemption period, a deed to the investor should be executed as soon as possible so that MERS remains in the chain of title for as short a time as possible. Page 54



The foreclosure manual establishes three key points that we have long suspected:



  1. Mortgage notes were not typically transferred to the trusts, as required by law. Further, there is no clear "chain of title" for these notes--which are actually presented for endorsement only on foreclosure (if then).

  2. MERS recommended that mortgage servicers retain the notes.

  3. MERS "deputized" employees of the servicers, pretending that these became MERS employees. This allowed the fiction that MERS had the notes so that it could foreclose.




I will discuss in part two the implications for the REMICs and the mortgage backed securities. Here I will focus only on the failure to comply with the requirement to properly endorse notes and to transfer them each time a mortgage was sold -- up to a dozen times over the course of the life of a mortgage through to foreclosure. Rather than following well-established law, MERS plainly directed mortgage servicers to retain the notes. Since most mortgage lenders and servicers are members of MERS, the plan was to pretend that transactions were "in-house", hence did not require transfers of notes or reporting of sales to the county recorders.



In the document, MERS claims that its recommended procedures are "customary". In fact, there are several hundred years of "custom" that requires endorsement of notes at the time of transfer, with a clear chain of title to ensure that anyone who claims to be a creditor, and who tries to seize someone's home, has clear documentary proof of entitlement. What MERS proposes in this document is to break the chain of title, to eliminate the protection that debtors need to prevent mortgage servicers and MERS from illegally stealing their property through the use of robo-signers and the manufacture of fake documents. In other words, both law and custom were formulated to prevent the sort of foreclosure fraud that has become normal business practice -- what the MERS document calls "customary".



I do not know why MERS proposed illegal activity as a new custom. It appears that MERS wanted to keep the notes handy, held by the servicers, to speed the foreclosure process -- in other words, to run foreclosure mills. Perhaps MERS foresaw, even in 1999, a wave of foreclosures. Why else would it recommend multiple frauds (as explained in part two), urging servicers to keep the notes rather than passing them along to trustees? It now seems most likely that the fraudulent practices were recommended as a means to speed the illegal foreclosures we are now witnessing.



Remember, the servicers are the same fraudsters who are losing mortgage payments, sending foreclosure notices to the wrong homeowners, telling homeowners to skip payments so that they can qualify for modifications -- then stealing their homes, and in some cases delaying foreclosures in order to maximize late fees and penalties.



Okay, but if the servicers hold the notes, why on earth can't they find them--why do they need to file "lost note affidavits"? In a word, fraud. If they now produce the notes, it will be clear that they were not properly endorsed each time the mortgages were transferred. And they were never held by the REMIC trusts. As I will explain, that means mortgage backed securities are fraudulent and the banks are on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars. And that the banks holding the mortgages cannot legally foreclose. That is why they are destroying the documents, and hiring robo-signers to forge new ones.



When it comes to Wall Street, things are always worse than they seem. As the reader wrote to me:



These financial institutions that defrauded homeowners, then bet against them with a stacked deck of accomplices such as MERS, mortgage servicers, foreclosure mills and others have taken predation beyond previously known levels and executed financial crimes for which they must be fully prosecuted.


Or, one might think, shot.



Here's the deal. This financial crisis is like Shrek's onion. As you peel back layer after layer of sleaze, you find that the whole damn thing is fraud. We are talking about tens of trillions of dollars of it. Tens of thousands of individuals were involved. It was thorough. It was blatant. It was even transparent, right under the noses of regulators and supervisors. It was normal business practice. It never had any fear of prosecution or punishment. Even today, it taunts the impotent administration, daring President Obama to do anything.



And it expects to win. The fraudsters have Congress in their back pocket and plan to rush through legislation to validate ex post all of their illegal activity. It is almost a foregone conclusion that Congress will pass a law early next year to legalize everything MERS and the big banks did -- lending fraud, recording fraud, tax fraud, securities fraud, and foreclosure fraud. There will be no rule of law to protect private property in the United States. Wall Street can claim any property it wants -- no proof required. That is what President Bush meant when he proclaimed a new "Ownership Society" -- as I wrote back in 2005. The plan all along was to put the bottom four deciles of Americans into permanent indebtedness while the top fraction of one percent would transfer ownership of everything to itself. So far, President Obama has stuck with the program -- overseeing the greatest wealth transfer in human history.



Continue to Part II.





********

Key quotes from the MERS document



According to the document, MERS's mission statement reads as follows:



What is MERS?



MERS serves two purposes. First, it is a national electronic registry for tracking servicing rights and beneficial ownership interests in mortgage loans. Second, MERS acts as nominee (a form of agent) for the servicer and beneficial owner of a mortgage loan in the public land records. MERS is designed to operate within the existing legal framework in all U.S. jurisdictions and did not require any changes to existing laws.



How is this made possible? Its members appoint MERS as the mortgagee of record on all loans that they register on the MERS System. This appointment eliminates the need for any future assignments when servicing rights are sold from one MERS Member to another. Instead of preparing a paper assignment to track the change in the county land records, all subsequent transfers are tracked electronically on the MERS System.



MERS does not create or transfer beneficial interests in mortgage loans or create electronic assignments of the mortgage. What MERS does do is eliminate the need for subsequent recorded assignments altogether. The transfer process of the beneficial ownership of mortgage loans does not change with the arrival of MERS. Promissory notes still require an endorsement and delivery from the current owner to the next owner in order to change the beneficial ownership of a mortgage loan.



MERS explains the registry process as follows:



With every new loan that is registered on the MERS System, it becomes more likely that you will come in contact with a mortgage loan having MERS as the mortgage holder in the chain of title. MERS is put in this position in one of two ways: the first is by an assignment from a lender or servicer to MERS. This method is usually associated with bulk transfers of servicing. The second way is with the lender naming MERS as the mortgagee of record as nominee for itself (and its successors and assigns) in the original security instrument at the time the loan is closed. We call this second option "MOM", which stands for MERS as Original Mortgagee.



"MOM" was a significant milestone for MERS and the mortgage industry. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae have each approved the use of MERS as original mortgagee as nominee for a lender on the security instrument for loans sold to them and registered on the MERS System.



In order to make MOM work, changes were made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to their uniform security instruments allowing MERS to be named as the mortgagee in a nominee capacity for the lender. First, to reflect the interrelationship of the promissory note and mortgage and to ensure these two instruments are tied together properly, the recital paragraph names MERS, solely as nominee for Lender, as beneficiary. Second, it is made clear that the originating lender rather than MERS is defined as the "Lender". This change was made so that everyone understands that MERS is not involved in the loan administration process. Third, as mortgagee of record, MERS needs to have the authority to release the lien of security instrument, or if necessary, foreclose on the collateral on behalf of the lender. Such authority is provided by adding a paragraph to the security instrument informing the borrower that MERS holds only legal title to the interests granted by the borrower. It also informs the borrower that, if necessary to comply with law or custom, MERS may exercise the right to foreclose and sell the property and may take any action required of the Lender to release or cancel the security instrument.



Once MERS is named in the original security instrument or by way of an assignment, the document is then recorded in the appropriate public land records. From this point on, no subsequent assignments of the mortgage to a MERS member needs to be recorded. MERS remains in the land records, as mortgagee, throughout the life of the loan so long as servicing is not sold to a non-MERS member. All subsequent transfers of ownership in mortgage loans and servicing rights for that loan are tracked electronically between MERS members through the MERS System. This process eliminates the opportunity for a break in the chain of title.



So the basic scam is that when a loan is securitized, MERS is named as the mortgagee of record ("MOM"). Yet MERS does not hold the note. Instead, MERS pretends to hire someone in the firm that holds the note to maintain the fiction that it has got the note. Yet, it is the REMIC trustee that must hold the note to make the securities lawful. It is clear throughout the document that proper procedure is never recommended by MERS, instead, it is recommended that the servicer hold the note in almost all cases.



Here follow direct quotes from the document, as they appear but with emphasis added.



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note.



If the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Pg 22 MERS doc



If the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having its employees become certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Pg 34



Please Note: Fannie Mae's foreclosure regulations require an assignment from MERS to Fannie Mae in the Parish of Orleans. This means that Fannie Mae will be the foreclosing entity. This is the same requirement that exists when the servicer is the record mortgage holder.



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note.



possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Pg 44 (Note: something was omitted here. This is exactly the way it reads on the page.)



If the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of (Note: something missing here also)



MERS should remain as the titleholder for as short of time as possible. Pg 45



We have been advised that the named plaintiff in the foreclosure action should be both the record holder of the mortgage and the holder of the promissory note. This is typically considered to be the servicer because if the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan.



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note. Pg 46



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights of the promissory note. Pg 50



During the redemption period, MERS will be considered to be titleholder. However, at the end of the redemption period, a deed to the investor should be executed as soon as possible so that MERS remains in the chain of title for as short a time as possible. Pg 54



We have been advised that the named plaintiff in the foreclosure action should be both the record holder of the mortgage and the owner and holder of the promissory note. This is typically considered to be the servicer because if the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having its employees become certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Therefore, MERS is both the mortgage holder and the note holder as nominee for the current servicer. Pg 62



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note. Pg 63



Please Note: Fannie Mae's foreclosure regulations require an assignment from MERS to Fannie Mae in New Hampshire. This means that Fannie Mae will be the foreclosing entity. This is the same requirement that exists when the servicer is the record mortgage holder. Pg 66



If the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Pg 68



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights of the promissory note.



If the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Pg 70



We have been advised that the named plaintiff in the foreclosure action should be both the record holder of the mortgage and the holder of the promissory note. This is typically considered to be the servicer because if the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan.



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note. Pg 76



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note.



If the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan. Pg 80



Please Note: Fannie Mae's foreclosure regulations require an assignment from MERS to Fannie Mae in Rhode Island. This means that Fannie Mae will be the foreclosing entity. This is the same requirement that exists when the servicer is the record mortgage holder. Pg 87



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial right to the promissory note. Pg 88



We have been advised that the named plaintiff in the foreclosure action should be both the record holder of the mortgage and the holder of the promissory note. This is typically considered to be the servicer because if the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan.



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note. Pg 89



Even though the servicer has physical custody of the note, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial right to the promissory note. Pg 91



MERS prefers to not take title to the property, so the Certificate of Sale should be assigned if possible. However, either option is acceptable. Pg 92



MERS should only be in the chain of title for as short of a time as possible. As soon as the eviction is completed, the deed to HUD should be recorded. Pg 94



The servicer usually has physical custody of the note at the time of the foreclosure with a blank endorsement. This makes the servicer the noteholder for the purposes of foreclosing. However, custom in the mortgage industry is that the investor (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae or a private investor) owns the beneficial rights to the promissory note. Pg 99



We have been advised that the named plaintiff in the foreclosure action should be both the record holder of the mortgage and the holder of the promissory note. This is typically considered to be the servicer because if the promissory note is endorsed in blank and the servicer has physical custody of the note, the servicer will technically be the note holder as well as the record mortgage holder. By virtue of having the servicer's employees be certifying officers of MERS, there can be an in-house transfer of possession of the note so that MERS is considered the note holder for purposes of foreclosing the loan.



MERS should only remain the titleholder for as short as time as possible. A subsequent deed should be executed to the investor immediately. Pg 100



Local Counsel advises that the promissory note is endorsed to the servicer prior to commencing a foreclosure so that the servicer becomes the noteholder. In order for a foreclosure to be brought in the name of MERS, the note should be endorsed to MERS so that MERS is the noteholder. Pg 102







As much as a whole bunch of bank executives and securitization industry types have given Congressional testimony in which they maintained that they were duly concerned about “technical” errors like robo signing and would clean up their act, it appears that follow-through has been less than stellar.


New York State responded relatively promptly and imposed new requirments. On October 20, it issued a new rule requiring attorneys in foreclosure actions to certify that they have taken reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of documents they submit to the court. Although that might sound a tad redundant (aren’t they supposed to be doing that now?), the preamble to the new requirement discussed some of the practices that were cause for concern:


N.B.: During and after August 2010, numerous and widespread insufficiencies in foreclosure filings in various courts around the nation were reported by major mortgage lenders and other authorities. These insufficiencies include: failure of plaintiffs and their counsel to review documents and files to establish standing and other foreclosure requisites; filing of notarized affidavits which falsely attest to such review and to other critical facts in the foreclosure process; and “robosignature” of documents by parties and counsel. The wrongful filing and prosecution of foreclosure proceedings which are discovered to suffer from these defects may be cause for disciplinary and other sanctions upon participating counsel.


Today, StopForeclosure.com published that a single judge, Peter Cohalan, had denied 127 foreclosures under this new provision. Although the site did not offer any commentary, it appeared to regard this development as positive.


I see it as the reverse. Despite some jurisdictions taking a tougher stand and banks piously saying that they had cleaned up their “procedural” problems, it appears relatively little has changed on the ground. Rather than file the required certifications, the lawyers on these cases apparently figured they’d proceed as usual, which puts the onus on the judge to enforce. Or perhaps they are simply playing the odds, and assuming this issue will come up only on contested foreclosures, and those are few enough in number that the cost of delays in those cases is more than offset by the savings on the ones that are rubber stamped by the court.


ForeclosureFraud gives another New York sighting of a failure to provide the needed certification, this time before the famously tart Judge Schack. The bank lawyer’s explanation that it was his client’s, meaning Citigroup’s fault, did not go over very well:


In this foreclosure action, plaintiff, CITMORTGAGE, INC. (CITI), moved for summary judgment and an order of reference for the premises located at 38 Norwood Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (Block 3905, Lot 28, County of Kings). On October 25, 2010, the case was on my motion calendar for oral arguments. The matter was adjourned, pursuant to a short form order, on consent to today. Plaintiff CITI’s counsel agreed to file the affirmation required by the Chief Administrative Judge for foreclosure cases, as per the October 20, 2010 Administrative Order. Plaintiff’s counsel informed the Court, today, that he did not have the affirmation because CITI did not have in place, prior to November 8, 2010, procedures to comply with the Administrative Order of Chief Administrative Judge Ann T. Pfau. The Court does not work for CITI and cannot wait for CITI, a multi-billion dollar financial behemoth to get its “act” together. [*2]


Therefore, to prevent the waste of judicial resources, the instant foreclosure action is dismissed without prejudice.


While New York is providing a window on whether foreclosure mills are really changing behavior, sightings in other jurisdictions suggest not as much as bank PR would lead one to believe. For instance, in Florida, Default Law Group filed a “Motion to Ratify Summary Judgment“, which evidently is novel from a procedural standpoint, and included an argument that the previous affidavit was not a fraud on the court. But the law firm then canceled the hearing on that motion (maybe they realized it might not be too smart to have the judge turn down the motion, since it might be construed to be a ruling on the matter of the affidavits being an abuse). Another judge also questioned the validity of “ratifying” a motion for summary judgment. (Note that Florida plans to raise the summary judgment bar as of January 3 by requiring plaintiffs in foreclosures to attach copies of payment records to summary judgment filings).


Admittedly, we are only in the early stages of the post robo signing adaptation by banks and servicers, so the situation bears monitoring.


This testimony before the House Judiciary Committee by Thomas Cox, the attorney who brought GMACs’ robo signing to national attention, explains why these “procedural” matters are crucial:




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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

How important is social media to your small business? Social media is no longer a little subject. It may be one of the most important forms of marketing and.


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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Obama <b>news</b> conference: liveblog – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama held a news conference Wednesday to discuss the lame duck session of Congress and plans for the upcoming year.

The Health Care Blog: Health 2.0 <b>News</b> launches

So from today the all new Health 2.0 News will be actively tracking industry news, showing video of Health 2.0 events, and having editorials from important Health 2.0 leaders. Please head over to Health2News.com and join us! ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: Your Social Media Update

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Money Making Schemes

While
October was positive for FTSE 100 UK pension schemes, with the overall
deficit reducing by £11.0bn to £43.5bn, it did little to improve the
risk picture, according to the first issue of PF Risk Report.

 

The
new publication from PensionsFirst, which provides advanced risk
management and advisory services to the defined-benefit pensions
industry, said that at the end of October, the one-month 95%
value-at-risk figure on an IAS19 basis was £25.4bn.

 

This
means that in November there was a 1-in-20 chance that the IAS19
deficit could increase by £25.4bn or more - and the expectation that in
one of the next twenty months it will. "The corresponding VAR figure at
September month-end was £26.6bn, so the improved deficit position
changed little from a risk perspective," commented the report.

 

The
PF Risk Report breaks down pension risk into its key components. On an
uncorrelated basis, interest-rate risk is the largest risk factor,
contributing £17.8bn to the VAR, closely followed by equity risk, which
contributes £15.7bn. The report also focuses on inflation, FX, credit
and property risk exposures, while ignoring longevity, which is a
genuine long-term risk exposure but has negligible volatility in the
short term.

 

The report illustrates the impact of the key
factors that could cause variation in deficits. For example, a 20%
decrease in equities would increase the aggregate deficit by £34.2bn
and a 1% increase in long-term inflation would increase the deficit by
£60.8bn. The two events combined would increase the deficit by almost
£100bn.

 

"The simple fact is
that many UK companies (not just those in the FTSE 100) have
significant unhedged exposure to financial market volatility through
their pensions schemes", the report stated.

 

The report
puts into context the expectation that the monthly accounting deficits
of the FTSE 100's UK pension schemes will move by £25.4bn at least once
in a two-year period by underlining the fact that in August 2010 the
accounting deficits increased by £20.8bn, driven primarily by a 60bp
fall in interest rates. "And it is important to note that while...such
large monthly movements can be reasonably anticipated, there is also
the potential for much more extreme outcomes," the PF Risk Report concluded.

It's
not just UK companies that have significant unhedged exposure to
financial market volatility through their pensions schemes. The problem
is widespread and as the report concludes, there is also potential for
much more extreme outcomes.


Director Sion Sono (Strange Circus, Love Exposure, Suicide Club) has long been making movies that have sat comfortably on the strange and disturbing side of the fence. Cold Fish, his latest entry into the slasher subgenre, looks to follow suit.


For more information (that is, if you can read Japanese), dig on the newly launched official Cold Fish website here.


Synopsis

HE’LL MAKE YOU PICK UP THE PIECES


Shamoto runs a small tropical fish shop and leads a boring, but stable life. His second wife, Taeko, does not get along with his daughter, Mitsuko, and this worries him. He also feels somehow unfulfilled and dissatisfied with what his life has become.


One day Mitsuko is caught shoplifting at a department store. There they meet a friendly man named Murata, who helps to settle things between Mitsuko and the store manager. Since Murata also runs a tropical fish shop, Shamoto establishes a bond with him and they become friends; Mitsuko even begins working for Murata and living at his house, to avoid conflicts with her stepmother.


What Shamoto doesn’t know, however, is that Murata hides many dark secrets behind his friendly face. He sells cheap fish to his customers for high prices with his artful lies. If anyone detects his fraud or refuses to go along with his money-making schemes, they’re murdered and their bodies disposed of by Murata and his wife in grisly ways. Shamoto is slowly taken in by Murata’s tactics, and by the time he realizes that Murata is insane, and a serial killer who has made over fifty people disappear, he is powerless to do anything about it. But now Mitsuko is a hostage at Murata’s home, and Shamoto himself has become the killer’s unwilling accomplice!


Meanwhile, the murders, without any trace of the bodies, continue unabated. The police have long suspected Murata and try to get information about him from Shamoto; Murata quickly senses the danger and threatens Shamoto not to report anything to the police.


In the end, the conflict between Shamoto and Murata will result in murder, insanity, and an ordinary man being driven to the edge of the abyss.



Cold Fish - Japanese Trailer
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.



- Uncle Creepy


VISIT THE EVILSHOP @ AMAZON!

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Wash it down with raspberry sake in the comments section below!






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Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

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In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


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<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.


bench craft company scam

<b>News</b> - Britney Spears Tells Us About &quot;Best Birthday of My Life <b>...</b>

She and beau Jason Trawick escape a fake abuse scandal at a luxe resort in Mexico.

Shep Smith: Based On Today&#39;s Fox <b>News</b> Guests Obama May Not Get The <b>...</b>

Based on today's Fox News lineup Shep Smith is concerned Obama won't get the compromise his is expecting following this week's tax deal. From Shep: One of the things the President emphasized yesterday is, we've compromised here and now ...

In <b>News</b> Conferences, Obama Shoots at the Buzzer - NYTimes.com

President Obama, as usual, saved his most powerful words for the end of his press conference on taxes and economic policy.