Counterpunch: The housing crash, the environment, and the way forward

So far, environmentalists have been silent on economic and political calamities tied to the housing bust. One could not expect otherwise. Environmentalists may be natural conservatives, but they are not natural capitalists.
The way forward is first of all to understand the nature of the opposition, usually painted by special interests as “what the market [...]

Counterpunch: The pain of the paper millionaires, The housing crash, dissent, and the next president of the US

“Everybody just standing round ‘neath the tree shooting pigeons on the limb,
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here, them pigeons will go to him.”
[...]

Counterpunch: Housing crash to reverse in 64 years

It’s a big project, replacing all the sand that is washing away from Miami beaches.
One way or another, taxpayers have spent more than $125 million, in just a couple of years, to put back what nature is taking away. Now, a new dilemma has cropped up; there’s not enough sand left in Florida for the [...]

Counterpunch: When Washington is far away as Lisbon

July 19th was a big day in Portugal for the US Ambassador Al Hoffman, former chairman of WCI Communities.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was in Lisbon for a day-long visit. According to the Embassy website, she met with Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, who hosted a lunch, and the two took questions from reporters at [...]

Counterpunch: No one knows where anything is

Used to be, when you bought a home your mortgage was owned by a local bank. They were called savings and loans. The bank held the loan until maturity.
Maybe you did or maybe you didn’t know the loan officer. In time, the local savings and loan became a branch office of a bigger bank. But [...]

Counterpunch: Dancing in the light of Florida

Last weekend, the spiritual advisor to the Dalai Lama visited Florida, a state that does not lack for religious affiliations. It’s all here: from Promise Keepers in the Panhandle to voodoo in Little Haiti.
Ven Thupten Ngodup, considered to be an oracle, brought an environmental message with a certain urgency regarding climate change, according to Miami [...]

Counterpunch: Presidential candidates mis-pricing risk to American voters in dismal housing markets

In the summer of 2000, I looked out this same window in a small house on an island in Maine and, watching the tide emptying and filling the cove, contemplated what it would take for Gore to win the 2000 election.
I had a lot of company in despairing that advisors had prevailed in persuading candidate [...]

Counterpunch: The toxic mortgage waste crisis: An open letter to Barney Frank

What’s not to like about Barney Frank, the tough talking Congressman from Massachusetts, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee?
He is one of the smartest guys in the Democratic camp, a thick skin and a slight lisp that says, “Go ahead, test me. Make my day.”
But Barney, you need advice.
In good times, a [...]