[Anyone] FW: Progress Report: Feeling The Credit Crunch (fwd)

[Mike in Taos]

 	MANSON, Wash. (AP) - Charles and Linda Everson were driving back to their hotel when their minivan was struck by a falling object—a 600-pound cow.

The Eversons were unhurt but the cow, which had fallen off a cliff, had to be euthanized.

The year-old cow fell about 200 feet from the cliff and landed on the hood of the couple's minivan, causing heavy damage.

A Chelan County fire chief, Arnold Baker, said the couple missed being killed by a matter of inches in the accident Sunday on a highway near Manson.

The Eversons, visiting the area from their home in Westland, Mich., to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, were checked at Lake Chelan Community Hospital as a precaution.

Everson, 49, said he didn't see the cow falling and didn't know what happened until afterward.

He said he kept repeating: "I don't believe this. I don't believe this." 


----------------------------------------> Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2007 01:07:12 +0000> From: totem at laplaza.org> To: anyone at laplaza.org> Subject: [Anyone] FW: Progress Report: Feeling The Credit Crunch (fwd)>>> Where is the NRA when we REALLY need them?> In China they execute cretins like Prince. Here we reward them for> destroying corporations.>>>>>>> ECONOMY> Feeling The Credit Crunch> Charles Prince III resigned yesterday as chairman> and CEO of Citigroup, the world's largest bank, after the corporation> sustained massive losses due to "large exposure to bad loans." Robert Rubin,> who served as Treasury Secretary during the Clinton administration, will> take over for Prince to "reassure Wall Street" in the wake of Citigroup's> announcement that it will write-down, or acknowledge the depreciation of its> assets, by between $8 and $11 billion. This amount comes on top of the $5> billion in losses that Citigroup has already suffered in the subprime> mortgage crisis. In return for overseeing Citigroup during a year in which> its stock value dropped by 31 percent, Prince will receive a severance> package worth an estimated $40 million. Merrill Lynch also announced> recently that it was incurring a $7.9 billion, subprime-related write-down.> These write-downs -- admissions that banks "woefully overestimated the value> of assets on [their] books" -- are evidence of the expanding shadow that the> sup-prime mortgage crisis is casting over the economy. Initially thought to> be a problem for only a few overly-aggressive hedge funds, the subprime> crisis has since spread to the world's largest banks, the American housing> market, and gradually, the entire American economy.>> THE SUBPRIME'S CRUNCH: Recently, Federal Reserve> Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the housing slump will continue be a> "significant drag" on U.S. growth. While the United States is not yet in a> recession, there are some troubling economic indicators. "Spending on new> homes and renovations dropped by 20.1 percent in the third quarter -- the> largest decrease in a year, and the seventh quarterly decline in a row."> Wage growth remained low, while the amount of debt looming over the average> American family has continued to rise. President Bush has pointed to recent> job growth as an indicator of a sound economy, however, "job growth is still> weak by historical standards and perhaps most importantly, remains> concentrated in just a few industries." The subprime housing bust has> already lead to massive losses for U.S. home owners, with total losses in> "real estate wealth expected to range from $2 trillion to $4 trillion.">> ADMINISTRATION'S RESPONSE: Members of the Bush> administration have displayed a lack of understanding about the breadth and> seriousness of the subprime crisis. There are more than 2.8 million families> with mortgages that reset in 2007 or 2008. The average family could see> their mortgage payments rise an additional $10,000. When trouble was first> noticed in March, Bernake dismissed the potential ramifications of the> looming problems: "The impact on the broader economy and financial markets> of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained." In> July, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson echoed Bernake, saying, "I don't> think it [the subprime mess] poses any threat to the overall economy." As> recently as September, the Federal Reserve was reporting that "outside of> real estate, reports that the turmoil in financial markets had affected> economic activity during the survey period were limited." Yet the massive> loses sustained by Citigroup and Merrill Lynch are proof that the affects of> the subprime crisis have extended beyond the small group of lenders> initially thought to be affected. Paulson recently stepped up the> administration's rhetoric, declaring that we must ensure "yesterday's> excesses" aren't repeated. Yet during his tenure as CEO of Goldman Sachs,> Paulson profited by gorging on subprime bonds. "He should admit to having> been involved in creating the problem that we have now," said Rep. Brad> Miller (D-NC).>> IMPACT ON MINORITIES: While the administration was> ignoring the emerging subprime crisis and continuing to claim the economy> was strong, large numbers of low-income families and minorities were> suffering its affects. "[S]ubprime loans have been particularly prevalent in> predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods" in recent years. "Nearly> half of blacks who bought a house in 2005 or 2006 ended up with a> high-interest mortgage, compared with 13 percent of white home buyers,> according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of federal mortgage> data." Correspondingly, "[s]ixty-nine percent of black Americans feel the> United States is in a recession, while only 42 percent of white Americans> feel the same way." Among black home buyers "making more than $100,000 a> year, 41 percent got a subprime mortgage, compared with 7 percent of whites> in the same income category." While the subprime crisis has been expanding> for more than six months, only in the last few weeks -- as the problem has> increasingly afflicted corporate America -- has the administration started> to take appropriate steps to remedy the situation.>>> HUMAN RIGHTS -- RICE'S TOP LEGAL ADVISER> REFUSES TO CALL WATERBOARDING TORTURE, EVEN ON U.S. CITIZENS: During a> debate on international law at University College London last month, John> Bellinger, the senior adviser on international law to Secretary of State> Condoleezza Rice, "declined to rule out the use of the interrogation> technique known as waterboarding even if it were applied by foreign> intelligence services on US citizens." Asked by University College London> international law professor Philipe Sands if he could "imagine any> circumstances in which the use of water boarding on an American national by> a foreign intelligence service could be justified," Bellinger hedged, saying> "one would have to apply the facts to the law, the law to the facts, to> determine whether any technique, whatever it happened to be, would cause> severe physical pain or suffering." Sands reacted with bewilderment, saying> "that just strikes me as very curious." Bellinger did acknowledge that the> U.S. government's evasiveness on whether waterboarding is torture "makes it> very difficult to explain to the world and to provide the important> assurance" that America's post-9/11 policies are within the confines of> international law.> _______________________________________________> Anyone mailing list> Anyone at laplaza.org> http://lists.laplaza.org/mailman/listinfo/anyone

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