The raw truth

Sometimes it's refreshing to hear someone just lay it out there, pulling no punches. I couldn't agree more with Nancy here...

“One of the big questions about the foreclosure crisis is, why didn’t anyone see it coming? Why didn’t anyone look at the subprime lending industry and react the way Nancy DelMaro, a senior VP for Coldwell Banker and manager of the Salem branch did.”
“It just doesn’t make a lot of sense,’ says DelMaro.”
“Putting true victims of the housing crisis aside, there is a category of debtor that could be called “predatory borrowers.” These are individuals who have treated their homes like bottomless ATM machines and have played the housing game like ‘Wheel of Fortune.’”
“These borrowers purchased homes with little money down, with perhaps no income verification, and at debt levels they knew they could not sustain if their homes did not continue to appreciate.”
“For those borrowers who mortgaged a lifestyle they knew they could not sustain, the system should not come to their rescue.”
“It is remarkable how quickly the sentiment surrounding the housing market has turned from embracing accommodating lenders who facilitated people’s ability to benefit from the unending price spiral of real estate to now vilifying the same lenders for making borrowing too easy.”
“In an upcoming election year, politicians simply lack the courage to make individuals accountable for their actions. Rather, it is more expedient to blame faceless corporations for any negative outcome to the consumer simply because more votes come from homeowners than from corporate boardrooms.”
“As children, we were taught that consuming too much cake and ice cream would have the consequences of a stomachache. But for many adults, who have gorged themselves on too much debt, their financial indulgence is now somehow someone else’s fault and they should not have to pay the price.”
“For those who have overindulged in debt and abused the system, their most valuable compensation should come in the form of an important lesson that they can pass along to their children.”

Meanwhile the .5% rate drop by the fed this week plays very nicely into my overall plan of paying down the mortgage during my 5 yr ARM, then rolling into a 30 yr fixed (or maybe 15 yr if the rate is significantly lower) and paying aggresively and hopefully getting it paid off in a total of 15-20 years.

NFL 2007 (prediction)

Some predictions for the season.

I'm picking my beloved Chargers to win it all this year. Yes, I am. Yes, I know no SD team has ever won a championship...ever...but this is the year. People are saying the coaching change was a killer and they can't get it done with Norv Turner. I say I'll put my trust in the same guy who's made at least 10 spectacular trade/draft/signings in the past few years and give AJ Smith the benefit of the doubt....they are absolutely LOADED, and they have a huge chip on their shoulders from last year's terrible defeat at the hands of the patriots...this is their year!

NC Justice

"The prosecutor who led the now-discredited Duke lacrosse rape case reported to jail Friday to serve a 24-hour sentence for contempt of court.
The former district attorney, Mike Nifong, declined to speak with reporters as he arrived at the jail. He was disbarred for ethics violations in his handling of the case, and a judge found him in contempt for lying to the court when he insisted he had given defense attorneys all results from critical DNA tests"

-Sometimes it's nice to follow a case in the news and watch how things play out. In this situation it's been hugely rewarding to watch as the players were exonerated and the scumbag prosecutor is getting worked over by the same justice system he used to attempt to destroy the innocent young men's lives with.