Report: More than 25 percent of foreclosed Detroit homes now razed or on demolition list

DETROIT (AP) — an analysis finds more than a quarter of Detroit homes with loans that failed during the foreclosure crisis in 2006 and 2007 have been razed or are on the demolition list.
The Detroit News reported today that foreclosures are a huge obstacle to the city's revitalization efforts, with properties being stripped of valuable metal and fixtures quickly after owners are evicted.
Amid its population decline, Detroit has struggled with an increasing number of vacant homes. The newspaper reports that foreclosures from 2006 and 2007 alone added 7,600 homes to the demolition list, and an estimated 38,000 homes currently are in some stage of demolition.
Karla Henderson, Detroit's group executive of planning and facilities, said the city is working to find ways to keep people in their homes.

Stockton, Calif., Could Become Nation’s Biggest Municipal Bankruptcy

S ource: Heartland
Stockton, Calif. is quite at home on lists of dubious distinctions.
This Northern California city has been variously listed as the city with the second-highest home-foreclosure rate of a major U.S. metropolis, the second-highest violent crime rate in California, and two times the frontrunner of Forbesmagazine’s “America’s Most Miserable Cities.”
Now Stockton is hoping to avoid its next bleak title, that of biggest municipality in U.S. history to enter bankruptcy.
After Heyday, Payday
Eighty miles east of San Francisco and home to nearly 300,000 people, Stockton has cycled through decades of city-planning booms and crime-ridden busts.
These days many residents are just doing what they can to stay safe and survive. Unemployment in the city tops 16 percent. Foreclosures are at an all-time high. Homeless shelters are out of beds. The police force has shrunk 25 percent and this year’s homicide total may surpass last year’s record high of 58.
In the early 2000s, after years of decline, Stockton began pouring money into revitalization projects. Developers built residential subdivisions, a theater complex, sports arena, waterfront walkway and marina.
City coffers bulged on the resulting property tax increases, and city employee contracts ballooned. One month of city employment meant eligibility for full retiree health care. Today, the city’s long-term health care liability totals more than $400 million. There are 94 pensions each worth at least $100,000 annually.
“Stockton overcommitted to long-term obligations that even under the best of times the city could not afford. So if there was not a recession, the city would have been having the conversation we’re having in four or five years,” said City Manager Bob Deis in a recent Time magazine interview.
Some Debt in Default
Stockton now faces up to a $38 million gap in its $165 million operating budget and has already defaulted on about $2 million in debt payments through June.
On March 27 Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Stockton’s pension obligation bonds from B1 to B3 and the 2006 lease revenue refunding bonds from B2 to Caa1, considered highly-speculative and with substantial risk. All of Stockton’s long-term ratings remain under review for further downgrades.
In short, the city is losing ground in the fight to pay back what it owes.
City leaders on March 27 announced Ralph R. Mabey, the federal mediator in the Lehman Bros. bankruptcy, the largest in U.S. history, will lead mediation with creditors in an attempt to restructure Stockton’s debt.
Spreading Worry
There is fear that if Stockton defaults, other cities may follow suit. Yet the worry may be mislaid.
With the exception of Jefferson County in Alabama, most of the 11 municipal defaults in 2010 and 2011 (18 total since the recession started in 2008) were small cities struggling to maintain general services. Those isolated instances—out of about 9,700 rated cities and a $3.7 trillion market—are too small a sample for any sweeping lessons, said Bhu Srinivasan, principal at Munigo, a municipal bond distributor.
“Defaults capture headlines, but it is man bites dog,” he said. “You could go the other way and say in even the deep recession, municipalities are strong and bonds aren’t defaulting.”
Moody’s Vice President-Senior Analyst Merxe Tudela agrees.
“Municipal debt defaults will remain infrequent and isolated events, rather than systemic traumas, despite unprecedented credit pressure,” he said in a March 7 statement.
Still, Stockton’s boom-time expenditures do speak to a mentality in city leaders that some say goes a long way toward damaging a city’s long-term economy.
“Every dollar is sacred and a dollar you put into urban development is not a dollar in the pockets of people who live in the city,” said Wendell Cox, a Heartland policy adviser and urban specialist and demographer. “Cities are not about warming the hearts of architects. It doesn’t do anyone any good to make a pretty city.”
Cox said true success is based on the incomes of people who live and work in a city. Stability takes long-term problem solving in areas like education and business, and creating a tax structure that doesn’t over-promise or rely on volatile income.

Just In Time: When the Trucks Stop, America Will Stop (With Immediate and Catastrophic Consequences)

A new report prepared for congress reveals immediate and catastrophic consequences from an attack that on the nation’s  frail transportation infrastructure.

Very few have considered the complexity involved in the underlying infrastructure that keeps goods, services and commerce flowing. Fewer still have ever spent the time to contemplate the fragility of these systems or the consequences on food, water, health care, the financial system, and the economy if they are interrupted.
A report prepared for legislators and business leaders by the American Trucking Associations highlights just how critical our just-in-time inventory and delivery systems are, and assesses the impact on the general population in the event of an emergency or incident of national significance that disrupts the truck transportation systems which are responsible for carrying some ten billion tons of commodities and supplies across the United States each year.
A shut down of truck operations as a result of elevated threat levels, terrorist attacks, or pandemics would, according to the report, have “a swift and devastating impact on the food, healthcare, transportation, waste removal, retail, manufacturing, and financial sectors.”
So too would events such as an EMP attack or a coordinated cyber-attack that could shut down global positioning systems and the computers responsible for inventory control. Another potential scenario that is more likely now than ever before is liquidity problems within the financial system stemming from currency crisis or hyperinflation. All of our just-in-time delivery systems are built upon the unhindered transfer of money and credit, but when credit flow becomes restricted or money becomes worthless, no one will be able to pay for their goods. Likewise, no one will trust the credit worthiness of anyone else. This is exactly the scenario playing out in Greece right now and the consequences on the health care industry in that country have left many without life saving drugs. When there’s no money, no one will be transporting anything.
The effects of a transportation shutdown for any reason would be immediate (in some cases, within hours) and absolutely catastrophic.

Excerpted from the American Truckers Associations report
Food

• Significant shortages will occur in as little as three days, especially for perishable items following a national emergency and a ban on truck traffic.
• Consumer fear and panic will exacerbate shortages. News of a truck stoppage—whether on the local level, state or regional level, or nationwide—will spur hoarding and drastic increases in consumer purchases of essential goods. Shortages will materialize quickly and could lead to civil unrest. (We’re seeing this in the UK right now)

Water

• Supplies of clean drinking water will run dry in two to four weeks. For safety and security reasons, most water supply plants maintain a larger inventory of supplies than the typical business. However, the amount of chemical storage varies significantly and is site specific. According to the Chlorine Institute, most water treatment facilities receive chlorine in cylinders that are delivered by motor carriers. On average, trucks deliver purification chemicals to water supply plants every seven to 14 days. Without these chemicals, water cannot be purified and made safe for drinking.

Health Care

• Without truck transportation, patient care within the truck stoppage zone will be immediately jeopardized. According to Cook, many hospitals have moved to a just-in-time inventory system. In fact, some work from a low-unit-of-measure system.  This means that essential basic supplies, such as syringes and catheters, are not ordered until the supplies are depleted. These systems depend on trucks to deliver needed supplies within hours of order placement. Internal redistribution of supplies in hospitals could forestall a crisis for a short time; however, in a matter of hours, hospitals would be unable to supply critical patient care.
• If an incident of national significance produces mass injuries, truck transportation is the key to delivering urgently needed medical supplies necessary to save lives.
• Hospitals and nursing homes will exhaust food supplies in as little as 24 hours
• Pharmacy stocks of prescription drugs will be depleted quickly. According to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, most of the nation’s 55,000 drug stores receive daily merchandise deliveries by truck.

Transportation

• Service station fuel supplies will start to run out in just one to two days. An average service station requires a delivery every 2.4 days. Based on these statistics, the busiest service stations could run out of fuel within hours of a truck stoppage, with the remaining stations following within one to two days
• Air, rail and maritime transportation will be disrupted.
• A fuel shortage will create secondary effects. Without access to automobile travel, people will be unable to get to work causing labor shortages and increased economic damage. Without cars, many people cannot access grocery stores, banks, doctors, and other daily needs. Public bus systems will cease to operate as well, preventing many disabled and elderly people from accessing these necessities. Without fuel, police, fire, rescue and other public service vehicles will be paralyzed, further jeopardizing public safety.

Waste Removal

• Within days of a truck stoppage, Americans will be literally buried in  garbage with serious health and environmental consequences. Further, without fuel deliveries, many waste processing facilities will be unable to operate equipment such as backhoes and incinerators.
• Uncollected and deteriorating waste products create rich breeding grounds for microorganisms, insects, and other vermin. Hazardous materials and medical waste will introduce toxins as well as infectious diseases into living environments. Urban areas will, of course, be significantly impacted within just a couple of days.

Retail / Manufacturing / Economy

• Replenishment of goods will be disrupted. Many of the nation’s leading retailers rely on just-in-time delivery to keep inventory levels as low as possible. Similar to the low-unit-of-measure hospital inventory system, these stores rely on frequent deliveries to replenish basic goods. Often, delivery of a shipment is not triggered until the current inventory is nearly depleted. Without truck deliveries, retailers will be unable to restock goods, including consumer basics such as bottled water, canned goods, and paper products.
• Consumer behavior during emergencies triples the rate of inventory turn-over.Since many large retail outlets typically keep inventories as lean as possible, problems often arise quickly during truck transportation slowdowns that occur from crises such as hurricanes.
• Just-in-time manufacturers will shut down assembly lines within hours. Major American manufacturers, ranging from computer manufacturers such as Dell and Compaq to major automakers such as GM and Ford, rely on just-in-time manufacturing. Without truck deliveries, component shortages and manufacturing delays will develop within hours

Financial Sector

• ATM and branch bank cash resources will be exhausted quicky. In today’s fastpaced, high-technology economy, consumers access cash 24/7 from 370,000 ATMs nationwide. JP Morgan Chase, the nation’s second largest consumer bank, replenishes its 6,600 ATMs via armored truck delivery every two to three days. Given the increase in ATM activity that occurs before and after any type of crisis, ATMs would run out of cash much sooner.
• Small and medium-size businesses will lose access to cash.
• Regular bank functions will cease.

While an event that disrupts truck transportation systems may be unlikely, recent history suggests it is fully plausible and the blowback can be devastating. A day after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, panicked government officials stopped all transportation flow into the region, forcing hundreds of trucks loaded with emergency supplies like food and water to wait for permission before they could enter the area. As a result, thousands of residents of the city were left without items essential for survival. It took days before truck routes were re-opened and supplies were allowed to flow. Government officials acting on limited information, lack of knowledge and personal politics were responsible for restricting the flow of goods into New Orleans, potentially killing hundreds of people in the process.
What this incident demonstrated  is that when the trucks in America stop, all commerce and delivery stops with it.
Now consider what may happen if the emergency is more widespread, affecting not just a city, but the population of an entire region or the United States in its entirety.
Source: SHTFplan.com

Global Payments: Data breach is contained

Summary: Global Payments, at the center of a Visa and MasterCard security breach, held a call on Monday to say that the data breach suffered has been “contained”.

Global Payments, a third-party payments processor to Visa and MasterCard credit and debit cards, reiterated that while customer data may be at risk, the data breach has been “contained to the best of our ability.” Overall, 1.5 million accounts may have been affected.
Global Payments chairman and chief executive Paul Garcia said that the “diligent work” may take some time, but will complete the ongoing investigation and identify any changes that need to be implemented.
Garcia said the breach is contained and the company will get its record of compliance back with Visa and MasterCard “as soon as possible.” Executives were upbeat about Global Payments’ ability to regain its record of compliance with credit card associations.
The company said it doesn’t believe any fraudulent charges were made using the stolen numbers.
Separately, Global Payments reported third quarter earnings of $57.9 million, or 73 cents a share, on revenue of $533.5 million, up 17 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings in the third quarter were 83 cents a share. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 84 cents a share.
Global Payments projected 2012 revenue to be $2.15 billion to $2.2 billion. The company expects non-GAAP earnings of $3.50 a share to $3.58 a share. GAAP earnings were $3.10 a share to $3.18 a share.
Charges related to the breach weren’t disclosed because the investigation is ongoing.
Approximately three weeks ago, the breach was discovered. Within hours, law enforcement had been contacted. Garcia described how the company “jumped on this instantly,” and that only a “handful of servers” were affected.
Here’s what happened and when:
On Friday, it was first reported that Global Payments suffered a security breach, where as many 50,000 cardholders may have had their information exposed.
Global Payments processes card payments between merchants and banks, sitting in the ‘middle-ground’ directing where payment data should go.
Brian Krebs, who first reported the breach, initially warned that 10 million cards may be compromised. On Sunday, Global Payments revised down Krebs’ figure as it confirmed as many as 1.5 million Visa and MasterCard accounts may have been compromised by the security breach.
While card numbers may have been downloaded from its systems, no other personal data — such as names, addresses, or Social Security numbers — were accessed.
Both Visa and MasterCard confirmed there was no breach to its own systems.
Visa and MasterCard both sent out non-public alerts to banks to warn of the breach that was thought to have occurred between January 21 and February 25, as Global Payments informed law enforcement andbrought in an independent data security organisation to inspect any damage.
Visa, as a result of the breach, removed Global Payments from its list of approved service providers, but invited it to re-apply once it submits evidence to show its security is “in compliance with Visa’s standards.”
MasterCard said it had not followed Visa’s move, but was awaiting the result of an independent forensic investigation before it made any decision.
Associated Press reported that a technical problem affected the Visa network for 45 minutes on Sunday evening, which resulted in users unable to use their credit and debit cards. Visa confirmed this was not as a result of the recent security breach.
While the reputation of Visa and MasterCard stands in jeopardy, Global Payments lies in ruins. But Jefferies analyst Jason Kupferberg said that the processor can weather the storm.
The processor has $300–400 million in unrestricted cash, which could pay for the damage left by the breach, compared to figures by the 2009 Heartland data breach, in which 130 million accounts ran compromised. Analysts weighed in almost immediately after the breach with their opinions.

The Rise and Fall of the Fiat Monetary System

Watch this video http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=18402

Ron Paul will not sell the American people out or take bribe

Watch this video http://revolutionarypolitics.tv/video/viewVideo.php?video_id=18400

BRICs Bank To Rival World Bank and IMF and Challenge Dollar Dominance

Gold’s London AM fix this morning was USD 1,664.00, EUR 1,246.16, and GBP 1,037.54 per ounce. Friday's AM fix was USD 1,655.75, EUR 1,245.86 and GBP 1,041.22 per ounce. Cross Currency Table – (Bloomberg) Outgoing President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, after just three days ago dismissing the idea of a BRICs created, new global multi lateral bank, has come around and endorsed a BRICs bank in an interview with the FT. He acknowledged that a BRICs bank was being created and said that the World Bank supported such a bank. He said that not having Russia and China as part of "the World Bank system" would be a “mistake of historic proportions”. BRICS leaders, from left, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chinese President Hu Jintao and South African President Jacob Zuma. Photo: AP The five countries now account for nearly 28% of the global economy, a figure that is expected to continue to grow. Left unsaid so far is the possibility that one of the BRICs or the BRICs in unison might peg the value of their respective currencies to the ultimate store of value and money - gold. Global diversification and owning the hard monetary asset of gold has never been more important. SILVER Silver is trading at $32.41/oz, €24.29/oz and £20.21/oz. PLATINUM GROUP METALS Platinum is trading at $1,634.50/oz, palladium at $651.96/oz and rhodium at $1,350/oz.

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