Adding up the number of illegal foreclosures in San Francisco

The New York Times reports:

An audit by San Francisco county officials of about 400 recent foreclosures there determined that almost all involved either legal violations or suspicious documentation, according to a report released Wednesday. [T]he detailed and comprehensive nature of the San Francisco findings suggest how pervasive foreclosure irregularities may be across the nation. The improprieties range from the basic — a failure to warn borrowers that they were in default on their loans as required by law — to the arcane. For example, transfers of many loans in the foreclosure files were made by entities that had no right to assign them and institutions took back properties in auctions even though they had not proved ownership.

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ABC furiously beating the drums for war against Iran

Glenn Greenwald points to yet another so-called news report designed to stir up unwarranted fear and to encourage war against Iran. The following is an excerpt from another excellent article in which Greenwald takes the so-called news media to task:

I just saw this two-minute ABC News report from Diane Sawyer and Brian Ross that sinks to even lower depths than what I highlighted yesterday. It has to be seen to be believed. It’s a perfect museum exhibit for how empty-headed American media stars uncritically recite whatever they are told by government officials, exaggerate or fabricate bad acts by the designated Enemy du Jour while ignoring and suppressing the precipitating acts of America and its client states, and just generally do whatever they can to keep fear levels and war thirst as high as possible. This is nothing short of irresponsible propagandistic trash . . . Note that this entire story is based on pure fabrication — not just by accepting as Truth the Israeli and American accusation that Iran is behind these attacks, but far worse, continuously warning about Iranian attacks on synagogues and other targets inside the U.S. There is literally zero evidence that any of that is happening. . . . the most destructive part of this state-subservient journalism is how it completely suppresses the actions of the U.S. and Israel that have precipitated all of this.
Here is ABC's "news" report to which Greenwald was referring: video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

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Bill Moyers introduces us to the shameless plutocrats who are choking off democracy

In this article at Alternet, Bill Moyers describes the problem and then names and describes those hyper-wealthy individuals who are funding some of America's biggest PACs. The U.S. Supreme Court calls it "freedom of speech" when people with enormous amounts of money brainwash and silence ordinary citizens with piles of money rather than with the quality of their ideas.

[T]he results are in and our elections have replaced horse racing as the sport of kings. Only these kings aren’t your everyday poobahs and potentates. These kings are multi-billionaire, corporate moguls who by the divine right, not of God, but the United States Supreme Court and its Citizens United decision, are now buying politicians like so much pricey horseflesh. All that money pouring into super PACs, much of it from secret sources: merely an investment, should their horse pay off in November, in the best government money can buy.

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Baked kale as substitute for potato chips

Over the past year, baked kale has become a favorite snack for my family. It recently occurred to me that we now eat baked kale much like many families eat bags of potato chips. If you bake kale, it becomes light and a bit crispy. Our children enjoy it as much as the adults. Here's the recipe we use. Wash your kale, then pull off the leaves into bite sized pieces. Spin the kale in a salad spinner to get rid of all the moisture (or else the kale will get soggy when you bake it). Drizzle a bit of oil on the kale (we use canola) and toss the kale to evenly coat it with a very thin coat. Spread the pieces of kale on a baking pan, and lightly salt it. Bake at about 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. The kale is ready when the tips start to brown. Enjoy.

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