Where's the Bottom?

I work for a non-profit organization that works towards affordable housing for a low-income community, so part of my job and my interest is to research the current housing market and real estate trends. I have also taken several courses in property law and estates, so it's a career interest as well. It has been very fascinating and absorbing, and a little frightening, to read about the collapse of the real estate market, particularly as a result of the alternative mortgages like subprimes, Alt-As, etc.

And this report from 60 Minutes shows that we may not be even close to the bottom when it comes to the mortgage collapse. There is a second wave of writeoffs and defaults coming. I find the economy so unique right now. It's like being stuck underground on the train tracks, and when you see the light, you think you're going to get out, but it's just another train coming at you. Put another way, when you think the worst is over, it really is not.

A few things I found striking about this report: In Miami-Dade County, one repo company (who comes and has to take things out of homes, and if necessary, people) gets assigned 20 to 30 foreclosed properties A DAY. You had anthestiaoglogists being real estate speculators. And 1 out of every 10 mortgage-holders are behind on their payments.


Watch CBS Videos Online

I'm Back, Hopefully

School is over for the semester, and I am almost done with my Paralegal Program. Just one more class in the spring. I can't believe how quickly it's passed, I took my first class last winter, the day after Christmas, and a year later, I am 3 credits short. I had a really good time, learned a lot, and will hopefully be working at a firm in the near-future. I know the economy's terrible, and I'm trying to be as versatile in many areas as possible, but I am still optimistic.

So, I am still busy working, and prepping for my last course (Civil Litigation) in the spring, and studying for my Notary Exam which I hope to take in the spring, but I won't have as much schoolwork to do, so I will be blogging a little more frequently than I had been in the past year or so.

The Shield: The Best Show on Television, Ever

Everyone knows I'm a huge fan of "24". I've long said that it's my favorite show and probably the best show ever. But this season, another show that I've also been a fan of for a long time, has knocked it off its perch. That show is "The Shield", which is in its final season, and will be airing its series finale this coming Tuesday at 10.

When I first saw commercials for "The Shield", before its debut in March of 2002, I kind of dismissed it as "NYPD Blue on steroids". I had planned to watch it anyway, but was away at college, and they didn't have FX. So, after I'd came back home, before the premiere of the second season, FX aired the first season again. I caught it this time, and my attitude had changed towards the show by the end of the pilot. The twist that had happened towards the end of the pilot knocked me on my ass and made me instantly realize that my prior critique of the show was way off the mark. This was many times better than NYPD Blue, or any other police show I'd seen. Plus, I've always been a big fan of Michael Chikilis (Vic Mackey) from his time on another cop show, "The Commish", and was awed at the way he transformed himself for this role.

But that isn't my whole story. I have seen a lot of TV series over the years, and virtually all of them (the ones that lasted more than a season or two) tend to peak in quality pretty early on. 24, a show that I love, for me personally, had peaked by season 3. Same with The Sopranos, which is usually compared to The Shield and has received a lot more attention and acclaim. At least for me, that had peaked by the end of its second season as well. After the first 2 or 3 seasons, the best of shows usually begin a slow creative spiral.

"The Shield", to me, is the one exception. If anything, it has gotten better with age. In my opinion, the two best seasons have been in the final three years, the 5th season and the 7th season, its last. What makes this season so extraordinary is not only that it's coming to an end, but that you envision the beginning of the end in the prior seasons, and it's another thing entirely to actually see them play out.

This is the best cop show/crime drama ever made, and IMO, the best TV series. Seasons 1 to 6 are out on DVD, I highly recommend that you track them down and watch them. I would recommend that you watch them chronogically, as although there's like a crime of the week in each episode, there are a lot of serialized elements that might not make sense if you watch the show out of sequence. The series finale airs this Tuesday at 10 on FX.

And David Chase, if you're watching, you should take notes. This is the way you end a show.

24: Redemption

I just wanted to remind you all of the "24" movie that's coming on next Sunday, at 8 on Fox. What a friend had just told me, and that sounds so cool, is that there is an ongoing EBay auction to win two tickets to the world premiere of "24: Redemption" (that's the movie) in New York City on Wednesday night. But that's not all. Before the movie, the auction winners (10 in all) will get a 30 minute meet-and-greet with Jack Bauer himself, Kiefer Sutherland. You know how big a "24" nut I am. This gets me ecstatic. I probably won't go, because the auctions will likely end at thousands of dollars, but I'm hoping that this is the one situation where the global credit crisis will do some good and not a lot of people would bid. However, I shouldn't wish that, as all the auction proceeds are going to fight malaria.

Well, if I am not able to go to NYC to meet Kiefer Sutherland, I will sit down in front of my TV next Sunday to watch "24: Redemption". What a gut-wrenching wait it has been. How long has it been, 15 months with no "24"? But fortunately, the long wait is almost over. After the movie, there will be a new season in January. Until then, here is the trailer for "24: Redemption".

Another reason why I'm voting for Obama (Or Final Notes on the Election)

Yesterday morning, I was at home and bored, and I remembered that Ron Silver's show was on Sirius. (Note: I wrote this first sentence on October 18, and never got around to finishing up, which I want to do now). Silver is an actor who is also very intelligent in the political field. He is known by some for being a lifelong Democrat, but changing to an independent and speaking at the Republican Convention in 2004 in favor of George W. Bush and his position on Iraq and foreign policy. So, I don't agree with him all the time, but he comes off as very reasoned and calm, which is very unlike every other political person on the radio. But I digress.

Anyway, that day, he wasn't on, and I tuned out. But before I did, I got to hear a sampling of what people at a McCain rally thought of Obama. The first person said, "if he gets elected, the blacks will take over." It gets worse from there. Others accuse him of being a "terrorist" or having "terrorist connections", most of them tout him as a "Muslim", one person says he'll vote for McCain because "we can't have a nigger in office", and one woman says "he looks at us (I presume that "us" means rural white people) as trash".

Ever since I've voted, I have really tried to avoid voting against anyone, or vote for someone because he's less worse than the other guy. My position hasn't really changed, but I feel that for this election, voting for Obama is necessary. One of the reasons I feel that way stems from the extremism at these McCain rallies. I know that I should take the high road, and try to understand the socioeconomic circumstances that many of these people face. But Obama tried taking the high road with his "God and guns" comments, which he was right about, and he got slammed for being an elitist. So I'm going to take the opposite tack. These people come from the sewer. They are rabid, illogical religious fanatics, the kind of people who vote for George Bush, and a McCain White House to me, simply isn't an option. This is only one of the reasons, there are many more, but to me, this one is really important. Whether we like to admit it or not, and I'm talking to you too, Senator Obama, this country is sharply divided, in at least two ways. Their representative, Mr. Bush, has held power for eight years, and the nation is in a significantly weaker position. I did not understand this in '04, but I do now.

Condemned

Last month, I finally took the plunge and bought a XBox 360. I had been wanting one for a long time, and I had the means, so I got one with a bunch of games. From the little time I've been able to spend with it, I really enjoy it. I have a cheap HDTV and a regular hookup (meaning no HDMI cables), and it still looks really damn good. I really want to get XBox Live, but I have to spend 100 extra dollars for a wireless modem, and with the limited time I have, I'd rather wait until I have a little more free time.

Anyway, I got Grant Theft Auto IV, Saints Row, Assassins' Creed, Just Cause, Condemned, Dead Rising, and for the original XBox, Halo. The only games I've played at length so far are Just Cause and Condemned. Just Cause is, meh, okay. The graphics are amazing, and it's really cool how you can paraglide around the island, but other than that, it's a medicore GTA clone. There are a lot of glitches, and the experience and atmosphere just feels really lacking. I've put it to the side, and will pick it up again someday. But Condemned: Criminal Origins? To me, that's my first taste of what the 360 is about.

Condemned is a real experience. To me, if it were a movie, I'd say that it's a mix of Seven and Dark City, with a little splash of Cobra (old Stallone movie) mixed in. You are an FBI agent framed for the murder of 2 cops, and you must catch the real killer. But this takes place in an environment where the homeless and the fringes of society are freaking out and becoming violent for an unexplained reason. Birds are dropping dead. And you chase the killer through empty buildings, railroads, and other dark areas, hence the title "Condemned." Your flashlight will be your best friend in this game. That, and the taser, and the weapons you need to defeat the bad guys. While you may come across a gun here and there, most of the weapons you use are considered "melee" weapons, such as a shovel, pipe, conduit, whatever you can find in the buildings. And this game is one of the few that has really freaked me out. Do yourself a favor, and play this game at night with the lights off. It can be pretty terrifying. More than a few times, I've had a crazy, drugged-out guy with a pipe sneak up on me from behind.

Election conspiracies

Being as this is a quiet time (for ten minutes), and I had a brainstorm on a blog to post today, I might as well get to it.

The election is in a little less than 3 weeks, and while I have been back and forth since my last post (on who I was voting for), I am pretty sure that I am going to stick with my decision to vote for Obama. I am going to hold my nose, since while I do see some possibly redeeming features in Obama, in the end he's just another politician being backed by suspect interests, to say the least. But I'm following Noam Chomsky's logic in "endorsing" Kerry in 2004. While there might be little meaningful difference between McCain and Obama (like there was between Bush and Kerry), that little difference can make a big difference to at least a few people, not only here but around the world. Also, and perhaps more importantly, I feel that it's important to vote for Obama, even if you are in a non-battleground state like New York. Part of what dissaudes me in a general election (and why the college needed to be abolished eons ago) is the fact that in the bulk of states, your vote really doesn't count. It's a foregone conclusion in New York, for example, that Obama will win and NY's electoral votes will go to him, just as, say, Georgia will go for McCain (although that even might be in question, since I heard that McCain is struggling to hold onto red states as a result of the certain groundswell of black voters who will be coming out for Obama). The only people whose votes really count are in the "battleground" states. But this year, I still think voting for Obama is important, even in a state like NY, since a decisive win in the popular vote would make it easier for him to implement his agenda, for better or worse.

And, to me, that's where I feel an election conspiracy might come in. I don't have a doubt that electoral fraud takes place in this country, and quite regularly. In 2000, it was Florida, in 2004, it was Ohio, who knows what it'll be this year? And, although the Democrats certainly are guilty of this too, the Republicans have especially been involved in this in a big way, at least lately. And if they try it again this year, I don't think their goal will be to fix it so that McCain gets elected. Obama has too big a lead; a CBS poll broadcasted yesterday had him up by 11points, I think. But I do think their intent behind their fixing the election and throwing out votes (if there is a cabal intending to do that), would be to lower the margin of victory enough so that Obama just squeaks by in a tight race, and can't claim a mandate.

Well, this isn't absolute, Dubya stole the election but that didn't stop him from instituting a far-right agenda as soon as he got into the White House. Just giving my thoughts on a slow night.