Riddle me this — if the economy is doing so well, why are home foreclosures going up? I mean, if there is so much money going around, am I left to believe that people, in record numbers, are just choosing not to pay their mortgages?

The real estate information company, RealtyTrac Inc., of Irvine, CA, has released its foreclosure figures for the time frame of September 2006-September 2007 and the findings are disheartening. For the month of September 2007, alone, 223,538 foreclosures were filed. Then number for September 2006 was 112,210, which just missed doubling last year by a mere 882 filings. RealtyTrac did say, however, that this number was lower that August 2007 — in that month 243,947 foreclosures were filed.

However, the company is also saying that, despite September’s numbers being lower than August’s, this should not be seen as an end in the cycle of foreclosures. With the rates on adjustable rate mortgages increasing, it would be expected that more will lose their homes due to an inability to afford the higher mortgage payments.

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A few months back, I shared with you my outrage over the lineup changes at XM 169 “The Power”, which included the cancellation of one of my favorite shows, “Make it Plain” and the firing of its host, Mark Thompson. For all intents and purposes, during the week, this leaves me with, basically, one show that I care to listen to on XM.

Today, I read a bit of good news that has me considering a move, as well.

Sirius Satellite Radio has announced that it has added “Make it Plain” to its lineup. So, Mark Thompson will be back this fall:

SIRIUS Satellite Radio today announced that it has signed Mark Thompson, host of “Make it Plain,” to appear exclusively on SIRIUS. Thompson is a trailblazing African-American talk show pioneer, human rights visionary, and community leader, and he will contribute to SIRIUS’ powerful and diverse programming lineup.

Thompson’s “Make it Plain” launches this fall on SIRIUS. On “Make it Plain,” a daily 3-hour show, Thompson speaks passionately about political, social and economic issues from an African-American perspective, and welcomes listener call-in and a variety of guests.

“‘Make it Plain’ has served as a national talk forum and platform for politicians, newsmakers, and entertainers for many years, and SIRIUS is thrilled to enrich our diverse programming lineup with the addition of this respected show,” said Scott Greenstein, SIRIUS’ President, Entertainment and Sports. “We welcome Mark Thompson and his ability to empower listeners.”

“At this hour of increased anxiety amongst America’s diverse cultures, SIRIUS’ thoughtful decision to air ‘Make It Plain’ should leave no doubt about its commitment to informing and empowering all of its listeners,” said Mark Thompson. “‘Make It Plain’ will continue to expose the injustices in places like Jena (Louisiana), to celebrate our joys, and even break some fresh ground in no better home than one so impressively creative and unbound as SIRIUS Satellite Radio.”

I think I’ll be looking into what Sirius has to offer. I’ll keep you posted.

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When I read about home foreclosures rising, I hearken back to a couple of things. The first is how Bush and cronies touted the rate of black home buyers during his presidency. The second thing I am reminded of is that a disproportionately-high number of this same group of home buyers are now facing foreclosure.

Now, I am seeing that, for the third quarter in a row, home foreclosures has reached an all-time high. It now stands at a rate of .65% for the quarter. If that’s not sobering, think of this figure. Right now, 5.12% of home loans are now in deliquency so, we should expect this number to rise.

In my home state of Ohio, we are sitting at nearly twice the national average for foreclosures/delinquencies (this might have something to do with the more than 150,000 jobs lost when manufacturing was taken out of many Ohio towns). Neighboring states are not much better off — Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania are all being hit hard.

What’s driving all of this? Subprime lending is much to blame.

The funny thing is that, for many years, I have heard activists and organization rail against subprime lending (more often referred to as “predatory lending”) and its effects on borrowers of color. But, because this was almost seen as a “black” or “brown” thing, nobody paid attention to the outcry. Now, because this issue seems to be threatening the whole housing market, we are all hearing about it.

Also, in addition to the high delinquency rate we already have, things are about to get even more bumpy — there are some 2,000,000+ adjustable rate mortgages that will see their rates rise. This could mean monthly payments will be doubling or even tripling for some of these borrowers.

So, strap in — this is going to be rough ride.

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From the “haven’t we been here before?” dept:

The Mattel toy company has announced a third recall of toys over concerns with lead paint, also marking the third such recall in the last two months. The toys in question include three Fischer-Price brand toys and Barbie accessories. Here are some details on the toys in question:

Three Fisher-Price brand toys and various Barbie accessory toys were named in the recall, though the Barbie toys make up the majority of the affected toys. No Barbie dolls were involved in the recall, the company said.

675,000 units of various Barbie accessory toys sold between October 2006 through August 2007 were named in the recall.

Mattel also recalled 8,900 units of Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys, sold between July 2007 through August 2007; and 90,000 units of Geo Trax Locomotive Toys, sold between September 2006 through August 2007. All of the toys were manufactured in China in 2006 and 2007.

Consumers are asked to stop using the affected toys immediately, according to the CPSC.

We should only expect to hear more recalls. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has stated that Mattel is likely not the only toy maker to be issuing recalls over lead paint.

I am just wondering when the American public will start really pressuring companies like Mattel to bring their manufacturing back onshore with real oversight in the production process. Otherwise, we will likely continue seeing companies continue to put our children at risk to turn an extra buck.

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Despite what the government is saying, black contractors are saying that they are being left of of the windfall of federal dollars coming in for the rebuilding effort in New Orleans. To hear this is not suprising. We have seen how big contractors brought it illegal labor to work in New Orleans to avoid having to hire New Orleans residents who might have actually wanted more than minimum wage. We also have seen how federal dollars have disappeared down a black hole because of suspect contracts.

You see, in George Bush’s America, everything is for sale and politics take precedence over people.

So, when you could be helping people take an active role in rebuilding their city while enabling them to earn a wage that would help them get their lives and businesses back on track, you instead stick to the old formula of taking care of your cronies.

Sadly, this is indicative of the Bush policy on Katrina — just make more promises you don’t intend to keep.

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All across America, foreclosures are up. However, what will the government do to help those people out — nothing. You see, according to pundits, people should have been smart enough to know that they were getting in over their heads with bad loans they would have difficulty in paying.

If that’s true then, what about the people lending the money? If someone’s business is to understand and work with money, wouldn’t you expect even more from them? And, if they should do a poor job at just that, shouldn’t they be held to at least the same standard that you held the department store manager who just bought her/his first home?

Not if you’re the government.

The Federal Reserve is now bending the rules to help out Citigroup and Bank of America. Citigroup is already expected to lose about $1 billion in third-quarter profits over losses due to subprime loans. Bank of America, to its credit, got out of the subprime market in 2001 but, seems to be trying to jump right back in again in its bid to invest in Countrywide. B of A also does business with payday lender Advance America. So, its hands are also dirty in this subprime mess.

But, thanks to friends in high places, they are getting a bail-out.

The Aug. 20 letters from the Fed to Citigroup and Bank of America state that the Fed, which regulates large parts of the U.S. financial system, has agreed to exempt both banks from rules that effectively limit the amount of lending that their federally-insured banks can do with their brokerage affiliates. The exemption, which is temporary, means, for example, that Citigroup’s Citibank entity can substantially increase funding to Citigroup Global Markets, its brokerage subsidiary. Citigroup and Bank of America requested the exemptions, according to the letters, to provide liquidity to those holding mortgage loans, mortgage-backed securities, and other securities.

This unusual move by the Fed shows that the largest Wall Street firms are continuing to have problems funding operations during the current market difficulties, according to banking industry skeptics. The Fed’s move appears to support the view that even the biggest brokerages have been caught off guard by the credit crunch and don’t have financing to deal with the resulting dislocation in the markets. The opposing, less negative view is that the Fed has taken this step merely to increase the speed with which the funds recently borrowed at the Fed’s discount window can flow through to the bond markets, where the mortgage mess has caused a drying up of liquidity.

So, those who should know money better than the rest of us made bad loans and, when the loans go south, they get to use taxpayer money to get themselves out of this fix?

This is good-old corporatist double-speak. Helping working people is bad but, helping weathy corporations is good.

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I’ve share a little bit before regarding how black people are targeting for advertising by cigarette companies.  Now, a new study has come out, validating what activists have been saying for many years — blacks are targeted by tobacco advertisers far more than whites.

If you want to get a feel for the magnitude of this disparity, consider the following:

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, causing more than 440,000 deaths annually and costing more than $150 billion in direct and indirect costs each year; African-Americans currently bear the greatest burden of this morbidity and mortality. Although exposure to pro-tobacco media messages is now known to be a potent risk factor for tobacco use, whether African-Americans are in fact exposed to more pro-tobacco advertising has been unclear until now.

“This review and meta-analysis demonstrates that African-Americans are indeed disproportionately exposed to pro-tobacco mass media messages in terms of both concentration and density,” said Brian A. Primack, M.D., Ed.M., senior author of the study and assistant professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “These findings will help us develop interventions and further research aimed at reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”

In the study, Dr. Primack and colleagues evaluated data from both predominantly African-American and Caucasian markets using studies from peer-reviewed journals. By extracting the number of total media messages the number of tobacco-related messages, and the number of residents living in each market area, they were able to calculate the concentration and density of tobacco advertising in each market.

Concentration of tobacco advertising can be defined as the number of tobacco advertisements divided by the total number of advertisements. “According to our data, the concentration of pro-smoking signage is approximately 70 percent higher for African-Americans ,” said Dr. Primack. “Our results also showed that there are about 2.6 times as many advertisements per person in African-American areas as compared to Caucasian areas.”

We are targeted at a rate 70% higher than whites?  Look, people have a right to sell their product but, it’s very telling about who they feel comfortable targeting with products of such considerable health risks.  We need to be more mindful of this and address this issue for the sake of, at least, our children.

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Let me just get my cynical take out of the way — I believe this suit won’t go far. Sadly, under the guise of “tort reform”, Republicans have chipped away at the rights of people to sue companies who put their customers at undue risk.

Nonetheless, I believe this lawsuit against Mattel has a lot of merit.

I and a co-worker often talk about the tainted goods from China that are being sold to us. We both find ourself asking, at what point does a company realize that the “savings” they get from using cheap goods and services from other countries may not be a savings if a real lawsuit comes along. Could this be one such case?

I, like most parents, am worried about how safe a toy is. However, I would have never thought that my concerns would have to include lead paint. Twice in the last month, Mattel has had to recall toys for, among other things, concerns about lead paint being used on them(If you don’t know about the risks associated with children accidentally ingesting lead paint, I suggest your read up).

This has prompted one attorney, Jeffrey Killino, of the Philadelphia firm of Woloshin & Killino, to seek a lawsuit compelling Mattel to provide a fund to test kids who may have been exposed to lead paint from playing with the recalled products. According to Killino, each test is about $50. Considering Mattel recalled 1,000,000 die-cast cars in the last few days alone, the cost of testing could be staggering.

So, at what point is it cheaper to get a good safe product instead of the most inexpensive? Mattel may be able to tell us soon.

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Well, look what I saw today:

The United Arab Emirates plans to reduce crude oil production by up to 25 percent within weeks.

The reports of a UAE oil slowdown — not yet confirmed by the government — have driven up the price of Abu Dhabi crude to its highest levels in eight months.

Industry sources said the UAE was planning major maintenance on oil facilities in October 2007. The sources said this could result in a halt of up to 810,000 barrels per day, or 25 percent of total oil production. The UAE produces 2.54 million barrels of oil per day.

Get ready for $3.50 - $4.00/gallon gas.

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I love articles like this. Often, people look at diversity as something people should employ in business practices because it’s a nice thing to do. However, as columnist Ruben Navarrette points out, it’s not about doing what’s nice, it’s about using diversity to make one’s business more successful. By ignoring the this fact, one could find one’s business falling behind the competition.

It’s really simple when you think about it. I posted an article recently about how Intel had to pull an ad which shows a white guy in the middle of a room and several black sprinters around him in a starting position. However, to see the ad, it looks like a bunch of black men bowing down to a white man.

Now, perhaps, if the would have employed more diverse perspectives, they might have seen the issues with this. Instead, a prominent company exposed itself as not being very culturally-competent. Considering that they do business around the world, it looks like they really don’t know enough about people of different cultures. Otherwise, this idea would have never seen daylight.

Corporate America needs diversity. It’s not about the feel-good or PR component–it’s about dollars and cents.

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