Protesters held banners which read, “We can’t wait anymore” and “We need money to live.””We hope that this government will finally start listening to us because we are losing our patience,” protester Enzo Bernardis told Reuters. Letta promised to make jobs his top priority when he assumed office in April. Demonstrators accused him of not sticking to his vow, instead choosing to focus on a property tax reform outlined this week. Union leaders said they want a fresh agenda, and urged Letta to shift away from the austerity plan pursued by former Prime Minister Mario Monti, who introduced a range of spending cuts, tax hikes, and pension reforms during his time in office.”We need to start over with more investment. If we don’t restart with public and private investments, there will no new jobs,” said Maurizio Landini, secretary-general of the left-wing metalworkers union Fiom. But other protesters didn’t believe Letta’s government was capable of changing the country’s economic track. “This government will last a very short time,” said demonstrator Marco Silvani. “What we need is a new leftist party that fights for the rights of the people.”According to a Friday poll conducted by the SWG institute, the government’s approval rating has dropped to 34 per cent from 43 per cent at the start of May. Italy is in the midst of its longest recession since quarterly records began in 1970. Jobless rates are close to record highs, with youth unemployment hovering around 38 per cent. … Read More
Wells Fargo sued on claims it wrongfully litigated California man to death
The retired 62-year-old US Navy veteran had been battling Wells Fargo for two years, following a mistake by the bank which held him liable for property taxes actually owed by a neighbor – $13,361 which the bank paid in order to keep that property’s mortgage afloat.Unfortunately for Delassus, described as a quiet man who suffered from a rare and debilitating blood clot disorder known as Budd-Chiari syndrome, the simple typo that caused Wells Fargo to misidentify him for his neighbor seemed to be an error that the fourth-largest bank in the United States simply would not rectify.According to an investigation conducted by LA Weekly, even after admitting that a mis-entered number had dragged Delassus into the ordeal, the bank eventually foreclosed upon and sold his condominium apartment. This was after increasing his mortgage payments from $1,237.69 to $2,429.13 in order to recover the $13,361 in taxes he never owed.Delassus, a retiree living on a limited budget, couldn’t meet the increased mortgage bill, and once he stopped paying became delinquent. Following the foreclosure on his home, he had to move to a small apartment in an assisted-living home.In January 2009 Delassus was first informed that he owed tens of thousands in property taxes. After consulting with Anthony Trujillo, his attorney and next-door neighbor, Trujillo confirmed that he was actually six months ahead on those taxes, paid directly to Los Angeles County. By March 2009 the bank had doubled his mortgage payment, and by December of that year the bank was ready to foreclose.It was not until May 2010 that Trujillo discovered that in the fine print the initial letter sent to Delassus had his property parcel number off by two digits, and that he had been mistaken for a neighbor.In court documents later, LA Weekly reports that Wells Fargo attorney Robert Bailey of Anglin Flewelling Rasmussen Campbell & Trytten LLP admitted the bank’s original error: “Wells Fargo paid the amount it determined was owed to the County Assessor: approximately $10,500. This was a mistake. The $10,500 was the tax amount owed on a neighboring property, not Plaintiff’s.”Despite admitting to that mistake, the bank would not allow Delassus to pay his original mortgage payment, and demanded the past due amount plus fees called “reinstatement.” During a phone conversation recorded by Trujillo, bank representatives were unable to tell Delassus what the total amount due was, and eventually simply hung up.Six days after that phone call attempt, on January 25, 2011, Delassus finally heard back from Wells Fargo, which wanted a total sum of $337,250.40 – and required payment the very next day.Delassus instead decided to sue Wells Fargo with Trujillo’s help for negligence and discrimination against a disabled person. It was during a hearing for that case in December 2012 that he died in court.Following his death, a close friend of Delassus, Debbie Popovich, along with Trujillo, filed a wrongful death claim in April. According to Courthouse News Service, Popovich seeks restitution, costs, civil penalties and punitive damages on behalf of his estate.In a scathing legal complaint filed by the two, Wells Fargo is accused of nothing less than litigating Delassus to death.”At the very end, with his home being sold by the Bank and resold by the purchaser within months for nearly twice what he paid, Larry Delassus, now living in a boarding home, was still fighting for what he and many Americans believe is right by going to court. Wells Fargo, with its virtually unlimited resources, filed a series of procedural motions in its defense, needlessly forcing an ailing Larry to appear in court. Delassus valiantly continued to fight the best he could until his body gave up,” reads the complaint. … Read More
Elderly nun to await sentencing for nuclear protest in jail
Two other nuclear protesters also requested a temporary release from jail until they receive sentencing for breaking into and damaging a US government facility that enriches and stores weapons-grade uranium in Tennessee.On Wednesday, the three activists were convicted of interfering with national security by breaking into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28, 2012 and defacing a uranium processing plant. The group claims their crime was morally driven, and that they trespassed “because the production of nuclear weapons violates everything that is moral and good,” Ralph Hutchinson, coordinator for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, told Reuters after the incident.The activists cut through chain-linked security fences, hung up banners and crime scene tape, hammered off a chunk of the uranium materials facility, and smeared human blood on the walls of the unit where the nuclear bomb component is stored. The New York Times called this the biggest security breach in the history of the atomic complex.The incident served as an embarrassment for US officials, who did not discover the trespassers for several hours and who were forced to shut down the plant after the discovery of the security breach. The facility is the US government’s only warehouse for storing highly enriched uranium.Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed are now facing up to 20 years in prison for sabotage and 10 years for causing more than $1,000 damage to government property, but won’t receive their sentencing until September 23. Restrained with handcuffs and leg irons, the trio appeared in court on Thursday to request their release until the sentencing.Amul Thapar, the US District Court Judge in Knoxville, Tenn., said he would make a decision on May 14 whether the activists will remain in custody or be released.Prosecutor Jeff Theodore told the court that the government opposes their release, since the group testified that they felt no remorse about what they did. But defense attorney Bill Quigley argued that since his clients had not violated the law between their initial arrest and their trial, they should be allowed to leave jail for the next few months. “They give their word not to engage in that kind of activity pending sentencing,” he said. Jurors found the trio guilty of sabotage and damaging property, but defense attorneys continue to argue that they took part in a symbolic break-in with no intent to harm the facility. They plan to ask the judge to throw out the national security count, on grounds of insufficient evidence. … Read More
Concern over Indonesia property boom burst
http://www.youtube.com/v/V-btWuay6wE?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Link to original: Concern over Indonesia property boom burst
Fear and Loathing in the EU
In the heyday of ancient Rome, the Emperor satisfied the citizens with ‘panem et circenses’ (bread and circuses). Alas, the Roman law-based empire the European Union is spluttering through waves of crises thanks to their odd belief that bread and circuses can be replaced by austerity. Nations have been left wearing hair shirts (and worse) in the masochistic belief that they can slim their way to health if sufficiently starved of stimulus.So it may not be such a surprise that polling conducted by the EU’s own EuroBarometer agency has shown a simply staggering reversal in how major European nations view the EU. In 2007, Germany’s refusal to abide by Euro currency rules was copied by Mediterranean states, economic growth was taken for granted, and various asset bubbles propelled a sense of calmness, confidence and wealth. At the time, polling showed that the EU was widely trusted, except in the UK.But now, even in Poland, where economic growth has continued, the percentage of people who distrust the EU has catapulted from 18 percent to 42 percent. The pragmatic Poles are wavering in their support of joining the Euro. Indeed, one poll showed some 20 percent suggested fiscally sound Euro nations should join the Zloty!In five other nations a majority of citizens now clearly distrust the Brussels apparatus. In Britain, this amounts to a remarkable 69 percent, up from 49 percent in 2007, placing them second behind the Spaniards, where post-property-bust distrust has leapt from 23 percent to a resoundingly skeptical 72 percent.This message from the heart of EU bureaucracy ought to be very clear: The European Union is utterly and completely out of step with the views of its citizens. Some 59 percent of Germans distrust the EU over frustrations at having to transfer billions in bailouts to Mediterranean states, while on the southern fringes of Europe the citizenry who trusted the EU are now being forced to deal with austerity that will deliver significant pain.The EU remains an organization with plenty of presidents, but no leadership. The crumbling quasi-imperial edifice fails to appreciate the tectonic shifts shredding its influence. A democratic deficit at the top with limousine liberals on tax-free salaries looks as out-of-touch as the Soviet Politburo in 1985. A genuinely beneficial free trade zone has been hijacked by a crazed group of political integrationists convinced of their divine right to make Europe one big nation.However, this is not one big happy family. Nor is the opposition a single unitary group. This may permit divide-and-conquer politicking within the EU, but the ultimate fissures will be very hard to paper over to achieve the foolish integrationist ideal. The EU itself may yet collapse.Yet even though distrust is at record-high levels, the Eurosceptics are anything but harmonized. The Five Star Movement in Italy has little in common with Scandinavian True Finns or Britain’s UKIP. British Euroscepticism is tinged with a right-wing individual determinism and innate distrust of central government. In other places, Euroscepticism may wear the mask of Fascist or other unpleasant socialist extremists. In the Mediterranean, there is incredulity that the EU is not the ultimate lender of last resort there to bail out bankrupt welfare systems. Ironically, such models of patronage and state-assisted folly were not reduced earlier, because the Euro had artificially low interest rates as the ECB sought to keep the German economy healthy.Brussels, aided and abetted by a generation of political pygmies, has played its cards so badly that while the Euro faces death by a thousand cuts, even the core universal benefits of the EU itself are endangered. Barbaric cures to sustain a flawed currency are being disowned by a formerly Europhile political generation, such as German Socialist Oskar Lafontaine and British Conservative Nigel Lawson. Both formidable finance ministers now see how the Euro threatens European unity at all levels.Meanwhile, with a perfect demonstration of how his political skills have become more attuned to the Brussels trough as opposed to the problems of ordinary citizens, President Barroso has remarked that the clear path to a better EU is more federalism.When politicians ignore the people from their position of privilege, the end result is usually upheaval. … Read More
Toxic pesticides burn up in California wildfire
The wildfire erupted in Southern California at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, forcing residents near Camarillo to evacuate their homes. The raging fire has already burnt more than 12 ½ sq. miles, and 15 homes have already sustained damage. A group of recreational vehicles in a mobile home park have been completely destroyed. About 2,000 other homes are at risk of destruction as the flames lick the edges of communities 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. A small, local university canceled classes for the week as the fire threatened its campus, AP reports.And while smoke inhalation is never healthy, the fumes of this wildfire are particularly dangerous: fire officials on Thursday warned that a store of highly toxic pesticides caught fire at an agricultural property in Laguna Farms, near the university campus. Fire officials have sent out health warnings, urging residents to avoid inhaling smoke – even if no flames are nearby.Inhaling pesticides can burn internal organs and harm the respiratory system, making it difficult to breathe. Doing so may also cause the pesticides to become absorbed in the bloodstream and disperse throughout the body. Severe cases of pesticide poisoning can lead to loss of reflexes, inability to breathe, unconsciousness or death. External exposure to pesticides can also burn through skin and eyes, in some cases causing blindness.Firefighters in hazmat suits are currently dealing with the hazardous materials, and the Ventury County Fire Department is assessing the damage throughout the day on Friday, fire spokesman Bill Nash told AP. Wind gusts contributed to the spread of the fire, and unusually dry conditions have caused it to spread quickly. Friday “may be the hottest day of the week, and the humidity we do expect to plummet,” Nash told NBC.“We’re faced with a situation right now where the vegetation on the hillsides, the moisture level is what we typically see in August.”Ventura Country Fire Department spokesman Tom Kruschke warned the public that the fire is still growing rapidly, and that residents should keep away from it.“We have conditions that are very dramatic, very dangerous for firefighters. This fire is growing,” he said. “We are asking members of the public to be very aware: This is very dangerous. This is still a moving fire. If you were asked to evacuate, it will be a while before you are allowed in. And if at one point you are uncomfortable, please leave the area. It’s not safe to stay.”As of 2 a.m. Pacific time, the fire was within “seven or eight miles” of Malibu, Nash told NBC. But he reassured his team’s commitment to containing the flames. As of early Friday, the fire had reached about 10,000 acres and was 10 percent contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention.“We’ve got hot, dirty, unglamorous firefighting work going on right now, guys with shovels trying to scratch out lines on the ground,” he said. “We’ve got those guys on these steep hillside in the dark with nothing but the light of the fire and a flashlight.”Meanwhile, residents who left their homes near Camarillo were waiting at evacuation centers. Mark Brewer, a 52-year-old man, told AP that the risk of wildfires is one that he always expected.“This is a part of being in Southern California, just like earthquakes,” he said.But it is rare that large stockpiles of pesticide go up in flames and threaten the health of surrounding communities. The last major pesticide fire occurred in June 1985 in Anaheim, California, after a warehouse storing organophosphates and carbamates went up in flames. The fire caused the evacuation of about 11,500 people and the closing of a freeway as the Coast Guard toxic waste team was called in to extinguish it. Fire officials are still investigating the cause behind this week’s fire in Southern California. … Read More
‘Open’ Season in High Tech
Proof of cloud computing’s impact on the tech industry: Some big incumbent firms, known for expensive in-house products and zealous guarding of their intellectual property, are claiming the open source religion. … Read More
