If you're trying to figure out why we're in the financial mess we are in, I highly recommend reading the report linked below. From what I can gather, its a systemic failure, and one cause came from relaxing lending standards. While it helped many people who couldn't afford a home afford one, a lot of them, obviously couldn't keep their homes once their adjustable rate mortgages readjusted. I think a lot of people had an interest in a few metrics focused on measuring home ownership and didn't consider other potential effects of their policies, namely the influx of speculators and flippers who took advantage of said standards.

The weakening of mortgage-lending standards did succeed in increasing home ownership (discussed in more detail later). As home ownership rates increased there was self-congratulation all around. The community of regulators, academic specialists, and housing activists all reveled in the increase in home ownership and the increase in wealth brought about by home ownership. The decline in mortgage underwriting standards was universally praised as an "innovation" in mortgage lending.

Read it here: Anatomy of a Train Wreck: Policy Reports: The Independent Institute

The recent rise in foreclosures is not related empirically to the distinction between subprime and prime loans since both sustained the same percentage increase of foreclosures and at the same time. Nor is it consistent with the "nasty subprime lender" hypothesis currently considered to be the cause of the mortgage meltdown. Instead, the important factor is the distinction between adjustable-rate and fixed-rate mortgages. This evidence is consistent with speculators turning and running when housing prices stopped rising.

TiVo and EchoStar, of Dish Network fame, have been embroiled in patent litigation for a number of years, regarding a number of patents that TiVo uses to implement some of its DVR features (AFAIK, these are not trivial patents but IANAL so don't quote me on that). TiVo got some good news today, as the Supreme Court refused to hear EchoStar's appeal and letting the preevious judegement stand. The stock, unlike most of the rest of the market, was up 1.8 percent, a meager 11 cents, on the news, while EchoStar stock droped 74 cents, a 3.9 percent drop.

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Out of options, DISH finally pays TiVo \$104 million judgment

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As expected, the decision sparked a number of appeals from DISH, but TiVo won every appeal, with court after court deciding in favor of TiVo, and the US Patent and Trademark Office ruling that the patent was valid and enforceable. Throughout the process, DISH remained adamant that its DVR software didn't infringe on any TiVo IP, and even attempted to sue TiVo after it came up with a workaround so that it could be declared valid and noninfringing.

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I'd blogged about the lawsuit two years ago, and more recently about my switch from Dish to Verizon FiOS + TiVo HD,\

I sincerely hope that both parties are negotiating in good faith and trying to prevent further violence and bloodshed. But that's me, I'm a bit of an optimist that way. When Morales says he will get his constitution approved "Por las buenos, o las malas", essentially translated as "By any means necessary", its difficult to believe that the opposition would come to the table and make many concessions.

Here's the thing, I agree that most, if not nearly all, Bolivians of European backgrounds hold very disturbing and racists views towards indigenous people. Views of the sort like "They're not educated, we have to run the country as a result, they don't need to be educated, we'll keep running it" It's a vicious cycle. From what I could see, most institutions we're setup in parallel, one for the haves and one for the have nots, separate but definitely not equal. From elementaty schools, to universities, hospitals, to even careers. \

Its no wonder there is so much resentment and distrust, particularly of any instrument, philoshopy, that is non-native, Western, or "Neo-liberal". But in rejecting these, MAS and the indigenous movements have turned around and commited the very same or worse in retaliation, and reinforcing the stereotypes about them. Ii is also distrubting to see what they are putting into the new Constituion.\

Crisis talks in Bolivia end without agreement - Yahoo! News

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thy eastern half of the country where rebel governors have fought for autonomy and against a new constitution.