THE US REPORT

Since the mortgage crisis broke, I’ve wondered if fraud figures into the losses and I’ve made a point to ask people if they know a person who lost their home. I haven’t met a single person who has, and I've talked to a broad variety of people. The FBI announced this  week the sentencing of a woman for mortgage fraud and identity theft. The case was prosecuted in the US Court for the Western District of Missouri. Kimberly M. Davis, 43, of Lee’s Summit (Mo.) was sentenced to four years in federal prison without parole. The FBI investigated and solved the case. The court also ordered Davis to pay $191,000 in restitution. Davis used stolen identities to purchase homes. Davis tied up more than $1,000,000 in mortgage loans.

On Dec. 9, 2007, Davis pleaded guilty to using the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of three separate victims, without their permission, to purchase two homes in Lee's Summit. Davis worked as a mortgage broker at firms in Liberty and Gladstone from November 2003 through January 2005.  Between Nov. 19 and 25, 2003, Davis used a stolen identity to obtain a $317,894 loan from Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., for the purchase of a Lee's Summit residence at 704 S.W. Winterstar Dr. Between July 2 and Sept. 17, 2004, Davis used another stolen identity to obtain a $347,438 loan from Countrywide for the purchase of another Lee's Summit residence at 2520 Wintercreek Dr. Between Dec. 31, 2004, and Jan. 7, 2005, Davis used a third stolen identity to obtain a $362,424 loan from Accredited Home Lenders, Inc., for the purchase of the second Lee's Summit residence (at 2520 Wintercreek Dr.), ostensibly by the third identity theft victim.

So I wonder how much of this “mortgage crisis” is really a crisis. Congress spent tons of time investigating allegations of steroids in baseball players, an act that really cost me nothing even if the players had used steroids. But the mortgage crisis which will definitely cost taxpayers money received little attention in the way of investigations, at least until now at a point when it's basically too late. And you wonder why this Congress has such low approval ratings.

More than 700 people gathered for Denver mayor John Hickenlooper’s (photo at right)  State of the City address heard a revamped US National Anthem when vocalist Rene Marie opted to sing ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing’ set to the tune of the actual national anthem. Hickenlooper told The Rocky Mountain News, "She blended the two songs together. She was trying to make an artistic expression of her love for the country. She did not intend to make a political statement or anything." Aside from having a name that challenges the tongue when speaking it aloud, Hickenlooper comes up a little short in the common sense department. He’s instituted a turn-the-thermostat up program but I noticed he asked for some cool air. Typical progressive politico.

Of course the singer was making a political statement. Racism is all the rage right now, the politically correct topic revived from the 1960s for angst-filled progressives filled with ideals about helping masses not a single one of which they’d probably invite over for dinner.  The singer was also doing a great p.r. job for herself, knowing absolutely she was creating an event that would expand her brand. Welcome to our media-driven culture.

Stuffing that lovely poem into the marching band character of  'The Star Spangled Banner' unfortunately marred both works and challenged the vocalist's abilities/range. Some say ‘Lift Ev’ry Voice’ is the Black national anthem. Some say, ‘Dixie’ is the Southern national anthem. Will someone sing ‘Dixie’ for the crowd at next year’s Denver State of the City Address, coincidentally in a city with a population comprising 11 percent African-Americans? Silly question isn’t it?

You can watch the speech and Marie’s performance at the Denver government website. Tip: Skip to around 14 minutes on the video if you just want to hear the vocalist. Her performance received a lukewarm response.  And now I reckon we see there's more than one reason to call Denver the 'mile high city.'

[Text by Kay B. Day; photo of Hickenlooper from City of Denver website.]

The Democratic National Convention in Denver is still weeks away, but protest groups are splintering, green schemes are coming up short and the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against the host city and the Secret Service.  There’s more—the mainstream press are miffed about their work station being set up adjacent to the protesters’ area which will be walled off by the type of chain link fence some rural types use to confine their hound dogs.  There’s so much concern about the impact of large numbers of guests one commenter at the Rocky Mountain News (Denver) gave poolroom bathroom advice to convention attendees: If it’s yellow, let it mellow. Another commenter suggested they refrain from using air conditioning. There is already a projected budget shortfall, so the a/c suggestion is a sound one. These observations are just the tip of the melting iceberg.

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The shape-shifter entity I call the Neo World Order (aka our “global village”) has led Singapore authorities to charge US citizen Gopalan Nair for insults because he blogged about a political matter in Singapore. This charge should concern anyone who lives in a country where there is freedom of speech. Agence France-Presse reported Nair’s creative expression on his blog in declaring a Singapore judge was “prostituting herself” in the matter of a defamation case filed by a political figure.

AFP says, “If convicted, Nair, a former Singaporean lawyer now based in California, faces up to one year in prison and a 5,000 dollar (3,630 US) fine.”

Hopefully, Nair’s lawyer will send Singapore authorities a copy of the U.S. Constitution and highlight Amendment I. And hopefully, those same lawyers will insist, with the help of our government, on recouping fees from Singapore’s government for trying to usurp the rights of a US citizen in the first place. The Web is under assault globally. Bloggers in free countries should speak up loud and clear. You'd think US and European media would be all over a story about Singapore's government trying to convict a US citizen for blogging his thoughts via social media, which constitutes the press in my opinion.
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[Text filed by Kay B. Day; photo US Government National Archives]

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Media will allegedly see video of a “living breathing space alien” in Denver on Friday, according to the Rocky Mountain News. Jeff Peckman, who is lobbying for an initiative to create a commission to “prepare” citizens for close encounters of the who-knows-what kind, claims the video convinced him aliens (the extra-terrestrial kind) do exist. The video cannot be duplicated because a man named Stan Romanek is making a documentary and the alien clip will be included. Peckman told the paper the alien is about “4 feet tall.” And he blinks. One commenter at the newspaper website says this video has actually been shown before, on TV. Other comments alluded to things like those darned space aliens coming in to take our jobs. Anway, this is a synopsis of the story, and after sleuthing a little, I found a few more interesting items.

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