September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

SANTA ANA, Calif. —  Federal immigration authorities say more than 1,150 people have been arrested in a special three-week sweep in California.

The sweep targeted those who ignored deportation orders or returned to the U.S. illegally after being deported.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said Monday that more than 400 of those arrested were from Los Angeles and several Southern California counties.

ICE teams from San Francisco and San Diego also participated in the sweep, which concluded Saturday.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,430063,00.html

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

History The Community Reinvestment Act (or CRA, Pub.L. 95-128, title VIII, 91 Stat. 1147, 12 U.S.C. § 2901 et seq.) is a United States federal law that requires banks and savings and loan associations to offer credit throughout their entire market area and prohibits them from targeting only wealthier neighborhoods with their services, a practice known as “redlining.” The purpose of the CRA is to provide credit, including home ownership opportunities to underserved populations and commercial loans to small businesses. It has been subjected to important regulatory revisions. The CRA was passed into law by the 95th United States Congress in 1977 as a result of national grassroots pressure for affordable housing, and despite considerable opposition from the mainstream banking community. The CRA mandates that each banking institution be evaluated to determine if it has met the credit needs of its entire community. That record is taken into account when the federal government considers an institution’s application for deposit facilities, including mergers and acquisitions.The bill encouraged the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, to enable mortgage companies, savings and loans, commercial banks, credit unions, and state and local housing finance agencies to lend to home buyers. It also encouraged the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, commonly known as Freddie Mac, to buy mortgages on the secondary market and sell them as mortgage-backed securities on the open market.Enter Bill Clinton In 1995, as a result of interest from President Bill Clinton’s administration, the implementing regulations for the CRA were strengthened by focusing the financial regulators’ attention on institutions’ performance in helping to meet community credit needs.These revisions with an effective starting date of January 31, 1995 were credited with substantially increasing the number and aggregate amount of loans to small businesses and to low- and moderate-income borrowers for home loans. These changes were very controversial and as a result, the regulators agreed to revisit the rule after it had been fully implemented for seven years. Thus in 2002, the regulators opened up the regulation for review and potential revision.Part of the increase in home loans was due to increased efficiency and the genesis of lenders, like Countrywide, that do not mitigate loan risk with savings deposits as do traditional banks using the new subprime authorization. This is known as the secondary market for mortgage loans. The revisions allowed the securitization of CRA loans containing subprime mortgages. The first public securitization of CRA loans started in 1997 by Bear Stearns.  The number of CRA mortgage loans increased by 39 percent between 1993 and 1998, while other loans increased by only 17 percent.Other rule changes gave Fannie and Freddie extraordinary leverage, allowing them to hold just 2.5% of capital to back their investments, vs. 10% for banks. By 2007, Fannie and Freddie owned or guaranteed nearly half of the $12 trillion U.S. mortgage market.  Thus leading us to the problems of today.Just like all other administrations, the effect of a presidency often isn’t felt until after he leaves office.  Clinton reaped the benefits of the Reagan/Bush era, and George W. Bush, is having to deal with the problems created by his predecessor and are now coming to fruition.

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

MOGADISHU, Somalia —  As a heavily armed U.S. destroyer patrolled nearby and planes flew overhead Sunday, a Somali pirate spokesman told The Associated Press his group was demanding a $20 million ransom to release a cargo ship loaded with Russian tanks.

The guided missile destroyer USS Howard was stationed off the Somali coast on Sunday, making sure that the pirates did not remove the tanks, ammunition and other heavy weapons from the ship, which was anchored off the coast.

But the pirate spokesman warned that the pirates would fight to the death if any country tried military action to regain the ship, and a man who said he was the ship’s captain reported that one crew member had died.

Pirates seized the Ukrainian-operated ship Faina off the coast of Somalia on Thursday as it headed to Kenya carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial amount of ammunition and spare parts. The ordnance was ordered by the Kenyan government.

A spokesman for the U.S. 5th fleet said the Navy remained “deeply concerned” over the fate of the ship’s 21-member crew and cargo.

In a rare gesture of cooperation, the Americans appeared to be keeping an eye on the Faina until the Russian missile frigate Neustrashimy, or Intrepid, reaches the area. The Russian ship was still in the Atlantic on Sunday, the Russian navy reported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,429349,00.html

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

President Bush has extended by one year the national emergency he declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York, at the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines flight 93, “and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/08/20080828-7.html

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

On Wednesday, Ramsey County, MN, “prosecutors charged eight people with conspiring to cause a riot as part of a terrorist act,” reports the Los Angeles Times. The “suspects are leading members of the [Republican National Convention] Welcoming Committee, a self-described anarchist coalition. For at least two years, the group mapped out violent methods to disrupt the convention and prevent delegates from entering the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul … The group allegedly had considered barricading bridges, spraying delegates with urine and possibly kidnapping delegates.”

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-terror4-2008sep04,0,7911659.story

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September 29, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 “Immigration enforcement officials are now targeting migrant and seasonal Head Start centers in some states as part of efforts to track down illegal immigrants, the executive director [and president] of the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association [Yvette Sanchez] says …” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “‘Since early 2007, many of our programs started to notice that Border Patrol of Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicles were parked outside their centers, and some were following buses picking up children,’ she said.… Jason Ciliberti, supervisory Border Patrol agent in Washington, D.C., said it’s not the agency’s policy to stake out Head Start centers.” In May, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus gave ICE officials “a list of dates and places regarding ICE activities near migrant and seasonal Head Start programs in Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and New Mexico.… Migrant and seasonal Head Start programs operate in 39 states and serve more than 30,000 migrants and 3,000 [preschool] children of seasonal farm workers.”

 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5974692.html

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