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Marc, I did pass your message on to Rebekka. And thank you.
We may end up taking that advice ourselves; there happens to be a very greedy, manipulative person in our family who would just love to get his grubby hands on our house, if only to add on to his daughters' already substantial inheritance. Ain't gonna happen!
I know it's just a pipe dream my friends, but I wish we lived in a culture where greed wasn't encouraged; where the greedy were ostrasized. Life would be so much sweeter for the rest of us... - AIW
Aliceinwonderland ~ No, I didn't; but, if you can, please do. An uncontested probate isn't so bad. The paralegals do all the work for modest fees. She might not even have to show up in court. It took my friend about 6 months--mostly time spent waiting for appraisals and hearings. It might be a little more involved for Rebekka. It's the contested probates that can drag on forever and cost a fortune. The bank isn't going to give you sound legal advice that you can use against their interests. In this case it certainly pays to seek out that advice from a non interested third party. When she gets her house back suggest she immediately put it in a living trust. The same paralegal that does the probate can do the trust papers for a couple hundred dollars or so. That way the person she leaves the house to will have no hassles whatsoever when she dies. She can transfer the title with a few stamps. (Again, another reason we need the USPS) Just make sure her Trustee has a copy of the papers and doesn't lose them. A safety deposit box is a good investment. I wish her the best of luck.
Palin- Like I said, it's been years since I shopped at the local Walmart. But I don't recall their prices were that different from everyone else's. And I wouldn't assume most merchants are Republican.
Frankly, it disturbs me that you take slave wages so lightly. It is not okay for fulltime workers to be stuck in poverty. Work is supposed to get people out of poverty! Remember, your tax $$ is paying for benefits Walmart refuses to cover for employees; they even instruct their new employees on how to apply for welfare to get the food & healthcare they need! Doesn't sound like much of a bargain to me.
We vote with our money. Don't forget that. - AIW
I'll continue to shop at Walmart not only because I think it is pretty dumb to pay more money for the same goods elsewhere. Yes, they don't pay their employees very much and that is a real shame. But if they didn't have a job at Walmart...they probably wouldn't even have a job at all.
And in addition, I get a chuckle every time some merchant gripes that Walmart is ruining business. Well, that's just too darn bad...I assume that most business people are the ones who made Walmart possible in the first place for, most likely, being Republican. Yes, I know there are a few "liberal" merchants out there...I guess? You made your bed, Republicans, now wallow in it! Oink! Oink!
I just wonder how much of the anti-Walmart propaganda is being fed by Republican merchants who don't really care at all about slave labor but just that Walmart is beating them at their own game.
By all means, if you can afford to shop elsewhere then do so. But a lot of people can't afford to be so uppity.
just use air tubes, like Woolworths in the 1950's.The drones are terroism to the rest of the world!! EVIL, is as evil does!
It's cyclical, economy improves because wages are higher and wages go up because the economy improved. Somebody has to make the initial investment when there's no demand. That's government. Otherwise you have a downward cycle or spiral of no demand and thus no jobs.
Thank you Marc! Every little bit helps. And thanks for the excellent tip! Did you pass that on when you signed the petition? There is actually a blog that follows the petition. If you like, I'll pass it on for you. - AIW
It's all the same. What they don't pay in wages they should pay in taxes. It's when they refuse to do either that we've got a problem. Right now they pay too little of either.
Aliceinwonderland ~ I signed that petition. I recently experienced a similar problem. I learned that such problems can be resolved by the asset owner placing the asset in a living trust. If no trust or will exists--and there is only one legal heir alive--then the asset becomes what is known as uncontested. Uncontested is when there are no other heirs to contest inheriting the assest. If that is the case Rebekka could look for paralegal services such as document preparers who could conduct a mini-probate at a reasonable cost. Once the court appoints Rebekka the new legal owner of the property, the bank will have no choice but to treat her as such. It is at least worth a shot. A phone call to a paralegal is free.
Kend -- also the best way to improve the economy is to get wages up.
Suze -- The corps currently "lord it over the monkeys" in congress. movetoamend.org is the thing we need to do.
Mathboy, I have had the same thought but neglected to express it. Along with "and" and "but", you can ad "or" to that list!
Vegasguy -- I now know how Marg Thatcher started the downfall of the world economy. In England they pass on the right.
"... their fines as just another cost of doing business"
I've been meaning to say this for some time: Simple conjunctions such as "and" and "but" should not be followed by a comma (unless the following phrase is a parenthetical remark).
Right on, Douglas!
I'm not into guns and never have been; at least, not since I was nine years old and used a pellet rifle for target practice. I got to be a pretty good shot and it was a lot of fun, just picking off tin cans at a distance. But then I abruptly became nearsighted at the age of ten, which put an end to that in a hurry. Once I'd started wearing glasses, the thrill was gone.
Besides the obvious issue of corporate legally-sanctioned theft, there's another reason Rebekka's story hit me so hard. I would rather be dead than homeless. If our house were ever foreclosed on, those thugs would not be carrying me out of here alive. And I'd do my damndest to take down at least one of their enablers before they got to me.
It's been over twenty years since my husband & I were renters. But the shit and trauma landlords put us through, and how it disrupted our lives, remains a vivid memory. It'll be one freezing day in hell before I pay rent to anyone, ever again. - Aliceinwonderland
Just running with it because these are real life situations.
A person being foreclosed on gets a little too depressed because of legalized theft.
A person then gets a little too drunk and stands there ground so to speak.
Then I am sure more than one person has lost their life or had an armed show down with the police defending there own home.
YET NOT A SINGLE BANKSTER WILL SEE A DAY IN JAIL. PEOPLE NEED TO SIGN THAT PETITION.
AND AMERICAN POLITICIANS NEED TO STAND UP TO BANKSTERS OR WE NEED NEW POLITICIANS
OR WE NEED A NEW SYSTEM BECAUSE THEFT IS THEFT. NOTHING WILL CHANGE THAT.
SOCIETY WILL HAVE MORE CRIME WITHOUT FAIR LAWS.
COMMEN SENSE!
Right on, stecoop! Sentiments much appreciated. But I hope you click on that link and sign the petition, if you haven't already.
Were I in Rebekka's shoes, I'd just stay put in that house and refuse to leave. And I'd get me a gun and learn how to use it.
I didn't say any of that either... tsk. - Aliceinwonderland
Another target for urban "warriors" to shoot at & how could they control the thing more than a block or two? The range of most remote control helicopters is very short & where would & how would they land at their destination? Are they only going to be programed to land at certain landing places then the "consumer" would then have to get to the landing place to retreive their item. Clearly, it won't work where I live, in a small rural town.
Sounds about as nuts as a air "powered" car.
I didn't say what I'm about to say:
Sixty year old houses aren't exactly fireproof; and this time of year accidental fires happen quite often. Woulldn't it be a great Christmas treat if BOA forclosed on a pile of ashes?
But I didn't say any of this.
" If corporations refuse to pay workers what they deserve, then they shouldn't have the right to do business here."
I have to ask: Why do these rich parasites have to LIVE here and use our commons without paying for it? That doesn't just go for their businesses, it should apply to their residency in this country. There are places they can go to avoid all taxes, and aren't "obligated" to help this country. I'm sure Somalia is open for business. They would have warm sunshine, a beach, land for a vast estate, and all the willing, low cost laborers they could want.
Moreover, if they move their company HQ there, we can consider them a foreign company and slap all kinds of duties on products they want to sell here. That will protect our own mom-and-pops here in the US. If Somalia is too backward for them, they can build their own islands out in international waters. There they can live in their own little world without EVER having to deal with us; as Orson Welles said in "Citizen Kane," they can "lord it over the monkeys" on an island; which reminds me of a former employer of mine who always used the adage, "If you only pay peanuts, you're going to get monkeys." Walmart apparently views its employees as little more than monkeys.
Just now I was going through the e-mail messages to have accumulated in my in-box since yesterday. From Change.org I've received one from a woman named Rebekka whose home is being foreclosed on by Bank Of America. Her story is so awful, so gut-wrenching, I am compelled to share it here. Given the topic of the day, this should further illustrate the depth & breadth of criminality - and sleaze - the banking industry has come to since deregulation.
Right after Rebekka lost her mother to cancer, she did what any responsible person would do. She called Bank of America to let them know her mother had died, and that she would be taking over the $800 mortgage payments.
"But I never should have told them", she says. "From that point on, they absolutely refused to accept any payment. By law, as the heir, if I had tried to pay off the mortgage in full, they would have had to accept it, but if the heir can only afford to continue the payments, it is up to the bank's discretion as to whether or not they will accept payment, or foreclose on the home."
The bank chose to take her home. When she tried paying over the phone, they refused. Her checks got returned. No amount of pleading did any good. After the bank filed for foreclosure and had her literally backed into the wall, they called Rebekka to offer her a "deal" that included a new mortgage rate, more than three times higher than the old rate, and with higher interest. Apparently this is common practice; it is how people in Rebekka's situation get treated by Bank of America!
This house is sixty years old and has been in her family since it was built.
Rebecca's mother sounds like a wonderful person. She originally owned two homes and used the other home to shelter homeless people off the streets. Rebekka kept that going until the bank foreclosed their second home. Now she is facing homelessness herself... for no reason except for Bank of America's arbitrary, outrageous greed.
Here is a link Rebekka has passed on. Please sign her petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/bank-of-america-stop-foreclosure-on-my-home-and-accept-my-money
If any of you have accounts with Bank of America, I highly recommend transferring your assets to a small community bank or a credit union. These people are not to be trusted. - Aliceinwonderland
I listen to your comments at the start of your show today. Your point is spot on about the media. I will confess, your show by having Dish network here in Lexington is the very reason my viewingship of MSNBC has faded. From 6am to 4pm. I find myself debating on c-span/facebook on the 7am topics to 10am. I find myself baffle out the misinformation out there. Doing those debates,people would call me a commie,socialist and fascist. They would bring up GOD and soforth. Yesterday, i answer them by showing them post tying in corporations and fascism governments. No one answer me or no conservative feedback to my post and comments. I did the same with Ayn Rand and the Christian and no conservative feedback. At the sametime, every conservative point of view i read is from a internet blog. A internet right leaning site. Fox news, right wing radio and Blaze tv. I feel the network you are speaking of has no spine from 6am to 4pm . It changes tone at 3pm. Before i go, the 1st time in American History since the 60s seeing people hell bent against other Americans as if some Americans are more than other Americans pushing for a corporation run nation with no rules and corporation run god controling our faith.
It's been years since I shopped at Walmart. I got tired of the guilt I always felt about shopping there. I also got tired of the hassle. They not only rip off their workers, they rip off their customers too. I kept getting overcharged at the cash register, which was the same old game all the grocery stores were playing... except that Walmart did this more than anyone: charging full price for items advertised at sale price, while counting on the customer not noticing. Well, THIS customer pays attention! And like I told Walmart's cashiers, I'm happy to donate to causes & organizations I believe in; however the Walton family freeloaders are not on that list. - Aliceinwonderland
Why cant I write off a speeding ticket from my taxes? but they can break the law, get fined, and I have to pay for it? HOGWASH I SAY"
Thanks for allowing me to voice my options. I was adopted in 1964 by a 50 year old man. I was 4 years old. Father always praised the government for all the good it done with our tax money.He raised me to work hard and pay my bills and taxes. In 1974 I met my biological dad. He was a truck driver for a petroleum company. I spent that summer making 6 trips to the Arizona dessert dumping thousands of gallons of gasoline into the sand. When I asked why when people were fighting over 10 gallons of fuel my dad said,"government creates panic an causs (?) to feed those that feed them." From day one our government was designed to take care of the elite and nothing more. Short of a revolution this wont change. So I ask all people to educate themselves. Understand what it is you are unhappy with, then take an educated stand for what you believe in.