UPDATE: HuffPost highlights housing story as #1 story

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

HuffPost Guilty of Negative Journalism When it Comes to Housing

All week, the Huffington Post has been showcasing articles about the Administration's failure to provide loan modification programs for underwater borrowers. These articles have appeared at or near the top of the HuffPost homepage.

After months of negotiating with the banks and determining the amount of money needed, the Administration has announced (this morning) that they will be doing exactly what HuffPost has been criticizing them for not doing all week.

This is actually a pretty historic announcement. $14 billion dollars are being used to lower the principal amount owed on home loans. Considering that HuffPost was so vocal about the importance of this, even just yesterday...why is this story not appearing ANYWHERE on their homepage?

Are "Shockingly Sexy Novels," which currently appear on the homepage, more important than digging out of the housing crisis? No...this has nothing to do with newsworthiness. The Huffpost is not much better than all Journalism that came before it - in essence, a negative story with a clear enemy goes to page 1. A story about progress, even one that turns yesterday's page 1 enemy into a hero, gets buried.

Catholic Church: "Oh S#$%"

The Vicar of Christ on Earth is directly responsible for hiding/ignoring child rape in the church. The Catholic Church has not seen a crisis like this in centuries.

I Heart Andrew Sullivan

He disagrees with me on Dan Choi, but at least he published my dissent! It started a small wave of emails from his readers, so instead of writing any more myself, here's a link to the reader comments on Dan Choi and DADT

Dan Choi, Kathy Griffin, HRC, and the Face of DADT

This is inspired by a facebook post I responded to earlier today. There have been a couple public developments in the fight against DADT. These two developments leave me frustrated.

Dan Choi has become a poster child of sorts. Most recently, he chained himself to the White House fence in crucifix position. I personally think that invoking Christ is not the way to win an argument on DADT, and chaining yourself to a fence is a cry for attention that doesn't actually achieve anything.

I feel that over-activism usually works against a worthy cause. Self righteously chaining yourself to a fence and making a spectacle makes it easy to dismiss the seriousness of DADT. This kind of behavior makes us look like the radical fringe that the right wing wants us to be. I am neither radical nor fringe, and most of the people at the SLDN Dinner this weekend are not either.

Another new development is the nomination of Kathy Griffin by HRC to be the spokesperson for the movement to repeal DADT. I actually love Kathy Griffin. She's bold, she's tells it like it is, and she's a great comedian! But she is not a soldier and she is not representative of the LGBT soldier.

Enlisting a loud mouth fag hag comedian to be the spokesperson for the repeal of DADT paints a picture of LGBT soldiers that is neither accurate, nor relatable to the opposition. Once again, HRC has shown that they are good at throwing parties with the popular people. When it comes to a serious discussion on serious change, they appear to be falling short. And as much as I love Kathy Griffin, I wish she would stick to what she is really good at - making me laugh.

Government is DOing

I am already a supporter of the Obama administration. Though, I'm generally not a supporter of single party congressional power, as I think mixed government is the most fair way to rule.

Still, I can't help but be amazed at how much our government is actually getting DONE.

-We've finally grown a pair and are taking a strong stand in mideast talks between Israel and Palestine (I predict Hillary will be remembered for this more than many things).

-We have become a full partner with the Mexican government in the drug war.

-We have and continue to change the way banks are run and regulated.

-We are continually making affordable housing and foreclosure assistance available to Americans (thanks Mom!)

-The words "gay, domestic partner, and homosexual" have been spoken in positive light by the President on many occasions.

-There is a Senate Bill to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell

-And of course there's the Health Care Bill - the largest piece of legislation aimed at helping an under-served group of Americans since the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

To paraphrase Rachel Maddow from her show last night, today's government is not just increasing taxes slightly, signing off on a budget and making sure things keep running smoothly. Today's government, especially with regard to Health Care, is actually identifying and correcting large-scale inequalities that exist in America. They are doing their job and I'm very glad to see it.

Re-inventing the Mortgage

Maybe it's my fever speaking through me right now, but after musings with a friend today, I really got thinking. Does anyone stay in/own their house for 30 years any more? I have only empirical data to back this up, but it seems to me that living in a home for a very extended amount of time is not as common as it was when 30 year fixed loans were created. In large cities or new developments where the housing boom flourished this year, it is easy to see that the turning over of property is much more frequent. Why then, are the instruments with which to buy property (mortgages) still only tailored to the long-term homeowner, when short term homeowners are becoming more common?

Obviously ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) were an attempt to find common ground. This attempt was shortsighted to say the least.

There must be a way safe to reconcile the structure of the loan with the actual housing/living habits of the homeowner. I'm not a math wiz, so I haven't gotten that far yet...but let's keep pondering