The housing pain continues

U.S. ‘Underwater’ Homeowners Increase to 28.6%, Zillow Reports - Businessweek: "The number of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their properties are worth climbed in the third quarter as lenders repossessed fewer houses, Zillow Inc. said.

The share of borrowers with negative equity rose to 28.6 percent, up from 26.8 percent in the second quarter and 23.2 percent a year earlier, the real estate data provider said today. Last quarter’s portion was the biggest since Seattle- based Zillow began tracking the measure in the first quarter of 2009, when 22.3 percent of households were underwater.

The number increased because fewer delinquent properties are being taken over by banks, said Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist. Banks have slowed the pace of seizures as they negotiate with state attorneys general probing the mishandling of foreclosure documents.

“We still have very high negative equity rates,” Humphries said in an e-mail. “That’s putting extreme pressure on households because temporary job losses translate into foreclosures at much higher rates when the household is in negative equity.”"

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Drill baby Drill, Obama way

Obama to expand drilling off Alaska, in Gulf - Yahoo! Finance: "The Obama administration cautiously offered up more areas in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast to oil and gas drilling Tuesday, but didn't go far enough to satisfy Republicans pushing to greatly expand drilling as a way to create jobs and wean the country off foreign oil.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unveiled a proposal to hold 15 lease sales for areas in the Gulf of Mexico, including two in the eastern Gulf, and three off Alaska's coast in the time frame from 2012 to 2017. The sales off Alaska, where native groups and environmentalists have objected to drilling, would be the first since 2008. They would be held late in the five-year time frame to allow for scientific evaluations in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, which Interior officials called a "frontier" for drilling. And they would be targeted to avoid areas with cultural and environmental sensitivities, officials said.

"The approach we are taking there is a cautious one," Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said of the Arctic leases. "We are aware of the substantial issues associated with major production.""

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The beginning of the end of "free" public education

In Indiana, Some Buses Stop Shuttling Kids For Free : NPR: "School buses have been disappearing in Indiana in large part because districts can no longer rely on a steady funding stream to pay for them.

As many as a dozen Indiana districts are threatening to cut back on busing.

In Franklin Township, near Indianapolis, the school district is already charging families monthly fees for their kids to ride the school bus. It can all be traced back to property taxes.

Forced To Cut Transportation

Last year, it took Jeff Bennett less than a minute to drive his son to school. On a recent morning, it took him nearly half an hour."

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China sees the fluorescent light

China's move to energy efficient bulbs is a much-needed glimmer of hope | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "China's light bulb moment – a bright idea hovering over its collective head – is a desperately needed glimmer of hope in a world that appears unable to resist its headlong charge into climate darkness.

The commitment by the world's workshop to end the manufacture of wasteful incandescent light bulbs comes on the same day as a record rise in greenhouse gas emissions was revealed, putting global warming ahead of the worst-case scenarios envisaged by the world's scientists. The economy may seem to be barely flickering in the west, but globally it is on full beam.

While switching to compact fluorescent bulbs – 75% more efficient than incandescents – has become unremarkable in some developed nations, the significance of China's move should not be underestimated. Almost 20% of global electricity is used for lighting and the pollution it causes is equivalent to half of all the cars on the world's roads. And we should be hoping for more light in the world in the future. In India alone, 400 million people live without electricity, condemned to darkness when the sun sets."

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The Year of the Mutai

Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai sets course record at NYC Marathon – USATODAY.com: "Mutai finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 6 seconds, crushing the previous mark of 2:07:43 set by Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia a decade earlier.
The 30-year-old has established himself as the favorite at next summer's Olympics after two landmark performances this year.
In April, he ran the fastest 26.2 miles in history: 2:03:02 in Boston. It didn't count as a world record because the course is considered too straight and too downhill.
The second- and third-place finishers Sunday also broke the old course record. Fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai (no relation), the London Marathon champ, was 1:22 back. Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia was third.
Dado trailed London Marathon champ Mary Keitany by nearly 2½ minutes at the 15-mile mark but passed her with about a mile left. The 27-year-old Dado won in 2:23:15 — almost a minute better than her previous personal best."

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