Real People - Real Stories

This is a sidestep from the economy, but it stays true to the spirit of what I want to collect here - personal stories. It's a crowded blogosphere and good things can get lost in the shuffle. Please do not miss this:


http://last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com/2009/02/im-in.html

Do you want to understand what it's like to be an Iraqi right now? Are you willing to do a little of your own reading and thinking instead of sitting in front of the best news team on television with your brain on "fill"? Then rejoice. Dr. Mohammed is an Iraqi dentist, a voice from the streets who is describing life as it is now.

How about a woman who is a doctor in Gaza? Yet another heart-wrenching blog.

http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/2009/01/letter-from-my-friend-s-robins.html

Then there are stories from Tibet, told from the inside.

http://www.jamyangnorbu.com/

These are just three. There are blogs from people all over the world, people who desperately want the rest of us to hear them, to know what their lives are.

I suddenly see just what an amazing gift the Internet is. Communication leads to understanding...and understanding leads to cooperation.

The Economy and You: Tell Your Story

Are you mad as hell? Scared to death? Optimistic? Skeptical and cynical? Are you eating out less? Cutting way back? Losing your home? Losing your job?
I'm not the only one interested in your story.

GroundReport, a project that collects first person reports on news stories, is looking for videos which are being collected for a TV program called Worldfocus.

Here's the note I got from them:


Has the sinking economy changed your life?

Tell the world how in a quick video, and your story could be aired on US television program Worldfocus.

We want to know, "How has the economic crisis changed your life?"

* How are you cutting back?
* Have shops around you closed?
* Are bills piling up?
* Can you afford doctors and medicine?
* How is your family's life different?

Want to respond? Watch the video question on GroundReport. Then show us the changes in your life in a short video and upload it to GroundReport with the headline "My Life in the Economic Crisis." The deadline is February 28th, so start filming today.

This topic is the latest from Talk To US, a new partnership between Worldfocus and GroundReport that asks the world for its perspectives on the latest news.

So what are you waiting for? Go grab a camera and start talking!
GroundReport.com
And while you're at it, send a copy to the president at Recovery.gov

Making Lemonade

I recently met Dan Jacobs, the young entrepreneur who started Everywun. Everywun operates on the conviction that doing good is good business. Everywun enlists businesses willing to donate a certain amount of money to a worthy cause, then ties them with a web 'badge' that anyone can put on a website or blog. For every hit on that page, the business makes a donation. And what the business gets out of it is consumer recognition, goodwill and more business. Jacobs says he has studies that prove a customer is more likely to buy from a company it sees as socially responsible. He's a social entrepreneur. He's part of a growing group.

Ode Magazine, my favorite magazine on the planet at the moment, recently did a long feature on social entrepreneurs. They're not starry eyed idealists, though they're certainly idealists.

They're taking advantage of the increasing sense that we're all in this together - as each of us feels the pinch from the economy in lesser or greater degrees, we also are aware that everyone else is feeling it, too. We can curl up in a corner and cry, we can pull the covers over our heads and wait for it to be over, or we can help. That last one seems to feel the best, doesn't it?

http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/61/social-entrepreneurs-mainstream/

Pet Recession

Check your local shelter - they've probably filled every available space with pets whose owners can't afford to feed them anymore. One local shelter I know has a 'no kill' policy - and that's resulting in people being turned away as they try to surrender their beloved dog or cat (or bird, ferret or bunny) because there is just no room at the inn.

We've toyed with the idea of adding a dog to our menagerie of three argumentative cats. But the reality is we can't afford it right now. The cost of dog food is high; the vet bills can be astronomical. If you've already got the animals, how do you take care of them when you've lost your job, maybe are losing your home?

Here's a story out of Chicago with one answer. Dog trainer Cathy Sabin has opened up a food pantry for pets. There are others, and the need for what they're giving is growing. Sabin says she's seeing a lot of senior citizens lining up for free bags of pet food.

Some cranky so-called pragmatist out there may argue, "If they can't afford them, then why are they keeping those animals?"

The answer, you heartless automaton, is that for many people a pet is a best friend. Particularly for people who are isolated, people who are sick or sad, people who are older, a pet can be a comfort, a warm connection with another living creature. And don't tell me pets don't care about their owners. Anyone who has ever had a connection with a beloved animal knows that there is a bond there that can't be broken by time or distance. Some people like to pretend that animals are somehow less than humans, less sensistive, less aware. I maintain their awareness is different - I believe they may not relate to the world the same way we do, but different is not inferior...it's just different. They know their people, they remember good and bad experiences, they have loyalty and they will risk their own safety to protect the ones they care for. Hmmm...maybe they're better than some of us.

Anyway, food pantries for pets. It's sad that it's coming to this, but what a fine example of the best in humanity that someone's doing it.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-pet-pantry-nzone-20feb20,0,5222459.story

Stalling the Eviction

Those of us scrambling to make those mortgage payments every month are waiting to see just what the new foreclosure prevention plan means to us. In the meantime, here's a neat trick to slow down those deputies with the eviction notice:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29241628

Demand the original paperwork. Really. This whole fiasco is such a mess that if a homeowner demands to see the original mortgage, it often shuts down the entire foreclosure process indefinitely. Chances are the bank that's trying to toss you out isn't the one that originally loaned you the money.

Our mortgage has changed hands so many times we can't even keep track. It took a conversation with our mortgage servicer (that's the company we pay every month) to discover that it doesn't own our mortgage - and any discussion of renegotiating terms with them is impossible until we've missed more than two payments. We're dealing with Fannie Mae - who knew?

If you own a home, do you know who actually holds your mortgage?

Doing the Stimulus Chinese Style

What to do when the bulk of your country's economy is based on what you sell to other countries - and they stop buying? That's the conundrum facing China, which, despite a multi-billion dollar surplus, is seeing its exports deflate faster than a leaky tire.

The local governments' solution is to offer coupons to encourage its own citizens to start buying. Factories are closing in China and the rate of layoffs is increasing. It's the natural response to a lack of demand as export markets hunker down for a long, painful economic contraction. The Chinese government is creating a 585 billion dollar stimulus package that includes subsidies to encourage rural Chinese to go out and buy appliances. But local governments believe more needs to be done - and their answer is to give out shopping vouchers.

The vouchers are time to coincide with holidays and they're working, sort of. Sales are up. But analysts wonder if it will have any long term significance as the country struggles with an economy built on customers from somewhere else.

The vouchers serve an important PR function as well - it's hoped that they will be seen as the government showing concern for its people. And that's important. Because if things continue to worsen and the Chinese don't think they're being cared for, it won't take much to ignite riots. These are people on the edge - and when you're close to the edge chaos is just a short step away.




http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/KB14Cb01.html

Just Another Foreclosure

It brings a tear to the eye - the economy has finally touched Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. The Wall Street Journal reports his childhood home in Dillon, SC, was sold for 83 thousand dollars to a local bank officer. The buyer was suitably respectful of the historic nature of his purchase.

"It's just a great sense of pride to know that one of the greatest leaders we have in our time period walked the same floors I walk," said Travis Jackson, who said he may put up a plaque honoring Bernanke.

The house was sold by the Bernanke family ten years ago. It was then sold again to a national guardsman and his family for $123,000. They lost it when they couldn't keep up the payments.

I won't even comment on the irony.

I've been doing a lot of investigation into the foreclosure issue. Evan Wagner, director of communications for IndyMac Bank, tells me in most cases his bank's hands are tied. It doesn't own a good 80% of the loans it services. And the agreements it has with the banks who do own those loans specify that it can't negotiate with borrowers until they've missed at least two and sometimes three payments.

So people who know the wolf is at the door and try to talk to a bank before it's too late don't have any options if their loan is with one of the giant lenders. Local really is proving to be better.

There's word that the Obama administration has some plans to alleviate the foreclosure crisis. It's certainly not part of the big stimulus. And without it, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that we're just throwing good money after bad.