SHARE        Sunday, August 7, 2011
Cambodia's Curse, Mexico's Manana, Reckless Endangerment Stateside Summer reading circa 2011: "Cambodia's Curse" by Joel Brinkley, "Manana Forever?" by Jorge Castaneda, and "Reckless Endangerment" by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. The first two a trip to strangely familiar flailing states, the last a crime procedural about our very own real estate bubble. Got justice? Hey-- who needs a cow when the milk is so cheap!

SHARE        Monday, March 28, 2011
Gaming the Game: Baba, Elvis, and the NBA Betting Scandal Sean Patrick Griffin's new book "Gaming the Game" won't make ex NBA referee Tim Donaghy happy. In 2008, Donaghy (aka Elvis to his cohorts) was convicted of feeding pro gambler Jimmy "Baba" Battista picks on NBA games. Elvis claims Baba made him do it . Griffin says no way...

SHARE        Friday, March 4, 2011
Left, Right, Third Party in Sight? Big government and big finance pumped the housing bubble. Then came the bust. After years of investigations, Republicans and Democrats can't agree on who-done-it. However, we will be able to hang some teachers and sanitation workers out to dry. In our state capitalist times, Joe and Joan Average are increasingly on their own...

SHARE        Friday, February 18, 2011
Mortgage Fraud! Mollusks! Taxpayers Rush to Invest Ah, mortgage fraud. The unsung power tool of the housing bubble. Miss the big grift? No need. New scams are on fire! Government sponsored programs are being mined. Meanwhile, in Hoboken NJ, mollusks are undermining the new urban waterfront. Hurry hurry-- time to reinvest. Before shipworms swallow Sinatra Drive...

SHARE        Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The New Civility: Another Day, Another Lip Lock Incredible that 9/11 is almost ten years ago. So much has changed. Including our attitude about free speech...

(1 comments) SHARE        Monday, January 10, 2011
Governor Andrew Cuomo: Day One, Everything Freezes And so it begins. Not with a bang but a brrrrr. On January 5th, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo laid down his first State of the State address in a freezing cold auditorium at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center in Albany. The space wasn't frigid by accident. Some like it hot, but Andy does not. Why is a mystery. Some cite his "shark-like" eyes, saying he needs the deep chill. But I disagree...

(2 comments) SHARE        Monday, December 6, 2010
Mix Stash of Potential Explosives w. Multi Family Dwelling, Toss Carefully Sometimes a story is so local it jumps up and bites you. Such is the case with the stash of potentially explosive materials found in an apartment building in the town where I live ...

(1 comments) SHARE        Sunday, November 21, 2010
The wacky little Caesars of Upstate New York In Upstate New York political circles, wacky little Caesars are a dime a dozen. Some are truly extreme...

SHARE        Tuesday, November 2, 2010
All Fired Up: The Downtown Albany Real Estate Game When you talk about Albany to people outside the Capital Region most think you mean New York State government. In election years the reality of Albany as a specific place, not a symbol of pols-gone-wild, becomes even more difficult to convey. A shame, because the city of Albany has all sorts of exciting stuff going on. Particularly on its downtown real estate scene.

SHARE        Monday, October 18, 2010
Robin Palmer: Weatherman Yippie Right Wing Rebel Forever Robin Palmer died this August. He was a born rebel. Never without a cause. Usually multiple causes. Which sometimes seemed wildly contradictory. Let's see; there was radical bomber Robin, guerilla theater Robin, and right wing Robin. Or was he just Robin wing all along? Whatever. I'm glad to have been his friend...

(2 comments) SHARE        Monday, August 9, 2010
Empire State Circus Circus: Cuomo, Lazio or Paladino? New Yorkers are rolling in the aisles. The summer of our discontent (economic, political, you name it) has been made glorious circus by the race for the governor's seat. A clown car of candidates is lurching round the ring...

SHARE        Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Garden of Traveling Pimp Hands Traveling pimp hands-- animal, vegetable, or political? U B the judge. From White House plots to the gardens of assorted local governments and/or crime scenes, pimp hands are invasive...

SHARE        Friday, May 7, 2010
Atlantic Yards-- Roll Out the Dough, Land Grab to Go I love the smell of eminent domain abuse in the morning. It smells like land grabs and taxpayers being soaked. A truly fragrant blast of the stuff is wafting up from Brooklyn...

SHARE        Thursday, April 22, 2010
The Power of Yes: WaMu Raps, Fannie and Freddie Got Back Just when I think I'm through dishing the United States of Real Estate, it pulls me back in.

SHARE        Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Obama, O'Dubya, O Maltese Falcon When considering a third party option vs. supporting donkeys or elephants ask yourself-- what would Sam Spade do?

SHARE        Thursday, March 25, 2010
Greetings From Vermont: No Billboards, Plenty Cocaine Vermont has multiple realities. It's not all maple syrup and town meetings.

SHARE        Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Jersey City Trumps Jersey Shore: U.S. v. Leona Beldini Jersey Shore? Fuhgeddaboudit. Jersey City is the gem of reality TV. "Jersey Shore" is MTV. Jersey City is FBI. Like, how real is that? Video tapes of pols talking trash have been unspooling in federal court in Newark at the trial of Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. Charges? Bribe-O-Rama!

SHARE        Saturday, December 12, 2009
Andrew Cuomo and the Incredible Industry-Wide Mortgage Fraud Investigation Cast your mind back to November, 2007. When the bursting housing bubble made it seem as if mortgage fraud perped by parties larger than brokers, bank clerks, and appraisers might finally matter. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent an ominous missive to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He was launching an "industry-wide investigation into mortgage fraud"...

SHARE        Sunday, November 1, 2009
Atlantic Yards, Shadow Government, and Albany Frozen in Amber The big chill of eminent domain abuse is challenged in the highest court in New York. The case is Goldstein et al v. New York State Urban Development Corporation-- aka Empire State Development (ESD). Godzilla of the state's quasi-private Shadow Government. Meanwhile, revitalization in Albany continues as usual...

SHARE        Tuesday, October 13, 2009
April Daye, Lady of Burlesque/Hope Diamond, Jersey City Deputy Mayor? As anybody who spends time muckraking can tell you, pursuing stories about political corruption can take you to some passing strange places. Particularly in New Jersey...