Four at Four, at Five

Special guest host?  Nah, It’s just me.

Welcome to the Four at Four, at Five (Four Central).

• Foreclosures in the second quarter this year were up 121% from the second quarter last year, and up 14% from the first quarter this year.
  

  Foreclosures were filed against 739,714 properties in the second quarter. One in every 171 U.S. homes was filed against, the report said.

  …

  The states posting the highest foreclosure filing rates were Nevada, California and Arizona. Nevada had the highest per-household foreclosure rate, with 24,657, or one in every 43 households, nearly four times the national average.

  California posted 202,599 filings, or one in every 65 households. That is a 19 percent increase from the previous quarter and nearly three times the level reported in the second quarter of 2007.

  Foreclosure activity in Arizona, which had the third-highest number of filings, increased 36 percent from the previous quarter and almost four times the level reported in the second quarter of 2007. Arizona reported 37,230 filings, or one in every 70 households.

  The states with the lowest foreclosure activity were Vermont, North Dakota and West Virginia.

• Seven synchronized small bombs were detonated in India, killing two and wounding at least five in Bangalore.
  

  There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

  The government condemned the blasts and vowed to catch those behind them.

  “Such incidents will not deter the government from pursuing its policy of dealing with terrorists in a resolute manner,” Patil said.

• California Terminator Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a ban on trans fats in restaurants.
  

  “California is a leader in promoting health and nutrition, and I am pleased to continue that tradition by being the first state in the nation to phase out trans fats,” Schwarzenegger said. “Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California.”

  The law, AB 97 by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia), will ban cooking with artificial trans fats in restaurants by Jan. 1, 2010, and bar their presence in baked goods by Jan. 1, 2011.

• Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, whose diagnosis with terminal cancer turned him into a widely popular inspirational speaker, has passed away at the age of 47.
  

  The lanky, energetic Pausch talked about goals he had accomplished, like experiencing zero gravity and creating Disney attractions, and those he had not, including becoming a professional football player.

  He used rejections he was handed when he applied for jobs at Disney to comment on the importance of persistence.

  “The brick walls are there for a reason … to show us how badly we want something,” he said. “Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”