Docudharma Times Saturday October 16

For foreclosure processors hired by mortgage lenders, speed equaled money



By Ariana Eunjung Cha and Zachary A. Goldfarb

Washington Post Staff Writers

Saturday, October 16, 2010; 12:57 AM

Millions of homes have been seized by banks during the economic crisis through a mass production system of foreclosures that was set up to prioritize one thing over everything else: speed.

With 2 million homes in foreclosure and another 2.3 million seriously delinquent on their mortgages – the biggest logjam of distressed properties the market has ever seen – companies involved in the foreclosure process were paid to move cases quickly through the pipeline.

What makes a masterpiece?

Five experts explore the genius behind some of the world’s greatest works of art, from Sri Lanka’s reclining Buddha to Caravaggio’s momentous supper

By Paul Joannides, art historian Saturday, 16 October 2010

Botticelli’s picture was almost certainly painted to celebrate a marriage. “The Birth of Venus” was a subject frequent in antique and, very occasionally, medieval art. But Botticelli’s treatment is quite new and demonstrates a powerful visual intelligence. The painting’s size demanded breadth and clarity. It is magical theatre: at the left, Zephyr and Chloris’ conjoined silhouette is that of a looped-up canopy and the receptive cloak on the right doubles as a curtain withdrawn to reveal Venus’ beauty. Botticelli’s display, inspired by the curtaining of altarpieces, may, in turn, have prompted Raphael’s exploitation of the motif in the Sistine Madonna, with its majestic vision of thecloud-borne Virgin.

USA

G.I.’s Accused in Deaths Were Isolated From Officers  

 

By ELISABETH BUMILLER and WILLIAM YARDLEY

Published: October 15, 2010

WASHINGTON – Soldiers in an American Army platoon accused of murdering Afghan civilians for sport say they took orders from a ringleader who collected body parts as war trophies, were threatened with death if they spoke up and smoked hashish on their base almost daily.

Now family members and the military are asking a central question: How could their commanders not know what was going on?

“I just don’t understand how this went so far,” said Christopher Winfield, the father of Specialist Adam C. Winfield, one of the platoon members charged with murder. “I’ve been in management for 20 years; you know what your people are doing.”

FBI was warned of Mumbai plotter’s terrorism ties

Agents investigated wife’s claims in 2005, three years before attack  

By Sebastian Rotella

Three years before Pakistani terrorists struck Mumbai in 2008, federal agents in New York City investigated a tip that an American businessman was training in Pakistan with the group that later executed the attack.

The previously undisclosed allegations against David Coleman Headley, who became a key figure in the plot that killed 166 people, came from his wife after a domestic dispute that resulted in his arrest in 2005.

Europe

De Wever set to submit proposal for power-sharing

The Irish Times – Saturday, October 16, 2010

ARTHUR BEESLEY European Correspondent

HARDLINE FLEMISH nationalist Bart De Wever is making a fresh attempt to break four months of political paralysis in Belgium with a new power-sharing proposal to the country’s linguistically divided leaders.

Charged with a 10-day mission of “clarification” by King Albert II late last week, Mr De Wever will submit a power-sharing proposal to seven political parties tomorrow in anticipation of a response by noon on Monday.

The country has been in the charge of a caretaker government since elections in June which followed the collapse of a five-partycoalition in April.

France meets deadline to reply to EU over Roma deportation bill

France has met a deadline to submit a reply to a challenge by the European Commission over recently passed immigration legislation that has seen hundreds of ethnic Roma deported to Romania and Bulgaria.

IMMIGRATION | 16.10.2010

France has sent its reply to the EU executive on the deportation of ethnic Roma, meeting a midnight deadline in order to avoid legal action over the controversial expulsions.

“We received the French documents, we will analyze them during the weekend,” European Commission spokesman Matthew Newman said.

Newman would not give any details of the French reply, but French Immigration Minister Eric Besson had earlier signaled that President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government was prepared to adapt the immigration legislation “to comply with European law” and to have it drawn up to be presented to parliament by December.

Middle East

Palestinians furious at Israeli plan to build more homes in east Jerusalem

Palestinians accused Israel on Friday of doing everything it could to scupper peace talks in an angry response to the announcement of a fresh batch of homes for Israeli settlers in contested east Jerusalem.

By Mark Weiss in Jerusal

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, accused Israel of “killing” opportunities to revive peace talks, which have stalled over the issue of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israeli officials said the announcement of 238 new housing units in the east Jerusalem neighbourhoods of Ramot and Pisgat Ze’ev was part of a wider housing plan. They said the number of new apartments planned for east Jerusalem had been cut following criticism from Washington. According to the Israeli officials the US protest had been mild.

US military’s Iraq death toll lags behind other counts



Lara Jakes

October 16, 2010

BAGHDAD: An official US military tally puts the death toll of Iraqi civilians and security forces at almost 77,000 between January 2004 and August 2008 – the darkest chapter of Iraq’s sectarian warfare and the US troop surge to quell it.

The little-noticed body count is the most extensive data on Iraqi war casualties ever released by the American military. But the tally falls short of the estimated 85,694 deaths of civilians and security officials between January 2004 to October 31, 2008, as counted last year by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry.

Asia

Nazarbayev Dictates a Bright Future for Kazakhstan

Dreaming of Snow Leopards

By Erich Follath and Christian Neef  

It’s one of those mild, cloudless summer nights in Astana, when the sky over the surrounding steppe won’t get completely dark.

A stage has been set up in Lovers’ Park behind Kazakhstan’s huge, triumphal-arch-like Ministry of Oil and Gas. Kazakhstan’s top artists are performing scenes from the history of the nomadic country, Italian tenor Andrea Boccelli is singing and the guests in the VIP stand are applauding with delight. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has traveled here along with his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gül, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Jordan’s King Abdullah. They have also been joined by the heads of state of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Wen’s push for open China makes splash in popular press



John Garnaut

October 16, 2010

BEIJING: The bold campaign for political reform being led by the Premier, Wen Jiabao, is finally spilling over into the mainstream Chinese media, as the Communist Party leadership wrestles over the country’s future behind closed doors.

The Southern Weekend, a popular newspaper, features Mr Wen on its front page this weekend and quotes him as saying the will of the people for political reform is ”irresistible”.

”I will not fall in spite of a strong wind and harsh rain and I will not yield till the last day of my life,” Mr Wen is quoted as saying.

Africa

Mugabe eyes 2011 elections

President Robert Mugabe said Friday that Zimbabwe’s unity government should dissolve within months, calling for elections next year despite stalled efforts at political reform.

By Sapa-AFP  

The 86-year-old leader, in power since independence in 1980, was forced into a power-sharing deal with his rival, current Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in February last year.

Their arrangement was strained from the start, but tensions between them have again ripped into the open with Tsvangirai struggling to assert his authority within the power-sharing regime.

In Cape Town, a clamor for independence

A Cape Town political party is hoping to turn the differences between the Western Cape and the rest of South Africa into electoral votes and, ultimately, independence for the region.

By Ian Evans, Correspondent / October 15, 2010  

Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town, South Africa

Residents of the Western Cape have long seen themselves as different from the rest of South Africa.

With its more laid-back lifestyle, wine estates, white beaches and predominantly white and Cape Coloured population, it’s less African than the eight other provinces. It’s difference is highlighted by the hold that opposition party Democratic Alliance has on provincial and Cape Town politics.

But while the DA taps into disillusionment with ruling African National Congress central governance, a fledgling party in the Cape is hoping to turn that disenchantment into full-blown independence and aseparate state.

Latin America

Supporting cast leaves the stage at end of the greatest show on earth

All week, millions watched the rescue of ‘Los 33’. Now the site of the miracle is just another hole in the ground. Guy Adams bids farewell to the San Jose mine

Saturday, 16 October 2010

Alfonso Avalos spent yesterday morning folding up the last of his Chilean flags, and attempting to squeeze an eclectic selection of his worldly goods into the suitcases he had first carried up the rocky hillside that was to become Camp Hope more than two months ago.

Fitting two tents, along with a wide-ranging selection of pots and pans, into the available space was proving to be quite a challenge. So he took a break from his labours to sing a final folk song with some of the neighbours who have shared the ups and downs of an extraordinary vigil.

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