I’ve been a student of politics for a few decades now, and in all that time, I’ve never seen a weirder political season than the one we are currently experiencing. The collective nation, regardless of which side you’re on, seems to have lost its mind. On one hand, we have the Right. This year, the moneyed powers have decided that it is in their best interests to ally themselves with some radical fringe elements to raise the collective fear of the following that they can usually dupe, to new heights of fear.

With a hodge-podge of candidates that in most years would be readily dismissed as crazy, and the backing of a number of deep pocketed money interests, like the Koch brothers and Rupert Murdoch, and the Wall Street bankers who feel their gravy train possibly grinding to a halt, they’ve managed to make a lot of normally bright people believe that they actually have THEIR best interests at heart. They’ve worked up their newly expanded base into a frenzy, assisted by the Supreme Court decision that allows corporations to put hundreds of millions of dollars of unregulated cash into elections.

They are so arrogant about it that Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News, can come right out and say he delivered a cool million to the Republican Governor’s Association to benefit his good friend John Kasich, who just happens to be running for governor of our fair state. Yes sir, when an Australian billionaire feels free to attempt to buy the governorship of our state, it’s a sad state of affairs. For decades, all the GOP has had to offer the public at large, is the fear du jour. Their real base doesn’t live in places like Toledo Ohio. Mix in a healthy dose of twisted non-facts in these corporate bought ads, and they’re off and running.

On the other side, we have the Left, a disorganized collection of disparate interests that mean well, but certainly wouldn’t want to offend anyone by actually doing something that might actually go far enough to truly address a problem. The Democrats seem to have this pie in the sky belief that bipartisanship actually still has meaning. To that end, they will water down any bill until it is basically ineffectual to try to get a Republican vote or two. If they fail in their attempt, we’ll become so despondent that large numbers will just give up and not even bother to vote. In the last two years, they managed to squander the largest majority in Congress in decades and pass some well meaning but woefully watered down legislation for fear of offending someone. In a word, basic governance has become nonexistent.

Now I’m just a poor dumb electrician, but here’s the way I see things. I worked heavy construction for 35+ years, so I’ll couch it in terms with which I’m familiar. For eight years, the Bush administration and the Republican controlled Congress, aided and abetted by a number of gutless Democrats, dug this huge economic hole. They gutted regulations and relied on the financial industry to “police” themselves, trusting them to do the right thing. We know how that turned out. In 2008, Barack Obama was elected. He was handed the shovel and tasked with filling in the hole. From a construction standpoint, I know that if you tell the average worker that you have 21 months to fill this hole it took 8 years to dig, he or she will probably tell you where to stick that shovel. Yet, this is apparently what the voters expect Obama to be able to do. Oh, and while you’re trying to fill in that hole, we’re going to hold on to the handle of that shovel so that you can’t fill that hole in. This is what the Republicans did with their blanket obstructionism.

If the numerous polls and pundits are right, the voters are poised to hand the shovel back to the guys who dug this gaping pit and allow them to resume digging, not only removing all the backfill, but widening the pit even further. If we allow this to happen, then shame on us. Whatever happened to the America that our fathers and grandfathers, the so called Greatest Generation, fought and died to protect? I think that my dad, uncles, and father in law would be appalled at what we are degenerating into. Corporate interests are running the show now and for the foreseeable future. I just hope we wake up from our stupor before it’s too late.

As always, follow the money. Sherrod Brown said it best; “Bring back preexisting conditions. Vote Republican.” The perfect bumper sticker.

It’s seems the time may have finally come to say goodbye to a lot of the big banks, including the Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

A recent Bloomberg article revealed that bond giant Pimco, money manager BlackRock, as well as the New York Fed, are all attempting to force Bank of America to repurchase mortgages that have gone bad. The real problem is the numbers. These bad mortgages were among others that were packaged into roughly $47 billion worth of bonds by Countrywide Financial (owned by BoA) and sold to Pimco, BlackRock and other investors as mortgage-backed bonds.

One Wall Street Journal article claims that roughly 40% of Bank of America’s mortgages sold have been paid off. That still leaves $450 billion in outstanding loans, hardly covered by the loan repurchase reserves held by the four largest US banks which totaled $8 billion at the end of June.

Wells Fargo, in which Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is a large investor, is in nearly the same boat. As the institution begins to brace itself for large loan repurchase requests, it does so with very little in reserves. According to a recent report from Wells, the company has just $1.3 billion of reserves to support approximately $144 billion in loans it sold to the public.

In short, banks simply don’t have the reserves to pay for the likely wave of loan repurchase requests about to come in. Looking at the degree to which these institutions have leveraged their reserves, it seems we may be watching the unfolding of the next Long-Term Capital Management.

At its peak, LTCM was leveraged about 100:1. Thanks to the housing market bulging with excess leading up to 2006, many big banks have leveraged their repurchase reserves beyond that insane ratio.

Long Time Coming

For years many of the big banks reaped windfall profits by taking advantage of their clients every way they could. Their offenses included:

• Making predatory loans, knowing that many borrowers couldn’t possibly down their debt.
• Bundling bad mortgages together, slicing and dicing them into tranches, and sold them as “safe” debt. They used the capital they received from the sale of this debt to finance further lending.
• Cooperating with the formation and pervasion of derivatives markets, which helped supply additional income by helping investors to use exotic new “securities” to “hedge” their bets on mortgage-backed securities against default. Banks did this while purposefully downplaying counterparty risk faced by investors in this unregulated market.
• Now many banks have been fraudulently foreclosing on homes, because the housing market grew so quickly that many didn’t take the time to properly execute and store necessary legal documents.

Now it appears the bill has finally come due. Big banks, particularly big mortgage houses and lending units are going to hurt in a big way, as are their employees and their shareholders.

Many will point to the government intervention as a possible means of staving off crisis. However, given current political pressure on Washington as election season approaches, trust in a potential bailout seems misplaced, particularly given the illegality of many actions taken by these institutions.

A quick note of clarification: Depositors in these institutions need not be alarmed, as bank deposits are still insured by the government through FDIC. Investors holding positions in these banks, however, may want to rethink the outlook for their holdings.

Dock David Treece is a discretionary money manager with Treece Investment Advisory Corp (www.TreeceInvestments.com) and a stockbroker licensed with FINRA. He works for Treece Financial Services Corp and also serves as editor of the financial news site Green Faucet (www.GreenFaucet.com) and as a business commentator for Toledo Free Press. The above information is the express opinion of Dock David Treece and should not be construed as investment advice or used without outside verification.

A two-car accident killed three Toledo-area men in their early twenties at 1:54 a.m. Oct. 21 on North Detroit Avenue approximately half a mile south of East Alexis Road.

“Alcohol appears to be a factor for both drivers,” according to a news release by the Toledo Police Department (TPD).

Driver of the first vehicle, Noel J. Papenfuse II, 21, of Toledo, was injured and taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Care Center.

Killed were Papenfuse’s passengers: Noah E. McFadden, 23 of Sylvania and cousins Bryan A. Richardson, 20, and Bradley R. Richardson Jr., 21, both of Toledo.

According to the TPD, Papenfuse was southbound on North Detroit. Papenfuse’s car struck a vehicle as it pulled out of a private drive to head north on North Detroit. The driver of the second vehicle, 68-year-old Paul Grant Never of Ottawa Lake, Mich., was not reported as an admitted patient at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Care Center.

Papenfuse’s speed was a factor in the crash, TPD reported.

The address of the accident was reported by TPD as 5405 North Detroit Avenue. Listed at that location is Club Chablis, a 21-and-up adult entertainment establishment.

The hospital reported Papenfuse to be in serious condition but not in the ICU as of the afternoon of Oct. 21. The crash occurred four minutes from the house that Papenfuse, Richardson and Richardson Jr. shared. Richardson was a 2008 graduate of Start High School. Richardson Jr. attended the University of Toledo from fall 2007 to spring 2008 with a major in criminal justice.

The investigating officer at the scene was Dennis Cole. The accident is still under investigation.

George Sarantou, Toledo city councilman and candidate for Lucas County Commissioner, called for the current board of commissioners to release an itemized list of departmental surpluses and form an outside citizens’ review committee for the county.

Sarantou called for the action after a report found that Lucas County has an approximately $200 million surplus in various department accounts.

“I believe the taxpaying public has a right to know which department is holding on to surplus money, how much is in their respective accounts, and why,” Sarantou said in an Oct. 20 press conference.

The surplus money came from a variety of sources, taxes, fees and grants, and the county should explore if any of that funding can be used to assist areas like the sheriff’s department, he said.

If the current commissioners don’t pursue such actions, Sarantou said he will make forming an outside financial committee a top priority if elected.

“This committee would mirror the Citizens Special Investigations committee that met earlier this year to review the City of Toledo budget. Additionally this Citizens Special Investigation Committee could determine the necessity of various departmental reserve funds,” he said.

Moving forward more transparency needs to exist in government because citizens have the right to know where their money is being spent, Sarantou said.

Rich Iott, Republican candidate for the 9th District Congressional seat, changed his membership/donor information with the Republican National Committee(RNC) on Oct. 19.

Rich Iott

Iott now lists his occupation as “self-employed.” Previously on Federal Election Commission reports, Iott had “soldier” listed as his occupation and “State of Ohio” as his employer for a March 19, 2010 donation he gave the RNC.

Matt Parker, spokesman for Iott’s campaign, said Toledo Free Press “gets no comments from Iott” on any matter because of an Oct. 17 opinion column by Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller, “Iott should exit, stage reich.”

During an Oct. 11 debate sponsored by Toledo Free Press and FOX Toledo, Iott was presented with the FEC papers that listed his occupation as “soldier.” At that time, Iott said he couldn’t explain why it was listed that way.

“I am a soldier of the state of Ohio, a member of the Ohio Military Reserve and that is true, but that would not be my employer … I don’t know how it got that way,” he said.

“Why can’t I move?” was Kevin Brooks’ first question when he woke up in a hospital bed.

Brooks tried desperately to move his legs. Nothing. He concentrated on a simpler task: Wiggling his toes. Still nothing.

Paralyzed from the chest down, Brooks survived a fatal car crash in which he was the driver. His longtime friend and passenger, Brendon Beuk, wasn’t as fortunate.

The crash was ten years ago. Brooks, 31, now daily recounts the story of how a typical night of drinking and partying for he and his Vancouver, Canada, crew changed his life. Speaking to high school students throughout his home country and the U.S., Brooks seeks to reach the high-risk kids just like him.

“I’m this hardcore, crazy dude. I want kids to realize ‘Holy crap, that’s me up there,’” Brooks said. “The story I tell isn’t about drinking and driving. It’s about choices, consequences and picking yourself up when you’re down. Don’t cross the line, that’s ultimately my message.”

Brooks spoke at the Oct. 19 Safe Teen Driving Seminar hosted by AAA Northwest Ohio at Parkway Place in Maumee. Nearly 500 parents and teens received safety tips and driving techniques presented by AAA, the Ohio State Patrol and Mercy St. Vincent Life Flight. A mock car crash with teen actors greeted visitors to the event.

Sue McCloskey, vice president of AAA Northwest Ohio, said in her introduction, “If tonight makes you think a little differently, we’ve accomplished our goal.”

Nick Jackson, a 15-year-old student at Anthony Wayne High School, said, “My old babysitter died five years ago. They think she was texting while driving.”

Kevin Brooks

Several of his friends have been in situations where there was drinking, Jackson said.

13ABC traffic reporter and host Andi McKay recalled a story she said she hasn’t spoken about since 1983. McKay’s high school boyfriend died in a car accident after their group of friends left the drive-in movie theater in a caravan. Although no alcohol was involved, the driver was distracted by spilled Cheetos and swerved sharply, causing the vehicle to roll five times.

“He was astonishing and I can’t even describe this guy to you. His name was Michael,” McKay said.

McKay then gave the stage to Brooks, whose wheelchair gave him his own introduction. Brooks kept the audience’s attention with his blond Mohawk and honesty. Brooks said he used to party to the point of not even caring.

“I made it home and I didn’t know how I got home. I had one shoe. Typical weekend morning,” Brooks said.

Drinking and driving was nothing new to Brooks.

“Every time I went out with my friends, we had buddies that were the ‘good drunk drivers.’ But I know now it wasn’t skill, it was luck,” Brooks said.

The night of the crash, Brooks drove from party to party. He stopped back at his house to swipe some beer from his dad’s fridge. Turning to look back at his car, Brooks contemplated going to sleep.

Brooks and his friends stumbled out of the last party at 3 a.m. While some of his friends got into cabs, Brooks got into his car. Beuk decided to ride with him.

“Tunes cranked, beers cracked, phones going. Peaceful summer night, stars in the sky, you know the kind,” Brooks said. “I remember driving past our old high school and stopped at a red light. I took a left. And that’s my last memory.”

His family filled him in on the rest. Brooks took a curve going 80 mph and went off the road. After rolling end over end, the car came to a rest at the bottom of a hill. The entire front end was flattened.

Brooks didn’t remember Beuk, a hockey buddy since the age of 5, getting in the car with him after the party as he recalled the night from his hospital bed. Beuk suffered massive head injuries and died at the age of 20.

“If I could cut one part out of the story that would be it,” Brooks said. “I don’t know a word or series of words to describe that feeling.”

With a 20 to 30 percent chance of making it out of the ICU, Brooks couldn’t speak for weeks because of the breathing tube in his throat.

“The paramedics told me if I hadn’t been wearing a seat belt I wouldn’t have lived,” Brooks said. “They said I didn’t even look like a person.”

The morphine made Brooks hallucinate and he lashed out at hospital staff. Strapped to his bed to prevent him from ripping out the tubes keeping him alive, he battled a stream of infections and dark thoughts.

“Honestly, lying in that hospital bed, my life was over,” Brooks said. “The biggest choice I made was whether to let the story I’m sharing with you tonight overcome me.”

Before the crash, Brooks was a 6-foot-tall skateboarder and snowboarder. He soon realized that once he got home, his world wouldn’t be the same.

“It was something that hit me pretty early on. I have to speak in schools, I have to speak to young people,” Brooks said. “What really hit me was that kids will probably listen to me.”

Brooks speaks with three empty chairs sitting next to him. One is for Beuk. The remaining two are for friends Chris and Jordan. Chris died in a shooting and Jordan took his own life.

“I’m the one with the voice to share our story,” Brooks said. “I talk about suicide; I talk about violence because these things are killing our young people.”

With 10 presentations a week and approximately 150 per year, Brooks has a full-time job. His fan response is huge. Scrolling through the Twitter feed on his BlackBerry, Brooks points out the numerous mentions from the students he also spoke to Oct. 19 at Notre Dame Academy. Many teens Brooks meets are dealing with thoughts of suicide.

“I read this e-mail that I saved someone’s life. That keeps me going,” Brooks said. “If I felt like I was wasting my breath I wouldn’t do this.”

During the trial, Brooks pled guilty to the charge of causing the death of his friend.

“The only reason I didn’t go to jail was because Brendon’s family went to bat for me. Their support blows my mind,” Brooks said.

After his talk, footage rolls of Brooks and his friends skateboarding, snowboarding and jumping into a lake.

http://www.aaanwohio.com/

The Oct. 20 Toledo Free Press Star edition is available as an electronic edition.

You’re standing, biting your nails, beads of sweat running down your face, anxiously waiting. You hear name after name, and as the list of suitable candidates dwindles, you realize that no one is looking in your direction. You’re simply an afterthought.
It sucks to be picked last for kickball.
This is a well-known feeling for Toledo Hip-Hop artists with a lack of melanin in their skin. But before we go any further, let’s take a deep breath. Now say it with me … white people. Now that the awkward silence has been replaced with uncomfortable gasping, we can move on.
This is not the 1960s. No longer are people praising others by saying things like “That colored sure can catch a football!” Michael Jordan is not known as the greatest black basketball player; he’s just the greatest basketball player.
So why is there such a thing as a “white rapper?” Is this some type of reverse discrimination from the predominately African-American Hip-Hop community? As long as African-Americans have had to fight for equality, I hope not.
Atomic doesn’t mind being called a “white rapper.” Noting that Hip-Hop started in black culture, he said, “any white rapper has grown up listening to, or is inspired by, a black artist.” But rapper Mike Flamez asserts that the moment people hear “white rapper,” they either think of Eminem, or a wannabe from the movie “Malibu’s Most Wanted.” Big J the White Wonder sums up the term best: “To hold someone back by a racial term is the exact opposite of Hip-Hop.”

Big J

There are Hip-Hop artists spread all across the city, but the majority of “white rappers” seem to be in another world, over a body of water, on the East Side. And while it may sometimes seem that many white artists are only supported by fans of the same race, rappers don’t necessarily see it that way.
Cody Hize, a rapper from Morenci, Mich., who claims to have only seen “one black family” in his city, said a lot of people were hesitant to accept him. They felt that a white person rapping is “acting black.” East Toledoan Low-E thinks it’s just a cultural misconception, pointing out that “in the beginning, there was Run DMC and the Beastie Boys,” and no one made a big deal out of it. However, fellow East Toledoan Atomic points out that in his experience, it seems that white people are “more willing to accept local artists [and] black people only support their friends.”
I’ve seen that happen too many times to deny it.
So how can a “white rapper” lose the label and gain the respect of his African-American counterparts? East Toledoan Bre.Weez feels that while it may be harder to be taken seriously, once people hear the music the label disappears. Ghifted said, “black people are his strongest supporters,” and Sixx Digit almost confirms that claim, admitting that even though he’s a white artist, when he sees a CD with a white artist on it, he’s apprehensive  about listen to it. And while rapper Alaz feels “you might never get the respect you deserve,” Dasit, contestant on VH1’s White Rapper Show and protégé of MC Hammer, says that with the emergence of more white artists in the mainstream, “the public is seeing there are more than just a few [white] rappers who have talent.” Tempestt says regardless of race, it’s all about standing out from the crowd.
So what have we learned? While ignorance may still be present in a small percentage of people, the Hip-Hop community is willing to embrace talent, regardless of race. There just has to be more people, both artists and supporters, willing to move beyond stereotypes and judge Hip-Hop artists not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their lyrics.

For some, growing up can be a horrific proposition, but writer Dirk Manning has channeled the experience into a successful comic book series. Manning, who is appearing Oct. 23 at Westfield Franklin Park Mall’s Borders Books, calls “Nightmare World” a “series of 53 stand-alone stories that intertwine to tell a story best summarized as The Cthulhu mythos meets “Paradise Lost.”
“‘Nightmare World’ originally started with the intention of it being an ‘online portfolio’ that both I and a series of artists could use to demonstrate our ability to make good comics,” Manning said. “Little did we know that reader and creator enthusiasm alike from across the Internet would propel it from being a six-story portfolio project to a massive collection of 53 stand-alone short stories that all tie together in one big magnum opus about Lucifer unleashing Cthulhu to kick-start the Armageddon.”
As a webcomic, it progressed through several starts at a succession of online sites until finally landing at the prestigious Shadowline Comics, a branch of Image. Now, the company has collected the series into two beautifully horrific paperback collections, and its writer is pretty damn excited about returning to Toledo.
“Expect candy and silly shenanigans as well as a chance to get signed copies of ‘Nightmare World’ Volumes 1 and 2,” he said. “What’s the point in inviting people out if we’re not going to make a party out of it, right?”
The series’ theme of creeping terror isn’t an accident, but one of great interest and experimentation to Manning.
“The truth of the matter is that I think a good, cerebral horror story can say a lot more about the human experience than any other genre,” he said. “Make no mistake: ‘Nightmare World’ is not a blood and guts series. We’re much more like ‘The Twilight Zone’ than, say, ‘Saw’ or something gross and mean like that. We focus on creating unsettling, suspenseful and sometimes even flat-out funny short stories that reside in the horror genre — even if it’s by default — that are meant to linger with readers for a long time after they read them. When we hear we’ve done that, we know we’re doing what we set out to do with the series.”

Say what you will about the Oct. 9 episode, but you have to admit this: It’s gotten people talking about “The Simpsons” again.
There are few shows which can be said to have changed everything, but “The Simpsons” is one of them. When it began, the animated series was a lightning rod for passionate opinion, with many rightly praising it for its creative genius, and others condemning it for its supposedly negative effects on “family values,” whatever that meant.
As time went by, the show matured into a true comedy classic — at the time, the best show on television. For years, the show became the benchmark by which all television comedy would be judged. It was smart, irreverent, hip and funny as hell.
But as time passed, something sad happened to “The Simpsons.” The show’s creative well seemed to run dry. And still, it pushed on, long past any rational point of closure. That was more than a decade ago. For those who remember the early years, the recent incarnations of “The Simpsons” are like watching a brain-dead patient on life support. It’s still hanging on, barely, and will keep hanging on until someone pulls the plug.
Seems like very few people talk about “The Simpsons” anymore. Which is why the opening credit sequence that aired on Oct. 9, directed by controversial British graffiti artist Banksy, must be given credit — it got people interested. But to what end?
For those who missed it, the opening started as almost every other “Simpsons” ever has, save for the name “BANKSY” being sprawled everywhere. It led to the traditional “couch gag,” a joke that is different each week. This week’s “gag” was more like a lecture.
The footage cut to stylized shots of what seemed to be a Korean animation studio, where anonymous laborers toiled to make “The Simpsons.” Children dipped the animation cells into open vats of toxic waste. Rats munched on piles of bones in the corner. Workers ground up live kittens to make stuffing for Bart plush dolls. “Simpsons” DVDs were made by using a dying unicorn’s horn to punch out the center — all inside a prison shaped like the 20th Century Fox logo.
You can’t fault Banksy for being subtle, that’s for sure. Nor can you say the creators of “The Simpsons” weren’t somewhat brave for letting the opening air. But realistically — what did this grotesquely on-point satire accomplish?
Fox is meant to be seen as a villain. But it’s not like “The Simpsons” hasn’t taken shots at its network before. And it certainly hasn’t ever been a secret that the show hired Korean animators — after all, it’s been right there in the closing credits for two decades. If Fox really had been outraged by or concerned about the opening, it simply wouldn’t have aired it.
Another target is “The Simpsons” itself. The opening clearly is supposed to take shots at the cash cow the franchise has become. But the days of Simpson-mania are long gone. It would be one thing to make such observations if the show was still on the cutting edge of pop culture. But we’re at least 12 years past that.
But the biggest target of all might be the viewers themselves. Imagine watching an opening which basically tells you this show is produced in the most horrific conditions imaginable. And then, you’re expected to keep watching and be entertained by it, without any moral objections. What does that say about the artists’ attitude toward their audience?
The big winner of the whole thing is Banksy, who made a name for himself in America in the space of a few minutes. He can stand as the brave artist who took shots at Fox and lived to tell the tale. Granted, the shots weren’t creative or artful, and his targets will make a lot of cash from his criticism, but it’s the thought that counts, I guess.
For “The Simpsons,” the minor firestorm will be over by the time this year’s “Treehouse of Horror” plays. The show will keep going, Fox will keep making money, any sense of quality or relevance will once again vanish. And those of us who remember the good old days still wait patiently for the day when what was once the best show on television will be allowed to rest in peace.

E-mail Jeff at PopGoesJeff@gmail.com.