Wells Fargo Announces More Layoffs In Its Mortgage Department

The residential housing market drumbeat has begun again. Rising housing prices are depicted as "proof" that residential real estate market, with its odious bidding wars, has recovered its animal spirits. Foreclosures, still very much a fact of life in many parts of the United States, are conveniently ignored. Instead, the focus is on rising prices, as if this event were in and of itself the greatest possible good our Federal Reserve-subsidized economy can generate.

A look behind the "good news" curtain offers a different perspective. Late last week, Wells Fargo announced it was laying off 1,800 employees in its mortgage division, according to an Associated Press story appearing in the Mercury News. The reason? Fewer people are refinancing their homes. This is a curious situation, given the attractive, low interest rates currently available.

Something doesn't quite connect here.

NYPD Flyer Urges Consumers Upload Apple's iOS 7

Apple's new operating system for its iPhones and iPads has some privacy advocates anxious. The iOS 7 system includes a fingerprint identification tool which would allow you-know-who to rather easily establish identity, a phone number, and Internet information. Once you check the box that says "I have read and agree...," you're one step closer to total identity nudity.

The iOS 7 also contains an "Activation Lock" feature which offers much stronger security in the event of theft or loss. Law enforcement has even gotten into the promotion game, with the New York Police Department handing out flyers touting the Activation Lock's and operating system's benefits, according to a post in zerohedge.com.

Specifically, the NYPD, along with the Empire State's attorney general, have touted the advanced security the "Activation Lock" offers consumers. Unfortunately, they have not invented a way to halt shameless data mining (thank you, location devices) of phone users' preferences as they walk along city streets. That's theft of a different sort, and a privacy loophole far more lucrative than a purloined cell phone could hope to provide.

Athens' "Cookistos" Form Culinary Vanguard of Greek "Collaborative Consumption"

Home cooks, especially those without children, frequently face the challenge of preparing more food than they can consume. This issue is not unique to American kitchens. One solution to this domestic dilemma is something called "collaborative consumption," in which people can purchase portions of, say, a homemade chicken pot pie.

This phenomena is emerging in unlikely European venues. The BBC reported today on collaborative consumption's emergence in profoundly individualistic Athens. The emergence of cookistos -- those who prepare portioned meals -- is a fascinating story with parallels to the development of America's "sharing economy" firms, such as ride-sharing Uber.

The food described in the BBC story, including a recipe for moussaka, sounds delightful. If you can't visit Athens, you can always make the dish yourself -- and share it for a fee with total strangers.

Report: NSA Surveillance Panel's First Meeting Dodges Change

Ten days ago, the UK newspaper The Guardian reported on an Obama Administration panel's initial meeting to determine changes to NSA surveillance practices and data collection. The group included representatives from tech heavyweights (with the notable exception of Amazon), insiders from the fed's spy world, and think tank policy mavens. Some participants claimed the meeting was a borderline sham, in which no change was discussed and tech firms worked hard to advance their interests. Those "interests" did not necessarily coincide with those of the larger body of American citizens, who have discovered the military-technology complex has compromised their constitutional right to privacy.

Some details from the Guardian's story offer a disturbing look into what passes for transparency inside the Beltway. The meeting, one participant noted, was something less than a full, open dialogue. For one participant, the tech firms, who dominated the 90-minute meeting, seemed to be walking through a prepared script.

Representatives from the technology firms were identified around the table not by their names, but by placards listing their employers. There was minimal technical discussion of surveillance mechanisms despite the presence of technology companies; (the participant) took the representatives to be lawyers, not technologists.

When it appeared like the meeting would discuss a surveillance issue in a sophisticated way, participants and commissioners suggested it be done in a classified meeting. (The participant) interpreted that as a maneuver to exclude his more-critical viewpoint.

The privacy vs. surveillance issue is one of the few issues where American conservatives and liberals share a common concern. It is the conservatives' great shame that they allowed the Bush Administration to emasculate personal privacy guarantees; it is the liberals' great shame that they have played matador to the Obama Administration's bullish advocacy of the NSA's breathtaking data and communication sweeps.

It's a sad state of affairs when a British newspaper takes the lead and sheds light -- continued light -- on this American issue. No Fox News, no NPR, no major American media player really wants this story. That's a national shame.

Florida Governor Faces Common Core Dilemma

Florida governor Rick Scott

When we last visited Florida governor Rick Scott, the Sunshine State's fearless leader was ducking an education conference the gov himself had requested. In recent days, as a Miami Herald story noted, Scott has picked up the education mantle he so unceremoniously dropped. The governor is now considering making a statement about Florida's commitment to Common Core standards in K-12 education.

His position on the subject will be interesting. Scott's GOP base is very restive regarding anything involving the federal government, and downright nasty if Barack Obama has any association with a program. Common Core hits the bull's eye on both counts. Scott's larger issue is that his principal political benefactor is Jeb Bush, who happens to favor Common Core initiatives.

Scott's dilemma mirrors the Republican Party's schizophrenia on many social issues. I suspect the Florida governor will back Common Core standards and related assessment testing, simply because the state is already in immersed in the K-12 world's deep water: Common Core, charter schools, and the tech mafia that offers "solutions" to problems that conveniently suit its commercial needs. Also, in Florida, what Jeb Bush wants, Jeb Bush usually gets.

A Psychologist's Perspective On Siri

Siri

So far, this week's best tongue-in-cheek story belongs to Mercury News journalist Patrick May. He interviewed Bay Area psychologist Francine Toder, who recently explored Siri's often Sphinx-like approach to questions routine or unusual.

The shrink admirably dodged and weaved with the enigmatic, sometimes quite humorous voice of Apple's iPhone. What "human" truth emerged from this journey into a machine's mind? The psychologist observed that Siri was not quite ready to "open up." Would there be another session to encourage Siri to understand its own consciousness? "When someone comes in for therapy," Toder noted, "they have to want to change. I'm not sensing that Siri has any real desire at all to do that right now."

FISA Court Upholds NSA Phone Snooping Tactics

Ellen Nakashima
(Image: cfp.org)

The NSA's sweeping (no pun intended) ability and evident willingness to aggressively data mine domestic phone conversations was upheld by a FISA judge this week. The Washington Post's Ellen Nakashima reported this story in today's online editions of the newspaper.

The FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court is an American judicial anomaly. Its secret proceedings feature a plaintiff and no defendant. A government attorney makes a case, and a FISA jurist determines its suitability under the judge's interpretation of current federal statutes. The court straddles the line between a rubber stamp for NSA activities and a light touch of "judicial oversight."

Former US Attorney General
Alberto Gonzalez

One consequence of Edward Snowden's revelations was sharply increased doubt regarding the efficacy of the FISA court. The NSA seemed like an organization that could simply make up the rules of the game, and not inform anyone about them. The right to privacy? That notion seemed as "quaint" as George W. Bush's former attorney general Alberto Gonzalez once considered the Geneva Convention's protocols.

The recent FISA ruling the Post cites expands this alarming erosion of privacy rights. As Nakashima notes:

The gathering of "all call detail records" from phone companies is justified as long as the government can show that it is relevant to an authorized investigation into known -- and, significantly -- unknown terrorists who may be in the United States, the Aug. 29 opinion states.

Moreover, the government need only show that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the records will be relevant to the investigation, a lower burden than required in ordinary criminal investigations. That is justified because the goal is to prevent a terrorist attack, not solve a crime that has already taken place, the court said, affirming the government's position.

Uzbekistan Government Denounces Country's Miss World Contestant As Impostor

Rakhima Ganieva
(Image: Radio Free Europe)

Who watches or even cares about beauty pageants? Well, don't be so quick to dismiss these events. It's not as if supposedly "sophisticated" fashion runway displays of young flesh offer Rhodes Scholars in new outfits. As for intellectual distinction, do you really think an ambitious, egotistical, shallow fashionista has more insight into world affairs than the anonymous figures who manage beauty pageants?

Yet, beauty pageants have rightly been perceived as meritless, low-brow spectacles. Some parts of the world, however, do care rather passionately about these public displays of female beauty. (Venezuela comes to mind.) With heightened psychological stakes come the inevitable impulse to cheat.

This year's Miss World contest is witnessing a unique attempt to fool the audience and judges. According to a story in the UK newspaper The Telegraph, the current contestant from Uzbekistan is allegedly an impostor. One Rakhima Ganieva has claimed the title "Miss Uzbekistan" and has attempted to enter the Miss World competition. Alas, the Uzbek government and its associated cultural institutions have denied any knowledge of the young woman's crown. In fact, according to the Telegraph article, "Uzbek officials say that no competition to select a Miss Uzbekistan has ever been held."

Is Florida The Wackiest State in the Union?

Florida governor Rick Scott

Two generations ago, the prevailing wisdom maintained that California was filled with strange people, odd beliefs, and weird activities. One really doesn't hear that about the Golden State these days. Perhaps that's due to Florida supplanting California for sheer goofiness.

Ah, yes, the Sunshine State. It's a cozy home for drug lords, Medicare cheats, communities filled with the nearly dead, and wacky politicians. I took a glance at the Miami Herald (a relatively sane, South Florida oasis of journalism), and here's a sampler of today's stories:

• Republican governor Rick Scott cancelled a $25,000/head fund raiser, which featured a live alligator hunt. Keep in mind that 'gators are a federally protected species.
• Polk County sheriff's deputies arrested Pastor Terry Jones today. He intended to burn thousands of Qurans as a protest to the events of September 11, 2001.
• The former CEO of a South Florida psychiatric hospital was sentenced to 25 years for milking the Medicare system out of $67 million. The now-convicted felon is 60 years old.

These are not particularly unusual stories to emerge from the Sunshine State. Trust me: California has nothing on Florida when it comes to wackiness.