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One of San Francisco's biggest landlords is disappearing beneath waves of debt. Defaults, receiverships and foreclosures are threatening to sink Lembi Group Inc., which in the not-so-distant past owned more than 300 apartment buildings containing approximately 7,000 units throughout the city.

Economic activity is stabilizing or improving in the vast majority of the country, according to a new government survey, adding to evidence that the worst recession since the 1930s is over. The Federal Reserve's snapshot of economic conditions backs predictions by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and most other analysts that the economy has started to grow again in the current quarter. In the survey released Wednesday, all but one of the Fed's 12 regions indicated that economic activity was "stable," showed "signs of stabilization" or had "firmed." The one exception was the St. Louis region, which continued to report that...

That means at least 4 filthy Republicans supported it. Disgrace!

Actor Charlie Sheen is demanding a meeting with President Obama to discuss his belief that the September 11 terror attacks were perpetrated by the federal government. In an interview with PrisonPlanet.com, The “Two and a Half Men” star unveils a fictional 20-minute exchange he imagines having with Obama – whom he supported in the November election – during which he implores the president to get on “the right side of history.” Sheen, 44, argues that “the official 9/11 story is a fraud” and claims the attacks served as “the pretext for the systematic dismantling of our Constitution and Bill of...

Wvery £4 spent on family planning over the next four decades would reduce global CO2 emissions by more than a ton, whereas a minimum of £19 would have to be spent on low-carbon technologies to achieve the same result, the research says.

What will historians be saying 100 years from now about a society that feted and celebrated terrorists who were proud of their work? And who employed them at taxpayer's expense? From a New York Post article by Phillip Kerpen, we learn that Jeff Jones, former Weather Underground fugitive, who along with Bill Ayers created the terrorist group, is being paid taxpayer dollars as Director of the New York affiliate of Van Jones's umbrella leftist group, the Apollo Alliance. Apollo unifies the three most powerful elements of the political left -- environmental groups, labor unions and street organizers like ACORN --...

Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has attacked some investment banking products as socially useless and said that the controversy over bankers’ pay was both understandable and appropriate, in a speech to the Handelsblatt banking conference in Frankfurt. He did not comment on the "social" usefulness of his new townhouse with its 12 car garage. Blankfein said that multi-year bonuses should be outlawed and senior staff should receive large proportions of pay in stock, rather than cash. Top executives should be forced to hold the bulk of that stock until retirement, he said. He did no comment on the...

Sarah Palin has a good op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today where she identifies the major problem with Obamacare; whatever congress comes up with will have to be implemented by thousands of regulations written by unelected bureaucrats: Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He's asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council-an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of "normal political channels," should guide decisions regarding that...

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Sixty South Carolina House Republicans asked Gov. Mark Sanford to resign Wednesday, questioning his ability to lead the state since his unannounced summertime trip to see a mistress in Argentina and investigations of his state and private travel that followed. "Your decision to abandon our state for five days, with no defined order of succession and with no known way to contact you, is inexcusable," said a letter from the lawmakers signed by House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham.

Garrison Keillor, author and host of the folksy radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," was being treated Wednesday for a minor stroke he suffered over the weekend, a hospital spokesman said. Keillor, who turned 67 last month, was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on Sunday night, spokesman Karl Oestreich said in a news release. "He is up and moving around, speaking sensibly, working at a laptop, and it's expected he'll be released on Friday," Oestreich said. "He plans to resume a normal schedule next week." The live variety show "A Prairie Home Companion"...

“Who’s the fat man in the cap?” - this delightful question was put to me this afternoon by a younger cousin looking over my shoulder, who is just about to start at university. The fat man in the cap, as it happens, is Michael Moore. And how wonderfully satisfying it is to hear that the liberal film-maker is not as well-known as once he was. It’s telling, too, that I found myself explaining him using Al Gore as a comparison - the green crusader has utterly eclipsed Moore with An Inconvenient Truth. Interested to see if my cousin represented a...

The rest of Murtha's Mob By: Barbara Hollingsworth Local Opinion Editor09/09/09 3:49 PM EDT A computer analysis released by the Center for Public Integrity found that three quarters of the members of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee engaged in the same kind of controversial influence peddling that got chairman John Murtha, D-PA, Rep. Jim Moran, D-VA, and Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-IN, in hot water for their dealings with the now defunct PMA Group."The Center's analysis reveals that 12 of 16 subcommittee members have been involved in similar circles of relationships fraught with potential conflicts of interest. In these circles,...

As gold tries to break and hold $1000 it brings up the larger question of how long the USD has to last. At the very least, after the markets digest the debate over deflation which is USD bullish, the question becomes: how long can the USD hold together before it falls in value drastically. Big drumbeat out there I am sure that you know about China vigorously complaining about the abuse of the USD, most loudly complaining about the Fed's quantitative easing (buying any and all bad assets from banks and putting them on their balance sheet - called monetization,...

As gold tries to break and hold $1000 it brings up the larger question of how long the USD has to last. At the very least, after the markets digest the debate over deflation which is USD bullish, the question becomes: how long can the USD hold together before it falls in value drastically. Big drumbeat out there I am sure that you know about China vigorously complaining about the abuse of the USD, most loudly complaining about the Fed's quantitative easing (buying any and all bad assets from banks and putting them on their balance sheet - called monetization,...

President Obama will bring his campaign to overhaul the nation's health care system to the Twin Cities this weekend. The White House has not announced his visit to Minnesota on Saturday, but an official with knowledge of the appearance confirmed it this morning. Although a location for the speech also has not been announced, it would most likely be held at either the Target Center in Minneapolis or the Xcel Center in St. Paul.

Over ONE MILLION copies sold! On the NYTimes Bestseller List for 19 weeks, 12 weeks at #1!Buy it… read it… live it!“Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

Snowy Egrets and White Ibis today. The tide is exceptionally high, it's a seasonal trend, lots of marsh birds way out, perched in the Mangroves. Nothing moving at the pond. I waited a while and the Snowies and Ibis started showing up. I put out some french fries and dry cat food to bring in some gulls, they just weren't eating at the time, and a gull will usually eat anything. If you know you have a good spot, and nothing is there, wait for a while, often, they will come. Hunting is an exercise in patience, and wildlife photography...

Coinciding with the publication of the Mosharekat (Participation) Front's statement blasting the political remarks made by the Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) chief, the head of the minority reformist faction in the Majlis revealed that a number of IRGC personnel had resigned to protest the IRGC's interference in political affairs. Yesterday, the leader of the minority reformist faction in the Majlis, Hashemian, blasted the IRGC chief's recent comments accusing reformist leaders of seeking to overthrow the regime, labeling them "disrespectful" and "illegal." Noting that the IRGC chief's remarks make the military institution "notorious," he then argued that the IRGC...

With the health care debate getting loud and furious, you have to wonder why Hollywood has been so remarkably silent. Maybe the Celeberati don’t care whether citizens have health care, or maybe they are happy with the generous coverage they get from SAG and AFTRA, and believe the President who tells them they will get to keep their current coverage. It can’t be accidental. Certainly there must be one celebutard who has an opinion on the debate. I long for a wonderful bit of wisdom from Sheryl Crow, perhaps a suggestion to save costs and the environment by washing and...

According to Beck, the vote will be coming up in the next hour or so to confirm Cass Sunstein in the Senate. Call your senators now. You can get your Senator's contact info by going to the web and typing in your Senator's name.senate.gov Phones are being swamped - - keep it up!