from The USA TODAY

It’s called “payment shock.” A typical home buyer with slightly blemished credit starts off with a $200,000 mortgage, a 7% interest rate and an initial monthly payment of $1,531. Everything’s fine for two years until that low “teaser” rate expires and jumps to 11.5%, adding a whopping $625 to the monthly payment.

What was a stretch becomes unaffordable, the homeowner falls behind and, in the worst case, loses the home.

This domestic tragedy, multiplied many times over, has triggered the meltdown in the subprime mortgage market, where people with less-than-perfect credit records go to find home loans. About one-fifth of the 6.5 million such loans originated in 2005 and 2006 will likely end up in foreclosure.

It’s still uncertain how far the pain will extend beyond the unfortunate homeowners and the housing market. But fallout from the subprime meltdown is already chilling the broader credit markets and threatening to spread to the broader economy. All of that terrifies the stock market, where the jittery Dow Jones average plummeted a sickening 387 points Thursday on credit worries.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. Predatory lenders and ignorant borrowers share much of it, but they will always be with us. A more pertinent question is where were the regulators who are supposed to curb excesses and protect consumers?

The answer is, mostly looking on and doing nothing.

read more HERE

By ALICIA CHANG
The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Summer’s annual meteor shower promises to put on a dazzling show when it peaks this weekend - provided you’re far from city lights. With no moon in sight to interfere with the Perseid meteor shower, skygazers can expect to spot streaking fireballs late Sunday into dawn Monday regardless of time zone. Astronomers estimate as many as 60 meteors per hour could flit across the sky at the shower’s peak.

This year’s sky show comes with an added bonus: Mars will be visible as a bright red dot in the northeastern sky.

“We have front-row seats this year,” said Kelly Beatty, executive editor of Sky & Telescope magazine.

Last year’s Perseid shower was somewhat of a dud because the moon’s glare washed out many of the faint meteors. This weekend’s meteor shower coincides with a new moon, which means the skies will be dark and perfect for viewing meteors.

from USA TODAY
and The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - Authorities were taking extra counterterrorism precautions Friday in response to what they said was an unsubstantiated radiological threat to the city.

Officials said they had not changed the city’s terror alert status in response to online chatter mentioning a truck packed with radioactive material. But police deployed extra radiological sensors on street, water and air patrols, and were stopping vehicles at checkpoints in lower Manhattan and around the city.

Deputy Police Commissioner Paul J. Browne called the measures “strictly precautionary.” He said the online posts were made following a video released Sunday that featured an American member of al-Qaeda threatening foreign diplomats and embassies across the Islamic world.

“We are closely monitoring the situation,” said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke. “There continues to be no credible information telling us that there’s a threat to the homeland at this time.”

The FBI also said there was no credible threat.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the police measures were nothing out of the ordinary.

“These actions are like those that the NYPD takes every day - precautions against potential but unconfirmed threats that may never materialize,” he said in a statement.

by Jane Mayer
The New Yorker

A rare look inside the C.I.A.’s secret interrogation program.

In March, Mariane Pearl, the widow of the murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, received a phone call from Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General. At the time, Gonzales’s role in the controversial dismissal of eight United States Attorneys had just been exposed, and the story was becoming a scandal in Washington. Gonzales informed Pearl that the Justice Department was about to announce some good news: a terrorist in U.S. custody-Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Al Qaeda leader who was the primary architect of the September 11th attacks-had confessed to killing her husband. (Pearl was abducted and beheaded five and a half years ago in Pakistan, by unidentified Islamic militants.) The Administration planned to release a transcript in which Mohammed boasted, “I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head.”

Pearl was taken aback. In 2003, she had received a call from Condoleezza Rice, who was then President Bush’s national’security adviser, informing her of the same news. But Rice’s revelation had been secret. Gonzales’s announcement seemed like a publicity stunt. Pearl asked him if he had proof that Mohammed’s confession was truthful; Gonzales claimed to have corroborating evidence but wouldn-t share it. “It’s not enough for officials to call me and say they believe it,” Pearl said. “You need evidence.” (Gonzales did not respond to requests for comment.)

read more HERE

United Press International

Let’s get some research going on a way to harness this power, if possible. - JS

TALLAHASSEE , Fla., Aug. 11 (UPI) — Seawater rushing through an underwater mountain range in the Atlantic is generating record turbulence levels, U.S. and French researchers said.

The turbulence in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge packs an energy wallop equal to about 5 million watts, comparable to a small nuclear reactor, lead author Louis St. Laurent of Florida State University said in the journal Nature.

The report said the turbulence — located about one mile below the surface, roughly halfway between New York and Portugal — is generating much of the mixing of warm and cold water in the Atlantic Ocean.

St. Laurent said the mixing produces the overall balance of water temperatures that helps control the strength of the Gulf Stream.

“We are aware that the climate is warming, but we don-t yet fully understand how the changes will affect society,” he said. “Our work will result in better models for predicting how the ocean will affect the climate in the future and a better understanding of sea-level rise, weather patterns such as El Nino, and the impact of these events on fisheries.”

By MARTIGA LOHN
The Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS - Divers removed another body from the wreckage of a freeway bridge Friday, while the federal transportation secretary offered $50 million to help with recovery and rebuilding.

The known death toll from last week’s collapse reached eight when Navy divers found a body about noon.

The body belonged to Sadiya Sahal, 23, of St. Paul. A body found Thursday was identified as her 2-year-old daughter, Hanah Sahal. Both had been on the list of missing.

Those identifications reduce the list of known missing and presumed dead to five. The medical examiner had initially said remains found Thursday might have belonged to two people, but later clarified that one set of remains was recovered Thursday and another on Friday.

During her visit, Secretary Mary Peters stood near a fallen section of the bridge cluttered by wrecked cars as she announced the latest emergency aid. The funds are an advance on $250 million approved by Congress but not yet appropriated.

The money comes on top of $5 million in federal emergency aid pledged right after the Aug. 1 bridge collapse and $5 million to help the public transit system handle the loss of the heavily traveled span.

read more HERE

Here are the latest standings for Major League Baseball.

National League

Eastern Division

The New York Mets are in first place 3 games ahead of 2nd place Philadelphia

Central Division

The Milwaukee Brewers are in first place .5 games head of 2nd place Chicago Cubs

Western Division

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in first place 2.5 games ahead of 2nd placeSan Diego

American League

Eastern Division

The Boston Red Sox are in first place 5 games ahead of 2nd place New York Yankees

Central Division

The Cleveland Indians are in first place 1.5 games ahead of 2nd place Detroit

Western Division

The Los Angeles Angels are in first place 3 games ahead of 2nd place Seattle