Stranger buys foreclosed home, gives it back to owner

My husband and I were driving around town this past weekend, and couldn't help but notice two huge, wooden signs posted in front of two homes in different areas of the city. Both advertised upcoming home auctions. We were horrified by the size of the signs and talked about how we hoped the people had already moved out and didn't have to suffer through that added humiliation.

Then we mused aloud about how fun it would be - if we had the money - to buy a foreclosed house at an auction and hand it back to the owner.

Just like Texan Marilyn Mock apparently did for a total stranger at a home auction Saturday... probably around the time we were having our little 'Santa' fantasy.

(CNN) -- Tracy Orr sat in the back of the room and prepared to watch her foreclosed home go up for auction this past Saturday. That's when a pesky stranger sat down beside her and struck up a conversation.

"Are you here to buy a house?" Marilyn Mock said.

Orr couldn't hold it in. The tears flowed. She pointed to the auction brochure at a home that didn't have a picture. "That's my house," she said.

Within moments, the four-bedroom, two-bath home in Pottsboro, Texas, went up for sale. People up front began casting their bids. The home that Orr purchased in September 2004 was slipping away.

She stood and moved toward the crowd. Behind her, Mock got into the action.

"She didn't know I was doing it," Mock says. "I just kept asking her if [her home] was worth it, and she just kept crying. She probably thought I was crazy, 'Why does this woman keep asking me that?' "

Mock says she bought the home for about $30,000. That's when Mock did what most bidders at a foreclosure auction never do.

"She said, 'I did this for you. I'm doing this for you,' " Orr says. "When it was all done, I was just in shock."

I immediately fired off an email to my husband -- "Someone actually DID IT!"

The fact is... this is the sort of selflessness that used to (and I believe still does) define us as Americans. We are not the sum total of the bad apples among us. Every society has people who are afraid or who hate. And we are certainly not defined by the differences that some would drum up and emphasize to make us feel alienated from each other.

NO -- I have heard it said (and by a friend in Europe) that Americans are at their best when things are worst.

Why be so generous?

"She was just so sad. You put yourself in their situation and you realize you just got to do something," says Mock, who says she has trouble walking by homeless people on the street and not helping them out.

"If it was you, you'd want somebody to stop and help you."

This is who we really are.... or certainly who we can be, at our best.

Mock didn't have the means to buy the house 'no strings attached;' she put one of her business dump trucks up as collateral for the loan. What she provided wasn't a hand out, but a helping hand to a neighbor in need. Orr was able to stay in her home... and Mock made made a new fishing friend:

Mock says she's excited for another reason too. Orr's house is located near a Texas fishing hot-spot. "She says I can come up there and fish, and I love to fish!"

Orr, who nearly lost her home, says her newfound friend has "given me back faith and hope to keep going and hold my head up."

If we are in fact facing another depression (like the Great Depression that our parents and grandparents lived through,) we will undoubtedly find ourselves pulling together as communities and taking care of each other. Not charity... just neighborly compassion, as we all seek shelter in these troubled times.



Cross-posted on Daily Kos and ePluribus.

McCain's big Faux moment

This story is becoming Shakespearean in its grandiosity. Let me narrate as best I can.

A McCain campaign worker from Texas (in Pittsburgh) filed charges that she was attacked because she had a McCain sticker on her car -- and it appears that she also claimed this was done by an African American male.

Richard said the woman had described her alleged attacker as an African-American, 6 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build and short dark hair, wearing dark clothing and shiny shoes.

It seems the hapless woman carved a backwards 'B' on her face (using a mirror?) and gave herself a black eye; then told the police that she was attacked while using an ATM. Strangely, the ATM tape didn't show any attack, so the police grew suspicious. They gave her a polygraph test and lo -- she confessed that she made the entire story up.

Police say a campaign volunteer confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter B in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

At a news conference this afternoon, officials said they believe that Ashley Todd's injuries were self-inflicted.

Todd, 20, of Texas, is now facing charges for filing a false report to police.

But...

Not before the story ran in all its dubious glory on the Drudge Report.

And not before McCain's Communications Director in PA gave reporters a very incendiary version of what is now known as the "Carved B" story:

MCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts of the case were known or established -- and even told reporters outright that the "B" carved into the victim's cheek stood for "Barack," according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

And not before Faux News blared the story -- all day -- sputtering their outrage and citing this as the death knell for the Obama campaign; even prompting the station's executive vice president, John Moody, to write:

It had to happen.

Less than two weeks before we vote for a new president, a white woman says a black man attacked her, then scarred her face, and says there was a political motive for it.

Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old white volunteer for John McCain’s presidential campaign, says she was mugged at an ATM machine in Pittsburgh (my hometown) by a big black man. She further says he threw her down, then disfigured her by carving the letter "B" into her face with a sharp implement when he saw that she supported McCain, not Barack Obama.

Part of the appeal of, and the unspoken tension behind, Senator Obama’s campaign is his transformational status as the first African-American to win a major party’s presidential nomination.

That does not mean that he has erased the mutual distrust between black and white Americans, and this incident could become a watershed event in the 11 days before the election.

If Ms. Todd’s allegations are proven accurate, some voters may revisit their support for Senator Obama, not because they are racists (with due respect to Rep. John Murtha), but because they suddenly feel they do not know enough about the Democratic nominee.

If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain’s quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting.

I am waiting excitedly for word that Moody, and in fact all of Faux News, has now endorsed Barack Obama for president. Obviously Mr. Moody is correct, and Senator McCain's campaign is now over - dead and buried. I'm sure they will announce their endorsement soon.

In other news... former McCain campaign advisor Charles Fried announced today that he has voted early, casting his vote for... Barack Obama.

And look at this new national map! Indiana is blue blue BLUE!!



UPDATE: Best Ashley Todd joke, courtesy of Bill Maher:

"McCain called her to offer his support, Palin called her to offer her support, and Karl Rove called to say 'You dumbass, you got the B backwards.' Of course the police knew she was lying all along, because she told this outlandish story about getting money out of a bank."

Still more video footage from St. Paul

After reading about the Texas beach front land grab, and watching yet another video of stormtroopers in black body armor bullying bystanders in a park... well its kind of ridiculous, but I can't seem to get a song out of my head. (Didn't we used to sing this when we were little kids?)

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

I looked up the lyrics of the song and discovered something I didn't even know... it was written by Woody Guthrie!

And here is the rest of it; the part we didn't sing in kindergarten:

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
words and music by Woody Guthrie

Chorus:
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

Chorus

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Chorus

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.

Chorus (2x)

Guess Woody tried to warn us -- but his song was censured.

Let me get this straight

The citizen-loving state of Texas can apparently 'claim' any person's beach front property if a hurricane like Ike comes ashore moving the sea moves in a little closer than it was before - The Texas Open Beaches Act allows this, whether the house was destroyed by the storm or not. The state also doesn't have to give this everyday American taxpayer a single dime for the property they claim. Its just gone. Poof.

Oh, and a stern finger in the face:

"Every one of them was warned of that in their earnest money contract, in the deed they received, in the title policy they bought," he said. "And whether you like it or not, neither the Constitution of the United States nor the state of Texas nor any law permits you to have a structure on state-owned property that's subject to the flow of the tide."

No doubt this ruling also affects those storm-damaged oil rigs out in the Gulf? Aren't they also subject to the flow of the tide? Different set of rules? Oh, I see... they aren't on the beach. Yet.

Imagine for a moment that this same beach front land wasn't owned by an ordinary citizen, but was instead owned by... AIG, or by Fanny Mae, or by Freddy Mac, or by the Lehman Brothers. The government would - of course - rebuild their offices if they could be rebuilt; and if not, would pay them whatever the property was worth before the storm.

One disaster is not like any other... it's all about who is affected by it.

Because of course - this really isn't about 'public beaches' at all. Texas probably intends to replace these homes with luxurious resort hotels. I'm sure investors are lining up, as they were after Katrina... and after the 2004 Tsumani. It may take a few years, but let's watch what actually happens to that land Texas plans to claim.

And the best part of all, is that whatever the State of Texas decides to do... they can use those former-beachfront-dwellers' tax money to pay for it.

Devastation and missing people

It was just reported on CNN that search and rescue operations are underway for an estimated 100,000 people who refused to evacuate in the path of Ike.

100,000 people? No way. Really? After seeing the aftermath of Katrina only 3 years ago? After hearing (undoubtedly) local history about the 6000 who died in Galveston, Texas in 1900?

100,000 actually refused to leave? Or were they perhaps unable to leave (for various reasons like ill health, lack of transportation, lack of housing, lack of information, lack of trust?)

Why is it that this never happens in Cuba; a country that is hammered by hurricanes (at full strength) nearly every year? Ike is really the first storm that has resulted in hurricane deaths - in Cuba - in decades. They lost under 10 people, which is remarkable considering how hard they were hit by the storm, and that it plowed right through Havana.

Cubans evacuate their people. I doubt they offer them an option. They do however make evacuation palatable... they bring their animals, livestock, provide transportation, food and housing. And their houses are protected until their return.

Are we doing that? Are we sure we are doing that? Or are we simply assuming that because our government says we are doing that... that they are making good on their word?

Because I just can't imagine why else 100,000 people would simply refuse to leave ahead of a monster like Ike. Almost every American has a television. Was it the label 'Cat 2' that caused them think this was just a ho hum, tropical storm? Or were they somehow more afraid of our government, of looters (that 'danger' everyone is always trumpeting,) or more worried about their 'stuff' than of the storm itself?

What went wrong this time?

Because if Cuba can get this right - an island nation with continual hurricane issues - surely we can eventually learn to get people out of harms way.

Galveston has seen this before

The 1900 Galveston Hurricane



I turned on the Weather Channel and was worried to see that waves were already crashing over the 'wall' that protects Galveston from the sea; Ike is still hours from making landfall, but it appears it will make a direct hit on the low-lying, seafront city.

Texas government officials are already warning those around Galveston Bay that they are facing 'certain death' if they refuse to evacuate; dire warnings that haven't been heard since Katrina made landfall in 2005.

Ike is HUGE.

From looking at this satellite photo, I can see bands already over New Orleans. I can't imagine that this monster - as large as it is - won't affect Louisiana as well. No one is talking about it, but I sure hope the people living West of New Orleans and in the Southern parishes move inland.

Of hurricanes, humans and 'having a good heart'

I was nosing around for information - recent updates - on the course of Hurricane Ike, when I came across a Canadian story followed by comments. One of the comments actually mentioned that the hurricane appears to be headed towards the Bush ranch in Crawford, and something about 'going out to buy champagne later.'

That bothered me. I recalled that I had posted something about Hurricane Ike heading towards Washington D.C., but I had only meant it as a metaphor. This is a real storm with a real path of destruction. That is an entirely different story.

As anyone who has read this blog can see, I am no fan of Bush policies. I have been very angry at times; many of us are angry. But I have a line I will not cross. I will never wish anyone ill.

Every spiritual leader that I've admired in my life - every one - was able to reach beyond themselves and wish the best to those around them; even when those around them wished them ill or persecuted them. Tibetan monks who languished for years in Chinese prisons apparently spent their time praying for their captors. The Dalai Lama himself prays for the leaders of the Chinese government, hoping always that they will have a change of heart.

And of course, Abraham Lincoln planned to rebuild the South after the Civil War; not loot it. Had he lived, the aftermath would have been much, much different.

I believe that there is very strong power for good in this attitude and action: but it takes reaching beyond the easy gut response. I also believe that the only way we are going to survive as a species and live in a peaceful world, is by growing spiritually. This has nothing to do with religion. This is all about being our best selves; being compassionate and returning every negative with a positive. I fall short much of the time, but I am still trying to reach for that high road. Here is my chance.

I can't change what others do and think, but I can change myself. I would like to be more like those Tibetan monks... and I see this as an opportunity to get a little closer to this goal. This is my opportunity to learn from those who surpass me spiritually, and I don't intend to let it pass me by.

I will be wishing only the best to all of Texas. I will be hoping that no harm will come to Bush's ranch in Crawford. Perhaps if I wish this hard enough, his ranch will not only escape damage, but a little good energy will go out into the world.

It is certainly worth a try.

Oh - I almost forgot - Jesus himself said "pray for those who persecute you." How odd that I forgot the Christian example. Perhaps because it is so seldom quoted these days...