March 21, 2008

Just like censoring the dead in Iraq, the REIC-ad-supported US MSM refuses to report the ugly truth about the US housing crash. So here's the BBC.



Tent cities in America.

Coming to a foreclosure city near you.

26 comments:

BradSRQ said...

A man takes a BBC reporter by the house he is losing to foreclosure. I guess the BBC reporter didn't think it was important to ask him about his $35,000 truck - probably purchased using a home equity loan.

Anonymous said...

You need to research things a little better, Keith. This camp has been well-reported in the L.A. area and it has nothing to do with foreclosures. It was a camp set aside by the city of Ontario for people that are homelss for any number of the usual reasons (drugs, alcohol, mental illness, etc), just as the cities of L.A., Santa Monica, and San Francisco do, the main difference being that Ontario allowed them to pitch tents in the park.

Anonymous said...

Typical Brit media hyperbole. The unfortunate souls in that camp face a joblessness problem, not a foreclosure problem. If they had incomes, they would be renting. Let's not blow things out of proportion, Keith.

blogger said...

I assume this is the same tent city that we saw back in january?

http://housingpanic.blogspot.com/2008/01/hey-brother-can-you-do-me-110-loan-to.html

Anonymous said...

This report is total S#$t, this is well reported and already recognized as a homeless camp prior to the mortgage crisis even taking hold. Your firs instict should have been to Qualify the source, it is the BBC from cripes sake.

Anonymous said...

If people don't have a rainy day fund, and circumstances are such that they lose their jobs, many people could end up in this kind of situation.

An aunt of a good friend of mine lives in a tiny, dumpy trailor park in a commercial area along the estuary in Oakland, ca. It's not nice at all... she's there because she's old and broke.

I was shocked when I heard the news. I met this woman back in the mid 70's and you would never think she would end up in this situation.

Who knows? We might see something similar to this L.A tent city, right here in the bay area. When companies start laying off workers in droves, some homeowners will go BK and may run out of options.

Never say never.

Anonymous said...

That may be an old story, but it's relevant to the times today. As our economy slips deeper into the abyss when thousands began to lose their source of income, many who sit comfortably at the moment will be finding themselves in these horrible conditions.

Rob R. said...

Even if such camps were really due to the housing crash . . . CNN aired a similar segment this week.

Anonymous said...

Once this problem starts occurring in greater numbers (and it will) for higher income earning people, we'll start seeing some real problems that FOX news and the rest of the glitzy media channels can no longer ignore.

Anonymous said...

You are correct.

Too many people are very niave and still believe these problems happen to "somebody else".

Welcome to GWB's new world economy.

Anonymous said...
If people don't have a rainy day fund, and circumstances are such that they lose their jobs, many people could end up in this kind of situation.

An aunt of a good friend of mine lives in a tiny, dumpy trailor park in a commercial area along the estuary in Oakland, ca. It's not nice at all... she's there because she's old and broke.

I was shocked when I heard the news. I met this woman back in the mid 70's and you would never think she would end up in this situation.

Who knows? We might see something similar to this L.A tent city, right here in the bay area. When companies start laying off workers in droves, some homeowners will go BK and may run out of options.

Never say never.

Anonymous said...

Wow, there are homeless people in America? That's a shocker.

Anonymous said...

The British have their own housing bubble to worry about...and who's going to help them? The ever-increasing Muslim / "Asian" (translate: Pakistani, Indian, etc.) / West Indies hordes?

They have tons of problems.

Anonymous said...

F*ck China? China saved your F*ck Asshole? F*ck you and everyone in your home!

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, people are too stupid and/or callous to see that homelessness is a direct result of a debased currency. When wages lose ground to rises in the cost of living due to rampant and under-reported inflation there is a squeeze on every one of us - just like excessive taxation.

So all you yuppies that are saying "oh big deal, that has nothing to do with me they're just all drunks and nutjobs" you too are being squeezed and losing your standard of living by the surreptitious effects of inflation.

Frank R said...

The new Scottsdale?

Anonymous said...

To the person with the Aunt in Oakland:

She should apply for a Section 8 Hud housing voucher. In California, there will be a long waiting list, but in some places in the USA, the wait is negligible, maybe a month or two at most (e.g. rural counties in NW Arkansas, probably a lot of other places as well)

After one year, the voucher becomes "portable" so she could move back to California if she wanted to. She should probably apply now, as their could be a flood of people applying six months from now, if the job market goes to pot and a lot of older people end up taking involuntary early retirement.

The size of the voucher varies according to the housing costs of the city you live in, so she could eventually use her voucher to move into the swankiest part of San Francisco if she wanted to. A lot of older people refuse to talk to HUD about their housing problems, because they think that "government housing" = "a housing project in the slums"

Maybe you could help your aunt with the research and the paperwork.

The long waiting list for housing help may explain why people in California are living in a tent city instead of in apartments. Somebody should go over there and tell them to move out of California to some place where even a crummy job can get you a reasonable place to live.

Anonymous said...

I do not believe BBC or any other news organization outside of the U.S. They always want to make America look bad, they all hate what we stand for (freedom, democracy, individual rights, etc...). These people are probably a handful of folks camping out. Most people are fine, thank you very much. We need to organize a boycott of BBC and all other European news organizations. If things were really this bad, then the main stream media like CNN, USA TODAY, Fox News, Chicago Tribune, etc... would have reported this.

Anonymous said...

At least BBC exposed the almighty USA for what really is: A HUGE LIE AND FAILURE!

Thanks to BBC, the rest of the developed word can see that the US is far from being a superpower. USA IS A HUMONGOUS FAILURE!

Now I'll be sending that Detroit ghetto Youtube video to BBC, so they can expose it to the rest of the world. America has become a joke in the developed world. Enjoy, you voted for, TWICE.

Anonymous said...

As long as it's not *our* problem
everything is *a-o-ok" ... right?

~~~

mairca izda debol said...
Wow, there are homeless people in America? That's a shocker.

Anonymous said...

I would bet that these people were living in tents before the REIC started lending to anyone and everyone.

Anonymous said...

::We might see something similar to this L.A tent city, right here in the bay area.

From what I've heard, car living in the Bay Area is quite common, esp for secretaries and food servers who can't afford the SF rent but need to be close, since commuting from Sacramento isn't time effective.

Anonymous said...

"The ever-increasing Muslim / "Asian" (translate: Pakistani, Indian, etc.)"

Here's a tidbit from the UK (and OZ), the Chinese, Koreans, and other east Asian nationals there hate having Indians & Pakis called "Asians". They consider them to be in a cluster with Yemeni and Sudanese Arabs than in an Asian category. So don't think racism is just among whites; it's global in perspective and very much oriented around skin color gradiations, just ask any darker toned Georgian about his status in the USSR.

Anonymous said...

Oh come on. This is a homeless site we saw way back, nothing to do with the bubble. These people are the rent poor. They need an education and books before owning a home. Keith, you seem to asking for more opinion lately than bringing fact. Fun travels?

Anonymous said...

This was sloppy reporting on the behalf of the bbc.
This is a well known story for us who live in the LA area, it has been reported multiple times on local tv and in the LA Times.
The majority of those people have drug and alcahol problems.
The city of Ontario lets them camp out in the park by the airport, though this week they started to screen people, they are giving wristbands to people who can prove they have lived in the city of Ontario, because the homeless from all over LA were migrating there, and overwellming the resources.
The majority of people who lose their homes will be in better financial shape, lower rent vs mortgage, no property taxes, special assesments, or maintenance, they wont be homeless.
Most homeless are hooked on drugs or have mental disabilities, there are a few who perhaps lost a job thats hard to replace, or medical bills that overwhelmed their finances, but they are the minority.
I believe this housing meltdown may possibley lead to tent citys again like during the great depression, but for that to happen we will need a major downturn in the employment numbers, which may or may not happen
I dont know if this report was done because of anti American bias, or just sloppy work, but this is my backyard, and things arent that bad, at least not yet.

Anonymous said...

The thing that makes HP great is because the facts have been supporting people who said this was going to happen long before it did, however this is not a factual report, the BBC is trying to paint the US in the worst possible light using a well known homeless camp in Ontario California, it has nothing to do with the mortgage problem, it has more to do with the homeless problem.
Every country and every city has this problem, the only thing that differs is how they deal with it, some have indoor shelters, some have the police chase them away, and someplaces like my town San Diego, lets them sleep in the downtown parks.
We have the same problem here, the mild weather and lax attitude, along with the fact that local charities and collage kids hand out food to the transients, has attracted homeless from all over the country, and from dealing with them I can say most are on drugs, alcohol, or have mental problems.
The UK has the same problems with the roma's aka gypsies, although they choose to be homeless.
When I was on vacation in England, a group of roma's took over the local race track with their trailers, and the locals werent very happy about it, I found out it was very common for the gypsies to take over any open fields like tracks, or school soccer fields which causes a lot of friction between them.
I like the BBC, and read their news online, however this was not news it was tabaloid reporting, I dont think it was vetted properly.

Anonymous said...

Nick said (by the way, Nick is NOT in denial);

"I do not believe BBC or any other news organization outside of the U.S. They always want to make America look bad, they all hate what we stand for (freedom, democracy, individual rights, etc...)"

Gee Nick, you sound like a friggin' genius, idiot. You are in complete denial like the schmuck you are. Make America look bad? You think the friggin' BBC NEEDS to MAKE America LOOK BAD?

You know, the people in this video are actually classically trained British actors portraying homeless Americans. You are right Nick, the BBC tries to make America look bad. Had you assholes fooled!