the "Headline That Caught My Attention or the WTF" thread

While many of you had your undies tied in knots about a single can of WATER, I mean Bud Light, THIS got announced with nary a whisper from you...

How the US is subsidizing high-risk homebuyers — at the cost of those with good credit

A little-noticed revamp of federal rules on mortgage fees will offer discounted rates for home buyers with riskier credit backgrounds — and force higher-credit homebuyers to foot the bill, The Post has learned.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will enact changes to fees known as loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs) on May 1 that will affect mortgages originating at private banks nationwide, from Wells Fargo to JPMorgan Chase, effectively tweaking interest rates paid by the vast majority of homebuyers.

The result, according to industry pros: pricier monthly mortgage payments for most homebuyers — an ugly surprise for those who worked for years to build their credit, only to face higher costs than they expected as part of a housing affordability push by the US Federal Housing Finance Agency.

“It’s going to be a challenge trying to explain to somebody that says, ‘I worked my whole life for high credit and I’ve put a lot of money down and you’re telling me that’s a negative now?’ That’s a hard conversation to have,” one worried Arizona-based mortgage loan originator told The Post.

“It’s unprecedented,” added David Stevens, who served as Federal Housing Administration commissioner during the Obama administration. “My email is full from mortgage companies and CEOs [telling] me how unbelievably shocked they are by this move.”

The tweaks could further complicate the strenuous mortgage application process and add more pressure on a core segment of buyers in a housing market already in the midst of a major downturn, the experts added. The average 30-year mortgage rate is hovering at 6.27% as of last week — up from about 5% one year ago and more than twice as high as it was two years ago, according to Freddie Mac data.

Under the new rules, high-credit buyers with scores ranging from 680 to above 780 will see a spike in their mortgage costs – with applicants who place 15% to 20% down payment experiencing the biggest increase in fees.

“This was a blatant and significant cut of fees for their highest-risk borrowers and a clear increase in much better credit quality buyers – which just clarified to the world that this move was a pretty significant cross-subsidy pricing change,” added Stevens, who is also the former CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

LLPAs are upfront fees based on factors such as a borrower’s credit score and the size of their down payment. The fees are typically converted into percentage points that alter the buyer’s mortgage rate.

Under the revised LLPA pricing structure, a home buyer with a 740 FICO credit score and a 15% to 20% down payment will face a 1% surcharge – an increase of 0.750% compared to the old fee of just 0.250%.

When absorbed into a long-term mortgage rate, the increase is the equivalent of slightly less than a quarter percentage point in mortgage rate. On a $400,000 loan with a 6% mortgage rate, that buyer could expect their monthly payment to rise by about $40, according to calculations by Stevens.

Meanwhile, buyers with credit scores of 679 or lower will have their fees slashed, resulting in more favorable mortgage rates. For example, a buyer with a 620 FICO credit score with a down payment of 5% or less gets a 1.75% fee discount – a decrease from the old fee rate of 3.50% for that bracket.

When absorbed into the long-term mortgage rate, that equates to a 0.4% to 0.5% discount.

The FHFA-ordered overhaul of LLPAs affects purchase loans, limited cash-out refinances and cash-out refinance loans.

The revamped pricing matrix also includes the controversial addition of a new charge for buyers with debt-to-income ratios above 40% — a convoluted measure that drew immediate pushback from the Mortgage Bankers Association and other industry groups who warned it would be difficult to implement.

After the pushback, FHFA announced last month it would delay the rollout of the debt-to-income fee until at least Aug. 1 — a move it said would “ensure a level playing field for all lenders to have sufficient time to deploy the fee.”

The LLPA fee changes are still slated to take effect on May 1.

Last year, the FHFA eliminated upfront fees for first-time buyers who are at or below 100% of their area’s median income, or 120% in areas that are identified as “high cost.” The agency also raised upfront fees on second homes and some larger mortgage loans.

“The timing of this is troubling,” Pete Mills, senior vice president of residential policy at the MBA, told The Post. “As we start to hit the spring home buying season, home purchases are demonstrably impacted by the rate increases over the past year. The timing of this is not ideal.”

“Most borrowers” are likely to see a modest price increase as a result of the fee changes, according to Mills.

Asked about concerns that the changes will hurt high-credit buyers, an FHFA official told The Post the agency was “tasked with ensuring [Fannie and Freddie] fulfill their role in any market condition,” adding that shifts in long-term mortgage rates are a far bigger factor in determining finance conditions in the US housing market.

“The latest recalibration to the pricing framework that FHFA announced in January 2023 is minimal, by comparison, and maintains market stability,” the FHFA official said in a statement.

Fannie and Freddie are government-backed entities that buy up loans from mortgage lenders and either hold them as assets or resell them as mortgage-backed securities. Both have been in federal conservatorship since the housing market imploded during the Great Recession.

The two firms are bound by their charters to help improve access to affordable mortgage loans. They do this in part by using the “cross-subsidization” model, in which some borrowers are charged slightly more for loans while others are charged less.

Overall, lower-credit buyers will still pay more in LLPA fees than high-credit buyers – but the latest changes will close the gap.

The official said the LLPA changes will result in an average price hike of just three to four basis points, or 0.03% to 0.04%, across the spectrum of mortgage recipients – the equivalent of a few dollars per month.

The agency asserts the LLPA changes will help maintain financial health at Fannie and Freddie — a key element of its responsibility as conservator.

“These changes to upfront fees will strengthen the safety and soundness of the Enterprises by enhancing their ability to improve their capital position over time,” FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said in a statement earlier this year.
I knew about this
 

According to Politico, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with lawmakers privately Wednesday and said that troops would be moving to Djibouti, where Camp Lemmonier is located, to give the Biden administration options to launch an evacuation operation. "Sherman stressed that the mission would whisk only embassy staff to safety and that there won’t be a military-led general evacuation of American citizens," Politico reported.

Does this mean more US citizens will be left to die? Like Afghanistan?
 

According to Politico, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman met with lawmakers privately Wednesday and said that troops would be moving to Djibouti, where Camp Lemmonier is located, to give the Biden administration options to launch an evacuation operation. "Sherman stressed that the mission would whisk only embassy staff to safety and that there won’t be a military-led general evacuation of American citizens," Politico reported.

Does this mean more US citizens will be left to die? Like Afghanistan?
You bet your ass. We’ve been AT WAR for some time now (shhh it’s a secret). I’m sure the Saigon look is what there are aiming to top for a third time and might as well arm them too. Got to top the 177 still in Afghanistan that didn’t get decapitated (yet) the private sector is still trying to get out. Go Mark Milley!
Pathetic piece of shit can’t even defeat ghetto trash.
Oh and this is still a step above 9/11/2011 the bitch got us into. At least they plan to evac the embassy this time around and not pretend it a Peaceful Protest.
 
U.S.

SpaceX Starship rocket launch ends in midair explosion minutes after liftoff​

BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
UPDATED ON: APRIL 20, 2023 / 3:00 PM / CBS NEWS

JUST LIKE HIS (ELON MUSK) CARS...KABLOOEY! AND TWITTER!!! BOOOM!!
 
MoviesAnn HornadayMichael O'Sullivan

‘Rust’ charges dropped against Alec Baldwin, attorneys confirm​

The actor had been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after the fatal shooting on the set of ‘Rust’​

imrs.php

By Herb Scribner
Updated April 20, 2023 at 5:48 p.m. EDT|Published April 20, 2023 at 4:28 p.m. EDT

Charges against actor Alec Baldwin have been dropped for the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust,” Baldwin’s attorneys said Thursday.
“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement.


Baldwin was handling a prop gun on the set of “Rust” in October 2021 when it discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding the film’s director, Joel Souza.
Baldwin and the “Rust” set’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were charged with involuntary manslaughter in January for their alleged role in the fatal shooting of Hutchins. Both pleaded not guilty.

It was not made immediately clear if charges against Gutierrez-Reed would be dropped. But her attorneys said they “fully expect” for her to be exonerated.
 
Wow!






When one signs up to be an organ donor, it's expected that lives will be saved after the biological parts are removed. However, on a snowy mountain pass in Colorado, one such donor saved a life before even arriving on the surgical table, likely saving the life of the hearse driver who was transporting the body.

In a Jan. 29 crash only now coming to light via CBS News, a hearse operated by Hubbard and Son mortuary of Grand Junction, Colo. was carrying the body of an unidentified organ donor eastbound along Interstate 70. The incident took place on around 3 a.m. in the midst of a snowstorm. The hearse driver told Colorado state troopers that as he was making the steep climb near the Eisenhower Tunnel, which crosses the Continental Divide at the highest point in the U.S. Interstate system, a red Dodge Durango driving erratically forced him to switch lanes.

That's when the hearse driver lost control of his vehicle, sending it toward the edge of a sharp drop-off. The hearse came to rest with the front half dangling over the precipice. The driver says the car was teetering, but he was able to get out of the car and onto the roadside. He credits the weight of the body in the cargo area with preventing the hearse from nosediving over the cliff, "Harold and Maude"-style.
https://www.autoblog.com/cars-for-sale/make1-Volvo/model1-XC90
 

Six Cattle Found Dead in Texas With Their Tongues Missing

There was no evidence of a struggle, footprints or tire tracks where the animals were found, and the grass around the carcasses was undisturbed, the authorities said.

In what could be a plot from an episode of “The X-Files,” the authorities are investigating the mysterious deaths in three Texas counties of six cattle that were found with their tongues missing.

Ranchers found the mutilated remains of a 6-year-old longhorn-cross cow on their property, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook Wednesday.

The office did not say when the cow was discovered but said a “straight, clean cut, with apparent precision, had been made” to remove the hide around its mouth on one side.

The meat under the removed hide was untouched, and the cow’s tongue was gone with no blood spilled, the office said.

There were no signs of a struggle, footprints or tire tracks in the area, said the authorities, who added that the grass around the carcass was undisturbed.

“Ranchers also reported that no predators or birds would scavenge the remains of the cow, leaving it to decay untouched for several weeks,” the sheriff’s office said.

In its investigation in Madison County, which is about 100 miles southeast of Waco, the office said it had learned of five other similar cases that involved four adult cows and one yearling in Brazos and Robertson Counties.

Each of those cases was reported in different locations, pastures and herds.

Though the exact cause of death for the livestock is unknown, each of them was found the same way: on their sides, with the exposed part of their face cut along the jaw line and their tongues removed.

“On two of the five cows, a circular cut was made removing the anus and the external genitalia,” the office said. “This circular cut was made with the same precision as the cuts noted around the jaw lines of each cow.”

Similar deaths have been reported across the country, the authorities said, and the sheriff’s office said it was “coordinating with other agencies to find answers.”

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office did not return calls seeking comment on Saturday.

The latest cases recalled livestock mutilations, including ones in the 1970s, that instilled fear among ranchers across the country.

At least 11 states, including California, Montana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, reported finding dead livestock with their sex organs and tongues missing, The New York Times reported in 1975. At the time, nearly 200 cows, as well as a buffalo, a horse and a goat, were reported to have been found with parts of their carcasses removed.

The unexplained discoveries inspired a groundswell of theories, with some blaming the killings on satanic cultists who were said to use the organs for sacrifices, while others attributed the mutilations to U.F.O.s.

Because no tracks were ever found in the 1970s mystery, one official suggested that a helicopter might have been used in the middle of the night. The authorities encouraged the federal government to look into the killings, but the investigation was eventually closed after failing to turn up any evidence.

More recently in 2019, the authorities struggled to find answers to the discovery of at least five bulls that were found mutilated with their tongues missing in eastern Oregon, The Associated Press reported.
 
Too funny, at least Maine isn't the only state to be suffering from this. A great example about how stiff governmental restrictions on business really screws the pooch...

Lawmakers eye limits on growers to keep marijuana boom from going bust​

pressherald.com/2023/04/22/lawmakers-eye-limits-on-growers-to-keep-marijuana-boom-from-going-bust/

By Penelope Overton April 22, 2023

The price of recreational cannabis is falling so quickly in Maine that lawmakers are considering bills that would limit the industry’s rapid growth to try to prevent a collapse or protect smaller grow operations from being pushed out of the oversupplied market.

One bill would authorize the state to temporarily stop licensing new grow operations if the market looks like it is about to collapse. Another would reduce the maximum square footage of licensed grow sites in hopes of keeping larger industrial operators from pushing out small operators.

Legislative proposals​

• MORATORIUM: A bill would allow the state to stop licensing new grow operations if the average price of cannabis falls 20% below last year’s average
• SIZE LIMITS: A bill meant to protect smaller growers limits the maximum size of a newly licensed operation to 7,000 square feet

Some growers want the state to step and stabilize the supply side of the flooded market before prices drop so low that a wave of growers go out of business as they have in other states, noting that closures hit harder in an industry that is not legally eligible for federal bankruptcy protections.

Maine’s marijuana farmers are drowning, Daniel Cellucci, co-owner of NorCo Cannabis in Warren, told lawmakers at one recent hearing.

“There is a massive hole sinking our ship. We must prioritize our problems and work through this together to get safely to shore,” he said.

But other growers say the state should not tinker with the free market forces that will weed out the weak businesses that try to grow too big or too fast or believed cannabis was an easy cash crop and didn’t do their basic market homework.

Cannabis consultant Derek Shirley calls them “Chads,” growers with more money than cannabis sense.
“Who forced these people to grow all these massive grows?” Shirley told lawmakers considering the bill at committee earlier this week. “This price drop was by design. … Not a damn person forced these people to grow large grows. This is a bailout, not a protection.”

The moratorium bill, L.D. 1391, would give the state the authority to stop issuing new adult use cultivation licenses or allowing expansions, either of which could increase the state’s overall cannabis supply, if the average price falls 20 percent below last year’s average or the volume grown over three months is three times greater than last year’s.

Under the terms of the bill, presented by Sen. Teresa Pierce, D-Falmouth, the Office of Cannabis Policy could suspend issuing new licenses for a period of no more than four months, or until the price or volume thresholds no longer apply, whichever occurs sooner.

A second bill, L.D. 1585, would effectively reduce the maximum size of a newly licensed medical or adult use grow operation to 7,000 square feet. It’s not yet clear whether existing large cultivators would be grandfathered or would be required to scale back.

The average price for a gram of adult-use flower, or bud, was $8.04 in March, state data shows. That is just a little more than half what customers paid for a gram in Maine in October 2020, when the market first opened. A gram is enough to roll two or three joints, depending on size.

A price drop is expected in the first year of a new market as sky-high launch prices come down to earth. Consumers benefit from the cheaper prices, but state officials now say that Maine is at the tipping point where some Maine growers aren’t making enough money to cover their expenses. Many small-scale medical marijuana growers already have dropped out of the industry.

It’s not that cannabis demand has weakened, said John Hudak, director of the state Office of Cannabis Policy – sales nearly doubled last year – but sales growth is not keeping pace with the increase in production, he said. Maine would need to cut 60 percent of what’s already being grown – not including what’s already been approved – to achieve market equilibrium.

Maine’s top cannabis regulator said that Maine is at a crossroads: intervene or watch some Mainers fail.
“(We) welcome the opportunity to examine what tools are necessary to prevent the collapse of the adult use cannabis economy due to overproduction of cannabis,” Hudak said.

OREGON AN EXAMPLE
Market gluts have toppled other state cannabis markets in as little as two financial quarters, Hudak told members of the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. Oregon’s see-saw market is a prime example, where supply is still twice as great as demand.

“Businesses failed because the state was not able to respond in an effective way,” Hudak told lawmakers. “It led to a lot of small businesses failing. It led to a lot of consolidation in the market. Larger companies bought up smaller ones that were struggling.”

No one spoke against the proposed size limits. The bill authorizing moratoriums does face opposition from smaller growers and others, who argued that it would protect large growers who already are licensed.

During a hearing this month on the moratorium bill, conservative committee members chafed at the idea of state intervention in the market despite Hudak’s reminder that marijuana is one of the least free markets in Maine, given all of the government rules and regulations that accompany the oversight of a crop that remains illegal under federal law.

“Don’t you think that the market will take care of itself based on the quality versus quantity?” asked Rep. Shelley Rudnicki, R-Fairfield. “Like any other market, if you have a better quality product, the people are going to go there for business, don’t you think?”

Operators of small and medium size cultivation sites have argued in favor of size limits over a moratorium bill. That is more likely to prevent the large-scale industrial businesses from gaining control of a consolidated market because they have the resources to outlast smaller operations, they said.

“We do not want to see a situation where only the largest out-of-state corporations survive when the bubble bursts,” said Rep. Bill Pluecker, the independent from Warren who sponsored the bill to limit the size of grow operations. “It would be a shame if we accidentally create a space that is dominated by larger corporations from away.”

BIG VERSUS SMALL
Brett Messer of Biddeford told lawmakers he supports an open and fair market, but that the regulations in place now give unfair advantages to the big operators.

“Large multistate companies can operate at a financial loss to outlast local competition,” said Messer, who was among the growers supporting the limit on square footage of grow sites at a hearing this week.

Some growers said it’s too late now to prevent oversaturation of the market.

The size limits “might be some short-term relief,” said Michael Wilson of Portland. “But I think in the longer term, I’m really skeptical it does want we want it to do. … The time to do it has passed.”

Failed grows are not only bad for those who own them, but it can be bad for Maine, too, because owners may feel compelled to continue their cultivation operation outside of the legal market – where product is not tested or taxed – to pay off the debts they have amassed, Hudak said.

But lawmakers don’t have to look abroad to see the dramatic impact of a marijuana glut, Hudak noted.

The number of caregivers, or small independent suppliers, licensed to sell medical cannabis has decreased by about a third since 2021, from 3,032 to 2,070 in March, state data show. That took a toll on the number of jobs they supported, too. In 2021, Maine documented 5,741 caregiver assistants; in March, that number fell to 4,146.

The reason they left says it all, Hudak said. In a survey, most told the state they couldn’t pay their bills.
 

You mean to tell me that people who sell drugs are capable of evading the law? ?

Someone should investigate this to see if there's a possible link to the failure of the war on drugs. Who knows? It may even give us a clue to the mystery of why Prohibition didn't work.

Imagine what an epiphany it would be to solve a riddle that has baffled government officials for over a century!
 

You mean to tell me that people who sell drugs are capable of evading the law? ?

Someone should investigate this to see if there's a possible link to the failure of the war on drugs. Who knows? It may even give us a clue to the mystery of why Prohibition didn't work.

Imagine what an epiphany it would be to solve a riddle that has baffled government officials for over a century!
I’m so tired of smelling that dog shit. Can’t believe how many drive stoned during their drive to work. More liberal decline.
 
I’m so tired of smelling that dog shit. Can’t believe how many drive stoned during their drive to work. More liberal decline.

You know what? I can't stand it either. It stinks up my car on the Parkway from five cars ahead at 7:30 am because some selfish POS has such a $#itty life and job that they have to get high on the way to work, and put their fellow travelers at risk. Maybe lay off the hash and you'll be able to pee in a cup and get a better job and life.

What you do for recreation on your personal time IDC. I also don't care who touches what or who's as long as it's all consensual. It's your personal business. Keep it that way.

I'm not interested until it starts effecting others, and depending on the effect I still may not be interested. One of my neighbor's kids is a cancer survivor and I often smell their "medication." If that makes him feel better, I'll put up with a little aroma once in a while. The other neighbors who are just getting stoned, not so much.

Actually, if the government wants to help people, they should facilitate a better quality of herbal remedies so it doesn't stink like Pepe LeRoadkill.

But as far as I'm concerned, Legalize Everything. Legalize fentanyl for all I care. I'm all for the freedom to make your own pi$$-poor personal choices, no matter how detrimental to you they may be. As long as they're only detrimental to you and not some innocent. Have at it. We've lost the war on drugs and now we're spiraling into the sunk cost fallacy.

End it.
 
You know what? I can't stand it either. It stinks up my car on the Parkway from five cars ahead at 7:30 am because some selfish POS has such a $#itty life and job that they have to get high on the way to work, and put their fellow travelers at risk. Maybe lay off the hash and you'll be able to pee in a cup and get a better job and life.

What you do for recreation on your personal time IDC. I also don't care who touches what or who's as long as it's all consensual. It's your personal business. Keep it that way.

I'm not interested until it starts effecting others, and depending on the effect I still may not be interested. One of my neighbor's kids is a cancer survivor and I often smell their "medication." If that makes him feel better, I'll put up with a little aroma once in a while. The other neighbors who are just getting stoned, not so much.

Actually, if the government wants to help people, they should facilitate a better quality of herbal remedies so it doesn't stink like Pepe LeRoadkill.

But as far as I'm concerned, Legalize Everything. Legalize fentanyl for all I care. I'm all for the freedom to make your own pi$$-poor personal choices, no matter how detrimental to you they may be. As long as they're only detrimental to you and not some innocent. Have at it. We've lost the war on drugs and now we're spiraling into the sunk cost fallacy.

End it.
Guess the drinking and driving at 7:30 Am because someone has a shitty life is ok because you cant smell it?
 
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