lassie kung fu

Golden eagle catches deer

Hacking a dead laptop battery

Mentos and Carlsberg = bad combination

Medical Cannibus Ken White: What to do if you are confronted by the cops

San Diego Foreclosures up 551% from last year

Home foreclosures in San Diego County continued a troublesome climb into record territory in June, but analysts say the number has yet to reach a threshold that creates a drag on real estate prices or the economy.

DataQuick Information Systems reported yesterday that during the first half of 2007, San Diego County had 2,896 foreclosures compared with 445 during the first half of 2006, a 551 percent increase.

That sets a record dating to 1988, when DataQuick began tracking foreclosures, researcher John Karevoll said. “A steadily increasing portion of those who get notices of default now are being foreclosed on.”

From May to June, county foreclosures increased from 532 to 657, a 24 percent increase and a record for any month since 1988.

County notices of default, the first step in the foreclosure process that occurs when homeowners begin missing mortgage payments, totaled 8,314 for the first six months of 2007, compared with 3,311 in the same period last year, a 151 percent increase. From May to June of this year, default notices rose from 1,441 to 1,596, an 11 percent increase.

Although foreclosures are spiking, there is no reason for homeowners to panic, Karevoll said.


“California is better off than the nation, and San Diego County is better off than California,” he said. “It still is not a major factor in the real estate market, but if there is a recession, it could become a huge factor.”

Economist Mark Schniepp of the California Economic Forecast agreed that the county is faring well compared with many areas.

“San Diego will be hit hard, but not nearly as hard as Riverside and Sacramento,” he said. “Those areas had significantly more new houses going in, and the foreclosure problem is largely associated with new housing production at the affordable end.”

Agents who sell real-estate-owned homes say they're moving at a pace that hasn't been seen since the real estate recession of the mid-1990s. With no one paying the mortgage, lenders are eager to sell foreclosure homes, said David Cabot, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors. Experts say there are deals but few steals, however.

Banks “don't want to give it away,” said San Diego agent and real-estate-owned specialist Marc Carpenter.

In San Diego County, neighborhoods having some of the region's most affordable housing were hardest hit by foreclosures in the first half of the year, DataQuick reported. The 91913 ZIP code, which includes much of Eastlake and Otay Ranch, ranked highest among areas with 1,000 or more dwellings. The rate there was nearly 12 foreclosures per 1,000 homes. Other areas with high foreclosure rates included southeast Chula Vista, San Ysidro, Spring Valley and City Heights.

Statewide, midyear default-notice figures were at their highest in more than a decade. DataQuick attributed it to “flat or falling prices, anemic sales and a market struggling with the excesses of the 2004-2005 home buying frenzy.”

Across California, foreclosures hit 28,440 at midyear, compared with 3,159 in the first half of 2006, an 800 percent increase. In June, there were 6,861 foreclosures statewide, compared with 5,273 in May, an increase of 30 percent.

Lenders statewide had filed 100,703 notices of default at midyear, up 153 percent from 39,765 for the first half of 2006. Particularly hard hit was neighboring Riverside County, where notices during the second quarter were up by nearly 191 percent. In June, there were 19,834 default notices statewide, a rise of nearly 12 percent from 17,751 in May.

University of San Diego economist Alan Gin said a recession could make the foreclosure problem much worse, but he said there is less than a 50 percent chance that one will occur. While foreclosures are “still a small part of market,” the spike in defaults is worrisome, he said.

“There is no sign that they are on the verge of turning around,” Gin said. “It could take awhile for this thing to shake out.”

San Diego County's home prices remain relatively stable. Last month's median price for all homes, including condominiums, was $495,500, down nearly 2 percent from a year earlier but up $3,500 compared with May, DataQuick reported. Sales activity was down nearly 23 percent last month compared with June 2006.

Too much risk
Gin said lenders had been too willing to make risky loans during the housing boom, but some analysts say buyers must accept responsibility for overextending themselves.

Ryan Grothe thought he was making the right decision when he moved his family into a two-bedroom condo he purchased in Rancho Peñasquitos in late 2005. Their one-bedroom apartment had become cramped, and he wanted a roomier place for their daughter, now 2 years old.

A year and a half after moving into their new home, the Grothes are renting again, unable to make the nearly $3,000 monthly payment on their $370,000 loan and are facing foreclosure.

Also saddled with two car payments and his wife's student loan, Grothe worried that he would have a tough time finding a place to rent as his credit rating worsened. He works as a security officer at two jobs, and his wife is a registered nurse.

“The lenders told us if we didn't do something, our place would go into foreclosure,” said Grothe, who is hoping to sell the condo, but for far less than the purchase price. “We had called both lenders trying to refinance and they said, 'No, the property values are going down and you'd have to fork over money in advance to refinance.'

“I'm upset; I'm really disgusted with everyone involved in selling us this place,” he said. “We told them that we couldn't afford this, that we would need to refinance, we're starting to fall behind, and it just amazes me that they help you get into these places and when you need help, they run the other way.”

As more borrowers find themselves in trouble, they're turning to nonprofit agencies such as Community HousingWorks, which works with strapped homeowners to set up repayment plans.

“We get people who are days away from losing their home, all the way to people who are 30, 60 days late on their loan, and we're even getting folks wanting to get ahead of an adjustment on their payments,” said Gabe del Rio, vice president for lending and homeownership for the agency.

'Time bombs'
Economist Schniepp sees a strong link between foreclosures and the recent meltdown of the subprime lending market. Weak underwriting standards and the heavy reliance on adjustable loans with low “teaser” interest rates put borrowers and lenders on a collision course, he said. The weakest loans were made in 2005 and 2006, and many of them will continue resetting at higher interest rates into 2009, he added.

Subprime loans, which often required low down payments and little or no documentation of income, “had all of these time bombs built in so the borrower can't make the payments,” Schniepp said.

The best solution is for lenders to renegotiate risky subprime loans to keep buyers in their homes, the economist said. In the near term, he expects foreclosures to increase.

Lenders are willing to work with overextended borrowers, though the options available vary, said Jack Haynes, executive vice president of Countrywide Home Loans, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders.

“For all intents and purposes, we've never had this market condition,” Haynes said. “It's certainly in the best interest of our investors and our borrowers to always look for solutions for every one of these borrowers. That could be refinancing to restructuring the loan.”

Many San Diego County homeowners saw their property values double as residential real estate boomed between 2000 and 2005. Karevoll doesn't expect home equity loans to be affected by foreclosure rates because defaults haven't significantly reduced property values.

G.U. Krueger, an Irvine-based economist, said default activity may slow once weak subprime loans work their way through the system. There could be “a quick kind of flushing out, a kind of a storm that passes quickly.”

Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized: An Expert's Perspective

Microsoft- no more keyboards

Know the Ninja

Nice Shit does not support dog fighting

Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick indicted for dogfighting


Clinton Portis-this guy is as big an idiot as Michael Vick



Pit bull kills Michael Vick

Don't fuck with the Irish

TGIF (NSFW)

Liger-Bred for it's magical powers

Bugatti Veyron 253mph

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is currently the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive street-legal full production car in the world, with a proven top speed of 407.5 km/h (253 mph), though several faster or more expensive vehicles have been produced on a limited basis.[1] It reached full production in September 2005. The car is built by Volkswagen AG subsidiary Bugatti Automobiles SAS in its Molsheim (Alsace, France) factory and is sold under the Italian/French Bugatti marque. It is named after French racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1939 while racing for the original Bugatti firm.

The Veyron features a W16 engine—16 cylinders in 4 banks of 4 cylinders, or the equivalent of two narrow-angle V8 engines mated in a "W" configuration. Each cylinder has 4 valves, for a total of 64, but the narrow V8 configuration allows two camshafts to drive two banks of cylinders so only 4 camshafts are needed. The engine is fed by four turbochargers, and it displaces 8.0 L (7,993 cc/488 in³) with a square 86 by 86 mm bore and stroke.

Putting this power to the ground is a dual-clutch DSG computer-controlled manual transmission with 7 gear ratios via shifter paddles behind the steering wheel boasting an 8 ms shift time. The Veyron can be driven by full automatic transmission. The Veyron also features full-time all-wheel drive based on the Haldex system. It uses special Michelin run-flat tires designed specifically for the Veyron to accommodate the vehicle's top speed.

Curb weight is estimated at 1890 kg (4,160lb). This gives the car a power to weight ratio of 529 bhp/tonne.

The car's wheelbase is 2710 mm (106.3 in). Overall length is 4462 mm (175.8 in). It measures 1998 mm (78.7 in) wide and 1206 mm (47.5 in) tall.

The Bugatti Veyron has a total of 10 radiators.[2]

* 3 radiators for the engine cooling system.
* 1 heat exchanger for the air to liquid intercoolers.
* 2 for the air conditioning system.
* 1 transmission oil radiator.
* 1 differential oil radiator.
* 1 engine oil radiator.
* 1 hydraulic oil radiator for the spoiler.

According to Volkswagen, the final production Veyron engine produces between 1020 and 1040 metric hp (1006 to 1026 SAE net hp), so the car will be advertised as producing "1001 horsepower" in both the US and European markets, despite the fact that the actual amount of horsepower produced is 986 - making it the second most powerful road production car - second only to the Koenigsegg CCXR, which it is claimed develops 1004bhp, although further testing in the Koenigsegg laboratories has proven it can hit 1064bhp.

Canjamoto BMW Scorpion

Starting with a BMW R1200S, CANJAMOTO (Canadian Jamaican Motorsports), a company based in Toronto, Canada did a little bodywork and came up with what they call the Scorpion. It has no gauges, all information is to be provided via a heads up display and no windscreen is fitted, though different windscreens will be available depending on intended use.

Street and Racing models will be available in 2008, the turbo version is said to produce 160 horsepower at the rear wheel. Weight is 410 pounds.

Turbo Diesel Motorcycle

Neander Motors
With diesel engines gaining more of the spotlight, let’s take a closer look at another diesel, the Neander turbo diesel motorcycle. A number of readers have pointed out this bike before which has been around for a while in prototype form but their intention is to begin production in limited quantities later this year so what do they have to offer?

Neander Motors looked at diesels and saw small displacement diesel engines of the one, two or three cylinder variety underrepresented in most applications. The major reasons were weight and vibration. Although ideal in large displacement and stationary applications, you didn’t see many diesels in small watercraft, ATVs and, of course, motorcycles. Rather than trying to fit an existing diesel into those roles, they designed a new diesel engine with the idea of low weight and vibration as goals, the result is a twin counter-rotating crankshaft design that looks like they might have come up with a winner.

Neander Motors Turbo Diesel MotorcycleThey’ve built a vertical parallel twin cylinder diesel, which would be plagued with far too much vibration in the configuration and displacement chosen, yet the counter rotating crankshafts all but cancel the majority of the vibration. And this is no computer model, the engine has been built, tested and installed in a prototye motorcycle which has been showing up around Europe in a variety of venues where folks could get a look at it.

The final configuration is a 1400cc, twin cam, four valve per cylinder, vertical twin turbo diesel with intercooling producing 100hp and 144 foot pounds of torque at 2600rpm. It looks nice without some of the bulky and clunky appearance you might expect when you hear the word diesel. Performance figures are quoted on their site as 0-60mph in approximately 4 seconds. Not bad for a cruiser and sure to improve as the engine is refined.

The engine, as set up in the bike, is equipped with particulate filters for low emissions. The bike will have a six speed transmission and belt final drive.

Although the bike they plan to produce will not look exactly like the prototype and is only presented in computer images, it is similar in appearance to the prototype which doesn’t look bad as is.

They have not set a price yet which I imagine might be rather high but whether or not this bike succeeds as a sales hit, it may very well succeed as a great demonstration platform to prove the viability of their new twin crank diesel design. If it does that, they might find huge markets in many other areas and at the same time other companies may want to source their engine for use in a diesel motorcycle of their own.

Eddie Bravo

Highlights


I've known Eddie Bravo for a few years now. If you watch his videos you'll see that he's kinda out there crazy. He is the head of 10th planet jujitsu. He is the creator of the rubber guard in jujitsu and invented the twister. The twister is a spine lock that's pretty nasty. He triangle choked Royler Gracie at the ADCC. Abu Dhabi Combat Club is the world championship of submission wrestling. Eddie is the champ in his weight class.

Rubber guard

Fire from Saltwater - John Kanzius

Saltwater Burns@ Snowboarder Foundation

BJJ Purple Belt Test

I was cruising the internet and came accross this one. In Brazilian Jujitsu there are five belt colors. White, Blue, Purple, Brown, and Black. It normally takes several years to get to the purple belt level. Blues are able to open there own school. This is a very good video. It shows you how profficient purple belts are and then when you are thoroughly impressed this video shows you how sick blackbelts are.

Dean Lister

Highlights


Dean is a friend of mine here in San Diego. He is the open weight champion of ADCC the world championship of submission wrestling. He is the best grappler in the world.

Triangle Choke


Arm Bar

Stop arresting my friends

It's normal

NORML on C-SPAN

Part 1


Part 2


I smoke so that I won't be a lame like John Horton.

What's up with the UN?

Iraq for Sale

You don't get more custom than this- GC Hellion

In February I posted Gregg Desjardins' GC1000 which made quite a buzz in the motorcycle industry. The only problem was people were calling it an Honda RC-51 custom. It's not like you call a Buell a Harley or a West Coast Chopper an SS.

Enter the Helion. It has a Yamaha V-Star Warrior engine yet almost everything else is hand built by Gregg. Gregg's goal is form and function and it shows.

FRONT END
Handmade chromoly frame and sub frame, Marzocchi 50mm forks, Performance Machine radial calipers, 320mm full-floating front rotors with custom-made wheel-matching billet carriers, PVM billet radial brake and clutch master cylinders, Gregg's Customs "Skyway" wheel.
REAR END
Handmade Chromoly swing arm, Penske Racing shock with titanium spring, Performance Machine caliper, custom full-floating counter shaft-mounted rotor, Honda CR450F master cylinder, Gregg's Customs 250mm "Skyway" wheel.
MOTOR
Yamaha Road Star Warrior Engine, Power Commander, custom made velocity stack air filters, custom exhaust, custom relocated oil tank, hydraulic clutch conversion
PAINT
Craig Fraser and Air Syndicate
BODYWORK
Gregg's Customs .062" aluminum fuel tank and tail section, Harley V-Rod front headlight with handmade titanium brackets
ACCESSORIES
Grip Ace grips, Corbin seats, Gregg's Customs engine covers, triple clamps, risers, bar ends, tailight lens
BUILDER
Gregg Desjardins at Gregg's Customs

Wheely Time

How to do a Wheely

Internet Radio

I don't even download music any more. Check it out Pandora Radio.