red lining, permafrost, and the donald

There was an article on red lining in the Tribune yesterday.  I remembered that term being thrown around during the troubles in Gage Park, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was.  It was something banks would do where they would draw a red line around the black neighborhoods and not give out any mortgages in that area, and of course that area expanded as the ghetto grew.  I'm not sure if they did that because they were prudent, or because they were prejudiced.  Probably both, I can't imagine there were any black people in the banking industry back then.

So the real estate agencies would set these people up with contracts which were like mortgages except that if you missed one payment they could take back your house.  Strangely that was what I believed mortgages were like when I bought my condo, that if I had one late payment I would lose my condo.  When I found out that wasn't true I breathed a sigh of relief, though I never did miss a payment.  Actually I often made double payments because Bohunks should collect interest, not pay it.

Anyway what happened with the red lining was the contract victims got together and had sort of a rent strike, and I don't know if that resulted in them getting mortgages or better contracts.  It seems like the banks were in trouble for this, because it wasn't quite legal.  It seems like it was the feds that were pushing for these changes while the locals were dragging their heels and pretending to obey, but always finding some sort of obstruction or way to do nothing.

Just beginning chapter six, and it still seems like a lot of paper skirmishing.


As I was typing this NPR was talking about Alaska.  You probably already know this, but there is something called duff(?) which is the dead organic matter which apparently decomposes slowly because it is so cold, and underneath it is the permafrost which the duff acts like a blanket over and insulates it.  But now that we are having all these fires the duff is burning and once it is burned off then the permafrost is exposed and then it begins to decompose and all its carbon evaporates into the atmosphere.  These days it seems like everything leads to disaster.

It seems like I have time for one more paragraph, so how about that Donald Trump?  I thought when he criticized McCain for getting captured that would be the end of him, but the latest polls show that it didn't hurt him much.  It used to be in the republican party you had the establishment and the tea party, but now you have the establishment, the tea party, and Donald Trump.  If he is disciplined enough to stay on his anti immigration message, he could be big trouble, especially if he goes third party.  This could be a chance for some of the establishment guys to soften their stands on immigration and save the republicans from that ticking time bomb, but nobody wants to stick their neck out that far, yet.

Well I have to admit the republicans are a lot more exciting than my dems.  That Hillary, ugh.  Do we dare hope for Bernie?  But do we dare risk him losing to some tea party guy? 

A lot of people moan and groan when election time rolls around, but it's what I call entertainment.