Anomalies

The following was written in January but I just got around to posting it, so I apologize if these aren't very current; however the issues are still relevant.


I noticed several anomalies in the news lately, along with some really troubling news.

1. Nicolas Kristoff wrote about the negative societal affects of growing income inequality . He cited the increase in crime and unwanted teenage pregnancies as evidence of such negative societal affects . However while I agree that the growing gap in income equality is a very serious problem, I checked and confirmed that crime and teenage pregnancies have actually dropped significantly during this period of growing income inequality.

2. I recently read an article in the Chicago Tribune about the serious problem of lenders abandoning properties before finalizing foreclosure after the foreclosure had been filed and the owners moved out. By dropping the foreclosure before it was final, the lenders left the property vacant and an eyesore or worse for the neighborhood. If that wasn't bad enough ,the article went on to cite a government statistic that some lenders even had walked away from 60% of their defaulted loans before filing a foreclosure, which which the article implied, further exacerbated the vacant property problem.

I asked myself if those lenders never even filed foreclosure action, why did the owners move out? Indeed they could still be living there "rent free". I called one of the neighborhood organization referred to in the article and asked that question. He agreed my question was a good one and didn't have a good answer except to say that the report I questioned didn't come from them. He agreed that there would be no reason to leave if a foreclosure hadn't even been filed. Nevertheless I'm sure the Trib thought it made for good reading. The author of the article didn't answer my email.

3. Earlier one morning I heard a NPR report that studies showed that political assassins were motivated almost solely by desire for notoriety as opposed to political extremism. Why hasn't more been said about this report as part of the on going discussion on this issue?

4. Most troubling, a large number young urban lawyers in Pakistan are supporting the murder of a governor who advocated repeal of a blasphemy law. What hope is there for Pakistan when those who presumably are sworn to uphold the law, celebrate a cold blooded murderer.