Woman kills herself over home foreclosure

Sub-prime crisis in US claims another victim.
---------------------------------------------

A 53-year-old wife and mother fatally shot herself shortly after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying that by the time they foreclosed on her house that day, she would be dead.

Police said that Carlene Balderrama used her husband's high-powered rifle to kill herself Tuesday afternoon, shortly after faxing the letter at 2:30 p.m.

The mortgage company called police, who found Balderrama's body at 3:30 p.m. The auction was scheduled to start at 5 p.m. and interested buyers arrived at the property in Taunton, about 35 miles south of Boston, while Balderrama's body was still inside, according to Taunton police chief Raymond O'Berg.

Police did not immediately release the name of the mortgage company. O'Berg said Balderrama's fax read, in part, "By the time you foreclose on my house I'll be dead."

O'Berg also said a suicide note found next to Balderrama told her husband, John, and 24-year-old son to "take the (life) insurance money and pay for the house."

"I had no clue," said John Balderrama explaining that his wife handled all the couple's finances. "I'm just lost. I tell you I'm beside myself."

He said Carlene had been intercepting letters from the mortgage company and shredding them without his knowledge. He had no idea she hadn't paid the mortgage in 42 months.

"She put in her suicide note that it got overwhelming for her," he told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday. "Apparently she didn't have anyone to talk to. She didn't come to me. I don't know why."

John Balderrama filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy three times from 2004 to 2006, but the courts dismissed the petitions. Debtors who declare bankruptcy under Chapter 13 generally can keep their homes while paying off their debts under a court-approved reorganization plan.

Full Story

Wife=TV, Girlfriend = Handphone

Got this off Sammyboy forum.. :P
--------------------------------------------------

Wife is like TV, girlfriend is like Hand phone (HP)

At home watch TV
Go out bring HP.

No money, sell TV.
Got money change HP.

Sometimes enjoy TV
But most of the time play with HP.

TV free for life
HP, if you don't pay, services terminated

TV is big, bulky and most of the time old
HP is cute, slim,curvy, portable at any time.

Operational cost for TV is often acceptable
HP is high and often demanding,

Most Important, TV got remote.. HP don't have..

Last but not least.........

TV never get virus, but HP yes.......... have VIRUS............... once get it, terus KONG (mati from aids) ... so better choose TV ....

IT technician downloaded names of super-rich and sold them to govt

brilliant!

-----------------------

Day of Reckoning? Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed by Bank Clerk
Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts
By BRIAN ROSS and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
July 15, 2008

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme.

Heinrich Kieber, a bank computer technician in Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme. He has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country's bank secrecy laws.

The bank clerk, Heinrich Kieber, has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country's bank secrecy laws.

He is now in hiding but scheduled to testify to the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Thursday via a video statement from a secret location, according to Congressional investigators.

Aides for committee chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) are scheduled to provide reporters with a background briefing later this morning in Washington on the committee's investigation of tax haven banks in Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Liechtenstein's veil of secrecy was pierced five years ago when the disgruntled technician, Kieber, downloaded the names of foreign citizens connected to the secret accounts.

Kieber reportedly sold three CD's full of names and data to tax authorities to 12 countries including Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States.

Tax authorities in Italy published the full list of names.

In Germany, the disclosures led to the arrests of several prominent CEO's on charges that had evaded millions of dollars in taxes.

A former UBS private banker, Bradley Birkenfeld, has agreed to a plea deal and is reported to be cooperating with US authorities in bring charges against American citizens on tax evasion charges.

The Liechtenstein bank, LGT, is owned by the tiny country's ruling family led by Prince Hans-Adam II.

Kieber's Washington lawyer, Jack Blum, says Kieber should be considered a whistleblower and a hero, not a thief, for revealing how the super rich hid billions of dollars using the Liechtenstein bank.

The names of the US citizens are now in the hands of the IRS and Senate investigators.

Washington lawyers say a number of prominent citizens have been subpoenaed to testify but have already indicated they will refuse to testify, asserting their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

It is not yet clear whether Senator Levin will insist they appear in front of the committee anyway.

From ABCNews

Maternity leave 'damages' careers

no shit...

----------------------

The extension of maternity leave may be sabotaging women's careers, the head of the new equality watchdog has warned.

Nicola Brewer, chief executive of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, said employers were thinking twice about offering them jobs or promotion.

This, she said in an interview with The Times, was because women were now entitled to a year off for each child.

She said current laws had unintentionally made "women a less attractive prospect to employers."

Ms Brewer said her concerns were reinforced when businessman Sir Alan Sugar said many employers discarded CVs of women of child-bearing age.

She said: "There has been a sea change on maternity leave and flexible work and we welcome that. But the effect has been to reinforce some traditional patterns.

"The Work and Families Act has not freed parents and given them real choice. It is based on assumptions, and some of the terms reinforce the traditional pattern of women as the carers of children.

"We have come a long way but after winning all these gains it is worth asking - are we still on the right track?

"The thing I worry about is that the current legislation and regulations have had the unintended consequence of making women a less attractive prospect to employers."

From BBC

Ahh.. the dreams of the youths

Writer complained about rising prices, and unfulfilled dreams...
--------------------------------------
MY dreams late last year: A house, a car and a wedding to take place this year.

But now, all I am seeing are the nightmares of rising costs - in property and construction, petrol, electricity and basic necessities such as food and drinks.

And I find myself waking up bathed in perspiration after one too many debt-soaked dreams.

The car has been bought, the downpayment for the house paid with instalments knocking at my door every month and the wedding is on.

How are they making me nervous?

Take last week, for example.

I dreamt the bridal studio took some test shots which turned out great, so they suggested I buy an additional album of pictures.

The price was $1.4 million. For some reason, I was so swept away by the photos that I signed the contract.

After that I realised I had no money to pay for the package. A wave of panic washed over me.

I literally scared myself awake, with some relief.

But that was not to last too long.

Two days later, back in real life, I received my credit card bill.

Bridal studio instalment: $500.

Miscellaneous wedding stuff: $450.

Petrol for our 11/2-month-old car: $550.

Then there is the monthly instalment for the car.

CPF deductions for the house.

Wedding rings we have to buy before the (real) August photo shoot.

Furniture we haven't even started scouting for.

Future grocery bills for two.

A huge chunk of my savings stuck in the share market, which I can't sell now because of the downturn (yet again).

Such a squeeze on my heart.

Starting a new life for two has always been both exciting and expensive.

But as a child of the '80s who finally has enough disposable income to start fulfilling her dreams, it is both disconcerting and terrifying to see those dreams getting more expensive, the numbers creeping up right before my eyes.

Conversations with girlfriends now inevitably drift to how difficult it is to find a home we love and can afford.

Just four years ago, my parents upgraded to a five-room flat, which they bought for about $280,000.

Four years on, I had to pay more than $360,000 for mine, in the same estate.

Petrol prices have gone up a few times in the 11/2 months I've owned a vehicle.

And putting together a home-cooked meal now not only involves culinary skills but mathematical ones too, to compare prices between housebrands and brand-brands, frozen versus fresh meat, anything to save costs.

That was why my girlfriends' responses to my nightmare on the $1.4million were not, 'Don't be silly', but 'You are too stressed girl!'

And, 'Make sure you check the price 1.4 million times before you sign on the dotted line.'

Sometimes, it's tempting to throw caution to the wind. But the prudent self says wait.

Why not get a car only when you're 30? Live with the parents first and get your own place later?

But there's the impatient self, who is wide-eyed about dreams that have to be lived now, when you're young.

The car as the ultimate date vehicle, as opposed to baby-seat holder.

A two-person universe in your own home.

What's the use of saving it all for later, when money cannot buy back the experiences you lost along the way?

That is where it becomes so important to plan, save, prioritise and to brutally slash out the things you don't need.

Eyes on the prize: Give up something you kind of want to get that something you really want.

And hope that the power of the dreams - and checking those numbers 1.4 million times - is enough to keep away the nightmares.

From: The New Paper