sudo-discuss

sudo-discuss@sudoroom.org

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7259 discussions

Hedge funds buy swathes of foreclosed subprimes, force up rents, float rent-bonds - Boing Boing

by Romy＠snowyla

http://boingboing.net/2015/05/23/hedge-funds-buy-swathes-of-for.html?utm_co… Hedge funds buy swathes of foreclosed subprimes, force up rents, float rent-bonds When a giant hedge fund is bidding on all the foreclosed houses in a poor neighborhood, living humans don't stand a chance -- but that's OK, because rapacious investors make great landlords. Wall Street investors have bought more than 200,000 foreclosed houses in the past two years, bundling together the rents they generate into bonds that are just like subprime mortgage bonds, only without the pretense that the poor people who generate their payments have a hope of ever getting out from under their obligation to enrich the richest people in the world. Blackstone -- owner of Seaworld, Hilton Hotels, and the Weather Channel -- is the biggest player here, and when they come into town to buy up all the single-family properties, they price actual families out of the market. Their securitized rent payment bonds are backed by some of the biggest subprime criminals, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, and JPMorgan. Hedge funds really epitomize compassionate landlording, too. When Blackstone buys in, it jacks up tenants' rents by as much as a third and immediately begins eviction proceedings against renters who can't pay. If there are any troubles with your payments, they assess fines against you and make you miss work to pay the rent and penalties in person. CaDonna Porter moved into an Invitation Homes property outside Atlanta with her children in September. When part of her monthly payment was rejected because she tried to use a debit card, the company demanded that she deliver the remaining amount in person, via certified funds, by 5 p.m. the following day or incur a $200 fee and face eviction. Porter took time off from work to deliver a money order in person, only to be informed that the payment had been rejected because it didn't include the late fee and an additional $75 insufficient funds fee. In a maddening string of emails, Invitation Homes repeatedly reminded Porter that it could file to evict her unless she paid the penalties. When she finally said that she would seek legal counsel, Invitation Homes agreed to accept her payment as "a one-time courtesy." Andrew Gallina, Invitation Homes' vice president for marketing, says it treats all of its renters equally: "Under the law, we're not allowed to make changes or exceptions. That's just basic fair housing." Invitation Homes has described its strategy as "a bet on America." Wall Street's Hot New Financial Product: Your Rent Check [Laura Gottesdiener/Mother Jones] Sent from my iPhone

9 years, 8 months

immigration startup weekend

by Romy Ilano

I'm not usually into hackathons and don't send stuff like that to this list but this is pretty cool https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-weekend-immigration-tickets-16092734803 WHY immigration? This country was built on a dream, and a belief that the course of our lives does not have to be determined by the country, culture, and socioeconomic status that we were all randomly born into. Immigration is a proven solution to this “unjust lottery” of life, but somewhere along the way we lost sight of that dream. Join us on May 29 and let's help bring back the American Dream, together. ============================= Romy Ilano romy(a)snowyla.com

9 years, 8 months

URGENT: Your sudo room payment is failing!

by Marc Juul

Gratipay (our payment provider) stopped working! We now have our own payment and membership system called sudo-humans: https://sudoroom.org/humans You should immediately sign up for an account! You should then go to your profile page, click edit, and set up a recurring payment! That's it! Thanks for helping sudo room stay afloat! More details: We are hard at work integrating the payment system with our upcoming improved building access control system, so it will not be long before payment or non-payment will directly affect your ability to access Omni and sudo room. If you for some reason prefer to pay in cash, then you can still do that by finding e.g. me and handing me tall stacks of green. If you have a work-trade agreement with sudo room then don't worry about it for now. We will send an email when sudo-humans support work-trade verification (basically you will need to find another member and have them log in and verify that you did the work. If you _really_ need to be fully anonymous (meaning that not even a couple of sudo room admins will be able to see who is paying) then you can wait for Gratipay to start working again, but please try to compensate your payments for the time that it has not been working (I believe two weeks so far). Gratipay will probably start working again at some point, so please check that you are not double-paying. sudo-humans is not just for payment, but for stuff like building access and finding members to work on projects with, but we are just starting out so if you want to help sudo-humans improve you can find the code here: https://github.com/sudoroom/sudo-humans Thank to substack for developing the core sudo-humans app! -- marc/juul

9 years, 8 months

spaz party

by Jake

SPAZ wants to throw a party in the downstairs again, like last First Friday! we should officially sponsor the event as Sudoroom, and get involved in the whole event. SPAZ people will bring the amplifiers and set up the party space (in the basement like last time) and make the whole event go smoothly. will Sudoroom officially sponsor the event? It will be a lot of fun. -jake

9 years, 8 months

FTP - Films 2 The People Short Film Fest at Omni!

by Noemie Serfaty

Hi Sudo ers! OptikAllusions is hosting an awesome short Film Fest/Fundraiser this Friday May 29th at the Omni! We have a really awesome lineup of short films by local folks. And Sarah will be serving her legendary home made gumbo. It would be awesome to see you there! Come have fun and support our unreasonable community media project to document/imagine the revolution! Here is the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1596614607259252/ It starts at 7pm. See you there! Love and solidarity Noémie from OptikAllusions

9 years, 8 months

Apology from Nick

by Dante Cassius

I am handling the mediation for Nick, and at the Omni meeting before last, we decided that he should write a letter answering the open-ended question, "What have I learned?" (since being asked to leave). I read the letter at the most recent Omni meeting, and we decided that with Nick's permission, the letter be reposted to sudo-discuss. He asked me to post it here on his behalf since he is not a subscriber. At this point, we're asking everyone who has had issues with Nick to read this letter, and attend the next sudo meeting on Wednesday to vote on whether or not to allow him back into the space based on that. If you can't attend or have any other concerns that need to be handled privately, email me and let me know. Here is the letter: "Dear Sudo Room , Members & whom it may concern . I Nicholas Oakley am writing this this to share what have i have learned during my time with the Omni-Community , & the mediation process i have been participating in. . Coming to Omni Commons i was very excited and eager to share my ideas, suggestions , opinions etc. I however learned that being uber gung-ho in the community when one has not established a trusted rapport is a delicate process especially due to the progressive , radical &slightly complex nature of the omni-community . I have learned that expressing my opinions may not not be well received if one has not taken their time to acclimate to existing flow of the social atmosphere & governing processes . Being a massage Therapist I am a highly tactile person when it comes to communication. Also being massage professorial i am highly aware of the ethics of touch ...however bad habits are hard to break when your used to being in a more open and receptive environment . The safe space policy takes a moment to learn and adapt and i myself have slipped ..tho i feel its part of a learning curve . I have also learned that open ended jokes that may be misconstrued & taken personally & offensively by members of the community are not a good idea , especially if people do not know who Iam or what I am about .Personal space bubble are very important , i shouldn't invite myself if not invited , being curious about what your neighbors doing and peeking over their shoulder is frowned upon and rude if not given expressed consent . Contributing to a topic without first knowing history & process at hand or without collaborating with others isn't wise . I have learned a great deal on how to be a better and more effective member of the omni community and look forward to being able to return to commons , keeping this conversation open for benefit of myself & the community at Large . If further elaboration is needed at this time please let me know so i may accommodate . I am look forward to another opportunity to work , play ,learn grow with omni-commons a.s.a.p :) p.s. I am not a cop or undercover agent ...pls take a chance & the time to get know me before making such conclusions...i feel its defamation to my character :/ .... I am just highly curious & high spirited :) I have also learned not everyone is receptive to that aswell and require a larger bubble p.s.s. It has been said " The only way to trust somebody , is to trust them ;) "

9 years, 8 months

Fwd: Oakland nonprofit seeks part-time web development instructor

by VickykciV

werrrk On Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 3:37:22 PM UTC-7, sameers wrote: > > Hi Open Oaklanders - > > TL;DR - Stride Center <http://stridecenter.org/>, nonprofit providing IT > instruction for low income communities needs web programming instructor; > Bay Area (Oakland, CA) job; 1p-4p; 10-12 hours a week, *starting 7/13, *runs > 22 weeks*.* > > I am advising Stride on curriculum development and managing the lab > environment - I would be very happy to answer questions about compensation > and timing. The 1p-4p is not negotiable but the specific days you teach can > be discussed with the organization. The class runs 15 hours a week but a > part of it will be dedicated to life and career skills development, taught > by another instructor. > > Full job description is attached. Please feel free to forward the JD as > well my contact info. > > Thanks for your attention! > > Sameer. > 650.996.0998 >

9 years, 8 months

Open Tech vs Closed Tech debate?

by Louis Huang

Hey guys, so i'm back... with a proposition! With such a welcoming email chain last time i replied about my start up, im thinking where all this anger was coming from? And so to try to resolve some hostility between two worlds (open tech and closed tech), anyone down for an live IRC debate? A spill of opinion between open tech (hackerspaces such as Noisebridge, SudoRoom) vs closed tech (TBD). I want to host it. Nubbii being an unbiased news platform, its feels right to be able to discuss such matters between the two worlds. Any takers? Of course I will have to find some closed tech people willing to do this. Truly, Louis http://nubbii.com | Unbiased News, Anonymous Discussions

9 years, 8 months

Repping Sudoroom in the Stanford business school bathroom.

by Romy＠snowyla

Hoping for more donations ! Maybe I'll dance half naked for Sudoroom money in palo alto Just kidding ! Keep building ! Sent from my iPhone

9 years, 8 months

What I did at Noisebridge 2 years ago

by Romy＠snowyla

Ah this is from 2 years ago. I'm not a sewer or an arduino person but I made this at the Noisebridge sewing table Thank you Noisebridge ! Sent from my iPhone

9 years, 8 months

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