The Washington Post - "High-Risk Mortgages Become Toxic Mess" (8-11-07)

"When Linda Martin refinanced the mortgages on three different houses nearly three years ago, she thought the lower monthly payments would help her save more money for retirement. Instead, the Lakewood, Colo. skin-care specialist is sinking in financial quicksand amid a widening mortgage morass that's pulling down home prices and threatening to drag the U.S. economy into a recession."

The Washington Post - "Bubble and Bust" (8-11-07)

"BY THE HEIGHT of the 17th-century Dutch tulip mania, bulbs were selling for the equivalent of up to $76,000 apiece, and tulip options were trading on markets across Europe. The ensuing crash crippled the Dutch economy for years, establishing a cautionary model of speculative excess that investors have learned from, and ignored, in a seemingly endless cycle of bubble and bust ever since."

The Charlotte Observer - "Beazer: Mistakes possible in filings" (8-11-07)

"Troubled homebuilder Beazer Homes USA may have understated expenses in past filings with securities regulators, the company said Friday. The Atlanta homebuilder blamed its former chief accounting officer, saying he may have 'caused' the wrong numbers to be reported. The disclosure may deepen concern about Beazer's financial health. The company already faces a federal criminal investigation of its mortgage practices, and a formal inquiry on unspecified issues by the Securities and Exchange Commission."

CounterCurrents.org - "Subprime Or Subcrime? Time To Investigate And Prosecute" (8-11-07)

"There comes a time when the frame of a news story changes. It happened in Iraq when the 'war for Iraqi freedom' became seen as a bloody occupation, not a beneficent liberation. It is happening as the war on terror is increasingly perceived a war of error and when voting problems are reframed as electoral fraud."