Your Morning Sift

Good morning and Happy Halloween.

I don't know if you already have plans for tonight, but if you don't, feel free to check out the list of events that I've collected from the SoFla blogosphere over in the right sidebar. We do this every weekend here at SFDB but this weekend seems especially busy.

And with that, I hereby present your ghoulish morning Sift...

A- The Street has some new photos up.

B- Eye on Miami finds that lenders are continuing to hand out money haphazardly in the local area.

6. 2.34% down. Charles on October 2nd 2008, paid $285,000 and got a mortgage for $279,905 from Universal. He put $5,095 down.

7. .53% down. Enrique and Nicanor on October 2nd 2008, paid $261,166 and got a mortgage for $259,760 from Q lending Inc. Mers and put $1,406 down. In Nov. 2002 Nicanor was granted a chapter 13 Bankruptcy to strip his homestead of a lien by Household Finance Corporation, III. It was recorded 6/25/07. He signed an affidavit stating he did not file for bankruptcy but the signature appeared to match.

8. “0” down. Gerardo on October 1st 2008 paid $240,000 and got a mortgage for $245,160 from J.P Morgan Chase. VA rider.

C- Foodtastic heads over to FIU to try out the lunch prepared by the school's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and takes photographer and blogger Carlos Miller with them. They didn't get arrested.

When I was invited to try the lunch prepared by culinary students at FIU's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, I immediately accepted. A three-course gourmet meal for $15 is a bargain nowadays, and I just wanted to see what the experience would be like.

So recently, I went ahead and did just that. I called on someone I knew would appreciate the experience as much as I would, that troublemaker you all know as Carlos Miller. The fact that in taking him I'd get some awesome pictures out of it didn't hurt, either.

D- Some Cranky Guy is out in the Great American Northwest taking photos and making tired old political statements. The photos are super.

E- Shorter East Florida Gazette:

Obama supporters get good sleep. McCain supporters, not so much.

F- Incertus points us to the latest example of Republicans just calling them as they see them...

The head of the Hillsborough GOP, David Storck, distributed an email from a Republican Party volunteer saying the voters are a threat.

That's because, as the volunteer says in the email, he sees "car loads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes for Obama."

It goes on to say, "This is their chance to get a black president and they seem to care little the he is at minimum a socialist and probably Marxist in his core beliefs." The Republican volunteer says that is because, "After all he is black- no experience or accomplishments but he is black."

G- Miami-Dade Dems has a great post on foreigners in South Florida who are working to get Obama elected.

And there's Andrea Liberati of Italy, who showed up months ago joining the Miami Beach Democratic Club and now is working practically full-time as a volunteer for Barack Obama. Back in August I was flying to Denver to blog the convention, and there sitting across the aisle was Andrea! He's writing a book on what it's like to explore the mysteries of Florida presidential campaigning and will be jetting home with his copious notes soon after Nov. 4.

All these people have been captivated by our political situation and our Democratic candidate. They look at us from abroad and are unencumbered by our inhibitions. They dislike George W. Bush and his policies intensely. Sort of like us. But none of their neighbors, relatives or friends voted for Bush, so they have no shyness when it comes to declaring their backing for Barack Obama.

- Blast Off! is following some allegations of voter suppression in Palm Beach County.

A few minutes ago, I was at the Boynton Beach City Library, one of 11 early voting sites in Palm Beach County, where I spoke with one of the Obama-Biden volunteers at the table out front. She described some very troubling developments there and in Riviera Beach, both of which are early voting sites with large turnout among African-Americans.

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