Well, we hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday so far. We’re going to be taking a break from our daily commentary on OS for a couple of days. Enjoy the break, use it to rejuvenate, enjoy your time with family and loved ones, and give your mousing hand a rest! We’ll talk to you again shortly!

Today is 20th C. artist Paul Klee's birthday, a painter whose childlike works seemed inspired by dreams and music. Reflecting upon his art, one is reminded that being curious and wide-eyed is perhaps not such a bad way to exist in this world.

Lori was one of the very first artists to exhibit on Opensewer back in 1999. We are proud to continue to represent her by publishing her most recent series of images, “Ill Winds And Sour Waters.” Her earlier work, “Accidentally Kansas,” is also still available on Opensewer. We hope that you enjoy Lori’s work as much as we do.

Tip of the hat to Get Crafty for the link.

--Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)

While these types of home equity loans can, in theory, help individuals consolidate their debts and pay off credit cards at a lower interest rate, they often end up costing borrowers tens of thousands of dollars over the course of the new loan—which is always longer and at a much less favorable rate than the original. Many borrowers are replacing loans originally issued by Habitat for Humanity, with interest rates as low as 1 or 2% over 20 years. The new loans are often issued at 12% or higher, with terms of 30 years. As a result of a recent swell in this activity, many low-income borrowers cannot meet their new debt service and face the risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Why are lenders doing this? Because they have developed sophisticated algorithms that accurately predict the default rates of “sub-prime” borrowers. Since the companies know the probability of their financial loss, they can hedge against it and continue to make money by exploiting the least affluent (and often least financially sophisticated) members of our society. Hence the term “predatory lending.”

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a non-profit citizen group, is fighting this trend, and the Federal Reserve Board is currently examining various courses of action to cure the problem. So, next time you see that television commercial urging you to consolidate your debts, think twice.

To me, the most frightening aspect of all of this is that while AIDS has been transformed from a death-sentence to a potentially survivable illness by expensive treatments, the availability of such treatments seems to have placated the Western World’s concerns about the spread of the disease. The epidemic has not been turned back. Focus on prevention should take priority above all other efforts.