Comments on: Social graph analysis reveals criminal conspiracy of slumlords

By: mla

mla — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:27:00 +0000

The libertarian view is freedom of contract. I don’t have to fix anything and you don’t have to live here.

By: jhertzli

jhertzli — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:56:00 +0000

The libertarian view is that "milking" buildings is best handled by more competition and that competition is suppressed by regulation. In related news, we also attribute the wretched living conditions of the urban poor in early 19th-century England to government actions.

By: Guest

Guest — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 03:15:00 +0000

remarkably mirror-like

By: dainel

dainel — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 22:48:00 +0000

what is the libertarian view on slumlords?

By: Valdis Krebs

Valdis Krebs — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:36:00 +0000

Glad you all enjoyed this project!

See original post for link back to SAJE — the folks who did all of the investigative work.

We also looked into the “mortgage meltdown” and connected the dots from Main Street to Wall Street…

http://orgnet.com/meltdown.html

Our first “15 minutes of fame” in mapping the “bad guys” came when we connected the dots between the 19 “9-11″ hijackers using public data…

http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/941/863

Enjoy!

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:55:00 +0000

And isolating themselves from the loan repercussions by way of a LLC. As such they could skim the profits into their personal accounts, but leave the loans on the company books. Then when the loan terms are becoming troublesome they flip it to another LLC with different extended family members, and the whole things keep on going.

By: Guest

Guest — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Harvard MBAs agree with you

By: blueelm

blueelm — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:13:00 +0000

Yes, and their tenants are probably poor enough that moving is an expensive and risky option.

By: MarcVader

MarcVader — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:31:00 +0000

E.g. here. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed–the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html

And here’s the paper. http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.5728

By: Gemma

Gemma — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:16:00 +0000

Should be “ever changing” not “every changing” in the post’s introduction.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:07:00 +0000

Is it just me or does the graph resemble the outline of the continuos USA?

By: Phlip

Phlip — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:18:00 +0000

Ain’t cracking down on the false owners in court ACORN’s job?

Oh, wait…

By: Ripcord2

Ripcord2 — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 05:08:00 +0000

I think it’s possible for rich and powerful people to coordinate off the record in ways other than sharing seats on a board of directors.

By: lavardera

lavardera — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:54:00 +0000

right, its not a conspiracy, its a business plan

By: parrotboy

parrotboy — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:51:00 +0000

Small scale Wall Street. Too bad for them they aren’t too big to fail, and/or have members of their group in key positions (like the Federal Reserve or the Treasury).

By: heidi w. bosley

heidi w. bosley — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:46:00 +0000

And this, folks, is a miniature scale of how the government works via lobbyists…

By: EH

EH — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:36:00 +0000

I think it’s probably asymptotic.

By: Pawtucket

Pawtucket — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:18:00 +0000

There’s big money to be made in gouging poor, desperate people. Think BlueHippo, payday loans, crack cocaine and, most profitable of all, religious hucksterism, all things to warm the heart of Christian capitalists everywhere.

By: justaddh3o

justaddh3o — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:13:00 +0000

Lester Freamon must be behind this

By: kartwaffles

kartwaffles — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:09:00 +0000

“What you and I are saying is much less important than the fact that you and I are talking. Against traffic analysis, encryption is irrelevant.” – Bruce Schneier

By: SedanChair

SedanChair — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:07:00 +0000

So, is this actually a criminal conspiracy, or is this now the minimum level of cost-cutting diligence that all property management companies will be held to by their investors?

By: lavardera

lavardera — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:41:00 +0000

So let me get this straight. These people were probably leading a good life, while taking rent from these tenants while the renter’s kids got lead exposure. Meanwhile they enriched themselves by reselling the building to themselves at ever greater value.

hm. people suck.

By: Brett Goldstock

Brett Goldstock — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:40:00 +0000

Is there a link somewhere to an article on the actual prosecution in this case?

By: travtastic

travtastic — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:35:00 +0000

Okay, now one for the rest of America.

By: digi_owl

digi_owl — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:34:00 +0000

So in essence, each red connection is a family connection (either blood or marriage). The shit really hits the fan at the end where there is a person connected both to the mortgage company that loaned money to the various LLCs, and to various restaurants in the city.

Also, didn’t someone do something similar with a bunch or large multinationals and their board members? I think the result was that a few people was found to share various boards and so could in essence direct the world economy among them. That is, not everyone was in a single central board together. But each of them was member of a board with at least one other member of said group. So if they wanted, they could relay a message, off the record, between any two members of the group.

By: phisrow

phisrow — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:08:00 +0000

It is my understanding that a conspiracy of lords is called an “Aristocracy”…

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:44:00 +0000

I can haz impalements?