Everyone knows the mortgage market is in crisis - and that it’s dragging down the rest of the economy. But what caused it? How can we get out of it? And how can homeowners - and potential buyers - in Minnesota protect themselves?

Richard Todd from the Federal Reserve will help explain how we got here, and personal finance writer Kara McGuire from the Star Tribune will be on hand for practical advice for owners, buyers, sellers and renters alike.

I’m a little jealous of all of you that have the night off and are able to go. Not because I’m in the market to buy or sell a house any time soon, but it’s a major part of our economy right now…which is projected to only get worse. And not that the Varsity’s sparkley, voluptuous acoustics will be showcased by an informational session, but at least you get to enjoy the comfy venue.

It is $10 ($5 for students/alumni still utilizing student IDs), but you do get appetizers from the Loring Pasta Bar, which is also where the after-party will take place.

While the combination of beer, canapes, and mortgages sounds like a bad office barbeque, I’m guessing this one is going to be a decent Thursday night out.

Coffee House, which currently roosts on the fourth floor, will mostly likely be moving to Northeast, possibly in the vicinity of the old Grain Belt Brewery. CHP is a non-profit press that has put out some award-winning books. If you’re not familiar with them they have various events going on around the Cities in the coming weeks.

Local artist Scott Seekins also has a studio on the fourth floor of the building, so he is being displaced as well. He will have a longer trek to complete his “performance art” rounds through the downtown skyway everyday if he has to move to a different neighborhood. (If you’re familiar with Seekins, you know that he always wears either a white suit or a black suit, depending on the season. I saw him at the Mayday parade last weekend in snowy garb, and as my friend said, “That means spring.”)

So, that’s a three-for-one hit to the rootsy side of downtown: the mom ‘n’ pop clothes business, a non-profit book publishing press, and a local artist all leaving the Warehouse District. God knows we could use another Aqua.

Gopher Israel and Hillel, the University’s Jewish student center, observed the 60th anniversary of Israel’s establishment with Israeli music, a kosher buffet, a piñata and a camel on the Northrop Auditorium patio.

According to the article, Gopher Israel received $6,000 in grants for the celebration, which was considered by some to be an “educational opportunity” for students not familiar with Israel and/or Judaism. I’m wondering what percentage of that grant money was animal care and transportation costs. A clever PR move to attract attention, but I don’t really see how a live mascot helps educate students about the Israeli nation.

I haven’t been able to turn up much info via the internet, but I’m guessing the restaurant will be opening sometime after May 10th, as that’s when they’ll be interviewing for servers.

Anyone able to dish on Ciccone?

Tonight you can get free docent-led tours, starting at 6pm and proceeding, I assume, throughout the evening. You can view the flowers and the MIA galleries for free.

But word on the streets is that the ones around MIA are being cleaned today, so if you’re planning to drive be aware that the free ramp will probably be full, and you may have to walk a couple of blocks if you plan to park.

Best place to meet gay men: The Minneapolis Eagle/Bolt…at the bar.

Best place to meet gay women: Pi…at the bar.

Best place to meet straight men: Dave and Buster’s…at the bar/arcade.

Best place to meet straight women: Bolder Options…at a non-profit organization for mentoring at-risk teens training for running or cycling races.

What this says to me is that homosexuals and straight men all hang out at the bar. But straight men, if you’re looking for an ideal woman you won’t find her at the bar, you will find her exercising her good will and maternal instincts at a non-profit, as well as exercising her body. So BO is sure to be a goldmine of fit women who don’t party all the much. (But mentors do get together for “low-key happy hours.”)

Are these Bolder Options single women the same ones who are supposed to go to the “adult Chuck E. Cheese” to find single men? Well, I suppose a man who drinks and plays video games at the bar in his free time is the epitome of heterosexual maleness, right? No?

“Unconventional wisdom?” I’m a big fan of Citypages, but the juxtaposition of the four categories seems a bit insulting to both genders and sexualities to me. I’m going to go drown my annoyance in a nice, tall glass of 5k.

Foam fighting is a form of Live Action Role Playing in which medieval battles are simulated with foam weapons. Apparently, there are three types or organizations known as Amtgard, Belegarth, and Dagorhir. The Twin Cities Foam Fighting Club at UMN is a combination of the three, but I’m not sure if you if have to be a student to join.

However, I was able to find the Minneapolis Dagorhir “realm,” known as Frozen North. Contact Chiron, Mongoose, Fey or Drew at frozennorth@hotmail.com for more info. Be aware, there are rules. For example, according to the website, if you have been to four practices and have still not acquired medieval garb you will only be allowed one blue weapon. I’m not sure what that means, but it doesn’t sound good.

You may be chuckling, as I was, but consider your inner nerd and the fact that if this kind of playing were done on the Nintendo Wii it would be considered cool.

I haven’t been able to find anything in the media about Temple closing yet, and I never saw any prediction of its end either. So I haven’t been able to verify the rumor. From what I’ve read about Pham and his restaurants, he is the goldenboy of culinary modernity, with sheek atmospheres and satisfying and sophisticated food. His other restaurants are successful, so what made this one a flop? (If it has, in fact, flopped.) Perhaps it was the French-Asian fusion cuisine, perhaps it was the highbrow element, perhaps it was the prices, but I doubt it was the naked sushi.

I never made it over to Temple, as it wasn’t in my immediate price range, so I can’t testify to its quality and performance. Either way, it’s too bad that another restaurant has gone under–it takes so much effort, capital, and PR to get one running in the first place. Not that Pham doesn’t have other projects to manage.

From what I can tell, a no-match list consists of people whose social security numbers do not match their names and other personal information, therefore not validating their eligibility to work in the States. This sample employee no-match letter from the National Immigration Law Center asserts that a no-match does not mean termination of employment, and that no-matches may be clerical errors, or something else not necessarily indicative of “illegal” status.

However, the Department of Homeland security has been trying to install a law requiring employers to terminate no-match employees. The law, according to the NY Times, was blocked last October to protect businesses, but the DHS is trying to impose it again.

I think there is some debate as to whether D’amico and Partners was discriminating against Latino employees, or if the company was within its legal jurisdiction. An employer can pay a massive fine for not providing valid social security information for no-match employees, so I can see why nervous human resources departments might take stringent action with this no-match law dangling over their heads. In a company-wide letter to employees issued on March 31st, which I have a hard copy of, D’amico said that it gave no-match employees over seven months to resolve their information, and provided a Spanish interpreter in September 2007 to aid in resolution. The no-match law faltered last October, so the company was clearly trying to protect itself early. But since the law was blocked, it seems that employers are now doggy-paddling in a gray area between discrimination and illegal employment of immigrants.

In an article on the myths and realities of Mexicans in Minnesota originally run in the Pioneer Press, Bruce Corrie says:

They take our jobs: If this statement is aimed at citizens, it is wrong, as these workers compete in the market for work. If it is aimed at undocumented workers, the kinds of jobs these workers do are in the low-wage, back-breaking, finger-numbing and high-turnover tasks that most people do not want to do.

I’m inclined to agree, and having worked in restaurants for over a decade, I can attest to the large percentage of staff that is Latino and/or of immigrant status in both the front and the back of the house. They often start with the work that many people won’t deign to do for minimum wage, then work their way up to better positions. I’ve chatted with servers who have mentioned that their Minneapolis restaurants have been compelled to let people go too, some places finding themselves shortstaffed and having to find temporary help.

It’s led me to wonder who is going to take the biggest blow from stricter immigration laws, which I think is a common debate these days. A Mexican co-worker of mine posited that it could be the States, because “Mexicans lose their jobs and have to go home, but you don’t have us anymore.” Which is a good point, the States would lose a large portion of the workforce and the money those people put back into the economy through consumption.

So, maybe we’re not feeling the full effect yet, but getting a meal at your local grub hub may take longer and longer because the place is shortstaffed, due to the government deciding that things just don’t match. And that would be just the beginning.