LEE RODGERS"TRIBUTES" TO TRAYVON ...
UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN? NOT REALLY ...
CAREFUL ABOUT BUYING FOREIGN PROPERTY!
UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN? NOT REALLY ...
CAREFUL ABOUT BUYING FOREIGN PROPERTY!
I will be conspicuous by my absence for a few days. I'm taking some time off for R & R ... expect to return to this space on the 16th, tanned, rested and ready. Meantime, please hold the e-mails.
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"Remember Trayvon!" was the shout from a half-dozen black youths who surrouned Dallas Watts, a 78-year-old man from East Toledo, Ohio. They then proceeded to beat him up, one knocking him down with a blow to the back of the head, another kicking him in the chest. Then the others joined in kicking him, shouting , "Get that white man. This is for Trayvon ... Trayvon lives, white man. Kill that white man!"
Mr. Watts, who served in Vietnam, said he has never kept a gun in his house. Now he plans to buy a weapon and get a permit to carry it. Perhaps Ohio could use a "stand your ground" law, a la Florida.
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Longtime Washington D.C. mayor and currently city council member Marion Barry, doper (remember his remark upon being caught smoking crack cocaine, "The bitch set me up!") and demonstrably a racist, is running again for a seat on the council. He has won the Democratic primary with the usual overwhelming black support.
His victory speech contained these remarks: “We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops.”
His black fans, who often and loudly complain about racism, avidly support him in his detestable remarks about Asians.
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As a former (for several years) Chicago resident, I was not at all surprised to learn from the Chicago Sun Times that a new study found crime was worse in neighborhoods where former Chicago Housing Authority residents used vouchers to move into privately-owned apartments. From 2000 to 2008, violent crime was 21 percent higher in neighborhoods with high concentrations of voucher-holding former CHA residents — when compared to similar neighborhoods without them. This from the Washington-based Urban Institute.
Property crime also would have been lower without relocated residents in those neighborhoods, the study said.
To any longtime Chicagoan, this is no news whatsoever; everyone's known it for years. When people from the "projects" get taxpayer-subsidized vouchers to move into your neighborhood, you get out -- if you can.
Better to be called "racist" than "victim." Or "the late ... "
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While the Obama administration tells enormous lies about the "improving" unemployment rate, this is the really significant number ...
People who could and should be in the work force, but aren't: an all-time record high of 87,897,000. The zeros are correct -- almost 88 MILLION.
The Obamunists obviously operate under the dictum, "Figures lie ... and liars figure."
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White House spokesweasel Jay Carney just can't stop lying. Carney tells the press corps that President Obama's attack on the Supreme Court was misunderstood because he was speaking in "shorthand" since he is a former professor of law.
No, Jay ... your boss is not, was not and never has been a professor of law. Lecturer, yes ... professor, no. So, again, you're caught in an outright lie.
Even conservative media voices have accepted the falsehood that Barack Obama was a "law professor". He was not. He delivered lectures, but he was never awarded the status of professor. (Source -- University of Chicago Law School ... where he did lecture.)
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I believe this is what's called a "mixed-message."
Our tax-dodging Secretary of the Treasury, Tiny Timmy Geithner, says our long-term commitments are "unsustainable" but that can't be the top priority because the government needs to"do things.We have to be willing to do things, not just cut things.”
Condensed, this dope says our insane government is spending too much, but has to continue doing so even though it's the road to disaster.
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Columnist Mona Charen assesses the price of wholesale illegitimacy ...
"The illegitimacy rate among all Americans has been rising for decades. In 2012, we reached a grim milestone: The majority of births to women under the age of 30 are now outside of marriage. Among blacks, 72 percent of births are to unmarried women. And while some unmarried mothers go on to marry the fathers of their babies, it's rare in the African-American community, where only 31 percent of couples are married (In 1960, it was 61 percent).
"The result of this adult folly is chaos, misery and often violent death for kids. Why do young males join gangs? Because without a father to guide and protect them, they seek physical protection from human predators as well as ratification of their masculinity from the gang. A counselor at a juvenile detention facility in California told the Patriot Post, "(If) you find a gang member who comes from a complete nuclear family, I'd like to meet him. ... I don't think that kid exists." A full 85 percent of youths in prison come from fatherless homes, as do 80 percent of rapists, 71 percent of high school dropouts, and 63 percent of teen suicides."
But do we expect people who create their own "victim" status will learn from this. Sadly ... no.
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A warning about buying property abroad ...
It is easily understood why many Americans would seriously consider buying either a vacation home or a permanent residence in another country, but BE CAREFUL.
Let me relate two instances involving people who live within a mile of my Arizona home.
First, a couple recently arrived after living a few years is Costa Rica, a pleasant and generally peaceful Central America country which is attracting many Americans. So many that real estate prices have reached California levels. They went to Europe on vacation. Gone for only three weeks, they returned to find another family living in their house, which had cost them $375,000.
Local authorities refused to evict the squatters ... the ownership records had mysteriously disappeared from the appropriate government office (Gee, think somebody was bribed?) ... and even after some $20,000 of legal expenses, they were unable to regain their property rights. Their title insurance, obtained from an "international" firm, refused payment. They lost everything.
The second case involves a couple who bought just across the border from Arizona on the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, in the town of Puerto Penasco, also known as Rocky Point. The wife was struck with cancer and had to return to the U.S. for treatment because Medicare is no good outside the U.S. -- won't pay, a point to be remembered.
Fortunately, her treatment was effective and she recovered. But they were away from their Mexican home for a few months. Upon return, they also found a Mexican family living in their house. Authorities refused to evict the squatters; said the house had been "abandoned." The legal owners weren't even allowed to reclaim their possessions from within the house. Total loss.
A personal addendum. When I was active in the travel industry (co-owner of a chain of Chicago travel agencies) and traveled extensively, I bought a beautifully situated hectare (2.47 acres) near the little town of Pythagorio on the island of Samos, Greece. I was young and naive. I'd planned to possibly build a vacation home eventually. It is beautiful; take a look at the website.
Several years later, I learned that squatters had built on the property. In fact, today I can use Google Earth on my computer and look down upon my property -- and the 1 1/2 houses on it! Being of reasonably sound mind, I did and do realize that my chances of evicting Greek squatters from my land on a Greek island is an impossible task. Fortunately my investment was, in today's dollars, quite small. Samos was not on the tourist map at the time.
The point is ... be VERY careful about where you buy abroad. Some countries have property laws as good or better than our own. But some don't -- and Latin America is especially notorious. In many countries, far better to rent than buy. Or better yet, stay out. There are other places where property rights are upheld.
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Burt Prelutsky clarifies the red-blue dichotomy ..
"I have come to the conclusion that the late Tim Russert was a world class practical joker. Why else would he have decided that conservative states would be designated red and liberal states blue when, for about 90 years, the world recognized that red was the color of choice for communist and socialist nations and their flags?
"It made as much sense to suggest that California and Massachusetts should be considered blue and Utah and Oklahoma should be labeled red as to suggest that traffic signals should be reversed so that green means stop and red means go."
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Remember when "liberal" activists were aghast when an investor group that included Rush Limbaugh was reported to possibly be buying the St. Louis Rams of the NFL? Keep alert for any objections to rumors that Keith Olbermann, unemployed uber-leftist, is a minor partner in a group said to be interested in buying baseball's Baltimore Orioles. But don't hold your breath.
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Al Gore's schlocky little cable network, Current TV, is on the verge of losing its exposure in the many households served by Time Warner Cable. Their viewership doesn't reach the (low) minimum threshold. Now the curse Al placed upon himself by hiring Keith Olbermann is suing him for $50 million. Have fun, boys!
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Fox News has hired Jesse Jackson's daughter to do commentary. (No, it's not April Fool's Day and this is not a joke.)
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Hooker headlines ...
Shelley Lynn claims in a lawsuit that she was "economically and psychologically" coerced into prostitution by her ex-husband and former manager at a McDonald's in Arroyo Grande, California.
Thus the definition of the "Happy Meal" is expanded.
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Sheila, a grandmother, on how grandchildren see their grandparents ...
My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"
A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."
When my grandson and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use, Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting." she said. "How do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."
A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties.
"They use him to keep crowds back," said one child.
"No," said another. "He's just for good luck."
A third child brought the argument to a close."They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."
A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."
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Conan O'Brien --
"Allegiant Airlines will start charging $35 extra if you have carry-on bags. Meanwhile, JetBlue is charging $35 extra if you want a pilot who isn't insane."
Jimmy Fallon --
"A Delta flight attendant was removed for acting unstable, but on the bright side he was immediately hired as a pilot for JetBlue."
"...and now, if you'll excuse me..."