Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Back to Lighthearted fun....

Ok, OKAY, I will stop with the political ranting. And go back to commenting on the ridiculousness of daily life.

I spent some time listing my condo for rent on a multiple sites (if someone wanted to make money they could start a service that lists rentals in more than one site at a time...ahem).

I decided to peruse the "Housing Wanted" section thinking maybe I'd find a suitable tenant.

What I found was a lot of people living in an alternate reality.

A composite of many ads:

"Looking for a 5bdr, 5 bath, gas stove, living room exactly 20'x 25', pale yellow paint, close to metro, walking distance to cool stuff, we have a 75 lb lovable pitbull who is almost house trained (he's a good boy!), smokers but just tobacco and pot, 2 year old triplets.

We are good people, just have some bad credit. Looking for a chance. Please don't call references, we are honest people.

Rent: Can only pay $800 a month or less.
God bless. "

Note for those of you not in DC you can pay almost $2000 for a 1 bdr near the metro that might be 900 sq feet. There is no such thing as cheap rent.

Ummm.....maybe I'll stay or sell...

Here are some actual ads for your reading pleasure....grammatical or spelling errors included:

"I have an unusual request. Im a just coming out and looking for a temp. room to rent, till my house is ready at the end of the year. Im in my forties, clean hardworking. Im also a nudist at heart and would like to have a place where i can be comfortable clothed or nude. Im a quiet easy going guy"

There was actually ANOTHER completely different ad for a nudist the day before...new DC trend? People can't afford clothes in a recession?

Next ad:
"Maybe, you'd like a LIVE-IN GUARD/CUSTODIAN or MANAGER for a property you have! Speak "passable" Spanish and have a chauffeur's license (with Security Clearance: CLEAR Driving, Police and Health Records included)! Prefer NO pets,and NO liquor stores, schools, houses of worship, etc. nearby because I LIKE QUIET and PRIVACY!"

#3
"Looking for a place to crash 2night possibility with a female.
hey 31 year old male construction worker looking for a room to rent in VA possibility with a female willing to do manual labor around the house the most money at this time i could pay is 400 monthly until i get a better paying job please contact me asap if interested i will be checking my email on every hour please no SPAM !! Drug FREE, Smoke FREE, i have no KIds, I have no PETS, I Do drink beer on the weekends occasionally"

I am confused - does he want to live with a female and he is willing to do manual labor or does he want to live with a female who has to be willing to be manual labor? Punctuation placement is such a vital and underutilized skill these days.

#4
"Ideally I'd love to be in contact with an individual looking to rent out a small area of there home. Someone that is nice that has a welcoming environment. Open communication is important as well, there isn't anything you can't communicate to me if we work together we can create a beautiful harmony built on honesty and respect."

I think people are confusing the personal ads with the housing ads. I don't need or want to like my tenant or have them like me - just pay my rent on time and don't trash my place. Honestly, I'd rent to the nudist if he'd cover my mortgage and promise to keep the blinds closed.

Speaking of the personal ads. There are some real winners there too:

"I am a fairly smart person and have collage under my belt"

"I recently won $20 in the DC lottery . We can order in some food, have some cocktails, my treat."

"I had to get this off of my chest ...I've been in dc for 3 years now and i run into nothing but big women who don't want to do nothing but eat or just chill."

I swear I did not make these up nor did I have to scour the ads to find these - they were all some of the most recently posted - sadly, these are typical.

If Craigslist is any indication of the quality of prospective tenants and men I am destined to stay single and live in this condo forever.

Oh my condo listing can be found here for people with good credit who want to live in harmony: http://shirlingtoncondo.weebly.com/

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Very Well Put

I didn't want to reference other full articles as much as I didn't want this to be a political blog but these desperate times when you can be called un-American when protesting the government by Liberals...(Didn't liberals invent marches and protests?)

Anyway, Paglia articulates my chief frustrations - Obama isn't acting like the leader you all thought (and I secretly hoped) he would be. The White House "Truth" websites, calling protesters "mobs" and accusing them of scare tactics, pitching a bill that isnt really a bill yet since there arre not details, etc...If the Right was doing this (and they did do it and they were called out for it) the media would be tripping over itself in glee and burning them at the stake...Oh wait, the right is still being burned at the stake by the media anyway...

http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2009/08/12/town_halls/index.html
Obama's Healthcare Horror

Paglia grew up in Syracuse - so even though she loves Obama I like this article.

Best lines:
"Blaming obstructionist Republicans is nonsensical because Democrats control all three branches of government. It isn't conservative rumors or lies that are stopping healthcare legislation; it's the justifiable alarm of an electorate that has been cut out of the loop and is watching its representatives construct a tangled labyrinth for others but not for themselves. No, the airheads of Congress will keep their own plush healthcare plan -- it's the rest of us guinea pigs who will be thrown to the wolves."

"And what do Democrats stand for, if they are so ready to defame concerned citizens as the "mob" -- a word betraying a Marie Antoinette delusion of superiority to ordinary mortals. I thought my party was populist, attentive to the needs and wishes of those outside the power structure. And as a product of the 1960s, I thought the Democratic party was passionately committed to freedom of thought and speech."

"What was needed for reform was an in-depth analysis, buttressed by documentary evidence, of waste, fraud and profiteering in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Instead what we've gotten is a series of facile, vulgar innuendos about how doctors conduct their practice, as if their primary motive is money."

Hello Pot - Meet Kettle...

I just can’t get over about the backlash against the people who are exercising their 1st amendment right at these health care forums.

Protests and debates seem to be spun in a much more positive light when it’s a liberal issue.

Protests greet Bush's first speech as ex-president
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52G6PP20090317

“More than 100 protesters chanted "war criminal" and flung shoes in Calgary on Tuesday, angry that former U.S. President George W. Bush was in the Canadian city to give his first speech since leaving the White House.”

No backlash about this to be found anywhere in Al Gore’s Internet.

Oh, I see...THIS is a liberal protest so it’s ok. I get it. Because throwing shoes is nowhere near as bad as raising your voice in a town hall meeting.

You can’t suddenly demand more civility when you have acted in the same way the past.

Hello, Pot - Meet Kettle.

Though if you read this article – you can see the rhetoric is the same but the players are different.

Unions Protest Against Bush's Social Security Proposal
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/politics/01labor.html

“The protests are part of a huge effort that labor has mounted, packing congressmen's town meetings with union members, pressuring investment firms to stop backing Mr. Bush's proposal and collecting tens of thousands of signatures to denounce his call for personal Social Security investment accounts.”

WAIT – you mean to tell me those efforts were ORGANIZED by LABOR?

And now the health care efforts might be organized by BUSINESS?

The Horror!

Health care protests 'clearly being orchestrated,' senator says
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/09/health.care/index.html

“…This is clearly being orchestrated, and these folks have instructions. They come down from a Texas lobbyist in Washington." Sen. Durbin (D)

OF COURSE THEY ARE BEING ORHESTRATED – THIS IS HOW IT WORKS! For the LOVE OF….

Wow, I must be a moron to think that people just magically mobilized and showed up for town hall meetings without a leader?

C’mon people, you are smarter than this. Just because you want government to be all pure and idealistic doesn’t mean it really is. This is how our system works and why it has worked for 233 years. Both sides debate and we don’t go tearing off too far in one direction and we get something that works. Yes, this is coming from someone who wants our government to be teeny. It works sometimes when it’s done right.

It’s sad really. We should be happy that people are participating in the process rather than let 435 +1 (the President) bozos make decisions without our input.

It is increasingly arrogant and for the President and Congress to NOT encourage debates.

You can’t lead by idealism and warm and fuzzies – the people should demand details.

This President is fanning the divisions – by pitting insurance and Pharma* companies as the bad guys and having people come up and tell their one-off sob health care stories. And most importantly, he is fanning these divisions by not giving us ANY details on the actual plan. I've been online for HOURS and can't figure out anything beyond "More of the 15% of people without health insurance will get insurance, and the rich people are paying for it".

For every sob story, there are 1000 people who can say "Um, yea, I pay my premiums every month and when I go to the Doctor my insurance company pays for it and for my pills too...Well, I pay for some of it but not too much when you think about how much it really costs...Funny how that works..."

Are there some problems? Yes. Do we need to do something? Yes? Do we need to do everything and do it fast? No. Do we need to know the exact details on how this will be done, costs, etc...YES.

What is so wrong with that?

I hope the debates get louder until we get a solution that is viable and sustainable without unfairly putting the entire burden on hardworking people who happen to make more money than someone else.


*I also believe (and I am entitled to my opinion, don't yell at me, be civil! hahah) that Pharma companies are being unfairly demonized by people who do not understand how much time, risk and money it costs to discover a new drug.

More than $800 million and 10 years (found on Al Gore’s Internet).

It costs a lot of money to pay for people who are smart enough to do the research, do the research, do the trials, get FDA approval and go to market. I will concede they could spend less on advertising but other than that – the first pill costs $800 million – is it so wrong for a company to have assumed a 10 year almost $1billion risk to charge $400 for 30 days of pills? Most of you will say yes - but explain to me why?

And, generic drugs, which cost less, have a lower standard (set by the govt) of effectiveness. I don’t recall the actual numbers but there is a 10 or 15% swing in how less effective a generic can be compared to a brand name. I recently switched from a brand name ($250 a month to my insurance company and $60 a month for me) medication to a generic ($10 a month) and suffered from a lack of any actual effect and very bad side effects. I prefer the more expensive pill - and I should and will pay the difference. In all fairness, my insurance premiums should go up because I choose the more expensive treatment. I see nothing wrong with that.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Mob vs Rally

How come when Conservatives take to the streets to protest its called a "mob"?

(I'm offended as an Italian-American, smirk...)

"Democrats say Republicans staging town hall protests"
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/05/town.halls/


"I have never had neighbors cut off with the Republican-organized mob-type conduct of last Saturday," Doggett told CNN in a statement.


...But when Liberals march and protest its called a "rally"?

"Hundreds in Chicago rally for health care reform"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-healthcarerally-i,0,3996767.story


Actually I think its called the 1st amendment in either case. And debate is good.