Tag: miscellaneous

Why Personal Honor Matters

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Why Personal Honor Matters

New Trend In Sacramento: ‘Intentional Foreclosure’

SACRAMENTO (CBS13)

Linda Caoli helps lots of families on the verge of losing their homes, including a single mom working two jobs to pay her mortgage.

“She says Linda the house across the street, same model, with more upgrades sold in foreclosure for $315,000!” explains Linda.

Her client isn’t the only one thinking about ditching her house to buy the better deal across the street. A number of realtors CBS13 talked to say it’s already happening.

“Can you imagine if you had a same or similar home and your mortgage was half the price?” asks Linda.

This is how it works. Bob paid $420,000 for his home. Then he notices the house across the street, with more upgrades, and is selling for $315,000.

So Bob, who has pretty good credit, decides to buy the cheaper house. He can’t afford both, so then he walks away from his original home, letting it fall into foreclosure. That will hurt his credit, but he’s willing to take the hit for a more affordable home.

“Is it wrong to steal when you’re hungry? That’s an issue that a lot of people are trying to figure out right now,” says Linda.

Caoli is sympathetic, but she doesn’t endorse the practice of it. Other real estate agents we talked to were far more critical, calling them cheaters. They say the banks take a huge hit when their homes foreclose, and in the end, we all end up paying the price.

I’ve heard of people just walking away from their mortgages when they discover they owe far more than the house is currently worth, but this one is new to me.

There’s a thread at AR15.com on the topic, and here are some of the comments:

The turd here has finally circled the bowl and entered the sewage system.

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Who cares … the people who continue to play by the rules continue to get the shit end of the stick. If you can find a way to work the system to your advantage, why the hell not?

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I agree. Being honorable only makes you poor and sticks you paying for the costs of the less scrupulous.

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I’m not in that situation.

But, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t consider it if I was.

I come first. Plain and simple. If I can see a benfit in reducing my bottom line and not fucking myself over, I’m probably going for it.

There is a limit to honor. Especially when illegal aliens get breaks and I don’t.

Anyone who doesn’t see this is a fool.

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A few months ago I would have said Bob was a piece of shit. Now I see him as smarter than me. The US seems to be on it’s way out as the country that we all know and love. All bets are off in this new country of hope and change.

I concur with the “turd circling the bowl” comment, myself. We’re a far cry now from “I could not love thee, dear, so much, loved I not honor more.”

Who is it that’s going to restore our lost Constitution again?

If you haven’t read it, I will again recommend James Bowman’s Honor: A History, a study of the death of honor in Western culture.

4:10 of Pure Physical Coordination

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4:10 of Pure Physical Coordination

I just got this by email, and I realize that it was so two years ago, but just DAMN! Turn your sound on.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8f8drk5Urw&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344]
Synchronized juggling. Now THAT should be an Olympic event!

We Keep Losing Them

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We Keep Losing Them

You entered the plane on a rickety jump ladder in the tail, walked through the fuselage filled with wooden ammo boxes and gun emplacemements, climbed around the retracted ball that was his home for forty missions, and then had to walk on a catwalk less than a foot wide between the bomb racks to get to the cockpit. All this for a man who needs a walker. – Sippican Cottage, My Father Asks for Nothing

Read it all.

(h/t PrinceWally)

Doing the Jobs Americans Just Won’t Do

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Local authorities call the wave of kidnappings an epidemic. According to the Associated Press, some of the hostages have their fingers, legs, and heads cut off; while others are bound and gagged in pools of water before being zapped with electrical devices. If the victim is female, she is often raped while her husband is forced to listen on the other end of a telephone line. If their demands aren’t met, corpses are soon discovered in the desert, gunshot wounds to the skull and body.

Do these descriptions originate from Afghanistan, a brutal Iraqi prison, or the war-torn region of Somalia? No, all these reports came directly from the southwest portion of the United States. Specifically, Brian Ross of ABC News reported, “Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside Mexico City, and over 370 cases last year alone.”

On average, this means there is one kidnapping every day. Arizona radio host Darrell Ankarlo says two or three abductions go unreported for every one that is. The vast majority of kidnappings are connected to Mexican drug cartels and illegal immigrants coming across the border. Phoenix Police Department detective Phil Roberts states quite clearly, “Phoenix is ground zero for illegal narcotics smuggling and illegal human smuggling in the United States.”

The motive is obvious. Whereas drug dealing and scurrying illegals through the desert brings in billions of dollars, Tim Gaynor of Reuters reported that “ransoms can range from $50,000 to $1 million.”

The reason kidnappers demand such a high price is because their targets are often “coyotes” — drug smugglers or dealers who carry large amounts of cash. As Detective Roberts said, “There’s a lot of illegal cash out there in the valley, and a lot of people want to get their hands on it.”

Kidnappings have largely been contained to the Mexican crime underworld. Although overseen by drug lords, the actual perpetrators are illegal aliens looking for a quick buck, or cheap Mexican laborers. Sam Quinones of the L.A. Times describes the process used to locate these “grunts.”

“Certain Phoenix bars are known as places where kidnappers recruit, much the way builders go to Home Depot to hire day laborers.” – Arizona as Dangerous as ‘Pakistan,’ Says Top Phoenix Cop

Read the whole thing. The “reporter” is a flake, but the facts are accurate.

I think I need to go to the local gun shop and pick me up a bazooka.

Work, Work, Work, Work, Work.

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Work, Work, Work, Work, Work.

Sorry about the lack of posting. Lots going on with work. By the time I sat down tonight to eat dinner and check the blogs it was 8:00PM, and my bedtime is 9:00. I just don’t have time to A) read much, or B) write anything. But traffic is up.

This seems to be a trend – the less I say, the more people read it.

You’d think I’d learn something from this . . .

Damned Good Game

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Damned Good Game

It’s over. Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Arizona Cardinals 23. I didn’t expect the Cardinals to win, but there near the end of the 4th quarter . . .

The Steelers were the better team, and deserved the victory, but, just, DAMN!

The Cardinals have nothing to apologize for. They played all the way to the end, and they played hard. They never gave up. And they came that close.

Now that they know they can, let’s see if their record improves next year.

Wow. That was actually worth watching.