I am not playing your stupid games. I don’t care what pronouns you want me to use.
Police State
Sad, but Necessary
It isn’t time yet. The people who would oppose government don’t have enough popular support to win the fight. Yet. That is why scenes like this, as sad and infuriating as they are, have to happen:
The average American isn’t going to take sides unless one side or the other overtly plays the cowboy in the black hat. Scenes where frail old ladies with walkers are trampled by horses and cops butt stroke unarmed protesters who actually ARE peaceful will have to be played dozens of times before support rises to the point where things turn.
Every time a scene like this happens, a few people change their minds. The cops aren’t doing themselves any good by being this heavy handed.
tyranny
You Must Pay
Let’s say that your Florida house has solar installed. Your system is so good that you have enough power to be completely off the grid. You don’t need outside power, so your house only uses about $5 of electricity each month. Too bad for you, because Florida utility companies have recently instituted minimum billing. Even if you don’t use their product, you have to pay them for it.
You can’t even disconnect from them, because Florida law requires all homes to be connected to the electric grid.
This is one of those times where Florida law is a bit too draconian for my taste.
Uncategorized
The Market Will Adjust
New York state is proposing a law that will essentially make all evictions illegal. In other words, communism stage one.
There is one glaring way out. The law only applies to owners of 5 or more rental units. We’re I an owner of a building with more than 5 units, I would form multiple real estate investment corporations, and sell units to them so that each corporation owns no more than 4 units.
Now get out.
Uncategorized
Horse Anatomy
Look at this:
Then review yourself some horse anatomy pictures:
Ask yourself if you would be willing to defend your life against mounted cavalry.
Police State
CCW= Arrest at Gunpoint
A woman in Minneapolis is pulled over for a seatbelt violation and for using a cell phone while driving. The cop who pulls her over sees her CCW in her wallet and loses his shit.
The woman says that this is common behavior for black motorists. I disagree. I had a similar experience at the hands of an Orange County Deputy Sergeant a few years ago. I don’t think it is necessarily a black/white thing. It’s a cop combat mentality thing.
Uncategorized
Going to Zero
The vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway says that the dollar is headed to zero, and inflation is how democracy dies.
Crime
Thief of Air BNB
A man calling himself the “wolf of airbnb” is taking advantage of New York’s eviction moratorium to make hundreds of thousands of dollars. He signs a lease for an apartment, and then simply doesn’t pay the rent. He then lists the apartment on AirBNB, renting it at a profit.
When the property owners finally attempt to evict him, he avoids service of process, sometimes for months. Then he claims hardship. All of this ties up these apartments for months, all while he is illegally renting them out. He is making hundreds of thousands in profit. He owes roughly $450,000 in rent dating to at least February 2020. Even worse, the owners of the property are the ones being fined by the city for running illegal AirBNB operations.
He calls himself a “wolf” because he says he is hungry and ruthless enough to get on top of the financial ladder. I call him a thief. He doesn’t know what ruthless is. One can only hope that he pulls this with the wrong landlord, and that person sends cousin Vito over there to explain to him what ruthless really is.
economics
Price Controls Always Fail
In December, I did a post about rent control. I explained that there are all sorts of steps that property owners can take when the state attempts to control what they can charge in rent. It turns out that landlords in Los Angeles have done exactly that.
During the pandemic, LA passed an ordinance prohibiting landlords from raising rent from one lease period to the next. The definition of increase specifically excluded discounts when calculating base rent. The property owners used that. Let me explain:
The lease says that you can rent my property for $4,000 a month, but I will give you 4 month’s free rent per year, with the free rent being spread across the 1 year term of the lease. So the rent you actually pay is about $2,670 a month. The lease comes to an end, and you want to renew. When you do so, I tell you that I am only going to give you 3 months of free rent this year. That means you will pay me $3,000 a month. Even though you are paying me $330 more a month, I didn’t increase your rent, at least as far as the law is concerned. All I did was reduce your discount.
The tenants say that this is unfair, but I don’t see it as any more unfair than telling a property owner what they can charge for the use of their property. A landlord and a tenant agree to a lease for a one year term. The following year is a completely separate sale. Once the first year’s lease is concluded, that deal is complete. Now we are here to negotiate a completely different agreement.
Imagine if there were a law telling supermarkets that they cannot raise prices. Or a gas station that it can’t raise the price of gas. Or even a car dealership. It’s all been tried before, and price controls always fail in the end.
Uncategorized
Why It Matters.
Imagine that you own a chain of gun stores in Missouri. You are selling about $4 million a year in firearms, where it is completely legal to do so. That would be awesome.
Now let’s say that the government has managed to get all of the local banks and credit card companies to refuse doing business with you, so you are forced to hire an armored car company to transport the proceeds from your cash sales. They pick up the cash in Missouri, and transport it across Illinois to Tennessee.
Now selling guns is illegal in Illinois, so the cops pull over your armored car and confiscate all of your cash. $700,000 of it. Then a week later, they do it again.
That is why I am upset by what is happening in Kansas and California. I don’t care if pot is legal or not, there are rules for searching and seizing property, and this ain’t it. There are two Amendments to the Constitution that say this shouldn’t be happening. But it is.
Amendment 4
– Protection from Unreasonable Searches and SeizuresThe right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment 5
– Protection of Rights to Life, Liberty, and PropertyNo person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
The rights protected by the Constitution aren’t only rights for people that I happen to agree with. They are for everyone. Someone doesn’t lose those rights merely because another person has accused them of being a lawbreaker, even if the accusation is being made by a cop or other government official. ESPECIALLY if that accusation is being made by a cop or other government official.