The war on women continues

Democrats kill bill banning selective-sex abortions. The mothers killing their fetus are killing girls, not boys, yet the Democrats see nothing wrong with the practice. Yes, of course this is just a political ploy to embarrass Democrats, but it’s embarrassing only because it brings into the spotlight the exact implications of the Democrat’s “if it breeds it bleeds” philosophy.

Would they object if the don’wannabemomies were offing boys? Who knows, but this does tend to undercut the war on women meme. I mean, Romney may (arguably) want to pay them less but he doesn’t want to kill them. At least he doesn’t want to do that.

Name that party!

Get away from me with those handcuffs!

Bloggers have long had fun pointing out that when a Republican politician runs afoul of the law his party affiliation is always prominently mentioned in the first sentence of any  press coverage of the matter while readers/viewers/listeners will search in vain for any such identification when it’s a Democrat ensnared in the honey pot.

Today’s news that Connecticut’s Speaker of the House Chris Donovan has been selling his office is no exception. I first heard the story on Connecticut Public Radio and noticed that the reporter stayed mum on which party Donovan might happen to belong to. And as you’ll see from the linked-to Greenwich Time article, our local rag follows mainstream media’s SOP. (UPDATE: the link now goes to the FBI’s arrest affidavit and not the GT story. Check back later and maybe it will reappear)

As an aside, it baffles me why these pols sell themselves so cheap. Donovan killed a bill that would have heavily taxed “roll your own” cigarette stores for a measly $10,000. So they save millions while he pockets chump change? Of course Donovan has the opportunity to kill or advance hundreds of laws in every legislative session so he can repeat that $10,000 extortion repeatedly, but I’d still think he could have held out for more. You sell your services too cheaply and every schmo on the block will figure he can buy a legislator too.

And that would disrupt the carefully orchestrated beauty of our legislative body.

So who’s surprised?

Drug makers promised to run massive advertising blitz for Obamacare in exchange for Democrats’ promise to block Republican proposals the druggies didn’t like.  I wouldn’t expect a different result had the Republicans been in power and pushing an agenda. The problem here is the huge scope and grasp of the federal government and hence its power to reward its friends and punish its enemies.

More sale prices reported

These went to contract a month or so ago or longer so they don’t speak to the current market (which is dead) but just for your information:

 

One Farwell

1 Farwell Lane, $5.050 million.  This started out as a house and 12 acres way back in 2005 asking $12.650 million. Five brokers and 1,201 days later it expired unsold. it came back in 2008, trimmed down to 6 acres, at $6.495 and after four more years, sold for $5. All small things come to those that wait.

Speaking of small things, 14 Tait Road, new construction in Old Greenwich, sold for $2.925 on an asking price of $2.995. One-quarter acre, a one car garage plus a FARport and only 3,000 square feet, including the basement. five bedrooms if you don’t mind sticking your Filipino below ground.

38 Byfield, asking $2 million, sold for $1.8 even. I liked this house a lot, and if someone were to spend a little money changing the facade to match the very attractive interior, I think they’d be repaid. There was an opportunity to buy this for even less awhile ago but you’ve got to time your bid – don’t dawdle – and come in high enough to get the seller to commit rather than look around for a higher bid. Just saying.

Bidding war

I went out looking for land in Riverside this morning and attended the open house for 19 Hidden Brook, 0.4 acre, R-12, asking $1.495, that just came on. I thought that was a fair price but the agent told me they’d already received 21 offers and were going to sealed bids this afternoon. Lot of pent-up demand for new housing in Riverside.

On the other hand, some other open houses I saw aren’t going anywhere fast. One was offering a gift certificate to whoever came closest to predicting its ultimate selling price, but the gap between what the owner is asking and what I think it’s worth is so wide that it will be a year or more before it sells – who wants to wait a year for a gift certificate?

Another house was, I thought, quite nice, and I figured that it would probably sell close to its asking price, so long as that price was under $2 million. Imagine my surprise when I picked up the listing sheet and discovered it was priced at $4. I might be wrong in my valuation but I’m pretty sure I’m not $2 million wrong.

Rampant corruption, no court system or rule of law, punitive, retroactive taxes on foreign investment: Just bad luck, I guess

India’s growth collapses, lowest in a decade.

This could get him drummed out of the Democrat Party

“And that’s the way it is ….”

From the comments section to an earlier post on affirmative action comes this observation by the (soon-to-be-former) Chairman of the Greenwich Democrats. Have a nice stay in the re-education camp, Frank.

Hey Chris, aren’t Hasidic Jews white males? Last I checked, European descended people are. Or are you instead affirming that only hard working white males who pay their taxes and follow the rules, and don’t identify with a religious group or a particular ethnicity or social group don’t get special favors?

When, after the Tet offensive, Walter Cronkite denounced the Vietnam war during an evening broadcast, Lyndon Johnson is said to have admitted defeat to an aide, saying “if we’ve lost Cronkite, we’ve lost the war”. Could this be a Cronkite moment in the Democrat Party’s war on white men?

UPDATE: Talk about coincidence: “The Cronkite ‘Moment’ exploded”. Oh well, maybe this will be known as “the Fudrucker Moment”

Sale prices reported

502 Cognewaugh, $3.7 million. Yes, this started out a looong time ago at $5.250 million so $1.550 off original list seems like a lot, but sometimes buyers are a bit addled by high start prices and mistake a realistic price for a bargain.

Which I suppose argues for setting that first price in the stratosphere, as long as you’re willing to sit on the property for a couple of years. There’s a Greenwich broker who’s done this for decades, with huge success.

60 cat Rock

And here’s a surprise, to me: 60 Cat Rock Road, a 1980′s contemporary with no mention f any renovations or improvements since it was constructed sold for $1.850, very close to its asking price of $1.995 million. I remind myself as I drive through town and look at houses that hold no particular appeal to me that, if someone lives there, someone’s opinion was different enough from mine to convince him to buy it. And since there are no deserted homes in Greenwich (very few, anyway), it’s obvious that my taste, and that of everyone else, is entirely personal.

What bothers me is that this won’t bother others.

Mayor Bloomberg now wants to dictate what size iced tea you can buy. I personally don’t drink soda – I just don’t like it – but I hate the ever-expanding encroachment on even small personal liberties. We can’t buy working light bulbs, we can’t use plastic bags, we buckle in before driving, don helmets before riding bikes and on and on and on. All those who derided Chief Justice  Robert’s question during the Obamacare argument, wondering whether the government can force people to buy broccoli now know better. Not that they’ll care.

The Times reports, “The proposed ban would affect virtually the entire menu of popular sugary drinks found in delis, fast-food franchises and even sports arenas, from energy drinks to pre-sweetened iced teas. The sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces — about the size of a medium coffee, and smaller than a common soda bottle — would be prohibited under the first-in-the-nation plan, which could take effect as soon as next March.”

RELATED: Bloomberg endorses Charles Rangel, Slurpee poster boy. Rangel is Bloomberg’s kind of politician. ‘Nuff said.