Tom Krugman says that we can have a medical care system every bit as good as England’s if we just try hard enough – no thanks

I see nothing the matter, praise Allah!

Woman dies as Muslim nurse finishes his prayers. Actually, although the news article focuses on a lying, callous Muslim head nurse, the entire description of nursing home care as provided by this institution is pretty damn depressing – the old lady never had a prayer.

(h/T, Richard)

You want us to arrest someone? Alright, we’ll arrest someone!

Florida cops arrest ten-year-old for felony burglary of a bicycle. He did leave his tricycle behind as a sort of swap, but that wasn’t enough to enable him to escape the long arm of the law. Judging from his name, I suspect that the child is black. I’d think Reverend Al and his pals could better shift their attention to this foolishness and if they did, I’d support them.

There was a time when the choice between heating your home with natural gas or oil was a toss-up. No longer.

Natural gas prices hit a ten-year low today. Home heating oil is what, Five bucks a gallon? Ouch, and so far as I know, you can’t get gas north of the Merritt so all those big houses are growing more expensive to heat every day. We need more pipelines up there, but the population density is probably too low to justify the expense. I smell a new government program!

 

Well I didn’t mean WE couldn’t, jackass

Obummer, 2009: You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas on the taxpayers’ dime”.

Today: Michelle and the girls landing in Las Vegas on a family trip.

The contempt these nouveau rich hillbillies have for the American public exceeds all bounds. That older girl of theirs was just in Mexico for the past two weeks and now they’re off on another spree? Does she actually attend that private school of hers or does a guaranteed graduation come with the fee?

Hawaii for Christmas, Aspen for Winter Vacation, Mexico for Spring Break and now Vegas. All at a time when the Great Divider is calling for “shared sacrifice”. Uh huh.

What do you make of this?

The Feds have arrested that Jet Blue pilot who went nuts the other day and he’s facing twenty years in jail.The press has disclosed the details of his erratic behavior but so far, nothing else, so I’ll reserve judgment (something our president might practice next time he’s tempted to engage in a little race baiting). For instance, blood tests at the hospital might have shown drugs in his system or alcohol, and that would justify his arrest.

But just from what the public knows, the poor man seems to have gone completely out of his mind and that is not a crime in America – no evil intent, no crime (well, except for environmental laws, but that’s another discussion). Why the arrest, then and, if he’s to be arrested, why not disclose the reason? “Interfering with a flight crew” tells us nothing we didn’t know, but why did he do it?

Is this some kind of bizarre reaction to the Zimmerman case in Florida, showing that the feds will arrest white people? That seems incredibly far-fetched, but here’s another theory, maybe not quite so unlikely: the TSA wants to show how tough it is. They have a track record of harassing nonagenarians and infants and everyone in between, so a deranged pilot would fit into their target range – hell, there’s no one who isn’t in their target range.

So I’m puzzled by this rush to indictment, and I’m interested in seeing how this plays out.

One bear helping another

Waiting for Tesei

69-year-old nude hiker attacked by a mountain lion, saved by a mama bear. Happened in California (all) naturally.

Nothing, absolutely nothing gets by the E. Hartford Police

Dead sheep found next to burned candles and other accoutrements of some wacko sacrificial religion (I’d start with the Haitians and move on to the Democrat Underground).

There was blood on the ground near the candles, said Lt. Rick Soto of the East Hartford Police.

---

Police suspect the sheep had been killed, he said. It was removed from the water and disposed of.

Police are investigating

Dead things drenched in blood often suggest that conclusion.

An accepted offer on Summit Road in Riverside

72 Summit

72 Summit, priced at $2.095 million. This one is no surprise at all, comparing it to other houses in the price range (although I did think that Lake Drive South house asking $1.895 offered a better location and almost – not quite, but almost – as much house. I wonder if these buyers lost out on Lake or just came later to the Riverside circus? The owners really did a fine job of renovation.

So what was there out there to see on Broker Open House Day?

Well, I trekked over to Martindale, mostly because of brother Gideon’s (false) promise of food. Saw a decent, if sideways piece of land and a beautiful house. Unfortunately, they were on two separate lots. And just as a by-the-bye, what’s with aluminum gutters on a $4.5 million house?

19 Boulder Brook

I was surprised by 19 Boulder Brook, asking $3.295. I walked in, saw a rather dated kitchen, thought ho-hum, and then went up a side stair and found a neat guest suite – sitting room, artists studio, bedroom and bath. Continuing, there are more children’s bedrooms with two baths on the opposite side of the hallway – hey, that’s how houses were built back in the ’60s so get over it – it’s a perfectly workable, livable arrangement. Nicely updated master bedroom.

Back to that “dated” kitchen, it has a bumped-out section to make it an eat-in, and off that are a number of family, dining and whatever rooms. The total effect was that of a charming house with character and one that would be a great place to raise a family.

The house itself has new double-pane windows, a slate roof, beautiful pool and patio and a nice lawn. I hadn’t expected any 60’s house, even renovated, to be this good but to my taste, it’s a fine one.

17 Shore Road

I also liked 17 Shore Road, asking $1.799 million. It’s small, but the owners, with the help of a good architect have made good use of what space there is. The tiny back yard backs up to Innis Arden’s golf course so it feels absolutely huge. New kitchen with large room off it, updated baths and an incredible-looking German (? Looks German) high-efficiency furnace – hey, guys notice these things or should, given the cost of fuel today. Good house.

Neither of these houses may be for you – Gideon pointed out this morning that real estate agents are like movie critics who see eight movies a day, most of which are stale varieties of the same three or four plot lines that have been around since our grandfather was vamping with Greta Garbo. When something totally different comes along the critics love it just for the relief from boredom it supplies. “Hairspray”, Gideon posited, is such an example.

Same thing with us agents. Since a spec builder wants to sell his house, he designs it to be as least-objectionable to as many people as possible, with the result that after seeing a few hundred of them we can tour them blindfolded and tell you exactly what’s in the house and where it’s located. So houses like these two whose owners have adapted the house to their needs and tastes over the years they’ve lived there, are far more interesting than when they were first built. But interesting to me may not be at all what you’re looking for, so be forewarned.

Ain’t capitalism grand?

Best Buy shuttering many of its “big box” stores, rethinking business strategy as customers flock to Amazon. And one day it will be Amazon’s turn, but that’s how the market is supposed to work. When the Big Box stores were gobbling up the retail landscape there were cries for government intervention, cries that were heard in NYC, Chicago and probably San Francisco, but now they’re mostly gone – the consumer will speak.

When I was a mere lad, the big concern was conglomerates. I remember a cover story in Newsweek on the subject in which they went on and on about ITT owning Scotts Lawn Care and rental car agencies and warned that within a few years, probably around the same time as the arrival of that ice age they were so worked up about back then, a few conglomerates would own the world. Turned out, conglomerates weren’t very good at running multiple businesses, the companies were split up and the economy went on. We’ll survive the demise of the Big Box, too.

Here’s hoping the kids’ unemployment payments will help them afford the higher price

Look out below!

After the city raised the minimum wage to $10.24 this January, Subway stores can no longer afford to sell submarine sandwiches for $5. Well, since raising the minimum will make teenagers wealthier, I guess they’ll be able to fork over the extra dough.

Busted flat on Stag Lane

42 Stag Lane

A reader brought to my attention the recent bank sale of 42 Stag Lane for $725,000. This 6-acre parcel backing up to the Merritt had been in the foreclosure process for years (8?) and finally succumbed. The ridiculous thing is that, although the owner paid $1.375 for it  in 2004 and probably overpaid at that, he put it back on the market in 2006, unchanged or improved, for $2.5 million and by so doing, guaranteed this past month’s outcome. I’m pretty sure it’s been vacant for years, too, so he didn’t even get the benefit of rent-free living all those years. As a broker, I wouldn’t have accepted the listing at such a stupid price but as always, there will be someone around who will.

Two Cos Cob Surprises

138 Cat Rock

138 Cat Rock, asking $3.750 million, has an accepted offer. I loved this house and said so but I wondered at the effect of the house next door selling via short sale for $2.3 million just last May. Apparently the answer is “nothing”, which is good news for my clients, who bought that house next door.

 

40 N. Stone Bridge

And 40 North Stone Bridge (listing is attached to Cat Rock’s) has a contract after just a few days exposure, presumably very close to its asking price of $2.6 million. The Stone Bridge area hasn’t seen that level of pricing in years and I wonder whether the market has recovered that much or someone just really liked this house.