Obama on stay-at-home moms: we don’t want them

He’s certainly done his best to ensure that result by making it nearly impossible for single-income families to get by, but for O and his liberates, that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.

During a speech in Rhode Island today, President Obama called for more taxpayer-spending on pre-school in order to “make sure that women are full and equal participants in our economy” and said the following:

Sometimes, someone, usually mom, leaves the workplace to stay home with the kids, which then leaves her earning a lower wage for the rest of her life as a result. And that’s not a choice we want Americans to make.

Only in Obama Land is the choice of one parent to stay at home and raise the children considered a negative thing; The “progressive” vision is a world where children are placed in state-run day care centers to be raised by federal employees, while the parents both go to exciting jobs in cubicles so they can pay more in taxes and keep the government growing.

So when Obama says of stay-at-home parents,”that’s not a choice we want them to make”, it would be a mistake to think he doesn’t mean it.

“Typical British Family”

RELATED: Leftists in Britain spent £100,000 of taxpayer funds on statue of “Typical British Family “: Two women walking with their children, one pregnant with another, and no fathers. Daily Mail columnist Amanda Platell is not amused, and she gets it exactly right:

So why does the Left put single mums on a pedestal — literally?

It is perhaps because they can control them by keeping them dependent on the State for survival.

A single mum is far more likely to rely on benefits and is thus beholden to the State for her income and well-being.

At election time, few who are dependent on welfare are likely to vote for a Conservative party that has vowed to clamp down on benefits culture and champion the traditional family.

And so the Left’s client-state survives and thrives, perpetuating a cycle of dependency through successive generations, almost invariably squashing aspiration, endeavour and self-reliance in its path.

Research consistently shows that children raised in a home without a father figure present are more likely to suffer poor health, do badly at school and fall into crime or drug abuse when they are teenagers.

I hardly think that’s something to be celebrated with a statue.

How desperate is the Democrat’s cash crunch?

Desperate enough to set Obama robbing fundraising at Dunkin Donuts.

Or maybe he just thinks he’s a cop.

 

Real estate

The market continues in the doldrums, but here’s a bit of news

227 Riverside Avenue

227 Riverside Avenue, asking $2.495 million, is under contract. The listing claims it “faces coveted Terrace Avenue”, which is not a term I’ve heard applied to Terrace before, but it’s a nice house.

25 Willowmere Ave

25 Willowmere, also in Riverside, also has a deal pending. Asking price, $2.295.

Other than that, a handful of rentals, period.

Speaking of being paid for incompetence ….

Today’s Obama schedule has been released.  Gets his daily briefing at 10:15 and will be in Rhode Island fund raising less than an hour later. Interesting that the flight up takes 55 minutes, assuming he receives his 10:15 briefing on his way to the airport, and the flight back requires an hour-and-twenty minutes. Headwinds?

by KEITH KOFFLER on OCTOBER 31, 2014, 12:16 AM

10:15 am || Receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
11:10 am || Delivers remarks; Rhode Island College, Providence, Rhode Island
12:50 pm || Departs Rhode Island
2:10 pm || Arrives Joint Base Andrews
5:15 pm || Welcomes local children and children of military families to trick-or-treat at the White House

Oops! But really, to worry is to fall into Republican-manufactured hysteria

CDC now admits that Ebola can be spread by sneezing. “Our previous statements to the countrary are now inoperative”, White House Ebola spokeswoman Mary Mallon told FWIW.

Ebola is a lot easier to catch than health officials have admitted — and can be contracted by contact with a doorknob contaminated by a sneeze from an infected person an hour or more before, experts told The Post Tuesday.

“If you are sniffling and sneezing, you produce microorganisms that can get on stuff in a room. If people touch them, they could be” infected, said Dr. Meryl Nass, of the Institute for Public Accuracy in Washington, DC.

Nass pointed to a poster the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quietly released on its Web site saying the deadly virus can be spread through “droplets.”

“Droplet spread happens when germs traveling inside droplets that are coughed or sneezed from a sick person enter the eyes, nose or mouth of another person,” the poster states.

Nass slammed the contradiction.

“The CDC said it doesn’t spread at all by air, then Friday they came out with this poster,” she said. “They admit that these particles or droplets may land on objects such as doorknobs and that Ebola can be transmitted that way.”

Dr. Rossi Hassad, a professor of epidemiology at Mercy College, said droplets could remain active for up to a day.

“A shorter duration for dry surfaces like a table or doorknob, and longer durations in a moist, damp environment,” Hassad said.

The CDC did not respond to a request for comment.

The CDC refused to respond to reporters’ questions on this contradiction yesterday, except to remove, without comment, the “fact” sheet that had tipped them off.

The fact sheet was taken off line, and a link that led to it a day before now sends viewers to a different page with a different message.

“The ​’​What’s the difference between infections spread through air or by droplets?​’​ ​f​act sheet is being updated and is currently unavailable. Please visit cdc.gov/Ebolafor up-to-date information on Ebola,” it read​ Thursday​.

​Officials ​with the CDC ​remained mum on the issue, refusing to respond to questions for the original story and again on Thursday.

Is trading on Wall Street really this easy?

I’m sure they haven’t, but how low a hurdle is that?

Sage Kelly has been (temporarily – he’s going on paid leave) forced out of his $7 million job at Jefferies & Co., not for non-performance but because his customers are embarrassed to be associated with him.

The Wall Street bigwig accused by his soon-to-be ex of being a bed-soiling, drug-abusing wife-swapper was benched Thursday from his investment-banking job — as dirty details of his divorce reported by The Post began to cost his firm clients.

In the interim, Kelly, who rakes in $7 million a year as head of health-care investment banking at Jeffries, will be replaced by Ben Lorello, one of nearly 20 high-ranking execs accused by Christina of being part of her hubby’s cocaine-abusing posse. Kelly is on paid leave.

As a result of the highly publicized matrimonial spat, Jefferies has lost five clients — including one who was mid-deal and cited a “morality clause” in its contract with the company, Fox Business reported.

But the stunning allegations in Christina’s 26-page sworn affidavit — which include claims that Kelly urinated and defecated in bed and on the floor after booze and drug binges — are just “the tip of the iceberg,” a source who used to work with Kelly at their prior firm told The Post.

Kelly, Lorello and co-worker Dung Nguyen — whose wife, Jessica, allegedly engaged in steamy pool sex with Sage Kelly, Christina claimed in court papers — are a group of “ruthless and completely self-serving sociopaths” who loved to party, the source said.

“Many of us left because of the challenges of working in that group. It was honestly a miserable place to work — a complete boys’ club run by Ben,” the source added.

The source said he has hung out with the hard-partying honchos at hot spots like Marquee, Bungalow 8 and PM — and he added that he has “seen Sage pass out and lose his bladder control numerous times.”

During one particularly rowdy night out with a client, Kelly, 42, racked up a $28,000 bill at Scores strip club in Chelsea, the source claimed.

“In typical Sage fashion, he stuck the analyst with the tab. Poor kid almost had a nervous breakdown trying to figure out how to run it through as an expense,” the source said.

Note that Kelly isn’t accused of not making money from his trades; indeed he’s being paid millions of dollars for, presumably his stellar results, and many of his peers receive that much money or more for their own trading activity. But from what I know about Wall Street, Kelly’s behavior – except for soiling his bedsheets, which no one has ever confessed to me – is not atypical, so what’s up? Do these people have such remarkable recuperative powers that they can stay out til 4:00 doing booze, coke and strippers and then stagger into work at 6 and trade effectively, or is what they do really so simple that they can succeed at it even with impaired judgment and at 1/4 capacity?

Either way, nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

It seems the Democrats have jumped into the abyss of total hysteria

$450,000 ad campaign in Colorado tells male voters that Republican candidate Cory Gardner is going to take away their condoms.

For the record, Gardner supports making birth control pills available over the counter which will make them cheaper, “so that’s like, really banning them, see?”

Scumbags.

Well he showed poor judgment in his real estate purchases too

One Lawrence Herzing, 329 Riversville Road, has been arrested and accused of embezzling millions from the hedge fund he works (worked) for, a period of theft that extended from 2004-2013.

 

The Once and Future 329 Riversville

Herzing is the dupe who last year paid $2.575 million for the house under the Merritt Parkway, a property that sat unfinished and exposed to the weather from 2008 until 2013 as the spec builder’s project went through foreclosure. Someone bought the place from the bank and finished it, but then had to wait for a buyer spending other people’s money to appear. That someone was Larry.

On the bright side, he probably won’t have to worry about any structural flaws revealing themselves in the years to come.

Sales, contracts, and price cuts

3 Mill Pond Court

3 Mill Pond Court, Cos Cob, asked for $769,000 and sold via multiple bids for $775,750.

14 Cove Ridge Lane

14 Cove Ridge Lane, a tear-down directly across from the Fountain hovels on Ole’s Creek, sold for $2.787,500, bless its heart.

10 Perryridge

10 Perryridge Road, asking $1.675 million, reports a contract. 

Greyledge – ugly is as ugly does

And 137-133 Doubling Road, three building lots, is marked down today to $9.250 million, a substantial discount from when it first appeared on the scene in Juy, 2011, asking $15.5 million. This was the site of the old Bolling estate, “Greyledge”, which these sells purchased for $7.6 million in 2000. They tried unloading it in 2004 for $8.2 and when they couldn’t, they purchased an additional bit of land, tore down Greyledge and have subsequently kept the police blotter (well, the ex-wife has) busy with their light-hearted frolics. In fairness to the couple, who were called historical vandals and worse for knocking the pile of stones down, it was truly one ugly house, and won’t be missed – not by me, anyway.

That’s not true, actually; he’s got his fellow Democrats, and always has

Democrats flee the convention

“There’s a massive disconnect between The White House and everyone else”, Democrats are claiming, but that’s whistle thinking, not reality, as Obama himself just reminded voters: Democrats have supported my agenda”

The Hill:

President Obama delivered a blow to Democratic Senate candidates looking to distance themselves from his flagging approval ratings Monday, saying lawmakers avoiding him on the campaign trail were “strong allies and supporters” who have “supported my agenda in Congress.”

The fact that he’s exactly right is irrelevant to his fellow Democrats, who are seeking cover, cover which he just denied them. In Washington, that’s called “throwing them under the bus”, but his colleagues should have realized long ago that with Barry, it’s all about him; hurt his feelings at your peril.

Okay, if not Snickers bars, how about nose candy?

Teacher’s orders: taking a break from cocaine during school recess.

Edinburgh schools distribute pamphlets on “safe” drug use to 13-year-old students.

The leaflet, which targets pupils as young as 13, gives ‘safety tips’ on how to take illegal substances and was produced by Edinburgh council and the city’s Drug and Alcohol Project.

The booklet includes street names for drugs, the ‘effects and risks’ of taking them and finally ‘safety tips’ for those ‘determined to use’ drugs.

Pupils are advised to ‘sleep well’ before and after using cocaine, avoiding mixing with alcohol, to ‘wash out your nose after each session’ and to ‘avoid sharing rolled-up bank notes or straws’.

When taking MDMA or ecstasy, children are told to ‘start with a half a pill and wait at least two hours before re-dosing’ and to ‘sip water regularly’ but no more than ‘one pint an hour’. They are also advised to ‘take regular breaks from dancing to cool down.’

Agnes Morrison of the Maxie Richards Foundation, an anti-drugs charity said: ‘I don’t know why anybody would put out a leaflet telling teenagers the safe way of taking drugs.

‘There is no safe way to take drugs. Drugs destroy people so why would you want to put together a leaflet?

‘I’ve never come across anything like this. I know they are putting them in schools and that there is other educational information in there.

‘But a lot of kids who do not know anything about drugs might read it and get the impression that there is a safe way to take drugs.

‘It’s like saying “here are 10 easy ways to take drugs”. The only safe guidance against drugs is not to take them at all.’

But Gael Cochrane, a development officer for the Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Project which is leading the project, said it was the best way to keep teenagers safe.

She said: ‘Some young people will look things up on the internet but many will not. Without all the facts they are in a more dangerous situation.

‘We completely accept there are going to be young people who don’t take drugs or drinks or have sex, and we would support them in that. ‘But they are a small group, as are the ones who are taking lots of drugs. It’s the majority who are undecided.’

Nice of her to lend her support to that “small minority” and reach out to the undecided majority to ease them over to the dark side. Edinburg already enjoys the reputation of being one of the most booze-addles, drug-ingesting cities in Great Britain, and this campaign can only help sustain that ranking. It’s good to be Number One in something.

 

It’s a new world, but not necessarily a better one

Stanwich Club Pool Party costume

Children are now asking for cash on Halloween instead of candy. The image of bands of creepy-crawly spawn of millionaires swarming into neighborhoods and demanding money is …troubling.

On the other hand, I sympathize with the kids, many of whom come from homes ruled by hysterical mommies who won’t allow their precious to eat candy (unless it’s candy on a stick, like Whole Foods new product, Paleo-Pops, wrapped up with spurious claims of nutrition), and the old practice of bringing candy to school to trade with friends has been replaced with Obama Lunches; still, there will be no ATM at the Fountain household tomorrow night. These kids can get their cash the way their hedge fund fathers do: steal it.

And speaking of getting screwed on Wall Street …

Better days: Ms. Kelly at her Sag Harbor D.U.I. booking

There’s a wonderful divorce going on between a jilted wife and her wealthy Wall Street husband, and as usual, the NY Post has the story.

Christina Kelly says her investment-banker husband made her go the extra mile to help him land a client — pushing her into a partner-swap with the business honcho and his wild girlfriend.

The mom of two revealed details of the kinky alleged hookup — and every drug binge, extramarital pool fling and sex encounter in between — in salacious Manhattan court papers targeting her husband, Jefferies & Co. wunderkind Sage Kelly.

And now, she and her reputed real-life “Wolf of Wall Street’’ hubby are “the talk of the town,’’ a Wall Street source said.

“All the top Wall Street and hedge-fund guys are talking about it. They are all ­e-mailing it to each other,’’ the source said of Christina’s 26-page affidavit.

Christina Kelly alleges in nearly every page that her $7-million-a-year hubby is nothing but a coke- and Ecstasy-loving, booze-swilling, abusive spouse and dad who lives for seamy sex romps.

Christina, 39, said her husband, 42, was trying to woo Aegerion Pharmaceuticals honcho Marc Beer the night she wound up having sex with Beer — and “sexual contact’’ with his prancing, big-breasted girlfriend, according to the papers.

The former Ralph Lauren event planner said the sex jaunt occurred in a hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston in 2012 after a booze- and cocaine-fueled evening.

“Soon, Sage and I were having sex with each other on one bed, and Marc and his girlfriend were having sex on the other bed,’’ Christina says in her affidavit.

“Then, Marc said, ‘Let’s switch,’ ” she claims in the papers.

Public access to the actual affidavit has been blocked, but it seems everyone on Wall Street has a copy (and off the street – a friend mailed me a copy, but I don’t have the technical expertise to link it here), so ask around. The Post article captures the essence of the claims, however, and has enough details to satisfy all but the most salacious minds, such as mine.

UPDATE: Link to affidavit here

Beware junk food nostrum peddlers when choosing an investment advisor

Marty and Kim Sands pitch suckers

Greenwich resident Martin Sands is in trouble with the SEC, again.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a Greenwich resident Wednesday with violating the “custody rule,” which is aimed at protecting clients from unscrupulous investment advisors.

Martin Sands, 53, who lives in Greenwich’s backcountry, was one of three top executives at New York-based Sands Brothers Asset Management charged this week. According to the SEC, Sands, along with his brother, Steven Sands, have been sanctioned by the SEC for custody rule violations before, back in 2010.

Sands, who recently launched Paleo Passion Pops, a new Greenwich-based company that sells healthful popsicles containing all natural ingredients, was previously censured by the SEC in 2010 for willfully aiding abetting and causing SBAM’s violation of its custody rule then, according to the SEC.

In addition to the 2010 censure, the SEC notes in the order instituting administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings filed Wednesday, that Sands “has been sanctioned by the securities authorities in Wisconsin,” and “twice been temporarily barred from association or suspended from holding supervisory positions, censured and fined by the New York Stock Exchange.” The SEC also alleged that the firm “has also been the subject of a number of customer complaints concerning misappropriation of assets, at least one of which resulted in an NASD arbitration award of $2.15 million.”

Sands, readers may recall, is the neighbor of Judge Judy’s on LaFrantz road who built an illegal lacrosse field on his property, sending runofff cascading onto hers. The NYT reported, 

The Sheindlins said the field is illegal because it was built without the proper permits and wetlands approval. They also said it infringes on their privacy.

”When we complained, Mr. Sands’ response was he would buy our home,” Ms. Sheindlin said. ”We love our home and suggest he use that money to purchase a site for his sports field in a properly zoned area.

Sands has an extensive history of refusing to pay customer arbitration awards

Sands Brothers & Co., a private company formed in 1990 by brothers Martin and Steven Sands to cater to wealthy investors, has the right to continue appealing the awards and to make settlement offers that are lower than awarded amounts, said Richard Roth, a New York attorney who represents Sands Brothers & Co. and the two founders. He denied that he threatened that the firm will not be able to pay arbitration awards if clients don’t agree to lowball settlements.

“That’s only somewhat accurate,” Roth said of his settlement strategy. “I have been telling investors that they (Sands Brothers & Co.) have filed to withdraw as a broker-dealer, and if they want to settle, there is money that has been set aside. I do try to get them down to as little as possible – I’ve settled from 1.5 cents on a dollar to 10 cents on a dollar.”

Another disgruntled Sands Brothers investor has compiled a nasty docket of previous sanctions, awards and orders against the firm and its principals, which you can find here, and our own state’s Banking Commission recites a history of wrongdoing here.

I spent much of my first career hunting wicked stock brokers and their ilk, and I can usually smell an arrogant, above-the-law crook when he weaves his sweaty path past my nostrils. I’m sure Mr. Sands isn’t that sort of fellow; indeed, I never encountered him in my own cases, but when a person with his sort of disciplinary history expands into pseudo-health foods, my olfactory senses stir to life.

 

Conyers Farm property woes continue

74 Upper Cross Road

74 Upper Cross Road, which sold for $13.5 million in 2012 and came back on in August of this year at $13,890, dropped its price today to $11.800. Considering that the Stockman property just sold for $13.150, it’s a fair assumption, especially since David Ogilvy had the buyer for Stockman and the listing for this one, that the Stockman buyer saw both houses and preferred Stockman’s over this. Given the paucity of buyers for homes up here, the owner of 74 may regret not dropping his price sooner and capturing that buyer.

Taken to the woodshed

Trickle down pricing

David Stockman’s house at 105 Conyers Farm has sold for $13,150.00. Started at $23,500,000 in 2010. Zillow estimated it was worth $17 million, Fountain thought not.

Real estate activity, finally

One Ferris Drive

One Ferris Drive, Old Greenwich, bank owned, sold for $488,000. It started at $675,000 a year ago. Tucked under I-95, it lacks a certain appeal, but at this price, not so bad.

5 Wallasy Way

95 Glenville Rd

5 Wallasy Way, Riverside, asking $879,000, reports a contingent contract. Wallasey is that little dead end off Riverside Avene, between St. Catharine’s and the old people’s home. This one is directly on Cos Cob harbor and has some noise issues from the I-95 and Route 1 bridge traffic, but like Ferris, price can’t be beat.

95 Glenville Road, asking $1.250 million, reports  pending deal. 1.43 acres. I never saw it.

41 Baldwin Farms S.

One house I have seen, several times, and like very much, is 41 Baldwin Farms S., now asking $3.450 million, down from its 2013 original asking price of $4.995. I assume, from the recent auction held on the premises that it’s now empty.

I’d hesitated to put this up on Halloween, but if it will make His Holiness happy ….

Trick or treat

Pope says Halloween is evil, should be replaced with “Holyween”. I’m not sure my porch sign will convince youngsters to go home and change into angels and saints, but it will certainly deter the little devils, and spare me the cost of apples and razor blades.

Bad day for Fiat

From Business Insider:

Exactly as predicted 3 weeks ago

Tsar Klain

Single Ebola case has caused Bellevue Hospital to close its ICU to other patients.

Doctors at Bellevue Hospital are so busy caring for Ebola patient Dr Craig Spencer that they have begun transferring patients out of the intensive care unit to nearby NYU Langone Medical Center.

Bellevue, one of the the most respected hospitals in the nation, is treating its first ever case of Ebola after Dr Craig Spencer arrived at the hospital last week with symptoms of the disease.

Which is exactly what doctors and hospital administrators feared.

“One Ebola case will wipe out my hospital.”

[Dr.] McCaughey’s answer is stunning.

According to her, after the CDC outlined its preparation strategy, one hospital administrator responded, “What you’re telling us would bankrupt my hospital!” She said that that administrator represents a Southern California hospital.

…. “Treating one Ebola patient requires, full time, 20 medical staff. Mostly ICU (intensive care unit) people. So that would wipe out an ICU in an average-sized hospital.”

In the case of Texas Presbyterian, McCaughey says that the hospital cordoned off its ICU to care for Thomas Eric Duncan and sent the rest of its ICU patients to other area hospitals. She added that many communities will not have multiple hospitals to choose from, so one Ebola case could cripple ICUs in small towns.

Dr. Spencer, by the way, the man who has so fully occupied Bellevue’s ICU, initially lied to authorities when questioned about his activities and claimed that he had “self-quarantined” himself upon his return from Africa. Only when the police tracked his credit card receipts and confronted him with the evidence of his visits to restaurants, blowing alleys and the like did he confess to his first lie.

Meantime, while no one has seen or heard from Obama’s newly-appointed Ebola Tsar Ron Klain, the word in Washington is that he’s nearing completion of a comet political solution to the crisis and will emerge from hiding just as soon as it’s done.