Our litigious society

Sometimes the system makes me sick. We have these laws in place, but they really don't mean anything because of LAWyers. I'll give you a few examples.

In my own experience, I have a 4 unit property that I bought for $312,000 and spent over $400,000 rehabilitating it from the previous owners' "deferred maintenance" (to be polite). Actually they were scumbag landlords of the worst kind. But I took the property from the run down $#!+hole that it was, remodeled each unit and did structural repairs as well as resolved drainage issues to make it nice and liveable.

Two years ago, I got these tenants who, because of their poor lifestyle (not to mention their poor habits in housekeeping) coupled with the fact that they are hypocondriacs who want to lay their problems on me got sick while living in the apartment. (The medical reports bear this out... the woman has had some form of "disease" over the past 10 years, either real or imagined, and was probably on disability more than she was at work!)

So one evening on the 26th of the month and said they can not live there anymore because they have toxic mold in their apartment and are moving out immediately. They demanded first and last month's rent, their deposit, moving expenses and replacement of their furniture. And all of this was caused by the fact they were pack rats and had stuff stacked to the ceiling against the walls. And they apparently never opened a window or door for more than a few minutes because they were always sick. With the reduced ventilation, they created the mold. I have had renters there before them, and after them, none of whom have had a mold problem.

Here's where the law comes in. The law says I have to be notified of the problem and be given time to resolve it. Never happened. It also says they are still responsible for the rent and normal 30 days notice to vacate. Again, never happened.

What did happen is this; the woman (let's call her fat-assed bitch for purposes of this story) takes her case to a scum-sucking attorney (who has more money than God), and he agrees to take her case to arbitration for no fee and demand a quarter of a million dollars... Sound fair to you? If it does, then you're probably a liberal living under rent control and "the man" has been doing it to you for years... that's why you can't get ahead!

At the time of this writing we are down to within several thousand dollars, much closer to the $5,000 dollars I offered her originally to settle the case than the $250,000 she originally demanded. With the help of my fantastic insurance company, Allstate, (who did not have to represent me because they don't cover mold) I think we are close to finalizing the number.

The only relief I can feel is that, at least the case will go away. And what makes me smile more is that she'll be broke again within a year. She's a victim and will always be one.

So here's a case where the law is one thing, but reality is another. What, we can pick and choose which laws apply and which don't? What happens if I want to obey one that you don't and vice-versa?

This is happened everyday. Look at the illegal immigration issue, for example. We already have laws on the books for years, telling people how they must enter the country legally and that it is against the law to cross our borders without the property paperwork. Yet it happens everyday, and our brilliant leaders in Washington are trying to pass a bill that basically says, "Screw the law. We'll just make a new law and make you all legal." It's like in football where they keep pushing the team down the field getting first downs every couple of plays.

And what about Gay marriage in San Francisco? Now let me say up front that I don't think government should be involved in this decision... but it is! It's a state law, in fact. But Mayor Newsom chose to ignore the law (break it) and marry gays anyway because he thought it was the right thing to do.

So here I am, I disagree with the IRS. I think taxes should be abolished. They are getting too much money from us already in income taxes, gas taxes, inheritance taxes and so on. Then the state has to get its cut in income taxes and sales tax along with the county and city getting their property taxes. Then you have the federal government tacking on taxes to all our utilities bills. When does it stop? Well, I don't want to obey this law. Friends of mine don't want to obey the seat belt law. Many drivers don't want to obey the insurance law for their cars. And why should we? If our government doesn't have to, then why should we? Think about it.

Mick O.

Immigration bill DEAD! How does this get reported as a loss for Bush?

True, Bush was pushing this bad bill down the throats of the American people and its elected representatives, but he LOST! You'd think Democrats would have opposed it too, just because they have been against everything the President has been trying to do since 2000.

Who wrote the bill? Senator Kennedy (D). So how is it a defeat only for the President as the media is reporting? BECAUSE THEY LIE! Or at least bend the truth to fit their agenda. And isn't Harry Reid (D) the majority leader? And he couldn't get 51 votes? After all, Democrats are in the majority, and he couldn't get his own party to go for a bad bill! So isn't that a loss for Democrats?

Here's the deal. People were involved in this, and that should give us hope that we can change things in this country for the better. Now we need to do two things: 1) campaign to get the border fence built and 2) get the two border agents who were jailed for doing their jobs RELEASED!

Now that's an amnesty I could go for!

Mick O.

Environmentalists and BIO fuels

Here's a thought about liberals and their push toward bio fuels. Liberals are sensitive people who want to take care of the poor, even those in other countries who are suffering. But liberals love the environment to a fault. So much so that they hate oil.

So what happens? They push the government to pay for programs to develop fuels created from corn and soybeans that cost more in energy to produce than we get from it. Second of all, we are paying taxes to subsidise farmers to produce corn for ethanol.

If you were being paid to produce corn for the government with a guaranteed paycheck, would you do it? And what do you think would happen? Either farmers will have to pay more for corn to feed our food sources like beef, pork and chicken or cut back on the livestock. What happens next? Prices for food starts to go up because there is less livestock being raised by the farmers and ranchers.

Of course this affects the cost of milk too because... why? Corn costs more! And for what? A really inefficient alternative for oil... Hmmm, something's wrong here.

Mick O.

Environmental nuttiness

Here's a story for you. We bought a property in the Lake Tahoe area because it's a beautiful get away. But the environmental agencies abound up there trying to keep things from being developed. Good enough.

But then you have the Sierra Club who has lawsuits to keep the Forest Service from cutting or removing dead trees from the forest. So what happens this week? There's a fire which is worse than it should be because of all the extra dead wood in the area.

So what happens because of this bad fire? Smoke. Smoke that fills the air and affects air quality. Air quality that the Sierra Club is worried about!

Every time people try and control nature by laws and restrictions, they end up making it worse by the unforseen consequences. So now tree-hugging environmentalists who love clean air and clean water have ruined the air quality in one of the most beautiful places in California!!!

Mick O.

Hyphenated Americans

I am sick and tired of hyphenated americans. It is a form of political correctness that is supposed to make people feel different because being American just isn't good enough anymore. But doesn't that dilute rather than make stronger? I mean you, take an alcoholic beverage. Isn't straight gin stronger than a gin-tonic?

So why do black people get away with being African-Americans? Most of them have never been to Africa and probably couldn't find Sierra Leone on a map if their lives depended on it. And Mexican-Americans? Many of them using this title are not legal anyway.

Which brings me to women with two or hyphenated last names... Is this a code for LIB? Seems to me a conservative woman would either a) change her last name to her husband's after marrying or b) keep her last name and be independent. But what about Hillary Rodham-Clinton? Then she becomes Hillary Rodham. Now she is just Hillary Clinton. MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!! Or is that the definition of liberalism? Changing one's mind... on a whim.

Mick O.

Government - what is it good for?

Remember that song, "War"? Well, our government has become irrelevant! Is it time to change it? Here's my reasoning:

Most Americans are against this "immigration" bill, yet the elected officials refuse to give it up. In this case, the majority of citizens are smarter than those voted in to solve these problems and are against this bill in all its incarnations.

So is it time to get rid of the House and the Senate and go to direct vote? A true democracy! We certainly have the technology to make it happen.

Just a thought.

Mick O.

About bumper stickers

First of all, how many conservative bumper stickers do you see? Not many! Conservatives tend to play things close to the vest, it seems. About the only "controversial" expression you see on cars from Christians (who may or may not be conservative) is the fish that has become the Christian symbol.

I am convinced that liberal expressions are meant to be "in your face". Look at the above example and then tge liberals' response to put a fish with feet that has "Darwin" written across it. Or the bumper sticker "Dog is my co-pilot" to oppose the "God is my co-pilot" slogan.

But I never saw a bumper sticker that solved a problem!

Mick O.