Sunday, June 27, 2010

How to Spot a Slumlord | Socyberty

Over the past years there have been so many problems to deal with in this country.  Personal and national economics have been in the forefront of our daily woes for some time.  With nearly 10 per cent of the nation unemployed, is it any wonder that Americans are looking for any, and all ways, either to supplement their incomes or guard what incomes they currently possess?  So why do some still try to take advantage of those in need?  Why do slumlords still exist and how can they be recognized?

So many Americans have had to change residence, due either to foreclosure, or due to lack of adequate income.  For those lacking the income to afford their current housing, the option has general been to find cheaper housing.  This is where the trouble begins.  This is the first sign of a possible slumlord.  They will offer rent at a significantly lower rate.

Cheaper housing usually means that the upkeep of the property may be woefully lacking.  The property may not be level, windows may be sealed shut and the place may not have been cleaned before renting.  Many times there is an excuse as to why the lawn is not cut.  Doors may not hang right, electric outlet covers may be missing and the paint job may be horrendous to the average visitor.

Most often, these landlords will not work with a written agreement.  There is a reason for this.  A written agreement means that there are two parties involved and will require responsibilities to be performed by both parties.  All those things that are lacking in the property upkeep will now come into play.  The renter will want them fixed and the landlord does not want the expense or trouble.

The landlord may make notice of the lower rent and ask renters to do the repairs.  This could be beneficial to a possible renter who may lack the funds for security and pet deposits.  An oral agreement might be made to offset some of the renters’ costs. 

Such a landlord will usually not want an itemized inventory of property defects.  This means trouble for them.  Trouble and costs are what slumlords oppose.  For many the motto is “You don’t want it as is, then go on down the road because somebody else will.”

Why do these slumlords exist?  There simply is not enough regulation in place to advance quick action on the renters’ behalf.  Slumlords exist almost everywhere there is civilization.  There are those who have no choice but to succumb to their limited offers.  There are those who just don’t know the signs that point out a slumlord.

Believe it or not, many are not aware of slumlords...they simply take what they can get. That is not good enough.

Posted via email from The World and MrDprince

Thursday, June 24, 2010

I wonder - Low Income People

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day

Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Target 3: Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

I wonder....Do you think they will reach the goals set by 2015?

 

Still i wonder....?

Posted via email from The World and MrDprince

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Is The American Dream Just a Dream? | Socyberty

The American Dream will never be achieved by the average Joe on the street, and he doesn’t even know it.  From our mother’s bosom to our creator’s side, we have been instilled with one thing:  “If we believe…we can achieve.  The big house, the fancy car and the beautiful women can all be ours.  Or, so we thought.

Patriotism is taught early in our lives as we recite the pledge of allegiance in our elementary classrooms across this great country.  We are taught to defend our country and the freedoms she guarantees us.  They forgot to mention that one of those freedoms is the opportunity to fail.  While the government fights today in Afghanistan, Iraq and Yemen against those who try to deny us our freedom, they forget to teach us what it costs us and what it has cost in the past.  We are still paying for our past actions.

Who knew the military industrial complex uses an amount greater than 50% of our tax dollars?  Why do our politicians continue to spend our money in these dire times?  Do they not receive enough funds from big business and private interests?  Why are corporations allowed to influence world policy?  Did we forget about Blackwater ( a mercenary army for hire) and Halliburton, both of who profited greatly with our invasion of Iraq?  Big business profits while American Joe is left with the tattered dream of a good life.  Instead he toils at a dead end job to attempt to meet his ever increasing cost of living.  Sales tax, property tax, road tax, excise tax, import tax and every other tax imaginable weigh him down.  When that is not enough, he is also shouldered with surcharges on top of the taxes.  Never mind the interest charged on his credit cards, mortgage and auto loan.  Forget that little Susie needs braces and a prom dress.  Forget that in 30 years of working Joe has never experienced one of those luxury cruises for a vacation.

What about retirement to that little house with the white picket fence?  How will this be achieved?  Retirement funds tanked for many during the current recession.  Now that led to some big time depression.  Social Security has been less than a heartbeat away from total dismantlement with many politicians pushing legislation to do so.  Unemployment has reached a level that if and when it does begin to dwindle, the result will be very high inflation rates.  This only tends to exacerbate matters even more.  At least the Wall Street crowd and their banker buddies won’t have to worry.  Well, at least for now.  They say that all good things come to an end.

It is time that the average Joe American was informed, at an early stage in his development, of the truths that we hold dear may not hold so true.  Leave the choice to him to decide his fate and allow him to dream.  Allow him to make the dream become a reality.  After all, who will gain from his dream?  All of us.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

Monday, June 21, 2010

Kevin Costner's centrifuges deploy for Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup

Kevin Costner's centrifuges deploy for Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup

Published: Friday, June 18, 2010, 10:26 PM     Updated: Friday, June 18, 2010, 10:39 PM
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Kevin Costner is taking Hollywood star power and some oil-separating centrifuges to the fight against the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

buddy_caldwell_kevin_costner_doug_suttles.jpgView full sizeCheryl Gerber, pool/The Associated PressActor Kevin Costner, center, talks about his company's centrifuge machine designed to separate oil and water. With him at a news conference Friday in Port Fourchon were Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, left, and BP COO Doug Suttles.

Energy giant BP PLC has ordered 32 of the centrifuges from a company co-founded by the actor. Costner joined officials of the energy company for an inspection Friday of a barge that will take three of the devices into the Gulf starting this weekend.

Officials said skimmer vessels will pump oily water onto the barge where the centrifuges can process a total of 600,000 gallons a day, separating gunk from water. Costner said he "didn't come to save the day" but is gratified the technology is being deployed.

Costner and BP executive Doug Suttles and others were at Port Fourchon on Friday to talk about the plan to use the centrifuges.

"It was designed to give us a fighting chance, to fight back the oil before it got us by the throat," Costner said.

The devices will be used in deep water where oil is being skimmed.

Skimmers will pump oily water onto the barges, where the centrifuges will separate water from the oil. The three can process a total of 600,000 gallons a day, according to Costner's business partner, John Houghtaling II.

Suttles said BP signed a letter of intent to use the machines within hours of his first conversation with Costner on May 18 and completed the first test within days.

"It's difficult to find the good ideas, but when we find them, we want to move fast," Suttles said, noting BP has received more than 100,000 ideas from the public since the April 20 oil rig explosion.

A second barge carrying two smaller devices is scheduled to depart from Port Fourchon early next week. The rest of the 32 devices are expected to be deployed within two months.

Meanwhile, Louisiana officials have their own ideas and are getting creative in their bid to remove the oil from ecologically sensitive marshes.

National Guard officials figured that if vacuum trucks can be mobilized to empty septic tanks and port-a-johns, there's no reason the concept couldn't be applied to the mess in the water. And Plaquemines Parish workers are experimenting with ordinary shop vacuums, the kind people use to clean their cars, to suck oil from marshes.

In Plaquemines Parish, the National Guard recently loaded vacuum trucks onto platforms, went out to the oil and tried to suck it up. It worked.

"It evolved from vacuum trucks used to test the concept to having stationary pumps and holding tanks on barges," said Col. Mike Deville.

gulf_oil_vacuum_barataria_bay_worker.JPGGerald Herbert/The Associated PressA cleanup worker vacuums oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill from the northern shore of Barataria Bay on Tuesday.

There are 16 now in operation in Louisiana. Still, implementing the plan has not gone smoothly. The Coast Guard shut down the barges for inspections earlier this week, infuriating Gov. Bobby Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen intervened and the barges are expected to be back in action.

Nungesser is ready to try just about anything. He recently gave the go ahead for parish workers to test shop vacuums to remove crude trapped between marshes and containment boom. He was pleased to learn that two of the devices sucked up almost 150 gallons in a matter of minutes.

It's not rocket science. A crew loaded the shop vacs on a small boat with a generator and several 55-gallon drums. They dipped the end of the vacuum hose into a pool of oil and sucked it off the water. When the vacuums were full, they were dumped into drums.

Nungesser said he's working to secure vacuums that would suck oil directly into drums and put the low-tech solution into wider use.

Holbrook Mohr and Michael Kunzelman of The Associated Press wrote this report.

It is great to see the scope of people working to solve this problem. Kudos for Costner.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

Sure-Fire Ways to Alienate Landlords - Associated Content

Check out this website I found at associatedcontent.com

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

Picable - Photo Page: Slumlord Has Windows Sealed Shut

This house in Dickinson Texas does not meet state requirement that there exist adequate ventilation for a rental home with no central air or heat. There are no screens to keep out the elements or animals even if open. Windows are sealed shut with caulk, glue, paint and wood screws.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

Picable - Photo Page: Poor Dog Housing

It seems that even dogs sometimes find themselves living in poor housing. This was taken in Dickinson, Texas. The area where the dog house is located would become a lake for days whenever it rained. The dog would be trapped unable to go anywhere.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

Picable - Photo Page: Missing Electric Meter

The electric meter is missing after Texas New Mexico Power took it out due to non payment of an electric bill and tampering with the meter to illegally steal power. Location is Dickinson, Texas.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

Friday, June 18, 2010

Rest in Peace Delayed

Rest in Peace Delayed

Reykjavík : Iceland | Jun 18, 2010
The Supreme Court in Reykjavik Iceland has ruled that the body of the late Bobby Fischer,former World Chess Champion, is to be exhumed in order to satisfy a paternity test case.
Nine year old Jinky Young is laying claim to Fischers' estate which is estimated to be worth two million dollars. Her mother, along with relatives and the United States government are all looking to cash in. Mr Fischer left behind no will after his demise in 2008.
A district court had ruled ealier that there were not suficient grounds to perform an exhumation. Lawyers argued that this was a needed last resort attempt. It was previously believed that an Icelandic hospital had kept Fischer's blood samples but none were found.
The American, Bobby Fischer, became famous for winning the World Chess Championship in 1972 and sending the Russian Boris Spaassky home in defeat. The event was deemed the "match of the century".
Bobby Fischer was laid to rest just 30 miles south of Reykjavik in a church cemetery

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

proof1.mpg

Dickinson Texas is a small rural town and yet it too has apparent slum lord. Some people take advantage of the needs of others in ways that we might consider despicable. You be the judge. This ome does not meet state regulation standards by any means.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

BBC News - Day in pictures

Just another day on the job.

Posted via web from The World and MrDprince

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