Links and Minifeatures 09 08 Thursday

I'm a bit late to the party, but Carnival of The Capitalists is up. Sorry, but I haven't had time to slog through for worthwhile posts.

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I've added another resource website to the list on the right: California (and many other states) have a website location where you can look up a real estate agent or mortgage provider's license information (once again, it's the same license in most states). For California, it is http://www2.dre.ca.gov/PublicASP/pplinfo.asp?start=1. You can get to it off the main DRE website, but I had a complaint that it's a pain to find, and the person who complained is correct. Anybody wants to send me the website to check for other states, I will post them there also.



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Looks like Schwarzenegger is likely running again. Schwarzenegger to Veto Gay Marriage Bill . If he wasn't running, he likely wouldn't fight this fight.



I have to admit that I'm not certain about gay marriage. For me, it's not about rights, it's about benefits extended that other people do not have, in return for existing in a state whereby children - the state's future productive workers - are likely to grow up to be better, more productive citizens. In short, it's about future economic benefit and whether the state should extend those benefits to gay people who are not primarily about child rearing, and so not often providing those benefits back to the state. I want to see gay people who desire the benefits of marriage to do a better job convincing me that it makes economic sense, and not shilling about "rights."



If you want to get into the issue of whether marriage should be recognized by the state, that's a different question, to which I think the answer is mostly no (I am married with two children, so I think you should see that saying this goes against my self-interest), but that's not where we are, and that's not the argument we're having.



Were the people of the state right to vote to ban same sex marriage? My answer is I think not - I voted against the ban, but - and get this through your head because this is what elections are about, and just because you or I don't like it doesn't mean it's eeeevviiiillll - the majority of the people of California disagreed with me.



So the gay activists, instead of taking their case back to the people in public, tried to put political pressure on the legislature. Well, special interests get their wish from the California legislature every time (and Congress, and every other legislative body that I've ever heard of). This doesn't mean they should get their wishes, especially when the people have directly over-ruled the legislature. This is reprehensible.



Therefore, while I'm not certain about gay marriage in the first place, I want this piece of legislation buried as a matter of governmental principal. The highest authority in the state has spoken, and even though I disagree with the way it went, having the legislature attempt to circumvent the will of the people in this manner (or any other) simply because it's politically convenient or they can score brownie points with one constituency is something that can not be tolerated.



So assuming Arnold follows through (which he has a good track record of doing), I support his veto.



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By the way, to all those who keep insisting on bring "Blame person X (or group Y) for the Katrina damage," I am telling you again that I am flat out not interested. Matter of fact, you're getting me angry. This problem has been known for a long time. Everybody who has been in any related office on a local, state, or federal level since at least 1927 shares some of the blame for failing to fix the problem before it happened (If anything, I am less inclined to blame recently elected current officeholders due to lead time required between authorization and funding and actual completion of the work). If somebody wants to fire an emergency management person (or several) for bad decisions made on the crux of the crisis, that's fine and something that should be done. Failing to prepare? There's more than enough blame to go around to everyone. Failing to take proper political steps when it became obvious we'd finally lost the crapshoot? There's time enough to deal with that later. Assigning blame is never an emergency. Rescuing people is.



So, donate money if you can. Physically help if there's something needed that you can do (Email me if there's something people 2000 miles away can do beyond money - I've already given all I can right now). Let's get the people out of harm's way and get the mess cleaned up while we decide what to do. If you're in charge of disaster management, do your job. If you're in charge of those people, fire incompetents or resign yourself if you're clueless as to what to do. Otherwise, SHUT UP!



UPDATE: This is an example of somebody thinking about ways to help.



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As a follow up to this post, I am sitting here on-line with the "Do Not Call" website opened in its own browser window today. Seems I had a property listing expire today. In this market, with this kind of property, it happens unless you're priced under the market. No big deal. But the contact number for showings is listed on the "Do-Not-Call" list. So I've had 24 calls (and counting), including two before 8AM, which is a separate violation of the 1990 telecommunications act, soliciting me for the listing. First off, they are idiots wasting their time as the listing says I am a licensed agent. But even if I wasn't, just because a number is listed as a contact for showings does not invalidate its "do not call" status. If you do telemarketing (I never call without a request or explicit permission), you must check each and every number unless you have something from the person involved saying they want you to call. Meanwhile, the property is still for sale. I'm as polite and cooperative as anything to these people until they tell me the reason for the call is that they want to be the listing agent, not that they have an interested buyer. I'm pretty certain that the two I allowed to wriggle off the hook had that as their motivation as well (they didn't make appointments to show), but unless they made an explicit solicitation, I let them go. As of right now I've made complaints about 22 different real estate agents today - including six from the same office - to the Do Not Call enforcement. I did think of (but rejected) an idea of offering not to turn them in for proof of a $1000 donation to the Red Cross Katrina fund, but decided that would be likely be extortion, and so a road better not travelled. But this could be up to $242,000 (and counting) in fines from people who didn't mind their legal and professional duties. It took me all of 20 minutes while I was on the phone with other folks to make the 22 complaints. Think of it as doing my part to defray the federal government's expenses of Katrina while giving people incentive not to improperly telemarket (I could double my income if I was willing to telemarket. I'm not). I don't think there's any provision for people in my position to get compensation, but if I do get anything I will donate it to charity. Hurricane Relief if it's timely, but even if I get something it's likely to be a long way down the line.



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Pigilito has a neat link with commentary on large scale evolution.



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Tom Rants has a good piece on how Oil reserves are up. There's been a lot of speculation, even before Katrina hit. Lot of people could lose lots of money.



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Don Surber has a post about the good we have done coming back.



He also make a point about the limits of the blogosphere. Given the limitations of Sitemeter, I think Don gets more hits than he thinks, but the point is still well made. The blogosphere is where to go to debunk the BS. I spent Tuesday evening with a group of acquaintances. All of them blaming Bush for Katrina in best parrot of MSM party lines. All of them ignorant. I eventually got tired and left what I hoped would be a nice evening of conversation because it wasn't. But these people are mostly internet savvy technical folks. They just want to be spoon fed rather than looking for their news. I'm afraid this categorizes a majority of the population.



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Done with Mirrors has another good response to the chickenhawk meme. Of course we are way past the piling on stage, but this is the meme that will not die. Probably because it's adherents will not think.



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Sorry that activity has been light. I've got several balls up in the air that I'm not at liberty to discuss right now.