FTC Consumer Fraud Top 10 ~ 70% of scams are often advertised with escape and paradise images
The Consumerist’s Ben Popken posted the "Top 10 Consumer Frauds" yesterday. Of the ten listed at their post, seven of the scams frequently use images of escape and paradise to lure customers in. Going by the FTC figures that The Consumerist lists, up to 16,800,000 people accounted for in the top ten list may have [...]
Poverty and violence ~ the Pacific isn’t all paradise
The Age is reporting that Winston Peters, the Foreign Minister of New Zealand, painted a bleaker view of the Pacific, and the islands in particular, than many people have of the perceived paradises. He talked about poverty, political unrest, and violence in places like Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Tonga. Fiji was especially noteworthy due [...]
Beach Impeach ~ Mother of all political protests?
Most people can respect political protests in many forms. I lived for a while on a non-obvious street about six blocks from the White House, where the President would send political protests to keep them out of the way. While there were always hoards of interesting things happening in D.C., I have to admit that [...]
Should corporations be allowed to write off their beach houses as expenses on their taxes?
I was just listening in the background to the Extra Hollywood gossip show, and I overheard that LG has a beach house in Malibu. After a quick search, it appears that so does Polaroid, and apparently their neighbors nearby don’t like the parties, as reported here at the Real Estate Bloggers.
Who cares if they’re bummed [...]
Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco ~ Remembering Grace Kelly 25 years after her death
There is no better classical image of escape artistry than Grace Kelly. According to the Wiki Emperor of All Knowledge, she was the daughter of a Pennsylvania brick manufacturer/Olympic champion. She went on to Hollywood and later to becoming "Her Serene Highness Princess Grace."
I don’t know exactly what being a Serene Highness means [...]
Nothing communicates political scandal faster than a journalist wearing half a bikini
Nothing communicates political scandal faster than a half-naked woman in a bikini. This week, it’s happening in Brazil. According to the Merco Press, journalist Monica Veloso posed recently for Playboy and revealed wrongdoings by her former lover Senate President Renan Calheiros. Merco writes:
The Senator and close ally of President Lula da Silva allegedly paid for [...]
Pirate Politician ~ U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)
Florida real estate keeps coming back to this special section of Rapidsea, this time involving a prominent Alaskan. Don Young has served as the only official in the U.S. House of Representatives from Alaska for almost 35 years. In the past couple of years, more and more information has been brought forth to lead [...]
Pirate Politician ~ Former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Sr.
Continuing in the spirit of our post on former Mexican President Vicente Fox and his "beach house" scandal, former U.S. Representative Harold Ford Sr. (D-TN) is in the news with his own. Among all of the controversy that has followed his son and him around over the years, this time dad’s being accused of [...]
Paving paradise ~ or everywhere ~ for parking
One of the most difficult questions that you come across when you plan and design physical places is parking. There are rules and zoning that try to do what’s best for society, but often have unintended consequences (the economists are all saying, "we call them externalities"). We often hear people calling it "paving paradise." I [...]
Pirate Politician ~ Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) at his "floating trailer park"
Up until I posted the Pirate Politician Post on Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL), I had avoided using Larry E. Craig as the first “Pirate Politician” for various (perhaps obvious) reasons, but this week his hypocrisy and lust for luxe have been further exposed. It’s time.
I’ll dive right into this post, which was born because [...]
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