You may not have heard this joke, but Hillary clearly did, probably as a true story in Arkansas

(The site's under some kind of DNS attack, so we're up and down - Mickster's working with some European types he knows to fight the attackers off but in the meantime ...., be patient)  

Clinton campaign grows nervous as Election Day draws near: “Friends, please remember that if you see a whopper of a Wikileaks in next two days - it’s probably a fake,” tweeted Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for the Clinton campaign. So far, out of 33,000 leaked emails, all have proved authentic, but hey; it could happen.

So, the joke:

A traveling salesman who's also a practiced ventriloquist stops by Farmer Brown's establishment down near Little Rock and, by way of schmoozing him as they tour the farm,  says,

"Say, Farmer Brown, did you know your animals can talk?"

"Naw, I've never heard none of them talking to me."

"Well they certainly can, look: hey, Mrs. Cow, how's it going? How's Farmer Brown treating you?"

"Oh, why just fine, sir; he milks me twice a day, feeds me real good, I sure do like it here."

Farmer Brown's  astonished, but his amazement doubles when they reach the pig pen and the salesman asks the same question, and gets the same reply: "Farmer Brown's a prince among men, Mister, he keeps us supplied with mud and slops, we get special treats around Christmas, we love this guy!"

Brown's convinced, but even though each animal they approach professes his gratitude and appreciation of their farmer - the ducks, chickens, turkeys, even the sole mule all sing his praises - he becomes visibly more nervous and agitated. Finally, as they come up to his flock of sheep, he can stand it no longer: "Now don't you go believing no sheep", he cries, "they're awful liars!"

The election is rigged

Clinton ally and former campaign manager pardons 60,000 felons just in time to get them to the polls.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe has granted voting rights to as many as 60,000 convicted felons just in time for them to register to vote, nearly five times more than previously reported and enough to win the state for his long-time friend, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

McAuliffe sought to allow all of Virginia’s estimated 200,000 felons to vote, but state courts said each individual felon’s circumstances must be weighed. To get around that, McAuliffe used a mechanical autopen to rapidly sign thousands of letters, as if he had personally reviewed them, even as his office was saying the total was 13,000.

Now, The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group has learned that McAuliffe — who managed Clinton’s unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign — churned out five times as many letters before the registration deadline than publicly claimed.

Virginia’s recent political history has seen multiple races that were decided by tiny margins. The 2014 U.S. Senate race, for example, was decided by only 17,000 votes, while the attorney general’s race came down to a mere 165 votes.

Before they decided that it was in their better interest to claim that the KGB and the Republicans were rigging the election, Democrats shrieked that Trump's own charge in that regard threatened the republic. It's not the claim that's imperiled the country, it's the fact.

 UPDATE: Here's an interesting tidbit: According to the Washington Post, nearly one quarter of all adult blacks in Virginia are convicted felons. Just ... wow.

Hypothesis and proof

A reader sent along this link to a speech by Professor Edward J. Erler on the subject of allowing unvetted muslim refugees into our country- it should be read in its entirety, but for purposes of following up on David Brook's arrogant piffle, I'll quote just a snippet.

Why are our political leaders, despite these facts, willing to expose the nation to such potential danger?—a danger that is surely greater than we now imagine. One only has to observe the results of the refugee crisis in Europe to see what is in store for the American homeland. Yet the Obama administration, following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government in Germany, is adamant that the number of Syrian refugees—and Muslim refugees generally—must increase substantially. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who recently named Merkel as her favorite world leader, has frequently indicated that acceptance of refugees is an important reaffirmation of America’s commitment to diversity. It is a reaffirmation of “who we are as Americans,” she has said, as if the American character is defined by its unlimited openness to diversity. To show the bipartisan nature of this commitment, Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has used the same phrase to explain his approval of the refugee program. In both cases, the clear implication is that America’s commitment to diversity outweighs considerations of national security. Indeed, in what can only be called a self-willed delusion, proponents of the refugee program seem to believe that their commitment to diversity makes us stronger and more secure as a nation, and that any opposition to the program is racist, xenophobic, and most particularly Islamophobic.

Consider what this means. Germans have been warned that it is their duty to accommodate themselves to newly arrived refugees and not to place politically incorrect demands upon them—that is, not to demand that the refugees adapt to German ways. Some have advised German women in particular that if they don’t wish to be harassed by male refugees, they should cover their heads and be accompanied outside of the home by a male. Will this be a part of America’s politically correct future?

Merkel, like Obama, bases her immigration policy on a globalist view of the world. Secretary of State John Kerry propounded this view in a recent commencement address, warning Americans that we must prepare ourselves for a “borderless world.” But a world without borders is a world without citizens, and a world without citizens is a world without the rights and privileges that attach exclusively to citizenship. Rights and liberties exist only in separate and independent nations; they are the exclusive preserve of the nation-state. Constitutional government only succeeds in the nation-state, where the just powers of government are derived from the consent of the governed. By contrast, to see the globalist principle in practice, look at the European Union. The EU is not a constitutional government; it is an administrative state ruled by unelected bureaucrats. It attempts to do away with both borders and citizens, and it replaces rights and liberty with welfare and regulation as the objects of its administrative rule. Constitutional government—to say nothing of liberal democracy—will not be a part of the politically correct, borderless world into which so many of our political leaders wish to usher us.

And from the same interview with Brooks I cite in the post below:

Brooks said globalization, the influx of immigrants and feminism "has been really good" for America. "We had a lot of good things over the years that were really good for America," he said. "I think globalization has been really good for America. I think the influx of immigrants has been really good for America. Feminism has been really good for America."

Of course, liberals aren't contemptuous of just black people

David Brooks: the uneducated will vote for Trump "because it's in their gene pool". 

Brooks said the less educated and non-college educated whites are going to vote for Donald Trump no matter what. He added, "people are just going with their gene pool."

Brooks said demographics is the reason why Clinton is making a campaign stop in the state of Michigan, normally a Democratic stronghold, because "there are a lot of white people."

"Basically, less educated or high school-educated whites are going to Trump," Brooks told host Judy Woodruff. "It doesn't matter what the guy does. And college-educated going to Clinton."

The divide in this country is not between Republicans and Democrats, its between coastal elites and the rest of America.

Of course this isn't news to conservatives, but for white liberals, shocking!

Whites in Berkeley display their true colors: blacks are ignorant and dumb, and far too stupid to figure out a complicated white-invented system like the Internet. After the reporter gets a nice sampling of white liberal condescension towards their darkies, he travels to Harlem for real live black people's reaction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBxZGWCdgs

If you care about your property's value, sign this petition

I've railed here for almost a decade about the town's FAR regulations, which are confusing, ever-changing, punitive and destructive of property values. Worst of all, they've been ineffective, as I and others predicted, in limiting house size. The "attic" rule is one of the most annoying, of the regs, because they deny a homeowner the use of her attic without having any effect on house height or size: you are required to cut chunks out of your roof rafters and support the roof with a lattice work of trusses that, as certified by an engineer, will cause the roof to fail if they're removed. There have always been height restrictions on our houses; this FAR reg doesn't make houses lower, but does distort the roof lines as architects try to squeeze more living space from the two floors permitted, and drive up the cost. Nuts. Grade plain is also crazy, as you can read below.

One change not being proposed now, but should be, is the punitive restrictions on undersized lots. If, for instance, the FAR Czar has determined that 5,880 sq. ft is the ideal size for a house on one acre in the one-acre zone, why should that same acre in the 4-acre zone be limited to 2,722 sq.ft? And so on. For now, that's not even being looked at, though it should be.

In any event, the following from the Greenwich Association of Realtors is self-explanatory I think, but feel free to post comments questions here and we can all have a discussion. Remember, it's not what your neighbor can do with his house that affects your value (assuming he's not operating a cat house), but what can be done with your house. The more that's restricted, the less a buyer will pay. Which is not to say that we shouldn't have zoning governing use and height and setbacks, but if buyer can't do anything with your house, he won't - he'll buy something else.

PZ Zoning Amendment Application

The Greenwich Association of REALTORS has received a grant from the National Association of REALTORS to review and amend some of the Planning and Zoning Regulations in the Town of Greenwich. The changes, if approved by the Commission, would limit the amount of square footage that would be counted in attics and basements toward the Gross Floor Area calculation (FAR) A Public Hearing will be held on Tuesday November 15th, 7pm in the Town Hall meeting room. The proposal consists of two main changes. The first is changing the Grade Plane (the height from the first floor of the home to the average grade) from the current 3 feet to 5 feet before counting any area in the basement in the Gross Floor Area. Allowing more of the structure to be exposed would lessen the necessity that residents currently have to bring fill into their lots and build massive retaining walls to bury the basement. Greenwich's topography varies and on many parcels of land it is not uncommon for the land to be hilly and not flat. The second change would allow residents to use their attic space without it counting towards Gross Floor Area. This would eliminate the need for trusses to be placed in the attic; which is currently required in order to not count that space in total Gross Floor Area. The lightweight structural trusses can suffer catastrophic failure in a fire; endangering firefighters who are often on the roof as part of the fire-fighting protocol. The rationale for the changes supports the Town's Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD), by encouraging residents to preserve the existing topography while allowing existing structures to be maintained and streetscapes to be consistent with the surrounding areas. The overall benefits for residents would be to allow homeowners to utilize their current homes without the need to build retaining walls and bring in truckloads of fill to bury their basements in order to expand the first and second floors of their homes. An additional benefit to the Town is the increase in taxable floor area represented in the attics if they become finished space. We encourage you to visit www.greenwichlanduse.com and complete the online email petition in support of this event. We encourage you to share this information with you clients and urge them to visit the web site and attend the public hearing on November 15, 2016 at 7pm.

Here's the petition:

PLEASE GIVE US BACK OUR ATTICS… AND STOP COUNTING OUR BASEMENTS!

Send a message to the Planning and Zoning Commission

Most homes in Greenwich were built prior to 1960. Now, more than a half century later, many could use a facelift.

However, building that needed addition or expanding living space into existing space is harder than ever because layers of regulations have made it difficult for homeowners to make the necessary improvements.

The time is now to change existing zoning regulations to accommodate our natural topography and eliminate excessive fill.

Title

Mr. Ms. Miss Dr.

First Name

Last Name

Email

Address

City

State

ZIP Code

Copy of Letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission:

Dear Commission,

Greenwich is a wonderful community that we don’t take for granted. There are many reasons we bought homes and decided to raise our families here.

Over time though, as our homes get older, they need upgrades and improvements so that we can age in place and live with modern-day amenities.

However, current zoning regulations make that more difficult than ever.

Simply turning an unused attic into useable space is a hassle, with prohibitive costs involving surveyors, engineers and architects.

With interesting topography including hills, valleys, cliffs and low-lying areas, zoning regulations should be more forgiving with allowing exposure of buildings above grade without it counting toward Floor Area Ratio calculations. People should not need to build retaining walls and make unique lots flat in the process of remodeling a first floor.

That’s why I am asking you to change the existing zoning regulations to streamline the process for improving homes, all the while maintaining the green space and architectural initiatives that matter to Greenwich, just in a less complicated manner.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Real estate activity!

35 Lockwood Road closed at $2.7 million; it had asked $3.275. This house sold new in 2005 for $2.950 and I was a little surprised that it took so long to sell this time - it's a nice house. It was discussed here before as it lingered on the market, and readers were able to point a number of flaws, including its lack of a yard, but for all that, $2.7 seems like a decent price, for the buyer.

And also on a Lockwood, but Lockwood Avenue, in Old Greenwich, No.35 also sold for $2.7 million. Lockwood Avenue is just about as busy as its namesake in Riverside, but this house is put back a bit by sitting on a little spur "road" - actually a three-house driveway. Constructed  by a good builder, though he did end up in jail for bank fraud: hey, nobody's perfect.

195 Lake Avenue has a pending contract after just 40 days, so presumably it's going for close to its asking price of $1.875. Not my favorite part of Lake, but it is close to town, and the sellers did a bang up job bringing this 1754 home into a very livable home; it now has indoor plumbing and central heating, for instance, so I get it.

60/62 Oneida Drive, two separate building lots comprising six acres of direct waterfront and asking $21.9 million, is also pending. I don't know what the final price will be - it was asking $25 million back in 204, then spent a year being marketed as two separate lots during 2015, now it's finally going. We'll wait and see.

Well it takes one to know one, but if it's a Democrat, love is blind

Henry Blodget, who was himself permanently barred from the securities industry for lying to his clients, is out with his horrified prediction of what a Trump residence will be like:

• President Trump will also maintain the relationship to the truth that he has had throughout his campaign. Namely, he will cite actual facts and truth only when they help him. When the truth is inconvenient, President Trump will lie, deny, attack and threaten truth-tellers, speak in platitudes, and change the subject. The Trump administration will likely be one of the most secretive, most dishonest, and least transparent in modern history.

Sounds exactly like a description of a Clinton administration, not Trump's.

(Oh, reading to the bottom of his screed, I see that he's made the inevitable prediction that we'll witness Trump morph into a reincarnation of Hitler. What a genius.)

Pending in Old Greenwich

3 Little Cove Place, asking $2.275 million. It's not waterfront, which presumably keeps its price down, as well as it's being in the VE food zone, which definitely hurts. Owners bought it for $2.150 million in 2003, which was before Town Manager Katie Blankley DeLududed bout into Al Gore's apocalyptic vision of a flooded globe and promulgated new, draconian height requirements.

Riverside contract

36 Crescent Road, asking $1.299 million. Owners paid $1.425 for it in 2007, but that was 2007. Nice house, but set way down off the street (there's a driveway that comes up from behind, so that's okay). I notice that the listing shows Selene Finance as the "owner", and that's not a nice company, so that may explain why it's been pretty much dumped at this price.