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 Discrimination is an ugly thing, but so is unlimited power. When you think about it, prejudice is one of the manifestations of power. And that"s why it"s wrong for the federal and state governments to give special powers to fair housing groups. In trying to right the wrongs of housing discrimination, fair housing groups have been given seed money to target real estate professionals and landlords for violations. If they see one, they can shake the company or landlord down for cash, and threaten litigation if they don"t get a check fast. Imagine Dog the Bounty Hunter negotiating a cash settlement with felons for their release, and you"ve got a pretty good idea of what happens.
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One of the delights of urban living is seeing more and more people out and about with their dogs. Big dogs. Little dogs. Cute and so-ugly-they"re-cute dogs. Even city managers are enjoying the Frenchness of it all. They"re designating more land for dog parks, and allowing restaurants to serve patrons and their dogs on designated patios. Pooch parades like those held in Long Beach and Dallas are becoming annual spring events. And dog adoptions across the nation are way up. We"re humanizing our pets and treating them as members of the family, says Pet Product News. We spend so much money on them that the pet industry believes its vertical is virtually recession-proof.
Just yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress that he believes it"s possible that the economy is in recession and that he expects further rises in employment. The cause is an unsustainable dependency on credit over earnings to get the public to pay for goods produced in other countries by companies that underpay American workers while overpaying CEOs and are given sickening tax breaks by our government. Why should big oil get billions in tax breaks while reporting record earnings? These inequalities result in consumers being pounded by media to buy products they don"t need and to buy them with credit.
If you missed the lowest mortgage interest rates, you may be wondering what"s happening. Why are they going up when the Fed is expected to cut federal funds rate by as much as three-quarters of a point? The bubble has floated from housing to stocks and burst in both investing arenas. Now there"s a bubble in commodities. According to Realty Times mortgage expert David Reed, as long as commodity prices keep going up, mortgage rates won"t come down again any time soon. Economic indicators don"t move up or down in a vacuum. And right now commodity prices are rising on the weaker dollar and world demand for corn and other grains to produce ethanol and food.