Two firefighters died in a nasty fire last week in Boston. Story from the Boston Herald about one of them.

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2014/03/firefighter_was_rock_for_teen

http://www.infowars.com/cops-to-inspect-homes-without-notice-for-illegal-tenants/

People need to get outta New York.

Isab; That is NOT as bad as that article is trying to make it sound.

This isn't a question of someone taking in a roommate to help pay the mortgage or taxes.

There are neighborhoods in some areas which were built as single-family homes, and yet, they are more like crowded apartments now because the houses have been divided into several separate living areas which are then rented out.

Some of these homes now have 5 or more "rental apartments" with the cars, noise, etc. that come along with that many people living there.

Such crowded living is NOT what most folks expect when they live in a residential single-family home neighborhood.

Further, many of these illegal rentals are renting to transient people who often don't care about the neighborhood. While it isn't (nor should it be) illegal to not care about the neighborhood, this often means that the renters will have no problem with leaving trash lying around, causing all sort of noise, parking several cars on the yard because there isn't enough room in the 2-car driveway for 5 cars, etc.

Hardly a nice neighborhood to live in. And, yes, this does affect the property values. If I struggle to pay my mortgage and taxes I would seriously want the government to not allow this kind of crap to happen in my neighborhood and do something about it.

This is especially true in areas that have zoning laws, which is the case on Long Island.

That's what they are really trying to crack down on.

Charles, thanks for the comment you made a while back, about the slipperiness of satin sheets. One of my family members had a surgery that left her temporarily unable to mobilize her core muscles without a lot of pain, which made moving into, out of, or while in bed almost impossible and very painful. Then I remembered your comment. A set of satin sheets for the bed, another set for the couch, and satin pajama bottoms - made sliding into, out of, and within nearly effortless and pain free. The pillow cases were helpful tools to slip under and then use to reposition her, too (and she's worlds better after being able to get good sleep).

Thanks again!

Charles, we know that Infowars does tend to put their slant on thing (as all news organizations do). However, the quotes that they published, if accurate, were pretty damning. They mentioned "changes in warrant law" with the implication being that they would be obtaining general warrants to eliminate the need to get warrants for individual searches. And they also quoted the bit where the police were encouraging people to rat out their neighbors. (That last bit was what really caught me... if a person is running an illegal boarding house, that will be obvious by observation and "ratting them out" isn't necessary. So that makes it sound like they are in fact wanting to bust people that rent a spare bedroom to their nephew.)

Here's a report that will make the Usual Suspects howl in rage.

'Cinderella law’: Parents in Britain to be jailed for not loving children?

The UK government is planning to introduce changes to child neglect laws, which will make “emotional cruelty” a crime for the first time, according to Daily Telegraph report. The law will protect children’s emotional, social and behavioral well-being.

The offence will include deliberately ignoring a child, not showing them any love over prolonged periods, forcing degrading punishments or to witness domestic violence, and making them a scapegoat.

The maximum penalty can be up to 10 years in jail.

WTF!?

This is creepy: Government-written bedtime stories.

If I'm reading this report right, if the NSA believes that you have had contact with a foreign person of interest, then it can search your phone calls and email, without a warrant. Actual evidence of such contact is not required. Until recently, the NSA has always maintained that it did not engage in searches starting with Americans who were not shown to have contact with foreign interests. The claim is that this was authorized by Section 702 of the Patroit Act, although there seems to be a classified FISA court ruling also in play.

And I should have mentioned: Major props to Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden, who has really carried the water on this.

Here's a solution to noisy kids on flights.

http://fly.ws/kargokids

Here's another.

(Works every day of the year, too.)

Crid, please, that is too tempting. I'm giving my dog my credit card to go bury it.