I Guess Its Time To Bash Tenant's Rights Again

As if it's not hard enough being a tenant in San Francisco...


Today on SFgate.com, the webpage the San Francisco Chronicle, there was a headline link to one of the blogs which stated, "Why are so many S.F. Homes vacant?" Underneath that, the subtitle reads, "San Francisco has a higher rate of vacancies than the state and surrounding counties. Is rent control to blame?"


Because that's not in the least bit priming the pump for some more anti-tenant rhetoric, is it? I suppose that's the way the responsible journalism organization makes its money. It takes a target that easy to not like, in this case those awful tenants, and then suggests a problem that may or may not be caused by them.


The big selling point of the "article" is that vacancy rates in San Francisco are hovering around 8.3%.However, a paragraph later, the author notes that vacancy rates in California are hovering at 8.1%. Somehow, a .2% difference represents a drastic difference in the vacancy rates and therefore must mean that there is a problem in our fair city.


Well, if you look at the census data itself, you will see that in fact California does have a vacancy rate throughout the state of 8.1%. and if you bother to look at the last column, you'll also note that there is a margin of error of + or -.2%. so if you do that really complicated map that you learned in the first grade, and you subtract 8.1% from 8.3%, then you will find that there is only a .2% difference. Or you might find that San Francisco's vacancy rate the margin of error.


But I guess it makes for a better tagline to blame the tenants for a problem that doesn't exist. What else should we expect from a paper that ignores have problems, unless it doesn't fit into their nice and neat worldview? And a big thank you to the author of that blog, Jenny Pisillo, for giving such a fair and balanced piece which will only serve to give the landlord lobby one more piece of ammunition to use against the tenants. Perhaps she can go back to doing what you do best, which is highlighting houses for sale and their prices.

Before the First Reveal Madness, Week Two of Dancing With The Stars

Opening question for this week: Did the Taliban get control of Brooke Burke's wardrobe. Usually she's in something that makes her look like what she is. This week, its either she's heading in from a funeral or they've decided that the "stars" are tired of being upstaged by her.

Going into tonight, the one who has to turn in a big performance has to be Wendy Williams. She had a terrible first week, which frankly did not look like there was going to be much in the way of redeeming qualities hidden in it. It was Master P bad, but with effort.

This week Anna and Sugar Ray drew the lead-off spot doing the Jive. Thee kicks and flicks are not as crisp as they need to be, but then this is the second week. His posture, which was the problem last week is not as big of a deal, but he has a hunch to the way he moves sometimes, which I think is a remnant of being a boxer. But when he gets into open, he looks like he is having fun and doing a good job at the same time. It was ok. I'd give it a six. Len comes out and calls him on all the technical things. I think I'm agreeing with Bruno this time, there was something there, but it needs to be refined and sharpened. Sixes and a five for seventeen.

Kendra Wilkinson and Louis were up next. This week they are doing the quickstep. Oh hell, Kendra has her first breakdown this week. Mrs. Angrybell says that a tomboy would not be out there crying. Louis starts her out in open, which might hae been a mistake  because she got off beat pretty fast and that does not look good. When they get into hold, she does better, but she keeps pulling away from him and not putting her hip on his. She is also having balance problems because I think she is missing steps. Her posture is mostly ok, but she could be locked in tighter with her arms. The problem I think was the choreography. Louis started her off in a hard thing for a novice, namely the open routine, and then she never really recovered her confidence. This is step back for her.  What dance was Carrie Ann watching? She saw something that neither Mrs. Angrybell nor myself saw. I think that Carrie Ann is starting to affect Len's judgment based on what he said. Fortunately, Len comes back with the right score of a 6. Coupled with Carrie Ann's 7 and Bruno 6 and its a respectable, for the 2nd week, 19.

Next up is Chelsea Kane with Mark. Mrs. Angrybell approves of this week's deviation from the Florence Henderson look. They are doing a jive. To a song that I cant even tell what the heck it is.  She is going for it. She is a little flat on her feet,but her kicks are good. Angrybabybelle is dancing along with them, so it must be entertaining her. The first problem was the song. Its would not be my first choice for a jive.  Mark went a little too far with it, but what choice did he have with this? So of course, Carrie Ann calls them on it. This dance was not Chelsea's fault. She did what Mark told her to do. The question is, how much do you penalize her for it. The 18 was correct score based on what happened (a bit of a penalty but not a crippler), even if it came about oddly.

Christ Jericho and Cheryl came up next for a quickstep. Mrs. Angrybell, during the Jericho solilquoy on strong wood, said "He needs to be Joby wood!" They drew a better song for the quicksept. He starts off with a good frame and his footwork is looking respectable. He even manages a smile. He does some nice kicks and flicks, much sharper than Sugar Ray in thejive. I actually really liked it. For a big guy who didn't seem to move well in his last dance. One other thing he did better than the others so far tonight Len hits it: bright, breezy, fun. 23

Petra and Dmitri, doing a jive. It gets better when the clothes came off because the start was not good.  Mrs. Angrybell thinks she is off. I think she starts slow, but she is getting better as things are going and then there is somethign that went horribly wrong right before the trick. I think she was thinking too much about the trick that it dominated her dance to the point where things went bad. Then Dmitri puts her up on the desk for a bit. This was nice to look at but not that good. Mrs. Angrybell felt like she was not sharp and very wooden. Compare her dance to Stacey Keibler a few seasons back and that is what a tall girl should look like doing the jive. Len is spot on when he said short skirt, bad technique. The 6s were overly generous. There should have been one or two fives in there.

Kirstie Alley and Maksim were called to the floor to perform a quick step. Black Horse and a Cherry Tree. Maksim starts her out in an open. She looks like she was hanging on to the routine for dear life and then looks better once they go into fhold. For big woman, she is moving well in hold. She has a good frame for the first half, it starts to weaken as the dance goes on, but she is right on his hip whens he is supposed to be and that makes the dance look better. For example, her left arms starts to drop and her bum starts to sneak out and that affected her balance. The problem is she starts to tire as the dance goes on and that hurts her posture starts to suffer. Len was too harsh with that 6. The score was a 20.

Psycho Mike and Lacey of the Tragic Hair are hoping to avoid elimination with their jive. Mrs. Angrybell thinks he looks scared. Lacey has been shopping in Edyta's closet and it doesn't look good on her. There are parts of this dance that are good. His kicks and flicks are very sharp and spot on. The problem is, he is not linking his moves together. Its like nice combination and then move to where the next move will be. At times, he had the footwork down, but he was more stomping than dancing. He made it look good though. It was a definite improvement. 17 was a fair scored for that.

Romeo and Chelsea are up to show if Romeo can improve on a good start. You're The One That I Want is the song. Mrs. Angrybell doesn't feel Chelsea's hair is right for the timeperiod for this song. He is a little too far away from her in the dance, but his arms are locked in. It feels loose, not sharp. Its not a bad quickstep, its just... lack in in polish I think. Mrs. Angrybell counters that the song may have driven the movements. All I can say, Jericho did better. I think Len may have had a stroke when he calls this dance the dance of the night. And yet, they earned a 23.

Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani are looking to redeem themselves. Let's see if this is another train wreck.  Its a quickstep that starts off with mucking about, yeah Tony, Len is going to love this. The kicks and flicks in the corner were ok, precise but not sharp. When they did the next set, they looked better, but not by much. And then there is mucking about at the end. It was better than last week, so its an improvement. Mrs. Angrybell felt she was trying to be small and not big. Of course, Carrie Ann views it entirely differently. And Len smacks Tony with the "economical" comment. That should read "Tony, you need to have your partner dance the dance more and not hide her with mucking about you twit." A 17 is spot on for this one.

The Karate Kid and Karina (I guess it would be bad to call them team KK and K).  Mrs. Angrybell believes that Ralph and Demi sold their souls to the devil to look this good. They start off the jive strong. He looks like he is having fun. Mrs. Angrybell is reminded of Drew Lachey when she watches him.. There are times when it seems loose or not fully in control on his part. Its a good routine, but he set a high bar for himself after last week. He has some stamina problems like Kirstie. Len says it better when he called it "frantic" at times. The 21 was fair.

Hines Ward and Kym Johnson got to follow up Ralph and Karina doing a quickstep.  Like all the other guys tonight, he has been dancing primarily on his toes and not doing the properly footwork. Its not a slap, its just something I haven't mentioned at all.  His posture seems to be hilding which is good for a guy with shoulder problems.  Mrs. Angrybell points out that he looks like he is in a little pain doing that. It was good. It was fun. I'm a little mystified at the love for this routine. It earns a 23, which is what Jericho got.

Alright, so we've seen them all twice. Who should go home? Its either Psycho Mike or Wendy Williams. The best of the men, surprisingly it could be Chris Jericho... if he keeps up the work. The more consistent top of the board for the men is Ralph Macchio. Sugar Ray looks out of his element. He'll hang around for a while because he has a fan base, but he does not look like a contender. Romeo is a bit of wild card here. If he continues to progress, he will become a real threat.

The women are a little more interesting. Wendy Williams is thanking her lucky stars that Psycho Mike is there, because it gives some people an excuse to keep her on the show. The best of the women right now is Kirstie Alley. She is having fun. She is able to keep up with choreography. Her downside is that she is out of shape and tires during her dances. Petra looks like she will hang around for a while, but she is not showing much. Kendra Wilkinson is kind of the wild card here. She has some athletic ability and she showed promise in the first week, but then took a step back this week. The biggest threat, or would be if she has a fan base from her Disney/Jonas fans, is Chelsea Kane. She moves well. She keeps up with the choreography. Her greatest liability right now, oddly enough, is Mark and his occasional flights of fancy.

Who should go home: Psycho Mike.

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CIA's 'Facebook' Program Dramatically Cut Agency's Costs

Opening Night Madness

Opening Night is here at last. Here we go.

First up is Chelsea Kane and Mark doing a Foxtrot. Mrs. Angrybell wonders if Florence Henders knows that Chelsea stole Mrs. Brady's hair style while Jan was complaining about Marsha. Its not bad. The problem is the footwork is not spot on, but she's faking the flow until she tried to do the side by side kicks. She has the character of the dance, but her footowrk needs help. She is not getting the heel ball changes.  She had a couple of stumbles. It could stand some improvement. Who is sitting in for Bruno tonight. No gushing. Constructive criticism. Whats up with this? Sevens across the board, but then again she is the first through the door.

Next up Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani took the floor. Mrs. Angrybell is stunned by her. Poor Tony, he drew the waterworks. And all this over the cha cha cha? Whats going to happen when she hits the two dances. This is not looking good for Wendy. Mrs. Angrybell is shocked by the lack of rhythm from her. She is heavy on her feet. Now I cannot figure out if this is nerves or if we have finally found this year's Kenny Mayne. There's nothing good here other than the fact she managed to stay up right. Six weeks for this? Oh dear. Len's line of the night nominee: "Your dumplings are boiling over." If she wants to survive, if thats possible, she's going to have to get much lighter on her feet. 5s and a 4. They were being kind to her.

Mrs. Angrybell just wants to stay that whatever that thing on Brooke Burke's dress is just wrong.

Hines Ward is going to be Kym Johnson's project this year. She has her work cut out for her. Let's see how he handles the cha cha cha. He needs to get his bum in. Its substituting his bum for hip movmeent, but it gets better as the dance moves along. He gets combinations of moves down and then he has a little hiccups when he starts to think. He alternates between stomping and and footwork. There is hope in this dancing.  Mrs. Angrybell calls for 6s.  Ward benefits from the train wreck of Wendy Williams, but still Bruno scares everyone, including Angrybabybell. He ends up with 7s across the board.

Petra Nemcova is hoping that she follows in the footsteps of Brooke Burke and not Paulina Poriskova . And she draws the foxtrot this week. She's dancing on her toes too much,but its not looking bad. Dmitri and Petra got a nice song for this dance, which helps. Dmitri has kept it nice and simple, and restrained his impulse to do things that Len hates, right up until the end. I'm curious to see what she can do with an up tempo dance. Bruno again comes up with the good comments about linking together all the movements. Apparently Carrie Ann saw a lift. The lift police rides again. She scores 6s across the board. Mrs. Angrybell thinks  at least one of the points comes for being a Tsunami survivor.

Chelsie Hightower is off to find out if Romeo shares the dancing gene his father, Master P, has. Mrs. Angrybell thinks Romeo looks like the mating of Urkel and Will Smith.  He is very flat on his feet when he steps and looks way too serious for a cha cha cha.  Mrs. Angrybell thinks it must be dancing with a frong because his tongue is always out.  He is heavy on his feet and his hip movement is not there.  But that is because of his footwork.  Mrs. Angrybell felt like he was off beat, but a marked improvement to Master P. Damn, Bruno and I are sharing a brain tonight. I amscared. The score of 19 leaves me mystified as to how Carrie Ann went to 7 for him.

Sugar Ray Leonard comes out with Anna. I am curious to see what will happen. They are starting off with foxtrot. Interesting song, Power of Love, never though of it as a foxtrot. He is a little stiff, and his shoulders are up by his ears. This is going to be hard because of posture. Footwork is not where it should be, but he looks comfortable in the open which is rare for an early week dance. He seems to want to put a little showmanship into it. He, like many of the other men so far tonight, is heavy and flat on his feet. If he wants to get better, he needs to get his posture together. Another Lenism for the night "Foxtrot is fine wine and caviar. That was beer and pizza." Carrie Ann once again is the soft touch and gives him a 6. He ends up with a 17.

Kendra Wilkinson is the anchor around Louis Van Amstel's neck this season. Mrs. Angrybell, who was a huge fan of the Girls Next Door, is afraid for this cha cha cha. Of course, Holly did not set the bar that high for her. Footwork is ok, but she is not getting a lot of hip action going on. She looks lost in the open, which is not surprising. Mrs. Angrybell feels like she is not finishing her movements because she is late. She is not embarrassing, but not great either. Louis is not making this easy on her. I feel like he is saying, "Either sink or swim. If you suck, I'm outta here quicker."  It was nice to see Hef and his fiancee out to cheer her on. And Len explains what the problem is, she never got full extension off her legs. She scored sixes for an 18.

Ralph Macchio has Karina Smirnoff to help him. He looks good for being 49. Mrs. Angrybell says "Do not embarass the Italians!" The Irish/Lithuanians in the audience couldn't care. He is not bad. He needs to get his steps a little smaller, but he is going big with his hands, but just not full extension on some of his moves.  Karin gave him a tricky foxtrot with a lot of little movements to do. His posture at times slips away when his shoulders go up. But that open side by side int he mid point of the routine was pretty good.  The final spin was not pretty, but overall, it was food. Bruno liked it. Len is right so far, best foxtrot of the night. The 8s were appropriate for tonight.

Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke doing a cha cha cha. He is heavy on his feet and Cheryl is keeping him pretty stationary. This does not bode well. He is trying to get some hip action in there, but its only when he really focuses on it. He is not getting the steps in right, its almost looking like a jive. Cheryl may have an early season this year if the lack of content for him is any predictor. I'm not sure that Carrie Ann was watching the same dance, because there is no way that dance was a 7 this week or any week. Mrs. Angrybell wants to know what Jericho has on Carrie Ann for blackmail.

Then there is some DJ named Mike Catherwood with Lacey Schwimmer. Lacey's hair has gotten worse. Mrs. Angrybell is willing to take up a collection to put us out of her misery. Finally, they get to the foxtrot portion of the night. Psycho Mike is trying, but he has some problems. His posture is variable. His footwork is, ... well... yeah. I don';t think that the Karate Kid needs to worry about this. It was not as bad a train wreck as Wendy Williams, but who knows, given a chance he could find that ability. Mrs. Angrybell wants to know if Lacey was trying act as a cellphone tower in that outfit. Wow, he pulls a 13 with a 5 and two 4s. Ugliness.

Lt. Savik, I mean Kirstie Alley comes out with Maksim. I'm not sure who is showing more chest, Kirstie or Maksim. They also got the best song for the cha cha chas tonight with Cee Lo Green's F-You. For someone as heavy as her, she moves a lot lighter on her feet than many of the other women. She is even getting some hip movement in there because she is getting her legs to extend. This was not a typical Maksim choreographed dance, since he kept it pretty simple and managed to make her look good in the process. I kinda of liked it.   Two 8s and a 7 for 23.

This is a little unusual. The two best stars (Kirstee Alley and Ralph Macchio) so far are two of the oldest, with a third (Sugar Ray Leondard) looking like he might have a shot at improving. On the other hand, the younger ones are not showing up too well. Chelsea Kane is ok. Romeo needs help, but has a lot of work.

If Wendy Williams is not careful, she is going home next week. Of course, Chris Jericho may want to give her a run for her money.

Favorites have to be Kirstie Alley and Ralph Macchio.

Obama and Eisenhower

There is a civil war going on in Libya. Egypt is relatively quiet for the moment, but disturbing questions are starting to be asked about the military's commitment to elections. Japan has just undergone a massive 8.9 earthquake, followed by tsunami, and now looks to undergo a possible meltdown at two of its nuclear facilities. Along with all this, there is an economic recovery that is barely producing any jobs, a massive debate over the future of public employee unions in America, and don't forget there are soldiers fighting for us in Afghanistan.

So where is President Obama? He's playing a round of golf. Again.

Now before we.. I... condemn him too quickly for playing another round of golf, let's take a step back and look at the original Golfer-in-Chief: President Dwight David Eisenhower.

According to records, President Eisenhower played golf on average twice a week while in office. He was known to shoot 3 holes before breakfast when he was leading the liberation of Europe during the Second World War.

But then, maybe President Eisenhower earned the right to go hit the golf balls twice a week while president. As president, he quietly had a list of accomplishments which, if you put them in the context of his time, were pretty impressive.

iPad 2... I'm still learning iPad

That's not to say that it isn't a bad thing. From what I am hearing about the newer version, its supposed to be thinner and with two cameras.

I know some people are thinking, why multiple cameras on a tablet? Well, for one, I hope that the makers of some of the fax software out there, like say eFax, will update their iPad apps to take advantage of this. I would readily pay their per page charge over trying to photocopy stuff at the library or when I am off at a depo and want to send a document back to my co-counsel.

Now, if Apple will please just tweak its printing software so that it works with any wireless printer instead of just the approved bunch of HP, I would be in heaven. But with the multiple cameras, tweaked OS to fix the printing problem, that's two of my major complaints about the iPad.

Lineups for DWTS Season 12... At Least For Now

So here are the pairings as they have been reported, so far, for season 12 of DWTS. It was already announced that Derek Hough would not be participating, but from my point of view the bummer is no Edyta.

Chelsea Kane (from Disney's Jonas show) is with Mark Ballas.

Hines Ward, of the Pittsburgh Steelers, will be dancing with Kym Johnson.

Chris Jericho, WWE Wrestler, will pair up with Cheryl Burke

Kendra Wilkinson, one of the orignal Girls Next Door/Playboy Model/Reality Star, will be with Louis Van Amstel.

Petra Nemcova has been paired up with Dmitry Chaplin.

Mike Catherwood, radio DJ, will be with Lacey Schwimmer.

The Karate Kid, Ralph Macchio will dance with Karina Smirnoff.

Tony Dovolani will try to guide Wendy Williams to the Fabulous Mirror Ball Trophy.

The guy knocked down by Dicky Ward, aka Sugar Ray Leonard, will dance with Anna Trebunskaya.

Romeo comes back to try and actually make it to the dancefloor. I'm sure that Chelsea Hightower is hoping for the same thing, because she probably does not want to contemplate dancing with Romeo's back up: Master P.

Kirstie Alley will have to weather the storm that is Maksim Chmerkovskiy's ego.

And as a final note, what kind of geek would I be if I didn't include a picture of Kirstie Alley as she should look, with Vulcan ears.