Good year for litigation

Bad year for homeowners, but whatever. At least attorneys can stay in business. Because if the lawyers suffer, we all suffer. Remember that.

Anyway, a Carlsbad couple is headed to court this week to pursue their claim that they was duped:

Vernon and Marty Ummel, who purchased a $1.2 million home in Carlsbad three years ago, will try to convince a jury that their real estate agent defrauded them when he failed to inform them that similar houses on the same block were selling for more than $100,000 less than what the Ummels had paid.

Although legal experts say the case is intriguing, most doubt it will spawn a raft of lawsuits in which disgruntled buyers go after real estate agents alleging they were led astray.

Experts also question whether the Ummels will be able to prevail, recognizing that ultimately, the Ummels were the ones who decided to pay what they did in 2005 for their two-story, 3,700-square-foot tract home in a neighborhood just north of the Four Seasons Aviara golf course. In those days, prices throughout the county were still climbing.

You know, if they just wait it out, the market will probably come back. Is the Four Seasons' neighborhood really going downhill to the point they need to get out now? Yeah, we didn't think so either.

I'm going to predict they'll lose big time here. Which will probably be a bad thing for other potential litigants with far more compelling cases and far less access to legal resources. Oh well. They'll stay rich. They sold their last home in NorCal for over a million. I bet they'll be okay.

There are two things wrong with this nipple story

First, that airport security made her remove her nipple rings.

Second, that she allowed scar tissue to develop in her nipples. C'mon now, hon, weren't you taught proper piercing care? Rotate! Clean! Avoid scar tissue and maintain good nipple health.

Clint Eastwood Gets Fired

The Governator removed Bobby Shriver and Clint Eastwood from their positions on the state parks' panel.

Yes, that's Bobby Shriver (his brother in law) and Clint Eastwoord, THE Clint Eastwood.

Both of them voted against the San Onofre toll road, so that's it, they're out.

Now the Natural Resource Defense Council wants to examine what's going on with that.

I dunno, doesn't Clint Eastwood have something else to be doing right now?

The Governator's Pad

The Governator lives in the Hyatt when he's up in Sac. Sure, lots of people know that. But they don't know how he's paying for it. And there are no records are where the money is coming from private donors.

Governors dating back to former Gov. Ronald Reagan have relied on outside foundations to pay for their housing in Sacramento. Schwarzenegger's Hyatt arrangement differs in that his foundation is not leasing a house to the state as the Deukmejian-related foundation did. In Schwarzenegger's case, no formal written agreement with the state appears to exist.

Shouldn't we have a better policy since Reagan was in the office?

Be afraid. Be very Afraid. Of Stuff.

How is this useful?

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has been taken aback by the scope and variety of potential terrorism threats facing the United States, he told reporters Friday at an informal meeting in his office.

"I'm surprised by how surprised I am," said Mukasey, who as a federal judge presided over terrorism-related trials in New York.

"It's surprising how varied [the threat] is, how many directions it comes from, how geographically spread out it is," he said.

Mukasey issued no warnings, made no pronouncements and offered no suggestion of increased danger or newly detected plots.

He would not discuss specifics of potential threats, which remain secret.

Look, just do your job and leave us out of it. If all you're going to do is tell us that there's stuff out there to be scared of, but never tell us what it is, then I can't really help you. Or me, for that matter.

Nearly seven years and still the same tune. We want to be safe and also to feel safe, but constant reminders that there are monsters under the bed doesn't help anything at all.

Pop goes the rental investment market

Ah, area real estate. You know this won't end well:

Robert and Yvonne Cromer began investing in real estate in 2000, when they tapped the equity in their College Area home to buy a nearby rental property.

Over the next few years, the San Diego County couple repeated the pattern, accumulating 17 properties in five states. In 2004, they were featured in a CNN Money article headlined “Tycoon in the Making.”

I don't think they are tycoons any more.

This article touches on You Walk Away.com (I refuse to link) that helps people, well, walk away from their homes. Just leave. Buh-bye. Doesn't seem responsible.

I'm glad I'm still renting. Even if I'm really tired of my eggshell walls.

We have weird neighbors

Despite the show having gone off the air awhile back now, Orange County has renamed some agencies using "OC" in the title. Like The O.C. get it? Yeah, I know, I thought they used the initials in the past on stuff as well. What about OCTA - the OCTA buses, clever, right? That has "OC" in it. Oh well. To each local government its own.