Author Archives: Dana Pico

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The “Affordable Housing” Problem To no one's surprise, housing costs skyrocketed under President Biden

Heather Long, formerly of CNN and late of The Washington Post, now the Chief Economist for Navy Federal Credit Union, tweeted out an interesting economic graph, showing the rate of increase in home prices during the last five years. She wrote:

The Case-Shiller US Home Price Index is up 52% since January 2020.

That’s great news for anyone who owns a home. But it’s onerous for anyone who wants to buy.

The typical mortgage cost is basically double now versus 2020. And that $330,000 home price in 2020 is now ~$500k.

Home prices have cooled a bit this spring. Many sellers are reducing prices a bit and offering incentives. But it’s barely moving the needle on the big picture of the past 5 years.

The problem with inflation is that it can be reduced or even halted — though the Federal Reserve Board’s target is for 2% inflation, not no inflation at all — but inflation normally creates its own baseline: while the rate of increase may slow, absent a serious recession, prices almost never drop to where they were prior to inflation, though they did due to the housing market crash, between 2007 to 2012. Continue reading →

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If you are not calling on Hamas to surrender and release the hostages, your cries about people suffering in Gaza are worthless.

Armand Domalewski describes himself, in his Twitter biography, as a “Data scientist” living in San Francisco, and “Co-Founder, YIMBYs for Harris”. He’s actually followed by several real people I know, so perhaps he’s not an actual Palestinian bot, like so many of the other pro-Hamas posters on social media, but in this, he might as well be.

Mr Domalewski tweeted that the headline on the Babylon Bee satire site, “Gaza Said To Be Starving But Not ‘Release The Hostages’ Starving,” “is an evil, evil, evil headline”, But, even from a sarcasm site, it’s an accurate headline. The only thing that needs to happen for tons and tons of food and other aid to flow into Gaza is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages. But the Palestinians and their useful idiots on social media would rather keep on fighting an unwinnable war. Continue reading →

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You in a heap o’ trouble, boy! You'll never see Walter Kegler again . . . unless you choose to visit him in prison

38th and Wallace Streets, via Google Maps.

Looking down 38th and Wallace Streets, using images from Google Maps taken in July of last year, the neighborhood doesn’t look like one of the worst in the City of Brotherly Love. Oh, it’s certainly not Rittenhouse Square or Chestnut Hill, but the rowhouses aren’t falling-down dilapidated, and the streets at least look on the clean side.

Within (long) walking distance of the University of Pennsylvania, it is not in the Philadelphia Badlands, at least as such things are defined, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t become infected and infested with some of the same terrible culture that can be seen too often in Philly.

Teens in West Philly went from brothers to enemies. A trial offered a window inside the lesser-known feud.

Continue reading →

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Every once in a while, the left will say the quiet part out loud

In his Twitter — I refuse to call it 𝕏 — biography, Nichloas Decker describes himself as “GMU econ PhD student, liberal, aspie, bi. I post interesting papers. Michael Kremer stan. I ❤️ optimal auction design. Spend more on drugs. Open borders now!” He includes an ‘LGBTQ+’ rainbow flag, a globalist icon, and a Ukrainian flag.

So, what does a liberal, Asperger’s syndrome afflicted, bisexual think about freedom and democracy? Well, he doesn’t like it very much, tweeting: Continue reading →

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The Hassan Elliot case finally comes to a close The scumbag cop-killer is sentenced to 75 years in federal prison

Philadelphia Police Officers and FOP members block District Attorney Larry Krasner from entering the hospital to meet with slain Police Corporal James O’Connor’s family.

We have previously reported on the murder of Philadelphia Police Corporal James O’Connor IV by Hassan Elliot, a career criminal even by the age of 21, who could have been behind bars at the time but the city’s George Soros-sponsored, criminal-loving and police-hating District Attorney, Larry Krasner, who was just renominated by the Democrats for a third term letting criminals loose, let him slide on probation violations which could have kept him behind bars when he was already in custody.

On Friday, March 13, 2020, Corporal O’Connor and other members of the SWAT team were trying to arrest Mr Elliot, then 21, and Khalif Sears, 18, for a murder and robbery the previous March, when Mr Elliot started firing through the door.

Of course, the city’s police officers knew all about Let ’em Loose Larry, and blocked his attempt to visit Cpl O’Connor’s family at the hospital. They were not going to allow him to make a show of sympathy for an officer that his policies had gotten killed.

Well, now the case has come to closure: Continue reading →

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The journolism of The Philadelphia Inquirer

We previously reported on how The Philadelphia Inquirer told readers about yet another two murder suspects being caught on surveillance cameras but not yet arrested, yet, despite the newspaper having the suspect’s photo available and publicizing the Philadelphia Police Department’s call for help from the general public, the newspaper declined to publish the photos of the suspects, to possibly help in their apprehension.

Cue Britney Spears and “Oops, I did it again”: Continue reading →

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For the people of Gaza to receive any aid, they must repudiate Hamas and surrender Hamas leadership don't care about the people, because they're living in luxury in Qatar

The current ‘Palestinian’ sympathizer meme on Twitter — as always, I refuse to call it 𝕏, the absolute worst rebranding in history — is that the poor, poor Palestinian children, children! are starving. A gentleman calling himself Dr Mohammed al Najjar tweeted:

Doctors in Gaza collapse in operating rooms from hunger.
Ambulance drivers can’t drive, their stomachs empty.
A hungry doctor treats a hungry patient brought by a hungry driver.
To the free people of the world: Say ENOUGH to this starvation

It’s not just Dr Najjar — assuming he’s a real person and not just another pro-terrorist bot — but many others appearing in my feeds. Continue reading →

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Why should it be illegal to do something for money that is perfectly legal to do for free?

The title of this article is something I have asked about the repugnant profession of prostitution, but a guest column in The Philadelphia Inquirer doesn’t like the notion that a person could choose to make a live organ donation for filthy lucre:

The legalization of human organ sales would only undermine human dignity

A measure in New York state offers tax credits to living organ donors. That’s reignited one of medicine’s most contentious ethical debates: Should we legalize the sale of human organs?

Continue reading →

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Poor, poor Larry Krasner is tearfully upset that he couldn’t lock up another cop for longer

Larry Krasner, Philadelphia’s George Soros-sponsored, criminal-loving and police-hating District Attorney, recently renominated for a third term, as the city’s chief prosecutor, is just spittle-flecking angry that he cannot keep a former Philadelphia Police Officer in jail any longer, and, of course, the denizens at The Philadelphia Inquirer have been outraged all along. Columnist Helan Ubiñas waxed wroth when the charges against former Officer Mark Dial were initially dismissed, because Mr Krasner’s minions didn’t do their jobs properly. The Inquirer’s long-time columnist, Helen Uniñas, waxed wroth that the charges were dismissed, calling it a “welcome and rare reminder that police are not above the law when Officer Mark Dial’s bail was revoked” last week, to jail him before trial, and yesterday was pissed because “prosecutors apparently did not present evidence that (Officer Dial) had committed a crime.” Shouldn’t her ire be reserved for the District Attorney and his minions, who failed to “present evidence that he had committed a crime”? Does Miss Ubiñas believe that all criminals should be held behind before bars before they are tried and convicted? How else can one interpret that revocation of bail was a “welcome and rare reminder that police are not above the law”?

The District Attorney was able to get the charges reinstated, but not the First Degree Murder charge he wanted. In Pennsylvania, a defendant can be held without bail is the charge carries a potential term of life imprisonment. The DA refiled on Title 18 §2502, “Murder generally,” but Third Degree Murder usually does not result in a life sentence. Mr Krasner still wanted Mr Dial kept in jail before he was tried and convicted of anything, and succeeded to the tune of ten months behind bars.

Former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial sentenced — and immediately paroled — for killing Eddie Irizarry

Continue reading →