blacklibra56's Blog

This blog is a followup to a recent blog that I wrote about "Guard dogs in Urban Neighborhoods." I saw this item recently in a New York City newspaper:

A 90-year-old Staten Island man was recently mauled by his next door neighbor's two pit bull dogs in front of his home. The man was taken to the hospital with severe bites to his arms, legs and body. His left leg was amputated at the knee. A 10-year-old boy accidentally left the gate open and the dogs got out of the yard. The dogs-named Popeye and Brutus- was later euthanized after the incident.

Can this happen in the DC area?

In my Landover neighborhood, there are a lot of people who have "guard dogs" as house pets. The guy who live directly behind me has a pit bull dog. However, I don't go in my yard when his dog is in his yard! I am not an animal lover and I don get close to animals. There are people who have guard dogs in apartment buildings in Landover.

Is this an accident waiting to happen?  I hope it doesn't happen to me!

Are they for security or are they just for show?

I am "very leery" of people who have guard dogs as house pets in urban neighborhoods. There are quite a few people in my Landover nieghborhood who have guard dogs as house pets.

I must admit that I am not an "animal lover." I do not have a pet and I have no desire to get one! I do not have a car and I have to rely on public transporation. I also have to walk to the store to get the daily newspaper.

I respect homeowners' rights to have dogs as pets. However, I hope that homeowners respect my rights not to deal with their dogs. They should keep their dogs in their yards and in their houses. They should also use a leash when the dogs is in front of or off their properties.

I have been chased a few times over the years by stray dogs. I am a middled aged person now and I can no longer "run away from" stray dogs.

Business owners wouldn't get a poodle to guard their stores or factories. I just don't understand why homeowners, any of them who have burglar alarm systems, have guard dogs as house pets.

Is this an accident waiting to happen?

During the International Slave Trade, the country of Bolivia  received  only a handful of slaves from Africa. They worked the mines in the Yungas region of the country. Currently, there are between 3,000 to 70,000 blacks who live in the Yungas region of Bolivia. 

They mainly live in the towns of Calacala, Chicaloma, Coroico, Coscoma, Irupana and Mururata. They live in miseralbe conditions with no electricity or running water in their houses. They lack decent food to eat and suffer from a lack of proper education and health services.

Many Afro-Bolivians suffer from Leishmaniasis,  a deadly virus which is spread by insect bites,  tuberculosis and hepatitis B. Many children die from diarrhea and many women die after child birth.

The other ethnic groups in the country are Europeans, Mestizos and Indians and all three groups are deeply racist against the blacks. The Morales Government will not included them in the country's new constitution.

Many Afro-Bolivians move to the cities of La Paz and Santa Clara to find work becuase they don't make enough money being  citrus fruit, coffee, coca leaf farmers.  

Prince George's County is going to raise the property taxes on long-term residents, many of them who are senior citizens and people who live on fixed incomes,  to pay  for the "mortgage mess" that is going on inside the County. I consider people who have lived in the County 15 or more years to be long-term residents.

The "mortgage mess" that is going on inside the County  has nothing to do with us!  The mortgages on our houses were paid many years ago. My deceased parents brought a house in 1959 and paid the mortgage on the house in 1987.

There is no "senior citizen" discount on property taxes. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not going to loan money to residents to help them pay their property taxes. The County Government is not coming to the aid of low-income residents to help them pay their property taxes. The County will gladly sell the houses of those residents who fail to pay their property taxes!

The County Government failed to act many years ago against "predatory lending" and now the County is filled with predatory lenders. They will go into low and/or moderate income neighborhoods, buy houses very cheap and put them back on the market at high prices.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, houses in my neighborhood sold for between $12,000 and $15,000. The houses in my neighborhood hasn't changed since they were built in the late 1950s. The only thing that has changed about them are the prices!

These three schools do not belong in the 2008 NCAA basketball tournament: Arizona (19-14) , Kentucky (18-12)  and Oregon (18-13)

 I think that they only made the tournament to sell tickets. I am sure that Kenutcky has a huge following and they will bring huge crowds to the games.

The Univeristy of Georgia won their conference tournament and deserve to get in the  tournament with a 17-16 record. Schools that win their conference tournaments automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Schools in well-known conferences who  finish in the bottom-halves of their conferences need to win their conference tournaments to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

I would like to see the NCAA eliminate the play-in game that is played in Dayton every year. Conference champions shouldn't have to play their way into the tournament. The NCAA should eliminate one at-large berth and reduce the field to 64 schools. The tournament field should consist of 31 automatic qualifiers and 33 at -large bids.

 The NCAA need to eliminate the use of the RPI rankings to determine which schools earn at-large bids to the tournament. The RPI rankings are bogus!  

The NCAA Division I basketball selection committee shouldn't embrace mediocrity from schools who play in well-known conferences! Schools who finish in the bottom halves of their conferences need to win their conference tournaments to make the NCAA Division I basketball tournament.

Schools who win their conference tournaments automatically  make the NCAA Division I basketball tounament. There are a few schools who think that they should automatically make the tournament becuase they play in well-known conferences and they also play on television.

The NCAA Division I basketball tournament should be for schools with great and really good records during the basketball season. Schools with mediocre records shouldn't make the tournament unless they win their conference tournaments. 

Right now, I am undecided on whom to vote for in the Democratic primary in Maryland. I would like to hear from supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I have a question that I need an answer to:

What will your candidate do for low and/or moderate urban neighborhoods in Maryland and around the country?

Answering this question will help me decide on whom to vote for in the Maryland primary tommorrow.  Thanks!

Recently, the City of Baltimore sued the Wells Fargo Bank for offering subprime loans to Blacks in certain areas of the city. Should Prince George's County do the same thing? Prince George's County has the highest forclosure rate in the State of Maryland!

There are pages of foreclosure notices in the local newspapers from Prince George's County. During the upcoming summer months, there will be an estimated 8,000 houses that will go into foreclosure in the County.

In a County that is mostly black, it is mostly black people who are losing their houses to foreclosure. Yet, the local officials remain silent and do nothing about the foreclosure problems in the County.

A co-worker of mine recently brought a new truck. He had the truck for only 22 days before it was stolen from his home on Thanksgiving night. The next day, he found his truck in a nearby neighborhood with a damaged ignition.

Currently, his son has to drive him to and from work everyday. Also, he has to spend a great deal of time tracking down the representives of his insurance company. Those of us who are long-term residents of Landover now have to worry about the "increasing crime rates" in our neighborhoods. At least, 45 vehicles are stolen every week in the Landover area.

However, it is sad that folks who work hard can't enjoy "the fruits of their labor."  My co-worker didn't have a chance to enjoy his new truck before it was stolen!

There is a house that is for sell in my neighborhood in Landover, Maryland at a reduced price of $255,000. I walk past the house every day either on my way to the bus stop or to the store.

This is a Joke!

There are very few houses in my neighborhood that are worth over $100,000. A lot of the houses in my neighborhood were built in the late 1950s and in the early 1960s for less than $20,000. My deceased parents brought a three bedroom, one bathroom house with a driveway in 1959 for less than $20,000.

There are houses in my neighborhood that were built in the mid-1960s for less than $100,000. The builders who built the house in question didn't spend $255,000 building the house.

Real estate speculators will go into low and/or moderate income neighborhoods, buy houses very cheap and put them back on the market at a very high price. The buyers, many of them from out-of-town, will gladly buy overpriced houses!

The buyers who will buy the house in question will probably think that they are getting a bargain at a reduced price of $255,000. However, the true price of the house is probably between $15,000 to $20,000.

My alma mater, Norfolk State University, lost to Rutgers University, 59-0, in a game played in September. It was a win-win situation for both schools. Rutgers got an easy win against a lesser-skilled Division 1AA opponent and played a home game in September.

Even though the Spartans lost, it was a winning proposition for them too! Norfolk State got paid a whole lot of cash for playing the game against Rutgers. Rutgers reportedly paid Norfolk State $275,000 to play the game.

Schools want to play home games early in the season and will pay schools to come to their place. This is a one-time only arrangement!  There is no home and home arrangement between the two schools.

The winning schools get an easy victory and a home game in front of their fans. The losing schools get a nice huge pay day for their efforts. Norfolk State couldn't make $275,000 playing schools on the Division 1AA, Division II or NAIA levels.

My deceased parents brought a three bedroom, one bathroom house with a driveway in Landover, Maryland in 1959 for less than $20,000. They added a den to the house many years ago. The house doesn't have a basement, an upstairs living area and a garage.

Currently, according to the Maryland State tax assessment, the house is now worth over $150,000. I am not good in math, but I think that my house is now worth between 10 to 13 times the original price of the house.

There is no way that my house is worth this kind of money!  In fact, there are very few houses in my neighborhood that are worth over a $100,000. However, real estate companies sell houses in my neighborhood for over $300,000.

We are going through the highest forclosure rate in the history of the United States. In the State of Maryland, Prince George's County has the highest forclosure rate of any county in the state.

in my opinion, one of the reasons for the high foreclosure rate is that today's real estate climate is a "sucker's market." Real estate speculators will go into a low and/or moderate income neighborhood, buy houses very cheap and put them back on the market at a very high price.

The buyers, many of them from out-of-town, gladly buy houses thare are disgustingly "overpriced" and lose those houses  to foreclsoure  a few years later.