Sock Puppet: Point and Counterpoint
May 3rd, 2007 Humor
I’ve been a quiet observer for much of the debate on the real estate blogs, but finally have decided to step into the fray in defense of my good friend Athol Kay. The fact is, and I respectfully disagree with him on his point, he takes the view of accipere quam facere praestat injuriam in these matters. He won’t defend himself, but as a friend, I feel I have to step in and say something.
What imputes upon me so to action you ask? Namely this glaring pre-emptive strike in none other than the otherwise fine and respectable journal of Sellsius. After his comments on a post here, apparently he looms so large in the minds of Sellsius he was defended against directly in the follow up post itself.
“Note to Athol: Yes, we’ve all worked over Zillow enough to get what it is and is not. But have the masses?”
In the interests of plenus promptum, yes indeed Athol has received a Zillow T-Shirt, 2 bumper stickers, an awkward notepad and a variety of pens and keychains from Zillow. I believe the term is “schwag box”. I hardly think that such a collection of trinkets would tarnish his opinion, but perception is everything these days, and rightly so.
Returning to Sellsius and “Yes, we’ve all worked over Zillow enough to get what it is and is not. But have the masses?”
While I sympathize with this point, I believe the full education of the hoi polloi in this matter may be impossible. Also it may be undesirable and in conflict with national interest. In order to keep the great unwashed docile and co-operative with their capitalist masters, it is important to keep the herd constantly bombarded with the most specious mixture of muddleheaded conflicting points of interest - stated strongly and earnestly - so as to overwhelm the possibility of forming a coherent point of view on anything.
Likewise one must be thankful for true patriots like Rosie O’Donald Trump who carefully distract the rank and file from thinking of anything other whether or not a winner of a swimsuit competition was a vital point of news worthy debate.
Hat tip to Britney Spears who has done a remarkable public service, even giving up her singing career to provide a constant display of antics to keep the riffraff fixated upon her, rather than our control of gas prices, or something equally important like the continuing profit center of the inability of drugs to cure cancer, while the cost to the commoner has continued to skyrocket in value. Just as the American Idle morass of bodies appeared to struggle to consciousness, Britney was there to flash her kitty, and even a second time come to the rescue with shaving her head. Indeed she is coming the de facto First Lady of the ruling class and should be honored in time as such.
Without this maelstrom of public discourse, America, which I firmly believe both you and I, along with all other right thinking people fully support, would not be able to claim that foreign nations harbored weapons of mass destruction with a straight face and a serious look. The weapons of mass distraction being vital to the deployment of our troops, as the rabble certainly lack the stomach to see their sons and daughters being made uncomfortable by attacks made from weapons we sold our enemies, the enemies of truth, freedom and democracy I might add, the day before yesterday.
Returning to Zillow, as you rightly point out there is much use of governmental data (we all have a good chuckle here when it’s referred to “public information” by the way) on the site and limited control over whether your house is for placed for sale or not. In point of fact this is an extremely double edged feature of Zillow. In mid April several terrorist sleeper cells in Arizona were activated and began ruthlessly exploiting an IDX feed and placing homes from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) as for sale on Zillow. We only discovered them as quickly as we did because a joint CIA-NAR operation was doing the same thing. Thankfully the terrorists were rounded up in short order and are currently being detained in a Fair Housing class pending actual charges and investigation scheduled for 2009. So you can see my point.
The entire notion of privacy is nothing more than an abstract modern construct and as such can be discounted Casus belli. Simply because it was inconvenient for government forces in days gone by to enter your home and watch as you strain for a bowel movement, doesn’t mean it wasn’t allowable.
Ideally the entire residential eminent domain category of law would eventually be left to grow cobwebs, as local political bodies would be able to flag unpatriotically located homes for sale and have them forcibly sold to say French investors as rental properties before razing them and approving the construction of a Starbucks, car wash, or whatever else it was the campaign donor wanted built. Thus everybody wins.
After all, doesn’t catapultam habeo, nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam still ring true now, just as it did then? Times change, but the story remains the same.
Warmly,
S. Sock Puppet Ph.D (Hon)
Captus mihi serio est leviculus, ego sockum puppetus
Accipere quam facere praestat injuriam - It is better to suffer an injustice than to do an injustice
Plenus promptum – full disclosure
Casus belli - An act used to justify war
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam - I have a catapult. Give me all your money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head
Captus mihi serio est leviculus, ego sockum puppetus – Taking me seriously is silly, I’m a sock puppet
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:06 am
you go, sock!
Are there any other pictures of you floating around in the blogosphere?… You’re pretty good looking (and you know $10 words)!
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Ah, the masses, starving for truth?
Qu’ils mangent de la zestimate. (let them eat zestimate)
May 3rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Well done JF. Even a good one liner to boot.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Athol, I mean Sock Puppet, I thought this post was brilliant. I’d submit it to one of those carnival thingees. It’s a slam dunk winner.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Will do JF.
BTW you really impressed me as a person that you managed to enjoy a post that took all your points to their illogical conclusion.
Oh and someone really should put a Make Me Move price on the White House….
May 5th, 2007 at 9:54 am
[...] My Sock Puppet has been misbehaving ever since he saw the Spiderman 3 previews. He went sparring recently with Sellsius and JF brought up a great point in the comments. I stated that ultimately the publics protection in real estate is getting representation for when they commit to a transaction. To which JF said; [...]
April 18th, 2008 at 3:17 am
[...] Sock Puppet: Point and Counterpoint [...]