Ike’s Place, a deli which is located in the heavily gay Castro District is a Yelp.com darling.  They have out-of-this-world ratings and comments, and allegedly put together some of the greatest sandwiches this side of the memory of Little Woman on 29th and Clement.

After the general public started raving about Ike’s on Yelp, the lines started and people who wouldn’t normally venture to that part of town were taking up parking spots and, heaven forbid, spending money.  The tenants in the upstairs units complained about the increased traffic, and the local business decided to call their lawyers and sue Ike.

Ike’s lease is supposed to run until 2018, but the landlord wants him out on his ear so he can find a less successful tenant.  His neighboring business want him out so they have less foot traffic of people they could potentially monetize.  Ike’s neighbors accuse of him of “terrorizing the neighborhood.”

The good part is that it’s nearly impossible to evict anyone in San Francisco, the really stupid part is that his neighbors, instead of opening a lemonade stand and profiting from the traffic, they decide to litigate.  I say we begin a boycott on his neighbors; your thoughts?!

Ike's Place Deli in San Francisco Castro District is being evicted

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The fact that people from around the world, from all walks of life and all political slants utilize the eBay platform to earn a living, seems be lost on Democrats who would elect a French poodle over any Republican, regardless of their pedigree.

When opponents cannot come up with any real beef against a candidate they grasp for straws, so let’s toss the racism card at Meg, since after all, she wants to control illegal immigration from Mexico.  A perennial candidate for office, Stewart Alexander, makes these “Meg Whitman is a racist” claims for no other reason than because he can.  He claims, and I quote, “Whitman’s position is racist and discriminates against Mexican-Americans.”

Immigration Control Benefits Mexican-Americans

Huh? If anything, it helps Mexican-Americans in the view of non Mexican-Americans in that there won’t be a question if they are here “legally” or if they are undocumented.

There is a huge difference between immigrating legally and going through the proper procedures versus hopping a fence and avoiding border patrols.

This leads me to a man named Osama Bedier.  Osama, who?!  Osama Bedier is the Vice President of New Ventures at the eBay subsidiary, PayPal.com.

Osama-Bedier-VP of PayPal-eBay

Would a woman hire a man named Osama if she were a xenophobe? Or did she hire Mr. Bedier because he was the best candidate?  That is something few democrats grasp, Silicon Valley and start-up companies work on merit – if you are great, you are greatly rewarded.  If you are mediocre or lazy, you’re gone.  There are no unions here.

Another jab at Whitman has been that since she is pro-business, she will outsource all jobs to a far-away land, like India, and all the “real” jobs will vanish.  Something to chomp on here – ex-eBay and PayPal employees have spawned companies such as YouTube.com. LinkedIn.com, Yelp.com, and Slide.com to name just a portion of the long list.  In other words, she hired really smart people who left to start new companies that also hire really smart people and create more jobs.

Meg Whitman will likely become California’s next governor, despite taunts and jabs from democrats that have no muscle behind them.

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Democrats want us to believe that without social programs we will all wilt and die.  Now some programs are good, don’t get me wrong, but they are a crutch not a solution. Food stamps have helped many many families get through rough patches in their lives, but it is a short-term solution not a lifestyle as some have made it.

When I see a person who has come from nothing and has become something and someone, I am always curious to hear the story.  How did they do it?  What did they do differently that others could model?

In most cases it comes down to two things: education and hard work.  There are no shortcuts.  I tell my 7 year-old daughter this every day: “Do what you have to do first, and then you can do what you want to do.”  TCB – Take Care of Business.

This leads me to Damon Dunn, who is running for California’s Secretary of State.

Stanford grad Damon Dunn for California Secretary of State

Damon, who spent part of his childhood living in a trailer and who’s mother is just 16 years his senior, was an outstanding athlete but also a superior student who was accepted to Stanford, arguably the finest university in the world.  Yes, he played football, but unlike so many underprivileged athletes that let their scholarship go to waste, he took full advantage of his surroundings.

Damon Dunn suited up for a few games in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, but was never a star and never made any real money playing ball.  He realized he was essentially a fringe player and retired in his mid-20’s to pursue a business career, and it appears to to have been the correct choice.

Just 34 years-old, Damon Dunn appears to be a rising star within the Republican party with good looks, an athletic build, charming smile and a real speaking style – a complete opposite of the lecturing college professor-style that currently resides in Washington D.C.

I look for my politicians to be well rounded, to have held a real job and not be trust fund babies.  I want to be able to relate.  If you are looking for the future of the Republican party, it might be the guy who has overcome hardship through the virtues that have made America great – self-reliance, perseverance, not quitting, regrouping when something isn’t working and trying something else and most of all, hard work.

For what it’s worth, Damon Dunn has my vote.

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I was in Manhattan last week, and while on my way to a meeting there was a big commotion with banging drums and a group chanting, “union…union…” across the street from the Omni Berkshire Hotel on 52nd and Madison.  There was a 10-foot tall inflatable rat placed in the street directly in front of the hotel’s main entrance to imply the hotel’s management is rodent-like in their dealings with their particular union.

Omni Berkshire Hotel New York Union Protests and The Mafia

It was a small gathering, maybe 20 guys who looked like rugged dudes from Hollywood Central Casting, if there indeed was a call for longshoreman and construction workers.  The guys were mostly standing around looking like rugged union members tend to look, while a couple of loud-mouths did the screaming into a distorted bullhorn.

And then I saw him, in the sea of ruggedness, there he was.  We made eye contact, and I made him.  He wasn’t rugged, and he wasn’t a loudmouth.  He was standing behind the barricade next to the HVAC guys, looking like a leftover from a Soprano’s episode.  He didn’t wear a well-worn paint-stained t-shirt like the rest of the guys, calloused hands or a weathered leathery skin from decades of working in the elements.  No, he had perfectly combed, slicked-back hair, a designer sweater and gold chain around his neck.  It wasn’t a Sir Mix-A-Lot rope chain, but it wasn’t purchased at Zale’s for $99.00 either.

He looked how “muscle” is supposed to look, or at least how it’s portrayed in the movies.

Could he have been there to protect the “interests” of someone or some group, or protect the union workers from being harassed by hotel security or a local beat cop?  Maybe.

Could he have simply been the well-dressed son of one of the protesters hanging out in the middle of the afternoon showing solidarity and support for his dad’s union?  Maybe.

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Yes, we all know how ridiculous these programs are – where a wealthy kid from let’s say, Singapore, comes to America to get his MBA on daddy’s dime.  He then gets a gig at Company X who agrees to sponsor his H-1 Visa so he can get a Green Card.

Packing his Green Card and on his way to citizenship, he ventures out on his own and opens up Singapore Sling, the latest in military weaponry – laser-directional stealth slingshots, and your direct competition.

Now with citizenship paperwork in hand, our newly-minted American is bidding on government contracts, and since he is now a certified MBE, the acronym for a minority-owned business, his operation now gets bidding preference over your true-blue American company on certain set-aside contracts.

Let’s review and get this straight: He comes from a country where he is of the majority, not disadvantaged or poor, but comes to the land of milk and honey and low-and-behold, he’s now a disadvantaged minority!  All he has to do is make sure all his family money is off-shore in his family’s name and he’s set.

What to do now, Mr. Non-Person-Of-Color?  Guess what…you, too, can own one of these Minority-Owned companies, Mr. White Man!

I am assuming you are single and straight.

Go to a mail-order-bride website and choose a girl from a country where the people are yellow, brown or black hued and get hitched.  Of course not all brown people, Africans or Asians are considered minorities, so choose wisely.

Next, jump through the ICE hoops and bring her home.  Soon thereafter she will get her Green Card and a few years after that she can be a full-fledged US Citizen, although in New York and some other states, she doesn’t even need to be a citizen for MWBE certification.

New York MWBE Program Certifies Non-Citizens

Teach her the ropes so she understands the business model, print up some cards saying she is the President and CEO, give her 51% of the stock, and you are now in a winning position.  Your slingshots are now getting even more of a preference over Singapore Sling’s because your wife is not only a minority; she’s a woman, too!  The only thing that would make it better was if she happened to be disabled.  Hmmm!

Yes, folks, this is how absurd our government’s programs are – a rich SOB from another country can come here for school and just because he happens to be the correct shade on the color bar, he is now a disadvantaged minority – even though he never experienced discrimination, never heard of Rosa Parks and only is familiar with Martin Luther King because of the holiday.

Pathetic.

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I was in Los Angeles for business yesterday and needed a car for the day, and I reserved a car online for about $50.00, including taxes and fees.

After dropping off the car, I took the shuttle back to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport), and looked at my receipt.  Much to my surprise, there was a $13.99 charge for Fuel Service.

I was asked when at the counter if I wanted the “Fuel Option” where they charge you a full tank’s price regardless of how many miles you drove prior to taking possession of the car, but I declined, and said I would fill the tank, which I did at the gas station down the block from the return lot.

I called the 1-800 number on the back of the receipt and asked why I was charged $13.99.  The semi-cordial customer service representative told me it was “a standard charge.”  I asked why is it standard when I declined the fuel option and filled up the tank on own.  She said it “just was,” without elaborating further.  She then told me she would remove the $13.99 from my credit card bill “because I was unhappy with the charge.”

Please re-read the reason, “Because I was unhappy with the charge!”  It was not because of an error, but because I complained.  I am wondering just how many people actually check and complain and how many $13.99’s they have banked.

I am smelling a class-action lawsuit against Avis, unless I really missed something here.

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Goojjle a Chinese Google Look Alike

Google has had a well-publicized spat with the Chinese government regarding its alleged hacking of gmail accounts, and threatened to leave the country.  This bodes well for Baidu, the Chinese-run search engine, and the rip-off artists who take others’ ideas and copy them for their own profit, without risk of backlash from the lawless Chinese government.

A similar site in a country with enforceable laws would have been taken down almost immediately, with cease and desist letters sent within minutes of Google’s legal department becoming aware of the site.

It is pretty clear that China’s government is no friend of the United States legal system, and has no interest in enforcing laws within its borders so long as it can benefit monetarily.  Our government seems to turn the blind eye when it comes to foreign relations with China, not wanting to upset them for fear of something, of which I am not certain.

While I am a huge proponent of using their limitless labor pool which helps us monetize the Chinese market from sales of McDonalds, Coke and eBay, any company that decides to use this labor to build a patented product should do so at their own risk.

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If you are born in this country, and middle-class, you are out of luck for most everything – even with the Barack Obama for Middle Class crock pot speech last night.  Double down on the child care credit, wow, thanks.

Mr. President, $85,000 in Butte, Montana or Lufkin, Texas is decent money, and clearly middle-class.  $85,000 in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, or most large metropolitan areas doesn’t allow you to afford child care.  The typical pre-school in San Jose runs between $900 and $1250 per month per child.  Of course, I can find some un-licensed home where I can drop the kids, so they can have their mind numbed from 10 consecutive hours of TV, interrupted by a bowl of macaroni and cheese for half that price, but I digress.

Dummies Guide to Scamming the United States Government for Immigrants and Foreigners:

Chapter 1: Secure a tourist visa into the United States and travel with your not-yet visibly pregnant wife.  Develop “complications” so she (and you) can stay over for the birth of newly-minted American citizen.

Chapter 2: Foreign countries can populate American universities with graduate engineering students.  A large percentage will secure jobs with American technology companies after receiving their degrees, on the path to a Green Card, at which time they can begin sponsoring family members.

Upon garnering citizenship, they are able to work for government agencies and labs.  Can we play connect the dots?

Currently, the CIO of the United States of America, Vivek Kundra, the person who heads technology for the country was not born on our soil.

CIO Vivek Kundra Was Not Born in America

Chapter 3: Make your way to Mexico from wherever you are, sneak into the country and wait for Democrats to offer amnesty.  It’s faster than applying the old-fashioned way for a visa.

Feel free to chime in with ideas for Chapter 4, 5 and 6.

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Baidu tops Google in the Chinese search market with a 60-percent market share, and after service was reinstated, they posted the following on their homepage: “The fault of register.com led to the malicious and unlawful altering of the domain name of Baidu, which made thousands of people unable to visit baidu.com and brought serious losses to Baidu.”

The hackers re-directed Baidu traffic to a page that read, “This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army.” These are the same folks who have allegedly hijacked several other well-known sites in the last few months.

A company headquartered in a country with little litigation and nominal copyright protection, that is also believed to be behind many high-profile cyber attacks themselves, can sue an American company for negligence. That is funny, but not in the ha-ha fashion.

I realize this is our system, a system that offers outsiders all the protections of citizens, but that same system can also be our downfall when we offer these rights to those who can abuse them for the benefit of their government.  Certainly if the tables were turned, a US-based company would have little or no recourse suing a Chinese company on Chinese soil, just ask Bill Gates and Microsoft.

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I had lunch with a friend recently who is a registered Democrat, and a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, arguably the finest public university in the United States.  This person graduated with a degree in Economics, and a grade point average north of 3.5.  If we add up the thousands of hours of studying in high school to keep an A-average that is required to gain admittance to Berkeley, unless you are a star athlete or an “under-represented” minority, and the additional thousands of hours to achieve the high class-standing, it is staggering.  The level of sheer commitment and dedication is not only admirable it is commendable.

In review: UC Berkeley graduate who studied for thousands of hours over an eight-year period to find a great job, earn a healthy salary, drive a nice car and live in a clean, safe neighborhood is a Democrat.  Q: Why? A: Because.

When asked if he felt that it would be correct to have some of his wealth re-distributed to level the playing field of life, there was a prolonged silence.

He asked for clarification, so I said, “I’m sure you know some people from high school that decided to hang out instead of study like you did, who made some dumb life choices and are now janitors, un(der)-employed or out on parole, right?”

He said, “Yeah, so, we all do…what’s the point?”

“Well, they made a choice to hang out on the corner, not study or skip going to class, while you were busting your ass to get in to Berkeley, right”

He said, “Yeah, so…the point?”

“Well, your president, the guy you voted for would like you to help them out, and not just with a hand, but a hand out…and not just once or twice, but basically forever,” I said.

“Essentially, what I am asking is this: Do you believe you should be rewarded for all your hard work, or should you be penalized for succeeding?”

“Rewarded, of course,” he said.  “Why the hell should I be penalized for doing the right thing?” he asked.

My point exactly!

Why can’t more democrats and self-professed Obama lovers read between the lines and see reality? Tax investments, money that was already taxed the first time?  Over tax and target the very people who start the companies that hire our citizens? This defies all logic!

Should I, he, you, or anyone who does the right thing have to support others until the day they die simply because they are too lazy to look for a job or study for a class?  I am not speaking of down-on-their-luck, disabled, handicapped, mentally or physically challenged folks here, but rather those who made bad choices and make no effort to remedy the situation.  Government assistance, unemployment benefits and food stamps all have a place in our society to help people and families get back on their feet, not to become a way of life.

In San Francisco, for example, the Community College, City College of San Francisco has campuses all over town which are accessible by bus. They hold day classes, night classes, weekend classes…classes during the summer, spring and fall, and even winter session.  If you cannot afford the tuition there are waivers and grants; if you need child care that is also offered at no cost. Pretty sweet deal.

The People’s Republic of Berkeley

Berkeley is a unique place, where freedom of speech means that your speech better be in alignment with their opinions, or you will be shot down (figuratively), assaulted (physically) and censored.  I can understand how peer pressure can turn influential 17 year-old freshmen into Kool-Aid drinking liberals, the same way a particular dictator spread goose-stepping throughout a region.

Yes, Berkeley is a place where wearing a “Proud to be a Republican” t-shirt may lead to a physical assault by those who believe in freedom of speech…Welcome to The People’s Republic of Berkeley.

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