DOES ANYBODY REALLY NEED A THERAPY PEACOCK ON AN AIRPLANE?

Airlines are, at long last, beginning to say No to animals that shouldn’t be on airplanes. Delta announced that they will no longer allow therapy animals on flights that are untrained, and United just refused to allow a passenger to bring a therapy peacock onto a plane. Below is a photo taken at Newark Airport at the United check-in. How would you like to find this bird sitting on the seat next to you? I hope this is the beginning of bringing some sanity to this issue! People have been going on airplanes with therapy and emotional support pigs, turkeys, ducks, parrots, snakes, and giant lizards. It’s easy at laugh at these stories, but would you laugh if you were living in an apartment house and found a peacock like this one in the hallway standing between you and the door to your apartment – and the peacock was in a bad mood. Would you think that was funny? I know a landlord in Santa Rosa who had to allow one of his tenants to keep a 100 pound therapy Burmese python in his apartment – until it escaped. A snake like that can swallow a whole pig or an alligator or a child. An animal like that shouldn’t be in an apartment anywhere!

In 2015, a woman casually walked into a McDonald’s in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin with a kangaroo. The customers panicked, fled the restaurant, and called the police. The police arrived, but they couldn’t do anything. They couldn’t arrest the woman or forcibly remove the kangaroo from the restaurant  because it was a therapy kangaroo. The woman had a note from her doctor saying that she needed it. The woman owns 4 other therapy kangaroos in addition to the one took she took to McDonald’s. She says she takes her kangaroos everywhere with her – to shopping malls, movie theaters, and to church. As I say, I hope that what United and Delta are doing will start to bring some sanity to this issue, and federal regulations on therapy animals are truly insane.

ARE THERAPY ANIMALS REALLY DANGEROUS OR IS THIS JUST LANDLORD FEAR MONGERING?

In June, 2016; 39 year old Marlin Jackson arrived at his row on a Delta flight from Atlanta to San Diego. The middle seat was occupied by a man with a large emotional support dog on his lap. Mr. Jackson squeezed past them to get to his window seat. As he did so, the Labrador mix lunged at his face. The attack lasted about 30 seconds, and left Mr Jackson with facial wounds that required 28 stitches. His scars are still visible. This was not an isolated case. Delta said that this was just one of thousands of such incidents. As a result, Delta, the nation’s largest airline, has tightened its rules for passengers flying with service, comfort, and emotional support animals. In announcing the changes, Delta said it flew 250,000 animals in these categories last year, up 150 percent from 2015, while incidents such as biting and defecating on the plane have nearly doubled just since 2016. I have a photo of Mr. Jackson’s face, but take my word for it, you don’t want to see it. As I said, the government’s policy on therapy animals is just plain madness.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS AND IDENTITY THIEVES.

A Social Security number is the Holy Grail of identity thieves. Nothing else comes close to a Social Security number in value on the black market. That’s because even if an identity thief has your address, phone number, date of birth, and driver’s license number; he still can’t get credit cards or open bank accounts in your name without your Social Security number. Protect your Social Security number!

  1. Go through your wallet. Your Social Security number should not be on anything that you carry around with you. There is no reason to carry your Social Security card with you. It says on Social Security cards ‘Not to be used for identification’, so why carry the card with you?
  2. Get your Social Security number off account numbers. For example, some insurance companies make your Social Security number your account number with them. Contact these companies and demand a new account number, one that is completely different from your Social Security number.
  3. Give your Social Security number to people and businesses on a need-to-know basis only. Some businesses actually do need to know your Social Security number, for example, landlords – like me. Sometimes an applicant for an apartment will refuse to tell me his Social Security number. I tell those people that while I understand their privacy concerns, I cannot run a credit check on someone without his Social Security number, and if I cannot run a credit check on someone, that person will not be getting an apartment from me. Every landlord I know has the same policy. On the other hand, some businesses ask people for their Social Security numbers without a real need-to-know. For example, when you visit a doctor for the first time, you have to fill out a New Patient form. These forms often ask you for your Social Security number, but there is usually no good reason why a doctor needs to know your Social Security number. Leave that line blank. If there is a reason why the doctor needs to know your Social Security number, ask him what it is.

WORST APPLICANT EVER.

My Name is Mary. I once had a memorable applicant named Mary. Mary was a polite, well-dressed middle-aged woman. She filled out my rental application form; however, the only questions that she answered were ‘Do you smoke?’ and ‘Do you have a pet?’ I said: “Mary, you forgot to write down your last name. You also forgot to fill in most of the rest of the form.” She said: “I didn’t forget. I don’t like to give personal information about myself to strangers.” I said: “Well Mary, if I rented this apartment to you, what name would I put on the lease?” She said: “Mary, just plain Mary.” I said: “Mary, I cannot run a credit check on you if all I know about you is that your name is Mary and that you don’t smoke or have a pet.” She said: “That’s OK with me. It’s OK with me if you don’t run a credit check on me. In fact, I would prefer that you didn’t.” I said: “Mary, what I am trying to tell you is this. I cannot rent an apartment to someone who I cannot identify.” She said: “You have to rent this apartment to me.” I said: “Why?” She said: “Because the reason I won’t tell you my name is because of my disability. I’m protected by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act.) I have a letter here from my psychiatrist.” She showed me the letter; however, she had cut out all the names and addresses. The letter said that she suffered from ‘chronic paranoia’ – but I already knew that. It was obvious that this woman was paranoid. However, Mary was wrong about the ADA. A landlord actually can refuse to rent an apartment to someone who he cannot identify, whether that person is disabled or not. I rented the place to somebody else. I later found out that Mary tried to rent an apartment in Oakland from another landlord I know, but she told him that her name was ‘just plain Wendy.’

DUMPING NET NEUTRALITY RULES IS BAD FOR CONSUMERS.

Net neutrality means that all internet content is treated equally by internet service providers. Under the old net neutrality rules, internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon were prohibited from speeding, up, slowing down, or blocking certain web sites. Internet service providers couldn’t steer customers towards certain web sites just because it was more profitable for them. Donald Trump has ordered the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) to dump these rules, something that internet service providers have wanted for a long time. Once net neutrality rules are gone, when you go on the internet, you will likely see fewer web sites pop up that are relevant to what you are searching for and more irrelevant, but high profit web sites at the top of the list instead, web sites for things like online gambling, fantasy football, herbal nutritional supplements (aka snake oil), payday loans, etc. These business run on high profit margins and can afford to pay internet service providers for listing priority. Personally, I am not looking forward to this. A number of state legislatures have passed laws requiring net neutrality within their states.