FREEBIE OF THE MONTH. FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

Kitchen fires are the most common of all home emergencies. Every year, 1 out of every 8 homes in the U.S. has a kitchen cooking fire. Fire is the most dangerous of all home emergencies because fire makes people panic and do stupid things that make the situation worse.
Appliance Fire. If a toaster or other electrical appliance is on fire, unplug the appliance and then smother the fire with an ABC fire extinguisher. Then, toss out the toaster and get a new one. Never reuse an electrical appliance that was on fire.
Stovetop Fire. If its a stovetop fire, turn off the burner and smother the flames or just put a lid on the pan. Never try to put out a grease fire with water. It can splash the burning grease around the room and set you on fire. Never carry a burning pan outside! It can set your whole house on fire if flaming grease spills as you are carrying the pan.
Oven Fire. If its an oven fire, don’t open the door. Just turn off the heat. If you leave the oven door closed, the fire will run out of oxygen and go out by itself.
PAYING YOUR RENT WITHOUT WRITING CHECKS.
NOT ALL PLASTIC IS RECYCLABLE.

SIMPLE WAYS TO GET FASTER WI-FI.
7. If none of the things above solve your problem, consider a new router, especially if your router is more than 3 years old or your router’s WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) standard is 802.11b or 802.11g. They are the oldest and slowest versions and have a maximum speed of 54 Mbps (megabits per second.) Consider replacing your router with a new one with a minimum speed of 1 Gbps (gigabits per second). They sell them at Amazon and Best Buy in Emeryville.
WHEN DID RELIGIOUS MINORITIES GET THE RIGHT TO VOTE?
It is a widely-held myth that America was founded on the principle of religious freedom for all. That isn’t true. 8 of the 13 British colonies in America had an official state church. Everyone who lived in those colonies had to pay taxes to support it, but people who did not belong to the official church could not hold public office or vote. Another myth is that the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to vote to everyone, regardless of his religion, but that isn’t true either. Neither the Constitution nor the First Amendment say anything about the right to vote. The Constitution allowed every state to decide for itself who was eligible to vote. Some states had laws prohibiting Roman Catholics from voting unless they renounced their religion or signed a statement rejecting papal authority. Some states required voters to promise that they would fight in future wars to prevent Quakers from voting. Some states banned Mennonites, Baptists, Jews, and others from voting. Between 1800 and 1828, all state laws restricting the right to vote based on religion were repealed.
MARYLAND. Maryland was the last state to stop discriminating against unpopular religious minorities. (Yes, once again I am trashing my home state.) In 1828, Maryland became the last state to get rid of religious restrictions on voting when the state legislature passed a law allowing Jews to vote. The Maryland state constitution still contains a provision that says that only Christians can hold public office or practice law in the state, but the U.S. Supreme Court no longer allows Maryland to enforce this provision. However, it is still in the Maryland state constitution. The Maryland state constitution also prohibits atheists from holding public office, serving as jurors, or testifying in court as witnesses, even in their own defense. Maryland enforced this provision until 1961. In 1960, Governor Tawes appointed Roy Torcaso a Notary Public. When Mr. Torcsao refused to sign a declaration saying that he believed in God, his appointment was immediately revoked. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the Maryland law was unconstitutional. The court’s ruling applied to a number of other states that had similar laws. As a result, an atheist can now become a Notary Public, a bail bondsman, a coroner, a sheriff, or a juror in Maryland.
WORD OF THE DAY: FUDGEL
Fudgel is a word that is no longer used, but it should be. The word fudgel was widely used in England and America in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Fudgel means to pretend to be working while actually doing nothing. The word fudgel reminds me of a joke that Nikita Khrushchev used to tell. Although Khrushchev was a harsh ruler of the Soviet Union, he liked to tell jokes, and he was good at it. Khrushchev frequently told reporters a story about an inspection tour of Russian factories that he took in the 1950s. After touring a large factory, Khrushchev asked the general manager: “How many people work here?” The manager looked at the employees, thought about the question, and said: “About half of them.”
FREE VENETIAN BLIND REPLACEMENT.
WHY IS RENT SO HIGH IN CALIFORNIA?
America’s Black Hole. My sister Judy once called California ‘America’s Black Hole.’ I never forgot that because it’s true. What she meant was that moving to California is like entering a Black Hole. N
othing that enters a Black Hole comes back out. Once people move to California, they never go back to where they came from.Adios Baltimore! I grew up in Baltimore, a Rust Belt city. The population of Baltimore peaked in 1950 and has been declining ever since. The heavy industries that once supported Baltimore’s prosperous working class are gone. Baltimore’s shipyards that once employed 50,000 people are gone. The Glen L. Martin aircraft factory that once employed another 50,000 people is also long-gone. The Bethlehem steel mill that once produced 10,000 tons of steel a day is gone. As the jobs dried up, so did Baltimore’s population. Thousands of row houses in Baltimore with their famous white marble stoops are just rotting away.
All of Baltimore’s once-fashionable downtown department stores are now abandoned. There are dozens of cities just like Baltimore all over this country, once bustling industrial centers that have been in decline for generations. Without the jobs, what is to keep people in Baltimore? Baltimore is hot and muggy in summer and can be bitterly cold in winter. There are no interesting geographical features in Baltimore like mountains or waterfalls or palm tree lined beaches. We can’t stop people from leaving places like Baltimore and moving to California, and it is a fantasy to imagine that people won’t come here from places like Baltimore if we just don’t build housing for them.
SHOULD YOU GET A HOME SECURITY SYSTEM?
I once had a tenant in Oakland who left her front door wide open while she went to the laundromat a few blocks away. This was back in the days before I put washers and dryers in all my units. She was robbed more than once by people who simply walked into her living room and took stuff. She thought that her problem was that Rockridge was a dangerous neighborhood. I tried to get her to see the connection between leaving her front door wide open and these robberies, but I was never able to do that.