Why Do Muslims Act Like..... Muslims?

My daughter has spent considerable time in Muslim countries, a year in Egypt and nine months in Afghanistan. Her opinion of Muslim countries and their constituent populations is rather droll; loves the children, views the adults as cretins. Planck's Constant helps sheds some light on this.

Israel is one of the smallest countries in the world, yet leading hi-tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Intel do their most advanced research in tiny Israel.

But let me ask this, "Why not in Saudi Arabia?" it's not as if the Saudis don't have hundreds of billions they could spend on research. For those who don't know the answer, consider:

Planck's Constant, Oil Rich Muslims Are Science Poor
the oil monarchies of the Gulf spend about 0.2% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on science while tiny, teensy-weensy, itsy-bitsy little Israel with no oil revenues spends 25 times as much.

But why do the Saudis spend so little on science and the Jews so much? The simple answer is that Islam breeds stupidity because the Quran is immutable and uncreated and therefore cannot be questioned. Their religion cannot be questioned, their way of life is immune from criticism. In fact, Muslim countries have petitioned the UN to make criticizing Islam a crime.

As well, Mohammed is the perfect man and a model for all Muslim men. Jews on the other hand, present their kings and prophets with all their blemishes. King David in the Old Testament is an adulterous lech. Jews are allowed to ask King David, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Jews were brought up to question, to debate, to deny, to argue, to challenge the accepted wisdom. Put two Jews in a room and you end up with three different opinions.

Jews and Science - they go so well together. How well? More than 173 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Jews (not counting those worthless Nobel Peace Prizes).

The Islam apologists like to claim that Muslims are responsible for much scientific knowledge through the centuries. This is just not true. Muslims conquered other nations and aggregated their collective knowledge base. This is still a praiseworthy achievement, but is really more of an administrative task rather than a creative outpouring.

The rigid Islamic belief system gradually eliminated scientific inquiry because as we all know, you have to question the status quo before you can investigate it. And Islam means "Submission" not "Just What The HELL Is Wrong With This Picture?"

Again from Planks's Constant:

For the first 600 years during its great conquests Muslim rulers allowed the non-Muslim populations to be creative and industrious because Muslims were a tiny minority in these lands and feared revolt if they forced conversion to Islam.

It was mostly these non-Muslims who contributed the accomplishments usually attributed to Muslims.

Islam was a new religion and Islamic scholars did not yet put in place the restrictions on learning and intellectual pursuits that Islam has today. But as Islam became more and more repressive, infidels found it unbearable to live as dhimmis and converted in mass numbers to Islam. Where once Muslims were a minority, they soon became the majority, and so Islamic rulers were no longer in fear of insurrection of the minority religions. They were free to impose true Islam into every facet of life, thus killing the spirit of inquiry and free thought.

The Golden Age of Islam was actually the Golden Age of Arabs, Jews, Persians, Hindus and others who through sharing of knowledge brought to the world great learning and advancements in science, humanities, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, zoology and geography.

Once Muslims were in the majority, the histories of the conquered peoples were no longer of interest; anything that occurred before Mohammed came on the scene was not important.

The Golden Age of Islam ended in the 13th century with the invasion of the Mongols.

Say what you will, she seems normal and genuine to me. I think I'm gonna like this primary season.

You Won't See This In England

I don't like to pick on England. I wish England was the strong, vibrant, vigorous ally of the past. But it isn't so. It used to be that England and America were two countries separated by a common language; but to that separation add a common law for England's criminal justice system has become truly bizarre. Besotted with liberal coddling, England's criminal procedure laws seem designed to punish victims instead of criminals.

The Powerline has a column by historian Joyce Malcolm who comments on the recent mass disorder in London.

The most amazing thing about the reaction of English MPs to last week’s terrible violence was how surprised they were. For a country whose criminal law is invariably sympathetic to offenders, nearly always harsh on their victims, and unwilling to pay for adequate policing the surprise is that they were surprised.

In some respects, not all mind you, America has been traveling this same path for years. In Heller v. District of Columbia the right to keep and bear arms was re-affirmed. This was an incredibly important decision for it maintains the right of American citizens to defend themselves. Not so in England.

Since at least 1953 the English government has insisted that citizens depend on the police for protection and not try to protect themselves. The Prevention of Crime Act of 1953 prohibited anyone carrying an article in a public place with the idea it could be used for protection if they were attacked. If discovered they are charged with carrying an offensive weapon.

Since 1964 self-defense has not been considered a good reason to keep a handgun, even if for those who lived in a remote area. Then in 1998 all handguns were banned. Toy or replica guns are also illegal. A man was arrested for holding two burglars with a toy gun while he contacted the police.

More recently knives with points have been made illegal. A list of prohibited weapons, possession of which carries a 10-year prison sentence, includes not only machine guns but chemical sprays and knives with a blade more than three inches long. An American tourist from Arizona who protected herself from attackers in the subway using her penknife was arrested for carrying an offensive weapon.

The government does not permit even someone who is unarmed from acting forcefully when attacked if his or her assailant is harmed in the process. If a citizen is attacked in the street he is to flee. If a citizen is attacked in his home he is not to injure the attacker beyond what a court later considers a reasonable use of force. If a citizen harms his assailant he will be accused of assault, or, as the cases cited above illustrate, murder or attempted murder should the attacker be killed.

In another article posted in Ricochet, Rioting for Fun and Profit by Paul A. Rahe, the author makes the following observation concerning the state of English laws:

There are two dimensions to the British story. First – although what we call the right to bear arms had its origins as an English right, guaranteed in the 1688/89 Declaration of Rights and Bill of Rights – that right was gradually abrogated in the course of the twentieth century. Second – although the right to self-defense, the right to defend one’s person and property when the authorities cannot in a timely and effective fashion provide protection – is a natural right and had always, until recently, been recognized as such in Britain – that right, too, was abrogated in the course of the last century.

Whenever someone accuses us of being overreactive to the infirngemnet of our rights no matter how minor, remember England. Erosion is a slow process but in the long run it destroys whatever it touches.

PeeWee Obama's Big Adventure

This stupid son of a bitch and his butt ugly wife are riding their Schwinns in Cape Cod while the US economy is in free fall.

Emboldened by lack of US leadership, Israel is once again beset by homicidal Mohammedans and President Sparky packs a PB&J in wax paper and goes for a spin.

Europe is tottering on the brink of insolvency and O'Fumblenuts has the Secret Service check to make sure that his tire pressure doesn't exceed 70 psi.

The stock market is heading over a cliff, every American owes almost $47,000 of the $14.6 trillion national debt, 17% of the workforce is either looking for a job or has given up looking for a job and President Putz is pedalling his lame ass around looking for a Sno-Cone.

They oughta drape a condom over this prick, stuff him back on that Made-By-Canadians bus and send him on his "I Screwed America Tour."

The Hollies

"Bus Stop," one of my favorite hits from the sixties. And forty-three years later they are still good.



But where's the guy with the tambourine?

The Cycle Of Chemical Dependency

During my career I have taken more than a few photographs similar to this one, a deceased drug addict. She died on her face and was rolled over hours after her death. The purple discoloration is post mortem lividity where the blood pooled once her heart stopped beating. Her name was Rachel Whitear. She was 21 years old.

From bad to worse to bad again - Opium, Morphine, Heroin, Methadone. The best medical science can do for the addict is substitute one bloody crutch for another. And when one crutch turns out to be a disaster, create another one.

In 1895, the German drug company Bayer marketed diacetylmorphine as an over the counter drug under the trademark name Heroin. The name was derived from the Greek word "Heros" because of its perceived "heroic" effects upon a user. It was chiefly developed as a morphine substitute for cough suppressants that did not have morphine's addictive side-effects. Morphine at the time was a popular recreational drug, and Bayer wished to find a similar but non-addictive substitute to market. However, contrary to Bayer's advertising as a "non-addictive morphine substitute," Heroin would soon have one of the highest rates of dependence amongst its users.

In the final analysis, if the addict cannot remain drug free on his own, let him suffer the consequences. Bring a halt to the endless cycle of drug use, treatment, relapse, treatment, relapse... Not only do we have to pay for their treatment, now we must give them decent jobs on top of it or face possible federal prosecution under a ridiculous law.

Nothing beats treating addicts as an endangered species - no wonder we have so many.

Last year, "Vicar Ψ" , ThebloggerformerlyknownasNickieGoomba, posted an article written by a NY reporter about heroin addiction and how the Big Apple works to address this scourge here. Revisit it if you will.

More Federal Insanity

Things that make me go "Grrrrrrr!"

Feds sue Raleigh insurance office for not hiring an ex-addict

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today sued a Raleigh insurance office for not hiring a recovering drug addict who tested positive for methadone in his system.

The federal anti-discrimination agency's Charlotte office, which filed the case, said that United Insurance Company of American violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by rescinding a job offer to Craig Burns, a Raleigh resident, after he failed his drug test.

According to the suit, Burns applied for an opening as an insurance agent in December 2009 and was hired conditionally the next month, pending the outcome of the drug test.

Burns, 30, had methadone in his system because he is a recovering drug addict who has been enrolled in a supervised treatment program since at least 2004, the suit says.

"We have to set aside our personal feelings and do what the law dictates," said Lynette Barnes, the EEOC's regional attorney in Charlotte. "That's why he's covered by the ADA. He has this impairment that requires him to take the methadone."

Barnes said that "recovering addictions" are protected by the ADA as disabilities. The suit seeks back pay and lost income, as well as damages.

EEOC rarely sues over discrimination against recovering addicts. Earlier this year, however, the agency won an $85,000 settlement in a similar case in Pennsylvania after a factory rescinded a job offer to production laborer whose drug test came back positive for methadone.

Burns had been delivering pizzas for about five years when he applied for the job with United Insurance. After the insurer withdrew its offer, Burns went back to delivering pizza, Barnes said. He has a wife and a child.

Let's settle a few things. Methadone is a narcotic, a pain reliever used to treatment heroin and morphine addicts, but it it still an analgesic and if you are using it you are still an addict, not an ex-addict. You become an ex-addict when you are no longer using drugs. For the jackasses in the EEOC to pull this crap is unbelievable. Let this addict deliver pizzas until he can come clean, really, seven years of methadone (since 2004) and he's still hooked on this crap?

Let him go off on his own and OD quietly in some back alley. If he wins a settlement that is probably exactly what he will do. Buy an ounce of something and stuff it up his nose all at once. Good riddance.

Sounds harsh? Not as harsh as the costs of maintaining him on a program that promotes his dependency. And no mention of how many times he has been re-arrested and the crimes he has committed because of his addiction. Let him die.

More Strudel, Mein Führer?

Plot to feed Hitler

female sex hormones

to curb his aggression

revealed in new book 

- mirror.co.uk

BRITAIN hatched a bizarre plan to win the Second World War by turning Hitler into a WOMAN.

The Allies secretly schemed to smuggle female sex hormones into the Fuhrer’s food in an attempt to curb his ­aggression.

If the plot – like something out of TV comedy Blackadder – had gone ahead, it could have turned Herr Hitler into Her Hitler.

It was just one of a number of outlandish ideas to break the war’s stalemate, according to a new book by a leading academic.

Others included ­dropping glue on Nazi troops in an attempt to stick them to the ground and disguising bombs in tins of fruit being imported to Germany.

The hare-brained schemes are revealed for the first time in Secret Weapons: Technology, Science And The Race To Win World War II. They have come to light now because of the recent publication of documents not ­previously seen because of their ­sensitive nature.

The book by Professor Brian Ford, a fellow at Cardiff University and pioneer of popular science, revealed that the British Government was serious about giving Hitler a sex change.

He said: “There was an allied plan that they would smuggle oestrogen into Hitler’s food and change his sex so he would become more feminine and less ­aggressive.

“Their research had showed the importance of sex hormones – they were beginning to be used in sex therapy in London.

“The plan was to give sex hormones to Hitler and counterbalance his ­unnecessary aggression.”

Professor Ford said the plan was perfectly feasible because British spies were in place to lace his food.

He added: “There were agents who would be able to get it into his food – it would have been entirely possible.

On This Day

On August 12, 1980, IBM released the IBM PC. From the IBM achives:

Non-IBM personal computers were available as early as the mid-1970s, first as do-it-yourself kits and then as off-the-shelf products. They offered a few applications but none that justified widespread use.

Drawing on its pioneering SCAMP (Special Computer, APL Machine Portable) prototype of 1973, IBM's General Systems Division announced the IBM 5100 Portable Computer in September 1975. Weighing approximately 50 pounds, the 5100 desktop computer was comparable to the IBM 1130 in storage capacity and performance but almost as small and easy to use as an IBM Selectric Typewriter. It was followed by similar small computers such as the IBM 5110 and 5120.

IBM's own Personal Computer (IBM 5150) was introduced in August 1981, only a year after corporate executives gave the go-ahead to Bill Lowe, the lab director in the company's Boca Raton, Fla., facilities. He set up a task force that developed the proposal for the first IBM PC. Early studies had concluded that there were not enough applications to justify acceptance on a broad basis and the task force was fighting the idea that things couldn't be done quickly in IBM. One analyst was quoted as saying that "IBM bringing out a personal computer would be like teaching an elephant to tap dance." During a meeting with top executives in New York, Lowe claimed his group could develop a small, new computer within a year. The response: "You're on. Come back in two weeks with a proposal."

It sold for $1,565.

The system unit was powered by an Intel 8088 microprocessor operating at speeds measured in millionths of a second. It was the size of a portable typewriter and contained 40K of read-only memory and 16K of user memory, as well as a built-in speaker for generating music. Its five expansion slots could be used to connect such features as expanded memory, display and printing units and game "paddles." The unit also ran self-diagnostic checks.

Containing 83 keys, the keyboard was connected to the unit by a six-foot coiled cable, which meant users could rest it in their lap or on the desktop without moving the rest of the system. It also included such advanced functions for the times as a numeric keypad and 10 special keys that enabled users to write and edit text, figure accounts and store data.

Options included:

•A printer that could print in two directions at 80 characters per second in 12 different character styles, and also check itself for malfunctions and provide an out-of-paper signal.
•A color/graphics monitor with 16 foreground and background colors and 256 characters for text applications. Its graphics were in four colors.
•Multiple 32K and 64K memory cards that could be plugged into the option slots to increase memory to 256K.
Needing new channels to distribute these new computers, IBM turned to ComputerLand; Sears, Roebuck and Co.; and IBM Product Centers to make the IBM PC available to the broadest set of customers.

The response to the announcement was overwhelming. One dealer had 22 customers come in and put down $1,000 deposits on the machines for which he could not promise a delivery date. By the end of 1982, qualified retail outfits were signing on to sell the new machine at the rate of one-a-day as sales actually hit a system-a-minute every business day. Newsweek magazine called it "IBM's roaring success," and the New York Times said, "The speed and extent to which IBM has been successful has surprised many people, including IBM itself."

I can remember working on XT's (10 MB HDD) and AT's. The 286 was a screamer for just under $3,000. It came with a CGA monitor that by itself sold for $600 under state contract pricing. Without an operating system the PC booted directly into BASIC.

I can still remember my first 66 MB MFM HDD. Unattached to a PC, it was a deadly weapon if hurled at an unsuspecting head, it weighed more than a brick and took 45 minutes for a high level format.

Look At The English Riots and Then Thank God We Have The 2nd Amendment

Efforts to disarm the American public have been under way for decades. Citing public safety concerns over gun violence, members of congress, the media and special interests have made some inroads curtailing the possession of firearms by ordinary citizens. Other developments, most notably the recent Supreme Court decision in Heller v. District of Columbia, have withstood the attack of liberal encroachment and have reinforced the right for law biding citizens to bear arms.

Look at the antique firearms in the picture above. They were state-of-the-art weapons when the most powerful army in the world was defeated by relatively few professional soldiers and tens of thousands of farmers only 230 years ago. Bear this in mind, artillery is the King of Battle but Infantry is still Queen. A determined man with a rifle can take and hold land with devastating effect.

Recent developments in England have revealed that a disarmed citizenry is not only helpless against government excesses, but is also at a great disadvantage from mass thuggery. In a headline from the UK Daily Mail

Years of liberal dogma have spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youngsters
A few weeks after the U.S. city of Detroit was ravaged by 1967 race riots in which 43 people died, I was shown around the wrecked areas by a black reporter named Joe Strickland.

He said: ‘Don’t you believe all that stuff people here are giving media folk about how sorry they are about what happened. When they talk to each other, they say: “It was a great fire, man!” ’

I am sure that is what many of the young rioters, black and white, who have burned and looted in England through the past few shocking nights think today.

It was fun. It made life interesting. It got people to notice them. As a girl looter told a BBC reporter, it showed ‘the rich’ and the police that ‘we can do what we like’.

For a mob, the perceived threat of harm is just as effective as actually being harmed. And if you think that the British riots cannot happen here, you are sadly mistaken. There are mini-riots that take place in American cities that you rarely ever hear about. Philadelphia is experiencing flash mob riots as are other cities where the motive is pure theft. If American handouts to the "poor" cannot be maintained at a level that satisfies them, be prepared for violence on a scale that may exceed England's current misery.

And with that in mind, be prepared to defend yourself with the thoughtful provision of a firearm made possible by our Founding Fathers. The liberals will cry and moan about this but all they have good intentions and an empty promise from police officials that they will control the streets. Good luck with that.

Things To Come

By all appearances, it really does appear that everything is going to hell in a handbasket. Riots, economic doom and ruin and military set backs scream at us from the headlines and blogs. I have never witnessed such times in my sixty plus years.

This truly is similar to when WWII was building up a head of steam in the late thirties. And I imagine it will only get worse. Many people thought Hitler was the antichrist and probably some think Obama is. Whatever you may think, these events are God's way of reminding us that there is no safety or security outside of Him.

History is replete with examples of stormy passages with fleeting periods of calm in between. This is no different as we enter the end times. We see the signs of growing moral turpitude and the indifference of so called churches to sin, particularly homesexuality. Even the growing numbers of vegans is nothing but a signal that time for mankind is growing short.

II Timothy 3:1-5,7 "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of god; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

I Timothy 4:1-3 "But the spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth."

Sometimes I am troubled by the turmoil that grows stronger every day and enraged by the incompetence and venality of our government. But yet, I am comforted by the realization that all of this has been foretold and there is nothing that can defeat the will and intent of God.

Christ, not the US government, is my Savior. Obama, Soros and the all the forces of Hell cannot triumph.

British Parliament Recalled

Cameron has just announced that Parliament will be recalled on Thursday so it can debate the riots.

Apologists for the riots are still looking for what they call "the root causes"; everything from closure of youth clubs, libraries and the changes to the Educational Maintenance Allowance have been blamed. I say it's government policies, lack of parental discipline, lousy state education and a failing judiciary. By rights the government should resign and there should be a General Election but there's no point, Labour would only be voted back in to continue the failed policies. Voters don't seem to have the courage to look outside the Big 3 LibLabCon con, which is a shame. Real change, a good change, could come to this country if the smaller Parties could get their acts together and attract more votes.

These nasty little criminals are filling police cells to overflowing, so much so that they're being shared out to other forces before they're put in front of a judge and slapped on their wrists.  Homes and businesses have been burned out; people made homeless and jobless; a 60yr old woman woke to find her front door staved in and a looter standing in her bedroom; passers-by have had the clothes taken from their backs.  Yes, I'm sure it's all down to withdrawal of the EMA.

From the window I can see smoke still rising from the south-east - somewhere towards Stoke Newington/Tottenham way - and sirens are wailing again.  Theresa May has emerged to say that the cuts in police numbers have little to do with it; Ken Livingstone made political capital by implying that they wouldn't have happened if he had been Mayor and the BBC continue to link events to the death of Mark Duggan, drug dealer and man-about-town who carried a gun.

One anonymous policeman phoned into LBC this morning.  He said that 80-90% of the rioters were black.  He also said that a Sikh colleague of his who wore a turban with his uniform was greeted by members of the Hindu/Sikh community with a smile and a wave whereas he, a black officer, was spat at and derided by black youths.  Digest that.

Ken Clarke's been quiet.  Perhaps he's reading up on the Civil Contingencies Act or on the phone to N.Ireland arranging for the water cannons.  Whatever the outcome of Thursday's debate in Parliament England will be the worse for it as more restrictions are imposed on the majority because of the action of the minority.  Once again: These are our streets., not theirs.  Well done to the hundred or so Turkish men with baseball bats who apparently chased rioters down Stoke Newington High Street last night.

The scenes have been incredibly saddening and shocking to see.  The parents of these moronic scumbags should be ashamed of themselves for raising children who have no sense of morality and they should be frogmarching them and their stolen loot to the nearest police station this morning.  The State, the apparatus of government, should also be ashamed, but it won't be, it will just introduce more repressive measures and increase its stranglehold while continuing to mouth platitudes, as Cameron and May did this morning.

My poor, beautiful old England, sold out for perks, honours, cash and a glittering career in politics.

@JamesR

Mr Biber, surveys the damage to his barber shop.





England hotspots

UPDATE(s): The other side of England

(1) Pic: Tea and riot shields
(2) Pic: Sweeping them off the streets
(3) Clean-up time

Does this look at all familiar?

1932 Chicago Tribune Cartoon. 

Click on it for a better view.

Pray For Their Families

Absolutely horrific news from Aghanistan. Many of the Seal Team 6 members who eliminated Bin Laden have been shot down in a helicopter. It is estimated that as many as 30 American Special Forces and seven Aghani soldiers have been lost.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An Afghan official says there is fighting in the area where the Taliban shot down a U.S. Army Chinook helicopter, killing 38 people, including 30 American troops.

Wardak provincial spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said Sunday that a joint operation was taking place in the Tangi Joy Zarin area of Sayd Abad district where the large transport helicopter went down late Saturday. He says there were reports of Taliban casualties overnight, but had no additional information.

NATO says it has begun an operation to recover the remains of the helicopter.

The deaths marked the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war.

Right Click states that the Seals were not involved in the crash. Right now there is mixed news from the web-based media on whether or not members of a Seal Team were involved in the crash.

The loss of life is still mourned and their families are in our prayers.

Chock Full O'Fools

If New York had a screen door the sound of it opening and banging shut would drive half the State insane. New York is Arizona in reverse - Pennsylvania may station troopers at the border to stop fleeing NY residents from heading south.

From the NY Post:

Taxed-out New Yorkers are voting with their feet, with a staggering 1.6 million residents fleeing the state over the last decade, a new report found.

That's as if the entire populations of Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, White Plains and West Babylon combined had packed up and left.

For the second consecutive decade, New York led the nation in the percentage of residents leaving for other states, according to the report by the Empire Center for State Policy.

The population loss is "the ultimate barometer of New York's attractiveness as a place to work, live and do business," said the report's co-author, E.J. McMahon. "It's the ultimate indication that we've been doing things wrong."

This is reminiscent of mass migrations of artic caribou, swallows to Capistrano and Berliners manifesting their displeasure with the communist government of East Germany.

Most analysts blamed New York's high taxes and skyrocketing cost of living for the mass exodus.

The Tax Foundation ranked New York highest in the nation in the combined state and local tax burden in 2008. And as small-business lobbyist Mike Durant noted, New York has also "consistently ranked worst or in the top three worst in business climate.

"You can't suck every penny out of people and expect them to remain in New York," added Durant, New York state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

Since 1960, New York has lost 7.3 million residents to other states -- a net loss of 2.5 million people after adding in an influx of 4.8 million new immigrants, the study found.

Even counting the state's high influx of immigrants, New York still suffered a bigger net loss than all but three other states during the last decade, according to the analysis of 2010 Census data by the fiscally conservative think tank.

Where fools reign, the people suffer.
NY State government is Chock Full O'Fools and millions of people have had enough. I write this as I have just about had it also. I just left North Carolina where we stayed with a friend who has a home worth nearly a million dollars. He pays about $2,200 a year in property taxes. My home in upstate NY is worth far, far less and I pay nearly double that. If I could get a job there, I'd move in a heartbeat.