Big Brother is Happening. Buy Stock Now. Real Estate Rentals Available

Thought I’d convey a bit of interesting use of real estate—placements of "lamp" posts -- information this time around; mainly because they appear in this article that scared the you-know-what out of me.

And I generally love anything techie or that contains integrated circuitry or is hooked to real estate.

There’s an article in "Rolling Stone" Magazine, May 29, 2008 about China's High Tech Police State. It's a must read.

When I finished the article, I didn't know if I should puke or buy L-1 Identity Solutions stock. It's trading at about $16 on NYSE.

Article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/20797485/chinas_allseeing_eye

Big Brother for sale: http://www.l1id.com/

The article describes the use of American-made technology being purchased and put to use as a foundation for a high tech police state in China. The photos of simple “camera” lamp posts, installed and situated at various points around Chinese cities are very scary.

There are already live cameras running 24/7 on our highways that are "quite useful" ... http://www.utahcommuterlink.com/ie.htm

For instance, this might be Dave's car at the intersection of 6400 S. State, just now as I'm writing at about noon on May 30, 2008.

Who's in Parleys Canyon right now?

Mercy. But I'm not afraid. More like musing...but it's still creepy. I think about the time my wife’s purse was stolen out of her car while it was parked in a church parking lot. If someone would have been watching....it wouldn't have happened.

Like the Chinese national says in the article: “You will be under surveillance.” “If you are law-abiding, you shouldn’t be afraid – only the criminals should be afraid.”

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So, then, how about real estate owners that lease a bit of square footage to the cell phone companies for cellular relay towers? I wonder if a camera could be placed on these choice, privately – owned, vantage point pieces of real estate.

Tell me what you think.

See you again.

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from The Porch…

Mike B. Class Star^®

A Place For Our Stuff

A Place For Our Stuff

Self Storage Units – a good interim use of real estate, are amazingly resilient under most economic conditions. As we become more affluent, and keep buying more stuff, and receiving more stuff from others as gifts, etc… and as George Carlin tells us…we need a place for our stuff…storage units come in nicely.

Either renting them or owning them seems to be a good deal. Maybe someone could send me a sample operating statement for a rental storage unit.

These sort of mini-warehouses are popping up everywhere, and there are four publicly traded self-storage stocks that do quite well…one of them based here in Salt Lake City -- Extra Space Storage, with a market capitalization of about $1.1. billion. The others; Public Storage, and U-Store-It Trust, and did a combined 24% in returns this year, which outperforms all other real-estate investment trust groups.

Mercy.

Where do I sign up?

Send me a photo of your sexy storage unit. Here’s mine ;-))

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Check out Class Star for three hours of Core Course CE credits.

There’s a great class on the REPC, and next month a new Ethics for Real Estate Professionals will be online and keeping you out of trouble. These classes have a professional speaker in a classroom setting, and are not read-the-text-frame types of classes.

Class Star talks to you.

See you again.

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from The Porch…

Mike B. Class Star^®