Flip or Flop

So last night my wife and I were figuring out what to watch and since I usually get my choice, I told her we could watch what she wanted. Well, what she wanted was HGTV's Flip or Flop about Tarak and Christina Moussa. The Moussa's are house flippers, so they go buy a house either at foreclosure auctions or just in terrible shape, renovate them, and sell them for a nice profit.

It's a fine concept, one many HGTV shows follow. But what makes this particular show frustrating to watch is that they seem, to be kind, less than thoughtful. In one episode, there was major issues with the foundation of the house they were considering buying to the point cracks could be seen throughout the house. Tarak, in his wisdom, said something to the effect of "I've had to do foundation repairs before and they were about $12,000, this is pretty bad, so let's budget $20,000." No professional estimate, no contractor, just his wild guess. Turns out the three estimates ranged from $36,000 to $49,000.

But it didn't matter. He's said "well, we've got to do it, so let's do it." No actual struggle, no consideration as to what that really meant for their budget (which seems unlimited). These are just wealthy people flipping houses for what seems to be the fun of it. Which is fine and apparently there's an audience for that. I'm just not it.

So on to our last linkage of the week.

The King's Speech - The Cleveland Cavaliers played a speech of Martin Luther King Jr. during halftime of their game Monday. 

The Worst Supreme Court Decision In My Lifetime - Esquire's Charlie Pierce on the sixth anniversary of the Citizens United decision.

Where Life is Cheap By Design - Craig Calcaterra writes about Parkersburg and Beckley, West Virginia and Flint, Michigan. Three places that have seen failures of government to protect its citizens and also three places that he's lived.

 As Water Problems Grew, Officials Belittled Complaints From Flint - This story bothers me more and more as I learn more about it.

The Bush Blame Game Begins - It's interesting that people start assigning blame before the first votes have been cast, but apparently that's how the politics game is played.

Enjoy your weekend.