Monday Morning Odds and Ends

Israel continues to wage war on Hamas, investment experts meet up in Maine at Camp Kotok, and CPs brother cuffed and stuffed by CMPD and it all gets tied together right here.

Well Officer It's Complicated

 

My brother is a stand up guy, who tries to make the best of a couple of failed marriages. He lives in Charlotte but his kids live in Atlanta. 

And so a plan comes together to deliver his youngest son to his ex in Atlanta after a week at camp in Charlotte, and then rent a trailer, pick up his other son from his other ex and take that son to Tennessee where he'll attend college in the fall, then return to Atlanta pick-up some furniture out of an expensive storage unit and drive back to Charlotte with the trailer full of furniture all inside 48 hours.

Thanks to a court system that shows no mercy to fathers, he lives at my sister's house in a gated South Charlotte community that is largely populated with elderly types. Peeking out of their windows seems to be a major past time for these seniors.

One of these nosey seniors, (You're going to laugh when CP gets around to telling you the name of the former Charlotte TV yapper it is.) who despite having seen the black GMC Yukon SUV that he is driving in my sister's driveway every day for the last four years, and despite that it is high noon on a bright, cloud free Sunday calls 911 to report a "robbery in progress".

In my brother's own words:

After 30 minutes in cuffs I was able to convince them that I was "unloading the truck" not loading it, and that my sister is the owner of the house, of course they weren't smiling for the picture.

And of course the address on my drivers license doesn't match my sister's house. Nor does the registration on the car match anything with a name remote to mine. (Since it's in the brother in law's name.) And then it's not as if my sister's dog who is barking like Cujo at me, indicated I was any sort of friendly.

And then of course my gate code didn't work.

I thought about telling them I was related to Cedar Posts but I wasn't sure if that would get me out of the cuffs or shot!

Oh and of course they wanted to know about Marsha's car being in the driveway because that registration doesn't match (in name or address) either. Not to say anything about either of them not being New York Yankee fans since Marsha's car has a license plate that says I love New York.

So when the Officers start asking who the house belongs to and why they can't call the owner, the answer that she is out of town fishing with a bunch of economists and can't be reached doesn't go over very well.

Cedar's Take:

So CMPD rolls on a suspected B&E call in a gated community in South Charlotte in the middle of the day to find a big black Yukon SUV and a bright orange U-Haul trailer backed up to an open garage door. The home has a CPI security sign in the front yard yet no alarm is sounding and no call from the alarm company and a middle age white guy unloading boxes.

Given this input, both officers are apparently convinced that they have caught "red handed" a criminal mastermind! I'll give these two geniuses the benefit of the doubt, cuffing the alleged perp is a nice safety move. But seriously, do they really think this is how the crooks in South Charlotte operate, do they honestly think a orange U-Haul Trailer with graphic depicting scenes from Idaho is part of the M.O. Really?

The actual owner to the home is in Maine so far out in the sticks even the deer have maps and there is no cell service. And the house is listed in her married name. Did I mention that my sister is married? Oh and her husband lives in Memphis and seldom comes to Charlotte?

Like I said officer its complicated.
 

Meanwhile In The North Woods Of Maine

 

 

 

Followers of CP know there is a family connection to Maine. In fact Mrs. Cedar's mother and 3 generations of grandparents are buried in or near the small town of Lincoln Maine. So we where thrilled when David Kokot of Cumberland Investment Advisors invited CP's sister to attend the annual event that is known as Camp Kotok.

 

Camp Kotok is held the first weekend in August at a fishing camp called Leen's Lodge about an hours drive from Lincoln. Everything is about an hours drive from Lincoln. The history of Leen's is in itself amazing. Years ago sportscaster Curt Gowdy and baseball star Ted Williams fished these same waters and often stayed at Leen's Lodge.

 

Ted Williams, with a catch from Maine's Ross Lake in July 1947

 

 Gowdy was the long time voice of the Boston Red Sox, NBC Sports and later ABC Sports and The American Sportsman.

 

As a kid I was fascinated by the remote fishing expeditions that Williams and Gowdy would film for The American Sportsman only to realize now they were often filmed just a short distance from Mrs. Cedar's family home.  

 

The only trouble is being that far north is that even the deer have maps and cell service is nonexistent. So while the sister is taking part in the group often referred to as the  "Shadow Fed" the brother is on his own to deal with handcuffs.

 

But this same lack of cell service, makes Leen's Lodge the perfect venue to get some of the best talent in the investment business together for frank discussion and even a little dissent.

 

David Kotok is also wise enough to invite some of the best reporters who cover the financial world, and even if quoting members of Camp Kotok is forbidden without formal consent, they do come away with an amazing look at where the economy is going and where it has been.

 

More about Camp Kotok here.

 

Israel Continues Its War On Hamas

 

Beyond the main stream media, and the endless attacks there is the twitter war waged by the IDF and Palestinians. Let's face it Israel has a right to kill Palestinians, doesn't matter if they are targeted Hamas operatives, or children. The IDF like to point out the ever increasing number of rockets fire into Israel by Hamas.

 

Never mind that the rockets are ineffective homemade bombs most that case little damage and are more nuisance than threat.

 

Of course Hamas is accused of using women and children as shields and building bombs in schools and mosques.

 

The trouble with social media is the distortion. The USA has always maintained a one sided view of the conflict and backed Israel. But this is changing thanks to social media. Most Americans still support Israel, but they are also beginning to question Israel's conduct.

 

 

In Maine, outside of Camp Kotok the troubles between two nations over a small strip of land is of little interest. The fish are biting, summer is fleeting and there is wood to stack for the coming winter.

 

And so it goes.