Top 7 insane homeowners association rules - THE WEEK

Top 7 insane homeowners association rules - THE WEEK
You know HOA madness has made the big time when you start getting lists like this. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.

And once again--has the industry begun to get the picture yet? Let me spell it out: you have lost the public relations war.

Jack Lalanne recovering after surgery

WBBM 780 - Chicago's #1 source for local news, traffic and weather - Jack Lalanne recovering after surgery: "Fitness pioneer Jack LaLanne is recovering from heart valve surgery at his home in Morro Bay.

LaLanne's publicist, Ariel Hankin, said Tuesday that the 95-year-old underwent the procedure at a Los Angeles hospital on Dec. 8.

Hankin says that before the surgery LaLanne told his family, 'I can't die, it would wreck my image.'

The weightlifting guru is doing fine and expected to make a full recovery."
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Go, Jack. You're good for another 95 years now.

10 Real Houses Inspired by Cartoons - Oddee.com

10 Real Houses Inspired by Cartoons - Oddee.com
I want the hobbit house. And note that none of these could have been built with an HOA around.

Man accused of choking neighbor over Christmas lights - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

Man accused of choking neighbor over Christmas lights - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida: "BOKEELIA: The president of a local homeowners association says he was choked by one of his neighbors after a disagreement over Christmas lights Monday. Lee County sheriff's deputies responded to 16958 Captains Drive after 67-year-old Robert Dale Burkett reported that he'd been assaulted. Burkett says he told the neighbor, who has not been named, that he and his wife weren't following the rules regarding Christmas lights."
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As Bing Crosby sang, "I'm dreaming of...CHOKING MY HOA PRESIDENT!!"

Thanks to Fred Pilot. Ho ho ho.

Old race restrictive covenant surfaces

NAACP: Homeowners group discriminatory - UPI.com: "The state and local NAACP filed a complaint in 2007 with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee for posting a sample deed that contained an almost-100-year-old clause stating that 'people of the Caucasian race only' could own or live in a Myers Park house, the Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday."
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These old covenants are still around. From the 1880s to the 1940s they were commonplace, so plenty of old associations have them, even though they have been unenforceable since 1948. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.

FOXNews.com - Not So Private Property?: Clean Water Restoration Act Raises Fears of Land Grab

FOXNews.com - Not So Private Property?: Clean Water Restoration Act Raises Fears of Land Grab: "The Clean Water Restoration Act currently pending in the U.S. Senate could reach to control even a 'seasonal puddle' on private property.

Eleven senators and 17 representatives in the U.S. House have sent a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasting the measure as one of the boldest property grab attempts of all time.

This bill is described by opponents as a sweeping overhaul of the Clean Water Act that could threaten both physical land and jobs by wiping out some farmers entirely."
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The EPA has jurisdiction over "navigable" waters. This bill removes the word "navigable." You know that puddle in your back yard?

D.C. vouchers on life support - washingtonpost.com

D.C. vouchers on life support - washingtonpost.com: "IT IS DISTRESSINGLY clear that congressional leaders never really meant it when they said there would be a fair hearing to determine the future of the District's federally funded school voucher program. How else to explain language tucked away in the mammoth omnibus spending bill that would effectively kill the Washington Opportunity Scholarship Program?"
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The teachers unions are the only critics of this program. And Dick Durbin (Ambulance Chaser-IL) is probably the Senator who let this happen.

Canada freezes as snow storm strands thousands - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Canada freezes as snow storm strands thousands - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "People in the north-central part of the Canadian province of Ontario are digging out after one of the worst snow storms on record.

Some areas north of Toronto received as much as 100 centimetres of snow over the past three days."
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Global warming strikes again.

U.S. To Pay $3.4 Billion to Settle Native American Suit - Law Blog - WSJ

U.S. To Pay $3.4 Billion to Settle Native American Suit - Law Blog - WSJ
Another voting bloc locked up for the Demcocrats for 2010. And it cost only $3.4 billion of our money.

Dan Walters: A two-tier California is now reality - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee

Dan Walters: A two-tier California is now reality - Sacramento Politics - California Politics | Sacramento Bee: "The most graphic statistical evidence of California's two-tier economy, however, is found in a new study released by the United Ways of California. It found that 30 percent of California households lack enough income to cover 'bare-bones living expenses.'"
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Fred Pilot sent this along. I am one of the people who talked about a two-tier society, way back in the mid 1980s. But I always figured the top tier would include the people living in private communities. Now it looks as though it isn't that simple--many of the casualties in the current recession are living in CIDs.