Eat at Izzy's
The entrepreneurial spirit is strong here at home. Our seven year old twins (the ones who have been picketing me occasionally) opened a restaurant called "Izzy's" in the family room. They have a menu, two tables, a list of specials, a cash register, and a staff of two--Izzy, the waitress and general boss of the eponymous restaurant, and Conor, the cashier. Hunter (age 13) and I just had imaginary dinner there. Then I asked Izzy to feed our dog, Rocko, and she said, "I can't. I'm on break."
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Patriotic sign under fire
Fred Pilot found this example of a California association banning patriotic speech because of a CC&R ban on permanent signs. The owner says, it isn't a sign, it's a philosophy:
APPLE VALLEY — For more than three years, Calvin Ford has displayed a handcrafted plaque above his garage proclaiming a simple, heartfelt message: God Bless America. But now the Wyndham Rose Homeowners' Association, an association of 168 homes in Jess Ranch, is ordering Ford to take down his patriotic placard. The sign, officials say, violates the homeowners' association's rules. Ford acknowledged that the association's CC&Rs — covenants, conditions and restrictions — forbid any permanent signs in the neighborhood. "I don't consider that expression a sign," Ford said. "It's a philosophy we should all be embracing."
[more]
Fred Pilot found this example of a California association banning patriotic speech because of a CC&R ban on permanent signs. The owner says, it isn't a sign, it's a philosophy:
APPLE VALLEY — For more than three years, Calvin Ford has displayed a handcrafted plaque above his garage proclaiming a simple, heartfelt message: God Bless America. But now the Wyndham Rose Homeowners' Association, an association of 168 homes in Jess Ranch, is ordering Ford to take down his patriotic placard. The sign, officials say, violates the homeowners' association's rules. Ford acknowledged that the association's CC&Rs — covenants, conditions and restrictions — forbid any permanent signs in the neighborhood. "I don't consider that expression a sign," Ford said. "It's a philosophy we should all be embracing."
[more]
Monday, December 13, 2004
CBS 2 Chicago WBBM-TV: Man Evicted From Hut On Chicago Drawbridge
Hey, he was just doing his part to combat the demon named "Sprawl."
CHICAGO (AP) Anyone who thinks it is impossible to find an affordable place on one of the city's priciest streets -- Lake Shore Drive -- should talk to Richard Dorsay. For three or four years that's where the homeless man lived. Actually, he lived under Lake Shore Drive, in a wooden shack built into the beams and girders of the drawbridge that crosses the Chicago River. On Sunday, Dorsay was evicted from his home after another man arrested in suburban Streamwood told police about him.
[more]
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Can you believe some guy out in the suburbs ratted him out? Sorry. Poor choice of words.
Hey, he was just doing his part to combat the demon named "Sprawl."
CHICAGO (AP) Anyone who thinks it is impossible to find an affordable place on one of the city's priciest streets -- Lake Shore Drive -- should talk to Richard Dorsay. For three or four years that's where the homeless man lived. Actually, he lived under Lake Shore Drive, in a wooden shack built into the beams and girders of the drawbridge that crosses the Chicago River. On Sunday, Dorsay was evicted from his home after another man arrested in suburban Streamwood told police about him.
[more]
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Can you believe some guy out in the suburbs ratted him out? Sorry. Poor choice of words.
Light infantryman:
Lodi family honors troops in Iraq with annual holiday display
Nothing says happy holidays like, well, a 48-foot American soldier fashioned from rebar and 4,000 feet of twinkling lights. At least in Larry Hamilton's mind...Hamilton and his family live in a remote cluster of manufactured homes five miles west of Interstate 5 on Highway 12. On Sunday, his neighbors and friends gathered in his cul-de-sac, some toasting the soldier with Bud Lights. Many are veterans of hours of light-stringing on the soldier's frame. They love it.
-----------
So--top that, you pikers.
Lodi family honors troops in Iraq with annual holiday display
Nothing says happy holidays like, well, a 48-foot American soldier fashioned from rebar and 4,000 feet of twinkling lights. At least in Larry Hamilton's mind...Hamilton and his family live in a remote cluster of manufactured homes five miles west of Interstate 5 on Highway 12. On Sunday, his neighbors and friends gathered in his cul-de-sac, some toasting the soldier with Bud Lights. Many are veterans of hours of light-stringing on the soldier's frame. They love it.
-----------
So--top that, you pikers.
Councilman tells baker to pull Bush photos
People ask me, "Why is an HOA any different than a city council when it comes to tyranny?" My answer is always, "The power of a city council is limited by the Constitution--the power of an HOA board isn't. And you can't trust people with governmental power, whether private or public, unless there are constitutional limits on that power." I don't think government officials are superior to HOA directors. In fact, sometimes they are worse.
Submitted for your consideration:
LANCASTER, Pa. — A Democratic city councilman is demanding that a baker remove photos of President Bush from his stand in Lancaster's farmers market, saying the city needs a "healing period" after the bitterly contested election.
City Councilman Nelson Polite asked baker David Stoltzfus last month to remove the pictures. When Mr. Stoltzfus refused, Mr. Polite threatened to push a city ordinance that would ban all political material from public places.
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Thank you Councilman Nelson Polite, for proving my point. If there is an award for Most Outrageous Abuse of Municipal Authority, you get my vote. And are you president of your HOA, too, by any chance?
People ask me, "Why is an HOA any different than a city council when it comes to tyranny?" My answer is always, "The power of a city council is limited by the Constitution--the power of an HOA board isn't. And you can't trust people with governmental power, whether private or public, unless there are constitutional limits on that power." I don't think government officials are superior to HOA directors. In fact, sometimes they are worse.
Submitted for your consideration:
LANCASTER, Pa. — A Democratic city councilman is demanding that a baker remove photos of President Bush from his stand in Lancaster's farmers market, saying the city needs a "healing period" after the bitterly contested election.
City Councilman Nelson Polite asked baker David Stoltzfus last month to remove the pictures. When Mr. Stoltzfus refused, Mr. Polite threatened to push a city ordinance that would ban all political material from public places.
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Thank you Councilman Nelson Polite, for proving my point. If there is an award for Most Outrageous Abuse of Municipal Authority, you get my vote. And are you president of your HOA, too, by any chance?
sacbee.com -- Politics -- California zeroing in on sprawl
Here is an urban planner's dream. Talk about power--maybe one board controlling all of the real estate development in the state of California? All to slay the demon named "Sprawl." (Condemning sprawl is all the rage in academia--watch for my colleague Bob Bruegmann's forthcoming book that, if I know Bob, will take that cliche apart.) And of course, California's are supposed to live the high-density, attached housing, forced-into-HOAs-against-your-will lifestyle that everybody loves so much. Actually, Senator Peralta, surveys show that Americans have an overwhelming preference for detached single family home ownership, which is why they are moving so far away to find it. The answer is not for state government to usurp local government power in order to make it impossible for people to act on those preferences...unless you think that you have a better idea of how they should live than they do.
On the opening day of the legislative session a week ago, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata talked often about the phenomenon of California homeownership. Parents are chasing that dream to cheaper, faraway towns, then wasting time in cars commuting to work, which hurts families, burdens roads and adds pollution to the air, he said. Perata, D-Alameda, put sprawl at the top of his agenda. He and Schwarzenegger administration officials are looking at a bold, "anti-dumb growth" plan aimed in part at slowing the number of Bay Area residents spilling over the mountains into San Joaquin Valley farmland in search of cheaper homes."We might have to look at something as revolutionary as having the state itself decide on land-use zones and land uses," Perata said. The general idea is to squeeze cheaper homes, apartments and condominiums closer to the urban core and nearby suburbs.There are no specifics yet. But an ambitious series of bills and constitutional amendments expected to be introduced next year will propose usurping the decision-making power of local planning boards, curbing state environmental regulations to lower housing costs, encouraging more housing on old industrial sites and offering extra state money for parks or roads to communities that participate more willingly.
[more]
Here is an urban planner's dream. Talk about power--maybe one board controlling all of the real estate development in the state of California? All to slay the demon named "Sprawl." (Condemning sprawl is all the rage in academia--watch for my colleague Bob Bruegmann's forthcoming book that, if I know Bob, will take that cliche apart.) And of course, California's are supposed to live the high-density, attached housing, forced-into-HOAs-against-your-will lifestyle that everybody loves so much. Actually, Senator Peralta, surveys show that Americans have an overwhelming preference for detached single family home ownership, which is why they are moving so far away to find it. The answer is not for state government to usurp local government power in order to make it impossible for people to act on those preferences...unless you think that you have a better idea of how they should live than they do.
On the opening day of the legislative session a week ago, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata talked often about the phenomenon of California homeownership. Parents are chasing that dream to cheaper, faraway towns, then wasting time in cars commuting to work, which hurts families, burdens roads and adds pollution to the air, he said. Perata, D-Alameda, put sprawl at the top of his agenda. He and Schwarzenegger administration officials are looking at a bold, "anti-dumb growth" plan aimed in part at slowing the number of Bay Area residents spilling over the mountains into San Joaquin Valley farmland in search of cheaper homes."We might have to look at something as revolutionary as having the state itself decide on land-use zones and land uses," Perata said. The general idea is to squeeze cheaper homes, apartments and condominiums closer to the urban core and nearby suburbs.There are no specifics yet. But an ambitious series of bills and constitutional amendments expected to be introduced next year will propose usurping the decision-making power of local planning boards, curbing state environmental regulations to lower housing costs, encouraging more housing on old industrial sites and offering extra state money for parks or roads to communities that participate more willingly.
[more]
Condo point man embroiled in own legal feud
It looks like some people are a little concerned about Virgil Rizzo's ability to be a fair-handed condo ombudsman. Starting with his neighbors.
When new state condo czar Virgil Rizzo walks into his first meetings with officials in Tallahassee today, a thick envelope full of legal documents will be landing on Gov. Jeb Bush's desk. "The residents of River Reach are requesting that you re-evaluate your selection of Virgil Rizzo for the position of condominium ombudsman," says the letter, which is unsigned, but claims to represent residents of the River Reach condominium in Fort Lauderdale, where Rizzo lives.Rizzo was named state condo ombudsman last week by Bush to prevent condo disputes from escalating into lawsuits. He will work with a $4 million budget fueled by a $4 per-unit fee paid by condo owners. The state legislature created the position this year. His fans, including state legislators and advocates for condo dwellers, say he is the right man to reform a state condo complaint system that has been ineffective for years and is under state investigation. His detractors, including the board of his own condo association, say he is a litigious troublemaker filing baseless claims to harass them. In response, Rizzo says officers of his condo board filed countersuits only to punish him for his charges of financial mismanagement.The legal brouhaha has continued for two years, with suits, countersuits, charges, countercharges and no end in sight.
[more]
It looks like some people are a little concerned about Virgil Rizzo's ability to be a fair-handed condo ombudsman. Starting with his neighbors.
When new state condo czar Virgil Rizzo walks into his first meetings with officials in Tallahassee today, a thick envelope full of legal documents will be landing on Gov. Jeb Bush's desk. "The residents of River Reach are requesting that you re-evaluate your selection of Virgil Rizzo for the position of condominium ombudsman," says the letter, which is unsigned, but claims to represent residents of the River Reach condominium in Fort Lauderdale, where Rizzo lives.Rizzo was named state condo ombudsman last week by Bush to prevent condo disputes from escalating into lawsuits. He will work with a $4 million budget fueled by a $4 per-unit fee paid by condo owners. The state legislature created the position this year. His fans, including state legislators and advocates for condo dwellers, say he is the right man to reform a state condo complaint system that has been ineffective for years and is under state investigation. His detractors, including the board of his own condo association, say he is a litigious troublemaker filing baseless claims to harass them. In response, Rizzo says officers of his condo board filed countersuits only to punish him for his charges of financial mismanagement.The legal brouhaha has continued for two years, with suits, countersuits, charges, countercharges and no end in sight.
[more]
USATODAY.com - Buildings to go up like never before
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Residential and commercial development in the next quarter-century will eclipse anything seen in previous generations as the nation moves to accommodate rapid population growth, according to a Brookings Institution report Monday. About half the homes, office buildings, stores and factories that will be needed by 2030 don't exist today, says Arthur C. Nelson, author of the report for the think tank in Washington, D.
[more]
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Couple this with the fact that as much as 80% of the new housing is in CIDs and you can see how important is for the nation to come to grips with the problems CIDs present.
By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Residential and commercial development in the next quarter-century will eclipse anything seen in previous generations as the nation moves to accommodate rapid population growth, according to a Brookings Institution report Monday. About half the homes, office buildings, stores and factories that will be needed by 2030 don't exist today, says Arthur C. Nelson, author of the report for the think tank in Washington, D.
[more]
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Couple this with the fact that as much as 80% of the new housing is in CIDs and you can see how important is for the nation to come to grips with the problems CIDs present.
Florida press finally discovers that Nevada got there first, but still gets the facts wrong
The reporters in Florida who are trying to figure out what an ombudsman is have finally discovered that Nevada, not Florida, originated the idea. They have now discovered Eldon Hardy, who has been doing this in Nevada since 2001. But the reporter who did this article still doesn't know that Mary Lynn Ashworth was first. She became the nation's first CIC ombudsman in 1998, and held the position until Hardy took it over (see below). So Florida is on the cutting edge of being in second place by six years.
If these folks would just read The Privatopia Papers they could avoid some of these mistakes. :-)
The reporters in Florida who are trying to figure out what an ombudsman is have finally discovered that Nevada, not Florida, originated the idea. They have now discovered Eldon Hardy, who has been doing this in Nevada since 2001. But the reporter who did this article still doesn't know that Mary Lynn Ashworth was first. She became the nation's first CIC ombudsman in 1998, and held the position until Hardy took it over (see below). So Florida is on the cutting edge of being in second place by six years.
If these folks would just read The Privatopia Papers they could avoid some of these mistakes. :-)
Sunday, December 12, 2004
The New York Times > National > Neighbors of Burned Homes Pained by Suburban Sprawl
Followup to the gigantic arson in Maryland, about which there have been reports (including this one) that mention environmental terrorists as the perpetrators. As yet, no suspects named. But here we have the NYT focusing on the long-standing opposition by neighbors to having this development built. Whatever the motive, the fires have highlighted a long and contentious battle over whether this instant dose of suburban density belonged here. The flames seem unlikely to alter the outcome: the developer of Hunters Brooke said this week that the houses would be rebuilt. The demon named Sprawl, bane of academic urban planners everywhere, rears its ugly head. It's so...unplanned.
...For years, local citizens fought their way from the Charles County Planning Commission to the federal courts to preserve the bog. It was not just the wetland, one of the few remaining magnolia bogs in the mid-Atlantic region, that they sought to preserve. They cherish their isolation from Washington's inexorably spreading suburbs. They do not want to lose their chance to see the full panoply of stars in the deeper dark of a rural night.
For Patricia Stamper, a 66-year-old government statistician who has lived up a dirt road in the Mason Springs area with her horses for 30 years, it is impossible to untangle her concern for the environment from her anger that "a high density housing complex is being dumped on us all at once."
[more]
Followup to the gigantic arson in Maryland, about which there have been reports (including this one) that mention environmental terrorists as the perpetrators. As yet, no suspects named. But here we have the NYT focusing on the long-standing opposition by neighbors to having this development built. Whatever the motive, the fires have highlighted a long and contentious battle over whether this instant dose of suburban density belonged here. The flames seem unlikely to alter the outcome: the developer of Hunters Brooke said this week that the houses would be rebuilt. The demon named Sprawl, bane of academic urban planners everywhere, rears its ugly head. It's so...unplanned.
...For years, local citizens fought their way from the Charles County Planning Commission to the federal courts to preserve the bog. It was not just the wetland, one of the few remaining magnolia bogs in the mid-Atlantic region, that they sought to preserve. They cherish their isolation from Washington's inexorably spreading suburbs. They do not want to lose their chance to see the full panoply of stars in the deeper dark of a rural night.
For Patricia Stamper, a 66-year-old government statistician who has lived up a dirt road in the Mason Springs area with her horses for 30 years, it is impossible to untangle her concern for the environment from her anger that "a high density housing complex is being dumped on us all at once."
[more]
BBC NEWS | Americas | US woman 'strangles Rottweiler'
At the risk of turning into Matt Drudge, I had to post this one.
A Florida woman is under investigation for allegedly strangling a neighbour's Rottweiler after it attacked her Yorkshire terrier.
[more]
At the risk of turning into Matt Drudge, I had to post this one.
A Florida woman is under investigation for allegedly strangling a neighbour's Rottweiler after it attacked her Yorkshire terrier.
[more]
Flashback to 2003: Nevada HOA ombudsman was also "flooded" with complaints
I mentioned below that Mary Lynn Ashworth and Eldon Hardy were ombudspersons for the State of Nevada long before Florida ever thought of creating such an office. Note the similarity in press coverage when Hardy took over from Mary Lynn:
Home sour home
State ombudsman flooded with homeowner association woes
By Larry Wills
On Eldon Hardy's office wall is a list of rules for kindergarten kids on how to behave: Be nice to each other. Don't hit people. Put things back where they belong. Hold hands when you go outside. Hardy, as the state's ombudsman for homeowners' associations, wishes more people would follow those rules. If so, his job would be much easier. But they obviously don't. Hardy's office has grown from three people in 2001 to an authorized 11 staffers this year, with a caseload that's approaching 300. It seems to be the fastest-growing office in state government. He points to a six-inch stack of phone logs, documenting an average of 80 complaints a day from homeowners about their associations. In a three-week period, he personally answered 1,280 calls. "We hear from about 10 percent of the homeowners' associations," says Hardy, a nationally certified arbitrator. "Some associations have as many as seven homeowners filing complaints."
[more]
I mentioned below that Mary Lynn Ashworth and Eldon Hardy were ombudspersons for the State of Nevada long before Florida ever thought of creating such an office. Note the similarity in press coverage when Hardy took over from Mary Lynn:
Home sour home
State ombudsman flooded with homeowner association woes
By Larry Wills
On Eldon Hardy's office wall is a list of rules for kindergarten kids on how to behave: Be nice to each other. Don't hit people. Put things back where they belong. Hold hands when you go outside. Hardy, as the state's ombudsman for homeowners' associations, wishes more people would follow those rules. If so, his job would be much easier. But they obviously don't. Hardy's office has grown from three people in 2001 to an authorized 11 staffers this year, with a caseload that's approaching 300. It seems to be the fastest-growing office in state government. He points to a six-inch stack of phone logs, documenting an average of 80 complaints a day from homeowners about their associations. In a three-week period, he personally answered 1,280 calls. "We hear from about 10 percent of the homeowners' associations," says Hardy, a nationally certified arbitrator. "Some associations have as many as seven homeowners filing complaints."
[more]
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Northoftampa: Carrollwood: Standards officer to police neighborhood
Fred Pilot sent this along. He noted the reference to "dirty work." How did that song go? "I don't wanna do your dirty no more."
CARROLLWOOD - Homeowners in the Country Place subdivision will no longer have to volunteer to cruise the streets and cite other neighbors for deed violations.
Board members recently hired a person who lives outside the neighborhood to do the dirty work.
[more]
Fred Pilot sent this along. He noted the reference to "dirty work." How did that song go? "I don't wanna do your dirty no more."
CARROLLWOOD - Homeowners in the Country Place subdivision will no longer have to volunteer to cruise the streets and cite other neighbors for deed violations.
Board members recently hired a person who lives outside the neighborhood to do the dirty work.
[more]
Florida's new condo ombudsman finds phone is already ringing
Oh, yes indeed. I think we can safely assume that he will not have to drum up business. But the reporter is wrong--Rizzo is not "the nation's first condominium ombudsman." He is the third. Mary Lynn Ashworth was the first, for the state of Nevada, with jurisdication over all forms of common interest housing including condos, and she took the job in 1998 and held the job until Eldon Hardy took over from her and became number two, in (I think) 2001. I receive a wonderful Christmas card from Mary Lynn this year. Thanks again, Mary Lynn.
He doesn't have an office yet or even a business phone number, but already angry condo owners are tracking down Virgil R. Rizzo at his Fort Lauderdale apartment and bending his ear.
"It's been unending. I've been getting calls at home all day long starting at 8 a.m.," said Rizzo, the nation's first condominium ombudsman. "People have legitimate complaints but they, unbelievably, expect me to resolve them immediately."
[more]
Oh, yes indeed. I think we can safely assume that he will not have to drum up business. But the reporter is wrong--Rizzo is not "the nation's first condominium ombudsman." He is the third. Mary Lynn Ashworth was the first, for the state of Nevada, with jurisdication over all forms of common interest housing including condos, and she took the job in 1998 and held the job until Eldon Hardy took over from her and became number two, in (I think) 2001. I receive a wonderful Christmas card from Mary Lynn this year. Thanks again, Mary Lynn.
He doesn't have an office yet or even a business phone number, but already angry condo owners are tracking down Virgil R. Rizzo at his Fort Lauderdale apartment and bending his ear.
"It's been unending. I've been getting calls at home all day long starting at 8 a.m.," said Rizzo, the nation's first condominium ombudsman. "People have legitimate complaints but they, unbelievably, expect me to resolve them immediately."
[more]
NEWS.com.au | Take that, property owner!
A MELBOURNE man is seeking an apology from energy company TXU after it sent him a letter addressed to "Paranoid Fool". Hawthorn photographer Albert Comper was shocked and appalled yesterday when he received the letter, which began "Dear Paranoid". Mr Comper, 28, had telephoned TXU and other energy companies last month seeking the best deal for his newly acquired rental property.
[more, but still a mystery]
(December 11, 2004)
A MELBOURNE man is seeking an apology from energy company TXU after it sent him a letter addressed to "Paranoid Fool". Hawthorn photographer Albert Comper was shocked and appalled yesterday when he received the letter, which began "Dear Paranoid". Mr Comper, 28, had telephoned TXU and other energy companies last month seeking the best deal for his newly acquired rental property.
[more, but still a mystery]
Talking House / New radio service adds to real estate saturation in our lives
How's this for a real estate sales technique? There is now...
...a technology called Talking House, by giving a house its own radio channel transmitted from a box in the garage to anyone within 300 feet of the home, allows you to tune into a detailed description of a house without even getting out of your car. I noticed my first Talking House last month at 473 Andover St., in Bernal Heights, when I spotted a rather goofy-looking sign reading "Talking House: Tune into 1670 AM." Outside, the dwelling looked like a plain-Jane Marina-style, two-bedroom home over a one-car garage. But the Talking House set me straight: Encompassing 2,300 square feet on a double lot, the house boasts two more bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs behind the garage and a giant rumpus room that opens out onto a deck and the L-shaped yard. "If you like country living, then this home's for you," said the recording by listing agent Monique Wong-Lee. "It's a dog lover's dream."
[more]
How's this for a real estate sales technique? There is now...
...a technology called Talking House, by giving a house its own radio channel transmitted from a box in the garage to anyone within 300 feet of the home, allows you to tune into a detailed description of a house without even getting out of your car. I noticed my first Talking House last month at 473 Andover St., in Bernal Heights, when I spotted a rather goofy-looking sign reading "Talking House: Tune into 1670 AM." Outside, the dwelling looked like a plain-Jane Marina-style, two-bedroom home over a one-car garage. But the Talking House set me straight: Encompassing 2,300 square feet on a double lot, the house boasts two more bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs behind the garage and a giant rumpus room that opens out onto a deck and the L-shaped yard. "If you like country living, then this home's for you," said the recording by listing agent Monique Wong-Lee. "It's a dog lover's dream."
[more]
Did Kerik withdraw because of condo dispute?
NEWSWEEK/MSNBC:
President Bush chose Bernard Kerik, former NYC Police Commissioner, to succeed Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik just withdrew his nomination, saying he had a nanny problem. But there may be more to it than the "hired an illegal alien and didn't pay the taxes" thing. Maybe the real problem is that he didn't pay his condo assessments:
just five years ago he was in financial trouble over a condominium he owned in New Jersey. More serious trouble than anyone realized: NEWSWEEK has discovered that a New Jersey judge in 1998 had issued an arrest warrant as part of a convoluted series of lawsuits relating to unpaid bills on his condo...The lawsuit relating to Kerik’s apartment stems from his failure to pay maintenance fees. A court found that Kerik owed about $5,000 on the unit. When Kerik failed to comply with a subpoena related to the unpaid bill, a judge on Aug. 24, 1998 issued a warrant for Kerik’s arrest. It is unclear whether the warrant was ever served or withdrawn. Court computer records indicate that the lawsuit remains open, but there was some confusion on Friday over the location of the full record.
NEWSWEEK/MSNBC:
President Bush chose Bernard Kerik, former NYC Police Commissioner, to succeed Tom Ridge as Secretary of Homeland Security. Kerik just withdrew his nomination, saying he had a nanny problem. But there may be more to it than the "hired an illegal alien and didn't pay the taxes" thing. Maybe the real problem is that he didn't pay his condo assessments:
just five years ago he was in financial trouble over a condominium he owned in New Jersey. More serious trouble than anyone realized: NEWSWEEK has discovered that a New Jersey judge in 1998 had issued an arrest warrant as part of a convoluted series of lawsuits relating to unpaid bills on his condo...The lawsuit relating to Kerik’s apartment stems from his failure to pay maintenance fees. A court found that Kerik owed about $5,000 on the unit. When Kerik failed to comply with a subpoena related to the unpaid bill, a judge on Aug. 24, 1998 issued a warrant for Kerik’s arrest. It is unclear whether the warrant was ever served or withdrawn. Court computer records indicate that the lawsuit remains open, but there was some confusion on Friday over the location of the full record.
The Polarization Express (washingtonpost.com)
I have argued that the spread of HOAs could contribute to political polarization because of niche marketing and the different relationship to public government. Here is a conference devoted to answering whether America is, in fact, becoming more politically polarized. The consensus, it seems, is "yes."
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The title of the conference held here last weekend, appropriately enough, included a question mark: "The Polarization of American Politics: Myth or Reality?" The 45 academics, politicians and journalists who gathered at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics never reached a vote, but all the evidence pointed toward the second alternative... James Gimpel of the University of Maryland and Bill Bishop of the Austin American-Statesman showed that "red" and "blue" voters are increasingly living in separate enclaves, with distinctive lifestyles, attitudes and partisan leanings shared among neighbors. To that extent, most of the conferees agreed, polarization is not just a phenomenon affecting politicians but something rooted in deeper social changes. Especially as sophisticated line-drawing for new congressional districts combines with the emerging pattern of like-minded voters living in geographical clusters, the latent divisions in American culture are made explicit on Election Day.
I have argued that the spread of HOAs could contribute to political polarization because of niche marketing and the different relationship to public government. Here is a conference devoted to answering whether America is, in fact, becoming more politically polarized. The consensus, it seems, is "yes."
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The title of the conference held here last weekend, appropriately enough, included a question mark: "The Polarization of American Politics: Myth or Reality?" The 45 academics, politicians and journalists who gathered at Princeton University's Center for the Study of Democratic Politics never reached a vote, but all the evidence pointed toward the second alternative... James Gimpel of the University of Maryland and Bill Bishop of the Austin American-Statesman showed that "red" and "blue" voters are increasingly living in separate enclaves, with distinctive lifestyles, attitudes and partisan leanings shared among neighbors. To that extent, most of the conferees agreed, polarization is not just a phenomenon affecting politicians but something rooted in deeper social changes. Especially as sophisticated line-drawing for new congressional districts combines with the emerging pattern of like-minded voters living in geographical clusters, the latent divisions in American culture are made explicit on Election Day.
Friday, December 10, 2004
The Australian: Scrapbook: Battle for free-market agenda is only half won [December 10, 2004]
From the Dean of the Free Market, 92-year-old Milton Friedman himself:
After World War II, opinion was socialist while practice was free market; currently, opinion is free market while practice is heavily socialist. We have largely won the battle of ideas; we have succeeded in stalling the progress of socialism, but we have not succeeded in reversing its course. We are still far from bringing practice into conformity with opinion. That is the overriding non-defence task for the second Bush term. It will not be an easy task, particularly with Iraq threatening to consume Bush's political capital.
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True--it would not be easy, but then President Bush has shown no real indication of wanting to "reverse the course" of this trend to make the federal government ever-larger.
From the Dean of the Free Market, 92-year-old Milton Friedman himself:
After World War II, opinion was socialist while practice was free market; currently, opinion is free market while practice is heavily socialist. We have largely won the battle of ideas; we have succeeded in stalling the progress of socialism, but we have not succeeded in reversing its course. We are still far from bringing practice into conformity with opinion. That is the overriding non-defence task for the second Bush term. It will not be an easy task, particularly with Iraq threatening to consume Bush's political capital.
------------------
True--it would not be easy, but then President Bush has shown no real indication of wanting to "reverse the course" of this trend to make the federal government ever-larger.
USATODAY.com - Neighborhood rules on the line
Interesting story forwarded by Fred Pilot that draws the obvious but often ignored parallel between municipal codes and HOA rules.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Poppy Madden has emerged as an unlikely hero in a campaign known as the "Laundry Wars." She has triumphed — twice — at City Hall for the right to hang her wash in the hot Florida sun.
"I'm still hanging my purple panties," Madden says. Her clothesline is protected from neighbors' complaints by a state law that encourages solar power — in this case, using the sun rather than a clothes dryer.
"Seeing clean laundry hanging in a yard is a lot less of a problem than having someone's loose dog leave a deposit on your lawn, she says."
The clothesline battle in this waterfront city is the latest chapter in a familiar story about the balance between personal freedom and community standards. Such disputes can stem from city codes, which was the case with Madden's clothesline, or from restrictions set by homeowners associations.
[more]
Interesting story forwarded by Fred Pilot that draws the obvious but often ignored parallel between municipal codes and HOA rules.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Poppy Madden has emerged as an unlikely hero in a campaign known as the "Laundry Wars." She has triumphed — twice — at City Hall for the right to hang her wash in the hot Florida sun.
"I'm still hanging my purple panties," Madden says. Her clothesline is protected from neighbors' complaints by a state law that encourages solar power — in this case, using the sun rather than a clothes dryer.
"Seeing clean laundry hanging in a yard is a lot less of a problem than having someone's loose dog leave a deposit on your lawn, she says."
The clothesline battle in this waterfront city is the latest chapter in a familiar story about the balance between personal freedom and community standards. Such disputes can stem from city codes, which was the case with Madden's clothesline, or from restrictions set by homeowners associations.
[more]
Eminent Domain Watch
Thanks to John Ryskamp for sending me this link to a blog on eminent domain, with loads of links on the Kelo case. And the author has the good taste to use the same format I do.
Thanks to John Ryskamp for sending me this link to a blog on eminent domain, with loads of links on the Kelo case. And the author has the good taste to use the same format I do.
Welcome to gated-cities.com
Here is the excellent site put together by Chris Webster of Cardiff University, Wales, and Georg Glasze of the University of Mainz, Germany.
Here is the excellent site put together by Chris Webster of Cardiff University, Wales, and Georg Glasze of the University of Mainz, Germany.
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Boston.com / News / Nation / Hawks evicted from Fifth Ave.
Most of the stories about common interest communities deal with condominium or homeowner associations. Ocasionally I run across one that deals with the housing cooperatives. Most of those stories deal with co-op boards rejecting famous would-be buyers. Here's a new issue:
NEW YORK -- They can't go home again, but two well-known red-tail hawks evicted from their nest atop a posh Fifth Avenue building were trying to do just that yesterday...The urban drama began to unfold Tuesday, in the rain, when workmen raised a scaffold to the top of the building and tore out the nest that lay over an arched cornice. The nest was anchored by spikes originally intended to keep pigeons from depositing their droppings. The workers removed the spikes too. or the past nine years, thousands of bird lovers have come to see to the nest on the 12th-floor ledge that's been home to Pale Male, so named for his plumage. There, he fathered 25 chicks with a succession of mates -- the last three fledglings in June.
The hawks gained fame through television specials and a book, ''Red-Tails in Love."..Brown Harris Stevens Property Management Services issued a statement yesterday saying that they do not own the property and had acted ''on behalf of the cooperative building owners in a management capacity. . . . The building researched and carried out the removal of the nest during an inactive period as a safety precaution." ''What strikes me is the selfishness of a small group of residents who are scarcely affected, but have robbed thousands of people, including children, of the pleasure of these magnificent birds, right by Central Park," Matthiessen said. ''These animals are a wonderful show of how nature can exist in the city. This was a violent, disruptive act."
[more]
----------------
But I'll bet the local pigeons were cheering. They were probably tired of being lunch.
Most of the stories about common interest communities deal with condominium or homeowner associations. Ocasionally I run across one that deals with the housing cooperatives. Most of those stories deal with co-op boards rejecting famous would-be buyers. Here's a new issue:
NEW YORK -- They can't go home again, but two well-known red-tail hawks evicted from their nest atop a posh Fifth Avenue building were trying to do just that yesterday...The urban drama began to unfold Tuesday, in the rain, when workmen raised a scaffold to the top of the building and tore out the nest that lay over an arched cornice. The nest was anchored by spikes originally intended to keep pigeons from depositing their droppings. The workers removed the spikes too. or the past nine years, thousands of bird lovers have come to see to the nest on the 12th-floor ledge that's been home to Pale Male, so named for his plumage. There, he fathered 25 chicks with a succession of mates -- the last three fledglings in June.
The hawks gained fame through television specials and a book, ''Red-Tails in Love."..Brown Harris Stevens Property Management Services issued a statement yesterday saying that they do not own the property and had acted ''on behalf of the cooperative building owners in a management capacity. . . . The building researched and carried out the removal of the nest during an inactive period as a safety precaution." ''What strikes me is the selfishness of a small group of residents who are scarcely affected, but have robbed thousands of people, including children, of the pleasure of these magnificent birds, right by Central Park," Matthiessen said. ''These animals are a wonderful show of how nature can exist in the city. This was a violent, disruptive act."
[more]
----------------
But I'll bet the local pigeons were cheering. They were probably tired of being lunch.
California, U.S. in a Housing 'Bubble,' UCLA Forecast Says
Economists at UCLA have invoked the B-word again. In an outlook to be formally released today, forecasters say California and the nation are beset by a housing "bubble" that will depress construction next year, slowing the nation's economic recovery.Yet the fallout from the bubble in California won't be devastating, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. Indeed, the Golden State's economy will expand at a faster clip than the nation's in 2005, thanks in part to a recovering Bay Area, the widely watched forecast says. ..
Outside of California, overbuilding is viewed as the main problem by UCLA. One telling statistic: The nation has added one new residential unit for every adult added to the population over the last two years. The historical average is one unit for every 1.7 new adults.The bottom line: Today's pace of construction can't be sustained, Leamer said. Housing starts nationwide are expected to slow to 1.8 million units next year from 1.94 million this year.
[more]
--------------------
I wouldn't mind a slowdown in new housing construction. I think there is a lot of over-building going on, concentrated in "hot" areas that in a few years will be practically unliveable. The traffic congestion on feeder roads will cost you two hours just to get from home to the expressway. The schools will be over-capacity with kids in trailers, and the voter/taxpayers will refuse to pay more. And sooner or later--especially in California--people will say "no thanks" to mediocre tract homes with HOAs, located in the middle of nowhere, that cost $500,000. That's the cure for "sprawl." Not a dictatorial regional planning board, a la Portland. Failure of demand. Works every time.
Economists at UCLA have invoked the B-word again. In an outlook to be formally released today, forecasters say California and the nation are beset by a housing "bubble" that will depress construction next year, slowing the nation's economic recovery.Yet the fallout from the bubble in California won't be devastating, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. Indeed, the Golden State's economy will expand at a faster clip than the nation's in 2005, thanks in part to a recovering Bay Area, the widely watched forecast says. ..
Outside of California, overbuilding is viewed as the main problem by UCLA. One telling statistic: The nation has added one new residential unit for every adult added to the population over the last two years. The historical average is one unit for every 1.7 new adults.The bottom line: Today's pace of construction can't be sustained, Leamer said. Housing starts nationwide are expected to slow to 1.8 million units next year from 1.94 million this year.
[more]
--------------------
I wouldn't mind a slowdown in new housing construction. I think there is a lot of over-building going on, concentrated in "hot" areas that in a few years will be practically unliveable. The traffic congestion on feeder roads will cost you two hours just to get from home to the expressway. The schools will be over-capacity with kids in trailers, and the voter/taxpayers will refuse to pay more. And sooner or later--especially in California--people will say "no thanks" to mediocre tract homes with HOAs, located in the middle of nowhere, that cost $500,000. That's the cure for "sprawl." Not a dictatorial regional planning board, a la Portland. Failure of demand. Works every time.
Judge orders vet to remove Marine flag - 12/7/04
Follow-up to post of a few days ago. As usual the trial court rules against the homeowner. A deal is a deal, a rule is a rule. Next stop: the state legislature? That's what happened with armed forces flags in Illinois--allowed, per the State Legislature.
Follow-up to post of a few days ago. As usual the trial court rules against the homeowner. A deal is a deal, a rule is a rule. Next stop: the state legislature? That's what happened with armed forces flags in Illinois--allowed, per the State Legislature.
CEO Insights - November/December 2004: CAI to comment on proposed assessment escrow rule
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can see that CAI is requesting comments on this rule. Perhaps some readers of this weblog have comments:
If you would like to provide input on this proposal, please contact Molly Foley-Healy, CAI’s vice president of government and public affairs, at mfoley-healy@caionline.org or (703) 797-6266.
If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can see that CAI is requesting comments on this rule. Perhaps some readers of this weblog have comments:
If you would like to provide input on this proposal, please contact Molly Foley-Healy, CAI’s vice president of government and public affairs, at mfoley-healy@caionline.org or (703) 797-6266.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
HUD proposes rule requiring lenders to escrow HOA and condo assessments
Here's the text of the proposed rule in .pdf format. Read it for yourself. This is potentially a major bombshell. Imagine there's no assessment collection lawyers...it's easy if you try...no assessment striking owners...no more listening to them cry...
Sorry...I was channelling John Lennon there for a minute. I'm fine now.
What does this mean? How about...that the federal government considers the assessment stream important enough to the public weal to require escrowing like property taxes? How does that square with the "HOAs are private" litany?
Here's the text of the proposed rule in .pdf format. Read it for yourself. This is potentially a major bombshell. Imagine there's no assessment collection lawyers...it's easy if you try...no assessment striking owners...no more listening to them cry...
Sorry...I was channelling John Lennon there for a minute. I'm fine now.
What does this mean? How about...that the federal government considers the assessment stream important enough to the public weal to require escrowing like property taxes? How does that square with the "HOAs are private" litany?
Boing Boing: Update on Louis Rossetto's mother's house
This was passed on to me by a reader. It is a detailed account from the weblog BoingBoing of a Landmark Preservation Committee in the People's Republic of Berkeley. Very interesting reading. This is so similar to the reactions people report about their HOA Architectural Review Committee that I think it merits consideration--even if you do away with HOAs, you are not free. There are layers of oversight lurking to waylay you. I'd thank the person by name but all I have is an e-mail address and I hate to give those out without permission--so, thanks!
Update on Louis Rossetto's mother's house--
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the problems Louis Rossetto's mother was having trying to get permission from the city to add a small addition to her house in Berkeley (Link). On Monday, Berkeley's Landmarks Preservation Commission held a meeting to decide whether to grant landmark status to the house. In short, his mother got permission to build the addition. Congratulations!
Here's Louis' report from the meeting:
A report from the front: the battle was lost - but the war won!
[the details of the meeting follow]
------------------
The author of the meeting narrative says he was...
...saddened to have witnessed first hand a truly arbitrary, philistine process that must be repeated ad nauseum across America, and that causes neighborhood wars, promotes mediocrity (if not worse), and can leave people emotionally and financially ruined without even protecting the alleged purposes of the landmark ordinances. As my mother wrote in her ad, this wasn't about preservation, this was about the local Soviet trying to assert its control over the block.
[more]
------------------
This was passed on to me by a reader. It is a detailed account from the weblog BoingBoing of a Landmark Preservation Committee in the People's Republic of Berkeley. Very interesting reading. This is so similar to the reactions people report about their HOA Architectural Review Committee that I think it merits consideration--even if you do away with HOAs, you are not free. There are layers of oversight lurking to waylay you. I'd thank the person by name but all I have is an e-mail address and I hate to give those out without permission--so, thanks!
Update on Louis Rossetto's mother's house--
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the problems Louis Rossetto's mother was having trying to get permission from the city to add a small addition to her house in Berkeley (Link). On Monday, Berkeley's Landmarks Preservation Commission held a meeting to decide whether to grant landmark status to the house. In short, his mother got permission to build the addition. Congratulations!
Here's Louis' report from the meeting:
A report from the front: the battle was lost - but the war won!
[the details of the meeting follow]
------------------
The author of the meeting narrative says he was...
...saddened to have witnessed first hand a truly arbitrary, philistine process that must be repeated ad nauseum across America, and that causes neighborhood wars, promotes mediocrity (if not worse), and can leave people emotionally and financially ruined without even protecting the alleged purposes of the landmark ordinances. As my mother wrote in her ad, this wasn't about preservation, this was about the local Soviet trying to assert its control over the block.
[more]
------------------
Yahoo! News - Parents Go on Strike, Move to Front Yard
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my 7 year old twins picket me with a special "Dad Unfair, Big Bad Bear!" sign. Now, at last, parents are striking back. Where do I go to join the picket line?
DELTONA, Fla. - Even though the dishes, garbage and dirty laundry were piling up, homeowners Cat and Harlan Barnard were getting no help from their two children. After begging and pleading with their 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to help out around the house, the Barnards decided they were fed up. So they went on strike — and moved out to the front yard.
[more]
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my 7 year old twins picket me with a special "Dad Unfair, Big Bad Bear!" sign. Now, at last, parents are striking back. Where do I go to join the picket line?
DELTONA, Fla. - Even though the dishes, garbage and dirty laundry were piling up, homeowners Cat and Harlan Barnard were getting no help from their two children. After begging and pleading with their 17-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter to help out around the house, the Barnards decided they were fed up. So they went on strike — and moved out to the front yard.
[more]
Berkshire Eagle Online - Editorials--Coup and counter-coup in Becket, Mass.
Fred Pilot once again reaches down into the boiling soup of HOA living and retrieves this amazing nugget:
There's always been something of the Wild West about Becket, and this latest donnybrook involving the Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association is true to form. The SFNA was a sleepy little voluntary homeowners' association in the 600-acre subdivision created in one of the worst land-use decisions in the history of Berkshire County. But that was before a Dover attorney, Carl N. Edwards, got himself elected vice president last year in a stacked meeting and began working to create a sort of shadow town government. He changed the bylaws to preclude any challenges to his power, and began issuing tax bills to finance the expanded activities of the Neighborhood Association, which included the removal of unregistered pleasure boats. It's supposed to take an act of the Legislature to establish a government with the power to tax, but Mr. Edwards told anyone who questioned him that it was all legal under common law. Last Sunday afternoon, the neighbors mobilized to take back the Neighborhood Association. They decided to hire an attorney to represent them against the titular leadership of their organization, and to re-enfranchise themselves to participate in its deliberations. It's quite a to-do, even by Becket standards. Stay tuned.
------------------
I will. Stay tuned, that is.
------------------
Update: On December 15, 2007, I received a letter from the aforementioned attorney Carl N. Edwards of Dover, MA, along with a press release from the United Auto Workers announcing the end of the litigation and a CD full of supporting documentation. Mr. Edwards says that Harry Sykes "was a licensed contractor who had bought multiple lots in Sherwood Forest and had been issued a premit to build over a retention basin on a tiny portion of wetlands in violation of at least a dozen state and local laws, and contrary to the requirements of the Federal Rivers Act. Since the land was in running water, the local political road district attempted to help Sykes and the official who issued him the permit by digging a drainage trench. The trench, however, ran up hill; flooding the neighborhood and washing out a road. Bob Madore lived in the flooded neighborhood and joined abuttern in what became the high profile case known as Madore v. Sykes. Madore had led the unionization of the Berkshire Eagle in 1997, and would subsequently play key roles in union victories at other newspapers owned by the Eagle's parent corporation." Edwards' press release goes on to say that Syke's complaint about Madore was dismissed as lacking in credibility. He says that despite the Berkshire Eagle's support for Sykes in its coverage, Sykes did not prevail in court (I presume in the litigation over the flooding), and the building permit expired. Madore has been elected head of the Northeast District of the UAW, and for additional information (so says the press release), you can contact:
Joelyn Leon, United Auto Workers Region 9A, at jleon@uaw.net.
For my part, I have no opinion regarding what happened or who is right, other than there are two conflicting accounts and I am making them available.
Fred Pilot once again reaches down into the boiling soup of HOA living and retrieves this amazing nugget:
There's always been something of the Wild West about Becket, and this latest donnybrook involving the Sherwood Forest Neighborhood Association is true to form. The SFNA was a sleepy little voluntary homeowners' association in the 600-acre subdivision created in one of the worst land-use decisions in the history of Berkshire County. But that was before a Dover attorney, Carl N. Edwards, got himself elected vice president last year in a stacked meeting and began working to create a sort of shadow town government. He changed the bylaws to preclude any challenges to his power, and began issuing tax bills to finance the expanded activities of the Neighborhood Association, which included the removal of unregistered pleasure boats. It's supposed to take an act of the Legislature to establish a government with the power to tax, but Mr. Edwards told anyone who questioned him that it was all legal under common law. Last Sunday afternoon, the neighbors mobilized to take back the Neighborhood Association. They decided to hire an attorney to represent them against the titular leadership of their organization, and to re-enfranchise themselves to participate in its deliberations. It's quite a to-do, even by Becket standards. Stay tuned.
------------------
I will. Stay tuned, that is.
------------------
Update: On December 15, 2007, I received a letter from the aforementioned attorney Carl N. Edwards of Dover, MA, along with a press release from the United Auto Workers announcing the end of the litigation and a CD full of supporting documentation. Mr. Edwards says that Harry Sykes "was a licensed contractor who had bought multiple lots in Sherwood Forest and had been issued a premit to build over a retention basin on a tiny portion of wetlands in violation of at least a dozen state and local laws, and contrary to the requirements of the Federal Rivers Act. Since the land was in running water, the local political road district attempted to help Sykes and the official who issued him the permit by digging a drainage trench. The trench, however, ran up hill; flooding the neighborhood and washing out a road. Bob Madore lived in the flooded neighborhood and joined abuttern in what became the high profile case known as Madore v. Sykes. Madore had led the unionization of the Berkshire Eagle in 1997, and would subsequently play key roles in union victories at other newspapers owned by the Eagle's parent corporation." Edwards' press release goes on to say that Syke's complaint about Madore was dismissed as lacking in credibility. He says that despite the Berkshire Eagle's support for Sykes in its coverage, Sykes did not prevail in court (I presume in the litigation over the flooding), and the building permit expired. Madore has been elected head of the Northeast District of the UAW, and for additional information (so says the press release), you can contact:
Joelyn Leon, United Auto Workers Region 9A, at jleon@uaw.net.
For my part, I have no opinion regarding what happened or who is right, other than there are two conflicting accounts and I am making them available.
Small condo groups deal with their owners' quirks
Thanks to Fred Pilot for spotting this. Small condo developments are popping up all over the place. Chicago has zillions of them, and here is San Francisco with the same thing. People convert small apartment buildings to small condo buildings. Then instead of a landlord taking care of the place, you have a condo association. Fine in theory, but in practice a gene pool of four to ten owners isn't likely to yield enough people willing and able to run the building. So now what? Municipalities can either let many of these buildings go to pot (for you San Franciscans, I don't mean the herbal recreational kind) or do something to keep them afloat. But how about not allowing them to be set up in the first place?
here's a saying that the only thing harder to manage than a three- unit condominium is a two-unit one. While owners in large developments can rely on a professional management company, small building unit owners don't have this buffer. They are usually their own trustees and must persuade their fellow trustee-owners to agree to a new roof or paint job. Bad feelings can follow a negative vote, and just one obstructionist or irresponsible owner can turn the most elegant converted Victorian home into a battleground.
[more]
Thanks to Fred Pilot for spotting this. Small condo developments are popping up all over the place. Chicago has zillions of them, and here is San Francisco with the same thing. People convert small apartment buildings to small condo buildings. Then instead of a landlord taking care of the place, you have a condo association. Fine in theory, but in practice a gene pool of four to ten owners isn't likely to yield enough people willing and able to run the building. So now what? Municipalities can either let many of these buildings go to pot (for you San Franciscans, I don't mean the herbal recreational kind) or do something to keep them afloat. But how about not allowing them to be set up in the first place?
here's a saying that the only thing harder to manage than a three- unit condominium is a two-unit one. While owners in large developments can rely on a professional management company, small building unit owners don't have this buffer. They are usually their own trustees and must persuade their fellow trustee-owners to agree to a new roof or paint job. Bad feelings can follow a negative vote, and just one obstructionist or irresponsible owner can turn the most elegant converted Victorian home into a battleground.
[more]
CITIZEN-TIMES.com: Homeowners' associations able to bring out the best, the worst and the absurd in neighbors
At least, they seem to bring out the worst in the author of the article. "Poop free or die"? But he goes on to take a look at the bigger picture.
...when the notification came out that our homeowners' association (HOA) was seeking people to run for its board, I very seriously considered doing my part and taking a turn on the board. I even thought out my campaign strategy, as this is something you have to be elected to. I planned to rally the people in the neighborhood who walk their dogs in the greenspace without bothering with the plastic poop baggies. My campaign slogan, "Poop free or die," I would plaster all over the neighborhood on little plastic signs. I'd promise that, if elected, I would move to dump the clean-up-after-your-dog rule so that they would no longer feel guilty about not picking up after their dogs.
At least, they seem to bring out the worst in the author of the article. "Poop free or die"? But he goes on to take a look at the bigger picture.
...when the notification came out that our homeowners' association (HOA) was seeking people to run for its board, I very seriously considered doing my part and taking a turn on the board. I even thought out my campaign strategy, as this is something you have to be elected to. I planned to rally the people in the neighborhood who walk their dogs in the greenspace without bothering with the plastic poop baggies. My campaign slogan, "Poop free or die," I would plaster all over the neighborhood on little plastic signs. I'd promise that, if elected, I would move to dump the clean-up-after-your-dog rule so that they would no longer feel guilty about not picking up after their dogs.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
pressconnects.com: Va. man ordered to pay damages for motel mess...Room was coated with petroleum jelly
Entry Number One in the "Weird Crimes Against Property" Awards...
BINGHAMTON -- A Virginia man who admitted Monday to coating his motel room with the contents of 14 jars of petroleum jelly in May will have to pay $3,886 for damages to the motel.
...Chamberlain was charged May 10 after he coated every object in a Motel 6 room in the Town of Chenango with petroleum jelly, Broome County sheriff's deputies said.
..............
Mathews didn't ask Chamberlain on Monday why he coated his room with petroleum jelly, and Chamberlain didn't offer any explanation.
[more, including photo of Mr. Petroleum Jelly.}
------------------------
I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for ?
Entry Number One in the "Weird Crimes Against Property" Awards...
BINGHAMTON -- A Virginia man who admitted Monday to coating his motel room with the contents of 14 jars of petroleum jelly in May will have to pay $3,886 for damages to the motel.
...Chamberlain was charged May 10 after he coated every object in a Motel 6 room in the Town of Chenango with petroleum jelly, Broome County sheriff's deputies said.
..............
Mathews didn't ask Chamberlain on Monday why he coated his room with petroleum jelly, and Chamberlain didn't offer any explanation.
[more, including photo of Mr. Petroleum Jelly.}
------------------------
I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for ?
WPVI.com: Star Wars Battle in NJ
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ-December 7, 2004 — Not so long ago in a galaxy five miles southwest of Philadelphia, Mike Degirolamo had a plan. But the authority in his sector sought to suppress it. The plan was to build a 20-by-12-foot model of a Jawa Sandcrawler, a relatively obscure icon from the original "Star Wars" film, before the next installment of the saga "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" opens in May. To get the project done, he doesn't need the Force, but rather the power to persuade the township council it's a worthy project. The council is planning a special meeting to discuss whether Degirolamo will be allowed to erect the ode to the movies he loves on the property of a local business. ...Degirolamo, 38, is a "Star Wars" fanatic who built a 35-foot model of a different sci-fi ship for the opening of the last Star Wars installment in 2002.
hat massive model was assembled in Degirolamo's yard. After neighbors complained and inspectors showed up, he had to put up a fence.
[more]
----------------------------
It could be worse. What if he was a Ben Affleck fan?
GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ-December 7, 2004 — Not so long ago in a galaxy five miles southwest of Philadelphia, Mike Degirolamo had a plan. But the authority in his sector sought to suppress it. The plan was to build a 20-by-12-foot model of a Jawa Sandcrawler, a relatively obscure icon from the original "Star Wars" film, before the next installment of the saga "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" opens in May. To get the project done, he doesn't need the Force, but rather the power to persuade the township council it's a worthy project. The council is planning a special meeting to discuss whether Degirolamo will be allowed to erect the ode to the movies he loves on the property of a local business. ...Degirolamo, 38, is a "Star Wars" fanatic who built a 35-foot model of a different sci-fi ship for the opening of the last Star Wars installment in 2002.
hat massive model was assembled in Degirolamo's yard. After neighbors complained and inspectors showed up, he had to put up a fence.
[more]
----------------------------
It could be worse. What if he was a Ben Affleck fan?
Gov. Bush taps retired Fort Lauderdale doctor/lawyer as state's condo ombudsman
Fred Pilot sent along this article about the new Florida condo ombudsman. Note the part about the "bitter dispute" with his own association.
A retired Fort Lauderdale doctor and lawyer has been chosen to serve as the first condominium ombudsman in the nation, a position that will require him to educate more than 1 million condo owners and to resolve disputes with their 17,000 associations.
The appointment of Virgil R. Rizzo, 67, who is in the middle of a bitter lawsuit with his own condo association, was announced Monday by Gov. Jeb Bush.
The Florida Legislature created the position earlier this year over the objection of many condo lawyers and directors. Supporters of the law said they would try to add homeowner associations to the ombudsman's jurisdiction at the legislative session that begins in March.
[more]
Fred Pilot sent along this article about the new Florida condo ombudsman. Note the part about the "bitter dispute" with his own association.
A retired Fort Lauderdale doctor and lawyer has been chosen to serve as the first condominium ombudsman in the nation, a position that will require him to educate more than 1 million condo owners and to resolve disputes with their 17,000 associations.
The appointment of Virgil R. Rizzo, 67, who is in the middle of a bitter lawsuit with his own condo association, was announced Monday by Gov. Jeb Bush.
The Florida Legislature created the position earlier this year over the objection of many condo lawyers and directors. Supporters of the law said they would try to add homeowner associations to the ombudsman's jurisdiction at the legislative session that begins in March.
[more]
Yahoo! News - Eco-Terrorism Suspected in Md. Fires
More on this--was this an act of domestic terrorism?
INDIAN HEAD, Md. - More than a dozen expensive homes under construction were burned down early Monday in a suburban Washington housing development that had been criticized by environmentalists because it is next to a nature preserve, officials said. An FBI (news - web sites) agent said the fires may have been set by environmental extremists. A dozen homes were destroyed and 29 others damaged near the state's Mattawoman Natural Environment Area. No injuries were reported. The damage was estimated at at least $10 million. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Faron Taylor, a deputy state fire marshal, said investigators believe fires were set in at least four of the homes, which were priced at $400,000 to $500,000. Taylor refused to say what led investigators to conclude it was arson.
[more]
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Note that the person who wrote the article refers to "environmental extremists," and then whoever wrote the headline used the term "eco-terrorism." There are some fine distinctions made these days over use of the word "terrorist." The folks in Iraq who are taking hostages, sawing their heads off and mailing the videos to Al-Jazeera, and blowing up people standing in line at police stations are called "militants," "insurgents," or "rebels," but never terrorists, even though by any conventional definition of the word they are terrorists. ANow, what about these domestic terrorists (if this was politically motivated arson)? Are they going to be called terrorists, or "extremists"?
More on this--was this an act of domestic terrorism?
INDIAN HEAD, Md. - More than a dozen expensive homes under construction were burned down early Monday in a suburban Washington housing development that had been criticized by environmentalists because it is next to a nature preserve, officials said. An FBI (news - web sites) agent said the fires may have been set by environmental extremists. A dozen homes were destroyed and 29 others damaged near the state's Mattawoman Natural Environment Area. No injuries were reported. The damage was estimated at at least $10 million. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Faron Taylor, a deputy state fire marshal, said investigators believe fires were set in at least four of the homes, which were priced at $400,000 to $500,000. Taylor refused to say what led investigators to conclude it was arson.
[more]
-------------------------
Note that the person who wrote the article refers to "environmental extremists," and then whoever wrote the headline used the term "eco-terrorism." There are some fine distinctions made these days over use of the word "terrorist." The folks in Iraq who are taking hostages, sawing their heads off and mailing the videos to Al-Jazeera, and blowing up people standing in line at police stations are called "militants," "insurgents," or "rebels," but never terrorists, even though by any conventional definition of the word they are terrorists. ANow, what about these domestic terrorists (if this was politically motivated arson)? Are they going to be called terrorists, or "extremists"?
Monday, December 06, 2004
Arson Destroys 12 New Md. Homes (washingtonpost.com)
A dozen empty houses in a new Maryland subdivision that is the focus of a long-running environmental dispute were destroyed and numerous others were damaged yesterday in what officials said were more than 20 coordinated, methodically planned arsons.
No one was hurt, but the attack left the Hunters Brooke subdivision, near Indian Head in Charles County, scarred with blackened, gutted houses, and it terrified the quiet community near the Potomac River about 25 miles downstream from the District.
[more]
---------
This has been happening out west, in the San Diego and LA areas, for some time. It's a new front in the old wars over development. Most people go to the village council meeting and complain. They win or lose, and if they lose they stay or move. These folks, however, flick their Bics. The issue is whether the second Bush administration will treat them as the domestic terrorists they really are, or whether it will ignore them as Clinton I and II and Bush I did. Do they have bigger fish to fry? That's what they said about Al Qaida in 1995.
A dozen empty houses in a new Maryland subdivision that is the focus of a long-running environmental dispute were destroyed and numerous others were damaged yesterday in what officials said were more than 20 coordinated, methodically planned arsons.
No one was hurt, but the attack left the Hunters Brooke subdivision, near Indian Head in Charles County, scarred with blackened, gutted houses, and it terrified the quiet community near the Potomac River about 25 miles downstream from the District.
[more]
---------
This has been happening out west, in the San Diego and LA areas, for some time. It's a new front in the old wars over development. Most people go to the village council meeting and complain. They win or lose, and if they lose they stay or move. These folks, however, flick their Bics. The issue is whether the second Bush administration will treat them as the domestic terrorists they really are, or whether it will ignore them as Clinton I and II and Bush I did. Do they have bigger fish to fry? That's what they said about Al Qaida in 1995.
Marc Steyn: An Englishman's home is his dungeon
Steyn at his best, reflecting on the fact that hot prowl burglaries (done with the resident at home) are rampant in the UK. Why? Steyn says because the crooks know people have no firearms, and because of the practice of prosecuting victims for using too much force in defending themselves against criminals who invade their homes:
An Englishman's home is not his castle, but his dungeon and ever more so - window bars, window locks, dead bolts, laser security, and no doubt biometricrecognition garage doors, once the Blunkett national ID card goes into circulation...In America, it's called a "hot" burglary - a burglary that takes place when the homeowners are present - or a "home invasion", which is a much more accurate term. Just over 10 per cent of US burglaries are "hot" burglaries, and in my part of the world it's statistically insignificant: there is virtually zero chance of a New Hampshire home being broken into while the family are present. But in England and Wales it's more than 50 per cent and climbing. Which is hardly surprising given the police's petty, well-publicised pursuit of those citizens who have the impertinence to resist criminals...In New Hampshire, there are few burglaries because there's a high rate of gun ownership. Getting your head blown off for a $70 TV set isn't worth it. Conversely, thanks to the British police, burning the flesh of a London dressmaker to get her watch is definitely worth it...
-----------
Steyn at his best, reflecting on the fact that hot prowl burglaries (done with the resident at home) are rampant in the UK. Why? Steyn says because the crooks know people have no firearms, and because of the practice of prosecuting victims for using too much force in defending themselves against criminals who invade their homes:
An Englishman's home is not his castle, but his dungeon and ever more so - window bars, window locks, dead bolts, laser security, and no doubt biometricrecognition garage doors, once the Blunkett national ID card goes into circulation...In America, it's called a "hot" burglary - a burglary that takes place when the homeowners are present - or a "home invasion", which is a much more accurate term. Just over 10 per cent of US burglaries are "hot" burglaries, and in my part of the world it's statistically insignificant: there is virtually zero chance of a New Hampshire home being broken into while the family are present. But in England and Wales it's more than 50 per cent and climbing. Which is hardly surprising given the police's petty, well-publicised pursuit of those citizens who have the impertinence to resist criminals...In New Hampshire, there are few burglaries because there's a high rate of gun ownership. Getting your head blown off for a $70 TV set isn't worth it. Conversely, thanks to the British police, burning the flesh of a London dressmaker to get her watch is definitely worth it...
-----------
Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners' Association :: ACLU of New Jersey
Here's a summary of the Twin Rivers case from the New Jersey ACLU website. The case is on appeal. There are also links to the complaint and the ACLU brief. I don't know what the briefing schedule is.
Here's a summary of the Twin Rivers case from the New Jersey ACLU website. The case is on appeal. There are also links to the complaint and the ACLU brief. I don't know what the briefing schedule is.
Macomb Daily : Marine Corps flag dispute goes to court 12/06/04
A circuit court judge today may decide whether a Macomb Township man can continue flying a U.S. Marine Corps flag at his condominium. The Windmere Common I Association is seeking a preliminary injunction against John and Joanne O'Brien to remove the flag, which is attached to the front of the garage, an alleged violation of the association's by-laws.
[more]
------------------
O'Brien "delivered a flier explaining the situation to all 92 units and no one has indicated they oppose his flag." But, predictably, the association attorney makes the slippery slope argument--if this is allowed then we'll have a Klingon flag next, yada, yada, yada. "You start down that slippery slope," he said. "Someone could display the flag of the Taliban, Iraq, the Viet Cong or Nazis." Right. I'm sure there's a whole line of fascist just waiting to put up their favorite flag if the USMC banner is allowed to remain.
A circuit court judge today may decide whether a Macomb Township man can continue flying a U.S. Marine Corps flag at his condominium. The Windmere Common I Association is seeking a preliminary injunction against John and Joanne O'Brien to remove the flag, which is attached to the front of the garage, an alleged violation of the association's by-laws.
[more]
------------------
O'Brien "delivered a flier explaining the situation to all 92 units and no one has indicated they oppose his flag." But, predictably, the association attorney makes the slippery slope argument--if this is allowed then we'll have a Klingon flag next, yada, yada, yada. "You start down that slippery slope," he said. "Someone could display the flag of the Taliban, Iraq, the Viet Cong or Nazis." Right. I'm sure there's a whole line of fascist just waiting to put up their favorite flag if the USMC banner is allowed to remain.
Yahoo! News - Holiday Displays Take Over Neighborhoods
Fred Pilot rings the Salvation Army Christmas bell with this story of holiday lights gone berserk, straight outa Geneva. Illinois, that is:
GENEVA, Ill. - Greg Parcell isn't thinking about the 50,000 lights all around him, or the computer that has them blinking to the beat of "Let it Snow" on the radio. Instead, his mind is on what's missing as he stands in what seems the one empty spot in his front yard. "I still have to put up the penguins around the campfire," he says. Parcell, 47, is a toy soldier in a growing army of Christmas enthusiasts becoming more sophisticated at turning yards into blazing monuments to the holidays. New companies are cropping up with elaborate, automated decorations and the computer equipment to coordinate them, giving anyone with a wallet the ability to create scenes similar to a theme park...In Monte Sereno, Calif., a couple whose huge display attracted thousands of passers-by angered neighbors and led the city council to require a permit for any exhibit lasting longer than three days. This year, the yard holds a 10-foot Grinch, its spiny finger pointing at the house of the neighbors who initiated the complaints.
[more]
------------------------------
Fred Pilot rings the Salvation Army Christmas bell with this story of holiday lights gone berserk, straight outa Geneva. Illinois, that is:
GENEVA, Ill. - Greg Parcell isn't thinking about the 50,000 lights all around him, or the computer that has them blinking to the beat of "Let it Snow" on the radio. Instead, his mind is on what's missing as he stands in what seems the one empty spot in his front yard. "I still have to put up the penguins around the campfire," he says. Parcell, 47, is a toy soldier in a growing army of Christmas enthusiasts becoming more sophisticated at turning yards into blazing monuments to the holidays. New companies are cropping up with elaborate, automated decorations and the computer equipment to coordinate them, giving anyone with a wallet the ability to create scenes similar to a theme park...In Monte Sereno, Calif., a couple whose huge display attracted thousands of passers-by angered neighbors and led the city council to require a permit for any exhibit lasting longer than three days. This year, the yard holds a 10-foot Grinch, its spiny finger pointing at the house of the neighbors who initiated the complaints.
[more]
------------------------------
Sunday, December 05, 2004
DenverPost.com -10 questions you ought to ask your homebuilder
"I know the colors and special little features are more fun to think about and easier for people to understand, but they don't matter much if you don't have quality construction," said Peter Robberson, president of the Colorado chapter of the National Association of Home Inspectors and owner of Welcome Home Inspections in Colorado Springs.
Important questions to ask before, during and after construction of a new house:
1 Who is building the home?
[more...nine more, to be exact]
"I know the colors and special little features are more fun to think about and easier for people to understand, but they don't matter much if you don't have quality construction," said Peter Robberson, president of the Colorado chapter of the National Association of Home Inspectors and owner of Welcome Home Inspections in Colorado Springs.
Important questions to ask before, during and after construction of a new house:
1 Who is building the home?
[more...nine more, to be exact]
Boston.com / News / Local / Bradford gun club drawing concern
Six months after a bullet was accidentally fired into a Haverhill neighborhood from a local shooting range, neighbors say they want answers about what has been done to prevent a similar incident from happening.
----------
Yes, I imagine some answers would be in order.
Six months after a bullet was accidentally fired into a Haverhill neighborhood from a local shooting range, neighbors say they want answers about what has been done to prevent a similar incident from happening.
----------
Yes, I imagine some answers would be in order.
Article: Teenagers fail to see the consequences?| New Scientist
Juveniles may find it harder than adults to foresee the consequences of their actions. The finding may explain why teenagers act compulsively and take more risks
[more, but if you didn't know this you have never met a teenager]
-----------------
Somebody paid for this study? OK. I want to study the behavior of objects that are suspended on a rope and then released. Do they fall, or rise, or remain hanging in space. Can I get some money for that?
Juveniles may find it harder than adults to foresee the consequences of their actions. The finding may explain why teenagers act compulsively and take more risks
[more, but if you didn't know this you have never met a teenager]
-----------------
Somebody paid for this study? OK. I want to study the behavior of objects that are suspended on a rope and then released. Do they fall, or rise, or remain hanging in space. Can I get some money for that?
Tampa Bay's 10 News:"TRAILER TRASH" headline breaks controversy
So now it's OK to call people "rednecks" (see below about the Barrington anti-deer hunting "I'm a mom") and "trailer trash"? I think "hillbilly" is also permissible--some college football coach yelled that at the other team's fans a couple of weeks ago--I think they were Oklahoma fans. You also hear "cracker" thrown around, along with "white trash."
What do these words have in common? They are negative steretypical words used to describe working class white people, who are now the only group it is permissible to ethnically slur. Is this supposed to be progress?
So now it's OK to call people "rednecks" (see below about the Barrington anti-deer hunting "I'm a mom") and "trailer trash"? I think "hillbilly" is also permissible--some college football coach yelled that at the other team's fans a couple of weeks ago--I think they were Oklahoma fans. You also hear "cracker" thrown around, along with "white trash."
What do these words have in common? They are negative steretypical words used to describe working class white people, who are now the only group it is permissible to ethnically slur. Is this supposed to be progress?
Rutherford Institute's amicus curiae brief in Kelo v. City of New London
If you like property rights, and I know lots of HOA activists say they do, then you will love this brief. You have the Magna Carta, Federalist No. 10, Calder v. Bull...it's a cornucopia of property rights delights. Give it read.
If you like property rights, and I know lots of HOA activists say they do, then you will love this brief. You have the Magna Carta, Federalist No. 10, Calder v. Bull...it's a cornucopia of property rights delights. Give it read.
SSRN-Kelo v. New London: Deciding the First Case Under the New Bill of Rights by John Ryskamp
Thanks to John Ryskamp for e-mailing me with the link to his article on the case of Kelo v. New London, currently before the United States Supreme Court.
Here's the abstract of his article, with my emphasis:
The Supreme Court has just decided to hear Kelo v. New London (No. 04-108). The Court will use the case to decide--for the first time in thirty years - whether there should be elevated scrutiny of housing. Previous cases - such as San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, Lindsey v. Normet and Dandridge v. Williams--rejected such elevation, but the Court indicated that it was prepared to raise scrutiny if there was a proper Constitutional formulation which located such scrutiny in the Constitution. This paper provides the formulation, beginning with James Madison's statement that the Constitution prevents every assumption of power in the legislative or executive. For the first time, the author shows how Madison's use of the word every brings housing and similar facts, under the jurisdiction of the Constitution and mandates elevated scrutiny. Given the administrative and political problems inherent in imposing a higher level of scrutiny on housing, the author provides different scenarios for adjudication.
-------------------------
I think this is potentially a very significant case that could have major impact. My Constitutional Law class did a simulation on it. Students played the role of current USSC judges, hold conferences, and vote as they think their own justice would. Last week we held the final vote. Result: 6-3 to reverse the Connecticut Supreme Court and give the win to the property owner, Kelo. Here's the breakdown:
Reverse (meaning Kelo wins): Rehnquist (I know, he's sick--but the student who played him felt fine); Scalia; Thomas; O'Connor, Kennedy; and (shocker) Breyer.
Affirm (meaning New London wins): Stevens; Ginsburg; Souter.
Thanks to John Ryskamp for e-mailing me with the link to his article on the case of Kelo v. New London, currently before the United States Supreme Court.
Here's the abstract of his article, with my emphasis:
The Supreme Court has just decided to hear Kelo v. New London (No. 04-108). The Court will use the case to decide--for the first time in thirty years - whether there should be elevated scrutiny of housing. Previous cases - such as San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, Lindsey v. Normet and Dandridge v. Williams--rejected such elevation, but the Court indicated that it was prepared to raise scrutiny if there was a proper Constitutional formulation which located such scrutiny in the Constitution. This paper provides the formulation, beginning with James Madison's statement that the Constitution prevents every assumption of power in the legislative or executive. For the first time, the author shows how Madison's use of the word every brings housing and similar facts, under the jurisdiction of the Constitution and mandates elevated scrutiny. Given the administrative and political problems inherent in imposing a higher level of scrutiny on housing, the author provides different scenarios for adjudication.
-------------------------
I think this is potentially a very significant case that could have major impact. My Constitutional Law class did a simulation on it. Students played the role of current USSC judges, hold conferences, and vote as they think their own justice would. Last week we held the final vote. Result: 6-3 to reverse the Connecticut Supreme Court and give the win to the property owner, Kelo. Here's the breakdown:
Reverse (meaning Kelo wins): Rehnquist (I know, he's sick--but the student who played him felt fine); Scalia; Thomas; O'Connor, Kennedy; and (shocker) Breyer.
Affirm (meaning New London wins): Stevens; Ginsburg; Souter.
ABC13.com: Homeowners association picks a fight with man over American flag
Not again. Please. Not again. Is there a psychologist in the house who can explain why HOA directors do this?
ABC13 Eyewitness News
(12/03/04 - HOUSTON) — The American flag is in the middle of a fight between a west Harris County man and his homeowners association.
"Old Glory" has been sitting on Charles Watson’s front lawn on Glen Eagles near Grousemoor for more than five years, but his homeowner's association now says it must go. It claims the former serviceman, who has family serving in Iraq, did not get prior approval before making home improvements, and the flag is in violation. The flag can be mounted on the house, but not on the lawn.
Neighbors don’t object to the flag’s placement, and Watson refuses to move it, saying he has earned the right to display the flag. The association has until December 7 to respond to paperwork filed by Watson.
Not again. Please. Not again. Is there a psychologist in the house who can explain why HOA directors do this?
ABC13 Eyewitness News
(12/03/04 - HOUSTON) — The American flag is in the middle of a fight between a west Harris County man and his homeowners association.
"Old Glory" has been sitting on Charles Watson’s front lawn on Glen Eagles near Grousemoor for more than five years, but his homeowner's association now says it must go. It claims the former serviceman, who has family serving in Iraq, did not get prior approval before making home improvements, and the flag is in violation. The flag can be mounted on the house, but not on the lawn.
Neighbors don’t object to the flag’s placement, and Watson refuses to move it, saying he has earned the right to display the flag. The association has until December 7 to respond to paperwork filed by Watson.
Proposal Would Hit Blue State Taxpayers
Can't remember if I posted on this before, but it has been in the press.
As President Bush lays the groundwork for a possible overhaul of the U.S. tax code, one option under consideration would deal its biggest financial blow to citizens of blue states such as California and New York. Some conservative activists are urging the Bush administration to scrap the federal deduction for state and local taxes as part of a broader plan to revamp the nation's tax system...Taxpayers in California and New York, for example, which have top state income tax rates of 9.3% and 6.5% respectively, would be highly affected; residents of Florida and Texas, which have no state income taxes, much less so.
[more]
---------------
That's quite a bite. So, New Yorkers would pay 9.3% of their income to the state, and then pay federal tax on that portion of their income as well. Ow.
Can't remember if I posted on this before, but it has been in the press.
As President Bush lays the groundwork for a possible overhaul of the U.S. tax code, one option under consideration would deal its biggest financial blow to citizens of blue states such as California and New York. Some conservative activists are urging the Bush administration to scrap the federal deduction for state and local taxes as part of a broader plan to revamp the nation's tax system...Taxpayers in California and New York, for example, which have top state income tax rates of 9.3% and 6.5% respectively, would be highly affected; residents of Florida and Texas, which have no state income taxes, much less so.
[more]
---------------
That's quite a bite. So, New Yorkers would pay 9.3% of their income to the state, and then pay federal tax on that portion of their income as well. Ow.
Lawmaker Seeks to Privatize State Pensions
Thanks to Fred Pilot for spotting this. Tax collection, pensions...this is a big day for announcing new privatization initiatives, isn't it?
Declaring rising pension debt a "ticking time bomb," a California legislator proposes converting public employee retirements from a traditional defined-benefit system to the 401(k)-style plans held by most American workers.
Employees hired by a public agency after July 1, 2007, would automatically be enrolled in the new contribution plan proposed by Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge). The plan would make pension payments for public agencies more predictable and potentially lower costs, he said.
[more]
Thanks to Fred Pilot for spotting this. Tax collection, pensions...this is a big day for announcing new privatization initiatives, isn't it?
Declaring rising pension debt a "ticking time bomb," a California legislator proposes converting public employee retirements from a traditional defined-benefit system to the 401(k)-style plans held by most American workers.
Employees hired by a public agency after July 1, 2007, would automatically be enrolled in the new contribution plan proposed by Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge). The plan would make pension payments for public agencies more predictable and potentially lower costs, he said.
[more]
Private Firms to Chase Delinquent Taxpayers (washingtonpost.com)
I don't like the sound of this at all. The part about the private collectors keeping up to 25% of the amounts they recover seems like a strong incentive to engage in, shall we say, rapacious collections practices.
When Reps. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) teamed up in September to get the House to pass an amendment blocking the use of private companies to collect back taxes from delinquent taxpayers, it seemed the Bush administration plan might be doomed for at least a year.
But in the final hours of drafting a 3,300-page spending bill last month, House and Senate negotiators eliminated Capito's and Van Hollen's handiwork, clearing the way for the Internal Revenue Service to hire commercial debt collectors. These private agents could keep as much as 25 percent of the amounts they recovered.
While the Bush administration has strongly supported the initiative as a way to increase revenue collections amid growing deficits, critics contend it could lead to harassment of taxpayers and breaches of privacy. Labor groups representing federal workers also oppose the change. But it has the backing of the debt-collection industry, which has contributed heavily to GOP organizations and causes since Bush became president.
[more]
I don't like the sound of this at all. The part about the private collectors keeping up to 25% of the amounts they recover seems like a strong incentive to engage in, shall we say, rapacious collections practices.
When Reps. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) teamed up in September to get the House to pass an amendment blocking the use of private companies to collect back taxes from delinquent taxpayers, it seemed the Bush administration plan might be doomed for at least a year.
But in the final hours of drafting a 3,300-page spending bill last month, House and Senate negotiators eliminated Capito's and Van Hollen's handiwork, clearing the way for the Internal Revenue Service to hire commercial debt collectors. These private agents could keep as much as 25 percent of the amounts they recovered.
While the Bush administration has strongly supported the initiative as a way to increase revenue collections amid growing deficits, critics contend it could lead to harassment of taxpayers and breaches of privacy. Labor groups representing federal workers also oppose the change. But it has the backing of the debt-collection industry, which has contributed heavily to GOP organizations and causes since Bush became president.
[more]
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Daily Herald:Deer hunt opponents find holes in plan
By Joseph Ryan Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, December 04, 2004
North Barrington trustees on the short end of a village board vote to allow bow hunting in a gated subdivision are making a last-ditch lobbying effort to reverse the move.
Trustees Kim Forman and Kelly Mazeski are calling into question what they considered a key assertion by hunting proponents: that Wynstone's deer were locked in the subdivision by its wrought-iron fences.
They have provided the Daily Herald with pictures they say are of broken fences at Wynstone, and they plan to use them to convince the board to revote this week to reject the hunt.
...
Wynstone leaders said there are at least 40 deer in a forested area of the subdivision. They said the deer cannot easily leave, and therefore bow hunting 20 would sufficiently thin the herd to reduce problems.
Forman and Mazeski said the holes they found - one from a removed post and two existing under the fence - allow deer to move freely, making the count void and lowering the chance a hunt would stop the deer problems.
Wynstone president Richard Scobee said Friday he believes the holes were created by residents that want deer to enter the subdivision. He said the fences are checked weekly by maintenance workers.
[more]
--------------
So maybe even a deer can wander at will in and out of Wynstone. If so, I should think that a burglar wouldn't find such security much of an obstacle.
Interesting dispute, and it may support a point that many people have made about gated communities. Most of them aren't really much more secure than anyplace else. The security is more of an image than a reality, and would not keep out a determined intruder. This is a psychological thing, a sort of security blanket, for people who seek out these compounds. These places appeal to people with a strong sense of territoriality, who want to control their space.
By the way, there's hardly any crime in the entire Barrington area, for many miles around. It's not like they needed to fence out Alaric the Visigoth and his hordes.
By Joseph Ryan Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, December 04, 2004
North Barrington trustees on the short end of a village board vote to allow bow hunting in a gated subdivision are making a last-ditch lobbying effort to reverse the move.
Trustees Kim Forman and Kelly Mazeski are calling into question what they considered a key assertion by hunting proponents: that Wynstone's deer were locked in the subdivision by its wrought-iron fences.
They have provided the Daily Herald with pictures they say are of broken fences at Wynstone, and they plan to use them to convince the board to revote this week to reject the hunt.
...
Wynstone leaders said there are at least 40 deer in a forested area of the subdivision. They said the deer cannot easily leave, and therefore bow hunting 20 would sufficiently thin the herd to reduce problems.
Forman and Mazeski said the holes they found - one from a removed post and two existing under the fence - allow deer to move freely, making the count void and lowering the chance a hunt would stop the deer problems.
Wynstone president Richard Scobee said Friday he believes the holes were created by residents that want deer to enter the subdivision. He said the fences are checked weekly by maintenance workers.
[more]
--------------
So maybe even a deer can wander at will in and out of Wynstone. If so, I should think that a burglar wouldn't find such security much of an obstacle.
Interesting dispute, and it may support a point that many people have made about gated communities. Most of them aren't really much more secure than anyplace else. The security is more of an image than a reality, and would not keep out a determined intruder. This is a psychological thing, a sort of security blanket, for people who seek out these compounds. These places appeal to people with a strong sense of territoriality, who want to control their space.
By the way, there's hardly any crime in the entire Barrington area, for many miles around. It's not like they needed to fence out Alaric the Visigoth and his hordes.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Man arrested for having dynamite in apartment
Hey, I thought this was a free country. What about his property rights?
Hey, I thought this was a free country. What about his property rights?
BocaNews.com: Florida Kerry supporters meet for group therapy--
Voters shout epithets at President Bush during first PEST counseling session
Twenty John Kerry supporters met for their first group therapy session in
South Florida Thursday, screaming epithets at President Bush as they shared
their emotions with licensed mental health counselors.
The first of several free noontime therapy sessions at the American Health
Association in Boca Raton was designed to treat what mental health
counselors have dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST)...
According to AHA officials, symptoms of PEST are similar to post-traumatic
stress disorder. They include nightmares, sleeplessness, hostility,
listlessness, and emotional outbursts including threats to leave the
country.
“There’s an overall sense of emotional helplessness and abandonment,” said
Sheila Cooperman, a licensed AHA psychotherapist from Delray Beach. “In
psychology, we call it ‘learned helplessness.’ After you zap a caged dog
twice, he stops moving because he knows there is no place to go. That’s what
happened with these Kerry voters. They’ve been zapped so many times that
they’re on the verge of giving up on politics.”
Cooperman, also a practicing psychic, added, “One person today said he
thinks the country is now run by fascists. Another felt personally
threatened by the president’s love for big business. Many believe Bush is
going to draft their grandchildren.
[more]
---------------
I wonder if this would work equally well for the losers in HOA elections. The problem is that when they say the election was crooked, often it isn't a Michael Moore fantasy--they really have a point.
Voters shout epithets at President Bush during first PEST counseling session
Twenty John Kerry supporters met for their first group therapy session in
South Florida Thursday, screaming epithets at President Bush as they shared
their emotions with licensed mental health counselors.
The first of several free noontime therapy sessions at the American Health
Association in Boca Raton was designed to treat what mental health
counselors have dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST)...
According to AHA officials, symptoms of PEST are similar to post-traumatic
stress disorder. They include nightmares, sleeplessness, hostility,
listlessness, and emotional outbursts including threats to leave the
country.
“There’s an overall sense of emotional helplessness and abandonment,” said
Sheila Cooperman, a licensed AHA psychotherapist from Delray Beach. “In
psychology, we call it ‘learned helplessness.’ After you zap a caged dog
twice, he stops moving because he knows there is no place to go. That’s what
happened with these Kerry voters. They’ve been zapped so many times that
they’re on the verge of giving up on politics.”
Cooperman, also a practicing psychic, added, “One person today said he
thinks the country is now run by fascists. Another felt personally
threatened by the president’s love for big business. Many believe Bush is
going to draft their grandchildren.
[more]
---------------
I wonder if this would work equally well for the losers in HOA elections. The problem is that when they say the election was crooked, often it isn't a Michael Moore fantasy--they really have a point.
Property taxes rising nationwide | csmonitor.com
While fuel prices may be starting to skid, there's another expense closer to home that is upsetting many Americans: rising property taxes.
From Madison, Wis., to Bucks County, Pa., the local tax assessor is dipping deeper into homeowners' pockets as real estate prices rise and states share less of their tax revenue with local governments.
With people starting to receive their 2005 tax bills, the levies are squeezing the middle class and senior citizens - leaving them less to spend on everything from restaurants to roof repair. There is also concern the taxes could particularly hurt the home-buying chances of the young or civil servants such as firefighters. States such as New Jersey now have grass-roots efforts - verging on revolts - for reform.
"There is a property tax crisis," says Myron Orfield, a property tax expert at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. "It's especially bad in states like New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, and Illinois, which are property-tax dependent."
Part of the problem lies in demographics and the rapid growth of exurban communities. Young couples who can't afford suburban homes have moved to "edge" communities further from the cities. Those are filled with children, and to educate them the communities have to jack up property taxes to build new schools and hire teachers.
[more]
-----------------
And add to that the cost of paying your HOA assessments.
While fuel prices may be starting to skid, there's another expense closer to home that is upsetting many Americans: rising property taxes.
From Madison, Wis., to Bucks County, Pa., the local tax assessor is dipping deeper into homeowners' pockets as real estate prices rise and states share less of their tax revenue with local governments.
With people starting to receive their 2005 tax bills, the levies are squeezing the middle class and senior citizens - leaving them less to spend on everything from restaurants to roof repair. There is also concern the taxes could particularly hurt the home-buying chances of the young or civil servants such as firefighters. States such as New Jersey now have grass-roots efforts - verging on revolts - for reform.
"There is a property tax crisis," says Myron Orfield, a property tax expert at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. "It's especially bad in states like New Jersey, Ohio, Connecticut, and Illinois, which are property-tax dependent."
Part of the problem lies in demographics and the rapid growth of exurban communities. Young couples who can't afford suburban homes have moved to "edge" communities further from the cities. Those are filled with children, and to educate them the communities have to jack up property taxes to build new schools and hire teachers.
[more]
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And add to that the cost of paying your HOA assessments.
Reuters.com:'Master/slave' Most Politically Incorrect Phrase
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The computer term "master/slave," which was banned as racially offensive by a Los Angeles County purchasing department, was named the most politically incorrect term of the year on Thursday.
Among other terms on the top 10 list of politically charged words and phrases, issued by the word usage group Global Language Monitor, were "non-same sex marriage" to describe heterosexual unions, "waitron" for waiter or waitress and "higher being" for God, a term some people found too religious.
[more]
--------------
I'll go this article one better: "heterosexual marriage" is a redundancy, i.e., an unnecessary modifier, because there isn't any other kind--at least, in 49 states and the DC. Only in Massachusetts do people need to specify which flavor of marriage is being talked about. It's like the old "49 state cars" that could pass smog device inspections in all states except California.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The computer term "master/slave," which was banned as racially offensive by a Los Angeles County purchasing department, was named the most politically incorrect term of the year on Thursday.
Among other terms on the top 10 list of politically charged words and phrases, issued by the word usage group Global Language Monitor, were "non-same sex marriage" to describe heterosexual unions, "waitron" for waiter or waitress and "higher being" for God, a term some people found too religious.
[more]
--------------
I'll go this article one better: "heterosexual marriage" is a redundancy, i.e., an unnecessary modifier, because there isn't any other kind--at least, in 49 states and the DC. Only in Massachusetts do people need to specify which flavor of marriage is being talked about. It's like the old "49 state cars" that could pass smog device inspections in all states except California.
Daily Herald: Rock star's verbal arrows fly in neighborhood's bow hunt debate
The Nuge strikes back!
Some of the usually reserved residents of a gated community are in the cross hairs of rock star and hunting activist Ted Nugent, who is backing local leaders' plans to cull deer. But residents on both sides don't like the attention. "This is out of control," said Richard Scobee, president of Wynstone Estates, an upper-class subdivision in North Barrington where guests need approval from a resident to get through the front gate. Wynstone leaders have proposed a bow hunt in the coming weeks to kill off half a herd, about 40 deer, that they say is eating thousands of dollars' worth of landscaping and endangering drivers. The Motor City Madman, as Nugent is sometimes called, is on their side, though they didn't really invite him into the debate. Nugent, perhaps best known musically for his rendition of "Cat Scratch Fever," first came on the scene when a local trustee played a video at last week's board meeting that featured him howling as he killed various animals with arrows at his sprawling game ranch in Texas.
The short clip was meant to stir emotions against bow hunting, but a majority of officials still approved a plan to allow the Wynstone hunt.
A few days later, Wynstone resident Carol Bieniek, who opposes the hunt, gave a local radio interview in which she called Nugent a "redneck."
Enter Nugent: "My critics are soulless. They try to fault me for participating in the proven assuredness of the renewable harvest," he responded in an interview Thursday with the Daily Herald... "I started bow hunting on my father's back before I could walk," he said. "I have been anointed in God's tooth-and-claw nature system, and I bow to its authority."
[more]
This is getting more fun by the day. This Barrington area is, shall we say, extremely affluent, so we are watching people who have lots of time to fuss over things like this.
Note the homeowner association president freaking out because things are "out of control." And the liberal suburbanite Carol "I'm a mom" Bieniek, who can't abide killing deer, and no doubt would have a fit if anybody around her used a politically incorrect epithet, but has no problem calling Nugent a "redneck" even though she doesn't know him from Jed Clampett. Talk about acting to type--I guess they sent these two folks down from Central Casting.
By the way, the article notes that Nugent lived in nearby Palatine when he was a teenager. Do they have any rednecks in that particular Chicago suburb? Any Palatine neighborhoods called Possum Holler? I didn't see any refrigerators in the front yards last time I was there, and people seemed to have all their teeth. But still--it isn't Barrington, don't you know?
The Nuge strikes back!
Some of the usually reserved residents of a gated community are in the cross hairs of rock star and hunting activist Ted Nugent, who is backing local leaders' plans to cull deer. But residents on both sides don't like the attention. "This is out of control," said Richard Scobee, president of Wynstone Estates, an upper-class subdivision in North Barrington where guests need approval from a resident to get through the front gate. Wynstone leaders have proposed a bow hunt in the coming weeks to kill off half a herd, about 40 deer, that they say is eating thousands of dollars' worth of landscaping and endangering drivers. The Motor City Madman, as Nugent is sometimes called, is on their side, though they didn't really invite him into the debate. Nugent, perhaps best known musically for his rendition of "Cat Scratch Fever," first came on the scene when a local trustee played a video at last week's board meeting that featured him howling as he killed various animals with arrows at his sprawling game ranch in Texas.
The short clip was meant to stir emotions against bow hunting, but a majority of officials still approved a plan to allow the Wynstone hunt.
A few days later, Wynstone resident Carol Bieniek, who opposes the hunt, gave a local radio interview in which she called Nugent a "redneck."
Enter Nugent: "My critics are soulless. They try to fault me for participating in the proven assuredness of the renewable harvest," he responded in an interview Thursday with the Daily Herald... "I started bow hunting on my father's back before I could walk," he said. "I have been anointed in God's tooth-and-claw nature system, and I bow to its authority."
[more]
This is getting more fun by the day. This Barrington area is, shall we say, extremely affluent, so we are watching people who have lots of time to fuss over things like this.
Note the homeowner association president freaking out because things are "out of control." And the liberal suburbanite Carol "I'm a mom" Bieniek, who can't abide killing deer, and no doubt would have a fit if anybody around her used a politically incorrect epithet, but has no problem calling Nugent a "redneck" even though she doesn't know him from Jed Clampett. Talk about acting to type--I guess they sent these two folks down from Central Casting.
By the way, the article notes that Nugent lived in nearby Palatine when he was a teenager. Do they have any rednecks in that particular Chicago suburb? Any Palatine neighborhoods called Possum Holler? I didn't see any refrigerators in the front yards last time I was there, and people seemed to have all their teeth. But still--it isn't Barrington, don't you know?
Boston.com: The public cost of privatization
AS BIG DIG holes leak taxpayer dollars by the gallon, as Halliburton overbills the Pentagon by millions, as Enron CEOs go to jail for defrauding stockholders, and as HMOs provide less and less health care for higher and higher fees, it is time to reexamine that great myth spawned by the Reagan revolution: the myth of privatization.For too long, Republicans have been able to promote, unchallenged, the notion that the private sector can deliver goods and even public services more efficiently, more cheaply, and better. "Privatization" has meant a variety of things: from giving corporations taxpayer money with little government oversight, as in the Big Dig, to turning public schools into for-profit charters, to forcing community colleges like my own to rely less on state funding and more on private fund-raising, including raising student fees in order to survive. Whatever its form, privatization is based on the general concept that business is good, government is bad.
[more]
Susan Jhirad is chairwoman of the English Department at North Shore Community College
-------------------
I took some English classes in college, but I guess I missed the ones where they train you in political economy. Maybe you only get to that in graduate school.
AS BIG DIG holes leak taxpayer dollars by the gallon, as Halliburton overbills the Pentagon by millions, as Enron CEOs go to jail for defrauding stockholders, and as HMOs provide less and less health care for higher and higher fees, it is time to reexamine that great myth spawned by the Reagan revolution: the myth of privatization.For too long, Republicans have been able to promote, unchallenged, the notion that the private sector can deliver goods and even public services more efficiently, more cheaply, and better. "Privatization" has meant a variety of things: from giving corporations taxpayer money with little government oversight, as in the Big Dig, to turning public schools into for-profit charters, to forcing community colleges like my own to rely less on state funding and more on private fund-raising, including raising student fees in order to survive. Whatever its form, privatization is based on the general concept that business is good, government is bad.
[more]
Susan Jhirad is chairwoman of the English Department at North Shore Community College
-------------------
I took some English classes in college, but I guess I missed the ones where they train you in political economy. Maybe you only get to that in graduate school.
Daily Herald: gated community allowed to bow hunt deer
This story is so confused that it illustrates what a nether-world private communities are in. The reporter doesn't understand who is permitting whom to do what. The point is that public officials gave a private government permission to bowhunt deer at a time and place that would otherwise have been illegal. Why? Well, it's a Goldilocks kind of thing--apparently the gated community BOD (but not all its members) think 40 deer living in the community are too many, and 0 wouldn't be enough, but 20 would be just right.
Now, there are generally applicable laws that govern deer hunting here in Illinois, and they are very specific and restrictive. I'm not against deer hunting--in fact, I'm all for it, and I have Browning hunting bow and a 12 gauge Remington 870 with an 18" barrel to prove it. And I thoroughly approve of Ted Nugent (see the article), unlike the anti-hunters in the article who think he's just awful because he visibly enjoys killing and eating animals.
But why should a gated community get this exception from laws that govern the rest of us? There are deer all over the place where we live. They get hit by cars, they eat in people's cornfields, and so forth. I'd love to shoot a deer off my patio some morning, and fill the freezer. It would be easy to do. But nooooooooooo...I have to obey some of the most restrictive hunting laws on Planet Earth. Is this a case of a gated community getting special privileges? Or is there something special about the number 40? Expiring minds want to know.
This story is so confused that it illustrates what a nether-world private communities are in. The reporter doesn't understand who is permitting whom to do what. The point is that public officials gave a private government permission to bowhunt deer at a time and place that would otherwise have been illegal. Why? Well, it's a Goldilocks kind of thing--apparently the gated community BOD (but not all its members) think 40 deer living in the community are too many, and 0 wouldn't be enough, but 20 would be just right.
Now, there are generally applicable laws that govern deer hunting here in Illinois, and they are very specific and restrictive. I'm not against deer hunting--in fact, I'm all for it, and I have Browning hunting bow and a 12 gauge Remington 870 with an 18" barrel to prove it. And I thoroughly approve of Ted Nugent (see the article), unlike the anti-hunters in the article who think he's just awful because he visibly enjoys killing and eating animals.
But why should a gated community get this exception from laws that govern the rest of us? There are deer all over the place where we live. They get hit by cars, they eat in people's cornfields, and so forth. I'd love to shoot a deer off my patio some morning, and fill the freezer. It would be easy to do. But nooooooooooo...I have to obey some of the most restrictive hunting laws on Planet Earth. Is this a case of a gated community getting special privileges? Or is there something special about the number 40? Expiring minds want to know.
Yahoo! News - Headless Bodies Found at Mysterious Mexico Pyramid
Fred Pilot passed this along. He claims it proves that "CIDs have been a failure for at least 1300 years." I guess because the remains suggest there were some acriminous BOD meetings...
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The discovery of a tomb filled with decapitated bodies suggests Mexico's 2,000 year-old "Pyramid of the Moon" may have been the site of horrifically gory sacrifices, archeologists said on Thursday...After 200 years of excavations, archeologists are still largely in the dark about the origins of the city, which is believed to have housed 200,000 people at its peak in 500 A.D. -- rivaling Shakespeare's London, but a millennium earlier. ...The master-planned city-state collapsed around 700 A.D., an event as mysterious as its formation.
-------------------
Oh, and one more thing...the Evil Empire encroaches...
--------------------
It was the site of a modern-day controversy earlier this year when protesters fought and lost a battle to keep the Mexican unit of retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from building a new store a half-mile away.
Fred Pilot passed this along. He claims it proves that "CIDs have been a failure for at least 1300 years." I guess because the remains suggest there were some acriminous BOD meetings...
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The discovery of a tomb filled with decapitated bodies suggests Mexico's 2,000 year-old "Pyramid of the Moon" may have been the site of horrifically gory sacrifices, archeologists said on Thursday...After 200 years of excavations, archeologists are still largely in the dark about the origins of the city, which is believed to have housed 200,000 people at its peak in 500 A.D. -- rivaling Shakespeare's London, but a millennium earlier. ...The master-planned city-state collapsed around 700 A.D., an event as mysterious as its formation.
-------------------
Oh, and one more thing...the Evil Empire encroaches...
--------------------
It was the site of a modern-day controversy earlier this year when protesters fought and lost a battle to keep the Mexican unit of retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from building a new store a half-mile away.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
BBC News | AFRICA | 'Pee inspectors' roam Swazi town
Here's yet another municipal government that has come with an original idea. How long before this starts getting written into CC&Rs around the USA--now that it has leaked out? Whoever came up with this idea was a real whiz. So to speak.
Here's yet another municipal government that has come with an original idea. How long before this starts getting written into CC&Rs around the USA--now that it has leaked out? Whoever came up with this idea was a real whiz. So to speak.
HOA vote-rigging alleged
Ukranian-style hijinks in Arizona HOA race? The Arizona Republic is on the case. In other news, there's no governmental oversight of HOA elections in Arizona. Oops.
Allegations of voting irregularities and proxy tampering have some residents in Chandler's Carino Estates subdivision calling for an outside investigation of a recent homeowners association election.
But it's unclear who or what oversees such elections in the state's thousands of homeowners associations, even though their elected boards set fees, levy fines and enforce neighborhood rules.
[more]
Ukranian-style hijinks in Arizona HOA race? The Arizona Republic is on the case. In other news, there's no governmental oversight of HOA elections in Arizona. Oops.
Allegations of voting irregularities and proxy tampering have some residents in Chandler's Carino Estates subdivision calling for an outside investigation of a recent homeowners association election.
But it's unclear who or what oversees such elections in the state's thousands of homeowners associations, even though their elected boards set fees, levy fines and enforce neighborhood rules.
[more]
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Illinois gated community OKs targeting Bambi- (United Press International)
This story was in the Chicago Tribune today and now has filtered out to the nation. Too many deer in gated community. HOA smash.
This story was in the Chicago Tribune today and now has filtered out to the nation. Too many deer in gated community. HOA smash.
local6.com - News - Inflatable SpongeBob Characters Disappearing From Burger Kings
Here's my theory. HOA radicals are stealing these things to put on their roofs and defy their association directors. Spongebob inflatables--the pink flamingos of the 21st century.
I'm ready...I'm ready...I'm ready...
Here's my theory. HOA radicals are stealing these things to put on their roofs and defy their association directors. Spongebob inflatables--the pink flamingos of the 21st century.
I'm ready...I'm ready...I'm ready...
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
TIME Coolest Inventions 2004: Invention of the Year: "The Sky's the Limit
Ingenious design. Entrepreneurial moxie. A world-changing vision of the future. The amazing SpaceShipOne has it all"
----------------
And the winner of Time's Invention of the Year prize is...private space travel.
Ingenious design. Entrepreneurial moxie. A world-changing vision of the future. The amazing SpaceShipOne has it all"
----------------
And the winner of Time's Invention of the Year prize is...private space travel.
LancasterOnline.com: Optimists Club Calls It Quits
Isn't this one of the signs of the Apocalypse?
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (AP) - It's a glum day for optimists. After 24 years of community service, the Quakertown Optimists Club is calling it quits. They're holding their last meeting on Thursday, citing declining interest."I feel sad," club president Bernard Kensky said.
[more]
Isn't this one of the signs of the Apocalypse?
QUAKERTOWN, Pa. (AP) - It's a glum day for optimists. After 24 years of community service, the Quakertown Optimists Club is calling it quits. They're holding their last meeting on Thursday, citing declining interest."I feel sad," club president Bernard Kensky said.
[more]
KSL News: Provo To Change Strangely Restrictive Pet Law
Proving once again that HOAs don't have a monopoly on bizarre pet restrictions...
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Believe it or not, there's a law in Provo making it illegal to own both a cat and a dog. The law allows residents to own up to two dogs or two cats at the same time -- but not a dog and a cat together. After getting complaints, the City Council is planning to change the law next month.
[more]
Proving once again that HOAs don't have a monopoly on bizarre pet restrictions...
PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Believe it or not, there's a law in Provo making it illegal to own both a cat and a dog. The law allows residents to own up to two dogs or two cats at the same time -- but not a dog and a cat together. After getting complaints, the City Council is planning to change the law next month.
[more]
I'm being picketed...
...by my seven-year-old twins, Isabel and Conor. They wanted to watch cartoons and I pre-empted that for a football game. They stood in the kitchen and chanted what's on the sign, giggling in between.
...by my seven-year-old twins, Isabel and Conor. They wanted to watch cartoons and I pre-empted that for a football game. They stood in the kitchen and chanted what's on the sign, giggling in between.
Monday, November 29, 2004
The Constitution of Private Governance
Here's a summary of a forthcoming book from Hart Publishing in the UK:
The Constitution of Private Governance
Product Standards in the Regulation of Integrating Markets
Harm Schepel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In quantity and importance, private standards are rapidly taking over the role of public norms in the international and national regulation of product safety. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the rise, role and status of these private product safety standards in the legal regulation of integrating markets. In international and regional trade law as in European and American constitutional and administrative law, tort law and antitrust law, the book analyses the ways in which legal systems can and do recognise private norms as ‘law.’ This sociological question of law’s recognition of private governance is indissolubly connected with a normative question of democratic theory: can law recognize legal validity and democratic legitimacy outside the constitution, without constitutional political institutions and beyond the nation state? Or: can law ‘constitute’ private transnational governance? The book offers the first systematic treatment of European, American and international ‘standards law’ in the English language, and makes a significant contribution to the study of the processes of globalization and privatization in social and legal theory. For the thesis on which this book was based Harm Schepel was awarded the first EUI Alumni Prize for the “best interdisciplinary and/or comparative thesis on European issues” written at the EUI in recent years.
Harm Schepel is currently a Senior Lecturer at Kent Law School and at the Brussels School for International Studies, University of Kent. He earned his doctorate from the European University Institute in Florence.
Here's a summary of a forthcoming book from Hart Publishing in the UK:
The Constitution of Private Governance
Product Standards in the Regulation of Integrating Markets
Harm Schepel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In quantity and importance, private standards are rapidly taking over the role of public norms in the international and national regulation of product safety. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the rise, role and status of these private product safety standards in the legal regulation of integrating markets. In international and regional trade law as in European and American constitutional and administrative law, tort law and antitrust law, the book analyses the ways in which legal systems can and do recognise private norms as ‘law.’ This sociological question of law’s recognition of private governance is indissolubly connected with a normative question of democratic theory: can law recognize legal validity and democratic legitimacy outside the constitution, without constitutional political institutions and beyond the nation state? Or: can law ‘constitute’ private transnational governance? The book offers the first systematic treatment of European, American and international ‘standards law’ in the English language, and makes a significant contribution to the study of the processes of globalization and privatization in social and legal theory. For the thesis on which this book was based Harm Schepel was awarded the first EUI Alumni Prize for the “best interdisciplinary and/or comparative thesis on European issues” written at the EUI in recent years.
Harm Schepel is currently a Senior Lecturer at Kent Law School and at the Brussels School for International Studies, University of Kent. He earned his doctorate from the European University Institute in Florence.
Voluntary Codes Book
Here's an interesting book:
Voluntary Codes: Private Governance, the Public Interest and Innovation
Kernaghan Webb, Editor
Paperback: 466 pages
Publisher: Carleton Research Unit for Innovation, Science and Environment (October, 2004)
ISBN: 0770904823
An examination of the increasing use by business of consumer, environmental, worker, and other market-based voluntary codes of conduct, and the public policy implications of such codes. The book explores codes from a variety of different perspectives, supplemented by case studies, drawing on both developed country and developing country examples. The audience of the book includes those in government, the private and the voluntary sector, and associated academic disciplines examining innovative governance approaches (e.g., law, public policy and administration, environmental studies, political science).
Here's an interesting book:
Voluntary Codes: Private Governance, the Public Interest and Innovation
Kernaghan Webb, Editor
Paperback: 466 pages
Publisher: Carleton Research Unit for Innovation, Science and Environment (October, 2004)
ISBN: 0770904823
An examination of the increasing use by business of consumer, environmental, worker, and other market-based voluntary codes of conduct, and the public policy implications of such codes. The book explores codes from a variety of different perspectives, supplemented by case studies, drawing on both developed country and developing country examples. The audience of the book includes those in government, the private and the voluntary sector, and associated academic disciplines examining innovative governance approaches (e.g., law, public policy and administration, environmental studies, political science).
Daily Yomiuri On-Line: Anarchy reigns in Japan
Driver lets woman off bus on Hamada Expressway
Yomiuri Shimbun
A bus driver has been fined for stopping on the Hamada Expressway in Chiyodacho, Hiroshima Prefecture, to let a 76-year-old woman get off the bus, it was learned Saturday.
Driver lets woman off bus on Hamada Expressway
Yomiuri Shimbun
A bus driver has been fined for stopping on the Hamada Expressway in Chiyodacho, Hiroshima Prefecture, to let a 76-year-old woman get off the bus, it was learned Saturday.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Special Survey On Californians And Their Housing: Housing Costs Lead Many Californians To Consider Moving
Here's a summary of a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California with some disturbing findings:
SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 18, 2004 — Although Californians deeply value their quality of life in the Golden State, a surprising number say that the cost of housing could drive them away, according to a new survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) in collaboration with the Hewlett, Irvine, and Packard Foundations... one quarter (24%) of Californians today say the cost of housing in their part of California is forcing them to seriously consider moving – to another part of the state or away from California altogether...About six in 10 California adults say they own their own home. Majorities of whites (71%) and Asians (59%) own their homes; majorities of Latinos (55%) and blacks (51%) are renters...Of those who say their home values have increased a lot, only 23 percent think they would be able to find another home to buy in their region.
Seventy percent of Californians would prefer to live in a single-family detached home, even if it means they have to drive to work and to travel locally.
[more]
Here's a summary of a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California with some disturbing findings:
SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 18, 2004 — Although Californians deeply value their quality of life in the Golden State, a surprising number say that the cost of housing could drive them away, according to a new survey released today by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) in collaboration with the Hewlett, Irvine, and Packard Foundations... one quarter (24%) of Californians today say the cost of housing in their part of California is forcing them to seriously consider moving – to another part of the state or away from California altogether...About six in 10 California adults say they own their own home. Majorities of whites (71%) and Asians (59%) own their homes; majorities of Latinos (55%) and blacks (51%) are renters...Of those who say their home values have increased a lot, only 23 percent think they would be able to find another home to buy in their region.
Seventy percent of Californians would prefer to live in a single-family detached home, even if it means they have to drive to work and to travel locally.
[more]
Saturday, November 27, 2004
nbc6.net - News - 'Hairy' Houdini Caught On Tape -- Again
So--this must be why HOAs ban dogs.
The famous British dog who freed fellow canines from a pound is once again making headlines -- this time in his newly adopted home. "Red" has taken to locking his owners out of their home.
[more...including video]
So--this must be why HOAs ban dogs.
The famous British dog who freed fellow canines from a pound is once again making headlines -- this time in his newly adopted home. "Red" has taken to locking his owners out of their home.
[more...including video]
thedesertsun.com | Memoir of Brando pulls no punches
Now, here's some advanced thinking on energy conservation, from the late Marlon Brando. He coulda been a contenda with this idea, instead of just a bum.
"He was an autodidact. He taught himself, but he had a real intellectual capacity and a razor mind. The behavior of Australian termites could fascinate him. He built a tank in his house that had eels in it. He wanted to power the house from the power of electrical eels down in Tetiaroa (Brando’s island in Tahiti). He wanted to get a television camera up among the frigate birds that would fly around the atoll so he could photograph the other birds as they were floating around. He actually did that."
Now, here's some advanced thinking on energy conservation, from the late Marlon Brando. He coulda been a contenda with this idea, instead of just a bum.
"He was an autodidact. He taught himself, but he had a real intellectual capacity and a razor mind. The behavior of Australian termites could fascinate him. He built a tank in his house that had eels in it. He wanted to power the house from the power of electrical eels down in Tetiaroa (Brando’s island in Tahiti). He wanted to get a television camera up among the frigate birds that would fly around the atoll so he could photograph the other birds as they were floating around. He actually did that."
Wired News: Rough Reception for DNA Law
It has become a staple of American mainstream news that somehow John Ashcroft shredded the constitution and that the USA-PATRIOT Act reduced the scope of our civil liberties to subatomic levels. That's nonsense. But in the meantime, HOAs are banning flags and political signs, taking people's homes in foreclosure, and running banana republic private governments. Now here is somebody finally mentioning what the VOTERS of California just did to themselves:
Californians recently approved a measure to create one of the nation's most aggressive criminal DNA databases, but civil liberties groups and privacy advocates are fighting to get it scaled back. Law enforcement officials say Proposition 69 will be a boon to solving a growing backlog of violent crime cases, but it also raises the possibility of innocent people getting trapped in the vast database along with murderers and rapists and having limited ability to get their file expunged. The new law, officially called the DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act, is expected to add the genetic data of 1 million people to California's databank over the five years, making it the largest state-run DNA databank in the country. The law, approved by 62 percent of the state's voters in the Nov. 2 election, allows police to take DNA samples from every adult and juvenile convicted of a felony and from all adults arrested for specific felonies such as sexual assault and murder. In 2009, the law will be broadened to enable police to gather DNA data from anyone arrested for any felony -- ranging from residential burglary to murder -- whether or not they are ever charged or convicted with a crime.
It has become a staple of American mainstream news that somehow John Ashcroft shredded the constitution and that the USA-PATRIOT Act reduced the scope of our civil liberties to subatomic levels. That's nonsense. But in the meantime, HOAs are banning flags and political signs, taking people's homes in foreclosure, and running banana republic private governments. Now here is somebody finally mentioning what the VOTERS of California just did to themselves:
Californians recently approved a measure to create one of the nation's most aggressive criminal DNA databases, but civil liberties groups and privacy advocates are fighting to get it scaled back. Law enforcement officials say Proposition 69 will be a boon to solving a growing backlog of violent crime cases, but it also raises the possibility of innocent people getting trapped in the vast database along with murderers and rapists and having limited ability to get their file expunged. The new law, officially called the DNA Fingerprint, Unsolved Crime and Innocence Protection Act, is expected to add the genetic data of 1 million people to California's databank over the five years, making it the largest state-run DNA databank in the country. The law, approved by 62 percent of the state's voters in the Nov. 2 election, allows police to take DNA samples from every adult and juvenile convicted of a felony and from all adults arrested for specific felonies such as sexual assault and murder. In 2009, the law will be broadened to enable police to gather DNA data from anyone arrested for any felony -- ranging from residential burglary to murder -- whether or not they are ever charged or convicted with a crime.
The Cost Of Being Blue (washingtonpost.com)
Columnist David Broder's latest, on the way the election results will impact American urban policy.
...presidents and members of Congress respond to those who put them in office. As Ronald Brownstein and Richard Rainey wrote in the Los Angeles Times, Bush's biggest gains came in 100 fast-growing exurban counties, on the far fringes of metropolitan areas, where the countryside is giving way to new housing developments. Many of the families filling those homes are transplants from the cities. It is no coincidence that the part of the federal government most closely attuned to urban problems is the Cabinet agency most remote from this White House. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has been run -- even in Republican administrations -- by prominent and dynamic figures, from George Romney to Jack Kemp. Today, few in Washington can even name the man in charge of the city agenda.
[more]
Columnist David Broder's latest, on the way the election results will impact American urban policy.
...presidents and members of Congress respond to those who put them in office. As Ronald Brownstein and Richard Rainey wrote in the Los Angeles Times, Bush's biggest gains came in 100 fast-growing exurban counties, on the far fringes of metropolitan areas, where the countryside is giving way to new housing developments. Many of the families filling those homes are transplants from the cities. It is no coincidence that the part of the federal government most closely attuned to urban problems is the Cabinet agency most remote from this White House. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has been run -- even in Republican administrations -- by prominent and dynamic figures, from George Romney to Jack Kemp. Today, few in Washington can even name the man in charge of the city agenda.
[more]
Friday, November 26, 2004
The New York Times > National > Property Rights Law May Alter Oregon Landscape
Thanks to an alert reader (unfortunately I don't have the name to extend personal thanks) who sent this along.
Over the past three decades, Oregon has earned a reputation for having the most restrictive land-use rules in the nation. Housing was grouped in and near the cities, while vast parcels of farmland and forests were untouched by so much as a suburban cul-de-sac.Environmentalists and advocates for "smart growth" cheered the ever-growing list of rules as visionary, while some landowners, timber companies and political allies cried foul. But in a matter of days, the landowners will get a chance to turn the tables. Under a ballot measure approved on Nov. 2, property owners who can prove that environmental or zoning rules have hurt their investments can force the government to compensate them for the losses - or get an exemption from the rules. Supporters of the measure, which passed 60 percent to 40 percent, call it a landmark in a 30-year battle over property rights.
[more]
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I've been telling my constitutional law class that the real frontier of liberties these days is property rights. The USSC (and here the voters of Oregon) are rewriting the book on the relationship between state police power over regulatory takings, abuses of the eminent domain power, and conditions placed on construction permits that amount to takings. The USSC is hearing Kelo v. City of New London, a real sleeper of a case that I will have more to say about later. But in this NYT article, we see the voters taking matters into their own hands.
Thanks to an alert reader (unfortunately I don't have the name to extend personal thanks) who sent this along.
Over the past three decades, Oregon has earned a reputation for having the most restrictive land-use rules in the nation. Housing was grouped in and near the cities, while vast parcels of farmland and forests were untouched by so much as a suburban cul-de-sac.Environmentalists and advocates for "smart growth" cheered the ever-growing list of rules as visionary, while some landowners, timber companies and political allies cried foul. But in a matter of days, the landowners will get a chance to turn the tables. Under a ballot measure approved on Nov. 2, property owners who can prove that environmental or zoning rules have hurt their investments can force the government to compensate them for the losses - or get an exemption from the rules. Supporters of the measure, which passed 60 percent to 40 percent, call it a landmark in a 30-year battle over property rights.
[more]
---------------------
I've been telling my constitutional law class that the real frontier of liberties these days is property rights. The USSC (and here the voters of Oregon) are rewriting the book on the relationship between state police power over regulatory takings, abuses of the eminent domain power, and conditions placed on construction permits that amount to takings. The USSC is hearing Kelo v. City of New London, a real sleeper of a case that I will have more to say about later. But in this NYT article, we see the voters taking matters into their own hands.
Twin Rivers board candidates speak
Thanks to Fred Pilot for passing me this link. Twin Rivers, in New Jersey, is the focal point of a major case (in which I am an expert witness) filed by the ACLU to get judicial recognition of state constitutional rights for HOA residents. The Committee for a Better Twin Rivers (whose side I testified for) is challenging the HOA, alleging that the internal political processes of the HOA are undemocratic and illiberal. Here's a press description of how local democracy is proceeding at Twin Rivers:
EAST WINDSOR — Candidates running for the Twin Rivers Homeowners Association's board of directors shared ideas about the future of their community during a candidates night last week at the Twin Rivers Community Center.
Three of the four candidates — challenger Al Wally, incumbent Joseph Molinari and incumbent Lori Vono — participated in the Nov. 18 forum directed by Nominating Committee Chairman Wilson Hernandez. Incumbent Roger Frey was absent because of a family emergency.
The forum got off to a boisterous start after Mr. Wally personally insulted Mr. Molinari during opening statements. Mr. Molinari stood from his chair and said he refused to participate in the event with Mr. Wally, whom he called an "obnoxious idiot."Mr. Molinari was convinced to stay by audience members, including board President Scott Pohl and Vice President Herb Felzer.
[more]
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I don't know what Wally said that insulted Molinari, but I notice that the board President (who has occupied the position for quite some time) and VP wanted Molinari to stay despite calling Wally an "obnoxious idiot." Does that sort of language constitute "sharing ideas," I wonder?
Thanks to Fred Pilot for passing me this link. Twin Rivers, in New Jersey, is the focal point of a major case (in which I am an expert witness) filed by the ACLU to get judicial recognition of state constitutional rights for HOA residents. The Committee for a Better Twin Rivers (whose side I testified for) is challenging the HOA, alleging that the internal political processes of the HOA are undemocratic and illiberal. Here's a press description of how local democracy is proceeding at Twin Rivers:
EAST WINDSOR — Candidates running for the Twin Rivers Homeowners Association's board of directors shared ideas about the future of their community during a candidates night last week at the Twin Rivers Community Center.
Three of the four candidates — challenger Al Wally, incumbent Joseph Molinari and incumbent Lori Vono — participated in the Nov. 18 forum directed by Nominating Committee Chairman Wilson Hernandez. Incumbent Roger Frey was absent because of a family emergency.
The forum got off to a boisterous start after Mr. Wally personally insulted Mr. Molinari during opening statements. Mr. Molinari stood from his chair and said he refused to participate in the event with Mr. Wally, whom he called an "obnoxious idiot."Mr. Molinari was convinced to stay by audience members, including board President Scott Pohl and Vice President Herb Felzer.
[more]
-------------
I don't know what Wally said that insulted Molinari, but I notice that the board President (who has occupied the position for quite some time) and VP wanted Molinari to stay despite calling Wally an "obnoxious idiot." Does that sort of language constitute "sharing ideas," I wonder?
Paper by Ron Cheung (see below) on interaction between HOAs and local governments
Check this out--it bears careful reading.
And this brilliant graduate student in Economics at the University of British Columbia has a home page at http://montoya2.econ.ubc.ca/roncheun/index.html. He even has a link to...The Privatopia Papers!
Check this out--it bears careful reading.
And this brilliant graduate student in Economics at the University of British Columbia has a home page at http://montoya2.econ.ubc.ca/roncheun/index.html. He even has a link to...The Privatopia Papers!
Dissertation examines impact of HOAs on local public finance in California
Now, this looks interesting.
Now, this looks interesting.
The Republic :: Maximus brings its private government to BC
From Vancouver comes this objection to privatization.
The vast US company that won a records management contract at the BC Ministry of Health Services does quite a bit more than manage records. It's quietly building a complete privatized government
A cursory look at the US company that last week won a huge contract to take over part of the provincial government's record keeping duties reveals a glimpse into the future of government and society. It's a future right out of the best of the science fiction thrillers playing on the silver screen. And that future is privatized.
Maximus, a huge Renton, Virginia-based government information management company, was handed a $324 million contract by the BC Ministry of Health Services to transform the ministry's collection, storage, and retrieval of patient information, and to perform information services with those records for ten years. Since all residents of BC are automatically part of the patient records system, this means, as the company itself says in its press release about the deal, “Maximus' efforts would include registration of all British Columbia residents” and “maintaining correct information on all registered residents.”
[more]
From Vancouver comes this objection to privatization.
The vast US company that won a records management contract at the BC Ministry of Health Services does quite a bit more than manage records. It's quietly building a complete privatized government
A cursory look at the US company that last week won a huge contract to take over part of the provincial government's record keeping duties reveals a glimpse into the future of government and society. It's a future right out of the best of the science fiction thrillers playing on the silver screen. And that future is privatized.
Maximus, a huge Renton, Virginia-based government information management company, was handed a $324 million contract by the BC Ministry of Health Services to transform the ministry's collection, storage, and retrieval of patient information, and to perform information services with those records for ten years. Since all residents of BC are automatically part of the patient records system, this means, as the company itself says in its press release about the deal, “Maximus' efforts would include registration of all British Columbia residents” and “maintaining correct information on all registered residents.”
[more]
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
BBC NEWS | UK | England | North Yorkshire | Rhubarb attack in family feuding
See? I told you so. Ban guns, they turn to knives. Ban knives (see below) and they turn to...rhubarb. Now when they ban rhubarb, it will be asparagus.
A woman attacked her elderly brother with rhubarb over a family feud, a North Yorkshire court has heard. William Porter, 72, suffered double vision and needed painkillers after Margaret Porter threw three sticks of rhubarb at him, hitting him in the eye.
See? I told you so. Ban guns, they turn to knives. Ban knives (see below) and they turn to...rhubarb. Now when they ban rhubarb, it will be asparagus.
A woman attacked her elderly brother with rhubarb over a family feud, a North Yorkshire court has heard. William Porter, 72, suffered double vision and needed painkillers after Margaret Porter threw three sticks of rhubarb at him, hitting him in the eye.
Deer smashes into condo but spares occupant
It was a wake-up call Bernard Gallagher won't soon forget. The 25-year-old plumbing laborer was sleeping in a bedroom of his mother's Palos Hills condominium Friday when a six-point buck came crashing through the bedroom window.
[more]
-----------------
In other news, the condo association fined the owner for having an animal in the unit. Not really.
It was a wake-up call Bernard Gallagher won't soon forget. The 25-year-old plumbing laborer was sleeping in a bedroom of his mother's Palos Hills condominium Friday when a six-point buck came crashing through the bedroom window.
[more]
-----------------
In other news, the condo association fined the owner for having an animal in the unit. Not really.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Brain Truster Ron Artest Speaks to America's Youth
Ron Artest, the main culprit (along with an addle-pated fan who threw a beer at him) in the shocking NBA brawl was on the Today show this morning. The following question and answer occurred.
MATT LAUER:...what do you say to the twelve-year-old fan of the sport who's seen this and is trying to come to terms with what he or she has seen?
RON ARTEST: Right. They seen [sic] -- they seen disrespect, you know, from -- from the crowd, and then they seen a frustrated reaction from a player, and they got to understand that, you know, sometimes things happen. People go to war but we don't want to go to war. You know, nobody -- nobody wants to die, you know. But things happen and you move on. You try to move on and you try to make everything positive. So what I can tell kids is, you know, things happen and, you know, try to move on and -- and always try to stay positive and keep positive people around you, and that's how you will get by.
After this , the head of the NBA players' union blamed the whole thing on the war in Iraq. I don't know which is worse--Artest's brain-dead lack of insight into his long-standing and well-known refusal to control his violent impulses, or the attempt to attribute the whole thing to the mood of a nation at war. Once upon a time society assumed that everybody had at least a vestigial conscience. But in the NBA now we have an entire sporting institution that is premised on sociopathy as the norm. Investigative reporter Jeff Benedict, author of Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence & Crime, says that 40% of NBA players during the 2001-2002 season had criminal records including at least one serious crime.
Ron Artest, the main culprit (along with an addle-pated fan who threw a beer at him) in the shocking NBA brawl was on the Today show this morning. The following question and answer occurred.
MATT LAUER:...what do you say to the twelve-year-old fan of the sport who's seen this and is trying to come to terms with what he or she has seen?
RON ARTEST: Right. They seen [sic] -- they seen disrespect, you know, from -- from the crowd, and then they seen a frustrated reaction from a player, and they got to understand that, you know, sometimes things happen. People go to war but we don't want to go to war. You know, nobody -- nobody wants to die, you know. But things happen and you move on. You try to move on and you try to make everything positive. So what I can tell kids is, you know, things happen and, you know, try to move on and -- and always try to stay positive and keep positive people around you, and that's how you will get by.
After this , the head of the NBA players' union blamed the whole thing on the war in Iraq. I don't know which is worse--Artest's brain-dead lack of insight into his long-standing and well-known refusal to control his violent impulses, or the attempt to attribute the whole thing to the mood of a nation at war. Once upon a time society assumed that everybody had at least a vestigial conscience. But in the NBA now we have an entire sporting institution that is premised on sociopathy as the norm. Investigative reporter Jeff Benedict, author of Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence & Crime, says that 40% of NBA players during the 2001-2002 season had criminal records including at least one serious crime.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Homeowner Gateway
Have you checked out this site?
The Homeowner Gateway puts Web sites of interest to homeowners, in developments governed by homeowner associations, at their fingertips."
Have you checked out this site?
The Homeowner Gateway puts Web sites of interest to homeowners, in developments governed by homeowner associations, at their fingertips."
CNN/Money: Highest income zip codes
Note the trend--rapid increase in "fast-growing areas in the West, such as Nevada." That means places with high concentrations of HOA-run subdivisions. Too bad the list they published stops before they got to the West--all I see are the "post suburbs" of the Frost Belt. Nice to see that nearby--well, at least not too far away--Kenilworth came in first. Go, Chicagoland.
Here are the U.S. communities with the highest percentage of six-figure income earners, according to OnBoard LLC, which created this list based on statistics collected from government and commercial sources.
The number is increasing quickly, especially in fast-growing areas in the West, such as Nevada.Still, most zip codes where the greatest majority of the households have six-figure income are found in long-settled, posh suburbs in the Northeast.
Note the trend--rapid increase in "fast-growing areas in the West, such as Nevada." That means places with high concentrations of HOA-run subdivisions. Too bad the list they published stops before they got to the West--all I see are the "post suburbs" of the Frost Belt. Nice to see that nearby--well, at least not too far away--Kenilworth came in first. Go, Chicagoland.
Here are the U.S. communities with the highest percentage of six-figure income earners, according to OnBoard LLC, which created this list based on statistics collected from government and commercial sources.
The number is increasing quickly, especially in fast-growing areas in the West, such as Nevada.Still, most zip codes where the greatest majority of the households have six-figure income are found in long-settled, posh suburbs in the Northeast.
Newsday.com - Opinion: Push forward schools, leave behind skeptics
President George W. Bush announced this month that he will push to extend the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act into high schools. While the guardians of the status quo are howling that the sky will fall, the evidence gives us good reason to think educational standards help rather than hurt.
Currently, the law requires states to set achievement standards on basic-skills tests for grades three through eight, and hold schools accountable for reaching them. In the three years since the No Child Left Behind Act became law, public school officials have not been shy about vilifying it and denouncing its effects. It's no wonder. After decades of cruising along with no accountability for their job performance, many school officials have come to feel that they are professionally entitled to run our schools however they want, regardless of whether kids are actually learning.
[more]
President George W. Bush announced this month that he will push to extend the accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act into high schools. While the guardians of the status quo are howling that the sky will fall, the evidence gives us good reason to think educational standards help rather than hurt.
Currently, the law requires states to set achievement standards on basic-skills tests for grades three through eight, and hold schools accountable for reaching them. In the three years since the No Child Left Behind Act became law, public school officials have not been shy about vilifying it and denouncing its effects. It's no wonder. After decades of cruising along with no accountability for their job performance, many school officials have come to feel that they are professionally entitled to run our schools however they want, regardless of whether kids are actually learning.
[more]
The Beaufort Gazette: Camden, N.J., named most-dangerous city
This is why so many New Jersey residents prefer the suburbs...even if it ends up meaning living with an HOA. It beats getting robbed at gunpoint.
This is why so many New Jersey residents prefer the suburbs...even if it ends up meaning living with an HOA. It beats getting robbed at gunpoint.
Scotland - Crackdown on knife crime unveiled
Step one: ban guns. Response: major problem with knife crime. Step two: ban knives. Likely response: major problem with stick crime. Step three: prohibit self defense? I mean, why not eliminate the middle man?
Tough new curbs to tackle the "scandal" of knife crime in Scotland have been announced by First Minister Jack McConnell.
He disclosed details of a five-point plan which will introduce a licensing scheme for the sale of non-domestic knives, and increasing from 16 to 18 the age limit for purchasing knives.
The Executive is also proposing to ban the sale of swords and to give police the power to arrest on suspicion of carrying knives and offensive weapons. And the sentence for possessing a knife or offensive weapon is to be doubled from two years to four.
Step one: ban guns. Response: major problem with knife crime. Step two: ban knives. Likely response: major problem with stick crime. Step three: prohibit self defense? I mean, why not eliminate the middle man?
Tough new curbs to tackle the "scandal" of knife crime in Scotland have been announced by First Minister Jack McConnell.
He disclosed details of a five-point plan which will introduce a licensing scheme for the sale of non-domestic knives, and increasing from 16 to 18 the age limit for purchasing knives.
The Executive is also proposing to ban the sale of swords and to give police the power to arrest on suspicion of carrying knives and offensive weapons. And the sentence for possessing a knife or offensive weapon is to be doubled from two years to four.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Karate Man Is No Burglar Fan (from This Is Local London)
I love stories like this.
Three would-be thieves who tried to break into business premises got the fright of their lives when they were confronted by a samurai sword-wielding, third dan black belt...Mr [Lewis] Montague [age 58] heard noises and pulled the door blind open as the intruders were trying to get in. He let out a blood-curdling yell, called a kiai, and chased them off the site...Mr Montague added: "I ran after them, I jumped the gate, still with my sword and I was still shouting. I've never seen so much smoke coming from tyres before."
-----------------
Good work, Mr. Montague. The best part is the smoking tires. That, and the fact that he's 58. Is this guy cool, or what?
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Oh, and while we're on the subject of people who take care of problems by themselves...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NORWAY_SENIOR_HERO?SITE=MDFRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
----------------
And just to show that there are still some self-help types in higher office...
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBKR5BJS1E.html
I love stories like this.
Three would-be thieves who tried to break into business premises got the fright of their lives when they were confronted by a samurai sword-wielding, third dan black belt...Mr [Lewis] Montague [age 58] heard noises and pulled the door blind open as the intruders were trying to get in. He let out a blood-curdling yell, called a kiai, and chased them off the site...Mr Montague added: "I ran after them, I jumped the gate, still with my sword and I was still shouting. I've never seen so much smoke coming from tyres before."
-----------------
Good work, Mr. Montague. The best part is the smoking tires. That, and the fact that he's 58. Is this guy cool, or what?
----------------
Oh, and while we're on the subject of people who take care of problems by themselves...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NORWAY_SENIOR_HERO?SITE=MDFRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
OSLO, Norway (AP) -- A purse snatcher in a small Norwegian town picked the wrong 88-year-old woman to rob, since she was with a tough younger man at the time.
And her 78-year-old friend end up sending the thief to the hospital, and then to jail this week, the local newspaper Moss Avisen reported Friday. [more]
----------------
And just to show that there are still some self-help types in higher office...
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBKR5BJS1E.html
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - President Bush stepped into the middle of a confrontation and pulled his lead Secret Service agent away from Chilean security officials who barred his bodyguards from entering an elegant dinner for 21 world leaders Saturday night. [more]
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