Neighborhood rules can trump solar power - UPI.com: "WOODBURY, Minn., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Folks in a Minnesota city say a homeowners association is blocking their plans to install solar-power panels purely because of the way they look.
The dispute was the topic of a recent planning commission meeting in the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury where neighborhood aesthetics were a big issue in the 'greening' of the community, about 70 percent of which is under the jurisdiction of a homeowners' association."
-----------
Clotheslines, solar panels, water-saving landscaping, satellite dishes, pickup trucks, flags, signs, mezuzahs...don't these HOA directors have lives of their own to attend to?
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Killer's Diary Shows Need to Patrol Web: Top News Stories at Officer.com
Killer's Diary Shows Need to Patrol Web: Top News Stories at Officer.com: "Two days after a gunman killed three people at a suburban Pittsburgh health club, local police said they are taking a closer look at monitoring the Internet."
----------------
When you post something to the web, you are publicizing it, so I don't see this proposal as an invasion of privacy in the normal sense. It is like reading something you spray painted on a wall that could be seen by anybody who passed by. In Fourth Amendment terms it is what we call "plain view," meaning if police are in a place they have a right to be and see something that has value as evidence, it is usable with no warrant because it isn't really a search at all. This Sodini creep created a web page that was out there, but probably nobody saw it because (duh) he didn't have any friends who cared what he was doing.
On the other hand, this kind of police "monitoring" is a bit troubling because it could lead to a lot of frivolous investigations and reputational damage. People say things on the web that they don't mean and would never say but for the anonymity of the web. Many people take on a persona, give themselves a screen name, and talk like some character they made up. When it gets out of hand, moderators often step in, and that's that. But with the cops looking for potential future mass murderers, that kind of rhetoric takes on a different aspect. The anonymity of the web is illusory because a law enforcement officer can get access to identifying information by a number of means. And suddenly a person could be the subject of an investigation because of something he or she said as "Mr. Doomsday" or some such ridiculous moniker, and never meant at all. He puffs himself up to look like a tough guy, and a cop thinks he is a potential killer.
For example, I have seen posts here and elsewhere in which people say some pretty dire and threatening things about lawyers, property managers, and HOA/condo directors. I have even seen expressions of support for killer Richard Glassel who shot up his board meeting in Arizona, killing two people and wounding several others. He was sentenced to death in 2003.
I hope we don't end up with people getting targeted, investigated, interviewed, and even arrested, for venting their spleen on the web on the grounds that someday they might kill somebody.
----------------
When you post something to the web, you are publicizing it, so I don't see this proposal as an invasion of privacy in the normal sense. It is like reading something you spray painted on a wall that could be seen by anybody who passed by. In Fourth Amendment terms it is what we call "plain view," meaning if police are in a place they have a right to be and see something that has value as evidence, it is usable with no warrant because it isn't really a search at all. This Sodini creep created a web page that was out there, but probably nobody saw it because (duh) he didn't have any friends who cared what he was doing.
On the other hand, this kind of police "monitoring" is a bit troubling because it could lead to a lot of frivolous investigations and reputational damage. People say things on the web that they don't mean and would never say but for the anonymity of the web. Many people take on a persona, give themselves a screen name, and talk like some character they made up. When it gets out of hand, moderators often step in, and that's that. But with the cops looking for potential future mass murderers, that kind of rhetoric takes on a different aspect. The anonymity of the web is illusory because a law enforcement officer can get access to identifying information by a number of means. And suddenly a person could be the subject of an investigation because of something he or she said as "Mr. Doomsday" or some such ridiculous moniker, and never meant at all. He puffs himself up to look like a tough guy, and a cop thinks he is a potential killer.
For example, I have seen posts here and elsewhere in which people say some pretty dire and threatening things about lawyers, property managers, and HOA/condo directors. I have even seen expressions of support for killer Richard Glassel who shot up his board meeting in Arizona, killing two people and wounding several others. He was sentenced to death in 2003.
I hope we don't end up with people getting targeted, investigated, interviewed, and even arrested, for venting their spleen on the web on the grounds that someday they might kill somebody.
Should we read between the lines?
'End-of-Life' Counseling Intensifies Health Care Debate - Political News - FOXNews.com: "'As the nation looks to ways to improve patient care and reduce costs of health care, end-of-life conversations should be considered, ' said the study's senior author, Holly Prigerson, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
'Policies that promote increased communication, such as incentives for end-of-life conversations, may be cost-effective ways to both improve care and reduce some of the rising health care expenditures.'
White House aides acknowledge it's a sensitive issue.
A quarter of all Medicare spending takes place in a patient's final year of life, and studies show most people facing a terminal illness or simply very old age prefer less medical intervention to more. That suggests the potential for savings."
------------------
So we, the taxpayers, can achieve "savings" if somebody talks with "people facing a terminal illness or simply very old age" about their...options? I see three. One is getting expensive treatment, the other is not getting that treatment, and the third is drifting away on a drug cocktail, also known as "assisted suicide," as people are now doing in the Netherlands and other European nations. How far would this new approach to health care in the US go, I wonder?
'Policies that promote increased communication, such as incentives for end-of-life conversations, may be cost-effective ways to both improve care and reduce some of the rising health care expenditures.'
White House aides acknowledge it's a sensitive issue.
A quarter of all Medicare spending takes place in a patient's final year of life, and studies show most people facing a terminal illness or simply very old age prefer less medical intervention to more. That suggests the potential for savings."
------------------
So we, the taxpayers, can achieve "savings" if somebody talks with "people facing a terminal illness or simply very old age" about their...options? I see three. One is getting expensive treatment, the other is not getting that treatment, and the third is drifting away on a drug cocktail, also known as "assisted suicide," as people are now doing in the Netherlands and other European nations. How far would this new approach to health care in the US go, I wonder?
Friday, August 07, 2009
U.S. Considers Remaking Mortgage Giants - washingtonpost.com
U.S. Considers Remaking Mortgage Giants - washingtonpost.com: "The bad debts the firms own would be placed in new government-backed financial institutions -- so-called bad banks -- that would take responsibility for collecting as much of the outstanding balance as possible. What would be left would be two healthy financial companies with a clean slate.
The moves would represent one of the most dramatic reorderings of the badly shattered housing finance system since District-based Fannie Mae was created by Congress to support mortgage lending during the Great Depression."
-------------------
Here we go again. Another grand scheme. And only today I heard President Obama expounding about how his policies had rescued the financial system from "the brink." But now another massive reform is called for.
The moves would represent one of the most dramatic reorderings of the badly shattered housing finance system since District-based Fannie Mae was created by Congress to support mortgage lending during the Great Depression."
-------------------
Here we go again. Another grand scheme. And only today I heard President Obama expounding about how his policies had rescued the financial system from "the brink." But now another massive reform is called for.
Breitbart.tv » Obama: ‘Don’t Want the Folks Who Created the Mess to Do a Lot of Talking’
Breitbart.tv » Obama: ‘Don’t Want the Folks Who Created the Mess to Do a Lot of Talking’
I can't remember an American President declaring that he doesn't want to hear from this or that interest group. And the other problem is that he acts like he is the only policy maker we have. He is just the President, not the entire national government. Congress makes the laws, and they should hear from everybody. When you consider how little interest Obama takes in the details of legislation, preferring to leave that to Congress, you'd think he would leave the issue of who has input to the people who will write the laws.
I can't remember an American President declaring that he doesn't want to hear from this or that interest group. And the other problem is that he acts like he is the only policy maker we have. He is just the President, not the entire national government. Congress makes the laws, and they should hear from everybody. When you consider how little interest Obama takes in the details of legislation, preferring to leave that to Congress, you'd think he would leave the issue of who has input to the people who will write the laws.
Breitbart.tv » AARP Organizers Cancel ‘Listening Session’ After Participants Refuse to ‘Keep Their Comments Quiet’
Breitbart.tv » AARP Organizers Cancel ‘Listening Session’ After Participants Refuse to ‘Keep Their Comments Quiet’
AARP will have to do some fast talking to get out of this PR disaster.
AARP will have to do some fast talking to get out of this PR disaster.
Privacy Act request to report health plan objections
Of Arms and the Law: Privacy Act request to report health plan objections: "The Administration has asked that anyone who gets an email or 'see[s] something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy' report it to flag@whitehouse.gov.
Evan Coyne Malone suggests the request may be illegal under the Privacy Act and the Dept of Justice's statement about its purpose.
As a recovering bureaucrat, I can point to a much, much, bigger illegality under that Act.
5 US Code §552a(e)(7) commands that any Federal agency
'(7) maintain no record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment unless expressly authorized by statute or by the individual about whom the record is maintained or unless pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity;'"
--------------
So say two conservative bloggers. Whether or not it is illegal, this White House request is outrageous, and if Bush had done it the press would have gone ballistic.
Evan Coyne Malone suggests the request may be illegal under the Privacy Act and the Dept of Justice's statement about its purpose.
As a recovering bureaucrat, I can point to a much, much, bigger illegality under that Act.
5 US Code §552a(e)(7) commands that any Federal agency
'(7) maintain no record describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment unless expressly authorized by statute or by the individual about whom the record is maintained or unless pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity;'"
--------------
So say two conservative bloggers. Whether or not it is illegal, this White House request is outrageous, and if Bush had done it the press would have gone ballistic.
Breitbart.tv » UFO Appears Behind Broadcaster During BBC Program
Breitbart.tv » UFO Appears Behind Broadcaster During BBC Program Pretty strange--send for Mulder and Scully!
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Final report of U. of I. admissions panel -- chicagotribune.com
Final report of U. of I. admissions panel -- chicagotribune.com
Here's the report on this entire sordid situation. What a disgrace to the University of Illinois. And it's all at the top.
Here's the report on this entire sordid situation. What a disgrace to the University of Illinois. And it's all at the top.
Refrigerator Recycling Programs Take Off - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com
Refrigerator Recycling Programs Take Off - Green Inc. Blog - NYTimes.com: "Programs that allow homeowners to trade in their old refrigerators and scoop up a rebate — a sort of “cash for clunkers” system for the fridge — are spreading quickly across the country."
---------
Why not just cut straight to "the guvmint will buy all your old stuff," and have one big national yard sale where the feds drive up the street and give us cash on the barrel head for all our outdated cars, appliances, and furniture? Then we can replace it all with "green" stuff.
---------
Why not just cut straight to "the guvmint will buy all your old stuff," and have one big national yard sale where the feds drive up the street and give us cash on the barrel head for all our outdated cars, appliances, and furniture? Then we can replace it all with "green" stuff.
Edwards' ex-mistress appears at federal courthouse :: WRAL.com
Edwards' ex-mistress appears at federal courthouse :: WRAL.com: "Raleigh, N.C. — Rielle Hunter, John Edwards' former mistress, went inside the federal courthouse in Raleigh Thursday morning. A grand jury is meeting in the courthouse."
-------------------
Edward is under investigation for possible misuse of his campaign funds to support his mistress. While married. To a woman with cancer. And this creep came very close to being Vice President of the United States.
But let's talk some more about Sarah Palin.
-------------------
Edward is under investigation for possible misuse of his campaign funds to support his mistress. While married. To a woman with cancer. And this creep came very close to being Vice President of the United States.
But let's talk some more about Sarah Palin.
Fannie Mae seeks $10.7B in US aid after 2Q loss - Yahoo! Finance
Fannie Mae seeks $10.7B in US aid after 2Q loss - Yahoo! Finance: "The mortgage finance company, seized by federal regulators last September, posted a second-quarter loss of $15.2 billion, or $2.67 per share, including $411 million in dividend payouts. That compares with a loss of $2.6 billion, or $2.54 per share, in the year-ago period.
The government, which seized control of Fannie Mae and its sibling Freddie Mac last September, has already spent about $85 billion to prop up the two companies."
--------------------
How does this sound? "We are dependent on the continued support of the Treasury in order to continue operating our business." Thus spake Fannie Mae.
The government, which seized control of Fannie Mae and its sibling Freddie Mac last September, has already spent about $85 billion to prop up the two companies."
--------------------
How does this sound? "We are dependent on the continued support of the Treasury in order to continue operating our business." Thus spake Fannie Mae.
Homeowners Associations Win Foreclosure Court Battle - cbs4.com
Homeowners Associations Win Foreclosure Court Battle - cbs4.com: "Revenues have fallen off a cliff as homeowners, many in foreclosure, are choosing not to pay their bills. In May The Oaks in Miami Gardens began using a new legal strategy presented by the Associated Law Group. The attorneys proposed to go after landlords who were collecting rents but not paying their association dues.
Instead of rent payments going to the landlord, the court appoints a receiver to collect that rent. The receiver then pays the association what's owed.
What's new about this maneuver though is the judge isn't doing this on a case by case basis. The receiver is appointed to collect for any rental unit in foreclosure in the entire building."
-------
And it seems that the Third District Court of Appeals approves of this method. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
Instead of rent payments going to the landlord, the court appoints a receiver to collect that rent. The receiver then pays the association what's owed.
What's new about this maneuver though is the judge isn't doing this on a case by case basis. The receiver is appointed to collect for any rental unit in foreclosure in the entire building."
-------
And it seems that the Third District Court of Appeals approves of this method. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users - WSJ.com
No More Perks: Coffee Shops Pull the Plug on Laptop Users - WSJ.com: "Amid the economic downturn, there are fewer places in New York to plug in computers. As idle workers fill coffee-shop tables -- nursing a single cup, if that, and surfing the Web for hours -- and as shop owners struggle to stay in business, a decade-old love affair between coffee shops and laptop-wielding customers is fading. In some places, customers just get cold looks, but in a growing number of small coffee shops, firm restrictions on laptop use have been imposed and electric outlets have been locked."
--------------
These folks are driving away the paying customers. Some of them even talk to themselves and chuckle strangely at odd intervals. Mom's basement needs Wi-Fi.
--------------
These folks are driving away the paying customers. Some of them even talk to themselves and chuckle strangely at odd intervals. Mom's basement needs Wi-Fi.
The "next phase of the housing decline"
About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011 - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK (Reuters) – The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.
Home price declines will have their biggest impact on prime 'conforming' loans that meet underwriting and size guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank said in a report. Prime conforming loans make up two-thirds of mortgages, and are typically less risky because of stringent requirements."
---------------
This is just about the last thing I needed to read.
Home price declines will have their biggest impact on prime 'conforming' loans that meet underwriting and size guidelines of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the bank said in a report. Prime conforming loans make up two-thirds of mortgages, and are typically less risky because of stringent requirements."
---------------
This is just about the last thing I needed to read.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Rat out your friends to the White House if they don't want government health care!
The White House - Blog Post - Facts Are Stubborn Things: "There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."
--------------
That's what Linda Douglass wants you to do. She is one of the former journalists now flacking for Obama, and her role is to do PR for the health care reform.
So go start some "casual conversations" and scour the web, and see if you can ferret out the people who are a little "fishy."
--------------
That's what Linda Douglass wants you to do. She is one of the former journalists now flacking for Obama, and her role is to do PR for the health care reform.
So go start some "casual conversations" and scour the web, and see if you can ferret out the people who are a little "fishy."
Guard troops may be needed in troubled Ala. county - Yahoo! News
Guard troops may be needed in troubled Ala. county - Yahoo! News: "BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis.
Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker ruled that leaders in Jefferson County — now trying to head off a municipal bankruptcy filing of historic proportions — could go ahead with plans to slash $4.1 million from the budget of Sheriff Mike Hale, who had filed a lawsuit that temporarily blocked spending cuts for his office."
----------------
And so the idea of having to defend your own home may be coming back into fashion.
Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker ruled that leaders in Jefferson County — now trying to head off a municipal bankruptcy filing of historic proportions — could go ahead with plans to slash $4.1 million from the budget of Sheriff Mike Hale, who had filed a lawsuit that temporarily blocked spending cuts for his office."
----------------
And so the idea of having to defend your own home may be coming back into fashion.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
California Father Refuses to Take Down Tattered U.S. Flag - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com
California Father Refuses to Take Down Tattered U.S. Flag - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com: "A California dad is refusing to take down the tattered and torn American flag that's been flying on his lawn in Fresno for almost a year, despite complaints from neighbors on his military-heavy block and from a national veterans group that says he's mistreating the Stars and Stripes."
------------------
He told his son he would fly this flag until he returns from Iraq. This is a great example of how emotions sometimes lead people to use their property for expressive purposes that run afoul of the aesthetic standards prevalent in their neighborhoods. With an HOA you get an immediate crackdown more often than not, but with a city there is usually some reluctance to leap right in with an enforcement action.
------------------
He told his son he would fly this flag until he returns from Iraq. This is a great example of how emotions sometimes lead people to use their property for expressive purposes that run afoul of the aesthetic standards prevalent in their neighborhoods. With an HOA you get an immediate crackdown more often than not, but with a city there is usually some reluctance to leap right in with an enforcement action.
American Thinker: The Myth of the Expert
American Thinker: The Myth of the Expert: "As we struggle out of the mess created by the affordable housing experts, we get to watch the president and Congress try to convert the plans of their health and climate experts into legislation. They want to control health care with a panel of experts, and they are trying to control the earth's climate with an energy tax gussied up by experts to look like a market in carbon emission permits. Meanwhile their previous expert-led projects in education and welfare sink further and further into failure."
----------
Interesting conservative perspective on the link between big science and big government.
----------
Interesting conservative perspective on the link between big science and big government.
Monday, August 03, 2009
High-End Homes Frozen Out of Budding Housing Rebound - WSJ.com
High-End Homes Frozen Out of Budding Housing Rebound - WSJ.com: "KENILWORTH, Ill. -- Housing is fast dividing into two markets: Sales of low- and moderately priced homes are picking up and values have stopped falling in some parts of the nation. But on the upper end, sales remain mired in a deep slump and price declines are expected to accelerate."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)