Saturday, November 10, 2007
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Fla. Companies Forbidding Smoking In Private Lives - Orlando News Story - WKMG Orlando
What next? Can't ride a motorcyle? I wonder what limits there can be to privatized tyranny. After all, you agreed to this "voluntarily" by accepting the contract of employment. Say...what does that remind me of?
What next? Can't ride a motorcyle? I wonder what limits there can be to privatized tyranny. After all, you agreed to this "voluntarily" by accepting the contract of employment. Say...what does that remind me of?
School board to ignore state moment-of-silence law -- chicagotribune.com
Of course they are ignoring it. Everybody knows it is impossible to get students to be silent for a minute. I'd be satisfied if I could start the class with a second of silence, let alone a whole moment.
Of course they are ignoring it. Everybody knows it is impossible to get students to be silent for a minute. I'd be satisfied if I could start the class with a second of silence, let alone a whole moment.
57% - Declining Confidence in Political Wisdom of Americans - Yahoo! News
So it has finally come to this: the majority of Americans now has no confidence in the political wisdom of the majority of Americans. Maybe they would prefer having a benevolent dictator to devoting more time and energy to educating themselves about politics and government.
So it has finally come to this: the majority of Americans now has no confidence in the political wisdom of the majority of Americans. Maybe they would prefer having a benevolent dictator to devoting more time and energy to educating themselves about politics and government.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Newswire / Press Release: Hilton is Subject of Book Project Revealing the Other Side of Hotel-condo Ownership - Books/Publishing/Newspapers | NewswireToday
Sounds interesting:
Condo*monium tells true stories of the tumultuous life in a multi-use condominium complex, including condo hotels, and urges the reader to heed the caveat emptor warning as part of a search for a condo home of one’s dreams or a rewarding investment which also serves as a vacation retreat. The author, Dr. Heinz Dinter, explains the purpose of the book: “Someone’s first-hand experience is always a useful guide and the book’s intent is to be such a guide. It’s for your peace of mind.” As a condo dweller, Dr. Dinter shared his research with fellow condo dwellers in newsletters and other writings, uncovered the successor developer’s ironclad ever-lasting control over the unit owners and money-exacting abuses, and as a result suffered the ire of those he exposed for their wrongdoings.
Sounds interesting:
Condo*monium tells true stories of the tumultuous life in a multi-use condominium complex, including condo hotels, and urges the reader to heed the caveat emptor warning as part of a search for a condo home of one’s dreams or a rewarding investment which also serves as a vacation retreat. The author, Dr. Heinz Dinter, explains the purpose of the book: “Someone’s first-hand experience is always a useful guide and the book’s intent is to be such a guide. It’s for your peace of mind.” As a condo dweller, Dr. Dinter shared his research with fellow condo dwellers in newsletters and other writings, uncovered the successor developer’s ironclad ever-lasting control over the unit owners and money-exacting abuses, and as a result suffered the ire of those he exposed for their wrongdoings.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Bankruptcy Reform Bites Back
The irony here is that Congress passed this law at the behest of lenders who didn't want consumers to get out of their credit card debts through bankruptcy. But the result, given the collapse of housing prices, is that people are defaulting on their mortgages, which is clobbering a different set of lenders.
Score one for the law of unintended consequences. In past periods of economic turbulence, American households were able to escape mountains of bad debt—and keep their homes—by declaring bankruptcy. During the weak growth years from 2001 to 2003, for example, nonbusiness bankruptcy petitions averaged roughly 1.5 million per year. Lenders complained bitterly that bankruptcy was too easy, but because financially stressed Americans could write off their credit card and other consumer debt, they had more money available to pay their mortgages. But today's growing problem in the housing market is different—foreclosures are soaring, while bankruptcies, though clearly on the upswing, are running roughly at half the 2001-2003 pace. The reason: A new bankruptcy law, approved by Congress in 2005 after years of debate, makes it much harder for households to get out from under their consumer debt. The result: More people being forced to walk away from their homes, leaving lenders holding the bag.
The irony here is that Congress passed this law at the behest of lenders who didn't want consumers to get out of their credit card debts through bankruptcy. But the result, given the collapse of housing prices, is that people are defaulting on their mortgages, which is clobbering a different set of lenders.
Score one for the law of unintended consequences. In past periods of economic turbulence, American households were able to escape mountains of bad debt—and keep their homes—by declaring bankruptcy. During the weak growth years from 2001 to 2003, for example, nonbusiness bankruptcy petitions averaged roughly 1.5 million per year. Lenders complained bitterly that bankruptcy was too easy, but because financially stressed Americans could write off their credit card and other consumer debt, they had more money available to pay their mortgages. But today's growing problem in the housing market is different—foreclosures are soaring, while bankruptcies, though clearly on the upswing, are running roughly at half the 2001-2003 pace. The reason: A new bankruptcy law, approved by Congress in 2005 after years of debate, makes it much harder for households to get out from under their consumer debt. The result: More people being forced to walk away from their homes, leaving lenders holding the bag.
SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Metro -- Homeowners associations hit by foreclosure fallout
No surprise here. If you can't pay the mortgage, certainly you can't pay the HOA. Put the whole picture together and it isn't pretty: mortgage defaults and foreclosures; builder bankruptcies that leave HOAs and owners stuck with no reserves and a pile of mechanics leins; HOAs needing to specially assess owners for major repairs (see below); lenders going out business; and municipalities faced with increasing demands and lacking the funds to meet them. Where will all this lead?
San Diego County's mushrooming number of foreclosures is starting to hobble homeowners associations large and small as cash-strapped owners cease paying their monthly dues.
No surprise here. If you can't pay the mortgage, certainly you can't pay the HOA. Put the whole picture together and it isn't pretty: mortgage defaults and foreclosures; builder bankruptcies that leave HOAs and owners stuck with no reserves and a pile of mechanics leins; HOAs needing to specially assess owners for major repairs (see below); lenders going out business; and municipalities faced with increasing demands and lacking the funds to meet them. Where will all this lead?
San Diego County's mushrooming number of foreclosures is starting to hobble homeowners associations large and small as cash-strapped owners cease paying their monthly dues.
Massive assessments for upgrading the buildings' systems have divided resident's of Boston's prestigious Harbor Towers - The Boston Globe
This is the kind of thing you hate to be right about. For years now, Ive been predicting a tsunami of massive special assessments as aging developments need major overhauls of private infrastructure. Now here is a real whopper. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
It's the condo owners' nightmare: The building's heating and cooling system needs an overhaul, so everybody must pay a huge one-time assessment. But the 500-plus owners at Harbor Towers on Boston's waterfront are facing the mother of all bills: from $70,000 to over $400,000. And they're due by the end of this month. In full.
This is the kind of thing you hate to be right about. For years now, Ive been predicting a tsunami of massive special assessments as aging developments need major overhauls of private infrastructure. Now here is a real whopper. Thanks to Fred Pilot for the link.
It's the condo owners' nightmare: The building's heating and cooling system needs an overhaul, so everybody must pay a huge one-time assessment. But the 500-plus owners at Harbor Towers on Boston's waterfront are facing the mother of all bills: from $70,000 to over $400,000. And they're due by the end of this month. In full.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
globeandmail.com: Fantino would back even tougher speeding law
Brought to you by our friends in Canada: The $10,000 speeding ticket. Maybe Hillary should pick up this idea, too...to go with national health care.
Brought to you by our friends in Canada: The $10,000 speeding ticket. Maybe Hillary should pick up this idea, too...to go with national health care.
Maine town removes offensive name : ICT [2007/10/29]
After all the hippies and yuppies moved to Maine and Vermont, those with certain political sensitivities can get taken seriously instead of being laughed at, as they would have been in the old days. So you end up with Bernie Sanders, a Socialist, being a US Senator from Vermont, and a furor over "offensive names" in Maine.
TOCKTON SPRINGS, Maine - It took almost a year and a formal complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission, but this tiny coastal town is finally free of the offensive word ''squaw'' in its place names...In 2001, Maine passed an offensive names act, introduced by Passamaquoddy legislative representative Donald Soctomah, that mandates towns abandon the word ''squaw'' in their street names and landmarks... Efforts to comply with the law were met with fierce opposition from the town's Squaw Point Home Owners Association, a private organization that owns what was formerly called Squaw Point Road and is now Defence Point Road.
After all the hippies and yuppies moved to Maine and Vermont, those with certain political sensitivities can get taken seriously instead of being laughed at, as they would have been in the old days. So you end up with Bernie Sanders, a Socialist, being a US Senator from Vermont, and a furor over "offensive names" in Maine.
TOCKTON SPRINGS, Maine - It took almost a year and a formal complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission, but this tiny coastal town is finally free of the offensive word ''squaw'' in its place names...In 2001, Maine passed an offensive names act, introduced by Passamaquoddy legislative representative Donald Soctomah, that mandates towns abandon the word ''squaw'' in their street names and landmarks... Efforts to comply with the law were met with fierce opposition from the town's Squaw Point Home Owners Association, a private organization that owns what was formerly called Squaw Point Road and is now Defence Point Road.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
ABC News: Florida City Tries to Ban Chinese Products
I am swinging around to the view that municipalities are prevailing over HOAs in the competition to see whether public or private local government is more repressive.
I am swinging around to the view that municipalities are prevailing over HOAs in the competition to see whether public or private local government is more repressive.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
USATODAY.com: Volunteer radar gunslingers nail speeders
Privatization strikes again, and you know the HOAs have to be involved:
Speeders beware. Your neighbors might have you on their radar. That's the message police departments across the country are trying to send by loaning residents radar guns and turning them into neighborhood speed watchers...In the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill., residents affiliated with homeowners associations use the radar guns. "Some people seemed surprised. Some took notice and slowed down," says Bob Fischer, director of the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. "Others were angry that we were interfering with their inherent right to get to the train station — or back home — as quickly as possible."
Privatization strikes again, and you know the HOAs have to be involved:
Speeders beware. Your neighbors might have you on their radar. That's the message police departments across the country are trying to send by loaning residents radar guns and turning them into neighborhood speed watchers...In the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill., residents affiliated with homeowners associations use the radar guns. "Some people seemed surprised. Some took notice and slowed down," says Bob Fischer, director of the Naperville Area Homeowners Confederation. "Others were angry that we were interfering with their inherent right to get to the train station — or back home — as quickly as possible."
Turkeys, once unseen in Massachusetts, are showing up in big numbers in cities and towns - The Boston Globe
Actually this is nothing new. We have turkeys running the City of Chicago.
Actually this is nothing new. We have turkeys running the City of Chicago.
Bloomberg.com: Countrywide to Refinance Up to $16 Billion of Loans
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, may change terms on $16 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages before the end of 2008 so borrowers won't lose their homes to foreclosure.
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, may change terms on $16 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages before the end of 2008 so borrowers won't lose their homes to foreclosure.
Chicago builder, Neumann Homes, closes branches, prepares bankruptcy filing -- chicagotribune.com
I won't be shedding any tears for this development firm. A few years ago there was a vast, beautiful tract of land in Antioch, just north of where I live in Lindenhurst. Neumann Homes acquired it, sued the Village of Antioch to force approval of their enormous development plans, and then did a fine job of butchering the landscape for a zillion tract homes called "The Clublands." They festooned the main road with signs saying cheesy things like "Bring your fishin' pole!" Don't you love the way developers invoke the sense of place--in this case, rural landscape--that they just destroyed? So now the Clublands will remain partially built and the enormous, ugly, bulldozed landscape that Neumann Homes created will sit there until some other developer(s) buy it.
Adios, Neumann Homes. Don't let the door hit you where the dog should have bit you.
I won't be shedding any tears for this development firm. A few years ago there was a vast, beautiful tract of land in Antioch, just north of where I live in Lindenhurst. Neumann Homes acquired it, sued the Village of Antioch to force approval of their enormous development plans, and then did a fine job of butchering the landscape for a zillion tract homes called "The Clublands." They festooned the main road with signs saying cheesy things like "Bring your fishin' pole!" Don't you love the way developers invoke the sense of place--in this case, rural landscape--that they just destroyed? So now the Clublands will remain partially built and the enormous, ugly, bulldozed landscape that Neumann Homes created will sit there until some other developer(s) buy it.
Adios, Neumann Homes. Don't let the door hit you where the dog should have bit you.
Rural town may block Muslim site
Think this will survive a constitutional challenge?
WALKERSVILLE, Md. -- A Muslim group's plan to build a mosque and convention site on a 224-acre farm has met with resistance from many residents of this rural, overwhelmingly Christian town who fear its tranquility and security may be jeopardized. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA insists it will be a friendly neighbor, but its proposal -- including an annual national gathering of thousands of Ahmadis -- could be blocked by a measure under consideration by the town commissioners...Two days after Ahmadiyya leaders fielded questions at a public forum in August, town Commissioner Chad Weddle introduced a zoning amendment that would prohibit places of worship, schools and private clubs on land zoned for agriculture -- including the farm the Ahmadis have contracted to buy.
Think this will survive a constitutional challenge?
WALKERSVILLE, Md. -- A Muslim group's plan to build a mosque and convention site on a 224-acre farm has met with resistance from many residents of this rural, overwhelmingly Christian town who fear its tranquility and security may be jeopardized. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA insists it will be a friendly neighbor, but its proposal -- including an annual national gathering of thousands of Ahmadis -- could be blocked by a measure under consideration by the town commissioners...Two days after Ahmadiyya leaders fielded questions at a public forum in August, town Commissioner Chad Weddle introduced a zoning amendment that would prohibit places of worship, schools and private clubs on land zoned for agriculture -- including the farm the Ahmadis have contracted to buy.
Monday, October 22, 2007
From Casinos to Counterterrorism
Some people think Las Vegas is the US city of the future. They have wall to wall gated communities, and also this:
LAS VEGAS -- This city, famous for being America's playground, has also become its security lab. Like nowhere else in the United States, Las Vegas has embraced the twin trends of data mining and high-tech surveillance, with arguably more cameras per square foot than any airport or sports arena in the country. Even the city's cabs and monorail have cameras. As the U.S. government ramps up its efforts to forestall terrorist attacks, some privacy advocates view the city as a harbinger of things to come.
Some people think Las Vegas is the US city of the future. They have wall to wall gated communities, and also this:
LAS VEGAS -- This city, famous for being America's playground, has also become its security lab. Like nowhere else in the United States, Las Vegas has embraced the twin trends of data mining and high-tech surveillance, with arguably more cameras per square foot than any airport or sports arena in the country. Even the city's cabs and monorail have cameras. As the U.S. government ramps up its efforts to forestall terrorist attacks, some privacy advocates view the city as a harbinger of things to come.
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