People With Illegal Chickens As Pets Form Group To Urge Legalization - wcbstv.com

People With Illegal Chickens As Pets Form Group To Urge Legalization - wcbstv.com: "Campaign For Legalization Of Urban Chicken Keeping Takes Wing"
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And it's Sacramento, CA.

Is God protecting Fla. at Gov. Crist's request? - Yahoo! News

Is God protecting Fla. at Gov. Crist's request? - Yahoo! News: Thus spake Governor Crist: "'Do you know the last time it was we had a hurricane in Florida? It's been awhile. In 2007, I took my first trade mission. Do you know where I went?' said Crist, a Methodist, referring to a trip to Israel.

He then told of going to the Western Wall and inserting a note with a prayer. He said it read, 'Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and other difficulties. Charlie.'

'Time goes on — May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December — no hurricanes,' Crist said. 'Thank God.'"
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Better keep this man in office. He has a direct connection to the Creator.

Unplug your clothes dryer: Save energy, reduce carbon emissions | Daily Loaf

Unplug your clothes dryer: Save energy, reduce carbon emissions | Daily Loaf: "clothesline2 Unplug your clothes dryer: Save energy, reduce carbon emissionsHouseholds that do commit to hanging laundry outside in their yard or balcony may discover an unlikely obstacle – their homeowner’s association. Unfortunately many community associations prohibit clotheslines and other efforts to let the sunshine dry clothes. Project Laundry List is a nonprofit that has helped to fight anti-clothesline ordinances in many neighborhoods, often by passing city or state legislation that invalidates such ordinances."
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Garden Rant: "Grass Nazi" on Penn & Teller Tonight

Garden Rant: "Grass Nazi" on Penn & Teller Tonight
Links to a video of the rant.

First New Miami Condo Tower Files for Chapter 11 - Real Estate Channel Global News Center

First New Miami Condo Tower Files for Chapter 11 - Real Estate Channel Global News Center: "(MIAMI, FL) -- The bankruptcy bell has rung in the Miami-Dade luxury condominium market for one of the highest-profile Downtown residential communities.

Saddled with estimated debt that could reach $500 million to 200 creditors, Cabi Downtown LLC, the Mexican owners of the one-year-old, $300 million Everglades on the Bay community have filed for Chapter 11 protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The twin-tower, 49-story project has closed only 9 percent of its 849 units for an estimated total sales of $31 million, according to Bal Harbour, FL-based Condo Vultures® Bulk Deals Database."

DA looks into Channelview complaints | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

DA looks into Channelview complaints | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle: "The issues at play in Sterling Green South focus attention on the practices of management companies that collect assessments for associations representing millions of American families.

In many neighborhoods, particularly those in unincorporated areas such as Sterling Green South, power and knowledge are limited to the management company, attorneys who focus on collections and perhaps the association president, said Evan McKenzie, a University of Illinois-Chicago political science professor whose research specializes in private governance.

“It's the most massive privatization of local government that has ever happened,” McKenzie said. “There's no transparency at all.”"
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Don't think I posted this earlier.

Private investment in infrastructure: A perfect match? - San Francisco Business Times:

Private investment in infrastructure: A perfect match? - San Francisco Business Times:: "Not everyone is convinced private infrastructure investment is the right strategy. Some public employee labor unions have opposed public-private deals, fearing they might be frozen out of work. And some taxpayers question whether spending private money will reduce public access or accountability.

“Privatization offers enormous opportunity for corruption,” said Evan McKenzie, associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “The government too often is taking the money and running with it.”"
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Yeah. What he said.

Ananova - Police reject candidate for being too intelligent

Ananova - Police reject candidate for being too intelligent: "A US man has been rejected in his bid to become a police officer for scoring too high on an intelligence test.

Robert Jordan, a 49-year-old college graduate, took an exam to join the New London police, in Connecticut, in 1996 and scored 33 points, the equivalent of an IQ of 125.

But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work and leave soon after undergoing costly training.

Mr Jordan launched a federal lawsuit against the city, but lost."
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Your government at work.

Nashuatelegraph.com: Nashua ranks No. 4 when it comes to federal stimulus cash

Nashuatelegraph.com: Nashua ranks No. 4 when it comes to federal stimulus cash: "The report also revealed that through the end of June that stimulus money created or saved 796 jobs, with 700 of those state workers who did not have to get laid off thanks to the federal grants, Fitch said."
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Maybe it will turn out that the stimulus package has been mainly responsible for saving government jobs (see below).

Obama fires back at political critics

Obama fires back at political critics: "'There is something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee weed up!'"
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That makes two firsts for me. I never heard that expression before, and I don't think I've ever heard a President say a thing that in a speech. There have been open mike profanities and so forth, but being this juvenile in a speech is a new one on me.

Demand rises for publicly funded burials - USATODAY.com

Demand rises for publicly funded burials - USATODAY.com: "Coroners and funeral directors in several cities say the number of people seeking government-paid funerals, cremations and burials is spiking. Most counties and states will use public money to cremate or bury people who are too poor to pay for private services.

'People just aren't in a position to pay $7,000 for a private funeral and burial,' says Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office, where the number of people seeking county burial has nearly doubled since last year."
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Just wait until the death panels start yanking those plugs out the wall.

Kidding. Just kidding.

Seminole Chronicle - W.S. divided on HOA-like control

Seminole Chronicle - W.S. divided on HOA-like control: "The Winter Springs City Commission is divided on the issue, especially when it comes to what you can do with your homes. It's been three years since the city passed a compatibility law, which, in its broadest sense, means that everything concerning your house - the paint, the roof, the garage, the color of the door and the type of fence - has to be compatible with your neighborhood.

'Even though the Supreme Court allows us to do it, I don't think it's the job of government to dictate what color somebody's house is going to be or what color their roof is going to be or what style their fence is going to be if that individual doesn't live in a deed-restricted community,' City Commissioner Rick Brown said at the Aug. 10 meeting."
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As I keep saying, more and more cities are imitating HOAs.

Are new lending rules going to destroy condo values?

Are new lending rules going to destroy condo values?: "Effective October 1, 2009, FHA is implementing new condo guidelines that could devastate the values in condo developments."
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How about the one that says no more than 15% of the units can be over 30 days delinquent in assessments?

How about hiring the goats as contractors?

Hungry goats to eat up fire hazards in Diamond Bar - DailyBulletin.com: "In order to clear potentially flammable brush from 48 acres of open land in south Diamond Bar, the city appropriated $43,000 Tuesday for hand crews and goats. It's a significantly cheaper option than using only humans.

When the Los Angeles County Fire Department recently inspected fire breaks in the city, it found three parcels of land that weren't in compliance with the fire code. But there was a problem. The three parcels, near the intersection of Pathfinder and Peaceful Hills roads, belong to two homeowners' associations and Diamond Bar had never maintained them before. The Oakridge Community Homeowners' Association owns one parcel of land, while the Woodglen Community Homeowners' Association owns two. The city argues it doesn't have legal responsibility to maintain the land and shouldn't have to pay for the brush clearing. But given the ongoing wildfire season and last year's Triangle Complex Fire, the city opted to take on the work for safety of its residents - but will seek reimbursement from the homeowners' associations."
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BAAAAAAAAH.

Condo owners pay for property they can't use | Dallas County | WFAA.com

Condo owners pay for property they can't use | Dallas County | WFAA.com
There was a fire. The HOA didn't have enough insurance. The city won't sign off on the repairs. And everybody keeps on having to pay their assessments.

Government Jobs Have Grown Since Recession - NYTimes.com

Government Jobs Have Grown Since Recession - NYTimes.com: "While the private sector has shed 6.9 million jobs since the beginning of the recession, state and local governments have expanded their payrolls and added 110,000 jobs, according to a report to be issued Thursday by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government...The report offered several possible explanations for the disparity between the private and public sectors. It noted that there can be a short lag between an economic downturn and the time it hits states in the form of lower tax collections, and an even longer delay before the problems hit local governments in the form of reduced state aid and lower property tax collections. It pointed to the slow pace of decision-making in many states, and the power yielded by politically influential unions. But it also noted that the demand for many government services rises in a recession, and said that billions of dollars of federal stimulus money sent to states helped them avert layoffs."
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Interesting. It seems that some nations may be coming out of the recession--Germany, France, Japan--but we will see how the US fares, with the massive stimulus spending that can help in the short term and hurt in the long.

Nutter Warns Of 'Virtual Shutdown' Of Courts - cbs3.com

Nutter Warns Of 'Virtual Shutdown' Of Courts - cbs3.com: "PHILADELPHIA (AP) ―

Philadelphia's court system will face a 'virtual shutdown' if the cash-strapped city does not get state approval for a sales tax increase and changes to how it makes its pension payments.

That's according to Mayor Michael Nutter and court officials at a news conference Wednesday.

Philadelphia is facing a $1.4 billion five-year budget deficit."
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Philadelphia is one of the cities that was called "ungovernable" by a number of urban politics specialists back in the 1990s. Seems as though some of the doom and gloom predictions of the 1970s and 1980s are beginning to materialize, but much later than the theorists said, and for different reasons.

Hermosa Beach wins round in Macpherson Oil case - The Daily Breeze

Hermosa Beach wins round in Macpherson Oil case - The Daily Breeze: "Adding another chapter to a long legal saga that has ensnared Hermosa Beach for more than a decade, the city has won a chance to argue before a state appellate court that it should not pay damages to Macpherson Oil for breaking a contract to drill in town more than a decade ago. Less than three weeks before a jury was set to determine how much Hermosa owed the Santa Monica-based oil company, the 2nd District Court of Appeal granted the city's writ Monday, City Attorney Michael Jenkins said. Both parties will now argue their sides in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Dec. 7. At this stage, the protracted lawsuit centers around how much money Hermosa Beach owes for breaking its 1992 lease agreement with Macpherson. City leaders voted about six years later to deny drilling permits after voters approved a proposition banning present and future oil drilling projects in town. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Joanne O'Donnell ruled in February 2008 that the city indeed broke its contract and owed damages, but left it to a jury to decide exactly how much. Don Macpherson Jr., the company's president, has long asked for $500 million in damages, a figure city leaders contend would bankrupt the tiny municipality."
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Mistakes can be expensive for cities...and for HOAs. But how many owners know that they are ultimately personally liable for their directors torts and breaches of contract?

City looking at outsourcing ticketing

City looking at outsourcing ticketing: "As the city focuses more on trimming down to provide core services only, the mayor said Windsor will probably continue to shed employees as it has since 2005 during annual budget sessions.

Francis said Windsor has no other choice given the downturn in the local economy and the need to invest to transform that economy. “Otherwise, we may as well lock up the doors and go bankrupt,” he said.

Valentinis said he’s “very, very open” to looking at privatization of city services and that it’s nothing new."
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Would Privatization Help Public Universities Excel? - US News and World Report

Would Privatization Help Public Universities Excel? - US News and World Report: "In a trend that parallels the 'charter school' movement among public elementary schools, a number of colleges are seeking to semiprivatize.

These schools say they are tired of getting less money from state legislators. They want to seek additional revenues by setting, and keeping, their own tuition. They also want the freedom to enter into business arrangements without obeying many state rules."
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Isn't it ironic that the academy was and is so overwhelmingly supportive of President Obama, but still there are these initiatives going on to make universities, even public ones, operate more like private business corporations.