tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post1095836081868434492..comments2017-04-13T04:47:21.148-06:00William N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-3839661539561482692008-10-30T17:56:00.000-06:002008-10-30T17:56:00.000-06:00God bless you, sir!William N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-66426520489572974682008-10-30T17:55:00.000-06:002008-10-30T17:55:00.000-06:00I'm an HOA President. I would never permit our HOA Board to treat any of our residents like these two families were treated. Indeed, I would rally community support to solve the problems, as concerned citizens did in both instances.DJhttp://donusa.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-18006483739713522552008-10-30T13:04:00.000-06:002008-10-30T13:04:00.000-06:00I have been on the board of a condo association and am currently on the Board of Directors of a development HOA. I knew of the covenants and agreed to abide by them, as did everyone in the development. I am on the "Board" for the simple reason of providing a buffer between the fair-minded and the rules-are-rules members.<BR/><BR/>The purported reason for an HOA is to protect real estate values, which is euphuism for keeping cars-on-blocks, furniture on the lawn, falling down fences, and other acts of the inconsiderate from annoying the neighbors. <BR/><BR/>An HOA is government at the grass roots. Like most of the country, homeowners in an HOA don't want to be bothered and expect someone else to keep the streets plowed, the garbage picked up, and the streetlights on.<BR/><BR/>Every HOA has board meetings and elections, get involved, stand for election or at least make your voice heard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-27424995379156327402008-10-30T00:25:00.000-06:002008-10-30T00:25:00.000-06:00Dear Will,<BR/><BR/>Freud probably had a name for it - arrested development, anal retention, whatever - but to put it simply, a vast majority of the human race are emotional 3-year-olds.<BR/><BR/>It's the human condition. As children, by the age of about eighteen months we have become individuals with a strong sense of ourselves, and we don't realize that we are not savvy about the dangers of the big bad world, so every prohibition imposed on us by Mom and Dad for our own good, which we don't understand, instead seems capricious and arbitrary.<BR/><BR/>A 3-year old, having just graduated from the Terrible Twos, during which he (or she) tried to assert his independence at every turn and was slapped down by Mom and Dad at every turn, has decided that if he can't beat them he will have to join them. He lives for the day when he too will grow up big and strong like Mom and Dad and can finally tell everyone else what to do, instead of being told, which is galling in the extreme.<BR/><BR/>You are a father, Will - tell me, don't you see your six-and-seven-year-old kids trying to assert dominance over each other and tell each other what to do, just as you and Korrin do to them?<BR/><BR/>It is the rare person who sees through this urge to control others as one has been controlled, and instead realizes that as adults we now all have the discrimination and power to manage our own lives, and thus we should leave everyone else alone to manage theirs also. <BR/><BR/>Most of us, instead, take revenge for the next 75 years on Mom and Dad, who in our warped 3-year-old minds have become the rest of the human race.<BR/><BR/>For pity's sake, GROW UP!!<BR/><BR/>This emotional 3-year-old is the obnoxious boss we have all had to work for, the self-satisfied city councillor justifying his paycheck by looking for yet another street to stick a no-parking sign on, the TSA goon in the airport who gleefully forces his victims to creep meekly around barefoot, the abusive fat cop tazing and bashing law-abiding old ladies and kids, the pompous senator telling the press cameras how he and he alone will fix the ills of the world with yet another law, and, if the overgrown child has to work for a living, he can always join a Homeowners Association, become a Big Cheese in a church social group, or get elected to the PTA. Anything. There are endless possibilities for us to boss each other around.<BR/><BR/>Even the clerk behind the counter tries to boss around the shopper: "No, you cannot try those pants on. The fitting rooms closed five minutes ago." What exquisite satisfaction, after being told by her boss: "No, you cannot go to the toilet more than three times in an 8-hour day. I don't care if you are in pain. Cross your legs."<BR/><BR/>Give anyone an ounce of authority to tell someone else what they can or cannot do, and they will use it to crush the rest of humanity. Including, of course, their own children. And thus, the cycle repeats for another generation.<BR/><BR/>Isn't that a comforting prospect?<BR/><BR/>It does not HAVE to be that way. We cannot always determine our fate, but we are free to choose how we react to it. I remember an acquaintance who was almost paralyzed by MS. Never did a word of complaint pass her lips. She would always say, "God has blessed me so much. People are so kind to me. Yes, it is difficult to function, but it is wonderful to be alive. I could not imagine a happier life than this one I have. I thank God for it every day."<BR/><BR/>She was turning her life's lemons into sweet lemonade.<BR/><BR/>Nelson Mandela, after he was elected the first President of a fully democratic South Africa, had an inaugural dinner, at which he was able to invite whomever he wished, to sit at the Presidential table. He invited his wardens from Robbin Island. Amazed folks asked: "Why THEM? Don't you hate them for stealing 27 of the best years of your life?" <BR/><BR/>He replied: "No. They imprisoned my body, but they never imprisoned my mind or my soul. I never regarded myself as a victim, but as a free man whose movements were constrained by circumstances. I always treated them as equals in human dignity with myself. I respected them and obeyed their orders, as doing the jobs they were required to do in an evil system which had caught us all up in its clutches, and they in turn treated me with unfailing respect and courtesy. I have now, and never ever had, any hatred or even resentment for them. They are fine people, and now that those things are past, we can now at last be friends."<BR/><BR/>Out of 27 years of lemons, he made many gallons of lemonade.<BR/><BR/>This, then, is all we can do when we find ourselves in a kindergarten world. Choose to be an adult. Refuse to join in the playground nonsense. Choose to cede temporal power to others who demand it, because only then can we claim our freedom as adults to rule our own souls. Resistance will drag us body AND soul into their game. Choose to treat everyone with respect, even when it may not be reciprocated, because only that way can we possibly respect ourselves. Choose to be free, which means allowing everyone else the same privelige. <BR/><BR/>Our body is a passing thing, and can belong to or be controlled by someone else, until it dies and begins to rot. Our soul is immortal, and belongs to nobody but ourselves. We are free to make of our souls whatever we will, and no matter how magnificent our souls may be, nobody and nothing can ever steal or harm our soul without our consent.<BR/><BR/>Make lemonade!<BR/><BR/>Yours respectfully,<BR/>Lemuel Gulliver.Lemuel Gullivernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-11541948763410581472008-10-29T17:23:00.000-06:002008-10-29T17:23:00.000-06:00My wife and I long ago decided that when we are ready to build a house - which should be fairly soon- it it will be on a large enough parcel of land to create a buffer of at least 1000 ft. from the edge of our property in either direction. Here in new england we have dense hardwood forests that allow for a great wall of privacy. Our driveway will have a gate on the bottom and in order for it to be opened you'll have to be invited in. We both believe private property is the bedrock of freedom and should be upheld at all costs. Nosy neighbors and government snoops are an absolute anathema to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-60209896232323566092008-10-29T15:55:00.000-06:002008-10-29T15:55:00.000-06:00Prime examples of why my family is very happy to live in a 36 year old house in an old but well kept neighborhood. I have satelite dish, a solar panel, and a HAM radio antenna on my roof. Nobody cares.<BR/><BR/>jkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-19396114289432194002008-10-29T10:15:00.000-06:002008-10-29T10:15:00.000-06:00This story is a perfect example of<BR/>why communism-socialism is an<BR/>unworkable nightmare.<BR/>Without private property that is <BR/>truly private, we are reduced to<BR/>nothing more than indentured servants<BR/>or less.Will Blalocknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-10155736231353366352008-10-29T09:43:00.000-06:002008-10-29T09:43:00.000-06:00Don't forget about James Earl Ray and Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan.-)<BR/><BR/>I guess this trend applies only to media and government selected patsies.<BR/><BR/>R. CozineAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-86158520009736948352008-10-28T22:26:00.000-06:002008-10-28T22:26:00.000-06:00Why, why, why would anyone choose to buy property where they would be subject to a homeowners' association?<BR/><BR/>"Hey, I know! I want all the financial and other responsibilities associated with home ownership, but without the freedoms! I want to put my family in debt for decades to buy this house, and put in the work and cost for maintenance, but with everything I do with it subject to the whims of a nosy, petty, busybody prick of a neighbor! It's not what I think of the way my home looks that's important; it's what my jerk neighbors think of my property that matters!"<BR/><BR/>We all know what kind of people gravitate to positions on HOAs...the same kind of people who gravitate towards positions in City Hall. But most of us are wise enough to steer clear of those kind of people wherever possible.The Omega Mannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-5249684855169018982008-10-28T20:04:00.000-06:002008-10-28T20:04:00.000-06:00doc,<BR/> <BR/>pwned is slang for saying "owned", as in "you just got owned". i think it got started because the "o" key and "p" key are right next to each other.<BR/><BR/>wikipedia has a little on it. however i think its explanation is off a bit.<BR/><BR/>...and those folks better watch out saying, "the law is the law". I'm sure God heard them and said, "oh really? let's see..." <BR/><BR/>rickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-58986229043122488502008-10-28T18:18:00.000-06:002008-10-28T18:18:00.000-06:00Sadly, this is happening with an ever increasing frequency, and will continue to do so as more and more mortgages reset. The majority not even having reset yet; that will take place in 2009 and again in 2011. However, I think it must be pointed out, that these people knew at the time they signed the contract that they were buying into a community with a strict HOA, as they must have read the CC&amp;Rs before signing them, and that they were taking on an adjustable rate mortgage that would reset. If they did not have the means to account for the &quot;unforseeable,&quot; a cushion if you will, then they shouldn&#39;t have made the purchase. <BR/><BR/>Home ownership is a privilege, for those who can afford it and can take on the responsibility financially, without hardship. It is not a right, as some have suggested. <BR/><BR/>And, finally, the law is the law. It doesn&#39;t take personal circumstances into account, sad and &quot;unfair&quot; as that may seem at times.throwthebumsouthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11627265500862794179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-26187634086801130072008-10-28T15:58:00.000-06:002008-10-28T15:58:00.000-06:00Do these fascists sink down from<BR/>the flotsam on the top,<BR/>or do they bubble up from <BR/>the dregs on the bottom?<BR/><BR/>There is nothing worse in this<BR/>world than to have a neighbor<BR/>minding your business (except<BR/>maybe a government parasite.)<BR/><BR/>Signed: William Booth Blalock<BR/>(Yes, I'm related...)Will Blalocknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1160291727301308352008-10-28T15:16:00.000-06:002008-10-28T15:16:00.000-06:00Greetings,<BR/><BR/>What is the title of this posting?<BR/>Are you trying to say pawned or owned?<BR/><BR/>I love the joke you told at the end of your comments about Dr. Death.<BR/><BR/>I have been opposing communitarians in my neighborhood for years. I have wondered if I was the only libertarian who understands the biggest threat to freedom is from the neighbors. <BR/><BR/>troll Doc Ellis 124Doc Ellis 124http://www.blogger.com/profile/08543939658083915285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-88175209462409064272008-10-28T12:47:00.000-06:002008-10-28T12:47:00.000-06:00scott -- as they say, even Homer nods. In the same vein, Ty Cobb occasionally struck out, Tiger Woods every once in a while blows a putt, and there are random days when my otherwise reliable pessimism fails me. <BR/><BR/>Perhaps a less flattering analogy would be the time a person hooked up to Jack Kevorkian's death machine survived, leaving Dr. Death inconsolable: He'd never lost a patient before.William N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-38386300704276897972008-10-28T12:10:00.000-06:002008-10-28T12:10:00.000-06:00Interesting, as I am sure there are thousands of incidents like this going on in "covenant communities". And how some of them will play out...for instance, the one about the developer, which reminds me of what happened in our remote mountain subdivision many years ago, when the developer did not use correct surveys, aided and abetted by a real estate agent who went along with it, and which resulted, among other things, to the 1997 Republic of Texas standoff!<BR/>http://www.somethinghappeninghere.netDeb Lagardehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18210410457920036147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-48468511397289940722008-10-28T11:55:00.000-06:002008-10-28T11:55:00.000-06:00WNG,<BR/><BR/>Somethings up. You're giving us stories with generally happy resolutions. <BR/>Are you having an off day?scott clarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-47402030310884637622008-10-28T11:17:00.000-06:002008-10-28T11:17:00.000-06:00Developers are going to be in very bad moods as they find it harder and harder to find buyers. It isn't too surprising they'll take their anger out on the people they already sold to.<BR/><BR/>Jim O'ConnorAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-31718785248412561322008-10-28T07:26:00.000-06:002008-10-28T07:26:00.000-06:00Dear Brother J. Edward --<BR/><BR/>The rule I invoked was sorta like the one about notorious assassins always using all three names -- y'know, like Lee Harvey Oswald and John Wilkes Booth.<BR/><BR/>Sincerely,<BR/><BR/>William Norman GriggWilliam N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-92049931627060155322008-10-28T06:52:00.000-06:002008-10-28T06:52:00.000-06:00<I>Never expect common sense from someone whose first name is an initial.</I><BR/><BR/>(laughing out loud)<BR/><BR/>Signed, J. Edward HurstBrokenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12866635425857133740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-5684197227525400382008-10-28T05:44:00.000-06:002008-10-28T05:44:00.000-06:00Great article. Mr Edwards should do a little more research on who he wants to pick fights with. Once Mr Jensen comes back stateside I am sure he will be put into a blue uniform and deputized for the local police force. My advice to Mr. Edwards: Don't break any traffic laws for you never know who might pull you over.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-55821076456509701092008-10-28T02:02:00.000-06:002008-10-28T02:02:00.000-06:00I visited the web site of the nazified development. The address is Bayonet Point. Very aptly-named, I must say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com