The idiocy of some people still manages to amaze me at times. A lady in southwestern Colorado put up a wreath that’s shaped like peace symbol in honor of the holiday and it’s pissed off some of her neighbors so the home owner’s association is threatening to fine her $25 a day until it’s removed:
Some residents who have complained have children serving in Iraq, said Bob Kearns, president of the Loma Linda Homeowners Association in Pagosa Springs. He said some residents have also believed it was a symbol of Satan. Three or four residents complained, he said.
Let me get this straight: Some of the people who have kids serving in Iraq don’t like the idea that the wreath promotes the concept of peace?!? And who’s the clueless twit that thinks it’s a symbol of Satan?? ‘Cause ya know that Satan guy, he’s all about peace and love so we can’t be promoting that kind of message.
Good thing we have Mr. Kearns around to lay down the law:
The association in this 200-home subdivision 270 miles southwest of Denver has sent a letter to her saying that residents were offended by the sign and the board “will not allow signs, flags etc. that can be considered divisive.”
The subdivision’s rules say no signs, billboards or advertising are permitted without the consent of the architectural control committee.
Kearns ordered the committee to require Jensen to remove the wreath, but members refused after concluding that it was merely a seasonal symbol that didn’t say anything. Kearns fired all five committee members.
He’s got his own little suburban despot thing going on now. I wonder if he’ll grow a beard like Castro’s?
[Update:] It looks like a truce has been called in the wreath battle. Seems Mr. Kearns decided to back down after the public reaction to the news item got a little intense:
None of the three members of the board in the scenic town 270 miles southwest of Denver was available for comment late Monday. Kearns and colleague Jeff Heitz both had their phone numbers changed to unlisted numbers Monday. Tammy Spezze, the third board member, did not return a call seeking comment.
Jensen, a past association president, said she was overwhelmed with hundreds of calls of support and offers to help her pay the $1,000 fine that would be due if she kept the wreath up until after Christmas.
“We would like to thank everyone who has contacted us with moral support and offers of financial support. We are grateful to hundreds of complete strangers who felt so moved by this story they contacted us,” she said.
“It seems whenever someone tries to say ‘Peace on Earth’ it is met with so much resistance,” she said. “The incredible amount of support we have received over the last couple of days really is proof to us of how many people believe in peace and in our right to say it.”
Good for her.
Reminds me off South Park…
South Park 1 Be sure to watch this one past the 4 minute mark.
Part 2
Part 3
There is nothing they won’t make fun of.
Oh yes, we know how sending your children into the meat grinder is a sign of honor for the family, and how Satan looovvveeess peace, because in peacetime people are to focused on indulgence.
Les, I can’t say this for all Christian fanatics, but I was told during my time in crazyland that the Peace symbol is a perversion of the cross. It is obviously an inverted cross with the “arms” bent downward (not sure why they are bent downward, maybe to hide the inverted cross.) As an inverted cross is a “traditional” satanic symbol, you begin to see the explanation. It’s total BS of course, but there it is for what it’s worth.
I heard the same sort thing back in the 70s about the symbol for the ecology movement. Yup – that Satan is busy busy busy filling all those empty little Christian heads with that Peace and Mother Nature crap.
FYI – I hear Christians love the Dollar Sign ($) because it’s an “S” with a slash through it.
I also read that bit about the peace symbol being an inverted cross with broken arms. I was shocked that someone would take a beautiful symbol like the cross and desecrate it. If anything, symbols that are derived from primitive methods of torture and execution should be venerated and prayed to, not desecrated.
Then again, the cross might be an inverted peace symbol with straightened arms.
Some of you might have been deluded (by Satan!) to believe that the so-called “peace symbol” is formed of the semaphore letters “N” and “D”, standing for “nuclear disarmament”, but the truth is that it is indeed a Satanic broken cross. Don’t use it or even look at it, or else!
When this story first came out, I found a few email addresses and emailed Lisa Jensen telling her I’d send her money to keep it up. Never got anything back from her, but I assumed she was overwhelmed with emails.
The peace symbol/upsidedown cross/satan thingy was briefly covered in the beginning of “The DaVinci Code” movie.
Isn’t it awful? Methinks it’s time to affix my favorite psychedelic peace magnet to the bumper of my car again. I took it off several months ago for fear of getting it dirty, but the outrage of a situation like this demands that I reinstate it.
Petty people.
I also read that bit about the peace symbol being an inverted cross with broken arms. I was shocked that someone would take a beautiful symbol like the cross and desecrate it. If anything, symbols that are derived from primitive methods of torture and execution should be venerated and prayed to, not desecrated.
Whoa! And here I thought that the peace symbol was derived from the Mercedes-Benz logo. Boy do I feel silly…
What are these Homeowners associations I keep reading about in the US? If you own your home why do you have to join? Are they secret training ground where the CIA trains the despots it intends to use to overthrow democratic left wing governments? If people in the UK tried to make you conform then you’d be given short shrift (though in some cases DIY with malice aforethought, or drunk in charge of Christmas decorations should be a crime).
The ‘Peace’ symbol is actually an inverted norse rune algiz = defense, protection, elk. It is a styalised elk/moose head (with the horns) and the correct way up is a symbol of strength and shielding. To a Goti using it the modern ‘peace’ inversion would show weakness- somethingto be used in spells aimed at your enemy.
The Great Wikipedia knows all:
The fastest growing form of housing in the United States today are the common-interest developments, a category that includes planned-unit developments of single-family homes, condominiums, and cooperative apartments. Before the first unit is sold in one of these developments, the developer records restrictive covenants on all of the properties. These “run with the land”, meaning that all successive buyers are bound by the same covenants as the original purchaser (though some jurisdictions require renewal after 20 or more years). These covenants, among other agreements, form the basis for the homeowners association.
Covenants and deed restrictions are exclusionary by nature, and in the first half of the 20th century most were racialy motivated. The following is an example of a racial covenant taken from a Seattle, Washington neighborhood: “No part of said property hereby conveyed shall ever be used or occupied by any Hebrew or by any person of the Ethiopian, Malay or any Asiatic race..”[1] Although the federal courts ruled such covenants unenforceable years earlier, private agreements kept them alive at least into the 1960s — the decade of emergence for the civil-rights movement. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 rendered them illegal.
Modern Homeowners associations collect fees, fines, and other assessments from homeowners, maintain the common areas of the development, and enforce the association’s governing documents. These may include detailed rules regarding construction and maintenance of individual homes. The common areas maintained and governed may include landscaping, common buildings (e.g., clubhouses) and recreational facilities such as swimming pools), common walls in attached housing developments, and infrastructure such as streets, mailboxes, sidewalks, and parking lots.
Often, a homeowners association collects special assessments from all its members in addition to set fees. Assessments can be made to cover legal expenses for a judgement against the homeowners association, to repair damage from a natural disaster, or to make improvements. Special assessments have no set limit, and in some cases have reportedly exceeded $100,000 per unit owner.[2]
In some U.S. states, California or Texas for instance, a homeowners association can foreclose a member’s house without any judicial procedure in order to collect special assessments, fees and even a fine. Other states, like Florida, require a judicial hearing.
Homeowner association litigation is on the rise. In states such as Colorado and California and others that have adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, homeowners associations may have standing to represent their members in an action against the community’s builder for negligence or other causes of action.[1]
Some of the responsibilities that the covenants delegate to homeowners association boards would otherwise be performed by local governments or require private legal action under civil law.
Nevertheless, association boards are almost always comprised of amateur volunteers, and as such do not require training, certification or the possession of credentials of any kind.[3]
The vast majority of homeowners associations are incorporated and are therefore governed by a board, which is in essence a private government.
In recent decades, homeowners associations have become increasingly common in the United States, exercising control over 22.1 million American homes and over 50 million Americans in 2005, according to the Community Associations Institute.
See the full entry for more details on the advantages/disadvantages and so on.
Wiki link
Interestingly enough, I just noticed that in that particular Wikipedia entry there’s a link to a page all about Bob Kearns from the original entry I posted about. Apparently I’m not the only person who thinks he’s acting like a minor despot.
His entry is quite amusing as it’s a brief summary of the very story I was talking about in the original post. Wikipedia moves fast.
Speaking of wiki entries, I just found one for SEB.
Personally I prefer to live in a rural area so homeowner’s associations are for those damn city folks. I would go out of my way to avoid living in a neighborhood that did have one simply because they are tools to make the complacent middle class have a feeling of safety and uniformity. In short, they encourage suburban life, which I believe will be the downfall of western civilization. Like Lewis Black said “Who ever heard of the Great Suburban writer?!”
My comments at 1:43 p.m. were meant to be sarcastic. I hope I didn’t come off like some fundamentalist putz. It’s just ironic that some Christians despise an innocuous symbol that promotes peace while cherishing something that, reduced to its basic elements, is an ugly object of torture. I think if Christ comes back and sees all these people wearing crosses around their necks, he’d probably run away screaming.
They couldn’t find a notable town any closer than that?
Gee, I thought you were dead serious. Who would have thought that that was a joke?
Actually, I understand your fear. In my opinion/observation, most people are way too serious. If I had a nickel for every time somebody misunderstood and took offense to something ridiculously absurd and sarcastic that I have said, I would have a bag of nickels to hit them with, maybe knock some funny into them.
I don’t think anybody here took you seriously. They’re smarter than most.
-Bob
Ahhh.. The wonderful Home Owner’s Association (HOA). I love mine. I pay them $250 a month so they could tell me to take down my for sale sign. Fuckers.
It feels like every sign and symbol can somehow be turned into a sign of a satanic ritual or devil worship.
Let’s take the two-finger peace sign, for instance. Maybe by holding up two fingers, you are supporting the “number 2” man. Wasn’t God number 1 and Lucifer number 2? So in trying to promote peace, we would again be worshipping satan instead.
Just a thought.
Yeah, as Consi has told us, I’m not the sharpest chisel in the set but …
allowed even me to realise the truth.
In fact, Tony, I for one just love sarcasm, satire, irony, ambiguity, double and even triple entendres and all those other words I can’t think of right now that basically mean the same thing … the view is different from here.
I caught on to your sarcasm, Tony. I thought it was pretty well done myself.
I know I would. I can imagine him now:
Jesus: What the FUCK? You insensitive bastards are running around wearing tiny versions of the torture device I was hung from like it’s some sort of uplifting message? Do you even begin to comprehend what I went through on that thing? Why in the name of all that’s ME would you think I’d want to be reminded of that??
This reminds me of the X-Files episode where a homeowner’s association summoned a golem-like creature in order to enforce their housing code. Somehow I feel that Kearns would exercise that option if he could.
Looks like people haven’t stopped being idiots just yet.
I like the one that goes:
So I went on the web to try to find some Unitarian jokes and what I found were serious articles of Unitarians discussing the validity and significance of Unitarian jokes… that’s the joke.
Webs;
I go to a UU church on a semi-irregular basis. UU’s will argue about ANYTHING, but always over coffee.
Link to UU Jokes
When I lived in the town I am in now as a younger lad I went to a UU church pretty often for about 5-7 years. Now I keep telling myself I am going to go back sometime, but I never get around to it. Maybe this Sunday I will force myself…
No way man. I am a pretty simple, easy guy and I fell out of my chair laughing when I read that. Keep it up.
After I got up I saw this one:
Hillarious, yeah I’m easy like that. I’ll admit I come here mainly for the humor I must say this topic is killing me with great one-liners and quickies. It almost sucks to think about the reality of it. But the reality of it is that she bought a house in an HOA neighborhood. I hate it for her but it is kind of like volunteering for prison, the behind bars part.
For those of you with no experience with an HOA stay away, stay far away. I dated a chick in one. She couldn’t even put up a nice privacy fence or a satelite dish and I’m not talking about one of those big obnoxious ones I am talking about one of those Dish Network ones.
Craig
Didn’t think of Wiki.
$250 to allow some self appointed napolean tell you he doesn’t like your decor? The bit about imposing a fine and taking your house is unbelievable. Over here common areas are maintained by the council (sort of). No doubt you get stiffed for some form of local tax too.
Congrats on the Wiki Les, any idea who? (I’m looking at you DoF)