From Cop Block

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

Comments

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

I can't wait until we start arresting people for bad fashion sense.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

HA! You have some zippy one liners, yes you do.

[icelore.livejournal.com]

And there have been people sent to jail for not painting their house the proper color too. Lots of things happen with home owners associations and stupid county/city rules, and have been for a while. I think the vast majority of the rules are asinine, so I wouldn't choose to live in an area where those kinds of rules are in place - quite simple.

So yes, I think the above is stupid, but if you agree to follow rules, however stupid they are, then 1) you're a dumbass for agreeing to them, and 2) you're a dumbass for not following them.

Hell, my current lease states that I have to pick up my dogs' shit. Shocker, right? If they don't crap in a public area, sometimes I don't run right out there and pick it up, as it's in my lawn/patio/yard-ish area. I go out every few days and grab all the stray poops at once. Could I get fined for choosing not to follow the rules? Yep. But it's my choice. Luckily my "rule enforcing" managers give me a warning if they think things are out of hand or someone complains before fining me. I'm working 60 hours a week plus going to school, my SO is working full time as well, and we help take care of my disabled mother - not like we're rolling in time - but boo-hoo, we still have to follow the rules, even if they are stupid and not hurting anyone at the moment.

Honestly with all the real bullshit that is wrong with the world we could be focusing on, I won't waste time that some lady who couldn't take 15 minutes to mow her yard got in trouble, especially when she got a warning. I literally give zero shits when there are much bigger fish to fry.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

Tell us how you really feel.

[icelore.livejournal.com]

That's the general idea of commentary.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

"so I wouldn't choose to live in an area where those kinds of rules are in place"

In many areas, HOA's are so common, one literally cannot buy a home without being in one.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

I can afford to buy a home and would not mind doing so, but this is what I've come across. It's never really your property.

[moonshaz.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that sucks.

[icelore.livejournal.com]

How unfortunate for those privileged enough to buy houses in suburban areas then. I'm not a big fan of HOAs and avoid them.

Again, while I feel in general the rules are usually pretty silly, very few of them are hard to follow. Regardless, this lady violated county laws it seems, where general cleanliness ordinances are pretty obvious, and you do get multiple municipal warnings before having to show up in court. These aren't new laws of some sudden fascist law state or anything. No one is out there measuring grass with a ruler. When it's a hot mess and neighbors start complaining, they tell you to clean up your lawn. No big deal, and there are bigger social issues to devote attention to. *shrug* But hey, I'm not one of those people losing my shit thinking that I'm going to catch Ebola from someone down the street either. Being pragmatic has it's uses it seems. :D

[hurleyman.livejournal.com]

AGREED. Even outside of HOA there are laws and township rules in effect. In my 5 years as a homeowner, I've had one neighbor who let bamboo run rampant, crossed under my fence, and on the other side was so high it sat on the power wires, sparked them and lit my fence on fire (while I was on vacation no less). Another who's vines grow so tall that I had to have the power company come out and tear them down. They were behind me so I couldn't see the extent, but I received a knock from the power worker who informed me that they also had grass so high you couldn't even access the fire hydrant.

As a petite female who spends 4+ hrs a week weed whacking, hedge trimming and mowing my acre yard, if I can do it, get off your lazy ass and do it yourself. I should not have to risk losing all of my personal belongings, house pets, livelihood and possibly my life because you're too friggen lazy to spend an hour each week cleaning up your yard.

[mudryikot.livejournal.com]

There are rules on what colour you may paint house that you own and stands on a land that you own?

[wight1984.livejournal.com]

The US has the second highest incarceration rate in the world: List of countries by incarceration rate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate)

It's also unusual amongst developed nations for it's use of prison labour: Stephen Fry on American Prisons Facts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPZed8af9RI)

Now, there are obviously times when someone has to be segregated from society for the protection of others... but beyond that it seems of limited value. It certainly doesn't seem to work very well as a rehabilitative measure. Given that it's a very serious breach of individual liberty with dubious positive effect for the rest of society, I think that it's use ought to be fairly limited.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

Indeed, punishment is the least effective method of behavior modification or change. That's psych 101.

[mudryikot.livejournal.com]

Does that course factor in the costs of methods?

[interdictor.livejournal.com]

When did that change? The US had the highest rate for years.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

Seychelles....really, those guys? That's almost a tenth of their population in prison.

[interdictor.livejournal.com]

I am not ashamed to admit that is the first time I ever heard of that country.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

LOL!

[wight1984.livejournal.com]

They have a population under 100,000... which means that they're so small that their incarceration rate per 100,000 citizens is higher than the actual amount of people that they have incarcerated. I think you can be forgiven for not being very concious of their existence. :o)

Seychelles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seychelles)

[interdictor.livejournal.com]

Good grief, what a statistic!

[madscience.livejournal.com]

It could work as a rehabilitation measure, if that were actually the intent.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

Therein lies a crucial point - our intent is to harm. We just call it "punishment." What we're after is plain old revenge.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

That may be the intent tapped into by "hard on crime" politicians. But the intent of the people who run the prisons is literally slave labor.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

"Real women have big bushes" - I think I heard that on Transparent.

[mckavian.livejournal.com]

I do not know about this case, so I am not going to comment on it, but...

I can agree with needing to enforce SOME regulations. If your tree is touching power lines. If the 80 foot tall tree in your yard is dead and waiting to fall over - like what happened to a friend of mine. She spent 6 months on my couch because a dead tree bisected her house during a storm.

Normally things are taken care of by fines. If you get fined for the same things multiple times, then it becomes contempt of court and they go to jail. Is that what happened here?