Developers and Local Gov can now take your home

[ebass]

In happy valley......(what a name!)

 Ayahh........good cowhn weathah!........
 
Ok, I'll take the bait........what is beavah fevah?

[Daddymem]

I miss the farm stands there, the silver corn...mmmmmmm.  

Imagine what can now happen at the used to be dead mall, now known as the live mall.  All them surrounding fields could go to developers wanting to put in chain restaurants or big-box stores.  Or maybe Pete's gets knocked down in favor of a Starbucks.  :-/

Beaver fever happened in Pittsfield where giardia (a parasite) got into the potable water supply and made many people sick including some Town officials.  It was believed to be caused by beaver feces.  Gotta keep reminding people of this every time the earthy crunchies decide that trapping is wrong.
For more info:
http://www.responsiblewildlifemanagement.org/beaver_fever.htm

[Greenbank]

Here in WA, and I think ten other states, there are state laws which prohibit Eminent Domain takings except for roadways and the like, unless the area is "blighted."

Remember, privilege literally means "private law."

[Leo]

Beaver fever-intestenial flu. :'(

[ebass]

Usually, If I'm going to eat them, I like my wild beasts as freshly "harvested" as possible, and definitely well-cooked........it normally kills off the parasites.....saw some photos recently, of parasites taken from humans (mostly in other countries), in an academic book on the subject.......quite nasty!....some are 3 ft long and big around as your thumb........others crawl around under the skin and poke through anywhere they want......even eyes!.......like something out of one of the "alien" movies........

Enough on that subject.......

Yeah, Rte 9 in Hadley could become just another strip mall......
but, if it does, just wait for another flood like 1936........

[vojacek]

hey ebass, tropical medicine and parasitology by peters and gilles? i have the 4th edition, and wanted the latest  6th edition, couldn't order from anyone execpt publisher, $1,200.00!!!! just curious.....micro and parasitology r my true passions!!!

[ebass]

Vojacek, ya could slap me sensless...... and I still wouldn't remember the name of it!........unreal pictures though.........I'll ask the guy that showed me, if he can remember the name of the book, next time I see him.......come to think of it, .........it could have been online........well, anyway..... I'll try to get ya some sorta reference...........

Y'all have a good July 4th........

ebass

[glenn kangiser]

If you wish to monitor progress on the "Lost Liberty Hotel" proposed to be built on Souter's land, here is a link to the site.

http://www.freestarmedia.com/index.html

If you chose to invest in it, don't hold me responsible if you lose money.  However if you strike it rich and wish to send me a commission------  Just kidding - keep your wealth -

[Daddymem]

Wonder if this is just the beginning...I can think of a thousand better uses for this nice lush parcel of land on Pennsylvania Avenue in DC if there is anyone interested.

[glenn kangiser]

And it begins- not limited to home, but also family owned small businesses that don't generate enough tax revenue.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/07/02/BAGO4DI6GJ1.DTL

Update courtesy of the Daily Rotten.

[Amanda_931]

I don't think that kind of c--- (ahem, says the ghost of an old parts place owner, "it's not crap, it's fine merchandise!  Fine Merchandise!") is exactly new.

Friends were within a block of being displaced by Urban Renewal in the early 60's near the U. of Chicago.  In the early 70's Vanderbilt wanted to expand their hospital.  Either they or whatever city department was in charge of this ended up having a lot of trouble finding a place for an old auto mechanic, his shop, family and 15 cats.  There wasn't anything remotely comparable.  Certainly nothing within walking distance for area students/musicians.

And just recently Belmont University (overgrown college!) is trying to force out a nearby neighborhood.  First by offering to buy, but the next step is to put a 5-story parking garage across the street from them.

[ebass]

Vojacek:
    
      Regarding parasites, check out these: (2 books and 1 website).........1) Manson's tropical diseases by Wilcocks & Manson-Bahr... 2) The life that lives on man by Michael Andrews ... 3) www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/images.html - 5k

    Thinking back, it was the website with it's color pictures I remembered most vividly, Necator americanus (hookworms),  Ascaris (human and pig roundworms), Loa loa, and Toxocara canis (intestinal roundworm of dogs).......not the books.

Enjoy!  

ebass

[Amanda_931]

Nearly everybody is angry with that supreme court decision, even the people who think that a lot of the property rights arguments are nonsense. (Does the government have the right to stand in for common sense?--sometimes that is what it sounds like)

Part of the problem with eminent domain for "development" is that often it never happens.

Or the local governments give away all their property taxes for the forseeable future so that an industry will come, and they'll make it up in jobs, they hope.

Here's an article that puts the decision into more perspective--rest of the column is pretty interesting:

http://www.alternet.org/story/23351/

"Justice Sandra Day O'Connor declared [in her dissent], "Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall or any farm with a factory."

That's the bad news.

The good news is that the Court's decision does not prevent states and localities from adopting a different approach. "We emphasize that nothing in our opinion precludes any state from placing further restrictions on its exercise of the takings power."

[John Raabe]

I subscribe to Jim Hightower's Lowdown newsletter. In a recent article he pointed out just how much taxpayer money goes into the bidding wars for corporate facilities (all in the name of JOBS! - most of which never materialize).

Read it here: http://tinyurl.com/cho4j

I can easily see how this same political "clout" could be used to justify property grabs to "sweeten the pot" for these corporate projects.

I guess supporting local small businesses or mere voters can't compare to the rush of a high profile corporate ribbon cutting ceremony.

[Amanda_931]

Headline today.

"Eliminate blight, " of course can have lots of meanings to different people.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050719/ap_on_re_us/seizing_property;_ylt=AjLe6B.N99sVkabHV9HqLFSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

CHICAGO - Alarmed by the prospect of local governments seizing homes and turning the property over to developers, lawmakers in at least half the states are rushing to blunt last month's     U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding the power of eminent domain.

In Texas and California, legislators have proposed constitutional amendments to bar government from taking private property for economic development. Politicians in Alabama, South Dakota and Virginia likewise hope to curtail government's ability to condemn land.

Even in states like Illinois — one of at least eight that already forbid eminent domain for economic development unless the purpose is to eliminate blight — lawmakers are proposing to make it even tougher to use the procedure.

"People I've never heard from before came out of the woodwork and were just so agitated," said Illinois state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Democrat. "People feel that it's a threat to their personal property, and that has hit a chord."

The Institute for Justice, which represented homeowners in the Connecticut case that was decided by the Supreme Court, said at least 25 states are considering changes to eminent domain laws.

The Constitution says governments cannot take private property for public use without "just compensation." Governments have traditionally used their eminent domain authority to build roads, reservoirs and other public projects. But for decades, the court has been expanding the definition of public use, allowing cities to employ eminent domain to eliminate blight.

[glenn-k]

Progress report - second "Justice" may lose home.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45516

[Amanda_931]

http://www.markfiore.com/animation/domination.html

   enjoy

[glenn-k]

That's a good one, Amanda.  I hope to invest in one of the judges house replacement projects just on principal-- a token amount anyway.

[Amanda_931]

I have a feeling that the judge's houses replacement projects are token in themselves anyway.

On the order of the guy who decided that turn-about was fair play, and sued to have the Bible banned from library shelves.  Would he have taken if he'd gotten it?  Probably, but that wasn't the point.

(just caught a typo that would have been invisible to a spell-checker--remembered that truly dreadful--I sent it everywhere--poem that Daddymem posted)

[Bart_Cubbins]

Update on the Kelo case... actually it's a month old but I just saw it....

http://fairfieldweekly.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:119000

[glenn-k]

How low can the SCUMBAGS get

[Amanda_931]

Is the city TRYING to lose big-time?

[glenn-k]

We can only hope the city loses.

[Okie_Bob]

This mornings Dallas Morning News has an article on the front page concerning a tv show to air sometime next week on a completed confication in Hurst, TX of some 150 homes for an extension of a shopping mall. This took place 5 or 6 years ago and the mall is now complete and the city is reaping huge income from sales taxes collected from the site. The article talks about how the city had actually reduced property taxes (very slightly) and provided more new services...spening more of our tax dollars....but, says virtually nothing about the poor homeowners displaced 'for the good of the city'.
It also mentions how the Tx legislature last week passed legislation preventing such seisures in the future....of course with tons of loop holes, one of which will allow the city of Arlington to continue confiscating houses for the new Cowboy football stadium!!!!
I am so frustrated by all this but, don't have a clue what to do about it. Oh, I've got some ideas but, don't want to spend the rest of my days in a cell.
Okie Bob

[Jimmy_Cason]

This mornings Dallas Morning News has an article on the front page concerning a tv show to air sometime next week on a completed confication in Hurst, TX of some 150 homes for an extension of a shopping mall. This took place 5 or 6 years ago and the mall is now complete and the city is reaping huge income from sales taxes collected from the site. The article talks about how the city had actually reduced property taxes (very slightly) and provided more new services...spening more of our tax dollars....but, says virtually nothing about the poor homeowners displaced 'for the good of the city'.
It also mentions how the Tx legislature last week passed legislation preventing such seisures in the future....of course with tons of loop holes, one of which will allow the city of Arlington to continue confiscating houses for the new Cowboy football stadium!!!!
I am so frustrated by all this but, don't have a clue what to do about it. Oh, I've got some ideas but, don't want to spend the rest of my days in a cell.
Okie Bob

Okie Bob, I was there.
Thanks for letting us know. I will watch that program for sure!

This is one of my previous posts in this thread about Hurst.

_______________________________________
A few years ago when I lived in Hurst, Texas.
The city decided to upgrade and expand the 20-year-old NorthEast Mall complex.

They zoned something like 30 acres of nearby residential area as commercial.
People that lived in the area for 30 years were forced to move.
I think it was the first time in Texas the imminent domain law was used for a commercial purpose.

http://www.worldfreeinternet.net/news/nws79.htm

They are doing the same thing right now in Arlington Texas to make room for the new Cowboys football Stadium.


In Hurst Texas, It was a very strange view after they dozed all of the houses and trees. The only thing remaining for a while was the road, driveways, and some of the foundations. It looked like something from a nuclear war. People chained themselves to toilets in their houses, trees in their yards, only to be removed by law officials. I stood next to one middle aged couple as they watched their home of 30 years reduced to rubble. They only started crying when the bull dozer pushed over a tree they planted the day they got married and moved in.