Yes, that’s a weird question to ask. But a Saudi prince was arrested for assaulting several women at a party in his gated community home in Los Angeles. There’s lots of evidence against him and three women who claim they were victimized have filed a civil suit. But L.A. officials have decided there’s not enough evidence to charge him.
This prince and his family are worth billions. They’ll be able to pay off the women for sums of money that would seem grand to most of us. But it’s a pittance for those in the Saudi oil business.
On the other hand, the HOA might fine the prince for letting his lawn get too brown. But in the Beverly Hills Homeowners Association…life will go on as usual.
CBS-LA reports that one homeowner in the ritzy Bel Air area used 12 million gallons of water in a single year during the worst drought anyone can remember. TWELVE MILLION GALLONS! The water bill was 90,000 dollars.
I have no idea what it costs to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool, but I would bet you could fill a swimming pool at least once a week with that budget.
The real stench, though, is that public officials won’t release this person’s name or address “for privacy reasons.” This one homeowner needs to be targeted and his name and address publicized. With a drought so severe it really threatens our national stability (agriculture), there’s no need to respect privacy. Drought shaming. Someone should do it.
I’ve debated with myself long and hard over the story I’m about to tell you. It really zeroes in on a personal situation I faced with an HOA bully. I swore I would keep the story to myself until I read today’s article about America’s tragic loss of honey bees. Forty percent of all honey bees in the country died last year. Forty percent!
You cannot imagine how important honey bees are to our agriculture and our very survival as a species. Man just can’t do what bees do for us. Without bees there is no produce in your grocery store. None!
Now, my personal story. I own some acreage in Colorado adjacent to a Homeowners Association. Several years ago, a teenager who raises bees and produces honey for a hobby asked if he could place a half dozen bee hives on my property. There’s no way I would have refused him. For several years the hives were thriving and pollinating vegetation for miles around.
Last year I was away at a publishers’ conference when I got an angry call from a typical HOA bully. He demanded I remove the hives immediately. Mystified at his sudden rage I asked him why? Believe it or not, this guy said “Your bees are drinking from my wife’s pond!”
This is not a joke. Despite the fact that there are several bee keepers within a four mile radius of this property, MY bees were drinking from his pond!
I guess I shouldn’t have ignored him because a few days later every single one of the bee hives was dead. Stone cold dead in just one night. I seriously doubt they died that suddenly from natural causes.
Homeowner Association bullies continue to show their utter stupidity in the face of the horrible southwest water drought. I have two links for you. The first is the idiotic treatment of a homeowner by the Aviara Master Association in northern San Diego County.
The second link is even more fascinating. It’s about the mind-blowing drought in the Middle East and what happens when you don’t respect Mother Nature.
