Category Archives: racketeering

Very Personal… On Easter

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In the past I’ve told my friends on this website about the sacrifices my dad made fighting with the 3rd Armored Division in France and Germany. And I’ve told you that I have five family members buried in Arlington. But I’ve never told you the following story because I didn’t know it until three weeks ago.

My dad was commanding one of General George Patton’s tank battalions in the last months of World War II when a German soldier fired a bazooka from the upper floor of a chalet in the town of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Dad, who had massive head wounds and extensive brain damage, was taken by the Nazis as a prisoner of war. How he got out is a story for another day. But he survived and after a long battle with Alzheimer’s he died in 1997. The basic facts are in his seventy year-old military and medical records.

Just a few weeks ago a close friend discovered that many graves in Arlington have their own websites. I never knew that! But it gets stranger, still. On my dad’s website is a poem posted by my younger brother several years ago. On this Easter Sunday I would be an irresponsible son and a horrible brother if I neglected to re-post it for you.

　
                               PASSPORT

Dedicated to LTC Edward D. Lucas, Jr.  1915-1997
　

Daddy was a soldier in 1942,

A quiet man who never told of all that he went through.

But this fading soldier was dying in his bed,

While memories and battle wounds made war inside his head.

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

His circuit board had failed him. He prattled as he went.

We heard his words but no one understood just what he meant.

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

　

Now some think there’s a Heaven for heroes who pass on,

Who give their lives for God and country until God calls them home.

But Daddy seemed to know that he’d never get that far,

Until Somebody put the perfect stamp upon his heart.

　

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

It was January when it was time to die.

They knew my Dad would pass that night,

But I could say, “Goodbye.”

　

His eyes were glazed and fixed upon the passport by his bed.

And finally I understood the countless times he said,

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

 
As his light was fading, and I looked into his face,

Some mysterious visitor had stamped his passport with Grace.

By Gregory D. Lucas  Son of LTC Edward D. Lucas, Jr.
Added: Dec. 10, 2011

(link to Arlington gravesite)

 

This Bubble Will Burst

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If you wanted to sell your home in a Homeowners Association, what would be a best case economic scenario for you and your prospective buyer? You’d want that buyer to be able to get a loan, right?

If you wanted your home to be more marketable, you’d want your HOA to seem less litigious, right?

If you wanted a quick sale, you’d want all HOA homes to be owner-occupied, right?

And to get top dollar for your home, you’d want no vacancies in the neighborhood, right?

Well, let’s toss a monkey wrench into the machinery and see what happens.

The housing bubble that popped in 2008 and 2009 led to a huge number of foreclosures as mortgage companies tried to limit their losses. It also led to more Homeowners Associations liening and foreclosing on homeowners who got behind in their dues. The typical HOA has a super-priority lien on all homes within its borders. That means that when the homeowner gets a few hundred bucks behind on his mortgage, the HOA can grab that property and auction it off at the nearest courthouse for a few thousand bucks. The HOA gets paid, the mortgage company does not. And that means the mortgage company gets screwed out of the entire value of its loan.

Now, suppose you’re an executive in a mortgage company. If you know that a certain neighborhood is in crisis, i.e., foreclosures, lawsuits against owners, a high number of vacancies, a high number of rentals, and the HOA doing its own foreclosures through super-priority liens, how willing would you be to offer mortgages to would-be buyers?

Thought so.

If you happen to be the homeowner who’s trying to sell a home in a neighborhood where no potential buyer can get a loan from traditional lenders, what do you do? You lower your price, lower your price, lower your price, lower your price.

And the housing bubble bursts. The economist linked below thinks the housing Armageddon is coming.

(link to the coming housing bubble)

 

What Kind Of Egg Hunt?

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Some HOA photos really don’t need much comment. Others cry out for some kind of reaction. I don’t know anything about the Lakewood Springs Homeowners Association but millions of embattled homeowners would agree that this particular sign might be more descriptive than the HOA intends!

“Wrong Way, Lady!”

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A Democratic State Legislator in Virginia is crowing about getting a law passed in her state. The new law will allow HOA officials in self-managed communities more time to answer written requests by homeowners for information. Current Virginia law requires HOAs to provide paperwork or answers to inquiries within five days. The new law Ms. Filler-Corn loves so much doubles that time to ten days.

Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn brags that this will help ease the burden on HOA officials. She says the five-day requirement is too much of a burden for neighborhood volunteers.

Listen, Lady! You’ve got it exactly backwards. Virginia HOAs are just as mean-spirited as those in other states. Your law does NOTHING to help beleaguered homeowners. How about actually pushing for some real reform? How about a two-point law that will really make Filler-Corn a household name.

First, you mandate that all neighborhood paperwork is posted online and available at all times! Then no homeowner would have to beg and plead to see HOA budgets, and how much board members were soaking the community with their hotel food-and-booze tabs. And no resident would have any questions because everything they could possibly need is instantly available.

Second, forget the First Point. Just abolish all HOAs as being fundamentally flawed. They’re all constructed to purposely allow agenda-driven ‘volunteers’ to get their claws into their neighbors’ throats. Actually, this law might make you a statewide hero!

What do you think, Del. Filler-Corn?

(link to Virginia story)

 

Outwitting The Bums

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A tip-of-the-hat to Nevada’s Bob Frank for reminding us of Pedro Amador, the 18th Century Spanish soldier who wrote an incredible piece on how to spot an incompetent professional. I don’t know who to credit for this translation or the modern-day re-write. But as you read these ten points see if they apply to any HOA officials you know.

1. “Blame others”: whatever happens, there will always be someone who can be blamed for things that go wrong, however much responsibility, or lack of, they have. In the slang of useless people, this rule is called “passing the buck” or saying “the dog ate my work“.

2. “Steal and use the achievements of others”: which is essential for getting to the top, whilst those at the bottom never stop complaining about our incompetence. In the slang of the useless, this is called “taking all the credit“.

3. “Deny having done anything”: even though you’ve been caught on film committing the worst possible crime, deny it all. It could always be thought that it’s a complex plot created by your worst enemy to question your honesty.

4. “Don’t face up to things and avoid making statements”: never try to defend yourself if you’ve done something bad. You will be accused of things that you hadn’t even thought of. It’s better to avoid making statements and mention a brief: “I haven’t done anything, this is a plot against my honesty and good name”.

5. “Look for false witnesses to back up the lie”: there is always an absent-minded friend, one of those who’s dying to be at your side, who will be willing to state anything, and back up our tale. It’s important to have some on hand.

 6. “Get others to make statements for you”: if there is no other alternative, and rule 4 can’t be applied, it’s much better to get others to do it for you. In addition to the witnesses from the previous rule, try to get people who are fairly simple to make statements for you; they’ll end up boring everyone to death.

7. “Get a lawyer to make statements for you”: once the previous point has been exhausted, it’s best to get a lawyer to respond with excuses and contradictions.

8. “Invent a Saintly role”: if ultimately we have to say something, it’s important to have created a story that elevates us to the level of Holy Spirit and makes everyone believe that under no circumstances would we be capable of such acts.

9. “Throw stones at the enemy”: someone wants to back us into a corner? However saintly they are, they will always have a dark side. Look for it and hit them hard until no doubt remains that the person is worse than the devil.

10. “Invent a conspiracy”: if someone has backed us into a corner, and we haven’t been able to take them down, there is no other alternative than to plot a conspiracy, using a smoke screen. The most common stories are those that involve the abuse or harassment of women, because they always manage to attract nonsensical parrots.

Ward’s note: Actually, after reading the above, a number of these points could have been taken from Sun Tzu. His book is mandatory reading in every military academy.