Sign of the times...

An interesting story about an Ann Arbor couple who were evicted due to their landlord's failure to pay co-op association fees was posted on Ann Arbor.com today. This is one of the reasons that these property owner's association are such a bitch. The couple who are the subject of the AA.com story were only renting from the owner of the townhouse but their predicament got me thinking.

In modern America a person does not truly ever own their own home even if they owe no mortgage on it because it can still be foreclosed on for unpaid taxes and it seems unpaid association fees as well. In America you are permanently a wage slave no matter what; pay a bill and you "owe" it again next year. So you in fact only own your own home if you can keep feeding the beasts (governments & POAs) that have legal claims against it. You just have to love the American establishment's notion of an Ownership Society, eh?

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60 Year-old bottle of Glenfiddich whiskey goes for $37,000 + @ auction - Bloomberg

LA crowds riot in "celebration" of Lakers NBA championship win - LA Times

Bailouts for the banksters debtors prison and foreclosures for the serfs - Pro Libertate

From the post:
"As a result, it's increasingly common for people who owe small amounts to find themselves being confronted by police -- in the streets, at home or work, while driving, or even while recovering from surgery -- and hauled away in handcuffs. Warrants have been issued over outstanding debts as small as $85, which is "less than half the cost of housing an inmate overnight."

After a brief but robustly unpleasant interlude behind bars, debtors are brought before a judge and compelled to sign documents permitting the collection firms to garnish their wages or extract money from their bank accounts. Refusal can lead to a "indefinite incarceration," a sentence recently imposed, without trial, on a debtor from Kenney, Illinois. "Bail" consists of paying the amount demanded by the collection firm, which is the amount of the purchased debt plus whatever enhancements the firm can devise."

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Going "Dead Beat" For Fun & Profit - Dallas Observer
"Cunningham knew he had a good enough case to file a lawsuit against the debt collection agency, and for his first lawsuit, he decided to enlist the help of a lawyer. Two months later, he had a check in his hand for $1,000." The guy featured in the story is making money by suing the bill collectors that are trying to collect from him. Nice work if you can get it.
Leviathan stirs again - The Economist
We're from the government and we're here to help you.
Experimental Soldier Exo-Skeleton's Batteries Improved- Popular Science
"Lockheed's Human Universal Load Carrier (HULC) is a mechanized frame that allows soldiers to march or even run easily with loads of 200 pounds, as well as squat or kneel without trouble." Lockheed propaganda video here.
Airlines Want to Stop Taking Cash; Plastic Only- LA Times
The Safety Net - Living on Nothing but Food Stamps -New York Times.com
The tactical shotgun in urban operations - Infantry Magazine