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Tinfoil Hat House
An anonymous reader writes "A family in Sacromento has covered the side of their house with aluminum to keep the radiowaves from their neighbors at bay. The city has given them one week to remove the life saving shielding or face charges."
Is that near Sacramento? Or is it in Colifornia?
That's just what they want you to think.
How can they be brought up on Misdemeanor charges for this?
It's stupid. It's ugly. But why in the fuck is it illegal?
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Bet that works great to keep the heat out of the house too...
Maybe they could use that as a reason to keep it?
I'll Find You Peer, If It's The Last Thing I Do!!!!
For a minute there I thought I was looking at /. April 1st edition. . .
"The inside of the house is also covered with foil and the beds are covered with a foil-like material as well,"
So, these are the guys that buy those "space blankets"...
and now back to the fallout shelter...
Why don't they just cover their bodies instead?
Oh well, the story made it up at some point.
Why not just ask the neighbors to turn their radio down?
The best part of this article is that was posted by an anonymous reader. That's irony. (and, if it's not, I'm sure the grammar police will enforce).
... they might have a point.
In a band? Use WheresTheGig for free.
easy fix, just line the inside of the house with foil.
love the antibot text field btw. same i cant read the fucker.
It's Sacramento, not Socromento, samzenpus, you oaf. Yes, it's a spelling flame, but it's the third one in three days. I guess the "editors" don't do much "editing".
Advice: on VPS providers
more likely they'll be forgotten by the end of the week
www.kxtv.com/storyfull1.asp?id=11032
Looking for something to do? http://www.grinion.com
Though it seems to be a classic: http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/903959/tinf oil.jpg
(from San Diego)
just because your house is covered in tin foil doesn't mean they're not out to get you.
"Is this just useless, or is it expensive as well?"
...I bet their aluminum foil bed sheets would need to be ironed quite often. :-)
Everybody knows all you need to do to block radiation and radio waves from reading your mind is to cover the windows....
All they have to do is install it under the siding of the house, and it is legit, code-worthy, and kinda cool.
IANAL but I bet this treatment violates neighbourhood 'quality' standards.
One thing to remember, pot-houses do this to minimise the heat signature.
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~Plato (427-347 BC)
If I'd have known I was causing them problems, I would've stopped trying to microwave their paint off their house as a practical joke.
Stop learning! Only you can prevent esoterrorism.
I'm sure there will be plenty of Tinfoil Hat Jokes and other posts, but after reading the article I'd say they need lithium, not aluminum. That is to say, the "radio waves" deal is typical in schizophrenic patients. Other common variations are people using radio waves to listen to what their thinking, people using high-tech devices to spy on their homes. The end result is a bunch of variations on the sheet metal siding. Those people that aren't familiar with metal and radiation commonly use cardboard boxes to cover all openings and windows.
A misdemeanor charge isn't what's needed, a visit from a social worker probably is. There's a difference between being unique and unusual, and having mental issues.
only here could a story about tinfoil freaks turn into a serious discussion about how effective it is and how they can legally keep it up.
I bet they get awesome television reception!
Why not just re-do the house in aluminum siding? Then they can keep their crazy ideas and have a decent looking house.
Put in some Low-E glass windows with a metal reflective layer and a metal roof and they should be good to go - until someone tunnels under their house, of course.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage
Just to be safe...
But they don't have the right to put up whatever they want. Especially if they have neighbors. You see, if the town becomes ugly, then the value of their property diminishes. It's kinda like me going over to some kids house and spilling kool-aid on his super rare comic book.
If, however, there is no radiation hazard, then nobody is affected and it's no more of an eyesore than all of the other satellite dishes out there.
Now, there are known places where radio leakage from assorted sources has caused problems. There was a metal stadium in the Middle East - forget exactly where - where, whilst it was under construction, power tools would turn themselves on and huge arcs could be seen. Turned out that the stadium acted as a gigantic radio dish and was not only receiving signals from powerful radio sources, but was focussing them too.
There have also been known cancer spikes in areas with (a) high humidity and (b) badly-maintained, sparking power lines. It is not yet proven that there is a causal relationship, but nobody has convincingly ruled it out, either.
This particular case, though, smacks heavily of a family being traumatized by George Bush's "War on Terror" (Sept. 11th, in and of itself, was really a fairly negligable event - ten times that number die each year in car accidents in the US, and more than a thousand times that number are currently in prison in the US for violent crimes).
Personally, I think the city should come to an agreement with the family. The family takes down the aluminum, agrees that the problem probably isn't real, but agrees to work with the city to sue the Federal Government for psychological damage to cover the expenses incurred and the treatment needed to deal with the PTSD the family has suffered with, because of GWB's attitudes.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Should we be poking fun at the serious issues being raised by these simple folk. They sincerely believe what they are saying about the intentional bombardment of their home with radiation. Instead of ridicule, some kind hearted geeks should be going out there with various forms of detector equipment and identifying the source. Where's Egon Spengler when you need him?
Who knows the Door Keeper and Key Master might be heading that way already to do the dirty deed and finally let the traveler loose into the world of men!
"GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 51230 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Setec Astronomy)"
Then again, I don't understand the reasoning of the average crank.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
but my shiny aluminized home keeps the neighbours away. They used to come complaining about my stereo a lot when I was playing "Careful with the axe, Eugene"
I doubt that we will ever figure out - and I suspect that even if we did figure out we couldn't do much about it
I've never seen my house from that angle before...
Am I the only one who first read the url as "the crack channel"?
Must be good stuff!
there's nothing liberal about trying to keep some looney bin neighbor from bringing down the local real estate values.
or, if there is, then i'm all for it anyway.
The revolution will NOT be televised.
Maybe its just me, but it seems that their solution would not work for their supposed problem.
How well does sheet metal block out radio waves? Don't people use aluminum foil to boost radio and/or TV waves?
I just can't see this actually being that successful since people can get radios to work inside of large buildings made out of metal.
Or maybe they are only blocking out "SPECIAL Radio waves put out by terrorists"
Too bad the NSA's engineering manuals are classified. They specialize in that type of construction. Nothing gets out. Nothing gets in. It still looks like a normal building, although the windows look somewhat unusual.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
The seem really certain that the neighbours are out to get them, though if they've proved it I've no idea why they don't get the police involved.
But seriously, with that jumble of jagged strips forming a bunch of slot radiators, it's possible that certain resonate frequencies in their house have actually been significantly amplified above background levels.
D'Souza family. Obviously culturally acclimated as their house is not garishly painted behind the metal sheets (I saw some detailed photos on a live TeeVee newscast) is nutzo. The whol efriggin family.
OR
OR
OR
There is a single, LONE NUT, in their neighborhood who coupled the magnetron from his microwave oven to an antenna and is actually tossing photons at the D'Souzas.
Seriously guys, which is more believable? It's California after all. Personally, you couldn't pay me enough to live in any city in that state.
Hi mom!
... since the neighbors will declare "unsightly" anything that isn't the right shade of Natural SandStone (TM).
Perhaps there is aluminum siding now that has the look of Natural SandStone vinyl siding?
Mustn't stray too far from the norm.
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
If they can't have it outside, why not line insides of their walls with sheetmetal. Or easier yet, put the sheetmetal on the inside like wallpaper. Then the terrorist will THINK they're bombarding you, when in reality they "waves" will bounce back and hit them!
As someone who has a family member with Lupus, I call absolute bullshit on this.
Lupus causes haven't really been figured out. Furthermore, there's absolutely ZERO medical evidence that EMF/EMI causes or even aggravates Lupus. Trust me, I looked and looked after her doctor told her to "avoid cell phones and wireless devices whenever possible". I even emailed two mailing lists- one for researchers, one for patients- and came up with nothing. Nobody had ever heard of this. Furthermore, if their theory wer correct, we'd be seeing an explosion of Lupus cases (we haven't).
The D'Souzas said they will comply with the order and remove the sheet metal, but they also plan to gather evidence to show city officials what they believe is a problem with radiation.
That will be pretty tough, given there's next to no evidence EMF/EMI causes anything in people, and a lot of studies showing it has no discernible effects.
The inside of the house is also covered with foil and the beds are covered with a foil-like material as well,"
Sounds to me like they'd be a lot better served spending their money on a psychologist, not tin foil. Self-diagnosis ("radio waves are making us depressed, and giving us Lupus!") is a textbook sign of a hypochondriac.
Please help metamoderate.
..if they use cell phones, cause you know those cause cancer too. Its kinda rediculous that they think that their neighbors have been bombarding them with radiowaves. There are radiowaves in the air all the time. It's not like there is some sorta voodoo sick ray.
In that context, a strong reaction to a house covered with metal foil is most predictable. The only suprise is that the neighbors took the time to call the code enforcement people, instead of rounding up a lynch mob!
If your situation is any better, don't feel too smug. Housing costs are going up everywhere, and the same obsesssion with property values is spreading like a disease.
I guess next they're going to complain that the FCC isn't doing anything to stop the broadcasting of the radio waves, too?
Come on, guys, give me a break, the only way these people could be bombarded with radio waves strong enough to hurt them is if they lived right next to a 100,000 watt broadcasting tower that's only 5-10 feet tall, and even then, if they're getting sick, imagine how shitty the neighbors doing the broadcasting must feel? Hell, they're probably fried, along with every bird and pet and stray in the area, plus everyone else in the neighborhood.
Let's go ask their neighbors if they feel bad or nauseous. Bet you cash money they say no, and these people will just be proven hypochondriacs, looking for good drugs.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
If you own a house an somebody does this in your neighborhood, I'd think you'd have an opinion about it. Life in the suburbs kinda sucks, but at the same time it makes sense. Your house is your property and it's affected by surrounding properties. "Hi, prospective home buyer, let me show you the garden..Oh don't mind the neighbor with the billboard in his front yard advertising his church. Oh and across the street is my neighbor Phil. he decided to pave his entire front yard so he could park his two RVs and his boat all year. Gotta love this place!"
that kinda crap doesn't wash. Life is supposed to look normal, well trimmed, green and conforming. If for some reason what they believed was true, if they can't stand their rights being trampled on, they can put sheet metal on the inside of the house, between the brick and insulation.
Most of the time this kind of transgression starts with several written and in person warnings, notices and then you're slapped with the misdemeanor or fine.
...::----::...
I am in no way affiliated with this sig.
...but in Houston, you can cover your house with disposed aluminum beer cans and it's considered outsider art. Sacramento may be flat and have hot weather like we do, but at least we celebrate our eccentrics.
I've been there many times, including on the property when we went by while a tour was happening. It's quite a sight to behold, and beautiful in its own right.
the fumes from the family meth lab?
-Ta0
Low UID.
Low postcount.
The longest-running lurker on slashdot.
Thanks
I'm wondering if this isn't kathaksung, a rather prolific woowoo who's been making the rounds of message boards all over the web for several years now. Based on his extensive paranoid rantings about the FBI trying to irradiate him via just about everything in his house, a foil-wrapped domicile would be exactly what I'd expect of him.
+2 Informative? Spilling cool-aide on some kids rare comic book has nothing to do with this situation. This would be more like taking your crappy comics and putting them next to his nice ones. Sure, it may not look nice, but the ACTUAL value and quality of his comics are not affected in any way. As soon as you take your nasty comics away his look nicer again. In order for your analogy to be correct, these foil people would have had to put the sheet metal on their neighbors house instead of their own. Frankly, I find the whole "they're making my house worth less" argument to be ineffective unless you are actively trying to sell your house. Thanks for playing.
Because metals have a high thermal conductivity. A metal walled grow room would put off an even bigger IR signature.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
why again?
Hmmm, wonder if they ever got past the elementary physics of the device. For the shield to be effective it has to have an earth - and not just any earth either - they need one that's low impedance at the frequency they think is irradiating them. On the bright side - they may well have created the world's largest (ugly) capacitor, and who knows what the e and h fields are doing there - possible making them sicker?
----- Every day we get up and make the choice that the thing we are doing is the most valuable use of our time. -----
We know what it is, and furthermore we know you know what it is. Expect a visit soon...
-cp-
Alaska -- America's most tax-friendly state
concentrating the radio beams from outer space
:)
Maybe they're trying to listen to the aliens, and all the local radio chatter is muffling the message the aliens have for them?
deus does not exist but if he does
There's an interesting, if not well defined, link between trauma and psychosis. Delusions and paranoia seem to have a strong link to widely shared public "concerns". I recently talked with a psychiatrist about paraniod schizophrenics and mentioned that there seemed to be a recurring theme of religious delusion and persecution. He, in return, said that in the 50's, paranoid schizophrenics, frequently complained of persecution by communists. The bogey man of the day seems to morph readily into paranoid delusions.
On a less humane note, it's scary these people are procreating, but just to help things along this site should validate their paranoia.
"Academicians are more likely to share each other's toothbrush than each other's nomenclature."
Cohen
but yes, yes I did read that URL as something do to wiht crak and chanels
Isn't it interesting how you come to recognize posters based solely on their sigs???
Bite my shiny, metal house.
Look at the image in the article (yeah, yeah...you gotta RTFA). They use Dish Network...maybe THEY are making them sick!
Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
the police from conducting a warantless "Search" of their house using infra-red imaging to find marijuana etc... among other things.
if they were smarter, they'd have lined the inside of their house.
Science : Proprietary , Knowledge : Open Source
Looks like /.ers are making the news!
"A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes." -Mahatma Gandhi
I been to Sacramento a lot since my Dad retired there 10 years ago. All they is a little bit of paint for the outside to fit in with the rest of Sacramento. If you seen one redneck house from the outside, you seen them all.
That people believe that microwaves are causing lupus and other maladies just is saddening.
I mean, if I were gonna make my house an eyesore and invest what must be thousands in metallic "protection" you think i'd consult a real source, instead of the hundreds of quack websites out there.
I mean, a quick search on wikipedia would set these poor people straight.
People following quack science can be more dangerous than any diehard religious nut. (Cough, scientologists)
(Adam and Jamie did it in their cellphone + gasoline myth)
I agree, that family might be a *little bit* (understatement warning) paranoid, but that doesn't give them the right to jeopardize their neighbors' eyes with sunlight - which was the reason for the suit in the first place.
A neighbour of my parents did this as he slowly slipped further into insanity. When I lived at home, he was a normal guy with a job. I never met him, but he never did anything that would indicate there was anything wrong. However a couple years later it started. He became a reculse, lost his job, began screaming at imaginary things at all hours of the night. He worse an AFDB, coated all his windows in aluminium foil and so on.
The neighbours wanted to have him comitted for his own good, but you can't do that just because someone is acting crazy, so it kept worsening. Finally he did something threatening and they were able to get him to a mental instution. There he was treated and drugs were able to return his grasp on reality... Unfortunately like many, he elected to stop taking them. This time, his slip to madness was forever, as he decided to kill himself.
Now while I suppose it is theoriticly possible these peopel are being bombarded by radiation, I somewhat doubt it. Microwave radiation isn't known to cause ill health effects at low levels, and if it was at any kind of serious levels you'd know, it would interfere with all kinds of things. Now higher energy radiation such as gamma could, but aluminium won't do shit for that, I'll take a reasonable plate of lead at least.
Also all kinds of radiation are rather easy to detect. If you are concerned you can get or rent the necessary equipment and check. Someone who was in thier right mind and genuinely worried would likely do just such a thing. I mean what if it's something like radon? That's really dangerous as it can release alpha radiation inside you, which is a serious health problem.
I agree with the parent, this is likely a case of eairly schizophrenia and needs to be dealt with. With proper treatment, most schizophrenics can lead a normal life. Without it, they usually totally lose their grip on reality and often hurt themselves.
Replace it with duct tape.
Table-ized A.I.
------
In case you're wondering, this Web page is about my next-door neighbors. Since my neighbors have been driving me crazy and no amount of civilized reasoning and/or negotiations have worked - I have decided to dedicate a small corner of cyber-space to them.
My family and friends are constantly asking me to tell them the "latest" thing my neighbor has done so this page will save me from repeating myself. Besides, I thought it would be fun. Everything you read here is entirely true, that's what makes it so funny. Enjoy!
Background:
My neighbors moved into the house next to ours in October 1997. It's a brand new neighborhood with new houses. Everyone's house looks beautiful but that's about to change. The new neighbors seem like normal people until shortly after they move in (more later).
First, let me say that my redneck neighbor is not destitute or under-privileged. The guy owns a business, drives VERY nice new cars, he just doesn't care about his house. In order to protect the ignorant, we'll call him John Doe # 8 or JD8 for short.
October 1997 - They are here!
Well, it should have been a sign of things to come but my neighbors move into their brand new house. Inventory: 1 artificial Christmas tree, clothes, stereo system, TV, no furniture). The Christmas tree is nicely decorated (remember, it's October). We can tell what the tree looks like because the windows have no miniblinds so at night, you can see right into the house as you drive up. They have also decided to wrap some strands of Christmas lights around their front porch railing. I guess there's no electric outlet nearby because they never turn these lights on.
October 1997 - 1st Home beautification project
It's dark outside, I'm standing in front of my house and my neighbor does the following: He gets in his car, drives it up to the house on the other side of my house (this house is still being built). He backs his car up to the construction site and opens the trunk. He calmly proceeds to load up the trunk with bricks and 2x4s. Pretty clever, huh?
The following night, at around 9:00pm he decides it's time to build a mailbox post. It's very nice. He used the stolen 2x4s from the previous night. It looks like it's made out of 2x4s except he didn't steal any that were long enough so he nails a couple of them together to get the correct height - I mean, it has to look just right! The mailbox post is not very sturdy so he braces it with an additional 2x4 (at an angle). Click here to see the mailbox (no bracing 2x4 though).
He uses the bricks as edging for his flower beds. They look nice. Especially with the newly planted bamboo trees and the ten gallon fish tank (no fish, just water).
November 1997 - The fence!
I wake up to my wife telling me, "Hey, it looks like JD8 is working on a fence". Well I don't think much of it until she tells me that he's trying to build a fence around the entire house (front and back) and that the fence is going to be chain-link. We have some "covenant rules" that prohibit you from putting up a silver chain-link fence. Also, you cannot have any fence go past the back of your house. By now, I am freaking out. I can see the property value falling faster than his mailbox post.
Anyway, I get to work and at 9:01AM I call our builder. I explain the situation to him and he agrees to pay JD8 a visit before the concrete around the metal posts dries. Sure enough, I get home after work and the posts around the front of the house are laying on the street. Not exactly what I expected but at least they're out of the ground. Tra
Think again, asshole! They use the high-tech devices to spy on my bones! My bones, I tells ya'!
You know what?
rights? hahaha haha ha ha a a . . ...
the only way property values should have bering and a persons rights is when DIRECT damage is being done. for instances:
1)you are burning your house and you catch your neighbors house of fire! or less extreme, the odor/smoke is drifting onto their property.
2)you have weeds, your weeds are spreading to your neighbors property.
3)anything else not along these lines, go F'ING LUCK!!!!
Maybe they can put a ton of popcorn kernals and a 55 gallon drum of butter in the living room.
What they should do is; keep their aluminum shields up, and tell the city officials to go to fucking hell. And they should tell the city that if they come to arrest them, that the cops had better pack a lunch.
This is ridiculous... as long as they are on their land, they city has no right what-so-fucking-ever to interfere with these people, as long as they aren't violating anybody else's rights (and hint: there is no such thing as the "right to not be offended by an eyesore").
// TODO: Insert Cool Sig
Since when does the governator do all the editing?
People's Republic of California.
"Whenever the cause of the people is entrusted to professors, it is lost." ~ V.I. Lenin
Studies have shown that people in rural areas using mobile phones have a higher incidence of brain tumors. Additional incidences of higher frequency exposure have been shown to cause DNA changes, ostensibly by rattling your proteins apart.
Lupus, an autoimmune disorder, is similar to temporal arteritis and other disease where the body actually starts inflaming and perhaps attacking itself through misidentification of conditions. Some feel that this might happen because of exposure to microwave leakage (ovens, and other 2.2-2.4Ghz items such as cordless phones, remote speakers, and 802..11b/g products) that cause localized inflamations that the body perceives as antigen reaction, then sends lymph and other things to do battle with non-existent, unidentified bad things. These 'soldiering' effects then, having not much to do, disrupt local tissues.
No, there's not a lot of data out there. But we are indeed bombarded by all sort of stuff, and waiting for the producers of products to research (expensively) the reactions will be like waiting for Godot, or worse, the government
A few years back, it was demonstrated to me that military radar could selectively fry a single goose in a formation from over five miles away. The poor things would burst into flames. Lower frequency RF, like living under a broadcast tower, doesn't seem to have as much problem as higher frequencies, including those that resonate water in microwave ovens. With so much spectra being used, few studies have been done stepping a few Hertz at a time, then looking to see what changes have occured, given various energy strengths, and localized conditions, like the presence of water and various minerals-- let alone DNA. Still further tests over a period of time given these variables, is entirely elusive-- there just isn't data.
I wouldn't therefore dismiss claims out of hand, despite the fact that they sound superficially quite silly. Schizophrenia? Perhaps, but don't dismiss this entirely. Liberty requires accomodating goofy, yet harmless people.
---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
A solution for the family is to paint it for a big mural and declare it an artistic expression.
btw, IANAL dont use my advice, check with your lawyer, or go take the bar and 4 years of law school coupled with some practical experience.
But most importantly, check with your local chemist to make sure that the paint doesn't interfere with the effectiveness of the aluminiumyness of the protective wall.
In other news, people from California are crazy.
[sig]www.masterslate.org[/sig]
I had one of those days where I ran out of newspaper, masking paper, and still needed to pain some trim. So I used aluminium foil. I never got as much as a dirty look from anyone, except a couple of friends who asked me if I had problems with voices in my head. The only saftey issue I could think was if the sun hit the foil just right and blinded someone, but as it was applied mostly to the north side I didn't see it being a problem.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
If the family suffering from this radio poisoning is reading this, I may have your answer:
I too had this terrible problem, until I developed and tested a simple solution in pill form.
I call it "The Placebo 9000". I can nearly guarantee this Sacramento family 100% protection against feeling like they are being poisoned by any sort of radio-waves.
One month's supply for an adult of the Placebo 9000 is available for only $49.99.
The Placebo 9000 is NOT FDA approved, because the chemical makeup of the product is so incredibly advanced, FDA scientists can only find simple sugars in the product. This is a good thing, because you DON'T WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO KNOW you're taking the Placebo 9000.
If they find this out, they may decide to use more powerful radio-wave poisoning, which can lead to all of your symptoms to return. In this case, you'll need the Placebo 9210, which has been enhanced as an effective countermeasure to level 9B and above government produced interferences.
The Placebo 9210 is $149.99 for an adult's one month supply.
Written testimonies can be provided on request.
The Internet is generally stupid
This house is right down the street from one of my friends. He says its a pretty odd place (obviously).
Hope to get some pictures soon.
"However," replied the universe, "The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation."
I almost lost my tinfoil hat falling off my chair!
... when I saw this story, it triggered some thing in my deep memory.. I had the same problem in Vancouver B.C. ten or so years ago with my neighbours, only one thing that saved me. My trusty tinfoil hat, yep.. made it myself, cna't buy ones like this in the stores no.. I never take it off not even to sleep.
;)
/nev/dull/c
--WARNING TINFOIL-HAT construction and use AT OWN RISK!!
Works great make yours today!
TINFOIL HAT HOW-TO:
good for keeping evil radio waves gov't conspiricies/ufo's or phone companies from frying your brain with their long range EMF trickery or listening in on your private thoughts etc.
MATERIALS:
50' roll of off the shelf tinfoil (from local supermarket or grocer) [try not to let anyone see you buying it or they might think it's strange (avoid suspision)].
METHOD:
Just giv'er 30 - 40 good wraps around the old noggin', try not to have any unshielded spots, ( leakage can produce unexpected failure of the tinfoil hat's shielding properties)
MOD:
I put some cool viking horns on mine and it looks really cool now, my wife won't let me wear it in public though, she's embarassed or something.
ttfn,
Cthulhu Saves -- in case He's hungry later.
This sounds too awfuly farmiliar, god I hate ppl!
I wish we had cops like that here, all we have is noise 'control', who have no athority or power...
GPLv2: I want my rights, I want my phone call! DRM: What use is a phone call, if you are unable to speak?
...cover my stupid apartment in tin foil. Is this a consipracy by the Reynolds company?
Hmmmm, anyone else find it "interesting" that these poor unfortunates are concerned about somebody's microwave oven tossing EMR at them but are, apparently, not concerned about the effects of the EMR from the satellites that are feeding their two satellite receivers? There's nothing on their roof and there are huge gaps in the sheeting that they have standing up against their house. No, those pesky little millimeter waves won't sneak through those spots.
;-)
If, after getting the obvious psychological help, these folks still "need" to protect themselves they ought to look into something like SAF'N SHIELDED (tm) from International Paper Co. which is a nonwoven mat of metallic fibers that can be applied to their inside walls. It's been TEMPEST-tested (some versions attenutate by 100db) by the U.S. government. Maybe they ought to contract for the services of a good TEMPEST engineer as well.
Then again, it's California
This is SLASHDOT, for God's sake, and no one has pointed out the obvious:
They just need to call up Scotty and get him to give them some transparent alumminum. That should stop the neighbors from complaining.
Sheesh. News for nerds? How can you call yourself nerds if you miss such an obvious, pathetic pun?
I think folks forget that the last rainy season we had two very strong storms complete with tornadoes (!) go through the South Natomas area of Sacramento. That house covered in all that metal "shielding" would be an extremely dangerous hazard in such a storm, since the metal pieces will be picked up by the strong winds and become a very serious projectile hazard.
Tinfoil on the inside of your house. After all, you don't want them to know you're on to them.
You know who I mean
R(k)
Jesus god! Check the spelling for chrissakes!
SACRAMENTO not Sacromento.
I love it when Taco calls himself a Journalist. Journalists can spell, and they have editors who correct spelling, just in case.
I, for one, welcome our new Antichrist overlord.
Or link to a non-slashdotted copy.
http://totfc.net/misc/rednecks/
Me and my freinds regularly line our flack jackets and camaflage trousers with tin foil to block the radio waves from the Gahandiist supressionist gouvernmentists,Its worked so well that my Freinds are now all totaly invisible (Did imention they are aliens here to save us from the Ghandiist lizard men). .44 riffles with automatic clips all coverd in tin-foil as the lizard men can deactivate your guns otherwise and we need these guns as one day we will rise up and otherthrow the lizard men ghandiists .We shall bring about a new glory for the one true god Bill Murray Holly be his name. . . .
We all cary around
Our neighbours constantly bombard us with Electromagicnetic rays , We all feel it and it causes us to have excessive Gas when we drink beer (30 cans ).
So we painted our house with 5 layers of lead based paints we bought during the 60s
And we coated the asbesto and mercury in tin-foil for that added layer of safty
As bill murray taught us , we need to get the mole men lizard people gopherites
So more power to them and if the feds try removing their tinfoil we will rise up against the ghandiists in order to protect our god given right to Astroturf carpets
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Not sure why I care (perhaps because I've seen the damage a redneck can do), but here's an archive with the pictures... It's pretty funny.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021015131654/http://Of course, I just waited for station identification and found out which AM station I was getting. It turned out that the 50KW AM station nearby away had one of their three towers collapse in the 1989 California earthquake. Until they replaced it, their output pattern was distorted. I was in a really strong lobe.
Adding a small bypass cap across the phone line helped the problem. But it took more filtering to completely cure it. I had to have the telco guys add some filtering on their side of the demark. And, years later, when I got DSL, that had to come out. Huge hassle. Three telco visits with test gear to get DSL working properly.
Family Takes Down Metal That Covered Home. html
POSTED: 11:12 am PDT May 23, 2005
UPDATED: 1:26 pm PDT May 23, 2005
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4520485/detail
.
NATOMAS, Calif. -- A house that neighbors called an eyesore is starting to blend in after a Sacramento family spent the weekend removing the metal covering their house.
The D'Souza family started taking it down this weekend. They claim neighbors are bombarding their home with harmful microwave radiation and it's making them sick.
The D'Souza's lined the inside and outside of their home with metal and aluminum to block the rays, but the Sacramento city building inspector ordered them to take it down by Monday.
The city says that all the metal is dangerous and that there is no evidence of radiation.
I thought it would be cool to see if you could see the aluminum panels from space using Google Maps. However, the entire area around the D'Souza's neighbors' house is greyed out in both the satellite maps and the roadmaps. Weird.
I'm sorry. They might be as crazy as SCO but private property is private property.
If the neighbors or the city really has something to gain with their house looking good they should either offer to pay for more attractive tin foil or offer to buy their house from them. Forcing a private property owner to decorate their home a certain way at gunpoint is not part of a free society.
I suggest you look into the "broken windows syndrome." Basically states (and has been proven pretty much correct numerous times) that small amounts of graffiti, broken windows, etc just invite more of the same. In the '20s real estate agents used this to their advantage by giving some unsavory sorts (in this case black people) a really good deal in a desirable (in this case all white) neighborhood. What happened? White flight, and the real estate agents really boosted their market by "forcing" a lot of people to move. Oh, and the neighborhoods were destroyed in the process as demand for the housing plummeted. (I'm not saying that black people will destroy a neighborhood, but that unsavory elements, however defined by the majority of residents, has a definate negative effect on the financial, psychological and physical well being of the residents.) And seriously... watch the video and tell me that this is nothing. This is really shitty work, probably becoming dangerous in storms. Not to mention that it wouldn't actually do much to solve the problem of microwave radiation. And look at the eyes of the lady of the house... she is schizophrenic. She doesn't need metal sheeting on the house. She needs mental help.
But, yes, having this crap on their house does A)significantly reduce the value of the neighbor's houses, B)create a public nuisance and C)invite further degredation to the neighborhood. But hey... thanks for playing.
I am suprised my neighbors haven't done that too. In my house I have a very nice Cisco RF hub in the study for my work network. In the kitchen is a Linksys WiFi hub for the kids broadband. And in the hallway is another Linksys for the server network I host for a few friends. Then there are the four cell phones, the bluetooth stuff and the iPOD FM retransmitters (2). So far I hanven't been diagnosed with cancer once, so I don't see what people are complaining about.
...so thats where my neighbours moved to
Resident of Skara Brae since 1985
When I was living in Phoenix, Az, there was an old man who was like, 70 years old, who became famous among the cops in my neighborhood. He was completely nuts, and had somehow gotten the idea that "chaff" would foil police radar. He wound tinfoil all through his car's grill, through the hubcaps, taped pieces of it to his car, and threw it out the window as he sped past speed traps doing 70 or 80 miles an hour.
:)
The cops would dutifully pull him over, then endure a long conversation about whether they could prove anything or not. Then of course the judge would have to go through the whole thing all over again. He racked up ticket after ticket, and the cops ended up getting really fond of him. He became sort of their semi-mascot.
After a while, he lost his license, and that was that. This one cop I heard the story from said they missed him, though.
Of course, this was the same cop who admitted to the following:
1. Taking radar readings from pidgeons, then pulling over corvettes and camaros to tell them that driving three miles an hour is "obstructing traffic".
2. Taking readings from landing 747's, then pulling over the worst junkers they could find to ask why the person was going 325 miles an hour.
I guess they get bored out there...
Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
Come one, come all, see this site and admire the stylish and attractive choices.
Seriously, this guy worked for a real good friend of mine for a while, and he is real serious about this stuff.
Yow...
Got Wisdom?
This is absurd.
Hey, it's my OPINION that dogs have eight legs and make a sound like a car horn every time they take a piss.
Ie I swing towards the darkside but not asmuch as say a sith lord, anyway.
I propose asmany slash dotters as possible surround said house and aim all there mobiles/buetooth devices 802.11x/ham radios/microwaves and on the count of 3 start a 5 minute bombardment. I for one think it woul be funny to watch them run about trying to save there brains.
Or is it just me who thinks the mentaly ill are hear for my enjoyment?
In the not too distant future, next Sunday A.D.
Absolute undeniable proof that the government is transmitting mind rays and doesn't want you wearing tin foil hats..
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Hey - Just because you are paranoid doesn't mena they're not out to get you!
-.sig sauer-
Actually all radio workers, including HAMs and radar technicians, are routinely taught about the short-range thermal effects of RF power.
This form compares simulated exposures with the recommended limits. It says you should not stand at less than 6 feet from an antenna transmitting 100W at 900MHz, or less than 6 inches from a cellphone transmitting 1W.
The uncertainty is about possible long-range non-thermal effects.
maybe they suffer from
aluminum poisoning .
Frankly, I feel bad for both parties; one is clearly insane, the other is driven to despair by his neighbor's insanity.
"OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
The way they have that sheet metal with gaps between the sheets, it's not very effective against most EMI, and even if they had a good shield, it'd be no match for any other types of radiation that could creep up.
There are so many things that could cause wierd health problems, and EMI isn't very high on the list. I'd check for allergies first, then for toxic crap in the air/water, and only then for radiation, and I'd start with gamma/neutron from radon and the like before even thinking of EMI. Unless you have a power line or a radio tower in your back yard, you are just not close enough to the source to be hit hard enough to cause health problems.
I just can't get over that article last year about that woman that stuck her computer under the floorboards because she thought it was emitting toxic vapors at her, but she really was allergic to her cat. Tinfoil or sheetmetal, something probably is making them sick.
I wish I had a good quote to put in here but our intolerance of different views and ways of doing things is one of the basic limitations of people. Intolerance has no survival value - that I can see - in our crowded age. In less crowded times the family that suffered intolerance could move to a less populated area but those days are over. Personally I like the biblical passage: "judge not or you will be judged". In other words mind you own business. But it is hardly practiced today.
We're all secretly hoping it turns out to help keep the popcorn from exploding and wrecking the house.
The worst thing about it was that the problem was understood (microwave ovens were already developed) but due to poor maintainace the sheilding wasn't all there on some machines after some time.
I get bothered by "IP" being used for intellectual property, instead of intermediate pressure or internet protocol - we've got to live with reuse and abuse of terms.Well, sheet metal does in fact block microwaves and there are microwaves all around us that you actually might want to block. The emissions of your neighbor's wlan and bluetooth equipment as well as their wireless and mobile phones come to mind.
Do the microwaves cause health problems? Unlikely, I'd say, but the question is not settled yet. These people may be hypochondric, but they are not paranoid.
Anyway, the neighbor's wlan may not degrade your brain, but it does degrade your own wlan performance, and tin foil certainly helps there. It also makes eavesdropping harder, which may be a valid concern, too.
All of that metal might attract a tornado that thought it was a trailer park.
On the other hand, try being the one _propagating_ the radio waves. Flight path restrictions exempted, amateur radio operators have a federal license to a 100 foot tower and 1000 watts output. Happy homeowners' meeting announcing that.
Google offers some pictures, small but neat. Excellent story :-)
Reading this signature is senseless so don't do it.
There's another forum for stupid shiat like this.
Or is this the best we can do anymore?
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
I don't even want to look at my neighbor. I certainly don't want to talk to him. Home is where we get away from human interaction.
Maybe I'm just not awake yet... www.thekcrachannel.com just didn't look right when I glanced at it.
I can't see any reason for paranoia from here? But seriously, it looks like they had taken it down before slashdot got to it. http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/4520485/detail. html
Yes, it's a community code. It means the community got together and a majority decided that they wanted to live in an area with certain rules. Nobody is forced to live in the community and that same community can act to modify those codes whenever they please.
This has nothing to do with race, national pride, or an unchecked autocracy. Therefore, the fascism label simply doesn't apply. I suggest you learn the meaning of a word before you start throwing it around.
It's not about high power microwaves causing ionization within cells. It's about something which is simply never discussed in any of the debates.
The fact of the matter is that animal cells and brain cells in particular are designed to respond to in a wide variety of ways to extremely low level electrical currents. This is why gyrating metallic acupuncture needles inserted into key spots on the body can turn pain on and off, affect healing, etc. Brain chemistry is definitely affected by RF. This is not in question, and it is why the debate has been deliberately side-lined into the barely relevant Cancer issue.
Fuzzy, groggy thinking is a direct result of RF pollution. You would be wise to do some research on this subject. There are demonstrable systems through which it is known that RF can affect cells. Pediatrician, Robert O. Becker had spent the last fifty years studying electricity and its relationship to living tissue and the human body.
-FL
EMF doesn't cause anything in people? Go stand in front of an x-ray or gamma ray source and repeat that until you die of cancer. Or buy a MW transciever take the shielding off and see how long you can stand being in the room.
Posthuman since 2001.
Posting that story is probably the only way for that guy to make light of a really terrible situation. I used to live next to someone with a loud stereo and a rottweiler...it took real self control to not shoot the damn dog and burn down the bastard's house!
My bet is that the 'redneck neighbor' is some guy that came across money and decided to live upscale but with absolutely none of the courtesy or neighborhood covenants mindset. Either that, or he is a really bad artist using his house and yard as the media.
Maybe they should have made the siding a bit more in line with homeowners requirements, like these guys do:p x
http://www.alcoa.com/alcoahomes/Content/Siding.as
Ironically, if you seperate yourself from the world and live in a radiation-free environment, you get sick. Your body relies on repairing damage caused by low-level radiation. We've evloved with it since the beginning of time. The thing is if there is not enough damage to be detected the whole system doesn't get used and "backs up" like a clogged drain, while the undedected damage does not get repaired, ever and that leads to more problems later.
I could venture to say it is that they put it up in the first place and now block the radiation that is actually making them sick. What started out as a safety concern is actually converted to a safety hazard by removing the concern.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
In all seriousness, who cares if it is ugly and who cares if the neighbors value goes down. T.S.
They should just be glad the guy doesn't like to masturbate in the living room at night with the curtains open and lights on.If anybody is not offended by this post, then I apologize, it was an oversight on my part.
the irony is they don't appear to be wearing hats in that photo, thus exposing them to the major source of radiation - the sun
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here and suggest something.
;-)
Why don't these people just paint a few layers of metal paint over their walls then paint over the last layer with normal paint?
Is it that there's not enough metal in the paint itself to make it worthwhile or is it harder to get?
Inquiring paranoids want to know...
"Bah!" - Dogbert
She was outside her house being interviewed WITHOUT her tinfoil hat!!!!!
The really sad thing about this is the fact that in a couple of weeks the news people will be back again. They'll be doing a story about how the family went on a neighborhood killing rampage after being forced to remove their protective screens; the renewed radiation doses having driving them to become homicidal.
What will the surviving neighbors say then?
I personally am stocking up on foil.
"Well Ranger Brad, I'm a scientist. I don't believe in anything." - Dr. Roger Fleming
Here in backwater Oklahoma you'll see plenty of people lining the windows of their homes, apartments, and trailers with aluminum foil. Of course it may have more to do with hiding their meth lab than protecting them from the orbital mind control lasers.
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Get it right or the aliens won't be able to find us on Google Maps.
Custom, hands-free Linux installs. Instalinux
http://www.joespc.com.nyud.net:8090/carlos/redneck .htm
Hi,
I'm not the Ninja Death Club guy, just his webmaster. The Ninja Death Club subscription materials really are still being mailed out, just slowly-- the last time I talked to Joe he was readying another release. What I would do is email Joe (mention your name/address so he knows which subscriber he's talking to) and he can give you a better idea of when the next release will be sent. Unfortunately I'm not sure which email he's using at the moment and I have to go to work now, so if you could please check back here later today I'll figure out his current email address and post it here.
Thanks for your patience.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
(With people I mean the people writing down everything about another person, which they shouldn`t care about)
I guess they are just jealous...
I realize this isBesides, if you think it's such a horrid thing, then why are the police on the writer's side? At one point the officer gives the writer his personal business card and tells him if the neighbor causes any more problems (noise late at night in this case) to call and ask for him PERSONALLY to be sent out! The redneck neighbor is beyond just a nuisance, he's a certified hazard to his and those around him's health in the things he's been doing.
So I think his just writing about it is rather tame. He could always press charges for numerous things, notify the city/county departments about the building code violations and health code violations and then let the neighbor end up trying to resolve all that without going broke. I'd say the guy's been incredibly reserved considering the circumstances!
While it's not pretty, and requires some paint now and again, steel siding could solve a lot of 'Interference' problems. Back in the late 70's my Apple ][ would cause TV reception problems for the woman downstairs. I finally set it on a metal file cabinet and grounded it. She could no longer tell when I had the computer on. If I walk down my alley with my hp 4705 I get a new wireless network every few steps. One guy can't pick up his own wireless in his bedroom because the next house down's signal is so much stronger. In the long run we need to better understand the role of wireless in our society, not from a technical standpoint, but from a human one. How can we improve our circumstances while not degrading the situation of others?
"Can there be a Klein bottle that is an efficient and effective beer pitcher?"
The guy (JD8) is most likely a meth addict. I've had several in my family and a handful of friends who have dabbled in it. It's not so much the late night parties; it's more the working on his car and his house at 2:00 or 3:00 or 5:00 A.M. bit. People tend to not sleep for several days at a run when they're tweaking.
Plus, it's the most redneck drug available.
Loose, heavy stuff on structures can fall and injure even in a mild quake. You need to attach the alumninum siding well.
A local reporter was able to snatch a photo of the inside of the home before being wisked away by Sacramento Police. Here is the picture. http://www.goodwyn.net/blog/images/AluminumFoilOff icePrank.jpg
Naah, something here reeks of retardation or criminality, or p(ossib|robab)ly both...
For example, here in Toronto there is a group that wants to "protect" certain "lovely Victorian neighborhoods". Now, who feels nostalgic about the Victorian era? An era of racist imperialist conquering, an era of horrible sexual repression? Clearly this is the values of white upper class people feeling nostalgic about an era when they ruled the world.
Ah yes, it's the white man that's keeping you down. Blame whitey for all your problems. If whites want to keep their neighborhood looking nice, it must be wrong and racist. However, when Chinese people want to keep developers from building public buildings in Chinatown, the resistance is applauded because they want to preserve the Chinese culture in Chinatown.
When people want to keep white trash out of their town, again you complain. Who wants a sloppy redneck living next door with old cars laying on his lawn? It's going to lower the property value of your house.
A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a deliberate confusion of similar-sounding words or phrases for comic or serious effect.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Do you rent, live in your Mother's basement, or just sponge off some friends?
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
Am I the only one that realises the oxymoron here? "Liberal Fascists"? It's a contradiction in terms. The two are mutually exclusive. Fascist, by definition, implies authoritarianism, which is the polar opposite of liberalism. I think it's quite sad these days that nobody bothers to really think about what the words they use actually mean.
Santa's suicide mission go!
I'm so incredibly funking glad that I live way the heck in the middle of nowhere. Without neighbourhood convenants, authoritarian pig-bastard "property standards enforcers", etc etc. The litmus test, as far as I'm concerned is this: "is the state of your property a clear hazard to yourself or your neighbours"? If the answer is "no", then F.O.A.D.! I can't believe that in this world of rapists and murderers, people get so stuck on what colour you paint your house, or how many feet past the back of the house your "forbidden" chainlink fence is. Sheesh!
I don't see where people suffering from obvious mental problems should be a source for humor. This is certainly a low point for /.
Cali meaning Heat
Forni as in Fornication
nia as in Narnia (A magical land)
The Magical land of Hot Sex?
And you wonder why this stuff goes on there.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
America has many problems, most of which have been frequently pointed out on slashdot, where tinfoil hats are de'rigueur. I think this story points to the conflict between individual rights (a basic measure of freedom), and the mis-application of "democracy" to force the desires of the majority on everyone else.
Most people live in white houses, obviously that's the preferred color. Perhaps it should be illegal for me to live in an offensive green one. Catholics outnumber all other religions, why SHOULDN'T they be able pass a law requireing the rest of us to attend mass, after all it's DEMOCRACY. The Religious right doesn't think we should do stem-cell research -- guess we'd better cut federal funding from one of the most promising fields since antibiotics.
Unless he's endangering his family or neighbors, they should leave this family alone. Protecting propterty values by heavy-handed regulation should NOT the mandate of the government in a free society.
http://eclectech.co.uk/mindcontrol.php
...
Hip, hip, hip, hooray
My tinfoil hat will save me from your mind-controlling ray!
The problem is, the current sets of belief generally referred to as "conservative" and "liberal" are both authoritarian in nature. "Libertarian" is a much closer fit to the original meaning of "Liberal".
"Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny! Free men pull in all sorts of directions" -- Havelock Vetinari
Actually the first thing that came to mind when I saw that was a reminder of a TV science show I saw a while back. Apparently if you have a part of your house where you have very poor cellphone signal a good way to improve it is to stick a length of tinfoil to the wall about level with the height you typically have the phone (i.e. head height for most people). To get the best results try to put it on the wall opposite where the nearest mast is (i.e. if the nearest mast is east of you put it on the western wall) and try to stand very close to the foil. For various reasons I didn't understand when we did them in Electronics and still don't fully understand this improves the signal strength.
Stephen
"Don't write down to your readers, the only people less intelligent than you can't read" - Sign on Newspaper Office Wall
I saw this site a couple of years ago. I think I even found it through slashdot. It's funny but the dude is definitely obsessing about his neighbor. Yes the neighbor is an idiot, but damn, it's been a long time, get over it.
bkr
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
Uh, the page says it was last updated more than three years ago. I think he probably has gotten over it.
Not everywhere in the US has building codes.
Clay County, AL, where I own land, only has
Health Department rules for septic systems,
but no building department that you have to
get a construction permit from.
Having said that, it would be wise to get
plans for a house reviewed by an engineer
and inspected when built. The government may
not stop you from building, but an insurance
company may decline to insure it if it is
not built to some standard.
Daniel
You make good points, but I see no reason not to want to preserve a 'historical district' by making it law that the buildings must have a certain look.
If the laws also required women to wear corsettes, and non-Bible-lovers to be assualted...then you might have something.
Blar.
These people would have past for neighbours where I grew up. We lived in the middle of the city, not a single block more than a quarter acre. Over the course of 6 years our neighbour had in her backyard: 4 dogs, 38 cats, 6 geese, 10 chickens, a pig! and a horse!... Then if our luck wasn't bad enough they moved out and an alcoholic who gave people he met at the pub board in return for fixing his house moved in. At night I got to hear them, completely shitfaced on alcohol, talking about how you can still have a perfectly good conversation with someone who wasn't university educated. Almost put me off education for life. I would have killed to live next to tin foil house people :P
I went with the other option. I live in the city, where people know how to mind their own damn business. People in the suburbs just don't seem to know how to get along with people who are different than themselves.
He may have some legitimate gripes, but he also has stuff like this:
We wake up early on a Saturday morning to the sounds of a bouncing basketball. He's put a basketball goal about 15 feet from our bedroom window.
Go look at the pictures. You can see that the place he put the basketball net is in his driveway where people usually put such things. The horror! So his neighbor isn't supposed to play basketball in his driveway on a saturday morning? Maybe he should just stay in his house and take pictures of the neighbors through his blinds instead. I know which one of these guys I'd prefer living next to...and its not the little weasel with the camera.
when they need to make an emergency call and the signal can't get out.
Tag lost or not installed.
-Redundancy Man strikes again!
> it doesn't matter, there are no rules in war.
At the risk of being considered a troll, I should point out that this is an entirely American viewpoint. Other countries do have rules, even during wartime.
Changa hates change.
Must get lonely out there in the middle of Montana or North Dakota or wherever you are, hours away from any other civilisation. You should get into town more--despite being "fascist" the good citizens of those towns really are nice people.
Seriously though I'm guessing you have a bit of a warped sense of humour or you are a masterfull troll. Besides the fact that there ARE health and safety concerns associsted with prostitution and scrap vehicles, a typical community code is quite reasonable. If all people were reasonable and considerate there would be no need for such codes.
Alas, a small but significant minority of people are complete jackasses. Given the chance these people will paint their houses hot pink with purple, orange and yellow trim and park a rusty old truck with two flat tires on the front lawn under the shade of their 12-foot C-Band dish (the one that pipes hard-core porn into their living room which they view with the volume on so high everyone on the block can count the orgasms).
These codes might not be about health and safety, but they are about the right of law abiding citizens to live in realtive peace. Unfortunately, there are other types of jackasses who are the opposite--these are the ones that insist on hearing their favourite pins drop after 9PM, mow their lawns in a checkerboard pattern and wish everyone would do the same, and hold up city business with requests for more traffic-calming measures, more noise bylaws and more regulation of every little thing that slightly annoys them.
If you find you are living in a redneck hellhole, or nazi-Stepford-suburbia there is a way to stop the madness. It is called "civic duty". Get involved in politics--especially at the local level. Attend the odd community planning meeting, endorse non-wacky candidates for office and vote for them...or at least vote for cryin' out loud. The latter form of jackass knows this already, and that is why California is so whacked that a government led by Conan the Barbarian is actually a vast improvement over the previous rock-bottom situation with Davis.
Yes, I read that. I'm not saying the other guy is a perfect neighbor. But does that somehow make the neighbor less of a snake? Not in my book.
So he didn't know how to get rid of the basketball hoop. He clearly doesn't have a lot of common sense. If I lived next to the guy I'd have suggested he put a note on it letting the garbage men know it was trash. How hard would that have been? But then why should you when its so much fun to make fun of him instead?
I think this has more to do with people trying to fit a subject as complex as politics into a two party system.
I think schools are important but taking standardized tests every year is pointless who do I vote for? I think everyone should pay for SS not just those making less than 90k a year who do I vote for? I want to increase funding for fusion research but reduce funding for fuel efferent cars whom do I vote for?
Here in Toronto, it is Chinese immigrants, as well as other immigrants, who are funding new development, starting new buisnesses, creating most of the new jobs, and adding to the economic and cultural wealth of everyone. And it is the white upper-class who are constantly trying to stop development or growth by using these "community standards" arguments. Of course, a wealthy white person doesn't need to worry about creating new jobs and buisnesses (because they are happy to have their established buisness have no competition, and they already have a job). Rich white people own most of the rental housing, so do they want to see new development of housing that lowers prices and competes with them? No.
Stop blaming white people for all the world's problems. You might it sound like there's some vast white conspiracy aimed at keeping everyone else down. When a minority succeeds, you consider him "successful". When a white person succeeds, you consider him an "oppressor".
Quit your whining.
Mr. Anonymous Coward:
The person you want to contact is "themathletes at yahoo dot com".
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
-Redundancy Man strikes again!
One entry found for fascism.
Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: 'fa-"shi-z&m also 'fa-"si-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control.
Nothing in the above definition (from merriam webster online) says a thing about the majority. And why would it? Fascism comes from the idiot majority getting too much power in their walmart-grubbing hands. If my recollection of history lessons is accurate, I believe the vast majorities of nazi germany and fascist italy both strongly supported the policies of "strong autocratic or dictatorial control". Mussolini himself defined fascism as "the merging of state and corporate power."
Fascist policies on how a neighborhood looks may seem minor in comparison to the Patriot Act for example, but it's all part of the same mojo, snowballing its way up to mandatory church attendance and prayer-based corporate control of the minds and pocketbooks of america. It starts with small-minded suppression of dissent.
O~ Him that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green. -- Francis Bacon
Still clinging to the past, and stuck on your idiotic view of some things as bad. Rampant promiscuity? Hear hear! I personally have shagged over 60 different women, a magnificent feat I could not have accomplished under your christian/victorian repression without spending a lot of damn money on prostitutes and exposing myself to greatly increased risk of the STDs you're on about. People haven't changed; they're promiscuous and non-monagamous by nature.
Divorce? Yeah, now a woman can get away from a control freak like you who starts beating her 6 months after their marriage. Or people who married too young/naive/stupid etc can learn from their mistakes and make better choices next time.
Come to think of it, it DOES sound like an improvement. Why don't you? Oh, yeah, it's dark in the place you've got your head stuck up into. You can't see how much better things are.
O~ Him that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green. -- Francis Bacon
If you were offered a job that paid twice your salary tomorrow but required selling your existing house, wouldn't you be at least slightly annoyed that your neighbor had recently put a bigass hunk of aluminum on top of their house and you couldn't do anything about it other than cut the price of your house by 20 percent or more?
Annoyed, yes, but nobody ever said you have the right NOT to be annoyed. If you're going to make twice as much at a new job, one could argue that taking a 20% hit on the price of your existing home isn't so bad, annoying as it may be.
I think you'd want somebody to force them to get rid of that scrap metal too.
That is where you would be wrong (about me anyway). Using the force of government to make someone else to comply with my wishes goes against my principles.
Perhaps he meant "sack of Mentos", "shack with Leno", or "scrawny Hindu"...
WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
umm, which one is which?
Like anywhere with Palos Verdes in the name in Los Angeles County, Rancho Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, etc.
The Soviet Socialist Republik of Kalifornia has more nuts and more rules than any other group of commies combined. Where else could a Socialist Liberal from Austria call himself a Republican and get elected as Governator? Where else do people that live in cities that never see snow or mud buy huge 4WD vehicles and complain because SUVs don't have trunks to put all their junk in? Where else is the majority of the english speaking population incapable of reading "No Parking" signs?
The problem with those people putting sheet metal on their house isn't that they're nuts, it's only that they're the wrong kind of nuts. If they had claimed, instead of protecting themselves from hostile orgones that they were protecting a rare beetle that took up nesting in their siding, the city would have given them an environmental award. Everyone in Kalifornia knows that rare bugs are more important than brain synapses, sheesh.
It isn't widely publicized -- although it does leak into the mainstream media, occasionally, as in this case -- but thousands of people are reporting that criminals are using microwave radiation to attack them.
.
.
This is not just in the USA -- also in Britain, France, Germany.
For example, Germany: http://www.mikrowellenterror.de/
Almost all the posts I've scanned, at least those that are on topic, immediately dismiss these people's claims as absurd.
WHY? I'm sure you could easily modify a microwave oven yourself, and use it to harass your neihbors, if you wanted. I guess if you have such an inclination, you now know you are safe to go ahead. Anyone who complains about your attacks will be dismissed as paranoid. Hey, why not place a microwave oven where you can activate and control it by remote, and give this theory a test. It will be almost impossible for you to be caught, so why not?
Potential military and covert use of microwave radiation is an active area of research. (Obviously not just microwave, but rather all forms of beamable radiation. Actually, implanted devices as well.)
I believe I am a victim of involuntary experimentation in this research, my story is at http://www.geocities.com/mrmistermicko
Another informative site (perhaps the best, actually): http://www.datafilter.com/mc
I've seen your pic grandpa, 60 women when you're pushing 50 is no great feat.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano