Anti-Peace Symbol Board RESIGNS!

[mondo joe]

Last week, a couple were threatened with fines of $25 a day by their homeowners’ association unless they removed a four-foot wreath shaped like a peace symbol from the front of their house.

The fines have been dropped, and the three-member board of the association has resigned, according to an e-mail message sent to residents on Monday.

Two board members have disconnected their telephones, apparently to escape the waves of callers asking what the board could have been thinking, residents said. The third board member, with a working phone, did not return a call for comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/us/29wreath.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


WOOHOO!!!!

[jgraz]

1. I only have one thing to say to that...

[maggiegault]

4. Greatest. Post. Ever.

:yourock:

[Sequoia]

9. How would you know, you're Brand New! Welcome!

Small Static Cling Sticker: Peace Sign Wreath
$1.00
SSCS-PSW
This is a Static Cling Sticker. It has no adhesive. It will stay in place on clear glass. The front side has a static charge that lasts indefintely. It can be easily removed and saved for next year. Yes, you can store it with you other holiday decorations. Buy a few, they look great in door windows, apartment windows, dorm windows, the window of the little cabin at the Christmas tree farm or lot, car windows, motorcycle windshields, bus and subways windows.


http://www.donnellycolt.com/catalog/peacesticker.html

[LTR]

16. Hope you don't mind

I had to steal that image for my avatar.

Happy war on X-mas!

:evilgrin:

[Sequoia]

47. Be my guest!

[Longhorn]

19. Thanks! I just ordered a bunch of them to share with my family! nt

[Lisa0825]

23. Welcome to DU!

:pals:

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. LOL

[tridim]

2. I thought I read several days ago that the board was fired

and only the president remained along with his stupid, hateful decision.

[DURHAM D]

8. They had a three member Board of Directors.

The Board members would have been (should have been) elected by the entire community.

The Board appointed a 5 member architectural review committee.
The architectural review committee recommended that the board not do anything about the wreath. The board did not take the committee's advice (board is not required to do so). Then the board fired all the members of the review committee and wrote to the home owner telling them to remove their wreath.

Now the three members of the board have resigned - probably because they know the association is likely to be sued because of their inappropriate/illegal harassment and no doubt the association's attorney suggested that they resign. They are probably hoping if they get out of way the association will not be damaged - it might work. The moral of the story - discuss the issue with the association's attorney before you go crazy. However, the authoritarians that sometimes get on these boards don't really care what their limits are.

This is my understanding of the situation - I have managed owner's associations for over twenty years so I can sort of figure it out. The reporting has been confusing.

[0rganism]

11. all that's needed for a Complete Victory is reinstatement of the architectural committee

Thanks for clarifying.

[DURHAM D]

15. I agree and hope they want to serve again.

However, once a committee or board member has been damaged by this much crap in their very own neighborhood they don't want anything to do with the association and probably will not even attend the annual meetings.

I hate this kind of negative publicity for associations. Most boards do not act in this way and do act with restraint. I withdraw my contract whenever an out liar of this type takes over a board. Life is too short to tolerate the nazi/fascist/republicans who want to tell everyone else in the neighborhood what to do.

[Trillo]

34. Who claims the attorney didn't know?

It's my understanding from reading a local rag that attorneys often end up running the associations, given their legal background and all.

Has this been your experience?

[DURHAM D]

44. That has not been my experience.

Attorneys who live in a community rarely want to serve on the board. That would mean the neighbors would expect him/her to provide services for free.

Every association has a set of governing documents. Every set of governing documents is different and specific to that association. The document is their constitution.

Most associations that get into trouble don't read/follow their own documents. Every association should retain an attorney for those times when they need a little help with understanding provisions. Attorneys are an important resource to keep associations out of trouble - but they need to be asked for advice.

[angstlessk]

3. This in the NY Times no less..not the podunk local rag! HOW very

wonderful! America wins one for FREEDOM!

[Donnachaidh]

5. personally, I think we should send them ALL christmas cards

with PEACE signs on them. Lots and LOTS of cards. :sarcasm:

[McCamy Taylor]

51. Even better, "Peace on Earth" cards.

[xxqqqzme]

6. that 'Prince of Peace' designation

gets a bit hairy for those RWers around this time of year.

[Gwerlain]

7. Ummm, well, now that conflicts with KO's report last nite...

a) the board president tried to get the board to vote to fine the residents
b) the board all voted no
c) the president fired the board

(the next one is total conjecture, but I'd be willing to bet that either this or something even funnier went down)
d) fifty million people called the president, every member of the board, the homeowners' association, city hall, the city council, their congresscritters, every church in town, and then sent them emails, snail mails, etc., etc., etc., wash, rinse, repeat...

(KO didn't report the next one either, but based on reports from here I have to assume that...)
e) the president tried shutting off his phone, but he kept meeting up with the mayor, city council members, members of his church, his congresscritters, his neighbors, the rest of the homeowners' association members, getting threatening notes nailed up on his front door, having people who saw him driving on the street point him out to everyone and then blow their horns and flip him off, kept getting nasty emails, telegrams, snail mails, etc., etc., etc., wash, rinse, repeat...

(KO actually reported the next two)
f) the residents sought legal assistance
g) the president announced he wasn't going to try to fine them, and they could leave it up

(My predictions for the future are...)
h) the president will continue to get fallout from this over the next several years as the net.legend makes its way in and out of the Internet shadows; unless he is well under room temperature IQ, he will figure out that he is a Nazi asshole and should keep his pie-hole shut the next time he wants to blow out a bunch of bigoted horseshit, because the 'Net might find out about it and make his life very, very complicated. Perhaps his pretty famous and extremely unpleasant experience will cause some of his asshole buddies to figure out that they might have just as bad a time or worse if they blow off THEIR pie holes. (I ain't holding my breath, after all, for every person there is an asshole, and every one of them stinks, but you never know.)

Maybe if we make a practice of this, some of these neanderthals will start to get a clue. Good job, 'Netizens. Think of it as evolution in action. :D

[BrotherBuzz]

10. The president fired the 5 member architectural review committee the balked

KO got it right, this is chapter two: Three-member board of the association has resigned.

Hidey-holes for them while they hope and prey the pending lawsuits, press, and public just go away.

[Gwerlain]

12. Ahhh, thanks, I didn't see the post above about the...

3-member board, as opposed to the 5-member architectural review board. Sounds like there's an extra item missing from my list in there.

[Hepburn]

20. LOL.....and on top of all of this?

The heat got so bad for Kearns and his buddy that they had to get unlisted phone numbers!

:rofl:

[DKRC]

17. Love your post!

Read it aloud to my daughter.
:D :D :D :D :D

Will never live anywhere under an association.
I've had a bellyful of Nazi/Fascist/Republicans that try dictating everything. They're my parents.
I didn't play well with that attitude then, not knuckling under now, or in future either.
:D :D :D :D

[StraightDope]

37. And how old is your daughter?

Just out of curiousity...

[LiberalFighter]

35. Where does the former president Bob Kearns work?

That would be the coup de grâce!

[liberalhistorian]

39. That's one of the best things about

the "internets." Stupid shit like this used to be unknown outside of the communities involved and then just swept under the rug. With the 'nets, though, and instant, mass communications, it takes about three minutes for stupid shit like this to see the light of day EVERYWHERE. And there's nowhere, then, for the idiots to hide, either.

Of course, the downside of that is if you, yourself, do something stupid and idiotic and it's broadcast everywhere!

[DarkmoonIkonoklast]

61. With the 'nets it takes about three minutes for stupid shit like this to see the light of day...

   ... which is, after all, the reason the U(ltra)RW is so hell-bent on controlling/stifling the 'net!
   Perhaps this even explains why no one seems to be able (willing?) to effectively deal with worms/viri/spam... funny how the banks and the other Lords of the Realm seem to have damn-near bulletproof security while the rest of us get "security patches" shoved down our collective peon throats... (SHEESH! I'm starting to sound like a bloody Bolshie!)
   Still, in a world where there are only Owners and Owned...

   Uh, BTW, I can't get the Times site... seems they require a membership before granting the privilege of being informed... I'd love to read the rest of that story!

[Syncronaut Seven]

48. Now it's the best post ever.

:patriot:

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

14. It was bound to happen

Firing the architectural control committee was OTT, it made Kearns look like a control freak. If I'd been an owner in that community, I would have found that judgement questionable no matter what I thought of the wreath.

Associations can set standards and require owners to abide by them, but if your advisers decide that a wreath doesn't violate the rules, you say "Okay," not "You're fired!"

[Dukkha]

18. another victory in our War on Christmas!

Muah Ha Ha Ha Ha! The Fools! *twirilng mustache*

[NoSheep]

33. lol. "Why do you hate Christmas?"

:rofl:

[texpatriot2004]

21. So glad that couple hung that symbol of peace at this time :-) nm

[blackspade]

22. what I find amusing...

or tragic are these portions of the article:

***A board member later told a newspaper that he thought the familiar circle with angled lines was also, perhaps, a sign of the devil.

The peace symbol came to prominence in the late 1950s as the logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, a British antiwar group, according to the group’s Web site. It incorporates the semaphore flag images for the letters in the group’s name, a “D” atop an “N.”

Other people have said the upright line with arms angled down, commonplace in the United States in the Vietnam War, especially, has roots in the early Christian era, representing a twisted or broken cross.***

This symbol is actually the Norse Rune Algiz, or protection rune in the reversed position signaling wariness. It it's upright position it represents protection and also the elk. The twisted/broken cross part is sadly laughable.

It's tragic how positive ancient symbols have become something to be feared by ignorant christofacists these days.

[sakabatou]

24. The American Taliban... ugh.

[buddysmellgood]

25. Here's a picture of mine in Wisconsin. I made it this afternoon.

[FuzzyDicePHL]

29. Great job!

My BF & I are making some this weekend, for the front & back of the house. :)

[buddysmellgood]

58. Excellent! I'd love to see a picture if you get the chance.

I clipped branches from arbor vitae in my yard and used rebar tie wire for the frame.

[Cobalt Violet]

31. I like that wreath.

[NoSheep]

32. Excellent!!!

[stubtoe]

38. I just love that these peace wreaths are propagating all over!

Good on ya!

[Pushed To The Left]

26. Excellent news! n/t

[RiverStone]

27. Give PEACE a chance.....

Great news!!!!!!!

[Counciltucky]

28. Apparently peace is equated with Satan?

According to the article: "A board member later told a newspaper that he thought the familiar circle with angled lines was also, perhaps, a sign of the devil."

WTF?! How fuckin' stupid would this person have to be to not automatically recognize that symbol as an international symbol for peace? And on top of that, think it's A SIGN OF THE DEVIL?!

Wow...

[LiberalEsto]

30. There's no shortage of ignorance

especially in this day and age

[bluerum]

43. Spin spin spin. The spin of the devil. nt

[bperci108]

63. The first place I remember hearing that bit of idiocy...

...was in a hyper-freaky Jack Chick religious tract from the early 1970's.

Apparently the "peace movement" wasn't sitting to well with the radical right-leaning, staunchly Republican, war supporting christo-fascists, so someone concocted an evil genesis for the peace sign. :eyes:

Now those dirty hippies could be derided with a clean conscience as the Spawn of Satan, even though they were quoting the exact words and advocating the principles of Christ.



;)

[deepthought42]

36. How does anyone not know what a peace symbol looks like???

Or does he think that the devil wants peace on earth, and god wants what, senseless bloodshed? Yeah, that makes sense... :sarcasm:

[Wildewolfe]

40. We're missing the bigger issue....

...If it had been a symbol of Satan as they feared, it is STILL protected under freedom of religion and the 1st amendment.

[mondo joe]

46. Yes and no.

It is absolutely protected under the 1st.

But people can contractually agree to not do certain things in a HOA.

(Which is just one reason I'd never belong to one.)

[DURHAM D]

50. No reason not to belong to one -

just review the governing documents prior to making an offer to purchase.

[Arugula Latte]

41. Another victory for our side thanks to the Internet.

Had this story not been spread around, these christofascists would have gotten away with this.

[bluerum]

42. IMO this should never have been an issue in the first place. It is

hard to believe that this kind of ignorance exists in 2006 - almost 2007, in this country.

[Old Smokey]

45. good for them

[KAT119]

49. It's About Time!! HOORAY & HALLELUJAH

[McCamy Taylor]

52. I like the design a lot. Anyone know where I can get a pin ?

Preferably not a slogan type pin. I would prefer an enamel jewelry type, green with a red mock ribbon at the bottom. If anyone knows anyone who sells these online, please share the info. Would make great Christmas gifts.

[Quixote1818]

53. Did anyone read this part? Really Funny!

Town Manager Mark Garcia said Pagosa Springs was building its own peace wreath, too. Mr. Garcia said it would be finished by late Tuesday and installed on a bell tower in the center of town.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[DarkTirade]

54. Peace? At christmas time?

How unchristian of them... :sarcasm:
I mean, joy I get. Love, maybe. But peace? Jeez... that's just too much.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

56. Yeah, my wreath is in the shape of a missile, piercing a planet. I figure that's more along the line

of what Bush, and this HOA Nazi, would like. :sarcasm:

[symbolman]

60. Piece OF Earth

Instead of peace ON Earth? :)

Yeah, after they blow everything up, there'll be a cottage industry, buying Pieces of the Earth on EBAY, eh? :)

[DarkTirade]

62. Kinda like when people were buying pieces of the Berlin Wall...

only with a VERY different meaning to it all. :\

[blue sky at night]

55. guess what my christmas wreath is going to look like.........

this year. I am proud of the folks in the neighborhood for their support. What kind of people can find a peace sign offensive is beyond the beyond, guess the same as folks who could vote for bush and support his criminal family. This could turn into something big down the road, and if I ran a Nursery I would be jumping on this bandwagon.

[peacebaby3]

57. So has anyone found a place to buy a peace wreath or am I going

to have to attempt to be "crafty?" I suck at crafts so I would like to purchase one if it's reasonable.

[pdurod1]

59. Aryan acres: don't sign or vote for something thats against your best interest.

wish the rest of middle class America would have figured this out in 2000...