Friday, August 20, 2010

Alabama's Shameful Secret -- Eminent Domain Through the Back Door



Outrage. That is all. Outrage.

18 comments:

miss tia said...

that eminent domain shit has gotta get changed!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I see the "bitch it out" thing is no longer on your header. It used to be! I know I "peaced out" but I couldn't resist the other comments. TTL all & have a great Friday.
rox

PS: My aunt used to have a weiner dog named Penny. Named that because of her copper color. Sweet doggy. Just reminded me of her today :(

miss tia said...

rox....you got any pix of the engagement party from last weekend??

CJ said...

Of course all those houses belong to the poor who can't afford to hire a lawyer and save their houses.

Anonymous said...

Once Big brother gets their sights on you; it's over. Especially when they claim to be helping. These poor people are getting screwed. Where's Al Sharpton?.

Government buildings, public schools, and section 8 housing should all be off the grid and super insulated.

I looked at some designs for green housing units made from the recycled steel shipping containers that litter every port in America.


Jarhead

miss tia said...

you bring up a good point CJ...you never see the wealthy's houses being in the line of eminent domain fire! it's always the poor who can't afford to fight back and then they loose what little they've gained in life....

Christina said...

I do think that's the point, Miss Tia. They take from people who have little, because they know they don't have access to good legal advice, or that they can not afford a protracted legal battle. Then they sell off the land to a developer who will make another "nice" cookie-cutter home for those who can afford it, probably lining their own pockets along the way. Once they get just one or two built, it is probably even easier to legally take other residences that look even worse than they did previously,compared to the new ones. Mussolini comes to mind. He razed the homes of the poor and built fascist monuments. This is strikingly similar. Those people didn't have a choice either, as they were poor.

Unknown said...

FUCK! I didn't make it through half the video without wanting to throw up. They have a special place in hell next to Monsanto and next to animal and child abusers.

DD said...

Jar, I just looked up housing with shipping containers and I was amazed. They look quite nice.

Unknown said...

DD, my husband and I were considering buying a couple of shipping containers to make our house! We even have a design with a closed courtyard for the kitties. We've been looking at that for a couple of years now. Shipping containers withstand all elements. Especially where we live, evergreen trees fall when it's wet and windy. They would only put a minor dent on a shipping container home! Now we just need the funds. I guess if you buy refrigerator containers the insulation is taken care of some. It's not too far away in our future, that I'm sure of!

Frimmy said...

Acid cow often features pictures of green, innovative and inexpensive housing ideas and the shipping container homes are SO cool.

miss tia said...

all this talk of shipping container homes makes me think of one of my favorite books as a kid 'the boxcar children'....i envied them so much living away from adults!

Anonymous said...

I'm telling you. Those things are amazing. I mentioned here once about my idea of building some as greenhouses and fill them with whatever ph soil you need to grow the chosen crop, and maintain soil temperature in the winters through a pipe network. I want key limes and mangos in Texas!.

Solar/wind powered, soybean insulation, modular design and built with low V.O.C. materials or reclaimed wood are functional and efficient. I'll have some drawings soon for some that I've been thinking about building now that I'm back.

Meissa, they lend themselves great for any type of architecture, and our culture is happiest with a big patio in the middle of the house, right?.

jarhead

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah. The air conditioning system is a network of underground ceramic or clay pipes that remain at constant temperature 5 feet below the ground and "push" air through the house so it breathes and remains temperature constant even in winter.

I saw it on a 2nd century b.c. architectural drawing for an Arab fort in the desert. The rocks in the fort's wall remained moist and it cooled a large hallway that led to a reception hall and the King's Harem.

Jarhead

Anonymous said...

correction

2nd century a.d.

NancyB said...

This is just shameful greed. Those in power that are allowing this travesty to be replicated throughout poor areas need to immediately cease & desist. Where in fuck is the rule of law. Really pisses me off to know that this is a well thought out and calculated plan. Evil at heart.

Christina said...

Shipping containers repurposed as housing sounds like a great idea. I'm not in a position to do anything like that right now, but I would love to see how that works. We had a machinery shipping container with a door on it as a gardening shed until recently. We disassembled it a little less than a year and a half ago to put up the larger shed/coop combo.
It's amazing how much more accessible solar energy is, too. We have a very small array to provide night lighting in the shed. It works great, and was not very expensive.

A-Gran said...

Didn't watch the video but I had to reminisce with Miss Tia over The Boxcar Children. I envied them too....... :(