On the Commons with Robert Crowe and Brent Brooks
June is torture awareness month and the very word conjures up images of all the war time horrors we hear about, see on both the small and large screens, read about in the history books and some novels. But what exactly is torture and what does it do to the victim? Well, one thought is that the purposes of torture are carried out by shattering the essential humanity of other human beings. But is torture limited to the actions of real governments or can torture be found much closer to home? Do you have to do something really heinous to deserve to be tortured?
On The Commons this week we are joined by Robert Crowe and Brent Brooks. Robert is a semi-retired attorney who volunteers some of his free time to work with organizations near and dear to his heart, including Torture Abolition. During the second half of the show we are joined by Brent Brooks. Brent, a Georgia homeowner who came home to find his wife’s car blocked in the garage by concrete blocks, put there by the HOA. Not understanding what was happening or what to do about it, he posted a photo on an open forum which went viral. You can read the thread here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/atlanta/1298523-car-stuck-garage-hoa-3.html
Download | Duration: 00:57:21
For those of you following this link from elsewhere, the segment with Brent Brooks begins at 36 min. 55 sec.
The video in question can be seen at privatopia.blogspot.com/2011/06/car-blocked-in-driveway-by-hoa.html
As for the unpublished video of the blocks being removed and put back in place (50:30 to 50:45), Mr. Brooks should definitely release that. The only time he needs a release form from persons in pictures and videos is if the video is for commercial purposes. Otherwise, the first amendment applies.
Obviously, he'll want to confirm that with his lawyer, and not trust some anonymous person on the internet.
FYI: the HOA's management company is Associa. For non-regular listeners who do not realize the significance of that, follow the link and read down.
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Shu,
Where do you get the idea that HOAs take a homeowner's assessment payments and apply them to what you call "junk fees" in order to artificially create delinquencies (47:25 to 48:30 and 51:40 to 52:15)?
According to Tom Skiba * , in a comment to a blog post about "The Next Foreclosure Fight" (scroll down to June 10, 2011 12:09:00 PM CDT), his
"education programs teaches none of those things. But I have to admit it is an effective way to hurl an untrue fact-like statement to make an emotional argument when you don't have any other logical or factual leg to stand on."
* For those of you who are not regular listeners, Tom Skiba is president of the Communisty Associations Institute, the parent organization for the HOA lobby.
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