I'm sorry, and I hate to feel it incumbent upon me to add some humor to this atrocity (which it IS by the way so I at least weigh in with THAT!), however, that line just does NOT sound right man lol



AB1

Long time lurker and this is my first post here but something about this story just really angered me.

I have contacted the Beacon Woods Civic Association to let them know how I feel about this situation. Also, I actually sent the info to CNN in hopes the mainstream will pick up on this. Perhaps if we make a big enough stink about this something might happen.

Worth a shot in my opinion...I know we have MANY other things to worry about but sometimes just starting small and doing what you think is right is a great way to start.

Here is the webpage for the Beacon Woods Civic Association if anyone else feels like dropping them a line.

www.bwcai.org...

Regards

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I wrote the following letter to Beacon Woods and sent it. I posted it to share with you all. I will be writing letters to the Sheriff and Mayor there as well.
Let's all help this guy out. Compassion people.

"To Whom It May Concern,

You people make me sick. And I'm sure, that right about now, you have a flooding of emails, letters, and phone calls coming in to inform you of this. After reading this article,

www.tampabay.com...

I felt compelled to act. I started to spread the word about what kind of people you obviously are, and I hope that my message got out loud and clear. I do not know Joseph Prudente, but I know right from wrong, I know about compassion, and I also know a lot about people like you who get power trip erections from hurting the meek to make yourselves feel big. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. There are more important things going on in this world right now. Things that need more attention. GRASS and LAWNS are not at the top of the priority list. In fact, all of the chemicals and crap you put on your precious lawns to keep them "pristine", are only contributing to the problems we have in this world. You people need to get over yourselves.
I hope that you will see the error of your ways and ask for a motion to dismiss the charges against Joseph Prudente. This world will never know any true peace until we learn to get along. And with people like you out there, that dream seems really far off.

Enjoy the phone calls, emails, and letters. Just doing my part in what's right, against the many wrongs."

Mod Note: You Have An Urgent U2U- Click Here.

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.... Anyway, this guy went to jail for not watering his grass and having a brown lawn - which equates to aesthetic pollution in his... questionable neighborhood.

Look, people have the the right to create neighborhoods with retarded values... and if you want to live in that retarded neighborhood - it's YOUR decision, and YOUR fault if you engage in that kind of BS.

It doesn't matter if economic times are tough or that he can't afford whatever or whatnot.... why the heck should a guy who is living in an UPSCALE NEIGHBORHOOD GET A BREAK FOR HIS LAWN...

...WHEN OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE WHO CAN NOT AFFORD FOOD ARE NOT GETTING A BREAK????

Look, you people disgust me with this sheer CRAP.

I don't see how any GOOD person can get upset over this guy and his situation when we have starving people on the streets.

GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT!!!!

[edit on 10/12/08 by FredT]

I never agree with this guy, but I sure agree with this! That's a damn fine point I must say LM.


AB1

This is ridiculous, I mean I have bylaws where I live but there are county codes, but as far as the lawn having to be green ??? the only way I could possibly see this as a problem was if it was devoid of grass and looked like one of those dirt mounds that the meercats live in, but grasses come in many shades and have dormancy periods where it can go from light green to almost white in color so that sort of thing is completely baseless to enforce... the only issues I have is if someone has a junk laden yard or if the grass stays excessively long for a few weeks, btw, our county codes say 12 inches is the limit on what is considered too long, the bylaws we have are not even defined, it just says the lawn needs to be kept....I feel sorry for people that live in gestapo enforced communities, I think some precedents need to be set to regulate the HOA and other boards in communities especially ones that nitpick, I have found that in many instances the board enforcers are hippocritcal and have far too much power over someones property.

reply to post by logician magician

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I see where you are coming from logician however....

Look, as I said my prior post, sometimes people have to start small and try to help when they think they have a small chance to make a difference.

What I mean is that I actually think that, if enough people take a few seconds to send an email, we might be able to actually "effect" something we perceive to be wrong. Now am I saying that people starving is ok? No! But i did say that that we have MANY other things to worry about as well.

Personally, I don't have the foggiest idea how to even begin to tackle the "bigger" issues out there. Does this make me a bad person for trying to tackle something I think I might have an impact on? I don't know...

With that being said, I hope I have explained why I thought this cause is something "I" might be able to assist with.

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I'm not about to argue against you concerning starving people. That there are people in America, or anywhere in this world, who are starving whenever there is more than enough food to feed everyone is a tragedy and I would argue downright evil. However, to suggest that we can't be upset about more than one injustice at a time seems off. Certainly there are a great many issues in this world that carry far more weight than that of a man who was arrested over his grass. Does that mean we shouldn't see this for what it is and act accordingly?

I will say too that I agree with him here as well, to a degree.

Like another poster said, start small, and we can snowball this into and avalanche of massive proportions. Start with Mr. Prudente and the avalanche of compassion can cover even bigger issues, such as homelessness.
As for you Sir Chip, I have my priorities straight. I'm upset about EVERYTHING! Mr. Prudente is just one more injustice to add to that list. We CAN do something to help him and change the way things are handled in situations like this.
Homelessness is more of a touchy subject. I've been around quite a few homeless people, and alot of the people I've talked to don't want to be attached to one place. They enjoy the freedom. They've told me that it is hard at times, but it's what works for them. Others were the opposite. So it's a two sided coin.
As for your argument, for the homeless and starving, some are no different than what you're saying about Mr. Prudente. They made their choice, and should be held accountable, right? Make your bed, and lay in it, right? Yet you're mad about their poor choices, and not about Mr. Prudente's plight? I don't agree at all on that. We all make bad decisions sometimes, but does that mean we should all suffer consequences that far outweigh the matter at hand? I don't think so. You drop a pebble in a grocery store, should you be executed in the electric chair for it? This situation is comparable to that. He didn't water his lawn, so he's now to be incarcerated indefinitely? Is he a terrorist now? Will they be shipping him off to Guantanamo? Water-boarding anyone? Come on Chip. See this for what it is. Pure and simple injustice.

If I had my way, no one anywhere should have to suffer any injustices. Everyone would have a home. Everyone would have food. And there would be no elitist minded people trying to dictate to everyone how they should live their precious lives on this planet.

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And to share, here's the letter I sent to the Mayor down there:

"To Whom It May Concern:

I saw this yesterday:

www.tampabay.com...

I just wanted to let you know that you will soon, if not already, be receiving a flood of emails, letters, and phone calls, ALL supporting Jospeh's plight. What Beacon Woods pursued here is nothing short of small-scale tyranny. A large group of us have started a campaign to make sure that this injustice is addressed and corrected. What these Beacon Woods Dictators have done is irresponsible, and wrong. Whatever happened to simple compassion for your fellow man? As a whole, the American people are growing tired of these abuses by the rich and elitist minded.
I have made it my personal mission to spread this information around, especially to anyone who might be considering moving to your location, or to Bayonet Point.
We are also asking for the resignation of the judge who signed off on this ordeal. We demand that Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray be removed from seat following the immediate release of Joseph Prudente. As well, all charges against Mr. Prudente are to be dropped. If Beacon Woods Civic Association can be granted demands based on their monetary status, then we feel that we can also be granted our demands based on our numerical status. They may be smug now in the illusion that they have emerged victorious against Mr. Prudente, but rest assured, they have just cracked the door open on what is to come. I will be forwarding this information on to as many attorneys as I can find.
Lawns and grass are replaceable. Human life is irreplaceable and you are taking that away from a man who has done nothing wrong. Days spent in incarceration over GRASS, are days missed out of life. And for a man of his age, every day counts.

There is shame in being wrong. There is no shame in admitting that you're wrong.
"

reply to post by Nivek Serca

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From the depth of my being I truly believe at times logician magician is a troll, yet I think you're being too hard on him.

Some people see things way too black and white, while others don't. Hell, Im guilty of exactly the same thing, of putting people in the spotlight simply because they refuse to see the shades of gray in life.

But deep down, I know that those people I do that with are not necessarily void of compassion, they just focus too diligently on what THEY believe the situation du jour is without looking beyond those blinders. Not everyone see's exactly the entire scope of what's going around them because they were never in the environment to actually do so.

I would say give him a break before passing too much judgement.


AB1

if we start to tackle stuff like THIS- it'll be easier after a while to take on the bigger things. Think of an avalanche. You can start certain ones with no more than a rock thrown at the right place. That one small rock dislodges another rock, and a few more- and before you know it, you just buried a lot of real estate under 100 tons of rubble.

Time to start throwing rocks.. metaphorically speaking.

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reply to post by alphabetaone

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I here what you re saying and I did not demonstrate the compassion I was looking from him and for pointing it out I thank you. I just cannot see how someone can actualy look at a law as trivial as this and justify a jail term as justice. I mean murderers and thieves get jail time. This is brown grass, something does not add up judicialy. Fines for this type of civil disobedience maybe but jail, removal of freedom because I disobeyed a civil law that is so... I cant even put the thoughts together to the amount of injustice displayed in this case. It just blows my mind as to the callous nature which this case was dealt with. It really seems America is suffering so greatly the leaders seem to have no wisdom or common sense anymore. And this is just one tiny speck in regards to the mountain of foolishness going on in the country.

[edit on 12-10-2008 by Nivek Serca]