Multi-million dollar homes go up in flames in Maryland. I heard a number of stories on the radio this morning about "eco-terrorism." My favorite was an interview with one of the homeowners. He was indignant as was the reporter claiming "what is ironic is that I love nature." He loves it so much that he had it (a rare magnolia grove) cut down, he moved to a suburb so he can drive his SUV everyday to work, and he had a new HUGE home built in a place where there is more than enough housing.
My parents live close to Indian Head. The Chesapeake Bay area is a disater area. The only densely populated areas, Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis have practically been abandoned to the poor and brown with small ultra-rich ghettos. Most in the area live in substandard housing, small ranch homes and apartments off highways that are choked pretty much 20 hours a day. The Bay itself is just barely still maintaining wildlife. So what is the solution for lovers of nature like the above savant? Build more McMansions.
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All of the reports I saw on this speculated wildly on the identity of the arsonists--all assumed it was radical ecologists and speculated in print without caution. Developer shenanigans was never suggested. There was a lot of very poor journalism around this story. --Ted
I saw this news report too. Wasn't there a couple of these fires out on Long Island a couple of years ago blamed on the ELF. I'm fine with folks blaming the ELF for this stuff -- it helps make clear the points you're making. But it always seemed to me that the ELF is more likely 9 times out of 10 insurance fraud. HOpefully bankrupt developers will do this much more often. Then the insurance premiums will get unaffordable, and folks will have to live where they are.
By the way, have you folks ever been in one of these McMansions? Remember your first apartment? The shitty building materials, the uninspired floor plan -- the average, crappy "Hall and Oats" style everything? Well, that's one of these 4,000 sq foot monstrosities. It's your apartment all out of scale. Perhaps there is some connection between suburban giganticism and some sort of early millenium ennui?
Paul Gilmore
Right--I always assume the developer or insured builder is responsible for this kind of stuff unless somebody has some actual evidence of an accident or radical activism. The report I saw (Yahoo newsfeed I think) mentioned that the Sierra club and others had been in a legal battle with the developer. I guess that was "evidence" enough for them to assume that radical environmentalists were responsible. Really shitty reporting. --Ted
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